Tag Archives: New Testament

Acts 1

The instinct of the new church was to meet frequently. As people met with Jesus in casual situations, this was now the habit of the church.

The church now devoted itself to teaching, the Lord’s Supper, prayer and being together. Wonders and signs are an inevitable result of this corporate body and how they lived.

As many of the Jewish people who arrived for Passover joined the church, some likely didn’t return home, but stayed in Jerusalem where the only church was.The believers donated funds to enable them to settle there.

Meeting in homes was augmented by open air preaching/evangelism. Because of the believers’ relationship with God, because of their holiness, thousands could not resist and were added to the church. At the beginning, the believers were not persecuted. Persecution began against the individual; after Steven’s murder, persecution against believers began in earnest which led to the scattering of the church. And with it the gospel.

The book of Acts covers the first thirty years of Church history. It tells of how the gospel spread from its centre in Jerusalem throughout the Mediterranean area and beyond.The apostles are prominent in this book but the Holy Spirit is more so. It shows how the power of the Holy Spirit in tandem with believers living in holiness and what miracles were the result.

The introduction connects Acts with Luke’s other book, his gospel account. At this early point, the believers were still wondering about Jesus’ earthly reign, and wondering when this would occur. They were Jews living under Roman occupation, something they were keen to see an end of. Jesus, however, redirected their attention to what he had told them to do. The fact is, all believers have wonderful, amazing things that they almost can’t wait for, but while we wait in keen anticipation, we are to be busying ourselves with the things he gave us to do.

By the time of Jesus’ ascension, he had spent forty days proving to his followers that he was who he had said he was all along. He wasn’t there constantly; he was preparing them for a time when he would depart from them, and send them his Holy Spirit. As before his murder, Jesus spent time with his disciples, after his resurrection he spent more time with them teaching them, encouraging them, and preparing them for the task he had given them; spreading the gospel and discipling new believers.

One of the main messages of Acts is that the Church has amazing things coming, but the believers are not to sit and wait, nor are they to just sit (as in many institutional/unbiblical churches today). We are to keep busy obeying Jesus until the time comes when he will take us home. Interestingly, Jesus had told them, shortly before his ascension, that they were to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. But once the Holy Spirit came, believers were given the power to obey Jesus’ command, and since then the instruction has been to get out there and do some stuff. And ever since, those who do the stuff in the Holy Spirit’s power not their own, have witnessed wonderful things. As Warren Wiersbe says, ‘the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not a luxury, it is an absolute necessity.’

In the church at that time, the apostles preached and spread the gospel, but all the believers provided a witness by the life they led, wholly devoted to Jesus. Not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but we are all called to be witnesses; living out our faith by holy living, and being prepared to give an answer to those who earnestly ask. This is sadly lacking in the institutional/unbiblical churches today. Those who are committed are encouraged to become ‘professional’ Christians and those who do not take this up are considered second-class, the laity. However, the Bible teaches that there are no professionals – Paul made tents for a living, so that his message could not be compromised. When people are paid for teaching, it affects what they teach; it’s as true now as it’s ever been. Pastors don’t want the drop in donations that will come when the gospel is preached, which leads them to present a one-sided and accurate view of the gospel which misleads people. Iinstead, the onus was on every believer living a life devoted to God. There were no pew-warmers at this point in church history.

The holiness that the believers attained enabled them to be in unity, and more than that, to be so excited and committed to spend so much time together in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, teaching, prayer and just being together. This sort of life became the way the believers did things. They put God first, and sought his will, and his help in all things. They had the childlike faith and dependence on their Father that Jesus had taught them about. They relied on daily helpings of the Holy Spirit’s power to do what Jesus wanted them to do. Are we still the same or are we willfully self-sufficient, trying to do things in our own strength?

Luke tells us of the apostle’s decision to select a twelfth apostle, this was in order that the required witness could be given in Jerusalem at Pentecost, and also that there would be twelve apostles judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The apostle needed to be someone who had been baptised by John and who had travelled with Jesus during his earthly ministry and witnessed his resurrection. Matthias fitted the bill. Paul didn’t. Paul was sent mainly to the gentiles, he didn’t see himself as one of the twelve, and neither did the twelve themselves. Once the witness of the twelve to the twelve tribes had been given at Pentecost, this part of Jesus’ commission was completed – and it was then open season for everyone – right to the ends of the earth.

Matthew 4

As is often the case after a spiritual high (Jesus’ baptism) there comes trickier times. Perhaps (more than likely) Jesus was empowered and led by the Holy Spirit into what’s referred to as the wilderness.

God was not putting Jesus to the test, he knew Jesus. What happened was that Satan was directly challenged by Jesus. We have this account so we can know that Jesus conquered Satan, not just then but for all time on the cross.

Once again we have an account of direct dealing with Satan. In Genesis he came off better against Adam and Eve, but against Jesus, the second Adam, he was defeated. The constant though, is Satan. He used the same trick on Jesus as he had to great effect on Adam and Eve. This time it failed. Satan distorted God’s word by omitting parts and lifting parts out of context (something which is done frequently by cult-members, datesetters and others who have an agenda to be served by twisting God’s word). This skill of Satan’s shows how well he knows the Bible; and therefore how well we need to know the Bible in order to be able to use it in our defence.

It is interesting to compare these two meetings; Adam met Satan in a garden, Jesus met him in the wilderness. Adam had everything and lost everything, Jesus had fasted for 40 days and gained the world. In this experience, Jesus showed us how to deal with the devil. Jesus could have performed a miracle here, but instead he showed by example what we are to do.

There is power in the Bible. Satan knows the Bible well, but yet so can we. For Satan to use the Bible as a weapon is often quite successful, but against a mature believer this is futile. What Satan uses as a weapon can better be used as a defence against him. The Bible was written for us, not for him. Satan’s first claim was that clearly God did not care about Jesus’ well-being. He suggested that God could not be relied upon and that Jesus would have to act to cover up God’s shortcomings. This has at its base, a challenge to the faith in God’s power. We see this in apostate churches today; those that deny the Virign Birth or the resurrection, or the miracles of Christ, or Creation. It boils down to; if God is all-powerful, he can achieve all of this and more. If we do not accept this, then we’re saying that either God lies or hasn’t spoken – and we are lost forever unless we are able to save ourselves. Of course this itself is the lie, but many are quite happy to believe it. Were Jesus to fall for this trick, we would all have been lost, doomed to trying to gain, but not achieving God’s salvation.

Notice in each temptation Jesus defended himself with Scripture. That’s where the answers are. Jesus shows us that physical food is not the only type of food; we need God’s word as food to nourish our soul. A withered, shrivelled soul signifies a spiritual, eternal death which is worse than the physical death of a starved body.

The second temptation was designed to test Jesus’ obedience to the Scriptures he knew so well. This is Satan lifting parts of the Bible out of context. Jesus answered him again with Scripture. Here is is clear, the Bible is the perfect defensive weapon for spiritual attack – but we need to know all of it. To pick and choose what we study renders us defenceless. The third way Satan tempted Jesus was by claiming he could offer all that God was offering, but without the pain, suffering, heartache and inconvenience – all he had to do was the most minor trifle, he wheedled, he had to worship Satan. Jesus made the right choice. If Jesus had slipped up even once in the wilderness, all would have been lost. Believers are to follow his path. Taking what looks like it could be a shortcut is not what Jesus did. The path is a straight one, therefore by definition there can be no shortcut. Shortcuts and compromise have been a characteristic of the visible church for millennia. Shortcuts and compromises have often led to people attempting to justify a course of action. It is evident here therefore it is not enough to know the word of God, we have to obey it too.

The three temptations follow in sequence; we are to trust God we are to know the Bible.We are to obey God’s word. This is the key to the straight path. If we do this; we cannot go wrong. Satan is behind all idolatry. Idolatry is worshipping the created being rather than the Creator. Satan would prefer it was he himself who was worshipped, but as long as he is in some way able to take away God’s worship, he is happy.

Idolatry can be in the form of worshipping false gods or following false religions, or it can be as simple as having something in prime position in your life that is not God. It doesn’t even have to be a sinful thing. If it eclipses God in your life, you have an unhealthy imbalance. Satan in this event, was defeated. He left, only to come back later, this time in a garden. Here we learn that the devil must be treated with respect, as Jesus did. However we have to recognise the devil’s work and be prepared. Jesus passed this challenge, which qualified him to embark on his ministry.

Jesus brings light to the Gentiles in this chapter. How? By preaching the good news of how to be saved, and by healing. What was the healing for? Well first of all healing was for healing’s sake – Jesus came to relieve suffering, not only this though, Jesus had to heal to show he was the Messiah (Isaiah 42:7). Many people were attracted to Jesus more because of what he did than what he said. And this is the same today. More people will be able to point to Jesus as being a healer, than quote one statement he made. The people who merely followed for his miracles are similar to those people today who say ‘I think Jesus was a great teacher/healer/holy man, but I don’t believe he was God’. Such people are trying to appear rigourous without doing the research. Frankly if Jesus was just this, then we are all eternally stuffed. The fact is God gave us all the information we need in order to find out for outselves who he really is. Some people need more information, some need less, but for everyone there is enough. We just have to be interested enough. Most people aren’t.

In Jesus’ time, most people were quite happy to follow him, be healed by him, entertained by him, even fed by him, but many were not interested in who he was. Many passed up on the opportunity of a lifetime. And many still do today. Jesus called pretty ordinary people to be his followers you might think. Actually Jesus called fishermen who were used to working diligently, and with great hardship and danger to themselves. He chose a tax collector, one who was shrewd and knew how to make the best of a situation, he chose a zealot, someone who was later to be filled with zeal for the Lord, he chose brothers because the church was to become a family. He chose people who could see something more than the average person who was rather too wrapped up in their lives to see what was really going on.

 

With thanks to my spiritual uncles: Uncle Warren Wiersbe, Uncle Chuck Missler, Uncle Matthew Henry, Uncle Jacob Prasch and Uncle Arnold Fruchtenbaum.

Matthew 3

Between the Old Testament and the New Testament, there’s a gap of about 400 years where the Jews were in a spiritual wilderness with no prophets of God. However, you can argue that John the Baptist belongs to the Old Testament rather than the New as he does predate Jesus and the new covenant which defines the New Testament.

John’s call was for people to repent. This call did bring about a revivial; repentance is serious business – you can’t pretend to do it, nor can you do it half-heartedly. It’s a big thing. Repentance is a complete change of mind, heart and position, and it is a steadfast commitment to a principe that is in opposition to your previous behaviour and beliefs. It is a conviction. Much of the apostate church today tries to jolly people along, refusing to challenge or offend people when they clearly are in the wrong. This is not love. Love is not allowing people to indulge in dangerous behaviour for fear of upsetting them. Love is correcting, by whatever means necessary to help that person be the person they were designed to be. John knew in this case that gentle persuasion wasn’t going to work, he had to shock them into looking at themselves and realising that against God’s standards tey didn’t measure up. Repentance, as mentioned, required action. And action required fruits. The difference between a nominal or a carnal Christian and a solid believer is spiritual fruit. True believers grow and develop and fruit is almost a side effect of a life lived in pursuit of a closer relationship with God. Carnal Christians are not interested much in God; they made an initial commitment to him but other than that they are wrapped up in the immediacy of their own lives, whereas nominal Christians are those who call themselves Chrsitians but don’t really know why, have not made a commitment to God, don’t realise they need to and therefore are not believers at all. The apostate church today specialises in the ear-tickling of such people. Its members are not made into disciples of Chrsit, nor do they mature. They attend church to be entertained and to feel good, therefore it’s almost that they become inoculated against the true message of salvation. Not only this, church becomes somewhere to go, a place rather than a true fellowship of believers akin to a family, as it was designed to be by God.

As is often the case, many of the people who responded were not those of high status, they were the people who were looked down on. The rich people, the rulers, the priests, for the most part weren’t interested in repentance because they had too much to lose. It’s the camel going through the eye of a needle. Such people couldn’t let go of what they perceived ot be their own righteousness but that God recognised as pride and self-deception.

The Pharisees were the ‘experts’ in Jewish law, the Sadduccees were the ruling party. Despite their differences, they both got it wrong about God. Both became adversaries of him because they were against jesus. It’s the age old problem, people try to impress God with their righteouness, trying to buy his favour, but this isn’t possible for anyone who has sinned. God’s standards are higher than earthly standards.

With John’s baptism there was revival. Many repented and were baptised but it is unclear how many of these maintained this conviction and developed into mature believers, and how many returned to their unenlightened lives.

John’s message was an urgent one. Not only was he preaching the need for individual repentance but, in the way of the Old Testament,  he was preaching the necessity of national repentance. The Jews had unique access to prophecies regarding when the Messiah would appear (Daniel 9:24-27). They knew the time was now and so the call for repentance was all the more urgent. To reject God now would be disastrous. As John said; ‘The axe is already laid at the root of the trees,’ (verse 10) and Jesus later told the parable of the fig tree, describing the disaster that was coming to Israel if wshe were to reject her Messiah.

John’s baptism was of water; it symbolised God cleaning away the sins of those who repented.

There is sometimes confusion over who John was. Malachi prophesied that Elijah would come back. And it is clear that John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah but was not Elijah himself.

John’s practice of baptising Jews was guaranteed to provoke a reaction. Jews weren’t baptised; gentiles were. This would have offended many. John was clearly saying that following Jewish law was not enough. By baptising, John was helping people to realise this and was therefore preparing the way for the Messiah. John mentions two other baptisms; one by spirit (which came first in Acts 2 at Pentecost and occurs for every believer) and another by fire, which is judgment.

Why did Jesus get baptised? First of all to show John had divine approval, but also for Jesus to die for people’s sins, he had to be identified as one of them. The Passover lamb that was slaughtered for each family group in Exodus 12 was first resident with that family for two weeks before being killed.

The baptism of Jesus shows us the Trinity. As he is baptised God the Father speaks of his pleasure in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends on him, assuring Jesus that God’s power is in him.

Wiersbe mentions a possible significance of the dove; that Jonah, who was a type of Jesus, means ‘dove’, possibly thereby showing Jesus’ identification with the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:39-41), that is, the death, burial and resurrection in three days. God’s approval of Jesus at this point shows that Jesus had served God well in the hidden 30 years before his baptism.

 

With thanks to my spiritual uncles: Uncle Warren Wiersbe, Uncle Chuck Missler, Uncle Matthew Henry, Uncle Jacob Prasch and Uncle Arnold Fruchtenbaum.

Matthew 1

The genealogy not only joins the Old Testament with the New Testament, it is also there to prove from the outset that Jesus has the right descent in order to qualify as the Messiah. Obviously there were far more stringent requirements than this, but the Jews needed to know that this man who worked miracles was descended form the right line. The genealogy is also clear that Joseph was the husband of Mary rather than the father of Jesus.

Some have tried to gain a name for themselves by claiming that Mary was not a virgin, but merely a young woman. However, for this to be the case you would need to twist the text. The Greek word translated ‘virgin’ always means ‘virgin’ and never ‘young woman’. The genealogy also shows that Jesus fulfils various Old Testament prophecies of being descended from Abraham (Genesis 22:18), Judah (Genesis 49:10), David (II Samuel 7:12-13). What is particularly significant is that proving the descent of the Messiah was vital. Matthew was writing at a time when his claims could quite easily be disproved if he made stuff up. In AD70, however, the genealogical records of the Jews were destroyed by fire as Jerusalem and its temple were razed. This means that the Messiah, in order to prove he fulfilled certain Old Testament prophecies would need to have appeared prior to AD70.

Mary was engaged to Joseph. In Jewish culture, engagement was serious business. If Mary had had an affair, it would have been considered adultery, and it would have been as serious as divorce. Joseph would have been within his rights, on finding his betrothed to be pregnant, to publicly shame her. She would never have been able to marry anyone else, and may even have been cut off from her family. This would have almost been a death sentence – how would a single woman survive?

Jesus’ name ‘Yeshua’ in Hebrew is the same as ‘Joshua’ which means ‘Jehovah saves’. Clearly that’s significant, but what is also significant is the Joshua of the Old Testament, he is a type of Christ (there are lots of them in the Old Testament), it was he who led the Hebrews out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Get the symbolism?

With thanks to my spiritual uncles: Uncle Warren Wiersbe, Uncle Chuck Missler, Uncle Matthew Henry, Uncle Jacob Prasch and Uncle Arnold Fruchtenbaum.

Why Jesus is like Moses, and Moses is like Jesus

  • Both were born when Israel was under gentile government
    • Moses: Exodus 1:8-10
    • Jesus: Luke 2:1, 3-5
  • Both had unusual sleeping quarters:
    • Moses had a basket to sleep in: Exodus 2:3
    • Jesus had a trough: Luke 2:7
  • Both escaped the genocide of infant boys decreed by a gentile king:
    • Moses Exodus1:22
    • Jesus: Matthew 2:13b, 16
  • Both were safely harboured in Egypt:
    • Moses: Exodus 2:5-6
    • Jesus: Matthew 2:14-15
  • Both were brought up by men who were not their fathers
    • Moses: Exodus 2:9-10, Acts 7:21-22
    • Jesus: Matthew 1:18-25
  • Both were referred to as significant prophet
    • Moses: Deuteronomy 18:15-19
    • Jesus: John 1:21, 25, 6:14, 7:40-41, Acts 3:18, 22-24, 7:37
  • Both fasted for 40 days:
    • Moses: Exodus 34:28
    • Jesus: Matthew 4:1-2
  • Both were humble:
    • Moses: Numbers 12:3
    • Jesus: Matthew 11:28-30
  • Both were sent by God to his people:
    • Moses: Exodus 3:1-15
    • Jesus: John 10:36
  • Both miraculously fed the multitudes:
    • Moses: Exodus 16:15
    • Jeusus: Matthew 14:19-21
  • Both performed miracles:
    • Moses: Exodus 3:20, 15:24-25, 17:5-6
    • Jesus: John 5:19-20
  • Both were mediators between God and God’s people:
    • Moses: Deuteronomy 5:31
    • Jesus: John 8:26
  • Both had seventy helpers:
    • Moses: Numbers 11:16
    • Jesus: Luke 10:1
  • Both sent twelve men out to accomplish great tasks:
    • Moses: Numbers 13:1-2
    • Jesus: Matthew 10:1, 5
  • Both their faces glowed with God’s glory:
    • Moses:  Exodus 34:29-30
    • Jesus: Mathew 17:1-2
  • Both had a close relationship with God:
    • Moses: Numbers 12:6-8
    • Jesus: John 12:23, 27-28
  • Both were given authority by God:
    • Moses: Exodus 4:12, 20:19
    • Jesus: Deuteronomy 18:18, Mark 1:21-22, 27, Matthew 7:28-29, John 5:24-27
  • Both were initially rejected by Israel:
    • Moses: Exodus 2:11-14
    • Jesus: Romans 11:25-26
  • Both were intercessors:
    • Moses: Exodus 32:31-32, Numbers 11:1-2, 16:20-22
    • Jesus: Isaiah 53:12, John 17:9, Luke 23:33-34, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25
  • Both delivered God’s people:
    • Moses: Exodus 3:9-10
    • Jesus: Luke 4:18-19, Acts 7:25, Romans 6:17-18
  • Both enabled the deliverance from sin by the shedding of blood, Moses instituting the Passover Lamb, representing Jesus the Messiah who was to  come:
    • Moses: Exodus 12:7, 11-13
    • Jesus: Hebrews 9:11-15
  • Both established covenant meals in order to help God’s people to remember:
    • Moses: Exodus 12:3-11, 25-27, 42-49, Leviticus 23:5
    • Jesus: Lke 22:14-20, I Corinthians 5:7, 11:26
  • Both were judges:
    • Moses: Exodus 18:21-22
    • Jesus: (His role as judge is yet to come) II mothy 4:1, Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 10:40-42, Revelation 19:11
  • Both shepherded God’s people:
    • Moses: Isaiah 63:11
    • Jesus: John 10:11, 14-16
  • The deaths of both were prophesied:
    • Moses Deuteronomy 32:48-52, 34:5
    • Jesus: I Corinthians 15:3-4

(With thanks to Chuck and Karen Cohen for this)

‘Peter, do you love me?’

In Greek there are at least three words for our word ‘love’, and their meanings are slightly different. Firstly there’s eros, which is the fireworks type love of infatuation. Next there’s phileo, which is the love of families, and close friends, a feeling of togetherness, mutual respect, and belonging together. Finally, there’s also a word ‘agape’ and this is different again, this is a higher love, a commitment, an action rather than an emotion, a dedication.

When Jesus asked Peter ‘Do you love me?’ three times, the first two times, Peter answered in such a way that when the Gospels were written, the word ‘phileo’ was used. It was only at the third asking, that Peter responded with ‘agape’.

Thanks to Uncle Chuck Swindoll for this, and for his excellent book: ‘The Greatest Life of All: Jesus’.

Why Jesus’ Trial was Illegal according to Jewish Law

According to the Mishnah, a document detailing Jewish law, dating from around 200AD and therefore likely to be little changed since the time of Jesus, the trials we see in the Bible were illegal. A capital case couldn’t be tried under the following circumstances:

  • Trials couldn’t take place at night
  • Trials couldn’t take place during the Sabbath, on the eve of a Sabbath or during a festival
  • The accused couldn’t testify against himself
  • All trials were to be public affairs
  • Trials required a minimum of 23 judges
  • The High Priest was not to take part in any of the questioning
  • Trials were to be held in the Hall of Judgment in the temple
  • Conviction required that there be at least two witnesses whose stories tallied exactly
  • Witnesses were to be extensively challenged and cross-examined individually and away from other witnesses
  • Contradiction proved a witness’s testimony invalid
  • Judges were not to argue for conviction, but rather to argue for acquittal, conviction was to be on witness testimony alone
  • The trial was to follow a specific pattern; the defence followed by the presenting of convicting evidence by the witnesses
  • Judges were to meet in pairs to discuss the trial before coming to individual decisions.
  • Voting for acquittal or conviction was done by the judges in age order – youngest first, so that the youngest judges would not be swayed by the opinions of the older judges
  • A final judgment could only be handed down during daylight hours, with sentencing taking place the day after.
  • Judges were to meet in pairs to discuss the trial before coming to individual decisions.

Thanks to Uncle Chuck Swindoll for this.

The Greatest Life of All: Jesus – Charles R. Swindoll

This is a lovely book attempting to address the problem that most people just don’t know who Jesus or what he’s actually for. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus is not some random beardy bloke in a dressing gown coining pithy moralistic mantras. And he’s most definitely ‘is’ and not ‘was’. This book is easily readable and theologically sound (as you’d expect from Mr Swindoll). I’d recommend it to anyone, after all there’s nothing like getting to the heart of the matter – and not finding out the facts is a bit daft really.

Annas, the Godfather

Annas became High Priest in Israel in 6AD, and was later deposed by Valerius Gratus in 15AD, however he managed to cling on to power due to his being the head of a family that was specialist in corruption with a tinge of religiosity. He was the power behind subsequent high priests, Eleazar and Annas’ son-on-law Caiphas.

Annas masterminded a sacrificial animal racket in that it was he, or his representatives, who determined whether a worshipper’s animal was ‘worthy’ for sacrifice or not. If it was not considered by Annas’ men to be worthy, then a new one had to be purchased – from Annas’ men! With the faulty animal being taken as part-exchange. Then a little bit later, someone else would come by with a ‘faulty’ animal to be checked, the men would replace this with the previous chap’s faulty goods. It was an absolutely huge racket, and one that Jesus was furious about when he saw that God’s house truly was turned into a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13). So no wonder with Annas being the head of such a mighty corporation, they wondered by whose authority he was doing these things (Matthew 21:23). According to Annas, Jesus was bad news – not only was he rocking the religious boat, but also he was costing the cartel a bit too much in the way of profit.

Thanks to Uncle Chuck Swindoll for this, and for his excellent book: ‘The Greatest Life of All: Jesus’.

Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani

According to Richard Wurmbrand, the phrase ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani’ has two meanings. Not only does it mean ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ – it can also mean ‘My God, my God, to what degree have you glorified me?’ as ‘sabachtani’ is the past tense of ‘leshabeah’ which also means ‘to glorify’. Wurmbrand says this form is also used in Hebrew prayers to mean precisely this; and was a prayer phrase used by a sub-sect of the Essenes of Jesus’ time as a way of expressing wonder at the countless blessings bestowed by God on the believer.

The Heptadic Nature of Matthew’s Genealogy

Dr Ivan Panin was the first to notice the heptadic pattern in the original Greek of the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. Amongst the things he noticed were:

  • The number of words used is divisible by seven
  • The number of letters used is divisible by seven
  • The number of vowels used is divisible by seven
  • The number of words used which begin with a vowel is divisible by seven
  • The number of words that occur more than once is divisible by seven
  • The number of words occurring in more than one form is divisible by seven
  • The number of nouns is divisible by seven
  • The number of names is divisible by seven. Only 7 other types of nouns are permitted
  • The number of male names is divisible by seven
  • The number of generations is divisible by seven

Thanks to Chuck Missler for this.

The Gospels

Matthew, the gospel writer was a Levite, and therefore he presented Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, the Lion of Judah. He was mostly concerned with what Jesus said, and was writing for a Jewish audience. His gospel is symbolised by a Lion.

Mark was writing the gospel from Peter’s eyewitness account and presented Jesus as the suffering servant, of whom we hear in Isaiah 53.  He is concerned with what Jesus did, and was writing for a mainly Roman audience. His gospel is symbolised by an Ox.

Luke was the only Gentile writer, and presents Jesus as the Son of Man. He was concerned with what Jesus felt, and was writing mainly for the Greeks. His gospel is symbolised by a Man.

John presents Jesus as the Son of God. He is concerned with what Jesus was and is, and his gospel account is symbolised by an Eagle.

The creatures that represent each of the gospels were the ensigns for the camps of Israel, and are also characterised by the cherubim who worship God in Heaven (Ezekiel 1:10).

Thanks to Uncle Chuck Missler