Jesus and the Apocolypse

Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.The persecutions that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist,a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. - Catholic Catechism

After this I looked,and,lo in heaven an open door!....''Come up hither''. Rev.4:1

The Church on earth: The word Apocalypse means ''the lifting of the veil'', it is a revelation of Christ to his bride the Church. ''Behold,I stand at the door and knock;If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,I will come in to him and eat with him,and he with me.'' Rev.3:20 Here the Lord is offering us communion with himself.The more we invite him into our lives,the more he will abide in us and we in Him. John.6:56. After this I looked,and lo,in heaven an open door! And the first voice,which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ''Come up hither'' Rev.4:1. To 'come up hither' is to experience heaven on earth! As we open the door of our hearts to him,he will then open the door of heaven to us. Remember what Jesus said in John.3:3?...''no one can see the Kingdom of heaven with out being born from above.'' When we are born from above we can see the Church from a heavenly perspective,rather than an earthly perspective.This is why we pray 'on earth as it is in heaven' Mat.6:10. And even the saints listen to our prayers and make intersession for us ! Rev.5:8,8:3. I don't believe that ''come up hither' has much to do with the rapture;for the last trumpet must sound,after the tribulation;See.Mat.24:29-31,1 Cor.15:52.
Now as we read on in Rev.4:3,we see someone sitting on the throne,and that someone is the Lord Jesus Christ, ...''You are worthy,our Lord and God,to receive glory and honour and power,for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.'' Rev.4:8.This shows that the Lord sits at the right hand of the Father and is worshiped as God! Luk.17:21.The Lord Jesus is truly present in our lives as we worship him;rev.4:11,as we abide in his Word john.14:23,as we rekindle the Holy Spirit,2 tim.1:6 and as we celebrate the Eucharist 1cor.11:26,1 cor.10:16.As we read through Revelation He ''will lift our veil'' and we as the bride of Christ will see our bridegroom and see his glory...Now John said ''On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit''...Rev.1:10. John understood what it meant to be born of water and spirit .John.3:5. He was in prayer when the Lord spoke to him.! Let us also do the same,that we may hear what the spirit says to the Churches...Rev.2:7.

Seven seals,Seven trumpets: Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals....I watched as the Lamb opened the first of seven seals...Rev.5:1,6:1.The scroll with the seven seals contains God's divine plan for mankind, which only the Lamb was found worthy to open,it may contain the verdict and sentencing on those who 'practice lawlessness'.Mat.7:23.The first four seals release four horsemen;a white horse who went out to conquer,a red horse who brings war,a black horse who brings famine,and a pale horse who brings pestilence.When the fifth seal is opened John sees the souls of those who have been slain because of the Word of God and their testimony (these were of the early Church and through out the ages) ''Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death...'' Mat.24:9.And were given a white robe,a symbol of victory.And when the sixth seal was opened we begin to see the cosmic disturbances that Jesus spoke about in Mat.24:29,30 ''the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give it's light;the stars will fall from the sky,and the heavenly bodies will be shaken''. Now the tribulation of those days has come to an end and as the seventh seal is opened,we see seven angels with seven trumpets.With each trumpet blast a judgement falls,similar to the ten plagues on Egypt in the Exodus.And notice in Rev.9:21 Nor did they repent... Just like Pharaoh...yet his heart was unyielding...Ex.9:7.When the angel sounded the last trumpet there were loud voices in heaven saying,'' The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,and he will reign for ever and ever.'' Rev.11:15.see also 1king.1:34.Lev.23:24.This tells us that the Kingdom of Christ is a present reality,through his Church ''the Kingdom of God is among you'' Luk.17:21.And since this is the last trumpet this may fulfill 1 cor.15:52...at the last trumpet....For the trumpet will sound,the dead will be raised imperishable,and we will be changed.Now let's look at another passage here because it is fascinating,Then God's temple in heaven was opened and within his temple was seen the Ark of the Covenant....A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven:a woman clothed with the sun,with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.Rev.11:19-12:1.Here John has a vision of the 'ark of the Covenant' and he describes it as a 'woman clothed with the sun and moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head'.But who was this woman? She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.Rev.12:2,Gen.3:16.She gave birth to a son,a male child,who will rule all the nations with an iron rod. Rev,12:5, Mat.1:21.As the ark of the 'old'covenant carried the the Word in stone,Mary carried the Word in flesh,the old ark carried the manna,Mary carried the true bread of heaven,and as the ark of the 'old' covenant carried the rod of Aaron,a sign of the priesthood,so too did Mary carry Jesus Christ our priest of God most high.Mary is not only the mother of Christ but she is the mother of the new creation...the rest of her offspring-those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Rev.12:17. She is also queen mother, just as Bathsheba was queen mother under her son, King Solomon.1 Kin.2:19. And the dragon of course was the ancient serpent called the devil.Gen.3:1,who persecutes her children, the Church.Gen.3:15.The Temple that John saw was Jesus for he destroyed the Temple and built it up again after three days.John.2:19.This vision can also be seen as Israel and the birth of their Messiah,see.Gen.37:9.

The two Beasts:And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.He had ten horns,and seven heads,with ten crowns on his horns and on each head a blasphemous name.Rev.13:1.The ten horns are ten kings with 'crowns' that symbolize a 'kingdom', and the 'coming out of the sea' represents his rise to power Rev.17:12,15.The emperors of Rome were seen as divine,during Nero's reign on their coins he was called the 'savior' and when Domitian reigned he gave himself the title 'Lord and God'.This is what John sees as a 'blasphemous name'.God wants to make us into a kingdom of priests to offer him the pure fire of sacrifice.Rev.1:6. While Satan wants his own kingdom and glory,so he makes war against the Lamb.Rev,17:14.In the land of Judea,Herod was King of the Jews,but was not of house or line of David instead was appointed by the the Roman empire.When the true King (Jesus) was born,Herod tried to kill him.Mat.2:13.The beast I saw resembled a leopard,but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion.The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. Rev.13:2.This is the same vision Daniel had in Dan.7:3-7 which represent four pagan empires;Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.This beast then would be all the political power in history that Satan corrupted.We will see a similar power in the future. Then I saw another beast,coming out of the earth.He had two horns like a lamb,but spoke like a dragon. Rev.13:11.Now in first century Christians understood this as an alliance between pagan Rome and apostate Jerusalem. ...even now many Antichrists have come. 1 John.2:18.The first beast 'comes out of the sea',but the second beast 'comes out of the earth'. In Greek earth can mean 'land' or 'country'.The high priests of the Jews who were to sacrifice the lambs during passover corrupted themselves when Pilate said "Here is your King'', and they said "crucify him!....''we have no King but Caesar'' John.19"14,15. They rejected the Lamb of God and worshipped the beast! We will see a similar betrayal in the future....the Antichrist is coming....... 1 John.2:18.There have been many different interpretations of this passage,many believe this is a future Pope. But how do they know that? And why are they adding things to the words of this book? I warn everyone....if anyone adds anything to them,God will to him add the plagues described in this book. Rev.22:18
In 1 John.2:22 says,Such a man is the Antichrist-he denies the Son and the Father. No Pope in history has ever denied the divinity of Christ! In Dan.11:36 it says,...He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. When did the Pope in history ever exalt himself? For Jesus said ''He who hears you hears me...'' Lul.10:16.The Lord gave him infallibility! And when did the Pope ever say unheard-of things against God? Every Pope when elected says the same thing ''Praised be the Lord Jesus Christ'' No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 1cor.12:3.Now what is the mark of the beast? First of all the mark identifies you with the Antichrist...all who refused to worship the image to be killed. Rev.13:15. Secondly it represents the God of mammon that Jesus spoke about in Mat.6:24.You cannot serve both God and mammon.And.....no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark...Rev.13:17.In Dan.11:38 says..he will honor with gold and silver....Dan.11:24...He will distribute plunder,loot and wealth among his followers. This is what the judgment in Rev.18:11-19 is all about.'In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin! True believers will have the name of the Lamb on their foreheads.Rev.14:1,but the counterfeits will have the name of the beast on their foreheads.Rev.13:16


Armageddon: Armageddon when translated in Hebrew is Har-Megiddo which means Mount of Megiddo,where in 609BC. a battle took place between Egypt and Judah when Josiah was King,and was killed.2 kings.23:29-30,2 chr.35:20-35.The battle of Armageddon in Rev.16:16 begins with the seven bowls of judgement in vs.1.What is happening here? God is judging his people for breaking his Covenant....Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant.Dan.11:30....but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.Dan.11:32.In the first century it was Jerusalem that broke the covenant by persecuting the Christians.Jerusalem is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt,where also their Lord was crucified.Rev.11:8.As Sodom and Egypt stood in the way of God's covenant plan so too did Jerusalem.Therefore Jerusalem must be....refined,purified and made spotless until the time of the end,for it will come at the appointed time.Dan.11:35. In Luk.21:20,22 Jesus said,''When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies,you know that it's desolation is near....For this is the time of punishment in all that is written.'' This was partially fulfilled in 70AD.When Titus the emperor of Rome conquered Jerusalem.While under siege Jerusalem suffered famine and pestilence and death,like we read about here in Rev.16.The Temple was also destroyed and the sacrifices stopped,for there is now a new sacrifice...so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people...Heb.9:28. The old covenant came to an end,and the new covenant had begun.But some of the lost images of Jerusalem can be seen in Revelation;such as the Temple,the priest,the lamb for the sacrifice,the alter,the lamp-stands and Mount Zion.We now incorporate 'heavenly' Jerusalem into our worship Heb.12:1-24.Now at end of the seven bowls of judgement we see a woman sitting on a scarlet beast with a mystery name ''Babylon the great,mother of harlots and of earth's abominations''. Again there are those who interpret this as the Catholic Church;but we must never add anything to the words of the book! Rev.22:18. Rather let's trust what the book says...And the woman that you saw is the great city...Rev.17:18. It's not a church, it's the great city...''where their Lord was crucified.'' Rev.11:8.This would mean Jerusalem...And at that hour there was an earthquake and a tenth of the city fell...Re.11:13.When did the Catholic Church become a harlot? For two thousand years they have proclaimed the Gospel,1 cor.15:3,remembered the Lord's sacrifice,luk.22:19,and have abstained from sexual immorality,acts.15:20.And notice;The beast...will hate the prostitute...and leave her naked.Rev.17:16.It's no secret that Rome hated Jerusalem and left her desolate;but first conspired with her to kill the Lamb of God.see.Luk.23:12. Jerusalem however was described as a harlot in Hos.4:13-15 and unfaithful in Hos.1:2.However Jerusalem will be restored in the future as we will see...and showed me the Holy City Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.It shone with glory of God...Rev.21:10,11.And all of Israel will be saved...''They will live in their own land.''Jer.23:8

The Lambs Supper: ''Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'' Rev.19:9.We have now reached the climax of salvation history,the return of our Lord and the wedding feast.His coming is not just a present reality anymore Luk.17:24,but now a future event:I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse,whose rider is called Faithful and True.With justice he judges and makes war.His eyes are like blazing fire,and on his head are many crowns.He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the Word of God.Rev.19:11-13.Wow what a vision! Look at what it says in Rev.1:7,Look he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him...The whole world will see him even those who reject him,this will be the television event of our life! Before the wedding feast takes place,we must stand before God at his Judgment seat.Rev.20:11-15.We will be judged according to our faith Rev.20:4,but also according to our works...each person was judged according to what he had done.Rev.20:13.See also Ecc.12:13,14.Notice also Rev.14:13 ''...for their deeds will follow them.'' 1 cor.3:9 says ''for we are God's fellow workers..and fire will test each man's work.Yes faith comes first,but we must prove our faith by our works.James2:18-20.But as for the cowardly,the faithless,the vile, as for murderers , fornicators,sorcerers,idolaters,and all liars,their lot shall be in the fiery lake that burns with fire and brimstone,which is the second death.Rev.21:8. And now the wedding feast which was first spoken by Christ in Mat.22:1-14.Let's take a look at why the Church is called His bride.Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ,so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.Husbands love your wives,even as Christ loved the Church when he gave himself up for her.....For this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and his Church.Eph.5:15-32.Here we learn that our relationship with the Lord is a marriage covenant sealed in the blood of Christ...because we are members of his body (of his flesh and of his bones).Eph.5:30.And like a marriage we become one flesh.Eph.5:31. This is also why we celebrate the Eucharist..'This is my body'...'This is my blood...' Mat.26:26-27.We become one with him but also with each other 1 Cor.10:16-17.Paul tells us here what the Lord's purpose is:that he might present to himself the Church in all her glory,having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing;but she should be holy and blameless. Eph.5:27.And Paul was responsible for us..I promised you to one husband,that I may present you as a pure virgin.2 cor.11:2. So this is what we see in Rev.21:9-11"Come I will show you the bride,the wife of the Lamb....it shone with the glory of God. Rev.21-22 is a return to Genesis 1. Here we have new creation..the first heaven and the first earth had passed away We also see a new marriage....And a new Jerusalem,coming down out of heaven from God,prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.Rev.21:1-2. ''In that day'',declares the Lord ''you will call me,'my husband'.Hos.2:16.....As Eve was brought to Adam, so too was the Church brought to Christ as his bride.They will be his people,and God himself will be with them and be their God.Rev.21:3. The Spirit and the bride say ''Come!'' And let him who hears say,''come! Whoever is thirsty,let him come;and whoever wishes let him take the free gift of the water of life.Rev.22:17. He who testifies to these things says,''Yes.I am coming soon.'' Amen. Come,Lord Jesus.Rev.22:20

The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover,when she will follow her Lord to his death and his resurrection.The kingdom to be fullfilled,then,not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendandcy,but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil,which will cause the Bride to come down from heaven.God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world. Catholic Catechism

Jesus and David

The crowds went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

''Hosanna to the Son of David!'' ''Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord!''

'Hosanna in the highest!'' Matt.21:9

What was this all about? First of all Jesus was a 'Son of David' Matt.1:1.
And who was David ? He was Israel's King anointed and hand picked by God Himself 1 Sam.1 16:12, after rejecting King Saul who ''rejected the word of the Lord'' 1Sam.15:23. Now David fulfills the promise God made to Abraham in Gen.17:6 ''.....kings will come from you.'' And David's son Solomon also fulfills a promise God made to Abraham in Gen.22:17 ''....I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore.'' In 1 kings 4:20,21 says.....''they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore......And Solomon ruled over all the Kingdoms...''

Now in 2 Sam.7:11-16 God makes yet another covenant,this time with David the King "...I will raise up your offspring to succeed you....and I will establish his kingdom...He will build a house for me in my Name,and I will establish the throne of his Kingdom forever...I will be his Father and he will be my Son.....Your house and Kingdom will endure forever before me;your throne will be established forever.'' Now we have reached the climax of God,s plan a 'Kingdom that will endure forever'. David's Son and Jesus had similarities; he was a king and a priest-Jesus was a Priestly King; he built the temple on mount Zion-Jesus established the true Temple which is His Body,the Church; the center of temple worship was the 'todah' (thanksgiving)-Jesus institutes the true thank offering,the 'Eucharist' (thanksgiving); Solomon was given the title 'son of God'' but Jesus was the true and eternal Son of God.

Now Solomon became the 'son' who builds the Lord a house but this only points to Jesus the only begotten Son who was to build a Church on 'this Rock',for the ''Kingdom of God is at hand.'' Matt.4:17.Now the Kingdom of Solomon had similarities to the Catholic church today for example;Solomon had a prime minister who was 'the master of the palace' 1 Kings 18:3 and he would be 'a father to the those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah' and 'would have the key to the house of David;what he opens no one can shut and what he shuts no one can open' Is.22:20-22, which is what Jesus was saying to Peter in Matt.16:19 ''I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven;whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'' In 1cor.4:15 Paul says....''for in Christ Jesus I became your Father through the Gospel.'' 1Tim 1:2 ''To Timothy,my dear son'' 1John 2:1 ''My dear children'' From the early days of the church the apostles saw themselves as Fathers,Pope (papas in Greek) means father a tradition still true today,and the bishop of Rome was seen as a prime minister under the Kingdom of Christ. Solomons' Kingdom also included a 'Queen mother' 1 kings 2;19.....''the King stood up to meet her,bowed down to her and sat down on his throne and had a seat brought for the King's mother;and she sat at his right.'' Rev.12:1 ''....a woman clothed with sun with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.'' So the Kingdom is to be an expression of God,s rule on earth, to remember his covenant, to keep his commandments and to worship him alone. To be Catholic means (universal) as in Solomons' Kingdom ......''ruled over all the kingdoms .....these countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life.'' 1 Kings 4:21. Now I am not suggesting the Catholic church is to rule the earth but that it is a foreshadow of the coming Kingdom of Christ,a present reality Luk.17:21 but also a future event Rev.11:15.

Now in Deut.17:17 Moses says ''And he (the king) shall not multiply wives for himself,lest he turn away.'' But in 1 Kings 11:1-5 it says ''Now King Solomon loved many foreign women.....he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines and his wives turned away his heart.....and went after other God,s...'' After the death of Solomon the ten tribes of the north rebelled against the Davidic Kingdom.....''from that point on Israel was divided into two houses, the north by a king from the tribe of Ephraim and in the south a king from the tribe of Judah...''1 Kings 11:14-40
What happened? Solomon broke the Davidic covenant 1 kings 11:11.Like Adam he rebelled against God and a curse came over his people.In 722 B.C. the Assyrians conquered the northern tribes ,took them and banished them and were never heard from again! And in 586 B.C.the Babylonians took into captivity the southern tribe of Judah and destroyed the Temple,but later were allowed to return but continued to struggle with their enemies.It was during this time that prophets were sent to remind Israel of Davids 'everlasting' Kingdom which God had promised and that God will one day restore the Kingdom with a future ''anointed'' Messiah (Hebrew) Christ (Greek). Is.11:1 says A shoot will come up from the stump of Jessie;from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.Interesting that the Hebrew word for branch is 'netser' which is the root word for Nazareth,Jesus was a Nazarene. Is.11:10 says In that day the Root of Jessie will stand as a banner for the peoples;the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.Notice 'peoples' and 'nations' this would include more than just Israel...''you will be a Father to many nations.'' Gen.17:4 .Again we see God,s promise to Abraham (father of many) coming to pass.

And now we will look at Jesus as the new David restoring his 'everlasting kingdom'.
In Mat.1:1,17 it says Jesus Christ the son of David,the son of Abraham......Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David,fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon,and fourteen from the exile to the Christ. This is important because it connects Jesus to the covenants with Abraham and 'Kings will come from you' and David 'the scepter will not depart from Judah'. As David was 'of the house of Judah'

"You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus.He will be great and will be called son of the Most High.The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David , and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;his Kingdom will never end.'' Luk.1:31-33
Mic.5:2 says ''But you,Bethlehem though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over my people Israel,whose origins is from of old from the ancient times.'' Here the 'The Lord's Anointed' was to be born in Bethlehem of Judah and he would be 'of old from the ancient times' ,he would the eternal Son of God. Is.7:14 ''The virgin will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel'' (God with us) This was partially fulfilled with King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18:1-6 but only Jesus can be 'God with us' and have an 'everlasting Kingdom'.
Is.9:6-7 says ''For unto us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.....he will reign on David,s throne and over his Kingdom.'' Again we see here someone more than just a prophet or priest but a 'Mighty God' and 'Everlasting Father' He would be a true Son. After his baptism a voice from heaven said ''You are my Son whom I love;with you I am well pleased'' Mar.1:11 ''I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God.'' John1:34
''The time has come,the Kingdom of is at hand'' mar.1:15
When asked if he was one to come Jesus replied; ''the blind receive sight,the lame walk,those who have leprosy are cured,the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor.'' Mat.11:2,4-5. The crowd was amazed and said ''Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel'' Mat.9:33
In Mat.16:16 Simon Peter confessed ''you are the Christ,the Son of the living God.''
Luk.9:31-36 ''As he was praying ,the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.Two men,Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor......when Peter and his companions were fully awake they saw his glory....and a voice came from the cloud saying 'this is my Son,whom I have chosen;listen to him'.....when the voice spoke they found Jesus alone'' Wow what a testimony! In 2 pet.1:16-18 Peter says ''We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,but we were eyewitness of his majesty.For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying 'This is my Son whom I love, with him I am well pleased.Listen to him!'' Peter would later face execution for his testimony 2 pet.1:13,14

Tell us if you are the Christ,the Son of God....''yes,it is as you say''.....'He has spoken blasphemy....He is worthy of death!' Mat.26:64,65
Now why did the Jews reject him ? Religious corruption see Mat.5:20 and a misguided view of who the Messiah was to be ''you will be ever hearing but never understanding;you will be ever seeing but never perceiving'' Mat.13:14 .But all Israel will be saved in the future ''The days are coming'' says the Lord ''when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch''.....''the descendants of Israel will come up out of the north and out of the countries where I have banished them,they will live in their own land.'' Jer.23:5,8 Could the Israel of today be fulfilling this prophecy? Is the coming of Messiah near? ''Therefore keep watch,because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.'' Mat.24:42. ''....Do not weep! See,the Lion of the tribe of Judah,the Root of David has triumphed....'' But as one awaits for the return of the 'Christ' who died and rose again ,the other awaits the coming of the 'Messiah' CCC. ''I Jesus,have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.I am the Root and the Offspring of David ,and the bright Morning Star.'' Rev.22:16 ,God bless!

Jesus and Moses

''And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself'' Luk.24:27
Why did Jesus begin with Moses ? Because here he fulfilled the Mosaic covenant ,''This cup is the new covenant in my blood'' Luk.22:20.... As Moses said ''This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.'' Ex.24:8
Again Jesus said to them "This is what I told you while I was with you:Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in Law of Moses ,the Prophets and the Psalms.'' Luk.24:44

For the first time God is making a covenant with an entire people,Where as before he made covenants with individuals:With Adam and his wife;Noah and his family and Abraham and his tribe.Notice too the progression; a married couple, a family ,a tribe and now a nation that will be a blessing to all the nations !

Now the start of Exodus is similar to the start of Matthew's Gospel: Herod tries to kill all Hebrew male children under the age of two;Pharaoh orders the midwives to kill all Hebrew male children;Jesus is saved by his parents and Moses is saved by his mother and sister. As Moses came out of Egypt,so too did Jesus come out of Egypt. Mat.2:14,20-21
''Out of Egypt I called my son.'' Mat.2:15

Look at what it says in Heb.3:2-6 ''He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house.Jesus has been found worthy of a greater honour than Moses,just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself.For every house is built by someone ,but God is the builder of everything.Moses was as a servant in all God's house,testifying what would be said in the future.But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.And we are his house,if we hold on to our courage in which we boast.'' What it,s saying here is that Christ is superior to Moses or any religious system 'the builder of the house has more honour than the house itself ' Moses was a 'servant' of the house ,Jesus is the 'Son' of the house. In Deut.18:15 Moses testified saying ''The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.You MUST listen to him.''

Now Moses was called by God to deliver the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.He identifies himself as the "God of your father,the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'' Ex.3:6 Remember what God said to Abraham in Gen.15:13-15? Now God is going to fulfill his promise to Abraham and make his descendants into a great nation!
God describes Israel as His ''first born Son'' Ex.4:22, but not his only son but the first of many which is what he promised to Abraham Gen.15:5.Now as Pharaoh mocks Moses's God ,God in turn mocks the gods of the Egyptians;this is what the ten plagues were about:
'Hapi' the nile god is plagued by blood, Heket the god of frogs is plagued by frogs,Apis the bull god and Hathor the cow goddess were afflicted by the plague on livestock, the sun god is plagued by darkness and finally the plague of the first born was seen as a judgement on Pharaoh who was seen as a 'god' and his son as 'divine', but Israel's first born were 'passed over'.


Now this 'passover' points us to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We already established Moses as a 'type of Christ who was to come' Heb.3:5 But now we will look at the passover;the first born of Israel were saved by an unblemished lamb with it,s blood 'on the sides and tops of door frames of the houses where they will eat the lamb'. Ex.12:7 and :13 ''The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are;and when I see the blood,I will pass over you''. John 1:29 ''Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'' In 1cor.5:7 it says ....''for Christ our passover has been sacrificed'' 1pete 1:18 says ''For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed ....but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect''. See also Ex.12:5. Now the Israelites were required to keep the passover celebration as a feast annually to be eaten with unleavened bread. ''Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread,called the Passover,was approaching.....then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover Lamb was to be sacrificed'' Luk.22:1,7.
And He took bread ,gave thanks and broke it,and gave it to them saying ''This is my Body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.'' In the same way after supper he took the cup saying "This Cup is the New covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'' Luk.22:19-20 And look at what it says in Heb.9:22 Indeed according to Law of Moses almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven ONLY if blood is poured out. And in Lev.17:11 it says ''For the life of the flesh is in the blood,and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's sin.'' Now notice in John 19:14 ''It was the preparation day for passover week,about noon.And Pilate said to the Jews behold your king'' This was the exact time when Israel's priests were to slaughter the lambs for the sacrifice.....''He was led like a lamb to the slaughter...'' Is.53:7 Now the Israelites have been delivered from Egypt and are on their way to the promised land,but must pass through the Red Sea first. The passing of the Red Sea is a prefigure of baptism ''They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and sea''. 1cor.10:2 .Now a month later the Israelites complained for food while in the desert and God said ''I will rain down bread from heaven for you'' and they called it 'manna' which means 'what is it' ? Ex.16:4,15.In john 6:48-51 "Jesus says I am the Bread of life.Your forefathers ate manna in the desert yet they died. But here is bread that comes down from heaven,which one may of it and not die. I am the living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread he will live forever.This bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world''. What kind of statement is this? 'Eat my flesh' sounds a lot like Ex.12:8...''they shall eat the flesh (of the lamb) that night,roasted with unleavened bread.'' Again Jesus said ''For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me,and I in him.This is the bread that came down from heaven.Your forefathers ate manna and died,but he who eats this bread will forever.'' John 6:55-59 Which sounds a lot like the Eucharist 'Take and eat;this my Body' Matt.26:26 Then he took the cup and said 'Drink from it all of you,this is my blood' Matt.26:27.We now have everlasting life thanks to his self offering on the cross. "Worthy is the Lamb,who was slain,to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'' Rev5:12

Finally let,s once again compare Matthew's Gospel with the Exodus .First Jesus was baptized,just like the Israelites passed through the Red Sea,mat.3:16,ex.13:18;then Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness,just like the Israelites did mat.4:1;Jesus then overcame the three temptations that Israel fell into,mat.4:3-10,1 cor.10:1-10.And as Moses received the Ten commandments on a mountain,so too does Jesus go up on a mountainside to 'fulfill' the law. The Law was given by Moses;grace and truth came by Jesus Christ John 1:17.The ten commandments were a preparation for the gospel foretold by the prophet Jeremiah 31:33 ''The time is coming when I will make a new covenant......it will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers.....at that time I will put my Law in their minds and write it on their hearts, I will be their God and they will be my people.''
Next time I will discuss King David.

Jesus and Isaac

In my last post I discussed Noah and the flood and the renewal of the covenant that God made with Adam in creation, after the covenant blessing Noah celebrated by drinking from his vineyard and got drunk while his son Ham had committed incest with his mother(he uncovered his fathers nakedness lev.18:6,7) Noah then curses Ham and his incest born son Canaan but blesses his first born son Shem Gen.9:26 ''blessed be the Lord the God of Shem'',who covered his fathers nakedness.Now there are 10 generations from Shem to Terah the father of Abram.

The Lord had said to Abram ''Leave your country,your people and your Fathers household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on the earth will be blessed through you.''

Here God's plan of salvation begins a new chapter with Abram; He promised him a new land to live in, a large and prosperous family, A great nation and kingdom and A blessing to the whole world.Later God upgrades his covenant with Abram and changes his name to Abraham Gen.17:4-5 (which means father of many) He also promised him a son by his wife Sarah "I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.I will bless her so that she be will a mother of nations;kings of people will come from her.'' Here God makes an everlasting covenant with him and his future son Isaac.But what about Ishmael who was born by Hagar his Egyptian slave? (she became his substitute wife when Sarah couldn,t conceive) In Gal.4:23 Paul says ''His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way;but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.'' And in :28,30 Paul says ''Now you, brothers,like Isaac,are children of promise....for the slave woman's son will NOT share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.'' Gen.17:20-21 God says ''As for Ishmael , I have heard you; I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and increase his numbers....." ''BUT my covenant I will establish with Isaac''.Why is this important? because Isaac would have a son named Jacob who became Israel and had 12 sons who became 12 tribes. The tribe of Judah (where we get the Jews from) would produce the Christ Gen.49:8-12.....''the scepter will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet''.....Notice in :11 '' ...he will wash his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes''. It sounds like an image of His sacrifice! Which brings us to the next point here Gen.22:1-2 says Some time later God tested Abraham. He said "Abraham''! ''Here I am Lord''. Then God said to him ''Take your son, your son Isaac whom you love and go to the region of Moriah.Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.''
Now this is important because Mount Moriah is in Salem the same place Melchizedek came from, the priest who brought bread and wine to Abraham 14:18-20 (he was a type of Christ heb.7:1-3), it,s the same place where Solomon would one day build the temple 2chron.3:1 and where Jesus would one day be crucified (calvary is a hill on mount moriah). Jeru-Salem means ''God will provide-peace''. Notice here how Isaac carried his own wood in :6 just like Jesus carried his own cross up the hill John 19:17 says ''Carrying his own cross,he went to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha) in Gen.22:8 Abraham prophesied and said "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering,my son'' John 1:29 ''look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world'' But when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son God stopped him and said "Do not lay a hand on the boy.Do not do anything to him.Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son,your only son'' Gen.22:12 Unlike Adam who refused to give his life for God and mankind became a curse, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his life and so mankind has been blessed!

Now let,s notice some of the language here because it sounds familiar ''your son ,your only son'' Gen 22:2 is the same as John 3:16 ''God so loved the world he gave his one and only son...'' and in Rom.8:32 says ''He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all..'' Sounds a lot like...''you have not withheld from me your son'' Gen.22:12
Now before I move on to my next post we need to look at one more passage in Gen.15:13-16 God says to Abraham "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not there own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they will come out with great possessions.You however will go to your fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age.In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here...''
Ok next time I will look at the Exodus. God bless!

Jesus and Noah

In my last discussion I talked about the fall of Adam and the 'curse' of sin on humanity,now we will look at the fruits of that sin and God's plan of salvation.

From Adam to Noah there are 10 generations;the bad seed can be traced back to Cain who killed his younger brother Abel and said "am I my brother's keeper?''.At the end of the ten generations God sends his judgement on the world in the form of a flood.Gen.6:1-2 says ''When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose''. Who are the sons of God? they are from the good seed of Seth, Adam's youngest son, who were the first to ''call on the name of the Lord''.Gen.4:26.But the daughters of men were of the bad seed of Cain and were 'beautiful' which led the sons of God into temptation and notice 'they married any of them as they chose' which went against God's first Covenant between One woman and One man; see matt.19:4-6.But worst of all the daughters of men began bearing children, these children grew up an became even more violent and wicked than Cain, and are described as....''mighty men that were of old,the men of renown'' Gen.6:4 and in Gen.6:5 it says .....''the wickedness of man was great in the earth,and that every thought of his heart was only evil continually.'' Continually? can you imagine what kind of world this must of been? God had no choice but to 'wipe them out', except for Noah and his family.

In the flood God drowns out the bad seed of Cain but preserves the good seed of Seth through Noah whom God had found 'favour'.Gen.6:8 The story of the flood reads like a new creation story.Like Adam God gives Noah authority over the animals ,He commands him to be fruitful and multiply and he makes a Covenant with him like he did with Adam. Now God uses Covenants to make us his family.A Covenant is a binding promise sealed with a sign it cannot be broken, it,s a sacred bond like marriage.With Adam God made a Covenant and the seventh day was the sign that sealed the Covenant and Adam and his wife became part of His family ''it was the first step in the forging of covenant of the one God and his people'' CCC. With Noah God renews his Covenant with his creation. Gen.9:9-13 says ''I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you....and this is the sign of the Covenant I am making between me and you....I have set my rainbow in the clouds...'' The sign of the first Covenant was the sabbath day and the sign of the second Covenant was the rainbow (both symbolic of creation).
And how does the Covenant with Noah point us to Jesus? Noah built an Ark which was a symbol of God's mercy; just as Jesus built a Church which is the 'Ark of Salvation', in which is also a symbol of God's mercy; Noah was ''a preacher of righteousness'' 2 pete2:5; Jesus was ''a prophet ,powerful in word and in deed'' Luk.24:19 The flood points us to the sacrament of baptism ...''this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also...'' 1 pete 3:21 and when Jesus was baptized.....''a spirit came down from heaven as a dove and remained on him.'' John 1:32 and in Gen.8:10-11 Noah sends out a dove every seven days until it returns an olive branch. Amen, in my next post I will discuss Jesus and Isaac. God bless!

Jesus and Adam

There are many today who believe that all religions are the same.True that many share similar values but only one faith can forgive sins and set us free from death, rom.5:8 says ''God proved his love for us in this:while we were still sinners Christ died for us''. No we don,t deserve it but God has offered to us because of his love for us John.3:16.

But to understand this we need to go back to the 'beginning' Gen.1:1. In 1 John 1:1 it says
''That which was from the beginning,which we have heard,which we have seen with our eyes,which we have looked at and our hands have touched......'' Here John is giving testimony on the coming of God in the
flesh. John 1:1-3,14 says ''In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God,and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life,and that life was the light of men.....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. This means that Jesus was there when God said ''let US make man in OUR image and in OUR likeness'',Gen.1:26. Now ''image'' and ''likeness'' implies kinship . Look at Gen.5:1-3 When God created man,he made him in the likeness God.....when Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness,after his image and named him Seth. As Adam was God's first born son Jesus was God"s only begotten Son.In col.1:15-17 it says "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For by him all things were created.....all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things. And heb.1:1-2 says ''In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things,and THROUGH WHOM HE MADE ALL THINGS.''

When God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of good and evil He said ''for when you eat of it you shall surely die'' And when God put Adam in the garden He gave him 'dominion' which gave him authority like a King (like Christ) He tells him to ''till and keep it'' which means he was given priestly duties (like Christ) to defend the sanctuary Num.18:5. But Adam failed in his duties and failed to protect the 'woman' Eve his wife . And so the serpent went straight to the woman and lied ''you will not surely die' Gen.3:4. Eve doubted God's word and fell into temptation and Adam did likewise. God's plan of Salvation began immediately. Gen.3:15 ...he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.'' and The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Gen.3:21 .God provided a 'covering' for their sin rather than their own covering .Gen.3:7. Just as he covers us with the Lambs blood rather than our own good efforts. Let,s look carefully at what God said to Eve and the serpent because it,s parallel can be found in Rev.12:1-4,17.....she was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.....the dragon (serpent of old) stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth,so that he might devour her child....and he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring....And Gen.3:15....''I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hers.....'' and to the woman he said ''I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;with pain you will give birth to children'' Gen.3:16.The curses given to the 'woman' and the serpent in Gen.3 have now reached a climax in Rev.12.The 'woman' in Rev.12 is symbolic of Mary and the Church, her offspring.Mary is being portrayed as the 'new' Eve (mother of the new creation) ''Woman, behold,your son! Then he said to the disciple ''Behold,your mother!'' John 19:26,27. You will notice quite a bit in the Gospel of John how Jesus calls Mary 'woman' rather than mother.Read the story of the wedding at Cana how Jesus makes new wine out of water which is a symbol of the New Covenant.This wedding is also a symbol of the bridegroom and the Church.A new wedding for a new creation As Genesis 'begins' with a creation story and a marriage, so too does the Gospel of John 'begin' with a new creation story and a new wedding feast 'symbolically' between a new Adam and a new Eve. And how does the bible end? With a 'creation' and a 'wedding' Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...Rev.21:1,, and....Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb'' Rev.19:9...''Come I will show you the bride,the wife of the Lamb.''Rev.21:9

Now Adam and his wife broke the Covenant and a curse came over them and on the rest of humanity from generation to generation, father to father until Jesus came Mat.1:20-21 "he will save his people from their sins'' and 1 Pet.1:18... ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers.... And in rom.5:14 says ''But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses death ruled over all mankind,even over those who did not sin (the prophets) in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed God's command. Adam was a figure of the one to come'' (Jesus):15 ''but the two are not the same''. What it,s saying here is that death came through Adam but life came through Jesus! 1 cor.15:21-22 says ''For since death came through a man,the Resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.For as in Adam all die,so in Christ all will be made alive''. 1 cor.15:45-47 says ''the first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam (Jesus),a life giving-giving spirit...the first man (Adam) was of the dust of the earth, the second man (Jesus) from heaven...2 cor.5:17 says"Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation;the old has gone,the new has come'' Look at what it says in Rev.1:12,13 ''I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.And when I turned around I saw seven golden lampstands ,and among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.'' This is a vision of Jesus in heaven ! Daniel the prophet had a similar vision hundreds of years earlier...in Dan.7:13 he says ''In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,coming with the clouds of heaven....In Rev.1:17 it says ''When I saw him,I fell at his feet as though dead.Then he placed his right hand on me and said Do not be afraid . I am the first and the last. I am the living one;I was dead ,and behold I am alive forever and ever ! And I hold the keys of death and hades.'' Rev.21:6 he says '' It is done .I am the Alpha and the Omega,the beginning and the end. Now we can proudly sing "Death has been destroyed Victory is now complete''! 1cor.15:55 Amen, in my next post I will discuss Jesus and Noah. God bless!