On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 5: The Churches at Pergamos and Thyatira

Presenting the first part of Revelation chapter 2 and the messages to the assemblies at Ephesus and Smyrna, we had encountered and discussed several concepts that are contained in those messages which we believe are necessary to understand not only in relation to the Revelation, but also to the entire Bible as well as to our lives as Christians today. First, although we are not told what sin it was that they had been committing, because the Ephesians had left their first love, as it was described, they then began to accept or to commit some sin from which they were commanded to repent. Then Christ had threatened that if they did not repent, they would be punished. So it is evident that even Christians who profess Christ and endure in His Name, who reject false apostles and Nicolaitans, which we interpret as those professional priests who with pretense would rule over the people, and who are also even commended for not bearing evil, must nevertheless seek to maintain complete obedience to the Gospel of Christ or face the consequences of punishment from God. This is absolutely contrary to the general belief of most Christians today, who basically claim that all one has to do is to believe in Jesus and perform some rituals in order to be saved. Having rejected false apostles, the Ephesians clearly believed the Gospel as it was taught them by true apostles, so they must have believed in Jesus, as today’s denominational Christians would also claim to do. Yet Christ Himself had warned them that they would be punished if they did not repent of their sin, that their lampstand would be removed from its place.

Another thing which we have not yet discussed is an aspect of the words of Christ in regard to the works of the Nicolaitans which He had professed that “I also hate.” This situation also betrays the professions of denominational Christians who often claim that God is Love, that Jesus is Love, and that He is incapable of hate. There certainly are things which Jesus hates, deeds which Jesus hates, and even people which Jesus hates, as we shall see again later in this 2nd chapter of the Revelation.

TruthVid's 100 Proofs that the Israelites were White, Part 72

In our last presentation we discussed why the New Testament was written in the Greek language, and the fact that the majority of quotations from the Old Testament which are found in the New Testament were made from the Greek Septuagint, which shows that the authors of our New Testament scriptures were very familiar with Greek text of the Old Testament even if they had also maintained a familiarity with the Hebrew version, or versions. Then we began a discussion of the similarities between the Hebrew language and the languages of Europe, mostly Latin, Greek and English. As we hope to have already shown to some degree, those similarities go far beyond the fact that the nations of Europe use a Hebrew/Phoenician alphabet, as many of the most basic words are so similar in sound and meaning that they must be directly related. Here we shall continue that discussion.

97) Similarities of words in European languages with Hebrew, continued

First, there are a couple of points I left unanswered in our last presentation, which I would like to address here. Evidently the Wisdom of Sirach did survive in Hebrew. Judith is more controversial, as there is a shorter Hebrew version that dates the work to a completely different period, the 2nd century BC rather than the 7th, and although it is in the Septuagint that version has not survived in Hebrew, or perhaps never existed in Hebrew. Like Esther, no portion of Judith was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. But for several reasons, I believe Judith is a historical novel that was rewritten in different ages. Tobit was not preserved by the rabbis of Judaism, but fragments of Tobit in Hebrew and Aramaic are found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are no surviving Hebrew copies of Baruch, or of the so-called Epistle of Jeremiah, and arguably both works may have been originally written in Greek. There are no known Hebrew copies of the apocryphal works attributed to Daniel: Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Children, and Susanna. The same is true of the Wisdom of Solomon, the Prayer of Manasseh and the four books of the Maccabees, which survived to us in Greek. A Hebrew original is claimed for 1 Maccabees, and that is acceptable, but if it existed it did not survive. The book known as 1 Esdras, from the Septuagint, seems to be a more complete copy of the Canonical Ezra and Nehemiah known from the text of the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text. These are all of the books of the Apocrypha that are worth mentioning here, but I do not accept many of them as being canonical. Many of them do not belong in our Bibles.

TruthVid's 100 Proofs that the Israelites were White, Part 71

In our last presentation we discussed many of the countless similarities which the Hebrews had with ancient Greek culture, demonstrating the fact that Hebrews and Greeks held many common beliefs, even if one side was from a pagan perspective. Now we shall discuss the similarities between the Hebrew language and the languages of Europe, mostly Latin, Greek and English. Those similarities go far beyond the fact that the nations of Europe use a Hebrew/Phoenician alphabet, as many of the most basic words are so similar in sound and meaning that they must be directly related. But before we get into that discussion, we shall discuss a prophecy where Yahweh God had promised that He would speak to his people in a language other than Hebrew, and that language must have been Greek.

96) Why the New Testament was written in the Greek language, and most quotations from the Old Testament were made from the Greek Septuagint.

There are rumors that the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic, which is also sometimes called Syriac, but that is a lie. The oldest known manuscripts of any portion of the New Testament in Aramaic dates to the 5th century, and several known translations into Aramaic from Greek were created even later, such as the Philoxeniana in the early 6th century or the Harklensis in the early 7th. There was a Syriac harmony of the Gospels called the Diatessaron made in the late 2nd century by Tatian which has not survived. But that was an attempt to rewrite the four Gospel accounts in harmony, and should not be reckoned as actual Scripture. There are also related claims that Christ and the apostles spoke Aramaic, and not Hebrew. But often, the apostles mention their native tongue, and they always called it Hebrew, and not Aramaic. Syriac and Hebrew are distinguished in Isaiah chapter 36, which records events that occurred about 700 BC. In that account it is evident that Hebrew speakers could not normally understand Aramaic, or Syriac. There may have been differences between the Hebrew of the first century and that of Isaiah’s time, but it was nevertheless Hebrew, and the apostles must have known better what language they were speaking than modern commentators.

TruthVid's 100 Proofs that the Israelites were White, Part 70

Here we shall depart from our Biblical proofs in order to discuss the similarities which the Hebrews had with ancient Greek culture. This will demonstrate that Hebrews and Greeks held many common beliefs, even if one side is from a pagan perspective. While we shall not get to it in this presentation, next we shall discuss the similarities between the Hebrew language and the languages of Europe. Those similarities go far beyond the fact that the nations of Europe use a Hebrew/Phoenician alphabet, as many of the most basic words are so similar in sound and meaning that they must be directly related.

95) Israelite and Greek Culture were the Same.

There were many parallels between ancient Hebrew and Greek religious beliefs and customs that cannot be explained if the cultures were not related. Here we shall revisit material I had compiled for a June, 2010 presentation titled Greek Culture is Hebrew. The focus here is on the Tragic Poets, namely Aeschylus and Euripides, both of whom wrote in the 5th century BC. Aeschylus is esteemed to have been born in 525 BC, and Euripides in 480 BC, which makes him a contemporary with Herodotus.