Biblical Commentary

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1 – Christogenea on Talkshoe, May 18^th, 2012

In order to discuss Luke, and his relationship to Paul, and his importance in preserving the Gospel, it may be better to quote Irenaeus in order to show the attitudes of the most early Christian writers, whose attitudes concerning Luke, Irenaeus represents rather well. Irenaeus was the bishop of Lugdunum, in Gaul, which is present-day Lyons, France. He died circa 202 AD, and his most famous work, Against Heresies, is generally esteemed to have been written about 180 AD, nearly 150 years after the Crucifixion and 85 years after the apostle John wrote down the vision of the Revelation. His name means peaceful in Greek. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who in turn was said to be a disciple of the apostle John himself. Polycarp, like John, lived a very long life, from circa 65 to 155 AD.

Epistle of Jude - 05-11-2012

This name is actually Ioudas, the Greek form of Judah as is evident in the genealogies given in Matthew and Luke. Aside from the patriarch, there were two men in the New Testament associated with Christ who had this name Ioudas, and others who also bore it were mentioned. Attempting to distinguish these men is sometimes difficult, and therefore this epistle was entitled Jude in the A.V., although where he is mentioned in Scripture he is Judas, and the spelling is the same as that given also for that infamous apostle, Judas Iscariot.

Eusebius doubted the canonicity of Jude. Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History at 6:14 discusses the work of the earlier Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius states of Clement that “In the work called Hypotyposes, to sum up the matter briefly, he gave us abridged accounts of all the canonical Scriptures, not even omitting those that are disputed, I mean, the Book of Jude, and the other general epistles.” Unfortunately, so far as I have seen, Eusebius does not elaborate to tell us why these epistles were disputed. Fragments of the work of Clement of Alexandria found in the writings of Cassiodorus show that he esteemed this Epistle of Jude to be canonical on other occasions as well as those cited by Eusebius, and he even quoted it at length along with some commentary....

The Prophecy of Joel, Part 2

We shall begin with Revelation 20:7-10, from the King James Version: “7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

For a thousand years in Christian Europe did the true people of God prevail over the Jew, who collectively is Satan, or the Adversary. The Jew had plotted against Christianity and the people of Europe from the time of Christ (and for thousands of years before that, if Old Testament history were truly understood). Upon the emancipation of the Jew in the early days of Napoleon, instigated by the French Revolution, the Jew became free and equal citizens of Christians in Europe. From that time, Satan has used the false ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, in one form or another, to gather all of the world's hominid beasts into Christians lands, where they are hostile both to Christianity and to the White race which are the true people of God. That is where we are today, at Revelation 20:9. Now to read from Joel chapter 2, which is a promise of deliverance:

The Prophecy of Joel, Part 1

This program, because of technical difficulties at Talkshoe, was held on the Christogenea Chat Page and Christogenea Live! Streaming Radio, which was a necessary first at Christogenea.

The following is from the Thomas Nelson Publisher's King James Study Bible, copyright 1983 by Thomas Nelson Inc. While I would usually not read anything like this from mainstream commentaries, they do get some things right, and I read this here for it's testimony of the nature of Joel's prophecy, which is actually pretty fair and decent considering it was originally a product of Liberty University.

“Joel is a highly emotional prophecy, rich in imagery and vivid descriptions. In it two unique events, not to be forgotten, are compared. These two events are to be committ­ed to the descendants of the people. [Oddly, they deny this of the New Covenant today!]

“Historical Setting. Joel was one of the earliest prophets of Judah. The specific place from which Joel wrote is not known. Since he was a resident of Judah and Jerusalem, he likely wrote his prophecy from there. His frequent calls to blow a trumpet in Zion, to consecrate a fast, to proclaim a solemn assembly, and to gather the people together to come before the Lord lend credence to the view that the prophecy was issued [verbally] from the temple court.

2 Peter Chapter 3 - 04-06-2012

Peter wrote his first epistle to the Israelites of the ancient Assyrian and earlier dispersions, who were dwelling in western Anatolia, mostly as Greeks, Romans, Scythians and Galatians. People of other Adamic, but non-Israelite, origins also lived in western Anatolia at this time, such as Ionian Greeks and Lydians. The context of his first epistle also demonstrates that these people were already established in Christ, and that Peter was only edifying that establishment. Presenting Peter's first epistle here several weeks ago, certain statements from that first letter were illustrated in order to demonstrate just who his intended audience was. Among them were 1 Peter 2:10, 2:25 and 4:3 which all prove that Peter was not writing to Judaeans, but to the dispersion of Israel from the Assyrian deportations and beforetime, because the things which Peter cites could only refer to them, and could never refer to the Judaeans of the remnant 70-weeks' Kingdom, nor could they ever refer to people who were not descended from the ancient Israelites in the first place.

2 Peter Chapter 2 - 03-30-2012

In the first chapter, the thrust of Peter's message was in support of the truth of the Gospel accounts. Here in the second chapter, he addresses the nature of the adversaries of that Gospel.

II 1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, as even among you there shall be false teachers who shall introduce destructive systems of philosophy, even denying the Master who has bought them, bringing upon themselves quick destruction, 2 and many shall follow in their licentiousness, because of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed, 3 and with greediness they shall make profit from you with fictitious words, for whom from of old their judgment is not idle and their destruction does not sleep!

This statement of Peter's may seem on the surface to be oriented towards a universalist type of thinking, where it can be imagined that Peter is saying that Christ purchased the false prophets with His blood, and therefore the false prophets also may be redeemed. But that is not the case which Peter is making. Rather Peter states, “from of old their judgment is not idle”, as the destruction of the ungodly had been ordained long beforetime. Peter is discussing the body of the people as a whole, who have always had false prophets among them. The false prophets and wolves in sheep’s' clothing are apparently Israel, they claim to be Israel, but they are not truly Israel and therefore their judgement is ordained from of old. Denying the Master, they must be tares, and not wheat. Peter is talking in terms of what was apparent in his day, and not in terms of genetics. The books of genealogy were long lost.

2 Peter Chapters 1 through 3 - 03-23-2012

Here are the comments of Eusebius on 2 Peter, from his Ecclesiastical History, Book 3: Chapter III. The Epistles of the Apostles.

“1 One epistle of Peter, that called the first, is acknowledged as genuine. And this the ancient elders used freely in their own writings as an undisputed work. But we have learned that his extant second Epistle does not belong to the canon; yet, as it has appeared profitable to many, it has been used with the other Scriptures. 2 The so-called Acts of Peter, however, and the Gospel which bears his name, and the Preaching and the Apocalypse, as they are called, we know have not been universally accepted, because no ecclesiastical writer, ancient or modern, has made use of testimonies drawn from them. 3 But in the course of my history I shall be careful to show, in addition to the official succession, what ecclesiastical writers have from time to time made use of any of the disputed works, and what they have said in regard to the canonical and accepted writings, as well as in regard to those which are not of this class.” From a footnote (20): “Although disputed by many, as already remarked, and consequently not looked upon as certainly canonical until the end of the fourth century, the epistle was yet used, as Eusebius says, quite widely from the time of Origen on, e.g. by Origen, Firmilian, Cyprian, Hippolytus, Methodius, etc. The same is true, however, of other writings, which the Church afterward placed among the Apocrypha.”

1 Peter Chapter 3 - Christogenea on Talkshoe 03-16-2012

Last week we saw that in 1 Peter chapter 2 the apostle admonishes his readers: “13 You must be obedient to every authority created by mankind on account of the Prince, whether to kings as if being superior, 14 or to governors as if being sent by Him for the punishment of evil-doers but for the praise of those doing good. 15 Because thusly is the will of Yahweh: doing good to muzzle the ignorance of foolish men, 16 as free men yet not as if having freedom for a cover for evil, but as servants of Yahweh.” These words are very much like those of Paul of Tarsus in his letter to the Romans, in chapter 13.

1 Peter Chapter 2 - 03-09-2012

Discussing the first chapter of 1 Peter we saw that Peter was indeed addressing the uncircumcision, who were Israelites of the Old Kingdom that were dispersed in ancient times, which Peter by this time had fully understood, even though he had not understood it at the time of the events which were described in Acts chapter 10, which actually occurred some years before the writing of this epistle. We also saw how Peter directly connected the Old Testament and the New where he wrote of things such as the “foreknowledge of Father Yahweh in a sanctification of the Spirit in obedience and a sprinkling of the blood of Yahshua Christ”, which we see in the opening lines of this epistle.

1 Peter Chapter 1 - 03-2-2012

Each of the epistles of Peter are disputed by various critics. The first is rejected because its language is considered to be the highly polished work of an educated man. The second is oft rejected because it was disputed at an early time, it is not often quoted in early Christian writings, and its language is often quite rough. The differences are easily accounted if it is understood that 1 Peter, which is more or less a formal treatise, was probably related by Peter and penned by Silvanos, which is evident in 1 Peter 5:12 where it says “By Silvanos the faithful brother, as I reckon, I have written to you”, and 2 Peter was more of an informal letter that Peter may have written himself since no one else is mentioned. Both epistles are written to the same audience. While there are only what may or may not be allusions to 2 Peter in Clement and in Justin, the epistle is quoted by Hippolytus. It was later disputed by the Catholics (I use that word here with a capital C, in its more modern sense), such as Eusebius who called it one of the “disputed books”, along with Jude. While 2 Peter is little attested, that would not be alarming for a letter that is more-or-less an informal follow-up to the first longer and more formal treatise. I will offer more in its defense when presenting it later this month. As for 1 Peter, it is often quoted and always thought to have authentically belonged to Peter by significant early Christian writers. For instance, Irenaeus quotes 1 Peter 2:16 in Book 4, Chapter 16 of his Against Heresies, and 1 Peter 1:8 in Book 4, Chapter 9 and in Book 5, Chapter 7. Irenaeus also often calls Mark the “interpreter of Peter”, meaning that Mark wrote Peter's gospel. Likewise, Clement and Tertullian also quote from this first epistle of Peter on various occasions, as do other early Christian writers.

Hosea Chapters 12 through 14

This is the last installment of our series of presentations on the prophecy of Hosea. Throughout the prophecy, we have seen a common theme, which is also common in the other Biblical prophets: that the children of Israel were about to suffer a great calamity, and were being cast off from the Kingdom and polity of Yahweh their God because of their sin, but that they had a promise of a later reconciliation in Christ. Here in these last chapters, Hosea continues with that same theme, allowing us to further reflect upon much of what has already been presented these past few weeks, and although his words are quite foreboding, he ends with a message of hope, a hope which we still bear to this very day.

KJV Hosea 12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. 

At Hosea 2:5 it is explained that Israel's national sin was related to Israel's desire for foreign trade: “For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.”

Hosea Chapters 10 through 11

I will repeat an important concept which I discussed last week. Here is what is written in the law at Leviticus 20:10 concerning adultery: “And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Israel, as a nation being the wife of Yahweh, has committed fornication with every other nation and race upon the face of the earth. There are many in Christian Identity today who want to extend the mercy of God to the lovers of the whore: the other races which our Israel nations consort with unto this today. That is universalism! That is not the Scripture, where it tells us that the mercy of God is extended to Israel alone. The day shall come, when we see the words of Jeremiah fulfilled: “Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed” (Jeremiah 22:20). The children of Israel shall indeed be spared, as Yahweh has promised, but all those consorting with her - all of her lovers - shall be destroyed by God, according to His law. Thus Yahweh warns us in Isaiah chapter 52 - which Paul repeats – to come out from among them, and touch not the unclean – so that He would receive us and be our God, and we could be His people, if indeed we are of the children of Israel.

There was a break at 1:14, where the connection dropped and I was not sure where in respect to the presentation that had happened. Therefore some verses were discussed twice, and I left that in the recording but cut out almost all of the whitespace.

Hosea Chapters 6 through 9

Hosea 1:10 says: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” In order to realize the fulfillment of this prophecy, we must find the dispersed people of the children of Israel deported by the Assyrians, which Hosea is describing. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the coming fate of these very same children of Israel, records these words of Yahweh in the 66^th chapter of his prophecy: “19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Nations.”

Tarshish is Tartessus in Spain. Pul is an allegorical name for Assyria after one of its kings, as can be ascertained in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Lud is Lydia in Anatolia. Tubal at this time lived on the Black Sea. Javan are the Ionians, and represents the lands of the Greeks. Within 300 years of the deportations of the Israelites, the Germanic people showed up in all of these places, threatening their very existence. They overthrew Assyria, sacked Lydia, and forced the people of Tubal up through the Caucasus mountains. They threatened Ionia, sacked Etruria – another land of the Lydians in northern Italy, and settled what became known as Gaul as far west as Spain, or what was once Tarshish. No other people ever showed up in all of these places in the centuries following the deportations of the Israelites. This is the “large place” where the children of Israel were to be fed by Yahweh, where he says at Hosea 4:16: “now the LORD will feed them as a lamb [Christ the lamb] in a large place.” With the spread of Christianity to Europe, every word of these prophecies has come true.

Hosea Chapters 3 through 5

Last week, discussing Hosea chapters 1 and 2, I think that the primary lesson was summed up in the idea that the children of Israel are a nation of whores, and a whore as a nation, because they sought intercourse in commerce with all of the other nations, which they had been commanded to remain separate from. This is seen near the beginning of Hosea chapter 2, where it says “2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. 4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. 5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.” Today, chasing after the produce of China, Mexico, and every other race on the earth, we are whores once again. That is why, speaking of the then-future Mystery Babylon, the Revelation again depicts the nation of Israel as a whore: and that is where we are now, awaiting Babylon's fall. For her intercourse with other nations, the nation of Israel was punished and carried away by the Assyrians and later Babylonians, as a judgement from Yahweh. This message continues throughout Hosea.

Hosea Chapter 1

I decided to present the prophecy of Hosea commencing with this week, because on the Saturday program over the next few weeks I plan to present my papers on the Scythians and their origins - God willing – and this prophet more than any other with the arguable exception of perhaps Isaiah, goes hand-in-hand with the history of the deportations of Israel and Judah.

Hosea began his prophesying, according to his own introduction, at the time when Uzziah (who is also sometimes confusingly called Azariah in the King James Version) ruled over Judah and and Jeroboam II ruled over Israel. Both of these men reigned for a long time: Uzziah, who was stricken with leprosy while he ruled, from about 791-739 BC and Jeroboam II from 793-753 BC. Therefore Hosea began to prophecy before 753 BC. He wrote until the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah ruled Judah from about 729-698 BC and since there was no king in Israel after Hoshea's rule ended circa 722 BC, we see that Hosea did not mention any king after Jeroboam II even though six kings followed him before Israel was fully broken as a kingdom. Therefore Hosea wrote from no later than 753 BC unto at least 722 BC, a period of at least 32 years during the time described in the Bible from II Kings chapters 14 to 20, and from II Chronicles chapters 26 to 32.

James Chapters 4 and 5 - 01-20-2012

Here, because of its importance, and because of the ways in which the chapter is abused, I thought to repeat James chapter 3, and to present it in a manner a little more pointed than how it was presented last week. 

III 1 You must not produce many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive a greater judgment. 2 For we all fail often! If anyone does not fail in word, he is a perfect man able to guide with a bridle even the whole body. 3 Even if the bridles of horses are put into their mouths for which to persuade them for us, then we maneuver their whole body. 4 Behold also, there are such great ships, and being driven by severe winds, maneuvered by the smallest rudder, being driven straight where impulse desires. 5 Thusly also the tongue is a small body-part and boasts loudly. Behold how small a fire ignites so great a forest! 6 And the tongue is a fire, an ornament of injustice. The tongue sits among our body-parts soiling the whole body and setting ablaze the course of existence, and being burned by Gehenna! 

Gehenna, the destruction caused by the fiery trials of this life, the wars and strife caused by the tongue. All of these things are of course true, but we must consider how and what kind of speech causes men to slip. And in whose perception do men slip? One man may think that you have erred when he does not like what you say. But what is sin, to slip in the eyes of man? Or to slip in the eyes of God? It may well be that man's pride which causes him to think badly about you. Therefore we have only one Judge: Yahshua Christ, and one Guide, which is His Word.

The Epistle of James - 01-13-2012

II 1 My brethren, do not with respect of the stature of persons hold the faith of our Prince Yahshua Christ of honor. 2 For if perhaps a man should enter into your assembly hall with a gold ring in a shining garment, and a beggar should enter in a filthy garment, 3 then you should look upon he wearing the shining garment and say “You sit here comfortably”, and to the beggar you should say “You stand there”, or “Sit beneath my footstool”, 4 have you not made a distinction among yourselves and become judges of evil reasonings? 

“Respect of persons” is respect for the stature or the status of persons in judgement. The Greek word προσωπολημψία comes from πρόσωπον, literally the face, and a verb which means to receive. The use of the term by James reflects that same idea which Paul often infers where the King James Version translates the Greek word προσωπολημψία, which is literally the receiving of a man's appearance, and related words and phrases as “respect of persons”. 

The Epistle of James, Chapter 1 - 01-06-2012

I do not see how the Hebrew name Ya'aqob, the Greek Iakobos, could have possibly become James in English. At first I pondered the notion that the translators of the King James Version were purposefully flattering the king who commissioned them. However that cannot besince the spelling of this name in the 1560 Geneva Bible is Iames, which today we would write as James. Wanting instead to be faithful to the Greek, when I translated the New Testament I spelled it Iakobos, leaving it as it appears in the Greek Nominative case. The English name James seems to have come from the French word for leg, which is jambe (the 'b' is silent). A related French word jamon, refers to a leg of ham. King James Version apologists strive to connect the two terms since Iakob does come from a Hebrew word with a meaning connected to the heel of the foot. But Ya'aqob (Strong's # 3290) means "heel holder" and therefore allegorically it means "supplanter", and that has nothing to do with a pig's leg.  

The prophecy of Obadiah is a prophecy concerning Edom, that nation which descended from Esau, Jacob's brother. In order to understand the prophecy concerning Edom, one must understand all of the history of the nation, and its relationship to Israel and to God, from the days of Jacob and Esau.

The angels that left their first estate, left it because they decided to race-mix with men, and also with many other species, something we find only in apocryphal literature but which our Bibles as we know them today do not sufficiently explain. When Adam was placed into the Garden of Eden, that tree of the knowledge of good and evil – the results of that first rebellion against God – was already in the garden. These were a race of people (or angels if you must) who at one time knew good, and then knew evil – when they had rebelled against God. Their creation is not explained in Genesis, although Christ tells us in Luke chapter 10 and in the Revelation at chapter 12 that they fell “from heaven”.

The fall of Adam was the partaking by him and his wife of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil – they race-mixed with that person represented by the epithet of “serpent”. Cain was the result of this union, and in spite of the corrupted text we currently know as Genesis 4:1, it can be discerned in several other ways that Cain was not the son of Adam, although he was the son of Eve. Later on in the New Testament, but also often in the allegories of the Old Testament, are the descendants of Cain often referred to as “serpents”.

The Book of Jonah - 12-23-2011

2 Kings 14:16-27: 16 And Jehoash slept with his fathers [perhaps around 798 BC], and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead. 17 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. 18 And the rest of the acts of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. 20 And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. 21 And all the people of Judah took Azariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 22 He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. 23 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. 24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. 26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. 27 And the LORD said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

 So Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai, lived and prophesied before the time of Jeroboam the son of Joash of the kings of Israel. Jeroboam II was king in Israel for about 40 years, from about 793 BC, so Jonah definitely prophesied before 753 BC, and possibly before 793 BC – although that is not certain from the text here in 2 Kings 14. This places Jonah as one of the earliest of all of those prophets of the Bible from Isaiah to Malachi which can be dated.