Twins
The twins that are central to this account are Jacob and Esau.
Jacob, called Israel, was the father of twelve tribes of Israel,
and his twin brother Esau was the father of the Edomites and ancestor of the Herodian dynasty via Antipater the Idumean.
Their father Isaac was the first of the covenant of the circumcision.
A dispute over circumcision was addressed by the Council of Jerusalem
and the dispute eventually led to Paul's test at the temple and the ensuing riot.
The Council was led by James the Just, the name of James coming from a Graecized form of Jacob.
Paul disregarded the four points of the council and James opposed Paul's doctrine of faith.
The Zealots who opposed Paul were the ideological descendants of Phineas.
The zealotry of Phineas stopped the deaths of the Israelite men
after twenty four thousand of them were slain.
The error of those slain related to the prohibition against
eating food offered to idols,
which was one of the four points from the Council of Jerusalem.
Balaam's vision of Jacob's star followed his last enchantment for Israel,
which led to the prostitution of the Moabite women
that involved the worship of the Moabite deity
and to Israel's error.
The Star of Bethlehem was the sign of Jacob's star.
Michael Molnar's astrological solution of the lunar occultation of heliacally-rising Jupiter in Aries
is a good fit for the account in the book of Matthew which describes
the wise men from the east looking for a newborn king in Judea.
Astrological signs are described in the first chapter of the book of Genesis.
The massacre of the innocents described in Matthew has a parallel
in the attempt on Abraham's life when he was an infant.
The mission of the Messiah was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
This relates to the star of Chiun and to the city of Damascus.
The name of Damascus can be derived from the Hebrew words for blood and cup,
which in turn relate to communion and the symbolism of blood and wine.
The name of Chiun is a shortened form of the Hebrew word chiunah, meaning dove,
which associates the escape of the Moabites to caves
and with the crucifixion via the sign of Jonah,
which was the most public sign from the gospels.
In the Bible names are significant,
yet the name of the Father is absert from the gospels.
The name of Thomas relates to twinship
and to the return from the captivity of Babylon.
Another kind of twin is Barabbas.
The use of the names of Barabbas and Barsabas suggest
that Matthew's text is skirting some important issues.
Also, Peter's denial and Paul's suffering both relate
to the name of the Messiah.
The Gospel of Thomas is a record of sayings of the Messiah,
most of which are parables.
In the gospels parables were a means of conveying knowledge
that was intended to be hidden from the world
and revealed only to an innner circle.
One of the sayings is about the leadership of James the Just,
who presided at the Council of Jerusalem.
Another is about the lion, which relates to Judah, son of Jacob,
and to the opening of the sealed book.
The sealed book is a symbol of hidden knowledge in the Bible.
One of the descriptions of the sealed book
relates to Muhammad's encounter in the cave of Hira
in which he was commanded to read.
The word Quran is like corona, as in the coronation of a king.
This relates to the English Monarchy by the twins Jacob and Esau
as well as by Balaam's parable for Israel.
The symbol of the key associates with David, the Westminster system,
and with knowledge.
The end of the Westminster system arrives with the nail being removed.
The lion is the primary symbol of the opening of the sealed book,
specifically the lion of Judah.
As well as giving the context in which the book was sealed,
Daniel also provides information about the lion of England.
Jacob's blessing of the sons of Joseph also relates to England.
The opening of the book leads to knowledge of Elohim in general,
and to YHWH and his servant in particular.
This knowledge is associated with peace and rest.
In the zodiac Leo is opposite Aquarius, which follows Pisces.
The Age of Aquarius relates to the kingdom of Elohim.
Square to Pisces are the twins and the horseman.
The age of Pisces is symbolised by the sign of Jonah.
Virgo, opposite Pisces, relates to James and the doctrine of the virgin birth.
The lion of Hosea 5 is described in relation to the wound of Judah.
The wound associates with bread because of a prophecy from Obadiah about Edom,
with Edom being the connection to the Herodian dynasty in Palestine.
The wound is also mentioned by Jeremiah.
Bread can be a symbol of everlasting life, but Paul associates it with death.
In the context of communion,
eating bread/flesh appears in Zechariah in relation to the foolish shepherd.
There are multiple connections between the book of Zechariah
and the events of the gospels.
Daniel's sealed book relates to wine in Habakkuk 2 by knowledge and by running. Paul quotes from this chapter in support of his doctrine of faith, and there are several parallels between Paul and the man described there.
The phrase "smite the shepherd" links the crucifixion to related content in
a group of chapters in Zechariah.
In Zechariah there is second man who fits the description of Judas Iscariot.
There are a number of inconsistenties between the Biblical description
of the crucifixion and its associated prophetic context which can be resolved
by looking at the events in relation to the Torah and external sources rather than Christianity.
The lion of Hosea 5 is part of the prophetic context for the resurrection,
but Hosea 5 doesn't support the Christian doctrine of vicarious sacrifice.
The endorsement of the law is conditional on fulfillment,
for example the fulfillment of the law relating to unjustified hatred.
This connects to Psalm 35, which is about the Messiah,
Psalm 69, which is about Judas Iscariot (the crucified twin),
and Psalm 109, which is about Paul.
Acts connects Judas Iscariot to Psalm 69 and Psalm 109.
Psalm 22 also has content which relates to the crucifixion.
The lion is an element of Psalm 22.
Psalm 22 relates to the crucifixion by the cry of dereliction
and the reference to pierced hands and feet.
Crying day and night suggests great sufferning,
consistent with crucifixion.
The low self-esteem of the crucified man is also evident in Psalm 69.
Psalm 35 relates to the Messiah because of the pit and the net of entanglement,
the false testimony against him,
his behaviour towards Judas Iscariot,
the appeal against the boast of his enemies,
the symbolism of the serpent,
and the righteous servant of Isaiah 53.
Psalm 69, like Psalm 22, is about Judas Iscariot as the crucified twin.
The pouring out of wrath like water from Hosea 5
is part of the first two verses of Psalm 69.
Psalm 69 and Psalm 22 both describe someone with low self-esteem.
Psalm 69 relates to the crucifixion by the gall and vinegar, and there's a separation between the crucified man and the
injured shepherd.
Psalm 109 relates the judgement against Paul arising from his merciless
persecution of the people of the way.
Other parallels between Psalm 109 and Paul are Paul's curse
aginst those who preached a different doctrine
and the prophecy of the girdle which relates to James' test of Paul
and the ensuing riot.
The doctrine of original sin is based on an argument from Paul
which misrepresents David's sin.
A Psalm of David condemns someone who fits Paul's description.
A verse from the book of Revelation condemns as liars a group
which could have included Paul,
and Paul's accounts of being appointed as a witness are contradicted by Acts.
Also, Paul defamed Moses.
Iniquity means lawlessness, and relates to the
wound of Israel and Judah. Iniquity also connects the Messianic content of Isaiah 53 to the book of Zechariah.
Constantine's vision as reported by Eusebius relates to the battle at the Milvian Bridge, and his victory there was commemorated by the erection of the Arch of Constantine. The Arch has sculptures of Sol Invictus & Lucifer to the east and Luna to the west. The sun and moon relate to the woman of Revelation 12, and her crown relates to the twelve stars of the European Union. The Treaty of Rome, also known as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, provided a functional relationship between the European Union and Rome.
N.B. Some texts from the King James Bible have been ammended
to better reflect the Hebrew names.
The reference Eisenman98 is to Robert Eisenman's book
entitled James the Brother of Jesus.
Summary:
The twins that are central to this account are Jacob and Esau.
Jacob, called Israel, was the father of twelve tribes of Israel,
and his twin brother Esau was the father of the Edomites and ancestor of the Herodian dynasty via Antipater the Idumean.
Their father Isaac was the first of the covenant of the circumcision.
A dispute over circumcision was addressed by the Council of Jerusalem
and the dispute eventually led to Paul's test at the temple and the ensuing riot.
The Council was led by James the Just, the name of James coming from a Graecized form of Jacob.
Paul disregarded the four points of the council and James opposed Paul's doctrine of faith.
| Genesis 25 |
| 24 | And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, [there were] twins in her womb. |
| 25 | And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. |
| 26 | And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac [was] threescore years old when she bare them. |
| 30 | And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage]; for I [am] faint: therefore was his name called Edom. |
| 31 | And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. |
| 32 | And Esau said, Behold, I [am] at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? |
| 33 | And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. |
Jacob's wives Leah and Rachel were also twins:
| Jasher 28 |
| 28 | And the Lord afterward remembered Adinah the wife of Laban, and she conceived and bare twin daughters, and Laban called the names of his daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel. |
Twins can be of different character:
| Malachi 1 |
| 2 | I have loved you, saith YHWH. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? [Was] not Esau Jacob's brother? saith YHWH: yet I loved Jacob, |
| 3 | And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. |
| Genesis 17 |
| 10 | This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. |
| 19 | And Elohim said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him. |
| 20 | And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. |
| 21 | But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. |
A dispute over circumcision led to the Council of Jerusalem resolving
that Gentile converts observe four points from the law of Moses:
| Acts 15 |
| 1 | And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, [and said], Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. |
| 2 | When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. |
| 23 | And they wrote [letters] by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren [send] greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: |
| 24 | Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, [Ye must] be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no [such] commandment: |
| 25 | It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, |
| 26 | Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. |
| 27 | We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell [you] the same things by mouth. |
| 28 | For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; |
| 29 | That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. |
But that wasn't the message that was delivered by Paul:
| Galatians 2 |
| 9 | And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we [should go] unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. |
| 10 | Only [they would] that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. |
This led to Paul being tested on his own observance of the law:
| Acts 21 |
| 20 | And when they heard [it], they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: |
| 21 | And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise [their] children, neither to walk after the customs. |
| 22 | What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. |
| 23 | Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; |
| 24 | Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave [their] heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but [that] thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. |
| 25 | As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written [and] concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. |
The ensuing riot led to Paul being brought before the council:
| Acts 23 |
| 6 | But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men [and] brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. |
James opposed Paul's doctrine of faith:
| James 2 |
| 20 | But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? |
| 21 | Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? |
According to Strong's Greek 2385, James' name is Jacobus, which is a Graecized form of Jacob (Ἰακώβ).
Summary:
The Zealots who opposed Paul were the ideological descendants of Phineas.
The zealotry of Phineas stopped the deaths of the Israelite men
after twenty four thousand of them were slain.
The error of those slain related to the prohibition against
eating food offered to idols,
which was one of the four points from the Council of Jerusalem.
Balaam's vision of Jacob's star followed his last enchantment for Israel,
which led to the prostitution of the Moabite women
that involved the worship of the Moabite deity
and to Israel's error.
Phineas stopped the deaths that resulted from Balaam's last enchantment:
| Numbers 25 |
| 7 | And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw [it], he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; |
| 8 | And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. |
| Jasher 85 |
| 57 | And it came to pass that when a Hebrew came to the door of the tent of Moab, and saw a daughter of Moab and desired her in his heart, and spoke with her at the door of the tent that which he desired, whilst they were speaking together the men of the tent would come out and speak to the Hebrew like unto these words: |
| 58 | Surely you know that we are brethren, we are all the descendants of Lot and the descendants of Abraham his brother, wherefore then will you not remain with us, and wherefore will you not eat our bread and our sacrifice? |
| 59 | And when the children of Moab had thus overwhelmed him with their speeches, and enticed him by their flattering words, they seated him in the tent and cooked and sacrificed for him, and he ate of their sacrifice and of their bread. |
| 60 | They then gave him wine and he drank and became intoxicated, and they placed before him a beautiful damsel, and he did with her as he liked, for he knew not what he was doing, as he had drunk plentifully of wine. |
| Acts 15 |
| 28 | For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; |
| 29 | That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. |
According to the book of Numbers, Baalam didn't entirely keep the command of the angel:
| Numbers 22 |
| 35 | And the angel of YHWH said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. |
| Numbers 24 |
| 1 | And when Balaam saw that it pleased YHWH to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. |
| 3 | And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: |
| 7 | He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed [shall be] in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. |
Balaam's response to Balak relates to the repudiation of animal sacrifice by the prophets:
| Micah 6 |
| 5 | O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of YHWH. |
| 6 | Wherewith shall I come before YHWH, [and] bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? |
| 7 | Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams, [or] with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn [for] my transgression, the fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul? |
| 8 | He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth YHWH require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy Elah? |
Phineas' act is mirrored in Zechairah in context that is significant
for the gospel account of the crucifixion.
| Zechariah 13 |
| 3 | And it shall come to pass, [that] when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of YHWH: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. |
| Zechariah 13 |
| 7 | Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man [that is] my fellow, saith YHWH of armies: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. |
| Matthew 26 |
| 31 | Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. |
The vision of Balaam was called the Star Prophecy. It was meaningful for Jews in the first century C.E. who were hoping for a leader who would release them from Roman rule.
| Numbers 24 |
| 17 | I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. |
The prohibition against Moabites relates to David because David's grandfather was the son of Ruth the Moabitess
| Deuteronomy 23 |
| 3 | An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of YHWH; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of YHWH for ever: |
| 4 | Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse thee. |
| Ruth 4 |
| 13 | So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, YHWH gave her conception, and she bare a son. |
| 16 | And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. |
| 17 | And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he [is] the father of Jesse, the father of David. |
| Psalms 51 |
| 5 | Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. |
Summary:
The Star of Bethlehem was the sign of Jacob's star.
Michael Molnar's astrological solution of the lunar occultation of heliacally-rising Jupiter in Aries
is a good fit for the account in the book of Matthew which describes
the wise men from the east looking for a newborn king in Judea.
Astrological signs are described in the first chapter of the book of Genesis.
The massacre of the innocents described in Matthew has a parallel
in the attempt on Abraham's life when he was an infant.
1. Christian Nativity Scene
2. Syrian coin depicting Aires
3. Flag of the Ottoman Empire
| Matthew 2 |
| 1 | Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, |
| 2 | Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. |
| Genesis 1 |
| 14 | And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: |
The star would have been meaningful to the wise men,
so an interpretation consistent with eastern astrology would be reasonable.
Michael Molnar's work takes this into account and identifies the star
as Jupiter being occulted by the moon in the constellation of Aries in 6 BCE.
Aries is the astrological age that precedes Pisces, and is associated with
the near-sacrifice of Abraham's son Isaac,
where a ram was used as a sacrifice after Elohim intervened.
The Magi's star is proposed to have been a pair of auspicious lunar occultations of Jupiter that signified to ancient astrologers the birth of a king.
The Magi's Star from the Perspective of Ancient Astrological Practices, Molnar, M. R. Link
Matthew reports that the Star tells the astrologers about the date, place, character, and future of the birth of a child. That is, the Star tells the astrologers about the birth of a very great king to be born in Judea on some date, and that is exactly what a natal horoscope gives. It seems to be past coincidence that the Star in Matthew tells the ancient astrologers exactly what a natal horoscope tells to ancient astrologers
Astronomical and Historical Evaluation of Molnar's Solution, Bradley E. Schaefer Link
The Massacre of the Innocents and the Star of Bethlehem are similar to events from the life of Abraham.
| Matthew 2 |
| 16 | Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. |
On hearing that the son of Herod, king of the Jews, had been slain when Herod ordered that all boys in Syria under the age of two to be killed, Augustus said, “It’s better to be Herod’s pig, than his son” (dicta 56 Malc.)
Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Saturnalia, Book 2, section 4:11. p. 349.
| Jasher 8 |
| 2 | And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens. |
| 15 | And the king said to Terah, I have been told that a son was yesternight born to thee, and after this manner was observed in the heavens at his birth. |
| 16 | And now therefore give me the child, that we may slay him before his evil springs up against us, and I will give thee for his value, thy house full of silver and gold. |
Summary:
The mission of the Messiah was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
This relates to the star of Chiun and to the city of Damascus.
The name of Damascus can be derived from the Hebrew words for blood and cup,
which in turn relate to communion and the symbolism of blood and wine.
The name of Chiun is a shortened form of the Hebrew word chiunah, meaning dove,
which associates the escape of the Moabites to caves
and with the crucifixion via the sign of Jonah,
which was the most public sign from the gospels.
| Matthew 15 |
| 24 | But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |
Amos describes Damascus in relation to Chiun:
| Amos 5 |
| 25 | Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? |
| 26 | But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun (כיון) your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. |
| 27 | Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus (דמשק), saith YHWH, whose name [is] Elah of armies. |
The names of Chiun and Damascus are not consistent with the recounting in Acts:
| Acts 7 |
| 43 | Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. |
With modern pronunciation, Damascus can relate to blood-cup from dam (דמ), meaning blood, and kuws (כוס), meaning cup. Hebrew pronunciation would be dam (דמ) shaq (שק). In the Damascus Document of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus could be a code for the area of those of the new covenant:
For Acts, as we have seen, there is no flight to Arabia at all, unless 'Damascus' is identical to 'Arabia'. For Acts Paul, rather, fearlessly proclaims his doctrine that 'Christ was the son of God in the synagogues at Damascus (9:20). To begin with, it is hard to believe that there were plural 'synagogues' in the city we now refer to as Damascus. Since it was not known to be a particularly Jewish city at this time, there may not have been any at all.
But, of course, there is another possibility already implied above - that the 'Damascus' mentioned in Acts is not the city of Damascus at all, but rather that region which the Dead Sea Scrolls - in particular, the document known as the 'Damascus Document' because it repeatedly refers to it - call 'Damascus'. For the Damascus Document, 'Damascus' is the name - perhaps even a code - for the whole region where those rededicating themselves to 'the New Covenant' were 'settled' or had retreated.
Eisenman98, p151
The Greek word diatheke (διαθήκη) can be translated as covenant or as testament. The blood and cup of Damascus relates to the blood and cup of the new testament. The ambiguity between covenant and testament is significant for the book of Hebrews in it's relationship with death:
| Matthew 26 |
| 24 | The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. |
| 25 | Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. |
| 26 | And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. |
| 27 | And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; |
| 28 | For this is my blood of the new testament (διαθήκη) , which is shed for many for the remission of sins. |
| Hebrews 9 |
| 16 | For where a testament [is], there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. |
| 17 | For a testament [is] of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. |
The last supper was just before passover and so would have been a Passover Seder. This means that the Mosaic law relating to the passover would is relevant, especially relating to circumcision:
| Exodus 12 |
| 43 | And YHWH said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: |
| 44 | But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. |
| 45 | A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. |
| 46 | In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. |
| 47 | All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. |
| 48 | And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. |
| 49 | One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. |
Chuin is a shortened form of the Hebrew word chiunah (כיונה), which relates to the sign of Jonah since Jonah means dove. This in turn relates to the communion from the Pauline association with death.
| Matthew 12 |
| 39 | But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: |
| 40 | For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
| Luke 24 |
| 20 | And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. |
| 21 | But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. |
| 1 Corinthians 11 |
| 26 | For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. |
The escape of the Moabiltes also relates to the dove:
| Jeremiah 48 |
| 28 | O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove (כיונה) [that] maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. |
Jonah means dove.
The sign of Jonah has three different descriptions in the gospels.
| Matthew 3 |
| 16 | And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: |
| Matthew 12 |
| 39 | But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: |
Summary:
In the Bible names are significant,
yet the name of the Father is absert from the gospels.
The name of Thomas relates to twinship
and to the return from the captivity of Babylon.
Another kind of twin is Barabbas.
The use of the names of Barabbas and Barsabas suggest
that Matthew's text is skirting some important issues.
Also, Peter's denial and Paul's suffering both relate
to the name of the Messiah.
| 1 Samuel 12 |
| 22 | For YHWH will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased YHWH to make you his people. |
The names of Thomas and Didymus both mean twin. In the Gospel of Thomas, Thomas has the name of Didymus Judas Thomas.
| John 20 |
| 24 | But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. |
| Genesis 25 |
| 24 | And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, [there were] twins (תומם) in her womb. |
The Hebrew for Thomas is from the singular form of twins (תומם). The plural form is unusual because it does not have the typical yud-mem suffix. The word that does have the yud-mem suffix is used in the context of the breastplate of judgment
| Exodus 28 |
| 30 | And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim (תמים); and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before YHWH: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before YHWH continually. |
Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 contain twin (almost identical) texts
starting with the names of those who returned from the captivity of Babylon.
The second name of those who returned is Yeshua, for Yeshua ben Nun.
Yeshua is the Hebrew name of the Messiah.
| Ezra 2 |
| 63 | And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim (תמים). |
| Nehemiah 7 |
| 65 | And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood [up] a priest with Urim and Thummim (תומים). |
The name of Barabbas means son of the father.
It is found in the four gospels,
but some manuscripts of Matthew have Jesus Barabbas instead of Barabbas.
In the gospels, Barabbas avoided punishment
much like the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
| Matthew 27 |
| 20 | But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. |
| 21 | The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. |
| 25 | Then answered all the people, and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children. |
| Isaiah 53 |
| 8 | He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. |
| Matthew 7 |
| 21 | Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. |
The losing candidate in the election of the replacement for Judas Iscariot has a similar name, Barsabas. The more important election for this time would be for finding a leader for the apostles, but Acts is silent on this matter. This omission can represent an exchange of roles of the Messiah with Judas Iscariot.
| Acts 1 |
| 23 | And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. |
The name of Barsabas also connects to a Judas at the Council of Jerusalem.
| Acts 15 |
| 22 | Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; [namely], Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: |
Peter's denial relates to the name of Jesus of Galilee. Galilee was the home of a revolutionary Jewish sect known as 'Zealots'.
| Matthew 26 |
| 69 | Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. |
| 70 | But he denied before [them] all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. |
Paul's fate relates to a name:
| Acts 9 |
| 13 | Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: |
| 14 | And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. |
| 15 | But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: |
| 16 | For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. |
The name is translated as Jesus of Nazareth, using Paul's testimony to King Agrippa.
| Acts 26 |
| 9 | I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
| 10 | Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against [them]. |
The Jewish curse "may his name be erased" is applied to those thought to be evil. This idea can also be found in Christianity:
| Revelation 3 |
| 5 | He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. |
Summary:
The Gospel of Thomas is a record of sayings of the Messiah,
most of which are parables.
In the gospels parables were a means of conveying knowledge
that was intended to be hidden from the world
and revealed only to an innner circle.
One of the sayings is about the leadership of James the Just,
who presided at the Council of Jerusalem.
Another is about the lion, which relates to Judah, son of Jacob,
and to the opening of the sealed book.
These are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke, and Didymus Judas Thomas wrote them down.
1 And he said: He who shall find the interpretation of the words shall not taste of death.
Gospel of Thomas, Brill edition
12 The disciples said to Jesus: We know that thou wilt go from us. Who is he who shall be great over us? Jesus said to them: In the place to which you come, you shall go to James the Just for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.
Gospel of Thomas, Brill edition
According to Clement of Alexander and Hegesippus it was James the Just
who led of the disciples after the crucifixion, not Peter.
James isn't recognised as a historical bishop by the
Catholic Church
The Sixth book of his Hypotyposes [Institutions] represents the following: 'Peter, James, and John after the Ascension of the Saviour, did not content for the Glory, even though they had previously been honoured by the Saviour, but chose James the Just as Bishop of Jerusalem.
Clement of Alexandria via Eusebius (Eisenman98, P187)
Hegesippus, who lived nearest the time of the Apostles, in the Fifth Book of his Commentaries writing of James, says [this may be from Eusebius], 'After the Apostles, James the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, was made Head of the Church at Jerusalem. Many indeed were called James ...
Hegesippus via Jerome (Eisenman98, P199)
The eating of flesh is a symbol of the communion, and relates to the bread of life:
| John 6 |
| 35 | And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. |
The symbolism of flesh-eating is different for the lion:
7 Jesus said: Blessed is the lion which the man shall eat, and the lion become man; and cursed is the man whom the lion shall eat, and the lion become man.
Gospel of Thomas, Brill edition
In the Bible the symbolism of the lion relates to the opening of the sealed book:
| Revelation 5 |
| 5 | And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. |
| Genesis 49 |
| 9 | Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? |
Summary:
The sealed book is a symbol of hidden knowledge in the Bible.
One of the descriptions of the sealed book
relates to Muhammad's encounter in the cave of Hira
in which he was commanded to read.
The word Quran is like corona, as in the coronation of a king.
This relates to the English Monarchy by the twins Jacob and Esau
as well as by Balaam's parable for Israel.
The symbol of the key associates with David, the Westminster system,
and with knowledge.
The end of the Westminster system arrives with the nail being removed.
| Obadiah 1 |
| 6 | How are [the things] of Esau searched out! [how] are his hidden things sought up! |
| Isaiah 29 |
| 11 | And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned (יודע הספר), saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed: |
| 12 | And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned (לא ידעתי ספר). |
The Hebrew for 'not learned' (not know book) does not have the definite article heh (ה) with book (ספר) like the Hebrew for 'learned' does, which implies that the unlearned man has no knowledge of books in general, i.e. he is illiterate.
An Angel came to him and asked him to read. Allah's Messenger replied, "I do not know how to read." The Prophet added, "Then the Angel held me (forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I felt distressed. Then he released me and again asked me to read, and I replied, 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he held me again and pressed me for the second time till I felt distressed. He then released me and asked me to read, but again I replied. 'I do not know how to read.' Thereupon he held me for the third time and pressed me till I got distressed, and then he released me and said, 'Read, in the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists), has created man out of a clot, Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen, has taught man that which he knew not." (96.1-5).
Sahih al-Bukhari 4953
Muhammad was called the seal of the prophets.
| Amos 3 |
| 7 | Surely the Lord YHWH will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. |
The Hebrew root word QRN (קרן), pronounced qaran, translates as shine and has similar consonants to corona, which is the linguistic root of the English word coronation.
| Exodus 34 |
| 30 | And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone (קרן); and they were afraid to come nigh him. |
Coronation relates to the sceptre of rulership.
The original English sceptre is known as the Rod of Equity and Mercy,
but a second sceptre symbolising temporal power was created in 1661
and redesigned in 1910 to incorporate the diamond
named by Edward VII as the Great Star of Africa.
| Genesis 49 |
| 10 | The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. |
The divine right of kings associates with the English coat or arms via the lion and unicorn of Balaam's parable:
| Numbers 23 |
| 21 | He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: YHWH his Elah [is] with him, and the shout of a king [is] among them. |
| 22 | El brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. |
| 24 | Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. |
A connection bewteen the twins Jacob and Esau and England exists
via their father Isaac.
Isaac was the first of the covenant of circumcision,
and Saxon sounds similar to Isaac-son.
Also, British soulds the same as bryt eysh, which is Hebrew for 'covenant male'.
The Rod of Equity and Mercy relates to the the leadership of David:
| Isaiah 55 |
| 3 | Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David. |
| 4 | Behold, I have given him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. |
| 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 El, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. |
| 7 | Of the increase of [his] government and peace [there shall be] no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of YHWH of armies will perform this. |
Mercy also relates to Micah's commentary on Balaam
in Micah 6.
The key of David of Revelation associates with denying the name,
which relates to Peter.
The key of David of Isaiah associates with vessels, which relates to
Paul bearing the name.
Isaiah 22:22 relates to Thomas Didymus
because twin-twin, numerically, is 22:22.
The single twin of Psalm 22 relates to this via
the pierced hands of Psalm 22:16 and the nail of Isaiah 22:23.
The name of the Westminster system of government comes from west minister.
The west minister is Peter and the east minister is Paul.
The phrase "glory of his father's house" relates to the prophet Jonah
because Peter's original name was Simon bar Jonah.
The key of knowledge associates law (lawyers) and with religion (Pharisees),
which corresponds to the union of church and state of the Westminster system.
| Revelation 3 |
| 6 | He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (ἐκκλησία). |
| 7 | And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; |
| 8 | I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. |
NB: The greek word ekklesia (ἐκκλησία) means assembly, it doesn't imply any that any particular religion is observed.
| Isaiah 22 |
| 20 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: |
| 21 | And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. |
| 22 | And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. |
| 23 | And I will fasten him [as] a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. |
| 24 | And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. |
| 25 | In that day, saith the YHWH of armies, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that [was] upon it shall be cut off: for YHWH hath spoken [it]. |
| Matthew 26 |
| 69 | Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. |
| 70 | But he denied before [them] all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. |
| Acts 9 |
| 15 | But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: |
| Luke 11 |
| 52 | Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. |
Summary:
The lion is the primary symbol of the opening of the sealed book,
specifically the lion of Judah.
As well as giving the context in which the book was sealed,
Daniel also provides information about the lion of England.
Jacob's blessing of the sons of Joseph also relates to England.
The opening of the book leads to knowledge of Elohim in general,
and to YHWH and his servant in particular.
This knowledge is associated with peace and rest.
Probably the oldest known lion is the Sphinx.
According to the sleeping prophet Edgar Cayce there is a passageway
from the right front paw of the Sphinx to a hall of records
which contains knowledge by bygone cultures.
Judah is symbolised as a lion:
| Genesis 49 |
| 9 | Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? |
| 10 | The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. |
| Jasher 54 |
| 46 | And whilst they were fleeing, Judah and his brethren pursued them unto the house of Pharaoh, and they all escaped, and Judah again sat before Joseph and roared at him like a lion, and gave a great and tremendous shriek at him. |
The lion of Daniel's vision relates to the lion of the English coat of arms, and the eagle relates to the bald eagle of the Great Seal of the United States. The wings being plucked of represents the independence of the U.S. from the English government. There's no unicorn with the lion like in Balaam's parable, suggesting that the beast doesn't have the power of deity.
| Daniel 7 |
| 2 | Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. |
| 3 | And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. |
| 4 | The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. |
Also, Ephraim associates with England via the Commonwealth:
| Genesis 48 |
| 17 | And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. |
| 18 | And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. |
| 19 | And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. |
The sealed book is associated with and increase in knowledge:
| Daniel 12 |
| 4 | But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. |
The opening of the sealed book relates to the lion of Judah:
| Revelation 5 |
| 5 | And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. |
In the gospels learning has a specific focus:
| John 6 |
| 45 | It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. |
| Isaiah 54 |
| 13 | And all thy children [shall be] taught of YHWH; and great [shall be] the peace of thy children. |
| Matthew 11 |
| 29 | Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. |
| Matthew 9 |
| 13 | But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. |
| Hosea 6 |
| 6 | For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings. |
The specific knowledge in this case is knowledge of Elohim. Elohim is a plural word that, like it's singular form elah, is translated as 'God'. Elohim can be used to refer to deity, angels, or judges. Elohim can be used in a singular sense, which reflects the signgular nature of the name of Elohim, "I AM".
| Exodus 3 |
| 14 | And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. |
| John 8 |
| 58 | Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. |
The verse from Hosea about knowledge is a continuation of verses which describe the lion in relation to Ephraim and Judah:
| Hosea 5 |
| 14 | For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him]. |
Summary:
In the zodiac Leo is opposite Aquarius, which follows Pisces.
The Age of Aquarius relates to the kingdom of Elohim.
Square to Pisces are the twins and the horseman.
The age of Pisces is symbolised by the sign of Jonah.
Virgo, opposite Pisces, relates to James and the doctrine of the virgin birth.
Daniel was probably the source of the knowledge of the
wise men from the east
(Babylon was east of Judea).
| Daniel 1 |
| 20 | And in all matters of wisdom [and] understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians [and] astrologers that [were] in all his realm. |
There are twelve chapters in the book of Daniel.
The numbers of Daniel 12 relate to the twelve signs of the zodiac,
and to the signs that are square to the sign of the age.
The ten times of verse 20 relates to 100, which is 10 squared.
| Daniel 12 |
| 11 | And from the time [that] the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, [there shall be] a thousand two hundred and ninety days. |
| 12 | Blessed [is] he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. |
Degrees in a circle: 360 squared = (1290 + delta) * 100 when delta = 6.
Days in a year: 365.24 squared = (1335 + delta) * 100 when delta = -1.
The Hebrew word בכוכבים translated as stargazers
has a numerical value of 100.
| Isaiah 47 |
| 13 | Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers (בכוכבים), the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from [these things] that shall come upon thee. |
The delta value of six relates to 6 BCE,
which was the time of the star of Bethlehem.
The delta value of -1 relates to before the common era, rather than after.
| Daniel 12 |
| 7 | And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a time, times (מועדים), and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished. |
Time in the Hebrew calendar is measured by the sun (for years) and the moon (for months).
| Psalms 104 |
| 19 | He appointed the moon for seasons (מועדים)
: the sun knoweth his going down. |
Being born of water relates to baptism and to the Age of Aquarius.
| John 3 |
| 5 | Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. |
| Mark 14 |
| 13 | And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. |
| 14 | And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? |
Gemini relates to the twins, and is the right hand square to Pisces.
The right hand is a positive symbol.
| Ecclesiastes 10 |
| 2 | A wise man's heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. |
Sagittarius relates to the horseman with a bow, and is the left hand square to Pisces. The horseman is the fist to appear after the slain lamb opens the first seal.
| Revelation 6 |
| 1 | And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. |
| 2 | And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. |
Pisces relates to the sign of Jonah, but three days and nights isn't consistent with the two nights and one day of the gospel account, presuming that the high sabbath of the passover was on the same day as the weekly sabbath.
| Luke 11 |
| 29 | And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. |
| Jonah 1 |
| 17 | Now YHWH had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. |
| Matthew 12 |
| 40 | For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
Crucifixion on Friday, entombment around sunset, and discovery of the empty tomb of Sunday morning means that the news of the empty tomb was told on the third day, since Hebrew days start at sunset and the counting of days would start with the crucifixion being the first day.
| Luke 24 |
| 21 | But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. |
The account of the virgin birth in Matthew isn't supported by the original language of Isaiah:
| Matthew 1 |
| 22 | Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, |
| 23 | Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. |
| Isaiah 7 |
| 14 | Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin (עלמה) shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. |
The Hebrew word almah (עלמה) means a woman of marriagable age. The word for virgin is bethuwlah (בתולת).
The simplest explanation for Mark 6:3 and Galatians 1:19 is that Joseph and Mary continued to raise a family after the birth of the Messiah.
| Matthew 13 |
| 55 | Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? |
| Galatians 1 |
| 19 | But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. |
According to the gospel of John, Mary had a sister called Mary. In the gospel of Matthew, Mary is identified by her other children.
| John 19 |
| 25 | Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the [wife] of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. |
| Matthew 27 |
| 56 | Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children. |
According to Epiphanius, James died a virgin at age ninety-six.
This brings us back to the pretence ... that James was the author of
the second-centry Infancy Gospel, known as the Protovangelium of James,
in which the doctrine of Mary's 'perpetual virginity' was first announced and,
in a kind of sardonic irony, ascribed to James.
Eisenman98, p720
Summary:
The lion of Hosea 5 is described in relation to the wound of Judah.
The wound associates with bread because of a prophecy from Obadiah about Edom,
with Edom being the connection to the Herodian dynasty in Palestine.
The wound is also mentioned by Jeremiah.
The wound of Judah associates with water (Hosea) and with bread (Obadiah) . Obadiah is relevant because of the forced conversion of the Edomites to Judaism by John Hyrcanus and by the rule of of the Herodian dynasty over the jews at the time of the gospels, since Herod I was the son of Antipater the Idumean (Edomite).
| Hosea 5 |
| 10 | The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. |
| 11 | Ephraim [is] oppressed [and] broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment. |
| 12 | Therefore [will] I [be] unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. |
| 13 | When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah [saw] his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. |
| 14 | For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him]. |
For Esau/Edom, the wound associates with bread.
| Obadiah 1 |
| 6 | How are [the things] of Esau searched out! [how] are his hidden things sought up! |
| 7 | All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee [even] to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, [and] prevailed against thee; [they that eat] thy bread have laid a wound under thee: [there is] none understanding in him. |
| Jeremiah 30 |
| 4 | And these [are] the words that YHWH spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. |
| 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. |
| 12 | For thus saith YHWH, Thy bruise [is] incurable, [and] thy wound [is] grievous. |
Jacob's trouble began with Esau:
| Genesis 27 |
| 41 | And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. |
| Amos 1 |
| 11 | Thus saith YHWH; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away [the punishment] thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: |
Summary:
Bread can be a symbol of everlasting life, but Paul associates it with death.
In the context of communion,
eating bread/flesh appears in Zechariah in relation to the foolish shepherd.
There are multiple connections between the book of Zechariah
and the events of the gospels.
| John 6 |
| 47 | Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. |
| 48 | I am that bread of life. |
Everlasting life relates to the hidden knowledge of the Gospel of Thomas.
1 And he said: He who shall find the interpretation of the words shall not taste of death.
Gospel of Thomas, Brill edition
Bread can also be a symbol for flesh:
| Matthew 26 |
| 26 | And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed [it], and brake [it], and gave [it] to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. |
In Paul's communion bread is associated with death rather than life:
| 1 Corinthians 11 |
| 26 | For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. |
The idea of death extends to Paul's doctrine of the body of Christ:
| Romans 6 |
| 3 | Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? |
| Romans 12 |
| 1 | I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. |
| 5 | So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. |
The flesh of the body of Christ relates to the flesh of the fat of Zechariah 11 because of the post-crucifixion context of the betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Fat can be a metaphor for excess in Hebrew.
| Zechariah 11 |
| 12 | And I said unto them, If ye think good, give [me] my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty [pieces] of silver. |
| 13 | And YHWH said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty [pieces] of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of YHWH. |
| 14 | Then I cut asunder mine other staff, [even] Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. |
| 15 | And YHWH said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. |
| 16 | For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, [which] shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. |
Summary: Daniel's sealed book relates to wine in Habakkuk 2 by knowledge and by running. Paul quotes from this chapter in support of his doctrine of faith, and there are several parallels between Paul and the man described there.
Starting with the sealed book, running to and fro and knowledge both relate to Habakkuk:
| Daniel 12 |
| 4 | But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. |
| Habakkuk 2 |
| 2 | And YHWH answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make [it] plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. |
| 4 | Behold, his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. |
| 5 | Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: |
| 14 | For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of YHWH, as the waters cover the sea. |
Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, but he leaves out the part about not being upright.
| Romans 1 |
| 17 | For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. |
Paul is a reasonable match for the proud man of Habakkuk:
| 2 Corinthians 11 |
| 5 | For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. |
Paul travelled extensively, as in not keeping at home in Habakkuk.
| Galatians 1 |
| 17 | Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. |
| 18 | Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. |
Paul's description of going to the heathen is consistent with the text from Habakkuk describing the proud man gathering all nations to himself.
| Galatians 2 |
| 9 | And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we [should go] unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. |
| 1 Corinthians 9 |
| 20 | And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; |
| 21 | To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. |
Building with blood relates to Paul's doctrine,
as does iniquity/lawlessness.
| Habakkuk 2 |
| 12 | Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! |
| 1 Corinthians 2 |
| 2 | For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. |
| 1 Corinthians 3 |
| 9 | For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, [ye are] God's building. |
| 10 | According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. |
| 1 Corinthians 10 |
| 16 | The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? |
| Colossians 2 |
| 14 | Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; |
Summary:
The phrase "smite the shepherd" links the crucifixion to related content in
a group of chapters in Zechariah.
In Zechariah there is second man who fits the description of Judas Iscariot.
There are a number of inconsistenties between the Biblical description
of the crucifixion and its associated prophetic context which can be resolved
by looking at the events in relation to the Torah and external sources rather than Christianity.
The text from Matthew doesn't mention the second man, and spirit has a role to play:
| Matthew 26 |
| 31 | Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. |
| Zechariah 13 |
| 7 | Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man (גבך) [that is] my fellow, saith YHWH of armies: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. |
| Zechariah 4 |
| 6 | Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of YHWH unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith YHWH of armies. |
The Hebrew word geber (גבך) means mighty,
which is descriptive of fighting men,
eg the Sicarri of the time of the gospels.
The Sicarri were named after the short curved blade
that they used for assassinations.
| Joshua 10 |
| 1 | Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them; |
| 2 | That they feared greatly, because Gibeon [was] a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it [was] greater than Ai, and all the men thereof [were] mighty (גבך). |
Regarding the name Iscariot, Robet Eisenman writes:
The most popular delineation for the meaning of this cognomen is 'Sicarios' - the name that Josephus, as we have seen, gives to this most extreme segment of the Fourth Philosophy 'Innovators' or 'Zealot Movement' - that is, in Garbled Greek, 'Judas the Sicarios'.
Eisenman98, p179
According to the gospel of John,
injured hands were used to convince a doubting Thomas.
The account of the spear piercing the side of the crucified man is only present
in that the gospel of John even though
the event would have been easily observable had it actually occurred.
| Zechariah 13 |
| 6 | And [one] shall say unto him, What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [Those] with which I was wounded [in] the house of my friends. |
| John 20 |
| 24 | But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. |
| 25 | The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. |
Being taken from prison and judgment isn't consistent with being judged by Pilate and the priests.
| Isaiah 53 |
| 8 | He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. |
The request for forgiveness in Luke's gospel isn't consistent with the request for vengeance in Psalms 69.
| Luke 23 |
| 34 | Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. |
| Psalms 69 |
| 22 | Let their table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap. |
Sin and dishonour isn't consistent with righteousness.
| Psalms 69 |
| 5 | O Elohim, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. |
| 19 | Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries [are] all before thee. |
| Isaiah 53 |
| 11 | He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. |
The distiction between the names of Judas and Judah is artificial, since they are both transations of the same Greek word Ioudas (Ἰούδας). Judah relates to the lion, as shown previously.
| Matthew 1 |
| 2 | Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas (Ἰούδας) and his brethren; |
| Matthew 26 |
| 25 | Then Judas (Ἰούδας), which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. |
According to Proverbs the penalty for treachery is violence, since the Hebrew word bagad (בגד) means treachery.
| Proverbs 13 |
| 2 | A man shall eat good by the fruit of [his] mouth: but the soul of the transgressors (בגדים) [shall eat] violence. |
| Matthew 26 |
| 24 | The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. |
There are other texts that support the idea
that the crucifixion was not what it appeared to be.
For my death, which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death. For their Ennoias did not see me, for they were deaf and blind. But in doing these things, they condemn themselves. Yes, they saw me; they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I.
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is the substitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me."
The Apocalypse of Peter
You hear that I suffered, yet I suffered not; and that I suffered not, yet did I suffer; and that I was pierced , yet I was not wounded; that I was hanged, yet I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me; yet it did not flow, and, in a word, that what they say of me, I did not endure, but what they do not say, those things I did suffer.
The Mystery of the Cross, from the Acts of John.
That they said (in boast), 'We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah' -- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not -- nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself.
The Qur'an, Surah 4:157-158
Summary:
The lion of Hosea 5 is part of the prophetic context for the resurrection,
but Hosea 5 doesn't support the Christian doctrine of vicarious sacrifice.
The endorsement of the law is conditional on fulfillment,
for example the fulfillment of the law relating to unjustified hatred.
This connects to Psalm 35, which is about the Messiah,
Psalm 69, which is about Judas Iscariot (the crucified twin),
and Psalm 109, which is about Paul.
Acts connects Judas Iscariot to Psalm 69 and Psalm 109.
Psalm 22 also has content which relates to the crucifixion.
Hosea 6:2 is the best match for the validation text for Luke:
| Luke 24 |
| 46 | And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: |
| Hosea 6 |
| 2 | After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. |
The resurrected are Ephraim and Judah, not the Messiah:
| Hosea 5 |
| 14 | For I [will be] unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, [even] I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue [him]. |
The Messiah was taken away. Being taken away is consistent with being cut off:
| Daniel 9 |
| 26 | And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. |
| Isaiah 53 |
| 8 | He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. |
Paul's doctrine of the law being nailed to the cross isn't consistent with this endorsement:
| Matthew 5 |
| 18 | For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. |
Fulfillment is related to unjustified hatred,
and the spirit of truth to the set-apart (holy) spirit.
The Hebrew word nachem (םחנ) is translated as
comforter and as repent. Repentance is descriptive of the son of man.
| John 15 |
| 23 | He that hateth me hateth my Father also. |
| 24 | If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. |
| 25 | But [this cometh to pass], that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. |
| 26 | But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: |
| Isaiah 63 |
| 8 | For he said, Surely they [are] my people, children [that] will not lie: so he was their Saviour. |
| 9 | In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. |
| 10 | But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, [and] he fought against them. |
| Numbers 23 |
| 19 | El [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? |
There are three Psalms of David that mention unjustified hatred. Psalm 22 and 69 are about the crucified twin, Psalm 35 is about the Messiah, and Psalm 109 is about Paul. The numbers 22 and 69 suggest twinship - the two two's of 22 and the rotational symmetry of 6 and 9.
| Psalms 35 |
| 19 | Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: [neither] let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. |
| Psalms 69 |
| 4 | They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, [being] mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I took not away. |
| Psalms 109 |
| 3 | They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. |
Acts connects Judas Iscariot to Psalm 69 and Psalm 109.
| Acts 1 |
| 16 | Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. |
| 20 | For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. |
| Psalms 69 |
| 25 | Let their habitation be desolate; [and] let none dwell in their tents. |
| Psalms 109 |
| 8 | Let his days be few; [and] let another take his office. |
One of David's roles was as a witness:
| Isaiah 55 |
| 3 | Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David. |
| 4 | Behold, I have given him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. |
Hatred can be expressed as wrath.
In the book of Revelation, wrath associates with the wine, cup,
and blood of communion.
The doctrine of transubstiation highlights this association.
| Revelation 14 |
| 10 | The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: |
| Revelation 16 |
| 6 | For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. |
| 19 | And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. |
Summary:
The lion is an element of Psalm 22.
Psalm 22 relates to the crucifixion by the cry of dereliction
and the reference to pierced hands and feet.
Crying day and night suggests great sufferning,
consistent with crucifixion.
The low self-esteem of the crucified man is also evident in Psalm 69.
In Psalm 22 the cry of dereliction is associated with the roar of a lion.
| Matthew 27 |
| 46 | And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? |
| Psalms 22 |
| 1 | (To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.) My El, my El, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou so] far from helping me, [and from] the words of my roaring? |
| 2 | O my Elah, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. |
| Psalms 22 |
| 12 | Many bulls have compassed me: strong [bulls] of Bashan have beset me round. |
| 13 | They gaped upon me [with] their mouths, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion. |
There are variant texts for verse 16 which have 'like a lion' and 'digged'
instead of 'pierced',
but the earliest text from the Dead Sea Scrolls has 'pierced'.
| Psalms 22 |
| 16 | For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. |
1. Dead Sea Scroll Psalm 22:16
2. ends in waw not yod
A condemned traitor would have low self esteem:
| Psalms 22 |
| 6 | But I [am] a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. |
Summary:
Psalm 35 relates to the Messiah because of the pit and the net of entanglement,
the false testimony against him,
his behaviour towards Judas Iscariot,
the appeal against the boast of his enemies,
the symbolism of the serpent,
and the righteous servant of Isaiah 53.
The pit of verse 7 is part of to the language used by the Qumran community
in their "Everlasting hatred for the sons of the pit" (Eisenman98 p339).
Peter provides a connectiton from it to false teaching.
| Psalms 35 |
| 7 | For without cause have they hid for me their net [in] a pit, [which] without cause they have digged for my soul. |
In the Homilies, the Epistle of Peter to James,
giving rise to this reponse by James,
even uses the Qumran language of 'the Pit',
referring to how false teaching can drag people down
'into the Pit of Destruction' (1.3)"
Eisenman98, p692
The 'sons of the Pit' is another name for the sons of Belial
mentioned in the Damascus Document of the Qumran community.
The Three Nets of Belial described in the Damascus Document relate to sexual immorality, riches, and pollution of the temple.
All three nets relate to the cleansing of the temple described in the gospels.
Before leaving the subject of 'the Gate',
we should note that Luke knows the language of 'the narrow Gate',
and combines it, as in Matthew 7:25 and the Damascus Document above
on 'the Glory of Adam', with the imagery of 'the House' - and,
following this, 'shutting the Door'
(now reversed from how it was used in Acts 21:30 and, it will be recalled,
against 'the Sons of the Pit' or 'of Belial' in the Damascus Document).
Eisenman98, p428
| Matthew 21 |
| 11 | And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. |
| 12 | And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, |
| 13 | And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves (λῃστής). |
The KJV misrepresents the violence of lestes (λῃστής)
as larceny. This highlights the net of riches of the moneychangers.
The third net of sexual immorality relates to the distinction between
the set-apart (holy) and the profane.
Profanity has a sexual association
from the Hebrew word chalal (חלל).
The pit relates to the betrayal of Joseph by Judah and his brothers (excluding Reuben)
and to the blood of the covenant.
| Ezekiel 19 |
| 4 | The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. |
| Zechariah 9 |
| 9 | Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. |
| 11 | As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein [is] no water. |
The term 'sons of Belial' also describes those who do not know YHWH.
| 1 Samuel 2 |
| 12 | Now the sons of Eli [were] sons of Belial; they knew not YHWH. |
The net of entanglement relates to the Pharisees and Herodians (Edom). The doctrine of the Pharisees was associated with makind the law burdensome, which relates the false teaching of the pit described by Peter.
| Psalms 35 |
| 7 | For without cause have they hid for me their net [in] a pit, [which] without cause they have digged for my soul. |
| Matthew 22 |
| 15 | Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in [his] talk. |
| 16 | And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any [man]: for thou regardest not the person of men. |
| 17 | Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? |
| 18 | But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, [ye] hypocrites? |
| 19 | Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. |
| 20 | And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this image and superscription? |
| 21 | They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. |
| 22 | When they had heard [these words], they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. |
| Matthew 23 |
| 1 | Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, |
| 2 | Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: |
| 3 | All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, [that] observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. |
| 4 | For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay [them] on men's shoulders; but they [themselves] will not move them with one of their fingers. |
Psalm 35 describes false witnesses. Forbidding tribute to Caesar would have been seen as sedition, which was punishable by crucifixion.
| Psalms 35 |
| 11 | False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge [things] that I knew not. |
| Luke 23 |
| 2 | And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this [fellow] perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King. |
| Matthew 22 |
| 17 | Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? |
| 21 | They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. |
| Matthew 26 |
| 59 | Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; |
| 60 | But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, [yet] found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, |
| 61 | And said, This [fellow] said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. |
A reference to Judas Iscariot:
| Psalms 35 |
| 12 | They rewarded me evil for good [to] the spoiling of my soul. |
| 14 | I behaved myself as though [he had been] my friend [or] brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth [for his] mother. |
| Matthew 26 |
| 45 | Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take [your] rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. |
| 46 | Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. |
| 47 | And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. |
| 48 | Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. |
| 49 | And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. |
| 50 | And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. |
Verse 16 could describe Paul's communion.
Pharisees like Paul were described as hypocrites.
The Hebrew word maowg (מעוג) can be translated as 'cake'.
| Psalms 35 |
| 16 | With hypocritical mockers in feasts (מעוג), they gnashed upon me with their teeth. |
| Matthew 23 |
| 13 | But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. |
Another reference to lions:
| Psalms 35 |
| 17 | Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. |
The eyewitness claim of verse 21 is consistent with the appearance
of success on the part of the persecutors,
i.e. the crucifixon made it seem that Caiaphas' plan had been successfull.
The Hebrew word for swallow is bela (בלע).
Bela son of Beor was the first king of Edom,
which relates to the Herodians of verse 7 and to the pit.
Swallow also relates to the sign of Jonah
where the great fish swallows the prophet.
| Psalms 35 |
| 21 | Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, [and] said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen [it]. |
| 25 | Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. |
| Genesis 36 |
| 32 | And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom: and the name of his city [was] Dinhabah. |
| John 11 |
| 49 | And one of them, [named] Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, |
| 50 | Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. |
| 51 | And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; |
| 52 | And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. |
| 53 | Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. |
The idea of being swallowed up also relates to the serpent:
| Exodus 7 |
| 12 | For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. |
Those who killed the prophets were called serpents:
| Matthew 23 |
| 31 | Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. |
| 32 | Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. |
| 33 | [Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? |
The serpent is a symbol of the crucifixion:
| John 3 |
| 14 | And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: |
The prosperity of the righteous servant relates to Messianic verses from Isaiah:
| Psalms 35 |
| 27 | Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let YHWH be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. |
| Isaiah 53 |
| 11 | He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. |
| 12 | Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. |
The only other reference to a righteous servant in the Bible is to David, and the Messiah was called a son of David.
| 1 Kings 3 |
| 6 | And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] this day. |
| Matthew 21 |
| 15 | And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, |
Summary:
Psalm 69, like Psalm 22, is about Judas Iscariot as the crucified twin.
The pouring out of wrath like water from Hosea 5
is part of the first two verses of Psalm 69.
Psalm 69 and Psalm 22 both describe someone with low self-esteem.
Psalm 69 relates to the crucifixion by the gall and vinegar, and there's a separation between the crucified man and the
injured shepherd.
In Hosea 5 the punishment of Judah is described as being like
the pouring out of water.
This relates to the first two verses of Psalm 69.
| Hosea 5 |
| 10 | The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: [therefore] I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. |
| Psalms 69 |
| 1 | (To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David.) Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto [my] soul. |
| 2 | I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. |
Crying without response is common to Psalm 22, which is also about the crucified man.
| Psalms 69 |
| 3 | I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my Elah. |
The restoration of verse four relates to
the return of payment for betrayal.
The account of Judas returning the silver and hanging himself
isn't consistent with the account in Acts,
which implies that an early source didn't know what happened to Judas.
| Psalms 69 |
| 4 | They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, [being] mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I took not away. |
| Matthew 27 |
| 3 | Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, |
| 4 | Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What [is that] to us? see thou [to that]. |
| 5 | And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. |
| Acts 1 |
| 18 | Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. |
Awareness of his own foolishness is consistent with a traitor who is being punished for his treachery.
| Psalms 69 |
| 5 | O Elohim, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. |
The crucified man was no longer recognized by those who knew him:
| Psalms 69 |
| 8 | I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. |
Being swallowed up (and the pit) relates to the trap that was set for the Messiah.
| Psalms 69 |
| 15 | Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. |
Psalm 69 has a reference to being given gall and vinegar. In the Bible being given gall and vinegar is unique to the crucifixion.
| Psalms 69 |
| 21 | They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. |
| Matthew 27 |
| 34 | They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted [thereof], he would not drink. |
The flood relates to judgment and justice. This connects back to a star.
| Amos 5 |
| 24 | But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. |
| 26 | But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. |
Chiun, like Jonah, relates to dove (Jonah means dove).
| Jeremiah 48 |
| 28 | O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove [that] maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. |
One of the signs of Jonah relates to Hosea 6:2 because of the gospel story that the resurrection occurred on the third day.
| Matthew 12 |
| 40 | For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. |
Peter's original name was Simon Barjona (son of Jonah).
| Matthew 16 |
| 17 | And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. |
| 21 | From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. |
| 22 | Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. |
| 23 | But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. |
The complaint of the crucified man relates to the blasphemy of the soldiers at the crucifixion against another who was
smitten, which separated Judas from the Messiah:
| Psalms 69 |
| 26 | For they persecute [him] whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. |
| Luke 22 |
| 65 | And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. |
Summary:
Psalm 109 relates the judgement against Paul arising from his merciless
persecution of the people of the way.
Other parallels between Psalm 109 and Paul are Paul's curse
aginst those who preached a different doctrine
and the prophecy of the girdle which relates to James' test of Paul
and the ensuing riot.
Verse 2 refers to more than one liar, but the rest of the Psalm identifies only one man, suggesting that the others followed his lead.
| Psalms 109 |
| 2 | For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. |
James expressed the argument against Paul in plain language. The same argument can be found in verse 16.
| James 2 |
| 13 | For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. |
| Psalms 109 |
| 7 | When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. |
| 16 | Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. |
Paul's argument is based on unbelief,
but according to the law of Moses
unintentional sin wasn't forgiven without an offering.
Also, Hosea's position regarding ignorance is not consistent with Paul's argument.
| 1 Timothy 1 |
| 13 | Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did [it] ignorantly in unbelief. |
| Numbers 15 |
| 27 | And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. |
| 28 | And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before YHWH, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. |
| Hosea 4 |
| 6 | My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy Elah, I will also forget thy children. |
There's a connection between Psalm 109 and Paul's curse against those who preaced a different doctrine.
| Psalms 109 |
| 17 | As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. |
| 18 | As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. |
| Galatians 1 |
| 8 | But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. |
| 9 | As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. |
The prophecy of Agabus connects the curse of Psalm 109 to the riot at the temple which ended with Paul being taken by the Romans.
| Psalms 109 |
| 19 | Let it be unto him as the garment [which] covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. |
| Acts 21 |
| 10 | And as we tarried [there] many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. |
| 11 | And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver [him] into the hands of the Gentiles. |
| Acts 21 |
| 27 | And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, |
| 28 | Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all [men] every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. |
Summary:
The doctrine of original sin is based on an argument from Paul
which misrepresents David's sin.
A Psalm of David condemns someone who fits Paul's description.
A verse from the book of Revelation condemns as liars a group
which could have included Paul,
and Paul's accounts of being appointed as a witness are contradicted by Acts.
Also, Paul defamed Moses.
The doctrine of original sin depends on ideas from Romans chapter 5.
Romans 5:12 follows from Romans 3:23 because of the idea that all have sinned.
Romans 3:23 is a development of the idea in Romans 3:4 that all men are liars.
| Romans 5 |
| 12 | Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: |
| Romans 3 |
| 23 | For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; |
| Romans 3 |
| 4 | God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. |
Paul's argument in Romans 3:4 that all men are liars references
David's sin involving Bathsheba,
but in Nathan's parable it wasn't dishonesty that was the problem,
but rather the fact that David took the "little ewe", which represented Bathsheba.
David's reference to his mothers's sin relates to
the prohibition against the Moabites.
| Psalms 51 |
| 1 | (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O Elohim, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. |
| 4 | Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest. |
| 5 | Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. |
| 2 Samuel 12 |
| 1 | And YHWH sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. |
| 2 | The rich [man] had exceeding many flocks and herds: |
| 3 | But the poor [man] had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. |
| 4 | And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. |
Paul's implication that David was a liar is meaningful for the endorsement of David as a witness by YHWH:
| Isaiah 55 |
| 3 | Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David. |
| 4 | Behold, I have given him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. |
David's condemnation of the persecutor of Psalm 109 relates to Paul's implication that David was a liar.
| Psalms 109 |
| 2 | For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. |
There is circumstantial evidence in the book of Revelation that Paul was condemned as a false apostle, since Paul was rejected at Ephesus.
| Revelation 2 |
| 1 | Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; |
| 2 | I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: |
| Acts 19 |
| 1 | And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, |
| 9 | But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. |
Paul's accounts of being appointed as a witness are inconsistent because in one account he is appointed directly and in another he is told of it by Ananais.
| Acts 26 |
| 14 | And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks. |
| 15 | And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. |
| 16 | But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; |
| 17 | Delivering thee from the people, and [from] the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, |
| 18 | To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. |
| Acts 22 |
| 7 | And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? |
| 8 | And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. |
| 9 | And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. |
| 10 | And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. |
| 11 | And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. |
| 12 | And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt [there], |
| 13 | Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. |
| 14 | And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. |
| 15 | For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. |
The account in Acts of what Paul was told by Ananais says nothing of Paul being a witness.
| Acts 9 |
| 13 | Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: |
| 14 | And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. |
| 15 | But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: |
| 16 | For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. |
| 17 | And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, [even] Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. |
Paul questioned his own apostleship:
| 1 Corinthians 9 |
| 1 | Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? |
| 2 | If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. |
Paul's own words condemn him because ignorance of the law is no excuse
| 1 Timothy 1 |
| 12 | And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; |
| 13 | Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did [it] ignorantly in unbelief. |
Paul's defamation of Moses:
Paul makes one of the most outrageous accusations ever made
by one religion against another.
Evoking an episode in Exodus in the Old Testament,
when emerging from the Tent of Meeting, after speaking with God face to face,
Moses veils himself so that the Chldren of Israel will not be irradiated
from his brilliance or 'splendour' at having been in the presence of God
(Exodus 34:33); Paul rather asserts that Moses
'put a veil over his face, so that the Children of Israel
would not notice the end of what had to fade' (3:13)!
In other words, Moses was a deceiver and a charlatan,
who veiled himself because he did not want the Children of Israel
to see there was no 'splendour ' associated with his relationship with God
and the revelation of the Law consonant upon it.
Eisenman98, p650
| 2 Corinthians 3 |
| 7 | But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away: |
| 13 | And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: |
| Exodus 34 |
| 29 | And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. |
| 30 | And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. |
| 31 | And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. |
| 32 | And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that YHWH had spoken with him in mount Sinai. |
| 33 | And [till] Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. |
| 34 | But when Moses went in before YHWH to speak with him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel [that] which he was commanded. |
| 35 | And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. |
Summary:
Iniquity means lawlessness, and relates to the
wound of Israel and Judah. Iniquity also connects the Messianic content of Isaiah 53 to the book of Zechariah.
In Matthew 7:23 the word iniquity is a translation of anomia, which means lawlessness.
| Matthew 7 |
| 22 | Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? |
| 23 | And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. |
| Jeremiah 30 |
| 14 | All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; [because] thy sins were increased. |
| 15 | Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow [is] incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: [because] thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. |
The name of Joshua relates to Yeshua, the Hebrew name of the Messiah.
This is similar to how the name of Abraham relates to Abram.
Justice and righteousness are both translations of the same Hebrew word.
Iniquity is associated with uncleanness in Zechariah 3 and Isaiah 64.
Justice relates to the breastplate,
which also relates to the name of Yeshua.
| Zechariah 3 |
| 3 | Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. |
| 4 | And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. |
| Isaiah 53 |
| 11 | He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. |
| Isaiah 64 |
| 6 | But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. |
| 7 | And [there is] none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. |
Summary: Constantine's vision as reported by Eusebius relates to the battle at the Milvian Bridge, and his victory there was commemorated by the erection of the Arch of Constantine. The Arch has sculptures of Sol Invictus & Lucifer to the east and Luna to the west. The sun and moon relate to the woman of Revelation 12, and her crown relates to the twelve stars of the European Union. The Treaty of Rome, also known as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, provided a functional relationship between the European Union and Rome.
| Revelation 12 |
| 1 | And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: |
| Matthew 13 |
| 33 | Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. |
1. Sol Invictus - Temple in Campus Martius
2. Christ as Sol Invictus - St Peter's Basilica
3. Sol Invictus & torchbearer Lucifer - Constantine's Arch, East Side
4. Luna - Constantine's Arch, West Side
But since the victorious emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this history, when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could hesitate to believe it, especially since other testimonies have established its truth? He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the sign of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “By this symbol you will conquer.” He was struck with amazement by the sight, and his whole army witnessed the miracle.
Eusebius, Life of Constantine, 1.28
1. Flag of the European Union
2. European Parliament
3. Tower of Babel, Peter Breughel
| 1 Peter 5 |
| 13 | The [church that is] at Babylon, elected together with [you], saluteth you; and [so doth] Marcus my son. |
There is virtually unanimous agreement among modern interpreters that the referent of ‘Babylon’ is actually Rome (Achtemeier 1996: 354; W. Barclay 1976: 278; Best 1971: 178; Clowney 1988: 224; Cranfield 1958: 123; J. H. Elliott 2000: 883–86; Goppelt 1993: 374–75; Grudem 1988: 201; Kelly 1969: 218; Kistemaker 1987: 209; Michaels 1988: 311; Perkins 1995: 81; Reicke 1964: 134; Selwyn 1958: 243).
Karen H. Jobes in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (1 Peter)
