top of page
image_edited.jpg

Isis, Great of Magic, She of 10,000 Names: The Creation of the Egyptian Goddess 

The Apocryphal Gospels and other documents relating to the history of Christ

THE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF CHRIST. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINALS IN GREEK, LATIN, SYRIAC, ETC. WITH ISTOTES, SCEIPTUEAL REFEEENCES AND PEOLEGOMENA. EDINBUEGH. 1867.

​

​

​

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles 2 volumes

The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles are a category within Christian apocryphal literature detailing the individual journeys of the surviving eleven apostles and Paul, alone or in small groupings, to various locales assigned to them for evangelizing by the risen Jesus. Published 1871

 

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English

For students both of the Old and New Testaments the value of the non-Canonical Jewish literature from 200 B.C. to a. d. 100 is practically recognized on every side alike by Jewish and Christian scholars. But hitherto no attempt has been made to issue an edition of this literature as a whole in English.1 Indeed, such an undertaking would have been all but impossible at an earlier date, seeing that critical editions of some of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha have not been published till within the last few years.

​

​

​

​

​

The Encyclopedia of Lost and Rejected Scripture

Description

The Encyclopedia of Lost and Rejected Scriptures: The Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha - Section One - Lost Scriptures of the Old Testament - First Book of Adam and Eve, Second Book of Adam and Eve, First Book of Enoch, Second Book of Enoch (Secrets of Enoch), Third Book of Enoch (Hebrew Enoch), Jubilees, Jasher - Section Two - Apocalyptic Writings and the End of Days - Apocalypse of Abraham, Apocalypse of Thomas, 2 Baruch, War Scroll (Sons of Dark vs. Sons of Light) - Section Three - Lost Scriptures of the New Testament - Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Apocryphon of John, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, Acts Chapter 29 - - Section Four - The Life and Times of Jesus - Infancy Gospel of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Life of Joseph The Carpenter, Letters of Pilate, Life of Saint Issaa - Section Five - The Apocrypha - 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Letter (Epistle) of Jeremiah, The Prayer of Azariah, 1 Baruch, Prayer of Manasseh (Manassas), Bel and the Dragon, Wisdom of Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Additions to Esther, Tobit, Judith, Susanna, Psalm 151, 1 Clements, Shepherd of HermasThe Didache

The Chaldean account of Genesis

THE CHALDEAN ACCOUNT OF GENESIS, CONTAINING • THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CREATION, THE FALL OF MAN, THE DELUGE, THE TOWER OF BABEL, THE TIMES OF THE PATRIARCHS, AND NBIROD: BABYLONIAN FABLES, AND LEGENDS OF THE GODS FROM THE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS. I, BY GEOEGE SMITH, OF THE DEPARTMENT OP OKIENTAL ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM, AUTHOR OP "HISTOKX OP ASSUEBANIPAL," " A8STBIAN DISCOVERIES," ETC., ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATION'S. NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO. 1876

The Forgotten Books of Eden

Description

This book contains translations of all of the texts found in volume I of the Oxford University Press 'Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha'. Non-Canonical texts such as the first and second book of Adam and Eve, the secrets of Enoch, the Psalms of Solomon and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. This book has 461 pages in the PDF version and was originally published in 1926.

The Lost Books of the Bible

Description

The Lost Books of the Bible is a collection of New Testament Apocrypha. It is a reprint of an earlier 1820 work called The Apocryphal New Testament, which itself was a reprint of the 1693 work, the Apostolic Fathers by William Wake, who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. It includes many works that were read by the early Christians, but which were left out of the canonical Bible. Included are accounts of the infancy of Jesus, the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, the Protevangelion, the letters of Paul, Herod, Pilate, and Seneca, and non-canonical epistles, such as Laodiceans. Also included are the three books of the Shepherd of Hermas, which use apocalyptic and symbolic imagery. This book has 317 pages in the PDF version and was originally published in 1926.

The Book of Enoch the Prophet

Description

Richard Laurence's 1883 translation of the Book of Enoch; an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. The book of Enoch is one of the strongest of the books left out of the Biblical canon. Filled with goetic angels and demons, and visions of inconceivable lands beyond the sky, writers have tied Enoch into everything from archaeoastronomy, Astrology, Alchemy, the Kabbalah, and Gnosticism. This book has 154 pages in the PDF version and was originally published in 1883.

The Book of Jasher

Description

The Book of Jasher (Sefer haYashar) is a non-canonical apocryphal book. It is mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible - once in Joshua 10:13: 'And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in Sefer HaYashar?', and once in Samuel, 1:18: 'To teach the sons of Judah [the use of] the bow. Behold, it is written in the book of Jashar.'

There are several separate works by this title, all composed much later than in Biblical times. This particular one is a translation of a Hebrew book printed in 1613. The Hebrew title of the book means 'Book of the Upright', but the title was at some point, treated as a proper name - Jasher. The text of the book covers the creation of the world to the death of Moses, with several minor variations to the traditional Bible.

The Apocrypha

Description

The Apocrypha refer to texts which are left out of officially sanctioned versions ('canon') of the Bible. The term means 'things hidden away,' which implies secret or esoteric literature. However, none of these texts were ever considered secret. In some Protestant Bibles, they are placed between the New and Old Testaments. In the Roman Catholic Bibles, the books are interspersed with the rest of the text. In this case they are also called 'Deuterocanonical', which means 'secondary canon.' The chapters in this book are all Deuterocanonical. Of these books, Tobias, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, and Maccabees, remain in the Catholic Bible. First Esdras, Second Esdras, Epistle of Jeremiah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasseh, Prayer of Azariah, and Laodiceans are not today considered part of the Catholic apocrypha.

The Gospel of Barnabas

Description

The Gospel of Barnabas is a book depicting the life of Jesus and claiming to be by Jesus' disciple Barnabas, who in this work is one of the twelve apostles. Two manuscripts are known to have existed, both dated to the late 16th century and written respectively in Italian and in Spanish. Barnabas is about the same length as the four Canonical gospels put together, with the bulk being devoted to an account of Jesus' ministry, much of it harmonized from accounts also found in the canonical gospels. In some key respects, it conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins and contradicts the New Testament teachings of Christianity.

This book has 228 pages in the PDF version and was originally published in 1907.

Pageant of the Popes

Description

Pageant of the Popes is a book by John Farrow, first published in 1942. It contains a history of the Papacy, right from the first century up to the mid-twentieth century. The author, who himself was a devout and conservative Catholic, provides extensive background on each pope, as well as points out the low points of papal history such as despot popes, those who had harems of concubines, and those who made pacts with dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. The book is full of interesting facts - popes were not infallible until the mid-nineteenth century, Napolean once imprisoned Pius VI and almost managed to get him to sign over the Vatican to France, and details on the only English pope, Adrian IV.

This book has 213 pages in the PDF version and was originally published in 1942.

 

The book of Jubilees, or, The little Genesis

The Book of Jubilees is a retelling of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus in the form of an angel speaking to Moses. It was written by a Jew in Hebrew sometime around the early second century BCE, perhaps even earlier. The original Hebrew is lost to us today; our translations are based primarily on Ethiopic texts. The main focus of the work is to demonstrate that the narra-tives in the early part of the Bible contain legal instruction, although the legal elements are hidden in the biblical narrative.

It is difficult to exaggerate the value of Jubilees. The fact that it is the oldest commentary in the world on Genesis, is in itself a distinction. But it is not on this ground that we value it, but rather for the insight it gives us into the religious beliefs of Judaism in the second century B.c. Its interests are many sided. It appeals to the textual critic, as it attests to the form of the Hebrew text, which was current in that century. It appeals to the Old Testament scholar, as exhibiting further developments of ideas and tendencies which are only in their incipient stages in the Old Testament. It appeals to the New Testament scholar, as furnishing the first literary embodiment of beliefs which subsequently obtained an entrance into the New Testament, and as having in all probability formed part of the library of some of the apostolic writers.

​

The FIVE Books Of The Maccabees

It is well known, that the history of the period intervening between the days of Nehemiah, where the accounts of the Old Testament close, and the birth of Jesus Christ, is very insufficiently attended to by the greater part of our students in theology. For this defect there is indeed some show of reason: for the history of these times is scanty and incomplete; the narratives themselves being few in number, and moreover lying detached and dispersed in various places, with the single exception of The writings of Josephus. The Wars Of The Jews click to read 

With a view of removing one cause of this deficiency, I have collected together the writings of some ancient Jewish authors which refer to this period, translating some, and correcting the current versions of the rest: and have endeavoured to illustrate or confirm their statements, by noticing accounts of the same transactions, which are to be found in the works of Greek and Roman historians. Of the five books presented in this vo- lume, only two are familiar to the generality of readers, as being found in the editions of our English Bible. As for the others, scarcely one student in a hundred has heard their names; and perhaps not one in a thousand may have read a line of their contents. Yet, since they all contain interesting and valuable matter, I have here brought them together in an English dress, arranged in such a form as to be consulted or perused with the greatest ease and best prospect of advantage. The history of each book, and of my labours upon it, will be found detailed in the Introduction. I have merely to add here a few words, on the occasion which has caused their appearance. P O L Y B I U S TH E H I S TO R I ES

​

Τhe ΤESTAMENTS ΟΕ ΤΗE ΤWELVE ΡΑΤRIACHS

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is an apocryphal work containing the final speeches of the 12 sons of Jacob to their descendants. Written in the style of Jacob’s blessing to his children (Genesis 49:1-27), each testament consists of a brief overview of the patriarch’s life, admissions of sin, ethical teachings based on the patriarch’s experiences, and prophetic visions about the future of his descendants and the end of days. 

Dr Erez Soref > Leading hIS people OUT of Erez Israel (tHE Promised Land)>forward to tHE NEW JERUSALEM Being President of ONEFORISRAEL.ORG ministry in Israel explains what does it mean "to the Jew first" (Romans 1:16). A life-changing sermon every Christian MUST watch! Become ONE FOR ISRAEL > WHILST BEING BLESSED AND LED AND WATCHED OVER BY THE HOLY SPIRIT aMEN

 

 

Established in 1990, ONE FOR ISRAEL began as a https://college.oneforisrael.org/category/bible-college/ college and has since expanded to a multi-faceted ministry with the express goal of reaching Israelis with the Good News of Yeshua, training and equipping the Body of Messiah in Israel, and blessing our community with Yeshua’s love.

The story and ministry of ONE FOR ISRAEL is part of something much larger – the miraculous restoration of the Jewish people and the miraculous unity between Jewish and Arab believers in Jesus.

We are seeing not only the physical restoration of Israel after a 2000-year exile, but a spiritual revolution is taking place right in front of our eyes. Jewish people are returning to their God and accepting the Messiah in numbers not seen since the early church! Not only that, but many Arab people are coming to the Lord and many Arab believers are finding a deep unity with their Jewish brothers and sisters.

ONE FOR ISRAEL exists to do ministry within this miracle.

We are Jews and Arabs, together serving Messiah Jesus, sharing the Gospel with Israel and the world, making disciples, training leaders, and blessing our communities in the name of Yeshua.

http://www.oneforisrael.org   

 

The papacy of Roman Catholicism

the office and jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome, the pope (Latin papa, from Greek pappas, “father”), who presides over the Holy See (the central government) of the Roman Catholic Church. The term pope was originally applied to all the bishops in the West and also used to describe the patriarch of Alexandria, who still retains the title. In 1073, however, Pope Gregory VII restricted its use to the bishop of Rome, confirming a practice that had existed since the 9th century.

According to the Annuario Pontificio, the papal annual, there have been more than 260 popes since St. Peter, traditionally considered the first pope. Among these, 82 have been proclaimed saints, as have some antipopes (rival claimants to the papal throne who were appointed or elected in opposition to the legitimate pope). The Annuario Pontificio does not identify popes by consecutive number, having stated that at times the legitimate succession between multiple claimants was impossible to determine. Most holders of the office have been Roman or Italian, with a sprinkling of other Europeans, including one Pole, and one Latin American pope. All have been male, though the legend of a female Pope Joan appeared in the 13th century. During the course of the 2,000 years in which the papal system and the practice of electing popes in the papal conclave have evolved, the papacy has played a crucial role in both Western and world history. The history of the papacy can be divided into five major periods: the early papacy, from St. Peter through Pelagius II (until 590); the medieval papacy, from St. Gregory I through Boniface VIII (590–1303); the Renaissance and Reformation papacy, from Benedict XI through Pius IV (1303–1565); the early modern papacy, from St. Pius V through Clement XIV (1566–1774); and the modern papacy, from Pius VI (1775–99).

The early papacy

Apart from the allusion to Rome in the First Letter of Peter, there is no historical evidence that St. Peter was Rome’s first bishop or that he was martyred in Rome (according to tradition, he was crucified upside down) during a persecution of the Christians in the mid-60s CE. By the end of the 1st century, however, his presence in the imperial capital was recognized by Christian leaders, and the city was accorded a place of honour, perhaps because of its claim to the graves of both Saints Peter and Paul. In 1939 what were believed to be Peter’s bones were found under the altar of the basilica dedicated to him, and in 1965 Pope Paul VI (1963–78) confirmed them as such. Rome’s primacy was also fostered by its many martyrs, its defence of orthodoxy, and its status as the capital of the Roman Empire. By the end of the 2nd century, Rome’s stature was further bolstered by the Petrine theory, which claimed that Jesus Christ had designated Peter to be his representative on earth and the leader of the church and that this ministry was passed on to Peter’s successors as bishops of Rome. Peter received this authority, according to the theory, when Jesus referred to him as the rock of the church and said to him, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18–19). The Roman position of honour was challenged in the middle of the 3rd century when Pope Stephen I (254–257) and St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, clashed over Stephen’s claim to doctrinal authority over the universal church. Nonetheless, in the critical period between Popes Damasus I (366–384) and Leo I (440–461), nine popes made a strong case for Rome’s supremacy, despite a growing challenge from the see of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire.

Leo, one of only two popes accorded the appellation “the Great,” played a pivotal role in the early history of the papacy. Assuming the title pontifex maximus, or chief priest, he made an important distinction between the person of the pope and his office, maintaining that the office assumed the full power bestowed on Peter. Although the Council of Chalcedon—called and largely directed by the Eastern emperor Marcian in 451—accorded the patriarch of Constantinople the same primacy in the East that the bishop of Rome held in the West, it acknowledged that Leo I spoke with the voice of Peter on matters of dogma, thus encouraging papal primacy. The link between Peter and the office of the bishop of Rome was stressed by Pope Gelasius I (492–496), who was the first pope to be referred to as the “vicar of Christ.” In his “theory of the two swords,” Gelasius articulated a dualistic power structure, insisting that the pope embodied spiritual power while the emperor embodied temporal power. This position, which was supported by Pope Pelagius I (556–561), became an important part of medieval ecclesiology and political theory.

The medieval papacy

Although much about the early popes remains shrouded in darkness, scholars agree that the bishops of Rome were selected in the same manner as other bishops—that is, elected by the clergy and people of the area (though there is some evidence that some of the early bishops attempted to appoint their successors). Elections were not always peaceful, however, and rival candidates and factions often prompted imperial intervention; eventually, the emperors presided over elections. After the collapse of the Western Empire in 476, the involvement of the Eastern emperor in papal affairs was gradually replaced by that of Germanic rulers and leading Roman families. As political instability plagued the old Western Empire in the early Middle Ages, popes were often forced to make concessions to temporal authorities in exchange for protection. After the demise of effective Byzantine control of Italy in the 8th century, the papacy appealed to the new Germanic rulers for support, serving as a symbol of imperial glory for them.

Pope Gregory I (590–604), the first of the medieval popes and the second pope deemed “great,” faced numerous challenges during his reign, including plague, famine, and threats from the Byzantines and the Lombards (a Germanic people who invaded Italy in the 6th century). Although he believed that he was part of a Christian commonwealth headed by the Byzantine emperor, Gregory turned the papacy’s attention to the Germanic peoples who succeeded the Romans as rulers of the Western Empire. In this fashion, he opened up the West to the papacy. Among the many important accomplishments of Gregory’s reign were his efforts to stop the Lombard advance and to convert the invaders from Arian Christianity to Catholic Christianity; his reorganization of the vast estates of the papacy; his contribution to the development of medieval spirituality; his numerous writings, such as the Moralia in Job, a moral commentary on The Book of Job; and his evangelistic mission to England. He also upheld Leo I’s thesis that, because the papacy inherited the fullness of Peter’s power, there could be no appeal for a ruling by the pope.

Despite Gregory’s successful pontificate, the papacy’s situation remained uncertain as Byzantine power in Italy receded and the Lombards continued to endanger Rome’s security. The situation worsened in the 8th century after a new emperor, Leo III, restored sagging Byzantine fortunes by turning back an Arab assault from the east. Leo reorganized the empire and imposed new tax burdens on his Italian subjects. He also intervened in doctrinal matters by pronouncing, without papal approval, a policy of iconoclasm. The new imperial fiscal and religious policies and limited imperial support against the Lombards drove the papacy to find a new protector. In 739 Pope Gregory III (731–741) sent an unsuccessful appeal for aid to the Frankish mayor of the palace (the effective political power in the kingdom), Charles Martel. When the Lombards again threatened Rome, Pope Stephen II (or III; 752–757) fled to the Frankish kingdom and appealed to Pippin III, who in 751 had become the first Carolingian king of the Franks. In 754 Stephen formally crowned Pippin, and the king marched south with his army in that year and again in 756 to restore papal authority in central Italy. The king also issued the Donation of Pippin (756) to establish the Papal States, which endured until 1870. These events probably also inspired the compilation of the Donation of Constantine (later proved to be a forgery), which asserted that the first Christian emperor, Constantine, granted control of the Western Empire to Pope Sylvester I, who had baptized the emperor and cured him of leprosy. It was later cited in support of papal claims of sovereignty in western Europe.

By linking the fate of Roman primacy to the support of Pippin and the Carolingian dynasty, Stephen and his successors gained a powerful protector. Indeed, a council regulating papal elections in 769 decreed that news of the pope’s election was to be transmitted to the Frankish court and no longer to Constantinople. The Frankish-papal alliance was reinforced when Pope Leo III (795–816), following a period of turmoil in Rome that was ended by Carolingian intervention, crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800. Although the popes gained a measure of security from this relationship, they lost an equal measure of independence, because the Carolingians followed in the footsteps of their Byzantine and Roman predecessors by asserting considerable control over the Frankish church and the papacy itself. On the other hand, the pope exercised influence in Carolingian affairs by maintaining the right to crown emperors and by sometimes directly intervening in political disputes.

As Carolingian power waned in the late 9th and the 10th century, the papacy once again found itself at the disposal of powerful local nobles, including the Crescentii family. Competition for control of the papal throne and its extensive network of patronage weakened the institution. Unsettled conditions in Rome drew the attention of Otto I, who revived Charlemagne’s empire in 962 and required papal stability to legitimate his rule. In keeping with that goal, Otto deposed Pope John XII (955–964) for moral turpitude. During the late 10th and the 11th century, problems in the papal court and political conditions in Italy reinforced the close ties between the papacy and the German emperors, especially in the case of Pope Sylvester II (999–1003) and Otto III. Despite this alliance, the emperor was often absent from Rome, and local powers reasserted themselves. At times, the papacy suffered from weakness and corruption. But even in the darkest times of the 10th and 11th centuries, Rome remained the focus of devotion and pilgrimage as the city of Peter and of the martyrs and saints.

The 11th century was a time of revolutionary change in European society. In 1049 Pope Leo IX (1049–54), joining a broad reform initiative that began in the early 10th century, introduced moral and institutional reforms at the Council of Reims, thus initiating the Gregorian Reform movement (named after its most important leader, Pope Gregory VII [1073–85]). Reformers sought to restore the liberty and independence of the church and to firmly distinguish the clergy from all other orders in society. Emphasizing the clergy’s unique status and its awesome responsibility for the tending of individual souls, they attempted to put an end to the practices of simony (the buying or selling of spiritual offices) and clerical marriage. One important measure implemented by Pope Nicholas II (1059–61) was the election decree of 1059, which organized the cardinals into a papal advisory body and laid the foundation for the creation of the Sacred College of Cardinals. The new body was vested with the right to name new popes, thus encouraging the independence of papal elections and restricting imperial interference. Further reforms emphasized the primacy of Rome and the subordination of all clergy and laity to the pope. Such assertions of papal primacy, however, worsened tensions between Rome and Constantinople and eventually brought about the Schism of 1054 between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Another significant development brought about by the papal reform begun in 1049 was the Investiture Controversy. This struggle between Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV of Germany erupted when Henry claimed the long-standing royal right to invest an ecclesiastical office holder with the symbols of power, thereby effectively maintaining control of the selection and direction of bishops and local clergy. The proper order of Christendom was at stake in the controversy. The papal position was elucidated in Gregory’s Dictatus Papae (1075), which emphasized the pope’s place as the highest authority in the church. Although Gregory was driven from Rome and died in exile, his ideals eventually prevailed, as claims of sacral kingship and royal intervention in church affairs were seriously curtailed. Henry died under the ban of ex-communication, and one of Gregory’s successors, Urban II (1088–99), restored Rome’s prestige when he launched the First Crusade in 1095.

The 12th century was a period of growth and transformation during which the impetus of Gregorian Reform came to a close and the papacy adjusted to the new realities brought about by the events of the previous century. Traditionally the spiritual centre of the church, the papacy evolved into a great administrative and bureaucratic institution. Indeed, the papal court became, in some ways, the highest court of appeals, exercising jurisdiction in a broad range of legal matters and creating legal machinery of great sophistication. Whereas all roads once led to Rome for spiritual consolation, now they also led there for the adjudication of legal disputes; not coincidentally, few popes in subsequent generations were listed among the ranks of the saints.

The papacy also adjusted to changing social, religious, and political conditions, some of which were of its own making. The new electoral procedures instituted by the Gregorians only partially resolved questions relating to papal succession, and, as a result, the papacy suffered two schisms in the 12th century, the Anacletan and the Alexandrine. The latter was caused by renewed tensions between the papacy and the emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, who eventually yielded to the legitimate pope, Alexander III (1159–81). The Alexandrine schism led to the decision of the third Lateran Council (1179) to require a two-thirds majority vote of the cardinals to elect a pope. The papacy also faced challenges posed by the efforts of Italian cities to secure independence from imperial or episcopal control and by the growth of heresies, especially those of the Waldenses and the Albigenses.

Innocent III (1198–1216) responded with greater fervour to the challenges faced by the church. One of the youngest popes to ascend the throne, Innocent, a theologian and lawyer, reinvigorated the institution; as the vicar of Christ, he declared that the pope stood between God and humankind. He restored effective government over the Papal States, and during his reign England, Bulgaria, and Portugal all became papal fiefs. Innocent expanded papal legal authority by claiming jurisdiction over matters relating to sin, and he involved himself in the political affairs of France and the Holy Roman Empire. He called the Fourth Crusade (1202–04), which led to the sack of Constantinople, and the Albigensian Crusade, which was intended to end heresy in southern France, and he approved legislation requiring Jews to wear special clothing. Focusing also on spiritual matters, he approved the orders of St. Francis of Assisi (the Franciscans; 1209) and St. Dominic (the Dominicans; 1215) and presided over the fourth Lateran Council in 1215, which instituted various reforms and approved the use of the term transubstantiation to describe the eucharistic transformation.

 

In the 13th century, Innocent’s successors continued his policies and further extended papal authority. The popes carried outthe Inquisition and pursued a vendetta against the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick II, bringing to a close a struggle that had begun in the 11th century and that undermined imperial power for generations to come. The centralization of administrative and jurisdictional power in the Roman Curia (the body of officials that assists the pope), however, led to increasing financial and administrative difficulties. To bring about reform, the pious hermit Pietro da Morrone was elected as Pope Celestine V in 1294. Celestine was unequal to the task, however, and he resigned from the papal office in December of the same year (he was one of only a few popes to do so willingly). The next election brought to power one of the most extreme advocates of papal authority, Boniface VIII (1294–1303). Although he was a brilliant lawyer, his obstinate personality led to a clash with the French king, Philip IV, which in turn brought about the collapse of the medieval papacy. Papal corruption and the humiliation of Boniface forced the papal court to move, under French influence, to Avignon in 1309. This so-called “Babylonian Captivity” of the papacy lasted until 1377. The Avignon popes, though skilled administrators, were not distinguished by their piety. Indeed, John XXII (1316–34) is best known for his battle with the Spiritual Franciscans and his questionable views on the Beatific Vision (the experience of God in the afterlife); and Clement VI (1342–52), who protected the Jews against persecution by those who blamed them for the Black Death, established a reputation as a patron of the arts. Continued papal corruption and the papacy’s absence from Rome gave rise to loud calls for sacramental and organizational reform. As the European world disintegrated into its component national parts, the universalism of the church and the papacy was challenged.The Renaissance and Reformation papacy

Learn about the Western Schism (Great Schism) and the Council of Constance which unified the Church

See all videos for this article

The Italian Renaissance, sometimes dated from the death of Petrarch in 1374, is generally seen as a break with medieval culture, but this was not entirely true, especially for the papacy, which witnessed the further development of many medieval themes. Notably, the continued decline of the political power of the Holy See was accelerated by the Great Schism (Western Schism; 1378–1417), in which rival factions of cardinals elected popes in both Rome and Avignon. The schism erupted as a result of the growing desire, voiced by Petrarch and by St. Catherine of Siena, among others, to see the papacy returned to Rome. Gregory XI’s (1370–78) attempt at this led to further problems for the papacy and the outbreak of schism. His successor, Urban VI (1378–89), acted in such a high-handed fashion that he alienated a considerable number of cardinals, who elected a new pope and returned to Avignon. Although Christians were divided in their loyalties, all of them recognized the dire nature of the situation. Theologians responded with the doctrine of conciliarism, which holds that an ecumenical council has greater authority than the pope and may depose him. Although the conciliar movement ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own success, it did help to resolve the crisis. In 1417 the Council of Constance ended the schism by deposing or accepting the resignations of three rival popes (one had been elected by the Council of Pisa in 1409).

Under Pope Nicholas V (1447–55) there was a revival of classical studies, which contributed to the development of humanism and the Renaissance. Nicholas also envisioned the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica and the papal library. The vain and ostentatious Pope Paul II (1464–71), who had a virtual mania for gems and collectables, built the magnificent Palazzo Venezia in Rome. His successor, Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84), proceeded with the beautification of the city. The secular outlook of the papacy reached a high point with the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) and continued under Pope Julius II (1503–13), who proved a great patron of the arts. In many ways, Julius, known as “the Terrible,” proved a better prince than a priest, because of his love of war and political intrigue. He was followed by Pope Leo X (1513–21), who supposedly quipped upon his accession, “God has given us the papacy, now let us enjoy it.” During the 15th and 16th centuries, the popes created a great Christian capital and patronized artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. As Renaissance Rome became a centre of art, science, and politics, its religious role declined; thus began the steps that provoked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Small wonder that these Renaissance popes, most of whom were more involved in political and financial alliances than in pastoral work, proved unable to respond effectively to the crisis. Only later did the papacy attempt to reform the church by calling the Council of Trent (1545–63), instituting the so-called Counter-Reformation. The theological and ecclesiastical decisions of this council largely determined the shape of the Roman Catholic Church until the second half of the 20th century.

 

Visit the Papal Palace in Avignon and learn about the Avignon papacy 

See all videos for this article

​

Learn about the Western Schism (Great Schism) and the Council of Constance which unified the Church

See all videos for this article

​

The Renaissance and Reformation papacy

The Italian Renaissance, sometimes dated from the death of Petrarch in 1374, is generally seen as a break with medieval culture, but this was not entirely true, especially for the papacy, which witnessed the further development of many medieval themes. Notably, the continued decline of the political power of the Holy See was accelerated by the Great Schism (Western Schism; 1378–1417), in which rival factions of cardinals elected popes in both Rome and Avignon. The schism erupted as a result of the growing desire, voiced by Petrarch and by St. Catherine of Siena, among others, to see the papacy return to Rome. Gregory XI’s (1370–78) attempt at this led to further problems for the papacy and the outbreak of schism. His successor, Urban VI (1378–89), acted in such a high-handed fashion that he alienated a considerable number of cardinals, who elected a new pope and returned to Avignon. Although Christians were divided in their loyalties, all of them recognized the dire nature of the situation. Theologians responded with the doctrine of conciliarism, which holds that an ecumenical council has greater authority than the pope and may depose him. Although the conciliar movement ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own success, it did help to resolve the crisis. In 1417 the Council of Constance ended the schism by deposing or accepting the resignations of three rival popes (one had been elected by the Council of Pisa in 1409).

Under Pope Nicholas V (1447–55) there was a revival of classical studies, which contributed to the development of humanism and the Renaissance. Nicholas also envisioned the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica and the papal library. The vain and ostentatious Pope Paul II (1464–71), who had a virtual mania for gems and collectibles, built the magnificent Palazzo Venezia in Rome. His successor, Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84), proceeded with the beautification of the city. The secular outlook of the papacy reached a high point with the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) and continued under Pope Julius II (1503–13), who proved a great patron of the arts. In many ways Julius, known as “the Terrible,” proved a better prince than a priest, because of his love of war and political intrigue. He was followed by Pope Leo X (1513–21), who supposedly quipped upon his accession, “God has given us the papacy, now let us enjoy it.” During the 15th and 16th centuries, the popes created a great Christian capital and patronized artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. As Renaissance Rome became a centre of art, science, and politics, its religious role declined; thus began the steps that provoked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Small wonder that these Renaissance popes, most of whom were more involved in political and financial alliances than in pastoral work, proved unable to respond effectively to the crisis. Only later did the papacy attempt to reform the church by calling the Council of Trent (1545–63), instituting the so-called Counter-Reformation. The theological and ecclesiastical decisions of this council largely determined the shape of the Roman Catholic Church until the second half of the 20th century.

​

The early modern papacy

The popes of this period found their programs challenged by the growing power of the nation-states. Nevertheless, there were some positive developments, including the reform of the College of Cardinals and the founding of new orders such as the Theatines (1524), the Barnabites (1530), the Capuchins (1619), and, perhaps most important of all, the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits (1540). These orders played a crucial role in the revitalization of the church and in the growing influence of the papacy. They enabled the early modern popes—particularly Pius V (1566–72), Sixtus V (1585–90), Paul V (1605–21), Innocent XI (1676–89), and Benedict XIV (1740–58)—to proceed with their policy of evangelization. The establishment of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in 1622 demonstrated the importance of the papacy in the missionary movement. The papacy also attempted to implement the policies of the Council of Trent but encountered political and diplomatic obstacles, as well as the reality that Christendom remained divided into competing states, whose religious aspirations were often subordinate to dynastic and national ambitions.

Popes and Antipopes

Determined to continue the campaign against heresy, the popes of the Counter-Reformation did so inconsistently, displaying an ambiguous attitude toward modernization. Although they opposed the increasing infringement on papal prerogatives by national governments, they embraced the idea of structural modernization, which led to greater centralization in the church around the papacy. The 18th-century Enlightenment created a climate hostile to faith in general and to the papacy in particular. Philosophers and political leaders in France, Spain, Portugal, Naples, and elsewhere launched a two-pronged attack on the political and religious programs of the papacy, focusing much of their opposition on the Society of Jesus, which Pope Clement XIV (1769–74) was compelled to suppress in 1773. To make matters worse, the centralization of the papacy was opposed by movements such as Gallicanism (in France), Febronianism (in Germany), and Josephism (in Austria and Italy), each of which championed national ecclesiastical autonomy from Rome.

​

The International Theological Library - 1912

ARRANGEMENT OF VOLUMES AND AUTHORS - FOR THOSE WITHOUT LINKS COPY PASTE THE TITLE AND AUTHOR PDF

 

THEOLOGICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA. By Charles A. Briggs, D.D., D.Litt, Professor of Theological Encyclopaedia and Symbolics, Union Theological Seminary, New York. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By S. R. Driver, D.D., D.Litt., Regius Professor of Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford. \_Revised and Enlarged Edition. 

CANON AND TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. [Author to be announced later. 

OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. By Henry Preserved Smith, D.D., Professor of Old Testament Literature, Meadville, Pa. [Now Ready. 

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By Francis BROvra, D.D., LL.D., D.Litt., President and Professor of Hebrew, Union Theological Seminary, New York. 

THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By A. B. Davidson, D.D., LL.D., sometime Professor of Hebrew, New College, Edinburgh. [Now Ready. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Rev. James Moffatt, B.D., Minister United Free Church, Broughty Ferry, Scotland. [Now Ready. 

CANON AND TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Caspar Rene Gregory, D.D., LL.D., Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the University of Leipzig. [AW/ Ready. 

THE LIFE OF CHRIST. By WiixiAM Sanday, D D., LL.D., Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford. 

A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. By Arthur C. McGiffert, D.D., Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York. [Now Ready. 

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Frank C. Porter, D.D., Professor of Biblical Theology, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 

THEOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Gkorgk B STEVENS, D.D., sometime Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale University, New-Haven, Conn. [N^ow Ready. 

BIBLICAL ARCH>COLOGY. By G. Buchanan Gray, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, Mansfield College, Oxford. 

THE ANCIENT CATHOLIC CHURCH. By Robirt Rainy, D.D., LL.D., Bonietime Principal of New College, Edinburgh. [Now Ready. 

THE LATIN CHURCH FROM GREGORY THE GREAT TO THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. [Author to be announced later. The International, Theological Library 

THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. By W. F. Adeney, D.D.,l';iiicii)al of Independent College, Manchester. [Now Ready.

THE REFORMATION. By T. M. Lindsay, D.D., Principal of the UnitedFree College, Glasgow. [2 vols. Now Ready.

CHRISTIANITY IN LATIN COUNTRIES SINCE THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. By Paul Sabatier, D.Litt., Drome, France. SYMBOLICS. By Charles A. Briogs, D.D., D.Litt., Professor of Theological Encyclopaedia and Symbolics, Union Theological Seminary, New York. 

 

HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. By G. P. Fisher, D.D., LL.D., sometime Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. [Revised and Enlarged Edition. 

CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS. By A. V. G. Allen, D.D., sometime Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Protestant Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. \Noi. v Ready. 

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. By George Gallaway, D.D., Minister of United Free Church, Castle Douglas, Scotland. 

THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. By George F. Moork, D.D., LL.D., Professor at Harvard University. 

APOLOGETICS. By A. B. Bruce, D.D., sometime Professor of NewTestament Exegesis, Free Church College, Glasgow. [^Revised and Enlarged Edition. 

THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF GOD. By WiLLiAM N. Clarke, D. D., Professor of Systematic Theology, Hamilton Theological Seminary. [Now Ready. 

THE DOCTRINE OF MAN. By William P. Paterson, D.D., Professor of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. 

THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. By H. R. Mackintosh, PhD, Professor of Systematic Theology, New College, Edinburgh. 

THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. By George B. Stevens, D.D., sometime Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale University. [Now Ready. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. By William AdamsBrown, D.D., Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary, ^New York. 

CHRISTIAN ETHICS. By Newman Smyth, D.D., Pastor of Congregational Church, New Haven. [Revised and Enlarged Edition. 

THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR AND THE WORKING CHURCH. By Washington Gladden, D.D., Pastor of Congregational Church, Columbus,(3hio. [Now Ready. T

THE CHRISTIAN PREACHER. By A. E. Garvie, D.D., Principal of New College, London, England.

THEOLOGICAL SYMBOLICS Charles Augustus Bhiggs D.D., D.Lnr, EDINBURGH 1914

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Prof. S. K. Driver, D.D., Oxford. 12s. 

CHRISTIAN ETHICS. Newman Smyth, D.D. ios. 6d. 

APOLOGETICS; OR, CHRISTIANITY DEFENSIVELY STATED. Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D. ios. 6d. 

HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. Prof. G. P. Fisher, D.D., LL.D 12s. 

A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. Prof. A. C. McGiffert, Ph.D., D.D. I2S. 

CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONS. Prof. A. V. G. Allen, D.D. 12s. 

THE CHRISTIAN PASTOR AND THE WORKING CHURCH. Washington Gladden, D.D., LL.D. ios. 6d. 

CANON AND TEXT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Prof. Caspar Rene Gregory, D.D., LL.D. 12s. 

THE THEOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Prof. G. B. Stevens, D.D. 12s. 

THE ANCIENT CATHOLIC CHURCH (A.D. 98-451). Principal R. Rainy, D.D. I2S. 

THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHURCHES. Principal W. F. Adeney, D.D. I2S. 

OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. Prof. H. P. Smith, D.D. 12s. 

THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Prof. A. B. Davidson, D.D., LL.D. 12s. 

THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF SALVATION. Prof. G. B. Stevens, D.D. 12s. 

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. Principal T. M. Lindsay, D.D. Vol. I. The Reformation in Germany. IOS. 6d. Vol. II. In Lands beyond Germany. IOS. 6d. 

THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF GOD. Prof. W. N. Clarke, D.D. 10s. 6d. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Prof. James Moffatt, D.D. I2S. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. Prof. H. R. Mackintosh, D.Phil., D.D. ios. 6d. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. George Galloway, D.D. 12s. 

THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. Vol. I. Prof. George F. Moore, D.D. 12s. 

CHRISTIAN SYMBOLICS. Prof. C. A. Briggs, D.D. IOS. 6d. 

THEOLOGICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. Prof. C. A. Briggs, D.D. {In the Press.) 

THE LATIN CHURCH FROM LEO THE GREAT.

 

​

International Theological Library

​

Biblical Commentary Old Testament. Keil and Delitzsch.6 vols.complete

Books Of The Vaudois The Waldensian Manuscripts

Heaven_on_Earth_Or_Not_Jerusalem_as_Eden

History_of_the_Baptists_-_Armitage

THE GARDEN OF EDEN SUMMARIES FROM THE FIRST NINE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT - alledgably

The_gospel_of_the_holy_twelve

ALLEDGED DEATHs OF THE APOSTLES

THE Oldest Chuech Ma^^ual CALLED THE^teaching (cadjing of tl)c ^todu) of the twelve apostles

TΗe ΤESTAMENTS ΟΕ ΤΗE ΤWELVE ΡΑΤRIACHS

THE UNKNOWN LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST

Outlines of the life of Christ

  🎺 The Exodus. The very word invokes an epic tale of Pharaohs and Israelites, plagues and miracles, the splitting of the sea, the drowning of an army, Moses and revelation. The story is at the very heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After six years of research, working with archaeologists, Egyptologists, geologists, and theologians, Simcha Jacobovici came to the groundbreaking conclusion that the Exodus took place hundreds of years earlier than previously thought. With this new timetable in hand, Jacobovici and his colleagues re-examined long ignored archaeological artefacts and uncovered the truth about the Exodus and the Egyptian dynasty that ruled at the time. The producers teamed up with some of the world’s most accomplished special effects designers to create a unique digital, organic experience of the Exodus. Blending archeological findings with modern eye-catching effects, Jacobovici built a virtual museum to showcase his discoveries.

​

​

Sola Fide: The Erosion of The Chief Article

Justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. This is the article by which the church stands or falls. Today this article is often ignored, distorted, or sometimes even denied by leaders, scholars, and pastors who claim to be evangelical. Although fallen human nature has always recoiled from recognizing its need for Christ's imputed righteousness, modernity greatly fuels the fires of this discontent with the biblical Gospel. We have allowed this discontent to dictate the nature of our ministry and what it is we are preaching.

                                 🎺 Stephen Bohr 🎺

"Well done Stephen"! "Our Lords Good and Faithful, Servant" Also Our Angel Of Israel ~ Shining The Bright Light and Leading The Way. 🎺

 

Pastor Stephen Bohr has spent his life in mission service, and dedicated decades in ministry, and his deep theological research is ongoing. His love for the Lord is the driving force behind his commitment to spreading the cutting edge gospel message for these last days with clarity and power. On this page, you can access his presentation series on the sanctuary with accompanying pdf study guides.

 

​

 

 

​

 

Revelation 21

1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

2

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

4

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

5

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

6

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

7

He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

8

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

9

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

10

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

11

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

12

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

13

There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.

14

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.

16

The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia [1] in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

17

He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits [2] thick, [3] by man's measurement, which the angel was using.

18

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

19

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

20

the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. [4]

21

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

22

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

23

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

24

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26

The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

 

 

THE BOOK OF REVELATION Chapter 22

Eden Restored

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 

2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 

4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

 

John and the Angel

6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

10 Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

 

Epilogue: Invitation and Warning

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 

15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 

19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

​

The Central Line in the Bible – the New Jerusalem, the mingling of God and man!

The final item on the central line of the divine revelation in the Bible is the New Jerusalem! Many people think that, according to what Revelation 21 and 22 say, the New Jerusalem is a physical city.

But why would God desire to work Himself into man and mingle Himself with man, and the consummation of this work would be a physical city?

Even the Lord Jesus when He was on earth, He rejected the physical things and pointed everyone’s attention to the Spirit of reality who will come and lead us into all things!

The New Jerusalem is the consummation of all that God has willed, has desired, has planned, and has accomplished – in eternity past, in time, and in eternity future!

It is the masterpiece that He desires to have for eternity – a miraculous structure of treasure composed of God and man who have been fully united, mingled, blended, built up together, and have been made fully one!

Since it is the consummation of all that God is, has, and has done, there is SO MUCH to say about this city! The Bible simply points out things like: the great and high wall, the jasper, the golden street, the tree of life, the river of water of life in the middle of the street, the foundations, the four sides, the twelve gates, the throne, the transparent gold (the base of the city), the glory of the city, the people of God, saints in both the old and the new testament, etc.

There are so many riches of God’s wisdom, His plan, His understanding, and His glory in this city!

Below I have compiled only SOME of these items – praise the Lord for the ministry of the age which is expounding the New Testament AND going through many of the types, figures, pictures, etc – through the whole Bible – to show us this wonderful consummation of God, man, and every positive thing in the universe!

  • The New Jerusalem is a HOLY city (Rev. 21:2) – sanctified unto God, separated unto Him, and saturated with the divine nature which is holy(see the gold base of the city).

  • The New Jerusalem is NEW – as the consummation of the new creation, the New Jerusalem is constituted with God who is new and fresh, and with man which is being renewed within day by day (2 Cor. 5:17).

  • The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the work for God’s new creation out of God’s old creation through all the four ages of man’s history(the age before the law, the age of the law, the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom).

  • The New Jerusalem is the unique constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God with His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified people chosen by Him in eternity past. The New Jerusalem is a constitution of God and man – the consummated God and the deified man!

  • The New Jerusalem is the aggregate of all the visions and revelations in the Holy Scriptures – the fulfillment of all the types, figures, and shadows, and the total fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Bible! All the positive types, figures, shadows, and prophecies were about and will be consummated in the New Jerusalem!

  • The New Jerusalem is the conclusion of the entire Bible – not only because it is the last great matter in the Bible, but because it is the conclusion of God’s work on and in man throughout all the ages! Without the New Jerusalem, the Bible would not have a conclusion!

  • The New Jerusalem is an organic constitution – not something physical – constituted of God(the Redeeming God who was processed and consummated) and man (who was redeemed, transformed, and glorified). The New Jerusalem is the eternal enlargement of the organism of the Triune God, which now is the Body of Christ!

  • The New Jerusalem is full of significant numbers, especially number TWELVE(Rev. 21:12, 14, 16) – 12 gates, 12 foundations, etc. Twelve is three times four – three signifies the Triune God, four signifies man(creature). Three times four signifies the mingling of the Triune God with man! The entire New Jerusalem is the mingling of God with man!

  • The New Jerusalem is the union, mingling, and incorporation of God with man – God’s desire is to dispense Himself into man and be joined with man in an organic way. He unites Himself with man, mingles Himself with man, and eventually incorporates man into God – so that there’s no more distinction between God and man: they are fully one!

  • In the New Jerusalem there’s the reign of God – God reigns through man and in man-MARTYN AND DUA LIPA THE LION AND THE LAMB over all the earth (Rev. 22:1, 5) – all the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and built-up ones who bear the appearance of God with the glory of God shall reign as kings! Today we are being prepared to reign as kings with God by daily reigning in life!

  • The New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the kernel of the Bible, Christ and the church! MARTYN AND DUA LIPA THE LION AND THE LAMB  Everything is consummated here – God, life, light, regeneration, the holy walk, transformation, building, the appearance of God, the manifestation of God, the divine reign, man, etc.

  • The New Jerusalem is the eternal dwelling place of God and man, and the mutual abode of divinity with humanity!

  • The New Jerusalem is the temple of God(for God to dwell in, Rev. 21:22) and the tabernacle of God(for man to dwell in, Rev. 21:3) – God dwells in man and man dwells in God!

…. there is so much more to speak about if you get into the furnishings of the New Jerusalem, the elements that constitute the New Jerusalem, the glory of the New Jerusalem, the foundations, the entrance, the throne of God, the city, the walls, etc!

Wow, this is our destiny – this is what we are going towards, what we are becoming, and what we will be: the mutual dwelling place of God and man where God is fully mingled with man and man is fully one with God! Amen! [sharing inspired from, The Central Line of the Bible HWMR, and quotes from, the Ten Great Critical “Ones” for the Building up of the Body of Christ, and, The Kernel of the Bible, and, The God-Men (by bro. Witness Lee)]

Lord, may our church life today be a miniature of the New Jerusalem! Make us more one with You today! Mingle Yourself more with us! Grant us all the saints the grace to cooperate with Your work of union, mingling, and incorporation with man today! O, Lord, bring in the New Jerusalem! We want to live out the New Jerusalem and work out the New Jerusalem until we become the New Jerusalem! Gain Your heart’s desire, Lord – the New Jerusalem!

 

THE GOD-MEN

A. Born of God to Be His Sons

The first qualification of the God-men is that they are born of God to be His many sons (John 1:12-13; Heb. 2:10). Originally, we were merely created men. After being created, we became fallen sinners. We were not sons of God. But praise Him, according to His eternal economy, four thousand years after He created Adam, God came out of eternity and entered into time, and He became a man. This man is Jesus Christ. In the past two thousand years of human history, Jesus Christ as the God-man has influenced the entire world. Today He is still doing the same thing, but He is doing it not by Himself alone but by thousands and even millions of God-men, who are the mass reproduction of Him as the prototype.

Although we are of different races and nationalities, by His mercy we have all become the same: we are all God-men. A God-man is one who has been born of God. In Christianity there is a theology that tells people that we believers became sons of God not by birth but by adoption. According to this theology, we were not born of God but were merely adopted by God. However, according to the Scriptures, we, the believers in Christ, were all born of God to be His sons. As the sons of God, surely we are God-men. We are the same as the One of whom we were born. It would be impossible to be born of God and not be the sons of God. Since we are the sons of God, we are God-men.

B. Having the Divine Life

As sons of God and as God-men, we have the divine life (John 3:15, 36a). Many Christians realize that they have eternal life, yet they do not know what eternal life is. Furthermore, they do not know what the divine life is. They do not know that, as regenerated ones, they have another life in addition to their own human life. We all need to realize that in addition to our natural life, we have another life, the divine life. The natural life makes us a natural man, and the divine life makes us a divine man. We all can boast that we are divine persons because we have been born of the divine life. Since we have been born of the divine life and possess the divine life, surely we are divine persons. We have been born of the divine life; therefore, we are divine. It is a pity that the majority of regenerated people do not know that they have God’s life in addition to their own life. Our own life is a human life; thus, we are all human. But through regeneration we have received another life, which has been added to our natural life. This life is not only holy and heavenly but also divine. Thus, we have all become divine.

Although we are divine men, we need to ask ourselves whether we live, act, and behave ourselves as divine men. Some of us may feel that we are not qualified to be even a human man, not to mention a divine man. Because of our poor behavior, we may consider ourselves “turtles” and not men. Nevertheless, because we have been born of God and have the divine life, we can say that we are not only higher than the turtles, but we are even much higher than the top human beings. We may feel that we are not qualified to say this, but actually we are more than qualified. My burden in these messages is to help you to see a vision from the heavens. Do not look at yourself. We are not worthwhile to look at. We must look away to the heavens. In the heavens the angels are rejoicing because they see that all the believers are divine. The angels have only the angelic life; they are not divine. What an honor and what a glory that we human beings can be divine!

In our recent crystallization-study of the Epistle of James, I pointed out that the Christian perfection stressed by James is not the genuine Christian perfection revealed in the entire divine revelation of the New Testament. I said that the perfection stressed by James is a pretense and is the product of self-cultivation, by the natural life endeavoring to develop the “bright virtue” in the man of the old creation. This is in contrast with the genuine Christian perfection, which is produced by the believers with the rich element of all that Christ is, by the bountiful supply of the all-inclusive consummated Spirit, and through the power of Christ’s resurrection and the death of Christ’s cross. The Bible, according to God’s economy, teaches all God’s chosen ones, who have believed in Christ and have been regenerated by the Spirit and who have become the God-men, to be divine persons (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:19-21a).

(The God-Men, Chapter 1, by Witness Lee)

​

​

LIVING STREAM MINISTRY

​

Jesus<ALLLIFE>treeOfLife>godstruechurch.org

Gods First cHURCH is tHE Tree Of LIFE

Jesus<ALLLIFE>treeOfLife>godstruechurch.org

🎺  EDEN AS A TEMPLE ~ godstruechurch.org THE CONTEXT OF GENESIS 1–2 LONGING. We are creatures of longing. When we misdiagnose the object of this longing, then we become frustrated and disappointed. Our longings for a relationship often get frustrated in conflict. Our longings for satisfaction get frustrated in discontent. Our longings for significance get frustrated by our own inadequacies. J. R. R. Tolkien diagnoses the roots of our longing: “We all long for [Eden], and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, it's gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with a sense of ‘exile.’”1 The longings of our hearts are frustrated from this exile, but these longings are properly satisfied in the dwelling place of God found initially in Eden. God’s presence in his dwelling place satiates our longing for a relationship, satisfaction, and significance. The opening chapters of Genesis show how God intended those longings to be properly satisfied—in Eden. God made us for himself as his images in the Gardentemple in Eden (Gen 1–2).

🎺Congratulations 🍾 Your life's journey so far has brought you here. This is a place NOT  being advertised $ will NOT buy you a seat at GOD'S > Table ~ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. It is a judgment, covenant made by God and will only be issued on a one-one agreement: Therefore Henceforth Let The HolySpirit be your light to guide you and Choose wisely whom to pass this place on too. Many are called alas few are chosen. Now please read on and if you feel inspired to do so then spread the Gospel good news by directing to HERE! Amen. 

 

 

 Question: What is the difference between the visible and invisible church?

 

Answer: The Bible never uses the term visible church or invisible church however ~ The Garden Of Eden would be the 1st cHURCH where tHEy dWElt whilst creating on Earth. Now being Nature. But the idea of the visible church versus the invisible church is a natural result of a biblical understanding of the doctrine of salvation. The visible church is the expression of Christianity that people can see and often corrupted: the gathering and practices of the individuals in various church buildings on Sundays rather than God's Holy Sabbath other than "Sabbath Keepers" as "It Is Written" in the Bible. The invisible church is the true church, which only God can see: born-again believers, past, present, and future. Because not everyone who attends church or performs religious deeds is saved, the visible church includes unbelievers. The invisible church is comprised of the redeemed and sealed by God.

The invisible church, comprised of all the redeemed, is spiritual and heavenly and not of this world (John 18:36). As Jesus explained, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:20–21).

The invisible church does not need the physical accoutrements that make the visible church visible. Take away the liturgy from the visible church, and the invisible church will remain. Religious ceremony makes no difference to the invisible church: “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (Galatians 6:15). Burn the church building down, and the believers still comprise the church.

The visible things of this world, including church denominations, church buildings, hymnals, prayer books, and pews, will all pass away because they are temporary (1 Corinthians 7:31). The invisible things of God will never pass away because they are as eternal as heaven (Luke 12:33).

In John 4:20, the Samaritan woman at the well told Jesus, “You Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” In our terms, the Samaritan woman was speaking of the visible church. Jesus answered by defining the invisible church: “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . . A time was coming and has indeed now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit ~ rather than the flesh as now have been given new Hearts replacing that of stone, and God's 4th commandment to keep the Sabbath Holy written on their hands and fore~heads NOT taking The Mark Of The beast being Sunday worship:   
 

The Visible and Invisible Church: 

History is riddled with churches that have strayed from their purpose, from the church of the crusades to the contemporary Westboro Baptist Church. To evaluate such churches and their actions, one needs to understand the distinction between the invisible and visible church. The visible church differs from the invisible church in nature and function, but not in purpose. While the visible church strives to represent the Christian message, it will by its nature always fail to do so completely and must be treated like any other imperfect human organization.

The invisible church is a term for all believers in Jesus Christ. Humans cannot fully discern belief, an internal feeling; only God can discern the invisible church’s membership. The invisible church is a purely spiritual organisation, bound together by God, and described by Paul as “we, though many, are one body.”[2] The members of the invisible church believe in Jesus Christ. This belief is more than mere mental assent as we use it in contemporary language; it denotes trust, loyalty, and reliance. One who believes in Jesus Christ follows His teachings and lives in His stead.

A visible church is a human organization that supports Christians in their varied expressions of belief, and trust, in Christ. Like other human organizations, the members of a visible church define the organisation by external actions, such as attending worship services and sometimes by formal requirements. The members of a visible church meet, communicate, and work together to pursue common goals. A visible church is often instituted under secular law and establishes internal government. Typically, a visible church owns property like any other organization. The Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Southern Baptist Convention, Northfield’s St. John’s Lutheran Church, and Thursday Night Bible Study all exemplify visible churches. Visible churches support Christians in their belief in Christ in varying ways. Some baptize infants not true to the Word and others confirm members. Even though visible churches vary in how they support Christians, all visible churches can be discussed collectively as the visible church. Although unfortunately there has been much corruption past and present in particular within the Papacy being the pagan roman catholic church. Although the institution is not necessarily their true Christian Bible believers, many are unaware of their devilish and diabolical church history!

Visible churches provide for the institutional needs of the invisible church, just as a house provides for those who live within. The invisible church also exists outside the visible church. Since the invisible church subsists in, not as, the visible church, nonbelievers may subsist in the visible church. Not all participants in the visible church are members of the invisible church. The weakness of the verb “to subsist” indicates that unbelievers may not only subsist in, but may corrupt, rule and distort the visible church.

Although sometimes distorted, the visible church derives its purpose, sometimes distorted belief in Jesus, from the true invisible church. Christians have long wrestled with describing their belief. The descriptor apostolic means the invisible church is founded upon the tradition passed down from the twelve disciples. This term describes how “the household of God” is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” and they on Jesus. The invisible church preaches the message of the apostles, those “sent out,” that has been recounted in scripture “from those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses.”

The term one indicates unity in God despite differences of time, place, and teaching. Given the span of the invisible church, this is neither unity of tradition nor organisation. For instance, Saint Paul met the other apostles after three years of ministry. Yet, “there is one body and one Spirit, … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” In other words, the invisible church is unified under one Lord. The rule of this common Lord, as He and the one Spirit guide and direct the invisible church, provides unity of purpose and direction. Indeed, the creed begins with the subject we, which refers to the invisible church. The confession of belief in “God, the Father almighty,” “Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,” and “the Holy Spirit” reinforces the unified identity of the invisible church.

Unlike the invisible church, the visible church is not unified, sanctified, apostolic, or universal. It is divided amongst many visible churches that fight each other. Unlike the invisible church, unified and coordinated by Jesus, visible churches rarely act together. This disharmony stems from their human nature. Visible churches consist of people who, in their nature, act sinfully and proclaim themselves rather than God. Although visible churches seek to teach the apostolic message, they teach much derived from traditional and contemporary human culture. Thus, while the visible church seeks to support the invisible church, it can never do so perfectly as a collection of limited human organisations.

This raises a final stark contrast. The invisible church can be seen in Nature and was first established in The Garden Of Eden by our Great Creators. looks for its preservation into “the world to come,” while the visible church is fleeting by nature. In heaven, there will be no need for the government or property that is currently needed by the visible church. When not following Jesus, the visible church may pursue its own preservation and turn away from its mission as a house for the eternal invisible church. Hope binds all the members of the invisible church together and, if remembered, can do the same for the visible church but be aware of The Anti~ Christ ... despite its forgetful nature.

One might wonder now whether the visible church has the same purpose as the invisible church, given the many differences from the invisible church. False teachers, from the Donatists against whom St. Augustine argued to those who cited the Bible in support of racial discrimination, have plagued the visible church. In the course of college education, students become painfully aware of the visible church’s faults. Despite this flawed human nature, the visible church retains the purpose of the invisible church across the broad sweep of history.

Jesus assures that the invisible church will survive when He states that “on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” The invisible church will always subsist in visible churches since Christians, as humans, require social structure to support their faith. The visible human organization in which the invisible church is housed will always be flawed – lacking perfect unity and holiness, straying from its purpose of supporting Christian belief. For the visible church to maintain its purpose, the invisible church must indwell and guide the visible church

 

 

 

 

🎺 The Acts of the Apostles think there were only 120 disciples at that time ~ In The Upper Room On Pentecost that believed in Yeshua: “There were only 120 pledged to Christ and it is very unlikely that any of them had even been outside the narrow confines of Palestine in his life. Since there were about 4,000,000 Jews in Palestine, this means that fewer than 1 in 30,000 were Christians… If ever anything began from small beginnings the Christian church did.” ... 

 

Romans. 8:16

16 The Spirit itself beareth a witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we bsuffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

 

The law of Christ brings life and peace—Those adopted as children of God become joint-heirs with Christ—God’s elect are foreordained to eternal life—Christ makes intercession for man.

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the cSpirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me afree from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful bflesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the aSpirit.

5 For they that are after the flesh do amind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is benmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are ain the flesh cannot please God.

9 aBut ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwells in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if christ be in you, bthe body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of crighteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14 For as many as are aled by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we bsuffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the bglory which shall be revealed cin us.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the acreature itself also shall be bdelivered from the bondage of ccorruption into the glorious dliberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation agroaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, awhich have the bfirstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the cadoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

24 For we are saved by ahope: but hope that is bseen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

26 Likewise the Spirit also ahelpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should bpray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh cintercession for us with dgroanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that asearcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh bintercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that all things work together for agood to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

29 aFor whom he did bforeknow, he also cdid predestinate dto be conformed to the eimage of his Son, that he might be the ffirstborn among many brethren.

30 Moreover whom he adid predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can abe against us?

32 He that spared not his own aSon, but bdelivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us call things?

33 Who shall alay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh aintercession for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the alove of Christ? shall btribulation, or distress, or cpersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are akilled all the day long; we are accounted as bsheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are amore than bconquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to aseparate us from the blove of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

🎺  John: CHAPTER 13

Jesus washes the feet of the Twelve—He identifies Judas as His betrayer—He commands them to love one another.

1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour came that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God, and went to God;

4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

5 After that he poureth water into a basin and began to awash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

18 ¶ I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

19 Now I tell you before it comes, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

24 Simon Peter, therefore, beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

25 He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

31 ¶ Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.

36 ¶ Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterward.

37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

1And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2And Jesus said unto them, See ye, not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

False Christs

5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Witnessing to All Nations

(Mark 13:10-13; Luke 21:10-19)

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The Abomination of Desolation

(Mark 13:14-23; Luke 21:20-24)

15When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before.

The Return of the Son of Man

(Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-28)

26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The lesson of the Fig Tree

(Mark 13:28-31; Luke 21:29-33)

32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things are fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Be Ready at Any Hour

(Genesis 6:1-7; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48)

36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  

 

🎺CORAM DEO ("core-um day-oh") is a Latin phrase meaning "in the presence of God" As followers of Christ we live our lives Coram Deo: in the presence of God, under the authority of God, for the glory of God.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’” (

Four different horses and riders were released when Jesus opened the first four seals of the heavenly scroll, revealing that war, violence, disease, famine, economic calamity, and death will come and go around the world as we wait for the return of Christ (Rev. 6:1–8). Our Lord’s opening the fifth seal allows us to see not what is happening on earth during this era but rather what is happening in heaven. As we will see, however, the situation in heaven is not entirely disassociated from earthly events.

Christ opens the fifth seal, and John sees “under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (v. 9). John views Christians who have died for their faithfulness to Jesus, the company of martyrs who have paid the ultimate price for their gospel testimony. Their earthly lives have ended, they live on in heaven waiting for the resurrection of their bodies. That they are under the heavenly altar and able to converse with the Lord indicates that the close, ongoing relationship between Christ and His people does not end at death.

Scripture and first-century Jewish tradition both speak of the messianic woes, a period of intense suffering for the people of God that precedes the consummation of the Messiah’s reign (Dan. 7:21–22; Mark 13:19–20; Col. 1:24). God’s Word also talks about His truth going forth from Israel to the nations and the conversion of gentiles to faith in the God of Israel (e.g., Isa. 19:19–25; 43:10–12; Mic. 4:1–2; Zech. 2:11). Commentators note that John’s vision in Revelation 6:9–11 brings all these things together, making it plain that the conversion of the nations involves the suffering of God’s people as witnesses to the truth. As horrible as the death of the martyrs may be, it serves a purpose in the Lord’s eternal plan of salvation.

This does not mean that God will not hold to account the people who inflict such suffering. The martyrs in heaven cry out for vindication, and Jesus promises that it is coming, but not quite yet. First, the full number of those appointed for martyrdom must die (vv. 10–11). The Lord has not forgotten those who suffer for their faith. He takes note of every injustice visited on His children and will repay it in full. “When this number [of martyrs] is fulfilled, God will take a just and glorious revenge upon their cruel persecutors; he will recompense tribulation to those who trouble them, and to those that are troubled full and uninterrupted rest.”

Scripture is filled with the righteous crying out to God and asking Him how long it will be until He vindicates them. When we are suffering for our faithfulness to Christ, it may seem as if the Lord is slow to set things right. However, everything is proceeding according to His plan, and our suffering for His sake plays an important part in His eternal purposes. He will certainly not overlook it.

🎺tHE  abominable PersecUtERS oF tHE InnoCENT MARTYr's tHE SAINTS LeT JudgMEnet fALL wITh tHE WRaTH oF  GODThe Guilt of MankinThe wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, Romans 1:18 New International Version

 

 

 

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

Primary source citations

  1. ^ St. John of the Cross, OCD, "Book 2, Chapter 5, Section 7", The Ascent of Mount Carmel

  2. ^ Irenaeus, "Book 5, Preface", Against Heresies, retrieved 2012-11-06

  3. ^ Jump up to:a b Irenaeus, "Book 4, Chapter XXXVIII", Against Heresies, retrieved 2012-11-06

  4. ^ Clement of Alexandria, "Chapter I", Exhortation to the Heathen, retrieved 2012-11-06

  5. ^ Jump up to:a b Clement of Alexandria, "Book III, Chapter I", The Instructor, retrieved 2012-11-06

  6. ^ Clement of Alexandria, "Book VII, Chapter XVI", The Stromata, or Miscellanies, retrieved 2012-11-06

  7. ^ Clement of Alexandria, "Book V, Chapter X", The Stromata, or Miscellanies, retrieved 2013-09-30

  8. ^ Justin Martyr, "Chapter CXXIV", Dialogue with Trypho, retrieved 2012-11-06

  9. ^ Theophilus of Antioch, "Book II, Chapter 27", To Autolycus, retrieved 2013-09-30

  10. ^ Hippolytus of Rome, "Book X, Chapter 30", Refutation of all Heresies, retrieved 2013-09-30

  11. ^ Hippolytus of Rome, The Discourse on the Holy Theophany, retrieved 2014-01-08

  12. ^ Athanasius, "Discourse I, Paragraph 39", Against the Arians, retrieved 2012-11-06

  13. ^ Athanasius, "Discourse III, Paragraph 34", Against the Arians, retrieved 2012-11-06

  14. ^ Athanasius, "Section 54", On the Incarnation, retrieved 2012-11-06

  15. ^ Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism 37

  16. ^ Gregory of Nyssa (April 2010), On Christian Perfection, p. 116, ISBN 9780813211589, retrieved 2013-09-30

  17. ^ Augustine of Hippo, "Psalm 50", Exposition on the Book of Psalms, retrieved 2012-11-06

  18. ^ Catholic Church (1995), "Article 460", Catechism of the Catholic Church, New York: Doubleday, ISBN 0385479670, retrieved 2012-11-06

  19. ^ St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, "First Part of the Second Part, Question 112, Article 1, Response", Summa Theologiae

  20. ^ St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, "First Part of the Second Part, Question 110, Article 1, Response", Summa Theologiae

  21. ^ St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, "Third Part, Question 1, Article 2", Summa Theologiae

  22. ^ Catherine of Siena (1980), The Dialogue, Suzanne Noffke, trans., New York: Paulist Press, p. 147, ISBN 0809122332

  23. ^ Orestes Brownson (1875), Our Lady of Lourdes

  24. ^ Lancelot, Andrewes (1843), Ninety-Six Sermons, Oxford: J H Parker, p. 109, OCLC 907983

  25. ^ Wesley, John, Plain Account of Christian Perfection, retrieved 2012-11-06

  26. ^ John Paul II, ORIENTALE LUMEN [Eastern Light] (in Latin), retrieved 2012-11-06. 

  27. ​

  28. ​

  29. Biblical Foundations Institute The Revelation of THE NEW JERUSALEM by J.S. Vaughn Th.d. Who or What Exactly is this City of God? The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 2 Restoring Original The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 4 Restoring Original Christianity Have We Misunderstood? Streets of gold; Gates of pearl; Little streams of holy water flowing throughout and mansions bright, glistening against the eternal and sunless sky. This is the New Jerusalem, right? A city where “the sun never sets and the leaves never fade”. This has indeed been our understanding for so many years in the Christian church. The songs written about this “beautiful city of Gold” and the hymns which tell us of her beauty fill the pages and the volumes of Christian literature. We have envisioned from the Apostle Johns writings this place of high walls and twelve foundations of precious stones resting perfectly at a fifteen hundred miles square. However, what if we have been completely childish in our thinking on this subject and rather than truth we have delighted in Disney like caricatures.? Of course, your first response is utter

  30.  

  31. contempt, I understand completely. Old habits are indeed hard to break and old thinking is nearly impossible to change, especially concerning religion. However, I have faith in both you and the Holy Spirit. It is my firm belief that He led you to this writing and now you owe it to yourself to at least peruse its pages and test it by the Word of God to see if these things be so. Is it possible that perhaps the story is much more beautiful than originally thought when it is truly understood in it’s intended portrayal? Far be it from me to take away the beauty of Heaven from you; it is actually my wish to show you even greater beauty and how that beauty applies to you personally. In this teaching we will intend to prove to you that in fact we have misunderstood the writings of John and as a result missed out on the greater message and the greater beauty. It is our opinion after the illumination of revelation and intense study that in fact the New Jerusalem is not a place but rather a people! How- Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 5 ever, we are quick to acknowledge the duality of scripture and fully understand how these verses can have dual application. We also fully acknowledge that there will be a literal city here on earth from which the Bride of Christ and Messiah will jointly reign over the nations. However, we do not believe that the writings of John concerning what he terms as “The New Jerusalem” are describing that literal city but rather a literal people. To Whom Was John Writing? Before we can ever attempt to understand the revelation of John the Apostle we must begin with very primary research. We must set the context of his writing into it’s proper setting. In the times of this book of Revelation, the saints were a pretty defeated lot; so it seemed to the naked and faithless eye. They were being used as sport in the arenas of Rome, they were hunted down as animals and enemies of Caesar because of their unwillingness to worship him as a god. There was no prosperity gospel being preached in Johns church because the saints of his day were ridiculed and mocked and spat upon and at times one does wonder how they held on to faith in such tumultuous times. This was one of the darkest days of the church with a Messiah that had promised to come quickly and it The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 6 Restoring Original Christianity seemed as if this little ragtag church had been sold a bill of goods that was based on false promises rather than facts. One has to read no further than Fox’s Book of Martyrs to find the horrible and fearful days that had gripped the church. What they needed now was a vision of hope. They needed to see into their future rather than their present. This little and scattered church needed to see a big victory, they needed

  32.  

  33. to see a savior coming in glory and majesty. It was in this setting of defeat that Yashua (Jesus) chose to give John a vision, a peek into the future and the coming Lords Day; which is known throughout scripture as the seventh day millennium reign of Jesus Christ,; the celestial Sabbath rest still promised to the whole world when “the wicked shall cease from troubling and the weary shall be at rest.” We know that God does nothing without revealing it first unto His prophets, so therefore He allows John a peek into what He is going to do during The Lords Day, the coming Sabbath day when Yahshua along with His bride shall reign from the city of David. Needless to say, the vision of that day, the coming golden age of which all the Old Covenant prophets spoke about and longed for is much more glorious and resplendent than they day John and the church were living in. At the present time, some sixty years after Christ resurrected, His church was on the verge of what seemed to be extinction and thus the following vision of the book of Revelation is given to show the believers “the back of the book” or “the end of the story” and from these symbols flow forth the blessed hope of the church that we shall soon discover. From these pages penned by the hands of a trembling and elderly Apostle will flow forth a total different description of a glorious church, a New church, a church victorious over Babylon and all of her tormentors; indeed this is the vision that is about to come forth while “in the spirit.” Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 7 The vision is little understood because it is not written in plain language for the average reader. Rather, it is written in what seems to be strange code and symbols, why did God choose the method of symbology rather than the plainness of text? The Mysterious Symbols Many students find much greater understanding of Johns vision when they come to realize that this book was written in symbols and signs. As a matter of fact the angel of Yahweh symbolizes the majority of this book as recorded in the primordial verse of the book; Rev 1:1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John Please take special note of the word “Signified” in the above verse; when studied in it’s original Greek language it means “to give a sign”. Therefore, the angel of Yahweh would give John many signs or symbols of very spiritual and deep things; almost impossible for the The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 8 Restoring Original Christianity human mind to comprehend. However, why did God choose to use such symbolism? We only have to begin reading the first chapter and the symbols began to come

  34.  

  35. pouring at us. We see Yahshua (Jesus) standing before a large candlestick with seven stars in His hands, these are all symbols of deeper truth, a deeper message which can only be understood when the symbols used to describe these truths are understood. But again, Why? Is God simply playing with our minds? Is this some sick game of scriptural trivia? Hardly so! God is all knowing, He knows the end before the beginning ever begins. So, with this all seeing eye He knew that this book was a book being written to all of the future church ages that would span over two thousand years of time. Since this book was to be a book of inspiration and hope for the church during many and various persecutions of the future, it simply could not be written in common language, only the use of symbols would stand the test of time. Primarily because languages changes over time. Many words fall into disuse and many new words come into use. A perfect example would be the relatively new term “google it” a phrase unheard in my childhood and no one would have known how to respond to such a term. The word “hell” had total different meanings in old English than it does in modern English. Many words have simply disappeared from use altogether. One can simply listen to the Queen of England speak and you will recognize the sound of a language of another time and place. However, the same is not true with symbols, their meanings never change! If you wrote a book in strictly symbols, it would be understood a thousand years from now because the symbols are a structured part of our mind-set and thus a safe Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 9 way to communicate past the obstacles of outdated language and the passing of time. This is the very reason that the zodiac has lasted throughout so many centuries because it is an art of strictly symbols. Everyone knows what Virgo, a virgin represents. Every society and civilization when searching through their historical records, there is always evidence of their use of the zodiac because the symbols are exactly the same. Much of the mystery of this book is vanquished when we get a clear understanding of these age enduring symbols that God is using to speak to His church in these last days. Here is a list of some of the most common symbols used in the book of Revelation. Symbol Meaning Candlestick Stars Sword Sea White Horses Babylon Number 12 Number 144 The Lords Day City Mountains Lamb Lion Church of the Living God Angels, Messengers, Pastors War, Destruction, Death Mass of wicked humanity, depravity of flesh Victory & Triumph False Religious systems Divine Government 12 multiplied by 12 The 1,000 year Millennium reign of Yahshua Groups of People World Governments Yahshua, Jesus Christ as servant

  36.  

  37. Yahshua, Jesus Christ as king As you continue your study into this subject, it is paramount that you keep in mind that very little in this book is to be taken literally as it is a “signified” or symbolized book; otherwise many erroneous

  38.  

  39. conclusions will be drawn up by the carnal mind. The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 10 Restoring Original Christianity Is the New Jerusalem to be Seen as literal? This is a question that we will attempt to answer by looking at other descriptions in the book of Revelation. First let us look at a few things that will be inside of this New Jerusalem and let’s check to see if it pass “The literal test” or rather does it pass “The allegorical, symbolical test”. We will first look at The Tree of Life that will be located inside of the New Jerusalem. Rev 2:7 - He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God We are told that this is a “tree of eternal life” and yet Jesus says that He alone has eternal life, the He alone is the source of eternal life. Are we to now believe that there is a literal tree that we will all gather around and eat the literal fruits of eternal life from? I hope that your answer is a resounding, No! A tree cannot give us eternal life; However, a tree is a source from which fruit comes. Therefore, this tree is telling us and symbolizing the true source of eternal life will be in this city and we all know who that source is; the very son of God. Therefore, we can without any stretch of the imagination correctly say that this symbol does not pass “The Literal Test” and therefore we look at the meaning behind this sign. Using the same logic will you be willing to truthfully apply these same rules of interpretation when we get to the chapter that is speaking to us about The New Jerusalem; scholastic integrity demands that we do so. Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 11 Understanding Natural Jerusalem Exactly, what is so special about this piece of natural real estate that has been the cause of centuries of wars and in the our present day the cause of much tension and chaos? More importantly why has Yahweh shown so much interest in this city? Have you ever stopped and studied how Jerusalem came to be? This is

  40.  

  41. imperative before we can understand the meaning of the New Jerusalem we must first understand the nuances of the natural Jerusalem. This was not always the city of David nor the capital of Gods holy nation, Israel. At one time in the annals of history it was simply a high mountain fortress inhabited by the Jebusites. The name of the city was Jebus at that time. The inhabitants of this great fortress were the last enemies to be conquered by David and their defeat seemed so absolutely impossible that they made fun of David and told him that they could let the blind and the lame of the city defend it and David couldn’t conquer it; Study the story for yourself in II Sam 5:6-13. However, God had

  42.  

  43. promised David “all this land” and up until this time that promise was unfulfilled. Many times in your life, the promises of God require you to overcome the obstacles needed to be removed before these promises can find a resting place in your life. This was the last thing that tormented David was this unconquered mountain. Most of the time, the very last thing that’s waiting to be conquered is the very thing that has hindered your destiny. So, David made up his mind to conquer this high mountain and establish it as the City of David. As they say, the rest is history! To this date, it is still known as The City of David; it was indeed his greatest challenge and his greatest victory. So, therefore the name was changed to represent the struggle was over because the name Jerusalem mean the city of peace. As you study this subject keep in The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 12 Restoring Original Christianity mind that those who reach the pinnacle of The New Jerusalem will like David, represent conquerors. This is a city to be obtained, it is the symbol of victory and triumph. Thus, when John the Apostle is writing to encourage his fledgling flock of Nazarenes, he is about to tell them about a place fit for conquering kings; the New Jerusalem. This city is often referred to as Mt. Zion because this is the conquerors mountain. The only ones you will see in this city or this group of people will be those who have overcome every temptation of the flesh and kept not only the faith of Christ but also the commandments of God. This group of people as represented by The symbol of this city will have plowed their way through the hazards of hell, while living in this lifetime and refused to bow down to the lies of Satan and have pressed through to complete victory; to be counted among this new group of conquerors. In the Bible, people were always “going up” to Jerusalem. You begin your journey at Mt. Calvary but you will spend your walk with God always “going up” to Mt. Zion, the New Jerusalem. Paul’s Perspective On The New Jerusalem Now, let’s take a peek into the writings of the Apostle of Reconciliation himself and see if we can find how he interpreted the New Jerusalem. Before doing so, let me ask you a question. If Jerusalem is the capital of Israel would there be any harm in referring to the New Jerusalem as the new Israel? Think about that for a moment. Now, I must take a moment to clear up a horrible misunderstanding concerning the Jews and Gentiles. So many of us raised in Christianity before finding The Way of Truth thought of ourselves as Gentiles who had been saved by grace. However, we failed to realize that should no longer identify ourselves as Gentiles because Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 13 in fact we are not Gentiles any longer. I Cor 12:2 - Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Did you notice the past tense of this statement? He went on to say in that same setting that NOW you have become “fellow citizens with the

  44.  

  45. household of faith and the commonwealth of the holy nation Israel” Under the Old Covenant there was only one way to join the nation or the household of faith; through circumcision. Nothing has changed, today circumcision is still required of all believers; the only difference being that this ceremony is now performed by a greater physician with a more precise set of scissors. There is still a cutting away of the flesh, the sin nature and this is performed by the Holy Spirit rather than the hands of men. Howbeit, once this circumcision has begun then you are “grafted into” the nation of Israel and thus this make you an Israelite and more specifically a Jew. Paul tell us that someone is a Jew when they have been circumcised inwardly. So, therefore you must refrain from seeing yourself as a Gentile any longer, you are now part of a new nation, the new Israel or the New Jerusalem. This is not the same as Replacement Theology, that satanically inspired doctrine teaches that God is through with natural Israel and has now replaced her with the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. We did not replace the nation of Israel but rather we joined them as prophesied by the prophet Ezekial when he saw the two sticks becoming one stick or one nation. With this in mind we can now journey into Pauls writings about New Israel or New Jerusalem. In the letter to the Galatians, specifi- The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 14 Restoring Original Christianity cally in Chapter 4:25-31; Paul begins speaking about a people of a New Covenant. He then describes how the New Covenant is a more spiritual covenant than fleshly and how that those who are in the New Covenant make up a city called “Jerusalem above” or “Heavenly Jerusalem or spiritual Jerusalem.” He then continues to tell us that we are a free people who make up the church; free from the control of the flesh and the law of sin and death. He then continues to explain how this New Jerusalem is represented by a woman, as “The mother of us all” Please take special note of how Paul pictures the church; as the New Jerusalem. Coincidence? Hardly! Now, let’s continue into the mind of Paul and see if he continues to substantiate our claims that this is not a literal city but rather a metaphorical city with an even greater meaning for the Bride of Christ. As as student of scripture I would highly recommend you turn to the 12th Chapter of the book of Hebrews. Beginning in verse twenty-two we find even further proof of WHO this New Jerusalem is. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels Paul is writing to the church about their present condition as member of this new Israel, an Israel to be composed of all twelve tribes. He tells them and us that we

  46.  

  47. have left our Gentile status and we’ve arrived at a completely new destination. We are now citizens of the city of God. He refers to it as Mt. Zion, the conquerors mountain and then he further explains this new place of our spiritual existence as the heavenly Jerusalem or the new Jerusalem. Whereas the natural Jerusalem is of an old order, the new Jerusalem is of a new and vibrant spiritual order. Now, consider with me his use of words; the city of the living God. What is a city? It is a dwelling place for certain people. This city that Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 15 you are I are now members of is the actual city wherein Yahweh dwells. We all most certainly know where He dwells today; within the church, made up of living stones and individuals rather than brick and mortar. So, this group of people, these newly circumcised Israelites, former Gentiles, you and I are called Mt. Zion, we are called the city of God and we are called the New Jerusalem. How interesting to say the least. When you get to the book of Revelation you are going to read about a vision given to John whereas those exact same euphemisms are used to describe what he is seeing in his vision. As we continue to verse twenty-three we find even more Pauline evidence concerning his understanding of what and more specifically who the New Jerusalem is. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect Interestingly enough in the verse preceding this one Paul is speaking of the city of God and the New Jerusalem in reference to the church. He continues the same verbiage here when he follows up with more descriptions of this glorious lady. He calls her the general assembly of the firstborn. We all know who the “firstborn from the dead” was and is; Yahshua. Therefore, the church of the firstborn is the people of the name, the called out assembly that is being trained in the womb of the church to reign with Christ during His celestial golden, kingdom age. He continues to express exactly who this holy church is made up of. Men who were justified at Calvary and now their minds or spirits are being perfected and also this could very well be a recognition of those Old Covenant saints who were considered just but they were awaiting salvation at Calvary and in this church they are counted among us The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 16 Restoring Original Christianity The Tale of Two Cities T hat Great City Now, we begin our ascent into the book of Revelation where we will endeavor to bring all of the things we have learned about the New Jeruslaem in all the other verses into alignment with what John was seeing in his vision upon the isle of Patmos when he was escorted spiritually

  48.  

  49. into a vision of the future Lords Day, more commonly known as The Millennium Reign. We immediately see again another use of symbology in the use of the word, Cities. In Johns vision he sees two very different types of cities or peoples.

  50.  

  51. Those who make up the false systems of the world, the ones who so carnally minded control the governments of the world and they are know today as “the powers that be.” This city is known as the unholy city or rather “That Great City” the city of Babylon. Rev 18:10 - Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “’Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’ This beloved Pastor, John the Revelator is living in the same world Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 17 that you and I are living in, ruled by Babylon. The sheep that he tended to were slaves to that Babylonian system as they endeavored to serve faithfully their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, as soon as he was carried away into a vision of the coming Lords Day He saw something very different. He did not see the present situation of Babylon on control wile the Bride suffered her persecution. Rather, he saw the absolute destruction of this system of demons. It is THIS MESSAGE that John’s vision is meant to reveal to this queenly bride who is in exile in Satan’s government while awaiting the triumphant return of her bridegroom. Until this vision, Babylon is in control but now he sees her destruction and a few chapters later he begins to see the reign and the rule of another city. This other city that he sees coming down from God out of the air is not like Babylon that he just viewed in heavenly vision, this city likened to a woman also is not considered “That Great City.” She is not bedecked in the tinklets of Hollywood or the tapestries of Rome. Blinking ligts and cheap gold is not her calling card; she is different, she is very different. T hat Holy City She is more respectfully called; That holy City. Unlike that Great City she doesn’t get caught up in the world affairs; she doesn’t fight her own battles but rather she trust in her bridegroom. While the inhabitants of That Great City trust in money and schemes she lives separated unto her God. Now, in heavenly vision John sees the turning of the tide in world affairs. He now sees this little bride who was wounded by the Anti-Christ descending to scale her throne as the Queen of the Millennium. In the following scriptures John will The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 18 Restoring Original Christianity begin to describe through the use of symbology what he is seeing in this Holy City, this holy Bride, this perfected and matured church of the living God who has proven to be an overcomer in this life. The Brides Beautiful & Heavenly Description While John is in rapturous vision an angel offers to show him what the entire vision was about anyhow and the culmination of the entire vision. All the other chapters and symbols were leading up to this moment, for John to deliver a

  52.  

  53. message, a vision of hope to the Bride of Christ. Rev 21:9 - And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife Before we go any further into this vision and before we arrive at the streets of gold those beloved gates of pearl; can you please re-read the above verse and tell yourself exactly what this is a vision of? The angel is about to show John none other than a glorious church, He is about to show John exactly what the verse says; The Bride! Not a literal city for us to all long for and write songs about. This is not a description of what the kingdom of God will look like but rather what the finished product called THE BRIDE will look like after she has been perfected in the church ages. And now John begins to describe with symbols and signs what he is seeing as the bride descends. Rev 21:10 - And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 19 First, John was carried away unto a great and high mountain; what could this mountain be? One must study no further than the book of Daniel to find out that the government of Christ upon the earth will be a “mountain that fills the whole earth.” This will be an earth encompassing one-world government that will bring all other governments under its control. This all happens during The Lords Day, the sabbath promised to the whole world, the Millennium Reign of Jesus Christ. So, this is where the angel takes John; into the future day of the Lord and the government of Christ and His bride. Notice, she is descending “from God out of Heaven”. Now, this presents an opportunity for those who promote a pre-tribulation rapture to begin dancing for joy as they try to use this as out of context, proof-text to enhance their unbiblical argument. They say “See, she is coming out of Heaven and therefore this proves that she was raptured to Heaven before the tribulation. However, their joyful glee ends the moment we study the meaning of the word, Heaven. It is a mistake to think of the celestial world each time you see the word Heaven. The particular word normally has nothing to do with all things celestial. Rather, it has to do with the visible sky, the air, the atmosphere of the naked eye. We know this how? By studying the greek word Ouranos. Upon your research you will find no reference to the place called heaven. Therefore, we can safely conclude that John is witnessing the church descend out of the atmosphere. The next logical question is “Why is she up there” if as we teach, the dead are sleeping and this is the resurrected church, why

  54.  

  55. is she descending rather than ascending? The answer is found in I Thess 4:17 - After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever John sees the Bride descending immedi- The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 20 Restoring Original Christianity ately after she ascends to meet the Lord for the first time in the air - this is the wedding! She was called up to meet Him in the air before the whole watching world as a display of His grace and once this moment has ended it will then be time for Him and her to begin their descent to the Mt. of Olives where together they will usher in the Lords Day, the Sabbath day that the whole earth has groaned for, the manifestation of the sons of God will be on this day. She Had Bridal Glory Rev 21:11 - Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal Here is one of the most compelling scriptures to prove our postulation. What John was seeing; she “had the glory of God” this bride was the glory of her husband. When Paul was addressing ladies in their need to cover themselves He says “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man” The woman, the Holy City that John is envisioning is indeed the glory of her husband. She has a meek and a quiet spirit, she has proven her fidelity while living in the captivity of Lucifer’s government. This glory that is in the Bride was promised by the Apostle Paul to be a trademark of the true Brides identity. The “glory of God is His character and His nature - she has both! Rom 8:18 - For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. John also noticed her light. What a light that emanates from her core; from her center. One mustn’t search very far through Holy Writ to find exactly what this symbol of light represents. This light is her love for not only the faith of Christ but also the command- Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 21 ments of Yahweh. The true bride will be identified for both her appreciation of His grace and also her adoration for His eternal law. Prov 6:23 - For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life John is seeing a bride who not only had grace but also law, not only faith but also works; a completely matured and perfected bride. This corresponds perfectly with a scriptural description of the 144,000. Rev 12:17 - And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Do you see the parallel? The Dragon, Lucifer was angry with this Bride because those who are in her womb, all of us who are growing unto maturity; we are commandment keepers and we have the faith of Christ. This bride is a commandment

  56.  

  57. keeping bride and therefore this is the light coming from her that John is describing in his vision; oh the wonder of it! She is Separated by Her Walls One of the next things that John wishes to express to all of us in Gods little flock that would be reading this vision in the distant future is the fact that the Bride is separated from the world and that in that future Lords Day none of the evil ones will be allowed inside of her government. She will rule with protection and she all liars will be outside of her territory. Her walls are high and strong; she was never defeated and hell never prevails against her because her The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 22 Restoring Original Christianity walls are her salvation. Walls are built to keep people out and ironically John spends considerable time addressing those who would be locked out of the city of God, thus showing us the reason he is telling us about the walls surrounding the Bride. In this vision John assures us all that when that Day comes, we will be eternally secure. Every long mile of this journey will have been worth it as we rest in our eternal sabbath when the sound of war and violence is no longer heard. Never again will we be bludgeoned by evil enemy forces who inhabit the high places. Sadly, many people believe they have salvation now when in fact they have “the hope of salvation” but in that day - hope will be our reality. Isaiah prophecies about these same walls that John is seeing; both prophets see the same walls around new Israel or New Jerusalem. Isa 60:18 - No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise Twelve Gates into The City Rev 21:12 - And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel John will now describe the only provided way into this Holy City. There is only one legal entrance and no one can come into her by attack or by destruction; they can only come in at the gate. Jesus, the tree of life Himself said that He was the way into the Holy City and that “no man can come unto the Father except by Him.” Then upon His departure from earth, Christ announces that He is going to build this New Israel or New Jerusalem upon a strong foundation of The Apostles teachings. Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 23 Eph 2:20 - And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone There was a legally authorized entrance into the church of God made when Christ deputized His personal Apostles to go forth and teach men everywhere, not to pray the sinners prayer, but rather to make obedience disciples

  58.  

  59. of all men and teach them all that I have commanded. This is exactly what these Apostles did and any church that teaches contrary to their teachings are not members of this church that John is envisioning because as you are about to see; these Apostles; their teachings are the only legal entrance into the Holy Bride of Christ which is built upon the Apostles doctrine. T he Number 12 Please note that you will now begin to see the reoccurrence of a certain number in the remaining description of this city and that number is none other than the number of Divine Government, the number twelve. God uses numbers! God likes numbers! Why? I cannot answer but He has this thing about numbers. Before we can fully understand the number Twelve and Gods infatuation with it we must first understand the number Six, which is actually the broken twelve. Six is a very carnal, fleshly and adversarial number. This number six is known as the number of man. Obviously man was created on the sixth day and therefore the man of sin is always identified with the number six. We first see the number six in the first adversary of Israel, Goliath. We should note that he had six fingers and six toes. As time goes along we see yet again the number six in defiance to Yahweh in the image of Nebuchanezzar. This false god was built at the measurements of sixty by six thus bringing the number six to the next power. Goliath had six finger and toes and now the King The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 24 Restoring Original Christianity builds a false God with six and six. Finally, we see the ultimate enemy of Israel, Gods true church identified with three sixes; 666. All of these instances of six have something in common, a rebellious stance towards the laws of God and the person of Yahweh. However, when that number six is conquered in our lives by meeting number seven at the cross then something begins to change. Seven is Gods number of perfection and when the Holy Spirit begins working in our lives and we yield to His working then we begin coming under heavenly government. We begin to love authority and submission to family government and human government as it typifies heavenly government. Our natures begin to change into something less adversarial and less selfish as we go through the change. It is then that God conquers our sex nature and stamps it with His nature; the number twelve! We must understand this number and why God chose to use it in separating the tribes of Israel into Twelve. Also, the reason Christ chose Twelve disciples; this is an orderly and structured number.

  60.  

  61. There is a reason there are signs of the zodiak because before Satan perverted it, this constellation was a perfect display of heavenly government and order. Thus the reason you will begin to see the mention of Twelve in this Holy City, the Bride of Christ, because she has been conquered by the Nazarene. We see now that there are Twelve gates; typifying the message of salvation as given to us by the Apostles. Twelve Angels Standing at these entrances to Gods Holy City we find twelve angels. The word “angel” in this verse does not necessarily mean heavenly angels’ Rather, the word means “messenger” and we know that the Apostles were Messengers sent forth. They preached a message. Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 25 Here we find them standing at the entrance of the church sounding forth their message and their message makes up the essence of the gates. The Names Written On The Gates What a great mystery this has been in the minds of the church for all of these years; these names written upon the gates of the New Jerusalem. However, the gossamer cloth of confusion begins to fall away from our understanding when we understand exactly what or rather who Israel is. No, it is not the church without natural Israel as we have been taught. We have not replaced the natural Jew but rather we have joined the natural Jew and therefore formed one Olive Tree out of both the rooted tree and the wild tree. When we understand this then we can see that this New Jerusalem is only the embodiment of those who make up the Nation of Israel, all twelve tribes. Now, there is much truth that we have not known in Gods church concerning these twelve tribes. However, you will need to order our booklet; The Lost Tribes to better understand the full meaning of why John is seeing the names of the twelve tribes. For the sake of space I will try to simplify it all by reminding you that Jesus told His Apostles that they would each one rule over one of the twelve tribes and thus this is what John is seeing in vision. The church of Jesus Christ will be made up ONLY of the twelve tribes and this is further proof that John is seeing the church in this vision. Again, I would highly recommend out booklet; The Lost Tribes for a better understanding of this particular part of John’s vision. The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 26 Restoring Original Christianity The Foundation of The City Rev 21:14 - And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb If the walls, the security of this beloved bride is her salvation that she has finally received at her resurrection then what is that salvation founded upon or based upon? Here, John looks at the foundation of her salvation and sees what he has been seeing the entire time; her foundation is the teachings and the doctrines of the Apostles of the Lamb. This is indeed an Apostolic church; a church based on the Apostles authority and teachings. Notice, there is not separate foundations but rather each Apostle is part of the foundation. Measuring The Lady; her fitting Rev 21:15 - And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. John, the beloved has reached a point in his vision of the Bride of utmost importance. Here, John makes it quite plain that all the suffering has not been without purpose. The purpose of the suffering and the pain was to bring this lady unto “the full stature of Christ”. This must be the mark which she is measured against. She must have grown from a six to a twelve; from rebellion to obedience; from selfish to selfless; from the way of get to the way of give. She must have matured from a dirt standard and a flesh standard to the gold standard; the standard of the man, Christ Jesus. An angel comes to John with a golden reed. Why? Because, anything less Biblical Foundations Institute “Training for Reigning & Schooling for Ruling” 27 than “gold tried in the fire” will be less than a perfect measurement. Although salvation is a free gift of grace; the obtaining of this measurement for brideship will cost you everything. This place beyond “Called” is a place known as “Chosen” and the journey from one to another is not without price. In this part of the vision this betrothed bride is actually at her fitting for her bridal gown. This is the time of the probationary judgement immediately after the resurrection where each of the chosen will stand before Christ to be granted their respective realms of authority in the golden kingdom upon earth. Rev 21:16 - And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. This lady has just passed a pivotal test in the above verse. She measures up to a perfect balance; foursquare! She is not out of balance, she is not a church of just grace or just law. She is not a church of just faith or just works. Her length is equal to her breadth; she had preached and adhered to a full gospel; lacking in no area. May I draw your immediate attention to the exact measurement of the church? How many furlongs did she measure up to? I do believe the number would be Twelve! Do you see it? She measures up from six to twelve. She is a balanced church of faith and commandment keeping; not one without the other. Rev 21:17 - And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel For the sake of teaching and learning allow me to ask you again; what is the product of twelve multiplied to it’s highest power? Is your answer 144? Then please note in the above verse that this The New Jerusalem, Fully Explained 28 Restoring Original Christianity bride while being measured is perfectly identified as once again the 144,000! Absolutely, read the verse! Her perfect measurement is 144; meaning she is twelve all the way around. This measurement is according to the judgement or the measurement of a

  62.  

  63. man. However, we would be remiss to think that this is the measurement of just any man for it is not. Rather, this is the measurement of a man who is also an angel or a messenger. Who did Paul say that we must equal up to? The man, the

  64. GodMan Christ Jesus. So, why would He be referred to as an angel in the book of Revelation? Quite simply because that’s exactly what He was - the Messenger of The Covenant. Mal 3:1 - Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts So, the bride has measured up to the Messenger of her Covenant; the man, Christ Jesus - Yahshua. Rev 21:18 - And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. As John’s vision of hope continues he re-emphasizes how that this church has reached a golden standard. He says that she was in fact pure gold and so perfect that the bride is transparent with no hidden sin, no hidden agenda and no malcontent of the heart. There isn’t one shred of hypocrisy in her because you can see straight through her ; her character has been perfected like Christ, she looks just like her husband and she is counted worthy to reign with Him.

  65.  

  66. ​

God’s Final Temple: New Jerusalem GOD AIMS FOR THE UNIVERSE

God created the universe and humankind as his temple; God and man were destined to be ‘at ease’ with each other. This paradisiacal situation changed after mankind went its own way, but through the liturgy of sacrifices, God could still be approached. God provided the ultimate sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ, who in himself reconciled God and man. He became the perfect temple where we can meet with God. The Church, and all those in the Church, are also temples of God, because what Jesus Christ is, they are. In the Church, that is, in the community of Christians, God can be found. But this is not perfect yet. We still live in the time between the disobedience of mankind, and the restoration of our world to its God-intended status of perfection. The Church and its people belong to that perfect future of God, as we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation’, St Paul affirms.1 1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 100

 

PARADISE RESTORED: REVELATION 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” The apostle John receives a magnificent vision from God of the Christian hope; one day, God will make all things new. Some comments based on the above passage: First, we notice the temple language. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Second, the Christian hope is that one day, heaven and earth will be united fully again, as it was in the beginning. This is not because the earth will be destroyed but because heaven will ‘overwhelm’ the earth by coming ‘down’. ‘Throughout the entire Bible, the ultimate destiny of God’s people is an earthly destiny. [It ‘always] always places man on a redeemed earth, not in a heavenly realm removed from earthly existence’,

 

The idea of a ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ was, by the way, not ‘invented’ by John. He used language that was rather common in Judaism in his days. In book 2 Baruch (1-2 century AD?) for instance, we read that God made the heavenly Jerusalem before he made Paradise, that Adam saw it before he sinned, that it was shown in a vision to Abraham, that Moses saw it on Mt Sinai, and that it is now present with God.3 Thirdly, the consummation of the Christian hope is supremely social.

 

It is no ‘flight of the alone to the Alone’ but life in the redeemed community of the people of God. Interestingly, John in Revelation 21:3, says literally, ‘they shall be his peoples (plural)’. He changes the quote from the Hebrew Scriptures about Israel being God’s people, into a plural. God will be in the midst of all nations. The New Jerusalem will come down from God, ‘prepared as a bride adorned for her husband’. Israel, and later the Church, are described in the Bible as the ‘bride’ of God and Christ. The New Jerusalem and the people of God are very intimately connected. “The heavenly Jerusalem is the multitude of saints who will come with the Lord, even as Zechariah said: ‘Behold, my Lord God will come, and all his saints with him’”, according to Apringius of Beja (6th century).4 Martin Kiddle agrees with this view: 3. 2 Baruch 4:2-6 4. Apringius of Beja, Tractate on the Apocalypse 21.2 102 It is a city which is a family. The ideal of a perfect community, unrealizable on earth because of the curse of sin which vitiated the first creation, is now embodied in the redeemed from all nations. 5 Fourthly, we see Paradise restored: God dwells with humankind again. they will be his people, and God will be with them as their God.6 This community of people and the presence of God is the essential feature of the age to come.

 

NEW JERUSALEM AS PEOPLE OF GOD: REVELATION 21:9-16 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and

 

spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the HOLY city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the 5. Martin Kiddle, The Revelation of St John (London, 1940), pp. 415-416. 6. ‘The New Testament conceives of a heavenly Jerusalem as the dwelling place of God, the true homeland of the saints, and the dwelling place of “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:22; see Gal. 4:26; Phil. 3:20. While this heavenly Jerusalem is represented as the dwelling place of the departed saints, heaven is not their ultimate destiny, but only the temporary abode f the saints between death and the resurrection (Rev. 6:9-11; II Cor. 5:8; Phil 1:23).’

 

Twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. It seems that we now take a closer look at the New Jerusalem. The view is introduced with words that make explicit that this New Jerusalem is really the Church of God, ‘the bride, the wife of the Lamb’. Then we learn more about this New Jerusalem, as we read that it ‘has the glory of God’. Again, this is temple language. The gates have the names of the tribes of Israel written on them, while the apostles are the foundation of the walls. This indicates the unity of the people of God, and underlines that this

 

New Jerusalem really is the people of God, the Church.

 

THE NEW JERUSALEM IS A TEMPLE: REVELATION 21:22-27 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the 104 nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

 

There is no temple in the New Jerusalem, and for that matter, in the New World; a temple is no longer necessary. The Lord God and the Lamb ‘is the temple’. If they fill the earth with their presence, mankind has no need for any specific meeting place with God. Sun and moon are no longer needed, and lamps are not needed, because God and the Lamb are its light. The glory of God fills the place. The world has become a temple again, as it was in the garden of Eden. This description of the New Heaven and the New Earth and of the New Jerusalem is metaphorical. The fact that there seem to be nations outside the New

 

Jerusalem, means that John’s vision shows how the metaphors of the Hebrew Scriptures, about a perfect world with no more war, is finally coming about: The Kingdom of the world has now become the Kingdom of God. Finally, all is well.

 

THRONE OF GOD ON THIS EARTH: REVELATION 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The 105 leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. Some more temple-details. The river of life is a reference to Ezekiel 47, which is part of the prophet’s long description (Ezekiel 40-48) of the expected eschatological New Temple.7 This ‘river of life’ is also an echo of the river mentioned in regard to the Garden of Eden: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.”8 Then, we read in John’s vision of the ‘tree of life’, also a reference to the Genesis-story. After mankind’s disobedience, access to this tree of life was blocked by cherubim: Then the Lord God said, […] Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

In the New Heaven and the New Earth, man has access to the tree of life again, as well as to the waters of life. Many theologians see these as references to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ. 7. Ezekiel 47:1,12 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.[…] And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

 

Genesis 2:10 9. Genesis 3:22-24 106 The throne of God and the Lamb is mentioned once again; God himself is present and this ensures that there is no longer anything accursed in heaven and on earth. The curse of Genesis 3 has been reversed; all is well now. Adam and Eve were originally told to ‘subdue the earth and have dominion’ and they messed up. But in the New Heaven and the New Earth, the servants of God “will reign forever and ever”. And what the saints

 

throughout the centuries have strived for, will become a reality: “They will see God’s face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” Even the great prophet’s of the people of God, were not able and allowed to see God’s face.10 We will have that privilege and joy one day.11 This sight of God is what causes the righteous to be forever happy. In the words of St Chrysostom: There are no words to explain the blessedness which the soul enjoys, the gain which he obtains once his true nature has been restored to him and he is able henceforth to contemplate the Lord.12 God’s ‘name on their foreheads’ may be an allusion to the inscription on the mitre of the high priest's forehead, "holiness to the Lord”.

 

All believers participate in the eternal priesthood. And all will be standing - not one day each year but forever, in God’s presence. G.K. Beale concludes: 10. Exodus 33:20, 23. 11. Cf 1 Corinthians 3:12; 1 John 3:2 12. Chrysostom, Ad Theodorum lapsum, 1,13 107 It is God’s people who have continued to extend the borders of the true temple throughout the church age, as they have been guided by the Spirit, as a result of the Father’s plan that was expressed in the redemptive work of the Son, who also consummates the temple building process.

BEFORE THAT DAY This world will become a temple when heaven joins earth again, as it was in the beginning. But before this moment of the ultimate

 

reconciliation of God with mankind, it is interesting to see how the abode of God is described by John: After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.14 John is allowed a view of heaven, and what does he see? First, the throne of God. John proceeds to describe that ‘before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne were as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.’15 Around the throne, ’on each side of the throne' John sees ‘four living creatures […] each of them with six wings, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy’.

 

These angelic beings remind us of the temple-scene in Isaiah 6, just as the whole description of John is a temple-scene. The throne of God is like the ark in the holy of holies, and the angels remind us of the cherubim that cover the ark; 13. G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission’ a biblical theology of the dwelling place of God (IVP Academic, 2004) p. 26 14. Revelation 4:1-2 15. Revelation 4:5-6 108 the seven torches remind us of the candle with seven arms before the holy of holies; the sea of glass is the basin for washing that stood in the temple.16 John then sees the Lamb, ‘standing as if it had been slain’.17 The Lord Jesus Christ stands there as the reminder of the ultimate sacrifice in the heavenly temple. And just as in the earthly temple incense was sacrificed

 

continually, we read of ‘golden bowls full of incense’ before the throne of God.18 We also read of an altar, possibly referring to the same altar for the incense in the temple.19 So when John had his vision of the heavenly abode of God, it was clear for him; he saw heaven as a temple. Remember that Moses was told to construct the tabernacle and its service ‘exactly according to the pattern that was shown to [him] on the mountain’ where God revealed himself and his laws to Moses.

 

WHAT JESUS DID The letter to the Hebrews explains how the earthly liturgy of the temple was just a dim reflection of the real heavenly temple: When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this 16. Exodus 30:18 17. Revelation 5:6 18. Revelation 5:8 19. Revelation 6:9 20. Hebrews 8:5, Exodus 25:40 109 creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a

 

new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation 110 of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.21 The death of Christ was a sacrifice to God; he secured our eternal redemption by coming with his blood before the throne of God in the heavenlyHoly of Holies. In the heavenly temple, the reconciliation between God and man has been eternally secured, once and for all. In the words of G.K. Beale, Christ not only fulfills all that the OT temple and its prophecies represent but that he is the unpacked meaning for which the temple existed all along. Christ’s establishment of the temple at his first coming and the identification of his people with him as the temple, where God’s tabernacling presence dwells, is a magnified view of the beginning form of the new creational temple, and Revelation 21 is the most ultimate highly magnified picture of the final form of the temple that we will have this side of the consummated new cosmos.22 It is this heavenly temple that descends to earth as the New Jerusalem. Just as presently, heaven can be called a temple, one day the whole earth will be God’s temple. But then, we no longer need all the metaphors, all the efforts to explain, all images to indicate. Then the earth no longer needs a temple, because humankind will be able to see God face to face.

 

SOME CONCLUDING REMARKS We cannot do without metaphors when describing God and his dwelling place. The Hebrew and Christian Holy Scriptures are consistent in using the temple-metaphor for describing God, redemption, and eternity. 21. Hebrews 9:11-26 22. G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission’ a biblical theology of the dwelling place of God Heaven, the abode of God, is like a temple; the temple in Jerusalem was modeled after God’s eternal resting place. In heaven we see references to altars, candles, incense, sacrifice, the ark of the covenant, etc. Eventually, the heavenly temple will descend and fill the earth. We will not build a new earth; the earth will be renewed when the New Jerusalem descends; then heaven and

 

earth will be new. The perfection of the new earth entails that there is no more evil, and that God is all in all. A temple is no longer needed. There is free access to God for all people. The universe has become a temple again; Paradise has been restored. This renewal, this reconciliation between God and man is only possible because of the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who was not only perfectly human, but he also perfectly represented God. That is why he is the perfect expression of the heavenly temple. By looking at him, we know what God is like. What to do with all this as Christians today? First,, we should unashamedly use sacrificial language when speaking of redemption through Jesus Christ. It is the ABC of biblical language. 112 Also, we can rejoice in the future: What the universe and mankind once were, they will be again: the perfect temple where God rests. And we will be so changed and perfect, that we will be able to ‘face God’. Finally, the ‘to be or not to be’ issue is how we can be sure we will participate in the coming New World. For that, today we need to be part of the New Jerusalem, that is, the people of God - the church.thee new temple - churches - ministries as ONE Heaven and Earth joined for all Gods children equal and beauti - full individually and as `one Family - for I hold up my lantern of FAITH the light shinning in the darkness to lead the way for my FAITH -FULL ones to join in the New Temple which ids tHE Body of God Christ and His Holy Spirit 

🙏aMan aWoman peace and love - and I AM to make all my Creations - things new as it is written xxx

History of the Papacy:  JA Wylie The Papacy Its History Dogmas Genius and Prospects 

 

"This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it."

 

Preface to People's Edition The compilation of a Synopsis and classified Index has made it necessary for the author to re-read his work after an interval of thirty years. The perusal has fully satisfied him that the book is every whit as adapted to the present position of the popish controversy, the whole extent of which it covers, as it was when first published. Since then, it is true, two important dogmas have been promulgated from the papal chair; the Immaculate Conception of Mary (1854), and the Infallibility of the Pope (1870) ; but these decrees are rather the official ratification of what had been for centuries the teaching of Popes and popish doctors, than the importation of new elements into the question calling for a readjustment of the argument. The loss of the temporal sovereignty, which has also befallen the Papacy since the first publication of this volume, is an event of graver consequence. But let it be borne in mind that it is the temporal sovereignty, not the temporal power, which the Papacy has lost; it is its paltry Italian kingship of which it has been stripped; not the temporal and spiritual supremacy of Christendom. Temporal power is a root prerogative of the Papacy. With or without his crown, the Pope, so long as he exists, will be a Great Temporal Power. What signifies it that a small branch of this tree has been lopped off, while the trunk still stands erect, nay, is even stronger than before? Freed as it now is from the scandals, political and moral, which were attendant on its government of the Papal States, the Papacy is now in a better position for prosecuting its cherished aim, which is to be the supreme arbiter in all international disputes. It seeks, in short, to become President of a great European Council, in which kings and nations shall await its decisions, and be pledged to carry out its behests, peaceably if possible, by arms if necessary. From being the moral dictator of Christendom, it is but a little step to being, as the Papacy was once before, its armed ruler and head. Will the reader pardon a word about the history of the book, and its Continental experiences? When the German translation appeared (Elberfeld, 1853), the Romanists of the Continent welcomed it with a chorus of anathemas. L'Univers of Paris cursed it energetically. The journalists of the Rhine were equally wroth. Without naming either the book or its author, they made their readers aware that a crime of fearful atrocity had been committed, which called loudly for punishment by the sword. We give a specimen: -- "A very shameful book has lately been printed and published in Elberfeld by William Hassell, consisting of thirty-six sheets, and in which Popery and the Catholic religion are exposed as a work of Satan and a restoration of old heathenish idolatry, and a cunning delusive invention of the Pope and the Catholic priesthood as the mother of revolutions and communism. From beginning to end, with the same cool deliberation, it consists of lies, injuries, and abuses, which have from time to time been brought against the Pope and the Catholic religion, heaped together and made into one compact whole. The most unheard-of violence offered, and the holiest of the Catholics scorned and derided. The rulers of the country are exhorted throughout to observe how the Catholic religion causes the destruction of every State, and how the Catholic priesthood is even now endeavoring to exercise unbearable tyranny and cruelty over princes and people. . . . The Catholic Church in Prussia is a lawful safeguard against such calumnies, and the abuse of the Catholic religion is provided for in its penal laws." Rheimsches Kirchenblatt, Cologne. In an article on the above in the Witness of Nov. 20, 1853, we find Hugh Miller saying: -- "The editor of this paper gave expression long ago in its columns to his admiration of Mr. Wylie's masterly work on the Papacy --a work which has since been extensively spread over Protestant Europe. . . . Still, however, his decision was that of a personal friend of the author, and the various favorable critiques which bore out his estimate of its merits were at least Protestant critiques. Our present testimony respecting it must be recognized as above suspicion; it comes from Popery itself, and we find that Popery regards it as a dangerous work, suited to do the Catholic religion great injury and that penal laws furnish the only effectual instruments for dealing with and answering it." Dr. Graham, in his volume, The Jordan and the Rhine, says: -- "This work has, at last, made its appearance in the German language. . . .The Papists are up on all sides, not to reply but to denounce, not to reason and answer, but to invoke the civil power. They never name the book lest an inquiring Papist should be inclined to purchase it. In Cologne no bookseller would take charge of it --Papist or Protestant. The argument is very sharp and severe, but the reason is led captive, and the infinite superstition dissected with a master's hand. It will confirm the wavering and strengthen the weak. May the Lord grant His blessing to it as a means of counteracting the idolatries and idolatrous tendencies of the age." Enormous recent Papal Advances. Since the first publication of this work, the Papacy has made enormous strides to temporal dominion and spiritual supremacy in our country. 

 

1. The public administration of the empire, which up till 1850 was almost purely Protestant, has since been largely Romanized. 

2. The Papal Hierarchy has been established in both England and Scotland, and the ordinary machinery of Rome's government is in full operation over the whole kingdom. 

3. The empire has been divided into dioceses, with the ordinary equipment of chapters and provincial synods in each, for bringing canon law to the door of every Romanist, and governing him in his social relations, his political acts, and his religious duties. 4. The staff of the Romish Church has been trebled. 5. In Scotland alone there has been an increase of 216 priests, 250 chapels, 15 monasteries, and 34 convents. 

6. The priests of Rome have been introduced into our army and navy, into our prisons and poor-houses, reformatories, and hospitals, thus converting these departments of the State into a ministration of Romanism. 

7. The annual sum paid as salaries, etc., to the Popish priesthood approaches a million and a half, making Popery one of the endowed faiths of the nation. 

8. Considerable progress has been made in the work of breaking down the national system of education and replacing the board schools with denominational schools in which the teaching shall be Romish. 

9. The annual grants to such schools in England and Scotland have now risen to £200,000. Thousands of Protestant children attend them, and are being instructed in the tenets of Popery, and familiarized with Romish rites. 

10. Two-thirds of the youth of Ireland are being educated by monks and nuns, at a cost to the country of £700,000 yearly. 

11. Ritualism has grown into power in England. In many of the national churches, the ceremonial of the Mass is openly celebrated, crucifixes and Madonnas are frequent, auricular confession is practiced, the dead are supplicated, and new-constructed cathedrals are arranged on the foregone conclusion that Popery is to be the future religion of Great Britain. 

12. All the great offices of State (the English wool-sack and the throne excepted), closed against Romanists in the Catholic Emancipation Act, have been opened to them. 

13. The oath of the Royal Supremacy has been abolished. 

14. The words "being Protestant" have been dropped from the oath of allegiance. 

15. The most brilliant post under the Crown, the viceroyalty of India, has been held by a Papist, and maybe so again. 

16. An avowed Romanist sits in the Cabinet, with more, it may be, to follow. 17. Cardinal Manning has had precedence given him next to the Royal family, a step towards the like precedence being given to Popish over Anglican Protestant bishops. 18. A special Envoy has been sent with congratulations to the Pope on the occasion of his jubilee, and a nuncio has in return been received at Court from Leo XIII. 19. There is serious talk of re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Vatican; 20. And, mirabile dictu! the project has been broached of restoring the Pope's temporal sovereignty: and the idea is being agitated, although it must be plain to all that it cannot be carried out without overthrowing the kingdom of Italy and plunging the nations of Europe into war. These are great strides towards grasping the government of the British empire. And all this has been done despite the warning testimony of the nations around us which Popery has destroyed, and in disregard of the unanswered demonstration of a modern statesman -- That to become a subject of the Pope is to surrender one's "moral and mental freedom;" And incapacitate one's self for yielding "loyalty" to the Queen, and "civil duty" to the State. If the end of this policy shall be good, HISTORY is a senile babbler, and PROPHECY is but the Sibyl. 

 

The Origin and Nature of the Church

 

DEFINITION

The church is the new covenant people of God, rooted in the promises to Israel and inaugurated by the Holy Spirit, which refers both to all believers in Jesus Christ, both living and dead, and to local gatherings of believers.

 

SUMMARY

The church is the new covenant people of God. The word church can be used to refer both to all believers, both living and dead (universal church), and to individual local gatherings of believers (local church). The church has its roots in the promises made to God’s people in the Old Testament, particularly that God would bless the world through Abraham’s offspring. While there is continuity between the Old Testament people of God and the church, the church is the community of Jesus, new at Pentecost. As such, the church is the fulfillment of God’s promise to the prophets that he would make a new and better covenant with his people and write his law on their hearts. The mission of the church is the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20): to go out into the world with the authority of the risen Christ and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to follow Jesus until he returns, all to the glory of God.

 

The church has its origin in the eternal purposes of God. It is the new covenant community of Jesus, rooted in Israel, constructed by Jesus, and inaugurated by the Holy Spirit. The church is the people of God, chosen by the Father, and graciously brought into a relationship with the triune God and one another. The church is the redeemed communion of saints, bought by the blood of Christ, universal and invisible, incorporating all believers throughout all ages—those on earth and those in heaven. The church is the adopted family of God, once slaves to sin but now brought into a loving relationship with God as Father and each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is the body of Christ, having him as head, dependent on him, gifted by the Holy Spirit, crafted as a unity with diversity, and reliant on one another, functioning as Christ’s instruments in the world. The church is the bride of Christ, particularly loved by him, saved by his sacrificial work on the cross, exclusively devoted to him, and increasingly adorned in beauty for him, the Bridegroom. The church is the temple of the Spirit, filled with the fullness of Christ, marked by God’s presence. The church is the new humanity, composed of Jewish and Gentile Christians united in Christ, and demonstrating the way life was always supposed to be. The church is the branches that abide in the true vine that is Christ, in union with him and dependent on him. The church is the gathered covenant community, regularly coming together for worship, communion, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and mission. The church is the kingdom community, existing in the already and the not yet, living out God’s eternal purpose of cosmic unity, all for God’s glory (See Bruce Riley Ashford and Christopher W. Morgan, “The Church,” in ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible, 1713.)

 

The Origin of the Church

The people of God began with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. He created them in his image, which means that they are created in fellowship with their Maker (Gen 1:27). Even though they rebelled against him, he did not reject them but promised to send a Redeemer (3:16).

Later, God called Abraham from a family of sun-worshippers and enters into a covenant with him, promising to be his god, both to him and his descendants (Gen. 17:7). God promised to give Abraham a land, to make him into a great nation, and through him to bless all peoples (12:3). From Abraham is born Isaac and to Isaac is born Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel and from whom God brought the twelve tribes of his people. The rest of the Old Testament involves God’s dealings with these twelve tribes of Israel.

Through ten great plagues and a dramatic exodus, God called the nation of Israel out of Egyptian bondage to be his people. He gave them the Ten Commandments, claimed them as his people, and gave them the Promised Land, which they occupied after defeating the Canaanites. Later God gave them David as king in Jerusalem. God promised to make David’s descendants into a dynasty and to establish the throne of one of them forever (2 Sam. 7:14–16).

 

In mercy, God sent many prophets to warn his Old Testament people of the judgment that would come if they did not repent of their sins and turn to the Lord. Nevertheless, they repeatedly rebelled against him and his prophets. In response, he sent the northern kingdom of ten tribes into captivity in Assyria in 722 BC and the southern kingdom of two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, into captivity in Babylon in 586 BC. Through the prophets, God also promised to provide a Deliverer (Isa. 9:6–7; 52:13–53:12).

 

God promised to restore his people to their land from Babylonian captivity after seventy years of exile (Jer. 25:11–12), and he brings this about under Ezra and Nehemiah. The people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and built a second temple. The Old Testament ends in the book of Malachi with God’s people continuing to turn away from him, but also with a promise of one who would come to prepare the way for Messiah (Mal. 3:1).

After four hundred years, God sent his Son as the promised Messiah, Suffering Servant, King of Israel, and Savior of the world. Jesus made the purpose of his coming clear: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He formed his new community (Matt. 5–7). He chose disciples, spent time with them, taught them about the kingdom of God, casted out demons, performed miracles, and predicted his death and resurrection. After he was raised, he instructed his disciples to take the gospel to all nations to fulfill his promise to Abraham to bless all peoples (Matt. 28:18–20).

On the day of Pentecost, Jesus sent his Spirit, who forms the church as the New Testament people of God (Acts 2:1–13). The Spirit empowered the disciples to spread the gospel to the world (Acts 1:8) He also empowered the apostles and guided them into truth. Even more, the Spirit still now indwells the church, leads it, and gives every one of its people spiritual gifts to serve God and each other (Eph. 2:19–22; 4:1–16).

The church is often described in Old Testament terms (Gal. 6:16; Phil. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:9–10), and there is both continuity and discontinuity between Old Testament Israel and the church. On the one hand, there is one single covenant people of God, with roots in the Abrahamic covenant and Israel. On the other hand, the church is the new covenant community of Jesus, new at Pentecost.

​

The Church Universal and Local

The word “church” (ekklesia) in the New Testament refers to the church in its many manifestations. The term can refer to churches meeting in homes (1 Cor. 16:19; Phlm. 1–2), to city-wide or metropolitan churches (Acts 8:1; 20:17), corporately with the churches in a specific Roman province (Acts 9:31; 1 Cor. 16:19), and on a few occasions to the whole ecumenical church (Acts 15:22). But the most common uses of the term can mean either the universal or local church. 

 

The Universal Church

Sometimes “church” is used to depict what some may call the universal church, which speaks of the unity of all believers everywhere, both living and dead (Eph. 1:22; 3:20–22; 5:27). The church in this sense is not identical with any one local church, denomination, or association. It is not entirely visible to human beings and refers to the total of all believers from all places and all times.

 

The Local Church

Most of the time in the NT the “church” refers to the local church, the gathered community of God’s people who are covenanted together to worship the triune God, love one another, and witness to the world (Acts 14:23; 16:5). This designation is the main usage of the term “church”; the Bible emphasizes the church as a local group of identifiable believers committed to Christ and each other, working together to glorify God and to serve his mission.

The local church is the primary center of fellowship and worship, and the chief means God uses for evangelism, disciple-making, and ministry. The local church is where the Word is taught and preached (2 Tim. 3:16–4:2). The local church is where the ordinances are practiced in baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–26). These truths are why Paul plants local churches, appoints leaders for them, sends delegates to them, and writes epistles to them. Local churches are significant in his theology, and they are crucial in his mission strategy. In the local church, there is a sharing of life together, growing in maturity together, ministering together, worshipping together, and witnessing together.

 

The Church as the People of God

Under the old covenant, Israel was a mixed community, comprised of believers and unbelievers. In the New Testament, the church is the people of God under the new covenant. While evangelicals differ on how to interpret covenant and define how children of believers relate to the church’s membership, there is wide agreement that the New Testament emphasizes the church is the people of God. Jeremiah predicts the superiority of the new covenant to the old. Because of their sins and unbelief, the Israelites whom God delivered from Egypt broke the old Mosaic covenant and died in the wilderness. The new covenant will be much greater because it will center on God’s work. The Lord promises that he will be his people’s God, and they will belong to him. He will write his law on their hearts, they will know him, and they will obey him (Jer. 31:31–34). Jesus teaches that his death ratifies the new covenant (Luke 22:20), and so does Paul (1 Cor. 11:25). Although Scripture teaches that there is one people of God through the ages, Jesus’s death and resurrection inaugurates changes for those who know him. He is the “mediator of a new covenant” and ushers in the promises that Jeremiah made.

The church as God’s people is clarified through the images of the church. The church as God’s people are also the body of Christ (Col. 1:18), people united to Christ. The church is the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25–32), people who are increasingly holy in Christ. The church is the temple of the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19–20; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19–22), people who are saints and indwelt by the Spirit. The church is the new humanity (Eph. 2:15; 4:13, 24), people who are reconciled to God. The church is the family of God (Rom. 8:15, 17; Gal. 4:4–5; 1 John 3:1), people who know God as Father and each other as brothers and sisters. As God’s people, the church belongs to him, and, amazingly, he belongs to the church. This truth will be fully realized only in the new heavens and earth, after God raises his own from the dead, glorifies them, and dwells among them (Rev. 21:1–4).

 

The Church and Its Mission

In Matthew 28:18–20, Jesus gives the Great Commission to his disciples, which becomes the marching orders for the church. He begins by asserting that he is the exalted Son who is Lord over all, both in heaven and on earth, and over all nations (28:18; see also Dan. 7:14). The universality of the commission is striking; Jesus has all authority, directs the disciples to make disciples of all nations, instructs them to teach all that he has commanded them, and charges them to do so “all the days,” until the end of the age.

The church not only has its origin in the eternal purposes of God with its roots in Israel, its basis in the saving work of Christ, its inauguration by the Holy Spirit, its life from union with Christ, and its end as the glory of God. The church is also God’s showcase for his eternal plan of bringing forth cosmic reconciliation and highlighting Christ as the focal point of all history. The church is to showcase not only God’s purposes but even God himself. In and through the church, God shows his grace, wisdom, love, unity, and holiness (the letter to the Ephesians emphasizes this). Moreover, as God displays himself, he glorifies himself. It is no wonder Paul proclaims, “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20–21).

 

FURTHER READING

  • Derek Thomas, “What is the Church?”

  • Edmund P. Clowney, The Church

  • G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God

  • Gregg R. Allision, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church

  • Jonathan Leeman, “What is a Local Church?”

  • Justin Taylor, “What is the ‘Church’?”

  • Kendell H. Easley and Christopher W. Morgan, eds.,  The Community of Jesus: A Theology of the Church.

  • Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made 

  •  

  • Among the newer generation of biblical scholars, there is a strong but unnecessary sense of skepticism about the historical claims of the Bible. These leaders in the field call themselves “revisionists,” but others regard them as “minimalists” or even the “new nihilists.” They claim “it is no longer possible to write a history about any ancient person or event, much less about a biblical happening at all”! Fortunately, this group is still not in the majority of biblical scholars by a long shot, but the corrosive effects of their persistent denials are arriving in the culture at the same time as the postmodern agenda is being offered as a view for all reality. Aspects of some of their reasoning and arguments have sifted down into all spheres of society—yes, even at times to those in the believing community! Such a postmodern agenda includes some of the following traits:

  • 1) a revolt against all authority,

  • 2) distrust of all that is universal,

  • 3) the premise that “social constructs” set the bounds for all knowledge,

  • 4) the belief that all truth is relative,

  • 5) the idea that there is no “meaning” except the meaning each of us creates for ourselves, and

  • 6) the notion that one ideology is just as appropriate as another; in fact, the more radical the idea, the more likely it will be accorded a gracious hearing and applauded by innovators in the culture. When such an agenda is used to interpret biblical texts, the sense of the postmodern argument is that those texts should be “liberated from historical consideration.” Therefore, it is against such an “antihistorical” movement that this volume has, in part, been conceived and written. The case for the reliability of the persons and events of the Bible becomes more needed and more necessary each day as the newer generation’s antibiblical thesis takes a greater hold on the hearts and minds of its members. Meanwhile, the evidence for the truthfulness and historicity of the Bible continues to mount up as never before. Just when skepticism seems to be making the most noise, we are being flooded with an overwhelming amount of real, hard pieces of evidence that demand a verdict opposite to what skeptics, revisionists, minimalists, and deconstructionists are clamouring for in their current worldviews and life views. Never has any previous generation seen the amount and significance of pieces of evidence that are now available to us today.

  • The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible For all too many who have been touched by the acids of these negative forms of modernity, this book will seem “like honey from the rock,” for it will lay out the opposite case in a most convincing and kind way. In a most delightful and truly readable fashion, one convincing argument after another will be set forth until the whole case for the reliability of the Bible and the truthfulness of its history strikes home to the reader with thunderous effects. There will be no need for anyone to be overwhelmed by current skepticism, for the biblical case is now weighted extremely heavily in favour of those who hold to the historical accuracy of the Bible. Enjoy this rare tour through the manuscripts, history, archaeology, and facts of the Scriptures. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. President Emeritus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary>>> click pic to read>

​

The Crucifixion

​

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place on Friday of the Passover week of the Jews, in the year A.D. 30. This day is known and now generally observed by Christians as Good Friday. Crucifixion, as a means of inflicting death in the most cruel, lingering, and shameful way, was used by many nations of antiquity. The Jews never executed their criminals in this way, but the Greeks and Romans made the cross the instrument of death to malefactors. The cross was in the shape either of the letter T or the letter X, or was in the form familiar in such paintings of the Crucifixion as the well-known representation of Rubens. It was the usual custom to compel the criminal to carry his own cross to the place of execution. The cross was then set up and the criminal was usually tied to it by the bands and feet and left to perish of hunger and thirst. Sometimes he was given a narcotic drink to stupefy him. In the case of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ the victim was fastened to the cross by nails driven through his hands and feet.

As Dr. Judson Titsworth has plainly pointed out, the men who were crucified with Jesus Christ were not thieves, but robbers (this is the term also used below by Farrar), or perhaps Jewish patriots, to the Romans political rebels and outlaws. They would then be classed with Jesus under the accusation that they were not loyal to the sovereignty of the Roman Emperor. During the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate there was a widely prevailing spirit of sedition and revolt among the Jews, and many rebels were sentenced to crucifixion. Such a rebel was the robber Barabbas, whom Pilate wished to substitute for Jesus as the victim of popular fury. The "robber" episode of the Crucifixion is treated by Farrar with a picturesque effect which heightens the vivid coloring in his account of the supreme event that marks "the central point of the world’s history."

Utterly brutal and revolting as was the punishment of crucifixion, which has now for fifteen hundred years been abolished by the common pity and abhorrence of mankind, there was one custom in Judea, and one occasionally practisedby the Romans, which reveal some touch of passing humanity. The latter consisted in giving to the sufferer a blow under the armpit, which, without causing death, yet hastened its approach. Of this I need not speak, because, for whatever reason, it was not practised on this occasion. The former, which seems to have been due to the milder nature of Judaism, and which was derived from a happy piece of rabbinic exegesis on Prov. xxxi. 6, consisted in giving to the condemned, immediately before his execution, a draught of wine medicated with some powerful opiate. It had been the custom of wealthy ladies in Jerusalem to provide this stupefying potion at their own expense, and they did so quite irrespectively of their sympathy for any individual criminal. It was probably taken freely by the two malefactors, but when they offered it to Jesus he would not take it. The refusal was an act of sublimest heroism. The effect of the draught was to dull the nerves, to cloud the intellect, to provide an anesthetic against some part at least of the lingering agonies of that dreadful death. But he, whom some modern sceptics have been base enough to accuse of feminine feebleness and cowardly despair, preferred rather "to look Death in the face"—to meet the king of terrors without striving to deaden the force of one agonizing anticipation, or to still the throbbing of one lacerated nerve.

The three crosses were laid on the ground—that of Jesus, which was doubtless taller than the other two, being placed in bitter scorn in the midst. Perhaps the cross-beam was now nailed to the upright, and certainly the title, which had either been borne by Jesus fastened round his neck or carried by one of the soldiers in front of him, was now nailed to the summit of his cross. Then he was stripped naked of all his clothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laid down upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along the cross-beams; and at the centre of the open palms the point of a huge iron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven home into the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly through both together as they were placed one over the other, another huge nail tore its way through the quivering flesh. Whether the sufferer was also bound to the cross we do not know; but, to prevent thehands and feet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not "rest upon nothing but four great wounds," there was, about the centre of the cross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, a human body which soon became a weight of agony.

It was probably at this moment of inconceivable horror that the voice of the Son of Man was heard uplifted, not in a scream of natural agony at that fearful torture, but calmly praying in divine compassion for his brutal and pitiless murderers—aye, and for all who in their sinful ignorance crucify him afresh forever: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

And then the accursed tree—with its living human burden hanging upon it in helpless agony, and suffering fresh tortures as every movement irritated the fresh rents in hands and feet—was slowly heaved up by strong arms, and the end of it fixed firmly in a hole dug deep in the ground for that purpose. The feet were but a little raised above the earth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose to strike, in close proximity to every gesture of insult and hatred. He might hang for hours to be abused, outraged, even tortured by the ever-moving multitude who, with that desire to see what is horrible which always characterizes the coarsest hearts, had thronged to gaze upon a sight which should rather have made them weep tears of blood.

And there, in tortures which grew ever more insupportable, ever more maddening as time flowed on, the unhappy victims might linger in a living death so cruelly intolerable that often they were driven to entreat and implore the spectators or the executioners, for dear pity’s sake, to put an end to anguish too awful for man to bear—conscious to the last, and often, with tears of abject misery, beseeching from their enemies the priceless boon of death.

For indeed a death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of untended wounds—all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to thesufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries—especially of the head and stomach—became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst; and all these physical complications caused an internal excitement and anxiety which made the prospect of death itself—of death, the awful unknown enemy, at whose approach man usually shudders most—bear the aspect of a delicious and exquisite release.

Such was the death to which Christ was doomed; and though for him it was happily shortened by all that he had previously endured, yet he hung from soon after noon until nearly sunset before "he gave up his soul to death."

When the cross was uplifted the leading Jews, for the first time, prominently noticed the deadly insult in which Pilate had vented his indignation. Before, in their blind rage, they had imagined that the manner of his crucifixion was an insult aimed at Jesus; but now that they saw him hanging between the two robbers, on a cross yet loftier, it suddenly flashed upon them that it was a public scorn inflicted upon them. For on the white wooden tablet smeared with gypsum, which was to be seen so conspicuously over the head of Jesus on the cross, ran, in black letters, an inscription in the three civilized languages of the ancient world—the three languages of which one at least was certain to be known by every single man in that assembled multitude—in the official Latin, in the current Greek, in the vernacular Aramaic—informing all that this Man who was thus enduring a shameful, servile death—this Man thus crucified between two sicarii in the sight of the world, was "THE KING OF THE JEWS."

To him who was crucified the poor malice seemed to have in it nothing of derision. Even on his cross he reigned; even there he seemed divinely elevated above the priests who had brought about his death, and the coarse, idle, vulgar multitude who had flocked to feed their greedy eyes upon his sufferings. The malice was quite impotent against One whose spiritual andmoral nobleness struck awe into dying malefactors and heathen executioners, even in the lowest abyss of his physical degradation. With the passionate ill-humor of the Roman governor there probably blended a vein of seriousness. While he was delighted to revenge himself on his detested subjects by an act of public insolence, he probably meant, or half meant, to imply that this was, in one sense, the King of the Jews—the greatest, the noblest, the truest of his race, whom therefore his race had crucified. The King was not unworthy of his kingdom, but the kingdom of the King. There was something loftier even than royalty in the glazing eyes which never ceased to look with sorrow on the City of Righteousness, which had now become a city of murderers. The Jews felt the intensity of the scorn with which Pilate had treated them. It so completely poisoned their hour of triumph that they sent their chief priests in deputation, begging the governor to alter the obnoxious title. "Write not," they said," ’The King of the Jews,’ but that ’He said, I am the King of the Jews.’" But Pilate’s courage, which had oozed away so rapidly at the name of Caesar, had now revived. He was glad in any and every way to browbeat and thwart the men whose seditious clamor had forced him in the morning to act against his will. Few men had the power of giving expression to a sovereign contempt more effectually than the Romans. Without deigning any justification of what he had done, Pilate summarily dismissed these solemn hierarchs with the curt and contemptuous reply, "What I have written I have written."

In order to prevent the possibility of any rescue, even at the last moment—since instances had been known of men taken from the cross and restored to life—a quaternion of soldiers with their centurion were left on the ground to guard the cross. The clothes of the victims always fell as perquisites to the men who had to perform so weary and disagreeable an office. Little dreaming how exactly they were fulfilling the mystic intimations of olden Jewish prophecy, they proceeded, therefore, to divide between them the garments of Jesus. The tallith they tore into four parts, probably ripping it down the seams; but the cetoneth, or undergarment, was formed of one continuous woven texture, and to tear would have been to spoil it; theytherefore contented themselves with letting it become the property of any one of the four to whom it should fall by lot. When this had been decided, they sat down and watched him till the end, beguiling the weary lingering hours by eating and drinking, and gibing, and playing dice.

It was a scene of tumult. The great body of the people seem to have stood silently at gaze; but some few of them as they passed by the cross—perhaps some of the many false witnesses and other conspirators of the previous night—mocked at Jesus with insulting noises and furious taunts, especially bidding him come down from the cross and save himself, since he could destroy the Temple and build it in three days. And the chief priests, and scribes, and elders, less awe-struck, less compassionate than the mass of the people, were not ashamed to disgrace their gray-haired dignity and lofty reputation by adding their heartless reproaches to those of the evil few. Unrestrained by the noble patience of the sufferer, unsated by the accomplishment of their wicked vengeance, unmoved by the sight of helpless anguish and the look of eyes that began to glaze in death, they congratulated one another under his cross with scornful insolence: "He saved others, himself he cannot save" "Let this Christ, this King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." No wonder then that the ignorant soldiers took their share of mockery with these shameless and unvenerable hierarchs: no wonder that, at their midday meal, they pledged in mock hilarity the Dying Man, cruelly holding up toward his burning lips their cups of sour wine, and echoing the Jewish taunts against the weakness of the King whose throne was a cross, whose crown was thorns. Nay, even the poor wretches who were crucified with him caught the hideous infection; comrades, perhaps, of the respited Barabbas, heirs of the rebellious fury of a Judas the Gaulonite, trained to recognize no Messiah but a Messiah of the sword, they reproachfully bade him, if his claims were true, to save himself and them. So all the voices about him rang with blasphemy and spite, and in that long slow agony his dying ear caught no accent of gratitude, of pity, or of love. Baseness, falsehood, savagery, stupidity—such were the characteristics of the world which thrust itself into hideous prominence beforethe Saviour’s last consciousness, such the muddy and miserable stream that rolled under the cross before his dying eyes.

But amid this chorus of infamy Jesus spoke not. He could have spoken. The pains of crucifixion did not confuse the intellect or paralyze the powers of speech. We read of crucified men who, for hours together upon the cross, vented their sorrow, their rage, or their despair in the manner that best accorded with their character; of some who raved and cursed, and spat at their enemies; of others who protested to the last against the iniquity of their sentence; of others who implored compassion with abject entreaties; of one even who, from the cross, as from a tribunal, harangued the multitude of his countrymen, and upbraided them with their wickedness and vice. But, except to bless and to encourage, and to add to the happiness and hope of others, Jesus spoke not. So far as the malice of the passers-by, and of priests and sanhedrists and soldiers, and of these poor robbers who suffered with him, was concerned—as before during the trial so now upon the cross—he maintained unbroken his kingly silence.

But that silence, joined to his patient majesty and the divine holiness and innocence which radiated from him like a halo, was more eloquent than any words. It told earliest on one of the crucified robbers. At first this bonus latro of the Apocryphal Gospels seems to have faintly joined in the reproaches uttered by his fellow-sinner; but when those reproaches merged into deeper blasphemy, he spoke out his inmost thought. It is probable that he had met Jesus before, and heard him, and perhaps been one of those thousands who had seen his miracles. There is indeed no authority for the legend which assigns to him the name of Dysmas, or for the beautiful story of his having saved the life of the Virgin and her Child during their flight into Egypt. But on the plains of Gennesareth, perhaps from some robber’s cave in the wild ravines of the Valley of the Doves, he may well have approached his presence—he may well have been one of those publicans and sinners who drew near to him for to hear him. And the words of Jesus had found some room in the good ground of his heart; they had not all fallen upon stony places. Even at this hour of shame and death, when he was suffering the just consequence of his pastevil deeds, faith triumphed. As a flame sometimes leaps up among dying embers, so amid the white ashes of a sinful life which lay so thick upon his heart, the flame of love toward his God and his Saviour was not quite quenched. Under the hellish outcries which had broken loose around the cross of Jesus there had lain a deep misgiving. Half of them seem to have been instigated by doubt and fear. Even in the self-congratulations of the priests we catch an undertone of dread. Suppose that even now some imposing miracle should be wrought! Suppose that even now that martyr-form should burst indeed into messianic splendor, and the King, who seemed to be in the slow misery of death, should suddenly with a great voice summon his legions of angels, and, springing from his cross upon the rolling clouds of heaven, come in flaming fire to take vengeance upon his enemies! And the air seemed to be full of signs. There was a gloom of gathering darkness in the sky, a thrill and tremor in the solid earth, a haunting presence as of ghostly visitants who chilled the heart and hovered in awful witness above that scene. The dying robber had joined at first in the half-taunting, half-despairing appeal to a defeat and weakness which contradicted all that he had hoped; but now this defeat seemed to be greater than victory, and this weakness more irresistible than strength. As he looked, the faith in his heart dawned more and more into the perfect day. He had long ceased to utter any reproachful words; he now rebuked his comrade’s blasphemies. Ought not the suffering innocence of him who hung between them to shame into silence their just punishment and flagrant guilt? And so, turning his head to Jesus, he uttered the intense appeal, "O Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." Then he, who had been mute amid invectives, spake at once in surpassing answer to that humble prayer, "Verily, I say to thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise."

Though none spoke to comfort Jesus—though deep grief, and terror, and amazement kept them dumb—yet there were hearts amid the crowd that beat in sympathy with the awful sufferer. At a distance stood a number of women looking on, and perhaps, even at that dread hour, expecting his immediate deliverance. Many of these were women who had ministeredto him in Galilee, and had come from thence in the great band of Galilean pilgrims. Conspicuous among this heart-stricken group were his mother Mary, Mary of Magdala, Mary the wife of Clopas, mother of James and Joses, and Salome the wife of Zebedee. Some of them, as the hours advanced, stole nearer and nearer to the cross, and at length the filming eye of the Saviour fell on his own mother Mary, as, with the sword piercing through and through her heart, she stood with the disciple whom he loved. His mother does not seem to have been much with him during his ministry. It may be that the duties and cares of a humble home rendered it impossible. At any rate, the only occasions on which we hear of her are occasions when she is with his brethren, and is joined with them in endeavoring to influence, apart from his own purposes and authority, his messianic course. But although at the very beginning of his ministry he had gently shown her that the earthly and filial relation was now to be transcended by one far more lofty and divine, and though this end of all her high hopes must have tried her faith with an overwhelming and unspeakable sorrow, yet she was true to him in this supreme hour of his humiliation, and would have done for him all that a mother’s sympathy and love can do. Nor had he for a moment forgotten her who had bent over his infant slumbers, and with whom he had shared those thirty years in the cottage at Nazareth, Tenderly and sadly he thought of the future that awaited her during the remaining years of her life on earth, troubled as they must be by the tumults and persecutions of a struggling and nascent faith. After his resurrection her lot was wholly cast among his apostles, and the apostle whom he loved the most, the apostle who was nearest to him in heart and life, seemed the fittest to take care of her. To him, therefore—to John whom he had loved more than his brethren—to John whose head had leaned upon his breast at the Last Supper, he consigned her as a sacred charge. "Woman," he said to her, in fewest words, but in words which breathed the uttermost spirit of tenderness, "behold thy son;" and then to St. John, "Behold thy mother." He could make no gesture with those pierced hands, but he could bend his head. They listened in speechless emotion, but from that hour—perhaps from that very moment—leading heraway from a spectacle which did but torture her soul with unavailing agony, that disciple took her to his own home.

It was now noon, and at the Holy City the sunshine should have been burning over that scene of horror with a power such as it has in the full depth of an English summertime. But instead of this, the face of the heavens was black, and the noonday sun was "turned into darkness," on "this great and terrible day of the Lord." It could have been no darkness of any natural eclipse, for the Paschal moon was at the full; but it was one of those "signs from heaven" for which, during the ministry of Jesus, the Pharisees had so often clamored in vain. The early Fathers appealed to pagan authorities—the historian Phallus, the chronicler Phlegon—for such a darkness; but we have no means of testing the accuracy of these references, and it is quite possible that the darkness was a local gloom which hung densely over the guilty city and its immediate neighborhood. But whatever it was, it clearly filled the minds of all who beheld it with yet deeper misgiving. The taunts and jeers of the Jewish priests and the heathen soldiers were evidently confined to the earlier hours of the Crucifixion. Its later stages seem to have thrilled alike the guilty and the innocent with emotions of dread and horror. Of the incidents of those last three hours we are told nothing, and that awful obscuration of the noonday sun may well have overawed every heart into an inaction respecting which there was nothing to relate. What Jesus suffered then for us men and our salvation we cannot know, for during those three hours he hung upon his cross in silence and darkness; or, if he spoke, there was none there to record his words. But toward the close of that time his anguish culminated, and, emptied to the very uttermost of that glory which he had since the world began, drinking to the very deepest dregs the cup of humiliation and bitterness, enduring not only to have taken upon him the form of a servant, but also to suffer the last infamy which human hatred could impose on servile helplessness, he uttered that mysterious cry, of which the full significance will never be fathomed by man: Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani? ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?")

In those words, quoting the psalm in which the early Fathersrightly saw a far-off prophecy of the whole passion of Christ, he borrowed from David’s utter agony the expression of his own. In that hour he was alone. Sinking from depth to depth of unfathomable suffering, until, at the close approach of a death which—because he was God, and yet had been made man—was more awful to him than it could ever be to any of the sons of men, it seemed as if even his divine humanity could endure no more.

Doubtless the voice of the sufferer—though uttered loudly in that paroxysm of an emotion which, in another, would almost have touched the verge of despair—was yet rendered more uncertain and indistinct from the condition of exhaustion in which he hung; and so, amid the darkness, and confused noise, and dull footsteps of the moving multitude, there were some who did not hear what he had said. They had caught only the first syllable, and said to one another that he had called on the name of Elijah. The readiness with which they seized this false impression is another proof of the wild state of excitement and terror—the involuntary dread of something great and unforeseen and terrible—to which they had been reduced from their former savage insolence. For Elijah, the great prophet of the Old Covenant, was inextricably mingled with all the Jewish expectations of a Messiah, and these expectations were full of wrath. The coming of Elijah would be the coming of a day of fire, in which the sun should be turned into blackness and the moon into blood, and the powers of heaven should be shaken. Already the noonday sun was shrouded in unnatural eclipse; might not some awful form at any moment rend the heavens and come down, touch the mountains and they should smoke? The vague anticipation of conscious guilt was unfulfilled. Not such as yet was to be the method of God’s workings. His messages to man for many ages more were not to be in the thunder and earthquake, not in rushing wind or roaring flame, but in the "still small voice" speaking always amid the apparent silences of Time in whispers intelligible to man’s heart, but in which there is neither speech nor language, though the voice is heard.

But now the end was very rapidly approaching, and Jesus, who had been hanging for nearly six hours upon the cross, wassuffering from that torment of thirst which is most difficult of all for the human frame to bear—perhaps the most unmitigated of the many separate sources of anguish which were combined in this worst form of death. No doubt this burning thirst was aggravated by seeing the Roman soldiers drinking so near the cross; and happily for mankind, Jesus had never sanctioned the unnatural affectation of stoic impassibility. And so he uttered the one sole word of physical suffering which had been wrung from him by all the hours in which he had endured the extreme of all that man can inflict. He cried aloud, "I thirst." Probably a few hours before, the cry would have only provoked a roar of frantic mockery; but now the lookers-on were reduced by awe to a readier humanity. Near the cross there lay on the ground the large earthen vessel containing the posca, which was the ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers. The mouth of it was filled with a piece of sponge, which served as a cork. Instantly some one—we know not whether he was friend or enemy, or merely one who was there out of idle curiosity—took out the sponge and dipped it in the posca to give it to Jesus. But low as was the elevation of the cross, the head of the sufferer, as it rested on the horizontal beam of the accursed tree, was just beyond the man’s reach; and therefore he put the sponge at the end of a stalk of hyssop—about a foot long—and held it up to the parched and dying lips. Even this simple act of pity, which Jesus did not refuse, seemed to jar upon the condition of nervous excitement with which some of the multitude were looking on. "Let be," they said to the man, "let us see whether Elias is coming to save him." The man did not desist from his act of mercy, but when it was done he, too, seems to have echoed those uneasy words. But Elias came not, nor human comforter, nor angel deliverer. It was the will of God, it was the will of the Son of God, that he should be "perfected through sufferings"; that—for the eternal example of all his children as long as the world should last—he should "endure unto the end."

And now the end was come. Once more, in the words of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, but adding to them that title of trustful love which, through him, is permitted to the use of all mankind, "Father," he said, "into thy hands I commendmy spirit." Then with one more great effort he uttered the last cry—" It is finished." It may be that that great cry ruptured some of the vessels of his heart, for no sooner had it been uttered than he bowed his head upon his breast and yielded his life, "a ransom for many"—a willing sacrifice to his Heavenly Father. "Finished was his holy life; with his life his struggle, with his struggle his work, with his work the redemption, with the redemption the foundation of the new world." At that moment the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. An earthquake shook the earth and split the rocks, and as it rolled away from their places the great stones which closed and covered the cavern sepulchres of the Jews, so it seemed to the imaginations of many to have disimprisoned the spirits of the dead, and to have filled the air with ghostly visitants, who after Christ had risen appeared to linger in the Holy City. These circumstances of amazement, joined to all they had observed in the bearing of the Crucified, cowed even the cruel and gay indifference of the Roman soldiers. On the centurion who was in command of them the whole scene had exercised a yet deeper influence. As he stood opposite to the cross and saw the Saviour die, he glorified God and exclaimed, "This Man was in truth righteous"—nay, more, "This Man was a Son of God." Even the multitude, utterly sobered from their furious excitement and frantic rage, began to be weighed down with a guilty consciousness that the scene which they had witnessed had in it something more awful than they could have conceived, and as they returned to Jerusalem they wailed and beat upon their breasts. Well might they do so! This was the last drop in a full cup of wickedness: this was the beginning of the end of their city and name and race.

And in truth that scene was more awful than they, or even we, can know. The secular historian, be he ever so sceptical, cannot fail to see in it the central point of the world’s history. Whether he be a believer in Christ or not, he cannot refuse to admit that this new religion grew from the smallest of all seeds to be a mighty tree, so that the birds of the air took refuge in its branches; that it was the little stone cut without hands which dashed into pieces the colossal image of heathen greatness, and grew till it became a great mountain and filled theearth. Alike to the infidel and to the believer the Crucifixion is the boundary instant between ancient and modern days. Morally and physically, no less than spiritually, the faith of Christ was the palingenesia of the world. It came like the dawn of a new spring to nations "effete with the drunkenness of crime." The struggle was long and hard, but from the hour when Christ died began the death-knell to every satanic tyranny and every tolerated abomination. From that hour holiness became the universal ideal of all who name the name of Christ as their Lord, and the attainment of that ideal the common heritage of souls in which his spirit dwells.

The effects, then, of the work of Christ are even to the unbeliever indisputable and historical. It expelled cruelty; it curbed passion; it branded suicide; it punished and repressed an execrable infanticide; it drove the shameless impurities of heathendom into a congenial darkness. There was hardly a class whose wrongs it did not remedy. It rescued the gladiator; it freed the slave; it protected the captive; it nursed the sick; it sheltered the orphan; it elevated the woman; it shrouded as with a halo of sacred innocence the tender years of the child. In every region of life its ameliorating influence was felt. It changed pity from a vice into a virtue. It elevated poverty from a curse into a beatitude. It ennobled labor from a vulgarity into a dignity and a duty. It sanctified marriage from little more than a burdensome convention into little less than a blessed sacrament. It revealed for the first time the angelic beauty of a purity of which men had despaired and of a meekness at which they had utterly scoffed. It created the very conception of charity, and broadened the limits of its obligation from the narrow circle of a neighborhood to the widest horizons of the race. And while it thus evolved the idea of humanity as a common brotherhood, even where its tidings were not believed—all over the world, wherever its tidings were believed, it cleansed the life and elevated the soul of each individual man. And in all lands where it has moulded the characters of its true believers it has created hearts so pure and lives so peaceful and homes so sweet that it might seem as though those angels who had heralded its advent had also whispered to every depressed and despairing sufferer among thesons of men: "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove, that is covered with silver wings, and her feathers like gold."

Others, if they can and will, may see in such a work as this no divine Providence, they may think it philosophical enlightenment to hold that Christianity and Christendom are adequately accounted for by the idle dreams of a noble self-deceiver and the passionate hallucinations of a recovered demoniac. We persecute them not, we denounce them not, we judge them not; but we say that, unless all life be a hollow, there could have been no such miserable origin to the sole religion of the world which holds the perfect balance between philosophy and popularity, between religion and morals, between meek submissiveness and the pride of freedom, between the ideal and the real, between the inward and the outward, between modest stillness and heroic energy—nay, between the tenderest conservatism and the boldest plans of world-wide reformation. The witness of history to Christ is a witness which has been given with irresistible cogency; and it has been so given to none but him.

But while even the unbeliever must see what the life and death of Jesus have effected in the world, to the believer that life and death are something deeper still; to him they are nothing less than a resurrection from the dead. He sees in the cross of Christ something which far transcends its historical significance. He sees in it the fulfilment of all prophecy as well as the consummation of all history; he sees in it the explanation of the mystery of birth, and the conquest over the mystery of the grave. In that life he finds a perfect example; in that death an infinite redemption. As he contemplates the Incarnation and the Crucifixion, he no longer feels that God is far away, and that this earth is but a disregarded speck in the infinite azure, and he himself but an insignificant atom chance—thrown amid the thousand million living souls of an innumerable race, but he exclaims in faith and hope and love: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; yea, he will be their God, and they shall be his people." "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God bath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them."

The sun was westering as the darkness rolled away from the completed sacrifice. They who had not thought it a pollution to inaugurate their feast by the murder of their Messiah, were seriously alarmed lest the sanctity of the following day—which began at sunset—should be compromised by the hanging of the corpses on the, cross. And horrible to relate, the crucified often lived for many hours—nay, even for two days—in their torture. The Jews therefore begged Pilate that their legs might be broken, and their bodies taken down. This crurifragium, as it was called, consisted in striking the legs of the sufferers with a heavy mallet, a violence which seemed always to have hastened, if it did not instantly cause, their death. Nor would the Jews be the only persons who would be anxious to hasten the end by giving the deadly blow. Until life was extinct the soldiers appointed to guard the execution dared not leave the ground. The wish, therefore, was readily granted. The soldiers broke the legs of the two malefactors first, and then, coming to Jesus, found that the great cry had been indeed his last, and that he was dead already. They did not therefore break his legs, and thus unwittingly preserved the symbolism of that Paschal lamb, of which he was the antetype, and of which it had been commanded that "a bone of it shall not be broken." And yet, as he might be only in a syncope—as instances had been known in which men apparently dead had been taken down from the cross and resuscitated—and as the lives of the soldiers would have had to answer for any irregularity, one of them, in order to make death certain, drove the broad head of his hasta into his side. The wound, as it was meant to do, pierced the region of the heart, and "forthwith," says St. John, with an emphatic appeal to the truthfulness of his eye-witness—an appeal which would be singularly and impossibly blasphemous if the narrative were the forgery which so much elaborate modern criticism has wholly failed to prove that it is—"forthwith came there out blood and water." Whether the water was due to some abnormal pathological conditions caused by the dreadful complication of the Saviour’s sufferings, or whether it rather means that the pericardium had been rent by the spear point, and that those who took down the body observed some drops of its serum mingled with theblood, in either case that lance thrust was sufficient to hush all the heretical assertions that Jesus had only seemed to die; and as it assured the soldiers, so should it assure all who have doubted, that he, who on the third day rose again, had in truth been crucified, dead, and buried, and that his soul had passed into the unseen world.

1The disputed date of the Crucifixion of Jesus—long variously placed between A.D. 29 and 33—is definetely fixed by many later authorities at the year 30.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Archaeology and the Bible

​

 

The Rise and Spread of Christianity      The Great Events by Famous Historians = 400 RESULTS 

A.D. 33   VIEW "ORIGINAL SOURCES" CLICK THE ARROW ON PAGES TO MOVE FORWARD     

Contents:  

The "Roman Peace" Christianity The Period of Decay Germanicus in Germany The Crucifixion The Rise and Spread of Christianity Burning of Rome Under Nero Persecution of the Christians Under Nero The Great Jewish Revolt; Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem Destruction of Pompeii The Jews’ Last Struggle for Freedom; Their Final Dispersion Martyrdom of Polycarp and Justin Martyr,Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians Persecution of the Christians in Gaul Beginning of Rome’s Decline; Commodus Eventful Reign of Sapor I, King of Persia 

Author: John Rudd  | Date: B.C. 450-A.D. 12

It is a favourite view of historians and critical students that Jesus was born at a time when the world seemed especially prepared for his birth. The correspondence between world conditions then and the actual process of Christianity in its rise and early spread appears to conform to evolutionary laws as regarded in the light of modern interpretation.

In its origin Christianity is most intimately connected with Judaism, the parent religion. The known world, however, in the time of Jesus was largely under Roman dominion. This was true of the land where Jesus was born. The Roman Empire was then comparatively at peace, and it was the admonition of St. Paul that the first Christians should maintain that peace. The wide sovereignty of Rome gave the apostles of Christ access to different nations, many of whom had become civilized under Roman influence. But pure monotheism existed only among the Jews. All other nations had a variety of gods and peculiar forms of worship. In most of the pagan religions there were elements of truth and beauty, but they lacked in ethical principles and in moral application to life. Most of their priestcraft was a vulgar imposition upon the ignorance and credulity of the common people. The prevailing philosophies—which, among the more enlightened, took the place of religion—were the Grecian, adopted also by the Romans, and the oriental, with numerous followers in Persia, Syria, Chaldaea, Egypt, and likewise among the Jews. But the philosophers were divided into antagonistic sects. Out of such conditions, no practical religion could develop. In the doctrines of Buddhism were to be found the spirit and purpose of a devout and humanely religious people, but the intricate mythology and racial and other limitations of Buddhism forbade that, although it conquered half of Asia, it should ever become a universal faith.

The condition of the Jews at this period was little better than that of other peoples. Among the Jews, there was a lack of intellectual unity, and their moral ideas had been lowered. Oppressed by Herod, the tributary Roman King—who, although professedly a Jew, copied the open despisers of all religion—they yielded to the influences of Roman luxury and licentiousness which spread over Palestine. Although still conducted by the priests and Levites and under the eye of the Sanhedrim or senate, the Jewish religion had lost much of its earlier character. Like philosophy, it was vexed with contending sects. Strict observance of the Mosaic law and the performance of prescriptive rites and duties were in the main regarded as the sum of religion.

The race of prophets appeared extinct until the prophecy was revived in John the Baptist. The successors of the Maccabaean patriots were not animated by their spirit. There was widespread and passionate expectation of a national messiah, but not such a messiah as John proclaimed and Jesus proved to be; rather a powerful warrior and vindicator of Jewish liberty. Galilee, the early home of Jesus, was especially stirred with messianic fervor. In such a condition of the national mind, and at such a stage of the world’s empire, it seems natural in the course of spiritual evolution that such a teacher as Jesus—a spiritual messiah—should arise to be the deliverer not of one people only, but of the world itself. Among the Jewish doctors when Jesus was a child was at least one wise and liberal rabbi, Hillel, a Pharisee, the great reformer of his time, and "the most eminent Jew of the generation before the birth of Jesus." At his feet the boy Jesus may have sat and learned lessons of wisdom and liberality. It gives us a reassurance of spiritual continuity to think that the teachings of Hillel may have "helped to inspire the humane and tender counsels of the founder of Christianity."

In grouping the glowing words of Renan, with their fine spiritual interpretations and descriptive eloquence, the judgments of an eminent contemporary Jewish scholar, and Newman’s learned yet simple portrayal of the Church as it took form in its early environment, and as it was seen through the media of contemporary governments, customs, and criticisms, it is believed that readers will derive satisfaction, and will be aided in their own inquiries, through this threefold presentation. On so vast a subject, with its momentous implications, no single author, however profound his genius, can do more than contribute a partial essay toward the many-sided truth.

JOSEPH ERNEST RENAN

From the moment of the arrest of Jesus, and immediately after his death, it is probable that many of the disciples had already found their way to the northern provinces. At the time of the Resurrection, a rumour was spread abroad, according to which it was in Galilee that he would be seen again. Some of the women who had been to the sepulchre came back with the report that the angel had said to them that Jesus had already preceded them into Galilee. Others said that it was Jesus himself who had ordered them to go there. Now and then some people said that they themselves remembered that he had said so during his lifetime.

What is certain is that at the end of a few days, probably after the Paschal Feast of the Passover had been quite over, the disciples believed they had a command to return to their own country, and to it accordingly they returned. Perhaps the visions began to abate at Jerusalem. A species of melancholy seized them. The brief appearances of Jesus were not sufficient to compensate for the enormous void left by his absence. In a melancholy mood, they thought of the lake and of the beautiful mountains where they had received a foretaste of the kingdom of God. The women especially wished, at any cost, to return to the country where they had enjoyed so much happiness. It must be observed that the order to depart came especially from them. That odious city weighed them down. They longed to see once more the ground where they had possessed Him whom they loved, well assured in advance of meeting him again there.

The majority of the disciples then departed, full of joy and hope, perhaps in the company of the caravan which took back the pilgrims from the Feast of the Passover. What they hoped to find in Galilee were not only transient visions, but Jesus himself to continue with them, as he had done before his death. An intense expectation filled their souls. Was he going to restore the kingdom of Israel, to found definitely the kingdom of God, and, as was said, "reveal his justice"? Everything was possible. They already called to mind the smiling landscapes where they had enjoyed his presence. Many believed that he had given to them a rendezvous upon a mountain, probably the same to which with them there clung so many sweet recollections. Never, it is certain, had there been a more pleasant journey. All their dreams of happiness were on the point of being realized. They were going to see him once more! And, in fact, they did see him again. Hardly restored to their harmless chimaeras, they believed themselves to be in the midst of the gospel-dispensation period. It was now drawing near to the end of April. The ground is then strewn with red anemones, which were probably those "lilies of the fields" from which Jesus delighted to draw his similes. At each step his words were brought to mind, adhering, as it were, to the thousand accidental objects they met by the way. Here was the tree, the flower, the seed, from which he had taken his parables; there was the hill on which he delivered his most touching discourses; here was the little ship from which he taught. It was like the recommencement of a beautiful dream—like a vanished illusion which had reappeared. The enchantment seemed to revive. The sweet Galilean "Kingdom of God" had recovered its sway. The clear atmosphere, the mornings upon the shore or upon the mountain, the nights passed on the lakes watching the nets, all these returned again to them in distinct visions. They saw him everywhere where they had lived with him. Of course, it was not the joy of the first enjoyment. Sometimes the lake had to them the appearance of being very solitary. But a great love is satisfied with little. If all of us, while we are alive, could surreptitiously, once a year, and during a moment long enough to exchange but a few words, behold again those loved ones whom we have lost—death would not be death!

Such was the state of mind of this faithful band, in this short period when Christianity seemed to return for a moment to his cradle and bid to him an eternal adieu. The principal disciples, Peter, Thomas, and Nathaniel, the sons of Zebedee, met again on the shores of the lake, and henceforth lived together; they had taken up again their former calling of fishermen, at Bethsaida or at Capernaum. The Galilean women were no doubt with them. They had insisted more than the others on that return, which was to them a heartfelt love. This was their last act in the establishment of Christianity. From that moment they disappear. Faithful to their love, their wish was to quit no more the country in which they had tasted their greatest delight. More than five hundred persons were already devoted to the memory of Jesus. In default of the lost master they obeyed the disciples, the most authoritative—Peter—in particular.

The activity of these ardent souls had already turned in another direction. What they believed to have heard from the lips of the dear risen one was the order to go forth and preach, and to convert the world. But where should they commence? Naturally, at Jerusalem. The return to Jerusalem was then resolved upon by those who at that time had the direction of the sect. As these journeys were ordinarily made by caravan at the time of the feasts, we now suppose, with all manner of likelihood, that the return in question took place at the Feast of Tabernacles at the close of the year 33, or the Paschal Feast of the year 34. Galilee was thus abandoned by Christianity and abandoned forever. The little Church which remained there continued, no doubt, to exist; but we hear it no more spoken of. It was probably broken up, like all the rest, by the frightful disaster which then overtook the country during the war of Vespasian; the wreck of the dispersed community sought refuge beyond Jordan. After the war it was not Christianity which was brought back into Galilee; it was Judaism.

Galilee thus counted but an hour in the history of Christianity; but it was the sacred hour, par excellence; it gave to the new religion that which has made it endure—its poetry, its penetrating charms. "The Gospel," after the manner of the synoptics, was a Galilean work. But "the Gospel" thus extended has been the principal cause of the success of Christianity, and continues to be the surest guarantee of its future. It is probable that a fraction of the little school which surrounded Jesus in his last days remained at Jerusalem.

It is about this period that we can place the vision of James, mentioned by St. Paul. James was the brother, or at least a relation, of Jesus. We do not find that he had accompanied Jesus on his last sojourn to Jerusalem. He probably went there with the apostles, when the latter quited Galilee.

It is very remarkable that the family of Jesus, some of whose members during his life had been incredulous and hostile to his mission, constituted now a part of the Church, and held in it a very exalted position. One is led to suppose that the reconciliation took place during the sojourn of the apostles in Galilee. The celebrity which had attached itself to the name of their relative, those who believed in him, and were assured of having seen him after he had arisen, served to make an impression on their minds. From the time of the definite establishment of the apostles at Jerusalem, we find with them Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus. In what concerns Mary, it appears that John, thinking in this to obey a recommendation of the Master, had adopted and taken her to his own home. He perhaps took her back to Jerusalem. This woman, whose personal history and character have remained veiled in obscurity, assumed hence great importance, The words that the evangelist put into the mouth of some unknown woman, "Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked," began to be verified. It is probable that Mary survived her son for a few years. As for the brothers of Jesus, their history is wrapped in obscurity. Jesus had several brothers and sisters. It seemed probable, however, that in the class of persons which were called "Brothers of the Lord" there were included relations in the second degree. The question is only of the moment so far as it concerns James, whom we see playing a great part in the first thirty years of Christianity.

The apostles henceforth separated no more, except to make temporary journeys. Jerusalem became their head-quarters; they seemed to be afraid to disperse, while certain acts served to reveal in them the prepossession of being opposed to returning again into Galilee, which later had dissolved its little society. An express order of Jesus is supposed to have interdicted their quitting Jerusalem, before, at least, the great manifestations which were to take place. People’s thoughts were turned with great force toward a promise that it was supposed Jesus had made. During his lifetime Jesus, it was said, had often spoken of the Holy Spirit, which was understood to mean a personification of divine wisdom. He had promised his disciples that the Spirit would serve them in the combats that they would have to engage in, would be their inspirer in difficulties, and their advocate if they had to speak in public. Sometimes it was supposed that Jesus suddenly presented himself in the midst of his disciples assembled, and breathed on them out of his own mouth a current of vivifying air. At other times the disappearance of Jesus was regarded as a premonition of the coming of the Spirit. Many people established an intimate connection between this descent and the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.

The affection that the disciples had the one for the other, while Jesus was alive, was thus enhanced tenfold after his death. They formed a very small and very retired society and lived exclusively by themselves. At Jerusalem, they numbered about one hundred and twenty. Their piety was active, and, as yet, completely restrained by the forms of Jewish piety. The Temple was then the chief place of devotion. They worked, no doubt, for a living; but at that time manual labour in Jewish society engaged very few. Everyone had a trade, but that trade by no means hindered a man from being educated and well-bred.

The dominant idea in the Christian community, at the moment at which we have now arrived, was the coming of the Holy Spirit. People were believed to receive it in the form of a mysterious breath, which passed over the assembly. Every inward consolation, every bold movement, every flush of enthusiasm, every feeling of lively and pleasant gayety, which was experienced without knowing whence it came, was the work of the Spirit. These simple consciences referred, as usual, to some exterior cause the exquisite sentiments which were being created in them. When all were assembled, and when they awaited in silence inspiration from on high, a murmur, any noise whatever, was believed to be the coming of the Spirit. In the early times, it was the apparitions of Jesus which were produced in this manner. Now the turn of ideas had changed. It was the divine breath which passed over the little church and filled it with a celestial effluvium. These beliefs were strengthened by notions drawn from the Old Testament. The prophetic spirit is represented in the Hebrew books as a breathing which penetrates man and inspires him. In the beautiful vision of Elijah, God passes by in the form of a gentle wind, which produces a slight rustling noise.

 

Among all these "descents of the Spirit," which appear to have been frequent enough, there was one which left a profound impression on the nascent Church. One day, when the brethren were assembled, a thunderstorm burst forth. A violent wind threw open the windows: the heavens and portals were connected on the earth. ( Heaven is represented as both a city and a bride, coming down out of God's heavenly domain and landing on earth, much like the staircase Jacob saw in his dream.)Thunderstorms, in these countries, are accompanied by prodigious sheets of lightning; the atmosphere is, as it were, everywhere furrowed with ridges of flame. Whether the electric fluid had penetrated the room itself or whether a dazzling flash of lightning had suddenly illuminated the faces of all, everyone was convinced that the Spirit had entered  ( The Portals of Heaven )  and that it had alighted on the head of each in the form of tongues of fire. The idea that the Spirit had alighted on them in the form of jets of flame, resembling tongues of fire, gave rise to a series of singular ideas, which took a foremost place in the thought of the period. (my emphasis added)

 

The tongues of fire appeared a striking symbol. People were convinced that God desired to signify in this manner that he poured out upon the apostles his most precious gifts of eloquence and of inspiration. But they did not stop there. Jerusalem was, like the majority of the large cities of the East, a city in which many languages were spoken. The diversity of tongues was one of the difficulties which one found there in the way of propagating a universal form of faith. One of the things, moreover, which alarmed the apostles, at the commencement of a ministry destined to embrace the world, was the number of languages which were spoken there: they were asking themselves incessantly how they could learn so many tongues."The gift of tongues" became thus a marvellous privilege. It was believed that the preaching of the Gospel would clear away the obstacle which was created by the diversity of idioms. There was in this a liberal idea; they meant to imply that the Gospel should have no language of its own; that it should be translatable into every tongue; and that the translation should be of the same value as the original.

(WHICH DID INDEED HAPPEN AFTER THE REFORMATION!)

The custom of living together, holding the same faith, and indulging the same expectation, necessarily produced many common habits. All lived in common, having but one heart and one mind. No one possessed anything which was his own. On becoming a disciple of Jesus, one sold one’s goods and made a gift of the proceeds to the society. The chiefs of the society then distributed the common possessions to each, according to his needs. They lived in the same quarter. They took their meals together and continued to attach to them the mystic sense that Jesus had prescribed. They passed long hours in prayers. Their prayers were sometimes improvised aloud, but more often meditated in silence. The concord was perfect; no dogmatic quarrels, no disputes in regard to precedence. The tender recollection of Jesus effaced all dissensions. Joy, lively and deep-seated, was in every heart. Their morals were austere but pervaded by a soft and tender sentiment. They assembled in houses to pray and to devote themselves to ecstatic exercises. The recollection of these two or three first years remained and seemed to them like a terrestrial paradise, which Christianity will pursue henceforth in all its dreams and to which it will vainly endeavour to return. Such an organization could only be applicable to a very small church.

 

The apostles were chosen by Jesus, and who were supposed to have received from him a special mandate to announce to the world the kingdom of God, had, in the little community, an incontestable superiority. One of the first cares, as soon as they saw the sect settle quietly down at Jerusalem, was to fill the vacancy that Judas of Kerioth had left in its ranks. The opinion that the latter had betrayed his master, and had been the cause of his death, became more and more general. The legend was mixed up with him, and every day one heard of some new circumstance which enhanced the black-heartedness of his deed. In order to replace him, it was resolved to have recourse to a vote of some sort. The sole condition was that the candidate should be chosen from the groups of the oldest disciples, who had been witnesses of the whole series of events, from the time of the baptism of John. This reduced considerably the number of those eligible. Two only were found in the ranks, Joseph Bar-Saba, who bore the name of Justus, and Matthias. The lot fell upon Matthias, who was accounted as one of the Twelve. But this was the sole instance of such a replacement.

The body of Twelve APOSTLES lived, generally, permanently at Jerusalem. Till about the year 60 the apostles did not leave the holy city except upon temporary missions. This explains the obscurity in which the majority of the members of the central council remained. Very few of them had a rôle. This council was a kind of sacred college or senate, destined only to represent tradition and a spirit of conservatism. It finished by being relieved of every active function, so that its members had nothing to do but to preach and pray; but as yet the brilliant feats of preaching had not fallen to their lot. Their names were hardly known outside Jerusalem, and about the year 70 or 80 the lists which were given of these chosen Twelve agreed only in the principal names.

The "Brothers of the Lord" appear often by the side of the "apostles," although they were distinct from them. Their authority, however, was equal to that of the apostles. Here two groups constituted, in the nascent Church, a sort of aristocracy founded solely on the more or less intimate relations that their members had had with the Master. These were the men whom Paul denominated "the pillars" of the Church at Jerusalem. For the rest, we see that no distinctions in the ecclesiastical hierarchy yet existed. The title was nothing; the personal authority was everything. The principle of ecclesiastical celibacy was already established, but it required time to bring all these germs to their complete development. Peter and Philip were married and had sons and daughters.

The term used to designate the assembly of the faithful was the Hebrew Kahal, which was rendered by the essentially democratic word Ecclesia, which is the convocation of the people in the ancient Grecian cities, the summons to the Pnyx or the Agora. Commencing with the second or the third century before Jesus Christ, the words of the Athenian democracy became a sort of common law in Hellenic language; many of these terms, on account of their having been used in the Greek confraternities, entered into the Christian vocabulary. It was, in reality, the popular life, which, restrained for centuries, resumed its power under forms altogether different. The primitive Church was, in its way, a little democracy.

The power which was ascribed to the Church assembled and to its chiefs was enormous. The Church conferred every mission, and was guided solely in its choice by the signs given by the Spirit. Its authority went as far as decreeing death. It is recorded that at the voice of Peter several delinquents had fallen back and expired immediately. St. Paul, a little later, was not afraid, in excommunicating a fornicator, "to deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Excommunication was held to be equivalent to a sentence of death. The apostles were believed to be invested with supernatural powers. In pronouncing such condemnations, they thought that their anathemas could not fail but be effectual. The terrible impression which their excommunications produced, andthe hatred manifested by the brethren against all the members thus cut off, were sufficient, in fact, in many cases, to bring about death, or at least to compel the culprit to expatriate himself. Accounts like those of the death of Ananias and Sapphira did not excite any scruple. The idea of the civil power was so foreign to all that world placed without the pale of the Roman law, people were so persuaded that the Church was a complete society, sufficient in itself, that no person saw, in a miracle leading to death or the mutilation of an individual, an outrage punishable by the civil law. Enthusiasm and faith covered all, excused everything. But the frightful danger which these theocratic maxims laid up in store for the future is readily perceived. The Church is armed with a sword; excommunication is a sentence of death. There was henceforth in the world a power outside that of the State, which disposed of the life of citizens.

Peter had among the apostles a certain precedence, derived directly from his zeal and his activity. In these first years he was hardly ever separate from John, son of Zebedee. They went almost always together, and their amity was doubtless the corner-stone of the new faith. James, the brother of the Lord, almost equalled them in authority, at least among a fraction of the Church.

It is needless to remark that this little group of simple people had no speculative theology. Jesus wisely kept himself far removed from all metaphysics. He had only one dogma, his own divine Sonship and the divinity of his mission. The whole symbol of the primitive Church might be embraced in one line: "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God." This belief rested upon a peremptory argument—the fact of the resurrection, of which the disciples claimed to be witnesses. To attest the resurrection of Jesus was the task which all considered as being specially imposed upon them. It was, however, very soon put forth that the Master had predicted this event. Different sayings of his were recalled, which were represented as having not been well understood, and in which was seen, on second thoughts, an announcement of the Resurrection. The belief in the near glorious manifestation of Jesus was universal. The secret word which the brethren used among themselves, inorder to be recognized and confirmed, was maran-atha, "the Lord is at hand."

Jesus, with his exquisite tact in religious matters, had instituted no new ritual. The new sect had not yet any special ceremonies. The practices of piety were Jewish. The assemblies had, in a strict sense, nothing liturgic. They were the meetings of confraternities, at which prayers were offered up, devoted themselves to glossolaly or prophecy, and the reading of correspondence. There was nothing yet of sacerdotalism. There was no priest (cohen); the presbyter was the "elder," nothing more. The only priest was Jesus: in another sense, all the faithful were priests. Fasting was considered a very meritorious practice. Baptism was the token of admission to the sect. The rite was the same as administered by John, but it was administered in the name of Jesus. Baptism was, how ever, considered an insufficient initiation. It had to be followed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were effected by means of a prayer, offered up by the apostles, upon the head of the new convert, accompanied by the imposition of hands.

This imposition of hands, already so familiar to Jesus, was the sacramental act par excellence. It conferred inspiration, universal illumination, the power to produce prodigies, prophesying, and the speaking of languages. It was what was called the Baptism of the Spirit. It was supposed to recall a saying of Jesus: "John baptized you with water; but as for you, you shall be baptized by the Spirit." Gradually all these ideas became amalgamated, and baptism was conferred "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," But it is not probable that this formula, in the early days in which we now are, was yet employed. We see the simplicity of this primitive Christian worship. Neither Jesus nor the apostles had invented it. Certain Jewish sects had adopted, before them, these grave and solemn ceremonies, which appeared to have come in part from Chaldaea, where they are still practised with special liturgies by the Sabeans or Mendaites. The religion of Persia embraced also many rites of the same description.

The beliefs in popular medicine, which constituted a part of the force of Jesus, were continued in his disciples. Thepower of healing was one of the marvellous gifts conferred by the Spirit. The first Christians, like almost all the Jews of the time, looked upon diseases as the punishment of a transgression, or the work of a malignant demon. The apostles passed, just as Jesus did, for powerful exorcists. People imagined that the anointings of oil administered by the apostles, with imposition of hands and invocation of the name of Jesus, were all-powerful to wash away the sins which were the cause of disease, and to heal the afflicted one. Oil has always been in the East the medicine par excellence. For the rest, the simple imposition of the hands of the apostles was reputed to have the same effect. This imposition was made by immediate contact. Nor is it impossible that, in certain cases, the heat of the hands, being communicated suddenly to the head, insured to the sick person a little relief.

The sect being young and not numerous, the question of deaths was not taken into account until later on. The effect caused by the first demises which took place in the ranks of the brethren was strange. People were troubled by the manner of the deaths. It was asked whet her they were less favored than those who were reserved to see with their eyes the advent of the Son of Man? They came generally to consider the interval between death and the resurrection as a kind of blank in the consciousness of the defunct. At the time of which we speak, belief in the resurrection almost alone prevailed. The funeral rite was undoubtedly the Jewish rite. No importance was attached to it; no inscription indicated the name of the dead. The great resurrection was near; the bodies of the faithful had only to make in the rock a very short sojourn. It did not require much persuasion to put people in accord on the question as to whether the resurrection was to be universal, that is to say, whether it would embrace the good and the bad, or whether it would apply to the elect only. One of the most remarkable phenomena of the new religion was the reappearance of prophecy. For a long time people had spoken but little of prophets in Israel. That particular species of inspiration seemed to revive in the little sect. The primitive Church had several prophets and prophetesses analogous to those of the Old Testament. The psalmists also reappeared. The modelof our Christian psalms is without doubt given in the canticles which Luke loved to disseminate in his gospel, and which were copied from the canticles of the Old Testament. These psalms and prophecies are, as regards form, destitute of originality, but an admirable spirit of gentleness and of piety animates and pervades them. It is like a faint echo of the last productions of the sacred lyre of Israel. The Book of Psalms was in a measure the calyx from which the Christian bee sucked its first juice. The Pentateuch, on the contrary, was, as it would seem, little read and little studied; there was substituted for it allegories after the manner of the Jewish midraschim in which all the historic sense of the books was suppressed.

The music which was sung to the new hymns was probably that species of sobbing, without distinct notes, which is still the music of the Greek Church, of the Maronites, and in general of the Christians of the East. It is less a musical modulation than a manner of forcing the voice and of emitting by the nose a sort of moaning in which all the inflections follow each other with rapidity. That odd melopoeia was executed standing, with the eyes fixed, the eyebrows crumpled, the brow knit, and with an appearance of effort. The word amen, in particular, was given out in a quivering, trembling voice. That word played a great part in the liturgy. In imitation of the Jews, the new adherents employed it to mark the assent of the multitude to the words of the prophet or the precentor. People, perhaps, already attributed to it some secret virtues and pronounced it with a certain emphasis. We do not know whether that primitive ecclesiastical song was accompanied by instruments. As to the inward chant, by which the faithful "made melody in their hearts," and which was but the overflowing of those tender, ardent, pensive souls, it was doubtless executed like the catilenes of the Lollards of the Middle Ages, in medium voice. In general, it was joyousness which was poured out in these hymns.

Till now the Church of Jerusalem presents itself to the outside world as a little Galilean colony. The friends whom Jesus had made at Jerusalem and in its environs, such as Lazarus, Martha, Mary of Bethany, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, had disappeared from the scene. The Galilean group,who pressed around the Twelve, alone remained compact and active. The proselytism of the faithful was chiefly carried on by means of struggling conversions, in which the fervor of their souls was communicated to their neighbors. Their preachings under the porticoes of Solomon were addressed to circles not at all numerous. But the effect of this was only the more profound. Their discourses consisted principally of quotations from the Old Testament, by which it was sought to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.

The real preaching was the private conversations of these good and sincere men; it was the reflection, always noticeable in their discourses, of the words of Jesus; it was, above all, their piety, their gentleness. The attraction of communistic life carried with it also a great deal of force. Their houses were a sort of hospitals, in which all the poor and the forsaken found asylum and succor.

One of the first to affiliate himself with the rising society was a Cypriote, named Joseph Hallevi, or the Levite. Like the others, he sold his land and carried the price of it to the feet of the Twelve. He was an intelligent man, with a devotion proof against everything, and a fluent speaker. The apostles attached him closely to themselves and called him Barnaba, that is to say, "the son of prophecy" or of "preaching." He was accounted, in fact, of the number of the prophets, that is to say, of the inspired preachers. Later on we shall see him play a capital part. Next to St. Paul, he was the most active missionary of the first century. A certain Mnason, his countryman, was converted about the same time. Cyprus possessed many Jews. Barnabas and Mnason were undoubtedly Jewish by race. The intimate and prolonged relations of Barnabas with the Church at Jerusalem induces the belief that Syro-Chaldaic was familiar to him.

A conquest, almost as important as that of Barnabas, was that of one John, who bore the Roman surname of Marcus. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and was circumcised. His mother, Mary, enjoyed an easy competency; she was likewise converted, and her dwelling was more than once made the rendezvous of the apostles. These two conversions appear to have been the work of Peter.

The first flame was thus spread with great rapidity. The men, the most celebrated of the apostolic century, were almost all gained over to the cause in two or three years, by a sort of simultaneous attraction. It was a second Christian generation, similar to that which had been formed five or six years previously, upon the shores of Lake Tiberias. This second generation had not seen Jesus, and could not equal’ the first in authority. But it was destined to surpass it in activity and in its love for distant missions. One of the best known among the new converts was Stephen, who, before his conversion, appears to have been only a simple proselyte. He was a man full of ardor and of passion. His faith was of the most fervent, and he was considered to be favored with all the gifts of the Spirit. Philip, who, like Stephen, was a zealous deacon and evangelist, attached himself to the community about the same time. He was often confounded with his namesake, the apostle. Finally, there were converted at this epoch, Andronicus and Junia, probably husband and wife, who, like Aquila and Priscilla, later on, were the model of an apostolic couple, devoted to all the duties of missionary work. They were of the blood of Israel, and were in the closest relations with the apostles.

The new converts, when touched by grace, were all Jews by religion, but they belonged to two very different classes of Jews. The one class was the Hebrews; that is to say, the Jews of Palestine, speaking Hebrew or rather Armenian, reading the Bible in the Hebrew text; the other class was "Hellenists," that is to say, Jews speaking Greek, and reading the Bible in Greek. These last were further subdivided into two classes, the one being of Jewish blood, the other being proselytes, that is to say, people of non-Israelitish origin, allied in divers degrees to Judaism. These Hellenists, who almost all came from Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, or Cyrene, lived at Jerusalem in distinct quarters. They had their separate synagogues, and formed thus little communities apart. Jerusalem contained a great number of these special synagogues. It was in these that the words of Jesus found the soil prepared to receive it and to make it fructify.

The primitive nucleus of the Church at Jerusalem had beencomposed wholly and exclusively of Hebrews; the Aramaic dialect, which was the language of Jesus, was alone known and employed there. But we see that from the second or third year after the death of Jesus, Greek was introduced into the little community, where it soon became dominant. In consequence of their daily relations with the new brethren, Peter, John, James, Jude, and in general the Galilean disciples acquired the Greek with much more facility than if they had already known something of it. The Palestinian dialect came to be abandoned from the day in which people dreamed of a widespread propaganda. A provincial patois, which was rarely written, and which was not spoken beyond Syria, was as little adapted as could be to such an object. Greek, on the contrary, was necessarily imposed on Christianity. It was at the time the universal language, at least for the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. It was, in particular, the language of the Jews who were dispersed over the Roman Empire.

The conversions to Christianity became soon much more numerous among the "Hellenists" than among the "Hebrews." The old Jews at Jerusalem were but little drawn toward a sect of provincials, moderately advanced in the single science that a Pharisee appreciated—the science of the law. The position of the little Church in regard to Judaism was, as with Jesus himself, rather equivocal. But every religious or political party carries in itself a force that dominates it, and obliges it, despite itself, to revolve in its own orbit. The first Christians, whatever their apparent respect for Judaism was, were in reality only Jews by birth or by exterior customs. The true spirit of the sect came from another source. That which grew out of official Judaism was the Talmud; but Christianity has no affinity with the Talmudic school. This is why Christianity found special favor among the parties the least Jewish belonging to Judaism. The rigid orthodoxists took to it but little; it was the newcomers, people scarcely catechized, who had not been to any of the great schools, free from routine, and not initiated into the holy tongue, which lent an ear to the apostles and the disciples.

This family of simple and united brethren drew associates from every quarter. In return for that which these brought,they obtained an assured future, the society of a congenial brotherhood, and precious hopes. The general custom, before entering the sect, was for each one to convert his fortune into specie. These fortunes ordinarily consisted of small rural, semi-barren properties, and difficult of cultivation. It had one advantage, especially for unmarried people: it enabled them to exchange these plots of land against funds sunk in an assurance society, with a view to the Kingdom of God. Even some married people came to the fore in that arrangement; and precautions were taken to insure that the associates brought all that they really possessed, and did `not retain anything outside the common fund. Indeed, seeing that each one received out of the latter a share, not in proportion to what one put in, but in proportion to one’s needs, every reservation of property was actually a theft made upon the community. The Christian communism had religion for a basis, while modern socialism has nothing of the kind.

Under such a social constitution, the administrative difficulties were necessarily very numerous, whatever might be the degree of fraternal feeling which prevailed. Between two factions of a community, whose language was not the same, misapprehensions were inevitable. It was difficult for well-descended Jews not to entertain some contempt for their coreligionists who were less noble. In fact, it was not long before murmurs began to be heard. The "Hellenists," who each day became more numerous, complained because their widows were not so well treated at the distributions as those of the "Hebrews." Till now, the apostles had presided over the affairs of the treasury. But in face of these protestations they felt the necessity of delegating to others this part of their powers. They proposed to the community to confide these administrative cares to seven experienced and considerate men. The proposition was accepted. The seven chosen were Stephanas, or Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas. Stephen was the most important of the seven, and, in a sense, their chief.

To the administrators thus designated were given the Syriac name of Schammaschin. They were also sometimes called "the Seven," to distinguish them from "the Twelve." Such,then, was the origin of the diaconate, which is found to be the most ancient ecclesiastical function, the most ancient of sacred orders. Later, all the organized churches, in imitation of that of Jerusalem, had deacons. The growth of such an institution was marvellous. It placed the claims of the poor on an equality with religious services. It was a proclamation of the truth that social problems are the first which should occupy the attention of mankind. It was the foundation of political economy in the religious sense. The deacons were the first preachers of Christianity. As organizers, financiers, and administrators, they filled a yet more important part. These practical men, in constant contact with the poor, the sick, the women, went everywhere, observed everything, exhorted, and were most efficacious in converting people. They accomplished more than the apostles, who remained on their seats of honor at Jerusalem. They were the founders of Christianity, in respect of that which it possessed which was most solid and enduring.

At an early period women were admitted to this office. They were designated, as in our day, by the name of "sisters," At first widows were selected; later, virgins were preferred. The tact which guided the primitive Church in all this was admirable, The grand idea of consecrating by a sort of religious character and of subjecting to a regular discipline the women who were not in the bonds of marriage, is wholly Christian. The term "widow" became synonymous with religious person, consecrated to God, and, by consequence, a "deaconess." In those countries where the wife, at the age of twenty-four, is already faded, where there is no middle state between the infant and the old woman, it was a kind of new life, which was created for that portion of the human species the most capable of devotion. These women, constantly going to and fro, were admirable missionaries of the new religion.

The bishop and the priest, as we now know them, did not yet exist. Still, the pastoral ministry, that intimate familiarity of souls, not bound by ties of blood, had already been established. This latter has ever been the special gift of Jesus, and a kind of heritage from him. Jesus had often said that to everyone he was more than a father and a mother, and that in order to follow him it was necessary to forsake those the mostdear to us. Christianity placed some things above family; it instituted brotherhood and spiritual marriage. The ancient form of marriage, which placed the wife unreservedly in the power of the husband, was pure slavery. The moral liberty of the woman began when the Church gave to her in Jesus a guide and a confidant, who should advise and console her, listen always to her, and on occasion counsel resistance on her part. Woman needs to be governed, and is happy in so being; but it is necessary that she should love him who governs her. This is what neither ancient societies nor Judaism nor Islamism have been able to do. Woman has never had, up to the present time, a religious conscience, a moral individuality, an opinion of her own, except in Christianity.

It was now about the year 36. Tiberius, at Caprea, has little idea of the enemy to the empire which is growing up. In two or three years the sect had made surprising progress. It numbered several thousand of the faithful. It was already easy to foresee that its conquests would be effected chiefly among the Hellenists and proselytes. The Galilean group which had listened to the Master, though preserving always its precedence, seemed as if swamped by the floods of new-comers speaking Greek. One could already perceive that the principal parts were to be played by the latter. At the time at which we are arrived no pagan, that is to say, no man without some anterior connection with Judaism, had entered into the Church. Proselytes, however, performed very important functions in it. The circle de provenance of the disciples had likewise largely extended; it is no longer a simple little college of Palestineans; we can count in it people from Cyprus, Antioch, and Cyrene, and from almost all the points of the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, where Jewish colonies had been established. Egypt alone was wanting in the primitive Church, and for a long tinge continued to be so.

It was inevitable that the preachings of the new sect, although delivered with so much reserve, should revive the animosities which had accumulated against its Founder, and eventually brought about his death. The Sadducee family of Hanan, who had caused the death of Jesus, was still reigning. Joseph Caiaphas occupied, up to 36, the sovereign pontificate,the effective power of which he gave over to his father-in-law Hanan, and to his relatives, John and Alexander. These arrogant and pitiless men viewed with impatience a troop of good and holy people, without official title, winning the favor of the multitude. Once or twice Peter, John, and the principal members of the apostolic college were put in prison and condemned to flagellation. This was the chastisement inflicted on heretics. The authorization of the Romans was not necessary in order to apply it. As we might indeed suppose, these brutalities only served to inflame the ardor of the apostles. They came forth from the Sanhedrim, where they had just undergone flagellation, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Him whom they loved. Eternal puerility of penal repressions applied to things of the soul! They were regarded, no doubt, as men of order, as models of prudence and wisdom; these blunderers, who seriously believed in the year 36 to gain the upper hand of Christianity by means of a few strokes of a whip!

These outrages proceeded chiefly from the Sadducees, that is to say, from the upper clergy, who crowded the Temple and derived from it immense profits. We do not find that the Pharisees exhibited toward the sect the animosity they displayed to Jesus. The new believers were strict and pious people, somewhat resembling in their manner of life the Pharisees themselves. The rage which the latter manifested against the Founder arose from the superiority of Jesus—a superiority which he was at no pains to dissimulate. His delicate railleries, his wit, his charm, his contempt for hypocrites, had kindled a ferocious hatred. The apostles, on the contrary, were devoid of wit; they never employed irony. The Pharisees were at times favorable to them; many Pharisees had even become Christians. The terrible anathemas of Jesus against Pharisaism had not yet been written, and the accounts of the words of the Master were neither general nor uniform. These first Christians were, besides, people so inoffensive that many persons of the Jewish aristocracy, who did not exactly form part of the sect, were well disposed toward them. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who had known Jesus, remained no doubt with the Church in the bonds of brotherhood.

The most celebrated Jewish doctor of the age, Rabbi Gamaliel the elder, grandson of Hillel, a man of broad and very tolerant ideas, spoke, it is said, in the Sanhedrim in favor of permitting gospel preaching. The author of the Acts credits him with some excellent reasoning, which ought to be the rule of conduct of governments on all occasions when they find themselves confronted with novelties of an intellectual or moral order. "If this work is frivolous," said he, "leave it alone—it will fall of itself; if it is serious, how dare you resist the work of God? In any case, you will not succeed in stopping it." Gamaliel’s words were hard]y listened to. Liberal minds in the midst of opposing fanaticisms have no chance of succeeding.

 

Book Of tHE Cave Of Treasures

Embracing a vision of the New Jerusalem (Rv 21:1−22:5) to impact on life and society Apocalyptic biblical literature has played a significant role in motivating and mobilising Christians. As part of this genre, the Apocalypse of John has played this mobilising role within the church throughout its history. Jerusalem is often incorporated into this genre to conjure up different emotions and images to impact many different people. For example, the Jew annually recites the words to fellow Jews at every Passover meal: ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. Most Christians know the hymn ‘The holy city’, originally penned by Frederic Weatherly in 1892. It lifts many a spirit as it conjures up the idea of a beautiful, perfect, heavenly city of God. However, there is more to this apocalyptic vision,

 

The city upholds the hope of decent godly living today. Whilst Jerusalem is a city with an extremely chequered history, it remains to be the launching pad of a dream that believers can embrace in order to impact society for the better. The vision in Revelation 21–22 is the launch of the ‘idea’ of God’s intention for society today, and the ‘implementation impetus’ is the primary role of the church. In the greater scheme of things, the world community is the target group for a better society for everyone. .

 

It all began with Abraham and his son, Isaac. Genesis says: Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love − Isaac − and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.’ (22:2)1 The first mentioning of Jerusalem as a city name is in Joshua 10 under the rule of Adoni-Zedek. These two worlds of an ordinary city, on one hand, and then later to be the place for God’s plan to unfold in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, were to unite into one dream city: He has founded his city on the holy mountain. The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, city of God. (Ps 87:1–3) A further brief historical sketch of Jerusalem is gleaned from Montefiore’s book: Jerusalem: The bibliography.

 

The biblical history kicks into high ratio with David taking the stronghold by force (Montefiore 2012:27): ‘Zion was said to be impregnable and how David captured it is a mystery.’ He renamed the place ‘The city of David’. It was a small place of some 15 acres but significant in terms of its location. After some significant and turbulent history, the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by an arch rival, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon : In the seventh month of Kislev’, declared Nebuchadnezzar’s chronicle, preserved on a clay inscription, ‘the Babylonian king marched to the land of Hatti [Syria], besieged the City of Judah [Jerusalem] and on the second day of the month of Adar [16 March 597] took the city and captured the king’. 

 

However, the dream and vision of Jerusalem was not lost. A series of prophets, leaders, builders and ordinary people were to redream the city under God’s inspiration. Inspired by prophets like Haggai and Zechariah, taught by Ezra the scribe, and finally led by Nehemiah, the city of Jerusalem’s walls were rebuilt and the temple repaired: At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. (Neh 12:27) The dream of Jerusalem was alive again. God had his holiest spot in their temple: ‘Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem’ (Ps 122:2) and ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure’ (Ps 122:6). Jerusalem would be repeatedly challenged as the winds of political change blew through the Middle Eastern region. Daniel, an exilic prophet, warned the people of Jerusalem about the ‘abomination of desolation’ in the temple three times in his prophecy (Dn 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). Daniel had seen something of this threat personified in Nebuchadnezzar during his own lifetime and warned about future occurrences: ‘From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the 1.All quotations shall be from the NIV (2011), unless otherwise indicated. abomination that causes desolation is set up there will be 1,290 days’ (Dn 12:11). One of these prophesied occurrences took place with the intervention of Antiochus Epiphanes (167 BCE). :

 

Then Antiochus forbade any sacrifices or service in the Temple, banned the Sabbath, the Law and circumcision on pain of death and ordered the Temple to be soiled with pig’s flesh. (p. 75) The final historical fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy would be the destruction of the temple by the Romans when temple sacrifices ceased, and still cease to this very day. Brian Russell (2013:171) correctly sees that: ‘The seventy sevens, then, are consecutive.’ The 490 ‘heptads’ of Daniel’s prophecy (Dn 9:24) take us to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. It is important to note Herod the Great’s contribution to the temple and to recognise that it was Herod’s temple that the historic figure Jesus was to contend with. Herod chose to create one of his masterstroke buildings to cement political relations with his Jewish subjects. ‘Herod pulled down the existing Second Temple and built a wonder of the world in its place’ . Mark 13:1 makes reference to this temple: ‘As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings”.’ Some of these extraordinary huge stones can still be evidenced in the remaining foundation stones of the Western ‘Wailing Wall’ in Jerusalem where Jews still pray for the vision of Jerusalem.

 

Thus the New Jerusalem of the future, the bride of the Lamb, has both a forerunner in the present and an opposite in the present. The forerunner is the holy city, mother Zion. (p. 128) Revelation 21:1–22:5 in recapitulation Jerusalem is a vision that is historical, doctrinal, existential and eternal. When John describes the city of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21,  ‘This vision of the holy city is shaped throughout by the eschatological imagery contained in the prophets and apocalyptists.’ Some of these are found in the Ezekiel vision (Ezk 40–48) and in the reflection of Isaiah, especially Isaiah 66.

 

To the description of this new Jerusalem are transferred all the splendors of the earthly Jerusalem in the earlier eschatological writers.’ There is a perpetual recapitulation throughout Scripture, on the one hand, and then a more detailed recapitulation within the Apocalypse of John itself, bringing the book to a climax in chapters 21 to 22. The purpose of this climax is not only to point readers to the future eternity of grandeur that God has for us ‘through the Lamb’, but also to stir our memory of the biblical Jerusalem as well as hold out a ‘dream vision’ of all that God has for us. This is designed to create an existential tension to mobilise people to transform society. 

 

The universalism of the vision of the New Jerusalem completes the direction towards the conversion of the nations which was already clearly indicated in [Revelation] 11:13; 14:14; 15:4. Its universal scope should not be minimized. Though transformation is a broad term, the Christian community has a distinctive goal of transformation through Jesus Christ as ‘the Lamb’. The vision in Ezekiel 40–44 Ezekiel is an exilic prophet. He knew of the past destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He had experienced exile with all its challenges for the Jewish people. His vision from God pointed the people back to Jerusalem, where he envisioned a new historical geographical city with a temple. The vision is more than that, however. It becomes prophetic, apocalyptic and everlasting. The line between time and eternity − what is seen and what is not seen − is blurred, and only finally realised in the writing of Revelation 21–22. Psalm 137:1 expresses the limited vision of Jerusalem by the people in Exile: ‘By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.’ The Jewish people had localised God to one place on earth: ‘How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?’ (Ps 137:4). Ezekiel’s vision of the temple in a New Jerusalem answered their desire for a restored building, but, more importantly, went beyond it towards a global, international and eternal perspective

 

The description of the New Jerusalem in many respects closely follows Old Testament models (especially Isa 52:1; 54:11–12; 60; Ezek 40:2–5; 47:1–12; 48:30–34; Zech 14:6–21; Tob 13:16–17)’. The important point about Ezekiel’s vision: In Ezekiel’s vision of the future Jerusalem the temple forms the principal object; likewise in Jewish eschatology in general it is an essential part of the glorified city, e.g. Is. 44:28, 60:13. (p. 763) Ezekiel and the Exiles were still primarily concerned about themselves and their future in Jerusalem. They wanted to get back to where they were prior to the Exile. However, the inspiration of the Spirit in Ezekiel raises the visionary expectation somewhat. By the time the Apocalypse draws on Ezekiel’s prophecy, there is no temple ‘Its absence in the vision of the Apocalyptist echoes the Christian thought of Jn. 4:21, 23.’ John’s Gospel explains this to a Samaritan woman who was confused over ‘temple’ locations. Was she to worship at the local Samaritan shrine or the traditional Jewish temple? ‘“Woman,” Jesus replied, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem”’ (Jn 4:21). Jesus is in one sense already alluding to himself as the new Temple.

 

The need for a ‘place’ was soon to become obsolete. The interplay between Ezekiel’s chapters and those of Revelation 21–22 are important to note. One aspect is … the extraordinary measurements of the city. (The angel measures this heavenly city, as John was told to measure the heavenly temple in 11.1; this time, we find out what the measurements were, as in the original vision of Ezekiel 40–48 which lies behind a great deal of John’s vision at this point). It is correct to emphasise that: ‘The author also differs from Ezekiel in that he elaborates upon the wall of the city and emphasizes that there is no temple.’ Isaiah’s vision (Is 65:17–66:24) :

 

When Scripture paints a picture of the new creation, its most comprehensive image is the new city of God. According to Isaiah 65:17–25, the new city forms part of the peaceable home that fulfils God’s promised justice for the poor, salvation for the humble, and the renewal of creation.

 

Isaiah’s prophecy is very similar to that of Ezekiel. Both these prophets were Exilic prophets moving the Israelite nation with their words towards a future of rebuilding the city of Jerusalem as well as the temple. At all costs, the people needed to get back to where they were before the Exile. Typical of most apocalyptic passages of Scripture as contained in the major and minor prophets, they cause people to look above the immediate and visualises the future − firstly in physical terms, then in spiritual terms and finally in eternal terms.

 

‘For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, MANIFESTED and spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit’ (2 Pt 1:21). Whilst Isaiah was well aware of the people’s need of their city Jerusalem and the temple, he unpacks the deeper meaning of Jerusalem and the original meaning for having the temple in the first place by drawing people’s attention to the worship of God again. The prophetic hope contained within Jerusalem is always seen by the prophets within the bigger picture of God’s covenant. Whilst locality and livelihood are critically important − as can be witnessed in the present argument for Jerusalem within the Middle East political debates − the prophetic meaning points everyone to the theological sense. Moltmann (1973) helps us here when he says that: When we cease using God as helper in need, stop-gap and problem solver, we are according to Augustine − finally free for the fruitio Die et se invincem in Deo, the joy of God and the enjoyment of each other in God. (p. 80) The Apocalypse (Rv 21:1–22:5) upsets the desire often found in the Old Testament people with their focus on the temple by removing and replacing it with the presence of God (Rv 21:22): ‘I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.’ The physical city providing Israelites with protection by its walls, living conditions and all city services are eclipsed by a cubic symbol city. Wright (2011) suggests that: … the city is not only vast in terms of its footprint − fifteen hundred miles each way, roughly the same number of square miles http://www.indieskriflig.org.za doi:10.4102/ids.v49i2.1854 Page 4 of 7 Original Research as the Roman Empire (That, of course may be part of the point). It is also fifteen hundred miles high. (p. 194) In one sense, this city eclipses the Roman Empire! The Apocalypse provides the final recapitulation in Revelation 21:1–22:5 Beckwith (1979:771) is at pains to demonstrate that Revelation 21:1–22:5 is part and parcel of the overall chapters of the Apocalypse due ‘to numerous examples showing parallelism with other parts of the book and indicating the work of the same hand’. The first comparison is Revelation 17:1 with Revelation 21:9: One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come. I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute who sits by many waters.’ (Rv 17:1) One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ (Rv 21:9) The same angel gives the two perspectives to the same author. One perspective is on the great prostitute and the other perspective on the bride of Christ. The Apocalypse typically deals with one vision at a time, and sometimes deals with them in different chapters. Revelation 17:3 and 21:10 convey the same idea: ‘Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness’ versus ‘And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high.’ The phrase the glory of God is repeated in Revelation 15:8 and 21:11. Further, Revelation 21:15 (‘The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls’) is very similar to Revelation 11:1: ‘I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers”.’ Some verses in chapter 21 (the lion of judah God, the Lamb, Dua Lipa the Bride) contrast with verses in the body of the text, especially where there is reference to the ‘prostitute’. For example, Revelation 21:19 says: ‘The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald.’ Revelation 17:4 says of the ‘woman’: The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. There is a constant cross-referencing throughout the Apocalypse contributing to its whole as a letter, prophetic words from God and apocalyptic literature. One of the most consistent points in the Apocalypse is the significant statement in Revelation 21:23: ‘The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.’ The first chapter sets the scene in verse 17: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last’. (Rv 1:17) König (2007) correctly makes the point that: … once Jesus is seen as the goal of creation and the eschatos, the consummation can be seen as reachable (in one sense, as already reached!) before the end of natural world history. (p. 39) Revelation 11:17 follows on from Revelation 4:8: ’We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your power and begun to reign.’ The theme continues onto Revelation 16:7: ‘And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments”.’ Throughout the Apocalypse the typical motion found in an epistle is eclipsed by the ‘cubic’ vision given in Revelation 21–22. The existential is overwhelmed by the ‘eternal now’ of God who straddles the past, present and the future with equal ease. For example, Revelation 1:7 includes the final ‘end’ with ‘those who pierced him’ with equal ease. Six key verses in identifying the transferable concepts of the New Jerusalem Within the Revelation 21:1–22:5 passage, there are six key statements that fit like building blocks to create the overall Weltanschauung (Pohlmann 2008:93–244) of the Apocalypse as well as the overall perspective of God’s activity revealed in Scripture. There are parallel verses like them found dotted within the New Testament. Their concepts are transferable and applicable today. Whilst there is an eternal and future dimension to the Apocalyptic understanding of the New Jerusalem, it is primarily meant to be embraced within God’s present administration of the Kingdom (Eph 3:9–11). First verse: Revelation 21:3 The 1st verse of importance and the key verse within this section is Revelation 21:3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’ This has been the plan ever since Creation (Gn 1–3). This verse is ‘richly endowed with motifs from the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel that are concerned with the restoration of the Jerusalem temple after its destruction: God will dwell among his people’ (Stuckenbruck 2003:1568). This verse states in one single theological construct the purpose of the election of Israel, the life of Jesus Christ and the mission of the church: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14) http://www.indieskriflig.org.za doi:10.4102/ids.v49i2.1854 Page 5 of 7 Original Research Following on from this, Pohlmann (2010) expands: Just as God positioned the famous Jerusalem Temple in Temple Mount for all to see a sign of His presence − God has now positioned the church comprising of individual Spirit filled believers − ‘in the world’ yet not ‘of the world’. (p. 139) It is God’s will to be ’among the people’. This started with Eden, regrouped with Israel (Gn 12:1–3), perfected with Jesus and now exists through his Spirit in the church. Second verse: Revelation 21:5(a) The 2nd verse of significance is Revelation 21:5(a): ‘He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”’ Charles (1976:154) correctly informs us that: ‘The old world has vanished: God creates a new world.’ The idea of quality is what emerges here. When God creates or recreates, he puts the stamp of his character on it. Third verse: Revelation 21:6(a) The 3rd verse of significance is Revelation 21:6(a): ‘He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End”.’ This was the announcement made to John on the Isle of Patmos: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.’ (Rv 1:18) The reality of an ‘eternal now’ living Christ is the reality of the entire New Testament age. The conceptual results and outcome are fixed from the very beginning when Jesus triumphed over death in the resurrection. Fourth verse: Revelation 21:22 The 4th verse of significance is Revelation 21:22: ‘I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.’ It is significant to note that the Greek word ναός is used, referring to the inner sanctuary of the Holy of Holies. Initially, God ‘walked’ in Eden with our first parents. Later, the tabernacle was built as a portable ‘sanctuary’ and ‘meeting place’. Eventually, the great temple was built on Temple Mount, housing the ‘sanctuary of meeting’. Jesus challenged this by presenting himself as the ‘new sanctuary’ (Jn 2:19): ‘Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”.’ Here, just as in Revelation 21, the Greek word ναός is used, referring to the ‘shrine’ of meeting God in person. 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 make the same reference to the abiding Holy Spirit within the Christian life. Therefore, Revelation 21:22 is no surprise, but rather the culmination of all things implemented in God’s salvation. Fifth verse: Revelation 21:24 The 5th important verse is Revelation 21:24: ‘The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.’ One of the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of John is: ‘I am the light of the world’ (Jn 8:12). The light of Christ eclipses everything portrayed as darkness. The radiance of this light was so overwhelming to the angry pre-converted Rabbi Saul that it struck him to the ground (Ac 9:3). What happened here on a personal level can happen on a societal and national level, if people would be willing to embrace the ‘light’ of the New Jerusalem. Sixth verse: Revelation 22:5 The last verse of importance, acting as the sixth pillar theological statement is Revelation 22:5: There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever. Genesis 1:3–5 and 1:14–19 have been eclipsed by a ‘new heavens and a new earth’. The New Jerusalem depicts everything God and Jesus are by nature. God is by nature light and Jesus is light. Those who embrace the vision of the New Jerusalem become ‘the light of the world’. The Christian community should always be busy dispelling ‘darkness’ in favour of ‘light’. Embracing the vision for change There are obvious points about Jerusalem that we are not expected to embrace. For example, no one is expected to rebuild the city of Jerusalem or the temple or the sanctuary of the temple under Christian mandate. The Christian mandate in Acts 1:8 is away from geographical Israel’s Jerusalem and not back towards it: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth. (Ac 1:8) God’s ultimate plan is for ‘Jerusalem’ (in the theological and eternal sense) to be taken to the earth and not the earth to Jerusalem. Embracing the presence of God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit God initially came to us in creating the world in which we live (Gn 1–2). This was God’s initiative and he continues to display this initiative. The choice and appointment of Abraham as covenant partner and the establishment of an ‘elect’ nation was God’s initiative (Gn 12:1–3). The advent of Jesus Christ to ‘seek and the save that which is lost’ (Lk 19:10) was God’s initiative. The Word came to live amongst us and we have seen him as the only true Son of God (Jn 1:14).Our responsibility is to embrace the presence of God by faith (Rv 21:3a): ‘Look! God’s dwelling is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.’ The word translated as ‘dwell’ is translated from the Greek word σκηνή [tabernacle], which is the same word used to describe Jesus in John 1:14. With Jesus and the presence http://www.indieskriflig.org.za doi:10.4102/ids.v49i2.1854 Page 6 of 7 Original Research of the Holy Spirit, we have the presence of God. We need to embrace the reality of God’s presence in the eschatological existential present reality, even though it has ‘not yet’ been fully realised. Be part of everything ‘new’ that God is doing Whilst the tension between the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ will always be felt, it should not mitigate against us embracing the restored order of things that God has already introduced. Christ has ‘destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility’ (Eph 2:14b) and made it possible that: In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. (Ac 2:17) Based on the work of Christ, there is something refreshingly new and creative available to us. The church holds the key to more transformative opportunities than many people realise. These need to be embraced in order to present a ‘new city’ of hope for people. As (Kidwell 2014) puts it: The thinking goes: rather than Israel becoming like Canaan, the reverse will be the case, Canaan will be culturally absorbed into Israel, and this will serve as a sign of the triumph of God’s holiness in this kingdom. (p. 2) Enjoy the eschatological moment that we have The presence of Christ has eclipsed (König 2007:23–31) all former focuses on temporary things. As in the alphabet, Christ is the beginning and the end of the alphabet, and everything in-between! The dye has been cast and it is only a matter of time for all things to be worked out (Rm 8:28) according to the plans and the purposes of God: But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. (Heb 10:12–13) The Apocalypse of John demonstrates the dramatic developments unfolding. Romans 1:18 summarises the basic principle seen more illustratively in the Apocalypse: ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.’ We need to embrace the fact that Satan, sin and death have been judged and Christ is our answer in overcoming these through his cross and resurrection (Rm 1:4). We have been shown the way There is no need to look any further than Christ. God is with us (Mt 1:23; Immanuel). There is no need for a special pilgrimage to Jerusalem or any other holy site in order to embrace what God has intended for us. Christ has revealed the Father to us wherever we may be. All the nations of the world are beneficiaries Wherever God’s people embrace the Gospel of Christ in truth, everybody benefits! Jesus Christ developed a gospel that was both private and public, both personal and communal. Jesus ‘went on to imprint the Kingdom of God radically on every facet of life’ (Pohlmann 2014:8). Jeremy Kidwell (2014) illustrates the same point when he reflects on Zechariah 14: The closing chapter of Zechariah offers an ‘apocalyptic’ description of the age to come. There, the writer describes the new kingdom as a sort of impenetrable bulwark in the midst of violent conflict and collapsing political order. (p. 1) In the New Jerusalem, like in the expectation of Zechariah 14, Kidwell (2014:2) notes that ‘God cares about truthfulness in the way we represent value in business’ (cf. Rv 22:24–27 compared to Zch 14:21). We should move in the direction of the eternal construct and not the time construct Just as the tabernacle, the temple, the sanctuary and the city of Jerusalem have all served a valid purpose in the past, the time is coming when created time will also have served its purpose. As 2 Peter 3:10 says: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. We need to keep looking forward and upward towards the culmination of the Gospel. George Eldon Ladd (1997:682), who represents a classical premillennial model, is willing to agree with those of a realised millennial model that the New Jerusalem embraces a culmination of the Gospel: ‘The description of the city is highly symbolic. Its inhabitants include the redeemed from both the Old Testament (21:12) and the New Testament (21:4) times.’ Yet, it is more than just a glorious picture – there is a sense that the symbol of the New Jerusalem should be embraced by those who focus on God’s future. Conclusion Professor Jan du Rand (2004) offers a broad overview on the apocalyptic vision of Revelation 21–22: To a large extent, the apocalyptic eschatology of the Apocalypse is shaped within the framework of soteriology. The descent from heaven of the new Jerusalem is the eschatological fulfilment of OT as well as early Jewish apocalyptic expectations within the restorational frame. Particularly Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah have made meaningful contributions in this regard. The rebuilding of the temple within the relationship of the heavenly Jerusalem to the new Jerusalem is of utmost importance. (p. 275) Believers need to dream again within the biblical framework. On the one hand, there is the challenge of ‘Babylon’ (Rv 17:18) as it affects everyone on earth negatively. Believers http://www.indieskriflig.org.za doi:10.4102/ids.v49i2.1854 Page 7 of 7 Original Research have a positive hope by embracing the vision of the New Jerusalem. Jesus Christ came to bring the Kingdom and glorify the Father. 

​

​

For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:29–30).theophany

theology Also known as: divine manifestation

Theophany, (from Greek theophaneia, “appearance of God”), manifestation of deity in sensible form. The term has been applied generally to the appearance of the gods in the ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions but has in addition acquired a special technical usage in regard to biblical materials. In the Old Testament, God is depicted as appearing in human form, in natural cataclysms, in a burning bush, a cloud, or a gentle breeze—forms often associated with the divine “name” or “glory” (originally a visible halo accompanying the divine appearance). Old Testament theophanies are presented as actual historical events or as prophetic visions with symbolic overtones. The mark of biblical theophanies is the temporariness and suddenness of the appearance of God, which is here not an enduring presence in a certain place or object. The extension of the term theophany to such New Testament events as the Baptism and Transfiguration of Jesus (also called epiphanies) has been questioned as inappropriate because in Orthodox Christian doctrine Christ himself in his whole life and work and death is the manifestation of God. The incarnation of Christ, however, may be seen as the ultimate and fullest form of divine manifestation in a whole spectrum of theophanies.

 

Justification Christianity

 

Justification, in Christian theology, either (1) the act by which God moves a willing person from the state of sin (injustice) to the state of grace (justice), (2) the change in a person’s condition moving from a state of sin to a state of righteousness, or (3) especially in Protestantism, the act of acquittal whereby God gives contrite sinners the status of the righteous.

The term is a translation of the Greek dikaiōsis (Latin: justificatio), originally a technical legal term derived from the verb “to make [someone] righteous.” Justification has had importance in the history of the church and of theology since the time of St. Paul. In his letters to the Galatians and to the Romans, he asks, against the background of the Pharisees’ legalistic piety, how one becomes just before God. He answers that it is not by works, nor even by obeying the commandments (the law of God, which in itself is good). A person stands before God not as righteous but as a sinner, entirely dependent on God’s grace. It is God who calls the sinner righteous. In human law courts, only the innocent person is justified, but in the tribunal of God, before whom all are sinners, it is precisely the unjust who are declared just by God’s merciful verdict. This is no arbitrary pronouncement but is made with reference to Jesus Christ, “who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:25). In this way, the sinner is acquitted from law, sin, and death; is reconciled with God; and has peace and life in Christ through the Holy Spirit—is not merely declared just but is truly made just.

In response, one should accept God’s merciful judgment in Christ and place complete trust in the Lord; in short, have faith. The person who has been justified is tempted as before and therefore remains dependent on the grace of God. Faith must not be inactive but a “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6); i.e., one must authenticate religious faith by deeds of love.

 

The Greek Fathers of the Church did not emphasize the teaching of justification, but it became an important theological concept in the thought of St. Augustine during his controversy with the Pelagians, a heretical group who were teaching an ethical self-sanctification by works. Augustine maintained that humans are completely unable to contribute to justification, a notion that was modified by most medieval theologians, who held that God and the individual work together in the process. The Protestant reformers, led by Martin Luther, echoed Augustine in their insistence that justification is by grace alone, which is appropriated by faith. The Council of Trent (1545–63) defined the Roman Catholic position in terms that echoed the medieval understanding. The council’s decision also reflected an anti-Protestant bias and for the next several centuries drew the lines for opposition between Roman Catholics and Protestants in their understanding of the doctrine.

Predestination religious doctrine

Predestination, in Christianity, the doctrine that God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save. In modern usage, predestination is distinct from both determinism and fatalism and is subject to the free decision of the human moral will, but the doctrine also teaches that salvation is entirely due to the eternal decree of God. In its fundamentals, the problem of predestination is as universal as religion itself, but the emphasis of the New Testament on the divine plan of salvation has made the issue especially prominent in Christian theology. Predestination has been especially associated with John Calvin and the Reformed tradition.

Christian doctrines of predestination may be considered explanations of the words of the Apostle Paul,

Three types of predestination doctrine, with many variations, have developed. One notion (associated with semi-Pelagianism, some forms of nominalism, and Arminianism) makes foreknowledge the ground of predestination and teaches that God predestined to salvation those whose future faith and merits he foreknew.At the opposite extreme is the notion of double predestination, commonly identified with Calvinism and especially associated with the Synod of Dort (1618–19) and appearing also in some of the writings of St. Augustine and Martin Luther and in the thought of the Jansenists. According to this notion, God has determined from eternity whom he will save and whom he will damn, regardless of their faith, love, or merit or lack thereof.

A third notion was set forth in other writings of Augustine and Luther, in the decrees of the second Council of Orange (529), and in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. It ascribes the salvation of humans to the unmerited grace of God and thus to predestination, but it attributes divine reprobation to human sin and guilt.

salvation religion

Salvation, in religion, the deliverance of humankind from such fundamentally negative or disabling conditions as suffering, evil, finitude, and death. In some religious beliefs it also entails the restoration or raising up of the natural world to a higher realm or state. The idea of salvation is a characteristic religious notion related to an issue of profound human concern.

Nature and significance

It could be argued reasonably that the primary purpose of all religions is to provide salvation for their adherents, and the existence of many different religions indicates that there is a great variety of opinion about what constitutes salvation and the means of achieving it. That the term salvation can be meaningfully used in connection with so many religions, however, shows that it distinguishes a notion common to men and women of a wide range of cultural traditions.

The fundamental idea contained in the English word salvation, and the Latin salvatio and Greek sōtēria from which it derives, is that of saving or delivering from some dire situation. The term soteriology denotes beliefs and doctrines concerning salvation in any specific religion, as well as the study of the subject. The idea of saving or delivering from some dire situation logically implies that humankind, as a whole or in part, is in such a situation. This premise, in turn, involves a series of related assumptions about human nature and destiny.

Objects and goals

The creation myths of many religions express the beliefs that have been held concerning the original state of humankind in the divine ordering of the universe. Many of these myths envisage a kind of golden age at the beginning of the world, when the first human beings lived, serene and happy, untouched by disease, aging, or death and in harmony with a divine Creator. Myths of this kind usually involve the shattering of the ideal state by some mischance, with wickedness, disease, and death entering into the world as the result. The Adam and Eve myth is particularly notable for tracing the origin of death, the pain of childbirth, and the hard toil of agriculture to humanity’s disobedience of its maker. It expresses the belief that sin is the cause of evil in the world and implies that salvation must come through humanity’s repentance and God’s forgiveness and restoration.

In ancient Iran a different cosmic situation was contemplated, one in which the world was seen as a battleground of two opposing forces: good and evil, light and darkness, life and death. In this cosmic struggle, humanity was inevitably involved, and the quality of human life was conditioned by this involvement. Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, called upon human beings to align themselves with the good, personified in the god Ahura Mazdā, because their ultimate salvation lay in the triumph of the cosmic principle of good over evil, personified in Ahriman. This salvation involved the restoration of all that had been corrupted or injured by Ahriman at the time of his final defeat and destruction. Thus, the Zoroastrian concept of salvation was really a return to a golden age of the primordial perfection of all things, including humans. Some ancient Christian theologians (e.g., Origen) also conceived of a final “restoration” in which even devils, as well as humans, would be saved; this idea, called universalism, was condemned by the church as heresy.

In those religions that regard humans as essentially psychophysical organisms (e.g., Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam), salvation involves the restoration of both the body and soul. Such religions therefore teach doctrines of a resurrection of the dead body and its reunion with the soul, preparatory to ultimate salvation or damnation. In contrast, some religions have taught that the body is a corrupting substance in which the soul is imprisoned (e.g., Orphism, an ancient Greek mystical movement; Hinduism; and Manichaeism, an ancient dualistic religion of Iranian origin). In this dualistic view of human nature, salvation has meant essentially the emancipation of the soul from its physical prison or tomb and its return to its ethereal home. Such religions generally explain the incarceration of the soul in the body in terms that imply the intrinsic evil of physical matter. Where such views of human nature were held, salvation therefore meant the eternal beatitude of the disembodied soul.Christian soteriology contains a very complex eschatological (regarding a doctrine of last things) program, which includes the fate of both individual persons and the existing cosmic order. The return of Christ will be heralded by the destruction of heaven and earth and the resurrection of the dead. The Last Judgment, which will then take place, will result in the eternal beatitude of the just, whose souls have been purified in purgatory, and the everlasting damnation of the wicked. The saved, reconstituted by the reunion of soul and body, will forever enjoy the beatific vision; the damned, similarly reconstituted, will suffer forever in hell, together with the Devil and the fallen angels. Some schemes of eschatological imagery used by both Christians and Jews envisage the creation of a new heaven and earth, with a New Jerusalem at its centre.

Means = The hope of salvation has naturally involved ideas about how it might be achieved. These ideas have varied according to the form of salvation envisaged, but the means employed can be divided into three significant categories: (1) the most primitive is based on belief in the efficacy of ritual magic; initiation ceremonies, such as those of the ancient mystery religions, afford notable examples; (2) salvation by self-effort, usually through the acquisition of esoteric knowledge, ascetic discipline, or heroic death, has been variously promised in certain religions, such as Orphism, Hinduism, and Islam; and (3) salvation by divine aid usually entails the concept of a divine saviour who achieves what humans cannot do for themselves, as in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

The cosmic situation Time

Study of the relevant evidence shows the menace of death as the basic cause of soteriological concern and action. Salvation from disease or misfortune, which also figures in religion, is of comparatively lesser significance, though it is often expressive of more immediate concerns. But the menace of death is of another order to humans because of their profound personal awareness of the temporal categories of past, present, and future. This time-consciousness is possessed by no other species with such insistent clarity. It enables humans to draw upon past experience in the present and to plan for future contingencies. This faculty, however, has another effect: it causes humans to be aware that they are subject to a process that brings change, aging, decay, and ultimately death to all living things. Humans thus know what no other animals apparently know about themselves—namely, that they are mortal. They can project themselves mentally into the future and anticipate their own disease. Human burial customs grimly attest to a preoccupation with death from the very dawn of human culture in the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age). Significantly, the burial of the dead is practiced by no other species. 

The menace of death is thus inextricably bound up with the human consciousness of time. In seeking salvation from death, humanity has been led on to a deeper analysis of its situation: a person’s subjection to time is the true cause of the evil that besets him. The quest for salvation from death, accordingly, becomes transformed into one for deliverance from subjugation to the destructive flux of time. How such deliverance might be effected has been conceived in varying ways, corresponding to the terms in which the temporal process is imagined. The earliest known examples occur in ancient Egyptian religious texts. In the so-called Pyramid Texts (c. 2400 BCE), the dead pharaoh seeks to fly up to heaven and join the sun-god Re on his unceasing journey across the sky, incorporated, thus, in a mode of existence beyond change and decay. A passage in the later Book of the Dead (1200 BCE) represents the deceased, who has been ritually identified with Osiris, declaring that he comprehends the whole range of time in himself, thus asserting his superiority to it.

The recognition that humankind is subject to the inexorable law of decay and death has produced other later attempts to explain its domination by time and to offer release from it. Such attempts are generally based on the idea that the temporal process is cyclical, not linear, in its movement. Into this concept a belief in metempsychosis (transmigration of souls) can be conveniently fitted, for the idea that souls pass through a series of incarnations becomes more intelligible if the process is seen as being cyclical and in accordance with the pattern of time that apparently governs all the forms of being in this world. The conception has been elaborated in various ways in many religions. In Hinduism and Buddhism, elegantly imaginative chronological systems have been worked out, comprising mahayugas, or periods of 12,000 years, each year of which represents 360 human years. In turn, 1,000 mahayugas make up one kalpa, or one day in the life of the creator deity Brahma, and span the duration of a world from its creation to its destruction. After a period of quiescence, the world would be re-created by Brahma for another kalpa. The purpose of this immense chronological scheme was to emphasize how the unenlightened soul was doomed to suffer an infinite series of incarnations, with all of their attendant pain of successive births and deaths. In the Orphic texts of ancient Greece, the human destiny to endure successive incarnations is significantly described as “the sorrowful weary Wheel,” from which the Orphic initiate hoped to escape through the secret knowledge imparted to him.

Nature

As an alternative interpretation to this view of humanity’s fatal involvement with time, the tragedy of the human situation has also been explained in terms of the soul’s involvement with the physical universe. In some systems of thought (e.g., Hinduism and Buddhism), the two interpretations are synthesized, and in such systems it is taught that, by accepting the physical world as reality, the soul becomes subject to the process of time.Concentration on the soul’s involvement with matter as being the cause of the misery of human life has generally stemmed from a dualistic view of human nature. The drawing of a sharp distinction between spirit and matter has been invariably motivated by a value judgment: namely, that spirit (or soul) is intrinsically good and of transcendent origin, whereas matter is essentially evil and corrupting. Through the body, humans are seen to be part of the world of nature, sharing in its processes of generation, growth, decay, and death. How the soul came to be incarcerated in this corruptible body has been a problem that many myths seek to explain. Such explanations usually involve some idea of the descent of the soul or its divine progenitor from the highest heaven and their fatal infatuation with the physical world. The phenomenon of sexual intercourse has often supplied the imagery used to account for the involvement of the soul in matter and the origin of its corruption. Salvation has thus been conceived in this context as emancipation from both the body and the natural world. In gnosticism and Hermeticism—esoteric theosophical and mystical movements in the Greco-Roman world—and the teaching of St. Paul the Apostle, deliverance was sought primarily from the planetary powers that were believed to control human destiny in the sublunar world.

Human responsibility

The idea that humans are in some dire situation, from which they seek to be saved, necessarily involves explaining the cause of this predicament. The explanations provided in the various religions divide into two kinds: those that attribute the cause to some primordial mischance and those that hold humanity itself to be responsible. Some explanations fitting the latter category also represent humans as the victim of the deceit of a malevolent deity or demon.

Because death has been universally feared but rarely accepted as a natural necessity, the mythologies of many peoples represent the primeval ancestors of humankind as having accidentally lost, in some way, their original immortality. One Sumerian myth, however, accounts for disease and old age as resulting from the sport of the gods when they created humans. In contrast, the Hebrew story of Adam and Eve finds the origin of death in their act of disobedience in eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, forbidden to them by their maker. This causal connection between sin and death was elaborated by St. Paul in his soteriology, outlined in his Letter to the Romans, and forms the basis of the Christian doctrine of original sin. According to this doctrine, through seminal identity with Adam, every human being must partake of the guilt of Adam’s sin, and a child, even at birth and before it acquires the guilt of its own actual sin, is already deserving of God’s wrath for its share in the original sin of humankind. Moreover, because each individual inherits the nature of fallen humanity, he has an innate predisposition to sin. This doctrine means that a person cannot save himself by his volition and effort but depends absolutely upon the saving grace of Christ.

Wherever a dualistic view of human nature has been held, it has been necessary to explain how ethereal souls first became imprisoned in physical bodies. Generally, the cause has been found in the supposition of some primordial ignorance or error rather than in a sinful act of disobedience or revolt—i.e., in an intellectual rather than a moral defect. According to the Hindu philosophical system known as Advaita Vedanta, a primordial ignorance (avidya) originally caused souls to mistake the empirical world for reality and so become incarnated in it. By continuing in this illusion, they are subjected to an unceasing process of death and rebirth (samsara) and all of its consequent suffering and degradation. Similarly, in Buddhism a primordial ignorance (avijja) started the chain of “dependent origination” (paticca samuppada) that produces the infinite misery of unending rebirth in the empirical world.

Methods and techniques

Ritual = The means by which salvation might be achieved has been closely related to the manner in which salvation has been conceived and to what has been deemed to be the cause of the human need of it. Thus, in ancient Egypt, where salvation was from the physical consequences of death, a technique of ritual embalmment was employed. Ritual magic has also been used in those religions that require their devotees to be initiated by ceremonies of rebirth (e.g., baptism in water in Christianity, in bull’s blood in rites of Cybele) and by symbolic communion with a deity through a ritual meal in the Eleusinian Mysteries, Mithraism, and Christianity (Eucharist).

Knowledge

Religions that trace the ills of the present human condition to some form of primordial error or ignorance offer knowledge that will ensure salvation. Such knowledge is of an esoteric kind and is usually presented as divine revelation and imparted secretly to specially prepared candidates. In some instances (e.g., Buddhism and Yoga), the knowledge imparted includes instruction in mystical techniques designed to achieve spiritual deliverance.

Varieties of salvation in world religions

Ancient Egypt

The Pyramid Texts of ancient Egypt provide the earliest evidence of the human quest for salvation. They reveal that by about 2400 BCE a complex soteriology connected with the divine kingship of the pharaohs had been established in Egypt. This soteriology was gradually developed in concept and ritual practice and was popularized; i.e., the original royal privilege was gradually extended to all the classes of society, until by about 1400 BCE it had become an elaborate mortuary cult through which all who could afford its cost could hope to partake of the salvation it offered. This salvation concerned three aspects of postmortem existence, as imagined by the ancient Egyptians, and, in the concept of Osiris, it involved the earliest instance of a saviour-god. An elaborate ritual of embalmment was designed to save the corpse from decomposition and restore its faculties so that it could live in a well-equipped tomb. This ritual imitated the acts that were believed to have been performed by the gods to preserve the body of Osiris, with whom the deceased was ritually assimilated. The next concern was to resurrect the embalmed body of the dead person, as Osiris had been resurrected to a new life after death. Having thus been saved from the consequences of death, the revivified dead had to undergo a judgment (presided over by Osiris) on the moral quality of his life on earth. In this ordeal, the deceased could be saved from an awful second death only by personal integrity. If he safely passed the test, he was declared maa kheru (“true of voice”) and was admitted to the beatitude of the realm over which Osiris reigned.

This Osirian mortuary cult, with its promise of postmortem salvation, was practiced from about 2400 BCE until its suppression in the Christian era. In some respects, it constitutes a prototype of Christianity as a salvation religion.

Hinduism

Running through the great complex of beliefs and ritual practices that constitute Hinduism is the conviction that the soul or self (atman) is subject to samsara—i.e., the transmigration through many forms of incarnation. Held together with this belief is another, karma—i.e., that the soul carries with it the burden of its past actions, which conditions the forms of its future incarnations. As long as the soul mistakes this phenomenal world for reality and clings to existence in it, it is doomed to suffer endless births and deaths. The various Indian traditions offer ways in which to attain moksha (“release”; “liberation”) from the misery of subjection to the inexorable process of cosmic time. Basically, this liberation consists in the soul’s effective apprehension of its essential unity with brahman, the Absolute or supreme reality, and its merging with it. Most of the ways by which this goal may be attained require self-effort in mastering meditation techniques and living an ascetic life. But in the devotional (bhakti) movements associated with Vishnu and Shiva, an intense personal devotion to the deity concerned is believed to earn divine aid to salvation.

Buddhism

Buddhism accepts the principles of samsara and karma (Pali: kamma), but it differs in one important respect from the Hindu conception of human nature. Instead of believing that an atman passes through endless series of incarnations, Buddhism teaches that there is no such preexistent, eternal core of an individual that migrates from body to body. Each individual consists of a number of physical and psychic elements (khandhas; Sanskrit skandhas) that combine to create the sense of personal individuality. But this combination is only temporary and is irreparably shattered by death, leaving no element that can be identified as the soul or self. By a subtle metaphysical argument, however, it is maintained that the craving for personal existence generated by the khandhas causes the birth of another such personalized combination, which inherits the karma of a sequence of previous combinations of khandhas.

The enlightenment attained by the Buddha was essentially about the cause of existence in the phenomenal world, from which suffering inevitably stemmed. Buddhist teaching and practice have, accordingly, been designed to acquaint people with their true nature and situation and enable them to free themselves from craving for existence in the space-time world and so attain nirvana. Traditionally, this goal has been presented in negative terms—as the extinction of desire, attachment, ignorance, or suffering—creating the impression that Buddhist salvation means the complete obliteration of individual consciousness. In one sense, this is so, but, in terms of Buddhist metaphysics, ultimate reality transcends all the terms of reference relevant to existence in this world.

Theoretically, the Buddhist initiate should, by his own effort in seeking to eradicate desire for continued existence in the empirical world, achieve his own salvation. But, as Buddhism developed into a popular religion in its Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”) form, provision was made for the natural human desire for assurance of divine aid. Consequently, belief in many saviours, known as bodhisattvas (“buddhas-to-be”), developed, together with elaborate eschatologies concerning human destiny. According to these, before the ultimate attainment of nirvana, the faithful could expect to pass through series of heavens or hells, according to their merits or demerits and the intensity of their devotion to a bodhisattva.

Judaism

Because Judaism is by origin and nature an ethnic religion, salvation has been primarily conceived in terms of the destiny of Israel as the elect people of Yahweh (often referred to as “the Lord”), the God of Israel. It was not until the 2nd century BCE that there arose a belief in an afterlife, for which the dead would be resurrected and undergo divine judgment. Before that time, the individual had to be content that his posterity continued within the holy nation. But, even after the emergence of belief in the resurrection of the dead, the essentially ethnic character of Judaism still decisively influenced soteriological thinking. The apocalyptic faith, which became so fervent as Israel moved toward its fateful overthrow by the Romans in 70 CE, conceived of salvation as the miraculous intervention of the Lord or his messiah (literally “anointed one”) in world affairs. This saving act would culminate in the Last Judgment delivered on the nations that oppressed Israel and Israel’s glorious vindication as the people of God. From the end of the national state in the Holy Land in 70 CE, Jewish religion, despite the increasing recognition of personal significance, has remained characterized by its essential ethnic concern. Thus, the Exodus from Egypt has ever provided the typal imagery in terms of which divine salvation has been conceived, its memory being impressively perpetuated each year by the ritual of the Passover. The restoration of the holy nation, moreover, always has been linked with its Holy Land, and Hebrew literature, both in biblical and later forms, has lovingly described the establishment of a New Jerusalem and a new Temple of the Lord, whether it be in this world or in some new cosmic order. Into this new order the rest of humankind, repentant and purified, will be incorporated, for the original promise made to the patriarch Abraham included all within the divine blessing. In the Book of Zechariah, the ultimate salvation of humankind is graphically envisaged: the Gentiles, in company with the Jews, will return to serve God in an ideal Jerusalem.

Christianity

Christianity’s primary premise is that the incarnation and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ formed the climax of a divine plan for humanity’s salvation. This plan was conceived by God consequent on the Fall of Adam, the progenitor of the human race, and it would be completed at the Last Judgment, when the Second Coming of Christ would mark the catastrophic end of the world. This soteriological evaluation of history finds expression in the Christian division of time into two periods: before Christ (BC) and anno Domini (AD)—i.e., the years of the Lord. This classification of time has been increasingly superseded since the late 20th century by the periods before the Common Era (BCE) and Common Era (CE), respectively.

The evolution of the Christian doctrine of salvation was a complicated process essentially linked with the gradual definition of belief in the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. In Christian theology, therefore, soteriology is an integral part of what is termed Christology. Whereas the divinity of Jesus Christ has been the subject of careful metaphysical definition in the creeds, the exact nature and mode of salvation through Christ has not been so precisely defined. The church has been content to state in its creeds that Christ was incarnated, crucified, died, and rose again “for us men and for our salvation.”

The basic tenets of Christian soteriology may be summarized as follows: humanity deserves damnation by God for the original sin, which it inherits by descent from Adam; each human also deserves damnation for his own actual sin. But because sin is regarded as also putting humans in the power of the Devil, Christ’s work of salvation has been interpreted along two different lines. Thus, his crucifixion may be evaluated as a vicarious sacrifice offered to God as propitiation or atonement for human sin. Alternatively, it may be seen as the price paid to redeem humanity from the Devil. These two ways of interpreting the death of Christ have provided the major themes of soteriological theory and speculation in Christian theology. Despite this fluidity of interpretation, belief in the saving power of Christ is fundamental to Christianity and finds expression in every aspect of its faith and practice.

For those interested HEre is a little background to God and His Wife - Dua Lipa who HE Yeshua has been searching for ever since Eve was banished from the Garden of Eden - and removed from HEr Husband's side -God - Who now wants her back in His arms where she belongs ... GOOD NEWS NOW FOUND AT LAST X FORMALLY ADAM AND EVE NOW 7 AND FINAL MANIFESTION AS MARTYN AND DUA LIPA AS ONE - FOR ALL ETERNITY GOD AND GODDESS

​

The conception of Asherah as the partner of Yahweh has stirred a lot of debate. Many have written about it, and many scholars conclude that Yahweh and Asherah were indeed a consort married pair among the ancient Israelites. Asherah was worshipped in ancient Israel as the consort of El - Yahweh and in Judah as the consort of Yahweh and Queen of Heaven. Their children form the pantheon of the gods, who are said to number seventy; a Hittite myth similarly mentions the seventy-seven and eighty-eight children of Asherah. On occasion in Ugaritic myth, Asherah performs the maternal role of wet nurse.

Yahweh’s Separation from the Goddess Asherah in the Garden of Eden

Hebrew Bible scholars have long recognized that the writer who penned the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and much other narrative in the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible (called the Pentateuch, or Torah) had a distinctly anti-Canaanite agenda, and that his anti-Canaanite polemic started in his Eden story. Focusing on this helps us to decipher the meaning of that story, as I have stressed in my new book, The Mythology of Eden, and in talks that I’ve given on the subject at scholarly conferences.

This author, known as the Yahwist (because he was the first author of the Hebrew Bible to use the name Yahweh for God), most clearly set out his anti-Canaanite views at the beginning of his version of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 34:12-15, where Yahweh warns the Hebrews against associating with the Canaanites, intermarrying with them, and worshipping their deities; Yahweh also orders the Hebrews to tear down Canaanite altars, pillars, and asherahs (wooden poles (stylized trees) in sanctuaries that were the cult object of their goddess Asherah (in Hebrew pronounced ah-shei-RAH) and symbolized her). Against this background, the anti-Canaanite polemic in the Eden story becomes apparent, especially that against the goddess Asherah, who at the time was widely viewed by Israelites as Yahweh’s wife or consort. As official Israelite religion trended toward monotheism, the other local deities had to be eliminated (Asherah in particular), and Yahweh appropriated their powers and functions. Insofar as this process affected Asherah, I call this “Yahweh’s Divorce,” and the proceedings began in the Yahwist’s Eden story.

Before the rise of Israel, Asherah was the wife of El, the head god of the Canaanite pantheon. According to the archeological evidence, the people who became Israelites were mostly native Canaanites who settled in the hills of what is now the West Bank, while it seems that small but influential groups also migrated there from the south in the Midian (in and around the Araba Valley in Sinai). As the Bible itself testifies, that is where Yahweh veneration appears to have originated, and, in a process that in this respect resonates with the Moses story, the migrants introduced Yahweh to the native Canaanites who were becoming Israelites. Over time, El declined and merged into Yahweh. As part of that process, Yahweh inherited Asherah from El as his wife.

The Hebrew Bible refers to Asherah directly or indirectly some 40 times, always in negative terms (so she must have been a challenge). Most references are indirect, to the asherah poles that symbolized her, but a number of them clearly enough refer directly to the goddess Asherah (e.g., Judges 3:7; 1 Kings 15:13; 1 Kings 18:19; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:4-7; 2 Chron. 15:16). Evidently she was part of traditional official Israelite religion, for an asherah pole even stood in front of Solomon’s Temple for most of its existence, as well as in Yahweh’s sanctuary in Samaria. There is also much extra-biblical evidence of Asherah in Israel from the time of the judges right through monarchical times, including in paintings/drawings, pendants, plaques, pottery, (possibly) clay “pillar” figurines, cult stands, and in inscriptions. Several inscriptions specifically refer to “Yahweh and his Asherah [or asherah].” (It is not entirely certain whether the goddess herself or the asherah pole symbolizing her is being referenced here, but either way ultimately the goddess is meant, and she is being linked with Yahweh.)

The Yahwist and the other biblical writers could not accept the presence of this goddess as a deity in Israel, much less as the wife of Yahweh, who they specifically depicted in non-sexual terms. So they declared war on her, in part by mentioning her existence sparingly in the Bible, by referring to her and asherahs negatively when they did mention her, and by waging a polemic against her by allusions that would have been clear to the Yahwist’s audience. These tactics are apparent in the Eden story, from the kinds of symbols used and the trajectory of the narrative. These symbols include the garden sanctuary itself, the sacred trees, the serpent, and Eve, herself a goddess figure. In ancient Near Eastern myth and iconography, sacred trees, goddesses, and serpents often form a kind of “trinity,” because they have substantially overlapping and interchangeable symbolism and are often depicted together. Let’s examine each of these symbols briefly.

The Garden. Originally in the ancient Near East, the Goddess was associated with and had jurisdiction over vegetation and life, which she generated herself. People partook of the first crops (including fruit) as her bounty – indeed her body and her divinity – and set up her sanctuary with garden of crops for this purpose. Such a sacred garden sanctuary was “estate” over which she exercised jurisdiction. Examples include Siduri’s vineyard with a sacred tree in the Gilgamesh epic, Inanna’s garden precinct with sacred tree in Sumer, Calypso’s vineyard sanctuary in Homer’s Odyssey, and Hera’s Garden of the Hesperides. Garden sanctuaries of gods and kings evolved later, when religion became more patriarchal, sky gods came to dominate, and goddesses were substantially devalued. In the Eden story, Yahweh’s both creating the garden (i.e., life) and being in charge of it can be viewed as part of this process: There the Goddess (here Asherah) was eliminated from the garden sanctuary and from her functions there.

Sacred trees were thought to connect with the divine realms of both the netherworld and the heavens, and therefore were considered conduits for communicating with and experiencing the divine and themselves are charged with the divine force (thought of as “serpent power”; see below). In harmony with the seasons, trees embody the life energy and symbolize the generation, regeneration and renewal of life. Therefore, they are associated with the source of life, the Earth/Mother Goddess. Accordingly, sacred trees were venerated in Palestine in sacred sanctuaries known as “high places,” as means of accessing and experiencing divinity, principally the goddess Asherah. (Similarly, the divinity of the male deity was accessed through vertical stone pillars, e.g., the one set up by Jacob at Bethel.) In the Eden story, the two sacred trees of knowledge of good and evil and of life allude to this traditional role of sacred trees, but the meaning is turned upside down. In the story, Yahweh even creates the trees. In ordering Adam not to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, by implication Yahweh was telling the audience not to venerate sacred trees in the traditional fashion. And in any event, the heretofore divine knowledge of good and evil that was acquired through eating the fruit is linked with Yahweh, not any goddess. And at the end of the story the tree of life is clearly designated as Yahweh’s, being guarded by his trademark symbols, the paired cherubim.

Serpents. In the ancient Near East, serpents had both positive and negative connotations, and in the Eden story the Yahwist played on each. In its positive aspect, the serpent represented the divine force itself, responsible for creation, life, and rebirth, as symbolized by its constant shedding of its skin. This and the fact that it lives within the earth (the netherworld) made for a natural association with the Mother Earth Goddess. As a result, the serpent was venerated as having divine powers and was used in rituals, including in marriage (to secure conception of children) and to maintain health. Serpents were also considered wise and sources of knowledge, and thus were used in divination. (The Hebrew noun for serpent (nāḥāš) connotes divination; the verb nāḥaš means to practice divination, and observe omens/signs.) Hence the serpent’s connection with transmission of the knowledge of good and evil in the Eden story. This “good” serpent was typically depicted in an upright or erect form, as in the case of the Egyptian erect cobra (in the illustration above), Moses’ bronze serpent on a pole, and the serpent on Asclepius’ staff (now the symbol of our medical profession).

But the serpent also was represented negatively as unrestrained divine power, which produces chaos, which is evil. Therefore, in creation myths the serpent/dragon represents the primordial chaos that must be overcome in order to establish the created cosmos (known as the “dragon fight” motif). This primordial chaos serpent is most often a serpent/dragon goddess (e.g., Tiamat in the Babylonian Enuma Elish) or her proxy (Typhon was the creation of Gaia). The serpent in this “evil” aspect is most often depicted horizontally. In the Eden story our author used this negative aspect, while parodying the traditional positive associations, which Yahweh appropriated. Thus, in the story, the serpent connoted chaos and symbolized the chaos in Eve’s heart as she deliberated. At the end of the story, Yahweh cursed the serpent and flattened its posture (compared with the upright/erect posture it had when talking with Eve). As a result, Yahweh was victorious over the serpent and chaos and, by implication the Goddess, in a mini version of the above-mentioned dragon fight motif.

The Goddess. As noted by numerous biblical scholars, the Goddess is also seen in the figure of Eve herself, the last figure in our trinity of tree-serpent-Goddess. In the Eden story she is given the epithet “the mother of all living,” an epithet like those given to various ancient near Eastern goddesses including Siduri, Ninti, and Mami in Mesopotamia and Asherah in Syria-Palestine. Eve’s actual name in Hebrew (ḥawwâ), besides meaning life (for which goddesses were traditionally responsible), is also likely wordplay on an old Canaanite word for serpent (ḥeva). The name of the goddess Tannit (the Phoenician version of Asherah) means “serpent lady,” and she had the epithet “Lady Ḥawat” (meaning “Lady of Life”), which is derived from the same Canaanite word as Eve’s name (ḥawwâ). At the end of the story, Eve is punished by having to give birth in pain, whereas goddesses in the ancient Near East gave birth painlessly. Further, in Genesis 4:1, Eve needs Yahweh’s help in order to become fertile and conceive, a reversal of the Goddess’ power and function. (Indeed, Eve is even created from Adam!) Adam’s only fault was “listening” to Eve in order to attain divine qualities. Here the Yahwist may be alluding to Goddess veneration, saying not to worship her. This seems to be one reason for the punishment consisting of woman’s subjugation to man in Genesis 3:16.

As a result of these events, by the end of the story Yahweh is supreme and in control of all divine powers and functions formerly in the hands of the Goddess, and Canaanite religion in general has been discredited. Yahweh is in charge of the garden (formerly the Goddess’ province), from which chaos has been removed. Sacred tree veneration has been prohibited and discredited, while Yahweh appropriates and identifies himself with the Tree of Life (see also Hosea 14:8, where Yahweh claims, “I am like an evergreen cypress, from me comes your fruit.”). The serpent has been vanquished, flattened, and deprived of divine qualities, and thus is not worthy of veneration, and enmity has been established between snakes and humans. The Goddess has been discredited, rendered powerless, and is eliminated from the picture and sent into oblivion. Yahweh’s divorce from her has been made final, at least in the author’s mind. But in fact she persisted, and her equivalents in the psyche inevitably have persisted to this day, as they must.

Yeshua AKA Dua Lipa = The Lamb

Yahweh AKA Martyn Nathan = The Lion Of Judah
MR&MRS, genesis-godsfirstchurch.org Ltd

This is a popularized translation of the OT pseudepigrapha, quasi-Biblical writings which never achieved canonical status (or inclusion in any of the official Apocrypha). This isn't to say that these documents are forgeries, just that for one reason or another they were not considered part of the Biblical text by the first Millenium (C.E.) compilers. This book contains translations of all of the texts found in volume I of the weighty Oxford University Press Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, without any of the apparatus.

ADAM and EVE

CHAP. I.

The crystal sea. God commands Adam, expelled from Eden, to dwell in the Cave of Treasures.

ON the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun-rising, one finds nothing but water, that encompasses the whole world, and reaches unto the borders of heaven.

2 And to the north of the garden there is a sea of wafer, clear and pure to the taste, like unto nothing else; so that, through the clearness thereof, one maylook into the depths of the earth.

3 And when a man washes himself in it, becomes clean of the cleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness--even if he were dark.

4 And God created that sea of His own good pleasure, for He knew what would come of the man He should make; so that after he had left the garden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the earth, from among whom righteous ones should die, whose souls God would raise at the last day; when they should return to their flesh; should bathe in the water of that sea, and all of them repent of their sins.

5 But when God made Adam go out of the garden, He did not place him on the border of it northward, lest he should draw near to the sea of water, and he and Eve wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, forget the transgression they had committed, and he no longer reminded of it in the thought of their punishment.

6 Then, again, as to the southern side of the garden, God was not pleased to let Adam dwell there; because, when the wind blew from the north, it would bring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of the garden.

7 Wherefore God did not put Adam there, lest he should smell the sweet smell of those trees forget his transgression, and find consolation for what he had done, take delight in the smell of the trees, and not be cleansed from his transgression.

8 Again, also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs all things in a way He alone knows--He made our father Adam dwell in the western border of the garden, because on that side the earth is very broad.

9 And God commanded him to dwell there in a cave in a rock--the Cave of Treasures below the garden.

CHAP. II.

Adam and Eve faint upon leaving the Garden. God sends His word to encourage them.

BUT when our father Adam, and Eve, went out of the garden, they trod the ground on their feet, not knowing they were treading.

2 And when they came to the opening of the gate of the garden, and saw the broad earth spread before them, covered with stones large and small, and with sand, they feared and trembled, and fell on their faces, from the fear that came upon them; and they were as dead.

3 Because--whereas they had hitherto been in the garden-land, beautifully planted with all manner of trees--they now saw themselves, in a strange land, which they knew not, and had never seen.

4 And because at that time they were filled with the grace of a bright nature, and they had not hearts turned towards earthly things.

 

5 Therefore had God pity on them; and when He saw them fallen before the gate of the garden, He sent His Word unto father Adam and Eve, and raised them from their fallen state.

CHAP. III.

Concerning the promise of the great five days and a half.

GOD said to Adam, "I have ordained on this earth days and years, and thou and thy seed shall dwell and walk in it, until the days and years are fulfilled; when I shall send the

Word that created thee, and against which thou hast transgressed, the Word that made thee come out of the garden and that raised thee when thou wast fallen.

2 Yea, the Word that will again save thee when the five days and a half are fulfilled."

3 But when Adam heard these words from God, and of the great five days and a half, he did not understand the meaning of them.

4 For Adam was thinking that there would be but five days and a half for him, to the end of the world.

5 And Adam wept, and prayed God to explain it to him.

6 Then God in His mercy for Adam who was made after His own image and similitude, explained to him, that these were 5,000 and 500 years; and how One would then come and save him and his seed.

7 But God had before that made this covenant with our father, Adam, in the same terms, ere he came out of the garden, when he was by the tree whereof Eve took the fruit and gave it him to eat.

8 Inasmuch as when our father Adam came out of the garden, he passed by that tree, and saw how God had then changed the appearance of it into another form, and how it withered.

9 And as Adam went to it he feared, trembled and fell down; but God in His mercy lifted him up, and then made this covenant with him.

10 And, again, when Adam was by the gate of the garden, and saw the cherub with a sword of flashing fire in his hand, and the cherub grew angry and frowned at him, both Adam and Eve became afraid of him, and thought he meant to put them to death. So they fell on their faces, and trembled with fear.

11 But he had pity on them, and showed them mercy; and turning from them went up to heaven, and prayed unto the Lord, and said:--

12 "Lord, Thou didst send me to watch at the gate of the garden, with a sword of fire.

13 "But when Thy servants, Adam and Eve, saw me, they fell on their faces, and were as dead. O my Lord, what shall we do to Thy servants?"

14 Then God had pity on them, and showed them mercy, and sent His Angel to keep the garden.

15 And the Word of the Lord came unto Adam and Eve, and raised them up.

16 And the Lord said to Adam, "I told thee that at the end of five days and a half, I will send my Word and save thee.

17 "Strengthen thy heart, therefore, and abide in the Cave of Treasures, of which I have before spoken to thee."

18 And when Adam heard this Word from God, he was comforted with that which God had told him. For He had told him how He would save him.

CHAP. IV.

Adam laments the changed conditions. Adam and Eve enter the Cave of Treasures.

BUT Adam and Eve wept for having come out of the garden, their first abode.

2 And, indeed, when Adam looked at his flesh, that was altered, he wept bitterly, he and Eve, over what they had done. And they walked and went gently down into the Cave of Treasures.

3 And as they came to it Adam wept over himself and said to Eve, "Look at this cave that is to be our prison in this world, and a place of punishment!

4 "What is it compared with the garden? What is its narrowness compared with the space of the other?

5 "What is this rock, by the side of those groves? What is the gloom of this cavern, compared with the light of the garden?

6 "What is this overhanging ledge of rock to shelter us, compared with the mercy of the Lord that overshadowed us?

7 "What is the soil of this cave compared with the garden-land? This earth, strewed with stones; and that, planted with delicious fruit-trees?"

8 And Adam said to Eve, "Look at thine eyes, and at mine, which afore beheld angels in heaven, praising; and they, too, without ceasing.

9 "But now we do not see as we did: our eyes have become of flesh; they cannot see in like manner as they saw before."

10 Adam said again to Eve, "What is our body to-day, compared to what it was in former days, when we dwelt in the garden?"

11 After this Adam did not like to enter the cave, under the overhanging rock; nor would he ever have entered it.

12 But he bowed to God's orders; and said to himself, "Unless I enter the cave, I shall again be a transgressor."

CHAP. V.

In which Eve makes a noble and emotionable intercession, taking the blame on herself.

THEN Adam and Eve entered the cave, and stood praying, in their own tongue, unknown to us, but which they knew well.

2 And as they prayed, Adam raised his eyes, and saw the rock and the roof of the cave that covered him overhead, so that he could see neither heaven, nor God's creatures. So he wept and smote heavily upon his breast, until he dropped, and was as dead.

3 And Eve sat weeping; for she believed he was dead.

4 Then she arose, spread her hands towards God, suing Him for mercy and pity, and said, "O God, forgive me my sin, the sin which I committed, and remember it not against me.

5 "For I alone caused Thy servant to fall from the garden into this lost estate; from light into this darkness; and from the abode of joy into this prison.

6 "O God, look upon this Thy servant thus fallen, and raise him from his death, that he may weep and repent of his transgression which he committed through me.

7 "Take not away his soul this once; but let him live that he may stand after the measure of his repentance, and do Thy will, as before his death.

8 "But if Thou do not raise him up, then, O God, take away my own soul, that I be like him; and leave me not in this dungeon, one and alone; for I could not stand alone in this world, but with him only.

9 "For Thou, O God, didst cause a slumber to come upon him, and didst take a bone from his side, and didst restore the flesh in the place of it, by Thy divine power.

10 "And Thou didst take me, the bone, and make me a woman, bright like him, with heart, reason, and speech; and in flesh, like unto his own; and Thou didst make me after the likeness of his countenance, by Thy mercy and power.

11 "O Lord, I and he are one and Thou, O God, art our Creator, Thou are He who made us both in one day.

12 "Therefore, O God, givehim life, that he may be with me in this strange land, while we dwell in it on account of our transgression.

13 "But if Thou wilt not give him life, then take me, even me, like him; that we both may die the same day."

14 And Eve wept bitterly, and fell upon our father Adam; from her great sorrow.

CHAP. VI.

God's admonition to Adam and Eve in which he points out how and why they sinned.

BUT God looked upon them; for they had killed themselves through great grief.

2 But He would raise them and comfort them.

3 He, therefore, sent His Word unto them; that they should stand and be raised forthwith.

4 And the Lord said unto Adam and Eve, "You transgressed of your own free will, until you came out of the garden in which I had placed you.

5 "Of your own free will have you transgressed through your desire for divinity, greatness, and an exalted state, such as I have; so that I deprived you of the bright nature in which you then were, and I made you come out of the garden to this land, rough and full of trouble.

6 "If only you had not transgressed My commandment and had kept My law, and had not eaten of the fruit of the tree, near which I told you not to come! And there were fruit trees in the garden better than that one.

7 "But the wicked Satan who continued not in his first estate, nor kept his faith; in whom was no good intent towards Me, and who though I had created him, yet set Me at naught, and sought the Godhead, so that I hurled him down from heaven,--he it is who made the tree appear pleasant in your eyes, until you ate of it, by hearkening to him.

8 "Thus have you transgressed My commandment, and therefore have I brought upon you all these sorrows.

9 "For I am God the Creator, who, when I created My creatures, did not intend to destroy them. But after they had sorely roused My anger, I punished them with grievous plagues, until they repent.

10 "But, if on the contrary, they still continue hardened in their transgression, they shall be under a curse for ever."

Chap. VII.

The beasts are reconciled.

WHEN Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they wept and sobbed yet more; but they strengthened their hearts in God, because they now felt that the Lord was to them like a father and a mother; and for this very reason, they wept before Him, and sought mercy from Him.

2 Then God had pity on them, and said: "O Adam, I have made My covenant with thee, and I will not turn from it; neither will I let thee return to the garden, until My covenant of the great five days and a half is fulfilled."

3 Then Adam said unto God, "O Lord, Thou didst create us, and make us fit to be in the garden; and before I transgressed, Thou madest all beasts come to me, that I should name them.

4 "Thy grace was then on me; and I named every one according to Thy mind; and Thou madest them all subject unto me.

5 "But now, O Lord God, that I have transgressed Thy commandment,all beasts will rise against me and will devour me, and Eve Thy handmaid; and will cut off our life from the face of the earth.

6 "I therefore beseech Thee, O God, that, since Thou hast made us come out of the garden, and hast made us be in a strange land, Thou wilt not let the beasts hurt us."

7 When the Lord heard these words from Adam, He had pity on him, and felt that he had truly said that the beasts of the field would rise and devour him and Eve, because He, the Lord, was angry with them two on account of their transgression.

8 Then God commanded the beasts, and the birds, and all that moves upon the earth, to come to Adam and to be familiar with him, and not to trouble him and Eve; nor yet any of the good and righteous among their posterity.

9 Then the beasts did obeisance to Adam, according to the commandment of God; except the serpent, against which God was wroth. It did not come to Adam, with the beasts.

CHAP. VIII.

The "Bright Nature" of man is taken away.

THEN Adam wept and said, "O God, when we dwelt in the garden, and our hearts were lifted up, we saw the angels that sang praises in heaven, but now we do not see as we were used to do; nay, when we entered the cave, all creation became hidden from us."

2 Then God the Lord said unto Adam, "When thou wast under subjection to Me, thou hadst a bright nature within thee, and for that reason couldst thou see things afar off. But after thy transgression thy bright nature was withdrawn from thee; and it was not left to thee to see things afar off, but only near at hand; after the ability of the flesh; for it is brutish."

3 When Adam and Eve had heard these words from God, they went their way; praising and worshipping Him with a sorrowful heart.

4 And God ceased to commune with them.

CHAP. IX.

Water from the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve near drowning.

THEN Adam and Eve came out of the Cave of Treasures, and drew near to the garden gate, and there they stood to look at it, and wept for having come away from it.

2 And Adam and Eve went from before the gate of the garden to the southern side of it, and found there the water that watered the garden, from the root of the Tree of Life, and that parted itself from thence into four rivers over the earth.

3 Then they came and drew near to that water, and looked at it; and saw that it was the water that came forth from under the root of the Tree of Life in the garden.

4 And Adam wept and wailed, and smote upon his breast, for being severed from the garden; and said to Eve:--

5 "Why hast thou brought upon me, upon thyself, and upon our seed, so many of these plagues and punishments?"

6 And Eve said unto him, "What is it thou hast seen, to weep and to speak to me in this wise?"

7 And he said to Eve, "Seest thou not this water that was with us in the garden, that watered the trees of the garden, and flowed out thence?

8 "And we, when we were in the garden, did not care about it; but since we came to this strange land, we love it, and turn it to use for our body."

9 But when Eve heard these words from him, she wept; and from the soreness of their weeping, they fell into that water; and would have put an end to themselves in it, so as never again to return and behold the creation; for when they looked upon the work of creation, they felt they must put an end to themselves.

CHAP. X.

Their bodies need water after they leave the Garden.

THEN God, merciful and gracious, looked upon them thus lying in the water, and nigh unto death, and sent an angel, who brought them out of the water, and laid them on the seashore as dead.

2 Then the angel went up to God, was welcome, and said, "O God, Thy creatures have breathed their last."

3 Then God sent His Word unto Adam and Eve, who raised them from their death.

4 And Adam said, after he was raised, "O God, while we were in the garden we did not require, or care for this water; but since we came to this land we cannot do without it."

5 Then God said to Adam, "While thou wast under My command and wast a bright angel, thou knewest not this water.

6 "But after that thou hast transgressed My commandment, thou canst not do without water, wherein to wash thy body and make it grow; for it is now like that of beasts, and is in want of water."

7 When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they wept a bitter cry; and Adam entreated God to let him return into the garden, and look at it a second time.

8 But God said unto Adam, "I have made thee a promise; when that promise is fulfilled, I will bring thee back into the garden, thee and thy righteous seed."

9 And God ceased to commune with Adam.

CHAP. XI.

A recollection of the glorious days in the Garden.

THEN Adam and Eve felt themselves burning with thirst, and heat, and sorrow.

2 And Adam said to Eve, "We shall not drink of this water, even if we were to die. O Eve, when this water comes into our inner parts, it will increase our punishments and that of our children, that shall come after us."

3 Both Adam and Eve then withdrew from the water, and drank none of it at all; but came and entered the Cave of Treasures.

4 But when in it Adam could not see Eve; he only heard the noise she made. Neither could she see Adam, but heard the noise he made.

5 Then Adam wept, in deep affliction, and smote upon his breast; and he arose and said to Eve, "Where art thou?"

6 And she said unto him, "Lo, I am standing in this darkness."

7 He then said to her, "Remember the bright nature in which we lived, while we abode in the garden!

8 "O Eve! remember the glory that rested on us in the garden. O Eve! remember the trees that overshadowed us in the garden while we moved among them.

9 "O Eve! remember that while we were in the garden, we knew neither night nor day.

Think of the Tree of Life, from below which flowed the water, and that shed lustre over us! Remember, O Eve, the garden-land, and the brightness thereof!

10 "Think, oh think of that garden in which was no darkness, while we dwelt therein.

11 "Whereas no sooner did we come into this Cave of Treasures than darkness compassed us round about; until we can no longer see each other; and all the pleasure of this life has come to an end."

CHAP. XII.

How darkness came between Adam and Eve.

THEN Adam smote upon his breast, he and Eve, and they mourned the whole night until dawn drew near, and they sighed over the length of the night in Miyazia.

2 And Adam beat himself, and threw himself on the ground in the cave, from bitter grief, and because of the darkness, and lay there as dead.

3 But Eve heard the noise he made in falling upon the earth. And she felt about for him with her hands, and found him like a corpse.

4 Then she was afraid, speechless, and remained by him.

5 But the merciful Lord looked on the death of Adam, and on Eve's silence from fear of the darkness.

6 And the Word of God came unto Adam and raised him from his death, and opened Eve's mouth that she might speak.

7 Then Adam arose in the cave and said, "O God, wherefore has light departed from us, and darkness come over us? Wherefore dost Thou leave us in this long darkness? Why wilt Thou plague us thus?

8 "And this darkness, O Lord, where was it ere it came upon us? It is such, that we cannot see each other.

9 "For, so long as we were in the garden, we neither saw nor even knew what darkness is. I was not hidden from Eve, neither was she hidden from me, until now that she cannot see me; and no darkness came upon us, to separate us from each other.

10 "But she and I were both in one bright light. I saw her and she saw me. Yet now since we came into this cave, darkness has come upon us, and parted us asunder, so that I do not see her, and she does not see me.

11 "O Lord, wilt Thou then plague us with this darkness?"

CHAP. XIII.

The fall of Adam. Why night and day were created.

THEN when God, who is merciful and full of pity, heard Adam's voice, He said unto him:--

2 "O Adam, so long as the good angel was obedient to Me, a bright light rested on him and on his hosts.

3 "But when he transgressed My commandment, I deprived him of that bright nature, and he became dark.

4 "And when he was in the heavens, in the realms of light, he knew naught of darkness.

5 "But he transgressed, and I made him fall from heaven upon the earth; and it was this darkness that came upon him.

6 "And on thee, O Adam, while in My garden and obedient to Me, did that bright light rest also.

7 "But when I heard of thy transgression, I deprived thee of that bright light. Yet, of My mercy, I did not turn thee into darkness, but I made thee thy body of flesh, over which I spread this skin, in order that it may bear cold and heat.

8 "If I had let My wrath fall heavily upon thee, I should have destroyed thee; and had I turned thee into darkness, it would have been as if I killed thee.

9 "But in My mercy, I have made thee as thou art; when thou didst transgress My commandment, O Adam, I drove thee from the garden, and made thee come forth into this land; and commanded thee to dwell in this cave; and darkness came upon thee, as it did upon him who transgressed My commandment.

10 "Thus, O Adam, has this night deceived thee. It is not to last for ever; but is only of twelve hours; when it is over, daylight will return.

11 "Sigh not, therefore, neither be moved; and say not in thy heart that this darkness is long and drags on wearily; and say not in thy heart that I plague thee with it.

12 "Strengthen thy heart, and be not afraid. This darkness is not a punishment. But, O Adam, I have made the day, and have placed the sun in it to give light; in order that thou and thy children should do your work.

13 "For I knew thou shouldest sin and transgress, and come out into this land. Yet would I not force thee, nor be heard upon thee, nor shut up; nor doom thee through thy fall; nor through thy coming out from light into darkness; nor yet through thy coining from the garden into this land.

14 "For I made thee of the light; and I willed to bring out children of light from thee and like unto thee.

15 "But thou didst not keep one day My commandment; until I had finished the creation and blessed everything in it.

16 "Then I commanded thee concerning the tree, that thou eat not thereof. Yet I knew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive thee.

17 "So I made known to thee by means of the tree, not to come near him. And I told thee not to eat of the fruit thereof, nor to taste of it, nor yet to sit under it, nor to yield to it.

18 "Had I not been and spoken to thee, O Adam, concerning the tree, and had I left thee without a commandment, and thou hadst sinned--it would have been an offence on My part, for not having given thee any order; thou wouldst turn round and blame Me for it.

19 "But I commanded thee, and warned thee, and thou didst fall. So that My creatures cannot blame me; but the blame rests on them alone.

20 "And, O Adam, I have made the day for thee and for thy children after thee, for them to work, and toil therein. And I have made the night for them to rest in it from their work; and for the beasts of the field to go forth by night and seek their food.

21 "But little of darkness now remains, O Adam; and daylight will soon appear."

CHAP. XIV.

The earliest prophecy of the coming of Christ.

THEN Adam said unto God: "O Lord, take Thou my soul, and let me not see this gloom any more; or remove me to some place where there is no darkness."

2 But God the Lord said to Adam, "Verily I say unto thee, this darkness will pass from thee, every day I have determined for thee, until the fulfilment of My covenant; when I will save thee and bring thee back again into the garden, into the abode of light thou longest for, wherein is no darkness. I will bring thee, to it--in the kingdom of heaven."

3 Again said God unto Adam, "All this misery that thou hast been made to take upon thee because of thy transgression, will not free thee from the hand of Satan, and will not save thee.

4 "But I will. When I shall come down from heaven, and shall become flesh of thy seed, and take upon Me the infirmity from which thou sufferest, then the darkness that came upon thee in this cave shall come upon Me in the grave, when I am in the flesh of thy seed.

5 "And I, who am without years, shall be subject to the reckoning of years, of times, of months, and of days, and I shall be reckoned as one of the sons of men, in order to save thee."

6 And God ceased to commune with Adam.

CHAP. XV.

THEN Adam and Eve wept and sorrowed by reason of God's word to them, that they should not return to the garden until the fulfilment of the days decreed upon them; but mostly because God had told them that He should suffer for their salvation.

CHAP. XVI.

The first sunrise. Adam and Eve think it is a fire coming to burn them.

AFTER this Adam and Eve ceased not to stand in the cave, praying and weeping, until the morning dawned upon them.

2 And when they saw the light returned to them, they restrained from fear, and strengthened their hearts.

3 Then Adam began to come out of the cave. And when he came to the mouth of it, and stood and turned his face towards the east, and saw the sun rise in glowing rays, and felt the heat thereof on his body, he was afraid of it, and thought in his heart that this flame came forth to plague him.

4 He wept then, and smote upon his breast, and fell upon the earth on his face, and made his request, saying:--

5 "O Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life from the earth."

6 For he thought the sun was God.

7 Inasmuch as while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the sound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the brilliant light of the sun, neither did the flaming heat thereof touch his body.

8 Therefore was he afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached him. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days He had decreed for him.

9 For Adam also said in his thoughts, as God did not plague us with darkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with burning heat.

10 But while he was thus thinking in his heart, the Word of God came unto him and said:--

11 "O Adam, arise and stand up. This sun is not God; but it has been created to give light by day, of which I spake unto thee in the cave saying, 'that the dawn would break forth, and there would be light by day.'

12 "But I am God who comforted thee in the night."

13 And God ceased to commune with Adam.

CHAP. XVII.

The Chapter of the Serpent.

THEN Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave, and went towards the garden.

​

2 But as they drew near to it, before the western gate, from which Satan came when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the. serpent that became Satan coming at the gate, and sorrowfully licking the dust, and wriggling on its breast on the ground, by reason of the curse that fell upon it from God.

3 And whereas aforetime the serpent was the most exalted of all beasts, now it was changed and become slippery, and the meanest of them all, and it crept on its breast and went on its belly.

4 And whereas it was the fairest of all beasts, it had been changed, and was become the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best food, now it turned to eat the dust. Instead of dwelling, as before, in the best places, now it lived in the dust.

5 And, whereas it had been the most beautiful of all beasts, all of which stood dumb at its beauty, it was now abhorred of them.

 

6 And, again, whereas it dwelt in one beautiful abode, to which all other animals came from elsewhere; and where it drank, they drank also of the same; now, after it had become venomous, by reason of God's curse, all beasts fled from its abode, and would not drink of the water it drank; but fled from it.

CHAP. XVIII.

The mortal combat with the serpent.

WHEN the accursed serpent saw Adam and Eve, it swelled its head, stood on its tail, and with eyes blood-red, did as if it would kill them.

2 It made straight for Eve, and ran after her; while Adam standing by, wept because he had no stick in his hand wherewith to smite the serpent, and knew not how to put it to death.

3 But with a heart burning for Eve, Adam approached the serpent, and held it by the tail; when it turned towards him and said unto him:--

4 "O Adam, because of thee and of Eve, I am slippery, and go upon my belly." Then by reason of its great strength, it threw down Adam and Eve and pressed upon them, as if it would kill them.

5 But God sent an angel who threw the serpent away from them, and raised them up.

6 Then the Word of God came to the serpent, and said unto it, "In the first instance I made thee glib, and made thee to go upon thy belly; but I did not deprive thee of speech.

7 "Now, however, be thou dumb; and speak no more, thou and thy race; because in the first place, has the ruin of my creatures happened through thee, and now thou wishest to kill them."

8 Then the serpent was struck dumb, and spake no more.

 

9 And a wind came to blow from heaven by command of God that carried away the serpent from Adam and Eve, threw it on the sea shore, and it landed in India.

CHAP. XIX.

Beasts made subject to Adam.

BUT Adam and Eve wept before God. And Adam said unto Him:--

2 "O Lord, when I was in the cave, I said this to Thee, my Lord, that the beasts of the field would rise and devour me, and cut off my life from the earth."

3 Then Adam, by reason of what had befallen him, smote upon his breast, and fell upon the earth like a corpse; then came to him the Word of God,

p. 15

who raised him, and said unto him,

4 "O Adam, not one of these beasts will be able to hurt thee; because when I made the beasts and other moving things come to thee in the cave, I did not let the serpent come with them, lest it should rise against you, make you tremble; and the fear of it should fall into your hearts.

5 "For I knew that that accursed one is wicked; therefore would I not let it come near you with the other beasts.

6 "But now strengthen thy heart and fear not. I am with thee unto the end of the days I have determined on thee."

CHAP. XX.

Adam wishes to protect Eve.

THEN Adam wept and said, "O God, remove us to some other place, that the serpent may not come again near us, and rise against us. Lest it find Thy handmaid Eve alone and kill her; for its eyes are hideous and evil."

2 But God said to Adam and Eve, "Henceforth fear not, I will not let it come near you; I have driven it away from you, from this mountain; neither will I leave in it aught to hurt you."

3 Then Adam and Eve worshipped before God 'and gave Him thanks, and praised Him for having delivered them from death.

CHAP. XXI.

Adam and Eve attempt suicide.

THEN Adam and Eve went in search of the garden.

2 And the heat beat like a flame on their faces; and they sweated from the heat, and wept before the Lord.

3 But the place where they wept was nigh unto a high mountain, facing the western gate of the garden.

4 Then Adam threw himself down from the top of that mountain; his face was tom and his flesh was flayed; much blood flowed from him, and he was nigh unto death.

5 Meanwhile Eve remained standing on the mountain weeping over him, thus lying.

6 And she said, "I wish not to live after him; for all that he did to himself was through me."

7 Then she threw herself after him; and was torn and scotched by stones; and remained lying as dead.

8 But the merciful God, who looks upon His creatures, looked upon Adam and Eve as they lay dead, and He sent His Word unto them, and raised them.

 

9 And said to Adam, "O Adam, all this misery which thou hast wrought upon thyself, will not avail against My rule, neither will it alter the covenant of the 5500 years."

CHAP. XXII.

Adam in a chivalrous mood.

THEN Adam said to God, "I wither in the heat; I am faint from walking, and am loth of this world. And I know not when Thou wilt bring me out of it, to rest."

2 Then the Lord God said unto him, "O Adam, it cannot be at present, not until thou hast ended thy days. Then shall I bring thee out of this wretched land."

3 And Adam said to God, "While I was in the garden I knew neither heat, nor languor, neither moving about, nor trembling, nor fear; but now since I came to this land, all this affliction has come upon me."

 

4 Then God said to Adam,

"So long as thou wast keeping My commandment, My light and My grace rested on thee. But when thou didst transgress My commandment, sorrow and misery befell thee in this land."

5 And Adam wept and said, "O Lord, do not cut me off for this, neither smite me with heavy plagues, nor yet repay me according to my sin; For we, of our own will, did transgress Thy commandment, and forsook Thy law, and sought to become gods like unto Thee, when Satan the enemy deceived us."

6 Then God said again unto Adam, "Because thou hast borne fear and trembling in this land, languor and suffering treading and walking about, going upon this mountain, and dying from it, I will take all this upon Myself in order to save thee."

CHAP. XXIII.

Adam and Eve gird themselves and make the first altar ever built.

THEN Adam wept more and said, "O God, have mercy on me, so far as to take upon Thee, that which I will do."

2 But God took His Word from Adam and Eve.

3 Then Adam and Eve stood on their feet; and Adam said to Eve "Gird thyself, and I also will gird myself." And she girded herself, as Adam told her.

4 Then Adam and Eve took stones and placed them in the shape of an altar; and they took leaves from the trees outside the garden, with which they wiped, from the face of the rock, the blood they had spilled.

5 But that which had dropped on the sand, they took together with the dust wherewith it was mingled and offered it upon the altar as an offering unto God.

6 Then Adam and Eve stood under the altar and wept, thus entreating God, "Forgive us our trespass 1 and our sin, and look upon us with Thine eye of mercy. For when we were in the garden our praises and our hymns went up before Thee without ceasing.

7 "But when we came into this strange land, pure praise was no longer ours, nor righteous prayer, nor understanding hearts, nor sweet thoughts, nor just counsels, nor long discernment, nor upright feelings, neither is our bright nature left us. But our body is changed from the similitude in which it was at first, when we were created.

8 "Yet now look upon our blood which is offered upon these stones, and accept it at our hands, like the praise we used to sing unto Thee at first, when in the garden."

9 And Adam began to make more requests unto God.

 

Footnotes

16:1 ORIGINAL OF THE LORD'S PRAYER SAID TO BE USED ABOUT 150 YEARS BEFORE OUR LORD: Our Father, Who art in Heaven, be gracious unto us, O Lord our God, hallowed be Thy Name, and let the remembrance of Thee be glorified in Heaven above and upon earth here below.

Let Thy kingdom reign over us now and forever. The Holy Men of old said remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done unto me. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing; for Thine is the kingdom and Thou shalt reign in glory forever and forevermore, AMEN.

CHAP. XXIV.

A vivid prophecy of the life and death of Christ.

TEN the merciful God, good 'and lover of men, looked upon Adam and Eve, and upon their blood, which they had held up as an offering unto Him; without an order from Him for so doing. But He wondered at them; and accepted their offerings.

2 And God sent from His presence a bright fire, that consumed their offering.

3 He smelt the sweet savour of their offering, and showed them mercy.

4 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said unto him, "O Adam, as thou hast shed thy blood, so will I shed My own blood when I become flesh of thy seed; and as thou didst die, O Adam, so also will I die. And as thou didst build an altar, so also will I make for thee an altar on the earth; and as thou didst offer thy blood upon it, so also will I offer My blood upon an altar on the earth.

5 "And as thou didst sue for forgiveness through that blood, so also will I make My blood forgiveness of sins, and blot out transgressions in it.

6 "And now, behold, I have accepted thy offering, O Adam, but the days of the covenant, wherein I have bound thee, are not fulfilled. When they are fulfilled, then will I bring thee back into the garden.

 

7 "Now, therefore, strengthen thy heart; and when sorrow comes upon thee, make Me an offering, and I will be favourable to thee."

CHAP. XXV.

God represented as merciful and loving. The establishing of worship.

BUT God knew that Adam had in his thoughts, that he should often kill himself and make an offering to Him of his blood.

2 Therefore did He say unto him, "O Adam, do not again kill thyself as thou didst, by throwing thyself down from that mountain."

3 But Adam said unto God, "It was in my mind to put an end to myself at once, for having transgressed Thy commandments, and for my having come out of the beautiful garden; and for the bright light of which Thou hast deprived me; and for the praises which poured forth from my mouth without ceasing, and for the light that covered me.

4 "Yet of Thy goodness, O God, do not away with me altogether; but be favourable to me every time I die, and bring me to life.

5 "And thereby it will be made known that Thou art a merciful God, who willest not that one should perish; who lovest not that one should fall; and who dost not condemn any one cruelly, badly, and by whole destruction."

6 Then Adam remained silent.

7 And the Word of God came unto him, and blessed him, and comforted him, and covenanted with him, that He would save him at the end of the days determined upon him.

8 This, then, was the first offering Adam made unto God; and so it became his custom to do.

CHAP. XXVI.

A beautiful prophecy of eternal life and joy (v. 15). The fall of night.

THEN Adam took Eve, and they began to return to the Cave of Treasures where they dwelt. But when they neared

p. 18

it and saw it from afar, heavy sorrow fell upon Adam and Eve when they looked at it.

2 Then Adam said to Eve, "When we were on the mountain we were comforted by the Word of God that conversed with us; and the light that came from the east, shone over us.

3 "But now the Word of God is hidden from us; and the light that shone over us is so changed as to disappear, and let darkness and sorrow come upon us.

4 "And we are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison, wherein darkness covers us, so that we are parted from each other; and thou canst not see me, neither can I see thee."

5 When Adam had said these words, they wept and spread their hands before God; for they were full of sorrow.

6 And they entreated God to bring the sun to them, to shine on them, so that darkness return not upon them, and they come not again under this covering of rock. And they wished to die rather than see the darkness.

7 Then God looked upon Adam and Eve and upon their great sorrow, and upon all they had done with a fervent heart, on account of all the trouble they were in, instead of their former well-being, and on account of all the misery that came upon them in a strange land.

8 Therefore God was not wroth with them; nor impatient with them; but He was longsuffering and forbearing towards them, as towards the children He had created.

9 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said unto him, "Adam, as for the sun, if I were to take it and bring it to thee, days, hours, years and months would all come to naught, and the covenant I have made with thee, would never be fulfilled.

10 "But thou shouldest then be turned and left in a long plague, and no salvation would be left to thee for ever.

11 "Yea, rather, bear long and calm thy soul while thou abidest night and day; until the fulfilment of the days, and the time of My covenant is come.

12 "Then shall I come and save thee, O Adam, for I do not wish that thou be afflicted.

13 "And when I look at all the good things in which thou didst live, and why thou camest out of them, then would I willingly show thee mercy.

14 "But I cannot alter the covenant that has gone out of My mouth; else would I have brought thee back into the garden.

15 "When, however, the covenant is fulfilled, then shall I show thee and thy seed mercy, and bring thee into a land of gladness, where there is neither sorrow nor suffering; but abiding joy and gladness, and light that never fails, and praises that never cease; and a beautiful garden that shall never pass away."

16 And God said again unto Adam, "Be long-suffering and enter the cave, for the darkness, of which thou wast afraid, shall only be twelve hours long; and when ended, light shall arise."

17 Then when Adam heard these words from God, he and Eve worshipped before Him, and their hearts were comforted. They returned into the cave after their custom, while tears flowed from their eyes, sorrow and wailing came from their hearts, and they wished their soul would leave their body.

18 And Adam and Eve stood praying, until the darkness of night came upon them, and Adam was hid from Eve, and she from him.

19 And they remained standing in prayer.

CHAP. XXVII.

The second tempting of Adam and Eve. The devil takes on the form of a beguiling light.

WHEN Satan, the hater of all good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering--Satan made an apparition.

2 He began with transforming his hosts; in his hands was a flashing fire, and they were in a great light.

3 He then placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter into it by reason of their prayers. And he shed light into the cave, until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve; while his hosts began to sing praises.

4 And Satan did this, in order that when Adam saw the light, he should think within himself that it was a heavenly light, and that Satan's hosts were angels; and that God had sent them to watch at the cave, and to give him light in the darkness.

5 So that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam thereby, and a second time humble him before God.

6 When, therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, fancying it was real, they strengthened their hearts; yet, as they were trembling, Adam said to Eve:--

7 "Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at that host standing outside that do not come in to us, do not tell us what they say, or whence they come, or what is the meaning of this light; what those praises are; wherefore they have been sent hither, and why they do not come in.

8 "If they were from God, they would come to us in the cave, and would tell us their errand."

9 Then Adam stood up and prayed unto God with a fervent heart, and said:--

10 "O Lord, is there in the world another god than Thou, who created angels and filled them with light, and sent them to keep us, who would come with them?

11 "But, lo, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave; they are in a great light; they sing loud praises. If they are of some other god than Thou, tell me; and if they are sent by Thee, inform me of the reason for which Thou hast sent them."

12 No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared unto him in the cave, who said unto him, "O Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his hosts; he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the first time, he was hidden in the serpent; but this time he is come to you in the similitude of an angel of light; in order that, when you worshipped him, he might enthrall you, in the very presence of God."

13 Then the angel went from Adam, and seized Satan at the opening of the cave, and stripped him of the feint he had assumed, and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve; who were afraid of him when they saw him.

14 And the angel said to Adam, "This hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you in it; therefore did he transform himself into an angel of light."

15 Then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve, and said unto them, "Fear not; God who created you, will strengthen you."

16 And the angel went from them.

17 But Adam and Eve remained

p. 20

standing in the cave; no consolation came to them; they were divided in their thoughts.

18 And when it was morning they prayed; and then went out to seek the garden. For their hearts were towards it, and they could get no consolation for having left it.

CHAP. XXVIII.

The Devil pretends to lead Adam and Eve to the water to bathe.

BUT when the wily Satan saw them, that they were going to the garden, he gathered together his host, and came in appearance upon a cloud, intent on deceiving them.

2 But when Adam and Eve saw him thus in a vision, they thought they were angels of God come to comfort them about their having left the garden, or to bring them back again into it.

3 And Adam spread his hands unto God, beseeching Him to make him understand what they were.

4 Then Satan, the hater of all good, said unto Adam, "O Adam, I am an angel of the great God; and, behold the hosts that surround me.

5 "God has sent me and them to take thee and bring thee to the border of the garden northwards; to the shore of the clear sea, and bathe thee and Eve in it, and raise you to your former gladness, that ye return again to the garden."

6 These words sank into the heart of Adam and Eve.

7 Yet God withheld His Word from Adam, and did not make him understand at once, but waited to see his strength; whether he would be overcome as Eve was when in the garden, or whether he would prevail.

8 Then Satan called to Adam and Eve, and said, "Behold, we go to the sea of water," and they began to go.

9 And Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance.

 

10 But when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden, a very high mountain, without any steps to the top of it, the Devil drew near to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top in reality, and not in a vision; wishing, as he did, to throw them down and kill them, and to wipe off their name from the earth; so that this earth should remain to him and his hosts alone.

CHAP. XXIX.

God tells Adam of the Devil's purpose. (v. 4).

BUT when the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his manifold devices, and saw that Adam was meek and without guile, God spake unto Satan in a loud voice, and cursed him.

2 Then he and his hosts fled, and Adam and Eve remained standing on the top of the mountain, whence they saw below them the wide world, high above which they were. But they saw none of the host which anon were by them.

3 They wept, both Adam and Eve, before God, and begged for forgiveness of Him.

4 Then came the Word from God to Adam, and said unto him, "Know thou and understand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive thee and thy seed after thee."

5 And Adam wept before the Lord God, and begged and entreated Him to give him something from the garden, as a token to him, wherein to be comforted.

6 And God looked upon Adam's thought, and sent the angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches unto India, to take

p. 21

from thence golden rods and bring them to Adam.

7 This did God in His wisdom, in order that these golden rods, being with Adam in the cave, should shine forth with light in the night around him, and put an end to his fear of the darkness.

8 Then the angel Michael went down by God's order, took golden rods, as God had commanded him, and brought them to God.

CHAP. XXX.

Adam receives the first worldly goods.

AFTER these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden, and say to the cherub who kept it, "Behold, God has commanded me to come into the garden, and to take thence sweet smelling incense, and give it to Adam."

2 Then the angel Gabriel went down by God's order to the garden, and told the cherub as God had commanded him.

3 The cherub then said, "Well." And Gabriel went in and took the incense.

4 Then God commanded His angel Raphael to go down to the garden, and speak to the cherub about some myrrh, to give to Adam.

5 And the angel Raphael went down and told the cherub as God had commanded him, and the cherub said, "Well." Then Raphael went in and took the myrrh.

6 The golden rods were from the Indian sea, where there are precious stones. The incense was from the eastern border of the garden; and the myrrh from the western border, whence bitterness came upon Adam.

7 And the angels brought these three things to God, by the Tree of Life, in the garden.

8 Then God said to the angels, "Dip them in the spring of water; then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve, that they be a little comforted in their sorrow, and give them to Adam and Eve.

9 And the angels did as God had commanded them, and they gave all those things to Adam and Eve on the top of the mountain upon which Satan had placed them, when he sought to make an end of them.

10 And when Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he was rejoiced and wept because he thought that the gold was a token of the kingdom whence he had come, that the incense was a token of the bright light which had been taken from him, and that the myrrh was a token of the sorrow in which he was.

CHAP. XXXI.

They make themselves more comfortable in the Cave of Treasures on the third day.

AFTER these things God said unto Adam, "Thou didst ask of Me something from the garden, to be comforted therewith, and I have given thee these three tokens as a consolation to thee; that thou trust in Me and in My covenant with thee.

2 "For I will come and save thee; and kings shall bring me when in the flesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death.

3 "But, O Adam, put these by thee in the cave; the gold that it may shed light over thee by night; the incense, that thou smell its sweet savour; and the myrrh, to comfort thee in thy sorrow."

4 When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped

before Him. He and Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks, because He had dealt mercifully with them.

5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one.

6 And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up Adam and Eve, and bring them down from the top of the high mountain, and to take them to the Cave of Treasures.

7 There they laid the gold on the south side of the cave, the incense on the eastern side, and the myrrh on the western side. For the mouth of the cave was on the north side.

8 The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed.

9 The gold was seventy rods; the incense, twelve pounds; and the myrrh, three pounds.

10 These remained by Adam in the House of Treasures; therefore was it called "of concealment." But other interpreters say it was called the "Cave of Treasures," by reason of the bodies of righteous men that were in it.

11 These three things did God give to Adam, on the third day after he had come out of the garden, in token of the three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth.

12 And these three things, as they continued with Adam in the cave, gave him light by night; and by day they gave him a little relief from his sorrow.

 

 

CHAP. XXXII.

Adam and Eve go into the water to pray.

AND Adam and Eve remained in the Cave of Treasures until the seventh day; they neither ate of the fruit of the earth, nor drank water.

2 And when it dawned on the eighth day, Adam said to Eve, "O Eve, we prayed God to give us somewhat from the garden, and He sent His angels who brought us what we had desired.

3 "But now, arise, let us go to the sea of water we saw at first, and let us stand in it, praying that God will again be favourable to us and take us back to the garden; or give us something; or that He will give us comfort in some other land than this in which we are."

4 Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave, went and stood on the border of the sea in which they had before thrown themselves, and Adam said to Eve:--

5 "Come, go down into this place, and come not out of it until the end of thirty days, when I shall come to thee. And pray to God with fervent heart and a sweet voice, to forgive us.

6 "And I will go to another place, and go down into it, and do like thee."

7 Then Eve went down into the water, as Adam had commanded her. Adam also went down into the water; and they stood praying; and besought the Lord to forgive them their offence, and to restore them to their former state.

8 And they stood thus praying, unto the end of the five-and-thirty days.

CHAP. XXXIII.

Satan falsely promises the "bright light!'

BUT Satan, the hater of all good, sought them in the cave, but found them not, although he searched diligently for them.

2 But he found them standing in the water praying and thought within himself, "Adam and Eve are thus standing in that water beseeching God to forgive them their transgression,

and to restore them to their former estate, and to take them from under my hand.

3 "But I will deceive them so that they shall come out of the water, and not fulfil their vow."

4 Then the hater of all good, went not to Adam, but be went to Eve, and took the form of an angel of God, praising and rejoicing, and said to her--

5 "Peace be unto thee! Be glad and rejoice! God is favourable unto you, and He sent me to Adam. I have brought him the glad tidings of salvation, and of his being filled with bright light as he was at first.

6 "And Adam, in his joy for his restoration, has sent me to thee, that thou come to me, in order that I crown thee with light like him.

7 "And he said to me, 'Speak unto Eve; if she does not come with thee, tell her of the sign when we were on the top of the mountain; how God sent His angels who took us and brought us to the Cave of Treasures; and laid the gold on the southern side; incense, on the eastern side; and myrrh on the western side.' Now come to him."

8 When Eve heard these words from him, she rejoiced greatly. And thinking that Satan's appearance was real, she came out of the sea.

9 He went before, and she followed him until they came to Adam. Then Satan hid himself from her, and she saw him no more.

10 She then came and stood before Adam, who was standing by the water and rejoicing in God's forgiveness.

11 And as she called to him, he turned round, found her there and wept when he saw her, and smote upon his breast; and from the bitterness of his grief, he sank into the water.

12 But God looked upon him and upon his misery, and upon his being about to breathe his last. And the Word of God came from heaven, raised him out of the water, and said unto him, "Go up the high bank to Eve." And when he came up to Eve he said unto her, "Who said to thee 'come hither'?"

13 Then she told him the discourse of the angel who had appeared unto her and had given her a sign.

14 But Adam grieved, and gave her to know it was Satan. He then took her and they both returned to the cave.

15 These things happened to them the second time they went down to the water, seven days after their coming out of the garden.

16 They fasted in the water thirty-five days; altogether forty-two days since they had left the garden.

CHAP. XXXIV.

Adam recalls the creation of Eve. He eloquently appeals for food and drink.

AND on the morning of the forty-third day, they came out of the cave, sorrowful and weeping. Their bodies were lean, and they were parched from hunger and thirst, from fasting and praying, and from their heavy sorrow on account of their transgression.

2 And when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to the west of the garden.

3 There they stood and prayed and besought God to grant them forgiveness of their sins.

4 And after their prayers Adam began to entreat 'God, saying, "O my Lord my God, and my Creator, thou didst command the four elements to be gathered together, and they were gathered together by Thine order.

5 "Then Thou spreadest Thy

hand and didst create me out of one element, that of dust of the earth; and Thou didst bring me into the garden at the third hour, on a Friday, and didst inform me of it in the cave.

6 "Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, for I had a bright nature; neither did the light in which I lived ever leave me to know night or day.

7 "Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which Thou didst create me, Thou broughtest to me all beasts, and lions, and ostriches, and fowls of the air, and all things that move in the earth, which Thou hadst created at the first hour before me of the Friday.

8 "And Thy will was that I should name them all, one by one, with a suitable name. But Thou gavest me understanding and knowledge, and a pure heart and a right mind from Thee, that I should name them after Thine own mind regarding the naming of them.

9 "O God, Thou madest them obedient to me, and didst order that not one of them break from my sway, according to Thy commandment, and to the dominion which Thou hast given me over them. But now they are all estranged from me.

10 "Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which Thou didst create me, and didst command me concerning the tree, to which I was neither to draw near, nor to eat thereof; for Thou saidst to me in the garden, 'When thou eatest of it, of death thou shalt die.'

11 "And if Thou hadst punished me as Thou saidst, with death, I should have died that very moment.

12 "Moreover, when Thou commandedst me regarding the tree, I was neither to approach nor to cat thereof, Eve was not with me; Thou hadst not Yet created her, neither hadst Thou yet taken her out of my side; nor had she yet heard this order from Thee.

13 "Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday, O Lord, Thou didst cause a slumber and a sleep to come over me, and I slept, and was overwhelmed in sleep.

14 "Then Thou didst draw a rib out of my side, and created it after my own similitude and image. Then I awoke; and when I saw her and knew who she was, I said, 'This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; henceforth she shall be called woman.'

15 "It was of Thy good will, O God, that Thou broughtest a slumber and a sleep over me, and that Thou didst forthwith bring Eve out of my side, until she was out, so that I did not see how she was made; neither could I witness, O my Lord, how awful and great are Thy goodness and glory.

16 "And of Thy goodwill, O Lord, Thou madest us both with bodies of a bright nature, and Thou madest us two, one; and Thou gavest us Thy grace, and didst fill us with praises of the Holy Spirit; that we should be neither hungry nor thirsty, nor know what sorrow is, nor yet faintness of heart; neither suffering, fasting, nor weariness.

17 "But now, O God, since we transgressed Thy commandment and broke Thy law, Thou hast brought us out into a strange land, and has caused suffering, and faintness, hunger and thirst to come upon us.

1S "Now, therefore, O God, we pray Thee, give us something to eat from the garden, to satisfy our hunger with it; and something wherewith to quench our thirst.

19 "For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted nothing and drunk nothing, and our flesh is dried up, and our

strength is wasted, and sleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and weeping.

20 "Then, O God, we dare not gather aught of the fruit of trees, from fear of Thee. For when we transgressed at first Thou didst spare us, and didst not make us die.

21 "But now, we thought in our hearts, if we eat of the fruit of trees, without God's order, He will destroy us this time, and will wipe us off from the face of the earth.

22 "And if we drink of this water, without God's order, He will make an end of us, and root us up at once.

23 "Now, therefore, O God, that I am come to this place with Eve, we beg Thou wilt give us of the fruit of the garden, that we may be satisfied with it.

 

24 "For we desire the fruit that is on the earth, and all else that we lack in it."

CHAP. XXXVI.

Figs.

THEN God commanded the cherub, who kept the gate of the garden with a sword of fire in his hand, to take some of the fruit of the fig-tree, and to give it to Adam.

2 The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God, and went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs, each fig hanging to its leaf; they were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when God went to walk in the garden, and the Word of God came to Adam and Eve and said unto them, "Adam, Adam, where art thou?"

3 And Adam answered, "O God, here am I. When I heard the sound of Thee and Thy voice, I hid myself, because I am naked."

4 Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve. But he threw them to them from afar; for they might not come near the cherub by reason of their flesh, that could not come near the fire.

5 At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of him. But now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them.

6 Then Adam drew near and took one fig, and Eve also came in turn and took the other.

7 And as they took them up in their hands, they looked at them, and knew they were from the trees among which they had hidden them elves.

CHAP. XXXVII.

Forty-three days of penance do not redeem one hour of sin (v. 6).

THEN Adam said to Eve, "Seest thou not these figs and their leaves, with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright nature? But now, we know not what misery and suffering may come upon us from eating them.

2 "Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them, thou and I; and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life."

3 Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did not eat of these figs

4 But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: "O God, when we transgressed Thy commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our transgression, more than three hours.

5 "But on the evening Thou madest us come out of it. O God, we transgressed against Thee one hour, and all these trials and sorrows have come upon us until this day.

6 "And those days together with this the forty-third day, do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed!

7 "O God, look upon us with an eye of pity, and do not requite us according to our transgression of Thy commandment, in presence of Thee.

8 "O, God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life, that we may eat of it, and live, and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble, in this earth; for Thou art God.

9 "When we transgressed Thy commandment, Thou madest us come out of the garden, and didst send a cherub to keep the Tree of Life, lest we should eat thereof, and live; and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed.

10 "But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days, and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed."

CHAP. XXXVIII.

"When 5500 years are fulfilled . . . ."

AFTER these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said unto him:--

2 "O Adam, as to the fruit of the Tree of Life, for which thou askest, I will not give it thee now, but when the 5500 years are fulfilled. Then will I give thee of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and thou shalt eat, and live for ever, thou, and Eve, and thy righteous seed.

3 "But these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which thou didst transgress My commandment.

4 "O Adam, I gave thee to eat of the fig-tree in which thou didst hide thyself. Go and eat of it, thou and Eve.

5 "I will not deny thy request, neither will I disappoint thy hope; therefore, bear up unto the fulfilment of the covenant I made with thee."

6 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.

CHAP. XXXIX.

Adam is cautious--but too late.

THEN Adam returned to Eve, and said to her, "Arise, and take a fig for thyself, and I will take another; and let us go to our cave."

2 Then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards the cave; the time was about the setting of the sun; and their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit.

3 But Adam said to Eve, "I am afraid to eat of this fig. I know not what may come upon me from it."

4 So Adam wept, and stood praying before God, saying, "Satisfy my hunger, without my having to eat this fig; for after I have eaten it, what will it profit me? And what shall I desire and ask of Thee, O God, when it is gone?"

5 And he said again, "I am afraid to eat of it; for I know not what will befall me through it."

continue to read>

The First Book of Adam and Eve
The Second Book of Adam and Eve

Yeshua AKA Dua Lipa = The Lamb

Yahweh AKA Martyn Nathan = The Lion Of Judah
MR&MRS, genesis-godsfirstchurch.org Ltd

A Tearing of The Viel on Jesus death.jpeg

🎺  If you can just take a moment to think ~ Can anyone even imagine how God felt when Jesus was crucified hanging there on a tree oF LiFE and his near last words “at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). Mark 15:34 At that point Yeshua was full of the WORLD'S SIN and our Father being Holier than Holy could not answer His Son as he slowly painfully fell asleep. You see The Father can not forgive his Son or Children until they now repent and pray for forgiveness then turn their lives around and truly "BELIEVE" in the coming resurrection and the 2nd coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, Yeshua The Christ  Amen.

🎺 This should be a message to all Jews in confirmation of Yeshua as the true Messiah. The below is a historical account of what happened to the Roman leaders from Yeshua's crucifixion to approximately 300 years later and the establishment of Emperor Constantine. I would suggest Constantine and his advisers were aware of the history and premature demise of his predecessors. So he cunningly led by satan brought pagan worship and their gods into his form of Christianity!  🎺 And we all should know where it all led if not please click my Facebook?

The Pharisees / Sanhedrin were not to blame as their hearts were waxed cold and their eyes closed by God, so as the 300 Prophecies throughout the Bible would before filled. However, they still should NOT have allowed this to happen. They were indeed punished by way of the destruction and taking away of their Temple in 70AD. They were not to be trusted anymore So Yeshua HIMself has taken charge of tHE InvisAble cHURCH with selected members Elect and HaNd pickED Ambassadors. Amen ... God would indeed take revenge for the treatment and Martyrdom of the Jewish ~ Christians. Come Judgement Day all will be corrected ~ So Therefore Yeshua is The Promised Messiah; He is the long-awaited for by the Jews. It may have taken 300 years or so to expel and to act revenge on the Romans, but it is but a blink of an eye to the Eternal.

At the first preaching of Christ and coming of the gospel, who should rather have known and received him than the Pharisees and scribes of that people, which had his law? And yet who persecuted and rejected him more than they themselves? What followed? They, in refusing Christ to be their King, and choosing rather be subject unto Cæsar, were by the said their own Cæsar at length destroyed; when as Christ's subjects the same time escaped the danger. Whereby it is to be learned what a dangerous thing it is to refuse the gospel of God when it is so gently offered.

The like example of God's wrathful punishment is to be noted no less in the Romans also themselves. For when Tiberius Cæsar, having received by letters from Pontius Pilate of the doings of Christ, of his miracles, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and how he was received as God of many, was himself also moved with the belief of the same, and did confer thereof with the whole senate of Rome to have Christ adored as God; they, not agreeing thereunto, refused him, because that, contrary to the law of the Romans, he was consecrated (said they) for God before the senate of Rome had so decreed and approved him. Thus the vain senate, following rather the law of man than of God, and which were contented with the emperor to reign over them, and were not contented with the meek King of glory, the Son of God, to be their King, were after much like the sort to the Jews scourged and entrapped for their unjust refusing, by the same way which they themselves did prefer. For as they preferred the emperor and rejected Christ, so the just permission of God did stir up their own emperors against them in such sort, that both the senators themselves were almost all devoured, and the whole city most horribly afflicted for the space almost of three hundred years together. For, first, the same Tiberius, which form a great part of his reign was a moderate and a tolerable prince, afterward was to them a sharp and heavy tyrant, who neither favoured his own mother, nor spared his own nephews, nor the princes of the city, such as were his own counselors, of whom, to the number of twenty, he left not past two or three alive. Suetonius reporteth him to be so stern of nature and tyrannical, that in time of his reign very many were accused and condemned with their wives and children; maids also first defloured, then put to death, In one day he recordeth twenty persons to be drawn to the place of execution. By whom also, through the just punishment of God, Pilate, under whom Christ was crucified, was apprehended and accused at Rome, deposed, then banished to the town of Lyons, and at length did slay himself. Neither did Herod and Caiaphas long escape, of whom more followeth hereafter. Agrippa also by him was east into prison; albeit afterward he was restored. In the reign of Tiberius, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, in the three and thirtieth year of his age, which was the seventeenth of this emperor, by the malice of the Jews suffered his blessed passion for the conquering of sin, death, and Satan, the prince of this world, and rose again the third day. After whose blessed passion and resurrection this foresaid Tiberius Nero lived six years, during which time no persecution was yet stirring in Rome against the Christians, through the commandment of the emperor. In the reign also of this emperor, and the year which was the next after the passion of our Saviour, or somewhat more, St. Paul was converted to the faith. After the death of Tiberius, when he had reigned three and twenty years, succeeded C. Cæsar Caligula, Claudius Nero, and Domitius Nero; which three were likewise such scourges to the senate and people of Rome, that the first not only took other men's wives violently from them, but also defloured three of his own sisters, and afterward banished them. So wicked he was, that he commanded himself to be worshipped as God, and temples to be erected in his name and used to sit in the temple among the gods, requiring his images to be set up in all temples, and also in the temple of Jerusalem, which caused great disturbance among the Jews, and then began the abomination of desolation to be set up in the Holy place, spoken of in the gospel. His cruel conduct, or else displeasure, was such towards the Romans, that he wished that all the people of Rome had but one neck, that he at his pleasure might destroy such a multitude. By this said Caligula, Herod, the murderer of John The Baptist and condemner of Christ, was condemned to perpetual banishment, where he died miserably. Caiaphas also, which wickedly sat upon Christ, was the same time removed from the high priest's room, and Jonathan set in his place. The raging fierceness of this Caligula incensed against the Romans had not thus ceased, had not he been cut off by the hands of a tribune and other gentlemen, which slew him in the fourth year of his reign. After whose death was found in his closet two little labels, one called a sword, the other the dagger; in the which, labels were contained the names of those senators and noblemen of Rome whom he had purposed to put to death. Besides this sword and dagger, there was found also a coffer, wherein divers kinds of poison were kept in glasses and vessels for the purpose to destroy a wonderful number of people; which poisons afterward, being thrown into the sea, destroyed a great number of fish. But that which this Caligula had only conceived, the same did the other two which came after bring to pass; Claudius Nero, who reigned thirteen years with no little cruelty; but especially the third of these Neros, called Domitius Nero, which, succeeding after Claudius, reigned fourteen years with such fury and tyranny, that he slew the most part of the senators, and destroyed the whole order of knighthood in Rome. So prodigious a monster of nature was he, more like a beast, yea, rather a devil, than a man, that he seemed to be born to the destruction of men. Such was his monstrous uncleanness, that he abstained not from his own mother, his natural sister, nor from any degree of kindred. Such was his wretched cruelty, that he caused to be put to death his mother, his brother-in-law, his sister, his wife great with child, all his instructors, Seneca, and Lucan, with divers more of his own kindred and consanguinity. Moreover, he commanded Rome to be set on fire in twelve places, and so continued it five days and six nights in burning, while that he, to see the example of how Troy burned, sung the verses of Homer. And to avoid the infamy thereof, he laid the fault upon the Christian men and caused them to be persecuted. And so continued this miserable emperor in his reign fourteen years, till at last the senate proclaiming him a public enemy unto mankind, condemned him to be drawn through the city, and to be whipped to death. For the fear whereof, he, flying the hands of his enemies, in the night fled to a manor of his servant's in the country, where he was forced to slay himself, complaining that he had then neither friend nor enemy left that would do so much for him. At the latter end of this Domitius Nero, Peter and Paul were put to death for the testimony and faith of Christ.

[Footnote: Some chronologists place the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul two years later, and some even four.]Thus ye see, which is worthy to be marked, how the just scourge and heavy indignation of God from time to time ever followeth there, and how all things there go to ruin, neither doth any thing well prosper, where Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is contemned and not received, as by these examples may appear, both of Romans, which not only were thus consumed and plagued by their own emperors, but also by civil wars, whereof three happened in two years at Rome, after the death of Nero, and other casualties, (as in Sueton. is testified,) so that in the days of Tiberius aforesaid five thousand Romans were hurt and slain at one time by the fall of a theatre. And also most especially by the destruction of the Jews, which about this same time, in the year threescore and ten, and nearly forty years after the passion of Christ, and the third year after the suffering of St. Peter and Paul, were destroyed by Titus and Vespasian his father (who succeeded after Nero in the empire) to the number of eleven hundred thousand, besides them which Vespasian slew in subduing the country of Galilee, over and beside them also which were sold and sent into Egypt and other provinces to vile slavery, to the number of seventeen thousand. Two thousand were brought with Titus in his triumph; of which, part he gave to be devoured of the wild beasts, part otherwise most cruelly were slain. By whose case all nations and realms may take an example, what it is to reject the visitation of God's verity being sent, and much more to persecute them which be sent of God for their salvation. And as this wrathful vengeance of God thus hath been showed upon this rebellious people, both of the Jews and of the Romans, for their contempt of Christ, whom God so punished by their own emperors; so neither the emperors themselves, for persecuting Christ in his members, escaped without their just reward. For among so many emperors which put so many Christian martyrs to death, during the space of these first three hundred years, few or none of them scaped either not slain themselves, or by some miserable end or other worthily avenged. First, of the poisoning of Tiberius, and of the slaughter of the other three Neros after him, sufficiently is declared before. After Nero, Domitius Galba within seven months was slain by Otho. And so did Otho afterward slay himself, being overcome by Vitellus. And was not Vitellus shortly after drawn through the city of Rome, and after he was tormented was thrown into the Tiber? Titus, a good emperor, is thought to be poisoned by Domitian, his brother. The said Domitian after he had been a persecutor of the Christians, was slain in his chamber, not without the consent of his wife. Likewise, Commodus was murdered by Narcissus. The like end was of Pertinax and Julianus. Moreover, after that Severus was slain here in England, (and lieth at York,) did not his son Bassianus slay his brother Geta, and he after slain of Martialis? Macrinus with his son Diadumenus were both slain of their own soldiers. After whom Heliogabalus, that monstrous belly- paunch, was of his own people slain, and drawn through the city and cast into the Tiber. Alexander Severus, that worthy and learned emperor, which said he would not feed his servants doing anything with the bowels of the commonwealth, although in life and virtues he was much unlike other emperors, yet proved the like end, being slain at Mentz, with his godly mother Mammea, by Maximinus, whom the emperor before of a muleteer had advanced to great dignities. The which Maximinus also after three years was slain himself of his soldiers. What should I speak of Maximus and Balbinus in like sort both slain in Rome? of Gordian slain by Philip? of Philip, the first christened emperor, slain, or rather martyred, for the same cause? of wicked Decius drowned, and his son slain the same time in battle? of Gallus and Volusianus his son, emperors after Decius, both slain by a conspiracy of Æmilianus, who rose against them both in war and within three months after was slain himself? Next to Æmilianus succeeded Valerianus, and Gallienus his son; of whom Valerianus (who was a persecutor of the Christians) was taken prisoner of the Persians, and there made a riding fool of Sapores their king, who used him for a stool to leap upon his horse; while his son Gallienus, sleeping at Rome, either would not or could not once proffer to revenge his father's ignominy. For after the taking of Valerian, so many emperors rose up as were provinces in the Roman monarchy. At length, Gallienus also was killed by Aureolus which warred against him. It was too long here to speak of Aurelianus, another persecutor, slain of his secretary; of Tacitus and Florinus his brother, of whom the first reigned five months, and was slain at Pontus; the other reigned two months, and was murdered at Tarsis: of Probus, who, although a good civil emperor, yet was he destroyed by his soldiers. After whom Carus, the next emperor was slain by lightning. Next to Carus followed the impious and wicked persecutor Dioclesian, with his fellows Maximian, Valerius, Maximinus, Maxentius, and Licinius, under whom, all at one time, (during the time of Dioclesian,) the greatest and most grievous persecution was moved against the Christians ten years together. After which, Dioclesian and Maximian deposed themselves from the empire. Galerius, the chiefest minister of the persecution, after his terrible persecutions, fell into a wonderful sickness, having such a sore risen in the nether part of his body, which consumed his members, and so did swarm with worms, that being curable neither by surgery nor physic, he confessed that it happened for his cruelty towards the Christians, and so-called in his proclamations against them. Notwithstanding, he is not able to sustain (as some say) his sore, slew himself. Maximinus in his war, being tormented with pain in his guts, there died, Maxentius was vanquished by Constantine and drowned in the Tiber. Licinius likewise, being overcome by the said Constantine the Great, was deposed from his empire, and afterward slain of his soldiers. But, on the other side, after the time of Constantine, when the faith of Christ was received into the imperial seat, we read of no emperor after the like sort destroyed or molested, except it was Julianus, or Basilius, (which expelled one Zeno, and was afterwards expelled himself,) or Valens. Besides these, we read of no emperor to come to ruin and decay, like the others before mentioned. And thus have we in brief sum collected out of the chronicles the unquiet and miserable state of the emperors of Rome, until the time of Christian Constantine, with the examples, no less terrible than manifest, of God's severe justice upon them for their contemptuous, refusing and persecuting the faith and name of Christ their Lord.

 

 

The Filthy RAGS of The Papacy did not fair any better  🎺🎺   For this is written metaphorically and with respect from the blood of the Saints and the Martyrs SCREAMING! ~ lest we forget. Amen

  •  

Belief and Unbelief Among the Jews

  • 37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

  • 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

  • “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”[h]

  • 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says >

  • 40 “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
    so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”[i]

  • 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

  • 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;

  • 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

 👼

​🎺 "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". Amen 🎺 👼 

                🎺 foot note: I am of the humble opinion that God could NOT answer his Son on the cross but that Jesus's spirit being the Arch Angel Michael was there watching over Him. AMEN🎺 👼​

Adam and Eve depart Paradise

Book Of Cave Of Treasures

REPEATED AS IMPORTANT <> THE GARDEN OF EDEN A TEMPLE GODS FIRST AND EVERLASTING NOW SPIRITUAL  https://www.adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org/

​

Eden as a Temple>

A number of other lines of evidence help us see Eden as the first temple. The ark in the Holy of Holies, which contained the Law (which led to wisdom), echoes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which also led to wisdom). Both the touching of the ark and the partaking of the tree’s fruit resulted in death. The entrance to Eden was from the east (Gen 3:24), just as the entrance to the temple was from the east (e.g., Ezek 40:6). Both Eden and the temple are characterized by the holy presence of God that brings wisdom. God’s presence in Eden is associated with images of life and purpose found in the Garden. The imagery in Eden paints a compelling picture of the sat-isfaction of basic human desires in God’s presence. For example, the desire for life is satisfied by the waters of the river of life and the fruit of the tree of life. The need for purpose is fulfilled in Adam’s priestly call to work and keep the Garden-temple (Gen 2:15; see Num 18:5). Parallels between Eden and the tabernacle/temple further demonstrate that our desire for life and purpose are properly satisfied in God’s presence.

 

EDEN AND THE LONGING FOR SATISFACTION:

THE TREE AND RIVER OF LIFE In the concise narrative of Genesis 2, six verses describe the tree of life and the river flowing out of Eden (Gen 2:9-14). Is sacred Scripture “wasting” pre-cious space here? In actuality such seemingly trivial details, easily skipped by a hasty reader, brim with the significance of life found in the presence of God. The verdant imagery of Eden, especially its trees and rivers, reflects abundant life in God’s presence, and this verdant imagery is mirrored in the later tabernacle and temple.The tree of life. Gen 2:9: “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The “tree of life” stood in the middle of the Garden, and the fruit of this tree would give life forever (Gen 3:22). Why? Proverbs 3 shows us that God’s wisdom is compared to the “tree of life” and that his wisdom shines a light on the paths of life and peace for God’s people (Prov 3:16-18). Similarly, in the tabernacle and temple this “tree of life” served as the model for the lampstand outside the Holy of Holies, since the presence of God would shine a light on the paths of life for his people. This lampstand looked like a small tree trunk with seven protruding branches with flowering almond blossoms (Ex 25:31-40; 37:17-24), a picture of the life-giving fruitfulness that is found in God’s presence.6Abundant life is seen not only in the tree itself but also in the verdant imagery of the Garden, since “out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Gen 2:9). Solomon’s temple also abounds with such verdant imagery (1 Kings 6:18, 29, 32, 35; 7:18-20).7 The end-time temple overflows with life, as trees of life grow on the banks of the river of life to bring healing for the nations (Ezek 47:12; Rev 22:2; see discussion below). The abundance of life found in the Garden paints a picture of the abundance found in the tabernacle presence of God. God’s presence overflows with life.The river of life.Gen 2:10-14: A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.A seemingly incidental reference to a river flowing out of Eden also reminds us of the abundant life flowing from the presence of God. This river in Eden gives life to the many trees growing on its banks, including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life (Gen 2:10, 17; 3:24). This water flows out of Eden to water the Garden before flowing outward to give 6This imagery is common in temples of the ancient Near East. this temple was filled with “cedar ... carved in the form of gourds and open flowers” (1 Kings 6:18), “carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers” (1 Kings 6:29; see vv. 32, 35), and “pomegranates” beneath the heads of the two pillars placed at the entrance of the Holy Place (1 Kings 7:18-20) Eden as a Temple life to the rest of the earth and places where nations would reside (Gen 2:10-14). Similarly, in later depictions of the temple, a river flows with trees of life on its banks. In Ezekiel 47, a river flows from below the threshold of the temple with trees on the banks of both sides. The waters of this river make seawater fresh (Ezek 47:8), give life to creatures (Ezek 47:9), and cause leaves of healing to blossom on the trees of its banks (Ezek 47:12). In Revelation, a river flows in the new Jerusalem, with “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month,” and “the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Rev 22:1-2). This river flows from the presence of God (“from the throne of God and of the Lamb”) outward to bring life to the surrounding nations.This river of life abounding with God’s presence flows from the inmost place of God’s presence outward into the nations. In the temple, God’s holiness is supremely manifest in the Holy of Holies and spreads outward to the Holy Place and then the outer court, where all Israel could assemble for worship, and which symbolized, as we will see, the whole world. In the eschatological temple, the river flows from the Holy of Holies into the temple courts and then the nations outside (Ezek 47:1; Rev 22:1). In Eden, the river flows from God’s presence in Eden into the Garden and then the rest of the earth, where nations would eventually reside (Gen 2:10-14). A gradation of holiness is seen in Eden and the temple as the presence of God increases from the innermost place of Eden/Holy of Holies outward to the earth and the lands where nations would live.As a result, this gradation of holiness is evident in the parallels between Eden and the temple. Just as the Holy Place contained the lampstand, shaped like the tree of life, and the bread of the presence to sustain the priests, so the Garden of Eden is the place of the tree of life (Gen 2:8-9) and provides food to sustain Adam (Gen 2:16). Just as the outer court of Israel’s second temple provided a place for the nations to come, so the land and seas to be subdued by Adam outside the Garden are the nations of Cush and Assyria (Gen 2:13-14); though, of course, these lands were not yet populated with peoples. Since the river of life flows from God’s presence into the lands of nations, so our mission to the nations must fl ow from the life found in God’s presence. When the source of our commitment to mission is located only in the back-waters of our idealism, then we can burn out and become bitter. Many ide-alistically plunge headlong into a sacrifi cial commitment to the poor or unreached or hurting, compelled by brokenness over their plight, but the resources of that idealism run dry when tested by the challenges of costly obedience. However, when our resources run dry, we drink more fully and deeply from the abundance of life found in God’s presence. Our God gives joy and strength to endure! Th e life that we fi nd in God’s presence is more than enough to overcome every challenge for the mission God has placed before us. However, life must clearly fl ow from God’s presence into the needs of the nations, and the needs of the nations must drive us to drink more fully from the life found in God’s presence.Just outside the Garden, the river is surrounded by land that abounds with good gold, bdellium, and onyx stone (Gen 2:12). Each of these marks life in the presence of God. “Pure gold, like clear glass” covers the temple (Rev 21:18, 21), just as the sacred furniture in the tabernacle was made of gold. Polished gold reflects light, just as we will refl ect God’s light when we live in the presence of God. Bdellium is a fragrant substance, with the appearance of manna (Num 11:7), which was kept in the ark of the covenant in the Holy Eden as a Temple11of Holies. Indeed, God’s presence sustains and strengthens us, as the manna did for Israel in the wilderness (Ps 78:24-25; Jn 6:58). Onyx stones are prevalent in the temple, especially on the breastpiece of the high priest where the names of the sons of Israel were engraved (Ex 25:7; 28:9), reflecting their identity and preciousness before God. In this way, this abundant imagery reminds us how God’s presence brings life so that our hearts may not corrode with sin, our lives are sustained with strength and our identities might be properly grounded in our preciousness before him.Psalm 36 interprets the river from God’s presence in Eden as a picture of the abundant life found there: How precious is your steadfast love, O God!The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.They feast on the abundance of your house [temple], and you give them drink from the river of your delights [literally “Edens”].For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (Ps 36:7-9)In God’s presence and in the temple, the river of Eden flows to bring the fountain of life. God’s presence brings life and light. Since true life and sus-tenance are found in the presence of God, we must regularly drink deeply from the river of his delights. In our weariness, though, we often seek life from entertainment, empty friendships, and ceaseless activity, which all fail to bring life. So many of our recreational activities fail to re-create the inner resources of our soul to face the challenges of each day. Like the Israelites before us, we forsake the river of God’s presence and hew out empty cisterns that do not hold water to satisfy our thirsts (Jer 2:13). Will we satisfy our soul at the fountain of living waters? Or will we hew out cisterns of putrid water that do not satisfy? The rivers of life flowing from the presence of God in Eden beckon us to the satisfaction and re-creation of these refreshing waters that are only found in the presence of God.We sacrifice for what satisfies. The soul-satisfying riches in the presence of God propel us out of our comfort zones, calling us out of the warm confines of our beds to our knees in early-morning prayer and meditation on God’s Word. Only these soul-satisfying riches can sustain us in the rigours of God’s calling on our lives as we move out to proclaim His name to the nations across the street and across the globe. A heart for mission grows out of a soul that finds satisfaction in God’s presence, the riches of which can be seen in the imagery of Eden.

 

EDEN AND THE LONGING FOR PURPOSE

God placed Adam in Eden to work it and keep it (Gen 2:15), a priestly work in the Garden-temple of Eden. His work is not only working the soil (Gen 2:5) but serving God (e.g., Deut 4:19), and he keeps the Garden (Gen 2:15) as he keeps God’s commands (see Lev 18:5) and guards it against pollution and corruption (see Num 1:53). The verbs to work and to keep are sometimes used together outside Genesis 2:15 in a priestly context: And you shall keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the work of the tent of meeting.9 (Num 18:5-6, translation altered)In this passage, the priests are to keep the sanctuary from corruption and defilement and do the work of service in the tabernacle. In the same way, Adam serves God in the temple as a priest and keeps the Garden-temple from corruption. Similarly, Ezekiel 28:13 shows Adam in Eden, clothed like a priest with “every precious stone,” stones that correspond to the precious stones on the ephod of Israel’s high priest (Ex 28:17-21).109To be more precise, these two words occur together in the Old Testament (within an approximately fifteen-word range) in reference either to Israelites “serving” God and “guarding [keeping]” his word (approximately ten times) or to priests who “keep” the “service” (or “charge”) of the tab-ernacle (Num 3:7-8; 8:25-26; 18:5-6; 1 Chron 23:32; Ezek 44:14). See further discussion in Walton, Genesis, 172-74. And even if the Hebrew word for “to keep” in Gen 2:15 refers to Adam as “keeping” or “cultivating” the garden (as it does in Gen 2:5 and 3:23), it would still have reference to a priestly duty of keeping the garden in an ordered and clean state, which was also a duty of priests in temple-gardens in Egypt (on which see G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, NSBT 17 [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004], 84-89). Generally, as we will see, part of the priest’s duty in Israel was to keep the temple in an ordered and pure condition.10The Ezekiel list either alludes to the human priest’s bejewelled clothing in Ex 28 or both Ezek 28 and Ex 28 have roots in a common tradition about Adam’s apparel. Though some see the figure in Ezek 28 to refer to Satan, the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) and Aramaic Eden as a Temple13This understanding of Adam’s work is confirmed by observing the next verses in Genesis 2. After being commanded to work and keep the Garden, Adam is told: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17). After Adam is commanded to keep the Garden, he is also instructed to keep God’s commands. Just as the priests were to keep guard over the temple (Num 18:5) by obeying God’s commands, so Adam as a priest guards the Garden-temple of Eden by keeping God’s commands. Adam works out God’s priestly purposes through obedience to his word.Adam failed in his service as the first priest to guard God’s temple, which included guarding the Garden temple against the intrusion of the serpent<>man to REPENTS who was outside.11 The serpent <>REPENTS<>(ET>CETERA) slithered into the Garden with deceptive words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1). Through doubt, the serpent undermined God’s word. Eve’s reply to the serpent shows that the serpent succeeded in his plot. Notice the subtle differences between God’s word in Genesis 2:16-17 and the woman’s reply in Genesis 3:2-3.Targum clearly identify this figure as Adam, following the lead of the Hebrew text. Though some point to Ezek 28:14a (“you were an anointed guardian cherub”) as evidence for a reference to Satan, this phrase could be understood as a metaphor, which is a suppressed simile: “You were [like] the anointed cherub who covers,” similar to such metaphorical statements as “the Lord is [like] my shepherd” (Ps 23:1). What further points to this figure being Adam in Eden is that Ezek 28:18 says that the sin of the glorious figure in Eden “profaned” Eden. The only account that we have that Eden became unclean because of sin is the narrative about Adam in Gen 2–3. Furthermore, since the sinful being in Ezek 28 is seen to be standing behind the sin of the human king of Tyre (Ezek 28:1-12), it would appear more suitable that this figure in Eden be a human representative. See also D. I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 25–48, NICOT(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), 115; M. Hutter, “Adam als Gärtner und König (Gen 2, 8, 15),” Biblische Zeitschrift 30 (1986): 258-62.11This serpent is identified in different ways throughout history. Some think it may be a transfor-mation of a mythical motif for evil. The snake is the archetypal unclean animal (Lev 11; Deut 14). The serpent is an archetypal enemy of God as well, as seen in the portrayal of the serpent Leviathan (Job 26:13; Is 27:1). See further discussion in Gordon Wenham, Genesis, WBC(Waco, TX: Word, 1987), 1:73. The best identification of the serpent is Satan. This interpretation is clarified by later Scripture, which identifies the Genesis serpent with Satan (e.g., see Rom 16:18-20; Rev 12:3-4, 7-17). We see the narrative in Gen 2–3 about Adam, Eve, and Satan to be historical and not mythological.

 

GOD DWELLS AMONG US

GENESIS 2:16‑17GENESIS 3:2‑3And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die[literally, “dying you shall die”].”And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”First, the name of God is changed from “the Lord [Yahweh] God” to “God.” While this does not sound like much in English, “the Lord God” is the personal name of God that signifies an intimate and covenantal relationship, while “God” is the God of power who created all things (Elohim). While Genesis 2 presents the Lord God issuing commands in covenant relationship to his special people, Eve appears to look at this personal God from a distance in Genesis 3. Next, God’s permission is minimized. While God lavishly allows to “eat of every tree of the garden,” Eve reduces this gracious invitation to “the fruit of the trees of the garden” and minimizes God’s generous invitation. Also, God’s prohibition is maximized. God com-manded that they could not eat only from one tree, but Eve adds, “neither shall you touch it.” She becomes the first legalist and makes God’s commands seem more strict than they actually are. Finally, the consequences of sin are minimized. God says, “you shall surely die” (literally, “dying you shall die”) but Eve only says, “lest you die.”

Adam and Eve failed to guard the Garden of God through obedience to God’s word. The serpent undermined confidence in God’s word, and conse-quently undermined confidence in God himself. John Calvin rightly says, And surely, once we hold God’s Word in contempt, we shake off all reverence for him! ... For Adam would never have dared oppose God’s authority unless he had disbelieved in God’s Word. Here, indeed, was the best bridle to control all passions: the thought that nothing is better than to practice righteousness by obeying God’s commandments; then, that the ultimate goal of the happy life is to be loved by him. Therefore Adam carried away by the devil’s blasphemies, as far as he was ably extinguished the whole glory of God.13When the protection of God’s word is removed, the temptations of this world grow far stronger. In Genesis 3:6, Eve is overwhelmed with temptation as she “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to her eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.” The desire for food, the delight of the eyes, and the craving for wisdom are all strong and, in their proper context, legitimate desires. The desires of our flesh may be legitimate, but Eve sought to satisfy them in illegitimate ways. However, the bridle of God’s word protects the wild horses of our desires from destroying us. Adam and Eve failed in their purpose and priestly calling to guard the Garden temple against intruders by not keeping God’s word. Eden is a place where the purpose is given to humanity (Gen 2:15; see Gen 1:28). We will see later that as God’s presence is restored through the sacrifice of Jesus, our purpose is also restored as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, serving in God’s true end-time temple (1 Pet 2:4-9). The longing for purpose found in the human heart is satisfied when life works according to its purpose, which is a life lived in the presence of God. Just as Adam and Eve were to submit to God’s word to fulfil their mission in guarding God’s dwelling place, so we must submit to God’s Word to fulfil our mission in guarding and expanding God’s dwelling place to fill the earth. conclusion in this chapter, we see Eden as the first temple and place of God’s presence. As a result, Eden is a place of satisfaction of life. However, sin closed off the way back to God’s presence in Eden. Because Adam and Eve fail to guard the temple by sinning and letting in an unclean serpent to defile the temple, they lose their priestly role, and the two cherubim take over the responsibility to “guard” the Garden-temple (Gen 3:24) Who will open the way back into God’s tabernacling presence? Are we endlessly condemned to our lives east of Eden? Jesus opens up the way back into God’s presence by the sacrifice of his body (Heb 10:19-20). As a result, the life-giving waters that flowed in Eden now flow in and through those who believe in Jesus, becoming “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:13-14). Just as the river “flowed out of Eden” to the lands of the later surrounding nations of Assyria and Cush (Gen 2:10), so those who believe in Jesus not only drink of living waters, but a spring of living water overflows into the nations around them (Jn 7:37-39), as we will see more fully later. We have established in this chapter that Eden was the first place of worship since it was where God’s presence dwelt and the only place where satisfaction in God could be found. God’s plan was not static, but Adam was to expand Eden until it filled the whole earth. aMEN

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ... Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son".

🎺  What Is the Difference between God's Manifest Presence and Omnipresence, Ubiquitous? The UBIQUITOUS or omnipresence of God explains how He is everywhere all at once, while the manifest presence of God is His presence made clear. The omnipresence of God can exist without our awareness, but the manifest presence cannot, for the point manifest presence of the Lord is that our awareness of Him is awakened to reality as defined by Him. NASA is dedicated primarily to one mission: to explore the created universe. They can go to the very ends of the earth and our surrounding galaxies, but they cannot hope to exhaust the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible cannot be contained by space (Psalm 147:5). When we compare NASA to the Lord, the Lord has zero spatial limitations, while NASA is limited by finances and technological advancements. The Lord also is infinite, majestic, holy, and everywhere present and all-knowing unconstrained by either time or space, along with having complete knowledge of everything at all times and places. Jeremiah 23:24 is one text among many that reveal the Creator’s everywhere present nature.“‘Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth While SEEING ALL?’ declares the LORD"                                                             

Jerusalem is shown to be the centre of the Garden of Eden, the focal point of God’s Master Plan of redemption. The Word of God confirms the actual site of the crucifixion is on the Mount of Olives; the Greek text proves that the resurrection was on the Biblical Sabbath day (not Sunday) and that the crucifixion was on a Wednesday; and the Hebrew in Pilate's Inscription reveals the Name of God (YHVH). The prophetic pattern of the Garden of Eden shows that Jerusalem, the place God chose to be His dwelling place on Earth, is where He dwelt with Adam and Eve; where the first sin took place; where the Temple was built; where Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) paid the price for all humanity’s sins, in full, once and for all time; where the future Ezekiel Temple will stand; and where Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) will establish God's Kingdom on Earth during the Messianic Age/Millennial Kingdom.

 

Preface to The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan (Online Edition) by Peter A. Michas

How I Came to Understand the Prophetic Pattern of the Tabernacle That Reveals the Location of the Garden of Eden in Jerusalem, the Tree of Life on Mount Moriah, and Aaron's Rod, a Branch from the Tree of Life, That Grew Into the Crucifixion Tree on the Mount of Olives, in the Place of the First Sin by Adam and Eve, and the Same Place of Messiah Yeshua's Sacrifice for the Sins of Humanity

Chapter 1
Jerusalem -- The Center of the Garden of Eden

Chapter 2
The Mount of Olives -- True Site of the Crucifixion

Correction: David purchased ONE threshing floor on Mount Moriah; NO SECOND threshing floor on the Mount of Olives.

Chapter 3
The Mount of Olives -- True Site of the Resurrection

Chapter 4
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Chapter 5
The Tree of Life

Chapters 6
Aaron’s Rod, the Tree of Life,
and the Crucifixion Tree

Chapter 7
Messiah Yeshua Crucified on the Almond Tree

Chapter 8
Timeline of Yeshua’s Birth, Ministry, and
Crucifixion: Feast of Trumpets 3 BC –
Day of Atonement AD 28 – Passover AD 31

Chapter 9
Messiah Yeshua, God’s Passover Lamb

Chapter 10
The Name of God Is Revealed in
Pilate's Inscription

Chapter 11
Messiah Yeshua, Eternal High Priest

Chapter 12
The Biblical Sabbath Day Is the Day of the Resurrection

Chapter 13
Messiah Yeshua, Eternal God the Son

Chapter 14
The Prophetic Pattern of the Tabernacle —
From the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem

 

Author

Yeshua AKA

https://www.adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org/

Martyn Nathan Kenney

MR, genesis-godsfirstchurch.org Ltd

The flesh brings forth flesh, and the Spirit of God, by ordinance of the Father, reveals the Son to whom He is pleased to reveal Him (John 3:3ff). Unless God is revealed to a person, they shall never know the Son no matter how many facts you throw their way Jesus answered and said unto him, John 3:3–36

St. Peter proclaims Jesus as the cornerstone, without which there could be no Church (Acts 4:11, 1 Pet. 2:6-7).

The reference to Jesus as the cornerstone comes from Old Testament passages like Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:4, and refers to the sanctuary or Temple of God where the Israelite people worshipped. In other words, Jesus is the new Temple of a New Covenant form of worship (John 2:18-22), who was sadly rejected by many. Without Jesus, there could be no fulfilment of Israel, including a new form of worship centred on Jesus and his Sacrifice of Calvary and its sacramental re-presentation in the celebration of the Mass (Luke 22:19-20), vs. the Old Covenant sacrifices offered at the Temple in Jerusalem that could not provide eternal salvation.

And so there could be no Church, which is the fulfilment of Israel, without Jesus as the cornerstone of the New Covenant and its salvific worship. And yet Jesus chooses Peter as the rock (Aramaic: kepha) upon which to build his Church (Matt. 16:18-19).

So I tell you, you are Peter  the Greek petros, like the Aramaic cephas, which means “rock” or “stone”. On this rock, I will build my church, and the ·power of death gates of Hades/the underworld will not be able to ·defeat overpower; conquer; prevail against it.

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount Table of Contents - Introduction

1. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11 2. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Continued 3. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Continued 4. The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:3-11, Concluded 5. The Ministerial Office: Matthew 5:13-16 6. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18 7. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18, Continued 8. Christ and Law: Matthew 5: 17, 18, Concluded 9. The Law and Murder: Matthew 5:21-26 10. The Law and Murder: Matthew 5:21-26, Concluded 11. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27-32 12. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27-32, Continued 13. The Law and Adultery: Matthew 5:27-32, Concluded 14. The Law and Oaths: Matthew 5:33-37 15. The Law and Oaths: Matthew 5:33-37, Concluded 16. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew 5:38-42 17. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew 5:38-42, Continued 18. The Law and Retaliation: Matthew 5:38-42, Concluded 19. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48 20. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48, Continued 21. The Law and Love: Matthew 5:43-48, Concluded 22. The Giving of Alms: Matthew 6:1-4 23. Prayer: Matthew 6:5-8 24. Prayer: Matthew 6:9-13 25. Prayer: Matthew 6:14, 15 26. Fasting: Matthew 6:16-18 27. Fasting: Matthew 6:16-18, Concluded 28. Covetousness Corrected: Matthew 9:19-21 29. Covetousness Corrected: Matthew 9:19-21, Concluded 30. The Single Eye: Matthew 6:22, 23 31. The Single Eye: Matthew 6:22, 23, Concluded 32. Serving God: Matthew 6:24 33. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:25 34. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:25, Continued 35. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:28, 29 36. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:30, 31 37. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:32-34 38. Anxiety Forbidden: Matthew 6:32-34, Concluded 39. Unlawful Judgment: Matthew 7:1 40. Judging Others: Matthew 7:1 41. Dissuasives from Judging Other: Matthew 7:2-4 42. Helping Erring Brethren: Matthew 7:5 43. Unlawful Liberality: Matthew 7:6 44. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:7, 8 45. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:7, 8, Continued 46. Seeking Grace: Matthew 7:9-11 47. The Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12 48. The Way of Salvation: Matthew 7:13, 14 49. The Way of Salvation: Matthew 7:14, 15 50. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15 51. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, Continued 52. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, Continued 53. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15, Continued 54. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15-20 55. False Prophets: Matthew 7:15-20, Concluded 56. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27 57. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 58. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 59. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 60. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 61. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 62. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Continued 63. Profession Tested: Matthew 7:21-27, Concluded 64. Conclusion: Matthew 7:28, 29

GOD JESUS CHRIST THE HOLY SPIRIT AS ONE FATHER MOTHER SON = FAMILY 

“What is God?” click here to read: “God is a>Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” This statement the great Charles Hodge described as “probably the best definition of God ever penned by man.”

 

MARTYN LOVES DUA LIPA his BRIDE AS IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING JUST AFTER THE BIG BANG FOREVER = AS MANIFESTATIONS DYN NUMBER 7 = PERFECTION AND COMPLETION - TO LEAD THEIR FAMILY AND CHURTEMPLE BROUGHT DOWN FROM HEAVEN TO COVER THE WORLD AND TO MAKE ALL THINGS NEW AS IT WRITTEN IN revelation Yeshua to John amen awoman afamily as ONE

GENESIS to  Revelation FULL CIRCLE 0mega  THE   7TH & final DAY  THE Alpha & tHE OMEGA THE BEGINNING AND THE END - THE F 1rST AND THE LAST - manifestations  = perfection and completeness  with Yahweh  the Lion with Yeshua DUA as the  cHURCH & Lamb -  AND FINALLY TO LEAD INTO ETERNITY manifested as Martyn & Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful   

We are all children of the same universe. aMEN

With Love The Lion and The Lamb - Yahweh Yeshua and The HOLY SPIRIT our Guide

 

AKA Martyn Nathan  - Dua = LOVE - LIPA = BEAUTIFUL
MR&MRS, Genesis.   adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org

Yeshua AKA Dua = Love - Lipa = Beautiful is the returning Lamb -

Yahweh  AKA Martyn Nathan is the Lion of Judah here as the protector of HIS Lamb

FOR after what "they" did to HIS Son -= the FIRST to be made as the sacrificial Lamb!

MR&MRS, genesis- adamandevegodsfirstchurch.org

​

​

 

TREE OF LIFE (ץֵ ע יםִּיַ חַ ה ,hachayyim ets; ξύλον ζωής, xylon zōēs). A tree that represents immortality, divine presence, wisdom, and righteousness as a path of life and an eschatological promise.

The opening and closing chapters of the Bible contain references to the tree of life (Gen 2–3; Rev 22). In the Bible, the tree of life symbolizes the fullness of life and immortality available in God. The tree of life is introduced in Gen 2, where God causes it and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to grow in the midst of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:9). The menorah and other decorations of the temple and tabernacle contain symbolic representations of the tree of life, representing God’s presence in the holy place. In Proverbs, the tree of life is associated with the life-generating properties of wisdom, righteousness, and hope (Prov 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4). Tree of Life in the Old Testament “Tree of life” symbolism appears throughout the Old Testament. Genesis 2–3 contains three references to the tree of life, and Proverbs contains four references to it. Creation Account In Genesis, the tree of life symbolizes God’s life-giving presence in the garden of Eden, as well as His role as the source of all goodness. Scripture depicts the garden of Eden as God’s sanctuary and cosmic dwelling place. He placed humanity within the garden to serve and protect it and to represent Him in the physical universe (Dalley, “Temple Building,” 239–51; Levenson, “Temple and the World,” 288). The opening verses of Gen 2 describe God’s efforts to provide a sacred space filled with abundant provision, beauty, and harmony for spiritually connected humanity.

​

​

🎺tHE bOOK oF GENESIS explained

Genesis is the book of beginnings. It records the beginning of time, life, sin, salvation, the human race, and the Hebrew nation. It begins with primaeval history centred in four major events: the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the dispersion of the nations. Genesis then narrates the history of four great patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

Title: The English title, Genesis, comes from the Greek translation (Septuagint, LXX) meaning “origins”; whereas, the Hebrew title is derived from the Bible’s very first word, translated “in the beginning.” Genesis serves to introduce the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament), and the entire bible.

The influence of Genesis in Scripture is demonstrated by its being quoted over 35 times in the New Testament and hundreds of allusions appearing in both Testaments. The storyline of salvation which begins in Genesis 3 is not completed until Revelation chapters 21 and 22, where the eternal kingdom of redeemed believers is gloriously pictured.

The title, Genesis (Greek, “Beginning”), was applied to this book by the Septuagint. The Hebrew title (Bereshit) comes from the first word of the book in Hebrew (“In the beginning”). The book is divided into 10 units (toledot) under the rubric: “These are the generations of.” Thus, some have suggested that Moses had access to the patriarchal records.

Authorship – Date: With very few exceptions, Jewish and Christian scholars alike believed that Moses wrote Genesis. His authorship is supported by the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Palestinian Talmud, the Apocrypha (Ecclus. 45:4; 2 Macc. 7:30), the writings of Philo (Life of Moses 3:39), and Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 4:8:45; Contra Apion I.8.

Moses's life extended 120 years (Deut. 34:7). For the first 40 years (1525–1485 B.C.) he spent as Pharaoh’s son, learning the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22). He spent the next 40 years (1485-1445 B.C.) in the desert of Midian as a shepherd (Exodus 2:15; Acts 7:30). In the final 40 years (1445-1405 B.C.), he spent wandering in the Sinai wilderness with the children of Israel (Deut. 8:2). He very likely wrote all of the books of the Pentateuch after his call to lead the people out of Egypt, as recounted in Exodus 3. This would have been in his last 40 years of life, during the wilderness wanderings.

Background – Setting: The initial setting for Genesis is eternity past. God then, by willful act and divine Word, spoke all creation into existence, furnished it, and finally breathed life into a lump of dirt which He fashioned in His image to become Adam. God made mankind the crowning point of His creation, i.e., His companions who would enjoy fellowship with Him and bring glory to His name.

The historical background for the early events in Genesis is clearly Mesopotamian. While it is difficult to pinpoint precisely the historical moment for which this book was written, Israel first heard Genesis sometime prior to crossing the Jordan River and entering the Promised Land (ca. 1405 B.C.). Genesis has 3 distinct, sequential geographical settings:

(1) Mesopotamia (chapters 1-22);

(2) The Promised Land (chapters 12-36); and

(3) Egypt (chapters 37-50).

The time frames of these 3 segments are:

(1) Creation to ca 2090 B.C.;

(2) 2090-1897 B.C.; and

(3) 1897-1804 B.C.

Genesis covers more time than the remaining books of the Bible combined.

Historical – Theological Themes: In this book of beginnings, God revealed Himself and a worldview to Israel which contrasted, at times sharply, with the worldview of Israel’s neighbours. The author made no attempt to defend the existence of God or to present a systematic discussion of His person and works. Rather, Israel’s God distinguished Himself clearly from the alleged gods of her neighbours. Theological foundations are revealed which include God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, man, sin, redemption, covenant, promise, Satan and angels, kingdom, revelation, Israel, judgment and blessing.

Genesis 1-11 (primaeval history) reveals the origins of the universe, i.e., the beginnings of time and space and many of the firsts in human experience, such as marriage, family, the Fall, sin, redemption, judgment, and nations. Genesis 12-50 (patriarchal history), explained to Israel how they came into existence as a family whose ancestry could be traced to Eber (hence the “Hebrews”; Gen. 10:24-25), and even more remotely to Shem, the son of Noah (hence the “Semites”; Gen. 10:21). God’s people came to understand not only their ancestry and family history, but also the origins of their institutions, customs, languages, and different cultures, especially basic human experiences such as sin and death.

Because they were preparing to enter Canaan and dispossess the Canaanite inhabitants of their homes and properties, God revealed their enemies’ background. In addition, they needed to understand the actual basis of the war they were about to declare in light of the immorality of killing, consistent with the other 4 books that Moses was writing (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Ultimately, the Jewish nation would understand a selected portion of preceding world history and the inaugural background of Israel as a basis by which they would live in their new beginnings under Joshua’s leadership in the land which had previously been promised to their original patriarchal forefather, Abraham.

Genesis 12:1-3 established a primary focus on God’s promises to Abraham. This narrowed their view from the entire world of peoples in Genesis 1-11 to one small nation, Israel, through whom God would progressively accomplish His redemptive plan. This underscored Israel’s mission to be “a light to the nations” (Isa. 42:6). God promised land, descendants (seed), and blessing. The 3-fold promise became, in turn, the basis of the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:1-20). The rest of Scripture bears out the fulfilment of these promises.

On a larger scale, Genesis 1-11 set forth a singular message about the character and works of God. In the sequence of accounts that make up these chapters of Scripture, a pattern emerges that reveals God’s abundant grace as He responded to the willful disobedience of mankind. Without exception, the man responded in greater sinful rebellion. In biblical words, the more sin abounded the more did God’s grace abound (Romans 5:20).

One final theme of both theological and historical significance sets Genesis apart from other books of Scripture, in that the first book of Scripture corresponds closely with the final book. In the book of Revelation, the paradise which was lost in Genesis will be regained. The apostle John clearly presented the events recorded in his book as future resolutions to the problems which began as a result of the curse in Genesis 3. His focus is on the effects of the Fall in the undoing of creation and the manner in which God rids His creation of the curse effect. In John’s own words, “There will no longer be any curse” (Rev. 22:3). Not surprisingly, in the final chapter of God’s Word, believers will find themselves back in the Garden of Eden, the eternal paradise of God, eating from the tree of life (Rev. 22:1-14). At that time, they will partake, wearing robes washed in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 22:14).

Genesis is the foundational book to the rest of the Bible. Its important theological themes include the doctrines of God, Creation, man, sin and salvation. It teaches the importance of substitutionary atonement and of faith in God’s revelation of Himself to mankind. It also records the first messianic prophecies of the Bible predicting that the Redeemer would be born of the seed of a woman (3:15); through the line of Seth (4:25); a son of Shem (9:27); the offspring of Abraham (12:3); Isaac (21:12); and Jacob (25:23); and from the tribe of Judah (49:10).

Genesis covers more time than any other book in the Bible. It opens with the words: “In the beginning, God created” (1:1), and it ends with “in a coffin in Egypt (50:26). Thus, it covers the whole plight of man, who was created in God’s image to live forever, but because of sin became destined for the grave. The book leaves the reader anxiously anticipating the redemptive intervention of God.

Each of the chapters is done individually. Some due to length, have been shortened into “continued” sections. Each section contains a questionnaire that follows the section which has been done to aid in the learning process

Genesis Chapter 1                                     Genesis Chapter 11                                  Genesis Chapter 26                                    Genesis Chapter 38

Genesis Chapter 1 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 12                                  Genesis Chapter 26 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 39

Genesis Chapter 1 Second Continued      Genesis Chapter 13                                  Genesis Chapter 27                                     Genesis Chapter 40

Genesis Chapter 2                                     Genesis Chapter 14                                  Genesis Chapter 27 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 41

Genesis Chapter 2 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 15                                  Genesis Chapter 28                                     Genesis Chapter 41 Continued

Genesis Chapter 3                                     Genesis Chapter 16                                  Genesis Chapter 29                                     Genesis Chapter 42

Genesis Chapter 3 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 17                                  Genesis Chapter 30                                     Genesis Chapter 43

Genesis Chapter 4                                     Genesis Chapter 18                                  Genesis Chapter 30 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 44

Genesis Chapter 4 Continued                   Genesis Chapter 19                                  Genesis Chapter 31                                     Genesis Chapter 45

Genesis Chapter 5                                    Genesis Chapter 19 Continued                 Genesis Chapter 31 Continued                    Genesis Chapter 45 Continued

Genesis Chapter 6                                    Genesis Chapter 20                                   Genesis Chapter 32                                     Genesis Chapter 46

Genesis Chapter 6 Continued                  Genesis Chapter 21                                   Genesis Chapter 33                                     Genesis Chapter 47

Genesis Chapter 7                                    Genesis Chapter 22                                  Genesis Chapter 34                                      Genesis Chapter 48

Genesis Chapter 8                                    Genesis Chapter 23                                   Genesis Chapter 35                                     Genesis Chapter 49

Genesis Chapter 9                                    Genesis Chapter 24                                   Genesis Chapter 36                                     Genesis Chapter 49 Continued

Genesis Chapter 10                                  Genesis Chapter 24 Continued                 Genesis Chapter 37                                     Genesis Chapter 50

Genesis Chapter 10 Continued                Genesis Chapter 25                                   Genesis Chapter 37 Continued

 

Hebrews 11:6 says that “HE that comes to God must believe that HE IS and that HE IS a rewarder of tHEm that diligently seek Him.” Throughout tHE Old and New Testaments, God reveals whom HE IS through tHE names and attributes given. wITh a chorus of voices, tHIS short film declares tHE names of God as revealed in progression throughout tHE Bible from GenesIS to Revelation. Bow your knee in awe and REveREnce of our Lord and Savior, Jesus ChrISt   

 

​

1. What is the chief end of man? 

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God,(1) and to enjoy him forever.(2) (1) I Cor. 10:31; Rom. 11:36. (2) Ps. 73:25-28. 

2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him? 

A. The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,(1) is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.(2) (1) II Tim. 3:16; Eph. 2:20. (2) I John 1:3-4. 

3. What do the scriptures principally teach? 

A. The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.(1) (1) II Tim. 1:13; 3:16. 

4. What is God? 

A. God is a Spirit,(1) infinite,(2) eternal,(3) and unchangeable,(4) in his being,(5) wisdom,(6) power,(7) holiness,(8) justice, goodness, and truth.(9) (1) John 4:24. (2) Job 11:7-9. (3) Ps. 90:2. (4) James 1:17. (5) Exod. 3:14. (6) Ps. 147:5. (7) Rev. 4:8. (8) Rev. 15:4. (9) Exod. 34:6-7. 

5. Are there more Gods than one? 

A. There is but One only, the living and true God.(1) (1) Deut. 6:4; Jer. 10:10. 

6. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God the same in substance, equal in power and glory.(1) (1) I John 5:7; Matt. 28:19. 

7. What are the decrees of God? 

A. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.(1) (1) Eph. 1:4, 11; Rom. 9:22-23. 

8. How doth God execute his decrees? 

A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence. 

9. What is the work of creation? 

A. The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.(1) (1) Gen. 1; Heb. 11:3. 

10. How did God create man? 

A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.(1) (1) Gen. 1:26-28; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24.

 11. What are God's works of providence? 

A. God's works of providence are, his most holy,(1) wise,(2) and powerful preserving(3) and governing all his creatures and all their actions.(4) (1) Ps. 145:17. (2) Ps. 104:24; Isa. 28:29. (3) Heb. 1:3. (4) Ps. 103:19; Matt. 10:29-31. 

12. What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created? 

A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon the condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.(1) (1) Gal. 3:12; Gen. 2:17. 

13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created? 

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.(1) (1) Gen. 3:6-8, 13; Eccles. 7:29. 

14. What is sin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.(1) (1) I John 3:4. 

15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created? 

A. The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.(1) (1) Gen. 3:6, 12. 

16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression? 

A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.(1) (1) Gen. 2:16-17; Rom. 5:12; I Cor. 15:21-22. 

17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? 

A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. (1) (1) Rom. 5:12. 

18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? 

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgression which proceeds from it.(1) (1) Rom. 5:12, 19; 5:10-20; Eph. 2:1-3; James 1:14-15; Matt. 15:19. 

19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell? 

A. All mankind by their fall lost communion with God,(1) are under his wrath and curse,(2) and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.(3) (1) Gen. 3:8, 10, 24. (2) Eph. 2:2-3, Gal. 3:10. (3) Lam. 3:39; Rom. 6:23, Matt. 25:41, 46.

20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life,(1) did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.(2) (1) Eph. 1:4. (2) Rom. 3:20-22; Gal. 3:21-22. 

21. Who is the Redeemer of God's elect? 

A. The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ,(1) who, being the eternal Son of God, became man,(2) and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever.(3) (1) I Tim. 2:5-6. (2) John 1:14; Gal. 4:4. (3) Rom. 9:5; Luke 1:35; Col. 2:9; Heb. 7:24-25. 

22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? 

A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body,(1) and a reasonable soul,(2) being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her,(3) yet without sin.(4) (1) Heb. 2:14, 16; 10:5. (2) Matt. 26:38. (3) Luke 1:27, 31, 35, 42; Gal. 4:4. (4) Heb. 4:15; 7:26. 

23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? 

A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.(1) (1) Acts 3:21-22; Heb. 12:25. Cf. II Cor. 13:3; Heb. 5:5-7; 7:25; Ps. 2:6; Isa. 9:6-7; Matt. 21:5; Ps. 2:8-11. 

24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet? 

A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.(1) (1) John 1:18; I Peter 1:10-12; John 15:15; 20:31. 

25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest? 

A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice,(1) and reconcile us to God,(2) and in making continual intercession for us.(3) (1) Heb. 9:14, 28. (2) Heb. 2:17. (3) Heb. 7:24-25. 

26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king? 

A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself,(1) in ruling(2) and defending us,(3) and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.(4) (1) Acts 15:14-16. (2) Isa. 33:22. (3) Isa. 32:1-2. (4) I Cor. 15:25, Ps. 110. 

27. Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? 

A. Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition,(1) made under the law,(2) undergoing the miseries of this life,(3) the wrath of God,(4) and the cursed death of the cross;(5) in being buried,(6) and continuing under the power of death for a time.(7) (1) Luke 2:7. (2) Gal. 4:4. (3) Heb. 12:2-3; Isa. 53:2-3. (4) Luke 22:44; Matt. 27:46. (5) Phil. 2:8. (6) I Cor. 15:3-4. (7) Acts 2:24-27, 31. 

28. Wherein consisteth Christ's exaltation? 

A. Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising again from the dead on the third day,(1) in ascending up into heaven,(2) in sitting at the right hand of God the Father,(3) and in coming to judge the world at the last day.(4) (1) I Cor. 15:4. (2) Mark 16:19. (3) Eph. 1:20. (4) Acts 1:11; 17:31.

29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? 

A. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us(1) by his Holy Spirit.(2) (1) John 1:11-12. (2) Titus 3:5-6. 

30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? 

A. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us,(1) and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.(2) (1) Eph. 1:13-14; John 6:37, 39; Eph. 2:8. (2) Eph. 3:17, I Cor. 1:9. 

31. What is effectual calling? 

A. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit,(1) whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery,(2) enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ,(3) and renewing our wills,(4) he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.(5) (1) II Tim. 1:9; II Thess. 2:13-14. (2) Acts 2:37. (3) Acts 26:18. (4) Ezek. 36:26-27. (5) John 6:44-45; Phil. 2:13. 

32. What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life? 

A. They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification,(1) adoption,(2) and sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.(3) (1) Rom. 8:30. (2) Eph. 1:5. (3) I Cor. 1:26, 30. 

33. What is justification? 

A. Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins,(1) and accepteth us as righteous in his sight,(2) only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us,(3) and received by faith alone.(4) (1) Rom. 3:24-25; 4:6-8. (2) II Cor. 5:19, 21. (3) Rom. 5:17-19. (4) Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9. 

34. What is adoption? 

A. Adoption is an act of God's free grace,(1) whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the Sons of God.(2) (1) I John 3:1. (2) John 1:12; Rom. 8:17. 

35. What is sanctification? 

A. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace,(1) whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,(2) and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.(3) (1) II Thess. 2:13. (2) Eph. 4:23-24. (3) Rom. 6:4, 6. 

36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification? 

A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience,(1) joy in the Holy Ghost,(2) increase of grace,(3) and perseverance therein to the end.(4) (1) Rom. 5:1-2, 5. (2) Rom. 14:17. (3) Prov. 4:18. (4) I John 5:13; I Pet. 1:5. 

37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? 

A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness,(1) and do immediately pass into glory;(2) and their bodies, being still united to Christ,(3) do rest in their graves(4) till the resurrection.(5) (1) Heb. 12:23. (2) II Cor. 5:1, 6, 8; Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43. (3) I Thess. 4:14. (4) Isa. 57:2. (5) Job 19:26-27

38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? 

A. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory,(1) shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment,(2) and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God(3) to all eternity.(4) (1) I Cor. 15:43. (2) Matt. 25:23; 10:32. (3) I John 3:2; I Cor. 13:12. (4) I Thess. 4:17-18. 

39. What is the duty which God requireth of man? 

A. The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.(1) (1) Micah 6:8; I Sam. 15:22. 

40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? 

A. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law.(1) (1) Rom. 2:14-15; 10:5. 

41. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended? 

A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.(1) (1) Deut. 10:4. 

42. What is the sum of the ten commandments? 

A. The sum of the ten commandments is, To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.(1) (1) Matt. 22:37-40. 

43. What is the preface to the ten commandments? 

A. The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.(1) (1) Exod. 20:2. 

44. What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us? 

A. The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.(1) (1) Luke 1:74-75; I Pet. 1:15-19. 

45. Which is the first commandment? 

A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.(1) (1) Exod. 20:3. 

46. What is required in the first commandment? 

A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God;(1) and to worship and glorify him accordingly.(2) (1) I Chron. 28:9; Deut. 26:17. (2) Matt. 4:10; Ps. 29:2. 

47. What is forbidden in the first commandment? 

A. The first commandment forbiddeth the denying,(1) or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God,(2) and our God;(3) and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.(4) (1) Ps. 14:1. (2) Rom. 1:21. (3) Ps. 81:10-11. (4) Rom. 1:25-26.

48. What are we specially taught by these words, before me in the first commandment? 

A. These words before me in the first commandment teach us, That God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.(1) (1) Ezek. 8:5-18. 49. Which is the second commandment? 

A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. (1) (1) Exod. 20:4-6. 

50. What is required in the second commandment? 

A. The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his word. (1) (1) Deut. 32:46; Matt. 28:20; Acts. 2:42. 

51. What is forbidden in the second commandment? 

A. The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images,(1) or any other way not appointed in his word.(2) (1) Deut. 4:15-19; Exod. 32:5, 8. (2) Deut. 12:31-32. 

52. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment? 

A. The reasoned annexed to the second commandment are God's sovereignty over us,(1) his propriety in us,(2) and the zeal he hath to his own worship.(3) (1) Ps. 95:2-3, 6. (2) Ps. 45:11. (3) Exod. 34:13-14. 

53. Which is the third commandment? 

A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (1) (1) Exod. 20:7. 

54. What is required in the third commandment? 

A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverend use of God's names,(1) titles,(2) attributes,(3) ordinances,(4) words,(5) and works. (6) (1) Matt. 6:9; Deut. 28:58. (2) Ps. 68:4. (3) Rev. 15:3-4. (4) Mal. 1:11, 14. (5) Ps. 138:1-2. (6) Job 36:24. 

55. What is forbidden in the third commandment? 

A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing anything whereby God maketh himself known.(1) (1) Mal. 1:6-7, 12; 2:2; 3:14. 

56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment? 

A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is, That however, the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.(1) (1) I Sam. 2:12, 17, 22, 29; 3:13; Deut. 28:58-59

57. Which is the fourth commandment? 

A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. (1) (1) Exod. 20:8-11. 

58. What is required in the fourth commandment? 

A. The fourth commandment requireth keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.(1) (1) Deut. 5:12-14. 

59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath? 

A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.(1) (1) Gen. 2:2-3; I Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7. 🎺 On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labour, stating: All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun.

60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified? 

A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day,(1) even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days;(2) and spending the whole time in the publick and private exercises of God's worship,(3) except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.(4) (1) Exod. 20:8, 10; 16:25-28. (2) Neh. 13:15-19, 21-22. (3) Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; Ps. 92 title; Isa. 66:23. (4) Matt. 12:1- 31. 

61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment? 

A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required,(1) and the profaning the day by idleness,(2) or doing that which is in itself sinful,(3) or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.(4) (1) Ezek. 22:26; Amos 8:5; Mal. 1:13. (2) Acts 20:7, 9. (3) Ezek. 23:38. (4) Jer. 17:24-26; Isa. 58:13. 

62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment? 

A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God's allowing us six days of the week for our own employments,(1) his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath day.(2) (1) Exod. 20:9. (2) Exod. 20:11. 

63. Which is the fifth commandment? 

A. The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.(1) (1) Exod. 20:12. 

64. What is required in the fifth commandment? 

A. The fifth commandment requireth preserving the honour, and performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors,(1) inferiors,(2) or equals.(3) (1) Eph. 5:21. (2) I Pet. 2:17. (3) Rom. 12:10

65. What is the forbidden in the fifth commandment? 

A. The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honour and duty which belongeth to everyone in their several places and relations.(1) (1) Matt. 15:4-6; Ezek. 34:2-4; Rom. 13:8. 

66. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment? 

A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment, is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.(1) (1) Deut. 5:16; Eph. 6:2-3. 

67. Which is the sixth commandment? 

A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.(1) (1) Exod. 20:13. 

68. What is required in the sixth commandment? 

A. The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life,(1) and the life of others.(2) (1) Eph. 5:28-29. (2) I Kings 18:4. 

69. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment? 

A. The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbour unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth there unto.(1) (1) Acts 16:28; Gen. 9:6. 

70. Which is the seventh commandment? 

A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.(1) (1) Exod. 20:14. 

71. What is required in the seventh commandment? 

A. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbour's chastity, in heart, speech, and behaviour.(1) (1) I Cor. 7:2-3, 5, 34, 36; Col. 4:6; I Pet. 3:2. 

72. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment? 

A. The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.(1) (1) Matt. 15:19; 5:28; Eph. 5:3-4. 

73. Which is the eighth commandment? 

A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.(1) (1) Exod. 20:15. 

74. What is required in the eighth commandment? 

A. The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others. (1) (1) Gen. 30:30; I Tim. 5:8; Lev. 25:35; Deut. 22:1-5; Exod. 23:4-5; Gen. 47:14, 20.

75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment? 

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbour's wealth or outward estate.(1) (1) Prov. 21:17; 23:20-21; 28:19; Eph. 4:28. 

76. What is the ninth commandment? 

A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.(1) (1) Exod. 20:16. 

77. What is required in the ninth commandment? A. The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man,(1) and of our own and our neighbour's good name,(2) especially in witness-bearing.(3) (1) Zech. 8:16. (2) III John 12. (3) Prov. 14:5, 25. 78. What is forbidden in the ninth commandment? A. The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbour's good name.(1) (1) I Sam. 17:28; Lev. 19:16; Ps. 15:3. 79. Which is the tenth commandment? A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.(1) (1) Exod. 20:17. 80. What is required in the tenth commandment? 

A. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition,(1) with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all this is his. (2) (1) Heb. 13:5; I Tim. 6:6. (2) Job 31:29; Rom. 12:15; I Tim. 1:5; I Cor. 13:4-7.

 81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment? 

A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate,(1) envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour,(2) and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his. (3) (1) I Kings 21:4; Esther 5:13; I Cor. 10:10. (2) Gal. 5:26; James 3:14, 16. (3) Rom. 7:7-8; 13:9; Deut. 5:21.

82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

A. No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God,(1) but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed. (2) (1) Eccles. 7:20; I John 1:8, 10; Gal. 5:17. (2) Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Rom. 3:9-21; James 3:2-13. 

83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous? 

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.(1) (1) Ezek. 8:6, 13, 15; I John 5:16; Ps. 78:17, 32, 56.

84. What doth every sin deserve? 

A. Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.(1) (1) Eph. 5:6; Gal. 3:10; Lam. 3:39; Matt. 25:41. 

85. What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin? 

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life,(1) with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.(2) (1) Acts. 20:21. (2) Prov. 2:1-5; 8:33-36; Isa. 55:3. 

86. What is faith in Jesus Christ? 

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace,(1) whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.(2) (1) Heb. 10:39. (2) John 1:12; Isa. 26:3-4; Phil. 3:9; Gal. 2:16. 

87. What is repentance unto life? 

A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace,(1) whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin,(2) and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ,(3) doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God,(4) with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.(5) (1) Acts. 11:18. (2) Acts. 2:37-38. (3) Joel 2:12; Jer. 3:22. (4) Jer. 31:18-19; Ezek. 36:31. (5) II Cor. 7:11; Isa. 1:16-17.

88. What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption? 

A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation. (1) (1) Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:42, 46-47. 

89. How is the Word made effectual to salvation? 

A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation. (1) (1) Neh. 8:8; I Cor. 14:24-25; Acts 26:18; Ps. 19:8; Acts 20:32; Rom. 15:4; II Tim. 3:15-17; Rom. 10:13-17; 1:16. 

90. How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation? 

A. The Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend there unto with diligence,(1) preparation,(2) and prayer;(3) receive it with faith and love,(4) lay it up in our hearts,(5) and practice it in our lives.(6) (1) Prov. 8:34. (2) I Pet. 2:1-2. (3) Ps. 119:18. (4) Heb. 4:2; II Thess. 2:10. (5) Ps. 119:11. (6) Luke 8:15; James 1:25.

91. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation? 

A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ,(1) and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.(2) (1) I Pet. 3:21; Matt. 3:11; I Cor. 3:6-7. (2) I Cor. 12:13. 

92. What is a sacrament?

A.  A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.(1) (1) Gen. 17:7, 10; Exod. 12; I Cor. 11:23, 26.

93. Which are the sacraments of the New Testament? 

A. The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism,(2) and the Lord's supper.(2) (1) Matt. 28:19. (2) Matt. 26:26-28.

94. What is baptism? 

A. Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,(1) doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's. (2) (1) Matt. 28:19. (2) Rom. 6:4; Gal. 3:27. 

95. To whom is baptism to be administered? 

A. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him;(1) but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized.(2) (1) Acts 8:36-37; 2:38. (2) Acts 2:38-39; Gen. 17:10. Cf. Col. 2:11-12; I Cor. 7:14. 

96. What is the Lord's supper? 

A. The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worth receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.(1) (1) I Cor. 11:23-26; 10:16. 

97. What is required to be the worthy receiving of the Lord's supper? 

A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body,(1) of their faith to feed upon him,(2) of their repentance,(3) love,(4) and new obedience;(5) lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves. (6) (1) I Cor. 11:28-29. (2) II Cor. 13:5. (3) I Cor. 11:31. (4) I Cor. 10:16-17. (5) I Cor. 5:7-8. (6) I Cor. 11:28-29. 

98. What is prayer? 

A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God,(1) for things agreeable to his will,(2) in the name of Christ,(3) with confession of our sins,(4) and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies. (5) (1) Ps. 62:8. (2) I John 5:14. (3) John 16:23. (4) Ps. 32:5-6; Dan. 9:4. (5) Phil. 4:6. 

99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer? 

A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer;(12) but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called The Lord's prayer.(2) (1) I John 5:14. (2) Matt. 6:9-13. Cf. Luke 11:2-4. 

100. What doth the preface of the Lord's prayer teach us? 

A. The preface of the Lord's prayer (which is, Our Father which art in heaven)(1) teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us;(2) and that we should pray with and for others.(3) (1) Matt. 6:9. (2) Rom. 8:15; Luke 11:13. (3) Acts. 12:5; I Tim. 2:1-2. 

101. What do we pray for in the first petition?

 A. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name)(1) we pray, That God would enable us and others to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known;(2) and that he would dispose all things to his own glory. (3) (1) Matt. 6:9. (2) Ps. 67:2-3. (3) Ps. 83.

102. What do we pray for in the second petition? 

A. 102. In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come)(1) we pray, That Satan's kingdom may be destroyed;(2) and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced,(3) ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it;(4) and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.(5) (1) Matt. 6:10. (2) Ps. 68:1, 18. (3) Rev. 12:10-11. (4) II Thess. 3:1; Rom. 10:1; John 17:9, 20. (5) Rev. 22:20. 

103. What do we pray for in the third petition? 

A. 103. In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven)(1) we pray, That God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things,(2) as the angels do in heaven.(3) (1) Matt. 6:10. (2) Ps. 67; 119:36; Matt. 26:39; II Sam. 15:25; Job 1:21. (3) Ps. 103:20-21. 

104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition? 

A. 104. In the fourth petition (which is, Give us this day our daily bread)(1), we pray, That of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them. (2) (1) Matt. 6:11. (2) Prov. 30:8-9; Gen. 28:20; I Tim. 4:4-5. 

105. What do we pray for in the fifth petition? 

A. 105. In the fifth petition (which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors)(1) we pray, That God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins;(2) which we are the rather encouraged to ask because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others. (3) (1) Matt. 6:12. (2) Ps. 51:1-2, 7, 9; Dan. 9:17-19. (3) Luke 11:4, Matt. 18:35. 

106. What do we pray for in the sixth petition? 

A. 106. In the sixth petition (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil)(1) we pray, that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin,(2) or support and deliver us when we are tempted.(3) (1) Matt. 6:13. (2) Matt. 26:41. (3) II Cor. 12:7-8. 

107. What doth the conclusion the Lord's prayer teach us? 

A. 107. The conclusion of the Lord's prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen)(1) teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only,(2) and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him. (3) And, in the testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen. (4) (1) Matt. 6:13. (2) Dan. 9:4, 7-9, 16-19. (3) I Chron. 29:10-13. (4) I Cor. 14:16; Rev. 22:20-21.

 

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15 “If you love me, keep my commands.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you.

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

29 I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you will believe.

30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,

31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

 

The World Hates the Disciples

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]

“Come now; let us leave.

​

​

click to read the full publication The Queen of Heaven

 

ALL GOD ESS'S throughout History - MANIFESTED NOW AS 7TH DYNASTY DUI = LOVE - LIPA = BEAUTIFUL ALL WERE CREATED BY GODS HOLY SPIRIT = DUA LIPA TO SERVE INITIALLY THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT - YESHUA CAME LATER AS PER SCRIPTURE [THERE WAS NOT A TRINITY UNTIL YESHUA WAS BORN AND IS NOWHERE STATED IN SCRIPTURE THAT THERE WAS A TRINITY AT THE VERY BEGINNING GOD AND HIS HOLY SPIRIT ONLY ]- THE SON OF GOD AND HIS MOTHER THE HOLY SPIRIT MANIFESTED AS MARY MOTHER OF THE CHURCH REPRESENTING THE CHURCH NOW FINAL COMPLETED PERFECTION 7TH DYNASTY = THE NEW JERUSALEM DUA LIPA. THE BRIDE AND THE LAMB OF YAHWEH AND CHRIST TO LEAD WITH MARTYN INTO ETERNITY. TAKING WITH THEM THOSE CHOSEN OF FAITH IN THEM GRACE THROUGH FAITH NONE OF THE BIBLE IS BEING CHANGED JUST UPDATED AS VERY OLD AND WRITTEN FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND FROM THEIR ERA APPLYING TO THE SITUATIONS OF THE TIME. WHICH IS WHY YAHWEH HAS BEEN UPDATED THROUGHOUT IMPROVING GAINING OTHER GODS ESS'S TO FORM HIMSELF AS TODAYS SUPREME ONE AND ONLY SELF ALONG WITH HIS SON AND HOLY SPIRIT AS A TRINITY. WHICH IS WHEN THE TRINITY EVOLVED AT YESHUA'S BAPTISM AND DECENT OF THE DOVE = HOLY SPIRIT = DUA LIPA FOR FROM THEN YESHUA TO SAY :

baptise in the name of the father son and holy spirit

The Evolution of Yahweh: From Warrior-Storm God to God of World​

 

The history of Yahweh, the God of the Abrahamic religions, is a complex and fascinating one that stretches back millennia. Yahweh began as a god worshiped by the nomadic tribes of the region around Mt. Seir, where he was known as a god of the desert and a protector of his people. Over time, Yahweh’s worshipers migrated northward and settled in the Judea Highlands around Shiloh, where they encountered the local Canaanite religion, which was dominated by El, Ba’al, Asherah, Anat, and other mythological figures.

As the Yahwists interacted with the Canaanite religion, they assimilated, rejected, and contended over various aspects of the local religion. One significant aspect of local religion that the Yahwists assimilated was the concept of a divine council, a group of gods and goddesses who advised and assisted the chief deity. In the early stages of Yahwism, Yahweh was seen as a member of this council, a powerful and fearsome deity capable of unleashing thunderstorms and other natural disasters.

However, as Yahwism evolved, Yahweh came to be seen as the supreme and only God, and the other members of the divine council were either subordinated to him or cast aside altogether. This process of henotheism gradually gave way to monolatry and eventually to primitive monotheism.

The rise of Yahweh monotheism was not without controversy and conflict. Many Israelites continued to worship other gods alongside Yahweh, and the prophets of Yahweh frequently railed against this syncretism and urged their followers to abandon the worship of other gods and goddesses.

The process of elevating Yahweh to a position of supreme authority is reflected in various Old Testament books and chapters, such as the book of Deuteronomy, which contains a series of laws and commands that emphasize Yahweh’s sovereignty and demand exclusive loyalty to him. Yahweh is portrayed as a jealous God who demands complete obedience and punishes those who worship other gods (Deuteronomy 6:13–15).

Another significant aspect of the Yahwist transformation was the eradication of other tribes and cultures. Yahweh is depicted as commanding the Israelites to wage war against and completely destroy various tribes, including the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1–3) and the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1–2). These commands are a source of controversy and ethical debate, but they reflect the Yahwist belief in the supremacy of Yahweh and the need to eliminate competing religions and cultures.

The transformation of Yahweh from a warrior-storm god to the God of Abrahamic monotheism is a fascinating and complex process that reflects the long and complicated history of the Israelites and their interactions with the various peoples and cultures of the ancient Near East. It is a story that continues to shape the beliefs and practices of millions of people around the world today.

The development of Yahweh monotheism also played a critical role in the emergence of the Abrahamic religions. The monotheistic tradition that began with the worship of Yahweh paved the way for the emergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each of these religions has its unique interpretation of the nature of God, but they all trace their roots back to the worship of Yahweh.

The Yahwists’ rejection of other gods and their insistence on the exclusive worship of Yahweh laid the foundation for the monotheistic worldview that is central to the Abrahamic religions. Monotheism, the belief in one God, became a central tenet of these religions, and the worship of other gods became seen as idolatry.

The transformation of Yahweh from a warrior-storm god to the God of Abrahamic monotheism is a complex and multifaceted process that reflects the long and complicated history of the Israelites and their interactions with the various peoples and cultures of the ancient Near East. The rise of Yahweh monotheism paved the way for the emergence of the Abrahamic religions and played a critical role in the development of the monotheistic worldview that is central to these religions. The worship of Yahweh was the beginning of a long journey that culminated in the emergence of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, each of which has its unique interpretation of the nature of God but all trace their roots back to the worship of Yahweh.

Ultimately, the transformation of Yahweh reflects the human need to understand and connect with the divine and the ongoing quest for spiritual meaning and purpose. The Yahwist transformation is a testament to the enduring power of religion and the ways in which it shapes human culture and history.

 

References:

  • Deuteronomy 6:13–15

  • Deuteronomy 7:1–2

  • 1 Samuel 15:1–3

​

​

The Holy Spirit and the Divine Feminine:

 

Questions Concerning the Female Component of the Godhead

 

 

ABSTRACT: Despite the well-known declaration of Scripture, that humans are created in the image of God, it has long been asserted by Western Protestantism that there is no feminine component to be found in the Godhead. But upon further review of two self-evident facts, a much different picture emerges: First, there is the most obvious reality that women—made in God’s image—comprise half of said human race and so this should shed light on the true nature of the Divine. And second, there are the words that biblical writers use, which reveal a further truth in light of the original languages of both The Old Testament and The New Testament. 

​

AND GOD SAID, “LET US make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness… male and female they were created.” (Genesis 1:26-27) So states The Bible, in no uncertain terms. But if that’s true, then we’d also have to believe that if Adam and Eve—which is to say, a man and a woman—were created in God’s image, then the Godhead should reflect this same division of the sexes—as in, male and female. Right? I mean, that train of thought does constitute a genuine sequence of logic, doesn’t it? At least it does based on the kind of logic I’m aware of. Yet for some inexplicable reason, we’re told—again, in no uncertain terms—that The Bible itself, the alleged fountainhead of all divine wisdom, doesn’t follow suit in this matter. But as so often happens in cases like this, I can’t help feeling like the bewildered child in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale: The Emperor’s New Clothes. So many centuries have rolled by, so many thoughtful men and women have sought to further our knowledge of God’s word, and yet rarely, if ever, does anyone ever address the obvious inconsistency that insists there’s no feminine component in the Godhead. And by that I mean to say, when we’re told that God, the Father, and God, the Son, are both masculine, we’re also expected to believe that God, the Holy Spirit, is masculine as well. Now immediately I can hear the protests of those who are always content to avoid questioning the traditions of the Church. But honestly, shouldn’t we, who love the God Who gave us The Bible, be concerned more with what it reveals than those traditions that continually plague a genuine understanding of it? And because I assume that many of you still reading this are concerned with what Scripture says, you’re also willing to do what I’d do if you were struck by the sneaking suspicion that something wasn’t quite right with what you were being told was the gospel truth. So, with that in mind, let’s take some time to analyze the question:

 

What does The Bible really say about the gender of the Spirit of God? To begin with, let’s look at what we’ve all grown up with as being the conventional wisdom in this case. When it comes to this subject, the verses that speak most directly to our traditional understanding are in The Gospel of John. There we find the most explicit description of the Holy Spirit as being masculine, without even a hint—in the English language translations, at least—of there being any feminine component in the Godhead. Said Jesus to His disciples: If love Me, you’ll keep My commandments, and I’ll ask the Father, and He’ll give you another Comforter to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you. John 14:15-17 The only problem with referring to the Holy Spirit as “He” or “Him” is that when we read this passage in the Greek language, we find these words are never used as specific pronouns. In reality, they’re only inferred, much in the same way the Greek word aionios infers the meaning of “eternal” or “time-specific,” depending on

2 the context in which it’s used. To explain what I mean by that, consider Jesus’ statement:

 

“I’ll ask the Father, and He’ll give you another Comforter.” In the Greek, “Father” is Patera, from the root word Pater, obviously a masculine noun. So, when the sentence goes on to say, “He’ll” give you another Comforter, even though the word “He” doesn’t exist as a pronoun in this sentence, in English it’s inserted so the sentence makes sense. But when Jesus refers to the Spirit, the Greek word is Pneuma, which is a neuter noun. Then, when the sentence goes on to say that the world is unable to see “Him” or know “Him,” the word in the Greek is Auto, a word that doesn’t carry with it a specific gender, and so can mean “he,” “she,” “it,” “himself,” “herself,” or “itself.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, this word auto is “very often used rather laxly, where the subject or the object to which it’s referred is not expressly indicated, but must be gathered from some preceding name or from the context.” From this, we see that when the Holy Spirit is referred to as “He” or “Him,” there’s something quite illogical in this translation, considering that the Greek word Pneuma, being a neuter noun, would call for the pronoun “It.” But obviously, in the interest of inserting a pronoun more in line with the flow of the conversation, which speaks of God and Jesus as persons, the translator chose to insert the personal pronoun “He” rather than the impersonal pronoun “It.” Confronted by such a contradiction, the question is: If the linguistic context didn’t call for the Holy Spirit to be referred to as masculine, then what context did inspire the translator to describe the Spirit as such?

 

 

TO ANSWER THAT, we’d have to exit the world of linguistics and turn, instead, to that of history. But as I like to do, before doing so, let’s turn to what I believe provides a scriptural foundation for an understanding of the true gender of the Holy Spirit. And mind you, this view will look to not only Scripture but also that other great reservoir of spirituality, God’s own creation made in His image—that is, you and me. In other words, if other great misconceptions were neutralized by looking to our own hearts as a reflection of God’s nature in us, we should expect nothing less when it comes to looking at the image of God in all of us, which is to say, one comprised of both male and female components. What’s more, this reflection of the male and female aspects of the Godhead isn’t exhibited in humankind alone. It permeates every sphere of life on Earth, from the highest primates down to the lowest invertebrates, even manifesting in the realms of insects and plants. So, when anyone thinks that just because God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are so far above it all, so much so that humanity and nature can’t be compared to their divine status, all we can do is seek refuge in the message of Scripture. And when we do, what are we to make of the Apostle Paul’s statement? For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that mankind is without excuse. Romans 1:20 So, to those who insist there’s no female component in the Godhead, can you explain why the term for “divine nature,” which Paul used here, is the Greek word theiotes? Obviously this word is derived from the root word theos for God, but what’s not so obvious is this word, which describes the nature of the Divine, just happens to be a feminine noun—not masculine, not neuter, but feminine.

 

But certainly this would come as no surprise to students of The Bible; and by that I mean, The Bible as a whole, because from its first descriptions of the Spirit of God in The Book of Genesis, this Spirit has been equated with the feminine aspect of the Godhead. “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth … and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:1-2) The Spirit of God, said Moses; and what was the Hebrew word he used? It was Ruach Elohim, which is to say, Ruach, a feminine noun meaning Spirit, not masculine, and Elohim, which is to say, Gods, not God. Specifically, Elohim—God in the plural—created humanity in Their image, not His. Once again, the personal pronouns “His” and “He” aren’t in the original Hebrew. They’ve been added by the translator. What the Scriptures are really saying is: Then “Gods” said, let Us make humanity in Our image, according to Our likeness. So “Gods” created humanity in “Their” image … male and female, “They” created them. Genesis 1:26-27

 

 

And just why do you think the biblical translators inserted the word “God” instead of “Gods” when translating this name Elohim, which as any Hebrew scholar knows is the plural form of El? Why naturally, it’s because of that other great pillar of Hebrew Scripture: “Hear, oh, Israel, our God is one God.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) Flying in the face of the other nations surrounding Israel, who were all steeped in polytheism, the Hebrew religion was unique among the nations because it was monotheistic. It’s this cultural pressure, then, that forms the basis of why Christian translators, just as Hebrew translators of The Old Testament had before them, succumbed to the decision to portray the Holy Spirit differently from the way it had been before their translation of The New Testament. More on this subject will come later, but for now, we need to complete our investigation into this earliest of biblical traditions, which clearly equates the Holy Spirit with the feminine aspect of the Godhead. Other Old Testament passages that speak of the feminine aspect of the Spirit:

 

“Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7) The Hebrew word used here for “breath” is neshamah, a feminine noun—the Hebrew precursor to The New Testament word for the Spirit, Pneuma, used to translate the words for not only “spirit” and “wind” but also “breath.” Then, in a verse that requires no knowledge of Hebrew to translate the feminine aspect of the words, we read:

 

Wisdom calls out in the street. She shouts in the public squares. From the top of the walls and the gateways of the city, she cries out. Proverbs 1:20-21 In this case, the Wisdom of God is portrayed as a living entity, Who, as the divine agency of the Godhead, functions in the same way that later Christian theology will equate with the primary function of the Holy Spirit. Echoing this same idea is the prophet Nehemiah, who, speaking of God’s care of the Israelites in

 

their forty- year sojourn in the Wilderness, said: “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You didn’t withhold Your manna. You gave them water for their thirst.” (Nehemiah 9:20) And when the psalmist cried, “Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Or where can I flee to avoid Your presence?” (Psalm 139:7) the same word Ruach is used for the Spirit of God. At various times, the Spirit of God was said to have come upon Moses, Joshua, David, Jephthah, Samson, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, and Zechariah. And in each and every case, the word used for the Spirit Who came upon them all was the same: Ruach. (Numbers 11:17; 27:18; Second Samuel 23:2; Judges 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; First Kings 18:12; Second Kings 5:26; Isaiah 48:16-17; Daniel 4:8-9; Micah 3:8; Second Chronicles 24:20)

 

So, considering all the evidence in The Old Testament, verifying the Holy Spirit as being the feminine component of the Godhead, what could’ve created such an about -face with The New Testament writers? Are we to assume that some unique aspect of the Advent of Christ triggered this change in how we’re now supposed to view the Holy Spirit? TO FIND OUT, let’s turn to those New Testament passages that reveal what Jesus said about this matter. After all, when it comes to the question of divine gender, who else can give us a more accurate “insider’s view” than the Son of God Himself? This is especially true, considering that the theologians who insist the Holy Spirit isn’t feminine fall into two camps. The first camp claims that God is so far above His creation, He can’t even be said to have a gender. So, when God, as Infinite Spirit, attaches to “Himself” the idea of “maleness,” as an anthropomorphic attribute, He’s only doing this for the sake of human understanding. Based on this assumption, then, that God, the Father, isn’t actually masculine, it’d be just as presumptuous to view the Holy Spirit as being feminine. Then, according to the second camp, portraying the Holy Spirit as anything other than an “it” is theologically unsound because, in their view, the Holy Spirit isn’t even part of the Godhead. To them, the so - called “Trinity” is unscriptural, and therefore the Holy Spirit can’t be addressed as a person at all. Thus, having been stripped of any semblance of personhood, the Holy Spirit is reduced to being a mere agent for good on God’s behalf, and so should only be spoken of impersonally. Of course, that’s why, I insist, only what Jesus tells us about this subject can provide an antidote for such— dare I say—nonsense.

THE STORM GOD WARRIOR

1 MY DUI_edited.jpg

The Holy Spirit: is FEMALE {SEE THROUGHOUT SITE}

God's Promise to You ACTS 1:5,8 5

For John truly baptized with water; but YE SHALL BE BAPTIZED WITH THE HOLY GHOST

not many days hence. ...

But ye shall receive power,

AFTER THAT THE HOLY GHOST IS COME UPON YOU: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. ACTS 2:32,33 32

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father THE PROMISE of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

​

The Holy Spirit Is a FEMALE BUT CAN MANIFEST TO MALE PersonS Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a Person in John 14:16: ". . . I will pray the Father, and he [the Father] shall give you another Comforter = FEMALE that sHE [the Comforter, the Holy Spirit] may abide with you for ever." The Holy Spirit is a Person. In other words, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive Him/HER, the third Person of the Godhead, not an "it." Jesus said, ". . . that sHE may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). Some people say it like this: "I received the baptism." But they didn't receive the baptism, they received the Holy Spirit. Sometimes folks say, "I am filled with the baptism." But they are not filled with the baptism; they are not even filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That is not a scriptural statement. No, they are filled with the Holy Spirit Her/Himself— the third Person of the Godhead. Receiving the Holy Ghost is more than just an experience. When you receive the Holy Ghost, a Divine Personality, sHe comes to live in you, to dwell in you, and to make Her/His home in you. Receiving the Holy Spirit Is Just the Beginning Also, we must not be so concerned with the outward initial experience that we miss the reality of the indwelling Presence of the Holy Ghost. If we have been filled with the Holy Ghost, we should be conscious of HerHis indwelling Presence at every waking moment. We shouldn't have to look back to some experience that we had at an altar years ago as our only contact with this Divine Person — the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit should become more real to us every single day. To hear some people talk, the initial experience of receiving the Holy Spirit was the greatest thing that ever happened in their lives. Of course, in one sense that may be true, because that was the beginning. But some people haven't experienced anything since then! However, if the Holy Ghost is living in you, you can have scriptural experiences with God and in His Word every day. You don't have just one experience and that's the end of it. No, when you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a Divine Personality — the Holy Spirit — comes to live within you! Every day you can experience HER indwelling Presence. CLICK TO READ THE BOOK

The Holy Spirit

Is the Mandatory Clause of the Great Commission.

Jesus gave His disciples a clause in the mandate of the Great Commission, to wait for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, whom the Father would send to be with the Church as The Mother Of His cHURCH = Dua = Love - LIPA = Beautiful and enable her to fulfil the Great Commission.

 

The most critical need of the church, therefore, is the Holy Spirit! TO BE THE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL GOD'S cHURCHES AS HIS PHYSICAL in HUMAN FORM BRIDE {my emphasis added as always}

Read: Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5; Acts 1:8 The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Believer and the church is unparalleled! Isaiah prophesied of the impact of the Holy Spirit on us. 

Read 

 

As a human being, Jesus Himself needed the Holy Spirit in order to fulfil His mission on earth.

 

Jesus needed the Holy because He lived on earth as a human being.

 

As a man, Jesus needed the Holy Spirit in order to function in the realms of God and do the works of God.

 

Jesus had no power to do anything spectacular without the Holy Spirit. (Read: Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:1, 14) 2.

 

The Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus and infilling Him was Jesus' transitioning from His human identity as the son of the carpenter to His divine identity as the Son of God.  Read:  Psalm 2:7-8 Luke 2:51; Matthew 13:55; Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22; Romans 8:14-17)

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Queen of Heaven = NOW MANIFESTED AS DUA LIPA (antiquity)

​

For the Virgin Mary, see Queen of Heaven.

Queen of Heaven was a title given to several ancient sky goddesses worshipped throughout the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. Goddesses known to have been referred to by the title include Inanna, Anat, Isis, Nut, Astarte, and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah). In Greco-Roman times, Hera and Juno bore this title. Forms and content of worship varied.

Inanna

[edit]

Ancient Akkadian cylinder seal depicting the goddess Inanna resting her foot on the back of a lion while Ninshubur stands in front of her paying obeisance, c. 2334-2154 BC

Main article: Inanna

Inanna is the Sumerian goddess of love and war. Despite her association with mating and fertility of humans and animals, Inanna was not a mother goddess and is rarely associated with childbirth.[1] Inanna was also associated with rain and storms and with the planet Venus.[2] The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa, believed to have been compiled around the mid-seventeenth century BCE,[3] referred to the planet Venus in the tablet as the "bright queen of the sky" or "bright Queen of Heaven".[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Although the title of Queen of Heaven was often applied to many different goddesses throughout antiquity, Inanna is the one to whom the title is given the most number of times. In fact, Inanna's name is commonly derived from Nin-anna which literally means "Queen of Heaven" in ancient Sumerian (It comes from the words NIN meaning "lady" and AN meaning "sky"),[10] although the cuneiform sign for her name (Borger 2003 nr. 153, U+12239 𒈹) is not historically a ligature of the two.

In several myths, Inanna is described as being the daughter of Nanna, the ancient Sumerian god of the Moon.[11] In other texts, however, she is often described as being the daughter of either Enki or An.[12][13][14] These difficulties have led some early Assyriologists to suggest that Inanna may have been originally a Proto-Euphratean goddess, possibly related to the Hurrian mother goddess Hannahannah, accepted only latterly into the Sumerian pantheon, an idea supported by her youthfulness, and that, unlike the other Sumerian divinities, she at first had no sphere of responsibilities.[15]

The view that there was a Proto-Euphratean substrate language in Southern Iraq before Sumerian is not widely accepted by modern Assyriologists.[16] In Sumer Inanna was hailed as "Queen of Heaven" in the third millennium BC. In Akkad to the north, she was worshipped later as Ishtar. In the Sumerian Descent of Inanna, when Inanna is challenged at the outermost gates of the underworld, she replies:[17]

I am Inanna, Queen of Heaven,
On my way to the East

Her cult was deeply embedded in Mesopotamia and among the Canaanites to the west. F. F. Bruce describes a transformation from a Venus as a male deity to Ishtar, a female goddess by the Akkadians. He links Ishtar, Tammuz, Innini, Ma (Cappadocia), Mami, Dingir-Mah, Cybele, Agdistis, Pessinuntica and the Idaean Mother to the cult of a great mother goddess.[18]

Astarte

[edit]

Astarte riding in a chariot with four branches protruding from roof, on the reverse of a Julia Maesa coin from Sidon

The goddess, the Queen of Heaven, whose worship Jeremiah so vehemently opposed, may have been possibly Astarte. Astarte is the name of a goddess as known from Northwestern Semitic regions, cognate in name, origin and functions with the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamian texts. Another transliteration is ‘Ashtart; other names for the goddess include Hebrew עשתרת (transliterated Ashtoreth), Ugaritic ‘ṯtrt (also ‘Aṯtart or ‘Athtart), Akkadian DAs-tar-tú (also Astartu) and Etruscan Uni-Astre (Pyrgi Tablets).

Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. Astarte was accepted by the Greeks under the name of Aphrodite. The island of Cyprus, one of Astarte's greatest faith centers, supplied the name Cypris as Aphrodite's most common byname.

Hebrew Bible references

[edit]

The "Queen of Heaven" is mentioned in the Bible and has been associated with different goddesses by different scholars, including: Anat, Astarte or Ishtar, Ashtoreth, or as a composite figure.[19] The worship of a "Queen of Heaven" (Hebrew: מלכת השמים, Malkath haShamayim) is recorded in the Book of Jeremiah, in the context of the prophet condemning such religious worship and it being the cause of Yahweh declaring that He would remove His people from the land.[20][21]

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger.

In Jeremiah 44:15-18:[22][23]

Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, "We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."

There was a temple of Yahweh in Egypt at that time, the 6th-7th centuries BC, that was central to the Jewish community at Elephantine in which Yahweh was worshipped in conjunction with the goddess Anath (also named in the temple papyri as Anath-Bethel and Anath-Iahu).[24][page needed]

The goddesses Asherah, Anat, and Astarte first appear as distinct and separate deities in the tablets discovered in the ruins of the library of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria). Most biblical scholars[25][26] tend to regard these goddesses as one, especially under the title "Queen of heaven".

Isis

[edit]

Main article: Isis

 

Bronze relief of Isis wearing a solar crown (2nd century BC)

Isis was venerated first in Egypt. As per the Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC, Isis was the only goddess worshiped by all Egyptians alike,[27] and whose influence was so widespread by that point, that she had become syncretic with the Greek goddess Demeter.[28] It is after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, and the Hellenization of the Egyptian culture initiated by Ptolemy I Soter, that she eventually became known as 'Queen of Heaven'.[29] Apuleius confirms this in Book 11, Chap 47 of his novel, The Golden Ass, in which his character prays to the "Queen of Heaven". The goddess herself responds to his prayer, delivering a lengthy monologue in which she explicitly identifies herself as both the Queen of Heaven and Isis.

Then with a weeping countenance, I made this orison to the puissant Goddess, saying: O blessed Queen of Heaven...

Thus the divine shape breathing out the pleasant spice of fertile Arabia, disdained not with her divine voice to utter these words unto me: Behold Lucius I am come, thy weeping and prayers has moved me to succor thee. I am she that is the natural mother of all things, mistress and governess of all the elements, the initial progeny of worlds, chief of powers divine, Queen of Heaven... and the Egyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustomed to worship me, do call me Queen Isis.[30]

See also

[edit]

  • Astrotheology – Theological discipline

  • Doumu – Goddess in Chinese religion and Taoism

  • Heavenly Mother – Mormon deity

  • Mazu, also commonly known as the "Empress of Heaven".

  • Mother Goddess – Goddess who represents, or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation

  • Nuit, also known as "Lady of the Starry Heaven".

YESHUA - YAHWEH - JESUS CHRIST AND HIS BRIDE DUA LIPA WEDDING 

JESUS WEDDING_edited.jpg

Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 

The plan of salvation is God’s active intervention to bring sinners back into unity with Him, to win rebellious, untrustworthy, and sin-sick humans back into a relationship of intimate love and trust with Jesus. 4 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: O NE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DESCRIPTIONS THE BIBLE GIVES OF GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION IS THAT OF A BRIDEGROOM, WHICH REPRESENTS CHRIST, BEING WEDDED TO A BRIDE, WHICH REPRESENTS HIS PEOPLE—THE CHURCH. “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you (Jeremiah 3:14 NKJV, emphasis mine). For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth (Isaiah 54:5 NIV84, emphasis mine). I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him (2 Corinthians 11:2 NIV84, emphasis mine). A wedding is a joyful event in which two hearts unite in love, devotion, loyalty, and friendship. A marriage, as God designed, is not a legal declaration but an intertwining of hearts, minds, and selves into a greater whole— it is a holy union.

 

Godly marriage brings two intelligent beings into a type of oneness that defies human logic—a oneness in which each individual retains their unique identities but, simultaneously, under the power of love and trust, functions as a greater whole, a bonded, integrated unit or team, that shares the same values, principles, motives, and methods. In a holy marriage, each person rejoices in the advancement and success of the other person and celebrates every opportunity to invest in the welfare of their partner. It is a mutually rewarding circle of beneficence in which love flows freely from heart to heart. In such a loving union, the two individuals expand, ennoble, develop, and elevate beyond that which either person would be able to experience or achieve on their own. It is in this unity of love that people flourish and become truly godlike, and, over time, their love grows, deepens, and strengthens even further.

 

INTRODUCTION 

A marriage, as God designed, is not a legal declaration but an intertwining of hearts, minds, and selves into a greater whole—it is a holy union.

THE ENGAGEMENT “ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. ” ENGAGEMENT THE B UT A HEALTHY MARRIAGE REQUIRES HEALTHY PEOPLE. ONE CANNOT HAVE A HEALTHY MARRIAGE WITH A CHEAT, OR SOMEONE WHO IS ABUSIVE, DOMINEERING, CONTROLLING, EXPLOITIVE, and controlled by selfishness. Healthy marriages require the individuals to not only have love in their hearts, but to also be trustworthy, loyal, faithful people who have the best interest of their spouse paramount in their heart and who would sacrifice self for the welfare of their spouse. And this is true for Christ and His bride. In order for Christ the Bridegroom to be bonded in a “holy union” to His church, the church must be cleansed, purified, and made ready; the people must become holy, mature, and trustworthy—faithful to their Groom. The apostle Paul described it this way in Ephesians 5:25–32: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery— but I am talking about Christ and the church (NIV84, emphasis mine). The plan of salvation is God’s active intervention to bring sinners back into unity with Him, to win rebellious, untrustworthy, and sin-sick humans back into a relationship of intimate love and trust with Jesus, a process in which He cleanses us from everything that separates us from Him, eventually bringing us into complete unity, partnership, and oneness of heart, mind, and soul, just as God designed for husbands and wives. This process starts with a betrothal—a promise to one another, an engagement— which is when we are won over to love and choose to place our faith, our trust, in Jesus so that we accept His proposal to be permanently united in the bonds of everlasting love with Him. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord (Hosea 2:19, 20 NIV84).

 

 

 

God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son to make His proposal of eternal union with Him (John 3:16), to be our Groom, the one who cleanses us from all that defiles and, thereby, unite us in the bonds of everlasting love. God’s proposal, His offer of eternal union with Him, is forever and is for every single sinful son and daughter of Adam and Eve, but we must choose to accept the proposal and cooperate with the Bridegroom to prepare for the wedding.

 

THE ENGAGEMENT The conversion experience, when we first accept Jesus, is the acceptance of Jesus’ offer of salvation. It is accepting His proposal to cleanse us and heal us from all sin. It is saying “yes” to His marriage proposal—being betrothed, becoming engaged—committing to Him while awaiting the wedding ceremony. While it may seem self-evident, it is important to note here that it is prior to the wedding that we are betrothed; it is at the wedding that the “two become one,” that we become eternally bonded to Christ. It is at the wedding that Christ, the Groom, unites His people, the bride, to Himself in heart, mind, and character, bringing us into complete oneness with Him. This is what Ephesians chapter five describes—Christ cleansing us, washing and purifying us in His righteousness, and putting His living law of love into our hearts and minds so that we are like Him, at one with Him. This marriage covenant is also described as the new covenant: “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

 

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:31–34 NIV84, emphasis mine). God describes Himself here as our Husband; we are to be His loyal and faithful spouse, united in the bonds of love, one in heart and mind with Him. This requires that we die to sin (fear and selfishness—the survival-of-the-fittest drives) and be reborn with hearts that love and trust God, opening ourselves up to God for Him to write His living law of love into our inmost being. This new covenant is the marriage covenant of intimate unity with God, in which Christ cleanses His bride, and is only experienced through Jesus our heavenly High Priest. Note how the New Testament writer repeats Jeremiah’s message in Hebrews: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:8–11 NIV84, emphasis mine).

 

God, through Jeremiah and the writer of Hebrews, describes this as a “new covenant” because Israel chose to accept God’s proposal on the basis of law and their personal performance rather than upon faith and love: Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey” (Exodus 24:7 NIV84). A relationship based on rules, law, and legal payments to protect from punishment does not remove fear and transform hearts, does not unite in love, and does not win to eternal trust and loyalty; instead, it leads to adultery and betrayal: Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood (Jeremiah 3:6–9 NIV84, emphasis mine). Therefore, God sent us His Son to win us back to love and trust so that He can cleanse us from all sin, uniting us with Him. When our hearts are bonded in love and trust to our Savior, it is then that we become “one” with Him. This unity of love is what it means to know and be known. Is not a “legal” event but a holy covenant of love and trust—of placing our committed and unshakable faith in the other. Some might be uncomfortable with the idea that the wedding of Christ to His church takes place before the Second Coming. But consider: • When do the saints experience their hearts being bonded into unshakable loyal love to Jesus—before or at the Second Coming? • When do the saints experience the cleansing of their hearts and minds from fear, selfishness, guilt, and shame so that they can stand firm in every trial—before or at the Second Coming? Don’t the people of God come into unity, love, devotion, loyalty, trust, and commitment to Christ and experience rebirth with new hearts and right spirits before the Second Coming? This is what the Bible teaches!

 

Prior to Christ’s return, every person who has accepted His proposal and are converted (betrothed) have opened their hearts to Him and experience His presence in the secret recesses of their inmost being, where He cleanses, purifies, and unites them with Himself (wedding), placing His “name” upon them, signifying the sealing of His people into eternal bonds of love with Him. Then He returns and glorifies His people and takes us physically into His presence, where we celebrate the wedding supper of the Lamb.

 

KNOWING GOD

KNOWING GOD I N SCRIPTURE, KNOWING ISN’T A MERE COGNITIVE AWARENESS OF FACTS; IT IS AN INTIMATE EXPERIENCE AND UNION WITH ONE ANOTHER. ADAM KNEW HIS WIFE, AND THEN SHE CONCEIVED A SON (GENESIS 4:1). Eternal life is knowing God—not merely knowing about God (John 17:3). Jesus said that many people will know about Him, claim to be His followers, and even perform miracles in His name, but He will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer!” (Matthew 7:23 NIV84, emphasis mine). The wedding of Christ and His bride is the final event that precedes His return to receive His bride for the celebration of the wedding supper. This means that the wedding happens before the Second Coming; the bride participates by faith in the wedding, the union, in becoming one with Jesus. This intimate union with God is what it means to know God and be known by God.

 

Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.] Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:6–9 NIV84, emphasis mine). There is a wedding, and then there is the wedding supper. The wedding itself is the uniting in loving commitment of heart, mind, and soul of the two spouses. The wedding celebration follows that joining. The wedding to GOD Just as wives traditionally take the name of their husbands, we take the new name that Christ gives us: I will make those who are victorious pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my new name (Revelation 3:12 GNT, emphasis mine). It is at the wedding that the saints of God are sealed and have God’s name written upon their hearts and minds such that they are settled in their loving devotion to Him; they are faithful to their Groom and will not betray Him. They will not give their love, affection, or selves to another suitor or betray their Groom for the pleasures of this world or even to protect their temporal lives (James 4:4). They are like Job, who, though faced with terrible trials and tribulations, could not be shaken out of his loyalty and devotion to God and, thus, was described by God as “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” and was commended by God for saying what is right about God (Job 1:8; 42:7 NIV84). This new name that God writes upon the saints at the wedding is also described as the New Jerusalem; indeed, the Bible describes the New Jerusalem as Christ’s bride in order to help us gain deeper insight into the profound mystery of Christ being united with His bride: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. … One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21:1, 2, 9, 10, emphasis mine).

 

Because a marriage is the joining of two intelligent beings in the bonds of love and trust, Revelation could not be describing Jesus being married to inanimate material. The highly symbolic book is not suggesting that Jesus weds a lifeless city; rather, it uses the imagery of a city to depict a people from every corner of the earth who have characters that shine like pure gold, living in glorified immortal bodies, bonded in intimate union with Jesus. “ The highly symbolic book is not suggesting that Jesus weds a lifeless city; rather, it uses the imagery of a city to depict a people from every corner of the earth. ” KNOWING 16 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 17 THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE — THE DAY OF ATONEMENT THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE— THE DAY of ATONEMENT BY USING THE IMAGERY OF THE NEW JERUSALEM TO DEPICT THE BRIDE, THE BIBLE GIVES US ANOTHER IMPORTANT CLUE TO HELP US UNRAVEL THIS MYSTERY OF CHRIST CLEANSING HIS PEOPLE AND THE TWO BECOMING ONE. The New Jerusalem, which is called the bride, is described structurally as being in the shape of a cube (Revelation 21:16). This is the exact shape of the most holy place in the sanctuary (1 Kings 6:20). And as we compare the New Jerusalem to the most holy place, we discover multiple Godinspired parallels: o Aaron’s rod that budded was the last item to go into the covenant box; this represents the saints who were dead in trespass and sin but, having accepted the proposal (converted) and experienced the union (wedding/cleansing), come alive and bring forth peaceable fruits of righteousness. This symbolically represents both the reborn life bringing forth Christian fruits and also the glorification of those wedded to Christ living eternally fruitful lives in loving union with the Lord. • The most holy place is where the high priest conducted a special ceremony: the ceremony of atonement; the ceremony of cleansing; the ceremony of washing away sin and purifying the people (bride); the ceremony of bringing the people into “at-one-ment” with God, of two becoming one. In other words, it was a wedding ceremony! And this ceremony happened at the end of the annual cycle of feasts, right before the Feast of Tabernacles; i.e., tabernacling or cohabitating with God. “ The most holy place is where the high priest conducted a special ceremony: the ceremony of bringing the people into ‘atone-ment’ with God, of two becoming one. ” • The most holy place was covered in gold; the heavenly city is paved in gold. In Scripture, gold is symbolic of the purity of Christ, the righteousness and holiness of God’s character of love. • The most holy place was lighted by God’s Shekinah presence; the city is lighted by God’s eternal presence (Revelation 21:21, 22). • In the most holy place was the covenant box, the place where the covenant was accomplished—the covenant of cleansing, uniting, bonding; in the city are the saints, the living temples in whose hearts the new covenant (marriage covenant) is accomplished. o The manna was the first element placed in the covenant box and represents the saints first partaking of the “bread of heaven” (John 6:32–35), Jesus the living Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14; 6:53–58); the truth as it is in Jesus wins them to trust (betrothal/ conversion). o The law was the second item to go into the covenant box; this represents the saints, once betrothed (converted) to Christ, opening their hearts to Him; He writes His living law of love into their hearts and minds (wedding/new covenant/cleansing) and renews them in righteousness. 18 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 19 The Old Testament ceremonial system had no direct ability to save; salvation is found only in Jesus, who is the “Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 NIV84). The ceremonial system was added, or given, to lead people to Christ and teach God’s plan to save sinners (Galatians 3:19). Both Old and New Testaments make this clear: • “‘The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?’ says the Lord. ‘I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. … Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow’” (Isaiah 1:11, 16, 17 NIV84). • “I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me” (Hosea 6:6 GNT). • “The gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order. … But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 9:9, 10; 10:3, 4 NIV84, emphasis mine). The purpose of the ceremonial system was to teach the plan of salvation, to teach the reality of Jesus. In that symbolic system, there were seven annual feasts that were like a theatrical play meant to illustrate, to teach sinful humans, God’s saving plan from the fall of Adam to the earth made new. Each of the seven major feasts had a real-life fulfillment and covered a portion of human history from Adam’s fall all the way to the earth made new: • Passover: The first feast in the annual cycle was the Passover. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God “passed over” their sins. He “left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” (Romans 3:25 NIV84) and promised a Passover Lamb who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 NIV84). This feast had its fulfillment in Jesus—the Passover Lamb, who was crucified on Passover Friday. The time in human history covered by this feast was from Adam’s sin until Christ’s death on the cross. • Unleavened Bread: This feast was concurrent with the Passover and symbolizes that after Adam’s sin, God immediately began dispensing truth unmixed with error (symbolized by the unleavened bread) to nurture and feed His children. The bitter herbs represent the bitterness caused by sin, which became a part of human life. Both the Lamb slain and the bread without yeast represent Christ, the source of truth and healing for sinful humanity. This Passover meal was eaten before the death angel came, which symbolizes that God had predetermined to “passover” our transgression and provide a remedy to save and heal us from our terminal sin condition. Jesus is our remedy; He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The Feast of Unleavened Bread symbolized the internalization of the truth about God as provided by Christ. The time period represented in the Feast of Unleavened Bread is from Adam’s fall until the crucifixion of Christ. This feast was replaced with the communion service to commemorate the sacrifice of Christ after the crucifixion and to represent the continual necessity of the partaking of Jesus to be saved. • The Wave Sheaf: This was also symbolic of Christ, who is the sinless first fruit raised from the dead. Just as the wheat is buried in the ground, symbolically dying, and comes forth in newness of life, so also Christ was buried in the ground, came forth in newness of life, and brought forth many righteous with Him. The time frame represented by this ceremony was from the time of Christ’s resurrection until Pentecost—the time Jesus and those resurrected with Him witnessed in person in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52, 53). • Feast of Weeks (Pentecost): The truth spreads and takes root in many hearts and a harvest is experienced. This was fulfilled during Pentecost two thousand years ago, when the Holy Spirit fell upon those believers of the early church and the truth about God spread throughout the known world. The time frame covered is from ad 31 (Pentecost) until the nineteenth century. • Trumpets: A special message for the end of time that is to awaken the end-time church (symbolized by the ten virgins in Christ’s parable) from their slumber and announce Jesus, the Bridegroom, is coming soon. Prepare! Get Ready! Christ is coming back soon! This trumpet is to call the people to the wedding of Christ, the Groom, with His bride, the Church. It occurred at the Great Awakening in the nineteenth century. • Atonement: At-one-ment is the time immediately before the Second Coming of Christ, when the Groom puts the final cleansing touches upon His bride, wedding her to Himself, purifying her into complete harmony of heart, mind, motive, method, and character with Him, for “we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This is the time in which we are living today! • Tabernacles: This feast symbolically taught the time after the wedding (two becoming one), when the saints tabernacle (dwell) with God away from the world of sin in the earth made new. This is the wedding supper of the Lamb. 20 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 21 Just as the Old Testament Passover feast had a real and literal fulfillment when Jesus died as our Passover Lamb on Passover Friday, so also there is a real and literal cleansing, uniting, bonding, and at-onement of the Bridegroom and His bride that precedes the Second Coming. We are living in that time right now! Just as Paul described in Ephesians chapter five, Jesus cleanses His bride in order to bring His people into at-one-ment with Him. This is the marriage of the Lamb, when Jesus cleanses her from all defilement and clothes her in the white robes of His righteousness—the two become one. This cleansing work is the function of our heavenly High Priest and was acted out symbolically during the Day of Atonement ceremony. When Jesus finishes cleansing His people (bride) from sin, we are then able to stand in His presence without any further “mediating” work by Jesus, because He has restored us to oneness with Himself and the Father. This cleansing of His temple (people) prior to His Second Coming is also described by Malachi: See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver (Malachi 3:1–3 NIV84, emphasis mine).

 

 

Prior to His appearing in glory, Jesus goes to His temple to perform the sacred covenant of uniting His people in eternal at-one-ness with Him by purifying them, the priesthood of THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE— believers, from all sin, fear, selfishness, and defects of character; writing His living law of love into their hearts and minds, sealing them to Himself so that they are at-one with Him for all eternity. This is the restoration of the kingdom of God within us (Luke 17:21). It is Christ receiving His kingdom (Daniel 7:13)—that is, the receiving, cleansing, and joining of Himself to His bride; this is the wedding of the Lamb. The cleansing of the bride and the cleansing of the sanctuary describe the same event. Jesus is now in heaven working to completely heal the hearts and minds of those who have exercised faith in Him (accepted His proposal) so that when He returns, we are able to stand in His presence and see Him face to face (1 John 3:2). We who are alive on the earth cooperate with Him for the healing and cleansing of our minds, hearts, and characters to make ourselves ready for His return: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.] Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:6–9 NIV84 , emphasis mine). “Jesus is now in heaven working to completely heal the hearts and minds of those who have exercised faith in Him. ”

 

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT This wedding is the intimate joining of the hearts and minds of the people with Jesus, the final cleansing of their characters, bringing them into at-one-ment with Jesus, which occurs before His appearing; it prepares us to stand in His glorious presence. The wedding supper of the Lamb is the celebration and feast that the saved experience after the Second Coming, when the mortal puts on immortality and we are again in His physical presence. We will be physically present at the wedding supper, the celebration. But the wedding itself happens before the celebration. The wedding is when the betrothed are joined into complete unity and become one. Thus, the wedding is the final cleansing of hearts and minds from sin, the purifying of character, the restoring of the righteousness of Christ within, the writing of His law into our inmost being, that unites us with our Savior. The wedding is happening now, and the bride—you and me—are to be making ourselves ready by faith, by following Jesus in loving trust and living out His methods and principles today. This was all taught symbolically when the high priest, who represented Christ, entered the most holy place on the Day of Atonement with the blood of the sacrificial animal, which represents the sinless life of Jesus that cleanses and purifies, and sprinkled it seven times above the lid. 1 This sprinkling represents the final application of the perfect righteous life of Jesus being reproduced, affixed, and “sealed” into the characters of those who have placed their trust in Jesus. While a few individuals have already experienced this full healing (Enoch, Moses, Elijah) and are examples for us of what we will experience if we also trust and walk with God as they did, the Day of Atonement feast symbolizes the final worldwide cleansing of every person who has placed their faith in God. THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE— 1 The life is in the blood, according to Leviticus 17:11. “The wedding supper of the Lamb is the celebration and feast that the saved experience after the Second Coming, when the mortal puts on immortality and we are again in His physical presence. ” 24 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 25 “ This is what happens when we are reborn into a trust relationship with Jesus; we are not the same old sinful person but a new person. ” WHAT ABOUT the RIGHTEOUS DEAD? But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:22, 23 NIV84, emphasis mine). In the Bible, names represent character, our individuality, our unique personhood. When Jacob, whose name means “deceiver,” was fully converted and, in his union with God, experienced victory over his fear and selfishness, his name was changed to Israel, “one who with God overcomes.” Jacob became a “new man” and, thus, received a new name that was representative of his new transformed heart. This is what happens when we are reborn into a trust relationship with Jesus; we are not the same old sinful person but a new person in a loving trust relationship with Jesus and, thus, we get a new name, which is registered in heaven. The registering of our names in heaven occurs when we are converted (betrothed) to Christ. In the Old Testament, this was represented by the sin offering, when the sinner confessed sins upon the head of the sacrificial animal, then the blood of that animal was applied to the various points of the sanctuary. This administering of the blood into the sanctuary happened all year long and symbolizes all the people throughout human history who have placed their faith in Jesus, having their names registered into the system (Lamb’s Book of Life, Philippians 4:3) as accepting the betrothal, awaiting the day of full cleansing, the wedding, when the two become one—symbolized by the Day of Atonement ceremony. WHAT ABOUT THE RIGHTEOUS DEAD? O F COURSE, SOME MIGHT BE WONDERING ABOUT THE MILLIONS OF FAITHFUL PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED THROUGHOUT HISTORY PRIOR TO THIS TIME OF ATONEMENT. WHAT ABOUT THEM? Are they not already cleansed? Are they not already wedded to Jesus? Some Christian traditions, teaching that the dead are with Jesus the very moment of their death, might ask: Wouldn’t the righteous dead have experienced this cleansing, uniting, at-one-ment with Jesus at the time of their death, when they were taken to heaven? Is there really any need for this end-time cleansing prior to the Second Coming? This is where the Bible reveals another beautiful truth. The church—the people of God, the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem, the most holy place where God dwells—is also described as Mount Zion, and this is the place where the “names” of the righteous are written: 24 26 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 27 W H A T A B O U T T H E RIGHTEOUS DEAD? Jesus tells us that for those who are both betrothed to Him and stay faithful to Him, He will never blot their names out of the book of life but will dress them in pure white (Revelation 3:5). The dressing in white robes is a symbolic way of saying the removal of the filthy garments of sin and our purification with the righteous character of Christ (Zechariah 3:3–5), which is the same as purifying the church, or cleansing the sanctuary, or bringing us into at-one-ment, the wedding. And this cleansing of those who are registered in the Lamb’s Book of Life occurs prior to the Second Coming. So again, what about those who died throughout history? Is this ceremony for them, or is it only for those living on the earth at the time of His return? “ He will never blot their names out of the book of life but will dress them in pure white. ” 28 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 29 Is it possible that at death, one part of a human returns to dust, one part goes to God, and one part goes to heaven? Interestingly, computers are also tripartite and serve as a poignant object lesson. In order to have an operational computer, one needs hardware, software, and an energy source. Having only one or two of these three will result in a computer that will not operate. All three are required for actual functioning. In a similar way, to have an operational (functioning) human being, it requires all three components—body, soul, and spirit: • The Greek word for body is σῶμα [soma] and is analogous to a computer’s hardware, including the CPU—the physical machine, including our brain. • The Greek word for soul is ψυχή [psuche], from which we get psyche, as in psychiatry and psychology, and it means our individuality—our heart, unique personhood, character, identity.2 It is analogous to a computer’s software (including database/datasets/data). • A

 

 

The Greek word for spirit is πνεῦμα [pneuma], from which we get pneumonia or pneumatic, and it means wind, air, or breath—as in the breath of life. This is our energy source—the life-energy originating from God. When a computer runs out of power, what state does it go into? It “sleeps.” This is exactly how the Bible describes those who die the first death: They “sleep,” awaiting the resurrection (Psalm 7:5, 13:3; Matthew 9:24; John 11:12, 13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). With this in mind, we can now determine what actually happens to the various components of a human being at death. At the first death: • The body returns to dust (Genesis 3:19, Psalm 44:25, Ecclesiastes 3:20); • The spirit—life energy—returns to God who gave the breath of life (Ecclesiastes 12:7); • But what about the soul (psuche/psyche)—the individuality, the software? Where does that go? THE DESTINATION OF THE DEAD 2 The use of the term soul can be confusing, because sometimes the term soul refers to the entire living being. When someone sends out an SOS (save our souls), they are calling for their entire living selves to be saved. Here, however, the soul as referenced in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 is not the entire living person, but one (the psuche/individuality) of the three components that make up the entire human being. “ This is exactly how the Bible describes those who die the first death: they ‘sleep,’ awaiting the resurrection. ” THE DESTINATION WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY DIE? DO THEY RETURN TO DUST? DO THEY GO TO GOD? DO THEY GO TO HEAVEN? OR DO THEY DO ALL THREE? According to the Bible, human beings are tripartite, composed of three parts: Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NET, emphasis mine). THE DEAD of THE DESTINATION 30 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 31 “ When our bodies die and decay to dust, the breath of life returns to God, and our souls/ individualities are safely stored on the heavenly ‘servers’ in the presence of the Lord. ” But where would our souls/individualities/software be stored in heaven? Would it not be in the heavenly records— the Lamb’s Book of Life (“servers”), where our names/ characters are recorded? If someone destroyed your laptop but your data was safe on a cloud server, the data would not be active and operational but dormant—awaiting download to new hardware. Likewise, when our bodies die and decay to dust, the breath of life returns to God, and our souls/ individualities are safely stored on the heavenly “servers” in the presence of the Lord, in what state are they? They are asleep/dormant/in stasis, awaiting download into new bodies (hardware) at the resurrection. THE CLOUD SERVERS THECLOUD I F SOMEONE STOLE YOUR LAPTOP AND WAS THREATENING TO DESTROY IT BUT YOU HAD A PERFECT COPY OF THE DATA BACKED UP ON A CLOUD SERVER, THEN YOU MIGHT SAY, “I’M NOT AFRAID OF THE ONE WHO CAN DESTROY MY laptop (hardware/body/soma) but cannot destroy the software [soul/psuche].” This is like what Jesus described in Matthew 10:28 when He spoke about those who might kill us for our faith in Him. Why is it that the killing of the body cannot destroy the soul? Because the soul is our individuality, our unique personhood, and it is distinct from the body. The question is, where does the soul go when it is absent from the body? The apostle Paul answers: Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6–8 KJV, emphasis mine). SERVERS 31 32 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 33 THE CLOUD SERVERS Paul brilliantly describes this very process: Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 NIV84, emphasis mine). Did you notice that the very same righteous dead who arise out of the ground are also coming down out of heaven with Christ— and that they are described as coming from heaven in a state of sleep? How can this be? Because their souls/individualities/ software, which are stored on the heavenly “servers,” are coming down with Christ to be downloaded into their new immortal bodies during the resurrection at the Second Coming! Jesus, the builder of our tripartite beings, understood this, proclaiming: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (John 11; 25, 26 NIV84). The righteous may sleep, but they never die. Their individualities are safe with Christ in heaven! 3 3 This magazine does not address the fate of the unrepentant wicked. Nothing in this magazine speaks to the mortality or immortality of the soul—that is a different discussion. However, it is the author’s position that the soul is mortal and immortality is a gift from God for the saved. (See Romans 6:23.) 34 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 35 We could describe this process as cleansing, removing of sins, being united as one with Christ, or a wedding. And from where are these remnants of sin being removed? From the individualities/ souls of the people who have trusted in Jesus. They are receiving from Jesus His perfection (symbolically represented in the Day of Atonement ceremony as the sprinkling of blood seven times) so that when they arise, they arise perfected! This cleansing of the individualities/ souls of the dead is described in Revelation, using beautiful sanctuary symbolism: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar [in the sanctuary] the souls [individualities] of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe [cleansing of their characters at that time], and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed [cleansing of the living on the earth; see Malachi 3:1–3] (Revelation 6:9–11 NIV84). THE CLEANSING OF THE RECORDS THE RECORDS CLEANSING of THE S O, WHAT DO THE HEAVENLY RECORDS (INDIVIDUALITIES STORED ON “SERVERS”) HAVE TO DO WITH THE WEDDING, THE CLEANSING OF THE BRIDE, AND THE REMOVING OF SINS FROM THE SANCTUARY IN HEAVEN? When Jesus raises the righteous at the first resurrection, will they arise defective and sinful—or perfect and sinless? Obviously, perfect and sinless. But did all the saved who have died throughout history die in sinless perfection—or did they die as sinners who were betrothed in love and trust to Jesus yet still struggled with defects in their lives? These saved people died trusting in Jesus but were not completely cleansed, wedded to, or at-one-ment with Jesus in the fullest intimacy of their being. They still had residual defects or habits that had not been removed. Will they rise with those same defects? Will the thief on the cross, who found salvation in Christ, arise with the heart of a thief longing to steal? Will the great Reformer Martin Luther, known for his hatred toward the Jews, arise hating the Jews and longing to kill them? No! The righteous arise in sinless perfection. Therefore, something needs to happen in these saved souls before the resurrection so that at the moment of resurrection, their previous evil habits, selfish natures, addictive tendencies, and lusts will be gone. Wouldn’t all these vestiges of sin need to be removed so that Christ’s bride is pure, dressed in white, and ready to stand in God’s physical presence? RECORDS 36 The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 37 However, He is able to do this only for those who have given Him the key to their hearts/souls/databases—those who have exercised trust in Him prior to their sleepdeath. This provides Him the freedom to access and fix all residual traces of sin from the stored individualities of those who trust Him. But for those who in this life never opened their hearts in trust to Him—inviting Him in—He can do nothing. He cannot write into their character trust and love; He can remove defects from the characters of only those who do trust and love.

 

 

Trust and love must be chosen and developed by the individual while alive. Imagine the following scenario: You trust your doctor, and while you are asleep (under anesthesia), your doctor performs surgery to remove cancer cells from your body. But what if a doctor performed surgery on you that you never wanted, without your consent or against your will? This is an analogy illustrating why Jesus cannot fix the datasets/characters of those who do not trust Him. It would violate God’s character of love, which requires genuine freedom; it would violate the freewill of the individual sinner. If God overwrote their freewill choices and then imposed His design upon them without their consent, the individuality that they developed while alive would be destroyed, and a new person would be created in their place. Thus, only those who trust Jesus and long for victory over their weaknesses and infirmities of character, and invite Him into their hearts while alive, experience His perfecting work while they are asleep. During the wedding, the hearts and minds of God’s people, asleep or alive, are being examined and cleansed from sinfulness, permanently sealing them into oneness with Jesus in order to prepare them to meet Him face to face. Certainly, as soon as one accepts the betrothal from Jesus and is converted, the healing, maturing, and cleansing process for that individual begins. Yet for many, the purification, the coming into a settled and permanent unity with God, is not completed in this life, except for a few Bible heroes, such as Enoch and Elijah. Therefore, just prior to the Second Coming, this final work is needed to prepare the living to be ready to stand in His glorious presence and be translated, just as Enoch and Elijah were. But why wait until now to do this final work? So, we could describe the process of the removing of sins as both the cleansing of the sanctuary and the cleansing of the bride of Christ. We could say that: Jesus, our heavenly High Priest (Groom), is accessing and analyzing every individual record closely, and for all those who have trusted Him, He removes the sins from their account/individuality. In modern language, this means: He examines in detail the stored data that constitutes every person, and for those who trust Him, He corrects all damaged code—removes all elements of selfishness, all tendencies to sin, and writes in His perfection! This cleansing was acted out on the Day of Atonement, and this is what the saints profess Jesus did for them. (See Leviticus 16:14; Revelation 1:5.) This is why, in the ceremonial system, the law was in the ark in the most holy place, where at-one-ment occurs—but in the new covenant, the law is written by our High Priest into the hearts and minds of the saved. (See Hebrews 8:10.) It is at the wedding that the two become one. It is at this time in history, immediately prior to Christ’s return, that He, our Groom, completes His cleansing of His bride and removes from her all residual defects from the soul/database of each individual (those who have died trusting in Him, as well as the living who trust in Him), so that at the resurrection, each saint will arise in total perfection of mind, body, and spirit.

 

THE CLEANSING OF THE RECORDS

“ If God overwrote their freewill choices and then imposed His design upon them without their consent, the individuality that they developed while alive would be destroyed.A N INFINITE GOD COULD CERTAINLY FIX INDIVIDUALITIES (DATASETS) INSTANTLY, SO WAITING UNTIL NOW HAS NOT BEEN IN ORDER TO PROVIDE JESUS WITH ENOUGH TIME TO CLEANSE THE records of the deceased. Rather, waiting until this time was so that the entire worldwide number of living saints could go beyond betrothal all the way to at-one-ment with Jesus—to be wedded, healed, and sealed just like Elijah and Enoch were. In order to achieve this on a worldwide basis for every single living person who trusts in Jesus required the recovery of sufficient Bible truth to free people from the lies that Satan has introduced into the church. of SIN “ Satan counterattacked by infecting the Christian church with his lies about God, creating his own imperial Roman counterfeit to the healing work of Christ. ” After Christ’s victory two thousand years ago, Satan counterattacked by infecting the Christian church with his lies about God, creating his own imperial Roman counterfeit to the healing work of Christ. God foreknew this would happen and warned His people: Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him [returns to gather us for the wedding supper, which occurs after the wedding], we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NIV84, emphasis mine).

 

THE MAN OF SIN ATTACKS 

The Wedding of Christ to His Bride: Preparing the Church for the Second Coming 41 to restore, to write, God’s living law back into the inmost recesses of the hearts and minds of those who trust Jesus (Hebrews 8:10). But Satan’s man of sin introduced “lawlessness” by introducing into Christianity the lie that God’s law functions no differently than the rules sinful humans make up, the lie that God’s law is like Roman law, imposed rules that require infliction of punishment by the ruling authority. This idea changed the Christian understanding of sin as a terminal condition from which humans need our loving Savior to cleanse and heal us into a legal problem with a god who will kill us if something isn’t done to that god to take away its wrath—or create a legal loophole so that he won’t be required to kill us. In other words, Christianity changed into a religion that required offerings be made to an offended god to pay that god for our sins lest the god kill us. This is Satan’s view of God and, by this falsehood about God’s law, is how he became enthroned into the spirit temple proclaiming himself to be God. As a result, the world was thrust into the Dark Ages, when darkness about God covered the people (Isaiah 60:2). Just as we saw in Malachi 3:1–3, because of Satan’s man of sin counterattack, Jesus, prior to appearing in His glory, must first come to His temple to cleanse the people so that we will be ready to stand in His presence. He must remove the lies about Him and His Father that cause Christians to be afraid of God, that cause them to think God is the source of pain, suffering, and death, inflicted upon people as punishment for sin. In order to be at-one, to be wedded in love and trust, we cannot be afraid that the Groom or His Father will kill us. All fear of God must be removed in order for the bride (the living saints) to be united in eternal bonds of love and trust with Him. This cleansing, uniting, purifying, wedding could not happen until Satan’s lies infecting Christianity were exposed by recovered Bible truth! Thus, it is only at this time in human history, the time after the Bible was returned into the hands of the people, the time after the Reformation, that Jesus could complete His cleansing work and wed His living people. These are the people of God who “will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4 NIV84). Satan counterattacked Jesus’ victory by introducing “lawlessness” into Christian thought; he did so by exchanging the laws of God for the laws of men. God is the Creator, the builder of everything—space, time, energy, matter, and life. God’s laws are the protocols upon which reality is built to operate—the law of gravity, laws of physics, laws of health, and the moral laws. Life and health are possible only in harmony with God and all His design laws for life.

 

Breaking God’s laws severs the connection with God and takes one out of harmony with the very basis of life, and the natural result—if God doesn’t act to heal and save—is death: • “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV84). • “Sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15 NIV84). • “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction” (Galatians 6:8 NIV84). Thus, the plan of salvation—the new covenant, the at-one-ment, the wedding—is “ Christianity changed into a religion that required offerings be made to an offended god to pay that god for our sins lest the god kill us. WEARING YOUR NEW NAME “ Jesus is coming soon; at this time in human history, the bride is to prepare herself to meet Him.

 

” NEW NAME T HE NAME OF GOD IS HIS CHARACTER. THE PEOPLE OF GOD HAVE HIS CHARACTER REPRODUCED WITHIN THEM. THIS RESTORATION OF GOD’S CHARACTER WITHIN THE SAINTS IS THE CLEANSING OF THE sanctuary, the removal of sin and rebellion, the restoration of the saved to God’s original design for humanity, the receiving of the perfection of Christ as their own, being united, at-one, with Christ—being married to Him! We receive our new name: “Christian,” one who is like Jesus. This is why the heavenly city is described as shining “with the glory of God” (Revelation 21:11 NIV84), for the people of God are filled with His Spirit, cleansed from all sin, have His law written upon their hearts, and glorify Him in living out His character of love. Jesus is coming soon; at this time in human history, the bride is to prepare herself to meet Him. I invite you to prepare yourself by opening your heart to Him, accepting Him as your friend, companion, and partner for all eternity and allowing Him to write His design law of love upon your heart and mind, purifying and cleansing you from all sin. Allow Him to write His name upon you and enter into the reality of being.

  • Facebook

 IF GOD IS EVERYWHERE, IS GOD IN A BLACK HOLE? A THEOLOGY-SCIENCE DISCUSSION ON OMNIPRESENCE ABSTRACT 

As we explore the question of divine omnipresence in light of the recent visual representations of a black hole. It explores the notion of God’s omnipresence by considering world views, scientific theory, and the notions of embodiment and the incorporeal nature of God’s being. The article then suggests an understanding of divine omnipresence against the backdrop of Psalm 139. 1. INTRODUCTION On 10 April 2019, the science community was in ecstasy. The first image of a black hole had been captured. Until then, black holes had been objects of scientific theory, but now, with this image, the invisible became visible. Admittedly, capturing an image of a black hole is no mean feat, considering that the gravitational field in a black hole is so strong that no light is able to escape it. Hence, what light might be available to show us what the black hole actually looks like? Scientists explained that the image of the black hole is not a single image captured by one telescope; it is a carefully constructed conglomerate of data (roughly 5 petabytes in total) provided by a network of telescopes across the world. This information was 186 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) then translated into an image by using complex algorithms to synchronise and sort through the information gained from the EHT (Event Horizon Telescope)1 (Lutz 2019). Black holes are fascinating structures; their existence confounds our thinking of space-time. They are the inescapable collapse of matter, space and time into itself – the most beautifully mesmerising and destructive cosmological structure that we know of. Not only scientists were captivated by this accomplishment; as a theologian with an interest in astrophysics, my ears perked up and my mind started exploring the theological questions raised by this event. What is the meaning of this? Did God create this? Is God in the black hole? If an astronaut somehow managed to travel to the black hole, could they have a spiritual experience, feeling close to God? What happens to God on the event horizon? Is God different outside the black hole to what God is in the black hole? I know that these questions are no more (ir)relevant to the lived experience of people around the world than asking the question: “How many angels can you fit on the head of a pin?”. Nonetheless, these questions are important as they guide our understanding of how religion and science form part of our experience of life and our understanding of our own meaning in light of the universe. The very thought of black holes invites theological discourse and the rethinking of theological tenets that we usually take for granted. This article ventures into rethinking the doctrine of omnipresence in the context of these mega-cosmological structures. If we say that God is everywhere, then what do we mean? Do we include in our understanding that God would even be in something like a black hole? This article explores the following points: • The notion of omnipresence in tandem with contextual cosmological understandings. • Omnipresence and the incorporeal nature of God. • Anthropomorphism, theodicy and the dynamic nature of God. • A concluding revisiting of Psalm 139. 2

 

2COSMOLOGY AND OMNIPRESENCE 

What do we mean when we say that God is everywhere (omnipresent)? First, we need to note that the idea of divine omnipresence is not new, especially to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Although it is not explicitly stated in Scripture, the omnipresence of God certainly seems to be an implied idea in various texts. In Genesis 1:2, we read that the Ruach of God hovered over the waters, 

1 This is the name of the network of telescopes, that made up a virtual telescope with an aperture spanning nearly the diameter of the Earth. Bentley If God is everywhere, is God in a black hole? suggesting that the presence of God was not confined to the heavenly realm, but was already present within the realm of nature.

2 In Psalm 139, the psalmist takes this thought further, by proclaiming that, when he explored the heavens, the depths, and the far sides of the seas, he found that God’s reach was everywhere.

3 In the book of Job, critical questions are asked about justice in light of God’s all-encompassing presence. I will not give a full exegetical account of these texts, nor do I propose that these are the set texts to prove God’s omnipresence. I merely cite these texts as examples of an assumed understanding of God’s omnipresence that, in my view, resulted as a product of the contextual cosmological understandings of those in Scripture who gave testimony to their faith. I would like to contend that the notion of divine omnipresence was both a feasible and reliable doctrine, considering the cosmological understanding of the time. During biblical times, specifically in the formation of the creation narrative of Genesis 1, it was a common belief that the cosmos consisted of a three-tier universe. Van Dyk (1987:10) provides the following explanation of the way the cosmos was perceived (paraphrased). First, it was believed that the earth was a flat disc, suspended on pillars. The earth provided the first-level stage, on which life could be lived and experienced. The firmament separated the water above the earth from the earth (and the water below the earth). Above the firmament and its water, one finds the heavens, the dwelling place of God, and the space in which the spiritual operates. The heavens (or Heaven) is the tier above the earth, the canvas of the spiritual, containing the elements that point to destiny and ultimate divine reality. The third level manifested in the levels below the earth. In Judaism, Sheol, or the realm of the dead, gives space for those who did not find existence in the realm of earth or were yet present with God in the heavens. From this perspective, it certainly makes sense that, if God were above the firmament, with a full view of the entire earth and all that is in and below it, 

2 Of course, such a reading may imply a literal understanding of the creation narratives, but even with an allegorical hermeneutic approach, the message of God’s omnipresence can be deduced. 

3 Biblical scholars deduce that the form of omnipresence, as depicted in the Psalm, is expressed in terms of the psalmist’s experiential reality and not merely an adopted doctrinal pronouncement. Buttrick (1955:712) expresses this perspective as follows: “The psalmist is deeply impressed with the omniscience and omnipresence of the Lord, not however as formal attributes of a sovereign God, but as what he has found to be true in his own experience. The psalm, therefore, is not an exercise in speculative theology … It keeps within the range of the psalmist’s knowledge and convictions and reflects what his own humble walk with God has taught him.” This interpretation of omnipresence will be further explored at the conclusion of this article. 188 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) the presence of God was inescapable. No wonder the psalmist, in particular, expressed that God’s reach was everywhere! The omnipresence of God, in this biblical worldview and in philosophical traditions (as I will explore later), was closely tied to the idea of God’s omnipotence and omniscience. “Since God is everywhere, he is causally active throughout creation and able to know all things immediately” (McGuire & Slowik 2012:280). The early Jewish doctrine of creation “proclaims that God is present equally in the totality of creation” (McGuire & Slowik 2012:280). Not only was God understood to be present everywhere, knowing all things, and able to do all things, but in this cosmos, God was understood to be the causal primer of all things. The experience of life itself was a manifestation of God’s presence in the world. Not only did life give testimony to the presence of God, but so did the manifestation of the notion of divine judgement (justice), where it was believed that divine blessing or the curse would present itself as a judgement on the expression of life lived. The righteous would prosper, while the wicked would find God’s wrath – a formula that is conceivable only with an understanding that God is simultaneously omnipresent and omniscient. The contested belief (in early Judaism) of the absence of an afterlife testified to this fact. God’s justice would manifest in a blessed life for the righteous, while a life of suffering was in store for the wicked – justice happened in this life, not in the next. Even in the questioning of divine justice in, for instance, the Book of Job, divine justice is explained in the human inability to comprehend the presence of God throughout the universe. When Job asks God why he, a righteous man, should endure so much suffering, God responds with a series of rhetorical questions, starting with: “Where were you …?” (Job 38:4). Through the questions, Job is made to realise that humanity has a finite perspective, for human beings live within the confines of space and time. God’s justice is perfect, because God is all-knowing, and God is all-knowing because God is omnipresent. Humankind is aware of locality, of immanence, but God is able to be perfect and to adjudicate fairly, for God is indeed omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It was only much later, with the growing understanding that we do not live in a fixed three-tier universe, that the notion of God’s omnipresence became more complicated. As the understanding of the cosmos changed, so did the interpretation of divine omnipresence. To fast-track the conversation past Ptolemy, Copernicus and Galileo, it is particularly in Isaac Newton that we find a groundbreaking shift in interpreting divine omnipresence. McGuire, an avid scholar of Newton, highlights how Newton himself struggled with the notion of omnipresence, considering his growing understanding of the universe. To Newton, the dilemma of God’s omnipresence. 

 

1. If God is everywhere,

Is God in a black hole?  manifested in the magnitude of space and time. Although Newton, to a large degree, understood space to be infinite and some heavenly bodies to be static in space, it was clear that God was not above creation, as indicated by biblical worldviews. Newton made sense of God’s omnipresence in this infinite cosmos by suggesting that the mere fact of its existence, the expanse of the universe testified to the presence of God, even the points of the cosmos that were unobservable and unreachable to human observation and influence. McGuire (1978:119) translates Newton, stating the following: By reason of its eternity and infinity, space will neither be God nor wise nor powerful nor alive, but will merely be increased in duration and magnitude; whereas God by reason of the eternity and infinity of space (that is, by reason of his eternal omnipresence) will be rendered the most perfect being. A fixed star, whether it has come into existence as the first of all stars or after a succession of previous stars, whether the number of the stars be finite or infinite, will not thereby be either more perfect or more imperfect: God, however, will be demonstrated to be more powerful, wiser, better, and in every way more perfect from the eternal succession and an infinite number of his works, that He would be from works merely infinite. To Newton, God was still the external craftsman, whose handiwork can be seen in all of creation. The mere expanse of creation bears testimony to the presence of God, for nothing in the cosmos, came into being without God. Because space is infinite, God’s presence is infinite, and because time is eternal in duration, God’s presence is also eternal (McGuire 1987:125). This does not mean that God’s omnipresence is locked in the created order. To Newton, God’s omnipresence is not a consequence of material space-time locality; God’s omnipresence pre-empts space and eternal duration (McGuire 1987:126), being the causal mover of bringing all things in time and space into existence. This has consequences for the relationship between God and God’s creation. If we take a linear view of time and space, if God is outside time and space, in essence, pre-stating time and space, then God can be understood as causa prima efficiens – and free will may well be negated. Is there something besides God that keeps the whole of the cosmos coherent? To Newton, the common denominator in all of eternal space is time; everything moves in the same time frame in a linear direction. Qu (2014:436- 449) compares this notion of time and space to the views of Einstein and Barth. To Einstein, time is not a common denominator and is subject to changes in space as determined by gravity, spatial speed, mass, and the like. God’s omnipresence in this instance becomes even more problematic, as there is no specific vantage point located in time, no point where God can divide eternal past and future into a fixed moment in time (and in space). God’s 190 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) omnipresence would, therefore, cause “time-disturbances” and incongruity in the being of God, where, if God is in space and time, some parts of God will be moving faster, while other parts will move slower. We will get to the non-divisive nature of God later. Barth, in turn, tried to make sense of the eternal and immanent natures of God, describing God’s presence as eternal immanence, penetrating the constructs of our space and time – history. Therefore, “God’s eternity is both transcendent and immanent in human time” (Qu 2014:436). To Barth (2010:6- 11, 46-48, 91-97), the incarnation must be viewed as the pivotal point around which God is simultaneously immanent and transcendent while being fully and comprehensively present in both states. The next section discusses the notion of incarnation. 

 

2. We can conclude

That the notion of God’s omnipresence has experienced increasing challenges as our understanding of the universe has unfolded. Omnipresence was first understood in a static and limited cosmos, where God’s presence was linked to God’s ability to see all things and do all things. This cosmos, as well as Newton’s cosmos, followed a time-linear trajectory, where God moved alongside the entire cosmos, being fully present in each moment (Shults 2007:48). God’s omnipresence was known to be causal and determinative of the cosmos’ existence. With time, the natural sciences have increasingly disputed any linear view of causality and temporality (Shults 2007:48) and, hence, questioned the nature of a theological (and philosophical) notion of divine omnipresence. Is God therefore in a black hole? To the biblical writers, black holes were not known and this would, therefore, have been a nonsensical question. If they knew about black holes, then God would still be above the firmament, above the black holes, knowing, seeing and being able to influence black holes, according to God’s divine will. To Newton, the existence of black holes would have been an indicator that God was the causal mover of the existence of black holes. Because God is, black holes could exist, but God would move parallel alongside black holes in the linear continuum of time. To Einstein, a divine presence in a black hole would have been problematic, as God’s being would have had to experience the simultaneous collapse of time, space and matter as God would perpetuate outside the black hole in the rest of the cosmos. It would not be a question of whether Is God in a black hole? But rather How/ when/where would God be in a black hole? To Barth, the incarnate Christ testifies to the unchanging nature of a transcendent God within the experience of earthly time and space. God is unchanging; therefore, God would be the same in a black hole as God would be in the person of Jesus Christ. Bentley If God is everywhere, is God in a black hole? 191 3. 

 

3. OMNIPRESENCE AND THE INCORPOREAL NATURE OF GOD 

Another aspect of the question of omnipresence is how God is present – whether God is present in the body or whether God is a present force without a body. We refer to the latter as the incorporeal nature of God. To Dyck (1977:85), there is a definite relationship between God’s omnipresence and incorporeality. If God is everywhere, then it would not make sense for God to be limited or confined to the boundaries of an embodied form. Dyck (1977:85) then asks the question: Is it a contradiction to speak about an embodied omnipresent being? Here, the confusion centres around the notion of “body”, which implies form. This, in turn, implies spatial limitation and may even infer that God is a form of matter. If this were true, and if we were to assume that Newton is correct in indicating that the infinite nature of the universe in space and time is indicative of the presence of God, we could conclude that God is embodied in and through the universe. Dyck (1977:86) contests this thought by drawing a distinction between God and the universe; God and the universe are not the same, therefore, negating any notion of pantheism. To be fair to Newton, he did not suggest a form of pantheism, but he was quite adamant that both space and God have an incorporeal extension; they are both infinite (in duration and in spatial infinity), neither God nor the cosmos is contained, but they are not the same (McGuire & Slowik 2012:290). Space and time are “characteristics that stand as external affections of divine being” (McGuire & Slowik 2012:306). Newton, therefore, tends more towards an incorporeal omnipresence than the omnipresence of an embodied being. This notion did not start with Newton but is already vocalised in the writings of, for instance, Thomas Aquinas. To Aquinas, the incorporeal nature of God is not about the physical (embodied) presence of God; it refers to the contact with divine power as experienced throughout the cosmos (Aquinas 1964:283). God is the causal mover, bringing all things into existence, without whom, nothing can exist or fulfil its divine purpose in the greater scheme of the universe. There are clear lines between Aquinas and Newton on the topic of the incorporeal nature of God’s presence. Another problem with pantheism, or any form of the doctrine of an embodied God, would be the suggestion that the presence of God will be greater in the bigger things and less in the smaller. God is, therefore, proportionally divisible according to space, time, or any other dimension of our choosing in the cosmos! Dahl (2014:76) points out this dilemma, stating: Because God fills all things, they must contain only parts of God. But if God is not divisible, it cannot be more of Him in bigger than smaller 192 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) parts of the world. God must therefore fill things with the whole of himself, but still, nothing can contain God exhaustively. On this point, I would like to draw from three theologians, whose current work focuses on theology and emergence (complexity theory). The first is the Danish theologian, Niels Gregersen. To Gregersen (2010:173-176), God is part of all of creation’s processes – the universe in its infinite state functions, maintains itself, and carries on despite any explicit external force. Yet, we speak of someone like God, suggesting that God has made Godself known in a language that we understand. To Gregersen, God’s incorporeal presence is part of “the whole malleable matrix of materiality” (Gregersen 2010:176), but what makes it distinct from pantheism is the personal manner in which the incorporeal presence becomes embodied in the conveyance of self-revelation. We can only speak of incarnation sub specie anthropos (Bentley 2016:2), where our description of the embodied nature of God’s presence is locked within the limitations of human existence, experience and knowledge, allowing us to interpret the Incarnation, using solely our frame of reference (Bentley 2016:2). Gregersen’s notion of “deep incarnation”, therefore, suggests that God’s incorporeal nature and embodied self-revelation are not opposites, but that the embodied self-revelation is a distinct form of communication with a level of complexity that operates in, and understands the language of embodiment. The second is Klaus Nürnberger. Nürnberger describes God as the ultimate source and destiny of reality. Concurring with Gregersen, Nürnberger’s (2016:15) understanding of God hinges on the idea that God is not a force or power outside of the realm of physics, but that God is intimately involved in the cosmos as both its source and destiny. It is in God’s transcendence that God’s presence becomes immanent in the language of incarnation. Similarly, Van Huyssteen (2006:10) suggests that the distinction between immanence and transcendence is constructed reality, formulated by our own epistemologies and ontologies. There exists one reality in which both the transcendent and the immanent, the incorporeal and the embodied natures of God are equally true. It is interesting that theological language suggests that this seemingly contradictory nature of God is the combined lived experience of many. Take, for instance, African concepts of God. Byaruhanga-Akiiki (1980:360) sums it up beautifully: In African images of God, God is believed to be in all things, hence all medicines can work to address issues, as the Creator’s power is Bentley If God is everywhere, is God in a black hole? 193 there. The transcendent becomes manifest, not in the limitations of bodily form, but rather by becoming embodied in the expression of power through nature, which God infuses. From a more Western perspective, Oord (2019) suggests that God’s effect is found in a human partnership with nature and with other people. While the presence of God is questioned, especially during times of trauma and suffering (Dicken 2013:132-151), it is equally true that the presence of God is experienced through the participatory presence and action of those around us. There is thus a link between presence and affect. Is God in a black hole? When considering the notions of “embodied omnipresence” and the “incorporeal nature of God”, we would be safe to say that, if God were present in a black hole in embodied form, the laws of physics would most certainly act on the being of God; God, with all other matter, time and space, would collapse into Godself. The incorporeal nature of God’s omnipresence, however, can be present in a black hole without God’s being adversely affected. Yet, the same incorporeal presence of God is the presence of God manifest in the Incarnation. This leads us to the next point of discussion. 

 

4. ANTHROPOMORPHISM, THEODICY AND THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF GOD

The incorporeal nature of God certainly makes sense, and it negates many of the philosophical stumbling blocks surrounding the fluctuating manifestations of time and space, particularly as it pertains to black holes. Gregersen, Van Huyssteen and Nürnberger provide some form of reconciliation between the immanence and transcendence of God, but incorporeal reality, as stated earlier, lacks the personal dimension of a God-figure. If God were only an incorporeal presence, our experience of God would be very similar to “tapping into the Force of Star Wars”. We need something more – we need a physical presence of God that becomes like us, speaks like us and, more than this speaks our language. We need a God who understands, not merely a God who is an invisible force, hovering throughout eternal time and space without a persona. It is important to locate God somewhere, even in symbolism. In Scripture and tradition, this attempt to locate God has found expression in different sacred metaphors: the presence of God in the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple, the people of God, the Church, and the Sacraments – these are metaphors that create a sense of God’s real, intimate and physical presence among us. 194 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) A metaphysical presence becomes ubiquitous, “in which we are all absorbed” (Dicken 2103:135). Such an omnipresent force does not seem to address sufficiently the experience of suffering and pain, nor of a personal interest that exudes justice, empathy, and intimate presence. If God is incorporeal, how do we account for unjust pain, destruction and suffering? The “Problem of Divine Hiddenness” suggests that there is too much suffering to warrant existence, particularly the incorporeal and omnipresent existence of God (Oakes 2008:115). In MacLeish’s play J.B.: A play in verse, based on the Book of Job, the character Nickles expresses the question concerning a God who allows suffering in the following words: If God is God He is not good, if God is good He is not God; take the even, take the odd (MacLeish 1989:14). Translated differently: If God is omnipresent, then is God good? If God is good, can God be omnipresent, and if so, then how? The problem with theodicy is that it assumes some form of stasis in the created order, that reality (the reality of lived experience) is standard, predisposing an intended, universal notion of good and prosperity. Kauffman (2016:74) suggests that this notion is not a true reflection of reality. The universe, each moment, can be divided between actuals and potentialities. The right conditions and actions transform potentialities into realities. Suffering, pain and the like are, therefore, the actuals of a particular set of potentials that materialised, and have absolutely nothing to do with divine predeterminism, will, or influence. The universe itself is dynamic, giving rise to life, death, suffering, and prosperity, as it turns out. He and Suchocki (2010) further suggest that a dynamic universe needs a dynamic God. If God were static and the universe dynamic, there would be a growing gap between the existence of the universe and the presence of God. God is dynamic, along with the universe – God is not static in the sense that God is locked into a being or in a body, which will limit the possibilities of who God can be, and where God can be – along with the dynamism of the universe, the dynamic nature of God makes for endless possibilities of God’s being and God’s locality (Suchocki 2010:39-58). This makes God a partner in the experience of life and, hence, open to responding and inspiring responses in a dynamic universe. God primordially and everlastingly enjoys a definiteness of satisfaction in the everlasting enfoldment of the world, and this satisfaction is appetitive, everlastingly generating a subjective nature that evokes the becoming of finite occasions (Suchocki 2010:51). Bentley If God is everywhere, is God in a black hole? 195 Taking these points into consideration, God is present in a black hole in the sense that God becomes the fulfilment of all potentialities and actuals, even the actual of black holes that seem to contradict the intuitive notion of a universe unfolding and expanding. 

 

5. CONCLUSION

One of the go-to passages in Scripture regarding God’s omnipresence is undoubtedly Psalm 139. The psalmist asks the question: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?”. By exploring the heavens, the depths, and the far sides of the seas, the psalmist exclaims that God’s presence is to be found everywhere. Admittedly, as we explored earlier in this article, the psalmist’s views were shaped by his understanding of the universe. Is there anything that we can learn from the psalmist in trying to answer our research question? I would like to argue that there is indeed an implied epistemology in this Psalm that helps us gain a different perspective on the question, not an epistemology that necessarily answers the question, but one that helps us place the question in perspective. It certainly seems that Psalm 139 is not so much about the omnipresence of God as it is about God’s presence is inescapable (Oakes 2008:157). Is there a difference? The difference is that the psalmist does not start from the perspective of transcendence, breaking into immanence. The Psalm starts from the perspective of an immanent, personal relationship between the psalmist and God and then works outwards. The dilemma we face in asking whether God is in a black hole is that we first have to contend with metaphysics and then try to reconcile the subsequent presuppositions with a notion of a person(al) God. This is virtually impossible. Even if we attempt to make sense of it through theological language such as “incarnation” or “transcendent immanence”, it still remains a conundrum that makes God either impersonal, confined, limitless …, something that is simply not within our frame of reference. To start, like the psalmist from a perspective of personal experience, leading to bigger and greater circles, I propose that the psalmist has a much better chance of making sense of the great mystery of God that, he discovers, transcends his notion of experienced reality. Let me illustrate this by breaking down the Psalm in its various stages of unfolding. In verses 1 to 6, the psalmist does not ask the complicated, mysterious laden questions of God’s existence. He simply states the known reality he experiences, namely that he, the psalmist, feels that God knows him personally. The extent of God’s omnipresence and omniscience is located within the psalmist’s lived experience – this is where God’s omnipresence and 196 Acta Theologica 2020:40(2) omniscience make sense. God’s omnipresence is located in the expression: “You know me better than I know myself”. One would assume that, to the psalmist, this would be enough, but he does not stop here. The psalmist then moves from his own person to a wider context. In verses 7-12, the psalmist extends the omnipresence of God to space outside his lived experience. Is there a place where the psalmist can escape God’s presence? The psalmist argues and is in awe that the same presence that is experienced in person is the presence that will be experienced irrespective of the psalmist’s movements and searching! The personal, intimate God is consistently encountered wherever the psalmist may find himself. One can already note a question of immanence and transcendence in this shift. The psalmist makes sense of the consistent presence of God by describing God as the causal mover, the one in whom all things (and all beings) find their identity (vv. 13-16). It is only because God is the same primal mover of all things that it is possible to experience the personal God in the impersonal spaces of that which exists outside ourselves. The psalmist then makes a profound statement in verses 17 and 18. Although God is experienced in the personal, intimate spaces of being, God is beyond our comprehension and not embodied in our limited experiences of reality. Despite this God who confounds our thinking, the psalmist still draws back to the personal God who is known and who makes Godself known in experienced reality. True to his worldview and to the notion of God’s omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence, this personal God who is incomprehensibly equally and similarly present in and through all things brings balance to all of experienced reality. God’s justice (vv. 19-20) brings equilibrium in an inconsistent world. Without God, the balance of creation and all that is in it would not exist. Hence, without God’s omnipresent justice, the world as we know it could not exist or continue to exist. In verses 21 and 22, the psalmist pledges his allegiance to this personal and transcendent God. To live life, to experience the reality of self and this created order, is to become part of the divine movement (and divine wisdom) in the realm of experienced reality. The concluding verses 23 and 24 have drawbacks to the personal. God, who is personal, who is consistent outside the psalmist as God is within, who is beyond understanding, yet the one who brings order in this creation, the one who allows participation from God’s created beings in order to experience life, is the God whom the psalmist asks again to speak to him in a personal and intimate language, and so, to become the source of the psalmist’s inner conviction and the great motivator, drawing the psalmist to Godself. Bentley If God is everywhere, is God in a black hole? 197 If we were to answer the question: “If God is omnipresent, then is God in a black hole?”, then we could follow in the psalmist’s footsteps. By starting with black holes, with the “out there”, with the mystery of transcendence and the complicated permutations of space and time, it would be difficult to bring God back to a personal being with a personal interest in us. Perhaps we should start with God-talk in the space of the personal. From a human, created perspective, perhaps we should start with what we can be “certain” of, that we know God as a personal and immanent God. Yet, God is not locked in our personal experience. The same presence experienced in the mystery of worship is the presence to be experienced throughout the universe, irrespective of where we may be looking. The personal becomes transcendent. The transcendent God is the personal God. The person of God is the incorporeal presence of God. If the psalmist were to be asked the question: “Is God in a black hole?”, then perhaps his answer would be: “Where can I go from your Spirit? If I live life on earth, you are here. If I get drawn into a black hole, you are there”. Is this not enough to hold together the seemingly irreconcilable differences in our understanding of immanence and transcendence, embodiment and incorporeal nature, and infinity and the limits of our reality of space and time? The only place where we can speak of, is here, whether here is here, or here is in a black hole. 

 

In my humble opinion, God has created Black Holes throughout HIS Universe as energy Holes or places to fuel up and create - equivalent to our Gas stations. I AM ALSO OF THE OPINION THAT GOD USED THE SUPER ENERGY RADIATION LIGHT AND ELECTRICITY OF BLACK HOLES TO REVIVE OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR YESHUA - JESUS CHRIST OUR MASTER. 

​

Some of the brightest and most extreme objects in the universe are powered by matter falling into a black hole. They range from stellar-sized black holes formed at the end of the life of a massive star to supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies that often outshine the entire galaxy in which they reside. Massive black holes in the centres of galaxies release so much energy that they play an important role in how the galaxy around them evolves. As well as being impressive objects in their own right, black holes provide unique laboratories for testing strong gravity and matter under extreme conditions 

{ Prior research has shown that an electric field exists around the event horizon of black holes, some of which are strong enough to create both electrons and positrons. Under such a scenario, the positrons of a fully charged black hole would be ejected and available for collection and use as an energy source.}

 

https://web.stanford.edu/~wilkinsd/docs/posters/BlackHolesPoster.pdf

 

15 times black holes surprised us in 2022

https://www.space.com/black-hole-discoveries-2022-15-surprises

 

Supermassive black holes have masses ranging from millions to billions of solar masses and appear to be in the centre of almost all galaxies. An important area of modern astrophysics is determining how supermassive black holes came to be: Were they formed with such high masses or did their mass build up over time? The NSF-funded Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project is attempting to capture an image of a black hole, setting its sights on two supermassive black holes, one in the center of the galaxy Messier 87 and the other in our Milky Way.

Anything that passes too close, from a wandering star to a photon of light, gets captured. Most black holes are the condensed remnants of a massive star, the collapsed core that remains following an explosive supernova. However, the black hole family tree has several branches, from tiny structures on par with a human cell to enormous giants billions of times more massive than our sun.

https://beta.nsf.gov/blackholes 

What is a black hole? Black holes are extremely dense pockets of matter, objects of such incredible mass and minuscule volume that they drastically warp the fabric of space-time.

 

Can you create a black hole with energy?

It is a concentration of heat, light or radiation so intense that its energy forms an event horizon and becomes self-trapped. In other words, if enough radiation is aimed into a region of space, the concentration of energy can warp spacetime so much that it creates a black hole.

What does the black hole mean in the Bible?

To Barth, the incarnate Christ testifies to the unchanging nature of a transcendent God within the experience of earthly time and space. God is unchanging; therefore, God would be the same in a black hole as God would be in the person of  A RESURRECTED Jesus Christ.

Was the universe created by a black hole?

The birth of our universe may have come from a black hole. Most experts agree that the universe started as an infinitely hot and dense point called a singularity.

What is the energy of a black hole?

While no energy can escape from beyond the event horizon around the black hole, energy is released from the material as it falls in. Accretion onto a black hole is the most efficient process for emitting energy from matter in the Universe, releasing up to 40% of the rest mass energy of the material falling in.

​

​

​The Story Behind the 10 Most Famous Religious Paintings in Western Art

 

​

The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci (1495-1498)

 

​

bottom of page