Introduction
Note: As
with elsewhere, tweaks and alterations may occur anytime to anything
anywhere.
Linked index below.
Before
we’ve fallen in love with someone, we’ve usually got to know much about
them — what makes them tick — their likes and dislikes, what they want
or don’t want, what pleases them or not, and where they have drawn
certain lines. And this we wanted to know because we didn’t want to
fall out with them, mess things up and ultimately lose what we might
regret, them, and thus we treading carefully.
And surely the same
applies when it comes to God, and God has made His likes and dislikes
clear, what He wants or doesn't want, what pleases Him or not, and
where He has drawn certain lines.
Now, the more we get to know God
too, the more we find these things out, but only by applying ourselves
to the study of His Word, and via directly communicating with Him in
prayer.
This way it’s as if we’re walking and talking with Him,
actually having a relationship, and that relationship being the outcome
of a deep interest that culminates in a certain knowledge gained. And
things always working better where self has been cast to one side —
self being something that ultimately needs to go altogether for any
relationship to be truly successful.
And so, who wouldn’t want to
please that boy or girl who they’re very interested in, or have fallen
in love with? And only knowledge provides the key.
Well, as
mentioned before, and in regards to God, that knowledge comes not via
feelings, not via empty meditation, but via His Word, and via His Word
God says, “If you love Me you will keep my Commandments,” His
Commandments being a Divine expression of His love given that
they
work in our best interests.
“So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good” (Rom 7:12, RSV).
And another thing to remember is, that all throughout Earth's history, it has always only been a faithful few who've remained true to God's will — never the majority, the majority having always rebelled and apostatised.
"And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [the Church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ " (Rev 12:17, KJV). Note Rev 19:10.
“Here is a call for the endurance [faithfulness] of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God…”
(Rev 14:12, ESV).
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God's Law has been done away with, except in the context of its power to save, for only God's grace saves.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8,9).
And there can only be grace where there is law. No law, no need of grace. Abolish law and Christ's death was in vain, and Satan thus gaining the victory, because where there's no law, there's no sin, and thus anything permissible.
“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled [realized] in us, who walk [live] not after the flesh [selfish desires], but after the Spirit [the indwelling Spirit of Christ; willing obedience that stems from love]” (Rom 8:4).
Obeying God's Law is more than behaving properly. It's living the kind of life that Christ did.
End of introduction.
In regards to God's Ten Commandments, you might like to read my poem
"When Heaven Spoke"
my mother's testimony.
Things
About God's Law That We Need To Know
And that Law being: God's Ten Commandments
Part One — Those Things That We Need To Know
Part Two — God's Salvational Covenant
Part Three — Continuity
Part Four — Why Satan Has Always
Attacked God's Law
Part Five — What Happened To The
Sabbath In God's Law?
Part Six — Rhythm Of Life
Part Seven — The Lawless One
Part Eight — Is History About to
Repeat Itself?
Part Nine — From The Perspective Of
Logic
Part Ten — A Sampling Of Misused Texts
Part Eleven — Why The Old Testament
Is So Important
Part Twelve — So Where To Now?
May God enlighten and bless.
Part One — Those Things That We Need To Know
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Rom 3:31, ESV).
"And having been perfected, He [Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him (Heb 5:9, NKJV)).
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins [God’s grace is made void], but [rather] a fearful expectation of judgment...” (Heb 10:26,27, ESV).
“Whoever says, “I know Him” but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him”
(1 John 2:4, ESV).
“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil...” (1 John 3:8, ESV).
The writers of the Scriptures often used the singular word "law” to refer to either God's Law [the Ten Commandments] or the Law of Moses. Hence why we need to understand the differences between them and their differing purposes, otherwise we will draw the wrong conclusions.
Another thing worth noting is this:
When Paul speaks of God’s Law, he speaks of it in both a positive and negative sense, which, to be honest, can sound contradictory. However, there’s a simple explanation, and that is, context. And this is what folk need to clearly understand lest they wrongly claim that God’s Law has been done away with. See Part Ten — A Sampling Of Misused Texts.
The crux of it:
And using borrowed thoughts, when Paul speaks of the Law in the ‘context of salvation’ [Justification – Right standing before God] he clearly affirms that law keeping is of no avail (Rom 3:20), but on the other hand when he speaks of the Law in the ‘context of Christian conduct’ [Sanctification – Right living before God], he maintains the value and validity of God’s Law (Rom 7:12; 13:8-10; 1 Cor 7:19).
So lets begin:
1)
The Ten Commandments were never given to the Jews but were entrusted to them. Thus they were simply the guardians of God’s Law (Rom 3:2). Hence why the New Testament calls all to keep the Ten Commandments, not just the Jews (1 Cor 7:19).
2)
The Ten Commandments weren’t introduced at Mount Sinai but were reiterated at Mount Sinai.
The following attests to this:
a)
The Fourth Commandment says “Remember” presupposing that it was already known, and indeed it was, given that before Mount Sinai the Israelites were not allowed to collect manna on the seventh-day Sabbath (Ex 16:27-30), a day that Adam and Eve would have clearly kept too, in line with their Creator’s example (Gen 2:2,3; Ex 20:11), and Scripture shows that it was a literal 24 hour day.
The seven-day weekly cycle has no other explanation for its existence than the biblical account of the seven-day creation sequence. The month can point to the motions of the moon for its period, the year is determined by the revolution of the earth around the sun but the week has no astronomical or natural source of origin.
Any historical tampering with the calendar has never made the slightest difference to the sequence of the days of the week.
b)
Abraham is credited with keeping God’s Commandments, and this well before Mount Sinai (Gen 26:5).
With Abraham still in mind, and, well before Moses was born, God judged folk by the standard of whether they “obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws” (Gen 26:4,5).
If the descendants of Abraham hadn't been seduced into idolatry there would have been no necessity for the Ten Commandments to be proclaimed [reiterated] from Mount Sinai. However, a very strong reminder was clearly needed.
The reason that none of the Ten Commandments are specifically mentioned in the book of Genesis is because it's not a book of commands but origins.
3)
Logic itself indicates that the principles of God’s Law would have been known before Mount Sinai, and thus handed down from father to son. For example:
a)
When marriage was introduced in Eden by God, it clearly wasn’t to be broken by adultery given the "one flesh" principle (Gen 2:24), hence “Let no man put asunder” (Matt 19:5,6). Note also Gen 20:3. And Joseph clearly new that adultery was a sin (Gen 39:7-9).
b)
Eve was told not to take from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, she was soon seen to covet, steal, didn’t honour her heavenly Father, nor put Him first. She paid the price. For Eve to sin there was obviously a law operating, as with Lucifer. No law, no sin.
Cain copied his mother by coveting, he coveting the favour that his brother had received from God, and this led to Cain murdering his brother (Gen 4:3-5). Note also Genesis 9:5-6.
c)
God is the giver-of-life, so He clearly wouldn't have wanted people to murder even before Mount Sinai. And hence why He punished Cain.
d)
Stealing was clearly known to be a sin (Gen 31:32; 44:8-9).
e)
The patriarchs knew that idol worship was sinful (Gen 35:2), so there went graven images.
f)
God is the God of truth, so He clearly wouldn’t have wanted people lying and bearing a false witness even before Mount Sinai. The account of Jacob and Esau shows that lying and deceit was known to be evil.
g)
Jacob, (who lived well before Moses, by the way), told folk to put away their foreign gods (Genesis 35:1-4). Thus God was to be put first and only.
h)
The brothers of Joseph knew that they were to honour their parents, hence their asking forgiveness for their trespasses against their father. Ham exposed his father's nakedness and suffered under a lifelong curse as a result (Gen 9:22-27).
i)
And as already mentioned, God kept the seventh-day Sabbath himself. And obviously Adam and Eve too.
4)
The Ten Commandments were never ceremonial but moral and why God’s moral Law sat apart from both the Jewish ceremonial and civil law. The Jews simply adhered to God’s moral Law as well, incorporating it in all their doings.
Note the differences:
God's Moral Law — the Ten Commandments
This law is for everyone and was not done away with at the cross (1 Cor 7:19; Eccl 12:13; Luke 16:17; Rom 3:31; Rev 14:12).
This law was spoken by God directly to the people (Deut 4:12,13).
This law was written on stone tablets by God Himself (Ex 31:18; Deut 4:13).
This law was placed inside the ark of the covenant (1 Kings 8:9).
All Christians are to keep this law (1 Cor 7:19; Rev 14:12; Rom 2:13; 3:31;1 John 2:3,4).
All are judged by this law (James 2:8,10-12).
This law is a summary of all moral duties to man and God (Eccl 12:13; Ex 20:3-17).
This law contains the weekly Seventh-day [Saturday] Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11). The seventh-day Sabbath existed before the Fall and thus was not only in force until the cross, as types which existed until the cross were not introduced till after Adam's fall. Type -- something that prefigures, foreshadows, points towards, represents something to come, represents by prior type.
This law is to continue (Rom 3:31; Rev 22:14, KJV; 14:9-12; Matt 5:17; Luke 16:17; 1 Cor 7:19).
This law contains eternal principles.
This law contains no offerings [such as animal sacrifices] or anything typical [biblical types — things that foreshadow].
This law is a perfect law (Rom 7:12; Ps 19:7).
This law is a spiritual law (Rom 7:14).
This law is called The Law of the Lord (Isa 5:24) and The Royal Law (James 2:8).
This law isn't grievous (1 John 5:3).
The Jewish Ceremonial Law
This was the sanctuary [temple] laws which governed the religious services of Israel and which pointed forward to the coming Messiah. Hence the types and anti-types. This law was done away with at the cross.
This law was spoken by God to Moses (Ex 24:4).
Moses wrote this law in a book (2 Chron 35:12; Deut 31:9; Ex 24:4).
This law was placed by the side of the ark of the covenant (Deut 31:2).
No Christian is to keep this law since the cross.
No one is judged by this law (Col 2:14-16).
This law showed how sins are forgiven and sinners reconciled to God.
This law contained yearly Sabbaths and feasts.
This law ceased with Christ’s death (Eph 2:15; Acts 15:24).
This law stood only in ordinances, rites and ceremonies (Heb 7:27; chap 9,10).
This law contained types (Heb 8:5).
This law is an imperfect law (Heb 7:18,19; 10:1).
This law is not in itself a spiritual law (Heb 9:10).
This law is called The law of Moses (Luke 2:22; 1 Cor 9:9) and "law contained in the ordinances" (Eph 2:15).
This law was contrary to us (Col 2:14).
The Jewish Civil Law.
This law, along with the Jewish Ceremonial Law, passed away when the Old Testament nation of Israel was disowned by God. This civil law regulated a multitude of things which had to do with the general operating of Israel. It covered things to do with health, sanitation, disease, crime, court procedures, etc. These are clearly not binding today as civil obligations, but many of the basic principles still apply.
5)
The Ten Commandments were clearly not done away with at the cross given that:
a)
The new covenant contains the Ten Commandments (Jer 31:31-33; Heb 8:8,10). In fact, God’s Law was and is the heart of both covenants. Therefore, if God wants His Law written on our hearts, He obviously still wants it kept, but this time from the heart, (willingly), as it was meant to be kept in the first place. See Part Two — God's Salvational Covenant.
b)
God’s principles and standards haven’t changed. He’s still the same Holy, righteous God (James 1:17). The Ten Commandments are the standard of Christian conduct (James 2:24,26; 2:20; Matt 19:17; Eph 2:10; Matt 5:16).
c)
God hates sin, and we’re told that sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4; Rom 4:15).
d)
If the Commandments had been done away with, Christians would have no way of knowing what lawlessness [sin] is (Rom 7:7). Since we live in a world of sin, there has to be a law that defines sin.
e)
The book of Revelation, (dealing with End-time matters), tells us how Satan not only hates Commandment keepers but goes all out to get them (Rev 12:17). The book of Revelation encourages Commandment keepers to remain faithful during that coming persecution inflicted by the future “beast” power that will be under Satan’s control (Rev 14:12). And in the book of Revelation, (and again in regards to End-time events), the Ark of the Covenant, in which sat God’s Law, is shown in Heaven (Rev 11:19). And thus the book of Revelation pointing to the centrality of God's Ten Commandments in Earth’s final hours, and their permanence.
f)
Christ said that not one jot or title will pass from the Law until Heaven and Earth pass away (Matt 5:17,18; Luke 16:17).
g)
Christ said that those who truly love Him will keep His Commandments (John 14:15).
h)
Even secular folk benefit from God’s Law because everything about it is in man’s best interests.
i)
After the cross, the apostles still upheld the validity of keeping God’s Law, and even scoffed at any view to the contrary (Rom 3:31; James 2:10-12; 1 Cor 7:19). All why God rested in the tomb on the seventh-day Sabbath as in accordance with the Fourth Commandment; why the women refused to embalm Christ's body until the Sabbath was over (Matt 28:1); and why the apostles continued to observe the seventh day Sabbath too (Acts 13:42; 17:2; 18:4).
j)
It's because the law could not be set aside, and penalty had to be enforced, that Christ came to die for us (Rom 8:3,4).
k)
The Ten Commandments are a transcript of God’s character.
l)
We’re told that the saved will still celebrate the Sabbath (Fourth Commandment) in Heaven (Is 66:22,23). So here we can see that God's Law will still be operating.
m)
Christ came to fulfil the Law. The Greek the word used here means to fill it full. Amplify it, in other words. The opposite to destroy!
Many turn to Gal 3:10-14 to show that God’s Law was done away with at the cross but Gal 3:10-14 is referring to the law of Moses. Paul's reference in Gal 3:17-19 is also to that very same Book of the Law. The law of Moses being a temporary law (Col 2:14; Heb 8:13). God's Law being eternal (Matt 5:17-19).
Likewise, "the handwriting of ordinances that was against us" (Col 2:14, KJV) or "the wriiten code with its regulations that was against us" (NIV), should not be confused with God's Law either, (nor the law of Moses), for what's being spoken about here is the written record of our sins. What Paul is saying here is, that Christ has cancelled, set aside and nailed to the cross the written record of our sins. Paul, via a daring metaphor, is reaffirming the completeness of God's forgiveness.
But if it had been to do with any law, say, it would not have been the Ten Commandments anyway, but the writings of Moses given the parallel text in Deuteronomy 31:24-27. The Ten Commandments having been the work of God himself and His very own finger.
n)
Christ condemned those who rejected His commandments by replacing them with man’s commandments (Mark 7:9; Matt 15:9).
o)
Scripture tells us that we will be judged by God’s law (James 2:12).
6)
God would also hardly change such a significant law at any time or in any way given that:
a)
Such would prove He’s fallible when Scripture says He isn’t.
b)
Such would show that God can’t read the future and adapt things to suit in the first place.
c)
Such wouldn’t be in keeping with Scripture saying that God’s law is perfect, (and who could possibly find fault with it?), Holy (Rom 7:12), spiritual (Rom 7:14), love (1 Tim 1:5; Rom 13:10), light (Prov 6:23), true (Neh 9:13; Ps 119:142,151), righteous (Rom 8:4), righteousness (Ps 119:172), just (Rom 7:12), pure (Ps 19:8), good (Rom 7:12; 1 Tim 1:8), faithful (Ps 119:86), wisdom (Ps 111:10; 119:98), great (Hos 8:12), brings one peace (Ps 119:165), unchanging (Matt 5:18).
d)
God’s Law acts like both a hedge and mirror.
The first Commandment is all about loyalty, the second worship, the third reverence, the fourth sanctification and relationship, the fifth respect for parental authority, the sixth respect for human life, the seventh purity in relationships, the eighth honesty, the ninth truthfulness, and the tenth contentment.
e)
A God without a law would be a God without control, and such would beget anarchy and licence. Any government will only stand as long as it has laws. God is the originator of justice.
f)
Scripture speaks ill of a power that has attempted to change God's Law (Dan 7:25). And tells us not to add to, or subtract from, Scripture itself.
7)
Perhaps the most critical Commandment, and thus the one that Satan no doubt hates most, is the fourth — the seventh-day Sabbath — because:
a)
It’s effectively God’s signature, acting like a king’s seal. The seal of a law gives the name of the lawgiver [Lord], his official title [Creator], and the extent of his dominion [Heaven, Earth, sea].
b)
It conveys who the Author of the Ten is.
c)
And as effectively mentioned above, it conveys God’s territory.
d)
It refutes evolution.
e)
It reminds us of who God is.
f)
It’s the one command that particularly states “Remember” giving it more significance.
g)
It memorialises God’s creative act, is a forever flag. It also memorialises redemption given that Christ rested on the Sabbath in the tomb, after His salvational act.
h)
It declares God’s authority over creation, humanity.
i)
It shows whom should be worshipped.
j)
It shows which day of the week God is rightly entitled to — Collier's Encyclopedia: Saturday, seventh day of the week. Though Saturday is the seventh day of the week, and has remained so throughout history, many modern calendars now show Sunday as the seventh day and Monday as the first, (largely for business reasons), which can confuse folk.
k)
It protects our time with God, frees us from distractions, revitalizes and witnesses.
l)
It shows the origin of the 7 day week.
Some wrongly turn to the following text in order to show that each creation day was a thousand years — "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day" (2 Peter 3:8, NASB) — but such is a misinterpretation. All this text is saying is, that God has always been and will always be. Therefore, time really means nothing to Him in the sense that when one lives eternally, a thousand years kind of slips by like a day. In eternal terms, a thousand years is nothing to God.
Here, the apostle Peter is not setting up a prophetic yardstick for computing time periods, but rather, is rebuking the skeptical impatience of scoffers who're casting doubt on whether Christ will fulfill His promises connected with Earth's end. In other words, we cannot confine God or His ideas to our scale of days and years.
m)
The observance of this Sabbath connects us with the origin of our race. It was made when man was (Mark 2:27; Gen 2:1-3). The seventh-day Sabbath begins at sunset and finishes at sunset (Lev 23:32; Gen 1:5).
n)
The New Testament conveys that “The Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:28), and the book of Revelation, (thus showing continuity), refers to it as the "Lord’s day" (Rev 1:10). Thus it belongs to God (Mark 2:28).
o)
The other nine Commandments depend for their authority upon the facts contained in the Fourth Commandment.
p)
It's a creation ordinance. Therefore, it's not a type, as types weren't introduced till after the Fall.
q)
It was given to Adam as the representative of all nations and therefore wasn't just for the Jews.
r)
And why Mark, who wrote his book 32 years after the resurrection of Christ, still called the day before the first day [Sunday], the Sabbath (Mark 16:1,2).
And why Matthew, who wrote his book six years after the resurrection of Christ, also still called the day before the first day, the Sabbath (Matt 28:1).
And why Luke, many years after Christ’s death, referred to the seventh-day Sabbath as “the Sabbath day according to the commandment” (Luke 23:54-56).
Clearly, there was never any dispute between the Christians and the Jews over the identity of the Sabbath day, proof that in apostolic times Christians observed the same day that the Jews did. Hence why Paul was never charged with disregarding the Sabbath (Acts 25:8).
It's clear by John's statement, "I was in the spirit on the Lord's day," that John observed the seventh day Sabbath just as sacredly on Patmos as he did when preaching to the people in the towns and cities of Judea.
s)
And why God pronounced a special blessing on Gentiles [non-Jews] who kept the seventh-day Sabbath (Isa 56:1-8).
t)
And why the End-time call of Revelation is to return to the true worship of the God who created the Earth in six days and rested on the seventh-day Sabbath (Rev 14:6,7).
u)
And why Christ took for granted the permanence of the Seventh Day Sabbath when warning of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 (Matt 24:20) — Remember that Christ died in AD 31.
v)
And why the book of Hebrews states that this Sabbath should still be kept (Heb 4:1-11). Will be restored in the last days (Isa 58:12,13).
w)
And why, as mentioned in #6, we’re told that the saved will still celebrate the seventh-day Sabbath in Heaven (Is 66:22,23).
x)
And thus via all this, rebukes any who ignore the seventh-day Sabbath, any who substitute it with another day, and any who treat all days alike, for God blessed and sanctified the day, not the resting.
y)
And hence why the seventh-day Sabbath actually becomes a test of loyalty. And this being why those who keep the commandments [which contains the Seventh-day Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11)] are contrasted with those having the mark of the beast [false worship] (Rev 14:9-11; 13:17).
z)
The weekly Sabbath was appointed by God at creation, before man sinned, and over 2000 years before Moses was born. Its primary purpose being to commemorate God’s rest after creating this world in six days. Hence why the weekly Sabbath can never become obsolete while creation itself stands.
The yearly Sabbaths (Colossians 2:14-17), which were not tied to the weekly cycle, were appointed with the sanctuary service at Mount Sinai, and over 2000 years after creation and the Fall of Adam and Eve. Their primary purpose was to foreshadow Christ’s redeeming work on Calvary. They were temporary, and became obsolete with the rest of the sanctuary service, at the cross.
Christ, when on Earth, simply freed the Sabbath from the burdensome traditions that the Pharisees had added to it (Matt 12:1-8; John 7:22-24). By His acts of healing, Christ showed that acts of mercy were consistent with true Sabbath keeping (Matt 12:12; Mark 3:1-5). In other words, instead of abolishing the Sabbath, Christ taught how it should be observed.
To simplify and summarise, and going by the cumulative witness and continuity of Scripture:
God is the originator of law, boundaries and justice.
Both Satan and Adam and Eve violated a law that was already in operation. No law, no sin.
God’s Law was clearly kept before Mount Sinai.
God’s Law is still to be kept today given that it is now written on our hearts. Enshrined.
As evidence, Satan goes all out to persecute those who keep God's Commandments.
As evidence, the End-time saints are both encouraged and praised for keeping God’s Commandments.
As evidence, the End-time saints are known for their keeping of God's Ten Commandments.
Thus God’s Law is still sound, worthy, valid and unchanged, and the fourth Commandment, (just as laid down), to be kept as much as the other nine.
Obedience to God’s Commandments ——
Gives proof of our genuineness to truly follow Him.
Is our appreciative response to His love and sacrifice.
Brings glory to Him.
Witnesses to His transforming power in the life.
Witnesses to His will.
Is recognition that He knows what is in our best interest.
Is the natural fruitage of the Christian walk and growth.
Midst the present and coming turmoil no more sure and joyous place will be found,
But that of ones abiding in Christ — and via His Word, standing on solid ground.
For any other ground is sinking sand, and no one as faithful as our Lord,
Who the endurance of His Commandment keeping followers will soon reward.
This article was upgraded on 2 April 2022.
Part Two — God's Salvational Covenant
That "old" and "new" covenant argument.
Note: For quick reference, a short and simple summary is at the end.
Source available.
God's salvational covenant [promise, arrangement] was first made with Adam and Eve in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a Divine promise (Gen 3:15, KJV) that the seed of the woman [Christ the Deliverer] would bruise the Serpents [Satan’s] head. (Bruise: Assure Satan’s fate via Christ’s victory on the cross over sin and death). This promise offered pardon and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ for all mankind. The law of God [the Ten Commandments] was clearly the basis of this covenant which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the Divine will, placing them where they could obey God’s law (James 1:25; Rev 14:12). Any government will stand only as long as it has laws. No government is stronger than its laws and no law is stronger than the enforcement of its penalty. God is the originator of justice. It is because the law could not be set aside, and penalty had to be enforced, that Jesus came to die for us. He showed the other side of God’s character – His mercy and love that would pay the penalty for us, so that we might live. God has never been able to forgive sin. Just sinners. The reason we know He cannot forgive sin is because Jesus died.
This same [Edenic] covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise that by his seed [his descendants – both
literal and spiritual] all the nations of the earth would be blessed [all Christians would share in this covenant of salvation] (Gen 22:18; 17:7), this promise pointing to Christ [the coming of the Messiah, His death and salvation of mankind], which Abraham understood, trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness (Gal 3:8,16). This covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God’s law (Gen 26:5; 17:1) – the standard of Christian conduct by which all are judged (James 2:12).
In their bondage in Egypt, living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and the principles of the Edenic/Abrahamic covenant, thus another covenant was formed at Mount Sinai between God and Israel (Ex 19:5,6), the race chosen by God to receive and communicate His truth to other nations. Through this covenant God sought to clarify and strengthen the principles of the pre-existing covenant which would be ratified [confirmed] by Christ’s death on the cross. This covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex 6:3-5) was the same one that He had made with Abraham (Heb 6:18). The law of God [the Ten Commandments] was simply reiterated again here. Had the descendants of Abraham never been seduced into idolatry there would have been no necessity for the Ten Commandments to be proclaimed from Mount Sinai or written in stone and no need of the additional directions given to Moses. Nor any need for another covenant. After coming out of slavery in Egypt, the minds of the people blinded by heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far reaching principles of God’s ten precepts. That the obligations of the Ten Commandments might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments (Ex 21:1). The Ten Commandments [moral law] must not be confused with the Jewish ceremonial law. The Mount Sinai covenant was ratified [confirmed] by the blood of an animal sacrifice only, which symbolically pointed forward to Christ the “lamb” that would be slain (Rev 5:12, KJV; John 1:29). Thus the promise of the provision of salvation was expressed through the typology [that which prefigures, represents by prior type] of the sacrificial system, the Levitical priesthood and services symbolic of the more excellent redemptive [saving] ministry of Christ and was made obsolete by Christ’s death on the cross [its purpose was simply to help them see more clearly, and always keep before them, God’s provision of salvation].
The [Edenic/Abrahamic] covenant is called the second covenant (Heb 8:7) because the blood [Christ’s death] by which it was sealed [ratified, confirmed] was shed after the blood [animal sacrifices] of the old [Mount Sinai] covenant. The Mount Sinai covenant is called old because Israel perverted it into a system of works (Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 36:26), hence why the Edenic/Abrahamic covenant is also called the new covenant (Luke 22:20). Salvation has always been in the old and new covenants first and foremost a divine gift and not a human achievement. We're only saved by the acceptance of God’s free gift of grace. Some have mistakenly taught that in Old Testament times people were saved by works but now the New Testament teaches that we are saved by faith. Wrong! Everyone who is redeemed [delivered from sin and its penalty] is saved by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus. All the saints from Adam to John the Baptist were saved by looking forward in faith to the cross. Everybody who is saved today is rescued by virtue of looking back in faith to the cross. God could not renew His ‘everlasting’ (Gen 17:7) Edenic covenant with physical Israel as they rejected Him (Matt 21:33-39,43), but He is able to do so with spiritual Israel, the Christian church (Heb 8:10). Christ’s death made obsolete all the levitical services associated with the old covenant. Christ took the place of the Levitical priesthood. As our high priest He is now ministering in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 9:24; 2:17) on behalf of all who accept Him as their Lord and Saviour, and walk according to His will (Matt 2:21).
While Hebrews declares the typological [prefigurative, foreshadowing] services of the old covenant as ‘abolished’
(Heb 10:9), ‘obsolete’ and ‘ready to vanish away’ (Heb 8:13), it explicitly teaches, that a ‘Sabbath-keeping’ [the 4th commandment (Ex 20:8; Gen 2:3; Mark 2:27; Rev 14:6,7)] is left behind for the people of God (Heb 4:9). Similarly, Paul repudiates the law as a system that could save by itself apart from Christ (Gal 2:21), yet he upholds the law as a revelation of God’s ethical standards for Christian conduct (Rom 8:4; 3:31; 2:13; 1 Cor 7:19). The believer who has been saved by faith under the new, second [Edenic/Abrahamic] covenant, is not released from the observance of God’s commandments (Rom 3:31; Rev 14:12; 12:17; 1 John 2:3,4) but empowered to observe them (Rom 8:4). The same law engraved upon the tablets of stone by Christ is now written by the Holy Spirit upon the heart (Heb 8:10; Rom 8:4; 3:31; Ezek 36:26). Thus effectively, there is only one covenant.
To simplify and summarise:
Edenic Covenant
After the Fall, God made a promise [covenant] to Adam and Eve, pointing to Calvary.
Folk saved by looking ahead to the cross.
The principles of God's Law clearly operating — No law, no sin.
Animal sacrifices.
Abrahamic Covenant
God renewed the same Edenic promise [covenant] to Abraham, pointing once again to the cross.
Folk saved by looking ahead to the cross.
God's Law still operating — Abraham kept God’s Commandments.
Animal sacrifices.
Mosaic Covenant
A variation on a theme, one might say, given the sanctuary services and ceremonies, which, via a type [that which prefigures, represents by prior type], animal, pointed once again to the “unblemished lamb” that would be sacrificed on Calvary, Jesus, the antitype, the real thing.
Folk saved by looking ahead to the cross.
God's moral Law still operating but reiterated here. It not to be confused with the Jewish ceremonial law.
This covenant wouldn't have been necessary if the descendants of Abraham hadn't lost sight of things via idolatry.
Both the Edenic-Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants fulfilled at Calvary by Christ’s death.
Folk now saved by looking backwards to the cross.
God's Law still operating but from a willingness given that it’s now written on one’s heart. The ancient Israelites having turned it into a drudgery.
No more animal sacrifices — such not needed anymore.
The Edenic-Abrahamic covenant is seen as the new covenant, even second covenant, because its fulfilment via Christ’s blood came after the old [Mosaic] covenant and blood of an animal [type].
But both covenants are effectively one and the same given that:
Both pointed and point to Calvary.
Both required a sacrifice.
Both were fulfilled by Christ’s death.
And God’s Law was and is at the centre of both.
God’s Law no longer just finger marks in stone, black ink on paper, nor a burden,
But the desire of our heart, its place appreciated by every Christian.
Hence we in harmony with its righteousness, godly principles, protective hedge,
And why to the Giver of a law that reflects His character, His care and love,
Our allegiance we pledge.
"God's covenants involve precepts as well as promises, obligations as well as blessings."
John O. Anderson
This article was upgraded on 23 February 2017.
Sources available
Part Three — Continuity
At the end of the day, it's the cumulative witness of Scripture that must speak. The following texts though, are simply a sampling in order to make the point:
Old Testament
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl 12:13, NKJV).
New Testament — Same Law
"Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters"
(1 Cor 7:19, NKJV).
Here we see a clear distinction being made between God’s moral law and the Jewish ceremonial law.
“Do we then overthrow [make void] the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Rom 3:31, ESV).
b)
Old Testament
" Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart" (Ps 119:34, ESV).
New Testament — Same Law
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My people” (Heb 8:10, ESV). Note also Jer 31:33.
If God wants His Law written on our heart, He clearly doesn't want it discarded, but rather, cherished and upheld — the heart no dearer place.
“ ‘Do not think that I [Christ] have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill [to act in accordance with, reaffirm, clarify its intent, magnify]’ ” (Matt 5:17, NASB).
“For this is the love of God [what shows that we love Him], that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3, NKJV).
“Jesus said to him, “ 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” ” (Matt 22:37-40, NKJV).
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law [has carried out its intent and purpose]. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up [are included] in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law [true obedience is a matter of the heart and spirit]” (Rom 13:8-10, ESV).
“For whoever keeps the whole law [the entire ‘ten’ commandments] but fails in one point [one commandment] has become accountable for all of it. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10,11, ESV).
In other words, and summing up, if we love God with all our heart, we will keep the first grouping of the Ten. If we love our neighbour as ourself, we will keep the second grouping of the Ten.
"Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills [carries out] the requirements of God's law" (Rom 13:10, KJV).
c)
Old Testament
"Happy are those who live pure lives, who follow the Lord's teachings. Happy are those who keep His rules, who try to obey Him with their whole heart" (Ps 119:1,2, NCV).
New Testament — Same Law
"For in my inner being I delight in God's law" (Rom 7:22, NIV).
d)
Old Testament
Fourth Commandment
“So God blessed the seventh day [Saturday] and made it holy, [made it an object of divine favor; set it apart as sacred] because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation” (Gen 2:3, ESV).
"You may gather the food [manna] for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day" (Exodus 16:26, NLT).
Exodus 16:26 shows that the seventh day Sabbath command clearly existed before Mount Sinai.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God...For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Ex 20:8-11, NKJV).
Bridging
“For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make [post Second Coming], shall remain before Me [are to come], says the Lord; so shall your descendants and your name remain. From new moon to new moon [referring to the restoration of the earthly Jerusalem in 457 BC – 408 BC, historical context], and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says the Lord [referring to the new earth. The prophets often intermingled imminent historical events with far distant events – this is called prophetic perspective]” (Isa 66:22,23).
New Testament — Same Law, Same Fourth Commandment
"Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it...For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, "And God rested on the seventh day
from all his works "..So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God...Let us therefore make every effort
to enter that rest..." (Heb 4:1-11).
“And He said unto them, The sabbath was made for man [everyone], and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27, KJV).
“On the Sabbath day they [the women] rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56, ESV).
“Every sabbath he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks [this indicates that no radical Christian separation had yet occurred from Jewish places and times of worship]” (Acts 18:4, NIV).
"For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished [thus no disappearance of the seventh-day Sabbath. It remaining forever given that Heaven will hardly pass away]" (Matt 5:18, ESV).
e)
Old Testament
"There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone [the Ten Commandments] which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out the land of Egypt" (1 Kings 8:9, NKJV).
New Testament — Same receptacle of same Law
"Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail [the context here being Earth's final events]"
(Rev 11:19, NKJV).
f)
Old Testament
“The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness ” (Ps 111:7,8, KJV).
New Testament — Same Law
“ ‘But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void’ ” (Luke 16:17, ESV).
“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified [treated as righteous]” (Rom 2:13, ESV).
“Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city [be given eternal life]” (Rev 22:14, NKJV).
g)
Old Testament
“The law of God is perfect, converting [convicting, pointing out sin and the need of a Saviour] the soul [heart]...”
(Ps 19:7, NKJV).
New Testament — Same Law
“...Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’ ” (Rom 7:7, ESV). Note also Rom 3:20.
h)
Old Testament
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne...” (Ps 89:14, ESV).
New Testament — Same Law
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4, ESV).
“For if we go on sinning deliberately [lawlessness] after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins [we void God's grace], but a fearful expectation of judgment…” (Heb 10:26,27, ESV).
“So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty” (James 2:12, ESV).
i)
Old Testament
“The law of the Lord is perfect [God would hardly do away with a perfect law]...” (Ps 19:7, NIV).
New Testament — Same Law
“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts—he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25, ESV).
j)
Old Testament
“He [a past persecuting power] shall speak words against the Most High [God], and shall wear out [persecute] the saints of the Most High [Waldenses for one], and shall think to change times and the law [the Ten Commandments]…” (Dan 7:25, RSV).
New Testament — Same Law
"And the dragon [Satan] was enraged with the woman [the Church], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus" (Rev 12:17, NKJV).
“Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness [re-Dan 7:25] is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess 2:3,4, RSV).
"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus" (Rev 14:12).
Indeed they can:
1) "...Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Matthew 4:10, KJV.
2) "Little children, keep yourselves from idols, Amen." 1 John 5:21, KJV.
Note the following text also:
"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." Acts 17:29.
3) "...That the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed." 1 Timothy 6:1, KJV.
4) "Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it...For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works "..So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God...Let us therefore make every effort
to enter that rest..." (Heb 4:1-11).
5) "Honour thy father and thy mother..." Matthew 19:19, KJV.
6) "...Thou shalt not kill..." Romans 13:9, KJV.
7) "...Thou shalt not commit adultery..." Matthew 19:18, KJV.
8) "...Thou shalt not steal..." Romans 13:9, KJV.
9) "...Thou shalt not bear false witness..." Romans 13:9, KJV.
10) "...Thou shalt not covet." Romans 7:7, KJV.
Part Four — Why Satan
Has Always
Attacked God's Law
And those who keep it...
A)
(Commandment One — "You shall have no other gods before
me")
Because
it calls for: The worshipping of the creator
God only. Putting
God first in our affections and lives.
God
made us and knows what’s best for us, uses His powers for the
good
of all within the universe, is Holy and righteous, a King, our Saviour,
and hence why He alone is worthy of worship.
(Commandment Two — "You shall not make for yourself an
idol...")
Because
it calls for: Our focussing on God directly,
not indirectly.
Our
highest joy is found in God and God alone, in that one on one
basis with nothing coming between Him and us in any shape or form.
(Commandment Three — "You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God...")
Because
it calls for: Respect for the very name that
should engender awe and reverence.
God
desires that we also have a healthy respect for Him. He no mere sinful,
fallen man, but God Almighty, the great "I Am". Holy angels, who’re in
His very presence show Him the utmost reverence and clearly would
never dare to carelessly use His name in any form.
(Commandment Four — "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy...")
Because
it calls for: The
remembrance of God’s creative act via the specified seventh day
Sabbath-cum-hallowed and set apart day of worship that focuses our eyes
solely on who our Creator actually is and why He’s deserving of homage.
Because our
observing it shows how much importance is attached to the relationship
between the
created [us] and the Creator.
Because it's
a day of
rest from our labours which rejuvenates us physically, emotionally,
mentally and spiritually.
Though God is the Lord
of the Sabbath, it was made especially for us.
(Commandment Five — "Honor your mother and your
father...")
Because
it calls for: Respect for all rightful
authority, our parents who've effectively given us life.
God
knows that there must always be order and that any bucking of rightful
authority only leads to trouble in one’s life, society and the Church.
(Commandment Six — "You shall not murder")
Because
it calls for: The sanctity of life, and means
that we must actively love our enemies.
It
was Christ who gave up His own life in order that we might live. Every
human belongs to Him and is considered as the apple of His eye — in other words, is very precious to
Him!
(Commandment Seven — "You shall not commit adultery")
Because
it calls for: Fidelity. Respect for the one flesh
principle and preservation of anyone's marital union.
Marriage
is meant to remind us of that faithfulness that God desires we show in
our relationship to Him and that He shows toward us.
Adultery mars, steals and leads to loss.
(Commandments Eight — "You shall not steal")
Because
it calls for: Respect for the property of
others.
God seeks to give, never
wrongly take. Even His grace is a gift, and He wanting to share His
paradise with us.
(Commandment Nine — "You shall not give false testimony
against your neighbor")
Because
it calls for: Truthfulness, demands that we
must love the truth.
God is the God of Truth.
(Commandment Ten — "You shall not covet your neighbor's
house...")
Because
it calls for: Contentment and acceptance.
God knows that herein
lies an inner peace, a healthier state of mind and thereby better state
of health.
And thus by its very nature, God's Law calls for lawfulness and
righteous living.
B)
And,
(Commandment One — "You shall have no other gods before
me")
Because it thereby denounces:
The
wandering after, adulation-cum-worship of any human or man-invented God.
Satan
has always sought to lead men away from God in order to claim both them
and glory for himself, and because he's revengeful.
(Commandment Two — "You shall not make for yourself an
idol...")
Because it thereby denounces: The pagan practice of the
outright worshipping of, or the quazi-worshipping of, religious images
and pictures. The
inferiority of idols of which God refuses to share His glory with. Materialism.
Idols
draw our gaze to them, and in a sense, stand in God's stead. Satan, via
this or that, seeks to draw our thoughts away from God
and interferes in a way that dilutes and decreases any glory
or
attention that we give to God.
(Commandment Three — "You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God...")
Because it thereby denounces: A casual approach to anything
pertaining to God, His reputation, titles and authority.
Because Satan hates God,
he likes to see anything that is God’s belittled, soiled, spoiled or
erased.
(Commandment Four — "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy...")
Because God’s Law thereby denounces: The substitution of any other day
for the specified seventh day Sabbath. Evolution, (including theistic
evolution), as nothing but a lie.
A
different day to the one God has specified can only but
help benefit Satan who is always trying to substitute God's
things
for one thing or another that never proves to be in our best
interest or that of God’s. Any other day would hardly be God's flag
that was flying but that of a pirate, an imposter. Observing Sunday
(the first day of the week) instead of Saturday (the seventh day of the
week) would be acting like Cain who believed it was okay to
offer
fruits and vegetables instead of a lamb. Satan seeks to
destroy the hope that we have in Jesus and that we're made in His
image, and hence the theory of evolution.
(Commandment Five — "Honor your mother and your
father...")
Because it thereby denounces: Any
cheekiness, rudeness or wrongful challenging that’s displayed toward
one’s parents and those who’ve rightful authority over us such as
teachers or the police.
Satan loves anarchy,
hates harmony in the home and unity in any church.
(Commandment Six — "You shall not murder")
Because it thereby denounces: Murder. Violence to the body or injury to
the soul.
It
was Satan who brought about sin, death and the murder of Christ and
it’s Satan who has been behind every Hitler, every selfish,
thoughtless, unkind and evil act.
(Commandment Seven — "You shall not commit adultery")
Because it thereby denounces: Impure thoughts. Lust. Promiscuity.
It
was Satan who tempted Eve and thus led mankind astray. It’s Satan who
hates morality, temperance, discipline, faithfulness and righteousness.
(Commandment Eight — "You shall not steel")
Because it thereby denounces: Taking what’s not yours without
permission. Dishonestly, directly
or indirectly obtaining goods, and which would include, (for example),
the misrepresentation of quality, the employment of false weights and
measures and the concealment of defects.
Satan has always sought
whatever belongs to God and seeks to steal our joy too.
(Commandment Nine — "You shall not give false testimony
against your neighbor")
Because it thereby denounces: Perjury.
Lying and deceiving, and which would include, (for example), speaking
evil of another whereby their character is blackened, their motives
misrepresented and their reputation depreciated.
Satan’s the father of
lies and has sought to blacken God’s character, misrepresent His
motives and ruin His reputation.
(Commandment Ten — "You shall not covet your neighbor's
house...")
Because it thereby denounces: Jealousy.
Satan has always been
jealous of our Saviour’s position, glory and honour.
And thus by its very nature, God's Law denounces
rebellion-cum-sin — and sin,
the Bible says, is lawlessness.
The
truth is, that God's Law is inextricably tied in with our happiness,
and why its removal would only but work against us. Keeping
it
protects both our
rights and
the rights of others, and spares us from any ill that breaking any
Commandment might bring our way. God's Law also shows us the path of
righteousness and greater well-being.
enter through the gates into the city [Heaven]" (Rev 22:14, NKJV).
“For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it” (James 2:10, ESV).
"Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16, KJV).
The
Ten Commandments are principles designed to help us avoid endless
suffering and foolish mistakes. Hence why God's Law is called "the law
of liberty."
iYou
may also wish to read my
poem God’s Ten
Commandments, Paraphrased/Expanded or my poem Lawless
Saints? which can be found in orange boxes.
Both
boxes should enlighten further.
This
article was upgraded on 23 June 2018.
Part Five — What Happened To The Sabbath
In God's Law?
Before reading this section, one would be wise to read Part One — Those Things That We Need To Know, which conveys the importance of both the Ten Commandments and the seventh day Sabbath, the fourth Commandment.
“From evening [sunset] to evening [sunset], you shall celebrate your Sabbath [Friday sunset to Saturday sunset]”
(Lev 23:32, NKJV).
We remembering that God blessed and sanctified the day, not the resting.
“…we have had occasion to investigate the results of the works of specialists in chronology and we have never found one of them that has ever had the slightest doubt about the continuity of the weekly cycle since long before the Christian era.”
" There has been no change in our calendar in past centuries that has affected in any way the cycle of the week."
James Robertson, DAE, Letter, March 12,1932, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC
“It can be said with assurance that not one day has been lost since creation, and all the calendar changes notwithstanding there has been no break to the weekly cycle.”
Dr. Frank Jeffries, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and Research Director of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England
Also
pertinent to Part Five is Part Six.
Why Christians began keeping Sunday instead of the biblical seventh day
Sabbath — Saturday.
Source available.
Collier's Encyclopedia:
Saturday, seventh day of the week.
The
city of Rome had a large Jewish population. Following the death of the
Roman Emperor Nero (AD 68), a reawakened Jewish desire to be free from
Roman rule [to be an
independent nation] exploded in violent uprisings almost
everywhere.
Two major Jewish revolts
against Roman rule took place in AD 66 and AD 135.
The Roman Emperors, Vespasian
(AD 69-79) and Titus [elder
son of Vespasian] (AD 79-81), crushed the first Jewish
revolt, and the Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138) crushed the second
Jewish revolt.
As
a result of the rebellious Jewish behaviour the Roman government
introduced a number of measures to punish them and keep them in check.
Firstly, the Emperor Vespasian made the Jews pay a tax simply for being
Jews. This tax was later increased by the Emperor Domitian [son of Vespasian]
(AD 81-96) and then by Emperor Hadrian. Emperor Vespasian also
abolished the Sanhedrin [the
highest Jewish Council]
and the office of High Priest, and forbade the Jews to worship at their
temple site. Then Emperor Hadrian, whose military forces had suffered
many casualties because of the Jewish uprising, outlawed in AD 135 the
practice of the Jewish religion, particularly Sabbath-keeping [the biblical 7th day Saturday
Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11; Gen 2:2,3)].
The
trouble the Jews had caused made the general Roman population feel very
angry towards them too. Many Roman authors began attacking the Jews by
knocking their beliefs, especially Sabbath-keeping.
Christians
who also kept the biblical 7th day Saturday Sabbath (Acts 17:2), soon
became very worried that they might be identified with the Jews, and
thus become the next target of Roman anger. After all, the Emperor Nero
had once unfairly blamed Christians for the burning of the city of Rome
[which actually took
place in AD 64].
Soon
Christian authors also began knocking Jewish beliefs, and distancing
themselves as much as possible from them. As a conseqence, many
Christians, especially those living in the city of Rome under the
watchful eyes of Emperor Hadrian, began to observe Sunday [the 1st day of the week]
as their Sabbath instead of Saturday, hoping that by doing so, it would
act in their favour. The Christian church at Rome was largely made up
of Gentile members [non-Jews]
(Rom 11:13) who were strongly influenced by pagan practices such as sun
worship with its Sun Day, unlike the Jerusalem church where the members
were virtually all Jews who were deeply committed to their religious
traditions which included the 7th day Saturday Sabbath. Thus, changing
to Sunday observance came easier to church members at the church in
Rome. The Christian church thus began its serious slide into apostasy
(2 Tim 4:3,4; 1 Tim 4:1; Gal 1:8,9; James 2:10; Matt 7:22,23; 15:9).
Let’s digress for a moment.
In the days of the apostles,
each church congregation selected its own officers [overseers/elders/bishops =
Pastors (Titus 1:5-7; Acts 20:17,28; 14:23)]
and regulated its own affairs, even though the Christian church in
general was seen as one universal body (Eph 4:3-6). However, as the
church began to loose its way, it not only moved further away from
God’s truths, but also from its high standards of personal conduct.
Many converts in Rome were well educated and had wealth and influence.
Popularity and personal power began more and more to determine the
choice of leaders, who, first assumed [to claim more than one is due]
increasing authority within the local church, and then, sought to
extend their authority over neighbouring churches (Acts 20:29,30). Thus
leadership thought only of ruling the church instead of serving it
(James 3:16; Luke 14:11). The church at Rome early developed into the
largest church system which meant that the Bishop of Rome directed the
largest body of Christians. Eventually, this very influential church at
Rome promoted itself (vigorously) as the one that all the churches
should agree with in matters of faith and doctrine, and that its bishop
should be honored above all other bishops.
Cyprian
(who died about AD 258) is considered the founder of the Roman church
hierarchy. It was he who made the claim that Peter the apostle had
founded [setup,
established]
the church in Rome, that the Bishop of Rome should therefore be honored
above all other bishops, and that his opinions and decisions should
always prevail [overrule
all others] (1 John 4:1,3; 2 John 7).
Now to get back to the story.
The
Bishop of Rome was very active in influencing Christians to observe
Sunday instead of Saturday and was very successful due to the influence
and authority he and the church at Rome wielded. Many Christians
actually complained that the bishop should stop imposing his views on
other Christians.
As time went by, another Roman
Emperor appeared on the scene — Constantine the Great [his father was a devotee of the
Sun God; his mother in later life was a zealous Christian].
Professing Christianity, Constantine pursued a policy of blending
paganism and Christianity wherever he could in an effort to unite the
diverse elements within the Empire and thus strengthen his kingdom
which was beginning to full apart. Christianity thus became very
popular under Constantine’s rule. More Gentiles came flooding into the
church as a result, bringing with them, their pagan ideas and ways. By
Constantine’s time the Day of the Sun [Sunday] had become
very popular among both pagans and Christians.
Constantine
therefore, in AD 321, introduced a law making Sunday a civil holiday,
which effectively aided the Christian move to Sunday worship that had
been occurring since Emperor Hadrian’s rule. Before Constantine’s
Sunday Law, Sunday observance was not protected by civil legislation.
Now Christians were able to observe Sunday without hindrance. As
Christians now celebrated Sunday as “the Lord’s Day,” pagans celebrated
it as the day of the Sun-god — just as Constantine had had in mind.
Chambers Encyclopaedia, article "Sunday."
"On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed."
Codex Justinianus, book 3, title 12,3; trans. in Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol 3, 5th edition, p380
"As a solar festival, Sunday was the sacred day of Mithra; and it is interesting to notice that since Mithra was addressed as Dominus, 'Lord,' Sunday must have been the 'Lord's Day' long before the Christian times."
A.Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p145
Under pagan Rome’s Emperor
Constantine, church and state were linked, the church became subject to
the state [came under
its control or authority] and was made an instrument of
state policy [helped in
the carrying out of, or making of, government policy].
This reorganization of the political [secular]
administration [managing]
of the pagan Roman Empire became the pattern for the ecclesiastical
administration [management]
of the Roman church and its hierarchy.
Thus
the seeds were sown for what would in due time become known as the Holy
Roman Empire, Papal Rome with its popes, that would eventually arise
out of the ruins [destruction]
of the pagan Roman Empire (with its emperors). In a sense the pagan
Roman Empire would continue to live on in Roman church form.
The eventual removal of the
political [governing]
capital from Rome to Constantinople, by Constantine in AD 330, left the
Bishop of Rome pretty much free of imperial control [interference from emperors. Thus
the bishop was more able to do his own thing].
A
few decades later, in AD 364, at the Council of Laodicea, (which was
not a universal council but a Roman Catholic council), Sunday
observance instead of Saturday was introduced as church law by the
Bishop of Rome [Canon
29 of this
council, as seen below, specifies Judaizing (keeping the 7th day
Saturday Sabbath) as
the reason for avoiding Saturday Sabbath observance] (Dan 7:25; Rom 1:18).
Charles J. Hefele, A History of the Christian Councils, Vol 2, page 316.
"The Council of Laodicea ... forbids Christians from judaizing and resting on the Sabbath day, preferring the Lord's day, and so far as possible resting as Christians."
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1899 Edition, Vol. XXIII, page 654.
"The Sabbath, the most glorious day in the law, has been changed into the Lord's day...These and other similar matters have not ceased by virtue of Christ's teaching (for He says He has come to fulfil the law, not to destroy it), but they have been changed by the authority of the church."
Gaspare [Ricciulli] de Fosso (Archbishop of Reggio), Address in the 17th Session of the Council of Trent, Jan. 18, 1562
Around AD 433 the synod of
Sardica [a gathering of
bishops at Sardica] assigned [gave, agreed to]
the Bishop of Rome [pope]
jurisdiction [authority]
over all the city of Rome’s bishops or archbishops [heads of various provinces].
Later, the Emperor Justinian
(AD 527-565), who strongly supported the Bishop of Rome, advanced the
bishops interests [desires,
plans]
by issuing a decree in AD 533 declaring the Bishop of Rome to be the
head of all the churches, although this decree did not become effective
until AD 538, which was when the papacy finally acquired territorial
rule and dominance.
Such
was the way in which the Christian Church was effectively hijacked and
Sunday observance introduced in place of God’s 7th day Saturday Sabbath
[along with other
introductions].
Hence why when the Reformation began, the true Sabbath was almost
unknown.
When Protestants [protesters]
broke away from Papal Rome during the Protestant
Reformation they still clung to the observance of the man-made Sunday
Sabbath which tradition has not only seen them keep but also defend.
Bear in mind too, that not just the Sabbath Commandment
was tinkered with.
Despite
their attempts to remove themselves from apostasy and oppression via
the Protestant Reformation, Protestants are now steering a course back
to the very dangers of the past [both
error and oppression]
through the desire to join forces and let their voices be heard via the
political arena in order to see changes brought about for the so-called
better.
Hence the belief held by many that a similar scenario to that of the
past is in the making — that
is, that another political-religious but worldwide power ["beast"] will arise
that will eventually force its will on all (Rev 13:11-18). An "image" [copy]
of what went before. A power/system that God warns Christians to not be
a part of lest they suffer His wrath too, for God at His coming will
destoy both that system and all who embrace it (Rev 19:19-21; 14:9-11).
Hence
the question: Has Protestantism been infiltrated? Could the old power
in fact be steering the new from within and behind — both
Church and State, that is — and will it
eventually take over when the time is right?
Sources
available.
Further to:
“Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Catholic Church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.”
www.immaculateheart.com/maryonline
Dec 2003
“The Catholic Church designated Sunday as the day for corporate worship and gets full credit – or blame – for the change.”
This Rock, The Magazine of Catholic Apologetics and Evangelization, p.8, June 1997
“We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to
Sunday.”
Peter Geiermann, The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine p.50, (1946 ed.).
“You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify”
James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers.
“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles…”
The Catholic press, Sydney, Australia, August 25, 1900.
“Of course the Catholic church claims that the change was her act…and the act is a mark of ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.”
H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons, Nov 11, 1895.
“The church, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath of the seventh day of the week to the first made the Third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s day.”
The Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol 4, p 153.
"The Sabbath was Saturday not Sunday. The Church altered the observance of the Sabbath to the observance of Sunday. Protestants must be rather puzzled by the keeping of Sunday when God distinctly said, 'Keep holy the Sabbath day'. The word Sunday does not come anywhere in the Bible, so, without knowing it they are obeying the athority of the Catholic Church."
Canon Cafferata, The Catechism Explained, p.89.
“Had she [the Catholic church] not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her — she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the Seventh Day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”
Rev. Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, p. 174, 1851.
“But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn’t it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not from the church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is
inconsistent; but this change was made about 15 centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair.”
John A. O’Brien, Faith of Millions.
“Sunday is our mark of authority...The church is above the Bible and this transference of sabbath observance from
Saturday to Sunday is proof of the fact.”
Catholic Record of London, Ontario, Canada, Sept 1,1928
“For ages all Christian nations looked to the Catholic Church, and, as we have seen, the various states enforced by law her ordinances as to worship and cessation of labour on Sunday. Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the church, has no good reason for its Sunday theory, and ought logically, to keep Saturday as the Sabbath. The State, in passing laws for the due Sanctification of Sunday, is unwittingly acknowledging the authority of the Catholic Church and carrying out more or less faithfully its prescriptions. The Sunday, as a day of the week set apart for the obligatory public worship of Almighty God, to be sanctified by a suspension of all servile labour, trade, and worldly avocations and by exercises of devotion, is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.”
The American Catholic Quarterly Review, January, 1883, pp 152, 139.
“The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. . . . The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church . . . without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world.”
The Christian Sabbath, 2nd edition, “The Catholic Mirror,” Baltimore, 1893.
“It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Roman Catholic] Church”
Msgr. Louis Gaston do Segyr, Plain Talk About Protestantism of Today, P. 225.
“The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday....”
The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p4.
"Sunday is founded, not of Scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic insitution."
Catholic Record, Sep 17, 1893.
“They [the Catholic church] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord’s Day, contrary to the decalogue [the Ten Commandments]...neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, say they, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.”
Martin Luther, Augsburg Confession, Article 28, paragraph 9.
“You are a Protestant, and you profess to go by the Bible and the Bible only; and yet in so important a matter as the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, you go against the plain letter of the Bible, and put another day in the place of that day which the Bible has commanded. The command to keep holy the seventh day is one of the ten
commandments; you believe that the other nine are still binding; who gave you authority to tamper with the fourth? If you are consistent with your own principles, if you really follow the Bible and the Bible only, you ought to be able to produce some portion of the New Testament in which this fourth commandment is expressly altered.”
Library of Christian Doctrine: Why Don’t You Keep Holy the Sabbath Day? (R.C.), pp. 3,4.
“The Roman Church had totally apostatized… It reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God’s word, and instituting Sunday as a holy day.”
Dr. N. Summerbell, A True History of the Christian and the Christian Church, pages, 417, 418.
“The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.”
Dr. Augustus Neander, The History of the Christian Religion and Church During the Three First Centuries (Rose translation), p. 186.
let him be eternally condemned!” (Gal 1:8, NIV).
Sunday was never hallowed nor set apart by God.
The New Testament is totally silent regarding a change of day.
Sunday has always been synonymous with paganism — sun worship.
Sunday can’t memorialise neither the creation account nor man’s redemption because both met their completion in the seventh-day Saturday Sabbath rest.
Sunday has no godly pedigree, is a common day that presupposes activity rather than rest. In fact, the first work recorded in the Bible was done on Sunday, and by God himself (Gen 1:1-5).
Sunday was sanctioned and made church law by an erring church, the church at Rome.
Sunday has no apostolic endorsement.
Christ never established Sunday as a memorial of His resurrection, and nor is Sunday ever called the "Day of resurrection," and this, given that the Lord's Supper commemorates Christ's sacrifice and not His resurrection.
Sunday is a hollow introduction born of fear and expediency, and carried by compromise, popularity and tradition. In other words, Sunday observance came about as a result of social, political, pagan and religious factors.
The seventh day Sabbath, Saturday, is part and parcel of God's moral Law, but Sunday observance, oddly enough, has more to do with the ceremonial given that it's not rooted in anything, (unlike the creation Sabbath).
Saturday was introduced by God, Sunday was introduced by man. Therefore, Saturday is clearly God’s mark of authority, and Sunday man’s mark of authority.
Observing Sunday instead of the biblical seventh day Sabbath — Saturday — is acting like Cain who decided it was okay to offer fruits and vegetables instead of a lamb.
"You have not kept My ways, but have been partial in the law." (Mal 2:9, KJV).
Observing Sunday (the first day of the week) instead of Saturday (the seventh day of the week) is acting like Cain who believed it was okay to offer fruits and vegetables instead of a lamb.
For my question and answer study guides on both the Ten Commandments and the seventh day Sabbath, the latter being the Fourth Commandment, see the purple box titled The End-Time, and/or click on More Answers From God's Word which is also linked and contained in that box.
This article was upgraded on 5 March 2022.
Part Six — Rhythm Of Life
This section also includes an article titled: Has The Weekly Cycle Been Changed?
But firstly,
Rhythm Of Life
By Tim Crosby, a sabbatarian
Life on this earth seems to be calibrated in some mysterious way to the number seven. We as humans operate under the cadence of a seven-day week—a cycle of human activity that doesn’t even follow the cosmic timing of the stars, the sun, or the moon.
The number seven even governs the music world. Most people think there are eight notes in an octave, just as there are eight sides to an octagon. But no, an octave has only seven. Count them: do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti—and then we start over again with do. That eighth note, the octave, begins a new cycle of seven. There are as many notes in the scale as there are days in a week.
Six Around One
A hexagon (six-sided object) provides the most efficient use of space. Just ask a bee busily building his honeycomb. Mathematicians and architects insist that a hexagonal room (six walls built around a floor—the “six around one” principle) provides the most efficient perimeter to area ratio and requires the least amount of wall material per square foot of floor space.
Like that central circle set in the middle of six workdays, the Sabbath is God’s original prescription for allowing His people to enjoy optimum health, spirituality, and longevity. “Six days you shall labor,” He says in Exodus 34:21, “but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.”
Biological Rhythms
It seems that all life moves in seven-day rhythms. A growing number of scientists have embraced an entirely new field of study known as chronobiology that examines repeating phenomena in living organisms. These cycles are known as biological rhythms.
Franz Halberg of the University of Minnesota is widely considered the “father of chronobiology.” This tall gentleman from Romania works in an office crammed with bookshelves stacked with copies of journals and papers he’s produced over the years. He insists that we humans don’t just experience circadian rhythms of approximately 24 hours, we also operate under circaseptan or weekly rhythms as well.
Halberg first became interested in the subject when, as a high school student, he accompanied physician friends of his parents in their practice. He began to notice that patients with pneumonia either recovered or died in seven days.
Today, Franz Halberg proposes that body rhythms of that length—far from being passively driven by the social cycle of the calendar week—are innate, self-governing, and perhaps the reason why the calendar week arose in the first place.
Seven-day Cycles
Research has uncovered many conditions about us humans that seem to rise and fall in seven-day cycles. They include: heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, hormone levels, acid content in blood, red blood cell count, oral temperature, female breast temperature, urine chemistry and volume, the ratio between two important neurotransmitters: norepinephrine and epinephrine, and the flow of several body chemicals such as the stress-coping hormone cortisol. Even the common cold is circaseptan.
Doctors have long observed that response to malaria infection and pneumonia crisis peaks at seven days. Chicken pox symptoms (a high fever and small red spots) usually appear almost exactly two weeks after exposure to the illness. A person will tend to have an increase in swelling on the seventh and then the fourteenth day after surgery.
Organ transplants face similar crises as the body’s immune system attacks the newly introduced foreign object.
In the Blood
God knew all of this because He created us. Perhaps that’s why He commanded, in Genesis 17:12, that babies were to be circumcised one week after they were born. (Some scholars still don’t realize that on the eighth day is the Hebrew way of saying “one week later”—the eighth day of the Jewish week was the first day of the next week (Leviticus 23:39). The Hebrews used inclusive reckoning when speaking of time, just like we use inclusive reckoning when speaking of the notes of the octave. In other words, God told the Israelites to circumcise their children on the octave of the day they were born.
So, why wait a week? Because doctors tell us that’s when the prothrombin is at maximum.
Prothrombin is what causes the blood to clot, preventing endless bleeding. It’s never so high again.
The Week in History
Today, we take the seven-day cycle for granted. But in ancient cultures “weeks” varied in length from three to nineteen days. But, in the millennium before Christ, Israel’s seven day week took over the world. And their weekly cycle revolved around something very unique.
It was the Jews—those careful keepers of God’s time—who preserved one day as a period of rest and reflection; a “Sabbath” during which to focus on spiritual matters.
As the centuries rolled on, the Jewish Sabbath became an accepted part of Roman society. According to the ancient historian Josephus, writing in his book Against Apion, “The masses have long since shown a keen desire to adopt our religious observances; and there is not one city, Greek or barbarian, nor a single nation, to which our custom of abstaining from work on the seventh day has not spread.”
Symphony Players
We live in a universe, not a multiverse. All of life is a symphony, and we’re each players in God’s great orchestra. Every song has a cadence, a rhythm. When we’re “in the groove” with the conductor, our lives experience a certain serenity, a familiar flow. Once we get out of step with the cadence of the song—the rhythm of time—our lives falter.
Imagine what it would be like if you tried to follow a 30-hour day. You’d soon find yourself completely out of step with society. Human nature is locked into that natural, God-created 24-hour circadian rhythm.
The same is true of the weekly circaseptan rhythm. That means that if you’re working on the Sabbath, you are breaking yourself.
Custom or Creation
One final question. How do we know that these rhythms aren’t just social or religious customs? Perhaps, after several thousand years, the weekly cycle has simply been bred into us.
The problem with such a “social convention” explanation is that it can’t explain circaseptan rhythms in algae, Dahl rats, mice, guinea pigs, honeybees, beach beetles, and face flies.
In his writings, author Jeremy Campbell reports that circaseptan rhythms “are of very ancient origin, appearing in primitive one-celled organisms, and are thought to be present even in bacteria, the simplest form of life now existing.”
Here’s something really intriguing: While human teeth are growing, small lines or ridges form on the dental enamel about every seven days. The growing tooth might even be said to exhibit a weekly “rest” as it leaves behind a dark marker (just as trees show darker rings where their growth pauses in the winter). According to scientific researchers A. Mann, J. Monge, and M. Lampl in their book Investigation Into the Relationship Between Perikymata Counts and Crown Formation Times, these lines—30-40 microns apart—are called striae of Retzius. These stria are found even on the teeth of fossil hominids that lived before modern culture existed.
Why Seven?
Why should all living things have an innate seven-day cycle? I’d like to suggest a not-too-wild theory. “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11).
I believe that God put within us rhythms that flow from the internal logic of our bodies.
Isaiah 58 is a chapter containing some potent health secrets. The first is a promise that God will bless those who bless the less fortunate (verses 5-12). The second is that God will bless those who honor His holy day. “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land” (verses 13,14).
Just as we tune our radios to receive our favorite musical broadcasts, so every living cell has embedded in its primal genetic material a resonant frequency—a clock, a beat that puts us in sync with the universe. That powerful, mysterious beat revolves around the number seven.
Right now, God is calling you to tune your life to His heavenly broadcast and join in the song.
Has The Weekly Cycle Been Changed?
By J.J.B. Combrinck
(Am unsure of the date that this article was penned)
We sometimes hear it said that during the course of the centuries, the weekly cycle has been changed, and that it is hence no longer possible to identify the present days of the week as the same days, in order of sequence, that existed at the beginning of time. We need therefore to examine the claim analytically. Does the assertion stand up to the demands of scholarship and logic? Is it historically and scientifically true? Let us take a close look at the facts. Let us begin our study by considering how the weekly cycle came into existence.
The Origin Of The Week
Where did the week originate? An authoritative work presents the following evidence.
“There can be no doubt about the great antiquity of measuring time by a period of seven days (Gen 8:10; 29:27). The origin of this division of time is a matter which has given rise to much speculation. Its antiquity is so great, its observance so widespread, and it occupies so important a place in sacred things, that it must probably be thrown back as far as the creation of man. The week and the Sabbath are thus as old as man himself.”
A Dictionary of the Bible, edited by William Smith, L.L.D., art. Week, page 745 (1 vol. ed). New York:Fleming H. Revell Co.
Another eminent scholar adds:
“This primeval measure of time was instituted as a memorial of creation in six days, and of the ensuing Sabbath….It was therefore universally observed by Noah’s descendants during the prevalence of the patriarchal religion; but when mankind degenerated, and sank into idolatry, the primitive institution was neglected, and at length lost. And the days of the week were dedicated by the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Syrians, etc., to the heavenly host, the sun, moon, and planets.”
A New Analysis of Chronology and Geography, by William Hales, D.D., Vol 1, page 18. London: C.J.G. & F. Rivington, 1830.s
The week of seven days has no relationship to the sun moon or stars. Since the earliest history of mankind it has been bounded only by the Sabbath. An authoritative work indicates that the week is not determined by nature or by astronomy.
“The week is a period of seven days, having no reference whatever to the celestial motions—a circumstance to which it owes its unalterable uniformity. Although it did not enter into the calendar of the Greeks, and was not introduced at Rome till after the reign of Theodosius, it has been employed from time immemorial in almost all Eastern countries; and as it forms neither an aliquot part of the year, nor of the lunar month, those who reject the Mosaic recital will be at a loss, as Delambre remarks, to assign to it an origin having much semblance of probability.”
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. IV, art. Calendar, page 988, 11th edition.
Another writer states:
“The week has no connection with any fact of nature or any explainable material and secular experience of man.
It is uniquely and exclusively an artificial creation…
“History reveals no invariable time period other than the seven day week. Yet for thousands of years this sequence has been perfectly maintained, even from the beginning of our knowledge of any definite time reckoning…
"The explanation given in Genesis 2:2,3 must be the starting point for any effort to explain the origin, the continuance and the growing extension of this unique time division…
“So far as our knowledge goes the week was used only by the progenitors of the Hebrews; by them and related Semitic peoples, and where their influence extended. Since Jesus, the extension of Christianity, especially in the last two centuries, has carried with it increasingly the use of the week for time reckoning…
“From the anthropological approach we would say that this rational time construction, having no relation to any natural phenomenon from which it could have been derived, was an invention of man’s ingenuity. But anthropology finds no data in its own field bearing on the subject. The week, with its Sabbath, is an artificial device. The reason for it is found only in the Old Testament Scriptures…
“In connection only with the week is religion obviously the explanation of its origin, and the week only is uniformly attributed to the command of God. The week exists because of the Sabbath. It is historically and scientifically true that the Sabbath was made by God."
W.O. Carver, “Sabbath Observance,” pages 32-35, Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1940.
We have three natural divisions of time which are demarcated by the heavenly bodies, namely the day, the month and the year, but the demarcation of the week is not only unnatural or artificial. At creation it was demarcated by the Creator by the regular return of the Sabbath in the weekly cycle.
The Lord required of His people that they observe the seventh day as a holy day of rest, and He emphasised this for nearly a month before giving them the Ten Commandments (Exodus 16:4-35). By means of weekly recurring miracles the Lord indicated exactly which was the seventh day that God had hallowed and which He expected His people to keep. Had there been the least question regarding the seventh day Sabbath that God had instituted at creation, the Lord would most certainly have given a clear indication at Sinai. From Moses’ day to Christ’s time there was never any doubt as to which day was to be the day of rest. There was never any disruption of the sequence of the days of the week no matter how you look upon Joshua’s long day and the fifteen degrees return on Ahaz’s sun-dial in the days of Hezekiah. Had any confusion slipped in, Jesus Christ would have corrected that when He was on earth.
The Christian faith dates from the beginning of the Christian era and has lasted for nearly two thousand years. Certain festivals have great significance to Christians, especially the weekly day of rest. At first all Christians observed the seventh day of the week according to the holy commandment. Later many of them began observing the weekly day of rest on Sunday, the first day of the week. But the weekly cycle remained unchanged. As far back as the fourth century, Sunday laws were forced on the people by the state. There must have been certainty regarding the numeration of the days of the week in order to implement these decrees. The Mohammedan faith dates from A.D. 610. Its adherents propagated their faith with fanatical zeal. They keep Friday as their day of assemblage and worship. They are very certain abut the sequence of the days of the week, for they did not wish to keep the seventh day as did the Jews, nor Sunday as most Christians did. The Jewish faith counts about 12 million adherents. There are about 870 million Christians. Mohammedans number some 429 million adherents. (Author’s note: Those figures pertain to when this old article when it was written). Jews, Mohammedans and Christians have used entirely separate calendars through the centuries. No group has anything in common with the others. They do not celebrate the same holy days. Nevertheless, in spite of their differing calendars, in spite of their often violent differences regarding theological teachings, there is one respect in which they are always united, and that is the sequence of the days of the week.
The Astronomers
One of the main tasks of the group of scientists whom we call astronomers, is the calculation of time cycles back into the long past and forward into the distant future. They must be absolutely certain of time in order to determine the movements of the various celestial bodies and to predict exact moments of eclipses of the sun and of the moon. These scientists should assuredly be in a position to supply authoritative evidence regarding the unchanged sequence of the days of the week. They were given such an opportunity when the League of Nations discussed a proposal to change the calendar during the 1920s.
The League of Nations Committee for the Simplification of the Calendar suggested changing the calendar into a year of 13 months of 28 days each. The extra month, Sol, would be inserted between June and July. Every month would then begin with Sunday and end with Saturday. The 13 month of 28 days give us a total of 364 days. But the year consists of 365 days. This extra day, the365th of the year, would be called Blank Day and not be counted in the next week. The second day following Saturday would then be called Sunday, although it was actually Monday, and for one whole year the week would be out of step, or behind step. In other words each day of the week would be a day behind the actual weekly cycle. The second year all the days of the week would be two days out of step and by the third year they would be three days out of step. But that was not all. Every fourth year we have a leap year of 366 days. The extra day would not come at the end of February, but between the end of Sol and the first day of July and it too would be a blank day. The fourth year would start out four days behind and by the first of July it would be 5 days out. That is to say, Sunday on the new calendar would be five days behind the actual weekly cycle. The true Sunday of those weeks would then land on Thursday of the new calendar’s weekly cycle. When the League of Nations Committee for the Simplification of the Calendar investigated the question, their first task was to send a ballot paper to all its members in order to gain their views on the suggestion. In order to be able to make really intelligent comments, some countries referred the question to their astronomers and asked for their observations and comments. These astronomers knew of the proposal to insert blank days into the calendar and they were aware of just how much such a free day, or blank day, would affect the cycle of the days of the week. For this reason certain astronomers went ahead on their own and expounded on this disruption of the weekly cycle. Thus they made available to their governments a considerable amount of valuable material. This material was then submitted to the League of Nations committee which met and presented its official report to the League on August 17, 1926. The document is known as the Report in the Reform of the Calendar Submitted to the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit of the League of Nations by the Special Committee of Enquiry into the Reform of the Calendar.
The quotations which follow are from that document. I call it simply Report for the sake of brevity.
Among the astronomers who testified were the following:
FINLAND: Finland was not in favour of this kind of calendar reform and quoted inter alia these observations of their astronomers:
“The reform would break the division of the week which has been followed for thousands of years, and therefore has been hallowed by immemorial use.”
R. M. Anders Dommer, formerly professor of Astronomy at the University of Helsingfors, Report, page 51.
FRANCE: The French government opposed this kind of calendar reform because of the following testimony by her astronomers:
“One essential point is that of the continuity of the week. The majority of the members of the Office of Longitudes consider that the reform of the calendar should not be based on the breaking of this continuity. They consider that it would be highly undesirable to interrupt a continuity which has existed for do many centuries.” — Dr. M. Emile Picard, Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences (France), president of the Office of Longitudes, Report, page 51.
“I have always hesitated to suggest breaking the continuity of the week, which is without a doubt the most scientific institution bequeathed to us by antiquity.” — Dr. M. Edouard Baillaud, director of the Paris Observatory, Report, page 52.
PORTUGAL: The government of Portugal expressed its disapproval of this kind of calendar reform, and they submitted this statement by their chief astronomer:
“It is very inadvisable to interrupt by means of blank days the absolute continuity of the weeks — the only guarantee in the past, present and future of an efficient control of chronological facts.” — Dr. Frederico Oom, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon, Report, page 74.
GREECE: Professor D. Eginitis, director of the observatory in Athens, Greece, was a member of the League of Nations Calendar Committee and was appointed by the Ecumenic Patriarch of Constantinople. In a long article on the calendar, Professor Eginitis said, among other things, the following:
“The breaking of the continuity of the week, which has crossed the centuries, and all known calendars, still intact, and the universal use of this unit in the measurement of time, are the reasons why we oppose this change of the calendar.”
BRITAIN: Now consider these words from a prominent scientific journal in the British Empire: Nature, 1931. In “Our Astronomical Column” the writer says:
“The regular sequence of week which has been running without a break for some three thousand years…
“Some of these (Jews and also many Christians) accept the week as of divine institution, with which it is unlawful to tamper; others without these scruples, still feel that it is useful to maintain a time-unit that unlike all others had proceeded in an absolutely invariable manner since what may be called the dawn of history.”
The Julian Calendar
Julius Caesar had hardly conquered the Roman Empire and become its dictator when he set in motion tremendous changes, reorganisation and improvements. Among other things, in the year 46 B.C. he replaced the clumsy and defective Greek-Roman moon calendar with the Egyptian calendar of 365 days, and in addition decreed that every fourth year should be a leap year with 366 days. This calendar, named after him, became known as the Julian Calendar, and gave each year three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days; but the solar year is actually 12 minutes and 14 seconds shorter, and as a result the Julian calendar fell behind a few minutes every year. During the 1,590 years that the Julian calendar was used the seasons were out of alignment with the sun so that the equinox of March 21 was already 10 days earlier.
The Gregorian Calendar
Astronomers wrote and said a great deal about this until eventually Pope Gregory XIII issued a decree that ten days should be left out of the calendar in October 1582 and that the day following Thursday, October 4, would be known as Friday, October 15. This changed Gregorian calendar was approved only in Italy, Portugal and Spain. The Protestant countries refused to accept the pope’s proposal. There was a difference of ten days between the calendars of the two groups, but the days of the week remained the same everywhere! Gradually other countries began to fall into line with the Gregorian calendar. The Netherlands did so in 1700 and Germany in 1776. In 1752 England did so and by then she had to drop or skip 12 days. The day following Wednesday, September 2, 1752 immediately became Thursday, September 14.
No Disruption Of The Week
“It is to be noted that in the Christian period the order of days of the week has never been interrupted. Thus, when Gregory XIII reformed the calendar in 1582, Thursday, October 4, was followed by Friday, October 15. So in England in 1752, Wednesday, September 2, was followed by Thursday, September 14.”
Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol. III, page 47.
France, after the revolutionary period, fell into step with the rest of the world when she adopted the Gregorian calendar in January, 1806.
Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar as late as 1922. In Russia what should have been Sunday, September 30, became Sunday, October 14.
The main change of the Gregorian calendar was not to consider the century year as a leap year unless it was divisible by 400. Thus the year 1900 was not a leap year, but the year 2000 will be a leap year.
It must be noted that the calendars of different countries gave different dates to the same day, but there was never any difference concerning which day of the week it was. The changes of the calendar never and nowhere disrupted the sequence of the days of the week.
A Firm Foundation
No, dear friend, the dickerings of man with the calendar have never made the slightest difference to the sequence of the days of the week. The week rests on an immovable, unshakable foundation of divine origin. The weekly cycle was set in motion by God Himself. It formed part of His creative act when He brought the world into existence. It is the sign of the fact that He is the God of time. In Him time has its beginning. In Him time has its end. We can be absolutely certain about one thing: The God who instituted the week at the beginning of time has held His hand over it throughout the course of time, and will continue to do so right to the close of time. In fact, the Bible gives the assurance that even in the new earth, after sin’s night has ended, the week and the month will continue as unintertrupt6ed units of time for the redeemed throughout eternity. The prophet Isaiah foretells weekly and monthly convocations of the saints in God’s kingdom. Notice his prediction in Isaiah 66:23:
“And it shall come to pass, that, from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.”
The only thing worth living for is to be sure that by God’s grace we are numbered among that company!
Part Seven — The Lawless One
According to Scripture, the anti-Christ takes on the glory and prerogatives of God, esteems itself as highly, utters blasphemous statements, fools via its godly appearance, signs and wonders, plays with truth and God’s Ten Commandments, and is connected to the numbers 666.
Bear in mind too, that in the original Bible language, anti-Christ can
mean "in place of."
“Let
no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the
rebellion
comes first, and the man of lawlessness
is revealed, the son
of perdition, who
opposes and exalts himself against every so-called
god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of
God, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess 2:3,4, RSV).
“The
coming of the lawless
one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and
in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They
perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thess
2:9,10, NIV).
“...and a mouth speaking
pompous words” (Dan 7:8, NKJV).
“He shall speak words against
the Most High, and shall wear out [persecute]
the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change times and the law…” (Dan
7:25, RSV).
“And
he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies...Then he
opened his mouth in blasphemy against God…” (Rev 13:5,6, NKJV).
“...a scarlet beast which was
full of names of blasphemy…” (Rev 17:3, NKJV).
“...and on his heads a
blasphemous name” (Rev 13:1, NKJV).
Regarding blasphemy:
Note
again the underscoring of the very first text. Will no doubt make
statements
regarding its own self importance.
"He
performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men, and he deceives those who dwell on
the earth by those signs which
he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell
on earth to make an image [copy]
to the beast [past power]
who was wounded by the sword and
lived [revived]"
(Rev 13:13,14, NKJV).
The "beast" here, represents a human
organization.
“Here
is wisdom. Let him who has the understanding calculate the number of
the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666” (Rev
13:18, NKJV).
"Then the angel carried me [John]
away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a
scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven
heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and
was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a cup in
her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her
adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE
GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I
saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of
those who bore the testimony of Jesus" (Rev 17:3-6, NIV).
What
power would we associate purple and scarlet with today?
Updated 7
November 2015
Part Eight — Is History About To Repeat Itself?
Or
to put it another way, are we
looking at a Reformation reversal?
Daniel Defoe (1659-1731)
Part
eight is split into five parts which are best read consecutively in
order to gain a full understanding, and all quotes are highlighted. Bear
in mind that some chat deemed necessary, and in the form of a paragraph
or paragraphs, occurs here and there amidst the many highlighted
quotes.
More such quotes could be placed here, but a
sample surely convincing enough, and too many quotes being taxing for
the reader.
1)
Quotes
That Speak For Themselves.
This
section shows the true intent of Papal Rome that she always denies and
keeps hidden.
Nothing has changed:
"An expose of Vatican and Jesuit intrigues and interference into the political structure of the United States and Europe. It contains shocking revelations and fully authenticated documentation, much of it hidden for almost 100 years, to support the conclusion that the United States has been transformed from a beacon of light and hope into an empire with beast-like tendencies and that the world is headed for a Vatican led and instigated cataclysm while it sleepwalks towards the edge."
2)
Why
I've A Problem With Catholicism, Not Catholics.
This
section shows how Catholicism is so terribly errant biblically, and
thus not in harmony with the teachings of Christ.
This section also coveys
concerning information regarding Catholicism itself.
Nothing has changed:
December 12, 1984, The Los Angeles Times
3)
The Two
Babylons.
This
section shows how Papal Rome is really but a mirror image of the
ancient pagan Babylon, it far from Christian, and really worshipping
who?
And
papal Rome is really just pagan Rome in ecclesiastical dress with a
Christian facade. A Church and State power with its own domain, flag,
currency and stamps, along with it's own police force and Swiss
military guards.
Nothing has changed:
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
4)
The
Danger Of The Ecumenical Movement.
This
section shows how such is no doubt being used by Satan as a means to a
devilish end, the fulfillment of Papal Rome's historic thrust.
Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation
"Reformers who are always compromising, have not yet grasped the idea that truth is the only safe ground to stand upon."
Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
“The Catholic Church is either the masterpiece of Satan or the kingdom of the Son of God.”
Cardinal Manning
“If not divinely appointed, it is doctrinally the essence of Antichrist.”
Cardinal Newman
Note also:
The
only reason that I mention Catholicism is, because I believe that
biblical prophecy refers and points to it, (both past and present), and
that evidence attests to it, as being in opposition to both God's Word
and will, and a danger to liberty and freedom, (and this, despite what
Catholicism might say in its defence).
By the way:
Why is pointing out the errors in any denomination or religion
important?
a)
Because that information made public can help prevent others from
embracing that same error too.
b)
Because that information made public can help those who’ve already
embraced that error to see why it is in fact error.
c)
Because that information should naturally be made available in order
for folk to truly have freedom of choice.
d)
Because
people can draw up arguments from the very same source as us — God's
Word, here — and thus one not only has to find and present the correct
position, the truth, but show and prove the error in any counter
argument (which some people wrongly call knocking when it's really
informing).
e)
Because certain beliefs that some people are holding to are very
destructive. ISIS the worst of examples.
f)
Because much said and done in the name of God hasn't been of
God at all.
Okay, now regarding the four parts mentioned:
1)
Quotes That Speak For Themselves
"I see a very dark cloud on our horizon. And that dark cloud is coming from Rome."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
"The day is not distant, and it may be very near, when we shall all have to fight the battle of the Reformation over again"
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850)
“Long before I was ordained a priest, I knew that my church was the most implacable enemy of this republic [the United States]. My professors of philosophy, history and theology had been unanimous in telling me that the principles and laws of the Church of Rome were absolutely antagonistic to the laws and principles which are the foundation-stones of the Constitution of the United States.”
Fifty Years in the Church of Rome by Charles Chiniquy
"When the United States rules the world, the Catholic Church will rule the world."
James E. Quigley, Roman Catholic Archbishop, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 5, 1903
“As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions…”
Louis Michael Seidman, (Catholic law professor from Georgetown University which is a Jesuit University, “Let’s Give Up on the Constitution,” The Opinion Pages, New York Times, December 30, 2012).
“It is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship,
as if these were so many rights given by nature to man.”
Pope Leo XIII, “Great Encyclical Letters” p.16
"For over 200 years, the goal [of the Jesuits] has been the complete destruction of the United States Constitution. In the religious arena, the goal of the Jesuits is to wipe out any trace of Protestantism and other religions, and to restore worldwide domination by the pope."
Bill Hughes (From his book The Secret Terrorists)
And from the same book —
"The Jesuits failed in their attempts to have a world governing body following World War One. They accomplished their sinister goal after World War Two. Following the war, the weary, aching world was conditioned to accept an international government, and the United Nations was born. Since the creation of the United Nations in 1945, this so-called ‘peace-keeping’ body has failed miserably in keeping peace around the world. Why? Because keeping peace is not their purpose, even though they continue to claim that it is. There are presently some 83 different wars around the world. However, it has certainly been instrumental in suppressing liberty loving people. Katanga and Rhodesia are just two examples of nations crushed by U. N. forces. The United Nations has worked tirelessly to restore the temporal power of the papacy — its purpose from the beginning." End
"We must move as quickly as possible to a one-world government; a one-world religion; under a one-world leader."
"...the United Nations Charter has to be supplemented by a charter of spiritual laws..."
Both comments were made by Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations
"Moreover, the pope has thousands of secret agents worldwide. They include Jesuits, the Knights of Columbus, Knights of Malta, Opus Dei, and others. The Vatican's Intelligence Service and its field resources are second to none."
Dave Hunt, Amercan Baptist Historian
"The real rulers in Washington are invisible, and exercise power from behind the scenes."
Felix Frankfurter, Supreme Court Justice (1882-1965)
"The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes."
The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments’ plans.
Benjamin Disraeli ( 1804-1881)
"...and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast [the old power in new garb, which all will be made to follow, or else]" (Rev 13:3, NKJV).
“So they worshiped the dragon [Satan] who gave authority to the beast [power]; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? [stand up to it]” (Revelation 13:4, NKJV).
Note:
If the lamb represents America, as many believe, then those two horns on it may be taken to represent the two notable features of the American government, civil and religious liberty, both of which were guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. Civil liberty finding its expression in a republican form of government, and religious liberty in Protestantism.
When the first beast [Papal Rome] was going into captivity (the pope taken captive by General Berthier in 1798), America [the second beast] was growing into prominence and power.
Now back to those quotes, and from the same book by C.T Wilcox:
"The Jesuit Order is an association of highly organized warrior priests. They are politicians first and foremost and have been expelled from virtually every country they have had the opportunity to corrupt and destroy. Their modus operandi is political and educational infiltration and subversion and the fomenting of wars and revolutions in order to weaken and mold the target country into submissive pliability, to then be used to carry out their purpose of global ecclesiastically backed dictatorship. The United States is no exception to this."
(Poet, author's note: Nicaragua's government confiscates a Jesuit run university alleging that it was a "center of terrorism." Al Jazeera News, 17 August 2023)
“It is well known that there were over two thousand members of the Jesuit Order located in Washington [D.C.] in the years prior to the year 1900. In the last one hundred plus years, this number is anyone’s guess, but the reader can be assured that it has increased significantly, and with it, the political influence it wields.”
“In 1822 [at the secret meetings at Verona, Italy], the Roman Catholic Monarchies of Europe conspired with the Vatican to destroy the concept of popular government, as found in the experiment of the United States, by means of infiltration, subversion, and corruption. The tools used were the Leopold foundation, which was set up by Prince Metternich of Austria, and the Jesuit Order. The purpose being to use the financial and military arms of the United States to further the interests of the Papacy in its goal of putting all the world under the temporal submission [sic; i.e., under the temporal power] of the [Roman Catholic] Church.”
“The [American] Civil War [of 1861-1865] was not a ‘homespun’ affair. It was the result of the same upheavals that have changed the face of Europe. The promises and active help of the European empires and the Church of Rome along with the Jesuit Order had stiffened the resolve and attitude of the Southern [i.e., Confederate] leaders, some of whom were quite willing to see the monarchic principle triumph in North America.” End
“There was no disguise they (the Jesuits) could not assume, and therefore, there was no place into which they could not penetrate. They could enter unheard the closet of the Monarch, or the Cabinet of the Statesman. They could sit unseen in convocation or General Assembly, and mingle unsuspected in the deliberations and debates.
There was no tongue they could not speak, and no creed they could not profess, and thus there was no people among whom they might not sojourn, and no church whose membership they might not enter and whose functions they might not discharge. The could execrate the Pope with the Lutheran, and swear the Solemn League with the Covenanter.”
J.A. Wylie (From his book The History of Protestantism)
"It is my opinion that if the liberties of this country – the United States of America – are destroyed, it will be by the subtlety of the Roman Catholic Jesuit priests, for they are the most crafty, dangerous enemies to civil and religious liberty. They have instigated most of the wars of Europe."
Marquis de LaFayette, French statesman and general (1757-1834).
"...The public is practically unaware of the overwhelming responsibility carried by the Vatican and its Jesuits in the start of the two world wars--a situation which may be explained in part by the gigantic finances at the disposition of the Vatican and its Jesuits, giving them power in so many spheres..."
The Secret History of the Jesuits, by Edmond Paris, p. 9
“Catholics will dominate the future of America because of sheer numbers. Immigration from Mexico and family sizes means the old Protestant America is throwing itself off a demographic cliff. Tomorrow’s America will be far less Protestant and far more Catholic. At last, Catholics will have a prominent role in the future of America..."
The National Catholic Register, May 15, 2007, and these comments by the editors.
“We are also determined to take possession of the United States; but we must proceed with the utmost secrecy and wisdom…
So it is with us. Silently and patiently, we must mass our Roman Catholics in the great cities of the United States… [then] let us then multiply our votes; let us call our poor but faithful Irish Catholics from every corner of the world, and gather them into the very hearts of the cities of Washington, New York, Boston, Chicago, Buffalo, Albany, Troy, Cincinnati, etc.
Under the shadows of those great cities, the Americans consider themselves a giant unconquerable race… Let no one awake those sleeping lions, today. Let us pray God that they continue to sleep a few years longer, waking only to find their votes out-numbered as we will turn them forever, out of every position of honor, power and profit! When not a single judge or policeman, will be elected if he be not a devoted Irish Catholic! What will these so-called giants think when not a single senator or member of Congress will be chosen, unless he has submitted to our holy father the pope!...
Then we will rule the United States, and lay them at the feet of the vicar of Jesus Christ, that he may put an end to their godless system of education, and impious laws of liberty of conscience which are an insult to God and man!”
(The above was stated by Catholic priests at a meeting in Buffalo, New York, in 1852 where they expressed their long-term goals for America).
Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, p 281-282
“The Roman Catholic motto is ourselves alone for fellow Roman Catholics. We must defeat all heretics [non-Roman Catholics] at the ballot box. The holy father states that negative tactics are fatal. The demands of the holy father [the pope] are that the public services should be 100% Roman Catholic soon. Care must be taken that no suspicion may be raised when Roman Catholics are secretly given more government jobs than Protestants, Jews, and other heretics.”
Australian Roman Catholic Archbishop Gilroy (1896-1977)
"To [the principles of our government] nothing can be more opposed than the maxim of absolute (Catholic) monarchies. Yet from such we are to expect the greatest number of emigrants. They will bring with them the principles of the government they leave, imbibed in their early youth; In proprtion to their numbers they will share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its directions, and render it a hetrogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass. I doubt the expediency of inviting them by extraordinary encouragements."
Thomas Jefferson,
Author of the Declaration of American Independence and Religious Liberty, Notes on Virginia.
The
desire and purpose of Papal Rome (which is effectively Pagan Rome in
ecclesiastical form, and which now has a Jesuit pope), has
always been to rule the world alone.
Such was seen before when it forced all to follow its dictates and
dogma via persecution, and then death for those who wouldn’t comply.
W.E. Lecky Rise and influence of rationalism in Europe, volume 2, p.32.
“Everything was quiet; every heretic exterminated; and the whole Christian world supinely acquiescing in the enormous absurdities inculpated on them [by the Roman Church].”
The 1823 Encyclopedia Britannica
"He [the past power] shall speak words against the Most High [against God; make pompous claims], shall wear out [persecute] the holy ones [Waldenses, etc], and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons [shape the course of history] and the law [God's Ten Commandments. See Part Five — What Happened To The Sabbath In God's Law?] ..." (Dan 7:25).
Eventually, but after hundreds of
years, Papal Rome was crushed
(wounded), by the Reformation and Napoleon’s intervention.
Papal
Rome had previously forced all to follow its dictates and
dogma
via persecution, and then death for those who wouldn’t comply.
However,
and with time, Papal Rome soon began picking itself up, and midst doing
so,
began counter Reformation measures.
NOW HERE'S A VERY IMPORTANT
THING:
As part of their counter Reformation measures, two Jesuits (an order
of
Catholicism), came up with two alternatives to those Bible
prophecies that point to Papal Rome as the “beast,” those alternatives
thus pointing away
from Papal Rome,
as one would surely expect, those alternatives shifting the emphasis
away from the papacy to the Greek king Antiochus Epiphanus IV and to
some other tyrant, those alternatives contradicting the reformer's
stance of historicism
(that the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy is taking place throughout
history), and also their belief that Papal Rome was (and is) the
"beast," those
alternatives not being true to Scripture, and those alternatives
being Preterism (created by Luis de Alcasar — 1554-1613), and Futurism
(started by
Francisco Ribera — 1537-1591 — and promoted by Robert
Bellarmine — 1542-1621, a cardinal).
And by the way, it's also
interesting that two other Jesuits, the Linn brothers, are amongst the
most
prominent leaders in the inner healing movement, such nothing but
sorcery.
Ribera's
Futurism, which later became The Rapture, was helped along by the
Anglo-Irish Protestant teacher John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) who was
the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. This false teaching was
popularized in the 1970s by Hal Lindsey’s books, and later by Jim
Jenkins and Tim LaHaye in their "Left Behind" fictional books and films.
The Plymouth Brethren: Their History And Heresies, by James Grant.
Sadly,
the two Jesuit alternatives, Preterism and Futurism, have been
swallowed by
Protestantism at large which has now softened its stance toward Rome,
and which has seriously been infiltrated by Jesuits
and Jesuit influences working from the inside out in order to bring
about Protestantism’s downfall, and also the downfall of the American
republic and constitution via gaining key positions politically,
financially, militarily, education and media wise, etc, and thus usher
in a worldwide return to Papal Rome rule.
The Jesuits also set
about destroying any literature that they could get their hands on that
they considered heretical. Hence why little remains today that actually
and factually recounts what really went on during the past reign
of Papal Rome.
And this why many believe that the following “beast,”
will
be an infiltrated Protestant led political-religious Church and State
push within (soon largely Romanised) America which will thereby create
an “image” of the old
power, "the first beast", (See Rev 13:11-18), which will
really be the one that's steering
from within and behind until the right moment when it will take over
altogether. Hence why Revelation speaks of the "image" as once being a
lamb [innocent, peaceable]
but not come the future. And oh, how we've seen America change!
We need to bear in mind that for over one thousand
years, and not that long ago, Papal Rome was the most
dominant organisation on the planet.
What makes people think that it wants to relinquish what it has always
sought?
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
It's
interesting that every major preacher of the gospel on the Protestant
side of the Reformation believed that the Papacy was the
Antichrist.
It appears that the Jesuits
were associated with Guy
Fawke's plot to blow up parliament.
Charles spurgeon
“Evangelical Christians simply cannot accept the legitimacy of the papacy and must resist and reject claims of papal authority. To do otherwise would be to compromise biblical truth and reverse the Reformation.”
Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“The ecumenical movement is Catholicism's doing and why it will prove to be Protestantism’s undoing.”
The Author
“It is the bounden duty of every Christian to pray against Antichrist, and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the Church of Rome there is nothing in the world that can be called by that name. If there were to be issued a hue and cry for Antichrist, we should certainly take up this church on suspicion, and it would certainly not be let loose again, for it so exactly answers the description.”
Charles Spurgeon, (1834-1892), known as the Prince of Preachers
“For who is the man of sin and the son of perdition, but he who by his teaching and his ordinances increases the sin and perdition of souls in the church; while he yet sits in the church as if he were God? All these conditions have now for many ages been fulfilled by the papal tyranny."
Martin Luther, First Principles, pp. 196-197
“Since then your sere Majesty and your Lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."
Martin Luther’s reply to the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521.
"There are still…[men and women] about the country, who will tell you, with grim gravity that, if you trace up Masonry, through all its Orders, till you come to the grand tip-top, head Mason of the world, you will discover that the dread individual and the Chief of the Society of Jesus are one and the same person!"
James Parton, 1855, American Historian, The Black Pope, M.F. Cusack, (London: Marshall, Russell & Co., 1896) p. 76.
"There is a de facto “secret government” operating nationally and internationally and involved in the highest circles of the U.S. government, exercising an impact over domestic policies and economics ranging between extreme influence to, at times, outright control. This extreme influence to outright control naturally includes the Presidency."
Mike Culbert
Great nations are simply the operating fronts of behind-the-scenes, vastly ambitious individuals who have become so effectively powerful because of their ability to remain invisible while operating behind the national scenery.
Buckminister Fuller (1895-1983)
"I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within."
General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964)
“Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
"The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government, which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation...
The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both parties... and control the majority of the newspapers and magazines in this country.
They use the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of office public officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government.
It operates under cover of a self-created screen [and] seizes our executive officers, legislative bodies, schools, courts, newspapers and every agency created for the public protection."
New York City Mayor John F. Hylan, New York Times, March 26, 1922
"The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining super capitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control.... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."
Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that was shot down by the Soviets.
"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people."
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
“Today, America would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order. Tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told that there were an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well-being granted to them by the World Government.”
Dr. Henry Kissinger, Evians, France, 1991
“We are grateful to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.”
David Rockefeller, Baden-Baden, Germany 1991
"For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence - on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed."
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
"Already the high priests, prayers and temples of the universal cult are with us. Curriculums are being drafted to indoctrinate our children in what John Rockefeller, Jr. calls “The Church of all People.”…The first step is to break down loyalty to a single religious faith…"
Edith Kermit Roosevelt, First Lady of the U.S., 1901-1909
"And the dragon [Satan] was enraged with the woman [the Church], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus" (Rev 12:17, NKJV).
"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus" (Rev 14:12).
And who's going to help it?
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)
The book of Revelation, and in chapter 13, verses 11-18, talks about two "beast" powers. One of those two is a new-cum-future power that becomes an "image" [copy] of an old power because it acts exactly like that old one — that is to say, as wickedly. It's also a power that once was noble. Thus a change takes place, you see.
Now, why would America be the obvious place for this global "beast" power (New World Order), that the Bible tells us will arise just before Christ's return.
This "beast" power, "image," in Revelation is clearly a religious-political power as it forces all on earth to "worship" it. To be able to force such, it would obviously have to have immense political clout and military-police backup.
This "beast" is also described as a "false prophet" (Rev 19:20; 16:13,14), which implicates religion again, and a false prophet is someone, (in this case a power), who's claiming God's authority to speak when he or she doesn't have such authority, someone who's clearly off track despite possibly looking the part.
So why America?
1)
Well, though America is a country that originally championed civil-religious liberty, had no king or pope, things have certainly been changing (Rev 13:11, lamb becomes a dragon?). Laws that most Americans wouldn't have expected have been introduced that are seriously impinging on rights and that have the potential to escalate, or form a net — after all, other countries have been coming into line by introducing similar legislation. It’s clear that there is also corruption in high places and that things have been occurring behind the scenes.
Yes, much has gone on behind closed doors and in secret chambers. Where there's humanity, there'll never be true transparency. Thus, man's attempts, via the Christian realm or secular realm, will never usher in an answer. Only Christ's return will do that.
Charles Krauthammer
Since the Second World War, the US has:
Attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, most of them democratically-elected.
Attempted to suppress a populist or national movement in 20 countries.
Grossly interfered in democratic elections in at least 30 countries.
Dropped bombs on the people of more than 30 countries.
Attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders.
In total, the United States has carried out one or more of these actions in 69 countries. In almost all cases, Britain has been a collaborator.
Source: www.johnpilger.com
In recent times there has been shocking revelations regarding torture and death via the American military and government. According to Amnesty International, terrible methods of torture have taken place at places like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison. The American government has also accepted that there are secret CIA prisons scattered around the world, and where many are held without charge or trial.
American Christians, at least most of them anyway (who make up a large portion of America, and who're very much into vocalising “God bless America"), are extremely patriotic (and indeed most Americans in general), and as a consequence, are very much into the political scene. There are many American Christians who believe that Church and State should not be separate and are doing all that they can to bring about a Church and State return. Thus, it only stands to reason that they midst their religious-political fervour would want to introduce whatever they believe God wants. Can you see the danger? What one Christian thinks God wants and another Christian thinks God wants can be a very different matter. And then there are those Americans who do not hold to Christian beliefs at all.
Yes, we're all living midst a mixed multitude, and God will hardly be building His kingdom (nor a Christian theocracy), on a mixed multitude made up of pagans and Christians, sinners and saints, for such is effectively an oxymoron.
3)
Despite its woes, and despite how things might currently look, no country has the global clout that America has. It's influence is huge, its tentacles broad.
4)
And there is clear evidence that America has been infiltrated on many levels. Hence those quotes above.
5)
And following on from that: To gain control of the world, one needs to gain control of America.
Now, when you take:
a) a country with such global clout,
b) a country with such powerful and sophisticated military might,
c) a country very steeped in Christian tradition and religious fervour,
d) a country with a very large Christian population (even if many are nominal Christians),
e) militant Christians with a political agenda, hard right ideology, and the belief that changing America will see God usher it into some form of blessed greatness, and halt all its woes (and don't forget that growing number of Catholics),
f) a general patriotic fervour that seems to surpass any other country, and that permeates so much of all that’s essentially American,
g) and then add a dose of fear created by the likes of 911 events and terrorism in general (some of which many believe has been orchestrated), and which has many (even worldwide), willing to accept anything for the sake of safely (e.g, the erosion of certain rights), and which has seen many scurrying back to their churches that they've possibly been absent from,
h) and then popes (who have tremendous clout and influence) calling for a New World Order too (not just American presidents talking of such), talking about the need for some sort of global military-police backup, showing a willingness to be a player in all this, and visiting with American presidents,
i) and for good measure, throw the ecumenical movement into the same bubbling pot — a Reformation reversal in the making given the compromises being made, the less doctrinal concern, the worldliness and biblical ignorance of most Christians today, the changing face of the church, the hollering for unity, and now, reunification,
j) and to cement things further, a global call from many quarters for all to come together as one in peace and harmony (which may sound good, but under whose or what umbrella?),
aren't we seeing a global "beast" and universal religion of sorts in the making? And hasn't that past "beast" power been working behind the scenes here?
And as for that past "beast" power — Well, the only power that can really fit the details and picture that Revelation chapter thirteen conveys, is, Papal Rome (a Church and State power), which history records as having ruled for hundreds of persecuting years. Those persecuted "saints" being the faithful followers of God and His truths, hence the eventual Protestant Reformation. It's interesting to note that that past power used the military might of others to acheive its intentions.
Sadly, God's Word tells us that the whole world will be deceived and will wander after the "beast" power, and clearly, to their demise. Yes, this power being a wolf in sheep’s clothing. One that will eventually tighten its grip under the pretence that what it's doing is in the interest of earth's inhabitants. And will its mark of authority be an eventuall Sunday only observance?
Were you aware of the following attempt to enforce a Sunday law in America back in 1888?
"The Pope has the power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.
Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop. Cap. (The Pope can modify divine law.) Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary
"The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who takes the place of the Second Person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity."
John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 3, 1994.
Now how's that for blasphemy?
"He [the past power] shall speak words against the Most High [against God; make pompous claims], shall wear out [persecute] the holy ones [Waldenses, etc], and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons [shape the course of history] and the law [God's Ten Commandments] ..." (Dan 7:25).
And note this too:
What God's Word predicts will happen will happen, and this, regardless of how things do or don't look, and such, in God's own good time.
If God's Word says that some historic power tampered with His Law, it did (Dan 7:25).
If God's Word says that a worldwide political-religious power will arise prior to His second coming (the number 666 somehow related to that power), that it will force all to worship it, and that it will persecute His Commandment keeping people, such will be so (Rev 13:11-18 in particular; 14:9-13).
You may wish to check out my End-time page which will further aid, and it being in a purple box.
You may also wish to check out the infomation that's found here.
Are there other players?
Well, there may well be, and evidence both suggests and shouts so, but all roads eventually leading to Rome; and it should be noted that Papal Rome has many tentacles and agencies (and has oft used the capabilities of others). See live link just above.
So who might others players be, and who might they be working in cahoots with?
Has the rise of certain things been orchestrated, or allowed to happen (rather than them being stopped in their tracks), in order that certain things occur through which certain things on the way to a New World Order are achieved? And after all, fear will have folk accepting things they normally wouldn’t have dreamed of. Certain rights, for example.
Funny how things get forgotten, go by the board.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
Myron Augsburger
"We Christians may not do as Americans something that we must not do as Christians. As we listen to and debate arguments about going to war, note how often our Christian identity is subordinated to our American identity. We have been so formed by the collusion of the church with America that we find it difficult to even distinguish between Christian and national identity, and harder to subordinate our national identity to our identity in Christ."
Jonathan R. Wilson
First there’s ancient Israel.
Then the cross.
Then Christianity.
Then a Pagan Rome emperor, Constantine, combines Church and State — the Church becoming subject to the State. The first Sunday Law was introduced in AD 321 by him.
Then the Christian Church gets hi-jacked by Papal Rome — Papal Rome being the "little horn" of Daniel chapter seven that came after Babylon, Medio-Persia, Greece and Pagan Rome; and Papal Rome also clearly being the first "beast" of Revelation chapter thirteen, verses 11-18.
The second Sunday law was introduced in AD 364 by Papal Rome.
Then there’s over a thousand years of Papal Rome darkness and persecution — much true biblical knowledge is lost having been withheld or adulterated.
Then there’s the Protestant Reformation — different denominations form but still clinging to the Sunday Sabbath.
Then there’s a Jesuit led counter Reformation attempt — Protestantism is infiltrated, and Papal Rome rises from the ashes, its wound healing nicely.
Then, unsurprisingly, there’s reunification preceded by the ecumenical movement and heresies.
Then a global power arrives on the scene, it having been infiltrated too, even created, and it soon a Church and State copy [image] of Papal Rome.
"Snap!", says Satan, "I’ve got the whole world this time."
When Constantine shifted to Constantinople, he left the Pope in charge of Rome. Hence how pagan Rome ended up becoming papal Rome. The beasts [certain powers] prophetically portrayed in the Bible’s book of Daniel (chapters 7, and 2) end in papal Rome (the Little Horn, Daniel 7:8,20,21,24,25, which, as also predicted, sits amongst the still divided nations of Europe, Daniel 2:41-44). Therefore, we’re effectively still in the days of papal Rome given that papal Rome (once wounded by Napoleon) is not only the last power mentioned, but one that’ll be resurrected (Rev 13:3,11-18) via an infiltrated America that’s Protestants have lost the plot, and via a Church and State tethering.
Note my Christian poem that details the prophetic rise of Papal Rome: "Those Beasts".
More Than A Hunch
I’ve more than a hunch that Satan will impersonate Christ, and His soon return,
Even endorsing the global power at that time that Christ has said to spurn.
All why we need to remember what God’s Word has said, for the saved will be raised,
They meeting Christ in the air, we’re told, and Heaven bound, where all will be amazed.
Hence Christ’s feet not touching Earth until the New Jerusalem ascends with us,
A millennium having passed, then living on the renewed Earth with Jesus.
So mind you’re not led astray by false messiahs, one being Satan, maybe,
Who once lived with Christ, and just like an actor, will try to fool humanity.
By Lance Landall
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever"
(1 Thess 4:16,17, NIV).
Drawn from various sources.
This section was upgraded 9 March 2019.
2)
Why I've A Problem With Catholicism, Not Catholics
Catholics are people, Catholicism a system.
Sadly, most Catholics have no idea of what Catholicism is really all about, its true origin and purpose. Such hardly surprising where people don't study for themselves, and study being what Papal Rome once discouraged.
So let's begin.
Catholicism claims that she alone is the preserver of God's Word and its truths. However, she rejects the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice, and, by her own admission, has added to and subtracted from it — has rearranged and altered God’s Ten Commandments (Dan 7:25), has added more books [the Apocryphal books] to the Canonical Scriptures, and ecclesiastical traditions (Matt 15:3,6,9). Therefore, Catholicism usurps the authority of God's Word which forbids any tinkering with it (Rev 22:18; Jer 23:28; Prov 30:6; Deut 12:32; 4:2).
As is seen in "The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine" by Peter Geiermann, and similarly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, (1994 edition). Such can be seen below under the heading Catholicism's Rendering Of God's Ten Commandments.
Catholicism, in violation of the second Commandment, (Ex 20:4,5), condones the making of, exhibiting of, and bowing before, graven images-cum-statues-cum-idols-cum-shrines. Note Rom 1:22,23.
Whatever justification Catholicism may attempt to use, we've been told by Scripture to not even make graven images. Note Deut 12::2-4,30,31.
Hence why the Second Commandment is disregarded by the Catholic Church.
Reception of a convert. The profession of faith. The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Peter Geiermann
Catholicism, by its own admission, has made Sunday worship a mark of its authority, Church law, and this, in violation of the FOURTH Commandment, (Ex 20:8-12), which specifies the seventh day — Saturday — and not Sunday, the first day of the week.
In AD 364, at the Council of Laodicea, Sunday observance instead of Saturday was introduced as church law by the Bishop of Rome. Canon 29 of this council specifies Judaizing (keeping the 7th day Saturday Sabbath) as the reason for avoiding Saturday Sabbath observance.
A The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q Which is the Sabbath day?
A Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday...
Q What does the Third Commandment command?
A The Third Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord's day."
Catholic Record of London, Ontario, Canada, Sept 1,1928
The Christian Sabbath, 2nd edition, “The Catholic Mirror,” Baltimore, 1893.
"Sunday is founded, not of Scripture, but on tradition, and is distinctly a Catholic insitution."
Catholic Record, Sep 17, 1893.
"Finally at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, all hesitation was set aside: the archbishop of Reggio made a special speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authorrity of the Church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed...the Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority."
Dr. H.J.Holtzmann, Canon and Tradition, p 263.
More such quotes can be seen under Part Five — What Happened To The Sabbath In God's Law?
Catholicism, via its popes, and in violation of God’s Word, condones the adoration and worship of a man, (the mark of a cult), and also the adoration and worship of Mary who is simply another fallen, mortal being just like us. To worship another man or Mary is to worship another god, and such is forbidden by the first Commandment. Such adoration detracts from the majesty of Christ and the honour due Him alone. As far as Mary goes, it needs to be remembered that she was not blessed above all women, but was the most blessed among all women.
To put all this another way, such veneration of any human (including any apostle), is strictly forbidden by Scripture, and it's by Scripture alone that we're to go by.
Note Luke 1:42; Acts 10:26; Rev 19:10; 22:9.
Popes have usurped the place of God the Father by taking to themselves the title ‘Holy Father,’ a title ascribed to God alone. It’s blasphemy to call a man by God’s name. Note Matt 23:9; John 17:11.
Popes have usurped the place of Christ by claiming to be The Head Of The Church, a title that belongs to Christ alone (Col 1:18; Eph 5:23).
Popes have usurped the place of Christ by calling themselves ‘Vicar’ or substitute of Christ, another Christ on Earth.
Popes have usurped the place of the Holy Spirit, who is Christ’s only Vicar on Earth (John 14:26), by taking His place and pretending to do His saving work in the hearts of men.
The Catholic National, July 1895
“Have no fear when people call me the “Vicar of Christ,” when they say to me “Holy Father” or “Your Holiness,”… Christ Himself declared, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven…” One must not be afraid of these words either.”
Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994, p6
"The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ."
Decretal, De Translatic Episcop
"We hold on this earth the place of God almighty."
The Great Encyclical letters of Pope Leo XIII, p, 304, Papal letter dated 20, 1894
"The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who takes the place of the Second Person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity."
John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 3, 1994.
“I alone… am the successor of the apostles, the vicar of Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life…”
Stated by Pope Pius IX, History of the Christian Church, by Henry Charles Sheldon, p. 59.
“...and a mouth that spoke boastfully” (Dan 7:8, NIV).
“He shall speak pompous words against the most high…” (Dan 7:25, NKJV).
“...and on each head a blasphemous name.” (Rev 13:1, NIV).
“...a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies…” (Rev 13:5, NIV).
“...beast that was covered with blasphemous names…” (Rev 17:3, NIV).
“Don’t let anyone deceive you in anyway, for that day [Christ’s coming] will not come until the rebellion [apostasy] occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess 2:3,4, NIV).
It’s interesting how Pope John Paul II thanked the Virgin Mary for sparing his life, and yet, by profession, is the Vicar of Christ.
In Catholic theology salvation is dispensed by the church, especially through the sacramental system.
Pope John Paul II, On Reconciliation and Penance p.115.
Duties and Dignities of the Priest by Ligouri, p27
“The priest does not only declare that the sinner is forgiven, but he really forgives him… So great is the power of the priest, that the judgments of heaven itself are subjected to his decision.”
The Catholic Priest, by Michael Muller, Kreuzer, 1876
Yes, catholicism has taught the confession of sins to a priest when we’re to confess our sins directly to God alone. Note 1 John 1:9; 2:1; 1 Tim 2:5; Ps 32:5.
Catholicism forbids priests to marry when God has forbidden no such thing and indeed instituted marriage as a blessing for all. Note 1 Tim 4:1-3. Funny how Peter was married. Note Matt 8:14; Mark 1:30.
The Scriptures also condemn monasteries and nunneries given that none of us are to live lives of exclusion from society, and nor in an attempt to gain favour with God or to achieve some kind of perfection. Thus flagellations and ascetic behaviour are to be shunned.
Catholicism urges its followers to make regular use of the Rosary prayers. Jesus condemned such meaningless repetition. Note Matt 6:7.
Catholicism teaches that Mary remained a perpetual virgin when Scripture clearly says otherwise. Note Matt 1:25.
Catholicism teaches that Mary is the mother of God when she’s the earthly mother of Christ.
Catholicism teaches that Mary is the Queen of Heaven which is not only contrary to Scripture but any so-called Queen of Heaven being of pagan origin, as confirmed in Jeremiah 7:17-19.
Catholicism teaches that Mary is the "Mother of the Church," the "Mother of the Incarnate Word," when Scripture states no such thing.
Catholicism teaches that Mary intercedes in Heaven, such thus degrading, competing with, and usurping Christ's intercessory role, He being the only one who intercedes on our behalf (1 Tim 2:5; 1 John 2:1).
Pope John Paul II, Catechism of the Catholic Church
"In Mary is effected the reconciliation of God with humanity."
On Reconciliation and Penance, St. Paul Editions, p. 139
"The great deceiver of Fatima promises salvation to those who embrace devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary… We can be very certain that God did not send Mary to earth to change God's eternal plan of salvation. It is just this kind of deceit that leads to other false statements about Mary; Mediatrix of all graces etc. The devil's deceit is felt far and wide within the Church as is evidenced in the number of well meaning but deceived souls proclaiming Mary is Mediatrix of all graces. How would have such a statement sounded to the Apostles? This salvation we enjoy is from God in Christ; “The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for all". (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-6 NAB)… We should STOP THE DEVIL in his tracks and proclaim the vision of Fatima to be a fraud, a work of the devil and an abomination to God, Mary and to the Church."
Catholicism teaches that the Church is founded on Peter when the Bible repeatedly says that Christ is the foundation of the Church, and that Christ is the Rock. Note 1 Cor 3:11; Matt 16:23; 21:42; Acts 10:26. You may also wish to read my poem "The Rock, The Keys, And Peter." The link to it is found at the bottom of this section.
Catholicism promotes the mass when Christ died once for sins, never to be repeated, and said, "It is finished" (John 19:30). Note Heb 10:12-18; 9:25,26 also.
Catholicism teaches purgatory, a non-existent place. Such is not mentioned in the Bible and it’s a sin to add to God’s Word. Note Prov 30:6. The doctrine of purgtory (and prayers for the dead), is purly pagan. The following decree of God is irreversable for all who die in their sins: "Let him that is unjust be unjust still, and let him that is filthy be filthy still" (Rev 22:11). In every system, except for the Bible, the doctrine of purgatory after death, and prayers for the dead, has always been found to occupy a place.
Catholicism is a pagan and Christian fusion, such being something that God abhors and forbids. Yes, out of the ashes of Pagan Rome arose Papal Rome, popes ascending the thrones of emperors, and all why it's ever been called the Church of Rome.
It's no wonder that Catholicism is awash with occult symbolism.
Catholicism, in the form of the Holy Roman Empire-cum-Papal Rome, (which it effectively still is), persecuted and murdered thousands upon thousands during its reign — they being, those who wouldn’t bow to its wishes and errant doctrine. Given that Papal Rome's reign was so very lengthy, hundreds of years; that it persecuted believers of truth; played with God's Law; has made pompous claims; teaches errant doctrine; has embraced pagan things; and via its popes, takes for itself things that are God’s alone, it very clearly fits with the little horn of Daniel chapter seven and the “first beast” of Revelation chapter thirteen, they being one and the same God-condemned power. The "first beast" of Revelation chapter thirteen is somehow implicated in another persecution that occurs just prior to Christ's return via the "second beast" of Revelation chapter thirteen which becomes a copy, (image), of the "first beast."
Catholicism, (the Vatican), actively pursues a Church and State alliance when God’s Word clearly says that His kingdom’s not of this world and that we’re to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to render unto God what is God’s — the cross bringing to an end the Israelite theocracy that God himself ruled directly.
The pope maintains a royal court where nations must be represented by ambassadors and ministers of state just as other earthly governments. There has been nothing else like it in all history. Nowhere in Scripture has Christ sanctioned such. For centuries the Vatican has been the centre of the world’s intrigue and diplomacy. During the World War it was called “the listening post of Europe.”
Jesuits, (an order of Catholicism), have been expelled from many countries for fomenting unrest and for their interference in the political arena in order to serve their own agenda — that being, the interests of the Vatican-cum-Holy Roman Empire-cum-Papal Rome. A number of modern-day Authors believe that such activity is still continuing, and supply material pointing to such; and this, in line with Revelation chapter thirteen, particularly verses 11-18.
There are those who believe that the Jesuits are in control of the Vatican institution and its Catholic clergy hierarchy, and that they will one day install their Superior General (nicknamed as the Black Pope since he dresses in black and stands in the shadow of the white Pope).
It's known that popes who have stepped out of line have been assassinated by the Jesuits, have been the victims of such an attempt, or of an early demise.
It's interesting to note that pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope, and has been referred to as the pop star pope who some would say is engaged in a window dressing exercise. Could this partly be why "the whole world was astonished and followed the beast" (Rev 13:3, NIV).
See Ignatius of Loyola further below.
Brigadier General Thomas M. Harris
"See, my lord, from this room--from this room, I govern not only Paris, but China: not only China, but the whole world, without anyone knowing how tis managed."
In 1720, this was stated to the Duke of Brancas by Michaelangelo Tamburini (1648-1730), the then Superior General of the Jesuits.
“We came in like lambs and will rule like wolves.”
Francesco Borgia, Third Jesuit Superior General.
The following is said:
That the colossal wealth of the Vatican includes enormous investments with the Rothschild’s in Britain, France, and the USA, and with giant oil and weapons corporations like Shell and General Electric. Not to mention other corporations such as Gulf Oil, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, IBM, T.W.A. etc, etc. The Vatican solid gold bullion worth billions is stored with the Rothschild controlled Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve Bank.
The Vatican Billions by Avro Manhattan
And yes, Papal Rome's tentacles and agencies far reaching, and among them: The Knights of Columbus, the Knights of Malta, Opus Dei and the Jesuits already mentioned.
And the following is also said:
That Vatican city, London's Inner city alias The Crown, (the world's financial power centre), and the District of Columbia are three interlocking city states, (an empire), and that the flag of Washington's District of Columbia has three red stars on it, one for each of these city states, one city state ruling the world economically, one militarily, and one spiritually.
It's interesting to note how history shows us that Papal Rome used the military might of others to achieve her aims.
It's also interesting to note that the current Jesuit pope has made it clear that he would like to see a return to a universally enforced business free Sunday; and that he has boldly been making a number of comments that are not in harmony with God's Word.
For further enlightenment, you might like to check out the box that's entitled, The End-Time.
Cardinal Manning
“If not divinely appointed, it is doctrinally the essence of Antichrist.”
Cardinal Newman speaking of Rome
"Anybody who is acquainted with the state of affairs in the Vatican in the last 35 years is well aware that the prince of darkness has had and still has his surrogates in the court of St. Peter in Rome.”
Catholic scholar Dr. Malachi Martin, formerly a Jesuit professor at Georgetown University and a confidant of Vatican insiders.
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) founded the Jesuit Priesthood in 1534 and emerged as a religious leader during the counter-Reformation, i.e. he was at the forefront of trying to reverse all the good that people like Luther and Calvin had achieved by breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church (although in fact they did not break away enough). The Jesuits were (and still are today) an order of military monks with their own secret initiation ceremony, who tried to return the world to Roman Catholicism at whatever cost and by any means; they became the agents of political subversion for the Roman Catholic cause, trying to overthrow governments to bring them under papal rule. The Jesuit Priesthood was directly responsible for the torture and murder of thousands upon thousands of true born-again believers. The Jesuit oath contained the words: I do further declare the doctrine of the Church of England, of the Calvinists, the Huguenots and other Protestants to be damnable and those to be damned who will not forsake the same… I do further declare that I will… do my utmost to extirpate [exterminate] the heretical Protestant doctrine and to destroy all their pretended power.
The Jesuit Order has continued to be such a dark sect that Adolph Hitler ordered Heinrich Himmler (a devout Roman Catholic) to constitute his insidious and evil SS according to the principles of the Jesuit Catholic Order, with Jesuit priests holding most of the main posts. Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises, that are so enthusiastically used and endorsed by supposed “evangelical” Tony Campolo, were fully integrated into the SS by Himmler. This alone should give at least an indication of how unbiblical Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises are.
There were so many Jesuit priests within the SS that the medieval castle in Westphalia, Germany, was known as the SS monastery. Speaking of Himmler, Hitler said:
(Libres Propos, p. 164).
Hitler is further quoted as saying:
(Smokescreens by Jack Chick, Chick Publications)
The above extract is from an article that was penned by James Smith, CWM Cetf magazine, June 2014.
The Secret History of the Jesuits by Edmund Paris, p138.
"As a result, within the SS Central Security Service, an organization was created, and most of its main posts were held by Catholic priests wearing the black uniform of the [Nazi] SS. The Jesuit [priest] father Himmler [uncle of Heinrich Himmler] was one of its superior officers.”
The Secret History of the Jesuits by Edmund Paris
It's interesting to note that the apostle Peter, in his first epistle (1 Peter 5:13), euphemistically called Rome (where he was at the time) Babylon, and out of Rome came...
CATHOLICISM'S RENDERING OF GOD'S TEN COMMANDMENTS --
as presented in The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Peter Geiermann, and similarly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1
I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before me.
The Second Commandment regarding images has been left out.
2
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3
Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
The fourth Commandment has thus become the third Commandment here.
4
Honor thy father and thy mother.
5
Thou shalt not kill.
6
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
7
Thou shalt not steal.
8
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.
First part of the nineth Commandment.
10
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.
Second part of the nineth Commandment.
And now, a few books worth checking out:
50 Years in the Church of Rome by Charles Chiniquy
The Secret Terrorists by Bill Hughes
The Secret History of the Jesuits by Edmond Paris
The Transformation of the Republic by C.T. Wilcox. Recommended reading.
The History of Protestantism by J.A. Wylie
Vatican Assassins by Eric Jon Phelps
In God's Name by David Yallop
The Vatican Exposed by Paul Williams
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
The Keys Of This Blood by Malachi Martin
The Vatican Empire by Nino Lo Bello
The Vatican Billions by Avro Manhattan
The Vatican In World Politics by Avro Manhattan
A book that was begun but that never saw the light of day (given that its author died in unusual circumstances before he could complete it) was: Primacy: How The Institutional Roman Catholic Church Became A Creature Of The New World Order by Malachi Martin
(Source: Totalitaria by Ian Wishart)
Two related poems:
The Rock, The Keys, And Peter
Mary, Mother of Jesus
Drawn from various sources.
This section was added to on 22 June 2019
3)
The Two Babylons
Not
being an academic person, and thus extrapolations of certain material
being difficult for me, the following is possibly a work in progress
that’s largely been drawn from and passages taken from the indepth
book, The Two Babylons by
Alexander Hislop.
However, what I've placed here is only but a small portion
of a much larger work that conveys even more
revealing and damning parallels; though I have drawn from other sources
too.
Though
there are those who knock Hislop's work, the evidence supporting and
proving his case can be drawn from many other sources,
it consistent and often self-evident. However, every opposer
of
falsehood will have his or her critics, the devil making sure of that.
Okay, let's start.
Babylon — Priests didn’t marry.
Papal
Rome — Enforced celibacy of the clergy. The truth is, that the apostle
Paul actually warned the early Church about those who would teach wrong
things, and one of those wrong things being not to marry (1 Tim 4:1-3).
Clerical celibacy was enforced during the Lateran Councils [Catholic]
of 1123 and 1139 which were held in Rome. Such celibacy lies at the
root of those sexual scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic
Church. Nuns and monks also go right back
to the Babylonian religion.
Babylon — Propagated and
worshipped a goddess and her son.
Papal
Rome — Propagates and worships Mary and her Son, Mary eclipsing Christ.
Such like the Babylonian’s corrupted Trinity. The holy Trinity does not
consist of the Father, Son and Mary, (or Father, Mary and Son), but
rather, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Thus the power
and glory of the goddess mother-cum-Madonna, being entirely and wrongly
built on the divine character attributed to her son.
Popes
swing incense before, kneel before, kiss the feet of, and bow and pray
to, idols of the Virgin Mary. A statue of the Holy Virgin Mary
of
Fatima is carried during a candlelight vigil at the holy shrine.
Babylon — Called its queen the
Queen of Heaven, (she a dark, licentious character).
Papal Rome — Refers to Mary as
the Queen of Heaven.
Babylon — The Chaldean [Babylonian]
doctrine was that it was by works and merits of men themselves that
they must be justified and accepted of God.
Papal Rome — The doctrine of
Rome in regard to the vital matter of a sinners's justification is the
very same.
Within
Catholicism a circle or disk is often pictured above Mary’s and
Christ’s head. Such a thing is found in the artistic representations of
the great gods and goddesses of Babylon. Both the circle or disk are
well-known symbols of the Sun-divinity. The same was so in Pagan Rome.
The Babylonians worshipped the sun — in fact, Babylon was the centre
of
sun worship. Representations of the sun are seen throughout
Catholicism. Symbols of sun worship include the solar wheel. St.
Peter's Basilica has the largest solar wheel in the world, (with an
Egyptian obelisk in its center), and also has
one of the greatest collection of pagan symbals in the world. No
surprises there. St. Peter’s Basilica also has a huge sun symbol behind
the stage where the Pope sits.
It's interesting to note that the Vatican is built on
a hill where the temple of Janus the sun god stood, and that the Jesuit
logo is a sun.
Hence why Rome introduced Sunday instead of the biblical seventh-day
Saturday Sabbath.
A.Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p145
The
festivals of Rome such as Christmas day, Lady day, Easter, the Nativity
of St. John, and Feast of the Assumption, for example, are all pagan
amalgamations and linked dates, and of which there are same
incorporated facets.
For example:
The hot cross buns and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday figured
in the Chaldean rites just as they do now.
The
same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in Babylonian
Mysteries, was applied by paganism to the same magic purposes, and was
honoured with the same honours.
There's
hardly a pagan tribe where the cross has not been found, it worshipped
by the pagan Celts long before the incarnation and death of Christ.
That
which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian
emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians—the true original form of the letter T—the initial of the name of Tammuz.
To identify the eponymous god Tammuz with the sun it was sometimes
joined to the circle of the sun.
A website dealing with the same subject has this to say:
The following is carried out every day throughout the world by the
leaders of the Catholic church:
The
Eucharist host wafer is round, representing the Sun god. They hold it
up to revere it. Then they place it on a crescent moon (representing
the female womb of the moon goddess), which represents their symbolic
sexual union. This symbolically makes the wafer the flesh of their Sun
god Tammuz. The Eucharist wafer has a t on it which represents their
Sun god Tammuz. On Ash Wednesday they mark the foreheads of Catholics
with a t for Tammuz.
Lent ends with Easter when it is tradition to
eat ham. This symbolizes the remembrance of Tammuz who was killed by a
wild boar. End.
Flagellations are nothing but the very
rites of the old Chaldean fire worshippers.
And
then there's the likes of the idol processions, the
crowning and clothing of images, the worship of the sacred
heart, lamps and wax candles, all Babylonic, and thus Catholicism awash with pagan ritual,
symbolism and superstition.
Nothing
is more characteristic of Rome than the abominal worship of relics. For
example: Carefully kept and reverenced skulls and bones. Such relics
occupy the very same place in the worship of the papacy as did the
relics of Osiris in Egypt or the relics of Zoroaster in Babylon.
Within
Catholicism prayer beads are used for repetitive prayers which
is contrary to Scripture which says: "But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matt 6:7, KJV). Such
rosary beads are no invention of the papacy but are of the highest
antiquity, and are almost universally found among pagan nations.
Justification by works,
penance as a satisfaction to
God’s justice, the unbloody sacrifice of the mass, extreme unction,
purgatory, prayers for the dead and baptismal
regeneration, were all derived from Babylon. The
papal baptism being a reproduction of the Chaldean.
Babylon
— only the priests were in charge of the Chaldean Mysteries that were
affiliated with the great central system in Babylon. The priests were
the only depositories of religious knowledge. Only via them what was
necessary for salvation was known.
Papal
Rome — In conformity with the principle out of which the confessional
grew, the papal Church, that is, the clergy, claimed to be the sole
depositories of the true faith of Christianity, just like the Chaldean
priests were believed to possess the key to the understanding of the
Mythology of Babylon.
Hence how during the dark ages the Bible
became a sealed book and thus the Gospel unknown to millions who bore
the name of Christ.
History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff, vol 5, page 812.
“The Bible is not for the people; whosoever will be saved must renounce it. It is a forbidden book. Bible societies are satanic contrivances.”
Pope Pius IV, Catholic Church Council of Trent, Rule III
It’s
interesting to note that the condemned apocalyptic woman has a cup in
her hand just like it was with Babylon of old, (and as seen in
Babylonian artistic representations). The cup containing wine.
Regarding
the condemned apocalyptic woman, the Bible states: “And on her forehead
a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman, drunk with the
blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus…” (Rev
17:5,6, NKJV).
It
was during the dark ages that papal Rome persecuted and killed many
millions of people.
W.E. Lecky Rise and influence of rationalism in Europe, volume 2, p.32.
And
the children of the harlot? Obviously Protestant denominations who've
fallen away from truth, those who're calling for reunification
with Rome, and are clutching at State power.
The coming "beast" power of Revelation chapter 13, verses 11-18, that
creates an image of the old persecuting power, also persecutes and
puts to death disscenters.
A Reformation reversal making sure of such.
"Mystery" indicates what has been kept secret or hidden. She [the mother of harlots]
should have stood for God and truth but instead stands for error and
wickedness. She is the mother of all systems and doctrines used by
Satan to turn men from God. And she's holding a cup of wine that
intoxicates the nations.
God's true Church is pictured as a "chaste virgin," apostate religion
as a harlot.
The
book of Revelation speaks of THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS as
being arrayed in purple and scarlet (Rev 17:4). Now isn't it
interesting that the color for bishops and other prelates is purple,
and that the colour for cardinals is scarlet.
An inscription in the Basilica of St. John Lateran reads: SACRED
LATERAN CHURCH MOTHER and HEAD of ALL CHURCHES of the CITY
and
the WORLD.
The
College of Cardinals, with the pope at its head, is just the
counterpart of the Pagan College of Pontiffs, with its "Pontifex
Maximus," or "Sovereign Pontiff," which had existed in Rome from the
earliest times, and which is known to have been framed on the model of
the grand original Council of Pontiffs at Babylon. Very early indeed
did the bishops of Rome show a proud and ambitious spirit.
The pope is addressed as "Your Holiness." So also was the pagan Pontiff
of Rome.
The
Zucchetti [a small skull cap] which is worn by Catholic priests,
cardinals and the Pope, represents respect, fear and submission to
Cybele, the Mother Goddess of Rome. Such caps were worn by the sun
priests of Egypt.
The
two-horned mitre, which the pope wears, when he sits on the high alter
at Rome and receives the adoration of the Cardinals, is the very mitre
worn by Dagon, the fish-god of the Philistines and Babylonians. It also
has a six-sided hexagram on it. Such a hexagram was used by the
Babylonians to worship Satan, and not just by the Babylonians, but was
and is used by Satanists, Luciferians, astrologers and witches.
Intriguingly, this six-sided star numerically equals 666 — 6 points, 6 triangles, 6-sided
hexagon.
There's
also an eight-pointed star which represents the pagan goddess Ishtar,
the lightbringer. At the center of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope sits
in the middle of eight 8-sided stars.
The Maltese Cross, which represents Shamash, the god of the Sun and
Justice, is found on the pope's attire.
Images of dragons are seen in the Vatican.
We're told that the dragon [Satan] will deceive the whole earth, and
that he gives his authority to the coming persecuting "beast" power.
countries. In Papal Rome only is it now found nearly pure and entire.
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.
And thus anti-Christ.
Faith Of Our Fathers, 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p 106
"The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water; asylums; holydays and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields; sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the Church."
An Essay on The Development of the Christian Doctrine by Cardinal John Henry Newman, p.359
"In 1978, the year that Pope John Paul I was murdered and Pope John Paul II took over the papacy, a set of Vatican stamps was issued featuring a pyramid and an all-seeing eye."
David Icke
This section upgraded 2
January 2018
4)
The
Danger Of The Ecumenical Movement
Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations
The ecumenical movement teams
up with a Church that clearly has plans to bring all other
churches under its control — the Roman Catholic Church, that is.
No wonder that such a movement gets most of its momentum from the Roman
Catholic Pontifical Council on Ecumenism.
The
New Catechism has not changed the insistence that there is no salvation
outside the Roman Church, and all the objectionable doctrines are still
there.
In their Decree On Ecumenism one reads: "For it is through Christ’s
Catholic Church alone that the means of salvation can be obtained."
In the same Decree on Ecumenism, they state their purpose:
"The
results will be that, little by little . . .all Christians will be
gathered . . .into the unity of the one and only Church. .
. This
unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can
never lose."
The
tragic and appalling thing is, that the ecumenical movement turns its
back on all
that the Protestant reformers stood and died for. Catholicism and
Protestantism still being a clash, because biblical Christianity and
Catholicism are
two different religions that practice and believe different things.
Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
“The negotiation about doctrinal agreement displeases me altogether, for this is utterly impossible unless the pope has his papacy abolished. Therefore avoid and flee those who seek the middle of the road. Think of me after I am dead and such middle-of-the-road men arise, for nothing good will come of it. There can be no compromise.”
Martin Luther
"There are many putting down denominations today, but I would rather have the multiple denominations which have emerged out of the Reformation, than be held in the bondage of a Roman colossus that continues to keep its devotees in superstition, ignorance and spiritual darkness. Beware the ecumenical movement afloat today lest when the new garb is removed it shows itself to be the same old bondage."
This was stated to a meeting of leading A/G educators by James Bridges, General Treasurer of the Assemblies of God.
"You say, 'We want unity.' Oh, really? What kind of unity? 'We want all the churches to get together.' Oh, really? You mean in error, in confusion, in heresy? That is, dear friends, the ecumenical movement of our hour, in which all the great denominations and all the great church leaders are becoming more and more unified. In what? -- in compromise and theological error; and this is the ultimate horror."
John Whitcomb Jr
Also,
Such
a movement is a combination of many religious organisations and
non-Christian world religions professing different things and praying
to different gods, a movement that includes a Christian liberality that
rejects essential truths and diminishes the inspiration and authority
of the Bible (2 Tim 3:16), for two things, a movement that will thereby
culminate in the "Babylon" of the book of Revelation that Christians
are
warned to “come out of,” it being an unholy mixture, an unfit alliance,
apostasy.
The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.
Thus the current ecumenical movement brings
together some who are
true to the doctrines of God's Word with some who aren't. God would
never countenance such a thing, hence that call "to come out of."
Such
a movement becomes a threat, an unbiblical power block, a vehicle for
the lawless one, and will no doubt sneer at and penalise any faith that
remains outside it. Danger can come from within the Church as much as
outside the Church.
The
ecumenical movement is at odds with the concept of Christian unity as
presented in Scripture. True Christian unity is God-made, not man-made
(Eph 4:1-6). No such movement is necessary given that Christians of all
faiths should automatically be treated as brothers and sisters in
Christ, shown unconditional love, acceptance and respect, despite their
differing beliefs. In fact, this same love and respect should be shown
to every
human.
Such
a movement downplays doctrinal purity and refuses to practice biblical
separation, all for the sake of so-called unity. Unity is not
uniformity!
Such
a movement is at variance with biblical priorities, it displacing the
urgency of individual salvation with a social and political agenda.
Chasing God Serving Man, by Tommy Tenney, p23
Drawn from
various sources.
This section upgraded 21 October 2021.
5)
So
How Did It All End Up Here?
The following is based on archaelogical findings, historical evidence,
current activities, biblical teachings and prophecy.
How it all began, how it all will end, and where that number seven,
(and things connected with it), pops up again.
A very simple breakdown with non-Christians also in mind; those who
want things quick and simple.
Begin.
The
highest angel in Heaven, (God's headquarters), becomes jealous of
Christ, wanting to be equal with Him. That angel's discontent ends in
open rebellion; a third of the heavenly angels siding with him.
That
angel, Lucifer, and the angels who sided with him, are removed from
Heaven. Such had to be as God is a God of order and justice as well as
love and mercy.
Lucifer is now referred to as Satan, or the devil, the dragon, the
serpent, the father of lies, and roaring lion.
Satan is thus the origin of sin, evil, suffering, and wicked spirit
beings — they being, those angels who sided with him.
God forms planet Earth.
God creates human inhabitants for planet Earth.
In
order that no one forget who the creator of Earth is, and that God may
receive the worship He’s due, He makes the seventh day of creation,
Saturday, a holy day, a Sabbath, which He blesses and sets apart for
holy exercises. It acting like a forever flag (Gen 2:1-3; Ex 20:8-11).
Collier's Encyclopedia: Saturday, seventh day of the week.
There being absolutely no other explanation for the seven day weekly
cycle than the biblical account.
Man [Adam and Eve] proves unfaithful to God via violating God’s
implicit instructions, and having been seduced by Satan’s lies.
Satan
thereon seeks total control of Earth and its inhabitants, along with
their downfall so that they'll be lost like him and his angels.
Satan seeks to establish his own flag.
Humans are quarantined from those in other worlds due to their fallen,
contaminated condition.
These
humans end up forming camps, taking the right path as did Able [Adam’s
son], or taking the wrong path as did Cain [Adam’s other son].
Eventually there’s only one family left on Earth that hasn’t become
corrupted.
In
order to spare humanity's longevity from His rightful
wrath-cum-destruction — a global flood — God spares and preserves Noah
and his family via an ark [boat].
In time two more camps form, sadly, those following God’s way, and
those following Satan’s way. Yes, same old story.
Satan,
working via the latter group, and in order to eventually get control of
humanity, establishes the anti-Christ Babylonian Empire. And via this
power and following powers seeks to persecute God's faithful followers
and fight against truth — all this prophesied in the Bible.
See "Those Beasts" which represent these powers.
Alexander Hislop, author of The Two Babylons
Faith Of Our Fathers, 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p 106
More about Papal Rome soon, but next comes:
Medo-Persia.
Next comes Greece.
Next comes pagan Rome.
In
order to prop up his ailing kingdom, the pagan Rome emperor Constantine
blends Church and State. And in order to please both pagans and
Christians, (a number of the latter having decided to keep Sunday
instead of Saturday due to a backlash against the troublesome Jews by
the Romans), makes Sunday a permanent public holiday on which no work
is to be done.
Enter Satan's flag.
Chambers Encyclopaedia, article "Sunday."
Next
on the scene is the Holy Roman empire — papal Rome — which hi-jacks the
Christian Church and rules for over a thousand years, making sure that
all concede to its demands or else.
W.E. Lecky, Rise and influence of rationalism in Europe, volume 2, p.32.
Papal
Rome effectively being pagan Rome in ecclesiastical dress with a
Christian facade. A Church and State power with its own domain, flag,
currency and stamps, along with Swiss military guards.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
David Icke
Interestingly, the Bible (in the book of Daniel, Old Testament) refers
to Papal Rome as the Little Horn:
Interestingly,
the Bible (in the book of Revelation, New Testament) tells us that
Papal Rome recovers from her Napoleonic and Protestant Reformation
wounds to play a part in End-time events.
Loron Wade
The
keeping of Sunday instead of Saturday is soon instituted as Church law
by the Bishop of Rome — AD 364, (Canon 29), at the Council of Laodicea,
(a Roman Catholic council).
Sunday.”
Peter Geiermann, The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine p.50, (1946 ed.).
Martin Luther, Augsburg Confession, Article 28, paragraph 9.
The book of Daniel, found in the Christian Bible, predicting all this
well before it happened:
Sunday
not being the day that God set apart and made holy. It having no
significance, hardly pointing to the Creator of Earth who rested on the
seventh day from all His work; and thus Sunday acting like a usurper's
flag.
Next comes the Protestant Reformation.
Foolishly, Protestants still retain that man-made substitute Sabbath,
Sunday.
inconsistent; but this change was made about 15 centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed. They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair.”
John A. O’Brien, Faith of Millions.
Jesuits,
an arm of the papal Church, set about counter Reformation measures,
their desire to see that papal Rome is restored to its former glory and
dominant position — their eyes on the world!
Footprints of the Jesuits, R. W. Thompson, 1894
As
part of their counter Reformation measures, two Jesuits come up with
two alternatives to those Bible prophecies that point to Papal Rome as
the “beast” power, those alternatives thus pointing away from Papal
Rome, and those alternatives largely swallowed by Protestants.
The book of Revelation also talks of a modern Babylon. And don't forget
this:
A power whose wounds were healed.
And
it says of this Babylon: That she's the mother of harlots, and guilty
of persecuting and killing God’s true and faithful followers (chapter
17, verses 5 and 6). So she’s obviously got children of some kind, and
they could only be those who’re somehow complicit in her doings, those
who somehow lend their support to her, those who’ve somehow bought into
her teachings that confuse people’s brains like an intoxicating drink
(what the book of Revelation calls wine -- verse 2).
So, where will things head next?
From the book The Secret Terrorists, by Bill Hughes
Thus enter America:
"When the United States rules the world, the Catholic Church will rule the world."
James E. Quigley, Roman Catholic Archbishop, Chicago Daily Tribune, May 5, 1903
"If the liberties of the American people are ever destroyed, they will fall by the hands of the Catholic clergy."
Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834)
Aside
from the ecumenical movement, and certain Protestants calling for
reunification with Rome, the Christian Bible speaks of a coming
persecuting global power that will force all to worship it, one that
obviously weds Church and State, one that fulfills that past power’s
historic thrust, (hence why the new infiltrated power's called an
image, a copy, Rev 13:11-18), and one that will persecute those who
keep the Commandments of God of which the seventh day Sabbath —
Saturday — is a part, the fourth commandment (Rev 14:12; 12:17).
Neither
God nor His apostles having said to keep a different day, but
confirming the validity of still keeping God’s Ten Commandments.
from all his works "..So then, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God...Let us therefore make every effort
to enter that rest..." (Heb 4:1-11).
The
new power, a copy of the old, no doubt installs Sunday as a universal
day of rest and eventually forces all to keep it. And the current pope
calling for such a legislated day, though he's not alone in that, but
Babylonic influenced New Agers, secret societies and many Protestants a
part of that scene too.
Did you know that such a bill was attempted in America in 1888?
However, it was defeated back then.
Quoted in the American Sentinel, 1:1 January, 1889.
But it won't be defeated this time, clearly.
Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations
"Sunday is our mark of authority."
Catholic Records, Sept 1, 1923
Snap!
Satan achieves his goal. Earth and all its inhabitants under his
control via the coming global power, the universal, Babylonic religious
system.
When Constantine shifted to Constantinople, he left
the Pope in charge of Rome. Hence how pagan Rome ended up becoming
papal Rome. The beasts [certain powers] prophetically portrayed in the
Bible’s book of Daniel (chapters 7, and 2) end in papal Rome (the
Little Horn, Daniel 7:8,20,21,24,25, which, as also predicted, sits
amongst the still divided nations of Europe, Daniel 2:41-44).
Therefore, we’re effectively still in the days of papal Rome given that
papal Rome (once wounded by Napoleon) is not only the last power
mentioned, but one that’ll be resurrected (Rev 13:3,11-18) via an
infiltrated America that’s Protestants have lost the plot, and via a
Church and State tethering.
"I saw that one of the heads of the beast [the past beast] seemed wounded beyond recovery--but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and gave allegiance to the beast [in the form of the new power]" (Rev 13:3, NLT).
Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day [Christ's Second Coming] will not come unless THE REBELLION [apostasy] COMES FIRST and THE LAWLESS ONE [God usurping power] IS REVEALED, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God”
(2 Thess 2:3,4, NRSV).
"The coming of the lawless one [God usurping power] will be in accordance with the work of SATAN displayed in all kinds of COUNTERFEIT MIRACLES, SIGNS AND WONDERS, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess 9,10, NIV).
"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast
to the faith of Jesus" (Rev 14:12, NRSV).
Christ returns; Satan, that power, and all who worship it, are
destroyed (Rev 14:8-13).
For further enlightenment, here’s just a few things (facts) regarding
Papal Rome (the Vatican):
1) When
Constantine shifted to Constantinople, he left the Pope in charge of
Rome. Hence how Pagan Rome ended up becoming Papal Rome; popes
effectively ascending the thrones of Caesars (Roman emperors). Thus
Papal Rome is really just pagan Rome in ecclesiastical dress — and
hence the term Roman Catholic.
2) Papal Rome reigned for over a thousand years.
3) It used the military might of others for its own purposes.
4) It has shed more innocent blood than any other institution
that has ever existed among mankind.
5) It was wounded when Napoleon took the pope prisoner, but
has since revived from that wound (Revelation 13:3).
6) It is riddled with idols (which are biblically forbidden)
and occult, pagan symbols.
7) It
teaches and practices much that’s contrary to and foreign to the
Christian Bible.
For example:
a) Monasteries and nunneries;
b) Repetitive prayers;
c) The veneration of Mary (wrongly considering her as another
intercessor for mankind, and the Queen of Heaven);
d) Purgatory;
e) Forbids priests to marry;
f) Sprinkles rather than baptising by emersion;
g) Papal infallibility.
h) Indulgences.
i)
A mediatorial rather than ministerial priesthood (thus the priesthood
of the Roman Church getting inbetween Christ and His people).
j) Magical ideas of the sacraments.
k) Veneration and use of relics.
And so much more.
Catholics thus possessing a corrupted form of Christianity.
8) It is almost a mirror image of ancient Babylon given it’s
many practices and teachings.
9) Via
its Catechism (its book of beliefs and instruction), one can see its
attempt to alter the Ten Commandments and their order. Such having been
biblically predicted (Daniel 7:25).
It made Sunday (in place of
the biblical seventh day Saturday Sabbath, the fourth Commandment)
Church Law, and of which it wrongly and openly claims the authority to
have done so. Sun worship is synonymous with paganism, yet
symbols of sun worship are found throughout Catholicism.
10) It has (so-called) Christianised many pagan celebrations.
11) It has mystic nuns; mysticism is of occult, pagan origin,
and not part of biblical Christianity.
12) Via
the Jesuits (involved in much political intrigue, and so on, on its
behalf — their symbol a sun), it has:
Interfered in democracy worldwide;
Destroyed much evidence of Papal Rome's crimes that took place during
its reign.
Fomented wars and unrest, carried out assassinations.
Been very active in countering the
Protestant
Reformation via (and for example):
a) The ecumenical movement.
b) Counteracting
(tampering with) biblical prophecy that clearly points to Papal Rome as
the lawless one,
the little horn of Daniel, and the first beast power of Revelation
chapter 13,
verses eleven to eighteen. Hence Preterism and Futurism.
c) Discrediting Luther's discovery of
justification by faith (one being saved by grace alone). Such a
discovery revealing that penances, indulgences and purgatory were and
are nothing but money making scams.
13) It is obscenely wealthy
with worldwide financial tentacles and clout.
14) It has an ongoing record of corruption and sexual abuse.
15) It has a vast underground network of secret archives and
hidden treasure.
16) Its popes claim prerogatives of God alone, and take on
the title Holy Father, which is outright blasphemy.
17)
It’s a recognised religious/political power with its own domain, flag,
currency and stamps, along with Swiss military guards.
18) It sits amongst splendour spurned by Christ and His
apostles.
19) And
all this is why it’s hardly Christian but a hybrid; its form of
Christianity
(nothing but a facade) hiding both its true character and real agenda
which most Catholics
aren't aware of.
There
were so many Jesuit priests within Hitler's SS that the medieval castle
in
Westphalia, Germany, was known as the SS monastery.
This article was
upgraded 17 April 2019.
Part Nine — From The Perspective Of Logic
This section contains some repetition.
Statement
One:
The Ten
Commandments have been abolished, aren’t applicable anymore.
If this statement is true:
Why does Scripture say that anyone who commits sin commits
lawlessness (1 John 3:4)? How can we commit sin if there’s no law
anymore (Rom
4:15)?
Why did Christ say that not one letter of His Law is to be
removed until Heaven and earth have passed away (Matt 5:18; Luke
16:17)?
Why did God say that He hadn’t come to abolish His Law but to magnify
it (Matt 5:17; Isa 42:21)?
Why would God abolish such a wonderful moral code, (it being the
standard of Christian conduct)?
If this Law could be done away with why did Christ have to die?
How would we know sin if we didn’t have this Law
(Rom 7:7; Ps 19:7)?
Why were the Ten Commandments written on stone by God’s own finger and
not written by the hand of man in a book like the ceremonial law was?
Why
were the Ten Commandments placed inside the Ark rather than outside the
Ark like the ceremonial law was?
Do the contents of the Ten
Commandments no longer matter? In other words, is it okay to kill now,
commit adultery, steal, etc? Was it only for Jews to refrain from doing
such things, and only back then?
If God's Law was only given at Mount Sinai, how come Abraham kept God’s
Commandments well before Mount Sinai (Gen 26:5)?
Why are we told that we’ll be judged by God’s Law (James 2:12; Eccl
12:14)?
Why does Paul say he has full confidence in God’s Law and that He even
delights in it (Acts 24:14; Rom 7:22)?
Why does Paul emphatically tell us to still uphold God’s Law (Rom 3:31)?
Why does Paul say that those whose mind is set on the flesh don’t
submit to God’s Law and thus cannot please God (Rom 8:6-8)?
Why does Scripture say that circumcision is nothing but that what
really matters is the keeping of God’s Law (1 Cor 7:19)? Therefore,
God’s Law
is hardly a ceremonial law.
Why do both Paul and James say that
it’s the doers
of the Law, not the hearers,
who are considered
righteous in God’s sight, and who will be justified, blessed as a
result (Rom 2:13;
James 1:25)?
Why does James say that those who fail in just one
of the Ten Commandments become accountable for all of it, and why does
He speak of God as the Lawgiver (James 2:10-12; 4:12)?
If God’s Law is abolished, or no longer applicable, why has God written
it on the hearts of His people now (Heb 8:10)?
Why does Scripture tell us that we show our love
for God by keeping His Commandments (2 John 6; 1 John 5:3)? Isn't this
why it’s written on the heart now? Willing obedience, in other
words.
Why does Scripture say that God’s Law is Holy, just, and good (Rom
7:12)?
Why are Christians called liars when they say they know God yet don’t
obey His Law (1 John 2:4)?
If keeping the Law isn’t important, why is Satan honing in on
Commandment keepers, and why are Commandment keepers told to endure
(Rev
12:17; 14:12)?
If God’s Law isn’t important any more, why is the
Ark of His Covenant seen in the heavenly sanctuary and referred to
apocalyptically in Revelation chapter eleven, verse nineteen? The Ark
of the Covenant being the depository of the Ten Commandments.
Who would gain most from the absence of god's Law? The devil, of course.
If lawlessness is what caused this whole mess that we're in — the great controversy,
that is — why
would God add to the problem by doing away with His Law?
If His throne [rule]
is established upon principles of righteousness and justice, how would
His doing away with law make sense of it all? What government, in its
right mind, would do away with laws?
And how are we to know the "lawless" one (2
Thess 2:3,4,9,10) that we've been warned of
if God's Law has been done away with?
Statement Two:
The seventh day Sabbath,
Saturday, has been exchanged for Sunday with God's blessing.
If this statement is true:
Why did Christ say that not one letter of His Law is to be removed
until Heaven and earth have passed away (Matt 5:18)? The Saturday
Sabbath is a
whole commandment!
If the seventh day is a
memorial (Ps 135:13, KJV; Ex 20:8-11) of creation and God’s resting
from His work, as Scripture says, why would He change it. If our
birthday fell on the 7th of March, why would we decide to hold it on
the
1st of March instead, each time it came around?
If God is a god of order
who has the whole universe running like clockwork, why would He alter
the order of the Sabbath day, and given it’s based on creation?
If
God had changed His Sabbath on account of Jewish abuse say, wouldn’t He
have had
to alter every
Commandment in His Law given that the Jews abused the whole lot?
If the seventh day Sabbath points to the Creator God, what or who would
a Sunday Sabbath point to given it’s the first day of the
week, the
beginning
of His creating, and not the end
of His creating? One doesn’t
celebrate putting in the piles but the completed building.
If the
fourth Commandment were removed because it was supposedly ceremonial,
who would know who the author of the other nine Commandments was, or
his dominion?
Given that the Ten Commandments were kept apart from the ceremonial
law,
how could the seventh day Sabbath possibly be ceremonial?
If the seventh day Sabbath was just for the Jews why are we told it was
made for man (Mark 2:27)?
Was God’s institution of one day (Gen 2:3) whereby all could come
together to worship Him, (in remembrance that He is the Creator), and
receive rest from their labour, simply overkill, unfair? Was
God
being tyrannical wanting a whole day dedicated to Himself. Was He being
stingy only giving us six days?
If the seventh day Sabbath was
given at Mount Sinai only, why were the exiles from Egypt told
not to
collect manna on the seventh day Sabbath sometime before Mount Sinai,
and why were they berated for refusing to keep the Commandments of
which the seventh day Sabbath is the fourth (Ex 16:27-30)?
If the
seventh day Sabbath was done away with at the cross, why did the women
who were going to embalm Christ rest on this day according to the Ten
Commandments (Matt 28:1)?
How come Paul and the other apostles still kept this day (Acts 13:42;
17:2; 18:4)?
When Christ was on earth, why did He say to remember this day when
warning of the impending destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, a
destruction that occurred well after His death (Matt 24:20)?
If
God blessed and set aside this day, why is there no mention of a
transfer to Sunday, nor mention of a transfer of the Sabbath blessing
to Sunday (Gen 2:3; Ex 20:11)?
Scripture talks of an attempt to alter
God’s Law at some stage in earth’s history (Dan 7:25)? Wouldn’t the
observance of Sunday instead of Saturday be considered such an
alteration? Doesn’t the Roman Church take responsibility for the change
to Sunday?
Doesn’t God clearly say that we’re not to subtract from or add to what
He commands (Deut 4:2)?
If the number seven is a special number in God’s eyes, as deduced from
Scripture, why would God decide upon the number 1 instead, Sunday being
the first
day of the week?
If the seventh day Sabbath was just
for the Jews, why were gentiles also
blessed by keeping the seventh day
Sabbath (Isa 56:1-8)?
What could possibly be wrong with a day that God set aside at creation?
And
if the seventh day Sabbath wasn't a literal day, why would God tell
folk to keep it? Why did He and His apostles keep it too?
Part Ten — A Sampling Of Misused Texts
The following texts are wrongly used to prove that God's Law has been done away with, that we don't need to concern ourselves with it anymore, and that the Saturday Sabbath has now been shifted to Sunday with God's approval.
Hence the answers stating otherwise.
One should be able to see via these answers that it's all about context. Thus any texts not mentioned here but appearing to say that God's Law has been done away with, that His Law dosen't need to be kept anymore, and that the Sabbath is now Sunday, will have a similar explanation. The cumulative witness of Scripture clearly shows that God's Law couldn't possibly have been done away with, and why logic alone shouts context.
Regarding the Ten Commandments:
Luke 16:16 — Law in effect until John came?
The “law and prophets” refers to the canonical writings of the Old Testament.
The “law and prophets” were all that men had until the ministry of John the Baptist. The Gospel came to supplement, reinforce and confirm those writings (Matt 5:17-15), it not standing in place of the Old Testament but in addition to the Old Testament. It would be worth noting Part Eleven — Why The Old Testament Is So Important.
1 Tim 1:9 — Law not made for the righteous but the unrighteous?
Though the law no longer condemns the justified man, it still remains as his standard of conduct (Rom 6:4; 2:13; 3:31; James 2:10,12; 1:25).
Rom 6:14 — Not under law but under grace?
We're not under law as a means of salvation but under law as a revelation of God's ethical standards for ones life. Though the believer is under grace, it doesn’t mean that he or she is now at liberty to disobey God’s law (James 1:25; 1 John 3:4; 2:4; John 8:34; Rom 3:31; 2:13; 1 Cor 7:19). After all, it was man's violation of God’s law in the first place (Rom 5:12,19) that caused God out of love to offer grace to the sinner. To continue wilfully sinning after having accepted God’s grace is to deny the very purpose of that grace and thereby to actually remain under law.
John 13:34 — A new commandment, that we love one another?
No, not a new Commandment, nor a replacement, but simply a new concept of the love of God, a new demonstration. The command to love is hardly new. It belonged to the instructions that were given by the Lord through Moses (Lev 19:18). Where the old Commandment called upon one to love their neighbour as them self, the new command urged them to love as Jesus had loved. This new instruction was more difficult than the old, but grace for its accomplishment was freely provided.
Besides, a new command doesn't necessarily mean that an older one or older ones no longer apply, but that "here's another one", or an amplification.
Rom 10:4 — Christ the end of the law?
Here the apostle Paul is contrasting God’s way of righteousness by faith with mans [Israel’s] attempt at righteousness by law. God’s way of righteousness by faith does not abolish the law but rather establishes it (Rom 3:31; 2:13; 8:4). It is law as a method of obtaining righteousness, such as that attempted by Israel, that has been brought to an end by God, not that law was ever a method of obtaining righteousness anyway.
Acts 15:10,11— A yoke ones unable to bear?
The yoke spoken of here, was the conformance to the ceremonial law together with its traditional elaboration’s that the first Jewish converts largely retained and were expecting of Gentile converts to Christianity, and which was being taught without apparent authorisation by Pharisees who had become Christians, creating controversy (Acts 15:1, 2, 5).
Rom 7:6 — Released from the law?
For believers who have died to sin and risen to newness of life, their obedience to God’s law will no longer be legalistic and mechanical, as if righteousness consisted merely of compliance with a set of external rules of conduct without any reference to the condition of the heart (Heb 8:10; Rom 7:22; 3:31; 13:8-10). Such service and worship is possible only to those who have been born again of the Holy Spirit and live under His influence. Paul who rejects the Law as a substitute for grace does not accept grace as a substitute for the Law (Rom 3:31; 2:13; 7:22).
Col 2:14 — Nailed it to the cross?
"The handwriting of ordinances that was against us" (KJV), or, "The wriiten code with its regulations that was against us" (NIV), should not be confused with God's Law, nor with the law of Moses, for what's being spoken about here is the written record of our sins. What Paul is actually saying here is, that Christ has cancelled, set aside and nailed to the cross the written record of our sins. Paul, via a daring metaphor, is reaffirming the completeness of God's forgiveness.
Rom 3:20 — Not justified by deeds prescribed by the law?
Justification is by faith alone. However, the faith by which we are justified will reveal itself in obedience.
When someone gives themself to the Lord and accepts Him as their Saviour, then, (sinful as their life may have been), they are accounted as if righteous.
Gal 5:18 — Not subject to the law?
All find salvation via faith in the promise made to Abraham, not via law, not via any system of legal righteousness.
Eph 2:15 — Has abolished the law with its commandments?
The abolition of the law as the Jews had interpreted it with their involved system of commands and decrees and the hostile attitudes they had adopted as a result which had created hostility toward them and an insurmountable barrier, a partition wall preventing the Gentiles from accepting the worship of the true God.
Regarding the Sabbath:
Col 2:16,17 — Not to judge others when it comes to food, drink, festival, new moon or sabbath?
Paul here, was challenging the authority of the Judaizing false teachers who were imposing regulations (verse 20) on the manner of observing these practices, not the practices as such. Paul here, is not condemning the teachings of Moses, but their perverted use.
Rom 14:5,6 — One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike?
The preference over ‘days’ mentioned here was presumably to do with fast days as the context deals with abstinence. In the Roman world there was a superstitious belief that certain days were more favourable than others for undertaking some specific projects and unfortunately this mentality was adopted by many Christians. The Sabbath is not specifically mentioned in Paul’s epistle to the Romans, therefore, it cannot legitimately be read into Rom 14:5,6.
Gal 4:10,11 — Why are you observing special days and months and seasons and years?
Here we see the apostle Paul’s denunciation of false teachers motivated by superstitious beliefs in astral influences who were wrongly teaching that the observance of days, months and seasons was necessary to justification [right standing before God] and salvation, thus perverting the very heart of the gospel.
Hosea 2:11 — “I will...also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festival assemblies.” NASB
Here we are looking at a backslidden Israel that was into idolatry and every kind of evil, yet observing the forms of the ritual of days and seasons given to them at Mount Sinai. God hated their Sabbaths as they kept them — the observance of a sacred institution with no true spirit of devotion. The solemn services of religion, when accompanied by a life of willful sinning and rebellion, are offensive to God. Not the doing away with the Sabbath, or any other religious service for that matter, is foretold by these texts but the abolition of a rebellious nation. Because Israel was into idolatry and every kind of evil, it thus made a mockery of divinely ordained services bringing upon itself God’s judgment.
Joshua 10:13 — The sun stood still?
The lengthening of the day mentioned here, did not disrupt the seven day cycle, because no new calendar day was gained or lost as a result of it. The only alteration was the lengthening of the ‘daylight time’ of that day.
It should be noted that it is not the sun that moves in the heavens but the earth turning on its axis that marks off the day. The writer was simply using the popular language of the day in describing matters of science.
1 Cor 16:2 — On the first day of the week lay aside something?
There is nothing here that suggests a public meeting, nor anything to endorse the observance of Sunday.
Paul here, was simply asking the Corinthian Christian believers to remember their poorer brethren, by putting aside ‘individually’ and in the ‘privacy of their own homes’, a monetary gift, and to do that before they actually started spending their earnings of the previous week.
John 20:19 — "So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' " NASB
This meeting took place late at night. The disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, not because it was a Sabbath.
“First day of the week” — that is, Roman time, which reckoned the days as beginning at midnight. According to Jewish time which reckoned the day as beginning at sunset, this meeting took place on the second day [Monday].
Acts 20:7 — "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread [in Troas], Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight." NASB
This meeting occurred on a Saturday night (this is confirmed by the inter-church panel of scholars who prepared the translation of the New English Bible). According to Jewish usage the evening before Sunday was considered as the evening of the first day. This view is supported by the fact that Luke, even though a Gentile, used the Jewish system in his gospel when reporting the burial of Christ (Luke 23:54). In Acts he repeatedly shows his respect for the Jewish calendar and religious customs.
This was a special meeting, the reason for it being, that Paul was about to leave on a journey.
And on a final note here:
A.Weigall, The Paganism in Our Christianity, p145
Upgraded 8 March 2017.
Sources available.
Part Eleven — Why The Old Testament Is So Important
By Henry M. Morris
Focus: The book of Genesis.
If people reject the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis,
logically they will have to reject the rest of the Bible because
all major doctrines of theology have their foundation in those first
eleven chapters (1 Cor 15:16-22; Rom 5:12; 8:19-22). Paul connects the
events of Genesis concerning Adam [the
first man] to the events of Jesus Christ [the second Adam].
Obviously if Genesis, Adam and the fall are not literally true, then
one does not have to take the events of the second Adam and His
resurrection literally either. This would mean that there was no
salvation. Why would God have to die? A good world, which was marred by
Adam’s sin, is groaning under the curse, and will one day be restored
to a sinless, deathless paradise. This creation/fall/redemption
framework is woven intimately throughout the fabric of both the Old and
New Testaments. The very reason for the cross is built upon the fall.
By the first Adam came death, by the second comes resurrection from the
dead, and freedom from the law of sin and death (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor
15:21,22). The book of Genesis is the foundation of all true history,
true science and true philosophy. It is the foundation of God’s
revelation, as given in the Bible. No other book of the Bible is quoted
as copiously or referred to so frequently in other books of the Bible,
as is Genesis. In the Old Testament Adam is mentioned by name in the
books of Deuteronomy, Job and 1 Chronicles and Noah is mentioned in 1
Chronicles, Isaiah and Ezekiel. Abraham is mentioned by name in 15
books of the Old Testament and 11 in the New. Jacob is mentioned in 21
books (other than Genesis) of the Old Testament and in at least 17 of
the New Testament. Every mention of the people or nation of Israel is
an implicit acknowledgment of the foundational authority of Genesis.
Apart from the book of Genesis, there is no explanation for Israel, nor
consequently for all the rest of the Old Testament. The New Testament
is, if anything, even more dependant on Genesis than the Old. There are
at least 165 passages in Genesis that are either directly quoted or
clearly referred to in the New Testament. Many of these are alluded to
more than once, so that there are at lest two hundred quotations or
allusions to Genesis in the New Testament. It is significant that the
portion of Genesis which has been the object of the greatest attacks of
skepticism and unbelief, the first eleven chapters, is the portion
which had the greatest influence on the New Testament. There exist over
100 quotations or direct references to Genesis 1-11 in the New
Testament. Every one of these 11 chapters is alluded to somewhere in
the New Testament and every one of the New Testament authors refers
somewhere in his writings to Genesis 1-11. On at least 6 different
occasions, Jesus Christ himself quoted from or referred to something or
someone in one of these chapters, including specific reference to each
of the first 7 chapters. Furthermore, in not one of these many
instances where the Old or New Testament refers to Genesis is there the
slightest evidence that the writers regarded the events or personages
as mere myths or allegories. To the contrary, they viewed Genesis as
absolutely historical, true and authoritative. It is quite impossible,
therefore, for one to reject the historicity and divine authority of
the book of Genesis without undermining and in effect, repudiating, the
authority of the entire Bible.
This article was taken
from my Potpourri page, Christian section.
Part Twelve — So Where To Now?
Part Twelve
It's very clear
from Scripture that only those who
do God's will will receive
eternity.
"
'Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven' " (Matt 7:21,
NKJV).
Therefore,
what is God's will then? Well, the following pretty much sums things up
without saying a lot more:
That
we take care of our body:
"If
anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is
holy, and that temple you are" (1 Cor 3:17, RSV).
That
we take care of the Earth:
"The
nations raged, but Thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be
judged, for rewarding Thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those
who fear Thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the
destroyers of the earth" (Rev 11:18, RSV).
That we consider the well-being of
creatures:
"A
righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of
the wicked is cruel" (Prov 12:10, RSV).
That
we neither hurt anyone nor willingly neglect their need:
“
‘And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you
did it to me.’ ‘Then He will say to those on the left hand ,‘Depart
from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil
and his angels’ ” (Matt 25:40,41, NKJV).
"
'In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to
treat you..." (Matt 7:12, NASB).
"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet
closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? (1 John
3:17, RSV).
That
we emulate God's love:
"Above
all, maintain constant love for one another..." (1 Peter 4:8).
"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of
these is love" (1 Cor 13:13, ESV).
That
we put Him first in our life:
"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to
please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a
servant of Christ" (Gal 1:10, ESV).
That
we seek the salvation of others:
"Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you..." (Matt 28:19,29, ESV).
That
we never put a stumbling block in another's way:
"...but
rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of
a brother" (Rom 14:13, ESV).
That
we forgive others and not seek revenge:
"But
if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven
forgive your trespasses" (Mark 11:26, KJV).
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God,
for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
(Rom 12:19, ESV).
That
we keep the entire Ten Commandments, God's moral law:
"Do
we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary,
we uphold the law" (Rom 3:31, ESV).
" For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become
guilty of all of it" (James 2:10, RSV).
"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight,
but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous" (Rom
2:13, NIV).
“Whoever says, “I know Him” but does not keep
His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him [the Ten
Commandments are the standard of Christian conduct. Not saved by, but
judged by]” (1 John 2:4, ESV).
“For
if we go on sinning deliberately [lawlessness] after receiving the
knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins
[we void God's grace], but a fearful expectation of judgment…” (Heb
10:26,27, ESV).
That
our worship of Him always be in keeping with His holiness and majesty:
"Therefore
let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and
thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe"
(Heb 12:28, ESV).
"God is greatly to be feared [respected]
in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them
that are about Him" (Ps 89:7, KJV).
That
we only uphold what's sound biblical doctrine:
"But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel
contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed" (Gal
1:8, RSV).
"...Teach what is consistant with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1, ESV).
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but
having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to
suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander into myths" (2 Tim 4:3,4, RSV).
"Speaking of
this as he [Paul] does in all his letters. There are some things in
them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their
own destruction, as they do the other scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16, RSV).
That
we walk in accordance with God's Word:
“You
were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt
and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your
minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to
the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).
"In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled
[realized] in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to
the Spirit" (Rom 8:4, ESV).
"To set the mind on the flesh
is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the
mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, it does not submit to
God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please
God" (Rom 8:6-8, ESV).
"Thus you will know them by their fruits" (Matt 7:20, NKJV).
That
we always keep in mind that we're His ambassadors:
"Abstain
from all appearance of evil" (1 Thess 5:22, KJV).
"
'In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may
see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven' " (Matt
5:16, ESV).
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal
through us..." (2 Cor 5:20, ESV).
That
we appropriately expose error and falsehood and rebuke wrong:
"But
test everything..." (1 Thess 5:21, RSV).
"But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing
will be upon them" (Prov 24:25, RSV). Note also Ezek 3:17-19; Col 3:16.
"All
scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that every one
who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work" (2
Tim 3:16,17).
"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose
them" (Eph 5:1, RSV).
"But speaking the truth in love..." (Eph 4:15, RSV).
And that we don't follow the coming
global "beast" power:
"Come
out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that
you will not receive any of her plagues" (Rev 18:4, NIV).
"...if
anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the
forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury,
which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath" (Rev
14:9,10, NIV).
