God's Just Destruction of the Canaanites by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4660

God's Just Destruction of the Canaanites

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

In the 1930s and 40s, the Nazi regime committed state-sponsored genocide of so-called “inferior races.” Of the approximately nine million Jews who lived in Europe at the beginning of the 1930s, some six million of them were exterminated. The Nazis murdered approximately one million Jewish children, two million Jewish women, and three million Jewish men. The Jews were starved, gassed, and experimented on like animals. In addition, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime slaughtered another three million Poles, Soviets, gypsies, and people with disabilities (see “Holocaust,” 2011 for more information). Most sane people, including Christians and many atheists (e.g., Antony Flew, Wallace Matson), have interpreted the Nazis’ actions for what they were—cruel, callous, and nefarious.
Some 3,400 years before the Holocaust, the God of the Bible commanded the Israelites to “destroy all the inhabitants of the land” of Canaan (Joshua 9:24). They were to conquer, kill, and cast out the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Exodus 23:23; Deuteronomy 7:1-2; Joshua 3:10). After crossing the Jordan River, we learn in the book of Joshua that the Israelites “utterly destroyed all that was in the city [of Jericho], both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword…. [T]hey burned the city and all that was in it with fire” (Joshua 6:21,24). They also “utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai” (Joshua 8:26), killing 12,000 men and women, and hanging their king (8:25,29). In Makkedah and Libnah, the Israelites “let none remain” (Joshua 10:28,30). They struck Lachish “and all the people who were in it with the edge of the sword” (10:32). The Israelites then conquered Gezer, Eglon, Hebron, Debir, and Hazor (10:33-39; 11:1-1). “So all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua took and struck with the edge of the sword. He utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded” (Joshua 11:12).
God had the Israelites kill countless thousands, perhaps millions, of people throughout the land of Canaan. It was genocide in the sense that it was a planned, systematic, limited extermination of a number of nation states from a relatively small area in the Middle East (cf. “Genocide,” 2000; cf. also “Genocide,” 2012). But, it was not a war against a particular race (from the Greek genos) or ethnic group. Nor were the Israelites commanded to pursue and kill the Canaanite nations if they fled from Israel’s Promised Land. The Israelites were to drive out and dispossess the nations of their land (killing all who resisted the dispossession), but they were not instructed to annihilate a particular race or ethnic group from the face of the Earth.
Still, many find God’s commands to conquer and destroy the Canaanite nation states problematic. How could a loving God instruct one group of people to kill and conquer another group? America’s most well-known critic of Christianity in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Thomas Paine (one of only a handful of America’s Founding Fathers who did not claim to be a Christian), called the God of the Old Testament “the Mars of the Jews, the fighting God of Israel,” Who was “boisterous, contemptible, and vulgar” (Paine, 1807). Two centuries later, Richard Dawkins (arguably the most famous atheist in the world today), published his book The God Delusion, which soon became a New York Times bestseller. One of the most oft-quoted phrases from this work comes from page 31, where Dawkins called God, a “racist, infanticidal, genocidal…capriciously malevolent bully” (2006). According to one search engine, this quote (in part or in whole) is found on-line approximately one million times. The fact is, critics of the God of the Bible are fond of repeating the allegation that, because of His instruction to the Israelites to kill millions of people in their conquest of Canaan, the God of the Bible has (allegedly) shown Himself to be an unruly, shameful, offensive, genocidal, “evil monster” (Dawkins, p. 248; cf. Hitchens, 2007, p. 107).

Was God’s Campaign Against Canaan Immoral?

How could a supremely good (Mark 10:18), all-loving (1 John 4:8), perfectly holy God (Leviticus 11:44-45) order the Israelites to slay with swords myriads of human beings, letting “none remain” in Canaan? Is not such a planned, systematic extermination of nations equivalent to the murderous actions of the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s, as atheists and other critics of Christianity would have us believe? In truth, God’s actions in Israel’s conquest of Canaan were in perfect harmony with His supremely loving, merciful, righteous, just, and holy nature.

Punishing Evildoers is Not Unloving

Similar to how merciful parents, principals, policemen, and judges can justly administer punishment to rule-breakers and evildoers, so too can the all-knowing, all-loving Creator of the Universe. Loving parents and principals have administered corporal punishment appropriately to children for years (cf. Proverbs 13:24). Merciful policemen, who are constantly saving the lives of the innocent, have the authority (both from God and the government—Romans 13:1-4) to kill a wicked person who is murdering others. Just judges have the authority to sentence a depraved child rapist to death. Loving-kindness and corporal or capital punishment are not antithetical. Prior to conquering Canaan, God commanded the Israelites, saying,

You shall not hate your brother in your heart…. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself…. And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself (Leviticus 19:17-18,33-34; cf. Romans 13:9).

The faithful Jew was expected, as are Christians, to “not resist an evil person” (Matthew 5:39) but rather “go the extra mile” (Matthew 5:41) and “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39). “Love,” after all, “is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10; cf. Matthew 22:36-40). Interestingly, however, the Israelite was commanded to punish (even kill) lawbreakers. Just five chapters after commanding the individual Israelite to “not take vengeance,” but “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18), God twice said that murderers would receive the death penalty (Leviticus 24:21,17).

The Wickedness of the Inhabitants of Canaan

The Canaanite nations were punished because of their extreme wickedness. God did not cast out the Canaanites for being a particular race or ethnic group. God did not send the Israelites into the land of Canaan to destroy a number of righteous nations. On the contrary, the Canaanite nations were horribly depraved. They practiced “abominable customs” (Leviticus 18:30) and did “detestable things” (Deuteronomy 18:9, NASB). They practiced idolatry, witchcraft, soothsaying, and sorcery. They attempted to cast spells upon people and call up the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).
Their “cultic practice was barbarous and thoroughly licentious” (Unger, 1954, p. 175). Their “deities…had no moral character whatever,” which “must have brought out the worst traits in their devotees and entailed many of the most demoralizing practices of the time,” including sensuous nudity, orgiastic nature-worship, snake worship, and even child sacrifice (Unger, 1954, p. 175; cf. Albright, 1940, p. 214). As Moses wrote, the inhabitants of Canaan would “burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:30). The Canaanite nations were anything but “innocent.” In truth, “[t]hese Canaanite cults were utterly immoral, decadent, and corrupt, dangerously contaminating and thoroughly justifying the divine command to destroy their devotees” (Unger, 1988). They were so nefarious that God said they defiled the land and the land could stomach them no longer—“the land vomited out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25). [NOTE: Israel was an imperfect nation (as all nations are), but God still used them to punish the Canaanites. God warned Israel before ever entering Canaan, however, that if they forsook His law, they, too, would be severely punished (Deuteronomy 28:15ff). In fact, similar to how God used the Israelites to bring judgment upon the inhabitants of Canaan in the time of Joshua, He used the pagan nations of Babylon and Assyria to judge and conquer Israel hundreds of years later.]

The Longsuffering of God

Unlike the foolish, impulsive, quick-tempered reactions of many men (Proverbs 14:29), the Lord is “slow to anger and great in mercy” (Psalm 145:8). He is “longsuffering…, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Immediately following a reminder to the Christians in Rome that the Old Testament was “written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope,” the apostle Paul referred to God as “the God of patience” (Romans 15:4-5). Throughout the Old Testament, the Bible writers portrayed God as longsuffering.
Though in Noah’s day, “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” and “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), “the Divine longsuffering waited” (1 Peter 3:20). (It seems as though God delayed flooding the Earth for 120 years as His Spirit’s message of righteousness was preached to a wicked world—Genesis 6:3; 2 Peter 2:5.) In the days of Abraham, God ultimately decided to spare the iniquitous city of Sodom, not if 50 righteous people were found living therein, but only 10 righteous individuals.
And what about prior to God’s destruction of the Canaanite nations? Did God quickly decide to cast them out of the land? Did He respond to the peoples’ wickedness like an impulsive, reckless mad-man? Or was He, as the Bible repeatedly states and exemplifies, longsuffering? Indeed, God waited. He waited more than four centuries to bring judgment upon the inhabitants of Canaan. Although the Amorites were already a sinful people in Abraham’s day, God delayed in giving the descendants of the patriarch the Promised Land. He would wait until the Israelites had been in Egypt for hundreds of years, because at the time that God spoke with Abraham “the iniquity of the Amorites” was “not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). [NOTE: “The Amorites were so numerous and powerful a tribe in Canaan that they are sometimes named for the whole of the ancient inhabitants, as they are here” (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, 1997).] In Abraham’s day, the inhabitants of Canaan were not so degenerate that God would bring judgment upon them. However, by the time of Joshua (more than 400 years later), the Canaanites’ iniquity was full, and God used the army of Israel to destroy them.
Yes, God is longsuffering, but His longsuffering is not an “eternal” suffering. His patience with impenitent sinners eventually ends. It ended for a wicked world in the days of Noah. It ended for Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Abraham. And it eventually ended for the inhabitants of Canaan, whom God justly destroyed.

What About the Innocent Children?

The children of Canaan were not guilty of their parents’ sins (cf. Ezekiel 18:20); they were sinless, innocent, precious human beings (cf. Matthew 18:3-5; see Butt, 2003). So how could God justly take the lives of children, any children, “who have no knowledge of good and evil” (Deuteronomy 1:39)? The fact is, as Dave Miller properly noted, “Including the children in the destruction of such populations actually spared them from a worse condition—that of being reared to be as wicked as their parents and thus face eternal punishment. All persons who die in childhood, according to the Bible, are ushered to Paradise and will ultimately reside in Heaven. Children who have parents who are evil must naturally suffer innocently while on Earth (e.g., Numbers 14:33)” (Miller, 2009). God, the Giver of life (Acts 17:25; Ecclesiastes 12:7), and only God has the right to take the life of His creation whenever He chooses (for the righteous purposes that He has). At times in history, God took the life of men out of righteous judgment. At other times (as in the case of children), it was taken for merciful reasons. [NOTE: For a superb, extensive discussion on the relationship between (1) the goodness of God, (2) the contradictory, hideousness of atheism, and (3) God bringing about the death of various infants throughout history, see Kyle Butt’s article “Is God Immoral for Killing Innocent Children?” (2009).]

CONCLUSION

Though the enemies of the God of the Bible are frequently heard criticizing Israel’s conquest of Canaan, the fact is, such a conquest was in complete harmony with God’s perfectly loving, holy, and righteous nature. After patiently waiting for hundreds of years, God eventually used the Israelites to bring judgment upon myriads of wicked Canaanites. Simultaneously, He spared their children a fate much worse than physical death—the horror of growing up in a reprehensible culture and becoming like their hedonistic parents—and immediately ushered them into a pain-free, marvelous place called Paradise (Luke 16:19-31; 23:43).

REFERENCES

Albright, William F. (1940), From the Stone Age to Christianity (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins).
Butt, Kyle (2003), “Do Babies Go to Hell When They Die?” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1201.
Butt, Kyle (2009), “Is God Immoral for Killing Innocent Children?” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/article/260.
Dawkins, Richard (2006), The God Delusion (New York: Houghton Mifflin).
“Genocide” (2000), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin), fourth edition.
“Genocide” (2012), Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genocide.
Hitchens, Christopher (2007), God is Not Great (New York: Twelve).
“Holocaust” (2011), Encyclopedia.com, http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Holocaust.aspx#1.
Jamieson, Robert, et al. (1997), Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Bible Commentary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
Miller, Dave (2009), “Did God Order the Killing of Babies?” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=2810.
Paine, Thomas (1807), “Essay on Dream,” http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/paine/dream.htm.
Unger, Merrill F. (1954), Archaeology and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Unger, Merrill F. (1988), “Canaan,” The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).

Lost Symbols, Mystery Cults, and the Christian Faith by Dewayne Bryant, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=3598

Lost Symbols, Mystery Cults, and the Christian Faith

by	Dewayne Bryant, M.A.

Stephen Langdon is at it again. Described as Indiana Jones in a tweed jacket, Langdon is hard at work in Dan Brown’s latest novel, unraveling the secrets left behind in Washington, D.C. by America’s Founding Fathers. He races against time to prevent an international crisis, save a dear friend from meeting an untimely demise, and uncover secret truths that will help men become gods—all in a day’s work for the fictional Harvard symbologist.
Ten months after its release, The Lost Symbol still hovers near the top of the N.Y. Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. Like his previous novel The Da Vinci Code, Brown once again delves into unorthodox religious viewpoints. In The Da Vinci Code, Langdon stumbles across a society that includes Gnostic beliefs and goddess worship. His latest thriller finds the principal character bringing up the ghost of the ancient mystery cults in his encounter with Freemasonry. While Brown does not take orthodox Christianity head-on as in previous novels, he does offer something of a historical rewrite of the ancient religious landscape.
Brown refers to the ambiguous “ancient mysteries” constantly throughout his book, but does not specify exactly what he means. It seems to be a general description of esoteric wisdom found in ancient religion ranging from the mystery cults to the later Gnostics, but also includes universal spiritual truths found in all the world’s religions. Unfortunately for Brown, his attempt to lump Christianity in as a participant in these mysteries not only shows his lack of familiarity with Christianity, but with other religions and the ancient mystery cults as well.
Brown asserts that Christianity is home to the same religious teachings found in other religions, all tracing back to ancient esoteric wisdom like that of the ancient mystery cults, which are labeled as such because of secret ceremonies (Nash, 1992, p. 115). The problem with this is that Christianity was not secretive. It was celebrated openly and quickly reached the ears of government officials ranging from regional governors to the emperors of Rome. Official persecution of Christianity began only a few short decades after the death of Christ. Within 80 years, the Roman governor Pliny the Younger of Bithynia (in modern day Turkey) complained to Emperor Trajan that the Christian influence in his territory was so strong that pagan temples had been nearly deserted due to a lack of worshippers (Letters, 10.97).
The task of the apostles was to preach the message of Christ crucified for all (cf. Acts 4:9-11), while Paul discusses the “mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3; cf. Ephesians 3:3-7) in epistolary form, intending his work to be read aloud and shared with others. In the Eleusinian mysteries, celebrated near Athens, death was the punishment for anyone who revealed its secrets. The Greek playwright Aeschylus was attacked and nearly murdered by an Athenian mob while acting in one of his own tragedies because the audience suspected him of revealing the cult’s secrets.
Through the mouth of the character Peter Solomon, Brown says, “The Bible is one of the books through which the mysteries have been passed down through history. Its pages are desperately trying to tell us the secret.... The ‘dark sayings’ in the Bible are the whispers of the ancients, quietly sharing with us all of their secret wisdom” (p. 491). This vanilla spirituality quickly runs headlong into a particularly thorny problem, often referred to as the “scandal of particularity.” Simply put, this is the idea that a particular God has revealed Himself to particular people at particular times and has a particular way of doing things.
Brown asserts the basic similarity of all religions to the point of stating that all religions are little more than cosmetically altered versions of the same spiritual truths. The blending of religions in Brown’s novel is not something foreign to Christianity only, but to other world religions as well. Each one makes mutually exclusive claims that cannot be reconciled with other faith traditions. Christianity claims Jesus is the Son of God; Islam says He is a mortal man. Religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Christianity claim belief in a personal God, while Buddhism is an “atheist religion” of sorts with no belief in any deity. In order for Brown’s reconstruction to be true, each religion must give up so much of what makes it unique that essentially they all become nondescript and amorphous.
Brown seems to read modern notions of religion and spirituality backward into history. Presenting America’s Founding Fathers as believers in some kind of universal spirituality would no doubt have been strange, if not offensive, to many of them. While a few of them may have been deists, even these believed in a personal God who was active in America’s founding (cf. Miller, 2005; Miller, 2008). The vast majority of the Founders, as well as the population at large, professed Christian belief (see Bancroft, 1837, 2:456; Morris, 1864).
As in previous novels, Brown commits several major blunders, which seems to have become standard operating procedure for his writing. One of these concerns one of America’s most famous works of art. A fixture of the novel is a fresco in the Capitol Rotunda titled The Apotheosis of George Washington. Completed in 1865, artist Constantino Brumidi’s masterpiece shows Washington ascending to heaven, surrounded by figures reminiscent of the Muses from Greek mythology. When viewing this scene, the protagonist Langdon says it describes Washington “being transformed into a god” (p. 84, ital. in orig.). This point will later shed light on the purported beliefs of the Freemasons—taken from the ancient mysteries—that humanity has within it a spark of the divine and is capable of virtual self-deification. In doing so, Brown seems to confuse the differences between the definitions of apotheosis as they are used in theology and art. In theological parlance, the term does mean to attain the status of deity. In art, it means to depict a subject in exalted fashion. Figures so depicted are often those who have become immortalized as national icons and who are revered because of their personal virtue and importance in the national consciousness. Other great works of art apotheosize historical figures ranging from the Greek poet Homer to Venezuelan statesman Simon Bolivar to Confederate general Robert E. Lee, yet no one is arguing that the artists of these works were trying to conceal secret spiritual truths in their masterpieces.
America’s Founding Fathers are a favorite target of critics who deny the role of Christianity in the country’s origins. Another of Brown’s historical errors is his claim that Jefferson’s version of the Bible was presented to every member of Congress in the first half of the 19th century (p. 491). He makes a point of mentioning Jefferson’s excision of the virgin birth and the resurrection in an attempt to illustrate his point of saying that America’s Founding Fathers all believed in the hidden spiritual message of Scripture and warned of interpreting the Bible literally. While Jefferson is famous for combing through the Bible and excising anything that hinted of the supernatural, his version of the gospel accounts was presented to first-time congressmen in the first half of the 20th century—not the 19th—because it distilled the essential moral teachings of Christ. This is clearly evident in its full title: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. Writing in a letter to John Adams on October 12, 1813, Jefferson indicates that his motive for assembling his version in this manner was because he wanted to offer the “pure principles” of Jesus’ teaching, which constituted the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man” (1813). It should also be noted that in this letter, Jefferson demonstrated knowledge of Gnostic beliefs, which he called “nonsense.” It is that very knowledge which several of Brown’s novels praise.
One of the best examples of Brown’s gross religious ignorance is his connection of the word “amen” to the name of the Egyptian god Amun (p. 358). Brown is not the first to make this assertion. This kind of connection is typical among third-rate Bible critics who fail to do meaningful research and try to make connections simply based on the sounds of words. The standard Greek lexicon defines the Greek word amen as “let it be so” or “truly” (Danker, 2000, p. 53), which comes from the Hebrew word ’amen, also meaning “truly” (Brown, et al., 1906, p. 53). The word is thoroughly Hebraic and has absolutely no connection to the Egyptian god, whose name means “hidden” (Allen, 2010, p. 186)
One On-line review of the book says Brown “loves showing us places where our carefully tended cultural boundaries—between Christian and pagan, sacred and secular, ancient and modern—are actually extraordinarily messy” (Grossman, 2009). The relationship between paganism and Christianity is indeed messy for those unwilling to examine that relationship with clarity and precision. It seems to be en vogue to simply ignore the distinctive elements of particular religions, lump them together into an amorphous blob, and declare them all virtually equivalent, regardless of any claims to historicity.
The distinctive truth of Christianity will not permit itself to be classified among mythological writings because it is not mythological in character. Though the gospel accounts are routinely described as “myth” their character is closely related to ancient biographies and is distinctly different from mythology, which never concerned itself with recent historical figures (Keener, 2009, pp. 75-76). Even the ancients generally believed that their myths had no connections to actual history.
Dan Brown is an inventive writer. His stories are fast-paced and engaging, and his conspiratorial plots are entertaining. Though he is a skillful author, Brown continually presents an axe to grind against Christianity. As was seen in The Da Vinci Code, Brown is willing to manipulate the evidence to make his case. Brown’s carefully crafted language is similar to a conspiracy theory: the reader is guided along a predetermined path that offers no room for alternative explanations. Like all good conspiracies, each piece of evidence hangs tenuously upon another. Each interpretation is precariously balanced on the next. Should any one piece be removed, the entire edifice comes crashing down. The Lost Symbol, like Brown’s previous work, is similarly vulnerable at many points where he has misinterpreted or manipulated the evidence. In each of his books the “fall of the house of Brown” is inescapable, and The Lost Symbol presents no exception.

REFERENCES

Allen, James P. (2010), Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Bancroft, George (1837), History of the United States (Boston, MA: Charles Bowen).
Brown, Dan (2009), The Lost Symbol (New York: Doubleday).
Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs (1906), The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson).
Danker, Frederick William, ed. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press), third edition.
Grossman, Lev (2009), “How Good is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol?” Time, September 15, http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1923182,00.html. Accessed March 3, 2010.
Keener, Craig S. (2009), The Historical Jesus of the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Jefferson, Thomas (1813), “Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, October 12, 1813,” The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827, Library of Congress, [On-line], URL: http://tinyurl.com/38dmuqm.
Miller, Dave (2005), “Deism, Atheism, and the Founders,” http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/650.
Miller, Dave (2008), “The Founders: Atheists & Deists or Theists & Christians?” Reason & Revelation, 7[12]:45-R, December, http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/240010.
Morris, Benjamin (1864), The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2007 reprint).
Nash, Ronald H. (1992), The Gospel and the Greeks: Did the New Testament Borrow From Pagan Thought? (Richardson, TX: Probe Books).
Pliny the Younger (no date), Letters, trans. William Melmoth, http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_plinyltrstrajan.htm.

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" The Olivet Discourse - I (24:1-28) by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                   The Olivet Discourse - I (24:1-28)

INTRODUCTION

1. A challenging passage in the Bible is Jesus' discourse on the Mount
   of Olives...
   a. Given shortly after He left the temple with His disciples
   b. Recorded in Mt 24:1-51; Mk 13:1-37; Lk 21:5-36
   c. Commonly referred to as "The Olivet Discourse"
   -- Our focus will be primarily on Matthew's account - Mt 24:1-51

2. It's difficulty is apparent as one considers the diversity of
   interpretations offered...
   a. Some maintain that it is entirely about events preceding the
      Lord's second coming
   b. Others say that it is entirely about events related to the
      destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A.D.
   c. Yet many believe it contains reference to both of these events

3. Even those who say it refers to both events differ as to when a
   particular event is being described in Matthew's account...
   a. Some say that verses 4-28 refer to the destruction of Jerusalem,
      and verse 29 begins the discussion about the Lord's second coming
      (cf. J. W. McGarvey, The Four-Fold Gospel)
   b. Others contend that verse 35 begins talking about the second
      coming
   c. Others say Jesus switches back and forth throughout the discourse

4. I have trouble with Mt 24 describing both events in the light of
   Lk 17...
   a. Where Jesus is talking about "one of the days of the Son of Man"
      - Lk 17:22-37
      1) Note:  He alludes to the fact there is more than one "day of
         the Son of Man"
      2) I.e., the Lord will come in judgment in ways prior to His
         final coming at the Last Day
   b. In the discourse of Lk 17, Jesus uses language similar to Mt 24,
      but in ways that do not allow for a simple division of Mt 24,
      either at verse 29 or 35; notice...
      1) Lk 17:26-29 is parallel to Mt 24:37-39 (found after verses
         29,35)
      2) Yet Lk 17:31 is parallel to Mt 24:17-18 (found before verses
         29,35)
      3) And then Lk 17:34-36 is parallel to Mt 24:40-41 (found after
         verses 29,35)
   -- If Jesus is describing just one event in Lk 17 (which I believe
      He is), then He is likely describing just one event in Mt 24

[At this time, I view "The Olivet Discourse" in Mt 24 as depicting the
destruction of Jerusalem which occurred in 70 A.D., though it certainly
foreshadows His second coming.  To see why, let's start with...]

I. THE SETTING OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

   A. THE WORDS OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE...
      1. His parables depicting Israel's rejection of Him, and its
         consequence
         a. The parable of the two sons - Mt 21:28-32 (cf. v.31-32)
         b. The parable of the wicked vine dressers - Mt 21:33-46 (cf.
            v.42-45)
         c. The parable of the wedding feast - Mt 22:1-14 (cf. v.7-9)
      2. His condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees
         a. Who would fill up the measure of their fathers' guilt -

            Mt 23:29-32
         b. Who kill, crucify, scourge, and persecute the prophets,
            wise men, and scribes He would send to them - Mt 23:33-34
         c. Upon whom the blood of all the righteous would come, upon
            that very generation - Mt 23:35-36
      3. His lamentation over Jerusalem
         a. The city who kills the prophets and stones those sent to
            her - Mt 23:37a
         b. The city unwilling to accept the love shown her - Mt 23:37b
         c. Whose house would be left desolate - Mt 23:38-39

   B. THE PROPHECY OF JESUS ABOUT THE TEMPLE...
      1. After his disciples were showing Him the buildings of temple 
         - Mt 24:1
      2. Declaring that not one stone would be left upon another - Mt 24:2

   C. THE QUESTIONS OF THE DISCIPLES...
      1. In Mark's gospel, two questions are asked - Mk 13:4
         a. "When will these things be?"
         b. "What will be the sign when all these things will be
            fulfilled?"
      2. In Luke's gospel, the two questions are similar - Lk 21:7
         a. "When will these things be?"
         b. "What sign will there be when these things are about to
            take place?"
      3. In Matthew's gospel, the second question is worded differently
         - Mt 24:3
         a. "When will these things be?"
         b. "What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of
            the age?"
      4. Observations regarding these questions:
         a. Matthew wrote his gospel for a Jewish audience
            1) He likely recorded the questions as asked by the
               disciples, who presumed the destruction of temple would
               mean His coming and the end of the age
            2) Jewish readers of the gospel would likely have the same
               conception
         b. Mark and Luke wrote their gospels to Gentiles
            1) To avoid possible misunderstanding by non-Jewish 
               readers, they worded the disciples' questions to reflect
               what the discourse is actually about
            2) I.e., the destruction of the temple and the sign when
               its destruction would be imminent

[When the setting leading up to "The Olivet Discourse" is carefully
considered, the subject of Jesus' words become clear.  The destruction
of the temple is the matter under consideration, not the second coming
of Christ.  Now let's proceed to examine more closely...]

II. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

   A. WHAT WILL "NOT" BE THE SIGN...
      1. Be careful that none deceive you, claiming to be the Christ 
         - Mt 24:4-5
      2. Don't be troubled by wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilence
         - Mt 24:6-8
         a. Such things will come, but the end (destruction of the
            temple) is not yet
         b. They are only the beginning of sorrows (not the sign of the
            end)
      3. Anticipate persecution and hard times - Mt 24:9-13
         a. You will be killed and hated for His name's sake
         b. Many will be offended, betray one another, and hate one
            another
         c. False prophets will deceive many
         d. The love of many will grow cold because of lawlessness
         e. But he who endures to "the end" will be saved -- "the end"
            refers here:
            1) Not to the second coming (implying one must live until
               Christ comes again)
            2) Nor to the destruction of Jerusalem (implying once one
               has survived that event, one's salvation is secured)
            3) But to the end of one's life - cf. Re 2:10
      4. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world 
         - Mt 24:14
         a. As a witness to all the nations
         b. Then the end (the destruction of the temple) will come
            1) This would end the Jewish sacrifices, and other remnants
               of OT worship
            2) That which was nailed to the cross, abolished by Jesus'
               death, would pass away - cf. Col 2:14-17; Ep 2:14-16; He8:13
         -- Was the gospel preached to all nations prior to the
            destruction of the temple?  Note what Paul wrote prior to
            70 A.D. - Ro 10:16-18; Col 1:23

   B. WHAT WILL BE THE SIGN...
      1. The "abomination of desolation" - Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14
         a. Standing in the holy place (the holy city Jerusalem)
         b. As foretold by Daniel - cf. Dan 9:26-27
      2. When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies - Lk 21:20
         a. Luke therefore explains the "abomination of desolation"
         b. In 70 A.D., Roman armies surrounded and besieged Jerusalem
            prior to destroying it and the temple
      -- Thus Jesus answers the disciples' question:  "What sign will
         there be when these things are about to take place?"

   C. WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU SEE THE SIGN...
      1. Those in Judea are to flee to the mountains - Mt 24:16-22
         a. Don't delay by going to your homes and getting your clothes
         b. It will be a difficult time for pregnant and nursing
            mothers
         c. Pray that your flight be not in winter (when travel is
            difficult) or on the Sabbath (when city gates are closed to
            travel)
         d. For there will be "great tribulation", though shortened for
            the elect's sake
            1) Luke specifies the nature of this tribulation - Lk 21:
               23b-24
            2) A Jewish general taking captive by the Romans just prior
               to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 offered this
               summary:
               a) All the calamities which had befallen any nation from
                  the beginning of the world were but small in 
                  comparison with those of the Jews
               b) In the siege of Jerusalem, no fewer than 1,100,000
                  perished (it was during the time of the Passover,
                  when more than 3,000,000 Jews were assembled)
               c) In surrounding provinces 250,000 were slain
               d) 97,000 were taken captive, some killed by beasts in
                  Roman theaters, some sent to work in Egypt, others
                  sold as slaves
               -- Flavius Josephus, Jewish Wars (as quoted in Barnes
                  Commentary on Matthew)
            3) The "elect" were Christians, spared by a shortened siege
               a) The Jews in the city engaged the Romans in battle
               b) Titus, the Roman general, being called to return to
                  Rome, proceeded to end the siege and stormed the city
                  (Barnes Commentary)
      2. Don't be misled by false christs and false prophets - Mt 24:
         23-28
         a. Even those who show great signs and wonders to deceive
         b. For the coming (judgment) of the Son of Man will be like
            lightning across the sky
            1) Do not expect to find Him in the desert or in inner
               rooms
            2) When He comes in judgment, it will be swift - cf. Lk 17:
               22-24
         c. Where the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered
            1) Alluding to Jerusalem surrounded by armies
            2) This is the "sign" to warn them it is time to flee
               Jerusalem and Judea!

CONCLUSION (Part One)

1. So far, all this depicts a local, escapable judgment...
   a. Where Jesus warned those in Judea of what is to come
   b. Where they are given a sign to let them know when to flee
   -- Indeed, many believe that up to verse 29 (or 35), Jesus is
      foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem (and its temple) that
      did occur in 70 A. D.

2. It certainly does not fit a worldwide, inescapable judgment...
   a. As will characterize the second coming of Christ
   b. As Paul and Peter taught Christians throughout the Mediterranean
      world - cf. 1Th 5:2-3; 2Th 1:7-10; 2Pe 3:10-12

3. Our next study will continue "The Olivet Discourse", starting with
   verse 29...
   a. Which certainly sounds like the second coming of Christ
   b. But is it?  Or was Jesus still describing events pertaining to
      the destruction of Jerusalem?

Eusebius (ca. 300 A.D.) in his "Ecclesiastical History" wrote that
Christians heeded the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24, and fled 
Jerusalem when it was surrounded by the Roman army.

May we likewise heed the words of Jesus and not be misled by false
prophets and false christs, not be troubled by wars, famines,
pestilence, earthquakes, or even persecution, but endure to the end by
remaining faithful to Him, and look forward to His final coming at the
Last Day!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"The Olivet Discourse - II (24:29-51) by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                  The Olivet Discourse - II (24:29-51)

INTRODUCTION

1. In our previous lesson, we covered the first half of Matthew 24...
   a. Commonly called "The Olivet Discourse", since Jesus was on the
      Mount of Olives when He delivered it
   b. A challenging passage of scripture, believed to discussing...
      1) The destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in 70 A.D.
      2) The second coming of Christ, which is yet to occur
      3) Or both events, described either in turn or intertwined

2. I've proposed the entire chapter foretells the destruction of
   Jerusalem, based first upon the setting leading up to the discourse,
   which includes...
   a. Jesus' words spoken in the temple
      1) His parables about Israel's rejection of Him - Mt 21:28-32,
         33-46; 22:1-14
      2) His condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees - Mt 23:27-36
      3) His lamentation over Jerusalem - Mt 23:37-39
   b. Jesus' prophecy spoken about the temple - Mt 24:1-2
   c. The questions of the disciples, which when Mark and Luke's
      account are considered, appear to be:
      1) "When will these things be?"
      2) "What will be the sign when all these things will be 
         fulfilled?" -- Cf. Mt 24:3; Mk 13:4; Lk 21:7

3. We saw that in verses 4-29, Jesus describes...
   a. What will "not" be the sign (other than the gospel preached to
      all nations) - Mt 24:4-14
   b. What will be the sign - Mt 24:15
      1) The abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel - Dan 9:26-27
      2) Which Luke explains to be Jerusalem surrounded by armies - Lk 21:20
   c. What to do when they saw the sign - Mt 24:16-28
      1) Those in Judea were to flee to the mountains to avoid a great
         tribulation
      2) They were not to be misled by false christs or false prophets

[Up to verse 29, Jesus described a local, escapable judgment to befall
Jerusalem.  He does not describe the worldwide, inescapable judgment
taught elsewhere in the Scriptures.  But with verse 29, some believe
Jesus now addresses His second coming (cf. J.W. McGarvey's Four-Fold
Gospel).  As we continue with our study, I propose that the destruction
of Jerusalem is still under consideration...]

II. THE OLIVET DISCOURSE (continued)

   D. WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT...
      1. Events to occur "immediately after the tribulation of those
         days"...
         a. Cosmic disturbances - Mt 24:29
            1) The sun will be darkened
            2) The moon will not give its light
            3) The stars will fall from heaven
            4) The heavens will be shaken
         b. The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven - Mt 24:30
            1) All the tribes of the earth will mourn
            2) They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
               heaven with power and great glory
         c. The elect will be gathered - Mt 24:31
            1) For with a great sound of the trumpet, angels will be
               sent
            2) They shall gather the elect from the four winds, from
               one end of heaven to another     
      2. Such events certainly sound like the second coming of Christ,
         but consider two reasons why they may not be referring to
         Jesus' coming at the Last Day...
         a. The events were to occur "immediately after the tribulation
            of those days" ("in those days, after that tribulation")
            - Mt 24:29; Mk 13:24
            1) They are connected in time to the tribulation described
               in Mt 24:15-28
            2) This "coming" of Jesus was to occur at the conclusion of
               the siege of Jerusalem
         b. The events are similar to those used to foretell God's
            judgment of other nations
            1) Babylon - Isa 13:1,6-13
            2) Egypt - Isa 19:1-2; cf. Eze 32:2,7-9
            3) Tyre - Isa 23:1; 24:21-23
            4) Edom - Isa 34:4-6
            5) Nineveh - Nah 1:1-5
            6) Israel - Am 8:9
            7) Judah - Jer 4:5-6,23-28
      3. For such reasons, I suggest that even in Mt 24:29-31...
         a. Jesus refers to the destruction of Jerusalem
         b. Like other Jewish prophets, Jesus uses figurative language
            to depict:
            1) The judgment to befall the wicked (in terms of worldwide
               destruction)
            2) The provision made for the righteous (in terms of the
               gathering by angels)
         c. Jewish prophets foretold God's judgment upon such 
            nations...
            1) Using figures of worldwide destruction, even though the
               judgment was local
            2) Perhaps because such judgments foreshadow God's Final
               Judgment to come upon the entire world at the Last Day

   [The rest of the chapter includes...]

   E. ADMONITIONS TO BE PREPARED AND PRODUCTIVE...
      1. The parable of the fig tree - Mt 24:32-33
         a. New branches and leaves indicate summer is near
         b. When you see these things (Jerusalem surrounded by armies),
            the time is near
      2. It would happen before "this generation" passed away - Mt 24:
         34
         a. Some define "generation" as a race of people (i.e., the
            Jews) - cf. McGarvey, B. W. Johnson
         b. But note its use by Jesus just prior to this discourse 
            - Mt 23:33-36 (esp. 36)
         -- The destruction of Jerusalem came to pass within forty
            years!
      3. The words of Jesus will come to pass - Mt 24:35
         a. Heaven and earth shall pass away one day - cf. 2Pe 3:7,10
         b. But Jesus' words will by no means pass away
         -- With v. 35, some believe Jesus now talks about the second
            coming; but Jesus is using an illustration to demonstrate
            the surety of His words - e.g., Mt 5:18
      4. Of that day and hour, only the Father knows - Mt 24:36
         a. They might discern the general timing with the advance of
            armies toward Jerusalem
         b. But the day and hour when the siege would begin, only the
            Father knew
         -- So don't delay when the "sign" appears (Jerusalem
            surrounded by armies)
      5. It will be like the days of Noah - Mt 24:37-39
         a. In the days before the flood...
            1) Noah knew what was coming and was preparing, but people
               continued with their normal activities
            2) Only when it was too late did the people know
         b. Prior to the siege of Jerusalem...
            1) Many people probably thought the conflict would end
               peacefully, and so lived their lives accordingly
            2) But once the siege began, it was too late
      6. Some will be taken away - Mt 24:40-41
         a. When the city was stormed, 97,000 Jews were taken captive
         b. Some to be killed by beasts in Roman theaters, some sent to
            work in Egypt, others sold as slaves -- Flavius Josephus,
            Jewish Wars (as quoted in Barnes Commentary on Matthew)
      7. Therefore, watch! - Mt 24:42-44
         a. You don't know the hour of the Son of Man's coming
         b. Don't be caught off guard, like the master of a house who
            did not know when a thief would break in
         c. Be ready, for the Son of Man will come when you not expect
            Him
         -- The siege of Jerusalem might begin promptly, so flee Judea
            quickly when you see the armies surrounding Jerusalem!
      8. The parable of the faithful servant and the wicked servant 
         - Mt 24:45-51
         a. The faithful servant is blessed if doing the master's will
            when he comes
         b. So the disciples of Jesus are admonished to be productive

CONCLUSION

1. Admittedly, there is much in "The Olivet Discourse" that alludes to
   our Lord's second coming at the Last Day...
   a. But that is no different than the prophecies by other Jewish
      prophets who foretold God's judgment upon other nations
   b. It was a common motif used by Jewish prophets, we should not be
      surprised to see Jesus using the same
   -- And rightly so, for God's judgments upon nations in the past are
      types and shadows of the Final Judgment to befall the entire
      world when Jesus comes again

2. In addition to the setting leading up to the discourse, there is the
   natural flow of the discourse itself that leads me to conclude it is
   entirely about the destruction of Jerusalem...
   a. Jesus' disciples are told what will not be the sign - Mt 24:1-14
   b. They are told will be the sign that His coming is near - Mt 24:15
   c. They are told what to do when they see the sign - Mt 24:16-28
   d. His coming in judgment (the fall of Jerusalem) is described in
      terms reminiscent of other Jewish prophets who foretold of God's
      judgments upon various nations - Mt 24:29-31
   e. Admonitions are given for them to be prepared and productive in
      the meantime - Mt 24:32-51

So I view "The Olivet Discourse" to describe a local, escapable
judgment which occurred as Jesus foretold in 70 A. D.  However, there
is still the worldwide, inescapable judgment at the Last Day - cf. 1 Th
5:2-3; 2Th 1:7-10; 2Pe 3:10-12

Are you ready for that Day?  The admonitions to be prepared and
productive are very similar:

   "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in
   which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the
   elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the
   works that are in it will be burned up."

   "Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what
   manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
   looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because
   of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the
   elements will melt with fervent heat?"

   "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens
   and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved,
   looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
   peace, without spot and blameless;"
                                              - 2Pe 3:10-14

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

New by Gary Rose

 

 I like Oreo's, but THIS??? WOW!!! Sometimes, NEW is just BETTER!!! 

Now, think in terms of the Bible...

Jeremiah, Chapter 31 (World English Bible)

  31: Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
   32: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh.
   33: But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:
   34: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

And

Galatians, Chapter 3 (World English Bible)
1 Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth among you as crucified?
2 I just want to learn this from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain?
5 He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you, and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
6 Even as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.”
7 Know therefore that those who are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.
8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.”
9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”
12 The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”  (Emp. added vss 10-13)
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15 Brothers, speaking of human terms, though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been confirmed, no one makes it void, or adds to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He doesn’t say, “To seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “To your seed,” which is Christ.
17 Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect.
18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by promise.
19 What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not between one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law.
22 But the Scriptures imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, confined for the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 So that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26 For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.

Old law, new law- What's the difference? In a word, GRACE!!! We all make mistakes, and under the NEW LAW (The covenant of GRACE) we have hope.

Now, that really leaves a sweet taste in anyone's mouth!!!

Bible Reading December 20 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading  December 20 (World English Bible)

Dec. 20

Jonah 1-4

Jon 1:1 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

Jon 1:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me."

Jon 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.

Jon 1:4 But Yahweh sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty storm on the sea, so that the ship was likely to break up.

Jon 1:5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the innermost parts of the ship, and he was laying down, and was fast asleep.

Jon 1:6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God! Maybe your God will notice us, so that we won't perish."

Jon 1:7 They all said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is on us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.

Jon 1:8 Then they asked him, "Tell us, please, for whose cause this evil is on us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? Of what people are you?"

Jon 1:9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear Yahweh, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land."

Jon 1:10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "What is this that you have done?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Yahweh, because he had told them.

Jon 1:11 Then said they to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may be calm to us?" For the sea grew more and more stormy.

Jon 1:12 He said to them, "Take me up, and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; for I know that because of me this great storm is on you."

Jon 1:13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.

Jon 1:14 Therefore they cried to Yahweh, and said, "We beg you, Yahweh, we beg you, let us not perish for this man's life, and don't lay on us innocent blood; for you, Yahweh, have done as it pleased you."

Jon 1:15 So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging.

Jon 1:16 Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.

Jon 1:17 Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish's belly.

Jon 2:2 He said, "I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.

Jon 2:3 For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.

Jon 2:4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'

Jon 2:5 The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.

Jon 2:6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.

Jon 2:7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.

Jon 2:8 Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Jon 2:9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh."

Jon 2:10 Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.

Jon 3:1 The word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying,

Jon 3:2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I give you."

Jon 3:3 So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey across.

Jon 3:4 Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried out, and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

Jon 3:5 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

Jon 3:6 The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

Jon 3:7 He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, "Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;

Jon 3:8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.

Jon 3:9 Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?"

Jon 3:10 God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn't do it.

Jon 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

Jon 4:2 He prayed to Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn't this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.

Jon 4:3 Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."

Jon 4:4 Yahweh said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

Jon 4:5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.

Jon 4:6 Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.

Jon 4:7 But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.

Jon 4:8 It happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

Jon 4:9 God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?" He said, "I am right to be angry, even to death."

Jon 4:10 Yahweh said, "You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night.

Jon 4:11 Shouldn't I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can't discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?"

Dec. 20

Revelation 2

Rev 2:1 "To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write: "He who holds the seven stars in his right hand, he who walks among the seven golden lampstands says these things:

Rev 2:2 "I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.

Rev 2:3 You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake, and have not grown weary.

Rev 2:4 But I have this against you, that you left your first love.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.

Rev 2:6 But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Rev 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.

Rev 2:8 "To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things:

Rev 2:9 "I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Rev 2:10 Don't be afraid of the things which you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have oppression for ten days. Be faithful to death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Rev 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won't be harmed by the second death.

Rev 2:12 "To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write: "He who has the sharp two-edged sword says these things:

Rev 2:13 "I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You hold firmly to my name, and didn't deny my faith in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Rev 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

Rev 2:15 So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans likewise.

Rev 2:16 Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Rev 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.

Rev 2:18 "To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write: "The Son of God, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass, says these things:

Rev 2:19 "I know your works, your love, faith, service, patient endurance, and that your last works are more than the first.

Rev 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.

Rev 2:21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.

Rev 2:22 Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works.

Rev 2:23 I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Rev 2:24 But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you.

Rev 2:25 Nevertheless, hold that which you have firmly until I come.

Rev 2:26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.

Rev 2:27 He will rule them with a rod of iron, shattering them like clay pots; as I also have received of my Father:

Rev 2:28 and I will give him the morning star.

Rev 2:29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.