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Original Historical Documents |
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The Trial & Death of Jesus | Graphical History: Egypt - Judah - Syria - 40 BC - 60 AD |
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Events In 37 BC, Herod with the aid of the Roman army conquered Judea and made himself king. He was the son of the governor of Idumea in the south. Young Herod held several posts under Roman rule. The second of his ten wives was a Jewish princess and with her help he became a master of political infighting. At age 35 he was named king of the Jews by the Roman Senate and thanks to the sponsorship by the world's three most powerful people, Marc Anthony, ruler of Rome's eastern domain, his lover Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and Octavian, Julius Caesar's adopted son, ruler of Rome's western domain. Before Herod could claim the throne, he had to take it from a puppet king who had been installed by a rival empire to the east. It took years of fighting with the help of Syrian troops. Jerusalem was nearly destroyed then but at last he won. But the Jews did not welcome Herod, who, as an Idumaean, was considered a foreigner. Only a century earlier the Idumaeans had been converted to Judaism by force but were still distrusted by many. Herod began his reign by ordering the execution of hundreds, including the members of the ruling council, the Sanhedrin. He enriched himself by confiscating their estates and whatever wealth he could cease. Next he established a new aristocracy made up of wealthy Jews from Babylon, Alexandria and elsewhere out of the Roman Empire. People who would owe him their position. Above all Herod needed an ally in the powerful position of the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem in a land where religious law was the only law most people respected. The kings of the dynasties before him had taken that office themselves, but Herod knew that he could never follow them in that. The present High Priest was a prince of that same dynasty, the brother of Herod's second wife. Herod had him murdered and appointed a new High Priest from Babylon, a man with no connection to the former aristocracy. Herod's power depended on a secret police and a network of spies. A formative set of bodyguards protected him and he kept an army of foreign mercenaries at the ready. With his power consolidated, Herod began to rebuild Jerusalem which was quite in ruins by his own war actions. It was the beginning of one of the world's most ambitious reconstruction projects the world had ever seen. Thousands of laborers and craftsmen were employed for decades, paid by means of heavy taxation. He rebuild the city walls and constructed a new fortress looming over the old Temple. He called it the Antonia, after Marc Anthony, and it rose above all the old, sacred buildings with Roman majesty. There was a Roman-style theater and a Hippodrome for chariot races, athletic competitions in the nude and games of life and death combat, all of them deeply offensive to the Jews. His own home, a fortified palace in the extravagant Upper City of Jerusalem, dwarfed the mansions already there. Throughout his kingdom Herod erected monuments, gardens, Roman baths, aqueducts, many roads and opulent palaces for himself all across the land. One of these palaces was in the crater of a volcanic looking mountain, but it was no volcano. The material was obtained from a nearby mountain which was demolished to create a smooth sided steep mountain unscaleable by enemies. There was only one way up, a stone staircase inside the mountain. Inside the crater was a huge palace with a colonnaded courtyard and ample space. There was enough food and water to support an army for months. He called the complex the `Herodium' in honor of himself. It was just one of a chain of fortresses, protecting Judea's southern and eastern borders and became his burial place. Another link in that chain was the fortified rock of Masada. In 30/29 BC the Roman Cornelius Gallus under the later emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) destroyed Thebes. The beautifully carved head of Queen Agrippina II (10-59 AD), wife of Emperor Claudius and mother of Nero, with her facial features and tight lips seeming to suggest a mischievious look, can be seen in BAR, Vol. IX, Jan/Feb 1983, p. 50. Antonius Felix claimed to seek improved relations with the Jews of Judea, but there was apparently great friction between him and the people - at least when he struck those coins in 54 and 58 AD showing on one side Jewish symbols as palm trees or palm fonds and on the other side Roman crossed shields and spears.[See BAR, Mar 1987, p. 54.] Second Revolt (135 AD) Jewish Gold Coin Herod the Great in order to safeguard his regime and protect his family from possible attacks of his subjects as well as from Cleopatra constructed 3 major fortresses in the south of Judah. They were the fortress of Masada, the fortress prison of Machaerus in present day Jordan (Here John the Baptist was beheaded according to Josephus), first constructed by Alexander Jannaeus, overlooks the Dead Sea, and the incredible Herodium (Jebel Fureidis), located ca. 4 miles southeast of Bethlehem.
A beautiful tetradrachma gold coin depicting possibly the entrance to the Herodian Temple sanctuary which was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD as predicted by Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:1,2), featuring the two letters See also David M. Jacobson, `Herod the Great Shows His True Colors' in Near Eastern Archaeology, Sep 2001, p. 100-104. Showing both sides of a bronze coin. One side features a trident the other the cap of Dioscuri with a star, both are pagan symbols. The magazine shows many ancient coins of various denominations and origins. Adam Kolman Marshak, Yale June 2007, writes `The Dated Coins of Herod the Great: Towards a New Chronology' in which he claims that the well known Herodian period "dated coins" ought to be dated to 27 BC to commemorate the rebuilding and renaming of Samaria/Sebaste in Augustu's honor.[BAR, Jul/Aug 2007, p. 16. Sebaste was so named by King Herod, Joesphus, Antiquities, Book XV, ch. ix, Sec. 5, p. 329.]
Jewish Books and the Library of Alexandria
Giant Cave
Nemrud Dagh ("da" means "mountain") is located where the Euphrates River exits the eastern, inner Taurus mountains, the burial site of the Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes (62-32 BC).
The account of the building of Babel and its tower is told in Genesis 11. It begins with the statement that all the people spoke the same language. Next, we are told of the "exodus" of a group of people from the area first settled by Noah and his descendants after the flood: "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." Gen. 11:1-2. It takes not much to deduce that the people who left the area of the ark traveled to the west. Common sense adds the additional information that they traveled along a river - a water supply for the people as well as their flocks and herds would have been an absolute necessity. Therefore, they began their journey at the beginning of one of the mountain streams that was a tributary of the Euphrates River near the area of the ark and followed it to the west until they came to a plain. -- Studying topographical and flight maps of the region, the observer will notice the place where the Euphrates River exits the mountainous region - roughly a two hundred fifty mile journey from the region of the ark. And there, where the mountains end, is a plain. -- But another, more direct route would have taken them in a southwest direction for about one hundred forty miles until they reached the west side of Lake Van. From there, they would have traveled along the more south-eastern branch of the Euphrates River headwaters about fifty miles through a mountain pass then exiting onto the vast plain where they would travel west until they reached the Euphrates. These are the only two natural east-west routes across Anatolia. Which route they took, we may never know. However, both would have brought the group to the same general area. -- Putting ourselves in their place, we may conclude, they would have traveled no further, provided the region contained all the natural resources that they would have needed, which it did. We assume that here is the "plain in the land of Shinar" where they "dwelt". On the map, you can see the location of Mt. Ararat (the region of the ark).
Website based views on the Septuagint
J. Wilson & V. Tzaferis, `Banias Dig Reveals King's Palace' But which king? in BAR, Vol. 24, Jan/Feb 1998, p. 54-61. The well illustrated story of the discovery of the Herodian period palace makes interesting reading.
Miscellaneous Finds from this Period
01) Bronze coins from 42/43, the time of Herod Agrippa I, AD found in the burial cave of Caiphas inside the skull of an adult woman. The two views of the very corroded coin show little detail. It may have been put into the mouth of the woman before internment, perhaps as an ancient, pagan custom followed also by Greeks. Also found was a small (4.33 in) slander glass bottle. [Zvi Greenhut, `Burial Cave of the Caiphas Family' in BAR, Vol. 18, Sep/Oct 1992, p. 29-36.] ENTOCTOYΠEPITOIEPONTPY ΦAKTOYKAIΠEPIBOΛOYOCΔAN ΛHΦΘHAYTΩIAITIOCECTAI ΔIATOEΘAKOΛOYΘEIN ΘANATON"
It is possible that Jesus had read this inscription during the time of his ministry. (May require IE to read correctly.) The Greek writing  of the name of `Alexander son of Simon' was found on a stone ossuary who was possibly the son of Simon of Cyrene, Mark 15:21. The Hebrew name for `Cyrene' was `qrnyh'     
[BAR, July 2003, p. 47-49]
General Bible Knowledge We learn now that the New Testament reference of the crowing of a rooster (Mark 14:30 and others) actually refers a Roman bugle like instrument which was blown to indicate partitions in daily time. The Greek word for rooster is `alektwr' (alektor) and for the sounding of it we read, `alektorophonia'. The Latin word for rooster is `gallus', the same word as for the inhabitants of Gaul, who commonly kept chicken on their property. It is a play on words in the Greek, characterizing the shrill sound of the instrument and comparing it to the crowing of a rooster. According to the words of Jesus, Caiphas will be one of those who, in a special resurrection, will see the Lord Jesus on the day of His Second Coming appearing in the clouds. As the epitome of religious arrogance, the theologian Caiphas was selected by God to witness his foolish denial of everything he should have believed and accepted. There may be others like him. See Matthew 26:64, Mark 14:62 and Revelation 1:7. Thracian chariot found - In August 7, 2008 it was reported that Bulgarian archaeologists unearthed a 1,900-year-old well-preserved chariot at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, 360 km east of Sofia. Daniela Agre said the complete four-wheel chariot was found near the village of Borisovo. At the funerary mound, the team also discovered table pottery, glass vessels and other gifts for the funeral of a wealthy Thracian aristocrat. - In a separate pit, they unearthed skeletons of two riding horses apparently sacrificed during the funeral of the nobleman, along with well preserved bronze and leather objects, some believed it was the horses harness. - The Thracians were an ancient people that inhabited the lands of present day Bulgaria and parts of modern Greece, Turkey, Macedonia and Romania between (conventional, evolutionary long age) 4,000 B.C. and the 6th century, when they were assimilated by the invading Slavs. Some 10,000 Thracian mounds — some of them covering monumental stone tombs — are scattered across Bulgaria.
Parthian Rulers |
| The Chronology of the Trial and Death of Jesus |
| A careful study of the chronology of the trial, death and resurrection of Jesus explains how Jews understood the time of day. It shows that a Jewish 24 hour day, was divided into two 12 hour spans and lasted from sunset to sunset with the first hour (1) counting one hour after sunset in spring and fall, the light/day part of the day and the dark/night part. The light part was subdivided into four parts, the 3rd, 6th, 9th hour and the evening. |
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| 6th hour midnight | 12 P.M. Thursday | Jesus brought to Pilate ... "... in the morning ..." Mk. 15:1. | "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour ..." John 19:14. Time elapses until Jesus brought to Pilate in the morning. | This 6th hour had to be either on Thursday at 12 noon or midnight. |
| Notice from midnight 6 hours elapsed. | 12th hour | Still midnight, 12 P.M. Thursday. | Jesus is in Pilat's Judgment Hall | "And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he said unto the Jews, Behold your King." John 19:14. |
| 3rd hour | 9 A.M. Friday | Nailed to the cross 9 hours after first arriving in Pilat's presence. | "And it was the third hour and they crucified him." Mark 15:25. | Notice this 3rd hour counts from sunrise on the 6th day (Friday). At sunrise, in Jewish time, the first 12 hour period comes to a close and a new 12 hour period starts, the 1st hour of which is 7 A.M. |
| Notice since the previous 6th hour, 12 hours elapsed. | 6th hour noontime | 12 A.M. Friday, middle of the day. | Unexplainable darkness settles | "And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour." Mark 15:33; Matthew 27:45. | This darkness happened in the middle of the day between 12 noon and 3 P.M. with a normal sunrise in the morning and a normal sunset in the evening. |
| Notice from 12 noon 6 hours elapsed. | 12th hour | 6 P.M., just about sunset. | Jesus is buried at the end of Friday, just before Sabbath starts. | "And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation ... he ... took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulcher ... and rolled a stone unto the door ..." Mark 15:42,46. Those who buried Jesus ... "... returned, and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. | Sabbath was still kept. There is no indication anywhere that Sabbath keeping came to an end and Sunday keeping started because of the resurrection. |
At this point of the step by step account we find proof that in `Jewish time of day reckoning', that a given day ended at sunset, the 12th hour, and not at midnight. The words, `when even was come', clearly references the evening of the 6th day of the week Preparation Day, our Friday. They had just enough time left before the sun set, to embalm Jesus' body in his tomb. Finished with that, they returned home and rested, and slept no doubt, initially during the dark night hours of the Sabbath day, perhaps on Sabbath morning went to a synagogue or read scriptures at home, until Sabbath sunset time when the seventh day Sabbath ended and the first day, our Sunday, began. A while before sunrise 1st day Sunday morning, Jesus rose from death. Therefore, when we project this day / time relationship to references to `the first day' in the Book of Acts, we know that many explain them incorrectly, ostensibly, in order to support their idea on Sunday sacredness, Acts 20:7-11. |
| 3rd hour | 9 P.M., after sunset is now Sabbath | It appears that Jewish time was a floating unit. When the sun set early in the winter, Sabbath would begin early and nights were longer and days short. In summer time, the opposite occurred thus making a clockless society depending on the seasonal variations of the length of day and night to adjust their reckoning of hours accordingly. |
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard This parable helps us understand Jewish `time of day' reckoning put in a different context. A wonderful way to teach how the ancients referred to the time of day! A Jewish 24 hour day, was divided into two 12 hour spans and lasted from sunset to sunset with the first hour (1.) counting one hour after sunset in spring and fall. |
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"For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard." Matthew Chapter 20 |
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| And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way." | 3rd hour | 9 A.M. |
| Again he went out about the sixth hour ....." | 6th hour | Noon time |
| "... and the ninth hour, and did likewise." | 9th hour | 3 P.M. |
| "And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?" | 11th hour | 8 P.M. | Still one hour to sunset. |
| "They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first." |
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The Story of the Apostle Peter Acts 10: 9-10 |
| "On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but ....." |
| 6th hour | Noon time | The normal time of day to eat a meal. |
Since the 6th hour in which Jesus was led into Pilat's Judgment Hall was before the crucifixion, that means that the 6th hour before the crucifixion had to be either 12 A.M. (noon) on Thursday or 12 P.M. (midnight) on Thursday according to modern time reckoning. Why should the Jews take Jesus to Pilat at midnight? For the same reason that they arrested Him and brought Him to Annas and Caiphas by night - because they feared the people, and they wanted to keep things quiet.
In order to determine how long Jesus was in the custody of the Jewish leadership we learn that Jesus was first taken to Annas, John 18:13-24, where they waited for the coming morning to bring Jesus to trial, John 18:28, before the Sanhedrin. The time which elapsed from the Sanhedrin trial to his burial was from early Thursday morning, the 15th day of the month, to about sunset Friday, the 16th, a total of 36 hours. Add to this the total hours from his burial about midnight Friday night to his resurrection on the first day of the week, equals about another 36 hours. All in all then the time from the arrest of Jesus to his resurrection was 72 hours, 3 days and 3 nights from Thursday morning to Sunday morning. The Meaning of the Sabbath as it Pointed to Jesus as the Saviour In Exodus 35:2, Israel had become a nation, a theocracy. Nations make laws. Once the theocracy came to an end, these laws were not transferred beyond that period. The 4th commandment is at the same time
... which Jesus promises to those who come to Him. The punishments meted out in OT times were discontinued because of transgressions. The time had come when God was silent, 1.Sam. 28:6; 1.Cor. 10:21. Does that mean God is not particular anymore? No. It means the punishment will not be inflicted until after the judgment at the end of the world for those who do not want to be with God. The penalty of death at the hand of the civil magistrate is affixed to the violation of the Sabbath. The same penalty is affixed to most of the precepts of the moral law (Lev. 20:9,10; 24:15-17; Deut. 13:6-18; 17:2-7). It should be remembered that the moral law embracing the Sabbath formed a part of the Civil Code of the Hebrew nation living in a theocracy. As such, the great Lawgiver annexed penalties to be inflicted by the magistrate, thus doubtless shadowing forth the final retribution of the ungodly. Such penalties were suspended by that remarkable decision of the Saviour that those who were without sin should cast the first stone. But such a Being will arise to punish men, when the hailstones of his wrath shall desolate the earth. Our Lord did not, however, set aside the real penalty of the law, the wages of sin, nor did he weaken that precept which had been violated. (Jh. 8:1-9; Job 38:22,23; Isa. 28:17; Rev. 16:17-21; Rom. 6:23). Those who say, `But Jesus broke the Sabbath,' are trying that way to get out of having to keep God's day holy. If Jesus broke the Sabbath, He is a sinner because sin is the transgression of the law. If he is a sinner, he would need a redeemer. That means, he could not be the redeemer himself. We are lost. Jesus did not break God's Sabbath, He broke the sabbath of the Pharisees which is not the Bible Sabbath but a twisted version of it. Just like Jesus sought to reinstate the creation institute of marriage when the issue of divorce came up, so too, did He try to make it plain that Sabbath has to be kept God's way, not as the Pharisees kept it apart from its original meaning. Creation Sabbath was several millennia and centuries later reaffirmed at Sinai, the Sabbath commandment is at the heart of the Decalogue. The immutable, eternal law is God's gift to mankind, a day where we can dwell in a spiritual connection with God, as Adam and Eve could walk with God in the cool of the day in Eden on that day. The Sabbath reminds Christians of Christ's work as Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and because of his Messiah-ship as Redeemer. But to the Jews, Sabbath meant different things than it does to us today. Their annual feast days taken together added up to over a month of feast days. In their life of work, employers gave no vacation, but the feast days were kept. They revolved around the system of sacrifices and were tokens of the future redemptive work of the Savior which was little understood in their days for they sought not God but developed their own agenda. So do Christians today who ignore God's eternal law. As a theocratic, God centered nation, God gave them specific instructions and laws and how to deal with transgressors. These punishments were never meant to be inflicted on a sanctified people. During periods of apostasy they were also not justly applied laws, for the people had forsaken God. They were meant to be guard rails to keep Israel from losing their connection with the living God. Today's laws also are meant to be applied only in extreme situations, just like in Israel of old. They set them apart from the pagan societies surrounding them, societies which inflicted harsher laws at a whim of the king or priest. When Jesus died on the cross, any vestige of the theocracy also came to an end. The types and shadows of the sabbath feast days were fulfilled and done away with (Dan. 9:27 only the sacrifices and oblations ceased). Nevertheless, Jesus died on the cross for man's transgression of the Ten Commandment Law. If any of these laws could be abolished or changed, he would not have had to die (Before Wesley in England, Antinomianism taught that the moral Law of God was abolished. However, "If the commandments are preserved in heaven, certainly they are not abolished on earth." Rev. 11:19.). That teaches us, that the 4th commandment is still in force exactly as it reads. Any reinterpretation of this law today, is build on evasive views of ill considered theologies which represents a rebellious view against God's law to support human dogmas because of misunderstood interpretations. No longer did Israel need to raise sheep and goats to slaughter for sin offerings. The few New Testament references to activities of the early church on the 1st day of the week, were done on the first day, because on the Sabbath before they rested. Explaining the `First day" Bible References from a Sabbath Keeping Point of View. Among all the hype of a supposed transfer of sacredness from Sabbath to Sunday, the actual law binding transfer must have occurred on resurrection day and thus be contained in the four scriptures describing that event. These scriptures are: Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1,2.9; Luke 23:56; 24:1; John 20:1,19. As a discerning reader will realize, no such transfer of sacredness is intimidated in these passages at all, but the opposite is true, they proof that Sabbath sacredness was still in force on that resurrection day. - Those who claim that Matthew's (28:1) reading "in the end of the Sabbath", means in the Greek the end of the Sabbath as a holy day, are mistaken, for the Greek word `opse' is an adverb or preposition of time meaning late after, or as a masculine genitive, it means `after', namely after the day was over, of course that means after sunset. There is not a hint that the KJV English implies a cessation of holiness after this event. In fact Martin Luther translated the same Greek word as "als aber der Sabbat um war", meaning `as the Sabbath was over.'
Method 1: As to the second phrase, "eis mian sabbat
Method 2: The other way to enumerate week days was, "duo Charges leveled against Followers of Christ While many of us may be prepared to answer false religious charges, we may not as well be prepared to answer false political charges. Christians are known for being raised in the values provided by liberty of conscience and the separation of church and state. [500] But false political charges were exactly those leveled against Christ and the apostles. When the apostles were charged to have been followers of the Christ who had been crucified by the Romans, that was then a serious charge against them. We read, "In the meantime the high priest and those with him had `called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel.' The priests and rulers had decided to fix upon the disciples the charge of insurrection, to accuse them of murdering Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), and of conspiring to deprive the priests of their authority. They hoped so to excite the mob that it would take the matter in hand and deal with the disciples as it had dealt with Jesus. They were aware that many who did not accept the teachings of Christ were weary of the arbitrary rule of the Jewish authorities and anxious for some change. The priests feared that if these dissatisfied ones were to accept the truths proclaimed by the apostles, and were to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, the anger of the entire people would be raised against the religious leaders, who would then be made to answer for the murder of Christ. They decided to take strong measures to prevent this." {AA 80.2} Such charges, `insurrection, murder and conspiracy' were leveled against the followers of Christ when they were persecuted for their faith. Christ himself had been falsely accused with the following charge, "And they were more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place." Luke 23:5 While today this charge may not sound so bad, in those days it was a serious charge for the Jewish nation was a land of great political and religious turbulence and the Romans had learned to continually look for discontent and uprisings among the people. At the first sign they would deal with it quickly and severely. To be charged with `stirring' up the people was a charge of sedition and revolt. Here we read additional charged laid against Jesus. We read, "And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king." Lk. 23:1,2 These even more serious charges of `perverting the nation', `forbidding to give tribute to Caesar' and `saying that he was Christ the king,' thus setting himself up in the place of Caesar were very serious charges brought against our Savior Jesus Christ. When only confronting the Pharisees, charges against Christ were mostly of a religious nature, but once they got into a Roman court that changed. The Romans would not care about religious disagreements, but they would care about political charges brought against Christ. We read, "The priests were in a dilemma. They saw that they must cloak their hypocrisy under the thickest concealment. They must not allow it to appear that Christ had been arrested on religious grounds. Were this put forward as a reason, their proceedings would have no weight with Pilate. They must make it appear that Jesus was working against the common law; then He could be punished as a political offender. ... " {DA 725.4} And then a few pages later we read the charge Jesus was condemned for. "Treason against the Roman government was the crime for which Jesus was condemned ..." {DA 772.4} We may recall that the trial of Christ was not the first time that the rulers had brought charges against Him. They used such charges earlier in his ministry. They accused Him of setting up a rival kingdom and subvert their authority. We read, "They represented that He was seeking to set up a rival kingdom, and consulted with them how to destroy Him. To excite the Romans against Him, they had represented Him as trying to subvert their authority." {DA 538.2} Many others before Christ had been accused using political charges. Political Charges against David Saul had represented David as a conspirator and a traitor lying in wait that he might possess the kingdom himself. We read, "Saul had represented David as a traitor and a conspirator, lying in wait to take the life of the king, that he might possess the kingdom himself. The king had represented the matter to the people in such a light that it seemed necessary to deprive David of his life, that the prosperity of Israel might be preserved." {ST, November 9, 1888 par. 3} Political Charges against Jeremiah We read, "Through the pleading of these men of influence the prophet's life was spared, although many of the priests and false prophets, unable to endure the condemning truths he uttered, would gladly have seen him put to death on the plea of sedition." {PK 418.3} Political Charges againste Nehemia and the Wall Builders "The report was spread that Nehemiah was plotting against the Persian monarch, intending to exalt himself as a king over Israel, and that all who aided him were traitors." {PK 642.1} Political Charges against the Apostle Paul The following describes events when Paul was in Thessalonica. After he had been preaching there for a while, there occurred a great uproar. We read, "But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." {Acts 17:5-7} Paul was charged with the political crime of doing contrary to the decrees of Caesar and setting up another king - very serious charges indeed. Anther example is this one which started out in Jerusalem. "For we have found this man a pestilent fellow (defamation of character), and a mover of sedition ..." {Acts 24:5} "In his speech, Tertullus charged Paul with crimes which, if proved, would have resulted in his conviction for high treason against the government." {AA 420.1} As to Paul's final imprisonment they still charged him with the same charge, only with a much more heinous character. We read, "The Jews brought against Paul the old charges of sedition and heresy, and both Jews and Romans accused him of instigating the burning of the city." {AA 494.2} Thus we see the seriousness of these charges brought against Paul. It might compare to a charge today of leveling half the city of New York; that is how serious they were. The Apostle John was accused of the following, "John was accordingly summoned to Rome to be tried for his faith. Here before the authorities the apostle's doctrines were misstated." Here we have the false religious charges. "False witnesses accused him of teaching seditious heresies. By these accusations his enemies hoped to bring about the disciple's death." {AA 569.3} False Charges Leveled During the Reformation Early English reformers had similar charges brought against them. They were "... hunted as foes of the church and traitors to the realm..." {GC88 94.1} Charges Brought Against Martin Luther "Not content with this victory, Aleander labored with all the power and cunning at his command to secure Luther's condemnation. With a persistence worthy of a better cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of princes, prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing the reformer of sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy." {GC88 147.1} Over and over again, Reformation time Protestants were charged with political crimes when they were being persecuted for their faith. This was probably because of the persecutions Francis I. conducted against the Protestants in France. We read, "Hardly had Francis I. concluded his penitential procession, when he again turned to the Protestant princes of Germany and attempted to resume his negotiations with them. They not unnaturally asked of him an explanation of his recent proceedings. Why so anxious to court the favor of the Protestants of Germany when he was burning the Protestants of France? Where there two true faiths in the world, to create a realm on the west of the Rhine, and the religion of Wittenberg on the east of the river? But the king was ready with his excuse and his excuse was that of almost all persecutors of every age, `the king had not been burning Lutherans but executing traitors,' if those he had put to death had invited foreign sentiment. It was not for their religion but for their sedition that they had been punished. Such was the excuse which Francis gave to the German princes in his letter of the 15th of February." [Wylie, J.A. (1808-1890), History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, p. 207.] The Bible teaches, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."Luke 3:14. In the last days these type of charges will again be brought against the people of God. "There will come a time when, because of our advocacy of Bible truth, we shall be treated as traitors." {6T 394.2} "Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put upon their motives." {GC88 592.1} For God's people the work of preparation must be based on the Word of God. We cannot base it on emotions. We must search our hearts and examine everything and if something is wrong, correct in right away. However, at the same time it is a dangerous thing to take opposition as a sign that we are doing the wrong thing and begin to doubt whether or not the Lord has been leading us. It is exceedingly dangerous to do that. But some, upon meeting opposition might be influenced by charges. We read, "As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are again perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis." That means God's people will encounter such experiences. We will be wondering and it may seem to us that we brought the crisis upon ourselves. How will we stand when we are hit with such a trial and we are tempted to wonder, have we done the right thing? Should we take such a strong stand? Should we continue standing as we have? How will we be able to stand when such a trial comes upon us? The answer is in the continuation of this quote: "... But conscience and the Word of God assure them that their course is right; and although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. The contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage rise with the emergency. Their testimony is, "We dare not tamper with God's Word, dividing his holy law, calling one portion essential and another non-essential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall we be afraid of a world already conquered?" {GC88 609.2} |
Comparing the Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:6-16 and Luke 3:23-31 Ever wandered about the puzzling differences in names and number of ancestors as we find them in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3? The explanation is fairly simple to understand without haveing to repeat all the names. All we need to look at are the last two or three names. In Matthew we have 26 generations from David to Jesus through the line of Joseph, his stepfather (not a true paternal line), and perhaps incidentally this also includes the royal line of Solomon (Solomon>Rehoboam). Here we have then Jesus as the son of his "stepfather" Joseph. That means, Joseph was not his birth father, only the father who raised him up - Compare Matthew 1:16.[800]
In Luke chapter 3 we have 42 generations from David to Jesus in reverse order using the maternal line (the legal line) of descendants. Then we have Jesus presented as the stepson of Joseph, the son-in-law of Heli. Jesus > Joseph the son-in-law of > Heli Therefore, Heli was the father of Mary and these genealogies used the word "father" for father by birth as well as for "step-father". The number of names being more in Luke from David to Jesus is so for the same reason. The family line of Mary had more members. They may have lived shorter lifes over that span of time. Why does the Bible give the genealogy these two ways? Because they wanted to show to the people without a doubt that Jesus was of a line of sinners, both, on his stepfather's side and his mother's side. That is important because Jesus never sinned. That is how he could be the Savior of all mankind who ever lived. He died already for all. The sins of all people who ever lived were laid upon him. [Some say that for Jesus to qualify as the Saviour He also needed to be of both lines of descendants, the royal (Matthew) and the legal line (Luke 3:31: Nathan).] Those who believe that and accept him as their savior and choose to live like he did, then repent from their sins and imitate his life of not sinning will be able to better their life, live happier and be saved at the end of time. Most Christians have only part of the truth as taught in the Bible. Most want to go to heaven on their own terms. They want God to accept them as they are without changing their life from a life of continuing in sinning. The Bible teaches that the glory of God is to sinners a consuming fire. When God ends the reign of sin in this world, when he comes in the clouds, only those who accepted Jesus as their savior will be able to stand on their feet and welcome Him. All people have only two choices: For or against God. God will end the reign of sin in this world soon. We do not have much time left. Notes & References
[500] When America abandons Christ's principle of conversion of one heart at a time, and goes to the government for help, they abandon our constitutional rights (freedom of religion (1st Amendment Bill of Rights), free speech, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances) brought on by profligate sinners and bringing out other sinners to heap sin on top of sin and hope with it to make the country Christian - instead America will become the lamb speaking like the beast. "The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle that man's relation with his God is above human legislation, and his rights of conscience inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to establish this truth; we are conscious of it in our own bosoms. It is this consciousness which, in defiance of human laws, has sustained so many martyrs in tortures and flames. They felt that their duty to God was superior to human enactments, and that man could exercise no authority over their consciences. It is an inborn principle which nothing can eradicate." [Congressional documents (U.S.A.), serial No. 200, document No. 271.] Basically this statement underscores that the original constitution of the US of America contains some important truths. Evil forces are trying to abolish them and will succeed, but not for long.
We ask, `What part of making no law respecting establishment of religion ... you don't understand? --- ... It also does not say, `Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a church ... like the religious right tries to interpret this amendment. They say, well, the framers of the constitution meant, the government cannot establish any church but it can treat all churches equally. - That is not what the first amendment says. It does not say, `Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion or church, it says "respecting the establishment of religion." That is any religion. The United States is the greatest nation on earth because of the principles it was built upon. Principles which Satan hates and which he will soon overturn in this country. Let us pray that we will not be on the wrong side in this conflict. People must come out of the system of Babylon and the false prophet. The Bible says, `Come out of her.' (Rev. 18:4). Do not compromise going against the Word of God on these important issues.
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| [800] In Matthew chapter 1 we find the following names: | Luke chapter 3: Generations from Adam onward | In Luke chapter 3 we find these names (add them together from Adam up): |
Total = 41 generations |
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Total: 75 |
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was reportedly excavated legally in Jerusalem and thought to have been minted by the Jewish rebels. The coin can be seen in BAR, Vol. 23, Nov/Dec 1997, p. 48.
n", which is translated as first day of the week. In the Greek language they had more than one way to enumerate the working days of the week. In our example, it is done with reference to the seventh day Sabbath because it was the high feast of atonement when the `pascha' lamb was slain and probably also, because it was the prophecied Sabbath (Jonah 1:17; John 2:19), during which Christ rested in His grave. A Sabbath which was craddled in the middle, between the sixth and first day. The occurence of the Greek `sabbat
(preparation), the sixth (`hex') day of the week. That does not make each day a Sabbath, just like the first, second or third day after our birthday does not make each day our birthday. 
Jacob > Joseph > Jesus