ADAM-- WHAT COLOR WAS HE?

 

Adam - made from RED earth?

Could have been....BUT

ADAM - WAS HE FROM "red earth" as come contend? by Keith Hunt (June 2000) from a "forum" I was on at the time. Just for the record, as we have had a thread or two about the "races" or the colors of us human race. In part, from the "Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament," vol. l, pages 10,11. ('dm) 1. assumed root of the following. 25a ('adam) man, mankind, Adam. 25b (adama) ground, land. 'adam..... Although the etymology of 'adam cannot be explained with certainty (cf TDOT,I,p. 78), the word probably relates to the original riddiness of man's conplexion (cf, F. Maas, 'adam TDOT, 1, pp. 78-79...... 'adama. Ground, land, earth ..... Originally this word signified the red arable soil..... ...('dm) 2. Assumed root of the following. 26a ('adorn) ('adem) be red. 26b ('adorn) red. 26c ('odem) carnelian. 26d (edom) name of condiment. 26e ('edom) Edom. 26f (adomi) Edomite. 26g (adamiddam) be reddish. 26h ('admoni) red, ruddy. 'adom, 'adem. To be red..... Ugartic 'adm is the rouging done by the nobility after bathing. Also note Old Akkadain 'adamu "dark red," as of a garment. Akkadian adamatu "dark red soil" and adamu "red blood," and Aramaic 'adam, as of blood...... It would seem indeed that the evidence *strongly* points to the first man being formed from the red soil. Well there is shades of brown soil to black soil and shades of red soil on this earth, but I ain't seen any "white" soil. Maybe the "red" Indian looked more like Adam than anyone ... well whatever, it would seem the white, black, brown and yellow of us came after the first "red soil" version. But what's that to God, we are all going to look very much like Him and His Son, whatever color they are (1 John 3: 1-3). Whatever color we are, we do know that we all come from that first man and woman God created. Besides genetics or DNA in them, I personally feel the Eternal also worked some specific miracles, certain DNA miracles that were for then and for His purpose at the beginning, certain miracles that are not being performed by Him in the same way today. Yes it could well be that Adam and Eve had all kinds of colored sons and daughters, and they also likewise. If that was so then to them that was normal and very natural. God performs His different miracles for different ages, His will to be done. Look at the length of age they lived up to Noah's time, then it would seem a huge change in that part of human life God enacted. At the beginning people were marrying their brothers and sisters, without any DNA problems. God works different miracles for different times for His purposes. But the biggest one of all is for us humans of any color or nationality is to become LIKE Him, to be His VERY LITERAL children! (1 John 3:1-3) ................ NOT: I am fully aware of what Strong's Concordance has to say and also THE THEOLOGICAL WORKBOOK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT on the word "adam." So whatever red "flush" or "color" Adam was we know this. God made him "good" - all that God made He looked at and said "that is good." Adam was naked, so with a perfect climate, it would not have been long before he would have had a great sun-tan, white is not always beautiful by any means, in fact some white people look like death warmed over (because they are not following the laws of health). Adam was a caucasian type, yes. He was not a Red Indian from the Western race of Indians, or a Chinese man. Yes, the Bible is an Insraelite book, from Abraham through the 12 tribes of Israel. God does use certain "nations" or "peoples" to work His work on the physical side of things on this earth, for His overall plan. But, when it comes to salvation, as Paul said, there is no Jew or Gentile, there is no male or female, ALL are on the same playing field, to inherit the Kingdom of God. Adam was a robust red flushed type caucasian with a great sun-tan. Many who pride themselves (with the wrong kind of pride) that they are caucasian, would do well to get themselves in Adam's health shape, though sun-tanning, because we have damaged the ozone, is not that good for you any more. The main point of this short study, is that outward looks are not important in the long run of salvation, even in the short run. What God does through certain races, or nationalities on this earth in the physical working of His plan is one thing, but salvation for all of mankind, is another thing, that does not depend on color of skin, race, shape of nose, shape of eyes etc. When people inherit the Kingdom of God, there will come a CHANGE, as Paul put it in the resurrection chapter of 1 Corinthians 15. We are to eventually look like Christ (ref. 1 John 3:1-3 with Revelation 1:13-16). In the glorified form we shall not look white, black, yellow, green, blue, or whatever, we shall all be different than we are today. We shall look like Christ! Do not make the mistake of getting hung up on "race" or "color" or even nationality - Jesus was a Jew from Judah while in the physical, not a Chinese man, but the end result is what is important - inheriting the Kingdom of God, as He did, and as we can. Adam was a physical man, yes from the type that produced Noah, who down the line produced Abraham, who down the line produced the 12 Tribes of Israel, but Adam may have had blond hair, or red hair, or brown hair, or black hair, and he may have gotten himself a super deep sun-tan. So what ..... knowing and walking with God, finding and keeping on that straight narrow road to salvation, and being eventually changed into the appearance of the glorified Christ, inheriting the Kingdom of God, is the MOST IMPORTANT thing of all. And finding and walking that road is EQUAL for all peoples at all times.

 

Noah was PERFECT!

The Truth of the Matter

Noah, PERFECT in his generations? Some teach that the meaning of Genesis 6:9 is that Noah was RACIALLY perfect. Let's understand Gen.6:9. by Keith Hunt In my old KJV Bible in the margin for the word "perfect" is "Or upright." In my NKJV Study Bible we have more. The word for "perfect" in the margin they give: "blameless or having integrity." In their commentary below they state: "Not all people were evil. Noah, who like his predecessor Enoch, walked with God and was perfect (blameless; see center column and note on 17:1)..." Going then to Gen.17:1 this same Hebrew word (used for "perfect" in Gen.6:9) they render as "blameless." God wanted Abraham to be blameless in character. The NKJV commentary on 17:1 says: "...To be blameless is to walk before God in complete, unqualified surrender." What they are saying is that to walk before God in a complete humble repentant attitude is to be under the grace of God, under forgiveness, and hence you are blameless. That's why it could be said of Zacharias and Elizabeth that they were blameless (see Luke 1:6). Not that they had never sinned or were not sinners, for only one person has never been a sinner, and you all know who that person was. But having the heart to walk with God in His ways, to be surrendered to His will, to be ever in a humble repentant attitude, is to be under God's grace, and so forgiven and hence blameless. Well back to Gen.6:9. Now you want to look up this word in the "Englishman's Greek Concordance" and you'll see every place in the OT where it is used. Yes it is used for sacrifices without blemish but even then that was for that particular animal, and on the physical body. It had nothing to do with the parent of that animal, only the animal itself, and only the no physical deformity or blemish. It had nothing to do with the "race" or ancestry of the animal. At best this use could only mean Noah in his body had no physical blemishes, but nobody ever looks at this as being the meaning in Gen.6:9. But it is used in Deut.18:13, Josh.24:14; Judges 9:16, 19; 2 Sam.22:24; Ps.15:2; 119:1; Prov.28:18 and others. Look at what the "Bible Commentary" by Jamieson, Fausett and Brown says: "....Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations - i.e. amongst his wicked contemporaries. (The Hebrew word is different from that rendered 'generations' in the previous clause.) He was not absolutely just and perfect; for; since the fall of Adam, no man has been free from sin except Jesus Christ. But as living by faith he was just (Gal.3:2; Heb.11:7) and 'perfeet' - i.e sincere in his desire to do God's will." The Hebrew word for "generations" as in "Noah was perfect in his generations" is not the same Hebrew as "generations" in the first clause of verse 9. Here is how the Hebrew scholar J.P.Green renders verse 9 in his "English/Hebrew Interlinear": "These are the generations of Noah. Noah, a man righteous, perfected had been among his peers,; with God Noah walked." Noah was upright, sincere, blameless, among his peers, among the generations of his time. And is not that exactly what the whole context is telling us very clearly. Everyone else around Noah was evil in their ways, attitude, and way of life, so God would need destroy them. But Noah found grace in the sight of God because Noah was a sincerely humble repentant man, who walked with God by faith (Heb.11) and so was under the grace of God, and was held by God as blameless. What a lesson for repentance, faith, and grace ....combined it SAVES from death. It's the truth of God from beginning to end, and it has NOTHING to do with race, or the color of your skin. The Spirit of sincere repentance (which then includes walking with God in His ways), faith, and grace, gives us LIBERTY to become the children of God. That my friends is the truth of the matter concerning Genesis 6:9 ............... Written June 2000

SUN AND MOOIN NOT CREATED ON THE 4TH DAY

SOME TEACH THAT THE SUN AND MOON WERE CREATED ON THE 4TH DAY.

BUT THE FENTON TRANSLATION GIVE THE CORRECT TENSE----

"GOD HAD MADE....."

"AND GOD HAD FIXED THEM...."

GOD further said, "Let reflectors appear in the expanse of the Heavens for a division between the day and the night; and let them serve to mark seasons, periods, and years;

and let them also illuminate the expanse of the skies so as to reflect their light upon the Earth;" and that was done. GOD had made two large luminaries,

the larger one to control the day, and the smaller one to control the night, accompanied by the stars.

RF GEN 1:17 And GOD had fixed them in the heavenly expanse so as to illuminate the Earth, to control the day and to control the night,

RF GEN 1:18 and to mark the division between the light and the darkness; and GOD saw they were beautiful.

THE TIME WE ARE BROUGHT INTO IS WHEN THE EARTH WAS COVERED WITH WATER AND A DARKNESS ALSO  COVERED THE EARTH.

GOd THEN AT SOME POINT STARTED TO BRING THE EARTH OUT OF THIS WATER DARKNESS.

THE SUN AND MOON WERE  ALREADY THERE; THEY HAD ALREADY BEEN CREATED.

THE LAND WAS BROUGHT FORTH OUT OF THE WATER. THE MISTY DARKNESS WAS EVAPORATING 

AND LIGHT WAS DIMLY SHINING THROUGH .

VERSE 14, THE REFLECTORS NOW FULLY APPEARED IN THE EXPANSE OF HEAVEN. NOW THE FULL DIVISION OF DAY AND NIGHT WAS NOW  CLEALY EVIDENT. THE PATTERN OF DAY AND NIGHT, OF SEASONS OF THE YEAR BECAME FULLY FUNCTIONAL 

GOD HAD MADE TWO GREAT LUMINARIES ONE TO RULE THE DAY AND ONE TO RULE THE NIGHT-- THE SUNAND MOON, WITH THE STARS,   NOW WERE SEEN IN ALL THEIR GLORY.

THE UNIVERSE WITH ITS GALAXIES, OUR SOLAR SYSTEM WERE CREATED IN  THE DISTANT PAST.

THE EARTH IN OUR SOLAR SYTEM, WITH OUR SUN AND MOON WERE CREATED IN THE UNKOWN TIME OF THE PAST.

THE DINOSAUR AGE WAS CREATED IN  THE UNKOWN PAST.

AS MODERN SCIENCE NOW KNOWS THE EARTH WASS HIT BY HUGE METEORS  THAT PUT THE EARTH INTO DESOLATION AND WIPED OUT THE DINOSAURS . THE EARTH WAS COVERED WITH WILD WATERS FORMING THE STRATA, CREATING THE COAL AND OIL, MAKING DIAMOND AND GOILD SEAMS.

THE EARTH WAS IN  THIS  FORM FOR AN UNKNOW PERIOD OF TIME.

THEN  THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE WATERS,  AND WE ARE BROUGHT INTO THE CREATION WEEK OF GENESIS ONE.

Keith Hunt

  

 

NO RAIN BEFORE NOAH JUAST A MIST??? #1. #2, #3 END

 

Was there no RAIN before Noah?

Just a Mist?

by

Keith Hunt

GENESIS AND NO RAIN BEFORE NOAH? The following was a debate on this subject in 1997 on a "forum" I was on. This subject is NOT a matter of salvation, but you may find it interesting. I give my answers to a somewhat "common" teaching that there was NO rain before the days of Noah. NO rain teaching: The following is the scriptural evidence for a water heaven--a canopy rather than clouds of today which are IN not ABOVE the firmament-heaven. This is listed in Joseph Dillow's book, THE WATERS ABOVE: My answer: It is time for me to get my sleeves rolled up and answer. First let me say that as far as the "technical" science that Dillow puts forth I am NOT qualified to answer or argue with. I am not skilled in such matters, but I did appreciate the answers we received from Ewin on this technical side of things. I know that for every specialist of science that puts forth a theory or dogma there is another scientist to contradict the first one. I will with the skills I have stick to the Bible. No rain teaching: l.There was no rain. A mist came up instead (Genesis 2:5-6). The cool of the day would condense a mist out; no erosion or floods - nothing violent. My answer: A very common argument. It has sometimes been assumed that there was no rain upon the earth until the days of the flood of Noah. Sermons have been told about Noah building the ark - all of which made him appear insane as there had been no rain. But is that what the Bible says? Take a very close look at Gen.2:4-6. This passage is talking about plants and herbs BEFORE they grew, created as full grow, and BEFORE man was created. Before man and before plants seeded themselves and grew, a mist went up from the earth and watered the ground. Usually if you buy a plant from the store and dig it into your garden you will immediately water it also to get it started well. So it was with God. After He created these plants full grown, He watered them. As man had not yet been created to care for them, and other things were still to be re-organized in the earth and heaven which would take its natural course to produce rain, God watered these plants with a mist, a dew if you like, all around the earth. This passage describes the condition of things BEFORE there was a man to till the ground, and before conditions that make rain happen. It was AT THIS TIME that it had not yet rained upon the earth. Would this necessarily prove it did not rain after the Lord made man? Can this passage prove it did not rain until the days of the flood of Noah, which was well over a thousand years later? What this passage says is simply this: there was a time when the Lord had not caused it to rain on the earth. It also says there was no man and that plants were not yet seeding and growing. But soon plants did seed and grow. Soon there was a man on the earth. The very fact that Moses(the author of Genesis) mentions rain and that it did not rain until there was a man to till the ground suggests to me that IT DID RAIN after there was a man, and after plants started to seed themselves. Moses could have easily, somewhere in these first few chapters of Genesis(up to the flood time) stated: "It never rained upon the earth until the flood." Or "The earth was watered by a mist from the time of Adam to the flood of Noah." Such language would have been simple for Moses to have written, but he did not come close to saying any such words. All he says here is that until man, God watered the plants and herbs with a mist, and in mentioning rain, the conclusion is, it then did rain after man was created. Rain is SO COMMON that if we had a whole AGE of no rain, I believe we would have been told VERY PLAINLY somewhere in the Bible, but such plain words are not to be found. No rain teaching: Four rivers ran through the entire earth (2:10-14). My answer: I see no words in this passage that talk about "the whole earth" or the "entire earth." I see words such as "Eden" - "garden" - "whole land" - Ethiopia" - "Assyria." Obviously this is the area where man was created and is the focal point of the narrative. God is not dealing with the North American area, or the land that became Australia, or China, or Brazil. Even if He was, what has four rivers got to do with rain or no rain for an entire age? Rivers run today to the sea, water evaporates from the sea into the air to meet cold masses and form clouds that meets other air to produce rain, that flows into rivers to the sea, and so the cycle continues. This passage proves nothing about the idea of no rain until the flood of Noah. No rain teaching: There was one basic location for the sea (1:9). My answer: There was no dry land at this time. The words and figure of speech Moses used here MAY NOT mean that there was just ONE LAND MASS and one SEA MASS. It may be just a language speech that is telling us God here brought the land called earth into being from the waters called seas. You will notice NOTHING is said about "the earth being in one place." The sea of the world could be said to be "unto one place" because the sea is connected as one. Two thirds of the earth is sea. Look at a world globe, where is the sea not connected as one. We may give different parts of that one different sea names (the Atlantic, the Pacific etc.) but it is all one. The earth masses NOT so. Some want to say the land mass was all one at one time, there may be some truth to parts having been together once and split away later. But to try to be dogmatic about all land being one at the beginning is pure speculation. The Bible is silent on the matter. And even if it was so, what has that got to do with proving the no rain until the flood idea? It still rains on the huge land mass of the Europe/Russian/China etc. nations. No rain teaching: Eden was elevated so river water fed from springs (as the Millennial Jerusalem to come - same spot as Eden(?)) flowed downhill to the rest of the planet. The rivers were sluggish without much gradient and little erosion resulted. My answer: So what I ask? What has any of that got to do with no rain until the flood theory? Will there be no rain in the Millennium? No creation of rain is mentioned, only another means of watering. I've answered that above covering Gen.2:4-6. Genesis is a book of beginnings and when an event happens it is most likely the first occurrence and when it first originated. Moses mentions rain in chapter 2:4-6, only that it had not rained upon the earth before man was created to till the ground. I think it is quite clear what Moses was saying. After man and after the plants seeded themselves it did rain. No rain teaching: There were no rainbows prior to the Deluge (9:13). My answer: So what I ask? Are you trying to tell me God MUST HAVE rainbows to have it rain on the earth? It is written: "all things are possible with God." You nor I were living back then, nor do you know anyone who was, nor do we have any written scientific log books from that time, telling us the science God used during that age. If God wanted it to rain on the earth, He sure did not HAVE to use as automatic "can't be done without" rainbows. You are trying to tie a present reality with the science that goes with it, to prove a past reality (the way you claim it was) that God does not need, because He can do anything as He wills with what science or unscientific(as some things science cannot explain) way He chooses. God is not dependant upon how WE say it should be through our science. No rain teaching: Rainbows can only be produced when droplet size is greater than .30 millimeters, thus rain drops not mist make rainbows possible. Small rainbows could be made artificially with sprinkling water and a light source, but the grand and glorious natural ones are spoken of here. No rain, a mist and no rainbow mutually reinforce each other. My answer: I am not a scientist. No need to get into the scientific side of rainbows anyway. The Bible tells us very plainly WHY God created the rainbow. It had nothing to do with mist or rain at all. Read Gen.9:8-17. God set the rainbow in the clouds or the sky for ONE REASON ONLY. To remind mankind of the sworn covenant God made with all mankind and living creatures - flesh would never again be cut off from the earth by a flood of waters. That's it! No more and no less! God created the science(if you want to look at it from the physical) for rainbows at THIS TIME. Then maybe not, who knows, the science may have already been there but God simply chose not to have rainbows BEFORE this time. He is God you know, not us. He can do want He likes when He likes, with whatever He likes. That is why scientists who do not believe in God get all messed up, because some things DEFY science, and the Lord sits back and laughs at them. Can it rain upon the earth WITHOUT rainbows? On, you bet it can! I lived for 18 years(the first of my life) in England. I have seen it rain, and rain, and thunder storm and rain, for probably hundreds of days in those 18 years, and only NOW and THEN during all those rain days, was there a rainbow in the sky. I lived in Florida for three years(1992-95). During the summer months it rains at least once a day for an hour or so. Most of those days you never see a rainbow, only now and then is there one. I lived on the prairies of Canada, in the Toronto area for 12 years. I've lived in B.C. for three years. I travelled all over North America, east, west, north, and south. I'm now living in N.B. the far east of Canada. Seen many many days of rain over those years, and few rainbow times. Can it rain WITHOUT rainbows appearing? I guess it can! So why should it seem incredulous to think God could have an age(from Adam to Noah) where it rained but never had a rainbow? No rain teaching: Signs and seasons (1:14) were told upon the creation of the apparent heavenly bodies which regulate them. The Sabbath (2:2-3) was declared when the 7th day was sanctified. Cain's mark (4:15) was explained when it was created. Prior usage, therefore, suggests that the introduction of an item as a sign amounts to the introduction of the item itself. Covenant signs as baptism and circumcision are for man, but rainbows are for God to remember and made by God. The other signs remind man of an obligation--the rainbow reminds God of one; thus, it is a different category of sign. There were no seasons prior to the Deluge (8:22). My answer: Wait a minute, this verse does not say(God speaking): "Now I will create different seasons, now there will be seedtime and harvest time, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and right, as there were none before this flood." Was there day and night before the flood? You bet! Was there seedtime and harvest before the flood? I guess so! Cain and Abel brought offerings of the land to the Lord. Adam was to produce from the land but it was also to yield "thorns and thistles" as well, for his sin. Cain was to till the ground but it would not yield its full strength, a part of his penalty for his sin. As all these were before the flood, was there also cold and heat(I'm not saying cold like the South Pole or heat like humid south Florida), summer and winter(again I'm not saying they contrasted each other like they do in Canada and the northern USA)? They are all mentioned in the same breath. As there were some before the flood the logic says there were the others also. This verse is NOT telling us that God was NOW, after the flood creating these things. The context goes back to verse 21. God had brought to an end for a period of time(while the waters were upon the earth), as looking at things from the surface of the earth(standing on the land of the earth), seedtime, harvest, cold, heat, summer, winter, day and night. If you had been able to survive(in some plastic bubble) on the land of the earth under the water, you would not have been able to have experienced ANY of the things God here mentions, not even day and night(everything would have been black as coal under the water that covered the hills and the mountains (chapt.7:19,20). Which by the way clearly shows there were hills and mountains before the flood for the waters of the flood covered them. Because of the evil of the heart of man, God had for a time brought seedtime, harvest, cold, heat, summer, winter, day and night to an end. Mankind, in Noah's society, had come to an end except Noah and his family (8 persons). Now God was making a promise to Noah, and to all mankind from that day forth, that He would while His physical plan was still in the physical, never again destroy every living thing in whom was the breath of life, by the waters of a huge flood. He was promising in this verse 22, that while the physical earth remained, the natural things He had created from the beginning of the re-forming of the earth would continue, would not cease. That's what God is saying here! He was certainly NOT saying "I will now create these things ...... which did not exist in the pre-flood age." If God was now creating these things then plain words of creation would have been used as was in chapter 1 and 2. Such words were not used and I contend that they were not because such things had been from the beginning. No rain teaching: Seasons in 1:14 refer to the Feasts as Leviticus 23:4, God-appointed Holy Days which must have been known before the Deluge. The Hebrew word "moadim" specifically indicates these special days. Ordinary weekly Sabbaths only require knowing 7-day cycles. The seasons were named after the deluge was over. There was a uniform temperature with the canopy and slight air movement. Again, first mention, first existence and an interdependence of no rain, mist, no rainbow, and no seasons. My answer: ................................................... To be continued   Was there no RAIN until Noah's life? #2 Continuing the debate about NO RAIN before Noah's life No rain teaching: Deluge was over. There was a uniform temperature with the canopy and slight air movement. Again, first mention, first existence and an interdependence of no rain, mist, no rainbow and no seasons My answer: Of course you would have to understand Gen.1:14 as "festivals" and not "seasons of the year." If you admitted there were seasons then you would have to come close to admitting there could well have been rain within "seasons of the year." You say Genesis 1:14 and the word "moadim"(seasons) = God's festivals of Lev.23. This Hebrew word is indeed used for God's festivals in the first five books. Because it is, some have been quick to dogmatically proclaim loud and strong that God's festivals were from the very beginning. Even Adam Clarke has an interesting comment on this line of thought in his famous Bible Commentary. This Hebrew word is number 4150 in Strong's Concordance. In the "Englishman's Hebrew Concordance" you will find every place in the OT where this word is used(page 672 in the edition I have). The "Theological Wordbook of the OT" has much to say about this word, Vol.l, Page 387/88. In Ex.34:18 we have it translated "in the time of" and = the month of Abib. It is a different Hebrew word used here for "feast"(#2282 not 4150). Obviously the word "moed" or "moadim" is here used NOT for "feast" as the feast has already been mentioned as the feast of unleavened bread. It is used here as a "month season, Abib." It is used as a general expression for the season of the year that the month of Abib is in. We may say today "the spring season of Abib." Notice Lev.23:4. Here the word (#4150) is used TWICE. It would be a little silly to render this verse as: "These are the feasts of the Lord ..... which you shall proclaim feasts" as God has made it plain already they are feasts of His in verse 2. The KJV translators had the correct meaning of what God was saying here. The feasts of the Lord were to be holy gatherings, proclaimed to be observed in their own particular seasons of the year. The Jews have always known that the Passover/Unleavened Bread feast was to be observed in the "spring" season not the winter season(from Palestine). The "fall" feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles) was to be in the fall season not the spring(Palestine year). This Hebrew word (#4150) CAN MEAN a certain time of the year, a certain period of the year, be it spring, summer, fall etc. It does NOT JUST mean "feast" or "festival." It would be wonderful for us keepers of the feasts of the Lord, to be able to prove 100%, without any doubt, that this word "moed" in Gen.1:14 means ONLY "feasts" for then we could indeed say that God had His feasts from the very beginning. BUT..... such is not the case. No dogmatic stance can be taken on that view, unless you are going to be very UNwise. We just CANNOT be sure for certain that Moses was telling us that God had His festivals from the beginning, or that God simply had the lights of heaven mark out day, night, signs of various weather to come (as the farmers used to watch the sky before we had the space age weather man), for yearly cycles, and for seasons within that year(spring, fall etc.).. If it is the latter, then God did have different seasons from the beginning, with weather patterns (but probably not as wild and contrasting as today in many parts of the world). From what I have already said above under other comments, I am inclined to lean towards the latter understanding of Gen.1:14. God did have yearly seasons, with seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and RAIN as we are familiar with today, only not as drastic, but much more pleasant for the world of that age before the flood of Noah. No rain teaching: Man had great longevity. There was no seasonal stress of extremes and changing weather fronts. The sun's shortwave radiation and cosmic rays were filtered more. My answer: The Bible does indicate that man had greater longevity than today. We do have men mentioned who lived hundreds of years, but were they the norm or the exceptions? We cannot know for sure, but I will take the relative few given as examples of the norm during that time and age. It may also have just been God's will that mankind live much longer then than today. Just his plan and desire for that age. As for Dillow's other statements above. I see no Biblical proof in specifics. I do know the sun's rays are of benefit for health(vitamin D is produced by the sun's rays) even today IF we had not put holes in the ozone. I know from experience that living for months without bright sunny days has a psychological effect on humans. I lived in a part of B.C. for three years that often had periods of three to four months of cloudy sunless weather during the wintery time. Let's face it, what is better than a warm sunny day with blue skies and a few snowy white clouds drifting by, while out next to a stream rolling through a country meadow, with the birds singing and sheep grazing. The fishermen among us know exactly how lovely that is. No rain teaching: Canopied skies therefore blocked the production of C-14 substantially or totally so such testing for dates for these worlds (including pre-man ones) is misleading. Radiation is known to cause aging. A plot of age versus generations displays a exponential decline curve reminiscent of a change of one set of conditions to another set of different conditions. Mt answer: Again, that is Dillow's thoughts, another scientist may have other evidence or claims, to counter his. I'll leave all that for them to argue over. No rain teaching: Noah's drunkenness (Genesis 9:20-21) can be attributed to the new conditions of the new age. Water in a canopy would press down on the atmosphere below increasing the atmospheric pressure. Dillow shows that 40 feet of perceptible water in the canopy would increase pressure to 2.18 atmospheres by the weight. The chemical reaction changing glucose to alcohol is: C6 H12 06 ----> 2(C 02) + 2(C2 HS OH) The carbon dioxide is suppressed with greater atmospheric pressure so fermentation takes longer. My answer: I think Ewin answered all this above. And I can make wine inside the house, without a canopy of water above, so what on earth has all this got to do with proving it did not rain until the flood? No rain teaching: Noah was caught off guard by the increased alcoholic content and lower pressure causes intoxication sooner - a double whammy. My answer: Whhhaaattt! I see nothing in the Scriptures that says Noah was caught off guard by anything! It simply says Noah planted a vineyard and got drunk! Let's leave it at that and not try to build something out of nothing that is not stated. There are many people today who plant vineyards, drink of the wine and get drunk. If they are caught off guard, it is usually by "The deceitfulness of the human heart" (Jer.17:9). No rain teaching: Tests in high altitude found blood alcohol higher than in lower altitude. So another piece of seemingly unrelated biblical data dovetails into the water heaven theory. No wonder there is no record of God chastising Noah for drunkenness and cursing Ham. My answer: Just a minute, where in the Scripture does it tell us at what altitude or even what area of land Noah was living at this time when he planted a vineyard and became drunk? Genesis is not a record of EVERYTHING that went on. God may have chastised Noah for all we know. He was not perfect or without sin, for as it is written: "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Only Christ Jesus never sinned. No rain teaching: Yes, it was Ham who violated Noah, but Ham's son born about the time of the inebriation was cursed, as the plain reading of the account states and "Ham father of Canaan" is twice stated (9:18,22). God also knows there is a psychological letdown after catastrophic stress as with Lot, Elijah and Hezekiah. My answer: The Scripture does NOT say it was Ham who violated Noah. The word "violate" is not found in the text with regards to Ham. He, Ham, SAW and TOLD (verse 22). That is all it says, no more and no less. And what has that got to do with "a canopy, no rain before Noah" idea? It sure did rain BEFORE all this with Noah took place, for 40 days and 40 nights at least (chap.7). No rain teaching: Psalm 148 has caused scepticism, it nevertheless bolsters the water heaven idea. It naturally falls into two segments of praise in the heavens (1-6) and praise from the earth (7-14). The waters above the heavens (4) is in the heaven section and of course is above the heavens. Hail, snow, vapors, clouds and wind are related to the earth. By poetic license, waters above are addressed though nonexistent at the time of the psalmist. My answer: This psalm is written at the time of the person writing it. They were seeing things are they knew they existed THEN AT THAT TIME while they wrote. Look at it, is there anything there that does not exist even today? Can we not say and sing this psalm today with the same intent as the person who wrote it when they wrote it? I think so! I had read this psalm as a young boy. What did the words "Praise Him..... you waters above the heavens" mean to me. Why just another way of saying the waters above, that would sooner or later come down to earth as rain. Poetic personification of the water above that floats around the earth to become clouds and rain to fall on the earth at times. Waters above were every bit in existence in the psalimist's day as they are in our day. No rain teaching: The waters were first separated vertically (Genesis 1:6-8) and the top water was placed above, not within, the firmament called heaven. My answer: Come on now, what God is telling us in Gen.1:6-8 is that instead of a dark complete soup like surface of the earth that extending above the water covering the earth for who knows how high. So thick and black that first of all He had to begin to thin it out so day and night could be started to be distinguished(verses 2-5). Then divided the waters even more by having waters below and waters above with an expanse between, that we could say in comparison was waterless. God calling this expanse between "heaven." The heaven where the birds generally fly. This is the overall heaven, first heaven, but does this heaven continue above? It could be argued it does. The waters in the clouds on the western prairies can be very low at times to the earth's surface, then again the waters in the clouds above mount Everest is so high man would die for lack of air if we could stay up there with them. God is speaking here in GENERAL terms, not in strict scientific technical terms. We today generally call the expanse between us on the earth and the waters in the clouds above "heaven" - the heaven where the birds fly. That heaven can be of various distances at various times between the waters below and the waters above, but we still call it heaven, so does God. No rain teaching: Moses had six words for clouds and several for vapor, yet employed plain water as his word of choice. My answer: Yes because he was telling us how God was dividing this thick dark soup like water covering the earth, so thick and dark that even day and night could not be noticed if you had been down on the surface of the water covering the earth in a boat. The context is all this WATER and darkness which God was beginning to move. He did not completely fashion it all until the 4th day, when clear lights from the second heaven could shine upon the earth. On the 4th day we had the sky (with clouds etc.) as we know it today, as I read it. But in the earlier verses WATER is the subject not clouds or vapor. His choice of word was VERY FITTING for the context. No rain teaching: The great lights which Moses recorded must be different than the sun and moon, for why would he not mention them in the book of beginnings when he wrote of stars? He wanted to portray something unique from his experience and ours. Using the generic term of lights with one of greater intensity than the other, connotes the impression of a general and vast region of the sky which was Illuminated without any distinct form as the circular sun and moon afford in a clear sky. A canopy occluding or veiling the sun would account for the greater light on the sunward side, while casting diffused light to the other side of the earth for the lesser light. My answer: That is your theory. I do not read these verses of chapter one anywhere near as to how you want us to read them. Even from my youth as a child reading these verses I never came up with an idea as you portray to us. I saw and still do, that day and night, light and darkness, has generally speaking once more, light that rules each. The light of the day is not the light of the night. The light of the light is not the light of the darkness. Pretty simple to me, even when I was a child. And what gives us on this earth the two different lights, one to rule the day and one to rule the night? Why the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon, and stars. The stars are specifically mentioned (verse 16). So the sun, and moon are not mentioned by the names we know them as today. Big deal, from the very words and context I understood Moses to mean those two heavenly bodies. Even as a child I understood it that way. Does this light still come to earth today that divides the day from the night and light from darkness? Yes it does! From where does it come? From the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon, and stars. As it is today so it was then when God reformed and divided the waters of blackness from off the earth, to form the sky, land and sea, ready for living creatures in whom would be the breath of life. Ready also for those who would be made after His image - mankind. Oh, the Hebrew for "made" and "set them" (verses 16,17) are in the past tense. Should have been rendered as "And God HAD made...." - "And God HAD set them....." The sun, moon, stars, had already been made and created long before what was now taking place in verses 14-19. God was now organizing the sky so the lights from these heavenly bodies could shine fully and clearly upon the earth (generally speaking that is, when clouds were not in the way, but even then we still have a difference between day and night). No rain teaching: Again, Moses was conveying new concepts in terms of already known phenomena and surely would have used the terms sun and moon if they were appropriate. My answer: Not so, they were already in existence. His readers would have already been quite familiar with the two great lights that gave light on the earth to divide day from night. They would have easily understood what two great lights he was speaking about. I did as a child reading these verses. .......................................................... To be continued No RAIN before Noah's life? #3 To sum it all up! Continuing and finishing the debate on "No RAIN before Noah's life." No rain teaching: The great lights which Moses recorded must be different than the sun and moon, for why would he not mention them in the book of beginnings when he wrote of stars? He wanted to portray something unique from his experience and ours. Using the generic term of lights with one of greater intensity than the other, connotes the impression of a general and vast region of the sky which as illuminated without any distinct form as the circular sun and moon afford in a clear sky. A canopy occluding or veiling the sky account for the greater light on the sunward side, while casting diffused light to the other side of earth for the lesser light. Someone will bring up Psalm 136:7-9 to refute this idea. However, the psalmist could merely be expressing what was normal in his day, his view of what the great lights were. Not realizing any change in the great lights since they were created. My answer: Putting scripture with scripture, letting one interpret the other, it seems pretty plain to me, that the psalmist understood Gen 1:14-19 as I when a child understood it. No rain teaching: While the sun could have been the greater light to rule the day (it defining a day), the lesser light was to rule the night. My answer: I think a child would see it that way. No rain teaching: This would apply better to the canopy diffused back lighting than the moon which only rules the night about half the time. The other half is when it appears in daytime and is ruled over by the sun. The lesser light with canopy would always be present over half the earth. My answer: Sorry but no canopy idea came to my mind as a child reading those verses. If you and people like Dillow had never preached the idea, I sure would not get it from Genesis or any other book of the Bible. So in summing my position up to the idea that no rain came on earth until the lifetime of Noah. The earth in Genesis one was covered by water. There was a global food on the earth, not at Noah's time, but here in the fist verses of Genesis. We come on the scene when the earth was entirely covered with water. God then sets about to create what Genesis one is telling us about. The sea and land appear. There is still great darkness around the earth. The sun and moon and stars HAD BEEN created, they were already there, but their light could not be seen from earth. God had to now move the waters (thick mist like water darkness) above and below (that were all around the earth) and create the heaven above our earth as we basically know it today. Hence Genesis 1:14 has really nothing to do with "festivals" but is correct to translate the Hebrew as the scholars of the KJV Bible did. God was now forming all the physical around planet earth, for the days, nights, and for the yearly seasons. The sky and clouds as we know them today were there being formed, the sun and moon and stars could now be seen and give their respected light to the earth. The plants and trees etc. were created full grown, especially in the garden of Eden, and ONLY UNTIL man was created and instructed in care-giving to the garden, and the clouds and all that is needed to cycle around to bring rain, ONLY UNTIL that natural cycle functioned in its full circle, did God water everything with a mist or dew type of water. After man was instructed in how to care for the garden he and his wife were living in. After the evaporation of waters from the sea of the world, and the forming of clouds and all that is needed to bring rain on the earth, IT DID RAIN! That is how I have understood Genesis 1 and 2 from a young child reading those chapter. And with all the arguments by some to the contrary, that is how I understand those Genesis chapters to this day. There was no rain for only a relatively very short period. When the cycle of earth and heaven moved in its cycle, then good rain fell on the earth. AND THAT WAS WAY BEFORE NOAH LIVED!! ........................................................

END TIME PROPHECY-- EZEKIEL CHAPTERS 38 AND 39

THE FUNDAMENTAL PROTESTANT PROPHETS [SUCH AS KEN. JOHNSON TH. D. IN HIS BOOK OF 2010] CONCERNING PROPHECIES, HAVE AND STILL DO  TEACH THAT RUSSIA AND OTHERS, WILL, BEFORE JESUS RETURNS, ATTACK THE STATE OF ISRAEL. THEY GET THIS IDEA FROM THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL, CHAPTERS 38AND 39.

NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH, AS TO WHEN THIS PROPHECY TAKES PLACE.

THE CONTEXT AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 38, AND THE LAST WORDS OF CHAPTER 39, SHOULD MAKE IT VERY PLAIN THAT THIS PROPHECY IS FOR AFTER THE RETURN OF CHRIST TO THIS EARTH, AND AFTER THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAVE AS A WHOLE PEOPLE RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I PRESENT TO YOU MY FULL STUDY ON  THESE TWO CHAPTERS OF EZEKIEL.

Ezekiel For Today

Chapters 38 to 39

The prophecy concerning Russia and China - peoples of the East and even from Africa CHAPTER 38 FEW understand these chapters of Ezekiel. There are IS ONE basic reasons for not correctly understanding these chapters. Most miss the fact that Ezekiel has a story flow. It is quite simple. Israel and Judah are to be punished in destruction, then RESTORED as one people, being brought back to the Holy Land at the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. Then after being restored we have the invasion of the Holy Land by the kings of the East and their armies. Ezekiel is told to set his face against GOG, the land of MAGOG, the chief prince of Rosh and Tubal. God is AGAINST them! Most will freely admit that this prophecy is concerning Russia and China and other nations of the EAST - Persia (Iran) Cush (not Ethiopia - who are India, Put (not Libya - West and Central Africa and other countries of the east of the Euphrates river). These nations will AFTER THE START OF THE MILLENNIUM, come against the restored people of Israel and Judah, now back in the Holy Land. God will turn them back and He personally will DESTROY THESE ARMIES! It will be people from the North and the East and even the South West into parts of upper Africa, that will come to invade Israel in the Holy Land. IF YOU READ CAREFULLY VERSES 7 TO 16 YOU CAN SEE WHEN ALL THIS IS TO TAKE PLACE. It is after many days, IN THE LATTER YEARS; the context will tell you what the latter years are; in this case it is the beginning years of the millennium, the latter years of Israel and Judah BEING UNITED and a land BROUGHT BACK FROM THE SWORD, A LAND THAT IS GATHERED OUT OF MANY PEOPLE, MANY PEOPLE FROM DIFFERENT LANDS CALLED FROM THOSE LANDS AND GATHERED BACK TO THE HOLY LAND, THE VERY MOUNTAINS OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL. THOSE PEOPLE WILL DWELL SAFELY ALL OF THEM! (verse 8). Can it be said that the people now living in the Holy Land are DWELLING SAFELY? You must have a strange imagination if you can so claim. The people now in the Holy Land are NOT DWELLING SAFELY!! This prophecy CANNOT be for some invasion of the Holy Land by the kings of the East in the last years of this age, as most so-called "prophets" of prophecy would like you to believe. There is more clear proof this prophecy is not for a time that most would have you believe, BEFORE Jesus returns. Notice it all in verse 11. This invading army is going to a land with UNWALLED VILLAGES, people who are at REST; to a people that DWELL SAFELY; without ANY WALLS, HAVING NEITHER BARS NOR GATES. This is NOT modern Palestine; this is NOT the Holy Land today. Why the Jews themselves have BUILT A WALL AROUND THEMSELVES!! All the people of the Holy Land are NOT at REST, dwelling SAFELY. They are FIGHTING EACH OTHER! They have BARS AND GATES AND WALLS AND GUNS AND ROCKETS POINTING AT EACH OTHER!! This prophecy is for a day "when my people Israel dwell SAFELY and you will not know it." This is for a time when MASS TV AND INTERNET AND NEWS REPORTING AND VIDEO AND CAMERAS HAVE BEEN BLOWN TO BITS, GONE, DISAPPEARED, AND COMMUNICATION BETWEEN NATIONS IS NOT AS IT IS TODAY! After all the events of the book of Revelation has come on this earth, there will be so great a MASS DESTRUCTION on the earth, with only a mangled world left behind, it will indeed be like a wild science-fiction world of a blown-up earth with rag- tag people enduring a survival that will truly be horrendous in scope. As Jesus said in His Olivet prophecy of Matthew 24, unless those days were to be shortened NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED ALIVE! Out of it all, Israel and Judah, will be RESTORED to the Holy Land. Jesus the Messiah will be WITH THEM. David and the 12 apostles will be raised from the dead, and ruling over the 12 tribes of Israel, under Christ. The peoples of Israel will now be in FULL AND COMPLETE SAFETY, ABSOLUTE PEACE AND PROSPERITY, NO WALLS, NO BARS, NO GATES, JUST PERFECT PEACE AND MIGHTY BLESSINGS OF A LAND AS THE GARDEN OF EDEN. The nations of the East will have been in a war with the Beast Power of Europe. Those are the days to be shortened or no flesh would survive from an all out war between the West and the East. The East is left desolate in many ways, they will be barely handing on as we say. It will be a time of DESPERATION! They will, with time, HEAR about how a people in the Holy Land are PROSPERING, LIVING AT PEACE, LIVING WITH NO ARMY, NO WEAPONS OF KILLING, NO WALLS OF ANY KIND FOR PROTECTION, AND THEY WILL BAND TOGETHER IN AN ARMY OF PEOPLE TO INVADE THIS PROSPEROUS AND PEACEFUL LAND. THE PEOPLE OF THE EAST WILL COME AS A CLOUD TO COVER THE LAND. IT WILL BE INDEED THE LATTER DAYS OF ENDING ONE AGE AND MOVING INTO THE NEXT AGE. Peoples from the North African continent will also hear about the gadren of Eden that the Holy Land has become. When people are in a desparate state for the basics of survival, such news of a bountiful land travels quickly, probably through the land of Egypt (see Zechariah 14). The movement from one age to the Kingdom age will not all happen in a short month or so, and will not happen without some troubles for some people (Zechariah 14). What will be left of the peoples of the East at the beginning of the millennium will be as nothing in comparison to what they shall hear is the prosperity of the people dwelling safely in the Holy Land. The eye of some people will be on the war-path to invade. Some looking at this will say it sounds like a people on the march to invade that have no modern weapons to fight with, so it cannot be a prophecy for our day. Not so! Such people forget the context of the world at the end time. Such destruction will have come, that yes, literally modern weapons of war will have been blown to bits, most of the cities of the West and East will have been blown to bits. People will be as nomads, seeking food, and just barely surviving all the wars and plagues and utter destruction that has come on the earth in the last 42 months of this age. It will be for them a survival of the fittest, a bare knuckle fight to live. When you understand the CONTEXT of the world and end time prophecy, then what you read here in Ezekiel 38 and 39 will indeed be a back to basics of fighting to invade another nation. There will be no nation on earth after the coming of Christ that will be left with "modern space war machines" to invade another nation. People who throw out Ezekiel 38 and 39 based upon the crude way it describes this invasion, just forget to understand the book of Revelation and the desolation of the earth and the nations upon it by the time the 1,000 years of the new age begins. When the people of the North and the East come against the Holy Land, God will be mighty jealous over His Israel people. There will indeed be a great shaking in the land. What is described in verse 20 can hardly be said to have happened. The shaking of the earth and the mountains being thrown down in the Holy Land has not been recorded as here mentioned. People fighting each other, being destroyed by pestilence and with blood, and with an overflowing rain, with great hailstones, fire, and brimstone, cannot be said to have taken place in the recorded history of the Holy Land (verses 18-23). CHAPTER 39 God will step in, only ONE SIXTH of this army of people from the North and the East will remain alive. This army of people will fall on the mountains of Israel; the fallen will be food for the birds of the heaven, and the beasts of the field to be devoured. It would seem that either God has not yet at this time CHANGED the nature of animals like the lion to eat straw like the ox, or for this battle their old nature is restored to them; or again as a co-worker of mine said, maybe the birds will continue to be as they are, for animals will die as they do today, and birds do clean away the body (verses 1-6). Israel will surely know the name of God in no uncertain way and the heathen also shall know that the Lord is the Holy One IN Israel (verse 7). Those that dwell in the cities of Israel at this time shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons that people will now be using (yes crude old basic weapons to kill) to destroy each other, FOR SEVEN YEARS! (verse 9). There is no space-age weapons left in the nations of the earth by the time the 1,000 years begins. We are back to the old crude weapons that peoples have used to kill each other for centuries. Is there ANY RECORDED HISTORY of Israel EVER taking SEVEN YEARS TO BURN WEAPONS of killing from the lands of their enemies that would destroy them? NO THERE IS NOT!! IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED!! IT IS YET TO TAKE PLACE!! IT WILL TAKE 7 MONTHS FOR ISRAEL TO BURY THE DEAD OF THE NATIONS THAT COME AGAINST THEM IN THAT DAY (verse 12). MEN CHOSEN JUST TO MOVE THROUGH THE LAND TO BURY THE DEAD WILL BE FOUND. BONES WILL BE MARKED AND THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL VALLEY CALLED HAMONGOG FOR ALL TO BE BURIED IN IT (verses 7-16). The message of a food feast is to go out to all the feathered fowl and to every beast of the field. They are to feast ON THE DEAD (verses 17-20). The GLORY of God will be set and felt among the HEATHEN, THEY WILL SEE HIS JUDGMENT (verse 21). If there is any doubt in Israel (human nature is still human even with Israel having God's Spirit) that the Lord is God, this massive destruction of those invading Israel will make that doubt disappear. Israel will know from that day forward that the Lord is their God (verse 22). The heathen will also know that the House of Israel went into captivity for their iniquities; so God for a time did hide His face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies to be punished. But now they will know that the God of heaven has healed them and is WITH them, as He did bring them from their captivity from the lands of the enemies, and is now SANCTIFIED in them in the sight of many nations. "Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have POURED OUT MY SPIRIT UPON THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, SAYS THE LORD GOD" (verses 28-29). The House of Israel has NEVER HAD GOD'S SPIRIT POURED OUT ON THEM AS A WHOLE PEOPLE! BUT AS WE HAVE SEEN IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH THIS OUT-POURING OF GOD'S SPIRIT ON ALL ISRAEL WILL ONE DAY TAKE PLACE.   THE OUTPOURING OF GOD'S SPIRIT HAS NEVER TAKEN PLACE ON THE WHOLE PEOPLE. THIS PROPHECY IS YET FOR THE FUTURE! AFTER THE RETURN  OF CHRIST JESUS TO EARTH.  ...................................................

END TIME PROPHECY-- BOOK OF REVELATION #1, #2, #3,

  

BOOK OF REVELATION

Explained by Keith Hunt 

The REVELATION of Jesus Christ Introduction and Story Flow This introduction is taken from the NKJV Personal Study Bible, Thomas Nelson publishers, 1990,1995. The word "revelation" is a translation of the Greek term meaning "apocalypse," which refers to an unveiling of God's secret purpose.....An additional consideration in understanding Revelation is the frequent use of visions and symbols. In interpreting these, one should recognize that the author has interwoven many echoes from the Old Testament.Attention to these Old Testament settings may help us understand a given symbol or vision....This book certainly had relevance to the situation that surrounded its first readers. Yet its primary focus seems to be on events associated with the return of Christ.... AUTHOR AND DATE The tradition that John the apostle wrote Revelation was almost unchallenged through the second century. Five time the author names himself as John, but the term "apostle" is never used....several ling-guistic evidences support the early church tradition that John the apostle wrote the Revelation as well as the Gospel and epistles of John.The Revelation uses some vocabulary similar to the other books of John. also, the Revelation, the Gospel, and the epistles of John are all fond of contrasts. Dating the composition of Revelation is complicated.... (Most give it as between 80 and 96 A.D. - Keith Hunt) PURPOSE In all this John's message is that God's victory has already been won. The Lamb is the King of kings and Lord of lord..... .................................. I have not given a lengthy introduction as some Bible Commentaries will do such as "Barne's Note on the New Testament. It is not really relevant per se. and I will skip the "Outline of Revelation" as presented in the above NKJV Personal Study Bible - Keith Hunt. REVELATION CAN BE UNDERSTOOD! Let's make it very clear from the start, the book of Revelation TODAY, CAN BE UNDERSTOOD! It is the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST OF THINGS THAT MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS, and He bears witness by Himself and gave this prophecy to John to write and who then bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to all the things that he saw. There is a blessing for all who read and take head to the words of this prophecy, and KEEP those things which as written in it; for the time is near (1-3). I want you to hang on to that phrase "for the time is near." and we shall compare it with similar phrases. Some have or try to understand this Revelation book as for the time shortly after the life of John. The truth of the matter is the book is written MAINLY in the time setting of the DAY OF THE LORD. That prophetic time frame mentioned in TWO DOZEN OR MORE prophetic time frames in the Old Testament, and the context of all of them is the events of the last THREE AND one half YEARS OF THIS AGE. GETTING EVEN MORE SPECIFIC, THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS PROBABLY TALKING ABOUT "THE DAY" OF THE LORD, AS A DAY BEING ONE YEAR IN FULFILMENT. STORY FLOW There is most clearly a STORY FLOW through the book of Revelation. If we leave out what is not the story flow, but inset passages that explain the symbols, or go back in an event to bring you up to the overall present time we are in at that time in the prophecy. So a certain amount of "drop back" scenes play out in this mainly Revelation that is still yet beyond us. Let me again state, this is A REVEALING OF WHAT MUST COME SHORTLY BEFORE THE RETURN OF JESUS IN POWER AND GLORY. Angels were sent to John to help him see many things and to write about them, events that for the maim part of this book are taking place in that section of prophecy called "the day of the Lord" or "the day of God's wrath" or "the great day of His wrath has come (chap.6:17). Dr. Samuel Bacchiocchi - Departing from his church's general understanding of this phrase, he disagrees with his Seventh Day Adventist teaching on the phrase, as having nothing to do with the 7th day of the week, or the literal day of the week (the Lord's Day) some call "the Lord's day." It is correct to understand that phrase as concerning the end-time period of the last number of years at the end of this age. The phrase "Lord's Day" is used in many of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, and refers to that time period shortly before the Messiah comes in glory and power to the earth (verses 1-3). The OUTLINE STORY FLOW IS: CHAPTER 1:9-19 John in the visionary Spirit see the glorified Son of man. CHAPTER 4. The setting of the vision continues in heaven at the Throne of God. CHAPTER 5. God hold a scroll in His right hand. No one is worthy to open the scroll except the Lamb, the lion of Judah, the Root of David, the Son of man, Jesus the Christ. CHAPTER 6. The 7 seals and the opening of the first 6. CHAPTER 7. The sealing of the servants of God. 12 thousand from the 12 tribes of Israel and a great multitude. This part of the vision does include a jump to where these servants or saints will be with the Lamb of God (Christ) and the Father into eternity. CHAPTER 7. The opening of the 7th seal. Seven angels with seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound. FOUR trumpets are sounded and various destruction come upon the earth. THREE trumpets remain to be sounded (called Woe, woe, woe) - verse 13. CHAPTER 9. The first WOE or 5TH TRUMPET sounds. The army from the bottomless pit comes and torments people FIVE months (verses 1-12). The second WOE or 6TH TRUMPET sounds. The army from the EAST of Euphrates comes and kills one third of mankind still left on earth (verses 13-21). CHAPTER 10. The vision continues and preparations words are given to get ready for the third WOE or the 7TH TRUMPET, the LAST TRUMPET, to sound. CHAPTER 11: 14-19. The third WOE comes quickly - the 7TH TRUMPET sounds. The time has now come for Christ to take the kingdoms of this world and reign over them. The time of the dead to be resurrected and given rewards. Jesus will come and destroy those who are destroying the earth. The "temple of God" is opened in heaven. CHAPTER 14:1-20. Jesus is to come on the wings so to speak of a white cloud. The harvest of mankind is to take place. Jesus will make war and the wine-press of blood will be like a river. CHAPTER 16. The 7TH TRUMPET WOE is made up of 7 LAST PLAGUES. The 6th vial is the gathering together of the armies of the Beast power into the place called Armageddon. The 7th vial is a mighty earthquake and hail, especially upon the prophetic "Babylon." CHAPTER 19:11-16. Jesus' literal coming riding on a white horse with armies from heaven. He takes rulership of the earth. Destroys the "beast man" and the "false prophet" in the lake of fire. CHAPTER 20. Christ and the saints rule the earth for 1,000 years (verses 1-6). Satan is chained and cast into the bottomless pit. At the end of the thousand years Satan is loosed, another battle takes place around Jerusalem. God is the winner. The WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT (verses 11-13). Billions who lived and were never called to salvation will be resurrected and offered eternal life. They will have to live by the Bible, and receive salvation exactly the same way as the saints already in the Kingdom of God. CHAPTER 21 AND 22. The NEW heaven and the NEW earth. God the Father will come with the new Jerusalem from heaven, to live and dwell with His children FOREVER MORE. We are given a small glimpse into that eternal age, as it will be on this earth, as the headquarters of the entire universe. INSET CHAPTERS. Basically the rest of the chapters and verses of the book of Revelation are what we call INSET chapters. They tell us VERY IMPORTANT things that effect the MAIN STORY flow. It is like the Hollywood films that tell a story flow, but now and again they go back in time, to different times and played out scenes, that fill-in certain parts for our knowledge, to give us a better and fuller understand of the main story flow events. Example: Revelation 11:1-13. The inset is about the TWO FINAL WITNESSES for God's truth living in Jerusalem for the 42 months that the Beast power exists at the end of this age. The 42 months include both the "great tribulation" and "the day of the Lord." The Two Witnesses live and preach the truth of God during that last period of time. They are killed and resurrected just very shortly before Jesus returns. Revelation 12 is an inset chapter. It is an overview of the TRUE Church of God, going way back to Genesis 37 and up to the coming GREAT tribulation, the wrath of the Day of God - last 42 months of this age. ..........................................  NOTE: Many of the details of parts of the book of Revelation, such as Chapter 13, are dealt with in detail in other studies on this Website, under "prophecy" and "end times." I will in this New Testament Bible Story, when we get to those chapters, refer the reader to those in-depth studies, and not expounded them over again.            BOOK OF REVELATION       The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #2 CHAPTER ONE The first point we need to notice is that this is not other than the revelation of JESUS CHRIST, which He gave to the apostle John to record, via an angel. John bears witness to the things he SAW, to the WORD of God, and to the TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ. There is a blessing to for those who read, and hear the Word of God, and KEEP those things which are written herein (verse 1-3). Another very important point to notice are the phrases "things which must SHORTLY come to pass" and "for the time is at HAND." Some, because of those phrases, teach that the things in Revelation have taken place, shortly after John's time, or others will say they have taken place up to and including the "middle ages." They do not understand how God writes at times, and that He often views "time" with much different eyes and mind than we humans do. Here, within the book of Revelation itself is the example of what I've just stated. Turn to chapter 22 and read verses 7, 12, and 20. After all that Jesus reveals in this book, He says THREE TIMES in one chapter, that He is coming QUICKLY!! Obviously, to God, the span of time is often no where near how we look at time. To us our life time, and many life times, is long. How many have lived in the last 200 years WANTING and THINKING Jesus would come in their life time, many indeed. We saw in the writings of Peter that a thousand years to the Lord can be but a day. That is a way of saying God often does not view time as we do. When these prophetic events unfold (which are mainly to do with the last 42 months, 1260 days, of this age, the prophetic "Lord's day," then yes, Jesus will come QUICKLY! What is 2,000 years or so to God, since John recorded the events in Revelation? In the eternal ages of the past and the future, they are but the blink of an eye. Someone tried to tell me once that the message to the seven churches of chapter 2 and 3, were all fulfilled in John's day, and have nothing to do with the future or "church eras" per se. They pointed to those phrases in verses 1-3 about things "shortly coming to pass." It is first of all disproved by the phrases I pointed to in chapter 22 - "come quickly." Secondly, the whole main prophetic story is "on the Lord's day" (verse 10). Thirdly, somewhat less, but still true, is that the seven churches are in a "prophetic" book. If they have nothing really to do with prophecy, but only for "spiritual" lessons, then why have them in such a book as Revelation. Being in this book would I argue strongly indicate that there is a "prophetic message" intended. Add to that the fact that these seven churches are "represented" in HEAVEN with seven candlesticks and Jesus walking in the midst of them (verses 12-13,20). This should tell us the seven churches have MORE to play that JUST being seven literal churches in the time of John. If they were only for seven churches in Asia Minor, why those churches, which were hardly well known even in John's day. Why not the church at Corinth, or Rome? And to have SEVEN candlesticks in heaven, one for each of those relatively unknown churches. I think there is more to it all than something in the now distant past. Yes, of course they can stand for seven different spiritual attitudes (and certainly that is to teach us that lesson). But with verse 10 and the "Lord's day" vision, the seven churches I believe are prophetic in nature also. More on that when we arrive at chapter 2 and 3, and one MORE IMPORTANT fact that adds weight to the churches also being prophetic church ages. John does write to the seven churches which are in Asia Minor, grace and peace he sends them from the One is was, and is, and is to come (God in Jesus the Christ is the one to come) and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne. Verse 20 gives us the interpretation of the seven Spirits - they are the seven Spirit ANGELS, the seven stars in Jesus' right hand are (represent) the seven angels, one angel for each of the seven churches. It would seem that God put a special work of an angel over each of the seven churches, which are the seven candlesticks, among whom Jesus walks (verse 4). This letter also comes from Jesus Christ, a faithful witness, and the FIRST BEGOTTEN (should understand it as first BORN - see Col.1:15-18). When you understand it, Jesus was the FIRST human person to ever be born into eternal life. No person EXCEPT Christ has ever be glorified into immortal life from flesh and blood. Enoch was not, Moses was not, Elijah, was not. That truth is covered in detail in various studies on this Website. John says Jesus is THE PRINCE of the kings of the earth, and the one who LOVED US, and washed us from sins in His own blood (verse 5). In Jesus so doing He has made us also into kings and priests unto God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever (verse 6). The saints will rule with Jesus for 1,000 years (chapter 20) on this earth. The saints born into the very Family of God will function as a king - leadership; and priest - spiritual guides, to the people living in that 1,000 year period. Jesus will come with clouds (He said He would - Mat.24:30; and so was Paul inspired to say the same in 2 Thes.4:13-16). You may remember the angels saying He would come again in like manner as He went, with clouds (Acts 1:9-11). Every eye will see Him. This could certainly be possible as the earth turns. It could also be a "general statement" - the majority will see Him when He comes again in glory and power. They which pierced Him? Could mean the Jews, will see Him and mourn for Him with repentance (see Zech.12 through 13). It will eventually include even the very persons that hammered the nails into His hands and feet, and plunged the spear into His side. They will also one day be resurrected and see Jesus, in that White Throne Judgment period, spoken about at the end of chapter 20. All nations will wail because of him, some with tears of joy, that He as finally come back to earth, and others because the evil way of life with be destroyed by Him, and the merchants will wail at the destruction of there wealthy trading Empire as it is crushed and brought low (see Rev.18). Jesus proclaims He is the ALPHA and the OMEGA (the first and last letters of the old Greek alphabet) - the beginning and the ending. In other words from past eternity to future eternity. He was the One which is now, was in the past, and will come again. He is the ALMIGHTY! ALL THE NAMES THAT THE FATHER HAS ARE ALSO THE NAMES THAT THE SON HAS. Once more there is no mention of the Holy Spirit as another third separate personal being in heaven along side the Father and the Son. THE LORD'S DAY - THE 7 CANDLESTICKS - WE SEE THE GLORIFIED CHRIST - WE ARE TOLD WHAT THE SEVEN STARS ARE John was as many of them were, partaking in tribulation, and in the Kingdom and patience of Christ Jesus. He was exiled to the isle of Patmos, because of the word of the God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (verse 9). He say he "was in the Spirit on the Lord's day" and hears a voice, like as a trumpet. The "Lord's day" here in a prophetic book was NOT a particular day of the week, but the prophetic "Lord's day" mentioned in many places in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. It may well be that as some prophetic passages give, a day for a year in fulfilment. If so then this "Lord's day" would be the LAST year of this age before Jesus comes again (verse 10). The voice John hears says: "I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: What you see, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." John turns and sees seven candlesticks and the One in the midst, like unto the Son of man. This indicates that the candlesticks were INDIVIDUAL and Jesus can walk among them. As we see in chapter 2 and 3 each candlestick can be removed, which also indicates they are individual candlesticks. Jesus says again He is the first and the last. He lives, and was dead; but is alive now forever more. He has the keys to hell and of death. Yes, Jesus said in the Gospels that He was the resurrection and the life. He also said that all judgment had been given to Him from the Father. It is only through Him that death can be overcome with life. He does, He has, He IS, the key for unlocking the grave of death. John was to write the things he saw, the things which are, and the things to be hereafter. The seven stars in Jesus hand represents the angels of the seven churches. The seven candlesticks represent the seven churches (verses 11,12, 17-20). THE GLORIFIED CHRIST! If you want to know what Jesus looks like NOW, in His glorified state of being, you will find it in verses 13-16. He is clothed with a garment down to His feet. He is girt about the chest with a GOLDEN girdle. His HEAD and His HAIR are WHITE like wool, as white as snow. His EYES are like a FLAME of FIRE. And His FEET like unto BRASS, as if burned in a furnace; and His VOICE like as the sound of MANY WATERS. He held in His RIGHT HAND seven stars, out of His MOUTH went a sharp TWO EDGED SWORD; and His face was as the SUN shines in its full strength (verses 13- 16). While some of the description is somewhat visionary in nature, like the two edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth. Some what like the "word of God" is depicted as a "two edged sword" in other writings of the New Testament. There is still enough description here to prove that Jesus (and hence the Father) are NOT JUST UNSHAPED NOTHINGS, as, believe it or not, some Christian religions actually teach. I do not know about you, but I certainly do not worship ETERNAL BEINGS (God and Christ) that have NO FORM or SHAPE, that have NO BODIES, but are just NOTHINGNESS! This teaching by some, must be one of the craziest theological teaching in all of Christendom. I have proved elsewhere in other studies that Jesus and the Father DO HAVE BODIES, do have FORM AND SHAPE. Moses we are told actually saw the BACK-FORM of God in His GLORIFIED body. He was not allowed to see His front form and face, because God told him that no human man can look upon God's face and live. THE SCENE IS SET IN HEAVEN THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF THE BODY OF CHRIST Let me say this immediately. On this Website you will find an in-depth study concerning the SEVEN CHURCHES. It is called "The SEVEN Churches of REVELATION." It is either under the "Prophecy" or the "End Time" categories. As the writer of that study shows, of course these seven churches can present seven attitudes of mind for all Christians, for all ages. All the examples in the Bible can have spiritual meaning for all of us, lessons can be learnt from any passage or passages in the Bible. And yes, as this book of Revelation was written by John, it was to be sent to those literal seven churches in Asia Minor. It did have a lesson for each of them at that time in history. With all that said, there is still evidence that the message to the seven churches is PROPHETIC. That it was to address SEVEN time ages from the start of the church in 30 A.D. to the very coming of Christ. The other very strong point to prove that is in chapter 2:10, and the second time age of the true church. The people of the Smyrna time frame, were to have 10 days of tribulation. Would this really have been ten literal days for a literal church in Asia Minor, that was so very close by the other churches, and not have tribulation in any of the other nearby churches, but only in Smyrna? I think it is a little hard to accept that teaching. I was reading through a "church history" book some years back. It was one of the famous "classic" books of church history that is still obtainable today, written by Philip Schaff (8 volume set). He had no "axe" to grind, he was not even dealing with the book of Revelation. He was just stating what Christian history has recorded. There were many persecution times for the Christian church as a whole, but the GREATEST persecution was from 303 to 313, exactly 10 years! Yes, that is a fact recorded in the history of the Christian church. As I was reading this, I immediately remembered Revelation 2:10. It all added up as we say. The first age of Ephesus was well on its way out, and the second church age of Smyrna had arrived and was under way by 300 A.D. That church time frame experienced the greatest Christian persecution in the history of "Christian" (used in the widest sense) church. To me that is prove enough that there is a THIRD way to understand the churches of Revelation 2 and 3. The third way being general time frame ages for the Church of God. My view of this time frame is NOT AS the Worldwide Church of God taught it. I will explain as we proceed. Nobody should try to set dates in time ages with Church of God history. Those who do (as some have in the past) are going to find they are barking up the wrong tree, they are out on a limb that is going to come crashing down, and they are going to have mud all over their face. Then, what most, who can see that the "churches" of Revelation do have time ages in them, have not seen is that time ages can and do OVERLAP each other. Jesus preached the New Testament covenant and Kingdom of God, WHILE the old covenant was still in operation. The "overlapping" of church ages can be a period of hundreds of years. EPHESUS The city of Ephesus, was capital of proconsular Asia; an opulent city on the West coast of asia Minor, located on the banks of the Cayster and about forty miles SE of Smyrna. Its harbor was ample. It was an ancient city. It came into the Roman Empire in 133 B.C. Paul conducted the longest of his ministries (two years and nine months, Acts 19:8,10). The city's importance lay in its political prominence, its economical clout derived from its position on major trade routes, and its religious leadership as a center for the worship of Diana, or Artemis. The temple of this godess was one of the wonders of the seven wonders of the world. It was 180 feet wide and 377 feet long, and the roof was supported by 117 60-foot columns. These were 6 feet in diameter and 36 of them were sculptured at the base with life-size figures. There were many Jews in the city who were more or less influenced by Christianity (Acts 2:9; 6:9). Timothy was the bishop of the church founded by Paul. According to Eusebius John spent his last years in Ephesus. John opposed the doctrines of Nestorius, and Paul opposed the idolatry of those who made or worshipped shrines or practiced magic (19:13). His opposition resulted in a serious riot. A small Turkish town today represents the once noted city, which is called Ayasaluk (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, 1988, pp.366-367). Here is the mention of the NICOLAITANS. A sect or party that arose in the apostolic period of the church, they is mentioned again in verse 15. The "nicolaitans" are compared to those who "hold the teaching of Balaam." They were practicers of idolatry, and the community of women was another doctrine which they are said to have adopted, and their conduct seems to have been in the highest degree licentious (Imperial Bible Dictionary, S.V.). The word "nicolas" in Greek means "victor over the people." The word "Ephesus" can mean "desirable." Jesus, who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and who "walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, speaks. He knows they have good works, they have labor, and patience, and He knows how they can not bear those who do evil; and they have tried, tested them who were saying they were apostles, but were not as far as God was concerned. They had found those individuals to be liars. The way to test any man who claims to be a minister of God is by the Scriptures. Our wonderful example is Acts 17, when Paul was tested to see if he was speaking according to the Scriptures. Anyone can claim "anything." Words are cheap as they say. The acid test is do their words aline with the words of God in the Scriptures of the whole Bible, and does their life correspond with their teaching. Jesus knew what they had borne, what patience they had, and for His name they worked hard, and did not faint. BUT, in time, they had left their first love, their zeal for Christ's truth and Gospel got colder. They are told to REPENT! If they do not, their candlestick will be removed. They did hate the ways and doctrines of the Nicolaitans, which Jesus also hated. They are to listen to what the Spirit says, "To him that overcomes will I (Jesus) give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." The paradise of God is explained to us in Revelation chapter 22:2,14. No private interpretation is needed, the Scriptures interpret themselves. The paradise of God is to dwell at the throne of God. It is to have enteral life in the very presence of the Most Holy One. The personal application and lesson of this church is very obvious. Keep working hard for Christ's work of salvation and the Kingdom. Stay with the faith once delivered to the saints. Do not allow yourself to get complacent and having your love of God in you starting to get cold. Continue to hate anything that is a false theology. This church of Ephesus fits right in with the time age of the first few centuries of the Church of God, into the late second century. We have seen in the letters of Peter and John, that before they died, the faith once delivered was being corrupted. Many anti-christs had come on the scene, some came out from within the very Church of God, just as the apostle Paul had predicted (Acts 20). Many had remained faithful and had tested the spirits to see if they were truly from God. In the second century, Polycarp (a disciples of John the apostle) took the time and energy to travel to Rome to debate with the bishop of Rome, the practice of observing Passover and NOT Easter, as the Roman church was then already adopting. Then later in the second century, Polycrates (a disciple of Polycarp) also went to Rome to debate with the Roman bishop the same truth. But the Roman church was adopting false doctrines and would not repent or admit the truth of the matter. By the time the Church of God was into the third century A.D. it was getting a cold heart, and was beginning to get apostatized. They did in the most part hate the teachings of the Nicolaitans. If we take the word "nicolas" as it means "to rule over people" we see that the doctrine of the church government of Rome, and what finally came to be called the "Roman Catholic church" was swinging along into domineering the people. We saw that back in John's day, before he died, in his third epistle, we had one man taking over with dictatorial power one of the churches of God. The Church of God continued maybe for a couple of centuries to get colder in heart and mind, to depart from the first love zeal. They did not as a whole, REPENT. It was now time for faithful people to move OUT and congregate as a body of people, that would be the time age of Smyrna. The candle-stick of Ephesus was removed, just as Jesus said it would be if they did not repent! .................................................... To be continued   BOOK OF REVELATION The REVELATION of Jesus Christ #3 CHAPTER TWO The SMYRNA CHURCH Smyrna means "myrrh" - a rich and prosperous city of Ionia, forty miles N of Ephesus, at the mouth of the small river Meles. Anciently it was one of the finest cities of asia Minor and was called "the lovely - the crown of Ionia - the ornament of Asia." to its credit the church at Smyrna was still faithful, and against her no word of reproach was uttered. It was Polycarp's field of Christian usefulness, and here he suffered martyrdom, around A.D. 169. (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary). Jesus again reaffirms He was the first and the last - eternal. He was dead once, but is alive forever more. Jesus, as God in the flesh, did not exist for three days and three night, He was as dead as a door nail, as the saying goes. If it was not for the power of the Father to raise Him back to life, He would still be dead, and we would have no salvation. we are saved not only by His death, but also by His life (Romans 5:10). Jesus tells the church at Smyrna that their works, their tribulation and their poverty (but rich in the things that count) He knows well. He knows also those who claim to be spiritual Jews, but are indeed the synagogue or church of Satan, and what they claim is blaspheming. He tells these faithful followers of Him to not fear the things they may suffer: indeed the Devil will have some of them thrown into prison, to be tried. They will have tribulation ten days. If they will remain faithful unto death, He will give them a crown of life. Those who overcome and stay faithful, shall not suffer from the second death (chapter 20:14). The second death is the lake of fire, which shall burn up the wicked, as they become ashes under the feet of the righteous. See the studies on "Death - then what?" which also covers the subject of the second death, for the un-repentant wicked. This is the church of ONLY TWO that have no reproaches said against them. The truth for our spiritual lesson is obvious. Remain zealously faithful even unto death. Church history shows that the largest and greatest "Christian" persecution was under Diocletian from 303 to 313 A.D. It was exactly 10 years. Using the prophetic day for a year, we do then have a ten year great persecution against the truth of the Gospel. The time age of the first church had ended, when is not known, but probably into the third century. False teachers had come, many by this time. The church at Rome was gaining power in numbers and doctrine. There was one last overall persecution of anyone under the name of Christian from 303 to 313. It was Constantine who adopted Roman Christianity, won the battles to become Roman Emperor, and DECREED a stop to Christian persecution, at least against Roman Christianity. It was Constantine who brought in the Sunday laws in about 321 A.D. The Roman church had been observing Sunday for some time, before Constantine gave the Sunday official status in the Roman Empire. Also the Roman church had been observing Easter instead of Passover for about 200 years by 313 A.D. So it was that by 313 A.D. there were MANY, not the few, who claimed to be spiritual Jews, but God knew what they really were, they were deceived by Satan the Devil. After 313 A.D. the focus of the Roman Empire was on persecution of those who differed with the Bishop of Rome, and the Roman Catholic (the word "catholic" means "universal") religion. For a number of hundreds of years the true Church of God was indeed under mighty persecution as we find in the church of Pergamos as the time of the age moved along. PERGAMOS CHURCH Pergamum, a city in Asia Minor, about 200 miles from the sea. It had a vast library of 200,000 volumes at one time. In this town was first discovered the art of making parchment, which was called "pergamena." The city was greatly addicted to idolatry, and its grove, which was one of the wonders of the place, was filled with statutes and altars. Here was one of the seven churches of Revelation 2:13. The wealth of the Attalic princes had raised Pergamum to the rank of the first city in Asia as regards splendor. It was a sort of union of pagan cathedral city, a university town, and a royal residence, embellished during a succession of years by kings who all had a passion for expenditure and ample means of gratifying it (The New Unger's Bible Dictionary). Please read the above again. Let it sink in what you have read. Now, think about the city of ROME, in the Roman Empire until the Empire fell about 500 A.D. Even after that, think about Rome and the mighty influence it had in the world of Christianity, under kings and bishops that also wanted wealth and splendor. The connection should be obvious. Rome was the Pergamum of the Western world from the time of Constantine to the middle ages and the famous Protestant Reformation battle under Luther. The spiritual lesson is clear. Do not mix idolatry and any stumbling block before yourself that will lead you away from serving and obeying the way and life and laws of the true eternal God. Jesus, who has the two edged sharp sword, the Word of God, says He knew His true followers in the Pergamos time age of the Church of God. He knew their works, And He knew that many of them lived where Satan's seat was. Now, was the old literal city of Pergamum, at the time of the last years of the first century when John was writing this revelation of Christ, the CENTER, the SEAT of Satan? When you consider WHAT the city of ROME was becoming in the way of so-called "Christianity" by the end of the first century A.D. the city of Pergamum could not have been the SEAT of Satan! When you consider what Polycarp and Polycrates did in going to ROME over certain doctrinal issues, during the second century, it is clear that ROME was the SEAT of Satan. Anti-pas can be a derivation of Anti-patris "instead of his father" - put in simple language, "instead of father" - against the "father" in the Roman Catholic churches. There was as some record the probability that a man by the name of Antipas was put to death in the city of Pergamum. But the time setting of it all could well fit the true church of God being against what the Roman Catholic church was teaching. The idolatry, things tied in with mystery spiritual fornication and idols, dressed up in Christian names is fitting during the powerful rise and domination of the Roman Catholic religion until the Protestant Reformation. This is again brought out in verse 15, where we again meet the doctrines of the Nicolaitans - the rulership over people. The true church of God, hated as Jesus did, the teaching that individual people as pastors and bishops had FULL DICTATOR RULERSHIP over the people. Satan had a HUGE SEAT of POWER at ROME, the influence of the Roman Catholic religion for a 1,000 years and more, was staggering to say the least. It not only ruled the religious life of people, it was also very political, and governed much of secular life, such as claiming the earth was flat and other such teachings. It persecuted people who said the earth was NOT flat. It branded all who did not accept its teachings in theology and otherwise, as HERETICS. So for hundreds of years God's people fought the religion of Rome. For the most part God's children remained faithful and true, BUT as it is with time, eventually the people of God caved in, got spiritually lazy, were slowly decaying. The church history of Britain shows as recorded by the famous Bede, that by 700 A.D. the Catholic church had gained strong footing in Britain. Again, the Passover as observed by John and Polycarp, and brought to England, under the early apostles, was conquered by the Roman Easter. The 7th day Sabbath observation in Britain was finally destroyed by 1100 A.D. (The Welsh held on to it until that century). By and into the second millennium A.D. God's people had to be told to REPENT, or that candlestick of the Pergamos time age, was going to be corrected very harshly by the mouth of the Lord. If the people of the Almighty would REPENT, they would then overcome and eat of the hidden manna, the true bread of life (Jesus in truth), be given a WHITE stone (white represents righteousness - see chapter 19:8), and in that stone a NEW name only known to that righteous person. Exactly what that "name" subject is all about ... well I cannot know to tell you, for only he that has receives it knows. Will it be such for all eternity, I cannot tell you the answer to that either. All so far said, fits very well with the historical record of Church History up to the time of around about the Protestant Reformation, up to some time BEFORE and then INTO that historical time age is the church of Thyatira. As mentioned before, keep in mind that true church time ages can OVERLAP by sometimes hundreds of years. .................... To be continued