Commentaries and Podcasts

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.