Paul wrote the book of Hebrews around AD 62 at the end of his first Roman imprisonment. In it he spoke of the “Seventh Day,” God’s “Rest,” and our “Sabbath-observance” as being the Kingdom hope of Christians. About five years later, following his second imprisonment in Rome, Paul was executed under Nero in AD 66. Peter was in prison in Rome at the time awaiting his own appointment with Nero’s executioner which occurred in AD…
Hebrews was one of Paul’s last epistles, most likely recorded for him by his companion, Luke. One of the noteworthy features of Hebrews is the rabbinic teaching style in which Paul wrote. This style involved merely quoting a short phrase or sentence from an Old Testament passage in order to bring that entire familiar passage into his argument, expecting that his readers were already fully aware of the implications of that passage. In Hebrews 3-4,…
The previous post demonstrated the pervasiveness of the Millennial Week chronology among the early Christian writers close to the Apostles. The primary passage cited by these writers was Psalm 90:4, “a thousand years in Your sight are as the day,”[1] cited by Peter in 2 Peter 3:8, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day.” The six days plus Sabbath Rest of the creation week set…
A major component of the earliest Christian eschatology – Chiliasm – is the belief in the Millennial Week. Not only is Jesus’ reign on earth exactly one millennium, but the whole time of man’s struggle under the curse has been confined to six millennial “Days.” The seventh millennium is the Seventh-Day Sabbath Rest. The term “Chiliasm” referred to the whole package, not just the “Millennium” of Christ’s reign over the nations. The Millennial Week eschatology…
Like modern dispensationalists, the early chiliasts were “futurists.” The “great tribulation” mentioned in the Olivet Discourse and in Revelation is the last “week” of years described in the Seventy-Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9. During this seven-year period just before Jesus returns, the Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the two prophets of Revelation 11 will preach repentance for 3.5 years, then Antichrist will defile the Temple with the “abomination of desolation,” and then reign…
The earliest Christians following the Apostles based their hope of a future eternal inheritance squarely on the permanent inheritance of the whole earth which God promised to His only-begotten Son, and the Abrahamic Covenant in which God promised a permanent Land inheritance to Abraham’s “Seed” who is Jesus Christ. On the very day that the Son was begotten out of God, the inheritance of the whole earth and all nations was promised to Him. Psalm…
The eschatology of the earliest Christians is called “Chiliasm” (kill’-E-az-um), from the Greek word “chilia” which means a thousand. The term “Chiliasm” is nearly equivalent to our modern term, “millennialism.” However, it does not only refer to the “millennium” of Christ’s reign mentioned in Revelation 20, but also man’s time on earth living under the curse is divided into a series of six previous millennia. The seventh millennium is the “Seventh Day,” the Millennial “Sabbath,”…
From the previous posts in this series, we have shown that the primary “fundamentals” of the mature Abrahamic Faith are two points: (1) That there is one eternal, immortal, all-powerful, and all-sovereign God, who is the Father alone, and (2) that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. A secondary “fundamental” is the Hope of the resurrection, the restoration of the whole creation, and the promised land inheritance. As Paul declared, “We…
Mark 4:10-12 (NASB) 10 And as soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return…
We now turn our attention to the only three passages which use the clause πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, “before the casting down of the world.” All three passages place the Son of God prior to whatever this clause actually meant. All three are significant in determining a correct theology concerning the Son of God, whether He was eternally co-existing with the Father (as in Trinitarianism), whether He did not even exist at all prior to the…
The Temporal use of ἀπὸ: In part II of this series, I covered the three passages which contain the clause ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου in which the preposition ἀπὸ is used causally, meaning “because of the casting down of the world.” In this post I would like to address the remaining four passages which have this clause where the preposition ἀπὸ is used temporally, meaning “since the casting down of the world.” I. Matt. 13:35 (NKJ)…
The Causal use of ἀπὸ: In part I of this series, I pointed out the awkwardness of the noun καταβολῆς (casting down), allegedly meaning “foundation/founding,” and its use in Hebrews 11:11 the only time it appears in the Bible apart from the clause καταβολῆς κόσμου (casting down of the world). In this post I would like to address three passages, where the entire clause appears, which are equally awkward and problematic for the same reason…
Sound doctrine is critical for Christians, but not for the reasons most suppose. It is not that holding a particular doctrinal position on the Godhead, free-will vs. election, the exact motions or rituals one must go through to be saved, or any particular eschatological viewpoint are required in order to inherit immortality. God alone decides who His sons and daughters are, not our list of “hoops” someone must jump through to be acceptable to us….
One of Satan’s greatest deceptions which is embraced by many Christians, including leaders, is that they can cruise through the end-times and into an inheritance in the Kingdom of God with divided loyalties, serving two masters. They set out to follow Christ, but they secretly also serve another master, their idol. Serving their idol-master along with Christ causes them to dismiss or water down those commands of God which conflict with the demands of their…
Over the last couple of years I have been horrified to observe seemingly strong Christians, even some who were supposed to be leaders, utterly fail in their spiritual discernment, critical thinking, and commitment to stand on God’s truth alone regardless of personal cost. I have watched men whom I respected as able teachers of the Word set aside the Word, and instead become passionate evangelists for this or that conspiracy theory. Facebook pages that used…
Thesis: There is a very important clause that appears ten times in the New Testament but is mistranslated in virtually all English versions. This mistranslation gives cover to certain incorrect doctrines, including Calvinism, Trinitarianism, and Unitarianism. The important clause is καταβολῆς κόσμου (pronounced kata-bol-ace kos-moo). It is wrongly translated “foundation of the world” in virtually all English versions. This sense comes, not from the meaning of the clause in Greek, but from early Latin translations…
The greatest spiritual war of all time, which has raged continuously since creation and which is coming to its climax in these last days, is TRUTH vs. DECEPTION. Satan’s first sin was lying to Eve. This initiated the fall of mankind, and consequently the death of all mankind. This is why Jesus called Satan both the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. “You are of your father the devil, and the desires…
The Shema (Deut. 6:4), “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” appears in the last of the books of Moses, composed at the very end of the forty-year wilderness wandering. Yet the basis for the Shema appears in the first of the Ten Commandments. Exod. 20:2-5a NKJV 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You…
Up until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Christians were considered a “sect” (a subdivision) of the monotheistic Abrahamic Faith. The Abrahamic Faith consisted of those who embraced the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and His covenants, promises, and commandments (Acts 24:5,14; Acts 28:22). The other “sects” of the Abrahamic Faith were the Pharisees (Acts 15:5; Acts 26:5) and the Sadducees (Acts 5:17). Lesser known sects were the Samaritans (John 4:19-26) and the Essenes (Josephus, Wars,…