“The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine in Christian theology, affirming that God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control. This concept is deeply rooted in Scripture and reflects God’s ultimate power, authority, and governance over the universe.”
When deluded by the devil, Eve was stretching her hand to pick the forbidden fruit, I was surprised that God did not chop off her hand. When Cain was going to kill Abel, I was dismayed that God did not intervene. Why do the wicked do? I was dismayed when I watch the three branches of American government (the executive, legislative and judiciary), business and indutry, vested interest — all united to destroy America. I was dismayed to watch the wicked and crooked world leaders and politcians (including governors) do to destroy the world.
Although I was familiar with the Scripture, 1Jo 5:19,
“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
I used to worry that some nations are not doing the right thing. What will be the end result?
Until I came to the knowledge:
Rev 11:15, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
The world will come to an end, no matter what. The Lord Jesus will reign in the Kingdom of Heaven forever and ever, because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
I discovered to learn and study the Sovereignty of God, it is not enough to know 1. Omnipotence. 2. Omniscience. 3. Providence of God. You must also take into account the Will of God which is all purpose of God. Not only God is able, it must be according to the Will of God. Nothing will be impossible with God. Nothing is too hard for God.
Dan 4:35, “All the inhabitants of the earth are of no account, but He does according to His will among the army of Heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can fend off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?”
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing – Are regarded as nothing in comparison with him. Compare Isaiah 40:15, note 17, note. Precisely the same sentiment occurs in Isaiah which is expressed here: “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are accounted unto him less than nothing and vanity.”
And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven – In the host of heaven – בחיל bechēyol – Greek, “in the power of heaven,” ἐν τῇ, δυνάμει en tē, dunamei. The Chaldee word means properly strength, might, valor; and it is then applied to an army as possessing strength, or valor, or force. It is here applied to the inhabitants of heaven, probably considered as an army or host, of which God is the head, and which he leads forth or marshals to execute his puroses. In Daniel 3:20, the word is rendered “army.” The sentiment here is, that in respect to the inhabitants of heaven, represented as organized or marshalled, God does his own pleasure. An intimation of his will is all that is needful to control them. This sentiment is in accordance with all the statements in the Scripture, and is a point of theology which must enter into every just view of God. Thus in the Lord’s prayer it is implied: “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” So Ephesians 1:11 – “Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” In heaven the will of God is accomplished in the most strict and absolute sense, for his will is law, and the only law to all the dwellers there. The obedience is as entire as if the will of each one of the dwellers there were but a form or manifestation of the will of God itself.
And among the inhabitants of the earth – This cannot mean, even as understood by Nebuchadnezzar, that the will of God is actually done among the inhabitants of the earth in the same sense, and to the same extent, as among those who dwell in heaven. His design was, undoubtedly, to assert the supremacy and absolute control of God; a fact that had been so strikingly illustrated in his own case. The sentiment expressed by Nebuchadnezzar is true in the following respects:
That man has no power to prevent the fulfillment of the Divine purposes.
That God will accomplish his design in all things, whatever opposition man may make.
That he has absolute control over every human being, and over all that pertains to anyone and everyone.
That he will overrule all things so as to make them subservient to his own plans.
That he will make use of men to accomplish his own purposes. Compare the note at Isaiah 10:7.
That there is a great and glorious scheme of administration which God is carrying out by the instrumentality of men.
And none can stay his hand – literally, “none can smite upon his hand” (Gesenius, “Lex.”); that is, none can restrain his hand. The language is taken, says Bertholdt, from the custom of striking children upon the hand when about to do anything wrong, in order to restrain them. The phrase is common in the Targums for to restrain, to hinder. The Arabs have a similar expression in common use. See numerous instances of the use of the word מחא mechâ’ in the sense of restrain or prohibit, in Buxtorf. – “Lex. Chal.” The truth taught here is, that no one has power to keep back the hand of God when it is put forth to accomplish the purposes which he intends to execute; that is, he will certainly accomplish his own pleasure.
Or say unto him, What doest thou? – A similar expression occurs in 2 Samuel 16:10 : “So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?” Also in Job 9:12 : “Behold, he taketh away: Who can hinder him? Who will say unto him, What doest thou?” See the note at that passage. The meaning here is plain. God is supreme, and will do his pleasure in heaven and in earth. The security that all will be done right is founded on the perfection of his nature; and that is ample. Mysterious though his ways may seem to us, yet in that perfection of his nature we have the fullest assurance that no wrong will be done to any of his creatures. Our duty, therefore, is calm submission to his holy will, with the deep conviction that whatever God does will yet be seen to be right.”
God has no limitations. God can do the impossible. God can heal every sickness and disease. But it is not always God’s will to heal. The Pentecostal church teaches a false doctrine: “If you have faith, God will always heal you.” This is not true. Don’t tell me you have more faith that Apostle Paul. It is written,2Co 12:7-9, “Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this
reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
2 Corinthians 12:8-11. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice — All kinds of affliction had befallen the apostle, yet none of these did he deprecate. But here he speaks of his thorn in the flesh, as above all the rest one that macerated him with weakness, and by the pain and ignominy of it, prevented his being lifted up more, or at least not less, than the most vehement headache could have done, which many of the ancients say he laboured under. That the Lord to whom the apostle prayed was Christ, is evident from 2 Corinthians 12:9. It is supposed by some, that in praying thrice he imitated his Master’s example in the garden. But perhaps his meaning is only that he prayed often and earnestly. That it might depart from me — Hence we see that it is lawful to pray for the removal of bodily pain, weakness, or any peculiar trial; yea, to be frequent and fervent in prayer for it. But he said to me — In answer to my third, or often-repeated request; My grace is sufficient for thee — Namely, to support thee under these trials, though I permit them to continue. How tender a repulse! Probably Christ appeared to his apostle and spake to him. At any rate, it was another revelation of the Lord, which his subject led him to mention, though his modesty did not allow him to insist on it directly. “This example of prayer rejected ought to be well attended to by all good men, because it shows that they neither should be discouraged when their most earnest prayers seem to be disregarded, nor discontented when they are rejected; because in both cases their good is designed and effectually promoted.” My strength is made perfect in weakness — That is, is more illustriously displayed in the weakness of the instrument by which I work. Therefore will I glory in my infirmities — Rather than my revelations; that the power of Christ may rest upon me — Greek, επισκηνωση, may pitch its tent over me, or cover me all over like a tent, and abide on me continually. We ought most willingly to accept whatever tends to this end, however contrary to flesh and blood. Therefore I take pleasure — Ευδοκω, I am well pleased with, or take complacency in, infirmities — Of the flesh, bodily weaknesses of whatever kind. In reproaches — Suffered on that account; in necessities — The various wants which I suffer in the execution of my office; in persecutions, in distresses — To which I am exposed; for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak — Deeply sensible of my weakness; then am I strong — Through the power of Christ resting on me; and my ministry is then most successful, the Lord working with me in a peculiar manner. I am become a fool in glorying — As I have done above, but consider where the blame lies; ye have compelled me — To do it, even against my will. For I ought to have been commended by you — Or vindicated, when my character, as an apostle, was attacked by the false teachers. For in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles — As ye well know: he means Peter, James, and John, whom he calls pillars, Galatians 2:9. Though I be nothing — In the account of some, or of myself, without the aids of divine grace; not would I assume to myself any glory from what grace hath made me.”
Furthermore, It is not always God’s will to apparently, openly and publically intervene in the affairs of mankind. I was dismayed why God did not execute the wicked leaders and crooked politicians I abhor. Then I have found comport in the life of Joseph.
For it is written, Gen 50:19-20, “But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.” Did Joseph realize that from slavery to the Prime Minister, it was the sovereignty of God?
Verse 20. – But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good (literally, and ye were thinking or meditating evil against me; Elohim was thinking or meditating for good, i.e. that what you did should be for good), to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive (videGenesis 45:5). Genesis 50:20.”
I used to plan retirement in any of the three world cities. Thank God, none of my plan came true or it would be disaster to me.
God is always on His throne and He rules and controls everything. The sovereignty of God means God has the power and right to rule and control everything and whatever comes to pass.
Sovereingty without power is pitiful. As an example, the sole superpower attacked Venezuela for oil, but the sovereign nation cannot defend and protect itself.
Now I rest in the sovereignty of God. I watch the world events with intelligent interest, knowing history is unfolding according to the plan of God. History of the world is marching as directed by God. I have nothing to worry because God is sovereign, and He controls whatever comes to pass. I rest in the Sovereinty of God. I bow to my Heavenly Father three times and say Holy, Holy, Holy; Lord God Almighty.
1.) GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY RULES OVER ALL.
Psa 103:19, “The LORD has established His throne in the Heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.”
Sovereignty in Hebrew is malḵûṯwhich means royal power, sovereign power, dominion, reign, realm, kingdom — which occurs 91 times in the Old Testament.
Rule is māšal in Hebrew which means to have dominion, to reign, to have power; — which occurs 82 times in the Old Testament. God’s sovereignty means to rule over all. God’s sovereignty means God has power over everything and God rules the Universe.
The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens – He has “fixed” his throne there. This is the ground of the security that his blessing will be imparted to those who fear him, and to their children’s children, or that it will be transmitted to coming generations. God is a Sovereign. His throne is fixed and firm. His dominion is not vacillating and changing. His reign is not, like the reign of earthly monarchs, dependent on the capriciousness of a changeable will, or on passion; nor is it liable to be altered by death, by revolution, or a new dynasty. The throne of God is ever the same, and nothing can shake or overthrow it. Compare the notes at Psalm 11:4.And his kingdom ruleth over all – He reigns over all the universe – the heavens and the earth; and he can, therefore, execute all his purposes. Compare Psalm 47:2.”
Rev 4:8, “And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, who was and who is and who is to come.”
Verse 8. – And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within. The stop should probably be after wings: are full of eyes about and within. In Isaiah 6:2 we have “six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.” These actions appear to indicate reverence, humility, obedience. The eyes denote ceaseless activity. And they rest not day and night, saying. In the Authorized Version “day and night” is attached to “rest not.” but probably should be taken with “saying,” for, if connected with the negative phrase, “nor” would be more likely to occur than “and.” But the point is practically immaterial, since the sense of the passage is the same in both readings. These representatives of life display the characteristics of life in its fullest energy. They have no part in anything which savours of death – no stillness, rest, or sleep. Holy, holy, holy. The thrice-repeated “holy” has very generally been held to indicate the Trinity of the Godhead. Such is evidently the intention of the English Church in ordering this passage to be read in the Epistle for Trinity Sunday. This ascription of praise is often, though wrongly, spoken of as the “Trisagion.” Lord God Almighty. “Almighty” is παντοκράτωρ, the “All-Ruler,” not παντοδύναμος, the “All-Powerful.” The former, as Bishop Pearson says, embraces the latter. Which was, and is, and is to come. This phrase is no doubt intended to attribute to God the quality of eternal existence. But it may also symbolize three aspects or departments of God’s dealings with mankind: the creation, which has been effected by the Father; the redemption, which is now occurring by the intercession of the Son; and the final perfect sanctification by the Holy Ghost. Revelation 4:8.”
Psa 121:4, “Behold, He who watches over Israelwill neither slumber nor sleep.”
Behold, he that keepeth Israel – The Keeper – the Guardian – of his people. The psalmist here passes from his own particular case to a general truth – a truth to him full of consolation. It is, that the people of God must always be safe; that their great Guardian never slumbers; and that he, as one of his people, might, therefore, confidently look for his protecting care.
Shall neither slumber nor sleep – Never slumbers, never ceases to be watchful. Man sleeps; a sentinel may slumber on his post, by inattention, by long-continued wakefulness, or by weariness; a pilot may slumber at the helm; even a mother may fall asleep by the side of the sick child; but God is never exhausted, is never weary, is never inattentive. He never closes his eyes on the condition of his people, on the needs of the world.”
Heb 1:3, “Who being the brightness of His glory,and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
the brightness] The substitution of “effulgence” for “brightness” in the Revised Version is not, as it has been contemptuously called, “a piece of finery,” but is a rendering at once more accurate and more suggestive. It means “efflux of light”—“Light of (i.e. from) Light” (“effulgentia” not “repercussus”) Grotius. It implies not only resemblance—which is all that is involved in the vague and misleading word “brightness,” which might apply to a mere reflexion:—but also “origin” and “independent existence.” The glory of Christ is the glory of the Father just as the sun is only revealed by the rays which stream forth from it. So the “Wisdom of Solomon” (Hebrews 7:26)—which offers many resemblances to the Epistle to the Hebrews, and which some have even conjectured to be by the same author—speaks of wisdom as “the effulgence of the everlasting light.” The word is also found in Philo where it is applied to man. This passage, like many others in the Epistle, is quoted by St Clement of Rome (ad Cor. 36). of his glory] God was believed in the Old Dispensation to reveal Himself by a cloud of glory called “the Shechinah,” and the Alexandrian Jews, in their anxious avoidance of all anthropomorphism and anthropopathy—i.e. of all expressions which attribute the human form and human passions to God—often substituted “the Glory” for the name of God. Similarly in 2 Peter 1:17 the Voice from God the Father is a Voice “from the magnificent glory.” Comp. Acts 7:55; Luke 2:9. St John says “God is Light,” and the indestructible purity and impalpable essence of Light make it the best of all created things to furnish an analogy for the supersensuous light and spiritual splendour of the Being of God. Hence St John also says of the Word “we beheld His glory” (John 1:14); and our Lord said to Philip “he who hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). Comp. Luke 9:29. the express image] Rather, “the stamp” (charactçr). The R. V. renders this word by “very image” (after Tyndale), and in the margin by “impress.” I prefer the word “stamp” because the Greek “charactçr” like the English word “stamp,” may, according to its derivation, be used either for the impress or for the stamping-tool itself. This Epistle has so many resemblances to Philo that the word may have been suggested by a passage (Opp. i. 332) in which Philo compares man to a coin which has been stamped by the Logos with the being and type of God; and in that passage the word seems to bear this unusual sense of a “stamping-tool,” for it impresses a man with the mark of God. Similarly St Paul in the Epistle to the Colossians (Colossians 1:15)—which most resembles this Epistle in its Christology—called Christ “the image (eikôn) of the invisible God;” and Philo says, “But the word is the image (eikôn) of God, by Whom the whole world was created,” De Monarch, (Opp. ii. 225). of his person] Rather, “of His substance” or “essence.” The word hypostasis, substantia (literally that which “stands under”) is, in philosophical accuracy, the imaginary substratum which remains when a thing is regarded apart from all its accidents. The word “person” of our A. V. is rather the equivalent to prosôpon. Hypostasis only came to be used in this sense some centuries later. Perhaps “Being” or “Essence,” though it corresponds more strictly to the Greek ousia, is the nearest representative which we can find to hypostasis, now that “substance,” once the most abstract and philosophical of words, has come (in ordinary language) to mean what is solid and concrete. It is only too possible that the word “substance” conveys to many minds the very opposite conception to that which was intended and which alone corresponds to the truth. Athanasius says, “Hypostasis is essence” (οὐσία); and the Nicene Council seems to draw no real distinction between the two words. In fact the Western Church admitted that, in the Eastern sense, we might speak of three hypostaseis of the Trinity; and in the Western sense, of one hypostasis, because in this sense the word meant Essence. For the use of the word in the LXX. see Ps. 38:6, 88:48. It is curiously applied in Wis 16:21. In the technical language of theology these two clauses represent the Son as co-eternal and co-substantial with the Father. upholding all things] He is not only the Creative Word, but the Sustaining Providence. He is, as Philo says, “the chain-band of all things,” but He is also their guiding force. “In Him all things subsist” (Colossians 1:17). Philo calls the Logos “the pilot and steersman of everything.” by the word of his power] Rather, “by the utterance (rhemati) of His power.” It is better to keep “word” for Logos, and “utterance” for rhema. We find “strength” (κράτος) and “force” (ἰσχύς) attributed to Christ in Ephesians 6:10, as “power” (δύναμις) here. when he had by himself purged our sins] Rather, “after making purification of sins.” The “by Himself” is omitted by some of the best MSS. (א, A, B), and the “our” by many. But the notion of Christ’s independent action (Php 2:7) is involved in the middle voice of the verb. On the purification of our sins by Christ (in which there is perhaps a slight reference to the “Day of Atonement,” called in the LXX. “the Day of Purification,” Exodus 29:36), see Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 10:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Peter 1:9 (comp. Job 7:21, LXX.). sat down] His glorification was directly consequent on His voluntary humiliation (see Hebrews 8:1, Hebrews 10:12, Hebrews 12:2; Psalm 109:1), and here the whole description is brought to its destined climax. on the right hand] As the place of honour comp. Hebrews 8:1; Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:20. The controversy as to whether “the right hand of God” means “everywhere”—which was called the “Ubiquitarian controversy”—is wholly destitute of meaning, and has long fallen into deserved oblivion. of the Majesty] In Hebrews 10:12 he says “at the right hand of God.” But he was evidently fond of sonorous amplifications, which belong to the dignity of his style; and also fond of Alexandrian modes of expression. The LXX. sometimes went so far as to substitute for “God” the phrase “the place” where God stood (see Exodus 24:10, LXX.). on high] Literally, “in high places;” like “Glory to God in the highest,” Luke 2:14 (comp. Job 16:19); and “in heavenly places,” Ephesians 1:20 (comp. Psalm 93:4; Psalm 112:5). The description of Christ in these verses differed from the current Messianic conception of the Jews in two respects. 1. He was divine and omnipotent. 2. He was to die for our sins.”
Lam 5:19, “You, LORD, rule forever;Your throne is from generation to generation.”
A powerful king does not rule forever, because his sovereignty may be removed OR he may die.
Dan 4:31, “While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came from Heaven, saying, ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.”
There is not one moment when God is weak or vulnerable that we have concern over Divine rule.
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/EVEN+Homer+
even Homer (sometimes) nods
Even the most scrupulous and exact person may fall victim to mistakes and errors. An allusion to the Greek poet Homer, whose epic poems contain several apparent errors in continuity. The film is without a doubt the filmmaker’s masterpiece, despite a minor plot hole in the third act–even Homer nods, after all. Now, even Homer sometimes nods, to be sure, but any errors in this matter, no matter how small, could cost the company millions. A: “I’m so sorry—that section makes no sense because I was supposed to remove it before I gave you the draft.” B: “Aha. Well, that’s all right—even Homer sometimes nods.”
Luk 12:30-31, “For all these things are what the nations of the world eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek His Kingdom, and these things will be provided to you.”
Phl 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Gen 22:14, “And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
I recalled I was very ill, almost died. So I went back to my home town although my parents had moved to another mission field. I totally had no means to fly to another island. I asked the pastor to buy airplane ticket for me although I had not one penny. God provided the exact sum for the ticket. That was marvellous and wonderful in my eyes.
Rev 19:6, “Then I heard something like the shout of a vast multitude, and like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of mighty peals of thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all reigns.”
2.) God is absolutely secure.
From everlasting to everlasting, there is nothing, no one, natural disasters, man-made disasters, or anything can threaten God.
Psa 29:10, “The LORD sat as King at the flood;Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.”
Psalm 29:10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood — He moderates and rules the most abundant and violent effusions of waters which are sometimes poured from the clouds, and fall upon the earth, where they cause inundations which would do much mischief if God did not prevent it. And this may be mentioned as another reason why God’s people praised and worshipped him in his temple; because, as he sendeth terrible tempests, thunders, lightnings, and floods, so he restrains and overrules them. But most interpreters refer this to Noah’s flood, to which the word מבול, mabbul, here used, is elsewhere appropriated. And so the words may be rendered, The Lord sat upon the deluge; namely, in Noah’s time, when, it is probable, those vehement and unceasing rains were accompanied with terrible thunders. Bishop Hare thus paraphrases the verse, “This is the same God who, in Noah’s flood, sat as judge, and sent that destruction upon the earth.” And so the psalmist, having spoken of the manifestation of God’s power in storms and tempests in general, takes an occasion to go back to that ancient and most dreadful example of that kind, in which the divine power was most eminently seen. And, having mentioned that instance, he adds, that as God had showed himself to be the King and the Judge of the world at that time, so he doth still sit, and will sit as King for ever, sending such tempests as it pleases him to send. And therefore his people have great reason to worship and serve him.”
Even there is flood, God sits as King forever.
3.) God controls nature.
Mar 4:37-41, “And a fierce gale of wind developed, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling with water. And yet Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who, then, is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
And they feared exceedingly,…. That is, the men in the ship, the mariners to whom the ship belonged, and who had the management of it:and said to one another, as persons in the greatest amazement, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Surely this person must not be a mere man; he must be more than a man; he must be truly God, that has such power over the wind and sea. This best suits with the mariners, since the disciples must have known before, who and what he was; though they might be more established and confirmed in the truth of Christ’s deity, by this wonderful instance of his power.”
Mat 14:25-26, “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.”
In the fourth watch of the night.—The Jews, since their conquest by Pompeius, had adopted the Roman division of the night into four watches, and this was accordingly between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M., in the dimness of the early dawn. St. John adds, as from a personal reminiscence, and as guarding against explanations that would minimise the miracle (such as that our Lord was seen on the shore, or was swimming to the boat), that they were about twenty-five or thirty furlongs from the point from which they had started—i.e., as the lake was five miles wide, nearly three-fourths of the way across.
Walking on the sea.—Here, again, we have to choose between the simple acceptance of the supernatural fact as another instance of His sovereignty, or rejecting it as a legend. On the former supposition. we may see in it something like an anticipation (not unconnected, it may be, with the intensity of that crisis in His life) of that spiritual body of which we see another manifestation in the Transfiguration, and which became normal after the Resurrection, reaching its completeness in the wonder of the Ascension. We speculate almost involuntarily on the nature, and, as it were, process of the miracle, asking whether the ordinary laws that govern motion were broken or suspended, or counteracted by higher laws. No such questions would seem to have suggested themselves to the disciples. They, as yet not free from the popular superstitions of their countrymen, thought that it was “a spirit” (better, a phantom, or spectre) taking the familiar form, it might be, to lure them to their destruction, or as a token that some sudden mischance had deprived them of that loved Presence, and, therefore, in their vague terror, they were troubled, and cried out for fear.”
Mat 14:28-33, “Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly God’sSon!”
Verse 33. – Matthew only. Then – and (Revised Version, δέ) – they that were in the ship; boat (Revised Version). If there were others than the disciples in the boat, as is probable, these also would be included; but the disciples would naturally take the lead (cf. the notes on Matthew 8:23, 27). Came and. The Revised Version omits these two words, with the manuscripts. They are due to the analogy of Matthew 8:2; Matthew 9:18. Worshipped him (Matthew 4:9, note). In Matthew 8:27 we read of wonder; here, of homage. Saying, Of a truth (ἀληθῶς); cf. Matthew 5:18, s.v. “verily.” The word seems to imply that the suggestion did not enter their minds now for the first time. Two had, perhaps, heard the words spoken at the baptism (Matthew 3:17), and most of them, if not all, the utterance by the demons in Matthew 8:29. Yet these utterances in reality far surpassed what they even nosy imagined (vide infra). Thou art the Son of God (Θεοῦ υἱὸς εϊ). Although the phrase is not of the definite form found in Matthew 26:63 and Matthew 16:16, where it is used with express reference to the Messiahship of Jesus (cf. for the intermediate form, Matthew 27:40 with 43), yet it is impossible to take it here as merely referring to a moral relation between Jesus and God. In Matthew 27:54 this might be sufficient (Luke has “righteous”); but here there is no question of coming up to a standard of moral uprightness, but rather of manifestation of power, and this is connected with Messiah. His authority over the elements leads to the homage of those who witness its exercise, and forces from them the expression that he is the promised Representative of God on earth (Psalm 2:7; cf. Matthew 2:15, note). Observe, however, that not even so is it a profession of faith in his absolute Divinity. (Kubel’s note on this subject in Matthew 8:29 is very good.) Matthew 14:33.”
Psa 89:9, “You rule the surging of the sea;When its waves rise, You calm them.”
4.) God’s creative power is unlimited.
Gen 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.“
Gen 1:21,”And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.”
Col 1:16-17, “for by Him all things were created, both in the Heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, orauthorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
For by him . . . all things were created by (through) him, and for (to) him.—Carrying out the idea of the preceding clause with accumulated emphasis, St. Paul speaks of all creation as having taken place “by Him,” “through Him,” and “for Him.” Now we note that in Romans 11:36, St. Paul, in a burst of adoration, declares of the Father that “from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things;” and in Hebrews 2:10 the Father is spoken of as One “by whom are all things, and for whom are all things” (the word “for whom” being different from the word so rendered here, but virtually equivalent to it). Hence we observe that the Apostle here takes up a phrase belonging only to Godhead and usually applied to the Father, and distinctly applies it to Christ, but with the significant change of “from whom” into “in whom.” The usual language of holy Scripture as to the Father is “from whom,” and as to the Son “through whom,” are all things. Thus we have in Hebrews 1:2, “through whom He made the world;” and in John 1:3-10, “All things were made”—“the world was made”—“through Him.” Here, however, St. Paul twice adds “in whom,” just as he had used “in whom” of God in his sermon at Athens (Acts 17:28), probably conveying the idea, foreshadowed in the Old Testament description of the divine “Wisdom,” that in His divine mind lay the germ of the creative design and work. and indirectly condemning by anticipation the fancy of incipient Gnosticism, that He was but an inferior emanation or agent of the Supreme God.
In heaven and . . . earth . . .—Here again there is a reiteration of earnest emphasis. “All things in heaven and earth” is the ancient phrase for all creation. Then, lest this phrase should be restricted to the sublunary sphere, he adds, “visible and invisible.” Lastly, in accordance with the general tone of these Epistles, and with special reference to the worship of angels introduced into Colossæ, he dwells, like the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, on the superiority of our Lord to all angelic natures, whether they be “thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.” (Comp. Ephesians 1:21; Philippians 2:9-10.)
Thrones, or dominions . . .—Compare the enumeration in Ephesians 1:21. The word peculiar to this passage is “thrones,” which in all the various speculations as to the hierarchy of heaven, naturally represents the first place of dignity and nearness to the Throne of God. (Comp. Revelation 4:4, “Round about the throne four-and-twenty thrones.”) But it seems difficult, if not impossible, to attach distinctive meanings to those titles, and trace out their order. If St. Paul alludes at all to the Rabbinical hierarchies, he (probably with deliberate intention) takes their titles without attending to their fanciful orders and meanings. Whatever they mean, if they mean anything, all are infinitely below the glory of Christ. (See Note on Ephesians 1:21.)”
Jhn 6:9-14,“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Jesus then took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted.And when they had eaten their fill, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Then those men] Rather, The men therefore. the miracle that Jesus did] Better, thesignthatHedid. The name Jesus has been inserted here, as elsewhere, because this once was the beginning of a lesson read in church. The same thing has been done in our own Prayer Book in the Gospels for Quinquagesima and the 3rd Sunday in Lent: in the Gospel for S. John’s Day the names of both Jesus and Peter have been inserted; and in those for the 5th S. in Lent and 2nd S. after Easter the words ‘Jesus said’ have been inserted. In all cases a desire for clearness has caused the insertion. Comp. John 8:21. that prophet that should come] Literally, theProphet thatcometh: the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15 (see on John 1:21). But perhaps the Greek participle here only represents the Hebrew participle, which is properly present, but is often used where a future participle would be used in Latin or Greek. S. John alone tells us the effect of the miracle on those who witnessed it: comp. John 2:11; John 2:23. These two verses (14, 15) supply “a decisive proof that the narrative in the fourth Gospel is not constructed out of that of the Synoptists, and we might almost add a decisive proof of the historical character of the Gospel itself … The Synoptists have nothing of this … Yet how exactly it corresponds with the current Messianic expectations! Our Lord had performed a miracle; and at once He is hailed as the Messiah. But it is as the Jewish, not the Christian Messiah. The multitude would take Him by force and make Him king. At last they have found the leader who will lead them victoriously against the Romans and ‘restore the kingdom to Israel.’ And just because He refused to do this we are told a few verses lower down that many of His disciples ‘went back, and walked no more with Him,’ and for the same cause, a year later, they crucified Him. It is this contrast between the popular Messianic belief and the sublimated form of it, as maintained and represented by Christ, that is the clue to all the fluctuations and oscillations to which the belief in Him was subject. This is why He was confessed one day and denied the next … It is almost superfluous to point out how impossible it would have been for a writer wholly ab extra to throw himself into the midst of these hopes and feelings, and to reproduce them, not as if they were something new that he had learned, but as part of an atmosphere that he had himself once breathed. There is no stronger proof both of the genuineness and of the authenticity of the fourth Gospel than the way in which it reflects the current Messianic idea.” S. pp. 123, 124.”
Luk 3:8, “Therefore produce fruits that are consistentwith repentance, and do not start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham.”
Verse 8. – Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. In other words, “Since you profess to have taken flight from the wrath to come, show at once, by your change of life, that your repentance is worth something, has some meaning in it.” Begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father. These words show that John had the splendid courage to strike boldly at the very root of Jewish pride. Gradually Jewish belief in the especial favor of God, which they were to enjoy through all eternity, had grown up till it resulted in such extravagant expressions as these: “Abraham would sit at the gates of hell, and would not permit any circumcised Israelite of decent moral character to enter it;” “A single Israelite is worth more in God’s sight than all the nations of the world;” “The world was made for their (Israel’s) sake.” This incredible arrogancy grew as their earthly fortunes became darker and darker. Only an eternity of bliss, of which they alone were to be partakers, could make up for the woes they were made to suffer here, while an eternity of anguish for the Gentile world outside Israel was a necessary vengeance for the indignities this Gentile world had inflicted upon the chosen people. Long ago the great Hebrew prophets had warned the deluded race that their election would profit them nothing if they failed in their duties to their God and their neighbor. For I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham; pointing, no doubt, to the rough shingle lying on the river Jordan’s banks. John’s thought was the same which Paul afterwards expressed to the Galatians in his own nervous language, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham;” “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:7, 29). Luke 3:8.”
of him that willeth] Not that human willing and running are illusions; but they are not the cause of mercy. They follow it; they may even be the channel of its present action; but they are not the cause. Its origin is not “of” them. Cp. Php 2:13. runneth] The idea is of one actively moving in the path of right His energy may tempt him to think that he originated the motion; but he did not.—The word “runneth” belongs to St Paul’s favourite metaphor of the foot-race. See 1 Corinthians 9:24-26; Galatians 2:2; Galatians 5:7; Php 2:16.”
6.) God is unfathomable in His ways.
Rom 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
33–36. Doxology to the Eternal Sovereign 33. O the depth] Here, at the close of this discussion of the case of Israel,—in which he has held up for our submission the unfathomable mystery of electing sovereignty, and also the strange ways by which Divine judgment is often made the instrument of Divine mercy,—the Apostle turns to the Supreme Object of his thought and love, and utters his ascription of worship and praise to the All-Wise and Almighty. Such a doxology is perfectly in the manner of Scripture, in which the ultimate aim ever is not the glory, nor even the happiness, of Man, (dear as his happiness is to God and His messengers,) but the Glory of God. depth] Cp. Psalm 36:6, “Thy judgments are a great deep.” riches] See on Romans 2:4. wisdom and knowledge] Scarcely, in such a passage as this, to be minutely distinguished. They blend into one idea—omniscience acting in eternal righteousness and love. unsearchable] It is well to weigh, and accept, this word at the close of such an argument. In his very act of praise the Apostle confesses the inability of even his own inspired thought to explain the Divine mercies and judgments, in the sense of clearing all difficulties. “Who art thou that repliest against God?” “Clouds and darkness are round about Him;” and, in certain respects, it is only the intelligent but profound submission of faith that can say, in view of those clouds, “Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” (Psalm 97:2.) past finding out] Same word as Ephesians 3:8, (E. V. “unsearchable,” lit. “not to be tracked by footprints,”) an instructive parallel passage.”
7.) God’s healing powers are unlimited.
Mat 9:35, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and healingevery disease and every sickness.”
Benson CommentaryMatthew 9:35-36. Jesus went about all the cities, teaching in their synagogues — See on Matthew 4:23. When he saw the multitude he was moved with compassion — Having come from heaven to earth to seek and save lost sinners, he was affected to see such multitudes desirous of instruction, and yet destitute of it, and in danger of perishing without it, being either deserted or misled by their spiritual guides, and living in ignorance of the things which it most concerned them to know, and in a state of guilt and depravity. Because they fainted — The original expression: εκλελυμενοι, denotes here a kind of faintness, or weakness, which is caused by hunger and weariness. Perhaps the expression may refer partly to the fatigue of their frequent journeys in following Christ from place to place; for many of them came, not only from the several parts of Galilee, but also from Judea and Idumea, from beyond Jordan: and the borders of Tyre and Zidon. Faintness of soul, however, is undoubtedly intended here, rather than of body. And were scattered abroad — Gr. ερριμμενοι, an expression which, according to Elsner, means exposed to continual danger, as sheep having no shepherd. And yet this people had many teachers; they had scribes in every city, and the priests, whose lips should have dispensed knowledge, and at whose mouth the people should have sought the law, (Malachi 2:7,) were to be found in all parts of the land. But they had no teachers who cared for their souls; and none who were able, if they had been willing, to have given them such instruction as they needed. They had no pastors after God’s own heart. “The teachers just mentioned,” says Macknight, “were blind, perverse, lazy guides, who every day discovered their ignorance and wickedness more and more. They either neglected the office of teaching altogether, or they filled the people’s minds with high notions of ritual observances and traditions, to the utter disparagement of moral duties, which in a manner they trampled under foot; so that instead of serving God, they served their own glory, their gain, and their belly. Wherefore, any appearance of religion which they had, was wholly feigned and hypocritical; insomuch that they rather did hurt by it than were of real service to the interests of [piety and] virtue. Besides, the common people, being distracted by the disagreeing factions of the Pharisees and Sadducees, knew not what to choose or refuse. The case therefore called loudly for the compassion of Jesus, which indeed was never wanting to them at any time, for he always cherished the tenderest affection toward his countrymen; but it flowed particularly on this occasion, when he considered that they were in great distress for want of spiritual food.” And therefore being deeply touched with a feeling of their miserable condition, he resolved to provide some remedy for it; which, as the evangelist here states, he proceeded to do immediately, directing his disciples to intercede with God to send forth labourers into his harvest, and immediately afterward appointing and sending those labourers.”
The powers of Jesus cover every disease and every sicknees. None is incurable. Many do not know this Sricpture, Isa 53:5, “But He was pierced for our offenses,He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
) Rebellion does not affect God.
Isa 14:12-20, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
“Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
“All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house;
But you are cast out of your grave Like an abominable branch, Like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit, Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
You will not be joined with them in burial, Because you have destroyed your land And slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named.”
Lucifer sinned by saying five “I wills.” The mostAggravated sin was, “I will be like the Most High.”Anyone who wants to be like the Most High is unpardonable.
Rev 12:7-17, “And there was war in Heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they didnot prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in Heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accusesthem before our God day and night.
“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the Word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
“For this reason, rejoice, you Heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth.So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
And there was war in heaven – There was a state of things existing in regard to the woman and the child – the church in the condition in which it would then be – which would be well represented by a war in heaven; that is, by a conflict between the powers of good and evil, of light and darkness. Of course it is not necessary to understand this literally, anymore than the other symbolical representations in the book. All that is meant is, that a vision passed before the mind of John as if there was a conflict, in regard to the church, between the angels in heaven and Satan. There is a vision of the persecuted church – of the woman fleeing into the desert – and the course of the narrative is here interrupted by going back Revelation 12:7-13 to describe the conflict which led to this result, and the fact that Satan, as it were cast out of heaven, and unable to achieve a victory there, was suffered to vent his malice against the church on earth. The seat of this warfare is said to be heaven. This language sometimes refers to heaven as it appears to us – the sky – the upper regions of the atmosphere, and some have supposed that that was the place of the contest. But the language in Revelation 11:19; Revelation 12:1 (see the notes on those places), would rather lead us to refer it to heaven considered as lying beyond the sky. This accords, too, with other representations in the Bible, where Satan is described as appearing before God, and among the sons of God. See the notes on Job 1:6. Of course this is not to be understood as a real transaction, but as a symbolical representation of the contest between good and evil – as if there was a war waged in heaven between Satan and the leader of the heavenly hosts.
Michael – There have been very various opinions as to who Michael is. Many Protestant interpreters have supposed that Christ is meant. The reasons usually alleged for this opinion, many of which are very fanciful, may be seen in Hengstenberg (Die Offenbarung des heiliges Johannes), 1:611-622. The reference to Michael here is probably derived from Daniel 10:13; Daniel 12:1. In those places he is represented as the guardian angel of the people of God; and it is in this sense, I apprehend, that the passage is to be understood here. There is no evidence in the name itself, or in the circumstances referred to, that Christ is intended; and if he had been, it is inconceivable why he was not referred to by his own name, or by some of the usual appellations which John gives him. Michael, the archangel, is here represented as the guardian of the church, and as contending against Satan for its protection. Compare the notes on Daniel 10:13. This representation accords with the usual statements in the Bible respecting the interposition of the angels in behalf of the church (see the notes on Hebrews 1:14), and is one which cannot be proved to be unfounded. All the analogies which throw any light on the subject, as well as the uniform statements of the Bible, lead us to suppose that good beings of other worlds feel an interest in the welfare of the redeemed church below.”
And his angels – The angels under him. Michael is represented as the archangel, and all the statements in the Bible suppose that the heavenly hosts are distributed into different ranks and orders. See the Jde 1:9 note; Ephesians 1:21 note. If Satan is permitted to make war against the church, there is no improbability in supposing that, in those higher regions where the war is carried on, and in those aspects of it which lie beyond the power and the knowledge of man, good angels should be employed to defeat his plans.
Fought – See the notes on Jde 1:9.Against the dragon – Against Satan. See the notes at Revelation 12:3.And the dragon fought and his angels – That is, the master-spirit – Satan, and those under him. See the notes on Matthew 4:1. Of the nature of this warfare nothing is definitely stated. Its whole sphere lies beyond mortal vision, and is carried on in a manner of which we can have little conception. What weapons Satan may use to destroy the church, and in what way his efforts may be counteracted by holy angels, are points on which we can have little knowledge. It is sufficient to know that the fact of such a struggle is not improbable, and that Satan is successfully resisted by the leader of the heavenly host.”
Those who keep the commandment of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus are enemies to the dragon who is the devil.
) Jdg 8:23, “But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.”
Jdg 8:23. I will not rule over you — As a king. He rejected their offer, because he looked upon God as their king, who appointed what deputy he pleased to govern them; and because he considered this proposal as an effort, or at least as tending to alter that form of government which God had instituted and had given them no authority to change. The Lord shall rule over you — In a special manner, as he hath hitherto done by judges. These God particularly appointed and directed in all the more important concerns of their office, even by Urim and Thummim, and, in a special manner, assisted upon all occasions: whereas kings had only a general dependance on God. That God was their supreme Ruler and King, was the foundation of their whole state. Hence the judgment which was administered among them is called God’s judgment, Deuteronomy 1:17. And Solomon is said to sit upon the throne of the Lord, (1 Chronicles 29:23,) and the kingdom of his posterity is called the kingdom of the Lord, (2 Chronicles 13:8,) because before kings were settled in Israel, the Lord was their king; from whom the government was derived to the house of David by a special act of God.”
And again, Esaias saith.—St. Paul still adheres to the LXX., which here diverges more widely from the Hebrew. The sense of this is rightly given by the Authorised version of Isaiah 11:10—“In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek.” In either case the passage is Messianic.
A root of Jesse.—Strictly, the root, or, root-shoot of Jesse, as in Proverbs 5:5—i.e., the expected descendant of Jesse’s line, which, to bring out its intimate connection with the founder of the line, and to distinguish it from all other collateral branches, is identified with the very root, or first shoot, of the line itself.
Trust.—The same word as “hope” in the next verse, the introduction of which was probably suggested, through the association of ideas, by the concluding words of the LXX. quotation—“On Him shall the Gentiles place their hopes. Now the God of hope, &c.”
11.) Rev 2:27, “AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE SHATTERED, as I also have received authority from My Father.”
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron,…. Either with the Gospel, which is the rod of Christ’s strength, and is the power of God unto salvation, and by which the kingdom of Christ is enlarged, and the power of the church of Christ over the antichristian party is increased; or it may design great strictness and severity, with which the man of sin will be used by the saints of the most High, when they shall take away his dominion from him:
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; which may be expressive either of the breaking of rocky hearts in pieces at conversion, and of making souls humble and contrite; or of the irreparable ruin and destruction of antichrist, when the saints shall consume and destroy him:
even as I received of my Father; Christ, as God, has an underived power and government; but, as Mediator, his rule and power over the nations are asked by him, given to him, and received by him, Psalm 2:8. This “as” does not intend equality, but similitude; and denotes the participation the saints will have with Christ in the judgment and destruction of antichrist, and in his kingdom and power.”
12.) God causes all things to work together.
Rom 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
(28-30) These verses contain a third reason for the patience of the Christian. He knows that whatever happens, all things are really working together for good to him.
(28) All things.—Persecution and suffering included.
Work together.—Contribute.
There is a rather remarkable reading here, found in the Vatican and Alexandrian MSS., and in Origen, inserting “God” as the subject of the verb, and making “all things” the object. “God works all things with,” or “co-operates in all things.” This reading is very early, if not original.
To them who are the called.—Further description of those “who love God.” They have also, as in His eternal counsels He had designed it should be, obeyed the call given to them in the preaching of the gospel, and definitely enrolled themselves in the kingdom of the Messiah.”
Many do not know the wonderful truth of this Scripture. If you are a child of God, there must be something secret that only you know how God caused all things to work together for your good. Years ago I planned to retire at one of some world cities. Thank God I did not retire at any of those cities which would be disaster to me. God caused all things to work together for my good. You know even hard for mankind to cause one thing to work together.
I used for worry for the state of the world that certain countries will do evil. Now I rest on the Sovegreinty of God knowing all nations will eventually become the Kingdom of God. I know the most evil country in the world today — Japan, its government and courts have denied killing 56 million Chinese, making thousands of women sexual slaves (comfort women), rewrote its history, covered up its 731 unit bio-virus war crimes, worship its convicted and executed war criminals as living gods and heroes, both government and courts denied and refused any war compensations — up till now the wrath and judgement of God has not fallen on the evil country.
13.) Rev 19:15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
(15) And out of his mouth . . .—Translate, And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with (literally, in) it He may smite the nations: and He (Himself) shall shepherd them with (literally, in) a rod of iron: and He (Himself) treadeth the winepress of the wine of the wrath of the anger of God the All ruler. The sharp sword is the same that we have read of before (Revelation 1:16); there it was called the two-edged sword. The omission of the epithet in this passage, which describes the Word of God as the conqueror and the judge, is not without significance. The sword is now wielded for but one work—the word that Christ spoke will judge men at the last day (John 12:48). The power of this word found an illustration in the falling back of the hostile band which came to take Him in the day of His humiliation (John 18:5); yet more gloriously will the power of His word be felt (comp. Isaiah 11:4; Jeremiah 23:29; 2Thessalonians 2:8) when He will slay the wicked with the word of His mouth. The passage in Psalm 2:9 must be borne in mind. Christ comes as King; His is a rule in righteousness; those who oppose this kingdom of righteousness find the shepherd’s staff as a rod of iron; the stone rejected falls upon the builders, and grinds them to powder. It is thus that the winepress of God’s wrath is set up, and the righteous King appears as one who treads it out. (Comp. Isaiah 63:1-3.) He Himself (the emphasis lies here) treads it. We have again the figure of the vintage made use of. (Comp. Revelation 14:20.) It is the harvest of retribution; the wicked are filled with the fruit of their own doings; so is the work seen to be the work of the All-Ruler.”
14.) Isa 45:23, “I have sworn by Myself; the Word has gone out from My mouth in righteousnessand will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”
Verse 23. – I have sworn by myself (comp. Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 22:5; Jeremiah 49:15). “God swears “by himself,” because he can swear by no greater” (Hebrews 6:13). He condescends, for man’s sake, to confirm in this way promises that are exceedingly precious (see the Homiletics on Isaiah 14:24). The word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness. So Dr. Kay and Mr. Cheyne (comp. ver. 19, “I the Lord speak righteousness”). And shall not return; i.e. shall not be withdrawn or retracted. God’s gifts and promises are “without repentance.” Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. This universal turning to God belongs to the final Messianic kingdom, prophesied in Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 11:6-9; Isaiah 35:1-10; Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:18-23; and also by Daniel (Daniel 7:9-14) and St. John the Divine (Revelation 21:1-4). The entire destruction of God’s enemies is to take place previously (Revelation 19:17-21). Isaiah 45:23.”
15.) Isa 46:9-10, “Remember the former things long past, for I AM God, and there is no other;I AM God, and there is no one like Me,declaring the end from the beginning,and from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”
Isaiah 46:9-11. Remember the former things — What I have done for you and in the world, my evident predictions of future things, justified by the event; and those other miraculous works, whereby I have abundantly proved my divinity. Declaring the end from the beginning — Foretelling from the beginning of the world, or from the beginning of your nation, those future events which should happen in succeeding ages, even to the end of the world, or to the end of your commonwealth; for such predictions we find delivered by Moses, the first founder of their state. My counsel shall stand — As I will not, so no other power can, disappoint my purposes and predictions. This is another argument urged for the divinity of the God of Israel, namely, his foreknowledge and prediction of future events, of which the prophet subjoins a particular instance in the next words. Calling a ravenous bird, or eagle, from the east — From Persia, as Isaiah 41:2. “There can be no doubt that Cyrus is here meant. Kings and princes are often compared in Scripture to eagles, Jeremiah 49:22; Ezekiel 17:3. But it has been thought that there is a peculiar propriety in this application to Cyrus, as the eagle well denotes the magnanimity, the quickness of judgment, the celerity in all his expeditions and motions, for which Cyrus was so remarkable. We are also told by Plutarch, that Cyrus had an aquiline nose; and Xenophon expressly relates, that his standard was a golden eagle; which yet continues, says he, to be the standard of the Persian kings.” — Vitringa.”
Only God can declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done,Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”
In summary, the Sovereignty of God means our God is in the Heavens; He does all that He pleases. God can do all things, and that no purpose of God can be thwarted by anyone or anything at any time. Probably AUGUSTINE was quoted to have said, “THIS, therefore, is also essentially necessary and wholesome for Christians to know: That God foreknows nothing by contingency, but that He foresees, purposes, and does all things according to His immutable, eternal, and infallible will.”
The Sovereignty of God simply means God has power and wisdom to do as He pleases. The Sovereign God does not have to explain to me, to you, or anybody else what He does and what He does not do. I can only bow three times to my Heavenly Father and say Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.
It is only right that you repent of your sins and believe in the Great God and our Savior Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. You must not neglect so great a salvation. You can do it now.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
Electricity.
Running water to drink and wash.
Gas to cook and heat.
Internet.
Livelihood.
New toilet by law.
The nymcoompoop of Ukraine is guilty and responsible for 55 K deaths of its soldiers and many more missing in initiating war with Russia. He should be executed. The leaders of EU are dummies for making $billions of loans to Ukraine who can never repay. Ukraine should never be rebuilt to serve as a warning to the world.
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free. We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
1.) Mat 5:48, “Therefore you shall be perfect, asyour Heavenly Father is perfect.”
The Lord Jesus sets a goal and makes the highest demand on His followers, “Therefore you shall be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
Perfect in Greek is teleioswhich means “wanting nothing necessary to completeness” (Strong’s Concordance); full; mature; complete mental and moral character; — which occurs 19 times in the New Testament. According Collins Dictionary, “Something that is perfect is as good as it could possibly be.”
The concept of perfection does not belong to mankind, only God is perfect.
Do you want to know what is perfect? Is there anything which is perfect?
No Christian or Saint of right mind would claim to be perfect. Nobody is perfect, much less as our Heavenly Father. You may be disappointed in your spouse, your family and your friends. Mankind is not perfect.
Verse 48. – In Luke 6:36, “Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” we have certainly a reminiscence of the same saying, and, almost as certainly, from the smoothing away of difficulties, a less original form of it. Be ye therefore perfect; Revised Version, ye therefore shall be perfect (ἔσεσθε οϋν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι). The form is based on Deuteronomy 18:13, τέλειος ἔσῃ. While the introduction of ὑμεῖς emphasizes the contrast between Christ’s disciples and those who followed the usual deduction from the Law, the position of ἔσεσθε (reversing that of Deuteronomy) shows that still greater emphasis is placed on their “perfection” as something to be attained. Also, while in the parallel passage of Luke the stress is upon the change that must take place (γὶνεσθε) – unless, as is possible, it has the simple meaning “show yourselves” (cf. ver. 45, note) – in Matthew the possibility or even the certainty of attaining it is definitely stated. You shall make this your aim, and shall attain to it. Therefore. A deduction from the principle laid down in vers. 44-47. From the consideration of the example of your Father, and of the insufficiency of being like publicans and heathen. Perfect (τέλειοι). In the Gospels here and Matthew 19:21 only. The word denotes those who have attained the full development of innate powers, in contrast to those who are still in the undeveloped state – adults in contrast to children. Thus the thought here is – Ye shall be satisfied with, and shall attain to, no lower state than that of maturity. But what is it as to which they shall be mature? Surely not the whole Law as illustrated by all the examples since ver. 21; for vers. 31, 32 are excluded by the comparison with God immediately following. It must be the subject with which the sentence is closely connected, vers. 44-47 (cf. Meyer); love to others even though they have done you wrong. In this respect, viz. love to others, you shall admit, says our Lord, no lower ideal than that of’ maturity, even such maturity as is found in him who sends sun and rain on all alike. Some (Augustine, Trench) have seen in this a merely relative maturity, itself capable of further development; but the subject rather demands absolute and final maturity. This does not imply that man will ever have such fulness of love as the Father has, but that he will fully and completely attain to that measure of love to which he as a created being was intended to attain. It may, however, be in accordance with true exegesis to see, with Weiss, for such apparently is his meaning, also an indication of further teaching – the nature of the revelation made known by Christ. For whereas “the fundamental commandment” of the Old Testament, “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44, 45), was the more negative thought of God’s exaltation above the impurity of created beings, our Lord now puts forth “the positive conception of the Divine perfection, whose nature is all-embracing, self-sacrificing love. And in place of the God, for ever separated from his polluted people by his holiness, to whom they can only render themselves worthy of approach through the most anxious abstinence from all impurity, and by means of the statutes for purification contained in the Law, there is on the ground of this new revelation the Father in heaven, who stoops to his children in love, and so operates that they must and can be like him” (Weiss, ‘Life,’ 2:156). The simple and straightforward meaning of the verse, however, is this – You shall take no lower standard in love to enemies than God shows to those who ill treat him, and you shall, in fact, attain to this standard. Upon this (for the limitation of the meaning to one point makes no real difference) there arises the question which has been of so much importance in all ages of the Church – What is the measure of attainment that is really possible for Christ’s disciples upon earth? ought they not to expect to live perfect lives? But the text gives no warrant for such an assertion. No doubt it says that attainment to maturity – to perfection according to creaturely limits – is eventually possible. That is implied in ἔσεσθε (vide supra). But when this attainment can be made is not stated. Many will, indeed, affirm that, as our Lord is giving directions to his disciples concerning things in this life, the attainment also is affirmed to be possible in this life. But this by no means follows. Christ gives the command, and by the form of it implies that it shall be carried out to the full. But this is quite consistent with the conception of a gradually increasing development of love which, in fact will attain maturity, a state in which God’s love has ever been; but not immediately and not before the final completion of all Christ’s work in us. The words form, indeed, a promise as well as a command, but the absence of a statement of time forbids us to claim the verse as a warrant for asserting that the τελειότης referred to can be attained in this life. Trench (‘Syr.,’ § 22.) explains the passage by saying that the adjective is used the first time in a relative, and the second time in an absolute, sense. But this does not seem as probable as the interpretation given above, according to which the adjective is in both cases used absolutely. His following words, however, deserve careful attention. “The Christian shall be ‘ perfect,’ yet not in the sense in which some of the sects preach the doctrine of perfection, who, so soon as their words are looked into, are found either to mean nothing which they could not have expressed by a word less liable to misunderstanding; or to mean something which no man in this life shall attain, and which he who affirms he has attained is deceiving himself, or others, or both.” Even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect; Revised Version, as your heavenly Father is perfect; so the manuscripts. The epithet, ὁ οὐράνιος, is wanting in Luke, but Matthew wishes to lay stress on their Father’s character and methods being different from those of an earthly father. Observe again not “the Father” but your Father; nerving them to fulfil the summons to likeness to him (cf. ver. 16).”
2.) Deu 32:4, “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just;A God of faithfulness and without injustice,Righteous and just is He.”
On the contrary, God is perfect. His work is perfect. His word is perfect. His will is perfect. God is perfect in everything.
The rock,or, a rock, as for the stability and everlastingness of his nature, and invincibleness of his power, so also for his fixedness and immutability in his counsels and promises and ways; so that if there shall be a sad change in your affairs from a high and prosperous to a calamitous and deplorable condition, as there will be, remember that this proceeds from yourselves, and from the change of your ways and carriages towards God, and not from God, in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change, Jam 1:17. His work is perfect; all his works and actions are unblamable, as being perfect, wise, and righteous, as it follows. All his ways are judgment; all his administrations in the world, and particularly all his dealings with you, are managed with judgment and justice. A God of truth, constant to his promises: you cannot accuse him of any levity or unfaithfulness towards you to this day.”
) 1Ch 12:38, “All of these, being men of war who helped in battle formation, came to Hebron with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel also were of one mind to make David king.”
All these men of war.—Rather, All the above, being men of war, forming line of battle with whole heart, came to Hebron to make David king. The phrase “forming line of battle,” repeats the verb of 1Chronicles 12:3, and supplies its proper object (‘ôdĕrê ma’drãkhah, aciem struentes). The Hebrew indicates a stop at “line of battle;” it is better to put it after “with whole heart” (comp. 1Chronicles 12:33). “They formed in line with fearless intrepidity;” literally, corde integro.
And all the rest also of Israel, who did not appear personally at Hebron.—” The rest (shērîth) is a term used here only. The Hebrew says, “the remainder of Israel (was) one heart,” i.e., was unanimous. (Comp. 2Chronicles 30:12.)
Allowing the average for Issachar, the total of the warriors assembled at Hebron was upwards of 300,000. This will not surprise us if we bear in mind that in those days every able-bodied man was, as a matter of course, trained in the use of arms, and liable to be called out for the king,s wars. Thus “man” and “warrior” were almost convertible terms. The present gathering was not a parade of the entire strength of the nation; coınp. the 600,000 warriors of the Exodus, and the 1,300,000 of David’s census. The main difficulty—that of the relative proportions of the various tribal contingents—has been considered in the preceding Notes. The suggestions there made are, of course, uncertain, the fact being that we really do not know enough of the condition of the tribes at that epoch to justify us in pronouncing upon the relative probability of the numbers here assigned to them. That being so, it is a hasty and uncritical exaggeration to say that “it is absolutely inconceivable that the tribes near the place of meeting, notably that of Judah, should have furnised so small a contingent, while the figures are raised in direct proportion to the distance to be traversed” (Reuss).
1 Chronicles 29:19. And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart — He had charged Solomon to serve God with a perfect heart, and now he prays to God to give him such a heart. He does not pray that God would make him rich, or great, or learned, but, what is infinitely more important, that he would make him sincerely and decidedly godly and righteous, devoted to God and his service, and steady and faithful therein. To keep thy commandments — Which David knew would not, could not, be kept by Solomon or any man, unless his heart was renewed by the grace of God, and made right with him. And to build the palace, &c. — Not only to observe the precepts of thy law in general, and do thy will in other respects, but in particular to accomplish thy design in building thee a temple, that he may perform that service with a single eye. For which I have made provision — By purchasing the place, (chap. 21.,) and providing for the expenses of the work. From this prayer of David, both for Solomon and the people, we may see, that even in those days, when there was so much of ceremony and external pomp in religion, and when the church of God was in its nonage, as the apostle states, (Galatians 4:1-3,) and in bondage under the elements of the world, yet the inward grace of God, or the operation of the Spirit on the human heart, was judged absolutely necessary to enable a man to keep the commandments of God. How much more then is the grace of God necessary to enable a man to walk according to the more pure and spiritual doctrines and precepts of Christianity, to love and embrace its holy promises, and live up to its more divine and heavenly privileges.”
5.) Ezr 7:12-13, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven,
perfect peace. And now I have issued a decree that any of the people of Israel and their priests and the Levites in my kingdom who are willing to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.”
12. king of kings] title common in inscriptions of Persian monarchs. (Cf. of Nebuchadnezzar, Ezekiel 26:7; Daniel 2:37.) No mere hyperbole, when the great empire included so many subject kingdoms. a scribe] R.V. the scribe. the God of heaven] See note on Ezra 1:2. perfect peace, and at such a time] R.V. perfect and so forth. The Aramaic word ‘perfect’, ‘g’mir’, occurs only here. The salutation, probably a lengthy affair, is here condensed and the sentence breaks off abruptly. The word ‘perfect’ refers to ‘the scribe’ Ezra and was probably the first of a series of complimentary epithets. So the Vulgate ‘doctissimo’. The A.V. understands the words of salutation, cf. 1 Esdras, ‘hail’ (χαίρειν). The LXX. ‘the word has been ended and the answer’ (τετέλεσται ὁ λόγος καὶ ἡ ἀπόκρισις) is completely at fault. Others render the word as an adverb (= ‘completely’), to be connected either with ‘the scribe’, or with the omitted words of salutation, i.e. the completely (learned) scribe’, or ‘full greetings’. ‘and so forth’, as in Ezra 4:10-11. 12–26. The contents of the letter are given in Aramaic.”
For truly my words shall not be false – This is designed to conciliate attention. It is a professed purpose to state nothing but truth. Even in order to vindicate the ways of God he would state nothing but what would bear the most rigid examination. Job had charged on his friends a purpose “to speak wickedly for God;” to make use of unsound arguments in vindicating his cause, (see the notes at Job 13:7-8), and Elihu now says that “he” will make use of no such reasoning, but that all that he says shall be founded in strict truth.
He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee – This refers undoubtedly to Elihu himself, and is a claim to a clear understanding of the subject. He did not doubt that he was right, and that he had some views which were worthy of their attention. The main idea is, that he was of “sound” knowledge; that his views were not sophistical and captious; that they were founded in truth, and were worthy, therefore. of their profound attention.”
) Job 37:16, “Do you know about the hovering of the clouds, the wonders of One who is perfect in knowledge.”
Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds? – That is, Dost thou know how the clouds are poised and suspended in the air? The difficulty to be explained was, that the clouds, so full of water, did not fail to the earth, but remained suspended in the atmosphere. They were poised and moved about by some unseen hand. Elihu asks what kept them there; what prevented their falling to the earth; what preserved the equilibrium so that they did not all roll together. The phenomena of the clouds would be among the first that would attract the attention of man, and in the early times of Job it is not to be supposed that the subject could be explained. Elihu assumes that they were held in the sky by the power of God, but what was the nature of his agency, he says, man could not understand, and hence, he infers that God should be regarded with profound veneration. We know more of the facts and laws respecting the clouds than was understood then, but our knowledge in this, as in all other things, is fitted only to exalt our conceptions of the Deity, and to change blind wonder into intelligent adoration.
The causes of the suspension of the clouds are thus stated in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, Art. Meteorology: “When different portions of the atmosphere are intermixed so as to produce a deposition of moisture;” (compare the notes at Job 38:28), “the consequence will be the formation of a cloud. This cloud, from its increased specific gravity, will have a tendency to sink downward; and were the lower strata of the air of the same temperature with the cloud, and saturated with moisture, it would continue to descend until it reached the surface of the earth – in the form of rain, or what is commonly called mist. In general, however, the cloud in its descent passes through a warmer region, when the condensed moisture again passes into a vapor, and consequently ascends until it reaches a temperature sufficiently low to recondense it, when it will begin again to sink. This oscillation will continue until the cloud settles at the point where the temperature and humidity are such as that the condensed moisture begins to be dissipated, and which is found on an average to be between two and three miles above the surface of the earth.” By such laws the “balancing” of the clouds is secured, and thus is shown the wisdom of Him that is “perfect in knowledge.”The wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge – Particularly in the matter under consideration. He who can command the lightning, and hold the clouds suspended in the air, Elihu infers must be perfect in knowledge. To a Being who can do this, everything must be known. The reasoning of Elihu here is well-founded, and is not less forcible now than it was in the time of Job.”
8.) Psa 19:7, “The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
7. The law of the Lord] Instruction, teaching, doctrine, are the ideas connected with the word torah, rendered law. See on Psalm 1:2. Like Jehovah’s work (Deuteronomy 32:4), and His way (Psalm 18:30), it is perfect, complete, flawless; without defect or error; a guide which can neither mislead nor fail. Observe that the name Jehovah now takes the place of God (Psalm 19:1); for we have entered the sphere of the special revelation to Israel. converting the soul] Rather, as R.V., restoring the soul; refreshing and invigorating man’s true self (cp. Psalm 23:3); like food to the hungry (Lamentations 1:11; Lamentations 1:19); like comfort to the sorrowful and afflicted (Lamentations 1:16; Ruth 4:15). the testimony] The ‘law,’ regarded as bearing witness to Jehovah’s will, and man’s duty (Exodus 25:16; Exodus 25:21). It is sure, not variable or uncertain. Cp. Psalm 93:5, Psalm 111:7. the simple] A character often mentioned in Proverbs (Proverbs 1:4, &c.): the man whose mind is open to the entrance of good or evil. He has not closed his heart against instruction, but he has no fixed principle to repel temptation. He needs to be made wise. Cp. Psalm 119:130; 2 Timothy 3:15. 7–11. Yet more wonderful than this declaration of God’s glory, more beneficent than the sun’s life-giving light and heat, is Jehovah’s revelation of His will, which quickens and educates man’s moral nature. Its essential characteristics and its beneficent influences are described with an enthusiastic and loving admiration. Note the peculiar rhythm of Psalm 19:7-9, in which each line is divided by a well-marked caesura. Cp. Lamentations 1:1 ff. See Introd. p. lx.”
9.) Sng 5:2, “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
Verse 2-ch. 8:4. – Part IV. REMINISCENCES OF LOVE DAYS. The bridegroom rejoicing in the bride. Verse 2. – The bride’s reminiscence of a love dream. I was asleep, but my heart waked, It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. There is a resemblance between this account of what was apparently a dream, and that which is related in Song of Solomon 3:1-4; but the difference is very clear. In the former case the lover is represented as dismissed for a season, and then the relenting heart of the maiden sought after him and found him. In this case he “stands at the door and knocks,” coming in the night; and the maiden rises to open, but finds him gone, and so is drawn after him. The second dream is much more vivid and elaborate, and seems to be an imitation and enlargement of the other, being introduced apparently more for the sake of dwelling on the attractions of the beloved one and his preciousness in the eyes of the maiden than in self-reproach. Is it not possible that the poem originally concluded at Song of Solomon 5:1 with the marriage, and that the whole of the latter half was an amplification, either by Solomon himself, the author of the first half, or by some one who has entered into the spirit of the song? This would explain the apparent repetition, with the variations. But, at all events, the second part certainly is more from the standpoint of married life than the first. Hence the bride speaks at great length, which she does not in the earlier portion. Delitzsch thinks that this second love dream is intended to represent what occurred in early married life; but there are two objections to that – first, that the place is evidently a country residence; and secondly, that such an occurrence is unsuitable to the conditions of a royal bride. It is much more natural to suppose that the bride is recalling what occurred in her dream when the lover, having been sent away until the evening, as on the former occasion, returned, and in the night knocked at the door. “My heart waked” is the same as “My mind was active.” The “heart” in Hebrew is the inner man, both intellect and feeling. “I was asleep, but I was thinking” (cf. Cicero, ‘De Divinatione,’ 1:30). The lover has come off a long journey over the mountains, and arrives in the night time. The terms with which he appeals to his beloved are significant, denoting (1) equal rank – my sister; (2) free choice – my love; (3) purity, simplicity, and loveliness – my dove; (4) entire devotion, undoubting trust – my undefiled. Tammanthi, “my perfection,” as Arabic tam, teim, “one devoted to another.” as a servant. Similar passages are quoted from heathen love poetry, as Anacreon, 3:10; Propertius, 1:16-23; Ovid, ‘Amor.,’ 3:19, 21. The simple meaning of the dream is that she is full of love by night and by day. She dreamed that she was back in her old country home, and that her lover visited her like a shepherd; and she tells how she sought him, to show how she loved him. When we are united to the Saviour with the bonds of a pledged affection, we lose the sense of self-reproach in the delight of fellowship, and can even speak of our own slowness and backwardness only to magnify his grace. We delight to acknowledge that it was his knocking that led us to seek after him, although we had to struggle with the dull heart; and it was not until it was moved by his approach, by his moving towards us, that we hastened to find him, and were full of the thought of his desirableness. There are abundant examples of this same interchange of affection in the history of the Church’s revivals and restorations. Song of Solomon 5:2.”
Sng 6:9-10, “But my dove, my perfect one, is unique:
She is her mother’s only daughter;
She is the pure child of the one who gave birth to her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed,
The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,‘Who is this who looks down
like the dawn, as beautiful as the full moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as an army with banners?”
9. but one] The one here is numerical in contrast to the 60 and 80: in the second clause of the verse one is qualitative, unica or unice delecta. As in ch. 2, he compares her to the women of the hareem, and intimates that she alone is worth them all. the choice one] Heb. bârâh from bârar, ‘to separate,’ and hence ‘to purify.’ LXX, ἐκλεκτή. Here it is the former idea which predominates, the choice one, the darling of her mother, for the relation of mother and daughter is not one to which the idea of ‘purity’ is specially congruous. The only thing against this is that the adj. bar is not used in the O.T. in any sense but ‘pure’ or ‘clean’ (see Oxf. Lex.). But in 1 Chronicles 7:40 and elsewhere the verb is used in the sense of ‘to choose’ or ‘select.’ As the Song is late, but not so late as Chron. probably, it would not be unnatural that the later meaning should be found alongside the earlier in Song of Solomon 6:9-10 here. The daughters saw her, and blessed her] Better, daughters, i.e. women, cp. Genesis 30:13 and Proverbs 31:29, saw her and called her happy. Cp. Proverbs 31:28, where the whole of this clause substantially occurs. the queens and the concubines, and they praised her] Cp. ch. Song of Solomon 5:9, “O thou fairest among women.” On the hypothesis that the book is a mere collection of wedding songs, this statement that the women of Solomon’s hareem had seen and praised the Shulammite would be absurd. On our view, it would be quite natural, and unless the bride be brought in some such way as we suppose into connexion with Solomon’s court it is impossible to imagine how this verse could be true. Budde admits the difficulty, but gets over it in a very light-hearted fashion. He admits that a figure of speech which would permit the bridegroom who is called Solomon only because he is a bridegroom, to refer with scorn to the hareem of the actual Solomon, would be bold; but in a somewhat obscure sentence he says it hardly goes beyond what is possible in the circumstances as he supposes them to be. Few, we imagine, will be of that opinion. Song of Solomon 6:9.”
10.) Isa 25:1, “LORD, You are my God;I will exalt You,
I will give thanks to Your name; for You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with
O Lord, thou art my God – The prophet speaks, not in his own name, but in the name of the people that would be delivered from bondage. The sense is, that Yahweh had manifested himself as their covenant-keeping God; and that in view of his faithfulness in keeping his promises, they now had demonstration that he was their God.
I will exalt thee – A form of expression often used to denote praise Psalm 118:28; Psalm 145:1, meaning that the worshipper would exalt God in the view of his own mind, or would regard him as above all other beings and objects.
For thou hast done wonderful things – On the meaning of the Hebrew, פלא pel’ – ‘wonderful,’ see the note at Isaiah 9:6.
Thy counsels of old – Which were formed and revealed long since. The counsels referred to are those respecting the delivery of his people from bondage, which had been expressed even long before their captivity commenced, and which would be now completely and triumphantly fulfilled.
Are faithfulness – Have been brought to pass; do not fail.
And truth – Hebrew, אמן‘omen – whence our word Amen. Septuagint, Γένοιτο Genoito – ‘Let it be.’ The word denotes that the purposes of God were firm, and would certainly be fulfilled.”
You will find mankind unfaithful in many ways, only God has perfect faithfulness.
11.) Isa 26:3, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in
Thou wilt keep him – The following verses to Isaiah 26:11, contain moral and religious reflections, and seem designed to indicate the resignation evinced by the ‘righteous nation’ during their long afflictions. Their own feelings they are here represented as uttering in the form of general truths to be sources of consolation to others.
In perfect peace – Hebrew as in the Margin, ‘Peace, peace;’ the repetition of the word denoting, as is usual in Hebrew, emphasis, and here evidently meaning undisturbed, perfect peace. That is, the mind that has confidence in God shall not be agitated by the trials to which it shall be subject; by persecution, poverty, sickness, want, or bereavement. The inhabitants of Judea had been borne to a far distant land. They had been subjected to reproaches and to scorn Psalm 137:1-9; had been stripped of their property and honor; and had been reduced to the condition of prisoners and captives. Yet their confidence in God had not been shaken. They still trusted in him; still believed that he could and would deliver them. Their mind was, therefore, kept in entire peace. So it was with the Redeemer when he was persecuted and maligned (1 Peter 2:23; compare Luke 23:46). And so it has been with tens of thousands of the confessors and martyrs, and of the persecuted and afflicted people of God, who have been enabled to commit their cause to him, and amidst the storms of persecution, and even in the prison and at the stake, have been kept in perfect peace.
Whose mind is stayed on thee – Various interpretations have been given of this passage, but our translation has probably hit upon the exact sense. The word which is rendered ‘mind’ (יצר yētser) is derived from יצר yâtsar to form, create, devise; and it properly denotes that which is formed or made Psalm 103:14; Isaiah 29:16, Hebrews 2:18. Then it denotes anything that is formed by the mind – its thoughts, imaginations, devices Genesis 8:21; Deuteronomy 31:21. Here it may mean the thoughts themselves, or the mind that forms the thoughts. Either interpretation suits the connection, and will make sense. The expression, ‘is stayed on thee,’ in the Hebrew does not express the idea that the mind is stayed on God, though that is evidently implied. The Hebrew is simply, whose mind is stayed, supported (סמוּך sâmûk); that is, evidently, supported by God. There is no other support but that; and the connection requires us to understand this of him.”
Jesus says, Jhn 14:27, “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.” The Scripture cited describes what perfect peace is. How good to be Christians.
12.) Col 3:14, “In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Love is the perfect bond of unity. This is eternal truth.
above all these things] Or, “upon all these things.” Perhaps the words convey both the supreme importance of love, and its relation to other graces as their embracing bond; see just below. “Love is the outer garment” (rather, the girdle?) “which holds the others in their places” (Lightfoot). put on] The words are supplied from Colossians 3:12. charity] Or, love. See on ch. Colossians 1:4. Love, says Leibnitz, is that which seeks its joy in the good of another.—“Hypocrisy can do Christian actions; charity alone does them christianly” (Quesnel). which is] The Greek implies that “love” must be thus “put on” because it is, &c. the bond of perfectness] I.e., the bond, or tie, which makes and secures the “perfectness,” wholeness, fulness, harmony, of the Christian character, both in the individual and in society. Chrysostom, quoted by Lightfoot, says (on this place), “If love is lacking, all other good is nothing; it dissolves.” The man without love is, in effect, the man whose very virtues are selfish; “unto himself.” “Perfectness:”—see note on ch. Colossians 1:28.”
Country between country and the whole world does not have perfect bond of unity. America and EU is a case in point. The world does not have the perfect bond of unity because it is without love. The love the Bible speaks about is not the sexual relations.
And I John saw the holy city . . .—Better, And the holy city, new Jerusalem, I saw coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared . . . The name John is omitted in the best MSS. The new Jerusalem is more fully described later on (Revelation 21:10et seq.). The city is also the bride (comp. Revelation 21:9-10). Both images—the “city” and the “bride”—are familiar to the Bible student. The sacred city appears linked to God by a sacred bond. (Comp. Psalm 45:13-14; Isaiah 61:10; Isaiah 62:4-5; Galatians 4:26; Ephesians 5:25-27.) The city-bride is now adorned for her Husband. We know what her ornaments are, now that He is about to present her to Himself a glorious Church: the meekness and gentleness of Christ, and her loving obedience to Him (1Peter 3:4), are her jewels. She is seen, not rising from earth or sea, like the foes of righteousness (Revelation 13:1; Revelation 13:11), but coming down from heaven. The world will never evolve a golden age or ideal state. The new Jerusalem must descend from God. The true pattern, which alone will realise man’s highest wishes, is the pattern in the mount of God (Acts 7:44).”
15.) Eze 16:14, “Then your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect
because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord GOD.”
14. Her renown spread among the nations because of her beauty. In this is included partly the prosperity and success of the state, not without reference perhaps to the beauty of the city (Lamentations 2:15, the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth, Psalm 50:2), and of the land, which is often celebrated (ch. Ezekiel 20:6; Ezekiel 20:15 the glory of all lands, cf. Daniel 8:9; Daniel 11:16; Daniel 11:41; Zechariah 7:14); and partly also the glory of a higher kind conferred on her by Jehovah and his presence, in the sense of Deuteronomy 4:6-8. my comeliness] Or, my adornment; that given by me (Ezekiel 16:10-13); hardly in the sense of Isaiah 60:1, that Jerusalem’s beauty was only a reflection of the glory of Jehovah, who was in the midst of her. These verses allegorically set forth the second period of Israel’s history: her redemption by Jehovah from Egypt, his covenant with her to be her God, his leading her into the promised land, and making her the paramount power there, and loading her with all the riches of that good land. Other prophets with more simplicity have celebrated this early time, “I remember of thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown” (Jeremiah 2:2); “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe on the fig tree at her first season” (Hosea 9:10; cf. Deuteronomy 32:10).”
16.) Act 3:16, “And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes
through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
Verse 16. – By faith in his Name hath this for his Name through faith in his Name, A.V.: the order of the words is changed from that of the A.V., to bring it into accordance with the order of the Greek, but with a great loss of force in English; behold for see, A.V.; through for by, A.V. Yea, the faith; rather, and the faith. The two propositions are not the same. The first affirms that it is the Name of Jesus which has given him strength, objectively; the second that the faith (subjective) which is through or by him hath given him perfect soundness. There is some obscurity in the exact meaning of ἡ πίστις ἡ δι αὐτοῦ. Some (see Alford, 1:1) compare 1 Peter 1:21, and make God the object of the faith of his witnesses, Peter and John. Others (Meyer) understand that the faith in the Name of Christ was wrought in Peter and John by or through Christ’s ministry and resurrection. But it is much more consonant with other passages (Acts 14:9; Acts 16:31, etc.; Matthew 15:28, etc.) to understand the faith to be that of the man who was healed; and then the phrase, “which is through him,” will denote naturally that it was through Jesus Christ that the man’s faith brought him into contact, so to speak, with God who healed him. In the same spirit we read that the lame man “praised God” (vers. 8, 9) for the cure effected through the Name of Jesus Christ; and Peter says (ver. 15), “Whom God raised from the dead.” The interpretation of the phrase ἡ δι αὐτοῦ depends upon whether we supply an active or a passive word. The faith which acts, or works, or moves through him is one way of understanding it; the faith which is wrought or produced through him is the other. The first is preferable. This perfect soundness; pointing to what they saw with their own eyes while the man was leaping and dancing before them (ὁλοκληρία, perfect soundness, used only here in the New Testament; it is a medical term). Acts 3:16.”
17.) Rom 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The will of God is good and acceptable and perfect.
be not conformed] Same word as 1 Peter 1:14; (E. V. “not fashioning yourselves”) The Gr. noun (schema) on which the verb rendered “conform” is based indicates a form external rather than internal, transient or unreal rather than solid and lasting:—a “figure.” It occurs 1 Corinthians 7:31, (E. V. “the fashion of this world,”) and Php 2:8, (E. V. “in fashion as a man.”) In the last passage the reference is to the Lord’s Manhood not as unreal but as, in a certain sense, external, i.e. as distinguished from the real but invisible Deity which lay, as it were, within the veil or robe of the real and visible Humanity.—Here the verb indicates that a true Christian’s “conformity to this world” could only be (1) conformity to a transient thing, a thing doomed to destruction, and (2) illusory in itself, because alien from the man’s true principles and position.—A similar reference is plainly traceable in 1 Peter 1:14. this world] Lit. this age. Same word as Matthew 12:32; Luke 16:8; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:21; 1 Timothy 6:17; 2 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:12. The antithesis is “the world to come,” “the coming age,” “that age:” e.g. Matthew 12:32; Luke 20:35; Ephesians 1:21. The passages quoted (and many might be added) shew that the meaning is rightly conveyed in E. V. “This age” is the present order of things, the period of sin and death, and (by a natural transference) the contents of that period, the principles and practices of evil. The antithesis is the Eternal Future, the resurrection-life, (Luke 20:35-36,) in which sin and death shall have no place for ever. Thus the exhortation here is, to live as those whose lives are governed by the principles and hopes of a holy eternity in prospect. be transformed] Same word as Matthew 17:2, (“was transfigured;”) 2 Corinthians 3:18, (“are changed”) The root-noun (morphè) is different from the root-noun of “conformed” just above, and forms an antithesis to it. In such antithetical connexions it indicates an essential, permanent, and real form. It is used e.g. Php 2:6; Php 2:8; in which verses the essential reality of the Lord’s Deity and Servitude respectively are emphasized. Here the point of the word is manifest: the Christian, by the Divine “renewal,” is to realize an essential and permanent change; to prove himself, as it were, one of a new species; a “new man,” not the “old man” in a new dress. For masterly discussions of the differences between Schema and Morphè see Abp Trench’s New Testament Synonyms, under the word μορφὴ, and Bp Lightfoot’s Philippians, detached Note to ch. 2. Abp Trench vividly illustrates the difference thus: “If I were to change a Dutch garden into an Italian, this would be [a change of schema;] but if I were to transform a garden into something wholly different, say a garden into a city, this would be [a change of morphè.][44]” [44] We translate the Greek nouns, used by the Abp in this sentence. He paraphrases the present passage: “Do not fall in with the fleeting fashions of this world, out undergo a deep abiding change, by the renewing of your mind, such as the Spirit of God alone can work in you (2 Corinthians 3:18).” Observe that the Gr. word translated “conformed” in Romans 8:29 is based not on schema but on morphè.—This passage is illustrated by that. The predestinating will of God is carried out, as we here see, through the real efforts of the renewed wills of the saints, to which the appeal is here made. See Php 2:12-13; (where render “for His good pleasure’s sake.”) by the renewing of your mind] As the quasi-instrument of the transformation. The regenerating power of the Holy Spirit had rectified their intelligence, which they were now to use in “purifying themselves as the Lord was pure.” As the Divine change had enabled them to use their intelligence aright, the change is spoken of as if itself the instrument to be used.—The word rendered “renewing” occurs Titus 3:5; and the cognate verb 2 Corinthians 4:16; Colossians 3:10. It may denote, according to context, either the initial “renewing,” when man definitely becomes “the child of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” and “the Spirit of Christ” takes up His dwelling in the soul; or the progressive “renewing” consequent on this, as thought, will, and affections “grow in grace,” and the man is (according to the appeal here) progressively “transformed.” Such is probably the reference in 2 Corinthians 4:16; Colossians 3:10. Here the other reference is more probable, as we have indicated above: the “renewing” here is already a fact, and is used in the process of “transformation.” your mind] Here probably, in a strict sense, your intelligence, renewed or rectified by Divine grace, so as (in the following words) “to prove what is the will of God.”—Observe that the “mind,” as well as other parts of the being, is assumed to have needed “renewing.” Cp. Ephesians 4:18. that ye may prove] may assay, or test. Same word as Romans 1:28, (E. V., “like,”) Romans 2:18, Romans 14:22 (“allow;”), 1 Corinthians 3:13 (“try;”), 2 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 5:10 (a close parallel;), Php 1:10 (where render, “test things which differ;), &c.” Where the context allows, the word often includes (and sometimes wholly adopts) the idea of preference, of approval; e.g. 1 Corinthians 16:3. Here the meaning is that the Christian’s intelligence has been so “renewed” by grace that he now, by a holy instinct, can discern, in conflicting cases, the will of God from the will of self or of the world. And on this perception he is to act. acceptable] Same word as in Romans 12:1. His will is “acceptable” to the saints, because the will of their Father. It is also “acceptable “to Himself, both in itself, and because as done by His children it results in acts pleasing to Him. perfect] In wisdom and love, whatever perplexities becloud it.”
Besides the will of God, you cannot find anything in this world which is good and acceptable and perfect.
18.) 1Co 13:10, “but when the Perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.”
The greatest event to take place in the Universe is when the Perfect comes.
But when that which is perfect is come,…. When perfect knowledge of God, of Christ, and of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven shall take place; which will not in this life, but in that which is to come. So the Jews say (r) that at the resurrection, upon the reunion of the soul and body,
“the children of men shall attain to , “perfect knowledge”;”
which is what the apostle refers to here:
and then that which is in part, shall be done away: the imperfection of knowledge shall be removed; the imperfect manner of communicating knowledge, and of receiving and acquiring it, will cease: thus the apostle explains what he means by the cessation and failing of knowledge, and prophecy; not that knowledge itself will be no more, and a state of ignorance and darkness succeed; but imperfect knowledge will vanish away, or rather will be perfected, or be swallowed up in perfect knowledge; the imperfection of it will disappear; and it will be no more taught and received in part; the whole of truth will be clearly known.
(r) Midrash Haneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 69. 1.”
19.) Phl 3:12, “Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus.”
Verse 12. – Not as though I had already. attained, either were already perfect; the R.V. renders this clause more accurately, not that (1. do not say that) I have already obtained. The verb is not the same with that translated “attain” in ver. 11; it means to get, to win a prize, as in 1 Corinthians 9:24. The tense is aorist: “I say not that I did at once win the prize;” that is, at the time of his conversion. Compare the tenses used in ver. 8, “I suffered the loss of all things;” and ver. 12, “I was apprehended;” which both refer to the same time. The prize was gained in a moment; it needs the continued effort of a lifetime. St. Paul proceeds, using now the perfect tense, “Nor have I been already made perfect.” He has not even now reached perfection; he is still working out his own salvation. There may be here a delicate allusion to the spiritual pride which seems to have disturbed the unity of the Philippians (see Philippians 2:2-4). But I follow after; rather, Ipursue, I press on. If that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. The words rendered “for which” (ἐφ ῷ) will admit three different interpretations: (1) that of A.V., which implies the ellipse of the antecedent “that;” (2) that given in the margin of R.V., “seeing that;” and (3) that of the R.V., “for which,” for which purpose (that is, that I may press on and persevere) I was also apprehended by Christ Jesus. All these translations are possible, and all give a good sense. Perhaps (2) best suits the context, “I press on to lay hold o[the prize, because Christ first laid hold of me.” The grace of the Lord Jesus furnishes the highest motive; it is the Christian’s bounden duty to press on always in the Christian race, because Christ first called him. Philippians 3:12.”
DO YOU PRESS ON?
20.) 1Ti 1:16, “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ
might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
’ Alla, the word we translate howbeit, is as well to be translated but, and ordinarily is so. For this cause, that is, for this end, God showed me mercy. That in me first; that in me, the first, (so it is in the Greek, for it is an adjective), that is, as he said before, the chiefest or greatest sinner: Christ might show forth all long-suffering, bearing with me while I was in my rage against his gospel and saints, and then changing my heart to embrace him and to love him. Or, that in me first, may respect the design of our Saviour in sending Paul to convert the Gentiles: for such a conspicuous example of his clemency and grace towards so great a sinner, whom he not only pardoned but preferred to the dignity of an apostle, would be a strong persuasive to them to receive the gospel with faith and obedience. For it follows, for a pattern, of God’s patience and free grace to other sinners, from whence they might learn, that if they also shall receive and believe in him, their past sins need not be to them any reason to despair in his mercy. To life everlasting: there being a certain connection between true believing in Christ and eternal life.”
21.) Heb 2:10, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,to perfect the
originator of their salvation through sufferings.”
For it became him] Unlike St Paul the writer never enters into what may be called “the philosophy of the plan of salvation.” He never attempts to throw any light upon the mysterious subject of the antecedent necessity for the death of Christ. Perhaps he considered that all which could be profitably said on that high mystery had already been said by St Paul (Romans 3:25; Galatians 3:13; 2 Corinthians 5:21). He dwells upon Christ’s death almost exclusively in its relation to us. The expression which he here uses “it was morally fitting for Him” is almost the only one which he devotes to what may be called the transcendent side of Christ’s sacrifice—the death of Christ as regards its relation to God. He develops no theory of vicarious satisfaction, &c., though he uses the metaphoric words “redemption” and “make reconciliation for” (Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 2:17). The “moral fitness” here touched upon is the necessity for absolutely sympathetic unity between the High Priest and those for whom he offered His perfect sacrifice. Compare Luke 24:46, “thus it behoved Christ to suffer.” Philo also uses the phrase “it became Him.” It is a very remarkable expression, for though it also occurs in the LXX. (Jeremiah 10:7), yet in this passage alone does it contemplate the actions of God under the aspect of inherent moral fitness. for whom] i.e. “for whose sake,” “on whose account.” The reference here is to God, not to Christ. by whom] i.e. by whose creative agency. Compare Romans 11:36, “of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.” The same words may also be applied to Christ, but the context here shews that they refer to God the Father. in bringing] Lit., “having brought.” The use of the aorist participle is difficult, but the “glory” seems to imply the potential triumph of man in the one finished act of Christ which was due to “the grace of God.” The “Him” and the “having brought” refer to God and not to Christ. God led many sons to glory through the Captain of their Salvation, whom—in that process of Redemptive Work which is shared by each “Person” of the Blessed Trinity—He perfected through suffering. On the Cross the future glory of the many sons was won and was potentially consummated. many] “A great multitude which no man could number” (Revelation 7:9-14). sons] This word seems to shew that the “having brought” refers to God, not to Christ, for we are called Christ’s “brethren,” but never His sons. the captain] The word also occurs in Acts 5:31. In Acts 3:15 it means “author,” or “originator,” as in Hebrews 12:2. The word primarily signifies one who goes at the head of a company as their leader (antesignanus) and guide (see Isaiah 55:4), and then comes to mean “originator.” Comp. Hebrews 5:9. to make … perfect] Not in the sense of making morally, or otherwise, perfect, but in the sense of leading to a predestined goal or consummation. See the similar uses of this word in Hebrews 5:9, Hebrews 7:28, Hebrews 9:9, Hebrews 10:14, Hebrews 11:40, Hebrews 12:23. The LXX. uses the word to represent the consecration of the High Priest (Leviticus 21:10). In this Epistle the verb occurs nine times, in all St Paul’s Epistles probably not once. (In 2 Corinthians 12:9 the reading of A, B, D, F, G, L is τελεῖται. In Php 3:12 the reading of D, E, F, G is δεδικαίωμαι). through sufferings] See note on Hebrews 2:9, and comp. Revelation 5:9; 1 Peter 5:10. Jewish Christians were slow to realise the necessity for a crucified Messiah, and when they did so they tried to distinguish between Messiah son of David and a supposed Messiah son of Joseph. There are however some traces of such a belief. See an Appendix to Vol. 11. of the last Edition of Dean Perowne on the Psalms.”
Saints, when you are suffering, think how the Captain of our salvation suffered for us, the Sinless for the sinful, the Just for the unjust.
22.) Heb 7:28, “For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever.”
Which have infirmity – Who are weak, frail, sinful, dying. Such were all who were appointed to the office of priest under the Jewish Law.
But the word of the oath – By which one was appointed after the order of Melchizedek; note, Hebrews 7:21.
Maketh the Son – The Son of God. That appointment has resulted in his being set apart to this work.
Who is consecrated forevermore – Margin, “Perfected;” see the note at Hebrews 2:10. The idea is, that the appointment is “complete” and “permanent.” It does not pass from one to the other. It is perfect in all the arrangements, and will remain so forever.
Remarks
The subject of this chapter is the exalted high priesthood of the Redeemer. This is a subject which pertains to all Christians, and to all men. All religions imply the priestly office; all suppose sacrifice of some kind. In regard to the priestly office of Christ as illustrated in this chapter, we may observe:
He stands alone. In that office he had no predecessor, and has no one to succeed him. In this respect he was without father, mother, or descent – and he stands in lonely majesty as the only one who sustains the office; Hebrews 7:3.
he is superior to Abraham. Abraham never laid claim to the ofrice of priest, but he recognized his inferiority to one whom the Messiah was to resemble; Hebrews 7:2, Hebrews 7:4.
he is superior to all the Jewish priesthood – sustaining a rank and performing an office above them all. The great ancestor of all the Levitical priests recognized his inferiority to one of the rank or “order” of which the Messiah was to be, and received from him a blessing. In our contemplation of Christ, therefore, as priest, we have the privilege of regarding him as superior to the Jewish high priest – exalted as was his office, and important as were the functions of his office; as more grand, more pure, more worthy of confidence and love.
the great High Priest of the Christian profession is the only perfect priest; Hebrews 7:11, Hebrews 7:19. The Jewish priests were all imperfect and sinful men. The sacrifices which they offered were imperfect, and could not give peace to the conscience. There was need of some better system, and they all looked forward to it. But in the Lord Jesus, and in his work, there is absolute perfection. What he did was complete, and his office needs no change.
the office now is permanent. It does not change from hand to hand; Hebrews 7:23-24. He who sustains this office does not die, and we may ever apply to him and cast our cares on him. Men die; one generation succeeds another; but our High Priest is the same. We may trust in him in whom our fathers found peace and salvation, and then we may teach our children to confide in the same High Priest – and so send the invaluable lesson down to latest generations.
his work is firm and sure; Hebrews 7:20-22. His office is founded on an oath, and he has become the security for all who will commit their cause to him. Can great interests like those of the soul be entrusted to better hands? Are they not safer in his keeping than in our own?
he is able to save to the uttermost; Hebrews 7:25. That power he showed when he was on earth; that power he is constantly evincing. No one has asked aid of him and found him unable to render it; no one has been suffered to sink down to hell because his arm was weak. What he has done for a few he can do for “all;” and they who will entrust themselves to him will find him a sure Saviour. So why will people not be persuaded to commit themselves to him? Can they save themselves? Where is there one who has shown that he was able to do it? Do they not need a Saviour? Let the history of the world answer. Can man conduct his own cause before God? How weak, ignorant, and blind is he; how little qualified for such an office! Has anyone suffered wrong by committing himself to the Redeemer? If there is such an one, where is he? Who has ever made this complaint that has tried it? Who ever will make it? In countless millions of instances, the trial has been made whether Christ was “able to save.” Men have gone with a troubled spirit; with a guilty conscience; and with awful apprehensions of the wrath to come, and have asked him to save them. Not one of those who have done this has found reason to doubt his ability; not one has regretted that he has committed the deathless interest of the soul into his hands.”
23.) Heb 9:9, “which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience.”
Which was a figure for the time then present – That is, as long as the tabernacle stood. The word rendered “figure” – παραβολὴ parabolē – is not the same as type – τύπος tupos – (Romans 5:14; Acts 7:13, Acts 7:44; John 20:25; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11; Philippians 3:17, et al.) – but is the word commonly rendered “parable;” Matthew 13:3, Matthew 13:10, Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:18, Matthew 13:24, Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:33-36, Matthew 13:53; Matthew 15:15, “et soepe,” and means properly “a placing side by side;” then a “comparison, or similitude.” Here it is used in the sense of “image, or symbol” – something to “represent” other things. The idea is, that the arrangements and services of the tabernacle were a representation of important realities, and of things which were more fully to be revealed at a future period. There can be no doubt that Paul meant to say that this service in general was symbolical or typical, though this will not authorize us to attempt to spiritualize every minute arrangement of it. Some of the things in which it was typical are specified by the apostle himself, and wisdom and safety in explaining the arrangements of the tabernacle and its services consist in adhering very closely to the explanations furnished by the inspired writers. An interpreter is on an open sea, to be driven he knows not whither, when he takes leave of these safe pilots.
Both gifts – Thank-offerings.
And sacrifices – Bloody offerings. The idea is, that all kinds of offerings to God were made there.
As pertaining to the conscience – They related mainly to outward and ceremonial rites, and even when offerings were made for sin the conscience was not relieved. They could not expiate guilt; they could not make the soul pure; they could not of themselves impart peace to the soul by reconciling it to God. They could not fully accomplish what the conscience needed to have done in order to give it peace. Nothing will do this but the blood of the Redeemer.”
24.) Heb 9:11, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation.”
Hebrews 9:11-12. But Christ being come — As if he had said, Though the types and legal ceremonies could not make the worshippers perfect, yet Christ, the antitype and truth, can. Here he comes to interpret and show the end of the typical services he had spoke of; a high-priest of good things to come — Described Hebrews 9:15; that is, a dispenser of those benefits and advantages which were prefigured by the Mosaic institutions, but could only be obtained for us, and bestowed upon us, by the Messiah. By a greater and more perfect tabernacle — That is, not by the service of the Jewish tabernacle, (Hebrews 9:23,) but by a service performed in a greater and more perfect tabernacle above; not made with hands, that is, not of this building — Namely, the building of this worldly sanctuary, or not making any part of this lower creation. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, &c., did he procure a right to enter and minister in that tabernacle, but by his own blood — By the merit of his death; he entered in once into the holy place above — That is, once for all: not once, or one day every year, as the Jewish high-priest into the holy place of the emblematical tabernacle: having obtained — By his one perfect sacrifice; eternal redemption and salvation for us — Of which all the remissions, and all the benefits procured by the ministration of the Aaronical priesthood, were but very imperfect figures. Beza, Pierce, and many others, by the greater and more perfect tabernacle, understand our Lord’s human nature. In support of which notion Beza says, that his human nature may as properly be called a tabernacle as his flesh is called a veil, Hebrews 10:24. “But, not to dispute about the propriety of the figure, it appears an absurdity to say that Christ entered into the holy place through his own human nature, as through a tabernacle. He entered into heaven clothed with his human nature, and not through it, as through a place: for, on that supposition, he did not carry his human nature with him into heaven.” — Macknight.”
Do you notice nothing made by hands is perfect?
25.) Heb 12:23, “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in Heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.”
(23) And to God the Judge of all.—The order of the Greek seems to require the rendering, and to a Judge (who is) God of all. Up to this point our thought has rested on the heavenly world and those who from the time of their creation have been its inhabitants. Men who have passed through this earthly life have no essential right to citizenship in the “heavenly Jerusalem.” They come before a Judge (comp. Hebrews 9:27). “The Lord shall judge His people” (Hebrews 10:30), severing between His servants and His foes (Malachi 3:18; Malachi 4:1), condemning the wicked, and receiving the righteous to His own dwelling-place. This Judge is “God of all”—of angels and of righteous souls (Wisdom Of Solomon 3:1), and of Christian men who “draw nigh” to the celestial city. How characteristic of the writer and his theme is the introduction of these solemn words into the midst of this description of Christian privilege and blessing.
And to the spirits of just men made perfect.—The last verses of Hebrews 11 are at once called before the mind by these words. The “righteous” men have “by faith” run their course (Hebrews 10:38; Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 11:7; Philippians 3:12); they have obtained the promises (Hebrews 6:15; Hebrews 11:1). The analogy of Scripture forbids us to consider their present state as the full consummation; for that, these “spirits” and we who are yet “in the body” await the day of the resurrection. These words, however, do not refer to the period of the Old Covenant only; indeed they do not in strictness belong to that period at all. The spirits of the righteous servants of Christ join the same fellowship; and only when Christ was manifested does the state to which the name “perfection” is thus given seem to have begun. What was received by those “spirits of the righteous” when they saw the day of Christ, we cannot tell; but. the teaching of Scripture seems to be that they were raised to some higher state of blessedness. These are the new inhabitants of the world above; they have come into the presence of God by means of the blood of sprinkling, through Jesus.”
But let patience have her perfect work] Better, and let endurance have a perfect work, there being sequence of thought but not contrast. The word for “perfect” expresses the perfection of that which reaches its end, and so implies, possibly, a reference to our Lord’s words in Matthew 10:22. The form of the counsel implies that the work might be hindered unless the will of those who were called to suffer co-operated with the Divine purpose. The sufferings must be borne joyfully as well as submissively. that ye may be perfect and entire] The latter word implies completeness in all parts or regions of the spiritual life, as the former does the attainment of the end, the completeness of growth. The corresponding substantive is used for the “perfect soundness” of the restored cripple in Acts 3:16; the adjective, in a like spiritual application, in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. wanting nothing] The English is unfortunately ambiguous. Better, failing or lacking in nothing.”
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.—This beautiful sentence, more musical still in the Greek, is thought to be the fragment of some Christian hymn. Two words are translated by our one “gift”; the first is rather the act of giving, the second the gift itself, and the effect of both together is a climax to the statement of God’s benevolence. The difference between the two is observed in the Genevan version of 1557. “There are diversities of gifts” (1Corinthians 12:4), even as “one star differeth from another star in glory” (1Corinthians 15:41), but “the same Spirit” is the giver of all. Where in St. John’s Gospel (John 3:1) we read, “Except a man be born again,” the most probable meaning is “from above,” expressed exactly as in the present case; and thus we know whence is the true birth of the soul.
Cometh down from the Father of lights.—Great difference of opinion is found concerning these “lights,” whether the term be figurative, as of goodness or wisdom; or a reference to the mysterious Urim (Exodus 28:30, et seq.) which flamed on the breast of Aaron; or spiritual, as of grace and glory; or material, viz., the “lights” set “in the firmament of heaven” (Genesis 1:14-15) “when the morning stars sang together” (Job 38:7). It were not amiss to take the whole of these interpretations, for they, and perhaps others, the purport of which we as yet can barely guess, are included in this Scripture. “God,” remarks Bishop Wordsworth, “is the Father of all lights—the light of the natural world, the sun, the moon, and stars, shining in the heavens; the light of reason and conscience; the light of His Law; the light of prophecy, shining in a dark place; the light of the gospel shining throughout the world; the light of apostles, confessors, martyrs, bishops, and priests, preaching that gospel to all nations; the light of the Holy Ghost shining in our hearts; the light of the heavenly city; God is the Father of them all. He is the everlasting Father of the everlasting Son, who is the Light of the world.” But that the mind of the sacred writer was mainly on the lights of the material universe may be seen from his next thought.
With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.—The phraseology is almost scientific. There are changes, literally “parallaxes,” of the heavenly bodies themselves, and eclipses one of another by shadows projected through space, but no such variableness with God, nor changing of faintest shade. And even further, the greatest and most marvellous of His works on high “must be dissolved” (2Peter 3:11), “the sun darkened, the moon not give her light, the stars fall from heaven” (Matthew 24:29), and the heavens themselves “be rolled together as a scroll” (Isaiah 34:4). But if “the things which are seen are temporal, the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Corinthians 4:18). “I am the Lord,” is the burden of His latest prophet; “I change not” (Malachi 3:6).”
Every good and perfect gift is from above, nothing from below.
28.) 1Ti 1:16, “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus
Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”
Howbeit for this cause Iobtained mercy.—In spite of this deep consciousness of his guilt, faith and confidence in his own salvation seem never to have wavered. He speaks of this with all certainty, and proceeds to tell us with great clearness why Christ saved him, the chief of sinners.
That in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering.—If Christ could show mercy to him, surely in after times the greatest of sinners need never doubt the Redeemer’s power and will to save. St. Paul’s conversion foretold many a patient waiting on the part of the Lord, much long-suffering, which would never hurry to punish His enemies, but which would tarry long, in the hope of the sinner repenting while it was yet time.
For a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him.—Men were to learn that such conversions as his were to be looked forward to as no uncommon occurrences—conversion of blasphemers, of persecutors, whom the Lord would tarry long for, till they, too, coming to the knowledge of the truth, should acknowledge Him. Thus to all sinners was St. Paul a pattern—an example of the Lord’s long-suffering, of His patient waiting. His gracious Master had dealt with him like a king, who, when judging the case of a rebel city, pardons the chief rebel. If God would redeem Saul the persecutor, none need despair of finding mercy.
To life everlasting.—And the goal—which lay before these poor redeemed sinners, who, like St. Paul, in faith and loving trust in Jesus had found peace and acceptance—was eternal life.”
Verse 18. – Love implies attraction, fear repulsion; therefore fear exists not in love. Love here means the principle of love in general; it must not be limited to God’s love to us, or our love to God, or our love of the brethren. Love and fear coexist only where love is not yet perfect. Perfect love will absolutely exclude fear as surely as perfect union excludes all separation. It is self-interested love that fears; pure and unselfish love has no fear. Yet nothing but perfect love must be allowed to cast out fear. Otherwise this text might be made an excuse for taking the most unwarrantable liberties with Almighty God. To cease to fear without attaining to perfect love is to be irreverent and presumptuous. Hence the apostle is once more pointing out an ideal to which Christians must aspire, but to which no one attains in this life. There is a fear, as Bede points out, which prepares the way for love, and which comes only to depart again when its work is done. Because fear hath punishment. Κόλασις must not be rendered indefinitely “suffering” or “torment” (Matthew 25:46; Ezekiel 43:11; Wisd. 11:14; 2 Macc. 4:38). But κόλασιν ἔχει does not mean “deserves” or “will receive punishment,” but quite literally “has it.” It is the day of judgment and fear in reference to that day that is under consideration; and fear of punishment is in itself punishment by anticipation. Note the ἀλλά and the δέ, introducing a contrary and then a contrast back again: “There is no fear in love; nay, perfect love casteth out fear: but he that habitually feareth [present participle] is not made perfect in love.” The dread of punishment may deter men from sin; but it cannot lead them to righteousness. For that we need either the sense of duty or the feeling of love. 1 John 4:18.”
You have learned that God is perfect for God is love. Every good and perfect gift is from above. You must not neglect so perfect a salvation. Repent of your sins and believe in the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. You can do it now.
WILLLIE WONG THOUGHT
WILLIE WONG
https://williewong.cw.center
JANUARY 27, 2026
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free. We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
1Ti 5:21, “I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”
Prejudice in Greek is prokrima which means bias; a prejudgment; prefer one before another; an opinionformed before the facts are known; an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race; — which occurs 1 time in the New Testament.
) Christian do not show prejudice.
Jas 2:1, “My brothers and sisters, do not showprejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ch. James 2:1-13. Respect of Persons 1. have not the faith …] Better, do not hold. The Greek for “respect of persons” (better, perhaps, acceptance of persons) is in the plural, as including all the varied forms in which the evil tendency might shew itself, and stands emphatically immediately after the negative. The name of “our Lord Jesus Christ” is used obviously with a special force. He had shewn Himself, through His whole life on earth, to be no “respecter of persons” (Matthew 22:16), to have preferred the poor to the rich. There was a shameful inconsistency when those who professed to hold the faith which had Him as its object acted otherwise. To the name of the Lord Jesus is added the description “the Lord of Glory.” The first two words are not repeated in the Greek, but the structure of the English sentence requires their insertion. The motive of the addition is clear. In believing in Him who was emphatically a sharer in the Eternal Glory (John 17:5), who had now returned to that Glory, men ought to feel the infinite littleness of all the accidents of wealth or rank that separate man from man. This seems the most natural construction, but the position of the words “of glory” is anomalous, and some have joined it with “faith” either as a genitive of the object “faith in the future glory,” or as a characterising attribute = “the glorious faith.”
2.) Prejudice is sin.
Jas 2:9, “But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.”
Many do not know that showing prejudice is committing sin.
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin – You transgress the plain law of God, and do wrong. See the references on James 2:1.
And are convinced of the law as transgressors – Greek “By the law.” The word convinced is now used in a somewhat different sense from what it was formerly. It now commonly refers to the impression made on a man’s mind by showing him the truth of a thing which before was doubted, or in respect to which the evidence was not clear. A man who doubted the truth of a report or a proposition may be convinced or satisfied of its truth; a man who has done wrong, though he supposed he was doing what was proper, may be convinced of his error. So a man may be convinced that he is a sinner, though before he had no belief of it, and no concern about it; and this may produce in his mind the feeling which is technically known as conviction, producing deep distress and anguish. See the notes at John 16:8. Here, however, the word does not refer so much to the effect produced on the mind itself, as to the fact that the law would hold such an one to be guilty; that is, the law pronounces what is done to be wrong. Whether they would be personally convinced of it, and troubled about it as convicted sinners, would be a different question, and one to which the apostle does not refer; for his object is not to show that they would be troubled about it, but to show that the law of God condemned this course, and would hold them to be guilty. The argument here is not from the personal distress which this course would produce in their own minds, but from the fact that the law of God condemned it.”
3.) Prejudice can be ethnocentric.
Take Traditional Chinese Medicine for example. Not all Chinese Medicine are good and right. No one is God who is always true and has all the truths. Science is seeking truth based on facts. The task and job of Science and Modern Medicine is to sort out what is true and good in Chinese Medine, and what are sheer superstitions. The mysteries of accupuncture must be solved once and for all. Right now an expert accupuncturalist with traditional secret can do an accupucature without pain and produce good results. While other accupuncturalists do the same thing with pain and no good results. Accupucture should become a medical procedure, any trained personnel should produce the same result.
Chinese herbal medicine must go through rigorous modern pharmaceutical methods by turning boiling herb medications into pills, tablets, syrrup, capsules, ointments, inhalants, injections, powders, liquid forms, sprays, etc.
According to https://slife.org/traditional-chinese-medicine/
“Acupuncture is often accompanied by moxibustion – the Chinese characters for acupuncture (simplified 针灸; traditional 針灸; pinyin: zhēnjiǔ) literally meaning “acupuncture-moxibustion” – which involves burning mugwort on or near the skin at an acupuncture point. According to the American Cancer Society, “available scientific evidence does not support claims that moxibustion is effective in preventing or treating cancer or any other disease”.
At the moment, apparently it is still very far from solving the mysteries of accupuncture. Why an expert with traditional secret can do accupuncture without pain and with good results? And why other accupuncturalists do accupunctue with pain and produce no positive results? The days should come when accupuncture is a medical procedure which any trained accupucturalist should produce the same result.
Basically there are two kinds of prejudice, personal and racial.
) Personal prejudice
If you go to American South, you will find prejudice is so deep and vast. It is a misnomer to call the South the Bible Belt, it should be called the Racial Belt. It is a shame to Christianity to call the South the Bible Belt. You will discover the American people of the South do not really believe and practice what the Bible teaches. Racial prejudice is so deep and vast in the American South, most like every white is born with the attitude that he/she is born superior, and naturally looks down all other races. If you compare Americans of the West and Americans of the South, prejudice stands up high in the sky of the South. Actually the South is backward, it cannot match with the achievements of the rest of America. The cultural shock is unbearable. I was once to the South on a businees trip. Attending a Mangement Club which supposed to have the best facility. It was a realy shock to enter a toilet facility: You saw a man who was having bowel movement sitting in the middle, while all men who urinated standing against the wall. Privacy did not exist. I thank God that I never live in the South.
Here is an exmaple of personal prejustice, or apparent racism in the Bible.
Jhn 4:7-26, “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”For His disciples
had gone away to the city to buy food. So the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You,
though you are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews
John 4:9. Then saith the woman, How is it that thou, being a Jew — As it appears by thy habit and dialect thou art; askest drink of me, &c., for the Jews have no dealings — Or rather, no friendly intercourse; with the Samaritans — They would receive no kind of favour from them. That the expression, no dealings, as Dr. Campbell justly observes, “implies too much to suit the sense of this passage, is manifest from the preceding verse, where we are told, that the disciples were gone into the Samaritan city Sychar to buy food. The verb συγχραομαι, is one of those called απαξ λεγομενα, once used: it does not occur in any other place of the New Testament, or in the Septuagint. The Pharisees were in their traditions nice distinguishers. Buying and selling with the Samaritans were permitted, because that was considered as an intercourse merely of interest or convenience; borrowing and lending, much more asking or accepting any favour, was prohibited; because that was regarded as an intercourse of friendship, which they thought it impious to maintain with those whom they looked upon as the enemies of God.”
Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water?
“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?”
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but
whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.”
Verse 15. – The woman has not yet emerged out of the region of her physical desires and her daily requirements, and needs a deeper apprehension of her real necessities. By reason of the subsequent narrative she ought not to be credited now with impertinence or irony (Lightfoot, Tholuck). She could not understand the miraculous water of which the Stranger spake, but had some dim notion that he might be able to deliver her from her toilsome and exhausting life. She replies to him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. The Lord had spoken of eternal life, and she is content to have temporal satisfaction to the extent of thirsting no more. Some commentators, with Lange and Hengstenberg, suppose that the journey to Jacob’s well was in her mind a quasi-religious act, the insufficiency of which to meet her case is at length becoming apparent. This view seems to us inconsistent with the sudden change of metaphor and alteration of his method of approach to this woman’s consciousness and need. He resolved rather to search her heart and reveal her to herself – to bring forth from its hiding place the torpid conscience, and reveal to her the grievous need in which she stood of that Divine cleansing, healing, nutrition, refreshment, which he had been sent into the world to supply. This reflection renders the reply of Jesus less obscure than its abrupt transition seems to imply. John 4:15.”
He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have
had five husbands, and the one whom you now
have is not your husband; this which you have said is true.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
The woman saith unto him, Sir,…. With another countenance, and a different air and gesture, with another accent and tone of speech, dropping her scoffs and jeers:
I perceive that thou art a prophet; such an one as Samuel was, who could tell Saul what was in his heart, and that his father’s asses were found, and where they were, 1 Samuel 9:19; and as Elisha, whose heart went with his servant Gehazi, when Naaman turned to him to meet him, and give him presents; and who could tell, ere the king’s messenger came to him, that the son of a murderer had sent to take away his head, 2 Kings 5:26. And such a prophet, that had such a spirit of discerning, this woman took Christ to be; and who indeed is greater than a prophet, and is the omniscient God; who knows all men’s hearts, thoughts, words and actions, and needs not that any should testify of them to him; for he knows what is in them, and done by them; and can tell them all that ever they did, as he did this woman, John 4:29. Now in order either to shift off the discourse from this subject, which touched her to the quick; or else being truly sensible of her sin, and willing to reform, and for the future to worship God in the place and manner he had directed, she addressed Christ in the following words.”
“But the time is coming, and even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
23. the hour cometh] As before, there comethanhour. What follows, and it is now here, could not be added in John 4:21. The local worship on Gerizim and Zion must still continue for a while; but there are already a few who are rising above these externals to the spirit of true worship, in which the opposition between Jew and Samaritan disappears. the true worshippers] The same word for ‘true’ as in John 1:9 (see note there); ‘true’ as opposed to what is ‘spurious’ and ‘unreal.’ Worship to be genuine, real, and perfect must be offered in spirit and truth. in spirit] This is opposed to all that is carnal, material, and of the earth earthy;—‘this mountain,’ the Temple, limitations of time and place. Not that such limitations are wrong; but they are not of the essence of religion, and become wrong when they are mistaken for the essence of religion. in truth] (Omit ‘in’) i.e. in harmony with the Nature and Will of God. In the sphere of intellect, this means recognition of His Presence and Omniscience; in the sphere of action, conformity with His absolute Holiness. ‘Worship in spirit and truth,’ therefore, implies prostration of the inmost soul before the Divine Perfection, submission of every thought and feeling to the Divine Will. for the Father seeketh, &c.] Better, for such the Father also seeketh for His worshippers. ‘Such’ is very emphatic; ‘this is the character which He also desires in His worshippers.’ The ‘also’ must not be lost. That worship should be ‘in spirit and truth’ is required by the fitness of things: moreover God Himself desires to have it so, and works for this end. Note how three times in succession Christ speaks of God as the Father (John 4:21; John 4:23): perhaps it was quite a new aspect of Him to the woman.”
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One
Verse 26. – Jesus saith unto her, I that am talking with thee am he. Jesus does utter to the Samaritan woman the truth about himself which he withholds from the sensuous Galilaeans and the carping scribes. Throughout she is susceptible, inquiring, anxious for her own sake to know. The idea she entertained about Messiah would put no obstacle in the way of our Lord’s admission, whereas the opposite idea, the passionate longing for a political revolution, led him to silence others, and even among his disciples to reserve the sublime fact as their sacred secret (cf. Matthew 8:4; Matthew 16:20; Matthew 17:9; Mark 8:30). The truth communicated to this woman was of supreme importance and of universal interest. Our Lord admitted his Messiahship, but of the deeper truths of his incarnation, of the nature of the birth from above, of the Divine life and love, of the means of redemption, and the principles of judgment, he says nothing. Nicodemus learns of both “earthly and heavenly things;” the Samaritaness receives some practical principles. Yet the two conversations are complementary to each other, and throw upon each other reciprocally floods of light. Moreover, there is the same parabolic speech in both; the same habit of mind. It is the same Teacher who uses “the wind” and “the water of the well” to illustrate great spiritual ideas. John 4:26.”
To be honest, even a Japanese asked me for a drink I would be willing even though I consider Japanese are enemies of Chinese.
Luk 10:30-37, “Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the
other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring
oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own
animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’
Verse 33. – But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Now, for the sake of strong contrast, Jesus paints on his canvas the figure of one who, as a Samaritan, was as far removed as possible from being a neighbour to the sufferer (who, most probably, was a Jew) in the sense in which the austere Jewish lawyer would of himself understand the term “neighbour”, The Samaritan, hated of the Jews, and most probably, in common with the rest of his nation, hating them – he, in his turn, was journeying along the ill-omened “Way of Blood;” he too sees, like the priest, the form of the man, wounded perhaps to death, lying by the way, and, like the Levite, draws near to look on the helpless sufferer; but, unlike priest and Levite, stays by the wounded man, and, regardless of peril, trouble, or expense, does his best to help the helpless. Luke 10:33.”
Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Verse 33. – But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. Now, for the sake of strong contrast, Jesus paints on his canvas the figure of one who, as a Samaritan, was as far removed as possible from being a neighbour to the sufferer (who, most probably, was a Jew) in the sense in which the austere Jewish lawyer would of himself understand the term “neighbour”, The Samaritan, hated of the Jews, and most probably, in common with the rest of his nation, hating them – he, in his turn, was journeying along the ill-omened “Way of Blood;” he too sees, like the priest, the form of the man, wounded perhaps to death, lying by the way, and, like the Levite, draws near to look on the helpless sufferer; but, unlike priest and Levite, stays by the wounded man, and, regardless of peril, trouble, or expense, does his best to help the helpless. Luke 10:33.”
This is the meaning, Mat 22:39, “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Verse 39. – The second. The scribe had not asked any question about a second commandment: but Christ is not satisfied with propounding an abstract proposition; he shows how this great precept is to be made practical, how one command involves and leads to the other. Like unto it; ὁμοία αὐτῇ: in nature and extent, of universal obligation, pure and unselfish. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. From Leviticus 19:18. The verb, both here and ver. 37, is ἀγαπήσεις, which implies, not mere animal or worldly affection (φιλέω), but love from the highest moral considerations, without self-interest, holy. The Latins indicated this difference by amo and diligo. Our “neighbour” is every one with whom we are concerned, i.e. virtually all men. He is to be loved because he is God’s image and likeness, heir of the same hope as we ourselves, and presented to us as the object on and by which we are to show the reality of our love to God. “This commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also” (1 John 4:21). And for the measure of our love to man, we have Christ’s word in another place (Matthew 7:12), “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Matthew 22:39.”
The Jews also practiced racial prejudice by attacking Jesus, Jhn 8:48, “The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not rightly say that You are a Samaritan, and You have a demon?”
Then answered the Jews] The best MSS. omit the particle, which if it were genuine should be rendered ‘therefore,’ not ‘then:’ The Jews answered. This denial of their national prerogative of being sons of God seems to them malicious frenzy. He must be an enemy of the peculiar people and be possessed. Say we not well] i.e. rightly: comp. John 4:17, John 13:13, John 18:23. ‘We’ is emphatic; ‘we at any rate are right.’ that thou art a Samaritan] “Nowhere else do we find the designation ‘a Samaritan;’ yet it might naturally—we might say inevitably—be given to one who seemed to attack the exclusive privileges of the Jewish people.” S. pp. 159, 160. It is therefore a striking touch of reality, and another instance of the Evangelist’s complete familiarity with the ideas and expressions current in Palestine at this time. Possibly this term of reproach contains a sneer at His visit to Samaria in chap. 4, and at His having chosen the unusual route through Samaria, as He probably did (see on John 7:10), in coming up to the Feast of Tabernacles. The parable of the Good Samaritan was probably not yet spoken. and hast a devil] It is unfortunate that we have not two words in our Bible to distinguish diabolos, ‘the Devil’ (John 8:44, John 13:2; Matthew 4:1; Luke 8:12; &c., &c.), from daimonion or daimôn, ‘a devil,’ or ‘unclean spirit.’ ‘Fiend,’ which Wiclif sometimes employs (Matthew 12:24; Matthew 12:28; Mark 1:34; Mark 1:39, &c.), might have been used, had Tyndale and Cranmer adopted it: demon would have been better still. But here Tyndale, Cranmer, and the Geneva Version make the confusion complete by rendering ‘and hast the devil,’ a mistake which they make also in John 7:20 and John 10:20. The charge here is more bitter than either John 7:20 or John 10:20, where it simply means that His conduct is so extraordinary that He must be demented. We have instances more similar to this in the Synoptists; Matthew 9:34; Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15.”
) Racism
Everyone knows that in America whites practice racism againt Blacks, and white Americans also practice racism against all other races. You won’t know this unless you studied, worked and lived all your life in America. American corporations also practice racism: I was always underemployed and underpaid. I discovered one Human Resources Department threw away my certificate of master’s degree. Why? When audited, they could say the minority only had a bacherlor degree. I was always more educated and qualified than my supervisors. When I was hired by a white manager, he did not even have a college degree. I know a colleague of mine who was a Korean American who had a CPA. The Vice president of finance, the controller, and her supervisor did not have a CPA. I told her not to think about it otherwise she would be unhappy all her life. Find outside interest. That was why every year during my 3-week vacation I lectured at major universities in China. Chinese professors and students gave me great respect. I also knew a Chinese employee who had CPA and she was treated even worse. The
whole world knows about how bad white racism discriminates against Blacks and other minorities. The world does not know about Black racism which is culturally croader and crueller than White racism.
This is not prejudice or racism. It is a statement of facts. For 500 years there is not one developed, self-sufficent and solvent Black country in Africa. Africans do not like work and hard work. They like games and sports. Africans like to sing and dance, eat and get fat, drink beer and enjoy sex, they produce a lot of children they cannot afford to support. Any nation who shares destinies with Africa is going to doom. No amount of resources can fill the Black hole. There is one thing that outsiders do not know: Blacks also practice racial discrimination. They are more brutal and crude than white managers. Thank God I never had a black supervisor. There are many psychopathic supervisors of whites and blacks. They trample on their subordinates as corporate bosses, and made employees very unhappy.
One Black man told me because of Affirmative Action although his GPA was 2.0 he got in UCLA Medical School, while many Chinese students with GPA of 4.0 could not get in a medical school. Because of Affirmative Action many unqualifed Blacks were hired. I met a Black woman at SEC who could not do simple arithmatics. She was GS 7 and I was GS 5. As a Personnel Director told me he would not want to go to Civil Service Commission with many mouths speaking against him. So many Blacks got good positions in government and industries because of Affirmative Action. One Asian woman asked me to pick up an application at a Post Office. The Black women bodily blocked the entrance not to let me in to pick up an application form. You wonder why so many Blacks worked at Post Office. One Chinese worker told me he could not get a janatorial job at a big corporation because the Black Union would not let him. I knew a Black employee who was good for nothing, he got promoted because the Black vice president of finance spoke on his behalf. The stories can go on and on…
6.) Prejudice and Racism
To properly evaluate the American society, I have to assess three major aspects of my life in America for almost half a century: studying, working, living.
A.) I studied.
I worked my way through college and university, I was desperately poor, a son of poor missionaries. So poor that I invented to use the throw-way computer papers on the other side for my note books. I cut my own hair. I discovered to use icecream to keep me awake at night for doing school work. I discovered to use dye to refill my yellow highligter. I discovered how to use 5 minutes to cook a delicious meal… In fact college and university only care about GPA, if you have good grade, you would have no problem. Howver, problems can come from other places. Although the population of Los Angeles City College the majority were white, but we had a black student president, etc. One day they wanted to shut down the college, the year I transferred to the University. I suspected the college president was a weakling, the California Governor Reagan had no jurisdiction… So out of necessity I wrote a powerful letter appealing to President Nixon. Unexpectedly President Nixon sent two FBI agents to investigate the LACC black student riots. Consequently the college was never closed, I was smoothly transferred to the University. Henceforth, I was a follower and supporter of President Richard Nixon. President Nixon wanted to end the Vietnam War but the Vietcongs were not responsive. I wrote a letter to the French President George Pompidoo asking him for help. To my surprise he sent a personal card with signature. Later I learned from July’s book that President Pompidoo did help to end the Vietname War behind the scene.
I was lucky to be a graduate student of Dr. Harold Koontz, the first time I learned and saw what a world class professor was. It was almost impossible that I became his friend, for a famous professor does not make friends with his students. When I was doing consulting, my supervior said it was fine to invite Dr. Koontz for dinner, the company would pay for it.
After I obtained my MPA, the UNIVERSITY urged me to go on for PH.D. I did not need to apply, they would take care of everything because they knew that I had completed 45 quarter credits, UC GPA 3.700.
60 quarter credits is Ph.D. I turned down the offer because I had been poor for a long, long time.
A prospective employeer asked for a set of my transcripts. I wrote to the Registrar. The Registrar sent only the transcripts of my Bachelor Degree. Little I know in this world there are people who had malice and ill will and did not want you to succeed. Some people at the Registrar might think that a minority cannot earn and does not deserve to have a Master’s degree from a world-famous university and so they withheld it. Another incident was due to Nixon’s connection, someone from Washington, D.C. interviewed me. The woman in charge of Placememt was infurious.
B.) I worked.
In all my career in America, I was always underemployed and underpaid. I was always more educated and more qualified than my supervisors. A white manager who hired me did not even have a college degree. The HR of a corporation discarded the certificate of my master’s degree. Why? When audited, they could say the minority had only a bachelor degree. At American corporations, I met some bad and wicked people, had I not need to work for a living, I would never had met them in this world or the world to come.
The best company I had worked for was McDonnell Douglas. One thing I regreted immensely. The top managemnt of McDonnell Douglas was a good and sound man. They made a strategic mistake like Kodak and others. I really believe it with all my heart, had I appeared at McDonnel Douglas in 1990, had I been given all the authority and powers, I could have saved the corporation. At its peak in mid1990, McDonnell
Douglas employed 132,500 people. There were bad vice presidents, bad directors, bad managers, bad psychopathic supervisors, and bad employees. I dicovered one employee who owned a travel agency and used McDonnell Douglas copy machine to make large quantity of travel agency commercials for distribution. There were people in the Corporation who worked for themselves and they got high pay.
I additionally conducted Management Seminars that earned great reputation and respect from managers and supersivors; and one middle manager was hostile about my management seminars, and it took one management seminar to turn him around. Because the management seminars earned much reputation that even the excutive Vice President of Administration wanted to participate. I told him that would not work because I conducted management seminars in an open and free discusion fashion. Everyone was entitled to his/her opinions, but when the Exeucutive Vice President participated, the middle mangers would not dare to express their opinions. If you think American corporations would welcome people of talents, you are sorely mistaken. They played up the achievements of whites and played down the achievements of minorities. When a minority achieved fame because of his knowledge and education, when he acquired power without authority, when middle managers flocked to his office to consult him, the upper mangement would envy and target to pin him down. What they wanted was a pack of obedient dogs.
But one Executive Vice Presiden called Jim King was so different and so distinguished that you would never heard of such a move. One day in his staff meeing (my supervisor was there, I was not qualified to attend), he suddenly announced to appoint me in charge of a special corporate project, and put Vice President of finance, Controller, and a general manager under my direction. You never heard of the practice of putting a staff specialist in charge of a corporate project and line supervisors under his direction. Mr. King was so adamant to give me a bonus of $2,000 when the project was completed while Uncle Sam took half of it.
Working at several corporations, I had the impression that some Corporate executives and top mangement did not understand what management was about. It was not enough to get approval and support from the top managemnt for any corporate projects. Some vice presidents, directors, mangers, and employees would work against you because they did not want you to succeed. To succeed means to get promotion and get a raise in salary. Many do not know there is such an undercurrent in American corporations. You wonder why American corporations are not doing well. How can corporations do well when they work against each other? American corporations are great battlefields. That is why American corporations are unhappy places. I have not gone into details how psychopathic supervisors mistreated and abused their subordinates.
) I lived.
If you can afford, do not live in Black or Latino neighborhoods. This is not a prejudice or racism, it is a statement of fact. I knew a kindest and good Japanese woman called Mary Sato. In early days they made a mistake of buying a house in a Black neighborhood; she could not move away because they could not sell the house. Mary Satao told me that she knew that I worked my way through college. A package of noodle used to sell 10 cents. When it was on sale, that you can get 12 packages for $1, she would buy them for me. Bless Mary Sato. Twelve packages of noodle I can make 12 meals.
I used to live in a Latino neighborhood, Winnetka. The apartment complex was owned by a Chinese who treated me very well. Latinos are more complicated because they refer peoples of various Latin American countries. One thing was perculiar, they did not behave like normal people. In the middle of parking lot they fixed their car, so that people cannot get in or out with their cars. A parking space was assigned to two cars with two poles. Once a Latino overparked his car that my car could not get in. When the apartment manager called the man, his wife said he was asleep. One day I discovered my hood was poured with acids that it looked so bad. One day my bathroom window was hit by a rock. You now know why I said if you can afford, do not live in a Latino neighborhood.
Although Blacks representing 15.2% of the total American population, Latinos now constitute approximately 20% of the total US population, majority of prison population are Blacks and Latinos. The overwhelming majority of people on welfare are also Blacks and Latinos. Majority of crooks and criminals are Blacks and Latinos.Although majority of prostitutes are white, but they are flocked by a black pimp. Socialogists have not discovered the secret why a group of young white women would willingly sell their bodies to support the luxurious life style of a Black pimp. As a matter of fact, you would never find a Chinese prostitute and a Chinese pimp in America. The majority of illegal drug offenders and users are also Blacks and Latinos.
The Black officials are in safe districts because blacks always vote for black officials. Year after year, they accumulate seniority. The politics of Congress are based on security, not morality and ability. That is why you have a black House majority leader. Once a black is elected, he/she has it for life.
A black preacher was famous, but he was certified by the FBI as an immoral person, and he also preached a false gospel. Blacks congregations usually protect their adulterous preachers. A White Christian lady told me that white congregations do the same with their White pastors.
At present Japan is the most evil country in the world. This is not prejudice or racism. It is the statement of facts.
Japanese committed 14 years of aggression against China, committed most inhuman atrocities and brutalities, hid 731 unit of bio-chemical war crimes, made thousands of women sex slaves conveniently called comfort women, made millions of slave workers, killed 56 million Chinese, rewrote the history so that the Japanese government and courts denied everything. Japan is claimed to practice democracy, but majority of Japanse citizens could not get rid of an evil female prime minister who acts like a dictator. Through the alliance with the US, Japan has revived militarism and changed no nuclear policy.
If you can afford, do not live in Anaheim, Buena Park, North Hollywood, Winnetka, etc. Bad apartment managers of bad cities not only give you bad services, they woud go to your apartment to check what you have when you go to work. They may steal from you even you cannot know. The apartment complex I stayed at Winnetka was owned by a Chinese who treated me well with respect. But the area is a Latino neighborhood.
If you are young, can dry, have a good education and have a good job, there is no place in America like Orange County, California, where it is not hot in the summer and not cold in the winter. After the rain, Orange Country looks beatiful. The two nicest towns I used to live were Fullerton and Cypress. Talking about Orange Country makes me nostalgic even though I have been to the nicest places in the world. The streets and roads of Fullerton are the best built that I know. Even under heavy rain there are no floods or waters on streets and roads. One day I was driving, suddently all cars stopped in front. I wondered what happened: it was an old lady crossing the street, so all cars stopped for her. If it was in Los Angeles, the old lady would have been dead by a hit and run.
Cypress was the small town I have stayed most of my life in America. The apartment was built in a special way that I can see strangers knocking at my door but strangers cannot see me. The Postal Service is perhalps the best in the world. It has a big locker. When I ordered a big book, the package came when I was at work. It was not convenient for me to pick up the package at the Post Office. The Postal Worker would leave the big package in the locker and the key in my mail box. So I can used the key to get my package conveniently. But I had one thing against the City. Every year I spent 3-weeks lecturing at major universities in China and vacationing in Hangzhou. I noticed that even though I had no electricity usage for 3 weeks, the electric bill by Edison power company did not go down. So I complained to Edison, the female representative had the gall to say they did not charge customers according to usage. What is the problem with American justice? Big busineess like Pacific Telephone would unilatrally changed your long distance carrier and sent you a bill; all car repairs were crooked and unreliable; and many fraudulent American corporations, you would need to hire a lawyer to fight them. The legal fees may be bigger than the loss recovered.
The worst city I had lived in America was Washington, D.C. It was both dirty and dangerous. However, Smithsonian Institutions were incredible. Maybe the only good things of Washington.D.C.
My first website was called Chinese for China sponsored my Muzi company. It was so popular the Google made comercials for the U.S. government and president Bush, etc. This was how American corporations work, Google made good money without permission by the owner of the website. American corporations can reap the benefits of your labor and do not violate the law. Muzi failed to protect my website, it was trashed, vandalized and profaned that I gave up and abandoned the site.
Los Angeles Daily News picked my name and address out of telephone book and sent me a bill and by a collection agency that if I don’t pay, they threaten to ruin my credit. Well I had New York Times without pay, why would I subscribe to an insignificant daily? Luckily because I was in charge of corporate policy, I had to work with a lawyer. I told the lawyer about the black mail. He kindly picked up the phone and told Los Angels Daily that I never subscribed to the paper and owed nothing. The Los Angeles Daily apologized and called it a mistake. This is the American justice and the newpaper should pay hefty damages for false accusation and fraud.
If California is without earthquakes, it would be the best country in the world. There are so many nice cities you can choose to live in Orange County. Still I tell you, in America you would be troubled by crooks and criminals that you need to pay a lawyer to fight them off.
Every year I went to China lecturing and vacationing.Once I found out my name was not on the list, the travel agency (owned by Vietnamese Chinese) issued me a bogus ticket. The person in charge of China Airlines was so angry that she wanted to take the license andput the agency out of business.
THE American healthcare is the most costly in the world. Outsiders do not know why. I had a horrible personal experience to find out. The American healthcare is an organized crime licensed by doctors and hospital owners to overcharge and defraud patients so much so it is tantamount to healthcare terrorism and terrorists. The Department of Justice is blind to the fact doctors also own the hospital, in violation of antitrust laws. If you are employed by a large corporation, you are covered by medical insurance, you do not have to worry. Because the hospital would bill the insurance company directly. Unfortunately, I was unemployed and had no insurance at that time, I had kidney stone. So I went to Anaheim General Hospital Emergency Department, not knowing like a sheep to be slaughtered. I was hospitalized for one night, the small room with two patients but charged higher than a luxurious hotel with deluxe room. One doctor of the Emergency Department talked to me, it reminded me of the Scripture, 1Ti 4:2, “by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.” They were liars and hypocrites trained for greed that their conscience was cauterized by love of money, like the Mafia offered you what you cannot refuse. I received a computer printout of many pages using Esoteric-Medical-Technical terminology that a Ph.D. could not understand. Insurance companies have people who can read Esoteric-Medical-Technical terminology, so they refused some charges, But insurance companies charge high premiums. Even though I did not have surgery, I was charged for instruments and dressings. They even charged my own underwear. So I protested to the hospital billing department, The woman of billing told me they could dig out even more charges, that means they can “manufacture” or “make up” more changes. I complained and sent the bill to the Department of Justice. The female director would not hear it. I realized it is a Department of Injustice. No US Government (department or agency) would stop and penalize doctors and hospital owners from committing fraudulent billing. They can violate the laws with immunity and indemnity. There was no recourse. I knew a case that a young black woman came to hospital for abortion. Three doctors were assigned to take care of her or to get pay. It was ALL covered by MEDICAID. I thought I worked very hard, I could not afford even one doctor. There three doctors, one can change dressing, another changed dressing again, and another can come just to wave and say hello — all will be paid by MEDICAID. No government agency would investigate how much frauds committed through charges to MEDICAID AND MEDICARE.Another smaller case that I hurt my thumb and went to La Palma Emergency. They took X-RAY and provided a very unprofessional device to support my thumb but charged a great deal. The doctors said I had arthritis. The even called me home to have treatment for my arthritis. Funny was after 30 years I do not have arthritis. In fact an American doctor said for my age I have very good hands.
Right before my eyes many countries have changed for the worse. The world is getting worse and worse. According to the eschatology prophecy, in the last days things will get worse and worse. There is no hope for the world. The greatest event to take place in the universe is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is coming to reign for ever and ever because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords–the blessed only Sovereign. I am eagerly waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven where there will be joy, justice, love, peace, righteousness, and truth time without end.
If you repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as your God and Savior, you may also inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free. We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
It is my policy never to promote the names of false teachers. John Calvin was excepational, although he was dead since 1564, he was famous and his teachings even today have pernicious influence of corrupting the Scriptures. Once somewhere on the Intenet I saw a group of unsound, untaught, uninformed believers proclaimed blasphemously that Jesus Christ was a follower of John Calvin. You see how distorted the character of John Calvin among his followers. I must publicly and openly denouce the unsound doctrine of John Calvin even without pay because it may lead some to eternal damnation.
Even Britanica pronounced John Calvin “a theologian and ecclesiastical statesman. He was the leading French Protestant reformer and the most important figure in the second generation of the Protestant Reformation.”
Because John Calvin was a false teacher of a mixture of immense falsehood and truth, he was not to be easily dismissed just as a false teacher. His false teaching was fundamentally and overwhelmingly unsound and so pernicious that I hold no theological seminaries should have him in the curriculum, and no Bible commentary should cite his teachings.
I do not want to debate on the total theological
framework of Calvinism which is known by the
acronym TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. I only single out the deadly doctrine of Limited Atonement for discussion. The unforgiven blunder of John Calvin is on its doctrine of predestination. His heretic teaching is on the belief that God has predestined some group of people to go to Hell, regardless of their actions or faith.
According to John Calvin, “We say, then, that Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by his eternal and immutable counsel determined once for all those whom it was his pleasure one day to admit to salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, it was his pleasure to doom to destruction.”
The doctrine of Limited Atonement, which asserts that Christ died only for the elect and not for the whole world. This is a direct contradiction of numerous Biblical passages. Scripture clearly and plainly teaches that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), that He “tasted death for everyone” (Heb 2:9), and that He is “the propitiation… not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). The atonement is sufficient for all and applied only to those who believe. Calvinism’s limitation of the cross reduces the scope of divine love and restricts the sincerity of God’s universal invitation. Calvin portrays God as cruel and unreanable. Limiting the atonement turns the cross into God’s bias and prejudice, instead of the worldwide offer that Scripture declares it to be.
Predestination is the most controversial and erroneous teachings of John Calvin. He believed in the concept of “double predestination,” which asserted that God predestined some individuals to be saved (the elect) and others to be damned (the reprobate) and go to Hell. He rejected free will since a person who is destined to either Heaven or Hell cannot make a choice.
If John Calvin is true, then those who go to Hell can blame God for ordaining them to go to Hell and there is nothing they can do about it. A doctrine is true or false not because a famous person taught it or not. A doctrine is false if it is contrary to the Word of God. To be clear the heretic and erroneous doctrine of John Calvin is diametrically opposed to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit of the Gospel seems saying, All come, anyone or anybody may come to Jesus Christ to receive the eternal life without cost. The heretic and erroneous doctrine of John Calvin is saying, Oh no, God may predestine you to go to Hell, nothing you can do about it.
John Calvin was very wrong, for the Scriptures say clearly and plainly:
Jhn 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”
Jhn 3:17-18, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Isa 55:1, “You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat.Come, buy wine and milk without
money and without cost.”
Joe 2:32, “And it willcome about that everyone who
calls on the name of the LORD will be saved;for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, just as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”
words of Mine, andacts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Mat 10:32, “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in Heaven.”
Luk 12:8, “Now I say to you, everyone who confesses
Me before people, the Son of Man will also confess
him before the angels of God.”
Jhn 6:37, “Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out.”
Jhn 6:40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
2Pe 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to
repentance.”
The God of John Calvin is willing some to perish.
In contrast, the New Testament repeatedly affirms that salvation is available to whoever believes (John 3:16; Rom 10:13; Rev 22:17). Christ’s death is an actual provision people may freely receive or reject.
All these Scriptures cited above and more contradic and deny the heretic doctrine of John Calvin on Predestination. If Calvinism is true, then some people can blame God for going to Hell. I do not know how many are doomed for Hell because they fasely believe it was God who predestined them to go to Hell.
The doctrine of Limited Atonement, which asserts that Christ died only for the elect and not for the whole world. This is a direct contradiction of numerous biblical passages. Scripture definitely and plainly teaches that Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), that He “tasted death for everyone” (Heb 2:9), and that He is “the propitiation… not for our sins only, but also for those of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). The atonement is sufficient for all and applied only to those who believe. Calvinism’s limitation of the cross reduces the scope of divine love and restricts the sincerity of God’s universal invitation. In contrast, the New Testament repeatedly affirms that salvation is available to whoever believes (John 3:16; Rom 10:13; Rev 22:17). Christ’s death is an actual provision they can freely receive or reject.
The spirit of Gospel seems to be saying: All may come, come, come, anybody and everybody, may come to Christ to receive eternal life without cost. Calvinism is contra, OPPOSITE, contrary to the Gospel, and seems to say: Oh no, you may be predestined by God to perish in Hell, all your repentance and faith are no use.
Therefore, it is my opinion that John Calvin was the greatest false teacher of all times, most deadly false teacher. All theological seminaries should not have Calvinsim in their curriculums; all Bible commentaries should not cite the teachings of John Calvin. The name of John Calvin should be abolished and vanished from the Christian world for good.
The doctrines of the Bible cannot change just because you change a few words. So many doctrines of the Bible take issue with Calvinism. For example, redemption. The Bible teaches, 1Co 1:30, “But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
Eph 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace.”
Eph 1:14, “who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Eph 4:30, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Col 1:14, “in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Heb 9:12, “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained
eternal redemption.”
Limited Atonement is diametrically opposed to Eternal Redemption.
If a theologian insits on pontificating his doctrines, he may end up deceiving the people and fooling himself. For example, how can John Calvin and his followers overlook the small word “all” in the Scriptures:
Mat 5:15, “nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”
Mat 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.”
Mat 8:16, “Now when evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.”
Mat 9:35, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness.”
Mat 10:22, “And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
Mat 11:27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.”
Mat 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Mat 14:20, “And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets.”
Mat 14:36, “and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch the border of His cloak; and all who
touched it were cured.”
Mat 19:26, “And looking at them, Jesus said to them,
“With people this is impossible, but with God all
things are possible.”
Mat 21:10, “When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?”
Mat 21:22, “And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”
THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
Mat 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Mat 26:52, “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword.”
Mat 28:18-20, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I AM with you always, to the end of the age.”
Mar 1:27, “And they were all amazed, so they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
Mar 2:12, “And he got up and immediately picked up
the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mar 3:10, “for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had diseases
Mar 6:56, “And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and all who
touched it were being healed.”
Mar 7:37, “And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”
Mar 10:27, “Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
Mar 11:18, “And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they began seeking
how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching.”
Mar 16:15, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.”
Luk 2:10, “And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.”
Believe the angel from God who said the good news of great joy which is for all the people. The salvation of God is for all the people. Who was John Calvin to distort the Word of God?
It is clear that the heresies of John Calvin attacked the cornerstone of the Church, the cornerstone is strong because the Rock is strong. The Rock is the spiritual Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says, Mat 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The gates of Hell cannot and will not prevail the Church.
Roman Catholics misinterpret Peter for the rock. The Bible makes it clear, 1Co 10:4, “and all drank the
same Spiritual drink, for they were drinking from the Spiritual Rock which followed them; and the Rock
was Christ.”
Therefore the heretic doctrine of John Calvin should be condemned, his teachings trashed by academia and Bible commentary, and his name should be vanished from the Christian world.
among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction
upon themselves.Many will follow their indecent
behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they
will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into Hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment;and did not spare the
ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of
unscrupulous people (for by what he saw and
heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by theirlawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority.
Reckless, self-centered, they speak abusively of
angelic majesties without trembling,whereas
angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, having eyes
full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing
unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children; abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent
behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment
handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.” It is important to read the Scriptures which pertain the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Predestination is the most controversial and erroneous teachings of John Calvin. He believed in the concept of “double predestination,” which asserted that God predestined some individuals to be saved (the elect) and others to be damned (the reprobate) and go to Hell. He rejected free will since a person who is destined to either Heaven or Hell cannot make a choice. It does not matter that Calvin had controvesies with men, it does matter that Calvin’s doctrines contradict the Gospel. Calvin’s thought does not matter, the Word of God matters.
If John Calvin is true, then those who go to Hell can blame God for ordaining them to go to Hell and there is nothing they can do about it. A doctrine is true or false not because a famous person taught it or not. A doctrine is false if it is contrary to the Word of God. To be clear the heretic and erroneous doctrine of John Calvin is diametrically opposed to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit of the Gospel seems saying, All come, anyone or anybody may come to Jesus Christ to receive the eternal life without cost. The heretic and erroneous doctrine of John Calvin is saying, Oh no, God may predestine you to go to Hell, nothing you can do about it.
Finally, how can Calvin and his followers answer to this Scripture: 1Ti 2:3-4, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, Who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
In conclusion, John Calvin may think he invented Calvinism a beautiful theology of TULIP, in fact it was the Tobacco. Calvinism is a misunderstanding of Christianity, a deadly misrepresentation of Christianity.
You have learned why the heresy of John Calvin is wrong. You would not be fooled that God predestines you to go to Hell. On the contrary, God does not want you to perish in Hell. God wants you to repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, your God and Savior, to be saved. You must not neglect so great a salvation, you can do it now.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
ELECTRICTY
RUNNING WATER TO DRINK AND WASH
GAS TO COOK & HEAT
INTERNET
LIVELIHOOD
NEW TOILET BY LAW
The nymcoompoop of Ukraine is guilty and responsible for 55 K deaths of its soldiers and many more missing in initiating war with Russia. He should be executed. The leaders of EU are dummies for making $billions of loans to Ukraine who can never repay. Ukraine should never be rebuilt to serve as a warning to the world.
Even so the tongue is a little member – Little compared with the body, as the bit or the rudder is, compared with the horse or the ship.
And boasteth great things – The design of the apostle is to illustrate the power and influence of the tongue. This may be done in a great many respects: and the apostle does it by referring to its boasting; to the effects which it produces, resembling that of fire, James 3:6; to its untameableness, James 3:8-9; and to its giving utterance to the most inconsistent and incongruous thoughts, James 3:9-10. The particular idea here is, that the tongue seems to be conscious of its influence and power, and boasts largely of what it can do. The apostle means doubtless to convey the idea that it boasts not unjustly of its importance. It has all the influence in the world, for good or for evil, which it claims.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! – Margin, “wood.” The Greek word ὕλην hulēn, means a wood, forest, grove; and then fire-wood, fuel. This is the meaning here. The sense is, that a very little fire is sufficient to ignite a large quantity of combustible materials, and that the tongue produces effects similar to that. A spark will kindle a lofty pile; and a word spoken by the tongue may set a neighborhood or a village “in a flame.”
Jas 3:6, “And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire
James 3:6. The tongue is a fire — Which often produces a great conflagration; a world of iniquity — This is a metaphor of the same kind with a sea of troubles, a deluge of wickedness. The meaning is, that a great collection of iniquity proceeds from the tongue. Indeed “there is no iniquity which an unbridled tongue is not capable of producing; either by itself, when it curses, rails, teaches false doctrine, and speaks evil of God and man; or by means of others, whom it entices, commands, terrifies, and persuades, to commit murders, adulteries, and every evil work.” So is thetongue — Such is the rank and place it holds among our members, that it defileth the whole body — The whole man, all our members, senses, and faculties. In this, and in what follows, the similitude of the fire and wood is carried on. For as the fire, put among the wood, first spotteth or blackeneth it with its smoke, and then setteth it on fire, so the tongue spotteth or blackeneth, and then setteth on fire the natural frame, termed here the course, τροχον, the wheel, of nature — “The wonderful mechanism of the human body, and its power of affecting and of being affected by the soul, is in this passage aptly represented by the wheels of a machine which act on each other. The pernicious influence of the tongue, in first spotting, and then destroying, both the bodies and the souls of men, arises from the language which it frames, whereby it inflames men’s passions to such a degree, that, being no longer under the direction of their reason, those passions push them on to such actions as are destructive both of their bodies and souls.” Some writers, by the natural wheel, or course of nature, understand the successive generations of men, one generation going, and another coming, without intermission; according to which interpretation the apostle’s meaning is, that the tongue hath set on fire our forefathers, it inflameth us, and will have the same influence on those who come after us. And it is set on fire of hell — Put here for the devil; as, by a like metonymy, heaven is put for God. Satan influences the heart, and its wickedness overflows by the tongue, and tends, by its fatal consequences, to produce a very hell upon earth. “The use we ought to make of the doctrine taught in this highly figurative passage is obvious. Being surrounded with such a mass of combustible matter, we should take great care not to send from our tongues the least spark by which it may be kindled, lest we ourselves, with those whom we set on fire, be consumed in the flames which we raise.” — Macknight.
8. but the tongue can no man tame] There is a special force in the Greek tense for “tame”, which expresses not habitual, but momentary action. St James had learnt, by what he saw around him, and yet more, it may be, by personal experience, that no powers of the “nature of man” were adequate for this purpose. He had learnt also, we must believe, that the things which are impossible with man are possible with God. an unruly evil] Literally, uncontrollable. Many of the better MSS., however, give the adjective which is rendered “unstable” in ch. James 1:8, and which carries with it, together with that meaning, the idea of restlessness and turbulence. So in the Shepherd of Hermas (11.2) calumny is described as a “restless demon.” full of deadly poison] Literally, death-bringing. For the idea comp. “the poison of asps is under their lips,” Psalm 140:3. The adjective is found in the LXX. version of Job 33:23, for “angels or messengers of death.”
He shall suck the poison of asps – That which he swallowed as pleasant nutriment, shall become the most deadly poison; or the consequence shall be as if he had sucked the poison of asps. It would seem that the ancients regarded the poison of the serpent as deadly, however, it was taken into the system. They seem not to have been aware that the poison of a wound may be sucked out without injury to him who does it; and that it is necessary that the poison should mingle with the blood to be fatal.
The viper’s tongue shall slay him – The early impression probably was, that the injury done by a serpent was by the fiery, forked, and brandished tongue, which was supposed to be sharp and penetrating. It is now known, that the injury is done by the poison ejected through a groove, or orifice in one of the teeth, which is so made as to lie flat on the roof of the mouth, except when the serpent bites, when that tooth is elevated, and penetrates the flesh. The word “viper” here (אפעה ‘eph‛eh), “viper,” is probably the same species of serpent that is known among the Arabs by the same name still – El Effah. See the notes at Isaiah 30:6. It is the most common and venomous of the serpent tribe in Northern Africa and in South-western Asia. It is remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison. It is about two feet long, as thick as a man’s arm, beautifully spotted with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks. They have a large mouth, by which they inhale a large quantity of air, and when inflated therewith, they eject it with such force as to be heard a considerable distance. “Jackson.” Capt. Riley, in his “Authentic Narrative,” (New York, 1817,) confirms this account. He describes the viper as the “most beautiful object in nature,” and says that the poison is so virulent as to cause death in fifteen minutes.”
3.) Job 27:4, “My lips certainly will not speak unjustly,
My lips shall not speak wickedness – This solemn profession made on oath might have done something to allay the suspicions of his friends in regard to him, and to show that they had been mistaken in his character. It is a solemn assurance that he did not mean to vindicate the cause of wickedness, or to say one word in its favor; and that as long as he lived he would never be found advocating it.
Nor my tongue utter deceit – I will never make any use of sophistry; I will not attempt to make “the worse appear the better reason;” I will not be the advocate of error. This had always been the aim of Job, and he now says that no circumstance should ever induce him to pursue a different course as long as he lived. Probably he means, also, as the following verse seems to imply, that no consideration should ever induce him to countenance error or to palliate wrong. He would not be deterred from expressing his sentiments by any dread of opposition, or even by any respect for his friends. No friendship which he might have for them would induce him to justify what he honestly regarded as error.”
4.) Psa 5:9, “For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth; their inward part is destruction itself.
Their throat is an open grave;they flatter with their tongue.”
Verse 9. – For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; or, no steadfastness – “no sincerity” (Kay, Cheyne); see the comment on ver. 6. Their inward part is very wickedness; literally, wickednesses; i.e. nothing but wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulchre. “Emitting the noisome exhalations of a putrid heart” (Bishop Horns). They flatter with their tongue; literally, they make smooth their tongues, which may, perhaps, include flattery, but points rather to smooth arguments, specious reasonings, and the habit of making the worse appear the better cause (see the comment of Bishop Horsley, ‘Book of Psalms,’ vol. 1. pp. 154, 155). The last two clauses of this verse are quoted by St. Paul (Romans 3:13), and applied generally to the character of the ungodly. Psalm 5:9.”
) Psa 10:7, “His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression;under his tongue is harm and injustice.”
His mouth is full of cursing – Profaneness; blasphemy against God. In the former verse the writer had described the feelings of the “heart;” he now proceeds to specify the open acts of the wicked. The meaning is, that the wicked man, as here described, was one who was full of imprecation, swearing, execration; a “profane” man; a man who, whatever was his belief about God, would constantly call upon his name, and imprecate his wrath on himself or others. An atheist, strange as it may seem, is as likely to make a frequent use of the name of God, and to call upon Him, as other people; just as profane people, who have no belief in the Saviour, swear by Jesus Christ. This passage seems to be referred to by the apostle Paul in Romans 3:14, not as a direct quotation, as if the psalmist referred to the point which he was arguing, but as language which expressed the idea that the apostle wished to convey. See the note at that passage.
And deceit – Margin, as in Hebrew, “deceits.” The meaning is, that he was false and treacherous; and perhaps also that his treachery and fraud were accompanied with the solemn sanction of an oath, or an appeal to God, as is likely to be the case among fraudulent and dishonest people.
And fraud – The word used here – תך tôk – is now commonly supposed to mean rather “oppression or violence.” See Gesenius’ Lexicon. When this is attributed to his mouth, it means that what he says – what he requires – what he commands, is unjust, unreasonable, and oppressive.
Under his tongue – Perhaps alluding to the serpent, whose poison is concealed at the root of the fang or tooth, and therefore under the tongue. The meaning is, that beneath what the wicked say, though it seems to be harmless, as the tongue of the serpent does, yet there lies mischief and iniquity, as the poison is hidden beneath the serpent’s tongue.
Is mischief – The word used here means properly labor, toil; then trouble, vexation, sorrow. The meaning here seems to be that there lies under the tongue that which gives or causes distress; to wit, wrong-doing; injustice to others.
And vanity – Margin, iniquity. This expresses the idea in the original word. Whatever he says is evil, and is fitted to produce trouble and sorrow, as the concealed poison in the mouth of the serpent causes pain and death.”
Do you know any politician or world leader, under his tongue is not harm and injustice?
Verse 13. – Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. If the end be happiness, the means will be right moral conduct; and, first of all, right government of the tongue. Sins of the tongue are numerous, and abundantly noted in the Psalms (Psalm 5:9; Psalm 10:7; Psalm 12:3; Psalm 15:3; Psalm 50:19; Psalm 57:4; Psalm 73:8, 9, etc.). They are more difficult to avoid than any others; they cling closer to us; they are scarcely ever wholly laid aside. “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body” (James 3:2). The meek Moses “spake unadvisedly with his lips” (Psalm 106:33). Job “darkened counsel by words without knowledge “(Job 38:2). St. Peter’s words on one occasion drew upon him the rebuke, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Matthew 16:23). Psalm 34:13.”
A curret case that iillustrates the Scripture.The super power attacked a small and weak country under false pretense and covered up by speaking deceit because of the profit of oil. They used military force to seize oil tankers which operate lawfully. When the ringleader lies shamleesly, all its gang members speak deceit. Little they know, the Bible says, Rev 21:8, “But for the
cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” I would not trade a million takers of oil for Hell which is the second death — eternal suffering in Hell.
7.) Psa 35:28, “And my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousnessand Your praise all day long.”
shall speak] ‘Shall speak musingly, in the low murmur of one entranced by a sweet thought.’ Cheyne. of thy righteousness] For Jehovah’s righteousness (Psalm 35:24) will have been manifested in delivering His servant. all the day long] ‘Tota die Deum laudare quis durat? Suggero remedium, unde tota die laudes Deum, si vis. Quidquid egeris bene age, et laudasti Deum.… In innocentia operum tuorum praepara te ad laudandum Deum tota die.’ St Augustine.”
Verse 30. – The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom. (On the essential union of wisdom with goodness, see the Proverbs, passim.) And his tongue talketh of judgment; i.e. utters only what is morally right, and,, in accordance with’ truth and goodness. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” A good man out of the good treasure of his heart can only bring forth good things (Matthew 12:34, 35). Psalm 37:30.”
) Psa 39:1, “For the music director, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.I said, “I will keep watch over my waysso that I do not sin with my tongue;I will keep
watch over my mouth aswith a muzzle whilethe wicked are in my presence.”
1. I said] To myself: I resolved, as the result of self-communing. Cp. Psalm 30:6; Psalm 31:14. I will take heed to my ways] Lit. I will keep my ways: keep watch and ward over thought word and action. Cp. Proverbs 16:17; and the often repeated exhortation in Deuteronomy to ‘take heed’ (Deuteronomy 4:9; &c.). He fears that he may sin with his tongue (Job 31:30) by murmuring against God as he contrasts the prosperity of the wicked with his own lot of trial. Cp. Job 1:22; Job 2:10; and generally Psalms 37, 73. I will keep &c.] Lit. I will keep a muzzle for my mouth. Cp. Psalm 141:3. Perhaps with the LXX, we should read I will put … on. while the wicked is before me] For the sight of their prosperity is a temptation. Cp. Habakkuk 1:3. This seems to be the sense, rather than that he was afraid of giving way to complaints in the hearing of the wicked, which might give occasion for ridicule or blasphemy.”
10.) Psa 45:1, “For the music director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.My heart is moved with a good theme;I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”
Verse 1. – My heart is inditing a good matter; literally, bubbleth with a good matter – is so full of it that the matter will burst forth. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king; or, I utter that which I have composed concerning the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. It is noted that only “psalms of high and solemn import” have formal exordia of this kind, announcing the intention of the writer. Psalm 45:1.”
11.) Psa 50:19, “You let your mouth loose in evil,
Thou hast let loose thy mouth for evil, And thy tongue contriveth deceit. Giving way to unbridled speech, evil in substance and mischievous in aim: contriving a whole structure of deliberate falsehoods.”
12.) Psa 51:14, “Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.”
Psalm 51:14-15. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness — Hebrew, מדמים, middamim, from bloods, because he had been the cause of the death, not only of Uriah, but of others of the Lord’s people with him, 2 Samuel 11:17. My tongue shall sing of thy righteousness, of thy faithfulness in making good thy promises; or, rather, of thy clemency and goodness, as the word righteousness often signifies. Open thou my lips — Which are shut with shame, and grief, and horror. Restore unto me the opportunity, ability, and liberty which I formerly had of speaking to thee in prayer and praise, and to my fellow-creatures, by way of instruction, reproof, or exhortation, with freedom and boldness. And my mouth shall show forththy praise — In thy mercy and thy faithfulness remember thy gracious promises, and accomplish them, notwithstanding my unworthiness, and, as I shall be furnished with new motives and occasions for gratitude and thankfulness, my mouth shall everywhere declare thy goodness, to thy perpetual praise and glory.
Psalm 52:2. Thy tongue deviseth mischief — That is, expresses what thy wicked mind had devised. Thus skilfulness is ascribed to those hands which are governed by a skilful man, Psalm 78:72. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully — Wherewith a person, pretending only to shave off the hair, doth suddenly and unexpectedly cut a man’s throat. So Doeg, pretending only to vindicate himself from the imputation of disloyalty, 1 Samuel 22:8, really intended to expose the priests, who were friends to David, to the king’s fury and cruelty.
4. devouring words] Lit., words of swallowing up. Cp. the use of the verb in Psalm 35:25, “We have swallowed him up”: and Psalm 53:4. O thou deceitful tongue] This rendering is certainly preferable to that of the margin, ‘and the deceitful tongue.’ The bold identification of the offender with the offending member is far more vigorous, and perfectly legitimate. Cp. Psalm 120:2-3; Psalm 12:3; 1 Kings 19:18.”
Psalm 57:4. My soul is among lions — I live in the midst of a generation of fierce and bloody men; I lie — That is, I have my abode; among them that are set on fire — Namely, of, or from hell, James 3:6, who are mere firebrands and incendiaries, that are continually breathing out their wrath and threatenings. Even the sons of men — Whereby he explains what he meant by lions, and tells us that they were beasts in the shape of men; whose teeth — With which they gnash upon me, and with which they would, as it were, tear me to pieces, or eat me up; are spears and arrows — Fitted for mischiefs and murders; and their tongue — With which they wound my reputation, and load me with their curses, is a sharp sword — To cut and give deadly wounds.
Verse 17. – I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue; rather, and praise was under my tongue; i.e. I was so confident of being heard that a song of praise was already in my mouth, on the point of bursting forth. Psalm 66:17.”
17.) Psa 71:24, “My tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long; for they are put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek my harm.”
Verse 24. – My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. The musical utterance of praise can only be occasional, but the tongue can “talk” of God continually (see ver. 15). For they are confounded and brought unto shame, that seek my hurt (comp. Psalm 35:4; Psalm 40:14; Psalm 70:2).”
Verse 172. – My tongue shall speak of thy Word; or, “let my tongue respond to thy promise ” – return praise, i.e., for the fulfillment of thy promise. For all thy commandments are righteousness. And therefore are worthy objects of praise. Psalm 119:172.”
19.) Psa 120:2, “Rescue my soul, LORD, from lying lips,from a deceitful tongue.”
Verse 2. – Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips. Such as Sanballat’s (Nehemiah 6:6 – 8). And from a deceitful tongue; literally, a tongue that is fraud – a mere variant of the expression in the preceding clause. Psalm 120:2.”
20.) Psa 126:2, “Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting;
Verse 2. – Then was our mouth filled with laughter. The Orientals weep when they are disappointed, and, when they are pleased, laugh (Genesis 21:6; Job 8:21) and shout for joy (Herod., 8:99). And our tongue with singing; rather, with a cry of joy. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them; literally, hath magnified to do with them. The heathen, among whom the Israelites had dwelt, marveled at their deliverance. It was an event without a parallel. Psalm 126:2.”
Pro 6:16-19, “There are six things that the LORD hates,
Seven that are an abomination to Him:Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run
rapidly to evil, a false witness who declares lies,
Verse 16. – The whole structure and arrangement of the thoughts which occur in vers. 16-19 clearly show that this is not an independent section, but one closely allied to that which has just preceded. The object is to show that those evil qualities of deceit and malice which are disastrous to man are equally odious in the sight of Jehovah, and consequently within the scope of the Divine displeasure. These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him. The use of the numerical proverb, though common to the gnomic literature of Persia and Arabia, as Umbreit shows, is by our author confined to this single instance. Other examples occur in our book in the words of Agur the son of Jakeh (see Proverbs 30:7-9, 24-28), and the midda, the name given by later Jewish writers to this form of proverb, is observable in the ape-cryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus (see Proverbs 23:16; Proverbs 20:7 and Proverbs 26:5-28). When, as in the present instance, two numbers are given, the larger number corresponds with the things enumerated. So in Job 5:19. In Amos 1 and 2, however, there is an exception to this rule, where the numbers appear to be used indefinitely. As to the origin of the numerical proverb, the most probable explanation is that given by Hitzig and adopted by Zockler, namely, that it is due to the exigencies of parallelism. The author first adopts one number optionally, and then a second is employed as a parallel to it. Here, however, the number determined on in the writer’s mind is the larger number seven, and the smaller number six is used as a rhetorical parallel. An examination of the following verses will show that the seven exactly measures the things which are described as odious to the Lord. The Authorized Version, so far as the numbers are concerned, exactly represents the original, which, by the use of the cardinal number “seven” (sheva), and not the ordinal “seventh,” which would be sh’vii, shows that the things enumerated are equally an abomination in God’s sight. The view therefore, that the seventh vice is odious to God in an especial degree above the others, is untenable, though it has found defenders in Lowenstein, Bertheau, and von Gerlach, and is supported by the Vulgate, Sex sunt quae odit Dominus, et septimum detestatur anima ejus. All the seven things are execrable, all are equally objects of the Divine abhorrence. Besides, we cannot imagine that the vice of sowing discord among brethren, of ver. 19, is more odious to God than the crime of shedding innocent blood of ver. 17. Unto him (Hebrew, naph’sho); literally, of his soul. Proverbs 6:16.”
21.) Pro 6:24-25, “To keep you from the evil woman,
Proverbs 6:24-29. To keep thee from the evil woman — Which is mentioned as a great commendation of God’s word, because neither worldly discretion, nor a good education, nor moral precepts, nor any other considerations, are sufficient preservatives against this lust, as is manifest from daily experience. Lust not after her beauty — Do not give way to, or delight thyself with, unchaste thoughts or affections: compare Matthew 5:28. Neither let her take thee with her eyelids — With her wanton glances. For by means, &c., a man is brought to a piece of bread — To extreme poverty, so as to want, and be forced to beg his bread. And the adulteress will hunt for the precious life — To take away a man’s life; either by consuming his body and spirits, and so shortening his days; or more directly and strictly when she hath any great provocation to do it, or any prospect of considerable advantage thereby. Can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned? — The question implies a denial; he cannot escape burning. No more can he who burns in lust avoid destruction. Whosoever toucheth her — In any immodest way; shall not be innocent — He is in imminent danger of adultery, as he that takes fire in his bosom, or goes upon hot coals, is in danger of being burned. The way of sin is down hill, and those that venture upon the temptation to it will hardly escape the sin itself; and certainly shall not escape punishment, but shall meet with it either from God or man.”
Proverbs 10:20-21. The tongue of the just is as choice silver — Of great worth and use, bringing credit to himself, and great benefit to others; the heart of the wicked is little worth — And consequently his tongue, which speaketh out of the abundance of the heart, Matthew 12:34. The lips of the righteous feed many — By their wise and pious discourses, counsels, and comforts, which are so many evidences of their wisdom: but fools die for want of wisdom — They have not wisdom to preserve themselves, much less to feed others.”
23.) Pro 12:18, “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise
Verse 18. – There is that speaketh. The word implies speaking thoughtlessly, rashly; hence we may render, “a babbler,” “prater.” Such a one inflicts wounds with his senseless tattle. Like the piercings of a sword. The point of the simile is seen when we remember that the edge of the sword is called its “mouth” in the Hebrew (Genesis 34:26; Exodus 17:13, etc.; comp. Psalm 59:7; Psalm 64:3). The Greek gnome says – Ἀλλ οὐδὲν ἕρπει ψεῦδος εἰς γῆρας χρόνου “A sword the body wounds, a word the soul.” Vulgate, est qui promittit, which restricts the scope of the clause to the making of vain promises (Leviticus 5:4; Numbers 30:7-9), continuing, et quasi gladio pungitur conscientiae, “And is pierced as it were by the sword of his conscience.” where “conscience” is added to make the meaning plain. Such a man suffers remorse if he breaks his promise, or if, like Jephthah, he keeps it. The tongue of the wise is health; it does not pierce and wound like that of the chatterer, rather it soothes and heals even when it reproves (Proverbs 4:22; Proverbs 10:11). Proverbs 12:18.”
24.) Pro 12:19, “Truthful lips will endure forever,
Verse 19. – The lip of truth shall be established forever. Truth is consistent, invincible, enduring; and the fact belongs not only to Divine truth (Psalm 117:2; Matthew 24:35), but to human, in its measure. Septuagint, “True lips establish testimony,” pointing the last word ad as ed. Is but for a moment; literally, while I wink the eye (Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44). Lying never answers in the end; it is soon found out and punished (Proverbs 19:9; Psalm 52:5). Septuagint, “But a hasty (ταχύς; repentinus, Vulgate) witness hath an unjust tongue.” One who gives his testimony without due consideration, or influenced by evil motives, readily fails into lying and injustice. With the latter half of the verse we may compare the gnome – Ἀλλ οὐδὲν ἕρπει ψεῦδος εἰς γῆρας χρόνου “Unto old age no lie doth ever live.” A lie has no legs, is a maxim of wide nationality; and “Truth may be blamed, but shall ne’er be shamed.” Proverbs 12:19.”
Although lying tongue is for a moment, it can bring you eternal disaster.
Proverbs 15:2-4. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright — Expressing what he knows prudently and gracefully; taking due care both what, and when, and to whom, and in what manner he speaks; but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness — Plentifully, continually, promiscuously, and vehemently, as a fountain doth waters, as the word יביעsignifies. A wholesome tongue — Which utters sound and useful counsels; is a tree of life — Is very useful to preserve the present life, and to promote the spiritual and eternal life, both of the speaker and the hearers; but perverseness therein — False or corrupt speeches; is a breach in the spirit — Disturbs and wounds the spirit both of the speaker and hearers.”
Many do not know sound knowledge can be pleasant.
26.) Pro 15:4, “A soothing tongue is a tree of life,
Verse 4. – A wholesome tongue is a tree of life; a tongue that brings healing, that soothes by its words. Septuagint, “the healing of the tongue.” But the Vulgate rendering is better, lingua placabilis, “the gentle, mild tongue” (see on Proverbs 14:30). Speech from such a source refreshes and vivifies all who come under its influence, like the wholesome fruit of a prolific tree (comp. Proverbs 3:18; Proverbs 11:30). Ψυχῆς νοσούσης ἐστὶ φάρμακον λόγος “The sick soul by a healing word is cured.” But perverseness therein – in the tongue – is a breach in the spirit. The perverseness intended must be falsehood, perversion of the truth. This is ruin and vexation (Isaiah 65:14, where the same word is used) in the spirit, both in the liar himself, whose higher nature is thus terribly marred and spoiled, and in the case of his neighbour, who is injured by his slander and falsehood to the, very core. The LXX., with a different reading, translates, “But he who keepeth it [the tongue] shall be filled with the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4.”
27.) Pro 16:1, “The plans of the heart belong to a person, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.”
The preparations &c.] Rather: To man belong the preparations (or plans) of the heart; But from Jehovah is the answer of the tongue. This cannot mean that wise thoughts are human, but wise words divine, that man unaided can plan well, but only by God’s help can speak well; but rather that after man has done his utmost in planning, his wisest plans may come to nought in the comparatively easy act of giving utterance to them with a view to their accomplishment, unless Jehovah guides his tongue. And the implied moral of the proverb is, If you cannot do the less without God, do not attempt to do the greater without Him; “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths,” Proverbs 3:5-6. Comp. Proverbs 16:9 of this chapter.”
28.) Pro 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Verse 21. – Death and life are in the power of the tongue; literally, in the hand of the tongue. The tongue, according as it is used, deals forth life or death; for speech is the picture of the mind (comp. Proverbs 12:18; Proverbs 26:28). The vast importance of our words may be learned from James 3; and our blessed Lord says expressly (Matthew 12:36, etc.), “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Hence the gnome – Γλῶσσα τύχη γλῶσσα δαίμων intimating that the tongue is the real controller of man’s destiny; and another – Λόγῳ διοικεῖται βροτῶν βίος μόνῳ By words alone is life of mortals swayed.” And they that love it (the tongue) shall eat the fruit thereof. They who use it much must abide the consequences of their words, whether by kind and pure and edifying conversation they contribute health and life to themselves and others, or whether by foul, calumnious, corrupting language they involve themselves and others in mortal sin. For “they that love it,” the Septuagint has, οἱ κρατοῦντες αὐτῆς, “they who get the mastery over it.” Proverbs 18:21.”
The power of the tongue can determine death and life.
29.) Pro 21:23, “One who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles.”
Verse 23. – We have had similar maxims before (Proverbs 13:8 and Proverbs 18:21, where see notes). He keepeth his mouth, who knows when to speak and when to be silent; and he keepeth his tongue, who says only what is to the purpose. We have all heard the proverb, “Speech is silver, silence is gold.” One who thus takes heed of his words, keepeth his soul from troubles. The troubles (angores, Vulgate) are such as these – remorse for the evil occasioned, distress of conscience, vexation and strife with offended neighbours, danger of liberty and life, and, above all, the anger of God, and retribution in the judgment. Proverbs 21:23.”
To guard your mouth and your tongue is to guard your soul from troubles.
30.) Luk 16:24, “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.”
Luke 16:24. Αὐτὸς, himself). No longer now does he enjoy the attendance of slaves, but is a beggar himself.—πάτερ, father) Implying his “glorying in the flesh” [boasting of mere outward privileges of descent from the father of the faithful]: ‘Son’ in Luke 16:25 corresponds to ‘Father’ here.—πέμψον, send) Even as yet the self-indulger holds in little esteem Lazarus, even as yet in little esteem Moses: Luke 16:30.—ἵνα βάψῃ, that he may dip) This verb does not always imply a great abundance of water: from it is derived βαπτίζω. Not even the slightest mitigation is vouchsafed. This truly is “the wine of the wrath of God poured out, ἄκρατον, without mixture.” Revelation 14:10, (Chrysostom observes, ἡ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης σταγὼν ἀμίκτως ἔχει πρὸς τὴν ἀπήνειαν, A drop of the Divine compassion is not mixed with the unfeeling hard-heartedness of this rich feaster.—γλῶσσαν, tongue) His tongue it was that had especially sinned.”
Jesus says, Mat 13:42, “and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Mar 9:43, “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into Hell, into the unquenchable fire.”
Jesus makes sure you understand that Hell fire is unquenchable fire. Hell fire is real fire, material fire that makes you in agony in the flame. By the same token, salvation is a gift of God. Rom 10:9,
“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” You can do it now.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free. We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
The greatest event to take place in the universe is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The greatest event to take place in the universe is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Yet there are so many misguided and false information on the Internet for sale and promotion. My brothers and sisters in Christ, one may err in many things; one cannot afford to err in the greatest event to take place in the universe which is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I do not make money for proclaiming the Biblical truths. In fact, I urge you to examine the Bible to see whether what I present is according to the Word of God or not. Let me repeat, I do not make money by preaching the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Such an important subjec, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is worth your time and effort. There is infinite ways to be crooked, and only one way to be straight. I do not want to cite the false theories presented and sold by many, that would make me guilty of promoting unsound doctrines. I do not mention the names of false teachers because I do not promote them.
I use to think the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a one-time event; when Jesus returns, everything will be alright. Then I learn from the Bible that the Second Coming of Christ is a long process involving 7 events to complete. This is a terrible truth: One can be a fool and not knowing it. For that reason I often worder and do not know why God wants to use such a long time to complete the process of the second coming. I admit my ignorance, and I hold no man could give an answer.
Here it is. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ begins with 1. Rapture. 2. The Great Tribulation. 3. The Second Appearance of Jesus with millions of angels and saints in great glory and power,
Mat 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY
2Pe 1:16–18 ). 4. Millenium. 5. Armageddon. 6. White Throne Judgment. 7. The Kingdom of Heaven.
The Rapture
It is wrong to believe a series of process of the second coming of Jesus is a separate and distinct event from the second coming of Christ. Many believers err because they think the second coming of Jesus Chris is one-time event, not knowing that the second coming of Jesus is the process which begins with the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Appearing of Jesus Christ, the Millennium, the Armageddon, the White Throne Judgement, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven. There are so many false teachers and false prophets in the world today, it is a waste of time and efforts to study them. It is wrong to start debating the Christian Faith on ground of certain teachings and private interpretations of some individuals no matter how famous they were.
On top of the problem, the Bible uses the word Rapture on other meaning, only Jesus teaches the concept of Rapture.
It is wrong when someone wrote, “Rapture doctrine did not exist before John Darby invented it in 1830 AD. Before it “popped into John Darby’s head” no one had ever heard of a secret rapture doctrine.”
Rapture is taught by Jesus Christ Himself some 2,000Years ago…
“1. Rapture doctrine is one of the most recent “new doctrines” in the history of the Church. The only doctrine more recent is the invention of the sinner’s prayer for salvation by Billy Sunday in 1930, which was made popular by Billy Graham in 1935.
The fact that John Nelson Darby invented the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine around 1830 AD is unquestionably true. All attempts to find evidence of this wild doctrine before 1830 have failed, with a single exception: Morgan Edwards wrote a short essay as a college paper for Bristol Baptist College in Bristol England in 1744 where he confused the second coming with the first resurrection of Revelation 20 and described a “pre-tribulation” rapture. However Edwards ideas, which he admitted were brand new and never before taught, had no influence in the modern population of the false doctrine. That prize to goes to Darby.”
There is nothing more deadly than false doctrines or teachings by false teachers claiming to be authentic or authorative.The doctine of Rapture has nothing to do with John Nelson Darby or Billy Graham. I believe in the doctrinne of Rapture because 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ Himself taught it.
It is written, Mat 24:37-42, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Twowomen will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Be Ready for His Coming. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
Matthew 24:37-41. But as the days of Noe were, &c. — As then they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till they were surprised by the flood, notwithstanding the frequent warnings and admonitions of that preacher of righteousness: so now, they shall be engaged in the business and pleasures of the world, little expecting, little thinking of this universal ruin, till it come upon them, notwithstanding the express predictions and declarations of Christ and his apostles. Then shall two be in the field, &c. — That is, Providence will then make a distinction between such as are not at all distinguished now. Some shall be rescued from the destruction of Jerusalem, like Lot out of the burning of Sodom; while others, nowise different in outward circumstances, shall be left to perish in it. Two women shall be grinding at the mill — A passage in Dr. E. Daniel Clarke’s Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, published in 1812, (p. 428,) may fitly be quoted here. “Scarcely had we reached the apartment prepared for our reception,” (namely, in Nazareth,) “when, looking from the window into the court-yard belonging to the house, we beheld two women grinding at the mill in a manner most forcibly illustrating a saying of our Saviour’s. In the centre of the upper stone was a cavity for pouring in the corn, and by the side of this an upright wooden handle for moving the stone. As the operation began, one of the women, with her right hand, pushed this handle to the woman opposite, who again sent it to her companion; thus communicating a rotatory and very rapid motion to the upper stone, their left hands being all the while employed in supplying fresh corn, as fast as the bran and flour escaped from the sides of the machine.” Hitherto we have explained the contents of this chapter as relating to the destruction of Jerusalem; of which, without doubt, it is primarily to be understood. But though it is to be understood of this primarily, yet not of this only; for there is no question that our Lord had a further view in it. It is usual with the prophets to frame and express their prophecies so as that they shall comprehend more than one event, and have their several periods of completion. This every one must have observed who has been ever so little conversant in the writings of the ancient prophets, and this doubtless is the case here; and the destruction of Jerusalem is to be considered as typical of the end of the world, of which the destruction of a great city is a lively type and image. And we may observe that our Saviour no sooner begins to speak of the destruction of Jerusalem, than his figures are raised, his language swelled, (The sun shall be darkened, &c.,) and he expresses himself in such terms as, in a lower and figurative sense indeed, are applicable to that destruction; but in their higher and literal sense, can be meant only of the end of the world. The same may be said of that text, Of that day and season knoweth no man, &c: the consistence and connection of the discourse oblige us to understand it as spoken of the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, but in a higher sense it may be true also of the time of the end of the world, and of the general judgment. All the subsequent discourse too, we may observe, does not relate so properly to the destruction of Jerusalem as to the end of the world and the general judgment. Our Lord loses sight, as it were, of his former subject, and adapts his discourse more to the latter. And, indeed, the end of the Jewish state was, in a manner, the end of the world to many of the Jews. It appears next to impossible that any man should duly consider these prophecies, and the exact completion of them, and, if he is a believer, not be confirmed in the faith; or, if he is an infidel, not be converted. Can any stronger proof be given of a divine revelation than the spirit of prophecy; or of the spirit of prophecy, than the examples now before us, in which so many contingencies, and we may say, improbabilities, which human wisdom or prudence could never have foreseen, are so particularly foretold, and so punctually accomplished! At the time when Christ pronounced these prophecies, the Roman governor resided at Jerusalem, and had a force sufficient to keep the people in obedience; and could human prudence foresee that the city, as well as the country, would revolt and rebel against the Romans? Could it foresee pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in divers places? Could it foresee the speedy propagation of the gospel, so contrary to all human probability? Could human prudence foresee such an utter destruction of Jerusalem, with all the circumstances preceding and following it? It was never the custom of the Romans absolutely to ruin any of their provinces. It was improbable, therefore, that such a thing should happen at all, and still more improbable that it should happen under the humane and generous Titus who was indeed, as he was called, the love and delight of mankind. Yet, however improbable this was it has happened, and it was foreseen and foretold by Christ; but how was it possible for him to foresee it, unless his foresight was divine, and his prediction the infallible oracle of God? Eusebius observes well upon this place, that, “Whoever shall compare the words of our Saviour with the history which Josephus has written of the war, cannot but admire the wisdom of Christ, and acknowledge his prediction to be divine.”
Why did the early church believe about the “Rapture”? Because the Bible says so, stupid. What is wrong with the Rapture? Nothing is wrong with the Rapture, SOMETHING wrong are with those who do not believe. What you believe are not important, what the Bible says matters. Watch out for the enemies who want to destroy the Faith by pretending to be believers or teachers.
There have been many predictions of the date of the second coming of Jesus Christ, all have failed as the Lord says, no one knows.
Many confuse about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ because they think it is only one Event. Most people do not know the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a series of the process linkin to the Event. Taking the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as a popular subject, many merchandise and peddle the knowledge of God by charging a large sum for subscription and in addition shamelessly ask for donation. False ministers think they are entitled to donations simply because they preach the Gospel. If you take a cursory look at the Internet, you will be surprised how many individuals and organizations engage in merchandising and selling the Bible knowledge for money. If you do not pay a subscription, you will have no access to their articles and they disable any copy of their articles. These enemies of the truth embellish with their private opinions. They do not seem to fear the fiery Hell.
2Pe 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Knowing this first.—The participle belongs to “take heed” in 2Peter 1:19. “First” means “first of all” (1Timothy 2:1), not “before I tell you.” In studying prophecy this is the first thing to be borne in mind.
Is of any private interpretation.—Better, comes to be, or becomes of private interpretation. The word rendered “interpretation” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; but the cognate verb occurs in Mark 4:34, where it is translated “expound.” (See Note there.) There can be little doubt that “interpretation,” or “solution,” is the right rendering here, although others have been suggested. The main question however, is the meaning of the word rendered “private,” which may also mean “its own.” Hence three explanations are possible. The term may refer (1) to the recipients of the prophecies—that we may not expound prophecy according to our own fancy; or (2) to the utterers of the prophecies—that the prophets had not the power of expounding their own prophecies; or (3) to the prophecies themselves—that no prophecy comes to be of its own interpretation, i.e., no prophecy explains itself. The guide to the right explanation is 2Peter 1:21, which gives the reason why “no prophecy of the scripture,” &c. This consideration excludes (3); for 2Peter 1:21 yields no sense as showing why prophecy does not interpret itself. Either of the other two explanations may be right. (1) If prophecy came “by the will of man,” then it might be interpreted according to man’s fancy. But it did not so come; consequently the interpretation must be sought elsewhere—viz., at the same source from which the prophecy itself proceeded. (2) If the prophets spoke just as they pleased, they would be the best exponents of what they meant. But they spoke under divine influence, and therefore need not know the import of their own words. Prophecy must be explained by prophecy and by history, not by the individual prophet. The whole body of prophecy, “the prophetic word” (2Peter 1:19), is our lamp in the wilderness, not the private dicta of any one seer. In modern phraseology, interpretation must be comparative and scientific. This view is strengthened by comparing 1Peter 1:10-12, where it is stated that the prophets did not know how or when their own predictions would be fulfilled. Possibly this passage is meant to refer to 1Peter 1:10-12, and if so, we have a mark of genuineness; a forger would have made the reference more clear. If the coincidence is accidental, this also points in the same direction; in any case, the coincidence is worth noting.”
2Pe 3:15-17, “and regard the patience of our Lordas salvation; just as also our beloved brotherPaul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught andunstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment.”
And account; reckon with yourselves, and be confidently persuaded; or take for granted. The longsuffering of our Lord; viz. in his not yet coming to judgment, and bearing with so much sin in the world without presently punishing it. Is salvation; i.e. tends or conduceth to salvation, in that hereby he gives space for repentance to the elect unconverted, and alloweth time for the building up and perfecting those that are converted, 2 Peter 3:9. Even as our beloved brother Paul; not only brother in Christ, as a saint, but in office, as an apostle. According to the wisdom given unto him; that eminent and profound knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel in which Paul did excel, 1 Corinthians 2:6,7 Eph 3:3,4. Peter makes such honourable mention of Paul: 1. That he might commend to the Jewish Christians the doctrine Paul had preached, though a minister of the uncircumcision; 2. To show that he had nothing the worse thoughts of him for being so sharply reproved by him, Galatians 2:1-21; and: 3. That he might arm the saints against those heretics that abused Paul’s writings, and wrested them to their own meaning, probably, to patronize their errors. Hath written unto you; unto you Jewish believers, viz. either: 1. In his Epistle to the Romans, Romans 2:4, where is a passage very like this: or: 2. In his Epistle to the Hebrews, which, though it were not entitled to the Jews of the dispersion, yet was written to their nation; and in that Epistle several places there are of the same purport with this here; {see Hebrews 9:28 10:23,25,36,37} and other Epistle of Paul to the Jews we have none: and in this he shows much of that wisdom God gave him in the mystery of the gospel; and in this likewise are many things hard to be understood.”
These unscrupulous people do not seem to fear the warnings of the Lord:2Pe 2:3, “and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
And through covetousness.—Better, In covetousness. This is the atmosphere in which they live. (See Notes on 2Peter 2:18 and 2Peter 1:1-2; 2Peter 1:4; 2Peter 1:13.) Wiclif and Rheims have “in.” Simon Magus offering St. Peter money, which no doubt he was accustomed to take himself for his teaching, may illustrate this (Acts 8:18; comp. 1Timothy 6:5; Titus 1:10-11). These false teachers, like the Greek Sophists, taught for money. A bombastic mysticism, promising to reveal secrets about the unseen world and the future, was a very lucrative profession in the last days of Paganism, and it passed over to Christianity as an element in various heresies. (Comp. the Shepherd of Hermas, Sim. IX. xix. 3.)
Make merchandise of you.—The verb means literally to travel, especially as a merchant on business; and hence “to be a merchant,” “to trade,” and, with an accusative, “to deal in,” “make merchandise of.” (Comp. our commercial phrase, “to travel in” such and such goods.) It may also mean simply “to gain,” or “gain over,” which would make good sense here; but our version is perhaps better. The word occurs elsewhere only in James 4:13. “With feigned words” possibly refers back to “cunningly devised fables” (2Peter 1:16).
Lingereth not.—Literally, is not idle, the cognate verb of the adjective in 2Peter 1:8. Their sentence has long since been pronounced, is working, and in due time will strike them. We have a similar thought in 1Peter 4:17.
Their damnation slumbereth not.—Better, their destruction. (See fourth Note on 2Peter 2:1.) Wiclif and Rheims have “perdition.” The destruction involved in the judgment pronounced by God is awake and on its way to overtake them. The word for “slumbereth” occurs in Matthew 25:5 only. We now pass on to see how it is that this judgment “of a long time” has been working. It was pronounced against all sinners, such as they are, from the first beginning of the world.”
2Pe 2:14, “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children.” 1Th 2:5, “For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—”For the love of money, these unscrupulous people ignore the Word of God:1Co 5:11, “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-calledbrother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person.”
“But now.” In this Epistle. This shows that he had written a former letter. I have written to you. – Above. I have designed to give this injunction that you are to be entirely separated from one who is a professor of religion and who is guilty of these things. Not to keep company – To be wholly separated and withdrawn from such a person. Not to associate with him in any manner. If any man that is called a brother – Any professing Christian; any member of the church. Be a fornicator … – Like him who is mentioned, 1 Corinthians 5:1. Or an idolater – This must mean those persons who, while they professed Christianity, still attended the idol feasts, and worshipped there. Perhaps a few such may have been found who had adopted the Christian profession hypocritically. Or a railer – A reproachful man; a man of coarse, harsh, and bitter words; a man whose characteristic it was to abuse others; to vilify their character, and wound their feelings. It is needless to say how much this is contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and to the example of the Master, “who when he was reviled, reviled not again.”
Or a drunkard – Perhaps there might have been some then in the church, as there are now, who were addicted to this vice. It has been the source of incalculable evils to the church; and the apostle, therefore, solemnly enjoins on Christians to have no fellowship with a man who is intemperate.
With such an one no not to eat – To have no contact or fellowship with him of any kind; not to do anything that would seem to acknowledge him as a brother; with such an one not even to eat at the same table. A similar course is enjoined by John; 2 John 1:10-11. This refers to the contact of common life, and not particularly to the communion. The true Christian was wholly to disown such a person, and not to do anything that would seem to imply that he regarded him as a Christian brother. It will be seen here that the rule was much more strict in regard to one who professed to be a Christian than to those who were known and acknowledged pagans. The reasons may have been:
The necessity of keeping the church pure, and of not doing anything that would seem to imply that Christians were the patrons and friends of the intemperate and the wicked.
in respect to the pagan, there could be no danger of its being supposed that Christians regarded them as brethren, or showed to them any more than the ordinary civilities of life; but in regard to those who professed to be Christians, but who were drunkards, or licentious, if a man was on terms of intimacy with them, it would seem as if he acknowledged them as brethren and recognized them as Christians.
(3) this entire separation and withdrawing from all communion was necessary in these times to save the church from scandal, and from the injurious reports which were circulated. The pagan accused Christians of all manner of crime and abominations. These reports were greatly injurious to the church. But it was evident that currency and plausibility would be given to them if it was known that Christians were on terms of intimacy and good fellowship with pagans and intemperate persons. Hence, it became necessary to withdraw wholly from them to withhold even the ordinary courtesies of life; and to draw a line of total and entire separation. Whether this rule in its utmost strictness is demanded now, since the nature of Christianity is known, and since religion cannot be in “so much” danger from such reports, may be made a question. I am inclined to the opinion that the ordinary civilities of life may be shown to such persons; though certainly nothing that would seem to recognize them as Christians. But as neighbors and relatives; as those who may be in distress and want, we are assuredly not forbidden to show toward them the offices of kindness and compassion. Whitby and some others, however, understand this of the communion of the Lord’s Supper and of that only.”
1Co 6:10, “nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God.”Eph 5:5, “For this you know with certainty,that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.”
The crux of the matter is to start the Bible knowledge with the chronology sets by the Holy Bible. Needless to say, I do not get pay by presenting the Word of God, neither do I ask for any donation. I believe in rightly dividing the Word of God, I sincerely believe the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will begins with the process chronologically the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Appearing of the Lord in great power and glory, the Millennium, the Armagedon, the White Throne Judgement, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven when and where the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, will reign forever and ever.Many do not know the so-called Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the same asTit 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing.—The Greek should here be rendered, looking for the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory. And that holy life, just urged on the believer, of quiet self-restraint, of love to others, of piety towards God, must be lit up by a blessed hope, by a hope which is far more than a hope; that holy life of the faithful must be a continued waiting for a blessed hope—“the hope laid up for us in heaven” (Colossians 1:5). It may be asked, What is this hope? We answer, it is “the hope of glory” which we shall share with the Son of God, when we behold Him as He is. So for us the hope of glory is intimately bound up with the second coming of the Lord. Then the life of the lover of the Lord must be one continued looking for, waiting for, the coming of the Lord in glory—must be a looking for that hour when we shall see in all His divine majesty, Him who redeemed us. In that life and light, in that majesty and glory, His own will share.
Of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.—The translation here should run, of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From the English version, it would seem that Paul’s idea was that the Christian should live waiting for the glorious appearing of the great God, accompanied with our Lord Jesus Christ. The rendering we have adopted, on what seems conclusive grounds, speaks of a Christian life, as a life ever looking for the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In this sublime passage the glory of the only begotten Son alone finds mention. Taken thus, it is a studied declaration of the divinity of the Eternal Son, who is here styled “our great God and Saviour.” Reasoning merely on grammatical principles, either translation would be possible, only even then there is a presumption in favour of the translation we have adopted. (See Ellicott’s Note on this verse.) But other considerations are by no means so nearly equally balanced. The word “manifestation” (epiphany), the central thought of the sentence, is employed by St. Paul in his Epistles five times, and in every one of them to describe the manifestation of Christ, and in four of them to designate the future manifestation of His coming in glory, as here. The term epiphany is never applied to the Father.
Again, the whole of the context of the passage specially relates to the “Son of God.” The introduction of the epiphany “of the Father” would be a thought not merely strange to the whole New Testament, but would bring quite a new idea into this statement, which sets forth so sublimely the epiphany of Christ as the ground of the Christian’s hope—an idea, too, no sooner suggested than dropped, for the passage goes on to speak only of the Son. Perhaps, however, the weightiest argument that can be adduced is the consensus of the Greek orthodox fathers, who, with scarcely an exception, concur in the interpretation which understands the expression “of our great God” as used of Jesus Christ. To select two examples out of the long chain of fathers reaching from the apostolic age who have thus understood this text: “St. Paul here calls Christ the great God, and thus rebukes the heretical blasphemy which denies His Godhead” (Theodoret). “What can those persons say,” asks Chrysostom, referring to this passage, “who allege that the Son is inferior to the Father?” (See Wordsworth’s Note here.).”
Although the word “rapture” in the Bible may not be used in the sense related to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, remember the Words of Jesus alone are sufficient to form a doctrine and worth more than words of ten thousand so-called church fathers. The worst practice is to distort the Word of God on account to discredit some teachings of certain individual(s) alluded and linked to a specific sound doctrine. It is a diabolical practice to attack a man in order to discredit a certain Biblical teaching. The Christian Faith is not based on teachings or opinions of any man. False prophets and false teachers invented their teachings as Biblical doctrines.
It is wrong to believe a series of process of the second coming of Jesus is a separate and distinct event from the second coming of Christ. Many believers err because they think the second coming of Jesus Chris is one-time event, not knowing that the second coming of Jesus is the process which begins with the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Appearing of Jesus Christ, the Millennium, the Armageddon, the White Throne Judgement, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven. There are so many false teachers and false prophets in the world today, it is a waste of time and efforts to study them. It is wrong to start debating the Christian Faith on ground of certain teachings and private interpretations of some individuals no matter how famous they were.
It is my policy never to promote their names. John Calvin was the exception, I deliberately made the Biblical point to refute and reject his false teaching because he was welknown and had immerse influence. His erroneous and cultish teachings could ruin many souls.On top of the problem, the Bible uses the word Rapture on other meaning, only Jesus teaches the concept of Rapture.
It is wrong when someone wrote, “Rapture doctrine did not exist before John Darby invented it in 1830 AD. Before it “popped into John Darby’s head” no one had ever heard of a secret rapture doctrine.”
Rapture is taught by Jesus Christ Himself some 2,000Years ago…
“1. Rapture doctrine is one of the most recent “new doctrines” in the history of the Church. The only doctrine more recent is the invention of the sinner’s prayer for salvation by Billy Sunday in 1930, which was made popular by Billy Graham in 1935.
The fact that John Nelson Darby invented the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine around 1830 AD is unquestionably true. All attempts to find evidence of this wild doctrine before 1830 have failed, with a single exception: Morgan Edwards wrote a short essay as a college paper for Bristol Baptist College in Bristol England in 1744 where he confused the second coming with the first resurrection of Revelation 20 and described a “pre-tribulation” rapture. However Edwards ideas, which he admitted were brand new and never before taught, had no influence in the modern population of the false doctrine. That prize to goes to Darby.”
There is nothing more deadly than false doctrines or teachings by false teachers claiming to be authentic or authorative.The doctine of Rapture has nothing to do with John Nelson Darby or Billy Graham. I believe in the doctrinne of Rapture because 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ Himself taught it.It is written, Mat 24:37-42, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Be Ready for His Coming. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
Matthew 24:37-41. But as the days of Noe were, &c. — As then they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till they were surprised by the flood, notwithstanding the frequent warnings and admonitions of that preacher of righteousness: so now, they shall be engaged in the business and pleasures of the world, little expecting, little thinking of this universal ruin, till it come upon them, notwithstanding the express predictions and declarations of Christ and his apostles. Then shall two be in the field, &c. — That is, Providence will then make a distinction between such as are not at all distinguished now. Some shall be rescued from the destruction of Jerusalem, like Lot out of the burning of Sodom; while others, nowise different in outward circumstances, shall be left to perish in it. Two women shall be grinding at the mill — A passage in Dr. E. Daniel Clarke’s Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, published in 1812, (p. 428,) may fitly be quoted here. “Scarcely had we reached the apartment prepared for our reception,” (namely, in Nazareth,) “when, looking from the window into the court-yard belonging to the house, we beheld two women grinding at the mill in a manner most forcibly illustrating a saying of our Saviour’s. In the centre of the upper stone was a cavity for pouring in the corn, and by the side of this an upright wooden handle for moving the stone. As the operation began, one of the women, with her right hand, pushed this handle to the woman opposite, who again sent it to her companion; thus communicating a rotatory and very rapid motion to the upper stone, their left hands being all the while employed in supplying fresh corn, as fast as the bran and flour escaped from the sides of the machine.” Hitherto we have explained the contents of this chapter as relating to the destruction of Jerusalem; of which, without doubt, it is primarily to be understood. But though it is to be understood of this primarily, yet not of this only; for there is no question that our Lord had a further view in it. It is usual with the prophets to frame and express their prophecies so as that they shall comprehend more than one event, and have their several periods of completion. This every one must have observed who has been ever so little conversant in the writings of the ancient prophets, and this doubtless is the case here; and the destruction of Jerusalem is to be considered as typical of the end of the world, of which the destruction of a great city is a lively type and image. And we may observe that our Saviour no sooner begins to speak of the destruction of Jerusalem, than his figures are raised, his language swelled, (The sun shall be darkened, &c.,) and he expresses himself in such terms as, in a lower and figurative sense indeed, are applicable to that destruction; but in their higher and literal sense, can be meant only of the end of the world. The same may be said of that text, Of that day and season knoweth no man, &c: the consistence and connection of the discourse oblige us to understand it as spoken of the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, but in a higher sense it may be true also of the time of the end of the world, and of the general judgment. All the subsequent discourse too, we may observe, does not relate so properly to the destruction of Jerusalem as to the end of the world and the general judgment. Our Lord loses sight, as it were, of his former subject, and adapts his discourse more to the latter. And, indeed, the end of the Jewish state was, in a manner, the end of the world to many of the Jews. It appears next to impossible that any man should duly consider these prophecies, and the exact completion of them, and, if he is a believer, not be confirmed in the faith; or, if he is an infidel, not be converted. Can any stronger proof be given of a divine revelation than the spirit of prophecy; or of the spirit of prophecy, than the examples now before us, in which so many contingencies, and we may say, improbabilities, which human wisdom or prudence could never have foreseen, are so particularly foretold, and so punctually accomplished! At the time when Christ pronounced these prophecies, the Roman governor resided at Jerusalem, and had a force sufficient to keep the people in obedience; and could human prudence foresee that the city, as well as the country, would revolt and rebel against the Romans? Could it foresee pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in divers places? Could it foresee the speedy propagation of the gospel, so contrary to all human probability? Could human prudence foresee such an utter destruction of Jerusalem, with all the circumstances preceding and following it? It was never the custom of the Romans absolutely to ruin any of their provinces. It was improbable, therefore, that such a thing should happen at all, and still more improbable that it should happen under the humane and generous Titus who was indeed, as he was called, the love and delight of mankind. Yet, however improbable this was it has happened, and it was foreseen and foretold by Christ; but how was it possible for him to foresee it, unless his foresight was divine, and his prediction the infallible oracle of God? Eusebius observes well upon this place, that, “Whoever shall compare the words of our Saviour with the history which Josephus has written of the war, cannot but admire the wisdom of Christ, and acknowledge his prediction to be divine.”
Why did the early church believe about the “Rapture”?Because the Bible says so, stupid. What is wrong with the Rapture? Nothing is wrong with the Rapture, SOMETHING wrong are with those who do not believe. What you believe are not important, what the Bible says matters. Watch out for the enemies who want to destroy the Faith by pretending to be believers or teachers.
There have been many predictions of the date of the second coming of Jesus Christ, all have failed as the Lord says, no one knows.Many confuse about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ because they think it is only one Event. Most people do not know the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a series of the process linkin to the Event. Taking the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as a popular subject, many merchandise and peddle the knowledge of God by charging a large sum for subscription and in addition shamelessly ask for donation. False ministers think they are entitled to donations simply because they preach the Gospel. If you take a cursory look at the Internet, you will be surprised how many individuals and organizations engage in merchandising and selling the Bible knowledge for money. If you do not pay a subscription, you will have no access to their articles and they disable any copy of their articles. These enemies of the truth embellish with their private opinions. They do not seem to fear the fiery Hell.2Pe 1:20-21, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Knowing this first.—The participle belongs to “take heed” in 2Peter 1:19. “First” means “first of all” (1Timothy 2:1), not “before I tell you.” In studying prophecy this is the first thing to be borne in mind.
Is of any private interpretation.—Better, comes to be, or becomes of private interpretation. The word rendered “interpretation” occurs nowhere else in the New Testament; but the cognate verb occurs in Mark 4:34, where it is translated “expound.” (See Note there.) There can be little doubt that “interpretation,” or “solution,” is the right rendering here, although others have been suggested. The main question however, is the meaning of the word rendered “private,” which may also mean “its own.” Hence three explanations are possible. The term may refer (1) to the recipients of the prophecies—that we may not expound prophecy according to our own fancy; or (2) to the utterers of the prophecies—that the prophets had not the power of expounding their own prophecies; or (3) to the prophecies themselves—that no prophecy comes to be of its own interpretation, i.e., no prophecy explains itself. The guide to the right explanation is 2Peter 1:21, which gives the reason why “no prophecy of the scripture,” &c. This consideration excludes (3); for 2Peter 1:21 yields no sense as showing why prophecy does not interpret itself. Either of the other two explanations may be right. (1) If prophecy came “by the will of man,” then it might be interpreted according to man’s fancy. But it did not so come; consequently the interpretation must be sought elsewhere—viz., at the same source from which the prophecy itself proceeded. (2) If the prophets spoke just as they pleased, they would be the best exponents of what they meant. But they spoke under divine influence, and therefore need not know the import of their own words. Prophecy must be explained by prophecy and by history, not by the individual prophet. The whole body of prophecy, “the prophetic word” (2Peter 1:19), is our lamp in the wilderness, not the private dicta of any one seer. In modern phraseology, interpretation must be comparative and scientific. This view is strengthened by comparing 1Peter 1:10-12, where it is stated that the prophets did not know how or when their own predictions would be fulfilled. Possibly this passage is meant to refer to 1Peter 1:10-12, and if so, we have a mark of genuineness; a forger would have made the reference more clear. If the coincidence is accidental, this also points in the same direction; in any case, the coincidence is worth noting.”
2Pe 3:15-17, “and regard the patience of our Lordas salvation; just as also our beloved brotherPaul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment.”
And account; reckon with yourselves, and be confidently persuaded; or take for granted. The longsuffering of our Lord; viz. in his not yet coming to judgment, and bearing with so much sin in the world without presently punishing it. Is salvation; i.e. tends or conduceth to salvation, in that hereby he gives space for repentance to the elect unconverted, and alloweth time for the building up and perfecting those that are converted, 2 Peter 3:9. Even as our beloved brother Paul; not only brother in Christ, as a saint, but in office, as an apostle. According to the wisdom given unto him; that eminent and profound knowledge in the mysteries of the gospel in which Paul did excel, 1 Corinthians 2:6,7 Eph 3:3,4. Peter makes such honourable mention of Paul: 1. That he might commend to the Jewish Christians the doctrine Paul had preached, though a minister of the uncircumcision; 2. To show that he had nothing the worse thoughts of him for being so sharply reproved by him, Galatians 2:1-21; and: 3. That he might arm the saints against those heretics that abused Paul’s writings, and wrested them to their own meaning, probably, to patronize their errors. Hath written unto you; unto you Jewish believers, viz. either: 1. In his Epistle to the Romans, Romans 2:4, where is a passage very like this: or: 2. In his Epistle to the Hebrews, which, though it were not entitled to the Jews of the dispersion, yet was written to their nation; and in that Epistle several places there are of the same purport with this here; {see Hebrews 9:28 10:23,25,36,37} and other Epistle of Paul to the Jews we have none: and in this he shows much of that wisdom God gave him in the mystery of the gospel; and in this likewise are many things hard to be understood.”
These unscrupulous people do not seem to fear the warnings of the Lord:2Pe 2:3, “and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
And through covetousness.—Better, In covetousness. This is the atmosphere in which they live. (See Notes on 2Peter 2:18 and 2Peter 1:1-2; 2Peter 1:4; 2Peter 1:13.) Wiclif and Rheims have “in.” Simon Magus offering St. Peter money, which no doubt he was accustomed to take himself for his teaching, may illustrate this (Acts 8:18; comp. 1Timothy 6:5; Titus 1:10-11). These false teachers, like the Greek Sophists, taught for money. A bombastic mysticism, promising to reveal secrets about the unseen world and the future, was a very lucrative profession in the last days of Paganism, and it passed over to Christianity as an element in various heresies. (Comp. the Shepherd of Hermas, Sim. IX. xix. 3.)
Make merchandise of you.—The verb means literally to travel, especially as a merchant on business; and hence “to be a merchant,” “to trade,” and, with an accusative, “to deal in,” “make merchandise of.” (Comp. our commercial phrase, “to travel in” such and such goods.) It may also mean simply “to gain,” or “gain over,” which would make good sense here; but our version is perhaps better. The word occurs elsewhere only in James 4:13. “With feigned words” possibly refers back to “cunningly devised fables” (2Peter 1:16).
Lingereth not.—Literally, is not idle, the cognate verb of the adjective in 2Peter 1:8. Their sentence has long since been pronounced, is working, and in due time will strike them. We have a similar thought in 1Peter 4:17.
Their damnation slumbereth not.—Better, their destruction. (See fourth Note on 2Peter 2:1.) Wiclif and Rheims have “perdition.” The destruction involved in the judgment pronounced by God is awake and on its way to overtake them. The word for “slumbereth” occurs in Matthew 25:5 only. We now pass on to see how it is that this judgment “of a long time” has been working. It was pronounced against all sinners, such as they are, from the first beginning of the world.”
2Pe 2:14, “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children.” 1Th 2:5, “For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness—”For the love of money, these unscrupulous people ignore the Word of God:1Co 5:11, “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person.”
“But now.” In this Epistle. This shows that he had written a former letter.
I have written to you. – Above. I have designed to give this injunction that you are to be entirely separated from one who is a professor of religion and who is guilty of these things.
Not to keep company – To be wholly separated and withdrawn from such a person. Not to associate with him in any manner.
If any man that is called a brother – Any professing Christian; any member of the church.
Or an idolater – This must mean those persons who, while they professed Christianity, still attended the idol feasts, and worshipped there. Perhaps a few such may have been found who had adopted the Christian profession hypocritically.
Or a railer – A reproachful man; a man of coarse, harsh, and bitter words; a man whose characteristic it was to abuse others; to vilify their character, and wound their feelings. It is needless to say how much this is contrary to the spirit of Christianity, and to the example of the Master, “who when he was reviled, reviled not again.”
Or a drunkard – Perhaps there might have been some then in the church, as there are now, who were addicted to this vice. It has been the source of incalculable evils to the church; and the apostle, therefore, solemnly enjoins on Christians to have no fellowship with a man who is intemperate.
With such an one no not to eat – To have no contact or fellowship with him of any kind; not to do anything that would seem to acknowledge him as a brother; with such an one not even to eat at the same table. A similar course is enjoined by John; 2 John 1:10-11. This refers to the contact of common life, and not particularly to the communion. The true Christian was wholly to disown such a person, and not to do anything that would seem to imply that he regarded him as a Christian brother. It will be seen here that the rule was much more strict in regard to one who professed to be a Christian than to those who were known and acknowledged pagans. The reasons may have been:
The necessity of keeping the church pure, and of not doing anything that would seem to imply that Christians were the patrons and friends of the intemperate and the wicked.
in respect to the pagan, there could be no danger of its being supposed that Christians regarded them as brethren, or showed to them any more than the ordinary civilities of life; but in regard to those who professed to be Christians, but who were drunkards, or licentious, if a man was on terms of intimacy with them, it would seem as if he acknowledged them as brethren and recognized them as Christians.
(3) this entire separation and withdrawing from all communion was necessary in these times to save the church from scandal, and from the injurious reports which were circulated. The pagan accused Christians of all manner of crime and abominations. These reports were greatly injurious to the church. But it was evident that currency and plausibility would be given to them if it was known that Christians were on terms of intimacy and good fellowship with pagans and intemperate persons. Hence, it became necessary to withdraw wholly from them to withhold even the ordinary courtesies of life; and to draw a line of total and entire separation. Whether this rule in its utmost strictness is demanded now, since the nature of Christianity is known, and since religion cannot be in “so much” danger from such reports, may be made a question. I am inclined to the opinion that the ordinary civilities of life may be shown to such persons; though certainly nothing that would seem to recognize them as Christians. But as neighbors and relatives; as those who may be in distress and want, we are assuredly not forbidden to show toward them the offices of kindness and compassion. Whitby and some others, however, understand this of the communion of the Lord’s Supper and of that only.”
1Co 6:10, “nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the Kingdom of God.”Eph 5:5, “For this you know with certainty,that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.”
The crux of the matter is to start the Bible knowledge with the chronology sets by the Holy Bible. Needless to say, I do not get pay by presenting the Word of God, neither do I ask for any donation. I believe in rightly dividing the Word of God, I sincerely believe the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will begins with the process chronologically the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Appearing of the Lord in great power and glory, the Millennium, the Armagedon, the White Throne Judgement, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven when and where the King of kings and the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, will reign forever and ever.Many do not know the so-called Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the same asTit 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing.—The Greek should here be rendered, looking for the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory. And that holy life, just urged on the believer, of quiet self-restraint, of love to others, of piety towards God, must be lit up by a blessed hope, by a hope which is far more than a hope; that holy life of the faithful must be a continued waiting for a blessed hope—“the hope laid up for us in heaven” (Colossians 1:5). It may be asked, What is this hope? We answer, it is “the hope of glory” which we shall share with the Son of God, when we behold Him as He is. So for us the hope of glory is intimately bound up with the second coming of the Lord. Then the life of the lover of the Lord must be one continued looking for, waiting for, the coming of the Lord in glory—must be a looking for that hour when we shall see in all His divine majesty, Him who redeemed us. In that life and light, in that majesty and glory, His own will share.
Of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.—The translation here should run, of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. From the English version, it would seem that Paul’s idea was that the Christian should live waiting for the glorious appearing of the great God, accompanied with our Lord Jesus Christ. The rendering we have adopted, on what seems conclusive grounds, speaks of a Christian life, as a life ever looking for the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In this sublime passage the glory of the only begotten Son alone finds mention. Taken thus, it is a studied declaration of the divinity of the Eternal Son, who is here styled “our great God and Saviour.” Reasoning merely on grammatical principles, either translation would be possible, only even then there is a presumption in favour of the translation we have adopted. (See Ellicott’s Note on this verse.) But other considerations are by no means so nearly equally balanced. The word “manifestation” (epiphany), the central thought of the sentence, is employed by St. Paul in his Epistles five times, and in every one of them to describe the manifestation of Christ, and in four of them to designate the future manifestation of His coming in glory, as here. The term epiphany is never applied to the Father.
Again, the whole of the context of the passage specially relates to the “Son of God.” The introduction of the epiphany “of the Father” would be a thought not merely strange to the whole New Testament, but would bring quite a new idea into this statement, which sets forth so sublimely the epiphany of Christ as the ground of the Christian’s hope—an idea, too, no sooner suggested than dropped, for the passage goes on to speak only of the Son. Perhaps, however, the weightiest argument that can be adduced is the consensus of the Greek orthodox fathers, who, with scarcely an exception, concur in the interpretation which understands the expression “of our great God” as used of Jesus Christ. To select two examples out of the long chain of fathers reaching from the apostolic age who have thus understood this text: “St. Paul here calls Christ the great God, and thus rebukes the heretical blasphemy which denies His Godhead” (Theodoret). “What can those persons say,” asks Chrysostom, referring to this passage, “who allege that the Son is inferior to the Father?” (See Wordsworth’s Note here.).”
Although the word “rapture” in the Bible may not be used in the sense related to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, remember the Words of Jesus alone are sufficient to form a doctrine and worth more than words of ten thousand so-called church fathers. The worst practice is to distort the Word of God on account to discredit some teachings of certain individual(s) alluded and linked to a specific sound doctrine. It is a diabolical practice to attack a man in order to discredit a certain Biblical teaching. The Christian Faith is not based on teachings or opinions of any man. False prophets and false teachers invented their teachings as Biblical doctrines.
This is the subject that false preachers and teachers make money by deceiving the people. Roughly, the series of process involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is chronologically presented as follows:
2.) The Great Tribulation
Mat 24:21-25, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him.For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance.” No one knows how many days have been cut short, so no one knows what day or hour Jesus Christ will come and appear the Second Time.
24:4-28 The disciples had asked concerning the times, When these things should be? Christ gave them no answer to that; but they had also asked, What shall be the sign? This question he answers fully. The prophecy first respects events near at hand, the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of Christ’s kingdom in the world; but it also looks to the general judgment; and toward the close, points more particularly to the latter. What Christ here said to his disciples, tended more to promote caution than to satisfy their curiosity; more to prepare them for the events that should happen, than to give a distinct idea of the events. This is that good understanding of the times which all should covet, thence to infer what Israel ought to do. Our Saviour cautions his disciples to stand on their guard against false teachers. And he foretells wars and great commotions among nations. From the time that the Jews rejected Christ, and he left their house desolate, the sword never departed from them. See what comes of refusing the gospel. Those who will not hear the messengers of peace, shall be made to hear the messengers of war. But where the heart is fixed, trusting in God, it is kept in peace, and is not afraid. It is against the mind of Christ, that his people should have troubled hearts, even in troublous times. When we looked forward to the eternity of misery that is before the obstinate refusers of Christ and his gospel, we may truly say, The greatest earthly judgments are but the beginning of sorrows. It is comforting that some shall endure even to the end. Our Lord foretells the preaching of the gospel in all the world. The end of the world shall not be till the gospel has done its work. Christ foretells the ruin coming upon the people of the Jews; and what he said here, would be of use to his disciples, for their conduct and for their comfort. If God opens a door of escape, we ought to make our escape, otherwise we do not trust God, but tempt him. It becomes Christ’s disciples, in times of public trouble, to be much in prayer: that is never out of season, but in a special manner seasonable when we are distressed on every side. Though we must take what God sends, yet we may pray against sufferings; and it is very trying to a good man, to be taken by any work of necessity from the solemn service and worship of God on the sabbath day. But here is one word of comfort, that for the elect’s sake these days shall be made shorter than their enemies designed, who would have cut all off, if God, who used these foes to serve his own purpose, had not set bounds to their wrath. Christ foretells the rapid spreading of the gospel in the world. It is plainly seen as the lightning. Christ preached his gospel openly. The Romans were like an eagle, and the ensign of their armies was an eagle. When a people, by their sin, make themselves as loathsome carcasses, nothing can be expected but that God should send enemies to destroy them. It is very applicable to the day of judgment, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in that day, 2Th 2:1. Let us give diligence to make our calling and election sure; then may we know that no enemy or deceiver shall ever prevail against us.”
3.) The Appearing of Jesus Christ
Tit 2:13, “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus”
Titus 2:13-14. Looking — With eager desire and lively expectation; for the blessed hope — That is, for the blessedness for which we hope; the grace of hope being here put for the object of it, future and eternal felicity. And the glorious appearing — Very different from his former appearance in a state of poverty, reproach, and suffering; of the great God and our Saviour — The original expression, επιφανειαν της δοξης του μεγαλου Θεου και Σωτηρος ημων, are literally, the appearing, or manifestation, of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: or, of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ. If the words be taken in the former sense, the apostle may be considered as alluding to our Lord’s words, Luke 9:26, where the Lord Jesus is spoken of as coming in his own glory and in his Father’s, and of his holy angels; and, (Matthew 16:27,) the Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father with his angels. Beza, however, is of opinion, that one person only is spoken of, namely, Jesus Christ, to whom he thinks the title of the great God is given in this verse; and with him Whitby agrees, both because the article is wanting before Σωτηρος, Saviour, and because, as God the Father is not said properly to appear, so the word επιφανεια, appearing, never occurs in the New Testament but when it is applied to Jesus Christ. But to this Macknight answers, “1st, That the article wanting before Saviour may be supplied, as our translators have done here before επιφανεια, appearing, and elsewhere, particularly Ephesians 5:5, In the kingdom, του Χριστου και Θεου, of Christ and of God. and, 2d, That the apostle does not speak of the appearing ofthe Father, but of the appearing of the glory of the Father; agreeably to what Christ himself declared, that at his return to judgment he will appear surrounded with the glory of his Father.” Whitby, however, as an additional reason for thinking that Christ is only spoken of, observes, that “not only all the ancient commentators on the place do so interpret this text, but the Ante-Nicene Fathers also; Hippolytus speaking of the appearance of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and Clemens of Alexandria proving Christ to be both God and man, our Creator, and the Author of all our good things, from these very words of St. Paul.” Who gave himself for us — Namely, to die in our stead; that he might redeem us — Miserable bond-slaves; from all iniquity — As well from the power and the very being, as from the guilt of our sins; and purify to himself — From all pollution of flesh and spirit, (see on 2 Corinthians 7:1,) a peculiar people — Who should thankfully own themselves his property, and express their gratitude for such inestimable favours, by being not only careful to avoid the practice of evil, but zealous of good works — Active in all the duties of life, and in every office of righteousness and goodness to each other. “This is said in allusion to Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6, where God calls the Jews a peculiar and a special people to himself, because he had made them his property by redeeming them from the bondage of Egypt, and had distinguished them from the rest of mankind as his, by rites and ordinances of his own appointment. Christ hath made believers his peculiar people by giving himself for them, to redeem them from all iniquity, and to purify them to himself, a people zealous, not of rites and ceremonies, but of good works. This being the great end of Christ’s death, how dare any person, pretending to be one of Christ’s people, either speak or think lightly of good works, as not necessary to salvation? — Macknight.
Mat 24:30, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.”Heb 9:28, “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” It is necessary to say that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a public event, all will see the Lord Jesus coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.”
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: outwv kai is an illative connection between the antecedent Hebrews 9:27, and this consequent; As it was appointed to men once to die, so it was appointed to Christ once to offer himself. God’s statute determineth both of these; Christ the High Priest, opposed to men, Hebrews 9:27, having died once as a sacrifice for sins, and offered his blood to God to expiate them, bearing their punishment which God laid on him, Isaiah 53:6; and so took away sins, guilt, filth, power and condemnation from many, whom the Father gave to him, and he undertook for, in it, Matthew 20:28 26:28 John 10:15,16. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin; and to his believing, penitent expectants, such as long for his coming, Philippians 3:20Titus 2:13, stretching out their heads, as the mother of Sisera, Judges 5:28, with a holy impatience of seeing him, such as by faith and prayer are hastening it, Romans 8:232 Corinthians 5:1-101 Peter 1:3-9, shall he once more visibly appear to them and the world, Acts 1:11Revelation 1:7, gloriously, without need to suffer or die again for them, having at his departure after his first coming, carried all their sins into the land of forgetfulness. Unto salvation; and to their persons will he bring entire and complete salvation, raising and uniting bodies and souls together, Philippians 3:21; and then take them as assistants to himself in the judgment-work on men and angels in the air; and having despatched that work, return with them to the holy of holiest in heaven, there to be completely blessed, in praising, serving, glorifying, and enjoying God in Christ, and the blessedness that attends that state, for ever and ever, as 1 Corinthians 6:2,3 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
4.) The Millennium
Rev 20:4-6, “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
“Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, all public Christian worship is legally forbidden, and the nation’s Grand Mufti has openly called for the destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula.¹ The consistency of these attacks across such diverse regions points away from local factors like poverty or politics and toward the single unifying factor: a shared Islamic ideology that views Christians as infidels to be subjugated or eliminated.”
Rev 20:5-6, “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
(4) And I saw thrones, and they sat . . . There is a prominence given to the thrones, because the thought of the reign of the saints is uppermost in the mind of the seer. The thrones are seen, and those who sat on them. It has been asked, “By whom are the thrones occupied?” The answer is supplied in the latter part of the verse. Those who are in the latter part said to reign with Christ are clearly those who sit upon the thrones which first caught the prophet’s eye; these are all the real servants of God. They appear before the seer in two great classes:—First, the martyrs who have been faithful unto death; for he speaks first of seeing the souls of those who have been beheaded (strictly, “slain with the axe,” but clearly the special class of beheaded martyrs is to be taken as representing all), because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God. The number of the martyrs is now complete (comp. Revelation 6:11); these form the first class mentioned. Secondly, those who have been faithful in life occupy these thrones. The prophet sees these, even whosoever did not worship (during life) the wild beast, nor yet his image, and did not receive the mark (comp. Revelation 13:10) on their forehead and upon their hand. The triumph and sovereignty, whatever they be, are shared by all the faithful. These things are stated as constituting their privileges. They lived, whereas the rest of the dead lived not; they reigned, and judgment was given them. This last has been felt to be a difficulty. What sort of judgment is intended? The passage in Daniel (Daniel 7:22) is clearly suggestive of the present one. The phrase (judgment was given) is not there to be understood as meaning that right was done them (see Note in Speaker’s Commentary on Daniel), neither must it be so understood here. Judicial powers are given to the saints as to those who occupy thrones; “the chief power in governing” (Gebhardt) is given them (comp. Matthew 19:28, and 1Corinthians 6:2-3); they reign, they judge, they live; the true and full powers of life are seen to be theirs. And is not this the case always? Who, next to Him who knows the secrets of our hearts, exercises judicial powers over men? Do not those whose lives, as we read them, rebuke our own? Truly, those who lived for God, and refused the mark of earthliness, reign and judge us in our worldliness and weakness. This is their sovereign honour here, besides the glad reign in the unseen world.”
When the Bible says a thousand years, I believe it is a thousand years.
Rev 20:1-3, “Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”Isa 11:6, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fattened steer will be together; and a little boy will lead them.”
5.) The Armageddon
Some phony theologians and false Bible commentators make much ado about the Armargeddon, by calling it the greatest last World War;“there the final world conflict will take place.”Even Britannica said falsely, “The term Armageddon has often been used by Protestant fundamentalists to refer to an impending cataclysmic struggle between the forces of good and evil.”
Rev 20:7-9, “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.”
The King of kings and the Lord of lords does not need to fight any war at all and certainly not “an impending cataclysmic struggle between the forces of good and evil.” The fire comes from Heaven destroys all those who follow the devil. The Armageddon will not take much time.
Revelation 20:7. Τα, those) Those thousand years only, during which Satan was bound; for now again Satan is treated of. The article so refers to the noun (thousand years) applied to two preceding subjects [the two distinct periods of a thousand years each], that it has reference to the former subject. Thus altogether τὸ θηρίον, that beast, ch. Revelation 13:15, does not refer to Revelation 20:11, but to Revelation 20:1. Thus 2 Samuel 23:19; 2 Samuel 23:23, τρεῖς refers not to the nearest, but to the more distant, ternary, Revelation 20:8, etc.—χίλια ἔτη, thousand years) The threefold expression of the former millennium (to which the threefold mention of the second millennium harmoniously answers) plainly makes a threefold opposition to the Non-chronus (which occupies the time between 1111 1/9 and 999 9/9 or 1000 years), to the short space [Revelation 17:10] (888 8/9 years), and to the time 1, 2, ½ (777 7/9 years); for these three periods, which the dragon rendered particularly disastrous, are immediately followed by a thousand joyful years, while the dragon is bound, and these years are three times expressed [in Revelation 20:2-3; Revelation 20:7].—λυθήσεται ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς) An abbreviated expression: that is, shall be loosed from his chain, and sent forth from his prison.”
6.) White Throne Judgment
Rev 20:11-15, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and Heaven fled, and no place was found for them.And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death, the Lake of Fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.”
Rev 20:10, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Once the universe is safe and secure because the devil, his agents and the wicked are all thrown down into the Lake of Fire, the King of kings and the Lord of lords will begin His eternal reign.
The White Throne Judgment will not take much time because the angels are able to arrest the devil, the beast, the false prophet and the last evil doer and cast them into Hell for eternal suffering. Hell is so lock-tight that even the devil cannot break out or escape. IT is eternal suffering without hope forever.
10. And the devil that deceived them] Lit. that deceiveth, but the sense is general: as if we were to say “their deceiver.” into the lake &c.] Revelation 19:20. where] Read, where also. the beast and the false prophet are] It might be better to supply were cast. That they are there still, not consumed by their more than thousand years of torment, is not stated in this clause but is in the next. shall be &c.] To prevent ambiguity we should render, they shall be, all three of them. for ever and ever] Lit. to the ages of the ages, as strong an expression for absolute endlessness as Biblical language affords. The expression “day and night” seems hardly consistent with the view often expressed, that the eternity here spoken of is unaccompanied with a sense of duration like that which we call time.”
7.) The Kingdom of Heaven
Finally, when the devil and the wicked are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, Jesus Christ will reign forever and ever. The saints will be all right when they reach the Holy City, New Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Heaven is located in the Holy City.
The Kingdom of Heaven is located in the Holy City, New Jerusalem, Revelation Chapter 21.
Rev 11:15, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voicesinHeaven, saying,“The kingdoms of the world have become theKingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”
In conclusion, false theologians and bad Bible commentators made a big booboo. Rev 21:2, “And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven; the Church, wife of Christ, is called out of the world.
Jhn 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
You see the Holy City could not symbolize the Churh because the Holy City is the real and true place prepared by God and Christ for His children. The Holy City is the eternal dwellings of the saints. There will be peace, joy, and love forever and ever.
Verse 15. – And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying. The participle “saying” is masculine, λέγοντες, in A, B; the feminine, λέγουσαι, is read in א, C, P. Though the latter would be more correct, grammatically, yet irregular construction in such cases is not uncommon in the Apocalypse. The voices were possibly those of the angels rejoicing in the triumph of the kingdom of God. Or perhaps they proceeded from the four living beings, since the elders are next mentioned (ver. 17) as offering the praises of the redeemed Church which they represent. At the opening of the seventh seal there was silence in heaven; here, at the sound of the seventh angel’s trumpet, voices are heard “in heaven,” but there is silence as to the fate of the wicked, with whom the trumpet visions have been chiefly concerned. In the revelation of the fate in store for the Church, as well as in that of the doom awarded to the ungodly, the visions stop short of describing circumstances connected with the life after the judgment day. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. Ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλαία, in the singular, is found in א, A, B, C, P, and versions, and is adopted by the Revised Version. Ἐγένοντο αἱ βασιλεῖαι, the plural, is read in two cursives. We can understand the first part of this verse by referring to Revelation 12:10. God’s power and authority is established by the final overthrow of Satan. It naturally follows the account, in vers. 12, 13, of the vindication of God’s witnesses, and of the glory rendered by the rest of mankind. With God the Father is associated Christ, by whose means the overthrow of the devil is effected, and by whom his servants overcome (cf. Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:9; Revelation 7:14; Revelation 12:11). This is the final victory; henceforth “he shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15.”
Why the Rapture isn’t Biblical?Full of baloneys. The following is a diabolical statement:“One religion is as good as another. We might even find more of Christ in Hinduism and Buddhism than in Christianity.”There is nothing more wicked than an unbeliever pretending to be a Christian, having a so-called Christian website, charging for a subscription, asking for donation, but actually doing perversion of the truth to distort the Christian Faith. The doctrine of Rapture is not invented by mankind.
As an old man, I also take a nap in the afternoon. Once it was a real shock to me. Lucky it was not real. I started to sleep on 2:30 p.m. I overslept and got up at 7:30 p.m. which I mistook to be 7:30 a.m. I looked at my right side but my wife was not there. I called Lucy, Lucy, but no one answered. I thought Rapture was taken place. God considered Lucy a better Christian, and so she was taken up and I was left behind. Soon I discovered I was mistaken. It was 7:30 p.m. and for sure Lucy had not returned home from work yet. And it was not a Rapture after all. That was a relief.
“There are many Christians who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases. First, He will come for believers, both living and dead, in the “rapture” (read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In this view, the rapture—which is the transformation and catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the air—will be secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening.
The effect of this removal, in the absence of multitudes of people, will, of course, be evident on earth. Then, second, after a period of seven years of tribulation on earth, Christ will return to the earth with His church, the saints who were raptured (Matthew 24:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Revelation 1:7). He will be victorious over His enemies and will reign on the earth for 1,000 years (the millennium) with His saints, the church.
After 1,000 years, living unbelievers and the wicked dead now raised to life will be judged at the great white throne judgment. They will then be cast into the lake of fire, while the saved will live forever with Christ in a new heaven and earth (Revelation, chapters 19-22).”
I think confusion takes place when many believers do not know that the second coming of Jesus Christ is not one event, but a series of the process. The process begins with the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, the Appearing of Jesus Christ, the Millinium, the Armegedon, the White Throne Judgment, and finally the Kingdom of Heaven.The doctrine of Rapture is plentifully Biblical, those who do not believe it are the enemies of truth.The Bible passages surrounding the rapture include the Word of the Lord: Mat 24:40-42, “At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. Be Ready for His Coming. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
The one shall be taken.—Literally, the present tense being used to express the certainty of the future, one is taken, and one is left. The form of the expression is somewhat obscure, and leaves it uncertain which of the two alternatives is the portion of the chosen ones. Is the man who is “taken” received into fellowship with Christ, while the other is abandoned? or is he carried away as by the storm of judgment, while the other is set free? On the whole, the use of the Greek word in other passages (as, e.g., in Matthew 1:20; Matthew 1:24; Matthew 12:45; John 1:11; John 14:3) is in favour of the former interpretation. What is taught in any case is that the day of judgment will be, as by an inevitable law, a day of separation, according to the diversity of character which may exist in the midst of the closest fellowship in outward life.”
Two women … – Grinding in the East was performed, as it is now, chiefly by hand. The millstones were about 2 feet in diameter and 12 foot in thickness. The lower one was fixed, and the upper one was turned by a handle or crank. This was done by two persons, who sat opposite to each other. One took hold of the mill-handle and turned it half-way round; the other then seized it and completed the revolution. This was done by women – by servants of the lowest order – and was a very laborious employment. See Exodus 11:5; Job 31:10; Isaiah 47:2; Judges 16:21. The meaning of this verse is similar to the former. Of two persons sitting near each other, one shall be taken and the other. left. The calamity would be sudden, and would come upon them before they were aware.”
Verses 42-51. – Practical exhortation drawn from the uncertainty of the last day: Watch. Verse 42. – Watch therefore. The end will be sudden, the final separation will be then completed; be ye therefore always prepared. Few exhortations are more frequently and impressively given than this of the duty and necessity of watchfulness. Of course, the Christian has to watch against many things – his own evil heart, temptation, the world, but most of all he must watch and be always looking for the coming of his Lord; for whether he be regarded as Redeemer, Deliverer, or Judge, he will come as a thief in the night. What hour. Very many good manuscripts and some late editors read “on what day.” This is probably the genuine reading, “hour” being an alteration derived from ver. 44. What (ποίᾳ) means of what kind or quality – whether sudden, immediate, or remote. Matthew 24:42”
“The rapture is the idea that believers in Jesus Christ will be caught up or taken away from the earth to be with Him before a period of tribulation and judgment. The term “rapture” itself is not explicitly found in the Bible; rather, it is derived from the Latin word “rapturo,” which translates to “caught up” or “snatched away.”
The doctrine of Rapture is according to the Word of the Lord. Those who are uninformed are ignorant of Rapture. Mankind, unlike Christians, have no hope. Christians who died have fallen asleep through Jesus.Those who deny the doctrine of Rapture deny the Word of the Lord. Those who deny the Word of the Lord, deny the Lord. Those who deny the Lord are children of the devil. Do not be fooled by those who claim to be Christians, yet they deny the Word of the Lord.
We Do Not Recognize so-called Church Fathers.According to https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/44179/what-did-the-early-church-“Church fathers routinely associate the rapture with the physical resurrection of believers following the tribulation, and many see a close connection between the rapture and other eschatological events, such as the final judgment.Hippolytus, one of the relatively few proponents of a premillennialist view (chiliasm), sees the rapture as following the tribulation and rule of the Antichrist:These things, then, being to come to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? (On Christ and Antichrist, 64)Others connect even more prophecies with the rapture. For example, Gregory of Nazianzus, using the language of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, writes:I shall await the voice of the archangel, the last trumpet, the transformation of heaven, the change of earth, the freedom of the elements, the renewal of the universe. Then shall I see Caesarius himself, no longer in exile, no longer being buried, no longer mourned, no longer pitied, but splendid, glorious, sublime. (Fathers of the Church, v22, p22)
Similarly, Augustine writes that this passage refers to both the taking up of believers as well as the final judgment:These words of the apostle most distinctly proclaim the future resurrection of the dead, when the Lord Christ shall come to judge the quick and the dead. (City of God, 20.20)Chrysostom and Jerome (quoted below) also connect the rapture with the final judgment.”
But Jesus says, Mat 23:9-10, “And do not callanyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in Heaven. And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.”Roman Catholic Church may have many fathers, we Christians have only One Father, our Heavenly Father.What the Lord says matters, what earthly men says does not matter. Only the Word of God is inspired and infallible.
Call no man your father.—This also, under its Hebrew form of Abba, was one of the titles in which the scribes delighted. In its true use it embodied the thought that the relation of scholars and teachers was filial on the one side, paternal on the other; but precisely because it expressed so noble an idea was its merely conventional use full of danger. The history of the ecclesiastical titles of Christendom offers in this respect a singular parallel to that of the titles of Judaism. In Abbot (derived from Abba=Father), in Papa and Pope (which have risen from their application to every priest, till they culminate in the Pontifex summus of the Church of Home), in our “Father in God,” as applied to Bishops, we find examples of the use of like language, liable to the same abuse. It would, of course, be a slavish literalism to see in our Lord’s words an absolute prohibition of these and like words in ecclesiastical or civil life. What was meant was to warn men against so recognising, in any case, the fatherhood of men as to forget the Fatherhood of God. Even the teacher and apostle, who is a father to others, needs to remember that he is as a “little child” in the relation to God. (Comp. St. Paul’s claim in 1Corinthians 4:15.)”
1Th 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothersand sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. For if webelieve that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we whoare alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
To be uninformed means ignorant. Those who do not believe in Rapture are ignorant. Mankind of the world have no hope.The dead in Christ will rise first. Those who are living in Christ will change and be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. I, (Willie Wong) translate it “in the space.”
1Co 15:50-57, “Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP in victory. “WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY? WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-52. Now this I say, brethren — This I offer to your consideration as a great and important truth, that we must first undergo an entire change; for flesh and blood — Such as we are now clothed with; cannot inherit the kingdom of God — Cannot enter that happy place which Christ hath gone to prepare for the reception of his people, (John 14:7,) cannot possess that kingdom which is wholly spiritual, because it affords no objects suited either to the senses or to the appetites of such a body. Neither doth corruption — This corruptible body; inherit incorruption — That incorruptible kingdom. Spirits, clothed with corruptible bodies like our present bodies, cannot enjoy objects that are incorruptible. They are not capable of enjoying the divine vision, nor of performing the exalted services, nor of relishing the pure pleasures, which constitute the glory and felicity of the kingdom of God. Behold, I show you a mystery — A truth hitherto unknown, and not yet fully revealed to any of the sons of men. We — Christians: the apostle considers them all as one in their succeeding generations; shall not die — Suffer a separation of soul and body; but we shall all — Who do not die; be changed — So that this animal body shall become spiritual; in a moment — Amazing work of omnipotence! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump — Blown by the divine command. For the trumpet shall sound, &c. — At the giving of the law from Sinai, there was heard a great noise, like the sounding of a trumpet, exceeding loud, which sounded long, and waxed louder and louder. In like manner, at the descent of Christ from heaven, a great noise called the trump of God, (1 Thessalonians 4:16,) will be made by the attending angels, as the signal for the righteous to come forth from their graves. And this noise being made at Christ’s command, it is called by himself, his voice, John 5:25. After the righteous are raised, the trumpet shall sound a second time; on which account it is called here the last trumpet. And while it sounds, the righteous who are alive on the earth shall be changed. And the dead shall be raised incorruptible — Though this expression be general, yet, as appears from 1 Corinthians 15:51, and indeed from the whole latter part of the chapter, it is evident it must be restricted to the dead in Christ, of whom alone the apostle is discoursing. Besides, as appears from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the wicked are not to be raised at the same time with the righteous.”
Behold, I shew you a mystery.—It is better to take these words as referring to what follows rather than (as some have done) to the preceding statement. A mystery means something which up to this time has been kept concealed, but is now made manifest (Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:3-5).We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be Changed.—There are here a considerable variety of readings in the Greek, but the text from which our English version is taken is probably correct. The Apostle believed that the end of the world might come in the lifetime of some then living. We shall not all, he says, necessarily sleep, but we shall all be changed. The change from the earthly to the spiritual body is absolutely necessary. To some it will come through the ordinary process of death; to those who are alive at Christ’s advent it will come suddenly, and in a moment. The dead shall be raised, but we (the living) shall be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:52. Ἐν ἀτόμῳ, in a moment) Lest it should be considered hyperbolical, he adds a more popular phrase, in the twinkling of an eye. An extraordinary work of divine omnipotence! Who then can doubt, but that man even at death may be suddenly freed from sin?—σάλπιγγι, at the trumpet) The full description of the trumpets is reserved for the Apocalypse; yet some things may be gathered from Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, concerning the last trumpet; and this epithet is expressed here, as one that takes for granted the trumpets, that have preceded it; either because the Spirit has inspired Paul with an allusion, which anticipates the Apocalypse, or because Scripture long before teaches, that some trumpets, though not definitely enumerated, are before the last. Isaiah 27:13; Jeremiah 51:27; Zechariah 9:14; Hebrews 12:19; 2Es 5:4 : or especially in relation to the trumpet at the ascension, Psalm 47:6, comp. Acts 1:11 : for one may be called the last, where two only are referred to, 1 Corinthians 15:45; not to say, where there is only one [sounding of a trumpet], without another following, Revelation 10:7.—σαλπίσει γὰρ) for the Lord [Engl. V. the trumpet] shall sound by His archangel, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The trumpet was formerly used on feast days for the purpose of assembling the people.—καὶ) and immediately.—ἄφθαρτοι, incorruptible) Strictly speaking, one would think, that they should have been called immortal; for incorruptibility will be put on by means of the change, 1 Corinthians 15:53; but incorruptibility includes immortality.”
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality] Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:4. The Apostle has just said that ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.’ He now explains in what sense these words are to be taken. The mortal body is not destroyed entirely and created again. “Change,” says Tertullian, “must be dissociated from all idea of destruction. For change is one thing, destruction another.” It receives an addition of qualities which it did not possess before. It is ‘clothed upon’ with immortality. That which was corruptible is now freed from that liability (“sanctified and cleared from all impurity.” Irenaeus). That which is mortal is swallowed up, and disappears in the vastness of the life which knows no end. See note on 1 Corinthians 15:38.”
Death is swallowed up in victory] The English version translates Isaiah 25:8, the passage here quoted, by ‘He will swallow up death in victory.’ But the literal meaning of the word so translated is ‘for ever,’ and the Vulgate here renders ‘in sempiternum,’ though the Septuagint frequently, but not here, renders it by victory, following the analogy of the Syriac and Chaldee, where a kindred word signifies victory. The verb also is in the perfect tense in the Hebrew, as speaking of the fixed purpose of God, and is here rendered by the aorist, and thus referred to the Death and Resurrection of Christ, in which, by ‘the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God,’ death ‘was swallowed up unto victory.’”
Verse 55. – O death, where is thy sting? A triumphantly fervid exclamation of the apostle, loosely cited from Hosea 13:14. The apostles and evangelists, not holding the slavish and superstitious fetish worship of the dead letter, often regard it as sufficient to give the general sense of the passages to which they refer. O grave, where is thy victory? In the best attested reading (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), “death” is repeated, and in the best manuscripts this clause precedes the last. But if the reading, “O Hades,” were correct, our translators, since they held it here impossible in accordance with their views to render it by “hell,” ought to have taken warning, and seen the pernicious inapplicability of that rendering in other places where they have used it to express this same Greek word. Here “Hades” has probably been introduced into the Greek text from the LXX., which uses it for the Sheol of the original. 1 Corinthians 15:55”
15:51-58 All the saints should not die, but all would be changed. In the gospel, many truths, before hidden in mystery, are made known. Death never shall appear in the regions to which our Lord will bear his risen saints. Therefore let us seek the full assurance of faith and hope, that in the midst of pain, and in the prospect of death, we may think calmly on the horrors of the tomb; assured that our bodies will there sleep, and in the mean time our souls will be present with the Redeemer. Sin gives death all its hurtful power. The sting of death is sin; but Christ, by dying, has taken out this sting; he has made atonement for sin, he has obtained remission of it. The strength of sin is the law. None can answer its demands, endure its curse, or do away his own transgressions. Hence terror and anguish. And hence death is terrible to the unbelieving and the impenitent. Death may seize a believer, but it cannot hold him in its power. How many springs of joy to the saints, and of thanksgiving to God, are opened by the death and resurrection, the sufferings and conquests of the Redeemer! In verse 58, we have an exhortation, that believers should be stedfast, firm in the faith of that gospel which the apostle preached, and they received. Also, to be unmovable in their hope and expectation of this great privilege, of being raised incorruptible and immortal. And to abound in the work of the Lord, always doing the Lord’s service, and obeying the Lord’s commands. May Christ give us faith, and increase our faith, that we may not only be safe, but joyful and triumphant.”
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory,…. Over sin the sting of death, over the law the strength of sin, and over death and the grave; and which will be the ground and foundation of the above triumphant song in the resurrection morn, as it is now at this present time of praise and thankfulness to God: and it is all
through our Lord Jesus; he has got the victory over sin; he has put it away by the sacrifice of himself; he has finished and made an end of it; for though it reigns over his people before conversion, and dwells in them after it, yet in consequence of his atonement for it, it loses its governing power through the Spirit and grace of God in regeneration, and entirely its damning power over them, and in the resurrection morn will not be so much as in being in them; the view of which now fills them with joy, thanksgiving, and triumph. Christ has obtained a victory over the law; he has stopped its mouth, and answered all its demands; he has been made under, and subject to it; he has obeyed its precepts, and bore its penalty, and has delivered his from the curse and condemnation of it, so that they have nothing to fear from it; it is dead to them, and they to that: he has also abolished death by dying and rising again, so as that it shall have no more dominion over him; and he has abolished it as a penal evil to his saints; and though they die, they shall not always remain under the power of death, they shall live again, and with him for ever: he has conquered the grave by rising out of it himself, and living for evermore, having the keys of the grave in his hands; and will at the last day oblige it to give up its dead, when his victory over this, with respect to his people, will be abundantly manifest: now this victory, in all its branches, is given by God to believers; they are made to share in all the victories of Christ their head, and are more than conquerors through him; but this is not by merit, but by gift, the gift of God the Father, who gives his Son, and all things with him that are his; and this gift is a distinguishing one; it is given to us, and not to others; and which therefore calls aloud for praise and thankfulness. The title of the “ninth” psalm may be rendered, “to the conqueror over death”, or “that is the author of victory over death, even to the Son, a psalm of David”, Psalm 9:1.”
The Bible passages surrounding the rapture include also 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 . NOTE: I (Willie Wong) translate “in the air” as “in the space.”
The Rapture As It is Written
We (Willie Wong) believe in the Rapture to take place before the Tribulation, not because what the church fathers believe. The saints do not recognize nor believe in church fathers. For Jesus says, Mat 23:9, “And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in Heaven.”The saints acknowledge and obey Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church. Col 1:18, “He is also the Head of the Body, the Church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” The saints also have one Leader who is Jesus Christ. Mat 23:10, “And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.”
Ver. 8-10. It is most certain that our Saviour doth not here forbid the giving of the titles of masters and fathers to his ministers, for then Paul would not have given himself the title of father, 1 Corinthians 4:15; nor called the Galatians his little children, Galatians 4:19: nor called Timothy his son, and himself his father, Philippians 2:22; nor called himself a doctor of the Gentiles, 1 Timothy 2:72 Timothy 1:11. That which he forbids is, 1. An affectation of such titles, and hunting after them. 2. Rem tituli, the exercise of an absolute mastership, or a paternal, absolute power; so as to require any to believe things because they said them, or to do things because they bid them, without seeing the things asserted, or first commanded, in the word of God. For in that sense God alone is men’s Father, Christ alone their Master. Pastors and teachers in the church are all but ministers, ministers of Christ to publish his will, and to enjoin his laws; nor must any be owned as masters and fathers, to impose their laws and doctrines. This is twice repeated, because such is the corruption of human nature, that it is very prone, not only to affect these swelling titles, but also to exercise these exorbitant authorities.”
For Jesus says, Mat 24:35,“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away.”
Heaven and earth.—The tone is that of One who speaks with supreme authority, foreseeing, on the one hand, death and seeming failure, but on the other, the ultimate victory, not of truth only in the abstract, but of His own word as the truth. The parallelism of the words with those of Psalm 102:26, Isaiah 40:8, gives them their full significance. The Son of Man claims for His own words the eternity which belongs to the words of Jehovah. (Comp. 1Peter 1:24-25.) The whole history of Christendom witnesses to the fulfilment of the prophetic claim. Amid all its changes and confusions, its errors and its sins, the words of Christ have not passed away, but retain their pre-eminence as the last and fullest revelation of the Father.”
THE RAPTURE IS A SECRET EVENT
According to the Bible, we (Willie Wong) believe the Rapture will be individually secret. The dead in Christ will rise first and the living in Christ will transform and together meet the Lord in the space. Then the saints with the holy angels and the Lord will publicly descend from Heaven in power and glory. Rev 1:7, “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
Behold, he cometh with clouds.—Better, with the clouds. The reference to Christ’s words (Mark 14:62) is undoubted. In the “clouds” St. Augustine sees the emblem of the saints of the Church, which is His body, who spread as a vast fertilising cloud over the whole world.
Every eye shall see him, and they also which (they were who = “whosoever”) pierced him.—Here again is a reference to the incident of the piercing of Christ’s side (John 19:34), recorded only by St. John.
Shall wail because of him.—Or, shall wail over Him. The prophecy in Zechariah 12:10, is the suggesting one of this. But the passage in Zechariah describes the mourning of grief over the dead; the passage here is the mourning towards one who was dead, and is alive. He towards whom they now direct their sorrow is the One over whom they should have wailed when He was laid in His tomb.”
Although the Rapture is a secret event, done individually; the coming of the Lord is a public event, visible and audible. Visible of His power and great glory. Audible because the trumpet blast of angels. And no one knows when the Rapture to be taken place, when will the Great Tribulation begins. NO one knows how many days of the Great Tribulation will be shortened, so no one knows eactly the Day of the Lord’s coming.
According to https://billygraham.org/answers/what-is-the-rapture“There are many Christians who believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be in two phases. First, He will come for believers, both living and dead, in the “rapture” (read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In this view, the rapture—which is the transformation and catching up of all Christians, dead or alive, to meet Christ in the air—will be secret, for it will be unknown to the world of unbelievers at the time of its happening.The effect of this removal, in the absence of multitudes of people, will, of course, be evident on earth. Then, second, after a period of seven years of tribulation on earth, Christ will return to the earth with His church, the saints who were raptured (Matthew 24:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:13, Revelation 1:7). He will be victorious over His enemies and will reign on the earth for 1,000 years (the millennium) with His saints, the church.
After 1,000 years, living unbelievers and the wicked dead now raised to life will be judged at the great white throne judgment. They will then be cast into the lake of fire, while the saved will live forever with Christ in a new heaven and earth (Revelation, chapters 19-22).
Many other evangelical Christians believe that Christ’s return and the rapture will not occur until the seven years of the tribulation have ended. As far as the latter view is concerned, the rapture will not be secret, since it will be part of Christ’s visible and triumphant return to end this present evil age (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). At this point, interpreters differ as to whether there will be a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth or whether the white throne judgment and the new heaven and earth will immediately appear.
All Christians do not agree on every detail of what will occur in the final events of this world’s history. Some of these events and their order of occurrence have simply not been made clear in the Bible. What is important is that all Christians hold in common that Christ will ultimately return bodily, visibly, and gloriously to reign and rule with His resurrected and transformed saints forever and ever. The details of this great event will be made known in God’s own time.”
I do not want to waste time and effort to point out cited above where does not conform to the Bible.
Mat 24:30-31, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPETBLAST, and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man.—Can we picture to ourselves what this sign shall be? Is it distinct from the coming of the Son of Man which here is so closely united with it? Men have given wildly conjectural answers to these questions, and have dreamt of the cross as appearing in the sky (as if the vision of Constantine were to be reproduced in the last days), or the lightning flash that shall dazzle all men with its brightness, or of some visible manifestation which none can imagine till it shall come. The vision of Daniel 7:13 supplies, it is believed, the true answer. The sign of the Son of Man is none other than the presence of the Son of Man Himself, coming in the clouds of heaven, in the ineffable glory of His majesty. And here, too, we must remember that we are still in the region of apocalyptic symbols. All such imagery falls short of the ultimate reality, and a “sign in heaven” is something more than a visible appearance in the sky.
Then shall all the tribes of the earth.—It lies in the nature of the case, that the “tribes” are those who have done evil, and who therefore dread the coming of the Judge. The words find their best comment in Revelation 1:7, where St. John combines them freely with the prediction of Zechariah 12:10, “They also which pierced Him,” obviously including not only those who were sharers in the actual “piercing” of the crucified body of the Lord Jesus (John 19:37), but all who in any age “crucify the Son of God afresh” (Hebrews 6:6).”
We do not believe in any particular branch or brand of theology. We believe in Bible Theology. Any theology which is not based on Bible is useless and worthless. What the Bible does not specify, we do not specify. We cannot and do not specify the time between the series of the process of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.We (Willie Wong) do not believe in church fathers, only the Head and Master of the Church, Jesus Christ. We do not accept any particular form of Bible interpretation, except What is Written — the Holy Scriptures. We only accept what is defined by the Word of God.
1Th 4:13-18, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the space. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
But.—We pass to the third clearly marked point: the share of the Christian dead in the Coming of Christ. Possibly an association of ideas may have caused St. Paul to join these two subjects, of quietude and the Advent, so closely (see Note on 1Thessalonians 4:11). “You need have no distress about your dead: when Christ comes, they will be there too; they will come with Him, and we shall be caught up to meet them.”
I would not have you to be ignorant.—The right reading is we. St. Paul is still speaking in the name of his companions as well as his own. The phrase is very weighty, and marks how lamentable such a piece of ignorance would be. (See references in the margin.)
Which are asleep.—The best reading is rather, which fall asleep; the grief renewed itself over each successive death-bed. The image of sleep is a mere metaphor, drawn from the outward phenomena of death, and is used as an euphemism for death; therefore no doctrine can be deduced with precision from it. It cannot be said (for instance; on the strength of such passages alone, that only the body sleeps, and not the soul; or, again, that the soul sleeps while the body remains in the grave. That the soul, or at any rate the spirit, still retains consciousness after dissolution is clear from other places; but when the metaphor of sleep is used, it is used of the whole man (e.g., John 11:11, “Lazarus”—not” Lazarus’ body”—“sleepeth”), the explanation being either that stated above—i.e., that the word is simply picturesque, describing the peaceful appearance of the dead—or that the reference is to rest from labour (Revelation 14:13). At the same time, the metaphor suggests (otherwise it would be misleading, and St. Paul would not have used it) a continued (even if partly unconscious) existence, and the possibility of a reawakening: Again, for the same reason—i.e., because the word is metaphorical, not doctrinal—it cannot be limited to the Christian dead: when the writers need to mark specially the departed Christians they annex qualifying words, as in 1Thessalonians 4:14. Of course, on the mention of “the dead,” the Thessalonians will at once think of their own brethren departed, so that there is no ambiguity.
That yesorrow not.—The words express St. Paul’s object in wishing them to know the truth. He wants them not to sorrow at all over the dead; sorrow is only fit for Gentiles who have no hope. He does not mean that they are not to sorrow to the same degree as those outside the Church, but that to Christians, who have a hope, and such a hope, death ought to have no sorrows. The Office of Burial in the Prayer-book is as joyous as the Eucharistic Office itself.
Others.—The Greek word is “the others, those who have no hope,” and includes all who were not members of the Church: “That ye mourn not like the rest, which have no hope.” The having no hope does not mean that there is no hope for them, but that they are not cheered by hope.”
1 Thessalonians 4:14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again — Namely, 1st, In attestation of the truth of his doctrine, in which he taught expressly the immortality of the soul, Matthew 10:28; Luke 23:43; and the resurrection of the body, John 5:28-29. 2d, For the expiation of sin, and the procuring of justification and peace with God for the penitent that should believe in him, however guilty they had before been, Hebrews 9:26; Romans 4:24-25. 3d, That he might procure and receive for us the Holy Spirit, to work that repentance and faith in us, assure us of our justification and of our title to that future felicity, and to prepare us for it by inward holiness; and, 4th, That he might ascend, take possession of it in our name, receive our departing souls, and raise from the dust our fallen and corrupted bodies, and so exalt us to that immortal, glorious, and blessed state; even so them also which sleep in Jesus — Who die in the Lord, (Revelation 14:13,) in union with him, and possessed of an interest in him; will God bring with him — They will be found in the train of his magnificent retinue at his final appearance, when he comes to judge the world, and reward his faithful servants.”
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord] Lit., in a word of the Lord,—in the character of a message coming from “the mouth of the Lord;” comp. 1 Corinthians 7:10, “I give charge,—not I, but the Lord;” and ch. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 above, “not men’s word, but God’s.” The “word” that follows (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) can hardly be explained as a traditional saying of Christ, unrecorded in the Gospels, like Acts 20:35; nor as an inference from the teaching of Jesus on the subject of His return. St Paul claims to have received this communication directly from Christ, “the Lord” of His Church, as a revelation to himself (comp. Galatians 2:2, Ephesians 3:3 for similar instances), given to him expressly in order to allay the fears of his readers. The Lord is manifestly Christ, as it is four times in the immediate sequel. St Paul applies to Christ’s word the same august phrase that in the O. T. denotes “the word of God” Himself; comp. note on ch. 1 Thessalonians 1:8.
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord] This should be: we that are alive, that remain (or survive) unto the coming of the Lord. The second designation qualifies the first,—“those (I mean) who survive till the Lord comes.” St Paul did not count on any very near approach of the second Advent: comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. At the same time, his language implies the possibility of the great event taking place within his lifetime, or that of the present generation. This remained an open question, or rather a matter on which questioning was forbidden (see Acts 1:7; Matthew 24:36). “Concerning the times and seasons” nothing was definitely known (ch. 1 Thessalonians 5:1, see note). The Apostles “knew in part” and “prophesied in part” (1 Corinthians 13:12); and until further light came, it was natural for the Church, ever sighing “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!” to speak as St Paul does here. The same “we” occurs in this connection in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. But from the time of the dangerous illness recorded in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, the prospect of death occupied the foreground in the Apostle’s thoughts of his own future, and he never afterwards writes “we that remain.” shall not prevent] “Prevent” is obsolete in this sense: comp. the Collect, “Prevent us in all our doings with Thy most gracious favour.” Better, shall in no wise precede (or anticipate) those that fell asleep. The shadow which the event of their premature death had cast over the fate of the sleeping Thessalonian believers was wholly imaginary, and should be dismissed at once from the minds of their sorrowing friends. Instead of their having no place, they will have, as Christ now reveals to His Apostle, the foremost place in His triumphant return. Though dead, they are “dead in Christ” (1 Thessalonians 4:16),—departed to “be with Christ”—“absent from the body” but “at home with the Lord,” as St Paul subsequently teaches (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Php 1:23). So it cannot be that those who are found in the flesh when He comes again, will be beforehand with them in this reunion. “God will bring them with Him,” for they are with Him already. The Apostle proceeds to support this assurance by a description of Christ’s coming, derived from the revelation, or “word of the Lord,” to which he has just appealed. This was one of the most remarkable of the many “visions and revelations” which St Paul experienced (comp. 2 Corinthians 12:1-5).”
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout; the means which effect this. The word shout in the Greek signifies a command, or word of command; alluding to mariners or soldiers summoned to be ready with their assistance when called upon; and may refer to the angels whom Christ now summons to attend and assist in that day. And the evangelist speaks of the voice of Christ, John 5:28, which is there said to raise the dead. Whether this is an oral shout and voice from the mouth of Christ, or only an expression of his Divine power, whereby he shall awaken them that sleep out of their graves, is a question I shall not be curious about. With the voice of the archangel: Christ is said to come with all the holy angels, Matthew 25:31; and to send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, Matthew 24:31. But here is mentioned only the archangel and his voice, instead of all the rest, they all coming under his conduct. Though there be not such distinct orders of angels as the schoolmen affirm, yet there is order among them, as archangel implies. And whether he will put forth an audible voice or not at that day, or whether this archangel be not the same with Christ himself, who is the Head of all principality and power, Colossians 2:10, I leave it as doubtful; but, however, it is certain the angels shall be ministering to Christ at that day, especially in the resurrection of the elect, Matthew 24:31, and severing the righteous from the wicked, Matthew 13:41. And with the trump of God; as 1 Corinthians 15:52. And whether this is to be taken literally, and distinct from the shout and voice before mentioned, or used only to show forth the Divine power of God that shall gather all the elect together out of their graves, as the trumpet in war gathers the scattered army, or as the silver trumpets under the law assembled the congregation of Israel, I shall not be positive. And this is the account of the saints that are raised.”
Verse 17. – Then we which are alive and remain; or, are left; that is, the saints who shall then be found alive on the earth. The apostle classes himself among the living, because he was then alive. Shall be caught up. The expression describes the irresistible power with which the saints shall be caught up, perhaps by the ministry of angels. Together with them; with the dead in Christ who are raised. In the clouds. Our Lord is described as coming to judgment in the clouds of heaven (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7). According to the Old Testament representation, God is described as making the clouds his chariot (Psalm 104:3). To meet the Lord; in his descent from heaven to earth. In the air. Not that he shall fix his throne in the air, but that he passes through the air in his descent to the earth. And so shall we ever be with the Lord; shall share a blessed eternity in the vision and participation of his glory. The apostle does not here describe the solemnities of the judgment; but stops at the meeting of Christ and his risen saints, because his object was to comfort the Thessalonians under bereavement. 1 Thessalonians 4:17.”
The apostle makes application of all this discourse to the end he designed, which was to comfort them under their sorrows for departed Christian friends; and he saith not, be ye comforted, but comfort one another, to put them upon the great duty of Christian sympathy; though this is a duty we owe to all, yet especially to the saints, and more especially of the same particular congregation. And funeral sorrows are usually most afflictive, and therefore need to be allayed with words of comfort; and not with any words, but, saith the apostle, with these words, or these things, as the Hebrew, the things or words that he had before laid before them. The philosophers used many arguments against the fears of death, and for comfort under funeral sorrows, but Christians should fetch their comforts from the Scriptures. These are the best, most solid, most durable, and universal, and therefore the apostle commends them to the believing Romans, Romans 15:4, as here to these Thessalonians particularly. These considerations, that those which sleep in Jesus shall rise again, and that we shall meet them again, and we and they shall be for ever with the Lord together, are a great relief against the sorrows of their departure hence. And the comforts arising hence may serve to support under other sorrows as well as these, which the apostle also might intend in the words.”
How Do Christians Interpreting the Rapture Prophecies?
Some so-called theologians want to pontificate their theories and make the Bible mean what they want to mean. It is a vanity to pay attention to what they have written. It is a futility to pose volumes and volumes of hogwash and come to conclusion they were only private interpretations. I really do not care who they are, they are false teachers anyway.The worse of the argument is that the view of a certain brand of theology whether they call it Traditionalism, Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Ecumenicalism, ETC.
Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age
*I, Willie Wong, do not care what Piper or anyone says or believes. I only care what the Bible says.
Some commentators have said that Christ will return for His beloved in secret; the world of unbelievers won’t know it. That view is fundamental to a series like Left Behind where, at the very start, Christians disappear without explanation. Writers at BillyGraham.org say that Christ will return publicly. “The rapture will not be secret, since it will be part of Christ’s visible and triumphant return to end this present evil age.” Whatever one believes about Christ’s return — whether He takes believers before or after the Tribulation — we won’t be going quietly.
You know the confusion is the fact many who claim to be teachers of the Scriptures are not true teachers. They themselves are confused, and so their teachings are also confused. The term Eschatology is a big word that covers many things.Someone well meaningfully made different types of Biblical Eschatology, namely, 1. Tribulation 2. Second Coming 3. Millennium 4. Final Judgment. Not only the sequence of events is wrong, the framework is confused. The writer even ventured to list the dangers of Eschatology. I am reminded of the Word of the Lord:
Mat 23:16-17, “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”Mat 23:19, “You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering?”Mat 23:26, “You blind Pharisee, first clean the insideof the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean.”2Pe 1:5-9, “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the one who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
Rom 2:19-21, “and are confident that you yourself are a guide to people who are blind, a light to those in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, possessing in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one is not to steal, do you steal?”
The worst practice are those false teachers who boldly and shamelessly ask for donation in distorting the Word of God.
Someone wrote a book on Eschatology beginning from the Old Testament is missing the point. I consider Eschatology includes the following subjects which gives a proper perspective to any true saints who study and want to have the knowledge of the Bible.
The first advent of Jesus Christ
The Kingdom of God (the dispensation of grace)
The Last Days
The Rapture
The Great Tribulation
The Second Coming or Appearing of Jesus
The Millennium
The Armageddon
The Great Judgment
The Kingdom of Heaven
I know the Anti-christ will come, but we do not wait for the Anti-christ, we wait for the appearance of Jesus Christ. I am very uneasy whenever false teachers make false priorities and emphasize the unimportant, or miss the point. I would not debate a cult who teaches that Jesus has already come and He has an office in New York.
I THINK BRITANICA DESCRIBES ESCHATOLOGY WITH OTHER RELIGIONS SERVES TO CONFUSE THE ISSUES.Only believers will see Christ and we shall be transformed. We shall be like Him.
1 John 3:2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.“Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await the Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.”
When will the rapture happen?
I believe that the Rapture will happen before the great Tribulation according to the Bible. I do not know how soon the great Tribulation will follow the Rapture.I don’t like the so-called theologians who pontificate their so-called knowledge by making theories of their imagination.The only pretribulation rapture is supported by the Scriptures. I do not want to waste time and effort in arguing about midtribulation rapture and posttribulation rapture and partial rapture.The pretribulation view is the only view that understands Christ’s return as truly imminent, meaning that the rapture can happen at any moment without announcement and will leave all who are left behind by surprise. No one Bible student can ultimately declare they have the right interpretation, however one can hold to a conviction concerning their own study of God’s Word. All Christians can agree regarding the end times: 1) CHRIST will return; 2) There will be a Great Tribulation; and 3) There will be a rapture from mortality to immortality.
What Is the difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming?
The Rapture is the beginning of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, it is a secret and private event. The worthy believers will be taken or caught up in the air to meet the Lord while the unworthy ones will be left behind to go through the Great Tribulation. Although the Great Tribulation is supposed to be seven years, but for the sake elect, it will be cut short. Just as the Rapture is imminent, so the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is also imminent which means it could happen anytime for Jesus to appear with angles and saints. No one knows the day and hour. Just as the Rapture is secret and silent, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be public, the appearing of Jesus Christ in great power and glory will be seen even by His enemies.
“I believe that Christ will renew this world rather than destroy it. The Greek has two different words for “new”: neos and kainos. Neos means new in time, or that which has not yet been. For example, babies are neos. Kainos, however, means new in quality, new and improved, renewed. In Revelation 21:1-5, the apostle John speaks of a “new heaven and a new earth” using kainos, not neos. It is a renewed heaven and earth. Even in verse 5, when Jesus says, “I am making everything new,” that’s also kainos. ”
What is cited above is totally wrong. What theologians or anybodies believe do not matter. What the Bible says matters. I particularly loath so-called theolorigans and false teachers who pontificate their theories and present their private interpretations of the Bible prophecy. I usually do not name names, because I do not want to promote false teachers. With the exception of John Calvin, his fame and influence forced me to call out his false teaching about predestination. Calvin falsely taught that God predestines a group of people to go to Heaven, and another group to go to Hell. If God predestines you to go to Hell, nothing you can do about it.
According to https://www.theologian-theology.com/theologians/john-calvin-predestination/“According to John Calvin, predestination is God’s unchangeable decree from before the creation of the world that he would freely save some people (the elect), foreordaining them to eternal life, while the others (the reprobate) would be “barred from access to” salvation and sentenced to “eternal death (180, 184).” “Moreover, Calvin based the damnation of the reprobate solely in God’s decision (189, 200).”
If this heretic doctrine is true, those who go to Hell can blame God for it.This is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”This is also flagrantly contradicts the teaching of Jesus Christ.Jhn 6:35-40, “Jesus said to them, “I AM the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
All that the Father giveth me.—There is something startling in this power of the human will to reject the fullest evidence, and to remain unbelieving, after the proof which it has itself demanded as a foundation for its belief. In that assembly there are representatives of the differing stages of faith and non-faith in Him, which every age of Christianity has seen. Here are men in the pride of human wisdom rejecting Him because He does not fulfil their own idea of what the Messiah should be. Here are men of humble heart finding in Him the satisfaction of the soul’s deepest wants, and believing and knowing that He is the Holy One of God (John 6:69). Here are men of the Nicodemus type, passing from one stage to the other, almost believing, but held back by their will, which willeth not to believe. Here are men, too, of the Judas type (John 6:64; John 6:71), traitors even in the faithful few. For these varying effects there must be a cause, and in the next few verses Jesus dwells upon this. He finds the reason (1) in the eternal will of God, of whose gift it is that man willeth; and (2) in the determination of the will of man, of whose acceptance it is that God giveth. Men have seized now one and now the other of these truths, and have built upon them in separation logical systems of doctrine which are but half-truths. He states them in union. Their reconciliation transcends human reason, but is within the experience of human life. It is, as St. Bernard said, following the words of Jesus, “If there is no free will, there is nothing to save; if there is no free grace, there is nothing wherewith to save; “or, in words more familiar to English ears, “. . . . the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will” (the Tenth Article of Religion).
And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.—It is not easy to improve the English rendering of this verse, and there is a sacredness in the sound of the old, old words; but still, they convey to few readers the full meaning of the original. The word “come” is made to serve, within two or three lines, for three different Greek words. Literally, we should read, All that the Father giveth Me shall arrive at Me, and him that is on the way I will in no wise cast out: for I am come down. . . . The present tense of “giveth” should be noted. The giving is not of an act in the past, but of a ceaseless love ever in the present. The word “all” is the neuter of the collective whole, thought of without reference to individual action. It is repeated, and still with reference to the gift in John 6:39; while in John 6:40, with the thought of each man’s coming, it passes to the masculine, which marks out the separate life and faith of every unit in the mass.
It may be that the words “come” (arrive at) and “cometh” (is on the way), contrasted as they are in this verse, refer to the different positions of those who seek Him—to the ninety and nine in the fold, and the one who in the far distance hears His voice and comes in doubt and fear; but the context seems rather to point out the fulfilment of the Messianic kingdom as the Father’s gift, and the individual difficulties of, and individual help given to, those who strive to enter it, and shall in no wise be cast out. There were men among those who heard Him who in darkness and difficulty were feeling their way: these men were guided and strengthened by an unseen hand until they found it; there were men there who were being cast out but not by Him.”
The false teaching of John Calvin also flagrantly contradicts the plain Scriptures, 2Pe 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slack — Ου βραδυνει, does not delay, or is not slow; concerning his promise — To fulfil it, as if the time fixed for the fulfilment of it were past; for it shall surely be fulfilled in its season; but is long-suffering, to us-ward — Children of men; not willing that any should perish — Any human being, any soul that he hath made. That is, he is not primarily willing; his first will, with regard to the whole posterity of Adam, hath been and is, that they should be eternally saved; and as a proof of it he hath given his Son a ransom for all; (1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9�� hath commanded his gospel, that is, the glad tidings of salvation, to be preached to all, to every human creature, (Mark 16:15,) and, to help man’s weakness, causes his grace, even his saving grace, (as η χαρις η σωτηριος literally signifies,) to appear to, or to visit and strive with, all men, in order to their repentance, faith, and new obedience. But if they reject his counsel against themselves, which they are under no necessity of doing, by continuing impenitent, unbelieving, and disobedient, then, secondly, he wills, and that justly, that they should perish, for they are accountable to him, their rightful Lawgiver, Governor, and Judge, and he will judge them, and all the world, in righteousness.”
You can be sure if you go to Hell is not because God predestines you. You can go to Hell because you neglect so great a salvation that whoever repents of their sins and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior can be saved. Hell is strong, solid, firm, LOCK-TIGHT, slam dunk that even the devil cannot break out or escape– it is without hope, forever and ever.
You HAVE learned about the greatest event to take place in the universe, the Second Coming of Jesus Chrst. You can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven if only you repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as your God and Savior. Then you can be justified before God. You can do it now.
Palestinians, Africans, and others serve as example of peoples who want to eat and do not want to work. UN, WHO, EU, etc. champion their cause. Palestinians do not want evacuate from Gaza, Jewish lands to resettle in Arab lands. Because they will lose their status as refugees where they can get their food, fuel, water, medicine and everything for free from international community. These problems multiply with the passage of time.
UN, EU, GERMANY, UK, FRANCE, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZELAND, ETC. are strange and unreasonable peoples. Who is stopping Palestinians to build a Palestinian state in an Arab land? It is wrong and illegal to build a Palestinian state in Jewish land (Gaza, West Bank, etc.). That is the cause of conflict.
The fact that National Guards have to patrol Washington, D.C. with weapons speaks loudly and badly of the capital. The mayor of Washington, D.C. should be dismissed and deported. All the more urgent the national capital should move to Lincoln, Nebraska, without delay.
The mayor of Washington, D.C. bowed to the illegal acts of street people who set up tents on public streets. She should be dismissed and deported. The National Guards are empowered to trash the tents, clear the streets and vanish street people. Los Angeles is a disgraced city because the California Governor and Los Angeles mayor failed to solve the problems of street people who not only set up tents on public streets, but also urinate and defecate. All the more urgent for the national capital to move to Lincoln, Nebraska. In the face of national debt exceeding $37 trillion, the people can save money by abolishing the House, retain the unicameral legislation of Senate to move also to Lincoln Nebraska. All this can be accomplished legally by a national refrerendum. America is ruined by dark and evil forces.
Heroes of all races who sacrified their lives for China in the war against Japanese aggression should be celebrated and remembered. The descendants of them are eternal friends of China. Descendants of American Flying Tiers whose forefathers had sacrified their lives in the war against Japanese aggression and atrocities must always be honored and remembered. The Chinse government must treat them as eternal friends, and they are welcome to China anytime. Such blood bonds must be appreciated and maintained forever.
The world wrongly marks the anniversary of dropping atomic bomb on Hiroshima while neglecting the Japanse aggression and atrocities of killing 35 million innocent Chinese without remorse or reparations. UN overappointed unqualified blacks and media have given too much covergage to unworthy black spoke-persons. It is amazing no matter how beautifully white organizations and individuals hail human rights, civil rights, democracy, development, technology, benefits, justice, etc., what they are actually after is MONEY. This can be said equally true about blacks.
Pet economy is wasted economy. Money should better be spent on nutrition and education of children and orphanes. In cities all dogs must have annual license of Y5,000, cats Y4,000, and birds Y3,000. It is exempt for rural areas. If a dog defecates in public place, it shall be fined Y3,000 plus cleanup by owner or walker.
Global media highlight the number of Palestinians who have died, but fail to consider why Palestinian Authority and Palestinians do not want to evacuate from Jewish land and resettle in Arab land. Palestinians, men and women, young and old, are shameless beggars. They remain in Gaza to qualify for refugees so that they can get everything free from international community. The international community is ignorant of the fact that GAZA and related territories all belong to the Jews. Israel has every right to take back and take over Gaza and related territories. Palestinians must evacuate and relocate to Arab lands, make a living and establish its own Palestinian state without further delay.
French nincompoop Macron reognized Palestine as a state but failed to know that Palestine does not have territory and sovereignty. Leaders of UK, GERMANY, AUSTRLALIA would commit the same mistake by supporting terrorists. Hamas, Hezebolla, Houthis are wicked terrorists, they should be destroyed without mercy. Leaders of Palestinian Authority are guilty for the death and malnutrition of children because they lead Palestinians to the path of destruction. They could have led Palestinians to lands of Arabs to earn a living and build their own Palestinian state. Palestinians (young & old, man & woman) are most shameless beggars for food & water, they don’t want to go to an Arab land to earn a living and build their own Palestinian state. Africa amid famine has the most fat people in the world, they are also shameless beggars. Ukranians are shameless beggars for weapons, they do not have reason for existence. Harvard though the richest university in the world is a shameless beggar for US aid. Japan claims to practice democracy, its ruling party lost election miserably, yet its prime minister shamelessly wants to stay in power. The world must realize years of aid to Africa produced nothing, trillions of dollars went to black holes. Africa is corrupt, unmotivated and useless. Black leaders and politicians take advantage of it; dress well, eat well, and live a luxurious life style. Black problems can be solved only by Blacks. Let Africa alone to survive on its own. Blacks create most of the problems in the world, given too much coverage and platform in world media, overappointed and given too many spokespersons and positions in UN. Any nation who shares destiny with Africa will be doomed. Nothing good comes out of Africa: primitive religion, superstition, spiritism, orgies, black magic, tribalism, voordoism.
If the Texas flooding is an act of God; Ukraine conflict, and conflicts of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthis must be acts of the devil.
India must coexist with China, at the same time India and South Africa must be expelled from BRICS besause they do not remain true to BRICS’ founding mission, they do not belong, must be replaced by Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. US and EU must not rearm Ukraine, let Russia destroy it, and never to be rebuilt. The leader of Ukraine must also be executed.
Palestinian Authorities are guilty for leading Palestinians to a path of death, children died and suffer malnutrition. Palestian Authorities do not lead Palestinians (who are Arabs) to a land of Arabs to work for a living and build the Palestinian state.
American forces have successfully wiped out three Iranian nuclear sites through B-2 bombers. The “everlasting consequence” is Iran cannot be a nuclear threat anymore. I stand with the overwhelming majority of Dutch people to demolish NATO — the war machine.
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All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
ELECTRICTY
RUNNING WATER TO DRINK AND WASH
GAS TO COOK & HEAT
INTERNET
LIVELIHOOD
NEW TOILET BY LAW
The nymcoompoop of Ukraine is guilty and responsible for 55 K deaths of its soldiers and many more missing in initiating war with Russia. He should be executed. The leaders of EU are dummies for making $billions of loans to Ukraine who can never repay. Ukraine should never be rebuilt to serve as a warning to the world.
The verb “walk” in its literal sense of going along or moving about on foot at a moderate pace is found numerous times in the Gospels. However, this same verb is more often used throughout the Old Testament and the epistles of the New Testament in a metaphorical way. In this sense it means to follow a certain course of life or to conduct oneself in a certain way. Many times the verb translated “walk” is present tense in the Greek of the New Testament, which means that the writer is referring to a continued mode of conduct or behavior. In fact, the infinitive “to walk” can be translated, in a Hebraistic way, “to live.” Such a use is common in the Old Testament and the writings of Paul and of John, but is not found in those of Peter or James.
Throughout the New Testament, the verb “walk” is qualified in various ways to ensure that the reader understands what correct Christian living or conduct is and what it is not. Christians are not to continue to walk in darkness ( 1 John 1:6 ; 2:11 ). What John means is that Christians should not continue living in ignorance of divine truth, an ignorance that is associated with sin and its evil results. Along with this, their walk should not be characterized by craftiness and cunning ( 2 Cor 4:2 ) or by such sins as immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, sins, the writer says, which used to characterize their continual living before salvation ( Col 3:5-7 ).
To the contrary, Christian living should be characterized by newness of life ( Rom 6:4 ), good works ( Eph 2:10 ), love ( Eph 5:2 ), wisdom ( Col 4:5 ), truth (3 John 4), and obedience to the light received from the apostle ( 1 Thess 4:10 ).
Wesley L. Gerig
1.) Gen 17:1, “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him,“I AM God Almighty;Walk before Me, and be blameless.”
God was the first One who uses the word “walk” in a figurative sense, not to move along on foot; and God spoke to Abraham.
The covenant in its spiritual aspect. “The Lord,” the Author of existence and performance. “God Almighty,” El Shaddai. “El,” the Lasting, Eternal, Absolute. “Shaddai,” the Irresistible, Unchangeable, Destructive Isaiah 13:6; Joel 1:15. This term indicates on the one hand his judicial, punitive power, and points to his holiness; and on the other hand, his alterative, reconstructive power, and points to his providence. The complex name, therefore, describes God as the Holy Spirit, who works in the development of things, especially in the punishment and eradication of sin and its works, and in the regeneration and defense of holiness. It refers to potence, and potence combined with promise affords ground for faith.
Walk before me and be perfect. – In the institution of the covenant we had “fear not” – an encouragement to the daunted or the doubting. In its confirmation we have a command, a rule of life, prescribed. This is in keeping with the circumstances of Abraham. For, first, he has now faith in the Lord, which is the fruit of the new man in him prevailing over the old, and is therefore competent to obey; and, next, the Lord in whom he believes is God Almighty, the all-efficient Spirit, who worketh both to will and to do in the destroying of sin and building up of holiness. “Walk” – act in the most comprehensive sense of the term; “before me,” and not behind, as one conscious of doing what is, not displeasing, but pleasing to me; “and be perfect,” not sincere merely, unless in the primitive sense of duty, but complete, upright, holy, not only in walk, which is provided for in the previous clause, but in heart, the spring of action.”
2.) Exo 16:4, “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.”
I will rain bread from heaven for you.—This first announcement at once suggests that the supply is to be supernatural. “Bread from heaven” was not simply “food out of the air” (Rosenmüller), but a celestial, that is, a Divine supply of their daily needs.
A certain rate every day.—Heb., a day’s meal each day—sufficient, that is, for the wants of himself and family for a day.
That I may prove them.—Human life is a probation. God proves and tries those most whom He takes to Himself for His “peculiar people,” and the trial is often by means of positive precepts, which are especially
Calculated to test the presence or absence of a spirit of humble and unquestioning obedience. Our first parents were tested by a positive precept in Paradise; the family of Abraham were tested by a positive precept—circumcision on the eighth day; the Israelites were tested, both in the wilderness and afterwards throughout their career as a nation, by a number of positive precepts, whereof this concerning the manna was one. Christians are tested by positive precepts with respect to common worship, prayer, and sacraments—the object being in all cases to see whether men “will walk in God’s law or no.” Men are very apt to prefer their own inventions to the simple rule of following at once the letter and the spirit of God’s commandments.”
Walk in God’s instruction is obedience.
) Exo 18:20, “then admonish them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do.”
Verse 20. – Thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws. Or, “statutes and laws,” as in ver. 16. It is not quite clear how these differ. Some regard “statutes” as connected with religion, and laws as regulations with respect to civil and social matters. Others explain the first as “specific” and the second as “general enactments.” The way wherein they must walk. The general line of conduct which all axe bound to pursue. The work that they must do. The special task which each has to perform individually. Exodus 18:20.”
) Lev 26:3-4, “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.”
Verses 4-6. – These verses appear to have been in the mind, not of Joel only, as already pointed out, but of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34:20-31). In Leviticus we find, Then I will give you rain in due season; in Ezekiel, “And I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” In Leviticus, And the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; in Ezekiel, “And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth her increase.” In Leviticus, Ye shall dwell in your land safely; in Ezekiel, “They shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.” In Leviticus, And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land; in Ezekiel, “And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land…. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.” The promise, Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, is similar to that in the prophet Amos, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed” (Amos 9:13). Leviticus 26:4.”
5.) Deu 5:33, ”You shall walk entirely in the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.”
Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you,…. None are to be avoided or departed from on any consideration whatever; see Psalm 119:6 an instance of this we have in Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke 1:6 that ye may live; corporeally, comfortably, in all the outward enjoyments of life needful for them, particularly in the possession of the land of Canaan, and the benefits of it; for these promises of life upon obedience seem to reach no further, unless as types and emblems of what is enjoyed through the obedience and righteousness of Christ, as the following phrases show:
and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess; the land of Canaan; though the Jewish writers (m) carry it further, even to heaven and eternal happiness; and so may we in the sense before given.”
6.) Deu 8:6, “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God,…. Not only because they are the commands of God, and of a covenant God and Father, which are reasons sufficient for the observance of them; but because the Lord had dealt so bountifully with them, in providing food and raiment for them in the wilderness, which always continued with them; and because, when he afflicted them, it was a fatherly chastisement, with great tenderness and compassion, and for their good; all which laid them under obligations to keep the commands of God, whatsoever he had enjoined them, whether of the moral, ceremonial, or judicial kind:
to walk in his ways, and to fear him; to walk in the ways he directed, to be under an awe of his majesty, a fear of offending him, and a reverential affection for him, such as children have to a father.”
7.) Deu 10:12, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 10:12. What doth he require? — By way of duty and gratitude for such amazing mercies? But to fear the Lord thy God, &c. — When Jehovah is our God in Christ, pacified toward us after all we have done, and has received us for his adopted children, then, and not before, are we qualified to comply with his will as here enjoined, to love as well as fear him, and to walk in all his ways, yea, to serve him, as it is here expressed, with all our heart and all our soul. For then, beholding what manner of love be hath bestowed upon us, in making us his children, we love him because he hath first loved us, and that love becomes a source of never failing obedience in our souls: it makes the tree good, and then the fruit is good also. Reader, consider this well, lest thy religion be mere formality and hypocrisy, and while thou hast a name to live, thou be dead to God and things divine!”
8.) Deu 11:22, “For if you are careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and cling to Him.”
To walk in all his ways.—“He is compassionate, and thou shalt be compassionate. He showeth mercies, and thou shalt show mercies.” Again Rashi’s comment is worthy of the New Testament. What follows shows the need of a mediator.
To cleave unto him.—Is it possible to speak so? Is He not “a consuming fire “? (and how can we cleave unto Him?) “But cleave unto wise men and their disciples (the students of the Law), and I tell thee it will be as though thou didst cleave unto Him.” In New Testament language this would read, “Be ye followers of me, as I am of Christ;” and “He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me.”
) Deu 13:5, “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken falsely against the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which the LORD your God
commanded you to walk. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you.”
He hath spoken,i.e. taught or persuaded you. To turn you away from the Lord; to forsake God and his worship. He shows that the chiefest and most certain character of a true prophet, is to be taken from his doctrine rather than from his miracles. To thrust thee out of the way: this phrase denotes the great force and power of seducers to corrupt men’s minds. Compare Deu 4:192 Kings 17:21Matthew 24:2,14. The evil; either 1. That evil thing, that wicked doctrine and practice. Or, 2. That wicked and scandalous man, that idolater and seducer.”
10.) Deu 26:17, “Today you have declared the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice.”
Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God,…. Said, affirmed, protested, and in the most solemn manner declared, that the Lord was their God, and him only; and that they would have no other God, nor worship, serve, or obey any other. The Lord is the God of all mankind, as he is the Creator and Preserver of them, and was of the people of Israel in a peculiar manner, they being chosen, redeemed, and privileged by him above all others; and especially is of his elect in Christ among all nations, whom he has loved and set apart for himself, and determined to save; whom he has adopted and regenerated; he provides for them, protects and preserves them, gives them grace here and glory hereafter: he is their God in Christ, and by virtue of the covenant of his grace made with them in him; and is known by them to be so in the effectual calling by the application of covenant blessings to them; and which is certified to them by the Spirit of God, upon which they claim their interest in him, and make profession of him as their God:
and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice; that is, this was then their resolution and determination, their protestation and declaration, to walk in all the ways of God, both in private and in public, he directed unto; and to observe all his laws, ceremonial, moral, and judicial, which he had given them as the rule of their walk and behaviour; and to regard whatsoever he should reveal by his prophets and ministers as his will; and a view of covenant interest in God lays all good men under the strongest obligation in the strength of divine grace to attend to his will; nor can there be a greater motive to them than covenant love, grace, and mercy.”
11.) Deu 28:9-11, “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will be afraid of you. And the LORD will give you more than enough prosperity, in the children of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.”
In old time, prosperity involved the children of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your ground.
28:1-14 This chapter is a very large exposition of two words, the blessing and the curse. They are real things and have real effects. The blessings are here put before the curses. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy. It is his delight to bless. It is better that we should be drawn to what is good by a child-like hope of God’s favour, than that we be frightened to it by a slavish fear of his wrath. The blessing is promised, upon condition that they diligently hearken to the voice of God. Let them keep up religion, the form and power of it, in their families and nation, then the providence of God would prosper all their outward concerns.”
12.) Jos 22:5, “Only be very careful to follow the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments and cling to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
22:1-9 Joshua dismisses the tribes with good counsel. Those who have the commandment have it in vain, unless they do the commandment; and it will not be done aright unless we take diligent heed. In particular to love the Lord our God, as the best of beings, and the best of friends; and as far as that principle rules in the heart, there will be constant care and endeavour to walk in his ways, even those that are narrow and up-hill. In every instance to keep his commandments. At all times, and in all conditions, with purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord, and to serve him and his kingdom among men, with all our heart, and with all our soul. This good counsel is given to all; may God give us grace to take it!”
13.) 1Sa 2:30, “Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father was to walk before Me forever‘; but now the LORD declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant.”
saith] The Heb. word is one rarely used except of a solemn divine utterance, as in Genesis 22:16, and very commonly in the prophets. I said indeed that thy house, and the house of the father, should walk before me for ever] God had promised that the family of Aaron in all its branches should serve perpetually as priests in His presence (Exodus 29:9; Numbers 25:13): but now the decree must be reversed, for the faithlessness of Eli’s sons had broken the covenant.”
14.) 1Ki 2:3, “Do your duty to the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn.”
Verse 3. – And keep the charge [lit., “watch the watch” (custodies custodiam Jehovae), or, “serve the service.” Bahr paraphrases, “be a true watcher in the service of Jehovah.” The words are constantly employed to denote a strict performance of the service of the tabernacle or of the duties of the priests and Levites (Leviticus 8:35; Leviticus 18:30; Numbers 1:53; Numbers 3:7, 8, 25, 28, 32, 38; Numbers 31:30; 1 Chronicles 23:32, etc.; also Genesis 26:5). “The reference,” says Rawlinson, “is to the charge given to all the kings in Deuteronomy 17:18-20.” But there is no necessity for restricting it to that one injunction. What the charge is is explained presently] of the Lord thy God to walk in His ways, to keep [same word] His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and His testimonies [it is impossible to draw any clear and sharp distinction between these four words, as the older expositors do. “The phrase is derived from the Pentateuch” (Wordsworth). The force of the accumulation of practically synonymous terms is to represent the law in its entirety (“Die Totalitat des Gesetzes,” Keil); cf. Deuteronomy 5:31; Deuteronomy 8:11, and especially Psalm 119.], that thou mayest prosper. [The marginal rendering, “do wisely,” is preferred by some (Keil, e.g.); but the translation of the text has the authority of Gesenius and others on its side, and gives a better meaning. “The context evidently requires ‘prosper’ here, as in Joshua 1:7” (Rawlinson). “That thou mayest… do wisely” is a very lame and impotent conclusion to ver. 3. We have here an evident reminiscence of Joshua 1:7; possibly also of Deuteronomy 29:9. David was unquestionably well versed in the Scriptures of that age, of which every king was commanded to make a copy. 1 Kings 2:3.”
Confirm his word,i.e. fulfil his promise, the condition upon which it was suspended being performed. Take heed to their ways, i.e. diligently observe all their actions, to order them according to God’s word. To walk before me; to live as those that have God before their eyes, and endeavour to approve themselves to him. In truth; not only in pretence and show, but truly and sincerely. With all their heart, and with all their soul, i.e. universally, freely, and fervently. There shall not fail thee a man on the throne of Israel; the succession shall be continued in thy line without any interruption.”
16.) 1Ki 3:14“And if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David
walked, then I will prolong your days.”
There may be peoples who do not know that God is able to prolong the days of a king and the life of a person.
I will lengthen.—In this promise only one point, “length of days,” is conditional; and it was not fulfilled. For though Solomon’s age at the time of death is not given, yet, as his reign is given as lasting forty years, it could hardly have exceeded sixty. (Josephus, indeed, with his usual tendency to amplification, extends the reign to eighty years, and makes Solomon die in extreme old age.) The rest received an extraordinary fulfilment. The greatness of Solomon’s kingdom stands out remarkable in its sudden and unique development, the fruit of David’s long career of conquest and improvement, destined to wither at once at Solomon’s death. Then, for the first and last time, did the monarchy assume something of the character of an empire, unequalled in peaceful prosperity of wealth and power, and in splendour of civilisation.”
As for me, I can testify if it were not for the grace of God, I would have died long time ago. I live because God wants me to live.
17.) 1Ki 8:36, “then hear in Heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel; indeed, teach them the good way in which they are to walk. And provide rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.”
1 Kings 8:36. That thou teach them the good way — The way of their duty, which is good in itself, and both delightful and profitable to those that walk in it. But this clause is better translated, 2 Chronicles 6:27, (where the Hebrew words are the same with these here,) When thou hast taught them the good way wherein they should walk, namely, when their afflictions have had the desired effect to teach them better obedience. And give rain upon the land — The order of Solomon’s prayer is very observable; first and chiefly, he prays for their repentance and forgiveness, which is the chief blessing, and the only solid foundation of all other mercies; and then he prays for temporal mercies, thereby teaching us what to desire principally in our prayers; which also Christ hath taught us in his perfect prayer, wherein there is but one petition for outward, and all the rest are for spiritual blessings.”
are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, the dead
are raised, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL
PREACHED TO THEM.”
When Jesus began His ministry, not only the poor have the Gospel preached to them, those who are blind receive sight, and those who limp walk, those with leprosy are cleansed and those who are deaf hear, and the dead are raised.
The blind receive their sight.—Apparently no facts were stated which might not have already come to the ears of the Baptist. At least one instance of each class of miracle has already been recorded by St. Matthew, the blind (Matthew 9:27), the lame (Matthew 9:6), the leper (Matthew 8:2), the dead (Matthew 9:25). The raising of the widow’s son at Nain, which in St. Luke follows closely upon the healing of the centurion’s servant, must also have preceded what is here narrated. What the Baptist needed was, not the knowledge of fresh facts, but a different way of looking at those he already knew. Where these works were done, there were tokens that the coming One had indeed come. But above all signs and wonders, there was another spiritual note of the kingdom, which our Lord reserves as the last and greatest: Poor men have the good news proclaimed to them. They are invited to the kingdom, and told of peace and pardon. It is as though our Lord knew that the Baptist, whose heart was with the poor, would feel that One who thus united power and tenderness could be none other than the expected King.”
The limp walk. It is no longer figurative. The limp who were cured really walked.
And immediately her spirit came again and she arose straightway (Luke 8:55), and began to walk. There is no struggle, no effort on his part, Who is “the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25); we read of no “crying unto the Lord,” or “stretching himself upon the child three times” as in the case of Elijah at Sarepta (1 Kings 17:21); He “lieth not upon the child, or putteth his mouth upon her mouth, and his eyes upon her eyes, and his hands upon her hands” as in the case of Elisha (2 Kings 4:34), He speaks but a word and instantly He is obeyed. a great astonishment] The word thus rendered denotes sometimes (1) a trance, as in Acts 10:10, “but while they made ready, he (St Peter) fell into a trance;” and Acts 22:17, “while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance,” with which comp. 2 Cor. 12:23 (ii) amazement, awe, as in Luke 5:26, “and amazement seized all;” Mark 16:8, “trembling and amazement seized them;” Acts 3:10, “and they were filled with wonder and amazement.” Here it points to a very extremity of astonishment.”
The twelve years old girl who died, got up at the command of Jesus and walked. The people were completely astonished, amazed.
Mar 5:38-42, “They came to the house of the synagogue official, and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. And after entering, He said to them, “Why are you making a
commotion and weeping? The child has not died, but is asleep.”And they began laughing at Him. But putting them all outside, He took along the child’s
father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was in bed. And taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha, kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). And immediately the girl got up
and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astonished.”
To walk means to literally move along on foot.
The Lord of life is able to raise the dead. Much more the Lord can give you eternal life. So do not neglect so great a salvation, but repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ the great God and Savior. You can do it now.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
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Rev 21:1, “Then I saw a new Heaven and a New earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”My working Bible is English Bible, not Chinese Bible.I usually use the “NASB,” “NAS,” “New American Standard Bible,” because it is accurate, good and common. When I believe the wording is wrong, I translate it myself. The Book of Revelation is what Apostle JOHN saw and heard.When we get to Heaven, I believe the saints will automatically be able to speak and understand the language of angeles, the universal language. Since the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek, the two languages will be eternal. I find Hebrew and Greek are more difficult than Chinese. Probably because I was exposed to Chinese since childhood, I find both Hebrew and Greek are more difficult than Chinese. I do not know which of the three languages is the most difficult for foreigners. I do not know if God will bless us with the ability to learn Hebrew and Greek fast and well. While English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, etc. will be abolished and vanished for good.
I find the transliteration of Greek interesting. For example, Revelation in Greek’s transliteration isapokalypsis while in Greek is ἀποκαλύπτω, both writing and recognition are difficult. Will there be universities and professors in Heaven?
Theologians and Bible commentators are very dangerous people because they believe their opinions or interpretations are inspired and infallible. I have carefully studied Revelation Chapter 21 many times, and I do not see how the New Heaven and the New Earth symbolize anything. When the Bible says new, I believe it is new, not renewed or restored. Many do not know the first heaven and the first earth (the present heaven and the present earth) will pass away. When the Bible says there is no longer any sea. I believe there is no longer any sea.
According to the revelation, we know there are three levels of heaven. The first level of heaven is where birds and airplanes fly and where there are unaccountable stars. It is what we call the universe. Nobody knows how large is the first level of heaven because the Bible says the universe is expanding.
This is the outermost layer of the atmosphere. It extends from about 375 miles (600 km) to 6,200 miles (10,000 km) above the earth. In this layer, atoms and molecules escape into space and satellites orbit the earth. At the bottom of the exosphere is a transition layer called the thermopause.
Thermosphere
Between about 53 miles (85 km) and 375 miles (600 km) lies the thermosphere, known as the upper atmosphere. While still extremely thin, the gases of the thermosphere become increasingly denser as one descends toward the Earth.
“celestial sphere, the apparent surface of the heavens, on which the stars seem to be fixed. For the purpose of establishing coordinate systems to mark the positions of heavenly bodies, it can be considered a real sphere at an infinite distance from the Earth. The Earth’s axis, extended to infinity, touches this sphere at the north and south celestial poles, around which the heavens seem to turn. The plane of the Earth’s Equator, extended to infinity, marks the celestial equator. See alsohour circle; ecliptic; zenith.”
The Bible is silent about the second level of heaven. I surmise it is the abode or dwellings of angels. I could be wrong.
The third Heaven we know something through revelation.
2Co 12:2-4, “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up into Paradise and heardinexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”
Apostle Paul never disclosed what he saw and heard in the third Heaven, the Paradise.
With the mortal body I know what I need on earth. With immortal and spiritual body, we do not know what we need in the New Heaven and New Earth.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth – Such a heaven and earth that they might properly be called new; such transformations, and such changes in their appearance, that they seemed to be just created. He does not say that they were created now, or anew; that the old heavens and earth were annihilated; but all that he says is, that there were such changes that they seemed to be new. If the earth is to be renovated by fire, such a renovation will give an appearance to the globe as if it were created anew, and might be attended with such an apparent change in the heavens that they might be said to be new. The description here Revelation 21:1 relates to scenes after the general resurrection and the judgment – for those events are detailed in the close of the previous chapter. In regard to the meaning of the language here, see the notes on 2 Peter 3:13. Compare, also, “The Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences,” by Edward Hitchcock, D. D., LL. D., pp. 370-408.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away – They had passed away by being changed, and a renovated universe had taken their place. See the notes on 2 Peter 3:10.
And there was no more sea – This change struck John more forcibly, it would appear, than anything else. Now, the seas and oceans occupy about three-fourths of the surface of the globe, and, of course, to that extent prevent the world from being occupied by people – except by the comparatively small number that are mariners. There, the idea of John seems to be, the whole world will be inhabitable, and no part will be given up to the wastes of oceans. In the present state of things, these vast oceans are necessary to render the world a fit abode for human beings, as well as to give life and happiness to the numberless tribes of animals that find their homes in the waters. In the future state, it would seem, the present arrangement will be unnecessary; and if man dwells upon the earth at all, or if he visits it as a temporary abode (see the notes on 2 Peter 3:13), these vast wastes of water will be needless. It should be remembered that the earth, in its changes, according to the teachings of geology, has undergone many revolutions quite as remarkable as it would be if all the lakes, and seas, and oceans of the earth should disappear. Still, it is not certain that it was intended that this language should be understood literally as applied to the material globe. The object is to describe the future blessedness of the righteous; and the idea is, that that will be a world where there will be no such wastes as those produced by oceans.
Rev 21:2, “And I saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Here it says Apotle John saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem. How in the world the Holy City, new Jerusalem would symbolize the Church of Jesus Christ? The Church is the abstract Body of Christ. The Holy City is a place; prepared as a bride adored for her husband.
Jhn 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I AM coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I AM, there you also will be.”
With all my heart I believe the Holy City, new Jerusalem, is the place that Jesus prepared. I also believe, 1Co 2:9, “but just as it is written:
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
I also believe the Holy City, new Jerusalem is all that God has prepared for those who love Him. It is also written, Heb 11:16, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a City for them.”
All this is literally true statement, not figure of speech.I differ with those false theologians who pontificate that the Holy City symbolizes the Church. The Holy City is coming out of Heaven from God, the Church is out of this world. Two are different things.
So the Kingdom of Heaven is located in the Holy City, new Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth. When the false theologians and wrong commentators read the Holy City, new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God, they lost their minds. They question how God could do it — the Holy City is 1,400 miles in length, width and height. They could not believe God can do such a vast project! Read the following, they think it is absurb! I for one believe that this is literally true.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven – See the Analysis of the chapter. On the phrase “new Jerusalem,” see the Galatians 4:26 note, and Hebrews 12:22 note. Here it refers to the residence of the redeemed, the heavenly world, of which Jerusalem was the type and symbol. It is here represented as “coming down from God out of heaven.” This, of course, does not mean that this great city was “literally” to descend upon the earth, and to occupy any one part of the renovated world; but it is a symbolical or figurative representation, designed to show that the abode of the righteous will be splendid and glorious. The idea of a city literally descending from heaven, and being set upon the earth with such proportions – three hundred and seventy miles high Revelation 21:16, made of gold, and with single pearls for gates, and single gems for the foundations – is absurd. No man can suppose that this is literally true, and hence this must be regarded as a figurative or emblematic description. It is a representation of the heavenly state under the image of a beautiful city, of which Jerusalem was, in many respects, a natural and striking emblem.
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband – See the notes on Isaiah 49:18; Isaiah 61:10. The purpose here is, to represent it as exceedingly beautiful. The comparison of the church with a bride, or a wife, is common in the Scriptures. See the Revelation 19:7-8 notes, and Isaiah 1:21 note. It is also common in the Scriptures to compare a city with a beautiful woman, and these images here seem to be combined. It is a beautiful city that seems to descend, and this city is itself compared with a richly-attired bride prepared for her husband,”
Rev 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”
This is very serious. The tabernacle of God is among the people. I had never seen the tabernacle of God. God will dwell among His children. This is not figure of speech.
Verse 3. – And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Out of the throne is read in א, A, and others; out of heaven is the reading of B, P, etc. As usual, the voice is described as a great voice (cf. Revelation 19:17, etc.). It is not stated from whom the voice proceeds, but comp. Revelation 20:11. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them; literally, he shall tabernacle with them. Still the seer is influenced by the language of Ezekiel: “And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore” (Ezekiel 37:28). Thus God makes his abode in his glorified Church – the New Jerusalem, among his spiritual Israel (cf. Revelation 7:15, where this vision has been already anticipated). And they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God; and they shall be his peoples, and himself shall be God with them, their God. The balance of authority is in favour of retaining the two last words, though they are omitted in א, B, and others. Evidently the same words as Ezekiel 37:27 (see above), “My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Cf. “God with them” with “Emmanuel” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). Now, the promise is redeemed in all its fulness. The plural “peoples” seems to point to the catholic nature of the New Jerusalem, which embraces many nations (cf. ver. 24; also Revelation 7:9). Revelation 21:3”
Rev 21:4, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”This is nothing figurative. God will make first things pass away including every tear, no longer any death; no longer any mourning, or crying or pain. What God has done is wonderful. These are the beauties of the Kingdom of Heaven.
God shall wipe] Read simply, and shall wipe, or, and He shall wipe, according as it is thought necessary or not to begin a new sentence. The name of “God” is introduced from the parallel passage, Revelation 7:17 : in Isaiah 25:8 the names used are those traditionally represented by “the Lord God.” there shall be no more death] More exactly, death shall be no more, having been destroyed in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20:14 : not that the personification is put forward here. neither sorrow … any more pain] Better, neither shall there be sorrow, nor crying, nor pain any more. See Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 65:19. for the former things are passed away] for should probably be omitted; and the word for “former” is literally, first.”
Rev.21:5, “And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I AM making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”When God says He is making all things new. We do not know “all things” include what or everything. We believe it because these words are faithful and true. They are literally true. EVERYTHING will be new.
And he that sat upon the throne said] The first time that He speaks. The reference is rather to the eternal throne of Revelation 4:2 than to the judgement-throne of Revelation 20:11, so far as the two can be distinguished. Behold, I make all things new] Some O. T. parallels are alleged, e.g. Isaiah 43:19; Jeremiah 31:22; but really the only close parallel is 2 Corinthians 5:17; and the meaning of this passage is, of course, even fuller than of that. he said unto me] Read only, he saith. It is doubtful whether the speaker is still “He that sat on the throne;” for a similar command to “write” has been given already,—Revelation 14:13, Revelation 19:9; cf. Revelation 10:4—either by an impersonal “voice from heaven” or by the revealing angel. The question is best left open. The repetition of the words “He said unto me” in the next verse is a reason against ascribing all three speeches to Him that sat on the throne; the fresh mention of a revealing angel in Revelation 21:9 is perhaps a stronger one against supposing an angel to be speaking here; and the form of the words themselves against their referring to an impersonal voice. Write: for] Or perhaps, “Write, ‘These words are’ ” &c.: lit. that these words are”.… true and faithful] Read, faithful and true, as at Revelation 3:14, Revelation 19:11, and still more exactly Revelation 22:6.”
Rev 21:6, “Then He said to me, “It is done. I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.”God is almighty, all He said is done. He is Eternal. And He gives the spring of the water of life freely. I do not know whether we take once the water of life or as needed. This is real not symbolic.
It is done] We should read the plural: the word therefore is not an exact repetition of that in Revelation 16:17. If we ask, what is the subject to this verb, “They are come into being,” perhaps the best answer is “all things.” The new universe of which the creating Word has just gone forth, has now been made, “and God sees that it is good.” Alpha and Omega] As in Revelation 1:8 (not 11), Revelation 22:13. Here, as in the former passage, it is God the Father that speaks. of the fountain of the water of life] See Revelation 7:17 and note, Revelation 22:1 : also our Lord’s words in St John’s Gospel, John 4:14, John 7:38. The last quoted passage is, with a touching grotesqueness confounded with this in the Epistle describing the Martyrs of Gaul (Eus. H. E. v. i. 18). freely] i.e. not “abundantly,” but gratis: cf. Isaiah 55:1.”
Rev 21:7, “The one who overcomes will inheritthese things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”These things include a New Heaven and a New Earth, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, all new things: no tear, no death, no pain, no suffering, water of life, etc. The greatest thing is to be a son of God.
Verse 7. – He that overcometh shall inherit all things. The correct reading makes the sense plain: He that overcometh shall inherit these things, i.e. the promises just enumerated. These words show the reason for the words of ver. 6; and may be called the text on which the Apocalypse is based (cf. Revelation 2.); for, though the words themselves do not often recur, yet the spirit of them is constantly appearing (cf. Revelation 12:11; see also John 16:33). And I will be his God, and he shall be my son (cf. Leviticus 26:12, “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people”). Some have thought that these words prove the Speaker to be God the Father; but it is impossible to separate the Persons of the Blessed Trinity in these chapters. This promise, first made to David concerning Solomon (2 Samuel 7:14), received its mystical fulfilment in Christ (Hebrews 1:5), and is now fulfilled in the members of Christ (Alford). Revelation 21:7”
Rev 21:8, “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”The second death is for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars who will take part in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Clearly, liars will be in Hell. Do you know any politician and world leader who is not a liar?
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable . . .—Better, But for the cowardly andunfaithful (or, unbelieving) and defiled with abominations, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and for all the false, their part (is) in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which thing is the second death. The list here given points to those classes of character which cannot find a place in the Holy City. Nothing that defileth shall enter in. The less glaring faults stand first, the cowardly and unbelieving. There is a high and holy fear in which the Christian passes the time of his sojourn here (1Peter 1:17); but there is a base and selfish fear, a fear of man, which brings a snare; those who have faith enter boldly the strife, following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and conquering by faith. The cowardly sink into companionship with the faithless and unbelieving, with the workers of iniquity. The abominations spoken of here have reference to those mentioned in Revelation 17:4. The characters, it has been thought, form four pairs. Fear and unbelief go hand in hand (Deuteronomy 20:1-8; Matthew 8:26); the workers of abomination and the murderers, the fornicators and the sorcerers are united as those who sin in secret; the idolaters and the false, as those who change God’s truth into a lie. (Comp. Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; Philippians 3:19.) These who are thus shut out from the heavenly city stand in contrast to those who are admitted; yet among those admitted arc such who have sinned through fear, faithlessness, and fleshliness. Sin indeed excludes from the city, but it is sin loved sin unrepented of, which alone can close the gate of the city whose gates lie open day and night.”
Rev 21:9, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”In this verse the angle is going to show John the bride, the wife of the Lamb. The Church is the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
The Vision of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5The Measure of the City, Revelation 21:9-179. And there came unto me &c.] As in Revelation 17:1. “unto me” should be omitted, so that the sentence as far as “vials” is verbatim the same as there. The identical form of introduction emphasizes the contrast between Babylon and Jerusalem, the harlot and the bride. full] According to the correct text, this word is made to agree not with “the seven bowls” but with “the seven angels.” But probably it is a merely accidental grammatical inaccuracy of St John’s. There is a much worse “false concord” in Revelation 14:19. in the Spirit] Revelation 17:3, Revelation 1:10. Cf. Ezekiel 3:14. to a great and high mountain] Ezekiel 40:2. The preposition rendered “to” plainly implies that St John was set on the mountain; whether the city occupied the mountain itself, or another site within view. In Ezek. l.c. the city apparently occupies the southern slope of the mountain, whence the seer views it. that great city, the holy Jerusalem] Read, the holy city Jerusalem. descending … from God] Verbatim the same as in Revelation 21:2, according to the true text. The descent described here is no doubt the same as there, but St John’s vision of the descent is not exactly the same. He has seen, as it were in the distance, the appearance of the city: but his attention was absorbed in listening to the sayings of Revelation 21:3-8. Now, he is summoned to attend to the other, and finds it at the same stage where he noticed it in passing before.”
Rev 21:10, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heavenfrom God.”In this verse, the angel compared the Holy City, Jerusalem as the bride, the wife of the Lamb.The angel showed the wife of the Lamb is like the Holy City, new Jerusalem, having the glory and splendor of God.
And he carried me away in the spirit . . .—Better, He carried me away in spirit on to a mountain, great and high. It is not merely that the height gives a fine view-ground, the symbolism carries us further. The glimpse of God’s coming glories is best gained from the consecrated heights of self-surrender and prayer. On a mountain apart—the mountain of supplication and separation from the world—is the light and glory of God best seen. There are Beulah heights and transfiguration heights from which we may gain glimpses of the city and the glory of the Lord of the city. (Comp. Matthew 17:1-4.) The angel carried away the seer to a mountain great and high, and showed him (not “that great city,” but) the holy city Jerusalem descending out of the heaven from (having its origin from) God. The tempter showed to our Lord the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; the comforting angel shows to our Lord’s prophet the city that hath the foundations, and the glory of it—the city that is of God, its builder and maker. (Comp. Hebrews 11:10, where the right rendering is not “a city,” but the city which hath the foundations.)”
Rev 21:11, “having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.’The glory of God is real, the very valuable stone is real.
Having the glory of God – A glory or splendor such as became the dwelling place of God. The nature of that splendor is described in the following verses.
And her light – In Revelation 21:23 it is said that “the glory of God did lighten it.” That is, it was made light by the visible symbol of the Deity – the “Shekinah.” See the Luke 2:9 note; Acts 9:3 note. The word here rendered “light” – φωστὴρ phōstēr – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in Philippians 2:15. It means, properly, a light, a lightgiver, and, in profane writers, means commonly a “window.” It is used here to denote the brightness or shining of the divine glory, as supplying the place of the sun, or of a window.
Like unto a stone most precious – A stone of the richest or most costly nature.
Even like a jasper stone – On the jasper, see the notes on Revelation 4:3. It is used there for the same purpose as here, to illustrate the majesty and glory of God.
Clear as crystal – Pellucid or resplendent like crystal. There are various kinds of jasper – as red, yellow, and brown, brownish yellow, etc. The stone is essentially a quartz, and the word “crystal” here is used to show that the form of it referred to by John was clear and bright.”
Rev 21:12, “It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.”It is true that the Holy City had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Isreal were written on the gates.
And had a wall great and high – Ancient cities were always surrounded with walls for protection, and John represents this as enclosed in the usual manner. The word “great” means that it was thick and strong. Its height also is particularly noticed, for it was unusual. See Revelation 21:16.
And had twelve gates – Three on each side. The number of the gates correspond to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and to the number of the apostles. The idea seems to be that there would be ample opportunity of access and egress.
And at the gates twelve angels – Stationed there as guards to the New Jerusalem. Their business seems to have been to watch the gates that nothing improper should enter; that the great enemy should not make an insidious approach to this city as he did to the earthly paradise.
And names written thereon – On the gates.
Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel – So in the city which Ezekiel saw in vision, which John seems also to have had in his eye. See Ezekiel 48:31. The inscription in Ezekiel denoted that that was the residence of the people of God; and the same idea is denoted here. The New Jerusalem is the eternal residence of the children of God, and this is indicated at every gate. None can enter who do not belong to that people; all who are within are understood to be of their number.”
Rev 21:13, “There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.”It is no figurative, there were three gates on the east, on the north, on the south, and on the west each.
21:9-21 God has various employments for his holy angels. Sometimes they sound the trumpet of Divine Providence, and warn a careless world; sometimes they discover things of a heavenly nature of the heirs of salvation. Those who would have clear views of heaven, must get as near to heaven as they can, on the mount of meditation and faith. The subject of the vision is the church of God in a perfect, triumphant state, shining in its lustre; glorious in relation to Christ; which shows that the happiness of heaven consists in intercourse with God, and in conformity to him. The change of emblems from a bride to a city, shows that we are only to take general ideas from this description. The wall is for security. Heaven is a safe state; those who are there, are separated and secured from all evils and enemies. This city is vast; here is room for all the people of God. The foundation of the wall; the promise and power of God, and the purchase of Christ, are the strong foundations of the safety and happiness of the church. These foundations are set forth by twelve sorts of precious stones, denoting the variety and excellence of the doctrines of the gospel, or of the graces of the Holy Spirit, or the personal excellences of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven has gates; there is a free admission to all that are sanctified; they shall not find themselves shut out. These gates were all of pearls. Christ is the Pearl of great price, and he is our Way to God. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The saints in heaven tread gold under foot. The saints are there at rest, yet it is not a state of sleep and idleness; they have communion, not only with God, but with one another. All these glories but faintly represent heaven.”
Rev. 21:14,
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are:Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;Simon the Zealot. Who replaced Judas Iscariot? I do not want to waste time and effort with those who promote Matthias.I just want to quote the Scripture:1Ti 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope.”If you believe the Holy Bible, that settles the dispute.There are 27 BOOKS in the New Testament, Apostle Paul wrote 14 of them. I believe Apostle Paul was the most knowledgeable because he had direct revelations from Christ.
And the wall … twelve foundations] Probably each of the twelve sections into which the wall is divided by the gates rests on an enormous jewel, reaching from gate to gate. This symbolises the solidity as well as the beauty of the divine structure: and was itself symbolised by the enormous size of the stones used in the foundations of the earthly temple. See St Mark 13:1 and parallels. Had is literally having, a solecism like that of Revelation 21:12. twelve names of the twelve apostles] Expressing the same doctrine as St Paul in Ephesians 2:20, and (probably) our Lord in St Matthew 16:18. It is absurd to suppose that there is any pointed insistance on the Apostles being only twelve, St Paul being excluded: to introduce thirteen or fourteen would have spoilt the symmetry characteristic of the whole vision. We might just as well say, that there ought to be thirteen gates for the thirteen tribes; counting Ephraim, Manasseh and Levi all as coordinate with the rest. Really, it is idle to ask whether the twelfth name was that of St Paul or St Matthias. St John does not notice his own name being written there, though of course it was (cf. St Luke 10:20); the Apostles are here mentioned in their collective and official, not in their individual character. (See on Revelation 5:5.) of the Lamb] His identity is taken for granted with the Jesus of the earthly ministry, as in Revelation 14:1 with the Son of God.”
Rev. 21:15
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.If it is a parable or symbol, why you had a golden reed to measure the City, and the gates and the wall thereof?
And he that talked with me . . .—Or, better, And he who was talking with me had a golden reed . . . The allusion here is to the angel mentioned in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 15:3); the reed, or measuring rod, is of gold, that used in Revelation 11:1 was not said to be of gold; the measurement there was the symbol of preservation amid impending danger; the measuring here is more glorious—it is measuring which exhibits the beauty and proportion of the city which is now dwelling at peace. Gold is one of the features of the city; the street is gold (Revelation 21:18; Revelation 21:21); it may stand, as a token of the wealth (Psalm 72:15; 1Kings 10:14-21) of the royal city; but the wealth of that city is love. (Comp. Note on Revelation 3:18.)”
Rev. 21:16
The city is laid out as a square, its length being the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod—twelve thousand stadia (about 1,400 miles); its length and width and height are equal.I use the Amplified Bible because it coverts stadia.
And the city lieth four square,…. To the four corners of the world, from whence its inhabitants come, and denotes the regularity, uniformity, perfection, and immovableness of it.
And the length is as large as the breadth; this church state will be all of a piece, perfect, entire, and wanting nothing.
And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; or fifteen hundred miles; a monstrously large city indeed! such an one as never was upon earth; see Ezekiel 48:35 and which shows, that this is not to be understood literally, but mystically; and intends the capaciousness of it, here being room enough for all the twelve tribes of Israel; that is, for all the elect of God; for as in Christ’s Father’s house, so in this kingdom state of his, there will be many mansions, or dwelling places, enough for all his people. This city will hold them all. The Jews (h) say of Jerusalem, that in time to come it shall be so enlarged, as to reach to the gates of Damascus, yea, to the throne of glory.
The length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal. A perfectly uniform state! according to the Ethiopic version, it is in length twelve thousand furlongs, and every measure equal, so that it is so many furlongs in length, breadth, and height.
(h) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 24. 1.”
Rev. 21:7
He measured its wall also—a hundred forty-four cubits (about 200 feet), according to man’s measurements,which are angelic measurements.”I also use Amplified Bible because it converts cubits. It is interesting if it is symbolic, why the measurement needs to be exact as man’s measurements which are also angelic measurement.
he measured the wall] We should naturally understand, the height of it. The walls of the historical Babylon are differently stated as having been 200, 300, or nearly 340 feet high. But we are told that they were about 80 feet in breadth (Hdt. I. 178:5: cf. Jeremiah 51:58): so if we do admit that the City here is conceived as 340 miles high, there is a sort of proportion in making its walls not less than 73 yards thick. according to … the angel] Rather, of an angel. Angels use, he means, a cubit of the same length as men—viz. the average length of the forearm, from the elbow to the finger-tip. It is perhaps implied, that angels are not of superhuman stature.”
Rev 21:18-27, “The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation
stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx;
the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations
will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
There are so-called Christian organizations who sell subscriptions and ask for donations. Many of them have money and influence. Some even call themselves evangelicals. But they insiste to have figurative or symbolic interpretations of Revelation Chapter 21. They do not believe in a real, literal New Heavens and New Earth. When they realize the Bible says the Holy City, New Jerusalem is 1,400 miles long, wide and high — it is coming down from Heaven, they say it is not literal as if such giant city is impossible for even God. I hold the priinciples there are parables in the Bible. Parables have to be interpreted as parables or figure of speech. But the Bible insterprets itself. There are many literal statements of facts in the Bible. The Kingdom of Heaven is real, its headquarters is the Holy City, New Jerusalem, in New Heavens and New Earth. When God says new, I believe it is new, not renewed or restored. There are many things in the Bible I do not know. Even Apostle Paul said he looked at things like through a miror. When the Perfect Lord returns, we will know everything.
I do not sell subscription. I do not make money by preaching the Word of God. I do believe the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is the place the Lord Jesus prepared, John 14:2-3. It is what God prepared, 1Co 2:9,
“but just as it is written: “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART, ALL THAT
GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
IT is a miracle that the New Earth is able to uphold The Holy City, New Jerusalem which is 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles wide and 1,400 mile high — such as mega, superstructure. The Holy City can house about 2 billion saints with each comfortable mansion. I believe what is described in Revelation Chapter 21 is lietrally true and I thank God for the Holy City, New Jerusalem.
You may inherit the Kingdom of Heaven if you repent of your sins and believe in the Great God Jesus Christ and the Savior of mankind. You can do it now.
WILLLIE WONG THOUGHT
WILLIE WONG
*REVELATION CHAPER 21-II
*Our mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ absolutely free.
We do not want donation. We only want you to know the truth.
BY WILLIE WONG
BbB
Rev 21:1, “Then I saw a new Heaven and a New earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.”My working Bible is English Bible, not Chinese Bible.I usually use the “NASB,” “NAS,” “New American Standard Bible,” because it is accurate, good and common. When I believe the wording is wrong, I translate it myself. The Book of Revelation is what Apostle JOHN saw and heard.When we get to Heaven, I believe the saints will automatically be able to speak and understand the language of angeles, the universal language. Since the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek, the two languages will be eternal. I find Hebrew and Greek are more difficult than Chinese. Probably because I was exposed to Chinese since childhood, I find both Hebrew and Greek are more difficult than Chinese. I do not know which of the three languages is the most difficult for foreigners. I do not know if God will bless us with the ability to learn Hebrew and Greek fast and well. While English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, etc. will be abolished and vanished for good.
I find the transliteration of Greek interesting. For example, Revelation in Greek’s transliteration isapokalypsis while in Greek is ἀποκαλύπτω, both writing and recognition are difficult. Will there be universities and professors in Heaven?
Theologians and Bible commentators are very dangerous people because they believe their opinions or interpretations are inspired and infallible. I have carefully studied Revelation Chapter 21 many times, and I do not see how the New Heaven and the New Earth symbolize anything. When the Bible says new, I believe it is new, not renewed or restored. Many do not know the first heaven and the first earth (the present heaven and the present earth) will pass away. When the Bible says there is no longer any sea. I believe there is no longer any sea.
According to the revelation, we know there are three levels of heaven. The first level of heaven is where birds and airplanes fly and where there are unaccountable stars. It is what we call the universe. Nobody knows how large is the first level of heaven because the Bible says the universe is expanding.
This is the outermost layer of the atmosphere. It extends from about 375 miles (600 km) to 6,200 miles (10,000 km) above the earth. In this layer, atoms and molecules escape into space and satellites orbit the earth. At the bottom of the exosphere is a transition layer called the thermopause.
Thermosphere
Between about 53 miles (85 km) and 375 miles (600 km) lies the thermosphere, known as the upper atmosphere. While still extremely thin, the gases of the thermosphere become increasingly denser as one descends toward the Earth.
“celestial sphere, the apparent surface of the heavens, on which the stars seem to be fixed. For the purpose of establishing coordinate systems to mark the positions of heavenly bodies, it can be considered a real sphere at an infinite distance from the Earth. The Earth’s axis, extended to infinity, touches this sphere at the north and south celestial poles, around which the heavens seem to turn. The plane of the Earth’s Equator, extended to infinity, marks the celestial equator. See alsohour circle; ecliptic; zenith.”
The Bible is silent about the second level of heaven. I surmise it is the abode or dwellings of angels. I could be wrong.
The third Heaven we know something through revelation.
2Co 12:2-4, “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or
apart from the body I do not know, God knows—
was caught up into Paradise and heard
inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”
Apostle Paul never disclosed what he saw and heard in the third Heaven, the Paradise.
With the mortal body I know what I need on earth. With immortal and spiritual body, we do not know what we need in the New Heaven and New Earth.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth – Such a heaven and earth that they might properly be called new; such transformations, and such changes in their appearance, that they seemed to be just created. He does not say that they were created now, or anew; that the old heavens and earth were annihilated; but all that he says is, that there were such changes that they seemed to be new. If the earth is to be renovated by fire, such a renovation will give an appearance to the globe as if it were created anew, and might be attended with such an apparent change in the heavens that they might be said to be new. The description here Revelation 21:1 relates to scenes after the general resurrection and the judgment – for those events are detailed in the close of the previous chapter. In regard to the meaning of the language here, see the notes on 2 Peter 3:13. Compare, also, “The Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences,” by Edward Hitchcock, D. D., LL. D., pp. 370-408.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away – They had passed away by being changed, and a renovated universe had taken their place. See the notes on 2 Peter 3:10.
And there was no more sea – This change struck John more forcibly, it would appear, than anything else. Now, the seas and oceans occupy about three-fourths of the surface of the globe, and, of course, to that extent prevent the world from being occupied by people – except by the comparatively small number that are mariners. There, the idea of John seems to be, the whole world will be inhabitable, and no part will be given up to the wastes of oceans. In the present state of things, these vast oceans are necessary to render the world a fit abode for human beings, as well as to give life and happiness to the numberless tribes of animals that find their homes in the waters. In the future state, it would seem, the present arrangement will be unnecessary; and if man dwells upon the earth at all, or if he visits it as a temporary abode (see the notes on 2 Peter 3:13), these vast wastes of water will be needless. It should be remembered that the earth, in its changes, according to the teachings of geology, has undergone many revolutions quite as remarkable as it would be if all the lakes, and seas, and oceans of the earth should disappear. Still, it is not certain that it was intended that this language should be understood literally as applied to the material globe. The object is to describe the future blessedness of the righteous; and the idea is, that that will be a world where there will be no such wastes as those produced by oceans.
Rev 21:2, “And I saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Here it says Apotle John saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem. How in the world the Holy City, new Jerusalem would symbolize the Church of Jesus Christ? The Church is the abstract Body of Christ. The Holy City is a place; prepared as a bride adored for her husband.
Jhn 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I AM coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I AM, there you also will be.”
With all my heart I believe the Holy City, new Jerusalem, is the place that Jesus prepared. I also believe, 1Co 2:9, “but just as it is written:
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,AND WHICH HAVE NOT
ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART,ALL THAT GOD
HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
I also believe the Holy City, new Jerusalem is all that God has prepared for those who love Him. It is also written,Heb 11:16, “But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a City for them.”
All this is literally true statement, not figure of speech.
So the Kingdom of Heaven is located in the Holy City, new Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth. When the false theologians and wrong commentators read the Holy City, new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God, they lost their minds. They question how God could do it — the Holy City is 1,400 miles in length, width and height. They could not believe God can do such a vast project! Read the following, they think it is absurb! I for one believe that this is literally true.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven – See the Analysis of the chapter. On the phrase “new Jerusalem,” see the Galatians 4:26 note, and Hebrews 12:22 note. Here it refers to the residence of the redeemed, the heavenly world, of which Jerusalem was the type and symbol. It is here represented as “coming down from God out of heaven.” This, of course, does not mean that this great city was “literally” to descend upon the earth, and to occupy any one part of the renovated world; but it is a symbolical or figurative representation, designed to show that the abode of the righteous will be splendid and glorious. The idea of a city literally descending from heaven, and being set upon the earth with such proportions – three hundred and seventy miles high Revelation 21:16, made of gold, and with single pearls for gates, and single gems for the foundations – is absurd. No man can suppose that this is literally true, and hence this must be regarded as a figurative or emblematic description. It is a representation of the heavenly state under the image of a beautiful city, of which Jerusalem was, in many respects, a natural and striking emblem.
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband – See the notes on Isaiah 49:18; Isaiah 61:10. The purpose here is, to represent it as exceedingly beautiful. The comparison of the church with a bride, or a wife, is common in the Scriptures. See the Revelation 19:7-8 notes, and Isaiah 1:21 note. It is also common in the Scriptures to compare a city with a beautiful woman, and these images here seem to be combined. It is a beautiful city that seems to descend, and this city is itself compared with a richly-attired bride prepared for her husband,”
Rev 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”
This is very serious. The tabernacle of God is among the people. I had never seen the tabernacle of God. God will dwell among His children. This is not figure of speech.
Verse 3. – And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Out of the throne is read in א, A, and others; out of heaven is the reading of B, P, etc. As usual, the voice is described as a great voice (cf. Revelation 19:17, etc.). It is not stated from whom the voice proceeds, but comp. Revelation 20:11. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them; literally, he shall tabernacle with them. Still the seer is influenced by the language of Ezekiel: “And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore” (Ezekiel 37:28). Thus God makes his abode in his glorified Church – the New Jerusalem, among his spiritual Israel (cf. Revelation 7:15, where this vision has been already anticipated). And they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God; and they shall be his peoples, and himself shall be God with them, their God. The balance of authority is in favour of retaining the two last words, though they are omitted in א, B, and others. Evidently the same words as Ezekiel 37:27 (see above), “My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Cf. “God with them” with “Emmanuel” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). Now, the promise is redeemed in all its fulness. The plural “peoples” seems to point to the catholic nature of the New Jerusalem, which embraces many nations (cf. ver. 24; also Revelation 7:9). Revelation 21:3”
Rev 21:4, “and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”This is nothing figurative. God will make first things pass away including every tear, no longer any death; no longer any mourning, or crying or pain. What God has done is wonderful. These are the beauties of the Kingdom of Heaven.
God shall wipe] Read simply, and shall wipe, or, and He shall wipe, according as it is thought necessary or not to begin a new sentence. The name of “God” is introduced from the parallel passage, Revelation 7:17 : in Isaiah 25:8 the names used are those traditionally represented by “the Lord God.” there shall be no more death] More exactly, death shall be no more, having been destroyed in the Lake of Fire, Revelation 20:14 : not that the personification is put forward here. neither sorrow … any more pain] Better, neither shall there be sorrow, nor crying, nor pain any more. See Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 65:19. for the former things are passed away] for should probably be omitted; and the word for “former” is literally, first.”
Rev.21:5, “And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I AM making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”When God says He is making all things new. We do not know “all things” include what or everything. We believe it because these words are faithful and true. They are literally true. EVERYTHING will be new.
And he that sat upon the throne said] The first time that He speaks. The reference is rather to the eternal throne of Revelation 4:2 than to the judgement-throne of Revelation 20:11, so far as the two can be distinguished. Behold, I make all things new] Some O. T. parallels are alleged, e.g. Isaiah 43:19; Jeremiah 31:22; but really the only close parallel is 2 Corinthians 5:17; and the meaning of this passage is, of course, even fuller than of that. he said unto me] Read only, he saith. It is doubtful whether the speaker is still “He that sat on the throne;” for a similar command to “write” has been given already,—Revelation 14:13, Revelation 19:9; cf. Revelation 10:4—either by an impersonal “voice from heaven” or by the revealing angel. The question is best left open. The repetition of the words “He said unto me” in the next verse is a reason against ascribing all three speeches to Him that sat on the throne; the fresh mention of a revealing angel in Revelation 21:9 is perhaps a stronger one against supposing an angel to be speaking here; and the form of the words themselves against their referring to an impersonal voice. Write: for] Or perhaps, “Write, ‘These words are’ ” &c.: lit. that these words are”.… true and faithful] Read, faithful and true, as at Revelation 3:14, Revelation 19:11, and still more exactly Revelation 22:6.”
Rev 21:6, “Then He said to me, “It is done. I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost.”God is almighty, all He said is done. He is Eternal. And He gives the spring of the water of life freely. I do not know whether we take once the water of life or as needed. This is real not symbolic.
It is done] We should read the plural: the word therefore is not an exact repetition of that in Revelation 16:17. If we ask, what is the subject to this verb, “They are come into being,” perhaps the best answer is “all things.” The new universe of which the creating Word has just gone forth, has now been made, “and God sees that it is good.” Alpha and Omega] As in Revelation 1:8 (not 11), Revelation 22:13. Here, as in the former passage, it is God the Father that speaks. of the fountain of the water of life] See Revelation 7:17 and note, Revelation 22:1 : also our Lord’s words in St John’s Gospel, John 4:14, John 7:38. The last quoted passage is, with a touching grotesqueness confounded with this in the Epistle describing the Martyrs of Gaul (Eus. H. E. v. i. 18). freely] i.e. not “abundantly,” but gratis: cf. Isaiah 55:1.”
Rev 21:7, “The one who overcomes will inheritthese things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”These things include a New Heaven and a New Earth, the Holy City, New Jerusalem, all new things: no tear, no death, no pain, no suffering, water of life, etc. The greatest thing is to be a son of God.
Verse 7. – He that overcometh shall inherit all things. The correct reading makes the sense plain: He that overcometh shall inherit these things, i.e. the promises just enumerated. These words show the reason for the words of ver. 6; and may be called the text on which the Apocalypse is based (cf. Revelation 2.); for, though the words themselves do not often recur, yet the spirit of them is constantly appearing (cf. Revelation 12:11; see also John 16:33). And I will be his God, and he shall be my son (cf. Leviticus 26:12, “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people”). Some have thought that these words prove the Speaker to be God the Father; but it is impossible to separate the Persons of the Blessed Trinity in these chapters. This promise, first made to David concerning Solomon (2 Samuel 7:14), received its mystical fulfilment in Christ (Hebrews 1:5), and is now fulfilled in the members of Christ (Alford). Revelation 21:7”
Rev 21:8, “But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”The second death is for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars who will take part in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Clearly, liars will be in Hell. Do you know any politician and world leader who is not a liar?
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable . . .—Better, But for the cowardly andunfaithful (or, unbelieving) and defiled with abominations, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and for all the false, their part (is) in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which thing is the second death. The list here given points to those classes of character which cannot find a place in the Holy City. Nothing that defileth shall enter in. The less glaring faults stand first, the cowardly and unbelieving. There is a high and holy fear in which the Christian passes the time of his sojourn here (1Peter 1:17); but there is a base and selfish fear, a fear of man, which brings a snare; those who have faith enter boldly the strife, following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and conquering by faith. The cowardly sink into companionship with the faithless and unbelieving, with the workers of iniquity. The abominations spoken of here have reference to those mentioned in Revelation 17:4. The characters, it has been thought, form four pairs. Fear and unbelief go hand in hand (Deuteronomy 20:1-8; Matthew 8:26); the workers of abomination and the murderers, the fornicators and the sorcerers are united as those who sin in secret; the idolaters and the false, as those who change God’s truth into a lie. (Comp. Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5; Philippians 3:19.) These who are thus shut out from the heavenly city stand in contrast to those who are admitted; yet among those admitted arc such who have sinned through fear, faithlessness, and fleshliness. Sin indeed excludes from the city, but it is sin loved sin unrepented of, which alone can close the gate of the city whose gates lie open day and night.”
Rev 21:9, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”In this verse the angle is going to show John the bride, the wife of the Lamb. The Church is the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
The Vision of the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:9 to Revelation 22:5The Measure of the City, Revelation 21:9-179. And there came unto me &c.] As in Revelation 17:1. “unto me” should be omitted, so that the sentence as far as “vials” is verbatim the same as there. The identical form of introduction emphasizes the contrast between Babylon and Jerusalem, the harlot and the bride. full] According to the correct text, this word is made to agree not with “the seven bowls” but with “the seven angels.” But probably it is a merely accidental grammatical inaccuracy of St John’s. There is a much worse “false concord” in Revelation 14:19. in the Spirit] Revelation 17:3, Revelation 1:10. Cf. Ezekiel 3:14. to a great and high mountain] Ezekiel 40:2. The preposition rendered “to” plainly implies that St John was set on the mountain; whether the city occupied the mountain itself, or another site within view. In Ezek. l.c. the city apparently occupies the southern slope of the mountain, whence the seer views it. that great city, the holy Jerusalem] Read, the holy city Jerusalem. descending … from God] Verbatim the same as in Revelation 21:2, according to the true text. The descent described here is no doubt the same as there, but St John’s vision of the descent is not exactly the same. He has seen, as it were in the distance, the appearance of the city: but his attention was absorbed in listening to the sayings of Revelation 21:3-8. Now, he is summoned to attend to the other, and finds it at the same stage where he noticed it in passing before.”
Rev 21:10, “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heavenfrom God.”In this verse, the angel compared the Holy City, Jerusalem as the bride, the wife of the Lamb.The angel showed the wife of the Lamb is like the Holy City, new Jerusalem, having the glory and splendor of God.
And he carried me away in the spirit . . .—Better, He carried me away in spirit on to a mountain, great and high. It is not merely that the height gives a fine view-ground, the symbolism carries us further. The glimpse of God’s coming glories is best gained from the consecrated heights of self-surrender and prayer. On a mountain apart—the mountain of supplication and separation from the world—is the light and glory of God best seen. There are Beulah heights and transfiguration heights from which we may gain glimpses of the city and the glory of the Lord of the city. (Comp. Matthew 17:1-4.) The angel carried away the seer to a mountain great and high, and showed him (not “that great city,” but) the holy city Jerusalem descending out of the heaven from (having its origin from) God. The tempter showed to our Lord the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; the comforting angel shows to our Lord’s prophet the city that hath the foundations, and the glory of it—the city that is of God, its builder and maker. (Comp. Hebrews 11:10, where the right rendering is not “a city,” but the city which hath the foundations.)”
Rev 21:11, “having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.’The glory of God is real, the very valuable stone is real.
Having the glory of God – A glory or splendor such as became the dwelling place of God. The nature of that splendor is described in the following verses.
And her light – In Revelation 21:23 it is said that “the glory of God did lighten it.” That is, it was made light by the visible symbol of the Deity – the “Shekinah.” See the Luke 2:9 note; Acts 9:3 note. The word here rendered “light” – φωστὴρ phōstēr – occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in Philippians 2:15. It means, properly, a light, a lightgiver, and, in profane writers, means commonly a “window.” It is used here to denote the brightness or shining of the divine glory, as supplying the place of the sun, or of a window.
Like unto a stone most precious – A stone of the richest or most costly nature.
Even like a jasper stone – On the jasper, see the notes on Revelation 4:3. It is used there for the same purpose as here, to illustrate the majesty and glory of God.
Clear as crystal – Pellucid or resplendent like crystal. There are various kinds of jasper – as red, yellow, and brown, brownish yellow, etc. The stone is essentially a quartz, and the word “crystal” here is used to show that the form of it referred to by John was clear and bright.”
Rev 21:12, “It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.”It is true that the Holy City had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Isreal were written on the gates.
And had a wall great and high – Ancient cities were always surrounded with walls for protection, and John represents this as enclosed in the usual manner. The word “great” means that it was thick and strong. Its height also is particularly noticed, for it was unusual. See Revelation 21:16.
And had twelve gates – Three on each side. The number of the gates correspond to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and to the number of the apostles. The idea seems to be that there would be ample opportunity of access and egress.
And at the gates twelve angels – Stationed there as guards to the New Jerusalem. Their business seems to have been to watch the gates that nothing improper should enter; that the great enemy should not make an insidious approach to this city as he did to the earthly paradise.
And names written thereon – On the gates.
Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel – So in the city which Ezekiel saw in vision, which John seems also to have had in his eye. See Ezekiel 48:31. The inscription in Ezekiel denoted that that was the residence of the people of God; and the same idea is denoted here. The New Jerusalem is the eternal residence of the children of God, and this is indicated at every gate. None can enter who do not belong to that people; all who are within are understood to be of their number.”
Rev 21:13, “There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.”It is no figurative, there were three gates on the east, on the north, on the south, and on the west each.
21:9-21 God has various employments for his holy angels. Sometimes they sound the trumpet of Divine Providence, and warn a careless world; sometimes they discover things of a heavenly nature of the heirs of salvation. Those who would have clear views of heaven, must get as near to heaven as they can, on the mount of meditation and faith. The subject of the vision is the church of God in a perfect, triumphant state, shining in its lustre; glorious in relation to Christ; which shows that the happiness of heaven consists in intercourse with God, and in conformity to him. The change of emblems from a bride to a city, shows that we are only to take general ideas from this description. The wall is for security. Heaven is a safe state; those who are there, are separated and secured from all evils and enemies. This city is vast; here is room for all the people of God. The foundation of the wall; the promise and power of God, and the purchase of Christ, are the strong foundations of the safety and happiness of the church. These foundations are set forth by twelve sorts of precious stones, denoting the variety and excellence of the doctrines of the gospel, or of the graces of the Holy Spirit, or the personal excellences of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven has gates; there is a free admission to all that are sanctified; they shall not find themselves shut out. These gates were all of pearls. Christ is the Pearl of great price, and he is our Way to God. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The saints in heaven tread gold under foot. The saints are there at rest, yet it is not a state of sleep and idleness; they have communion, not only with God, but with one another. All these glories but faintly represent heaven.”
Rev. 21:14,
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”The names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are:Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;Simon the Zealot. Who replaced Judas Iscariot? I do not want to waste time and effort with those who promote Matthias.I just want to quote the Scripture:1Ti 1:1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope.”If you believe the Holy Bible, that settles the dispute.There are 27 BOOKS in the New Testament, Apostle Paul wrote 14 of them. I believe Apostle Paul was the most knowledgeable because he had direct revelations from Christ.
And the wall … twelve foundations] Probably each of the twelve sections into which the wall is divided by the gates rests on an enormous jewel, reaching from gate to gate. This symbolises the solidity as well as the beauty of the divine structure: and was itself symbolised by the enormous size of the stones used in the foundations of the earthly temple. See St Mark 13:1 and parallels. Had is literally having, a solecism like that of Revelation 21:12. twelve names of the twelve apostles] Expressing the same doctrine as St Paul in Ephesians 2:20, and (probably) our Lord in St Matthew 16:18. It is absurd to suppose that there is any pointed insistance on the Apostles being only twelve, St Paul being excluded: to introduce thirteen or fourteen would have spoilt the symmetry characteristic of the whole vision. We might just as well say, that there ought to be thirteen gates for the thirteen tribes; counting Ephraim, Manasseh and Levi all as coordinate with the rest. Really, it is idle to ask whether the twelfth name was that of St Paul or St Matthias. St John does not notice his own name being written there, though of course it was (cf. St Luke 10:20); the Apostles are here mentioned in their collective and official, not in their individual character. (See on Revelation 5:5.) of the Lamb] His identity is taken for granted with the Jesus of the earthly ministry, as in Revelation 14:1 with the Son of God.”
Rev. 21:15
And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.If it is a parable or symbol, why you had a golden reed to measure the City, and the gates and the wall thereof?
And he that talked with me . . .—Or, better, And he who was talking with me had a golden reed . . . The allusion here is to the angel mentioned in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 15:3); the reed, or measuring rod, is of gold, that used in Revelation 11:1 was not said to be of gold; the measurement there was the symbol of preservation amid impending danger; the measuring here is more glorious—it is measuring which exhibits the beauty and proportion of the city which is now dwelling at peace. Gold is one of the features of the city; the street is gold (Revelation 21:18; Revelation 21:21); it may stand, as a token of the wealth (Psalm 72:15; 1Kings 10:14-21) of the royal city; but the wealth of that city is love. (Comp. Note on Revelation 3:18.)”
Rev. 21:16
The city is laid out as a square, its length being the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod—twelve thousand stadia (about 1,400 miles); its length and width and height are equal.I use the Amplified Bible because it coverts stadia.
And the city lieth four square,…. To the four corners of the world, from whence its inhabitants come, and denotes the regularity, uniformity, perfection, and immovableness of it.
And the length is as large as the breadth; this church state will be all of a piece, perfect, entire, and wanting nothing.
And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs; or fifteen hundred miles; a monstrously large city indeed! such an one as never was upon earth; see Ezekiel 48:35 and which shows, that this is not to be understood literally, but mystically; and intends the capaciousness of it, here being room enough for all the twelve tribes of Israel; that is, for all the elect of God; for as in Christ’s Father’s house, so in this kingdom state of his, there will be many mansions, or dwelling places, enough for all his people. This city will hold them all. The Jews (h) say of Jerusalem, that in time to come it shall be so enlarged, as to reach to the gates of Damascus, yea, to the throne of glory.
The length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal. A perfectly uniform state! according to the Ethiopic version, it is in length twelve thousand furlongs, and every measure equal, so that it is so many furlongs in length, breadth, and height.
(h) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 24. 1.”
Rev. 21:7
He measured its wall also—a hundred forty-four cubits (about 200 feet), according to man’s measurements,which are angelic measurements.”I also use Amplified Bible because it converts cubits. It is interesting if it is symbolic, why the measurement needs to be exact as man’s measurements which are also angelic measurement.
he measured the wall] We should naturally understand, the height of it. The walls of the historical Babylon are differently stated as having been 200, 300, or nearly 340 feet high. But we are told that they were about 80 feet in breadth (Hdt. I. 178:5: cf. Jeremiah 51:58): so if we do admit that the City here is conceived as 340 miles high, there is a sort of proportion in making its walls not less than 73 yards thick. according to … the angel] Rather, of an angel. Angels use, he means, a cubit of the same length as men—viz. the average length of the forearm, from the elbow to the finger-tip. It is perhaps implied, that angels are not of superhuman stature.”
Rev 21:18-27, “The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation
stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx;
the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations
will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
There are so-called Christian organizations who sell subscriptions and ask for donations. Many of them have money and influence. Some even call themselves evangelicals. But they insiste to have figurative or symbolic interpretations of Revelation Chapter 21. They do not believe in a real, literal New Heavens and New Earth. When they realize the Bible says the Holy City, New Jerusalem is 1,400 miles long, wide and high — it is coming down from Heaven, they say it is not literal as if such giant city is impossible for even God. I hold the priinciples there are parables in the Bible. Parables have to be interpreted as parables or figure of speech. But the Bible insterprets itself. There are many literal statements of facts in the Bible. The Kingdom of Heaven is real, its headquarters is the Holy City, New Jerusalem, in New Heavens and New Earth. When God says new, I believe it is new, not renewed or restored. There are many things in the Bible I do not know. Even Apostle Paul said he looked at things like through a miror. When the Perfect Lord returns, we will know everything.
I do not sell subscription. I do not make money by preaching the Word of God. I do believe the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is the place the Lord Jesus prepared, John 14:2-3. It is what God prepared, 1Co 2:9,
“but just as it is written: “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,AND WHICH
HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HUMAN HEART,ALL THAT
GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
IT is a miracle that the New Earth is able to uphold The Holy City, New Jerusalem which is 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles wide and 1,400 mile high — such as mega, superstructure. The Holy City can house about 2 billion saints with each comfortable mansion. I believe what is described in Revelation Chapter 21 is lietrally true and I thank God for the Holy City, New Jerusalem.
You may inherit the Kingdom of Heaven if you repent of your sins and believe in the Great God Jesus Christ and the Savior of mankind. You can do it now.
Pakistan, Global South, undeveloped and insolvent nations have consumed much of China’s financial resources. China needs to stop all foreign aid in order to pay for modernization.
UKRANIAN PRESIDENT ATTACKED THE RESIDENCE OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, WITH INTENTION OF KILLING PUTIN. THE UKRAINIAN LEADER COMMITTED WAR CRIMES, HE IS CORRUPT AND ABUSIVE OF POWER TO BE EXECUTED TO END THE WAR AND UKRAINE TO BE DISCARDED.
All African nations, South America, Asia and the world, where can you find a country which does not have large national debts and deficits? Africa is different because for 500 years, not one country has become self-sufficient and solvent, they glorify with their primitive cultures and brag about their scientists and experts, joy to kill each other. International aid actually fuel their official corruption. Any nation that shares destinies with Africa will be doomed! No resources can fill the Black holes! The international community should leave Africa alone, let them do or die.
China modernization must focus that every village will have:
