Mystery of the Gospel

It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul used the word ‘mystery’ on numerous occasions in his writings (epistles), because when it comes down to the relationship of the Gentile Christian Church and the role of the Jews (Israelites) in the plan of God, there is quite a bit of confusion. The fact remains that Israel is very important in the salvation of humanity and is still the “apple” of God’s eye; in a manner of speaking. Let’s take a look at some Scriptures that address this very point, as below in the following.


Romans 11: 1a, 11
I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means! Again I ask: Did they [Israel] stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression [blindness/error] salvation has come to the Gentiles.


Romans 11: 25
I do not want you to be ignorant of this “mystery”. . . Israel has experienced a hardness [blindness] in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.


Romans 11: 28b
But as far as election is concerned, they [Israel] are loved on account of the patriarchs [Abraham/Isaac/Jacob]. For God’s gifts and His calling are irrevocable.


Ephesians 2: 11a, 12-13a
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised [by the circumcised]- Remember that at that time [formerly in times past] you were separated from Christ (Messiah), excluded from the citizenship of Israel, foreigners (aliens) from the covenant of promise, without hope, and without God in the world.


Ephesians 2: 19
Consequently, you [Gentiles] are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow citizens with God’s people [Israel] and members of God’s household.


Ephesians 3: 3a, 6
The “mystery” made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. This ‘mystery’ is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together of the promise in Christ Jesus.


NOTE: This last part is important because there have been some preachers in the Christian Church who claim that God has forgotten about Israel or has rejected His people of the covenant in favor of the Gentile believers and followers of Jesus Christ. For many individuals in modern times, when they think of Israel what comes to mind is the political State of Israel established by UN Charter; but such was probably not conceived of 2,000 years ago. This is not to say that many Jews living in Palestine and throughout the world are not to be included as the redeemed of Israel when Jesus returns to judge the world.


Isaiah 62: 3-5
You [Israel] shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of God. You shall no more be termed (called) forsaken; neither shall the land anymore be termed desolate; but you shall be called ‘Hephzibah’ (“My delight is her”) and your land ‘Beulah’ (“Married”). For the LORD delighted in you and your land [and people] shall be married [to the LORD]. For as a young man marries a virgin so shall your sons [Heb. “Redeemer”] marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall your God rejoice over you.




Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 31, 2015
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

Fire worship and the ancient Israelites

This study is to trace the early pre-history of the Hebrews, starting with Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans (Ara. “Ur Kasidim”), and how fire became a frequent representation of deity (God).

Joshua 24: 2

Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River [Euphrates] and worshipped other gods.’”

Acts 7:2b

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran [Turkey]. So he left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran.

Genesis 11: 2, 4a, 5

As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar [Mesopotamia??] and settled there. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens. . .” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.

Genesis 11: 27a, 28

Terah became the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran. While his father was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans.

NOTE: According to Holman’s Bible Dictionary (p. 1640), during the third dynasty Ur was the most prosperous and highly developed city in the region at that time. Archaeological evidence has uncovered remains of a three-staged pyramidal structure [‘ziggurat’] which is probably the famed Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11: 36

They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

NOTE:

Certain tools would have been required for stone masonry but to make bricks required kindling a fire in an oven to harden the clay blocks. Also, just as interesting is the place name for ‘Ur’ means “fire oven/”

Now let’s look at some Biblical text regarding how God is revealed to the Hebrews/Israelites:

Exodus 3: 1b, 2a

Moses led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb the mountain of God. There the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from a bush.

Exodus 19: 18

Mount Sinai [Horeb] was covered with smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire.

Exodus 40: 38a

So the cloud [“Shekinah”] of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night.

Leviticus 9: 24

Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat portions on the altar.

Deuteronomy 4: 24a

For the LORD is a consuming fire.

Exodus 20: 4

You shall not make for yourself any graven image in the form of anything in heaven above, the earth beneath, or in the waters below.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines graven image as an object of worship carved out of wood or stone. A statue representing fire cannot be constructed out of materials but a drawing or painting can be used to symbolize it, I suppose. The evidence is circumstantial and conjecture at best to prove that the patriarchs, starting with Abraham being introduced to God [the LORD] in the ‘fire oven’ city of Ur and then the deity becoming representative of Israel’s national God under Moses, and ultimately as the Creator of the Universe.

Word Play:
Elyon ("Most High God"-Daniel 4: 2b; 4: 17b, 34b; 5: 18) in Babylon.

Bab(el)yon (??)= Babylon

Babel (the god Bel)

El

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 29, 2015
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

A discussion of 1 Corinthians 15: 3-6

This is one of the more interesting chapters in the New Testament and these few verses should provoke curious readers and Bible students to examine the text with a sense of astonishment, as the following brief study will attest.

1 Corinthians 15: 3b-6

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve.

Jesus appeared to Peter, then to The Twelve??

Matthew 28: 1, 9-10

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary [there were several] and commands them to go tell His brothers.

NOTE: There is nothing in the gospels that mention Jesus calling the disciples His brothers.

Matthew 28: 16

Jesus commands the Eleven [not Twelve] disciples to go to the mountain in Galilee where He would meet with them again.

Mark 16: 9-11

Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene [alone] and she went and told those who had been with Him as they were weeping and mourning about Jesus’ death, telling them that he was alive [had risen], but they did not believe her.

Mark 16: 14

Later, Jesus appears to the Eleven as they were eating and rebuked them for their unbelief.

Luke 24: 9-12

The women came back from the tomb and told these things (Cp. 24: 2-8) to the Eleven and the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the others [women] with them. They did not believe them because their words seem as nonsense. However, Peter went to the tomb and seeing the strips of linen by themselves, went away wondering as to what happened.

Luke 24: 18, 33-34

They (Clopas and another unnamed disciple), after meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven, and those assembled with them, confirming that the LORD has arisen and appeared to Simon [huh??].

John 20: 1-9

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away, and she went and told Simon Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved [only here]. Simon Peter ran to the tomb and entered first, seeing the strips of linen lying there and the burial cloth that was around Jesus’ head folded up by itself separate from the linen. The other disciple (whom Jesus loved) went inside the tomb and he saw and believed.

John 20: 10-18

The disciples went back to their homes but Mary stood outside the tomb crying, Jesus appears to her and commands her to go tell His brothers. [Afterward] Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and told them that she had seen the LORD and He had said these things to her.

John 20: 24

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.

CONCLUSION:

The Apostle writes that Jesus appeared to Simon but the gospels abundantly show that that he appeared first and almost exclusively to Mary Magdalene before any of His followers, so it seems that the priority given Simon Peter was somehow to diminish the role of Mary Magdalene, or women in the Messianic movement. Since Luke was a companion of Paul his narrative is the only one that says Jesus appeared to Simon, so this incorporation into the Corinthian letter should not be all that surprising. In the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, The Eleven are mentioned. Matthew 27: 1-10, supported by Acts 1: 15-17, esp. verse 26 mention about Judas hanging himself, but John’s gospel explodes this because he mentions the Twelve. If Judas killed himself then this would only leave eleven disciples and a replacement wasn’t found until after Jesus ascended back to heaven. It also means that if Judas killed himself or somehow left the group of “the Twelve” then apparently the writer of John’s gospel and the Apostle Paul knew nothing about it.

 

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 27, 2015
robertrandle51@yahoo.com

Exegesis of Genesis chapters 1-6

It seems that just a cursory reading of the book of Genesis tells the same old story of Creation that many readers are familiar with, but upon closer inspection it just might reveal precious cosmic mysteries that go largely unnoticed. The most startling thing to me is that the narrative is not one continuous narrative but a composite of several stories that the redactor or editor pieced together in the present order that appear in the Old Testament Scriptures and Christian Bible. So now it is time to start the journey of rediscovery in the following excerpts below:

(Version 1)
Genesis 1: 1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface (face) of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering [vibrating] over the waters.

Genesis 1: 20
And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures. . .”

Genesis 1: 24
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures. . .”

Genesis 1: 26-28
Then God said, “Let Us make Man [Adam] in Our image, in Our likeness, and let “them” rule. . .” So God created Man in His own image; in the image of God He created him- male and female [pairs??] He created them [Man-Adam-mankind??]. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and replenish (fill) the earth and subdue (??) it. . . .”

NOTE: In this story the Creator God makes not just a single man and woman but several whom are called the family name ‘Adam’ (“mankind”) and are commanded to fill or populate the entire earth and bring it under subjection. This is quite different from the other version which has as its centerpiece a single male who is placed in a garden to take care of it, and only subsequently is given a mate as helper because none of the animals or other creatures are compatible.

Genesis 2: 1-3
Thus the heavens and earth were completed in their entire vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing, so on the seventh day He rested (ceased) from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and make it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.
THE END

(Version 2)
Genesis 2: 4
This is the account of the heavens and earth in the day [eon??] when they were created, when the LORD God made the heavens and the earth.

NOTE: Chapter 2 appears to be out of sequence and verse 4 should actually be verse 1 (in my opinion). Also, instead of God, the term LORD God is used.

Genesis 2: 5-6
The LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth; there was no man (Adam) to work the ground; streams came up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.

NOTE: One would think that even if some underground streams supplied water some vegetation would still grow, unless it was too briny or salty to produce anything. The LORD God in this account seems different from the Creator in chapter 1, Who seems to just “speak” things into existence and qualifies everything as good, very, good and blesses creation.

Genesis 2: 7-8
The LORD God formed man (the Adam) out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man (the Adam) became a living soul (“person”). The LORD God planted a garden in the east, in Eden.

NOTE: This is quite different from chapter 1 in quantity as well as quality-

Comparison/Contrast:
1. Them [Adam/mankind]   
1a.Him [the Adam/man].
2. Be fruitful, replenish/fill and subdue the earth
2a.Dress and keep the garden.
3. Man [Them-male/female pairs] to rule the earth
3a. Woman as a helper for the Adam (man).
4. Adam (Man/mankind) made in the image and likeness of God
4a. Adam (the man) made from the dust of the ground.

Genesis 2: 10-14
A river watering the garden flowed out of Eden and from there [the garden] it separated into four headwaters- Pishon that winds through the entire land of Havilah; Gihon that flows through the land of Cush [Ethiopia??]; Tigris runs along the east side of Asshur [Ninevah/Babylon (modern Iraq)]; and the Euphrates river.

NOTE: There was no need to explain the location of the Euphrates because the recipients of this oral narrative were familiar with its route. That must have been some enormous river that flowed out of Eden (downstream) and still was able to continue as some major waterways into other countries-if literally true. Also, verse 18 seems out of place and makes a little better sense as far as sequence if it were placed before verse 21 (maybe).

Genesis 2:21
The LORD God took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

NOTE: We know the story that Eve (woman) was formed from this rib, but Aramaic Bible translator Vic Alexander has an intriguing theory about this event. He speculates that since man has a YX chromosome pair, God took one of the ‘ribs’ and replicated the X chromosome to produce the female “XX” pair. It is interesting because the Hebrew word for rib (‘tsala’) can also mean side, so one of the side chromosome genetic markers or sites was used to fashion the female type. Whether true or not I thought it is just as plausible as anything else, and besides all this, it does seem that the woman (Eve) was fashioned from the man’s (Adam) genetic substance or material.

Genesis 3: 15
The LORD God said [to the serpent], “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.
NOTE: This prophesy is revealed in the heavens in the study of astrology (the Zodiac). SEE “Witness of the Stars” by E.W. Bullinger and read especially pages 54-62. To fully appreciate the enormity of the scheme of redemption it would be beneficial to read the entire book.

Genesis 4: 16
So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain lay with is wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.

NOTE: The million dollar question is where did Cain find a wife? The answer is from among the people who populated the earth after the first creation in Genesis chapter 1. It could not be from the other daughters of Adam and his lineage since the birth of Seth because Cain was already in the land of Nod and married before Seth was born (Cp. Genesis 5: 1).

Genesis 4: 25-26
Adam lay with his wife again and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him. Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.

Genesis 5: 1, 3
This is the written account of Adam’s line. When Adam lived 130 years, he had a son in his own image and likeness and he named him Seth.

NOTE: Is this another separate Creation fragment and what form such as hieroglyphic, cuneiform, or when was some type of script writing invented? Is not Cain and Abel part of Adam’s line so why are they omitted, here? Why was it necessary to mention that Seth was made in the image and likeness of Adam, since it seems at this time that Adam had fallen from grace and was banished/driven from the garden?

Genesis 5: 4-32
NOTE: The long lives of these antediluvians stems from the fact that they are the ones from Genesis chapter 1 that some editor extrapolated or placed in this genealogy of this Adam; of course that ideal and efficient diet of plant-based foods from rich soil probably helped the Adam prime male/female pairs live for a long time, too. Interestingly, those Bible literalists who interpret the days of creation in 7/24 hr. cycles find difficulty in accepting these great ages of Adam made in the image and likeness of the Creator. Besides, it would mess up their chronology for the age of planet earth being 6,000 years old because adding up the 9 generations of Adam comes to 7,625 years; and when you add in Noah’s age and the time until the flood you get 8,225 years up until then.

Genesis 6: 3b
His days will be 120 years.

NOTE: This is supposedly how long God decreed that humans live from now on but Abraham’s father Terah lived 205 years (Genesis 11: 32). I think the one hundred-twenty years is roughly the time that the human race had from Noah’s 500th birthday until the earth was destroyed by the Great Deluge (“Flood”) one hundred years later.


Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
May 5, 2015
robertrandle51@yahoo.com