THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD
| When a friend of mine first introduced the idea of Jesus building his Church in heaven and not on the earth, and then highlighted that the church here should be called the Church of God according to the Christian Scriptures, it motivated me to look for that scripture that we all know so well, ”the Lord added to the Church daily….” Here we have it in the beloved KJV that most of us grew up on: Acts 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. KJV If Jesus’s Church is in Heaven, how could he be adding to it daily here on earth? (This deserves a pause for answers). Could the answer be just a matter of Translation? Let’s see what a more accurate translation says: Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. NASU Now that we have found a conflict between the 2 translations, what do we do? If we have a Greek Interlinear, we go look to see what it says. It says <church> 846 (Strong’s Number) auto, the same, as in all the people. So, ekklesia, 1577, which we all have been taught means church, does not exist in Acts 2:47. (The sideways carrot marks < > generally indicated that what is between them is not in the texts, as is the case here). To me this posed quite a quandary! Where do I go from here? Another formerly held belief shattered to smitherenes! So what’s left to do, look up ekklesia. Here is what it means according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: “a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly.” What we don’t see, is the word ”church,” as any part of the definition. What we do see, predominantly, is ”Assembly.” Now we will look at Young’s Literal Translation of a few verses containing ekklesia: Matt 16:18 ‘And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly, and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it; Acts 5:11 11 and great fear came upon all the assembly, and upon all who heard these things. Eph 1:22-23 22 and all things He did put under his feet, and did give him — head over all things to the assembly, 23 which is his body, the fulness of Him who is filling the all in all, Not in one verse of 114 scriptures where ekklesia is used, does the YLT translate it Church! You might be asking yourself, ”If ekklesia doesn’t mean Church, then what the heck, if anything, does?” Good question. Etymology of the word Church The etymology of the word “church” is a complex and multifaceted topic. Based on the provided search results, here is a summary of the key findings: Greek origins: The English word “church” is ultimately derived from the Greek adjective “kuriakos” (κυριακός), meaning “of (or belonging to) the Lord”. This adjective is found only twice in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 11:20 and Revelation 1:10, referring to the Lord’s supper and the Lord’s day, respectively. |
| 1 Cor 11:20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, The Lord’s is the word NT:2960 kuriakos (koo-ree-ak-os’); from NT:2962, kurios; belonging to the Lord (Jehovah or Jesus): (Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.) Rev 1:10-11 I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, NASU Much like we have eliminated Old Testament and New Testament from our vocabulary, I think it is time to eliminate “Church” as well! If as close as we can come to it, is a transliteration of kuriakos, we have a pretty weak case for using it at all. |
Transliteration vs. Translation:
The word “church” is a transliteration of the Greek “kuriakos,” rather than a translation of its meaning into English. This means that the word “church” does not accurately convey the original Greek concept.
Substitution for ekklēsia: In English translations of the New Testament, the word “church” substitutes for the Greek noun “ekklēsia” (ἐκκλησία), which occurs 114 times in the Greek New Testament. This substitution obscures the original meaning of “ekklēsia”, which refers to the gathering or assembly of believers.
Alternative etymologies:
Some sources propose alternative etymologies for the word “church”, including:
Connection to the name “Circe”, a sorceress-goddess from Greek mythology, which is unlikely and lacks historical evidence.
Derivation from the Old English “circe” or “cyrc”, which is related to the Dutch “kerk” and German “Kirche”, ultimately tracing back to the Greek phrase “kuriakon doma” (Lord’s house).
Architectural significance: The term “church” has also been associated with the architectural design of Christian buildings, particularly in traditional Christian architecture, where the plan view forms a Christian cross.”
I am of the opinion that what exists in the Hebrew Scriptures should set the precedence for the Christian Scriptures. For example, Church doesn’t exist in the Hebrew Scriptures any more than resurrection does. But what does exist is qahal — OT:6951 an assembly, a company, a congregation, a convocation
a) an assembly for evil counsel, for war or invasion, for religious purposes Ex. 12:6
b) a company (used of returning exiles) Ez. 38:15
c) a congregation as an organized body Joel 2:16
(from The Online Bible Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)
Deut 31:30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete: NASU
Judg 20:2 And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen that drew sword. KJV
Qahal is used 123 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, coming close to the 114 of ekklesia!
Other usages of Assembly in the Hebrew Scriptures:
5712, edah, 149 times
6116, atsarah, 11 times
5475, cowd, 21 times Job 15:8, 29:4 the secret of God; Ps. 89:7 the assembly of the saints!
4186, mowshab, 44 times
4150, mowed/moed, 223 times Is. 41:13 Mount of Assembly
1 Cor 10:31-32
Whether, then, ye eat, or drink, or do anything, do all to the glory of God;
32 become offenceless, both to Jews and Greeks, and to the assembly of God;
YLT
I know it’s going to be difficultfor us to stop using the word Church when it comes to a group of believer’s, but you can still call the buildings, churches. Otherwise, the Body of Christ is the Assembly of God.
Some Differences between being Born Again and Being Saved
In order to understand what being “born again” means we must first look at the context in which it is used.
John 3:1-8
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish council.
2 He came to Jesus one night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you as a teacher. No one can perform the miracles you perform unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus replied to Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above (anoothen).” This is normally translated born again.
4 Nicodemus asked him, “How can anyone be born when he’s an old man? He can’t go back inside his mother a second time to be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered Nicodemus, “I can guarantee this truth: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit (pneuma).
6 Flesh and blood give birth to flesh and blood, but the Spirit (pneuma) gives birth to things that are spiritual (pneuma).
7 Don’t be surprised when I tell you that all of you must be born from above (anoothen).
8 The wind (pneuma) blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. That’s the way it is with everyone born of the spirit (pneuma).”
(from GOD’S WORD Copyright © 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved.)
The next usage of anothen is in verse 31:
John 3:31-34
He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. KJV
What was it that Jesus expected Nicodemus to know? For starters, Ezek 11:19:
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:” KJV
Also, Ezek 36:26-27: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” KJV
Finally, Jer 31:33-34: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” KJV
This is what Jesus knew and expected Nicodemus to know as well. Jesus expected “those days” that Jeremiah spoke about, to begin immediately after his ascension and culminate with the Battle of Armageddon, when the Kingdom of God would begin. His mindset was a relatively short period of time.
Now, let’s take a look at anagennao, to produce again, to beget again, to beget anew. Its first usage is in 1 Peter 1:3-5:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
NKJV
The second and final usage 1 Peter 1:22-23: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, NKJV
In contrasting the usages of these Greek words we can immediately see that there is no mention of “seed” or any “begetting” in John. Not only that, but we also see with that seed is an incorruptible, undefiled inheritance that does njot fade away with time! It is also interesting that 1:5 mentions “the last time,” perhaps a parallel of “after those days.”
In summary we know Jesus was talking to “a master (teacher) of Israel” and that he, Jesus, was referring to some Hebrew Scriptures when he spoke of being born from above and seeing and entering the kingdom of God. For the Jews, it was going to be impossible for them to enter into the kingdom without God making it happen. Ezekiel and Jeremiah show us that God was going to put his spirit in them and they are, in the future, going to walk in his ways.
On the other hand, both Jew and Gentile can be begotten again now, enjoy the current benefits of salvation, reap the rewards of our godly works in heaven and then enjoy the full benefits of salvation after those days of the tribulation. I would say there is a vast difference between what Jesus and Peter were speaking of. And these are just the ones on the surface!
WHERE WAS JESUS REALLY BORN?
It is easy to see why we misunderstand as much as we do about the birth of Christ, since Matthew 2:1 begins almost 2 years after he was born, when the Magi came bearing gifts. For the sake of this teaching we will turn to Luke chapter 2 to find some of the details prior to his birth. The following will be from Young’s Literal Translation:
Luke 2:2-7
2 And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled — this enrollment first came to pass when Cyrenius was governor of Syria —3 and all were going to be enrolled, each to his proper city, and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, that is called Bethlehem, because of his being of the house and family of David, to enroll himself with Mary his betrothed wife, being with child. And it came to pass, in their being there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth, and she brought forth her son — the first-born, and wrapped him up, and laid him down in the manger, because there was not for them a place in the guest-chamber. YLT
The guest-chamber (Inn in the KJV) in those days was a room adjacent to the house for the lodging of guests. These days some people have Guest-houses, while others may have Guest-rooms. The Greek word is kataluma. It is used 1 other time in Luke and once in Mark. In both instances it is translated ”guest-chamber” in the King James Version:
Mark 14:14
And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?
KJV;
Mark 14:14 NASB & NRSV:
and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house,’ The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room
Luke 22:11
And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? KJV)
The Guest Chamber or room was part of the house, not an outbuilding like a barn or a shed. Joseph and Mary were not out in the cold with no place to go. They were at a friend’s house or at the very least a friend of a friend. They were like royalty, direct descendants of King David and they were in the city of David. They didn’t just arrive but had been there at least a few days already . Anyone would have been glad to have them in their home, let alone the fact Mary was in her 9th month of pregnancy. Let’s read verse 6 of Luke 2 again in the NASB:
Luke 2:6
And it came about that while they were there,
They weren’t just getting there on the back of a donkey like movies show. They had been in town a few, if not several days. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words explains it the best:
kataluma (kata/luma, NT:2646), akin to kataluo (see Note above), signifies (a) “an inn, lodging-place,” Luke 2:7; (b) “a guest-room,” Mark 14:14; Luke 22:11. The word lit. signifies “a loosening down” (kata, “down,” luo, “to loose”), used of the place where travelers and their beasts untied their packages, girdles and sandals. “In the East, no figure is more invested with chivalry than the guest. In his own right he cannot cross the threshold, but when once he is invited in, all do him honor and unite in rendering service; cf. Gen 18:19; Judg 19:9,15.” These two passages in the NT concern a room in a private house, which the owner readily placed at the disposal of Joseph and Mary. (from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Now, what is a manger? A Manger is the feeding trough for animals and a cozy place for a baby!
NT:5336 phatne (fat’-nay); from pateomai (to eat); a crib (for fodder):
(Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
So, there you have it; no barn, no stall, no cows, sheep or oxen, no donkeys (hee-haw)! No mean, old Inn-keeper! No snow on the ground, either.
Merry Christmas and may God Bless you all in the name of Jesus Christ!
The Elusive Kingdom of God
I used to think saying the Lord’s Prayer was ludicrous until I realized that we were still praying for God’s kingdom to come. Jesus taught his Jewish followers to pray for God’s kingdom to come and Christians today are still doing the same. Why? Because it has not yet come. Let’s see what scriptures teach us about it.
Acts 1:1-6
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through (no article the) holy spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with (no article the) holy spirit not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Until the day Jesus ascended into Heaven his followers wondered when the kingdom was going to be restored to Israel. Obviously it had not been up to that time.
In Acts 14, it is implied that the Kingdom of God is something to be “entered into:” Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. KJV
It’s the word eiserchomai, to come or go into. Here it says much tribulation is required to go into the kingdom. In the following verses the kingdom of God is something to be “inherited:” 1 Cor 6:9-10:
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. KJV
1 Cor 15:50 confirms the previous scriptures:
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. KJV
Another verse implying that the kingdom is something to be inherited: Gal 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Here is the next to last usage of the koG: Col 4:11:
And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellow-workers unto the kingdom of God, which have been a comfort unto me. KJV
“Unto” the kingdom is the same word as “into” in the verses in 1 Cor. 6, come “into,” eis.
I think it is very clear from scripture that the kingdom of God is not something we are in, but something that is still in the future. Jesus came to bring it to Israel, but the promises to Israel are being held in abeyance. We too will share in that promise, in the Millennial Kingdom, after the Rapture of the Church.
People are Souls, They have a Heart, but are Soul-less
Most of us have likely heard the expression “Bob is an old soul or Sandy is a young soul,” right? We don’t hear people say “John ‘has’ a young soul.” We do hear them say that so and so is young at heart, though.
In the Hebrew Scriptures Strong’s defines Nephesh as a breathing creature, i.e. animal of vitality; Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon as a soul, self, life, a creature, a person, an appetite, a mind, a living being, a desire, an emotion, a passion. As you can see from the definition whatever it is, it is alive and vital.
For the sake of this teaching I am going to be using the Darby Bible since it uses the words “living soul” twelve times. The first usage is:
Gen 1:21 “And God created the great sea monsters, and every living soul that moves with which the waters swarm, after their kind, and every winged fowl after its kind. And God saw that it was good.” Most other popular versions use the word “creature or “thing” instead of soul.
What does every living soul do? They move! Whether they creep, crawl, swim or fly, they are living souls. I never really thought about worms, ants, bees or snails as being living souls, but I guess they are!
The second usage (and so on):
Gen 1:30 “and to every animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth on the earth, which is a living soul, every green herb for food. And it was so”
Gen 2:7 “And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.”
Gen 2:19 “And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought [them] to Man, to see what he would call them; and whatever Man called each living soul, that was its name.”
Gen 9:10 “and with every living soul which is with you, fowl as well as cattle, and all the animals of the earth with you, of all that has gone out of the ark — every animal of the earth.”
Gen 9:12 “And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I set between me and you and every living soul that is with you, for everlasting generations:’
Gen 9:15-16 “and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall not henceforth become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Lev 11:10 “but all that have not fins and scales in seas and in rivers, of all that swarm in the waters, and of every living soul which is in the waters — they shall be an abomination unto you.”
Lev 11:46 “This is the law of cattle, and of fowl, and of every living soul that moveth in the waters, and of every soul (creature) that crawleth on the earth;”
1 Cor 15:45 “Thus also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit.”
Rev 16:3 “And the second poured out his bowl on the sea; and it became blood, as of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.”
The following verses are from a Bible called The Message. Some of you OG’s may remember seeing it but it is one of the seventeen Bibles in my PC Bible Program.
1 Kings 15:29 “As soon as he was king he killed everyone in Jeroboam’s family. There wasn’t a living soul left to the name of Jeroboam; Baasha wiped them out totally,”
2 Chron 20:24 “As Judah came up over the rise, looking into the wilderness for the horde of barbarians, they looked on a killing field of dead bodies — not a living soul among them.”
Job 12:10 “Every living soul, yes, every breathing creature?”
Acts 3:22-23 “Moses, for instance, said, ‘Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people.’ “
At the risk of becoming exhaustive I am compelled to give you every usage I could find on the 2 words. These verse are from the good old Catholic Bible, The Douay-Rheims. The first one we have already covered but I had to include it because someone mentioned something about adding water to dust to from the body of man. The Monks already took care of that!
Gen 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Gen 8:21 “And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.”
Now for some of you younger souls, there are 400 more usages of soul in the Hebrew Scriptures. Feel free to have at ‘em. I’m just going to show a few that pop out at me.
Lev 5:1-4 “And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity. 2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing…………3 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man…………4 Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these. KJV
Deut 12:20-21 “When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21 ………whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. KJV
To be honest and fair, there are many verses that would incline one to believe that the soul is something distinctly independent of the person. Here is just one:
Isa 29:8 “It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion. KJV
Here is what one Commentary says about it: “[It shall even be …] This is a most striking figure representing the earnest desire of the Assyrian to possess the city of Jerusalem, and his utter disappointment.
(from Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Who would have thought that?
BTW, I looked up dead soul and couldn’t find anything. But, nothing is more convincing than looking at the 78 times soul(s) plural was used in the KJV! Then you will become further convinced that souls are living “things” that take breath, including fish, worms and bugs! You could even say, “If it shits, it’s a living soul!”
Souls Plural
Gen 46:15 These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padan-aram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three. KJV
Gen 46:18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls. KJV
Gen 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
Gen 46:25 These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.
26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
Acts 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. KJV
Acts 27:37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. KJV
1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. KJV
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Acts 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
Since Bob mentioned the Apocraphal and extra Canonical Books I thought it would be cool to look at a few of those as well.
Judith 7:26-27 Now therefore call them unto you, and deliver the whole city for a spoil to the people of Holofernes, and to all his army. For it is better for us to be made a spoil unto them, than to die for thirst: for we will be his servants, that our souls may live, and not see the death of our infants before our eyes, nor our wives nor our children to die. KJV
Judith seems to be a pretty smart lady. I’ve always said that no one is any good to God dead! Here she would rather be someone’s spoil than starve to death!
Wisdom 2:22-3:1 As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not: neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless souls. For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity. Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world: and they that do hold of his side do find it. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. KJV
Being a soul as opposed to having one eliminates a whole bunch of things which we know are not true, like soul sleep, transmigration of the soul, or soul travel.
Reasons the Christian Church is NOT in the New Covenant
(from “Defending Dispensationalism”) by Mark Graeser, John Schoenheit and John Lynn
- A “covenant” is a solemn promise binding two parties in an agreement. In certain biblical covenants like the “New” Covenant, God binds Himself unconditionally by His love and grace to perform specific promises to specific people (Israel). These promises cannot be disannulled, and neither can they be “fulfilled” only in part; they must at some point be fulfilled completely or God’s righteousness would be compromised, and He found to be a liar. If the Church cannot “fulfill” the New Covenant, then it must be in a different relationship with God, (we are “in Christ/ in the Lord” and Israel cannot claim this relationship).
2. The covenant was made with Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham according to the flesh, and with them as a specific nation. Since the Church is neither Jews nor Gentiles (a “nation”), how can the Church fulfill this covenant?
- Since the Abrahamic covenant promises Israel a permanent existence as a nation (with a physical country), then the Church is not fulfilling Israel’s promises, nor is it “the New Israel” (or literally “the Israel of God”). The New Covenant properly belongs to the restoration of Israel as a glorious nation that is filled with a knowledge of God as “the waters fill the seas.”
- Because the Abrahamic covenant promises her permanent possession of the Promised Land, Israel must still come into possession of the land, which she has never fully possessed in her history, according to the precise specifications of that covenant. Old Testament prophecies confirm that Israel will have full possession of the land of Israel in the future, and Ezekiel 48 even describes which tribe will get which part of the land. In contrast, the Christian Church will never possess the land of Israel, and it has no “tribes,” so it cannot fulfill the prophecies of Ezekiel.
- The “New” Covenant is made with the same people as the “Old” Covenant, namely Israel.
- There is a distinction among personal promises to Abraham, national promises to Abraham’s seed and universal promises to “all the families of the earth.” The national promises can be fulfilled only by the nation itself. The language of the New Covenant is quite specifically directed to national Israel (Jer. 31:31-33).
- The Gospel of Christ is not a covenant, but the revelation of the salvation of God to all men.
- All the blessings that come to the Church today are based upon the blood of Christ, which was necessarily shed to make possible the New Covenant, according to Jeremiah 31. But just because the Church partakes of the blessings of the shedding of Christ’s blood (shed for the propitiation of the sins of the whole world –1 John 2:2) it does not mean that the Church therefore fulfills the New Covenant. The shed blood of Christ was a necessary condition for the formation of the Church, but was not sufficient for the fulfillment of the covenant. There is still the matter of land, material blessings, rest, Christ’s reign, a new heart for Israel, and so on, that were promised as a part of the New Covenant and have not yet been fulfilled. That’s why Hebrews 7: 22 says, “Jesus has become the guarantee (“surety”) of a better covenant”.
- Although we do not have the covenant made with us, we can have some of its blessings ministered to us, as well as be ministers of some of its blessings. This is the same principle as Peter’s Acts 2 citation of Joel 2:28-32 in reference to the giving of holy spirit on the day of Pentecost, a prophecy that actually refers to the still future “day of the Lord .” Peter had not been introduced to the truths of the “dispensation of the Secret” (Ephesians 3: 8) Although Peter did not then know the “secret,” his reference to Joel was relevant because each Christian now partakes of the holy spirit aspect of the future New Covenant with Israel. To me this is prevarication with the plain reading of the text. Peter absolutely DID NOT KNOW what he was talking about. Paul, in Romans 8:23 clears it up by saying we have the “firstfruits of the spirit”. It is easy to understand how people can have the blessings of a covenant ministered to them without being part of the covenant if one thinks of the Gentiles in the Old Testament. They were not part of the Old Covenant, but they could have covenant blessings ministered to them. Many non-Jews lived in Israel, apparently for that reason.
- As the Church receives blessings of the Abrahamic covenant by faith without fulfilling that covenant, so the Church may receive blessings from the New Covenant without fulfilling it.
- Israel must go through the Tribulation and be delivered by the Messiah before the New Covenant can be fulfilled (Rom. 11:26 and 27).
- Since the Tribulation, the second coming of Christ and the Millennial Reign of Christ are yet future, the fulfillment of this promise must also be future, and cannot be fulfilled now by the Church.
- The Messiah, who ratified this New Covenant with Israel, must return to the earth to complete the salvation, restoration and blessing of Israel that is promised them as a result of the New Covenant God promised them.
Fallen Angels
Most of us have heard about “fallen angels” even though the Bible does not literally support it. If you research “fallen” you will only find one reference to an angel in Is.14:12, which is a prophecy of something to come. This scripture refers the “the Shining One, the Morning Star.”
Isa 14:12
“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn! NASU
(The KJV adds the name Lucifer, but there is no such name in the most correct manuscripts).
The reason this verse is still future is because Rev. 12:9 is still future.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
NASU
“The fallen angels” refers to those mentioned in Jude 6 and 2Pe.2:4.
Jude 6
And angels–those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode–He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day. Weymouth. This seems to be a free will decision to abandon (desert) their own dwelling place and because they did,
2 Peter 2:4
For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgement. Weymouth
Because of their own actions, God cast them out of Heaven; they didn’t fall, they were thrown out!
What sin did they did commit to cause this? For those who may not know we can find that answer in Genesis.
Gen 6:1-4
Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God (angels) saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. NASU
Gen 6:4
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of human beings. These women gave birth to children, who became famous and were the mighty warriors of long ago. NCV
The offspring of these angels were/are the Nephilim. Goliath was a Nephilim, a member of a super race of people, continually evil, mighty warriors and famous men of renown. Nimrod was another. This is the sin that these particular angels committed. They have been in Tartarus ever since the Flood.
Israel and the New Covenant
Some things Christians believe never fail to amaze me. One of them is what is named “the New Covenant.” Covenants have been and always will pertain to Israel, not the Church of God in Christ Jesus.
The Book of Hebrews will be a lot more familiar to a Hebrew than to a Gentile. The language and the words used will be much more understandable to them. Nevertheless, this “new” covenant mentioned in detail 14 times from 8:6 to 13:20 will leave even former Gentile, now Christian believers, with no doubt to whom this covenant applies.
8:6 tells us that Jesus will be the mediator of this new covenant. Verse 8 begins a quote of Jeremiah 31:31-34 which goes like this:
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,……NASB
It is pretty clear “to whom” this new covenant applies. This prophecy is yet to come to be fulfilled.
8:10 and 10:16 says “After those days,”—-after what days? “Those days” aren’t just any days, but refer to the Day(s) of the LORD, the days of the vengeance of our God.
Matt 24:19
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in “those” days!
KJV
Matt 24:22
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake “those” days shall be shortened.
KJV
Matt 24:29-30
Immediately after the tribulation of “those” days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
KJV
Yes, after these days of the Great Tribulation, will this new covenant be enacted for the faithful of Israel who live through it and those who are raised from the dead at the First Resurrection, that of the Just.
Covenants apply to Jews, not Gentiles nor the Church of God. God Bless!
Fred S. Wolfe
72 Virgins or The Lake of Fire?
” Islamo Nazi’s are in for a big surprise!”
IMHO, I believe the biggest lie in practically all world religions is that there is “Life immediately after Death.” Muslims for example pattern much of what they believe after the Old Testament of the Bible and specifically the Torah. Christians and Jews each believe in the Resurrection of/from the Dead. What would be the point in believing in the resurrection of the dead if the dead were already alive in Heaven or as some believe in Paradise?
From what I have read Jesus Christ, the “monogenetic” son of God, is the only human being whose flesh was not allowed to rot in the grave, Sheol. Until the Administration of the Secret, all any believer had to look forward to after death was the resurrection of the Just; it was the Jews one, big hope. I think Martha said it best when speaking to Jesus of her dead husband Lazarus, “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”–John 11:24–KJV
In John 11, Lazarus had been dead 4 days and stunk to high heaven! But, why wasn’t he already in heaven or Paradise? Heck, he was one of Jesus’ best friends. If one of the malefactors crucified with Jesus was going to be in Paradise immediately after his death, surely Lazarus would be too, right? If someone who robbed people by threatening their lives was going to be in Paradise immediately following their death, certainly a righteous believer whom the Lord Jesus loved would be. But, the fact of the matter is, neither of them were. And no one who has ever drawn breath on this earth besides Jesus is!
1 Cor 15:20-23–But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (dead in the grave, Sheol). For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (When?) But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Aside from the Gathering Together, episunagoge, of the Church of God, the resurrection “at his coming” will be that of the Just. Luke 14:14–And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. KJV
Acts 24:14-15–But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. This means that someday everyone who has ever lived will raised from the dead, some to everlasting life and others to the 2nd death. Rev 20:5-6 says,
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection (the Just): on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. KJV
Islamic extremists who kill themselves while murdering others have nothing to look forward to but the second death. They will certainly be among those who are treated to a swim in a heated pool after the resurrection of the Unjust. Rev 20:12-14
And I saw the dead (not the living), small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell, sheol, 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. (Can you see where the dead are? They are not in heaven or paradise). The dead are in the sea or on land, in the grave, nowhere else.
Rev 21:8–But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. ESV
Death is an enemy and always will be. Death will not be destroyed until after the Millennial Kingdom as you see above. We were not created to die, but to live forever. When we make Jesus, Lord and believe God, YHWH, raised him from the dead we will receive eternal life. After death, we will all sleep with our father’s, just like everyone else, but Jesus! God bless!
What Should Be #1 On Your Prayer List?
This will be my shortest Post ever. I am curious what you think we should be praying for more than anything else. One of the things I think should be a #1 concern is that the US Dollar remain the World Reserve Currency. If it ever loses that lofty position, it could lose 50-75% of its value overnight, if not more. When things lose value, it takes more of them to get less. What do you think is the most important thing to prayer for?
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