Bible Study Seattle

When was Jesus’ birthday?  It wasn’t December 25th.  That tradition came about in the late fourth century by decree of the Catholic church.  First we have Jesus’ cousin John’s birth:

“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah;’  Luke 1:5

When the priests became too numerous to all serve at the same time, King David divided the priests’ service into 24 courses:

“Now the first lot came out for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah, the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim, the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin, the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for Abijah…”  1 Chronicles 24:7-10

“These were their offices for their ministry when they came in to the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given to them through Aaron their father, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.”  1 Chronicles 24:19

24 weeks were allotted for all the priests twice a year.  The 3 weeks of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles saw all priests serving together.  We also know that Jesus was roughly six months younger than his cousin John:

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”  But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.  The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”  Luke 1:26-31

“And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.”  Luke 1:36

Since Zechariah served in the eighth week, Elizabeth conceived about the ninth or tenth week from Nisan 1 or Tishri 1.  There’s no direct indication in the scripture.  The clincher is Daniel:

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.  So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.  Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.  And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”  Daniel 9:24-27

This prophecy has been debated for centuries, and it’s most likely a double prophecy at a minimum.  It is very clear that the Messiah would be ‘cut off’ (dead) in the seventieth week, and that he would put a stop to sacrifice in the middle of the week.  Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice in the middle of the seventieth week.  Since he was crucified Nisan 14, he must have started his ministry three and a half years earlier, around the time of the Fall festivals.  Now Like tells us:

“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age.”  Luke 3:23

Notice he says, “about thirty”.   Tells us that Jesus was born in the fall.  But exactly when?  John the Baptist was conceived about the ninth or tenth week from Nisan 1, sometime in Sivan.  Possibly right after Pentecost.  Jesus would then have been conceived in Kislev, possibly during Hanukkah?  John’s gospel refers to the ‘light’ that was come into the world.  Was this a hint that Jesus was conceived during the Festival of Lights?  Possibly.  The exact date seems impossible to determine from the scriptures, although we will continue to look into this.

God created Adam & Eve and called them ‘very good’:

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”  Genesis 1:26-28,31

“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”  Genesis 2:25

From these verses, it’s pretty clear that they had no sin.  They were perfect.  Then the fall happens, where they clearly disobeyed God and were told that they would die.  But was that it?  Since they were perfect, was there no excuse?  Why did God not strike them dead then and there?  Was it merely so that they would have time raise children?  God does a curious thing after the fall.  “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”  Genesis 3:21.  He slays an animal to make atoning coverings for Adam & Eve!  Why would he do that if there was no hope for them?  Presumably this is where Abel learned to make offerings from his flock.  Were these coverings from God made from sheepskins?  Wouldn’t that be appropriate given the symbolism given throughout the bible?

Indeed, Adam & Eve, along with all their billions of children will be resurrected to learn from the results of their sin.  “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”  Romans 5:18

The bible has nine accounts of resurrections:

1 Kings 17:17-24

2 Kings 4:32-37

2 Kings 13:20-21

Luke 7:11-17

Luke 8:40-56

John 11:38-44

Acts 9:36-42

Acts 20:7-12

1 Corinthians 15:3-6

Did Jesus rise from the dead on Sunday?

“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb.”  Matthew 28:1 NLT

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.”  Matthew 28:1 NIV

“In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.”  Matthew 28:1 KJV

“Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Mag′dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher.”  Matthew 28:1 RSV

“And on the eve of the sabbaths, at the dawn, toward the first of the sabbaths, came Mary the Magdalene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulcher,”. Matthew 28:1. YLT

All these translations emphasize dawn.  The problem is that by Hebrew reckoning, dawn is the middle of the day.  No day starts at dawn.  And what is the ‘first of the Sabbaths’?  This is referring to the seven Sabbaths until Pentecost, or the feast of weeks.  It is very important to know if Jesus rose on Sunday.  This would be the eighth day of the week which has large prophetic implications.  If however, Jesus rose on the Sabbath, that also has large prophetic implications.  The fact that he was gone at dawn leaves no ambiguity between two possible days.  Notice that Young’s Literal Translation says ‘toward the first of the sabbaths’, not the first of the week.  This is important.  Jesus told us that he would return for us and raise us to be where he was so that the saints and Jesus could reign a thousand years.  This almost has to be the Sabbath for all the types to work.  Contrary to common thinking, Jesus rose from the dead during the evening (first half) of the Sabbath.  Now if we think in Roman terms with the day starting at midnight, Jesus could have indeed have risen during the first part of Sunday, but the scriptures were written with God’s calendar in mind, not Pope Gregory XIII’s.  This author is not clear if the Jewish Sabbath starts at the end of the Roman Saturday or the beginning.  But there is no way the scriptures were written with Pope Gregory’s 1582AD calendar in mind.  Jesus did indeed rise on the Sabbath.  And he was not crucified on Friday, but that’s another story.  A good discussion of this is at Hebrew4Christians:  http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Spring_Holidays/First_Fruits/first_fruits.html

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.  But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.  “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.  Remember Lot’s wife!  Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.  I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”  Luke 17:28-35

“The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.  “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.  Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.  They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.  Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.  Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.  As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please!  Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die.  Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.  Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.  Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.  But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”  Genesis 19:1-26

We may have some timing clues here to the second coming.  Hebrew days start with evening and end with morning.  Half and half.  We also apply this to the ‘Day’ of the Lord – 1,000 years (500 years of evening followed by 500 years of morning).  The Angels arrived at Sodom in the evening.  Then they had a meal at Lot’s house.  Presumably this would have been before late, maybe 6-9pm (The beginning of the evening). Just before they went to bed, all the evil men came to abuse them.  This may have been 9 or 10 or 11pm.  Fortunately the Angels worked a miracle to protect the innocent from harm.  The remaining part of the night (evening) was time for the righteous to flee.  They had six or eight hours, enough time to get several miles away.  Just after dawn, when the righteous were safely at a distance, the Lord rained down fire and brimstone and destroyed Sodom.  Jesus explicitly tells us it will be just like this when he is revealed.  The Angels arrive and have dinner in the first three +/- hours of the evening.  This corresponds to about 125 years out of 1,000 (very loosely).  After the meal the evil men come.  This portends a time of increasing wickedness.  Then the remaining time till the destruction is time for the righteous to escape.  God intervenes to miraculously protect the righteous.

The time of the meal probably corresponds to the time that the Bride Of Christ is still being selected.  Once she is complete and gone, evil increases substantially.  The righteous are warned to flee for their lives.  There is a time limit (probably 340ish years, give or take a few decades).  Just after dawn, the destruction concludes with Jesus coming down to stand on the Mount of Olives.  Just after dawn is a little past 500 years in to the Millennium.  The climax is probably the Day of Atonement.  Those that are taken or left are those who flee to safety or those who are burned to death.  Not a pretty picture.  This is pure speculation but it fits many types.

After David’s murder and adultery, he was confronted by God:

“The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.  The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!  He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.  Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’”  2 Samuel 12:1-10

Notice how Nathan confronts David: he sets up a situation so that David judges himself.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”  Matthew 7:1-3

In other words, we will judge ourselves!  Notice this effect on Paul:

“We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  Acts 26:14

Saul/Paul was injuring himself persecuting others.  Now notice David’s response:

“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  2 Samuel 12:13

“David said to Gad, “I am in much trouble. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord. For His loving-kindness is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”  1 Chronicles 21:13

That’s it!  David wanted to be judged by God because of his kindness.  So should we.  Job was also judged by God in a very firm way, but we can fully trust him.  However, if we are hopelessly obstinate (in the second life):

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”  Hebrews 10:26-31

“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.  Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”  He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.  Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.  Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”  Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”. Luke 24:13-27

Indeed Jesus will interpret all things from Moses and the prophets about himself within three days (3,000 years) also at his second coming.

“for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”. Isaiah 11:9

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”. 1 Timothy 2:3-4

There are some scriptural difficulties with the Millennium. Some scriptures state things that happen in the beginning that have not happened if the Millennium has already started. The solution is that there are two Millenniums. The Millennial Sabbath and the Millennial Jubilee. The battle of Armegeddon will likely take place during the transition into the Millennial Jubilee about 500+ years into the Millennial Sabbath. There are some distinct differences between the Sabbath year and the Jubilee year. While the Sabbath was a rest and elimination of debts, the Jubilee expanded that to include restoration of all family and property. The Day of Atonement is likely the day when Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives and destroy the enemies of God in a dramatic and devastating way. That Day is the start of the Jubilee, just past half way through the Sabbath. Then it may take the full thousand years from that point to abolish death itself.

Why is it that Catholic preists don’t marry?  According to a Catholic website:

Theologically, it may be pointed out that priests serve in the place of Christ and therefore, their ministry specially configures them to Christ. As is clear from Scripture, Christ was not married (except in a mystical sense, to the Church). By remaining celibate and devoting themselves to the service of the Church, priests more closely model, configure themselves to, and consecrate themselves to Christ.

As Christ himself makes clear, none of us will be married in heaven (Mt 22:23–30). By remaining unmarried in this life, priests are more closely configured to the final, eschatological state that will be all of ours.

Paul makes it very clear that remaining single allows one’s attention to be undivided in serving the Lord (1 Cor 7:32–35). He recommends celibacy to all (1 Cor 7:7) but especially to ministers, who as soldiers of Christ he urges to abstain from “civilian affairs” (2 Tm 2:3–4).

For starters, Jesus did not say there would be no marriage in heaven. He himself will be married to the church! He meant that most people would not be married. Paul recommended singleness, but he knew that was not a biblical commandment.  Jesus never recommended that his followers be single.  And why was Jesus single?  Because his bride had not yet been selected by his Father!  Jesus definitely wants to get married.  That’s why he died on the cross.  It’s only through his marriage to the church that he can redeem mankind!  They will be born again through his bride the church.

Notice that the Israelite for runners of the church were married.  The priests were to marry and have children.  Priests could only come from other priests.  Would those priests be less effective with a family!  By no means!  In fact they had more life experience to enable them to relate to more situations.  Ministers of the church should be the same.  Notice what Paul says:

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”  1 Timothy 4:1-4

“Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him.  The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.  It happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house.  This woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on it.  So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.”  Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.

Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’”  The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king.  The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”  Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!”  Then the king said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.”  When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.”  1 King 3:16-28

No doubt this passage is for an example of how the Lord will judge in that Day (The Millennial reign).  Will Israel have judges that will hear cases in Jerusalem?  Is that who the 144,000 Israelite saints of Revelation 7 are?  Of course the preference is to settle disputes privately before coming to a formal case:

“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?  For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”  Luke 12:57-59

We can imagine justice being delivered by God speaking directly to people as in the story of Job.  But I think that will be the exception as it is today.  God rarely speaks directly to people.  Instead, the judgment Day will more likely have God directing Jesus, who will direct his bride, who will direct the Israelite saints on earth, who will counsel and judge the people in their ways.