Monthly Archives: July 2015

Hair White As Wool

Revelation Commentary, , ,

Revelation 1:14: “His head and His hair were as white as wool.”

A direct referent for this description is also found in the Book of Enoch (46.1).
“1.And there I saw One, who had a head of days, And His head was white like wool, And with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
“And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, (and) why he went with the Head of Days? 3. And he answered and said unto me: ‘This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, With whom dwelleth righteousness, And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden, Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness for ever.”

About the Book of Enoch

Although the Book of Enoch is not canonical Scripture, it would be profitable reading for any who have the inclination to read this whole passage in Enoch.

We find in Daniel’s prophetic vision of Daniel 9:7 that the “Ancient of Days” has hair  “like the pure wool.” In this passage, verse 13, the “Son of Man” comes before this “Ancient of Days” Who gives Him the everlasting Kingdom.  We may therefore see that in Revelation 1:14 we have the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophesy.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

Son Of Man

Revelation Commentary, ,

Revelation 1:13 “One like a Son of Man.” See also Revelation 14:14.

The “Son of Man” is the Messiah

Jesus referred to Himself in the third person as the “Son of Man” as in Matthew 11:19.[1] This was understood to be speaking of the Messiah.[2] Regarding the kingdom, He referred to Himself as the King. This was in reference to the passage in Daniel 7:13:

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” (Daniel 7:13)

And in Matthew 11:19: “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”

Also in Luke 19:9-10:  “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The “Son of Man” is the Good Shepherd

Here Jesus was identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd by reference to a passage in Ezekiel 34: 11-16:

“For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, [even] I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep [that are] scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and [in] a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up [that which was] broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”

The Book of Enoch Mentions the “Son of Man”:

The “Son of Man” as envisioned by Enoch had been hidden but was to be revealed to the elect:
“And the kings and the mighty and all who possess the earth shall bless and glorify and extol him who rules over all, who was hidden. 7. For from the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, And the Most High preserved him in the presence of His might, And revealed him to the elect.” (Charles, Enoch 62.6).

The revelation of Jesus Christ, as the “Son of Man,” is therefore the fulfillment of Enoch’s prophecy, as well as those of the Old Testament.

Notes

[1] I owe much of this discussion to a lesson given by Dr. Robert Lindsay on Channel 14 TBN television on December 11, 1988 at 2:30 p.m. CST. See also Robert Lindsay, Jesus Rabbi and Lord, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, Cornerstone Publishing, 1990.

[2] The term “Son of Man” was familiar to the New Testament Jewish Church not only because of His mention in the book of Daniel, but also in the pseudepigraphical book of Enoch. (See Charles, Enoch.) The early Church was familiar with the Book of Enoch and it is one of the pieces of literature which they seemed to be revere almost equally with the canonical writings. In fact, the Book of Enoch is quoted in Jude verses 14 and 15. The book therefore serves as a literary referent for many of the expressions and symbols used in the New Testament, and therefore should be considered as a part of the cultural context for the Book of Revelation. Many of the obscure ideas of the book of Revelation will become clear after one reads the Book of Enoch.

The Book of Enoch is part of a body of literature known as the pseudepigrapha, which simply means that the author’s name, in this case Enoch, is a pseudonym for the real author. In fact, Oesterley quotes Burkitt, (Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, p. 18), regarding pseudonymous authorship: “…that the names were not chosen out of mere caprice; they indicated to a certain extent what subjects would be treated and the point of view of the writer.”
Charles, Enoch. p. 66, “48.2. And at that hour that Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, And his name before the Head of Days. 3. Yea, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Spirits.”

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

In The Midst Of The Candlesticks

Revelation Commentary, ,

Revelation 1:13: “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”

The phrase “in the midst” does not merely indicate that Jesus was among them in a central position, but rather that he was the source of their cohesion, the nucleus, the center of gravity, the magnetic center. In the analogy of the heavenlies, the “midst” of the candlesticks would be represented by the pole star, the apparent center of the turning heavens and the universe.

Colossians 1:17

“And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” It is Christ that holds things together, consist, to make them a Unity, whether marriages, families, churches, governments, or nations.

The prophets foresaw an ensign or banner upon “the high mountain.” This was the height of the heavens, not an earthly peak. Isaiah 13:2-3 is about the mustering to battle of the heavenly hosts, not merely an earthly army, (see verse 10), by means of this signal, ensign, upon the high hill. See also Isaiah 5:26; 11:12.

The Position of Power

This central position of the universe was seen by the contemporary cultures of the East to be the position of the center of power, the power that turned the whole universe.

Amos 5:8 refers to this center of power in the midst of the seven stars:
“[Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name.”

This view of Christ as the Center of Power of the universe may be seen as the “sign of the Son of Man in heaven” as foretold in Matthew 24:30.

Another passage that describes the awesome view of the Lord in His heavenly position of power is found in Habakkuk 3:3-15. Read it. It will bless you.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

 

 

The Jewish Religion, Its Influence Today – Part 1

Teaching, , ,

Following are quotes from Elizabeth Dilling’s book The Jewish Religion, Its Influence Today. I have added quotation marks and highlighted the headings.  The full text of her book may be found at www.come-and-hear.com. At that site her “Exhibits” and “[Scripture texts]” are linked so that you may click and go directly to the source that she refers to. I have italicized the quoted Scriptures.

“Bible scholars are aware that Jesus Christ denounced the Pharisees.

“He said they nullified all the Commandments of God by their Tradition, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:13; Matt. 15:6-9, etc.). His invective, in truth, cannot be equalled. All of Matthew 23 is like a whiplash. He likened Pharisaism to a whited sepulchre, indeed beautiful outwardly, but “inside full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.” Christ climaxed one condemnation after another with the expletive, “Hypocrites!” He called the Pharisees children of them that killed the Prophets. He foretold they would go on killing, crucifying and persecuting until the guilt for all the righteous blood shed from Abel on down would be upon them. “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” Christ asked.

“Christ is as utterly devastating of Pharisaism in the record of John 8. Although He admitted that His hearers were descendants of Abraham, He said they were, spiritually, of the devil. Christ told them:

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).

The Missing Link

“But,” says the disinterested Christian, “what has that to do with us today? What a group of Pharisees did two thousand years ago is over and done with!”

However, the missing link in Christian understanding on the subject of “Pharisees” is best supplied by the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia (1943):

“The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees. Their leading ideas and methods found expression in a literature of enormous extent, of which a very great deal is still in existence. The Talmud is the largest and most important single piece of that literature … and the study of it is essential for any real understanding of Pharisaism.”

Concerning the Pharisees, the 1905 Jewish Encyclopedia says:

“With the destruction of the Temple (70 A.D.) the Sadducees disappeared altogether, leaving the regulation of all Jewish affairs in the hands of the Pharisees. Henceforth, Jewish life was regulated by the Pharisees; the whole history of Judaism was reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view, and a new aspect was given to the Sanhedrin of the past. A new chain of tradition supplanted the older priestly tradition (Abot 1:1). Pharisaism shaped the character of Judaism and the life and thought of the Jew for all the future.” (See Exhibit 264 herein.)

“Historically speaking, scripture believers had accepted Christ as the Messiah foretold. They were no longer “Jews,” but called themselves “Christians.” They were persecuted as such by the Pharisees. The word “Pharisee” comes from the word “separated.” (See Exhibit 300.)

The Babylonian Talmud, Sole Authority

“You may ascertain by turning to top Jewish authorities today that the Babylonian Talmud, the written form of the Tradition of the Pharisees, is the sole authority of the so-called “Jewish” religion, or Judaism.

“Rabbi Louis Finklestein was chosen in 1937 by the Kehillas (Jewish communities) of the World as one of the top 120 Jews best representing “a lamp of Judaism” to the World, together with Maxim Litvinov (Finklestein), the Communist Commissar and bank robber terrorist; atheist communist Albert Einstein; those indefatigable Marxist reds, Harold Laski and his friend Felix Frankfurter (U.S. Supreme Court Justice) who shared honors with Rabbi Finklestein and others. Finklestein has long headed the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, with branches in New York and Los Angeles. In his two-volume work “The Pharisees.” Rabbi Finklestein writes:

“‘Pharasaism became Talmudism … But the spirit of the ancient Pharisee survives unaltered. When the Jew … studies the Talmud, he is actually repeating the arguments used in the Palestinian academies. From Palestine to Babylonia; from Babylonia to North Africa, Italy. Spain, France and Germany; from these to Poland. Russia and Eastern Europe generally, ancient Pharasaism has wandered. (See Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, and Exhibit 3 herein.)”

In Rabbi Finklestein’s history of the Jews, he states:

“‘The Talmud derives its authority from the position held by the ancient academies. (i.e. Pharisee) The teachers of those academies, both of Babylonia and of Palestine. were considered the rightful successors of the older Sanhedrin . . . At the present time, the Jewish people have no living central authority comparable in status to the ancient Sanhedrins or the later academies. Therefore, any decision regarding the Jewish religion must be based on the Talmud as the final resumé of the teaching of those authorities when they existed.'”

[page 2] (The Jews — Their History, Culture, and Religion , Vol. 4, p. 1332, Jewish Publication Society of America, 1949).

“The Talmud: Heart’s Blood of the Jewish Faith,” was the heading of a November, 1959, installment of a bestselling book by the Jewish author, Herman Wouk, which ran serially in the New York Herald-Tribune.

“To quote:

“‘The Talmud is to this day the circulating heart’s blood of the Jewish religion. Whatever laws, customs or ceremonies we observe — whether we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or merely spasmodic sentimentalists — we follow the Talmud. It is our common law.'”

To be continued.

Seven Golden Candlesticks – Part 2

Revelation Commentary, , , , , ,

What did the analogy of the “Seven Golden Candlesticks” mean to the Churches in the first century AD when the Book of Revelation was first written?

Seven Stars as “The Lesser and Greater Sheepfold”[1]

In that region of the world at that time in history, this constellation, Ursa Major, was known as “The Greater Sheepfold” (Seiss, 20, 126-7, 178). The smaller constellation, Ursa Minor, known as the “Lesser, or former, Sheepfold,” hangs upon the pole star and is in the center of the revolutions of the circumpolar stars known as “The Greater Sheepfold.” The Greater Sheepfold therefore encompasses it. This “Lesser Sheepfold” would have represented the original body of Jewish believers from which the Church began. The seven named churches of Asia, (see also Revelation 1:11),[2] therefore represented the “Greater Sheepfold”, i.e., the entire universe of both Gentile and Jewish Christians, the complete Church.

The Heavenly Pattern

The earthly churches are therefore the spiritual counterpart of The Church in the heavenlies, where the Angel of the Church resides. Just as nations have their “Prince,” (as the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Grecia in Daniel 10:13, 20), so the Church has its “Angel,” or Prince, in the heavenlies, which is Christ. The local, earthly counterpart has its “Angel” which is to represent Christ on earth.

The heavenly “Mount Zion” was in Old Testament times represented on earth by the earthly city of Jerusalem. The Psalmist could say: [3])

“Walk about Zion, and go round about her, tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death,” (48:12-14).

Seven Stars as God’s Writing:

In another analogy, the starry heavens are thought of as God’s handwriting.[4] It is therefore appropriate that the scenes of the Book of Revelation are portrayed in the constellations of the night sky.

The Menorah, or seven-branched candlestick that was in the tabernacle and the Temple, was made according to the original pattern given to Moses while he was upon Mt. Sinai, (Exod. 25:31-40; 37:17-20 and Number 8:2-4.). Later David gave to Solomon the plan for the lampstands along with the other plans for the Temple, 1 Chronicles. 28:11-19. All of these plans were those given by God:

“All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the Lord concerning it, [even] all the work to be done according to the plan.” (1 Chronicles 28:19 RSV).

The “Writing from the hand of the Lord” was that of the starry heavens.

[1] Some Scriptures that show how important this concept was in the Bible are: Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 23:3; 31:10-12; Ezek. 34:10-31; chs. 37 & 38; Mic. 3:12; 4:8; Zech. 9:16; Luke 12:32; John 10:1, 16; Acts 20:28-9; 1 Pet. 5:2-3.

[2] Note that “in Asia” is not in the Greek text of 1:11. The Greek text of 1:4 actually reads: “in the Asia.” See Commentary at 1:4 “Asia”.

[3] For discussion of Pole Star as Mount Zion, see “Satan Cast Down,” my Commentary on Revelation 12:10.

[4] See “Alpha and Omega” Commentary on Revelation 1:8.