Tag Archives: Josephus

Alpha and Omega Part 2 of Series

 Revelation 1:8: “I am Alpha and Omega.”

This utterance, the first of the utterances of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, seems to be saying, not only the awesome title “I Am,” but also that “I Am the Alphabet,” since alpha and omega are the names of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. This is a puzzling statement unless and until we understand the significance of the alphabet as it is used in this context.[1]

Hebrew Aleph and Tau

Based upon the premise that the book was originally written in Hebrew, we should translate the alphabetic terms back to the Hebrew. The equivalent of Greek alpha and omega is Hebrew aleph and tau. The aleph and tau, being the first and last letters, represents the entire alphabet and is no doubt the Hebrew word for “alphabet.’  The word we translate “and” is represented in Hebrew by the letter vau, giving us the three letters aleph, vau, and tau.These three letters so arranged spell the word translated “sign,” or transliterated ’ôwth, or sometimes ‘oth. [2]

We may readily see that as the alphabet Christ is the totality of every word that may be uttered, written, or read. He is The Word. However, there are aspects of the ancient alphabet that are difficult to translate. One of those is the fact that the oldest alphabets were not only letters, but were also numerals. As the numerals, Christ is the entire realm of all that can be measured or quantified, that is, all mathematics and science. But this is not yet all that the term aleph-vau-tau indicates, for in the earliest traceable stages, the alphabet was also the means of designating the time-telling stars and constellations in their time-telling movements as well as their function in navigation and cartography (Seiss, 177).[3]

Even now there is a system for naming stars that uses the Greek alphabet – roughly in order of their brightness within a constellation: alpha, beta, gamma, … etc.

Christ is All and in All

To sum it up, as aleph-vau-tau, Christ is All and in All: The Word, Time, Space, Wisdom, Life.

Origen in his Commentary said that the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible were twenty-two, “like the letters of their alphabet.”[4] This was a fact noted also by Josephus and other writers of that era. It indicates that they considered the alphabet as representing a totality; that is, the complete Scriptures were contained in the twenty-two letters of the alphabet.

[1] See also my Commentary on Revelation 1:7, “Coming”. The Hebrew word ’ôwth, (consisting of the letters aleph-vau-tau,), is used in Dan.7:13 regarding the ‘coming’ of the Son of Man in the clouds.

[2] Targumim = ‘translations’.
The Babli is the Babylonian Talmud and the Yerushalmi is the Jerusalem Talmud.
Midrash is: (1) the haggadic or halakic exposition of the underlying significance of a Bible text. (2) A collection of Midrashim. (3) cap: the Midrashic literature written between the 4th century B.C. and 11th century AD].
Haggadah is: (1) ancient Jewish lore forming esp. the nonlegal part of the Talmud. (2) The Jewish ritual for the Seder, (Passover feast).
Halakah is the body of Jewish law supplementing the Scriptural law and forming especially the legal part of the Talmud.

[3] “In the perspective of early Christians who compiled listings of heretics, Israelites who rejected Jesus as Messiah were quintessential heretics. Among this group, the Pharisees were remembered for their devotedness to astrology: ‘Fate and astrology were quite popular notions with them,’ writes Epiphanius…. Epiphanius further recounts how they possessed a vocabulary of their own in Hebrew for the zodiac and other celestial beings,” (Malina, 74).
Quoting Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 4.46. Anti-Nicene Fathers, 5.42, that “‘Heretics’ read constellations in terms of Israel’s biblical tradition. They assimilate the doctrines of an Aratus, for example, to those declared by the Scriptures, thus ‘exhibiting a strange marvel, as if the assertions made by them were fixed among the stars” (ibid.).
Malina says further: “The heretics opposed by Hippolytus interpret the Scriptures allegorically. The Scriptures do not mean what they say literally, but refer to something else (this is allegory). Furthermore, these heretics likewise interpret the stars allegorically, using the fixity and regularity of the stars to give credence to their interpretations” (ibid.). These heretics thus used the stars to give credence to strange doctrines and suggest hidden meanings.

[4] As stated by Eusebius, History of the Church, 6.25; that the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation (ibid., 6:25.10).

Next Lesson – Alpha and Omega Part 3

High Priests Unlawfully Appointed

To see the context for the Book of Revelation we need to understand what was going on in the Priesthood. This lesson will show how the High Priesthood had been corrupted and had become the pawn of the overruling powers that had conquered Judea before Christ.

Ten High Priests Unlawfully Appointed From The Time of Antiochus Eupator to Herod The Great in Whose Reign Christ Was Born. (Josephus’ Antiquities Books xiv-xx. These were of the priestly families but not in the line of succession from Aaron.)

1. Jacimus, appointed by Antiochus Eupator, Priest, reigned 3 years, died.
(No High Pries for 7 years)

BEGINNING OF HASMONEAN PRIESTHOOD:

2. Jonathan, appointed by Maccabees, Priest 7 years, slain.
3. Simon, his brother, Maccabees, Priest 8 years, slain.
4. Hyrcanus, Maccabees, Priest 30 years, died.
5. Judas (Aristobulus), Maccabees, King and Priest 1 year, died.
6. Alexander, his brother, Maccabees, King and Priest 27 years, died.
7. Hyrcanus, son of Alexander & Alexandra, Maccabees, Priest 9 years, defeated by Aristobulus.
Alexandra reigned as Queen, appointed by the Pharisees, 9 years, died, Ant.13.16.1-6.
8. Aristobulus, brother of Hyrcanus, fought Hyrcanus for Priesthood, King and Priest 3 years and 3 months, captured by Pompey.
9. Hyrcanus, (again), appointed by Pompey, King and Priest 24 years, captured by Parthians.
10. Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, perhaps King only, not High Priest? He was appointed by the Parthians, reigned 3 years and 3 months, captured by Herod, taken to Antony and slain, (Ant.14.16.1-4).
11. Herod, King only, not High Priest, appointed by the Romans, reigned 37 years from his appointment by the Romans, 34 from the death of Antigonus. By pretense made Hyrcanus co-regent with himself in order to kill him.

BIRTH OF CHRIST: Catalog of High Priests from Herod’s time to the end, (Ant.20.8.5. p. 422, footnote).

1. Ananelus of Babylon, appointed by Herod, Ant.15.2.4. High Priest only, not King, replaced by Aristobulus.
2. Aristobulus, grandson of Hyrcanus, Priest only. Slain by Herod about AD 6.

END OF HASMONEAN LINE.

3. Ananelus, (restored), appointed by Herod, Priest only, deposed by Herod, Ant.15.3.1.
4. Jesus, son of Phabet (or Fabus), appointed by Herod, Priest only, deposed by Herod, Ant.15.9.3.
5. Simon, of Jerusalem, son of Boethus, citizen of Alexandria, Herod marries his daughter, Ant.17.4.2, Priest only, deposed by Herod.
6. Matthias, son of Theophilus, appointed by Herod, Priest only, deposed by Herod, Ant.17.6.4.
7. Joseph, son of Ellemus, appointed by Matthias (?), Priest only one day, Ant.17.6.4.
8. Joazar, son of Boethus, appointed by Herod or Archelaus, Priest only, deposed by Cyrenius, Ant.18.2.1.

HIGH PRIESTS APPOINTED BY ROME AFTER AD 6.

(Ant.18.20. After the death or deposing of Archelaus, AD 6, “The High Priests were entrusted with a dominion over the nation”, but were not necessarily considered kings by Rome, Ant.18.1.1. (See also my commentary at Revelation 17:11-12.)
9. (Anas) or Ananus, appointed by Cyrenius, deposed.
10. Ismael, son of Phabi, appointed by Gratus, procurator, deposed.
11. Eleazar, son of Ananus, (had been High Priest before), appointed by Gratus, reigned 1 year, deposed.
12. Simon, son of Camithus, appointed by Gratus, reigned 1 year, deposed.
13. Joseph Caiaphas, appointed by Gratus, reigned 11 years, deposed.
14. Jonathan, son of Ananus, appointed by Vitellius, procurator, deposed.
15. Theophilus, son of Ananus, appointed by Vitellius, deposed
16. Simon, son of Boethus, appointed by Agrippa, deposed.
17. (Agrippa offers High Priesthood to Jonathan again, he refuses so he gives it to (Matthias ?), deposed.
18. Matthias, son of Ananus, appointed by Agrippa, deposed.
19. Elioneus, son of Catheras, appointed by Agrippa, deposed.
20. Joseph, son of Camus, Agrippa, slain by Robbers, Wars2.7.9.
21. Ananias, son of Nebedius Jonathan, appointed by Agrippa, Felix instigates his murder, Ant.20.8.5.
22. Ismael, son of Fabi, Agrippa, deposed.
23. Joseph Cabi, son of Simon former High Priest, Agrippa, deposed.
24. Ananus, fifth son of Ananus, Agrippa, reigned 3 months, deposed.
25. Jesus, of Damascus, appointed by the Robbers, Wars4.3.6, note p. 527, deposed.
26. Jesus, son of Gamaliel, appointed by the Robbers, deposed.
27. Matthias, son of Theophilus, appointed by the Robbers, deposed.
28. Phanias, son of Samuel, appointed by the Robbers, War, end of line, Wars 4.3.8.

This lesson is edited from my book, Revelation In Context, pages 127-132.

Lesson 15 Of The Series – Josephus’ Witness Of The Destruction of Jerusalem

The Abomination Of Desolation

It was “morally imperative” that Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem be fulfilled within that generation. He said: Matthew 24:15: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) … (33-34) “So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”

The “abomination of desolation” was the slaughter of their own countrymen, the sedition against authority, the warring factions of those Jews who raised their armies in order to be named the High Priest by Rome. This “abomination” was carried into the Holy of Holies:

“Those men made the temple of God a stronghold for them, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people; the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a shop of tyranny, (Josephus’ Wars 4.3.6-7)”

The High Priest, Ananus, said: “Certainly it would have been good for me to die before I had seen the house of God full of so many abominations, or these sacred places that ought not to be trodden on at random, filled with the feet of these blood-shedding villains” (Wars 4.3.9).

“Great slaughter was made on both sides, and a great number were wounded. As for the dead bodies of the people, their relations carried them out to their own houses; but when any of the zealots were wounded, he went up into the temple and defiled that sacred floor with his blood, insomuch that one may say it was their blood alone that polluted our sanctuary.” (Wars 4.3.11)

“And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day … saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there, (Wars 4.5.1-2).

Josephus’ Witness Of God’s Vengeance For Innocent Blood

Even Josephus knew that there was a penalty to pay for shedding innocent blood. He describes the murder of the high priest Jonathan who dared to oppose the Roman appointed Felix:

“They slew Jonathan, and as his murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men for money; and slew others not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred to these men’s wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, – as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities,” (Antiquities 20.8.5).

Josephus Refers To The Ancient Prophets

“And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them, – and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? – for they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen! And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge the city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions,” (Wars, 6.2.l).

Thus the moral imperative of Revelation 1:1, “things which must shortly come to pass” was fully accomplished in the fall of Jerusalem and the fleshly nation, Israel.

Next Lesson: Some False Teachings