“You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.” Leviticus 18:21
All verses of chapter 18 prior to this are immoral heterosexual relations. All verses after verse 21 are immoral non heterosexual relations. Today when there is an unwanted child, abortion is often chosen. Thousands of years ago child sacrifice was often chosen. God hates both.
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The story of Jacob finding a wife seems prophetic. Leah seems to represent Israel, to which Jacob was first tricked into marrying. Then he gets to marry Rachel (the church). Then after Joseph is born, he works at leaving Laban his deceitful uncle (Satan?). Through shrewd mating, he separates the sheep and the goats(?). He gets three days separation. (Three thousand years?). An interesting discussion of this: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kermitzarleyblog/2013/06/jacob-a-type-of-jesus-two-advents/
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Many people think that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is not original, but was added later by a scribe. All 5000+ manuscripts we have include it, but none of these are earlier than 325AD. There are many reasons summed up well in this podcast: http://www.stfpodcast.com/File/may2010_should_women_be_silent_in_the_church.mp3
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“The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” Exodus 4:21
“Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.” Exodus 14:4
How can Pharaoh be blamed if the Lord hardened his heart? But it also says:
“But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.”. Exodus 8:32
Which is it? Did Pharaoh harden his heart, or did the Lord? Could it be both? It definitely seems that for God the ends justify the means. He is allowing and even causing calamity to bring the people to worship him and exalt his name. This must be what Paul is referring to:
“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”
“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.” And just as Isaiah foretold,
“Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity,
We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.” What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Romans 9:17-33
This hardening is not eternal. This is very important! God may have hardened Pharaoh and the Jews, but they will be resurrected. Everyone will have an honest shot at eternal life. Consider Manassah and Nebuchadnezzar. Both were very evil kings, but both repented and turned around.
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“ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. ” 1 Timothy 6:13-16
If we assume that God and Jesus are the same person, then this passage doesn’t give us too many problems. Except that it says ‘whom no man has seen’. Jesus was clearly seen. If we assume that God and Jesus are separate persons, then we have two choices. “Who alone…” If we assume Jesus is immortal, then God is not. If we assume God is immortal, then Jesus is not. But 99.99% of Christians believe that Jesus is immortal as a reward for his enormous perfect sacrifice. Another consideration is that Jesus and his bride must be in the same condition if they are to be one flesh. Could it be that the state of never dying is granted after resurrection? Or does the marriage happen long after the resurrection. But who bears the earthly children of resurrection?
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus before ages, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ” 2 Timothy 1:8-10
This passage suggests that a path toward immortality has been revealed by the appearing of Jesus. And we know that the last enemy to be conquered is death itself. If death is impossible, then at the that point all creatures remaining would be immortal. The main question is when? This author tends toward the view that immortal is not instant upon the heavenly resurrection, but that death must be completely destroyed first. Some could argue that death is defeated individually and not corporately. What do you think?
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“Before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58
Many people see this as Jesus saying he was Yahweh. But this is not so. More accurately, it could read, “Before Abraham is resurrected to life, I am.” Comments:
http://www.assemblyoftrueisrael.com/Documents/I_AM.htm
Another translation of John 8:58:
“Truly, truly I say to you, I exist as superior in rank to Abraham’s existence.”
A good commentary on verse 58, but especially all of John 8:
http://www.bibleanswerstand.org/before.htm
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Jesus did not marry and had no children, despite what Dan Brown may have said in the Da Vinci Code.
“Men took him away roughly and unfairly.
He died without children to continue his family.” Isaiah 53:8 NCV
Interestingly, different translations give different meanings to this verse. Some give the impression that nobody in his day (generation) cared. Others give the impression that he had no generation (children) to care. But it clearly states in all translations:
“but he will still see his descendants and live a long life.” Isaiah 53:10 NCV
Jesus will get married. But he had to suffer first. Isaiah 54 talks about his bride:
“The Lord says, “Sing, Jerusalem.
You are like a woman who never gave birth to children.
Start singing and shout for joy.
You never felt the pain of giving birth,
but you will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.” Isaiah 54:1
The barren woman who is a saint will have more children as part of the bride of Christ than any human woman could possibly have. If we assume that the bride (church) numbers 144,000 individuals or families, they will have thousands of children apiece! The mechanics of this operation we can only guess, but maybe David gives some clues:
“Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” Psalm 71:20
“My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;” Psalm 139:15
From this and other passages, it appears that earth itself will be where people come out of.
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“Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.” Daniel 2:1
“Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days.” Daniel 2:27-28
Will God reveal what will take place in the latter days within the second year (2,000 years) from the crucifixion? This may be a stretch and speculation. Will many details about the third year (3,000 years) be revealed by 2033AD? If the bride is complete before the household of faith, how will they know? In any case, Hosea tells us:
“Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
“He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.” Hosea 6:1-2
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“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god.” Daniel 1:1-2
Jehoiakim means Yahweh raises up or the Lord Will Set Up. And in the third year (3,000 years), when Jesus sets up his kingdom, the Antichrist will attack in a fierce battle. Here, Nebuchadnezzar represents that antichrist. Of course, the antichrist will not ultimately be successful, but the battle will be fierce. Zechariah 14 gives more details.
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“Now Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.” Genesis 23:1-2
Sarah is the only woman in the entire bible whose age at death is given. Why? God is trying to show us something.
There is some debate about why Abraham was living a three days’ journey from Sarah. Evidently Sarah did not accompany Abraham and Isaac to the near-sacrifice of Isaac. Did Abraham tell her that there were commanded by God to travel for a special sacrifice? Probably. In any case, Sarah evidently dies shortly after the Isaac sacrifice. Since Sarah was 90 when she had Isaac, Isaac was 37 when Sarah died (90+37=127). In Genesis 24 we see:
“and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.” Genesis 25:20
Isaac took a wife three years after his near-sacrifice! We know from Moses in Psalm 90 that a day is as a thousand years in the Lord’s sight. And we know from Daniel and Ezekiel that a day is as a year. “For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their iniquity, three hundred and ninety days; thus you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for each year.” Ezekiel 4:5-6
Therefore, from Isaac’s sacrifice to his taking a wife is three years – three thousand years. Jesus told us that: “The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” John 2:18-20.
Jesus meant that he would build the heavenly temple within three prophetic days – 3,000 years. But that was over the heads of the Pharisees.
If Sarah died shortly after the sacrifice of Isaac, it’s possible she modeled the Jewish polity. 40 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Israel was destroyed by the Romans (by 73AD).
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