Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.  Most of the symbolic material in Part 1 won’t be repeated here in Part 2.

This two-part topic is tying ancient Israel’s traditional wedding pattern for betrothal & marriage to the sequence of the Lord’s Old Testament (OT) holydays, and to New Testament (NT) writings.  We’re discussing their wedding customs, and typing them to Christ and His church.   

In the NT, Jesus portrays Himself figuratively as a Groom or bridegroom (Mk.2:20), and the church is His Bride.  In 2Co.11:2, Paul the apostle figuratively betroths the church/Bride to Christ.  (I’ll capitalize the words Groom and Bride when they refer to Christ marrying His church.)

There were seven annual God-ordained holy occasions for Israel.  Here’s a list of the Lord’s annual days and the time of year in which they occurred, from Leviticus 23:

Their sacred year began near the spring equinox of March 20.  Le.23:5 Passover was 14 days later, in early April.  v.6 Passover began the seven Days of Unleavened Bread.  v.15-16, 21 Pentecost/Shavúot occurred 50 days later, near June 1.  v.24 the Day of Trumpets/Shouting, Rosh Hashánah (“Beginning of the [civil] Year”, Ezk.40:1a), occurs near the autumnal equinox of September 21.  v.26-28 the Day of Atonement or Yom Kíppur fast is ten days later, around October 1.  v.33-36a the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles (FOT)/Sukkót/Booths began in October, five days after Yom Kippur.  v.36b the Last Great Day 8, called Shémini Atzerét, culminated the FOT.  (also see the topics “Days Israel Observed – God-Ordained” and “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.)

So far, in Part 1 we tied the traditional Jewish wedding pattern only to the OT sequence of Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost/Shavuot.  A shared cup of wine, to seal the betrothal or érusin, linked to Passover.  After the prospective groom went away to “prepare a place” for his betrothed at or near his father’s house (Jn.14:1-3), she would begin purifying herself.  That loosely ties to the Days of Unleavened Bread.  While the groom was away, he would send gifts to her.  That custom is reflected in Pentecost, when the gift of the Holy Spirit (HS) was given to the church/Bride, Ac.2:38 etc.  see Part 1.   

However, the betrothed groom & bride didn’t know the date of the actual wedding or nisúin.  It was for the father of the groom to decide when his son had the wedding chamber (húppah Strongs h2646, Hebrew) and house sufficiently prepared for her.  Only the father knows the time for his son/groom to come back for her!  Jesus said of His return in Mk.13:26, 32 “No one knows the day or hour, but My Father only”. 

{Sidelight: Paul said he was taught by Christ’s revelation (Ga.1:12).  Did Paul ever ask or wonder, ‘When are you coming back, Lord’?  If Paul did, he wasn’t told the date.  For that matter, none of the apostles knew the date.  Though in 2Pe.1:14, Peter knew he himself would soon die.  Mk.13:32 Jesus Himself didn’t know an exact date for His return; only Father God knows!  After Jesus’ resurrection, He told His disciples in Ac.1:5-7…it’s in His Father’s authority.  Those verses indicate that the date of Jesus’ coming was something He did not then know.  Israelites and saints, such as Peter, have kept fulfilling the number of their given days on earth, Ex.23:26b.  (However, as Jesus prophesied in Mk.13, Jerusalem & the temple were destroyed in 70 AD when Jesus ‘came’ as Judge, Ja.5:9b.)}

The betrothed Jewish bride would wait in faith that her groom will return and take her to the place he’d prepared.  He.11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”  Though he was absent, she trusted that he would come for her!  We in the church too must maintain faith.

It’s said that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’.  She may not have known him all that well.  Peter wrote of Jesus in 1Pe.1:8. “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you don’t see Him now, you believe in Him.”  The betrothed bride believed her groom would return to take her away.

Customarily the groom came at midnight!  Mt.25:1, 5-6 “In the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Behold the groom! Come out to meet him.”  The shout would identify that her groom wasn’t a real thief stealthily intruding.  Mt.25:10-13 “Watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour.”  Lk.12:40 “Be you also ready, for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not.”  The groom usually would return at a late night-time hour.  But leading up to his return….

As the months elapsed with the groom absent, the bride would lie awake watching for him night after night.  Then she’d fall asleep!  Paul wrote the church in 1Th.5:1-2, 10 “You know the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. That whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.”

At last…her groom would come and ‘steal’ her away!  She’d been veiled since betrothal.

At betrothal, customarily the marriage contract or ketúbah was signed by two witnesses. cf. Re.11:3.  John the Baptizer was a witness for the Groom, Jesus (Jn.1:6-7, 15, 32).  Jn.3:26-29 John called himself the “friend of the Groom [bridegroom]”.  At the groom’s return, one of the two witnesses or the groom himself would shout (Mt.25:6).  Her family then knew he’s not a real thief on her father’s property!

1Th.4:16 “The Lord Himself [Jesus] will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”  v.15 the saints who are alive shall not precede those who had “fallen asleep”.  That is, the saints who’d died precede those who will read Paul’s letter.  Jesus said in Jn.5:25, “An hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live”.  Deceased saints, “fallen asleep”, are taken away by Jesus the Groom.

This coming of the groom was typed by the Day of Trumpets/Shouting.  Le.23:24 Yom Téruah.  This holyday occurs on the 1^st day/new moon of the sacred 7^th month, 1 Tíshri.  They knew the season, but didn’t know whether the moon’s first visible crescent to mark the new month would appear on the 29^th or 30^th day of the old month.  Our Ancient Days: Yom Teruah “The day and the hour that no man knows.”  Jesus said in Mk.13:32, “But of that day and hour no one knows”.  Only the Groom’s Father.

Ancient Israel would watch…then a new moon sighting traditionally had to be confirmed by two witnesses.  The new moon is almost entirely dark.  It’s just a thin sliver.  cf. Mt.24:29-31 “…The moon will not give its light. Then they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming.”  The Day of Trumpets/Shouting was also known as the ‘Day of the Concealed Moon’, Yom Kéhseh, the ‘hidden day’.

Mal.4:2 “For you who fear My name, the Sun of righteousness [Christ] will arise with healing in His wings, and you will go forth.”  Jesus is here depicted by the Sun, and the moon’s first visible crescent too reflects the light of the Sun/Son!  Benson Commentary Mal.4:2 “Christ, who is fitly compared to the sun. The church is described as ‘clothed with the sun’, Re.12:1, adorned with graces communicated to her from Christ.”  Again, the groom while absent would send gifts to his betrothed bride.  (see Part 1.) 

{{Sidelight: The 1^st day of the 7^th month, Rosh HaShanah, was also known as the ‘Day of Remembrance’, Yom HaZíkaron (Le.23:24 memorial/zikarón h2146), as birthday of the world.  And as Yom HaDín, the ‘Day of Judgment’.  The sealing/execution of the judgment was then signified by Yom Kippur, ‘Day of Atonement’, occurring ten days later.  see the topic “Day of Atonement (2)”.  (Note: Also there are plural layers of meaning within the concept of Jesus’ Coming.)}}

It’s dark when the saints close their eyes in sleep or death!  A symbolic Day of Trumpets/Shouting is typed in 1Co.15:51-52. “We will not all sleep…for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible.”  Although it wasn’t known exactly when the first sliver of the moon will be visible, the very ill and those advanced in age know that death is near.  (ref 2Pe.1:14 Peter, 2Ti.4:6 Paul.)

Again, the Groom comes in the night for His Bride.  Then she will no longer reside in her father’s house.  Ps.45:10-11 Septúagint “Hear, daughter. Forget your people and your father’s house. Because the King has desired your beauty.”  When the Father of the Groom decided, He would send His Son to take the Bride from her childhood home (earth).  Paul the aged said of himself in Php.1:23, “To depart and be with Christ is much better”.  SSol.2:10 “Arise, My darling, come away with Me.”  She is veiled. 

With a procession, the bride was taken to the huppah bridal canopy, at/near his father’s house.  The ketubah marriage contract was read at a night ceremony.  Customarily included in the reading was Ps.118:26 (Mt.21:9). “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  The contract was given to the bride by the groom or by the two witnesses.  (see Joel 2:16 for more groom/bride/huppah language.) 

Is.61:10 the groom decks himself with ornaments and the bride is adorned with jewels.  Gill Exposition Is.61:10 “A bridegroom puts on the best clothes he has on his wedding day.” 

Now her veil is removed.  At the wedding nisuin…the bride and groom finally stand face-to-face! 

Ge.32:24, 29-30 “Jacob said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet I am still alive.”  Traditionally, Jacob saw the face of Christ the Messenger of YHVH on Yom Kipper.  ltradio.org “Face-to-face’ is an idiom for the Day of Atonement.”  Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, did Israel’s High Priest dimly come face-to-face with the mercy seat of Christ (Le.16:2), amid smoke in the Most Holy Place.    

The typological Day of Atonement (At-One-ment) holyday was the 10^th day of the 7^th month, 10 Tishri.  (It follows Rosh HaShanah.)  Ge.2:24 a husband and wife become one flesh; they become figuratively as one.  Paul wrote of the espoused church/Bride in 1Co.13:12, “Now we see dimly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.”  When the Bride is face-to-face with Jesus, she then really gets to know the Groom!   

David wrote in Ps.17:15, “I shall behold Thy face in righteousness”.  Behold the face of the Lord.  The disciple John wrote in 1Jn.3:2b, “We will see Him as He really is”.  The Groom/Son of God.  SSol.6:3 “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”  v.3-9 represents a type of Christ and His gifted Bride(s).

After the wedding, the bride and groom would spend 7 days in the wedding chamber or booth.  Only then was the marriage consummated!  (They’d been apart from the betrothal date until he came for her.)  Laban spoke of his daughter to his son-in-law Jacob in Ge.29:27, “Complete the week of this one”.  Jdg.14:17 Samson was with his new bride for 7 days. 

Weddings were often held either in June or near the 7-day Feast of Booths in the 7^th month, after the Day of Atonement.  The 7 days in the canopied huppah or chamber is typed by the FOT/Booths. 

A wedding was a big celebration!  Mt.22:9-11 guests were expected to wear attire customarily suitable.  A wedding feast was held (cf. Ge.29:21-22, Jdg.14:12).    

The marriage feast for Jesus and His Bride(s) culminates at His Father’s house in heaven.  Re.19:1, 7-9 “I heard a loud voice of a multitude in heaven. The marriage of the Lamb [Jesus] has come and His Bride has made herself ready. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  

After the celebratory wedding feast, the couple would go to their new home, usually built at/near the house of the groom’s father.  They hope to live ‘happily ever after’.

The 8th Day Shemini Atzeret was the next day (22 Tishri), immediately following the FOT.  That ends God’s sacred holydays for the year.  That day is thought to foreshadow the new heaven and the new earth.  (Note: There were some traditional variations in wedding custom details and typologies.)

After Christ’s marriage feast of Re.19…Re.21:1 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”  The Bride(s) will live forever with her/(their) Husband, the Lord Christ.  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

And for those presently alive on this earth, Re.22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say come”.  All should believe in Jesus for salvation!

Few of us know in advance the total number of our days/years.  But elderly saints and the terminally ill are closer to completing their days here.  Then they, and eventually we too, will close our eyes for the last time, as have all the saints who went before. 

We anticipate then becoming part of that great cloud of witnesses who preceded us!  He.12:1, 22-24 “We have a great cloud of witnesses. The general assembly and church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and Jesus.”  cf. Ec.12:7.  (1Co.15:44 we too will have a spiritual body.  see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Rebirth to Physical Life”.)

In OT times, the Lord was the figurative Husband of ancient Israel, Je.3:14.  (see “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  His name YHVH was engraved upon the mitre plate on the high priest’s forehead, Ex.28:36-38.  Re.22:4 then we shall see His face and His name shall be in our foreheads.  A bride is given the name of her husband.    

The ancient wedding typology presents a beautiful and meaningful picture!  Only Father God knows when to say to His Son, ‘The hour has come, go get your Bride’.  At the time we take our final breath, may each of us be ready.

 

Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (1)

Marriage is ordained by God.  Ge.2:18 “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a suitable companion to help him.”  Adam & Eve were husband & wife.  A relationship between Christ & ancient Israel and Christ & the church is that of a figurative husband & wife(s).    

Christ the Lord, in type, had married His people Old Testament (OT) Israel.  Je.31:32 “I was a husband to them’, declares the Lord.”  In the New Testament (NT), Jesus referred to Himself as a Groom or bridegroom.  Mk.2:20 “Jesus said, ‘The days will come when the Groom will be taken away from them.”  Jn.3:29 Jesus’ cousin John the Baptizer called himself the “friend of the Groom/bridegroom [Jesus]”.  (I’ll capitalize the words Groom and Bride when they refer to Christ marrying His church.)

Christ, as spiritually joined to Christians, used marriage symbolism.  2Co.11:2 Paul the apostle said, he figuratively “betrothed you [the church] to one Husband, like a pure Bride chosen only for Christ”.  Jesus spiritually marries His church.  Paul wrote in Ep.5:31-32, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. This mystery is profound, in regards to Christ and the church.”

Ancient Israel’s wedding model for betrothal & marriage can be seen from the Lord’s OT holydays and NT writings.  This topic discusses Israel’s wedding customs, and types them to Christ and the church.

Archaeologists have found evidence of Jewish wedding customs.  My Jewish Learning: Ancient Jewish Marriage “At the beginning of the 20^th century, an actual Jewish marriage record during the period from the return of the Babylonian exile was discovered – the oldest marriage contract in Jewish history.”  The wedding pattern of Bible times adds symbolic meaning to scripture and God’s holydays.

There were seven annual God-ordained holy occasions for Israel.  Here’s a list of the Lord’s annual days and the time of year in which they occurred, from Leviticus 23:

Their sacred year began near the spring equinox of March 20.  Le.23:5 Passover was 14 days later, in early April.  v.6 Passover began the 7 Days of Unleavened Bread.  v.15-16, 21 Pentecost/Shavúot occurred 50 days later, near June 1.  v.24 the Day of Trumpets/Shouting, Rosh Hashánah (“Beginning of the [civil] Year”, Ezk.40:1a), occurs near the autumnal equinox of September 21.  v.26-28 the Day of Atonement or Yom Kíppur fast is ten days later, around October 1.  v.33-36a the 7-day Feast of Tabernacles (FOT)/Sukkót/Booths began in October, five days after Yom Kippur.  v.36b the Last Great Day 8, called Shémini Atzerét, culminated the FOT.  (also see the topics “Days Israel Observed – God-Ordained” and “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.)

We’ll tie the annual sequence of holydays to ancient Israel’s traditional wedding model.  In the model, the Day of Trumpets/Shouting, Yom Kippur, and the FOT are addressed in Part 2 of this topic. 

Jesus, the Son of God the Father, portrayed Himself as a Groom.  Again, the NT church is the Bride (2Co.11:2).  Ro.7:2-4 Paul showed that the church is to be “joined” or Married to the ascended Christ.            

In the ancient Near East, the father of the groom would choose or obtain a bride for his son.  The father of the groom would go to the house of the father of the bride to begin the arrangements.  Ge.24:4 father Abraham sent his servant to the old country to bring back a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac.

Ge.34:4-6 the young man Shechém wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah.  Shechem asked his father Hamór to make arrangements for their marriage.  Hamor then went to Jacob to discuss the matter.  

Jdg.14:1-7 Samson saw a young Philistine woman in Timnáth and wanted her.  He asked his father and mother to get her as a wife for him.  The three of them went to Timnath to make the arrangements.

The father of the groom (or the groom himself) and the father of the bride were often the matchmakers.  A bride didn’t do the initial choosing, but she’d give consent to the proposed match (cf. Ge.24:58).  A mutual commitment or shíddukin between the bride & groom then led to a formal betrothal or érusin.

When the groom’s father (or the groom) went to the house of the chosen bride’s father, they arranged a binding marriage contract or ketúbah. (cf. Tobit 7:14.)  It set the conditions of the marriage covenant. 

Customarily two witnesses would sign the ketubah contract (cf. Re.11:3).  Jn.1:6-7, 32 John the Baptizer (Elijah, Mt.11:13-14) was a witness for Jesus.  Jn.1:15 “John bore witness of Him.”  Jn.3:26, 29 John, as witness for Jesus, called himself the “friend of the Groom”.  A modern counterpart may be the ‘best man’.  (For Christ’s marriage to OT Israel, Moses was traditionally the ‘friend/witness of the Bride’.  Mt.17:3 the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, were seen in the Transfiguration.)

The prospective bride was a productive member of her father’s household.  Her marriage will result in a loss of labor/income for the household.  So a bride price or móhar was determined, and then paid to her father/family.  It could be items of gold or silver money, or service.  Ge.24:53 precious things were given to Rebekah’s family to ‘purchase’ her for Isaac.  Ge.29:20 Jacob served Rachel’s father Laban for 7 years, as her bride price.  A free wife brought a dowry into the marriage, a bond wife didn’t.  Ge.29:24, 29 some Bible interpreters view the maids Zilpah & Bilháh as the dowry of Leah & Rachel.

Shared cups of wine (or bírkat érusin) confirmed that her bride price was accepted by the groom, and sealed the betrothal, the erusin.  Commonly the betrothed groom was age 16-20, the bride age 13-16.

In this imagery, Father God is both the Father of the Groom (Jesus) and the Father of the Bride (the church).  Father God is the Father of all, of everyone, including Jesus. 

Jesus the man was Jewish, from the tribe of Judah (He.7:14).  This Groom came to earth, the home of the Bride(s).  Jesus’ heavenly Father chooses us as a Bride for His Son.  Ep.1:3-4 “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…chose us.”  The elect (Brides) then consent to the future Marriage.  1Jn.4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”  Father God, as Father of the Bride, gives His elect to Jesus.

The Bride was purchased.  Ep.1:14 KJV the Bride is Jesus’ “purchased possession”.  Paul wrote of the church in 1Co.6:20, “You have been bought with a price”.  This Bride price was exceedingly costly!    

This Bride price was the Groom’s lifeblood!  1Pe.1:18-19 the price wasn’t “perishable things like silver or gold, but the precious blood of Christ”.  At Jesus’ final Passover meal, His Last Supper, Jesus took a cup of wine and said to His disciples in Lk.22:20, “This is the new covenant in My blood”.

The New Covenant (marriage) agreement was made at Passover in Jerusalem.  This was the 1^st holy occasion of the sacred year.  It occurred on 14/15 Abíb, the 1^st month.  Traditionally, the groom drank from a cup of wine.  If the chosen bride accepted His offer, she then drank from the cup.  Their action sealed the marriage covenant.  Although the Lord hadn’t commanded wine at Passover, wine was added as a traditional custom in the Roman Empire.  The Talmud Pesachim tract about Passover rituals, “They should not give [a man] less than four cups of wine”.  Jesus and His chosen disciples drank the cup.    

A betrothal was thus sealed.  Betrothal was viewed as marriage, unconsummated.  It could be annulled only if he gave her a legal certificate of divorce (De.24:1), traditionally called a “get”.  Mt.1:18-20 Joseph’s betrothed Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit; initially he wanted to divorce her.

After the betrothal ceremony and the mohar or bride price paid, the groom would return to his father’s house for an indefinite time (even up to two years).  At or near his father’s house, the groom would prepare an addition or home for his bride.  Some Israelites lived in cluster homes with a courtyard.  Also the groom would build there the wedding chamber, the húppah (Strongs h2646, Hebrew).  

Jn.14:1-3 was the promise commonly spoken by Jewish grooms after betrothal, “I go to prepare a place for you”!  Jesus the (resurrected) Groom then went to His Father’s house.  Jn.20:17 “I ascend to My Father and your Father.”  God is Father of the Groom and Bride both.  Jn.14:2-3 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. I will come back and take you to be with Me.”  Jesus promised to come back for His Bride and take her to the place He’s prepared for her in the heavenlies, where His Father dwells.

The betrothed bride, now veiled, begins to purify herself.  Est.2:12 Esther’s beautification process to prepare her for the king consisted of one year of oils & fragrant spices.  Is.1:18 “Says the Lord, ‘Though your sins were as scarlet, they will be white as snow.”  SSol.4:7 “You are altogether beautiful my love, and there is no blemish in you.”  The Bride/church is portrayed as purified, clothed in pure white linen.  Re.19:7-8 the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints, those invited to the marriage.

This cleansing process of the bride is loosely typed by the Days/Feast of Unleavened Bread (which began at Passover).  Paul wrote in 1Co.5:7-8, “Cleanse out the old leaven, even as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Let us therefore keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened sincerity and truth.”  Sin can spread in a person’s life.  Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary: Leaven “Here, leaven symbolizes sin that defiles the believer.”  The Bride is to put out sin and pride which puffs us up, as leaven.

While betrothed, the groom and bride lived separately.  After the groom returned to his father’s house to prepare the place for his bride, he would customarily send gifts to her.  Jesus told His disciples in Jn.16:7, “It is to your advantage that I go away”.  After Jesus paid the Bride price (His lifeblood!), He ascended to His Father in heaven.  Ep.4:8 “When He ascended on high…He gave gifts to humanity.” 

The bride’s mother would teach her the wifely responsibilities.  Mother and daughter usually would become closer during this time while the groom is absent. 

Jesus, in heaven, now sends the Holy Spirit (HS) or Comforter to His betrothed Bride.  Ac.2:1, 4 at the Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension, the gift of the HS was sent to the Bride.  Ac.2:38-39 at Pentecost Peter proclaimed, “Repent and be baptized, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.  Paul wrote of spiritual gifts to the church.  1Co.12:4 “There are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.”  1Co.12:7-11 Paul then lists several gifts of the HS which are distributed to the church/Bride(s).  Like a good mother, the indwelling HS teaches & leads Christians while our betrothed Lord is away in heaven.

This gift-giving was typified by Pentecost, which occurred near June 1^st, 50 days or so after Passover.

However, the groom and bride didn’t know the date of the actual wedding or nisúin.  It was for the father of the groom to decide when his son had the huppah wedding chamber & house sufficiently prepared for the bride.  Only the father knows the proper time for the son/groom to return to get his bride!  Jesus said of His return in Mk.13:26, 32 “No one knows the day or hour, but My Father only”.

The betrothed bride would wait in faith that her groom will return and take her to the place he’d prepared.  He.11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.”  Her longing and anticipation would grow.  Though he was absent, she trusted that he would come for her!  Likewise, we in the church are to keep the faith (Col.1:2-4); we continue to trust Jesus…as we wait.

The topic is continued and concluded in “Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays (2)”.  Part 2 links ancient Israel’s wedding model to the latter four God-ordained holy occasions of the sacred year.

Rebirth to Physical Life (2)

This is the conclusion to “Rebirth to Physical Life (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first, before continuing with this Part 2.  Also, I suggest you read “Universal Christian Salvation”, before proceeding here.

In “Rebirth to Physical Life (1)”, we read about God’s future for the men of ancient Sodom, and for men in both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah in the light of Ezk.37:1-14.  A physical rebirth.  The apostle Paul wrote in Ro.11:26, “All Israel shall be saved”.  Not just a remnant!

We considered the book of Job, when he was suffering.  Jb.1:21 Tanakh KJV Septúagint “Naked came I forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.”  Job indicated he could later be reborn from a mother’s womb, his spirit indwelling a human newborn!  Job symbolically compared himself to the ancient phoenix bird (Jb.29:18 Tanakh), which would live again after a cycle of 500 or 1,000 years.  (see Part 1.)  cf. Re.20:5 “The rest of the dead lived not again until the 1,000 years were completed.”  Re.20:8 the dead, resurrected and returned to physical life, would inhabit “nations” of the earth.

Where in the Bible do we read of an individual, a human spirit, indwelling a second physical body…a personality who later did return to a mother’s womb (as Job indicated) to live another physical life?

The prophet Elijah lived in the early 800s BC.  He was a famous character in Israel’s history.  There’s no scriptural record of Elijah’s death.  2Ki.2:1-14 he was translated into heaven by a whirlwind.

{Sidelight: Elijah’s immediate successor Elisha then received a double portion of God’s Holy Spirit, unlike other “sons of the prophets”.  Elisha performed miracles (ref 2Ki.2:9, 15, 1Co.12:28-29).  Poole Commentary 2Ki.2:9 “Elisha seems to have had a greater portion of the prophetical and miraculous gifts of God’s Spirit.”  Elisha still had his own human spirit of course; it wasn’t replaced by Elijah’s spirit!}

In the 400s BC the Lord said in Mal.3:1, “Behold, I will send My messenger; he will prepare the way before Me”.  Mal.4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  Consequently, the Jews expected a bodily return of Elijah.  Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.100 “The coming of Elijah…he was to appear personally.”  Traditionally, each spring they’d set a place for Elijah at the Passover Seder table and leave the door open for him.  Rabbi David Kimchi “When God shall bring him [Elijah] to life in the body, He shall send him to Israel.”  He’d be sent from God, bodily.

John the Baptist was a man “sent from God” (Jn.1:6).  Lk.1:13, 24-27 John was born 6 months before Jesus.  John’s mother was Mary’s aunt Elizabeth.  Mk.1:1-4 John “prepared the way” for Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus identified John the Baptizer as the Elijah who was to come!  Jesus said of John in Mt.11:13-14, “This is Elijah”.  John the Baptist was the Elijah who had lived approximately 900 years before!  Jesus said later in Mt.17:12-13, “Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. Then His disciples understood He was talking to them about John the Baptist.”  Cambridge Bible Mt.17:12 “[Many Jews] didn’t recognize him as the Elijah prophesied by Malachi.”  Mk.9:13 re John, “Elijah has indeed come”.

The angel Gabriel foretold Zacharias re John his son to be. Lk.1:14-17 “He will go before Him [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah”.  The same human spirit in Elijah was in John the Baptizer.  Both were empowered to call the people to repentance.  Jews believe Elijah will return bodily.  He did.

Let’s now notice several similarities between the lives of Elijah and John the Baptizer:

Both dwelt in the wilderness east of the Jordan River (1Ki.17:2-6 & Mt.3:1-3, Lk.1:80).

Both characteristically wore a shaggy cloak and a leather belt (2Ki.1:8 & Mt.3:4).

Both were witnesses for the true God (1Ki.18:37 & Jn.1:14-15).

Both mocked their opponents who displayed a form of religion (1Ki.18:27 & Mt.3:7-9).

Both reproved their wicked king who disobeyed God (1Ki.18:17-18 Aháb & Lk.3:18-19 Herod Ántipas).

Both were wanted dead by the king’s evil wife (1Ki.19:2 Ahab/Jezébel & Mk.6:17-24 Herod/Herodiás).

Both endorsed their replacement, Elisha and Jesus (1Ki.19:16, 19 & Mk.1:9, Jn.3:28-30).

John the Baptizer even ministered at the same site on the east bank of the Jordan River from where Elijah had been taken up into heaven 900 years before (2Ki.2:1-14)!  Scripture reflects too many similar characteristics for it to be just coincidence.  They were the same personality, the same human spirit.

Ja.5:17 Elijah was a man with faulty human nature, as we.  He made mistakes, one serious.  1Ki.18:4, 13 Israel’s evil queen Jezebel had killed prophets of the Lord.  Elijah took vengeance by killing Jezebel’s false prophets.  1Ki.18:40 “Elijah said to them [Israel], ‘Seize the prophets of Báal [450 men, v.22]; don’t let one of them escape.’ They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishón and slew them there.”  Ellicott Commentary 1Ki.18:40 “The ruthless slaughter of Baal’s prophets.  Pulpit Commentary 1Ki.18:40 “It is true that the spirit of Elijah was not the spirit of Christianity (Lk.9:56); because our religion instructs us to leave it to Him who has said, ‘Vengeance is Mine.”

Elijah wasn’t a civil authority.  Yet he made the decision to kill the false prophets without having the authorization to kill/stone false prophets (cf. De.18:20, 13:6-11).  The Lord didn’t tell him to kill them.  Elijah chose to kill them…with the sword.  1Ki.19:1 “He had killed all the prophets with the sword.”

1Ki.19:2-3 after slaying the prophets, Elijah fled for his life in fear.  He escaped from evil queen Jezebel.

However, 900 years later John the Baptizer died by the sword, at the behest of evil queen Herodias!  ref Mk.6:17-29.  v.27 the king’s executioner had John “beheaded in the prison”.

Elijah, as John, eventually reaped what he’d sowed!  Ga.6:7 Paul wrote, “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap”.  Cause and effect.  Elijah killed with the sword…John the Baptizer died by the sword.  Mt.26:52 Jesus said, “All who take up the sword will perish by the sword”.  What goes around, comes around.  Oba.1:15 “As you have done, it will be done to you.”  Ps.7:16 “His violence shall come down upon the crown of his own head.”  Barnes Notes Ps.7:16 “He’d be treated as he had designed to treat others.”  God is just.  Karma?  John reaped the payback for Elijah’s unauthorized ruthless treatment of the false prophets.  Although Jezebel failed to kill Elijah, Herodias succeeded in having him/John slain.

Jesus said John the Baptizer was Elijah.  Jn.1:21 but John didn’t think he was Elijah.  It seems that God mercifully causes amnesia to set in before or by the time children mature.  So a person (like John) isn’t tormented with guilt from any memory of his previous life when he’d committed major crimes or sins.

Elijah was considered a great prophet.  In the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), Moses typified the Law and Elijah typified the Prophets…the “Law and the Prophets”.  And in Lk.7:28, Jesus said there’s no greater prophet than John/(Elijah)!  Mt.17:3-4, 10-13 in the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus.  The representatives of the Law and the Prophets were two witnesses to Messiah Jesus’ upcoming death (Lk.9:30-31).  Note that the Transfiguration occurred after John the Baptizer was beheaded (back in Mt.14:10).  Elijah couldn’t have been present in the Transfiguration if John was still alive in Judea.

The commission given to John the Baptizer as “My messenger” (Mal.3:1, Is.40:3 & Mk.1:2-4) came to pass in the 1^st century AD, although unconverted Jews still don’t think John was the prophesied Elijah.

Rebirth to physical life was a common belief in Bible times.  Elijah was expected to personally appear on the scene.  Philo Judaeus (ca 20 BC – 50 AD) wrote of the Lógos (Greek), the Word of God.  Works of Philo: The Special Laws 1, p.541 “Now the image of God is the Logos [Word], by which all the world was made.”  The apostle John affirmed in Jn.1:1-4, 14, all things came into being through the primordial Logos/Word who became Jesus in the flesh.  Philo preceded the apostle John.

Philo also wrote in On Dreams 1:138-139, “Now of souls some descend upon the earth with a view to be bound in mortal bodies. Of these, those which are influenced by a desire for mortal life, and familiarized to it, again return to it.”  According to Philo, some Jews returned to a physical life and others didn’t.  (This wasn’t the false New Age belief of transmigration of souls into lower animal bodies!)

Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 18:1:3-5 “Pharisees believe souls have an immortal rigor, and under the earth [cf. Paul’s Php.2:10] there will be rewards or punishments. Virtuous souls have the power to revive and live again, the vicious to be detained….The doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the body…The Essenes teach immortality of souls and esteem that the rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for.”  Pharisees & Essenes thought there was life after death.  Paul had been a Pharisee.

Roman author Pliny (23–79 AD) wrote admirably of the Essenes.  Biblical Archaeology Review Spring 2020, p.49 quotes Pliny. “So fruitful for them [Essenes] is the repentance which others feel for their past lives. Natural History 5:17:4.”

Jews who encountered Jesus thought He too had lived previously.  Some mistakenly thought Jesus was the expected Elijah to come, or that Jesus was John the Baptizer reincarnated.  Mk.6:14-16 “People were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him [Jesus].’ But others were saying, ‘He is Elijah.’ When Herod heard of it, he kept saying, ‘John, who I beheaded, has risen!”  Evidently Herod didn’t hold to the Sadducean doctrine of no resurrection.

Others thought Jesus was an Old Testament prophet (other than Elijah) returned to life.  Jesus asked His disciples in Mt.16:13-14, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They answered Him, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.”  Some of Jesus’ countrymen thought He was Jeremiah (lived ca 650–570 BC) physically alive again.  Why Jeremiah?  Jeremiah had prophesied of the future Messiah (Je.23:5-6) and New Covenant (Je.31:31-ff).  Both Jeremiah and Jesus were persecuted by Jewish leaders who opposed them (cf. Je.20:7-10).  JFB Commentary Mt.16:14 “Jeremiah…suggested by a supposed resemblance between the ‘man of sorrows’ [Is.53:3 Messiah] and the ‘weeping prophet’ [Je.9:1, 13:17]?”  Jeremiah’s book of “Lamentations” means “weeping”.  So it is perhaps understandable why some would (wrongly) think Jesus & Jeremiah were the same human spirit.

Jn.9:1-3 Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus about the man born blind from birth.  “His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he should be born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents, but in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.”  Jesus then displayed the works of God by miraculously giving sight to this man.

We understand, a human embryo or fetus in the womb doesn’t commit sin.  Jesus’ disciples assumed the man sinned in a past life and his blindness in this life was the payback; he was reaping what he’d sowed.  Or else the man’s blindness was caused by some sin committed by his parents.  Jn.9:34 Pharisees who opposed Jesus accused this man of being “born entirely in sin”.  Although sin wasn’t the cause with this man, Jesus didn’t tell His disciples that a person couldn’t have sinned in a prior physical body.

Gill Exposition Jn.9:2 “The disciples asked whether this man had sinned in a pre-existent state when in another body. This notion, Josephus says, was embraced by the Pharisees.”  Barnes Notes “Many of the Jews believed…that the soul of a man, in consequence of sin, might be compelled into other bodies, and be punished there.”  The nature of the past life sins may not be capital crimes or wholly evil.  Ellicott Commentary ties Jn.9:2 to the apocrypha book Wisdom of Solomon 8:20. “Being rather good, I came into a body undefiled” (KJV 1611 edition).  He’d been more good than evil; his rebirth body had no congenital defects.  (In Mt.12:42, Jesus referred to the “wisdom of Solomon” 6:1.)  Jesus didn’t tell His disciples that belief in a rebirth from a mother’s womb (as Job believed, Jb.1:21) was erroneous.

Jn.5:28-29 Jesus said that from the graves there is resurrection to eternal Life (Strongs g2222, Greek) for those who did good, and resurrection to judgment for those who didn’t.  Judgment involves evaluation.  Ac.24:15 Paul said there shall be “a resurrection of both the just and the unjust”.  Cambridge Bible Jn.5:29 “This passage and Ac.24:15 are the only direct assertions in the New Testament of a bodily resurrection of the wicked.”  (also cf. Da.12:2 with Je.23:40.)

He.11:35 a resurrection to eternal Life with a spiritual body is better than resuscitation, and better than resurrection to another physical life.  1Co.15:44 that which is planted a natural physical body is raised a spiritual body.  Paul is referring to the just who believed, repented, and lived by the Holy Spirit.  (see “Life and Death – for Saints”.)  The just were “firstfruits” (Ja.1:18, Re.14:4), rising to eternal Life.  The just who sowed good works reap a spiritual body to be with the Lord.

He.9:27 all die at least once physically.  cf. deaths: He.11:35, Jn.11:44, 1Ki.17:22, 2Ki.4:35.  Re.20:14 a second death which terminates consciousness is indicated for the very few.  (see “Gehenna (2) – Lake of Unquenched Fire”.)  Yet based upon God’s principle of justice seen in De.19:21, “life for life”…there wouldn’t be a second death without a second life preceding it!  To hear the name Jesus, believe, repent.

Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.1064 “It is at least conceivable that there may be a purification or transformation of all who are capable of such…and that in the end of what we call time, only that which is morally incapable of transformation, be it men or devils, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.”  (Also, some few view the lake of fire as a refiner’s fire of purification.)

So what do the scriptures reflect will be the final result when every human, BC and AD, has had ample opportunity to hear of salvation via Jesus’ sacrifice, and time to show belief and repentance from sin?

Re.5:11-14 “And every [g3956] created thing – which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all [g3956] that are in them – I heard saying ‘To the One who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [Jesus], be blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the ages of the ages. Amen.”  Ellicott Commentary Re.5:13 “The whole universe joins in this grand acclaim.”  Barnes Notes “Ascribing praise. All worlds seem to join in it.”  JFB Commentary “The universal chorus of creation.”  Every creature.

So this is total.  At this time all will worship, giving honor and praise to the Lord.  This is done of their own free will.  2Ti.1:10 Jesus has “abolished death”!  There are none left in a hell agony, resisting God!

John envisioned in Re.21:1, 4 “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist. He [God] shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death will not exist any more; or mourning or crying or pain; for the former things have ceased to exist.”  There’s no cries of pain & torment from a hell-fire!  Gill Exposition Re.21:4 “There will be nothing to afflict the mind.”

What great news this is in regards to our ancestors, family members, friends & loved ones who died unconverted/unsaved!  Their ultimate fate isn’t eternal conscious torment in hell!  The same goes for “all Israel” (not just a remnant).  And for the unnamed multitudes who lived in BC times.  God is so good!

Needless to say, Christians should hope that Universal Salvation for all through Jesus will eventually be a reality in the ages to come.  God’s loving, impartial plan for mankind, created in His image, is greater than we’ve thought!  Praise the Lord!

Gehenna (1) – Valley of Unquenched Fire

In several of our Bible translations, there are four original language terms commonly rendered as “hell”…Sheol, Hádes, Tartaróo, Géhenna.  This topic is about Gehenna.

The Greek term Gehenna occurs 12 times in the New Testament (NT).  “Gehenna” is rendered “hell” in many (but not all) Bibles.  “Hell” is more an interpretation, not actually a translation.  Gehenna (Strongs g1067) occurs in: Mt.5:22, 29-30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, 33; Mk.9:43-47; Lk.12:5; Ja.3:6.

Gehenna was a location, a particular place.  It’s a proper noun.  As such, it is better left untranslated, as “Gehenna” (transliterated from the Greek Gé-en-na)…not rendered “hell”.  For example, places such as Jericho, Silicon Valley, Milky Way, etc., aren’t translated in normal English usage.  Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) is one that leaves the term Gehenna untranslated.  Gehenna isn’t a common noun.

The term Gehenna came from the Old Testament (OT) valley of the son of Hinnóm, which occurs 13 times in the OT.  The 13 OT occurrences of Hinnom (Strongs h2011, Hebrew noun) are: Jsh.15:8 (2), 18:16 (2); 2Ki.23:10; 2Ch.28:3, 33:6; Ne.11:30; Je.7:31-32, 19:2, 6, 32:35 (39:35 Septúagint/LXX).  Hinnom means lamentation.  Hinnom is Ennom in the OT Greek LXX.

Historians have located the steep Gehenna valley or ravine below the SW wall of ancient Jerusalem.  It was in the territory allotted to the tribe of Judah (Jsh.15:1, 8), and converges with the Kidrón valley.

Jsh.15:8 is the earliest reference to this “valley of Hinnom”.  2Ch.28:1-3 Judah’s idolatrous king Aház sacrificed his sons there to the false god Molech!  King Josiah desecrated the sacrificial site in 2Ki.23:10. “He defiled Tópheth [h8612 place of fire/burning] in the valley of the son of Hinnom.”

Traditionally, this ravine below Jerusalem later became a constantly burning rubbish heap.  Vincent’s Word Studies Mt.5:22 “Ge-hinnom…it became the common refuse-place of the city, into which the bodies of criminals, carcasses of animals, and all sorts of filth were cast.”

And the valley also became a prophesied place of slaughter filled with human corpses.

Is.30:31-33 prophesied that the army of Assyrian King Sennacheríb under general Rabshakéh (Is.36:2) would camp at Topheth, as a funeral pyre site in the valley.  Is.37:36 there 185,000 of them died!

After Josiah’s death, Judah returned to the heathen practice of human sacrifice in the Hinnom valley/Topheth.  Therefore, Jeremiah prophesied it would become a place of future national judgment!  Je.7:30-34 “The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘When it will no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter. For the Land will become a ruin.”  The Lord would judge Judah and Jerusalem (v.34) with death & destruction for their detestable sacrifices.

The entire chapter of Je.19 is a prophecy about the valley of ben-Hinnom (son of Hinnom) or Gehenna, in more detail.  The Lord declared in Je.19:7, “Judah and Jerusalem…in this place I shall cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies; and I shall give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.”  In the valley of ben-Hinnom, the valley of Slaughter (v.6).

Je.21:10 “For I [the Lord] will set My face against this city for harm….It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”  King Nebuchadnézzar burned Jerusalem in 586 BC.  This fulfillment is seen in Je.52:12-15.  The residue of the people were exiled to Babylon.

After Jews returned from Babylonian captivity, the last OT chronological reference to the valley of Hinnom is Ne.11:30.  Some returning Jews encamped there.

There are 12 NT occurrences of the term Gehenna g1067.  All but one occurrence is in the words of Jesus found in the gospel accounts (mostly in Matthew).  The sole exception is Ja.3:6 (figurative).

The term Gehenna doesn’t appear in the book of Acts, nor in any of Paul’s letters, nor in other epistles (only once in James)!  That may seem like a strange omission?!  But Gehenna was traditionally the Jerusalem dump.  It wouldn’t have the same significance in the foreign cities of the NT epistles.

John the Baptizer prophesied of unquenched fire in Mt.3:11-12, mixing in figurative language. “He [Jesus] will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  The Greek for unquenchable fire was  ásbestos pur (g762 g4442).  The wheat and chaff represent people.  John was speaking to residents of Jerusalem/Judea (v.4-5).  In OT language, unquenched fire related to God’s judgment!  This was an analogy known to listeners of John & Jesus in the Holy Land.  Following are verses about unquenched fire from the OT:

Is.34:5, 9-10 “Judgment upon Edom, a people that I [the Lord] have devoted to destruction….Its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched, night or day. Its smoke shall go up forever.”  Unquenched fire was part of God’s judgment upon the land of Edom in 583 BC.  (It wasn’t ever-burning hell-fire torment!)  Pulpit Commentary Is.34:10 “There was a literal fulfillment of the prophecies against Edom….”

Amos prophesied to Israel with warnings ca 750 BC.  Am.5:6 KJV “Seek the Lord that you may live, lest He break forth like a fire in the house of Joseph [the northern kingdom of Israel, v.1], and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethél.”  Unquenched fire in Israel.  Benson Commentary Am.5:6 “All your idols in Bethel shall not be able to quench it…or save them from God’s judgments.”

Ezk.20:47-48 “Say to the forest of the Négev: Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I Am going to kindle a fire in you…the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and the whole surface from north to south will be burned by it. All flesh shall see…it shall not be quenched.”  Unquenched fire in the Negev, a large arid region in southern Judah.  Matthew Poole Commentary Ezk.20:47 “The Chaldean forces…it will be a raging and swift fire. All means that can be used will not avail to quench this fire, till it has burnt up all.”  Judeans remaining alive were taken captive to Chaldea/Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.

Je.7:17, 20 “Do you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem? Thus says the Lord God, ‘My anger and wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast…it will burn and not be quenched.  (also ref v.32, quoted previously.)  Je.17:27b “I [the Lord] shall kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”  Unquenched fire.  This was the background for Jesus’ warnings for Judah & Jerusalem in the book of Matthew!

Isaiah also prophesied of fire unquenched.  Is.66:24 “Then they shall gaze upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me [the Lord]. For their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched.”  Human corpses (not spirits) were linked to unquenched fire.  Barnes Notes Is.66:24 “The Hebrew word (tolá) refers to the worms [maggots] which are generated in such corrupting bodies.”  Cambridge Bible “Some place in the vicinity of Jerusalem, no doubt the valley of Hinnom.”  The passage refers to putrefying human carcasses, physical flesh.  And it’s also interpreted as imagery.

Jesus spoke of unquenched fire in the passage of Mk.9:43-48, tying Mk.9:48 to Is.66:24.  (Mk.9:44, 46 aren’t found in the best ancient manuscripts, cf. Mt.18:8-9.)  Mk.9:47-48 YLT “It is better for you one-eyed to enter the reign [kingdom] of God, than having two eyes be cast into the gehenna of the fire, where their worm is not dying and the fire is not being quenched.”  Jesus’ disciples knew the location of the Gehenna ravine by Jerusalem.  Mk.9:43-48 also relates to Je.7:20, 32.

Then in 70 AD, Titus’ Roman army came and starved/burned Jerusalem; there were myriads of corpses in valleys!  Josephus Wars of the Jews 5:7:3-4 “Jews cast them down from the walls into the valleys beneath. Titus saw the valleys full of dead bodies.”  Je.7:32 was fulfilled in both 586 BC and 70 AD.

Later, Eusébius (263–339 AD) Ecclesiastical History 6:41:15 described the martyrdom of Christians in Alexandria, Egypt. “They were carried on camels through the city, scourged, and finally consumed in unquenchable fire [asbestos puri].”  (Everlasting torment in hell-fire wasn’t meant!)  This is the same two Greek terms for “unquenchable fire”, asbestos puri, found in Mt.3:12 (and Lk.3:17).  R. Tennant Shaw Day Thoughts on the New Testament “Christians at Alexandria…were scourged and burned in unquenchable fire. The fire burned until it consumed the victims.”  Fire goes out when all combustible matter is consumed or burned up.

Again, the term Gehenna occurs 12 times in the NT, 11 of which are the words of Jesus.

Jesus told His disciples in Mt.10:28 YLT, “Be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill [g615] the soul [g5590 psuché], but rather fear Him who is able both soul [g5590] and body to destroy [g622] in gehenna”.  Lk.12:4-5 is a parallel passage.  Robertson’s NT Word Pictures Lk.12:5 “Gehenna, valley of Hinnom…was a place of all kinds of refuse which burned ceaselessly and became a symbol of punishment in the other world.”  Gehenna as imagery.

However, in scripture, both God and humans killed souls (g5590 psuche)!  The soul/life (g5590) is in the blood.  Le.17:11 LXX “The soul/life [g5590] of flesh is its blood.”  (also ref Ge.9:4, De.12:23.)   The Lord stated in Le.23:30 LXX, “Every soul [g5590] which shall do work on that day [of Atonement], that soul [g5590] shall be destroyed [g622] from among its people”.  The Lord destroyed souls.  Ja.4:12 “There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy [g622].”  God declared in De.32:39 LXX, “I kill [g615], and I shall make alive”.  The Lord destroys and kills (souls).

A woman said in 2Sm.14:7 LXX, “Give up the one that smote his brother, and we will put him to death for the soul [g5590] of his brother, whom he killed [g615].”  A man (not God) killed this soul!  Also Elijah complained to the Lord in 1Ki.19:10 LXX, “I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, for the children of Israel…have killed [g615] Thy prophets with the sword, and I only am left, and they seek my soul [g5590] to take it.”  They wanted to kill Elijah’s soul, residing in his lifeblood.

Mt.2:16 King Herod the Great killed all the male children of Bethlehem in their second year and under.  The child Jesus wasn’t there; He was in Egypt.  Later, an angel instructed Joseph in Egypt in Mt.2:20. “Arise and take the Child [Jesus]…into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s soul [g5590] are dead.”  Herod the Great, who’d wanted to kill the soul of the infant Jesus, had died.

So both the Lord and humans killed souls in the OT.  Matthew too indicated in Mt.2:16-20 that humans can kill souls [g5590].  Therefore it is difficult to interpret Matthew’s account of the Lord’s implication later in Mt.10:28 as…humans are unable to kill souls [g5590]!  It’d be contradictory or inconsistent.

Rather, it seems Jesus was relating the Mt.10:28 “fear Him who is able both soul and body to destroy” to the Is.10:18 (ESV). “The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body”.  The expression “both soul and body” indicated a total destruction.  Sennacherib’s army would be wiped out.  (see Is.37:36-37.)  Gill Exposition Is.10:18 “The Assyrian army is compared to a ‘forest’, for the large number of men in it.”  Pulpit Commentary Is.10:18 “Isaiah shows that he is speaking of the Assyrian people, not of the land or its products. Their destruction….”  Steve Gregg All You Want To Know About Hell, p.94 “The destruction of ‘both soul and body’ is elsewhere used as an idiom simply meaning ‘to destroy thoroughly’, without reference to a post-mortem fate. We find this precedent in Isa.10:18.”  It wasn’t a fate of eternal hell-fire conscious torment.

Lk.12:4-5-ff is parallel to Mt.10:28.  Jesus continued in Lk.12:49, “I’ve come to cast fire upon the earth [Land]”.  Again, John the Baptizer also had told the opposing Pharisees & Sadducees in Mt.3:12 that “He [Jesus] will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”.

Unquenchable fire against nations was OT language known by those Jews; it related to God’s judgment of peoples.  Ellicott Commentary Lk.12:49 “The fire which He [Jesus] came to send is the fire of judgment upon the chaff.”  Peter Pett Lk.12:49 “By these words He [Jesus] is declaring God’s judgment upon the Jewish people…because of their rejection of Him and His message.”  LifeMessenger: Fire on the Earth “The fire that was about to fall on the ‘earth’ (literally land, alluding to Israel as the Promised Land) was the fall of Jerusalem…in 70 AD, a mere 40 years on.”  Titus burned Jerusalem & the temple.

Again, Gehenna fire is also used as imagery.  This topic is continued and concluded in “Gehenna (2) – Lake of Fire.”

Jewish Sects of the 1st Century (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Jewish Sects of the 1^st Century (1)”.

Harvard scholar Jacob Neusner wrote that there were several ‘Judaisms’.  We’re identifying seven Jewish religious sects & groups that were extant in the Holy Land in the 1^st century…when Jesus lived as a Jew and the temple still existed.  Part 1 discussed: #1 Scribes, #2 Pharisees, #3 Sadducees.  Material in Part 1 won’t be repeated here in Part 2.  We’ll resume the discussion now with group #4.

#4 HERODIANS: Herodianói Strongs g2265, Greek noun; it occurs 3 times in the New Testament (NT).  This party of Hellenistic Jews was partisan to Herod and submitted to Rome.  Herodiáns wielded political power.  They may have been religious Sadducees (see Part 1).

In 40 BC Rome had appointed an Edomite, Herod 1 the Great, as ‘King of Judea’.  (Ending 100 years of Jewish Hasmónean rule, from 140 BC.)  Herod the Great died soon after Christ’s birth (Mt.2:19).  Herod’s kingdom was divided upon his death; his three sons became tetrarchs of provinces in the area.

Herodians are mentioned in Mt.22:16, Mk.3:6, Mk.12:13.  Mk.3:6 “The Pharisees went out and began conspiring with the Herodians against Him [Jesus], how they might destroy Him.”  It seems that tetrarch Herod Ántipas viewed Jesus as a ‘formidable rival’, so Herod’s devotees even joined with Pharisees in wanting to get rid of Jesus.  (Alfred Edersheim The Life And Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.739.)  Jesus warned His disciples in Mk.8:15, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod”.

Ro.16:11 the believer Herodíon (g2267), whom Paul noted, was a relative Jew possibly from Herod’s family.  The Iduméan Herod 1 the Great had been raised as a Jew.  Barnes Notes Ro.16:7 “These persons [Andrónicus and Junías] and Herodian Ro.16:11, it seems probable they were remote relatives of the apostle [Paul].”  Aristóbulus 5 of Chálcis was Herod 1’s grandson (Ro.16:10?).

The Herodians, though Hellenistic (like the Sadducees), wanted Jewish rule in Judea.  As did the Pharisees.  But the Herodians sought this via a Herodian dynasty on the throne, whereas the Pharisees wanted a restored Davidic dynasty to rule.

Wikipedia: Herodian Dynasty “The Herodian was a royal dynasty of Idumean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom and later the Herodian Tetrárchy, as vassals of the Roman Empire.”

Some scholars think there may have been Herodians who regarded Herod himself as a Messiah.  (cf. Ac.12:20-23 the 44 AD death of the showy tetrarch Herod Agríppa 1, grandson of Herod the Great.)

The rule of the Herods ended in the 90s AD, with the death of tetrarch Herod Agrippa 2 (before whom Paul had appeared decades earlier ca 60 AD, Ac.25:13-ff).

#5 ZEALOTS: The Zealots began as Jewish guerrilla bands, active in Galilee in the 1^st century.  They became the Nationalist political party.  Their purpose was to incite the people of Judea to rebel against the dominance of (gentile) Rome, and forcefully remove it from the Land.  The Zealots have been called the ‘extreme opposite’ of the Herodian party.

The Zealots aren’t mentioned in the Bible.  Though the Zealots weren’t a religious group, they favored the Pharisees (not the Sadducees).  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 18:1:6 “These men [Zealots] agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord.”  Josephus referred to the Zealots as the ‘fourth sect’  (after the Pharisees, Sadducees, Éssenes).

One of Jesus’ twelve original disciples was Simon the Cananaéan/zealot.  Simon is called a Cananaean (g2581) in Mt.10:4 & Mk.3:18.  Luke calls him a zealot (g2208 zelotés) in Lk.6:15 & Ac.1:13.  Jacobus de Voragine The Golden Legend “Zelotes is the equivalent of Cana, because cana means zeal.”  The New Theological Movement “St. Simon, ‘the Canaanite’ not from Canaan and ‘the Zealot’ who was no Zealot. Indeed, the name ‘Canaanite’ is closely related to the Hebrew word for ‘zealous.”  Simon the zealous disciple of Jesus likely wasn’t part of the violent Zealot political movement!

The Zealots followed John of Gischála during the Roman–Jewish War of 66–73 AD, taking control of Jerusalem and the temple…until Rome destroyed both Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD.  Zealot holdouts took the Masáda fortress near the Dead Sea…until they were all found dead by suicide in 73 AD.

#6 ESSENES: The Essenes were a significant sect, though fewer in number than the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The origin of the name ‘Essenes’ is uncertain.  They began to emerge 130–100 BC, as a devout group.  Many scholars think the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), discovered in 1947 at the Qumrán caves near the NW shore, were written by Essenes.

The Essenes were an ascetic sect.  Josephus Wars of the Jews 2:8:2 “There are three philosophical sects among the Jews. The followers of the first are the Pharisees; the second the Sadducees; the third who pretends to a severer discipline are called Essenes. These seem to have a greater affection for one another than other sects have.”  Essenes lived together communally.  Wikipedia: Essenes “Accounts by Josephus and Philo show the Essenes lived a strictly communal life, often compared to later Christian monasticism.”

Essenes were overly concerned with ritual purity.  The concept “works of the law” (Paul wrote against it, e.g. Ga.2:16) is found as Essene rituals in the DSS document 4QMMT.  It related to their sectarian solar calendar, purity regulations & cooking utensils, ceremony, the intermarriage of priests, etc.

Essenes were celibate.  Josephus ibid “They neglect wedlock, but choose out other persons’ children.”  Essenes adopted children.  Continuing in Wars 2:8:3, “These men are despisers of riches.”  Wars 2:8:5 “As for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary.”  Wars 2:8:6 “They are eminent for fidelity.”  Josephus notes other characteristics and observations of Essenes throughout Wars Book 2: Chapter 8.

Essenes rejected the sacrificial system of the Jerusalem temple and the priesthood, which had become corrupt.  Antiquities of the Jews 18:1:5 “The doctrine of Essenes is: They teach immortality of souls. They do not offer sacrifices, because they have more pure lustrations [ceremonial purification rites] of their own. There are about 4,000 men that live this way, and neither marry wives nor keep servants.”  Philo wrote in Every Good Man Is Free 12:75-84, “They do not make armaments….They honor virtue”.  The writings of Josephus and Philo show an admiration for the Essenes.

Edersheim op. cit., p. 226 “One of their [Essenes] largest colonies being by the shore of the Dead Sea. They also had ‘houses’ in most cities of Palestine. In these houses they lived in common, under officials of their own. They partook of common meals, and devoted themselves to works of charity.”  It seems the moral conduct and good works of the Essene brotherhood resembled in some respects that of 1^st century Jewish Christians.

However, there are no direct Bible references to the Essenes.  Edersheim op. cit., p.225 “We may feel certain: neither John the Baptist…nor the teaching of Christianity, had any connection with Essénism.”  Yet there are scholars who think some Essenes became Jewish Christian Ebionites.  That is conjecture.

The Essene sect disappeared after 70 AD.  Their law interpretations weren’t brought into orthodox Judaism.

#7 NAZARENES: Nazoráios g3480 Greek noun.  It occurs 15 times in the NT, all but once (Ac.24:5) as “Jesus the Nazarene”.

Nazarénes were the new sect of Jewish Christians who believed Jesus/Yeshúa is their prophesied Messiah.  Nazarenes weren’t the same as Old Testament Nazarítes h5139 (who took consecration vows, Nu.6).  Ellicott Commentary Mt.2:23 “Any reference to Nazarite vows is out of the question.”

Why was the new sect of believers called the Nazarenes?  Following are the reasons:

Nazaréth [g3478, 12 occurrences] was the town in Galilee where Jesus grew up.  Lk.2:39 “their own city Nazareth.”  Mt.2:23 “He lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene [g3480].”  Dwellers of Nazareth were called Nazarenes or Nazoréans.  Thus Jesus the Nazarene.  Gill Exposition Mt.2:23 “Christ is often called Jesus of Nazareth, or the Nazarene, and His followers Nazarenes, from the place of his habitation.”

In Mt.2:23, Mathew referred to “prophets” in general, not one specifically by name.  Isaiah prophesied of Jesus as a figurative Branch.  Is.11:1-2 “A rod shall come forth out of the stem of Jesse [David’s father], a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him.”  (cf. 60:21 branch).  The Hebrew term used by Isaiah for “branch” was náy-tser h5342.  Its sound resembled “Nazarene”.  Jews occasionally used a play-upon-words in their parlance.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.2:23 “It is evident that the Jews connected this name [náy-tser] closely with Jesus the Nazarene, and…saw a connection between it and ‘the Branch’ of Isaiah 11:1.”  Nazarenes were followers of “the Branch”.

Residents of the town Nazareth in Galilee were disliked in general.  Jn.1:46 “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth [g3478]?”  Furthermore, the Pharisees said to Nicódemus in Jn.7:52, “No prophet arises out of Galilee”.

The Jewish authorities disapproved of the new sect.  Benson Commentary Mt.2:23 “Now it is certain the Nazarene was a term of contempt and infamy put upon Christ [cf. Is.53:3], both by unbelieving Jews and Gentiles.”  They also rejected His followers, calling the sect “Nazarenes”.

The Jewish high priest’s attorney said to governor Felix, Ac.24:5, “We have found this man [Paul] to be a real pest, stirring up dissension among all the Jews, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes [g3480]”.  He charged Paul with being a heretical leader.  Gill Exposition Ac.24:5 “Nazarenes…so called by way of contempt and reproach.” “Nazarenes” was a term of reproach. (cf. 1Pe.4:14, Ro.15:3.)

Ray A. Pritz Nazarene Jewish Community, p.15 “The name Nazarenes was at first applied to all Jewish followers of Jesus. Until the name Christian became attached to the Antióchian non-Jews [Ac.11:26], this meant that the name signified the entire Church, not just a sect. So in Ac.24:5 the reference is not to a sect of Christianity, but rather to the entire primitive Church as a sect of Judaism.”  (For the early church being viewed as a sect of Judaism, see “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome”.)

However, apostolic era Jews who believed Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah referred to themselves as…“The Way” g3598.  Paul said to Felix in Ac.24:14, “I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect [or heresy] do I serve the God of our fathers”.  (ref Ac.24:22, 9:2.)  “The way” g3598 is seen in the Greek Septúagint/LXX.  Is.40:3 LXX “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare you the way [g3598] of the Lord, make straight the paths for our God.”  The Is.40:3 prophecy is tied to John the Baptizer in Jn.1:23, Mt.3:3, Mk.1:3-4, Lk.3:4.  Also, “the way” (g3598) back to the Tree of Life was guarded by cherubim in Ge.3:24 LXX.  Jesus is the figurative door (Jn.10:7) of the Way to eternal Life.

Church History: The Ancient Nazarenes “The early Church of God, referred to by some as the Nazarenes, left Jerusalem [for Pella, 66 AD] just before the Roman armies of Titus destroyed the city in AD 70. The Church of God then continued to settle and migrate throughout the areas of Asia Minor and later into Europe.”  Those Jewish Christians fled into Jordan, migrated to Syria…and beyond.  Their legacy is the Jewish Christians of today and Christianity.

Those who believed in Jesus became known as Christians, Christianós g5546, Greek noun.  Ac.11:26 “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”  Greek was commonly spoken in Antioch.  In Ac.26:28, Herod Agrippa 2 referred to believers as Christians, ca 59 AD.  Peter wrote to a mixed group of Jew & gentile believers in Asia Minor (1Pe.1:1), ca 64–65 AD.  1Pe.4:16 they’re called Christians.

Conclusion to this two-part topic: The Herodians, the Zealot Nationalist party, and the Essenes…became extinct.  A remnant of the Sadducees may be the Karaíte Jews, which still exist.  Phárisaism is the basis of rabbinic or Talmúdic Judaism today.  Wikipedia: Pharisees “The Pharisees preserved the Pharisáical oral law in the form of the Talmud.”  That’s become normative Judaism.  Although the Talmud is meaningful for the Jewish people, it isn’t necessary for salvation.

Jesus/Yeshua said in Jn.14:6, “I Am the way (g3598), the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”  Jesus is The Way…the only way!  In no other name is there salvation for mankind (spoken by Peter in Ac.4:10-12)!

Zechariah Son of Berechiah, Mt.23:35

Zechariah is a very common name in the Old Testament (OT).  There are 25–30 men named Zechariah.  The name means ‘Yah Remembers’.  In Mt.23:31-38, Jesus connected Jewish leaders of His day to the murderers of God’s prophets of old.  He said they will kill His prophets and servants.  Jesus referred to a Zechariah among those prophets.  Which Zechariah (Zech) was Jesus referring to specifically?

Mt.23:31-38 is the passage in question.  Jesus accused the scribes & Pharisees. “You’re the descendants of those which killed the prophets. You brood of vipers. I am sending you prophets; some of them you will kill and crucify. That upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth [or Land]; from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariáh [Zacharías in Greek], the son of Berechiáh [Barachías in Greek], who you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. O Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets.”  Also Lk.11:46-51 is a parallel passage. “Woe to you lawyers. That the blood of all the prophets may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who was killed between the altar and the house of God.”

It seems that Jesus’ words were no idiom.  The Jewish nation put to death God’s prophets, innocent victims.  For example 2Ki.24:3-4, wicked King Manasséh of Judah shed much innocent blood.

Why would Jesus link those Jewish leaders to Abel?  The first recorded murder in the Bible is well-known.  Ge.4:8-10 “Cain rose up and killed Abel his brother. The Lord said to Cain, ‘The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”  Jerusalem Targum Ge.4:10 paraphrase reads, “The voice of the bloods [plural] of the multitude of the righteous that shall spring from Abel thy brother”.  Targum Ónkelos “The voice of the blood of the seed that shall rise from thy brother.”  The scribes & Pharisees didn’t kill Abel.  But Jewish traditional belief held that innocent bloods (which defiled the land, Nu.35:33) collectively continued to beseech God for justice against their murderers (Abot. R Nathan, c. 31).  Also He.11:4 & 12:24, “The sprinkling of [Jesus’] blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel”.  (Mercy is better than vengeance.)  So Jesus too traditionally connected them to Abel.

Four criteria are apparent in the accusation or implication of guilt made by Jesus in Mt.23:

1 Jesus said Zech is the son of Berechiah/Barachias.  This common name meant ‘Blessed of Yah’.

2 Jesus indicated Zech was the last one slain.  Jesus could mean last by order of: the Greek OT (Malachi is the end book), or the Jewish/Tanakh OT (2Chr is now the end book), or the latest murder before Jesus spoke Mt.23, or Jesus prophesied of a final slaying before the temple destruction in 70 AD.

3 The Zech Jesus had in mind is killed between the sanctuary and altar (of burnt offering).  That holy area was located in the inner court/court of the priests (2Ki.21:5, 2Ch.4:9), where only priests (and assisting Levites) were permitted.  So it’s very unlikely Zech was a layman; most likely he was a priest.

4 There’s strong indication that the Zech Jesus meant was a prophet.  Four identifying criteria.

Also we’ll reference secondary texts…Biblical/religious and historical accounts, which corroborate or may serve as confirmation to Matthew’s (and Luke’s) New Testament account.

Of the many men named Zechariah/Zacharias in scripture (and Jewish history), only four seem feasible possibilities or candidates for the Zech/(Zach) Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35.

The four are: #1 Zech the son of Barúch.  #2 Zech the son of Jehoiadá.  #3 Zech the father of John the Baptizer.  #4 Zech the son of Berechiah or Iddó.  Let’s examine the likelihood of these four, one-by-one.

#1 Zech the son of Baruch.  Josephus wrote of this Zech in Wars of the Jews 4:5:4. “Zealots and Iduméans intended to have Zacharias the son of Baruch, one of the most eminent citizens, slain. Hatred of wickedness was in him. He was a rich man, who had great power to destroy them. He turned his speech to his accusers and went over all their transgressions and made heavy lamentation. Two of the boldest Zealots fell upon Zacharias in the middle of the temple and slew him.”

This #1 Zech/Zach is the son of a Baruch (not Barachias).  He was a prominent citizen, not a priest.  Josephus recorded this man’s final testimony, which may have been viewed in part as prophetic.  This account is a historical witness.  If Jesus was prophesying (Mt.23:35) of the last one to be slain, perhaps this eminent citizen was the last of note before Jerusalem was destroyed?  In 68 AD he was slain by Jewish Zealots in the middle of the temple, not between the sanctuary and altar (off-limits to laymen).  But Jesus probably was referring to a past event.  #1 Zech seems the least likely of the four candidates.

#2 Zech the son of Jehoiada.  His death is recorded in 2Ch.24:17-22. “The officials of Judah bowed to the king. They served idols. The Spirit of God came on Zechariah (LXX Azarías), son of Jehoiada the priest; he stood above the people and said, ‘God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has forsaken you.’ So they conspired against him; and at the command of the king [Joásh] stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. As he died he said, ‘May the Lord look upon it and require it.”  He was a priest, stoned circa (ca) 800 BC.

This #2 Zech was the son of Jehoiada, not Berechiah.  Perhaps Jehoiada was Zech’s famous long-lived grandfather (not father) who died at age 130 (2Ch.24:15), or Jehoiada had two names?  That’s conjecture.  Yet many scholars think this #2 Zech is the one Jesus had in mind.  In support of him as Jesus’ Zech is the Pulpit Commentary. “When he died, it is added, he said, ‘The Lord look upon it, and require it.’ This makes his case correspond to that of Abel, the voice of whose blood cried to God from the ground.”  Also Meyer’s NT notes from Jerome’s Commentary on Matthew. “In the Gospel of the Hebrews the wrong name (Berechiah) was carefully avoided, and the correct one, viz. Jehoiada, inserted instead.”  Jerome (400 AD) disputed the father name associated by Jesus in Mt.23:35 (ca 30 AD).

Since 2Ch is the final book in the present order of the Tanakh (Jewish OT), he’s the last Zech slain in today’s Tanakh (but dying in 800 BC, not the last chronologically).  However, there’s evidence that Chronicles wasn’t always the last book in the Tanakh.  For example, in both the Aléppo and Leningrad Codex (the oldest complete Masoretic text of scripture, 1000 AD), Chronicles begins the section of the Hebrew scriptures called the Writings/Ketúvim.  ref Encyclopedia Judaica.  Furthermore, Chronicles wasn’t the last book in Josephus’ 1^st century AD order of books.  Against Apion 1:8 “The remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for conduct.”  The last four were Psal, Prov, Eccl, SSol.

Even in the present order of the Tanakh, the last slain chronologically is governor Gedaliáh, in the 580s BC (Je.41:1-2).  That’s more than 200 years later than this Zech #2, son of Jehoiada.  (Zec.8:19 the fast of the 7^th month honored Gedaliah.)  Although scripture doesn’t call the son of Jehoiada (Zech #2) a prophet, he did speak the inspired judgment of God in 2Ch.24:20.  But a prophet slain 200 years later, ca 605 BC, is Uriáh (Je.26:20-24 below).  The #2 Zech was killed by the Jewish people or officials in the “court of the house of the Lord”.  Possibly that occurred in the great court of the first temple (Solomon’s) where the people were allowed (ref Je.26:2, 2Ch.4:9), not in the restricted inner court.  But Jesus said the Zech of Mt.23:35 was killed near the sanctuary and altar…in the priests’ inner court!

2Ch.24 is OT witness to the murder of a Zechariah/Azarias.  Yet if this #2 Zech is who Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35, He could have said “son of Jehoiada” instead of “son of Berechiah”…but He didn’t!  This Zech #2 fits two or possibly three of the criteria.  He was a priest, and he prophesied by the Spirit of God.  He being the last slain according to a 1^st century AD Tanakh order of books may be a stretch.

#3 Zech/Zach the father of John the Baptizer.  Lk.1:5 “In the days of Herod, there was a certain priest named Zacharias.”  This Zach/Zech was a priest.  v.13 “Zacharias, your wife Elizabeth will bear a son who you will name John.”  He’s the father of John the Baptizer (and is Jesus’ kin via Mary’s family).  v.67 “Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied.”  v.68-79 reflects Zach’s prophecy.

The Protevangélion of James (an Infancy gospel, so-called) says Herod’s men murdered him in the temple courtyard.  Prot Jas.16:14-25 “Zacharias replied to them, ‘I am a martyr for God, and if he [Herod] shed my blood, the Lord will receive my soul. Besides, know that you shed innocent blood.’ Zacharias was murdered about daybreak in the entrance of the temple and altar, and about the partition. The priests went into the temple. One of them saw congealed blood next to the altar of the Lord.”  It seems the soldiers of King Herod trespassed by entering the court of the priests.

Orthodox Church in America “The Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. They were descended from the lineage of Aaron: St Zachariah, son of Barach. In these tragic days St Zachariah was taking his turn at the services in the Temple. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered this holy prophet, having stabbed him between the temple and the altar (MT.23:35).”  And Orthodox Wiki “The holy prophet Zachariah, a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, was the son of Baruch, from the lineage of Aaron.”

The early theologian Origén (185–254 AD) thought Jesus had in mind this Zech #3.  So did Orthodox patriarch Peter I of Alexandria (300 AD).  Also Bishop Serápion The Life of John the Baptist “O pious Zacharias! In the time when the soldiers of Herod came….they killed him inside the Temple, the priests shrouded his body and placed it near that of his father Barechiah in a hidden cemetery, from fear of the wicked [king]. Titus, the Emperor of the Romans, came and destroyed Jerusalem and killed the Jewish priests for the blood of Zacharias, as the Lord ordered him.” (from A. Mingana Woodbrooke Studies: Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshuni, vol 1, Cambridge 1927, pp. 138-287.  Woodbrooke dates Serapion’s text to 385–395 AD, probably composed in Greek.)

The slaying of Zach/Zech #3 may have been the last of note before Jesus spoke His words recorded in Mt.23?  However, the death of the prophet John the Baptist in Mt.14:10 precedes Mt.23, yet probably occurred later than the death of his father Zacharias.  So the murder of John was perhaps last of note.

This #3 Zech fits most all the criteria.  He’s a prophet, a priest slain between the temple and altar, and is a son of Barechiah.  That is, if traditional accounts of his place of death and father’s name are correct.

#4 Zech the son of Berechiah (and the grandson of Iddo).  Ne.12:1, 4, 7, 16 “These are the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubabbél…Iddo…these were the heads of the priests and their relatives; of Iddo, Zechariah.”  As we’ll see below, he’s actually the grandson of Iddo, a chief priest.  Iddo may have been a more notable figure than his son Berechiah, or Berechiah could have died young.  Zech #4 returned from Babylon in the 530s BC.  In 520–518 BC he wrote the first part of the Bible book that bears his name.  Seventy years after the 586 BC destruction of the first temple and captivity, the second temple was completed in 516 BC.  (see the topic “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)  Ezr.6:14-16 “Zechariah the son of Iddo.”  He’s the last Zech (died 480s BC?) in the Greek OT order (became the LXX/Septúagint), which is also the order of books in most of our Bibles today (e.g. KJV).  And Matthew often quoted the Greek OT.

Zec.1:1 KJV & LXX “The word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo [Addo].”  The same is in v.7.  Zech #4 says he’s the son of Berechiah, and the grandson of Iddo.  This Zech is also the next-to-last OT prophet-writer (chronologically too).  Malachi is the last.

Targum on Lamentations is an Aramaic rendering/commentary dating from the early centuries AD.  TgLam.2:19 “Arise, O Congregation of Israel dwelling in exile. Pour out like water the crookedness of your heart and turn in repentance. And pray in the synagogue before the face of the Lord.”  TgLam2:20 “Is it right to kill priest and prophet, as when you killed Zechariah son of Iddo, the High Priest and faithful prophet in the Temple of the Lord on the Day of Atonement because he admonished you not to do evil before the Lord?”  TgLam.2:22 “You will declare freedom to your people, Israel, by the hand of King Messiah just as you did by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”  TgLam.1:19 “Jerusalem said, when she was delivered to Nebuchadnézzar, ‘I called to my friends, the sons of the nations, with whom I had made treaties to come to my aid. But they deceived me and turned to destroy me.’ (These are the Romans who entered with Titus and the wicked Vespasian against Jerusalem.)”  TgLam.4:22 “And after this your iniquity will be finished, O Congregation of Zion, and you will be freed by the hands of the King Messiah …, and the Lord will no longer exile you. And at that time I will punish your iniquities, wicked Rome, built in Italy and filled with Edomites.”  This TgLam asserts that Jews killed Zech #4, (grand) son of Iddo (and writer of the book of Zechariah), in the temple.

Also Tátian’s Diatéssaron gospel harmony (170 AD). “That there may come on you all the blood of the righteous that has been poured on the ground from the blood of Abel the pure to the blood of Zachariah the son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”  And Irenáeus refs Mt.23:35 in Against Heresies, Book 5:14:1 (180 AD). “All righteous blood shall be required which is shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, who you slew between the temple and the altar.”  So Mt.23:35 “son of Berechiah/Barachias” isn’t a later copyist error.

This #4 Zech fits all four criteria at face value…he’s the son of Berechiah, the last slain in the Greek OT, a priest, a prophet.  Although there’s no OT verse noting the death of Zech #4, there are traditional accounts of it.  For that matter…there’s no OT verse about Michael disputing with the devil in regards to Moses’ body either (Jude 9).  Nor are there any verses in the OT (Ex.7:11 or elsewhere) which cite Jannes & Jambres in Egypt (2Ti.3:8).  Yet Christians accept those persons as fact.  TgLam.2:20 saying Zech the descendant of Iddo was killed is significant, and thereby may further identify Jesus’ Zech.

There’s another Jewish tradition, which says the prophet Zechariah “died peacefully at a great age” (Lives of the Prophets 15:6).  Yet George Klein’s Zechariah “The Old Testament doesn’t record anything about the martyrdom of Zechariah the prophet, but rabbinic literature from the early Christian period suggests that ‘Zechariah son of Berechiah’ was murdered.”  And scholar Gleason L Archer in Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, “We can only conclude that the later Zechariah died in much the same way the earlier one (the son of Jehoiada) did, as a victim of popular resentment against his rebuke of their sins”.

In the book of Zechariah, it may be unclear whether the prophet, writing in 1^st person, means himself or Someone future.  e.g. Zec.12:10 “The inhabitants of Jerusalem…will look upon me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him.”  Gordon Churchyard Commentary “The dead man may be a prophet. Or it may mean the Lord.”  Zec.13:6 “What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then I will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”  Cambridge Bible note “As given him by his parents, from whose righteous indignation he had escaped wounded, when they went about to kill him (Zec.13:3).”  Pulpit Commentary “It seems most probable the answer is intentionally false and misleading; as if he had said, ‘The wounds were not made as you suppose, but are the result of what happened to me in my friends’ house.”  In His beloved house/nation.

Did Zech #4 the prophet-priest know that he himself would be slain, and therefore his prophecy have a dual fulfillment?  Then perhaps his book reflects both himself and Jesus condemned as a false prophet.

Also consider Isaiah’s prophecy.  Is.8:1-2 “The Lord said, ‘I will take to Myself faithful [Strongs g4103 LXX, Greek] witnesses [martyr g3144 LXX] for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of JeBerekiáh.”  The LXX reads, “Zacharias, son of Barachias”.  Is.8:2 doesn’t read “son of Jehoiada”.  Gill Exposition “Read Berekiah (ref Babylonian Talmud Maccot 24.2).”  Is.8:2 names two faithful witnesses, Uriah and Zechariah.  Benson Commentary “Persons of unquestionable reputation.”  Two victims.  cf. Re.2:13 “Antipas, My faithful [g4103] witness [martyr g3144] who was killed among you.”

First, Uriah the priest.  There was a priest named Uriah in 2Ki.16:10-16, living around 720 BC.  But he wasn’t faithful to God.  Geneva Bible Is.8:2 footnote “Uriah was a flattering hypocrite, 2Ki.16:11.”  JFB Commentary Is.8:2 “Uriah, an accomplice of Aház in idolatry (2Ki.16:10).”  Barnes Notes “In 2Ki.16:10, he was a man of infamous character…corrupting the true religion.”  (also cf. 2Ch.28:21-25.)  This Uriah was unfaithful to God, dubiously having the integrity to fulfill Is.8:2.

But there’s another Uriah, the prophet found in Je.26:20-24. “Who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiáh from Kiriáth-jearím; he prophesied against this city [Jerusalem] and this Land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. King Jehoiakím slew him.”  This Uriah was a true prophet, killed ca 605 BC.  Gill Exposition Is.8:2 “The Jewish commentators Járchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Abarbinél would have Uriah the prophet meant, who prophesied in the time of Jehoiakim and was slain by him, Je.26:20-23.”  This Uriah was the son of Shemaiah.  There was Shemaiah the Levite who served King Josiah in the first temple, 2Ch.35:9.  Mark Leuchter The Prophets and the Levites in Josiah’s Covenant Ceremony “Uriah of Je.26 presents a priestly Levite image…Uriah and Jeremiah addressed their own priestly kin.”  So the prophet Uriah in Je.26:20-23 is a priest, as the Uriah in Is.8:2 is a priest.  And he became a victim, due to his prophetic witness in the name of the Lord.

The second named in Is.8:2 is Zechariah the son of JeBerechiah (Barachias, LXX).  From Difficult Sayings “The Targum on Isaiah inserts the assertion that this was the as yet unborn prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.”  Rabbi Ákiva “Uriah was [in the time of] the First Temple, and Zechariah was [in the time of] the Second Temple! The Torah makes Zechariah’s prophecy dependent upon Uriah’s prophecy.”  Isaiah linked the (martyrs) prophets-priests Uriah and Zechariah.  Davar Akher writes, “Ecclesiastes Rabba (3:16), for example, speaks of both Zechariah and Uriah being murdered in such a fashion and the connection of the two names together is indicative of the fact that we are speaking of the Zechariah who served as a witness for Isaiah. This would mean that, along with the Rabbinic sources, Matthew’s gospel is equating Isaiah’s witness with the prophet named Zechariah – despite the fact that they lived hundreds of years apart.”  These sources are saying that Isaiah prophesied in Is.8:2 of the Zech #4 who would write the book of Zechariah 200 years later.

Conclusion: Based on the four criteria, the most likely Zechariah son of Berechiah who Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35 is either…Zech #4 the prophet-priest who wrote the book of Zechariah, or Zech/Zach #3 the father of John the Baptizer.  And Zech #2 the son of Jehoiada is (possibly a close) third.

Also, it’s not inconceivable that Jesus used the very common name/character Zechariah as a composite representation in Mt.23:35, melded to exemplify the murders historically done by the Jewish nation to some of God’s prophets.

Two Witnesses in the Bible

A verdict or judgment is delivered based upon witnesses.  In scripture, two witnesses were required to substantiate a legal matter.  Here we’ll take a historical look at God’s two witnesses from the Bible.

De.17:6 “On the evidence of two or three witnesses shall the condemned be put to death; not on the evidence of one witness.”  De.19:15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”  It’s not limited to public courts.  Jesus applied De.19:15 to disputes between church brothers in Mt.18:16. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses.”  1Ti.5:19 Paul instructed Timothy, “Don’t receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses”.  So we see in both Testaments (two!) that at least two witnesses are necessary.

Jesus confirmed the need for two witnesses in Jn.8:16-18.  There, Father God and Jesus Himself are as two witnesses (not one)!  Even God has His unique two witnesses!  The very first verse of the Bible, Ge.1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.  Is.1:2 “Listen O heavens and hear O earth, for the Lord speaks!”  Moses declared in De.32:1, “Give ear O heavens and let me speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth”.  Scripture shows that heaven and earth serve as two immutable witnesses for God.  And, as we’ll see below…it was the witnesses who put the condemned to death.

Moses told ancient Israel in De.30:19, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse”.  Also De.4:26 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you, that you shall surely perish from the Land.”  Furthermore, the law of God has its source in heaven; Christ gave it to Moses & Israel on earth.  The Decalogue was written by the finger of God (Ex.31:18)!  Then De.31:26-28 “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God that it be a witness against you…Call heaven and earth to witness against them.”  The Old Covenant law was authored by God in heaven for Israel on earth.

Not only did two witnesses testify, they also carried out the judgment or sentence.  De.17:7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be the first to put him to death.” (also Le.24:14, Jn.8:7)  They cast the first stone, as it were.  God commanded natural phenomena in the heavens and the earth, as two witnesses, to execute His judgments!  We read of thunder, lightning, wind, rain, hailstones, earthquakes, fire, famine carrying out His punishments.  Nu.16:31-32 “The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households.”  Is.29:6 “From the Lord you will be punished with thunder and earthquake, with whirlwind, tempest and a consuming fire.”  Ps.148:8 “Fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind fulfilling His word.”  The two witnesses act as God’s agents.  Re.16:17-21 “There were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake. And huge hailstones came down from heaven upon men.”  Also De.11:17 “The Lord will shut up the heavens so there will be no rain, and the earth won’t yield its produce, so you will perish from the Land.”  The guilty put to death by heaven & earth.

So heaven and earth were two witnesses.  (Earth isn’t a ‘heavenly body’ in scripture).  And God’s Old Covenant law was linked to both.  Words & actions aren’t hidden from the (figurative) ears & eyes of heaven and earth.  Jesus prayed to Father God, Mt.6:10 “Thy will be done, in heaven as it is on earth”.

Let’s now turn our focus to two Bible characters/witnesses through whom God worked miracles…Moses and Elijah.  They were witnesses for the true Deity.

Moses is the compiler, writer, transmitter (Jn.1:45) of the Law/Toráh, the first five books of the Bible.  Ex.3:13-15 the true Deity was revealed to Israel through Moses.  Ex.7:19-20 Moses turned water into blood, the first plague on Egypt.  Other plagues from God follow in Ex.8-12.  Ex.14:21 Moses was the agent to divide the water of the Reed Sea.  After YHVH freed the Israelites, Moses escorted them to Mt. Sinai, Ex.19:1-3, 10-17.  In Ex.30:25-30, Moses anointed with oil the tabernacle, ark and priests.  The Lord did miracles, judged Egypt, and governed the Israelites through Moses and the law of God.  In the end, Moses left this life in an unusual way (seemingly he wrote De.34:5-ff posthumously)!

“Elijah has been called the grandest and most romantic character Israel ever produced.” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary)  Elijah was active c 900–850 BC.  2Ki.1:7-8 his unusual appearance was easily identifiable.  Elijah was from the rugged highland area of Gileád in the tribe of Manasséh.  He wore a hairy garment with a leather belt, and a sheepskin cloak/mantle which he wrapped around his head (1Ki.19:13).

Many miracles were performed through Elijah/Eliyáh.  In 1Ki.18, he confronted King Aháb of Israel and the prophets of Báal.  Fire proceeded from YHVH to consume the sacrifice, showing God’s greater power!  EliYah means ‘Yahweh is El/God’…v.39 Eliyah restored knowledge of the true Deity to Israel.  1Ki.17:12-16 the oil supply miraculously continued for the widow and her son.  v.21-24 her son was brought back to life!  1Ki.17:1 prior to Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal, there’d been no rain for 3 ½ years (1,260 days).  1Ki.18:1-2, 40-45 finally, there’s rain (ref Ja.5:17-18, Lk.4:25)!  1Ki.19:15-16 Elijah to anoint kings of Syria & Israel.  2Ki.1:9-15 he called down fire from heaven.  2Ki.2:8 he too divided the water (as did Moses).  v.11-12 in the end, Elijah was transported to heaven!

The last Old Testament (OT) prophet Malachi (or ‘My Messenger’, Mal.3:1) appeared around 450 BC.  He prophesied that someday God’s messenger would come to prepare the way of the Lord (Jesus).  God said, Mal.4:4-6 “Remember the law of Moses My servant. I Am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts, lest I smite the Land with a curse.”

Our OT ends with that passage about Moses & Elijah and the warning from God.  That would be Elijah’s later commission.  J.H. Hertz Pentateuch and Haftorahs “Elijah was traditionally regarded as the advance Messenger who would appear at Passover and announce the dawn of the Messianic era.”  But first came the ‘Silent 400 Years’, when supposedly no one was given the Holy Spirit of prophecy.

Then following the so-called ‘Silent 400 Years’…the Messenger came on the scene.  At the time Jesus was born, holyland Jews thought the Messiah’s coming was imminent.  At the annual Passover meal, they’d even leave a door open and set a place with a wine glass at the table for the expected Elijah!

In fulfillment of Mal.3:1 & 4:6, the person who came on the scene in the 1^st century AD as the expected Elijah was…John the Baptizer.  Lk.1:13-17 “It is he who will go before Him [Jesus the Lord] in the spirit and power of Elijah.”  John was born six months before Jesus (Lk.1:24-27).

Jesus confirmed, as scripture prophesied, that the promised Elijah would come…and he had then come!  Mt.17:10-13 “I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him. Then the disciples understood He spoke about John the Baptist.”  John too wore a hairy garment and leather belt, as Elijah had worn.  Mt.3:1-4 “John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness. This is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet saying, ‘The voice of one crying, Make ready the way of the Lord!” ref Is.40:3, Mal.3:1.  The commission given to John the Baptist as “My Messenger” came to pass, although most Jews disbelieve it was John who came as the prophesied Elijah.

John the Baptizer come as Elijah was a witness for Messiah Jesus.  Jn.3:25-27 “John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘He [Jesus] about whom you witnessed.”  John replied in v.28-30, “I have been sent before Him. The friend [best man] of the bridegroom rejoices greatly. This joy of mine is full. He must increase but I must decrease.”  John the Baptizer was a witness for the bridegroom (groom) Jesus.

Moses and Elijah are two witnesses.  The ancient Jewish wedding ceremony required two witnesses, one for bride and one for the groom.  (see the topic “Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays”.)  Ex.20-ff YHVH was married to Israel at Sinai.  Je.31:31-32 KJV “My covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ saith the Lord.”  Christ, as the pre-incarnate Word of God and Creator, was the Lord God of Israel!  (see “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)  Ex.24:6-8 the Old Covenant was as a marriage contract.  v.3 the people said ‘I do’.  Je.3:14 KJV “Saith the Lord, ‘I Am married to you.”  Is.54:5 “Your Maker is your husband.”  (He later divorced rebellious Israel, Je.3:8.)  Jesus said to them in Jn.5:46, “If you believed Moses you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me”.  Moses witnessed Christ’s marriage to ancient Israel.  And John the Baptizer typed Elijah.  The traditional two witnesses were Moses for the bride and Elijah for the groom.

It is significant that Christ and the two witnesses Moses & Elijah are the only 3 characters in the Bible who fasted 40 days!  ref Mt.4:1-2, Ex.34:27-28, 1Ki.19:8-9.  Also it was Moses & Elijah who appeared with Jesus in glory at the Transfiguration, Lk.9:28-33.  (So real, even booths were suggested for them!)  They spoke of Jesus’ soon exodus (v.31, Greek) from Jerusalem.  Moses had led Israel’s ancient exodus from Egypt.  (Lk.9:9 Herod had beheaded John the Baptizer as Elijah prior to the Transfiguration.)

{Sidelight: Could two totally dead people appear in glory with Jesus?  Jn.3:13 only Jesus descended from heaven, died on earth, and then ascended to heaven…nobody else!  (He.11:35 some, such as the widow’s son, and Lazarus Jn.11:43-44, died twice physically.)  Neither Moses nor Elijah descended from heaven.  Elijah’s death wasn’t witnessed and no grave is known.  He was transported to heaven (2Ki.2:11-12), and was expected to come again (Mal.4:6).  De.34:5-7 Moses died, but his death wasn’t witnessed and no grave is known.  Targum Jonathan De.34:6 said Michael had charge over Moses’ grave.  Jude 9 the devil disputed with Michael about Moses’ body (because Moses had killed an abusive Egyptian in Ex.2:11-12, or his grave could become a shrine?).  In Jewish tradition, Michael resurrected Moses.  JFB Commentary Jude 9 “That Moses’ body was raised, appears from his presence with Elijah and Jesus at the Transfiguration.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 4:8:48 “He [Moses] disappeared in a valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, done out of fear lest they’d say that because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God.”  Philo On the Life of Moses 2, p.291 “That he [Moses] might fly away to heaven, he was once more filled with the Holy Spirit, relating how he had died when he was not yet dead. Because he was entombed by immortal powers and wasn’t placed in the tomb of his forefathers.”  Again, Luke says both Moses & Elijah were seen in glory with Jesus on the mount!}

The OT was a three-fold division: Law/Torah…Prophets/Néviim…Psalms-Writings/Ketúvim.  As the word of God, these also serve as two or three witnesses!  The Law and the Prophets were read every sabbath day.  Jesus said in Mt.5:17, “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets”.  Following are scriptures which note the Law and the Prophets: Mt.7:12, 11:13, 22:40; Lk.16:16, 24:44; Jn.1:45; Ac.13:15, 24:14, 28:23 (Da.9:10-11; Zec.7:12).  Paul wrote in Ro.3:21, “The righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets”.  They’re two witnesses!

Moses wrote the Law (Da.9:11), and Elijah typified the Prophets.  Moses and Elijah metaphorically are composites representing the Law and all the Prophets!  And Jesus is the prophet like unto Moses – De.18:15, 18; Jn.6:14, 7:40.  Again, both Moses and Elijah left this life in unusual ways.

The Lord’s two witnesses are referred to in Re.11.  v.1-2 God’s physical temple in the holy city Jerusalem is standing.  v.3 “I will grant to my two witnesses and they shall prophesy for 1,260 days.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.11:3 “Moses and Elijah are typical of the Law and the Prophets. It is not probable that two individuals are meant.”  v.4 “The two olive trees and lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.”  This is reminiscent of Zec.4, Zerubabbél the governor and Joshua the high priest who’d laid the second temple foundation.  Moses and Elijah both did anointing, and they stand before the Lord (ref Ex.17:6, 33:21-22, 1Ki.18:15).

Re.11:5-6 the two witnesses have power pertaining to fire, drought, water to turn it to blood, plagues.  Moses and Elijah had been given those powers of heaven & earth.  Moses and/or Elijah divided waters and turned them to blood, brought forth plagues, called down fire, 3 ½ years of no rain.  Meyer NT Commentary Re.11:5 “The features of the description derive from the histories of Elijah and Moses.”  Cambridge Bible Note Re.11:6 “The verse is descriptive of the powers entrusted to Moses and Elijah.”

Moses and Elijah performed miracles done by the two witnesses of Re.11.  They personify the Law and the Prophets.  The Law and the Prophets are two witnesses of God’s verdict that His OT curses and punishments (e.g. De.27:16–28:68, Le.26) be executed upon Judea, Jerusalem, and the temple.  Olufalahan Akintola wrote, “The two witnesses, representing the Law and the Prophets.”

Re.11:7-10 with the Jewish-Roman War and the destruction of 66-70 AD (3 ½ years), the Law and the Prophets ceased in Jerusalem.  The Law and the Prophets or Old Covenant corpus lay in the street, as it were, of the city where the Lord was crucified.  Ellicott Commentary “It is Jerusalem, the apostate place where the Presence of Christ is hated.”  John Blake wrote, “The symbolic death of the two witnesses or the lack of the reading of the Law and the Prophets in the temple.”  God’s written word with its judgments had tormented the disobedient, guilty populace.  Jesus had accused them in Jn.7:19, “None of you carries out the Law”.  After God’s judgment, the city & temple were destroyed/desolated.

Re.11:13 “A tenth of the city fell, 7,000 people were killed.”  Harvard.edu says the size of Jerusalem then encompassed maybe 450 acres, the temple complex covered 37 acres; the estimated resident population was 60,000–80,000 people.  Both Wilkinson and Wikipedia say 75,000–80,000.  The temple area approached a tenth of the acreage of Jerusalem; the initial 7,000 people killed was approximately a tenth of Jerusalem’s population.  The population of Rome the Beast was more than 500,000…Rome was much too large!  JFB Commentary “A tenth of Jerusalem.”  (see the topics “Babylon the Great’ in Revelation”, “The Last Days”, “Day of Atonement (2) – in Revelation”.)

That work of the Law and the Prophets was done!  The Law and Prophets had foretold and accused the Jewish nation of apostasy.  Re.11:12 the Law and Prophets returned to heaven, the source of the word of God.  v.19 “The temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple.”  Pulpit Commentary “The ark of His covenant, a symbol pregnant with meaning to Jewish Christians.”  The ark which contained the Law (De.10:1-5, 31:25-26) was now with Christ in heaven!

Christ, the Rock of Israel (1Co.10:4), is just (e.g. De.32:4, Is.30:18, Ro.3:26).  Although He divorced and judged the unfaithful ancient Israelite people He loved…there is another marriage!  Is.62:1-4 “For Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet. You shall no longer be called ‘Forsaken’, or your Land ‘Desolate’. With the joy of a bridegroom over a bride, your God will rejoice over you.”  Re.19:6-9 is the metaphorical marriage of the Lamb Jesus, the bridegroom!  He.8:10-13 although the Old Covenant ended, the New Covenant is also with Israel (and grafted-in gentiles, Ro.11:13, 17 & Re.7:9).

Moses and Elijah exemplify the Law and the Prophets…two witnesses.  Christian Research Institute “Ultimately, the two witnesses form a composite image of the Law and the Prophets.”  Elijah was the typological prophetic master (2Ki.2:2-3).  The ark/Law comes from, and goes to, heaven.  Paul wrote in 2Ti.3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”.  The word of God is His written record to His people and to all mankind…witnessed by heaven and earth!  Praise God!

Baptisms and Washings

Many Christians view water baptism as a requirement for all who believe that Jesus died for their sins.  Others don’t.  Some churches consider it a sacrament.

Water baptism is apparent throughout the New Testament (NT).  But when did this practice originate?  Actually, Biblical cleansing and immersion originated before John the Baptizer and NT baptisms.  In He.6:1-2 the writer to the Jewish Christians reminded them of the foundational “instructions about washings” they should have known.  The Greek term here for “washings” is baptismós (Strongs g909).  Greek Bible scholar Spiros Zódiates describes baptismos. “Washings, as constituents of rites of Old Testament law.”  Let’s look at some Old Testament (OT) background for the practice of baptism.

The OT priests of Israel were required to wash (racháts h7364, Hebrew) before serving God.  Le.8:5-6 Moses washed Aaron & his sons for their initial priestly consecration.  Nu.8:5-7 Levite non-priests were also cleansed.  Those acts were a type of baptism.  At God’s ancient tabernacle, a copper/bronze laver was filled with water for washing, and placed near the altar of burnt offering.  Ex.30:17-20 priests must first wash their hands and feet in the copper laver before ministering in the tent (copper kills bacteria).

In the OT, washings and purifications were applied to various unclean conditions (He.9:10), and were for sanitation.  Some examples: Le.14:7-9 the procedure for cleansing the leper.  Le.15:1-7 the man who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with him.  Le.15:16-18 after sexual relations.  Le.15:19-22 after a woman’s monthly menstruation and whoever came into contact with her blood.  (Menstruation is a state of being, not a sin.)  Le.15:25-27 the woman who had an infectious discharge and whoever came into contact with her.  Le.15:31-33 uncleanness could be a dangerous condition!  And it defiled God’s tabernacle.  YHVH didn’t ‘tabernacle’ with those unclean, or in sin!

Also, the person who ate an unslaughtered animal which had died of itself (“strangled”, Ac.15:29) was unclean until his evening shower, so to speak (Le.17:15-16).  Nu.9:10-11 relates to the person who was unclean in the first month of the sacred year due to contact with a corpse, and therefore couldn’t take the Passover then (Nu.19:18-19).  A corpse was the most virulent kind of pollutant.  In Jn.11:55, many were going up to Jerusalem to purify themselves before Passover.  Whitewash was customarily applied to grave stones in the Holy Land so pilgrims going to the feast could easily spot them and avoid contact.  (Jesus alluded to this in Mt.23:27, calling the scribes & Pharisees “whitewashed tombs”.)

There were many washings in OT scripture.  And spiritual realities were portrayed in the OT by outward physical signs & actions.  Also we read in scripture of unclean diet (Le.11, De.14:2-20) and unclean demons (Lk.4:33).  The apostle Paul tied ‘unclean’ symbolism to unbelieving idol-worshipers (2Co.6:14-18), in whom the Holy Spirit (HS) doesn’t reside.

God doesn’t fellowship with sin, and uncleanness can be a type of sin.  Christians desire to stay filled with the HS, but the HS won’t actively dwell with the person who remains in a spiritually unclean state.  Cleansing has a spiritual application in Is.1:16. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.”  After committing adultery & murder, David pleaded with God in Ps.51:1-23, 7 to cleanse and purify him from his sins.

To be cleansed/healed from leprosy, Elisha instructed the Syrian general Naamán to wash (rachats) seven times in the Jordan River, 2Ki.5:10-14.  Naaman immersed (tabál h2881).  That healing relates to Le.14:6-7, the priest “shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from leprosy”.

Ezekiel prophesied a purification ceremony of spiritual renewal in Ezk.36:25-27. “Then I [YHVH] will sprinkle clean water on you, I will cleanse you from all your filthiness. I will put My Spirit within you.”  (Water and the HS in the future!)

A complete bath was required to rectify some impurities & uncleanness.  Modern Orthodox Jewish synagogues have a mikváh (Strongs h4724) tank for ritual cleansing, while prayers are spoken for them.  It’s customary in much of today’s world for a person to take a routine evening bath or shower.

With that background, let’s trace the baptismal thread in the NT.  The concept of purification washings wasn’t unfamiliar to those Jews.  The forerunner John the Baptizer’s mission was vital…water baptism for repentance, Mt.3:1, 6, 11!  The Greek term here is baptízo (g907); it occurs 80 times in the NT.  It meant ‘to immerse, submerge’ (Dr. Zodiates).  In a pickle recipe, Greek poet Nicánder (200 BC) said a vegetable should be dipped (bápto g911) in boiling water, then baptized (baptizo) in a vinegar solution.

Mt.3:13-16 John baptized Jesus.  The sinless Jesus had no uncleanness, and no sin to repent of.  He didn’t need purifying.  Jesus’ baptism showed that He was in harmony with John’s teaching & mission, and it symbolized the transfer of priesthood from the OT Levitical order (John) to the order of Melchisedek (Jesus)!  Also Jesus’ baptism is our example.

At His water baptism, the dove/Spirit descended.  John came to water baptize, Jesus to Spirit baptize.  Jesus declared in Jn.3:5, “Unless a person is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”.  Strong words from Jesus…an able-bodied person who willfully refuses water cannot enter His Kingdom!  Vincent Word Studies Jn.3:5 “The water points definitely to the rite of baptism.”  Cambridge Bible Note “The outward sign and inward grace of Christian baptism are here clearly given, and an unbiased mind can scarcely avoid seeing this plain fact.”  ref Ezk.36:25-27 for the water–Spirit association.  They both go together as necessary components…there’s water baptism and HS baptism.

In Mt.16:17-19, Peter was given the keys to the (Kingdom) city.  Peter will keep reappearing as we continue this thread.  Jn.20:21-22 Jesus gave His disciples a pledge or foretaste of their receiving the HS.  Then Jesus told them in Ac.1:5, 8, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit….you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”  Their soon-coming HS baptism would saturate and empower them, including Peter (who’d even denied Jesus, Mk.14:66-72)!

As Jesus promised, they were soon baptized in (and filled with) the HS, Ac.2:1-4.  Peter, who was given the keys to the Kingdom, was the one who instructed the hearers at that Pentecost in Ac.2:38. “Repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  v.41 that day 3,000 believing Jews were baptized, ‘mikvahed’, perhaps in the 40–50 mikvah pools reportedly located outside the south wall of the Temple mount there in Jerusalem.  Repentance precedes baptism.  A goal of life for baptized believers is to be/remain filled with the HS!  (see the topic “Holy Spirit-Filled”.)

Later in Ac.8:12-17, Samaritans too were baptized in Jesus’ Name.  Peter was there.  Then when Peter and John laid hands on them, they received the HS.

In Ac.8:32-39, Philip preached Jesus to the Ethiopian Jew/proselyte (a court eunuch) returning from the Temple area.  He was literate, able to read Isaiah.  Upon hearing of Jesus, the eunuch immediately asked to be water baptized.  Philip must have included baptism in his teaching about Jesus to this foreigner.  Philip then baptized him by immersion.  That eunuch’s name won’t be “cut off” (ref Is.56:3-5)!

In Ac.10:1-ff it was Peter to whom the vision of unclean creatures was given.  v.28 “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man common or unclean.”  Gentiles aren’t to be considered unclean.  v.44-48 “Surely none can refuse water for these who received the HS.”  Peter ordered that gentiles be water baptized in Jesus’ Name…even after they’d received the HS!  This outward act was necessary!  God may give the HS before or after water baptism.  Peter was there, when the first gentiles were saved.

According to Ac.18:24-28, Apollós knew the OT well and believed Jesus is the Messiah.  But apparently in Ephesus he’d only taught them about John’s baptism of repentance (Mt.3:11), and not about HS baptism.  Consequently, those Ephesians hadn’t received the HS.  Then in Ac.19:1-6, Paul told them more about belief in Jesus, and even re-baptized them…in Jesus’ Name.  Water baptism was that important to Paul!  He then laid hands on them, they received the HS, and the church at Ephesus had its beginning.

In Ac.22:7-8, 16, Saul/Paul recounted how he too was water baptized and had his sins ‘washed away’, calling on the Name of Jesus (Yeshúa, in Aramaic).  Paul’s water baptism happened after the Lord Jesus had identified Himself to him, and after Paul received the HS (Ac.9:16-18).  Paul was still obedient to the rite of water baptism!

Water baptism is done in the Name of Jesus, since Jesus died for us (Ro.5:6-8).  Paul didn’t die for our sins.  (Paul personally baptized only a few in Corinth, so Christians there wouldn’t be tempted to exalt Paul, 1Co.1:12-17.)  Peter preached in Ac.4:10-12, “By the Name of Jesus Christ…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name by which we must be saved.”  Not Buddha, not Kríshna, not the Talmud, not Mohammed.  Jesus!!

Jn.4:1-2 Jesus had His disciples water baptize even more than John the Baptizer’s did!  Cambridge Bible Note Jn.3:22 “It was a continuation of John’s baptism.”  Benson Commentary “It wasn’t proper to baptize in His [Jesus’] own name.”  (It wasn’t in the name of a denomination, of course.)

The risen Jesus said in Mt.28:19-20, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them….”  Jesus commanded baptism…in water!  Pulpit Commentary Mt.28:19 “They had seen it employed by John the Baptist (Mt.3:6), and had used it themselves (Jn.4:1-2).”  Gill Exposition Mt.28:19 “In water, for with no other baptism could the apostles baptize, not with the Holy Ghost.”  Jesus, not the 12 apostles or other men, baptizes with the HS, Lk.3:16.  As Jesus’ name is invoked at water baptism, one comes up into new life with the triune God.  The NT doesn’t say water baptism is optional for Christians!

There’s more to the significance of baptism.  Ro.6:3 Paul wrote, “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death”.  We’re symbolically buried with Jesus.  And death precedes burial.  Paul in Col.2:12-13, “Having been buried with Him in baptism, when you were dead in your trespasses. He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.”  Total forgiveness!  The old man/person is dead, and we no longer follow our old sinful ways.  Water baptism is as a glorious funeral service!  Paul didn’t say it’s optional.  Paul even wrote in Ti.3:5, “He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit”.  Water baptism and the HS.

Water baptism is part of the salvation process, as the outward public witness of inner cleansing.  Peter even wrote in 1Pe.3:21, “Baptism now saves you; not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience”.  It’s so much more than a bath to wash off dirt/sweat.  Again, in Jn.3:5 Jesus indicated that being born of water and the Spirit is necessary to inherit the Kingdom of God.

So this sacred ceremony is very significant and commanded by Jesus as an act of obedience (for able-bodied believers)!  Watchman Nee “Baptism is faith in action.”  It is understood that circumstances beyond one’s control: failing health, imprisonment, a “thief on the cross” (Lk.23:42-43) after Jesus rose, e.g….may make one’s water baptism impossible.  (Of course, neither the thief on the cross nor anyone else was water baptized in the name of Jesus before Jesus rose!)  God knows the intents of the hearts.

Baptism symbolizes a state of spiritual cleanliness to God, and our watery grave is a type of Jesus’ burial.  Then we surface to eternal life!  The baptism of the HS is the kernel of resurrection life.  The HS cannot die.  Ro.6:4 “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead…we too might walk in newness of life.”  Real Life!  Regardless of our race, skin color or status, the HS imbues us with eternal Life!

But people whose sins aren’t washed away are still in an unrighteous and unclean state to God.  Paul in 1Co.6:9-11, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”  Praise God!  As Jesus said, Jn.3:5, water & the Spirit are essential to Kingdom entrance.

Now there’s no need to continually perform other OT ritualistic washings based on their typology.  (Yet some washings are still beneficial health practices.)

And we don’t have to ‘feel worthy’ to be baptized!  None of us are worthy, of ourselves!  Ro.5:8 “God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.”  We were all sinners, Ro.3:23.  No need to delay water baptism until we somehow feel more ‘righteous’ or think we’re a ‘better’ person.  Just confess your sins to God and desire to have all your sins forgiven and ‘washed away’, and for Jesus to become Lord of your life!  Then continually try to do as scripture says and as we feel led to do by the HS…and what we think Jesus would do if He were in our shoes today.

What about infant water baptism?  Some churches practice it, but most don’t.  In Lk.18:15-16, Jesus laid His hands on infants saying, “Permit the children to come to Me”.  The (gentile) Philippian jailer in Ac.16:30-33 asked what he must do to be saved.  He believed, and was immediately baptized with all his household.  In a sense, infants could ‘come’ to Jesus by being carried to Him, and the jailer’s household possibly included infants who were baptized.  Yet the churches who don’t perform infant baptism point to other verses to support their position.  Jesus said in Mk.16:16, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved”.  As Ac.16:33, baptism is necessary.  And belief is a prerequisite for baptism .  Ac.2:38 repentance is a prerequisite for baptism.  But an infant doesn’t know to believe or repent.  Neither does an innocent baby have any sins to repent of or be ‘washed away’ via baptism (Ac.22:16).  It appears the weight of scriptural evidence doesn’t support baptizing a person in water until that one is old enough to make the decision to be baptized…a decision of Christian obedience and a public witness.

It’s been said…‘God has no grandchildren’.  Not even pastors’ kids are God’s grandkids.  Although people should pray for each other, no one can represent someone else in the Kingdom of God by proxy.  Everyone must come to know God and have faith first-hand.

Should a person ever be re-baptized?  In Ep.4:5 we read there’s “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”.  In this verse, “one baptism” indicates that a valid baptism can only relate to Jesus the one true Lord (not to some heathen so-called god/lord).  If a person had insufficient understanding of salvation, but yet was water baptized and didn’t receive the HS…then a re-baptism may well be in order.  Or perhaps one was baptized into a denomination…rather than baptized in the Name of Jesus or into the Father, Son and HS.  Re-baptism may be necessary.  I view re-baptism as one’s personal decision…how the individual feels in his/her own heart about the validity of their water baptism.

What about when we sin after being baptized in water and into the HS?  One reason the elderly apostle John (not John the Baptizer) was writing his first epistle was, “That you may not sin” (1Jn.2:1).  Yet we all still have weakness in the flesh.  John went on to write, “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin….” (1Jn.5:16).  Yes, Christian brothers/sisters may still commit sin.  How is that remedied?  1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us for our sins.”  As we confess and repent, the life/blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from sins we commit (v.7)…after baptism too!

The Bible never says one doesn’t have to be water baptized.  There’s no scriptural example of a believer refusing water baptism.  (There may be circumstances where a person desires water baptism, yet is unable to be baptized before their physical death.)  Scripture indicates baptism should be performed.  Verses such as Mt.28:19, Jn.3:5 & 4:1-2, Ac.2:38 & 10:47-48, Mk.16:16, Ac.16:30-33, 1Pe.3:21, and the personal examples of Jesus & Paul’s own baptisms make that clear.

The NT is quite clear…under normal circumstances, all Christians are expected to be water baptized!  It’s not just for Jews!  Samaritans too were water baptized (Ac.8:12).  The water baptism of Cornelius’ household (Ac.10:47-48) and the Philippian jailer’s household (Ac.16:33) shows that it’s for gentiles too.  Water baptism is for all believers.

True believers aren’t ashamed of this public declaration in the presence of likeminded witnesses.  It’s been said, ‘Baptism separates the tire kickers from the car buyers’.

The Biblical sequence: Believe and repent…then water baptism followed by HS baptism (or vice versa).

Water baptism in the Name of Jesus is a wonderful and meaningful ceremony for repentant believers.  And having believed, we’re sealed with the HS…given to us as a pledge or guarantee of our eternal inheritance with God, Ep.1:13-14!  (see the topic “Saved, Sealed, Preserved”.)  Thank You, Lord!!

 

Christmas and Jesus’ Birth Month

Christmas is the USA’s most popular holiday, annually celebrated by more than 90% of the populace.  Yet some people who believe in Jesus as Savior don’t feel they should celebrate His birthday, or not at the generally accepted season.  Maybe they don’t think December 25 was really His human birth date.  Maybe they disapprove of the ungodly heathen or wrong trappings which became attached to the celebration.  Or they don’t see the celebration commanded by God in the Bible.  And ‘Christmas Break’ is now called ‘Winter Break’.  This topic examines these issues, and offers a reasonable conclusion.

Many myths and legends began with an element of real truth or fact…where there’s smoke there’s fire.  That’s the case with Christmas traditions.  That Jesus was born and lived as a human is truth/fact.  The historians Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny refer to Him, all writing prior to 120 AD.  But then…questionable or objectionable customs and embellishments were added over the centuries.  e.g. Santa Claus, holly & mistletoe, wass-ale-ing, party spirit, xmas ham, excess materialism or greed.

Before Christ, religious sects in Israel also attached ritual customs to the Lord’s holydays.  And religious activity such as prayer, immersion in water, waving tree/palm branches, e.g…were customs of pagans too!  Should Christians avoid these practices just because the heathen did them for their gods?  The observance of Jesus’ birth spread among countries & cultures which attached pagan elements to His birth.  But did these early Christians remain heathens at heart?

The Bible also reflects occasions which were added, not commanded by God.  ref Est.9:19 Purim; Jg.11:39-40; Zec.8:19.  Hánukkah was attended by Jesus (Jn.10:22-23).  It commemorated the defeat of Antíochus Epíphanes in the 160s BC, rededicating the altar and cleansing the temple.  1Mac.4:52-59 & 2Mac.10:5-9 the Jewish people (not God) ordained Hanukkah by common statute (2Mac.10:8).  This man-ordained occasion begins on Kíslev 25 (in our Nov-Dec)!  Perhaps Jesus was born or conceived during Hanukkah, the eight-day ‘Festival of Lights’.  Let’s closely examine His time of birth.

The supposed old Jewish tradition of ‘integral age’ said a great prophet was born or conceived and died on the same date.  Jesus died during Passover week, around Apr 1.

Historically, Jesus’ human birth was set at: May 20, Apr 17, Mar 28, and Jan 6 (‘12 days of Christmas’ after Dec 25?) in the early Eastern church, Armenian, Coptic, Russian Orthodox.

Some think Jesus was born near a Sep 25 Rosh Hashánah, His conception being the previous Dec 25 Hanukkah.  But Rosh Hashanah was still the time of grape and fig processing, and for regional dates and pomegranates.  Agriculture provided tax revenues to Rome!  It seems unlikely that Rome would purposely antagonize Jews by requiring an agricultural society to travel to their old ancestral locales for a census (Lk.2:1-6) at this busy season.  The slow period for plowing, sowing, reaping was Dec–Feb.

Following is a capsule review of Jesus’ Nativity, tying together the accounts of Luke and Matthew.  Lk.1:5-25 the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, who was serving in the temple.  He tells Zacharias that his elderly wife Elizabeth will bear a son named John.  Zacharias was of the priestly course of Abijáh.  1Ch.24:1, 5, 7, 10 Jehoiaríb’s was the 1^st weekly course, Abijáh’s the 8^th; each was sabbath-to-sabbath.  If Zacharias saw Gabriel in June, then that could place the birth of John the Baptizer near Passover (customarily set a plate for Elijah), with Jesus’ birth 6 months later near September 25.  But if he saw Gabriel October 1, then John was born 9 months later near July 1, and Jesus near January 1.

Lk.1:26-60 Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary.  Mary becomes pregnant with Jesus and travels 75 miles south from Nazareth of Galilee to visit her elderly aunt Elizabeth, who is 6 months pregnant with John (near Bethlehem or Hebrón in Judea).  Mary stays with Elizabeth for 3 months and John is born.  Upon Mary’s return to Galilee, her fiancée Joseph now sees she is 3-4 months pregnant.  What?!  Mt.1:18-25 in a dream an angel tells Joseph of the forthcoming miraculous virgin birth, and Joseph will wed Mary.

Lk.2:1-8 just before Mary goes into labor, she and Joseph travel 4 days south to Bethlehem, which is 6 miles south of Jerusalem.  They must go to this rather distant town of Joseph’s ancestors to register for Augustus’ census.  v.3 “All were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city.”

{Sidelight: This most likely wasn’t Feast of Tabernacles (FOT) time.  At FOT time, Joseph, their male relatives (and the shepherds too, Lk.2:8) would’ve gone to Jerusalem as commanded by God…not to Bethlehem or other original Israelite tribal areas/towns for census purposes.  ref De.16:11, 16, 12:11, 14:23-25; Je.7:12; 1Ki.14:21; Lk.2:41.  From the days of Solomon, the only location where God authorized pilgrim feasts be kept is Jerusalem, where the central sanctuary was…and never at two or more locations simultaneously! (see “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.)  Ellicott Commentary Lk.2:7 “There was no room for them at the inn’. The town was crowded with persons who had come to be registered.”}

Lk.2:9-38 as Jesus is born, the shepherds witness His glorious Birth-day celebration in the heavens!  v.13-14 “Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men.”  Then while staying at a (relative’s?) house in Bethlehem, Jesus’ ‘parents’ bring Him to the temple for circumcision, and then for Mary’s purification 40 days after giving birth (Lk.2:21-24, ref Le.12:1-8).

Probably the wise men/mági haven’t arrived yet with their expensive gifts, since Mary could only afford to offer two turtledoves (Lk.2:24), not a more expensive lamb.  Anna and witnesses begin to make knowledge of Jesus public.  (Lk.2:39 Luke’s account skips the magi visit and the holy family’s soon-coming flight to Egypt before returning home to Galilee.)

Mt.2:1-11 perhaps very soon after the purification offering, wise men or magi arrive at the Bethlehem house, bringing expensive gifts.  They came from Arabia (ref Is.60:6 gold & frankincense), or Babylon (ref Da.5:11 the Jewish prophet Daniel had been appointed chief of the wise men in Babylon) or Persia.  Joseph likely was needing to return to his Nazareth business…supposedly he’s of modest means.

Opinions vary about what the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ was…a great comet, supernova, visible conjunction of heavenly bodies, an angel, the shekínah glory returning after 500 years to conceive Jesus, or something else supernatural?  ref Nu.24:17, Is.9:1-2, Ezk.11:23.  Maybe the wise men saw the “star” 10 months previously, or maybe only 41 days previously?  It is thought that a small camel caravan could travel 15–20 miles a day, each carrying 200–300 lbs.  At that rate, a 700-mile journey could take 35–45 days.

After giving gifts, the magi depart.  Mary will treasure in her heart (Lk.2:19) the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ miraculous birth…the shepherd’s vision (Lk.2:8-20), the magi visit and their account of seeing the star, etc.  Mary will pass it on to Jesus’ disciples and others.  (see “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

Mt.2:12-18 upon the magi’s departure, the family will leave Bethlehem.  But in a dream an angel warns Joseph not to travel 75 miles north to Nazareth…but instead take a (200-mile?) detour WSW to Egypt, to avoid Herod the Great.  Very soon Herod will murder all Bethlehem infants who are in their second year or under…7 to 20 infants, based upon population estimates.  Having just received valuable gifts from the wise men, the family now has the wherewithal to afford the sojourn in Egypt (whereas they could only afford to sacrifice two turtledoves on the 40^th day of purification, Lk.2:22-24).

Mt.2:19-23 an angel in another dream tells Joseph of Herod’s death.  (Josephs had significant dreams, cf. Ge.37:5-ff!)  The family returns home to Nazareth…perhaps via the Way of the Sea, to avoid ethnarch Archeláus in Judea.

In what calendar month was Jesus born?  Early Christians ‘fathers’ wrote:

Justin Mártyr (100–165 AD) said Jesus was born at Bethlehem, “As you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under [Quirínius] your first procurator in Judea”. (First Apology, 34)

Tertullian (160–250 AD) “His [Joseph’s] enrollment in the census of Augustus, that most faithful witness of the Lord’s nativity, kept in the archives at Rome.” (Against Marcion 4:7:7)  The census of Lk.2:1-5 was documented.

Hippólytus (165–236 AD) “The first advent of our Lord in the flesh, born in Bethlehem eight days before the kalends [1^st] of January.” (Commentary on Daniel 4:23:3)  That was inclusively Dec 25.

Cyril of Jerusalem (348–386 AD) reportedly asked Julius, bishop of Rome, to assign the true date of Jesus’ birth “from census documents brought by Titus to Rome”.  Julius assigned Dec 25.  That would place Jesus’ conception near the previous Passover (which corresponds to ‘integral age’ tradition).

Wikipedia: Christmas “A traditional Jewish belief [was] that great men were born and died on the same day. Jesus was therefore considered to have been conceived on March 25, as He died on March 25 [Tertullian].  In 221 AD, Sextus Julius Africánus gave March 25 as the day of…the conception of Jesus in his universal history.  St Ephráim [306-373 AD] taught that the date of the conception of Jesus Christ fell on 10 Nisán of the Hebrew calendar, the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to Exodus 12. Some years 10 Nisan falls on March 25 [Apr 6 old Julian calendar].”

Chrýsostom (347–407 AD) said a Dec 25 date was verified by actual census/tax records of Joseph registering in Bethlehem.  Chrysostom taught that John the Baptizer’s father Zacharias was serving on the Day of Atonement (late Sep/early Oct) when Gabriel appeared to him.  Lk.1:10 a “multitude” at the temple indicates it was a sabbath or a feast day.  That would place the birth of John the Baptizer around July 1 (and Jesus’ birth six months later, around Jan 1).

In 70 AD Sunday Aug 5 (the 9^th of Av) the temple was destroyed.  The 1^st priestly course of Jehoiarib was serving then (ref Talmud Olam Rabbah and Alfred Edersheim).  If the priestly service order had remained unbroken for decades, 70 years earlier was Zacharias’ service course of Abijah in early Oct?

The Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim wrote in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.131, There are temple flocks (at Bethlehem) that “remain in the open alike in the hottest days and the rainy season, i.e. all year round”.  Winter temperatures there are similar to those in Houston, TX.

Shepherds witnessed the heavenly Birth-day celebration!  Wise men gave gifts to the infant King Jesus (birthdays of kings were celebrated).  Christ’s spirit is within Christians via the Holy Spirit.  Col.1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Many Christians celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts.

However, an eternal Santa Claus (with hair white like wool, like snow, cf. Re.1:14) annually bringing gifts is a lie and counterfeits the glorified Jesus Christ.  Commercialism obscures and detracts from the proclaimed ‘reason for the season’.  Purchasers suffer too much credit card debt, sometimes the result of trying to outdo others in gift-giving.  And those old census records no longer survive.  Nevertheless….

If it wasn’t for Christ’s life…there would be no Christmas bearing His title!  Mal.4:2 the Sun/Son of Righteousness so far outshines former sun-gods, those pagan gods don’t even come to the minds of Christians who annually celebrate Christmas!  The origin of a custom doesn’t always determine its present meaning.  Celebrating Jesus’ birth is not only for the Roman Catholic Christ-mass (the mass began 1000 AD).  A Chicago suburban “Calvary Church” isn’t accused of worshiping a skull and the goddess Círce!  1Co.3:5 Apollos, in spite of his heathen god name, was the Lord’s servant.

Obsolete meanings don’t apply.  Our worshiping God/Christ on Saturday or Sunday or Monday doesn’t make us Saturn or Sun or Moon worshipers!  ref Ralph Woodrow’s Christmas Reconsidered (recommended reading).  He notes that it would be futile to spend our lives trying to eradicate pagan terms which permeate all of society!  e.g. the term “janitor” is from the god Jánus.  Ezk.8:14 Támmuz was anciently a pagan god.  Yet the month of Tammuz is Jun-Jul on the present Jewish calendar.  It’s from the Babylonian exile (cf. the month Nisan occurs Mar-Apr).

The designations BC/AD and BCE/CE, relating to our calendar, pivot around Christ’s birth!  Truth be told…He was born sometime, praise God…although we don’t know exactly when!

What about the Christmas tree custom?  Je.10:3-5 “They cut down a tree. The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They beautify it with silver and gold. They fasten it, it does not stumble. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field (upright as a palm tree), they cannot speak, they cannot walk.”  This is about idol worship, not a Christmas tree!  A scarecrow is a man’s image, not a tree’s image.  A scarecrow scares away birds, whereas a tree attracts birds…the opposite!  Gill Exposition Je.10:3 “A tree cut down with an axe, planed with a plane and formed into the image of a man or some creature.”  Life Application Bible Note “Those who put their trust in a chunk of wood, even though it is carved well and clothed beautifully, are foolish.”  Scarecrows and metal-plated gods can’t talk or walk.

Compare the Epistle of Jeremiah 1:70 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber garden, guarding nothing, so are their wooden gods, plated with silver and gold.”  v.7-10 “These gods of silver, gold and wood with clothing like humans, but they cannot preserve themselves.”  The book of Jeremiah and the epistle of Jeremiah both refer to the same idols.

Is.44:13 “Another shapes wood, works it with planes, and makes it like the form of a man.” (also Is.40:19-20)  Ps.115:4-7 “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands. They have mouths but they cannot speak; eyes but they cannot see; ears but they cannot hear, feet but they cannot walk.” (Je.10:5 is in the center margin xref!)  cf. De.4:28.  Such graven images were figurines or teraphím household gods (Ge.31:19, 34-35; 1Sm.19:13)…idols in human shape.  They weren’t Christmas trees.

Who today really worships a Christmas tree anyway?  Some few.  Yet it has symbolic meaning.

Re.22:1-2 “The tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit.”  An ever-green Christmas tree became symbolic of the tree of life, which was traditionally decorated with fruits & nuts.  (see the topic, “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.)  The USA began the tree custom after 1830 AD.  Churches that put up a tree, with lights and a figurative Star of Bethlehem at the top…they and other organizations may also feed or give gifts to the needy then!  The magi gave gifts; and Hanukkah too is a time of gift-giving.

Many, if not most, customs aren’t evil.  Some secular radio stations play hymns only in December at Christmas time…and the Name of Jesus spreads!  Praise the Lord!  Many Christmas carols are inspiring.  Php.1:15-18 Paul rejoiced because Christ is preached, even when their motives were questionable!  The old Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, is a heartwarming story.

The Bible account of Christ’s birth isn’t pagan.  Matthew was Jewish, possibly Luke too.  Jesus’ birth-date observance isn’t a salvation issue.  Family relatives may keep it in faith.  Romans 14 indicates we shouldn’t judge other Christians in regards to non-essentials (e.g. the market where meat came from), thereby avoiding needless strife & division.  By honoring Christmas, Christian sabbathkeepers too can distinguish themselves from disbelieving Jews who also may keep a weekly sabbath.

It seems there wasn’t much question about the general season of Jesus’ birth in the early Eastern church (though its calendar differed a little).  The date/season is being challenged in recent years.  And since the early Christians didn’t customarily celebrate birthdays, early documentation is rather scant.

Christian families can annually honor their Savior’s birth, praising the Lord with uplifting Christmas carols & hymns…without doing the heathen customs of Santa Claus, holly & mistletoe, wassailing, party spirit, xmas ham, or engaging in excessive materialism.  Just throw out the bath water, not the Baby!  Omit wrongs stemming from carnality & paganism which can be divisive.

This concludes my apology (and ‘semi-polemic’) for celebrating Jesus’ birth, Christmas.

We don’t know for sure the date of Jesus’ human birth.  Yet from scriptural accounts and early writings, the weight of evidence seems to indicate December or early January.  Perhaps Jesus, the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12), did come into this world during the traditional ‘Festival of Lights’…Hanukkah, Kislev 25!  And in 2016, Hanukkah (Kislev 25) again begins on December 25 of our calendar.