Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes? (2)

This Part 2 concludes the topic “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes? (1)”.  Before continuing, I urge you to first read Part 1; it contains the foundational verses.  Please be advised…the subject is controversial!  

This topic is highlighting Bible characters and God’s laws concerning plural wives & concubines.  It doesn’t discuss the morals or differing marital laws of modern nations.  (Western customs fall short.)

Regardless of cultures, God defines true morality in His word.  He determines what is and isn’t sexual sin.  Laws of human governments, customary practices, beliefs of churches…may or may not reflect God’s morality.  (see the topic “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape” for more about sexual immorality.)

Part 1 identified relative terms.  Our English word polygamy includes polygyny, one man cohabiting with plural wives; polyandry, one woman cohabiting with plural husbands.  The terms derive from the Greek poly/many, gamos/marriage, gyne/wife.  Polygyny was seen as a lawful option in God’s eyes; polyandry wasn’t!  (That’s not to say practicing polygyny is advised in modern Western nations.) 

Many men in the Bible were monogamous, one man cohabiting with one wife (at a time).  Divorce & remarriage is a form of sequential monogamy, otherwise called consecutive polygyny/polyandry.

Concubinage, from the Latin word concubina, was a respected polygynous marital option in the Old Testament (OT) and the ancient world.  It resembles heterosexual civil union, or having a mistress, as done in some countries today.  A mistress doesn’t have sex with plural partners (unlike a prostitute).

Godly and ungodly men of the Bible had plural wives.  In Part 1, we saw that Abraham, his brother Nahór, Abimélech, Pharoah, Job…cohabited with plural wives & concubines!  Jacob did too.  Those men were born prior to the OT nation of Israel. 

Christ was the God of OT Israel.  (ref the topic “Jesus Was The Old Testament God”.)  During Moses’ time, Christ gave codified laws/regulations to His theocratic nation.  Christ’s laws define His morality and marriage in God’s sight, adultery, and prescribe consequences for violations.

Part 1 noted: Christ’s law of concubines, war brides, levirate law so-called, and some Israelites who cohabited with plural wives/concubines…Manásseh, Caleb, Saul, Gideon, Samuel’s father, King Joásh.

John Milton (1608–1674) was an English theologian, statesman and poet.  His best-known work is the epic poem Paradise Lost.  Milton was a Puritan; they generally held very strict morals.  But some of his personal Bible beliefs were ‘unconventional’.  To quote from the manuscript of Milton’s theological treatise De Doctrina Christiana: “Either polygamy [polygyny] is a true marriage, or all children born in that state are spurious; which would include the whole race of Jacob [Israel], the twelve holy tribes chosen by God.”  Ancient Israel, the people Christ loved, didn’t come from a progenitor living in sin!

Here in Part 2, we’ll note a few other polygynists in scripture, and look at New Testament (NT) verses. 

Moses had more than one wife.  Ex.2:21 he married Zipporáh, daughter of the priest of Midián (Ex.3:1).  Midianites descended from Abraham and his concubine wife Keturáh (Ge.25:1-2, 1Ch.1:32).  Nu.12:1 “Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite (Strongs h3571) woman he had married.”  Zipporah and Miriam both came from Shem→Abraham…whereas the Cushite/Ethiopian wife was from Ham (Ge.10:6).  Moses was mighty and learned in the ways of Egypt (Ac.7:22).  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 2:10:2 “Tharbis was daughter of the king of the Ethiopians; she saw Moses as he led the army [of Egypt]. She fell deeply in love. Moses consummated his marriage.”  She was his Cushite wife.     

Jer.13:23 “Can an Ethiopian (h3569) change his skin, or a leopard his spots?”  Leopard spots are black.  Black-skinned Ethiopians.  Miriam sounded racist in Nu.12:1.  In return, the Lord struck her skin with leprosy, as white as snow (Nu.12:10)!  John Milton op. cit. “It is not likely that the wife of Moses, who had been so often spoken of before by her proper name of Zipporah, should now be called by the new title of a Cushite; or that the anger of Aaron and Miriam should at this time be suddenly kindled.” 

Samuel Dennis Marriage from the Bible Alone “Moses [had] at least 3 wives: Zipporah (Ex.2:21); an Ethiopian woman (Nu.12:1); another…daughter of a man called Hobáb who wasn’t Zipporah’s father (Nu.10:29, Jg.4:11).”  The names aren’t completely certain.  However, Kenites preceded Abraham’s son Midian/Midianites (Ge.15:19, 25:2).  And Moses also had a Kenite father-in-law & wife (Jg.1:16, 4:11).

David was a great hero, Israel’s most famous king.  He had God’s Holy Spirit (HS).  ref 1Sm.16:13, 2Sm.23:1-2, Ps.51:11, Mk.12:36, Ac.1:16, 4:24-25.  This enabled David to walk in Christ’s statutes & commandments (1Ki.3:14).  1Ki.15:5 “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and hadn’t turned aside from anything He commanded him, except in the matter of Uriáh the Hittite.”  David habitually obeyed the Lord (except in that one serious matter).     

Yet King David had many wives/concubines (2Sm.5:13, 1Ch.3:1-9).  His cohabiting with plural wives didn’t violate God’s morality!  It wasn’t sin in God’s eyes.  And Christ blessed David!  2Sm.12:7-9 the Lord gave David the wives of the deceased King Saul…the Lord would’ve even given David a larger palace and more wives!  And when David was old & weak, a beautiful girl warmed him at night (1Ki.1:1-4).  David loved the Lord (Ps.18:1); he was “a man after God’s own heart” (Ac.13:22).

John Milton op. cit. “The very argument which is used toward David [2Sm.12:8], is of more force when applied to the gift of wives, than to any other – you ought to have abstained from the wife of another person [Uriah].”  Christ’s gift of wives to David.

David’s son Solomon also had wives/concubines (Ec.2:8 NASB, JPS Tanakh, etc.).  1Ki.11:1-4 but King Solomon multiplied heathen wives through political marriages.  De.17:15-17 the king of Israel wasn’t to maintain a large harem of heathen women!  John Milton ibid “Deut.17:16-17 is so far from condemning polygamy [polygyny]… and only imposes the same restraints upon this condition which are laid upon the multiplication of horses, or the accumulation of treasure.”  A king was expected to have more than one horse, more than one ring/bar of gold…or wife!  Parallelism.  Solomon erred by marrying ungodly foreign women.  As a result, his heart later sought pagan gods.  Whereas the heart of his father David remained devoted to the Lord (1Ki.11:33-34), even though David had several Israelite wives.

Esther the Jewess was the king of Persia’s favorite wife, in the 400s BC.  Est.2:8-17 she became queen of Persia.  v.14 he also made many concubines of the virgins.  Polygyny was an accepted legal practice in the ancient Near East.  In scripture, neither the Persian king nor Esther committed adultery.

Christ, the God of OT Israel, Himself had two wives!  What?!  The Lord declared of Israel and Judah in Je.3:11-14 KJV, “I Am married to you”.  God Himself became figuratively married to two nations.  Is.54:5 “Your Maker is your Husband…the Holy One of Israel.”  The word of the Lord came in Ezk.23:  v.1-4 “There were two women. Their [allegorical] names were Oholáh the elder and Oholibáh her sister. And they became Mine, and bore sons and daughters.”  But God’s two OT wives became adulteresses (v.36-37).  So the Lord gave Israel a bill of divorce (Je.3:8, De.24:1), and later sent away Judah captive.

Daniel I. Block wrote in his OT Commentary, p.736 “Yahweh’s bigamy is all the more striking.”  Maurice Nelson The Monogamy Lie! “God’s polygyny is figurative, not literal…The church finds itself in a bit of a quandary, when God claims, in the Bible, that He is engaging in a supposedly ‘sinful’ act [polygyny]. It is ludicrous to believe that God would portray Himself participating in a sin as a method to teach us not to sin. God [was] the polygynous husband of two women who have cheated [Ezk.23:36-37] on their Husband (God) by pursuing other gods.”  Christ Himself is a figurative polygynist!

Moody Bible Institute Professor of Theology William F. Luck The Morality of Biblical Polygyny, p.51 “If it is a sin to be a polygamist, then God has referred to Himself as a Being with a character flaw.”

Ps.45:6-15 is a Messianic psalm (v.6-7 is quoted in He.1:8-9), and types Christ and His church.  Ps.45:14 relates to Est.2:8-17, virgins going in to the king.  Cambridge Bible Ps.45:9 “One of the wives takes precedence of the rest.”  Benson Commentary “As the queen is the church in general, so these honorable women are particular believers, added daily to the church.”  Jesus is figuratively betrothed to each believer!  2Co.11:2 Paul the apostle wrote to the church, “I betrothed you to one husband, Christ”.

Many theologians view the Song of Solomon not only as a human love story but also as a type of the spiritual love Christ has for His Bride, the church.  SSol.6:8-9 “There are 60 queens and 80 concubines, but my dove is unique.”  Christ marrying His Bride(s) was here typified by Solomon and his 141 wives!  John Milton op. cit. “In Canticles 6:8-10 [SSol.6:8-10], the queens and concubines are evidently mentioned with honor.”  This minimally prefigures 2Co.11:2.  Eventually Christ ‘marries’ way more than 141 Christians!  (Note: Again, Solomon later wrongly engaged in political marriages with pagan women who drew him to other gods; 1Ki.11:1-4 indicates 1,000 total women, not just 141 Israelitesses.)

Paul wrote in Ep.5:30-32, “For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”  The Greek term for church is ekklésia (g1577), a feminine compound noun which means a group or gathering or assembly of people.  cf. a ‘flock of sheep’.  Christ doesn’t marry only one person.  Each Christian becomes His figurative Bride, each spiritually becoming “one flesh” with Him.   

“One flesh” refers to unseparated or organic union.  Paul wrote in 1Co.6:16-17, “Don’t you know that a man who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For God says [Ge.2:24], ‘The two will become one flesh.”  In regards to a harlot even, who has many partners!  As a harlot has plural partners, a man could have plural wives.  Samuel Dennis op.cit. “So the married man who sleeps with a harlot is now ‘one flesh’ with his wife, and ‘one flesh’ with the harlot. He is ‘one flesh’ with two women. The ‘one flesh’ relationship isn’t limited to a monogamous couple only.”  It’s not exclusive. 

It is apparent “one flesh” in scripture isn’t only confined to ‘a man with only one woman’.  That was a sham restriction of pagan Roman culture (which in actuality was licentious).  Paul and Jesus referred to Ge.2:24 LXX, Adam & Eve as “one flesh”.  Jesus said in Mt.19:5 Good News, “A man…will remain united with his wife, and the two shall be one flesh”.  Ge.2:23 Adam said Eve is “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”  Ge.29:14 Laban said his nephew Jacob is “my bone and my flesh.”  Yet Esau too is Laban’s nephew!  Jg.9:2 Abimelech said via his mother’s relatives (plural), “I am your bone and your flesh”.  The (idiomatic) expression “my/your bone and flesh” didn’t mean a monogamous marriage.       

Mt.19:3-ff is about divorce, about remaining united, not about monogamy.  Lauren Heiligenthal Evaluating Western Christianity’s Interpretation of Biblical Polygamy, p.49 “Ultimately, Mat.19:3-9 does not explicitly emphasize the monogamist ideal nor does it exclude polygamy.”  (However, Jesus’ words in v.5 also indicate that for a marriage, plural wives aren’t mandatory; one wife is enough.) 

Moses wrote Ge.2:24.  He knew what God meant by “one flesh”.  Christ chose Moses to record His laws which authorized & regulated polygyny!  (see Part 1.)  And Moses himself had more than one wife.

1Co.12:27 “You [the church] are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”  Each believer is His Bride, a spiritually chaste virgin to be one with Christ (2Co.11:2).  Mt.25:1-13 is Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins.  Five were wise.  Jesus is the Groom/ Bridegroom, and they are His Brides (plural)!  v.10-12 “The door was shut” refers to the entrance to the bridal chamber where a marriage was consummated.  (also see “Wedding Pattern in Bible Holydays”.)  In Mt.25 too, Christ depicts Himself as a polygynist.

Re.19:9 “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”  Christ figuratively marries virgins.  The typology corresponds to OT plural marriages (SSol.6:8-9).  Perhaps this makes more understandable 2Sm.12:7-8 where the prophet Nathan said the Lord would have given King David even more wives.  The King of kings, Christ Himself…had two OT wives, plus numerous NT Brides!    

Clyde L. Pilkington The Great Omission, p.62 “The [Bible] text speaks of the relationship between God and Israel, and later between Christ and the church, in polygamous terms.”  (Some writers use the terms ‘polygyny’ and ‘polygamy’ interchangeably, though there’s a difference in today’s English.)

The ancient Near East was polygynous.  Pagan Greco-Roman society marriages were monogamous.  But Rome allowed 1^st century Jews (and Persians?) to continue the (OT) laws & customs of their traditional marriages.  David I. Brewer writes, “Polygamy [polygyny] was undoubtedly part of life in 1^st century Judaism. It is now known that the middle classes also practiced polygamy. It is likely that there were few polygamous marriages outside Israel, because they wouldn’t be recognized in Roman law.”

The NT epistles were written to gentile areas which were under Roman law.  Paul was a Roman citizen (Ac.22:27-28).  As such, he didn’t put himself at risk by faulting Roman law or its ostensible marital monogamy.  And faulting might have increased division between Jewish & gentile Christians in areas.

Nathan Braun The History & Philosophy of Marriage, p.71 “The first Christians, while they themselves were scarcely tolerated, were not inclined to attempt a social revolution by opposing the established [Roman] system of monogamy; but they attempted to oppose only its vices, and to remove them.”

{Note: The NT repudiates religious prostitution, incest, homosexuality/lesbianism, adultery, polyandry, some consecutive polygyny (divorce & remarriage), pornéia or sexual immorality in general.}

Paul wrote in 1Ti.3:2, 12, Ti.1:6 that church leaders (Jewish & gentile) should be the “husband of one wife”.  This advice wouldn’t put leaders at odds with Roman monogamy laws for gentiles.  David Brewer “There would have been a few converts with more than one wife. These were allowed to keep their wives, but could not serve as leaders.”  It’s not that polygyny is immoral according to God’s laws.

William Luck op. cit., p.46 “If we cannot find a prohibition of polygyny up to this point of the inspired text, we are in trouble (hermeneutically speaking) finding it here [1Ti.3:2, Ti.1:6]. Second, we should remember that polygyny was considered barbaric by the Greeks and had not been practiced in Ephesus or Crete (where Timothy and Titus lived) [1Ti.1:3, Ti.1:5]….”  Paul wrote to the Greco-Roman world.

However, the way many churches interpret “one wife” in 1Ti.3:12…Abraham the father of the faithful, and David “a man after God’s own heart”, couldn’t even serve as deacons today!  The Christian Bible distributor Gideon’s International is named after a polygynist (Jg.8:30) who couldn’t even be a deacon?  

Polygyny is a moral marital option of God, a choice; but He didn’t explicitly command it.  However, in 1Co.7 we glimpse the allowance for its practice among Christians (laymen only?).  1Co.7:10-11 the Lord said a wife who’d separated from her husband should reconcile with him, or else remain unmarried.  And a man shouldn’t divorce his wife.  Then Paul said in v.27-28, a man who was released from a wife and had remarried, wasn’t in sin.  And if his 1^st wife was to later reconcile with him, as the Lord said in v.11, this man would then be cohabiting with two wives.

The historian Josephus (37–100 AD) wrote of his Jewish people in Antiquities of the Jews 17:1:2. “It is the ancient practice among us to have many wives at the same time.”  1Co.7:39 & Ro.7:2-3 pertain to wives, not husbands.  Because God allowed a man to add a 2^nd wife while his 1^st was alive with him.    

George Joyce Christian Marriage “Justin Martyr [100–165 AD, a gentile] makes it a reproach to Trypho [a Jew] that the Jewish teachers permitted a man to have several wives. When in 212 AD, the lex Antoniana de civitate gave the rights of Roman citizenship to great numbers of Jews, it was found to tolerate polygamy among them. On the other hand, the Romans were strictly monogamous.”  Augustine (354–430 AD) later wrote in Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects, “According to Roman law it is not permissible to marry a 2^nd wife as long as he has another wife living”.  In 1563 AD, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) made polygyny anathema at the Council of Trent.  Polygamy was condemned.

Maurice Nelson op. cit. “Polygyny was prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church, not by God. A monogamous society criminally punishes men for relationships allowed by God.”

The society of pagan Rome was morally corrupt.  Juno, the wife of Jupiter, was the Roman goddess of love & marriage.  The 6^th month of Caesar’s Julian calendar (46 BC) was Iunius, the ‘month of Juno’.  Our present Gregorian calendar comes from the Julian calendar.  Western society today resembles decadent Roman society in some respects.  And our ‘June’ is the most popular month for weddings.

Our modern society too is corrupt…illicit sex, licentiousness, abortion, is commonplace.  Prostitution and divorce rates are high in Western nations which have marriage laws based upon the Greco-Roman model and proliferated by the RCC.

Wikipedia: Marriage in Ancient Rome “Marriage was a strictly monogamous institution. It is one aspect of ancient Roman culture that was embraced by early Christianity, which in turn perpetuated it as an ideal in later Western culture.”

“Polygamy is not forbidden in the OT. The NT is largely silent on polygamy. Polygyny is legal in 58 out of nearly 200 sovereign states. Polyandry is illegal in virtually every country.” (Wikipedia)  In the Bible, polyandry is adultery.  William Luck op. cit., p.56 “The husband functions as the head [1Co.11:3], while the woman functions, let us say, as the arm. The head may control more than one arm at a time. But to have two heads [husbands] attempting to control the same arm would be monstrous.”

Many nations today don’t adhere to the Western practice of solely monogamous marriages.  Polygyny is legal in much of Africa.  It’s been said that some peoples there have no vocabulary term for ‘prostitution’!  And African plural wives generally have high social status.  Some Christians too practice polygyny in nations where it’s legal (African & Asian).

Wikipedia: Polygamy in Christianity “Although the Old Testament describes numerous examples of polygamy among devotees to God, most Christian groups have historically rejected the practice of polygamy and have upheld monogamy alone as normative. Nevertheless, some Christian groups in different periods have practiced, or currently do practice, polygamy.”

There are African pastors who resent Western church attempts to compel African churches to disallow what God showed was lawful in the OT!  A lead pastor in Ghana, Stephen Boateng, says, “There’s no single quotation in the Bible that forbids polygamy, even God favors it”.  His colleague, Daniel Eshun, said rhetorically, “At what point did polygamy become a sin?”  1Ti.3 & Ti.1, not written before the 60s AD, would be late for God to somehow change His mind and suddenly rule that polygyny is sin!       

John Milton op. cit. “I argue as follows from Heb.13:4: Polygamy is either marriage, or fornication, or adultery; the apostle recognizes no fourth state…so many patriarchs were polygamists…whoremongers and adulterers God will judge, whereas the patriarchs were the objects of His especial favor.”

It is possible for a man to simultaneously love more than one woman.  Adriana Blake Women Can Win the Marriage Lottery “Why should we think that it is possible to love only one person as a mate? We acknowledge that we can love more than one child and more than one parent.”

The premise that monogamous families produce better-adjusted children is disputable.  Yes, contention did develop between polygynous Abraham’s sons Ishmael & Isaac and between the two wives of Samuel’s father Elkanáh.  But many monogamous families too are contentious.  For example, the twins Jacob versus Esau!  Adam & Eve was a monogamous couple…yet their firstborn son Cain became a murderer, killing his brother Abel (Ge.4:8)!

God the Father is a monogamist.  He’s not a single parent; single parenthood isn’t God’s ideal! ref “Godhead in Prehistory”.  Christ, the Husband of two OT nations and of Christians…is a polygynist.

However, Jesus the man didn’t come to be made physical king (Jn.6:15) or lead a rebellion against Rome and its laws.  His purpose wasn’t to enact Roman legislation regarding morality, to meet His higher standards.  It wasn’t time for His laws to be implemented in their government (Jn.18:37, Re.19:16).

Marrying someone while still legally married to another is bigamy.  Christian men shouldn’t break laws prohibiting bigamy and risk imprisonment.  (Yet polygyny may be viable in some circumstances.)

God made men with more testosterone, whereas wives may not want to be bothered with sex.  A wife shouldn’t feel compelled to have sex!  In the OT, God authorized a solution to satisfy the realistic needs of both sexes and extend the family lineage & wealth. 

The content of the NT, with the words of Jesus, shouldn’t be separated from the OT roots of Christ’s words to His nation Israel.  Christ’s morality isn’t a double standard!  Mal.3:6 “I, the Lord, do not change.”  His laws regulate, not prohibit, polygyny.  And it should go without saying that the 1^st century laws & customs of men in pagan Rome, which we glimpse in the NT, are inferior to Christ’s OT laws!  Beware self-righteousness, based on the customs/traditions of (religious) men.

Modern society can glean true concepts and standards of God’s morality from Christ’s OT guidelines!  He, His character and morality, is “The same yesterday, today, and forever” (He.13:8).

The ultimate and highest determinant of morality is God’s word, not mans’ customs.  Jesus & Paul affirmed God’s word, saying, “It is written”.  And 1Pe.1:25, “The word of the Lord abides forever.”

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!

Rebirth to Physical Life (1)

This topic is follow-up to the two-part topic “Universal Christian Salvation”.  As background, I suggest you read/review the Bible verses referenced in “Universal Christian Salvation” before proceeding here.

In “Universal Christian Salvation”, we examined pertinent passages in the New Testament (NT) and the Old Testament Septúagint/LXX which contain the Greek term for “all”…“pas” (Strongs g3956).  This term “pas” occurs 1,240 times in the NT.  In several of those verses, all/pas pertained to all of mankind.

Universalism or Universal Christian Salvation/Reconciliation is the belief that all or most humans will ultimately be reconciled to God, saved through Jesus.  (It isn’t pluralism; since not all mans’ religions are from God.)  Two disparate beliefs of Christians are…Eternal Conscious Torment in hell-fire, held by Calvinists & Arminianists…and Annihilationism extinction.  see “Universal Christian Salvation (1)”.

A person may cite isolated Bible verses which seem to support any or all of the above three beliefs!

Yet God is love (1Jn.4:16).  Universal Christian Salvation/Reconciliation does comprehensively reflect God’s love.  God is also fair, impartial.  Ro.2:11 “There is no partiality with God.”  He’s no respecter of persons (Ac.10:34).  And God is just.  Ro.9:14 “There is no injustice with God.”  Is.61:8 the Lord loves justice.  1Jn.1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”

But if all humans end up ‘saved’, how does such Universal Salvation also reflect God’s character as just & consistent, with the requirements for His forgiveness and mans’ salvation the same for every person?

Over the millennia, most of humanity died without believing in the name of Jesus, the only name by which we’re saved (Ac.4:12).  Many or most never even heard His name!  e.g. the multitudes of gentiles who lived in BC times, before Jesus’ incarnation.  All men are sinners (Ro.3:23).  Some die cursing God.

Yet Paul wrote in Php.2:10-11, “At the name of Jesus everyone [pas g3956] in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will bow the knee. And every [g3956] tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  That’s universality…even including those “under the earth” (KJV)!  also cf. 1Pe.3:19.  Geneva Bible Php.2:10 “All creatures will at length be subject to Christ.”  Meyer NT Commentary Php.2:10 “The bowing of the knee represents adoration.”  Cambridge Bible Php.2:10 “Created existence, in its heights and depths…being said to worship.”  Ellicott Commentary Php.2:11 “The acknowledgement of universal Lordship and majesty.”

However, many didn’t believe and repent, two requirements for salvation (Mk.16:16; Jn.3:18, 36; Lk.13:3; Ac.2:38, 16:31).  If they’re saved without belief and repenting from sin, it would seem that God has a double standard!  Yet God is just and impartial.  Mankind reaps what he sows (Ga.6:7).  How may this be reconciled?  Jesus and Paul said there were other “ages to come” (e.g. Mt.12:32, Ep.2:7).

Ge.18:20 the sin in the ancient cities of Sodom & Gomorrah was “exceedingly grave”.  Consequently, the Lord destroyed their inhabitants with fire from heaven (Ge.19:24-25, Jude 1:7)!  Therefore, we may think it would be intolerable for them in the judgment.  Condemnation.  But that’s not what Jesus said (speaking to the unrepentant who opposed Him).  Mt.11:24 “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”  What?!  also Mt.10:15.  Having destroyed those wicked cities with fire, for their judgment to be “more tolerable”…implied is a measure of future forgiveness.

The Lord asserted in Ezk.16:53-55, “I will restore the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria [Israel’s 10 tribes] and her daughters….Sodom with her daughters will return to their former state.”  The Jordan River plain.  Keil and Delitzsch Ezk.16:53 “What the apostle teaches [1Pe.3:19, 4:6]…is equally applicable to the Sodomites…and indeed generally to all the heathen nations who either lived before Christ or departed from this earthly life without having heard the gospel preached.”  So it’s not hopeless for those ancient Sodomites!  They would eventually be restored.  Such tolerance could also include the children of those utterly corrupt heathen nations/Canaanites who Christ commanded Israel to exterminate in De.20:16 & Jsh.6:20-21?  Those ancients may still obtain salvation!

But those individuals all died.  How can they return to their former lands and hear the saving gospel?  Furthermore, reanimation doesn’t apply only to those gentiles; it applies to the entire house of Israel too!     

The dry bones passage of Ezk.37:1-14 reflects the whole house of Israel rebirthed to physical life!  (It’s too long to quote here in full.)  Their corpses (slain, v.9) had decomposed.  v.4-5 NET “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord, I Am about to infuse breath into you and you will live.”  Barnes Notes Ezk.37:6 “In Ezk.37:5, not ‘I will cause’, but I cause or am causing.”  It was about to start happening.  v.6 “I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you…and you will know that I Am the Lord.”  (cf. Job said in Jb.10:11, “Did you not…cloth me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews?”)  These are literal breathing physical bodies with human spirits!  Cambridge Bible Ezk.37:6 “Their becoming actual men of flesh & blood.”  At death their human spirit had returned to God who gave it (Ec.12:7).  God sends those same spirits into new flesh bodies.

Ezk.37:11-13 “These bones are the whole house of Israel. I will open your graves and bring you back to the land of Israel.”  This pertains to all Israel.  They’ll all return to the land of Israel.  Similarly, the Lord said ancient Sodom’s inhabitants would return to their land area.  Ezk.37 is a fleshly rebirth of all Israelites.  v.14 “I will put My Spirit in you.”  God’s Holy Spirit (HS) too is given to them.  God will call them to Himself, they’ll be taught the gospel (Jn.6:44-45) and receive the HS to walk in His ways.

Paul said in Ro.11:26, “All Israel shall be saved”.  (also cf. Is.45:17, Zec.8:13.)  Not just a remnant!  Not just the 100^th generation, but excluding most of the previous 99 generations (with those who went into Assyrian & Babylonian captivities) who burn forever in hell-fire!  No.  God puts His Spirit in the historical house of Israel!  All will have the opportunity to repent & believe, and be saved through King Jesus (Ezk.37:24).  God loves all who live, both BC and AD.  His will is none perish forever; that all come to repentance, 2Pe.3:9.

Hosea prophesied to the northern 10 tribes of Israel around 750 BC.  Ho.13:12-14 “The iniquity of Ephráim [the northern kingdom] is on record…I will deliver them out of the power of Hades, and will redeem them from death. O Hades, where is thy sting?”  (Paul quotes this LXX verse in 1Co.15:55.)  But when?  First…Ho.13:15-16 in 722 BC Shalmanéser V will attack from the East, since the guilty northern Israel (capital at Samaria) has rebelled against God.  Israel will be deported by Assyria into captivity.  Those Israelites will die in the attack and in captivity.  Then later…Ho.14:4-5 “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger is turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel.”  v.8 “O Ephraim…it is I who answer and look after you.”  The Lord will care for them.

But those had all died!  Yet the Lord will bring back those apostate Israelites from Hades (the realm of the dead); the sting of death is past.  MacLaren Expositions Ho.14:5 “That promise in its depth and fullness is applicable only to Christian Israel.”  That deported generation of northern Israel will have opportunity for salvation.  Again, “All Israel shall be saved”.  Sanh 10:1 “All Israelites will have a share in the world to come.”  Including the hardened, Ro.11:15, 25.  But those individuals will have to live a right life…believe, and repent (of apostasy).  God’s standards are consistent; He is impartial (Ep.6:9).

Later the Jews of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom of Judah were killed or sent by God into captivity to Babylon (between 606-586 BC).  Lam.2:21-22 they were slaughtered!  La.1:5 God’s wrath was due to the multitude of their transgressions.  La.3:42-43 the Lord didn’t pardon them then.  La.4:6 “The iniquity of Thy people is greater than the sin of Sodom.”  Adult survivors died in captivity.

Yet Je.32:36-40, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city [Jerusalem], ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and pestilence. Behold I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My wrath, and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in peace and safety…And I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” (cf. Ezk.37:13-14, 24).

But they’d died (elsewhere)!  JFB Commentary Je.32:37 “The ‘all’ countries implies a future restoration more universal than that from Babylon.”  Not just after the 70 years of Je.29:10.  That generation was killed in the siege, and over the decades the adult survivors from 597 BC had died in captivity.  Barnes Notes Je.32:39 “Under the new covenant they will walk with one consent in the one narrow path of right-doing.”  Ellicott Commentary Je.32:40 “The ‘new covenant”…which shall abide forever.”  Gill Exposition Je.32:40 “An everlasting covenant…which is known and made manifest at conversion.”  Cambridge Bible Je.32:40 “It is the ‘new covenant’ of Jer.31:31, etc., which is meant.”  Jesus said in Lk.22:20, “This is the new covenant in My blood”.  Yet those Jews had perished 600 years before the inauguration of the New Covenant in the 1^st century AD at Jesus’ Last Supper!

The southern kingdom of Judah, long since dead, would be restored to their land too.  Paul wrote in Ro.11:15, “What will their [the Jews] acceptance be but life from the dead”.  v.23 God is able to graft them in again.  Ro.14:9 Christ is Lord of both the dead and the living. (cf. Ezk.37:12.)  It’s not all over for those Jews who perished in the first half of the 6^th century BC!  They’re part of “all Israel”.

Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.116 “In view of Isa.53 and other passages…the Messiah is represented as willingly taking upon Himself all these sufferings, on condition that all Israel – the living, the dead, and those yet unborn – should be saved.”

1Sm.2:6 “The Lord kills, and makes alive; He brings down to Sheól and raises up.”  also see De.32:39.  God, the author of life, has the right to end a life.  He may kill the wicked.  The Lord sent Israel/Judah to die in captivity.  Men reap what they sow (2Co.9:6).  But the order in the above two verses isn’t ‘He makes alive and then kills’, later…it’s vice versa.  After God kills, He then makes them alive again.

God allowed the patriarch Job to suddenly lose his wealth, children, and health in his trials.  Job was suffering, thinking God was angry over his (unknown) sin.  Jb.14:13 Job lamented, “If only you would hide me in Sheol until Your anger passes”.  He wanted to go to the realm of the dead (temporarily).  Though Job didn’t understand why this evil had come upon him, He didn’t blame God.  Instead, Job said in Jb.19:26 KJV, “Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God”.  Job didn’t doubt God existed.  Cambridge Bible Jb.19:26 “Before death he shall not see Him.”  Then when?

Jb.1:21 Tanakh KJV LXX, “Naked came I forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.”  What?!  Job said he would later be reborn from a mother’s womb; his same spirit indwelling a human newborn!  After death, the Lord would make him alive again (1Sm.2:6).  cf. Is.26:19 “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust. The earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”  Ellicott Commentary Is.26:19 “Like the vision of dry bones in Ezek.37:1-14.”  Physical rebirth.

Job said in Jb.29:18 Tanakh, “I shall die with my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix.”  Barnes Notes Jb.29:18 “Herder observes that the phoenix is obviously intended here…The rabbis generally understand here the Phoenix; a fabulous bird, much celebrated in ancient times…Jannai adds that ‘This bird lives 1,000 years, and in the end of the thousand years, a fire goes forth from its nest, and burns it up. But there remains an egg, from which again the members grow, and it rises to life.”

Job thought he too would experience another physical life, as the ancient phoenix bird.  Clément was a fellow-worker with Paul (Php.4:3).  1Clem.12:2-6 describes a 500-year life cycle of the very rare phoenix.  v.6 “The Lord…even by a bird shows us the greatness of His power to fulfil His promise.”  (A phoenix was exhibited in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius, 41–54 AD).  Tacitus Annals 6:28 (117 AD) “There is no question that the bird is occasionally seen in Egypt.”  The phoenix symbolized rebirth.  We understand that Job’s physical life did end well (Jb.42:10).  But that’s not the case for every human.

Re.20:5 “The rest of the dead lived not again until the 1,000 years were completed.”  Interestingly, an ancient Greek & Roman belief was…the spirits of the dead dwelt in Hades for 1,000 years, and then were resurrected or reincarnated to earthly life.  [Note – ref for Hades: Lk.16:23; 1Co.15:55; Re.1:18, 20:13-14.  also see the topic “Thousand (Years)’ in the Bible – (2)”.]

Re.20:8 at that time, after the 1,000 years, there are “nations in the four corners of the earth”.  Physical nations!  cf. Ec.6:6 “Though a man live 1,000 years twice told….”  May this include the men of Sodom and ancient Israelites/Jews reborn to another physical life (Ezk.16:55; Mt.11:24, 10:15)?

The Jewish apocryphal book Wisdom of Sírach, called Ecclesiásticus, was written ca 180 BC.  Its writer Yeshúa ben Síra alluded to a rebirth to physical life, for the righteous.  WisSir.46:11-12 “Whoever did not turn away from the Lord – May their memory be blessed, may their bones revive from their place, and may the name of those honored live again in their sons.”  This brings to mind the “dry bones” of Ezk.37.  Also WisSir.49:10 “May He indeed revive the bones of the twelve prophets from their place.”

The Jewish book of 2Maccabees was written ca 125 BC.  Its writer too believed in rebirth to physical life.  2Mac.12:44-46 KJV 1611 edition “If he had not hoped that the slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. Whereupon he made reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin.”  Wikipedia: Resurrection “The concept of resurrection of the physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen through re-creation of the flesh.”  (also ref 2Mac.7:22-23, 28-29; Ezk.37.)  It was their custom to pray for the deceased.

Paul wrote in 1Co.15:29 Good News trans, “What about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?”  In the 1^st century, it seems it was a custom to not only pray for the dead but to also be baptized by proxy for the dead.  Several interpretations have been offered for 1Co.15:29.  Expositor’s Greek Testament 1Co.15:29 “How futile Christian devotion must be, such as is ‘in those baptized for the dead’, if death ends all.”  Pulpit Commentary “Why do some of you get baptized on behalf of your dead friends?”  Cambridge Bible “The natural and obvious explanation is that the apostle [Paul] was here referring to a practice, prevalent in his day, of persons permitting themselves to be baptized on behalf of their dead relatives and friends.”  Perhaps prayers and vicarious baptism was efficacious for their comrades and loved ones who would later have a physical rebirth.

Where else in scripture do we read about belief in physical rebirth (besides Jb.1:21)?  As well, a rebirth could be great opportunity for our ancestors, children, family members, friends & loved ones who died unconverted/unsaved!  Their ultimate fate wouldn’t be eternal conscious torment in hell-fire!

{Sidelight: For our non-religious relatives/ancestors who’d lived a peaceful quiet life to suffer hell-fire forever equally with genocidal tyrants…such injustice wouldn’t reflect just retribution!  God is just.  The punishment fits the crime; the lex talionis principle of equality (e.g. Le.24:17-22).}

This topic is concluded in “Rebirth to Physical Life (2)”.  (The future for converted/saved Christians is addressed in the topic “Life and Death – for Saints”.)

Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (2)

This Part 2 is the continuation and conclusion to “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)”.

The “Ark of the Testimony” (seen in Ex.25:16, Jsh.4:16, e.g.) was the most revered object in God’s portable tabernacle, constructed by Moses/Israelites.  The Hebrew term for “ark” is aróne, Strongs h727.  The term for “testimony” is aydúth h5715.  The Ark was also known as the “Ark of the Covenant” (h1285, Nu.10:33, e.g.), the “Ark of the Lord” (h3068, Jsh.3:13), the “Ark of God” (h430, 1Sm.3:3).  This Ark wasn’t the floating vessel ‘Noah’s ark’ so-called, seen earlier in the Flood account of Ge.6–8.

Christ was the God and good Shepherd of ancient Israel.  His glory ‘dwelt’ above the Ark, upon the mercy seat between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11.  see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  The Ark represented the Lord’s Presence and Name!  2Sm.6:2 “The ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.”

Using Dr. Martin Anstey’s The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, Israel’s exodus from Egypt occurred circa (c) 1612 BC and the sacred tabernacle tent & sanctuary was erected c 1611 BC.

“Ark of the Testimony – Journeys (1)” covered the time from the Ark’s construction in the aftermath of Israel’s exodus from Egypt…until the capture of the Ark by the enemy Philistines, c 1102 BC.

The Ark, a gilded rectangular chest, resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years!  From c 1611 BC – c 1102 BC (except when it was in transport or taken into battle).  But after c 1102 BC, the Ark would never return to Moses’ tabernacle!

Now in Part 2, we’ll continue the account of the Ark’s journeys from when the Philistines’ captured it.

In the latter years of Eli the high priest & judge, Israel had become very backslidden.  The tabernacle of Moses and the Ark was at Shilóh, in the tribal territory of Ephráim.  1Sm.4:1-5 the Ark is carried into the battle of Ebenézer against the Philistines.  v.17-18 the Philistines sack Shiloh, and capture the Ark.  Eli dies when he hears the news.  v.22 “The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.”

1Sm.5:1-7 the heathen Philistines took the captured Ark of God from Ebenezer to their city of Ashdód, into the temple of their pagan god Dagón.  But the idol of Dagon was then found fallen down before the Ark…and broken!  The Lord afflicted the Ashdodites with tumors and mice (LXX).  v.8-9 so the Philistines took the Ark to their city of Gath.  The Lord afflicted them there with tumors.  v.10-12 so they took the Ark to Ekrón.  The hand of God was heavy upon them in Ekron; many men died or were smitten with tumors.  At that point the Philistines didn’t know what to do with the Ark!

1Sm.6:1-12 after the Philistines had possession of the Ark for 7 months (c 1101 BC), they called for their heathen priests & diviners, to learn what should be done with the Ark.  It was decided the Ark should be sent away on a cart hitched to two milk cows.  Lo and behold…the cows didn’t go towards their calves in Philistia…on their own, the cows carted the Ark straightway to Bethshémesh in Israel!

1Sm.6:13-19 the Ark arrived in Bethshemesh.  It was back in Israel.  But the Lord struck down men there because, without authorization, “they looked into the Ark of the Lord”.  (Nu.4:4-5 in transport, the Ark was to be covered by the inner veil; the Kohaththites in charge of holy articles weren’t to touch the Ark or see into it.)  1Sm.6:20-21 so they wanted it taken from Bethshemesh to Kiriáth-jearím in Judah.

1Sm.7:1-3 the men of Kiriath-jearim brought the Ark to the house of Abinadáb in Kiriath-jearim.

Although Israel repented after 20 years, the Ark remained in the house of Abinadab for approximately 70 years (c 1101 BC – 1030 BC).  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Les McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”  The Ark remained at Abinadab’s house during the judgeship of Samuel and the entire reign of Saul.

When David was running from King Saul, Moses’ tabernacle (minus the Ark) was at the town of Nob.  Saul later had the residents of Nob killed, ref 1Sm.21–22.  Cambridge Bible 1Sm.1:3 “The tabernacle was removed to Nob (1Samuel 21), and the once holy place was utterly desecrated.”  After Nob, Gibeón became the site of Moses’ tabernacle, ref 1Ch.16:39-40 & 2Ch.1:3 (until Solomon’s time).

After David became king and subdued the Philistines, he wanted the Ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC) in the tribal territory of Judah.  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zión] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  (That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel h168.)

2Sm.6:2-11 David brought the Ark from Abinadab’s house to Obéd-edóm’s house, where it remained for 3 months.  v.12-17 David then brought the Ark from Obed-edom’s house to the “tent of David” on Mt Zion in Jerusalem.  (see the topics, “Tent/Tabernacle of David” and “Zion in the Bible”.)

Jesuswalk.com/david “David can’t very well return the ark to the tabernacle at Shiloh. Shiloh had been destroyed! The tabernacle had been moved to the priestly city of Nob, but the ark had never been there and Saul had slaughtered the town’s priests and their families. The ancient tabernacle is now to be found at ‘the high place at Gibeon’ (1Ch.16:39-40, 21:29; 2Ch.1:3, 13; 1Ki.3:4), in a Levitical city where personnel continued sacrifices. David wants the center of Yahweh worship to be in the capital at Jerusalem, not in some priestly town. So he sets up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem, in hopes of eventually building a proper temple to house it.”  His son Solomon would later build the Temple there.

King David brought only the Ark into the tent.  The Ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (even during Solomon’s reign, 2Ch.5:1-2, 10).  See Part 1.  But absent (since c 1102 BC?) from Moses’ Holy of Holies at Gibeon was Aaron’s rod that budded (Nu.17:10) and the memorial jar of manna (Ex.16:32-34).

1Ch.17:16 David sat before the Ark!  2Sm.11:11 the Ark was again taken into battle.

2Sm.15:24-29 Zadók the priest took the Ark with David as he fled from Absalóm…but Zadok then returned it to Jerusalem.  Poole Commentary 2Sm.15:25 to “the tabernacle David had lately built for it.”

The Ark of God resided in the tent at David’s palace on Zion for 40 years (though he died c 1002 BC).  The only item in the Ark then was God’s eternal law (later seen in heavenly Mt Zion, Re.11:19 & 14:1).

After David’s death, King Solomon completed the temple c 991 BC.  1Ki.7:51 – 8:1-21 the original Ark (1Ki.8:9) was moved from David’s tent on Mt Zion into Solomon’s stationary temple “house of the Lord” on Mt Moriáh (2Ch.3:1).  1Ki.8:10-11 at the occasion, the temple was filled with the glory cloud of the Lord!  The Ark had been at a personal residence or palace for c 110 years (c 1101 BC – 991 BC)!

1Ki.8:8 KJV the projection of the poles/staves, by which the descendants of Koháth had carried the Ark during Israel’s journeys, was changed in Solomon’s temple.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.8:8 “A sign that the ark had reached ‘the place of its rest’, and was not to be borne about anymore.”  1Ki.8:4 the old tabernacle of Moses with its holy utensils was brought from Gibeon into the temple.  The journeying of Moses’ Ark (and portable tabernacle) was ended.

More than 300 years after Solomon, c 622 BC King Josiah made sanctuary repairs to Solomon’s temple, 2Ch.34:8-10.  The Ark was removed for those repairs, and was then put back.  Josiah said to the Levites in 2Ch.35:3, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built”.  The Ark then was either Moses’ original Ark, or else a copy that had been made (since Solomon, 1Ki.8:9).

2Ch.35:3 is the last occurrence in the Old Testament (OT) where we read of the Ark in the temple.

The final OT reference to the Ark of God is Je.3:16. “Declares the Lord, They shall say no more ‘The ark of the covenant’. It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made again.”  God said the Ark of the Testimony/Ark of the Covenant, their most important object, reflecting His Presence…would no more be remembered or reproduced (or noted in the OT).

The Ark is later mentioned in the Apocrypha.  The book of 2 Maccabees was written in Greek c 124 BC.  God had warned Jeremiah to hide the Ark in the mountain from which Moses had viewed the Promised Land (Mt Nebó, De.34:1).  2Mac.2:4-8 KJV 1611 edition “When Jeremiah came thither, he found a hollow cave wherein he laid the Tabernacle, the Ark, the altar of incense, and stopped the door. Some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Jeremiah blamed them, saying, ‘That place shall be unknown.”  Jeremiah hid that Ark in an unknown cave, prior to 587 BC when Nebuchadnézzar carried off other holy vessels from Solomon’s temple (2Ch.36:7-10).  Since Jeremiah was told to hide the Ark, he knew it couldn’t be seen and its memory would fade (Je.3:16).

1Esdras 1:54 KJV 1611 edition “They [Babylonians] took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king’s treasures, and carried them away into Babylon.”  ref Je.52:17-23 for more item detail.  However, these passages don’t say they took the Ark itself.  (But 2Esdras 10:22 KJV 1611 edition “The Ark of our covenant is spoiled.”  The original Ark?)

Ezr.1:5-11 the Ark isn’t listed among the articles of Solomon’s temple which the Jewish returnees brought back from Babylon into the temple of Zerubbabél/Ezra, the 2^nd temple.  (see the topic “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)  2Ch.35:3 NASB footnote: “No reference is made to the ark by Ezra, Nehemiah, or even Josephus after the captivity.”

Later, neither was the Ark in Herod’s temple in the 1^st century AD.  Josephus Wars of the Jews 5:5:5 “The inmost part of the Temple…in this there was nothing at all…it was called the Holy of Holies.”  Nor was the Lord Christ ‘seated’ in the Holy of Holies chamber of Herod’s temple…Jesus was out walking the Land in His human body in the 1^st century AD!

The (physical) Ark chest disappeared from Israel’s history.  There are speculations today about the whereabouts of the Ark.  Some think the Ark ended up with the Jews in Elephántine, Egypt.  Or the original Ark possibly disappeared way back in the days of Solomon & the Queen of Sheba…and now remains in the possession of an Orthodox church in Ethiopia.  (If so, then the Ark hidden by Jeremiah wasn’t the original.)  I won’t elaborate on these speculations here.  (Many articles about the ancient Ark’s disappearance are available on the internet.  You might read Dean Smith’s What Happened To The Jewish Ark of the Covenant? and The Queen Of Sheba And The Jewish Ark.)

There are only two New Testament references to the “ark” (kibotós g2787, Greek) of the covenant.  He.9:1-7 briefly summarizes Moses’ tabernacle, its furnishings and service.  v.4 “…the ark of the covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant.”

He.9–10 shows the efficacious atonement of Christ’s blood for Christians…sprinkling animal blood at the Ark’s mercy seat on each annual Day of Atonement by the Aaronic high priest is no longer needed.  Nor do Christian ‘soldiers’ (figurative) follow a physical ark into battle against nations of this world.

John envisioned in Re.11:19, “The temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple”.  A heavenly Ark endures, not an earthly.  Again, the only thing in the Ark in the tent/tabernacle of David was God’s eternal law tablets.  God’s laws are now figuratively being written by the indwelling Holy Spirit on the minds & hearts of New Covenant Israelites (He.8:8-13) and gentiles grafted-in.  see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.  An earthly Ark is unnecessary.

As the Lord said in Je.3:16, the ancient physical Ark made for Israel need not be missed or made again.

 

Melchisedek Order Priesthood

King David of ancient Israel was given a messianic prophecy in Ps.110:1-4.  v.4 “The Lord has sworn, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  The Lord (Jesus) would be ruling King and priest in the order of Melchisedek!  This topic discusses Melchisedek and priesthood.

True religion and the Judeo-Christian ethic includes the entire Bible.  Both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) speak of priesthood.

What is a priest?  A priest performs religious rites, and mediates between God and humans.

Ancient nations and heathen cultures had priesthoods (ref Ge.41:45, Ex.3:1).  Wayne Jackson Exploring the Concept of Priesthood “The ancient Assyrians had priests, as did the Babylonians.”  OT Israel’s priests were of the Levitical order, from the tribe of Jacob’s son Levi.

Moses was a priest and a mediator (Ps.99:6; Ex.24:6, 29:26; Nu.7:1; Ga.3:19).  Then Moses’ brother Aaron and Aaron’s male descendants from the tribe of Levi were Israel’s priests (Ex.28:1).  Prior to the Levitical (Lev) Aaronic order of priests, in ancient Israel families/clans performed priestly functions (Ex.24:5).  The Aaronic priesthood was established in the wilderness (Ex.40:13-15), after the Israelites left Egypt.  But this Levitical priesthood didn’t exist in the books of Genesis or Job.

Jesus and His NT believers are of the order of Melchisedek, which both predates and postdates the Levitical order.  The person of Melchisedek (Mel) goes back to Genesis.  What does the Bible tell us about Melchisedek, and how does the order of Melchisedek compare to the Levitical order?

The mysterious Melchisedek/Melchizedek is thought by many to be a theophany or Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ the Son of God Most High (Lk.1:32).  The name “Melchisedek” means ‘king of righteousness’ (He.7:2).  And in Je.23:5, the Messiah/Branch (Jesus) is the prophesied righteous king.  Ge.18:1-33 the Lord as a Christophany appeared to Abraham.  Melchisedek appeared to Abrám in Ge.14.  Previously, in Ge.12:1-2 the Lord had said that He would bless Abram…“I will bless you.”  And then in Ge.14:18-21 Melchisedek said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High”.  It is Mel who blessed Abram!  It appears that Mel was divine, as the pre-existent Word of God, the Lord Christ.  Jn.1:1, 14 identifies Jesus as “the Word” (the Lógos in Greek).

The Dead Sea Scrolls Melchizedek document 11Q13, dated circa 100 BC, indicates Melchisedek is divine.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13 states that….Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim [God]’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  In the 1st century AD, Philo said Melchisedek represented the Word/Logos and is a priest (Allegorical Interpretation 3:26:82, p.59).  Again, Jesus is the Word/Logos.

Melchisedek is the first priest mentioned in the OT.  In Ge.14:18, Mel served Abram (the father of the faithful, Ga.3:7) bread & wine.  Sharing bread & wine will become the sacred communion or eucharist for the NT church in the order of Melchisedek!  (also see the topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.)

Ge.14:18 “Melchisedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now He was priest of God Most High.”  Mel was both king and priest of God.  In ancient kingdoms there was no separation of church and state.  Their politics involved pleasing their deity, so the deity would protect them.  But Israel’s priestly Aaronites among Levites weren’t kings.  Judah, not Levi, became a kingly tribe (Ge.49:10).

The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham in Ge.17:5.  Was Abraham himself a priest, serving under Melchisedek?  Abraham knew the king of Sodom (Ge.14:21).  In Ge.18:23-24, it is plausible that Abraham was interceding to the Lord Christ as a priest on Sodom’s behalf.

The order of (King) Melchisedek includes the laws of the King.  e.g. in Ge.14 Abram tithed or paid 10% to the priest-king/church-state.  (see the topic “Tithe to Church and State”.)  Abraham obeyed God’s regulations.  The Lord said of Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Abraham had the faith to obey all that, without a codified Law of Moses!  (see “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.)

What are the laws taught by, or pertaining to, the order of Melchisedek?

Throughout Genesis, we read of gentiles (such as Abraham) obeying…or disobeying…God’s principles & instructions.  Also Job.22:22, God’s guidelines weren’t unknown to gentiles living prior to the Law of Moses.  (see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses” and “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)

1Enoch 99:2 “Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law.”  1Eno.106:14 “Some of the angels of heaven…commit sin and transgress the law.” (ref 2Pe.2:4 & Jude 1:6.)  This indicates an eternal law existed even for the residents of heaven to obey, in order to dwell with God in harmony.  (Jude considered 1Eno.1:9 a prophecy, and quoted it in Jude 1:14.  1Enoch is included in a few Christian canons.)

Genesis reflects many similarities to the laws Christ later told Moses to codify & enact during the Levitical dispensation.  For example, in Genesis: 39:9 adultery is a great sin.  31:32 stealing is wrong.  2:2-3 God sanctified the 7^th day sabbath for mankind at Creation.  28:22 Abraham’s grandson Jacob also paid 10% to God.  7:2 only clean creatures are food.  Some try to claim the extra pairs of clean animals taken on Noah’s ark were for sacrifice.  But only domestic clean animals were sacrifices, not wild!  Yet Noah took seven pairs of wild clean animals too (there’d be plenty to eat)!  9:4 blood isn’t authorized as food (prohibited in the Ac.15:29 decree for the church.  see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.)

The Lord later commanded that the above laws (and other laws too), seen in Genesis for gentiles, be part of the Levitical code and Old Covenant for Moses/Israel.  (see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)

Albertus Pieters Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind, we have here the institution of the sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.”  Yes, there’s much for the church found between the lines of Genesis!

The above examples from Genesis reflect some of the similarities between the order of Melchisedek and the Levitical order.  But there are also noticeable differences between them!  Such as…

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no scriptural evidence of any physical tabernacle/temple ceremonial rituals (ref He.9:1, 10).  There’s no animal sin/trespass offerings.  There’s no Passover (before God ‘passed-over’ Moses’ Israel in Ex.12:23); there’s no other pilgrim feasts.  (Genesis does show voluntary non-temple burnt offerings.)  Also, we read of lesser incest…so they can obey God’s commands to reproduce (Ge.1:28, 9:1)…when the only humans available to marry there are relatives.

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no lunar calendar (for determining pilgrim feast dates, e.g.).  Examining Ge.7:11 with Ge.8:3-4 indicates 30-day months of a solar calendar.  Also Re.11:2-3 reflects 30-day months of a prophetic solar calendar.  This calendar projects to add a 30-day leap-month seven times in each 40-year cycle…in years #6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 40.  Its variance from 365.2422 days per year is said to be only 4 hours 2 min over a span of 11,560 years!  Also a form of solar calendar is used in 1Enoch.  But the lunar aspect of the Levitical dispensation had 29 or 30 day months (for feasts)…and it’s less accurate.  (As another comparison, the estimated variance of the Gregorian calendar over 11,560 years may be around 80 hours, or 3 ⅓ days.  It too is less accurate than the ‘prophetic calendar’.)

Various lunar calendar and new moon reckoning dogmas for Levitical festivals can cause unnecessary division within the order of Melchisedek!  In 1Co.14:33, Paul says God is not of confusion/disorder!  Attempting to use a Levitical calendar in the Melchisedek order has resulted in a measure of confusion.

There’s a significant prophecy in Zechariah.  Again, Je.23:5-6 referred to the Lord/Messiah as the Branch.  Zec.3:8-9 the then Levitical high priest, named Yehoshúa/Yeshúa (Iesous or Jesus in the Greek LXX), was a symbol.  Zec.6:11-13 is about that ancient Yeshua. “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch. He will be a priest on his throne [kingly], and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”  That Yeshua had the same name as the future Branch; and back in 500 BC was a symbol of the Melchisedek priest/king!  A full 500 years prior to the Messiah’s human birth, God knew the Savior’s Name would be…Yeshua (in Hebrew & Aramaic)!

Let’s now read through Hebrews 5–7.  It’s about priesthood and Jesus in the order of Melchisedek.  The Levitical and Melchisedek priesthoods are further contrasted in these chapters.

He.5:1-11 there was much to say regarding the order of Melchisedek.  He.6:13-20 Jesus is high priest in the order of Mel.  6:18 the two immutable things God swore with an oath are found in 6:13-14 and 7:21.  That is, the Lord surely would bless Abraham and multiply his descendants, and Jesus is priest in the order of Mel forever.  (also ref 1Eno.69 regarding oaths.)

He.7:1-8 the priest-king Melchisedek had no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life, and was made like the Son of God.  v.8 “He [Melchisedek] lives on.”  In Hebrews, Melchisedek isn’t portrayed as a mortal man!  Abraham was a mortal man.  Aaronite priests were mortal men with genealogy.

Wikipedia: Priesthood of Melchizedek “The basis of the Aaronic priesthood was ancestry; the basis of the priesthood of Melchizedek is everlasting life. That is, there’s no interruption due to a priest’s death (Heb.7:8,15-16, 23-25).”  The Levitical priesthood was hereditary.  ISBE “Melchizedek, a priest of highest rank, had neither predecessor nor successor in his great office.”

He.7:17 “You [Jesus] are a priest forever in the order of Melchisedek.”  Got Questions – Who Was Melchizedek? “This term ‘order’ would ordinarily indicate a succession of priests holding the office. None are ever mentioned, however, in the long interval from Melchizedek to Christ, an anomaly that can be solved by assuming that Melchizedek and Christ are really the same person.”

He.6:20 “Jesus…having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  Poole Commentary Ps.110:4 “Forever’, not to be interrupted or translated to another person.”  Jesus is high priest forever.  Yet He.7:3, speaking of Melchisedek, “…Being made like to the Son of God, does remain a priest continually [g1336].” (Youngs Literal Translation.)  According to the writer to the Hebrews, Melchisedek is priest on into perpetuity.  Vincent Word Studies He.7:3 “The tenure of his [Melchisedek’s] office is uninterrupted.”  Are we to believe there are two high priests serving continuously and uninterrupted?!  Taken literally…if Melchisedek isn’t Jesus, then there are presently two high priests simultaneously!

Hebrews 7 also compares Melchisedek to Abraham.  He.7:4 “Consider how great this [Being] was!”  (The term for ‘man’ isn’t in the Greek text of v.4.)  The Being Melchisedek is even called great!

Abraham was highly honored and eminent, the spiritual father of the faithful, according to Paul (Ga.3:7, 29).  The Lord had told Abram in Ge.12:2-3, “I will make you a great nation, and will magnify your name….In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  God would change Abram’s name to Abraham, magnify it, and his posterity would be renowned on earth!

Yet He.7:4 indicates Melchisedek is greater than Abraham!  He blessed Abram.  He.7:7 ESV “It is beyond dispute that the inferior [Abram] is blessed by the superior [Melchisedek].” (Other translations render the Greek term kreítton, Strongs g2909, as “better” or “greater”.)  Barnes Notes “Melchizedek was thus superior to Abraham.”  Cambridge Bible “The inferior is blessed by one who is the Superior.”

{Sidelight: Some think Melchisedek was a title (like Caesar or Czar), not a personal name.  A Jewish tradition says Melchisedek was Noah’s son Shem.  But according to Ge.5:32 & Ge.10:22, Shem did have a literal genealogy (unlike Melchisedek).  Shem had a beginning and an end, a mortal man.  Furthermore, in scripture Shem is of lesser status than Abraham (or Noah), not greater.  Shem’s name is seen less than 20 times in the Bible, whereas Abram/Abraham appears over 300 times!  Also, in the LXX and Samaritan Pentateuch chronologies, Shem was dead long before Mel met Abram in Ge.14.}

He.7:9-12 “The priesthood being changed, there takes place a change in the law also.”  A change has occurred in some written law/toráh; in the sacrificial & ceremonial aspects.  There’s no Levitical priesthood or temple; they’re now obsolete as far as the church is concerned.

It’s changed because…Jesus fulfilled all things written about Him (but not everything written in the OT).  Let’s first notice, in Mt.5:17-18 Jesus said, “I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill [g4137]”.  Then after His resurrection, Jesus’ words in Lk.24:44 refer back to the earlier Mt.5:17-18, with added detail. “My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled [g4137].”  Jesus came to fulfill all things written about Him in the Law, etc.  Furthermore, Luke noted in Ac.13:29, “They carried out all that was written concerning Him”.  Jesus didn’t abolish or “fulfill” in our place the Lord’s moral principles (seen way back in Genesis for gentiles/non-Jews even)!

Just because Jesus obeyed God’s principles doesn’t imply that He did so in our stead, and we may act like the devil!  In 2Co.5:10, Paul said that each of us must appear before the judgment seat…Ro.14:12 to “give an account of himself to God”.

He.7:13-28 Jesus wasn’t a Levite; He was from the tribe of Judah.  v.14 “Our Lord descended from Judah.”  Jesus didn’t have to qualify genealogically in the sense of the Levitical priesthood.  The fact that He was from Judah (was Jewish) through Mary didn’t disqualify Him in the order of Melchisedek, though He wasn’t qualified for the Levitical order.  The Levitical priesthood was based on genealogy…it consisted of only one clan (Aaron’s) within the tribe of Levi.

Continuing into Hebrews 8…the Old Covenant is of the Levitical order, the New Covenant is the order of Melchisedek.  He.8:6-13 the Lev dispensation principles, those which aren’t also part of the order of Mel, were vanishing.  v.13 “Whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

He.9–10 the Levitical order’s weaker animal sacrifices were continually repeated.  All their priests were sinning humans and were temporary (they kept dying, He.7:23).  The Lev order couldn’t transform hearts nor give ancient Israelites the Holy Spirit power to obey God.  (So they’d gone into captivity.)  Whereas the order of Mel transforms hearts via the Spirit, with the sinless Jesus high priest forever!

Fire from God fell to burn Levitical order animal sacrifices on the altar (Le.6:12-13, 9:24).  Tongues of fire fell on the heads of human “living sacrifices” of the Melchisedek order (Ac.2:1-3, Ro.12:1)!

He.10:9-14 Jesus’ one-time sacrifice ends the prior Levitical dispensation, with its ceremonial temple rites.  It establishes the succeeding order of Mel.  v.9 “He takes away the first, to establish the second.”

In Jn.6:4 & 7:2, John calls God’s OT Passover and Feast of Booths the “feast of the Jews” (not “feast of God”)…because the old Levitical dispensation, with its pilgrim feasts at the temple, is ending.  They don’t exist in the order of Melchisedek.

Mt.26:26-28 Jesus restored the order of Melchisedek with the symbolic sacred bread & wine of the New Covenant as its communion (from Ge.14:19 Melchisedek).  Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah 5:10:826-827 “With this celebration and new institution, the Jewish Passover forever ceased!”  The temple would soon be destroyed, and the pilgrim feasts at Jerusalem (their one authorized feast site then, never two simultaneously) would cease.

The OT Levites had no tribal land inheritance and were restricted in business (De.10:9; Nu.3:9, 18:20-21).  But leaders in the order of Melchisedek may work a common job, e.g. Ac.18:2-3.

The only Levitical injunctions and practices remaining…are those which are also present in the order of Melchisedek.  There are many.  Again, a detailed examination of Genesis shows that such injunctions (applicable for gentiles) existed prior to Moses and the Old Covenant.

He.13:10-14 “We have an altar which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”  Disbelieving Levitical priests, at temple feasts of the Jews, had no right to partake of the bread & wine of the Lord in the order of Melchisedek.  Yet New Covenant believers partake.  And we needn’t be physically circumcised to take that communion!  Father Abraham (Abram) wasn’t circumcised when Melchisedek shared bread & wine with him as Abram in Ge.14!  (Whereas physical circumcision is commanded to keep a Passover, e.g. Ex.12:48-49.  see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)

Few of us today have knowledge of/proof of family ancestry in the tribe of Levi or its priesthood.  1Pe.2:9 “You [Christians, 4:16] are a royal priesthood.”  Yet even us non-Levites/non-Aaronites are adopted (Ro.8:14-16) into royalty…and are become the royal priesthood in the order of Melchisedek!  Re.5:9-10 of saints from all nations, “You have made them a kingdom, and priests to our God”.

To conclude, the OT verse most often quoted in the NT is Le.19:18b. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  But the OT (short) passage most often referred to in the NT is Ps.110:1-4 (which began this topic). “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  David Seilaff Who Was Melchizedek? “In fact, Psalm 110 is referred to in the New Testament more than any Old Testament section of Scripture.”  The order of Melchisedek is of such significance for Christ’s church!

Jesus is both our high Priest (He.6:20), and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Re.19:16)…in the order of Melchisedek and the Kingdom of God!  Praise the Lord!

Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem

This topic is the continuation and conclusion to “Zion in the Bible (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first as background.  Little of the material and verses addressed in Part 1 is repeated here in Part 2.

The Hebrew term Zion (Strongs h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT).  In Part 1, we looked at many of those verses where Zión occurs.

We saw that “Zion” expanded in scope, or migrated, as the OT scriptures progress chronologically.  Zion went from being: a Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill, to the Temple Mount [Moriáh], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people.

In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!  (see Part 1 for details.)

Here in Part 2, we’ll continue to trace the expansion of “Zion” in the Bible.

The concept of Zion takes on added meaning in the New Testament (NT).  The Greek Septúagint/LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (see-ówn) g4622.  It occurs 7 times in the NT: Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1.  Following are those verses, along with Bible commentator remarks.

Mt.21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion [g4622], ‘Behold, your King [Jesus] comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  This verse refers to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  (Jn.12:15 is a parallel account.)  Pulpit Commentary Mt.21:5 “The ‘daughter of Zion’ is Jerusalem herself, named from the chief of the hills on which the city was built [7 hills]. Of course, the term includes all the inhabitants.”  Here the expression “daughter of Zion” represents old Jerusalem and the Jewish people (see Part 1).

Ro.11:26 “Thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Sion [g4622], He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Bengels Gnomen Ro.11:26 “The Deliverer or Redeemer comes out of Sión and for good to Sion.” (ref Is.59:20 LXX).   JFB Commentary Is.59:20 “Paul [in Ro.11:26] applies this verse to the restoration of Israel spiritually.”  The scope of Zion expands to include the beginning NT church of Jewish Christians.  Barnes Notes Ro.11:26 “Zion…thus came to denote, in general, the church or people of God.”

1Pe.2:6 “For this is contained in scripture [Is.28:16]: ‘Behold I lay in Sion a choice stone [Jesus], a precious Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him shall not be ashamed.”  Poole Commentary 1Pe.2:6 “Or Sion is here to be understood of the gospel church, whereof Sion was a type.”  Barnes Notes Ro.9:33 “Mt Sion was the hill or eminence in Jerusalem, over-against Mt Moriah, on which the temple was built. On this [Zion] was the palace of David, and the residence of the court, 1Ch.11:5-8. Hence, the whole city was often called by that name; Ps.48:12, 69:35, 87:2. Also it came to signify the capital, the glory of the people of God, the place of solemnities; and hence, also the church itself: Ps.2:6, 51:18, 102:13, 137:3; Is.1:27, 52:1, 59:20. In this place it means the church.”  Zion also signified the church.

He.12:22 “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels.”  JFB Commentary He.12:22 “Antitypical Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem.”  Cambridge Bible “The names of Sion and ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ are given to ‘the city of the living God’ (Ga.4:26, Re.21:2).”  Barnes Notes “The dispensation to which they had been brought was what conducted them directly up to the city of the living God, and to the holy mount where He dwelt above.”  Meyer NT Commentary “Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem is designated.”  Here Mt Zion represents more than the church…it also denotes the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God!

Re.14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb [Jesus] was standing on Mount Sion and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”  Ellicott Commentary Re.14:1 “The Savior, the Lamb…is seen standing on the citadel of the heavenly city.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.14:1 “Zion is the new Jerusalem, the opposite extreme to Babylon (v.8).”  Barnes Notes “Stood on the mount Zion; that is, in heaven.”  Zion has taken on a heavenly presence.

Norman Holmes A Vision For Spiritual Zion “The true Zion in heaven is at the throne of God and is the center of worship.”  (cf. Re.5:11-14.)

The heavenly Jerusalem set the pattern for OT ancient Israel’s earthly tabernacle/temple counterpart.  After Israel had fled Egypt, God showed Moses a heavenly archetype.  The Lord cautioned Moses to construct Israel’s ancient tabernacle and its furnishings according to the model he envisioned (Ex.25:9, 40).  In Ac.7:44, Stephen recounted that God had spoken to Moses about the pattern for the tabernacle.  Old Covenant priests served as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern.” (He.8:5)  And He.9:23-24 “It was necessary for the copies of things in the heavens to be cleansed…but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. For Christ didn’t enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself.”  At God’s heavenly sanctuary.

Re.14:1 and He.12:22 (quoted above) reflect Sion/Zion as the heavenly city of God!  After Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, He entered its holiest place (He.9:11-12, 24).

{Sidelight: The traditional Via Dolorosa route walked by Jesus to His crucifixion wasn’t on Mt Zion.  He was crucified outside Jerusalem (Jn.19:20).  Jesus cried out on the cross, Mt.27:46 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Zion is the place of life with God, not of death.

R.C. Sproul The Crucifixion and Old Testament Prophecy “The site of Jesus’ execution was outside Jerusalem. Once He was judged by the Gentiles and condemned to be executed, He was led out of the fortress, onto the Via Dolorosa, and outside the walls of the city. Just as the scapegoat was driven outside the camp [Le.16:21-23, He.13:11-12], Jesus was taken outside Zion, outside the holy city where the presence of God was concentrated.”  Christ wasn’t crucified in Zion.}

From the above NT verses, “Zion” has further expanded in scope, migrating by steps.  Zion has gone from (in the OT): Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill/mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people…then to the NT church, and to God’s heavenly abode!  Zion wasn’t just a Canaanite castle.

Yet going way back…even centuries prior to King David, it seems a type of “Zion” existed in Genesis!  Jerusalem was anciently called Jebús.  Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982], which is Jerusalem.”  1Ch.11:4-5 “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….David took the citadel of Zion, the city of David.”  Zion was linked to the Jebusite [h2983] city of Jebus/Jerusalem in David’s day.  And before….

ISBE: Zion “Enormous quantities of early ‘Amorite’ (popularly called ‘Jebusite’) pottery show that the spot [Zion] must have been inhabited many centuries before the time of David [1030 BC]. The reverse is equally true; on no other part of the Jerusalem site has any quantity of such early pottery been found.”

There’s a link between Melchisedek-Zion-David from the book of Genesis (not addressed in Part 1).

Abrám/Abraham met Mechisedek in Ge.14:18-20.  “Melchisedek king of Salem [h8004] brought forth bread and wine; He was priest of God Most High.”

Where was this ancient Salem?  Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon “Most Jewish commentators affirm that it [Salem] is the same as Jerusalem.”  Wikipedia: Jebusite “The Amárna letters call Jerusalem Úrusalim (1330s BCE). Also in the letters it is called Beth-Shálem, the house of Shalem.” Cambridge Bible Ge.14:18 “In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets Jerusalem appears with the name Uru-salim. Salem is the poetical, or archaic, name for Jerusalem in Psalm 76:2.”  Old Jerusalem was called Salem.

Ps.76:2 “In Salem is His [God’s] tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion.”  Melchisedek was both king and priest on Mt Zion of ancient Salem/Jerusalem.  Wikipedia: Jebusite “Melchisedek was…in charge of Jerusalem.”

die2live/mt-zion-mt-moriah-mt-calvary “Zion is also the city of Salem, where the priest/king of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means ‘king of righteousness’, received a tithe from Abram.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) refer to Melchisedek and Zion.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13, also 11QMelch or the Melchizedek document, is a fragmentary manuscript among the scrolls which mentions Melchisedek as leader of God’s angels in a war in heaven against the angels of darkness instead of the more familiar Archangel Michael. The text is an apocalyptic commentary on the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25. The DSS contain texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; the language of 11Q13 is Hebrew; date of composition is circa 100 BC. In the fragmentary passage the term ‘Elohím’ appears a dozen times, mainly referring to the God of Israel; but in commentary on ‘who says to Zion ‘Your Elohim [God] reigns’ (Isa. 52:7) 11Q13 states that Zion is the congregation of all the sons of righteousness, while Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  The DSS too linked Melchisedek to Zion.  (also see the topics “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Michael in the Bible”.)

David wrote of Melchisedek and Zion.  Ps.110:1-4 “The Lord will stretch forth thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  (The order of Melchisedek both precedes and succeeds the priestly Levitical order.)  Melchisedek was a theophany/Christophany (or a type) of Christ, the primordial word of God (Jn.1:1).

Bob Sorge connects insights in his Why Sion Is So Important. “Melchisedek was king of Jerusalem (Salem) and also the priest of God Most High (see Gen.14:14-24). Since Zion was Jerusalem’s…most ancient neighborhood, the ‘old city’ if you will, it is reasonable to conclude that Melchizedek’s throne was in Zion proper (even though it wasn’t called Zion at the time). We could say, therefore, that Melchizedek came out of Zion in order to bless Abraham. Melchizedek was the first priest of God to appear in Scripture, and it was no coincidence that his throne was in Zion (called Salem at the time). Jesus Christ was later declared to be a Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4). As such, Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”

Now Christ abides and reigns from heavenly Mt Zion.

Ps.146:10 “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise you the Lord.”  Benson Commentary Ps.146:10 “Christ is set as King on the holy hill of Zion, and His kingdom shall continue in a glory that shall know no period.”  Pulpit Commentary He.12:22 “In the Psalms generally the holy hill of Zion continues to be viewed as the Lord’s immovable abode, where he is surrounded by thousands of angels, and whence he succors his people (cf. Psalm 48; 68; 125:1; 132; etc.).”

Parts 1 & 2 of this topic have traced the steps and meaning of Zion through the scriptures.  After Bible times, men have since named other sites and towns Zion or Sion.  In this sense, Zion/Sion has migrated or expanded elsewhere too.  (I’m not imputing scripture to the following places/sites, etc.)  For example:

Sion College in London was chartered by King Charles 1 in 1630 for clergy.  Zion Wildlife Garden in New Zealand is a sanctuary for endangered species.  Sion Hill in the U.S. Virgin Islands is an historic 18^th century sugar plantation.  Zion College (founded 1949) was a Bible institute in Chattanooga.  Several states in the USA have towns named Zion.  Zion, Illinois (pop. 24,000, north of Chicago) was founded by evangelist Alexander Dowie (in 1901), with the Zion Tabernacle.  I with my son’s family have climbed another Mt Zion, the 4,200 ft peak in the Olympic National Forest of Washington state.  The famous Zion National Park and Zion Canyon (so-named by Mormon pioneers) is in Utah.  Zion Williamson plays basketball for Duke University in North Carolina.  Zionism (of the World Zionist Organization) is an ideological political movement, begun in 1897, to establish a national home and state in Palestine for the Jewish people.

To conclude…How else may we interpret Zion from scripture?  Zion may be broadly understood as…where God’s presence was or is!  Zion and God’s presence was/is: in the place of Melchisedek, at the southernmost holy hill or mount in Jerusalem/Salem, in the OT nation of Israel, in the NT church, in heavenly Jerusalem above.

Ps.9:11 “Sing praise to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.”  Ps.50:2 “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament He.12:22 “The ideal Zion is the place of God’s manifestation of His presence (Ps.9:11, Ps.76:2).”

Our best environment is…the presence of God.  There’s no better place or state!

Gordon E. Gainey’s summation in Zion and the Melchizedek Priesthood: p.130 “Zion is the kingdom of God upon the earth.”  p.135 “Mt. Zion is a present reality.”  p.62 “Zion is now! Zion is also future.”  p.137 “Zion is not some mystical place. It certainly exists. It is past, present and future.”  Zion is forever.

Zion in the Bible (1) – Old Jerusalem

What and where was the Biblical “Zion”?  This topic identifies Zion, according to the scriptures.

Writers of the Bible books sometimes used a symbolic, archaic, poetic, or secondary name for a place, instead of its common (current) name.  Jerusalem was such a place, historically known by other names.

The Hebrew term “Jerusalem” (Strongs h3389) first occurs in the days of Joshua, Moses’ successor.  Jsh.10:1-3 “Adonizédek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Aí [a city].”

When ancient Israel exited Egypt, the land of Canáan was inhabited by seven peoples, one being the Jebusites (h2983).  ref Jsh.15:63, De.7:1, 2Sm.24:16.  The Jebusites descended from Canaan, son of Ham (Ge.10:16).  They dwelt in the hill country around Jerusalem (Nu.13:29).  Jsh.15:8 “The south slope of the Jebusites, that is, Jerusalem.”  Jerusalem was the Jebusite capital city.

And Jerusalem was anciently known as Jebús.  Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982 means ‘trodden down’], which is Jerusalem.”  Also 1Ch.11:4-5, “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….And David took the citadel of Zion, which is the city of David.”  Zion was linked to Jerusalem/Jebus.

ISBE: Zion “It is evident that Zion was the name of the citadel of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem.”

The Hebrew term “Zión” (h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT).  80 of those occurrences are in Psalms and Isaiah.

The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain.  It is thought to have meant: a structure, stronghold, monument, mount, a parched place, or a brook.  It is unknown where the term Zion originated.

However, we’ll see that the place “Zion” expands in scope as the scriptures progress chronologically.  In this topic we’ll trace, step-by-step, the expansion of “Zion” through the Bible.

Some significant OT verses where Zion occurs: 2Sm.5:5-9; 1Ki.8:1; 1Ch.11:5; 2Ch.5:2; Ps.2:6, 9:11, 48:2, 11-12, 51:18, 74:2, 76:2, 78:68, 102:16, 21, 110:1-4, 128:5, 132:13, 135:21, 137:1, 149:2; Is.2:3, 10:32, 28:16, 33:20, 40:9, 51:16, 59:20, 64:10; Je.26:18, 50:28; La.2:13; Jl.3:16; Am.6:1; Mi.3:12, 4:2; Zc.2:7, 10, 8:3, 9:9, 13.  I’ll reference selected verses as we proceed; we won’t examine them all.

Jerusalem was built upon seven hills or mountains (Re.17:9, 11:8).  Three hills are east of the Kidrón Valley; four are west: Olivet, Scópus, Corruption/Offense; Antonia Fortress, Óphel, Moriáh, Zion.

(Note: The names of hills changed over time.  Other/archaic names for area hills were: Ákra, Bezétha, Calvary, Garéb and Goáth (Je.31:39), Nob, Milló.  Correspondingly, sites on maps of ancient Jerusalem differ.  cf. map-of-ancient-jerusalem.html and biblestudy.org Jerusalem and Its Seven Hills, e.g.)

The Jebusite fortress was called Zion; the hill upon which the fortress sat also came to be called…Zion.

The term “Zion” first occurs in 2Sm.5:7-9. “David captured the stronghold of Zion, and it became known as the city of David. So David lived in the stronghold, and built all around from the supporting terraces [Millo] and inward.”  The Jebusite castle area on Mount Zion also became part of his “city of David”.  It was King David’s capital.  “Zion”, the Jebusite citadel, also became the hill on which it sat.

Specifically where in Jerusalem was this citadel on Mt Zion, and the “city of David”, located?

Wikipedia: Zion “Zion is the Hebrew name for a hill south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, upon which was built the city of David. Mount Zion is not to be confused with Mount Moriah, better known as the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple of Solomon [2Ch.3:1] and the Second Temple [of Zerubbabél] were built. The particular hill known as Mount Zion is no longer inside the city wall [of Jerusalem], but its location is now just outside the portion of the Old City wall forming the southern boundary of the Jewish Quarter of the current Old City. Most of the original city of David itself is thus also outside the current city wall.”  (Mt Zion is called “Old Mt Zion” on some modern maps.)  King David built his palace on (old) Mt Zion in the “city of David”.

Biblical Archeology Review: The Interrupted Search for King David’s Palace “The city of David, a 12-acre spur that extends south of the Temple Mount [Mt Moriah].”  Labeling as the original “Zion” any area hill farther to the west is thought by Bible historians to be incorrect.

{Sidelight: Wikipedia: Jebusite “Jerusalem has no water supply except for the Gihon [G-eé-han] Spring.”  bible.ca/archeology/Gihon-Spring “It was because of the strategic location of this single spring that the original Canaanite cities of ‘Migdol Edar’ and ‘Jebus’ were built over and around that water source before the time of King David. The Gihon Spring is located even today at the base of what was called the ‘Óphel’ (a swelling of the earth in the form of a small mountain dome) once situated just to the north and abutting to ‘Mount Zion’ (the City of David). Ophel Mound was close to the City of David. David soon began to fill in the area between the two summits with dirt and stones (calling it the Millo or ‘fill in’) to make a single high level area on which to build his city…2Sm.5:9. David’s son Solomon completed the ‘fill in’ between the two summits and called that earthen and rock bridge the Millo [h4407, ‘mound’], 1Ki.11:27. Solomon then built the Temple [2Ch.3:1]…above the Gihon Spring. This Ophel region became known as a northern extension of ‘Zion’. This made the Temple so close to the City of David (where the citadel or akra was located) that Aristéas said a person could look northward from the top of the City of David and easily witness all priestly activities within the Temple precincts. ([Letter of] Aristeas, lines 100-104, as translated by Eusebius.)”

Wikipedia: Ophel “The location of the Ophel [h6077] of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references of 2Ch.27:3; 33:14 and Ne.3:26-27: it was on the eastern ridge and south of the Temple, and probably near the middle of the southeastern hill (i.e., the eastern ridge segment)….This must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the ‘stronghold of Zion’ conquered and reused by King David (2Sm.5:7).”  Mt Ophel lay between Mt Zion and Mt Moriah.}

1Ch.15:1 “David constructed buildings in the city of David; he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  The ark of God (but not God’s tabernacle) was brought into the city of David, 1Ch.16:1, on (old) Mt Zion.  The Lord dwelt above the cherubim atop the ark, making Mt Zion a holy hill!  Ps.2:6-7 “I have anointed My king upon Zion, My holy mountain. You are My Son, Today I have begotten you.”  Mt Zion was holy to the Lord…His ark was there during David’s reign.  (Psalm 2 is dual.  It also prophetically refers to God’s begotten Son Jesus, Ps.2:7; whereas Jesse begat David, Ru.4:22.)  also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.

Later, Solomon built God’s Temple on Mt Moriah to the north.  2Ch.3:1 “Solomon began to build the house [temple] of the Lord on Mount Moriah…on the threshing floor of Ornán [or Araunáh] the Jebusite.”  Previously the Lord had David erect an altar on this site, 2Sm.24:18.  Nearly 1,000 years earlier, the Lord told Abraham to erect an altar on Mt Moriah for a burnt offering, Ge.22:2, 13-14.  (Today the Muslim Dome of the Rock, built in 691 AD, sits on Mt Moriah.  ref Jewish Virtual Library.)

1Ki.8:1 “Solomon assembled Israel’s elders to bring up the Lord’s ark of the covenant from the city of David, which is Zion.”  (Also Solomon brought up God’s tabernacle from Gibeón, 2Ch.1:3 & 1Ki.8:4.  The ark of God and the tabernacle of God had been separated for around 110 years!)

ISBE: Zion “Zion…this citadel…on the long hill running south of the Temple (the SE hill). The Ark of the Covenant was brought up out of the city of David to the Temple (1Ki.8:1; 2Ch.5:2), and Pharaoh’s daughter ‘came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her’, adjacent to the Temple (1Ki.9:24). This expression ‘up’ could not be used of any other hill than of the lower-lying eastern ridge.”  Mt Zion (elevation 2,510 ft.) to the south was slightly lower than Mt Moriah.

Over the centuries, the concept of Zion expands in scope, or migrates, so to speak.  “Zion” will include the temple area too.  Je.31:6 “Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.”  However, the Lord’s temple was built on Mt Moriah (2Ch.3:1), not on Mt Zion!  Je.50:28 “There is a sound of exiles and refugees from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of our God, vengeance for His temple.” also Joel 2:1.  Zion now relates to Solomon’s temple, even though it sat on Mt Moriah.  (Also in the apocrypha 1Mac.5:54, “They went up to mount Sion…where they offered burnt offerings”.)

The scope of Zion continued to expand.  According to Strongs Lexicon, Zion was…“Another name for Jerusalem, especially in the prophetic books.”  Jerusalem itself, all seven hills/mountains, later came to be called Zion.  Ps.133:3 “As the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.”  Here “mountains” is plural (in most translations), referring to Jerusalem’s seven mounts.  Benson Commentary Ps.133:3 “Jerusalem, which is also called Zion.”  David had also written in Ps.51:18, “Do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem”.  Is.33:20 LXX “Behold the city of Zion, our salvation; your eyes shall behold Jerusalem, a rich city.”  Now they’re one and the same city.  Zion has symbolically become Jerusalem.

Expanding still further, the concept of Zion in prophetic books becomes synonymous with the entire Land of Israel and Judah.  Is.51:3 “Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord.”  Pulpit Commentary Is.51:3 “Much of Judea, during the absence of the exiles, became a ‘wilderness’ and a ‘desert.”  Encyclopedia of the Bible: Zion “In exile, the whole Israelite nation came to be called, ‘Zion.”

Or, “daughter of Zion”.  Mic.4:10-11 “O daughter of Zion…Go to Babylon. Many nations are gathered against you; they say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.”  Zion came to symbolize those Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnézzar.  Zec.2:7 “Ho Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”  Here, Zion denoted the Jewish people too.

Is.51:16 “Say to Zion, ‘You are My people.”  The Lord prophesied deliverance and victory for Israel and Judah…for Zion.  Zec.9:13 “I have bent Judah as My bow, and have made Ephraim [Israel] its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.”  Zion had come to represent the land & people of both Israel and Judah (resisting Greek oppression).  Benson Commentary Zec.9:13 “Judah and Ephraim are equivalent to Judah and Israel.”  JFB Commentary “God on the one hand addresses Zion, on the other Greece.”  Zion is no longer just a fort within the topography of ancient Jebus/Jerusalem.

We’ve seen that the concept of “Zion” has expanded in scope, migrating in steps, through the OT scriptures.  Zion went from being: Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill or mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah and Israel, to the whole Israelite people.  In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!

Yet the concept of “Zion” will expand or migrate still further in the New Testament.  This topic is continued and concluded in “Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem”.

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.”

Day of Atonement (2) – in Revelation

This Part 2 is a continuation of “Day of Atonement (1) – Sacrificial Blood”.  This topic’s foundational verses are addressed in Part 1.  Only the initial paragraphs from (1) are repeated here in (2).

In ancient Israel, the weekly 7^th day sabbath and the annual Day of Atonement (approximately Oct 1) were the only full sabbath days.  The Day of Atonement was the holiest day.  The Septúagint/LXX identifies the Day of Atonement as a double sabbath.  Le.23:26-32 LXX “On the 10^th day of the 7^th month is the day of atonement, holy to you. It is a perpetual precept throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath [Strongs g4521, Greek] of sabbaths [g4521].”  Le.16:29-31 LXX “On this day he [high priest] shall make atonement for you to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord, and you shall be clean. It is a sabbath [g4521] of sabbaths [g4521] to you, and you shall afflict your souls [fast].”

Unlike God’s pilgrim temple feasts, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kíppur h3725, Hebrew) was kept in all their dwellings.  Jewish Virtual Library “The most important day of the year. It was said that even if all the other festivals were to be abrogated, the Day of Atonement…would remain.”  It was the Lord’s day.  And this annual double-sabbath was the only recurring day of fasting commanded by God.

Luke wrote in Ac.27:9, “Sailing was now dangerous, since the fast was already past”.  The Day of Atonement was then being observed within the Roman Empire.  Cambridge Bible “The fast here meant is that of the great Day of Atonement.”  Ellicott Commentary “The date may have been fixed on St Luke’s memory by St Paul’s observance of the Fast.”  The fact that Luke refers to it indicates the Day of Atonement was being kept by Jews, and probably by many Christians too, outside the Holy Land.  Adam Becker The Ways That Never Parted, p.268 “Gentile Christians from Syria-Palestine continued to celebrate Yom Kippur together with their Jewish neighbors until at least the 4^th century, as sermons by Origen and Chrýsostom prove.”  The Day of Atonement was a well-known occasion.

Some think John (a Jewish Christian) had been fasting when he received the book of Revelation.  John eats a scroll (Re.10:9-10), but no food is indicated.  Franklin Hall Glorified Fasting “The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to John on the rugged Isle of Pátmos, where he’d been placed to starve to death. John converted his intended starvation into one of the greatest consecration fasts. Revelation of this kind almost always came to a prophet on an empty stomach.”  Also seen in Revelation, is atonement.

The Lord had instructed Moses/Israel in Le.25:8-10, “You shall sound the trumpet [LXX g4536] abroad on the 10^th day of the 7^th month, on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet. You shall thus set apart the 50^th year as holy, and proclaim liberty throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee for you.”  The Day marked the jubilee special event.  (Part of this verse was inscribed on the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA in 1752 AD.)

I awakened the sabbath morning of May 7, 2016 with Isaiah 58 impressed on my mind.  The chapter is about a proper fast.  Is.58 was traditionally read in the synagogue on the Day of Atonement!  The Lord instructed the prophet Isaiah in Is.58:1, “Shout aloud, don’t hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to My people their transgression.”  Proclaim it loudly, like the sound of a ram’s horn, a shofár (h7782).  In Is.58:1, the Greek LXX trumpet is g4536 Strongs.  Is.58:1 refers to the Day of Atonement.

God continued in Is.58:2-3, “Yet they [Israel] seek Me daily. ‘Why have we fasted’, they say, ‘and You don’t see? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You don’t notice?”  Though they afflicted their souls on Yom Kippur (Le.16:29, 23:27, Nu.29:7), their fast was insincere.  Pulpit Commentary Is.58:3 “The fast spoken of is probably that of the great Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement was, like the sabbath, a day on which no work was to be done (Le.16:29).”  Ellicott Commentary Is.58:3 “Only one fast, the Day of Atonement, was prescribed by the Law.”  Benson Commentary Is.58:3 “Wherefore have we afflicted our soul’ – defrauded our appetites with fasting.”  To fast was to afflict one’s soul.

The Lord continued in Is.58:6, “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen…?”  The Day of Atonement was set by the Lord.  Pulpit Commentary Is.58:6 “This passage stands like a homily for the Day of Atonement.”  God ordained it, not man.  It was the Lord’s day, quite unlike any other day!

We read in Le.25:9 and Is.58:1-ff that the trumpet sounded on the Day of Atonement (especially in the jubilee year).  It was the only double-sabbath day of the Lord.  It is present in the book of Revelation.

Re.1:9-11 “I, John…was on the island of Patmos. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet [g4536], saying, ‘Write in a book what you see.”  Notice the similarity to Le.25:9 and Is.58:1.  It was on this holiest day of the year, the Lord’s Day of Atonement fast, when the trumpet was loudly sounded (Le.25:9).  John hears Jesus’ voice loud like a trumpet on the Lord’s Day (Re.1:10), and Isaiah was to raise aloud his voice like a trumpet on this fast day (Is.58:1).

John told Jesus’ message to the seven churches of Asia Minor in Re.2–3.  Then John writes in Re.4:1-2, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I had heard like a trumpet [g4536], said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. A throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”  John sees the heavenly sanctuary!

There was only one day of each year when man was permitted entrance to the Most Holy Place of God’s tabernacle/temple sanctuary.  (ref Part 1.)  On the Day of Atonement the high priest was allowed to approach the Lord who dwelt between the chérubim atop the ark.  That Day the trumpet sounded; the priest saw the ark.  John wrote in Re.11:19, “The sanctuary of God was opened in heaven, the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary”.  John too saw the ark (containing the Decalogue) on that Day.

God had said in Is.58:13, “If you will turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your interests on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord”.  Ellicott Commentary Is.58:13 “The sabbath is as holy ground.”  Matthew Poole Commentary Is.58:13 “Whether we understand it of the occasional sabbath in solemn humiliations or otherwise set apart for sacred services, which is called a sabbath, Le.16:31 [Day of Atonement].”  The sabbath fast of Yom Kippur was the most sacred day.

Matthew Henry Commentary Is.58:14 “Even in Old Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord’s Day, and is fitly called so still; and for a further reason, it is the Lord Christ’s day, Re.1:10.”  Matthew Henry identified “the Lord’s Day” of Re.1:10 as a sabbath.

Whereas John refers to Sunday as the “first of the week” (Jn.20:1, 19)…not “the Lord’s day” of Re.1:10.  The Lord’s Day…“My holy day”…was a sabbath.  (also see the topics, “Sabbath 7^th Day” and “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome”.)

Wikipedia “The shofar is blown in synagogues at the end of every Yom Kippur. The Rabbis created the practice of the Shofar’s sounding every Yom Kippur rather than just on the Jubilee (once in 50 years).”

Yet that Lord’s Day sabbath of Re.1:10 may have been an actual Jubilee Day of Atonement!

The prophet Ezekiel recorded years by counting from their captivity and/or the jubilee year.  Each new jubilee cycle was proclaimed by a trumpet sounding on the 10^th day of the 7^th month…Yom Kippur.

Ezekiel wrote in Ezk.1:1-2, “In the 30^th year…I was by the river Chebár among the exiles. In the 5^th year of King Jehoiachín’s exile, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.”  ref 2Ki.24:10-16.  The river Chebar in N. Mesopotámia flows into the Euphrates.  King Jehoiachin/Jeconiáh/Coniah and Judah were taken captive by Babylon in 597 BC.  Jewish Virtual Library “In the winter of 597 BCE Nebuchadnézzar exiled him.”  The 5^th year of exile was 592 BC.

Later Ezk.40:1-3, “In the 25^th year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the 10^th of the month in the 14^th year after the city was taken, on that same day the hand of the Lord was upon me. In the visions of God He brought me into the Land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain.”  The previous civil year ended as the new year began near the autumnal equinox (Sep 20), see Ex.23:16 & Ex.34:22.  New Year’s Day was Rosh Hashánah, the 1^st day of the 7^th month Tíshri.  The 10^th of the month was the Day of Atonement (followed by the Feast of Ingathering/Booths).  Jerusalem was destroyed in 587-586 BC.

God gave Ezekiel visions on that jubilee Day of Atonement!  The year was 573-572 BC.  Ezekiel was fasting.  The “30^th year” prior to Ezk.1:1 was the previous jubilee of 622 BC.  Barnes Notes Ezk.40:1 “If that was a jubilee year, which is highly probable, this vision also falls in a jubilee year. The jubilee year began with the month of Tishri, a sufficient reason for speaking of the time as ‘the beginning of the year.’ The 10^th day of this month was the day of atonement, Le.16:29-30.”  The civil year (not the sacred year) began on Tishri 1.  Geneva Study Bible Ezk.40:1 “This is to be understood as September.”  Rodger C. Young The Jubilee and Sabbatical Cycles “The prophet Ezekiel, aware that the Day of Atonement in his 25^th year of captivity would mark the beginning of a year of Jubilee….”  Jacob Milgrom Ezekiel’s Hope “The probable reference of the ‘25^th year’ to the jubilee year, which begins in the fall (Le.25:9).”  622 – 50 = 572.

Chronology of Jubilees “It can more firmly be established that Ezekiel could have received his vision of a new Temple around the time of a 50^th year of a 50-year cycle. Essentially, the year 572 BC hypothetically did correspond with around the time of a jubilee year.”  Yom Kippur proclaimed jubilee.

rootsweb.ancestry.com Ezekiel 1:1-2 & Ezekiel 40:1 “The final year or the Jubilee year which began on the 10^th day of the 7^th month on the 49^th year and then concluded with the 50^th year. Now one should be able to see that if the 5^th year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity was in fact the 30^th year of the Jubilee count and that 20 years passes that it would then be the 50^th year or the Jubilee year in which King Jehoiachin’s 25^th year of captivity came to pass as the scripture gives note.”  Ezekiel noted it.

The remainder of the book of Ezekiel, chapters 40–48, consists of the awe-inspiring visions God gave beginning on that Day of Atonement fast!  Pulpit Commentary Ezk.40:1 “Of the prophet’s [Ezekiel’s] utterances, it was beyond question the grandest and most momentous.”  Given him on that Lord’s Day.

Similarly, it seems the awesome visions which John recorded in Revelation came on the Day of Atonement, centuries later!  The day wasn’t just some Sunday.  Continuing in Ezk.40 are verses which compare with Revelation.  Ezk.40:2 & Re.21:10 both Ezekiel and John envisioned a very high mountain.  Ezk.40:3 & Re.11:1 both Ezekiel and John envisioned a measuring rod.

Also on Yom Kippur, God executed His judgment of His people, sealing the verdict.  Again Re.4:1 “I saw a door standing open in heaven.”  That was between the Holy Place and Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement.  v.2 John sees the throne inside the Most Holy Place on that Day.

Re.8:1-3 “When He [Jesus the Lamb] broke the 7^th seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne.”  (He.9:3-5 describes the earthly sanctuary type of the heavenly. “There was a sanctuary called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar/[censer] of incense and the ark of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim….”)

Continuing with Re.8:4-5, “The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God. And the angel took the censer and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth [Land].”  The high priest took a golden censer into the Holy of Holies only on the annual day of atonement.

Following is Isaac Newton’s commentary tying Re.8:1-5 to the Day of Atonement…William Whitla Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse, p. 314-315: “The 7^th seal was therefore opened on the day of expiation [day of atonement], and then ‘there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an angel (High-Priest) stood at the altar having a golden censer; and there was given him incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne.’ The custom was….while he offered the incense, the people prayed without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High-Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand, into the most holy place be­fore the Ark. ‘And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

But in Re.8:5, the angel overturns the golden censer, to pour out God’s judgments upon the Land!  The Lord chooses to ignore prayers of Judah, and refuses the atonement.  Ellicott Commentary Re.8:5 “As in the parallel vision in Ezk.10:2 when the man clothed with linen is bidden to ‘go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill his hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the doomed city’; so here the ashes fall—the judgments are at hand.”  The doomed city in Ezk.10:2 also is Jerusalem (ref Ezk.8–11).  Jerusalem previously was destroyed in 586 BC.

Again, the ark in the Holiest Place was seen by man only on the Day of Atonement.  Re.11:19 – John Tudor Church of England Quarterly Review “The temple of God is then opened, and the ark of his testament seen, 11:19; and the voice issues from the throne, 16:17; both expressions equally denoting the holy of holies, which was only en­tered once a year….All the imagery in this poem was taken from the Day of Atonement—the golden censer, the incense, the deep affliction, the temple opened, and the ark seen indicating the opening of the veil on the day of atone­ment.”  Now let’s go to Re.15….

Re.15:5 “The tabernacle of the testimony is opened.”  God’s testimony was the Decalogue (Ex.31:18).  It was written on two tablets and contained in the ark, which was in the Holy of Holies.  The Lord’s judgment is based upon His commandments and principles.

Re.15:6 angels therein are clothed with linen (g3043).  Only on the Day of Atonement could the high priest enter the Holiest Place clothed in linen holy garments (Le.16:4, 23, 32 LXX), not his everyday priestly attire.  Matthew Poole Commentary Re.15:6 “These angels came in the habit of high priests.”

Blood was carried into the Most Holy Place.  The high priest sprinkled the blood of atonement seven times on the altar of incense before the Lord (Le.16:19).  But in Re.15:7, angels representative of the high priest have seven bowls filled with the blood-red wine of…the wrath of God (cf. Re.14:10)!

Re.15:8 “And the sanctuary was filled with smoke.”  A cloud or smoke-screen had protected, in a sense, the high priest in the sanctuary, lest he die (Le.16:12-13).  This event occurred only on Yom Kippur.

Then in Re.16, God executes His verdict/judgment.  Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe Lead to the Time of Judgment “Yom Kippur. That’s when the judgment falls.”  The bowls containing God’s blood-red wrath…are poured out upon the Land!  Re.16:3-5 two angels pour out their bowls; the sea, rivers, springs became blood!  Josephus Wars of the Jews 3:10:9 “The lake [of Gennesarét] is all bloody, and full of dead bodies.”  That was the Sea of Galilee during the Roman-Jewish War of 66–70 AD.

Peter J. Leithart Atonement Inverted (9/25/2015) “Though the Jews who killed Christians think they are doing service to God, this offering is rejected, and the blood is instead poured out on the land.  Instead of cleansing the land, this rejected atonement pollutes it.”

This inversion atones for the innocent blood shed in the Land.  Re.16:6-7 “For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved.”  Blood for blood.  The blood of martyrs is figuratively poured back upon the guilty Land, defiled with blood.

In Mt.23, Jesus had prophesied woes upon the Jewish leaders who opposed Him.  Mt.23:33-37 “You serpents, you brood of vipers. Upon you shall come the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth [Land]. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets.”  The Lord declared His judgment upon those responsible for the blood of righteous Israelites & Jewish Christians.  It happened.

Le.24:17 “If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.”  The lifeblood of man atones for the blood of man.

Atonement makes possible the reconciliation of man, and even God’s creation, to God.  It involves His judgment.  Nu.35:33-34 “You shall not pollute the Land in which you are; for blood pollutes the Land and no expiation can be made for the Land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. You shall not defile the Land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell.”

Leithart op. cit. “Here [in Re.16], the blood of the saints is poured out on the land, and calls up an avenger of blood who will bring the blood of the killers to return on their own heads.”

Centuries earlier, the Lord had denied the atonement for the northern kingdom of Israel.  He sent them into captivity to Assyria in 721 BC.  Later, the Lord denied the atonement for the southern kingdom of Judah.  He sent them into captivity to Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC.  Likewise, the Lord denied the atonement for Judah after Jesus was crucified.  Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.  For more on this aspect of God’s justice, see the topic “Babylon the Great’ in Revelation”.

In conclusion…the book of Revelation, the judgment of God and the wrath of the Lamb (Re.6:16-17, Lk.23:28-30) may seem severe.  But God is just and fair.

The good news for Israel is…Israel and the Jewish people can be re-grafted in!  The apostle Paul wrote in Ro.11:21-26, “Behold the kindness and severity of God. If they [Israel] don’t continue in their unbelief…God is able to graft them in again. And thus all Israel shall be saved.”

“All Israel” includes the Jews.  Paul didn’t know dates…but in God’s good time.  The Lord loves the Jewish people.  As discussed in Part 1, Christ’s atoning blood applies to all peoples, through faith (Ro.3:23-25).  And the final chapters of Revelation are the silver lining after the storm.  Praise the Lord!

Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam

In this topic, Bible chronology is traced from the judgeship of Samuel to the kingship of Solomon’s son Rehoboam.  Previous chronology is addressed in “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.

Exact dating cannot be done for the time of Samuel’s judgeship in ancient Israel.  And there’s no consensus among Bible historians as to the dates when Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboám were kings.  Their years cannot be pinpointed by dates from ancient histories.  (There’s no ‘BC’ or ‘BCE’ dates written in scripture.)  The dates in this topic are approximate.

Following is the timing detail from the birth of the prophet-judge Samuel until King Rehoboam.  All scriptures referenced are from the book of 1Samuel, unless otherwise specified.

Elí the high priest preceded Samuel as judge in Israel.  Eli was born around (circa or c) 1200 BC, and he lived for 98 years (1Sm.4:15).  His judgeship began c 1142 BC.

1Sm.1:9-11, 17 Hannáh was childless, and prayed at the tabernacle in Shilóh for a son.  v.20 God heard her prayer, and she birthed Samuel c 1140 BC.  Samuel means ‘heard of God’.  v.21-28 when Samuel was weaned, she dedicated him to God as a Nazarite, and gave him to serve Eli c 1137 BC.  Samuel was fostered or adopted by Eli.  (2:20-21 later Hannah also gave birth to 2 sons and 3 daughters.)

2:22-26 Eli is too old for priestly service (Nu.8:25), near age 72 (cf. 2Sm.19:32), c 1128 BC.  1Sm.2:26 Samuel is near age 12.  Eli’s natural sons were promiscuous and disrespected the Lord’s offerings.

3:1-18 God calls the boy Samuel, age 12.  At 72, Eli’s eyes are starting to dim.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:10:4 “When Samuel was 12 years old he began to prophesy; and once when he was asleep God called to him by his name.”  v.19-21 Samuel grew, and the Lord confirmed him as a prophet.

4:1 Samuel is now around age 38, c 1102 BC.  v.10-14 Eli’s 2 sons, Hophní & Phineás, die during the battle at Ebenezer when the ark of God is taken by the Philistines.

4:15-18 Eli is blind.  Eli dies then too at age 98, having judged 40 years, c 1142 BC – c 1102 BC.  4:19-22 Phineas’ son Ichabód (Eli’s grandson) is born prematurely at the death of Phineas & Eli.

Samuel, near age 38, begins his judgeship c 1102 BC, after Eli died.  Adam Clarke Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Samuel is supposed to have lived 100 years; he did not begin to judge Israel till he was about 40 years of age.”

5:1–6:21 the Philistines kept the ark of God for 7 months (6:1).  Then it was carted back to Israel.

1Sm.7:1 the ark was brought to Kiriáth-jearím (to Abinadáb’s house).  There it will remain for close to 70 years …from c 1102 BC – 1031 BC, when David is ruling in Jerusalem (ref 2Sm.6:2-ff, 1Ch.13:3-7).  Leslie McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”

1Sm.7:2 HCSB “Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the LORD.”  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….that length of time had passed when the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Cambridge Bible “20 years was not…the whole duration of the Ark’s sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded….they were vassals of the Philistines.”

After the 20 years…1Sm.7:3 “Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, ‘If you will return to the Lord with all your heart…and serve Him alone, then He will deliver you from the Philistines.”  Samuel is now around age 58.  He’s been judge for all the elapsed time.  Barnes Notes 1Sm.7:3 “20 years of Samuel’s life had passed away since the last mention of him in 1Sm.4:1. Now he appears in the threefold character of prophet, Judge, and the acknowledged leader of the whole people.”

7:4-14 Israel repents.  The Lord helps them defeat the Philistines at Mizpáh, c 1083 or 1082 BC.  A tenuous peace ensues.

7:13-15 “Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”  Scripture doesn’t clearly say how many years Samuel judged…he later also advised/instructed King Saul for years.  Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.50 “20 years Samuel’s judgeship (1Sm.7:2).”  Ellicott Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Probably for at least 20 years after the decisive battle of Ebenezer [1Sm.4:1].”  Martin Anstey The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, p.20 “Samuel judgeship 20 years.”  Benson Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “For though Saul was king in Samuel’s last days, yet Samuel did not cease to be a judge.”  Institute For Creation Research “Samuel must have judged Israel almost 60 years.”  Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “As sole judge for 20 years, and conjointly with Saul till he died, almost 100 years old, a year or two before the unfortunate king. Saul put him on a level with himself (1Sm.11:7); and he continued to be regarded as the oracle of Israel ever since he was about 40 years old.”

1Sm.8:1-3 Samuel is getting old at age 58, and appointed his sons to assist him.  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.8:1 “He was probably not more than 60.”  Samuel had judged solely for 20 years, c 1102 BC – c 1082 BC.  But his sons took bribes and perverted justice.  v.4-5 “The elders said to him, ‘Your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

Israel doesn’t want Samuel’s dishonest sons to judge…Israel wants a king.  1Sm.9:1-2 Saul appears on the scene.  Speaker’s Commentary 1Sm.9:1 “The sacred historian now tracks another stream of events which were to concur in working out God’s providential purpose of giving a king to Israel.”

10:1–12:1-2 Saul is around age 36 when Samuel anoints him as king, c 1082 BC.  Saul’s eldest son Jonathán is 18 or so.  Abinadab (Ishví?) and Malchishúa are 2 other sons (1Sm.31:2).  Saul’s 4^th son Ishbósheth/Eshbáal is born this year (cf. 2Sm.2:10).  Saul will rule 40 years, c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.

Paul later wrote in Ac.13:2, “God gave them Saul…a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years”.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.13:1 “There were no less than 3 high priests in his [Saul’s] reign.” (Ahitúb, Ahijáh, Abiathár 1Sm.22:20.)

1Sm.13:1 translations of this verse differ.  The verse isn’t in the Septúagint/LXX.  Saul is around age 36 (some translations say age 30, NASB and ASV say age 40).  James B. Jordan The Problem of Saul’s Reign “Saul was anointed king by Samuel, led the people in a victory over the Ammonites, and was crowned king of Israel…his first year of reign….Saul was probably around 40, since he had a grown son.”  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.13:1 “He [Saul] must have been at least 35, and perhaps even more.”  Samuel is around age 58.  Eli has been dead for 20 years (so Eli’s grandson Ichabod is age 20).

13:2-3 Saul has reigned 2 years when Jonathan attacks the Philistine garrison.  Saul is 38, Jonathan is 20 (Nu.1:3, 26:2 Israelites must be at least age 20 to go to war).  Saul’s son Ishbosheth is 2.  Samuel is 60.

1Sm.14:3 Ichabod’s nephew Ahijah is priest at this time.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.14:3 “He [Ichabod], it seems, had an elder brother called Ahitub, who died young, and Ahijah was the son of him.”  (Another son of Ahitub was Ahimélech the priest.  Later, Saul had Doég kill Ahimelech and the priests, 1Sm.22.)

David is born c 1072 BC.  Samuel was then 68, Saul was 46, Jonathan 28, Ishbosheth 10, Ichabod 30.

1Sm.14:46-52 many years pass during these verses.  v.49 Meráb is Saul’s older daughter, Michál his younger.  Saul was perhaps 47 at Merab’s birth, and 49 when Michal is born?  Again, Ishbosheth/Eshbaal is Saul’s youngest son, 1Ch.9:39.  (He will later become king of Israel, 2Sm.2:8-10.)

1Sm.15:1-35 after Saul ruled 28 years (he’s now 64) he fails in the Amalekites ordeal and is rejected by God, c 1054 BC.  Samuel will never see Saul again (v.35).  Samuel, age 86, will live 10 more years.

1Sm.16:11-13, 18 Samuel anoints David, “a mighty man of valor” (v.18), to be king, c 1052 BC.  David is around age 20.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.16:11 “He hardly exceeded more than 20.”  Samuel is 88, Saul is 66, Jonathan is 48, Ishbosheth is 30.  Eli has been dead for 50 years (Ichabod would be 50).

17:33-ff David, a youth of 20, kills Goliath.  John Wesley’s Notes 1Sm.17:33 “Not above 20 years old.”    Matthew Poole Commentary “[David] being now not much above 20 years old, as is supposed.”

18:5 “Saul set him [David] over the men of war.”  v.13-16 David at age 21 is a national hero.  v.17-30 he marries Saul’s younger daughter Michal, perhaps age 19.  But father-in-law Saul becomes his enemy.

19:18-ff David (age 22) flees to Samuel (age 90), c 1050 BC.  David will run from Saul for 7–8 years.

25:1 after 6 years, Samuel dies at age 96, c 1044 BC.  Tradition says Samuel died at a very advanced age.  bible.ca/archaeology/ “Samuel died at 90.”  Orthodox Church in America “The prophet Samuel died in extreme old age.” (as did Eli.)  Saul is now around age 74, Jonathan is 56, Ishbosheth is 38.  David, age 28, flees to the wilderness.

27:7-ff David went from the wilderness to the land of the Philistines for 2 years… until age 30.

28:1-25 Samuel has been dead around 2 years.  Saul visits the medium at Endór, wanting her to consult Samuel’s spirit.  Saul hears of his fate.  He and his sons will battle the Philistines…they die the next day.

31:1-2, 6 Saul is killed at age 76, after a 40-year reign (Ac.13:21)…c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.  His sons Jonathan (age 58), Abinadab, Malchishua die with him at Mt. Gilboa.  J.B. Jordan op. cit. “Saul…died at about 80.”  Greg Hamm How Long Did Saul Reign? “That would make him 78 when he is killed.” bible.ca/archaeology/ “Saul died at 72, Jonathan dies at 57.”  Jonathan’s son Mephibósheth is age 5 (cf. 2Sm.4:4), born when Jonathan was about 53.  Ishbosheth is 40.  David is 30.

2Sm.2:1-7 Saul is dead.  David, age 30, is made king of Judah in Hebrón, c 1042 BC.  v.8-10 Saul’s son Isbosheth/Eshbaal (age 40?) is made king in Israel by Saul’s cousin, general Abnér (1Sm.14:50-51).  v.11 David will reign 7 ½ years at Hebron in Judah, c 1042 BC – c 1035 BC, from age 30 to 37-38.

2Sm.3:1 “Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.”  5 years.  JFB Commentary 2Sm.3:1 “For 5 years longer; it is probable Ishbosheth was made king upon Saul’s death.”

2Sm.3:26-ff Joáb murders Abner.  2Sm.4:1-12 also King Ishbosheth, Saul’s youngest son, is murdered.

2Sm.5:3-5 “They anointed David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned 40 years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah 7 ½ years and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.”  David ruled 40 years total, from age 30 to 70, c 1042 BC – c 1002 BC.  He moved from Hebron to Jerusalem c 1035 BC, at age 37.  1Ki.2:10-11 David later dies at age 70.

1Ki.2:12 Solomon (age not specified in scripture) succeeds his father David as king.  1Ki.11:42-43 Solomon also reigned 40 years, c 1002 BC – c 962 BC.  1Ki.4:29-31 God gave Solomon great wisdom.

1Ki.6:1 “In the 480^th [LXX 440^th] year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the 4^th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel…he began to build the house of the Lord.”  Solomon began to build the temple of God in his 4^th year as king, c 999 BC.

However, the Biblical timeline from the exodus to Solomon reflects more than 480 (LXX 440) elapsed years.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.6:1 “The interval between the exodus and Solomon, a period considerably exceeding 480 years.”  Some think that 1Ki.6:1 isn’t counting the approximately 111 years of oppressions during the period of the judges…480 + 111 = 591 years…is closer to the record in Joshua–Judges.  (ref “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”.)  And some commentaries view the 480 years (LXX 440) of 1Ki.6:1 as being at variance with Paul in Ac.13:18-20.  But the 480 years of 1Ki.6:1 may not be literal.

ESV Study Bible 1Ki.6:1 “In understanding the 480-year figure (e.g. supposing it to result from 12 generations, with a generation taken symbolically to be 40 years…).”  Wikipedia: Biblical Literalist Chronology “Many numbers in the Bible are figurative, especially ’40’ and its multiples – thus, 480 years before the 4th year of the reign of Solomon (12 × 40 years = 480 years) is not necessarily regarded by them as a literal number having historical value.”

Earlier periods and reigns from Israel’s history may be close approximations, not exact…such as: the wilderness 40 years, Joshua and the elders 40 years, Othniél 40, Ehúd 80, Barák/Deboráh 40, Gideon 40, Eli 40, Saul 40, David 40, then Solomon 40.  In scripture, the number ‘40’ occurs often or typically.  So the 480 (or 440 LXX) years may well be symbolic.

1Ki.11:43 after Solomon, his son Rehoboam reigned as king, but only in Judah.  Rehoboam, age 41, ruled for 17 years (1Ki.14:21) until age 58, c 962 BC – c 945 BC.  He burdened the people (1Ki.12:11).

1Ki.12:16-24 in the 1^st year of Rehoboam, God divided the united monarchy of Israel, c 962 BC.  Thereafter the northern kingdom (ruled by Jeroboám, v.20), consisting of 10 tribes, retained the name Israel.  The southern kingdom of Judah (ruled by Rehoboam), consisting of the other 2–3 tribes, became known as the Jews.  The tribal territory of Benjamin (and most of the Levites) was given to Judah.  Israel and the Jews/Judah became separate nations.  (see “Israelites Identification”.)

To conclude with a digression or overview which spans approximately 1,300 years of Bible history….

Josephus wrote in the latter 1^st century AD.  Antiquities of the Jews 8:3:1 “Solomon began to build the Temple in the 4^th year of his reign, 592 years after the exodus out of Egypt, but 1,020 years from Abraham’s coming out of Mesopotámia into Canáan.”  However, Josephus’ dating isn’t all correct.

In Antiquities chapter 20, Josephus revised/corrected his time period – op. cit. 20:10:1 “The number of years…from the days when our fathers departed out of Egypt… until the building of that temple which king Solomon erected at Jerusalem, was 612.”  The elapsed time was revised from 592 to 612 years.  Later, Josephus again has the revised years in Against Apion 2:2. “Solomon himself built that temple 612 years after the Jews came out of Egypt.”  Calculating from the scriptures, 612 years fits better.

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ac.13:20 “In Antt. xx. 10, c. Ap. ii. 2, he [Josephus] reckons 612 years for the same period, this 20 years more [than 592], which comes still nearer to the statement of time in our passage.”  This commentary indicates that Paul’s timeline (Ac.13:17-ff) may generally agree with Josephus’.

If Solomon began to build the temple c 999 BC, an exodus which occurred 612 years (592 + 20) earlier would have been c 1611 BC.  If we likewise add 20 years to Josephus’ 1,020 years of Antiq. 8:3:1 to arrive at the date Abraham came to Canaan at age 75…that’s 1,040 years prior to c 999 BC…c 2039 BC.

The topic “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” used Dr. Martin Anstey’s chart date of 1612 BC for the exodus and 2042 BC for Abraham’s move to Canaan (Anstey op. cit., p. 8).  Those dates match almost exactly Josephus’ (revised) time period of years!

The northern kingdom of Israel was eventually removed by Assyria.  (see “Israelite Deportations by Assyria”.)  2Ki.17:19-24 “Israel was carried away into exile from their own Land to Assyria until this day.”  v.6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria settled them in Haláh and Habór, on the river of Gozán, and in cities of the Medes.”  The date accepted by historians is 722-721 BC.

The destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 587-586 BC is a historically confirmed date.  So is the date when Ashurbánipal the Assyrian king sacked Thebes in Egypt, 664-663 BC.

V.C. Lewis The Mystery of Old Testament Chronology Revealed, p. ix (2005) “Nearly all scholars are in agreement today, we have three dates which can be considered accurate both scripturally and historically. These are the dates of 722-721 BC for the captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel, the date of 587 BC for the captivity of Judah, and the date of 606 BC for when Nebuchadnézzar began to reign in Babylon.”  So a date of 721 BC for the exile of Israel’s 10 tribes is also considered reliable.

Josephus Antiquities 9:14:1 “The 10 tribes of the Israelites were removed…800 years after Joshua had been their leader, and…240 years, 7 months, 7 days after they had revolted from Rehoboam.”  Josephus’ time period rounds to 241 years.

The 10 tribes of Israel under Jeroboam revolted from King Rehoboam (of Judah) c 962 BC.  According to Josephus, it was 241 years later when the northern Israel was removed into captivity.  That was…962 BC – 241 = 721 BC…the date confirmed by historians today!  (Also, Joshua and the elders had died by c 1547 BC – c 1532 BC.  That was approximately 800 years before Israel was removed to Assyria in 721 BC.)

The Bible record is the word of God!  Again, exact dates for Abraham and Israel’s most ancient history cannot be confirmed (prior to 721 BC).  The dates in this chronology are approximate, based upon the Old Testament timeline.