https://youtu.be/AHe1TusNg4I

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The epistle’s title has always been “1 John.”

It is the first and largest in a series of 3 epistles that bear the


Apostle John’s name.
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Since the letter identifies no specific church, location, or individual to whom it was sent, its classification

is as a “general epistle.”

Although 1 John does not exhibit some of the general characteristics of an epistle common to that time (e.g., no introduction, greeting, or concluding salutation), its

intimate tone and content

indicate that the term “epistle” still applies to it.



Author and Date

The epistle does not identify the author, but the strong,

consistent and earliest testimony of the church ascribes it to


John the disciple and apostle

(cf. Luke 6:13,14). This anonymity strongly affirms the early church’s

identification of the epistle with John the apostle,

for only someone of John’s well known and preeminent status

as an apostle

would be able to write with

such unmistakable authority,

expecting complete obedience

from his readers, without clearly

identifying himself (e.g., 4:6).

He was well known to the readers so

he didn’t need to mention his name.

John and James, his older brother (Acts 12:2), were known as “the sons of Zebedee” (Matt.10:2–4), whom Jesus gave the name “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17). John was one of the 3most intimate associates of Jesus (along with Peter and James—cf. Matt. 17:1; 26:37), beingan eyewitness to and participant in Jesus’ earthly ministry (1:1–4). In addition to the 3 epistles,John also authored the fourth gospel, in which he identified himself as the disciple “whomJesus loved” and as the one who reclined on Jesus’ breast at the Last Supper (John 13:23;19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). He also wrote the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:1).

Precise dating is difficult because no clear historical indications of date exist in 1 John. Most likely John composed this work in the latter part of the first century. Church tradition consistently identifies John in his advanced age as living and actively writing during this time at Ephesus in Asia Minor. The tone of the epistle supports this evidence since the writer gives the strong impression that he is much older than his readers (e.g., “my little children”—2:1,18,28). The epistle and John’s gospel reflect similar vocabulary and manner of expression(see Historical and Theological Themes). Such similarity causes many to date the writing of

John’s epistles as occurring soon after he composed his gospel. Since many date the gospel during the later part of the first century, they also prefer a similar date for the epistles. Furthermore, the heresy John combats most likely reflects the beginnings of Gnosticism (see Background and Setting) which was in its early stages during the latter third of the first century when John was actively writing. Since no mention is made of the persecution under Domitian, which began about A.D. 95, it may have been written before that began. In light of such factors, a reasonable date for 1 John is ca. A.D. 90–95. It was likely written from Ephesus to the churches of Asia Minor over which John exercised apostolic leadership.

Background and Setting

Although he was greatly advanced in age when he penned this epistle, John was still actively ministering to churches.

He was the sole remaining apostolic survivor

who had intimate,

eyewitness association with Jesus throughout

His earthly ministry, death, resurrection,

and ascension.

The church Fathers (e.g., Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius) indicate that after that time, John lived at Ephesus in Asia Minor, carrying out an extensive evangelistic program, overseeing many of the churches that had arisen, and conducting an extensive writing ministry (e.g., epistles, The Gospel of John, and Revelation). One church Father (Papias) who had direct contact with John described him

as a “living and abiding voice.”

As the last remaining apostle,

John’s testimony was highly authoritative

among the churches.

Many eagerly sought to hear the one who

had first-hand

experience with the Lord Jesus.

Ephesus (cf. Acts 19:10) lay within the intellectual center of Asia Minor. As predicted years before by the Apostle Paul (Acts 20:28–31), false teachers arising from within the church’s own ranks, saturated with the prevailing climate of philosophical trends, began infecting the church with false doctrine, perverting fundamental apostolic teaching. These false teachers advocated new ideas which eventually became known as “Gnosticism” (from the Gr. word “knowledge”). After the Pauline battle for freedom from the law, Gnosticism was the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first 3 centuries. Most likely, John was combating the beginnings of this virulent heresy that threatened to destroy the fundamentals of the faith and the churches (see Interpretive Challenges).

Gnosticism, influenced by such philosophers as Plato, advocated a dualism asserting that matter was inherently evil and spirit was good. As a result of this presupposition, these false teachers, although attributing some form of deity to Christ, denied his true humanity to preserve Him from evil. It also claimed elevated knowledge, a higher truth known only to those in on the deep things.

Only the initiated had the mystical knowledge of truth that was higher even than the Scripture

Instead of divine revelation standing as judge over man’s ideas,

man’s ideas judged God’s revelation (2:15–17).

The heresy featured two basic forms. First, some asserted that Jesus’ physical body was not real but only “seemed” to be physical (known as “Docetism” from a Gr. word that means “to appear”). John forcefully affirmed the physical reality of Jesus by reminding his readers that he was an eyewitness to Him (“heard,” “seen,” “ handled,” “JesusChrist has come in the flesh”—1:1–4; 4:2,3).

According to early tradition (Irenaeus), another form of this heresy which John may have attacked was led by a man named Cerinthus, who contended that the Christ’s “spirit” descended on the human Jesus at his baptism but left him just before his crucifixion. John wrote that the Jesus who was baptized at the beginning of His ministry was the same person who was crucified on the cross (5:6).

Such heretical views destroy not

only the true humanity of Jesus,

but also the atonement, for Jesus must not only have been truly

God, but also the truly human

(and physically real) man who actually suffered and died

upon the cross in order

to be the acceptable substitutionary sacrifice for sin

(cf. Heb. 2:14–17).

The biblical view of Jesus affirms His complete humanity

as well as His full deity.

The gnostic idea that matter was evil and only spirit was good led to the idea that either the body should be treated harshly, a form of asceticism (e.g., Colossians 2:21–23), or sin committed in the body had no connection or effect on one’s spirit. This led some, especially John’s opponents, to conclude that sin committed in the physical body did not matter; absolute indulgence in immorality was permissible; one could deny sin even existed (1:8–10) and disregard God’s law (3:4). John emphasized the need for obedience to God’s laws, for he defined the true love of God as obedience to His commandments (5:3).

A lack of love for fellow believers

characterizes false teachers,

especially as they react against

anyone rejecting their new way of thinking (3:10–18).

They separated

their deceived followers from the fellowship of those

who remained faithful to apostolic teaching,

leading John to reply that such separation

outwardly manifested that those who followed false teachers

lacked genuine salvation

(2:19). Their departure left the other believers,

who remained faithful to apostolic doctrine, shaken.

Responding to this crisis,

the aged apostle wrote to reassure those

remaining faithful and to combat this grave

threat to the church.

Since the heresy

was so acutely dangerous and the time period

was so critical for the church in danger of being

overwhelmed by false teaching,

John gently, lovingly, but with unquestionable

apostolic authority,

sent this letter to churches in his sphere of influence to

stem this spreading plague of false doctrine.





Historical and Theological Themes

In light of the circumstances of the epistle, the overall theme of 1 John is “a recall to the fundamentals of the faith” or “back to the basics of Christianity.” The apostle deals with certainties, not opinions or conjecture. He expresses the absolute character of Christianity in very simple terms; terms that are clear and unmistakable, leaving no doubt as to the fundamental nature of those truths. A warm, conversational, and above all, loving tone occurs, like a father having a tender, intimate conversation with his children.

First John also is pastoral, written from the heart of a pastor who has concern for his people. As a shepherd, John communicated to his flock some very basic, but vitally essential, principles reassuring them regarding the basics of the faith. He desired them to have joy regarding the certainty of their faith rather than being upset by the false teaching and current defections of some (1:4).

The book’s viewpoint, however, is not only pastoral but also polemical; not only positive but also negative. John’s refutes the defectors from sound doctrine, exhibiting no tolerance for those who pervert divine truth. He labels those departing from the truth as “false prophets” (4:1), “those who try to deceive” (2:26; 3:7), and “antichrists” (2:18). He pointedly identifies the ultimate source of all such defection from sound doctrine as demonic (4:1–7).

The constant repetition of 3 sub-themes reinforces the overall theme regarding faithfulness to the basics of Christianity: happiness (1:4), holiness (2:1), and security (5:13). By faithfulness to the basics, his readers will experience these 3 results continually in their lives. These 3 factors also reveal the key cycle of true spirituality in 1 John: a proper belief in Jesus produces obedience to His commands; obedience issues in love for God and fellow believers (e.g., 3:23,24). When these 3 (sound faith, obedience, love) operate in concert together, they result in happiness, holiness and assurance.

They constitute the evidence, the litmus test, of a

true Christian.

Interpretive Challenges

Theologians debate the precise nature of the false teachers’ beliefs in 1 John, because John does not directly specify their beliefs, but rather combats the heretics mainly through a positive restatement of the fundamentals of the faith.

The main feature of the heresy, as noted above, seems to be a denial of the

incarnation, i.e., Christ had not come in the flesh.

This was most likely an incipient or beginning form of Gnosticism, as was pointed out.

The interpreter is also challenged by the rigidity of John’s theology.

John presents the basics or fundamentals of the Christian life in absolute,


not relative, terms. Unlike Paul, who presented exceptions, and dealt so often with

believers’ failures to meet the divine standard,


John does not deal with the “what if I fail” issues. Only in 2:1,2 does he give some relief from the absolutes. The rest of the book presents truths in black and white rather than shades of gray, often through a stark contrast, e.g.,

“light” vs. “darkness” (1:5,7; 2:8–11); truth vs. lies (2:21,22; 4:1); children of God vs. children of the devil (3:10).

Those who claim to be Christians must absolutely display the

characteristics of genuine

Christians:

sound doctrine, obedience, and love.

Those who are truly born again have been given a new nature, which givesevidence of itself. Those who do not display characteristics of the new nature don’t have it, sowere never truly born again.

The issues do not center (as much of Paul’s writing does) inmaintaining temporal or daily fellowship with God but the

application of basic tests in one’slife

to confirm

that salvation has truly occurred.

Such absolute distinctions were alsocharacteristic of John’s gospel.


In a unique fashion, John challenges the interpreter by his repetition of similar themes over and over to emphasize the basic

truths about genuine Christianity.

Some have likened John’s repetition to a spiral that moves outward, becoming larger and larger, each time spreading the same truth over a wider area and encompassing more territory. Others have seen the spiral as moving inward, penetrating deeper and deeper into the same themes while expanding on his thoughts. However one views the spiraling pattern, John uses repetition of basic truths as a means to accentuate their importance and to help his readers understandand remember them.

The epistle’s title is “2 John.” It is the second in a series of 3 epistles that bear the Apostle John’s name. Second and Third John present the closest approximation in the NT to the conventional letter form of the contemporary Greco-Roman world, since they were addressed from an individual to individuals. Second and Third John are the shortest epistles in the NT, each containing less than 300 Greek words. Each letter could fit on a single papyrus sheet (cf.3 John 13).

Author and Date

The author is the Apostle John.

He describes himself in

2 John 1 as “The Elder”

which conveys the advanced age of the

apostle, his authority, and status

during the foundational period of Christianity

when he was

involved with Jesus’ ministry.


The precise date of the epistle cannot be determined. Since the wording, subject matter, and circumstances of 2 John closely approximate 1 John (v. 5 [cf. 1 John 2:7; 3:11]; v. 6 [cf. 1 John 5:3]; v. 7 [cf. 1 John 2:18–26]; v. 9 [cf. 1 John 2:23]; v. 12; [cf. 1 John 1:4]), most likely John composed the letter at the same time or soon after 1 John, ca. A. D. 90–95, during his ministry at Ephesus in the latterpart of his life.

Background and Setting

Second John deals with the same problem as 1 John

(see Introduction to 1 John: Background and Setting).

False teachers influenced

by the beginnings of Gnostic thought were threatening the church

(v. 7; cf. 1 John 2:18,19,22,23; 4:1–3). The strategic difference is that while 1 John has no specific individual or church specified to whom it was addressed, 2John has a particular local group or house-church in mind (v. 1).

The focus of 2 John is that the false teachers were conducting an itinerant ministry among John’s congregations, seeking to make converts, and taking advantage of Christian hospitality to advance their cause (vv. 10,11; cf. Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9). The individual addressed in the greeting (v. 1) inadvertently or unwisely may have

shown these false prophets hospitality,

or John may have feared that the

false teachers

would attempt to take advantage of her kindness (vv. 10,11).

The apostle seriously warns

his readers against showing hospitality

to such deceivers (vv. 10,11).


Although his exhortation may

appear on the surface to be

harsh or unloving,

the acutely dangerous nature

of

their teaching justified such actions,

especially since it threatened to

destroy the

very foundations of the faith


(v. 9).

Historical and Theological Themes

The overall theme of 2 John closely parallels 1 John’s theme of a “recall to the fundamentals of the faith” or “back to the basics of Christianity” (vv. 4–6). For John, the basics of Christianity are summarized by adherence to the truth (v. 4), love (v. 5), and obedience (v.6).

The apostle, however, conveys an additional but related theme in 2 John: “the biblical guidelines for hospitality.” Not only are Christians to adhere to the fundamentals of the faith, but the gracious hospitality that is commanded of them (Rom. 12:13) must be discriminating.

The basis of hospitality must be common love of or interest in the truth, and Christians must share their love within the confines of that truth.


They are not called to universal acceptance of anyone who claims to be a believer.

Love must be discerning.

Hospitality and kindness must be focused on those who are

adhering to the fundamentals of the faith.

Otherwise, Christians may actually aid those who are attempting to destroy those

basic truths of the-faith.


Sound doctrine must serve as the

test of fellowship and the basis of separation between those

who profess to be Christians and those who actually are

(vv. 10,11; cf. Rom. 16:17; Gal.1:8,9; 2 Thess. 3:6,14; Titus 3:10).


Interpretive Challenges

Second John stands in direct antithesis to the frequent cry for ecumenism and Christian unity among believers.

Love and truth are inseparable

in Christianity.

Truth must always guide

the exercise of love

(cf. Eph. 4:15).

Love must stand the test of truth.

The main lesson of this book is that truth determines the

bounds of love, and as a consequence, of unity.


Therefore, truth must exist before love can unite,

for truth generates love (1 Pet. 1:22).


When someone compromises the truth, true Christian love
and unity are destroyed.

Only a shallow sentimentalism exists where the

truth is not the foundation of unity.

The reference to

the “elect lady and her children”

(v. 1) should be understood in a normal, plain sense referring to a particular woman and her children rather than interpreted in a non- literal sense as a church and its membership.

Similarly, the reference to “the children of your elect sister” (v. 13) should be understood as a reference to the nieces and/or nephews of the individual addressed in verse 1,

rather than metaphorically to a sister church and its membership.
In these verses,

John conveys greetings to personal acquaintances that he has come to know through his ministry.

The epistle’s title is “3 John.” It is the third in a series of 3 epistles that bear the Apostle John’s name. Third John and 2 John present the closest approximation in the New Testament to the conventional letter form of the contemporary Greco-Roman world, since they were addressed from an individual to individuals. Both 2 and 3 John are the shortest epistles in the NT, each containing less than 300 Greek words, so as to fit on a single papyrus sheet (cf. v. 13).

Author and Date

The author is the Apostle John. He describes himself in v. 1 as

“The Elder”

which conveys the advanced age of the apostle,

his authority and his eyewitness status especially

during the

foundational period of Christianity

when

John was involved with Jesus’ ministry

(cf. 2 John 1).

The precise date of the epistle cannot be determined. Since the structure, style, and vocabulary closely approximate 2 John (v. 1 [cf. 2 John 1]; v. 4 [cf. 2 John 4]; v. 13 [cf. 2 John 12]; v. 14 [cf. 2 John 12]), most likely John composed the letter at the same time or soon after 2 John, ca. A.D. 90–95.

As with 1 and 2 John, the apostle probably composed the letter during his ministry at Ephesus in the latter part of his life.


Background and Setting

Third John is perhaps the most personal of John’s 3 epistles. While 1 John appears to be a general letter addressed to congregations scattered throughout Asia Minor, and 2

John was sent to a lady and her family

(2 John 1), in 3 John the apostle clearly names the sole

recipient as “the beloved Gaius” (v. 1).

This makes the epistle one of a few letters in the NT addressed

strictly to an individual

(cf. Philemon). The name “Gaius” was very common in the

first century

(e.g., Acts 19:29; 20:4; Rom. 16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14), but nothing is

known of this individual beyond John’s salutation, from which it is inferred that he was a member of one of the churches under

John’s spiritual oversight.

As with 2 John, 3 John focuses on the basic issue of hospitality

but from a different perspective. While 2

John warns against showing

hospitality to false teachers

(2 John 7–11),

3 John condemns the

lack of hospitality shown to faithful

ministers of the Word (vv. 9,10).


Reports came back to the apostle that itinerant teachers

known and approved by him (vv. 5–8) had traveled to a

certain congregation where they were refused hospitality

(e.g., lodging and provision) by an individual named Diotrephes who domineered the assembly (v. 10). Diotrephes went even further,
for he also verbally slandered the Apostle John
with malicious accusations and excluded anyone from the

assembly who dared challenge him (v. 10).

In contrast, Gaius, a beloved friend of the apostle

and faithful adherent to the truth (vv. 1–4),

extended the correct standard of Christian hospitality to itinerant ministers. John wrote to commend the type of hospitality exhibited by Gaius to worthy representatives of the gospel (vv. 6–8) and to condemn the high-handed actions of Diotrephes (v. 10). The apostle promised to correct the situation personally and sent this letter through an individual named Demetrius, whom he commended for his good testimony among the brethren (vv. 10–12).

Historical and Theological Themes
The theme of 3 John is the commendation of the proper standards of Christian hospitality and the condemnation for failure to follow those standards.
Interpretive Challenges
Some think that Diotrephes may either have been a heretical teacher or at least favored the false teachers who were condemned by 2 John. However, the epistle gives no clear evidence to warrant such a conclusion, especially since one might expect that John would have mentioned Diotrephes’ heretical views. The epistle indicates that his problems centered around arrogance and disobedience, which is a problem for the orthodox as well as the heretic.

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Rich, deep, spiritual meanings


You don’t have to go far in either the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament before you hit them – those lists of unpronounceable names! The lists and genealogies in the Bible have been a source of much consternation (and sometimes merriment) as hapless readers struggle through exotic and multisyllabic Middle Eastern names in their Bible study groups.
Do we really have to bother with these lists? Is it so bad to just skip them?

They may be a tongue-twisting challenge, but there can be great benefits to studying the lists in the Bible. Quite often there are treasures buried in the driest, hardest places in God’s word, hidden for those who love the Bible enough to start digging. When it comes to tricky passages, we can say the words Jacob said when wrestling the Angel of the Lord: “I will not let you go until you bless me!”


NAMES MEAN SOMETHING

The first thing to point out is that Hebrew names all have meanings – often rich, deep, spiritual meanings. When you know what the meanings of the names are, there are often great insights into the passage itself, or even another message that God wants to convey. These things have not come about by accident! When looking at the meanings of the names in the genealogy in Genesis 5, Chuck Missler found something rather remarkable. He made a note of the meaning of each of the names in the list in Genesis and found that it seemed to be telling the story of the gospel!


Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed
Enosh = Mortal
Kenan = Sorrow
Mahalalel = The Blessed God
Jared = Will come down
Enoch = Teaching / education
Methuselah = His death shall bring
Lamech = The despairing
Noah = Comfort

Thinking about the meanings of the names in the Bible
can bring new understanding to passages,
or even, like in this case,

give a clue

about the meta-narrative that

God is telling.


Moses, Joshua, David and others all have names which
greatly enhance the significance of the story –

and the wider

story of redemption –

when you know what they mean. We are so blessed to live in an age when anyone can easily look up these meanings in seconds,

and find new insights in familiar Biblical passages.



LISTS AND GENEALOGIES ARE EVIDENCE THAT THE BIBLE IS

NO FAIRY TALE

Consider the profound difference between “Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a king…” and the Biblical way of introducing a story:
“The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah,

king of Judah,

until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.”

(Jeremiah 1:1-3)

Instead of the vague introductions of myths and legends, the Biblical insistence on telling you not just one but often several generations of relatives, on clarifying the tribe and clan, specifying the exact year and month (and sometimes day), giving the timing in reference to other events (the reign of a certain king, the captivity of Jerusalem, and so on) is an indication that the author expects their readers to accept what they are saying as historical fact.

They provide abundant and verifiable data because
they are

giving an account of what actually happened,

and want you to be sure of that.


Lists of people, numbers and places are a sign of authenticity.

Through examination of verifiable names and places in the New Testament, scholars can show that

the gospels are eyewitness accounts, and not fabrications.

Similarly, thanks to the information given to us in such great detail,
study of the Bible is made a lot easier when trying to build timelines and understand family trees.
Archaeologists and historians use the Bible as a source for these reasons.

Ask yourself, who would put lists in a story they had made up?
It is not a good fiction writing device, and makes for a rather dull story.
No – these were real people in real places, and these lists are historical records.
They catalog important aspects of the history of Israel.


TRACING THROUGH THE GENERATIONS SHOWS GOD’S

FAITHFULNESS1

Chronicles 26 is a chapter of names, which many might overlook,
but it has a treasure inside:

“Obed-edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, and Peullethai the eighth, (for God had blessed him). To his son Shemaiah were born sons who were leaders of their clans, for they were men of great ability. The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad. His brothers Elihu and Semachiah were also valiant men. All these were descendants of Obed-edom. They and their sons and their kinsmen were capable men with the strength to do the work—62 of Obed-edom.”
(1 Chronicles 26:4-8)

Dull list of names, right? Unless you know who Obed-edom is. In 2 Samuel 6, we have the story of David trying to move the ark of the covenant from Kiryat Jearim to Jerusalem, and they had the brilliant idea of putting it on wheels instead of carrying it on the shoulders of priests as God required. The cart wobbled at one point, Uzziel reached out to steady it, and died on the spot. David felt this was extremely harsh and essentially sulked about it for a few months before getting over the incident and trying again – this time taking care to carry it the way that God had prescribed back in Exodus. But where was the ark for the duration of those few months? David decided to put it in the house of Obed-edom.

“David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.” (2 Samuel 6:10-11)

So basically, Obed-edom hosted the ark of the Lord for three months, and we are told that God “blessed him”. But many generations later, if we are paying attention and remember the names, we can see that this blessing of God was profound, and lasted for generations! The list in 1 Chronicles 26 tells us that he had eight sons because God had blessed him, that they were men of great ability, and that their descendants were also valiant men, capable and strong in the service of the Lord.

Moreover, Obed-edom was a Gittite, from Gath. Most scholars agree that this means he was Philistine! In 1 Samuel, the Philistines steal the ark and come to bitterly regret it, so they send it back with five golden offerings, one for each Philistine king, one of whom was king of Gath, but when we look at the list in Chronicles, we see that Obed-edom the Gittite and his descendents have been elevated to serve as Levites in the house of the Lord. What an honour, and what great blessing came upon that man and his family. It testifies to the power of God’s blessing on whole families and across generations.

When God blesses a family, it has a powerful and lasting effect that you might not know about if you always skipped those lists.



DETAILS ARE INCLUDED IN THE LISTS OF THE BIBLE TO MAKE POINTS

Sometimes it is the case that a list is in full flow,
and suddenly it seems to be interrupted by an apparently irrelevant detail.
These details are never irrelevant!
They are signs to prick up our ears and pay attention to what God wants to say.

An example is the random inclusion of the
prayer of Jabez,
a jewel that you might easily miss if you were a serial list-skipper
(and had somehow missed the flurry of books on the subject,
promising health and wealth!).
Again, Jabez’s name carries great significance – we are told in 1 Chronicles 4:9 that “his mother called his name Jabez, saying,
“Because I bore him in pain.””

The letters are the same, but they are switched up in a different order – sadness is etzev and his name in Hebrew is yevetz. Jabez was not willing to let his fate be fixed by this curse over his life, and asked God to turn things around to blessing: just as his name was “sadness” turned around,

so was his destiny!

“Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.”

How about that?

It is in the middle of an apparently hum drum rundown of who got what bit of land in Joshua 17 that we see some shocking cultural taboos about women smashed. Inheritance in Middle Eastern cultures traditionally goes only to men, but in the Bible, God authorises women as heirs too! The story is jarring to the reader both in the flow of the lists and also in our expectations.
And by the way, another treat is the discovery of the background to the Esther story – when we find out who the ancestors of Mordecai the Jew and the evil Haman are, the story takes on a whole new dimension.
There are several treasures like this, snuck in between lists of names and numbers that are worth finding. Sometimes the message is not immediately obvious, but if we ask God to show us why he put that short story in there, and do the work of digging, it’s amazing what jewels can be found.



YESHUA’S GENEALOGY IS A STORY IN ITSELF

One of the first things to notice when reading the very first chapter of the New Testament (after noting that God decided to start with yet another list) is that this genealogy contains a decidedly significant number of women. The lists often skip women altogether, but not this list. Not only is the number of women significant, but also the women themselves are very significant people, each with an important story to tell, and reason why they are included in the genealogy of Yeshua. The five women are: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, wife of Uriah, and Mary, mother of Yeshua.

Initially one might find it shocking to see the Bible carefully noting these women: one who pretended to be a prostitute to lure her father-in-law to sleep with her, another was actually a prostitute, then there’s the Moabite who had been previously married, there’s someone else’s wife who had become pregnant from the extramarital carry-ons while still married, and


Mary, a young, unmarried mother.

They certainly seem the sort of stories
one might see in a soap opera.

But just as Mary’s story was
wrongly judged to be the height of scandal
by those around her at the time,

these other women are also
highly favoured by God,
and he took the trouble to note their names

in order to give them honour.


Of Tamar, Judah admits in Genesis 38:26,

 “She is more righteous than I”. 

She has a rough time in that family, but the Bible says not a single negative word about her. She is esteemed in words but also in being

part of the “scarlet cord of salvation”

that runs through the Bible leading up to the birth of Yeshua
as the midwife symbolically ties a scarlet cord around the foot of the one of her twins. Rahab the prostitute is
honoured as a heroine of faith for believing in the
God of Israel and her willingness to hide the Israelite spies.

She too gets a red cord in her story, as the spies tell her,

 “tie this line of scarlet thread in the window”

 (Joshua 2:18).

Despite the fact that she is not an Israelite,
she ends up joining the tribe of Judah by marrying Salmon,
and becoming the mother of Boaz, who went on to marry Ruth the Moabite, of whom the Bible has nothing but praise.

Their grandson, David, then grabs the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba, and they give birth to Solomon. It is interesting that her name is not in the genealogy,
but rather her husband’s name,
highlighting David’s sin, but again, the Bible does not attribute blame to Bathsheba.


And finally Mary,

whose purity has been so elevated

that some people seem to forget she

was just as human as the rest of us!


The twists and turns of Yeshua’s genealogy show us that
God esteems both men and women, Jews and gentiles,
the pure and the prostitute.

He is the Messiah of all.

​
​​
THE EUPHRATES RIVER FINALLY DRIED UP BUT NOW SOMETHING HAS EMERGED


March 2023


The Euphrates River

is a major international waterway that divides

Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.


For over ten thousand years, this river has provided

the majority of the region's water,

but it has recently begun to dry up due to the 

terrifyingly bizarre

conditions that have brought about the drought.
​

However,

the drying up of the Euphrates

is not unexpected because it was foretold in a horrific prophecy

that

appears to be coming to a head


Scientists have made a horrifying discovery in the

Euphrates River.

As a result of what was found beneath the riverbed once it had dried,

the entire globe was rocked.


Euphrates River Is Drying Up And Crisis Looms,

Just As

The Bible Warned

A government report warned

that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers could run dry

In the Bible,

it’s said when the Euphrates river runs dry

then

immense things are on the horizon,


perhaps even the

foretelling of the Second Coming of


Jesus Christ and the rapture.
​

Revelation 16:12 reads:

"The sixth

angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,

and its water was dried up

to prepare the way for the

kings from the East."


Well,

not to sound dramatic or anything,

but it looks like that

time is nigh. 


Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates carves through present-day Syria and Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf. For thousands of years,

the twin rivers

have allowed farming communities and grand cities
to flourish
in Mesopotamia, which is considered the

cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.

However, for several decades, it’s become increasingly apparent that the

Tigris–Euphrates river system is

drying out.

A government report in 2021 warned that the

rivers could run dry by 2040 due to declining water levels and

droughts

driven by climate change.


NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites collected images of this area in 2013 and found that the Tigris and Euphrates river basins had lost 144 cubic kilometers (34 cubic miles) of freshwater since 2003. 

"GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total

water storage

in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India," said Jay Famiglietti, principal investigator of the study and a hydrologist and professor at UC Irvine in a statement. 

"The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and

the region does

not coordinate its water management

because of

different interpretations of international

laws,"

explained Famiglietti.

​
The strain is already starting to show,

but a total collapse of the river system

would spell disaster ​for the region.

Millions of people across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq

rely on the Tigris-Euphrates for water



As the rivers start to struggle,

international disputes over access to water are 

already heating up.

These arguments have also prevented governments from

effectively reaching any

solution to the problem. 



Parched for water,

these countries could also be facing a looming public health crisis.
A recent report published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) investigated how a myriad of health emergencies are building in Iraq because people are

struggling to get their hands on clean water. 

“Diarrhoea, chicken pox, measles, typhoid fever, and cholera are currently spreading across Iraq because of the water crisis, and the government no longer provides vaccines to its citizens,” Naseer Baqar, climate activist and field coordinator at Tigris River Protectors Association in Iraq, told the BMJ. 

Although the Bible's predictions of the Euphrates’

​fate "should be taken with a bucket of salt" perhaps it's


forecasting of monumental change

wasn’t far wrong. 







​The Vision of Glory



INTRODUCTION

Of the four great revelations recorded in the

book of Daniel,

the last stretches from Daniel 10 through 12. Chapter 10

introduces the vision,

chapter 11 gives the prophecy, and chapter 12 adds an epilogue.

Those chapters deal with the same time period as the prophecy

of Daniel 8: from

Daniel's day to the second coming of Christ.

However Daniel 10-12 gives greater detail about the

tribulation than any other prophecy. 
​



A. Daniel's Prayer
​
Daniel 9 records that Daniel had been reading Jeremiah's prophecies and was aware he had prophesied

the captivity of Judah would last

seventy years.

Daniel realized that those seventy years were nearly over.
He therefore began to pray and fast.
He confessed his sin and that of his people and asked

God to fulfill His promise

in allowing the

Jewish people to return to their land. 


God's answer to Daniel's prayer came in the

form of a tremendous prophetic revelation

given in the first year of Cyrus,

king of the Medo-Persian Empire.
In that year Cyrus issued a decree allowing the

Jewish people to return home

(Ezra 1:1-4).

Thus Daniel's prayer was answered in the

same year he prayed. 



B. Daniel's Disappointment

Daniel 10 opens "in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia" (v. 1).

That's two years after Daniel received the revelation given in

Daniel 9.

During that time he experienced terrible discouragement:

most of the Jewish people

had

not returned to their homeland.



They were comfortable, paganized, prosperous,

and enmeshed in

Babylonian society.


As a result
few cared


about the Promised Land,

rebuilding Jerusalem,

or

restoring the Temple. 


Of the hundreds of thousands of Jewish people who were in Babylon,
a few did return--but only 42,600 (Ezra 2:64).


Daniel's dream was that after

seventy years of captivity

all the Jewish captives would return.


He wanted the worship of God reestablished,

along with

the nation itself.


But because so few returned to the land,


those goals

weren't being accomplished. 


C. Daniel's Situation
​
Two years prior to the vision in Daniel 10 Daniel

retired from being one of the prime ministers of the

Persian Empire.

He had also served in that capacity

under the Babylonians.

He was about eighty-five years old when

he left office in the first year of Cyrus.


I believe Daniel didn't

return to Judea

because of his disappointment that

so few returned to the Promised Land.


I think he felt responsible

to motivate the people to shake off their

sinful complacency

and return to their country. 




D. Daniel's Revelation

Though Daniel would surely have loved to

return to his homeland,

his burden for his people and the crisis of

his disappointment

led him to do what he always did in such situations:

pray.

God's answer came with another revelation:

"In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was

revealed unto Daniel . . .


and the thing was true, but the time appointed

was long; and he understood the thing, and had

understanding of the vision"

(Dan. 10:1). 

"The time appointed was long"

  is better translated. "one of great conflict" 


The obscurity of the words tsavah gadol 

in the

Hebrew text accounts for

the difference.


They can also be rendered "a great warfare" or "a great army"
(whether of men or angels).

Since Daniel 10-12 speaks of great conflict among armies--from holy angels and demons in space,
to
conflict between Russia and Israel on earth--
the
context points toward the reading of the New American Standard Bible. 





LESSON


I. THE MOURNING OF DANIEL (vv. 2-3) 

"In those days I, Daniel,

was mourning three full weeks.

I ate no pleasant bread, neither came

flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all,

till three whole weeks were fulfilled. "



A. The Time of Mourning

Daniel began the account of his vision with the words "I, Daniel,"
a phrase he used five times to emphasize the

testimony is his.

He tells us he mourned for three weeks of days

(the Hebrew text specifies that to distinguish them from the weeks of years in Daniel 9).

His mourning took place in the third year of Cyrus (v. 1) 
and ended with an angelic visitation on the
twenty-fourth day of the first month

(the month of Nisan; v. 4).

Since he had been mourning for three weeks, he must

have started on the third of Nisan.

The Passover always falls on the fourteenth of Nisan,

so that means

during the festive celebrations of Passover

and the feast of Unleavened Bread

(the week following Passover) 

Daniel mourned, prayed, and fasted.

Yet for that whole period heaven remained silent. 



B. The Extent of Mourning


During his mourning Daniel "ate no pleasant bread. "


The Hebrew words mean "bread" or "food of delight. "

He didn't eat fancy foods, which was one way of  
fasting--abstinence from certain foods while eating only what was

necessary to stay alive.

Beyond that "neither came flesh nor wine in [his] mouth"
(v. 3).
That means he didn't eat normal foods either. 

Daniel also refrained from using skin oils during that time.

It was customary to ~

anoint one's self with oil for protection

from the sun,

to keep the skin soft, and to add fragrance to the body.
Those privations were a significant undertaking for an eighty-five-year-old man. 


C. The Reason for Mourning

At first it may seem strange that Daniel mourned. Only two years
previously Cyrus issued a decree

allowing the -Jewish people- to

-return- to their homeland,

and 42,600 had returned. Yet as we touched on before,
that was the problem:

though all could return, only a small fraction did.

In his selflessness Daniel longed for all his people to

return to their land. 



II. THE MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE GLORY (vv. 4-6) 

"In the four and twentieth day of the first month,

as I was by the side of the great river,

which is Hiddekel, then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a

certain man clothed in linen,

whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz; his body also was like the beryl, and his

face like the appearance of lightening,

and his eyes like lamps of fire,

and his arms and his feet in color like to polished bronze, and

the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. "


Daniel's attitude and spirit

were of the kind God responds to. 



A. The Place

"Hiddekel" is the Hebrew name for the Tigris River.

It is derived from idigla, the ancient

Babylonian name for the Tigris.


There were two great rivers in ancient Mesopotamia:


the Euphrates,

on which the city of Babylon was built,


and the Tigris,

located sixty miles east of Babylon.


We don't know why Daniel was at the Tigris--he may

have been on official business or he

may have gone to encourage a group of Jewish people

to return to their homeland. 



B. The Person

1. His specific identity

"Behold" in verse 5 expresses the amazement and shock Daniel

experienced when confronted by his heavenly visitor.

Some think it may have been Gabriel, Michael, or another angel of equal rank. I believe it was a


preincarnate appearance

of the

Second Person of the Trinity--the

Lord

Jesus Christ

(often referred to as a Christophany). 


a) Determined from elsewhere in Scripture

The description of Daniel's visitor is paralleled in 

Revelation 1:13-15,

where John describes one like the Son of man,

clothed with a garment down to the foot,

and girded

about the breasts with a golden girdle.


His head and his hair were

white like wool, as white as snow; (lamb)

and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet like fine bronze,

as if they burned in a furnace; and

his voice like the sound of

many waters. "


That description is almost identical to Daniel's
(except Daniel says nothing of his visitor's hair).


John's visitor identified Himself
as

the "Alpha and Omega" (Rev. 1:8)
--the

Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 17-18).


John saw Christ in His post-resurrection glory,

Daniel in His preincarnate glory.

Jesus Christ was not created when He was born-

-He existed eternally. 





b) Determined from His clothing

(1) His garment

Fine white linen was the garment of priests (Ex. 28:39-43)  and heavenly visitors

such as the angels that appeared

at Jesus' tomb

(Mark 16:5). It is associated with the representatives of God

and seems to

symbolize God's foremost attribute:


His holiness. 



(2) His belt

The waist of Daniel's visitor was "girded with fine gold of Uphaz" (
Dan. 10:5).
While we don't know what Uphaz signifies, Daniel's description


indicates a


belt


overlaid with fine gold.

As a valuable, pure, and beautiful

metal gold here perhaps symbolizes

the sovereignty of God. 

(3) His body

The body of the preincarnate Christ "was like the beryl" (
v. 6) -
-a transparent, flashing jewel called a chrysolite in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament). Some think it refers to the topaz.

As a flashing transparent jewel I think it

symbolizes God's glory. 

(4) His face

His face was "like the appearance of lightening" (v. 6).

In Revelation 1:16 John described Christ's face as being like the sun.

That brilliant light brings to mind

His omnipotence. 

(5) His eyes

The eyes of Christ were "like lamps of fire" (v. 6). Lamps search out and throw light on what they are aimed, exposing things as they really are. That pictures God's omniscience. 

(6) His arms and feet

They were "in color like to polished bronze" (v. 6). Bronze, commonly used of armaments at the time, hints of the judgment and wrath of God. 

(7) His voice

His voice was "like the voice of a multitude" (v. 6).
 Revelation 1:15 describes it as

"the sound of many waters. "

Daniel saw the

Almighty revealed in a vision representing

of His holiness, sovereignty, glory,

omnipotence, omniscience, and judgment. 




2. His extensive authority

Since

Christ is the Commander-in Chief

of the
angelic army and has all authority

(Matt. 28:18) ,

it was fitting that He appear to Daniel at this time.

Daniel was about to receive a prophecy concerning
angelic warfare

that would stretch from his own time to the

battle described in Revelation 12,

in which Michael and the holy angels

defeat the demonic forces. 

This vision must have been a source of great hope
for the aged prophet.

His heart had been heavy but

God Himself appeared to him. 



III. THE REACTION OF THE VISION (vv. 7-9) 


A. Of Those with Daniel (v. 7) 

"I, Daniel, alone saw the vision;

for the men that were with me saw not the vision,
but a great quaking fell upon them, so that

they fled to hide themselves. "

When heaven invades earth it always leaves

man in awe.


Though those with Daniel

saw no vision they knew

something was happening and began to shake.



They fled to hide from the presence of God

because it was more than they could bear-
-a natural response of sinful man, as seen many times in Scripture. 


1. Compared to Job

When a good man like Job

saw God he was forced to declare,
​

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear,

but now mine eye seeth thee.

Wherefore I abhor myself, and

repent in dust and ashes"

(Job 42:5-6). 

2. Compared to Isaiah

Isaiah was a godly man, yet when he saw God he said,


"Woe is me!

For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,
and

I dwell in the midst of a people of

unclean lips;


for mine eyes have seen the King, the


Lord of hosts"

(Isa. 6:5). 



3. Compared to Peter


When Peter


saw the

power of Jesus displayed

he responded,

"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man,

O Lord"

(Luke 5:8). 




4. Compared to mankind in the tribulation

When mankind realizes the great day of God's wrath during the
tribulation, they will cry out

"to the mountains and rocks,

Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that

sitteth on the throne, and from the

wrath of the Lamb"

(Rev. 6:16).

The unholy are devastated in the presence of absolute holiness. 
​

B. Of Daniel Himself (vv. 8-9) 

"I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words; and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. "

Daniel was left alone and experienced

severe distress--he too wasn't able to handle

much of God's presence.

That his "comeliness was turned . . . into corruption" (v. 8) 

means he lost his strength and acquired the

death-like pallor of one in absolute panic. 

On top of that

he "heard the voice of [God's] words" (v. 9).

That caused him to faint.

He was shattered by the muffled


roar of the voice of


-God's Son-


-completely mastered by the

awe of His presence.


Christ then departed and Daniel


saw Him no more. 




IV. THE MESSENGER FROM HEAVEN (vv. 10-13) 


"Behold, an hand touched me, which set me

upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man

greatly beloved,

understand the words I speak to thee,

and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent.

And when he had spoken this word unto me,

I stood trembling.

He said unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from


the first day that thou didst

set thine heart to understand,

and to chasten thyself before thy God,


thy words were heard,

and I am come for thy words.


But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo,


Michael, one of the chief princes,

came to help me;

and I remained there with the kings of Persia. "



A. He Revived Daniel


Almost immediately an

angel in the form of a man helped Daniel,

who was eighty-five years old and weakened by fasting.

The angel enabled him to rise shakily

to his hands and knees. 


Are You Awed in the Presence of God?

Daniel's reaction to the presence of God

ought to cause us to examine our own attitude

towards His presence.


Are we awed in His presence?

I find myself

rushing in and out of God's presence

with no thought for


His majesty


When I come to worship Him, too often it seems when

I ought to be drained of strength because of

overwhelming thoughts of God,

my thoughts are

instead focused on the world

or some project completely unrelated to God.


How about



​YOU?



B. He Reassured Daniel

God doesn't make personal appearances to everyone. But

Daniel was "greatly beloved. "

He was a special man, like others named in the Bible:


David was called]

"a man after [God's] own heart"

(1 Sam. 13:14) ,

Abraham was called God's friend
(Isa. 41:8) ,



the apostle John was

the disciple whom Jesus loved"

(John 21:7) ,

and Mary was "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:28).



Those who especially delight in God and obey Him become greatly beloved by Him.

The angel may have told Daniel he was beloved by God to

relieve his fear--he wasn't going to be judged

but blessed. 



C. He Was Temporarily Hindered from Seeing Daniel

Daniel had set his heart
on understanding why his people had not returned
to the land so he fasted and prayed for a

lengthy period of time

(vv. 2-3). God's messenger first reassured Daniel not to fear.

He wasn't to think God didn't care about his prayers because of the

twenty-one days it took to

send an answer!

In reality,

from the first day Daniel mourned he was heard,

but delivery of God's answer was

delayed. 

The angel explained that he--a holy angel from God's presence--had been detained by the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" (v. 13).

The ruling kingdom at that time was Persia, but the prince
spoken of

here was not a man: he was a demon.

His position

was to influence the events in Persia

so

God's plans for the future of Israel

would be hindered.


Therefore he must have been evil.

He must have been an

angelic being

to be able to fight the

archangel Michael (v. 13) ,

and his relationship with Persia was of
an ongoing nature since the angel
speaking to Daniel would be
fighting him again (v. 20). 




The Demons and World Power

Satan has a sophisticated world organization: an

unseen network

of demons influencing the events of human history.
Just as there was a demon assigned to Persia (v. 13) , there was another assigned to Greece (v. 20). Psalm 96:5 says,

"All the gods of the nations are idols," and demons are

behind the false gods people worship

(1 Cor. 10:20).
Throughout world history demons have been active

behind the scenes

in an attempt to thwart

God's plans


God sent Michael--a super-angel--

to release

His messenger from conflict.

Michael is mentioned three times in Daniel (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1)  and two times in the New Testament (Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).


He is called "the archangel" (Jude 9)  which means


"first angel. "

The name Michael means "one who is of God. "

In Revelation 12:7 he appears

with a host of angels during the

Great Tribulation to destroy all

demonic forces and win the

final battle. 


After his struggle with the prince of Persia Daniel's angelic messenger remained "with the kings of Persia" (Dan. 10:13).

He remained as an influence for God with the kings of Persia.

That indicates God has

assigned

holy angels to nations

to carry out His purposes.


In this continual warfare

I often wonder what's happening behind the scenes

in our own nation. 



VI. THE PURPOSE OF THE VISION (vv. 14-21) 

A. To Prepare Daniel to Receive Extensive Revelation (vv. 14-20a) 

"I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy
people in the latter days;

for yet the vision is for many days.


And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth, and spoke, and said unto him who stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

For how can the servant of this, my lord, talk with this, my lord?

For as for me, straightway there remained

no strength in me,

neither is there breath left in me.

Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and
he strengthened me, and said, O man

greatly beloved, fear not.


Peace be unto thee;

be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me,

I was strengthened, and said,

Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.

Then said he, Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"


According to Daniel 10:14 the angel came to give
Daniel a vision that would cover a lengthy time span.

Specifically, it goes from the time of Daniel to the

reign of the Antichrist in the tribulation.

That caused Daniel to lose his strength and voice and fall to the
ground for a second time (Dan. 10:15).

Such was the effect of so

grand a revelation. 

In response to Daniel's physical collapse another

angel appeared and touched Daniel's lips,

which enabled him to speak (v. 16).

Daniel told his angelic messenger that he didn't

think he would be able to receive a revelation

in his weakened condition

(v. 17) , so

another angel came and miraculously strengthened him

(v. 18). Daniel then willingly received the revelation (v. 19). 
​

Daniel needed to be strengthened--he had stood before

the living God.

He may have been the most godly man living

at that time,

but was devastated

when

personally confronted by God.


We can expect even worse when

we face God unless we are

protected

by the blood of Jesus Christ

through faith in Him. 


Once Daniel had been
strengthened the angelic messenger
asked,

"Knowest thou why I come unto thee?"


(v. 20) --a question that implies Daniel


didn't realize the extent of revelation

he was to receive.


Daniel had spent twenty-one days asking about the immediate future of his people, but was

going to receive a revelation of their future to

the end of the age!

Plumb the Depths!

Daniel prayed for an answer to an immediate dilemma but was given an answer that went

far beyond his current focus.

He was shown that demons and holy angels carry on warfare, and experienced the majestic presence of the uncreated Christ--the commander of the angelic hosts. Daniel's summation that the revelation was one of great conflict was accurate (Dan. 10:1, NASB). 


Sometimes Christians

forget the great works and

eternal truths

of God and focus on

petty things.

While God wants us to focus on His kingdom,

we too often focus on the mundane
(cf. Matt. 6:33).



Some Christians never seriously study

their Bibles.

They become caught up in churchianity--

which isn't Christianity

at all.

We need to be committed to plumbing

the

depths of God's Word.

Then, like Daniel,

we'll receive more than we

ask for.




B. To Reassure Daniel of the Truth of Revelation (vv. 20b-21) 

"Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come. But I will show thee that

which is noted in the Scripture of truth;

and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but

​Michael, your prince. "

After


delivering his message


to Daniel

the angel was to return to fighting the prince of Persia

on

Israel's behalf.

God uses angelic conflict to


accomplish His will.


And once that conflict ended the angel would begin fighting the

prince of Greece--the next great world power.


Yet the angel reassured Daniel
that the message he was about to give was

true

and that though only
Michael was with him,


they were sufficient to handle any opposition.

What a comfort!

Michael must be a magnificent being, for he's the

prince of God's people. 


CONCLUSION

Daniel 10 is a rich portion of Scripture. It gives us insight into God's holiness, majesty, and glory; the preincarnate Christ; and the reality of angelic warfare. Before us are laid open the heart and life of a man without equal: Daniel, the man of prayer. We see that the core of intercessory prayer is a broken and selfless heart, and that the first response to any crisis ought to be prayer. We also see the condescension of God in willingly revealing His truth to man. We see the grace of God in taking a weak and frail man and with a touch making him speak as a prophet. That ought to give us all great comfort. God can use any of us. He is able to take our greatest weaknesses and lift us from uselessness to strength. What a glorious blessing!

​Please open your Bible to

Psalm 23



Our first aim in this series has been to encourage.

These are difficult days for all of us.
Many of us feel tired, jaded, discouraged, and flat.
Some of us are anxious, fearful and even distressed at
what the future might bring.

We came to this Psalm looking to be refreshed.
I have loved meditating on Psalm 23.

Living in it for these last weeks has done me good,
and I have been moved to learn that
many of you have been helped by it too.


The first person to be helped by this Psalm was

David himself.

Picture what it was like for David to write this Psalm
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
His life was plagued with trouble.

Aggravation from Saul, opposition from the Philistines,
​the pressures of leading a divided nation, trouble in his own family,
not to mention the sins that plagued his own heart.

As David thinks about all that he is facing,
his mind goes back to the early years of his life when
his work had been keeping the sheep.

As he remembers what he did for the sheep,
some words come to him 

The Lord is my shepherd. 

He begins to think about what that means.

"When I cared for the sheep, they lacked nothing,

and

the Lord is a better shepherd than I was

so the same will be true for me. 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 


Words continue to come to David as he thinks about

what it means

for the Lord to be His Shepherd

The Lord leads me.

He leads me into rest

and He leads me into righteousness.


The Lord restores me.

My heart wanders and my spirit falters.

But the Lord picks me up. The Lord brings me back.

The Lord will never let me go


The Lord guards me.

I have walked through
some dark valleys and more lie ahead of me.
But even when I walk through the darkest valley,
my

Shepherd will be with me.

The Lord sustains me.

The Philistines hate me.
Trusted colleagues betray me. Members of my own family rise
up against me, but the

Lord stands with me and gives me strength.

He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

The whole of this Psalm is a meditation on what the

Good Shepherd does for His sheep.

And David’s faith is strengthened as he takes in
what the Lord does for him.

His first thought is “I shall not want” but by the end, he is able to say something even better:

‘Surely goodness and mercy will

follow me

all the days of my life

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever. 

Psalm 23 is an exercise in faith.

It brings to mind all that is true of you in Christ.

That is why it is so encouraging.


When you are tired and jaded and drained and flat, when
you are run down and you need to be refreshed,

bring to mind all that is yours

in Jesus Christ

and your faith will be strengthened

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
 (Psa 103 1-2).
Now today, we are looking at the last verse of this Psalm.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,
and

I shall dwell in the house of the LORD 

​forever”

 (Psalm 23:6).

When the Lord is your shepherd, His love surrounds you
now and forever.

And the love of the Good Shepherd is:

A love that pursues, and a love that welcomes.


1. A Love That Pursues“

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,”
 (Psalm 23:6).

One of the joys of farming life where I come from, are the dogs that chase after the sheep. A shepherd’s dogs are always with him. When the shepherd goes out to gather sheep from the hills, and bring them into the pens, the dogs go with him. They will run in wide arcs over the hills, chasing the sheep in the direction the shepherd wants them to go.

And when the sheep are gathered, the shepherd will lead them, and the dogs will bring up the rear.

Sheepdogs are beautiful, highly trained, hardworking and intelligent creatures. And no shepherd would ever be without them.

Douglas Macmillan quotes a Scottish shepherd who preached on the verse we are looking at today: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.[1] Think of a shepherd walking in front of his sheep. The sheep follow him, and behind them are two sheepdogs chasing after the stragglers, and keeping the flock close to the shepherd.

The Good Shepherd has two sheepdogs; one is called 

‘Goodness.’ The other is called ‘Mercy.’

I love that picture. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.

The Good Shepherd keeps me close to Himself

through His goodness and mercy that are always chasing after me.
Let’s take a look at these two lovely sheepdogs:


a. Goodness

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Someone may say, “Well my life is filled with a great deal of trouble.” You can easily list many things that are not as you would want them to be. Sin has brought its devastating effects into the world, and things are not as they should be in our world, our country, our work, our churches, our homes or in our own hearts. But there is good in your life too. James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change,” (James 1:17).

Everything good in your life comes from the loving hands of God.

So, thank Him for it. Sinners blame God for everything and thank Him for nothing. Believers thank God for everything and blame Him for nothing.
Goodness is God giving us what we don’t deserve, and if you belong to the Good Shepherd, God’s goodness is always chasing after you.


b. Mercy

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
Goodness is God giving us what we don’t deserve.
Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.

God chases after us with mercy

That is good news, because if God chased after us in justice

we would all be in trouble

Over these last weeks, we have seen the devastating effects of wildfires in California. Wildfire sweeping across mountains is absolutely terrifying.
Did you know that the Bible uses that picture to describe God’s judgment of the wicked. “As fires consume the forest, as the flame sets the mountain ablaze…” (Psalm 83:14). That’s how God’s judgment pursues the wicked. A wildfire sweeping over the mountain consuming everything in its path.

So, thank God, that in Christ He does not chase after you with the wildfire of judgment. He chases after you in mercy. Goodness and mercy will follow me. And this is how the Good Shepherd keeps us close to Himself.
If God was chasing after you with judgment and condemnation, of course you would run. But why would you run when you are being chased by goodness and mercy?

God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Rom 2:4). God’s goodness and mercy are chasing after you to bring you closer to the Good Shepherd.
And David is in no doubt about this. He says Surely goodness and mercy will follow me .’ When you belong to the Good Shepherd, you can be sure about this: God chases after you, not in judgment and condemnation, but in goodness and mercy.


c. Follow me

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Remember, David has already said that the Good Shepherd leads His sheep. He leads me beside still waters. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
The Shepherd is in front of the sheep. But now he says that the Shepherd’s goodness and mercy follow the sheep.

So, in Christ, you are encircled in the love of Christ.

There is an ancient Celtic hymn attributed to St Patrick in the 5th century. It begins with these words, I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the

Trinity.

Then this:
Christ be with me, Christ within me Christ behind me,
Christ before me, Christ beside me,
Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.[2]
When the Lord is your shepherd, you are surrounded on all sides by the goodness and mercy of God. Behind me, before me, beside me, beneath me above me. Brothers and sisters, nothing can ever separate us from you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Rom 8:39).



d. All the days of my life

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
When you belong to the Good Shepherd, this will always be true of you. Jerry Bridges says this so well, “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

All the days of my life… 

Here we are, anxious about our world, our country, our families, ourselves. And who knows what the future holds? But of this you can be certain: Whatever the future holds, God’s goodness and God’s mercy will follow you all the days of your life.

2. A Love That Welcomes“and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

These words can be understood in two ways. If you are using the ESV Bible you will see a footnote that says, “for length of days.”

I will dwell in the house of the Lord “for length of days.” 

David says in Psalm 27, “One thing I have asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” (Psalm 27:4). Because of God’s goodness, and because of God’s mercy, because the Lord leads me, restores me, guards me and sustains me, I will walk with Him, worship Him, love Him, and serve Him, all the days of my life.

But I think that David is looking beyond His days in this world.

He already said, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And when he looks beyond the days of his life in this world he sees what comes after:

The joy of eternity in the immediate presence of the Lord. 

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

What will that be like? The first thing to say is that it will be very different from life in this world. When you dwell in the house of the Lord, faith will be turned to sight. Old battles will be over, old wounds will be healed. And God will wipe away all tears from your eyes.

You will see Christ in His glory.

His kingdom will come.

Death will be defeated. Evil will be overthrown. Heaven will come to earth and God will dwell with His people in a world of love where

He will make everything new.

Dwelling in the house of the Lord will be incomparably better than the greatest joys any of us have known in this life. Your experience in heaven will be very different from your life in this world, but your relationship
with Jesus will be the same.

When John was given a glimpse of what it will be like when all of God’s redeemed people are gathered in His presence, he says, “they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” Then, he tells us that,

"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will
be their shepherd, and he
will guide them to springs of living water…”

 (Rev 7:17).

The relationship you have with Jesus in this world will continue forever.

If He is your shepherd now,
He will be your Shepherd then.

Notice who the Shepherd is: The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. Why will any of us be in heaven? There’s only one reason:

The Good Shepherd came to seek and to save the lost.

Here’s what that means: The Good Shepherd became one with the sheep.
He took our flesh. He came into our world. He shared our life.

He became the Lamb:
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,

(John1:29).

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth (Isa 53:7).

But God raised Him up and

exalted Him to the highest place.

The Lamb of God is the Lion of Judah.

He reigns.

And He says, ‘I give my sheep eternal life.

They will never perish,

and no one will snatch them out of my hand,

 (John 10:28).

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water… (Rev 7:17).

Here’s why eternal life will never be dull.
The Good Shepherd will always be leading you into something new.

Heaven will be a world of fresh discoveries

and new delights.

And it will be Jesus Himself who leads you into them.

Heaven will not be a world in which you
meet Jesus and then go off to pursue your own thing.
The Lamb will be your Shepherd! 
He will guide you to springs of living water (Rev 7:17).

Jesus said to the Father, “I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world,” 
(John 17:24).
And when we are in the Father’s house, Jesus prayer will be answered.

We will be with Him where He is

We will see His glory:

He will be our Shepherd,

and He will guide us to streams of living water.

Thomas Boston speaks of how

"the glorified shall walk eternally,

seeing more and more of God…

They may bring their vessels to this ocean every moment,

and fill them with new waters.”

Donald Macleod says of the
Garden of Eden,
“It offered scope for art, science, and technology…
The same will doubtless be true of the world to come.

Not only the Creator but the Creation too will be an
object of wonder to the redeemed.

It will challenge their intellects, fire their imaginations and stimulate their industry. The scenario is a thrilling one:

brilliant minds in powerful bodies in a transformed universe.”

And this joy will go on increasing!
The joys you experience in life remain with you. They stay in your memory and you can continue to derive happiness from them.
As years pass you have a growing pool of blessed
memories from which you can draw,

and every new joy in your life makes that reservoir deeper.

Think about what that will be like in eternity:

One joy will be added to another as the

Good Shepherd leads you into springs of living water.

Jonathan Edwards points out that the joys of heaven will accumulate.

“So, think about what that will be like when you have been in heaven for a million, million ages…To put what he says, simply, the more you know of God the more you will see of His beauty, and the more you see His beauty,

the more you will love Him.

And the more you love God the
more happiness you will have in Him.”


Friends,

we are talking about

exponentially increasing

joy!


When we began this series, I set out two aims:
To encourage and to entice. I want to end where we began


1. To encourage

The greatest blessing you can know in life

is to be wholly owned by the Son of God.

When the Lord is your Shepherd, you are able to say,

He leads, me,

He restores me, He guards me and He sustains me.

Whatever happens in your work, your family, with your health or with your money, whatever happens in our country,
if the Lord is your Shepherd,
you will always be able to say,

“Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house for evermore my dwelling-place shall be.”

And so, through all the length of days Thy goodness faileth never
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise Within Thy house forever.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


2. To entice

What is your position if the Lord is not your shepherd?
What is your position if you choose to be your own shepherd?

Your own god?
What if you choose to be the captain of your own ship,
the master of your own soul?

Then your reality will be something like this:
I am my own shepherd, and I will always want.

Sin makes me restless: It keeps me from lying down in green pastures. It leads me beside troubled waters. It ruins my soul. Sin leads me in paths of unrighteousness which I pursue for my own sake. When I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will have great fear, for sin will be with me. Its guilt and its shame will haunt me.  It promises much, but it always disappoints. And my cup is always empty. Surely judgment and condemnation will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the lost forever.

Who wants to say that?
And if that’s your reality why should you stay there?

The Good Shepherd

has come to seek and to save the lost.

He gave Himself to you, and He calls

you to follow Him.

The greatest blessing you can know in life is to

be wholly owned by the Son of God.


When you can say,

“The Lord is my Shepherd,” you will be able to say,

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. “

21

​Phi (/faɪ/;[1] 

​uppercase Φ, lowercase φ or ϕ; Ancient Greek: 

ϕεῖ pheî [pʰéî̯]; Modern Greek: φι fi [fi])

is the

​21st letter of the Greek alphabet.

​Mother Mary Apple Seed


In and Out

of 
The Promised Land, 


​
Mary remains a classic but now possibly 

sporting a retro revival. 

The Hebrew origins and 

means "star of the sea,"


"bitterness," and "beloved." 

Valleys to Mountains

Ashes to Glory

Apples to Stars




​The ​Five

If you cut across the diameter of an apple

you will see a five pointed star at its centre.

Many of the blossoms that turn into the vegetables and fruits

that we eat are also shaped like

five pointed stars.


To the Mercy Centre for Ecology & Justice,

The five pointed star is a symbol that 

we are 

all connected in a reciprocal relationship

with

nature and the universe. 


The Mercy Centre for Ecology & Justice’s mission 

is to promote the 

interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all creation 

and to live in a spirituality

flowing out of the sacredness of all creation.



If an apple is cut (or chopped)

in half, crosswise, 


the seeds resemble a star; a five-point star. 



In Christian symbolism

a five-point star

represents the Star of Bethlehem.

Five points

also represents the Crucifixion.


Pentacle: The pentacle is a 5 pointed star. 


The pentacle is the symbol of th

The pentacle is found in many places in nature.

Many flowers have only 5 petals, an apple cut crosswise

shows a pentacle. 


Apple seeds

(and seeds of many fruit trees in the

Rose family: cherries, peaches, plums, etc.)

contain a compound called amygdalin.

It isn’t harmful in itself, but breaks down into cyanide 

when crushed 

or chewed on. And cyanide can be deadly. 


The poisonous

content 

of the apple seed (or pip)

is designed by nature

to protect it from predators. 


It’s part of the apple tree’s 

distribution system. 

The tree “wants” animals to eat its fruit, which 

why it is so sweet and tasty, 



but not to destroy its seeds. 



Either the animal doesn’t eat the core

(humans) 

or doesn’t chew the seeds

(frugivorous animals) 

and the pips 

are either thrown away or 

passed intact

through the digestive system. 


The idea is that encourages the 


distribution of seeds


far from the mother tree


(the animal might pick up the fruit and eat or defecate it elsewhere)

and that

allows apple trees to spread in

the wild.



The meaning of Mary is “beloved”

a biblical

reference to Christ’s mother


The name is associated with “rebellious” or “bitter” 

because of Miriam’s life as an Egyptian slave. 

The name means “beautiful” in Italian and

“the star of the sea” in Hebrew.”

The name also means “merciful” in Latin,

giving it a sophisticated touch.
​

In Christian symbolism, the basic pentagram was originally used

to represent the five wounds of Jesus Christ. It was soon supplanted

by the symbol of the cross,

but the pentagram was still recognizable as a Christian symbol

for a few hundred years after Jesus’ resurrection.

Some say that the continuous line was also considered symbolic of

The Alpha and Omega.

Christian-influenced academia in Europe during

the Enlightenment re-discovered Pythagoras’ interest in the pentagram,

which contains the Golden Ratio.

Pythagoras’ study went beyond mathematics, though,

as he assigned the five ancient elements to the five points of the star:

earth, water, air, and fire on the four lower points;

and spirit on the topmost point. 



The Ark of the Covenant

uses Fibonacci numbers, approximating a Golden Rectangle

In Exodus 25:10,

God commands Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant,

in which to hold His Covenant with the Israelites,

the Ten Commandments, saying,

The ratio of 2.5 to 1.5 is 1.666…, which is as close to phi (1.618 …)

as you can come with such simple numbers and is certainly

not visibly different to the eye.

The Ark of the Covenant is thus constructed using the Golden Section,

or Divine Proportion.

This ratio is also the same as 5 to 3, numbers

from the Fibonacci series.

In Exodus 27:1-2, we find that the altar God commands

Moses to build is

based on a variation of the same 5 by 3 theme:


“Build an altar of acacia wood,

three cubits high; it is to be square,

five cubits long and five cubits wide.”


Noah’s Ark uses Fibonacci Numbers in its DimensionsIn Genesis 6:15,

God commands Noah to build an ark saying,


“And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of:

The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits,

the breadth of it fifty cubits,

and the height of it thirty cubits.”


Thus the end of the ark, at 50 by 30 cubits,

is also in the ratio of 5 to 3, or 1.666…,


again a close approximation of phi not visibly different

​to the naked eye.

Noah’s ark was built in the same proportion

as ten arks of

the covenant placed side by side.



​The Number 666 is related to Phi

Revelation 13:18 says the following:

“This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him

calculate the number of the beast, for it is a man’s number.

His number is 666.”

This beast, regarded by some as the Anti-Christ described by John, 

is thus related to the number 666,

one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible.

Curiously enough, if you take the sine of 666º, you get -0.80901699,

which is

one-half of negative phi, or perhaps what one might call the “anti-phi.” 

You can also get -0.80901699 by
taking the cosine of 216º, and 216 is 6 x 6 x 6.

The trigonometric relationship of sine 666º to phi is

based on an isosceles triangle with a base of phi and sides of 1. 

When this triangle is enclosed in a circle with a radius of 1,

we see that the lower line, which has an angle of 306º on

the first rotation and 666º on the second rotation,

has a sine equal to one-half negative phi.

In this we see the unity of phi divided into positive and negative,

analogous perhaps to light and darkness or good and evil. 

Could this “sine” be a “sign” as well?

In addition, 666 degrees is 54 degrees short of the

complete second circle and when dividing the 360

degrees of a circle by 54 degrees you get 6.66…

The other side of a 54 degree angle in a right angle

is 36 degrees and 36 divided by 54 is .666.


​Phi appears throughout creation,

and in every physical proportion of the human body. 

In that sense it is the number of mankind, as

the mysterious passage of Revelation perhaps reveals.


The colors of the Tabernacle are based on a phi relationship

The PhiBar program produces the colors

that the Bible says God gave to

Moses for the construction of the Tabernacle.

As it says in Exodus 26:1,

“Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and

blue, purple and scarlet yarn,

with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman.”


Set the primary color of the Phibar program to blue,

the secondary color of the PhiBar to purple and it

reveals the Phi color to be scarlet.


This reference to the combination blue, purple and scarlet

in the construction of the tabernacle appears

24 times in Exodus 25 through 39,

describing the colors to be used in

the curtains, waistbands, breastpieces, sashes and garments.

​

• It has been a sign of royalty, meaning that the power of those in rule will spread to the four corners of the world.
• It has been a symbol of protection against evil and has been worn by people and placed over the doorways and windows of their homes.
• It represented the five virtues of knighthood, "generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, and piety".
• Pythagoras, the famous Greek mathematician and philosopher, thought of it as a symbol of the perfection of man.
• To the Egyptians, it represented the underground womb from which all living things are reborn.
• To this day, Gypsies still cut an apple horizontally to reveal a pentagram inside, which they call the "Star of Knowledge".

The word "pentagram"

comes from the Greek word "pente" (meaning "five")

and "graphein" (meaning "to write").

So, the word "pentagram" means

a 5-pointed star or any figure made of five lines.


 It symbolizes the four elements of earth, air, fire and water,

along with the element of spirit on top,

meaning that the four elements are ruled by

the spirit, or the idea of "mind over matter".


It is also a symbol of the number 5 as a mystical and sacred number that is inherently natural and human, since it is found in many life forms.

The five-way symmetry of the pentagram can be found in starfish, flowers, the human hand and body and many other living things. 

This pattern of five exists down to the level of molecules
and therefore represents not just the natural life forms we see,

but also the very foundations of their being. 

In this way, the number five is the essence of life. 

The pentagram is also a symbol of protection against evilbecause it is made of

5 outward-pointing spikes that protect a womb-like center. 



In texts from Sumeria

(one of the first civilizations in the world, from around 3000 BC to 2600 BC),

the pentagram symbolized

the four directions and a fifth direction, "above",



As a symbol of the goddess Kore

A goddess named Kore was worshipped in many countries

thousands of years ago in an area that ranged from

modern-day England to Egypt. Her sacred fruit

was the apple.



This apple-pentagram is known to the Gypsies as


the "Star of Knowledge".


During the 4th century AD, Kore was worshipped by the Coptic Gnostic

Christian religion in Alexandria, Egypt. Her festival, called Koreion,

​was held on January 6th and was adopted

by the Christian Church as the Feast of Epiphany,

a.k.a. Little Christmas or Three Kings Day. 

This feast day is a time when Christians remember

when The Wise Men

(also known as the Three Kings or the Magi),

visited the baby Jesus

and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.



In Hebrew Scriptures (or the "Old Testament")

The pentagram was the first and most important

of the Seven Seals, 

an amulet whose seals represented

the seven secret names of God.

Also, each point of the pentagram symbolized

the five books of the Pentateuch,

which are the first five books of the Bible,

also known as the Torah.

​
Pythagoras was an ancient Greek philosopher, teacher and leader
known for his knowledge of mathematics, music, astronomy and
sacred geometry.

Early in his life, he traveled the world, gaining access to and
absorbing the secret traditions,
esoteric knowledge and mysteries of many cultures.
When he returned from his travels, he set up a school
to teach a small number of devoted students this secret knowledge,
along with the fundamentals of occult music, mathematics and astronomy.

Because of his intellectual brilliance and outspoken nature, he attracted political and personal enemies who eventually attacked and burned his school, forcing his teachings and his students underground. 

During this time of persecution, followers of Pythagoras used the pentagram as their secret symbol, "so that they may know each other".

The pentagram was significant to the Pythagoreans for a number of reasons. 

It was seen as a sacred symbol of divine perfection

and also as a symbol of man 

because of the five-way symmetry of the human body. 

​Furthermore, each of the five points of the star represented the five elements that make up man:

• fire = energy
• water = fluid
• air = breath
• earth = matter
• psyche = mind

And lastly, Pythagoreans called the pentagram,

the "Pentalpha", because it was made of

five interlaced, perfect As or Alphas,

and was a symbol

of the individual as part of a whole.

After the teachings of Pythagoras were forced underground,
the schools secretly continued on and from them came 
the Mystery Schools and Masonic Guilds

 (groups of expert stone masons who were initiated into the teachings of the Mystery Schools).

The Christian Church felt that the Masons were quite heretical, yet hired them to design and build the great cathedrals of Europe.

The Masons subsequently incorporated their symbols into architecture, as pentagrams and five-fold designs can be found on the facades and also by plotting certain points on the floor plans of various cathedrals.

The Mystery Schools and Masonic Guilds held onto the pentagram as part of their symbolism, where it keeps its positive, ancient meanings and is 

a symbol of of secret, enlightened knowledge.

Because the divine knowledge of these groups threatened the power of the

Church, those who pursued it

or used its symbols were oppressed and mistreated.

This was one of the reasons why the pentagram,
which was originally a symbol of perfection and divine knowledge, 
became stigmatized,
because the Church framed it as a symbol of heresy. 

Because of this influence, 

it eventually came to have associations with evil.

The Christian pentagram;
It is a curious thing that the pentagram is generally thought of as evil by fundamental Christians because it was actually one of the main symbols of

Christianity before the cross came into popular use.

In the Middle Ages, Christians used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Christ - 2 on the wrists, 2 on the ankles and one on the side. 

it represented the Star of Bethlehem,

which led the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus.

​In this form, the pentagram represents salvation and the Holy Spirit descending to earth.

And since the pentagram can be drawn entirely in
one stroke,
without lifting one's pen, it was said to

represent the Alpha and the Omega, or

Christ himself. 

And represented knowledge, perfection, divinity, the triumph of the spirit, goodness and virtue.

The pentagram represents

eternity, infinity, the universe and the cycles of life and nature.


Spikenard, also called nard, nardin, and muskroot,

is a class of aromatic amber-colored essential oil 

derived from Nardostachys jatamansi, a flowering plant 

in the honeysuckle family which grows in the 

Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India.

The oil has been used over centuries as a perfume, a traditional medicine, or in religious ceremonies across a wide territory from India to Europe.
Historically, the name nardhas also referred to essential oils derived from other species including the closely related valerian genus,
as well as Spanish lavender; these cheaper,
more common plants have been used in perfume-making,

and sometimes to adulterate true spikenard.


The name "nard" is derived from Latin nardus, from Ancient Greek
 νάρδος (nárdos).

This word may ultimately derive either from Sanskrit नलद

(nálada, Indian spikenard),

or from Naarda, an ancient Assyrian city

(possibly the modern town of Dohuk, Iraq).

The "spike" in the name refers to the inflorescence or flowering stem of the plant.

Nardostachys jatamansi is a flowering plant of the honeysuckle 

family that grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. In bloom,

the plant grows to about 1 meter (3 ft) in height and

has small, pink, bell-shaped flowers.

It is found at an altitude of about 3,000 to 5,000 m (9,800 to 16,400 ft).

Its rhizomes can be crushed and distilled into an intensely aromatic,

amber-colored essential oil with a thick consistency.

Nard oil is used as a perfume, an incense, and as an herbal medicine.

In ancient Rome, nardus 

​was used to flavor wine, and occurs frequently in the recipes of Apicius.

​ During the early Roman empire, nardus was the
main ingredient of a perfume (unguentum nardinum).
​
Pliny's Natural History lists several species of nardus used in
making perfume and spiced wine:

Indian nard, a stinking nard called 'ozaenitidos' which is not used,

a false nard ('pseudo-nard') with which true nard is adulterated,

and several herbs local to Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean
which are also called nardus, namely Syrian nard,

Gallic nard, Cretan nard (also called 'agrion' or 'phun'),

field nard (also called 'bacchar'),

wild nard (also called 'asaron'), and Celtic nard.

Celtic nard is the only species Pliny mentions which he does not describe when listing the species of nard in book 12 of Natural History suggesting it is synonymous with another species, probably with the species Pliny refers to as 'hirculus', a plant Pliny attests to growing in the same region as Gallic nard and which he says is used to adulterate Gallic nard. Both are widely assumed to be cultivars or varieties of Valeriana celtica.

Indian nard refers to Nardostachys jatamansi, stinking nard possibly to Allium victorialis, false nard to Lavandula stoechas, Syrian nard to Cymbopogon nardus, Gallic nard to Valeriana celtica, Cretan nard to Valeriana italica (syn. V. dioscoridis, V. tuberosa), and wild nard to Asarum europaeum. Field nard, or 'bacchar',

has not been conclusively identified and must not be confused
with species now called "baccharises" referring
to species native to North America.


Coat of arms of Pope Francis.

According to the Vatican, the plant
 (to the right of the star) 

is a spikenard and symbolizes St Joseph.

Spikenard is mentioned in the Bible being used for its fragrance.

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
as he sat at meat,
there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment

of spikenard

very precious; and she brake the box, and

poured it on his head. 

— Mark 14:3 KJV while the king sitteth at his table,

my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

A bundle of myrrh is my well beloved unto me;

he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

My beloved is unto me as a cluster of campfire in

the vineyards of Engedi. 

— Song of Songs 1:12–14

in Hispanic iconographic tradition of the Catholic Church,

the spikenard is used to represent Saint Joseph. 

The Vatican has said that the coat of arms of Pope Francis 

includes the spikenard in reference

to Saint Joseph
​
In 2 Samuel 6, King David summoned troops
​ to retrieve

the Ark from Kiriath Jearim, also known as Baalah.

Two of Abinadab's sons, Uzzah and Ahio,

started to drive the

Ark to Jerusalem.

During the journey,

the cart and its contents faltered when the oxen stumbled.

Uzzah reached out to catch the Ark and died when he touched the sacred possession. This location was named Perez-uzzah which means “outbreak against Uzzah.”

Nervous to have the powerful object continue toward Jerusalem,
David placed it in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

During the three months the Ark stayed there,
the household of Obed-edom was blessed, and David’s fear diminished.

He fetched the Ark to continue the journey to Jerusalem,
the city of David. The sacred object entered the City of David
amidst rejoicing and dancing and was placed in a designated tent.
​
Skip ahead to 2 Chronicles 35 where we


find the

last mention of the

Ark of the Covenant’s

location.

In this chapter, Josiah was celebrating Passover.

The priests were prompted to take part in the observance in
​the Lord’s temple. In verse 3, Josiah

instructed the Levites to

"Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built.” It’s thought the artifact was demolished afterward when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem.

The chest went missing after the destruction of the temple, however, John states in Revelation 11:19 that the Ark will be seen again after the second coming of Christ.


The journey of the Ark of the Covenant

among the Israelites and Philistines is clearly laid out in Scripture,

while its disappearance is more ambiguous.

We can see this artifact played an important role in biblical history,

representing God’s presence and helping the Israelites overcome trials.

While there’s a large gap in Scripture when the Ark disappears,

we can be confident that along with many other things,

this precious artifact

​will be restored when we see Christ again.
​​
​
Necessity of the Blessed Virgin 

Part Four

by St. Louis de MontfortTaken from the Catholic Classic,



TRUE DEVOTION TO MARY 

with Imprimi Potest, Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1949
-----Article Three-----



​PROVIDENTIAL FUNCTION OF MARY IN THE LATTER TIMES

It was through Mary that the salvation of the world was begun, and it is through Mary that it must be consummated. Mary hardly appeared at all in the first coming of Jesus Christ, in order that men, as yet but little instructed and enlightened on the Person of her Son, should not remove themselves from Him in attaching themselves too strongly . . . to her.

This would have apparently taken place if she had been known, because of the admirable charms which the Most High had bestowed even upon her exterior.

This is so true that St. Denis the Areopagite tells us in his writings that when he saw our Blessed Lady, he would have taken her for a Divinity, because of her secret charms and incomparable beauty, had not the faith in which he was well established taught him the contrary. But in the second coming of Jesus Christ, Mary has to be made known and revealed by the Holy Ghost in order that, through her, Jesus Christ may be known, loved and served.

The reasons which move the Holy Ghost to hide His spouse during her life, and to reveal her but little since the preaching of the Gospel, subsist no longer.

I. Existence of This Function and Reasons for It

 God, then, wishes to reveal and make known to Mary,
the masterpiece of His hands, in these latter times:

§ 1. Because she hid herself in this world and put herself lower than the dust by her profound humility, having obtained from God and from His Apostles and Evangelists that she should not be made manifest.

§ 2. Because, as she is the masterpiece of the hands of God, as well here below by as in Heaven by glory, He wishes to be glorified and praised in her by those who are living upon the earth.

§ 3. As she is the dawn which precedes and reveals the Sun of Justice, Who is Jesus Christ, she must be seen and recognized in order that Jesus Christ may also be.

§ 4. Being the way by which Jesus came to us the first time, she will also be the way by which He will come the second time, though not in the same manner.

§ 5. Being the sure means and the straight and immaculate way to go to Jesus Christ and to find Him perfectly, it is by her that the souls who are to shine forth especially in sanctity have to find Our Lord. He who shall find Mary shall find life [Prov. 8:35], that is, Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life [John 14:6].

But no one can find Mary who does not seek her; and no one can seek her who does not know her; for we cannot seek or desire an unknown object. It is necessary, then, for the greater knowledge and glory of the Most Holy Trinity, that mary should be more than ever known.

§ 6. Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might and grace, in these latter times: in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God, idolaters, schismatics, Mahometans, Jews and souls hardened in impiety, who shall rise in terrible revolt against God to seduce all those who shall oppose them and to make them fall by promises and threats; and finally, she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who shall battle for His interests.

§ 7. And lastly, Mary must be terrible to the devil and his crew, as an army ranged in battle, principally in these latter times, because the devil, knowing that he has but little time, and now less than ever, to destroy souls, will every day redouble his efforts and his combats. He will presently raise up cruel persecutions and will put terrible snares before the faithful servants and true children of Mary, whom it gives him more trouble to conquer than it does to conquer others.

[It is interesting to note that today the increased efforts of the forces of evil are being countered by a corresponding increase in Marian devotion. St. de Montfort made a footnote mentioning growth in the Legion of Mary and renewed interest in the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his day.]

II. Exercise of This Function

§ 1. In the struggle against Satan.

51. It is principally of these last and cruel persecutions of the devil, which shall go on increasing daily till the reign of Antichrist, that we ought to understand that first and celebrated prediction and curse of God pronounced in the terrestrial paradise against the serpent. It is to our purpose to explain this here for the glory of the most holy Virgin, for the salvation of her children and for the confusion of the devil:

"I will put enmities between thee and the woman and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel." [Gen. 3:15]

52. God has never made and formed but one enmity; but it is an irreconcilable one, which shall endure and grow even to the end. It is between Mary, His worthy Mother, and the devil-----between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin, and the children and tools of Lucifer. The most terrible of all the enemies which God has set up against the devil is His holy Mother Mary. He has inspired her, even since the days of the earthly paradise-----though she existed then only in His idea-----with so much hatred against the cursed enemy of God, with so much ingenuity in unveiling the malice of that ancient serpent, with so much power to conquer, to overthrow and to crush that proud, impious rebel, that he fears her not only more than all Angels and men, but in a sense more than God Himself. Not that the anger, the hatred and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited; but first, because Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little and humble handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the Divine power; and secondly, because God has given Mary such great power against the devils that-----as they have often been obliged to confess, in spite of themselves, by the mouths of the possessed-----they fear one of her sighs for a soul more than the prayers of all the Saints, and one of her threats against themmore than all other torments.

53. What Lucifer has lost by pride, mary has gained by humility. What Eve has damned and lost by disobedience, Mary has saved by obedience.

Eve, in obeying the serpent, has destroyed all her children together with herself, and has delivered them to him; Mary, in being perfectly faithful to God, has saved all her children and servants together with herself, and has consecrated them to His Majesty.

54. God has not only set an enmity, but enmities, not simply between Mary and the devil, but between the race of the holy Virgin and the race of the devil; that is to say, God has set enmities, antipathies and secret hatreds between the true children and the servants of Mary and children and slaves of the devil.

They have no love for each other. They have no sympathy for each other. The children of Belial, the slaves of Satan, the friends of the world [for it is the same thing] have always up to this time persecuted those who belong to our Blessed lady, and will int he future persecute them more than ever; just as Cain, of old, persecuted his brother Abel, and Esau his brother Jacob, who are the figures of the reprobate and the predestinate.

But the humble Mary will always have the victory over that proud spirit, and so great a victory that she will go so far as to crush his head, where his prode dwells. She will always discover the malice of the serpent. She will always lay bare his infernal plots and dissipate his diabolical councils, and even to the end of time will guard her faithful serpents from his cruel claw.

But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him.

They shall be little and poor and in the world's esteem, and abased before all like the heeh, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is bu the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly.

They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God's assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph.

§ 2. In the formation of the apostles of the latter times.
55. In a word, God wishes that his holy Mother should be at present made known, more loved, more honored than she has ever been. This, no doubt, will take place if the predestinate enter, with the grace and light of the Holy Ghost, into the interior and perfect practice which I will disclose to them shortly.

Then they will see clearly, as far as faith allows, that beautiful Star of the Sea, They will arrive happily in harbor, following its guidance, in spite of the tempests and the pirates.

They will know the grandeurs of that Queen, and will consecrate themselves entirely to her service as subjects and slaves of love. They will experience her sweetness and her maternal goodness, and they will love her tenderly like well-beloved children.

They will know the mercies of which she is full, and the need they have of her help; and they will have recourse to her in all things, as to their dear advocate and Mediatrix with Jesus Christ.

They will know what is the surest, the easiest, the shortest and the most perfect means of going to Jesus Christ; and they will give themselves to Mary, body and soul, without reserve, that they may thus belong entirely to Jesus Christ.

56. But who shall those servants, slaves and children of Mary be?

They shall be the ministers of the Lord who, like a burning fire, shall kindle

the fire of Divine love everywhere.

They shall be "like sharp arrows in the hand of the powerful"

Mary to pierce her enemies. [Ps. 126:4]
​
They shall be the sons of Levi, well purified by the fire of great tribulation, and closely adhering to God [1 Cor. 6:17], who shall carry the gold of love in their heart, the incense of prayer in their spirit, and the myrrh of mortification in their body.

​They shall be everywhere the good odor of Jesus Christ to the poor and to the little, while at the same time, they shall be an odor of death to the great, to the rich and to the proud worldlings.

57. They shall be clouds thundering and flying through the air at the leats breath of the Holy Ghost; who, detaching themselves from everything and troubling themselves with nothing, shall shower forth the rain of the Word of God and of life eternal.

They shall thunder against sin; they shall storm against the world; they shall strike the devil and his crew; and they shall pierce through and through, for life or for death, with their two-edged sword of the Word of God [Eph. 6:17], all those to whom they shall be sent on the part of the Most High.

58. They shall be the true apostles of the latter times, to whom the Lord of Hosts shall give the word and the might to work marvels and to carry off with glory the spoils of His enemies.

They shall sleep without gold or silver, and, what is more, without care, in the midsts of the other priests, ecclesiatics, and clerics [Ps. 67:14]; and yet they shall have the silvered wings of the dove to go, with the pure intention of the glory of God and the salvation of souls, whosoever the Holy Ghost shall call them. Nor shall they leave behind them, in the places where they have preached, anything but the gold of charity, which is the fulfillment of the whole law [Ro. 13:10].
​
59. In a word, we know that they shall be true disciples of Jesus Christ, walking in the footsteps of His poverty, humility, contempt of the world, charity; teaching the narrow way of God in pure truth, according to the holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world; troubling themselves about nothing; not accepting persons; sparing, fearing and listening to no mortal, however influential he may be.

​They shall have in their mouths the two-edged sword of the Word of God. They shall carry on their shoulders the bloody standard of the Cross, the Crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, the sacred names of Jesus and Mary in their hearts, and the modesty and mortification of Jesus Christ in their behavior.
​
These are the great men who are to come; but Mary is the one who, by order of the Most High, shall fashion them for the purpose of extending His empire over that of the impious, the idolaters and the Mohametans. But when and how shall this be? God alone knows.
​
As for us, we but to hold our tongues, to pray, to sigh and to wait:

"With expectation I have waited." 
​

​