Book IV - People, Places & Things

 

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things IT’S IN THE BOOK

IT’S IN THE BOOK

All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and
training in righteousness. - 2 Timothy 3:1

THINGS YOU ALWAYS WONDERED, BUT NOBODY TALKS ABOUT.

BOOK IV

People, Places & Things

Contributors Michael A. Gorman David A. Gorman Paul B. Gorman

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BOOK 4 People, Places & Things It’s in the

Book IV

People, Places & Things

Topical Index

For now we see things imperfectly, partially and incomplete, But when He returns we will know completely. 1

IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter

1. 1)  Noah’s Ark – How many animals could it hold? – How long were they on the Ark? 3

2. 2)  Noah Gets Drunk – What happened in Noah’s Tent? – Homosexuality or Incest? 7

3. 3)  Ark of the Covenant – Golden Jar of Manna – Aaron’s Rod – Ten Commandments 10

4. 4)  Queen of Sheba – Does she have the Ark? - Was there a romance with King Solomon? 16

5. 5)  Prophets – Call, Purpose – Prophets School – False Prophets – Presumptive Prophets 20

6. 6)  Jonah & the Whale - What’s up with Jonah running from God – Did Jonah Die? 31

7. 7)  Balaam’s Ass - Back room deals – Prostitution – Hormones - Set ups - Pay offs 35

8. 8)  Melchizedek - Could he possibly be a Theophany; Jesus Christ - Order of Melchizedek 43

9. 9)  War Games; Job & God – The Accuser - The Watchers - The Invisible War – The Hedge 44

10. 10)  Essenes; who were they? – Dead Sea Scrolls – Communism – Communalism 51

11. 11)  Holy Jihad – The Judgements of God known as a Holy War 53

12. 12)  Maccabees; Holy Jihad - The Hammer - Circumcision Restoration Plastic Surgery 55

13. 13)  Zealots; who were they? - Sicarii; The Dagger people - Masada; Last Zealot Outpost 71

14. 14)  Three Wise Men – Kings - Magi – Astrologers – Magicians – Soothsayers - Prophecy 75

15. 15)  The Players - The Twelve Disciples - The Ladies - Pope Peter - The Judas Conspiracy 78

16. 16)  Judas; Make Believer - The Zelote -The Meal – The Plan – The Money – The Betrayal 95

17. 17)  Barabbas Conspiracy - Notorious Revolutionary - The Trial - The Great Exchange 100

18. 18)  Joseph; Secret Service - Joseph of Arimathea – Glastonbury Abbey –The Holy Grail 103

19. 19)  Mary of Nazareth - Virgin Mary - Jesus’ half -brothers & half-sisters - The Gnostics 109

20. 20)  Mary and Martha – The Great Sibling Whine – Gifts of Service, Worship, Hospitality 114

21. 21)  Mary Magdalene – Wife of Jesus? – Prostitute? – Woman’s Lib? – First Missionary? 126

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1 1 Corinthians 13:12

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BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4.1

Noah’s Ark

The Ark of the Covenant is the most treasured article in the nation of Israel. It’s a sacred symbol of God’s covenant with them.

A Little Background

Before the Flood

After Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden, the world sunk deeper into sin to such an extent that men had evil on their mind continually and God said; “Enough is Enough”. God was Grieved with extreme Heart Piercing Sorrow and Disappointment and made a decision to start over and chose Noah and his family to be His remnant seed. The third son of Adam and Eve was the Godly line of Seth and his descendent was Noah.

God had flooded the earth some 2000 years before (which is another study) and was “fixin’” to do

it again. The Account of the Flood is not to show why God destroyed all living creatures, but to show

“WHY HE SAVED NOAH”

Giants: It is believed that some Angels took women of mortal men to be their wives who produced the giants. 2 (Nephilim) There are certainly other opinions on this, but my BS favors this one.

Evil: There was a population explosion and man’s inclination was on evil, crime and immorality, but Noah found favor in God’s eyes and was obedient to His instructions, he was a righteous man.3 He’s a NUT: You can just hear the scorn, ridicule and laughter of the town’s people who for 120 years, shook their heads in pity as they watched a crazy old fool and his three idiot sons build a Hugh Boat on dry land when there was not any water to be found for hundreds of miles. Some students of the word and commentaries say that Noah probably had some servant workers that also

helped with the building which with my BS, my Belief System would tend to agree.
Noah, for 120 years, was an evangelist of the righteous of God’s grace; he preached the message of; REPENTANCE, “the world is coming to an end”, but nobody listened 4 ... until it started to

rain... and the door was shut... and the tallest mountain was under some 20 feet of water.

The Family

The Line of Descendants beginning with Adam, then Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech and finally Noah who “walked with God”. Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather probably perished in the flood at the age of 969.

Noah’s name means rest, relief, and comfort; when he was 480 years old God told him to build the Ark; he lived 350 years after the flood and died at the age of 950. He was the second great progenitor of the human race, with Adam being the first. Noah was uniquely righteous; he believed God and obeyed according to all that God commanded Him.

2 Genesis 6:1-2 – Angels took mortal women to be their wives. -- Genesis 6:4 – The angels offspring’s were Nephilim; giants -- Genesis 6:5-7 – God is grieved; His patience is wearing thin
3 2 Peter 2:5 – Noah was righteous and a preacher of righteousness

4 Genesis 6:12 – Everyone was corrupt except Noah -- Genesis 6:8-9 – Noah found favor with God -- 1 Peter 3:20 – God waited patiently for 120 years while Noah preached and built the Ark

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Noah had three sons born about a year apart.5
1) ShemwasbornwhenNoahwas502;itwouldbethelineofShemthatwouldproducethe

Godly line of Abraham.
2) Japheth is listed as the middle son, who we believe was born when Noah was 503.
3) HamhisyoungestsonwasbornwhenNoahwas504,about24yearsafterNoahstartedthe

building project. Hams descendants would be “Egypt” who later would enslave the Israelites. Four wives were also included; a total of 8 living souls that would be saved on the ark. It is

believed that Noah’s three sons had taken wives from other nations before the flood.6 Shem is the progenitor of the “Semitic” peoples of the East. (White)
Japheth’s descendants are the inhabitants of Asia Minor and the sea people. (Yellow) Ham’s descendants became the Egyptians, Canaanites and Africans. (Black)

After the Flood, Noah and his boys had hundreds of years to re-populate the earth with all the races.

The Ark
The Point and Purpose: God delivers the righteous who are Obedient and walk with Him. The

Ark was a floating repository for living creatures, plants, seeds, and food supplies.
The Command: Build a large oblong wooden Ark by yourself on dry land far from any lake or

ocean. When you have some kids, and they grow up, they can help you too.7
Obedience: God spoke; Noah obeyed in detail with all his heart and received salvation and

blessings.
Construction: It took 120 years to build the Ark, it was made of Gopher wood which is believed

to be “a term” for “Squared” sealed “Cypress” wood which was known for its lightness and durability and was used extensively by the Phoenicians. It was sealed inside and out with reeds and pitch or a tar substance like “bitumen” a readily available natural crude petroleum product that boiled up out of the earth. Some students of the Word believe the wood was Teak wood, claiming Cypress shrinks, withers, and attracts insects. My BS says it only had to last a year, so it was a moot point.

Size: It was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. It was taller than a four story building and one and a half times longer than a football field.

Bottom: Some commentaries indicate that Noah was a ship builder by trade, but my BS, my Belief System says that since he lived so far from water; I don’t think so. Most students believe the bottom was flat and not contoured like a boat. The Ark’s draft would make it sit about 15 feet down into the water.

Decks: The Ark had three decks. The smart people say the lower deck housed the larger animals and waste material, and the upper deck was the living quarters and contained the food supplies.

Windows: Just above the living quarters was an 18” high roof with wide windows all the way around for light and ventilation. I bet it stinketh. It seems there was a special window just for sending out the birds.8

Door: The one and only door in the side was so large that God Himself had to close it.9
Hatch: On the top was a removable hatch or covering.10
The kitchen: Nothing is mentioned in scripture about a kitchen, but I would put a kitchen in the

middle of the upper deck living quarters, just under the vents to cook my Bar-B-Que. Something to think about; When you cook a cow, 8 people can’t eat the whole thing in one day, so storage and preservatives would be required. (They were not allowed to eat blood)

Navigation: Man’s expertise and ingenuity had nothing to do with guiding the ship. There was NO motor, NO rudder, NO sails, and NO oars, it was the hand of God’s grace that guided it.

5 Genesis 6:9-10 – Noah had three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth -- Genesis 9:20 – Noah was a farmer; tilled the soil; a vineyard 6 Genesis 6:18 – Bring your wife, yours sons and their wives into the Ark -- Genesis 7:7 – Just eight people in the Ark
7 Genesis 6:14-16 – Here’s the specifications to build the Ark
8 Genesis 8:6-7 – A special window just for sending out birds.

9 Genesis 7:16 – The Ark’s door was so big, God had to shut it. 10 Genesis 8:13 – A removable hatch on top --

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The Cargo
In the very beginning, God supernaturally directed all the animals to come to Adam for him to

name them.11 One week before the flood, God invited Noah and his family, to enter into the Ark; they would be the sole human survivors; then God supernaturally directed all the other living creatures to enter also. NOTE: Noah did not go and get the animals, they came to him just like they did Adam.12 As they arrived; his job was to just lead them into the place that was already prepared for them. When Christ returns He will lead us into the place that He has already prepared for us. SELAH

TwobyTwo: GodtoldNoahtobringintotheark,apairofeverylivingcreature,bothmaleand female; animals, and birds.13 Fish, worms and insects were not taken into the Ark except what might have divinely hitch hiked on the creatures. It has been calculated, that the Ark could have accommodated over 50,000 animals. (That’s 6,250 animals per person, per day to care for)

Assistance: Scripture implies that God supernaturally assisted Noah and his family in taking care of the needs of all the living creatures.14

Sacrifice: Noah was told to bring five additional pair of the clean birds and animals for beast of burden food, and sacrifice; that’s a total of seven pairs of the clean animals.

Sustenance: He was to bring every kind of food and store it away.15 This probably included plants and seed and enough food and fresh water for every living creature for over a year. Noah was able to harvest the fields before the rain came and a year later was out of the Ark just in time to plant.

Drink: Some students believe that there were two HUGE cisterns; one on each end of the Ark’s living quarters to catch and retain the fresh rain water for a year; there were also some grapevines to be planted later for a little “Kick-a-poo joy juice” when they docked and tilled the land again.16

It’s in the Book

The Flood
Ponder this for a moment; the Book says a day to the lord is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years

is but a day; so the six day creation would be 6000 years and he rested on the 7th.... Hold that thought. The Noatic flood occurred about 2000 years after the creation of the world as recorded in Genius; which was still another 2000 years before Christ was born and now it has been another 2000 years since His birth; we are now at the 7000 year point where God rested. Did you see it? We are now

in position for the 1000 year reign of rest in Christ.
Noah started construction when he was 480 years old and it started raining when he was 600 years

old. That means it took Noah and the boys 120 years to complete the Ark. Not only did it pour rain, but the springs in the great depths of the earth burst forth also. Two opposite forces; the deluge was 24 hours a day for 40 days and nights straight.17 The waters rose to a height of more than twenty feet abovethetallestmountainandstayedfor150daysandthenstartedreceding.18 Wedon’tknowifthe flood was worldwide or just the world that was known at the time of Noah. In Columbia SC, we have a sand belt 150 miles from the ocean that the smart people say was under water at some point

How Deep: The highest peak of Mt. Ararat where the Ark came to rest is 16,916 feet above sea level, plus the water was 20 feet above that.19 I would be amiss if I didn’t say that some students of the Word believe that the mountains and valleys did not actually form till after the flood, my BS thinks they may be right.

11 Genesis 2:19 – God brought the animals to ADAM
12 Genesis 7:7-9 – God brought the animals to NOAH.
13 Genies 6:19-21 – Bring two of every living creature into the Ark and every kind of food
14 Genesis 8:1 – God remembers THE NEEDS of the wild animals
15 Genesis 7:2-3 – Take seven pairs of the clean animals for food.
16 Genesis 9:20 – Noah planted a vineyard just as soon as they docked
17 Genesis 7:11-12 - It rained forty days and forty nights.
18 Genesis 6:17 – Everything that has breath will perish in the Flood -- Genesis 7:24 – The water stayed on the earth for 150 days Genesis 8:3-5 – The Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat.
19 Genesis 7:17-20 – It got deep, the mountains were covered over 20 feet -- Genesis 8:3-5 – The Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat.

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On April 17th, (Their second month) God in His grace invited Noah to enter the Ark; Noah waited for God’s next instructions; then one year later on April 27th with “Devine permission”, Noah “abandoned ship” with his family. What’s that strange smell he said? It was Fresh air.

Did you see it? The Ark floated for ten months and Noah left the Ark only at God’s Devine command; Obedience. By the way; just to drive you crazy, some commentaries at great length, say the Ark was a Trapezoid, a ship whose sides were slanted in, meeting in the middle like a tri-angle.

The Covenant
The Ark signifies “Salvation:” The water symbolized “Baptism.”20 Noah entering the Ark

signified “Acceptance.” The Closing of the Door was God’s “seal” of judgment and the sign was the “rainbow.” It was instituted by God, universal in scope, unconditional and everlasting. God promises that He will not destroy the earth with a flood again and set a RAINBOW as a sign in the sky as a reminder of his COVENANT with man.21 However on the Day of the Lord, the earth will be destroyed by fire and the unbeliever should consider getting some fire insurance.22

As soon as Noah had finished with disembarking the animals from the Ark, he made an alter to sanctify the earth and to praise God for his provisions.23

Sightings

After Noah “Abandoned Ship”, the Bible does not speak of what happened to the vessel. We do not even know on which peak of Mount Ararat the Ark was grounded on. George Hagopian claimed he saw the ark on Mount Ararat in 1908 and described it as totally enclosed with a flat bottom, a slightly sloping roof with an additional row of openings raised above the center running the entire length of the Ark; below is an artist sketch from the “Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible;” (An important book by J.I. Packer and M.C. Tenny to have in your library.)

The call to Noah to come into the Ark is the same call of the Gospel message today. COME. The door to the Ark was left open for seven more days for any that would come. If you want on the Ark you must make your reservation now. When God shuts the door, no man can open it.

20 1 Peter 3:21 – Water symbolizes the Baptism that saves
21 Genesis 9:12-13 – The Rainbow is a sign of the covenant between God and Man
22 Isaiah 24:6 – Make Believers should get some fire insurance
23 Genesis 8:20 – Noah make the first alter to sanctify the earth.
24 Matthew 24:37-39 – Having a good time – eating and drinking -- Luke 17:26-27 – In the days of NOAH; Eat, Drink, get married -- Luke 17:28-30 – In the Days of LOT; Eat, Drink, get married -- 2 Peter 3:4-7 – Where is this coming Messiah? Everything is the same as in the beginning

God says that just as it was in the time of Noah,

So it will be when Jesus returns.24

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4. 2

Noah knew about agriculture, wine and its potency; he had always maintained himself against wickedness and godlessness, so his getting drunk is inexcusable. Even though he was a seasoned man of God, he was still brought low through the excess of wine; a reminder that we too can stumble. Noah’s over indulgence occurred many years after the flood as his children had children and he was now a grandfather. We should not presuppose that Noah was the first to plant a vineyard or the first to ever get drunk.

Noah imbibed of the fruit of his orchard and took off his clothes and became NAKED; similarly Adam ate of the fruit in his garden and discovered he was NAKED. Both Noah and Adam sinned and the consequences were passed down through the generations. The lesson; our sins affect others around us.

Setting the stage:
According to the story: In earlier years, Noah had planted a vineyard and during a harvest time,

had fermented some wine, drank it and got drunk. He was in the privacy of his own tent and took off his clothes; at least he was not out in public.... Well, actually I guess there was really not that much public at that time. The Bible does not say if anyone else was in the tent with him or if anyone else was drunk, but hold that thought.

Genesis 9:20-24 – The Story
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of CANAAN,
SAW THE NAKEDNESS OF HIS FATHER, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered
THE NAKEDNESS OF THEIR FATHER; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. KJV
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his YOUNGER son had done unto him. KJV
24 When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his YOUNGEST son, had done. NLT

Note, some versions of the Bible say that Ham was the younger child while others say the youngest child. Scripture list names in the order of their birth and Ham’s name is listed second, and calls special attention right away about Ham being the father of CANAAN. (Canaan was Ham’s youngest son)

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

Noah gets Drunk

What happened to Noah when he got drunk in the privacy of his own tent?

First Word

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I believe scriptures supports that Ham was younger than Shem, but older than Japheth; he was not theyoungest.Noahwasabout600yearsoldatthefloodandlivedtobeabout950. Living350more years, Noah would have had many other children besides these three.

Genesis 9:18 – Ham is listed as the middle son
18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. KJV

The Story

At this point we know that Ham, Noah’s younger son entered the tent and something “dark” happened. Since Noah said something was “done unto him”, the first conclusion is; that a HOMOSEXUAL ACT took place between Ham and his Father and Ham wanted his brothers to join in, but they would not disrespect their father. If in fact this was so, then this would be the first record of Homosexuality after the flood. Most commentaries just say that something “dark” or humbling occurred in the tent and MAY have included Noah’s grandson Canaan.

The brothers without looking, walked in backward with a garment and covered up their father’s nakedness. This is important... They did not see the nakedness of their father. It should be pointed out here that the brothers were not teenagers still living in their fathers tent, but were married, had children and tents of their own; they were grown.

If you don’t read this account in the KJV of the Bible, you will miss what actually happened. To get more insight we need to look at the Key Phrases mentioned ... To cover or uncover the nakedness of their father.

NOTE: Disrespect was a big deal to the Israelites. We are certainly familiar with the Laws of the Ten Commandments, which of course Noah’s family did not have. But there were similar ordinances that were passed down and instilled into Noah’s family. These judgments and ordinances were later verbalized in scripture. Let’s take a look.

Leviticus 18:4 - Ordinances
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ORDINANCES, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. KJV

I want to look at this from another angle using Noah’s statement that “he knew what had been done to him”. CONSIDER THIS: I could say; “Do you know what my neighbor did to me?” He borrowed my rotor tiller and returned it to me broken. Now, actually the destruction was done to my rotor tiller and not to me, but I owned the rotor tiller, therefore the offence WAS DONE TO ME.

What if this offence happened to Ms. Noah, it certainly would have been an offence to Noah also. Let’s look at their scripture ordnance; the wording tells my BS what probably took place.

Leviticus 18:6-8 – Ordinance; Sexual relations with relatives

6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD.
7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

8 THE NAKEDNESS OF THY FATHER'S WIFE shalt thou not uncover: IT IS THY FATHER'S NAKEDNESS. KJV

The father’s nakedness was uncovering the nakedness of the FATHER’S WIFE. Did you see it? The nakedness of Noah’s wife belonged to Noah alone and it was uncovered by someone. There it is; very plain to me... Read all of Leviticus 18, it gets very specific and graphic. “Uncovering Nakedness” was their respectful way of saying, “Having Sex”.

So here we are; in my BS, my Belief System; Ham’s mother was probably also in the tent naked, and Ham saw her and seemly had sex with his own mother. Ham told his brothers and they, knowing the Ordinances of God, walked backward respectably and covered up both their parents, and did not look.

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The nakedness of Noah’s wife belonged to Noah alone, and Ham had wronged him. When someone wrongs your wife; they have wronged you. When Noah woke up from his stupor, his wife told him that her nakedness had been uncovered. Then Noah “knew” what Ham “had done unto him” and placed a curse on CANAAN. The term KNEW is also a polite metaphor for having sex and canbeobservedinscripturewhenAdamknewhiswifeandsheconceived.25 Thequestionariseswhy was the Curse put on Canaan? He was just one of Noah’s four grandchildren.

Some commentaries indicate a possible wildness or disrespect on the part of “Canaan” not mentioned in the story. Other commentaries simply indicate that this was actually “prophecy” of Canaan’s place in history to be slaves and servants to his brothers. Some students of the Word believe that it was Mrs. Noah’s grandson Canaan that was the one that had sex with her. The Book goes out of its way to inform us that Canaan was the son of Ham, but does not mention the mother. Hold that thought,

WhatIamabouttosayisreallygoingtomesswithyourBeliefSystem,yourworldview. Inmy BS, I believe that what is NOT SAID here is that Mrs. Noah got pregnant by her own son HAM and had a son named CANAAN and that is why Noah cursed him and not Ham.

Leviticus 18:29 – Ordinance; an Abomination shall be cursed

29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off (Shall be Cursed) from among their people. KJV
Genesis 9:25 – Canaan is the son of Ham

25 THEN HE CURSED CANAAN, THE SON OF HAM: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.” (NLT) Genesis 9:25 – The Curse was place on Canaan, not Ham
25 And he (Noah) said, CURSED BE CANAAN (Ham and his mama’s son); a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. KJV

The Take Away

The tribes of Ham’s son “Canaan” would come to be a “thorn in the flesh” to Israel and have frequent conflicts with them, but they would be defeated. Ham’s son “Cush” had a descendent that was Nimrod who built the TOWER OF BABEL and the city of Babylon where the abominations of all the other Gods had their birth.

Noah blessed his other two sons, but it was his first born of Shem’s line of descendants that brought us the Godly line of Abraham, the Father of Israel.

As I ponder the scriptures and climb into the story and look around, I see Noah’s started the ball rolling with his sin of drunkenness. It occurs to me that probably many of Noah’s extended family had also indulged in the Kick-a-poo Joy Juice, not just Noah. Just saying.

I see “Ham” probably intoxicated, enters into his father’s tent and finds his mother incapacitated by strong drink and had sex with her and went out and told his brothers. A year later she conceives and CANAAN is born and is cursed by Noah. Sick as this seems; this is what the scriptures indicate to me. You read the account for yourself and tell me what your BS embraces.

25 Genesis 4:1 – Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived

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Chapter 4.3

Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is the most treasured article in the nation of Israel. It’s a sacred symbol of God’s covenant with them.

The Original Ark

The original Ark is in Heaven and is mentioned 33 times. Moses was shown the Original Ark and told to pattern another one just like it. It’s also spoken of 13 times as the Ark of the testimony and 34 times as the Ark of God and 35 times as the Ark of the Lord.26

What it looked like

Bezalel and Oholiab constructed the Ark at Mt. Sinai assisted by other skilled Israelites according to the pattern given to Moses by God.27 The word for Ark is the same as “Coffin;” a mummy case. An ossuary was the depository for the deceased and constructed only large enough to hold the dried bones. In the case of the Ark, it was the depository for the Law; the Ten Commandments.

It looked like a box or a chest about 3 3⁄4 feet long and 2 1⁄4 feet wide and 2 1⁄4 feet deep and was made out of Acacia wood a strong insect resistant wood that resists rot and was overlaid inside and out with pure gold. Acacia seyal, the Red acacia, known also as the shittah tree (the source of shittim wood), is a thorny, 20–30 foot high tree with a pale greenish or reddish bark.

The lid was believed to be God’s Throne or “Mercy Seat” and was made of a pure slab of gold. There was a gold molding around the top of the Ark which the mercy seat would drop down into; this prevented the mercy seat from sliding around during transportation. At opposite ends of the gold cover were two angels of hammered gold facing each other with wings stretched upward and their heads bowed toward the mercy seat.28 Most artist renditions show the Ark as very ornate; while I do not see this in scripture, it’s very possible based on the number of craftsmen working on it.

The Gold

The Israelites had no gold, so where did they get it? The Egyptians gave gold to the Israelites just to get rid of them; they plundered them. Picture a million people with a few pieces of gold in their hand.

Exodus 12:35-36 – The Egyptians gave them gold to leave

35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of SILVER AND GOLD and for clothing.
36 The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for;

so they plundered the Egyptians. NIV

26 Revelation 11:19 – The real Ark is in Heaven. (33 times)Hebrews 8:5 – A copy of the real thing in Heaven -- Exodus 25:9 – Make the Ark like this pattern. -- Joshua 6:11 – Ark of the Lord (35 times). -- 1 Samuel 3:3 – The Ark of God (34 times) -- Exodus 25:22 – The Ark of the Testimony (13 times)
27 Exodus 37:1 – Bezalel had the Ark constructed out of Acacia / Shittim Wood -- Exodus 31:6 – Oholiab and other skilled craftsman will construct the Ark -- Exodus 25:10-11 – Here is how to make it; get some shittim wood

28 Exodus 25:20 – Two Angels with wings spread upward and heads bowed.

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Transportation

Four gold rings were cast and attached to the four feet of the Ark with two poles placed through the rings. Many artist depictions of the Ark show the poles or staves inserted at the top of the chest; but scripture says the rings were on the feet, not on the legs. The Ark was made to be transported on the shoulders of the Kohathite Levites using very long poles made of Arcadia (shittim) wood that was overlaid with gold.29

There were 8600 of Kohathite Levite Priest whose only assignment was to care for the Ark;30 they were forbidden to touch the Ark “On Pain of Death,”31 and the long poles kept them at a distance; only the high priest touched the Ark. When the Ark was transported, the High Priest covered it in a veil of badger’s skins and blue cloth,32 concealed even from the priest that carried it. It was never to touch the ground.

The early ancient artist renditions show the long poles in the Ark bending as the Priest would carry it; as small as this thing was; it was heavy with all the Gold. The poles were not to be removed from the Ark; they were so long that they could be seen sticking out from the Holy Place. The length kept everyone at a safe distance from the Ark.

I have got to say this; there are carvings in the synagogue of Capernaum showing the Ark enclosed on a Cart with wheels. The enclosure had columns, a rounded roof and doors on the end. This rendition may be of when the Ark was being transported by the Philistines, but this was NOT the mode of transportation as specified by God.

The Cover – The Lid; the Top
The cover was called in the NIV the Atonement Cover or in the KJV, called the Mercy Seat.33

It had on opposite ends of the gold cover, two angels of hammered gold facing each other with wings stretched upward with their heads bowed down toward the mercy seat. Angels are ministering spirits carrying out the will of God for man.34

Cherubim Angels according to medieval theologians have four wings with two spread out and upward like a tent over the Ark and the other two wings covered its body.35

Seraphim’s have six wings in case you were wondering,36 and some angels do not have any wings at all; nothing in scripture indicates that they even need wings.

Once a year, the high priest would enter into the portion of the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the “Mercy Seat” and offer prayers to God to give mercy for the sins of the people. It was between the wings of the angels and the mercy seat that God dwelled.

Exodus 25:17 – Make a cover for the Ark with images of Angels

17 "Make an atonement cover of pure gold--two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.
18 And make TWO CHERUBIM OUT OF HAMMERED GOLD at the ends of the cover.

19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of ONE piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their WINGS SPREAD UPWARD, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, LOOKING TOWARD THE COVER.

29 Exodus 25:12 – God gives instructions on how to transport the Ark -- Exodus 37:5 – The poles were used to carry the Ark -- 1 Kings 8:8 –The long poles stuck out from the Holy Place
30 Numbers 3:27-31 The Kohathite Levite Priests are responsible for the Ark -- Exodus 25:12 – God gives instructions on how to transport the Ark

31 1 Chronicles 13:9-10 – Uzzah touched the Ark and was zapped and died
32 Numbers 4:5-6 – Cover the Ark with the shielding curtain of Badger skins
33 Exodus 40:20 – NIV The atonement cover -- Exodus 40:20 – KJV The mercy seat
34 Hebrews 1:14 - Angels are ministering Spirits for Believers
35 Ezekiel 1:6 - Cherubim have four wings -- Ezekiel 1:11-12 – Cherubim’s Two wings covered its body and Two reached upward 36 Isaiah 6:1-2 – Seraphim’s have six wings

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Inside the Ark

The Tablets of the Testimony or Covenant were put inside the Ark;37 the movies have exaggerated the size of the stones for these TEN COMMANDMENTS making them extremely large, needing both arms to carry them. However, in actuality they were made of two small stone tablets that were small enough to be put into the inside pocket of a coat.

At some point a golden jar of MANNA38 was added to the contents of the Ark of the Covenant alongwithAARON’SRODorstaffthathadbudded.39 LateronatthededicationofSolomon’sTemple there is no mention of these two items.

God also gave Moses laws which he wrote in a book, known as “The Book of the Law.” Some students of the Word believed that this Book was also inside the Ark, but it was actually placed beside the Ark so that it could be seen as a constant reminder.

Deuteronomy 31:26 – Place the Book of the Law beside the Ark

26 "Take this BOOK OF THE LAW and PLACE IT BESIDE THE ARK of the covenant of the LORD your God.
There it will remain as a witness.

Aaron’s Rod

I just felt a need to hitch hike on Aaron’s rod being in the ark because it is so fascinating. The ark was 62.5” long so Aaron’s rod must have been about 5 feet long to fit inside the ark. There was grumblings within the camp about NEPOTISM by Moses in selecting his brother Aaron to be the high priest. Moses contended that it was God that had chosen Aaron; which He did. So Moses had every tribal leader bring his staff or rod with their tribal name written on it to the “Tent of the Testimony” and that included Aaron and his rod.

They put all the Twelve rods before the Ark of the Covenant and the next day Aaron’s rod not only had budded, but it had leaves, blossoms and almonds on it. After that, the matter was settled and the grumbling stopped.40

Purpose of the Ark

Function: The Ark was the symbol or sign of God’s active presence among His people; its primary function was that of a container.

Purpose: The Ark was where God would meet with Moses to communicate His will for His people, theIsraelites.41 Specifically;thevoiceofGodwasheardfrombetweentheanglesandthemercyseat;42 scripture bears out that God appeared there in a cloud.43

The Ten Commandments were the “Testimony” or “Covenant” that God has between Himself and the nation of Israel “Written in Stone” is forever.

The Mercy Seat cover and the Book of the Law declared the Devine holiness by which all men stand condemned or redeemed. The law condemned; the Mercy redeemed. WOW

Itwasaweaponwhentheywenttowar,thearkwassentaheadofthearmy. Thereputationand power of the Ark would put fear in the enemy’s heart; however, when the Israelites trusted in the Ark instead of God, they were met with crushing defeat.

37 Exodus 25:16 – The Ten Commandments were placed in the Ark -- 1 Kings 8:9 – Two stone tablets; the Ten Commandments were inside the Ark
38 Exodus 16:33 – A Jar with a omer of Manna within the Ark
39 Numbers 17:10 – Place Aaron’s rod that budded in the Ark -- Hebrews 9:4 – The Ark contained the Tablets, the Jar of Manna and Aaron’s rod

40 Numbers 17:2-5 – Write the Tribal names on the Twelve Rods -- Numbers 17:8 – Buds, Blossoms and Almonds on Aaron’s rod -- Numbers 17:10 – Put Aaron’s rod in the Ark of the Covenant
41 Exodus 25:22 – I will meet with you above the cover, between the two cherubim
42 Numbers 7:89 – God voice spoke above the atonement cover between the two angels

43 Exodus 19:9 – The Lord’s presence was in a dense cloud -- Exodus 13:21 – The Lord’s presence was in a cloud -- Exodus 33:9 – The Lord was in the pillar of cloud -- Exodus 34:5 – The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there -- Exodus 40:34-35 – The Cloud was the glory of God

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Leviticus 16:2 – God appeared in a cloud above the mercy seat.

2 The LORD said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I APPEAR IN THE CLOUD OVER THE ATONEMENT COVER. NIV

Ark of Mary

The following is handed down by sacred tradition; I include it here because it became somewhat embracedbeginninginthefourthcenturyA.D.upuntilnow. TheRomanCatholicwriterssawthe Blessed Virgin Mary as the “Ark of the Covenant” because she herself carried the Savior of mankind within her; she became the “Holy of Holies”

“She is the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the True Manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides” (Homily of the Papyrus of Turin)

I can certainly in my spirit, embrace symbolically that the Ark of wood, containing the old covenant, was only a shadow of the Ark of flesh that contained the new covenant. I can also identify with the love and respect for Mary the mother of Jesus. Roman Catholics believe that Mary herself was also born of a Virgin, therefore she too was sinless and a co-redeemer equal with Jesus; therein lies the problem, it’s just not found in the Book.

The Covenant

The Ten Commandments were symbolic of God’s Covenant with His people. Moses would spell out in detail in the Torah, the Book of the Law, how they would be Blessed if they kept His covenant, he also spelled out in detail what would happen if they didn’t; the Curses.

Covenant Blessings: You will be blessed in the city and in the country, blessed coming in and going out, enemies defeated, bunch of children, livestock, crops, bread, barns full, and everything you set your hand to would be blessed.44

Covenant Curses: You will be cursed in the city and in the country, cursed coming in and going out, no food, no children, confusion and destruction on everything you do, disease, fever, inflammation, boils, scorching heat, no rain, drought, blight, dust, defeat in war and more.45

The nation of Israel was not just an ordinary nation. They were chosen by God to be a special, set apart people, therefore forgetting His covenant was not an ordinary sin, nor was the punishment. There are seven times more curses than there are blessings. If you read the CURSES, you would never want to forsake God’s covenant.

Ark was captured
It was thought that whoever had the “God in a Box” leading their army would win the war;46 the

Philistines dispelled this notion pretty quick.47 (I’m not being blasphemous, that’s what they thought).48 When the Philistines captured the Ark at Beth Shemesh, seventy men took a look inside the Ark and God killed them all.49 Some students of the Bible say there were 70 thousand men; Seven is the symbolic number for completeness; so no matter how many men there were, they were ALL completely wiped out.

The city was struck with a plague of hemorrhoids.50 Plagues of boils, hemorrhoids, and rats followed the Ark to whatever city it was relocated to; people died left and right from the plagues.

44 Deuteronomy 28:1-14 – Blessed going in and coming out, in the city and in the country 45 Deuteronomy 28:15-68 – If you do not obey; seven times the curses
46 Joshua 6:9 – The guarded Ark went before the army into war
47 1 Samuel 5:11-12 – Send the cart back or we ALL will all die

48 1 Samuel 4:3 – Let’s get the Ark, IT will save us
49 1 Samuel 6:19 – Seventy looked into the Ark and died 50 1 Samuel 5:9 – The city was struck with hemorrhoids

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Ark Returned

Finally they sent the Ark back to the Israelites on a new ox cart where it stayed for twenty years at Abinadab’s house in Kiriath Jearim which was high on a hill overlooking Jerusalem.51 There it was guarded by a Priest. Today in Kiriath Jearim there is a church called the “Church of the Ark” standing on the traditions site of Abinadab’s house.

Later King David would bring the Ark to Jerusalem where it was placed in a special tent that David had prepared for it, there the Priest would sacrifice burnt offering and peace offerings to the Lord; and then at some point the Ark was moved to Solomon’s Temple into a special inner room called the “HolyofHolies.”52 WhentheBabylonianssackedJerusalemin586B.C.,IFtheArkwaspresent, it was either taken or burned, we just don’t know; I will present more thoughts on this later.

Future Return of the Ark

There is an allusion in scripture that the Ark of the Covenant, referred to as God’s Glory and His Banner (His standard); will be returned to the Temple. It will be returned before the invasion of Jerusalem by Russia. (Search on line; The Temple Institute for an eye opener)

Ezekiel 39:21-22 – The Ark will be displayed before the nations

21 "I WILL DISPLAY MY “GLORY” among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. 22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. NIV

Jeremiah 4:6 – The Ark is the standard for Israel.

6 Set up THE “STANDARD” toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. KJV

Interesting Stuff

From the Apocrypha; 2nd Maccabees 2:4-10; “The Jeremiah Letter.” Jeremiah came and found a cavern in the rock, and there he brought in the (tent) Tabernacle, and the Ark, and the Alter of Incense; and he made fast the door. “Yea, and the place shall be unknown until God gather the people again together,53 and mercy comes; and then shall the Lord disclose these things”.54 The glory of the Lord and the cloud shall appear, as they were shown before Moses and Solomon.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are the final reference to the Ark of the Covenant and its location. Other writing not found in the Bible suggest that Solomon, concerned about an invading army, built a replica of the Ark of the Covenant for protection and that the real Ark was sent to Ethiopia for safe keeping with his son that he fathered with the Queen of Sheba and is under guard there even today awaiting its return.55

More; June 26, 2009, Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia attested that the Ark is being kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.56

The Temple Institute, according to reports that surfaced years ago, claim that they are now in possession of the Ark of the Covenant.

In Rome they say the Ark was lost when the basilica burned.

Here’s more; a replica was discovered in 1940 in a cave in East Africa that was made by the Lemba priest; it was carbon dated to about 1350. Writings say the original was burned up, but the core was used in the reconstruction.

51 2 Samuel 6:2-3 – The Ark was brought from the house of Abinadab on a new cart -- 1 Samuel 7:2 – The Ark stayed twenty years at Kiriath Jearim
52 2 Samuel 6:17 – The Ark was brought into Jerusalem into a tent -- 2 Chronicles 35:3 – The Ark was finally put in the Temple -- 1 Kings 8:6 – The Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies

53 Isaiah 18:7 – God will bring His people back.
54 Isaiah 18:3 – The Ensign; the Ark will be lifted up for all to see
55 1 Kings 10:13 – Commentaries say – The Queen of Sheba desired a son of Solomon -- Isaiah 18:3 – The Ensign; the Ark will be lifted up for all to see
56 Isaiah 18:1 – The Ark shadowing with wings is in Ethiopia

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The Apocrypha also mentions the Ark being carried away to Babylon. This is disputed saying the real Ark was hidden. Indiana Jones is the only one who actually knows where the Ark is. After the Babylonian captivity, many synagogues made replicas of the Ark. It was placed behind a curtain in the side wall of the synagogue toward Jerusalem. Inside was a copy of the Torah and other sacred books.

1 Esdras 1:54 (Apocrypha) – Carried off to Babylon
54 Babylonians took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, and THE ARK OF GOD, and the King’s treasures and carried them away into Babylon.

At the Return of Christ

When Christ returns for the millennial reign the Ark will not be present, it will not even be thought of because Christ will be on the throne in Jerusalem. There will be no need to make a new Ark; and they won’t.

Jeremiah 3:16-18 – The Ark will no longer be remembered.

16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the LORD, "men will no longer say,

`THE ARK OF THE COVENANT of the LORD.'
IT WILL NEVER ENTER THEIR MINDS OR BE REMEMBERED;
IT WILL NOT BE MISSED, NOR WILL ANOTHER ONE BE MADE. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the LORD, and

all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the LORD. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. NIV

The Take Away

The Ark is a copy or pattern of the Original Ark which is in heaven. The Ark was a small chest or box about four foot long and 2 feet high and 2 feet wide. It was overlaid with gold inside and out and was transported by the Priest using poles that were placed through the rings located on the feet of the chest.

The top was a pure slab of Gold with the images of two angels with wings open and upward and with their heads bowed toward the mercy seat. It was between the Angels and the mercy seat that the cloud of God would appear and meet with the Moses and Aaron with instructions for His people. Inside the Ark was the Ten Commandments made on two tablets by Moses and written on by the finger of God.

A golden jar of Manna was added at some point to the Ark contents along with Aaron’s rod that had budded; later on these items are not mentioned again and were considered missing.

The Book of the Law was also present, but it was not placed inside the Ark, but on the outside as a constant visual reminder of the Law. The covenant spelled out the Blessings and Curses for God’s people; the Israelites. There is an allusion in scripture that the Ark will be returned to the rebuilt Temple. There are a number of opinions on where the Ark is now. There has been no proof presented either way of its existence or non-existence. I believe that The Ark still exists based on Holy Scripture and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

My BS, my Belief System embraces that when the Ark is returned, it will eventually be destroyed and will not be present at the millennial reign of Christ and they will not make a new one

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Chapter 4.4

First Word
There is not much said in scripture about the Queen of Sheba except her interest in King

Solomon. With that said; must speculation and imagination has been penned about who she was including her romantic interests and some entrusted secrets. To get an idea of “what they were thinking”, I have to go to books outside the Bible and it will most probable mess with your BS, your Belief System, but that’s just the way it is.

Sheba - Saba
The Hebrew spelling of Sheba was Saba and the people were known as Sabeans. The precise

location of Sheba or Saba is not evident from Biblical sources, however some Scholars insist the Queen ruled the tribes in the mountainous country of Southwest Arabia.

Archaeological discoveries around 1762 have indicated that the Sabeans were in Southwest Africa (Yemen) and apparently colonized parts of the adjacent Ethiopian coast south of Egypt. Josephus, the Jewish Historian describes the Queen’s realm to be Egypt and Ethiopia.

They had settled in close proximity to the Hamitic (Ham) groups; the Egyptians and Ethiopians which testifies to a blending of Semitic elements in their culture. Although Saba was not a large nation, it did however enjoy a sophisticated culture, because of its trade in Frankincense and Myrrh.

They were TRADERS, RAIDERS and SLAVERS. Job 1:14-15 – Sabeans were Raiders and Slavers

14 A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
15 and THE SABEANS attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! NIV
Joel 3:8 – Sabeans were in the Slave trade
8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will SELL THEM TO THE SABEANS, a nation far away. The LORD has spoken. NIV

Merchandise

Scripture holds that Sheba or Saba was a wealthy country with herds of Camels, Slaves and Exports of Gold, Precious Stones, Frankincense, Myrrh, and Calamus which was a tall perennial wetland plant with scented leaves that have traditionally been used medicinally as well as to make fragrances; the dried and powdered rhizome has been used as a substitute for ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.57 The Israelites did not use gold for money, but mainly for decorations because the metal was soft enough to be shaped by craftsmen into ornaments; but was too soft for weapons.

57 Isaiah 60:6 – Sheba or Saba had Herds of camels and incense -- Ezekiel 27:22-23 – Sheba had Gold, precious stones and spices -- Jeremiah 6:20 – Sheba had Calamus perfume fragrances

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

Queen of Sheba

The Queen’s Legend Lives On: The Romance with King Solomon. Did they have a son together? Did she accept the God of Israel? Did she and her son take the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia?
Is Sheba the Sabeans who were Traders, Raiders and Slavers?

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The Sabeans were a strong commercial power and were originally camel nomads. Their trade routes included Africa and India. At times they controlled the Port of Aden and utilized merchant ships for their cargo as well as had overland caravan trade routes. King Solomon had built a fleet of ships at the port city of Ezion-Geber that made regular trade voyages on the Red Sea; so trading between the two of them was very brisk.

The Story
Jesus refereed to her as the “Queen of the South”,58 so she was an actual person and not a myth.

The Legendary name of the Queen of Sheba was Balkis. She was a contemporary of King Solomon in the tenth Century B.C. The Nation of Sheba was polytheistic with worship of the sun, moon and star gods; the ONE GOD of Israel intrigued her.

Despite considerable achievement in agriculture mostly due to favorable rainfall conditions and an effective irrigation system, she still depended on the income from the trade routes. The Queen made the trip of some 1,300 miles to see King Solomon; probably at first overland by camel caravan, then by ship the rest of the way and then with great Pomp and ceremony to impress Solomon she came by Camel caravan into the city of Jerusalem.59

Jerusalem today is the center for Three World Religions, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. The Queen came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions and riddles to investigate his fame of unmatched wisdom. My BS thinks that she may have also been motivated by her underlying interest in seeking special treatment for her merchants to negotiate unhindered movement in the international trade routes throughout the land that Solomon controlled. Solomon collected money from the merchants that used Israel’s trade routes.60

Solomon showed her around and she said that what she had heard was only the half of what she had seen. She posed many curious questions and mysterious riddles to him which he answered more quickly than she had imagined and was “quite taken” by the King. She was overwhelmed by the orderly manner of his kingdom and his FAITH in God. He answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her; so that there was no more spirit left in her.

The Queen blessed King Solomon and blessed the GOD OF ISRAEL for blessing Solomon and Israel with such splendor. Then she brought in her gifts of gold, spices, incense and some special wood.61 Never again did such abundance of spices, come in as that which she gave King Solomon. The two great rulers exchanged gifts, respect and a mutual admiration for the ONE GOD of Israel.

2 Chronicles 9:8 – The Queen praised the Lord God of Israel

8 PRAISE BE TO THE LORD YOUR GOD, who has delighted in you and placed you on his throne as king to rule for the LORD your God. Because of the love of your GOD FOR ISRAEL and His desire to uphold them forever, He has made you king over them, to maintain justice and righteousness." NIV

120 Talents of Gold

Talent; the heaviest unit of weight measurement in the Hebrew system. The common talent was about 3000 shekels or the weight that a man could carry. There were Four Talent Standards of weight;

(1) The Common,
(2) The Common Royal (5% heavier than the common weight),
(3) The Heavy Common (twice the common),
(4) The Heavy Common Royal (5% heavier than the heavy common).

58 Luke 11:31 – Jesus called her the Queen of the South -- Matthew 12:42 – Balkis was the Queen of the South 59 1 Kings 10:1-8 – QUEEN OF SHEBA arrives with a caravan
60 2 Chronicles 9:13-14 – Solomon received revenues from merchants and traders
61 2 Chronicles 9:1-8 – She gave Solomon gold, precious stone and spices --

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The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon 120 talents of Gold.62 At first Israel used the Babylonian “common talent” of 66 pounds as their “Talent” standard, but later went to the “heavy common talent” which was 132 pounds; so the Queen gave King Solomon between 7,920 to 15,840 pounds of Gold depending on the standard used. HOLY COW

In 1970 the price of gold was $37.00 an ounce or $592.00 a pound

In 2010 the price of gold was $1,410 an ounce or $22,560 a pound

So at the 2010 Gold standard, the Queen gave Solomon $178,675,200 to $357,350,400.

The Josephus Account

This is a partial “selected” account of what Josephus, the Jewish Historian wrote about the Queen of Sheba. He was not a follower of “The Way” which makes his account even more believable. I have shortened it, because it is quite lengthy and wordy. You will notice how greatly she was affected by Solomon and it even reports furniture that she gave him which apparently was loaded on other boats that accompanied her.63

Josephus 8.6.5

5.165 There was then a woman, QUEEN OF EGYPT AND ETHIOPIA, she was inquisitive into philosophy – When this Queen heard of the virtue and prudence of Solomon, she had a great mind to see him; and the reports that went every day abroad induced her to come to him.

5.166 She proposed questions of very great difficulty, and entreated that he would solve their HIDDEN meanings. Accordingly she came to Jerusalem with great splendor and rich furniture.
5.167 Upon the Kings reception of her, HE BOTH SHOWED HER A GREAT DESIRE TO PLEASE HER, and easily comprehending in his mind the meaning of the CURIOUS questions she propounded to him. He resolved them sooner than anybody could have expected. 5.169 But she was beyond measure astonished at the house which was called the Forest of Lebanon....and the daily sacrifices which were offered to God...

5.170 When she saw that this was done every day, she was in the greatest admiration imaginable, insomuch that she was not able

to contain the surprise she was in, but

OPENLY CONFESSED HOW WONDERFUL SHE WAS AFFECTED.

5.174 Now when the Queen had thus demonstrated in words how deeply the king had affected her, her disposition was known by certain presents, for she gave him twenty talents of gold and an immense quantity of spices and precious stone.

5.175 Solomon also repaid her with many good things, and principally by bestowing upon her what she chose of her on inclination, for THERE WAS NOTHING THAT SHE DESIRED WHICH HE DENIED HER and he was very generous and liberal in his own temper, so did he show the greatness of his soul in BESTOWING ON HER WHAT SHE HERSELF DESIRED OF HIM.... She returned to her own kingdom.

62 1 Kings 10:10 – The Queen Gave Solomon 120 talents of gold -- 2 Chronicles 9:9 – She gave 120 talents of gold and large quantities of precious stones
63 1 Kings 10:11-12 – There were other ships with wood products

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The Legend Begins
This is where the Legend of a ROMANCE between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon

begins. Marriages were often “contracted” to cement alliances with other nations. Legend has it that she wanted a child by Solomon and so she became one of his wives and became pregnant before she returned to Ethiopia. 64

Ethiopian tradition says the son of Solomon and the Queen was Menelik I, or Ibn al-Hakim which means “Son of the Wise Man”. It was said that the son visited Solomon and studied about the religion of the Israelites and at some point returned to his home to found his own dynasty. The tradition that the royal line of Menelik I is descended from Solomon and the queen is difficult to prove or disprove.

BAM: In 1955 the revised Ethiopian Constitution states that the Royal line “descends without interruption from the dynasty of Menelik I, son of the Queen of Ethiopia, the Queen of Sheba, and King Solomon of Jerusalem”.

Ethiopia – Fiction or Fact
Other writing not found in the Bible suggest that SOLOMON, concerned about an invading

army, built a replica of the Ark of the Covenant for protection and that the real Ark was sent to ETHIOPIA for safe keeping with his SON that he fathered with the Queen of Sheba and is under guard there even today awaiting its return..

More; June 26, 2009, Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia attested that the Ark is being kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia. The Apocrypha says the Ark was carried off into Babylon... did they get a replica?

Isaiah 18:1 – The Ark is in Ethiopia (Angel Wings on the Ark)

1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings (over the Ark), which is beyond the rivers of ETHIOPIA KJV
1 Esdras 1:54 (Apocrypha) Ark Carried off to Babylon Replica?
54 Babylonians took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, and THE ARK OF GOD, and the King’s treasures and carried them away into BABYLON.

The Take Away

This is where the rubber meets the road. Solomon asked God to give him wisdom and He did, plus what he didn’t ask for, which was riches.65 Solomon started out with a heart after God and it showed in his actions of building a temple to God and his daily sacrifices. In turn God blessed Solomon and the nation of Israel and that got a lot of people’s attention as multitudes were coming to Jerusalem to worship the true and living God.66

In Sheba they worshiped many gods; the sun, moon and stars. The Queen of Sheba had heard about a Temple where the common man could approach the One True God and when she came she saw for herself Solomon DAILY going up to the Temple to offer burnt offerings to his God. NOTE: without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of Sin.67 (Jesus was the final sacrifice)

Solomon told the Queen the Secret of his Kingdom, that it was Jehovah God that had given him the wisdom. It was then that the Queen of Sheba accepted and blessed the God of Israel as the one and only true and living God.68 This was the zenith of the kingdom of Israel which was characterized by FAITHFUL WITNESSING.

64 1 Kings 10:13 – Solomon gave the Queen ALL she desired -- 2 Chronicles 9:12 – The Queen of Sheba received ALL she asked for. - - 1 Kings 3:1 – Marriage to obtain alliances with other nations
65 1 Kings 4:29 – God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding
66 1 Kings 10:24 – Multitudes heard what God had put in Solomon’s heart -- 1 Kings 4:34 – Men of all nations were evangelized by Solomon

67 Hebrews 9:22 - Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness
68 2 Chronicles 9:2 – Solomon told the Queen about the One True God -- 1 Kings 10:9 – The Queen accepted the God of Israel

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Chapter 4.5

Prophets

The Old Testament Prophet received messages directly from God and proclaimed His words according to His command.

First Word

The Word Prophet is applied to someone who receives or claims to receive messages directly from God. A Prophet provided a legitimate link between the human and the divine. The word “Prophet” occurs over 100 times in the NT and over 300 times in the OT, so it can be concluded that a Prophet played an important role in the lives of God’s people.

The first QUESTION right out of the box is; ARE THERE ANY PROPHETS TODAY? Josephus, the Jewish Historian who was born at the time of Christ’ resurrection, discussing the validly of the writing available to him reported that the OT Prophets writings quit about 400 years before the Birth of Christ and that the succession of Prophets had ceased.

Jesus said that John the Baptist was the last in the succession of Prophets. End of Story, well not quiet; there was a new dispensation; New Testament Prophets.

Josephus 1.8.41 – The succession of OT prophets have ceased.
41 There hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time.

Matthew 11:10 -13 – John the Baptist was the last OT Prophet.

10 He is the prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, 'I'm sending my prophet ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you.' 13 But if you read the books of the Prophets and God's Law closely, you will see them CULMINATE in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. (MSG)

The Call

There was concern that when the Israelites entered into the Promised Land that they would imitate the foreign “SOOTHSAYERS” by giving heed to their visions, superstitions and would practice their detestable, abdominal ways;69 so God raised up a Prophet from among the Israelites to distinguish themfromthepaganSoothsayers.70 TheywereexamplesofgodlinessandwereteachersoftheLaw to the people; who then were responsible to teach it to their children.

The Function of Prophet was not simply a person who could foretell the future, but one who spoke God’s will to His people. A Prophet seemed to have had unrestricted access to the King, the Royal Court and the Temple. Normally he was not held accountable or responsible (Most of the time) for what he said or did, because his actions were under the control of God.

TheCallwasprimarilytoAKNOWLEDGEOFGOD;tobe“IntheKnow”. Toexercise remarkable psychic powers; telepathic and clairvoyant; extrasensory perception gifts to the extent of naming NAMES of people hundreds of years before they were to be born.

69 Deuteronomy 18:9 – Do not learn the pagan’s detestable ways
70 Deuteronomy 18:15 - God will raise up a prophet from among you -- Amos 1:1 – Amos was a sheep breeder AND a Prophet -- John 1:21 – Are you the expected Prophet; John the Baptist said NO

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Along with fore-telling, there was forth-telling; reminding the people of past events and how God had brought them through, and of the consequences for their disobedience. From the time of Moses there was an expectation of ANOTHER PROPHET who would be the coming Messiah.71

Purpose

The purpose of a Prophet was TO GO where God sent him and TO SPEAK what God commanded him.72 The calling brought liberty and freedom. They were unaffected by human bias and criticism and were not intimidated or threatened by an unsympathetic or antagonistic audience.
There seems to be at least four major reasons for their calling.

1) Rebuke:OBEDIENCE,almosthalfoftheencountersofprophetsinscripturedealswiththe rebuke of sin and the call to obedience and repentance. These rebukes were “Course Correctors” in the lives of His people.

2) Encouragement: HOPE, these words most often followed the heavy heart of rebuke. Punishment for Sin would surely come, but promises of blessings and mercy were just on the other side waiting for them.

3) Revelation: FAITH, almost every prophet’s call came with foretelling. Prophecy about the awaited Messiah and the end times. It also outlined the “IF” & “THEN” prophecies concerning their obedience to His commands. It included information and Knowledge about God and His attributes, His character and His purpose for them.

4) Authentication: LORDSHIP OF GOD, prophecies provided foreknowledge of events to authenticate that he was at TRUE prophet and that the people could turn to him to receive direction from God. Some prophets displayed signs and wonders, but these prophets were few and far between.73

How God Speaks

Prophet: One who is given insight into the mind of God and declares His messages to the people. He speaks forth the words of God without modification or interpretation as if God was his mouth; the spoken words required implicit obedience.74

In the beginning for some reason, God has taken an interest in man and has chosen to reveal Himself over the course of time. When men were few, God communicated directly with them, but as they multiplied, He selected certain people to carry His messages.75 He helped them speak and taught them what to say. Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God said, “I have put My words in their mouth”.76

God is the AUTHOR of Prophecy; scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit kept these messages from ERRORandpreservedthemfortheguidanceofHispeople.77 “Ifthereisaprophetamongthe people, the LORD GOD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream”.78 God has used visions of Imagery like when Ezekiel saw the dry bones come to life.79

71 Deuteronomy 34:10 - Moses began the Messiah “expectations”
72 Jeremiah 1:7 – Go where I send you and Speak what I command
73 2 Kings 6:12 – CLAIRVOYANT; even knows words spoken in King’s bedroom -- 1 Kings 13:2 – Naming NAMES before they were born -- 2 Kings 2:5 – All the Prophets knew that Elijah would be taken away
74 Exodus 4:16 – Prophet; One who speaks forth for God -- 2 Peter 1:21 - Prophecy came by the movement of the Holy Spirit -- Exodus 4:12 – God will help you speak and teach you what to say -- Jeremiah 1:9 - I have put My words in the Prophets mouth
75 Genesis 15:1 - The Word of the LORD came to ABRAHAM -- 1 Samuel 15:10 - The word of the LORD came to SAMUEL -- 1 Kings 18:1 - The Word of the LORD came to ELIJAH -- Isaiah 38:4 - The Word of the LORD came to ISAIAH -- Jeremiah 28:12 - The Word of the LORD came to JEREMIAH -- Ezekiel 1:3 - The Word of the LORD came to EZEKIEL -- Jonah 3:1 - The Word of the LORD came to JONAH -- Haggai 1:3 - The Word of the LORD came by HAGGAI -- Zechariah 1:1 - The Word of the LORD came to ZECHARIAH
76 Deuteronomy 18:18 - I will put my words in his mouth
77 Isaiah 45:21 – God is the AUTHOR of Prophecy
78 Numbers 12:6 – Make Myself known by VISIONS and DREAMS
79 Ezekiel 37:10 – Visions of Imagery; the dry bones came to life

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He has opened eyes to see angel activity in the PRESENT fourth dimension.80 God has spoken through an external voice as well as an internal voice81. The prophecy could come from a Personal Awareness (“The Word of the Lord came to me.”) We really do not know in what way God will choose to make the mind of man aware of His Word.

The Person: God has raised up princes and priests, sheepherders and farmers, as well as women and children and sometimes even used the pagan enemy to become His Prophet. The message would be delivered in various ways and could be a blessing as well as a curse.82 Some Prophets would make themselves a spectacle arousing curiosity; with the people wondering what he would do next, but this also invited expected scorn. In the case of Ezekiel, he ACTED OUT the Prophetic Word. Elijah could appear, confront and then disappear. 83

Symbolism was sometimes used; Isaiah walked naked,84 Jeremiah broke a Jar,85 Ahijah tore his new coat into twelve pieces,86 Ezekiel made a model of a city.87

I need to pause here to say, that the Canaanite cults practiced their magic in the same ways in order to coerce their gods to function correspondingly. The Prophets of God did it to coerce God’s Chosen People to function correspondingly. Sometimes the same message was given to other prophets; Micah had the same message as Isaiah. The “Sons of the Prophets” all knew Elijah was about to be taken by God.

Partial Knowledge: The messages might contain certain aspects of truth that the prophet did not understand, but would be reveled later through study or comparison to other prophets. A Prophet’s knowledge was imperfect, he was not omniscient and only knew A part of God’s plan, so he prophesized in part. He knew SOME of what would happen.88

I have always wondered; does a thing happen because the prophet pronounced it or did he know what was going to happen and predicted it. Neither, he just called down the curse or pronounced the blessing or delivered the message that God had commanded him.

Are you seeing it? It is the initiative of God moving man; NOT the initiative of man moving God. IT’S IN THE BOOK

Ecstatic Mental Gymnastics

Ecstatic Utterance: This phrase appears in most of the commentaries and seems to be the norm for a Prophet and was probably considered a part of his identity.

Oddly enough the divine possession was not a continuous experience as they played various normal social roles in the community with secular occupations; in other words they also had a job; so should you.

80 Numbers 22:31 – God opened eyes to see the PRESENT Fourth Dimension -- 2 Kings 6:17 – Angel activity is unseen in the PRESENT Fourth Dimension
81 1 Samuel 3:8 – God spoke audibly OUTWARDLY -- 1 Kings 13:18-22 – God spoke audibly INWARDLY
82 Numbers 12:6 – Make Myself known by VISIONS and DREAMS

83 Hebrews 1:1-2 –God spoke in various ways through His Prophets -- 1 Kings 17:1-3 – Appeared gave the message Disappeared 84 Isaiah 20:2 – SYMBOL - Isaiah walked around naked
85 Jeremiah 19:10 – SYMBOL - Jeremiah broke a Jar
86 1 Kings 11:30 - SYMBOL - Ahijah tore new coat twelve pieces

87 Ezekiel 4:1– SYMBOL - Ezekiel made a model of a city- 88 1 Corinthians 13:9 - We prophesy IN PART

of consciousness characterized by diminished awareness of objects or the total lack of the awareness

of surroundings. For the duration of the ecstasy the ecstatic is out of touch with ordinary life and is

Wikipedia; Ecstasy; an altered state

capable neither of communication with other people nor of undertaking normal actions.

His words would abound with imagery, strange comparisons, peculiar expressions, parables, pictures, proverbs and symbolism. It would contain literary exaggerations to make a point; it might

contain rhetorical questions, metaphors, similes, plays on words and puns.

Make no mistake; when God delivered the message through His prophet; it was

clearly understood. The imagery was for “Mental Gymnastics” so you would not

forget it.

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Classes of Prophets

This is more than you want to know, but I include it here because you have probable heard the terms before; and wondered what they meant. The Prophets writings or books in the Bible are divided into TWO CLASSES which are known as the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets.

The Former Prophets include the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings and cover the time of the Hebrews entrance into the Promised Land to the destruction of the city by King Nebuchadnezzar. These Prophets set forth the history of their particular period of time in Israel. (We do not know who wrote these books; they are anonymous.)

The Latter Prophets are those that followed after the time of the destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. These Prophets interpreted specific phrases of Israel’s history complementing and providing greater insight and understanding of the Former Prophets writings. (These books are NOT anonymous.) The Latter Prophets are further divided into TWO CATEGORIES based on the volume or length of their written works.

The Major Prophets books of the Bible include Isiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The Twelve Minor Prophets include Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Concerns

Social Concerns: As a Prophet and a Leader, Moses concerned himself with social welfare, humane treatment, giving to and helping the homeless and was the enemy of the oppressor.

The Standard: This is the standard for a prophet and even for OUR LEADERS today. Exodus 2:11 – Concern for oppression

11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (NKJV)
Exodus 2:17 – Stood up to the oppressors

17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. (NKJV)
Deuteronomy 24:19-21 - Help the stranger, fatherless, widow
19 When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a SHEAF in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

20 When you beat your OLIVE trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
21 When you gather the GRAPES of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. (NKJV)

Schools of the Prophets

The schools for the Prophets were not what you would think. Some were already Prophets and the other were NOT there to learn to become a Prophet, but were there because of a sincere desire to SERVE God. They would hopefully join themselves to a prophet to ASSIST them and learn spiritual things and to be used of God.89 “Here am I, send me”.90

The thing that is overlooked, is that we only know of the Prophets that are mentioned in the Bible, and they represent only a small portion of the total number of prophets that God has raised up.91

89 2 Kings 9:1 – Sons of the Prophets given assignments
90 Isaiah 6:8 – Isaiah’s famous words; Here am I. Send me -- 2 Kings 2:5 – Sons of the Prophets had the prophetic gift 91 Deuteronomy 18:15 - God will raise up for you a Prophet

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Scripture indicates that the many un-named prophets tended to band together seeking each other’s fellowship. They would settle here and there and build loosely connected schools or colleges which would became their homes.92

We first see the Schools of the Prophets during the time of Samuel who might have possibly organized them and then nothing more is said about them until the time of Elijah and Elisha, and then after them, the schools or “Sons of the Prophets” are not heard of again.

Some commentaries indicate that some of these schools of the “Sons of the Prophets” were really not that well respected and were considered to be a superstitious group that had attached themselves to the Prophets for “NOTORIETY” and “HEAD KNOWLEDGE”; 93 they were thought to be without any of their own personal spiritual experience and it seems that the EARLY prophets DID actively dissociated themselves from such groups; but that changed later on.

Elijah and Elisha provided supervision to one of the schools of the “Sons of the Prophets” as they would occasionally stay with them. The students had learned of many things listening to men such as these and some of them clearly had the prophetic gift. It is thought that we owe the safe guardingoftheProphetsOraclestosuchgroupsasthese. ScripturesupportsthatElishaoccasionally would avail himself of their services. As a side note; Elisha performed more miracles than any other OT prophet.

There are references that suggest that the Prophets and Priest coupled themselves together in what is suggestive of a “Prophet-hood”, which was much like the Priest-hood; a prophetic guild or a professional association, as there were prophetic quarters located within the temple.94 It is possible that some Prophets were officially connected or even employed by the temple as Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both Prophets and Priests.

Old Testament Prophets

The Message Bible states;
“It is the task of the prophet to stand up at such moments of

catastrophic and clarify who God is and how He acts. The disaster becomes a lever for prying people’s lives loose from their sins”.

The “Position” of a prophet gives way to the idea of a “Prophetic Office”.
spoken in the church about the office of Pastor, Prophet and Teacher; but the Church has nothing todowithit. Thepositionisnotinherited,elected,norappointed,installedorordainedbythechurch, it’s a Gift from God to His people; God Himself raises up the Prophets.95 It’s not an office, it’s a FUNCTION. Sometimes a Prophet is appointed by God before he is even born; his function can be for a short period of time or for a very long period of time.96

In the earliest of times, a Prophet was called “a visionary”; a “MAN OF GOD”, or a “SEER”;97 a messenger of God who could see into the future and tell you how it would unfold depending on the path that you took. He is not actually “predicting”, he is passing on messages from God. However, a Prophet in essence “predicts” the future as he reveals matters known only to God. A Prophet could also see into the PRESENT; things of the fourth dimension that were not visible to men98; (Angel activity). The Progression: God provided 3 prophets before the Kingdom of Israel was divided; when it was divided he sent 17 Prophets to the Southern Kingdom and 10 more to the Northern Kingdom. He provided 4 prophets during their exile and 3 more when they returned.

92 2 Kings 6:1-2 – Sons of the Prophets built a school -- 2 Kings 22:14 – School of Prophecy College their Dwelling place
93 2 Kings 2:16 – Some Sons of the Prophet lacked Divine understanding -- Amos 7:14 –Amos DISASSOCIATED himself with the school of Prophets
94 Jeremiah 35:4 – Prophets Quarters within the temple
95 Amos 7:14 – A Prophet is not inherited, he is appointed by God
96 Jeremiah 1:5 - Before you were born I appointed you a Prophet
97 1 Samuel 9:9 – A Prophet was previously called a seer
98 Numbers 11:25 - The Seventy Elder Prophets (NIV2011)

We often hear

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God has sent a bunch of prophets. I say all of this, as it reminded me of the guy in Hell who wanted to return to his family to warn them about spending eternity in torment and was told; if they didn’t believe the Prophets they will not believe someone returning from the dead.99

The first man that God called a prophet was Abraham, but it was the person of Moses that set the standard for all the future prophets that were to follow. OT Prophets FORETOLD of future events and the expectations of the results based on their obedience.

Mentioning a few; Moses, 100 Aaron101, Joel102, Jonah103, Amos104, Hosea105, Isaiah106, Micah107, Nahum108, Zephaniah109, Jerimiah110, Gad111, Habakkuk112, Samuel113, Nathan114, Daniel115, Ezekiel116, Obadiah117, Haggai118, Zechariah119, Malachi120, Elijah121 and Elisha122.

Name meanings: Isiah; Salvation of Yahweh, Jeremiah; The appointed one of the Lord, Ezekiel; God Strengthens, Joel; Yahweh is God, Micah; Who is like Yahweh, Nahum; Consoler, Zephaniah; The Lord hides, Malachi; The messenger of the Lord. Some that prophesized; that were given messages from God, were not called to be Prophets, but were called to be leaders; men such as Moses, Saul and David.

Some prophets who you may not have even thought about included King Saul123 who prophesied at least once; Balaam who had conversations with his Ass124, Seventy Elders who prophesied only once125. Abraham, the father of Israel126, the Apostle Paul127, Arron the brother of Moses, Miriam the sister of Moses128, Debora a prophetess129, and in some sense of the word both Mary the mother of Jesus and her cousin Elizabeth both prophesized.

The difference between the Major and Minor Prophets was not about their significance; but about the amount of writings that has surfaced that they authored.

99 Luke 16:31 - They will not listen to someone from the dead 100 Exodus 3:6 - The Prophet Moses (KJV)
101 Exodus 7:1 - The Prophet Aaron (NIV2011)
102 Joel 1:1 - The Prophet Joel (NLT)

103 Jonah 1:1 - The Prophet Jonah (NASB)
104 Amos 1:1 - The Prophet Amos (MSG)
105 Hosea 1:1 - The Prophet Hosea (KJV)
106 2 Kings 19:20 - The Prophet Isaiah (KJV)
107 Judges 17:5 - The Prophet Micah (MSG)
108 Nahum 1:1 - The Prophet The Prophet Nahum (KJV) 109 Zephaniah 1:1 - The Prophet Zephaniah (KJV)

110 Jeremiah 29:29 - The Prophet Jeremiah (NIV2011) 111 1 Samuel 22:5 - The Prophet Gad
112 Habakkuk 1:1 - The Prophet Habakkuk (KJV)
113 1 Samuel 3:20 - The Prophet Samuel (KJV)

114 2 Samuel 7:2 - The Prophet Nathan (KJV)
115 Daniel 2:19 - The Prophet Daniel (KJV)
116 Ezekiel 1:3 - The Prophet Ezekiel (KJV)
117 1 Kings 18:4 - The Prophet Obadiah (NIV2011) 118 Ezra 5:1 - The Prophet Haggai

119 2 Chronicles 26:5 - The Prophet Zechariah (KJV) 120 Malachi 1:1 - The Prophet Malachi (KJV)
121 1 Kings 18:1 - The Prophet Elijah (KJV
122 1 Kings 19:16 - The Prophet Elisha (NIV2011)

123 1 Samuel 10:10-11 - The Prophet Saul (NASB)
124 Numbers 22:28 - The Prophet Balaam (KJV)
125 Numbers 11:25 - The Seventy Elder Prophets (NIV2011) 126 Genesis 20:7 - The Prophet Abraham (NIV2011)
127 Numbers 11:25 - The Seventy Elder Prophets (NIV2011) 128 Exodus 15:20 - The Prophetess Miriam (NASB)
129 Judges 4:4 - The Prophetess Deborah (NASB)

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OT PROPHECIES of Jesus the MESSIAH

OT PROPHECY Zechariah 11:12 Isaiah 53:7 Isaiah 53:5 Isaiah 50:6 Psalms 22:16 Isaiah 53:12 Psalms 22:18 Psalms 69:21 Psalms 69:21 Psalms 22:1 Psalms 34:20 Betrayed - 30 pieces of silver Be silent before accusers Be scourged and wounded Be smitten and spat upon His hands and feet pierced Put to death with criminals Cast lots for His garments Would suffer thirst Gave gall and vinegar to drink Utter forsaken cry to God No bones would be broken NT FULLFILLMENT Matthew 26:14-16 Matthew 27:12 Matthew 27:26 Matthew 26:67 Luke 22:33 Matthews 27:38 John 19:23-24 John 19:28 Matthew 27:34 Matthew 27:46 John 19:33

12. Zechariah 12:10 13. Isaiah 53:9 14. Psalms 16:10 15. Psalms 68:18 16. Psalms 110:1 Side would be pierced Buried in a rich man’s tomb Rise from the dead Ascend into heaven Sit at the right hand of God John 19:34 Matthew 27:57-60 Mark 16:6 Acts 1:9 Hebrews 1:3

2 Corinthians 1:20 - All of God’s promises fulfilled in Christ

20 FOR ALL OF GOD’S PROMISES HAVE BEEN FULFILLED IN CHRIST with a resounding “YES!” And through Christ, our “AMEN” (which

means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (NLT)

Matthew 5:17 – Jesus came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets

17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH THEM BUT TO FULFILL THEM. (NIV2011)

New Testament Prophets

It was God’s “Will” that the OT be fulfilled in the Life, Death and Resurrection of His Son Jesus the Christ. It was also God’s will that there be a NEW TESTAMENT and with that an expectancy of a new period of Prophecy. Scripture not only supports that there were prophets in the NT Church, but goes on to name them; prophets were also teachers.

Although there were many Prophets in the NT they were not very conspicuous; there was John the Baptist’s father, Zacharias, the Apostle “John the Revelator”, Caiaphas the High Priest,130 Judas and Silas, Agabus, Barnabas, Simeon and Lucius, Manaen131 and oddly enough they allowed WOMEN to prophesy; Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.132

Jesus Christ as the greatest NT Prophet,133 encouraged the needy, revealed the nature of God, exposedsin,showedthewayofsalvationandthepatternandmethodofGodlyliving. TheMethodist hang their hat on “THE METHOD” of Godly living. It’s not how much you know about God, but how you practice the Word in your everyday life; Godly Living. God not only gave us His written Word, but He also sent His Word in Flesh to live among us; His ONLY begotten son, Jesus the Christ.

130 John 11:51 – Caiaphas the High Priest Prophesied -- Luke 1:67-68 – Zacharias filled with the Holy Spirit prophesized
131 Acts 13:1 – Prophets and Teachers in the NT Church; Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius and Manaen -- Acts 11:28 – Agabus prophesized about an upcoming famine -- Acts 15:32 - Judas and Silas were prophets
132 Acts 21:8-9 – Philip’s four unmarried daughters prophesied
133 John 1:14 – God’s Word was made flesh and dwelt among us -- Hebrews 1:1-2 – God spoke to us through His Son to us -- Matthew 21:10-11 – Jesus; the PROPHET from Nazareth -- Deuteronomy 18:15 – Jesus was the greatest Prophet -- Ephesians 2:19-20 -- The Church is BUILT on the Prophets and Jesus is the CORNERSTONE

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NT Prophets FORETOLD some future events, but mainly rebuked men for sin and declared their punishment, urging them to repent. We believe that eventually the FORE TELLING of future events CEASED because the scriptures ceased to record it. The revelation of Jesus Christ completed the prophecies of a Messiah and the “things to come” are already recorded in Holy Scripture. However, the FORTH TELLING part did not cease which is praising God and lifting up His attributes and expounding on the truths already received and recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The scriptures present conceptsandpreceptsthatlineuplikeFENCEPOSTSallinarow. Ifaprophet’swordsdonotline up with the other fence post in scripture, it should give you pause to ask why?

There are no new revelations, only NEW UNDERSTANDING of what has already been written.

Isaiah 28:10 – Fence Post Precepts; they all must line up

10 For it is precept (post) upon precept (post), precept upon precept; line (post) upon line (post), line upon line; here a little (post), there a little. (post) (ASV)

Presumptive Prophets

Any prophet that speaks on God’s behalf presumptuously will DIE. Think about that one; speaking presumptuously of God. The Prophet Nathan spoke presumptuously to David when he told him to do all that was in his heart to build the temple. That night God corrected Nathan; that it was to be built by David’s son Solomon. Nathan straightened that presumptuous word out immediately.134

SPIRITUAL GIFTS are a blessing given as the Holy Spirit wills to God’s people; given to “equip the Believer” for the “common good” and for the “building up the Church”.135 However these gifts can be abused.
a) GiftofWordofKnowledgeisinformationandspiritualinsight,whichisrevealedintheperson’s

spirit. It can come from concepts that have been planted in your sprit through studying the Word as well as “A WORD” directly from God.136 The gift is not “all knowledge” but just “partial”. The gift operates only at the will of the Holy Spirit.137

b) GiftofTonguesislinkedto“TheInterpretationofTongues”andofcoursethatcomeswith much conversely; there are three kinds of tongues.

1) Common Tongue or language not known to the speaker, but commonly spoken somewhere. This seems to have happened ONLY ONCE at Pentecost and documented no more in scripture. It was for the day of Pentecost only.

2) Public Tongue is normally of exhortation, but sometimes comes with PROPHECY which requires interpretation of a message from God... “Thus says the Lord”

3) Prayer Tongue or language is a “heavenly language” directed to God alone in prayer and in song. This private tongue seems to be found across all denominations although rarely discussed. Most denominations are Cessationists; Teaching tongues have ceased, even though some of their members privately operate in this gift.

My prayer is that the Gifts of “Word of Knowledge” and “Interpretation of Tongues” with prophecy be done with the fence posts of the messages all lining up with scripture and not done presumptuously. When the Apostle Paul spoke giving his opinion, he would qualify it by saying; that what he was saying was NOT coming from the Lord, but from himself. A concept we should model.

1 Corinthians 7:12 – Paul says, I speak now; NOT the Lord

12 But to the rest I, NOT THE LORD, SAY: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. (NKJV)

134 2 Samuel 7:3-13 – Nathan spoke presumptuously to King David
135 Ephesians 4:12 – The Gifts are for the building up of the body -- 1 Corinthians 12:1-7 – Gifts are for the Common Good 136 Numbers 12:6 – God will be made known by visions and dreams
137 1 Corinthians 12:11 – The Gifts are given as the Spirit wills

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Deuteronomy 18:20 – Speak God’s words presumptuously DIE

20 But the prophet who speaks a word PRESUMPTUOUSLY in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he

speaks in the name of other gods, THAT PROPHET SHALL DIE.' (NASB)

False Prophets
False Prophet: In the NT there was a guy named Bar-Jesus 138mentioned as a false prophet as

well as a woman who called herself a prophet named Jezebel; 139 then there was Simon the Magician140 who tried to buy the Holy Spirit. There was also a Lying Prophet 141 who said he got a message from God through an angel and tricked another Prophet.

Test the Prophets; that’s what we are told; that many false prophets have gone out into the world.142 There were THREE TEST for a True Prophet.

1) Doctrines:Iftheyareabletogivesignsandwonders,buttheirteachingcontradictsthe doctrines of Moses concerning the one true God, they are a False Prophet.

2) Prophecy:If100%ofwhattheysaydoesnotcometopassthentheyareaFalseProphet. 3) Morals: If their lifestyle is immoral or their message strengthens the hands of the evil

doers they are a False Prophet.
NOTE: Fulfilling these three requirements did not automatically validate someone as a True Prophet of God, as they could have guessed at something and it turned out right. They also needed the recognition of an organized group of disciples who recognized the prophetic claim as genuine and accepted the Prophets authority; otherwise he would not have any influence in the community.

Characteristics: Today, a Prophet’s teachings must line up with the FENCE POST of scripture. A true Prophet will speak of future deliverance by the Messiah; he will glorify Jesus Christ and confess that He is the incarnate Lord. The Prophets Character and life style will conform to scripture. Their actions and reactions will proceed from a loving heart and be administered to the hearer in a loving way. They will edify the Church and will be known by their fruits.143

DuelingProphets: KingAhabhadtwoprophetsofJehovah;Zedekiah144whoprophesizedthat the king would have victory over the enemy and Micaiah145 who prophesized and warned of defeat. Which one was the True Prophet? The answer comes from looking at their lives.

The True Prophet’s life reflects holiness; he seeks to identify sin and call the people to holiness. The False Prophet is a man of immoral life and one who ignores immorality in others. The Lord says “They wag their OWN tongues, prophesy false dreams and lead people astray with their reckless lies.”

Today some who have written with GREAT INSIGHT into God’s word, that if they had not messed with predictions of the future, they would NOT be considered FALSE PROPHETS.146 I find myself predicting the end times based on when the Anti-Christ sets up an image of himself in the temple, 3 1⁄2 years into the tribulation period and it’s all in the scriptures; but I am reluctant to expound on it even though I see a time line revealed.

In the end times the Anti-Christ will have his own false prophet who will do SIGNS and WONDERS and quote the scriptures and many will be drawn to him.147

138 Acts 13:6 - False prophet named Bar-Jesus NOTE: Bar means Son, so the man was the son of a man named Jesus. 139 Revelation 2:20 – Jezebel called herself a prophet; misleading
140 Acts 8:9 – Simon the Magician boasted he was someone great
141 1 Kings 13:18 – A lying prophet tricked God’s Prophet

142 Deuteronomy 13:1-3 – God will test you using FALSE Prophets -- 1 John 4:1 - Do not believe every spirit - TEST THE SPIRITS 143 Matthew 7:16 - You will know them by their fruits -- Numbers 12:6 – Messages made known by visions and dreams
144 1 Kings 22:11 – Zedekiah proclaimed victory - False Prophet
145 1 Kings 22:17 – Micaiah warned of defeat – True Prophet

146 Matthew 24:36 – No one knows the EXACT day or hour of His return
147 Revelation 19:20 – There will be a false prophet in the End time -- Matthew 7:15 - Beware of False Prophets pretending to be Good -- Matthew 24:11 - Many False Prophets will rise up and deceive many -- Jeremiah 23:30-32 – False Prophet steals testimony of others

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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Understand that the Prophet’s work in the beginning will be good stuff with only slight variations from the Bible Scriptures; many will follow THE MAN, instead of THE WORD.148

Follow the MAN: The People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ was founded in 1955 by Jim Jones. Members of the “People’s Temple” followed Jim Jones to a place in Guyana known as "Jonestown". They had stopped following THE WORD and were following THE MAN and on November 18, 1978 under Jim Jones direction, drank the ‘COOL AID” and 920 people died in an organized mass suicide/killing. FOLLOW THE WORD, NOT THE MAN. When you stop reading the Word you will NOT even notice that the “fence posts” don’t line up anymore and you will drink the “COOL AID.”

Sampson – Did it his way
Sampson was called by God before he was ever born to take the Nazirite vow and be a judge

over Israel.149 Although Sampson was a Judge in Israel, he did not seek God in his actions; far from it, According to Josephus the Jewish Historian, he became full of pride and arrogance stating that God had nothing to do with his success, although later he finally did seek forgiveness.

Sampson did not check with God about Delilah; he only saw her outward beauty and wanted her. Without God’s guidance a holy wedlock can become an unholy deadlock. Sampson not only intermarried with a Philistine woman, but she was also a prostitute; bringing shame to his parents TWICE over.150 However God was planning to use this marriage for His own ultimate end.

Thousands of Philistine warriors could not bring Samson down, but one lone harlot ensnared him. This unholy marriage cost him his strength, his liberty, his eyes and finally his life. As Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that workin’ for you Sampson?”

Josephus 8:300 – Sampson slew 1,000 with a jaw bone of an ass 300 Samson broke his bonds asunder and catching up the jawbone of an ass that lay down at his feet, fell upon his enemies, and smiting them with his jawbone slew a thousand of them, and put the rest to flight and into great disorder

Josephus 9:301 – Sampson became proud and vaunted himself 301 Upon this slaughter Samson was too proud of what he had performed and aside that this did not come to pass by the assistance of God, but that his successes was to be ascribed to this own courage and vaunted himself, that it was out of a dread of him that some of his enemies fell, and the rest ran away upon his use of the jawbone.

Josephus 9:302 – Samson asked forgiveness for what he said. 302 But when a great thirst came upon him, he considered that human courage is nothing, and bare testimony that all is to be ascribed to God, and besought him that he would not be angry at anything he had said.

Josephus 11:306 – Delilah was a harlot
306 However he at length transgressed the laws of his country, and altered his own regular way of living, and imitated the strange customs of foreigners, which thing was the beginning of his miseries; for among the philistines he fell in love with a woman that was a harlot; her named was Delilah, and he lived with her.

148 Mark 13:22 - False Prophets will perform signs and wonders -- 2 Peter 2:1 – There will be False Prophets among the people
149 Judges 13:2-5 - Sampson called to judge before his birth
150 Judges 14:3a – Delilah was not of their race nor faith. -- Judges 14:3b – Get me that woman for me to be my wife -- 1 Peter 3:3-4 – Beauty should come from within not outward -- Judges 16:10 – Delilah was treacherous; a marriage made in Hell

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Prophets Today
Prophets Today FORTH TELL of what has already been written in the sacred scriptures, they lift

up and praise the attributes of God and His Son JESUS CHRIST; they speak the concepts written in the Bible into men for the building up; edification, exhortation, and for their encouragement, comfort and consolation.

The function of Prophet was given for the “PERFECTING” of the Believer and the building up of the Church. Since we still need to build up the Church and we will not be perfected until the return of Christ; till then, we most certainly still need the function of a Prophet. God has written down His Words so that everyone can know His Will in their life; they can study for themselves like the “Sons of the Prophets” did. There are no new revelations, just new enlightenment.

GodHimselfplacedtheFUNCTIONofProphetatthetopoftheNTChurchcallings.151 Thegifts and calling of God are IRREVOCABLE.152 It’s in the Book even if your Church says that the gifts and calling have ceased.

Our SALVATION is not based on Church doctrine, but on our FAITH in JESUS CHRIST plus nothing else, and that includes Church Tradition. When I read some of the extraordinary commentaries written by students of the Word, I see at work the qualities of the function of a Prophet although they would never call themselves a prophet. They don’t prophesy as such, but they do exhort, edify, comfort the reader and lift up the attributes of God153 and expound on the scriptures, digging up nuggets of gold. Matthew Henry, Merrill C. Tenney, J. Vernon McGee, Finis Jennings Dake.

In the end times God will send two witnesses who will prophesize to the Jews; and as a bonus the Gentiles will get in on it too, and then the end will come shortly thereafter.154 I’m so ready !

The Take Away

The Spirit of Prophecy bears witness to Jesus. In the last days God said He will pour out his Spirit on all people. “Your sons and daughters will PROPHESY”.155 All Christians have the potential to be able to Prophesy. 156 The Holy Spirit receives the Words directly from Christ and speaks them to us.157 It was the desire of Moses that every Believer be able to prophesy.158 Paul encouraged every Believer to seek this gift and implied that they all had the ability to receive the prophetic inspiration of the Holy Spirit and they should be eager to operate in this gift.159 (Kind of messes with your theology doesn’t.) As we read the scriptures, under the Spirit’s inspiration, we will receive the reiteration of truths already written in scripture receiving NEW ENLIGHTENMENT; not new revelation.

HOLD ON, while there will be no Fresh Revelations about God in Jesus Christ or the way of Salvation or the principals of Christian living, there is NO REASON that God will not use Prophesy to guide, warn or encourage an individual, a Church or even a Nation.

Do not scoff at prophecies when you hear them, but TEST everything that is said.160 Hold on to what is good and discard that which does not line up with the Fence Posts of scriptures.

151 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 – God appointed the FUNCTION of Prophet -- Matthew 10:19-20 – The Holy Spirit will speak prophetically through you
152 Romans 11:29 - The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable
153 1 Corinthians 14:3 Prophecy is for Edification, Exhortation and Comfort -- Ephesians 4:12 – The Gifts are for the PERFECTING of the saints

154 Revelation 11:3 – In the end times, Two Witnesses will prophesy
155 Joel 2:28 - Your sons and daughters will prophesy
156 1 Corinthians 14:31 – All Christians potentially can Prophesy
157 John 16:13-15 – The Holy Spirit will speak the words of Christ to us 158 Numbers 11:29 – MOSES wished all Christians were Prophets

159 1 Corinthians 14:1 - Desire the gift of Prophecy -- 1 Corinthians 14:39 - Be eager to prophesy; to forth tell
160 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 - Do not scoff at prophecies, but TEST them -- Revelation 19:10 - The SPIRIT OF PROPHECY bears witness of Jesus

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Chapter 4.6

Jonah and the Whale

What’s up with Jonah running from God? Did Jonah Die and was resurrected by God?

First Word

Question: Why was Jonah, the prophet of God, so reluctant to do what God said? The assemblers of the Bible refer to Jonah as a “minor prophet”, not because of his importance, but because of the size of his writings. His name means “Dove” (harmless). His father’s name was Amittai which means “My Truth”; So Jonah was the son of “truth”. He was from a small village of Gath Hepher a region with a large non-Hebrew population which might be the reason God called him specifically to Nineveh. His prophetic messages were not for the Jews, but for the Non-Jews of the time. Since the word “Jew” stems from the tribe of Judah only, it would be more correct to say his messages were for non-Israelites.

Here’s the story; God tells Jonah to get up and go to Nineveh and preach to them about their wickedness,162 but Jonah had a lot of emotions about this. He had a number of reasons that seem honorable and valid to him that makes him reluctant to do what God had said.

Nineveh was synonymous with the word EVIL. They worshipped Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. They were ruthless and cruel with war crimes; impaling survivors on stakes; erecting pillars of skulls; wearing decapitated heads around their necks, not to mention that they were also the enemy of Israel.

Jonah was jealous for his country, in that he wanted only Israel to be blessed of God, not other nations, particularly those that lived in sin, idolatry and rebellion against God. For Heathen Nineveh to be taken into God’s favor, it would be a slur; a dishonor to Israel; who were a peculiar people to God. Although Jonah was a prophet, he was also a patriot of Israel and would surely prefer that NinevehgetsmushedlikeacockroachunderGod’sfoot. JonahalsoknewthatifNinevehrepented, God would have mercy on them and would relent.

Consider this: A true prophet, the oracle of God is never wrong, and an unfulfilled prophecy would in fact make him look like a false prophet. Think about that.

Jonah doesn’t see it God’s way and figures that if he “sort of” disappears, Nineveh will get what they deserve and Israel will be set apart as God’s only blessed people. So he goes in the opposite direction to Joppa and hops on a slow boat to Tarshish to avoid a confrontation with God.

161 Jonah 3:4 - He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 162 Jonah 1:1-2- Go to Nineveh and Preach against its wickedness

His writing has only one prophetic word mentioned; “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be over thrown.” 161 That’s it; that’s the whole prophecy in the whole book.

So the inclusion of this book in our Bible must have a deeper meaning than this single prophecy itself. While there are several spin off studies, we will look at just two; Jonah’s reluctance and what occurred inside that big fish.

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God knows where Jonah is and sends a great wind to trouble the boat. The crew figures out Jonah is the cause of their trouble and throws him overboard and a giant fish swallows him and Jonah is inside this “sea monster” 163 for three days.

As a side note: The crew gives up calling out to their pagan gods to save them and become true worshipers of the Living God of Jonah because of what they witnessed with the calming of the winds after chunking Jonah overboard. Their salvation is a word study into itself.

This brings us up to the most controversial part of the story; Jonah inside the Whale. Jonah 1:17 – A great fish swallowed Jonah
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent
storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

7 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

17 BUT THE LORD PROVIDED A GREAT FISH TO SWALLOW JONAH, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. NIV

Belief System overload
So here’s where we are; Jonah is in this big fish and enzymes and acids are released to digest him,

not to mention that there is probably very little air to breath. The stomach also contains bones and shells that crush the body of the prey. He is in the belly of hell.

Jonah 2:1-6 – In deep waters; Sea weed wrapped around my head

1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; sea weed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. BUT YOU BROUGHT MY LIFE UP FROM THE PIT, O LORD my God.

What I about to say next is going to mess with your BS, your Belief System. It was reported that in 1891 a sailor from a capsized whaling ship was ingested by a sperm whale. This whale was subsequently caught and the sailor was found alive with no injuries except his skin was permanently and totally white from the gastric juices. So we can now see how IT IS POSSIBLE that Jonah lived for THREE DAYS inside the big fish.

But I don’t buy it; I believe scripture implies that after three days and three nights JONAH HAD DIED and was RESURRECTED from the dead by the Living God. Let’s look at what Jesus said about himself. He said that He would be DEAD IN THE GRAVE for three days and then come forth again JUST LIKE JONAH as a “Sign” to the nations.

Luke 11:30 – Jonah is a Sign just like Jesus was (HE DIED) 30 For as Jonah was a SIGN to the Ninevites,

so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. NIV

Matthew 12:40 – Jesus will be like Jonah was three days & nights

40 For AS JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the belly of a huge fish, SO THE SON OF MAN WILL BE three days and

three nights IN THE HEART OF THE EARTH. NIV

163 Isaiah 27:1- A coiling, withering SEA MONSTER called Leviathan Page 32

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Let’s see what happened next. The meal of Jonah alamode sea weed did not go down well without some tartar sauce and it made the big fish pretty sick and it beached itself on the sand coughing and threw up; there laying in the sand, sea weed and vomit was Jonah, bleached white and smelling pretty bad, but giving thanks and praising God.

Interestingly, the winds and the great fish obeyed the commands of God, but Jonah did not. Then God said (paraphrased), “Look Jonah, I need you to go over to Nineveh and take my message of repentance. Israel is not my only people; I want a peculiar people in all nations”.

The trip to Nineveh was about five hundred miles and walking would have taken Jonah about five weeks to accomplish, but maybe only a month by donkey or God could have zapped him there.164 Anyway, once he got there he preached throughout the city for three days. Other writings indicate God had already prepared Nineveh’s minds with two plagues and a total eclipse of the sun (darkness) which was symbolic of the coming JUDGMENT of God.

Jonah 2: 10 – The big fish got sick; puked up Jonah on dry land

10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto

dry land. NIV

Jonah 3:1-2 – Second request; Go to Nineveh preach judgment

1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a SECOND TIME:
2 "GO TO THE GREAT CITY OF NINEVEH and proclaim to it the

message I give you." NIV

Jonah 3:3 – Jonah gets with the program

3 JONAH OBEYED THE WORD OF THE LORD and went to Nineveh. 5 The Ninevites believed God.
6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, HE HAD COMPASSION and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

NIV

So here is where we are; on top of the plagues Nineveh has just experienced; the Ninevites, have been hearing for weeks that the prophet of God was on his way, and now they see this totally white, stinking, previously dead man walking into town with sea weed wrapped around him crying out to them to repent or God is “goin’ to get’em”.

He immediately drew a crowd in the streets and the town’s people repented, put on sack cloth, sat down in ashes and declared a fast for themselves as well as for their animals. When the word reached the King, terror gripped him and he said, “Hey, let’s all repent and change our ways, WHO KNOWS, GOD MIGHT JUST CHANGE HIS MIND and have mercy on our city”.

They all did, and God did.

This REVIVAL ticks off Jonah and he wants to die. In his own mind he looks like a fool because he knew that God would have mercy on the REPENTING Ninevites.165 To make things even worse, here heathen Nineveh had repented; but God’s chosen people of Israel had not. He was pretty bummed out. Jonah has lots of emotions concerning anger, justice, the full measure of punishment due, and the mystery of the compassion of God.

164 Acts 8:40- Philip was zapped to the city of Azotus
165 Jonah 4:1-3 – I told you so; I knew that with your compassion you would relent

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So Jonah goes on top of a hill, builds himself a little shelter from the sun and waits forty days to see if God will blow up the city. You can read the rest for yourself; I have covered my two points: Why Jonah was reluctant to go to Nineveh and that he actually died and was resurrected.

Believe it or not, it’s in the Book

The Take Away

MancannothidefromGod;theGiftsandcallingofGodareirrevocable.166 JonahDIDDIE inside the whale and was resurrected by God as a sign and shadow of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jonah’s disobedience cut off the fellowship and grace of God, but his prayers of repentance reinstated him. Note:ItwasGodthatstartedthereconciliationprocessofmercywithJonah,Hepursued him.167 God hears our prayers in the blackest places on the bottom of the sea of turmoil.168

Our Situation may look hopeless and our condition may seem to exclude us from God’s mercy and grace, but this is a lie from the pit of hell. Draw near to God and reach out, He is already there with compassion, mercy and grace.169 The message here is man can walk, even run in the opposite

direction from God, but God is willing to receive repenting sinners and repenting saints back.
Once under God’s umbrella we are still wet bearing the effects of sin and must have time to dry off, but we ARE saved and out of the rain. The scriptures teach that Jonah felt strong about his people just like in the time of Jesus; when the believing Jews wanted the Gospel to be exclusive to them, but God has other plans. We have denominations today that say that they are God’s only

chosen sheep.
God wants a peculiar people that are devoted to Him and He started with Israel, but He did not

want them isolated from the rest of the world.170 Salvation is not exclusive to a few chosen, but to all nations that would receive the message of JESUS CHRIST.171

The Essenes who lived in the Qumran desert community, where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, had separated themselves and were totally devoted to God. Jesus did not rebuke them, nor join them, but took his message to the streets of the Towns.

The lesson is; God will discipline disobedience.
The lesson is; man’s ability to repent; God’s willingness to forgive and the changing of fate.
The lesson is; God’s plan will be accomplished in spite of human imperfection, weakness, disobedience and attitude.
The lesson is; the most unpromising mission fields are often the most responsive. The Ninevites need was great as they had no one with a moral compass to lead them.

I HAVE OTHER SHEEP THAT ARE NOT OF THIS SHEEP PEN.

I MUST BRING THEM ALSO. John 10:14-16

I seem to find myself with a heart that wants to defend those such as; the prophet Jonah who knew that Nineveh was God’s and Israel’s enemy, and that God’s compassion would repent and not blow them up. I seem to understand when the Israelites had a heart to worship and made the golden calf, and then there’s Judas’ whose desire was to just force God’s earthly kingdom to come now.

Somehow, I feel they were all just imperfect and ignorant of God’s Devine plan, thus misguided. I ponder sometimes, why God has remained so faithful and patient with us. Just saying I feel if you belong to an organization, to really be a member, you should study the “covenants” and restrictions, rules and regulations. You may or may not really be a member in good standing.

166 Romans 11:29 – God’s call is irrevocable
167 Matthew 18:12 – God will hunt down the one that is His and is lost 168 Mark 2:17 – It is the sick that need a doctor
169 James 4:8 – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you
170 Titus 2:14 – God wants a peculiar people
171 2 Peter 3:9 – God is not willing that any should perish

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Chapter 4.7

Balaam’s Ass

King Balak, The Teachings of Balaam Balaam’s conversation with his Ass Hebrews Hormones, & Strange Foods Set ups, Back room deals, Vote buying Kickbacks, Pay offs, Promotions of honor

First Word

Have you ever heard of a Senator or a Congressman who was sent to represent the people’s interest and they “sort of” got what they were promised, but his decisions seem to favor more that which enriched him personally. It’s interesting, that in scripture, there is much spoken of about Congressman Balaam and how he SCREWED the Hebrews, but there is no detail on how he did it.

This study is to EXPOSE HOW the Congressman SET UP the Hebrews in order to get a PAY OFF.

Who was Balaam?
Balaam in the Greek means “subverter”, or “devourer of the people”. In Hebrew Bil’am

means “One NOT of the people”; a “Foreigner”. He was from the city of Pethor beyond the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia. He’s father was Beor who at some point was a king of Edom. (Balaam sold his skills for the proper price.)

During his time, God spoke through “Oracles” to communicate with His people. Whatever an Oracle spoke would happen. Balaam had a widespread reputation of being able to prophesy curses and blessings upon people. He could marshal up unseen forces into battle. Real or not, the magical art of “a curse by a prophet” could depress and demoralize an entire army.

Balaam was known as a “seer of the gods” and skilled in divination and performative acts. He was a heathen soothsayer and a Prophet of God at the same time. He did not realize that the God of Israel was not like the pagan deities that he was use to MANIPULATING. In the beginning Balaam was a TRUE PROPHET of God and enjoyed the privileges of being able to communicate with God;hegave16propheciesfromGod. HewasfaithfultoreportjustwhatGodhadsaidandrejected honors and riches. He was not afraid to incur the wrath of King Balak for saying only what God had told him. God appeared to Balaam on “seven” occasions and by my count, Balaam offered sacrifices to God three times.

Everything about Balaam was spoken of as “Good” until at some point he yielded to his secret desire for a reward, then he backslid and became just another soothsayer seeking payment; an abomination to God.172 The spirit of the Lord left him, just like it did King Saul

Soothsayer is a term used for “Sayers of the truth” and is tied to the term Divination which is a system of ascertaining “The divine will of God”, such as is allied to idolatry, and in necromancy, which evokes the dead and in astrology, magic and secret sacred spells. Balaam typifies the attitude of Israel who had the same privilege of communicating with God, and knew the law, but they did not DO the law.” Be doers of the word not just hearers. It’s in the Book

To help you keep up with who’s who. President Balak is the King in consternation over Israel’s invasion.173 Congressman Balaam is God’s Oracle with conflicts between magic and providence.

172 Numbers 22:7 – Balaam took a fee for his divination -- Joshua 13:22 – Balaam was later called a soothsayer. 173 Genesis 36:32 – Balak was the king of Edom

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Setting the Stage

The King of Moab; Balak heard that the Israelites were camped along the Jordan near them and had gut wrenching fear and terror, a sickening dread that they would attack and slaughter the Moabites and the Midianites just like they had done to the Amorites. He did not know that God had already prohibited Israel from attacking the territory of Moab.

He had heard about the Oracle Balaam; that whoever he “bound with an inflexible curse” would be cursed, so Balak sent for Balaam to use his secret arts to alter Israel’s destiny. Balaam implied that he would go with them and curse Israel, but it was God that refused to let him go, so he turned down the REWARDS and sent the messengers packing back to King Balak. It should be noted, that he omitted telling them Israel was already blessed of God.

1) The first trip request: The journey was some 500 miles; about 20 days between Pethor and Moab. From the first trip and to the second return trip, gave Balaam about 40 days to think about ALL the REWARDS that they had offered.

2) The second trip request promised more goodies and a promotion to great honor; Balaam thought about it and said “stick around” for the night and he would check with God again. The book says in the NT that the Soothsayer Simon tried to buy the Holy Spirit; Peter said. ”Thy money perish with thee,” hold that thought.

President Balak told Congressman Balaam that if he voted the way he wanted him to vote that he would see to it that he would get the real estate land deal he was looking for and a bunch of tax free unmarked laundered 100 dollar bills. Quickly Congressman Balaam said he would check with God again, just in case He had something more or different to say.

What Balaam states on every occasion is to the letter of what God said, but in his heart he is checkingwithGodagainhopingHewillsaysomethingdifferentsohecangetsomeSTUFF. We are like that; we have God’s word and we know what to do, but we just need to check just one more time to see if there is another way to interpret what God has said so we can get what we want. If you TORTURE the Bible enough it will CONFESS anything you want it to.

God is not like man; He will not lie or change His mind: If He said it, He will do it.174

Numbers 22:12 – God said “Don’t go; the Israelites are blessed

12 But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, BECAUSE THEY ARE BLESSED. NIV

God is Angry

This brings us up to where God has already given Balaam His instructions and knows Balaam wants Him to change His vote so he can get some CASH. Balaam is serving two masters.

So God finally says OK, go with them; but only say what I tell you to say. He was to “rise up” to go ONLY if the men came to him, but Balaam could not wait for them to come and rose up to go immediately and God was angry with him knowing that “the reward” was really what was in his heart.

Balaam gets on his “dumb ass” and proceeds down the trail and God puts an Angel in the path to give Balaam a haircut; to part his hair with the Angel’s sword. God gets Balaam’s attention when his “dumb ass” sees the Angel with his sword drawn.

NOTE:TheswordwasdrawnagainstBalaam,hisassandperhapsIsraeltoo. Theterm“dumb” was to point out that the ass could hear, but not speak; although Balaam was a specialist in animal divination, it was God that opened the mouth of the Ass to speak, not Balaam. The ass proceeds to have a conversation with Balaam who does not think it strange at all that his ass is talking to him. I was personally amazed that the ass does not preach; but only complains.175 The Lord opened the eyes of Balaam just as he opened the mouth of the Ass. - Balaam had to learn from his Ass before he could learn from God. God can use any circumstance to communicate His message.

The divine purposes of the Almighty cannot be thwarted.

174 Numbers 23:19 – God does not change His mind or lie like a man
175 2 Peter 2:15-16 – The dumb ass fusses in the voice of a man -- Numbers 22:28-29 – God opens the mouth of Balaam’s Ass

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God used a dumb ass in a humorous way to humiliate the one who was supposed to be a SEER I think it’s neat to see how God used a “dumb ass”; the simple thing, “the weaker vessel” to show His Omnipotence; His Glory and His Power. Finally Balaam “Sees the Light” shining on the sword of the angel and with superficial repentance confesses with lip service that he has sinned as he ponders THIS DIFFERENT AND UN-MANIPULATED GOD of the Israelites. 176

With God’s permission he continues to travel on to King Balak to tell him what God has told him to say. Ordinarily Balaam could say pretty much whatever he wanted to say; but not this time; however, Balaam has “another plan” working in his spirit.

NOTE: Balaam has disrespect for God’s word and integrity; he lacked a desire to do God’s perfect will. In hypocrisy he thinks he persuades God to let him go. He didn’t wait like he was told; he coveted a reward. Balaam became stubborn and pervasive and didn’t REALLY repent.

Balaam obeys – Sort of
NOTE: It should be pointed out that Balaam is the only known GENTILE, being endowed with

prophetic gifts. He pronounced four blessing on the Israelites; gave 16 prophecies and even prophesizedaboutthebirthofJesusChrist.177 It’sbecauseofBalaam’swordsthatgleamsofDevine Light came into the darkness of the heathen nations. When Balaam saw the camp of Israel; God changed his planned Cures into Blessings.178

Josephus the Jewish Historian and High Priest was born the year of the Crucifixion of Jesus; he was given by the Roman occupiers, all the Hebrew scrolls to write the History of the Nation of Israel. This is the account of what Josephus says actually happened; and I encourage you to get Josephus’s book “The Antiquities of the Jews” for your library; it’s amazing.

The Devine Directive: God told Balaam to “go with them, but do only what I tell you.” The spiral down for Balaam begins when he chooses to address King Balak even though God did not tell him to do so. Balaam has his mind on all the goods that King Balak had promised him if he would just curse the Israelites which God has forbidden him to do. So Balaam has figured another way to do what God said, and still get the goods too. PLAN “B”

Some students of the Word and commentaries believe Balaam went away un-rewarded, empty handed; but not Josephus. Congressman Balaam speaks out of his ass again. In a nut shell, he said that he could not curse the Hebrews, but he had Plan B; a stumbling block of idolatry and immorality that would cause the Hebrews to sin against God and cause Him to withdraw his protection and blessings from them. This is known as “the matter of Baal-Peor”

Josephus – Chapter 6
6:127 And spake thus to them – O Balak, and you Midianites that are

here present (for I am obliged even without the will of God to gratify you), it is true no ENTIRE destruction can seize upon the nation of the Hebrews, neither by war, nor by plague, nor by scarcity of the fruits of the earth, nor can any other unexpected accident be their ENTIRE ruin.

6:128 For the providence of God is concerned to preserve them from such a misfortune; nor will it permit any such calamity to come upon them whereby they may ALL perish; BUT some small misfortunes, and those for a short time, whereby they may appear to be brought low may still befall them, but after than they will flourish again 6:129a so that if you have a mind TO GAIN A VICTORY OVER THEM for a short space of time YOU WILL OBTAIN IT BY FOLLOWING MY DIRECTIONS.

176 Numbers 22:22 – God is angry and sent an angel to part Balaam’s hair -- Numbers 22:31 – Balaam finally sees the light; sort of 177 Numbers 24:17 – Balaam prophesizes about the birth of Jesus Christ
178 Numbers 24:2-4 – God changed his curses into blessings.

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The Balaam Plan according to Josephus
This is really going to mess with your BELIEF SYSTEM; this is where Balaam spells out for the

Moabites and the Midianites to prostitute their beautiful daughters to the Hebrews; invite them into their homes and indulge in their new strange foods with potions offered to idols and after a while they will fall in love with them and want to marry them.

But then withdraw the daughters and the Hebrews will follow, but they cannot have them as wives unless they reject their One God known only to the nation of Israel and accept the gods that are known to many nations. Sounds like a LONG CON; A deeply contrived scheme of seduction. Instead of open war, they have plotted the ruin of Israel through CORRUPTION and IDOLATRY.

Understand this; the Congressman was a good guy and followed the precepts of God till he started thinking about compensation which he previously had refused. A slippery path. After giving President Balak “the plan”, Congressman Balaam departs with his PAY OFF and starts his return trip home, but he never makes it there and remains among the Midianites till his death; which wasn’t very far away.179

“The Way of Balaam” is a NT condemnation of those who in GREED will tempt and teach others to compromise their faith and moral standards for the hope of a reward.

Josephus - Chapter 6
6:129b Do you therefore set out THE HANDSOMEST of such of

your daughters as are most eminent for beauty, and proper to force and conquer the modesty of those that behold them, and these decked and trimmed to the highest degree you are able. Then do you send them to be near the Israelite’s camp and give them in charge, that when the young men of the Hebrews desire their company, they allow it them.

6:130 and when they see that they are enamored of them, let them take their leaves; and if they entreat them to stay, let them not give their consent till they have persuaded them to LEAVE OFF THEIR OBEDIENCE to their own laws and the worship of that God who established them, and to worship the gods of the Midianites and Moabites; for by this means God will be angry at them.

The Plan works

Don’t get the idea that this just happened on one occasion; it was habitual; what slowly started out as a visit for a little intercourse turned into an unbridled indulgence of lust. They voluntarily ate their food and bowed down to their gods and participated in boundless revelry. This was one whole army division out of four that followed the women.

The Hebrews hormones were in full ripeness and loved the women and wanted to “intermarry” withthem;whichGod’lawhadforbiddensuchtohappen. Theforeignwomenagreetomarrythe Hebrews only if they renounced their God, their laws, their ways of worship and worship only the gods of their land; AND THEY DID even though it was in contradiction to their own laws and teachings.

Numbers 25:2 – They ate and bowed down to their gods.

2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the

people did eat, and BOWED DOWN TO THEIR GODS. KJV

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Josephus - Chapter 6
7:132 but they had brought them to be enamored of them, and their inclinations to them were grown to ripeness, they begin to think of departing from them; then it was that these men became greatly disconsolate at the women’s departure, and they were urgent with them not to leave them, but begged they would continue there, and become their wives; and they promised them that should be owned as mistresses of all they had.
7:133 This they said with an oath, and called God for the arbitrator of what they promised; and this with tears in their eyes.
8:137 “If then”, said they, “If this be your resolution; since you make use of such custom and conduct of life as are entirely different from all other men, insomuch that your kinds of food are peculiar to yourselves and your kinds of drink not common to others,
IT WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY IF YOU WOULD HAVE US FOR YOUR WIVES that you do withal worship our gods; nor can there be any other demonstration of the kindness which you say you already have, and promise to have hereafter to us, than this that
you worship the same gods that we do”.
8:138 For has anyone reason to complain, that now you are come into this country, you should worship the proper gods of the same country? Especially while our gods are common to all men, and your such as belong to nobody else but your selves.
9:139 Now the young men were induced by the fondness they had for these women, to think they spake very well; so they gave themselves up to what they persuaded them, and transgressed their own laws; and supposing there were many gods, and resolving that they would sacrifice to them according to their laws of that country which ordained them, they both were delighted with their strange food, and went on to do everything that the women would have them do, though in contradiction to their own laws.

It Got Worse

SENATOR Zimri; a highly respected tribal leader, married a Midianite woman and took her to his tent; he stood up in front of the Hebrews and said interracial marriage WAS OK for the Hebrews.

Listen to this: The Senator said “Nobody should deprive us of the sweetness of life, which consists in acting according to our own wills and is the right of free men” and the young men with “Itching Ears” rallied to him. WOE to those who call evil good and darkness light.

It was shortly after this that some valiant men took the sword and killed the Senator the tribal leader and his wife and also killed all those who were PARTNERS in the wickedness; those that could have stopped the young men from this sin, but did not and became ENABLERS and partakers in the same sin.

God sent a plague (Devine Justice) to kill all those remaining that were not killed by the virtuous men. Like the amputation of a diseased limb, Twenty four thousand young Hebrew army men that had sinned lost their life that day and the plague was stopped. The contagiousness of their corrupt manners in the camp was ended and the land was purged.

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and darkness light

20 WOE TO THOSE WHO CALL EVIL GOOD AND GOOD EVIL, who

put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter. NIV

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Josephus Chapter 6
11:145 But Zimri Rose up after him, and said...
11:146 Thou deprive us of the sweetness of life, which consists in acting according to our own wills, and is the right of free men.
11:148 I have married, as thou sayest rightly, a strange woman.
11:152 Phineas, a man in other respects better than the rest of the young men.... Was greatly troubled at what was done by Zimri
11:153 So he came into Zimri’s tent, and slew him with his Javelin.
12:154 Upon which all young men that had a regard to virtue, and aimed to do a glorious action, imitated Phineas’s boldness, and slew those that were found to be guilty of the same crime with Zimri. Accordingly, many of those that had transgressed perished by the magnanimous valor of these young men.
12:155 and the rest all perished by a plague, which distemper God himself inflicted upon them. So that all those their kindred, who , instead of hindering them from such wicked actions, as they ought to have done, and persuaded them to go on, WERE ESTEEMED BY GOD AS PARTNERS IN THEIR WICKEDNESS AND DIED. Accordingly there perished out of the army no fewer than 24 thousand at this time.

Wipe them out

Baal Peor: Baal was the god that the Moabites and the Midianites worshiped on the top of mount of Peor and which the young Hebrews had voluntarily accepted.180 Moses sees what has happened and mounts up the troupes and goes against Midian and kills everyone; he cut off the heads of the ring leaders and hangs them up openly in the sun before the Lord to turn His anger away from Israel and stop the curse.181 They took spoil of everything that they had as Moses had commanded except for 32,000 virgins who were taken captive.

All the kings including President Balak are killed and even Congressman Balaam who ran greedily for the reward became collateral damage too.182

Note: None of Israel’s valiant army received any harm. “Touch not my anointed.” 183 Balaam started off with just his own error, but then he taught others to error. Many Public Servants start off in the right way, but go into error because of money; the desire for the wages of unrighteousness, then they teach the new ones the same thing. What a wicked web we weave.

Josephus Chapter 7
1:159 Now Moses sent an army against the land of Midian for the causes aforementioned
1:161 When they were come, and they had joined battle with them, an immense multitude of the Midianites fell; nor could they be numbered, they were so very many and among them fell all their kings.
1:163 (The commander) came back, bringing with him an army that had received no harm, and a great deal of prey; fifty-two thousand beeves (plural of beef), seventy-five thousand six hundred sheep, sixty thousand asses, with an immense quantity of gold and silver furniture, which the Midianites made use in their houses; for they were so wealthy, that they were very luxurious. There were also led captive about thirty- two thousand virgins.

180 Revelation 2:14 – The Doctrine of Balaam; a stumbling block to Israel
181 Deuteronomy 4:3 - The LORD destroyed the followers of Baal from among them -- Numbers 25:4 – Cut off their heads and hand them up for a lesson
182 Joshua 13:22 – Balaam lost his life because of greed -- Jude 11 – Balaam ran greedily for reward and perished
183 Psalms 105:15 – Touch not my anointed

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Teachings of Balaam

It is clearly possible to be the mouthpiece of truth, and yet have neither part nor lot in it. Now when you see a rebuke for people following the teaching of Balaam you can understand the trickery anddeceitthattranspiredtocausetheHebrewstosinagainstGod.184 WhatKingBalakmeantfora cursewasturnedintoablessingfortheHebrews.185 EventhoughtheHebrewsstumbledandawhole army of deceived Hebrew soldiers lost their lives; the nation as a whole was not utterly cast down.186

Now the Hebrew soldiers thought there was probably many gods and it seemed logical to them that they could worship anyway they wanted too; just so they worshipped. All the spokes in a wheel lead to the same hub. That’s the LIE of Satan today; there are many ways to worship God.

Ignorance is no excuse of the Law. You can get a speeding ticket even if you didn’t know that the speed limit had changed. There are consequences for sin even if you are ignorant of God’s law. If the blind leads the blind; they BOTH will fall into the ditch.187

Balaam’s Ass

A SET UP: This study was not really about Balaam’s Ass; that’s just to get your attention. It’s about how Satan doesn’t just happen to trick us; he plans; schemes and connives and contrives long term catastrophes that even the elect would be fooled if that were possible; it’s called the LONG CON.188

If you are not studying God’s word, then you are just having a conversation with your ass. You are stuck with your own BS, your BELIEVE SYSTEM, your traditions and just what you have heard others say.189 Study to show yourself approved of God; handling His word correctly. Don’t be tossed about; blown here and there by every wave of new teachings.190

Know the doctrines of God, Preserve them, and Teach them Generation to Generation.191

The Take Away

Balaam was supposed to be a SEER, but was so engrossed in REWARD that he could not see the Angel of the Lord about to part his hair. His DUMB ASS did see the Angel and three times tried to get out of the way. God uses the weaker things to confound the wise.

The purpose of this event was to embarrass the SEER, that his Ass had more insight than he did. With his attention totally on God, Balaam understands that it’s best not say anything that God doesn’t tell him to say; the “present” situation scares him into compliance.

Religion was everywhere; the Agnostic “free thinkers” worshiped the gods and deities of their own home town. If they went to another town, they were duty bound to show respect to the deities in that town; some of these had temple prostitutes that for some reason were quite popular and it was this mentality that Balaam used to seduce a fourth of the armies of Israel. This concept is in total opposition to the GOD OF ISRAEL.

Balaam denied God’s precepts and taught others to do the same. He slipped in among the people and led them into idolatry and sexual immorality. The blind leading the blind; Zimri; a highly respected tribal leader; supported Balaam and said “Nobody should deprive us of the sweetness of life, which consists in acting according to our own wills and is the right of free men. Sounds good doesn’t it. He became a PARTNER and an ENABLER in the willful defiance of God’s Laws.192

ALL were slain by the sword or by the plague; and all Israel was purged of its willful sin.

184 Revelation 2:14 – The teachings of Balaam – Sexual immorality -- 2 Peter 2:15 – Balaam loved the money wickedness brought 185 Deuteronomy 23:4-5 – God turned the curse into a blessing
186 Psalms 37:24 – We may fall, but we are not utterly cast down
187 Luke 6:39-40 – The Blind leads the blind; will they not both fall into a pit

188 Ephesians 6:11-12- Schemes of the Devil; Spiritual forces of evil -- Mark 13:22 – False Prophets show Signs and wonders to seduce the believer
189 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – Men will seek their own desires instead of sound doctrine
190 Ephesians 4:14-15 – STUDY, Don’t be tossed about; blown here and there -- 1 Timothy 4:16 – Watch and preserve your life and doctrine --2 Timothy 2:15 – Study the word; handle the truth correctly -- Titus 2:1 – Teach sound doctrine generation to generation 191 2 Corenthians 11:13 – False workers masquerading as Christians -- Titus 1:9 – You must know sound doctrine and refute those that oppose it

192 1 John 2:16 – LUST of the eyes and LUST of the flesh and PRIDE of life
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Conclusion; Jude, the half-brother of Jesus writes; to contradict the Faith that was once delivered to the Saints involves not only denying our doctrine, but also turning from holiness. Walk in the spirit and you will overcome the temptation of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.193

Jude 3-4 – Balaam slipped in and turned them from holiness

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I FELT I HAD TO WRITE AND URGE YOU to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
4 For CERTAIN MEN whose condemnation was written about long ago HAVE SECRETLY SLIPPED IN AMONG YOU. They are GODLESS MEN, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and DENY JESUS CHRIST our only sovereign and Lord. NIV

193 Galatians 5:16 – Walk in the Spirit to overcome temptation

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Chapter 4.8

Melchizedek

Theophany of Jesus Christ; the Order of Melchizedek

First Word

We can take a look at Melchizedek to find out more about who God is. When we first meet Melchizedek, he is introduced to us in Abraham’s time as the King of Salem (peace). The Book says he lived in “Zion” which is an affectionate name given to Jerusalem as it is located on one of the

hills known as “Mount Zion”.194 This term was also applied to the Temple and the surrounding community. MelchizedekwasmadeliketheSonofGod;hewasaKingandahighpriestforever.195 TheBook says he was without a father or mother, no descendants, having neither beginning nor an ending.196 (Some students of the word think there were just no actual records on the genealogy of Melchizedek.) Since he was made like the son of God, then his characteristics is of the most High God.197 (Other students believe that Melchizedek and Jesus Christ were the same person) (Study on Christophany) Obscure writings have been translated to show that Melchizedek instructed Abraham in the Torah well before it was brought forth on Mount Sinai and taught the concepts of ONE God, a universal Deity; the Father of all. Melchizedek presented teachings about the conduct and organization of the local universe and that another Son of God would come in the flesh, and that he would be born of a woman; he blessed Abraham with prosperity. The Dead Sea Scrolls refer to him as a Devine Being, as Elohim and indicates he will be at the “Day of Atonement” and will atone for the people predestined to him; He will also judge the people.

The Priesthood
There are many scriptures referring to the High Priestly “ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”. This

“higher order” Priesthood was before Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood ever existed. That’s why Abraham gave tithes to him, indicating Melchizedek was superior to him.198

NOTE: Melchizedek resembled God’s son and not the other way around. Melchizedek was a Christophany of Jesus Christ who appeared throughout history. We are made in the physical image of our Spiritual God. So God looks like us in the physical realm, but totally different in the Spiritual realm. His Spirit is invisible to mortal man unless manifested by God for a special purpose. (Christophany) One day we will see Him as He is.

Jesus was not a Levite, nor a Levitical Priest, He was of a “higher order” of Priesthood, that of Melchizedek. This higher priesthood served as a “Type of Christ” and foreshadowed the coming Messiah. God and Jesus existed before all things that were created. God and “Jesus the Word” are One; THEY ARE BOTH GOD; Jesus is our HIGH Priest forever.

194 Psalms 76:2 – Melchizedek dwelled in Zion.
195 Genesis 14:18 – He was the High Priest of the most high God
196 Hebrews 7:3 – Without Father or Mother; no beginning or end
197 Hebrews 7:1-2 – Salem of Salem; King of peace; King of righteousness
198 Hebrews 5:10 – Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchizedek -- Hebrews 5:6 – You are a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchizedek -- Psalms 110:4 – You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek -- Hebrews 7:11 – Melchizedek; Higher order than Aaron Levitical Priesthood -- Hebrews 7:15-16 - Melchizedek priesthood of power and an indestructible life -- Hebrews 6:20 – God the Son is our High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek -- Hebrews 5:10 – Jesus was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek -- Hebrews 5:6 – Jesus confirmed again; You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek

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Chapter 4.9

First Word
This story of War Games is centered on THE STORY OF JOB which all the commentaries say it’s

about his patience, but I don’t think the story is about his patience at all, I think this story is about his Faith and the WAR GAMES for his soul. The theory was, that when the material things of Job are taken away, that God would no longer be able to satisfy his spiritual Soul; all of creation was WATCHING on the side lines to see if Satan was right.

My mom was sick a lot in her 40’s and I noticed that in our living room secretary, she kept an eight volume commentary on Job; she was so interested in how he dealt with his suffering. I cannot fandom what anyone could say about Job that would take eight volumes, but as I listen to Job’s friends talking to him for 30 chapters, I found myself agreeing with what they had to say to Job until I got to the part where God rebukes and challenges their BAD COUNSEL.

My BS, my Belief System was jarred and I felt a need to go back and revisit the book of Job to try to understand his relationship with God. We are going to skip the entire 30 chapters of discourse in the book including the hard partying of his kids199 and concentrate only on the

SUBLIMINAL WAR GAME MESSAGES.
What sets this story apart is the revelation by Satan that there was of a Hedge of Protection that

was placed around Job by God Himself and then there’s the second part; the even more importance of his audience; THE WATCHERS of the War Games.

We are systematically going to unpack; 1) The Angel Satan, 2) The Watchers, 3) The Man Job, 4) Job’s Hedge of Protection and 5) The War Game over Job’s Soul.

The Angel Satan

It’s okay if your BS, your Belief System rejects what I am about to disclose to you, just run with the concept so you can get the plot of the War Game. You will come to embrace this truth later as you see how many other things begin to line up like fence post and make more sense.

I want to take you back to the creation of the first earth age and look at who was present. I won’t teach it here, but it occurred between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 and is called the Gap theory or Lucifer’s flood.

199 Job 1:1 – Job revered God and stayed away from Evil -- Job 1:4 – Job’s kids liked to have fun and PARTY -- Job 1:5 – Job regularly prayed for his children after they partied; for any sin

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

War Games Job and God

The Invisible War, the Accuser, the Watchers God and Job’s Hedge of Protection.

The words “In the beginning” does not refer to the 6 day creation, but refers to the time before this RE-CREATION began. The earth was called “dry land”; so in the beginning God created the heavens and the dry land.

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In the beginning there was only one sovereign will and that was God’s Will, then Satan with his FREE WILL rebelled and thus we now have Two Wills. Satan sought to detach man from God and attach him to himself. While he was successful in detaching man from God; man in his FREE WILL did not attach himself to Satan. Now there are Billions of Wills in the universe. The Gospel message of Jesus Christ was presented to make it possible for man to be re-attached back to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Satan in the first earth age had corrupted the inhabitants of the earth and made them vile, wicked and evil. At some point in eternity past, there was a JUDGMENT of darkness and waters flooded the entire dry land.200 Understand that when this happened there was no light and without light everything perished including the creatures of the deep. The earth became without form and was void.201

The first earth age was the domain of Lucifer, the highest Angel in heaven. He was next to God in authority, he was His Chief of Staff. What we know is that the earth was created good202 and that it become corrupted by the fall of Lucifer or who we call the Serpent or Satan. There was an audience at the creation of the FIRST EARTH AGE that also witnessed the destruction and then the new creation of the SECOND EARTH AGE. This destruction and re-creation was witnessed by all the Angelic beings and other creations which we know nothing about.203 Often in the Book heavenly beings or angels are referred to as “stars”.

God wants a people that love Him because they choose to, not because they were predestined or created just for the purpose of loving Him. Man and Angels were both created with FREE WILL, and some angles have already rebelled and have chosen to follow Satan, and much of mankind has been wounded trying to follow him too; and if they are not rescued by God through the Holy Spirit and healed, they too will be Dead Ducks; sadly some will choose to reject the Holy Spirit and try to heal themselves.

Satan was the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God and had been given the responsibility of the government of the entire universe and the setting forth of the righteousness of God. He was created immortal, powerful and with FREE WILL, he was Prophet, Priest and King of the Universe, there was no angel higher than him including Michael the Archangel.204 When Satan first rebelled, he lost the office of prophet as God no longer spoke through him.

When the members of the heavenly court convened, God singled out Satan, and asked; where have you come from? Satan in his role as king of the universe pretended that he had been industriously active on God’s behalf, patrolling the earth dispensing justice with the interests and glory of God. Then in his office of Priest, Satan specifically and craftily wanted to present that today’s main concern was to protect God from the EVIL that was in the heart of one specific man; a man called Job.

God seeing the end from the beginning, already knew what the slithering serpent had been up to. The Omnipotent all-knowing God and all the WATCHERS had witnessed that Satan’s minions had been in Job’s backyard trying to do him harm, but their every attempt was thwarted because God had placed a Hedge of Protection around Job.205

200 2 Peter 3:5-6 – The world that was then overflowed with water
201 Jeremiah 4:23-26 - The earth was formless and empty; the people had perished in the first flood 202 Colossians 1:16-17 – God created everything for Himself
203 Job 38:4-7 – The Watchers; the Angels were there at earth’s creation
204 Jude 1:9 – Michael did not dare rebuke Satan concerning Moses’ body
205 Job 1:7-12 – Have you noticed my servant Job? There’s a wall of protection

Un-repentant Satan was given eons of time to re-construct the earth as all of Creation watched him, but he could not. Then God started over with the heavens and the earth and created mortal man with FREE WILL and made him a little lower than the Immortal angels who also had FREE WILL; man was then given dominion over earth as all of God’s creation watched to see what Satan would do about it.

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THE GAP

Genesis 1:1 – The First Earth Age created

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. NIV

Genesis 1:2 – The First earth age became without form and void

2 And the earth was (“hayah” became) without form, and void; and DARKNESS (judgment) was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. NIV

The Watchers

We pick up the story of the watchers in the story of Job and the Hedge of Protection that God had put around him. There are two things going on here; Hedges and Watchers. This story is actually more about the audience than Job; THE WATCHERS. This is what I want you to get, there is an audience of Watchers for all of history of what Satan has done, is doing and plans to do and is made clear in the Book of Job as Satan is summoned to appear before God and WATCHING are all the angels both good and bad plus all the other creations.

The Sovereign God called for the members of the “Heavenly Court” to appear before Him and give an account of what they had accomplished. The highest ranking official was Satan and was singled out to report on his activity. Now I know this is going to mess with your BS, your Belief System, but you must get this, all of the members of the court were WATCHING the proceedings as well as all of the other lower ranking angels. They are referred to as THE WATCHERS, those who have witnessed the actions of God and Satan ever since the FIRST EARTH AGE.

They Watchers had witnessed the rebellion of Satan eons ago and how one-third of the heavenly creations followed after him.206

They watched the judgment come upon the earth that caused it to become void. Satan, the highest ranking official had rebelled against God and as all creation watched and witnessed, they saw that he COULD NOT re-create the earth.

Satan was created immortal and God in his mercy, grace and Love allowed him to continue in His presence, giving him eons of time with opportunity to change his ways, but Satan knowing the Watchers were witnessing his every action; let his PRIDE get in the way, and just DOUBLED DOWN on his rebellion.

You might remember that before God flooded the earth the second time with Noah; in love, mercy and grace, God left the door on the Ark open for a week, just in case some would repent and come intothearkandbesaved;thenHEshutthedoor. SatanhadbeengiveneonsoftimeandnowTHE DOOR HAS NOW BEEN SHUT FOREVER ON SATAN and the angles that followed him. Their fate is sealed, they cannot be redeemed. The demons, fallen angels and Satan all know their fate and are ready for their LAST HURRAH, before their destination in the Lake of Fire. This is what the Watchers are watching; to see if Satan’s new plan will save himself.

Job 1:6 - The Heavenly Court was summoned by God

6 One day the MEMBERS OF THE HEAVENLY COURT came to present themselves before the LORD, and

THE ACCUSER, SATAN, came with them. NIV

Daniel 4:17 – The Watchers are Heavenly Court beings

17 he sentence is by the decree of THE WATCHERS, the decision by the word of THE HOLY ONES, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’

(ESV)

206 Revelation 12:4 – One third of the Angels followed Satan -- Matthew 28:2-4 – The Watches fell down at the angel of God
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The Man Job

The Book records that Job was blameless; a man of complete integrity that feared God and stayed away from evil. The Book of Job is considered to be the oldest book in the Bible, so Job’s faithfulness and his righteousness did not come from reading the books of the prophets, there wasn’t any, I believe he had his own special spiritual encounter with God like Moses did.

He was like a Chief or a King; the city gate was where court was held and justice was dispensed. When Job approached the gate, the aged rose in respect and the young men stepped aside when they saw him coming. The Highest Officials and the Princes stood in silence as he took his place among the honored leaders; new honors were constantly being placed on him.

When he smiled, his look of approval was precious to everyone because he was like a father to the poor and the orphans; he helped generously with their needs. He comforted those who mourned, and was like eyes for the blind and feet for the lame and assisted the stranger. They longed for him to just speak so they could drink in his words. He dispensed honest and righteous justice and broke the jaws of godless oppressors and rescued their victims.207 FAITH full of Works was Job’s reputation; he HELPED those that were WITHOUT HOPE.

Hewasafarmerthathaddonewellinlifeandhadbecometherichestmanaround.208 Heowned thousands of sheep and camels and hundreds of teams of oxen. He was blessed with seven sons and three daughters, many servant and a Messed Up Wife. Mrs. Job was a different duck, she was just the opposite spiritually of that of Job; in fact she seems like she had already jumped into Satan’s Dead Duck Bag. God created a man’s wife to be help mate, to support and encourage him, but Mrs. Job was far from that. The Book records that when Job was at his lowest point and needed her moral support the most, she told him to CURSE GOD AND DIE. 209 Good Grief -

Is there any wonder why Satan would be so aggravated with God; there was a blameless man living right in his principality that he could not touch, and it was because God had placed a HEDGE OF PROTECTION around him. Besides that, embarrassingly all of creation was WATCHING to see what he was going to do about it; so Satan hatched a plan to bring accusations of LIES about Job’s character. If you can’t find fault with someone in their actions, then tear down their character.

It should be noted as we study Job that nowhere in the Book are we told that life will be better because we are Christians, in fact it says just the opposite, it says life will get harder. The reason that Christians seem to have so much conflict is because Satan is only interested in ducks that are still flapping around, even if they are wounded. His fiery darts knocks the Christian down, but they get right back up because God has given them personal Angels to care for them and a FAITH that places a HEDGE OF PROTECTION around them and the Holy Spirit to direct them.210 The Dead Ducks like Mrs. Job are already in Satan’s Dead Duck Bag, so he is not worried about them.

It’s in the Book

The Hedge

This is where we pick up the story as the counsel has convened and Satan has been singled out to report on his work. God already knowing what Satan’s minions had been up to, asked Satan if he had NOTICED one of the Lord’s finest servants named Job who was a blameless man that stayed away from evil?211 Satan responded; well, there is a very good reason for him to be a blameless person; it’s because you have placed a HEDGE OF PROTECTION around him.212

207 Job 29:7-25 – Job was an honored leader; like a king
208 Job 1:1-3 – Job feared God and was blameless with complete integrity and very rich
209 Genesis 2:18 – Wives were created to be help mates -- Job 2:9 – Job’s wife was a spokesperson for Satan; CURSE GOD AND DIE 210 1 Corinthians 10:13 – God will give us a way out so we can endure -- Ephesians 6:16 – Our Faith quenches Satan’s fiery darts)
211 Job 1:8-9 – Satan, have you noticed my blameless servant Job –- Job 1:4-5 – Job FEARS the worst for his partying children; that they may sin -- Romans 14:23 – Do not doubt EVERYTHING THAT DOES NOT COME FROM FAITH IS SIN -- Philippians 4:6 – DO NOT BE ANXIOUS but give thanksgiving -- Genesis 50:21 – DO NOT FEAR, I will provide for you -- Job 3:25 – Job was operating in fear; WHAT I FEARED HAS COME UPON ME -- James 1:6 – Believe and not doubt
212 Job 1:10-11 – Satan confesses; knows Job has protection hedge, But reach out and TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING HE HAS, and HE WILL SURELY CURSE YOU TO YOUR FACE

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I think it is so interesting, that it is Satan that discloses that there is a Hedge of Protection around Job and his household and the work of Job’s hands. You have to stop and ask, HOW DID HE KNOW? He knew because his evil minions had already been trying to get in Job’s backyard to attack his goods, but had failed every time and God knew it too.

Satan Says to God; if you reach out and take away everything he has, he will surely curse you to your face!” and God responded; “BEHOLD, EVERYTHING HE HAS IS IN YOUR HANDS. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but DON’T HARM HIM PHYSICALLY.”213 So Satan left the LORD’s presence.

Did you see it? While Satan has access to Job, he has limitations, or I will say it another way; Satan is nothing but a dog on a leash, going only as far as his chain will let him. I will say this; that after the Millennial Reign of Christ is over, the chain comes off of Satan for one last Hurrah and then BAM; the lake of fire. It’s in the Book

I want to stop here for just a moment and report what the Book says about Job. In everything that he did, HE DID NOT SIN WITH HIS LIPS. But Job did have a flaw in his character and it was FEAR which he confessed with his own mouth. God has commanded us to NOT FEAR and that was the vehicle that allowed Satan into Job’s life.214 God did not give Job to Satan, God said that “everything he has is in your hands”. Job himself had already opened the door with the sin of FEAR and Satan just didn’t know it. Satan is not all knowing, he only knows what we speak with our LIPS; therefore speak the word of FAITH.

The Book says EVERYTHING THAT DOES NOT COME FROM FAITH IS SIN.215

The War Games

The War Games begins the same day when Job’s kids are partying; a servant runs in and tells Job that some Sabean soldiers had raided their farm and stole all their livestock and killed all the farm hands. Before he finished speaking, another servant ran in and said that lighting had struck and killed all his sheep as well as his servant shepherds. Right behind him as another servant came in and told him the bad news that Chaldean solders had stolen all his camels and killed all the workers. Then another servant came in and said a strong wind had blown down the house and killed all his children and then Job said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” and in all of this, JOB DID NOT SIN BY BLAMING GOD.216

The WATCHERS took note that on Satan’s first play against Job, Satan had fumbled the ball, and they watched as he re-grouped for another play as the Invisible War of life continues.

NOTE: Job was totally un-aware of the WAR GAMES and he THOUGHT it was God that had taken his goods away, BUT IT WAS NOT; it was Satan that came to Kill Steal and Destroy.

JESUS CAME TO GIVE LIFE AND TO GIVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY.217

War Games Continue

One would think this invisible war was over, as Satan had suffered defeat at the hands of Job, but it’s never over, there is no rest, no breaks, no peace treaties and no time out. Satan, his minions and his demons conspire and mount attacks day and night. It should be noted here, that this is the reason each believer has a personal angel, a WATCHER that provides a HEDGE OF PROTECTION for him.218 It’s in the Book

213 Job 1:12 – BEHOLD, ALL THAT HE HAS IS IN YOUR HAND; only against him do not stretch out your hand
214 Philippians 4:6 – DO NOT BE ANXIOUS but give thanksgiving -- Genesis 50:21 – DO NOT FEAR, I will provide for you --James 1:6 – BELIEVE AND NOT DOUBT -- Job 1:4-5 – Job FEARS the worst for his partying children; that they may sin -- Job 3:25 – Job was operating in fear; WHAT I FEARED HAS COME UPON ME
215 Romans 14:23 – DO NOT DOUBT EVERYTHING THAT DOES NOT COME FROM FAITH IS SIN
216 Job1:14-22 – The War Games begin; Satan strikes, kills, steals and plunders everything he owns.
217 John 10:10 – Satan comes to Steal, Kill and Destroy; Jesus came to give life and give it more abundantly.
218 Matthew 18:10– The Believer has Personal/Guardian Angels -- Hebrews 1:14 – Angels are sent to care for the Believer

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The War Games continue as God AGAIN summons the Heavenly Court to assemble and He AGAIN singles out Satan and without mentioning that He knows that Satan and his minions have killed all of Job’s livestock, most of his servants and all his kids, and asked him calmly; just as He did before; by the way, Have you noticed my servant Job, he is blameless and a man of complete integrity. I can’t help but smile; God with his question, has got Satan’s goat.

Prideful Satan still pretending to be acting in the role of God’s PRIEST; implies his actions are only to point out EVIL in the heart of Job and then becomes agitated and speaks very disrespectful to God and says... “Skin for Skin (or Tit for Tat), a man will give up everything he has to save his own life. But you just reach out and take away his health, and he will surely CURSE YOU TO YOUR FACE!”

God smiles and says; “All right, do with him as you please, but you cannot take his life. NOTE: Did you see it again; THE CHIEF OF STAFF, the POWERFUL SATAN has restrictions placed on him by God.

So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with TERRIBLE BOILS from head to foot. All the WATCHERS observed what had just taken place and pondered how Job will react; perhaps Satan will win this Invisible War.219 Get this; Job does not even know that an Invisible War is going on and the battle is over his soul and that all creation is watching and BETTING on how he will react. Satan’s plan is to prove to God that even His very best man has EVIL in his heart.

As Job is scraping his boils with a piece of broken pottery, his supporting WIFE; his help matecomesinandabettingSatan,tellshimtoCURSEGODANDDIE.220(Wow;whatawife.) Job responds and says “You talk like an INSANE woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad? God will do to me whatever he has planned, He controls my destiny; IN ALL THIS, JOB SAID NOTHING WRONG. 221 Satan loses the invisible war for the second time as witnessed by the WATCHERS and all of creation. Satan tells his minions, it’s not over till the FAT lady sings; WHAT? Maybe not.

Daniel 4:13 - A WATCHER is God’s holy angel from heaven

13 "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a WATCHER, a holy one, coming down from heaven.

(NKJV)

Job 2:8-10 – Mrs. Job took Satan’s side in the Invisible War

8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.
9 his WIFE SAID TO HIM, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? CURSE GOD AND DIE.”

10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish (insane) woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never

anything bad?” So IN ALL THIS, JOB SAID NOTHING WRONG. (NLT)

Game Over
The War Game is over for now with Job; God TWO, Satan ZERO; but it always starts up

again somewhere else and the minions always come back, but our Faith keeps up the hedge. God finishes setting Job’s three friends straight; they offer sacrifices and Job prays for his friends and his prayer is accepted by God. Then God restores everything DOUBLE that Job had lost, giving him seven more sons and three more daughters and when we add them to his children already in heaven, he now has DOUBLE the children;222 can you say GLORY!

219 Job 2:1-7 – Second attempt to discredit Job; Satan afflicts Job with boils and sores
220 Job 2:8-10 – Mrs. Job took Satan’s side in the Invisible War
221 Job 23:14 – Job said God will do to me whatever He has planned for my destiny -- Job 42:5 – I HAD ONLY HEARD ABOUT YOU BEFORE, BUT NOW I HAVE SEEN YOU WITH MY OWN EYES.
222 Job 42:7-13 - WHEN JOB PRAYED FOR HIS FRIENDS, THE LORD RESTORED HIS FORTUNES; TWICE AS MUCH AS BEFORE

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Three of Job’s friends drop by to comfort him and for 30 chapters give him advice that only the world can give. They spent their time trying to methodically prove that for all these calamities to have happened, Job must have offended God in some way. Then God interrupts and says “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?223 With my BS, I had found myself agreeing with his three friends until God spoke and then I felt myself shrinking down into my chair. The three friends spoke with worldly wisdom and God said; I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent. Every Believer will be attacked in the Invisible War and the believer’s FAITH gives them not only a Hedge of Protection around them, but they also have the protection of a personal angel. The WATCHERS are betting that you will win; they rejoice over just one soul that is saved. IntheInvisibleWar,SatanwantedtosiftSimonPeterlikewheatandHEDID. Simonwas who he used to be, and Peter was who he had become and what was left after the sifting was more of Peter and less of Simon. In this Invisible war, God allowed Satan to send Paul a Thorn in the

Flesh to buffet him, but it was for his own good. All the WATCHERS saw Peter224 and Paul225 lift up the name of Jesus and glorify God. This is our example, we are a part of the Invisible War and the Angels are betting on us to win.226 We have the Holy Spirit within us to show us what to do and say. Today the way that God speaks to us is through the Holy Spirit as we study what He has already written in His Book. In the Invisible War, it is not necessarily Satan that causes your hardships. The Book records instances of a man being blind and even someone dying so that in time, God’s power would be displayed and He would be glorified through it. Such was the case with Lazarus and the man born blind.227 Whenstuffhappenstoyou,praythatyouractionswillglorifyGodanddisplayHisawesome power. I ONCE WAS BLIND AND NOW I SEE. There is a teaching error that says that once you have prayed for something, that to pray again is operating in doubt and unbelief. This is just not what the scriptures teach; throughout the scriptures Satan’s quest in the Invisible War is to cause the Believer to give up praying thus stopping the promises of God from reaching them, thus keeping them from receiving. Your prayer is heard before you even start to utter it. The answer is dispatched before you finish and the Invisible War 228cranks up immediately to prevent you from receiving your petitions.

Keep praying even if it takes THREE WEEKS. Don’t stop; it’s in the Book

Daniel 10:12-14 – Satan tries to sidetrack your promises.

12 Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for
FROM THE FIRST DAY that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, YOUR WORDS WERE HEARD; and I have come because of your words.
13 BUT THE PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM OF PERSIA WITHSTOOD ME TWENTY-ONE DAYS; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. NKJV
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 – Pray every chance you get
17 PRAY CONTINUALLY; GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for THIS IS GOD'S WILL FOR YOU in Christ Jesus. NIV

223 Job 38:2 - Who is this that questions my wisdom -- 1 Corinthians 1:19 – I will make the intelligent look foolish 224 Luke 22:31 - Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat
225 2 Corinthians 12:7 – Paul’s thorn in the flesh was from Satan
226 Luke 15:10 – The angels rejoice over just one soul saved

227 John 11:4 – Lazarus death and resurrection was FOR THE GLORY OF GOD HAPPENED SO THE POWER OF GOD COULD BE SEEN IN HIM
228 Ephesians 6:12 – We are in an invisible war

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4.10

Politicians: There was “a movement” away from the Pharisees “Political Aspirations” and their teaching which were laden with traditions and additional requirements to the Book of the Law; and to a lesser degree they were moving away from the Sadducees as well. You can draw a similar comparison considering the Catholic Church during the Protestant reformation; with the Protestants withdrawal and separation over tradition and doctrine.

The Essenes were a Jewish sect that was partially celibate living a strict communal life in the desert. They dedicated themselves to the studying and copying of God’s word. Josephus, the Jewish historian; A.D. 37-98; lived with the Essenes for three years and provides most of the background information on the sect.

John the baptizer at some point, most probably also lived among the Essenes;

scripture does not indicate one way or the other.
Corrupt Politicians: The Essenes rejected the Polluted Priesthood in Jerusalem and established

a pure and true community in the desert. They believed that they were the righteous remnant and sole heirs to God’s covenant. They lived a life of exacting standards of ritual purity and ethical practice. The Essenes day was spent copying hymns, scrolls, prayers, and The “Manual of Discipline” which was about methods and rules for living. (Method of living and worship; Sounds like Methodist)

Isaiah’s writings were followed literally; “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”230 They separated themselves awaiting God’s coming in the desert. They were the “Guardians of Mysterious Truths” that would govern the life of Israel when the Messiah appeared. The name Essene comes from a Hebrew word that means “pious” or “holy”. The sect did not refer to themselves as Essenes, but were given that name by outsiders. We really don’t know how they referred to themselves; there is much debate and speculation.

Not all Essenes lived a communal desert life, but instead, lived in many cities and mingled with society at all levels, and were well received by the Pharisees, and Jewish populace. Their missionary outreach founded Essene communes in all the villages and small towns of Judea. In Jerusalem that had their own gate called the “Gate of the Essenes”. They observed the Sabbath; Jerusalem was the Holy City; the Temple was their Sanctuary.

Membership: There were some 4,000 plus Essenes in Palestine Syria. Those that joined were required to bring their assets and share them with the group, divesting themselves of wealth; no one was considered rich and no one poor.

Formal Admittance: There was a one year term for the Novice to manifest the qualities desired such as; religious purity, a love of virtue , humility and contentment, deeds of love and charity, frugality and freedom from bondage to material possessions, then a second year term of testing before their formal admittance. (I don’t think I could ever pass this test)

229 Matthew 3:1-2 – John lived in the desert preaching repentance
230 Isaiah 40:3 – Voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight in the desert a highway

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

ESSENES

Who were the Essenes? Is there a connection with John the Baptist who was living in the desert preaching repentance and baptism? 229

First Word

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Work Ethic: They observed a strict discipline; they begin their work day before dawn with prayer, then went to their “Secular jobs” as they were best suited. At noon they washed in cold water and had prayers and a simple meal, then at evening; bath, prayers, and a simple meal.

There wages were held in common possession in a community treasury so that all might benefit as the need arose. They esteemed frugality, but took care of the cost of treatment for all their sick and maintained their aged populace with respect and dignity; they lived in contentment.

Discipline: All labor was done as unto the Lord. “Love of God, Virtue and Man” was the motivation to work. You don’t work, you don’t eat; you would be banished from the sect, no food stamps for the LAZY. This was a God thing, Communalism would not work in the USA

Belief can be summarized by their Monto, Love of God, Love of Virtue, and Love of Men, they were strictly PACIFIST by nature and had no weapons of war.

Their leader was known only as “The teacher of Righteousness”; we do not know his name. FAR OUT; consider this; they had the “War Scroll” which was plans for The Final Conflict at the return of the Messiah between “The Sons of Light” and “The Sons of Darkness”. The War Scroll describes an eschatological war in which God and his angels join forces with the “Sons of Light” to battle against the “Sons of Darkness”. This plan was to be kept secret until the Messiah appeared, and then they would instruct the people in the “UNDERSTANDING”.231

The War Scroll is very similar in “concept” to the Apostle John’s writing (Not John the Baptist) of the “REVELATION”; the final war between good and evil. They documented in detail the last great battle in which the Roman army destroyed the Jewish state in A.D. 70. They also had elaborate construction details concerning the Temple in Jerusalem.

New Testament: “So far” there has NOT been any Essene writings found about Jesus, John the Baptist or any other of the early Christians. They probably possessed NT writings and understanding as they refer to “Sons of Light” which is the designation for a Christian.232 Either that or the Christians took the term from them; this term is not found anywhere in OT scripture.

They lived the Qumran Valley for some 200 years. When the Roman’s attacked, they hid their library in various caves where they remained for 2000 years waiting for the Bedouin youth to chunk a rock inside and give us the greatest manuscript discovery of our time.

Communalism: Webster: A system of government in which communes sometimes on an ethnic or religious basis, have virtual autonomy within a federated state. A small group of people living communally and sharing in work and earnings. Everyone owns it all; God is their source.

Communism: The state owns it all; God has nothing to do with it. Communalism works only when God is involved. When man puts himself before others, it fails. The Essenes lived in communalism for some 200 years. Everything including their clothes was held in common; they ALL owned it ALL.

Note: The early Christian church was communalistic, they sold everything they had and brought it to the believing congregation; they most likely got the idea from the Essenes. Some people were really not communal material. Ananias and Sapphira sold their land to give the proceeds to the commune, but lied about how much they sold it for. God struck them dead; it was not because they did not give all the money, it was because THEY LIED to the Holy Spirit.233 IT’S IN THE BOOK

Acts 2:42-47 – EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNALISM

42 THEY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO THE APOSTLES' TEACHING and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, 43 and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44 All the believers WERE TOGETHER AND HAD EVERYTHING IN COMMON. 45 SELLING THEIR POSSESSIONS AND GOODS, they gave to anyone as he had need.

231 Daniel 11:33 – They will have the plan and will teach it -- Daniel 12:9-10 – Close the prophecy up; keep it secret till the end of time 232 Luke 16:8 – The sons of this world are more shrewd than the Sons of Light -- John 12:36 – Sons of Light, believe in the Light -- 1 Thessalonians 5:5 – Believers are Sons of Light
233 Acts 5:1-10 – Ananias and Sapphira LIED about the money they gave.

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Chapter 4.11

QUESTION: You say that the Muslims Holy War is Terrorism, but didn’t the God of the Israelites do the same thing and somehow that was considered OK? Didn’t God command the Israelites to kill everyone even the women and children; MASS MURDER and then STEAL their land and PLUNDER their possessions?234 Isn’t that TERRORISM on a grand scale or is that just selective Bible reading, where you somehow skipped over that part?

Background; Jehovah God had just brought the Israelites out from the bondage of the Egyptians and had given them as an inheritance a parcel of land which was set before them. The God Molech was worshipped in this “Promised Land” which included the offering of children on a burning alter of fire; this was against the Levitical Laws of Moses which states that any person; Israelite or stranger that kills his child and offers him as a burning offering to Molech will be put to death. If anyone turned a blind eye to this abdominal practice, God would cut their clan off from among His people.

Bible: You are right; God gave the Israelites land for an inheritance that was already occupied with a people that worshipped the God Molech and God told them to kill them all so that there would be no one alive to teach them the abdominal ways of the god Molech.235 Scripture bares out that children follow in the same footsteps as their parents, that’s why the children were also killed and even the animals that were used for the sacrifices. EVERYTHING that breathed was to be annihilated to purge the land from sin. This will happen again on the Day of the Lord; the land of Israel will be purged; this time with fire.

God has every right to deal with evil and sin wherever, whenever and however He sees it, sometimes His instruments of judgment are angels and sometimes He uses men.

There were Rules of Engagement;236 except for the worship of Molech; offer a Treaty of Peace, if they open their gates; take them as slaves; if they don’t, kill all the males and take all their stuff. At any case, as we can clearly see from scripture, the people were NOT ALL annihilated; many were just displaced out of the land.237

Note: We are no longer under the Old Covenant of WRATH; we are now under the New Covenant of MERCY and all who draw the sword will die by the sword.238 We are no longer God’s instruments of Judgment, but are His instruments of Mercy.

We are warned to NOT mix the two Covenants.239

234 Deuteronomy 20:15-17 – HOLY WAR; Save alive nothing that breathes
235 Leviticus 20:1-5 – Command; followers of Molech will be killed. -- Leviticus 18:21 – You shall not sacrifice your children to Molech -- Deuteronomy 20:18 – Destroy them so that they may not teach you about Molech
236 Deuteronomy 20:10-14 – There were Rules of Engagement
237 2 Chronicles 8:7-8 – The people not destroyed were displaced
238 Matthew 26:52 – We are under the New Covenant
239 Luke 5:37-38 – Don’t mix the Old Covenant with the New

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

Holy Jihad

This study takes a look at the Judgment of God known as a Holy War

Holy War

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Time Out

Muslims: Let’s take a look at the thinking of the Islamic religion.

Pillars: There are five pillars of the Islamic belief and practice: Confession, Obligatory worship, Obligatory Fast, Alms and Pilgrimage. Some Muslims believe in Jihad or holy war, exalting it to the level of a “Pillar”.

Some Muslims think of a Jihad as a sacred “STRUGGLE WITH THE WORD” other think of it as a “STRUGGLE WITH THE SWORD” to conquer the world.

Muhammad: “He, who relinquishes his faith; kill him. I have been ordered by Allah to fight with people till they testify there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger”.

Ayatollah Khomeini: “The purest joy in Islam is to kill and to be killed for Allah”. There can be no peace with the Jews or Christians or any other non-Islamic people; and that if peace must be made, only a truce is permissible and that “for a maximum of 10 years as an expedient to hone our swords, whet our blood and strengthen our will.”

Sura 5:33 – Jihad – Wage war on non-Muslims

33 Those who wage war against Allah and his messenger (there fate) is execution or crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet on opposite sides or exile.
Sura 9:29 – Jihad – Fight the people that do not accept Islam.
29 Muslims are inspired to fight people who do not accept the religion of Islam. Hadith 2:483 – Jihad – Fight the people till their worship Allah

483 I have been ordered to fight the people till they say, Allah be worshipped.
Sura 9:5 – Jihad – Slay the idolaters wherever you find them
5 When the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, seize them; lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war).
Hadith 9:57 – Jihad – Kill anyone that renounces Islam.
57 Whoever changes his Islamic religion should be killed.
Hadith 1:505 – Jihad – Receive a reward of a prominent place in paradise
505 Anyone who dies in a Jihad will have a prominent place in paradise.
Hadith 9:459 – Jihad - Receive a reward of booty in paradise
459 Anyone who engages in a holy war (jihad) will be admitted into paradise with his reward of booty
Sura 78:33 – Jihad – Reward - You can have many women in paradise
33 In paradise man can have many women.

Mission of Islam

Hadith 9:459 – Mission; Conquer the World and get booty

459 Allah guarantees anyone who engages in holy war (jihad) for the cause of jihad alone with belief in (Allah’s) words, that He will either admit him into paradise or return him with his reward or
the booty he as earned to his residence from where he went out.

Mission of Christianity

2 Corinthians 5:21 – Mission; Conquer SIN in the World

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we

might become the righteousness of God. (NIV2011)

1 Peter 3:18 – Mission; To bring us to God

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. (NIV2011)

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4.12

Maccabees; Holy Jihad

Apocrypha, Essenes, Zealots, Dagger men The Hammer, Hellenizes, Muslims

First Word

Jihad is an Islamic term referring to the religious duty of Muslims to maintain the religion. In Arabic, the word is a noun meaning "to strive, to apply oneself, to struggle, to persevere”. The word appears frequently in the Qur’an, often in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of Allah”, this refer to the act of striving to serve the purposes of God on this earth.

The Maccabees were far from being Muslims; they were devout Jews who DEFENDED themselves from those who battled against them to end their FREEDOM TO WORSHIP Jehovah God. Note: When a King came into power, everyone was forced to worship the god of his kingdom. Freedom of Worship was the cornerstone of the USA. We have the FREEDOM TO WORSHIP as we choose. Muslims reject this freedom, but still come here; WHY?

Before I can speak on the Maccabees, I feel a need to explain that there is just not much in Bible scripture about this small rag tag bunch of Holy Jihad fighters, I must turn to the Apocrypha which contains two complete books on the army known as the Maccabees as well as go to the Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus; both are considered trusted commentaries.

The books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees were not included in our Bible because no “original” HEBREW writing has survived the years even though we have the Hebrew to Greek translations. I will include the entire text here because its flavor is far better than I could ever write.

Josephus, the Jewish historian was born the year that Jesus was crucified and in spite of the good things he has to say about the history of Christianity, he was not a believer.

Setting the Stage

Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt and had founded a Greek city near the Nile Delta called Alexandra which became the cultural capital of a new era; the Hellenistic era. His vision was to bring the Greek culture and way of life to all of the non-Greek world.

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a spinoff of that, which for a century placed Israel under the Ptolemaic rule. While the common Israelite was not affected that much, the upper wealthy class was attracted to the Greek way of life and the opportunities that it provided with the rest of the world. Some Jewish men engaged in “Foreskin Restoration” in order to pass themselves off as fully Greek.

The Seleucids ruled by King Antiochus III was also a part of Alexanders rule and covered the vast eastern empire including Asia Minor and had scrimmages with the Ptolemais and eventually got control of Palestine from Egypt.

High Priest: Jerusalem had been granted the authority to be self-governed and had developed a kind of theocracy that was governed by a High Priest. The High Priest that was currently serving was Onias III who OPPOSED the Hellenization of the Jews; to assimilate the Greek culture and patterns of religion and government into their culture.

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Hellenizers; Onias III had a brother named Jason who was the leader of the Hellenizers who wanted the Greek culture and ethnic culture to be homogenized into Israel. This is where we pick up the story of the struggle over the Hellenistic culture that was now threating the Jewish way of life, especially their worship of the ONE GOD YAHWEH.

The Apocrypha

1st Maccabees 1:1-9 – Alexander Great dies – Kingdom Divided

1 After Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came from the land of Kittim, had defeated King Darius of the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king. (He had previously become king of Greece.)
2 He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth.
3 He advanced to the ends of the earth, and plundered many nations. When the earth became quiet before him, he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up.
4 He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and princes, and they became tributary to him.
5 After this he fell sick and perceived that he was dying.
6 So he summoned his most honored officers, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive.
7 And after Alexander had reigned twelve years, he DIED.
8 Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place.
9 They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their descendants after them for many years; and they caused many evils on the earth.
1 Maccabees 1:10 – Sinful Antiochus Epiphanes takes over
10 From them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; he had been a hostage in Rome.
He began to reign in the one hundred thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
1 Maccabees 1:11-14 - Let’s go make a covenant with Gentiles
11 In those days certain RENEGADES came out from Israel and misled many, saying, "Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles around us, for since we separated from them many disasters have come upon us."
12This proposal pleased them,
13 and some of the people EAGERLY WENT to the king, who authorized them to OBSERVE THE ORDINANCES of the Gentiles. 14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, according to Gentile custom,
1 Maccabees 1:15-19 – Jews plastic surgery remove circumcision 15 and removed the marks of CIRCUMCISION, and
abandoned the holy covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.
16 When Antiochus saw that his kingdom was established, he determined to become king of the land of Egypt, in order that he might reign over both kingdoms.
17 So he invaded Egypt with a strong force, with chariots and elephants and cavalry and with a large fleet.

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18 He engaged King Ptolemy of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned and fled before him, and many were wounded and fell.
19 They captured the fortified cities in the land of Egypt, and he plundered the land of Egypt.

1 Maccabees 1:20 – Antiochus went up against Jerusalem

20 After subduing Egypt, Antiochus returned in the one hundred forty-third year. He went up against Israel and came to Jerusalem with a strong force.
1 Maccabees 1:21-23 – Took Altar, lampstand, censers, utensils 21 He ARROGANTLY entered the sanctuary and took the golden altar, the lampstand for the light, and all its utensils.

22 He took also the table for the bread of the Presence, the cups for drink offerings, the bowls, the golden censers, the curtain, the crowns, and the gold decoration on the front of the temple; he stripped it all off.

23 He took the silver and the gold, and the costly vessels; he took also the hidden treasures that he found.
1 Maccabees 1:24-28 – He shed much blood – Spoke arrogantly 24 Taking them all, he went into his own land. He shed much blood, and spoke with GREAT ARROGANCE.

25 Israel mourned deeply in every community,
28 Even the land trembled for its inhabitants, and all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame.
1 Maccabees 1:29-37 – Plundered and burned Jerusalem
29 Two years later the king sent to the cities of Judah a chief collector of tribute, and he came to Jerusalem with a large force.
30 Deceitfully he spoke peaceable words to them, and they believed him; but he suddenly fell upon the city, dealt it a severe blow, and destroyed many people of Israel.
31 He plundered the city, burned it with fire, and tore down its houses and its surrounding walls.
32 They took captive the women and children, and seized the livestock.
34 They stationed there a sinful people, men who were renegades. These strengthened their position;
35 they stored up arms and food, and collecting the spoils of Jerusalem they stored them there, and became a great menace,
36 for the citadel became an ambush against the sanctuary, an evil adversary of Israel at all times.
37 On every side of the sanctuary they shed innocent blood; they even defiled the sanctuary.
1 Maccabees 1:38-40 – People fled - Sanctuary desolate
38 Because of them the residents of Jerusalem fled; she became a dwelling of strangers; she became strange to her offspring, and her children forsook her.
39 Her sanctuary became desolate like a desert; her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into a reproach, her honor into contempt.
40 Her dishonor now grew as great as her glory; her exaltation was turned into mourning.

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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Political Games & Revolt

Jason who was part of the Priestly line, went behind his brothers back and bribed King Antiochus to appoint him as High Priest instead of his brother. Jason promoted the Greek Laws, customs and religions and abolished the Jew’s Laws; he was not in power long.

Menelaus soon replaced him which outraged the Jews; having an APPOINTED High Priest that was not from the Priestly line. King Antiochus, in an effort to support Menelaus his appointee, was able to put down the Jewish Revolt as the Jews refused to fight on the Sabbath. After the enormous carnage of 1,000 men, women and children on the Sabbath, King Antiochus banned all observances of the Laws of Moses.

On Kislev (December) 25th 167B.C. the Temple was taken over by Antiochus Epiphanes IV, King of Syria and dedicated it to the Olympian Zeus and the altar was polluted with pagan sacrifices of PIGS; the Jews were forbidden to engage in sacrifices, rites, feast or worship of any kind. The Torah was burned and the observances of the Laws of Moses was banned. The Temple was now profaned.

ALL JEWS WERE OBLIGATED TO TAKE PART IN THE PAGAN SACRIFICES OR DIE.

The Apocrypha

1st Maccabees 1:41-42 – King directs to follow strange customs

41 Then the king wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people,
42 and that all should give up their particular customs.
1st Maccabees 1:43 – Many adopt King’s religion sacrifice idols 43 All the Gentiles accepted the command of the king. Many even from Israel GLADLY adopted his religion; they sacrificed to idols and profaned the Sabbath.

1st Maccabees 1:44-45- Forbids Offerings – Profanes Sabbath

44 And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah; he directed them to follow customs strange to the land,
45 to forbid burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings in the sanctuary, to profane Sabbaths and festivals,

1st Maccabees 1:46-50 – Sacrifices PIGS on the Altar

46 to defile the sanctuary and the priests,
47 to build altars and sacred precincts and shrines for idols, to sacrifice SWINE and other unclean animals,
48 and to leave their sons uncircumcised. They were to make themselves abominable by everything unclean and profane,
49 so that they would forget the law and change all the ordinances.
50 He added, "And whoever does not obey the command of the king SHALL DIE."
1st Maccabees 1:51 – Appoint Inspectors; Commanded Sacrifices 51 In such words he wrote to his whole kingdom. He appointed inspectors over all the people and commanded the towns of Judah to offer sacrifice, town by town.
1st Maccabees 1:52-54 – Many Forsook the LAW and Did Evil
52 Many of the people, everyone who FORSOOK THE LAW (of God), joined them, and they DID EVIL in the land;
53 they drove Israel into hiding in every place of refuge they had.

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54 Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty- fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering. They also built altars in the surrounding towns of Judah, 1st Maccabees 1:56-58 – Tore up the Torah and burned it

56 The Books of the Law that they found they tore to pieces and burned with fire.
57 Anyone found possessing the Book of the Covenant, or anyone who adhered to the law, was condemned to death by decree of the king.

58 They kept using violence against Israel, against those who were found month after month in the towns.
1st Maccabees 1:59-61 – December 25th offered a PIG
59 On the TWENTY-FIFTH DAY of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar that was on top of the altar of burnt offering. 60 According to the decree, they put to death the women who had their children circumcised,

61 and their families and those who circumcised them; and they hung the infants from their mothers' necks.
1st Maccabees 1:62-64 – Many choose to die than profane God 62 But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food.
63 They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and THEY DID DIE.

The Maccabean Revolt – The Lone Ranger rides again
There arose a lone Jewish Priest by the name of Mattathias the Hasmonean from the small

village of Modein, just outside of Jerusalem; who took up the cause for Israel. The Syrian officials came to enforce the laws of pagan worship publically, and there they encountered Mattathias who stood with his five sons.

According to the king's command, a local JEW came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein. When Mattathias saw this, he ran and killed him on the altar. At the same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice.

Mattathias then fled to the hills with his family and as Priest, summoned the people to join him and amassed a small rag tag guerrilla force to protect themselves. At some point Mattathias would die and Judas MACCABEUS his third son would take over the leadership of THE REVOLT.

The Apocrypha

1 Maccabees 2:1-5 – Mattathias was a Priest with five sons

1 In those days Mattathias son of John son of Simeon, a PRIEST of the family of Joarib, moved from Jerusalem and settled in Modein. 2 He had five sons, John surnamed Gaddi,
3 Simon called Thassi,

4 Judas called MACCABEUS,
5 Eleazar called Avaran, and Jonathan called Apphus.
1 Maccabees 2:6-14 – Mattathias Exasperated over the situation 6 He saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem, 7 and said, "Alas! Why was I born to see this, the ruin of my people, the ruin of the holy city, and to live there when it was given over to the enemy, the sanctuary given over to aliens?
8 Her temple has become like a person without honor;

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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9 her glorious vessels have been carried into exile. Her infants have been killed in her streets, her youths by the sword of the foe.
10 What nation has not inherited her palaces and has not seized her spoils?

11 All her adornment has been taken away; no longer free, she has become a slave.
12 And see, our holy place, our beauty, and our glory have been laid waste; the Gentiles have profaned them.

13 Why should we live any longer?"
14 Then Mattathias and his sons tore their clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned greatly.
1 Maccabees 2:15-18 – Kings Officers try to enlist Mattathias
15 The king's officers who were enforcing the APOSTASY came to the town of Modein to make them offer sacrifice.
16 Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled.
17 Then the king's officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: "You are a leader, honored and great in this town, and supported by sons and brothers.
18 Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the people of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the Friends of the king, and YOU and YOUR SONS will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts."
1 Maccabees 2:19-22 – Mattathias rejects the officer’s request
19 But Mattathias answered and said in a LOUD VOICE: "Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to obey his commandments, every one of them abandoning the religion of their ancestors,
20 I and my sons and my brothers will continue to live by the covenant of our ancestors.
21 Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances.
22 WE WILL NOT OBEY THE KING'S WORDS by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left."
1 Maccabees 2:23-26 – Mattathias kills one of the Officers
23 When he had finished speaking these words, A JEW came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein, according to the king's command. When Mattathias saw it,
24 he burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him on the altar.
25 At the same time he killed the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar.
26 Thus he burned with zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did240 against Zimri son of Salu.
1 Maccabees 2:27-28 – Mattathias & supporters fled into HILLS 27 Then Mattathias cried out in the town with a loud voice, saying: "LET EVERYONE WHO IS ZEALOUS FOR THE LAW AND SUPPORTS THE COVENANT COME OUT WITH ME!"

IT’S IN THE BOOK

240 Numbers 25:7 Phinehas had the zeal for the Law

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28 Then he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the town.
1 Maccabees 2:29-31 – Others fled into the WILDERNESS
29 At that time MANY who were seeking righteousness and justice went down to the WILDERNESS to live there,

30 they, their sons, their wives, and their livestock, because troubles pressed heavily upon them.
31 And it was reported to the king's officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David, that those who had rejected the king's command had gone down to the hiding places in the WILDERNESS.

1 Maccabees 2:32-33 – Attacked those in Wilderness Sabbath

32 Many pursued them, and overtook them; they encamped opposite them and prepared for battle against them on the Sabbath day. 33 They said to them, "Enough of this! Come out and do what the king commands, and you will live."

1 Maccabees 2:34-40 – Wouldn’t Battle on Sabbath; 1,000 died

34 But they said, "We will not come out, nor will we do what the king commands and so profane the Sabbath day."
35 Then the enemy quickly attacked them.
36 But they did not answer them or hurl a stone at them or block up their hiding places,

37 for they said, "Let us all DIE in our innocence; heaven and earth testify for us that you are killing us unjustly."
38 So they attacked them on the Sabbath, and THEY DIED, with their wives and children and livestock, to the number of a THOUSAND persons.
39 When Mattathias and his friends learned of it, they mourned for them deeply.
40And all said to their neighbors: If we all do as our kindred have done and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordinances, THEY WILL QUICKLY DESTROY US FROM THE EARTH 1 Maccabees 2:41 - Mattathias – We will fight on the Sabbath
41 So they made this decision that day: "Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the Sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places."
1 Maccabees 2:42 – The Hasideans joined Mattathias in War
42 Then there united with them a company of HASIDEANS, mighty WARRIORS OF ISRAEL, all who offered themselves willingly for the law.
1 Maccabees 2:43 – Fugitives from the Law joined Mattathias 43 And all who became FUGITIVES to escape their troubles joined them and reinforced them.
1 Maccabees 2:44-48 – Tore down alters – Rescued the LAW
44 THEY ORGANIZED AN ARMY, and struck down sinners in their anger and renegades in their wrath; the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety.
45 Mattathias and his friends went around and tore down the altars;

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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46 they forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised boys that they found within the borders of Israel.
47 They hunted down the arrogant, and the work prospered in their hands.

48They RESCUED THE LAW out of the hands of the Gentiles and kings, and they never let the sinner gain the upper hand.
1 Maccabees 2:49-65 – Mattathias appoints Simon as Counsel 49 Now the days drew near for Mattathias to die, and he said to his sons: "Arrogance and scorn have now become strong; it is a time of ruin and furious anger.

50 Now, my children, show zeal for the law, and give your lives
for the covenant of our ancestors.
51 "Remember the deeds of the ancestors, which they did in their generations; and you will receive great honor and an everlasting name. 61 "And so observe, from generation to generation, that none of those who put their trust in him will lack strength.

62 Do not fear the words of sinners, for their splendor will turn into dung and worms.
63 Today they will be exalted, but tomorrow they will not be found, because they will have returned to the dust, and their plans will have perished.

64 My children, be courageous and grow strong in THE LAW, for by it you will gain honor.
65 "Here is your brother SIMEON who, I know, is wise in COUNSEL; always listen to him; he shall be your father.
1 Maccabees 2:66-70 – Judas Maccabeus commands the Army 66 JUDAS MACCABEUS has been a mighty warrior from his youth; he shall command the army for you and fight the battle against the peoples.
67 You shall rally around you all who observe THE LAW, and avenge the wrong done to your people.
68 Pay back the Gentiles in full, and obey the commands of the law."
69 Then he blessed them, and was gathered to his ancestors.
70 He (Mattathias) DIED in the one hundred forty-sixth year and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors at Modein. And all Israel mourned for him with great lamentation.

The Hammer
Judas whose attacks were "hammer like" was called Maccabeus; meaning “THE HAMMER”. ;ה'י באלים כמוכה מי The Name "Maccabee" is derived from the First Letters of each word

meaning “Who is like you from amongst the mighty, the LORD?" 241
The Maccabean Revolt; the Army is now called The Maccabees. Judas intelligently and

skillfully led the “The Hammer Army” and within three years retook the temple, tore down the defiled altar and removed the statue of Zeus.

The USA would do well to “Strike like a Hammer”. When you stir up a hornets nest...
THEY ALL COME AFTER YOU...
No warning!

241 Exodus 15:11 – Who is like you among the Gods

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

The Bible

Exodus 15:11 - Who is like YOU, O LORD, among the mighty

11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (KJV)

The Apocrypha

1 Maccabeus 3:1-9 – Judas Maccabeus takes command

1 Then his son Judas, who was called MACCABEUS, took command in his place.
2 All his brothers and all who had joined his father helped him; they gladly fought for Israel.

3 He extended the glory of his people. Like a giant he put on his breastplate; he bound on his armor of war and waged battles, protecting the camp by his sword.
4 He was like a lion in his deeds, like a lion's cub roaring for prey. 5 He searched out and pursued those who broke the law; he burned those who troubled his people.

6 Lawbreakers shrank back for fear of him; all the evildoers were confounded; and deliverance prospered by his hand.
8 He went through the cities of Judah; he destroyed the ungodly out of the land; thus he turned away wrath from Israel.

9 He was renowned to the ends of the earth; he gathered in those who were perishing.
1 Maccabees 3:10-12 – Apollonius fights Maccabees and LOSES 10 Apollonius now gathered together Gentiles and a large force from Samaria to fight against Israel.
11 When Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him, and he defeated and killed him. Many were wounded and fell; the rest fled.
12 Then they seized their spoils; and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, and used it in battle the rest of his life.
1 Maccabees 3:13-17 – Many Syrians fight the Few Maccabees 13 When Seron, the commander of the Syrian army, heard that Judas had gathered a large company, including a body of faithful soldiers who stayed with him and went out to battle,
14 he said, "I will make a name for myself and win honor in the kingdom. I will make war on Judas and his companions, who scorn the king's command."
15 Once again a strong army of godless men went up with him to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites.
16 When he approached the ascent of Beth-horon, Judas went out to meet him with a small company.
17 But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, "How can we, few as we are, fight against so great and so strong a multitude? And we are faint, for we have eaten nothing today."
1 Maccabees 3:18–22 - God can save many or few; no difference 18 Judas replied, "It is easy for many to be hemmed in by few,
for in the sight of Heaven there is

NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAVING BY MANY OR BY FEW.

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19 It is not on the size of the army that victory in battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven.
20 They come against us in great insolence and lawlessness to destroy us and our wives and our children, and to despoil us;

21 but we fight for our lives and our laws.
22 He himself will crush them before us; as for you, do not be afraid of them."
1 Maccabees 3:23-26 – Many Syrians fight Few Maccabees LOSE 23 When he finished speaking, he rushed suddenly against Seron and his army, and they were crushed before him.
24 They pursued them down the descent of Beth-horon to the plain; eight hundred of them fell, and the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
25 Then JUDAS and his brothers BEGAN TO BE FEARED, and TERROR fell on the Gentiles all around them.
26 His fame reached the king, and the Gentiles talked of the battles of Judas.
1 Maccabees 3:27-34 – King Antiochus gathers his troops
27 When King Antiochus heard these reports, he was greatly angered; and he sent and gathered ALL the forces of his kingdom, a very strong army.
28 He opened his coffers and gave a year's pay to his forces, and ordered them to be ready for any need.
29 Then he saw that the money in the treasury was exhausted, and that the revenues from the country were small because of the dissension and disaster that he had caused in the land by abolishing the laws that had existed from the earliest days.
30 He feared that he might not have such funds as he had before for his expenses and for the gifts that he used to give more lavishly than preceding kings.
31 He was greatly perplexed in mind; then he determined to go to Persia and collect the revenues from those regions and raise a large fund.
32 He left Lysias, a distinguished man of royal lineage, in charge of the king's affairs from the river Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. 34 And he turned over to Lysias half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him orders about all that he wanted done. As for the residents of Judea and Jerusalem,
1 Maccabees 3:35 – Eradicate Israel from face of the Earth
35 Lysias was to send a force against them to wipe out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem; he was to banish the memory of them from the place, settle aliens in all their territory, and distribute their land by lot.
1 Maccabees 3:37-41 – Great Army encamps around Maccabeus 37 Then the king took the remaining half of his forces and left Antioch his capital in the one hundred and forty-seventh year. He crossed the Euphrates River and went through the upper provinces. 38 Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor and Gorgias, able men among the Friends of the king,

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39 and sent with them forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and destroy it, as the king had commanded.
40 So they set out with their entire force, and when they arrived they encamped near Emmaus in the plain.
41 When the traders of the region heard what was said to them, they took silver and gold in immense amounts, and fetters, and went to the camp to get the Israelites for slaves. And forces from Syria and the land of the Philistines joined with them.
1 Maccabees 3:42-46 – Maccabees prays and ask God for Mercy 42 Now Judas and his brothers saw that misfortunes had increased and that the forces were encamped in their territory. They also learned what the king had commanded to do to the people to cause THEIR FINAL DESTRUCTION.
43 But they said to one another, "Let us restore the ruins of our people, and fight for our people and the sanctuary."
44 So the congregation assembled to be ready for battle, and to PRAY and ask for MERCY and COMPASSION.
45 Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness; not one of her children went in or out. The sanctuary was trampled down, and aliens held the citadel; it was a lodging place for the Gentiles. Joy was taken from Jacob; the flute and the harp ceased to play.
46 Then they gathered together and went to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, because Israel formerly had a place of prayer in Mizpah.
1 Maccabees 3:47-55 – Fasted sackcloth, ashes – Read the Law 47 They fasted that day, put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on their heads, and tore their clothes.
48 And they OPENED THE BOOK OF THE LAW to inquire into those matters about which the Gentiles consulted the likenesses of their gods.
49They also brought the vestments of the priesthood and the first fruits and the tithes, and they stirred up the Nazirites who had completed their days; (The Nazarenes Vow was for a specific time period) 50 and they cried aloud to Heaven, saying, "What shall we do with these? Where shall we take them?
51 Your sanctuary is trampled down and profaned, and your priests mourn in humiliation.
52 Here the Gentiles are assembled against us to destroy us; you know what they plot against us.
53 How will we be able to withstand them, if you do not help us?" 54 Then they sounded the trumpets and gave a loud shout.
55 After this Judas appointed leaders of the people, in charge of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens.
1 Maccabees 3:56 – Sent home those who were about to marry 56 Those who were building houses, or were about to be married, or were planting a vineyard, or were fainthearted, he told to go home again, according to the law.
1 Maccabees 3:57-60 – The Maccabees choose to die in battle 57 Then the army marched out and encamped to the south of Emmaus.

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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58 And Judas said, "Arm yourselves and be courageous. Be ready early in the morning to fight with these Gentiles who have assembled against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.
59 It is better for us to DIE in battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary.

60 But as HIS WILL in heaven may be, so shall He do."
1 Maccabees 4:1-4 - Gorgias plans Attack on Jews
1 Now Gorgias took five thousand infantry and one thousand picked cavalry, and this division moved out by night
2 to fall upon the camp of the Jews and attack them suddenly. Men from the citadel were his guides.
3 But Judas heard of it, and he and his warriors moved out to attack the king's force in Emmaus
4 while the division was still absent from the camp.
1 Maccabees 4:5-7 – Gorgias is FOOLED by Judas; they LOSE
5 When Gorgias entered the camp of Judas by night, he found no one there, so he looked for them in the hills, because he said,
"These men are running away from us."
6 At daybreak Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men, but they did not have armor and swords such as they desired.
7 And they saw the camp of the Gentiles, strong and fortified, with cavalry all around it; and these men were trained in war.

War is over
On December 25th 164 B.C. The Maccabees cleansed the temple and reinstituted the Laws of

Moses. A re-dedication of the Temple took place with an Eight day celebration. This was not only in remembrance of the re-dedication of the Temple, but a remembrance and thanksgiving for what GOD had accomplished with so few people.

According to the Talmud, the Jews found a lamp in the Temple with a one-day supply of Holy oil, but it stayed miraculously lit for the entire eight days of the festival.

This became an eight days ANNUAL festival, celebrating the cleansing and rededication of the Temple after its desecration three years earlier by the “Gentiles”. This relighting of the candelabras took on the name Festival of Lights. Each day one additional candle would be lit until a total of eight candles is reached. They would sing the “Halle Psalms”; which is a very, very lengthy Psalm.242 At the festivals, children were told stories of the brave Maccabees in order to stir up the desire to emulate them in their love of God and their obedience to His Laws.

The Bible

John 10:22 – Hanukkah – 25th – Festival of Dedication

22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of HANUKKAH, the Festival of Dedication. (NLT)

The Apocrypha

1 Maccabees 4:8-11 - Judas encourages the Men to fight

8 But Judas said to those who were with him, "Do not fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge.
9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea, when Pharaoh with his forces pursued them.

IT’S IN THE BOOK

242 Psalms 113:1 – Bless the name of the Lord forever

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10 And now, let us cry to Heaven, to see whether he will favor us and remember his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army before us today.
11 Then all the Gentiles will know that

there is ONE who REDEEMS and SAVES Israel."
1 Maccabees 4:12-17 – Blew trumpet, the few crushed the many 12 When the foreigners looked up and saw them coming against them,
13 they went out from their camp to battle. Then the men with Judas blew their trumpets
14 and engaged in battle. The Gentiles were CRUSHED, and fled into the plain,
15 and all those in the rear fell by the sword. They pursued them to Gazara, and to the plains of Idumea, and to Azotus and Jamnia; and three thousand of them fell.
16 Then Judas and his force turned back from pursuing them,
17 and he said to the people, "Do not be greedy for plunder, for there is a battle before us;
1 Maccabees 4:18-27 – Gorgias is frightened; Flees to the hills
18 Gorgias and his force are near us in the hills. But stand now against our enemies and fight them, and afterward seize the plunder boldly."
19 Just as Judas was finishing this speech, a detachment appeared, coming out of the hills.
20 They saw that their army had been put to flight, and that the
Jews were burning the camp, for the smoke that was seen showed what had happened.
21 When they perceived this, they were greatly frightened, and when they also saw the army of Judas drawn up in the plain for battle, 22 they all fled into the land of the Philistines.
23 Then Judas returned to plunder the camp, and they seized a great amount of gold and silver, and cloth dyed blue and sea purple, and great riches. On their return
24 THEY SANG HYMNS AND PRAISES TO HEAVEN
"For he is good, for his mercy endures forever."
25 Thus Israel had a great deliverance that day.
26Those of the foreigners who escaped went and reported to Lysias all that had happened.
27 When he heard it, he was perplexed and discouraged, for things had not happened to Israel as he had intended, nor had they turned out as the king had ordered.
1 Maccabees 4:28-29 – Lysias musters army against Maccabeus 28 But the next year he mustered sixty thousand picked infantry and five thousand cavalry to subdue them.
29 They came into Idumea and encamped at Beth-zur, and Judas met them with (only) ten thousand men.
1 Maccabees 4:30-35 – Maccabeus PRAISES God; WINS WAR 30 When he saw that their army was strong, HE PRAYED, saying, "Blessed are you, O Savior of Israel, who crushed the attack of the mighty warrior by the hand of your servant David, and gave the camp

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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of the Philistines into the hands of Jonathan son of Saul, and of the man who carried his armor.
31 Hem in this army by the hand of your people Israel, and let them be ashamed of their troops and their cavalry.

32 Fill them with cowardice; melt the boldness of their strength; let them tremble in their destruction.
33 Strike them down with the sword of those who love you, and let all who know your name praise you with hymns."

34 Then both sides attacked, and there fell of the army of Lysias five thousand men; they fell in action.
35 When Lysias saw the rout of his troops and observed the boldness that inspired those of Judas, and how ready they were either to live or to die nobly, he withdrew to Antioch and enlisted mercenaries in order to invade Judea again with an even larger army.

1 Maccabees 4:36-41 – WE WON; let’s go cleanse the Temple

36 Then Judas and his brothers said, "See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it." 37 So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion.
38 There they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins.
39 Then they tore their clothes and mourned with great lamentation; they sprinkled themselves with ashes
40 and fell face down on the ground. And when the signal was given with the trumpets, they cried out to Heaven.
41 Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.
1 Maccabees 4:42-45 – The cleansing and rebuilding begins
42 He chose blameless priests devoted to the law,
43 and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place.
44 They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned.
45 And they thought it best to tear it down, so that it would not be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar,
1 Maccabees 4:47-48 – Built a new altar, rebuilt sanctuary
47 Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one.
48 They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts.
1 Maccabees 4:49-51 – Made vessels, offered incense, lit lamps 49 They made new holy vessels, and brought the LAMPSTAND, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.
50 Then they offered incense on the altar and LIT THE LAMPS on the LAMPSTAND, and these gave light in the temple.
51 They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.

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1 Maccabees 4:52-58 – December 25th; re-dedicated the Temple

52 Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, (December) in the one hundred forty- eighth year,
53 they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built.

54 At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals.
55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven (God), who had prospered them.

56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well- being and a thanksgiving offering.
57 They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors.

58 There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed.
1 Maccabees 4:59-60 - Command to Celebrate December 25th 59 Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.

60 At that time they fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all around, to keep the Gentiles from coming and trampling

them

Antiquities 12:7:7 – Festival of Lights – Freedom of Worship

7 Now Judas (Maccabees) celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs, when, after a long time of intermission, they unexpectedly had regained the FREEDOM OF THEIR WORSHIP, that they made it a law for their posterity, that they should keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their temple worship, for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this FESTIVAL, and call it LIGHTS. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us; and that thence was the name given to that festival.

The Take Away

Flavius Josephus; Historian

I had always heard about the Maccabean Revolt and thought it was a family or a Jewish tribe of people. I didn’t know it was a name given to a rag tag group of likeminded pious men that were drawn together to fight for the right to have the FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD.

This was a spinoff of the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Essenes who all sought to live Godly Lives.

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Hanukkah,FestivalofDedicationandFestivalofLightsareallnamesofthiscelebration. This was NOT a military celebration of victory over the Syrians, it was a Spiritual Celebration for the Freedom of Worship and a joyous remembrance of God’s faithful deliverance. Happy Hanukkah Greetings are not about Santa Clause or Christmas, it’s about rejoicing with others in thanking God for those who fought for the Freedom of Worship. If it were not for the Maccabees, the monotheistic faith of the ONE GOD of the Jewish people may have perished forever. God has always had a remnant of people that love Him; nothing can thwart the plans of God. Today in the festival, the seven candle menorah is replaced with an eight branch candelabrum representing the eight days of the festival and sometimes a ninth center one is added called the shammes or “SERVANT” that is used as a pilot light. Although we do not have any original Hebrew Text to support this celebration; Jesus certainly observed it. Note: We are no longer under the Old Covenant of WRATH; but are now under the New Covenant of MERCY; ALL WHO DRAW THE SWORD WILL DIE BY THE SWORD. We are no longer God’s instruments of Judgment, but are His instruments of Mercy. At this writing, in Paris

France, Muslim Jihadist have just MURDERED 127 people and wounded some 200 ... WHY? We are not to kill people because they do not believe like we do. It’s God’s job to Judge; our job is to just share the Gospel; BUT scripture says if someone premeditates to come against you; TAKE THEM OUT quickly with a Maccabean sledge HAMMER. Those who draw an AK-47 against you will die with a Hell Fire Missile. It’s in the Book.

John 10:22 – Hanukkah December 25th Festival of Dedication

22 It was now winter, and JESUS was in Jerusalem at the time of HANUKKAH, the Festival of Dedication.

(NLT)

Matthew 26:52 – We are under the New Covenant

52 Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him,

“FOR ALL WHO DRAW THE SWORD WILL DIE BY THE SWORD.” (NIV2011)

Exodus 22:2 – SHOOT THE THIEF; INCINERATE THE TERRORIST

2 If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is NOT GUILTY of bloodshed; (NIV2011)

Wikipedia - Hanukkah Lamp, Lemberg (Lviv, Ukraine), 1867–72 from the collection of The Jewish Museum of New York

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Chapter 4.13

Background
Zelotes is a Greek word meaning “Zealous One”; Simon the Zelotes was a disciple of Jesus. TAX TIME: At the time of the birth of Jesus, a decree went out from Cesar Augustus that everyone

in the Roman world must be taxed, especially the Jews. Quirinius was to compile a census of the Jews and to make a detailed notation of their property holdings.243

The Zealot Resistance was founded in the time of Quirinius around 6 to 7 A.D by a Galilean named Judas and a Pharisee by the name of Zadok. The Zealots were an underground political party; a fanatical Jewish sect that militantly opposed the Roman domination of Palestine. Judas the Galilean led the Zealots in an ill-fated revolt against the Romans; he was killed and his followers scattered, but the Zealot Resistance lived on.

The Romans had ordered a census to be taken of the Jews for the purpose of TAXATION and the Zealots objected for two main reasons.

1. 1)  FIRST; The Zealots took the position that no one should be honored as Lord or King but God Jehovah, so they rejected the foreign rule of the Romans.

2. 2)  SECOND; to pay taxes to an Emperor was considered Idolatry and blasphemous to God.

A Holy War with overwhelming odds had already been fought and won fulfilling Gods promises to Israel, so the Zealots believed that God was a God of War244 and that they would receive victory in any situation that they were in.

The Zealots mantras was; “NO RULE BUT THE LAW, NO KING BUT GOD”. They were greatly feared as they would kill you in cold blood just because you were a Roman. They had hope for a Messiah that would overthrow the Roman Government and restore the kingdom to Israel. Two Disciples; Judas Iscariot and Simon the Zealot held the same “political views” and believed that Jesus was “The Man” that had come to restore Israel.

The Pharisees thought that the Roman oppression was the hand of God because of Israel’s disobedience and in time would be lifted off and their land restored. The Zealots fanatical “violence” would eventually provoke the Roman War which ended with the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. The Zealots played a heroic role in the defense of Jerusalem.

NOTE: As I read through the Commentaries, I find some that want to CONDEMN the Zealots for starting the Roman War and others that call them HEROS. I leave it to you to decide.

Acts 5:37 – Judas the Galilean Zealot led a revolt against Rome

37 After him, JUDAS THE GALILEAN appeared in the days of the census and LED A BAND OF PEOPLE IN REVOLT. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. NIV

243 Luke 2:1-3 – Romans decreed the Jews must pay taxes. 244 Exodus 15:3 – The Lord is a God of War

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

The Zealots

Sicarii; the Dagger People, Good guys or Bad guys? Masada; last Zealot Outpost, Muslims Zealots.
Is Allah the same god as the Jews and Christians?

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Jesus a Zealot
The Pharisees tried to get Jesus connected with The Zealot Resistance Movement by asking

him the question; “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar”?
Mark 12:13-17 - Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not

13 Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus

TO CATCH HIM IN HIS WORDS.

14 They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. IS IT RIGHT TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR OR NOT?

15 Should we pay or shouldn't we?"
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy.
"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO TRAP ME?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it."
16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" - "Caesar's," they replied.
17 Then Jesus said to them,

"GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT IS CAESAR'S AND TO GOD WHAT IS GOD'S." NIV

Sicarii – The Dagger People
The Zealots around 52 to 60 A.D. formed a radical group known as The Sicarii (dagger people)

indicative of their tactics, who circulated in crowds during festivals and killed Roman sympathizers with daggers they concealed in their clothing. That certainly would include TAX COLLECTORS for Rome who were for the most part JEWS.

The Sicarii were devoted supporters of God and His laws and secretly engaged in acts of intrigue, violence, force, deceptions plus ASSASSINATIONS of Roman soldiers and anyone else that opposed the resistance in order to keep it from achieving its liberating ends.

The secret Zealot sect; the Sicarii had escaped the war with Rome and were the ones that had made their headquarters on top of the rock MASADA.

Masada – Last Zealot Outpost
Masada was a plateau on the top of an isolated rock formation some 330 feet higher on the West

side than its surroundings of the Judean Desert and some 1,300 feet above the Dead Sea on the East side. The plateau was huge; big enough for an entire village of a thousand.

Around 40 A.D. on an upper terrace, King Herod built for himself a 36,000 square foot palace withroyallivingquartersasaplaceofrefugeforhisfamily. IthadalargeRomanstylebathhouse and a few storehouses for food and supplies and a few residential and administrative buildings as well and also dug out two additional lower terraces below the palace.

Then he constructed a DOUBLE wall about 4,590 feet in circumference around the top of the site with some 30 towers containing 70 rooms for protection, making it virtually impregnable.

However, in 66 A.D the Zealots captured the fortified stronghold from the Romans and turned it into their fortress for some 7 years. Then the Romans turned the tables on the Zealots and built a ramp 645 feet long and 200 feet high and with catapults bombarded the walls of Masada, finally breaking through the FIRST wall then they set the SECOND wall on fire and planned to return the next day to FINISH OFF THE ZEALOTS.

JOSPHUS the Jewish Historian reports that the Zealots leader Eleazar gave a speech to the remaining Zealots, painting a picture of the indignities and dishonor that was to befall them at the hands of the Romans and they decided to kill themselves rather than face dishonor. Each man killed his own family; then...

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Josephus 7.9.1 - Then they chose ten men by lot out of them, to slay all the rest; every one of whom had laid himself down by his wife and children on the ground, and threw his arms about them, and they offered their necks to the stroke of those who by lot executed that melancholy office; and when these ten had without fear slain them all, they made the same rule for casting lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was should first kill the other nine , and after all, should kill himself.

May 2, 73 A.D. - When the Romans broke through the remaining wall, they found 960 men, women and children had committed suicide, choosing death rather than endure the shame of being a slave and serving the Romans. Two women and five children who had hid in a cavern were left alive to tell the story of what had happened. The Zealots had burned all their personal possessions and supplies, but purposely left the food so that they could show the Romans they had chosen death over dishonor.

The militant Zealots had led the nation of Israel to a disastrous defeat which turned most Jews against them.

Josephus – Every serious Bible Student needs this reference book in their library.

He was born into a family of Priest about four years after the death of Jesus Christ and lived for a time with the ESSENES who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls; he became a Pharisee at the age of 19 and later became a high priest and the governor of Galilee. He was not a follower of THE WAY, yet his writings exalted the man Jesus; and would pause and say “if I can call Him a man”, inferring He was

more than a man; He was Deity.

The Grace of God

Matthew was a Tax Collector, a Publican and also one of the twelve Disciples of Jesus. Taxes on transported goods were collected by “Local Contracted Collectors” who paid an agreed-upon sum in advance to the Romans, for the right to collect taxes in their area. They in turn kept any excess that could be squeezed out of the people.

Tax Collectors called Publicans were despicable, vile, unprincipled scoundrels that extorted money from the people to line their own pockets. They were the most despised if not most hated people in Israel. They were regarded as TRAITORS working for the Romans. Tax collectors were banned from the Temple and could not go there to worship or sacrifice.

Simon the “Zealot” also known as “Simon the Canaanite” was also one of the twelve Disciples and not a lot is known about Simon, but scripture says, he gave up everything to follow Jesus. Zealots were opposed to paying taxes to a pagan King, and since Matthew was a tax collector for the Romans, Simon “in a heartbeat” would have probably killed him with his dagger; but was saved only by the grace of God; now they were both BROTHERS; they were Disciples of Christ.

The transforming grace of God molded “The Zealous One” to have zeal on behalf of the Gospel. GOD IS STILL TRANSFOMING PEOPLE TODAY

Acts 1:13 – The Disciple Simon was a Zealot

13 Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and

SIMON THE ZEALOT, and Judas son of James. NIV

Matthew 9:9 – Disciple Matthew; a Tax Collector for the Romans.

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named

MATTHEW SITTING AT
THE TAX COLLECTOR'S BOOTH. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. NIV

Antiquities of the Jews is a twenty-volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish

historian Titus Flavius Josephus containing an account of the history of the Jewish people.

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Muslim Zealots
Today we no longer have a sect that is ZEALOUS for JEHOVAH GOD, let along Jesus Christ

ALLAH (Arabic) is a contraction of “Al” meaning sole or only, and “Lah” meaning God. Before the birth of Islam, Allah was a term used by pagan religions for ALL their different gods. This term provided a common ground between pagan Arabs, Muslims, Jews and Christians. Muslims have 99 names for God with the word Allah connected to it.

SAME GOD: Muslims insist that their god Allah is the SAME GOD as of the Jews; the God of Abraham. The name Allah is deemed more powerful than the name YAHWEH. Muslims believe JESUS, the son of Mary said, “I am a messenger of “Allah”, bringing good tidings of a messenger who comes after me, whose name is ‘the praised one,” His name is “MOHAMMAD”. Christians reject all this.

The Quran given to Mohammad, the “Last Prophet”, is the perfect revelation of Allah.

The Hadith is a collection of sayings, deeds and behavior of Mohammad including; eating, sleeping, praying, mating, planning revenge on his enemies and dispensing justice. These actions were considered the actual actions of “Allah”. The Hadith in some sects is followed more closely than the Quran and its sayings can supersede the Quran.

Sura 4:157 – Christ did not die on the cross, but was made to appear so.
Sura 5:75 – Christ, the son of Mary was no more than a messenger. Many were the messengers that passed away before him.
Sura 19:96 – Allah has no affection for any creature. Love is conditional on GOOD WORKS.
Sura 3:129 – Allah has PREDESTINED some to paradise and some to hell.
Sura 32:13 – Allah sends to hell whomever he wants. He created a multitude of spirits and men specifically for the purpose of sending them to hell.
Sura 9:5 – When the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, seize them; lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war).
Hadith 2:483 – I have been ordered to fight the people till they say, Allah be worshipped.
Sura 9:29 – Muslims are inspired to fight people who do not accept the religion of Islam.
Sura 5:33 – Those who wage war against Allah and his messenger, (there fate) is execution or crucifixion or the cutting off of hands and feet on opposite sides or exile.
Hadith 9:57 – Whoever changes his Islamic religion should be killed.

A good Muslim will do all these things as well as name their children Mohammad.

Mohammad said “He, who relinquishes his faith; kill him. I have been ordered by Allah to fight with people till they testify there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger
Hadith 1:505 – Anyone who dies in a Jihad will have a prominent place in paradise.
Hadith 9:459 – Anyone who engages in a holy war (jihad) will be admitted into paradise with his reward of booty.

Sura 78:33 – In paradise man can have many WOMEN.
Ayatollah Khomeini said “The purest joy in Islam is to kill and to be killed for Allah”. There can

be no peace with the Jews or Christians or any other non-Islamic people; and that if peace must be made, only a truce is permissible and that “for a maximum of 10 years as an expedient to hone our swords, whet our blood and strengthen our will.”
Islamic Extremist: If you follow Islam, and are committed to the Quran and the Hadith, then “extremism” is just a normal part of everyday life.

The Muslim mission is to convert or kill the infidel in the name of Allah. MUSLIM ZEALOTS

The Dagger people who will kill themselves in order to kill you.

It’s in the Hadith.

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4.14

Three Wise Men

Magi – Astrologers – Magicians – Soothsayers – Prophets Were they Kings or Wise Men? - Where did they come from? Was Jesus found in a barn or a house?

Background – The Magistranes

Within the Parthian government, a constitutional council known as the Megistanes was

instituted with Zoroastrianism as the state’s religion, however the Megistanes really didn’t embrace Zoroastrianism. They assisted as needed in the election or deposition of the monarch or king and were advisors to the nation as a whole and were divided into two groups;

The Higher House with “HEREDITY” priest were called “Magi” and The Lower House composed of “APPOINTEES”; known as “Wise Men”.

The Magi, referred to as “Wise Men”,245 were non-Jewish (Gentile) religious leaders with priestly functions and had been in power for years in the Persian Empire and exercised religious as well as political clout and had the power to appoint a king over what was known as the Parthian Empire.

There was extreme discomfort and conflict between the Romans and the Parthian Empire. Rome was involved in a number of skirmishes with the Parthians without success. The time was ripe for a Parthian invasion.

When a group of Magi came to King Herod seeking information about a newborn Jewish king,246 Herod was beside himself as he had appointed himself “The King of the Jews.” If the Parthians joined forces with the Jewish nation, there was the extreme probability of swinging control of Palestine from Rome to the Parthians. Dum de dum dum

Astrologers – Magicians; Wise Men
Daniel: Wise men /Astrologers that allegedly interpreted dreams and messages from God. Webster: Magi; A member of a priestly caste; magician; able; might; wise men of the east. Greek: Magi in the Greek meaning “magic” and a transliteration of the Greek word Magoi is best translated as “wise men”.

The Magi’s Wisdom was based on REASON rather than on REVELATION. So at some point the term “Magi” got downgraded to terms like “Fortune Teller,” “Soothsayer” and even “Sorcerer”;247 so these wise men arrived with limited knowledge about the baby. When they went to KING Herod the Great; to their SURPRISE they found out that he did not even have a newborn child. They then sheepishly inquired about where they might find this newborn “King of the Jews”. Dum de dum dum

We three kings of Orient are; bearing gifts we travel afar – Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

245 Daniel 1:20 – Magicians and Astrologers had wisdom and understanding
246 Micah 5:2 – Prophecy; the one to rule Israel comes from Bethlehem. -- Matthew 2:1-2 – Magi saw a star of a new king in the East. 247 Daniel 2:27-28 – Wise men, astrologers, soothsayers and magicians reveal secrets -- Daniel 5:15 – Wise men and astrologers gave interpretations

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How many Magi? We think there were three wise men because three kinds of gifts were mentioned in scripture, but we don’t know how many there were of the “Magi”, but there was a caravan; a band of them including servants and body guards. Postbiblical tradition have their names as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. (Not Scriptural) Transportation They probably rode on camels as that was the logical transportation choice for important men to travel long distances through desert country. They would travel almost 2000 miles through desert country to pay their respects; worship the newborn king. The Star: Astronomers believe that the star was a conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in 6 B.C. – Others think it was a super Nova, an exploding star. The Bible says it was a moving star; I believe the God of this Universe prepared a special star in advance just for this occasion. God used the Magi’s misguided Astrology system to make the birth of Christ known; bringing rejoicing, worship and gifts to the Savior of the World. Tradition PAINTS the Magi as a godly people, but they admitted to no personal gods and

permitted no images of gods. They functioned with occult powers within the framework of their own religious system. They had philosophical concepts concerning worship of the four elements; fire, water, earth and air; mainly fire; they were Astrologers and Philosophers. Kings; Christian tradition calls the Magi “KINGS” because of scripture references;248 I see it, but I don’t think so, but they were certainly “King Makers”, but were probably just looking for a king for themselves. In my BS, it’s hard for me to accept that a king, let alone three kings would leave their kingdoms for two years and join a caravan on the road; this was not a day trip.

Herod reads the Book
Herod checked with his advisors and they told him that the scriptures said a king would be born

in Bethlehem fulfilling prophecy.249 Wrut Wro
Herod was already very sick and would probably be dead in about a year; he would soon kill his

own son and had no compunction about killing a baby king that would try to usurp his authority and power and take his place as “King of the Jews”. Not wanting to take any chances with an uprising or rebellion, Herod orders all male Jewish children two years old and under to be killed; thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah. 250

Jeremiah 31:15 – PROPHECY; the children will be killed
15 This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN and refusing to be comforted,
BECAUSE HER CHILDREN ARE NO MORE. NIV
Matthew 2:16 – KILL the Jewish males two years old and under.
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to KILL ALL THE BOYS in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were
TWO YEARS OLD AND UNDER, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Star moved

According to scripture, the star was moving and the Magi followed it till it stopped over the place where Jesus was living; Jesus was no longer in a stable, but was in a “house”.251 I do not find in scripture that the star was ever above the stable; Jesus could have been a newborn or as much as two years old when the star settled over the house in Bethlehem. The star is not mentioned at all when the shepherds went to worship Jesus in the manger.

I’ve got to say it; the star led them first to King Herod; then to Jesus. The plan unfolds.

248 Psalms 72:10-13 – KINGS will present Him gifts. -- Isaiah 49:7 – KINGS will come to see the Holy One of Israel
249 Matthew 2:5-6 – A ruler; a Shepard for Israel will be born in Bethlehem
250 Matthew 2:7 – Herod found out exactly when the star appeared -- Matthew 2:16 – We saw the star about two years ago
251 Matthew 2:9 – The Star was moving ahead of them and then stopped -- Matthew 2:10-11 – The star stopped over a house with Jesus and Mary

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Road Trip

God warns Joseph, Mary and the Magi and everybody gets the heck out of Dodge City. Joseph was so poor that he didn’t even have enough money to provide a lamb as an offering at the temple, but with the gifts from the Magi, Joseph and his family were able to finance a safe caravan road trip to Egypt;252 thus fulfilling prophecy from Hosea that Jesus would be called back out of Egypt.253

Caravans carried many merchants from market to market with valuable merchandise. They had to be well guarded and many local rulers had to be “paid off” for safe passage. The distance was between 300 and 400 miles and would take between two and three weeks to accomplish it; Expensive.

After about a year God tells Joseph to take another road trip to Nazareth. This fulfilled the prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.254

Magi go Home

The Magi incident and the star of Bethlehem are mentioned only in the book of Matthew. There was PROPHECY about a star and 14 hundred years later, there it was and the Magi knew it.

They came for political as well as religious reasons to pay their respects and homage. We don’t hear any more about the wise men, but it is thought that they were Philosophers and Astronomers that followed the movements of stars and knew something special had either happened orwasabouttohappen;akingoftheJews. Theywentbackhometothe“East”andwecanonly postulate where in the East that was; Persia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, or Babylonia. I think Persia. The purpose of God for the Magi was to prepare in advance the finances that Joseph would need to pay for a caravan trip TWICE in order to protect his family; this would fulfill prophecy. The take away; God provides; we have no idea what God has prepared “in advance” for us.

We just need to be obedient.

Numbers 24:17 – Prophecy – A STAR will come – A ruler

17 "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A STAR WILL COME OUT OF JACOB;

a scepter will rise out of Israel. NIV

1 Corinthians 2:9 – We cannot comprehend what God has for us

9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“NO EYE HAS SEEN, NO EAR HAS HEARD, AND NO MIND HAS IMAGINED WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED
FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
(NLT)

It’s in the Book

252 Matthew 2:13 – Go to Egypt for about a year
253 Hosea 11:1 – Prophecy - Jesus would be called out of Egypt 254 Matthew 2:23 – Prophecy – He would be called a Nazarene

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Chapter 4.15

It had always bothered me how a complete stranger could walk up to a bunch of men working and say “follow me” and they immediately left their jobs and followed him. So I thought I would just look at “Who was Who”, their background and how they became THE APOSTLES TWELVE

The progression of Jesus
Jesus in Aramaic is Y’shua; it is the same name rendered Joshua; “Yahweh is salvation”.

Jesus was a very common name. He was born in Bethlehem;255 taken to Egypt at the age of two,256 back in Nazareth at three.257 At the age of five, a Jewish boy was taught the Law; at twelve he was passing into manhood.258 We hear about Jesus at the age of twelve when he is in the temple having discussions with the religious leaders. After that the scriptures are silent until He starts His ministry at the age of thirty259 and selects His “inner circle” of Twelve Disciples.

Pause – Fence post out of line
I have read the “Lost books of the Bible”, the “Forgotten books of Eden” and the

“Apocrypha” with the accounts of Jesus during his childhood. I must dismiss these works as fiction as the fence post do not all line up; they do not mesh with the spirit of the scriptures woven throughout the New Testament, nor do these writing carry the same writing style that is associated with the specific disciple that is given credit for their authorship. It has long been known that writers would put the name of one of the prophets or disciples on their writings in order to give them validly.

The scriptures are silent on the childhood of Jesus’ and that as an adult until the age of thirty. Jesus could have had a wife, but the CANNONIZED scriptures do not support this. Because of Jewish customs of the time, we can certainly speculate that He had already been immersed in the Book of the Law. He was trained in His father’s trade, that of a carpenter and probably took over the family business for a while when Joseph died.

Jesus taught in parables that were “Clear Secret Messages” to his followers, 260 but those who would seek to do Him harm “would not get it”; they just thought it was a story. 261

Provisions in Advance

Jesus and his family were very poor and could not even afford a lamb as an offering in the temple. According to scripture their finances were at poverty level until the visit of the Magi who brought very expensive gifts of GOLD, FRANKINCENSE and MYRRH.

255 Luke 2:4-7 – Born in Bethlehem; Raised in Nazareth
256 Matthew 2:13 – Flight to Egypt at the age of about Two.
257 Matthew 2:20 – Came back to Nazareth at the age of Three
258 Luke 2:42-43 – Asked questions in the Temple at Twelve
259 Luke 3:23 – Jesus starts His ministry at Thirty
260 Matthew 13:10-11 – Jesus taught with Parables; Secret Messages -- Luke 2:49-50 – The Disciples did not always understand. 261 Matthew 13:54-57 – The Home Boys took offense at Jesus

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

The Players

This study will examine the twelve disciples as well as those who were thought to be of the TWELVE, but were not, plus the ladies who were the foundation for the Women Of the Church.

Background

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The Magi were Religious leaders who could appoint kings and place people in power and authority. They traveled almost two years and almost a thousand miles just one way to find a new born king. It is not known how many of them there were or the number of servants, or the value of their gifts as they had much wealth.

Gold: Associated with “Royalty”. Most people in the time of Jesus could not afford to own Gold.
Frankincense: Associated with “Worship.” Made from the gum of the Arabia tree; known as the perfume of Love and very expensive.

Myrrh: Associated with “Suffering.” Offered to Christ on the Cross; a sedative when mixed withwine. TheGumisextractedby“Piercing”thebarkofa“thorny”bushtoallowitto bleed. It turns RED on contact with air.

God financed (in advance) their flight to Egypt to avoid Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the new born males under the age of two. From Bethlehem to Helipolis Egypt was 300 plus miles taking up to three weeks for the family to get there. For safety concerns, people usually paid the price to travel in a caravan. From His road trip to Egypt and the return to Nazareth was about a year. By the time He was 30, there probably wasn’t much of the “treasure” left for Jesus to begin His ministry, but who knows.

The Family

Some commentaries “force” the issue that all of the brothers of Jesus were of Joseph from a previous marriage. This is because of their belief that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus. ThereisnoreasonnottobelievethatMaryboreotherchildren. Iusetheterm“half-brother”because God was the father of Jesus and not Joseph.

When Jesus starts his ministry Joseph has probably been dead for some time. It must be remembered that Jesus did not continue in the carpentry trade of Joseph, but left the family. There may have been some family disappointment as well as lost honor in His community. This appears to showuplaterwhenJesusreturnshomeandisrejected.262 AtfirstitseemsthatthefamilyofJesuswas skeptical about His ministry, however, Jesus appeared to James after the resurrection and he was converted and that brought the whole family in.263

Note: I firmly believe Mary and Joseph both believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but because of the times, the family just simply didn’t understand and were confused, timid and even afraid to be seen around Him. I think they wanted to believe; and eventually their timidity would be replaced with boldness because of the testimony of James. Just saying”. It seems probable that all the brothers were marriedtobelievingwives.264 Noneofthebrotherswerechosentobeoneoftheinnercircleofthe “Twelve” Disciples.

John 7:5 – The family did not believe at first

5 FOR EVEN HIS OWN BROTHERS DID NOT BELIEVE IN HIM. NIV

Matthew 12:46-50 – The family stand afar off; unsure, watching

46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd,

HIS MOTHER AND BROTHERS STOOD OUTSIDE, wanting

to speak to him.

47 Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing

outside, wanting to speak to you." NIV

262 Luke 4:28-30 – The town’s people plotted to Kill Jesus -- Matthew 12:24 – They said His powers must have come from Satan.
263 1 Corenthians 15:6-7– Jesus appears first to James after His resurrection. -- Acts 1:13-14 –In the upper room now they all believed -- Romans 8:15-16 – The Holy Spirit moved on their spirit -- Romans 8:13-14 – The Family Believed
264 1 Corenthians 9:4-5 – The Brothers had wives that were believers.

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The Ladies

There were a number of ladies who were part of the WOC: Women Of the Church that not only served, but gave of their abundant finances.265

Salome; who seems to be Mary’s sister, was very wealthy and had servants. She supported her two sons James and John with proceeds from her husband Zebedee’s fishing business.

Priscilla; wife of Aquila were both loyal friends and workers in the faith and supported the Christian movement by opening their home for meetings.

Mary of Nazareth; the mother of Jesus did not seem to accompany Jesus on his journeys but was present from time to time, possibly with income from the carpentry business.

Mary of Magdala; cured of seven demons by Jesus, she was always present; working quietly in the background with devotion to Jesus’ life, His death and His resurrection.

Mary the mother of James; mentioned as “The Other Mary.” She is mentioned most often in service alongside of Mary Magdalene

Mary and Martha of Bethany; helped by providing a place for Jesus to stay in their home. This is the Mary that anointed Jesus with oil and wiped His feet with her hair.

Mary the mother of Mark; opened her home for meetings.
Mary of Rome; was also a hard worker in Rome and served in the Christian movement.

John the Baptizer – A Cousin; NOT one of the Twelve
John as well as Jesus’ birth was announced by an Angel. John the Baptist and Jesus were

cousins; John was 6 months older, his father was Zachariah a priest; his mother was Elizabeth from the family of Aaron.266 Although Cousins, John didn’t realize that Jesus was the Messiah until Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove.267

John took the “vow of a Nazirite” for life, not by choice, but by the appointment of God. This was not so much an “abstention” from things, as much as it was a “consecration” of his self to Holy service unto God. He was the last of the Old Testament Prophets and his dress was like that of Elijah wearing camel hair and a leather belt.268 Note: The Jews were expecting Elijah the prophet to return, and John had the spirit of Elijah and was the forerunner of Jesus, although John did not know this.269

He was NOT one of the inner circle of the twelve Disciples, therefore his message was NOT the Gospel of Christ, but that of repentance and he pointed his followers to Jesus and did NOT get “bent out of shape” when they left.270 Some stayed however and ministered to John. Twenty years later we hear about his disciple Apollos, then 30 years later Paul finds a group of John’s disciples in Ephesus.271 It was when John was arrested that Jesus began to travel, spreading the Gospel

The Nazirite Vow: If a man or woman wants to make a special vow; as a Nazirite, they must abstain from wine and other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins oranythingthatcomesfromthegrapevine,noteventheseedsorskins. Norazormaybeusedon their head; they must let the hair of their head grow long. They must not go near a dead body; and must not make themselves ceremonially unclean should someone dies suddenly in their presence.272

FUN NOTE: There is a Carob tree which grows pods that are six to ten inches long. They are very bitter when they are green, but when they darken and ripen, a sweet syrup forms. They are fed to livestock and Poor people eat them. This tree more commonly was called a LOCUST tree, and some students of the Word and commentaries believe that this is the “locust” that John ate. Just saying

265 Mark 15:40-41 – Many worked to provide care -- Luke 8:1-3 – Many women gave money to support the ministry.
266 Luke 1:36 – John’s Mother was a first or second cousin of Jesus. -- Luke 1:40-43 – John and Jesus were born only 6 months apart. 267 Matthew 3:16 - The Spirit of God descending on Jesus like a dove- - Mark 1:7-11 – John now knows who Jesus is as he sees the Holy Spirit descend.
268 Mark 1:6 – John wore funny itchy clothes and ate bugs
269 Matthew 11:13-14 – John was the last of the OT prophets -- Matthew 11:11-15 – John had the spirit of Elijah
270 John points his followers to Jesus; says he must decrease and Jesus increase
271 Acts 19:3-6 – 30 years later; John’s disciples are still active
272 Numbers 6:2-12 – A vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite NIV

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DOUBT: At first reading, “it seems” as John the baptizer doubted if Jesus was the Messiah. John was submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ and was well informed on His activities till he was thrown into Prison.273 Now he only hears rumors, but had not seen firsthand what was happening, so he sends word to Jesus by some men asking;

“Are you the expected one that is to come or should we look for another?” 274
John had laid the ax to the tree of repentance and was expecting Jesus to pick it up and bring judgment on the wicked and probably needed a little clarification. John just wanted a personal

confirmation from Jesus on “His plan”; so he asked.275
Jesus said to look at HIS WORKS and they will testify of His Plan

The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor.276

Paul, the Apostle – As one born out of time; NOT one of the twelve
Paul was not one of the Twelve; in fact he was actually zealous in the persecution of all

Christians.277
He was probably 10 years younger than Jesus as he was referred to as a young man.278 Born a Jew; lived in Tarsus Cilicia, studied the Law and was a Pharisee zealous for God.

Originally called Saul until Christ revealed himself to him on the Damascus Road and Saul’s name waschangedtoPaul.279 AfterPaul’sconversion,hetooktheGospeltotheGentilesasanApostleand as a Teacher.280 Since Paul’s wisdom and authority came directly from Jesus Christ281 and not from any man, he felt he WAS one of the Apostles, but one that was just “born out of due time”. 282

Paul was a tent maker and earned his keep at this trade, so he would not be a burden on others.283 We see him sometimes referred to as a “Leather Worker”, but it is not likely as Cilicia was noted for their goat hair. Paul wove, cut and mended tents made out of cloth of goat’s hair called cilicium.

John Mark – Writer of the 2nd Gospel; Not one of the Twelve
“Mark” was a disciple, but not one of the chosen twelve. I include information on Mark, only

because he is the writer of the second Gospel in the New Testament and is so often thought of as one of Christ’s inner circle of twelve. (The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

Mark acted as a scribe for the Disciples, documenting their actions and was Peter’s interpreter when he went to Rome. John Mark’s Mother’s name was Mary; seemingly wealthy, opened her house to the disciples.284

The Hebrew name John means “God is gracious.” His Roman name Mark means “Large Hammer”. His Cousin was Barnabas, also a disciple, but NOT one of the twelve and was a leader in the early Christian Church.285 Barnabas was the one that was instrumental in getting Paul accepted by the other disciples.286 All the Christians were afraid of Paul; “really afraid”.

273 Mark 1:14 – Jesus begins His travels after John is thrown in prison
274 Matthew 4:12-13 – John is thrown in prison and hears very little of Jesus -- Luke 7:20 – John sends word to Jesus; Are you the one? 275 John 20:29 – Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe
276 Luke 7:22 – Tell John to look to MY WORKS and they will testify of the Plan
277 Acts 8:1-3 – Saul persecutes the Christians approving prison and death
278 Acts 7:55-58 – Saul was a YOUNG man at Stephen’s Death -- 1 Corenthians 1:27 - Saul was an unlikely candidate for an Disciple 279 Acts 13:9 – Jesus changed Saul’s name to Paul
280 2 Timothy 1:10-12 – Jesus appointed Paul an apostle and teacher of the Gospel -- Acts 9:15-16 – God chooses Saul as His instrument to carry the Gospel -- Romans 11:13-14 – Paul was appointed an Apostle to the Gentiles --1 Timothy 2:7 Paul was appointed a herald of the Gospel and an apostle
281 2 Corenthians 12:2-4 – Paul caught up to heaven and Taught by Christ -- 2 Peter 3:15 – The Twelve Disciples endorse Paul’s authority
282 1 Corenthians 15:8 – Paul felt he was an Apostle born out of due time
283 1 Thessalonians 2:9 – Paul worked at his trade so he would not be a burden to anyone -- 2 Corenthians 12:14 – Paul supported himself, he wanted them, not their possessions
284 Acts 12:11-13 – Mary was the mother of John Mark
285 Colossians 4:10 – Mark’s cousin was Barnabas
286 Philemon 23-24 – Mark a fellow worker in spreading the Gospel

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Mark deserted the disciples on a mission trip and Paul did not want to take him on another.287 However, Barnabas took Mark under his wing and Mark became a faithful fellow worker.

Mark was very young, assisting as needed,288 but failed as a disciple and was rejected by Paul, but later was finally received back as a faithful worker.289 Peter had such a close relationship with Mark thatheconsidershimashisownson.290 ThestoryofMarkendswiththethoughtthatGodchooses the weak and foolish to confound the wise.

God can use all of us in spite of our failures and short comings.

Jude - The half-brother of Jesus; NOT one of the Twelve
Jude, most believe, is the author of Jude, the next to the last book of the New Testament. He was

the half-brother of Jesus and a disciple, but NOT one of the twelve.291 Jude had three brothers, James, Joseph and Simon and some sisters. Some students of the Word believe that Joseph was a widower and possibly had children before he married Mary. At first none of the half-brothers accepted Jesus as the Messiah.

James – The half-brother of Jesus; NOT one of the Twelve
There were at least five “James” in the ministry of Christ. This one is the half-brother of Jesus

and not James the fisherman, who was part of the inner circle of Disciples.292 He was the oldest of four younger brothers. One of his brothers was Jude, also a writer in the New Testament. It has always been tradition to name the first born after the father, so it is possible that James was not the oldest, but the more prominent. Joseph was listed second. Just saying.

James name does not appear in any of the lists of the inner circle of Twelve Disciples. Jesus appearedtoJamesafterHisresurrectionbeforeHeappearedtotheotherdisciples.293 Thisisprobably when James was converted to Christianity.

Tradition has James as an important leader in early church history and appointed as the first bishop of Jerusalem by the apostles and the Lord Himself.294 Scripture seems to indicate that James is the authorofthebookofJames.295 BothJamesandJudeintheirwritingsrefertothemselvesas“aservant of Jesus Christ”.

Phillip the Evangelist: NOT one of the twelve
Phillip home was in Caesarea, he was one of seven deacons chosen to attend to the “day to

day” affairs of the church allowing the twelve apostles to do their work fulltime.296 They were not limited to supervision of the affairs of the church, but preached and evangelized the Gospel exercising the Gifts.297

All seven of the special deacons had Greek names, so they were probably all Gentiles converted to Christianity. Phillip attended to the Greek speaking Widows and the poor;298 it seems that the new converts grouped themselves together by their language. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.299 PhillipknownastheEvangelistorDeaconwasenduedwiththesamegiftsandpowers as was the Twelve Disciples.

287 Acts 15:36-39 – Mark screws up; sharp disagreement with Paul
288 Acts 13:5 – Mark was in training as a helper in proclaiming the Word
289 2 Timothy 4:11-12 – Things change; Paul invites Mark to help -- Colossians 4:10 – Mark spends time with Paul & comforts him
290 1 Peter 5:12-13 – Peter considers Mark as his son; also considered Rome as “Babylon”
291 Mark 6:3 – Judas; Jude a half-brother of Jesus
292 Matthew 13:55 – James, a half-brother of Jesus
293 1 Corenthians 15:6-7 – Jesus appears to James after His resurrection
294 Galatians 2:8-10 – James becomes a pillar and leader to the Jews. -- Acts 21:18 – James, a leader in the early church
295 James 1:1 – James, the writer of the book of James
296 Acts 21:8 – Philips home was in Caesarea -- Acts 6:3-4 – Phillip; One of the Seven Deacons -- Acts 6:5-6 – Phillip along with Stephen was part of the seven chosen deacons
297 Acts 8:6-8 – Phillip operated in the same gifts as the Twelve
298 Acts 6:2 – The needs of the Church was impeding the ministry.
299 Acts 21:9 – Phillip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

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Many of his efforts are confused with “Phillip the Apostle”, who was one of the inner circle of twelve. When persecution broke out after the death of Stephen, Philip went to Samaria where he preached and many were healed. He was sent by the Holy Spirit300 to witness to the Ethiopian eunuch and after the eunuch’s baptism he was miraculously transported to Azotus; ponder that! 301

Luke the Physician; NOT one of the twelve
Luke; “the beloved physician”302 is the writer of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts which

represents almost one fourth of the NT and is thought to be the only Gentile to write a book in the Bible. Luke seems to be a pet name for Lucas, an early Christian leader that was a friend and a source of encouragement to Paul as he accompanied him on many of his missionary journeys.

Note: Luke’s Gospel or letter is addressed to Theophilus and not to the church, so some students of the Word dismiss his work. However in my BS, I find that Theophilus means “LOVER OF GOD” and may indeed represent believers everywhere. Luke reports more healing miracles that all the others.

FIRST FOLLOWERS

Part-time Disciples - Andrew, Phillip, Peter & Nathanial
The First two Disciples to follow Jesus were disciples of John the Baptizer; Andrew and

Phillip and John pointed them to Jesus.303 Andrew got his brother Simon Peter to come meet Jesus and Phillip goes and gets Nathanial to come and hear Jesus, although Nathanial is reluctant at first. Nathanial was the second to believe Jesus as “The Son of God”, with John being the first.

Both Peter and Nathanial were also John’s disciples; all four men were from Bethsaida. Their discipleship was considered part-time as they continued at their trades, while learning the teachings of Jesus; their full time calling would come later.

Nathanial seems to have had a second name as the others, that of Bartholomew whose name is listed in all four lists of the Twelve Disciples.
Andrew “evangelizes” his Brother Simon Peter saying; we have found the Messiah and brings him to meet Jesus.304 Simon Peter and Andrew were partners with James and John’s father Zebedee’s fishing business and they all got an ear full from Peter about “the man called Jesus”.305

Are you ready for this: Mary of Nazareth’s sister seems to be James and John’s mother Salome who was also a follower and financial supporter of the sect known as THE WAY. 306

Full Time Calling first four disciples
This was the movement from Part-time to Full time Discipleship for the brothers Peter and

Andrew and brothers James and John who were all fishing partners. This may or may not have happened all in the same day Peter and Andrew were out at sea and James and John may have been onshoremendingandpreparingtheirnets.307 ThisISNOTthe“Apostleship”oftheinnercircleof the Twelve Disciples, which is yet to come, many were called fulltime into the ministry.

The timing of the selection of the twelve had to do with the upcoming crucifixion308 of Christ and the continuation of the Gospel. Christ withdrew and prayed all night309 as He had only about a year and a half to complete His Discipleship training program.

300 Acts 1:8 – Phillip was commissioned by the Holy Spirit to be a witness 301 Acts 8:39-40 – Phillip was transported through the fourth dimension 302 Colossians 4:14 Luke, the beloved doctor
303 John 1:35-44 – John the Baptist directs his disciples to Jesus

304 John 1:41 – Andrew told Simon Peter; we have found the Messiah
305 Luke 5:10 – Andrew, Peter, James and John; All fishin’ buddies, partners
306 Matthew 27:55-56 - Salome was Mary’s sister -- Mark 15:40-41 – Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome watched from a distance -- John 19:25 – Mary’s sister was present, seems to be Salome -- Mark 16:1 – Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome brought spices
307 Matthew 4:18-20 – Peter and Andrew called full time and followed Jesus-- Mark 1:19-20- James and John called full time and followed Jesus drew called full time and they followed Him -- Luke 5:11 – The got Out in their boats and left everything
308 Mark 3:5-6 – The teachers of the Law plot to kill Jesus
309 Luke 6:12 – In those trying days, Jesus withdrew to pray -- Luke 6:12 – It came to pass that He continued in prayer all night

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Common Men with Un-Common Calling
Jesus prayed all night about who He would select from the large crowd of followers to be His

TwelveApostles,theinnercircleofHisministry.310 DissectingtheGreekwordsusedfor“continued in the prayer OF God” indicates the Trinity was present and the conversation was all night long. It was the very prayer of GOD; perfect communion, perfect access.

The students selected for the three year training were not saints nor scholars, actually they were employed in mundane trades, “Outsiders” to the religious establishment.311 They made mistakes and had failures and were wishy washy in their commitments; they were proud, self-centered and had to have attitude adjustments. They had lapses in their Faith and were spiritually dense and slow learners;312 they were unexceptional, plain, ordinary, fallible individuals, but they made themselves available.313 The town’s people considered the Disciples as “aggramatoi idiotai” (in Greek) or Illiterate ignoramuses. But after listening to them, soon figured out, these guys must have been with Jesus.314

Except for Judas Iscariot, they were all Galileans, who were all deemed “County Bumpkins,” uneducated and common; these peons, these nobodies turned the world upside down. The scriptures say that not many wise, influential and noble were called. The lesson here shows God can even use weak and dense people like you and me. Stop and think for a minute, about being an instrument in the hands of The Most Holy GOD.

Jesus knew their faults before He picked them and even knew Judas Iscariot would betray Him, knowing Judas was part of God’s plan. Even though they were common people, the Apostles still had to be morally fit to serve. Apostle: In the Greek: Messenger; he who is sent. Disciple: Student; Learner. The number Twelve and its multiple, throughout the Bible, is the number that relates to priestly government perfection. This symbolism was perfectly clear; the Twelve Apostles represented all of Israel, all the twelve tribes.

Note: Duplicity of Disciples: two named Simon, two named James and two named Judas

Luke 6:14 – The chosen inner circle of Twelve Disciples

14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,

16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. NIV

1 Timothy 3:1-7 – Morality of the Twelve Apostles

2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but
one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.

7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. NIV

310 John 6:10 – There were thousands of followers -- Luke 6:12-13 – Jesus was consistently in Prayer; Day and Night -- Matthew 10:1- 4 – He called the twelve and gave them authority -- Mark 6:7 – Jesus sent the twelve out in pairs. -- John 15:15-16 – Jesus did the choosing of the twelve, they did not choose Him
311 Mark 3:13-15 – The call went out and Jesus appointed twelve --1 Corenthians 1:26-30 – Not many chose are wise or noble.

312 Luke 24:25 – The disciples were Spiritually Slow
313 1 Corenthians 1:27 God uses weak, available people
314 Acts 4:13 – They are ignorant men, but, just listen to them!

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Three Groups of Four

Scholars observing the four Gospels of the Twelve disciples in scriptures, think that the disciples were divided into “three groups of four” with Peter the leader of the first group, Philip leader of group two and James (son of Alphaeus) leader of the third group.

Group one; Peter, Andrew, James and John seem to be the ones mentioned more often with Christ and were the first selected and were probably the closest and most trusted.

Group two; Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas

Group Three; James (son of Alphadus), Simon, Judas (son of James) (also called Thaddeus or Lebbaeus) and Judas Iscariot

Group Three replacement: Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot when he killed himself. Judas’ name is omitted in the list found in the book of Acts as he was already dead. The order listed within the groups is slightly different in all the four lists, but the apparent groups and their leaders remain unchanged. There were many more disciples and their number grew daily.315

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Matt 10:2

Peter

Andrew James John

Philip

Bartholomew Thomas Matthew

James son of Alphaeus Lebbaeus * Simon
Judas Iscariot

Mark 3:16

Peter

James John Andrew

Philip

Bartholomew Matthew Thomas

James son of Alphaeus Thaddeus * Simon
Judas Iscariot

Luke 6:14

Peter

Andrew James John

Philip

Bartholomew Matthew Thomas

James son of Alphaeus Simon
Judas *son of James Judas Iscariot

Acts 1:13

Peter

James John Andrew

Philip

Thomas Bartholomew Matthew

James son of Alphaeus Simon
Judas *son of James

- .

Simon Peter – Leader of Group One
Simon Bar-Jonah: Bar is translated “Son”, so he was Simon the son of Jonah (Simon is also written

Symeon)316. Hisfather’sJonah(orJonas)wasalsocalledJohn.Simontookhiswifewithhimonhisjourneys and had a mother in Law.317 He had a home in Bethsaida on the lakeshore, and also a home in Capernaum on the North shore of the Sea of Galilee.318

As a native of “Galilee of the Gentiles”, he spoke Greek and Aramaic. Simon’s brother was Andrew; both of them were fishing partners with brothers James and John and their father Zebedee. Along with his brother Andrew, he was a disciple of John the Baptist before he met Jesus, then he became His part-time disciple.

He was the first follower to be called “Full Time” by Jesus and the first of the Apostles to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah.319 He is the first Apostle mentioned in the list of Apostles provided by Luke.320 Simon’s name was changed to Peter by Jesus, which is a NOT a “personal name” but a “description”.321 No other person in the New Testament is named Peter.

315 Luke 10:1-2 – Then he sends out 72 more disciples (72 = base 12) -- Acts 1:15 – Then 120 disciples (The number of Priestly Government - base 12 multiple) -- Acts 2:40-41 – Then 3000 more accepted the message
316 1 Corenthians 3:22 – Peter is mentioned by his nickname Cephas the Rock -- 1 Corenthians 1:12 – Cephas; Peter is consider a leader -- 1 Corenthians 9:5 – Cephas; Peter had a believing wife

317 1 Corenthians 9:4-5 – Cephas-(Peter) took his wife with him -- Luke 4:38-39 – Simon Peter had a Mother in Law
318 Mark 1:21 – Peter’s home was in Capernaum -- Mark 1:29 – Simon Peter shared a home with his brother Andrew -- John 1:44 – Peter probably born in Bethsaida
319 Matthew 16:15-16 – Simon Peter recognizes Jesus is the Christ. -- Matthew 16:16-18 – Simon Bar-Jona is Peter who believed Jesus is the Son of God
320 Matthew 10:2 – Simon Peter is pronounced their leader. -- Galatians 2:9 – Cephas; Peter is a pillar of the church
321 Luke 6:14 – Jesus gave Simon the name Peter

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Peter in Greek is Petros; a rock or stone. In Aramaic is it known as Cephas, a name referred to very often in the scriptures. Peter was Cephas, nicknamed the rock. Jesus named Simon, what He wantedhimtobecome;“THEROCK”,notwhathewas!322 ExceptinthepresenceofJesus,Peterwas referred to as the “first” or “Protos” the spokesman or leader of the twelve.

Peter was a pioneer, breaking ground that the early church would follow. He asked more questions than all the other Disciples combined. He was impecunious; the first one to jump into something and usually the first one bailing out. However, it should be noted that its’ easier to tone down a fanatical man than it is to resurrect a corpse.

Peter was the only other person recorded that “Walked on Water” besides Christ.323 Jesus called him “Simon” on a number of occasions to remind Peter of who he used to be. At some point Simon assumed the name “Simon Peter” for himself. He was one of only three to see Jesus transfigured in His glory.324 The name “Peter” is always listed first in group one of all four list. He authored 1st and 2nd Peter in the New Testament.

Satan was after Simon Peter and Jesus warned him that he wanted to sift him like wheat.325 After Peter had denied Jesus three times he took off to go fishing; the resurrected Jesus Christ went after him; an example that Christ will come after us too.326 Praise God.

The last we hear of Peter is that he is in Rome and probably started a church there. The embellished tradition that he was the “Bishop of Rome” or the “First Pope” of the Catholic Church for twenty- five years is contrary to scripture.

Andrew
Andrew’s name in the Greek means “Manly”, also “Conqueror.” He was Simon Peter’s

Brother whom he led to become a Disciple of Jesus. His father was Jonah also called John. Andrew was born in Bethsaida, but relocated to Capernaum and shared a house with his brother Peter.

Andrew and Peter were fishing partners with two brothers James and John. The four shared the same spiritual interest and took time away from their fishing business to spend time with “John the baptizer” and became his disciples. In the beginning, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and was the first to be called by Jesus as a His Part-time disciple, but he continued as a fisherman.

Although Andrew’s name is in Group One, it is not always in the same order in all four lists. The scriptures seem to suggest on occasions Andrew and Peter paired up to witness as a missionary team.327 He is noticeably quiet in the background as; Peter, James and John seem to dominate the inner circle, however he is credited for bringing many to meet Christ.

Andrew’s heart did not resent being a supporting actor, living in the shadow of his brother, with Peter taking the leadership role. He saw value in serving quietly in the background. Most people come to Christ because of a personal testimony of a friend, neighbor, office worker or relative and Andrew delighted in bringing everyone and anyone to Jesus.

Because he brought his brother Peter to Christ, another 3000 received eternal life. WOW Everyone is not called to be a Simon Peter, but we can be an Andrew; we can be “bringers;” just bring one persontotheLord.328 WeareresponsibleforthewateringoftheseedplantedbytheHolySpirit.We are not responsible for the Harvest; just the watering.

Tradition says his field of labor was in Scythia, a region north of the Black Sea. He was the patron saint of Russia and the patron saint of Scotland and was crucified in Achaia in Southern Greece.

322 1 Corenthians 3:22 – Peter is mentioned by his nickname Cephas the Rock -- 1 Corenthians 1:12 – Cephas; Peter is consider a leader
323 Matthew 14:29-30 – Peter Walks on Water
324 Mark 9:2 – Peter sees Jesus transfigured along with James and John

325 Luke 22:31- Satan is after Peter and wants to sift him as wheat
326 John 21:3 - Peter denied Jesus three times and decided to go fishing -- John 21:17 – Jesus asked Peter three times; do you love me. 327 Mark 6:7 – The disciples are sent out in teams of two
328 John 1:40-41 – Andrew brings Peter to Jesus -- John 12:20-22 – Philip brings people to Andrew to take to Jesus -- John 6:8-9 – Andrew brings the boy with two sardines to Jesus

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Tradition says he was crucified on an “X” shaped cross; referred to as St. Andrews Cross. There is today “The Order of St. Andrews” which is an association of church ushers that make a special effort to be courteous to strangers. My home is located just off “Saint Andrews Road”. The effects of our “efforts” can be felt and far reaching, far more than we can ever imagine.

James – Son of Zebedee
James, Son of Zebedee (A Levite) Probably the older brother of John and fishing partners with

Peter and Andrew. They were both called “Boanerges” the “Sons of Thunder”329 because of their stormy passionate and fervent personalities to stir things up. James was outspoken, intense and impatient with evildoers.330 (Zeal, apart from wisdom and knowledge, can be dangerous.) 331

HewaspartoftheinnercircleofthreeandsawJesustransfiguredinHisglory.332 Hismotherwas Salome, Mary’s sister,333 so that would make him the cousin of Jesus. NOTE: For some reason James’ name is not mentioned at all in the Gospel of John. James was the first to be martyred by King Herod.334 (If that’s a good thing to be first in)

In service up until the end: History records indicate that the witness of James’ to the guard who was leading him to his execution, was so moved by his words that he confessed he was a Christian and asked forgiveness from James; then both of them were led away and beheaded at the same time. Good Grief; could I have done that?

John the Apostle
John was the Son of Zebedee, he was the younger brother of James and fishing partners with

Peter and Andrew. His mother was Salome, Mary’s sister. So he was a cousin of Jesus. His calling to Jesus was so great that he remembered the time of day; it was about 4 o’clock he said335. John was the closest to Jesus of the inner three and was known as “The disciple that Jesus Loved” 336 and Called the “Son of Thunder”.

He was one of only three to see Jesus transfigured in His glory and was an eyewitness to the crucifixionofChrist.337 JesusaskedJohntotakecareofJesus’motherafterHewascrucified.338 John was aggressive, brash, competitive, extreme, impetuous, intolerant, narrow-minded, passionate, reckless, self-centered, unbending, volatile and zealous, but when Jesus got through “tenderizing” him he would later be called “the Apostle of Love” because of the theme of love flowing throughout his writings. How cool is that.

John is the author of the book of John and three smaller books called the epistles of John. In humility and balance, he never mentions his own name throughout the book of John, It is quite possible someone named “John the Elder” actually penned the dictation of John the Apostle in four of the five books. John penned the Book of Revelation as dictated by God while in prison on the isle of Patmos339, living in a cave, sleeping on a stone slab with a rock for a pillow; he outlived all the Twelve.

John used the word “TRUTH” some 45 times in his Gospel and epistles. But he use the word “LOVE” more than 80 times. He used the word “WITNESS” almost 70 times.

329 Mark 3:16-17 – James and John called Sons of Thunder
330 Luke 9:54-55 – Hey; let’s rain down FIRE on their heads
331 Romans 10:2 – Zeal needs to be fortified with knowledge.
332 Mark 9:2 – James sees Jesus transfigured.
333 Mark 15:40 – Salome, James’ mother is Mary’s Sister. -- John 19:25 – Mary of Nazareth’s sister was present, seems to be Salome
334 Acts 12:1-3 – King Herod kills James the brother of John
335 John 1:38-39 – John remembers following Jesus; it was about 4 o’clock
336 John 13:22-23 – The disciple whom Jesus loved reclined next to Him -- John 20:1-2 – She ran to John, the disciple that Jesus Loved -- John 21:7 - The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord -- John 21:20 – John, the disciple whom Jesus loved
337 John 19:25-27 – John is at the crucifixion, sees Jesus’ mother Mary
338 John 19:27 – Jesus said to John, Behold thy mother
339 Revelation 1:9 – From the Mouth of God to the pen of John

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Inner Circle of Three
There was a close inner circle of three; Peter, James and John340 which Jesus called to Himself

often. Occasionally Andrew would be included; they are always listed in Group one.

Phillip – Leader of Group Two
Phillip’s name in Greek means “Lover of Horses” and is always listed first in group two. His

Jewish name is never given. He is not Phillip the Deacon / evangelist that led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ in the 8thchapter of Acts. However, you do need to study this deacon Philip who operated in the same gifts of the Spirit as the twelve apostles.

The Disciple Phillip was born in a fishing village at Bethsaida341 which was also the home of Peter, Andrew, Nathanael and Thomas who were all fishermen.342 He is believed to be a disciple of John the Baptist and thus sought out by Jesus for discipleship. He brought his friend Nathanael who is also called Bartholomew to be a disciple of Christ and is often seen paired with him.343

Scriptures draw a picture of him as; analytical, pessimistic, systematic and “by the book”, identifying the road blocks rather than the solutions. He was not so much a doubter as he was just predisposed to be “pragmatic” about life; just telling it like he saw it. He is seen as someone in charge, delegating, a “Bean Counter”, someone concerned with organization and methods;344 God used his gift as a teaching moment.

Bartholomew also called Nathanael
Bartholomew in Hebrew means “son of Tolmai,” he was from Cana a village just north of

Nazareth,345 the same place that Jesus did his first miracle. Scripture seems to suggest that he was probably also a disciple of John the Baptist as his calling in the wilderness was about the same time as Andrew and Phillip.

Little is known about Bartholomew, but based on the grouping of the scriptures, most believe he was also known as Nathaniel, who Peter found and brought to Jesus.346 Nathanael in Hebrew means “God has given”; the church fathers used both names interchangeably. Many had two names, one in Hebrew and one in Greek and maybe even another in Aramaic.

The name Bartholomew always follows Phillips’ in all four lists of the Twelve Apostles. We always see Phillip and Nathanael paired together as friends and companions. Scripture does not plainly say that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person, but it sure seems so. Otherwise there is no record of Bartholomew. Based on Phillips statement about Jesus, it’s clear that Nathanael knew the OT prophecies. Nathanael “didn’t think any good thing could come from Nazareth”.347 He knew that the scriptures said that the Messiah would come out of Bethlehem; and Nazareth was considered a lowly, uneducated and unrefined town.

Nathanael became the second of the “Part time” disciples to believe Jesus was the Messiah;348 John the baptizer was the first to believe. Peter was the first of the “Full Time” Apostles to believe; Nathaniel was privileged to have Jesus appear to him “face to face” after His resurrection.349

340 Mark 1:29-30- The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Mark 5:37 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Mark 9:2 – The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Mark 13:3 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Mark 14:33 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Matthew 17:1 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Luke 8:51 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John -- Luke 9:28 - The inner circle; Peter, James and John

341 John 1:44 – Phillip was from Bethsaida
342 John 21:1-3 – Phillip was probably also a fisherman
343 John 1:43 – Jesus sought out Philip -- John 15:16 – Jesus does the choosing of Phillip -- John 6:43-44 – No one comes unless the Father draws them. -- John 6:36-37 – The father predestined Phillip to come to Jesus
344 John 6:5 – Philip took control and in charge of the crowd. -- John 12:21-22 – Phillip, in charge; delegating -- John 6:7 – Phillip; A little pragmatic, already counted their heads
345 John 21:2 – Nathanael was from Cana
346 John 1:45 – Phillip told Nathanael or Bartholomew he had found the Messiah
347 John 1:46 – Nathanael is not sure about “Messiah coming out of Nazareth” -- John 7:52 – No prophet ever came out of Galilee -- Micah 5:2 – Prophecy; The Messiah would come from Bethlehem
348 John 1:49 – Nathanael confesses Jesus is the Messiah
349 John 1:47 – John 21:1-2 – Jesus appears to Nathanael after the resurrection.

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BOOK 4 People, Places & Things IT’S IN THE BOOK Nathanial is seen as a type or symbol of a “True Israelite;” one who accepts Jesus by Faith.350

Early church records indicate that his ministry took him to India, Persia and Armenia.

Matthew - Levi
Matthew’s Jewish name is Levi and was the son of Alphaeus.351 He was a TAX MAN, a

Publican.352
He was at first called Levi and later changed his name to Matthew which means; “Gift of Yahweh” or in Aramaic; “True”.

Taxes on transported goods were collected by “Local Contracted Collectors” who paid an agreed-upon sum in advance to the Romans, for the right to collect taxes in their area. They in turn kept any excess that could be squeezed out of the people. It is thought that Matthew was very wealthy. Tax collectors called Publicans were despicable, vile, unprincipled scoundrels that extorted money from the people to line their own pockets. They were the most despised if not most hated people in Israel; they were regarded as TRAITORS.

As I crawl into the story, I see Levi, sitting in his Tax booth at the crossroads of Capernaum, he had already heard about Jesus and His miracles long before he had ever laid eyes on him. He may at some point heard His teachings and may have had personal contact with Him, but considered himself unworthy. Matthew, a publican a despised tax collector was the LAST person you would expect to be called to be an Apostle.

Tax collectors were banned from the Temple and could not go there to worship or sacrifice, so since he could not go into the temple, he studied the scriptures for himself. This is bore out in the Gospel of Matthew with his many references to the Old Testament. Jesus saw him collecting taxes in his tax booth and called him to follow. This Jew was spiritually hungry and cared more for God, than he did his own lucrative profession and made himself AVAILABLE, he walked away from a lucrative income and never looked back.

Immediately, Matthew invited Jesus to come to his house for an evangelistic dinner and got a bunch of his closest low down, dirty rotten, scumbag sinner friends to come meet Jesus.353 Later, Matthew’s boss, Zaccheus, a chief Tax Collector found forgiveness and may very well have been at this same dinner.354 Just saying. Matthew is the author of the first Gospel penned with his name.

If you feel like an outcast and unworthy, Jesus still says, “Follow Me”.

Thomas – the Doubter
Thomas’ name appears in the second group of four disciples and is often paired with Matthew.

The Aramaic name Thomas, in the Greek is translated “Didymus” which means “The Twin”; the reason is unknown as scripture does not disclose a brother or sister. He is mostly remembered as “Doubting Thomas” who would not believe in Jesus’ resurrection unless he personally touched the wounds in His body; Thomas doubted so that we all may believe.

Although he is seen as a Pessimist and a “worry wart” about everything, he was devoted to Jesus Christ.355 In one instance, on a trip to Bethany, he was sure that Jesus would be stoned that very day and he wanted to go and die with him; this surely took courage.

In another instance of devotion to Christ, he saw himself being separated from his Lord and logically he didn’t see how he could find him again and told Him so.356

After the resurrection of Christ, Jesus appeared to all of the disciples, except Thomas.357 When they told Thomas, he did not believe it.

350 John 1:47 – Jesus says Nathanael symbolizes a true Israelite.
351 Mark 2:14 –Matthew Levi was the son of Alphaeus
352 Matthew 9:9 – Matthew was a Tax Collector -- Matthew 21:32 – Tax Collectors were on the same level as a whore. 353 Matthew 9:10-11 – Matthew brought his sinner friends to meet Jesus.
354 Luke 19:1-10 – The Chief Tax Collector Zacchaeus found forgiveness.
355 John 11:16 – Devotion was Thomas’ true character.
356 John 14:2-5 – Thomas can’t figure out how to get to his Lord if separated.
357 John 20:24-28 – Everyone had seen the resurrected Christ except Thomas

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He probably thought they were just trying to cheer him up. When he finally saw Jesus and placed his hands on His wounds, he doubted no more, he uttered the deep touching words; “My Lord and my God”. It should be pointed out, that when the other disciples heard reports of Jesus, they did not believe either; TWICE;358 so don’t beat Thomas up. There is no other disciple recorded that was invited to touch the wounds of Christ. Jesus says; that there is a “special blessing” for those who can believe without seeing.359

In the “New Testament Apocrypha” “The Gospel of Thomas”, “The Acts of Thomas”, and “The Apocalypse of Thomas” can be found, but they are not included in our canonized scriptures today, as they were not considered authoritative. Most commentaries reject Thomas as actually writing these books. However, these writings are certainly interesting as they give a great prospective of the early Christian’s BS, their Belief System, their “viewpoint” of the Gospel.

Tradition has it that Thomas spread the Gospel to Parthia and Persia and founded churches as far as Madras India and is believed to have been buried there. These is a place near there called “Saint Thomas’ Mount”.

James – Son of Alphaeus; Leader of Group Three
There were TWO James among the twelve, this one was the son of Alphaeus and his mother’s

namewasMary;averycommonname.360 JamesapparentlyisthebrotherofMatthewalsocalledLevi, the Tax Collector.361 He was known as James “the younger” or “the less” or “the little”. He may have been younger, smaller in statue or less well known than the other James who was “the son Zebedee”. James’ name in all the lists and is always mentioned in the ninth position, but is always listed first in group three, seemingly as the leader. Although very little is known about the disciples in groupthree,itmustberememberedthattheyALLgaveupeverythingtofollowChrist.362 Inobscurity, they tirelessly worked miracles among the people.363

Simon – the Zealot
Simon or another form “Simeon” which means “hearing.” There were two Simons in the inner

circle of the chosen Twelve. This one is called Simon the “Zealot” and also was known as “Simon theCanaanite”.364 HewasfromthetownofCana,notfromthelandofCanaan.TheZealotswere an underground political party; a fanatical Jewish sect that militantly opposed the Roman domination of Palestine. Some of the members were known as “Sicarii”, Dagger men, indicative of their tactics.

They were devoted supporters of God and His laws and secretly engaged in acts of violence, assassinating Roman soldiers and anyone else that opposed them. They were opposed to paying taxes to a pagan King, and since Matthew was a tax collector, Simon would have probably killed him in a heartbeat except for the miracle of the regeneration of the heart, and now they were brothers in Christ. The Zealots hoped for a Messiah that would overthrow the Roman Government and restore the kingdom to Israel.

Not a lot is known about Simon, but scripture says, he gave up everything to follow Jesus. He was probably paired with Judas Iscariot, as they had similar views of an earthly kingdom being ushered in by the awaited Messiah. Tradition has Simon taking the Gospel as far north as the British Isles.

The transforming grace of God molded “the zealous one” to have zeal on behalf of the Gospel.

God is still transforming people today.

358 Mark 16:9-11 – NONE of the disciples believed the resurrection at first. -- Mark 16:12-13 – TWICE they didn’t believe Jesus’ resurrection
359 John 20:29 – A special blessing for those believing, but not seeing
360 Matthew 10:2-3 – James was the Son of Alphaeus -- Mark 15:40-41 – James’ mother’s name was Mary

361 Mark 2:14 – James’ brother was Levi (Matthew)
362 Luke 18:28 – James left everything he had to follow Jesus
363 2 Corenthians 12:11-12 – James worked miracles among the people
364 Luke 6:15 – Simon called the Zealot -- Mark 3:18 – Simon called the Canaanite

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Judas - Son of James
There were two Judas’, among the Twelve, this one was the “son” of James.365 Some versions

of the Bible say he was the “brother” of James. Judas was a fine name, it meant “Jehovah leads”, but because of Judas Iscariot, the name Judas will always carry a negative connotation.

Other writings suggest that he was also one of the 72 disciples that were sent out in pairs. Judas wasalsocalledThaddaeusaswellasLebbaeusinthelistoftheTwelveDisciples.366 Allthreenames appear spread across the four lists of the Twelve Disciples.

Lebbaeus means “heart child” and Thaddaeus means “breast child”. He was probably the youngestandmostcherishedbyhismother. Itimpliesasweetspirited,tenderhearted,compassionate and gentle man. He tenderly asked Jesus; WHY will you manifest yourself to us and not the rest of the world? Jesus assured him that He would come to anyone that loved Him.367

Tradition has it that Judas took the Gospel north to Edessa, Mesopotamia in the region of Turkey. He is said to have healed Agbar, the King of Edessa.

Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot; Isc mean “Man” of Kerioth His name appears last in three of the lists of the

Twelve Apostles, with some kind of description that negatively labels him. His name does not appear at all in the fourth list which was written after his death.

The name Judas means “Jehovah leads”, he was the son of a man named Simon and was the only disciple that did not come from Galilee, but probably came from a small town in South Judea, Kerioth- hezron. He was placed in the high position of “Treasurer”; in charge of their finances. The scriptures bear out that he embezzled money from the ministry. He that is faithful in little will be faithful in much; he failed 368

He wanted Rome overthrown by a new government and planned to force it to happen, causing Jesus to use his powers improperly. Judas planned and waited for the right “opportunity” to “privately” betray Christ for which he would receive 30 pieces of silver; which was only a month’s pay; the price of a slave.369 When the outcome was not what he thought it would be; he killed himself.370

The Judas Conspiracy or the Sovereignty of God
The Jews were under oppression from Rome, particularly in the area of heavy taxation. They

were praying for redemption by a Messiah that would come and set up a kingdom and overthrow Rome. MOST followers believed that Jesus was that person, and it would happen soon.

Simon the Zelote was a member of one of the fanatical groups that would kill a Roman in a heartbeat and it seems that Judas was also a Zelote at heart.

We can see in the scriptures, James and John arguing about who would be the greatest in this new earthily political kingdom, so Jesus explained the Spiritual kingdom to them and they all understood it and received it except for Judas.

365 Matthew 10:3-4 – Judas was the Son of James
366 Matthew 10:3 – James is also called Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus.
367 Matthew 10:3 – John 14:22-23 – Judas asks a tender question.
368 Matthew 19:27 – We left everything to follow your, what’s in it for us? -- Luke 18:29-30 – You will receive in this age and the age to come -- John 12:5-6 - He was in charge of their finances – an embezzler. -- Matthew 25:23 – Whoever is faithful in little will be faithful in much -- Ephesians 1:11-12 – The condition of their heart was known; thus predestined. -- John 13:10-11 – Jesus had just washed -- Judas’ feet before he betrayed Him -- John 6:64 - Jesus knew Judas would betray Him -- John 13:25-27 – Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? -- Matthew 26:23-25 – Jesus told Judas; YES it is you. -- John 13:2 – Satan tricks Judas
369 Matthew 26:14-16 – What will you give me to betray Jesus; 30 pieces of silver -- 1 Timothy 6:10 – The love of money is the root of all evil.-- Exodus 21:31-32 – The betrayal; price of a slave, 30 pieces of silver -- Zechariah 11:12-13 –The price of treachery is foretold by the prophets -- Matthew 27:6-8 – Bought the Field of Blood -- Matthew 27:9-10 – The potter’s field to bury the poor was purchased with the blood money
370 Matthew 27:3-5 – Judas realizes he has been duped and kills himself -- Acts 1:18-19 – Tree Limb broke and he fell headlong; Maybe; Just saying Luke 22:21-23 – Woe to the man that betrays the Son of God -- Mark 14:21 – It would be better for Judas if he had not been born.

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Judas believed that an economic militant kingdom would happen shortly and that Rome would be overthrownandhewantedtoforceittohappenrightaway. SatanthoughthecouldforceJesusto use His powers improperly. Jesus never used His miracles or powers to benefit either Himself or his disciples. Judas thought that all the disciples would be in leadership positions and receive lots of wealth, not realizing that it was the final reward that was the most important.

Judas is painted, not as spiritual, but as an extremist; a patriot who was disappointed that Jesus did not lead them into a revolt against Rome immediately. I can see how Satan could instill thoughts in Judas, that Jesus was a “FALSE MESSIAH” or else he would have set up his kingdom. As part of God’s plan, before Judas was even chosen, Jesus knew that he would betray him. He is the only one that “was given” to Jesus by the Father that would be lost from Him, and that was so that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

Judas’ actions were voluntary, being led by his own heart. God used him in his plan, seeing the end from the beginning; he was predestined by his own heart. Judas Iscariot was a disciple for nearly three years and had the benefit of being close to the Savior, but was spiritually careless, he did not share Christ’s Spirit.371

Judas at best referred to Jesus as “Rabbi”, never “Lord”. He was politically inclined, looking to Jesus to deliver them from the oppression of Rome and thus he would be a part of the new governing authority. He was not from Galilee as the others were and probably felt as an outsider; therefore he was jealous of the others; Judeans actually hated the crude people from Galilee anyway. He had a love of money and most his comments were about how to get more money into the treasury, so he could embezzle more. Jealousy, greed, bitterness and disappointment turned into spite; a plan was hatched.

The Son of Perdition, was never saved, therefore he was lost. 372 Up until the very end, Jesus called Judas “FRIEND”, a term for someone you were in covenant with; Jesus had just washed his feet.373 ThesinofJudasallowedSatantoenterintohimandtakecontrolofhisspirit,betrayingChrist.

This brings us up to: How could Jesus select someone to be a disciple who would betray Him?374 This is known as the Sovereignty of God; nothing can thwart the plan of God. When the solders asked for Jesus, He stepped forward and said twice, “I am He”.375 Already identified, there was no reason for Judas to identify him with a kiss of betrayal, but he did anyway. A kiss was adopted as a formal greeting among “believers” and was usually given on the forehead, cheek or beard.

He planned and waited for a favorable “private” opportunity for the “Kiss of Death”. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver, and then in remorse threw the money back into the Temple. The money was then used to purchase “The Potter’s Field”, by proxy, for Judas. This would become a place to bury the poor and strangers; it would belong to Judas’ heirs.

REMORCE: When Judas figured it all out, he wanted to reverse things and give the money back and when he could not, he killed himself.376 His remorse was not; that he had betrayed the “Son of God”, but that Rome would not be overthrown and everybody now would hate him for what he had done and would extract revenge on him.

Forgiveness: Nowhere in scripture can we find that Judas asked for forgiveness, mercy or deliverance from his sin, but sought suicide to silence his tormented mind. Reading the different accounts of his death, I think he hanged himself from a tree limb which hung over a cliff and the tree limbbrokeoffandhisbodyfellheadlongdownintotheravineandburstopen. Ihaveotheremotions that say he most probably had “a little help” coming off that tree. That just my BS; no scripture implied.

Legend has it that the Redbud tree is the tree that Judas hanged himself on; therefore it is also known as “The Judas Tree.”

371 John 6:53-67 – Many disciples did not understand and left Jesus
372 Romans 8:9-10 – Judas did not belong to Christ
373 Psalms 55:12-14 – Jesus laments about His FRIEND Judas
374 John 17:12 – Judas was predestined to fulfill the scriptures -- Psalms 41:9 – Betrayal; Old Testament Prophecy -- John 13:18 – Jesus quotes the prophets on His betrayal and death

375 John 18:4-9 – Jesus stepped forward and said I AM He who you seek. 376 Matthew 27:3-4 – Judas figures it out; it’s all over

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The scriptures indicate that Judas went to the “place reserved for him”377 Ponder that.
NOTE: Jesus instituted “The Lords Supper” after Judas was asked to leave the room. The scriptures admonish us to examine ourselves and confess our sins before we come to His table.378

Matthias – The replacement of Judas Iscariot
After the betrayal and death of Judas Iscariot, the disciples prayed379 and cast lots to fill the

position of Judas and the lot fell to Matthias.380 Now “all of Israel” is symbolically represented again by the twelve disciples. (Representing the Twelve Tribes)

Another ordinary man was chosen to fill an extra ordinary position.

The Disciples life Sidebar
The Book shares their life this way; unnamed and obscure people fought the fight, who through

faith gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, and quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. They were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated; the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.381

They believed and never recanted their testimony of Jesus Christ even unto death.

The Take Away
There were at least Two James, Two Johns, Two Simons, Two Phillips and Two Judas’ among

the disciples. These were very common names as that of “Jesus”. Usually another name was affixed to identify who they were talking about; similar to a last name.

Sometimes your other name was your organization or trade or where you were born, or who your father was or your age or your height. Examples; Jesus of Nazareth; John son of Zebedee; James the lesser; Simon the Zealot; Phillip the Evangelist, Matthew the tax collector and John the baptizer.

All twelve of the disciples were from Galilee except Judas Iscariot. All were common fishermen or farmers with little education.

NOT OF THE TWELVE

John the baptizer was a first or second cousin of Jesus; he was 6 months older – His Father was Zachariah; a priest. John took the Nazirite Vow and was the last of the Old Testament Prophets and was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah; John unknowingly had the spirit of Elijah.

James the half-brother of Jesus; had three other brothers and became an apostle when Christ appeared to him after the resurrection. He evangelized his other brothers and was a leader in church history. He was the first Bishop at Jerusalem and wrote the book of James.

Jude had three brothers, James, Joseph and Simon; he was the half-brother of Jesus and was also called Judas and wrote the book of Jude.

Mark; also known as John Mark; his cousin was Barnabas and became a disciple when he was a teenager, but he deserted the Disciples while on a mission; later became a faithful servant. He was an interpreter and a scribe for Peter and wrote the Gospel of Mark.

Philip the deacon lived in Caesarea and was one of “the seven” that helped the widows in the Churchandwasprobablyoneofthe72thatwassentoutHehadfourdaughtersthatprophesied. He is famous for his disappearing act after baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch. He is usually confused with Phillip the leader of the second group of the 12 disciples.

377 Acts 1:25- Judas went to his own place
378 1 Corenthians 11:27-29 – Examine yourself before taking communion.
379 Acts 1:24-26 – Prayer for a replacement for Judas
380 Psalms 109:8 – Prophecy; another is to take his place. -- Acts 1:16-17 – The scriptures HAD TO BE FULFILLED. -- Acts 1:20 – May another take his place of leadership
381 Hebrews 11:33-38 – Unnamed and obscure people fought the fight

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Paul born a Jew from Tarsus Cilicia; was a Pharisee, persecuted the Christians, was a tent maker by trade. Probably 10 years younger than Jesus; became an apostle on the Damascus Road after the crucifixion of Christ. His name was changed from Saul to Paul and took the Gospel to the Gentiles He is the writer of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and probably Hebrews.

Luke was a doctor and wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES
1 Simon’s name was changed to Peter by Jesus; he was from Bethsaida, His father’a name was

Jonah. HeandhisbrotherAndrewwerefishingpartnerswiththebrothersJamesandJohnandtheir father Zebedee, he Spoke Greek and Aramaic and walked on water at least once. He took his wife on missionary journeys and was the leader of the first group and spokesman for the Twelve. He Authored 1st and 2nd Peter.

2 Andrew: His name always appears in group one - Was born in Bethsaida – He was the brother of Peter – Was the first disciple of Jesus - He evangelized Peter and took him to meet Jesus – In scriptures he is seen mostly bringing people to meet Jesus.

3 James brother of John; both were called the “Sons of Thunder.” There father was Zebedee and were fishing partner with Peter and Andrew. He was the first to be martyred.

4 John and James had a fishing business with partners Peter & Andrew. Their mother was Salome the sister of Mary (The mother of Jesus) James and John were cousins of Jesus. John is referred to as “The disciple that Jesus loved.” John wrote the Gospel of John and three letters; 1st, 2nd, & 3rd John. He recorded the book of “Revelation” of Jesus Christ as dictated to him by God. John outlived all those in the inner circle of twelve.

5 Philip; born in Bethsaida and was the leader of the second group of four disciples. His gift was thatoforganization,andwasapessimistatheart. HewasatfirstaDiscipleofJohntheBaptistand it was Jesus that sought him out Philip brought Bartholomew or Nathanial to meet Jesus. Bartholomew whose name is probably also Nathanial, was always paired up with Phillip. He was the second to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, with John the Baptist being the first. He is seen as a type or symbol of a “true Israelite”; one who “by Faith” accepts Jesus as the Messiah.

6 Nathanial is known for saying, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth.”

7 Matthew also known as Levi was a tax collector and was considered the scum of the earth, but yearned for God in his life. When he had the opportunity, he left it all immediately to follow Jesus and right away he evangelized his friends to come meet Him. He wrote the Gospel of Matthew.

8 Thomas; his other name was “Didymus” and was mostly known for doubting the resurrection of Jesus; “Doubting Thomas.” He was actually unswervingly loyal and devoted to Christ; we can believe today because he doubted.

9 James is the son of Alphaeus, his mother’s name is Mary. He is the Brother of Matthew the tax collector and leader of the third group of four.

10 Simon known as the Zealot, which was an underground political organization desiring to militantly over throw the Roman government. They hated paying taxes to a pagan king; Jesus refocused his zeal for the Gospel.

11 Judas was the son of a man named James and was one of the 72 disciples sent out and was known to have a sweet spirit.

12 Judas Iscariot; the son of Simon. Born in South Judea, Kerioth-hezron; he is the only disciple that was not from Bethsaida. He was treasurer of the twelve and embezzled the money from the ministry and betrayed Jesus. He wound up killing himself and then was replaced by Matthias.

Although little is known about some of the Twelve Disciples, we should still remember that they ALL gave up everything to follow Jesus. We should study their individual talents, flaws and imperfections and see how God molded them into what He wanted them to be. We would do well to remember that He can use our imperfections and flaws today.

All we need to do is just be AVAILABLE.

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Chapter 4.16

Judas Make-Believer

Did Judas have a Choice? Was he predestined? Was this the Sovereignty of God?

Background

The Jews were under oppression from Rome, particularly in the area of heavy taxation. They were praying for redemption by a Messiah that would come and set up a kingdom and overthrow Rome. Many believed that Jesus was that person, and it would happen soon.

The Kingdom

All Twelve of the Disciples were common fishermen or farmers with little education and all were from Galilee except for Judas Iscariot. Judas believed that an economic militant kingdom would happen shortly and that Rome would be overthrown and he wanted to force it to happen right away. He reasoned that all the disciples would then be in leadership positions and receive lots of wealth, not realizing that it was the final reward that was the most important.

What’sinthisdealforus?382 Wecanseeinthescriptures,JamesandJohnarguingaboutwho would be the greatest in this new kingdom. Jesus EXPLAINED the kingdom to the inner circle of twelve and they all understood it and received it except for Judas.383
Many of the other Disciples or followers of Christ who had witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit through miracles, healings and feedings of thousands still did not “get it” and they turned away and left Him,384 only those who SPIRITUALLY discerned the kingdom stayed.

Judas Iscariot
Judas was the son of a man named Simon. Judas’ name means “Jehovah leads” – Isc means

Man of; Cariot means he was a man of Kerioth, his home town. He was the only Disciple that did not come from Galilee, but probably came from a small town in South Judea, Kerioth-hezron and probably felt as an outsider and was jealous of the others. He was a Judean and Judeans actually hated the crude people from Galilee anyway.

Iscariot comes from the Latin word “sicarius” which means “Dagger Man”, a designation for the most fanatical radical anti-Roman terror group known as the Zelotes, which carried daggers and would kill a Roman in a heartbeat.

Judas Iscariot is painted, not as spiritual, but as an extremist; a patriot who was probably disappointed that Jesus failed to take a radical stand and lead them into a revolt against Rome. Judas was placed in the privileged high position of “Treasurer”; in charge of the Money Bag, the finances of their ministry. Don’t you think that it would be good to have a man in this position that was a KNOWN Zelote at heart that possibly carried a dagger in his waist band protecting the money?

Just saying

382 Matthew 19:27 – What’s in it for ME?
383 Luke 18:29-30 – Believer’s will receive in this age and the age to come
384 John 6:53-66 – Many disciples did not spiritually understand and left Jesus

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He had a love of money; scriptures bear out that he was a thief and embezzled money, and most of his comments were about how to get more money into the treasury, so he could embezzle more.385 You could say Judas moved money around. The Book says; he that is faithful in little will be faithful in much;386 Judas failed.

A Test for a Christian; what does your CHECKBOOK look like? How do you handle your own finances; how is your church handling their finances? Do they move money around for things other than for what it was designated? Did you notice it? In Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest masterpiece; the picture of “The Last Supper”, Judas is depicted sitting silently clutching the “Money Bag”.

Judas was politically inclined, looking to Jesus to deliver them from the oppression of Rome and Judas being a disciple, would be a part of the new governing authority. He was a disciple for nearly three years and had the benefit of being close to the Savior, but was spiritually careless; he did not share Christ’s Spirit. Judas at best referred to Jesus as “Rabbi” (teacher), never “Lord”.

His name appears last in three of the four lists of the Twelve Apostles, with some kind of description that negatively labels him. His name does not appear at all in the fourth list which was written after his death; that’s probably why his name was left out.

Jesus had SPANKED Judas with an earlier rebuke in front of the other Disciples when he fussed about the expensive perfume being poured out on Jesus and not being sold with the money given to him to hold “for the Poor”. Jesus said; “Leave her alone, why do you trouble her; she has done abeautifulthingtome.”387 ThathurtJudas’feelingsandwithfuriousdisillusionment,thisprobably motivated him to initiate a meeting with the Chief Priest. Jealousy, greed, bitterness and disappointment now turned into spite and a plan was hatched. This dark character of Judas remains an enigma to this day.

The Plot

GET THIS: Judas wanted Rome overthrown by the new government of the Messiah and planned toFORCEittohappenbygettingJesusArrested. JudasbelievedthatJesuswoulddeclareHimselfas the Messiah and perform a miracle which would result in his new kingdom being formed, and all would be well and Judas would be one of the main players.

If the plan didn’t work, ALL the disciples including himself would now be in some DEEP TROUBLE, so Judas figured out a way he could “Turn States Evidence”, save his own skin and make a profit too. Anyway Jesus was already speaking about His own death and besides that if He was not the Messiah, then he would just look for another Messiah to follow. It would be a WIN, WIN situation for him.

Note: Scripture bears witness that Jesus would never use miracles or His powers to benefit either Himself or his disciples when natural resources were readily available to Him. The sin of Judas allowed Satan to enter into him and take control of his spirit; betraying Christ. I can see how Satan could instill thoughts in Judas; that Jesus was a “FALSE MESSIAH”, because by now Jesus would have already set up His kingdom.

Serious plots on the life of Jesus had already taken shape and Judas decided to join in on the plans as if he was one of them. He appeared before the Council of the Sanhedrin and contracted to betray Jesus for a price. 30 pieces of silver was the prize for which he would receive for betraying Christ; this was actually only a month’s pay; the price of a slave, but it was still a profit for him.388 Judas planned, watched and waited for the right “opportunity” to “privately” hand over Jesus.

385 John 12:6 - Judas was in charge of their finances; an embezzler -- John 12:4-6 – Judas wanted more money in his money bag.
386 Matthew 25:23 – He who is faithful in Little will be faithful in much
387 Mark 14:6 – Judas was SPANKED; Rebuked, Leave her alone.
388 Matthew 26:14-16 – What will you give me? 30 pieces of silver -- 1 Timothy 6:10 – The LOVE of money is the root of all evil. -- Exodus 21:32 – 30 pieces of silver; price for the DEATH of a slave

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The Last Meal

Judas, The Son of Perdition, was never saved, he was a MAKE BELIEVER. Jesus called him “FRIEND”rightuptotheend,andevenwashedhisfeetknowingthathewouldbetrayHim.389 InOT times, a FRIEND was someone you were in covenant with. Judas was reclining right beside Jesus when He dipped the bread into the broth and handed it to Judas indicating he was the one that would betray him. As Jesus spoke, this would be Christ’s Final Appeal to Judas and Judas’ Final Refusal.

Frustration and Disillusionment of expectations filled Judas’ heart because Jesus was talking about His death and not about fighting against Rome. Judas believed in his Plan, not in the Man.

What you are going to do; do quickly,390 and Judas got up and left the room to finalize his arrangements to betray Jesus. The Lords Supper was instituted by Jesus after Judas was asked to leave the room, taking with him his unconfessed sins. The Book admonishes us that BEFORE we come to The Lord’s Table for communion that we should examine ourselves and confess our sins so as to not partake unworthily.391

Sovereignty of God

This brings us up to how could Jesus select someone to be a disciple who would betray Him? This is known as the Sovereignty of God. Nothing can thwart the plans of God. Jesus said that one of the twelve is a devil meaning a demon or DEMON POSSESSED. 392

As part of God’s plan, before Judas was ever chosen, Jesus knew that he would betray him and at the last supper even told him so. All along the way, Jesus gave Judas opportunities to make a decision to choose Him as the Messiah. When he did not repent; Satan entered into him.

Judas is the only one that “was given” to Jesus by the Father that would be lost from Him, and that was so that the scriptures might be fulfilled; so in my BS, my BELIEF SYSTEM, I see Judas as predestined because of prophecy, but fore-knowledge is not the same as fore-ordained.393 Matthew 7:16

Predestination

Make Believers are known by their fruits.

Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

GodasthePottercanmakeamanintoanykindofvesselthatHechooses.394 Sothenyoumight say God has made SOME destined to go to Hell; however that’s just not true; ALL are destined to go to Hell, but the Holy Spirit has enabled the man that is DEAD in Christ to be able reach out and claim the promise of LIFE and redemption from Hell.

A man’s SOUL is like a lightbulb; the Holy Spirit has REPAIRED his dead filament making it possible to light up; the Word of God has screwed the bulb firmly into the Socket; God has provided the Power; it’s now up to the man with his FREE WILL to make the choice “to turn on” the Switch.

There was a man in scripture that was sick, which the Disciples asked in so many words; why was this man sick? Jesus replied that he was “predestined to be sick” so that the Son of man could be glorified. If we used just this one example of sickness, we would be forced to conclude that the reason people get sick is because they were predestined to be sick. STOP; as students of the Word, we know that this was really a single incident, a TEACHING MOMENT that was pre-ordained by the plan of the Sovereign God to bring glory to His Son in the presence of His followers.

389 John 13:12 – Jesus had just washed the feet of Judas
390 John 13:10-11 – Jesus knew Judas would betray Him -- John 13:2 – Satan tricks Judas and spiritually blinds him -- John 13:27 - What you are going to do, do quickly
391 1 Corenthians 11:27-29 – Examine yourself before taking communion
392 John 13:18 – Jesus quotes the prophets of Judas’ betrayal -- Psalms 41:9 – Old Testament Prophecy; Jesus’ heart hurt -- Psalms 55:12-14 – Jesus lamented about His close Covenant FRIEND -- John 6:70 – One of you is A Devil; A Demon, Demon Possessed -- John 13:25-27 – Lord, who is the one that will betray you? -- Matthew 26:23-25 – YES Judas; It is you that will betray Me. -- John 17:12 – Judas fulfilled the prophecy of the scriptures -- John 6:64 - Jesus knew Judas was a Make-Believer; a betrayer
393 Ephesians 1:11 – Condition of Judas’ heart was known; thus predestined
394 Romans 9:21 – God can predestine us into His plan for anything that He wants

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It is God’s Will that none should perish, but all come to the redeeming saving grace of Jesus Christ.395 If it’s God’s will for us to be saved, then WHY ARE WE NOT ALL SAVED? It’s because He gave us FREE WILL to choose and He will not break His promises; God does not Change, nor does He drag us screaming NO into the Kingdom of Heaven. Everyone that will be in heaven will be there because they want to be there.

The Fore-knowledge of Jesus Christ does not imply Fore-ordination. Judas’ actions were voluntary, being led by his own heart. God, seeing the end from the beginning, used him in his plan. Judas was predestined by his own heart; he was doomed and damned because he chose so.

Life is Choice Driven, It’s in the Book.

John 9:1-25 – Specifically; this healing was predestined.

1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, NEITHER HATH THIS MAN SINNED,

NOR HIS PARENTS: BUT THAT THE WORKS OF GOD
SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST IN HIM.
7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
25 He answered and said, whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. NIV

The Betrayal
A KISS was adopted as a formal greeting among “Believers” and was usually given on the

forehead, cheek or on the beard. Judas planned and waited for a favorable private opportunity for the “Kiss of Death”. When the solders said they sought Jesus, He stepped forward and said TWICE, “I AM He”. Already identified, there was no reason for Judas to identify him with a kiss, but he did anyway securing his reward of the 30 pieces of silver.

Did you see it, Jesus uses the name of Jehovah God; I AM.396

John 18:4-9 - Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?" ... "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I AM HE," Jesus said. (Judas the traitor was standing there with them) ... Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." "I TOLD YOU THAT I AM HE," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me." NIV

Remorse

Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of Silver, the “going price” of recompense for the accidental killing of a slave. When Judas figured it all out, he wanted to reverse things and give the money back397 and when he could not; in remorse he threw the money back into the Temple and went out and killed himself. His remorse was not that he had betrayed the “Son of God”, but that Rome would NOT be overthrown and now everybody would hate him for what he had done to Jesus and would extract revenge on him.

Judas had witnessed the power of Jesus Christ through miracles, healings and the feedings of thousands, YET he remained only a MAKE BELIEVER.

395 Matthew 18:14 – It is NOT God’s will that any should perish -- Romans 8:9 – Judas did not have the spirit of Christ thus did not belong to Him -- Matthew 7:22-23 – Didn’t we do good stuff in your name; I never knew you.
396 Exodus 3:14 – What is the name of this God who has sent you, I AM that I AM
397 Matthew 27:3-4 – Judas figures it out, he was tricked and it’s all over

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The money was used by the Priest to purchase a much needed cemetery to bury; the poor, criminals, foreigners and the unknown.398 The Priest purchased the land by proxy for Judas from a Potter who had it for sale and it became known as “The Potter’s Field”. Later it became known as “The Field of Blood” because of the betrayal of the innocent shed blood of Jesus Christ, as well as the spilled blood of Judas as a result of his fall and consequent bloody death.

This fulfilled the PROPHECY of Zechariah.399
Did you see it? The Priest had money to pay for Judas’s treachery,

but none to buy the much needed cemetery for the poor; what hypocrisy!

Forgiveness; Judas turned to the religious rulers confessing that he had sinned, but never turned to God. Nowhere in scripture do we find that Judas ever asked God for forgiveness, mercy or deliverance from his sin, but sought SUICIDE to SILENCE his tormented mind.

Death of Judas

Reading the different accounts of his death, my BS, BELIEF SYSTEM seems to say Judas hanged himself from a tree limb which hung over a cliff and the tree limb broke off and his body fell head long down into the ravine and his body burst open.400 Again in my BS, I have personal emotions that says he most probably “had a little help” coming off that tree limb. That just what I think, no scripture implied

The Tree: Legend has it that the Redbud tree is the type tree that Judas hanged himself on; its leaves are shaped like a heart and it has reddish flowers that appear before the foliage like drops of blood on the young branches as well as on the trunk itself. It is said to weep blood each spring and therefore it is also called “The Judas Tree”.

The Book indicates that Judas went to the “Place Reserved for Him”401, it did not say Hell or the Lake of Fire; so is there a WORSE place? God says WOE to the man that betrays His Son, it would have been better for him, if he had not ever been born.402 Ponder that

The Take Away
You can witness the power of the Holy Spirit through miracles, healings and the feedings of

thousands, YET remain still only a MAKE BELIEVER.
The Holy Spirit has enabled you to open the Door, but it’s up to YOU to walk through it. The

choices we make on this side of eternity have eternal consequences.

NOTE: The classic trilogy movie, THE MATRIX is actually the Gospel of Jesus Christ hidden as a futuristic thriller of good against evil. In it NEO is shown the DOOR and is told what’s on the other side;

BUT it’s up to him to CHOOSE to walk through it. It’s in the Book

398 Matthew 27:6-8 – Bought the Potters Field; the Field of Blood
399 Zechariah 11:12-13 – PROPHECY; the price of treachery foretold, 30 pieces of silver -- Matthew 27:9-10 – PROPHECY; they purchased the Potter’s field
400 Matthew 27:3-5 – Judas realizes he has been duped and hangs himself -- Acts 1:18-19 – Tree Limb broke; he fell headlong, his BODY BURST OPEN & his intestines spilled out. ... Maybe – Just saying
401 Acts 1:25- Judas went to HIS OWN PLACE
402 Luke 22:22 – WOE to the man that betrays the Son of God -- Mark 14:21 – WOE; It would be better if Judas had not been born.

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Chapter 4.17

Barabbas Conspiracy

The Great Exchange
The Substitutionary Atonement

A Little Background

We first hear about Barabbas at the trial of Jesus when Pilate WANTS to try to figure out a way to release Jesus unharmed to the people through “The Great Exchange”, but his efforts didn’t go according to plan. This is where we pick up the story.

ZeloteisaGreekwordmeaning“ZealousOne.” TheZealotResistancewasfoundedinthe time of Quirinius around 6 to 7 A.D by a Galilean named Judas and a Pharisee by the name of Zadok. The Zealots were an underground political party; a fanatical Jewish sect that militantly opposed the Roman domination of Palestine. Judas the Galilean led the Zealots in an ill-fated revolt against the Romans; he was killed and his followers scattered, but the Zealot Resistance lived on.

Oddly enough the Zealot’s beginnings were the same year Jesus was born and the tax decree had just been made; the Romans had ordered a census to be taken of the Jews for the purpose of TAXATION403 and the Zealots were objecting for two main reasons.

FIRST; they took the position that no one should be honored as Lord or King but God Jehovah. So they rejected the foreign rule of the Romans.
SECOND; to pay taxes to an Emperor was considered Idolatry and blasphemous to God.

The Zealots mantras was; “NO RULE BUT THE LAW, NO KING BUT GOD”. They were greatly feared as they would kill you in cold blood just because you were a Roman. They had hope for a Messiah that would overthrow the Roman Government and restore the kingdom to Israel. Two Disciples; Judas Iscariot and Simon the Zealot held the same “Political Views” and believed that Jesus was “The Man” that had come to restore Israel.

The Zealots around 52 to 60 A.D. formed a radical group known as The Sicarii (dagger people) indicative of their tactics, who circulated in crowds during festivals and killed Roman sympathizers with daggers that they concealed in their clothing. That certainly would include TAX COLLECTORS for Rome who were for the most part JEWS.

The Sicarii were devoted supporters of God and His laws and secretly engaged in acts of intrigue, violence, force, deceptions plus ASSASSINATIONS of Roman soldiers and anyone else that opposed the resistance in order to keep it from achieving its liberating ends.

Barabbas was the leader of such a group of men. As I read through the Commentaries I see two different Belief Systems at work, I find some students of the Word that want to CONDEMN the Zealots for starting the Roman War while others want to call them HEROS. I leave it to you to decide.

Acts 5:37 – Judas the Galilean Zealot led a revolt against Rome

37 Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the CENSUS and led a band of people in REVOLT. He too was killed; followers scattered. NIV

403 Luke 2:1 – Romans decreed the Jews must pay taxes.

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The Comparison

Barabbas comes on the scene as a deliverer of the Hebrew people from the oppression of Rome and was a favorite of the SILENT MAJORITY. He had been arrested and charged with homicidal political terrorism; being a notorious revolutionary, an insurrectionist as well as being a bandit; a robber and a murderer;404 one could say Barabbas had a few flaws in his character.

Many students of the Word think that the Zealot Barabbas was also named “Jesus” which was a common name, and to make sure that Pilate did not misunderstand which Jesus they were talking about, they used the word “Bar-abbas” so as to not be confused with the other Jesus from Nazareth. Bar means SON and Abba means FATHER; so he was probably the son of a famous Rabi. These thoughts arise because it is documented in some of the early 9th century manuscripts and the Codex O, the rendering of his full name as found in the NIV is written as “JESUS BARABBAS”.405

Barabbas was the son of the Father. His path was to overthrow Rome with the sword.

Jesus was also known as the Son of the Father. His path was peace and suffering which did not attract the masses as Barabbas did.

The Pharisees tried to get Jesus connected with The Zealot Resistance Movement by asking himthequestion;“IsitlawfultopaytaxestoCaesar”?Theyweretricksters.406 Jesushadbeen on the scene now for about 3 years and was also considered a deliverer of the Hebrew people from the power of Rome.

Did you see it? We have TWO men named Jesus; TWO “Sons of the Father;” both with a path for deliverance of Israel. TWO paths; one of Peace and the other of the sword. One was a Sinner; the other who knew no Sin;407 today there are still TWO paths to the kingdom of God.

The Great Exchange

The Mishnah Pesahim 8.6 ordains that the Passover Lamb may be offered for one whom they have promised to bring out of prison. There was a custom of amnesty at the Passover feast to release one prisoner each year and this time, instead of Jesus of Nazareth, the crowds shouted out to release Barabbas, the notorious ZEALOT, murderer and insurrectionist who was considered their HERO.408 Thepenaltyofbeingchargedwithinsurrectionwastheworstdeathpossible;crucifixion on the cross on a public highway as a warning to everyone that passed by and saw him.

Pilate repeatedly took Jesus aside into the judgment hall and questioned Him; the thought being; “Jesus if you will just cooperate with me, I can get you out of this mess and I can get myself off this Hot Seat”;409 but Jesus would not defend Himself.

Scripture seems to indicate that the crowd does not take a stand against Jesus, but are more like spectators; passive rather than hostile, until they are stirred up by the Chief Priest who wielded considerable influence. The crowd had assembled to obtain the release of their HERO and insurrectionist BARABBAS. Jesus was just collateral damage, besides that, He had disappointed them in their hopes and expectations of a Messiah.

Pilate condemns Jesus to death. Pilate’s action was not prompted by the desire for justice, but by political and moral cowardice. Barabbas was released and saved from crucifixion; JESUS TOOK HIS PLACE; this is known as “Substitutionary Atonement”. Did you see it? Jesus became the Passover Lamb and took the place of a condemned sinful man on the cross thereby sparing his life. When Jesus died on the cross, He also took our place and died for our sins.

404 Mark 15:7 – Barabbas a REBEL; was in prison a Sinner -- Luke 23:19 – Barabbas an INSURRECTIONIST a Sinner -- Acts 3:14 - Barabbas was a MURDERER a Sinner -- John 18:40 – Barabbas was a ROBBER a Sinner
405 Matthew 27:16 – JESUS BARABBAS was well known prisoner
406 Mark 12:13-17 – The Trick; Pay taxes or not; Zealot?

407 Luke 23:4 – Jesus, No fault found, SINLESS
408 Matthew 27:21 – Who do you want to be released? BARABBAS -- John 18:40 – NO not Jesus of Nazareth; give us BARABBAS -- John 19:6-7 – He said He was the Son of God; let’s crucify Him -- Matthew 27:20 – Release Barabbas; execute Jesus -- Mark 15:15 – Pilate released Barabbas to the Crowd -- Luke 23:18-19 – Barabbas was an insurrectionist; A Hero
409 John 19:3-4 - I find no fault in Jesus; not guilty

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BOOK 4 People, Places & Things The Choice

IT’S IN THE BOOK

Did you see it? It was Pilate who became on trial; he had to choose the way that he knew was right or the way of the world and his choice put the blood of Jesus Christ on his hands forever even though he tried to wash them.

Pilate then gave the Jews the same CHOICE of Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Christ. Today we have the same choice that the Hebrews had, as well as all the people of all races down through the centuries. The choice of where to place our faith; in Jesus the Son of God or in Jesus the son of the world; the Creator or the Creation.

If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey His commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. I didn’t say this; God did.

Now you are the one that’s on trial; you must choose what you believe. To make no decision is a decision to reject God’s only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. If you accept, then EVERYONE will know it, because of how you live your life. Life is choice driven, it’s in the Book

Matthew 27:24 – You can’t wash your hands of His blood

24 So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, HE TOOK WATER, AND WASHED HIS HANDS before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man;

ESV

1 Corinthians 1:18 – Path to the Cross is foolish to the perishing

18 The word of the cross is FOLLY to those who are PERISHING, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

(ESV)

1 John 2:3-4 - If you are a Believer then you will Obey God

3 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims;
4 “I KNOW GOD,” BUT DOESN’T OBEY GOD’S COMMANDMENTS,

that person is a LIAR and is not living in the truth. NLT

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Chapter 4.18

Joseph of the Secret Service

Nicodemus of the Secret Service
The Holy Grail; the Glastonbury Thorn
Prophecy; The Lord’s good plan was to crush Jesus.

Setting the Stage

There are a dozen Josephs mentioned in the Book; but it was four that made the greatest impact on mankind; 1) Joseph son of Jacob, 2) Joseph of Nazareth, 3) Joseph brother of Jesus and 4) Joseph of Arimathea being the most overlooked. I would like to set the stage with information from the “Acts of Pilate” and the “Gospel of Nicodemus” as found in the APOCRYPHA; you will not find these legends in the Book. The ancient historical MYTHS and LEGENDS concerning Joseph of Arimathea are centered around a town called Glastonbury where such legions include King Arthur and the Holy Grail; the cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper. The Legends center around two themes; one is Joseph as one of the 70 apostles SENT OUT by Jesus to take the Gospel; where it is said he became the founder of British Christianity. Side bar: In the Hebrew Bible, there was thought to be 70 known nations as recorded in Genesis, and in the Greek Bible it was thought to be 72 nations, therefore some translations say 72 Apostles and others say 70; so that’s the reason for the discrepancy if you are dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s; just sayin’. The other Theme or legend is that Joseph retrieved certain HOLY RELICS surrounding Jesus Christ, one of which was the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last supper. The story goes that Joseph was the original guardian of the Holy Grail. MYTHS, LEGENDS and TRADITIONS say that the Holy Grail was a cup or dish with miraculous powers that provided happiness, eternal youth and sustenance in infinite abundance. It is said that with this cup that Joseph captured drops of blood and Sweat from Jesus on the cross. (Thus the HOLYGRAIL) Thisspunoffconspiracytheoristwhowroteaboutthecontinuanceofthe“Royal Blood line of Jesus”. Today the term “HOLY GRAIL” just means something that is elusive or out

of reach. Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathea was a very rich tin merchant and was either Mary’s Uncle or her husband Joseph’s Uncle, and that Joseph of Arimathea traveled by boat with his nephew Jesus and his father Joseph of Nazareth to Glastonbury where he instructed and showed them how he extracted tin and purged it of its wolfram. Arriving by boat in Glastonbury, legend says Joseph stuck his staff into the ground and it miraculously took root, leafed out and flowered into what was called the “Glastonbury Thorn” or “Holy Thorn”. The legend promulgated the Middle Ages Pilgrimages to just see it, but alas it was CHOPPED DOWN during a war and a replacement or TWO has taken its place. Today there is a hybrid tree known as the “Crataegus Monogyna” or Hawthorn tree that flowers twice a year and ONLY grows within a few miles of Glastonbury.

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It was there that Joseph of Arimathea founded the GLASTONBURY ABBEY. NOTE: during this time, the Church was financially in trouble and these stories promoted PILGRIMAGES and the SELLING of RELICS which became a life line for the Glastonbury Abbey.

Luke 10:1 - Legend; Joseph of Arimathea one of the 70 (maybe) 1 After these things the Lord appointed other SEVENTY also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city ... (KJV)
Luke 10:1 - Legend; Joseph of Arimathea one of the 72 (maybe) 1 The Lord now chose SEVENTY-TWO other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to the towns and places he planned to visit (NLT)

Joseph of the Secret Service
Joseph was a wealthy man from the Judean town of Arimathea as well an honored member of

the Jewish council, and was looking forward to the coming of THE KINGDOM OF GOD.410 He was a SECRET DISCIPLE of Jesus,411 and had OPENLY not consented to the council’s decision and actions to crucify Jesus.412 When Jesus was crucified, Joseph asked Pilate for permission to take the body of Jesus and bury it before the start of the Sabbath at sundown. He was granted permission because he was a near kinsman, as only a kinsman’s could take possession of the dead body.413

Joseph owned a NEW tomb cut from rock near a garden WHERE NO MAN HAD EVER BEEN LAID.414 This is so cool; God pointed out that no man had ever been laid there, because the Book records that a man was thrown into the prophet’s Elisha grave and was resurrected when his body touched Elisha’s bones. So it was important that the people of that time would absolutely know that no man’s bones had resurrected Jesus from the grave. (There is a reason for EVERY WORD in the Book.)

2 Kings 13:21 – Prophet’s BONES RESURRECTED a man

21 Once when some Israelites were burying a man, they spied a band of these raiders. They hastily threw the corpse into the tomb of Elisha and fled. But as soon as the body touched ELISHA’S BONES, THE DEAD MAN REVIVED AND JUMPED TO HIS FEET! (NLT)

Nicodemus of the Secret Service
Nicodemus was also a member of the High Council and of kindred spirit with Joseph in the

SECRET SERVICE. He helped Joseph get Jesus to the New Garden Tomb and brought along 75 pounds of spices to anoint the body of Jesus for burial.415 They had less than 3 hours to prepare him before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath. They finished up as best they could and rolled a large stone over the entrance. The women that had followed, all left to return after the Sabbath to anoint His body with ointments in addition to the already applied myrrh and aloes.416

You may recall, Mary, Martha’s sister had unknowingly already anointed Jesus for burial when she brought a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and anointed Jesus’ FEET with it, wiping his FEET with her hair.417 A second unnamed woman at another time did the same thing to Jesus’ HEAD anointing Him for burial.418 It’s in the Book

John 3:1-2 – Nicodemus SECRET SERVICE of Jesus also (ESV)
1 Now there was a man of the PHARISEES named NICODEMUS, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to JESUS by night and said to him
2 “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God,
FOR NO ONE CAN DO THESE SIGNS THAT YOU DO UNLESS GOD IS WITH HIM.”

410 Mark 15:43 – Joseph waiting for the Kingdom of God to come
411 John 19:38-41 – Joseph of Arimathea, A SECRET DISCIPLE owned a Tomb; never used before
412 Luke 23:50-56 – Joseph did not agree with the religious leaders about Jesus
413 Matthew 27:57-59 – Pilate releases the body of Jesus to Joseph
414 Matthew 27:60 – The NEW rock tomb had just been made for Joseph -- Isaiah 53:9 - Prophecy; buried in a rich man’s grave 415 John 19:39-41 – Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of ointment
416 Luke 23:55-56 – The women witnessed the body buried, prepared to come back after the Sabbath.
417 John 12:3-7 – Mary anointed Jesus’ feet for His burial
418 Matthew 26:7-12 – A woman anointed the Head of Jesus for burial

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After the Sabbath

On the first day of the week after the Sabbath, the women returned to the tomb where they had witnessed Jesus’ body being buried and found the stone had been rolled away when suddenly two angels appeared to them in dazzling robes.

MARY WAS COMMISSIONED TO GO AND TELL what had happened. This action would make her thefirstapostle. Shewasafemaledisciple;afollower. TheGreekword“Apostle”means“One who has been sent.” Disciple means “follower”. Women were considered “SECOND CLASS” to their father, brothers and husband. The message of Jesus Christ was of freedom and equality of the sexes; liberation from the constraints and restrictions of Jewish Law concerning women. This may be why so many women were OPENLY attracted to the teachings of Christ and financial supporters of the sect known as “THE WAY”.

Women’s Lib was not the agenda of Christ, as all twelve of His inner circle of disciples were male, although women were certainly liberated to function as they desired. Mary of Madelia is always mentioned first among the women and thus by interpretation, she can be assumed to be the leader of the Women’s Ministry, the “WOC” Women Of the Church and obviously she had the leadership qualities.419

God used a woman; deemed “second class” to spread the Gospel. He used the weaker vessel, considered foolish, to confound those who think themselves wise.420 There were other WOMEN APOSTLES that were mention in the scriptures; Junia is a female name and so is Priscilla and both OPENLY served “The Way”; 421 never a part of the male’s SECRET SERVICE.

I know that this is a stretch, but Mary Magdalene could be said to have established or originated “Christianity” as she was the first to believe that Jesus Christ was “raised from the dead” and went and told others as none of the Twelve Disciples were present.

The resurrection is the bed rock of Christianity. What if Mary had not gone to the grave on the third day? Up until this time the disciples preached the coming of the Kingdom of God; now they were teaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilling the scriptures.

Noli Tangere – Touch Me Not
In my BS, my Belief System, I want to see a tearful Mary taking hold of Jesus’ arm and holding

on ever so tightly, overjoyed to see him and not wanting Him to ever leave her again. However, she may not have actually touched Him and His words may have been for her to just release Him in her heart to His work in the spiritual realm.

Jesus told Mary to not touch Him; but in my BS, I believe it was said more like; “don’t hold on to me” or better still; NOT TO RESTRAIN HIM, because He had not YET ascended to the Father. The implication is that their relationship would continue after his ascension and be different in another dimension. SELAH; Ponder that.

John 20:17 – Don’t hold me back, there’s more to do, see you soon

17 Jesus saith unto her, TOUCH ME NOT;

for I am not YET ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and

say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my

God, and your God. KJV

KJV Touch Me not
NIV Do not hold on to Me
NKJV Do not cling to Me
AMP Do not cling to Me (Do not hold Me)

419 Mark 16:6-7 – Mary Magdalene Commissioned to go and tell
420 1 Corinthians 1:27 – God uses the foolish to confound the wise
421 Luke 24:1-12 - MARY MAGDALENE, JOANNA, and MARY the mother of James, and several other WOMEN return to the tomb with more spices -- Matthew 28:5-7 – Women commissioned to go and tell

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The Prophecy

All of this fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah when he said there was nothing handsome about the appearance of Jesus, nothing that would attract others to Him. Even though He had not done anything wrong, He would be despised and rejected, oppressed and treated harshly.

It was God’s “good” plan to crush Him; He would be whipped, beaten and his side pierced and WE WOULD NOT CARE. He would be led away like a lamb to the slaughter, saying nothing. He would DIE like a criminal, but be buried in a rich man’s grave; dying WITHOUT ANY descendants.

He exposed His own self to death and as He bore our sins, He interceded to the Father for all of us who were in rebellion; every one of us, just like sheep have strayed away to follow our own path. Because of offering His life for Sin, He will now have MANY descendants.

Isaiah 53:2-12 - PROPHECY of Jesus crucifixion and death
2 My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 HE WAS DESPISED AND REJECTED— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and
WE DID NOT CARE.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
5 But HE WAS PIERCED FOR OUR REBELLION, crushed for our sins. He was BEATEN so we could be whole.
He was WHIPPED so we could be healed.
6 ALL OF US, LIKE SHEEP, HAVE STRAYED AWAY.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.
7 HE WAS OPPRESSED AND TREATED HARSHLY, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned, HE WAS LED AWAY. NO ONE CARED that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.
9 HE HAD DONE NO WRONG and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal;
HE WAS PUT IN A RICH MAN’S GRAVE.
10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to CRUSH HIM and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because
He exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels.

HE BORE THE SINS OF MANY and interceded for rebels. (NLT)

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Secret Disciples

Many times people have prayed for healing and have received it, but then they won’t praise God out loud for it. - THEY JUST SAY NOTHING, fearing that if the “healing doesn’t take” and comes back, they will look silly and embarrassed for their WITNESS.

The Book gives us a story of a woman with an issue of blood that had oppressed her for 12 years. She thought that if she could just reach out in SECRET and touch the clothes of Jesus; she would be healed; she did and WAS healed. Jesus felt His virtue leave Him and asked WHO TOUCHED ME?422

Jesus being Omniscience, already knew who touched Him, but this was a teaching moment for all of his followers. Jesus does not want us to be members of THE SECRET SERVICE, our chief endistoglorifyGodwithourWITNESSofpraiseandworship.423 HetoldthewomantoSPEAKUP for all to hear, TO SHARE that it was her FAITH that got her healed.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not SECRET FOLLOWERS of God, but were examples of word and deed as they boldly spoke up in praise of God saying; “if we are thrown into the blazing furnace,THEGODWHOMWESERVEISABLETOSAVEUS. Hewillrescueusfromyourpower, Your Majesty, BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T, WE WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”424

We are not to just listen to God’s word, we must do what it says, otherwise we are only fooling yourselves. Faith without ACTION is a dead faith. 425

New Translations

If you don’t yet have a Bible, you will enjoy the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION, not only because it is so easy to read and understand, but because it’s not just paraphrased, it’s a real translation from the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic manuscripts. Translators today are guided by The Masorah which refers to the whole chain of Jewish tradition which is claimed to be unchanged and infallible.

However, I would be in error if I did not note that each student of the Word has their own Belief System and many are KJV Bible only people; I have many translations and use them all; get the NLT.

The Take Away

The Masorah is a collection of notes on the text of the Hebrew Scriptures as composed by the rabbis, these notes on “traditions” were placed in the margins to expand and clarify the thoughts of the writers. The notations tell why something was added, corrected or deleted.

The Women Of the Church were overt OPEN followers of Jesus Christ and you knew who they were by their fruits; their actions, their works. We don’t do good works in order to be saved; we do good works BECAUSE we are saved.

Joseph and Nicodemus were SECRET FOLLOWERS of Jesus Christ, but when the going got tough, the tough got going, and in the end they were in OPEN disagreement with the High Council, notonlyintheirWords,butintheirWorks;theirActionsofFaith. TheBookofJamessays;show me your works and I will see your Faith. FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS A DEAD FAITH

NOTE: According to the “Gospel of Nicodemus”, a non- canonized book outside the Bible; says the Elders were so angry with

Joseph that they IMPRISONED him, but then about midnight while he was praying, Jesus appeared to him, explained all that had transpired and transported him out of prison to his own house where he was told to stay for 40 days while Jesus remained on earth; after which time Joseph could then return to Arimathea. (Do with this as your Belief System allows)

422 Mark 5:25-34 – We are not in the SECRET SERVICE – Who touched Me?
423 Psalm 69:30-31 – The Chief end of man is to glorify God
424 Daniel 3:16-18 – God is able to save us, but even if He does not we will not worship your gods.
425 James 1:22 – It’s not enough to HEAR the Word; we must DO the Word; Faith without works is a dead Faith

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So here’s where we are; regardless of whether it’s convenient or not, or even if imprisoned or death as was most of the disciples; it was through their FRUITS; their ACTIONS, their WORKS that we are identified with them. We are NOT member of some SECRET SERVICE, we are commissioned to be compassionate ROYAL AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST. We are known by what we SAY, but MORE KNOWN by what we DO; our works.

It’s in the Book

James 2:14-20 – What good is faith without works; its USELESS

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see,

17 FAITH BY ITSELF ISN’T ENOUGH. UNLESS IT PRODUCES GOOD DEEDS,

it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue,
18 “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say,

“HOW CAN YOU SHOW ME YOUR FAITH IF YOU DON’T HAVE GOOD DEEDS?

I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that

FAITH WITHOUT GOOD DEEDS IS USELESS? (NLT)

Matthew 7:16 – You will know a believer by their works

16 YOU CAN IDENTIFY THEM BY THEIR FRUIT, that is, BY THE WAY THEY ACT.

Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? (NLT)
Matthew 7:20 – A Christian is known by the actions
20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so

YOU CAN IDENTIFY PEOPLE BY THEIR ACTIONS. (NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:20 – We are Ambassadors; not SECRET SERVICE

20 Therefore, WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ,

BE RECONCILED TO GOD. (ESV)

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Chapter 4.19

There were certainly more than three Mary’s in scripture, but not a lot is written about them. Women in general were considered second class in Biblical times because of the Gnostic mind set. This tempered how women’s contribution to the work place and their thoughts were received. For that reason, I feel writers of the Holy Scriptures left out the contributions of women. Because of the lack of scriptural references, there is a lot left to the imagination.

Gnostic thinking
The Gnostics are the “People in the know”; they taught Secret Revelations combined with a

mixing of myths and rites drawn from a variety of religious traditions. They believe we are all in a Time Continuum and that Jesus had taught secret teachings to the Apostles that moved them along this continuum. The Gnostics maintained that this material world and all that’s in it is the result of a cosmic catastrophe; this world was created by an evil lesser god and our soul needs to escape this material world and return to the world of the spirit.

Salvation cannot be obtained till ALL souls have returned to the spiritual realm. But we can’t escape as long as “women” keep having babies. So avoid procreation; don’t participate. A non- reproductive woman is “on her way” to becoming a “MAN” and thus entering the kingdom of heaven. Isthissomemessedupstufforwhat? ButthisishowmostmenviewedwomenduringthetimeofJesus.

If you can just comprehend the Gnostic thinking, that women were part of a progressive time continuum; starting with plants, then bugs, then animals, then women, then MEN and finally a god. So, ultimately as you progress along the continuum YOU WOULD BE JUST LIKE A GOD

A “female” in the time continuum, was actually a “male” that had just “not yet arrived”. So a female was considered a “SECOND CLASS” person; an inferior human being, inferior to men. This thought process had to do with domination. The top denominates downward like a master over his slave. The more powerful Male is SUPPOSED to dominate the less powerful female. Perhaps now you can see why they wanted the Women to remain SILENT in Church and why they did not believe Mary Magdalene when she told them about the resurrection of Christ426. FAR OUT STUFF

The Virgin Mary
Wikipedia: Madonna; Italian title for “My Lady” “The Immaculate

Conception should not be confused with the Virginity of Mary or the Virgin birth of Jesus; it refers to the conception of Mary by her (virgin) mother, Saint Anne. Although the belief was widely held since at least Late Antiquity, the doctrine was not formally proclaimed until December 8, 1854, by Pope Pius IX in his paper bull “Ineffablis Deus”.

(The virgin birth of Saint Anne with Mary is not recorded in the New Testament scriptures)

426 1 Corenthians 14:34 - Women should remain SILENT in the churches. -- Luke 24:10-11 – The Women’s words seemed like NONSENSE to them

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

Mary of Nazareth

The Blessed Virgin Mary
Jesus’ half -brothers & half-sisters The Gnostics

First Word

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“The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race,preservedimmunefromallstainoforiginalsin”.(Shewassinless)Wikipedia. ThusMarywas preserved from sin and is the “CO-REDEEMER” of man along with Jesus.

This contradicts scripture; all have sinned, No one comes to the father except through Jesus Christ; there is NO co-redeemer;427 don’t get all upset with me now; it’s in the Book.

The name Mary comes from the name “Miriam” which means “rebellious” or “bitter”; this refers back to the days of Moses’ sister Miriam who became jealous of Moses.428 Never the less; very little thought was given to that issue. One out of every four Jewish women in the first century was named Mary; six are named in the New Testament. All the Mary’s documented in the NT were virtuous and selfless women. This study is about Mary and not denominational doctrine.

Our Salvation is Jesus plus nothing.

Mary of Nazareth
I have given very little space in my BS, my BELIEF SYSTEM to the Virgin Mary mainly because

the scriptures say so little about her. But now knowing the Gnostic mind set, I have set out to find out more about Mary, the mother of The Savior of the World.

Mary Writes: Some students of the Word and commentaries speculate that Mary may have written part of her own story that is reported in the first two chapters of Luke. They are written in “the first person” with such details that only Mary would know. Perhaps “the reporter” Luke interviewed her.

Mary the mother of Jesus stands apart from all the other women in literature and history even among unbelievers. She embodies all that is noble and fine in womanhood and is timeless, honored and revered regardless of race or class. Even the Angel Gabriel called her “Highly Favored”. She is characterized by Faith, Humility and OBEDIENCE. She is the ONLY woman to EVER conceive a child supernaturally.

The Gospel of Luke indicates Mary was a descendant of King David and the Gospel of Matthew indicates Joseph was too.429 Mary was an unknown peasant girl that lived in Nazareth located on the southern plains of Lower Galilee who caught the eye of a Carpenter. She obtained neither wealth nor fame and reared all of her children in obscurity becoming a widow at a relatively young age.

The reason Catholics say “Hail Mary” is because the Angel Gabriel said ”Hail” when addressing Mary for the first time. The salutation “Hail” means to REJOICE. Ave Maria is Latin for Hail Mary. The phrase “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” comes from her cousin Elizabeth when she greeted Mary430.

DEBATE in Ephesus saying that Mary was the mother of Christ, but NOT the mother of God? The people rioted it the street chanting; Mary, “Mother Of God, Mother Of God”

Mary Sings: Mary took a 90 mile trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth and composed a song referred to as “The Magnificat” which was praise and exaltation to God and it smacks of prophecy of the coming Messiah to help Israel. She stayed with Elizabeth about three months until John the Baptist was about to be born; Jesus and John would be cousins

Luke 1:46-55 – Mary SINGS a song of PRAISE to God.

46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.
54 He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever."

427 Romans 3:23 - ALL have SINNED and fall short of the glory of God including Mary -- John 14:6 - No one comes to the Father except through me; Jesus is the only way
428 Numbers 12:1-2 – Miriam is JEALOUS of her brother Moses
429 Luke 3:23-31 – Mary descendant of the line of King David -- Matthew 1:1-16 – Joseph descendant of the line of King David

430 Luke 1:28 – HAIL MARY you are Highly Favored of God -- Luke 1:42 – Mary Blessed art thou among women
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I must admit I was always puzzled, as to why Mary was not more prominent in “The Way”, “the Jesus Movement”,431 but now I can understand that she was providing Food, Clothing, Shelter and Home Schooling for a good size family without the presence of a dad. She was a SINGLE MOM. Most of the “women” in the entourage of Christ either had a supporting husband or were already wealthy.

It had bothered me that Mary could lose her kid on a trip to the temple, but now I better understand the culture and that with so many kids in the extended families, she just thought he was probably with some of the relatives. Just like a mother hen; she sure let Jesus know about her anxious concern when she found him. We’ve all been there with our kids or a lost puppy; I can just feel the emotions that she had when she finally found Him that included a mixture of Anxiousness plus the Blessed Relief.

Luke 2:43-48 – Mary FUSSES at Jesus for staying behind

44 Thinking He (Jesus) was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 48 His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." NIV

Mary’s Marriage

Scripture teaches that Mary was a virgin when she was betrothed to Joseph when he went to Bethlehem for the Roman census; they were both descendants of King David. Mary was obligated as his wife to go with him although they had not been formally married; engagements were that binding.

Babies: The primary purpose of marriage in the ancient world was to reproduce rather than have a special cherished one for companionship. A lot was to be considered; particularly, was the wife healthy and could she bare children; also the type of political alliance she would make.

Selection: Usually the parents chose the mate for their son; one who would fit in with their clan and work “harmoniously” with her mother in law who would pick up the young girls training where her own mother left off; this often developed into a deep and lasting bond.

Courtship: Sometimes the son would suggest personal preferences, but never allowed to date or even do lunch. Chances were good that he would not even see her face until the wedding day. The bride might see him, but she always had a veil covering her face.

Love: In Old Testament times you did not marry the one you loved; you loved the one you married; love began at marriage.

Age: Most people lived to a really old age; Isaac did not marry till he was forty years old and Jacob was about Eighty. The minimum age for boys to marry was thirteen and the daughters were Twelve. Based on the maturity and seriousness of Mary. My Belief System embraces that she was a teenager of high school age and Joseph was a much older man.

Engagement: (Kiddushin) was for a year which was considered normal and constituted a part of their marriage. Mary and Joseph being engaged were considered married although not living together; sexual intercourse could not take place till after the marriage vows.

Mary Ponders

We do not hear very much from Mary in scripture and although she is very young, she is God fearing, God seeking, serious and mature. She quietly PONDERS432 all the things that are happening around her including; the visit of Gabriel, the Angel of God; the social implications about her being pregnant before she was married, the 70 mile trip on a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the arrival of shepherds. The “Wise men” bringing gifts and money to finance their traveling, warnings in dreams to GET OUT OF TOWN quick,433 the prophecies of Simon and Anna that Jesus would be a Savior.434

431 Acts 24:14 – The Way; the Jesus Movement
432 Luke 2:19 – Mary pondered all the things she saw in her heart
433 Matthew 2:13 – Mary and Joseph warned in a dream
434 Luke 2:25-32 – Simon prophases to Mary about Jesus -- Luke 2:36-38 – Anna prophases to Mary about Jesus

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There were probably JOKES, GOSSIP and PUBLIC REACTION about Jesus who was “questionably” the son of Joseph. Jesus had left his widowed mother and didn’t stay in the FAMILY Carpentry business and was acting like He was some sort of BIG WIG PROPHET; who did He think He was anyway; He was just the son of a carpenter.

Still not fully understanding, Mary was still willing to place her womanhood at the full disposal of God. What a whirlwind of emotions; Mary as well as the Disciples would not FULLY UNDERSTAND the implications of what was playing out till after the resurrection.435

The Book says Mary pondered all these things in her heart.436

Her Life

Nazareth was a beautiful place to live, but it was still considered a WICKED PLACE and nothing good could come out of Nazareth; 437God uses the simple things to confound the wise.438

Home Schooling: Understand that Mary and Joseph taught Jesus the concepts of God straight from the Torah and I feel sure in my heart that they modeled the “God fearing FAMILY life”. After the time of purification they consecrating Jesus with sacrifices to the Lord439 and made sure He accompanied them each time they made the journey to the Temple.

Twelve years later we find that Joseph is still alive,440 and is with Mary searching for Jesus finally finding Him in the Temple. The sayings of Jesus were amazing everyone, but again Mary did not understand and just pondered all He had to say in her heart. I like that word “Ponder”; a farmer wouldsayhiscowwaschewingthecud. IliketopauseforawhileandChewtheCud;tochew on stuff; to think; to ponder; as the psalmist would say; SELAH; pause and ponder.

Mary’s Family

Some students of the Word Belief System embraces that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus. Some commentaries even “FORCE” the issue by saying that Joseph had been married before, andhadagaggleofchildren,butthisjustisn’tfoundintheProtestantBible. Scripture“implies” that Mary did not remain a virgin, but later did have sexual relations with Joseph. (“Before they came together”shewasfoundwithchild)implyingthattheydidcometogether.441 Thereisnoreason NOT to believe that Mary bore other children to Joseph.

Because God was the father of Jesus and not Joseph, Jesus’ siblings would then be considered half- brothers and half-sisters, not step brothers and sisters.

Mary and Joseph’s sons were James, Joseph, Judas and Simon and of course, with the Gnostic mind set, the daughter’s names are not mentioned.442 Scripture always list the oldest or most prominent first; that would be James. Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection and before He appeared to the other disciples. This is probably when James was fully persuaded that Jesus was the Messiah and converted to Christianity. Just saying

Plum Crazy

Joseph is dead: When we see Mary mentioned later in scripture, Joseph is not present and must alreadyhavedied.443 JesushasgoneplumCRAZY;ScriptureusuallydepictsthefamilyminusJoseph, standing far off in the distance, mainly because of the crowds. Then at some point just after Jesus was casting out demons, the whole family went down to take charge and reason with him because they thought He was losing His mind.

435 Luke 2:46-50 – Mary does not comprehend what Jesus is telling her 436 Luke 2:51-52 – Mary kept all these things in her heart
437 John 1:46 - Can anything good come out of Nazareth
438 1 Corenthians 1:27 – God chooses the simple to confound the wise 439 Luke 2:22-24 – Mary and Joseph consecrate Jesus to the Lord

440 Luke 2:48 – When Jesus is Twelve, Joseph is still alive.
441 Matthew 1:18 – Implies that Mary had relations with Joseph later
442 Mark 6:3 – James, Joseph, Judas and Simon Half-Brother of Jesus -- Matthew 13:55 – Jesus had Half Sisters too 443 Luke 8:19-20 – Came to see Jesus without Joseph – DEAD

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Jesus did not acknowledge them, but said, “His mother and brothers and sisters are those that do thewilloftheFather”.444 KnowingMary,I’msureshesilentlyPONDEREDallofwhatHesaidinher heart. Her son Jesus had come to “live the life of the spirit” and His love for God transcended that of family.

Mark 3:21 – The family thought Jesus was out of his mind

21 When his family heard about this,
THEY WENT TO TAKE CHARGE OF HIM, for they said,

"HE IS OUT OF HIS MIND." NIV

Mary Believed

As Jesus was in anguish, being tortured on the cross, we see Mary silently watching her son’s life ebb away. If you have ever lost a loved one, you have some idea of the grief, sorrow and agony that had fallen upon her spirit. I know the sorrow and pain of seeing my 21 year old grandson in his casket; I know the sorrow as I watched my puppy’s life slip away in my arms. How much more sorrow when it’s your own flesh and blood SON.

Believed: Mary did not fully understand the Person, Purpose and Mission of Jesus until after His resurrection. My BS causes me to believe Mary and Joseph both believed that Jesus was the Messiah at His birth, but because of the pressure of the times, the family just simply didn’t understand and were confused and intimated by the villagers to be seen around Jesus. Just saying

I think Mary wanted to believe; and eventually the timidity of the family would be replaced with boldness because of the testimony of James His half-brother who Jesus appeared to just after the resurrection. Just saying.

Tradition has James as an important leader in early church history; he was appointed as the first bishop of Jerusalem by the apostles and the Lord Himself. James was not one of the Twelve. Mary and Jesus’ half-brothers are numbered among the 120 believers gathered in the upper room waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I think his half-sisters were there also, but as the “custom” of the NOSTIC thinking, their presence would go un-mentioned.

Jesus had committed Mary to the care of His beloved friend John before He died. After the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost, Mary sort of disappears out of the scriptures. Other writings indicate that John moved back to his home in Ephesus and took Mary with him. There is house in Ephesus called the “House of the Virgin” that dates back to her time. There is no record of her death, but she lives on in the hearts of the believer for all time; regardless of denomination, race or class.

Acts 1:13-14 – Mary and the family numbered with the Believers

13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

NIV

John 19:26-27 – John takes Mary to his home

26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,
"Dear woman, here is your son,"
27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

NIV

444 Matthew 12:47-49 – Jesus said; who is my Mother and Brothers? -- Matthew 12:50 – My mother and brothers are those that do the will of the Father

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

Chapter 4.20

Mary and Martha

The Great Sibling Whine; Martha Labors; Mary Listens
Be a Mary, NOT a Martha, Physical Bread vs: Spiritual Bread The One Thing, Gifts of Worship, Service & Hospitality
The Brother Lazarus, The Two Meals, The Anointing

First Word

The story of Mary and Martha has been wrung dry by many commentaries; it’s only a short glimpse of Mary and Martha’s entire lifetime, but what seems to always bubble to the top of the pot is Mary LISTENS, as Martha LABORS, so be a Mary not a Martha. The Book says, that Jesus did many other things that were not written down, and I believe Martha did many other good things also that were not recorded.445

I hope in this study to discount, the thought that the story of Mary and Martha is about two sisters in deep rivalry with different temperaments and polarized characters. As the story is retold, their real characters are obscured, Mary is painted as a calm and devoted follower of Jesus and Martha as an upset self-righteous hectic woman, busy with house work. I hope to show them as two different models of Christian devotion. Some students of the Word see Jesus scolding Martha very sharply and harshly, but as I study, I believe Jesus was responding very quietly and lovingly, not so much as her Lord, but as her true friend.

This particular story of Mary and Martha appears only in the account of Doctor Luke’s Gospel and oddly enough there is only one Martha mentioned in all the four Gospels. As we see the picture of Jesus and His entourage, they are “on their way” through Judea and His custom was to stop along the way and teach the things of God in the different villages and usually someone hungry for spiritual bread would invite them into their home. As He traveled through the village of Bethany, He stopped for the day at the home of three of His closest friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus and their home would become his home base.

Their Home

It seems that the home actually belonged to Martha who opened it often to Jesus when he was in town.446 While it was uncommon for a woman to own her own home, it certainly was not rare. There were several wealthy women in His entourage that supported Jesus and His disciples. The respect that Jesus had for women was something strikingly new.

Singleness; As I crawl into the story and look around, In my BS, I see that if their parents had died, by tradition, the home would have been Lazarus’s; so I would more embrace that Martha’s husband died and left her the home and Mary and Lazarus moved in with her. Some students of the Book believe that Lazarus had his own quiet home elsewhere in the village for his writings, but often helped out at his sister’s house. (I’m thinking FREE EATS)

They lived on the Jericho Road in the small village of Bethany just outside of Jerusalem near the Mount of Olives. From there it was only a two mile trek over the mountain to the Temple in Jerusalem. The traditional site of their home shows that it was a secluded two story stone house with

445 John 21:25 – All of Martha’s activities were not written down 446 Luke 10:38 – Martha opened her home to Jesus

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access from the covered porch to the spare bedroom on the second floor. It was a special place that overlooked a garden where you could have a glass of wine and chill out in a rocker. SELAH

This is a house full of people engaged in numerous conversations. Chairs were not very common in the homes, and folks just set on the floor around a long low table. Knives and forks were not used in the meals and bread was used to scoop up the food with their fingers.447

InanotherpartoftheroomJesusisstandingandteachingasafewbegintosit. Icanjustimagine the thought provoking discussions and instructive and enlightening conversations between Jesus and the Disciples. I can just picture Mary AND Martha both slowly settling down at His feet as they were regularly accustomed to doing, taking in all of His words.448

As time moved on, they began to get hungry and having no notice that Jesus was coming, Martha’s mind became distracted with meal preparation and quietly got up and left the room to head up the logistics of coordinating the preparation of the evening meal for everyone.

Women Of the Church throughout history have always had the desire to serve as best as they could. In Jesus’ culture, fixing meals was considered a part of a woman’s responsibility and studying the Torah was not.

Mary had earlier finished her chores and was completely unaware of the extra preparations that “Mother Hen Martha” was fastidiously working on in the kitchen. When Jesus was around; Mary became very quiet and pensive with deep thoughts which gave evidence that she was “Spiritually Sensitive” to His words, His wisdom and His power. Mary in deep humility was now breaking the “MALE RULES” and was sitting at the feet of a Rabbi which was reserved for male students; drinking in His every Word. It’s in the Book

Do you remember the song; “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” written by Helen H. Lemmel? The chorus reminds me of the enraptured Mary; as she is looking at Jesus, she momentarily forgets about everything else that’s going on.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.

Martha as the older sister is considerate, conscientious, and meticulously concerned about SERVING her Savior;449 she is not just helping out, she is plainly the Hostess who is in charge of the kitchen trying to prepare the food, not just for the normal three of them, but now for at least 15 guest plus friends and prominent members of the community that were still showing up. They had filled her house and were now spilling over into the courtyard; excited about the stories they had heard about her distinguished guest and the expectancy of the unveiling of some new hidden esoteric teachings of spiritual knowledge.

You must picture “Mother Martha” as an attentive hostess, eager hearted and striving for perfection. She is a disciple of Christ with the gift of “SERVICE”450 as mention in the book of Acts and is actively WAITING ON TABLES.451 I think that it is noteworthy to mention “MARTHA’S TASKS” has a double meaning; the Greek word for “Domestic Service” and “Christian Ministry” are both derived from the same noun that means DEACON. The early Christians did not have church buildings; most gathered in people’s homes or what we would refer to as a “House Church’s”.

Martha was the host and deacon of a house church and confessed openly that she believed Jesus istheChrist,theSonofGod,whowastocomeintotheworld.452 Missionarieswerealwayssentout two by two and in this case; the two were Martha and Mary.453 It’s in the Book

447 John 13:26 – Food was scooped up with a piece of bread
448 Luke 10:39 – Mary and Martha BOTH set at the feet of Jesus
449 John 12:2 – Martha SERVED Jesus -- James 2:26 – FAITH IS DEAD WITHOUT GOOD WORKS.
450 John 12:26 - Jesus’ disciples follow and will SERVE
451 Acts 6:1-4 – The gift of Service and Hospitality; feeding folks, waiting on tables
452 John 11:26-27 – Martha believes that Jesus is the Messiah
453 Luke 10:1 – Missionaries sent out to serve two by two -- Luke 10:5-9 – Custom; Hospitality eat and drink whatever is set before you and bless the house with peace

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The Family

The family of three seems to be loved by the folks in the village. The three had given of their means and themselves to the community as well as to “THE WAY”; the Jesus movement.454 They were quite young, single, independent, and intelligent and comparatively well off, probably from Lazarus’s income as a scribe. Scripture points out that the family was well known as many Jews came and comforted the two sisters when their brother Lazarus died; Jesus loved all three of them as well.

MARTHA: The name Martha in the Koine Greek translates “The Lady” or “The Mistress” fromthemaleformof“Lord”or“Master”. Shewastheladyofthehouse;thenameMarthamay have been her title; a term of respect.

Since Martha’s name is mentioned first, it can be surmised that she is the older sister and probably a widow; one who is an organizer; she is the active one, a doer, and for sure she “MOTHERED” the younger carefree, but sensitive Mary teaching her to operate in the Gifts of “Service” and “Hospitality. Martha projected the image of maturity, strength and common sense, she was practical, unemotional and handled all the shopping and the tasks of the home

When Martha saw Jesus outside, she quickly invited Him along with His TWELVE friends as well as the neighbors into her home with no thought about dust bunnies or that the floors might need sweeping or that the puppies were jumping up and down.455 It was almost meal time and Martha with the gift of Hospitality extended herself, her home and food to Jesus and all his friends in the entourage. This would be where many friendships would be cemented forever. Martha had the gift of Organization, but the logistics of fixing a meal for so many was a major job that brought turmoil toherKitchen,howeverMarthaknewthatthePrinceofPeacewasintheotherroom. Whenthings needed to be done, Martha with the gift of Administration being practical and efficient, went straight to the one she knew could help, she approached Jesus and she gets right to the point; that she needs His help in getting Mary into the kitchen to help with the unexpected preparations. (This has been coined as “THE GREAT SIBLING WHINE”.) 456

Jesus was not just an acquaintance of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, they were all His close friends and He made Himself right at home enjoying their conversations and fellowship. Even though Martha knew what Jesus represented; she spoke to Him as if He was a member of her immediate family; Martha’s home was Jesus’ home away from home. Martha had a relationship with Jesus and it was because of this relationship that Jesus felt comfortable enough to offer loving advice relating to her PRIORITIES; the need for Spiritual bread was greater than that of Physical Bread.

The Book includes this story of Mary and Martha as an EXAMPLE to us of the working of GIFTS in our lives.457 Each person has at least one gift, some have many; but no one has them all, that’s why we need each other, to belong to the body of Christ; operating as ONE.458

MARY seems to be single; the youngest and most popular; she is the more emotional, passionate and imaginative and contemplative one; a thinker interested in new ideas. She lives with her sister Martha and assisted with whatever was needed. She had a heart concerning Spiritual things and was quite devoted to Jesus. She appears in three stories; one of which was the raising of her brother Lazarus up from the dead.

454 Acts 24:14 – The Jesus movement was known as THE WAY
455 Luke 10:38 – Martha extended herself to Jesus and welcomed Him into her home
456 Luke 10:38-40- THE GREAT SIBLING WHINE
457 1 Corinthians 10:11 – Mary and Martha are examples for us of Godly living.
458 1 Corinthians 12:6-11 – GIFTS, Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Special Faith, Healings, Miraculous powers, Tongues, Interpretation of tongues. -- Romans 12:6-8 – Offices and Gifts; Prophesying, Serving, Teaching, Encouraging, contributing, Leading and Mercy -- Ephesians 4:11-12 – More Offices and gifts; Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers for works of service -- 1 Corinthians 12:28 - More Offices and gifts; Helps and Administration -- John 14:27 – Jesus gives the gift of Peace of mind and heart to us

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LAZARUS: Jesus was very close with the whole family, especially with Lazarus whom He loved.459 Some commentaries indicate Lazarus earned his living as a writer or scribe making copies of the TORAH; the Law somewhat like the Essenes, which I’m sure certainly made for interesting discussions between the two of them

Josephus, the Jewish historian; A.D. 37-98; lived with the Essenes for three years and provides most of the background information that we have on the reclusive sect. The Essenes were a Jewish sect that was partially celibate living a strict communal life in the desert. They dedicated themselves to the studying and COPYING of God’s word.

They lived in the Qumran Valley for some 200 years. When the Roman’s attacked, they hid their library in various caves where they remained for 2000 years waiting for the Bedouin youth to chunk a rock inside and give us the greatest manuscript discovery of our time; THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS.

Not all Essenes lived a communal desert life, but instead, lived in many cities and mingled with society at all levels, and were well received by the Pharisees, and Jewish populace. Their missionary outreach founded Essene COMMUNES in all the villages and small towns of Judea. In Jerusalem that had their own gate; the “Gate of the Essenes”.

Their beliefs can be summarized as Love of God, Love of Virtue, and Love of Men. They were strictly pacifist by nature and had no weapons of war; and esteemed frugality. The Dead Sea Scrolls give literary evidence that suggest that a colony of “Ascetics” who had chosen celibacy and singleness in life had a “HOSPICE” in Bethany which extended acts of charity by accommodating the poor, the destitute, the sick, as well as the unclean lepers.

The Ascetics were all SINGLE and practiced sexual abstinence for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals, simple living and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, patience, prayer and fasting. The word Ascetic is derived from the Greek word meaning TRAINING. Mary, Martha and Lazarus all may have been a part of this Ascetic Colony. (The Ascetics were like the Essenes)

JESUS was no stranger to this family; their loving loyalty in opening their home meant a lot to Him. 460 People who are held in high esteem like Jesus are often isolated even though they are the center of attention; so from time to time Jesus would experience loneliness. Yes He did, He experienced all the emotions that are common to man. In this time it was the custom to have folks passing through, stay with you overnight and Mary and Martha were well known for their substantial generosity as they often opened their home to the traveler.

In the Mary and Martha story you have the picture of an older mature settled dog and a small jumping’ puppy that’s interested in everything. Although they had totally different personalities, they certainly were both of ONE SPIRIT. Along with their brother is Lazarus the writer, the three were apostles or followers and close friends of Jesus. It’s in the Book

The First Meal

Chairs were not very common in the homes, and folks just set on the floor around a long low table. Jesus is there and Martha is busy with the preparations in the kitchen. Mary has finished her chores and in deep humility is sitting at the feet of Jesus drinking in His every word; unaware of the extra preparations that “Mother Hen” Martha was working on.

Josephus the Jewish Historian (Antiquities of the Jews) reports that there was one part of the synagogue where liturgical services took place that was open to WOMEN, but the other part given to the scribe’s teachings was open ONLY to men and boys. Jesus had already sent a SILENT MESSAGE that, Women had the same rights as men, to listen and to be a part of Spiritual matters. The Kingdom of God is for ALL that would listen and BELIEVE. Unintentionally this was sort of the beginnings of what we call, the Women’s Liberation Movement

459 John 11:5-6 - Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus -- John 11:20 - Martha ran to meet Jesus -- John 11:32- Mary fell at the feet of Jesus weeping; Lazarus was dead -- Luke 8:1-3 - Several Women of the Church were wealthy
460 Luke 10:38 – Martha opened her home to Jesus -- John 11:45 – Mary’s personality was the most popular -- James 1:22 – Don’t just Listen, but DO what the Word says

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ThisrespectthatJesushadforwomenwassomethingstrikinglynew. Heraisedwomentothe equality that was rightly theirs from the creation of the world as daughters of Abraham and daughters of God. Most of the women followers of “The Way” were single as Martha and Mary; Jesus did not require them to have husbands to minister.

In the first century Jewish TRADITION, the cultural expectations was that the wife or mother ran the household and taught the daughters everything they needed to know to take care of the house. When a son brought home a wife, the Mother was expected to continue the new wife’s education by teaching her also. You can see in the story that Martha was teaching her younger sister Mary, the Jewish TRADITIONS of Work and Spiritual Service.

Traditionally the men would be off somewhere else learning the Torah. During this time there was NO REASON for a woman to be found sitting at the feet of a Rabbi, they should be in the kitchen. It was Jesus that would encourage women to also learn the Torah. Jesus turned the priorities of a woman’s life upside down. A WOMAN IS GREATER THAN WHAT SHE DOES. Selah

When Jesus was around; Mary becomes very quiet, pensive with deep thoughts which give evidence that she was “Spiritually Sensitive” to His words, His wisdom and His power.
You must picture “Mother” Martha as an attentive hostess, eager hearted and striving for perfection. Martha, as a disciple of Christ had the gift of “Service” as mention in Acts with waiting on tables. Her kindness corresponds to that of the office of Deacon.461

I know that this messes with your BS; but A Disciple is a pupil or follower of someone. A Deacon or Deaconess is someone that helps the minister in things not related to worship.

Martha becomes frustrated that her younger sister Mary is sitting idly by and not helping her out with the extra preparations for the meal. Martha asked Jesus to send Mary into the kitchen to help her, but Jesus knowing Mary’s desire for “SPIRITUAL FOOD” tells Martha that the physical food can wait.462 Jesus wants Martha to also come and share in the Spiritual Food. SERVICE, programs and busyness should not become such a priority that it substitutes for sitting at the feet of Jesus. 463

The Distraction

An evening meal would consist of a lentil stew seasoned with herbs, along with fruit, olives, and melons, pomegranates, dates and figs, onions and cheese along with water, goats milk and wine and of course bread. An elaborate meal for such a special guest would be a big deal to a gracious host and it certainly was to Martha.

As I climb into the story and look around, Martha wants to hear Jesus also, but is pulled away with the mounting task at hand; she had become frustrated with the overwhelming task that had presented itself and her exasperation is elevated when Mary is NOT helping, in the kitchen, nor is she keeping with the traditional role of behavior for a woman. Instead she had taken up a position at the feet of Jesus as a student. As Jesus is teaching in parables and answering questions; she is lost in His Words, oblivious to the work at hand to feed the ever increasing crowd.

I can just see Martha banging pots around and maybe whistling her special little whistle to get Mary’s ATTENTION and when that didn’t work, her emotions erupt. I can just see Martha holding a bowl of bread dough moseying over to Jesus to share her exasperated needs. It was not that she was too wimpy to tell Mary herself, but chose to not create a scene, and out of frustration just whispers in Jesus’ ear with a girlishness tone or perhaps even of callowness; somewhat scolding or chastising her dear friend Jesus.

She curtly whispers in Jesus’s ear. "Lord, DON'T YOU CARE that my sister has left me to do theworkbymyself?TELLHERTOHELPME!" Marthaisdownrightrudeandoutoflineandalmost demands that Jesus, “her guest of honor”, send Mary into the kitchen to help her.

461 James 2:17 – Faith without good WORKS is a dead faith -- Luke 10:1 – Mary & Martha serving as missionaries pairs 462 Luke 10:38-42 – Lord, tell Mary to help me prepare the meal
463 Acts 6:1-4 – The gift of Service includes feeding folks; waiting on tables.

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Martha wanted Mary to behave like a TRADITIONAL woman and not only help PREPARE the food, but also to SERVE it too. Jesus grandfatherly hugs Martha and lovingly whispers, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED”.464 Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Jesus knowing Mary’s desire for “SPIRITUAL FOOD” reminds Martha that He had provided meals TWICE before for over 4,000 people465 and that the PHYSICAL FOOD can wait and it would be His pleasure to handle her 20 plus guest.

What is the “One Thing” that Jesus spoke of? Did he mean instead of multiple dishes of food, just one dish would be fine. I can just imagine that as Jesus responded, He also lovingly told her to seek first the kingdom of Heaven and all the rest will be given to her.466 Doctor Luke speaks of it when he shares the words of Jesus; “Man shall not live by BREAD alone, but by ever WORD of God”. Martha was concerned with Physical Bread, and Mary was concerned with Spiritual Bread.467 TheonethingORthebetterpart,ismakingtheWordofGodourFIRSTpriorityandit also affirmed the importance of women taking an active role in spiritual things.468

Jesus did not disparage Martha’s Gift of Service as unimportant, but was encouraging her that as a woman and a disciple that learning His new ideas was more important than the FRUIT of her domestic service. In my mind I can just see Jesus wanting all women to be allowed access to the same Spiritual Food and ideas as Jewish men and wants Martha to ALSO come and share in these thoughts.

The Spiritual bread of Christ is eternal, but the physical bread is not. There is a time and season for everything, we are called to weigh the values of our causes in order to form our right priorities. Jesus speaks from an eternal perspective of separating the trivial from the important; He very clearly speaks of the “ONE THING”, the “GOOD PART” is the spiritual bread of life.

The moment of apparent rivalry and sibling bickering overshadows Martha’s great faith and devotion to Jesus and the work she did in concert with Mary. God wanted this story included as examples to us of the importance of the Word of God and the FRUIT of the Spirit that results in good works. A Faith without good works is a DEAD FAITH.

The Home of Mary and Martha pictures three essential elements of the Church today; Worship, Adoration and Service. Today so many Churches especially on TV are preaching “The Feel Good Message” with the essential elements of Worship, Adoration and Service found wanting.

Don’t miss this; none of those gathered in Martha’s home knew that Jesus would only be with them for a short while longer and then be crucified. Although He enjoyed the pleasures of good wine, food and company, He alone knew the significance of this remaining precious TIME with them.

NOTE; Jesus allowed Martha to make her own CHOICE of priorities, but it was quite another thing to ask Mary to miss out on “The Good Portion” SHE HAD CHOSEN. It’s in the Book

Luke 10:38-40- Mary sat at Jesus feet; Martha serving in Kitchen

38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. 39 Her sister, MARY, SAT AT THE LORD’S FEET, listening to what he taught.
40 But MARTHA WAS DISTRACTED BY THE BIG DINNER she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said,

“LORD, DOESN’T IT SEEM UNFAIR TO YOU THAT MY SISTER JUST SITS HERE WHILE I DO ALL THE WORK?
TELL HER TO COME AND HELP ME (NLT)

464 Luke 10:41-42- THERE IS ONLY ONE THING WORTH BEING CONCERNED ABOUT. MARY HAS DISCOVERED IT, and it will not be taken away from her.”
465 Matthew 15:32-39 – Jesus feeds 4,000 plus women and children -- Matthew 14:14-21 – Jesus feeds 5,000 plus women and children 466 Matthew 6:33 – SEEK THE KINGDOM OF GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING

467 Luke 4:4 – Man needs physical bread and spiritual bread
468 Matthew 6:31 – Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink --

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The Competition
I worked in retail with a friend that was very gregarious and outgoing and enjoyed people,

but disliked all the merchandising tasks that went with it. I on the other hand was an introvert and task oriented and loved it; together we were unstoppable. We had different personalities, but the same goals for the company. We do all things to the Glory of God. It’s in the Book

Life is like a seesaw where one day the importance of one thing is UP and the next day it’s DOWN. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, to provide support for each other, and that’s the picture of Mary and Martha; they were a perfect fit. We don’t have to choose to be a Mary or a Martha; we are both. God wants us to study His Word and at the same time, we are charged to take care of the families He has given us and our houses, our yards and our puppies.

When I see my friends Mike and Judy SERVING in the Church kitchen, I realize that as a team THEY ARE SERVING so that I can sit and WORSHIP in a Sunday school class at the feet of Jesus, hearing His Word; they are being a Martha so I can be a Mary.

WearenotincompetitiontoseewhotheBESTChristianis. ThebestChristiansinsandfalls short of the glory of God. We should enter the race to use the gifts that God has given us for His glory. So if you are a Mary, stay a Mary and if you are a Martha, stay a Martha, as both are passionately following JESUS with their gifts.

1 Corinthians 10:31 – Do your work to glorify God

31 So whether you eat or drink, or
WHATEVER YOU DO,
DO IT ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. (NLT)
Romans 3:23 – We all fall short of God’s standard
23 FOR EVERYONE HAS SINNED;
WE ALL FALL SHORT OF GOD’S GLORIOUS STANDARD. (NLT)

Lazarus Dies

When Lazarus died and Jesus came into town, Martha ran out to meet Him while Mary waited at home till she was called by Martha. Mary was in seclusion, deep in grief for Lazarus and would not venture out of the house. Jesus sent for Mary to be with Martha before this miracle of resurrection would be performed.469 When Mary came she fell at His feet weeping. Although they had totally different personalities, they certainly were both of ONE SPIRIT. Martha was like the Disciple PETER; both practical, impulsive and short tempered and Mary’s temperament was like that of the Disciple JOHN being reflective, loving and calm; both temperaments are needed.

As you picture this, Jesus GROANS in his Spirit and WEEPS, you can see how God feels about DEATH. In the story of Lazarus we see the picture of Jesus weeping, but he is not only weeping for Lazarus but is weeping for the living that WILL experience DEATH and never see “The Glory of God”.470

MarthatellsJesusthatafterFOURDAYS,Lazaruswouldsurely“STINKITH”.471 JewishTradition held that the spirt of a person hung around for three days after death and sometimes would re-entered the body. Members of the family would sit at the tomb site day and night just in case his life revived and came back into him. Jesus had waited for four days to go to Lazarus so that no one could possibly doubt that Lazarus was actually dead.

Jesus Himself said that Mary’s brother Lazarus’s illness had come about for God’s glory and that the Son of God would be glorified through it. With the delay of Jesus coming, many villagers began to collect, waiting to see what Jesus would do when He came.

Jesus said He was glad that He was not there when Lazarus died, because it made it possible for many others to come to believe in “THE WAY”.

469 John 11:1-45 – Mary sees Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead 470 John 11:40 – Those who believe will see the Glory of God 471 John 11:39 – After four days Lazarus STINKETH

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Did you see it? Jesus prayed aloud for the benefit of those who had put their Faith in Him as well as those who were just curious. He specifically called out Lazarus’s name; “Lazarus come forth”; not wanting ALL the rest of the dead people to come out their graves. There were a number of Jewish mourners who were also present and because of this miracle, they BELIEVED and became Christians and followers of “The Way”.

We don’t need a miracle; the problem in not in the lack of evidence, the Problem is the unbelief of man. J. Vernon McGee

I would like to point out, that there were a number of resurrections mentioned in the Bible, but all of those resurrected would eventually die again. Jesus is the only one that died and was resurrected that would never see death again. Now; TODAY; this miracle is still available for those that would believe.472 Marthawouldhearthefamouswords“Whosoeverlivesandbelievesinmeshallnever die” and Martha declares; “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God”.473 WOW

The take away is; to “PRACTICE” the Love that Mary, Martha and Lazarus had for the community. each other and for our Lord.

The Second Meal

This time the meal is less than one week before Jesus would die. Mary and Martha had prepared a FEAST in gratitude; to honor and thank Jesus for bringing their brother Lazarus back to life. Along with the disciples, many who had come to believe in Jesus were also there as well as those who had come out of curiosity to see Lazarus; the cool dude who had been raised from the dead.

This is reminiscent of the scripture from the Parable of The Prodigal Son. “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again”474

NOTE: The scriptures do not actually say the meal was served at Martha’s house, it said it was in Bethany where Lazarus lived. Students of the Word disagree about was there two different meals or just one? There is a similar story in Mark where Jesus was anointed with oil at a meal at “Simon the Lepers” house. The presupposition is that the un-named “anointing” woman was named Mary.475 In scripture we find that Simon appears to be a Pharisee that had already recovered from leprosy; if not he would not have been allowed to associate with people.

I must admit it is possible that the meal was at Simon’s larger house in Bethany and not at Martha’s, but she was the one that had organized it and had honored Jesus by serving Him. Martha showed her love for Jesus through her hospitality; the gift of Service. Mary showed her love in a different way; by sitting at His feet and listening to Him; she seems to have the gift of encouragement.476

It was the custom to take any traveler into the home and provide water to wash their feet. This would be performed by a servant or the host if there was no servant present. At a banquet, it was the custom to refresh guest by applying cool fragrant oil to their heads and occasionally they would also apply it to their feet. As Jesus reclined at the table, Mary with her deep faith, came quietly up behind Him and sitting down at His feet, took a 12 ounce jar of Pure Nard, an expensive perfume and without a word, began to gently rub it on His feet and then proceeded to dry them with her long hair. Mary now had the same aroma that Jesus had; this smell would make her aware of His presence long after He was gone. Jesus knowing His death was imminent said that the Nard although unintentional, was poured out in preparation for His burial.477 Mary has just let Jesus know that she has entered into His death with Him.

NOTE: This Spikenard had been kept in an expensive Alabaster box from India. It had been purchased and SAVED for HER funeral, her burial; but now she pours it all on the feet of Jesus who

472 John 11:25-26 – The Believer will not taste the second death. -- Revelation 20:6 - The second death has no power over the Believer 473 John 11:27 – Martha believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God
474 Luke 15:32 - This brother of yours was dead and is alive again;
475 Home of Simon the Leper; pure nard poured out on Jesus

476 Mark 14:3-9 –Romans 12:6-8 – Some of the gifts in the Body; prophesying, serving, teaching, serving, encouraging, contributing 477 John 12:1-5 – Mary anointed Jesus feet with perfume of pure nard worth a year's wages -- John 12:7 – The Nard was saved for Jesus’ burial.

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in just a few days would be crucified. You must step back and wonder, PONDER... what did Mary know that no one else knew? “chew the cud” on that; SELAH

Judas the treasurer and THIEF of the group objected by saying the cost of” pure Nard” was equal to a year’s earnings ($60.00 then) and said it should have been sold and given to the poor. I can just hear the LONELINESS in Jesus’ voice as He sighs; just "Leave her alone”.

Did you see it; Mary is symbolic of the LIGHT; Judas is symbolic of the DARK. LIFE IS CHOICE DRIVEN and has eternal consequences.

The picture painted of Martha is being the Practical one, hustling around preparing food and Mary is painted as the Spiritual one sitting at the feet of Jesus, so be a MARY and not a MARTHA. But the truth is, they were BOTH Spiritual and both Practical. Don’t judge Martha’s lifetime in an unfair light based on a ONE TIME INCIDENT where she got it wrong and got distracted with her gift of SERVICE. Housework is not a SIN; JUDGING IS.

Three Encounters of the third kind
Hospitality was very important during the time of Jesus; a guest was welcomed with a kiss, his

sandals removed from his feet and washed by a servant, if a servant was not present, then the host would perform the honor for the guest; the head would receive some refreshing perfumed oil and food would be prepared.

The FIRST time478 Martha is mentioned, she is in her home in Bethany hosting Jesus and the disciples where she gets distracted by trying to be a good hostess, desiring to SERVE the best meal she can, but Mary has become oblivious to the needs of preparation. Martha gets out of sorts and hectic with the preparations; Jesus tenderly whispers in her ear everything is going to be OK.

The SECOND time479 we see Martha is just after her brother Lazarus died and Jesus did not arrive in time to heal him of his illness. With her strong faith, it is here she declares that if He had been there, her brother would not have died, but knew that even now God will give Him whatever He asked. I like the words Martha used, Lord by now he STINKETH.480 She sees tears come into Jesus eyes as he freely shows His deep grief of Lazarus’ death. Her intense faith is rewarded that day as she hears Jesus order the stone to be rolled away as he immortalizes the words “LAZARUS COME FORTH” 481and then she witnesses the resurrection of her beloved brother Lazarus. WOW; Martha presents a sense of balance between Service, Worship, and Trust.

The THIRD time482 we encounter Martha is when she is SERVING again, this time a meal in Jesus’ honor while Mary in an act of subservience, honor and worship, anoints the feet of Jesus with an expensive perfume. Martha is a woman of some means, evidenced by her large home and frequency of hosting dinners and the expensive perfume which cost 300 denarii which represented wages for about 300 days of work. It is here that Martha used all her material resources for the glory of God.

Note: Unknown to all of them, Jesus is spending His last week with the ones He loves so much. The perfumed oil anointed Jesus’ body prior to His death. Jesus said; Mary has poured this perfume on me to PREPARE MY BODY FOR BURIAL483. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.

Martha’s made her home a sanctuary, a comfortable place where Jesus and others could take refuge from the demands of the day. Jesus chose Martha’s home for His last week of mortal existence. When Jesus returns again, it will be your friendship and your sanctuary that he will choose if your home has been opened to Him.

It’s in the Book

478 Luke 10:38 – FIRST ENCOUNTER in Martha’s home in Bethany 479 John 11:20-22 – SECOND ENCOUNTER Martha went meet Jesus 480 John 11:39 – LORD, BY THIS TIME HE STINKETH
481 John 11:43 – LAZARUS, COME FORTH

482 John 12:2-3 - THIRD ENCOUNTER in Martha’s home
483 Matthew 26:12-13 - SHE HAS POURED THIS PERFUME ON ME TO PREPARE MY BODY FOR BURIAL.

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A Bum Rap

Somehow I suspect that there are also three or four more women that were also a part of Jesus’ entourage that were lingering just outside the house as the disciples entered and I always wondered why they didn’t pitch in and help Martha.484 Just sayin’

I think Martha gets a bum rap; the picture painted is of Martha being the Practical one, hustling around preparing food and Mary is painted as the Spiritual one sitting at the feet of Jesus, so be a MARY and NOT a MARTHA. But the truth is, they were BOTH Spiritual and both Practical. Don’t judge Martha in an unfair light based on an incident where she got it wrong ONE TIME concerning the meal; housework is not a SIN.

It was Martha not Mary that heard the Words of Christ as He proclaimed “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, and anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.

It would be Martha not Mary, who when not burdened by the responsibility of meal preparations, proclaimed the astute statement with conviction that she believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

This is reminiscent of PETER when he said to Jesus, “You are the Christ” and Jesus responded that that this Devine knowledge was not revealed by man, but by God the Father. God had spoken directly to Martha’s heart.485 The Book records that Martha and Peter’s “CONFESSION OF FAITH” is the ROCK upon which the church would be built. The Church is built on THE CONFESSION OF FAITH in Jesus Christ,486 not on a disciple, a man or woman.

Martha’s qualifications for Spiritual leadership was the same as Peters; THE CONFESSION OF FAITH. Martha and Peter had flaws, and God used both of them mightily and he can certainly use dirty, rotten, low down, scumbag sinners like us too.

It’s in the Book

Every time we see Martha in scripture, she is SERVING others. She speaks her mind and is dependable to get it all done. As a servant she is a natural leader; the Book says those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and THE LEADER SHOULD BE LIKE A SERVANT.487

In the death of someone, Mary would be there to comfort, console, embrace and weep with you. Martha would be in there cleaning their house, fixing food and taking their dogs out to pee. Mary is a devoted follower and while she does not offer SERVICE, she does offers herself in beautiful acts of worship.

Many folks like to start their day with studying the Word of God before beginning their chores; I do not... I enjoy getting the yard work done early in the cool of the morning, then go inside to study the Word with an undistracted mind, no longer reflective about chores.

The Take Away The story of Mary and Martha follows the Parable of the GOOD SAMARITAN which tells us asChristianstorespondwithmercytootherswhentheopportunitypresentsitself. Theparablefor the most part shows examples of service and good works to the Lord and to GO AND DO LIKEWISE. The story of Mary and Martha becomes an example for us of not letting service distract us from the

ultimate reason for the service which is Jesus Christ. Jesus places no limitation on someone’s calling, but encourages them to pursue where ever their spirit leads them; and that might be in the kitchen. Mary can pursue her God given gift or calling and Martha can pursue her gift and calling; there is NO CHOICE necessary of being a Mary or a Martha. Serve, but not with anxiety; Sacrifice, but not neglecting worship, prayer and reading the Word.

484 Luke 8:1-2 – Women traveled with Jesus and the disciples -- John 11:25-26 – Jesus told Martha; I am the resurrection and the life 485 John 11:27 – Martha ; Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God -- Matthew 16:15-17 – Peter; Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God -- John 11:25-26 – Jesus told Martha; I am the resurrection and the life
486 Matthew 16:16-18 – The church built on our CONFESSION OF FAITH

487 Luke 22:26-27 – The leader should be as a servant

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IT’S IN THE BOOK

It’s a question of priorities; is the time designing a center piece for the banquet table more important than the time preparing the meal? Do we spend more time preparing the Sunday dinner than we do studying the Word of God in preparation for Church Services? Have we made sure the kids have had their bath, but have cut short the bedtime prayers? BOTH Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus that their bother Lazarus was sick unto death. Both had strong Faith that Jesus could and would heal Lazarus of his sickness. Both were in service as home missionaries and followers of God. Both worshipped Jesus as their Lord. Both believed Jesus words; that He was the Messiah and Both set an example for us. God indeed values, as well as requires, Both Service and Worship, Both serves the other.488

A Faith without WORKS is a dead Faith.489 It’s in the Book

Sometimes we tend to be like Mary longing to set at the feet of Jesus and at other times we resemble Martha with thoughts of the busyness of service, distracted from the ONE THING that is most important; His Word. Mary was not being lazy, and if not for Martha, none would have been fed; service is a good thing, but sitting at the feet of Jesus is better; (Just something to ponder.)

As I also have the Gift of Organization, I find myself identifying with Martha; in project management, making things happen. In my early years I rarely got to attend the actual Church service or Sunday school class for all of the other worthwhile church activities and committees that I was involved in on Sunday. SERVICE programs and busyness should not become such a priority that it substitutes for sitting at the feet of Jesus. SERVICE can become a DISTRACTION if not moderated.490 Distractions to the Word of God comes in all forms; some churches have coffee available on Sunday morning that can be enjoyed in the sanctuary as you study the Word of God. When someone gets up to get another cup of coffee, not only have they themselves become distracted, they have distractedtheothersaroundthem. WhensomeonefindsitnecessarytotextsomeonewhiletheWord of God is being unpacked, it is an affront to the Living God. It is saying that something is more important than His Word. When you TALK during the sermon, YOU are not only distracted, but YOUR FRIEND now is also distracted too; PLUS THOSE AROUND YOU. You become complicit with Satan. It’s in the Book My mother’s entire Sunday school class would sit on the second row at Church; there was NO chewing gum, NO talking, NO drawing pictures and NO passing notes; we were sitting at the feet of Christ. Mom would whisper; remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy.491 Lesson from Martha: We are to honor others over ourselves; to exercise humility. Martha had made the meal the focus of her attention instead of Jesus and now assumed the worst of her sister Mary; saw her as being lazy and unthoughtful. Martha had begun to judge Mary. It’s in the Book In just minutes Martha’s critical attitude made her susceptible to anger, resentment and jealousy causing her to judge Mary and speak sharply to Jesus. Martha has substituted herself as Mary’s master instead of Jesus, when just earlier she was thinking of others, and now she is thinking only of herself; .Martha’s Humility was replaced with Pride. Sometimes we can’t find the right pot, things are spilling over and we become frustrated with

adding water to make the soup go further when what we really need is some more peas & potatoes. The example of Mary and Martha teaches us to sit down at the feet of Jesus, look at His Word; see how to stop and reflect on stuff that frustrates and confounds us. NOTE: Some students of the Word believe “Sitting at the feet” should not to be taken so literally; that this was traditional a FIGURATIVE DESCRIPTION of higher, formal education; meaning they were STUDENTS of the Master; they were in “Discipleship”.492

488 Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust the Lord and He will show you what to do
489 Luke 8:21 – My Brothers and sister are the ones who DO the Word
490 Matthew 13:22 – Distractions of world CHOKE OUT God’s Word
491 Colossians 3:17 – In whatever and in everything you do give thanks to God -- 492 Acts 22:3 – Paul was educated AT THE FEET of Gamaliel

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The GOOD PART is starting the day focusing on the Lord, it softens our soul and puts our SERVICEintoperspective,preferringothersoverourselves. SeekGod’sWordabouthowtoLOVE someone who is not lovable. How to have JOY in thankless tasks. How to find PEACE in situations we have no control over. How to drive our car with PATIENCE when other drivers are spiteful. To look for ways that KINDNESS, GOODNESS, and GENTLENESS can spill over in our actions and re- actions. To strive to exhibit FAITHFULNESS because we gave our word in a seemingly un-ending task. To gain SELF-CONTROL when we strive to dig a better ditch and the walls keep falling in. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, providing support for each other, and that’s the picture of Mary and Martha, they were a perfect fit.

WE DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE to be a Mary or a Martha; WE ARE BOTH.

NOTE; Jesus allowed Martha to make her own CHOICE of priorities, but it was quite another thing to ask Mary to miss out on “The Good Portion” SHE HAD CHOSEN. It’s in the Book

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Chapter 4.21

There is very little said about Mary Magdalene in the canonized scriptures, but there are various other writings that talk about her extensively. Most are not believable since they carry “Gnostic” overtones which the scriptures denounce. However these other writings such as “The Gospel of Thomas” while not deemed authentic, does shed light on the culture and “mind set” of the era and I will hitch hike on that.

Jealousy – Maybe, maybe not
There may have been some resentment from Peter concerning Mary’s relationship with Jesus as

He appeared to her FIRST before He appeared to Peter. The Gospel of Thomas found at “Nag Hammadi” indicates a lot of tension or competition between Mary and Peter. I only mention this here for seasoning. (This Gospel subscribes to the Gnostic system)

The “Gospel of Thomas” speaks of Jesus kissing Mary on the mouth. (It’s possible it said that, but parts are missing from the document; even complete this would not necessarily make “The Gospel of Thomas” true.)

I must point out that Mark 16:9-20 where Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene does not appear in the early manuscripts and other ancient manuscripts do not have it either.493 It seems it may have been added by a scribe later. Some students question theses passages. I have no problem with it.

With the Gnostic mindset, it would be inconceivable that Jesus would have appeared to a woman and not a man.494 Therefore, I can see how the scriptures and other writings might be “tilted” to overlook the work of women.

In the “Gospel of Mary”, Peter says, Jesus loved Mary more than all the other women. Mary did not write this Gospel and this is not found in the scriptures anywhere.

Mary
Mary was a very common name; one out of four Jewish women in the first century was named

Mary; six are named in the New Testament.495
Mary of Rome; a hard worker in Rome and served in the Christian movement.
Mary the mother of Mark; opened her home for meetings.
Mary the mother of James; mentioned as “The Other Mary” and is mentioned most often in

service alongside of Mary Magdalene
Mary of Bethany helped by providing a place for Jesus to stay in their home. This is the Mary

that anointed Jesus with oil and wiped His feet with her hair.
Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, was present from time to time in the ministry, but did

not seem to accompany Jesus on his journeys, but was present at the end.
Mary of Magdala; cured of seven demons by Jesus. She was always present working quietly in

the background with devotion to Jesus’ life, His death and His resurrection.

493 Mark 16:9 – Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene -- Luke 24:9-11 – Peter did not respect Mary 494 1 Corenthians 1:27 – God uses the weaker things to confound the wise
495 Mark 15:40-41 – Many women worked to provide care for the Disciples

BOOK 4 People, Places & Things

Mary Magdalene

Wife of Jesus? - Prostitute? – Woman’s Liberation Advocate? First Missionary? – Women of the Church Movement?

First Word

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ANOINTED JESUS WITH OIL

Students of the Bible have assumed that it was Mary Magdalene that poured the expensive oil on Jesus, which would have cost a year’s wages. But it is legend alone that links her to this story, probably because of her wealth and her ability to afford the costly perfume.

Mark speaks of an unnamed woman in the home of SIMON the Leper, pouring perfume on Jesus.496 Mary Magdalene is never mentioned in Mark. It is thought that SIMON the Leper is the Pharisee that is mentioned in the story in Luke.

John speaks of Jesus in the home of Mary of Bethany and her anointing Him with oil.497 This is actuallytwodifferentstories MaryMagdaleneisintroducedtousmuchlaterintimethanthis;butin my BS, my Belief System, I certainly would like for it to have been Mary Magdalene.

A PROSTITUTE

Luke’s account is similar to Mark’s and expands it saying this un-named woman is a sinner. The new Living Translation says; “A certain immoral woman”
The Amplified Bible says “For she is a notorious sinner (a social outcast, devoted to sin)

The definition or meaning of “Sinner” was a person who did not rigorously keep the Laws; this could mean anything from WHEN she washed her hands to WALKING TOO FAR on the Sabbath. “Sinner” is never translated Prostitute.

Sidebar: Other scripture speaks of an unnamed woman caught in the act of adultery. 498 Maybe this was Mary Magdalene too. By the way, where was the man caught in the act; the law applied to both.
Jesus cast seven demons out of a woman named Mary from Magdala.

Combining all the accounts, there you have it... there was a sinful woman who was probably a prostitute and her name was probably Mary, and probably from Magdala. This is Guilt by association; but there is just no evidence

MARRIED TO JESUS

The scriptures identify the relationships of Jesus; there was His Mother, His brothers and references to His sisters, but no mention of a wife or companion. Mary is always identified as Mary Magdalene or Mary of Magdala.

Is it possible that Jesus was married to Mary? YES... It is also possible that He was married to MarthaorheryoungersisterMary,ortooneofthemanywomenintheentourage. It’smorepossible that Mary was married to someone from her hometown, as was Joanna her co-worker; the canonized scripture (our Bible) does not tell us.

Mary Married: Obscure writing indicate that Mary was married to the Jew, “Pappus ben Juda” and divorced him to marry ”Panther” an officer of Herod Antipas entourage which aroused public indignation (it was sinful). Although this is widely circulated, the information is not deemed correct from a historical prospective. Mary is always pictured with other women providing for the needs of the ministry. No record in the Gospel, canonical or non-canonical is reported to show the relationship between Mary and Jesus as being married; NONE

She is not mentioned during the lifetime of Jesus except at the end of His ministry and Mary referred to Jesus as “Teacher”, not “Sweet Cheeks” or some other special term of endearment.

TherearewritingthatsuggestthatJesuskissedMary. Akisswasadoptedasaformalgreeting among believers and was usually given on the forehead, cheek or beard. Out of the MOUTH of the Teacher came knowledge and wisdom. Through the MOUTH the Gospel is presented; the MOUTH conceives; it gives birth.

496 Luke 7:36-48 – Home of Simon the Pharisee; The Woman was a sinner
497 John 12:1-3 – Home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany; Mary poured oil on Jesus 498 John 8:3-11 – Woman caught in the act of adultery

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Most writers are men; and women are a far better subject matter than men and receive more embellishments. Remember; “The Da Vinci Code”, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “The Last Temptation of Christ”. From my Belief System, my earthly BS prospective, “I want” Jesus to have Loved Mary, but the Bible just does not support this.

Who Mary Magdalene Was
Mary in the Greek form is “Strong.” She is not considered a major player in the scriptures

although she is very prominent near the end of the Life of Jesus. Mary is mention in the Gospels only 13 times. She is also mentioned in the Gnostic writings found at “Nag Hammadi” in; “The Gospel of Peter”, “The Gospel of Philip” and “The Gospel of Mary”; other writings “Dialogue of the Savior”, “The Gospel of the Egyptians” and “The Greater Questions of Mary”.

Sidebar: As I read these other writings, in my BS I felt the same rhythm, cadence, verbiage and thoughts that I found in the Freemason’s oaths, doctrines and dogma. Just saying.

Mary was from a town called Madala in the region of Galilee. The word “Madala” is Hebrew for “Watchtower” and probably got this name because of the tower that guarded their city. This town was in the same region as Nazareth, but was much larger. It had about 4000 inhabitants, and sported about 230 boats; had 80 weaver shops and some 300 shops that sold just pigeons for sacrifices.

It was primarily a Gentile City located on the southwest coast of the Sea of Galilee noted for their dye works and fine woolen textures. It was considered a resort community and was notorious for its moral corruption and according to the “Talmud” Rabbinic writings, PROSTITUTION was the reputation of this city

MENTALLY ILL

Guilt by Association; because Mary was from Madala which was notorious for prostitution, students of the Word immediately jump to the conclusion that Mary was a Prostitute. There were UN-NAMED women in scripture that were prostitutes and were just assumed to be Mary.

Demons:MarywassaidtohavesevendemonscastoutofherbyJesus.499 Inscripturethenumber seven represents completeness. It is reasonable to believe that Mary was completely taken over by demons and Jesus completely cast them ALL out and completely forgave ALL her sins. We cannot limit Mary’s illness to one sphere alone, the physical, the mental or the moral, but it seems more Mentally Ill than Morally Dissolute. This would account for her complete and profound devotion to Jesus.

WEALTHY

Assets: You will also note that Mary had substance or assets as she helped provide for the ministry ofJesusoutofherownmeans.500 OtherwritingindicateMary’sfamilywasverywealthyandhaddied and left her a substantial inheritance. It should be noted here that there was no “Middle Class”, some had a lot of wealth, but the majority were scrape along poor.

Service: The Greek term for “ministered” can be translated “served” and can be extended to mean; facilitate, promote, advance forward, and even underwrite; to “finance”.

Joanna was the wife of Chuza, King Herod’s personal steward and also had money available for the ministry.

THE APOCALYPTIC MINDSET – This is who the believer is.
The belief that the Kingdom of God would arrive soon. They were living in the end times

when God would intervene and overthrow the forces of evil with a cataclysmic event.
Women’s Lib: The Apocalyptic mindset might have also been a “QUALITY” which drew women into the ministry; believing that they would be part of the kingdom in EQUALITY. No more

oppression based on gender or class.

499 Luke 8:1-2– Jesus cast out SEVEN demons from Mary Magdalene
500 Luke 8:1-3 – Many women gave money to support the ministry. NIV -- Luke 8:3 – Mary, Joanna, Susanna and the other women had assets. (NIV) -- Luke 8:3 – The Women Ministered, Served, facilitated and financed the ministry (KJV)

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The Essenes who are thought to have provided the Dead Sea scrolls were Apocalyptcist and so was Jesus. The Essenes were celibate and had moved to the desert to devote themselves totally to God. They were ALL single men; John the Baptist was single and Paul was single,501 so just in case you were wondering did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene, it is more plausible that Jesus remained single than married.

In the kingdom of God we will have a sexless and marriage-less existence; EQUALITY.502 We will certainly get to see our “believing” spouse in heaven, but we will just not be married to them; we will have a “different” sexless glorified body.503

FEMALE DISCIPLE

Women were considered “Second Class” to their father, brothers and husband. The message of Jesus was of freedom and equality of the sexes; liberation from the constraints, restrictions of Jewish Law concerning women. This may be why so many women were attracted to the teachings of Christ.

Mary is always mentioned first among the women and thus by interpretation, she can be assumed to be the leader of the Women’s Ministry, and obviously had leadership qualities; she was a female disciple. (A follower) After all the Disciples had disappeared, Mary was still following.504

Mary was present during the mock trial of Jesus; heard His death sentence; saw the beatings, felt His humiliation and stayed near even to his death and burial. She was the last to leave the cross and the first to arrive at His tomb. Mary had seen how the body of Jesus was laid; it was not a finished burial. After the Sabbath, she had planned to anoint Him with more spices and perfume. His resurrection occurred just before dawn and before she got there.505

Why did Jesus appear to Mary first? God says in Proverbs that; “I love those who love me, and those who seek me will find me. When He appeared to her, she did not recognize Him until He spoke her name. She called him "Rabboni" which means “Teacher”. (She didn’t call to Him with a term of endearment) 506

Here’s how it all played out; from a distance Mary watches everything that happens to Jesus including the mock trial; she stood near the cross as Jesus died, and followed them to the tomb and saw WHEN, WHERE and HOW He was laid. She was there when the stone closed the entrance and went back after the Sabbath bringing spices to anoint the body. She found the stone rolled away and then Jesus appeared to her and commissioned her to go tell the Disciples.507 She did and they thought that what she said was nonsense.508 She was found among the 120 in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out.509

The First Apostle – Beginning of Christianity
It is also thought that Mary was one of the women present in the upper room awaiting the

coming of the Holy Spirit. At the resurrection of Christ, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb and commissioned “her” to go and tell His Disciples what had happened; that would make her the first apostle.510 The Greek word “Apostle” means “One who has been sent”; a Disciple means “follower.” God used a woman; deemed “second class”, to spread the Gospel.

501 1 Corenthians 7:7 – Paul remained single
502 Mark 12:25 – Heaven will be Sexless; no marriages
503 Philippians 3:21 – Our bodies will be transformed into a glorified body
504 Proverbs 8:17 – Mary loves, seeks and finds Jesus
505 Mark 15:40-41 – Mary Magdalen had followed Jesus -- Matthew 27:55-56 – Mary watches at first from a distance -- John 19:25 – Mary Magdalen stood near the cross -- Mark 15:46-47 – Mary Magdalen saw WHERE Jesus was laid -- Luke 23:55-56 – Mary Magdalen saw HOW the body was laid -- Matthew 27:59-61 – Mary was at the tomb when it was closed -- Matthew 28:1 – Mary went to the tomb after the Sabbath -- Mark 16:1 – Mary Magdalen took spices to the tomb
506 John 20:15-16 – Mary called the resurrected Jesus; “Teacher”, Rabboni
507 John 20:1 – Mary found the stone removed from the tomb
508 Luke 24:9-11 – Mary Magdalen’s words were NONSENSE to Peter.
509 Acts 1:14 - Upper Room; Mary of Nazareth and other women
510 Mark 16:9 – Mary Magdalene saw the Risen Lord first. -- Mark 16:6-7 – Mary Magdalene commissioned to go and tell -- John 20:18

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He used the weaker vessel, considered foolish, to confound those who think themselves wise. There were other Apostles that were women mention in the scriptures; Junia is a female name and so is Priscilla.511

I know that this is a stretch, but Mary Magdalene could be said to have established or originated “Christianity” as she was the first to believe that Jesus Christ was “raised from the dead” and went on and told others as none of the Twelve Disciples were present. 512

The resurrection is the bed rock of Christianity. What if Mary had not gone to the grave on the third day? Up until this time they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God, now they were teaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilling the scriptures.

The Take Away

Mary was from the town of Madala, a town located on the Southwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, a town that was notorious for its moral corruption. i.e.: Prostitution. Jesus cast seven demons out of Mary; most student of the Word believe SEVEN symbolizes completeness; she was completely healed of her illness and completely forgiven of her sins.

Mary could have been married before she joined the ministry as other writings suggest. She became a devoted follower of Jesus and used her wealth to provide for the needs of the ministry. She embraced the apocalyptic mindset of Jesus and that of “Women’s Liberation”. She was not a prostitute, nor was she the Mary that anointed Jesus with Oil. She was not His wife nor bore Him children and only referred to Him as her “Teacher”.

She was the leader of the women apostles, which I call the WOC the “Women of the Church.” She was present at the mock trial, death sentence, beatings, humiliations, death and burial of Jesus. She was the first to see Jesus resurrected and was commissioned to “Go and Tell”.

Did you see it? Mary totally believed that Jesus was still dead; she did not go to the tomb looking for a risen Savior. Unbelief causes Blindness to our Faith, that’s why she did not recognize Jesus; but she did recognized the voice of the Shepard that she had followed; 513 exclaiming Rabboni, Teacher.

God used Mary, the weaker vessel, considered foolish; confounding the mighty and wise.514 Unbelief causes Blindness to our Faith

I enjoy walking through all the commentaries; crawling into the stories; pausing to look around; digesting their culture and traditions and
just being there in the moment.

511 Matthew 28:5-7 – Women commissioned to go and tell -- Mark 16:6-7 – Mary commissioned to go and tell -- Romans 16:7 - Junia was a woman apostle -- Romans 16:3 – Priscilla was a woman apostle
512 Mary Magdalene told the Disciples that she had seen the Lord
513 John 10:27 – My sheep know my voice

514 1 Corenthians 1:27 - God chose the foolish things to confound the wise

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In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom. Proverbs 11:14

All the Miracles of the Bible - Herbert Lockyer
All the Women of the Bible – Edith Deen Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Apparitions of Mary – The Second Window Bad Girls of the Bible - Higgs
Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

IT’S IN THE BOOK

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row
Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Bible Study Tools – Liberty University
Book of Bible Lists – H. L. Willmington
CARM – Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry – M .J. Slick Commentary on the Pre-Adamic flood – Dr. Al McCallister. Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life – Theodor H. Gaster Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

Dead Sea Scrolls Translated; The – Florentino Garcia Martinez Does God Control Everything – R.C. Sproul
Don’t know much about the Bible – Kenneth C. Davis
Double Predestination Paper – Darryl Williams

Encountering the Old Testament – Bill T. Arnold, Bryan E. Beyer English Standard Version Bible – ESV
Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein
Fascinating Bible Facts – Howard & Burger

Forgotten Books of Eden; The – World
Fraud at Fatima – Website Submission
Girls of the Bible – Harvey Albert Snyder
Gospel of Luke; The – J. Vernon McGee
Gospels Interwoven; The – Karmit Zarley
Great Doctrines of the Bible Vol 2 – W. A. Criswell Great Marian Catholic Apostasy; The – David Hughes Guide Post - Lent – Max Lucado

Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow; The – Constance E. Cumbey His Glory Revealed – John Hagee
Hoax of our Lady of Fatima; The – David J. Stewart Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible – Packer-Tenny Influence; The – A novel – Matthew John Slick

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Interlinear Greek-English New Testament – Baker International Thesaurus - Roget’s
Invisible War; The – Donald Grey Barnhouse Israel Today Magazine – March 2008, page 18 Jewish book of Why; The – Kolatch

Josephus; the Jewish Historian A.D. 37-98

King James Version Bible – KJV
Lies of Fatima; The – Philip Coppens
Lost Books of the Bible; The - Bell
Lost Books of the Bible; The - World
Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan
Meredith’s Book of List; 1&2 –Bethany House Publishers Missing Books of the Bible; The – Halo Press
Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest
Nag Hammadi Library; The – James M. Robinson
Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan
New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV
New Living Translation Bible - NLT
Now that’s a Good Question – R.C. Sproul
One Hundred Bible Topics – Marvin Hunt
Other side of the Good News; The – Larry Dixon
Parables of Jesus; The – J. Dwight Pentecost
Paul & His Letters – John B. Polhill
Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield
Shepherd’s Chapel – Arnold Murray
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – Nelson Systematic Theology – Wayne Grudem
Table Talk – R.C. Sproul
Temple Institute; The
Temple Mount & Land of Israel - Faithful Movement
Temple Mount Location - Dr. Asher Kaufman
Theomatics – Jerry Lucas
There were Two Trees in the Garden – Rick Joyner
Three Secrets of Fatima – Wikipedia
Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee
Twelve Ordinary Men – John MacArthur
Unraveling the Big Questions about God – Kenneth Boa
Unseen Realm; The – Michael S. Heiser
Victor Journey through the Bible; The – V. Gilbert Beers Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald What in the World is going on? – David Jeremiah
What the Bible is all about – Henrietta C. Mears
Where to find it in the Bible – Ken Anderson
Who’s Who and Where’s Where – Stephen M. Miller
Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner
Why Do Catholics Do That? – Kevin Orlin Johnson
Wikipedia
Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

IT’S IN THE BOOK

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