In Matthew 23:25-26 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
The only way for Israel to cleanse out the inside of the cup is to come to Christ then the outside of them may be clean also!
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5-6 "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
This is a spiritual heart transplant!
The stoney heart is removed and replaced with a heart of flesh.
A heart that is moved by the Holyspirit!
This is necessary for EVERYONE that seeks salvation.
There has to be an acknowledgement of brokenness, insufficiency and inability to right yourself.
This cause for repentance, (A turning to Christ) for Justification, Sanctification and then Glorification .
In John 6:35-37- Jesus says "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.
(This means he will reject no-one.)
When a person comes to one for prayer, admitting he's a sinner desiring salvation, he's on the right track!
Their heart is right and a door has opened for you to deliver the good news. (The Gospel of Christ!)
That's where we all have started as we continue to be sanctified by the Spirit that dwells in us!
What is that Gospel and how might it be presented to the broken hearted?
May you see this: your reply is already gone. I will keep it short in respect of others.
Much of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 focuses on the end times. If we look closer, some of what Jesus told the four was specifically for their time. First, back then, they didn't even understand that Jesus was going to be executed, as shown in Luke 9:44-45 and Luke 18:31-34. We also see how they reacted after Jesus was crucified; they did not believe Mary and the other women who had seen Jesus.
When Jesus spoke about the temple, he said that not one stone would be left on top of another, which describes what happened in AD 70. There was a church in Jerusalem led by James and other Christians in Judea during this period. History records that they escaped to a city called Pella. Many link the phrase "abomination of desolation" to the end times, the antichrist, and the false teaching of the rapture. However, Jesus isn't referring to Daniel 9:27 but to the prophecy in Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11.
Wording in Daniel 9:27, "for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate," Daniel 11:31, "the abomination that maketh desolate." Daniel 12:11 "the abomination that maketh desolate set up,"
Antiochus IV Epiphanes carried out this act in 167 BC; this is the abomination of desolation Jesus is talking about. Jesus is warning them that the same event will happen before the temple's destruction in AD 70. History records this; it did happen, the warning Luke gave in Luke 21:20. If we look at Daniel 9:27, it says that for the abominations, He, who is Jesus, will make it desolate, referring to Matthew 23:36-38.
Just something you may study, I feel you and I try to study in prayer without preconceived assumptions.
How do we begin? The 7-year tribulation is taken from the 490-year prophecy in Daniel 9:25-27. The he in Daniel 9:27 is said to be the antichrist, who will make a 3.5-year peace treaty with Israel. Midway through this week, he will cause the abomination that makes desolate, leading to 3.5 years of great tribulation.
In verse 25, it states there will be 69 weeks from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, 483 years. This was fulfilled when Jesus was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit, as seen in Matthew 3:13-17. Jesus confirms His identity as the Messiah in Luke 3:16-21, and John denies being the Christ but speaks of Jesus in John 1:33-34.
Daniel 9:26 states that after sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off. The 7 weeks, or 49 years, had already passed, a period during which the temple and part of the wall were rebuilt. Jesus' ministry was 3.5 years, so His crucifixion was 69 weeks plus 3.5 years, totaling 486.5 years of the 490-year prophecy, leaving only 3.5 years of the 490-year prophecy.
The people of the prince who shall come are those who will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This refers to Titus, the prince, and the Roman army, the people, who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 for their abominations and rejection.
In verse 27, it is in the middle of the 70th week, Jesus' crucifixion causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease, Hebrews 9:12. During the remaining 3.5 years, Jesus was confirming the covenant to Israel through His apostles, as seen in Matthew 15:24, to the Jew first, Romans 1:16, which ended when the leaders of Jerusalem stopped their ears, Acts 7:54-60.
It says, "for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate." The he in verse 27 refers to Jesus, not an antichrist. The leaders of Jerusalem are the ones who spread the abominations, and Jesus made it desolate, as described in Matthew 23:37-38. Read the entire chapter of Matthew 23.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is the message preached during Jesus' earthly ministry, proclaiming the arrival of God's kingdom on earth through His reign as Messiah,
This was to the Jews while they continued faithfulness and righteousness under the Mosaic Law which was appropriate.
In Matthew 3:15 we see Jesus being of age asking John to baptized him.
"And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus IT BECOMETH US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS. Then he suffered him.
I believe Jesus was baptized and inaugurated under the Levitical priesthood to fulfill and end that priesthood at the Cross and bring in the new covenant with his death which was necessary.
Hebrews 9:16-17 'For where a testament is, there MUST ALSO OF NECESSITY BE THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
in the beginning the Gospel of the kingdom was to first a gather the lost sheep of Israel who lost their way.
Then offer up the Kingdom.
Matthew 23:37-39.
That has been postponed!
I believe the mystery was to be revealed at that time also, "after the Gathering" and bringing both Jews and Gentiles under the new covenant by the cross.
However as expected, Israel denied their Messiah and all but a remnant was blinded until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
In Daniel 9:20 we see Daniel making supplication before the LORD and confessing his sin and the sin of HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL.
"And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
In Verse 23 we see Gabriel come to give him answers according to his prayer. Daniel 9:23.
In verse 24 he says "Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE! ISRAEL!
The great Tribulation is to drive Israel to acknowledge their Saviour.
This is prophesied in Hosea 5:15. "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
In Matthew 23:38-39 Jesus says "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Israel will be saved out of the tribulation when they call on the name of the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:7 "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The Church will be kept from the HOUR of the tribulation!
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee FROM THE HOUR of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
FROM THE HOUR of TEMPTATION!
The Church won't be here during this time period!
If the Church is raptured after the Great tribulation and the rest of the world is annihilated who's going to populate the Millenium?
Is the rapture a resurrection? No. Some of this group is alive!
Are those who are alive, then caught up "part" of the first resurrection? Yes.
The first resurrection is better understood as a category rather than a sequence.
Those who are in Christ whether sleep or alive is part of the first Resurrection.
The persecution of Christ: The Pharisees and many sides of evil.
I am not sure of anyone that has studied this but it doesn't take long to realize just how sickening it truly was in regard to the Pharisees. Jesus no doubt had righteous indignation; and eventually upbraided them severely starting with the initial overturning of the moneychangers table and the later one along with an entire chapter in Mattew where He upbraided them for their various forms of hypocrisy no less than SEVEN times. That; no doubt didn't help matters with their persecution; but He knew His time was coming for the cross and that until that time they couldn't do anything about their seething wrath in order to destroy Him.
Of course; if we step back we realize that it shouldn't have been this way. The Pharisees should have been the first ones to recognize and embrace Jesus as the Messiah and it took some real effort to have such unbelief. What was the law Jesus told men to follow; basically do what they say but do not follow their example ( Matthew 23:3). This was late in the game during His final days on earth before Calvary; but the law was started by God and could not be altered; just overtaken by the covenant of grace established to bring in all men; Jews then Gentiles into the fold of God (see John 10:16). But Christ came for the lost; not for self righteous who "needed no physician" ( Mark 2:17). And that is where we will start at the onset of His ministry.
They started their trash talking (I can't define it as anything else) earlier in verse 6. But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, 7"Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
After the healing of the paralytic and some time passed the next insult was this When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Thus Jesus responded with verse 17
The Maccabees; books one and two perhaps have the best summary of the significant events which occured after the prophets were off the scene following Malachi probably about 2 centuries later. This involved the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes the second if I have my facts right. In any case faithfulness in the Lord allowed for revolt to be ultimately successful; but this situation was NOT to be repeated with the invasion of the Romans in AD 70 due to not heeding who Christ actually was ( Matthew 23:27) and later in 135 AD when the diaspora was made complete; more or less for over 1900 years.
This takes us to Christ the ultimate prophet; teacher and king (all which should be capitalized) as He is indeed God the Son.
We should consider all the Lord had already done to ensure the lineage of Christ would be preserved. Satan almost succeeded.
Starting with the murder of Abel; if Eve had suddenly died there would be no more heritage; or if she couldn't have any more children. Seth was to come in his place; so to speak. Then there was the corruption of the seed of men evident from Genesis 6 and that rendered them useless for human descent with the corrupted offspring and DNA not being entirely huan; as I see it.
Nosh and his family made it through the destruction of that old world as we know it; then we have the situation with Abraham and Isaac; who was only seconds from being slaughtered and that was according to God's plan of testing for Abraham. Finally we have situations where God used Bathsheeba (married after David committed adultery and; well to put it politely set up her husband for the fall on the battlefield); we also have descendants of Rahab who is referred to in not so favorable terms. God preserved the lineage and chose who He would on Joseph's side; in fact there was an event which rendered him incapable of fathering the Messiah (see Jeremiah 36:30). God chose a virgin birth to do this.
I understand that many interpret a 7-year tribulation based on Daniel 9:27. In Revelation 12, when Satan is cast out of heaven onto earth, Revelation 12:12 says, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth." He is filled with great wrath. Satan makes war, not peace. Revelation 13:1-5 explains that Satan gives the beast his power, his seat, and great authority. This beast is only given 42 months to reign. The book of Revelation does not mention seven years anywhere; instead, this beast is only granted 42 months from the time he rises.
Daniel 9: Daniel realized the 70 years of captivity were ending and prayed for himself and Israel, asking God for mercy so they could return to their homeland. Gabriel appeared to show Daniel a vision of his people, the house of Israel, and the holy city, Jerusalem. This prophecy foretold when the Messiah would come.
Seventy weeks are determined upon Daniel's people and the holy city. I will keep this short; to cover all this would take many posts. The 7 years are taken from Daniel 9:27, attributing he as being the antichrist, the beast in Revelation.
The entire prophecy is about the coming Messiah; 490 years are given to fulfill the 6 things listed in verse 24, with the judgment for their abominations and the rejection and killing of the Messiah that will be carried out on the city in verse 26.
In verse 26, it says that after 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off/crucified. The first 7 weeks must be added, totaling 69 weeks; this would make it during the 70th week. The 70th week has been fulfilled, and due to their rejection of the Messiah/Jesus, the city and temple were destroyed because they overspread abominations. Jesus was the he who confirmed the covenant.
Matthew 23Matthew 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Jesus caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease because it pointed to Him. Matthew 27:51, the veil of the temple rent, and Hebrews 10.
James 2:3 - And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
These two people come in, and you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, literally LAMPRA, spectacular clothing. You can imagine what this guy's clothing looked like, very flashy. You have to wear sunglasses inside just to sit with this guy!
And you say to him, Sit thou here in a good place;
They had benches along the side, and benches up front which were called the good seats of the house. So, he was called up to take one of these seats. And you say to the poor man, Stand thou there, like over in the corner, or sit here under my footstool:
Here we have a double disgrace. You're telling him to go stand over in the corner, not sit anyplace, but under my footstool. Literally that's what it says, and that's what it means. It's not just by my feet or by my footstool, but under my footstool, a place of disgrace.
Even Jesus in Matthew 23:5-6 said concerning the Pharisees, but all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries. A phylactery is a huge box that they put on their forehead with a strap, because in the OT, God said that His commandments were to be on their mind.
They had miniature versions of the Tanak (Old Testament), especially the Torah. It was a scroll. They put it inside these boxes and closed and locked the boxes. And they had this box on their head all day long, reminding them about the things of God. But of course, as human nature is, they probably started out with a little tiny one and then wound up with a huge birdhouse bouncing off their heads because the bigger the box, the "more spiritual" you are, you know?
Jesus says they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogue. Special treatment!
Final thoughts on woes to Pharisees in Matthew 23.
Luke 19:41-44 seems to parallel the time when Jesus was bewailing the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39 at the end of the chapter. This would indicate weeping either associated with or divergent from the rage He had with the righteous indignation talking (if we can use that phrase); more like shouting to the Pharisees. I would think both emotions at the same time were happening because all of that could have been avoided and the Pharisees should have known better. Overall rejection of Christ also was a factor and of course everyone was accountable to some extent for their actions and the end result.
It isn't often when these passages are read in conjunction with the Passion week; nonetheless it was part of what went down at that time.
It looks like I covered Matthew 26 already; so I will tackle Matthew 24 then 25.
Matthew 24
I set out to analyze Christ's unique aspects as the perfect God man but ended up basically doing a study of the entire book of Matthew. Others here I am sure could do a better job. It would be better for this study to focus on general observations rather than an eschatological hypothesis of these passages; particularly Matthew 24.
Jesus had a particular admonition and prophetic insight for Peter after the Resurrection ( John 21:18-19). The rest of the Disciples needed to hear this; so verse 3 is a private conference with them following His statements on the destruction of the Temple at the beginning of this chapter. It seems that most of this chapter is discussing the end time Tribulation; and much is clearly indicating things at that time such as the Abomination of Desolation. Verse 9 seems to be the only thing which had specific fulfillment with the Apostles; and verse 34 was only true as to the Temple being destroyed. There is something to be said in terms of natural phenomenon that occurred in AD 70 but most things predicted are yet future.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Good thing they weren't straining a camel as chewing tobacco is bad for you...
Anyway; the concept of tithing was still held as an O.T. custom; and naturally; since the Pharisees were rich a tenth of their own moneys made for a big show but wasn't anything compared to the widow's mites (see Luke 21:1-4). Righteous not perverted judgment was expected (see Isaiah 10:1; James 2:13). Apparently Pharisees were involved with the Sanhedrin but primarily over civil matters. (Wikipedia).
Let me see if I'm allowed to mention them; posting now
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (verse 14).
True religion according to scripture involves supporting orphans and widows; there are many DOZENS of scriptures on the subject including Psalms in the O.T. and the book of James in the N.T. Not making long prayers to be showy is also mentioned in Matthew 6:7 as to how the "heathen" pray; but of course it can be used of those who seek to appear righteous as the Pharisees did things to get approval of men as to their "piety" (see Matthew 6:5). Greed was apparently a major problem with these elites; and we can't help but see today how many "ministries" usually named after their leader manipulate people to give what they can't afford and promise their wealth will multiply (name and claim scheme). It seems doubtful the Pharisees told people they would get rich giving them a lot of their money; I would suspect.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
This third woe describes the debtor owing the value of the gold in the Temple to God (essentially for the Pharisee's ownership) if they didn't fulfill what was vowed. Verses 20-22 explain that what is important is the altar itself and God in heaven; although Jesus warned about not swearing and making foolish vows ( Matt. 5:36-37; also repeated in James 5:12). Vows to God must be fulfilled as we see in Judges 11:36-37. As a footnote pressuring people to make vows isn't right
Secondly; it was the last public event before the crucifixion where He had the opportunity to speak freely in public. We must remember that He would only say what the Father gave Him to say ( John 12:49). Surely God the Father knew what was about to happen and had righteous indignation as to the blindness of those who were ruling over His people unjustly. He knew that they were the ones who would help to propel Pilate to go through with the crucifixion. At this point God's patience was running out; for there would be no more signs and miracles apart from the Resurrection which no doubt they would disregard and buy into the insane narrative that the body was stolen.
Further thoughts on Matthew 22 and Christ's interactions with the Pharisees; Saducees and Herodians.
It is ironic to consider all of the religious establishment and their multiple and sequential attacks on the same occasion as we see here events within the last week of Christ's earthly ministry that spans from Matthew 21 to 27 followed; of course by His Resurrection early in the morning in the beginning of the following week in Matthew 28. Jesus of course knew that the betrayal of Judas would lead to the cross and the hour of darkness; as well as the fact that all efforts before that were to be futile.
This study began with looking into Christ as the perfect man and of course operating in Divine perfection as well. The earlier passage where the Pharisees in verse 16 spoke of the fact that He didn't favor anyone (as God is an impartial judge ( Deut. 10:17) is a true statement of His unique character. We are to turn to Matthew 23 next; although I have some things I'd like to interject in the interim. I will use this section as a preface to the next chapter.
Matthew 23: Introduction
This chapter is totally involved with a verbal excoriation of the Pharisees. We will examine it in detail in a future posting. There are several hypothesis we can come to in seeing this extensive rebuke (although that isn't really a strong enough word).
First of all; this follows the end of what was no doubt not the first time the Pharisees had; to put it mildly-interrupted His ministry. Not to mention all the assassination plots and attempts; there were blasphemous accusations that He was using the powers of darkness to cast out demons; that He was born as a bastard (or illegitimate; KJV sounds more jarring); that He was a glutton and winebibber (again KJV emphasis); and other such judgments as to His character. Every time the miraculous happened; there would be questioning; if not of Him; the man being healed such as an entire chapter 9 of John.
Matthew 17:21: "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
Matthew 18:11: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."
Matthew 23:14: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation."
Mark 7:16: "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 9:44: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 9:46: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 11:26: "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Mark 15:28: "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors."
Luke 17:36: "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."
John 5:4: "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."
Acts 8:37: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Acts 15:34: "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still."
Acts 24:7: "But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,"
Acts 28:29: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves."
Romans 16:24: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
I John 5:7: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
"For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against the mighty day of their punishment."
Matthew 23:2-3
"Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; WHOSE GOINGS FORTH HAVE BEEN FROM OF OLD, FROM EVERLASTING. Micah 5:2.
Without italics.
"whose goings forth from of old, from everlasting"
Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
(AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED)
Wonderful, Counsellor,
THE MIGHTY GOD,
THE EVERLASTING FATHER,
The Prince of Peace.
PROPHECY.
Hosea 5:15 I WILL GO AND RETURN TO MY PLACE, TILL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENCE, AND SEEK MY FACE: IN THEIR AFFLICTION THEY WILL SEEK ME EARLY.
Matthew 23:39 "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
By the time you go through the old testament and gather together all these gems and what's said in the New Testament and you are confused that's ok in my opinion.
But if it causes you to divide and dedicate your study on to seek and destroy there is something wrong!
God's "being" is Incomprehensible to replicate in our minds but his triune existence is well laid out for us in scripture.
Having I read your post about Genesis 3, I remained in my meditation and thinking there was the beginning of the world in which we live today. All began with the dialogue between the Devil and the woman, and from a heavenly environment in Eden to a new environment that was now beginning to exist, an exclusively evil environment, now a demonic environment, starting with Cain, and Abel was the first victim- Matthew 23:33-35 combined with John 8:44.
From then until today around 6000 years have passed, and the world of the Devil we are seeing turned to a gigantic and complex, and satanic structure in every sense as we can see, dominating the minds of the inhabitants of the Earth as a whole as he dominated he mind of Cain, very terrible, the ONLY exception are the chosen ones of GOD, they have believed in JESUS- John 17:1-12, and according to the Ephesians 1:3-8, among many biblical references.
But our Lord JESUS assured: Matthew 5:5- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. This assertion of our Lord JESUS, combined with Revelation 11:15-18 and Revelation 12 as a whole, give us what will happen now, from now on, even now in the turn from the sixth to the seventh Day, seventh and last Day, the Lord's Day, or seventh and last millennium.
I know when Jesus first came their eyes and ears were closed because the fullness of time had come, because they had gone so far away from God, judgment had been given on that generation. We see the similarity to that in Hosea, the temple was destroyed. I think we are on the same page with Matthew 23:39 as this happens with the fullness of the Gentiles.
When Jesus returns and sets up the kingdom on earth, they will call on Him as their Messiah and king. But my understanding is Hosea 5:15 God removed his glory from the sanctuary and the city for their unwillingness to repent and return to God the punishment was the destruction of the first temple and their captivity.
In Romans 9 Paul mentions the condition of Israel (AS A NATION)
Verses 31,32- "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone.
Romans 10:16 reads But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, WHO HATH BELIEVED OUR REPORT?
So the Gospel was preached to them! as we see in Romans 10:16-18.
Romans 11:8 declares their position then, as well today!
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Romans 11:25-28 sums it up.
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
When Israel "as a nation" call on their Messiah and behold him as their Messiah they will call on him!
I believe this will happen in the tribulation and that is what Hosea is speaking of.
"I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, AND SEEK MY FACE: in their AFFLICTION they will seek me early.
THEY WON'T BEHOLD HIM (Remain in this blinded state) untill they shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:39.
I may be a little slow but if you do not mind could you expand your meaning on "behold him as a nation" and how that relates to Matthew 23:39 or Hosea 5:15?
Romans 5:12->by one MAN sin entered into the world, in the Garden of GOD,...yes, by one MAN sin entered in the world as a whole,and passed upon all men,so death passed upon all men,for that all have sinned, then, in consequence, the earth become without form and void because darkness fell upon the face of the earth as a whole, and it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, and men saw the daughters of men that they were fair; then they took them wives of all which they chose,and GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the earth become a deep abyss. But the Word, the Word is GOD,GOD Himself,GOD is Spirit,self-executing,He did move among those which kept not their first estate,but left their own habitation, giving themselves over to fornication, so our GOD hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of this Great Day,the LORD's Day,the seventh and last Day,or seventh and last millennium.They are set forth for an example of suffering of the vengeance of Eternal fire,GOD is a devouring fire.
Then our GOD,planned the restoration of all things- Acts 3:21-as they were in Eden before the sons of GOD had rebelled themselves and sinned.And the first thing our GOD made according to His Plan was to make again His Light shine in the darkness,so JESUS shouted loudly,saying:Let there be light,and there was light.And the Word,GOD the Father,saw the light,that it was good:and He divided the light from the darkness.In this point started a terrible battle against Satan in the first millennium,and our Omnipotent GOD even from a sinful nature brought forth a holy seed for Himself,Abel( Matthew 23:33-35combined with John 8:44-47).And Genesis 5:3-32 describe the generation of the holy seed of GOD,but until the law sin was in the world:but sin was not imputed when there was no Law.
Matthew 22:38 - This is the first and great commandment.
Well, it is not a commandment. Some say that God commanded it, just like He said let there be light. He says in the OT, that my people WILL LOVE, because I will put my Spirit in them, and I will write my laws on their heart, and they will love me.
You see, God gives us the ability to love Him because in the natural, we do not have that capability. So, Jesus says this is the first commandment. Now, how many years have we gone thinking that the first commandment is a commandment? But the commandment is YOU WILL. There is no choice there! It is not an invitation like I hope you will, or could you, or should you.
You will, because God's Spirit is the one who has the love. He is the one who loves. And when you have God's Spirit in you, you are in God's love. Plus, we have to be sensitive to the fact that AGAPE love is not an action, it is a person.
Matthew 23:5 - But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
A phylactery is a small box. In the OT, God told the children of Israel to keep the commandments of God fresh in their minds, and fresh on their foreheads. So, what they did was they took a strap, and they took a little box, and they put the Hebrew Scriptures on a little tiny scroll, and they put it in a box.
And they closed the box, and they walked around with this little box on their head to keep reminding them to keep the commandments of God. Very interesting! Maybe you have seen some pictures? Orthodox Jews will do it today.
So, what He is saying is, and it is called a phylactery. They don't just have a little box here. The Pharisees have like "apple crates" you know? That is how spiritual I am, look at my phylactery!
15...The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
18 And the nations were(WILL BE) angry, and GOD's WRATH is come ... and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
The message above was written around 95AD to be LITERALLY fulfilled in the future( Revelation 1:1) , and now, even now, from now on, the prophecy will LITERALLY be executed, for GOD is wrathed against all nations and they will be destroyed, include the current Israel, and only and only will be saved a remnant of Israel- Micah 7:18-20, in fact only 144K will be saved- Revelation 7:1-8. And the others?
The others? Matthew 23:33-35
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers (why serpents? why generation of vipers? The answer is in John 8:44.Take a look), how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
The Word is GOD, GOD Himself, self-executing, understand?
Well,the Word is GOD,self-executing,He had a Plan:to save the mankind from the power of Devil.To execute it He needed to incarnate Himself,and He did so at the turn from the fourth to the fifth Day,so He was made flesh around 2000 years ago- Hebrews 1:1-3,He introduce Himself in the world of Devil by the name of JESUS,a LITERAL IMAGE of GOD,His Plan was to make man in His image and likeness in the SIXTH Day-Gen.1:26-Let us make man in our image,after our likeness.GOD's Plan for salvation was to preach the Gospel of His Kingdom,but by whom?Only by He Himself.
JESUS was born after week 69th,i.e.after a period of 483 years.His birth was something around 7to3BC,as this is known.
That said,GOD, now called JESUS,the stone which is become the head of the corner,He was set at nought of the builders of the OT, even the prophets which had the Spirit of Christ were killed by the builders- Matthew 23:29-35.Paul wrote:The Gospel of Christ is the power of GOD unto salvation to every one that believes;to the Jew and also to the Greek.For therein is the righteousness of GOD revealed from faith to faith: Romans 1:16-17.
Acts 4:12 reveals:Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other NAME under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved.It still was the beginning of the fifth Day.
JESUS himself began to be about thirty years of age,He started His Ministry,saying:The time is fulfilled,and the Kingdom of GOD is at hand:repent ye,and believe the gospel- Mark 1:15.JESUS said to the Jews:My Father works hitherto,and I work-Jo.5:17.
JESUS said to the Father:I have glorified thee on the earth:I have finished the work which thou gave me to do.The validity of His sacrifice for salvation already last around 2000 years,more than 730.000 days,in days to come the false messiah of the Jews- John 5:43-47,Re.13:11,will enthrone himself in Jerusalem,the Abomination of desolation is established,the daily sacrifice is taken out,the Dispensation of Grace gets to the END.
My understanding is Jesus was baptized and anointed in the fall of the year__, he was 40 days and nights in the wilderness. Jesus then chose His 12 disciples. shortly after the wedding where Jesus turned the water to wine, He went to Passover John 2:23, this would be 6 months after He was anointed by the Holy Ghost.
There are 3 more Passovers and Jesus was crucified on the last one, John 5:1, 1.5 years John 6:4 2.5 years, and John 13:1 the Passover He was crucified 3.5 years from when He was anointed as the Messiah.
My understanding of Matthew 24 was also for the disciples for the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem not just for us today, if we compare Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 have when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet. But in Luke 21:20, He writes when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
The abomination of desolation is something done by someone as King Antiochus IV Epiphanes did in 168 BC. It happened before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. My understanding is parts of Jesus's Olivet discourse were for them and parts are for us.
What is in Daniel 9:27 Jesus caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease when He died and the vail of the Temple rent from top to bottom. As Jesus told the woman at the well the hour has come ye shall not worship the Father in the mountain or Jerusalem, John 4:21
The wording in Daniel 9:27 is for the overspreading of abominations points to the abominations the leaders of Jerusalem will have done, Matthew 23:32-38 Jesus told them "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" The he, is Jesus who will make it desolate and, in their generation, it was made desolate by the people/Roman army, of the prince/Titus same as God used Babylon in 586 BC.
I hope this makes sense so that you can study for your understanding even if you disagree, if you have questions let me know.
In Matthew 23:25-26 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
The only way for Israel to cleanse out the inside of the cup is to come to Christ then the outside of them may be clean also!
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5-6 "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
This is a spiritual heart transplant!
The stoney heart is removed and replaced with a heart of flesh.
A heart that is moved by the Holyspirit!
This is necessary for EVERYONE that seeks salvation.
There has to be an acknowledgement of brokenness, insufficiency and inability to right yourself.
This cause for repentance, (A turning to Christ) for Justification, Sanctification and then Glorification .
In John 6:35-37- Jesus says "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.
(This means he will reject no-one.)
When a person comes to one for prayer, admitting he's a sinner desiring salvation, he's on the right track!
Their heart is right and a door has opened for you to deliver the good news. (The Gospel of Christ!)
That's where we all have started as we continue to be sanctified by the Spirit that dwells in us!
What is that Gospel and how might it be presented to the broken hearted?
Blessings
May you see this: your reply is already gone. I will keep it short in respect of others.
Much of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 focuses on the end times. If we look closer, some of what Jesus told the four was specifically for their time. First, back then, they didn't even understand that Jesus was going to be executed, as shown in Luke 9:44-45 and Luke 18:31-34. We also see how they reacted after Jesus was crucified; they did not believe Mary and the other women who had seen Jesus.
When Jesus spoke about the temple, he said that not one stone would be left on top of another, which describes what happened in AD 70. There was a church in Jerusalem led by James and other Christians in Judea during this period. History records that they escaped to a city called Pella. Many link the phrase "abomination of desolation" to the end times, the antichrist, and the false teaching of the rapture. However, Jesus isn't referring to Daniel 9:27 but to the prophecy in Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11.
Wording in Daniel 9:27, "for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate," Daniel 11:31, "the abomination that maketh desolate." Daniel 12:11 "the abomination that maketh desolate set up,"
Antiochus IV Epiphanes carried out this act in 167 BC; this is the abomination of desolation Jesus is talking about. Jesus is warning them that the same event will happen before the temple's destruction in AD 70. History records this; it did happen, the warning Luke gave in Luke 21:20. If we look at Daniel 9:27, it says that for the abominations, He, who is Jesus, will make it desolate, referring to Matthew 23:36-38.
Just something you may study, I feel you and I try to study in prayer without preconceived assumptions.
God bless,
RLW
How do we begin? The 7-year tribulation is taken from the 490-year prophecy in Daniel 9:25-27. The he in Daniel 9:27 is said to be the antichrist, who will make a 3.5-year peace treaty with Israel. Midway through this week, he will cause the abomination that makes desolate, leading to 3.5 years of great tribulation.
In verse 25, it states there will be 69 weeks from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, 483 years. This was fulfilled when Jesus was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit, as seen in Matthew 3:13-17. Jesus confirms His identity as the Messiah in Luke 3:16-21, and John denies being the Christ but speaks of Jesus in John 1:33-34.
Daniel 9:26 states that after sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off. The 7 weeks, or 49 years, had already passed, a period during which the temple and part of the wall were rebuilt. Jesus' ministry was 3.5 years, so His crucifixion was 69 weeks plus 3.5 years, totaling 486.5 years of the 490-year prophecy, leaving only 3.5 years of the 490-year prophecy.
The people of the prince who shall come are those who will destroy the city and the sanctuary. This refers to Titus, the prince, and the Roman army, the people, who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 for their abominations and rejection.
In verse 27, it is in the middle of the 70th week, Jesus' crucifixion causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease, Hebrews 9:12. During the remaining 3.5 years, Jesus was confirming the covenant to Israel through His apostles, as seen in Matthew 15:24, to the Jew first, Romans 1:16, which ended when the leaders of Jerusalem stopped their ears, Acts 7:54-60.
It says, "for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate." The he in verse 27 refers to Jesus, not an antichrist. The leaders of Jerusalem are the ones who spread the abominations, and Jesus made it desolate, as described in Matthew 23:37-38. Read the entire chapter of Matthew 23.
See part 2.
Amen Brother Chris.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is the message preached during Jesus' earthly ministry, proclaiming the arrival of God's kingdom on earth through His reign as Messiah,
This was to the Jews while they continued faithfulness and righteousness under the Mosaic Law which was appropriate.
In Matthew 3:15 we see Jesus being of age asking John to baptized him.
"And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus IT BECOMETH US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS. Then he suffered him.
I believe Jesus was baptized and inaugurated under the Levitical priesthood to fulfill and end that priesthood at the Cross and bring in the new covenant with his death which was necessary.
Hebrews 9:16-17 'For where a testament is, there MUST ALSO OF NECESSITY BE THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
in the beginning the Gospel of the kingdom was to first a gather the lost sheep of Israel who lost their way.
Then offer up the Kingdom.
Matthew 23:37-39.
That has been postponed!
I believe the mystery was to be revealed at that time also, "after the Gathering" and bringing both Jews and Gentiles under the new covenant by the cross.
However as expected, Israel denied their Messiah and all but a remnant was blinded until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
The new covenant is an everlasting covenant.
Blessings.
"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
1 Peter 5:6-7
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Blessings
In Daniel 9:20 we see Daniel making supplication before the LORD and confessing his sin and the sin of HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL.
"And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
In Verse 23 we see Gabriel come to give him answers according to his prayer. Daniel 9:23.
In verse 24 he says "Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE! ISRAEL!
The great Tribulation is to drive Israel to acknowledge their Saviour.
This is prophesied in Hosea 5:15. "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
In Matthew 23:38-39 Jesus says "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Israel will be saved out of the tribulation when they call on the name of the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:7 "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The Church will be kept from the HOUR of the tribulation!
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee FROM THE HOUR of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
FROM THE HOUR of TEMPTATION!
The Church won't be here during this time period!
If the Church is raptured after the Great tribulation and the rest of the world is annihilated who's going to populate the Millenium?
Is the rapture a resurrection? No. Some of this group is alive!
Are those who are alive, then caught up "part" of the first resurrection? Yes.
The first resurrection is better understood as a category rather than a sequence.
Those who are in Christ whether sleep or alive is part of the first Resurrection.
More perhaps later
Blessings.
"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
1 Peter 5:6-7
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Blessings
"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
1 Peter 5:6-7
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
Blessings
I am not sure of anyone that has studied this but it doesn't take long to realize just how sickening it truly was in regard to the Pharisees. Jesus no doubt had righteous indignation; and eventually upbraided them severely starting with the initial overturning of the moneychangers table and the later one along with an entire chapter in Mattew where He upbraided them for their various forms of hypocrisy no less than SEVEN times. That; no doubt didn't help matters with their persecution; but He knew His time was coming for the cross and that until that time they couldn't do anything about their seething wrath in order to destroy Him.
Of course; if we step back we realize that it shouldn't have been this way. The Pharisees should have been the first ones to recognize and embrace Jesus as the Messiah and it took some real effort to have such unbelief. What was the law Jesus told men to follow; basically do what they say but do not follow their example ( Matthew 23:3). This was late in the game during His final days on earth before Calvary; but the law was started by God and could not be altered; just overtaken by the covenant of grace established to bring in all men; Jews then Gentiles into the fold of God (see John 10:16). But Christ came for the lost; not for self righteous who "needed no physician" ( Mark 2:17). And that is where we will start at the onset of His ministry.
They started their trash talking (I can't define it as anything else) earlier in verse 6. But some of the scribes were sitting there and thinking in their hearts, 7"Why does this man speak like this? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
After the healing of the paralytic and some time passed the next insult was this When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Thus Jesus responded with verse 17
The Maccabees; books one and two perhaps have the best summary of the significant events which occured after the prophets were off the scene following Malachi probably about 2 centuries later. This involved the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes the second if I have my facts right. In any case faithfulness in the Lord allowed for revolt to be ultimately successful; but this situation was NOT to be repeated with the invasion of the Romans in AD 70 due to not heeding who Christ actually was ( Matthew 23:27) and later in 135 AD when the diaspora was made complete; more or less for over 1900 years.
This takes us to Christ the ultimate prophet; teacher and king (all which should be capitalized) as He is indeed God the Son.
We should consider all the Lord had already done to ensure the lineage of Christ would be preserved. Satan almost succeeded.
Starting with the murder of Abel; if Eve had suddenly died there would be no more heritage; or if she couldn't have any more children. Seth was to come in his place; so to speak. Then there was the corruption of the seed of men evident from Genesis 6 and that rendered them useless for human descent with the corrupted offspring and DNA not being entirely huan; as I see it.
Nosh and his family made it through the destruction of that old world as we know it; then we have the situation with Abraham and Isaac; who was only seconds from being slaughtered and that was according to God's plan of testing for Abraham. Finally we have situations where God used Bathsheeba (married after David committed adultery and; well to put it politely set up her husband for the fall on the battlefield); we also have descendants of Rahab who is referred to in not so favorable terms. God preserved the lineage and chose who He would on Joseph's side; in fact there was an event which rendered him incapable of fathering the Messiah (see Jeremiah 36:30). God chose a virgin birth to do this.
I understand that many interpret a 7-year tribulation based on Daniel 9:27. In Revelation 12, when Satan is cast out of heaven onto earth, Revelation 12:12 says, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth." He is filled with great wrath. Satan makes war, not peace. Revelation 13:1-5 explains that Satan gives the beast his power, his seat, and great authority. This beast is only given 42 months to reign. The book of Revelation does not mention seven years anywhere; instead, this beast is only granted 42 months from the time he rises.
Daniel 9: Daniel realized the 70 years of captivity were ending and prayed for himself and Israel, asking God for mercy so they could return to their homeland. Gabriel appeared to show Daniel a vision of his people, the house of Israel, and the holy city, Jerusalem. This prophecy foretold when the Messiah would come.
Seventy weeks are determined upon Daniel's people and the holy city. I will keep this short; to cover all this would take many posts. The 7 years are taken from Daniel 9:27, attributing he as being the antichrist, the beast in Revelation.
The entire prophecy is about the coming Messiah; 490 years are given to fulfill the 6 things listed in verse 24, with the judgment for their abominations and the rejection and killing of the Messiah that will be carried out on the city in verse 26.
In verse 26, it says that after 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off/crucified. The first 7 weeks must be added, totaling 69 weeks; this would make it during the 70th week. The 70th week has been fulfilled, and due to their rejection of the Messiah/Jesus, the city and temple were destroyed because they overspread abominations. Jesus was the he who confirmed the covenant.
Matthew 23 Matthew 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Jesus caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease because it pointed to Him. Matthew 27:51, the veil of the temple rent, and Hebrews 10.
God bless,
RLW
James 2:3 - And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
These two people come in, and you have respect to him that wears the gay clothing, literally LAMPRA, spectacular clothing. You can imagine what this guy's clothing looked like, very flashy. You have to wear sunglasses inside just to sit with this guy!
And you say to him, Sit thou here in a good place;
They had benches along the side, and benches up front which were called the good seats of the house. So, he was called up to take one of these seats. And you say to the poor man, Stand thou there, like over in the corner, or sit here under my footstool:
Here we have a double disgrace. You're telling him to go stand over in the corner, not sit anyplace, but under my footstool. Literally that's what it says, and that's what it means. It's not just by my feet or by my footstool, but under my footstool, a place of disgrace.
Even Jesus in Matthew 23:5-6 said concerning the Pharisees, but all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries. A phylactery is a huge box that they put on their forehead with a strap, because in the OT, God said that His commandments were to be on their mind.
They had miniature versions of the Tanak (Old Testament), especially the Torah. It was a scroll. They put it inside these boxes and closed and locked the boxes. And they had this box on their head all day long, reminding them about the things of God. But of course, as human nature is, they probably started out with a little tiny one and then wound up with a huge birdhouse bouncing off their heads because the bigger the box, the "more spiritual" you are, you know?
Jesus says they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogue. Special treatment!
Luke 19:41-44 seems to parallel the time when Jesus was bewailing the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37-39 at the end of the chapter. This would indicate weeping either associated with or divergent from the rage He had with the righteous indignation talking (if we can use that phrase); more like shouting to the Pharisees. I would think both emotions at the same time were happening because all of that could have been avoided and the Pharisees should have known better. Overall rejection of Christ also was a factor and of course everyone was accountable to some extent for their actions and the end result.
It isn't often when these passages are read in conjunction with the Passion week; nonetheless it was part of what went down at that time.
It looks like I covered Matthew 26 already; so I will tackle Matthew 24 then 25.
Matthew 24
I set out to analyze Christ's unique aspects as the perfect God man but ended up basically doing a study of the entire book of Matthew. Others here I am sure could do a better job. It would be better for this study to focus on general observations rather than an eschatological hypothesis of these passages; particularly Matthew 24.
Jesus had a particular admonition and prophetic insight for Peter after the Resurrection ( John 21:18-19). The rest of the Disciples needed to hear this; so verse 3 is a private conference with them following His statements on the destruction of the Temple at the beginning of this chapter. It seems that most of this chapter is discussing the end time Tribulation; and much is clearly indicating things at that time such as the Abomination of Desolation. Verse 9 seems to be the only thing which had specific fulfillment with the Apostles; and verse 34 was only true as to the Temple being destroyed. There is something to be said in terms of natural phenomenon that occurred in AD 70 but most things predicted are yet future.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Good thing they weren't straining a camel as chewing tobacco is bad for you...
Anyway; the concept of tithing was still held as an O.T. custom; and naturally; since the Pharisees were rich a tenth of their own moneys made for a big show but wasn't anything compared to the widow's mites (see Luke 21:1-4). Righteous not perverted judgment was expected (see Isaiah 10:1; James 2:13). Apparently Pharisees were involved with the Sanhedrin but primarily over civil matters. (Wikipedia).
Let me see if I'm allowed to mention them; posting now
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (verse 14).
True religion according to scripture involves supporting orphans and widows; there are many DOZENS of scriptures on the subject including Psalms in the O.T. and the book of James in the N.T. Not making long prayers to be showy is also mentioned in Matthew 6:7 as to how the "heathen" pray; but of course it can be used of those who seek to appear righteous as the Pharisees did things to get approval of men as to their "piety" (see Matthew 6:5). Greed was apparently a major problem with these elites; and we can't help but see today how many "ministries" usually named after their leader manipulate people to give what they can't afford and promise their wealth will multiply (name and claim scheme). It seems doubtful the Pharisees told people they would get rich giving them a lot of their money; I would suspect.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
This third woe describes the debtor owing the value of the gold in the Temple to God (essentially for the Pharisee's ownership) if they didn't fulfill what was vowed. Verses 20-22 explain that what is important is the altar itself and God in heaven; although Jesus warned about not swearing and making foolish vows ( Matt. 5:36-37; also repeated in James 5:12). Vows to God must be fulfilled as we see in Judges 11:36-37. As a footnote pressuring people to make vows isn't right
Secondly; it was the last public event before the crucifixion where He had the opportunity to speak freely in public. We must remember that He would only say what the Father gave Him to say ( John 12:49). Surely God the Father knew what was about to happen and had righteous indignation as to the blindness of those who were ruling over His people unjustly. He knew that they were the ones who would help to propel Pilate to go through with the crucifixion. At this point God's patience was running out; for there would be no more signs and miracles apart from the Resurrection which no doubt they would disregard and buy into the insane narrative that the body was stolen.
It is ironic to consider all of the religious establishment and their multiple and sequential attacks on the same occasion as we see here events within the last week of Christ's earthly ministry that spans from Matthew 21 to 27 followed; of course by His Resurrection early in the morning in the beginning of the following week in Matthew 28. Jesus of course knew that the betrayal of Judas would lead to the cross and the hour of darkness; as well as the fact that all efforts before that were to be futile.
This study began with looking into Christ as the perfect man and of course operating in Divine perfection as well. The earlier passage where the Pharisees in verse 16 spoke of the fact that He didn't favor anyone (as God is an impartial judge ( Deut. 10:17) is a true statement of His unique character. We are to turn to Matthew 23 next; although I have some things I'd like to interject in the interim. I will use this section as a preface to the next chapter.
Matthew 23: Introduction
This chapter is totally involved with a verbal excoriation of the Pharisees. We will examine it in detail in a future posting. There are several hypothesis we can come to in seeing this extensive rebuke (although that isn't really a strong enough word).
First of all; this follows the end of what was no doubt not the first time the Pharisees had; to put it mildly-interrupted His ministry. Not to mention all the assassination plots and attempts; there were blasphemous accusations that He was using the powers of darkness to cast out demons; that He was born as a bastard (or illegitimate; KJV sounds more jarring); that He was a glutton and winebibber (again KJV emphasis); and other such judgments as to His character. Every time the miraculous happened; there would be questioning; if not of Him; the man being healed such as an entire chapter 9 of John.
Matthew 17:21: "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
Matthew 18:11: "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."
Matthew 23:14: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation."
Mark 7:16: "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 9:44: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 9:46: "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."
Mark 11:26: "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Mark 15:28: "And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors."
Luke 17:36: "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left."
John 5:4: "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."
Acts 8:37: "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
Acts 15:34: "Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still."
Acts 24:7: "But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,"
Acts 28:29: "And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves."
Romans 16:24: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
I John 5:7: "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
Ecclesiasticus 12:6
"For the most High hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance unto the ungodly, and keepeth them against the mighty day of their punishment."
Matthew 23:2-3
"Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not."
Without italics.
"whose goings forth from of old, from everlasting"
Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
(AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED)
Wonderful, Counsellor,
THE MIGHTY GOD,
THE EVERLASTING FATHER,
The Prince of Peace.
PROPHECY.
Hosea 5:15 I WILL GO AND RETURN TO MY PLACE, TILL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENCE, AND SEEK MY FACE: IN THEIR AFFLICTION THEY WILL SEEK ME EARLY.
Matthew 23:39 "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
By the time you go through the old testament and gather together all these gems and what's said in the New Testament and you are confused that's ok in my opinion.
But if it causes you to divide and dedicate your study on to seek and destroy there is something wrong!
God's "being" is Incomprehensible to replicate in our minds but his triune existence is well laid out for us in scripture.
There's no denying it.
Blessings
From then until today around 6000 years have passed, and the world of the Devil we are seeing turned to a gigantic and complex, and satanic structure in every sense as we can see, dominating the minds of the inhabitants of the Earth as a whole as he dominated he mind of Cain, very terrible, the ONLY exception are the chosen ones of GOD, they have believed in JESUS- John 17:1-12, and according to the Ephesians 1:3-8, among many biblical references.
But our Lord JESUS assured: Matthew 5:5- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. This assertion of our Lord JESUS, combined with Revelation 11:15-18 and Revelation 12 as a whole, give us what will happen now, from now on, even now in the turn from the sixth to the seventh Day, seventh and last Day, the Lord's Day, or seventh and last millennium.
GOD BLESS
Get ready
I know when Jesus first came their eyes and ears were closed because the fullness of time had come, because they had gone so far away from God, judgment had been given on that generation. We see the similarity to that in Hosea, the temple was destroyed. I think we are on the same page with Matthew 23:39 as this happens with the fullness of the Gentiles.
When Jesus returns and sets up the kingdom on earth, they will call on Him as their Messiah and king. But my understanding is Hosea 5:15 God removed his glory from the sanctuary and the city for their unwillingness to repent and return to God the punishment was the destruction of the first temple and their captivity.
Thanks, brother,
God bless,
RLW
In Romans 9 Paul mentions the condition of Israel (AS A NATION)
Verses 31,32- "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone.
Romans 10:16 reads But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, WHO HATH BELIEVED OUR REPORT?
So the Gospel was preached to them! as we see in Romans 10:16-18.
Romans 11:8 declares their position then, as well today!
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Romans 11:25-28 sums it up.
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
When Israel "as a nation" call on their Messiah and behold him as their Messiah they will call on him!
I believe this will happen in the tribulation and that is what Hosea is speaking of.
"I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, AND SEEK MY FACE: in their AFFLICTION they will seek me early.
THEY WON'T BEHOLD HIM (Remain in this blinded state) untill they shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:39.
God bless
I may be a little slow but if you do not mind could you expand your meaning on "behold him as a nation" and how that relates to Matthew 23:39 or Hosea 5:15?
God bless,
RLW
That is fascinating.
In Matthew 23:39 Jesus states, "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, (Meaning behold him as a nation)
till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
I wonder how do they view such verses as Matthew 23:39 and Hosea 5:15
"I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
God bless.
Romans 5:12->by one MAN sin entered into the world, in the Garden of GOD,...yes, by one MAN sin entered in the world as a whole,and passed upon all men,so death passed upon all men,for that all have sinned, then, in consequence, the earth become without form and void because darkness fell upon the face of the earth as a whole, and it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, and men saw the daughters of men that they were fair; then they took them wives of all which they chose,and GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and the earth become a deep abyss. But the Word, the Word is GOD,GOD Himself,GOD is Spirit,self-executing,He did move among those which kept not their first estate,but left their own habitation, giving themselves over to fornication, so our GOD hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of this Great Day,the LORD's Day,the seventh and last Day,or seventh and last millennium.They are set forth for an example of suffering of the vengeance of Eternal fire,GOD is a devouring fire.
Then our GOD,planned the restoration of all things- Acts 3:21-as they were in Eden before the sons of GOD had rebelled themselves and sinned.And the first thing our GOD made according to His Plan was to make again His Light shine in the darkness,so JESUS shouted loudly,saying:Let there be light,and there was light.And the Word,GOD the Father,saw the light,that it was good:and He divided the light from the darkness.In this point started a terrible battle against Satan in the first millennium,and our Omnipotent GOD even from a sinful nature brought forth a holy seed for Himself,Abel( Matthew 23:33-35combined with John 8:44-47).And Genesis 5:3-32 describe the generation of the holy seed of GOD,but until the law sin was in the world:but sin was not imputed when there was no Law.
GOD BLESS
Matthew 22:38 - This is the first and great commandment.
Well, it is not a commandment. Some say that God commanded it, just like He said let there be light. He says in the OT, that my people WILL LOVE, because I will put my Spirit in them, and I will write my laws on their heart, and they will love me.
You see, God gives us the ability to love Him because in the natural, we do not have that capability. So, Jesus says this is the first commandment. Now, how many years have we gone thinking that the first commandment is a commandment? But the commandment is YOU WILL. There is no choice there! It is not an invitation like I hope you will, or could you, or should you.
You will, because God's Spirit is the one who has the love. He is the one who loves. And when you have God's Spirit in you, you are in God's love. Plus, we have to be sensitive to the fact that AGAPE love is not an action, it is a person.
Matthew 23:5 - But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
A phylactery is a small box. In the OT, God told the children of Israel to keep the commandments of God fresh in their minds, and fresh on their foreheads. So, what they did was they took a strap, and they took a little box, and they put the Hebrew Scriptures on a little tiny scroll, and they put it in a box.
And they closed the box, and they walked around with this little box on their head to keep reminding them to keep the commandments of God. Very interesting! Maybe you have seen some pictures? Orthodox Jews will do it today.
So, what He is saying is, and it is called a phylactery. They don't just have a little box here. The Pharisees have like "apple crates" you know? That is how spiritual I am, look at my phylactery!
15...The kingdoms OF THIS WORLD are become the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
18 And the nations were(WILL BE) angry, and GOD's WRATH is come ... and should destroy them which destroy the earth.
The message above was written around 95AD to be LITERALLY fulfilled in the future( Revelation 1:1) , and now, even now, from now on, the prophecy will LITERALLY be executed, for GOD is wrathed against all nations and they will be destroyed, include the current Israel, and only and only will be saved a remnant of Israel- Micah 7:18-20, in fact only 144K will be saved- Revelation 7:1-8. And the others?
The others? Matthew 23:33-35
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers (why serpents? why generation of vipers? The answer is in John 8:44.Take a look), how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
The Word is GOD, GOD Himself, self-executing, understand?
Get ready
Well,the Word is GOD,self-executing,He had a Plan:to save the mankind from the power of Devil.To execute it He needed to incarnate Himself,and He did so at the turn from the fourth to the fifth Day,so He was made flesh around 2000 years ago- Hebrews 1:1-3,He introduce Himself in the world of Devil by the name of JESUS,a LITERAL IMAGE of GOD,His Plan was to make man in His image and likeness in the SIXTH Day-Gen.1:26-Let us make man in our image,after our likeness.GOD's Plan for salvation was to preach the Gospel of His Kingdom,but by whom?Only by He Himself.
JESUS was born after week 69th,i.e.after a period of 483 years.His birth was something around 7to3BC,as this is known.
That said,GOD, now called JESUS,the stone which is become the head of the corner,He was set at nought of the builders of the OT, even the prophets which had the Spirit of Christ were killed by the builders- Matthew 23:29-35.Paul wrote:The Gospel of Christ is the power of GOD unto salvation to every one that believes;to the Jew and also to the Greek.For therein is the righteousness of GOD revealed from faith to faith: Romans 1:16-17.
Acts 4:12 reveals:Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other NAME under heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved.It still was the beginning of the fifth Day.
JESUS himself began to be about thirty years of age,He started His Ministry,saying:The time is fulfilled,and the Kingdom of GOD is at hand:repent ye,and believe the gospel- Mark 1:15.JESUS said to the Jews:My Father works hitherto,and I work-Jo.5:17.
JESUS said to the Father:I have glorified thee on the earth:I have finished the work which thou gave me to do.The validity of His sacrifice for salvation already last around 2000 years,more than 730.000 days,in days to come the false messiah of the Jews- John 5:43-47,Re.13:11,will enthrone himself in Jerusalem,the Abomination of desolation is established,the daily sacrifice is taken out,the Dispensation of Grace gets to the END.
My understanding is Jesus was baptized and anointed in the fall of the year__, he was 40 days and nights in the wilderness. Jesus then chose His 12 disciples. shortly after the wedding where Jesus turned the water to wine, He went to Passover John 2:23, this would be 6 months after He was anointed by the Holy Ghost.
There are 3 more Passovers and Jesus was crucified on the last one, John 5:1, 1.5 years John 6:4 2.5 years, and John 13:1 the Passover He was crucified 3.5 years from when He was anointed as the Messiah.
My understanding of Matthew 24 was also for the disciples for the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem not just for us today, if we compare Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 have when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet. But in Luke 21:20, He writes when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
The abomination of desolation is something done by someone as King Antiochus IV Epiphanes did in 168 BC. It happened before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. My understanding is parts of Jesus's Olivet discourse were for them and parts are for us.
What is in Daniel 9:27 Jesus caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease when He died and the vail of the Temple rent from top to bottom. As Jesus told the woman at the well the hour has come ye shall not worship the Father in the mountain or Jerusalem, John 4:21
The wording in Daniel 9:27 is for the overspreading of abominations points to the abominations the leaders of Jerusalem will have done, Matthew 23:32-38 Jesus told them "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" The he, is Jesus who will make it desolate and, in their generation, it was made desolate by the people/Roman army, of the prince/Titus same as God used Babylon in 586 BC.
I hope this makes sense so that you can study for your understanding even if you disagree, if you have questions let me know.
God bless,
RLW