Passover = Freedom

When the descendants of Israel were enslaved in Egypt the people cried out to God for deliverance. God heard their prayers and answered by sending Moses to demand that King Pharoah let them go free. But Pharaoh refused to allow them to go. Then God sent a bunch of plagues, but Pharaoh still refused to allow them to go. Then God sent the final plague, the death angel would pass through the land and every first-born male, both human and animal would die.

However, God made an exception for His people. If they would kill a lamb and paint some of its blood on the doorpost and over the door and stay inside their houses the death angel would pass over their house and their first-born males would all be protected. Hence the name Passover. They were to celebrate this deliverance every year on this special date forever.

When Pharaoh realized his first-born son and all the first-born sons of all generations both human and livestock had died, he was broken and not only allowed them to leave but forced them to leave. Exodus 12:    NLT ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night, and loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt. There was not a single house where someone had not died. ³¹ Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron during the night. “Get out!” he ordered. “Leave my people—and take the rest of the Israelites with you! Go and worship the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds, as you said, and be gone. Go, but bless me as you leave.” ³³ All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, “We will all die!”

They were now free. Passover was and is about freedom. The people of Israel today as always celebrate Passover as the time when God miraculously delivered them from slavery, gave them their freedom and made them into His special people and made a covenant with them at Mt Sinai.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose the Passover Celebration as the time when He would give His life for ours? Romans chapter 5 through chapter 8 explains it for us. The Apostle Paul tells us there that we as descendants of Adam were enslaved to our sin nature and Jesus chose that time to come to deliver us from our enslavement. Romans 5: 6 NLT ⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Romans 5: 17 NLT ¹⁷ For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 6: 14 NLT ¹⁴ Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. Romans 7: 25 NLT ²⁵ Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans 6: 17 – 18 NLT ¹⁷ Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. ¹⁸ Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Romans 8: 1 – 2 NLT So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

I wrote about how that process works in our lives in my book, The Umbrella of Worship in chapter 14, Make No Provisions.

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Israel’s War

Is this current conflict in Israel predicted or prophesied in the Bible?

Well, I am not sure. However, there is a war foretold in Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39 that has not yet happened in Israel’s history because all the nations listed that come together to make war on Israel have never in history united in war against Israel. And it is not the final battle where Jesus, will come back as King of Kings and LORD of Lords and destroy all His enemies by Words of commands from His lips. This would indicate that it is a war that is yet to come for the Nation of Israel.

Ezekiel the prophet of Israel foretells of a war against Israel where Gog, Magog, Meschech, Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Beth-Togarmah will come together in war against Israel. Well, I don’t know about you, but those names seem strange to me, and I only recognize 2 of them as nations that exist today.

However, all those other names that we don’t recognize show up in other places in the Bible. In Genesis 10, where we have a list of many of the descendants of Noah after the flood, we see all those other names show up. But how does that help us understand what Ezekiel was trying to tell us?

Herodotus, known as the Father of History, who was a Greek historian in the fifth century connects them for us in his first 5 books of history where he traces the descendants of Noah by name and all their tribes and where they migrated and settled throughout the known world.

Why are those strange names important? Because the names of cities, nations, nationalities, and people’s groups change from time to time and sometimes generation to generation, but our ancestry never changes. God, through the prophet Ezekiel names each of those nations by their ancestral names rather than by national names so they can be traced throughout history.

We are told here in Genesis 10 by the direction of the Holy Spirit that all the people on earth are the descendants of Noah’s 3 sons. We are given here the names of 70 of Noah’s descendants. We can’t focus on all of them. Why are these important enough that the Holy Spirit would have given them to us?

Herodotus tells us he was a descendant of Gomer who settled in North-Eastern Europe. That tells us that at least some of the Eastern European nations will be involved in this war. Togarmah, a son of Gomer is father of the Armenians, which borders on Iran and Turkey will become part of this conflict.

Magog’s descendants settled north of the Black Sea & Caspian Sea from the Ukraine valley to Mongolia & Northern China & eventually into Siberia. They became known by the Greeks as the Skippians & later the Russians.

Tubal and Meschech migrated and settled into what we know as central Russia today will be part of the conflict.

And finally of the nations Ezekiel lists coming to war in this alliance is Persia. Persia, in Ezekiel’s time was made up of what we know today as Iran, Iraq and Syria who are allies. In a very real sense, the Iranians are the ones who are promoting and financing the current war with Israel.

I don’t know if this is the war Ezekiel foretells, but the forces of most of these nations already have alliances with each other and no one can predict where this conflict is going from here as it escalates into what appears to become an all-out war.

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Eating Meat

Genesis 1: 29 NLT ²⁹ Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.

Genesis 2: 15 – 17 NLT ¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

It appears that maybe Adam and Eve and early people on Earth may well have been vegetarians. God told them He was giving them all of the seed-bearing plants and all the fruit of the fruit-bearing trees for food. They could eat from the fruit of all the trees in the garden except from the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil.

There is no scripture telling us that mankind ate any meat until after Noah’s Flood.

Genesis 7: 2 KJV ² You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female;

Genesis 7: 2 NLT ² Take with you seven pairs—male and female—of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others.

This is the first time there is any mention of clean and unclean animals for either eating meat or sacrifice in the Bible. However, we know that Abel understood what God demanded for sacrifice, so it is my belief that God communicated these parameters to Adam and Eve while walking and talking with them in the Garden.

Note: Not all the animals that are approved for eating are approved for sacrifice.

The fact that Noah understood which animals were clean or unclean (approved for either eating or sacrifice would maybe indicate that people were eating the meat of animals and/or sacrificing animals to the LORD before the Flood of Noah.

Genesis 9: 2 – 4 NLT ² All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. ³ I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. ⁴ But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it.

God tells Noah after the flood that ALL animals, birds, and seafood are given to him and his descendants for food. There is no stipulation here about clean and unclean animals.

Leviticus 11: 2 – 23 NLT Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. ³ You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. ⁴ You may not, however, eat the following animals that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The hyrax chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁶ The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁷ The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. ⁸ You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

⁹ “Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams. ¹⁰ But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water. ¹¹ They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. ¹² Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³ “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the kite, falcons of all kinds, ¹⁵ ravens of all kinds, ¹⁶ the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ “You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you. ²¹ You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump. ²² The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. ²³ All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.

These instructions were specifically for the people of Israel. They were part of their covenant with their God. They are not necessarily for those outside of the covenant. They may be guidelines for healthier eating but not particular instructions for those outside of the covenant since God had given all meats to Noah and his descendants to eat.

There are other lists of clean animals listed throughout Leviticus that are specifically acceptable for specific sacrifices. They include sheep, goats, bulls, and turtledoves. They were all required to be male and perfect in every way. All of these were included in the clean animals they were allowed to eat, and in fact, many of them they or the priest and the Levites were required to eat. 

These regulations were all a part of the old covenant that was only between God and the people of Israel. In order for a Gentile to come under these requirements they would have to go through the process of proselyting into the Jewish faith. No one else in the world followed them and almost no one else even knew about them.

Acts 10: 9 – 16 NLT ⁹ The next day as Cornelius’s messengers were nearing the town, Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, ¹⁰ and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹ He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. ¹² In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. ¹³ Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” ¹⁴ “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.” ¹⁵ But the voice spoke again: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” ¹⁶ The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.

It seems that God is telling Peter that all these other meats are OK to eat as well.

Hebrews 8: 13 NLT ¹³ When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

Jesus fulfilled the old covenant. It was therefore obsolete and no longer relevant. He established a new covenant with His own blood that replaced the old one. Therefore, since we are not under the Old Covenant that restricted which meats people are allowed to eat, under the New Covenant all meats are now acceptable.

Note: Some of those meats as well as some vegetation are not good for our bodies. We would do well to pay attention to the medical advice about them, but they are not a sin to partake of them.

Since the Jews rejected Jesus’ sacrifice and kept on offering their sacrifices which God no longer accepted, God allowed the Roman General Titus to destroy Jerusalem and their Temple and ended temple sacrifices which have never been restored to this day, 2,000 years later. It seems that since they didn’t accept Jesus’ fulfilment of the Old Covenant and enter into His New Covenant, God ended it for them

Romans 14: 1 – 3 NLT Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. ² For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. ³ Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.

God accepts us whether we eat meat or not.

Romans 14: 5 – 6 NLT ⁵ In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. ⁶ Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.

So, it’s OK to eat or not eat certain foods.

Romans 14: 14 – 19 NLT ¹⁴ I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. ¹⁵ And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. ¹⁷ For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

¹⁹ So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. ²⁰ Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. ²¹ It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.

The Apostle Paul was convinced that not food in and of itself is either right or wrong to eat. He also says it would be wrong for me to eat something in front of you that offends your conscience and causes you to stumble. I need to do it to maintain harmony in the body of Christ.

Romans 14: 22 – 23 NLT. ²² You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. ²³ But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

It is a sin for me to eat or not eat something that violates my conscience.

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Why Do Christians Worship On Sunday

Old Testament Sabbath

Genesis 2: 1 – 2 NLT So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. ² On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

There are three points to note here:

1: Creation was complete so there was no more to do so He rested (ceased or desisted from His works of creating.

2: God blessed the Sabbath, but we have no indication from any scriptures that He gave any commands to anyone to observe it until He gave them to Moses on Mount Sanai.

3: God declared the Sabbath Holy, a day of relationship with Him.

Genesis 15: 6 NLT ⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Abraham was not declared righteous because he observed the Sabbath or any other law but because he believed and trusted God. Then as now our righteousness is not earned or warranted, it is a gift from God that He grants to us based on our trust in Him.

NOTE: In the 2500+ years from Creation until God met Moses on Mount Sanai and gave him the 10 Commandments, we don’t have any instruction to observe the Sabbath or any Biblical record of anyone observing the Sabbath. That don’t mean they didn’t. We also only have record of only 2 accounts of animal sacrifices offered up to the LORD. One was Abel and the other was Abraham when God provided a ram instead of Abraham’s son Isaac, and that was by God’s personal instruction to Abraham. But somehow, they and Noah knew which animals were clean for eating and sacrifice, so maybe God had given those personal instructions to Adam and they were passed down through the generations.

Exodus 20: 8 – 11 NLT ⁸ “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

This 4^th of the Ten Commandments is part of God’s covenant with the people of Israel not with the Gentiles and the rest of the world. In order for the Gentiles to come under that covenant they would have to be proselyted into the Jewish faith. It was a special day of REST that God gave to His people that the rest of the world didn’t experience. God promised that if they would accept His provision of rest, that He would provide their needs and make their work so much more fruitful that they would thrive because they observed His rest. It was an act of faith and trust in their God to provide their needs in 6 days of working rather than laboring on their own to try to provide all their own needs.

Leviticus 23: 1 – 14 NLT ⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. ¹¹ On the day after the Sabbath, (first day of the week – emphasis added) the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. ¹² On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering. ¹⁴ Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. This passage follows immediately after the instructions for observing of the Passover. The Passover Sabbath would have been the Saturday Jesus was in the tomb. So, Jesus resurrected from the dead on the day of the Celebration of First Fruits thus He became the first fruits of those who would rise from the dead into eternal life with Him. Remember this is a covenant between God and the nation of Israel.

NOTE: There are a number of other scriptural instructions on the Sabbath in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that include these same details.

Jesus’ teaching on the Sabbath

Matthew 12: 1 – 8NLT At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. ² But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.”

³ Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. ⁵ And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? ⁶ I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! ⁷ But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Jesus was the creator of the universe and the author of the Law given to Moses on Mount Sanai, therefore He was the LORD of the Sabbath.

Mark 2: 27 – 28 NLT ²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people. It was a provision of rest and worship. People were not made to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. People were created on the 6^th day of creation before the Sabbath. God rested on the 7^th day and declared it as holy.

Matthew 5: 17 – 19 NLT ¹⁷ “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The purpose of the law was achieved through Jesus’ death and resurrection, therefore it is fulfilled and no longer binding to the believer. It is true that Jesus didn’t abolish the Law, but that doesn’t mean it is required for us to follow it today. The Law was a covenant between God and the people of Israel up till the time of Christ. Jesus’ sacrificial death fulfilled all the Old Testament Covenant, not just the sacrifices but the Sabbath requirements as well.  Jesus death instituted a new covenant and when He resurrected from the dead on the first day of the week, it was also on the holy day of the Celebration of First Fruits and everyone who is born again is born into that new covenant so we celebrate that relationship on the first day of the week.  

Matthew 11: 28 – 30 NLT ²⁸ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus becomes our sabbath rest when we partner with Him in fulfillment of the Sabbath requirements of the Law.

Apostles on the Day of Worship

Acts 13: 14 – 16 NLT ¹⁴ But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. ¹⁵ After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.

Paul and Barnabas went to worship on the Sabbath perhaps because they were still primarily taking the gospel to the Jews first and that’s when they knew they would be gathered together.

Acts 16: 13 – 15 NLT ¹³ On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.

Paul and the missionaries went on the Sabbath to seek out Jewish believers in God to share Jesus with them maybe because they knew they would be gathered on the Sabbath.

Acts 17: 2 – 4 NLT ² As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. ³ He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” ⁴ Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

Acts 18: 4 NLT ⁴ Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.

Acts 20: 7 NLT ⁷ On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight.

The believers gathered on the first day of the week to celebrate Jesus death and resurrection.

Romans 10 1 – 5 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. ² I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. ³ For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. ⁴ For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. ⁵ For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

You cannot become right with God by doing anything such as obeying the Law, that would also include observing the Sabbath. Jesus accomplished the purpose for which the Law was given, that would include the Sabbath. Jesus is our Sabbath rest.  

Romans 14: 5 – 6 NLT ⁵ In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. ⁶ Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him.

Every day is acceptable for worship. No single day is more important than another. You shouldn’t violate your convictions about which day you worship.

1 Corinthians 16: 1 – 2 NLT Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem. You should follow the same procedure I gave to the churches in Galatia. ² On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don’t wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once.

It is apparent that they gathered on the 1^st day of the week to worship, and when they gathered, they were to bring their offerings.

2 Corinthians 3: 4 – 6 NLT ⁴ We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. ⁵ It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. ⁶ He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

The new covenant is not written laws but a covenant that is certified by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

Galatians 2: 16 NLT ¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. Note: (no one will be made with God by obeying the Law) (We are only made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ)

Galatians 2: 17 – 21 NLT ¹⁷ But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. ¹⁹ For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. Note: (to rebuild the old system of the Law, which includes the Sabbath, is a sin) (if we bind ourselves to the Law, which includes the Sabbath, we treat the grace of God as meaningless)

Colossians 2: 16 – 17 NLT ¹⁶ So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. ¹⁷ For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

The Sabbath’s rest were just a shadow of the rest we experience in Jesus – He is our rest.

Hebrews 8: 10 – 13 NLT ¹⁰ But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: Iwill put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ¹¹ And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. ¹² And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” ¹³ When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

The old covenant is obsolete because Jesus fulfilled all its demands by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. We are now under the new covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus)

Revelation 1: 10 NLT ¹⁰ It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.

Even though John was banished on the Island of Patmos by himself, he was worshipping on the Lord’s Day. The apostles referred to the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day because that was the day He rose from the dead.

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The Second Death

In a previous article I stated that when we were conceived, we became eternal beings and if we accepted Jesus offer of salvation, we would go to Heaven to be with Him when we died. But if we chose to reject Jesus’ offer of salvation that we would be cast into Hell to be punished for eternity. That has been the doctrine of most Christian churches for the last 1700 years. However, it was not the doctrine of the Apostles and the early church leaders for the first 300 years of Christendom.

After a very extensive study from Genesis through Revelation, I have come to a different understanding of our final state. In studying the teachings of Menno Simmons and the early Anabaptist Reformation leaders, I have come to understand that eternal life comes only through salvation in Jesus Christ. We are born mortal beings not immortal. We will all die, and our mortal lives will end.

I need to place a disclaimer here at the very beginning of this article; that regardless of which interpretation of scripture we accept about the final state of those who reject Jesus’ offer of salvation will not affect the final outcome of their bodies and souls. That is a predetermined choice of God Himself.

My eternal salvation is NOT dependent upon what happens to my body, soul and spirit after the final judgement. It is solely dependent upon the choices I make about Jesus Christ while I am alive in this life. I understand from scriptures that choosing to accept Jesus offer of salvation is the only means of inheriting eternal life. So, the critical choice is what am I going to do about Jesus and His sacrificial death for me.

What I, or even they, believe happens to the people who choose to reject Jesus’ offer of salvation after the final judgement will not even affect their final state. The purpose of this article is to clarify some of the misconceptions the church in general has taught about Hell.

I found it interesting that Jesus and the Apostles didn’t focus on Hell but rather on the offer of salvation and eternal life for the believers, indicating that reward of salvation, adoption into the family of God as sons and daughters and spending eternity with God was such a highly desired treasure that they focused mainly on eternal life in Heaven with the LORD rather than Hell. Not scaring people into the kingdom with the fear of Hell as some would choose to do today.  

The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15: 51 – 53 NKJV that those who have accepted Jesus’ salvation will be changed from mortal into immortal after they die here on earth. ⁵¹ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Thus, indicating that those who have rejected Jesus offer of salvation will die and remain mortal.

One of the scriptures that convinced me of this truth is found in the first several chapters of Genesis. Genesis 2: 16 – 17 NLT 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” God established this principle; it is part of the seed plot of the Gospel that has its foundation in Genesis and is carried all the way throughout scriptures and culminates in Revelation. The wages of sin is death = physical death, spiritual death, eternal death/eternal destruction BUT the free gift of God is eternal life with Him forever in Heaven.

God had told Adam and Eve they could eat of the fruit from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That means they could have eaten from the Tree of Life and received eternal life. We know that because God said so himself.  Genesis 3: 22 – 24 NLT   22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

God loved them so much that He protected them from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever outside of an eternal relationship with Himself. But, in that statement and act God specifically said that they were not immortal and would not live forever. That means that after their mortal deaths and the final judgement they would not be punished and tortured forever as many of us have been taught in the past.

This is the foundational theology that has its beginning in Genesis and is carried throughout the scriptures and comes to completion in Revelation as taught by the apostles and early church fathers for the first 300+ years of Christendom.

However, with the founding of the Roman Catholic Church, eternal punishment became part of its doctrine. This concept had its founding in primitive eastern mythology, Babylonian and Greek mythology and when Christianity became the adopted state religion it was adopted into its doctrine. It was endorsed by Augustine as part of his teaching and became a part of Catholic doctrine. Most of the protestant and evangelical reformers never separated themselves from that unscriptural teaching.

Eternal life was only obtained through faith in Jesus Christ was taught by the Anabaptist reformers, including Menno Simmons, who taught that to inherit eternal life you had to be born again. Eternal life through salvation in Jesus and final destruction instead of eternal punishment is one of the main theologies that separated the Anabaptist from the other reformation reformers (Calvinist, Lutherans, etc.) who join the Catholic Church in persecuting the Anabaptists because of this theology.

Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church leaders for the first 300 years after the death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus and coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost taught this as well.

JESUS’S TEACHING

Jesus, in the most familiar passage in the Bible, John 3: 14 – 17 NLT ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. Jesus taught that eternal life comes only through believing in His death and resurrection. Those who do not will perish (destruction) not be punished and tortured forever. Everywhere scripture is interpreted as “perish” means “destroyed / annihilated / completely wiped out” not punished or tortured.

Later in the same chapter John 3: 36 NLT (Jesus teaching) ³⁶ And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” Note: Teaching of Jesus: Anyone who believes God’s Son has eternal life. It doesn’t get any plainer than this verse, anyone who doesn’t will never experience eternal life.

Before His death Jesus prayed this prayer to His Heavenly Father; John 17: 1 – 3 NLT After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. ² For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. ³ And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

Jesus strongly taught this principle throughout His ministry as documented in all four of the gospels. Matthew 7: 17 – 20, Matthew 10: 28, Matthew 13: 38 – 43, Matthew 13: 49 – 50, Matthew 18: 8 – 9, Matthew 19: 29 NLT, Matthew 25: 41, Mark 8: 36, Mark 9: 43 – 48, Mark 10: 29 – 30, Luke 3: 9, Luke 9: 23 – 24, Luke 12: 5, Luke 13: 2 – 5, Luke 18: 29 – 30, Luke 19: 27, Luke 20: 34 – 36, John 1: 12 – 13, John 5: 24, John 5: 28 – 29, John 6: 27, John 6: 40, John 6: 47, John 6: 51, John 6: 53 – 58, John 6: 62 – 63, John 8: 51, John 10: 27 – 30, John 11: 25, John 12: 24 – 25, John 12: 49 – 50, John 15: 6, John 17: 1 – 3, John 17: 12, John 20: 31.

Jesus also taught that God would destroy the lost souls in Hell, not punish and torture them for eternity. Matthew 10: 28 NLT (Jesus’ teaching) 28 “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 

Mark 8: 36 NLT (Jesus’ teaching) ³⁶ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Jesus taught in Matthew 13: 38 – 43 NLT The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. ³⁹ The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels. ⁴⁰ “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand! Jesus here teaches that just as the weeds are gathered and burned (destroyed) in the fire, so the angels will gather up all who do evil in the end time and cast them into the fiery furnace (Lake of Fire as described in Revelation) to be burned up and destroyed.

THE APOSTLES TEACHING

Romans 6: 21 – 23 NLT  21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Note: (Greek translated doom means destroyed) (wages of sin is death / destruction) (eternal life is part of the free gift of salvation through being born again into eternal life)

Romans 9: 22 NLT ²² In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. Note: God, in His mercy and patients, chooses to destroy in the fires of Hell rather than punish them forever.

1 Corinthians 1:18 NLT ¹⁸ The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. Note: Paul says unbelievers are headed for destruction not eternal punishment.

Philippians 3: 18 – 21 NLT  ¹⁸ For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹ They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. ²⁰ But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. ²¹ He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Note: Greek for destruction means permanent annihilation not punishment, citizens of Heaven means eternal life.

2 Thessalonians 1: 7 – 9 NLT  7 And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.

Hebrews 10: 39 NLT 39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

2 Peter 3: 6 – 7 NLT ⁶ Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. ⁷ And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. Note: God destroyed the ancient world with the flood. Heaven and earth will one day be destroyed by fire. In the day of judgement, the ungodly people will be destroyed in the fires of Hell.

1 John 4: 9 NLT ⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

1 John 5: 11 – 12 NLT ¹¹ And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

1 John 5: 13 NLT ¹³ I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

Jude 10 NLT 10 But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.

Jude 20 – 21 NLT ²⁰ But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, ²¹ and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

Revelation 20: 11 – 15 11 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Note: The works of all people are written in the Books of Record. However, the records of those who have accepted Jesus have been blotted out in the Books of Record by the blood of Jesus and their names are now written in the Book of Life. Death and the grave are destroyed in the Lake of Fire so from this point on there is only eternal life for those who are saved. The Lake of Fire is the 2^nd or final death and destruction for all people whose names are not written in the Book of Life. They are destroyed in the Lake of Fire

OTHER VERSES OF SCRIPTURE ON THIS SUBJECT:

Acts 3: 23, Acts 13: 46, Acts 13: 48, Acts 20: 26, Romans 2: 5 – 8, Romans 2: 12, Romans 3: 12 – 15, Romans 5: 12, Romans 5: 17, Romans 5: 21, Romans 6: 4, Romans 6: 7 – 9, Romans 6: 21 – 23, Romans 8: 1 – 2, Romans 8: 10, Romans 8: 11, Romans 8: 12 – 13, Romans 8: 20 – 23, Romans 9: 22, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 3: 16 – 17, 1 Corinthians 6: 9 – 10, 1 Corinthians 15: 20 – 24, 1 Corinthians 15: 42 – 44, 1 Corinthians 15: 47 – 49, 1 Corinthians 15: 51 – 55, 2 Corinthians 2: 15 – 16, 2 Corinthians 3: 6 – 8, 2 Corinthians 4: 14, 2 Corinthians 5: 1 – 5, 2 Corinthians 5: 17, Galatians 5: 19 – 21, Galatians 6: 8, Ephesians 5: 5 – 6, Philippians 3: 18 – 21, Colossians 1: 4 – 5, Colossians 2: 12, 1 Thessalonians 4: 15 – 17, 1 Thessalonians 5: 10, 2 Thessalonians 2: 10, 2 Timothy 1: 9 – 10, Titus 1: 1 – 2, Titus 3: 4 – 7, Hebrews 1: 10 – 12, Hebrews 3: 19, Hebrews 4: 1 – 6, Hebrews 6: 8 – 9, Hebrews 7: 25, Hebrews 9: 12, Hebrews 9: 15, Hebrews 10: 27 – 31, Hebrews 10: 39, Hebrews 12: 9, Hebrews 12: 29, Hebrews 13: 20 – 21, James 4:12, 1 Peter 1: 3 – 5, 1 Peter 1: 23, 1 Peter 4: 6, 1 Peter 5: 4 & 10, 2 Peter 1: 10 – 11, 2 Peter 2: 1, 2 Peter 2: 4 – 6, 2 Peter 2: 12 – 13, 2 Peter 3: 9 – 13, 2 Peter 3: 15 – 16, 1 John 1: 1 – 2, 1 John 2: 24 – 25, 1 John 4: 9, 1 John 5: 11 – 12, 1 John 5: 13, 1 John 5: 20, Jude 7 – 11, Jude 20 – 23, Revelation 3: 21, Revelation 14: 13, Revelation 14: 18 – 19

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT THEOLOGY

There are several (2) passages of scripture that would seem to support eternal punishment for disobedient souls. But in light of the many (  ) passages that seem to support final destruction, it seems that Jesus and the Apostles extensively taught that the disobedient souls will be destroyed in the Lake of Fire and be lost forever rather than punished and tortured forever. That concept isn’t compatible with the character of a loving God as He defines Himself in scripture.

Jesus in Matthew 25 talking about when He comes back with His angels to judge the earth and separating the righteous and unrighteous, tells us in verse 46 about the unrighteous “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” Note: This is one of the few passages that would seem to support the eternal punishment theology.

However, in the earlier part of the same parable (verse 41) Jesus simply said “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. Note: (eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. The devil and his demons were created as angels, therefore they are eternal beings. Humans are finite and will be destroyed by the fires of hell unless they are born again into eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ)

Revelation 14: 9 – 11 NLT 9 Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand 10 must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.” Note: Another scripture that would seem to support eternal punishment for people. Maybe they are punished more severely because they worshipped the Antichrist.

Revelation 19: 19 – 20 NLT 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Note: The beast and the false prophet were thrown into the Lake of Fire. It is not clear that the beast and the false prophets are actually people or some of other type of creatures, maybe demonic or movements or organizations.

Revelation 20: 1 – 3 NLT Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. ² He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. ³ The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. Note: Satan is bound and locked in the bottomless pit for a thousand years while Jesus physically reigns on earth for those thousand years. During that time Satan will not be allowed to deceive anyone on earth. However, many because of their sinful nature will not choose to worship Jesus but will live in unbelief and rebellion and after Satan is released will be convinced to fight against Jesus and His Kingdom.

Revelation 20: 10 NLT 10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Note: Satan, the Devil, was thrown into the Lake of Fire with the beast and the false prophet where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. The devil is a fallen angel, therefore, he is an eternal being, the beast and the false prophet may be as well and they will be tormented forever and ever.

IN CONCLUSSION

So, after evaluating all these scriptures, I have come to the conclusion that Hell/The Lake of Fire was created for the eternal punishment of Satan, his demons/fallen angels who are created as eternal beings and the Antichrist/Beast and his false prophet.

Those who have not accepted Jesus’ offer of salvation will be cast into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed. According to Revelation 20: 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.  Therefore, maybe the judgement will be longer or more severe for some than others. When we burn wood in a fire, some woods burn much more quickly than others. Some burn much hotter. Since God defines Himself to us as a just God I am sure that as He tells us in this passage of scripture He will judge each according to their own deeds.

However, for those who choose to accept His offer of forgiveness, they will experience eternal life with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth.

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