God's holy word, God's holy prophecies.
Act 17:11 ... in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Searched the scriptures DAILY.
Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
We live by eating. No one will dispute the fact that without physical sustenance we would die. When someone is in the hospital and they can't eat solid food they are given nutrition in a bag, not just a normal IV filled with liquid, but liquid that has additives that give that liquid nutrients as if the person were actually eating solid food- all the vitamins, minerals, and everything they need without actually eating. When a loved one of mine was in the hospital and hadn't eaten for five days they had to call in a nutritionist to calculate what should be put in his liquid nutrition. It wasn't a matter of simply hanging up yet another bag of fluids with the ones already there. This was a very special bag of liquid food they were making- why? Because the body needs food, it needs to eat, it needs the nutrition we get from food in order for it to stay alive. A person can and many unfortunately do- starve to death without the necessary food. Ideally we are meant to eat daily. And the best of saints along with the worst of sinners must eat food daily. The difference between saint and sinner is the saint knows that they might as well be dead than live without the daily bread that is the WORD of GOD. The daily bread - our daily sustenance does not bring full life- but the WORD of GOD brings full life- life eternal- spiritual life. Yes, we must eat food to live, but just eating food to live will not give us spiritual life. The WORD of GOD will feed our spiritual life. We need spiritual food daily every bit as much as we need physical food, but people don't seem to fully comprehend this.
People are starving spiritually, barely existing on maybe one spiritual meal a week. Others are spiritually dead not even receiving that weekly spiritual feeding. If we wonder why we might not be spiritually strong could it be we are not getting our daily bread? Could it be we are trying to live by bread alone and not by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?
Hunger pangs tells us we need food. Spiritual hunger pangs hit us ALL the time and we choose to ignore them and in their place substitute other things- thinking that'll take care of the spiritual hunger pangs. We shove alcohol, pills, sex, video games, online games, people, work, play- we shove everything we can into our spirit void wanting to dull the pangs of life with all those things that can never ever fully satisfy the spiritual hunger inside us all.
It's true also that people who eat don't always get the proper nutrition while they're eating still end up dying because they didn't get the proper nutrition. Silly? No. Take scurvy for one example. Up to a million people over the course of many, many years have died from scurvy- lacking vitamin c in their diets- these people were mostly sailors who would exist on dried salted meats and dried grains as they took their sea voyages. So they had food but it wasn't necessarily all the food they needed, the proper food, the correct nutrients.
Spiritually was shove all sorts of food into our spiritual life hoping to feed the spiritual hunger that exists inside us, but all that food being shoved into our spiritual life isn't necessary the spiritual food we truly need to live a Spiritual life in Christ- the source of all things truly spiritually necessary.
Daily we need spiritual food every bit as much as we need tangible food. Means what? Every day.
Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Act 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Daily teaching and preaching Jesus Christ. Daily learning. We must daily learn more and more of our Savior. If we study ANYTHING in God's word and it does NOT point us to our Savior then we are NOT studying as God would have us study. Every prophecy we study is with the realization that the prophecy points towards one ultimate fulfillment- Christ and His return bringing His kingdom with Him.
Some will lose interest in prophecy studying quickly because there is so much history involved, and to many history is boring. People have gone to great lengths to make prophecy lectures and whatnot - exciting. Babes in the word of God need that simple feeding, those enticing bits that piqué interest. Those who are NOT babes in the word need much more than a simple feeding, they need something they can chew. Those who are not babes understand that a tough bit of meat may take a long time to chew, and while the goal is biting, chewing, and ultimately swallowing our food it's not always something that is done in a few seconds. Have you ever had food in your mouth that has made your jaw tired from chewing? I know I have. The word of God can mean studying things that cause our minds to ache, our spiritual teeth to hurt. Sure we can live on spiritual baby food, never, ever studying to the point we are wresting with things to gain understanding. We can believe that all we are required to do is read simple, easy to understand verses about God's love and never, ever try to comprehend the harder things of Scripture- leaving them for greater minds than ours- but that isn't what our God wants from us. God wants us to grow up in our spiritual lives every bit as much as we grow up in our physical lives.
How many, many hours of tedious schooling did you have when you were growing up? And all that tedious schooling, all those hours of homework, all that time spent studying was to prepare you for a future giving you knowledge. We find it heartbreaking when we hear of children being denied the chance at an education. We think about how much knowledge the children are missing out on when they don't attend a school, or get schooling at home. While some are great advocates of something called 'unschooling' allowing children to learn only that which truly interests them, that doesn't mean they are opposed to schooling children- they give those children access and means to LEARN only the focus is on their interests. The children who are taken out of school, or never have an opportunity to go, those who don't even have the opportunity to be school in things of their interest are those we understand innately are being deprived of a chance to grow mentally. People have fought hard to be able to gain the right to be taught, the right to learn rather than stay in a set routine of life- following only down the path of their forefathers. People today pay thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars for higher education- for MORE learning than is deemed required by our various governments. Our secular learning is that important, yet all the secular learning in the world, all the degrees in the world, all the education we can possibly gain means NOTHING in the eternal realm. If we neglect our spiritual education and only focus on our temporal flesh education we might have a great secular, temporary life but lose life eternal. We NEED a spiritual education that NEVER ends. We need a spiritual feeding daily, and the food we eat will vary. Some days our spiritual food will be light and easy to comprehend, to digest. Other days our spiritual food will be tough and not so easy to comprehend, or digest. We cannot shun the food meant for those grown up no longer needing just the milk of babes in Christ, we have to be willing to chew.
To me these prophecy studies are filled with a lot of tough spiritual meat that will make us chew long and hard before we can swallow it. Because the studies are such tough meat it will take perseverance to get through it all, but we can by the grace of God. I'm not looking to make these studies light and fluffy so everyone will want to gobble them up, I'm looking to make these studies filled with TRUTH! Those who desire truth enough to read through all the boring stuff will be rewarded, right? When truth is presented it pushes out the untruth, is shoves aside the doubts that Satan will push at us trying to get us to falter and fail.
Let's read the following and while we are reading it note how prophecy is mentioned--
Act 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Act 6:9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
Act 6:10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Act 6:11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
Act 6:12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
Act 6:13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
Act 6:14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Act 6:15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Act 7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
Act 7:2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
Act 7:3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
(PROPHECY) If Abraham were to listen a land would be shown him- a prophetic - conditional happenstance.
Act 7:4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
Act 7:5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
(PROPHECY) a promise that Abraham's seed after him would inherit- and Abraham had no children!
Act 7:6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.
Act 7:7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.
(PROPHECY) Four hundred years of evil would befall Abraham's seed. A prophecy encompassing four hundred future years!
Act 7:8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
Act 7:9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him,
Act 7:10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
Act 7:11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
Act 7:12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
Act 7:13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
Act 7:14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.
Act 7:15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers,
Act 7:16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
Act 7:17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Act 7:18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
Act 7:19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
Act 7:20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
Act 7:21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
Act 7:22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
Act 7:23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
Act 7:24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
Act 7:25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Act 7:26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
Act 7:27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
Act 7:28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
Act 7:29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
Act 7:30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.
Act 7:31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
Act 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
Act 7:33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
Act 7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.
Act 7:35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
Act 7:36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Act 7:37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Act 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Act 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
Act 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Act 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Act 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Act 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.
Act 7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.
(PROPHECY) Fulfilled! What was told to Abraham came to pass.
Act 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Act 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
Act 7:47 But Solomon built him an house.
Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?
Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Act 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Prophets persecuted, prophets slain, those which showed the coming of the SAVIOR. The Savior betrayed and murdered.
Act 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Act 7:57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Prophecy. Stephen recounted the importance of prophecy in his last speech. Did he say- 'Hey everyone, prophecy is important, so read it, study it.' ? No. He didn't use those words but His entire speech revealed prophecy and how it'd been fulfilled and was even then being fulfilled. He pointed out to the very people who were about to murder him that their fathers had done the same thing to other prophets-murdered them. We want truth, all truth, but so many just want fables and fancy.
We are given prophecy- not just to shove it away as being overcooked meat too tough to even bother to chew. We are given prophecy so that we can comprehend the fullness of truth found in our Savior!
Having said all this … let's continue tomorrow with our prophecy studies …for those who want meat to chew keep reading, those who don't, I'm sure there are a lot of blogs out there that suit more of what you desire and by the grace of God may we all find the spiritual eternal life we seek in our Savior, in His righteousness!
In His love!
Amen.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Prophecy -46 Deception!
Yesterday we discussed the rise of Christianity mingled Paganism and we're going to continue with this a bit longer, noting more detailed facts.
We need to understand that the Holy Covenant was truly forsaken by the rise of this so called church of God.
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
Have you ever heard of the Eleusinian Mysteries-
'The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek) were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. It is acknowledged that their basis was an old agrarian cult which probably goes back to the Mycenean period (c.1600-1100 BC) and it is believed that the cult of Demeter was established in 1500 BC.[1] The idea of immortality which appears in syncretistic religions of antiquity was introduced in late antiquity.[2] The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases, the "descent" (loss), the "search" and the "ascent", with main theme the "ascent" of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome.[3] The name of the town, Eleusís seems to be Pre-Greek and it is probably a counterpart with Elysion and the goddess Eileithyia[4]
The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret and consistently preserved from a hoary antiquity. The initiated believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife.[5] There are many paintings and pieces of pottery that depict various aspects of the Mysteries. Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents.[6]'
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These pagan mysteries existed for close to 3000 years.
The *supposed* end of them occurs when Christianity rose up.
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'In 170 AD, the Temple of Demeter was sacked by the Sarmatians but was rebuilt by Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was then allowed to become the only lay person to ever enter the anaktoron. As Christianity gained in popularity in the 4th and 5th centuries, Eleusis' prestige began to fade. Julian, the last pagan emperor of Rome, was also the last emperor to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries.[28]
The Roman emperor Theodosius I closed the sanctuaries by decree in 392 AD. The last remnants of the Mysteries were wiped out in 396 AD, when Alaric, King of the Goths, invaded accompanied by Christians "in their dark garments", bringing Arian Christianity and desecrating the old sacred sites.[29] The closing of the Eleusinian Mysteries in the 4th century is reported by Eunapius, a historian and biographer of the Greek philosophers. Eunapius had been initiated by the last legitimate Hierophant, who had been commissioned by the emperor Julian to restore the Mysteries, which had by then fallen into decay. According to Eunapius, the very last Hierophant was a usurper, "the man from Thespiae who held the rank of Father in the mysteries of Mithras."'
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I said supposed end because read on…
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'Modern Interpretation-
The annual Aquarian Tabernacle Church Spring Mysteries Festival is a 3 day Pan-Pagan festival, recreating the mysteries in modern day. The main focus of the Festival is the Ritual Drama. The ATC (Aquarian Tabernacle Church) presents a modern interpretation of the ancient Greek mystery drama of how the seasons came to be.
The original Eleusinian Mysteries were a mystery kept secret for almost three-thousand years and the basic story, as portrayed, is all that is available. In modern times the ATC is the only group performing these mysteries on a large scale, available for all who have always wished to experience their wonder, are able to.
The ritual takes place every Easter weekend at Fort Flagler State Park in Washington.'
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MODERN INTERPRETATION. When does this modern interpretation take place? EASTER weekend. Now we need to ask ourselves some questions- is this mere coincidence? Does Easter have something to do with paganism?
Remember Christianity rose up amid many, many pagan customs that had been around for thousands of years. People did not simply give up their pagan beliefs and accept Christianity. It'd be great if that were the case but even our Savior had this to say, and He meant it!
Mat 7:14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.
Few be they that find it! How many? FEW. Only few compared to the multitudes. So many religions tout their numbers as a sign of truth, when the truth is that the greater the number the less truth. Yes, the Gospel was to go to the whole world, but that didn't mean the whole world would accept that Gospel. How can those words come from our Savior's mouth if they weren't true? They couldn't and that means they are pure TRUTH.
Christianity quickly went from being truth and only truth to being truth corrupted by untruth. The lines became blurred, paganism and Christianity merged into something unrecognizable as wholly pagan or wholly Christian. However… Satan used His deceptive power to have the products of paganism Christianized. And as we know if something is changed and enough time passes that it is hard for people to accept that the changed something was ever anything different than it appears currently. People honestly believe that our so called Christian holidays are truly Christian holidays. What they really are is paganism Christianized and as we know once untruth mingles with truth it is NO LONGER TRUTH!
Easter-
'Easter ... is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year.[1] According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday[2] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday). The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36.
Easter marks the end of Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of the Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many European languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are etymologically related or homonymous.[4] The term "Pascha", from the same root, is also used in English to refer to Easter.
Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but decorating Easter eggs is a common motif. In the Western world, customs such as egg hunting and the Easter Bunny extend from the domain of church, and often have a secular character.'
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Did you read that? Decorating eggs is a common motif. A common motif of what? A supposed CHRISTIAN holiday! A CENTRAL feast . Now many, many, many Christians will give you reasons for this egg decorating and how it ties into the celebration, but in truth where did EGGS, let alone decorating them, come into play with Jesus?! Alarm bells should be ringing in the head of anyone who is really seeking TRUTH.
Just how did eggs come to be associated with a supposed Christian holiday?
Read this--
The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar (Acts 2:1; 12:3; 20:6; 27:9; 1 Cor 16:8), but there is no direct evidence that they celebrated any specifically Christian annual festivals. Direct evidence for the Easter festival begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referencing Easter is a mid-2nd century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[23] Evidence for another kind of annual Christian festival, the commemoration of martyrs, begins to appear at about the same time as evidence for the celebration of Easter.[24] But while martyrs' days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[25]
The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus (b. 380) attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of its custom, "just as many other customs have been established," stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[26]
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This is NOT a CHRISTIAN celebration! No where in the Bible are we told to celebrate this way, NO WHERE!
This isn't the only perversion of Christianity, not by a long shot. Go ahead LOOK UP this stuff on the internet! Go to the library! Search out the truth! Read your BIBLES!
While Christian holidays seem to be Christian enough, they are far from it. They carry a cloak of Christianity but underneath that cloak is a vile, scheming, deceiving being who has tricked the majority of Christians into celebrating these days as if they are truly holy, when they are FAR from it!
This is TRUTH!
Beyond a doubt covering evil with a nice fluffy frosting does not make it acceptable. Think about it- how many times are evil people truly evil appearing? Not as often as one would like to hope. Evil people often get away with a lot of their evil by appearing as someone far from evil, the more innocent they appear the more evil they can get away with. This isn't a lie, this is truth. And truth cannot be changed, not by you and not by me, not by anyone!
The deception of the mingling of paganism with Christianity did not stop at holidays, but goes much deeper, into a place that affects people every week of their lives!
Read this--
Sunday and Sabbath
See also: Sabbath in Christianity.
Christians from very early times have had differences of opinion on the question of whether Sabbath should be observed on a Saturday or a Sunday. The issue does not arise for Jews, for whom "Shabbat" is unquestionably on Saturday, nor for Muslims whose day of assembly (jumu'ah) is on a Friday.
The first given evidence for a differentiation, between traditional Jewish "Shabbat" observance and the religious observance of the first day of the week, appears in Acts 20:7 where the disciples met and "broke bread" together. Some believe this was a participation in the ordinance of the sacrament. (In previous verses, the Days of Unleavened Bread had just ended, including Passover, so it could not have been the anniversary commemoration, but it could have been a communion service done in remembrance.) Seventh-day Sabbatarians say that the believers met on all days of the week to "break bread" together for the sake of meals and fellowship, such as in Acts 2:46, regarding the incident in Acts 20:7 as nothing outside of usual practice.
Col. 2:16 suggests that early Christians had been judged by others in their traditions of eating foods and in observance of particulars of Sabbath and festivals. Also, the Jews had defined "forty minus one" works to be abstained from on "Shabbat," and Jesus and his disciples had been accused of breaking some of these customs during his ministry.
The Apostle John also refers to the "Lord's Day" ("kuriake hemera") in Rev. 1:10. "Kuriake," meaning "Lord's," later became the Greek word for Sunday. However, in light of the texts Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5 it is seen that Jesus himself (as the Son of Man) claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath, and that day fell on the seventh day. Some early Christians observed Sabbath on Saturday, while others gathered for worship on Sunday. However, in AD 363 a seventh-day Sabbath was prohibited by Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea.[7]
The ancient Romans traditionally used the eight-day nundinal cycle, a market week, but in the time of Augustus, the seven-day week also came into use. The two weeks were used side-by-side until at least the Calendar of 354 and probably later,[8] despite the official adoption of Sunday as a day of rest by Constantine in AD 321.[9] Mithraism kept Sunday holy in honor of Mithras.[10] On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian Emperor (see Constantine I and Christianity), decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[11]
Many Christians today consider Sunday a holy day and a day of rest and church-attendance. Denominations which observe Saturday as Sabbath are called "Sabbatarians", but the name "Sabbatarian" has also been claimed by Christians, especially Protestants, who believe Sunday must be observed with just the sort of rigorous abstinence from work associated with "Shabbat". For most Christians the custom and obligation of Sunday rest is not as strict. A minority of Christians do not regard the day they attend church as important, so long as they attend, as the apostles and disciples gathered on Sundays, on Saturdays, and whenever they could. There is considerable variation in the observance of Sabbath rituals and restrictions, but some cessation of normal weekday activities is customary.
In Orthodox Christian families and communities, working and requiring somebody else to work are prohibited, including buying goods or services, use of public transport, gardening or driving or washing a car.[verification needed] Allowed exceptions include religious services, electricity, and urgent medical matters. In Roman Catholicism, those who work in the medical field, those in law enforcement, and soldiers in a war zone are dispensed from the usual obligation to avoid work on Sunday.
The majority of Christians observe Sunday as the Lord's day. However, throughout the history of Christianity, some groups have continued or revived the observance of a Saturday Sabbath. More recently, Christians in the Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, and Church of God (Seventh-Day) denominations, as well as many Messianic Jews have revived the practice of abstaining from work and gathering for worship on Saturdays.
Many languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "Sabbath." Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as many Roman Catholics, distinguish between Sabbath (Saturday) and Sunday, which some Christians traditionally call the Lord's Day (Rev. 1:10). However, many Protestants and Roman Catholics do refer to Sunday as Sabbath, though this is by no means a universal practice among Protestants and Catholics. Quakers traditionally refer to Sunday as "First Day" eschewing the pagan origin of the English name, while referring to Saturday as the "Seventh day".
In Roman Catholic liturgy, Sunday begins on Saturday evening. The evening Mass on Saturday is liturgically a full Sunday Mass and fulfills the obligation of Sunday Mass attendance, and Vespers (evening prayer) on Saturday night is liturgically "first Vespers" of the Sunday. The same evening anticipation applies to other major solemnities and feasts, and is an echo of the Jewish practice of starting the new day at sunset ("Shabbat" starts on Friday night).
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Sunday begins at the Little Entrance of Vespers (or All-Night Vigil) on Saturday evening and runs until "Vouchsafe, O Lord" (after the "prokeimenon") of Vespers on Sunday night. During this time, the dismissal at all services begin with the words, "May Christ our True God, who rose from the dead ...." Anyone who wishes to receive Holy Communion at Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning is required to attend Vespers the night before (see Eucharistic discipline). Among Orthodox Christians, Sunday is considered to be a "Little Pascha" (Easter), and because of the Paschal joy, the making of prostrations is forbidden, except in certain circumstances. The Russian word for Sunday is "Voskresenie," meaning "Resurrection day." The Greek word for Sunday is "Kyriake" (the "Lord's Day").
The Czech, Polish, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Ukrainian and Belarusian words for Sunday ("neděle," "niedziela," "nedelja," "недеља", "неділя" and "нядзеля" respectively) can be translated as "without acts (no work)."
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Clearly the seventh day of the week has been established throughout history to be Saturday, not Sunday and now read this….
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
God NEVER changed a single one of HIS commandments!!! Never! Yet man dared to do so!
Constantine! The Roman Emperor as Rome's pagan power was shifting into a papal power, as paganism was mingled with Christianity - just as it was all predicted- this man did this--
On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian Emperor (see Constantine I and Christianity), decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[11]
And read this--
“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.” — Rome’s Challenge immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003.
“Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” — James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).
“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.” — Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article “To Tell You the Truth.”
“Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code (ten commandments) was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai...Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5)...The (Catholic) Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day...He (God) claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy...” — The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 4, “The Ten Commandments”, 1908 edition by Robert Appleton Company; and 1999 Online edition by Kevin Knight, Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
“Question: How prove you that the church had power to command feasts and holydays?
“Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” — Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism On the Obedience Due to the Church, 3rd edition, Chapter 2, p. 174 (Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York).
“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” — St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
“Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday...Now the Church...instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday.” — Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927 edition, p. 136.
“Question - Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” — Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957.
“Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day - Saturday - for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day’? I answer no!”
“Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons.” — James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Md. (1877-1921), in a signed letter.
“Question. - How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“Answer. - By the very act of changing Sabbath into Sunday which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
“Question. - How prove you that?
“Answer. - Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” — An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, composed by Henry Tuberville, p. 58.
http://www.godssabbathtruth.com/SabbathStatementsByTheCatholicChurch.pdf
Outlawing the keeping of the sabbath and encouraging rest on Sunday (the Lord's Day) (canon 29)
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Canon 29 Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364)
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
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In 321 AD the pagan emperor turned Christian - who really mingled paganism with Christianity- made Sunday the Christian day of rest contrary to the Bible.
In 364 AD the Catholic Church outlawed keeping the Biblical Sabbath.
These are facts people!
Now you'll get all kinds telling you how the Sabbath was done away with. They'll have seemingly convincing articles as they pervert the Biblical verses to suit their purposes. They'll even say that Jesus reaffirmed all the Ten Commandments but the Sabbath, making the Sabbath void. Making the keeping of the day of rest INSTITUTED during CREATION week null and void. They'd have you believe that one of those TEN COMMANDMENTS was no longer in effect, that it no longer mattered, that it was changed, that it was just for the Jews. Satan would have men deceived and He'd done an amazing job of it! Amazing deception and we were told this would be so. God would NEVER have made the Sabbath one of the Ten Commandments if it were merely meant to be ceremonial and done away with, never! The Ten Commandments were set in the Ark of the Covenant, under the Mercy Seat of God! These were never to be altered to suit man's perverted desires. And if anyone thinks that the perversion didn't start right away, they're wrong. Deception was already in the church in the Apostles' day! So when people say oh, the first day was kept on the first day of the week, Sunday way back in 150AD, they say it like that is proof when it proves NOTHING but that deception had begun to filter in which we'd already been told would happen.
Recently I read an article detailing in small blurbs the major changes in our history at 20 year increments over the last 100 years I think it was 100 years, anyway they did it and it showed how quickly things change and it was astounding to read- it really put a new perspective on things. So much can change in a mere 20 years and here we have over a 100 years between Christ living upon earth before His death and a time when a writer in 150AD seems to write something that makes it look as if the Sabbath is no longer kept!
There is NO doubt about man's corruption, none whatsoever!
Prophecy shows us that the Holy Covenant would be forsaken and the Roman Power of the time would being in league with those who forsake the Holy Covenant. This isn't a fairy tale, this isn't fiction, no fable here, but TRUTH!
May God open our hearts and eyes to ALL His truth! May we NEVER believe in man's lies over GOD'S TRUTH!
Please God bless us with all your truth, create clean hearts within us Lord, open our eyes, open our understanding! This is our prayer Lord, Your truth and NOTHING but Your TRUTH!
In Your amazing love, in Your forgiveness, may Your kingdom come Lord just as You've given us the prophecy of it occurring!
Amen!
We need to understand that the Holy Covenant was truly forsaken by the rise of this so called church of God.
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
Have you ever heard of the Eleusinian Mysteries-
'The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek) were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. Of all the mysteries celebrated in ancient times, these were held to be the ones of greatest importance. It is acknowledged that their basis was an old agrarian cult which probably goes back to the Mycenean period (c.1600-1100 BC) and it is believed that the cult of Demeter was established in 1500 BC.[1] The idea of immortality which appears in syncretistic religions of antiquity was introduced in late antiquity.[2] The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades, in a cycle with three phases, the "descent" (loss), the "search" and the "ascent", with main theme the "ascent" of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era, and later spread to Rome.[3] The name of the town, Eleusís seems to be Pre-Greek and it is probably a counterpart with Elysion and the goddess Eileithyia[4]
The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret and consistently preserved from a hoary antiquity. The initiated believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife.[5] There are many paintings and pieces of pottery that depict various aspects of the Mysteries. Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from psychedelic agents.[6]'
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These pagan mysteries existed for close to 3000 years.
The *supposed* end of them occurs when Christianity rose up.
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'In 170 AD, the Temple of Demeter was sacked by the Sarmatians but was rebuilt by Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius was then allowed to become the only lay person to ever enter the anaktoron. As Christianity gained in popularity in the 4th and 5th centuries, Eleusis' prestige began to fade. Julian, the last pagan emperor of Rome, was also the last emperor to be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries.[28]
The Roman emperor Theodosius I closed the sanctuaries by decree in 392 AD. The last remnants of the Mysteries were wiped out in 396 AD, when Alaric, King of the Goths, invaded accompanied by Christians "in their dark garments", bringing Arian Christianity and desecrating the old sacred sites.[29] The closing of the Eleusinian Mysteries in the 4th century is reported by Eunapius, a historian and biographer of the Greek philosophers. Eunapius had been initiated by the last legitimate Hierophant, who had been commissioned by the emperor Julian to restore the Mysteries, which had by then fallen into decay. According to Eunapius, the very last Hierophant was a usurper, "the man from Thespiae who held the rank of Father in the mysteries of Mithras."'
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I said supposed end because read on…
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'Modern Interpretation-
The annual Aquarian Tabernacle Church Spring Mysteries Festival is a 3 day Pan-Pagan festival, recreating the mysteries in modern day. The main focus of the Festival is the Ritual Drama. The ATC (Aquarian Tabernacle Church) presents a modern interpretation of the ancient Greek mystery drama of how the seasons came to be.
The original Eleusinian Mysteries were a mystery kept secret for almost three-thousand years and the basic story, as portrayed, is all that is available. In modern times the ATC is the only group performing these mysteries on a large scale, available for all who have always wished to experience their wonder, are able to.
The ritual takes place every Easter weekend at Fort Flagler State Park in Washington.'
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MODERN INTERPRETATION. When does this modern interpretation take place? EASTER weekend. Now we need to ask ourselves some questions- is this mere coincidence? Does Easter have something to do with paganism?
Remember Christianity rose up amid many, many pagan customs that had been around for thousands of years. People did not simply give up their pagan beliefs and accept Christianity. It'd be great if that were the case but even our Savior had this to say, and He meant it!
Mat 7:14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.
Few be they that find it! How many? FEW. Only few compared to the multitudes. So many religions tout their numbers as a sign of truth, when the truth is that the greater the number the less truth. Yes, the Gospel was to go to the whole world, but that didn't mean the whole world would accept that Gospel. How can those words come from our Savior's mouth if they weren't true? They couldn't and that means they are pure TRUTH.
Christianity quickly went from being truth and only truth to being truth corrupted by untruth. The lines became blurred, paganism and Christianity merged into something unrecognizable as wholly pagan or wholly Christian. However… Satan used His deceptive power to have the products of paganism Christianized. And as we know if something is changed and enough time passes that it is hard for people to accept that the changed something was ever anything different than it appears currently. People honestly believe that our so called Christian holidays are truly Christian holidays. What they really are is paganism Christianized and as we know once untruth mingles with truth it is NO LONGER TRUTH!
Easter-
'Easter ... is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year.[1] According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday[2] (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday). The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36.
Easter marks the end of Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. The last week of the Lent is called Holy Week, and it contains Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. Easter is followed by a fifty-day period called Eastertide or the Easter Season, ending with Pentecost Sunday.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many European languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are etymologically related or homonymous.[4] The term "Pascha", from the same root, is also used in English to refer to Easter.
Easter customs vary across the Christian world, but decorating Easter eggs is a common motif. In the Western world, customs such as egg hunting and the Easter Bunny extend from the domain of church, and often have a secular character.'
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Did you read that? Decorating eggs is a common motif. A common motif of what? A supposed CHRISTIAN holiday! A CENTRAL feast . Now many, many, many Christians will give you reasons for this egg decorating and how it ties into the celebration, but in truth where did EGGS, let alone decorating them, come into play with Jesus?! Alarm bells should be ringing in the head of anyone who is really seeking TRUTH.
Just how did eggs come to be associated with a supposed Christian holiday?
Read this--
The first Christians, Jewish and Gentile, were certainly aware of the Hebrew calendar (Acts 2:1; 12:3; 20:6; 27:9; 1 Cor 16:8), but there is no direct evidence that they celebrated any specifically Christian annual festivals. Direct evidence for the Easter festival begins to appear in the mid-2nd century. Perhaps the earliest extant primary source referencing Easter is a mid-2nd century Paschal homily attributed to Melito of Sardis, which characterizes the celebration as a well-established one.[23] Evidence for another kind of annual Christian festival, the commemoration of martyrs, begins to appear at about the same time as evidence for the celebration of Easter.[24] But while martyrs' days (usually the individual dates of martyrdom) were celebrated on fixed dates in the local solar calendar, the date of Easter was fixed by means of the local Jewish lunisolar calendar. This is consistent with the celebration of Easter having entered Christianity during its earliest, Jewish period, but does not leave the question free of doubt.[25]
The ecclesiastical historian Socrates Scholasticus (b. 380) attributes the observance of Easter by the church to the perpetuation of its custom, "just as many other customs have been established," stating that neither Jesus nor his Apostles enjoined the keeping of this or any other festival. Although he describes the details of the Easter celebration as deriving from local custom, he insists the feast itself is universally observed.[26]
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This is NOT a CHRISTIAN celebration! No where in the Bible are we told to celebrate this way, NO WHERE!
This isn't the only perversion of Christianity, not by a long shot. Go ahead LOOK UP this stuff on the internet! Go to the library! Search out the truth! Read your BIBLES!
While Christian holidays seem to be Christian enough, they are far from it. They carry a cloak of Christianity but underneath that cloak is a vile, scheming, deceiving being who has tricked the majority of Christians into celebrating these days as if they are truly holy, when they are FAR from it!
This is TRUTH!
Beyond a doubt covering evil with a nice fluffy frosting does not make it acceptable. Think about it- how many times are evil people truly evil appearing? Not as often as one would like to hope. Evil people often get away with a lot of their evil by appearing as someone far from evil, the more innocent they appear the more evil they can get away with. This isn't a lie, this is truth. And truth cannot be changed, not by you and not by me, not by anyone!
The deception of the mingling of paganism with Christianity did not stop at holidays, but goes much deeper, into a place that affects people every week of their lives!
Read this--
Sunday and Sabbath
See also: Sabbath in Christianity.
Christians from very early times have had differences of opinion on the question of whether Sabbath should be observed on a Saturday or a Sunday. The issue does not arise for Jews, for whom "Shabbat" is unquestionably on Saturday, nor for Muslims whose day of assembly (jumu'ah) is on a Friday.
The first given evidence for a differentiation, between traditional Jewish "Shabbat" observance and the religious observance of the first day of the week, appears in Acts 20:7 where the disciples met and "broke bread" together. Some believe this was a participation in the ordinance of the sacrament. (In previous verses, the Days of Unleavened Bread had just ended, including Passover, so it could not have been the anniversary commemoration, but it could have been a communion service done in remembrance.) Seventh-day Sabbatarians say that the believers met on all days of the week to "break bread" together for the sake of meals and fellowship, such as in Acts 2:46, regarding the incident in Acts 20:7 as nothing outside of usual practice.
Col. 2:16 suggests that early Christians had been judged by others in their traditions of eating foods and in observance of particulars of Sabbath and festivals. Also, the Jews had defined "forty minus one" works to be abstained from on "Shabbat," and Jesus and his disciples had been accused of breaking some of these customs during his ministry.
The Apostle John also refers to the "Lord's Day" ("kuriake hemera") in Rev. 1:10. "Kuriake," meaning "Lord's," later became the Greek word for Sunday. However, in light of the texts Mark 2:28 and Luke 6:5 it is seen that Jesus himself (as the Son of Man) claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath, and that day fell on the seventh day. Some early Christians observed Sabbath on Saturday, while others gathered for worship on Sunday. However, in AD 363 a seventh-day Sabbath was prohibited by Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea.[7]
The ancient Romans traditionally used the eight-day nundinal cycle, a market week, but in the time of Augustus, the seven-day week also came into use. The two weeks were used side-by-side until at least the Calendar of 354 and probably later,[8] despite the official adoption of Sunday as a day of rest by Constantine in AD 321.[9] Mithraism kept Sunday holy in honor of Mithras.[10] On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian Emperor (see Constantine I and Christianity), decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[11]
Many Christians today consider Sunday a holy day and a day of rest and church-attendance. Denominations which observe Saturday as Sabbath are called "Sabbatarians", but the name "Sabbatarian" has also been claimed by Christians, especially Protestants, who believe Sunday must be observed with just the sort of rigorous abstinence from work associated with "Shabbat". For most Christians the custom and obligation of Sunday rest is not as strict. A minority of Christians do not regard the day they attend church as important, so long as they attend, as the apostles and disciples gathered on Sundays, on Saturdays, and whenever they could. There is considerable variation in the observance of Sabbath rituals and restrictions, but some cessation of normal weekday activities is customary.
In Orthodox Christian families and communities, working and requiring somebody else to work are prohibited, including buying goods or services, use of public transport, gardening or driving or washing a car.[verification needed] Allowed exceptions include religious services, electricity, and urgent medical matters. In Roman Catholicism, those who work in the medical field, those in law enforcement, and soldiers in a war zone are dispensed from the usual obligation to avoid work on Sunday.
The majority of Christians observe Sunday as the Lord's day. However, throughout the history of Christianity, some groups have continued or revived the observance of a Saturday Sabbath. More recently, Christians in the Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, and Church of God (Seventh-Day) denominations, as well as many Messianic Jews have revived the practice of abstaining from work and gathering for worship on Saturdays.
Many languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "Sabbath." Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as many Roman Catholics, distinguish between Sabbath (Saturday) and Sunday, which some Christians traditionally call the Lord's Day (Rev. 1:10). However, many Protestants and Roman Catholics do refer to Sunday as Sabbath, though this is by no means a universal practice among Protestants and Catholics. Quakers traditionally refer to Sunday as "First Day" eschewing the pagan origin of the English name, while referring to Saturday as the "Seventh day".
In Roman Catholic liturgy, Sunday begins on Saturday evening. The evening Mass on Saturday is liturgically a full Sunday Mass and fulfills the obligation of Sunday Mass attendance, and Vespers (evening prayer) on Saturday night is liturgically "first Vespers" of the Sunday. The same evening anticipation applies to other major solemnities and feasts, and is an echo of the Jewish practice of starting the new day at sunset ("Shabbat" starts on Friday night).
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Sunday begins at the Little Entrance of Vespers (or All-Night Vigil) on Saturday evening and runs until "Vouchsafe, O Lord" (after the "prokeimenon") of Vespers on Sunday night. During this time, the dismissal at all services begin with the words, "May Christ our True God, who rose from the dead ...." Anyone who wishes to receive Holy Communion at Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning is required to attend Vespers the night before (see Eucharistic discipline). Among Orthodox Christians, Sunday is considered to be a "Little Pascha" (Easter), and because of the Paschal joy, the making of prostrations is forbidden, except in certain circumstances. The Russian word for Sunday is "Voskresenie," meaning "Resurrection day." The Greek word for Sunday is "Kyriake" (the "Lord's Day").
The Czech, Polish, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Ukrainian and Belarusian words for Sunday ("neděle," "niedziela," "nedelja," "недеља", "неділя" and "нядзеля" respectively) can be translated as "without acts (no work)."
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Clearly the seventh day of the week has been established throughout history to be Saturday, not Sunday and now read this….
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Gen 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
God NEVER changed a single one of HIS commandments!!! Never! Yet man dared to do so!
Constantine! The Roman Emperor as Rome's pagan power was shifting into a papal power, as paganism was mingled with Christianity - just as it was all predicted- this man did this--
On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian Emperor (see Constantine I and Christianity), decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[11]
And read this--
“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.” — Rome’s Challenge immaculateheart.com/maryonline Dec 2003.
“Is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.” — James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 edition), p. 72-73 (16th Edition, p 111; 88th Edition, p. 89).
“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.” — Catholic Virginian, October 3, 1947, p. 9, article “To Tell You the Truth.”
“Written by the finger of God on two tables of stone, this Divine code (ten commandments) was received from the Almighty by Moses amid the thunders of Mount Sinai...Christ resumed these Commandments in the double precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5)...The (Catholic) Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week, to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s Day...He (God) claims one day out of the seven as a memorial to Himself, and this must be kept holy...” — The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 4, “The Ten Commandments”, 1908 edition by Robert Appleton Company; and 1999 Online edition by Kevin Knight, Imprimatur, John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
“Question: How prove you that the church had power to command feasts and holydays?
“Answer: By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
“Question: Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
“Answer: Had she not such power, she could not a done that in which all modern religionists agree with her; -she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.” — Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism On the Obedience Due to the Church, 3rd edition, Chapter 2, p. 174 (Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York).
“Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The day of the Lord’ was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church’s sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy.” — St. Catherine Church Sentinel, Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.
“Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday...Now the Church...instituted, by God’s authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made. We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday.” — Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About, 1927 edition, p. 136.
“Question - Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer - Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question - Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer - We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.” — Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, p. 50, 3rd edition, 1957.
“Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day - Saturday - for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes. Did Christ change the day’? I answer no!”
“Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons.” — James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, Md. (1877-1921), in a signed letter.
“Question. - How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“Answer. - By the very act of changing Sabbath into Sunday which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church.
“Question. - How prove you that?
“Answer. - Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin: and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.” — An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, composed by Henry Tuberville, p. 58.
http://www.godssabbathtruth.com/SabbathStatementsByTheCatholicChurch.pdf
Outlawing the keeping of the sabbath and encouraging rest on Sunday (the Lord's Day) (canon 29)
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Canon 29 Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364)
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
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In 321 AD the pagan emperor turned Christian - who really mingled paganism with Christianity- made Sunday the Christian day of rest contrary to the Bible.
In 364 AD the Catholic Church outlawed keeping the Biblical Sabbath.
These are facts people!
Now you'll get all kinds telling you how the Sabbath was done away with. They'll have seemingly convincing articles as they pervert the Biblical verses to suit their purposes. They'll even say that Jesus reaffirmed all the Ten Commandments but the Sabbath, making the Sabbath void. Making the keeping of the day of rest INSTITUTED during CREATION week null and void. They'd have you believe that one of those TEN COMMANDMENTS was no longer in effect, that it no longer mattered, that it was changed, that it was just for the Jews. Satan would have men deceived and He'd done an amazing job of it! Amazing deception and we were told this would be so. God would NEVER have made the Sabbath one of the Ten Commandments if it were merely meant to be ceremonial and done away with, never! The Ten Commandments were set in the Ark of the Covenant, under the Mercy Seat of God! These were never to be altered to suit man's perverted desires. And if anyone thinks that the perversion didn't start right away, they're wrong. Deception was already in the church in the Apostles' day! So when people say oh, the first day was kept on the first day of the week, Sunday way back in 150AD, they say it like that is proof when it proves NOTHING but that deception had begun to filter in which we'd already been told would happen.
Recently I read an article detailing in small blurbs the major changes in our history at 20 year increments over the last 100 years I think it was 100 years, anyway they did it and it showed how quickly things change and it was astounding to read- it really put a new perspective on things. So much can change in a mere 20 years and here we have over a 100 years between Christ living upon earth before His death and a time when a writer in 150AD seems to write something that makes it look as if the Sabbath is no longer kept!
There is NO doubt about man's corruption, none whatsoever!
Prophecy shows us that the Holy Covenant would be forsaken and the Roman Power of the time would being in league with those who forsake the Holy Covenant. This isn't a fairy tale, this isn't fiction, no fable here, but TRUTH!
May God open our hearts and eyes to ALL His truth! May we NEVER believe in man's lies over GOD'S TRUTH!
Please God bless us with all your truth, create clean hearts within us Lord, open our eyes, open our understanding! This is our prayer Lord, Your truth and NOTHING but Your TRUTH!
In Your amazing love, in Your forgiveness, may Your kingdom come Lord just as You've given us the prophecy of it occurring!
Amen!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Prophecy - 45
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
Without a doubt Constantine introduced a new paganism-- one that had some of the trappings of Christianity. Pagan religion mingled with Christianity, Christianity mingled with paganism- idolatry, the worshipping of gods other than God, the worshipping of God in a perverted manner- in ways HE NEVER INTENDED man to worship Him! Man took the pure undefiled religion of our Savior and twisted it so much it scarcely resembled the true Gospel of Christ, the Gospel Jesus would have us preach. Man was NEVER to exalt himself, man was to never say HE was Christ on earth, man was never to take money and spend it on anything other than helping other people, man was never to bow down to any idol not even one shaped like the Savior, not even the Savior's cross. Man was NOT to change God's laws. Man was not to do so much but all that was lost sight of as man's selfish nature took over and the 'spirit of the antichrist' reared up more and more among those who claimed Christ yet weren't really His.
1Jn 4:3 and every spirit which confesseth not Jesus - is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.
Confessing Jesus is believing in all our Savior would have us believe in- in HIS truth and ONLY HIS TRUTH, not man's truth! We aren't to confess man, we are to confess JESUS and no other!
As the Roman Empire moved forward to its inevitable breaking up into smaller kingdoms, this mingling of Christianity with Paganism was widespread, and the pure unadulterated truth of our Savior was lost among man's inventions, among Satan's deception.
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
The holy covenant, God's truths, God's pure truth in His commandments were forsaken. The holy covenant in its amazing truth, the measure of which we know we sin by transgressing against those commandments, was perverted and clearly under Constantine this was very, very true.
Act 20:28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
Act 20:30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Paul knew this would come to pass! The truth of Jesus Christ would be over run by the false truths, the counterfeit, the perverse, and they would take away MANY! You have to realize that no one spouting falsehood shouts out that's what they are doing. And those who follow the ones who speak falsely don't do so believing they are going against God, they do so believing they are following God but they have allowed themselves to entertain deception and when we let ourselves slip into the realm of deception it steals the truth from us and we are lost. We have to hold to the TRUTH found in Christ and NOTHING ELSE!
Yesterday we reviewed so much of how Christianity began it's deepening descent into things Paganism and if one thing was clear- God holds with NO perversion of truth, not the slightest mingling. When you mingle untruth with truth, that truth is perverted. You cannot hold up the truth in all it's glory once it's perverted. When truth is corrupted it is no longer truth. You can't say it has enough truth to pass as truth- it has to have ALL truth! There is no fudging the truth and passing it off, not with God. As paganism with it's false worship, with it's corrupt ways slithered into the truth, people were taken away and lured into this false religion all the while believing it to be the true church, the true people of God. Satan works a perfect deception and it's only by the GRACE and LOVE, the MERCY and RIGHTEOUSNESS, the SACRIFICE of our SAVIOR that we are not deceived!
Please Lord as we continue studying Your word, as You continue to reveal Your amazing love to us through our Savior, please keep us from being deceived! Keep us from all evil! PLEASE LORD! PLEASE!
In Your love always!!!!!
AMEN.
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
Without a doubt Constantine introduced a new paganism-- one that had some of the trappings of Christianity. Pagan religion mingled with Christianity, Christianity mingled with paganism- idolatry, the worshipping of gods other than God, the worshipping of God in a perverted manner- in ways HE NEVER INTENDED man to worship Him! Man took the pure undefiled religion of our Savior and twisted it so much it scarcely resembled the true Gospel of Christ, the Gospel Jesus would have us preach. Man was NEVER to exalt himself, man was to never say HE was Christ on earth, man was never to take money and spend it on anything other than helping other people, man was never to bow down to any idol not even one shaped like the Savior, not even the Savior's cross. Man was NOT to change God's laws. Man was not to do so much but all that was lost sight of as man's selfish nature took over and the 'spirit of the antichrist' reared up more and more among those who claimed Christ yet weren't really His.
1Jn 4:3 and every spirit which confesseth not Jesus - is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.
Confessing Jesus is believing in all our Savior would have us believe in- in HIS truth and ONLY HIS TRUTH, not man's truth! We aren't to confess man, we are to confess JESUS and no other!
As the Roman Empire moved forward to its inevitable breaking up into smaller kingdoms, this mingling of Christianity with Paganism was widespread, and the pure unadulterated truth of our Savior was lost among man's inventions, among Satan's deception.
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
The holy covenant, God's truths, God's pure truth in His commandments were forsaken. The holy covenant in its amazing truth, the measure of which we know we sin by transgressing against those commandments, was perverted and clearly under Constantine this was very, very true.
Act 20:28 Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock;
Act 20:30 and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Paul knew this would come to pass! The truth of Jesus Christ would be over run by the false truths, the counterfeit, the perverse, and they would take away MANY! You have to realize that no one spouting falsehood shouts out that's what they are doing. And those who follow the ones who speak falsely don't do so believing they are going against God, they do so believing they are following God but they have allowed themselves to entertain deception and when we let ourselves slip into the realm of deception it steals the truth from us and we are lost. We have to hold to the TRUTH found in Christ and NOTHING ELSE!
Yesterday we reviewed so much of how Christianity began it's deepening descent into things Paganism and if one thing was clear- God holds with NO perversion of truth, not the slightest mingling. When you mingle untruth with truth, that truth is perverted. You cannot hold up the truth in all it's glory once it's perverted. When truth is corrupted it is no longer truth. You can't say it has enough truth to pass as truth- it has to have ALL truth! There is no fudging the truth and passing it off, not with God. As paganism with it's false worship, with it's corrupt ways slithered into the truth, people were taken away and lured into this false religion all the while believing it to be the true church, the true people of God. Satan works a perfect deception and it's only by the GRACE and LOVE, the MERCY and RIGHTEOUSNESS, the SACRIFICE of our SAVIOR that we are not deceived!
Please Lord as we continue studying Your word, as You continue to reveal Your amazing love to us through our Savior, please keep us from being deceived! Keep us from all evil! PLEASE LORD! PLEASE!
In Your love always!!!!!
AMEN.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Prophecy - 44
The next part of the verse we are studying is…
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
The holy covenant of God's was based on what? We need to read Hebrews chapters 8,9, and 10. Yes, all of the chapters, it says so incredibly much!
Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Heb 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Heb 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Heb 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Heb 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Heb 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Heb 9:18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
Heb 9:20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Heb 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Heb 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Heb 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Heb 10:13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Heb 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Heb 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
Heb 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
Heb 10:34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
A lot to read but oh how wonderful it is!!!!!!!
The old covenant was one of many continuous sacrifices, the new covenant with the blood of the Lamb, became the SINGLE sacrifice of our Savior.
Now we've studied this before, the fact that the old covenant was enacted under the Ten Commandment as well as the NEW covenant. Both covenants- old and new have their foundation in the Ten Commandments of God. This is undisputable. Our God, our Savior gave the Ten Commandments as a foundation for all time. These Ten Commandments would NEVER be done away with! Never! They were and are perfect! The sacrifice for sin changed from being imperfect sacrifices to a perfect sacrifice, but sin didn't end when that Perfect Sacrifice was made. Sin remains the breaking of the commandments, and people continued and still continue to break those commandments.
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Transgressing the law is breaking God's commandments. Sin is breaking God's commandments.
So we need to look at the covenant, old and new, based upon the Ten Commandments of God. So when we read this--
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
We need to understand the Roman power in control at this time and the connection the Roman power had with the Holy Covenant- God's people who were given God's commandments, God's people who were given God's Son.
Let's notice two of the commandments-
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me and keep my commandments.
As the first and second commandments we are directed to a practice that was paramount throughout the world- Idolatry, worshipping of other gods before God.
If we look at the Bible we'll find that idolatry was a HUGE sin against God and one that many, many of God's chosen people had a problem with. All around God's chosen people were a multitude of other people- far greater in number than God's chosen- and they ALL worshipped false gods of one sort or another, they were all idol worshippers choosing to build temples to their false gods and create days of celebration for their false gods. It wasn't uncommon for people to worship several false gods at one time- one false god whose attributes were of one particular thing and another false god who had different attributes- all of them FALSE, all of them of the Devil- the father of lies!
There were numerous false gods.
Jer 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
Jer 2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
For according to the NUMBER of thy CITIES are thy GODS!
One false god who seemed to be worshipped universally was- the sun god.
'A solar deity (also sun god/dess) is a deity who represents the sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the "missing sun" found in many cultures.'
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Throughout MOST of recorded history!
In VARIOUS forms!
In MANY cultures!
Now we need to ask ourselves, was sun worship common in the Roman Empire?
'Apollo--
As sun-god and god of light, Apollo was also known by the epithets Aegletes (...Aigletes, from a..., "light of the sun"),[13] Helius (... Helios, literally "sun"),[14] Phanaeus (... Phanaios, literally "giving or bringing light"), and Lyceus (... Lukeios, from Proto-Greek , "light"). The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddes of Lycia ... and who was identified with the wolf (...) [15] earning him the epithets Lycegenes (...Lukegenes, literally "born of a wolf" or "born of Lycia") and Lycoctonus (... Lukoktonos, from ..., "wolf", and ..."to kill"). As god of the sun, the Romans referred to Apollo as Sol (... sol; literally "sun" in Latin).'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
Apollo was one of the sun gods worshipped by Romans and known as SOL- Sun.
'Apollo was worshiped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, and in the modern Greco–Roman Neopaganism.'
'Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character'
'Roman Apollo
The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus.[75] There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.[76] On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo's first temple at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare".[77] During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the Ludi Apollinares ("Apollonian Games") were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius.[78] In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.[79] After the battle of Actium, which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo's temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour.[80] He also erected a new temple to the god on the Palatine hill.[81] Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and Diana formed the culmination of the Secular Games, held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.[82]'
'The lifesize so-called "Adonis" found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars.In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
'Sol Invictus ("Invincible Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman empire. In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol,[1] a revival of the cult of Elagabalus[2] or completely new.[3] The god was favoured by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine.[4] The last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to 387 AD.[5] and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.[6] A festival on 25 December is sometimes thought to be responsible for the date of Christmas.[7]'
'Emperors portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage, with a wide range of legends, only a few of which incorporated the epithet invictus, such as the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.[28] Statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine. Constantine's official coinage continues to bear images of Sol until 325/6. A solidus of Constantine as well as a gold medallion from his reign depict the Emperor's bust in profile twinned ("jugate") with Sol Invictus, with the legend INVICTUS CONSTANTINUS[29]
Constantine decreed (March 7, 321) dies Solis—day of the sun, "Sunday"—as the Roman day of rest [CJ3.12.2]:
On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[30]
Constantine's triumphal arch was carefully positioned to align with the colossal statue of Sol by the Colosseum, so that Sol formed the dominant backdrop when seen from the direction of the main approach towards the arch.[31]'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus
The Roman Empire for hundreds of years worshipped many pagan Gods, without any doubt this is true, the sun god was chief among them, as the sun as a god is chief among MANY cultures. Along with the sun god - the male, there was inevitably a female god at his side. It's easy enough to find knowledge of this just search the internet.
*
God's loathing of pagan practices is clear through His word.
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Lev 18:23 And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Lev 18:24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you:
Lev 18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Lev 18:26 Ye therefore shall keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the homeborn, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 18:27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Lev 18:28 that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
Lev 18:29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
Lev 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
God hates sun worship!
Eze 8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Eze 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Eze 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
Eze 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Deu 17:2 If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
Deu 17:3 and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deu 17:4 and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel;
Deu 17:5 then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die.
As we've already noted- Constantine was a sun worshipper - 'Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.'
Let's look at a wikipedia bit on Constantine--
'Religious policy
Further information: Constantine I and Christianity and Constantine I and Judaism
Constantine the Great, mosaic in Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor; his reign was certainly a turning point for the Church. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith of their choosing.[200] This removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property. The edict did not only protect Christians from religious persecution, but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they chose. A similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy; Galerius' edict granted Christians the right to practice their religion but did not restore any property to them.[201] The Edict of Milan included several clauses which stated that all confiscated churches would be returned as well as other provisions for previously persecuted Christians.
Scholars debate whether Constantine adopted his mother St. Helena's Christianity in his youth, or whether he adopted it gradually over the course of his life.[202] Constantine would retain the title of pontifex maximus until his death, a title emperors bore as heads of the pagan priesthood, as would his Christian successors on to Gratian (r. 375–83). According to Christian writers, Constantine was over 40 when he finally declared himself a Christian, writing to Christians to make clear that he believed he owed his successes to the protection of the Christian High God alone.[203] Throughout his rule, Constantine supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy (e.g. exemption from certain taxes), promoted Christians to high office, and returned property confiscated during the Diocletianic persecution.[204] His most famous building projects include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Old Saint Peter's Basilica.
Constantine did not patronize Christianity alone, however. After gaining victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312), a triumphal arch—the Arch of Constantine—was built (315) to celebrate it; the arch is decorated with images of Victoria and sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, or Hercules, but contains no Christian symbolism.
In 321, Constantine instructed that Christians and non-Christians should be united in observing the venerable day of the sun, referencing the esoteric eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped introduce, and his coinage still carried the symbols of the sun cult until 324. Even after the pagan gods had disappeared from the coinage, Christian symbols appeared only as Constantine's personal attributes: the chi rho between his hands or on his labarum, but never on the coin itself.[205] Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, which became the seat of Byzantine Christianity for a millennium, he did so wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem.
Constantine burning Arian books
The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the emperor as having some influence within the religious discussions going on within the Catholic Church of that time, e.g., the dispute over Arianism. Constantine himself disliked the risks to societal stability that religious disputes and controversies brought with them, preferring where possible to establish an orthodoxy.[206] The emperor saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshiped in his empire, and that what proper worship consisted would be determined by the Church.[207] In 316, Constantine acted as a judge in a North African dispute concerning the validity of Donatism. After deciding against the Donatists, Constantine led an army of Christians against the Donatist Christians. After 300 years of pacifism, this was the first intra-Christian persecution. More significantly, in 325 he summoned the Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical Council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). Nicaea was dealt mostly with Arianism. Constantine also enforced the prohibition of the First Council of Nicaea against celebrating the Lord's Supper on the day before the Jewish Passover (14 Nisan) (see Quartodecimanism and Easter controversy).[208]
Constantine made new laws regarding the Jews. They were forbidden to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves.'
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We're going to stop here tonight this is a lot to digest!
More tomorrow as we tie this history into the prophecy and see God's wondrous hand at work!
By His amazing LOVE!
Through His FORGIVENESS!
Amen.
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
The holy covenant of God's was based on what? We need to read Hebrews chapters 8,9, and 10. Yes, all of the chapters, it says so incredibly much!
Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Heb 9:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
Heb 9:2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
Heb 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Heb 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
Heb 9:5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Heb 9:6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Heb 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Heb 9:16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
Heb 9:17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
Heb 9:18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
Heb 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
Heb 9:20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
Heb 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Heb 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;
Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Heb 10:8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Heb 10:9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Heb 10:11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
Heb 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Heb 10:13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Heb 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Heb 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Heb 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Heb 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;
Heb 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
Heb 10:34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
A lot to read but oh how wonderful it is!!!!!!!
The old covenant was one of many continuous sacrifices, the new covenant with the blood of the Lamb, became the SINGLE sacrifice of our Savior.
Now we've studied this before, the fact that the old covenant was enacted under the Ten Commandment as well as the NEW covenant. Both covenants- old and new have their foundation in the Ten Commandments of God. This is undisputable. Our God, our Savior gave the Ten Commandments as a foundation for all time. These Ten Commandments would NEVER be done away with! Never! They were and are perfect! The sacrifice for sin changed from being imperfect sacrifices to a perfect sacrifice, but sin didn't end when that Perfect Sacrifice was made. Sin remains the breaking of the commandments, and people continued and still continue to break those commandments.
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Transgressing the law is breaking God's commandments. Sin is breaking God's commandments.
So we need to look at the covenant, old and new, based upon the Ten Commandments of God. So when we read this--
Dan 11:30 '...therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant
so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. '
We need to understand the Roman power in control at this time and the connection the Roman power had with the Holy Covenant- God's people who were given God's commandments, God's people who were given God's Son.
Let's notice two of the commandments-
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor the likeness of any form that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me and keep my commandments.
As the first and second commandments we are directed to a practice that was paramount throughout the world- Idolatry, worshipping of other gods before God.
If we look at the Bible we'll find that idolatry was a HUGE sin against God and one that many, many of God's chosen people had a problem with. All around God's chosen people were a multitude of other people- far greater in number than God's chosen- and they ALL worshipped false gods of one sort or another, they were all idol worshippers choosing to build temples to their false gods and create days of celebration for their false gods. It wasn't uncommon for people to worship several false gods at one time- one false god whose attributes were of one particular thing and another false god who had different attributes- all of them FALSE, all of them of the Devil- the father of lies!
There were numerous false gods.
Jer 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
Jer 2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
For according to the NUMBER of thy CITIES are thy GODS!
One false god who seemed to be worshipped universally was- the sun god.
'A solar deity (also sun god/dess) is a deity who represents the sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the "missing sun" found in many cultures.'
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Throughout MOST of recorded history!
In VARIOUS forms!
In MANY cultures!
Now we need to ask ourselves, was sun worship common in the Roman Empire?
'Apollo--
As sun-god and god of light, Apollo was also known by the epithets Aegletes (...Aigletes, from a..., "light of the sun"),[13] Helius (... Helios, literally "sun"),[14] Phanaeus (... Phanaios, literally "giving or bringing light"), and Lyceus (... Lukeios, from Proto-Greek , "light"). The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddes of Lycia ... and who was identified with the wolf (...) [15] earning him the epithets Lycegenes (...Lukegenes, literally "born of a wolf" or "born of Lycia") and Lycoctonus (... Lukoktonos, from ..., "wolf", and ..."to kill"). As god of the sun, the Romans referred to Apollo as Sol (... sol; literally "sun" in Latin).'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
Apollo was one of the sun gods worshipped by Romans and known as SOL- Sun.
'Apollo was worshiped in both ancient Greek and Roman religion, and in the modern Greco–Roman Neopaganism.'
'Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character'
'Roman Apollo
The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus.[75] There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.[76] On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo's first temple at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare".[77] During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the Ludi Apollinares ("Apollonian Games") were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius.[78] In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.[79] After the battle of Actium, which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo's temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour.[80] He also erected a new temple to the god on the Palatine hill.[81] Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and Diana formed the culmination of the Secular Games, held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.[82]'
'The lifesize so-called "Adonis" found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars.In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo
'Sol Invictus ("Invincible Sun") was the official sun god of the later Roman empire. In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol,[1] a revival of the cult of Elagabalus[2] or completely new.[3] The god was favoured by emperors after Aurelian and appeared on their coins until Constantine.[4] The last inscription referring to Sol Invictus dates to 387 AD.[5] and there were enough devotees in the 5th century that Augustine found it necessary to preach against them.[6] A festival on 25 December is sometimes thought to be responsible for the date of Christmas.[7]'
'Emperors portrayed Sol Invictus on their official coinage, with a wide range of legends, only a few of which incorporated the epithet invictus, such as the legend SOLI INVICTO COMITI, claiming the Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.[28] Statuettes of Sol Invictus, carried by the standard-bearers, appear in three places in reliefs on the Arch of Constantine. Constantine's official coinage continues to bear images of Sol until 325/6. A solidus of Constantine as well as a gold medallion from his reign depict the Emperor's bust in profile twinned ("jugate") with Sol Invictus, with the legend INVICTUS CONSTANTINUS[29]
Constantine decreed (March 7, 321) dies Solis—day of the sun, "Sunday"—as the Roman day of rest [CJ3.12.2]:
On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[30]
Constantine's triumphal arch was carefully positioned to align with the colossal statue of Sol by the Colosseum, so that Sol formed the dominant backdrop when seen from the direction of the main approach towards the arch.[31]'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus
The Roman Empire for hundreds of years worshipped many pagan Gods, without any doubt this is true, the sun god was chief among them, as the sun as a god is chief among MANY cultures. Along with the sun god - the male, there was inevitably a female god at his side. It's easy enough to find knowledge of this just search the internet.
*
God's loathing of pagan practices is clear through His word.
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to make them pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Lev 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
Lev 18:23 And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
Lev 18:24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you:
Lev 18:25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out her inhabitants.
Lev 18:26 Ye therefore shall keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not do any of these abominations; neither the homeborn, nor the stranger that sojourneth among you:
Lev 18:27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
Lev 18:28 that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
Lev 18:29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
Lev 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep my charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
God hates sun worship!
Eze 8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Eze 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Eze 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
Eze 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Deu 17:2 If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant,
Deu 17:3 and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded;
Deu 17:4 and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, then shalt thou inquire diligently, and, behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel;
Deu 17:5 then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have done this evil thing, unto thy gates, even the man or the woman; and thou shalt stone them with stones, that they die.
As we've already noted- Constantine was a sun worshipper - 'Unconquered Sun as a companion to the Emperor, used with particular frequency by Constantine.'
Let's look at a wikipedia bit on Constantine--
'Religious policy
Further information: Constantine I and Christianity and Constantine I and Judaism
Constantine the Great, mosaic in Hagia Sophia, c. 1000
Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor; his reign was certainly a turning point for the Church. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith of their choosing.[200] This removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property. The edict did not only protect Christians from religious persecution, but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they chose. A similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy; Galerius' edict granted Christians the right to practice their religion but did not restore any property to them.[201] The Edict of Milan included several clauses which stated that all confiscated churches would be returned as well as other provisions for previously persecuted Christians.
Scholars debate whether Constantine adopted his mother St. Helena's Christianity in his youth, or whether he adopted it gradually over the course of his life.[202] Constantine would retain the title of pontifex maximus until his death, a title emperors bore as heads of the pagan priesthood, as would his Christian successors on to Gratian (r. 375–83). According to Christian writers, Constantine was over 40 when he finally declared himself a Christian, writing to Christians to make clear that he believed he owed his successes to the protection of the Christian High God alone.[203] Throughout his rule, Constantine supported the Church financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy (e.g. exemption from certain taxes), promoted Christians to high office, and returned property confiscated during the Diocletianic persecution.[204] His most famous building projects include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Old Saint Peter's Basilica.
Constantine did not patronize Christianity alone, however. After gaining victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312), a triumphal arch—the Arch of Constantine—was built (315) to celebrate it; the arch is decorated with images of Victoria and sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, or Hercules, but contains no Christian symbolism.
In 321, Constantine instructed that Christians and non-Christians should be united in observing the venerable day of the sun, referencing the esoteric eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped introduce, and his coinage still carried the symbols of the sun cult until 324. Even after the pagan gods had disappeared from the coinage, Christian symbols appeared only as Constantine's personal attributes: the chi rho between his hands or on his labarum, but never on the coin itself.[205] Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, which became the seat of Byzantine Christianity for a millennium, he did so wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem.
Constantine burning Arian books
The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the emperor as having some influence within the religious discussions going on within the Catholic Church of that time, e.g., the dispute over Arianism. Constantine himself disliked the risks to societal stability that religious disputes and controversies brought with them, preferring where possible to establish an orthodoxy.[206] The emperor saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshiped in his empire, and that what proper worship consisted would be determined by the Church.[207] In 316, Constantine acted as a judge in a North African dispute concerning the validity of Donatism. After deciding against the Donatists, Constantine led an army of Christians against the Donatist Christians. After 300 years of pacifism, this was the first intra-Christian persecution. More significantly, in 325 he summoned the Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical Council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). Nicaea was dealt mostly with Arianism. Constantine also enforced the prohibition of the First Council of Nicaea against celebrating the Lord's Supper on the day before the Jewish Passover (14 Nisan) (see Quartodecimanism and Easter controversy).[208]
Constantine made new laws regarding the Jews. They were forbidden to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves.'
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We're going to stop here tonight this is a lot to digest!
More tomorrow as we tie this history into the prophecy and see God's wondrous hand at work!
By His amazing LOVE!
Through His FORGIVENESS!
Amen.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Prophecy - 43
History-Prophecy.
As we continue on we need to look at the continuing history of Christianity. Missionaries eventually would go to all the world, but closer to the declining Roman Empire -as wars were renewed and the gradual disintegration of that empire was underway- we have an invading force that were once known for their barbarianism. This group of people were the Goths.
'Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila (also Ulphilas. Orphila)[1] (ca. 310 – 383;[2]), bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy.
Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary. In 348, to escape religious persecution by a Gothic chief, probably Athanaric[3] he obtained permission from Constantius II to migrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle near Nicopolis ad Istrum, in what is now northern Bulgaria. There, Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language. For this he devised the Gothic alphabet.[4] Fragments of his translation have survived, notably the Codex Argenteus held since 1648 in the University Library of Uppsala in Sweden. A parchment page of this Bible was found in 1971 in the Speyer Cathedral.[5]
His parents were of non-Gothic Anatolian origin but had been enslaved by Goths on horseback. Ulfilas converted many among the Goths, preaching an Arian Christianity, which, when they reached the western Mediterranean, set them apart from their Orthodox neighbors and subjects.
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Read this…about the Goths invasion of the Roman Empire--
'In the first place, it was a great thing for Europe that when the
Goths poured over Italy and even captured Rome they came as a
Christian people, reverencing and sparing the churches, and
abstaining from those barbarities that accompanied the invasion of
Britain by the heathen Saxons. But, in the second place, many of
these simple Gothic Christians learned to their surprise that they
were heretics, and that only when their efforts toward fraternizing
with their fellow Christians in the orthodox Church were angrily
resented.11'
http://www.sabbathtruth.com/portals/20/documents/Truth_Triumphant.pdf
Let's look a little bit at the council of Nicea too -
'The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in A.D. 325. The Council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.[2]
Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the relationship of Jesus to God the Father; the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed; settling the calculation of the date of Easter; and promulgation of early canon law.[3][4]'
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This is why the invading Christian Goths later on were considered Heretics, they were of differing Christian beliefs than the ruling class in Roman.
The differing confrontations to come, the many, many battles that would end up dividing the Roman Empire eventually into ten main kingdoms for a time before three would be 'plucked up'…
(Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. )
...would be political and religious rather than strictly political- a BIG change from past battles.
This next verse--
Dan 11:30 'For the ships of Chittim shall come against him…'
Could only refer to this man and his amazing naval forces.
'The Vandals had suffered greatly from attacks from the more numerous Visigoths, and not long after taking power, Genseric decided to leave Hispania to this rival Germanic tribe. In fact, he seems to have started building a Vandal fleet even before he became king.
Taking advantage of a dispute between Boniface, Roman governor of North Africa, and the Roman government, Genseric ferried all 80,000 of his people across to Africa in 429. Once there, he won many battles over the weak and divided Roman defenders and quickly overran the territory now comprising modern Morocco and northern Algeria. His Vandal army laid siege to the city of Hippo Regius (where Augustine had recently been bishop — he died during the siege), taking it after 14 months of bitter fighting. The next year, Roman Emperor Valentinian III recognized Genseric as king of the lands he and his men had conquered.
In 439, after casting a covetous eye on the great city of Carthage for a decade, he took the city, apparently without any fighting. The Romans were caught unaware, and Genseric captured a large part of the western Roman navy docked in the port of Carthage. The Catholic bishop of the city, Quodvultdeus, was exiled to Naples, since Genseric demanded that all his close advisors follow the Arian form of Christianity. Nevertheless, Genseric gave freedom of religion to the Catholics, while insisting that the regime's elite follow Arianism. The common folk had low taxes under his reign, as most of the tax pressure was on the rich Roman families and the Catholic clergy.
Added to his own burgeoning fleet, the Kingdom of the Vandals now threatened the Empire for mastery of the western Mediterranean Sea. Carthage, meanwhile, became the new Vandal capital and an enemy of Rome for the first time since the Punic Wars.
With the help of their fleet, the Vandals soon subdued Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Genseric strengthened the Vandal defenses and fleet and regulated the positions of Arians and Catholics. In 442, the Romans acknowledged the Carthaginian conquests, and recognized the Vandal kingdom as an independent country rather than subsidiary to Roman rule. The area in Algeria that had remained for the larger part independent of the Vandals turned from a Roman province into an ally.
For the next 30 years, Genseric and his soldiers sailed up and down the Mediterranean, living as pirates and raiders. One legend has it that Genseric was unable to vault upon a horse because of a fall he had taken as a young man; so he assuaged his desire for military glory on the sea.
In 468, Genseric's kingdom was the target of the last concerted effort by the two halves of the Roman Empire. They wished to subdue the Vandals and end their pirate raids. Genseric, against long odds, defeated the eastern Roman fleet commanded by Basiliscus off Cap Bon. It has been reported that the total invasion force on the fleet of 1,100 ships, counted 100,000 soldiers. Genseric sent a fleet of 500 Vandal ships against the Romans, losing 340 ships in the first engagement, but succeeded in destroying 600 Roman ships in the second. The Romans abandoned the campaign and Genseric remained master of the western Mediterranean until his death, ruling from the Strait of Gibraltar all the way to Tripolitania.
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AMAZING! The victory of this man of the sea! This verse of prophecy- Dan 11:30 'For the ships of Chittim shall come against him…' is truly fulfilled in this!
The Roman Empire was fighting for its survival and failing.
We'll continue with the 30th verse tomorrow… little by little, all by the GRACE OF GOD!!!!!!!
In His amazing LOVE!
Amen.
As we continue on we need to look at the continuing history of Christianity. Missionaries eventually would go to all the world, but closer to the declining Roman Empire -as wars were renewed and the gradual disintegration of that empire was underway- we have an invading force that were once known for their barbarianism. This group of people were the Goths.
'Ulfilas, or Gothic Wulfila (also Ulphilas. Orphila)[1] (ca. 310 – 383;[2]), bishop, missionary, and Bible translator, was a Goth or half-Goth and half-Greek from Cappadocia who had spent time inside the Roman Empire at the peak of the Arian controversy.
Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary. In 348, to escape religious persecution by a Gothic chief, probably Athanaric[3] he obtained permission from Constantius II to migrate with his flock of converts to Moesia and settle near Nicopolis ad Istrum, in what is now northern Bulgaria. There, Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language. For this he devised the Gothic alphabet.[4] Fragments of his translation have survived, notably the Codex Argenteus held since 1648 in the University Library of Uppsala in Sweden. A parchment page of this Bible was found in 1971 in the Speyer Cathedral.[5]
His parents were of non-Gothic Anatolian origin but had been enslaved by Goths on horseback. Ulfilas converted many among the Goths, preaching an Arian Christianity, which, when they reached the western Mediterranean, set them apart from their Orthodox neighbors and subjects.
Pasted from
Read this…about the Goths invasion of the Roman Empire--
'In the first place, it was a great thing for Europe that when the
Goths poured over Italy and even captured Rome they came as a
Christian people, reverencing and sparing the churches, and
abstaining from those barbarities that accompanied the invasion of
Britain by the heathen Saxons. But, in the second place, many of
these simple Gothic Christians learned to their surprise that they
were heretics, and that only when their efforts toward fraternizing
with their fellow Christians in the orthodox Church were angrily
resented.11'
http://www.sabbathtruth.com/portals/20/documents/Truth_Triumphant.pdf
Let's look a little bit at the council of Nicea too -
'The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in A.D. 325. The Council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.[2]
Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the relationship of Jesus to God the Father; the construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed; settling the calculation of the date of Easter; and promulgation of early canon law.[3][4]'
Pasted from
This is why the invading Christian Goths later on were considered Heretics, they were of differing Christian beliefs than the ruling class in Roman.
The differing confrontations to come, the many, many battles that would end up dividing the Roman Empire eventually into ten main kingdoms for a time before three would be 'plucked up'…
(Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. )
...would be political and religious rather than strictly political- a BIG change from past battles.
This next verse--
Dan 11:30 'For the ships of Chittim shall come against him…'
Could only refer to this man and his amazing naval forces.
'The Vandals had suffered greatly from attacks from the more numerous Visigoths, and not long after taking power, Genseric decided to leave Hispania to this rival Germanic tribe. In fact, he seems to have started building a Vandal fleet even before he became king.
Taking advantage of a dispute between Boniface, Roman governor of North Africa, and the Roman government, Genseric ferried all 80,000 of his people across to Africa in 429. Once there, he won many battles over the weak and divided Roman defenders and quickly overran the territory now comprising modern Morocco and northern Algeria. His Vandal army laid siege to the city of Hippo Regius (where Augustine had recently been bishop — he died during the siege), taking it after 14 months of bitter fighting. The next year, Roman Emperor Valentinian III recognized Genseric as king of the lands he and his men had conquered.
In 439, after casting a covetous eye on the great city of Carthage for a decade, he took the city, apparently without any fighting. The Romans were caught unaware, and Genseric captured a large part of the western Roman navy docked in the port of Carthage. The Catholic bishop of the city, Quodvultdeus, was exiled to Naples, since Genseric demanded that all his close advisors follow the Arian form of Christianity. Nevertheless, Genseric gave freedom of religion to the Catholics, while insisting that the regime's elite follow Arianism. The common folk had low taxes under his reign, as most of the tax pressure was on the rich Roman families and the Catholic clergy.
Added to his own burgeoning fleet, the Kingdom of the Vandals now threatened the Empire for mastery of the western Mediterranean Sea. Carthage, meanwhile, became the new Vandal capital and an enemy of Rome for the first time since the Punic Wars.
With the help of their fleet, the Vandals soon subdued Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands. Genseric strengthened the Vandal defenses and fleet and regulated the positions of Arians and Catholics. In 442, the Romans acknowledged the Carthaginian conquests, and recognized the Vandal kingdom as an independent country rather than subsidiary to Roman rule. The area in Algeria that had remained for the larger part independent of the Vandals turned from a Roman province into an ally.
For the next 30 years, Genseric and his soldiers sailed up and down the Mediterranean, living as pirates and raiders. One legend has it that Genseric was unable to vault upon a horse because of a fall he had taken as a young man; so he assuaged his desire for military glory on the sea.
In 468, Genseric's kingdom was the target of the last concerted effort by the two halves of the Roman Empire. They wished to subdue the Vandals and end their pirate raids. Genseric, against long odds, defeated the eastern Roman fleet commanded by Basiliscus off Cap Bon. It has been reported that the total invasion force on the fleet of 1,100 ships, counted 100,000 soldiers. Genseric sent a fleet of 500 Vandal ships against the Romans, losing 340 ships in the first engagement, but succeeded in destroying 600 Roman ships in the second. The Romans abandoned the campaign and Genseric remained master of the western Mediterranean until his death, ruling from the Strait of Gibraltar all the way to Tripolitania.
Pasted from
AMAZING! The victory of this man of the sea! This verse of prophecy- Dan 11:30 'For the ships of Chittim shall come against him…' is truly fulfilled in this!
The Roman Empire was fighting for its survival and failing.
We'll continue with the 30th verse tomorrow… little by little, all by the GRACE OF GOD!!!!!!!
In His amazing LOVE!
Amen.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Prophecy - 42
Let's pick up where we left off yesterday. We need to touch on a few more points before continuing on past Dan. 11:29.
Dan 11:29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
The whole landscape of the fighting, the disputes, the confrontations, the battles that were being arranged, fought, lost and won had a new element once Christianity filtered into everything. There was a decisive rift between various groups of Christians as time went on, each claiming to have the *real* truth of the matter in things of God.
In the Eastern part of the Roman Empire- Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch- There were questions over who was in charge of things.
'Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" episkopos, from which the word 'bishop' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period…
According to church tradition, this ancient Patriarchate was founded by the Apostle Saint Peter. The patriarchal succession was disputed at the time of the Meletian schism in 362 and again after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when there were rival Melkite and non-Chalcedonian claimants to the see.'
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In the Western part of the Roman Empire- Rome- there was NO question who was in charge. The Bishop of Rome.
'The Pope ... is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (which is composed of the Latin Rite and the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the see of Rome). The current office-holder is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected in a papal conclave on 19 April 2005.[nb 1]
The office of the pope is known as the Papacy. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is often called the "Holy See" (Sancta Sedes in Latin), or the "Apostolic See" based upon the Church tradition that the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul were martyred in Rome.
The pope is also head of state of Vatican City State,[3] a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome.
Early popes helped to spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes.[4] After the conversion of the rulers of the Roman Empire (the conversion of the populace was already advanced even before the Edict of Milan, 313), the Roman emperors became the popes' secular allies until the 8th century when Pope Stephen II was forced to appeal to the Franks for help,[5] beginning a period of close interaction with the rulers of the west. For centuries, the Donation of Constantine, later proved to be a forgery, provided support for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire. In medieval times, popes played powerful roles in Western Europe, often struggling with monarchs for control over the wide-ranging affairs of Church and state,[4] crowning emperors (Charlemagne was the first emperor crowned by a pope), and regulating disputes among secular rulers.[6]
Gradually forced to give up temporal power, popes now focus almost exclusively on religious matters.[4] Over the centuries, papal claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed, culminating in 1870 with the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility for rare occasions when the pope speaks ex cathedra (literally "from the chair (of St. Peter)") to issue a formal definition of faith or morals.[4] The first (after the proclamation) and so far the last such occasion was in 1950, with the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.'
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Now another point that needs to be noted- that date 330AD- that appointed time, that date for us to notice.
After 330AD No emperor had his empire based out of Rome! Who had official residence there instead? As the secular left going to Constantinople, who was left to take over Rome? The Bishop of Rome, and aside from what would be a few hiccups here and there over the course of the ages, the Bishop of Rome has never permanently left Rome. Where is the Papacy today? Rome. Again the pride that the Roman Catholic Church has in it's 2000 year history is well known. That our God saw fit to give us prophecy to point out all this is just so amazing!
Remember this point?
• May 11 – Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern Istanbul), and moves the capital of the Roman Empire there from Rome. He has spent 4 years building the city on the site of ancient Byzantium; having chosen the site for its strategic location (a seaport with easy access to Anatolia and the Danube).
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The capital of the Roman Empire MOVED after 300 plus years! 330 years from the First established ruler of the Roman Empire. This is just so wondrous, being able to see the hand of God working through prophecy, working through history, just overwhelmingly wonderful.
Here's a quotation worth noting--
'Thus the presence of Constantine in Rome redounded to the importance and dignity of the bishopric of
Rome, but it was not until Constantine had moved his capital to Constantinople, that the way was
opened for the full play of that arrogant spirit that has ever been the chief characteristic of that
dignitary. "The absence of a secular competitor allowed the papal authority to grow up and to develop
its secret strength" Milman);2 and under the blandishments of necessitous imperial favor he did as he
pleased, and more rapidly than ever his power grew.'
http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/docs/THE_TWO_REPUBLICS.pdf
We've already noted in the wiki quote earlier in this study that the Papal Roman power grew in the Western Roman Empire. This isn't coincidence, but rather the truth predicted by God for what must come to pass in our world. Such fascinating studying!
*******
This is a shorter study than usual, but we need to really take our time and let the Lord guide us as we undertake such amazing truth.
More tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior! Through His LOVE always!!!
Amen.
Dan 11:29 At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.
The whole landscape of the fighting, the disputes, the confrontations, the battles that were being arranged, fought, lost and won had a new element once Christianity filtered into everything. There was a decisive rift between various groups of Christians as time went on, each claiming to have the *real* truth of the matter in things of God.
In the Eastern part of the Roman Empire- Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch- There were questions over who was in charge of things.
'Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" episkopos, from which the word 'bishop' is derived) of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period…
According to church tradition, this ancient Patriarchate was founded by the Apostle Saint Peter. The patriarchal succession was disputed at the time of the Meletian schism in 362 and again after the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when there were rival Melkite and non-Chalcedonian claimants to the see.'
Pasted from
In the Western part of the Roman Empire- Rome- there was NO question who was in charge. The Bishop of Rome.
'The Pope ... is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (which is composed of the Latin Rite and the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the see of Rome). The current office-holder is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected in a papal conclave on 19 April 2005.[nb 1]
The office of the pope is known as the Papacy. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is often called the "Holy See" (Sancta Sedes in Latin), or the "Apostolic See" based upon the Church tradition that the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul were martyred in Rome.
The pope is also head of state of Vatican City State,[3] a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome.
Early popes helped to spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes.[4] After the conversion of the rulers of the Roman Empire (the conversion of the populace was already advanced even before the Edict of Milan, 313), the Roman emperors became the popes' secular allies until the 8th century when Pope Stephen II was forced to appeal to the Franks for help,[5] beginning a period of close interaction with the rulers of the west. For centuries, the Donation of Constantine, later proved to be a forgery, provided support for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire. In medieval times, popes played powerful roles in Western Europe, often struggling with monarchs for control over the wide-ranging affairs of Church and state,[4] crowning emperors (Charlemagne was the first emperor crowned by a pope), and regulating disputes among secular rulers.[6]
Gradually forced to give up temporal power, popes now focus almost exclusively on religious matters.[4] Over the centuries, papal claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed, culminating in 1870 with the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility for rare occasions when the pope speaks ex cathedra (literally "from the chair (of St. Peter)") to issue a formal definition of faith or morals.[4] The first (after the proclamation) and so far the last such occasion was in 1950, with the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.'
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Now another point that needs to be noted- that date 330AD- that appointed time, that date for us to notice.
After 330AD No emperor had his empire based out of Rome! Who had official residence there instead? As the secular left going to Constantinople, who was left to take over Rome? The Bishop of Rome, and aside from what would be a few hiccups here and there over the course of the ages, the Bishop of Rome has never permanently left Rome. Where is the Papacy today? Rome. Again the pride that the Roman Catholic Church has in it's 2000 year history is well known. That our God saw fit to give us prophecy to point out all this is just so amazing!
Remember this point?
• May 11 – Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern Istanbul), and moves the capital of the Roman Empire there from Rome. He has spent 4 years building the city on the site of ancient Byzantium; having chosen the site for its strategic location (a seaport with easy access to Anatolia and the Danube).
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The capital of the Roman Empire MOVED after 300 plus years! 330 years from the First established ruler of the Roman Empire. This is just so wondrous, being able to see the hand of God working through prophecy, working through history, just overwhelmingly wonderful.
Here's a quotation worth noting--
'Thus the presence of Constantine in Rome redounded to the importance and dignity of the bishopric of
Rome, but it was not until Constantine had moved his capital to Constantinople, that the way was
opened for the full play of that arrogant spirit that has ever been the chief characteristic of that
dignitary. "The absence of a secular competitor allowed the papal authority to grow up and to develop
its secret strength" Milman);2 and under the blandishments of necessitous imperial favor he did as he
pleased, and more rapidly than ever his power grew.'
http://www.whitehorsemedia.com/docs/THE_TWO_REPUBLICS.pdf
We've already noted in the wiki quote earlier in this study that the Papal Roman power grew in the Western Roman Empire. This isn't coincidence, but rather the truth predicted by God for what must come to pass in our world. Such fascinating studying!
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This is a shorter study than usual, but we need to really take our time and let the Lord guide us as we undertake such amazing truth.
More tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior! Through His LOVE always!!!
Amen.
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