C.H. Spurgeon on Roman Catholicism
"Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho." Joshua 6:26
"Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, much more the man who labours to restore Popery among us. In our fathers' days the gigantic walls of Popery fell by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast of their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would rebuild that accursed system upon its old foundations. O Lord, be please to thwart their unrighteous endeavours, and pull down every stone which they build. It should be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may have a tendency to foster the spirit of Popery, and when we have made a clean sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad in the church and in the world. This last can be done in secret by fervent prayer, and in public by decided testimony. We must warn with judicious boldness those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome; we must instruct the young in gospel truth, and tell them of the black doings of Popery in the olden times. We must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land, for priests, like owls, hate daylight. Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of priestcraft. What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the Pope's bane and poison? Are we casting abroad good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, 'The devil hates goose quills,' and doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by the Holy Spirit's blessing, have done his kingdom much damage. If the thousands who will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the rebuilding of his accursed Jericho, the Lord's glory shall speed among the sons of men. Reader, what can you do? What will you do?"
From "Evening By Evening" by Charles Spurgeon
Uhrichsville, Barbour and Company, 1991. (Emphasis mine)
See also The bloody Roman Catholic Cult and A Cult is a cult
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Jerusalem posters call for 3rd Temple
By ABE SELIG
Posters leaving out Al Aksa mosque plastered on buses with e. Jerusalem routes.
While tensions continue to simmer around the Temple Mount after riots in and around the capital’s Old City earlier this month, a new campaign calling for the construction of the Third Temple atop the holy site has made its way to the sides of 200 Egged buses in the city, which now sport posters featuring a picture of a rebuilt temple on the Mount, and nothing else.
The posters, which contain the phrase, “May the Bais Hamikdosh [holy temple] be rebuilt speedily and within our days,” were sponsored by the Our Land of Israel group, which is led by Rabbi Shalom Dov Volpo and activist Baruch Marzel, leave out the site’s current structures – namely the the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The campaign’s organizers chose to plaster the posters on buses whose routes take them through predominately Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.
With regards to the campaign, Volpo said Israel is waiting breathlessly for the coming of the messiah and the rebuilding of the temple.
“The Arabs and President Obama know that the Temple will be built on the Temple Mount,” he said. “Instead of the temporary buildings that are there today.”
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Marzel said it was no mistake that the Islamic shrines were left out of the picture...
Click here to continue
************
Both the Bible and history reveal Jerusalem's holiest site is the TEMPLE Mount, not the mosque hill. It's past time the Jews and Israelis prove they're serious about their claims to a united Jerusalem forever and remove the foreign objects that presently pollute and occupy the Temple Mount and build the Third Temple.
The Temple Mount is meant to host the "House of Prayer for All Peoples" who seek to worship the God of Jacob.
Let the Zionists reclaim Judaism's holiest site and stake their claim to Jerusalem by removing the Arab threat and restore the Temple Mount as the Temple Mount.
Will the pope act like Belshazzar or Cyrus?
Will Rome learn from history and receive instruction from the Bible or harden their hearts and be destroyed like pharaoh and Babylon?
A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Jewish guards prevent Christians and Jews from exercising their religious right to pray on the Temple Mount? That's right! Only Muslims have unlimited access to Judaism's most holy site. Only the Koran is permitted within. The Tanach (Jewish Scripture, known to much of the world as the "Old Testament") and Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) are forbidden. Yet Israel claims to respect the religious rights of all people.
Major Upheaval in Israel?
Will an EARTHQUAKE shake Israel to its foundations and rock the world? Would the destruction of the Western/Wailing Wall and the demolition of the "Dome of the Rock" and Al-Aksa mosques—by an ACT OF GOD—serve further notice that it's time to build the Temple?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
"And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). This holy command in the Scriptures seems clear enough, so what's the problem? Why has Israel tolerated Jerusalem’s "abomination of desolation" — a Temple Mount without a Temple? Why haven't the religious leaders encouraged the people to do what they can in fulfilling this mitzva?
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Paul, speaking of the imminent Third Temple, the holy TEMPLE OF GOD (the Temple of God - not just of the Jews or any other conspiracy theory that contradicts Scripture), that Europe's wannabe divine emperor will pollute, coveting it since Satan knows (even if some religious folks don't) it is the TEMPLE OF GOD...
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
During a 1995 Root and Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, author and then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police.
The Issue of the Temple Mount
The common knowledge of our time is that the vast majority of Rabbis of this generation have prohibited the Jewish people from entering the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), the holiest site in Judaism. The Temple Mount is the site of where the Beit HaMikdash (the Jewish Temple) once stood and the place where the Moslems have erected one mosque, the al-Aqsa and a site of pilgrimage, the Dome of the Rock.
Restore Israeli Sovereignty Over Temple Mount
The Wakf, the militant Muslim authority that oversees Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site and Islam's alleged third holiest site (following Mecca and Medina) continue to show blatant disregard for Jewish, Christian and biblical history and non-Muslim sensitivities.
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Something's missing. Rome is synonymous with the Vatican, Mecca with the Kaaba, and Jerusalem's known for its Western Wall. But why should we stand before the wall, letting it obstruct our vision, when we could be praying in a Temple? Why should Jews continue to bow before an illegitimate Gentile decree that tells them where to pray? (Isaiah 10:1).
The Vatican Must Return the Temple Treasures
The Jews have prayed for 2,000 years to again see the Temple upon the Temple Mount. It's past time for prayers alone: ACTION is necessary to put faith into practice!
G-d Doesn't Listen to Jewish Prayers at the Western Wall
Gershon Salomon warned Israel and its leadership that as long as the shameful situation on the Temple Mount continues, and as long as they do not obey the call of G-d, peace will not come to the land. The enemies of Israel will continue to desire her land and will pressure those in power to divide it. Obedience to the call of G-d will bring peace, all of Israel's enemies will be removed and no one will wish to divide or desire the land.
Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must Be Investigated!
"The American Diplomat in Arafat's Corner," published in The Jerusalem Report, came as no surprise to me. It was referring to Edward Abington, Jr., the United States' former consul general in Jerusalem who is now "guiding the Palestinians through the labyrinths of Washington. And his firm is being paid $2.25 million for his expertise."
Israel's Unjust Deportation of David Ben-Ariel
As a Christian-American member of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, I had been privileged to participate in their legal demonstrations during my 10-month stay in Jerusalem awaiting dual citizenship. Israeli television often showed me with my Jewish friends carrying Israeli flags throughout the Old City.
Blow Up the Mosques or An Expired Visa?
Once again, an attempt to spread DISinformation about my unjust deportation from Israel, only provides me with another opportunity to clearly state my case and continue to highlight the plight of the Temple Mount suffering under a Nazi-Muslim occupation...
From Toledo to Jerusalem
You could say I have a God-given love for the Jews and the nation of Israel (Isaiah 62:6-7). That sacred bond has been strengthened over the years by the fact that I've been blessed to have lived all over Israel, getting to know its land and people quite well.
Dangerous Ideas?
During my brief appearance before Israel's High Court, the prosecution charged that I hold "dangerous ideas." I suppose the short-sighted prosecution would ban the Bible if he could since it contains the "dangerous ideas" that millions believe in! What are those "dangerous ideas?"
American Detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
Nobody arrested me. I was detained when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their front page an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark: "GSS Seeks to Deport American Citizen for Plot to Blow Up Al Aksa Mosque."
God commands Israel to build Temple!
Posters leaving out Al Aksa mosque plastered on buses with e. Jerusalem routes.
While tensions continue to simmer around the Temple Mount after riots in and around the capital’s Old City earlier this month, a new campaign calling for the construction of the Third Temple atop the holy site has made its way to the sides of 200 Egged buses in the city, which now sport posters featuring a picture of a rebuilt temple on the Mount, and nothing else.
The posters, which contain the phrase, “May the Bais Hamikdosh [holy temple] be rebuilt speedily and within our days,” were sponsored by the Our Land of Israel group, which is led by Rabbi Shalom Dov Volpo and activist Baruch Marzel, leave out the site’s current structures – namely the the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The campaign’s organizers chose to plaster the posters on buses whose routes take them through predominately Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.
With regards to the campaign, Volpo said Israel is waiting breathlessly for the coming of the messiah and the rebuilding of the temple.
“The Arabs and President Obama know that the Temple will be built on the Temple Mount,” he said. “Instead of the temporary buildings that are there today.”
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Marzel said it was no mistake that the Islamic shrines were left out of the picture...
Click here to continue
************
Both the Bible and history reveal Jerusalem's holiest site is the TEMPLE Mount, not the mosque hill. It's past time the Jews and Israelis prove they're serious about their claims to a united Jerusalem forever and remove the foreign objects that presently pollute and occupy the Temple Mount and build the Third Temple.
The Temple Mount is meant to host the "House of Prayer for All Peoples" who seek to worship the God of Jacob.
Let the Zionists reclaim Judaism's holiest site and stake their claim to Jerusalem by removing the Arab threat and restore the Temple Mount as the Temple Mount.
Will the pope act like Belshazzar or Cyrus?
Will Rome learn from history and receive instruction from the Bible or harden their hearts and be destroyed like pharaoh and Babylon?
A House of Prayer For All Peoples?
Jewish guards prevent Christians and Jews from exercising their religious right to pray on the Temple Mount? That's right! Only Muslims have unlimited access to Judaism's most holy site. Only the Koran is permitted within. The Tanach (Jewish Scripture, known to much of the world as the "Old Testament") and Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) are forbidden. Yet Israel claims to respect the religious rights of all people.
Major Upheaval in Israel?
Will an EARTHQUAKE shake Israel to its foundations and rock the world? Would the destruction of the Western/Wailing Wall and the demolition of the "Dome of the Rock" and Al-Aksa mosques—by an ACT OF GOD—serve further notice that it's time to build the Temple?
Third Temple Coming Soon to Jerusalem!
"And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). This holy command in the Scriptures seems clear enough, so what's the problem? Why has Israel tolerated Jerusalem’s "abomination of desolation" — a Temple Mount without a Temple? Why haven't the religious leaders encouraged the people to do what they can in fulfilling this mitzva?
The Temple of God in Holy Jerusalem
Paul, speaking of the imminent Third Temple, the holy TEMPLE OF GOD (the Temple of God - not just of the Jews or any other conspiracy theory that contradicts Scripture), that Europe's wannabe divine emperor will pollute, coveting it since Satan knows (even if some religious folks don't) it is the TEMPLE OF GOD...
Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount
During a 1995 Root and Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, author and then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police.
The Issue of the Temple Mount
The common knowledge of our time is that the vast majority of Rabbis of this generation have prohibited the Jewish people from entering the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), the holiest site in Judaism. The Temple Mount is the site of where the Beit HaMikdash (the Jewish Temple) once stood and the place where the Moslems have erected one mosque, the al-Aqsa and a site of pilgrimage, the Dome of the Rock.
Restore Israeli Sovereignty Over Temple Mount
The Wakf, the militant Muslim authority that oversees Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site and Islam's alleged third holiest site (following Mecca and Medina) continue to show blatant disregard for Jewish, Christian and biblical history and non-Muslim sensitivities.
Where's the Temple On the Temple Mount?
Something's missing. Rome is synonymous with the Vatican, Mecca with the Kaaba, and Jerusalem's known for its Western Wall. But why should we stand before the wall, letting it obstruct our vision, when we could be praying in a Temple? Why should Jews continue to bow before an illegitimate Gentile decree that tells them where to pray? (Isaiah 10:1).
The Vatican Must Return the Temple Treasures
The Jews have prayed for 2,000 years to again see the Temple upon the Temple Mount. It's past time for prayers alone: ACTION is necessary to put faith into practice!
G-d Doesn't Listen to Jewish Prayers at the Western Wall
Gershon Salomon warned Israel and its leadership that as long as the shameful situation on the Temple Mount continues, and as long as they do not obey the call of G-d, peace will not come to the land. The enemies of Israel will continue to desire her land and will pressure those in power to divide it. Obedience to the call of G-d will bring peace, all of Israel's enemies will be removed and no one will wish to divide or desire the land.
Why Edward Abington, Jr. Must Be Investigated!
"The American Diplomat in Arafat's Corner," published in The Jerusalem Report, came as no surprise to me. It was referring to Edward Abington, Jr., the United States' former consul general in Jerusalem who is now "guiding the Palestinians through the labyrinths of Washington. And his firm is being paid $2.25 million for his expertise."
Israel's Unjust Deportation of David Ben-Ariel
As a Christian-American member of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, I had been privileged to participate in their legal demonstrations during my 10-month stay in Jerusalem awaiting dual citizenship. Israeli television often showed me with my Jewish friends carrying Israeli flags throughout the Old City.
Blow Up the Mosques or An Expired Visa?
Once again, an attempt to spread DISinformation about my unjust deportation from Israel, only provides me with another opportunity to clearly state my case and continue to highlight the plight of the Temple Mount suffering under a Nazi-Muslim occupation...
From Toledo to Jerusalem
You could say I have a God-given love for the Jews and the nation of Israel (Isaiah 62:6-7). That sacred bond has been strengthened over the years by the fact that I've been blessed to have lived all over Israel, getting to know its land and people quite well.
Dangerous Ideas?
During my brief appearance before Israel's High Court, the prosecution charged that I hold "dangerous ideas." I suppose the short-sighted prosecution would ban the Bible if he could since it contains the "dangerous ideas" that millions believe in! What are those "dangerous ideas?"
American Detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound
Nobody arrested me. I was detained when I faithfully reported to the police office at 9 a.m. Monday morning, January 9, 1996 (day before my birthday) the day after The Jerusalem Post published on their front page an article shedding light on what they were doing in the dark: "GSS Seeks to Deport American Citizen for Plot to Blow Up Al Aksa Mosque."
God commands Israel to build Temple!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Resurrection Was Not on Easter Sunday!
Millions of professing Christians gather for Easter sunrise services every year. Even many who rarely go to church at any other time will attend worship services at the church of their choice on Easter Sunday. But did you know that the Good Friday-Easter tradition actually denies the only sign that Jesus offered the religious leaders of His day to prove His Messiahship? Incredible as that statement may seem, it is true—and you can prove it!
The Resurrection Was Not on Easter Sunday!
The Resurrection Was Not on Easter Sunday!
The Resurrection was not on Sunday
By Herbert W. Armstrong
WAS Jesus three days and three nights in the grave, as He said in Matthew 12:40?
Can you figure three days and three nights between sunset "Good Friday" and sunrise Easter Sunday?
IT is commonly supposed, today, Jesus was crucified on FRIDAY, and that the resurrection occurred about sunrise on Easter Sunday morning. It would seem that no one, until recently, ever thought to question or to PROVE this "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition. Yet the Bible tells us to PROVE all things. And you will be literally astounded by this proof. For PROOF there is but one dependable authority; a sole historical record -- the Bible.
Tradition No Evidence
There were no eye-witnesses to the resurrection. Even so-called "apostolic fathers" had no source of information save that record which is today available to us. Tradition, then, must be dismissed.
What are the recorded facts? The doubting Pharisees were asking Jesus for a SIGN -- a supernatural evidence -- in proof of His Messiahship.
Jesus answered: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:38-40).
Now consider, please, the tremendous import -- the overwhelming significance -- of Jesus' statement!
He expressly declared that the ONLY SIGN He Would give to prove He was the Messiah was that He should be just THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the rock-hewn sepulchre in "the heart of the earth."
The Significance of the Sign
These Christ-rejecting Pharisees demanded PROOF. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself -- it was the LENGTH OF TIME He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected.
Think what this means! Jesus staked His claim to being your Saviour and mine upon remaining exactly THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the tomb. IF He remained just three days and three nights inside the earth, He would PROVE Himself the Saviour -- if He failed in this sign, He must be rejected as an imposter!
No wonder Satan has caused unbelievers to scoff at the story of Jonah and the "Whale!" No wonder the Devil has set up a tradition that DENIES Jesus is the Messiah!
The Dilemma of the Higher Critics
This one and only supernatural PROOF ever given by Jesus for His Messiahship has greatly bothered the commentators and the higher critics. Their attempts to explain away this sole proof for Christ's divinity are ludicrous in the extreme. For explain this away they must, or their "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition collapses!
One commentator says, "Of course we know that Jesus was actually in the tomb only half as long as He thought He would be!" Some expositors impose upon our credulity to the extent of asking us to believe that "in the GREEK language, in which the New Testament was written, the expression 'three days and three nights' means three PERIODS, either of day or of night!"
Jesus, they say, was placed in the tomb shortly before sunset FRIDAY, and rose at sunrise Sunday morning -- two nights and one day.
The BIBLE Definition
But the BIBLE definition of the duration of "nights and days" is simple.
Even these same higher critics admit that in the HEBREW language, in which the book of Jonah was written, the expression "three days and three nights" means a period of 72 hours -- three twelve-hour days and three twelve-hour nights.
Notice Jonah 1:17: "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS!" This, they admit was a period of 72 hours. And Jesus distinctly said that AS Jonah was three days and three nights in the great fish's belly, SO He would be the same length of time in His grave!
As Jonah was in the "GRAVE" (see marginal references, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a saviour to the people of Nineveh upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be 72 hours in His grave, thereupon being resurrected by God to become the saviour of the world!
Did Jesus know how much time was in a "day" and in a "night"? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day... but if a man walk in the NIGHT, he stumbleth." (John 11:9-10).
Notice the BIBLE DEFINITION of the expression, 'THE THIRD DAY." Text after text tells us that Jesus rose THE THIRD DAY. See how the BIBLE defines the time required to fulfill "THE THIRD DAY."
In Genesis 1:4 God "divided the LIGHT from the DARKNESS. And God called the LIGHT Day, and the DARKNESS He called Night. And the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the FIRST DAY ...and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were THE SECOND DAY,... and the evening (now three periods of darkness called NIGHT -- three nights) and the morning (now three periods of light called DAY -- three days) were THE THIRD DAY." (Gen. 1:4-13).
Here we have the ONLY BIBLE DEFINITION which explains and COUNTS UP the amount of time involved in the expression "THE THIRD DAY." It includes three dark periods called NIGHT, and three light periods called DAY -- three days and three nights, and Jesus said they contained TWELVE HOURS for each period -- a total of 72 hours!
That ought to be conclusive! Any seven-year old, near the end of the second grade, could figure it easily. We praise God that His plain truths are revealed UNTO BABES, and hidden from the wise and prudent!
What Is Wrong?
What is wrong with these plain, simple words of Jesus? How do these wise and prudent theologians KNOW Jesus was crucified "Good Friday" and rose "Easter Sunday?"
The simple answer is, THEY DO NOT KNOW IT -- for IT IS NOT TRUE! It is merely TRADITION -- a tradition we have been taught from childhood, and carelessly ASSUMED! Jesus warns against making "the Word of God of none effect through your TRADITION." (Mark 7:13).
We have examined two scriptural witnesses, in Matthew and in Jonah, both setting the duration of the body of Jesus in the tomb as three days and three nights, which the Scriptures plainly define as 72 hours of time. Now let us examine four other Scriptural witnesses that PROVE THE SAME THING.
Notice Mark 8:31. "And He began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and AFTER three days rise again."
Our young second grader can figure this. IF Jesus had been killed on Friday, and then AFTER one day He had risen, the resurrection would have occurred on Saturday evening. IF AFTER TWO DAYS, it would have occurred Sunday evening, and if AFTER THREE DAYS, it would have occurred MONDAY EVENING!
Examine this text carefully. You cannot, by any process of arithmetic, figure any less than a full 72 hours -- three days and three nights -- in a resurrection which occurred three days AFTER the crucifixion! If Jesus was in the grave only from Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, then this text too, must be torn out of your Bible or else you 'must reject Jesus Christ as your Saviour! If He rose AFTER THREE DAYS, it might have been more than 72 hours, but it could not have been a second less!
Notice now Mark 9:31. "...they shall kill him; and AFTER that he is killed, he shall rise THE THIRD DAY." The duration expressed here must be between 48 and 72 hours. It could not be one second PAST 72 hours, and Jesus still rise THE THIRD DAY. And it could not be Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, because that is only 36 hours, carrying us into the middle of the second day, AFTER He was killed.
In Matthew 27:63 Jesus is quoted as saying, "AFTER THREE DAYS I will rise again." This cannot possibly be figured as less than 72 full hours.
And in John 2:18-22, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN three days I will raise it up... but HE spake of the temple of his body." To be raised up IN three days after being destroyed, or crucified and buried, could not be more than 72 hours.
If we are to accept all the testimony of THE BIBLE, we must conclude that Jesus was exactly three days and three nights -- three full 24-hour days -- 72 hours in the grave or the only supernatural proof He gave must fail.
The TIME OF DAY of Resurrection
Now notice carefully this fact: In order to be three days and three nights -- 72 hours -- in the tomb, our Lord had to be resurrected at exactly THE SAME TIME OF DAY that His body was buried in the tomb!
Let us realize that very vital fact.
If we can find the TIME OF DAY of the burial, then we have found the TIME OF DAY of the resurrection! If the burial, for instance, was at sunrise, then in order to be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection likewise had to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon, the resurrection was at noon. If the burial was at sunset, the resurrection was at sunset, three days later.
Jesus cried on the cross soon after "the ninth hour" or three o'clock in the afternoon. (Matt. 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46.)
The crucifixion day was called "the preparation," or day before "the sabbath." (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14). This day ended at sunset, according to Bible reckoning (Lev. 23:32).
Yet Jesus was buried before this same day ended -- before sunset. (Matt. 27:57; Luke 23:52-54). John 19:42, John adds, "There laid, they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day." According to the laws observed by the Jews all dead bodies must be buried before the beginning of a Sabbath or feast day.
Hence Jesus was buried BEFORE SUNSET on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3 p.m.
Therefore -- notice carefully! -- the BURIAL OF CHRIST'S BODY WAS IN THE LATE AFTERNOON! It was between 3 p.m. and sunset as these Scriptures prove.
And since the RESURRECTION had to occur at the SAME TIME OF DAY, three days later, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED, not at sunrise, but IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near sunset! Startling as this fact may be, it is the PLAIN BIBLE TRUTH!
If Jesus rose at any other time of day, He could not have been three days and three nights in His grave. If He rose at any other time of day, He failed to prove, by the only sign He gave that He was the true Messiah, the Son of the living Creator! Either He rose near the END of a day near sunset, or else He is not the Christ! He staked His claim on that one and only sign!
So a time-honored tradition must be shattered! Let us praise God for His TRUTH which has been preserved through the dark ages, so that the true light may now shine forth, if our hearts and minds are still willing to receive it! Praise His name! Do you LOVE the TRUTH as it is revealed, or despise it and love the traditions you have heard? "Whosoever despiseth the Word shall be destroyed!" Let us say with David, "How precious also are THY thoughts unto me, 0 God!"
What Day Was the Resurrection?
Now which DAY OF THE WEEK was the resurrection day?
The first investigators, Mary Magdalene and her companions, came to the sepulchre on the first day of the week (Sunday) very early, while it was yet dark, as the sun was beginning to rise, at dawn. (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
Now here are the texts most people have SUPPOSED stated the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday morning. But they do not say that!
When the women arrived, the tomb was already OPEN! At that time Sunday morning while it was yet dark -- JESUS WAS NOT THERE! Notice how the angel says "HE IS NOT HERE. BUT IS RISEN!" See Mark 16:6; Luke 24:3; John 20:2; Matt. 28:5-6.
Jesus was ALREADY RISEN at sunrise Sunday morning! Of course He was. He rose from the grave IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near SUNSET!
And since we know the resurrection was just shortly prior to that Sunday morning, and that it occurred in the late afternoon of the day, we now may know THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
The Sabbath day ended at sunset. It was late on that day, before the beginning of the first day of the week. It was not, then, a Sunday resurrection at all -- it was a Sabbath resurrection!
Did Christ Fulfill His Sign?
Now all this is based on the supposition that Jesus did fulfill His only SIGN of being three days and three nights in the grave. All our evidence is based on the claims of Jesus BEFORE His crucifixion. But some of the higher critics and doctors of divinity tell us that Jesus made a mistake -- that He was only in the tomb HALF AS LONG as He expected to be. Let m have PROOF as to whether He did spend the exact amount of time in the grave He said He would.
Notice that in Matt. 28:6, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD gives this testimony, which we now present as EVIDENCE! "He is not here: for He is risen, AS HE SAID." And He certainly did not rise AS HE SAID unless He rose at the precise TIME that He had said! So we have the proof of the ANGEL OF THE LORD, recorded in the sacred WORD OF GOD that Jesus did fulfill His sign -- He was three days and three nights in the earth -- He did rise Sabbath afternoon, and not Sunday morning!
Another proof that Christ was in the grave the full length of time He expected to be is found in I Cor. 15:3-4.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES."
His death and burial were ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES -- NOT CONTRARY TO THEM.
The THIRD DAY following His Wednesday burial was the Sabbath; THREE FULL DAYS spent in the grave ended Saturday afternoon just prior to sunset, not Sunday morning.
Which Day Was the Crucifixion?
It is not difficult now to determine the day on which Jesus was crucified. Counting back three days from the Sabbath when He rose, we come to Wednesday, the fourth or very middle day of the week.
Jesus was crucified on WEDNESDAY, the middle day of the week, He died on the cross shortly after 3 p.m. that afternoon, was buried before sunset Wednesday evening. Now COUNT the THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS. His body was Wednesday, Thursday and Friday NIGHTS in the grave -- THREE NIGHTS. It also was there through the daylight part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- THREE DAYS. He rose Saturday -- the Sabbath -- late afternoon, shortly before sunset, at the same TIME OF DAY that He was buried! And Sunday morning at sunrise He was NOT THERE -- HE WAS ALREADY RISEN!
It is significant that in Daniel's prophecy of the "Seventy weeks" (Dan. 9:24-27), Jesus was to be cut off "in the midst of the week." While this prophecy has the application of a day for a year, so that this 70th week became a literal seven years, Christ being "cut off' after three and a half years' ministry, as He was, yet it is significant that He was also "cut off' ON THE MIDDLE DAY OF A LITERAL WEEK!
WHAT Sabbath Followed the Crucifixion?
Now we come to an objection some may raise, yet the very point which PROVES this truth! Perhaps you have noticed that the Scriptures say the day AFTER the crucifixion was a SABBATH! Hence, for centuries, people have blindly assumed the crucifixion was on Friday!
Now we have shown by all four Gospels that the crucifixion day -- Wednesday -- was called "the preparation." The preparation day for THE SABBATH. But for WHAT Sabbath?
John's Gospel gives the definite answer: "It was the preparation OF the PASSOVER."
"For that Sabbath day was an HIGH DAY." (John 19:14, 31).
Just what is a "HIGH DAY"? Ask any Jew! He will tell you it is one of the annual holy days, or feast days. The Israelites observed seven of these every year -- every one called SABBATHS! Annual Sabbaths, falling on certain annual calendar dates, and on different days of the week in different years, just like the Roman holidays now observed. These Sabbaths might fall on Monday, on Thursday, or on Sunday.
If you will notice the following texts, you will see these annual holydays were all called Sabbath days: Lev. 23:24; Lev. 16:31; Lev. 23:39; Lev. 23:15; Lev 23:26-32.
Notice Matthew 26:2: "Ye know that after two days is the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified." And if you will follow through this chapter you will see that Jesus was crucified ON THE PASSOVER!
And what was THE PASSOVER? It was the ancient day of Israel commemorating their deliverance from Egypt, and picturing to them the crucifixion of Christ and their deliverance from sin. In the twelfth chapter of Exodus you will find the story of the original Passover. The children of Israel killed the lambs, and struck the blood over the doorposts and on the side-posts of their houses, and wherever the blood had thus been applied the Lord PASSED OVER that house, sparing it from death. Following the Passover, was a holy convocation or annual Sabbath.
Observe the dates: "And in the fourteenth day of the first month is THE PASSOVER of the LORD. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the FEAST." (Num. 28:16-17).
The Passover lamb, killed every year on the 14th of the first month called "Abib," was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Christ is OUR PASSOVER, sacrificed for us. g Cor. 5:7).
JESUS WAS SLAIN ON THE VERY SAME DAY THE PASSOVER HAD BEEN SLAIN EVERY YEAR! He was crucified on the 14th of Abib, the first Hebrew month of the year! And this day, the PASSOVER, was the day before, and the preparation for, THE FEAST day, or annual highday Sabbath, which occurred on the 15th of Abib. THIS Sabbath might occur on ANY day of the week. Frequently it occurs, even today, and is observed by the Jews, on THURSDAY. The Jews observed this "high-day" Sabbath on Thursday, 1952 and will in 55, 59 and 62.
And the Hebrew calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of Abib, Passover day, the day Jesus was crucified, was WEDNESDAY. And the annual Sabbath was THURSDAY. This was the Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus late that Wednesday afternoon. THERE WERE TWO SEPARATE SABBATHS THAT WEEK!
Honest Objections Examined
Someone is sure to notice Mark 16:9, thinking this text says the resurrection was upon Sunday. But if you read the whole sentence, it does not say that at all. The expression "was risen" is in the perfect tense. What was Jesus' condition early the first day of the week? Does it say he "was rising" or that He "did rise" from the grave? No, early the first day of the week, at the time He appeared to Mary Magdalene, He WAS RISEN. Of course He was! He had risen the late afternoon before, so naturally He WAS RISEN Sunday morning. The text does not in any way refute the scores of other texts we have given.
Another passage that might confuse, is Luke 24:21: "and besides all this, today is the third day SINCE THESE THINGS WERE DONE." "These things" included all the events pertaining to the resurrection -- the seizing of Jesus, delivering Him to be tried, the actual crucifixion, and, finally the setting of the seal and the watch over the tomb the following day, or Thursday. Study verses 18-20, telling of "these things" and also Matt. 27:62-66. "These things" were not completed until the watch was set, Thursday. And the text says Sunday was the third day SINCE THESE THINGS were done. These things were not done until Thursday, and Sunday truly was the third day since Thursday. But it was not the third day since FRIDAY, so this text could not prove a Friday crucifixion.
The Final Proof
There is yet one final clinching PROOF of this amazing truth.
A vital text proving that there were two Sabbaths in that week has been obscured by almost every translation into English. Only Ferrar Fenton's version has this point correct.
Turn to Matthew 28:l. In the common version it says, "In the end of the Sabbath," or more correctly, "after the Sabbath." Notice that both of these renderings use the singular -- Sabbath. But in in the original Greek the word is in the PLURAL. Fenton renders it correctly by saying, "After the SABBATHS," although the remaining part of the verse he has not translated quite correctly. In a footnote to this text, he says, "The Greek original is in the plural, 'Sabbaths."
According to Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and her companions did not buy their spices to annoint the body of Jesus until AFTER THE SABBATH WAS PAST. They could not prepare them until AFTER this -- yet after preparing the spices THEY RESTED THE SABBATH DAY ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT! (Luke 23:56).
Study these two texts carefully.
There is only one possible explanation: After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of unleavened bread -- which was Thursday -- these women purchased and prepared their spices on FRIDAY, and then they rested on the weekly Sabbath, Saturday, according to the Commandment! (Exodus 20:8-11).
A comparison of these two texts PROVES there were TWO Sabbaths that week, with a DAY IN BETWEEN. Otherwise, these texts contradict themselves.
For proof of the pagan origin of such long-cherished days as Easter and Christmas, request our free booklets on those two subjects. The shocking truth is that nowhere can you find sanctions for those two holidays in
the Bible. It is time we discovered the source of our religious beliefs and found out whether we ought to observe them.
WAS Jesus three days and three nights in the grave, as He said in Matthew 12:40?
Can you figure three days and three nights between sunset "Good Friday" and sunrise Easter Sunday?
IT is commonly supposed, today, Jesus was crucified on FRIDAY, and that the resurrection occurred about sunrise on Easter Sunday morning. It would seem that no one, until recently, ever thought to question or to PROVE this "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition. Yet the Bible tells us to PROVE all things. And you will be literally astounded by this proof. For PROOF there is but one dependable authority; a sole historical record -- the Bible.
Tradition No Evidence
There were no eye-witnesses to the resurrection. Even so-called "apostolic fathers" had no source of information save that record which is today available to us. Tradition, then, must be dismissed.
What are the recorded facts? The doubting Pharisees were asking Jesus for a SIGN -- a supernatural evidence -- in proof of His Messiahship.
Jesus answered: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:38-40).
Now consider, please, the tremendous import -- the overwhelming significance -- of Jesus' statement!
He expressly declared that the ONLY SIGN He Would give to prove He was the Messiah was that He should be just THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the rock-hewn sepulchre in "the heart of the earth."
The Significance of the Sign
These Christ-rejecting Pharisees demanded PROOF. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself -- it was the LENGTH OF TIME He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected.
Think what this means! Jesus staked His claim to being your Saviour and mine upon remaining exactly THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the tomb. IF He remained just three days and three nights inside the earth, He would PROVE Himself the Saviour -- if He failed in this sign, He must be rejected as an imposter!
No wonder Satan has caused unbelievers to scoff at the story of Jonah and the "Whale!" No wonder the Devil has set up a tradition that DENIES Jesus is the Messiah!
The Dilemma of the Higher Critics
This one and only supernatural PROOF ever given by Jesus for His Messiahship has greatly bothered the commentators and the higher critics. Their attempts to explain away this sole proof for Christ's divinity are ludicrous in the extreme. For explain this away they must, or their "Good-Friday-Easter" tradition collapses!
One commentator says, "Of course we know that Jesus was actually in the tomb only half as long as He thought He would be!" Some expositors impose upon our credulity to the extent of asking us to believe that "in the GREEK language, in which the New Testament was written, the expression 'three days and three nights' means three PERIODS, either of day or of night!"
Jesus, they say, was placed in the tomb shortly before sunset FRIDAY, and rose at sunrise Sunday morning -- two nights and one day.
The BIBLE Definition
But the BIBLE definition of the duration of "nights and days" is simple.
Even these same higher critics admit that in the HEBREW language, in which the book of Jonah was written, the expression "three days and three nights" means a period of 72 hours -- three twelve-hour days and three twelve-hour nights.
Notice Jonah 1:17: "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS!" This, they admit was a period of 72 hours. And Jesus distinctly said that AS Jonah was three days and three nights in the great fish's belly, SO He would be the same length of time in His grave!
As Jonah was in the "GRAVE" (see marginal references, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a saviour to the people of Nineveh upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be 72 hours in His grave, thereupon being resurrected by God to become the saviour of the world!
Did Jesus know how much time was in a "day" and in a "night"? Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in a day... but if a man walk in the NIGHT, he stumbleth." (John 11:9-10).
Notice the BIBLE DEFINITION of the expression, 'THE THIRD DAY." Text after text tells us that Jesus rose THE THIRD DAY. See how the BIBLE defines the time required to fulfill "THE THIRD DAY."
In Genesis 1:4 God "divided the LIGHT from the DARKNESS. And God called the LIGHT Day, and the DARKNESS He called Night. And the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the FIRST DAY ...and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were THE SECOND DAY,... and the evening (now three periods of darkness called NIGHT -- three nights) and the morning (now three periods of light called DAY -- three days) were THE THIRD DAY." (Gen. 1:4-13).
Here we have the ONLY BIBLE DEFINITION which explains and COUNTS UP the amount of time involved in the expression "THE THIRD DAY." It includes three dark periods called NIGHT, and three light periods called DAY -- three days and three nights, and Jesus said they contained TWELVE HOURS for each period -- a total of 72 hours!
That ought to be conclusive! Any seven-year old, near the end of the second grade, could figure it easily. We praise God that His plain truths are revealed UNTO BABES, and hidden from the wise and prudent!
What Is Wrong?
What is wrong with these plain, simple words of Jesus? How do these wise and prudent theologians KNOW Jesus was crucified "Good Friday" and rose "Easter Sunday?"
The simple answer is, THEY DO NOT KNOW IT -- for IT IS NOT TRUE! It is merely TRADITION -- a tradition we have been taught from childhood, and carelessly ASSUMED! Jesus warns against making "the Word of God of none effect through your TRADITION." (Mark 7:13).
We have examined two scriptural witnesses, in Matthew and in Jonah, both setting the duration of the body of Jesus in the tomb as three days and three nights, which the Scriptures plainly define as 72 hours of time. Now let us examine four other Scriptural witnesses that PROVE THE SAME THING.
Notice Mark 8:31. "And He began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and AFTER three days rise again."
Our young second grader can figure this. IF Jesus had been killed on Friday, and then AFTER one day He had risen, the resurrection would have occurred on Saturday evening. IF AFTER TWO DAYS, it would have occurred Sunday evening, and if AFTER THREE DAYS, it would have occurred MONDAY EVENING!
Examine this text carefully. You cannot, by any process of arithmetic, figure any less than a full 72 hours -- three days and three nights -- in a resurrection which occurred three days AFTER the crucifixion! If Jesus was in the grave only from Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, then this text too, must be torn out of your Bible or else you 'must reject Jesus Christ as your Saviour! If He rose AFTER THREE DAYS, it might have been more than 72 hours, but it could not have been a second less!
Notice now Mark 9:31. "...they shall kill him; and AFTER that he is killed, he shall rise THE THIRD DAY." The duration expressed here must be between 48 and 72 hours. It could not be one second PAST 72 hours, and Jesus still rise THE THIRD DAY. And it could not be Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, because that is only 36 hours, carrying us into the middle of the second day, AFTER He was killed.
In Matthew 27:63 Jesus is quoted as saying, "AFTER THREE DAYS I will rise again." This cannot possibly be figured as less than 72 full hours.
And in John 2:18-22, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN three days I will raise it up... but HE spake of the temple of his body." To be raised up IN three days after being destroyed, or crucified and buried, could not be more than 72 hours.
If we are to accept all the testimony of THE BIBLE, we must conclude that Jesus was exactly three days and three nights -- three full 24-hour days -- 72 hours in the grave or the only supernatural proof He gave must fail.
The TIME OF DAY of Resurrection
Now notice carefully this fact: In order to be three days and three nights -- 72 hours -- in the tomb, our Lord had to be resurrected at exactly THE SAME TIME OF DAY that His body was buried in the tomb!
Let us realize that very vital fact.
If we can find the TIME OF DAY of the burial, then we have found the TIME OF DAY of the resurrection! If the burial, for instance, was at sunrise, then in order to be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection likewise had to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon, the resurrection was at noon. If the burial was at sunset, the resurrection was at sunset, three days later.
Jesus cried on the cross soon after "the ninth hour" or three o'clock in the afternoon. (Matt. 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46.)
The crucifixion day was called "the preparation," or day before "the sabbath." (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14). This day ended at sunset, according to Bible reckoning (Lev. 23:32).
Yet Jesus was buried before this same day ended -- before sunset. (Matt. 27:57; Luke 23:52-54). John 19:42, John adds, "There laid, they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day." According to the laws observed by the Jews all dead bodies must be buried before the beginning of a Sabbath or feast day.
Hence Jesus was buried BEFORE SUNSET on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3 p.m.
Therefore -- notice carefully! -- the BURIAL OF CHRIST'S BODY WAS IN THE LATE AFTERNOON! It was between 3 p.m. and sunset as these Scriptures prove.
And since the RESURRECTION had to occur at the SAME TIME OF DAY, three days later, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED, not at sunrise, but IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near sunset! Startling as this fact may be, it is the PLAIN BIBLE TRUTH!
If Jesus rose at any other time of day, He could not have been three days and three nights in His grave. If He rose at any other time of day, He failed to prove, by the only sign He gave that He was the true Messiah, the Son of the living Creator! Either He rose near the END of a day near sunset, or else He is not the Christ! He staked His claim on that one and only sign!
So a time-honored tradition must be shattered! Let us praise God for His TRUTH which has been preserved through the dark ages, so that the true light may now shine forth, if our hearts and minds are still willing to receive it! Praise His name! Do you LOVE the TRUTH as it is revealed, or despise it and love the traditions you have heard? "Whosoever despiseth the Word shall be destroyed!" Let us say with David, "How precious also are THY thoughts unto me, 0 God!"
What Day Was the Resurrection?
Now which DAY OF THE WEEK was the resurrection day?
The first investigators, Mary Magdalene and her companions, came to the sepulchre on the first day of the week (Sunday) very early, while it was yet dark, as the sun was beginning to rise, at dawn. (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
Now here are the texts most people have SUPPOSED stated the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday morning. But they do not say that!
When the women arrived, the tomb was already OPEN! At that time Sunday morning while it was yet dark -- JESUS WAS NOT THERE! Notice how the angel says "HE IS NOT HERE. BUT IS RISEN!" See Mark 16:6; Luke 24:3; John 20:2; Matt. 28:5-6.
Jesus was ALREADY RISEN at sunrise Sunday morning! Of course He was. He rose from the grave IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near SUNSET!
And since we know the resurrection was just shortly prior to that Sunday morning, and that it occurred in the late afternoon of the day, we now may know THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
The Sabbath day ended at sunset. It was late on that day, before the beginning of the first day of the week. It was not, then, a Sunday resurrection at all -- it was a Sabbath resurrection!
Did Christ Fulfill His Sign?
Now all this is based on the supposition that Jesus did fulfill His only SIGN of being three days and three nights in the grave. All our evidence is based on the claims of Jesus BEFORE His crucifixion. But some of the higher critics and doctors of divinity tell us that Jesus made a mistake -- that He was only in the tomb HALF AS LONG as He expected to be. Let m have PROOF as to whether He did spend the exact amount of time in the grave He said He would.
Notice that in Matt. 28:6, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD gives this testimony, which we now present as EVIDENCE! "He is not here: for He is risen, AS HE SAID." And He certainly did not rise AS HE SAID unless He rose at the precise TIME that He had said! So we have the proof of the ANGEL OF THE LORD, recorded in the sacred WORD OF GOD that Jesus did fulfill His sign -- He was three days and three nights in the earth -- He did rise Sabbath afternoon, and not Sunday morning!
Another proof that Christ was in the grave the full length of time He expected to be is found in I Cor. 15:3-4.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES."
His death and burial were ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES -- NOT CONTRARY TO THEM.
The THIRD DAY following His Wednesday burial was the Sabbath; THREE FULL DAYS spent in the grave ended Saturday afternoon just prior to sunset, not Sunday morning.
Which Day Was the Crucifixion?
It is not difficult now to determine the day on which Jesus was crucified. Counting back three days from the Sabbath when He rose, we come to Wednesday, the fourth or very middle day of the week.
Jesus was crucified on WEDNESDAY, the middle day of the week, He died on the cross shortly after 3 p.m. that afternoon, was buried before sunset Wednesday evening. Now COUNT the THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS. His body was Wednesday, Thursday and Friday NIGHTS in the grave -- THREE NIGHTS. It also was there through the daylight part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- THREE DAYS. He rose Saturday -- the Sabbath -- late afternoon, shortly before sunset, at the same TIME OF DAY that He was buried! And Sunday morning at sunrise He was NOT THERE -- HE WAS ALREADY RISEN!
It is significant that in Daniel's prophecy of the "Seventy weeks" (Dan. 9:24-27), Jesus was to be cut off "in the midst of the week." While this prophecy has the application of a day for a year, so that this 70th week became a literal seven years, Christ being "cut off' after three and a half years' ministry, as He was, yet it is significant that He was also "cut off' ON THE MIDDLE DAY OF A LITERAL WEEK!
WHAT Sabbath Followed the Crucifixion?
Now we come to an objection some may raise, yet the very point which PROVES this truth! Perhaps you have noticed that the Scriptures say the day AFTER the crucifixion was a SABBATH! Hence, for centuries, people have blindly assumed the crucifixion was on Friday!
Now we have shown by all four Gospels that the crucifixion day -- Wednesday -- was called "the preparation." The preparation day for THE SABBATH. But for WHAT Sabbath?
John's Gospel gives the definite answer: "It was the preparation OF the PASSOVER."
"For that Sabbath day was an HIGH DAY." (John 19:14, 31).
Just what is a "HIGH DAY"? Ask any Jew! He will tell you it is one of the annual holy days, or feast days. The Israelites observed seven of these every year -- every one called SABBATHS! Annual Sabbaths, falling on certain annual calendar dates, and on different days of the week in different years, just like the Roman holidays now observed. These Sabbaths might fall on Monday, on Thursday, or on Sunday.
If you will notice the following texts, you will see these annual holydays were all called Sabbath days: Lev. 23:24; Lev. 16:31; Lev. 23:39; Lev. 23:15; Lev 23:26-32.
Notice Matthew 26:2: "Ye know that after two days is the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified." And if you will follow through this chapter you will see that Jesus was crucified ON THE PASSOVER!
And what was THE PASSOVER? It was the ancient day of Israel commemorating their deliverance from Egypt, and picturing to them the crucifixion of Christ and their deliverance from sin. In the twelfth chapter of Exodus you will find the story of the original Passover. The children of Israel killed the lambs, and struck the blood over the doorposts and on the side-posts of their houses, and wherever the blood had thus been applied the Lord PASSED OVER that house, sparing it from death. Following the Passover, was a holy convocation or annual Sabbath.
Observe the dates: "And in the fourteenth day of the first month is THE PASSOVER of the LORD. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the FEAST." (Num. 28:16-17).
The Passover lamb, killed every year on the 14th of the first month called "Abib," was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Christ is OUR PASSOVER, sacrificed for us. g Cor. 5:7).
JESUS WAS SLAIN ON THE VERY SAME DAY THE PASSOVER HAD BEEN SLAIN EVERY YEAR! He was crucified on the 14th of Abib, the first Hebrew month of the year! And this day, the PASSOVER, was the day before, and the preparation for, THE FEAST day, or annual highday Sabbath, which occurred on the 15th of Abib. THIS Sabbath might occur on ANY day of the week. Frequently it occurs, even today, and is observed by the Jews, on THURSDAY. The Jews observed this "high-day" Sabbath on Thursday, 1952 and will in 55, 59 and 62.
And the Hebrew calendar shows that in the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of Abib, Passover day, the day Jesus was crucified, was WEDNESDAY. And the annual Sabbath was THURSDAY. This was the Sabbath that drew on as Joseph of Arimathea hastened to bury the body of Jesus late that Wednesday afternoon. THERE WERE TWO SEPARATE SABBATHS THAT WEEK!
Honest Objections Examined
Someone is sure to notice Mark 16:9, thinking this text says the resurrection was upon Sunday. But if you read the whole sentence, it does not say that at all. The expression "was risen" is in the perfect tense. What was Jesus' condition early the first day of the week? Does it say he "was rising" or that He "did rise" from the grave? No, early the first day of the week, at the time He appeared to Mary Magdalene, He WAS RISEN. Of course He was! He had risen the late afternoon before, so naturally He WAS RISEN Sunday morning. The text does not in any way refute the scores of other texts we have given.
Another passage that might confuse, is Luke 24:21: "and besides all this, today is the third day SINCE THESE THINGS WERE DONE." "These things" included all the events pertaining to the resurrection -- the seizing of Jesus, delivering Him to be tried, the actual crucifixion, and, finally the setting of the seal and the watch over the tomb the following day, or Thursday. Study verses 18-20, telling of "these things" and also Matt. 27:62-66. "These things" were not completed until the watch was set, Thursday. And the text says Sunday was the third day SINCE THESE THINGS were done. These things were not done until Thursday, and Sunday truly was the third day since Thursday. But it was not the third day since FRIDAY, so this text could not prove a Friday crucifixion.
The Final Proof
There is yet one final clinching PROOF of this amazing truth.
A vital text proving that there were two Sabbaths in that week has been obscured by almost every translation into English. Only Ferrar Fenton's version has this point correct.
Turn to Matthew 28:l. In the common version it says, "In the end of the Sabbath," or more correctly, "after the Sabbath." Notice that both of these renderings use the singular -- Sabbath. But in in the original Greek the word is in the PLURAL. Fenton renders it correctly by saying, "After the SABBATHS," although the remaining part of the verse he has not translated quite correctly. In a footnote to this text, he says, "The Greek original is in the plural, 'Sabbaths."
According to Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and her companions did not buy their spices to annoint the body of Jesus until AFTER THE SABBATH WAS PAST. They could not prepare them until AFTER this -- yet after preparing the spices THEY RESTED THE SABBATH DAY ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT! (Luke 23:56).
Study these two texts carefully.
There is only one possible explanation: After the annual high-day Sabbath, the feast day of the days of unleavened bread -- which was Thursday -- these women purchased and prepared their spices on FRIDAY, and then they rested on the weekly Sabbath, Saturday, according to the Commandment! (Exodus 20:8-11).
A comparison of these two texts PROVES there were TWO Sabbaths that week, with a DAY IN BETWEEN. Otherwise, these texts contradict themselves.
For proof of the pagan origin of such long-cherished days as Easter and Christmas, request our free booklets on those two subjects. The shocking truth is that nowhere can you find sanctions for those two holidays in
the Bible. It is time we discovered the source of our religious beliefs and found out whether we ought to observe them.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Passover for Christians
The Passover Memorial
When did God decree that Jesus could declare "it is finished" and die on the stake? Why at the very same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Passover lambs at the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Passover lambs during the final hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not at the beginning of the 14th, that the Passover lambs were killed.
Click here to continue reading
When did God decree that Jesus could declare "it is finished" and die on the stake? Why at the very same time that THE JEWS were sacrificing their Passover lambs at the Temple! The Jews had always killed the Passover lambs during the final hours of the 14th. It was towards the end of the 14th, not at the beginning of the 14th, that the Passover lambs were killed.
Click here to continue reading
Rapture?
Don't Fall for the Rapture!
We meet the returning Christ in the air and RETURN TO EARTH - to the Mount of Olives - and reign with but under Him, composing the Kingdom of God: just like the Bible clearly says once we remove traditional blinders.
We meet the returning Christ in the air and RETURN TO EARTH - to the Mount of Olives - and reign with but under Him, composing the Kingdom of God: just like the Bible clearly says once we remove traditional blinders.
The Rapture or Place of Safety?
We know those who are accounted worthy to escape WWIII, those with a prayerful attitude and watchful spirit, growing and overcoming and sensitive to the lead of the Holy Spirit (Luke 21:34-36), will be more than provided for in "Her Place," as our gracious Lord of Hosts has promised (Revelation 12:14).
We know those who are accounted worthy to escape WWIII, those with a prayerful attitude and watchful spirit, growing and overcoming and sensitive to the lead of the Holy Spirit (Luke 21:34-36), will be more than provided for in "Her Place," as our gracious Lord of Hosts has promised (Revelation 12:14).
The REAL JESUS Can't Return Until...
Prophecy clearly reveals that the REAL JESUS CHRIST will not return to Earth from Heaven (in full view of all mankind -- not from some secret EU or Vatican chamber or desert cave) until after Jerusalem has suffered under a Gentile EU occupation for three and one half years
Prophecy clearly reveals that the REAL JESUS CHRIST will not return to Earth from Heaven (in full view of all mankind -- not from some secret EU or Vatican chamber or desert cave) until after Jerusalem has suffered under a Gentile EU occupation for three and one half years
Saturday, March 27, 2010
New Commandments?
Does New Covenant Mean "New Commandments?"
By Jack Hertzog
God has ways to love Him, which He has revealed to Israel and humanity (Ex.20:6 ~ Ps. 78:7 ~ Matt.19:17 ~ John 14:15 1 John 2:3), and God says also "By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome" ( 1 John 5:2,3).
All through the scriptures, from the earliest to the latter scriptures (Rev.22:14), the keeping of the commandments are heavily stressed as the way to love and please God; and we can not find any place that says anything different. Is any other commandment mentioned? Yes, but not any change from the original Ten Commandments.
The "New Commandment" (John 13:34) is, that we love one another, as Christ Loved us, and a New Commandment I give you" (1 John 2:8). But this commandment was not really new. It was just new to the church (1 John 2:7), who hadn't had much knowledge about the spiritual connotations of God and His Word. Remember, Christ said "Love one another, as I have loved you", and Christ was stressing love one another as I have Loved you. There was only one way that Christ Loved them and that was by the love and power of the Holy Spirit, which will always lead people toward the obeying of the ten commandments.
There is also a scripture that says "The Letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive" ( 2 Corr. 3:6 ), and "Not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit"(Romans 7:6). This says nothing about no longer keeping the Ten Commandments, which we've always been commanded to keep, from the earlier scriptures unto the latter scriptures, because Paul says in (Romans 7:7), is the Law sin? Certainly not! He was showing that he was serving the Law of God in His inward being (Romans 7:22), but he was showing also, that he fell down before God's law quite often, because of his human weakness.
The Scripture "The Letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive shows that though we are always expected to keep the Ten Commandments, we still need something else, and that is to love as Christ loved (John 13:34), and that is, to obey the commandments in the spirit of the law, with our heart (Very innermost being).
Under the New Covenant now, if we have the Holy Spirit, we now keep God's Commandments by the spirit of love shed abroad in our heart. Instead of the rituals of the law, we now do it of the heart, and also of our desire and intent. We obey the first commandment by certainly having a personal relationship with the Father. We know that He exists and cares for each of us, and so much, that He gave His only Son for our behalf; we also know that there are no other God's.
We obey the second commandment in the Spirit, as we know that our God created all things. All of the physical things will be dissolved in due time (2 Peter 3:11,12), and there is nothing else worth worshipping. Everything we do, should be done for our True God. We still need to fight to keep our minds from getting to involved in any physical pursuits, lest we even make an idol out of our time, and not devote enough time to God.
Then we can pray to our God, to give us more of His Spirit, so that our relationship will be closer. We keep the third commandment, by holding in great reverence the name of God, and realizing just how great, and just who He is. We realize that our eternal life depends upon Him. Also we need to realize that we can become His literal children, and He expects us to speak to Him, as a literal child of His, calling Him "Abba" Father, and yet speak to Him and tell Him everything, that troubles us, or to ask for faith, mercy and understanding.
God does not tell us not to use His name, just not to use it in vain. If we are breaking the other commandments, we could very well be using His name in vain, until we repent of breaking His other commandments.
We keep the fourth commandment, a day of a special rest, where we rest from normal labors, and even forsake our normal thoughts, so that we can have much extra communication with our Father, that we do not have on other days. God has blessed and sanctified the Sabbath, so that His presence is upon the Sabbath.
We honor our human parents, as our life givers under God, and by honoring our fleshly parents, we do indeed honor God.
We do not murder, and to avoid this we do not even hate or think ill of our brethren. We can sometimes be leery or wise and discerning toward our brothers and sisters, but we do not hate them, because hatred can lead to the killing of our brethren. If we find ourselves thinking ill toward our brethren, then we should ask God to help us to have His very love for them, that we do not by nature have, and then God will give us love, instead of hatred.
We will think about no wrong sexual desires, because this could lead to literal wrong acts, and does not show God's love toward our brethren. We can ask God to purge any wrong thoughts from our minds.
We do not take from our brethren, or take holy time (The Sabbath) from God. We instead see just how much we can give to God and our brethren too, because God loves a cheerful giver, not a taker.
We tell the truth to our neighbor, because lying shows that we are hiding something, or planning some wrong deed. Yet, we can always be truthful in a way that is not trying to hurt our brethren. Sometimes even truth can be used in a hurtful way, but keeping the ninth commandment involves showing love toward our God and neighbor.
The apostle Paul learned to be content, in whatever state he was in, not that he didn't want to improve things. We can always try to improve things too, but not if our hearts are set on wrongs, or upon things that are beyond that which we need, or other people's things and possessions.
We keep the Tenth commandment, because, it helps keep our very thoughts in check. If we cannot keep our thoughts in subjection by not coveting, then we will fall down and break the other nine commandments. If we are living by the Spirit of God, then we will be thankful for everything God has given us, and we will not be consumed with lust for various objects, that will eventually perish.
Christ obeyed the Ten Commandments, having the Holy Spirit without measure. These commandments are living commandments of love, and Christ wants us to obey them in the same way He did and does (John 13:34). Happy are we, if we do these things as Christ commanded, and all will know that we are His disciples as well.
Jack Hertzog is a member of the Sabbath-keeping Church of God. He lives in New Mexico.
By Jack Hertzog
God has ways to love Him, which He has revealed to Israel and humanity (Ex.20:6 ~ Ps. 78:7 ~ Matt.19:17 ~ John 14:15 1 John 2:3), and God says also "By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome" ( 1 John 5:2,3).
All through the scriptures, from the earliest to the latter scriptures (Rev.22:14), the keeping of the commandments are heavily stressed as the way to love and please God; and we can not find any place that says anything different. Is any other commandment mentioned? Yes, but not any change from the original Ten Commandments.
The "New Commandment" (John 13:34) is, that we love one another, as Christ Loved us, and a New Commandment I give you" (1 John 2:8). But this commandment was not really new. It was just new to the church (1 John 2:7), who hadn't had much knowledge about the spiritual connotations of God and His Word. Remember, Christ said "Love one another, as I have loved you", and Christ was stressing love one another as I have Loved you. There was only one way that Christ Loved them and that was by the love and power of the Holy Spirit, which will always lead people toward the obeying of the ten commandments.
There is also a scripture that says "The Letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive" ( 2 Corr. 3:6 ), and "Not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit"(Romans 7:6). This says nothing about no longer keeping the Ten Commandments, which we've always been commanded to keep, from the earlier scriptures unto the latter scriptures, because Paul says in (Romans 7:7), is the Law sin? Certainly not! He was showing that he was serving the Law of God in His inward being (Romans 7:22), but he was showing also, that he fell down before God's law quite often, because of his human weakness.
The Scripture "The Letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive shows that though we are always expected to keep the Ten Commandments, we still need something else, and that is to love as Christ loved (John 13:34), and that is, to obey the commandments in the spirit of the law, with our heart (Very innermost being).
Under the New Covenant now, if we have the Holy Spirit, we now keep God's Commandments by the spirit of love shed abroad in our heart. Instead of the rituals of the law, we now do it of the heart, and also of our desire and intent. We obey the first commandment by certainly having a personal relationship with the Father. We know that He exists and cares for each of us, and so much, that He gave His only Son for our behalf; we also know that there are no other God's.
We obey the second commandment in the Spirit, as we know that our God created all things. All of the physical things will be dissolved in due time (2 Peter 3:11,12), and there is nothing else worth worshipping. Everything we do, should be done for our True God. We still need to fight to keep our minds from getting to involved in any physical pursuits, lest we even make an idol out of our time, and not devote enough time to God.
Then we can pray to our God, to give us more of His Spirit, so that our relationship will be closer. We keep the third commandment, by holding in great reverence the name of God, and realizing just how great, and just who He is. We realize that our eternal life depends upon Him. Also we need to realize that we can become His literal children, and He expects us to speak to Him, as a literal child of His, calling Him "Abba" Father, and yet speak to Him and tell Him everything, that troubles us, or to ask for faith, mercy and understanding.
God does not tell us not to use His name, just not to use it in vain. If we are breaking the other commandments, we could very well be using His name in vain, until we repent of breaking His other commandments.
We keep the fourth commandment, a day of a special rest, where we rest from normal labors, and even forsake our normal thoughts, so that we can have much extra communication with our Father, that we do not have on other days. God has blessed and sanctified the Sabbath, so that His presence is upon the Sabbath.
We honor our human parents, as our life givers under God, and by honoring our fleshly parents, we do indeed honor God.
We do not murder, and to avoid this we do not even hate or think ill of our brethren. We can sometimes be leery or wise and discerning toward our brothers and sisters, but we do not hate them, because hatred can lead to the killing of our brethren. If we find ourselves thinking ill toward our brethren, then we should ask God to help us to have His very love for them, that we do not by nature have, and then God will give us love, instead of hatred.
We will think about no wrong sexual desires, because this could lead to literal wrong acts, and does not show God's love toward our brethren. We can ask God to purge any wrong thoughts from our minds.
We do not take from our brethren, or take holy time (The Sabbath) from God. We instead see just how much we can give to God and our brethren too, because God loves a cheerful giver, not a taker.
We tell the truth to our neighbor, because lying shows that we are hiding something, or planning some wrong deed. Yet, we can always be truthful in a way that is not trying to hurt our brethren. Sometimes even truth can be used in a hurtful way, but keeping the ninth commandment involves showing love toward our God and neighbor.
The apostle Paul learned to be content, in whatever state he was in, not that he didn't want to improve things. We can always try to improve things too, but not if our hearts are set on wrongs, or upon things that are beyond that which we need, or other people's things and possessions.
We keep the Tenth commandment, because, it helps keep our very thoughts in check. If we cannot keep our thoughts in subjection by not coveting, then we will fall down and break the other nine commandments. If we are living by the Spirit of God, then we will be thankful for everything God has given us, and we will not be consumed with lust for various objects, that will eventually perish.
Christ obeyed the Ten Commandments, having the Holy Spirit without measure. These commandments are living commandments of love, and Christ wants us to obey them in the same way He did and does (John 13:34). Happy are we, if we do these things as Christ commanded, and all will know that we are His disciples as well.
Jack Hertzog is a member of the Sabbath-keeping Church of God. He lives in New Mexico.
GODDESS EASTER?
Does your Church honor the goddess Easter?
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store (see The Big Lie of Easter). I could have just as easily written another popular down on the farm restaurant questioning why they're disrespectfully offering Easter ham when the Bible strongly expresses its distaste for such an abomination that Jesus and the apostles never ate and the Scriptures forbid (see Is All Animal Flesh Good Food?).
If you walk into any store or restaurant at this time of year, you quickly see how the pagan Easter rabbit has supplanted the Passover lamb. A myth has replaced the truth! It's totally absurd and illogical as both the Bible and history condemn Easter as a spring goddess and yet these professing Christian churches aren't ashamed to blazon the name of the GODDESS EASTER on their church billboards! Would they also advertise Venus or Ishtar? Are they all asleep in the pews? Don't their ministers have a clue? God says the names of these pagan gods and goddesses will be history and yet they're kept alive by apostate Christian ministers! "For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals [false gods], And they shall be remembered by their name no more" (Hosea 2:17). Who are they serving? Certainly not our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Jacob.
How can any professing Christian not take offense at this baptized paganism, these whitewashed heathen customs that mislead the masses? Shame on those (especially the worthless ministers) who continue to let folks get carried away with idolatrous traditions rather than set them free with the plain truth!
"How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals'?" (Jeremiah 2:23). You advertise the GODDESS EASTER with your Easter Egg Hunt, your Easter Egg Roll, your Easter ham, your Easter Sunday. Others pimp Easter and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs with Easter Egg trees and Easter decorations. We're a nation of spiritual drunks and whores in denial, whoring around with pagan gods and goddesses, going through the mindless motions of pagan traditions and flirting with heathen customs and we see nothing wrong with it since we're deaf, dumb and blind (Isaiah 42:19).
Such Easter "offerings" based upon colorful fables certainly aren't acceptable or cute to God ( 2 Timothy 4:3-5). “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time I punish them..." (Jeremiah 6:15). Traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, "…eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness..
Sin that's been dressed up, camouflaged, made to appear harmless, is still sin in God's eyes and He hates the mass religious deception that has been going on for too long and will hold the nation accountable for living a lie and promoting whitewashed paganism. The rotten ministers who have failed to stand in the gap, to expose such error and call upon the people to turn from such vain traditions, are especially guilty (Ezekiel 22:30-31).
Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest [minister] for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God [that you may keep your own traditions], I also will forget your children.
It's past time we remember our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities and return to the Faith once delivered - the Faith that focuses on the Lamb of God and keeps Passover - and stop mixing pagan error with biblical truth (spiritual adultery). We must serve the God of Israel wholeheartedly as Elijah encouraged (when he mocked Baal and Easter) or go into national captivity like Israel did who failed to take God's Word seriously! What will it be: return to the Faith once delivered or return to slavery?
The Plain Truth About Easter
Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
If you walk into any store or restaurant at this time of year, you quickly see how the pagan Easter rabbit has supplanted the Passover lamb. A myth has replaced the truth! It's totally absurd and illogical as both the Bible and history condemn Easter as a spring goddess and yet these professing Christian churches aren't ashamed to blazon the name of the GODDESS EASTER on their church billboards! Would they also advertise Venus or Ishtar? Are they all asleep in the pews? Don't their ministers have a clue? God says the names of these pagan gods and goddesses will be history and yet they're kept alive by apostate Christian ministers! "For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals [false gods], And they shall be remembered by their name no more" (Hosea 2:17). Who are they serving? Certainly not our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Jacob.
How can any professing Christian not take offense at this baptized paganism, these whitewashed heathen customs that mislead the masses? Shame on those (especially the worthless ministers) who continue to let folks get carried away with idolatrous traditions rather than set them free with the plain truth!
"How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals'?" (Jeremiah 2:23). You advertise the GODDESS EASTER with your Easter Egg Hunt, your Easter Egg Roll, your Easter ham, your Easter Sunday. Others pimp Easter and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs with Easter Egg trees and Easter decorations. We're a nation of spiritual drunks and whores in denial, whoring around with pagan gods and goddesses, going through the mindless motions of pagan traditions and flirting with heathen customs and we see nothing wrong with it since we're deaf, dumb and blind (Isaiah 42:19).
Such Easter "offerings" based upon colorful fables certainly aren't acceptable or cute to God ( 2 Timothy 4:3-5). “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time I punish them..." (Jeremiah 6:15). Traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, "…eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness..
Sin that's been dressed up, camouflaged, made to appear harmless, is still sin in God's eyes and He hates the mass religious deception that has been going on for too long and will hold the nation accountable for living a lie and promoting whitewashed paganism. The rotten ministers who have failed to stand in the gap, to expose such error and call upon the people to turn from such vain traditions, are especially guilty (Ezekiel 22:30-31).
Hosea 4:6
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest [minister] for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God [that you may keep your own traditions], I also will forget your children.
It's past time we remember our Hebrew roots and biblical responsibilities and return to the Faith once delivered - the Faith that focuses on the Lamb of God and keeps Passover - and stop mixing pagan error with biblical truth (spiritual adultery). We must serve the God of Israel wholeheartedly as Elijah encouraged (when he mocked Baal and Easter) or go into national captivity like Israel did who failed to take God's Word seriously! What will it be: return to the Faith once delivered or return to slavery?
The Plain Truth About Easter
Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
The Lamb of God
Commentary: Why the world needs the Lamb of God
As I write, millions of Hindus in India are celebrating Kumbh Mela, the largest single religious gathering in the world. The Purna (Complete) Kumbh Mela is celebrated every twelve years in one of four cities, depending on the relative positions of the sun, moon and the planet Jupiter in Indian astrology. Between January 14 and April 28, 2010, at least 50 million pilgrims will have visited the ancient and (to them) holy city of Haridwar on the Ganges River. Read more
Friday, March 26, 2010
Chuck Baldwin knows the Constitution better than the Bible?
"I won’t even address the inferred unconstitutionality of Congress doing business on the Lord’s Day." - Chuck Baldwin
What you need to address, in your personal Bible study, is the Lord's Day has NEVER been Constantine's SUNday! The Lord's Day has always been the seventh day Sabbath from Genesis to Revelation, as honest folks submit. I respect your vast knowledge of the Constitution and efforts to uphold it and voted for you, but I encourage you to as vigorously defend the plain truth of the Word of God over idolatrous traditions of men.
“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest” (Exodus 31:15).
“The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it” (Leviticus 23:3).
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (Deuteronomy 5:14).
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:9- 11).
Isaiah reveals pagan SUNday keeping will be history, and everybody will keep the biblical seventh day Sabbath as God has ordained:
“‘And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23).
Matthew 5:18-20
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday
The vast majority of Christian churches today teach the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, as a time for rest and worship. Yet it is generally known and freely admitted that the early Christians observed the seventh day as the Sabbath. How did this change come about?
Remember the Sabbath
Did you ever stop to think why Christians keep Sunday? Did they get it from the Bible? Is there a clear-cut command that says, "Thou shalt keep Sunday?" Why did Jesus worship on Saturday? Was it only because He was a good Jew? Or does it go beyond that?
Table of Contents
What you need to address, in your personal Bible study, is the Lord's Day has NEVER been Constantine's SUNday! The Lord's Day has always been the seventh day Sabbath from Genesis to Revelation, as honest folks submit. I respect your vast knowledge of the Constitution and efforts to uphold it and voted for you, but I encourage you to as vigorously defend the plain truth of the Word of God over idolatrous traditions of men.
“Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest” (Exodus 31:15).
“The seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it” (Leviticus 23:3).
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work” (Deuteronomy 5:14).
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God … For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:9- 11).
Isaiah reveals pagan SUNday keeping will be history, and everybody will keep the biblical seventh day Sabbath as God has ordained:
“‘And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 66:23).
Matthew 5:18-20
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday
The vast majority of Christian churches today teach the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, as a time for rest and worship. Yet it is generally known and freely admitted that the early Christians observed the seventh day as the Sabbath. How did this change come about?
Remember the Sabbath
Did you ever stop to think why Christians keep Sunday? Did they get it from the Bible? Is there a clear-cut command that says, "Thou shalt keep Sunday?" Why did Jesus worship on Saturday? Was it only because He was a good Jew? Or does it go beyond that?
By Herbert W. Armstrong
Does it make any difference WHICH day we observe—or whether we keep it? Does the Bible establish SUNDAY as the LORD’S DAY? Was the Sabbath given for the Jewish people only—while Christians are commanded to keep SUNDAY as the LORD’S DAY?
Table of Contents
| Chapter 1 | But Does It Make Any Difference? |
| Chapter 2 | Who Made and Established the Sabbath? |
| Chapter 3 | God—Not Moses—Gave the Law |
| Chapter 4 | A Special Eternal Covenant |
| Chapter 5 | Which Day for Gentile Christians? |
| Chapter 6 | Why Israel and Judah Made Slaves |
| Chapter 7 | Is Sunday Mentioned in the New Testament? |
| Chapter 8 | The Amazing Truth About Christian Fellowship |
Polycarp and Polycrates kept Passover!
I side with Polycarp and Polycrates for Passover and against Easter. They both dared to reject the subversion of the Romanizers who thought to add and subtract from the commands of the Lord, and attempted to reason with Rome who was increasingly wayward (rife with apostasy) and threatening but not yet reprobate:
"Acceptance of Easter over Passover did not come without resistance. Two religious leaders of the mid-second century—Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna; and Anicetus, bishop of Rome—debated this very point.
Anicetus argued for Easter while Polycarp, stated Encyclopaedia Britannica, defended observing "the Christian Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, regardless of the day of the week" (15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. VIII, p. 94, "Polycarp").
Polycarp taught observance of the Passover as the early Church had observed it. Eusebius said Polycarp did so because this was the way "he had always observed it with John the disciple of our Lord, and the rest of the apostles, with whom he associated" (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, 1995, pp. 210-211). These Christians of the second century were still following the example of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6) in observing the Passover.
Several decades later another leader, Polycrates, argued with Victor, bishop of Rome, over the same issue. Eusebius wrote of the continuing debate:
"There was a considerable discussion raised about this time, in consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the observance of the paschal [Passover] season. The churches of all Asia, guided by a remoter tradition [biblical truth preceded Roman confusion], supposed that they ought to keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the festival of the Saviour's passover, in which day the Jews were commanded to kill the paschal lamb ...
"The bishops ... of Asia, persevering in observing the custom handed down to them from their fathers, were headed by Polycrates. He, indeed, had also set forth the tradition handed down to them, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome. 'We,' said he, 'therefore, observe the genuine day; neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom. For in Asia great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again the day of the Lord's appearing, in which he will come with glory from heaven, and will raise up all the saints ...
"Moreover, John, who rested upon the bosom of our Lord; ... also Polycarp of Smyrna, both bishop and martyr. Thraseas, ... Sagaris, ... Papirius; and Melito ... All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. Moreover, I, Polycrates, who am the least of all of you, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have followed. For there were seven, my relatives [who were] bishops, and I am the eighth; and my relatives always observed the day when the people (i.e., the Jews) threw away the leaven.
"I, therefore, brethren, am now sixty-five years in the Lord, who having conferred with the brethren throughout the world, and having studied the whole of the sacred Scriptures, am not at all alarmed at those things with which I am threatened, to intimidate me. For they who are greater than I, have said, 'we ought to obey God rather than men'" (Eusebius, pp. 207-209)."
Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth
"Acceptance of Easter over Passover did not come without resistance. Two religious leaders of the mid-second century—Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna; and Anicetus, bishop of Rome—debated this very point.
Anicetus argued for Easter while Polycarp, stated Encyclopaedia Britannica, defended observing "the Christian Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, regardless of the day of the week" (15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. VIII, p. 94, "Polycarp").
Polycarp taught observance of the Passover as the early Church had observed it. Eusebius said Polycarp did so because this was the way "he had always observed it with John the disciple of our Lord, and the rest of the apostles, with whom he associated" (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, 1995, pp. 210-211). These Christians of the second century were still following the example of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6) in observing the Passover.
Several decades later another leader, Polycrates, argued with Victor, bishop of Rome, over the same issue. Eusebius wrote of the continuing debate:
"There was a considerable discussion raised about this time, in consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the observance of the paschal [Passover] season. The churches of all Asia, guided by a remoter tradition [biblical truth preceded Roman confusion], supposed that they ought to keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the festival of the Saviour's passover, in which day the Jews were commanded to kill the paschal lamb ...
"The bishops ... of Asia, persevering in observing the custom handed down to them from their fathers, were headed by Polycrates. He, indeed, had also set forth the tradition handed down to them, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome. 'We,' said he, 'therefore, observe the genuine day; neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom. For in Asia great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again the day of the Lord's appearing, in which he will come with glory from heaven, and will raise up all the saints ...
"Moreover, John, who rested upon the bosom of our Lord; ... also Polycarp of Smyrna, both bishop and martyr. Thraseas, ... Sagaris, ... Papirius; and Melito ... All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. Moreover, I, Polycrates, who am the least of all of you, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have followed. For there were seven, my relatives [who were] bishops, and I am the eighth; and my relatives always observed the day when the people (i.e., the Jews) threw away the leaven.
"I, therefore, brethren, am now sixty-five years in the Lord, who having conferred with the brethren throughout the world, and having studied the whole of the sacred Scriptures, am not at all alarmed at those things with which I am threatened, to intimidate me. For they who are greater than I, have said, 'we ought to obey God rather than men'" (Eusebius, pp. 207-209)."
Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth
The Great Heresies of Traditional Christianity
The Great Heresies
#9. To: gcruse (#0)
Heresies
The early Church of God faithfully kept the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) for several hundred years. Later, under political pressure and religious opposition, they backed down. They allowed the observance of “the venerable day of the Sun” back-to-back with God’s Sabbath. What a tragic mistake! We’re still suffering the consequences of such shameful compromise.
By sanctioning Sunday services, the Church gave SUNday the necessary clout to claim “equality.” That peaceful coexistence was short-lived, however. Soon the Gentile “converts” managed to make it illegal for Christians to keep the “Jewish Sabbath!” In 365, during the Council of Laodicea, they forcibly substituted Sunday for the seventh day Sabbath! Constantine or Christ? Yeshua said He was Lord of the Sabbath - the seventh day Sabbath is the Lord's Day.
Yet Constantine pimped SUNday and his Christian reprobates- apostate Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant followers - continue to keep it as an idolatrous tradition over the commandment of God. This plain truth angers many of the self-righteous!
Earlier, to promote “unity”—NOT the truth—the Council of Nicea (in 325 AD) ruled the Christian PASSOVER (commemorating Jesus’ death) had to go! Whoever disagreed faced the death penalty! Their religious fabrication supposedly emphasized Jesus’ resurrection—in direct violation of Christ’s command!
Eventually the apostates stopped their charade of keeping the Jewish Passover of the Lord, moved their new Roman holiday to a different date that the faithful - like Polycarp and Polycrates who kept the biblical Passover - opposed, knowing it was devised by deceived and deceiving Gentile men) and eventually even called their celebration Easter instead of Passover or Pascha.
But the apostates forgot to give it a Christian-sounding name. Easter’s the Babylonian spring goddess—Baal’s playboy bunny! They had given up the kosher Lamb of God for a rabbit trick! And to this day, many Gentilized Christians, misled by Romanizers, even go so far to add insult to injury by pigging out on
Easter ham and having Easter egg hunts!
In time, anything even remotely “Jewish” about the Church of God came under attack. The Gentile minority-turned-majority demanded changes to reflect their “universal” appeal. They wanted to appear more inclusive—at the expense of the Church’s Jewish (read biblical) heritage. They were intent on destroying
the doctrines they once held dear. - Apostate Christians
The great heresies of TRADITIONAL Christianity are the accursed replacement theology of SUNday for Sabbath, Easter for Passover, a Gentilized Jesus and gospel instead of the powerful Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached by the Jewish Yahshua, among many other traditional religious lies that have supplanted the plain truth of the Bible.
To learn more click on this link: The History of Early Christianity
#9. To: gcruse (#0)
Heresies
The early Church of God faithfully kept the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday) for several hundred years. Later, under political pressure and religious opposition, they backed down. They allowed the observance of “the venerable day of the Sun” back-to-back with God’s Sabbath. What a tragic mistake! We’re still suffering the consequences of such shameful compromise.
By sanctioning Sunday services, the Church gave SUNday the necessary clout to claim “equality.” That peaceful coexistence was short-lived, however. Soon the Gentile “converts” managed to make it illegal for Christians to keep the “Jewish Sabbath!” In 365, during the Council of Laodicea, they forcibly substituted Sunday for the seventh day Sabbath! Constantine or Christ? Yeshua said He was Lord of the Sabbath - the seventh day Sabbath is the Lord's Day.
Yet Constantine pimped SUNday and his Christian reprobates- apostate Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant followers - continue to keep it as an idolatrous tradition over the commandment of God. This plain truth angers many of the self-righteous!
Earlier, to promote “unity”—NOT the truth—the Council of Nicea (in 325 AD) ruled the Christian PASSOVER (commemorating Jesus’ death) had to go! Whoever disagreed faced the death penalty! Their religious fabrication supposedly emphasized Jesus’ resurrection—in direct violation of Christ’s command!
Eventually the apostates stopped their charade of keeping the Jewish Passover of the Lord, moved their new Roman holiday to a different date that the faithful - like Polycarp and Polycrates who kept the biblical Passover - opposed, knowing it was devised by deceived and deceiving Gentile men) and eventually even called their celebration Easter instead of Passover or Pascha.
But the apostates forgot to give it a Christian-sounding name. Easter’s the Babylonian spring goddess—Baal’s playboy bunny! They had given up the kosher Lamb of God for a rabbit trick! And to this day, many Gentilized Christians, misled by Romanizers, even go so far to add insult to injury by pigging out on
Easter ham and having Easter egg hunts!
In time, anything even remotely “Jewish” about the Church of God came under attack. The Gentile minority-turned-majority demanded changes to reflect their “universal” appeal. They wanted to appear more inclusive—at the expense of the Church’s Jewish (read biblical) heritage. They were intent on destroying
the doctrines they once held dear. - Apostate Christians
The great heresies of TRADITIONAL Christianity are the accursed replacement theology of SUNday for Sabbath, Easter for Passover, a Gentilized Jesus and gospel instead of the powerful Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached by the Jewish Yahshua, among many other traditional religious lies that have supplanted the plain truth of the Bible.
To learn more click on this link: The History of Early Christianity
Making Haste
"And this is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste, it is a Passover offering to HaShem." (Exodus 12:11)
Nisan 11, 5770/March 26, 2010
"Haste makes waste." That's what they tell us. And we tend to accept this as axiomatic. But is it necessarily true? Torah tells us otherwise. Torah tells us that haste is an essential ingredient of the redemptive process. Our forefathers seized the opportunity which G-d created for them and left Egypt in great haste. This need for haste was eternalized by the Torah commandment for all generations for each family of Israel to prepare a lamb for a korban Pesach - Passover offering - make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, slaughter the lamb within the Holy Temple courtyard, roast the lamb in Jerusalem, and eat the lamb in its entirety before midnight. This process of haste could, in many cases, extend over two weeks time, beginning with the pilgrimage preparations, and concluding, in an ever greater sense of haste, with the eating of the lamb. Since the destruction of the Holy Temple, from which point in time the korban Pesach has not been offered, this sense of urgency has been embodied by the intense Passover preparations made in each individual home, often exhausting, often conducted right to the last minute, and concluding with the Passover Seder, again, which must be concluded by midnight.
Why did G-d insist that the children of Israel eat the Passover offering in haste? After all, G-d planned and carried out every detail of the exodus from Egypt, beginning with His first call to Moshe, continuing throughout the ten plagues, and concluding with the korban Pesach and the midnight escape. Nothing was left to chance. Why the last-minute rush?
Click here to continue
Nisan 11, 5770/March 26, 2010
"Haste makes waste." That's what they tell us. And we tend to accept this as axiomatic. But is it necessarily true? Torah tells us otherwise. Torah tells us that haste is an essential ingredient of the redemptive process. Our forefathers seized the opportunity which G-d created for them and left Egypt in great haste. This need for haste was eternalized by the Torah commandment for all generations for each family of Israel to prepare a lamb for a korban Pesach - Passover offering - make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, slaughter the lamb within the Holy Temple courtyard, roast the lamb in Jerusalem, and eat the lamb in its entirety before midnight. This process of haste could, in many cases, extend over two weeks time, beginning with the pilgrimage preparations, and concluding, in an ever greater sense of haste, with the eating of the lamb. Since the destruction of the Holy Temple, from which point in time the korban Pesach has not been offered, this sense of urgency has been embodied by the intense Passover preparations made in each individual home, often exhausting, often conducted right to the last minute, and concluding with the Passover Seder, again, which must be concluded by midnight.
Why did G-d insist that the children of Israel eat the Passover offering in haste? After all, G-d planned and carried out every detail of the exodus from Egypt, beginning with His first call to Moshe, continuing throughout the ten plagues, and concluding with the korban Pesach and the midnight escape. Nothing was left to chance. Why the last-minute rush?
Click here to continue
Pagan Easter Egg Roll
Ban the White House's Pagan Easter Egg Roll!
Obama Excludes Private and Catholic School Children From Easter Egg Roll Ticket Giveaway
By Penny Starr
(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration announced on Tuesday it has reserved 3,000 free tickets to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll for students in D.C.-area public and charter schools, but not for children who attend private or parochial schools.
Click here to continue
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The pagan fertility rites of an Easter Egg Roll have no place upon the lawn of the White House in this professing Christian nation. Easter - a pagan goddess - and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs are a disgrace. Besides, who is paying for the "live music, sports courts, storytelling, egg rolling – and cooking stations" - American taxpayers? I'm a Christian and I certainly don't want a single red cent going toward these heathen customs God hates as an an abomination. We should teach our children to avoid such whitewashed pagan practices like the plague - not mislead and deceive them that such unclean things are harmless, especially in light of the Bible and history that prove otherwise.
The Big Lie of Easter
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
The Plain Truth About Easter
Has it ever occurred to those stuffing their faces with Easter ham that Jesus would puke at the thought? Neither Jesus or Peter, James or John ever ate forbidden foods. They wouldn't feel too comfortable at plenty of people's dinner tables.
Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?
Many believe that God's endorsement of Passover ended with Christ's death—and that He has since replaced it with the observance of Easter as a celebration of Christ's resurrection. But is that so?
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
By Penny Starr
(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration announced on Tuesday it has reserved 3,000 free tickets to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll for students in D.C.-area public and charter schools, but not for children who attend private or parochial schools.
Click here to continue
************
The pagan fertility rites of an Easter Egg Roll have no place upon the lawn of the White House in this professing Christian nation. Easter - a pagan goddess - and her fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs are a disgrace. Besides, who is paying for the "live music, sports courts, storytelling, egg rolling – and cooking stations" - American taxpayers? I'm a Christian and I certainly don't want a single red cent going toward these heathen customs God hates as an an abomination. We should teach our children to avoid such whitewashed pagan practices like the plague - not mislead and deceive them that such unclean things are harmless, especially in light of the Bible and history that prove otherwise.
The Big Lie of Easter
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
The Plain Truth About Easter
Has it ever occurred to those stuffing their faces with Easter ham that Jesus would puke at the thought? Neither Jesus or Peter, James or John ever ate forbidden foods. They wouldn't feel too comfortable at plenty of people's dinner tables.
Easter or Passover: Which Is Christian?
Many believe that God's endorsement of Passover ended with Christ's death—and that He has since replaced it with the observance of Easter as a celebration of Christ's resurrection. But is that so?
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Thursday, March 25, 2010
He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh
As memories of the British Empire fade into the distant past, many think the United States is Ephraim and Britain Manasseh. There are sound historical reasons for this not being the case.
He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh
He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh
What is the "soul"?
Frequently Asked Bible Questions
What is the "soul"?
Is the soul talked about in the Bible an immortal part of human beings...or is it something else entirely?
The Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, repeatedly makes reference to the "soul." Mainstream Christianity generally teaches that this soul is an immortal component of human beings; that upon our death, it is released from our bodies to spend eternity in either eternal bliss or eternal torment, depending on our conduct in this life. But a closer examination of the word shows that this is not the case.
The only Hebrew word translated as "soul" in the Old Testament, nephesh, is also translated elsewhere as "creature" or "being." All three words are synonymous, whether we look at God's creation of "an abundance of living creatures [nephesh]" in the sea (Genesis 1:20) or that "man became a living being [nephesh]" (Genesis 2:7) or read God's declaration that "the soul [nephesh] who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
That last verse is key to understanding the concept of a soul. If the soul is immortal, it would be impossible to say that sinning would produce death. Rather, if mainstream Christianity were correct in its doctrine of hell, Ezekiel 18:4 would have to say, "the soul who sins shall be condemned to eternal torment." But it, along with the apostle Paul in Romans 6:23, plainly states that the penalty of sin is death, not never-ending fiery torment in hell.
Given that the soul is capable of death, and taking into consideration the fact that the word translated "soul" is used in reference to all sorts of living creatures, we can only conclude that the soul talked about in the Bible is a living being itself—not an eternal component of mankind.
For further explanation of the soul, including a look at instances of the word in the New Testament and information about the "spirit in man" (Job 32:8), please see the related resources below.
Many people think the Bible says we have an immortal soul destined, at death, for heaven, hell or purgatory. What does the Bible say?
The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul
Ideas about us going to heaven or hell hinge on belief in the immortal soul, which must go somewhere when the body dies. Yet the Bible nowhere teaches the soul is immortal. So where did the idea originate?
Video: The Myth of the Immortal Soul
What if I told you that at death you have no thoughts, no memory, no knowledge of anything beyond the grave? Would you believe me?
The Spirit in Man
The apostle Paul asked, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (1 Corinthians 2:11). What is this "spirit in man"? Is it immortal?
The Mystery of Death from the booklet What Happens After Death?
Death is one of life's greatest mysteries. Do we really die, or do we have a soul that lives on apart from the body? Many are confused about this, and this has led to great misunderstandings about death. Does the Bible provide answers?
What is the "soul"?
Is the soul talked about in the Bible an immortal part of human beings...or is it something else entirely?
The Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, repeatedly makes reference to the "soul." Mainstream Christianity generally teaches that this soul is an immortal component of human beings; that upon our death, it is released from our bodies to spend eternity in either eternal bliss or eternal torment, depending on our conduct in this life. But a closer examination of the word shows that this is not the case.
The only Hebrew word translated as "soul" in the Old Testament, nephesh, is also translated elsewhere as "creature" or "being." All three words are synonymous, whether we look at God's creation of "an abundance of living creatures [nephesh]" in the sea (Genesis 1:20) or that "man became a living being [nephesh]" (Genesis 2:7) or read God's declaration that "the soul [nephesh] who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).
That last verse is key to understanding the concept of a soul. If the soul is immortal, it would be impossible to say that sinning would produce death. Rather, if mainstream Christianity were correct in its doctrine of hell, Ezekiel 18:4 would have to say, "the soul who sins shall be condemned to eternal torment." But it, along with the apostle Paul in Romans 6:23, plainly states that the penalty of sin is death, not never-ending fiery torment in hell.
Given that the soul is capable of death, and taking into consideration the fact that the word translated "soul" is used in reference to all sorts of living creatures, we can only conclude that the soul talked about in the Bible is a living being itself—not an eternal component of mankind.
For further explanation of the soul, including a look at instances of the word in the New Testament and information about the "spirit in man" (Job 32:8), please see the related resources below.
Related Online Resources
What Does the Bible Say About the "Immortal Soul"?Many people think the Bible says we have an immortal soul destined, at death, for heaven, hell or purgatory. What does the Bible say?
The Biblical Truth About the Immortal Soul
Ideas about us going to heaven or hell hinge on belief in the immortal soul, which must go somewhere when the body dies. Yet the Bible nowhere teaches the soul is immortal. So where did the idea originate?
Video: The Myth of the Immortal Soul
What if I told you that at death you have no thoughts, no memory, no knowledge of anything beyond the grave? Would you believe me?
The Spirit in Man
The apostle Paul asked, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?" (1 Corinthians 2:11). What is this "spirit in man"? Is it immortal?
The Mystery of Death from the booklet What Happens After Death?
Death is one of life's greatest mysteries. Do we really die, or do we have a soul that lives on apart from the body? Many are confused about this, and this has led to great misunderstandings about death. Does the Bible provide answers?
GN Commentary: Easter or Passover: What Does the Bible Teach?
Maybe it's time to take a closer look at Easter—and instead learn about the biblical Passover, with its wonderful meaning. It can easily be found in the pages of your Bible.
************
The Big Lie of Easter
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
The Plain Truth About Easter
Has it ever occurred to those stuffing their faces with Easter ham that Jesus would puke at the thought? Neither Jesus or Peter, James or John ever ate forbidden foods. They wouldn't feel too comfortable at plenty of people's dinner tables.
************
The Big Lie of Easter
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
The Plain Truth About Easter
Has it ever occurred to those stuffing their faces with Easter ham that Jesus would puke at the thought? Neither Jesus or Peter, James or John ever ate forbidden foods. They wouldn't feel too comfortable at plenty of people's dinner tables.
The Plain Truth About South Africa
- SAmizdat
Die polities-inkorrekte feite - Plaasmoorde
Hierdie blog poog om 'n kroniek te wees van die ekstreme geweld en geheime volksmoord wat gepleeg word teen die Europese minderheidsgroep van Suid-Afrika.
Tien duisende Europeërs is alreeds vermoor sedert 1994, gepleeg gedurende geweldadige rasse-haat aanvalle wat deur sy stilswye deur die regering goedgekeur word.
Brutale marteling en verkragting is volop en nie eers jonk of oud word gespaar nie. - Farm Murders
This blog attempts to chronicle the extreme violence and secret genocide being committed against the European minority of South Africa.
Tens of thousands of Europeans have been murdered since 1994 during violent racial hate crimes that are condoned by the government.
Brutal torture and rape is common and not even the young or elderly are spared. - Plaasmoorde Wordpress Blog
Hierdie blog poog om 'n kroniek te wees van die ekstreme geweld en geheime volksmoord wat gepleeg word teen die Europese minderheidsgroep van Suid-Afrika.
Tien duisende Europeërs is alreeds vermoor sedert 1994, gepleeg gedurende geweldadige rasse-haat aanvalle wat deur sy stilswye deur die regering goedgekeur word.
Brutale marteling en verkragting is volop en nie eers jonk of oud word gespaar nie. - Farm Murders Wordpress Blog
This blog attempts to chronicle the extreme violence and secret genocide being committed against the European minority of South Africa.
Tens of thousands of Europeans have been murdered since 1994 during violent racial hate crimes that are condoned by the government.
Brutal torture and rape is common and not even the young or elderly are spared. - I Luv SA
I love South Africa but I hate my government - Perspektief
Perspektief blog deur Vlad du Plessis - South Africa P.I.G.
Politically incorrect news about South Africa
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Is There Any Worse Time the Health Care Bill Could Become Law?
America’s economic future is on full display in Greece. Adding another massive government entitlement program is a great way to accelerate the timetable.
America thinks it could never fall. Could Greece collapse? Yes. But America—not a chance. This is the richest country in the world. And in spite of all the headlines, in spite of all the dire statistics blared by reporters, the American way of life still continues. Gas stations still have gas. Food still sits on grocery shelves. Even if through debt, most Americans are still enjoying life. So surely America can’t be in that much financial trouble. After all, politicians just voted in potentially the largest expansion of the welfare state in American history on Sunday. America must have money to burn.
But here is the reality. It wouldn’t take much for the vulture investor dinner party to turn its sights from Greece to America. That is the conclusion of a small but growing group of concerned analysts.
“The wolf could be at our door sooner than we think,” says Carmen Reinhart, economics professor at the University of Maryland and author of This Time Is Different. Confidence in the dollar “could turn quite abruptly,” she says.
All it would take is one failed treasury auction, warns Reinhart, and the dollar’s status as a perceived safe heaven would vanish—along with its status as the world’s reserve currency.
If that were to happen, media commentators wouldn’t be comparing California to Greece, they would be comparing the entire nation to something more akin to Zimbabwe or Soviet Russia.
Politicians are far too complacent about America’s economic condition. Instead of getting America’s financial house in order now—while some analysts think it still has a chance—politicians are doing the exact opposite. Rather than seeing the crisis in Greece and cutting expenses and leading the country to live within its means—it is as if politicians are doing their level best to make it happen here too.
Click here to continue
America thinks it could never fall. Could Greece collapse? Yes. But America—not a chance. This is the richest country in the world. And in spite of all the headlines, in spite of all the dire statistics blared by reporters, the American way of life still continues. Gas stations still have gas. Food still sits on grocery shelves. Even if through debt, most Americans are still enjoying life. So surely America can’t be in that much financial trouble. After all, politicians just voted in potentially the largest expansion of the welfare state in American history on Sunday. America must have money to burn.
But here is the reality. It wouldn’t take much for the vulture investor dinner party to turn its sights from Greece to America. That is the conclusion of a small but growing group of concerned analysts.
“The wolf could be at our door sooner than we think,” says Carmen Reinhart, economics professor at the University of Maryland and author of This Time Is Different. Confidence in the dollar “could turn quite abruptly,” she says.
All it would take is one failed treasury auction, warns Reinhart, and the dollar’s status as a perceived safe heaven would vanish—along with its status as the world’s reserve currency.
If that were to happen, media commentators wouldn’t be comparing California to Greece, they would be comparing the entire nation to something more akin to Zimbabwe or Soviet Russia.
Politicians are far too complacent about America’s economic condition. Instead of getting America’s financial house in order now—while some analysts think it still has a chance—politicians are doing the exact opposite. Rather than seeing the crisis in Greece and cutting expenses and leading the country to live within its means—it is as if politicians are doing their level best to make it happen here too.
Click here to continue
Monday, March 22, 2010
Pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs...
The Big Lie of Easter
by David Ben-Ariel
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
How many folks actually stop and THINK? How many question why the focus is on an Easter bunny and not on the Passover Lamb? Why have professing Christians enabled this deliberate diversion and deception? Where has the outrage been among those who profess to love the Lord when they see society swept away with hare-brained traditions? Why the tacit approval by deathly silence and default?
Those who dishonestly continue to partake of Easter's modified pagan practices, its whitewashed heathen customs, are guilty of spiritual adultery! Such perverse Christians are whoring around with foreign gods and goddesses and undoubtedly will incur the wrath of God upon our nation of drunks and whores and illegitimate children (who have been sacrificed to demons rather than consecrated to God).
“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down, says the LORD” (Jeremiah 6:15).
Traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, "…eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness...'" (Prov. 30:20).
God let ancient Israel and Judah suffer NATIONAL DEFEAT, DESTRUCTION AND DEPORTATION due to their "harmless" religious celebrations! Has God changed His mind? Isn't Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever?
God condemns our countries for IDOLATRY — not just for immorality! Easter is both immoral and idolatrous, as are those worthless ministers who have let Easter take root and defile our land with its pagan pollutions. It is idolatry when religious folks continue to put pagan Easter above Passover (that the early Church of God faithfully observed), when they continue to pimp traditional religious lies of a "Sunday resurrection" - even though the plain truth of the Bible teaches: "After the women rested on the regular weekly Sabbath, they went to Jesus' tomb early on the first day of the week (Sunday), "while it was still dark" (John 20:1), and found that He had already been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:1-3)"- Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth .
Easter's not harmless; engaging in pagan practices like dying eggs and mindlessly decorating trees with eggs and eating Easter ham (an abomination!) is showing extreme disrespect to our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who thunders:
Jeremiah 10
2 Do not learn the way of the Gentiles...
Why not keep it simple and love and obey God and do as He says rather than blind tradition dictates? If not, stop calling yourself a Christian nation and be honest enough to admit you're a pagan nation and prepare to suffer the consequences!
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
by David Ben-Ariel
"Why do you perpetuate pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs and don't have anything for Passover? No little lambs, nothing. John the Baptist called Jesus the 'Lamb of God' - not the Easter bunny!" - so I wrote a popular family restaurant about their country store and was informed they received my email and would respond.
How many folks actually stop and THINK? How many question why the focus is on an Easter bunny and not on the Passover Lamb? Why have professing Christians enabled this deliberate diversion and deception? Where has the outrage been among those who profess to love the Lord when they see society swept away with hare-brained traditions? Why the tacit approval by deathly silence and default?
You will find people celebrating Passover throughout the Bible, including Jesus. But you won't find people celebrating Easter. The word Easter comes from an ancient fertility goddess. It's spelled in different ways but usually pronounced "Easter" or something like it. For instance, the Babylonians called her Ishtar. The Phoenicians worshipped their goddess Astarte. The Germans had Ostara. The Hebrews called her Ashtoreth. This is all the same goddess, and God condemned the Israelites for having anything to do with this pagan goddess of fertility and the dawn. - Shocked by the BibleHow can a Christian nation have anything to do with a pagan goddess? With the fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs long associated with Easter and exposed by history and condemned by the Bible? Any observance of Easter is as impudent as a whore who feels no shame for her sins.
Those who dishonestly continue to partake of Easter's modified pagan practices, its whitewashed heathen customs, are guilty of spiritual adultery! Such perverse Christians are whoring around with foreign gods and goddesses and undoubtedly will incur the wrath of God upon our nation of drunks and whores and illegitimate children (who have been sacrificed to demons rather than consecrated to God).
“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall [the slain] at the time I punish them, they shall be cast down, says the LORD” (Jeremiah 6:15).
Traditional Christianity, like an adulterous woman, "…eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done no wickedness...'" (Prov. 30:20).
God let ancient Israel and Judah suffer NATIONAL DEFEAT, DESTRUCTION AND DEPORTATION due to their "harmless" religious celebrations! Has God changed His mind? Isn't Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever?
God condemns our countries for IDOLATRY — not just for immorality! Easter is both immoral and idolatrous, as are those worthless ministers who have let Easter take root and defile our land with its pagan pollutions. It is idolatry when religious folks continue to put pagan Easter above Passover (that the early Church of God faithfully observed), when they continue to pimp traditional religious lies of a "Sunday resurrection" - even though the plain truth of the Bible teaches: "After the women rested on the regular weekly Sabbath, they went to Jesus' tomb early on the first day of the week (Sunday), "while it was still dark" (John 20:1), and found that He had already been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:1-3)"- Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth .
Easter's not harmless; engaging in pagan practices like dying eggs and mindlessly decorating trees with eggs and eating Easter ham (an abomination!) is showing extreme disrespect to our Great Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who thunders:
Jeremiah 10
2 Do not learn the way of the Gentiles...
Why not keep it simple and love and obey God and do as He says rather than blind tradition dictates? If not, stop calling yourself a Christian nation and be honest enough to admit you're a pagan nation and prepare to suffer the consequences!
http://www.davidbenariel.org/
Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth
| Easter: Masking a Biblical Truth In contrast to the general public, which considers Christmas the most important Christian holiday, many theologians regard Easter as the preeminent celebration because it commemorates Jesus' resurrection. As with Christmas, we find that the popular customs associated with the Easter celebration—rabbits, Easter-egg hunts and sunrise services—have nothing to do with the biblical record of Christ's life, in this case His rising from the dead. Where, then, did these practices originate? The Encyclopaedia Britannica tells us, "As at Christmas, so also at Easter, popular customs reflect many ancient pagan survivals—in this instance, connected with spring fertility rites, such as the symbols of the Easter egg and the Easter hare or rabbit" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 605, "Church Year"). The word Easter appears once in the King James Version of the Bible, in Acts 12:4, where it is a mistranslation. Reputable scholars and reference works point out that the word Easter in this verse comes from the Greek word pascha, meaning Passover. Modern translations correctly translate this word this word "Passover"—as even the King James Version does in other verses (see Matthew 26:2, 17-19; Mark 14:12; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Notice what Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says about the term Easter here: "Pascha ... mistranslated ‘Easter' in Acts 12:4, KJV, denotes the Passover ... The term ‘Easter' is not of Christian origin. It is another form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the queen of heaven. The festival of Pasch [Passover] held by Christians in post-apostolic times was a continuation of the Jewish feast ... From this Pasch the pagan festival of ‘Easter' was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate Western religion, as part of the attempt to adapt pagan festivals to Christianity" (1985, p. 192, "Easter"). Easter's ancient history The roots of the Easter celebration date to long before Jesus Christ's life, death and resurrection. Various Easter customs can be traced back to ancient spring celebrations surrounding Astarte, the goddess of spring and fertility. The Bible refers to her as "Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians" (2 Kings 23:13) and, as Vine's mentions, "the Queen of Heaven," whose worship God condemned (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:24-28). Francis Weiser, professor of philosophy at Boston College, provides these facts: "The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races ... The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. Hare and rabbit were the most fertile animals our fore-fathers knew, serving as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season" (Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, 1958 , pp. 233, 236). (For more information about these symbols, see "Fertility Symbols: Beneath the Dignity of God" on page 22). Fertility rites and customs were incorporated into religious practices early in history. After Adam and Eve rejected God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), humanity looked for other explanations for life. Forces of nature and seasons that could not be controlled began to be viewed as gods, goddesses and supernatural powers to be worshipped and feared. Man soon created his own gods, contradicting God's instruction against idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6; Deuteronomy 5:7-10). "The pagan nations made statues or images to represent the powers they worshiped. Most of these idols were in the form of animals or human beings. But sometimes the idols represented celestial powers, like the sun, moon, and stars; forces of nature, like the sea and the rain; or life forces, like death and truth ... "In time an elaborate system of beliefs in such natural forces was developed into mythology. Each civilization and culture had its own mythological structure, but the structures were often quite similar. The names of the gods may have been different, but their functions and actions were often the same. The most prominent myth to cross cultural lines was that of the fertility cycle. Many pagan cultures believed that the god of fertility died each year during the winter but was reborn each year in the spring. The details differed among cultures, but the main idea was the same" (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, "Gods, Pagan," p. 508). In pagan mythology the sun represented life. The sun supposedly died around the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. (As discussed earlier, the date set for Christmas celebrations is rooted in this myth.) Complementing the rebirth of the sun were spring fertility rites, whose surviving symbols thread their way throughout Easter celebrations. In addition to rabbits and eggs, another popular Easter custom had pre-Christian origins: "Also popular among Europeans and Americans on Easter is ham, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, p. 558, "Easter"). Sex rites in ancient culturesAncient fertility rites revolved around overt sexual immorality and perversion. Such rites are referred to throughout the Bible under a variety of names and descriptions.The Babylonian and Assyrian fertility goddess was Ishtar, from which derives the names Astarte and Ashtoreth and very likely the Anglo-Saxon Eostre or Germanic Ostara, goddess of spring, the origin of the word Easter (this also giving us the word east, the direction of the sunrise). Ishtar symbolized Mother Earth in the natural cycles of fertility on earth. Many myths grew up around this female deity. She was the goddess of love, and the practice of ritual prostitution became widespread in the fertility cult dedicated to her name. "Temples to Ishtar had many priestesses, or sacred prostitutes, who symbolically acted out the fertility rites of the cycle of nature. Ishtar has been identified with the Phoenician Astarte, the Semitic Ashtoreth, and the Sumerian Inanna. Strong similarities also exist between Ishtar and the Egyptian Isis, the Greek Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus. "Associated with Ishtar was the young god Tammuz (Ezek. 8:14), considered both divine and mortal. In Babylonian mythology Tammuz died annually and was reborn year after year, representing the yearly cycle of the seasons and the crops. This pagan belief later was identified with the pagan gods Baal and Anat in Canaan" (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, "Gods, Pagan," p. 509). It was believed that Ishtar brought about the rebirth or resurrection of Tammuz in the spring, coinciding with the blossoming of nature. (For more details, see "The Resurrection Connection" on page 20). Throughout the Old Testament, God expressed His anger with His people when they served these false gods (Judges 2:13-14; 10:6-7; 1 Kings 11:5-11; Ezekiel 8:14-18). Easter was no part of early Church worship The New Testament does not mention an Easter celebration. Early Christians had nothing to do with Easter. Instead, they kept the Passover, instituted by God centuries earlier at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 12:13-14; Leviticus 23:5). Jesus Christ personally kept this festival (Matthew 26:17-18) and gave it a clearer meaning under the New Covenant with His institution of the symbols of bread and wine for His beaten body and shed blood, signifying His suffering and death on our behalf (verses 26-29). He is the Lamb of God, offered as the true Passover sacrifice for the sins of the world (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus told His followers to continue this observance in remembrance of Him and His death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Soon, however, pressure to replace Passover with popular Easter customs began to build. This movement was the basis for much contention over the next three centuries. Notice how The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes this period: "The earliest Christians celebrated the Lord's Passover at the same time as the Jews, during the night of the first full moon of the first month of spring (Nisan 14-15). By the middle of the 2nd century, most churches had transferred this celebration to the Sunday after the Jewish feast. But certain churches of Asia Minor clung to the older custom, for which they were denounced as ‘judaizing' (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, Book 5, chapters 23-25). The first ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed that all churches should observe the feast together on a Sunday" (15th edition, Macropaedia, Vol. 4, pp. 604-605, "Church Year"). "After long and fierce controversies over its date (which is governed by the lunar calendar), the date for Easter set by the Council of Nicaea in 325 is the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox. Easter became the centre of a fixed liturgical structure of times and festivals in the church year" (ibid., p. 499, "Christianity"). Pressure against the biblical Passover Why did Easter replace the Passover? Though Easter was clearly pagan in origin, Christian leaders of the first two centuries after Christ's crucifixion employed the same philosophy in establishing the new holiday that they later applied to Christmas. Believing that people are free to select their own times and customs of worship, they went about gradually replacing the biblically commanded Passover with their humanly devised celebration of Easter. It was easier to draw pagan worshippers into Christianity and maintain their devotion by identifying the time-honored spring resurrection feast of the pagan mystery religions with the resurrection of Christ. Anti-Jewish prejudice also seems to have been a major factor in the church leaders' decision to make such changes. According to R.K. Bishop: "The early development of the celebration of Easter and the attendant calendar disputes were largely a result of Christianity's attempt to emancipate itself from Judaism. Sunday had already replaced the Jewish sabbath early in the second century, and despite efforts in Asia Minor to maintain the Jewish passover date of 14 Nisan for Easter [or, rather, the true Passover] (hence the name Quartodecimans [meaning ‘Fourteeners']), the Council of Nicaea adopted the annual Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21)" (Walter Elwell, editor, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1984, "Easter"). Before A.D. 70, Christianity was "regarded by the Roman government and by the people at large as a branch of the Jewish religion" (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, 1954, p. 34). Christianity and Judaism shared the biblical feast days, although Christians observed them with added meanings introduced by Jesus and the apostles. However, two Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, in 64-70 and 132-135, led to widespread persecution of Jews and suppression of Jewish religious practices. Jews were even driven from Jerusalem and forbidden to return on pain of death. As pressure mounted, some Christians began to abandon beliefs and practices perceived as being too Jewish. Over time many abandoned their weekly Sabbath day of rest and worship in favor of worship on Sunday, the pagan day of the sun, and abandoned the Passover in favor of Easter to distance themselves from Jews. The New Catholic Encyclopedia explains: "Originally both observances [Passover and Easter] were allowed, but gradually it was felt incongruous that Christians should celebrate Easter on a Jewish feast, and unity in celebrating the principal Christian feast was called for" (1967, Vol. 5, p. 8, "Easter Controversy"). Passover-Easter debateAcceptance of Easter over Passover did not come without resistance. Two religious leaders of the mid-second century—Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, and Anicetus, bishop of Rome—debated this very point.Anicetus argued for Easter while Polycarp, a student of the apostle John, defended observing "the Christian Passover, on the 14th of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, regardless of the day of the week" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 8, p. 94, "Polycarp"). Polycarp taught observance of the Passover as the early Church had observed it. Eusebius said Polycarp did so because this was the way "he had always observed it with John the disciple of our Lord, and the rest of the apostles, with whom he associated" (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, 1995, pp. 210-211). These Christians of the second century were still following the example of Jesus Christ in observing the Passover (compare 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 2:6). Several decades later another church leader in Asia Minor, Polycrates, argued with a new bishop of Rome, Victor, over the same issue. Eusebius wrote of the continuing debate: "There was a considerable discussion raised about this time, in consequence of a difference of opinion respecting the observance of the paschal [Passover] season. The churches of all Asia, guided by a remoter tradition, supposed that they ought to keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the festival of the Saviour's passover, in which day the Jews were commanded to kill the paschal lamb ... "The bishops ... of Asia, persevering in observing the custom handed down to them from their fathers, were headed by Polycrates. He, indeed, had also set forth the tradition handed down to them, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the church of Rome. ‘We,' said he, ‘therefore, observe the genuine day; neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom. For in Asia great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again the day of the Lord's appearing, in which he will come with glory from heaven, and will raise up all the saints ... "Moreover, John, who rested upon the bosom of our Lord;... also Polycarp of Smyrna, both bishop and martyr. Thraseas,... Sagaris,... Papirius; and Melito ... All these observed the fourteenth day of the passover according to the gospel, deviating in no respect, but following the rule of faith. Moreover, I, Polycrates, who am the least of all of you, according to the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have followed. For there were seven, my relatives [who were] bishops, and I am the eighth; and my relatives always observed the day when the people (i.e., the Jews) threw away the leaven. "I, therefore, brethren, am now sixty-five years in the Lord, who having conferred with the brethren throughout the world, and having studied the whole of the sacred Scriptures, am not at all alarmed at those things with which I am threatened, to intimidate me. For they who are greater than I, have said, ‘we ought to obey God rather than men'" (pp. 207-209). Regrettably, people's reasoning won out over the directions of God and the example of Jesus Christ and His original disciples. A new worship themeAs Easter replaced Passover, not only was a new date selected (the Sunday after the spring equinox rather than the biblically directed Nisan 14), but a new theme was introduced. Rather than commemorating Christ's death as directed by the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 11:26), the new holiday was designed to celebrate His resurrection. This new theme easily accommodated the pagan fertility symbols. It also helped distinguish the Christian community from the Jews, a major goal of church leaders of the time.Although Christ's resurrection is an important basis of our hope that we, too, can be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:17; Romans 5:10), and it was critical for God's plan of salvation to continue, neither God the Father, Christ nor Scripture has ever explicitly directed us to celebrate this event. Indeed, the love of God is primarily expressed to all humanity through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Hebrews 9:28). His death, through which our sins may be forgiven, is the primary focus of the Passover, not His resurrection. Many precise details of His death and events leading up to and encompassing it were prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures hundreds of years in advance. The decision of God the Father to willingly give His only begotten Son—and of Jesus Christ to surrender His life to torture and execution as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity—were far more demanding than the demonstration of God's power over death through the resurrection. Mankind's need for a SaviorThere is more to consider. The Bible discusses sin and our need for forgiveness and reconciliation to God (the theme of the biblically commanded Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread) far more often than the subject of the resurrection. Within the King James Version of the Bible, the word sin is used 447 times compared with the word resurrection being used only 41 times. Don't forget that sin was the cause of Christ's death. Only by repenting of our sins and being reconciled to God by the death of Christ can we be assured of being resurrected (Acts 2:38; John 5:29; John 11:25).This is not to minimize the importance of Christ's resurrection. It, too, is a crucial step in the salvation process (1 Corinthians 15). After being reconciled to God the Father by the death of His Son, ultimately we are saved by Christ's life as He pleads for us in the role of our High Priest and lives in us through the Holy Spirit, helping us to overcome sin (Romans 5:10; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 2:1; Galatians 2:20). The process of our coming out of sin is pictured in the biblical feast immediately following Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, during which Christ's resurrection occurred. Again, though, the Bible nowhere instructs Christians to keep a special celebration of Christ's resurrection, nor is there a biblical record of early Christians doing so. But it is clear that both Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul expected Christ's followers to commemorate His sacrificial death on our behalf in a special ceremony (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 11:23-28). Nonetheless, the celebration of Easter prevailed. Those who remained faithful to Christ's example of keeping the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread decreased in number and were persecuted by those favoring Easter. Although how God views humanly devised changes in the worship He commands will be considered in a later chapter, let's now examine how the traditions of this holiday fail to match the biblical record. Sunday morning resurrection?The choice of a Sunday date for Easter is based on the assumption that Christ rose from the grave early on a Sunday morning. The popular belief is that Christ was crucified on a Friday and rose on a Sunday. But neither of these suppositions is supported by the biblical record.Matthew 12:38 shows some of the scribes and Pharisees asking Jesus for a sign to prove He was the Messiah. Jesus told them that the only sign He would give was that of the prophet Jonah: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (verse 40). But how can we fit "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" between a Friday-afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday-morning resurrection? The traditional view of the crucifixion and resurrection allows for Jesus to have been entombed for only a day and a half. Some try to reconcile Christ's words with their belief in a Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection by rationalizing that Christ's "three days and three nights" statement does not require a literal span of 72 hours. They reason that a part of a day can be reckoned as a whole day. Hence, since Jesus died in the afternoon—around "the ninth hour" after daybreak, or about 3 p.m. (Matthew 27:46-50)—they think the remainder of Friday constituted the first day, Saturday the second and part of Sunday the third. However, they fail to take into consideration that only two nights—Friday night and Saturday night—are accounted for in this explanation. After all, the Bible is clear that Jesus had already risen before the daylight portion of Sunday (John 20:1). Something is obviously incorrect in this common conclusion regarding when Christ was in the tomb. Jonah 1:17, to which Christ referred, states specifically that "Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." We have no reason to think these days and nights were fractional. Nor is there any basis for thinking that Jesus meant only two nights and one day, plus parts of two days, when He foretold the length of time He would be in the grave. Such rationalization undermines the integrity of Jesus' words. Was Christ's sign fulfilled?If Jesus were in the tomb only from late Friday afternoon to sometime early Sunday morning, then the sign He gave that He was the prophesied Messiah was not fulfilled. The claim of His Messiahship rests on the fulfillment of His words; it's that serious a matter.Let us carefully examine the details of those fateful days. Each of the Gospel writers gives an account of the events, but each presents different aspects that need to be correctly synchronized and harmonized to produce a clear sequence and understanding of what happened. We will see that, when each account is considered, the chronological details mesh perfectly. For instance, John 19:31 preserves a crucial point that provides insight into the other narratives. The preparation day on which Jesus was crucified is described as the day before the Sabbath. But John clarifies it by stating that this approaching Sabbath "was a high day." This does not refer to the weekly Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) but to the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is one of God's annual high, or Sabbath, days (Exodus 12:16-17; Leviticus 23:6-7), which could—and usually did—fall on other days of the week. Some believe that this high day fell that year on the seventh day of the week, making it coincide with the weekly Sabbath, with the preparation day being on Friday. But Luke's account shows that this was not the case. Notice the sequence of events outlined in Luke 23. Jesus' moment of death, as well as His hasty burial because of the oncoming Sabbath, is narrated in verses 46-53. Verse 54 then states, "That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near." Two Sabbaths mentionedMany have assumed that it is the weekly Sabbath mentioned here. But that's incorrect. Instead, it was a Sabbath that occurred on a Thursday, since verse 56 shows that the women, after seeing Christ's body being laid in the tomb, "returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils" for the final preparation of the body.Such work would not have been done on a Sabbath day since it would have been considered a Sabbath violation. This is verified by Mark's account, which states, "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices [which they would not have purchased on the high-day Sabbath], that they might come and anoint Him" (Mark 16:1). The women had to wait until this Sabbath was over before they could buy and prepare the spices to be used for anointing Jesus' body. Then, as Luke 23:56 says, it was after purchasing and preparing the spices and oils on Friday that "they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." This second Sabbath mentioned in the Gospel accounts is the regular weekly Sign of the MessiahAfter the women rested on the regular weekly Sabbath, they went to Jesus' tomb early on the first day of the week (Sunday), "while it was still dark" (John 20:1), and found that He had already been resurrected (Matthew 28:1-6; Mark 16:2-6; Luke 24:1-3). When we allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves, all four Gospel accounts accurately harmonize and attest to the validity of Jesus' promise that He would be in the grave three days and three nights—not just part of that time.Several Bible translations recognize that more than one Sabbath is discussed in these events. In Matthew 28:1 some Bible versions, including Alfred Marshall's Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Ferrar Fenton's Translation and Green's Literal Translation, properly translate this phrase as "after the sabbaths." Young's Literal Translation and The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (1992, p. 1270) similarly acknowledge that multiple Sabbaths are intended here. The wording of Mark 16:1-2 is confusing to some because it seems to suggest that the spices were purchased after the weekly Sabbath rather than before it, on Friday. However, this is explained by Luke 23:56, which clearly shows that the women bought the spices before, and not after, the weekly Sabbath, "and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment." Mark did not mention this weekly Sabbath rest in his account, but Luke, who wrote his account of these events later, did. Some also stumble over Mark 16:9, not taking into account that there is no punctuation indicated in the original Greek. Therefore, to be in harmony with the material presented in the other Gospels, a better translation would be: "Now having risen, early the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene ... " These verses are not saying that Jesus rose early on Sunday morning, but that He appeared early on Sunday morning to Mary Magdalene, having already risen some time earlier. When we consider the details in all four Gospel accounts, the picture is clear. Jesus was crucified and entombed late on Wednesday afternoon, just before a Sabbath began at sunset. However, that was a high-day Sabbath, falling that year on the fifth day of the week, sunset Wednesday to sunset Thursday, rather than the weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset through Saturday sunset. He remained entombed from Wednesday at sunset until Saturday at sunset, having risen from the dead. Thus, when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on Sunday morning before sunrise, "while it was still dark," she found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. We can be assured that the duration of Christ's entombment before His resurrection, which He foretold as proof of His Messiahship, was precisely as long as He said it would be—equaling the "three days and three nights [Jonah was] in the belly of the great fish" (Matthew 12:40). Thus, Jesus rose late Saturday afternoon around sunset—not Sunday at sunrise—which was exactly three days and three nights after He was placed in the tomb just before sunset on Wednesday. Christ's prophecy of the time He would be in the tomb was fulfilled precisely. Because most people do not understand the biblical high days kept by Jesus Christ and His followers, they fail to understand the chronological details so accurately preserved for us in the Gospels. A better wayAs we have seen, Easter and its customs originated not from the Bible, but in pagan fertility rites. It is a curious mixture of ancient mythological practices and arbitrary dating that obscures and discredits the proof of Jesus Christ's Messiahship and resurrection.Having learned the sources and backgrounds of two major religious holidays, one might rightly wonder which days, if any, a Christian should observe. God in His Word shows a better way of life with better days of worship He has appointed for His people. | ||
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