Father, is there any other way?

These were among the last words of Christ who was on His way to the cross to face the inevitable. That, no, there is no other way. The Old Testament with all its places persons feasts and teachings, how many righteous were produced? “None, no not one”. For you see it had to be clear in the past, in that day and ours that apart from the expiration of the Old Covenant, to make way for the implementation of the New Covenant along with all it’s giftings, with a right standing with the Father, could NOT be possible in the Old Covenant system. And the reason why Christ teared up over that old Jerusalem was because of the complete failure of that whole era. That among those born from women, there was none greater than John The Baptist, but of those who are the least in (the New Covenant) Kingdom are greater than he. Showing us that with a change of Covenants came a change of a Kingdom and a change of charecter and nature called “The New Creation”, in contrast with The Old to magnify that contrasts as “The New and living way to the Father.

It was the final Jews of that Old Testament time that tipped the scale for judgement. We say Jews because the other 11 tribes had already been dispersed. So that we say “the last Jews” flippantly because in reality J is not a common sound from the Hebrew language showing us the extent of corruption. Corrected they would say tribe of Yudah and not Jew. But anyway, it was the last of the last 12 tribes now claiming to be Jews, who demonstrated to us that they were the worst of the worst because it was said of them by the Son of God to “fill up the measure of your fathers guilt” accusing them of being fathered by Satan. They did not serve the Creator God, to then finish  off the guilty charges for killing Zechariah “whom you beheaded between the Porch and the Altar. To then behead John the Baptist and to finish it off with crucifying The Son of God who said “All these things will be required from this generation” as the guilty ones. And in Gods law, you cannot charge someone else with anotheer mans crime. So yes, their guilt was full because of their own deeds but only because they perfected the ways of their fathers

The Good News

As sad as this all may sound, here is the essence of “The Good News”, which is generally translated as “the Gospel”, meaning good news to the Jews? No!. For the promise given to Abraham to be fulfilled that “he would be the father of many nations (Gentiles) without differentiating the Jews as superior The Jews were never the object of scripture or the plan of God. Think about this if you think the common day jew has something to brag about. You know how to answer.

The scriptures were given to replace the feasts and the Saboth days and their rituals to achieve godliness, to now do so with access to scriptures, given to re-script the mind which had to be given time to prove that “there was none, no not one” of the Jews. Their mouths are open scepelcures” spewing out condemnation, guilt and deadness. To then have Christ blurt out from on the cross “Abba, Abba, why have you forsaken Me”, was said for all to know that payment was rendered. The expectation that The Law era demanded was satisfied to put it out of business. That the laws given to promote righteousness only brought death. To then have the coming of Christ close that era as useless. And NO! There is no other way. And to resurrect the concept of the Jews of old with all their expectations is an inversion and the turning upside down the Gospel.

Annihilation was and is the end game of that scenario. And woe to those who try to repeat and re-enact that era. Even as Paul said “I see that the law is good, but the way to perform it was not found in me”, so that the humble of heart may receive the free gift of righteousness by faith, to have all the requirements from the law and Old Covenant credited to our account without having to do them. But until each one comes to this point, they do not really understand the Cross. That all the law and the prophets and every mandate that was ever given were accredited as having been completed for us to “go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of dead works and repentance’s to God. Even as He said to Isaiah 1.

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; 3 The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master’s crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider.” 4 Alas, a sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of vipers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken God, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away (to go) backward. 5 Why should you be stricken again? You will (only) revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. 7 Your country is desolate (meaning lifeless), Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city. 9 Unless the Lord of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people (Jews) of Gomorrah: 11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats. 12 “When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13 Bring no more futile[f] sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of [h]blood.

“Who has required this of you?? And anybody that rejects this gift of life from the cross to go back to the Old, will be condemned by the Old because they’ve despised the Cross of the Only Begotten and counted His blood as a common thing, in the same way as the Law era Jews, “for on you (the Jews not the 12 tribes) shall be all the guilt and shame of the blood shed from righteous Abel to Zecheria. Meaning that era and anyone who would return to that era would receive the same eternal damnation God did not and does not love the jews. That is the wrong association!

Yes to go back to the old pre-cross concepts, to glorify the modern jews and their jerusalem in hopes of another coming Jesus is a total inversion of the gospel, especially since you’ve got the new testament to draw upon as well.

The Kingdom of God is still at hand and indissoluble

Introduction:

This account is written by James, brother of the Messiah and Christ. James being family and being familiar with these accounts because he grew up with Christ his brother and his cousin John the Baptist who was just two years older than Christ. It was John who introduced the Christ saying “here comes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. And “I see the Bride with the Bridegroom therefor my joy (and purpose) is fulfilled. “They must increase and I must decrease”.

Because of this, it is fitting for James to write this account, who was first the brother of Christ son from Mary, both James(yudah) cousins of John the Baptist, whose fathers name is Zechariah, who was at the temple and was slain by the Jewish leaders for not cooperating with them in their search for John and Jesus as the decree was given to kill all the male babies 2 years and younger. This was the reason they were ushered out of Jerusalem that has to do with the expiration of the old and to introduce the new because John was raised in the old and was instrumental in bringing in the New Covenant era. But to close the old, there had to be a decree of judgement to the old. This is the reason that Christ said that “on this generation all the blood that was shed on earth from righteous Abel to Zechariah whom you slayed between the porch and the altar shall be required from this generation”. Meaning that all previous accounts would be closed by judgment and damnation or saved by receiving the blood of Christ for the remission of sin. The Jews however chose judgment because they, even the women said yes, your blood be upon us and our generation. From here starts;

The Infancy Gospel of James

1 According to the records of the twelve tribes of Israel, there once was a very rich man named Joachim. 2. He always doubled the gifts he offered to the Lord, 3and would say to himself, “One gift, representingmy prosperity, will be for all the people; the other, offered for forgiveness, will be my sin-offering to the Lord God.”

4Now the (celebration ceremony of) great day of the Lord was approaching, and the people of Israel were offering their gifts. 5And Reubel confronted Joachim and said, “You’re not allowed to offer your gifts first because you haven’t produced an Israelite child.”

6And Joachim became very upset and went to the book of the twelve tribes of the people, saying to himself, “I’m going to check the book of the twelve tribes of Israel to see whether I’m the only one in Israel who hasn’t produced a child.” 7And he searched (the records) and found that all the righteous people in Israel did indeed have children. BAnd he remembered the patriarch Abraham because in his last days the Lord God had given a son, Isaac.

9And so he continued to be very upset and did not see his wife but banished himself to the wilderness and pitched his tent there. lOAnd Joachim fasted ‘forty days and forty nights.’ !lHe would say to himself, “I will not go back for food or drink until the Lord my God visits me. Prayer will be my food and drink.”

2 Now his wife Anna was mourning and lamenting on two counts: “I lament my widowhood and I lament my childlessness.” 2The great day of the Lord approached, however, 3and Juthine her slave said to her, “How long are you going to humble yourself? Look, the (celebration of the) great day of the Lord has arrived, and you’re not supposed to mourn. 4Rather, take this headband which the mistress of the workshop gave to me, but which I’m not allowed to wear because I’m your slave and because it bears a royal insignia.”

5And Anna said, “Get away from me! I won’t take it. The Lord God has greatly shamed me. Maybe a trickster has given you this, and you’ve come to make me share in your sin.”

Infancy James 2:6And Juthine the slave replied, “Should 1curse you just because you haven’t paid any attention to me? The Lord God has made your womb sterile so you won’t bear any children for Israel.”

7Anna, too, became very upset. She took off her mourning clothes, washed her face, and put on her wedding dress. sThen, in the middle of the afternoon, she went down to her garden to take a walk. She spied a laurel tree and sat down under it. 9After resting, she prayed to the Lord: “0 God of my ancestors, bless me and hear my prayer, just as you blessed our mother Sarah and gave her a son, Isaac.”

3 And Anna looked up toward the sky and saw a nest of sparrows in the laurel tree. 2And immediately Anna began to lament, saying to herself: “Poor me! Who gave birth to me? What sort of womb bore me?3For 1 was born under a curse in the eyes of the people of Israel. And I’ve been reviled and mocked and banished from the temple of the Lord my God.

4″Poor me! What am 1 like? I am not like the birds of the sky, because even the birds of the sky reproduce in your presence, 0 Lord. s”Poor me! What am 1 like? 1 am not like the domestic animals, because even the domestic animals bear young in your presence, 0 Lord.

6″Poor me! What am 1 like? I am not like the wild animals of the earth, because even the animals of the earth reproduce in your presence, 0 Lord. 7″Poor me! What am 1like? 1am not like these waters, because even these waters are productive in your presence, 0 Lord. s”Poor me! What am I like? I am not like this earth, because even the earth produces its crops in season and blesses you, 0 Lord.” 4 Suddenly a messenger of the Lord appeared to her and said: “Anna, Anna, the Lord God has heard your prayer. You will conceive and give birth, and your child will be talked about all over the world.”

2And Anna said, “As the Lord God lives, whether 1 give birth to a

boy or a girl, I’ll offer it as a gift to the Lord my God, and it will serve

him its whole life.”

3And right then two messengers reported to her: “Look, your husband Joachim is coming with his flocks.” 4You see, a messenger of the

Lord had come down to Joachim and said, “Joachim, Joachim, the

2:6 Childlessness was understood, not as

having a natural cause, but as a sign of divine

punishment (see Gen 16:2; 20:18; and especially 1 Sam 1:5-6).

2:7 Putting on her wedding dress suggests

that Anna is anticipating the outcome of her

plea to God for a blessing similar to that

which God gave Sarah, that is, for the blessing of offspring.

Infancy James 4:4-5:10

Lord God has heard your prayer. Get down from there. Look, your

wife Anna is pregnant.”

SAnd Joachim went down right away and summoned his shepherds

with these instructions: “Bring me ten lambs without spot or blemish,

and the ten lambs will be for the Lord God. 6Also, bring me twelve

tender calves, and the twelve calves will be for the priests and the

council of elders. 7Also, one hundred goats, and the one hundred goats

will be for the whole people.”

SAnd so Joachim came with his flocks, while Anna stood at the gate.

9Then she spotted Joachim approaching with his flocks and rushed out

and threw her arms around his neck: “Now I know that the Lord God

has blessed me greatly. This widow is no longer a widow, and I, once

childless, am now pregnant!”

lOAnd Joachim rested the first day at home.

5 But on the next day, as he was presenting his gifts, he thought to

himself, “If the Lord God has really been merciful to me, the polished

disc on the priest’s headband will make it clear to me.” 2And so

Joachim was presenting his gifts and paying attention to the priest’s

headband until he went up to the altar of the Lord. And he saw no sin

in it. 3And Joachim said, “Now I know that the Lord God has been

merciful to me and has forgiven me all my sins.” 4And he came down

from the temple of the Lord acquitted and went back home.

SAnd so her pregnancy came to term, and in the ninth month Anna

gave birth. 6And she said to the midwife, “Is it a boy or a girl?”

7And her midwife said, “A girl.”

SAnd Anna said, “I have been greatly honored this day.” Then the

midwife put the child to bed.

9When, however, the prescribed days were completed, Anna

cleansed herself of the flow of blood. lOAnd she offered her breast to the

infant and gave her the name Mary.

4:9 The mss differ over whether Anna is pregnant or will be pregnant. The

future tense would be more likely if the word rested in the next sentence

were a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but since this word is used of

Joseph in much the same circumstances (see 15:2) and no such euphemism

is intended there, it is probably better to prefer the literal meaning and so the

present tense (is pregnant). Thus, Anna’s conceiving a child becomes as

much a miracle as later Mary’S will be.

Birth ofMary

4:5-7

~Jg,13:15-20

5:1

~Ex28:36-38

5:4

@LkI8:14

5:8

@Lkl:46

5:9

~LvI2:1-8

5:2 A metal disc was part of the high priest’s

garb and was attached to his headband (Exod

28:36), but its use here, to reveal sin, is otherwise unattested. The disc may have been a

mirror, and mirrors were used to obtain

revelations.

5:9 Childbirth rendered a woman ritually

unclean, unable to touch anything holy or

enter the temple. For the regulations on how

and when a woman cleansed herself after

childbirth, see Lev 12: 1-8.

386 387

Mary’s first

birthday

Mary at the temple

6:1

@LkMO

6:6

OGn2U

6:11

@LkUS;

OGn21:1,30:23

6:13

OGn21:7

7:1

01Sml:22;

CD 1n)a,4:2

Infancy James 6:1-7:6

6 Day by day the infant grew stronger. 2When she was six months

old, her mother put her on the ground to see if she could stand. She

walked seven steps and went to her mother’s arms. 3Then her mother

picked her up and said, “As the Lord my God lives, you will never walk

on this ground again until I take you into the temple of the Lord.”

4And so she turned her bedroom into a sanctuary and did not permit

anything profane or unclean to pass the child’s lips. 5She sent for the

undefiled daughters of the Hebrews, and they kept her amused.

6Now the child had her first birthday, and Joachim gave a great

banquet and invited the high priests, priests, scholars, council of

elders, and all the people of Israel. 7Joachim presented the child to the

priests, and they blessed her: “God of our fathers, bless this child and

give her a name which will be on the lips of future generations

forever.”

BAnd everyone said, “So be it. Amen.”

9He presented her to the high priests, and they blessed her: “Most

high God, look on this child and bless her with the ultimate blessing,

one which cannot be surpassed.”

l0Her mother then took her up to the sanctuary-the bedroomand gave her breast to the child. llAnd Anna composed a song for the

Lord God: “I will sing a sacred song to the Lord my God because he

has visited me and taken away the disgrace attributed to me by my

enemies. 12The Lord my God has given me the fruit of his righteousness, single yet manifold before him. 13Who will announce to the

sons of Reubel that Anna has a child at her breast? ‘Listen, listen, you

twelve tribes of Israel: Anna has a child at her breast!'”

14Anna made her rest in the bedroom-the sanctuary-and then

went out and began serving her guests. 15When the banquet was over,

they left in good spirits and praised the God of Israel.

7 Many months passed, but when the child reached two years of age,

Joachim said, “Let’s take her up to the temple of the Lord, so that we

can keep the promise we made, or else the Lord will be angry with us

and our gift will be unacceptable.”

2And Anna said, “Let’s wait until she is three, so she won’t miss her

father or mother.”

3And Joachim agreed: “Let’s wait.”

4When the child turned three years of age, Joachim said, “Let’s send

for the undefiled Hebrew daughters. 5Let them each take a lamp and

light it, so the child won’t turn back and have her heart captivated by

things outside the Lord’s temple.” 6And this is what they did until the

time they ascended to the Lord’s temple.

Infancy James 7:7-9:8

7The priest welcomed her, kissed her, and blessed her: “The Lord

God has exalted your name among all generations. BIn you the Lord

will disclose his redemption to the people of Israel during the last

days.”

9And he sat her down on the third step of the altar, and the Lord

showered favor on her. lOAnd she danced, and the whole house of

Israel loved her.

8 Her parents left for home marveling and praising and glorifying

the Lord God because the child did not look back at them. 2And Mary

lived in the temple of the Lord. She was fed there like a dove, receiving

her food from the hand of a heavenly messenger.

3When she turned twelve, however, there was a meeting of the

priests. “Look,” they said, “Mary has turned twelve in the temple ofthe

Lord. 4What should we do with her so she won’t pollute the sanctuary

of the Lord our God?” 5And they said to the high priest, “You stand at

the altar of the Lord. Enter and pray about her, and we’ll do whatever

the Lord God discloses to you.”

6And so the high priest took the vestment with the twelve bells,

entered the Holy of Holies, and began to pray about her. 7And suddenly a messenger of the Lord appeared: “Zechariah, Zechariah, go

out and assemble the widowers of the people and have them each bring

a staff. BShe will become the wife of the one to whom the Lord God

shows a sign.” 9And so heralds covered the surrounding territory of

Judea. The trumpet of the Lord sounded and all the widowers came

running.

9 And Joseph, too, threw down his carpenter’s axe and left for the

meeting. 2When they had all gathered, they went to the high priest

with their staffs. 3After the high priest had collected everyone’s staff, he

entered the temple and began to pray. 4When he had finished his

prayer, he took the staffs and went out and began to give them back to

each man. 5But there was no sign on any of them. Joseph got the last

staff. 6Suddenly a dove came out of this staff and perched on Joseph’s

head. 7″Joseph, Joseph,” the high priest said, “you’ve been chosen by

lot to take the virgin of the Lord into your care and protection.”

BBut Joseph objected: “I already have sons and I’m an old man; she’s

only a young woman. I’m afraid that I’ll become the butt of jokes

among the people of Israel.”

Mary at twelve

Joseph

accepts Mary

7:7

@Lkl:48

7:8

~ISmI8:16

8:1

@Lk2:39-40

8:7

@Lkl:ll;

oNmI7:1-11

8:4 Mary would pollute the sanctuary when virgin, which plays a prominent role in

she began to menstruate. The Law consid­ Mary’s characterization for the remainder of

ered a woman ritually unclean during her (he story.

6:12 The meaning of single yet manifold period. See Lev 15:19-24. 9:8 That Joseph has sons and is an old man

before him is obscure. 9:7 This is the first occurrence of the word marks a significant change in the portrayal of

388 389

I

Virgins &

temple veil

Mary’s vision

9:9

DNm16:25-33

9:11

®Mt1024

10:7

DEx26:31,36,

35:25; 2Chr3:14

10:9

® Lk 1020-22, 64

11:2

//InTham 19:4;

® Lkl:28

11:5

®LkUO-33

Infancy James 9:9-11:6

9And the high priest responded, “Joseph, fear the Lord your God

and remember what God did to Dathan, Abiron, and Kore: the earth

was split open and they were all swallowed up because of their objection. lOS0 now, Joseph, you ought to take heed so that the same thing

won’t happen to your family.”

11And so out of fear Joseph took her into his care and protection.

IZHe said to her, “Mary, I’ve gotten you from the temple of the Lord,

but now I’m leaving you at home. I’m going away to build houses, but

I’ll come back to you. The Lord will protect you.”

10 Meanwhile, there was a council of the priests, who agreed:

“Let’s make a veil for the temple of the Lord.”

2And the high priest said, “Summon the true virgins from the tribe

of David.” 3And so the temple assistants left and searched everywhere

and found seven. 4And the high priest then remembered the girl Mary,

that she, too, was from the tribe of David and was pure in God’s eyes.

5And so the temple assistants went out and got her.

6And they took the maidens into the temple of the Lord. 7And the

high priest said, “Cast lots for me to decide who’ll spin which threads

for the veil: the gold, the white, the linen, the silk, the violet, the

scarlet, and the true purple.”

SAnd the true purple and scarlet threads fell to Mary. And she took

them and returned home. 9Now it was at this time that Zechariah

became mute, and Samuel took his place until Zechariah regained his

speech. 10Meanwhile, Mary had taken up the scarlet thread and was

spinning it.

11 And she lOok her water jar and went out to fill it with water.

2Suddenly there was a voice saying to her, “Greetings, favored one!

The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” 3Mary began

looking around, both right and left, to see where the voice was coming

from. 4She became terrified and went home. After putting the water jar

down and taking up the purple thread, she sat down on her chair and

began to spin.

5A heavenly messenger suddenly stood before her: “Don’t be afraid,

Mary. You see, you’ve found favor in the sight of the Lord of all. You

will conceive by means of his word.”

6But as she listened, Mary was doubtful and said, “If I actually

Joseph from that in the canonical accounts.

9:11 That Joseph took her recalls Matt 1:24,

but with this significant difference: there it is

as his wife, here merely as his ward.

10:2 Strictly speaking, there was no tribe of

David. According to Luke, Mary is related to

Elizabeth, who belongs to the tribe of Aaron

(Luke 1:5, 36).

10:9 The time that Zechariah became mute

reflects an attempt on the part of the author

to place his narrative in the context of the

canonical account (see Luke 1:20-22,64).

Infancy James 11:6-13:7

conceive by the Lord, the living God, will I also give birth the way

women usually do?”

7And the messenger of the Lord replied, “No, Mary, because the

power of God will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will

be called holy, son of the Most High. SAnd you will name him Jesusthe name means ‘he will save his people from their sins.'”

9And Mary said, “Here I am, the Lord’s slave before him. I pray that

all you’ve told me comes true.”

12 And she finished (spinning) the purple and the scarlet thread

and took her work up to the high priest. 2The high priest accepted

them and praised her and said, “Mary, the Lord God has extolled your

name and so you will be blessed by all the generations of the earth.”

3Mary rejoiced and left to visit her relative Elizabeth. 4She knocked

at the door. Elizabeth heard her, tossed aside the scarlet thread, ran to

the door, and opened it for her. 5And she blessed her and said, “Who

am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me? You see, the baby

inside me has jumped for joy and blessed you.”

6But Mary forgot the mysteries which the heavenly messenger

Gabriel had spoken, and she looked up to the sky and said, “Who am I

that every generation on earth will congratulate me?”

7She spent three months with Elizabeth. SDay by day her womb kept

swelling. And so Mary became frightened, returned home, and hid

from the people of Israel. 9She was just sixteen years old when these

mysterious things happened to her.

13 She was in her sixth month when one day Joseph came home

from his building projects, entered his house, and found her pregnant.

2He struck himself in the face, threw himself to the ground on

sackcloth, and began to cry bitterly: “What sort offace should I present

to the Lord God? 3What prayer can I say on her behalfsince I received

her as a virgin from the temple of the Lord God and didn’t protect her?

4Who has set this trap for me? Who has done this evil deed in my

house? Who has lured this virgin away from me and violated her? 5The

story of Adam has been repeated in my case, hasn’t it? For just as Adam

was praying when the serpent came and found Eve alone, deceived her,

and corrupted her, so the same thing has happened to me.”

6S0 Joseph got up from the sackcloth and summoned Mary and said

to her, “God has taken a special interest in you-how could you have

done this? 7Have you forgotten the Lord your God? Why have you

brought shame on yourself, you who were raised in the Holy of Holies

and fed by a heavenly messenger?”

Mary & Elizabeth

–J-o-se-h-­

accusetMary

11:6

 

® Lk1:34

 

11:8

® Lkl:35, Mt1:21

11:9

 

® Lkl:38

 

12:2

® Lk1:42, 48

12:3-6

® Lk 1:39-44

12:6

® Lkl:48

12:7

®Lk1:56

12:8

® LkI:24

13:5

DGn3:1-13

13:6

DGn3:13

13:7

CD InJo,8:2

12:3 The author assumes that readers will Zechariah and mother of the future John the

know who Elizabeth is. She is the wife of Baptist (see 22:5; Luke 1:5).

390 391

Joseph’s vision

Mary & Joseph

accused

13:8

®LkH4’

@InJaslS:13

14:1-6

® MrI:19-24

14:2

oDr 22:23-24

14:3

® Mr27:3-4

Infancy James 13:8-15:7

8But she began to cry bitter tears: “I’m innocent. I haven’t had sex

with any man.”

9And Joseph said to her, “Then where did the child you’re carrying

come from?”

lOAnd she replied, “As the Lord my God lives, I don’t know where it

came from.”

14 And Joseph became very frightened and no longer spoke with

her as he pondered what he was going to do with her. 2And Joseph said

to himself, “IfI try to cover up her sin, I’ll end up going against the law

of the Lord. 3And ifI disclose her condition to the people ofIsrael, I’m

afraid that the child inside her might be heaven-sent and I’ll end up

handing innocent blood over to a death sentence. 4S0 what should I do

with her? (I know,) I’ll divorce her quietly.”

SBut when night came a messenger of the Lord suddenly appeared

to him in a dream and said: “Don’t be afraid of this girl, because the

child in her is the holy spirit’s doing. 6She will have a son and you will

name him Jesus-the name means ‘he will save his people from their

sins.'” 7And Joseph got up from his sleep and praised the God ofIsrael,

who had given him this favor. 8And so he began to protect the girl.

15 Then Annas the scholar came to him and said to him, “Joseph,

why haven’t you attended our assembly?”

2And he replied to him, “Because I was worn out from the trip and

rested my first day home.”

3Then Annas turned and saw that Mary was pregnant.

4He left in a hurry for the high priest and said to him, “You

remember Joseph, don’t you-the man you yourself vouched for?

Well, he has committed a serious offense.”

5And the high priest asked, “In what way?”

6″Joseph has violated the virgin he received from the temple of the

Lord,” he replied. “He had his way with her and hasn’t disclosed his

action to the people ofIsrael.”

7And the high priest asked him, “Has Joseph really done this?”

13:10 That Mary is unable to say where it

carne from is surprising, given the explicit

announcement (see II :7). Presumably Mary

forgot, as also in her conversation with

Elizabeth (see 12:6).

14:3 That there could be a death sentence

derives from Deut 22:23-24.

14:4 That Joseph should divorce her quietly

makes little sense here because they are

neither engaged nor married. The author is

clearly dependent on Matt 1:19.

14:5 The command here, Don’t be afraid of

this girl, differs significantly from the parallel

account in Matt 1:20 (“Do not be afraid to

take Mary as your wife”). This difference is

deliberate, reflecting the very different relationship between Joseph and Mary in this

gospel.

15:6 That Joseph should be held responsible

for having violated Mary and made her pregnant is odd because, when he had left to

build, she was twelve years old (see 8:3) but

now she is sixteen (see 12:9).

Infancy James 15:8-17:2

8And he replied, “Send temple assistants and you’ll find the virgin

pregnant.”

9And so the temple assistants went and found her just as Annas had

reported, and then they brought her, along with Joseph, to the court.

IO”Mary, why have you done this?” the high priest asked her. “Why

have you humiliated yourself? IIHave you forgotten the Lord your

God, you who were raised in the Holy of the Holies and were fed by

heavenly messengers? 12You of all people, who heard their hymns and

danced for them-why have you done this?”

l3And she wept bitterly: “As the Lord God lives, I stand innocent

before him. Believe me, I’ve not had sex with any man.”

14And the high priest said, “Joseph, why have you done this?”

ISAnd Joseph said, “As the Lord lives, I am innocent where she is

concerned.”

16And the high priest said, “Don’t perjure yourself, but tell the truth.

You’ve had your way with her and haven’t disclosed this action to the

people of Israel. 17And you haven’t humbled yourself under God’s

mighty hand, so that your offspring might be blessed.”

18But Joseph was silent.

16 Then the high priest said, “Return the virgin you received from

the temple of the Lord.”

lAnd Joseph, bursting into tears….

3And the high priest said, “I’m going to give you the Lord’s drink

test, and it will disclose your sin clearly to both of you.”

4And the high priest took the water and made Joseph drink it and

sent him into the wilderness, but he returned unharmed. 5And he

made the girl drink it, too, and sent her into the wilderness. She also

came back unharmed. 6And everybody was surprised because their sin

had not been revealed. 7And so the high priest said, “If the Lord God

has not exposed your sin, then neither do I condemn you.” And he

dismissed them. 8Joseph took Mary and returned home celebrating and

praising the God of Israel.

17 Now an order came from the Emperor Augustus that everybody

in Bethlehem of Judea be enrolled in the census. lAnd Joseph wondered, “I’ll enroll my sons, but what am I going to do with this girl?

16:2 There is probably a lacuna here, for no finite verb accompanies the

participle bursting. How much has dropped out is difficult to tell, but perhaps

nothing more than “said nothing” is missing.

The drink lesl

On Ihe way

10 Belhlehem

15:11

(1) InJas8:2

15:13

@InJasI3:8

15:17

® I PetS:6

16:3

ONmS:II-31

16:7

® Jn8:11

16:8

® LkS:2S i7:I-ll

® Lk2:1-7

16:3 The Lord’s drink test reflects a similar,

yel far from identical, test described in Num

5:11-31. For another such test, outside the

biblical tradition, see Achilles Tatius, Cleitophon and Leucippe, 8.3.3; 6.1-15; 13.1-14.2.

17:1 With the order from the Emperor

Augustus the gospel begins to follow the

sequence of events narrated in Luke 2:1-39,

with some attention to Matt 1:16-2:16. Note,

however, that Augustus’ order here extends

only to Bethlehem of Judea, not to the whole

world, as in Luke 2: I.

392

T

 

Infancy James 17:2-18:11

Time stands still How will I enroll her? 3As my wife? I’m ashamed to do that. As my

daughter? The people of Israel know she’s not my daughter. 4How this

is to be decided depends on the Lord.”

sAnd so he saddled his donkey and had her get on it. His son led it

and Samuel brought up the rear. 6As they neared the three mile

marker, Joseph turned around and saw that she was sulking. 7And he

said to himself, “Perhaps the baby she is carrying is causing her

discomfort.” sJoseph turned around again and saw her laughing and

said to her, “Mary, what’s going on with you? One minute I see you

laughing and the next minute you’re sulking.”

9And she replied, “Joseph, it’s because I imagine two peoples in

front of me, one weeping and mourning and the other celebrating and

jumping for joy.”

IOHalfway through the trip Mary said to him, “Joseph, help me

down from the donkey-the child inside me is about to be born.”

“And he helped her down and said to her, “Where will I take you to

give you some privacy, since this place is out in the open?”

18 He found a cave nearby and took her inside. He stationed his

sons to guard her 2and went to look for a Hebrew midwife in the

country around Bethlehem.

3″Now I, Joseph, was walking along and yet not going anywhere. 41

looked up at the vault ofthe sky and saw it standing still, and then at the

clouds and saw them paused in amazement, and at the birds of the sky

suspended in midair. 5As I looked on the earth, I saw a bowl lying there

and workers reclining around it with their hands in the bowl; 6some

were chewing and yet did not chew; some were picking up something

to eat and yet did not pick it up; and some were putting food in their

mouths and yet did not do so. 7Instead, they were all looking upward.

s”I saw sheep being driven along and yet the sheep stood still; 9the

shepherd was lifting his hand to strike them, and yet his hand

remained raised. lOAnd I observed the current of the river and saw

goats with their mouths in the water and yet they were not drinking.

“Then all of a sudden everything and everybody went on with what

they had been doing.

18:3 From here on the earliest ms differs sharply from later mss in that it 17:9 omits the vision of Joseph (18:3-11) and has shorter accounts of the incidents

LkZ34 that follow.

® GnZ5,Z3,

17:4 How this is to be decided: literally, “this ment, which is how it is taken here.

day of the Lord,” an expression that implies a 17:5 No Samuel is mentioned among the

time of judgment or decision. “Day” might brothers of Jesus in Mark 6:3.

refer to some particular day, but, if so, it is 18:1 That Jesus is born in a cave outside

not clear which one. Or it might refer simply Bethlehem differs from Luke’s stable at an

to that day that Joseph travels, since every inn there (Luke 2:7).

day belongs to the Lord. Or it might refer to 18:3-11 Joseph’s vision, which begins with

the series of events culminating in the enroll- his claim to be walking along and yet not

Infancy James 19:1-20:4 393

19 “Then I saw a woman coming down from the hill country, and A child is born

she asked, ‘Where are you going, sir?’

2″1 replied, ‘I am looking for a Hebrew midwife.’ Salome’s folly

3″She inquired, ‘Are you an Israelite?’

4″1 told her, ‘Yes.’

5″And she said, ‘And who’s the one having a baby in the cave?’

6″1 replied, ‘My fiancee.’

7″And she continued, ‘She isn’t your wife?’

S”I said to her, ‘She is Mary, who was raised in the temple of the

Lord; I obtained her by lot as my wife. 9But she’s not really my wife;

she’s pregnant by the holy spirit.’

1°”The midwife said, ‘Really?'”

“Joseph responded, “Come and see.”

12And the midwife went with him. 13As they stood in front of the

cave, a dark cloud overshadowed it. 14The midwife said, “I’ve really

been privileged, because today my eyes have seen a miracle in that

salvation has come to Israel.”

15Suddenly the cloud withdrew from the cave and an intense light

appeared inside the cave, so that their eyes could not bear to look.

16And a little later that light receded until an infant became visible; he

took the breast of his mother Mary.

17Then the midwife shouted: “What a great day this is for me

because I’ve seen this new miracle!”

1sAnd the midwife left the cave and met Salome and said to her,

“Salome, Salome, let me tell you about a new marvel: a virgin has given

birth, and you know that’s impossible!”

19And Salome replied, “As the Lord my God lives, unless I insert my

finger and examine her, I will never believe that a virgin has given

birth.”

20 The midwife entered and said, “Mary, position yourself for an

examination. You are facing a serious test.”

2And so Mary, when she heard these instructions, positioned herself, and Salome inserted her finger into Mary. 3And then Salome cried 19:13

oEx16:1O

aloud and said, “I’ll be damned because of my transgression and my

disbelief; I have put the living God on trial. 4Look! My hand is

disappearingl It’s being consumed by the flames!”

19:14

® LkZ:30

19:19

® JnZO,Z5

going anywhere, seems to describe an experience in which everything-the winds, birds,

workers, herds, herders, and himself-are

momentarily frozen in whatever activity they

were engaged in. This moment would seem

to be the time when, back at the cave, Jesus

was born.

19:6 That Joseph should refer here to Mary

as his financee is odd, given the author’s

deliberate attempt elsewhere to depict their

relationship as that of merely guardian and

ward.

19:19 Salome inserting her finger recalls the

language and story of doubting Thomas in

John 20:24-25.

394 395

Visit of

the astrologers

20:11

@LkI8:14

21:1-12

@Mt2:1-12

21:5

~Mi5:1

21:11

~ls60:6

Infancy James 20:5-21:11

5Then Salome fell on her knees in the presence of the Lord, with

these words: “God of my ancestors, remember me because I am a

descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6Do not make an example of

me for the people of Israel, but give me a place among the poor again.

7You yourself know, Lord, that I’ve been healing people in your name

and have been receiving my payment from you.”

8And suddenly a messenger of the Lord appeared, saying to her,

“Salome, Salome, the Lord of all has heard your prayer. 9Hold out your

hand to the child and pick him up, and then you’ll have salvation and

joy.”

IOSalome approached the child and picked him up with these words:

“I’ll worship him because he’s been born to be king of Israel.” lIAnd

Salome was instantly healed and left the cave vindicated.

l2Then a voice said abruptly, “Salome, Salome, don’t report the

marvels you’ve seen until the child goes to Jerusalem.”

21 Joseph was about ready to depart for Judea, but a great uproar

was about to take place in Bethlehem in Judea. 2It all started when

astrologers came inquiring, “Where is the newborn king of the

Judeans? We’re here because we saw his star in the East and have come

to pay him homage.”

3When Herod heard about their visit, he was terrified and sent

agents to the astrologers. 4He also sent for the high priests and questioned them in his palace: “What has been written about the Anointed?

Where is he supposed to be born?”

SThey said to him, “In Bethlehem, Judea, that’s what the scriptures

say.” 6And he dismissed them.

7Then he questioned the astrologers: “What sign have you seen

regarding the one who has been born king?”

8And the astrologers said, “We saw a star of exceptional brilliance in

the sky, and it so dimmed the other stars that they disappeared. Consequently, we know that a king was born for Israel. And we have come to

pay him homage.”

9Herod instructed them: “Go and begin your search, and if you find

him, report back to me, so I can also go and pay him homage.”

laThe astrologers departed. And there it was: the star they had seen

in the East led them on until they came to the cave; then the star

stopped directly above the head ofthe child. 11After the astrologers saw

him with his mother Mary, they took gifts out of their pouches-gold,

pure incense, and myrrh.

20:12 The aUlhor seemingly refers to

Joseph’s and Mary’s lasl trip to Jerusalem,

which is narrated in Luke 2:22-39.

21:1 Judea: Here and in v. 12 “Judea” must

refer to the city of Jerusalem.

21:5 It is remarkable that after the words

what the scriptures say the quotation from

Mic 5:1, 3, which follows these very words in

Matt 2:6, is omitted here.

J

 

Infancy James 21:12-23:9

12Since they had been advised by the heavenly messenger not to go

into Judea, they returned to their country by another route.

22 When Herod realized he had been duped by the astrologers, he

flew into a rage 2and dispatched his executioners with instructions to

kill all the infants two years old and younger.

3When Mary heard that the infants were being killed, she was

frightened 4and took her child, wrapped him in strips of cloth, and put

him in a feeding trough used by cattle.

SAs for Elizabeth, when she heard that they were looking for John,

she took him and went up into the hill country. 6She kept searching for

a place to hide him, but there was none to be had. 7Then she groaned

and said out loud, “Mountain of God, please take in a mother with her

child.” You see, Elizabeth was unable to keep on climbing because her

nerve failed her. 8But suddenly the mountain was split open and let

them in. This mountain allowed the light to shine through to her,

9since a messenger of the Lord was with them for protection.

23 Herod, though, kept looking for John 2and sent his agents to

Zechariah serving at the altar with this message for him: “Where have

you hidden your son?”

3But he answered them, “I am a minister of God, attending to his

temple. How should I know where my son is?”

4S0 the agents left and reported all this to Herod, who became angry

and said, “Is his son going to rule over Israel?”

5And he sent his agents back with this message for him: “Tell me the

truth. Where is your son? Don’t you know that I have your life in my

Slaughter of

the infants

Murder of

 

Zechariah

 

22:1-2 power?” @Mt2:16-18

6And the agents went and reported this message to him. 22:4

7Zechariah answered, “I am a martyr for God. Take my life. 8The @Lk2:7

23:1-9 Lord, though, will receive my spirit because you are shedding innocent @Mt23:35,

blood at the entrance to the temple of the Lord.” Lkl:5-25

23:7-8 9And so at daybreak Zechariah was murdered, but the people of @Mt23035,

Israel did not know that he had been murdered. Acts7:59

22:4 The strips of cloth and feeding trough

recall Luke 2:12, but here these items are

used in the Matthean context of Herod’s

threat to Jesus’ life. By having Mary wrap

Jesus up and hide him in a trough, the

author can dispense with Joseph’s, Mary’s

and Jesus’ escape to Egypt, which is Matthew’s solution to the threat (Matt 2:3-15).

22:5 For the significance of why Elizabeth

took John and went up into the hill country,

see the Introduction.

22:8 The translation of the phrase This

mountain allowed the light to shine through to

her is very tentative, for the Greek is opaque

and probably corrupt.

23:2 Zechariah’s presence at the altar, where

he will be killed, shows that the author has

apparently identified this Zechariah, the

father of John, with another Zechariah, mentioned in Matt 23:35, who did die at the altar.

396

TZechariah mourned

Author

24:\

(j) Lkl:21

24:8

(j) MkI5:38,

Mt27:51

24:14

@ Lk2:25-26

Infancy James 24:1-25:4

24 At the hour offormal greetings the priests departed, but Zechariah did not meet and bless them as was customary, 2And so the priests

waited around for Zechariah, to greet him with prayer and to praise the

Most High God,

3But when he did not show up, they all became fearfuL 40ne of

them, however, summoned up his courage, entered the sanctuary, and

saw dried blood next to the Lord’s altar, 5And a voice said, “Zechariah

has been murdered! His blood will not be cleaned up until his avenger

appears,” 6When he heard this utterance he was afraid and went out and

reported to the priests what he had seen and heard, 7And they summoned up their courage, entered, and saw what had happened,

8The panels of the temple cried out, and the priests ripped their robes

from top to bottom, 9They didn’t find a corpse, but they did find his

blood, now turned to stone. l°They were afraid and went out and

reported to the people that Zechariah had been murdered. llWhen all

the tribes of the people heard this, they began to mourn; and they beat their breasts for three days and three nights.

12After three days, however, the priests deliberated about whom they

should appoint to the position of Zechariah. 13The lot fell to Simeon. 14This man, you see, is the one who was informed by the holy spirit

that he would not see death until he laid eyes on the Anointed in the

flesh. 25 Now I, James, am the one who wrote this account at the time

when an uproar arose in Jerusalem at the death of Herod, 21 took

myself off to the wilderness until the uproar in Jerusalem died down. 3There 1 praised the Lord God, who gave me the wisdom to write this

account. 4Grace will be with all those who fear the Lord. Amen.

24:9 They didn’t find a corpse presumably

because the murderers carried the body away

and buried it without a name.

25:1 For the historical problems raised by

having James compose this gospel after the

death ofHerod see the Introductio

Read More

The New Covenant Kingdom.

Each culture has defining features that are unique to it. It is made up of specific components like land defined by borders, a language, with leaders and a legal system to implement the laws that are specific to it. They generally have memorial celebrations to pass on to subsequent generations the things that make them unique. They define, renew and insure their identity. Change these and that people will cease to exist.

An important feature of many nations is a foundational document called a constitution. Constitution is a big word for ingredients. It defines what the citezines are made up of. These people are called constituents. They contain the ingredients in themselves as defined by their constitution that make them unique. Take away these ingredients and you change the people. You have a new constituency and a different people. People who are made up of different laws and values.

This is what Christ did. He came preaching “The Kingdom of God is at hand ” as something different from the Old Law era. He was the revolutionary creating a new constituency different from the old, of a new constitution called The New Covenant, of something that wasn’t understood before. The book of Hebrews says “this was first spoken by the Lord and confirmed by those who heard it.” He spoke first something different from the old covenant a new message to a new people to supersede the old. Hence, “all the Law and the Prophets were till John the Baptist. Now the Kingdom is preached and all are entering it. That is “too as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become His people, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of te will of men but of God. This is the voice that beacons us to respond to the gospel call.

Such are we.We are this new constituency being the ingredients of The New Covenant “founded on better promises” than the old covenant, Will and Testament that the New one replaced. (Hebrews 8.6) They were not meant to co-exist. Old and New are not to get mixed together.

And the proof that it is something new and distinguishable different? Christ said “Only those who are born again can see the Kingdom and only those borne from above can enter the Kingdom of God [in Christ]. We hope you can see what we are talking about.

“All the law and the prophets (with their city, buildings and feasts) were till John the Baptist”, then stopped. “Now the Kingdom is preached and all are entering?” With these words, Christ drew the proverbial ‘line in the sand’ between His New Kingdom and the kingdom of that Israel saying of it. That “not one stone shall be left one upon another that shall not be cast down” thereby expiring its purpose with its offices, laws, and officers called prophets of  that Jerusalem on earth. With the introduction of their replacement called “Heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of us all”.

This was the contrast that we were given. Christ was the demarcation line and the check point between the old Hebrew/ Judah/Jew kingdom and the new Covenant Kingdom of God that are “in Christ” that “cometh not with (physical) observation”. (Luke 17.22) But never the less, still “at hand”.

“The Kingdom of God at hand” was unveiled, or, revealed then and was never retracted. A covenant is not in force till the death of the testator. Christ went to the cross for this cause. With His death the New Covenant is fully in force and the heirs receive their inheritance by that edict, as they participate in it (because it is “at hand”) and grow in the knowledge of God as we teach, each one of us in the order of our space in time of existence (1 Corinthians 15.23) and need not wait for another saving or the end of the world for us to retrieve are own portion of our inheritance into “The Kingdom of God at hand”.

And “at hand” means within reach to all who “press in to lay hold of why Christ laid hold of  us”, as a continual attitude and effort on our part unto your completion. Then the scripture can be fulfilled in you too that Paul learned to obtain when he talked about being “seated in Heavenly places in Christ” as a concurring reality. And from the book of Hebrews that “there remains a rest (a retirement from work) for the people of God. That they may enter their rest (retirement) as God did from His”. And subsequently so did the Son of God who “having purged our sin, sat down forever at the right hand of the Father, who is now waiting for His enemies to become His footstool”, because now, the rest of the work is up to us. And how do we define our work? To continue to believe in His name, and press in to obtain, until He has given you this assurance of your acquisition of the gift given, of your (Sabbath days rest) resting with them as well as Paul showed us. That our wranglings over this age are over as we also rest while our enemies who appear to be active, are only given a long rope to do so until their eternal judgment is complete with the words of Christ saying “fill up the measure of your fathers guilt”, so that they all may be mutually implicit…. Even as the fallen angels in Enoch 6 made mutual imprecations to do this thing because they knew it would take all that they had if they could do it. But because the New Covenant Kingdom at hand is of a heavenly sort, it shows us how confused the fallen are as they fight for something that is slated to burn with them in it. (2 Peter 3.10)

But for us? The New Covenant is emphatically in force in full as separate from The Old Covenant, so much so in fact that to understand, we were told not to put new wine in old wine skins. (Also Hebrews 9+). The old reached its culmination to bring us to the New. Christ is the demarcation line between the two and the sole mediator for this New creation and needs no help from the prophets of the old whom He replaced as substandard and subservient. (Hebrews 1.1)

Peter said of the prophets “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully (to understand something they did not have), who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, (meaning not to the Old Will and Testament era), but to us (the gentiles from all nations) of which any left over Israelite’s or Jews just become another country with access by the same means being through the promise given to Abraham. That he would be a father of many nations. Hence “the Kingdom of God is at hand”, and “To as many as recieved Him, to them He gave the power to become His people, even to those who simply believed in His name. This should be a startling reminder as to who the enemy is. And again from the Revelation “for you know those who say they are Jews but are not. They are from the synogouge of Satan”, for the very reasons we have just been explaining to you…

“All (of the old) law and the prophets were till John”? Christ introduces a new constitution for a new constituency of those born with ingredients of the Word and of the Spirit. “He came to His own and His own did not accept Him, but to as many as receive Him, to them He gave power to become His Children, even to those who believe in His name”. And also “of those born among women there is none greater than John the baptist.  But those who are least in the New Covenant Kingdom are greater than he.” Such are we. We are “greater than John the Baptist” or any other prophet for John was the greatest of them. And He was the last who said “are you the coming one or do we seek another?”  Because John was beheaded we have are answer. John was the last and the greatest and because he was beheaded, we know that the body of the prophets were forbidden to be retold as having any future relevance.

The “New Covenant” people, are different from the old. A new people with a new make up, distinguishably different from the old. The old was written on tablets of stone and the New on tablets of the heart. (2 Corinthians 3.3)

We are not of the circumcision of the flesh but the heart. The differences have no parallels. The old depicts the New only with contrasts. The law of sin and death is a contrast to “The Spirit of life that is in Christ”. The operative here is “in Christ” not “in Jerusalem” on earth. These too are contrasts as well “for as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts says Jehovah God”. This is “rightly dividing the word of truth”. And “if there had been a law given which could have given life, then truly righteousness would have been by the law. The culture of the law only mirrors the truth in contrasts and opposites. “The law having shadows of things to come (in Christ) but not the essence” (Hebrews 10.1)

Scripture says that Christ is the new mediator of a new covenant founded on better promises” than the old. In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first OBSOLETE. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” and it did. (Hebrews 8.13). That happened with the destruction of Jerusalem which was overturned by Titus, to fulfill Gods word in His Son as conveyed to us in Matthew 24 that “no stone shall be left upon another that shall not be strewn under” being totally unrecognizable.

The old was made up of artifacts of bygone ages founded on temporary fixes and band-aids designed to “make sin exceedingly sinful”. To make us good and dead till Christ comes to each one of us in our own time, throughout time. That “to as many as receive Him (The Son of God) to them He gives the stature to be called His children, even to those who (simply) call on His name. Who were born not of the will of mankind but of God”. He bred a new people for a New Kingdom, a Heavenly Kingdom as those born from above. (John 3)

At the proclamation that “The Kingdom of God is at hand” the deterioration of the old commenced. And if the changes to the Jerusalem of old were to be minor, He would have just had painted the buildings and maybe replaced the roof, but because the changes were so drastic and diametrically opposite, everything had to be redone. “Till not one stone shall be left upon another” was the Jerusalem’s demise (Mt 24.1). When Christ was on the cross, the physical temple was cracked so violently from the top to the bottom that the earth quaked and the bedrock shifted.  (Mt 27.52) Yes clear through the foundation showing it unsafe for use of any sort. And YOU CANNOT BUILD ON A FAULT LINE. That is why scripture says “old things have passed away, all things have become new.” It is irreversible. There is no going back to the old way.

This expiration of that kingdom was so completely fulfilled and put out of business, so much so in fact that all debts were paid and the books were balanced and closed saying “all the deaths of all the Prophets from righteous Able to Zechariah whom you slayed between the porch and the altar shall be required of this generation” to accomplish this reset, because they did not receive Christs offer of forgiveness because they liked the old way better (What about you). And because that kingdom and all the Jews so emphatically rejected the New King of a New Kingdom, the New Law and the New Law giver and the New Mediator of The New Covenant, but of them? “There were none righteous, no not one. All of their mouths are open sceplecures and white washed tombs. So on them was laid all the guilt for all the wrong doing, murders and deaths of all the prophets from Able till then. Why? Because there was not one prophet they listened to. Even as the people said “He is not my king, crucify Him”. And so they did. And so for this they were judged, condemned and annihilated. In this way they rejected the chief cornerstone. They were not recipients of the gift of God but His wrath. The books were settled, the wages of sin were paid. God owes them nothing He hasn’t already given them. God was patient that none would perish but there was none righteous, no not one”. The Jews and Jerusalem are no more. They are fulfilled. Meaning, expired, shelved and put away saying. Now it is said “²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. Galatians 3. Jews have no preferential treatment.

She was found in total contempt as seen here.“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; Meaning condemned, kaput, closed for business, out of commission.

The buildings and the streets were so turned over and so unrecognizable that there was no distinguishing features left. The people were ravaged, killed and trapped in that city because they rejected The King. Josephus and other historians from that era speak of the hellish horror they experienced while they ate each others flesh and gnashed their teeth in pain while Jerusalem was surrounded by armies. They knew not their time. “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, do not go back in your house to retrieve a coat”. The Jews are gone,. That kingdom was demolished. It was condemned, put out of business and replaced.

Here are the words from God and final judgment of a wayward people from Leviticus 26.

²³ ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me,

²⁴ then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

²⁵ And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant;

when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you;

and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

²⁶ When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

²⁷ ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,

²⁸ then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;

and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

²⁹ You^[g] shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.

³⁰ I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;

and My soul shall abhor you.

³¹ I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your ^[h]sweet aromas.

³² I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it.

³³ I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;

your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.

³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land;

then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths.

³⁵ As long as it lies desolate it shall rest—

for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it.

³⁶ ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness^[i] into their hearts in the lands of their enemies;

the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee;

they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.

³⁷ They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues;

and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

³⁸ You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

³⁹ And those of you who are left shall ^[j]waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands;

also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

You see the law was added only till faith comes and in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son born of a women to redeem those from the law. There is therefore no need for that law and the culture associated with it. It served its purpose of “making sin exceedingly sinful”. To go back to that is like jumping back into the pan on the fire for it will reap the same reward of rejecting the Savior. But many do just that as they look to another coming Jesus and another fulfillment of another Jerusalem and view scripture the same way as the Jews of old were condemned for. But “we have come to know and believe that Christ came to expire and replace the Old Covenant with the New covenant and New Kingdom of God in Christ. We the elect have received it. The rest were hardened. They like the old wine better for “no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”  The Old verse the New. You choose. But woe to those who consider the blood of Christ a common thing and insult the spirit of grace and go back to the old sacrifices, ways and such who anticipate another Jesus for another act to save the world in competition of the saving of the cross. (John 3.16)

 

The Kingdom of God is At Hand Even Now.

Josephs Coat of Many Colors and The Mark of The Beast.

Josephs coat of many colors that he lost to the solders who cast him into the pit holds clues to the Garments of Christ that were divided among the solders who stripped Him naked at the hour of His carnal death. Like with Joseph, they said “here comes the Heir, let us divide His garments among us. And because the Garments themselves were of Royalty from their respective Fathers, we can understand that what they divided up were the garments related to a carnal mans aspects of Royalty unique to a Kings personal sovereignty as pertaining to this age. And if you remember when Christ was on trial about His Kingship, He was asked if He was King, and He replied “you have rightly called Me King, however My Kingdom is NOT from here”, thereby distancing Himself from that and any Jerusalem on earth.

This shows us His type of Kingdom and Royalty that we are reborn from and meant to emulate. He went on to say; or else I would dispatch a Legion of Angels and they would fight. However My Kingdom is NOT from here” meaning carnally visual and earthly, these are not His. Those are the traps for the gods of this age who left their first estate for something temporary. We say that because temporary things expire, and all the Law and The Prophets with their places, persons, offices and feasts days all had their culmination and conclusion at the cross. As for any such future rendition. This would become a trap because just as the Old Covenant genome of the last days jews had reached their extinction, so too, any such rendition would suffer similar consequences, but even worse because it is not the old testament concepts that they reject but the new by reverting to the old. Yes, the New and living way to the Father called “the Kingdom of God at hand”, of which the access point is the cross of Christ. It is this that they will NOT enter. Even as Christ told that wicked genome. He said “you are not entering the (Kingdom of God at hand) nor are you allowing those to enter who are trying to do so. This is why He told them “you do the deeds of your father the devil”. Christ made this distinction and extinction crystal clear. And for us on whom the ends of the age have come, we got the picture. We have no association with the fruitless works of darkness who keep peoples attention and affections ground bound and looking down, all the while their opportunity to press in to lay hold of the hope set before us, lingers and fades in a preoccupation.

Note; the core of that word is “occupation”, to be occupied and distracted. When someone is occupied as such, isn’t that just a form of demonic possession? Having an “occupant”?  Think about it.

But Christ went to the cross in order for us to reclaim our God given sovereignty, seen first with Adam and Eve, then stolen by satan, to be restored back to us through the gospel of the Christ of the cross, who defeated Satan by dying our death on our behalf, to give us a do-over to what we call “that which was from the beginning”. For us to be free from the task of taking care of a dead man as being the person in the mirror. Not dead as having no life, but having only a carnal life, but dead to the things of  the Heavenly Father that we have access to right here right now because He has NO limitations. Nope, those are yours.

We are born again to go on to pursue our Heavenly calling as being sojourners of a Heavenly sort that has nothing to do with timeframes related to creation, but a process and why we are called sojourners because the steps we take are in the eternal realm, as having to do with our ascension, having been raised up in understanding first.

For this is the “upward calling of God in Christ”, that seats us next to the Father “far above all principalities and powers, seated in Heavenly places and hidden “in Christ., known as Heavenly Jerusalem”. Even as Eve in the beginning was hidden inside of Adam and known as “the rib”. So too, Heavenly Jerusalem, the Mother of us all”, is hidden and tucked inside of Christ” being Adams replacement and the author and finisher of our faith. However His feminine counterpart was never to be exposed in a carnal way and is only made known now by way of revelation. This is  why She is the object and the conclusion of “The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ” and not the judgments and woes, because She is the veiled image inside Christ. As far as all the catastrophes in that book? Those were the carefully placed redirects for the disingenuous in the faith. That book is not meant for them.. Like the spies who went to rehabs house looking for two people, to be “sent out the other way”. This is why NOT many people know the Holy Spirit is female and also the Bride and Wife of Christ, the parents of those born again. What do the judgments and woes in the book of “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, have to do with the wedding feast of which we are already participating in? The Judgments and the woes in the book of the Revelation were like fireworks for kids meant to distract the disingenuous, and those not quite ready. This is why Christ was the first to proclaim that “The Kingdom of God is at hand”, as something different then what they were experiencing back then called the Old Covenant Kingdom and again today csnother Jerusalem on earth for carnal satisfaction. This is the delusion to displace the disingenuous..

Christ was the one to reverse the fall by gifting the New Covenant, resurrection based believers and get mankind back on track to be Heaven bound for Heavenly Jerusalem. This is quite opposite of that thing on earth that has distracted sooo many people. To understand this as we do, is to be “raised in understanding” to the New Jerusalem as it pertains to the new you, both of them through receiving the gospel.

The old physical Jerusalem concept appeals to the thinking of the carnal nature mankind adopted from Adam. And the place where the fall took place is where this all happened. And the fall has to do with being distracted by carnal presentations that mimick the invisible.

This is why we are mandated from Romans 12 to “be ye renewed in the spirit of your minds, that you may know what God’s good, acceptable and perfect will is”. This is where this all comes together.

For God made Him who knew no sin, to become our sin for our cause and effect. For Him to neutralize the carnal distractions for us to have His righteousness in us”, credited to us, so that we can “press in to attain to all the riches in Christ, in contrast with the old person we were when we operated by our old programming mode from the fall.

We say this takes place in the spirit of your minds because when Adam and Eve fell, there were no broken bones, bruises or spilled blood. Only un-sooth-able sorrow. Yes, gut wrenching sorrow and agony….

With these clues and these accounts as to what our duty is as becoming saints, we can learn to understand what the game plan is of satan and the lower case gods of this age in their final quest at circumventing the maturation of the Elect. For you see, what they do is NOT about taking over the world, for they had done that with Adam and Eve. And Christ brought in the Thousand Year Reign with the fullness of times and the fullness of the Gospel, whereby He sent out the disciples to the ends of the world “preaching and teaching everything I have commanded you”, to include the Gentiles and “to the ends of the earth”…

And then from that point, even what was left over from the jewish seed that were not in that Jerusalem that was soon destroyed, whichever ones were left, were also included in the collection of “all the nations”. God is no respecter of persons and that includes the Jews, because Christ performed a reset and a restoration to “that which was from the beginning” before the fall. Because the promise given to Abraham was that He would be a father of many nations. And this happened before the Law which was added to make sin exceedingly sinful, because that was Gods original intent. That “all the nations” each one equally as valuable as the other without favorites.

God made promise to Abraham saying “you shall be the father of many nations”, of which the Jews were just one of many, one who already had the opportunities to receive an eternal inheritance, of which they rejected, and subsequently crucified the Lord of  Glory, and received in themselves the consequences of doing so, a certain extermination. “Till not one stone shall be left upon another”. As the armies of Titus completely surrounded Jerusalem to ensure the task was complete. This was NOT a simple chastisement because they “killed all the messengers that were sent to her” was the allegation from Christ as He wept His last tears for that wayward people, to be labeled as expired. Meaning extinct. Make no mistake about it. God was done with them.

Having already replaced that Old Covenant with the New Covenant, that like with wine, they do not mix old and new, and the New was to be sent to the people of the whole world telling His disciples “go ye to the ends of the earth teaching and preaching everything I have commanded from the old. This was a new thing distinguishably different . And John 3.16.  Therefor just as assuredly as He healed the sick, made the cripple from birth walk and dance, opened the eyes of the blind and raised Lazerus from the dead, so too the Disciples, became the Apostles, who completed the command to “go ye therefore to the ends of the age preaching and teaching all that I have commanded you”? That has already been fulfilled as was the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ because that book opened and closed with the saying “do not deal the prophecies of this book for the time is at hand”. Meaning it was happening to them. And because we are not them. That we are after them. Meaning that the last warning of the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, we were left with this one caveat to iron out that says that “satan will be released one last time to deceive the nations”. There were no clues but be warned. Satans last deception will not enforce “the mark of the beast” like his last deception having to do with the expired book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ”. No the judgment satan received from that “expired” (meaning last breath, expire? Get it?). That time was too harsh and too fast.

Satan now knows that if he gives humanity more of a soft sell to give up their God given sovereignty one edict at a time, that he can get away with more. So now he has terms and conditions for services, savings, safety’s and provisions that make him the provider, or better yet. The controller over provisions made available through the internet.

Christ gave us The New Covenant with no replacement ever referred to as it getting old too. We say this because people are trying to re-incert scriptures expired and brought into fruition with Christ judgment in that bygone era. The Old is not coming back That is the delusion with all lying signs and wonders. Look in all of scripture. There is not a 3rd covenant ever spoken of, and the old is expired!!!

It was through Christs “in that day”, in contrast to Adams “in that day ye shall die” that the gospel according to god-like-ness was renewed to its original intent to be for all of humanity that earthen Israel and last generation (genome) of Hebrews called  the Jews (sons of Satan, brood of vipers, whited tombs full of dead mans bones”, showing us that they were completely apostate to be destroyed. Showing us what to expect at the end of the thousand year reign, and also called the age of the gentiles too.

And we are there! We say this because the Jews have been reinvented are back trying to reinsert the concepts and laws of the old covenant kingdom they were annihilated for for promoting them at the last reset.

You will know when we are at the end of The New Covenant era because it will revert back into the Old Testament expectation of a carnally visual Messiah in the fashion that the last era Jews were destroyed for. And if God honors this bunch of deceivers, He has to apologize and make reparations to the Jews of old. And that is NOT going to happen. And if they were destroyed for their ignorance, a word that doesn’t mean stupid but that they ignored what they were told and what was written about the coming Messiah. And the patience of God had expired with the Law era. No if and or butts about it!

So if they were condemned, and we have “a more sure word then what they heard’. what do you think is the punishment of these final days unbelievers claiming to be believers?

The last days started with the institution of the New Covenant because of the blood of Christ (Hebrews 1.1) And the last of the New Covenant era looks like the last of the Old Covenant era, but much more condemning because not only does it condone the old for want a messiah they could shake his hand and congratulate him for a great campaign, but they do it with greater testimonies than the inaugurated the New covenant. If they rejected Christ back then with the old testimonies they had? With us having the updated testimonies and contracts, signed by the blood of The Son of God. To then go back to the last days Jews?? There will be no mercy. You have been forewarned.

That is why Peter said that “it would’ve been better off not knowing the gospel, then to know it (have it) and turn from it’. But as a true proverb is written “as a pig having been washed goes back to wallowing in the mire, and a dog back to eaing its vomit, so too these go back to their old way of doing things and will be judged more severely. (2 Peter 3)

So today’s end times seekers look for a savior like they did at the end of the Old Covenant. This is the do over “with all lying signs if possible to deceive the Elect. Why? Because they can back it up fully with scripture, but only the expired ones. That is why it is a lie and a delusion which is a conjunction of two words, dilute and illusion. Hence a delusion, being diluted scripture to do so.

We are the Elect, exposing this for you to have you “come out of her My people” again. This is the only “second coming” type of opportunity and warning you are going to have to extract yourself from every and all such claims from the “end times” seekers today.As they look to a modern Israel (The name of a man, to become a people who in their last day became a land) “who say the are Jews and are not but from the synagogue of Satan”.

And they are impersonators because of the genocide of the time of Christ, and whatever was scattered was too few to reassemble. But one of the most condemning facts about the jews of today claiming to be from the Jews of old is that the Jews of old were Shemite. This means they were black!! So YES! We know those who say they are Jews and are not. Satan was the first liar, the father of lies. And every lie and liar is from the wicked one.

And if you think about it, if the Jews get away with there presentation of a renewed Kingdom according to Old Testament and expired prophecies, then what do you suppose Christ came here to expire at His first coming? Check your bible. There is no phrase called “a second coming”, in all of Scripture!!

And from Romans 3 about the Old Testament Law era, “how many were righteous. None, no not one”..

And because Satan already had his day of deception as described in the book of the Revelation that opened and closed with “seal not the prophecies of this book for the time is at hand”. Meaning it happened to that generation, to be played out back then, So that the New Covenant era that went into into effect by the blood of Christ to bring in the New!, to replace the “in that day ye shall surely die”!

“In That Day” explained

It goes like this. Adam lived 970 years to equate with “in that day ye shall surely die. And as Peter wrote “for one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day”. To have “The day of the Lord” also called “the day of Christ”  and “in that day”, would also be a thousand years as well. The carnality of Christ lived until He was 30 to complete Adams 1,000 years because Adam was 30 years short of a thousand and Christ finished the old to conclude it (expired) for the new.   So instead of “in that day ye shall die”, with the reversal of that curse. For us in The New Covenant we have “in the day of Christ we shall live”. To which we attest, we are alive “in Christ” and able to testify to you that, we have received our inheritance. Just as assuredly with any inheritance. As long as the testator lives, the inheritance is in holding. But after the death of the Testator, the heirs receive the inheritance and so we did because in this case, the Only Begotten Son of God who was slain at the cross. It was that death that brought us life. Not just any life, but eternal living that begins the moment we believe, and reinforced over time as we are sojourners on a journey but not on earth  , as often as we enter in. Are you with us?

So then giving in to the end of this age of grace in its final stages has a reversion to a deception, that has its timeline exaggerations as well. Because of this we know we are after “the day of the Lord” that replaced Adams “in that day”.

The Book of the Revelation was meant for “that generation”, not ours.,,,

The book of the Revelation opens and closes with “the time is at hand”. And attached to the end is this clue too, that “the bottomless pit of hell would be opened and Satan would have one more opportunity to test the resolve of mankind, to b by offering them a competing source of godliness equated as being “as in the days of Noah”. That humanity would be eating, drinking and just living life as commonly known. That the last days deception would come like a thief in that the doors would  be closed and the time would be up like the virgins in the wedding parable who spent their time in the world and now not able to get in. Woe are those with that mindset

Now still has to reach its fullness to forever be the burning spectacle of how nt to do it for all of eternity as described in Isaiah 66…

So the lesson here is to expose the enemy of humanities plan to keep all their own personal sovereignty’s from being reached. For him and his know that the longer they can delay, circumvent and subdue humanity from acquiring the gift of godliness as defined in Gods Holy writ, that they can continue, That means they need to keep people subdued under the absurdity of the mundane. And the mundane is daily living and activities. To keep them involved in, and wrapped up and pre-occupied with just living and staying alive. And whereas in the last reset they were more forceful by mandating what was then called “the mark of the beast”, they have broken down mans sovereignty into pieces, to present a soft sell instead of a mandate to do or die with the mark,  and take it from them more slowly, one aspect at a time, one contract at a time, one terms and conditions (conditioning) after another until their personal God given sovereignty to say yes or no…. Their sovereignty, royalty, kingship and kingdom become totally forgotten in the storm of distractions. And you may say which distractions? To which we say the presentations of “wars and rumors of wars”, entertainment and just scratching peoples itches whatever they may be to have them avoid what will be painfully obvious to them the moment the opportunity ceases to exist. That the whole purpose of their lives here is to discover who they are, or who they could be if they just “sought to lat a hold of why Christ laid hold of us” and why “God so loved the world that He sent His … have everlasting life”, being imaged like Him. And for godliness to be real, each person is responsible for their choices and instead of the forced mark, they give into the terms and conditions by way of submitting to them. And with each submission your personal sovereignty becomes smaller and smaller and you become more and more blind to the potential inside of you of being made in the image of God. This is the purpose from the beginning and why Christ restored what Adam lost, “To as many as received Him, to them He gave the option of becoming like Him, even to these who believed in His name, who were not born of the flesh but by the spirit. But in these last days, many think that their sovereignty to be like god is the empowerment of the internet that even in its own presentation pretends to be godlike

 

Cloud of mystery as seen with Moses at the tabernacle door.  To be miffed and mystified fear that held them back, of which fear is the mode of operation for those who have rejected the gospel for an alternate presentation of godliness/ That people seek to complete themselves with the wares of this age, Of which, all of them are temporary and of no value when your physical existence expires, and you know that for what you are doing with their coats of many colors is the soft sell of the mark and a false sense of godliness. How do you know? Because they all have expiration’s and renewals associated with them but ours are eternal and ours are free. No terms conditions or recalls

 

That is why it is said “let you yes be yes and your no be no. Anything more than this is from the evil one. That all the clauses added to contracts terms and conditions , are legal and binding. Clauses are claws on your soul that keep you ground bound and looking down. And just like with electrical currents, ground is down. And if all you can see is your carnal existence, then you quite likely have not been born again or borne from above because your focus is carnal and that is what Gods Son gave Himself to do for you through confession. That as He died, we dye too. We see our old person dead there and we become unresponsive to the enemy of our souls threats of you being naked, because if you have not received the gift of God according to godliness, then you are doomed by self preservation. And why scripture says that “Those who seek to save themselves will loose themselves”, and THAT is what terms and conditions in exchange for promises and such do. They keep you negatively polarized and paralyzed to learn, repent and believe the gospel. That John 3.16

And if you don’t believe that, then why do we have more drugs cures doctors hospitals and such and more sick and dying then ever in recorded history

So just as the one was bound to be loosed, so too you need to be free from being bound to the soft sell of the mark called terms and conditions.

The wicked servants say in their hearts, My Lord delays His coming, as if to be on standby for another hand out to help them.

Like the unwise virgins who were invited to the wedding to then go to the world for their wedding attire. This is equivalent to those who pack themselves in the savings, safety and security agencies of this age, to be bound (as in demon possession) to terms and conditions, from covering providers from the gods of this age as though they need to stay plugged in until another visitation from a man named Jesus comes back to rescue them as in a second coming savior, which spits in the face of Him who already gave His life so that we could have His now as transcribed through the gospel as we do for you today because “Today”even still “is the day of salvation”. Harden not your hearts as they did in the wilderness wanderings, which may be a picture of you with one foot in on Sundays but everything else like everybody else pulled hook line and sinker through all the delusional lies from the internet as a barrier between them and heaven itself in the upper regions of the mind and not of this creation. For it is the re-spirited mind of faith that has been expanded by the power of Gd through the gospel and the Holy Spirit. To in turn be expanded wide enough and broad enough for God Himself to comfortable habitate their for constant interaction with us where it counts. Even as Paul spoke on Romans 12 to “be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, has to do with a way of thinking quite different from those who look to the clouds of creation for another Christ and saving they call a rapture.