As Jesus went on in his Olivet Prophecy, he mentioned the abomination of desolation, which was also mentioned by Daniel the prophet (Mark 13:14). Some scholars don’t believe the reference to Daniel is authentic to Mark’s narrative. Nevertheless, the point is moot, because no one objects of its mention in Matthew’s account of the Olivet Prophecy (Matthew 24:15). Therefore, whether or not Mark says Jesus referred to Daniel in the Olivet Prophecy, we may assume he does, because of the mention in Matthew. The greater question, I think, is what did Jesus mean by abomination of desolation? Read the rest of this entry »
After the storm (Mark 4:35-41), Jesus and his disciples continued their journey across the Sea of Galilee to the shores near the town of Gerasa of the country of the Gadarenes (Mark 5:1). The country was inhabited mostly by gentiles, but there were Jews there, and it appears that the demoniac, who met Jesus on the shore of the lake, was a Jew. It was as though he were a Hellenist Jew, living in the land of gentiles, and Jesus came to redeem him. The problem is that he didn’t realize he was in captivity (Mark 5:3; cp. John 8:33), but, as a demoniac, he wasn’t thinking properly (cp. Mark 5:15) and denied his true condition. In much the same way some religious folk today live in denial, when they are possessed by the power of another man and do as they are told, think as they are told to think and believe as they are told to believe. We claim they are in bondage to a cultist leader, yet, if asked, they would deny they have been taken captive! Read the rest of this entry »
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At this point in his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul begins a logical argument comparing Jesus’ Priesthood with that of Aaron, or the Levitical priesthood. The whole purpose or function of the office of high priest was to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin to God (Hebrews 5:1), and it was for this reason Christ was appointed (G2525) as our High Priest (Hebrews 8:3; cf. Hebrews 5:1-6; Psalm 2:7; 110:4). The obvious implication is: God wasn’t satisfied with the blood of lambs and goats offered by the Levitical priesthood (Isaiah 1:11). Read the rest of this entry »
While Jesus ministered to a Jewish audience who lived under the Mosaic Law, Paul was called to be the Apostle to the gentiles. His ministry took him primarily into the Greco-Roman culture, the heart of the gentile community. One of the longest passages that addresses the subject of homosexuality is the first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the Romans. Some folks try to tell us that this chapter is all about idolatry. However, this isn’t true, but it is partially true. Paul addresses the degradation of mankind’s relationship with God, and the consequential degradation of human relationships that resulted from the ruin of mankind’s bond to the Lord. Once one destroys one’s connection to the Reality, one’s image of the Reality cannot stand for long. Read the rest of this entry »
Yet another angel mentioned in the Apocalypse told John: “Babylon is fallen! is fallen! that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Revelation 14:8). Babylon was the spiritual name for an existing city in the first century AD, and all of John’ readers would have known who he meant. According to Revelation 17:5 she is called mystery Babylon the Great! There she is called a harlot (G4204 – Revelation 17:1) and the mother of harlots (verse-5), and she was responsible for all the blood of the saints and disciples of Jesus (Revelation 17:6). Jesus said Jerusalem was responsible and would be judged for all the righteous blood that was shed from the time of Able to the first century AD, and he included those disciples of his that he would send to her with the Gospel (Matthew 23:34-35; cf. 23:37-38). Read the rest of this entry »
The text in the ninth chapter of the Apocalypse continues on to say that the rest, who weren’t slain by the judgment of the Sixth Trumpet, refused to repent of their murders, sorceries, fornications and thefts (Revelation 9:21). I don’t believe the sense has to be immediately following the deaths of one-third of the Jewish population. Rather, I think the sense pertains to during the judgment itself, while the deaths were occurring all around them, still the Jews didn’t consider their deeds and repent. Read the rest of this entry »
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In Revelation 9:2 the fallen star (verse-1) opened the bottomless pit (G12) or the pit of the abyss (G12), and immediately smoke arose out of the pit. Most often in the Old Testament, smoke is used to express the presence of the Lord either in the form of salvation of the righteous (cf. Exodus 19:18) or in the form of judgment upon the wicked (Genesis 19:28). Here, after the blowing of the Fifth Trumpet, the smoke, as the smoke of a great furnace, arose out of the abyss, and the sun was hid, which may signify that what was done by opening the abyss hid heavenly light. That is to say, opening the abyss resulted in a final rejection of or at least the continuation of hiding the truth, which in the context of the Apocalypse means: the smoke hid the truth of the Gospel, as it was then being preached by Jesus’ disciples, whom the Jewish authorities were persecuting. Read the rest of this entry »
Although the church at Pergamos had been preaching the Gospel, while holding fast to the name of Jesus and had not denied the faith, even under the pressure of risking their lives, Jesus said they had among themselves those who held to the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14)! What does this mean? Who was Balaam, and what was his doctrine? Read the rest of this entry »
According to dispensationalists, the prophecy of the union of the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel, symbolized by uniting the two sticks in Ezekiel 37, and the New Covenant, as described in Jeremiah 31:31-34, has not been fulfilled, but will be fulfilled in the millennium. During that time, there would be a physical Temple in literal Jerusalem, and physical Temple worship, which includes animal sacrifices, would be in place. Physical circumcision would be commanded, and gentile nations would need to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem during the annual Feast Days (according to Zechariah 14). In fact, this would represent two different redemptive plans: one for Israel and the other for gentiles who believed the Gospel during the Gospel age, which by the time of the millennium, the Gospel age and apparently the Gospel, itself, would cease to exist: Read the rest of this entry »
Many commentaries on the first epistle of Peter would have us believe that he wrote specifically to gentiles, but I don’t believe this can be adequately supported in Scripture. The word of God tells us that Peter’s specific mission was to Jews (believing and unbelieving), not gentiles. The fact that he was chosen to go to Cornelius in Acts 10 is an anomaly, which had its purpose in getting fundamental Jewish believers to accept the idea that God really does receive gentiles as he does the Jews (cf. Acts 11:1-4, 17-18). In the context of Peter’s first epistle, it is understood in the term Hellenist that Jews, identified as such (cf. John 12:20-21), had made compromises with gentile behavior in order to appear more like them and less like the fundamentalist Jews of Jerusalem. These Hellenist Jews of the Diaspora had made concessions against Judaism, which resulted in acts of: lasciviousness, lust, drunkenness, reveling, banqueting, and abominable idolatries. Read the rest of this entry »
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