Commentaries and Podcasts

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 4

In closing the last part of this presentation on Amos, we discussed some of the historical evidence of the ancient kingdom of Israel. Early in that presentation we had seen the attestation of the text of the ancient Moabite Stone. In it we see the tribe of Gad mentioned explicitly, connected to the “king of Israel”, and in some of the same locations that the Hebrew Bible also places them.

Where the Moabite Stone says “Now the men of Gad had al­ways dwelt in the land of Ataroth, and the king of Israel had built Ataroth for them”, it agrees with the Biblical Book of Numbers at chapter 32, verses 1 through 4. This same inscription also mentions the Israelite king Omri, as the Assyrian inscriptions also often do. The Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian inscriptions verify the historicity of many things in the Bible, which we shall see as this presentation unfolds. To imagine that all of the inscriptions attesting to the historicity of the Bible are somehow spurious is ridiculous. There is no doubting the veracity of a great number of these inscriptions, for the accounts concerning their discoveries are well recorded.. The people that made such inscriptions were pagans, and had nothing extraneous to gain by them, and could not have imagined that over 2,500 years later these things would be dug out of the ground and found to verify the accounts in an unrelated book which was to be passed down over so many centuries.

The opening remarks to this program are not directly related to the subject matter, and are therefore published at the Christogenea Forum. 

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 3

The prophecy of Amos begins with oracles against both Israel and Judah, and also against the Edomites, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites and certain of their cities. We have already discussed the fates of many of these places, and presented much of what can be seen of the contemporary history of these places from ancient Assyrian inscriptions. This helps to demonstrate that the Biblical account of the history of this period certainly is true, and also to show that these prophecies indeed had the beginning of their fulfillment in the years subsequent to the time of the prophet. Here we shall commence with Amos chapter 2, continuing with the utterances against Moab, continuing with our theme from the last two segments.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 2

The prophecy of Amos begins with oracles against both Israel and Judah, and also against the Edomites, Syrians, Moabites and Ammonites and certain of their cities. In the first segment of our presentation of the Book of Amos we began to discuss the fates of these places, and presented much of what can be seen of these things from ancient Assyrian inscriptions. This helps to demonstrate that the Biblical account of the history of this period certainly is true, and also to show that these prophecies indeed had the beginning of their fulfillment in the years subsequent to the time of the prophet. Here we shall repeat these oracles against Damascus and against Gaza, and continue with our theme from last week.

3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: 4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.

The Prophecy of Amos, Part 1

Many students of the Bible fail to realize, or at least easily forget – and I also at times have probably been guilty of this same thing – that the promise to Abraham that his seed would possess all of the land from Egypt to the Euphrates was indeed fulfilled in the days of King David. Even the Jews often deny the fact of this fulfillment, hoping themselves to be the heirs of this land in modern times and pointing to the prophecy in order to justify their treachery – and in spite of the fact that they are not genetic Israel. Here it is in Genesis 15:18-21: “18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Now it is clear from Scripture that the children of Israel did not exterminate all of the tribes of Canaan as they were so commanded. But that does not mean that they did not possess the land. The fulfillment of this promise of Genesis 15:18 is evident in 2 Samuel chapter 8...

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24 - 12-28-2012

While presenting these gospel accounts it has often been said that the perspectives of all four gospel writers are needed in order to be able to piece together a more complete picture of the events surrounding the life, ministry and passion of Christ. That is especially true when trying to determine the chronology of the last week of His pre-Resurrection life and of the Resurrection itself.

The popular perception of the chronology of the death and resurrection of Christ comes from a calendar which was evidently made to suit the Roman church, however it does not agree with the Gospel. From John 19:31 we see of the Sabbath which was also the Passover that “that Sabbath day was an high day”. So we learn that Christ was placed into a tomb at the end of a preparation day for a high Sabbath, and not necessarily the day of the regular seventh-day Sabbath, and that He was in that tomb on a Sabbath day, and that he was found to have been arisen by dawn of the first day of the week, which is the day immediately following a Sabbath day. From three of the four gospels, from Matthew 27:55 and 61, from Mark 15:47, and from Luke 24:1, we see that the women who were with Christ had observed His death and burial right up to where He was placed into the tomb. From all four gospels, from Matthew 28:1, from Mark 16:2, from Luke 23:55 and from John 20:1, we find that the first thing Mary Magdalene and some of the other women did on the day immediately after a Sabbath – even before the sun had risen completely – was to go to the tomb of Christ and find that He had already arisen. If that day were the Passover Sabbath, it seems that they would hardly have had time to go shopping.

The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23 Part 2 - 12-28-2012

Last week at the end of the first part of this presentation of Luke chapter 23, we addressed what was seen as two ages-old Christian Identity heresies, both of which are unnecessary innovations. The first belongs, so far as I know, to Wesley Swift, who told a fantastic story about Barabbas called The Blue Tunic Army Of Christ, a story which is not substantiated in history and which is refuted by the words of the Gospel writers alone. Barabbas was a mere robber, and not the great leader of an army for God. The second is the misconception concerning Luke 23:34, where some perhaps well-meaning but poorly studied individuals like to claim that the first sentence of that verse should be read in part “Father forgive them not, for they know what they do.” Yet the Greek sentence in question is correctly translated as it is found in the King James Version, where it reads “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The Greek grammar proves that the King James Version translation of the sentence is correct, where in all of Luke's writing wherever a verb is accompanied with a negative particle, forming a negative verb, the negative particle precedes the verb which it negates, and never follows it.

However concerning this passage, in truth the earliest manuscripts are divided, and it is not found in the majority of them. Therefore it is most likely that the passage is an interpolation, and for that reason it is not found in the Christogenea New Testament. Many Identity Christians who have not known this have wondered how Christ could forgive his murderers. However even the context is obvious, that the verse saying “And casting lots they divided His garments” refers to the Roman soldiers, and not at all to the Judaeans who brought Christ before Pilate. Therefore if the statement concerning forgiveness is admitted into the narrative it can only refer to the Roman soldiers, and not to the Judaeans. The Judaeans knew what they were doing, as even Pilate knew they wanted Christ executed out of envy (Matthew 27:18, Mark 15:19), and the Roman soldiers were truly ignorant of the entire situation and were only following orders. Christ Himself told Pilate “You do not have any authority over Me if it was not given to you from above. For this reason he who delivered Me to you has greater fault”, fully indicating that the jews alone were primarily responsible for His execution.