Genesis 1 In the beginning

Genesis 1
King James Version KJV

Genesis 1
 1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

 6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

 9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

 14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

 20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

 24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

 26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

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The Temple of Solomon will never be Again or any earthly Temple

The Temple of Solomon will never be Again or any earthly Temple. If we believe in the new coveanet.
     (Note) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; VERSE 20 you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body,"
     (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Read below: We are not looking for this kind temple any more. We are that Temple.
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                                      The Temple of Solomon.
     The crowning achievement of King Solomon's reign was the erection of a magnificent Temple in Jerusalem. His father, King David, had wanted to build a great Temple for God a generation earlier, as a permanent resting place for the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. A divine edict, however, had forbidden him from doing so. "You will not build a house for My name," God said to him, "for you are a man of battles and have shed blood" (I Chronicles 28:3).
     The Bible's description of Solomon's Temple suggests that the inside ceiling was was 180 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 50 feet high.   
     The highest point on the Temple that King Solomon built was actually 120 cubits tall (about 20 stories or about 207 feet). According to the Tanach (II Chronicles 3:3) The length by cubits after the ancient measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
      And the porch that was before the house, the length of it, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
     He spares no expense in the building's creation. He orders vast quantities of cedar from King Hiram of Tyre (I Kings 5:20­25), has huge blocks of the choicest stone quarried, and commands that the building's foundation be laid with hewn stone. 
     To complete the massive project, he imposes forced labor on all his subjects, drafting people for work shifts lasting a month at a time. Some 3,300 officials are appointed to oversee the Temple's erection (5:27­30). Solomon assumes such heavy debts in building the Temple that he is forced to pay off King Hiram with twenty towns in the Galilee (I Kings 9:11).
     When the Temple is completed, Solomon inaugurates it with prayer and sacrifice, and even invites non­Jews to come and pray there. He urges God to pay particular heed to their prayers: "Thus all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built" (I Kings 8:43).
     Until the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians some four hundred years later, in 586 B.C.E., sacrifice was the predominant mode of divine service there. Seventy years later, a second Temple was built on the same site, and sacrifices again resumed. During the first century B.C.E., Herod greatly enlarged and expanded this Temple. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., after the failure of the Great Revolt.
     As glorious and elaborate as the Temple was, its most important room contained almost no furniture at all. Known as the Holy of Holies (Kodesh Kodashim), it housed the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, the tablets disappeared when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, and during the Second Temple era, the Holy of Holies was a small, entirely bare room. Only once a year, on Yom Kippur, the High Priest would enter this room and pray to God on Israel's behalf. A remarkable monologue by a Hasidic rabbi in the Yiddish play The Dybbuk conveys a sense of what the Jewish throngs worshiping at the Temple must have experienced during this ceremony:
     God's world is great and holy. The holiest land in the world is the land of Israel. In the land of Israel the holiest city is Jerusalem. In Jerusalem the holiest place was the Temple, and in the Temple the holiest spot was the Holy of Holies.... There are seventy peoples in the world. The holiest among these is the people of Israel. The holiest of the people of Israel is the tribe of Levi. In the tribe of Levi the holiest are the priests. Among the priests, the holiest was the High Priest.
     There are 354 days in the [lunar] year. Among these, the holidays are holy. Higher than these is the holiness of the Sabbath. Among Sabbaths, the holiest is the Day of Atonement, the Sabbath of Sabbaths.... There are seventy languages in the world. The holiest is Hebrew. Holier than all else in this language is the holy Torah, and in the Torah the holiest part is the Ten Commandments. In the Ten Commandments the holiest of all words is the name of g-d.... And once during the year, at a certain hour, these four supreme sanctities of the world were joined with one another. That was on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies and there utter the name of God. And because this hour was beyond measure holy and awesome, it was the time of utmost peril not only for the High Priest but for the whole of Israel. For if in this hour there had, God forbid, entered the mind of the High Priest a false or sinful thought, the entire world would have been destroyed.    
     To this day, traditional Jews pray three times a day for the Temple's restoration. During the centuries the Muslims controlled Palestine, two mosques were built on the site of the Jewish Temple.    
     (This was no coincidence; it is a common Islamic custom to build mosques on the sites of other people's holy places.) Since any attempt to level these mosques would lead to an international Muslim holy war (jihad) against Israel, the Temple cannot be rebuilt in the foreseeable future.
     "Note" Jesus made the way into the real Temple of God in heaven for us: who are washed in his BLOOD.
    Come study with us. Wed. 6:30   We are free to let him work with the gifts of the Spirit.  dillmunsell@yahoo.com  

DANIEL'S 70th WEEK

DANIEL'S 70th WEEK
     In the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel we find a prophecy, commonly referred to as "Daniel's 70th Week", which has become a corner stone and foundation of "Futurism". By taking the Scriptures out of their context to make them a pretext, the "Futurists" tell us that this prophecy foretells the coming of a one-world dictator, the Prince of the Prophecy, who will make a Treaty or Covenant with the Jews, break it after three and a half years and sit enthroned for worship in a rebuilt Jewish Temple, from which he will impose the "MARK OF THE BEAST" and unleash the horrors of the "GREAT TRIBULATION". To call this interpretation fanciful would be kind, to call it downright deception would be more accurate. Let us now examine the "Seventy Weeks Prophecy" and see for ourselves. Stop buying book's about what's to happen after Jesus comes again. Save some money.
In the Book of Daniel we read these words:
"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, Jerusalem. 
"1" to finish the transgression,
"2" and to make an end of sins,
"3' and to make reconciliation for iniquity,
"4" and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
"5" and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
"6" and to anoint the most Holy." 
DANIEL 9:24 The people of the prophecy were Daniel's people, the Judah section of the Israel nation. The holy city referred to was undoubtedly Jerusalem. The time-factor given is "Seventy Weeks". Now we need to determine how long this would be, using the prophetic time-scale of a year to a day.
                                 70 WEEKS 490 YEARS
We must now go on to determine the starting point when the Seventy Prophetic Weeks or 490 Years began, and so we read:
"seven weeks and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself" - DANIEL 9:25-26     The starting point is the Decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This came about in 457 B.C. under the Medo-Persian monarch Artaxerxes. The people were then to spend 7 WEEKS or 49 YEARS  BUILDING
62 WEEKS or 434 YEARS - AWAITING MESSIAH
Sure enough, 483 years after the Decree of Artaxerxes, in 27 A.D. (allowing one year for the crossing over from B.C. to A.D. as there is no year 0 between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.) the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized by John in the waters of the River Jordan, being declared to be the Son of God with power, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and the voice from heaven proclaimed:
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." - MATTHEW 3:17
     As Paul so aptly puts it in GALATIANS 4:4
"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…"The Daniel prophecy goes on to tell us that this Lord Jesus the Messiah would accomplish some six things during the course of His Ministry:
1. Finish Transgression
2. Make an end of sins
3. Make reconciliation for iniquity
4. Bring in everlasting righteousness
5. Seal up the vision and prophecy (Seal up does not mean to hide it.= Finish Transgression
6. Anoint the most Holy= Jesus 70 WEEKS----------490 PROPHETICAL DAYS------------490 YEARS-All this our Lord accomplished."…shall Messiah be cut off but not for Himself." - Daniel 9:26
Reading on into verse 27, we find these words:"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week  Below is said to come to pass after Jesus comes back.
                               Notice below.
The "Futurists" try to tell us that the "he" in this verse refers to a future Anti-Christ, the Prince of verse 26, who having made a treaty or covenant with the Jews, breaks it after three and a half years, and causes the sacrifices and rituals of the rebuilt Temple? to cease or be discontinued. However, this is a blatant example of taking a text from its context and making it a pretext to substantiate error and false doctrine.
Whom therefore is this prophecy referring to? What is the Covenant that is made? And how was the Temple worship and The "He" is Messiah the Prince, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel…..
     After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." - JEREMIAH 31:31-33"
This Temple is in their Hearts or bodys. And theres only one New Covenant.
And He (Jesus) took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my Blood of the New Testament (Covenant,) which is shed for many for the remission of sins- MATTHEW 26:27-28
     The Lord Jesus by His once for all atoning sacrifice at Golgotha, instituted the New Covenant. The old Covenant was Gone with the wind when Jesus rose from the dead. 
     "Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost (died). And, behold, the veil of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;" - MATTHEW 27:50-51
      No Jewish priest was needed any longer to take the blood through the veil, once a year into the Holy of Holies. Christ, our great High Priest, had completed the work of sacrifice and atonement. Now you may well be asking, if this is so, who is the Prince that shall come and destroy the city of Jerusalem and its sanctuary, as we read in the remainder of the Daniel Prophecy:"…and the people of Rome the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined…..and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.> "The Jewish people AD 70- DANIEL 9:26-27
Could all this happen after Jesus comes back again? It happened when he was here in the flesh. 

       Daniel's 70th Week ended in 34 A.D. with the martyrdom of Stephen and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the household of Cornelius. For some forty years after the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus - a Bible generation of testing, trial and probation - the Jews refused, resisted and opposed the proclamation of the New Covenant Gospel of Salvation. In 67 A.D. they rebelled against the might of Imperial Rome, and a three year conflict commenced. The climax of these events came in 70 A.D. when the armies of the Roman Prince Titus son of the Emperor Vespasian, laid siege to Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus records the horrors of the siege in graphic detail. One million Jews perished by famine and the sword, some ninety thousand being sold into slavery when the Romans finally captured the city.
     The remaining Jewish Zealots had sought refuge in the Temple precincts and so the Romans launched a final assault during which a soldier threw a piece of burning wood into the inner sanctuary and soon the magnificent building was ablaze. Titus then marched into the sanctuary ruins, set up the Roman standards and offered the traditional sacrifice of an ox, a sheep and a pig. "Matt 24 the abomanation that makes desolate" He subsequently ordered the systematic destruction of the city and the levelling of the Temple site to the ground (i.e. to its base or platform). Thus was the remainder of Daniel's Prophecy fulfilled by Titus the Prince, and by his people, the soldiers of Imperial Rome.,
ANTI-CHRIST TO SIT IN A REBUILT JEWISH TEMPLE RECEIVING WORSHIP??????

The "Futurists" make much of the Scripture which states:
"…and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." - II THESSALONIANS 2:3-4

On the basis of this verse they go on to proclaim that their coming one-man Anti-Christ, the future superhuman, world dictator will be enthroned in a rebuilt Jewish Temple at Jerusalem to receive worship and adoration. This overlooks three very important facts:

1. Anti-Christ is not an open enemy or opponent of Christ, but rather a counterfeit or usurper who takes the place, titles and dignities of Christ. The Greek word "Antichristos" always denotes a "Vice-Christ"or a "substitute Christ". The following are some examples of the way in which Greek writers of the Biblical era would have used "ANTI" to mean a substitute rather than an open opponent.
2. A} ANTI-BASILEUS - A VICE-KING or VICEROY
3. B} ANTI-DIAKONOS - A VICE MINISTER
C} ANTI- DOULOS - A SUBSTITUTE SLAVE
D} ANTI-DEIPUOUS - A SUBSTITUTE GUEST AT A BANQUET
These are sufficient to illustrate the point.
4. Anti-Christ refers not to one man at the end of the age, but to a whole dynasty of "substitute Christs" down the centuries i.e. "THE PAPACY". The "Futurists" insist that Paul's use of the singular term "Man of Sin" substantiates their theory, but by comparing Scripture with Scripture we find that this not the case. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find the whole dynasty of High Priests in Israel referred to as "One Man" (HEBREWS 9:7). Again we are told that the entire company of believers in all ages is but "One Body",
     (I CORINTHIANS 12:12). Similarly the whole line of believers is referred to as "One New Man (EPHESIANS 2:15).
     When we look back to Daniel's vision of the various Beasts, he is actually describing the entire ruling dynasties of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome as being "four kings", one king in each case symbolising or standing for a dynasty."
 The Greek wording in II THESSALONIANS 2:4 refutes any idea of Anti-Christ sitting in a literal, physical Temple at Jerusalem. If Paul had wanted to state that the "Man of Sin" would be seated in a rebuilt Jewish Temple, receiving worship, he would undoubtedly have used the Greek word "HIERON", which is used on some twenty five other occasions to describe the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem. Instead Paul uses the Greek word "NAOS", which according to Young's Analytical Concordance, means a "dwelling place" or "inner sanctuary". When the Lord Jesus used this same word "NAOS "in JOHN 2: 19-21, He used it to refer not to a building in Jerusalem but to His own body:"Destroy this temple (NAOS) and in three days, I will raise it up...... He spake of the temple (NAOS) of His body."
     In the other Pauline Epistles, the word "NAOS" has a definite meaning other than the building in Jerusalem.
 "And what agreement hath the Temple (NAOS) of God with idols? for ye are the Temple (NAOS) of the living God;" - II CORINTHIANS 6:16 "Ye are the Temple (NAOS) of God. If any man defile the Temple (NAOS) of God, him shall God destroy; for the Temple (NAOS) of God is holy, which Temple (NAOS) ye are." - I CORINTHIANS 3: 17 "In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy Temple (NAOS) in the Lord;" - EPHESIANS 2: 21 (This is the Church) No rebuilt temple.
POPE JOHN PAUL II HAS FREQUENTLY PREACHED TO THE CROWDS BELOW HIM FROM THIS WINDOW IN THE VATICAN'S PAPAL APARTMENTS

     To further illustrate this point we quote from the Roman Catholic newspaper, "The Universe" in its edition of June 27th 1846, which gives a vivid description of the ceremony of the installation of the Pope. As you read this account, bear in mind the wording of II Thessalonians chapter 2 - out of their own mouths they stand condemned."He (the Pope) is borne in the Pontifical Chair, and is placed on the High Altar, a spot consecrated by the actual presence of the body, blood, soul and divinity of the living Christ. He sits on the High Altar using it as his footstool, and enthroned as King, he is adored as God, in the same manner as the consecrated wafer, adored by the Cardinal Princes, who kiss his feet which rest on the Altar of the Supreme. HE SITS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD SHOWING HIMSELF AS IF HE
WERE GOD."                          
                          EZEKIEL'S TEMPLE
In their desire to establish some sort of Biblical support for their idea of a reconstructed Jewish Temple, the "Futurists" place great emphasis on the record given in the last nine chapters of Ezekiel's prophecy (chapters 40 -48), which give a detailed description of a future Temple. In what circumstances, however, was Ezekiel writing and to what does this detailed Temple vision refer? The Book of Ezekiel contains some thirteen visions and revelations given to the prophet over a period of over twenty-five years of exile in Babylon. Each of these thirteen documents is carefully dated, but the documents have not been arranged in chronological order, as the Book of Ezekiel is set out in our Bible. So whilst it appears that the Temple vision of the last nine chapters was God's final revelation to Ezekiel, the fact is that these "final" chapters should actually be placed much earlier in the book. The prophecy has nothing whatsoever to do with a rebuilt Temple in the modern Zionist State but rather was a vision, given by God to Ezekiel in 574 B.C., of a last offer of mercy and forgiveness to the Ten Tribed House of Israel, taken into the Assyrian captivity some one hundred and fifty years earlier, and a section of whom were still dwelling in the province of Ecbatana in Media. Ezekiel was sent to offer them a written scheme for national restoration which would embrace a new division of the land of Palestine, a reformed priesthood and a rebuilt and remodelled Temple. Furthermore, Ezekiel's offer was to embrace all Twelve Tribes of Israel, whilst the present day Zionist State contains only a remnant of the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, outnumbered by Edomite and Khazar Jews, who, whilst practising the Jewish religion and adhering to the creed of political Zionism, are not true Israelites.
Therefore, Ezekiel's temple vision does not support or substantiate the "Futurist" concepts. After Jesus comes.
TEN KINGDOMS: 
See> < (Map} below. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Empire_125.png   

   We find in DANIEL chapter 2 that the ROMAN EMPIRE is represented by LEGS OF IRON symbolising unity, strength and power, but upon its break-up and collapse, there emerge feet and toes whose division and lack of cohesive unity is perfectly predicted in the following verse:-
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." - DANIEL 2: 43-44
     Will the Roman Empire be resurrected in all its old strength and reunited under one head?
The "Futurists" say YES, the Bible says NO. The old Empire of the Caesars was broken up in 476 A.D. and remains broken until this day. It is part iron, part clay, partly strong, partly weak, partly democratic, partly dictatorial, partly socialist, partly capitalist; it will not be joined together.
     Down the centuries Roman Catholicism, working with and through the prevailing political philosophies which have risen and fallen in Europe, has attempted to perform this impossible task of reviving and reuniting the old Roman Empire and creating a Europe, Roman Catholic from the Atlantic to the Urals. We see on the stage of European history, Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire, we see the might of the Hapsburgs in the era of the Counter Reformation, Louis XIV, the Sun King of France, Napoleon, the Kaiser, Hitler and Mussolini with their Rome-Berlin Axis, and now the EC. All have failed and will fail. Yet in spite of both the evidence of history and in defiance of the plain words of prophecy, "Futurism" still awaits its revived Roman Empire and its personal Anti-Christ receiving worship in a rebuilt Jewish Temple at Jerusalem.? 

Jesuit inspired "Futurism".1. ANTI-CHRIST has already come in the PAPACY.2. Europe will remain divided, the ROMAN EMPIRE will not be revived.
3. The Temple area with its Moslem Mosques will remain until the LORD JESUS CHRIST returns.
4. There will be no rebuilt JEWISH TEMPLE.
5. Rome has a wounded head and will soon die with the Roman Catholic destined for destruction When Jesus comes.     What then is the ultimate destiny of Jerusalem? For the answer we must now turn in our Bible to Zechariah chapter 14. There we find that as a result of the final BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY, and the massive earthquake which will accompany CHRIST'S RETURN to the Mount of Olives, ZECHARIAH 14: the present city of Jerusalem, the centre of Apostate Judaism, Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism is destined for destruction. The entire topography of the area is to be changed dramatically, and the NEWLY REBUILT JERUSALEM OF THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM AGE is destined to be a warm water port and the centre of universal worship for the LORD JESUS who shall reign as KING OF KINGS and
LORDS OF LORDS, ruling the nations with a rod of iron. 
Here is the Biblical record of these future events:-

    "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the East, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the East and toward the West, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the North and half of it toward the South And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
    And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord and His name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain….south of Jerusalem…there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited…..And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." - ZECHARIAH 14: 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ." : and in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…" "Forever", and in the middle of the final week of seven years, or exactly three and a half years after His baptism: sacrifice made to cease? The Covenant spoken of is the New Covenant, signed and sealed in His own blood at Calvary, by which Redemption and remission of sins was made available to the House of Israel, and whosoever will repent and obey the Gospel. For evidence let us read the following Scriptures:
New Covenant and made the rituals and the animal sacrifices of the Jewish Temple to become obsolete and ultimately to cease, as we have read.
          Holy Roman church ruled Ten Kingdoms
GOTHS > The works of Isidore of Seville hold the belief that the term 'Goth' is derived from the name 'Gog', in allusion to the Gog and Magog of Jewish antiquity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goths
OSTROGOTHS > The Ostrogoths established the Kingdom of Italy, a relatively short-lived successor state of the Western Roman Empire.
VISIGOTHS > Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the 4th century, initially in the Balkans, where they participated in several wars with Rome.
LOMBARDS > The Langobards (or Lombards) were a Germanic tribe that began in southern Sweden and worked their way down into Italy by the 6th century. There they established permanent German rule in Italy,
ALANS > The Alans or Alani (occasionally termed Alauni or Halani) were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian
SUEVI >The Suevi were a confederation of Germanic peoples which included the tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi, the Hermunduri, Semnones, the Langobardes (Lombards), and the Alemanni.
BURGUNDIANS > The Burgundians, East German tribesmen, were great allies of Rome. In the Battle of Chalons (451 AD), they fought on the side of Aetius, a Roman war hero, the Visigoths, and other Germanic peoples against Attila and the Huns. So much the Roman allies, the Burgundian kings were given the title of Master of the Soldiers. Burgundians sought their place in history through military alliances. The rise of the Franks under Clovis committed the Burgundians as allies to the Franks in which they helped Clovis to defeat the Visigoths in 507 AD
FRANKS > The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the third century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul.
BAVARIANS > The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion
Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland (state) of the modern Federal Republic of Germany.
ALLEMANI > In English, Alemania refers to Alamannia, i.e. the land occupied by the Alemanni, a  Germanic tribe, and/or the area where Alemannic German is spoken by their descendants. 
Their story and the stories which involve them are told in the , Shadadarach, Meshach, and Abednego (sometimes referred to collectively as The Three Young Men) were three friends of /Daniel in the Bible whose Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, respectively.Daniel, they were youths from the Jewish nobility. At the first deportation of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar (the kingdom of Israel 10 tribes had come to an end nearly a century before at the hands of the Assyrians), or immediately after his victory over the Egyptians at the second battle of Carchemish, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (606 BC), these three and Daniel were among the Jewish young nobility carried off to Babylon (probably as hostages to ensure the loyalty of Judah's king and advisors), along with some of the vessels of the temple. They were subsequently evaluated and chosen for their intellect and beauty, to be trained as Chaldeans (members of the class of the magi: astrologers, sorcerers, enchanters and magicians), who constituted the ranks of the advisors to the Babylonian court. Book of Daniel. dillmunsell@yahoo.com  Study with us Wed. 6:30 Who was the 4th man in the fire?  Thank you.        Dillard

Are you going to HELL and live forever???????

The popular conception of hell is of a place of punishment for wicked 'immortal souls'? straight after death, or the place of torment for those who are rejected at the judgment. It is our conviction that the Bible teaches that hell is the grave, where all men go at death.

As a word, the original Hebrew word 'sheol', translated 'hell', means 'a covered place'. 'Hell' is the Anglicized version of 'sheol'; thus when we read of 'hell' we are not reading a word which has been fully translated. A 'helmet' is literally a 'hell-met', meaning a covering for the head. Biblically, this 'covered place', or 'hell', is the grave. There are many examples where the original word 'sheol' is translated 'grave'. Indeed, some modern Bible versions scarcely use the word 'hell', translating it more properly as 'grave'. A few examples of where this word 'sheol' is translated 'grave' should torpedo the popular conception of hell as a place of fire and torment for the wicked:

"Let the wicked...be silent in the grave" (sheol [Ps. 31:17]) - they will not be screaming in agony.

"God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave" (sheol [Ps.49:15]) - i.e. David's soul or body would be resurrected from the grave, or 'hell'.

The belief that hell is a place of punishment for the wicked from which they cannot escape just cannot be squared with this; a righteous man can go to hell (the grave) and come out again. Hos. 13:14 confirms this: "I will ransom them (God's people) from the power of the grave (sheol); I will redeem them from death". This is quoted in 1 Cor. 15:55 and applied to the resurrection at Christ's return. Likewise in the vision of the second resurrection, "death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them" (Rev. 20:13). Note the parallel between death, i.e. the grave, and hell (see also Ps. 6:5).

Hannah's words in 1 Sam. 2:6 are very clear: "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive (through resurrection): he bringeth down to the grave (sheol), and bringeth up".

Seeing that 'hell' is the grave, it is to be expected that the righteous will be saved from it through their resurrection to eternal life. Thus it is quite possible to enter 'hell', or the grave, and later to leave it through resurrection. The supreme example is that of Jesus, whose "soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (Acts 2:31) because he was resurrected. Note the parallel between Christ's 'soul' and his 'flesh' or body. That his body "was not left in hell" implies that it was there for a period, i.e. the three days in which his body was in the grave. That Christ went to 'hell' should be proof enough that it is not just a place where the wicked go.

Both good and bad people go to 'hell', i.e. the grave. Thus Jesus "made his grave with the wicked" (Is. 53:9). In line with this, there are other examples of righteous men going to hell, i.e. the grave. Jacob said that he would "go down into the grave (hell)...mourning" for his son Joseph (Gen. 37:35).

It is one of God's principles that the punishment for sin is death (Rom. 6:23; 8:13; James 1:15). We have previously shown death to be a state of complete unconsciousness. Sin results in total destruction, not eternal torment (Matt. 21:41; 22:7; Mark 12:9; James 4:12), as surely as people were destroyed by the Flood (Luke 17:27,29), and as the Israelites died in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:10). On both these occasions the sinners died rather than being eternally tormented. It is therefore impossible that the wicked are punished with an eternity of conscious torment and suffering.

We have also seen that God does not impute sin - or count it to our record - if we are ignorant of His word (Rom. 5:13). Those in this position will remain dead. Those who have known God's requirements will be resurrected and judged at Christ's return. If wicked, the punishment they receive will be death, because this is the judgment for sin. Therefore after coming before the judgment seat of Christ, they will be punished and then die again, to stay dead for ever. This will be "the second death", spoken of in Rev. 2:11; 20:6. These people will have died once, a death of total unconsciousness. They will be resurrected and judged at Christ's return, and then punished with a second death, which, like their first death, will be total unconsciousness. This will last for ever.

It is in this sense that the punishment for sin is 'everlasting', in that there will be no end to their death. To remain dead for ever is an everlasting punishment. An example of the Bible using this kind of expression is found in Deut. 11:4. This describes God's one-off destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea as an eternal, on-going destruction in that this actual army never again troubled Israel, "He made the water of the Red sea to overflow them...the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day".

Even in early Old Testament times the believers understood that there would be a resurrection at the last day, after which the responsible wicked would return to the grave. Job 21:30,32 is very clear: "The wicked...shall be brought forth (i.e. resurrected) to the day of wrath...yet shall he be brought (then) to the grave". One of the parables about Christ's return and the judgment speaks of the wicked being 'slain' in his presence (Luke 19:27). This hardly fits into the idea that the wicked exist for ever in a conscious state, constantly receiving torture. In any case, this would be a somewhat unreasonable punishment - eternal torture for deeds of 70 years. God has no pleasure in punishing wicked people; it is therefore to be expected that He will not inflict punishment on them for eternity (Eze. 18:23,32; 33:11 cp. 2 Peter 3:9).

Apostate Christendom often associates 'hell' with the idea of fire and torment. This is in sharp contrast to Bible teaching about hell (the grave). "Like sheep they are laid in the grave (hell); death shall feed on them" (Ps. 49:14) implies that the grave is a place of peaceful oblivion. Despite Christ's soul, or body, being in hell for three days, it did not suffer corruption (Acts 2:31). This would have been impossible if hell were a place of fire. Eze. 32:26-30 gives a picture of the mighty warriors of the nations around, lying at peace in their graves: "The mighty that are fallen (in battle)...which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads...they shall lie...with them that go down to the pit". This refers to the custom of burying warriors with their weapons, and resting the head of the corpse upon its sword. Yet this is a description of "hell" - the grave. These mighty men lying still in hell (i.e. their graves), hardly supports the idea that hell is a place of fire. Physical things (e.g. swords) go to the same "hell" as people, showing that hell is not an arena of spiritual torment. Thus Peter told a wicked man, "Thy money perish with thee"(Acts 8:20).

The record of Jonah's experiences also contradicts this. Having been swallowed alive by a huge fish, "Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried...unto the Lord...out of the belly of hell cried I" (Jonah 2:1,2). This parallels "the belly of hell" with that of the whale. The whale's belly was truly a 'covered place', which is the fundamental meaning of the word 'sheol', translated 'hell'. Obviously, it was not a place of fire, and Jonah came out of "the belly of hell" when the whale vomited him out. This pointed forward to the resurrection of Christ from 'hell' (the grave) - see Matt. 12:40.

Figurative Fire

However, the Bible does frequently use the image of eternal fire in order to represent God's anger with sin, which will result in the total destruction of the sinner in the grave. Sodom was punished with "eternal fire" (Jude v. 7), i.e. it was totally destroyed due to the wickedness of the inhabitants. Today that city is in ruins, submerged beneath the waters of the Dead Sea; in no way is it now on fire, which is necessary if we are to understand 'eternal fire' literally. Likewise Jerusalem was threatened with the eternal fire of God's anger, due to the sins of Israel: "Then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched" (Jer. 17:27). Jerusalem being the prophesied capital of the future Kingdom (Is. 2:2-4; Ps. 48:2), God did not mean us to read this literally. The great houses of Jerusalem were burnt down with fire (2 Kings 25:9), but that fire did not continue eternally.

Similarly, God punished the land of Idumea with fire that would "not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste...the owl and the raven shall dwell in it...thorns shall come up in her palaces" (Is. 34:9-15). Seeing that animals and plants were to exist in the ruined land of Idumea, the language of eternal fire must refer to God's anger and His total destruction of the place, rather than being taken literally.

The Hebrew and Greek phrases which are translated "for ever" mean strictly, "for the age". Sometimes this refers to literal infinity, for example the age of the kingdom, but not always. Ez. 32:14,15 is an example: "The forts and towers shall be dens for ever...until the spirit be poured upon us". This is one way of understanding the 'eternity' of 'eternal fire'.

Time and again God's anger with the sins of Jerusalem and Israel is likened to fire: "Mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place (Jerusalem)...it shall burn, and shall not be quenched" (Jer. 7:20; other examples include Lam. 4:11 and 2 Kings 22:17).

Fire is also associated with God's judgment of sin, especially at the return of Christ: "For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up" (Mal. 4:1). When stubble, or even a human body, is burnt by fire, it returns to dust. It is impossible for any substance, especially human flesh, to literally burn for ever. The language of 'eternal fire' therefore cannot refer to literal eternal torment. A fire cannot last for ever if there is nothing to burn. It should be noted that "hell" is "cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14). This indicates that hell is not the same as "the lake of fire"; this represents complete destruction. In the symbolic manner of the book of Revelation, we are being told that the grave is to be totally destroyed, because at the end of the Millennium there will be no more death.

Gehenna

In the New Testament there are two Greek words translated 'hell'. 'Hades' is the equivalent of the Hebrew 'sheol' which we have discussed earlier. 'Gehenna' is the name of the rubbish tip which was just outside Jerusalem, where the refuse from the city was burnt. Such rubbish tips are typical of many developing cities today (e.g. 'Smoky Mountain' outside Manila in the Philippines.) As a proper noun - i.e. the name of an actual place - it should have been left untranslated as 'Gehenna' rather than be translated as 'hell. 'Gehenna' is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew 'Ge-ben-Hinnon'. This was located near Jerusalem (Josh. 15:8), and at the time of Christ it was the city rubbish dump. Dead bodies of criminals were thrown onto the fires which were always burning there, so that Gehenna became symbolic of total destruction and rejection.

Again the point has to be driven home that what was thrown onto those fires did not remain there for ever - the bodies decomposed into dust. "Our God (will be) a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29) at the day of judgment; the fire of His anger with sin will consume sinners to destruction rather than leave them in a state of only being singed by it and still surviving. At the time of God's previous judgments of His people Israel at the hand of the Babylonians, Gehenna was filled with dead bodies of the sinners among God's people (Jer. 7:32,33).

In his masterly way, the Lord Jesus brought together all these Old Testament ideas in his use of the word 'Gehenna'. He often said that those who were rejected at the judgment seat at His return would go "into Gehenna (i.e."hell"), into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not" (Mark 9:43,44). Gehenna would have conjured up in the Jewish mind the ideas of rejection and destruction of the body, and we have seen that eternal fire is an idiom representing the anger of God against sin, and the eternal destruction of sinners through death.

The reference to "where their worm dieth not", is evidently part of this same idiom for total destruction - it is inconceivable that there could be literal worms which will never die. The fact that Gehenna was the location of previous punishments of the wicked amongst God's people, further shows the aptness of Christ's use of this figure of Gehenna

Study with us.       Wed. 6:30              dilllmunsell@yahoo.com   

Spirit, Soul, Body.

Spirit, Soul, Body.


     There is an unfortunate confusion in many people's minds between the soul and the spirit. This is aggravated by the fact that in some languages and Bible translations, the English words 'soul' and 'spirit' have only one equivalent. The 'soul' fundamentally referring to all the constituents of a person can sometimes refer to the spirit as well. However, normally there is a difference in meaning between 'soul' and 'spirit' as used in the Bible; soul and spirit can be 'divided asunder' (Heb. 4:12).


     The Hebrew and Greek words for 'spirit' ('Ruach' and 'Pneuma' respectively) are also translated in the following ways:


Life Spirit / Mind Wind /Breath /  

     God uses His Spirit to preserve the natural creation, including man. The Spirit of God which is within man is therefore the life force within him. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). "God breathed into (Adam's nostrils) the breath (spirit) of life; and man became a living soul (creature [Gen. 2:7])". Job speaks of "the Spirit of God" as being "in my nostrils" (Job 27:3 cp. Isa. 2:22).
     The spirit of life within us is therefore given to us at birth, and remains as long as our body is alive. When God's Spirit is withdrawn from anything, it immediately perishes - the spirit is the life force.
     If God "gather unto Himself His spirit and His breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. If now thou hast understanding, hear this" (Job 34:14-16). The last sentence again hints that man finds this exposure of his real nature very hard to come to terms with.
     When God takes away His spirit from us at death, not only does our body die, but our entire consciousness ceases. David's appreciation of this led him to trust in God rather than in creatures as weak as man. Psalm 146:3-5 is a tough counter to the claims of humanism: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath (Spirit) goeth forth, he returneth to his earth (the dust from which we are made); in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help". 

     At death, "the dust (shall) return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Ecc. 12:7). We have shown earlier that God is present everywhere through His spirit. In this sense "God is Spirit" (John 4:24). When we die we 'breathe our last' in the sense that God's spirit within us departs from us. That spirit is absorbed into God's Spirit which is all around us; so at death "the Spirit shall return unto God".


     Because God's Spirit sustains all of creation, this same process of death occurs to animals. Men and animals have the same spirit, or life force, within them. "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one (i.e. the same) breath (spirit); so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast" (Ecc. 3:19). The writer goes on to say that there is no discernible difference between where the spirit of men and animals goes (Ecc. 3:21). This description of men and animals having the same spirit and dying the same death, appears to allude back to the description of how both men and animals, who both had the spirit of life from God (Gen. 2:7; 7:15), were destroyed with the same death at the flood: "All flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: all in whose nostrils was the breath (spirit) of life...died...every living substance was destroyed" (Gen. 7:21-23).        Note in passing how Ps. 90:5 likens death to the flood. The record in Genesis 7 clearly shows that in fundamental terms, man is in the same category as "all flesh...every living substance". This is due to his having the same spirit of life within him as they do.
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Genesis 7:21-23 KJV


21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
     23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
 Study with us. dillmunsell@yahoo.com 6:30 PM

Are the Gifts coming back to the Church?
There are three types of wisdom:1 The wisdom of God 1 Corinthians 2:7
2 The wisdom of the world. I Corinthians 2:6

3 The wisdom of man. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 KJV
17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
The gift of the word of wisdom is the application of knowledge that God gives you ( I Corinthians 2:6-7). This type of wisdom is a gift which cannot be gained through study or experience and should by no means try to replace them. The gift of the word of wisdom is seeing life from God's perspective. As a Christian exercises this gift, he begins to develop a fear of the Lord. This is the "beginning of wisdom" according to Proverbs 1:7.Proverbs 1:7 (New King James Version)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The gift of the word of wisdom is also the revealing of prophetic future; it is speaking hidden truths of what is not known. It is a supernatural perspective to ascertain the divine means for accomplishing God's will in a given situation, and is a divinely given power to appropriate spiritual intuition in problem solving.
Furthermore, this gift involves having a sense of divine direction, being led by the Holy Spirit to act appropriately in a given set of circumstances, and rightly applying knowlege.
The gift of wisdom is the wisdom of God. It is the supernatural impartation of facts; it is not natural. You can't earn it. It is received from God through prayer . That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Ephesians 1:17
The gift of the word of wisdom works interactively with the other two revelation gifts: knowledge and discernment.
Examples
Paul before the councilActs 23:6
Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar. Jesus' answer to the question regarding taxes. Matthew 22:15-22 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
The temptation of Jesus. Luke 4:1-14 KJV
1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about
Dllard Munsell study with us Wed.6:30 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught:But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:dillmunsell@yahoo.com