Moriel Ministries - BLOG

The death of boxer Mohammed Ali (Cassius Clay) dwarfed the media coverage on the death of Queen Jezebel (Jan Crouch).

Three Christian teenagers in Egypt were just sentenced to five years in prison for blasphemy: http://www.citizengo.org/en/pr/33335-sign-here-three-egyptian-teenagers-were-just-sentenced-five-years-prison-blasphemy?tc=gm

by Dudi
March 1, 2016
You have to read Olivier Melnick's excellent article at the Times of Israel, taking an open-eyed look at the upcoming Christ at the Checkpoint conference.

Blessings Thomas.
We have been notified on Social Media by a Calvary Chapel Pastor, whom I frankly had never heard of, named Joseph Bell in Indiana that you have challenged me to a debate regarding the rapture.

Moriel & Jacob Prasch express our sincere condolences in Jesus to  our friend & brother Chuck Missler on the temporary loss of his  beloved wife Nancy. Our prayers are that Chuck will know the consolation of .Christ during this time of bereavement.    Her battle against the gruesome facial cancer was not lost;  but rather the victory of Jesus was won.    Jacob of course knew Nancy and Chuck and we rejoice that through a sincere faith in Jesus death has been conquered.   Job 19: 25-27  

Since the counterfeit revivals of the mid 80's there has been a claim by many Latter Rain /Word of Faith groups that the church is going to take over the world, taking control of the governments, businesses and every other aspect of life. Movements such as the Toronto "Blessing", Brownsville "Outpouring", Word of Faith, New Apostolic Reformation, Emergent Church, and many other related Latter Rain movements have been claiming that they are making radical changes in people's lives due to miracles, prophecies, dead raisings, and growing numbers of people attending mega churches. So by now, in 2014, we should be seeing the effects of this wonderful scenario that the false apostles, false prophets, false teachers, and false Christs of these movements have predicted.

Psalms 119:105 WELCOME TO MORIEL MINISTRIESMoriel is an international multi-faceted ministry of Jewish and non-Jewish regenerate believers one in Jesus the Messiah.

Moriel is committed to the evangelization beginning with The Jews but also of people of other faiths including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,   and theologically deviant expressions of Christendom including Roman Catholicism (which we view as aberrational much as we deem Talmudic Judaism to be likewise largely unscriptural). To this end Moriel plants churches, and operates missions especially among impoverished children in the Third World. While mainly rejecting the later midrashic writings of the rabbis, Moriel is also a teaching ministry seeking to exegetically interpret scripture with the Judeo-Christian hermeneutic of the apostolic   church including the midrashic exegesis used by Jesus and Paul (midrash is a term found multiple times in the Tenak or Old Testament).

Lastly, Moriel is active in the area of discernment withstanding the popular apostasy in the contemporary church that The Word of God warns would precede the return of Jesus. We remain firmly aligned to the conviction that contemporary events in The Middle East , Europe, and in the church make the present time in history different from other eras when people thought it was the last days. We affirm the belief that Jesus is coming again and prophecy of His return is radically being fulfilled increasingly.

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Title Scripture Description A Chink in the Armor A Chink in the Armor What happens when good leaders become involved with bad ones? A Prophet Like Unto Moses A Prophet Like Unto Moses The Scriptural similarities which point to Moses as a type of the Messiah to come. Abraham's Journey Genesis 12 Every person's life can be plotted as being along some point of Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to the Promised Land, a metaphor for our spiritual walk in this life Anointing Acts 2 Addressing the claims of various groups that there efforts are bringing an revival accompanied by spiritual anointing and the scriptural standards by which such an anointing and revival actually operate. Bible Versions Various The Bible is the Word of God in the Word of Man. That doesn't make it any less the Word of God, but neither does that make it any less the Word of Man. Binding & Loosing Daniel 10 In many areas the church is trying to use biblical teaching about binding and loosing as an instrument to deal with something it was not designed to deal with. The Boiling Pot Ezekiel 24   The Book of Jonah Jonah There is no Hebrew prophet whose life does not foreshadow or typify the Messiah who would come after them, to bring in the Redemption which they prophesied. The Book of Ruth Ruth The book of Ruth tells the story of a rich powerful Jewish man who takes a Gentile Bride and exalts her, the way that Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, raised up the Gentile church, as the Bride of Christ. The Burning Bush - Hineni Exodus 2-3 Moses is a good picture of anybody who really wants to serve God. In fact, he s one of the best pictures. Christian Cults Christian Cults Deals with the subject of organizations which are evangelistic in theology but cultic in their organization. Christmas is Coming Various What does Christmas, the Nativity, have to do with the Last Days? This may surprise you, but the answer is - everything. The Crucified Life John 20 If signs and wonders are really the key to revival, why did they cry out a few days later, "Crucify Him", when they knew that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and healed the lame and the blind? The Day of the Lord Joel What exactly does the it mean when Scripture references "The Day of the Lord?" The Death of Absalom 1 Samuel 18 An important biblical perspective on family, particularly as it relates to whether they're saved or not. The Death of Reason and the Return of Jesus Timothy 1 Due to this suspension of reason, the stage is being set for Jesus' warning that "For this reason" He will come at an hour when He is not expected. The Divine Aristocracy Ecclesiastes 9-10 God says, however, that only the things that last forever are real riches. Silver, gold and jewels will not get you off the road to hell - nor will they get you into heavenly Jerusalem. Egypt, Babylon, or the Palm of God Jeremiah 40 What are the options for the faithful remnant in the Last Days? Previous biblical examples provide a picture of what it will be like for Believers. Elijah: A Man Who Could Make It Rain James 5:16-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Elijah was a man who could make it rain. The Holy Spirit, through this text, is trying to tell us that, if he can do it, we can do it. We can make it rain. But what does that mean? Ezekiel - Chapters 8 & 9 Ezekiel 8-9 Ezekiel begins predicting that God's judgment was going to last and would become worse, and the reason that it would last and become worse was that the people's sin was lasting and becoming worse. They refused to repent as they saw God's judgments coming. Ezekiel's Scroll Ezekiel 2-3 Jesus is the Word of God. We, like Ezekiel, are required to "eat" all of that Word. It will be sweet in our mouths, but bitter in our stomachs. A message for those who warn against the error and apostasy in the modern church. Fall of the House of Saul 1 Samuel 28 God will not allow the old thing to fall until He judges that the new thing is ready to take its place. The Future History of the Church, Part 1 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. The Future History of the Church, Part 2 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. The Future History of the Church, Part 3 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for The Gates of Jerusalem Nehemiah A look at the deeper, spiritual meaning of the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem under the direction of Nehemiah. The Great Church Robbery 2 Chronicles 13 A look at all the biblical instances of the "harpazo" ("snatching away") and the difference between being taken by the "kleptos" ("thief") and the one who will harpazo LIKE a kleptos. Hanukkah, Part 1 John 9-10 How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament? Hanukkah, Part 2 John 9-10 How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament? Hope for the Hopeless Hebrews 11 Hebrews 11 has as much to do with hope as it does with faith. House of David/House of Saul 2 Samuel 3:1 The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. The Iron and the Clay Daniel 2 A commentary on current events in the Middle East as they might pertain to the fulfillment of prophecy in the book of Daniel Jesus In The Talmud   Many Christians who love Israel and who have a heart for the Jewish people confuse loving the people of Israel with loving the religion of the Rabbis that is now called Judaism. Judge Not? James 4 Looks at the different words for "judge" in the Greek and in the Hebrew and in what contexts they are used. Shows when Christians are commanded to judge and when we are commanded not to. The Last Days 1 Timothy 4 The First Century church in certain respects typologically prefigures the Church of the Last Century. The Legacy of Jacob Various The Last Revival asks the question, "Will there be a great end time revival?" And then answers those that teach that there will be a great worldwide revival in the last days before Jesus returns. The Living & the Dead Leviticus 21 Who are the living, who are the dead, what is the temple, and who are the priests? Mezuzot (Doorposts) Judges 14-16 Whatever it may be, however, every Christian has one thing that they continue falling into. Midrash Various If you look at the way the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is clear that the apostles did not use western Protestant methods of exegesis or interpretation. Midrash: Jesus in the Garden Genesis 3 When you were physically born, you were born of Adam. When you are born again, you are born of the last Adam, who is Jesus. The New Galatians Galatians There is a misguided element in the Gentile church which desires to return to the source of Christian faith, which is biblically and historically a primordial Jewish faith. Unfortunately, they arrive at the abrupt conclusions that anything "Messianic" must be right. Not Even A Minyan Genesis 19 Are there even 10 righteous? Lot lived in a society with rampant homosexuality and Paul warns of that judgment concerning it as well as the times. Once Christian Marriage Means Nothing Matthew 5:32 The union was to be physical, psychological (as in emotional and intellectual), and because it is based on a mutual vow made to God, spiritual. Once Saved, Always Saved? Various A detailed study as to what Scripture has to say about the doctrine which is often described by the label "once saved, always saved". One Messiah, Two Comings Acts 1:4-8 Everything under the ground is Old Testament Israel, but everything above the ground is the New Testament Church. The Church is the spiritual continuity of Old Testament Israel, not its replacement. Pedion Ha Ben Revelation 2:8-11 The donkey had to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb. What was the need for this consecration ritual? In depth midrashic study on these subjects and how it relates to us. Principles of Persecution Revelation 2:8-11 God uses persecution to get the church going. Once a church stops being mission-minded, it will eventually stop being evangelistic. And once it stops being evangelistic, it will eventually stop being evangelical in its doctrine. The Reign of King Asa 2 Chronicles 13 What God's Word really teaches about revival.

Title Scripture Description All That Can Be Shaken   A Chink in the Armor 2 Chronicles 18-19 What happens when good leaders become involved with bad ones? Abraham's Journey Genesis 12 Every person's life can be plotted as being along some point of Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to the Promised Land, a metaphor for our spiritual walk in this life. Binding & Loosing Daniel 10 In many areas the church is trying to use biblical teaching about binding and loosing as an instrument to deal with something it was not designed to deal with. The Book of Jonah Jonah There is no Hebrew prophet whose life does not foreshadow or typify the Messiah who would come after them, to bring in the Redemption which they prophesied. Book of Ruth Ruth The book of Ruth tells the story of a rich powerful Jewish man who takes a Gentile Bride and exalts her, the way that Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, raised up the Gentile church, as the Bride of Christ. Charismatic False Teaching Luke 21:8 Defining the doctrinal error that has been allowed to infiltrate and grow within the Charismatic Movement. Christian Cults Various Deals with the subject of organizations which are evangelistic in theology but cultic in their organization. Christmas is Coming Various What does Christmas, the Nativity, have to do with the Last Days? This may surprise you, but the answer is - everything. The Crucified Body Luke 9:23 Curses & Christians   The Divine Aristocracy Ecclesiastes 9-10 God says, however, that only the things that last forever are real riches. Silver, gold and jewels will not get you off the road to hell - nor will they get you into heavenly Jerusalem. Ephesus Various In depth detail of one of the seven ages of the church history and the future historical prophetic antitype. Egypt, Babylon, or the Palm of God Jeremiah 40 What are the options for the faithful remnant in the Last Days? Previous biblical examples provide a picture of what it will be like for Believers. Elijah: A Man Who Could Make It Rain James 5:16-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Elijah was a man who could make it rain. The Holy Spirit, through this text, is trying to tell us that, if he can do it, we can do it. We can make it rain. But what does that mean? Hanukkah, Part 1 John 9-10 How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament? Hanukkah, Part 2 John 9-10 How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament? House of David/House of Saul 2 Samuel 3:1 The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. Judge Not? James 4 From the pen of the same apostle, in the distance of a few paragraphs, in almost the same breath that he is saying "do not judge," James calls worldly churches "adulteresses." Kashrut & Famine Leviticus 11 An explanation of the typology of the Hebrew dietary laws, and how it deals with what is clean and what is unclean. Unclean being unbelievers, false believers, and their wrong doctrines. What we eat, we are. Deals with how to eat what is clean. The Last Days 1 Timothy 4 The First Century church in certain respects typologically prefigures the Church of the Last Century. Legacy of Jacob   The Living and the Dead Leviticus 21 Who are the living, who are the dead, what is the temple, and who are the priests? Midrash Various If you look at the way the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is clear that the apostles did not use western Protestant methods of exegesis or interpretation. Midrash: Jesus in the Garden Genesis 3 When you were physically born, you were born of Adam. When you are born again, you are born of the last Adam, who is Jesus. The New Galatians Galatians There is a misguided element in the Gentile church which desires to return to the source of Christian faith, which is biblically and historically a primordial Jewish faith. Unfortunately, they arrive at the abrupt conclusions that anything "Messianic" must be right. One Messiah, Two Comings Acts 1:4-8 Everything under the ground is Old Testament Israel, but everything above the ground is the New Testament Church. The Church is the spiritual continuity of Old Testament Israel, not its replacement. The Reign of King Asa 2 Chronicles 13 What God's Word really reaches about revival. The Sabbath Genesis 2:2-3 Deals with Jesus as our Sabbath rest. It looks at the meaning of the Sabbath and shows how our Sabbath is in a Person and not in a day. This is an important message in understanding the errors of the Seventh-Day Adventists. The Sons of Zadok Ezekiel 44 Compares the righteous clergy with the unrighteous clergy, and explains how to know whether your pastor is righteous or unrighteous. Details the characteristics of each. This Generation Matthew 24:34 Explanation of the meaning of "this generation" in the Olivet Discourse. Typology of the Dietary Law Leviticus 11 An explanation of the typology of the Hebrew dietary laws and how it deals with what is clean and what is unclean, unclean being bunbelievers, false believers, and their wrong doctrines. We are what we "eat". Deals with how to "eat" what is clean. Typology of the Temple Numbers 2 Deals with the spiritual symbolism of the architecture of the Hebrew Temple, pointing to the fact that the church seven times in the New Testament is called the Temple of God, and looks ahead to what this will ultimately mean for the coming Antichrist. Understanding "The Mixture" 1 Thessalonians Arriving at a right doctrinal position and discerning things in a biblical manner in times like this has become more and more difficult for many sincere believers. Watchmen Who Are Not Watchmen Isaiah 62:8 Looking at the biblical character and nature of watchmen however we see that so much of what is being promoted as 'Watchman Ministries' are actually the mere devices of men. Who Are the Jews? Various Deals with the question, "Who are the Jews?" etymologically, anthropologically, judicially, geographically, and biblically. Also defines three kinds of Judaism (Mosaic, Talmudic and Messianic).

Title Scripture Description A Chink in the Armor 2 Chronicles 18-19 What happens when good leaders become involved with bad ones? A Prophet Like Unto Moses Deuteronomy 18:18 The Scriptural similarities which point to Moses as a type of the Messiah to come. Binding & Loosing Daniel 10 In many areas the church is trying to use biblical teaching about binding and loosing as an instrument to deal with something it was not designed to deal with. The Book of Jonah Jonah There is no Hebrew prophet whose life does not foreshadow or typify the Messiah who would come after them, to bring in the Redemption which they prophesied. Egypt, Babylon, or the Palm of God Jeremiah 40 What are the options for the faithful remnant in the Last Days? Previous biblical examples provide a picture of what it will be like for Believers. Elijah: A Man Who Could Make It Rain James 5:16-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Elijah was a man who could make it rain. The Holy Spirit, through this text, is trying to tell us that, if he can do it, we can do it. We can make it rain. But what does that mean? Ezekiel - Chapters 8 & 9 Ezeiel 8-9 Ezekiel begins predicting that God's judgment was going to last and would become worse, and the reason that it would last and become worse was that the people's sin was lasting and becoming worse. They refused to repent as they saw God's judgments coming. Ezekiel's Scroll Ezekiel 2-3 We all want to know the truth; we all want to know the future. God will tell us the truth and He will even show us the future, through His Word. Fall of the House of Saul 1 Samuel 28 God will not allow the old thing to fall until He judges that the new thing is ready to take its place. Future History of the Church, Part 1 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. Future History of the Church, Part 2 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. Future History of the Church, Part 3 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. House of David/House of Saul 2 Samuel 3:1 The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. Judge Not? James 4 From the pen of the same apostle, in the distance of a few paragraphs, in almost the same breath that he is saying "do not judge," James calls worldly churches "adulteresses." The Last Days 1 Timothy 4 The First Century church in certain respects typologically prefigures the Church of the Last Century. Principles of Persecution Revelation 2:8-11 God uses persecution to get the church going. Once a church stops being mission-minded, it will eventually stop being evangelistic. And once it stops being evangelistic, it will eventually stop being evangelical in its doctrine. The Reign of King Asa 2 Chronicles 13 What God's Word really reaches about revival. Slain in the Spirit Various Since this is clearly not the biblical "anointing of the Holy Spirit", it is really no "anointing" at all. The Sons of Zadok Ezekiel 44 Compares the righteous clergy with the unrighteous clergy, and explains how to know whether your pastor is righteous or unrighteous. Details the characteristics of each. This Generation Matthew 24:34 Explanation of the meaning of "this generation" in the Olivet Discourse. Typology of the Grain Offering Leviticus 2 Most Christians have an idea that the blood sacrifices of these animals were symbols of Jesus; however, most Christians do not think about the grain offering. Understanding "The Mixture" 1 Thessalonians Arriving at a right doctrinal position and discerning things in a biblical manner in times like this has become more and more difficult for many sincere believers. When God Speaks Hebrews 1 When does God speak? Why does God speak? To whom does He speak? And through whom does He speak? When Gos speaks to us, why is He doing it, and through whom and to whom?

Title Scripture Description A Prophet Like Unto Moses Deuteronomy 18:18 The Scriptural similarities which point to Moses as a type of the Messiah to come. Abraham's Journey Genesis 12 Every person's life can be plotted as being along some point of Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to the Promised Land, a metaphor for our spiritual walk in this life. The Book of Jonah Jonah There is no Hebrew prophet whose life does not foreshadow or typify the Messiah who would come after them, to bring in the Redemption which they prophesied. The Book of Ruth Ruth The book of Ruth tells the story of a rich powerful Jewish man who takes a Gentile Bride and exalts her, the way that Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, raised up the Gentile church, as the Bride of Christ. The Burning Bush - Hineni Exodus 2-3 Moses is a good picture of anybody who really wants to serve God. In fact, he s one of the best pictures. Christian Cult Deals with the subject of organizations which are evangelistic in theology but cultic in their organization. Christmas is Coming Various What does Christmas, the Nativity, have to do with the Last Days? This may surprise you, but the answer is - everything. Curses & Christians     Daughters of Zion     The Day of the Lord Joel What exactly does the it mean when Scripture references "The Day of the Lord?" Elijah: A Man Who Could Make It Rain James 5:16-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Elijah was a man who could make it rain. The Holy Spirit, through this text, is trying to tell us that, if he can do it, we can do it. We can make it rain. But what does that mean? End Times Vectors Various How the pattern of the many prophecies fulfilled at Christ's First Coming serve as a model for fulfillment at His Second Coming. Ephesus Various In depth detail of one of the seven ages of the church history and the future historical prophetic antitype. Ezekiel - Chapters 8 & 9 Ezekiel 8-9 Ezekiel begins predicting that God's judgment was going to last and would become worse, and the reason that it would last and become worse was that the people's sin was lasting and becoming worse. They refused to repent as they saw God's judgments coming. Ezekiel's Scroll Ezekiel 2-3 Jesus is the Word of God. We, like Ezekiel, are required to "eat" all of that Word. It will be sweet in our mouths, but bitter in our stomachs. A message for those who warn against the error and apostasy in the modern church. The Future History of the Church, Part 1 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. The Future History of the Church, Part 2 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. The Future History of the Church, Part 3 Various A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for. The Gates of Jerusalem Nehemiah A look at the deeper, spiritual meaning of the rebuilding of the walls and gates of Jerusalem under the direction of Nehemiah. A Gentleman in Prison   The Great Church Robbery 1 Corinthians 15 A look at all the biblical instances of the "harpazo" ("snatching away") and the difference between being taken by the "kleptos" ("thief") and the one who will harpazo LIKE a kleptos. Hanukkah John 9-10 How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament? Jesus in the Garden Genesis 3 This message is a midrashic interpretation comparing the events of the Garden of Eden found on Genesis 3 with the actions of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jewish-Arab Reconcialiation   Deals with how the Jew and Arab will be reconciled in biblical prophecy and looks at the prophetic purposes of God both for the Arab nations and the Jewish nation, all descended from Abraham. Judge Not? James 4 From the pen of the same apostle, in the distance of a few paragraphs, in almost the same breath that he is saying "do not judge," James calls worldly churches "adulteresses." Kashrut & Famine Leviticus 11 An explanation of the typology of the Hebrew dietary laws, and how it deals with what is clean and what is unclean. Unclean being unbelievers, false believers, and their wrong doctrines. What we eat, we are. Deals with how to eat what is clean. The Living & the Dead Leviticus 21 Who are the living, who are the dead, what is the temple, and who are the priests? Mezuzot - The Doorposts, Part 1 Judges 14-16 This teaching shows, through Samson's continued weakness for immoral living, how the devil will use our various weaknesses to keep us going back into sin, revealing how there is only one way out of Satan's trap. This teaching also deals with Cavlin's doctrine of eternal security. Mezuzot - The Doorposts, Part 2 Judges 14-16 This teaching shows, through Samson's continued weakness for immoral living, how the devil will use our various weaknesses to keep us going back into sin, revealing how there is only one way out of Satan's trap. This teaching also deals with Cavlin's doctrine of eternal security. Midrash Various If you look at the way the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is clear that the apostles did not use western Protestant methods of exegesis or interpretation. Midrash: Jesus in the Garden, Part 1 Genesis 3 When you were physically born, you were born of Adam. When you are born again, you are born of the last Adam, who is Jesus. Midrash: Jesus in the Garden, Part 2 Genesis 3 When you were physically born, you were born of Adam. When you are born again, you are born of the last Adam, who is Jesus. Once Saved, Always Saved Various A detailed study as to what Scripture has to say about the doctrine which is often described by the label "once saved, always saved". One Messiah, Two Comings Acts 1:4-6 Everything under the ground is Old Testament Israel, but everything above the ground is the New Testament Church. The Church is the spiritual continuity of Old Testament Israel, not its replacement. The Parable of the Wedding Feast Matthew 22 The Wedding Parable looks at the parable from Matthew 22 and shows how it relates to Jesus' first coming as well as His second coming. Pedion Ha Ben: Consecration of the First Born The donkey had to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb. What was the need for this consecration ritual? In depth midrashic study on these subjects and how it relates to us. The Road to Emmaus Luke 24:13-35   The Seven Feasts Leviticus 23 A basic outline of the three feasts in Leviticus 23 - Passover, Feast of Trumpets, and Feast of Booths The Two Adams Various As far as God is concerned there are only two men who have ever existed, Adam and Jesus - the first Adam and the second Adam. Smyrna Various In depth detail of one of the seven ages of the church history and the future historical prophetic antitype. Typology of the Dietary Law Leviticus 11 An explanation of the typology of the Hebrew dietary laws and how it deals with what is clean and what is unclean, unclean being bunbelievers, false believers, and their wrong doctrines. We are what we "eat". Deals with how to "eat" what is clean. Typology of the Firstborn   This teaching deals with the typology of the firstborn and the second as a mirror of the old and new creations. Also looks at what is a carnal Christian. Typology of the Grain Offering Leviticus 2 Most Christians have an idea that the blood sacrifices of these animals were symbols of Jesus; however, most Christians do not think about the grain offering. Typology of the Temple Various Deals with the spiritual symbolism of the architecture of the Hebrew Temple, pointing to the fact that the church seven times in the New Testament is called the Temple of God, and looks ahead to what this will ultimately mean for the coming Antichrist. Who Are the Jews? Various This message deals with the question, "Who are the Jews?" Etymologically, anthropologically, judicially, geographically, and biblically. The Woman at the Well John 4 An exposition from the midrashic point of view of John 4. It looks at the disposition of Jesus towards her, which demonstrates what our disposition should be towards nominal Christians in false religions.

When it comes to books devoted to eschatology in general and the Rapture specifically, they often either read like a formal academic argument written solely for the benefit of scholars or employ the use of fiction to avoid directly handling the underlying biblical text. As with Jacob's previous books and exhaustive list of sermons covering nearly every area of theology,  Harpazo  presents the doctrine of the Rapture and Resurrection in the strictest biblical sense possible, leveraging the handling of Scripture in the same manner as passed along to us by Christ through the Apostles and Early Church of the 1st century.

Often the typical format of such books is to spend more time explaining and refuting all the positions the author  does not  subscribe to rather than focus exclusively on what they believe and have derived from Scripture.  Harpazo  may be unique in the complete absence of charts and seemingly endless trips to sidebars to constantly compare alternate interpretations the author does not subscribe to in the first place. Jacob was asked to continue to employ in an expanded book format the same exegesis of Scripture which is present in all of his teachings regardless of whether or not they are eschatological. After all, "The Apocalypse" means "unveiling", and that "lifting of the curtain", so to speak, as we approach the ever nearer Return of Christ is the Holy Spirit's revelation of Scripture as already given,  not  a new opinion by man..

The Gospels are clear that immediately in the wake of His Resurrection, Christ not only imparted the Holy Spirit to His disciples, but directly instructed them in how He was the fulfillment of the whole of Scripture. (Lk. 24:27, 44-45) In other words, the interpretation of  all  of God's Word, every Book of the Old Testament included, was re-cast as Christological, having not just a literal, primary meaning for the times any Scripture was originally given, but an added meaning for either Christ's First Coming, Second Coming, or both. Like every doctrine and theology, the Rapture and Resurrection are illustrated through many scriptural people, places and events throughout the whole of God's Word and not simply limited to a single biblical reference.

Using the Early Church hermeneutics of typology to  illustrate  and  illuminate  doctrine, Jacob shows how there are  many  raptures and rescues in Scripture which combine to teach what is going to ultimately take place in the  Parousia—the Second Coming of Christ. Likewise, there is a wealth of similar events and patterns throughout Scripture which teach us what to expect from related issues such as the Two Witnesses, the role of the 144,000 and Israel yet to come, the pattern of judgments in Revelation and how they actually replay Old Testament and historical parallels, and a wealth of other such End Times teachings already established in the canon of Scripture.

Jesus Himself established this hermeneutic by categorically teaching that the Last Days would be realized in the character of the days of Noah as well as Lot. The Apostles in their writings not only confirmed these specific examples but built upon them. The question for believers in the Last Days is not whether or not some kind of "new" revelation or word from God has been revealed, but how what has already been given is, in these final hours, being unveiled to believers by the Holy Spirit. What Daniel was told to seal until the end, John was told would be ultimately unsealed.

Some of the chapter titles in  Harpazo  will sound familiar to those already acquainted with Jacob's teachings, but he has never tied everything together overall to this degree before. This book is not about creating another End Times chart, but making a good faith effort to draw together in one place what the whole counsel of God's Word is teaching not just for a single event or prophetic fulfillment, but the overall doctrinal basis by which believers are supposed to act and behave as they are putting His Word into practice. Whereas many limit their teaching on the Rapture to just the drama of the physical event itself, one of the remarkable differences presented in  Harpazo  is the believer's place in the Rapture and Resurrection and their active role in preparation for it. Recognition of the nearness of His Return invokes a responsibility to live accordingly.

Those expecting an academic treatment of eschatology or hoping for a formal rebuttal of alternative positions will not find such in  Harpazo. But those placing a priority on what God's Word is saying more than the word and opinions of man will derive tangible benefits from the book regardless of which "ism" or eschatology currently held. Jacob presents us with a thorough  proactive  exegesis of Scripture by concentrating on what Scripture affirms rather than a  reactive  rebuttal of the beliefs of man, which all too often actually fall outside biblical boundaries.

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Title Scripture Description Abraham's Journey Genesis 12 Every person's life can be plotted as being along some point of Abraham's journey from Mesopotamia to the Promised Land, a metaphor for our spiritual walk in this life. An Anti Christ Meets a False Prophet The Anointing Acts 2 Addressing the claims of various groups that there efforts are bringing an revival accompanied by spiritual anointing and the scriptural standards by which such an anointing and revival actually operate. Antichrist     Binding and Loosing Daniel 10 In many areas the church is trying to use biblical teaching about binding and loosing as an instrument to deal with something it was not designed to deal with. The Burning Bush - Hineni Exodus 2-3 Moses is a good picture of anybody who really wants to serve God. In fact, he s one of the best pictures. Crimen Sollicitationis Elijah: A Man Who Could Make it Rain James 5:16-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. Elijah was a man who could make it rain. The Holy Spirit, through this text, is trying to tell us that, if he can do it, we can do it. We can make it rain. But what does that mean? Egypt, Babylon & the Palm of God Jeremiah 40 What are the options for the faithful remnant in the Last Days? Previous biblical examples provide a picture of what it will be like for Believers. Hillsong Embraces Chrislam 2 Samuel 3:1 The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. House of David/House of Saul 2 Samuel 3:1 The kind of war I dread is when you have to fight against your brethren. How to be Caonized a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church Jesus: Prophet Like Unto Moses, A Deuteronomy 18:18 Deals with the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:18, that the Messiah would be a prophet like Moses, in the character of Moses. Jesus in the Talmud Many Christians who love Israel and who have a heart for the Jewish people confuse loving the people of Israel with loving the religion of the Rabbis that is now called Judaism. Judge Not James 4 Looks at the different words for "judge" in the Greek and in the Hebrew and in what contexts they are used. Shows when Christians are commanded to judge and when we are commanded not to. Kashrut and Famine Leviticus 11 An explanation of the typology of the Hebrew dietary laws, and how it deals with what is clean and what is unclean. Unclean being unbelievers, false believers, and their wrong doctrines. What we eat, we are. Deals with how to eat what is clean. Last Revival, The One Messiah, Two Comings Acts 1:4-8 Everything under the ground is Old Testament Israel, but everything above the ground is the New Testament Church. The Church is the spiritual continuity of Old Testament Israel, not its replacement. Pope Francis the Religious Hypocrite Whose Religious Hypocrisy Kows No Bounds Self Explanatory Pseudodidaskaloi, False Teachers 2 Peter 2:1 This warning The Holy Spirit gives through The Apostle James is daunting. While we shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ, those of us posing to teach God s Word to others will be held more accountable than others, because teachers can most easily mislead others. Sons of Zadok, The Ezekiel 44 Being misled is one thing, but misleading others _ either being cognizant of the error, or teaching error out of out own ignorance doesn t matte Ulf Ekman Converts to Roman Catholicism What is Now on the Horizon in a Church World Without David Wilkerso, Dave Hunt, and Chuck Smith Self Explanatory

Title Author Language Scripture Description A Cross-less Christianity = A Christ-less Christianity Mike Oppenheimer English Various What is being taught today is that we should not suffer or have pain or be corrected. This leads to illegitimate children, not true sons of God. A Cross-less Christianity = A Christ-less Christianity Mike Oppenheimer Polish Various What is being taught today is that we should not suffer or have pain or be corrected. This leads to illegitimate children, not true sons of God. A Study of Election & Predestination Salvador ung hayworth English Various Firstly, as I know from experience, Calvinism isn t simply a doctrine but it is a number of beliefs that underpin the way many Calvinists interpret the bible and the way they see their prayer and evangelism. Secondly, the logical extension of Calvinism makes God the author of sin, having created sin and ordaining or willing it to happen and so contradicts the very nature of God as He has revealed Himself in scripture. Thirdly, God in scripture is shown to be a relational God. Berean Behavior: Naughty or Noble Sherry Neese English Acts 17:11 Bereans of our time who carry on the torch of truth minister in various capacities to warn the Church about wolves in their midst. Born of Water & the Spirit: What Did Jesus Mean? Calvin Smith English John 3:5 Establishing the meaning of the phrase "born of water" has proved somewhat more problematic. Let us examine briefly some of the main interpretations of this phrase. Charismatic False Teaching Joseph Chambers Afrikaans The Church Fathers' Interpretation of Matthew 16:18 William Webster English Matthew 16:18 Addresses in-depth the claims of the Catholic church's assertion that their power is descendant from Peter through this verse, a relatively new concept when examined in the light of the many centuries of church fathers who taught to the contrary. The Death of the Simple, Part 1 Pastor Bill Randles English Proverbs A warning against sexual sin. The Death of the Simple, Part 2 Pastor Bill Randles English Proverbs A warning against sexual sin. Discernment & the Watchman Mike Oppenheimer English Jude 3 When a teaching or practice does not line up with God s Word, we are commanded by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict “ Five Basic Doctrines Sandy Simpson English Various There are five basic doctrines of the Christian Church. These doctrines put into simple language the basic theology of our faith, taking into account the full teaching of the Word of God in context. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly Andrew Gould English Reasons for studying the Hebraic background to the Bible and developing a deeper knowledge of 1st Century Jewish culture and hermeneutics. Hope, Hate & Human Hearts Berit Kjos English Jeremiah 17:9 The real answers to questions dealing with hate, hope and human hearts are only found in the Bible. How to do an Exegesis Moriel Zulu Mission English Overview of the use of the Inductive Study Approach for developing proper exegesis of Scripture. How Was a Jew Saved in the Old Testament?" Arnold Fruchtenbaum English Genesis 15:6 If you were a rabbi in Judea in the first century and I asked you how I might obtain eternal life, how would you explain it? Implications of the New Anointing Pastor Bill Randles English Through the prophecies and teachings of Charismatic leaders, an expectation has developed of a Last-Days cutting-edge church which would move in such power and anointing that world leaders would search out the wisdom of its leaders, and whole nations would fall trembling at its feet. Islam, Rome nd the Antichrist and False prophet? Bob Mitchell English Like Islam and Israel, Rome wants Protestantism to die. Since the Reformation she has tried to win back the rebels and the ground she has lost. Joel's Army: The "New Breed" Jewel Grewe English Colossians 2:3-4 It is disturbing to witness leaders opening up young children to the –supernatural. ” and teaching them to become –prophets ”. Living in the State of Denial Mike Oppenheimer English 2 Timothy 4:3-4 Christ is to be the head of the church and shepherds are to equipping the saints in His word but are they listening to Him? Meet the Millstones Dusty Peterson English Various How child molestation is becoming rampant in apostate Evangelicalism. The name of the Lord Moriel Japan English Various God's name is not just a word, it is his character. This explores just what that means. The Name of the Lord - Afrikaans Moriel Japan Afrikaans Various God's name is not just a word, it is his character. This explores just what that means. The New Jesus & a Love Called Tolerance Paul Proctor English Galatians 1:9 Discussing the evil in our world, that is the sinful nature of man, is a risky venture nowadays, especially for any Christian or church seeking to be loved and accepted BY that world. The Parable of the Little Boy Anthony Royle English Six-year-old Thabo was born with HIV/AIDS and is black. His father abandoned his mother and then his mother died when he was two-years-old. Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven (Part 1 of 5) Berit Kjos English Various A detailed biblical analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" ilk and what every discerning Christian needs to know. Part 1 covers "Widening the Gate to the Kingdom", "Softening God's Word", "The Spirit of Worship", "Music-Driven Evangelism", and "Forgetting 'the Fear of God'". Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven (Part 2 of 5) Berit Kjos English Various A detailed biblical analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" ilk and what every discerning Christian needs to know. Part 1 covers "Widening the Gate to the Kingdom", "Softening God's Word", "The Spirit of Worship", "Music-Driven Evangelism", and "Forgetting 'the Fear of God'". Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven (Part 3 of 5) Berit Kjos English Various A detailed biblical analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" ilk and what every discerning Christian needs to know. Part 1 covers "Widening the Gate to the Kingdom", "Softening God's Word", "The Spirit of Worship", "Music-Driven Evangelism", and "Forgetting 'the Fear of God'". Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven (Part 4 of 5) Berit Kjos English Various A detailed biblical analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" ilk and what every discerning Christian needs to know. Part 1 covers "Widening the Gate to the Kingdom", "Softening God's Word", "The Spirit of Worship", "Music-Driven Evangelism", and "Forgetting 'the Fear of God'". Spirit-Led or Purpose Driven (Part 5 of 5) Berit Kjos English Various A detailed biblical analysis of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven" ilk and what every discerning Christian needs to know. Part 1 covers "Widening the Gate to the Kingdom", "Softening God's Word", "The Spirit of Worship", "Music-Driven Evangelism", and "Forgetting 'the Fear of God'". Tithing - Part 1 of 2 Chris De Wet English Titus 1:11 There is a lot of confusion taking place with regard to Bible doctrines today. One of the topics, is the question on tithing. Where did it originate and what does it mean today? Tithing - Part 2 of 2 Chris De Wet English Titus 1:12 There is a lot of confusion taking place with regard to Bible doctrines today. One of the topics, is the question on tithing. Where did it originate and what does it mean today? Transformation Thinking for Dummies Orrel Steinkamp English Romans 12:2 If a pastor gets "transformed" or a church goes through the transformation process what happens to them? What makes them now different and apparently ready to really make a change in their world and in the church? Treating the Alien Fairly Dr Calvin J Smith English Deut 10:18-19 A look at "Christophonies", the manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament. True & False unity Bob DeWaa English Philippians 1:27 What is the true nature of Christian unity? Biblically defined unity is a gospel-centered unity that always works toward the unity of the faith. What is Meant by "Quench Not the Holy Spirit Arnold Fruchtenbaum English 2 Thes 5:19-20 To quench the Holy Spirit is to prevent believers from exercising their spiritual gifts in the meeting of the church. What on Earth was Peter Thinking Calvin Smith English Luke 9 Given Peter's spiritual "savvy" just a few days earlier, his apparent blunder on the Transfiguration mount appears all the more surprising. What's Love Got to Do With It? Paul Proctor English 1 Corinthians 1:18 I can think of no maneuver Satan has had more success in deceiving mankind with than turning what was once considered a Divine attribute into nothing more than a four-letter word; and because the church has now set out to "evangelize" society by emulating it, sadly, their definition of "love" has since become no better. Why Does God Allow Evil to Continue Moriel Zulu Mission English Mark 1:12-13 Why doesn't he just bring it all to an end and stop the suffering Mankind lives with? Doesn't He care? Doesn't He have the power? Why Does God Allow Evil to Continue Moriel Zulu Mission English Mark 1:12-14 Why doesn't he just bring it all to an end and stop the suffering Mankind lives with? Doesn't He care? Doesn't He have the power? Women in Discernment Susan Conway & Sarah Leslie English 1 Timothy 4:1-3 It sometimes feels awkward to be a woman involved in discernment ministry. It seems like exercising discernment should be the duty of pastors. But in this day and age everyone must exercise discernment, if we are truly following Jesus and His Word. You Are What You Eat? Light for the Last Days English 1 Timothy 4:1-5 What does the Bible say about food?

This book was written to accompany Jacob's part in the film, "The Daniel Project". Jacob expands on that documentary and explains more fully about the world in which we live today and what it may mean in the light of those Biblical prophecies.

People are looking for answers, instinctively knowing that whilst great efforts are made to bring peace in our troubled world, all is not well. An increase in natural and man made disasters, geo-political tensions and an economic crisis create the sense of a gatherng storm which has become a part of us all.

Since 1948, hundreds of ancient predictions, written thousands of years ago, are now unfolding before us. News agencies from around the world beam satellite images into our homes that could have come straight from the pages of the Bible.

According to Daniel and other Biblical prophets, only the wise will understand how to read the signs and respond - as people around the world will continue to be so busy with their lives; buying and selling, planting and building, unaware of the terrible events that will overtake them.

Hello, my dear friends. I"m speaking, of course, to our Catholic friends, and I mean friends. I have many Catholic friends and, on my mother"s side of the family, Catholic relatives, including my mother. My mother is of Irish-Catholic background. In her family there are members of the Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland and in America and in Canada. I've always had a love of the Catholic people, and I spent 11 years of my youth in Catholic schools through my mother's insistence. But like many other young people at that time I began to question the established religious values of the time and began to do my own seeking and my own searching.

Now I should tell you my own family is a mixture of Roman Catholic and Jewish, and partially for that reason I'm able to speak and read the Hebrew language, and I've also learned Greek. I looked at other faiths " Judaism, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism " most of all I studied the Scriptures with an emphasis on studying them in the original languages. I don't say I'm the greatest scholar or theologian in the world, but I do know what I believe and why I believe it.

I have a book here, Rome Has Spoken, written by two academic Roman Catholic nuns Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben " they"re the editors. They are both Ph.D.'s, both Roman Catholic nuns, both quite scholarly women. The book is published by Crossroad Publishing Company and it"s a very, very interesting book, a compilation of Vatican- and papal-issued statements from different times in history.

I"d like to ask you some questions as a Roman Catholic, questions of the sort I once asked myself, questions that other people like me have asked. But before I do that I"d like to read you some quotes from Roman Catholic documents " official Vatican documents " that areimprimatur and nihil obstat, official Roman Catholic documents.

In the year 420, Boniface I, Bishop of Rome: "Instead of what is lawful for what has been decided by the apostolic see to be reconsidered, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the current pope vigilist was found guilty of heresy and formally excommunicated from the body of the faithful. And at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681, Pope Honorius had confirmed the impious opinions of the heretic Sergius and anathematizee the pope from the church." According to Roman Catholic history, Roman Catholic documents, popes have been kicked out of office and excommunicated by councils of the church. It was not the belief, according to the Roman Catholic Church, that the pope at that time was somehow infallible in what he was proclaiming.

Of course now they claim, since 1870, when he speaks ex-cathedra he is, but I've never heard in modern history of a Pope being fired " sacked by the church. But things began to change by the medieval church, and again I'm only reading from Roman Catholic history that the creedom of 1140, where matters of faith are concerned, a General Counsel " a kind of magisterium " is greater than a pope. For though the Roman pope has sometimes erred, this does not mean that the Roman Church has. In other words, popes can say things that are erroneous and the church doesn"t have to support them.

By 1200 A.D. Pope Innocent III: "Every cleric must obey the pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the pope." In the year 1200 the papacy decreed you have to obey the pope even if he tells you to do something which is evil and that no one may judge it, although the earlier councils of the church fired popes. A religion that came to teach you have to follow a man even when he's telling you to do something evil.

In the year 1302, Pope Boniface VIII, "Unam Sanctam": "We declare, affirm, and define as a truth necessary for salvation that every human being is subject to the Roman Pontiff." In the year 1302 it was decreed by Pope Boniface VIII that to have salvation " that is escape hell and go to heaven " you have to be subject to the pope.

Let"s move to the modern era.

1854, Pope Pius IX, "Ineffablis Deus": "If anyone shall dare to think otherwise the most Blessed Virgin was from the first moment of her conception preserved immune from all stain of original sin. if anyone dares to think otherwise that has been defined here by us, let him know that he certainly has abandoned the divine and Catholic church." The church is proclaimed as divine and if you don't believe that Mary was sinless you"ve abandoned it. That was in 1854. Why was it not taught earlier? The term "theoticos" ""mother of God" is not in the Bible or in the Greek text anywhere, it"s not in the Vulgate. Pius IX was the same pope who issued a papal encyclical in which democracy was condemned " "Quanta Cura".

In the first Vatican Council in the year 1870, "Pastor Aeternus": "We teach and define that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is when in the exercise of his offices pastor and teacher of all Christians, he defines by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority a doctrine of faith and morals which is to be held by the whole Church. It is by reason of the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer wished His church to be endowed in defining doctrines of faith and morals." Since 1870 there"s been an official doctrine that the pope, when he speaks ex cathedra from the chair of Peter cannot make a mistake; a human being who cannot make a mistake even though earlier church councils said that popes can make mistakes even in matters of doctrine and some were excommunicated for it.

Quite a book. A book not containing Protestant documents, a book compiled by Roman Catholics containing Roman Catholic documents.

Again, Boniface VIII, "Unum Sanctum", 1302: "We declare, affirm, and define as a truth necessary for salvation that every human being is subject to the Roman Pontiff." If you"re not a Catholic you can"t go to heaven they said.

There was a Pope Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum", 1896: "Let such as these take counsel with themselves and realize that they can in no wise be counted among the children of God unless they take Christ Jesus as their brother and at the same time the church, that is the church of Rome, as their mother." Jesus as your brother and the Roman Catholic Church as your mother. And if that is not the case, you"re not a child of God. John 1 says to all who believed Him, who believed in His name, to all who received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. (Jn. 1:12)

1948. the Holy Office, "Cum Comperum" reminded Catholics of canonical prohibitions against unauthorized prohibition and so-called ecumenical meetings with non-Catholic Christians and in shared worship. They were warned against it in 1948, now all of the sudden it"s to be pursued in order to get people to become Catholic. That tells me something. At one time they were afraid of Catholics being lured away from the church by associating with other Christians; now they think the time is ripe to lure other Christians into the Roman Church.

The Second Vatican Council in 1964, Dogmatic Constitution of the Church: "Those who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or His church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart and moved by grace tray in their actions to do His will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience, these too may attain eternal salvation." Which directly, of course, contradicts the earlier pronouncement Unum Sanctum.

Contradiction upon contradiction; things have devolved and changed. Yet the constitutional motto of the Roman Church is "Semper Idem" " "always the same". Well, it"s not; it"s changed, changed, and changed. What the Roman Catholic Church is today it became at the Council of Trent, basically, in the aftermath of the Reformation. We can document it from their own documents. Some Catholic scholars admit it. Yet in a way it is Semper Idem. Once they make another doctrine they can"t change it. There are two kinds of doctrines in the Roman Church:proxima fide and de fide You can change a proxima fide doctrine like making the mass from Latin into English, but a de fide doctrine " transubstantiation, purgatory, indulgence " they couldn't change that stuff.

And so looking at these contradictions, coming from a Catholic background on my mother"s side of the family, I have to ask some questions of my Catholic friends " sincere questions. Again, I"m not attacking you, it would be attacking my own family, indeed my own mother. I'm not attacking you, I'm simply trying to arrive at the truth. I'm only asking you questions that I once asked myself.

BILLEDET HEROVER ER INSPIRERET AF AT BIBELEN BRUGER KORN/S †D, SOM ET BILLEDE P … GUDS ORD

- para los testigos de Jehov ¡
- para los Mormones
- para los Hind ºes

Welcome to Moriel Ministries' Online Sermons page. Here you will find a selection of sermons by J. Jacob Prasch and other Bible teachers which can be streamed online to your computer. Most of Jacob's sermons are also available for purchase from any of the Moriel online stores accessible from the menu at the top of the page. You can also go here for a collection of sermons which have been transcribed and available for download or reading online, here for a list of sermons which you can listen to, and here for a list of sermons you can watch online.

The second question I would like to ask is this one: I was always told in Catholic schools and by my mother that Peter was "the rock". "Upon this rock I will build my church" from Matthew 16. (Mt. 16:18)

I was told that in English and, when I was a little boy, I was taught to read Latin. The Bible was the Vulgate, the only one read ritually; it was not studied. However, having learned to read the original Greek and Hebrew languages, I looked at the original meaning in the original languages. I would not call myself a Protestant, but remember Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Cranmer and every one of the reformers, every one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation was from the intelligentsia of the Roman Catholic priesthood. Everyone had been a Roman Catholic priest who went back and read the Scriptures in the original languages. I"m not defending Protestantism, I don't identify with it; I"m a Christian, but I"m just asking the question, "Is Peter the rock?"

I lived in Israel for many years and at the base of Mt. Herman there"s a place called "Banyas". In the Bible it was called "Caesarea Philippi" and it is there where Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build My church". And I was told that He gave the keys and power to Peter. "Whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". (Mt. 16:19)

I'd like to read directly from the Greek language what it says in the New Testament. Jesus spoke Aramaic, but when Matthew wrote it down on the testimony of the apostles who"d been eyewitnesses he wrote it in Greek. Or if it was written in another language it was quickly translated into Greek. We have one historical reference that Matthew might have been in Hebrew or the Hebrew dialect of Aramaic according to Haggis Sippus, but there"s no manuscript ever found. We have the Greek. And it is the translation of the Greek which the Roman Catholic church bases its doctrine that Peter is "the rock". Is that what it says?

Verse 18, and I"ll translate it word by word:

"Kago de" " "Also I" or "And also I"…
…"soi lego" " "to thee" or "to you say"…
…"hoti sy ei Petros" " "thou art Peter" or "you are Peter"…
…"kai" " "and"…
…"epi" " "around" or "on, but in the context it would mean "on", with that I agree…
…"taute te petra" " "on this rock"…
…"oikodomeso… (from where we get the word "oikos" " "house") …mou" " "I will build of Me"…
…"ten ekklesian" " "the church".

It would be built on Christ, not of Peter.

At Banyas " Caesarea Philippi, there"s a cascade with millions and millions of flat chips of stone washed out of the cascade. The Greek word "petros" " "Peter", "little Peters". There is a big boulder on which the temple of the Greek god Pan that had been there at one time had been built and the temple to Caesar Augustus, the deified emperor, had been built that Jesus was referring to where the house would be built. That is called a "petra". "You are one of these little chips of stone; upon this boulder I will build my church of Me."

When asked to explain this, Roman Catholic scholars say, "But Jesus was speaking Aramaic, or a language related to Hebrew. and because Peter was a male He had the use the masculine form 'petros', which is the word for 'a little rock' instead of 'petra' which is the word for 'a boulder"". I went to a pretty good university and a pretty good bible college and I'm told by people who are from Greece that my Greek is not bad so far as my understanding of its meaning. But I know people who are really, really fluent in Greek, they grew up speaking it and they"re experts in reading the Old Testament, the church fathers, and so forth, they are from Greece. I know people like this in Australia particularly, and they confirm what I say is right. And so if there"s any academic or a person with a degree in Greek saying what I say is right, what I say is what I was taught. Gender in Greek does not have to do with sex in any primary sense; it has to do with the way a word is used in the context of the sentence. It is not male and female as in sex, it"s male and female as in the way the word is used in the context.

Let us look 1 Corinthians 10:4…

and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

In Greek it says, "de he petra en ho Christos". "Petra". Christ Himself who was a male is referred to in the feminine. The idea that they changed the gender because Peter was a male is ridiculous. That is not how Greek grammar works. I don't believe St. Paul made a mistake, nor did the Holy Spirit when He inspired St. Paul to write Corinthians. "The rock" is Christ and it"s called "petra". What does it say in Matthew 16? "You are "petros" and upon the "petra" I will build My church." You cannot use a little chip of stone the size of your thumb as the foundation for a building; you cannot use a "petros" as the foundation for a building; you can only use a "petra". If you"ve been to Caesarea Philippi you would see it makes no logical sense. If you know Greek you would see it makes no logical sense.

But there's more. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 we read something else.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man"s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man"s work. If any man"s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man"s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

If anyone " if anyone " builds on the foundation of something else " gold, silver, precious stones, etc., it"ll be manifested on the day of the Lord; it will be revealed with fire; it won't stand. The only foundation we can build on is Christ, not Peter. Was St. Paul wrong? For that matter, were the early Roman Catholic popes and councils wrong? Or were the later ones wrong who said that Peter is "the rock" instead of Christ even though the New Testament says the opposite, and even though their early popes said the opposite?

The Roman Catholic Church claims that its doctrines are not only "apostolic", but "patristic" " they come from the church fathers. I do not believe in the doctrinal authority of the church fathers. I do not believe the "apostolic" necessarily equals the "patristic". However, even if I did, of the church fathers the Roman Catholic church looks to as a way to define what the apostles believed, most of the church fathers said that "the rock" was Christ, not Peter. A minority of them said "the rock" was the faith of Peter. Most say "the rock" was Christ, a few said "the rock" was Peter"s faith. None " not even one of their own church fathers " not only one of your church fathers has ever said that "the rock" was Peter,

Given the fact that you cannot use a chip of stone the size of your thumb " a flat chip of stone the size of your thumb " as the foundation for a building, given the fact that the original language says "You are the "chip of stone" and upon "the boulder" I will build My church", given the fact as St. Paul says we can build on no foundation other than Christ Himself, and given the fact of the New Testament says that Christis "the rock" " "petra", "the boulder", and given the fact that none of your own church fathers of the Roman Church believed that "the rock" was Peter, why do you? Why do you believe something which is practically, historically, biblically, patristically unfounded? And in fact, having been to Caesarea Philippi so many times, I have to say asbsurd. Why, in the early centuries, did no one believe it? Popes were fired " sacked by church councils. That is the question.

My mother has the view that many people would have " Irish, Catholic, British, Protestant. I just got back from Ireland a few days ago and I"ve studied Irish history at some length. I was astounded to discover that most of the founders of Irish Republicanism, originally called "The Home Rule Movement" " Isaac Butt, Theobold, Napper Tandy, Charles Parnell, Wolfe-Tone " every one of them was a Protestant. "The Irish patriots like Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, was a Protestant. It was only later identified with Catholicism in the times of Daniel O'Connor and so forth. But I was more astounded to learn how the "English", quote/unquote, first got involved in Ireland. There was a non-English king, an ethnic Norman. He was not Anglo-Saxon, he was a French Viking. Henry II was threatened with excommunication by Pope Adrian IV if he would not invade Ireland and put an end to the local Celtic church in Ireland, and force them to acquiesce to Rome and the papacy. How did the English first become involved in invading and occupying Ireland? The pope sent them.

The term is "revisionism". I"m no admirer of Voltaire"s values, but he was a talented writer. And he was right about one thing: "History is the lie everybody agrees on". When you read what really happened you get a different picture. But the problem I have in speaking to my very Catholic mother is her Catholic identity is part and parcel of her Irish identity and can't see beyond it. There is a historical prejudice that's emotionally charged. It would be family disloyalty. Jesus said, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me". (Mt. 10:37) Do I love my mother? Yes, but I love God first and I want them to know the truth.

When I looked for the truth I found that "the rock" was and is Christ, not Peter, not only according to the New Testament but according to Roman Catholic history itself, That's my second question: Why do you believe Peter is "the rock" when the New Testament and your own church fathers and just the practical circumstances of trying to build a house on a chip of stone all dictate he could not possibly be?

Popes have been warlords. They ordered nations to go to war with each other. They"ve been homosexuals, they"ve had illegitimate children. The banking families of Europe would vie to get their man into the papacy " the Borgia popes, the Medici family. Sometimes there would be two or three people claiming to be pope and the one that had the biggest military backing, usually from France, would declare the others to be antipopes. Well, I'll leave that to others to sort out. The only question I'm asking you is how can Peter be "the rock"?

And even if he was "the rock", where does it say that Peter was empowered to pass that position on to others? If Peter was the first pope, why is it in the book of Acts 15 at the first council of the church that James presided, not Peter? James says, "Brethren, listen to Peter"? No, "Listen to me". (Acts 15:13) And he does not rule by decree. He says, "It seems good to the Holy Spirit and to us". (Acts 15:28) It was a collective decision by all the apostles, it was not the pope speaking autocratically ex cathedra. Why was James presiding and doing all the talking if Peter was the pope? It"s a fair question.

Why did St. Paul rebuke Peter in the presence of all in the book of Galatians? (Gal. 2:11-14) When is the last time you saw a bishop or a cardinal or a priest standing up in public and face-to-face challenging the pope and telling him off for being a hypocrite or behaving hypocritically? I've seen them kneel down and kiss his ring, but I've never seen any of them tell him off. You don't talk that way to the pope. If Peter was the pope, why did Paul talk to him that way? Fair question? Why did James preside if Peter was the pope?

Even in its earlier centuries the Roman Church didn't believe that. Now of course I would argue that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist as such until the 4th Century, but we"ll put that aside. The question I'm asking is in light of the evidence " biblical, patristic, and historical and practical, how can you possibly believe Peter is "the rock" when the Bible says "the rock" is Christ and we can build on no other foundation?

But I have yet another question.

In the Gospel of St. John 6 I've heard it quoted, quoted, quoted, and re-quoted as applying to the Eucharist. We read the following, I"m beginning in verse 47…

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

Notice St. John, quoting Jesus, says that Jesus said if you believe in Jesus you have eternal life. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him." " the Gospel of St. John 3:36 in the Roman Catholic Bible. Jesus said, "If a man believes in Me though he die yet shall He live for he"s passed from death to life" " the Gospel of St. John 5:24according to the Roman Catholic Bible. Belief is the key to eternal life.

"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

Jesus is saying that the manna that fell in the wilderness in the book of Exodus is a symbol of Him. It is the type, He is the antitype.

Now I am told that this refers to communion, the Lord's Supper at the Eucharist. The Lord"s Supper " the Eucharist, comes of the Jewish Passover. The Last Supper was a Jewish Passover meal called a "seder". But Jews had to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem at Passover time; this was not at Passover and it was not in Jerusalem. Whatever applies to the Lord"s Supper does not apply in the direct sense because it's not the Last Supper. It's the wrong time of year, it"s the wrong place. It is, first of all, talking about how the Exodus was a symbol of Jesus " the manna.

"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."

He would give His flesh for the life of the world.

Then the Jews…

…that means the Judeans, not all Jews but the religious establishment,,,
…began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"

Those influenced by the Pharisees would have had this argument.

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."

Unless you eat His flesh and drink His blood you cannot live.

I'm told this is the Eucharist and it is the key to eternal life. That's what I was taught in Catholic school. The context, however, going all the way back to verse 32 is the Exodus. No fewer than three places Jesus says in the same passage that the key " the key " to eternal life is belief. But I am told the bread and wine was transubstantiated, turned into His literal body and blood and then eaten. How do I account for this? Well, the first problem I had as a Catholic looking at this was this: Just reading on…

These things…
…in verse 59…
…He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum"…
…not at the Last Supper in Jerusalem when the Lord"s Supper communion was instituted.

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing…

How can eating His flesh be the key to eternal life if "the flesh profits nothing"? "Eating the flesh" meant believing His words. I will prove it.

We have to read this as a literary unit, as a "gospel". In John 1 of this same gospel St. John writes that "the Word became flesh" (Jn. 1:14) " the Greek word "sarx". "Logos" became "sarx". Jesus is the Word of God incarnate.

Look at the New Testament, first of all in the book of Revelation 10:10. This Same St. John, the same apostle who wrote this in the Apocalypse, says…

I took the little book out of the angel"s hand and ate it…

Belief equals eating the Word of God; you make it part of yourself. He was the Word incarnate, it becomes incarnate within us, it becomes part of us. He ate the Word.

Let"s look at the book of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel 3…

Then He said to me, "Son of man…
…just as Jesus is called "Son of Man"…
…eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.

So he ate the Word of God.

The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah said the following in 15:16…

Your words were found and I ate them…

The Word becomes flesh. You "eat" the Word by believing it. "He who believes has eternal life". Jesus says in John 6, the flesh profits nothing. How could it possibly be the key to eternal life? You have three problems; that's what I discovered as a Catholic.

The first problem was on one hand I was being told that the sacrament of the Eucharist was the key to eternal life, but the catechism told me salvation comes by the sacraments of baptism and penance " that"s how sin is taken away. It contradicts itself. Which sacrament saves? Now in fact by reading the Bible I came to realize no sacrament saves " Jesus saves. It's not an ex opere operato ritual called a "sacrament". The sacraments are emblems; it"s believing in Him through faith and repentance. That is the first problem. How can the Eucharist be the key to eternal life if your own catechism says it"s other sacraments?

The second problem: Once more, in the first church council of the book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 15, the apostles, including Peter,outlawed the consumption of blood as a pagan demonic practice. Cannibalism was outlawed as pagan and demonic. Christians were told not to do it. If it is literal blood, you can"t drink it. The apostles were told by the Holy Spirit to forbid its consumption. "The flesh profits nothing". That"s the second problem.

The third problem is, again, Jesus was a Jew. This had to be celebrated at Passover in Jerusalem. What He would have said, the Hebrew prayer, would have been, "Za guphe sha ani ashbar b"ad"chem zot asu l"zichroni; ha"cos ha"zot he ha"brit ha"had asch zot asu l"zichroni." "This is my body I"ve broken for you, this cup is the cup of the new covenant of my blood poured out for you, do it in remembrance of Me." (Lk. 22:17-20) The apostles and Jesus were Jewish; they understood it would have been a memorial if they understood what it meant at all. Obviously the Sanhedrin and the people they influenced did not. It"s a memorial. "Do this in remembrance of Me". Consumption of blood was a pagan practice, not a Jewish one.

That is my question. If your own catechism says salvation comes by baptism and penance, how can it come by the Eucharist? If the flesh profits nothing, how can it be talking about literal flesh, given the fact that the apostles condemned its literal consumption? The doctrine of transubstantiation was formulated in its present form in the Middle Ages by Thomas Aquinas based on Aristotle"s "philosophy of accidents" which was debunked by modern science, chemistry, and physics. I won't go into that now, but that is my question. If the flesh profits nothing, if Jesus said the key is belief " eating His flesh is believing the Word, if the consumption of blood was outlawed, how can it be what I was told as a Catholic and what you were told? It can't possibly be if you"re not allowed to consume blood and the flesh profits nothing. Please answer my question. I've yet to find a priest who can, maybe you can.

The first question I would like to ask you is this: There are two reasons most Jewish people I know " neighbors, friends, family " two reasons most I know reject any idea of Jesus being the Jewish Messiah. Those reasons are always "anti-Semitism" and "Why, if He was the Messiah, did He not bring in worldwide peace?" Therefore He could not be the Messiah. Let's begin with the most sensitive of issues, anti-Semitism.

I had an uncle who was in a German camp. He was a prisoner of war. The Nazis were going to kill Him. He was rescued by the Russians at the last moment as my wife's father was rescued by the Russians at the last moment as he was against the wall about to be shot. The Germans were trying to kill as many Jews as they could before they evacuated, before the retreat in the face of the oncoming invasion. My wife is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Most of her family were murdered. And, of course, they were murdered in the name of Jesus Christ. The remaining orthodox church, the Roman Catholic Church and most of the Lutheran church in Germany collaborated with the Nazis. Hitler quoted Luther at length. It was not just Catholics, it was Protestants. How can I believe that the person in whose name one Inquisition after another, one pogrom after another, and ultimately the Holocaust should be even considered as a possible candidate to be the Jewish Messiah, when in His name nothing but genocidal extermination and persecution has come to Israel and the Jews? That"s the question I asked myself, but this is the question I would like to ask you.

If you were to read the Tanak, "Yirmayah Ha"nabiy" " Jeremiah the Prophet was arrested and thrown into a cistern. (Jer. 38:6) He pointed people to the Law, the Torah. He warned them of impending doom and judgment and God's anger with them because of idolatry and immorality. And like most of the other prophets he was persecuted. But he was not persecuted in the name of Ba"al; he was not persecuted in the name of Molech. Most of the Hebrew prophets who were persecuted or murdered by their own people were murdered in the name of Yahweh and Moses. They were accused of speaking against the Torah and Moses when they said that God's judgment was going to come upon Jerusalem.

I recall several years ago when an Orthodox Jew wearing a yarmulke drew a pistol in north Tel Aviv and fired bullets directly into the back of the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. He did this in the name of Judaism; he did this in the name of the Torah; he did this in the name of Yahweh; he did this in the name of Moses " "Moshe Rabbeinu". An Orthodox Jew assassinated Yitzhak Rabin, gunned him down, murdered his own prime minister in the name of Moses and Judaism. Can I reject Moses and Judaism because somebody assassinated Yitzhak Rabin in his name? Can I reject Moses and Judaism because the prophets were persecuted and killed in their name?

Simon bar Kokhba came and was extolled as a hero. He was proclaimed to be the Messiah by Rabbi Akiva in the name of Moses and the Prophets. The Israeli general and archeologist, the first chief of staff of the Israeli military Ya"alon said something different. He described bar Kokhba as something of a brute tyrant who once kicked a 90-year-old rabbi in the head and killed him; a warlord, someone who"d been power-hungry. Some saw him that way, but Rabbi Akiva said he was the Messiah. And in the name of Moses and Judaism, Rabbi Akiva promised the Jewish people he was the Messiah and would bring them deliverance. At the battle of Betar, the worst holocaust in proportionate terms that has ever happened to Israel took place, (something in proportionate terms as bad as the Holocaust of the 1930"s and 40"s) only it happened in their own land. Because Rabbi Akiva proclaimed bar Kokhba to be the Messiah in the name of Moses and Judaism, can I reject Moses and Judaism? No, Rabbi Akiva did not bring peace to Israel and establish worldwide peace through his Messiah bar Kochba. Bar Kochba did not establish worldwide peace and bring peace to Israel even though in the name of Moses and Judaism they said he would.

If you"ve studied Judaism you know about Shabbetai. Most rabbis in major areas of Europe and North Africa, most in major areas and many others in a variety of areas, said he was the Messiah, but he was not a Messiah. In the end he led the people into what can best be described as something debaucherous and grossly disappointing. Yet it was in the name of Moses and the Prophets that the rabbis proclaimed Shabbetai Zevi to be the Messiah. Can I reject Moses and Judaism because the rabbis misled the Jewish people into following Shabbetai Zevi in the name of Moses and Judaism?

Two generations later the rabbis did it again and they said Jacob Frank was the Messiah on a wide scale. But Jacob Frank was not the Messiah, yet in the name of Moses and Judaism the rabbis said he was. And some very bad things happened to the Jewish people. There"ve been many people who the rabbis have said is the Messiah right up to the present age, and they always proclaimed them to be the Messiah in the name of Moses and Judaism. Murder and atrocity was committed in the name of Moses and Judaism. Genocidal persecution of the Jews resulted as a direct result of Rabbi Akiva"s action perpetrated in the name of Moses and Judaism.

On what basis can I reject Moses and Judaism because of what was done in the name of Moses? I cannot reject Moses and Judaism because of what was done in the name of Moses. I have to accept or reject Moses on the basis of what Moses said and did, not on the basis of what others said and did in his name. The issue is not what was done in the name of Moses, the issue is Moses. So then my question to you is, "On what basis can I reject Yeshua " Rabbi Yeshua bar Jozef m"Netseret, whom the Gentiles call 'Jesus of Nazareth' " on what basis can I dismiss Him and reject Him?" On the basis of what was done in His name to the Jewish people and to others? The issue is not what was done and said in His name by others, the issue is what did He say and do? The issue is not what Jesus is said to have said, the issue is not what others did generations and centuries after His public ministry in Israel, the issue is not what others said and did in His name. The issue is not that, the issue is He Himself.

I considered Moses apart from what was done in his name. Now you don't think of it, but goys " Gentiles will say much the same thing about you that you think about them. They have these myths of conspiracy theories and Jewish bankers and Jewish merchants and Jews trying to take over the medical profession and the academic institutions, making Jews the scapegoats for most of man"s faults and problems when in fact we all know there are both good Jews and bad Jews the same as there"s good Gentiles and bad Gentiles. But it"s easy just to say, "Oh, the Jews!", and it"s just as easy to say, "Oh, the Christians!" No real Jew would commit murder in the name of Judaism; no real Jew would persecute their own prophets in the name of Judaism; no real Christian would commit murder in the name of Christianity. no real Christians would murder God's own chosen people, the Jews, in the name of a Jewish faith. Christianity is a Jewish faith.

How can you reject Jesus on the basis of what was done in His name unless you reject Moses on the same grounds? I don't reject Moses for those reasons, it wouldn't be fair to Moses and it wouldn't be fair to myself. The issue is was Moses right? I hope you won"t reject Jesus on those grounds. It wouldn't be fair to Him and it wouldn't be fair to you. The issue is, "Was Yeshua right?" Not the Gentile "Jesus", not the Catholic or Protestant "Jesus", but the Jewish Jesus: Was He right?

By the 2nd Century the Jewish historian Max Dimont tells us that 25% of the Jews in Jerusalem believed he was the Messiah. The only reason Gentiles believe in Him is because Jews believed it first. The only reason there"s a New Testament is that Jews wrote it. Both those calling themselves Jews and those calling themselves Christians are the products of revisionism, a rewritten distortion of history. There is nothing Gentile about Jesus or His message except that He loves Gentiles and wanted to save them and wanted them to believe in the Jewish God and the Jewish way of salvation. That is all. "la"or goyim" " "a light to the Gentiles". (Is. 42:6).

That's my first question, my dear Jewish friend, how can you reject Jesus because of what was done in His name when the same things were done in the name of Moses and Judaism?

And so I look at the Scriptures in the original languages. That is one of my questions. Having read The New World Translation and the diaglot, I had problems with what the original Greek manuscript said and the way certain things were translated. But let me begin with my first question.

I"m reading from the epistle to the Hebrews in chapter 1. Beginning in verse 5…

For to which of the angels did He ever say, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again, "I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me"? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels He says, "Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire." But of the Son He says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions." And, "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end." But to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies A footstool for Your feet"? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

I agree with the Jehovah's Witnesses that there are angels. But the Jehovah's Witnesses told me something that I researched: They said that Jesus was an angel. They identified Him with the angel Michael the Archangel. The idea that Jesus was an angel was something that began with someone called Arius of Alexandria in the early centuries of Christendom. And the Jehovah's Witnesses had this view that He was an angel, not God. They will say He is "a god".

Now there's a problem. "En arche kai ho logos". "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God". (Jn 1:1) My Jehovah's Witness friends told me that in The New World Translation it says "a god"; the Word was "a god". But there is no indefinite article in the Greek language.

In the book of Isaiah Jehovah says, "I am God and there is no God other than Me". (Is. 45:5) If there"s no God other than Jehovah, and there is no indefinite article " "a god" " in the Greek language (and in that text it"s not there), how can Jesus only be "a god" if there"s only one God? That is the question. I"ve never been able to find somebody who could answer.

When I simply ask the question they say the word "trinity" is not in the Bible. But you know, my Jehovah's Witness friends would use words like "theocratic rule" and "millennial kingdom". Now I believe in a millennial kingdom, but the word "millennial kingdom" and "millennium" are not in the Bible. The doctrine of the millennium is in the Bible but the word isn"t. I don't understand why it is acceptable to use words not in the Bible for some things but not for others. Do I reject the millennial reign of Christ or a millennial rule because there's no word "millennium"? No, I don't. The question is not, "Is the word "millennium" in there?", the question is, "Is the doctrine, the teaching in there?" Well, it is. I agree with the Jehovah's Witnesses, there is a millennium.

Now I have an advantage a lot of people don"t have. The name of God they call "Jehovah", and they insist that is His personal name. But speaking Hebrew I was kind of startled how few Jehovah's Witnesses knew what it meant. In Hebrew it does not say "Jehovah", it says "Yehowah". Some people pronounce it "Yahweh". "Jehovah" is another word based on "Yehowah", but they didn't know where it came from. So I told them where it came from.

There was a hymn written by someone who was not a Jehovah"s Witness, Guide Me Now, O Great Jehovah. But the term came from Diaspora Jews in Europe. Jews considered the name of Yahweh ineffable " inutterable, for fear of taking it in vain. So they either referred to God as "the Name" " "Hashem" or they referred to God as "the Lord". When an Orthodox Jew reads the Old Testament, when it says "Yahweh" he says "Lord" " "Adonai". So what they did was they took the accents and syllables of "Adonai" " "Lord", and combined it with the word "Yehowah". "Yehowah Adonai Yehowah" " "Jehovah". That"s how they got it.

I met many Jehovah's Witnesses who would insist on believing these things " some of them true things " but they didn't know where they came from or what they meant. Well, I have no problem saying "Jehovah", but His name is "Yahweh". "Jehovah" is a made-up word combining "Yahweh" with "Adonai". However, to say that Jesus was only "a god" when there"s only one God, this brings a question. I was told He was an angel. My question is this: In verse 8 of Hebrews 1 it says…

… "Your throne, O God, is forever…

…and it quotes from Psalm 45:6-7…

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the word here for "God" is "God" " "Elohim". But the Lord has "anointed" somebody. That word "anointed" is where we get the word "Messiah" " "Mashiach" in Hebrew, translated to Greek, "Christo" " "Christ". And so the epistle of the Hebrews tells us that Psalm 45 is talking about the Anointed One, the Messiah " Christ. And I agree with it. It"s a good translation into Greek from Hebrew. And I just read you a good translation from Greek into English. This is my question: if Christ it's called God and there is only one God, and if Hebrews 1 makes it clear He was not just an angel but if Hebrews 1 by comparison says, "To which one of the angels did God ever say "Your throne, O God, is forever"", how can you say Jesus is simply an angel?

Hebrews 1 says, "Let the angels of God worship Jesus" in verse 6. Why would they worship Him if he was not God? The Greek word is "proskynesatosan", from the word "proskuto" " "worship". It"s not "obeisance", it is translated from the Hebrew "hishtachvaya" and there"s an accusative particle: They worship Him. Please answer me that question. How can He be an angel when Hebrews 1 says He's not and the angels worship Him? How can He only be "a god" when there's only one God? "I"m the Lord, your God, you"ll have no gods before Me". (Dt. 5:6-7)

Questions are always asked of me. I don't mind when people answer my questions with a question as long as they eventually give me the answer. But so far I haven't gotten one from a Jehovah's Witness and maybe you'll be the one who is able to give me the answer, Some of the questions they ask me is this: "Well, how could Jesus say His Father is greater than Him if He's God?" Now I"m happy to answer that question as long as you can answer mine.

In Philippians 2:8-11 we read about something that theologians would call "kinosis". In Philippians 2 we read how it can happen.

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation…

…not "work for"…

… work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

God becomes a man in the person of Jesus and therefore as a man He is less than His Father.

For instance, there"s an electrical company called "Robert Jones and Son". The father is a master electrician, his son began as his apprentice. They were both called "Robert Jones" " Robert Jones, Sr. and Robert Jones, Jr. They were both human beings. They were both males. They were both one in nature, but the senior was greater in position than the junior. They were co-equal in nature, they were both humans, they were both electricians, they were both men, but one was greater than the other in position. Based on Jesus becoming a man, being equal with God, but not saying it"s something we couldn't grasp, I have no problem saying His Father was greater than Him.

That is my answer to your question, the question that Jehovah's Witnesses always ask me. But please tell me your answer to my question: How can He be an angel if the angels worshipped Him? How can He be "a god" if there"s only one God and when the text "Your throne, O God, is forever" says He"s not an angel? Well, when I continue to ask for an answer, I"m usually told, "Well then who was Jesus praying to if He was God?" I"ll answer that question providing you and can answer my question.

In Hebrew the confession of faith is what Jesus said when they asked Him the greatest commandment. He said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is oneness". (Mk. 12:29) "Sh"ma Yisra"el Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad". (Dt. 6:4) There is no Hebrew word for "water", only "waters" " "mayim"; there is no Hebrew word for "sky", only "skies" " "shamayim"; there is no Hebrew word for "God", only "Gods" " "Elohim", it is plural. You have an abbreviated form called "El", but it is simply a conjunctive or something used in in place of "Elohim" where it"s used in connection with other words. "Elohim" is plural. "Sh"ma Yisra"el Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad". "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our GODS is oneness". That's what it says. Does this say there is more than one God? No, He is "oneness" but the word is "echad", it"s a plural oneness. It is the same oneness when Adam and Eve become one flesh. (Gen. 2:24), you shall become "echad"; the two become one. And a third person is procreated, there is one in three, there is three in one. We are made in His image and likeness. Yes, there is one God but there is more than one person.

You're confused? When Stephen was martyred he saw Jesus at the right of the Father. (I don't pretend to be able to understand this any more than the Bible reveals it, but I understand it well enough to know it is true because that's what it says.) His Father is God and He is God. They are two different people yet one God. What makes me with my finite mind think I can understand God's own nature this side of eternity? The Scripture says one day we will know as we are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12), but right now I know well enough to know I have enough in the Bible to tell me that it is true. Who was He praying to? He was praying to His Father. His Father was God, yes, and how could He be God? Because He was. How could Robert Jones, Sr. and Robert Jones Jr. both be Robert Jones? One is greater in nature, greater in position? No, greater in position but not in nature. They"re co-equal in nature, different in position.

When I"m looking at a pregnant lady, an expectant mother, am I Iooking at one person or two people? They are metabolically integrated. I"m looking at both one person and two people. When a marriage is being consummated God says they become one flesh. In God's eyes am I looking at one person or two people? Well, biblically I"m looking at two people but I"m also looking at one person. The Bible says your wife's body is your own and so forth, (1 Cor. 7:4) and the husband"s body is the wife"s. We"re made in His image and likeness " it teaches something about Him; we"ll understand it when we see Him face to face, right now we see through a glass dimly (1 Cor. 13:12) but we know it is true.

That is my answer to your question, now I would like to hear your answer to my question. If the angel's worship Him and if it says, "To which of the angels did He say, "Let the others worship Him", if it says, "Your throne, O God is forever" and there"s only one God, if there"s no indefinite article in the Greek " the word was "a god" is not in any Greek manuscript and would make no sense in the Greek language " can you please explain to me how Jesus is not God and only an angel?

The Trinity, things like this, I'll be happy to talk to you about further " I'll be happy to answer your questions, but please answer mine. That"s my first question for my Jehovah's Witness friends. Please answer this question and we"ll talk further.

My third question concerns prophecy. I"d like to read something from the book of Deuteronomy 18:20 €¦

"But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die." You may say in your heart, "How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?" When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

(Actually, "you shall not pay attention to him".) People who claim to speak for Jehovah and predict things in His name that don"t happen are false prophets.

I have a number of issues, back issues, going back to the 1950"s from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn, New York not 5 miles from where I was born, their headquarters Bethel. Published right there, I"ve passed that building many times with the big clock on it on the other side of the Manhattan Bridge. And I read in these back issues of Awake magazine and Watchtowers and it said all kinds of things: "The politicians who said World War I would bring in worldwide peace " it would be the war to end all wars " were false prophets, they shall die." Now of course those politicians didn't claim to be speaking for Jehovah directly, but The Watchtower says that they are still false prophets because they predicted things that didn't happen. If politicians who predict things that didn't happen are false prophets even though they didn't represent themselves as speaking for Jehovah,  how much more is somebody who claims to be speaking for Him a false prophet.

And so the Awake magazines and the Watchtower magazines that I"ll happily send you a photocopy of it you write us or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358 = 'MorielCarol' + '@'; addy651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358 = addy651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358 + 'yahoo' + '.' + 'com'; var addy_text651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358 = 'contact us';document.getElementById('cloak651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358').innerHTML += ''+addy_text651d81345e8549aa903d4996bf45a358+''; , says that various people in other religions, many of them calling themselves Christian, have done the same thing, predicted things that didn't happen and those who follow them are following false prophets and are in rebellion against Jehovah. So The Watchtower Society says if somebody predicts something that doesn"t happen, get away from them or you"re in rebellion against Jehovah; especially if they claim to be Christian or speaking in His name. And they have a whole list of incidents where it"s happened.

I agree with them. They are absolutely right. People who predict things in the name of Jehovah that don"t happen are false prophets. Jehovah commands and demands that we get away from and don't come anywhere near them and if we don't get away from such people we are in rebellion against Jehovah. That is what The Watchtower Society teaches, that is what the book of Deuteronomy 18 commands, and they are right.

This is my question: I have a copy right in my hand at the moment of something called The Millennial Dawn published by the Watchtowerpublishing company originally in 1889 but re-published since. It"s Volume 2, The Time Is At Hand. It goes back to Charles Taze Russell. It says the following " I"m reading from page 101 in the chapter called Times of the Gentiles.

"Be not surprised then when in subsequent chapters we present proofs that the setting up of the kingdom of God has already begun. And that is pointed out in the prophecy as due to begin, the exercise of power in A.D. 1878, and that the battle of the great day of God Almighty, Revelation 16:14, which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of the present rulership, is already commenced."

On the previous page 100 €¦

"So in this day of Jehovah, the day of trouble, our Lord takes His great power hitherto dormant and reigns, and this is that will cause trouble throughout the world and will not so recognize it for the time being. But by the end of 1914 they will recognize it. The present government of the world is going to be overthrown completely, and the kingdom established, the battle of the great day of the Lord. It will end in 1914, the battle of Armageddon."

Today Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you, "Oh, well Christ turned His attention to the world in 1914". But in 1889 they said He turned His attention to the world in 1878. I have it in your own literature. What you are now saying happened in 1914, your founder Mr. Russell said happened in 1878 " that"s when God turned His attention. And he prophesied, speaking in the name of Jehovah, claiming to be Jehovah"s spokesman, claiming that organization " your organization " is Jehovah"s organization, and said directly that the battle of Armageddon would end by the end of 1914 and the kingdom of this world would be overthrown and the millennium would have come.

Well, World War I was ugly and brutal, but it was not the battle of Armageddon. It didn't even take place in the Middle East and World War II was much worse. And some of that did take place in the Middle East. My question is if Jehovah forbids us to follow people who predict things in His name that don"t happen, if The Watchtower forbids us based on the command of Jehovah to follow people who predict things in His name that don't happen, if Awake magazine forbids us to follow people who predict things in the name of Jehovah that don"t happen, why are you doing it? It"s a fair question. If Jehovah says don"t do it, if your own organization says don't do it, if you"ve printed multiple issues of Watchtower and Awake magazine that I have that say don"t do it, why are you doing it?

I can prove Charles Taze Russell, Judge Rutherford, Nathan Knorr, one of your leaders after another did the very thing others are condemned for, that they have made you trust and believe in things that have not happened, they themselves saying you shouldn't pay attention to people who do such things. Well, they"d have to include themselves. "An unjust balance as an abomination to the Lord" it says in Proverbs. (Pr. 11:1) Please explain to me why you"re not in rebellion against Jehovah by doing something you admit Jehovah says don"t do?

I"ve had some Jehovah's Witnesses try to tell me, "Well, we have more light now". Neither Deuteronomy 18 nor Awake magazine nor The Watchtower made allowances for mistakes. The other false prophets and other religions could say the same thing! "We made a mistake, we have more light now." But if they had the light of Jehovah to begin with they wouldn't have made a mistake.

Please tell me why you want me to rebel against Jehovah by joining your organization and follow people that your organization says should not be followed. That's a fair question. Please answer it, then we"ll talk further about other things.

If you want this copy of what they published " of what you published, I"ll happily send it to you. I"ll show you things that your organization predicted for 1968, for 1974, 1975, for 1937.

There"s a house near the beach in San Diego, CA, a big, beautiful salubrious mansion called "Beth Sarim" in Hebrew " "house of the princes". It was built by Judge Rutherford for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to live in when they would be resurrected. The Jehovah's Witnesses said, "We have to have a house for them to live in",   so they built them one in San Diego under Judge Rutherford. Beautiful house. For many, many years the Jehovah's Witness organization still owned it. It was built in the 1920"s ahead of the 1930"s when He was supposed to come by a specified date. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob should have been living in it. But of course, when Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not show up, Judge Rutherford moved into it himself and lived in it the rest of his life.

Something is wrong here, dear friends. That"s the "Beth Sarim"? I thought that was built for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They said they were going to be resurrected, they were going to live in it. When they didn't, Rutherford moved in himself? How can you justify this? Why are you following people who do something your own religion teaches against, your own organization denounces? Please explain it to me. I think it's a fair question.

I really want to know the truth. If your organization is the truth, I want to know it, I want to join it, I want to be committed to it. If it"s really the one with the truth, I want to be committed to it. But explain to me why I should join an organization founded and led by people who predict things that don't happen when Jehovah says to get away from them and when your own organization says don"t follow them. Please answer that question. Why should I join it and follow such people? And while you"re at it, why have you joined it and why are youfollowing them when Jehovah said don"t do it, when they themselves said don"t follow people who do what we do? I"ll prove it to you in your own literature. All you"ve got to do is write me.

I have a third question for my Islamic friends, particularly the educated ones, those that have done degrees in law, medicine, dentistry, engineering, science, mathematics in the West. Some have gone to Oxbridge, some have gone to Ivy League universities in America, some have gone to the Sorbonne in Paris, there are educated Muslims in the West, some of them born in the West, some came to study in the West, but there are educated Muslims. We have to remember that when the Western world was in the Dark Ages under medieval Roman Catholicism Islam had its Golden Age. So I appeal to the educated, thinking Muslim, please consider this question carefully.

Islam likes to claim that a 5th Century forgery of the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas " there"s two of them, but the later one, the 5th Century " was the true gospel and the ones that are the orthodox in Christianity " Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John " are false ones. Even liberal higher critics, higher critical scholars who simply study the Scriptures as history and literature do not accept any 1st Century authenticity to that later Thomas gospel. But we also have higher critical scholars in Islam. They are called "Orientalists".

Now Orientalists are not allowed to teach or to publish in Muslim countries, generally speaking. There might be some exception I"m not aware of, but certainly their lives would be threatened by the Muslim brotherhood or something like this. In Saudi Arabia they would bemore than arrested. These are academic theologians; they are critical scholars; they study the Quran, the Hadith as history and literature with an academic eye, looking for things like source criticism, form criticism, the same tools higher critical scholars have applied to the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. They"re Orientalists. They simply ask questions. They"re not studying the Quran as doctrine per se or as revelation, they"re simply looking at it as literature the way critical scholars look at the Bible, really, as literature.

I know I study the Bible as both doctrine and as literature and history. The Orientalists raise some questions. I"m not talking about Christians phrasing questions or about Jews raising questions, I'm talking about educated, westernized Muslim scholars " professors, people with doctorates in Islam " usually from Cairo, Egypt who are now to be found at Oxford, Cambridge, the Sorbonne, Princeton in America, and so forth, and prominent universities, prominent professors, academically credible scholars, the Orientalists " your scholars. They ask questions simply about the historicity and literary origin and development of the Quran and Hadith. One question would be, "How can the Quran say that every night when the sun becomes tired it descends into a muddy pit and rises again the next day?"

Remember, during its Golden Age, Islam were the astronomers of the era. Ptolemian astronomy dominated the world and it was largely dominated by Islam all the way until the time of Galileo and Copernicus and Kepler. Certainly if Allah is God, and Allah created the universe, and Allah created the sun, and if Allah told the angel Gabriel to give the Quran to Mohammed, Allah would've known the sun does not set into a muddy pit every night when it gets tired, This looks like an ancient Near Eastern fable, a superstition, but it"s a question that should be asked. It"s the question that should be answered but that is a question that I will leave to Muslims to answer. My question rather concerns the relationship between the Quran and the Katub, the Bible.

The name of the mother of Jesus was not "Mary" but "Miryam",  and the sister of Moses" name was also "Miryam". They were both named "Miryam". But they live 1,300 years apart, 13 centuries separated, Miryam the sister of Moses from Miryam the mother of Isa " Yeshua. And so your scholars, the Orientalists, these academic theologians who study the Quran in Arabic who are at the most prominent universities in the Western world because the Islamic world will not allow them to publish what they teach, ask the question, "If 1,300 years separated Miryam the sister of Moses from Miryam the mother of Jesus " Isa, Yeshua " why does the Quran say they are the same woman?" Isn"t that absurd? I'm not trying to offend you, but isn't it ludicrous? How can the Quran correct the mistakes in the Bible if they"re thirteen centuries apart? We have other archeological evidence showing that Moses long predates Jesus. Nobody questions it. No Muslim scholar in the world would question it today. The Wahab wouldn't question, yet the Quran says it's true.

According to the book of Esther in the Hebrew Scriptures, Haman was a senior court minister in the ancient Persian court in Susa. He was an Agagite, a descendent of Amalek according to the Hebrew Scriptures accepted by Jews and Christians. The Babylonian captivity of the Jews was followed by the Persian conquest of Babylon. We"re talking about five centuries before Christ. Yet we are told in the Quran that Haman was a minister in the court of Pharaoh. There were no pharaohs in the 5th Century before Christ as such. The period of Pharaoh was long over. In the Scriptures Pharaoh goes back to the time of Moses, not forward to the time of Esther and Mordecai.

These are fundamental inconsistencies out of harmony not only with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures but out of harmony with established, recognized history, supported by the archaeological record, things that Muslims today do not believe themselves. Yet the Quran teaches them. Who dares to raise these questions? Is it me, a Christian? No, I'm simply looking at what the Orientalists say, your own scholars. How can an educated person, how can a dentist, how can a civil engineer, how can a physician, how can a barrister, how can a chartered accountant, how could a computer engineer, how can a mathematician, how can an educated, thinking person who went to a university like Princeton or Cambridge or the Sorbonne believe the sun sets every night when it gets tired into a muddy pit?

I don't believe all Muslims are ignorant fundamentalists. I saw a film on television, a documentary, where there were people in Pakistan " rural Pakistan " whose wives were sick and they would not allow their wives to be treated by a physician unless the physician was a female. And in some cases the women would die for wont of medical care because they would not allow a male physician to treat or examine their wives. Now of course, in the West, educated Muslims would balk at such things as primitive. I'm not speaking about primitive Muslims on the frontier on the Punjab, I"m speaking about Muslims who live in Birmingham, or who live in Nottingham, or who live in Manchester, or London, or Los Angeles who went to a prominent university who are engaged in a prestigious profession. How can you reasonably believe that Mary the mother of Jesus and Miryam the sister of Moses are the same woman when they are over 1,000 years apart? The Orientalists don"t believe it.

It"s no wonder their publications are banned throughout the Islamic world. You"re not allowed to ask those questions in the Islamic world. If you want to ask academic questions about Islam, you have to come to the free world. I have heard Muslims like Achmed Didot try to pull apart the Jewish Christian Bible based on higher critical arguments used by liberal Christian scholars. I was supposed to debate Mr. Didot in Johannesburg in the town hall, but he had a stroke and I went to his house and I shared my faith with him unsuccessfully. He tried to share his faith with me, also unsuccessfully, but I've heard his arguments. He draws on Christian liberal higher critics. All I am saying is apply the same standard. Take academic approaches to literary criticism to form criticism, the source criticism, to historical analysis and apply those same tools that Didot applies to the Bible, to the Quran and you will find something that any thinking Muslim would say lacks credibility. You are an educated Muslim. How can you believe this?

My next question concerns the teaching of the Quran on "Ummah" " unity among Muslims, that you are one nation and one people. Now Christianity does not require Christians to be one nation and one people, Christianity acknowledges multiple nations. Jesus said, "Think not I came to bring unity but a sword". (Mt. 10:34) Paul the apostle writes. "There must be divisions among you to prove which is true". (1 Cor. 11:19) Tragedy that it is, Northern Ireland can still be allotted for in the Christian belief system. The killing and prejudice cannot be, but the fact that there"s a schism within the belief system can be. The Quran is different. While Jesus prayed that the true believers would be one, He said he came to bring division. There"ll be factions among you to prove what is true, teaches the New Testament, but Ummah says that Muslims are one.

Now in the Katub, in the book of Genesis, we are told that Esau"s sword will always be against his brother and that Ishmael's seed will always be divided. Islam teaches that the Arab nations are descendents, of course, of them. Christians and Jews believe the Messiah, the Savior, would come through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Islam takes the Old Testament prophecies that Christians believe to be about Jesus and applies them to Mohammed. Having said that, I have to ask which is right: Is Esau"s sword against his brother? Is Ishmael"s seed divided? Or are Muslims "Ummah"? Are they one nation and one people?

One of the most popular films ever made by the motion picture industry was based on a book about the legendary T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, a British military officer who attempted to unite the warring Arab tribes against the Turks. He tried to unite them from fighting each other to a combined force to attack the Turks who were aligned with Germany. The Turks, who were themselves Muslims, mistreated the Bedouins and virtually enslaved those people who were today called, or call themselves, "Palestinian Arabs". Lawrence of Arabia tried to unite these people, but they would not stay united. Islam was always looking for a Mahdi figure to unite Islam, but the Mahdi was defeated by the British ultimately despite the Battle of Khartoum and the death of General Gordon. Abdul Gamal Nasser tried to make Ummah, a pan-Arab unity militarily backed by the Soviet Union, but it did not work or did not last.

Many people have tried to bring Ummah. Mohammed was no sooner dead when the Sunni and Shi"a began to fight each other, ultimately in the Battle of Karbala, over who should take his place, Ali or his theocrats. Then there was a third sect, "Khariji". They said Allah would reveal who was to be the successor of Mohammed on the battlefield. They began to slaughter each other. This hatred and killing went on until the 20th Century in the war between Iran and Iraq. 1.5 million Muslims were killed by other Muslims in a war between Sunni and Shi"a going back to the Battle of Karbala. (We"re going back here to the 8th Century.)

Why has it never worked? Why is there no Ummah? Why is it that the only way it appears to a Westerner that Muslims can be united is if they have a common enemy? Because it seems unless they have a common enemy they will kill each other.

The invasion of Kuwait " raping, burning, pillaging. The Americans and British liberate Kuwait and the Kuwaitis begin pogroms against the Palestinians, murdering, raping, pillaging.

When Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Arabs tried on the Jordanians what they today are doing with the Israelis " Palestinian nationalism " in September of 1970, King Hussein of Jordan systematically exterminated between 15-18,000 Palestinian Arabs in 12 days.

This is Muslims doing it to Muslims. They kill far more of each other than the Americans, the British, the West, or the Israelis ever killed. The West or the Israelis have never done to Muslims what they have done to each other. 1.5 million killed in the war between Iran and Iraq alone? The wars between Yemen and North and South " it goes on " the Polisario conflict in Morocco. I've heard the followers of Arafat saying, "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people. First we"ll kill the Jews, then we"ll kill the Christians." Right now they're killing each other. Again, they did the same thing in Lebanon. Without a common enemy they kill each other.

If Allah is God, and if the Quran is true, why is it that Ummah has never been able to deliver what it promised?

Now again, Christendom can allow for schism and division; however, whenever two Christianized nations had a war, one was not a democracy. In the Western Judeo-Christian world, as opposed to the Muslim world, no two democracies have ever had a war. I have heard fundamentalist Islamic imams in Iran sing of the virtues of the English Puritans because of their piety, but they overlook the fact that those same English Puritans, for all their mistakes they may have had, established parliamentary democracy. Not a single Muslim country in the world is a democracy. Not really. Turkey comes the closest but it isn"t.

Not a single Muslim country will give Christians and Jews the rights they demand in Britain or America, but that is not my point or my question. My question is this: Since no two Westernized Christian Judeo-Christian democracies have ever had a war, but most Jihads " and they"ve called them "Jihads" " have been Muslims killing other Muslims, which religion should I believe? Should I believe a religion that has given rise to democratic institutions where no two democracies based on Judeo-Christian principles have ever had a war, or a religion where because of the religion there"s been nothing but war? There is no Ummah.

Historically there has been no Ummah, there never has been Ummah. The book of Genesis seems right. Esau"s sword remains against his brother, Ishmael"s seed remains divided. The Quran and Hadith has clearly been wrong. My question, my dear Muslim friends, and I"m only asking the question, if I have a Judeo-Christian worldview that has given rise to democratic freedom that does not exist in the Islamic world, why should I believe in Islam that cannot deliver the goods?

You only need to drive across the causeway from Malaysia to Singapore; you only need to cross the border at Elath into Jordan or Tabot into Egypt; you only need to take a ferry across the Bosporus or from Algeciras, Spain to the north coast of Morocco. The moment you as an educated Muslim go from the Judeo-Christian world to the Muslim world you see a big change. You know the air smells different. I just don"t mean the dirt or the grime or the congestion, I mean the freedom, the tolerance. Why have the sciences not bloomed in the Islamic world since its Golden Age when it was dominated by a philosophical Islam controlled by the Turks, not by a fundamentalist Islam controlled by the Saudi Wahab or the Iranian Shi"a imams? It just doesn't work. Why every morning in Terminal 3 at Heathrow are there so many Muslims bending over backwards to get into Britain? Why are they arriving in Italy and France every day of the week illegally? Why are they doing anything they can to get into to the United States via Mexico or whoever? Why don't they want to stay in the Islamic world? Some would say because they are missionaries for Islam, sent to convert it. These are not imams, most of them, these are economic refugees and you and I both know it; they"re intellectuals coming for intellectual freedom not available; they"re escaping war and conflict between Muslims like they do from Somalia.

Again, my question is since you have no Ummah, since your religion has been unable to deliver what it promised, why should I turn my back on a religion that has and accept one that hasn't? Why should I reject something that has worked in favor of something that has not? Let"s be honest " if it worked, you wouldn't be here.

In the 1st Century sexual perversion was culturally endemic and seen as normative. . Homosexuality and bisexuality was seen as co-equally normal as heterosexual relationships. What Paul wrote in Romans 1 would have been highly inflammatory. Well, it"s highly inflammatory again. As we speak there"s a preacher in jail in Sweden for preaching, doing exposition, on Romans 1. A Canadian pastor was fined £1,500 for preaching from Romans 1. We"re seeing more and more anti-vilification laws trying to restrict our freedom.

Now of course the way it worked in the Early Church, the way persecution came, the way the Gospel provoked it, had to do with a combination of factors. One, the Roman government"s laws insisted in their multiethnic, multiracial, multireligious empire to maintain social harmony at all costs for political purposes. You had to respect every religion and you had to acknowledge the Pontificus Maximus as the bridge builder between religions. At Ephesus on the gate was a sign, "Caesar, son of Zeus". "Zeus" " "God", which was a corruption of "zeus", of "god". And by walking under it you would be acknowledging Caesar was the son of God. Of course the believers would not do that, so they took the believers and tied them to posts and they used them as street lamps; they set them alight to illuminate the streets. This really and actually happened, this conflict of cultures between the Judeo-Christian and the popular one. Sexual perversion was culturally endemic.

Secondly, it was a culture of violence where violence was the popular entertainment. Take a movie " someone like Oliver Stone, a serious director " he"ll make movies that contain violence, but he"ll tell a story about El Salvador or Vietnam or something like that. They"ll contain violence but they won't be about violence. Violence is simply subordinate to the plot or to the docu-fiction about what happened. Most Hollywood movies today containing violence are not like that. The plot only exists to facilitate the violence, people going to the movies to see their heads blown off. It"s about violence. Now the Bible contains violence, even graphic depictions of violence, but it never glorifies it and it"s not about violence, it"s about salvation. It includes violence because that"s the way the fallen world is, but that"s not what it"s about. In the Greco-Roman culture violence was popular entertainment.

I once read something a few years ago where the average child by the age of 12 will have watched something like 3,400 murders in television/video games. Kids watch thousands of murders. Crazy! Crazy! Well, the 1st Century was like that. It was a culture of violence.

It was also a culture of perverse standards of justice. Isaiah warned about those who call good evil and who call evil good. (Is 5:20) Well it was like that. You just look now.

I wouldn"t advise you to watch it, but you can go onto one of the Islamic websites and you can watch Ken Bigley being decapitated, or one of the Americans, and they"re screaming as their heads are being sawed off, and they"re singing Islamic hymns and reading from the Quran and praying to Allah and all this while doing it. It"s a religious ceremony to them, decapitating people and putting it on so his family will see it. Do you know what that does to somebody"s family? Screaming while they"re doing it? I only watched one; I couldn"t watch more than one, it was just too ugly but it was horrible. It was absolutely horrible! Now somehow in the thinking of the Guardian newspaper or the Independent newspaper or Channel 4, we"re supposed to be absolutely indignant because the most horrific thing we've ever seen in our lives is American or British soldiers who stripped these Islamo-Fascists naked and put paper bags on their heads " that's the great injustice. "How could you do such a terrible thing? To make a pyramid of them and put paper bags on their heads, how unspeakable!" I"m not saying I agree with it, but somehow we"re supposed to be indignant about that. That"s what was in the newspaper every day. The fact that these are the people sawing people"s heads off because of their religion, don't expect any justice from the media. Well, the Christians experienced no justice in the 1st Century. Don't expect to experience much justice in the last century. There"s not going to be justice. People"s standards of right and wrong " their values and priorities are going to be highly, irrationally convoluted.

The Emperor Caligula gave birth to a daughter and proclaimed him a son. And by law the kid was legally established to be something it was not. It did not have the benefits of transsexual surgery. Today we do have the benefits of so-called transsexual surgery " there was one on Channel 4 to entertain people " however, we are what we are chromosomally, X and Y. DNA in every cell of the transsexuals" bodies still says they"re a male, not a female. Scientifically it"s irrefutable, they"re still a male, but we"re expected to legally establish that they"re females. Now in Connecticut and America one of these people was a policeman who is now a police woman and we"re expected " we"re expected " to accept something that is completely irrational, void of any scientific basis. That's the way it was in the 1st Century. Things that were utterly depraved and just abnormal and made no sense make a big comeback. What they were up against then is what we'll be up against as we preach the Gospel in the Last Days.

Here"s something I got in a newspaper yesterday. I don"t usually read tabloids, ( I read the Telegraph, personally) but I couldn't resist buying this: "Christmas Banned in Religious Education". It"s a video. Hundreds and hundreds of schools around the country ordered this video. It has Ramadan, it has Chinese new year, it has the Bali for the Hindus, but no Christmas, no Easter. It"s put together by a former producer for Channel 4, filmmaker Katie Jones, and she says, "I don't understand what the fuss is about. How will others learn of tolerance?" So we have to teach our kids about Hinduism, Taoism, Islam. Why don"t they have to teach the Hindu kids and the Muslim kids about Christianity? We talked about this in the 1st Century, every religion was "religio elicita" (legal) except Christianity was "religio illicita" (illegal); it's getting more like that. And we see it happening right before us. It"s getting more like that. As we think about preaching the Gospel in the Last Days let's look at a few other things.

The fastest growing so-called Christian sect in the United Kingdom, as you heard me point out every year for the last few years: the Mormons. Of the original Mormons in Utah, 70% of them came from the north of England. The biggest Mormon temple in the world, therefore, is in the north of England in Chorley, no longer in Salt Lake City. Quite a thing! Now Mormonism " we"ll look at this next in Five Questions for Mormons, but Mormons believe what Catholics believe: You can save people after they"re dead. And of course they do this by taking a verse in Corinthians out of all context, getting baptized on behalf of the dead " it"s actually a pagan practice.

You can save people posthumously and they issue baptismal certificates for them and they issue eternal marriage certificates for them. They "saved" Christopher Columbus. You laugh, but they have. At least they say they have; I"m not kidding you. I picked these up in the States a few weeks ago, I am not kidding you. I have here a baptismal certificate " I didn't even know he was a Mormon " for a certain gentlemen and his wife. Place of birth, Braunau, Austria; baptized September 30, 1993; endowed into eternal heaven 27th of April 1994; name, Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a Catholic " he must have changed his religion after he died. I"m not kidding you! This is real! Here is Eva Braun"s, and here"s their wedding certificate. I don"t blame you for laughing; I was laughing for about two hours. But they believe this! They believe it! That is the fastest-growing Christian sect in this country.

"Preachers Angry at Leaflet Law". The possibility of a £500 pound fine for distributing Gospel literature. "Five police arrest and handcuff preacher, second appearance due" " Victoria Station, London. He preached there for years, now it"s "lock him up, a preacher without a license". The state has to approve what you preach " that"s the way the law is going. Here in the United States, it"s the police dragging away and handcuffing a man who disagrees with the court decision to take the Ten Commandments out of a court building.

We warn people when the liars of Satan, when the backsliders running the mainstream denominations, are saying it was a revival and of course we said it was a counterfeit. They was saying "prepare for blessing", it"s coming from Toronto or Pensacola or something like that; we were telling people to prepare for persecution. I haven't seen the revival " but the persecution?

Poor Harry Hammond. They spent £2,000" £2,500 of your money to fly a witness from Australia to testify against a 69-year-old street preacher in Bournemouth. One of the policemen forced to arrest him didn't want to do so and attempted to testify for the defense and a policewoman arrested him. He was attacked by a gang of homosexuals throwing handfuls of dirt and water at him and they were not arrested, he was. They"re trying to appeal the case posthumously, but it takes a lot of money. One newspaper was not backing it. Not easy! It"s going on and on and on.

HARPAZO: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church
When it comes to books devoted to eschatology in general and the Rapture specifically, they often either read like a formal academic argument written solely for the benefit of scholars or employ the use of fiction to avoid directly handling the underlying biblical text. As with Jacob's previous books and exhaustive list of sermons covering nearly every area of theology,  Harpazo  presents the doctrine of the Rapture and Resurrection in the strictest biblical sense possible, leveraging the handling of Scripture in the same manner as passed along to us by Christ through the Apostles and Early Church of the 1st century.

Often the typical format of such books is to spend more time explaining and refuting all the positions the author  does not  subscribe to rather than focus exclusively on what they believe and have derived from Scripture.  Harpazo  may be unique in the complete absence of charts and seemingly endless trips to sidebars to constantly compare alternate interpretations the author does not subscribe to in the first place. Jacob was asked to continue to employ in an expanded book format the same exegesis of Scripture which is present in all of his teachings regardless of whether or not they are eschatological. After all, "The Apocalypse" means "unveiling", and that "lifting of the curtain", so to speak, as we approach the ever nearer Return of Christ is the Holy Spirit's revelation of Scripture as already given,  not  a new opinion by man..

The Gospels are clear that immediately in the wake of His Resurrection, Christ not only imparted the Holy Spirit to His disciples, but directly instructed them in how He was the fulfillment of the whole of Scripture. (Lk. 24:27, 44-45) In other words, the interpretation of  all  of God's Word, every Book of the Old Testament included, was re-cast as Christological, having not just a literal, primary meaning for the times any Scripture was originally given, but an added meaning for either Christ's First Coming, Second Coming, or both. Like every doctrine and theology, the Rapture and Resurrection are illustrated through many scriptural people, places and events throughout the whole of God's Word and not simply limited to a single biblical reference.

Using the Early Church hermeneutics of typology to  illustrate  and  illuminate  doctrine, Jacob shows how there are  many  raptures and rescues in Scripture which combine to teach what is going to ultimately take place in the  Parousia—the Second Coming of Christ. Likewise, there is a wealth of similar events and patterns throughout Scripture which teach us what to expect from related issues such as the Two Witnesses, the role of the 144,000 and Israel yet to come, the pattern of judgments in Revelation and how they actually replay Old Testament and historical parallels, and a wealth of other such End Times teachings already established in the canon of Scripture.

Jesus Himself established this hermeneutic by categorically teaching that the Last Days would be realized in the character of the days of Noah as well as Lot. The Apostles in their writings not only confirmed these specific examples but built upon them. The question for believers in the Last Days is not whether or not some kind of "new" revelation or word from God has been revealed, but how what has already been given is, in these final hours, being unveiled to believers by the Holy Spirit. What Daniel was told to seal until the end, John was told would be ultimately unsealed.

Some of the chapter titles in  Harpazo  will sound familiar to those already acquainted with Jacob's teachings, but he has never tied everything together overall to this degree before. This book is not about creating another End Times chart, but making a good faith effort to draw together in one place what the whole counsel of God's Word is teaching not just for a single event or prophetic fulfillment, but the overall doctrinal basis by which believers are supposed to act and behave as they are putting His Word into practice. Whereas many limit their teaching on the Rapture to just the drama of the physical event itself, one of the remarkable differences presented in  Harpazo  is the believer's place in the Rapture and Resurrection and their active role in preparation for it. Recognition of the nearness of His Return invokes a responsibility to live accordingly.

Those expecting an academic treatment of eschatology or hoping for a formal rebuttal of alternative positions will not find such in  Harpazo. But those placing a priority on what God's Word is saying more than the word and opinions of man will derive tangible benefits from the book regardless of which "ism" or eschatology currently held. Jacob presents us with a thorough  proactive  exegesis of Scripture by concentrating on what Scripture affirms rather than a  reactive  rebuttal of the beliefs of man, which all too often actually fall outside biblical boundaries.
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Reiew

Electronic version is now available as anEbookand is available at Amazon for $9.99.

Australia's books are still in printing but you can pre-order by calling Marg at Tel: 61 (03) 5633 2300

What will preaching the Gospel of the Last Days be like? Let us look at the Messianic element. Turn with me, please, to the book of (Acts 2:14), Peter"s charigma.

But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

This was like that analogy.

"And it shall be in the last days," God says, "That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy. And I will grant wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Now as you might know from the "Future History of the Church" tape, of course, (I"m just touching on things you already know right now) none of that happened, did it? The moon didn't turn to blood, the sun wasn"t darkened, He didn't poor out His Spirit on all flesh, there was no visions, there was no dreams, no wonders in the sky. It didn't happen then, but so it shall be in the Last Days. The preaching of the Gospel in the beginning of the church is a harbinger of what the preaching of the Gospel will be like in the Last Days.

Now obviously this was the Hebrew Feast of Weeks, "Hag Shavu"ot", the Day of Pentecost, when the book of Ruth is read " the megilot is read in the synagogues virtually to this day. A powerful Jewish man takes a Gentile bride and exalts her. We"re told in the Mishnah the rabbis calculate that the Law was given on Mt. Sinai on this same day. Only when the Law was given " according to the Mishnah now, this is not in the Bible " according to the Mishnah a whirlwind was heard from heaven, and based on the table of nations in Genesis 10, they said, 70 tongues/languages were heard from the whirlwind when the Law was given. So, therefore, when the Holy Spirit was given, 70 tongues were heard. Those 70 tongues were heard. To the Jews this would have been, "Wait a minute! What happened on Mt. Sinai is happening again!" The Old Covenant was given, now there"s a new one. Only when the Law was given 3,000 fell, when the Holy Spirit was given 3,000 were saved. But you know that, OK? But the rest of the stuff didn't happen. The rest of the stuff simply didn't happen. But it isto happen in the Last Days. This eschatological scenario has to transpire, and much of it concerns the Jews. Peter begins next, "Men of Israel".

Let"s turn back to what he was quoting from. Turn with me, please, to the book of Joel " "Yo"el Hanawbe", chapter 2, verse 28…

"It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. "Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

"I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. "The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

After the Lord comes.

Now you know from the "Rapture" tapes the "Day of the Lord" is introduced when the church is raptured and the resurrection happens. Once we are taken out of here, the Day of the Lord arrives. The Day of the Lord commences with the "koloboo" " the "amputation" in Greek, the removal of the church. "Those days will be cut short for the sake of the elect". (Mat 24;22) Once we"re taken out of here, it's the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is when God pours out His wrath on the kingdom of Antichrist and draws the nations against Israel to destroy the enemies of Zion. We"re taken out of here before this happens we"re told.

"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape,

Then it goes back, much of a Jewish focus…

As the Lord has said, Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

Where it says all Israel will be saved it is talking about those who survive the Great Tribulation.

"For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.

I believe the Jews are back in Israel and obviously they have to stay in Israel until Jesus comes, particularly in Jerusalem. But already we see efforts to re-divide the land, don"t we? Now this is all tied up with the Antichrist and so forth, he"s going to make a covenant and break it . The reestablishment the state of Israel certainly fulfills prophecy " they have to be back in Jerusalem for Jesus to come as in Matthew 23, Luke 21 and 24 and so forth, but they will pack up. Bush is doing it, the UN is doing it, they"re all trying to do it, making conditions so bad you"ve got Russian Jews going back to Russia now. It goes on explaining what will happen, but we know how it will all end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It"s the Jewish element. Turn to (Mat 10:23), please…

"But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

Israel must be thoroughly evangelized before Jesus comes. In Romans 11, the natural branches will be grafted in again, Israel must be evangelized for Jesus to come. In understanding the Gospel of the kingdom this is one of two basic texts that tell us about what the Scriptures call "hastening His coming". (1 Cor 1:7, 2Pet 3:12)

How do you hasten His coming? Evangelism. We"re not waiting for Jesus to come back. Remember what He said? "When the crop permits the Lord of the harvest sends the harvester". (Mar 4:29) We are not waiting for Jesus to come, He is waiting for the church to be ready. We can hasten his coming with evangelism; the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. (Rom 11:25) We hasten His coming by evangelizing Israel. His coming can be hastened. In eternity it"s fixed, relative to us it"s a variable. We can make it happen quicker. In other words the C-section, the Cesarean. An obstetrician is only going to let an expectant mother family stay in labor so long " after that point it becomes dangerous. There"s the procedure, it induces labor, whatever"s necessary. Get it over with quick. We can get it over with quick. We can make it happen faster. Witnessing and evangelism can bring back the return of Jesus faster, providing the people who get saved are also discipled. Witnessing and evangelism can hasten the return of Christ.

1 Samuel 17, Goliath"s challenge.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath…

Today it"s near Kiriath Gat, a settlement of Russian Jews.

…whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver"s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.

Whenever you see a superhuman villain in the Bible, somebody distinct from other people who is a nefarious creature, and you see a combination of three sixes in association with him, we"re looking at a type of the Antichrist. Let"s again look at the dimensions of Goliath"s armor. Height was six cubits " one span, then the weight was five. Then of course, we get down to the weaver"s beam, the size of the spear, which it"s weight was six hundred. So you put it together, obviously you have six-six-six. There"s three sixes. Whenever you see a play on numbers adding up to three sixes where it"s multiples of eighteen in association with a nefarious creature, we"re looking at someone who typifies Antichrist in some way. And not infrequently when you find someone who typifies Antichrist you"ll find someone going before him. Here it"s the armor bearer. Of course the false prophet goes before the beast. There are many, many clues about the Antichrist and what he will be like and what he will do throughout Scripture, but we should always be looking for the number of the beast. Among other things you're looking for somebody who's not just a villain but a villain of superhuman quality because he"s trying to counterfeit Christ " a superhuman.

Now the villain"s conspicuously superhuman; Christ was inconspicuously superhuman. He had no formal comeliness that we shall look upon Him. (Isa 53:2) That tells us something in itself about the spirit of Antichrist and how it works. It can take people in because it"s conspicuous. Only those who are discerning will see through it, but only those who are really discerning will see the meekness of Christ, the One who really is superhuman, instead of the counterfeits. Now I only mention this in passing because we know that Antichrist uses false religion in conjunction with the world"s political system to attempt to usurp the dominion of Christ before Jesus comes back.

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."

The ultimate struggle is between Christ and Antichrist. Recall Jesus in Judaism, in Judeo-Christianity, "ben-David Yeshua" " "Jesus, Son of David". Our victory is always in Him. Christ must conquer Antichrist; Jesus must conquer the devil. Our victory is always in our Leader. His victory becomes ours. The outcome of the battle will not be determined by what we do but by what our Leader has done.

Once Israel saw that their leader as a working David, humble and out of nowhere, killed the leader of the Philistines, Israel"s victory was assured. And so our victory is assured.

Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse…

…that is, "Yishay"…

and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. The three older sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father"s flock at Bethlehem.

So often the people God uses are shepherds. If you can look after a few sheep you can look after a flock. Amos, Moses " all types of Christ as the Good Shepherd.

The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.

"40" is the number of testing in biblical typology, isn't it? It rained 40 days and 40 nights in the saga of Noah, Gideon faced the invader for 40 days, Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights, Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights, the children of Israel sojourned 40 years in the wilderness, and Jonah gave the Ninevites 40 days to repent. "40" is the number of testing, of divine testing. The story then continues…

Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers. "Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them.

Resembles the story of Joseph and it prefigures Christ being sent to look after the welfare of His brothers.

"For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines."

So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army. Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.

When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father"s house free in Israel."

"Free" meaning "tax-exempt."

Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done for the man who kills him."

Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab"s anger burned…

…not against Goliath, but…

against David and he said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle." But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?" Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.

When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no man"s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father"s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you." Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David took them off. He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd"s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

Now of course we know the Torah as the five books and the Law as engraved on stone according to Corinthians. (2 Cor 3:7) The Torah is engraved on stones, these five stones obviously represents the Hebrew Bible.

Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

The types of the Antichrist usually have this forerunner, a counterfeit harbinger. What John the Baptist was to Jesus, what the ministry of Elijah is to the return of Christ, so the false prophet will be an equivalent, the Satanic equivalent, of that with the Antichrist. You know what I"m saying? One is a counterfeit of the other.

When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."

This, of course, resembles Ezekiel 37 through 39.

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin…

Notice he had a short-range weapon, a medium-range weapon, and a long-range weapon.

…but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. "This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

David was not seeking his own glory but God's and the honor of His people.

and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord"s and He will give you into our hands."

He"s not looking for the glory only for himself " "our hands".

Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

Everybody else was afraid, he ran for it.

And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David"s hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps. Then David took the Philistine"s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner said, "By your life, O king, I do not know." The king said, "You inquire whose son the youth is." So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine"s head in his hand. Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

And of course from this lineage, the Messiah to come going back to the book of Ruth.

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HARPAZO: The Intra-Seal Rapture of the Church

Unless otherwise noted, all materials are copyright © 2014 or earlier by Moriel Ministries. All graphics and other content contained on this site may not be copied without prior permission. Commerical use strictly prohibited. Questions, comments or bad links should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9 = 'MorielCarol' + '@'; addy969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9 = addy969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9 + 'gmail' + '.' + 'com'; var addy_text969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9 = 'Carol';document.getElementById('cloak969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9').innerHTML += ''+addy_text969ac07bd442aa7c07961545965f35e9+'';