All the region were going out to him, and they were baptized, confessing their sins. Matthew 3:4-12.

Posted on 04/09/2023 by remso

I am a big fan of the series The Chosen. If you were to ask why, I would tell you that even though we have limited information to define the events we see on screen, there is enough information in scripture to validate that an event, such as the feeding of the five thousand, happened. To those who would include me among the false teachers because I can enjoy The Chosen and be deeply and emotionally moved by the love of God through what I see there, you need to eliminate the box that your religious practices force you to keep Jesus and God inside; they are NOT big enough to hold such love. Like the old wineskins Jesus described, you will burst if you try to take in this much love and be ruined. There is all that and the fact that I read my Bible and know immediately whether a conversation or physical act is valid according to scripture. I also apply my ability to think and ask questions like, does what I just saw invalidate the entirety of scripture and therefore need me to scream that Dallas Jenkins and the producers of the show are all false teachers, which they are not.

One of the things that surprised me was the portrayal of John the Baptizer.

John enters the scene by jumping out from behind a large bush while trying to shock and surprise Jesus, Philip, and a couple of other disciples carrying knives to subdue their fears of living in the wilderness. John is laughing while his crazy-looking hair goes in every direction. Jesus catches His breath and joins in the laughter, obviously, deeply pleased to see His cousin, that He loved. Philip, a disciple of John and now a recent member of Jesus’ team, seems used to John’s peculiar behavior and gladly gives John a big hug.

What does scripture say that might confirm that John the Baptizer was “unusual”?

“This John had his clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather girdle round his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey.”
(Matthew 3:4 Moffatt NT)

Food is the Greek word trophē, meaning nourishment or meat.

If you were to try to argue that this was the seed pods off of the Locust tree, you would be hard-pressed to convince me. It is fairly obvious that locusts were common and plentiful. Honey speaks for itself. Since I have the potential of a horrid allergic reaction to bee stings, you won’t find me playing with bees. So, yes, this is a bit unusual.

Having your clothes made from camel hair is the antithesis of a fashion statement.

Look at what Jesus said.

“Now as they were leaving, Yeshua began to talk to the crowd concerning John. “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No? So what did you go out to see? A man dressed in finery? Look, those who wear finery are in the palaces of kings! Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, even more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ “Amen, I tell you, among those born of women, none has arisen greater than John the Immerser. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Immerser until now, the kingdom of heaven is treated with violence, and the violent grasp hold of it. For all the prophets and the Torah prophesied until the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”
(Matthew 11:7-14 TLV)

To say the least, he was unusual.

I used to seek an answer as to why Jesus could say of John – the Baptizer,

“among those born of women, none has arisen greater than John the Immerser. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Immerser until now, the kingdom of heaven is treated with violence, and the violent grasp hold of it.” 

I used to think that the answer was associated with the belief that John was the first to be filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I couldn’t prove that assertion, so I stopped saying it. Consider that all prophetic words from the Lord fell silent for 400 years, right before the advent of John and Jesus. Jesus, I can understand because He is the Son of God. On the other hand, John is a six-month-old baby in his mother (Elizabeth’s womb) when she had the Holy Spirit infill her. 

Why, by the way, would the Holy Spirit filling Elizabeth be unusual? 

Because, as Jesus told His disciples, “if I do not go away, the Comforter (Gk: paraklētos – advocate, comforter) will not come.” [John 3:16].

That could, in some minds, make the infilling of the Holy Spirit before Jesus’ return to the Father impossible or improbable at best.

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,”
(Luke 1:39-41 ESV)

Filled is the Greek word plēthō and means to “fill,” however, it also (literally or figuratively) means to imbue or influence. 

Imbue – according to Webster, is an old English word that means to dip in water to saturate it. So the key word here is to saturate.

A piece of evidence to validate the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of humans prior to Jesus departing the earth can be found when we look at this prophetess, Anna.

“And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
(Luke 2:36-38 NASB)

Anna had no television advertising and no theological training with a special emphasis on the prophetic. She, we are told, never left the temple but served day and night by fasting and praying. And yet, at the right moment in time, the Holy Spirit moved her to greet the family with the baby Jesus as they came near the doors of the temple to be circumcised. Consider one more thing about her, she was a woman. Women were not allowed to serve in the Temple, and they were certainly not permitted to participate in circumcision. Mary was restricted to the outer court for women, just as Anna would have been subject to. Since Jesus was most likely considered to be illegitimate and ostracized in any town where they were known, He would not have been able to have a Bris ceremony.

What happened next in Anna’s life?

She went about and began giving thanks to God and speaking of the Messiah to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel. The end of this sentence is important because not everyone, even if they sit next to you in church, is looking for the redemption of Israel. In our case, the catching away of the church.

—–

When I was too young and naive to stand up for myself, receiving the Holy Spirit was an absurd and irritating experience. We were not told that the Holy Spirit came into our lives when we received Jesus Christ.

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”
(Ephesians 1:13 ESV)

If you are a religious zealot, then what I just said probably set you into a rage because you were never taught that, and even if you were, you, much like I was, could not see the Holy Spirit as an integral part of the Godhead, the three-in-one.

Perhaps that understanding would have changed everything for you as well. I know that for most of those early years, I felt powerless. 

Back to John.

“Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
(Matthew 3:5-6 ESV)

In a previous post I discussed how difficult it is to see Jesus coming to John to be baptized, especially since there is about a 72 mile span between the two locations.

Let’s say you read the Bible from front to back and saw many times the admonitions to offer sacrifices for your sins.

Did you see anything that instructed them to immerse in water for the forgiveness of sins?

The answer is NO. The Jews did baptize slaves and there was the ceremonial cleansing in a mikveh (a ritual bath,) where the person would discretely get naked and dunk themselves, quickly and completely, underwater in an act that indicates that they had been born anew. At this point, they were considered to be sinless, like a newborn. The problem with that is that it ignores that we are born into sin.

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
(Matthew 3:7 KJV)

Apparently, there was an association between spiritual cleanliness and an escape from the coming wrath. Since that wrath would be at least over 2000 years later, and many Jews still refuse to understand, I am not sure the logic is working for them.

“Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance;” (Matthew 3:8 TLV)

In Matthew 3:5,6, the implication is that everyone from that region came to John to be baptized. If that was the case, then there should have been a tremendous amount of evidence that demonstrates their repentance or change of heart (for the better).

Jesus said,

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”
(Matthew 12:33 BSB)

First, horticulturalists have observed and studied to determine if a peach tree variety with good flavor and valuable qualities could be grafted onto a rootstock that is NOT susceptible to the nematodes in your soil. Then, because someone else did the hard work for you can trust that the fruit tree you just purchased from the garden center will have a healthy start and will, in most cases, have a rootstock that resists disease, while the upper portion of the tree that brings enjoyment will be what I consider a good variety. 

Secondly, assuming that you allowed someone who realizes that issues must be overcome, such as sin in the case of a human, appropriate actions have been taken to procure a good tree. If you merely dig a hole, shove it in the ground, and walk away from it, what are the chances that it will produce good fruit or any at all? Marginal at best. So, again I have to take actions, such as nutrients, soil amendments, and water – like a drip system so that I don’t water the weeds and ensure that the tree gets adequate sunlight. In many cases, like apples, it should get satisfactory cold temperatures. Did you know that many trees produce fruit on second-year growth? That means that the trees need to be pruned to promote healthy growth.

The tree, in itself, has the innate qualities needed to be a good tree. Failure to maintain that tree and the fruit will be poor in quality and eventually inedible. Can you see how the Word of God and an active relationship with the Father promote and maintains this tree called us.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.”
(John 15:16 BSB)

Our relationship with Christ is meant to produce fruit.

“Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. ”
(Romans 7:4 BSB)

And if you are not sure what your fruit is supposed to look like, there is this.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22-23 BSB)

John the Baptizer continued to say,

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”
(Matthew 3:9 ESV)

Obviously, the ESV uses the word presume instead of think.

The UCRT conveys that the word “think. Gr. dokeō, *S# G1380. (Implies) Think not for a moment (Aorist). This is an idiom to be frequently met with in the Jerusalem Talmud and means be not of that opinion” (CB)

The New Living Translation conveys,

“Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.”
(Matthew 3:9 NLT)

Can you imagine that?

“Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!”
(Matthew 3:10 TLV)

Dr. J Vernon McGee (who, for me, always had a rural attitude) says, “Fruit bearing is the result of having the right kind of tree. Only a fruit tree can produce fruit. He talks here about the axe being laid to the root of the tree, and the reason is that the tree is not bearing fruit.”

Let’s try to finish this until the next look at Matthew.

John is still speaking.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
(Matthew 3:11-12 BSB)

In trying to find a validation for John to baptize, I am only concerned with passages from the Torah and Tenach, the law or instructions given to Israel. I find none. I am jumping ahead a bit because Jesus spoke about this very thing.

“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.”
(Matthew 3:15 BSB)

So, Jesus was fulfilling some act of righteousness. Perhaps this is it.

““Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish, along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour, put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams. Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.” (Exodus 29:1-4 BSB)

Apparently, this can be perceived as preparation for Jesus to serve as a priest in human eyes.

Have you ever wondered why denominations ordain someone as a pastor? Think about what they do: they present that person before the crowd; in Jesus’ case, it may have been a very small number of people, but for the most part, it seems to have been Pharisees and scribes. So, John would have been, unwittingly, presenting Jesus before the elders as a representative of God to serve as a priest.

Perhaps you doubt this, then consider what the writer of Hebrews tells us.

“Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness. That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
(Hebrews 5:1-10 BSB)

No, He is not the ominous God that will strike you down at a moment’s notice, but He can. The passage above tells us what His nature is when it says, 

“He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is (was) beset by weakness.”

I have been to the cemetery on multiple occasions with my wife. Then, one day I read this: 

“Do not mistake kindness for weakness.” 

God, who showed you who He was through His Son, is kind. You should have been able to pick up on that fact when He put Himself on that cross for you. 

Now, as for the ominous God that we correctly understand. Very soon, He will lift His church off this earth and unleash His wrath upon a world that has repeatedly rejected Him.

Some seem to think the first half of the seven years will be a cakewalk; you could not be farther from the truth. It will be filled with heat, fire, poisoned water, death (at the hands of just about everyone,) starvation, diseases, and then the second half begins; and Jesus told us that this portion will be so bad that it will seem like no one will survive, and so God shortens this time for the sake of the Jews. Rest assured that the remaining Jews will wholeheartedly turn to the Lord by then.

I would turn to the Lord now rather than later.

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A voice cries out in the desert: “Clear a way for the LORD.” Matthew 31-3.

Posted on 04/02/2023 by remso

Matthew chapter three opens with a fast-forward of about 25 years.

The headline from the Berean Study Bible (and most of them say the same thing) reads:

“John the Baptist Prepares the Way”

“And in those days John the Immerser comes, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,”
(Matthew 3:1 LSV)

FYI: The LSV = The Literal Standard Version of The Holy Bible is a registered copyright of Covenant Press and the Covenant Christian Coalition (© 2020).

I don’t know if the LSV carries any extra importance, but I like to check to see if it offers some insight that others may have missed. Immediately I am delighted because of the emphasis on John being the Immerser. This word can be substituted with baptizer; however, it is what he did, not who he was, a Baptist. Amir Tsarfati told the story of a person approaching him after a tour lecture and asked, so, was Jesus Catholic or Protestant? One part of the obvious is that there were no church affiliations as there was no church as yet. If you insist that John was such and such, then he was more of an evangelist who called the nation and Herod (who was half-Jewish by blood) to repentance.

In the series “The Chosen,” John (the immerser) is portrayed as someone a bit unusual, to say the least. He has a classic, Jewish, sarcastic sense of humor, and if you think about the comments he made to the Pharisaical crowd that came to be baptized by him, he called them vipers – a bit of a harsh jab. Our introduction to John has him jumping out from behind a bush as his cousin, Yeshua, and a couple of the disciples walk by. Jesus smiled and was glad to see John. Philip was one of those disciples from John’s team and threw his arms around John’s neck, demonstrating how loved he was. Several episodes convey to us how attached Andrew was to John. (When talking about the disciples, you can begin to see where making a distinction as to which John you are referring to can come in handy.)

Pay attention to where John is immersing, Judea, which was, at one time, the Southern and separate kingdom from Israel to the North. The wilderness of Judah runs North to South and parallels the Dead Sea. 

The point is that I have no idea how Jesus and John got together, for, as you can see, there are close to 90 kilometers or 70 miles between the two.

“Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2 TLV)

He was referencing Jesus, the Son of God, and, by the way, the Messiah. 

Almost all of Israel looked for and longed for the Messiah, as He would free them from the bondage of the Romans. Well, that was not going to happen.

Matthew describes John the baptizer as the one crying out. However, the designation “crying in the wilderness” certainly makes it sound pessimistic.

I started this blog almost twenty years ago, and that is what I named it, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Experience has taught me that few listen, and I am not just talking about listening to me; they don’t listen to God either. So the idea of a wilderness speaks to me of the barrenness of our souls without the Word of God being poured into them. You would be foolish if you are willing to depend on someone else doing the pouring; this has to be you.

“This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, direct).” [Isa. 40:3.]
(Matthew 3:3 AMP)

I have used the Amplified as they frequently give you the related passage. It is Matthew who gives us this.

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:14 NASB)

So, allow me a moment here. Elijah was lifted off this earth without dying, and scripture tells us that:

“… it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment “ (Hebrews 9:27 NASB)

Well, when did Elijah get his turn?

I do not know, and I will not accept the idea that he was reincarnated as John the baptizer. Just the fact that Jesus refers to Elijah in terms of coming back merely promotes the idea that Elijah did not die and must yet die. Consider the fact the two witnesses, who come from God, stand in the streets of Jerusalem witnessing about Jesus as the Messiah and the glory of God, will die after their time is done (3.5 years.) But, after lying dead in the street for three days, they will rise again and return to the Lord.

Appointed is the Greek word apokeimai and means reserved or awaited.

I will let you in on a little-known fact. There is nothing that will prevent this body from dying. The body, which carries the broken DNA chain that motivates us to sin, has to be purified. A passage that almost everyone has heard at least once tells us that our works will be tried by fire; this is probably part of the bema seat judgment and where the body will die.

You are aware that Jesus died? Right! Then you should also be mindful that He came back to life and continued to walk this earth for forty more days, sharing the good news.

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He will be called a Nazarite. Matthew 2:18-23.

Posted on 03/28/2023 by remso

We ended our last dive into Matthew’s gospel with Matthew 2:16.

So let’s see what we can come up with after recapping the last verse. This will give us a foundation for the following few verses.

“When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.”
(Matthew 2:16 BSB)

While most will look at this and see an evil man, it is much more profound than that.

Do you actually believe that “our enemy,” Satan, did not have everything to do with this vile murder of innocent children, as he tried to, once again, eliminate, in this case, the toddler Jesus, that would bring salvation to all humanity?

This battle started when God spoke “prophetic” words over Eve.

Here is a side note for your extracurricular education.

Time, as far as humanity was concerned, began with Genesis 3:1-7. Time was of no concern, and no record was ever kept until this day in the garden. Why do you suppose that is? Because it impacted all of humanity, damaged by the genetic transfer of sin, and it was the beginning of God’s plan to restore a relationship with anyone who would choose to accept this salvation. If you are a thinker, I know I opened a big can-o-worms for you. Lean on the Holy Spirit; He will straighten it out for you. 

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
(Genesis 3:15 BSB)

Every time I see this word, enmity, I struggle to remember what it means because this is no longer a commonly used English word.

Webster’s dictionary defines it like this. “The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence.”

It doesn’t get real until you hit those words: hatred and malevolence. 

Striking his heel sounds like child’s work compared to getting your head crushed. I would also note that the crushing of the head sounds like a permanent death blow, while the striking of the heel can be a temporary discomfort.

If this is the case, then why is Satan still alive?

The endless question. Because the entirety of God’s plan will be completed, as it takes us all the way out to the judgment at the white throne, where it all comes to a final end. As a follower of Christ, from the catching away of the bride, we will live in peace from that point on.

In case you did not know, this relationship between Satan and the seed was guaranteed to go both ways, and what we see in Matthew 2:16 demonstrates that Satan does not care one bit about you and wants you dead.

Why? 

Because being in Christ and made in God’s image, you look like the enemy.

If you haven’t noticed, God and the enemy use people to carry out many of their wishes. Therefore, since you are in a spiritual battle, attack it with the weapons of Spirit, the Word of God, and stand your ground.

“For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
(2 Corinthians 10:3-4 BSB)

If I have left you hanging, wondering what the weapons are, here is verse five.

“The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ERV)

Do you see that the most significant battle always occurs in the mind?

Ask yourself, what are the things that can raise themselves up against the knowledge of God. Most are associated with doubt and defeat.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.”
(Philippians 4:8 BSB)

True or honorable things can only come from God as they are based on His moral authority. The LSV translation expands this to anything from the heart of God that is true and honorable.

“As to the rest, brothers, as many things as are true, as many as are revered, as many as are righteous, as many as are pure, as many as are lovely, as many as are of good report, if any worthiness, and if any praise, think on these things;.”
(Philippians 4:8 LSV)

Ephesians 1:3-9 (LSV) lays out many things that you could think about.

  • “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

  • “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for our being holy and unblemished before Him, in love,”

  • Foreordained us to the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

    Honestly, I could not get any of my dictionaries to define the word foreordained.

    We should understand that fore implies a previous state or event, like before the worlds were created. Ordained is to be Appointed; instituted; established; invested with ministerial or pastoral functions; settled.

    Do you realize these are the things that God thinks about you? HE established you, invested His life in you for a purpose, and gave you the giftings to make that happen. 

  • (We are) to the praise of the glory of His grace.

  • (And, it is through this grace that) He made us accepted in the beloved,

  • (It is because of that grace that) we have redemption through His blood.

  • The forgiveness of (all) trespasses.

  • (Because of His grace) He has lavished all of the wisdom and intellectual insight we need.

    Even if it doesn’t seem like it.

  • And, because of that grace – unmerited favor, He has made known to us the secret of His will.

    Some would say we can’t know God’s will. Well, you can, and He has made it known through the scriptures. A clue, as you read, you are looking for the nature and character of God. His Word is His will, and Jesus walked that out perfectly.

Several years ago, we used to sing a worship song that goes like this. “I remind myself of all that He’s done.” I just spelled out many things that He has done for you. If Satan has you going in circles, it is because you have forgotten who you are, a child of the King.

Consider being proactive. Paul, in his letters to the various church bodies, told the recipients, including you and me, that the enemy is restrained from being able to launch total frontal attacks because WE, God’s people, are doing everything in our power to resist the enemy. 

Well, that was quite the introduction.

Herod’s interactions with the Magi and subsequent order to kill all the little boys in the Bethlehem region were foretold. Unfortunately, the intended person that was meant to be receiving the brunt of Herod’s jealousy is not spelled out in Jeremiah 31.

“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 they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15 BSB)

If Jesus was born in Bethlehem, why is the slaughter, according to Jeremiah, focused on Ramah? 

  • Potential answers lie in what Herod learned from the Magi.
  • The star took them to the home where the family was NOW living.
  • And the Magi were able to calculate His approximate age, about two.

The commentary written by Albert Barnes tells us that Ramah was the mother of three tribes, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, but Rachel is regarded as “the mother of the whole ten.”

All this about the tribes happened before they left Egypt, where the final few were the sons of Joseph. So can I assume that the ten referred to those born through Jacob? I am still determining.

Adam Clarke’s commentary states that Rachel was buried very near Ramah.

The UCRT gives us a few additional reasons why there is such symbolism in Ramah. “(1) A city of Benjamin, where captives captured by Nebuchadnezzar were guarded, Jer_31:15; Jer_40:1, (2) A town in Mount Ephraim, also called Ramathaim-zophim, the birthplace of the prophet Samuel, 1Sa_1:19, (3) A town on the boundary of Asher, Jos_19:29, (4) A fortified place in Naphtali, Jos_19:36, (5) Another name for the city of Ramoth-Gilead, 2Ki_8:28-29, (6) A place where some Benjamites returned after the captivity, Neh_11:33.”

So there is a tremendous amount of symbolism, but for me, it is the place that the Magi identified merely by their presence.

“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of Adonai appears in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are dead.”
(Matthew 2:19-20 TLV)

Joseph, having been warned in a dream to escape to Egypt, did so. You might think that Joseph was an expert at prophetic dreams by now, and this is where they stayed until they were given the green light to return.

The only question left to answer is, where are they to go upon their return?

Why would I bring up the idea of where they should go?

Because their hometown of Nazareth (a relatively small city) may still be hostile toward Joseph and Mary, both for what the town folk deemed was their respective silence about their premarital activities or the possibility that Mary had an extramarital relationship. If you are struggling to understand or believe this, consider that Joseph took his pregnant wife to Bethlehem, his hometown, under Roman orders, to be counted in the census.

What would Joseph expect to find there?

Kinfolk. Kinfolk or not, NO ONE took them in, and they had to make due in a stall alongside cattle and their excrement.

For the longest time, I was not clear about the city they came out of. Luke’s gospel solved that problem for me.

“In the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy), God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
(Luke 1:26-27 BSB)

You see, unless you have had vivid, clear dreams yourself, you are NOT going to fully understand what God has told them and what they were to do, and you may not want to understand what “God” has been telling you, such as, you are going to have a child without any human contact.

So, Joseph now has the green light to go back home.

“So he got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel.”
(Matthew 2:21 TLV)

Ah, so he does not go directly back to Nazareth. The land of Israel is relatively big; it only makes sense that they might have gone back to Bethlehem or Ramah, but I am only guessing.

But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
(Matthew 2:22-23 BSB)

  1. It seems like fear motivated Joseph at this point. Just saying.

    Archelaus, being a son of Herod, may well act just like his father. You have heard the saying, the fruit does not fall far from the tree. So it would be reasonable to feel fear about this man. Nazareth was not Joseph’s first choice of places to live.

  2. Again, Joseph is warned in a dream.

  3. “he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.”

    This sounds like this was the first time they had been here, but that isn’t true.

    I pointed out some reasons that Yeshua might sustain attacks from people, which you can perceive as you read the gospels. If you, like me, had concerns about the abuse Yeshua might receive upon their return to Nazareth, then perhaps we should try to do the math.

    By the time the Magi arrived, Jesus was about two years old, and they were living in a house, most likely in Ramah. Joseph was identified as a craftsman by the Pharisees. The Bible translators assigned the word carpenter to the Greek word tekton, which means craftsmen but covers poets, artisans, and stone masons. Details about how they afforded that house are unimportant at this point. The family flees to Egypt, fully funded by the gifts that the Magi brought. 

    And there is a strong possibility they will return home to Israel when Jesus is about four. 

    At this point, they have been gone from Nazareth for at least five years. Nazareth is not a big town, and people are always willing to remind you of your past, but we don’t see that in scripture. This does not mean it didn’t happen, but I think the damage may have been minimal at this point, and Jesus might have attended synagogue school unnoticed. 

    Besides, have any of them seen Jesus or pictures of Him as He grew to the age He is? NO.

    To demonstrate that there was evident knowledge and almost open aggression, I give you several scriptures.

    “They replied to him, “You were born completely in sin, and you’re teaching us?” And they threw him out.” (John 9:34 TLV)

    This comment, “you were born completely in sin,” is not a casual comment. It is a direct and aggressive challenge to Jesus’ parentage.

    “We know for certain that God spoke with Moses, but as for this Fellow, we know nothing about where He hails from.” (John 9:29 AMP)

    His surrogate parents were from Nazareth, and Jesus spent most of His life here. They knew exactly where He was from, so once again, they challenged His parentage.

The law given to Israel while they wandered in the desert clearly spoke about illegitimate children.

“A person begotten out of wedlock shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall his descendants not enter into the congregation of the Lord. 3) An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation their descendants shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord forever,” (Deuteronomy 23:2-3 AMP)

Jesus, according to family lineage, was a descendant of Moabites through Ruth, and because of the silence of His surrogate parents, He was thought to be the product of adultery. Please don’t get the impression that Mary and Joseph were wrong; they were, in fact, bold and brave, declaring that He was the son of God. Sadly, you quickly learn that no one cares about the truth, as they each have their own truth.

Posted in Bethlehem, bible study, dreams, Egypt, Herod, Israel, Joseph, Magi, Mary, Matthew's gospel, Nazareth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Magi, what did they want, and why were they demanding answers from Herod?

Posted on 03/24/2023 by remso

The next thing we encounter in Matthew’s gospel is,

The Visit of the Wise Men

“Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod, the king, magi from the east, arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
(Matthew 2:1-2 NASB)

The Magi, what did they want, and why were they demanding answers from Herod?

One brother in Christ, who is very skillful in the Word of God, explained that one of the roles of the Magi was to be kingdom changers (Consider that this knowledgeable man had to look at extra-biblical information not contained within the pages of the Bible to make his valid assertion. I only point this out because a “brother in Christ” verbally lashed out at me, saying I do not believe that we should use extra-biblical texts and information to form our thoughts about God and scripture.) The Magi were the group of men that Daniel, as a young man, had been assigned to and eventually became the head of while remaining a captive in Babylon.

Seeing the size of the entourage and perceiving a threat to his power, Herod went into panic mode and called the chief priests and elders before him to tell him what they knew about this situation.

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.”
(Matthew 2:3-4 NASB)

“When Herod the king heard this.” What did he hear?

“ Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Since when has the Middle East changed so that you can merely gather up a large, armed crowd and go rolling up to another kingdom’s gates unannounced and immediately expect an audience with a king known to live in fear?

It hasn’t, and so I don’t expect that was the case here, but the word was received and taken to the king. Now, what does the fearful man do? He consults the people who most likely know the corresponding answer, the Jews, as they should know the prophecy.

All prophecy, like a criminal court case, must have two or three witnesses; one of those witnesses is found in the Book of Daniel. It is not likely that Herod, being a half-Jew, would have studied Daniel chapter seven, as it plays a significant role in testifying to what the angel declared to Mary as he explained the function of the child that she carried.

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
(Luke 1:32-33 NASB)

So, no, Herod would not know these words that we see in Luke’s gospel as they were written long after Herod’s death, and that makes his fear and the lack of reaction by the elders even more peculiar.

The Magi, on the other hand, may have studied Daniel’s words with intensity.

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away, And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”
(Daniel 7:13-14 NASB)

The reply of the Jewish elders is alarming to me.

“So they told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
(Matthew 2:5-6 TLV)

They knew the answer to the question, but do we have any record that they went there and bowed before this new king?

Not at all. Herod responds to this by double-checking. Perhaps because even Herod could see that these magi were taking this king being born seriously, and he called them in to speak with them.

“Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child. And when you have found Him, bring word back to me so that I may come and worship Him as well.”
(Matthew 2:7-8 TLV)

With terminology such as “determined from them the exact time,” Herod now has a ballpark idea of how old this new king is; and nothing will happen until they come back to Herod and give him the word of exactly where to find the child. Watch what the magi do.

“After listening to the king, they went their way. And behold, the star they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great gladness.”
(Matthew 2:9-10 TLV)

These magi had not yet found the child, but they will. They will not go back to Herod for the child’s protection. Notice where the family is now living.

“And when they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Miriam; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.”
(Matthew 2:11-12 TLV)

Never once do you see the number three. What you do see are three specific names: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A key word here is treasures, as the quantity may have been great and enough to sustain the family for several years. We, because of the age bracket that Herod orders killed, would logically assume the age of Yeshua to be about two as they take off to the safety of Egypt.

“Now when they had gone (the magi), behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream (so he has had a couple of these over the last few years), saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what was spoken by Adonai through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My son.” Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became furious. And he sent and killed all boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding area, from two years old and under, according to the time he had determined from the magi.”
(Matthew 2:13-16 TLV)

Astronomy.com tells us that “On the morning of August 12 in 3 B.C ., Jupiter and Venus would’ve sat just 1/10th a degree apart in the dawn sky. That’s one-fifth the diameter of the Full Moon. (The December 2020 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn will have an identical separation, albeit in the evening sky.) That wasn’t the end of the show, either. Venus and Jupiter continued their dance over most of the next year before finally appearing to merge into a single star in June.”

So approximately August of C.5, Christ was born. (I am still not clear. If time is based on this dramatic change called Jesus birth, all I wanted or needed was a time frame that I could start with. If this is based upon Christ, it would seem that this timeline information puts the starting point at five months. An obvious fact is that He was NOT born at six months old, we also know that the shepherds were with their flocks, and that tends to put His birth far enough into the season for shepherds to be working the flocks comfortably in the hillsides.) At the age of two, his family takes him to Egypt to protect him. History (and I must admit this is rather sketchy) records that Herod died around April 4 B.C.; therefore, it would seem that the family was only in Egypt for slightly over a year. The presumption then is that Jesus was brought back to Nazareth when He was four or five.

Why is this information important?

First, this has never been clear in my head, and that may be because no one ever talked about it. Secondly, questions occasionally arise about Jesus from toddler to maturity, which in the Jewish culture seems to be about age 13, a time when the sons are required to step up and learn their fathers’ trade. Three, I made the mistake of reading Kahlil Gibran’s book Jesus, the son of Man. The title alone should tell you something about the lack of understanding and possible disrespect the man had for Jesus. A point that Mr. Gibran tried to make was that Jesus may have been a malicious brat, as he allegedly injured animals and then healed them. Sorry, but that did not sound right then, nor does it sound right now.

After the incident where the family, while in Jerusalem, had to go looking for Jesus, a 12-year-old child, they found Him in the temple where He had been for two days, with the Jewish leaders, discussing the scriptures. Remember, all they had were the law and the prophets, and they were precious and expensive scrolls that only the richest of synagogues had copies. So learning was almost exclusively through repetitious hearing.

A problem with this entire process. If your child had a disability, would you focus on that, merely enabling that they lean upon that disability, or would you focus on their ability? In Jesus’ case, He, by those who knew about His birth, would have been called a mumzer – an illegitimate child and those same people had a long history, based on the law, that allowed them to treat a child like this poorly. 

As far as I can see, Jesus, had He been known, would have been violently expelled from the temple. An answer to this lies in the outer courts of the temple, as these were accessible to even the gentiles.

The final thought on this tells us that after His parents found Him, and I am sure they expressed their displeasure at Him being lost, is that Jesus submitted Himself wholly to their wishes until He was old enough, able to take care of Himself and act on His own accord. I am thinking now of Mary. As the eldest son, Jesus would have probably been the one to care for her after Joseph died. Keep in mind that Mary continued to have other children, and several of them, including sisters, may have taken that role.

We don’t see support from the other family members, nor do we hear anything about siblings until the day that they came to restrain Him – so to speak.

“When His family heard about this, they went out to take hold of Him; for they were saying, “He’s out of His mind!”
(Mark 3:21 TLV)

He conflicted with the 600+ added-on Jewish laws, but He was amazingly kind to the down and out while excoriating the scribes and the Pharisees.

“Then His mother and brothers come. Standing outside, they sent word to Him, summoning Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they tell Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking at those sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
(Mark 3:31-35 TLV)

If Mary (Miriam) had not been the surrogate mother of Jesus, we would probably never hear of her either.

I decided to post this, even though it is not, in my mind, done. I do not elaborate on this merely to convince you to think negatively about Jesus; just the opposite is true. If you happen to be one that thinks that every God aspect was little more than some high-speed download, I think that is illogical and works in opposition to His mission here on earth. Remember, He came as man and defeated Satan as a human.

We have learned that Joseph, “his father,” was a righteous man. Some translations refer to Joseph as a good man. To be deemed a righteous man indicates that he was known among the synagogue crowd as one that took notes (just kidding) and paid attention. Because of this, he fastidiously practiced the scriptures with Jesus. 

So, how did Jesus become so knowledgeable? 

Joseph, his foster father. Let that sink in. 

If you do not know my Jesus, He is as close as your breath. Merely submit yourself to the greater power and ask Him into your life, then watch the changes begin to happen because the Holy Spirit has now entered, permanently, and will begin teaching you all things and showing you things to come. 

If the rapture has come, there will be no denying when that happened. (Yes, I know that the government has put it off on aliens taking the “bad” Christians off the earth.) 

If the church is gone, all hell will begin to break loose. 

  • Constant rioting in the streets and death will come from multiple directions. 
  • Those you thought would be on your side and protect you will be trying to kill you. 
  • Injections will be mandated that are intended to kill you. 
  • Efforts to monitor your every move will be demanded. 
  • The earth and the water supplies will be poisoned. The oceans will be filled with death. 
  • Commerce will come to a halt. 
  • The economies will become digital and tightly controlled, but will all, in a matter of time, collapse. 
  • This time on earth, as seen in Revelation six and beyond, will include God’s anger against unbelieving humanity and the Jews who rejected God. 

Within days of the Church being removed, the antichrist persona will come to the forefront. If you have access to a Bible (it will be a forbidden book,) you can read about the emergence of the antichrist.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and (then) that that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,”                 (2 Thessalonians 2:3 Geneva)

Yes, I Americanized the old 15th-century wording, and yes, most translations use the phrase falling away. Just this morning, 3/11/23, I saw that the Church of England is now teaching four-year-old children, in their Sunday school class, about transitioning and perverted sex education. Try to convince me that we, the church, have not fallen over the cliff already. 

There is only one hope; it is Jesus, and if nothing else, make your life with Him personal. 

Trust me, once He touches your heart, you will want to tell someone about Him.

Posted in Bethlehem, bible study, David, Herod, Jacob, Jerusalem, Magi, Matthew's gospel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I cannot remember how we got to this point, but something got said about hell.

Posted on 03/23/2023 by remso

I know many who believe God has already thrown people into hell, but that has NOT happened yet, and, in general,  it will NOT happen until the great throne event at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. 

Why do I have the right to say that?

Well, there are passages like this:

“Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32 TLV)

“And you—being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh—He made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all the trespasses,”
(Colossians 2:13 LSV)

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.” (1 John 2:12 BSB)

Do I realize that this forgiveness was established by Jesus’ actions on the cross?

Yes, I do, but this forgiveness, in a sense, is just hanging out in there in space until you choose to accept that forgiveness and the Father’s love through the death and resurrection of the Son.

So, at least for now, I can exclude Judas, who hung himself from hell.

(At the end of the seven years of wrath, the beast and the false prophet, along with Satan, will be thrown into the lake of fire. The only one that gets out of that lake is Satan at the end of the thousand years so that he can deceive the nations. Having done that, he is tossed, along with those he deceived, back into the lake of fire.)

So a common problem I see is that some of us believe we have been appointed judges and have the right to send people to hell. The fact that all sin was forgiven on the cross should shut many mouths or at least change their condemning hearts. But, unfortunately, I merely stated what far too many of us are willing to do, especially when this job of judging is for Jesus alone. 

Wow, is that in the Bible?

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wants. The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son.”
(John 5:21-22 TLV)

There are two outstanding aspects of these passages.

  • First, here is one you may have yet to notice.  So, not only does the Son do all the judging, but He gives life “to whomever He wants,” and He is NOT asking your permission to whom He can give life.
  • Secondly, there are NO limitations on whom the Son can give this life to. 

So, I said, Jesus took the keys to hell by going there Himself and set the captives free.

This was met with what seemed like an angry response, and it went like this.

Jesus did NOT go into hell! After a few seconds of glaring, the person added it was the place of the dead.

A few seconds later, I pulled out my cell phone and found this.

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18 KJV)

I am not a big fan of the King James version, but most who spent a lot of time in a church would admit that the KJV was not only a standard but the primary version most would buy. However, that began to change, and we saw the Amplified, the NIV, and the NASB enter the mix.

It sounds like our King and savior got the keys to both places. As attendees at church, we, for the most part, were content to let the pastor do all the studying, as we assumed he would never lead us astray.

With a conversation like that, don’t you think the average answer would be Jesus took the keys to hell? But, when the standard Bible translation tells us that He did, there is a propensity to believe He did. And, there is no reason to think that someone did this and then slipped Him the keys so He could look good. No, Jesus did all that.

So hell is actually the Greek word hadēs and means the abode of departed spirits.

Since the KJV was the new standard, then hell would have been the common assertion and expected answer. Because we, as the church in general, DO NOT READ our Bibles, then we would never know the origins of the word hell, which we just discussed to be hades, the place of the dead.

I think we believe that the lake of fire is hell, but we do not allow for an abode of departed spirits. A common picture comes from Revelation 19:20.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
(Revelation 19:20 KJV)

The final scene is found in Revelation 20.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
(Revelation 20:13-15 KJV)

Something notable in Revelation 20:13-15, death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. Once again, we are constrained to use the word hell, which is Greek the word hades, the place of the dead. Is it any wonder that we call this place of the dead hell?

In “The Chosen,” there is a discussion between Jesus and Matthew about the substance of “the sermon on the mount.” Matthew humorously elaborates on this portion by adding you would have a city full of people with only one eye.

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-29 KJV)

The point here is not the eye but things that we cannot validate from scripture. In this case, the conversation leaned toward potentially being sent to hell over poor decisions. Hell, in this case, is NOT hades but an allusion to Gehenna, the place of perpetual burning or the lake of fire.

A piece of information to help confuse you is the narrative about the beggar Lazarus (a person that the audience of that day may have been well aware of) and the rich Jew.

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;   (23)  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
(Luke 16:22-23 KJV)

Hell, as used here, is hades, the place of the dead. To the Jews, the idea that a rich man would go to hell is unacceptable; now, the beggar, maybe. But they also had the understanding that heaven initiated with Abraham’s bosom.

Now, what am I to make of a statement that tells me that the dead lie in a condition of inactivity after what Jesus told us about Lazarus and the rich man?

A piece of substantiating evidence comes from King David. I am using the Amplified, in this case, as it typically has other defining terms or words.

– “Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, or disappointed, for I am calling upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the place of the dead).”
(Psalms 31:17 AMP)

First, an awareness that this was written in Hebrew, which used Sheol instead of Hades, which means the same thing, to define where David wishes these people would go.

The writer of Ecclesiastes 9:5 gives us a clue.

– “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;..” (CJB)

To know is to have comprehension, care, or recognition. But the Hebrew word me‘ûmâh, meaning nothing, puts the entire thought into the negative and implies that they do not know a speck of anything.

Another passage that affirms the prophetic qualities of Ecclesiastes comes from Job.

  • Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.” (Job 30:23 BSB)

The general idea, it would seem, is that this is the earth as we return to dust; and yet, Job refers to them as living.

  • He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
    (    Luke 20:38 BSB)

At least, we can agree that there is an appointed collection place for the dead, and, since we should understand that the spirit or soul never dies, then even in hades, Sheol, or hell, depending on your preferred language and Bible translation, your soul lives on forever. Now, if you are a part of the body of Christ, then it’s an entirely different matter, as, upon your graduation from this earth, you are in the presence of Jesus.

“having courage, then, at all times, and knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the LORD— for we walk through faith, not through sight— we have courage, and are well pleased, rather, to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the LORD.”
(2 Corinthians 5:6-8 LSV)

Posted in Beast, bible study, death, false prophet, Hell, hell, Job, judgment, keys, lake of fire, living, living, Revelation, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

She ran back to the bar and the horrid life she left behind. Yes, there are many things in The Chosen, that are not spelled out in scripture.

Posted on 03/22/2023 by remso

This morning, 03/16/23, as usual, I met with the guys from church. As a group, we watch The Chosen and comment on what we notice and how it affects us. No one has much to say, so I do most of the talking. A brother I consider a friend always asks me if I am done; I tell him I am never done, but occasionally I have to stop.

This day’s episode focused almost entirely on preparing and planning for the sermon on the mount. When it ended, and the television was shut off, there was, once again, dead silence. Typically, I can’t handle the silence, and we generally only have about ten minutes to say anything.

This particular morning, a brother who, because he co-leads with our leader in a marriage class at night, rang out with, “I am sorry, but I don’t see anywhere in scripture where we see the disciples going around putting up placards and inviting the public to a big evangelistic rally on the hill; nor do we see Jesus having to prepare and practice “the sermon on the mount.”

I agreed with him. It is not in scripture, but we have been through discussions like this on multiple occasions, as we have gone through several seasons of The Chosen leading up to this point.

The reality is there are many things in “The Chosen” that we don’t see in scripture, but does that mean they didn’t happen?

Some things in scripture are well defined, but there are others that we can’t immediately substantiate, one way or the other. One example of this is found in Genesis 4, where Cain murders his brother and then bemoans that “My iniquity is too great to bear.” Cain then says people will kill him.

How is that possible when we will fight to say that, at this point in the “chronological timeline,” there are only three people on the earth?

As you can see, there are no straightforward, scriptural answers as to why Cain has an understanding that people would kill him. Perhaps a portion of the answer lies in the Apostle John’s gospel.

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25 KJV)

So, what do we do with unverifiable information, occurrences, or settings?

We need to ask, does it diminish the ministry of God or Jesus, and, therefore, demand that we call all of it false teaching and throw it out?

Not necessarily.

One of the scenes that caught the attention of a member of our group that morning was the character Mary (of Magdalena), who, as they were sitting in a tent, was actively teaching another female how to read and write Hebrew. (We have nothing in scripture that tells us that.) At one point, Mary quotes a passage to assist the young lady’s understanding, to which she responds, how did you memorize that? The assumption that we are left to make is that she, now living in the encampment with Mary, sees that Mary is busy doing other things, as she is, and cannot figure out where Mary finds the time.

Mary’s response to this young lady went something like this, “I was going to commit suicide when Jesus found me; having failed Him once already, I never want to go back there again. So, rehearsing and quoting scripture keeps my mind off those things and places that can trap me.”

In a previous episode, Mary was so an emotionally shaken because of a traumatic event with a demoniac in the camp that she ran back to the bar and the horrid life she left behind. Jesus sent Peter and Matthew to go and retrieve her.

I think we all agreed that rehearsing scriptures that bring us life is an outstanding and scriptural idea, a motivation that I think Dallas, the producer/director, intended.

The Apostle Paul speaks to the idea of keeping your mind focused on Godly things.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any virtue and if there is anything worthy of praise—dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 TLV)

At this point, I said, I HATE telling you guys this, but the enemy has been tormenting my mind for the last couple of days. As a side note, several years ago, I heard the Holy Spirit telling me to speak out and be honest, as we men have this nasty tendency to say, while the screwdriver is protruding out of your rib cage, “that don’t hurt.” Oh yes, it does, and nothing is served by you living a lie. Sometimes the screwdriver protrudes from your marriage or your lack of relationship with your children. It hurts, and my calling, alongside teaching, is to point that out by using myself as an example.

Yes, I frequently get mocked and rebuffed, especially by those who love the lie.

My “bad week” started with looking at high school reunion pictures online, reminding me of how shy, quiet, and naive I was in high school. Thank God I am not that person now, but seeing people who knew me like that was torture. That was day one; day two involved some fool that could not wait behind a car in the busy Sam’s club parking lot as I tried to lead my disabled wife and disabled grandson back to the car. I thought the driver was going to run the three of us over, and none of us could jump out of the way fast enough. You got it; I did not talk like much of a Christian at that moment.

As I drove the grandson back to his home, I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to me because He reminded me, like Mary, to focus on the good things. We should all see the purpose and benefit of rehearsing what God says about us. So again I go to Paul.

But the fruit of the Ruach is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—against such things, there is no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23 TLV)

I mentioned to the men that seeing Judas come into the scene in The Chosen is the thing that gave me that punched-in-the-gut feeling. I found myself looking at his smiling face on the screen and thinking, I know what you will do.

Many would think that Jesus knew what Judas would do; if He did, it would have to be because the Father had told Him in at least one of His prayer times.

Because of the foolish misconceptions we have about Jesus, I think we believe that God merely downloaded all that heavenly information into His head and heart, and, therefore, Jesus knew all things. That would be great, except that it severely diminishes the fact that He had to:

  • Lower Himself and become a man.
  • Be the Son of God and yet be retrained.
  • Be punished by death to pay the price for our salvation and freedom. 

“Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,” (Hebrews 2:14 BSB)

He became human, and He is still human today. This download idea would have given Jesus an advantage and undermined God’s legal system, which Satan was using against Him. But, nope, He could not go that route.

“Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
(Hebrews 2:17-18 NASB)

If you think Jesus was skillful with the Word and walked in constant communion with the Father as Enoch did, then you would be correct, but He did it as a man, just like you and I. The only advantage Jesus had that we cannot have, is that He did not have the same damaged genetics that drives us to sin. Was He capable of sin, yes, but He was NOT driven to sin.

You would think it was a great morning, but it wasn’t over yet.

I cannot remember how we got to this point, but something got said about hell. I know many who think God has already thrown people into hell, but that has NOT happened yet, and, in general, it will NOT happen until the great throne event at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ. So, at least for now, I can exclude Judas, who hung himself from hell.

Some are too quick to say he committed suicide and was immediately sent to hell, no questions asked. Having done a character study on Judas, the problem I have with a “theology” like this, which sends people immediately to hell, is that I can see that he did repent and acknowledged his wrongdoing. This not-so-brief premise was not meant to discuss Judas’s fate, so I will pull the plug on this path quickly. Still, far too many of us have a traditional religious standard for repentance, almost to the point of putting Jesus back on the cross or getting baptized all over again. It seems that this is what we demand of people. The thief on the cross did not have much time, but he did something comparable to Judas; we give the thief grace merely because Jesus was involved. 

So a common problem I see is that some of us believe we have been appointed judges and have the right to send people to hell. The fact that all sin was forgiven on the cross should shut many mouths or at least change their condemning hearts. But, unfortunately, I just stated what far too many of us are willing to do, especially when this job of judging is for Jesus alone. 

Wow, is that in the Bible?

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wants. The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:21-22 TLV)

There are two outstanding aspects of these passages. First, here is one you may have yet to notice. So, not only does the Son do all the judging, but He gives life “to whomever He wants,” and He is NOT asking your permission to whom He can give life. One more thing I see here, there are NO limitations on whom the Son can give this life to. 

Are you kidding me; Jesus can give life to anyone? 

Yes, and in Matthew 25, you see just that at the sheep and goat judgment. So, much to your dismay, He may have freed Judas because it is His nature.

In my comments to the small group, I added, what do you do with the fact that Jesus, at His death, went to hell, preached to the captives, and led many free.

With that, I shut up.

It only took a few seconds for the co-leader to come up with an angry retort.

He looked at me and said, Jesus, did NOT go into hell! After several seconds of glaring, he added it was the place of the dead.

Quickly the Holy Spirit pointed out to me that I am one who tells people that no one is in hell yet. I mentally had to agree that there was some logic to what he said, but I was not able to respond as yet.

I hate being wrong and had, just the previous day, told my wife that I know what I am talking about, so I simply responded to his angry assertion with, okay. This is what I say when I will study this once again and get back to you.

I pulled out my phone, and the first thing I came to was Revelation 1:18. The King James Version reads like this:

“I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Well, look at that, there is that word hell, and how did Jesus get those keys?

But I am an advocate of checking the origins of every simple word.

Why, you ask?

Because the King James version was a rewrite ordered by the state church of England. This rewrite was done in opposition to people leaving the Catholic church and going to Protestantism. Prior to that, those that could afford it had the same Bible that the pilgrims used in Plymouth Rock, the Geneva Bible, and they had the Geneva Bible for over 100 years before the King James version.

So hell is actually the Greek word hadēs and means the abode of departed spirits. Since the KJV was the standard Bible for the longest time, then hell would have been the common assertion and expected answer. Because we, as the church in general, DO NOT READ our Bibles, then we would probably not know the origin of the word hell, which we just discussed to be hades, the place of the dead.

I think many of us believe that the lake of fire is hell, but we do not allow for an abode of departed spirits. A common word picture comes from Revelation 19:20.

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” (Revelation 19:20 KJV)

The final scene is found in Revelation 20.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
(Revelation 20:13-15 KJV)

Something notable in Revelation 20:13-15, death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. Once again, we are constrained to use the word hell, which is Greek the word hades, the place of the dead. Is it any wonder that we call this place of the dead hell? So at some point, death and the place of the dead will cease to exist.

In The Chosen, there is a discussion between Jesus and Matthew about the substance of “the sermon on the mount.” Matthew humorously elaborates on this portion by adding you would have a city full of people with only one eye.

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-29 KJV)

The point here is not the eye but things that we cannot validate from scripture. In this case, the conversation leaned toward potentially being sent to hell over poor decisions. Hell, in this case, is NOT hades but a reference to Gehenna, the place of perpetual burning or the lake of fire.

In all honesty, I find it rather cruel to expect people to juggle which word they should use in front of certain people.

A piece of information to help confuse you about hell is the narrative about the beggar Lazarus (a person that the audience of that day may have been well aware of) and the rich Jew.

Luke 16:22-23 KJV  “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;  (23)  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”

Hell, as used here, is hades, the place of the dead. To the Jews, the idea that a rich man would go to hell is unacceptable; now, the beggar, maybe. But they also had the understanding that heaven initiated with Abraham’s bosom, and yet, there is our rich man, in torment, which we seem to associate with hell.

The Companion Bible, by (E. W. Bullinger), tells us, “The Pharisees taught that there were three sets of angels for wicked men; and others for good men.”

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says what several others say, “The Jews held the opinion that the spirits of the righteous were conveyed by angels to heaven at their death.”

An interesting point, but why show a preference for the rich? Because they had money, and everyone knows that God holds “His” people in high regard and, therefore, blesses them ( I am being facetious.) Obviously, this rich man missed the mark.

Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments elaborates on the so-called benefits of wealth that the Jews believed. “into Abraham’s bosom — So the Jews styled paradise; the place or state where the souls of good men remain from death to the resurrection. The expression alludes to the way of representing the felicities of heaven by sharing a magnificent banquet with Abraham and the other patriarchs;”

Historical evidence informs us that a pauper like Lazarus would have been thrown, without ceremony, into the Valley of Gehenna, where the trash always burns. There is no reason to think that this poor man was treated any differently. There is, however, thanks to Jesus, evidence that tells us angels carried Lazarus into the arms of Abraham, a treatment that was thought to be reserved for the righteous, something Lazarus was not seen as, primarily because of his financial condition, one that did not allow for frequent bathing and fine clothes.

Now, what am I to make of a statement that tells me that the dead lie in a condition of inactivity after what Jesus told us about Lazarus and the rich man?

A piece of substantiating evidence comes from King David. I am using the Amplified, in this case, as it typically has other defining terms or words.

“Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, or disappointed, for I am calling upon You; let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol (the place of the dead).”
(Psalms 31:17 AMP)

First, an awareness that this was written in Hebrew, which used Sheol instead of Hades, which means the same thing, to define where David wishes these people would go.

The writer of Ecclesiastes 9:5 gives us a clue.

“For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;..” (CJB)

To know is to have comprehension, care, or recognition. But the Hebrew word me‘ûmâh, meaning nothing, puts the entire thought into the negative and implies that they do not know a speck of anything.

Another passage that affirms the prophetic qualities of Ecclesiastes comes from Job.

“Yes, I know that You will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.” (Job 30:23 BSB)

The general idea, it would seem, is that this place Job is speaking of is little more than the earth, as we are to return to dust. Notice how Job refers to them as living. Because of conversations I have had, someone will say, see, there are two places in hades; one for the dead and one for those who are still alive in their spirits. Can’t you see how illogical a theory like this is? To enforce this thought look at Luke 20:38.

“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive.”
(Luke 20:38 BSB)

At least, we can agree that there is an appointed collection place for the dead, and, since we should understand that the spirit or soul never dies, then even in hades, Sheol, or hell, depending on your preferred language and Bible translation, your soul lives on forever. Now, if you are a part of the body of Christ, then it’s an entirely different matter, as, upon your graduation from this earth, you are in the presence of Jesus.

“having courage, then, at all times, and knowing that being at home in the body, we are away from home from the LORD— for we walk through faith, not through sight— we have courage, and are well pleased, rather, to be away from the home of the body, and to be at home with the LORD.”
(2 Corinthians 5:6-8 LSV)

If our atoms separate as they return to dust, then what’s left to stand before that great white throne?

Well, that’s a great question, and the answer lies in the idea that the spirit never dies. No, I can’t tell you which atom it attaches to; this truly applies to the sailors in WW2, who, under radio silence, had to jump off a sinking, burning ship into shark-infested waters; their atoms got scattered all over the ocean as the currents carried the shark feces. Nothing is impossible with God, and He can handle the problem.

There is NO DOUBT in my mind that there is a place for the dead, but even that will come to an end.

Where else would all these people that we see in Revelation 20 come from?

“I saw the dead, both important and unimportant people, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened, including the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what they had done, as recorded in the books.” (Revelation 20:12 GW)

Keep something in mind; they missed the catching away of the church, the rapture for those unaware. So these have NO association, so to speak, with the church. I was taught that missing the rapture and choosing not to accept Christ during the seven years of wrath leaves you hopeless. But what do we see in the passages above? Books being opened. If those books were knowingly opened and offered no help, then this is just a cruel joke. God should simply send them to the lake of fire – hell and be done with it. If you have any grasp of who God is, then you know that this train of thought does not match His character. I can see this because I understand that God knows the end from the beginning and, therefore, knows whose names are in these books already.

If this is comparable to Matthew 25 and the sheep and goat judgment, then you must be aware that all these same people are called “the nations,” as they are all alive. 

There is no distinction between the dead of Revelation 20 and the nations of Matthew 25.

Right now (03/18/2023), I am still here on earth. But, unfortunately, the church has not been caught up as yet; and my understanding of Biblical terminology has me thinking about the three people groups of the Bible: the Jews; the nations; and the church. 

When the church is gone, and it may include many Jews, who is left? 

The Jews and the nations. 

Since the dead in Christ will rise in the “rapture,” who are these dead people? 

There will be some from the Jewish side of the house, and the rest will fall under the category of the nations.

As I type this, I can hear the confused questions. But what about …?

Think of it like cars; some are considered crossovers. If a Jew accepts Yeshua, then they are followers of Christ the Messiah and part of the church. The same logic applies to those from the nations. If the narrative of the ten virgins who were called by invitation to the wedding applies, then 50% do not make it into the wedding. There are many reasons for their exclusion, and most of those exclusions have to do with not caring or being lax in their preparations. As I spend more time listening to people talk about the rapture, I have come to understand that those who have been called and responded will get in. All have been called, but few have responded.

Posted in bible study, dead, death, demons, Hades, Hell, hell, Mary, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Story” Chapter 1, Genesis four, from Adam to Noah. Edit and repost.

Posted on 03/20/2023 by remso

When I made the first post in 2014, I did it under protest. Having had experience with Pastor Rick Warren and his 40 days of purpose books, I wanted nothing to do with this, and the small men’s Bible study we had was already going through the gospel of John. Our beloved and fairly new pastor decided it was to be campus-wide and mandatory. I have not been part of that church for a long time.  I found The Story to be pathetically lacking and chose to pursue the details we find in scripture instead. That tended to make my first post rather lengthy, 18 pages worth. I am, all these years later, reposting it in segments and running my grammar checker on it.

Genesis 4

The offering of Cain and Abel

The bottom line, Cain, in a jealous rage, kills his brother Abel.

God has not turned his back on the man in a rage as we all expect, and so once again, God shows up. We do not know what that looked like. I understand as we make assumptions, and one we do not make very often is that even here, it is Jesus talking with Cain. If God’s character remains the same, then his actions should be consistent as well.

As I understand it, the Jewish basis of prophecy lies in repeated patterns. For something to dominate their mind as prophetic, it must have been repeated in scripture.

So do we find Jesus throughout the Old Testament?

At virtually every turn, He (Jesus) is there and is referred to on many occasions as the angel of the Lord, but why is that important? God made it very plain to Moses that man (in his broken state, could not look upon God), so if God could be looked upon in the future, why is it He can be seen by these fallen men?

We are looking for consistency.

Before the fall, humanity was the direct image of God, practically His shadow. A shadow can demonstrate the form but not the precise detail of the person, and I see no reason why Adam and Eve could not have continued to walk in a personal relationship with God.

At this point, some will tell you that they are hopelessly embroiled in sin, but you are ignoring that God himself slaughtered enough animals to make an instructed sacrifice, including the reasons why. The logic behind this is about to be covered, so keep reading. There is no reason to believe that this was not Jesus with them at this point, either. In other words, since Jesus was God, He may well have been here in the garden as well.

There are always repercussions for taking liberties

If I jump several thousand years ahead, to the point where Jesus has given his life for us, we come to the realization that the payment of death, demanded for the sin that we all inherited, is done away with.

My belief in Jesus Christ’s full payment on my behalf and acceptance of his sacrifice makes me free from the bondage of that death.

However, there are always repercussions for taking liberties, and that is what we see with Cain.

How does God handle this murder?

He shows Cain an amazing amount of mercy. Even before Cain murders his brother, God seeing his internal struggle with jealousy, has a talk with him.

Genesis 4:3-7 TLV  “So it happened after some time that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Adonai,  (4)  while Abel—he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Now Adonai looked favorably upon Abel and his offering,  (5)  but upon Cain and his offering He did not look favorably. Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.  (6)  Then Adonai said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  (7)  If you do well, it will lift. But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

There is much that happens in the background of these first four chapters, and they are not spelled out in scripture. Contrast this with God’s background activity in the life of Esther and Mordechai, and you will see what I mean. You could not ask these questions of your own sons if you had not made it clear what was expected of them. Since Adam had been deemed to have dominance over the earth, he was still the relaying body of information to his sons. Come on now, use some logic. God showed Adam how to make a sacrifice for sins, and Adam showed his sons.

Cain murders his brother Abel

Genesis 4:8-10 TLV  “Cain spoke to Abel, his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.  (9)  Then Adonai said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” “I don’t know,” he said. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  (10)  Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.”

Still, we anticipate God striking the man dead, but he does not. Abel is dead, and God approaches Cain once again, and like Adam, God asks, “Where is your brother Abel?” It is not a question of God not knowing. He knows exactly where Abel is. Perhaps he wants us to come clean, and that is more than likely what we are seeing come from the Apostle John when he writes:

If we say openly that we have done wrong, he is upright and true to his word, giving us forgiveness of sins and making us clean from all evil. (1 John 1:9 BBE)

However, Cain would not do that.

As I said before, there are repercussions for your actions.

The curse of Cain

Genesis 4:11-13 TLV  “So now, cursed are you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  (12)  As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crops to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”  (13)  Cain said to Adonai, “My iniquity is too great to bear!”

This is where it gets a little weird, but again, there are no straightforward answers as to why Cain has an understanding that people would kill him unless he is aware that this level of activity is all ready going on out there. A filter that almost all of us apply is that we are looking at a tight chronological timeline that starts after sin in the garden. The problem with that thinking is that time began outside the garden and sin.

Once again, God shows mercy and love for those made in his image, and so He marks Cain in an effort to divert (these unexplainable, according to tradition) people from killing him.

While you might think that Cain’s lineage is over, however, through a couple of them, like Jubal, we have metal work, instruments of music, and Jabal, the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. While that may seem innocent enough, it is also the foundation for an evil, violent world that has no relationship with God.

The closest thing God has to his original creation is Adam and Eve, not that it matters now, for everything is broken, but there is a distinct difference, for it seems they are the only ones left that understand what it means to commune with God.

The birth of Seth

“Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and she named him Seth, “For God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel—since Cain killed him.” To Seth, also was born a son. He named him Enosh. Then people began to call on Adonai’s Name.” (Genesis 4:25-26 TLV)

Two things that jump out here, Adam and Eve have had another son, he becomes the lineage that brings about Jesus, and after Seth has his own son Enosh, men begin to call upon the LORD. You would think that at least three people might have been doing that already. This has huge implications because we have so much activity going on in the background, and apparently, none of these people have been acknowledging God.

If you look the name Enosh up, you might not think it unusual:

‘ĕnôsh The same as H582; Enosh, a son of Seth: – Enos. However, pursue it further and it defines Enosh with a little more detail: properly a mortal (and thus differing from the more dignified ‘âdâm ruddy, that is, a human being)

So Enosh marks a transition from God’s original creation, ADAM, to what is now defined as a mere mortal. This is another huge clue as to what is going on in the background.

Posted in Adam, bible study, character study, condemnation, dead, death, Genesis, guilt, Jesus, judgment, marked, punishment, sacrifices, Satan, sealed, the blood, the commandment of God, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gathering all the chief priests and elders he inquired about this king of the Jews. Matthew 2: 1-12.

Posted on 03/11/2023 by remso

If you were hoping for a continued foray into the book of Romans, I must apologize because I am an obsessive multitasker. I had been feeling like I needed to do as I started almost twenty years ago, to read through the New Testament slowly while writing down my thoughts and questions as I went. I really did not want to disrupt your lives if you should be meticulously following me, but since everything in scripture is connected, just as the “New Testament” could NOT exist without the supporting words found in the Old. To my Jewish friends (I wish,) the Torah and Tenach. So it should all be good.

I also know that what I write includes so much of my heart and a strong disgust for religious zealots who add to the law, distort it, and impose their traditional teachings, merely because that is the way we have always taught some portion of scripture. Sadly, this is how I was taught and why I write, so that you and I can hopefully see the truth.

On a humorous note, there is an old story where on a particular family holiday, one of the younger daughters, helping in the kitchen, asked the great-grandmother why they cut the ends off the roast before putting it in the oven? The reply changed everything that day as great-grandmother replied, I did it because my oven was too small. I will leave you to think about that.

 The next thing we encounter in Matthew’s gospel is,

The Visit of the Wise Men

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2 NASB)

Magi, what did they want and why were they demanding answers from Herod?

One brother in Christ, who is very skillful in the Word of God, explained that one of the roles of the Magi was to be kingdom changers, (Consider that this knowledgeable man had to look at other information, not contained within the pages of the Bible to make his valid assertion. I only point this out because a “brother in Christ” verbally lashed out at me, saying I do not believe that we should use extra-biblical texts and information to form our thoughts about God and scripture.) The Magi were the group of men that Daniel, as a young man, had been assigned to and eventually became the head of, while remaining a captive in Babylon.

Seeing the size of the entourage and perceiving a threat to his power, Herod went into panic mode and called the chief priests and elders before him to tell him what they knew about this situation.

“When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.” (Matthew 2:3-4 NASB)

“When Herod the king heard this.”

What did he hear?

“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Since when has the Middle East changed so that you can merely gather up a large, armed crowd and go rolling up to another kingdom’s gates unannounced and immediately expect an audience with a king known to live in fear? It hasn’t, and so I don’t expect that was the case here, but the word was received and taken to the king. 

Now, what does the fearful man, Herod, do? 

He consults the people who most likely know the answer, the Jews, as they should know the prophecy.

All prophecy, like a criminal court case, must have two or three witnesses, one of those witnesses is found in the Book of Daniel. It is not likely that Herod, being a half-Jew, would have studied Daniel chapter seven, as it plays a significant role in testifying to what the angel declared to Mary as he explained the function of the child that she carried.

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have” no end.” (Luke 1:32-33 NASB)

So, no, Herod would not know these words that we see in Luke’s gospel, as they were written long after Herod’s death, and that makes his fear and the lack of reaction by the elders even more peculiar.

The Magi, on the other hand, may have read Daniel’s words with intensity.

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away, And His kingdom is one Which will not be” destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14 NASB)

The reply of the elders is alarming to me.

“So they, “told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5-6 TLV)

They knew the answer to the question, but do we have any record that they went there and bowed before this new king?

Not at all. Herod responds to this by double-checking. Perhaps because even Herod could see that these magi are taking this king being born seriously and he calls them in to speak with them.

“Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem “and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child. And when you have found Him, bring word back to me so that I may come and worship Him” as well.” (Matthew 2:7-8 TLV)

With terminology such as “determined from them the exact time,” Herod now has a ballpark idea of how old this new king is; and nothing will happen until they come back to Herod and give him the word of exactly where to find the child. Watch what the magi do.

“After listening to the king, they went their way. And behold, the star they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with” great gladness.” (Matthew 2:9-10 TLV)

These magi had not yet found the child but they will. They will not go back for the child’s protection. Notice where the family is now living.

“And when they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Miriam; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:11-12 TLV)

Never once do you see the number three, what you do see are three specific names: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A key word here is treasures, as the quantity may have been great and enough to sustain the family for several years. We, because of the age bracket that Herod ordered killed, would logically assume the age of Yeshua to be about two as they take off to the safety of Egypt.

“Now when they had gone (the magi), behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in a dream (so he has had a couple of these over the last few years), saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of Adonai appears to Joseph in“a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child, to kill Him.” So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night, and went to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death. This was to fulfill what was spoken by Adonai through the“prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My son.” Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became furious. And he sent and killed all boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding area, from two years old and under, according to the time he had determined from the magi.” (Matthew 2:13-16 TLV)

Astronomy.com tells us that “On the morning of August 12 in 3 B.C ., Jupiter and Venus would’ve sat just 1/10th a degree apart in the dawn sky. That’s one-fifth the diameter of the Full Moon. (The December 2020 conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn will have an identical separation, albeit in the evening sky.) That wasn’t the end of the show, either. Venus and Jupiter continued their dance over most of the next year before finally appearing to merge into a single star in June.”

So approximately August of C.5 Christ was born.? (I am still not clear. If time is based on this dramatic change called Jesus birth, all I wanted or needed was a solid time frame that I could start with. If this is based upon Christ, it would seem that this timeline information puts the starting point at five months. An obvious fact is that He was NOT born at six months old, we also know that the shepherds were with their flocks, and that tends to put His birth far enough into the season for shepherds to be working the flocks comfortably in the hillsides.) At the age of two, his family takes him to Egypt to protect him. History, (and I must admit this is rather sketchy), records that Herod died around April 4 B.C., therefore it would seem that the family was only in Egypt for slightly over a year. The presumption then is that Jesus was brought back to Nazareth when He was four or five.

Why is this information important?

First, this has never been clear in my head, and that may be because no one ever talked about it. Secondly, questions occasionally arise about Jesus from toddler to maturity, which in the Jewish culture seems to be about age 13, a time when the sons are required to step up and learn their father’s trade. Three, I made the mistake of reading Kahlil Gibran’s book Jesus the son of Man. The title alone should tell you something about the lack of understanding and possible disrespect the man had for Jesus. A point that Mr. Gibran tried to make was that Jesus may have been a malicious brat, as he allegedly injured animals and then healed them. Sorry, but that did not sound right then nor does it sound right now. 

After the incident where the family, while in Jerusalem, had to go looking for Jesus, a 12-year-old child, they found Him in the temple where He had been for two days discussing the scriptures with the Jewish leaders. Remember, all they had were the law and the prophets, and they were precious and expensive scrolls, that only the richest of synagogues had copies. So learning the scriptures was almost exclusively through repetitious hearing.

A problem with this entire process. If your child had a disability would you focus on that, merely enabling that they lean upon that disability, or would you focus on their ability? In Jesus’ case, He, by those who knew about His birth, would have been called a mumzer – an illegitimate child; and those same people had a long history, based on the law, that allowed them to treat a child like this poorly. As far as I can see, Jesus, had He been known, would have been violently expelled from the temple. An answer to this lies in the outer courts of the temple, as these were accessible to even the gentiles.

The final thought on this tells us that after His parents found Him, and I am sure expressed their displeasure at Him being lost, is that Jesus submitted Himself wholly to their wishes until He was old enough, able to take care of Himself and act on His own accord. I am thinking now of Mary. As the eldest son Jesus would have probably been the one to care for her after Joseph died. Keep in mind that Mary continued to have other children and several of them, including sisters, may have taken that role.

We, don’t see support from the other family members, nor do we hear anything about siblings until the day that they came to restrain Him – so to speak.

“When His family heard about this, they went out to take hold of Him; for they were saying, “He’s out of His mind!” (Mark 3:21 TLV)

He conflicted with the 600+, additional Jewish laws, but He was amazingly kind to the down and out while excoriating the scribes and the“Pharisees.

“Then His mother and brothers come. Standing outside, they sent word to Him, summoning Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they tell Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking at those sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”  (Mark 3:31-35 TLV)

If Mary (Miriam) had not been the surrogate mother of Jesus we would probably never hear of her either.

I decided to post this, even though it is not, in my mind, done. 

I do not elaborate on this merely to convince you to think negatively about Jesus, just the opposite is true. If you happen to be one that thinks that every God aspect was little more than some high-speed download, I think that is illogical and works in opposition to His mission here on earth. Remember, He came as man and defeated Satan, as a human.

We have learned that Joseph, “his father,” was a righteous man, some translations refer to Joseph as a good man. To be deemed a righteous man indicates that he was known among the synagogue crowd, as one that took notes (just kidding) and paid attention. Because of this he fastidiously practiced the scriptures with Jesus. 

So, how did Jesus become so knowledgeable? 

Joseph, his foster father. Let that sink in. 

If you do not know my Jesus He is as close as your breath. Merely submit yourself to the greater power and ask Him into your life, then watch the changes begin to happen because the Holy Spirit has now entered, permanently, and will begin teaching you all things and showing you things to come. 

If the rapture has come, there is no denying when that happened. (Yes, I know that the government has put it off on aliens taking the “bad” Christians off the earth.) 

If the church is gone all hell will begin to break loose. 

Constant rioting in the streets and death will come from multiple directions. Those you thought would be on your side and protect you, will be trying to kill you. Injections will be mandated that are intended to kill you. Efforts to monitor your every move will be demanded. The earth and the water supplies will be poisoned. The oceans will be filled with death. Commerce will come to a halt. The economies will become digital and tightly controlled, but will all, in a matter of time, will collapse. This time on earth, as seen in Revelation six and beyond, will include God’s anger against unbelieving humanity and the Jews who rejected God. 

Within days of the Church being removed the antichrist persona will come to the forefront. If you have access to a Bible (it will be a forbidden book,) you can read about the emergence of the antichrist.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and (then) that that man of sin be disclosed, even the son of perdition,”                     (2 Thessalonians 2:3 Geneva)

Yes, I Americanized the old 15th-century wording, and yes, most translations use the phrase falling away. Just this morning, 3/11/23, I saw that the Church of England is now teaching four-year-old children, in their Sunday school class, about transitioning and perverted sex education. Try to convince me that we, the church, have not fallen over the cliff already. 

There is only one hope; it is Jesus, and if nothing else, make your life with Him personal. 

Trust me, once He touches your heart you will want to tell someone about Him.

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Its power touches only the living. Romans 7:4.

Posted on 03/03/2023 by remso

I am looking at Romans 8, but Pastor Jack Hibbs pointed out that the context begins in chapter seven, and, therefore, I am starting here in Romans 7.

But first, a notation. 

Paul, immediately, in Romans 7:1, tells us,  

“You shouldn’t have any trouble understanding this, friends, for you know all the ins and outs of the law – and how its power touches only the living.” [The Message]

Why would he be comfortable saying such a thing? After all, we religious think the entirety of the NT was written to Gentiles. 

That is the problem, as these letters that became books were not written exclusively to Gentiles but to Jews. We Gentiles only gain an inroad through adoption. And in case you are new to adoption, you probably, and correctly picked up on the fact that as someone new to the family, you do NOT have the freedom or all the insights necessary to play the sarcasm game, as so many around you may be playing, merely because it’s fun to them. 

With a stepson, which I loved dearly, there was a time I picked him up from church. The problem, many of those young boys had seen me as a single guy and did not, by habit, respect my authority or position with my stepson. One of the boys declared, I am riding shotgun, which means up front in the passenger seat. My stepson climbed into the back middle where the uncomfortable hump was. Once they were dropped off and he climbed back into the shotgun position, I let him know that as far as anyone was concerned, he was my son, and the shotgun position was always his, but he could temporarily give it up if he wanted to. He smiled and said he was good. 

Did you catch what happened there? 

God has done the same thing for us. As a follower of Christ, the rights of sonship are always and entirely ours. Of course, if we choose, we can relinquish some of our rights, but once our relationship became established, it was NEVER meant to change. 

Regrettably, we give up our rights for various reasons and never take them back. These are the times when we because we are ashamed, think that God no longer loves us when the reality is that we are the ones who have created the rift between the Father and us.

Paul relates how locked in we were to our marriage contract, where the bond was only supposed to be breakable by death.

“For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law—so she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.”
(Romans 7:2-3 TLV)

Because we are in Christ, who died and took the bondage of that law with Him to the cross, we, too, have died to the laws of Moses and are no longer subject to the demands of death.

“In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses’ Teachings through Christ’s body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life. As a result, we can do what God wants.”
(Romans 7:4 GW)

Having been involved with what a brother-in-Christ called his man cave. I learned there that “Christian” freedom from the law allows us to offend any and all with our swearing.

Sorry, but that is NOT the case because the Holy Spirit restrains us through the law written upon our hearts.

The Amplified Bible translates verse four in this manner.

“Likewise, my brethren, you have undergone death as to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that now you may belong to Another, to Him Who was raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.” (AMP) 

Read like this; it is a monumental, life-changing statement. So let’s break it down.

  • You have undergone death.

    But death to what?

  • The Law.

    The law, where all ten commandments, boiled down to loving God and ceasing to be selfish.

  • Because you are in Christ and died with Him, you have been released from the demands of death associated with the law.

    This is possible because we are the body of Christ.

  • Consider this, dead men can’t sin.

    By human understanding, since we have died, there is absolutely no way to make us pay for past sins.

  • But we have two problems that we, on our own, cannot solve.

First, only our flesh dies. So, though humanity can no longer extract payment for wrongs done by dead people, the spirit lives on forever, and Satan’s demons, like relentless bounty hunters, stay in pursuit thanks to Adam’s treasonous act in the garden, an action that gave Satan dominion over us and the right to punish/torture the human spirit eternally. 

Wow, that sounds hopeless, and it would be if Jesus had not gone to the cross on our behalf.

A moment of truth. I have been playing a game called “Red Dead Redemption.” You are periodically called on to rescue the passengers and/or the driver of a stagecoach from robbers. The problem is that you cannot tell who will kill you from a safe distance as you ride in danger close. For me, the most uncomplicated resolve is to shoot everything and hope for the best. 

More often than not, that technique does not work out well, and I become a wanted man with a monetary bounty posted for capturing or killing me. Next is a series of attacks from three or more cowboys, riding wildly and shooting at me. If they kill me, it’s just a game, and I am restored to life in a couple of minutes, but I restart from the last point of sanity, free from debts and penalties.

The second problem is not that Jesus went to the cross and died, bringing about a blanket of forgiveness for not just you but all of humanity. The problem is that this act merely made forgiveness available; you must take the next step by accepting that He died for you and then receive Him as part of your life.

Why should that be a problem?

That forgiveness covered the debt that is part of the law that God set forth, including death for those who did not obey the law. However, God knew we couldn’t pay the price demanded; that is why God’s wrath was placed upon the Son.

God, because of the actions of His Son, will NOT judge anyone for their sins.

Okay, but we get blasted constantly about judgment as we will stand before the Bema seat of Christ.

“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you too, why do you look down on your brother? For we all will stand before the judgment seat of God.”
(Romans 14:10 TLV)

The phrase judgment seat is the Greek word bēma said twice. It means a raised step, much like we see in the Olympics when they pass out the trophies for achievement. It also carries the connotation of a place where the judges sit.

Revelation 20:12 conveys the idea that we will be rewarded for the deeds which we have done. I am not a good gambler and generally do not see the odds as being in my favor; therefore, it is best for me to accept Jesus Christ as my savior; this is my assurance of a place with the Father in heaven.

Matthew 25 shows the dead (although it tells us that the nations are called to the throne) before the great throne, where Christ sits as the great shepherd.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all his angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. The people of every nation will be gathered in front of him. He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. “
(Matthew 25:31-32 GW)

He comes in His glory, and all the angels are with Him.

We like to say there are only two comings of the Lord. One would be when he comes back for His church in the clouds.

“For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB)

He does not, at this point, come down to touch the earth, and there is no immediate reference to a white or glorious throne. It is highly probable that this is where the bema judgment comes into play. Almost as if it is a private matter, where you are called into the manager’s office for whatever reason.

Ignoring the fact that He already came to earth once, as a human having been born. The next time He physically comes here will be with vengeance. Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; and Revelation 1:7 all speak of Him coming on the clouds with all the saints and angels.

“But keeping silent, Yeshua did not answer. Again the kohen gadol questioned Him, “Are you Mashiach, Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Yeshua, “and you shall see ‘the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Powerful One’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’!”
(Mark 14:61-62 TLV)

There is solid, circumstantial evidence that Jesus will physically return to earth.

“Then Adonai will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a huge valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south.”
(Zechariah 14:3-4 TLV)

Alright, when does this happen?

Seven years after, the church, which we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, is removed from the earth.

A disturbing but dramatic piece of evidence tells us that Israel, through the seven years, will suffer tremendous attacks. Only a third will survive.

Then it will happen—it is a declaration of Adonai—that in the entire land, two-thirds will be cut off and die, but a third will be left in it. This third I will bring through the fire. I will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will answer, ‘Adonai is my God.’
(Zechariah 13:8-9 TLV)

Remember that Matthew 25 tells us that He brings all the nations before Him to this glorious, great white throne.

Who do the Jews consider the nations to be?

Everyone outside Judaism, or more simply, anyone who is NOT a Jew. Your logic sort of breaks down when a passage, such as we see in Zechariah 13:8-9, tells us that in that day, the day when there is only a third left alive that call themselves Jews. The question then arises.

What does God call the two-thirds that have died? And why ask a question like this?

Ah, because the related narrative comes from Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15.

“Then I saw a great white throne, and the One seated on it. The earth and heaven fled from His presence, but no place was found for them. And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds.”
(Revelation 20:11-12 TLV)

Matthew told us He sits on a glorious throne, while the Revelation, which is, by the way, all about Jesus, has Him sitting on a great white throne.

Is there any difference?

Not at all, because our focus is on the one seated and what He does.

Matthew tells that He calls all nations before Him; however, in  Revelation, we are told that only the dead are brought to the throne.

Stop here for a moment.

Genesis tells us that humankind is created in God’s image. Just try to imagine what that looks like. If you were to answer honestly, you would have to say, I have no idea. Scripture tells us that God is spirit and associates that understand by telling us how to worship Him in our spirits.

Since the spirit is eternal, as God is, then does it ever really die?

The answer is NO. So death, then, to the spirit, is eternal separation from the life of God, and that, my friends, is the definition of death as far as God is concerned.

So while the body, or as Paul put it, this tent, is taken down, the spirit goes on forever.

Ah, but will it live with the Father in heaven, or will you foolishly pursue Satan and his lies, as he will be thrown into the lake of fire permanently.

If, as we have come to understand, the nations are NOT the remaining Jews, but are, by God’s standard, those outside of a willful and loving relationship with Jesus, then are all of the nations effectively dead unless something changes. Fortunately, for those that live through the thousand-year reign of Jesus (as He sits on this glorious, white throne,) there will be Jewish evangelists preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, and many from the nations will continue to come into relationship with the Father.

By the way, all from the nations will be forced to come to the new Jerusalem and participate in Succoth and bow before Jesus.

So, when this final judgment takes place, what has transpired?

  • Seven years of God’s judgment upon the nations and Israel have transpired.
  • Vast numbers of people have died.
  • Israel has sustained two major attacks along with the daily upheaval that we see.
  • The thousand years have been completed.
  • Satan has been released for a “short period of time” and has gone about deceiving the nations – after a thousand years, this number is great, and they have gathered together to attack the Holy City, God, and God’s people.
  • God brings fire down on all these involved, and they are now dead.

I pointed out how Matthew only refers to them as the nations; he does not explain how they are all dead. How far back in time this collection goes is NOT spelled out for us. The Revelation considers them all dead. With the Revelation, our immediate context for death, which I spelled out above, puts an immediacy upon them, but we cannot assume that, therefore, these, too, can go back to at least the death and resurrection. It may not be logical to pursue the dead beyond the cross as Jesus preached to the captives and released an unknown quantity.

Jesus, in Matthew 25, splits the crowd into two groups. Some are deemed sheep, while others are designated as goats. The sheep are given entrance into the kingdom of heaven. There seems to be a moment when everything comes to a stop, as the sheep, almost as it in unison, say what did we do to deserve this kindness and mercy?You see, they don’t even recognize what they did. Jesus, the merciful shepherd, tells them,

“For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’”
(Matthew 25:35-36 TLV)

The “Tree of Life Version” labels what we see in Matthew 25 as “the final judgment.” The simplest of minds should understand that the great white throne is the final judgment. So don’t be deluded merely because the terminology is different.

In Matthew, Jesus/God is merciful to some, while in Revelation 20, beginning with verse 11, we are only shown dead people and an angry God/Jesus. Context is the key to understanding that these two are the same, and the account in Revelation 20 is focused more on those who only moments before had tried, once again, to overthrow God.

If a person stands before the white throne judgment seat, for what will he be judged?

Those who make it to that point will be judged based on what they did with the Son, Jesus. That is all there is.

How is that possible, you might ask?

To properly answer your question, you need to set your fallen human nature aside; I know that is impossible, but try.

All sin went to the cross with Jesus, past, present, and future. That covers all of it.

So what is left?

Simply Jesus.

So I must ask.

  • Did you ignore Him there on the cross?
  • Did you ignore all that He did there?
  • Did you know that Jesus went into hell, preached to the captives there, and set them free?
  • Do you realize that Jesus, like the brass serpent that Moses was commanded to put on the pole, caused you to live by taking away the death when you looked at Him?
  • Did you know that He is your only salvation?
  • Do you know that you can be His simply by sincerely asking Him to come into your life?
Posted in bible study, death, established, forgive, forgiven, Freedom from sin, grace, Heaven, judgment, Law of liberty, rapture, Romans, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, thrones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Well then, come and see, and therefore the two disciples heard and followed. John 1:36-42.

Posted on 02/27/2023 by remso

Previously we learned that a primary function of John the baptizer’s mission served was to announce that Jesus was manifested to Israel.

Did that happen?

Yes, but from a human standpoint, many looked at the baptizer as a crazy man; after all, look at what he wore and ate.

When the Jewish leaders showed up, he challenged them, calling them vipers – a term that gave them an association with the serpent that Moses raised up on the pole; it represented evil, poison, and death. It is challenging to perceive John as a live-screen billboard declaring that the Messiah is here. With a rant like this, you might be inclined to say that God was unfair toward the Jewish leadership, seeing as the voice doing the announcing, though a son of a priest himself, was, at best, peculiar. But never forget that at Jesus’ birth, in Bethlehem, there was, what we assume, an astrological alignment of stars that effectively pointed right to the spot where the Messiah was born.

Did the Jewish leadership accept that fact even though it was declared through the Torah and the Tenach, books that are the foundations of our faith and lead us to Yahshua, the Messiah?

No, those same leaders were quickly brought before Herod because he became alarmed that a relatively large entourage was coming their way and may have been a threat to Herod’s rule. So he asked the Jews if they knew what was going on; they did, and they quoted the words. Ah, but the Jews refused to accept this baby as the Messiah.

Approximately thirty years later, they are no less inclined to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

“Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
(John 1:35-36 NASB)

I began looking for a translation that would solidify this statement with a Jewish feel and perhaps give us a blast of clarity. Look at what I found; I prefer something else to this translation, but with three words, it dominates the reality of why Jesus was here. 

“He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.”
(John 1:36 MSG)

“He” is referring to John, the baptizer.

Serving as the Passover lamb is one of the functions of Jesus as the Messiah.

What do we have that bears witness to this statement? 

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they both went together.”
(Genesis 22:8 MKJV)

Statements such as John’s and what we see in Genesis 22:8 could be interpreted in at least two ways. One would be that God would arrange to have a sacrifice provided, which is precisely what God did in the case of Abraham and Isaac. The other way of reading this passage conveys that God would provide Himself as the lamb, which is precisely what God did for those who believe and follow.

John the baptizer said of Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God. Every Jew hearing this bold assertion made a prompt association with: 

  • The forgiveness of sin; 
  • The faithful actions of Abraham as he made the substitutionary sacrifice and, therefore, did not kill Issac, his firstborn – according to the promise; 
  • The lamb that was slain on the night of the Passover. The blood of that lamb was painted on the doorposts and the lentil as a symbol of God’s possession, and it became protection from the wrath that was to come upon the firstborn of everyone not covered by the blood that night.

If they had been willing to see, (This simple phrase carries a broad meaning as the “they” would have been inclusive of any in Egypt, whether they followed the lead of God’s people that night. It is not likely that they would have painted the blood because there was more to it than that, but there was nothing that prevented a scared Egyptian from seeking shelter from the wrath, which, if you follow that logic through, speaks volumes about a God of mercy that is beyond my comprehension.) they would have seen that the Messiah would be the substitutionary sacrifice, removing the penalty for all sin and all humanity. Like the Jews that day, we all have to apply some faith and trust in Him, receiving Him as the King over our lives.

“The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”
(John 1:37 NASB)

Context! The Apostle John refers to John – the baptizer, as the speaker. 

The Apostle John (and yes, I am aware that John was not given this title until much later, but it helps, especially here, to identify who is talking), when talking about events that included himself, never inserted his own name. This could be what is happening here in John 1:37. And that is the story I am going to hold to unless there is a historical account that details who this other disciple was.

Does the Apostle John’s intentionally vague acknowledgment of himself affect the message and our perception? 

Not as long as we pay attention to the context.

An example of context that gave me trouble occurred as I looked at Matthew’s account of the briefing initiated in Matthew 24:1 that Jesus gave to the disciples on the Mount of Olives. 

“Now when Yeshua went out and was going away from the Temple, His disciples came up to point out to Him the Temple buildings.”
(Matthew 24:1 TLV)

Assuming you realize that none of the disciples understood that Jesus was to be the substitutionary sacrifice because they were looking for Him to be the military rescuer of Israel that would relieve them from Roman rule and oppression. As I read Matthew 24:1, the disciples come across as traumatized war veterans, and the fact that they had to defer to alluding to the megalithic stones that were part of the temple’s construction, which was well-known to all, was nothing less than bizarre and obviously, embedded in some previous action or conversation. I returned to Matthew 22 to find the context surrounding the question and Jesus’ response. The point here is that you must be willing to do your appropriate homework.

We are told these two disciples followed the Messiah, whether or not they fully understood or believed. 

Follow is the Greek word akolouthéō, and means to attend, accompany, go with, or follow a teacher.

Isn’t this what He desires from us today – To attend, accompany, and stay close by His side as we follow Him?

“Yeshua turned around and saw them following. He said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is translated as Teacher), “where are you staying?”
(John 1:38 TLV)

The Modern King James Version indicates that He said, “what do you seek?” Whether Jesus rudely asked, “What are you looking for?” is irrelevant and improper because He would not have been blatantly rude. I find it easier to believe that He said, “what do you seek?” Both versions of the question are rather open-ended and could imply a variety of responses. What the Jews sought was Jesus, a rabbi that could and would teach them and lead them; regrettably, they did not fully realize that.

Just the day before, Jesus had been baptized by John and had not only the Holy Spirit come upon Him, but the Father acknowledged Him as the Son in whom He was well pleased. In a sense, we did not see Him leave.

Strangely, Matthew records this as though there is a precise chronological timeline.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.”
(Matthew 4:1-2 NASB)

Where did John the baptizer do most of his baptizing?

“Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,”
(Matthew 3:1 NASB)

It was south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. That is approximately 87 long miles by foot between Capernaum and Judea. So Jesus did not make any overnight round trips between these two points.

It is Matthew that tells us that Jesus had just come from Galilee.

Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him.
(Matthew 3:13 NASB)

For them to ask Him where He was staying, especially when He doesn’t live around the area, tends to indicate that they were looking for permanence in their relationship with Him.

“Come and see,” Yeshua tells them. So they came and saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with Him. It was about the tenth hour.”
(John 1:39 TLV)

The series, “The Chosen,” initiated their series with these very words, Come and See. Those words still ring true in contrast to I don’t believe, well then, come and see.

The Lamb of God willingly proved who He was and still is today, consistent.

“Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John speak and followed Yeshua.”
(John 1:40 TLV)

All this proves is that Andrew, the brother of Simon, the fisherman, became one of Jesus’ first disciples based upon what he heard from Jesus and a drive to follow Him.

“First he finds his own brother Simon and tells him, “We’ve found the Messiah!” (which is translated Anointed One).”
(John 1:41 TLV)

So Andrew goes and finds his brother Simon. He tells him, “we have found the Messiah!” The Complete Jewish Bible states, (CJB)  “We’ve found the Mashiach!” (The word means “one who has been anointed.”)

The word Mashiach is the Greek word Messias. It is a proper noun transliterated from the Hebrew term Māshı̄ach. It corresponds with the Greek word Christós. The words are meant to indicate a consecrated or anointed person. In ancient times not only the king, but also the priest and the prophet were consecrated to their calling by being anointed. In the OT, the word is used in its literal sense, meaning one who has been anointed. This understanding of the OT is the manner in which those hearing Andrew’s exclamation would have been directed. [Word Study Dictionary]

“Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated as Peter).”
(John 1:42 BSB)

In just a matter of hours, Peter is standing before Jesus/Yahshua.

Did he realize that this was the Mashiach that they longed for?

I doubt it, but then there was the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus and that voice that called Him the beloved Son.

Nonetheless, Jesus, in the process of introducing Himself, immediately designates Peter as Cephas, or, as the Tree of Life version, which was written for Messianic church groups, indicates that Peter was to be called Kefa (which is translated as Peter).” We have been told over the years that this name applied to Peter, meaning the rock – an indication that he was to be solid, steadfast, and dependable.

If you watch The Chosen, they show Peter’s frailties. While scripture does show us those things, it does show us Peter’s reactionary actions in the garden when cutting off Malchus’ ear, and we are shown his denial and how it affected Peter. After Jesus’ death, Peter seems to have reverted back to being a fisherman, and a few others joined him. The fascinating end to this story was Jesus’ way of handling Peter by calling him back into the game, eating lunch with the men, and directly reaffirming Peter, just as He does with us.

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