Remains of the luxurious residence palace of Mediana, erected by Constantine I near his birth town of Naissus
Flavius Valerius Constantinus, as he was originally named, was born in the city of Naissus, (today Niš, Serbia) part of the Dardania province of Moesia on 27 February,[29] probably c. 272 AD.[30] His father was Flavius Constantius and was born in the province of Moesia (later Dacia Ripensis), .[31][32][33] Constantine probably spent little time with his father [34] who was an officer in the Roman army, part of the Emperor Aurelian's imperial bodyguard. Being described as a tolerant and politically skilled man,[35] Constantius advanced through the ranks, earning the governorship of Dalmatia from Emperor Diocletian, another of Aurelian's companions from Illyricum, in 284 or 285.[33] Constantine's mother was Empress Helena, a woman of low social standing from Helenopolis of Bithynia.[36] It is uncertain whether she was legally married to Constantius or merely his concubine.[37] His main language was Latin, and during his public speeches he needed Greek translators.[38]
Head from a statue of Diocletian
Bust of Maximian
In July 285 AD, Diocletian declared Maximian, another colleague from Illyricum, his co-emperor. Each emperor would have his own court, his own military and administrative faculties, and each would rule with a separate praetorian prefect as chief lieutenant.[39] Maximian ruled in the West, from his capitals at Mediolanum (Milan, Italy) or Augusta Treverorum (Trier, Germany), while Diocletian ruled in the East, from Nicomedia (İzmit, Turkey). The division was merely pragmatic: the Empire was called "indivisible" in official panegyric,[40] and both emperors could move freely throughout the Empire.[41] In 288, Maximian appointed Constantius to serve as his praetorian prefect in Gaul. Constantius left Helena to marry Maximian's stepdaughter Theodora in 288 or 289.[42]
Diocletian divided the Empire again in 293 AD, appointing two Caesars (junior emperors) to rule over further subdivisions of East and West. Each would be subordinate to their respective Augustus (senior emperor) but would act with supreme authority in his assigned lands. This system would later be called the Tetrarchy. Diocletian's first appointee for the office of Caesar was Constantius; his second was Galerius, a native of Felix Romuliana. According to Lactantius, Galerius was a brutal, animalistic man. Although he shared the paganism of Rome's aristocracy, he seemed to them an alien figure, a semi-barbarian.[43] On 1 March, Constantius was promoted to the office of Caesar, and dispatched to Gaul to fight the rebels Carausius and Allectus.[44] In spite of meritocratic overtones, the Tetrarchy retained vestiges of hereditary privilege,[45] and Constantine became the prime candidate for future appointment as Caesar as soon as his father took the position. Constantine went to the court of Diocletian, where he lived as his father's heir presumptive.[46]
Ancestry
In the East
Porphyry bust of Galerius
Constantine received a formal education at Diocletian's court where he learned Latin literature, Greek, and philosophy.[47] The cultural environment in Nicomedia was open, fluid, and socially mobile; in it, Constantine could mix with intellectuals both pagan and Christian. He may have attended the lectures of Lactantius, a Christian scholar of Latin in the city.[48] Because Diocletian did not completely trust Constantius—none of the Tetrarchs fully trusted their colleagues—Constantine was held as something of a hostage, a tool to ensure Constantius's best behavior. Constantine was nonetheless a prominent member of the court: he fought for Diocletian and Galerius in Asia and served in a variety of tribunates; he campaigned against barbarians on the Danube in 296 AD and fought the Persians under Diocletian in Syria (297 AD) as well as under Galerius in Mesopotamia (298–299 AD).[49] By late 305 AD, he had become a tribune of the first order, a tribunus ordinis primi.[50]
Constantine had returned to Nicomedia from the eastern front by the spring of 303 AD, in time to witness the beginnings of Diocletian's "Great Persecution", the most severe persecution of Christians in Roman history.[51] In late 302, Diocletian and Galerius sent a messenger to the oracle of Apollo at Didyma with an inquiry about Christians.[52] Constantine could recall his presence at the palace when the messenger returned, when Diocletian accepted his court's demands for universal persecution.[53] On 23 February 303 AD, Diocletian ordered the destruction of Nicomedia's new church, condemned its scriptures to the flames, and had its treasures seized. In the months that followed, churches and scriptures were destroyed, Christians were deprived of official ranks, and priests were imprisoned.[54]
It is unlikely that Constantine played any role in the persecution.[55] In his later writings, he would attempt to present himself as an opponent of Diocletian's "sanguinary edicts" against the "worshippers of God",[56] but nothing indicates that he opposed it effectively at the time.[57] Although no contemporary Christian challenged Constantine for his inaction during the persecutions, it remained a political liability throughout his life.[58]
On 1 May 305 AD, Diocletian, as a result of a debilitating sickness taken in the winter of 304–305 AD, announced his resignation. In a parallel ceremony in Milan, Maximian did the same.[59] Lactantius states that Galerius manipulated the weakened Diocletian into resigning, and forced him to accept Galerius' allies in the imperial succession. According to Lactantius, the crowd listening to Diocletian's resignation speech believed, until the very last moment, that Diocletian would choose Constantine and Maxentius (Maximian's son) as his successors.[60] It was not to be: Constantius and Galerius were promoted to Augusti, while Severus and Maximinus Daia, Galerius' nephew, were appointed their Caesars respectively. Constantine and Maxentius were ignored.[61]
Bronze statue of Constantine I in York, England, near the spot where he was proclaimed Augustus in 306
Some of the ancient sources detail plots that Galerius made on Constantine's life in the months following Diocletian's abdication. They assert that Galerius assigned Constantine to lead an advance unit in a cavalry charge through a swamp on the middle Danube, made him enter into single combat with a lion, and attempted to kill him in hunts and wars. Constantine always emerged victorious: the lion emerged from the contest in a poorer condition than Constantine; Constantine returned to Nicomedia from the Danube with a Sarmatian captive to drop at Galerius' feet.[62] It is uncertain how much these tales can be trusted.[63]
In the West
Marble bust of Constantine the Great from Stonegate, York
Constantine recognized the implicit danger in remaining at Galerius's court, where he was held as a virtual hostage. His career depended on being rescued by his father in the west. Constantius was quick to intervene.[64] In the late spring or early summer of 305 AD, Constantius requested leave for his son to help him campaign in Britain. After a long evening of drinking, Galerius granted the request. Constantine's later propaganda describes how he fled the court in the night, before Galerius could change his mind. He rode from post-house to post-house at high speed, hamstringing every horse in his wake.[65] By the time Galerius awoke the following morning, Constantine had fled too far to be caught.[66] Constantine joined his father in Gaul, at Bononia (Boulogne) before the summer of 305 AD.[67]
From Bononia they crossed the Channel to Britain and made their way to Eboracum (York), capital of the province of Britannia Secunda and home to a large military base. Constantine was able to spend a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn.[68] Constantius's campaign, like that of Septimius Severus before it, probably advanced far into the north without achieving great success.[69] Constantius had become severely sick over the course of his reign, and died on 25 July 306 in Eboracum (York). Before dying, he declared his support for raising Constantine to the rank of full Augustus. The Alamannic king Chrocus, a barbarian taken into service under Constantius, then proclaimed Constantine as Augustus. The troops loyal to Constantius' memory followed him in acclamation. Gaul and Britain quickly accepted his rule;[70] Hispania, which had been in his father's domain for less than a year, rejected it.[71]
Constantine sent Galerius an official notice of Constantius's death and his own acclamation. Along with the notice, he included a portrait of himself in the robes of an Augustus.[72] The portrait was wreathed in bay.[73] He requested recognition as heir to his father's throne, and passed off responsibility for his unlawful ascension on his army, claiming they had "forced it upon him".[74] Galerius was put into a fury by the message; he almost set the portrait on fire. His advisers calmed him, and argued that outright denial of Constantine's claims would mean certain war.[75] Galerius was compelled to compromise: he granted Constantine the title "Caesar" rather than "Augustus" (the latter office went to Severus instead).[76] Wishing to make it clear that he alone gave Constantine legitimacy, Galerius personally sent Constantine the emperor's traditional purple robes.[77] Constantine accepted the decision,[76] knowing that it would remove doubts as to his legitimacy.[78]
Early rule
The portrait of Constantine on a Roman coin; the inscription around the portrait is "Constantinus Aug[ustus]"
Constantine's share of the Empire consisted of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, and he commanded one of the largest Roman armies which was stationed along the important Rhine frontier.[79] He remained in Britain after his promotion to emperor, driving back the tribes of the Picts and securing his control in the northwestern dioceses. He completed the reconstruction of military bases begun under his father's rule, and he ordered the repair of the region's roadways.[80] He then left for Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in Gaul, the Tetrarchic capital of the northwestern Roman Empire.[81] The Franks learned of Constantine's acclamation and invaded Gaul across the lower Rhine over the winter of 306–307 AD.[82] He drove them back beyond the Rhine and captured Kings Ascaric and Merogais; the kings and their soldiers were fed to the beasts of Trier's amphitheatre in the adventus (arrival) celebrations which followed.[83]
Public baths (thermae) built in Trier by Constantine, more than 100 metres (328 ft) wide by 200 metres (656 ft) long and capable of serving several thousand at a time, built to rival those of Rome[84]
Constantine began a major expansion of Trier. He strengthened the circuit wall around the city with military towers and fortified gates, and he began building a palace complex in the northeastern part of the city. To the south of his palace, he ordered the construction of a large formal audience hall and a massive imperial bathhouse. He sponsored many building projects throughout Gaul during his tenure as emperor of the West, especially in Augustodunum (Autun) and Arelate (Arles).[85] According to Lactantius, Constantine followed a tolerant policy towards Christianity, although he was not yet a Christian himself. He probably judged it a more sensible policy than open persecution[86] and a way to distinguish himself from the "great persecutor" Galerius.[87] He decreed a formal end to persecution and returned to Christians all that they had lost during them.[88]
Constantine was largely untried and had a hint of illegitimacy about him; he relied on his father's reputation in his early propaganda, which gave as much coverage to his father's deeds as to his.[89] His military skill and building projects, however, soon gave the panegyrist the opportunity to comment favourably on the similarities between father and son, and Eusebius remarked that Constantine was a "renewal, as it were, in his own person, of his father's life and reign".[90] Constantinian coinage, sculpture, and oratory also show a new tendency for disdain towards the "barbarians" beyond the frontiers. He minted a coin issue after his victory over the Alemanni which depicts weeping and begging Alemannic tribesmen, "the Alemanni conquered" beneath the phrase "Romans' rejoicing".[91] There was little sympathy for these enemies; as his panegyrist declared, "It is a stupid clemency that spares the conquered foe."[92]
Maxentius' rebellion
Dresden bust of Maxentius
Following Galerius' recognition of Constantine as caesar, Constantine's portrait was brought to Rome, as was customary. Maxentius mocked the portrait's subject as the son of a harlot and lamented his own powerlessness.[93] Maxentius, envious of Constantine's authority,[94] seized the title of emperor on 28 October 306 AD. Galerius refused to recognize him but failed to unseat him. Galerius sent Severus against Maxentius, but during the campaign, Severus' armies, previously under command of Maxentius' father Maximian, defected, and Severus was seized and imprisoned.[95] Maximian, brought out of retirement by his son's rebellion, left for Gaul to confer with Constantine in late 307 AD. He offered to marry his daughter Fausta to Constantine and elevate him to Augustan rank. In return, Constantine would reaffirm the old family alliance between Maximian and Constantius and offer support to Maxentius' cause in Italy. Constantine accepted and married Fausta in Trier in late summer 307 AD. Constantine now gave Maxentius his meagre support, offering Maxentius political recognition.[96]
Constantine remained aloof from the Italian conflict, however. Over the spring and summer of 307 AD, he had left Gaul for Britain to avoid any involvement in the Italian turmoil;[97] now, instead of giving Maxentius military aid, he sent his troops against Germanic tribes along the Rhine. In 308 AD, he raided the territory of the Bructeri, and made a bridge across the Rhine at Colonia Agrippinensium (Cologne). In 310 AD, he marched to the northern Rhine and fought the Franks. When not campaigning, he toured his lands advertising his benevolence and supporting the economy and the arts. His refusal to participate in the war increased his popularity among his people and strengthened his power base in the West.[98] Maximian returned to Rome in the winter of 307–308 AD, but soon fell out with his son. In early 308 AD, after a failed attempt to usurp Maxentius' title, Maximian returned to Constantine's court.[99]
On 11 November 308 AD, Galerius called a general council at the military city of Carnuntum (Petronell-Carnuntum Austria) to resolve the instability in the western provinces. In attendance were Diocletian, briefly returned from retirement, Galerius, and Maximian. Maximian was forced to abdicate again and Constantine was again demoted to Caesar. Licinius, one of Galerius' old military companions, was appointed Augustus in the western regions. The new system did not last long: Constantine refused to accept the demotion and continued to style himself as Augustus on his coinage, even as other members of the Tetrarchy referred to him as a Caesar on theirs. Maximinus Daia was frustrated that he had been passed over for promotion while the newcomer Licinius had been raised to the office of Augustus and demanded that Galerius promote him. Galerius offered to call both Maximinus and Constantine "sons of the Augusti",[100] but neither accepted the new title. By the spring of 310 AD, Galerius was referring to both men as Augusti.[101]
Maximian's rebellion
A gold multiple of "Unconquered Constantine" with Sol Invictus, struck in 313 AD. The use of Sol's image stressed Constantine's status as his father's successor, appealed to the educated citizens of Gaul, and was considered less offensive than the traditional pagan pantheon to the Christians.[102]
In 310 AD, a dispossessed Maximian rebelled against Constantine while Constantine was away campaigning against the Franks. Maximian had been sent south to Arles with a contingent of Constantine's army, in preparation for any attacks by Maxentius in southern Gaul. He announced that Constantine was dead, and took up the imperial purple. In spite of a large donative pledge to any who would support him as emperor, most of Constantine's army remained loyal to their emperor, and Maximian was soon compelled to leave. Constantine soon heard of the rebellion, abandoned his campaign against the Franks, and marched his army up the Rhine.[103] At Cabillunum (Chalon-sur-Saône), he moved his troops onto waiting boats to row down the slow waters of the Saône to the quicker waters of the Rhone. He disembarked at Lugdunum (Lyon).[104] Maximian fled to Massilia (Marseille), a town better able to withstand a long siege than Arles. It made little difference, however, as loyal citizens opened the rear gates to Constantine. Maximian was captured and reproved for his crimes. Constantine granted some clemency, but strongly encouraged his suicide. In July 310 AD, Maximian hanged himself.[103]
In spite of the earlier rupture in their relations, Maxentius was eager to present himself as his father's devoted son after his death.[105] He began minting coins with his father's deified image, proclaiming his desire to avenge Maximian's death.[106] Constantine initially presented the suicide as an unfortunate family tragedy. By 311 AD, however, he was spreading another version. According to this, after Constantine had pardoned him, Maximian planned to murder Constantine in his sleep. Fausta learned of the plot and warned Constantine, who put a eunuch in his own place in bed. Maximian was apprehended when he killed the eunuch and was offered suicide, which he accepted.[107] Along with using propaganda, Constantine instituted a damnatio memoriae on Maximian, destroying all inscriptions referring to him and eliminating any public work bearing his image.[108]
The death of Maximian required a shift in Constantine's public image. He could no longer rely on his connection to the elder Emperor Maximian, and needed a new source of legitimacy.[109] In a speech delivered in Gaul on 25 July 310 AD, the anonymous orator reveals a previously unknown dynastic connection to Claudius II, a 3rd-century emperor famed for defeating the Goths and restoring order to the empire. Breaking away from tetrarchic models, the speech emphasizes Constantine's ancestral prerogative to rule, rather than principles of imperial equality. The new ideology expressed in the speech made Galerius and Maximian irrelevant to Constantine's right to rule.[110] Indeed, the orator emphasizes ancestry to the exclusion of all other factors: "No chance agreement of men, nor some unexpected consequence of favor, made you emperor," the orator declares to Constantine.[111]
The oration also moves away from the religious ideology of the Tetrarchy, with its focus on twin dynasties of Jupiter and Hercules. Instead, the orator proclaims that Constantine experienced a divine vision of Apollo and Victory granting him laurel wreaths of health and a long reign. In the likeness of Apollo Constantine recognized himself as the saving figure to whom would be granted "rule of the whole world",[112] as the poet Virgil had once foretold.[113] The oration's religious shift is paralleled by a similar shift in Constantine's coinage. In his early reign, the coinage of Constantine advertised Mars as his patron. From 310 AD on, Mars was replaced by Sol Invictus, a god conventionally identified with Apollo.[114] There is little reason to believe that either the dynastic connection or the divine vision are anything other than fiction, but their proclamation strengthened Constantine's claims to legitimacy and increased his popularity among the citizens of Gaul.[115]
Civil wars
See also: Civil wars of the Tetrarchy
War against Maxentius
vte
Battles of Constantine I
By the middle of 310 AD, Galerius had become too ill to involve himself in imperial politics.[116] His final act survives: a letter to provincials posted in Nicomedia on 30 April 311 AD, proclaiming an end to the persecutions, and the resumption of religious toleration.[117] He died soon after the edict's proclamation,[118] destroying what little remained of the tetrarchy.[119] Maximinus mobilized against Licinius, and seized Asia Minor. A hasty peace was signed on a boat in the middle of the Bosphorus.[120] While Constantine toured Britain and Gaul, Maxentius prepared for war.[121] He fortified northern Italy, and strengthened his support in the Christian community by allowing it to elect a new Bishop of Rome, Eusebius.[122]
Maxentius' rule was nevertheless insecure. His early support dissolved in the wake of heightened tax rates and depressed trade; riots broke out in Rome and Carthage;[123] and Domitius Alexander was able to briefly usurp his authority in Africa.[124] By 312 AD, he was a man barely tolerated, not one actively supported,[125] even among Christian Italians.[126] In the summer of 311 AD, Maxentius mobilized against Constantine while Licinius was occupied with affairs in the East. He declared war on Constantine, vowing to avenge his father's "murder".[127] To prevent Maxentius from forming an alliance against him with Licinius,[128] Constantine forged his own alliance with Licinius over the winter of 311–312 AD, and offered him his sister Constantia in marriage. Maximinus considered Constantine's arrangement with Licinius an affront to his authority. In response, he sent ambassadors to Rome, offering political recognition to Maxentius in exchange for a military support. Maxentius accepted.[129] According to Eusebius, inter-regional travel became impossible, and there was military buildup everywhere. There was "not a place where people were not expecting the onset of hostilities every day".[130]
Constantine's advisers and generals cautioned against preemptive attack on Maxentius;[131] even his soothsayers recommended against it, stating that the sacrifices had produced unfavourable omens.[132] Constantine, with a spirit that left a deep impression on his followers, inspiring some to believe that he had some form of supernatural guidance,[133] ignored all these cautions.[134] Early in the spring of 312 AD,[135] Constantine crossed the Cottian Alps with a quarter of his army, a force numbering about 40,000.[136] The first town his army encountered was Segusium (Susa, Italy), a heavily fortified town that shut its gates to him. Constantine ordered his men to set fire to its gates and scale its walls. He took the town quickly. Constantine ordered his troops not to loot the town, and advanced with them into northern Italy.[135]
At the approach to the west of the important city of Augusta Taurinorum (Turin, Italy), Constantine met a large force of heavily armed Maxentian cavalry.[137] In the ensuing battle Constantine's army encircled Maxentius' cavalry, flanked them with his own cavalry, and dismounted them with blows from his soldiers' iron-tipped clubs. Constantine's armies emerged victorious.[138] Turin refused to give refuge to Maxentius' retreating forces, opening its gates to Constantine instead.[139] Other cities of the north Italian plain sent Constantine embassies of congratulation for his victory. He moved on to Milan, where he was met with open gates and jubilant rejoicing. Constantine rested his army in Milan until mid-summer 312 AD, when he moved on to Brixia (Brescia).[140]
Brescia's army was easily dispersed,[141] and Constantine quickly advanced to Verona, where a large Maxentian force was camped.[142] Ruricius Pompeianus, general of the Veronese forces and Maxentius' praetorian prefect,[143] was in a strong defensive position, since the town was surrounded on three sides by the Adige. Constantine sent a small force north of the town in an attempt to cross the river unnoticed. Ruricius sent a large detachment to counter Constantine's expeditionary force, but was defeated. Constantine's forces successfully surrounded the town and laid siege.[144] Ruricius gave Constantine the slip and returned with a larger force to oppose Constantine. Constantine refused to let up on the siege, and sent only a small force to oppose him. In the desperately fought encounter that followed, Ruricius was killed and his army destroyed.[145] Verona surrendered soon afterwards, followed by Aquileia,[146] Mutina (Modena),[147] and Ravenna.[148] The road to Rome was now wide open to Constantine.[149]
The Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio) over the Tiber, north of Rome, where Constantine and Maxentius fought in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Maxentius prepared for the same type of war he had waged against Severus and Galerius: he sat in Rome and prepared for a siege.[150] He still controlled Rome's praetorian guards, was well-stocked with African grain, and was surrounded on all sides by the seemingly impregnable Aurelian Walls. He ordered all bridges across the Tiber cut, reportedly on the counsel of the gods,[151] and left the rest of central Italy undefended; Constantine secured that region's support without challenge.[152] Constantine progressed slowly[153] along the Via Flaminia,[154] allowing the weakness of Maxentius to draw his regime further into turmoil.[153] Maxentius' support continued to weaken: at chariot races on 27 October, the crowd openly taunted Maxentius, shouting that Constantine was invincible.[155] Maxentius, no longer certain that he would emerge from a siege victorious, built a temporary boat bridge across the Tiber in preparation for a field battle against Constantine.[156] On 28 October 312 AD, the sixth anniversary of his reign, he approached the keepers of the Sibylline Books for guidance. The keepers prophesied that, on that very day, "the enemy of the Romans" would die. Maxentius advanced north to meet Constantine in battle.[157]
Constantine adopts the Greek letters Chi Rho for Christ's initials
Main article: Battle of the Milvian Bridge
Further information: Ponte Milvio
The Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Giulio Romano
Maxentius' forces were still twice the size of Constantine's, and he organized them in long lines facing the battle plain with their backs to the river.[158] Constantine's army arrived on the field bearing unfamiliar symbols on their standards and their shields.[159] According to Lactantius, Constantine had a dream the night before the battle which advised him to "mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers… by means of a slanted letter X with the top of its head bent round, he marked Christ on their shields."[160] Eusebius describes a vision that Constantine had while marching at midday in which "he saw with his own eyes in the heavens and a trophy of the cross arising from the light of the sun, carrying the message, In Hoc Signo Vinces" ("with this sign, you shall win").[161] In Eusebius's account, Constantine had a dream the following night in which Christ appeared with the same heavenly sign and told him to make an army standard in the form of the labarum.[162] Eusebius is vague about when and where these events took place,[163] but it enters his narrative before the war begins against Maxentius.[164] He describes the sign as Chi (Χ) traversed by Rho (Ρ) to form ☧, representing the first two letters of the title Christos or Christ.[165][166] A medallion was issued at Ticinum in 315 AD which shows Constantine wearing a helmet emblazoned with the Chi Rho,[167] and coins issued at Siscia in 317/318 AD repeat the image.[168] The figure was otherwise rare, however, and is uncommon in imperial iconography and propaganda before the 320s.[169]
Constantine deployed his own forces along the whole length of Maxentius' line. He ordered his cavalry to charge, and they broke Maxentius' cavalry. He then sent his infantry against Maxentius' infantry, pushing many into the Tiber where they were slaughtered and drowned.[158] The battle was brief,[170] and Maxentius' troops were broken before the first charge.[171] His horse guards and praetorians initially held their position, but they broke under the force of a Constantinian cavalry charge; they also broke ranks and fled to the river. Maxentius rode with them and attempted to cross the bridge of boats, but he was pushed into the Tiber and drowned by the mass of his fleeing soldiers.[172]
In Rome
Bronze head of Constantine from a colossal statue[173]
Constantine entered Rome on 29 October 312 AD,[174][175] and staged a grand adventus in the city which was met with jubilation.[176] Maxentius' body was fished out of the Tiber and decapitated, and his head was paraded through the streets for all to see.[177] After the ceremonies, the disembodied head was sent to Carthage, and Carthage offered no further resistance.[178] Unlike his predecessors, Constantine neglected to make the trip to the Capitoline Hill and perform customary sacrifices at the Temple of Jupiter.[179] However, he did visit the Senatorial Curia Julia,[180] and he promised to restore its ancestral privileges and give it a secure role in his reformed government; there would be no revenge against Maxentius' supporters.[181] In response, the Senate decreed him "title of the first name", which meant that his name would be listed first in all official documents,[182] and they acclaimed him as "the greatest Augustus".[183] He issued decrees returning property that was lost under Maxentius, recalling political exiles, and releasing Maxentius' imprisoned opponents.[184]
An extensive propaganda campaign followed, during which Maxentius' image was purged from all public places. He was written up as a "tyrant" and set against an idealized image of Constantine the "liberator". Eusebius is the best representative of this strand of Constantinian propaganda.[185] Maxentius' rescripts were declared invalid, and the honours were invalidated that he had granted to leaders of the Senate.[186] Constantine also attempted to remove Maxentius' influence on Rome's urban landscape. All structures built by him were rededicated to Constantine, including the Temple of Romulus and the Basilica of Maxentius.[187] At the focal point of the basilica, a stone statue was erected of Constantine holding the Christian labarum in its hand. Its inscription bore the message which the statue illustrated: By this sign, Constantine had freed Rome from the yoke of the tyrant.[188]
Constantine also sought to upstage Maxentius' achievements. For example, the Circus Maximus was redeveloped so that its seating capacity was 25 times larger than that of Maxentius' racing complex on the Via Appia.[189] Maxentius' strongest military supporters were neutralized when he disbanded the Praetorian Guard and Imperial Horse Guard.[190] The tombstones of the Imperial Horse Guard were ground up and used in a basilica on the Via Labicana,[191] and their former base was redeveloped into the Lateran Basilica on 9 November 312 AD—barely two weeks after Constantine captured the city.[192] The Legio II Parthica was removed from Albano Laziale,[186] and the remainder of Maxentius' armies were sent to do frontier duty on the Rhine.[193]
Wars against Licinius
Coin of Licinius
In the following years, Constantine gradually consolidated his military superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy. In 313, he met Licinius in Milan to secure their alliance by the marriage of Licinius and Constantine's half-sister Constantia. During this meeting, the emperors agreed on the so-called Edict of Milan,[194] officially granting full tolerance to Christianity and all religions in the Empire.[195] The document had special benefits for Christians, legalizing their religion and granting them restoration for all property seized during Diocletian's persecution. It repudiates past methods of religious coercion and used only general terms to refer to the divine sphere—"Divinity" and "Supreme Divinity", summa divinitas.[196] The conference was cut short, however, when news reached Licinius that his rival Maximinus had crossed the Bosporus and invaded European territory. Licinius departed and eventually defeated Maximinus, gaining control over the entire eastern half of the Roman Empire. Relations between the two remaining emperors deteriorated, as Constantine suffered an assassination attempt at the hands of a character that Licinius wanted elevated to the rank of Caesar;[197] Licinius, for his part, had Constantine's statues in Emona destroyed.[198] In either 314 or 316 AD, the two Augusti fought against one another at the Battle of Cibalae, with Constantine being victorious. They clashed again at the Battle of Mardia in 317, and agreed to a settlement in which Constantine's sons Crispus and Constantine II, and Licinius' son Licinianus were made caesars.[199] After this arrangement, Constantine ruled the dioceses of Pannonia and Macedonia and took residence at Sirmium, whence he could wage war on the Goths and Sarmatians in 322, and on the Goths in 323, defeating and killing their leader Rausimod.[197]
In the year 320, Licinius allegedly reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began to oppress Christians anew,[200] generally without bloodshed, but resorting to confiscations and sacking of Christian office-holders.[201] Although this characterization of Licinius as anti-Christian is somewhat doubtful, the fact is that he seems to have been far less open in his support of Christianity than Constantine. Therefore, Licinius was prone to see the Church as a force more loyal to Constantine than to the Imperial system in general,[202] as the explanation offered by the Church historian Sozomen.[203]
This dubious arrangement eventually became a challenge to Constantine in the West, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the ancient pagan faiths. Constantine and his Franks marched under the standard of the labarum, and both sides saw the battle in religious terms. Outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine's army emerged victorious in the Battle of Adrianople. Licinius fled across the Bosphorus and appointed Martius Martinianus, the commander of his bodyguard, as Caesar, but Constantine next won the Battle of the Hellespont, and finally the Battle of Chrysopolis on 18 September 324.[204] Licinius and Martinianus surrendered to Constantine at Nicomedia on the promise their lives would be spared: they were sent to live as private citizens in Thessalonica and Cappadocia respectively, but in 325 Constantine accused Licinius of plotting against him and had them both arrested and hanged; Licinius's son (the son of Constantine's half-sister) was also killed.[205] Thus Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.[206]
Later rule
Foundation of Constantinople
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
TNDL: “THE WORD OF THE LORD, YAH, OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Matthew 5: kjv
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2
and he began to teach them, saying:
3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
17
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
21
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, [1] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'
22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother [2] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca, [3] ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24
leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25
"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. [4]
27
"You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' [5]
28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31
"It has been said, `Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' [6]
32
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
33
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
34
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
35
or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37
Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
38
"You have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' [7]
39
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40
And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41
If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43
"You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor [8] and hate your enemy.'
44
But I tell you: Love your enemies [9] and pray for those who persecute you,
45
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[21] Exodus 20:13
[22] Some manuscripts brother without cause
[22] An Aramaic term of contempt
[26] Greek kodrantes
[27] Exodus 20:14
[31] Deut. 24:1
[38] Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21
[43] Lev. 19:18
[44] Some late manuscripts enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you (TNDL)
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2
and he began to teach them, saying:
3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
17
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
19
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
21
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not murder, [1] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.'
22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother [2] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca, [3] ' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24
leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
25
"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. [4]
27
"You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' [5]
28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
31
"It has been said, `Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' [6]
32
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
33
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.'
34
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
35
or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37
Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
38
"You have heard that it was said, `Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' [7]
39
But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40
And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41
If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43
"You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbor [8] and hate your enemy.'
44
But I tell you: Love your enemies [9] and pray for those who persecute you,
45
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
[21] Exodus 20:13
[22] Some manuscripts brother without cause
[22] An Aramaic term of contempt
[26] Greek kodrantes
[27] Exodus 20:14
[31] Deut. 24:1
[38] Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21
[43] Lev. 19:18
[44] Some late manuscripts enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you (TNDL)
“YESHUA IS THE WORD OF GOD, MOST HIGH, EMMANUEL AND GOD. JOHN 1.(TNDL)
“THE PARABLE OF THE TEN POUND OF THE OWNER, WHO WENT INTO A FAR COUNTRY TO RETURN IN AN UNKNOWN DAY. LUKE 6: 20: SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM, AND ALL OTHER THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU!” (TNDL)
“THERE ARE HIGHER HEIGHTS AND DEEPER DEPTS IN GOD, MOST HIGH, AND HIS ONLY BEGOTTON SON, THE WORD OF GOD! KNOW THE FULL TRUTH AND HE SHALL MAKE YOU FREE! JOHN 14. “ (TNDL)
“ALSO, SEE DANIEL 10-12.” (TNDL)
Copyright 2019 TNDL
“THERE ARE HIGHER HEIGHTS AND DEEPER DEPTS IN GOD, MOST HIGH, AND HIS ONLY BEGOTTON SON, THE WORD OF GOD! KNOW THE FULL TRUTH AND HE SHALL MAKE YOU FREE! JOHN 14. “ (TNDL)
“ALSO, SEE DANIEL 10-12.” (TNDL)
Copyright 2019 TNDL
Sunday, February 24, 2019
EARLY FOLLOWERS OF YESHUA, THE LAMB
TNDL: “ON WHICH DAY OF THE WEEK DID THE EARLY FOLLOWERS OF YESHUA, THE LAMB AND WORD OF GOD WORSHIP, ACCORDING TO HISTORICAL FACTS?”
The Historical Record!
Christians always worshipped on the first day (Sunday)
They state that they stopped keeping the Sabbath to worship on Sunday started with the apostles. None of say they kept the seventh day Sabbath. The only mention of Sabbath keeping was by Eusebius in 300 AD by a cult-sect known as the Ebionites, who Eusebius says also worshipped on the first day. (Ebionites were a cult of Judaizers who enforced circumcision, rejected Apostle Paul's teachings, denied Jesus' virgin birth and his deity.)
They partook of the Lord's Supper (communion) every first day.
They called the first day (Sunday) the Lord's day.
They called the day Jesus rose from the dead, the Lord's Day.
They said the reason they worshipped on the first day, was because it was a weekly memorial of the day Jesus rose from the dead!
They outright state that no one prior to Moses (Adam, Noah, Abraham etc) ever kept the Sabbath because it was Moses who first gave the Sabbath law and the ten commandments to man!
Augustine actually stated that Christians are bound to keep 9 of the ten Commandments [because the New Testament repeats and re-introduces them in a different form] but are free to break the Sabbath!
The earliest Christians never considered Sunday to be a rest day or the Sabbath. You will observe that the first mention of Sunday being a day of rest was in 220AD by Origen. This is the beginning of the current false doctrine, that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, as taught by most churches today.
While Sabbatarians will quote 20th-century authors who guess about what happened 1900 years earlier, we quote Christians whose writings are 1900 years old and spoke what they saw!
The record of history, from the Resurrection of Christ, Christians have always worshipped on the first day of the week (Sunday) and never on the Sabbath (7th day). Sunday is not a Christian Sabbath or a day of rest, or a holy day to be kept. It is the day God requires all Christians to gather together to worship and eat the Lord's Supper (communion, break bread) Acts 20:7. Christians do not keep the ten commandment law of Moses. This is not to say that Christians are free to steal, murder and commit adultery, just because the 10 commandments have been abolished. No! Christians are under a new law, a better Law, the law of Christ, (Gal 6:2) a better covenant (Heb 8:6-7).
The 10 commandment law including the requirement to keep the Sabbath day were abolished at the cross along with all the rest of the law of Moses. God gave a covenant at Mt. Sinai through Moses to the Jews. It is called the first/old covenant/testament. The ten commandments are the foremost visible representation of this first/old covenant was replaced by a new covenant called, among other things "the law of Christ". 100% of the old covenant was abolished. No part of the Old Covenant remains in force. No one prior to Moses (Abraham or Adam) ever heard of the Sabbath law much less kept it. The very first time that anyone was commanded to keep the Sabbath was in Exodus 16. The word "Sabbath" is not even found in the book of Genesis. Gen 2:2-3 was written by Moses to tell Jews at Sinai the meaning behind WHY they were to keep the Sabbath, NOT WHEN the Sabbath was instituted.
The first historical record of methodical Sabbath Keeping by Christians who stopped worshipping on the first day of the week, was two active Anabaptist leaders, Andreas Fisher and Oswald Glait, became the pioneer and promoters of the Sabbath in 1527 AD. Both were former priests who had sacrificed the priesthood to become first Lutherans, and then Anabaptists. Glait and Fischer, who had been taught the false doctrine of the Catholic and Lutheran churches, that Sunday is the Sabbath, were astonished to read in the Bible that the Sabbath was indeed the 7th day! When they began to teach this, theologians were sent to persuade them to abandon what they called the "Jewish Sabbath." Both of them suffered a martyr death, largely due to their Sabbatarian views. Sabbatarians owe a debt of gratitude to these Sabbath pioneers whose work later influenced the origin of the Seventh-day Baptist church. The latter (Joseph Bates) has been instrumental in helping the early Adventists and other Christians to rediscover the Sabbath. Historically, it was in 1844 the first Seventh-day Adventists (known then as Millerites) started keeping the Sabbath, introduced to them by a Seventh-day Baptist named Joseph Bates, who convinced their Methodist minister that the Bible teaches us to keep the Sabbath. But Seventh-day Adventists are convinced that God chose Ellen White and the modern Seventh-day Adventist movement as the medium through which to reveal and confirm this "truth" through direct inspiration and revelation. Although Adventists believe that a tiny unknown remnant has always kept the Sabbath day, (like the Seventh-day Baptist preacher mentioned above) only in the 19th century did God, through the Seventh-day Adventist church, restore in any measurable way, by direct revelation, the truth that the day Christians worship was Saturday.
The Historical Record!
Christians always worshipped on the first day (Sunday)
They state that they stopped keeping the Sabbath to worship on Sunday started with the apostles. None of say they kept the seventh day Sabbath. The only mention of Sabbath keeping was by Eusebius in 300 AD by a cult-sect known as the Ebionites, who Eusebius says also worshipped on the first day. (Ebionites were a cult of Judaizers who enforced circumcision, rejected Apostle Paul's teachings, denied Jesus' virgin birth and his deity.)
They partook of the Lord's Supper (communion) every first day.
They called the first day (Sunday) the Lord's day.
They called the day Jesus rose from the dead, the Lord's Day.
They said the reason they worshipped on the first day, was because it was a weekly memorial of the day Jesus rose from the dead!
They outright state that no one prior to Moses (Adam, Noah, Abraham etc) ever kept the Sabbath because it was Moses who first gave the Sabbath law and the ten commandments to man!
Augustine actually stated that Christians are bound to keep 9 of the ten Commandments [because the New Testament repeats and re-introduces them in a different form] but are free to break the Sabbath!
The earliest Christians never considered Sunday to be a rest day or the Sabbath. You will observe that the first mention of Sunday being a day of rest was in 220AD by Origen. This is the beginning of the current false doctrine, that Sunday is the Christian Sabbath, as taught by most churches today.
While Sabbatarians will quote 20th-century authors who guess about what happened 1900 years earlier, we quote Christians whose writings are 1900 years old and spoke what they saw!
The record of history, from the Resurrection of Christ, Christians have always worshipped on the first day of the week (Sunday) and never on the Sabbath (7th day). Sunday is not a Christian Sabbath or a day of rest, or a holy day to be kept. It is the day God requires all Christians to gather together to worship and eat the Lord's Supper (communion, break bread) Acts 20:7. Christians do not keep the ten commandment law of Moses. This is not to say that Christians are free to steal, murder and commit adultery, just because the 10 commandments have been abolished. No! Christians are under a new law, a better Law, the law of Christ, (Gal 6:2) a better covenant (Heb 8:6-7).
The 10 commandment law including the requirement to keep the Sabbath day were abolished at the cross along with all the rest of the law of Moses. God gave a covenant at Mt. Sinai through Moses to the Jews. It is called the first/old covenant/testament. The ten commandments are the foremost visible representation of this first/old covenant was replaced by a new covenant called, among other things "the law of Christ". 100% of the old covenant was abolished. No part of the Old Covenant remains in force. No one prior to Moses (Abraham or Adam) ever heard of the Sabbath law much less kept it. The very first time that anyone was commanded to keep the Sabbath was in Exodus 16. The word "Sabbath" is not even found in the book of Genesis. Gen 2:2-3 was written by Moses to tell Jews at Sinai the meaning behind WHY they were to keep the Sabbath, NOT WHEN the Sabbath was instituted.
The first historical record of methodical Sabbath Keeping by Christians who stopped worshipping on the first day of the week, was two active Anabaptist leaders, Andreas Fisher and Oswald Glait, became the pioneer and promoters of the Sabbath in 1527 AD. Both were former priests who had sacrificed the priesthood to become first Lutherans, and then Anabaptists. Glait and Fischer, who had been taught the false doctrine of the Catholic and Lutheran churches, that Sunday is the Sabbath, were astonished to read in the Bible that the Sabbath was indeed the 7th day! When they began to teach this, theologians were sent to persuade them to abandon what they called the "Jewish Sabbath." Both of them suffered a martyr death, largely due to their Sabbatarian views. Sabbatarians owe a debt of gratitude to these Sabbath pioneers whose work later influenced the origin of the Seventh-day Baptist church. The latter (Joseph Bates) has been instrumental in helping the early Adventists and other Christians to rediscover the Sabbath. Historically, it was in 1844 the first Seventh-day Adventists (known then as Millerites) started keeping the Sabbath, introduced to them by a Seventh-day Baptist named Joseph Bates, who convinced their Methodist minister that the Bible teaches us to keep the Sabbath. But Seventh-day Adventists are convinced that God chose Ellen White and the modern Seventh-day Adventist movement as the medium through which to reveal and confirm this "truth" through direct inspiration and revelation. Although Adventists believe that a tiny unknown remnant has always kept the Sabbath day, (like the Seventh-day Baptist preacher mentioned above) only in the 19th century did God, through the Seventh-day Adventist church, restore in any measurable way, by direct revelation, the truth that the day Christians worship was Saturday.
WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD PEOPLE
“THE APOSTLE PAUL REVEALED THAT WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD PEOPLE OF THINGS, BUT AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES. THESE EVIL INIQUITIES ARE OF THE SPIRIT REALMS, NOT THE WORLD OF THE MATERIAL TERRESTRIAL WORLD. EPHESIANS 6. 1: 18. HOWEVER, IN THESE TIMES OF THE END, MICHAEL YESHUA, THE WORD AND WARRIOR KING, SHALL NOT WRESTLE WITH THEM. MICHAEL AND HIS HOST WILL DESTROY THEM ALL, BECAUSE HE IS THE VICTORIOUS CHAMPION OF THE MOST HIGH HIGH, THE ETERNAL HEAVENLY FATHER. REVELATION 20-22 AND REVELATION 12: 7.” (TNDL)
Copyright 2019 TNDL
Copyright 2019 TNDL
TNDL: “MICHAEL YESHUA, THE WORD AND VICTORIOUS ONE!”
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
Revelation 12:
1Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
1Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
Revelation 12:
1Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
1Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Satan Thrown Out of Heaven
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
REVELATION 12
TNDLl: “A broad view at Revelation 12 with the red dragon and the male child! MICHAEL YESHUA, THE NEW DIVINE WORD (LOGOS) GREEK, REVELATION 19: 11-15. THE VICTORIOUS ONE! “
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Friday, February 22, 2019
THE MATERIAL BODY OF FLESH
“THE MATERIAL BODY OF FLESH VERSES THE SPIRITUAL BODY OF THE SPIRIT. CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL WITH BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT, OR SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY. YESHUA IS THE BREAD AND DRINK THAT COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN TO GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL THOSE WHO THE ETERNAL HEAVENLY FATHER, GIVES HIM! JOHN 6.” (TNDL)
Copyright 2019 TNDL
Copyright 2019 TNDL
MATTHEW 5
TNDL: Matthew 5:15–16
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:15 and Matthew 5:16 are the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. They are part of the Sermon on the Mount and is one of a series of metaphors often seen as adding to the Beatitudes. The previous verse compared the disciples to a city on a hill that can't be hidden and these verses present a similar analogy.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
15: Neither do men light a candle, and put it
under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16: Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
15: Neither do you light a lamp, and put it
under a measuring basket, but on a stand;
and it shines to all who are in the house.
16: Even so, let your light shine before men;
that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.
For a collection of other versions see BibleRef Matthew 5:15-16
The KJV translation of bushel is more literal. France reports that a bushel was a measure of grain equivalent to about nine litres.[1] One cannot put a unit of measure on top of something, so the word is generally seen as an expression for a bowl or container holding this amount. The WEB uses this more figurative translation. Hill notes that this might be a reference to the hiding of the Hanukkah lamp to protect it from desecration.[2] Schweizer notes that at this time almost all houses would have only had one room, so a single lamp is all that would have been needed to shine on all inhabitants.[3]
France notes that as with Matthew 5:13, the science in this verse is somewhat shaky. He notes that a lamp could not be hidden under a bowl as it would be rapidly extinguished by the lack of oxygen.[4] Schweizer disagrees with this view. He feels that the metaphor is on how one would not light a lamp simply to put it out. He feels that a bowl would be a standard device to extinguish a lamp without generating smoke.[5]
This verse is paralleled in Mark 4:21 and Luke 8:16. Hill notes that there is an important difference between Luke and Matthew's versions. In Matthew the lamp shines on all who are in the house, implying conversion from within the community, Luke has the lamp shining for those who come into the house, implying new people joining the community.[6]
St. Augustine linked this verse to John 5:35, and the two have been closely associated ever since, despite the somewhat different meanings of the two verses.
Like the previous two verses, Clarke notes that this one has appeared prominently in history and culture. Charlemagne cited it as the reason for building a series of schools and universities across his empire.[7] It inspired the popular Victorian era hymn "Jesus Bids us Shine" and the still popular song "This Little Light of Mine". The verse also appears in several major works of literature including James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers and Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd. In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a character is described as "shining quietly under a bushel of Wicklow bran".[8]
Hill notes that Father in heaven is a favourite expression of the author of Matthew's, occurring twenty times in his gospel. Some see it as a version of the common Old Testament phrase God of Israel, but with Israel replaced with heaven to show the wider application of the new message. Schweizer notes that the light is intended to shine towards people in general, also emphasizing the universal mission.[9]
References
France, R. T. (1985). The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity. ISBN 0-85111-870-4.
Schweizer, Eduard (1975). The Good News According to Matthew. trans. David E. Green. Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 0-8042-0251-6.
France, R. T. (1985). The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity. ISBN 0-85111-870-4.
Schweizer, Eduard (1975). The Good News According to Matthew. trans. David E. Green. Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 0-8042-0251-6.
Hill, David (1981). The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-1886-2.
Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
Jeffrey, David Lyle (ed.) (1992). "Light under a bushel.". A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-3634-8.
Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:15 and Matthew 5:16 are the fifteenth and sixteenth verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. They are part of the Sermon on the Mount and is one of a series of metaphors often seen as adding to the Beatitudes. The previous verse compared the disciples to a city on a hill that can't be hidden and these verses present a similar analogy.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
15: Neither do men light a candle, and put it
under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16: Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
15: Neither do you light a lamp, and put it
under a measuring basket, but on a stand;
and it shines to all who are in the house.
16: Even so, let your light shine before men;
that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father who is in heaven.
For a collection of other versions see BibleRef Matthew 5:15-16
The KJV translation of bushel is more literal. France reports that a bushel was a measure of grain equivalent to about nine litres.[1] One cannot put a unit of measure on top of something, so the word is generally seen as an expression for a bowl or container holding this amount. The WEB uses this more figurative translation. Hill notes that this might be a reference to the hiding of the Hanukkah lamp to protect it from desecration.[2] Schweizer notes that at this time almost all houses would have only had one room, so a single lamp is all that would have been needed to shine on all inhabitants.[3]
France notes that as with Matthew 5:13, the science in this verse is somewhat shaky. He notes that a lamp could not be hidden under a bowl as it would be rapidly extinguished by the lack of oxygen.[4] Schweizer disagrees with this view. He feels that the metaphor is on how one would not light a lamp simply to put it out. He feels that a bowl would be a standard device to extinguish a lamp without generating smoke.[5]
This verse is paralleled in Mark 4:21 and Luke 8:16. Hill notes that there is an important difference between Luke and Matthew's versions. In Matthew the lamp shines on all who are in the house, implying conversion from within the community, Luke has the lamp shining for those who come into the house, implying new people joining the community.[6]
St. Augustine linked this verse to John 5:35, and the two have been closely associated ever since, despite the somewhat different meanings of the two verses.
Like the previous two verses, Clarke notes that this one has appeared prominently in history and culture. Charlemagne cited it as the reason for building a series of schools and universities across his empire.[7] It inspired the popular Victorian era hymn "Jesus Bids us Shine" and the still popular song "This Little Light of Mine". The verse also appears in several major works of literature including James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers and Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd. In James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, a character is described as "shining quietly under a bushel of Wicklow bran".[8]
Hill notes that Father in heaven is a favourite expression of the author of Matthew's, occurring twenty times in his gospel. Some see it as a version of the common Old Testament phrase God of Israel, but with Israel replaced with heaven to show the wider application of the new message. Schweizer notes that the light is intended to shine towards people in general, also emphasizing the universal mission.[9]
References
France, R. T. (1985). The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity. ISBN 0-85111-870-4.
Schweizer, Eduard (1975). The Good News According to Matthew. trans. David E. Green. Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 0-8042-0251-6.
France, R. T. (1985). The Gospel According to Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity. ISBN 0-85111-870-4.
Schweizer, Eduard (1975). The Good News According to Matthew. trans. David E. Green. Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 0-8042-0251-6.
Hill, David (1981). The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-1886-2.
Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
Jeffrey, David Lyle (ed.) (1992). "Light under a bushel.". A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-3634-8.
Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
THE BRANCH
“THE BRANCH IS ALSO THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, THE LIGHT THAT SHINES IN ALL THE DARK PLACES, SO THAT HIS PEOPLE CAN SEE HOW AND WHERE TO WALK IN YAH'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. JOHN 14, THE BRANCH IS ALSO THE WAY, TRUTH AND THE LIFE. WHEN HIS PEOPLE WALK IN HIS LIGHT, THEY WILL NOT STUMBLE OR FALL. SO LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE THAT OTHERS CAN SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS, AND WORSHIP YOUR ETERNAL FATHER IN HEAVEN! Mathew 5:1-15.” (TNDL)
TNDL: “WHO IS THE BRANCH MENTIONED IN ISAIAH?”
Isaiah 11 New International Version (NIV)
The Branch From Jesse
11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,[b] from Elam, from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[d] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.
Footnotes:
Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility
New International Version (NIV)
TNDL: “WHO IS THE BRANCH MENTIONED IN ISAIAH?”
Isaiah 11 New International Version (NIV)
The Branch From Jesse
11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,[b] from Elam, from Babylonia,[c] from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.
12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[d] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
15 The Lord will dry up
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
16 There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.
Footnotes:
Isaiah 11:6 Hebrew; Septuagint lion will feed
Isaiah 11:11 That is, the upper Nile region
Isaiah 11:11 Hebrew Shinar
Isaiah 11:13 Or hostility
New International Version (NIV)
TNDL:: LOOK THE LORD SERVANT IN WHOM HE DELIGHT!
Isaiah 42 New International Version (NIV)
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching, the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Song of Praise to the Lord
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord will march out like a champion,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout, he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.
14 “For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Blind and Deaf
18 “Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 It pleased the Lord
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?
24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
The Servant of the Lord
42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching, the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Song of Praise to the Lord
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
11 Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
13 The Lord will march out like a champion,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout, he will raise the battle cry
and will triumph over his enemies.
14 “For a long time I have kept silent,
I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
I cry out, I gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills
and dry up all their vegetation;
I will turn rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.
16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them.
17 But those who trust in idols,
who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’
will be turned back in utter shame.
Israel Blind and Deaf
18 “Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord?
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
21 It pleased the Lord
for the sake of his righteousness
to make his law great and glorious.
22 But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in pits
or hidden away in prisons.
They have become plunder,
with no one to rescue them;
they have been made loot,
with no one to say, “Send them back.”
23 Which of you will listen to this
or pay close attention in time to come?
24 Who handed Jacob over to become loot,
and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord,
against whom we have sinned?
For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law.
25 So he poured out on them his burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH
“GOD THE ETERNAL, IS COMING DOWN TO EARTH TO DWELL, THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH, WITH THE NEW CITY OF GOD AND THE ETERNAL HEAVENLY FATHER, AND THE LAMB. According to Revelation 21, who shall enter the holy City of El-Elyon (The Most High) The Alpha and Omega and the First and the Last? Only those who have over- come and have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb. 1 John 5. They, who have overcome the world. This is the prerequisite for entering into the new City of GOD, The Most High GOD said, look, I am making "ALL THINGS NEW."
Revelation 22:13, New International Version (NIV)”
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. God the eternal heavenly, is coming father to our new terrestrial new earth to make the center of his kosmic universe. (TNDL)
Revelation 22:13, New International Version (NIV)”
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. God the eternal heavenly, is coming father to our new terrestrial new earth to make the center of his kosmic universe. (TNDL)
TNDL: “WHO, WHEN AND WHERE. THE GENESES 1- STORY WRITTEN, AND BY WHOM?
Here are some prehistoric answers! Early development”
St. Augustine's The City of God contains two chapters indicating a debate between Christians and pagans over human origins: Book XII, chapter 10 is titled "Of the falseness of the history that the world hath continued many thousand years" and the title of book XVIII, chapter 40 is "The Egyptians' abominable lyings, to claim their wisdom the age of 100,000 years". The titles indicate that Augustine saw pagan ideas concerning both the history of the world and the chronology of the human race as incompatible with the Genesis creation narrative. Augustine’s position on this matter was supported by most rabbis and by the church fathers, who generally dismissed views on the antiquity of the world as myths and fables not requiring any considered refutation.[1]
St. Augustine's The City of God contains two chapters indicating a debate between Christians and pagans over human origins: Book XII, chapter 10 is titled "Of the falseness of the history that the world hath continued many thousand years" and the title of book XVIII, chapter 40 is "The Egyptians' abominable lyings, to claim their wisdom the age of 100,000 years". The titles indicate that Augustine saw pagan ideas concerning both the history of the world and the chronology of the human race as incompatible with the Genesis creation narrative. Augustine’s position on this matter was supported by most rabbis and by the church fathers, who generally dismissed views on the antiquity of the world as myths and fables not requiring any considered refutation.[1]
TNDL: “THE TRUE DEFINITIONS OF CREATING AND MAKING!|
What is the difference between creating and making? The reason why I asked this question, it is due to the facts that many bible scholars seems to have misunderstand, that there is a difference between the two words, or it could be that they belong to certain sect of groups that hold to this belief. However, one can be sincere in their belief, but is sincerely wrong.Here is the true meanings of these two words, according to their definitions. The difference between something being created and something being made, is that when something is created, it is brought into existence out of nothing. But, when something is made, it has been formed out of something else that already exists. So, when God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), He did not form them out of something that already existed. Instead, he brought them into existence when there was no existence beforehand.
However, God made man out of the dust of the ground. He formed man out of that which already existed, the ground.”
"Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being," (Genesis 2:7).
"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth,'" (Genesis 1:26-28).
In addition, and to make our actions performed upon something else. In other words, something does not bring itself into existence, and something does not make itself.
In the context of God's work, his creating the heavens and the earth reveals his great power and ability. When you consider the incredibly vast expanse of the universe, the billions of galaxies and the billions of stars in those galaxies, then you can get a brief glimpse of the incredibly wondrous creative power and ability of God. I say brief glimpse because we cannot possibly comprehend the expanse of the universe in God's creative work associated with it.
When you consider that God has the ability to take matter and form it into other things, like a human being, then you should be struck by the incredible ability of God to form basic elements and molecules into incredibly complex information structures found in DNA that make life possible.
Indeed, Yahweh is a wondrous God whose power, wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and abilities can be clearly seen in the universe and in the creation of life.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made..."
4.2k Views · View 5 Upvoters · Answer requested by Karthik Gurung
Sponsored by JetBrains
However, God made man out of the dust of the ground. He formed man out of that which already existed, the ground.”
"Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being," (Genesis 2:7).
"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth,'" (Genesis 1:26-28).
In addition, and to make our actions performed upon something else. In other words, something does not bring itself into existence, and something does not make itself.
In the context of God's work, his creating the heavens and the earth reveals his great power and ability. When you consider the incredibly vast expanse of the universe, the billions of galaxies and the billions of stars in those galaxies, then you can get a brief glimpse of the incredibly wondrous creative power and ability of God. I say brief glimpse because we cannot possibly comprehend the expanse of the universe in God's creative work associated with it.
When you consider that God has the ability to take matter and form it into other things, like a human being, then you should be struck by the incredible ability of God to form basic elements and molecules into incredibly complex information structures found in DNA that make life possible.
Indeed, Yahweh is a wondrous God whose power, wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and abilities can be clearly seen in the universe and in the creation of life.
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made..."
4.2k Views · View 5 Upvoters · Answer requested by Karthik Gurung
Sponsored by JetBrains
SECRETS OF CREATION
TNDL: SECRETS OF CREATION IN 2 (SLAVONIC) ENOCH
[ published in Henoch 22 (2000) 45-62]
(This paper requires the fonts SP Tiberian, SP Ionic, SP Atlantic and Kirillica Wincyr)
Enoch was found blameless,
and he walked with the Lord
and he was taken away
a sign of t(d for generations
(Cairo Geniza Ms. B Sirah 44:16)
.... the learned savant
who guards the secrets of the great gods.
(Tablet from Nineveh, 19)
I. The Secrets
The notion of "secrets" occupies a distinct place in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch. The importance of this terminology is highlighted by its prominent position in the title of the book. While various manuscripts of 2 Enoch are known under different titles, most of them[1] include the word "secrets."[2] In some of these titles the term is connected with Enoch's books - "The Secret Books of Enoch."[3] In other titles "secrets" are linked either to God ("The Book[s] [called] the Secrets of God, a revelation to Enoch")[4] or to Enoch himself ("The Book of the Secrets of Enoch").[5] This consistency in the use of the term "secrets," in spite of its varied attribution to different subjects, may indicate that the authors and/or the transmitters of the text viewed the motif of "secrets" as a central theme of the apocalypse. The purpose of this article is to call attention to some details of this theme in 2 Enoch.
The Story
Despite the prominent role the word "secrets" seems to play in the titles of the book, it occurs, quite unexpectedly, only three times in the main body of 2 Enoch, twice in chapter 24 and once in chapter 36. It is not, however, coincidental that the term is found in this section of the book. Chapters 24-36 of 2 Enoch can be viewed as the climax of angelic and divine revelations to Enoch during his celestial tour. From these chapters we learn that Enoch, previously described to have been "placed" into the clothes of glory and instructed by the archangel Vereveil, was called by the Lord. The book tells that the Lord decided to reveal to Enoch the secrets of His creation, which he never explained even to his angels. Further the term "secrets" is applied only to this account of God's creation, conveyed to Enoch by the Lord himself, "face to face."[6] The content of these revelations includes the following details:
1. Prior to the Creation the Lord decided to establish the foundation of all created things;
2. He commanded one of the invisible "things" to come out of the very lowest darkness and become visible;
3. By Lord's command a primordial "great aeon," bearing the name Adoil, descended and, disintegrating himself, revealed all creation which the Lord "had thought up to create;"[7]
4. The Lord created a throne for himself. He then ordered to the light to become the foundation for the highest things;
5. The Lord called out the second aeon, bearing the name Arukhas, who became the foundation of the lowest things;
6. From the waters the Lord "hardened big stones," establishing the solid structure above the waters;
7. The Lord fashioned the heavens and the sun;
8. From fire the Lord created the armies of "the bodiless ones;"
9. The Lord created vegetation, fish, reptiles birds and animals;
10. The Lord created man.
While the general structure of the account of creation appears to be similar in the shorter and the longer recension, the latter offers a lengthy account dedicated to Adam's creation and his transgression.
Let it be also noted that the notion of "secrets" sets symbolic boundaries for the story of creation; it begins and closes the account of creation. In chapter 24 the Lord tells Enoch that he wants to instruct him in His secrets. In some manuscripts of the longer recension, chapter 24 even has a specific heading, "About the great secrets of God, which God revealed and related to Enoch; and he spoke with him face to face."[8] In chapter 36, which serves as a conclusion of the Lord's instruction, the Lord promises Enoch the role of the expert in His secrets--"Because a place has been prepared for you, and you will be in front of my face from now and forever. And you will be seeing my secrets[9]...."[10]
Expert in Secrets
The tradition about Enoch as an expert in God's secrets does not begin in 2 Enoch. Already in the earliest Enochic bookletes of 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch, the knowledge and the revelation of secrets become major functions of the elevated Enoch.[11] Later Enochic traditions also emphasize the role of Enoch as the "Knower of Secrets" (Myzr (dwy). According to 3 Enoch, Enoch-Metatron is able to behold "deep secrets and wonderful mysteries."[12] In this Merkabah text Metatron is also responsible for transmitting the highest secrets to the Princes under him, as well as to humankind. H. Kvanvig observes that "in Jewish tradition Enoch is primarily portrayed as a primeval sage, the ultimate revealer of divine secrets."[13]
Two recent important studies[14] in Enochic traditions trace the origin of the image of Enoch as a primeval sage preoccupied with divine secrets to some heroes of the Mesopotamian lore. According to these studies, one of these possible prototypes can be an intriguing character of the "Sumerian" Kings list--Enmeduranki, king of Sippar. In three copies of the List he occupies the seventh place, which in Genesis' genealogy belongs to Enoch. In other Mesopotamian sources Enmeduranki appears in many roles and situations remarkably similar to Enoch's story. One of these roles is that of the knower and the guardian of the secrets of gods.
[ published in Henoch 22 (2000) 45-62]
(This paper requires the fonts SP Tiberian, SP Ionic, SP Atlantic and Kirillica Wincyr)
Enoch was found blameless,
and he walked with the Lord
and he was taken away
a sign of t(d for generations
(Cairo Geniza Ms. B Sirah 44:16)
.... the learned savant
who guards the secrets of the great gods.
(Tablet from Nineveh, 19)
I. The Secrets
The notion of "secrets" occupies a distinct place in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch. The importance of this terminology is highlighted by its prominent position in the title of the book. While various manuscripts of 2 Enoch are known under different titles, most of them[1] include the word "secrets."[2] In some of these titles the term is connected with Enoch's books - "The Secret Books of Enoch."[3] In other titles "secrets" are linked either to God ("The Book[s] [called] the Secrets of God, a revelation to Enoch")[4] or to Enoch himself ("The Book of the Secrets of Enoch").[5] This consistency in the use of the term "secrets," in spite of its varied attribution to different subjects, may indicate that the authors and/or the transmitters of the text viewed the motif of "secrets" as a central theme of the apocalypse. The purpose of this article is to call attention to some details of this theme in 2 Enoch.
The Story
Despite the prominent role the word "secrets" seems to play in the titles of the book, it occurs, quite unexpectedly, only three times in the main body of 2 Enoch, twice in chapter 24 and once in chapter 36. It is not, however, coincidental that the term is found in this section of the book. Chapters 24-36 of 2 Enoch can be viewed as the climax of angelic and divine revelations to Enoch during his celestial tour. From these chapters we learn that Enoch, previously described to have been "placed" into the clothes of glory and instructed by the archangel Vereveil, was called by the Lord. The book tells that the Lord decided to reveal to Enoch the secrets of His creation, which he never explained even to his angels. Further the term "secrets" is applied only to this account of God's creation, conveyed to Enoch by the Lord himself, "face to face."[6] The content of these revelations includes the following details:
1. Prior to the Creation the Lord decided to establish the foundation of all created things;
2. He commanded one of the invisible "things" to come out of the very lowest darkness and become visible;
3. By Lord's command a primordial "great aeon," bearing the name Adoil, descended and, disintegrating himself, revealed all creation which the Lord "had thought up to create;"[7]
4. The Lord created a throne for himself. He then ordered to the light to become the foundation for the highest things;
5. The Lord called out the second aeon, bearing the name Arukhas, who became the foundation of the lowest things;
6. From the waters the Lord "hardened big stones," establishing the solid structure above the waters;
7. The Lord fashioned the heavens and the sun;
8. From fire the Lord created the armies of "the bodiless ones;"
9. The Lord created vegetation, fish, reptiles birds and animals;
10. The Lord created man.
While the general structure of the account of creation appears to be similar in the shorter and the longer recension, the latter offers a lengthy account dedicated to Adam's creation and his transgression.
Let it be also noted that the notion of "secrets" sets symbolic boundaries for the story of creation; it begins and closes the account of creation. In chapter 24 the Lord tells Enoch that he wants to instruct him in His secrets. In some manuscripts of the longer recension, chapter 24 even has a specific heading, "About the great secrets of God, which God revealed and related to Enoch; and he spoke with him face to face."[8] In chapter 36, which serves as a conclusion of the Lord's instruction, the Lord promises Enoch the role of the expert in His secrets--"Because a place has been prepared for you, and you will be in front of my face from now and forever. And you will be seeing my secrets[9]...."[10]
Expert in Secrets
The tradition about Enoch as an expert in God's secrets does not begin in 2 Enoch. Already in the earliest Enochic bookletes of 1 (Ethiopic) Enoch, the knowledge and the revelation of secrets become major functions of the elevated Enoch.[11] Later Enochic traditions also emphasize the role of Enoch as the "Knower of Secrets" (Myzr (dwy). According to 3 Enoch, Enoch-Metatron is able to behold "deep secrets and wonderful mysteries."[12] In this Merkabah text Metatron is also responsible for transmitting the highest secrets to the Princes under him, as well as to humankind. H. Kvanvig observes that "in Jewish tradition Enoch is primarily portrayed as a primeval sage, the ultimate revealer of divine secrets."[13]
Two recent important studies[14] in Enochic traditions trace the origin of the image of Enoch as a primeval sage preoccupied with divine secrets to some heroes of the Mesopotamian lore. According to these studies, one of these possible prototypes can be an intriguing character of the "Sumerian" Kings list--Enmeduranki, king of Sippar. In three copies of the List he occupies the seventh place, which in Genesis' genealogy belongs to Enoch. In other Mesopotamian sources Enmeduranki appears in many roles and situations remarkably similar to Enoch's story. One of these roles is that of the knower and the guardian of the secrets of gods.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
BRIEF HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA
TNDL: “THIS BRIEF HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA. LOOK INTO THE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY, Geography.”
Main article: Geography of Mesopotamia
Known world of the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures from documentary sources
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Taurus Mountains. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000-square-kilometre (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.
The arid environment which ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the northern Zagros Mountains and from the Armenian Highlands, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious metals and timber, and so historically has relied upon long-distance trade of agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, and has added to the cultural mix.
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecological carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue, collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst city states has meant that central authority over the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units.[11] These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq.
History
One of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BC
Main article: History of Mesopotamia
Further information: History of Iraq, History of the Middle East, and Chronology of the ancient Near East
The pre-history of the Ancient Near East begins in the Lower Paleolithic period. Therein, writing emerged with a pictographic script in the Uruk IV period (c. 4th millennium BC), and the documented record of actual historical events — and the ancient history of lower Mesopotamia — commenced in the mid-third millennium BC with cuneiform records of early dynastic kings. This entire prehistory ends with either the arrival of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BC, or with the Muslim conquest and the establishment of the Caliphate in the late 7th century AD, from which point the region came to be known as Iraq. In the long span of this period, Mesopotamia housed some of the world's most ancient highly developed and socially complex states.
The region was one of the four riverine civilizations where writing was invented, along with the Nile valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization in the Indian subcontinent, and the Yellow River in China. Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major territorial states such as the city of Eridu, the Akkadian kingdoms, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur), Sargon of Akkad (who established the Akkadian Empire), Hammurabi (who established the Old Babylonian state), Ashur-uballit II and Tiglath-Pileser I (who established the Assyrian Empire).
Scientists analysed DNA from the 8,000-year-old remains of early farmers found at an ancient graveyard in Germany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today's Turkey and Iraq.[12]
Periodization
Pre- and protohistory
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,000–8700 BC)
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8700–6800)
Hassuna (~6000 BC–? BC), Samarra (~5700–4900 BC) and Halaf cultures (~6000–5300 BC) cultures
Ubaid period (~5900–4400 BC)
Uruk period (~4400–3100 BC)
Jemdet Nasr period (~3100–2900 BC)[13]
Early Bronze Age
Early Dynastic period (~2900–2350 BC)
Akkadian Empire (~2350–2100 BC)
Third Dynasty of Ur (2112–2004 BC)
Early Assyrian kingdom (24th to 18th century BC)
Middle Bronze Age
Early Babylonia (19th to 18th century BC)
First Babylonian Dynasty (18th to 17th century BC)
Minoan eruption (c. 1620 BC)
Late Bronze Age
Old Assyrian period (16th to 11th century BC)
Middle Assyrian period (c. 1365–1076 BC)
Kassites in Babylon, (c. 1595–1155 BC)
Late Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th century BC)
Iron Age
Main article: Geography of Mesopotamia
Known world of the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures from documentary sources
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the Taurus Mountains. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000-square-kilometre (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.
The arid environment which ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the northern Zagros Mountains and from the Armenian Highlands, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious metals and timber, and so historically has relied upon long-distance trade of agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, and has added to the cultural mix.
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecological carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue, collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst city states has meant that central authority over the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units.[11] These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq.
History
One of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BC
Main article: History of Mesopotamia
Further information: History of Iraq, History of the Middle East, and Chronology of the ancient Near East
The pre-history of the Ancient Near East begins in the Lower Paleolithic period. Therein, writing emerged with a pictographic script in the Uruk IV period (c. 4th millennium BC), and the documented record of actual historical events — and the ancient history of lower Mesopotamia — commenced in the mid-third millennium BC with cuneiform records of early dynastic kings. This entire prehistory ends with either the arrival of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BC, or with the Muslim conquest and the establishment of the Caliphate in the late 7th century AD, from which point the region came to be known as Iraq. In the long span of this period, Mesopotamia housed some of the world's most ancient highly developed and socially complex states.
The region was one of the four riverine civilizations where writing was invented, along with the Nile valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley Civilization in the Indian subcontinent, and the Yellow River in China. Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major territorial states such as the city of Eridu, the Akkadian kingdoms, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur), Sargon of Akkad (who established the Akkadian Empire), Hammurabi (who established the Old Babylonian state), Ashur-uballit II and Tiglath-Pileser I (who established the Assyrian Empire).
Scientists analysed DNA from the 8,000-year-old remains of early farmers found at an ancient graveyard in Germany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today's Turkey and Iraq.[12]
Periodization
Pre- and protohistory
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,000–8700 BC)
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8700–6800)
Hassuna (~6000 BC–? BC), Samarra (~5700–4900 BC) and Halaf cultures (~6000–5300 BC) cultures
Ubaid period (~5900–4400 BC)
Uruk period (~4400–3100 BC)
Jemdet Nasr period (~3100–2900 BC)[13]
Early Bronze Age
Early Dynastic period (~2900–2350 BC)
Akkadian Empire (~2350–2100 BC)
Third Dynasty of Ur (2112–2004 BC)
Early Assyrian kingdom (24th to 18th century BC)
Middle Bronze Age
Early Babylonia (19th to 18th century BC)
First Babylonian Dynasty (18th to 17th century BC)
Minoan eruption (c. 1620 BC)
Late Bronze Age
Old Assyrian period (16th to 11th century BC)
Middle Assyrian period (c. 1365–1076 BC)
Kassites in Babylon, (c. 1595–1155 BC)
Late Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th century BC)
Iron Age
CIVILIZATION
TNDL: Civilization in Mesopotamia
Class, Power and War among the Sumerians | Sumerian Polytheism, Sin and a Flood | Sargon, Sumerians and Babylon | Sumerian Culture and Hammurabi at Babylon | Arrival of Hittites, Hurrians and Kassites | Hittites, Asyrians and Aramaens | Babylonian Science and the Gods | Babylonian Myths of Creation and a Great Flood
Map of Ancient Mesopotamia, to 2500 BCE
Class, Power and War among the Sumerians
In that part of the Middle East called the Fertile Crescent, hunter-gatherers began planting gardens. By 7000 BCE there was farming that required permanent settlement. By 4500 BCE those archaeologists call Ubaidians were living in towns near where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers emptied into the Persian Gulf. This was in Mesopotamia (Greek for "between two rivers"). The Ubaidians drained marshes. They grew wheat and barley and irrigated their crops by digging ditches to river waters. They kept farm animals. Some manufactured pottery. They did weaving, leather or metal work, and some were involved in trade with other societies.
Map of Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, 9000 to 4500 BCE.
Click to enlarge and focus enlargement icon
Where there had been small hunter-gatherer societies getting food for themselves, the producers of food were now able to support many who worked at other occupations – such as the priesthood, pottery making, weaving, carpentry and smithing. There were also traders, and the Sumerians developed an extensive commerce by land and sea. They built seaworthy ships, and they imported from afar items made from the wood, stone, tin and copper not found nearby.
There was ownership of property. Some people were more wealthy than others, and political power was unevenly distributed. Sumerian society around 3000 BCE was not as sharing or as egalitarian as hunter-gatherer societies had been or were. The Sumerians appear "to have been the first people to commandeer the agricultural surplus grown by the community and create a privileged ruling class." note3
Around 4000 BCE a people called Sumerians moved into Mesopotamia, perhaps from around the Caspian Sea. By 3800 BCE the Sumerians had supplanted the Ubaidians and Semites in southern Mesopotamia. They built better canals for irrigating crops and for transporting crops by boat to village centers. They improved their roads over which their donkeys trod, with some of their donkeys pulling wheeled carts.
Writing
Sumerian writing is the oldest full-fledged writing that archaeologists have discovered. The Ubaidians may have introduced the Sumerians to the rudiments of writing and numerical calculation, which the Sumerians used for calculating and to keep records of supplies and goods exchanged. The Sumerians wrote arithmetic based on units of ten – the number of fingers on both hands. Concerned about their star-gods, they mapped the stars and divided a circle into units of sixty.
Sample Sumerian characters
Sample Sumerian characters
circa 3200 BCE
The Sumerians wrote poetically, describing events as the work of their gods, and they wrote to please their gods. The Sumerians wrote by pressing picture representations into wet clay with a pen, and they dried the clay to form tablets. Instead of developing their writing all at once (as one might expect with divine revelation) they developed their writing across centuries. They streamlined their pictures into symbols called ideograms, and they added symbols for spoken sounds – phonetic letters – forming what is called cuneiform.
Cities, Power and Politics
Sumerian cities grew from what had been the place where a temple was located. At least twelve cities arose among the Sumerians. Among them were Ur, Uruk, Kish and Lagash – Ur, for example, becoming a city of about 24,000 people. In the center of each city was a temple that housed the city's gods, and around each city were fields of grain, orchards of date palms, and land for herding. According to Samuel Noah Kramer, early in Sumerian civilization a temple corporation owned "some of the land, which it rented to sharecroppers; the remainder was the private property of individual citizens. note4
Sumerian priests had once worked the fields alongside others, but now they were separated from commoners. A corporation run by priests became the greatest landowners among the Sumerians. The priests hired the poor to work their land and claimed that land was really owned by the gods. Priests had become skilled as scribes, and in some cities they sat with the city's council of elders. These councils wielded great influence, sometimes in conflict with a city's king. And the priests told commoners that their drudgery was necessary to allow the gods their just leisure.
Hunter-gatherer societies have been described as matrilineal – families traced through the mother. Scholars are not describing Sumerian society as having been matrilineal, but Sumerian society has been described as patrimonial – property traced through the father. note5 And patrimonial societies in ancient times tended to treat women as property and to give authority to males. The tribal societies that followed the smaller hunter-gatherer societies tended to be warrior societies, and it was the warriors who got together and made decisions for their entire society. Presumably before the time of the Sumerians, kings were chosen by the warriors, with the king as the leading warrior. Kings are described as working in conjunction with the priesthood. "The ruler needed the endorsement of the gods as delivered by the priests, and if they withdrew their support his rule was in grave danger
Class, Power and War among the Sumerians | Sumerian Polytheism, Sin and a Flood | Sargon, Sumerians and Babylon | Sumerian Culture and Hammurabi at Babylon | Arrival of Hittites, Hurrians and Kassites | Hittites, Asyrians and Aramaens | Babylonian Science and the Gods | Babylonian Myths of Creation and a Great Flood
Map of Ancient Mesopotamia, to 2500 BCE
Class, Power and War among the Sumerians
In that part of the Middle East called the Fertile Crescent, hunter-gatherers began planting gardens. By 7000 BCE there was farming that required permanent settlement. By 4500 BCE those archaeologists call Ubaidians were living in towns near where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers emptied into the Persian Gulf. This was in Mesopotamia (Greek for "between two rivers"). The Ubaidians drained marshes. They grew wheat and barley and irrigated their crops by digging ditches to river waters. They kept farm animals. Some manufactured pottery. They did weaving, leather or metal work, and some were involved in trade with other societies.
Map of Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, 9000 to 4500 BCE.
Click to enlarge and focus enlargement icon
Where there had been small hunter-gatherer societies getting food for themselves, the producers of food were now able to support many who worked at other occupations – such as the priesthood, pottery making, weaving, carpentry and smithing. There were also traders, and the Sumerians developed an extensive commerce by land and sea. They built seaworthy ships, and they imported from afar items made from the wood, stone, tin and copper not found nearby.
There was ownership of property. Some people were more wealthy than others, and political power was unevenly distributed. Sumerian society around 3000 BCE was not as sharing or as egalitarian as hunter-gatherer societies had been or were. The Sumerians appear "to have been the first people to commandeer the agricultural surplus grown by the community and create a privileged ruling class." note3
Around 4000 BCE a people called Sumerians moved into Mesopotamia, perhaps from around the Caspian Sea. By 3800 BCE the Sumerians had supplanted the Ubaidians and Semites in southern Mesopotamia. They built better canals for irrigating crops and for transporting crops by boat to village centers. They improved their roads over which their donkeys trod, with some of their donkeys pulling wheeled carts.
Writing
Sumerian writing is the oldest full-fledged writing that archaeologists have discovered. The Ubaidians may have introduced the Sumerians to the rudiments of writing and numerical calculation, which the Sumerians used for calculating and to keep records of supplies and goods exchanged. The Sumerians wrote arithmetic based on units of ten – the number of fingers on both hands. Concerned about their star-gods, they mapped the stars and divided a circle into units of sixty.
Sample Sumerian characters
Sample Sumerian characters
circa 3200 BCE
The Sumerians wrote poetically, describing events as the work of their gods, and they wrote to please their gods. The Sumerians wrote by pressing picture representations into wet clay with a pen, and they dried the clay to form tablets. Instead of developing their writing all at once (as one might expect with divine revelation) they developed their writing across centuries. They streamlined their pictures into symbols called ideograms, and they added symbols for spoken sounds – phonetic letters – forming what is called cuneiform.
Cities, Power and Politics
Sumerian cities grew from what had been the place where a temple was located. At least twelve cities arose among the Sumerians. Among them were Ur, Uruk, Kish and Lagash – Ur, for example, becoming a city of about 24,000 people. In the center of each city was a temple that housed the city's gods, and around each city were fields of grain, orchards of date palms, and land for herding. According to Samuel Noah Kramer, early in Sumerian civilization a temple corporation owned "some of the land, which it rented to sharecroppers; the remainder was the private property of individual citizens. note4
Sumerian priests had once worked the fields alongside others, but now they were separated from commoners. A corporation run by priests became the greatest landowners among the Sumerians. The priests hired the poor to work their land and claimed that land was really owned by the gods. Priests had become skilled as scribes, and in some cities they sat with the city's council of elders. These councils wielded great influence, sometimes in conflict with a city's king. And the priests told commoners that their drudgery was necessary to allow the gods their just leisure.
Hunter-gatherer societies have been described as matrilineal – families traced through the mother. Scholars are not describing Sumerian society as having been matrilineal, but Sumerian society has been described as patrimonial – property traced through the father. note5 And patrimonial societies in ancient times tended to treat women as property and to give authority to males. The tribal societies that followed the smaller hunter-gatherer societies tended to be warrior societies, and it was the warriors who got together and made decisions for their entire society. Presumably before the time of the Sumerians, kings were chosen by the warriors, with the king as the leading warrior. Kings are described as working in conjunction with the priesthood. "The ruler needed the endorsement of the gods as delivered by the priests, and if they withdrew their support his rule was in grave danger
JOB 40
TNDL: Job 40 New International Version (NIV)
40 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
40 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at all who are proud and bring them low,
12 look at all who are proud and humble them,
crush the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.
20 The hills bring it their produce,
and all the wild animals play nearby.
21 Under the lotus plants it lies,
hidden among the reeds in the marsh.
22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;
the poplars by the stream surround it.
23 A raging river does not alarm it;
it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,
or trap it and pierce its nose?
Monday, February 18, 2019
BLESSED IS A NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD, YAH ELYON YESHUA MICHAEL
“Blessed is a nation whose God is the Lord, YAH Elyon YESHUA MICHAEL, The Word of GOD, according to Revelation 19 :11. Why, you may ask. Because of what people are living in America and north, south and central America. They are a part the ten lost tribes of the house of Israel, according to Ezekiel 37 Joel 2; Jeremiah 23; Isaiah 50 & 60. And finally, Daniel 2 & 7.” (TNDL)
TNDL “WHO EXACTLY IS MICHAEL TO THE ETERNAL HEAVENLY FATHER, THE CREATOR THE SUPREME ONE, EL-ELYON, ACCORDING TO YOUR HEBREW BIBLE?”
Let’s look in the Old Testament for some more evidence. In the book of Joshua, we see that Joshua also saw Michael the Archangel. This account also presents a strong case showing that Michael is Jesus:
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.
And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. Joshua 5:13–6:2
This account in the book of Joshua is very important because we can now “nail down” who Joshua saw. Joshua met the captain of the Lord’s host and then we find that it is the Lord! Joshua worshiped Him, and He did not stop Joshua in his worship. In fact, The Lord actually encouraged Joshua to worship Him! This is very significant.
In addition, in the next two verses, we see that the “Captain of the host of the LORD” is now called “The LORD”. The original Hebrew word is “Yahweh” (YHWH) which refers to the true God. It is the proper name of the one true God. Thus the Scriptures itself identifies this person, the captain of the host of the Lord, as God or Lord.
This being is definitely not a created being! He accepts worship and actually encourages that He be worshipped. In addition, He is identified as the one true God, Yahweh!
In Revelation, when John tried to worship an angel, the angel told him not to do that: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10) We are not to worship created beings. We are fellow servants with the angels, who serve God. Thus, angels will not accept worship. We are only to worship God!
So, what Joshua saw was the Lord! Joshua is told that this ground is holy and he is to take off his shoes. He is in the presence of the Lord. Thus, the Scriptures identify this Being as God and He actually accepted the worship and the reverence that Joshua gave Him, which no created being of heaven will do. He actually invited Joshua to worship and reverence Him!
We also see that Jesus accepted worship when He was on earth! Many times, Jesus accepted the worship of the people around Him (A few examples: Matthew 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; Hebrews 1:6).
This Divine Being must be Jesus Himself because Jesus said that no one has ever seen God and that He is the one who has communicated with man:
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:18
Joshua had talked to this Divine Being face to face.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1 Peter 1:10–11.
It was the Spirit of Christ that has always been communicating with the prophets of old.
So, if the Spirit of Christ had inspired the prophets of the Old Testament, then it makes very good sense to say that Joshua talked to Jesus. After all, Jesus is the word of God! Jesus has been the one who has communicated with man. This is why “No one has seen God at any time”. What they saw was Christ!
Lets look at it from another prospective. In much of the Old Testament, this Being is identified as the angel of the Lord, but to Joshua, He identifies Himself as the captain of the Lord’s Host! Who is that? Who is the captain of the Lord’s Host?
In Revelation 12:7 we see that Michael is the one that led the angel forces in Heaven.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, Revelation 12:7
Now we find that the angels in Heaven are called Michael’s angels and that Michael leads His angels in battle against Satan! So, we can see that Michael is indeed the Captain of the angels. He is their leader.
Putting Joshua 5 and Revelation 12 together, we see that Joshua saw a man who identified Himself as the Captain of the host of the Lord. The man also encouraged Joshua to worship Him and in Joshua chapter 6, He is identified as being the Lord.
This agrees with the original meaning we had for Archangel: “chief of the angels”. Thus, He is their commander, the Commander of the LORD’S army in Heaven, the army filled with God’s angels.
So, this must be Michael the Archangel, the Captain of the host of the Lord, who is also the Lord! He is a divine being who accepts worship!
The Word is the Captain of the Host (TNDL)
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.
And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. Joshua 5:13–6:2
This account in the book of Joshua is very important because we can now “nail down” who Joshua saw. Joshua met the captain of the Lord’s host and then we find that it is the Lord! Joshua worshiped Him, and He did not stop Joshua in his worship. In fact, The Lord actually encouraged Joshua to worship Him! This is very significant.
In addition, in the next two verses, we see that the “Captain of the host of the LORD” is now called “The LORD”. The original Hebrew word is “Yahweh” (YHWH) which refers to the true God. It is the proper name of the one true God. Thus the Scriptures itself identifies this person, the captain of the host of the Lord, as God or Lord.
This being is definitely not a created being! He accepts worship and actually encourages that He be worshipped. In addition, He is identified as the one true God, Yahweh!
In Revelation, when John tried to worship an angel, the angel told him not to do that: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:10) We are not to worship created beings. We are fellow servants with the angels, who serve God. Thus, angels will not accept worship. We are only to worship God!
So, what Joshua saw was the Lord! Joshua is told that this ground is holy and he is to take off his shoes. He is in the presence of the Lord. Thus, the Scriptures identify this Being as God and He actually accepted the worship and the reverence that Joshua gave Him, which no created being of heaven will do. He actually invited Joshua to worship and reverence Him!
We also see that Jesus accepted worship when He was on earth! Many times, Jesus accepted the worship of the people around Him (A few examples: Matthew 14:33; 28:9,17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38; Hebrews 1:6).
This Divine Being must be Jesus Himself because Jesus said that no one has ever seen God and that He is the one who has communicated with man:
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:18
Joshua had talked to this Divine Being face to face.
Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 1 Peter 1:10–11.
It was the Spirit of Christ that has always been communicating with the prophets of old.
So, if the Spirit of Christ had inspired the prophets of the Old Testament, then it makes very good sense to say that Joshua talked to Jesus. After all, Jesus is the word of God! Jesus has been the one who has communicated with man. This is why “No one has seen God at any time”. What they saw was Christ!
Lets look at it from another prospective. In much of the Old Testament, this Being is identified as the angel of the Lord, but to Joshua, He identifies Himself as the captain of the Lord’s Host! Who is that? Who is the captain of the Lord’s Host?
In Revelation 12:7 we see that Michael is the one that led the angel forces in Heaven.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, Revelation 12:7
Now we find that the angels in Heaven are called Michael’s angels and that Michael leads His angels in battle against Satan! So, we can see that Michael is indeed the Captain of the angels. He is their leader.
Putting Joshua 5 and Revelation 12 together, we see that Joshua saw a man who identified Himself as the Captain of the host of the Lord. The man also encouraged Joshua to worship Him and in Joshua chapter 6, He is identified as being the Lord.
This agrees with the original meaning we had for Archangel: “chief of the angels”. Thus, He is their commander, the Commander of the LORD’S army in Heaven, the army filled with God’s angels.
So, this must be Michael the Archangel, the Captain of the host of the Lord, who is also the Lord! He is a divine being who accepts worship!
The Word is the Captain of the Host (TNDL)
BENNY HINN, THE MAN OF YESHUA, THE CHRIST
“! Yes indeed, Benny Hinn, he is a man of Christ, whom Christ raised up to take the place of a faithful dear sister, Kathryn Kuhlman in the 70th. Benny endured many hard and difficult things along his journey with Christ; he never stop doing his service that he was called to accomplished in the Holy Spirit. Because he was obedient to his calling, GOD blessed him with favour, so that he would not lack any good things; Spiritual and material.” (TNDL)
Copyright 2019 TNDL
Copyright 2019 TNDL
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