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Elijah – on a Prophetic Path to Gethsemane
Today, in the first of a 2-part look at ordinary men chosen as extraordinary Prophets speaking for God, we will glance briefly at Moses and Elijah.

Prophets Before Christ

Recall that true Prophets of God speak for the LORD God.

NOT every man who claims to be a be a Prophet of God truly speaks God’s word. Nor is every mortal who speaks a prophesy of God is a worshiper of the LORD.

And not every prophesy of a true Prophet is an oracle into the future or an eschatological look into the fulfillment of days.

Yet many prophesies do point us to places and times not yet seen by any man but the appointed Prophet of the LORD.

The Prophet Moses
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What could be more prophetic than the written words of the man who encountered the 'I AM' speaking the very commands of the Almighty? 
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Moses brought the Law – the very words of the LORD – to the Hebrew people.
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The LORD had called Moses, age eighty to lead the Hebrews out from Egypt. Moses was 120 years old as the Hebrews prepared to cross the Jordan.
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Before he led them from bondage in Egypt into Arabia for forty year prior to crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Moses instructed God’s chosen in the LORD’s ways and means of redemption.

So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

“It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you..

Deuteronomy 31:1,3a,5a LSB

Yet the LORD instructs Moses with a prophecy of what the Hebrews will surly do:

a Prophesy through Moses:

.. and this people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them.

“Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed…

Deuteronomy 31:16c-17a LSB

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

Deuteronomy 32:8 BSB
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This general reference to humanity and God's 'chosen' would be worthy of your separate study, but we cannot cover it here. 
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from Canaan to Babylon

Let’s go quickly across the Jordan through the years (centuries, really) with the chosen sons until fulfillment of a foreseen time of Hebrew prophesy from Babylon.

In order to move so quickly we must overlook and pass many important scriptural milestones.

Moving past Joshua,
- the capture of much of the promised land
  - 14th c. B.C.
- a time of the Judges
  - 14th-11th c. B.C.
- a king of the people (Saul)
  - 11th c. B.C.
David King of Judah united with Israel
- David united Israel and Judah
  - ~1000 B.C.
- Solomon expands his influence back to Egypt and east to Babylon and beyond
  - 973-931 B.C.
- then, a civil war between Solomon’s sons and their heirs,
A quick glance at the timeline below will reveal the book of 1 KINGS where we will find Elijah’s story.

Old Testament Books timeline

The Prophet Elijah

~870 B.C. – 849 B.C.

Later, as prophesied:
- defeat of ISRAEL the Northern Kingdom
  - 722 B.C.
- eventual fall of JUDAH the Southern Kingdom…
  - 586 B.C.
The Man of God

The LORD sent powerful Prophets to both Israel and Judah during a divisive time when most every leader (king) “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”
- This includes EVERY KING of ISRAEL for a little more than 200 years !
Wouldn’t a NATION claiming GOD repent — when confronted by the man of God showing great signs and even raising a man from the dead?
- Furthermore the Kings of JUDAH fared no better in their 334 years with only eight of twenty kings who “did right in the eyes of the LORD.”
Elijah was a man of God WARNING the evil LEADERS of a NATION.

Taking a brief stop on our timeline Before Christ, we proceed past Moses and beyond the break-up of the Kingdom of David to a time of evil kings infamously represented by King Ahab of Israel who reigned for about twenty years from 874 B.C. until 853 B.C. when he was killed in battle.
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Jezebel, the King's wife - arguably a head of Ahab - also proved infamous with her own evil legacy. 
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Elijah’s Prophetic proofs:

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab,

“As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command! ”

1 Kings 17:1 CSB
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The severest of droughts - over one thousand dry days in the land - people  and animals will die. 
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Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.

1 Kings 17:4b CSB

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood…

But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked — only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”

1 Kings 17:10a, 12 CSB

Drought. Famine everywhere — and for days upon end.

Have you ever considered the gravity of the fragile mortal lives of those already suffering under the evil reign of Jezebel and Ahab?

But a miracle of God through Elijah: the widow’s flour and food never ran out. But then —

Her son becomes ill and dies. (Probably a common occurrence in these desperate conditions of a three year drought.)

She said to Elijah, “Man of God, what do you have against me?

Have you come to call attention to my iniquity so that my son is put to death? ”

1 Kings 17:18 CSB

That’s some accusation from the widow who has just lost her only son. Yet note the widow’s contrite acceptance of God’s authority to punish sin (iniquity).

עָוֹן
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Note the long list of Scriptures [above] from the Law of Moses (beginning with Cain) pointing to punishment for our iniquity. 
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Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead!

He cried out to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again! ”

So the LORD listened to Elijah, and the boy’s life came into him again, and he lived.

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the LORD’s word from your mouth is true.”

1 Kings 17:20-22, 24 CSB

Elijah – a contest to the DEATH

Three years of drought. The King will not like this and consequently blame the righteous man of God.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him,

“Is that you, the one ruining Israel? ”

He replied,

“I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the LORD’s commands and followed the Baals.

1 Kings 18:17-18 CSB
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Tell me if this does not apply to Israel in this day (except that their gods are dreams of their past)? 

Tell me how King Herod and the religious rulers of Judea were so different from Ahab as the King of Israel challenged the true Prophet of the Lord? 
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Then Elijah approached all the people and said,

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.”

But the people didn’t answer him a word.

18:21 וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל־כָּל־הָעָם וַיֹּאמֶר עַד־מָתַי אַתֶּם פֹּסְחִים עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים אִם־יְהוָה הָאֱלֹהִים לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְאִם־הַבַּעַל לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְלֹא־עָנוּ הָעָם אֹתוֹ דָּבָר׃

Much later King Ahab will publically repent! But it will be too late…

Next Contestant

~852 B.C. After the death of Ahab

“Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down! ’ ”

.. “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

2 Kings 1:9- excerpts CSB

So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah.

“Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately! ’

“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

So a divine fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him,

“.. Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”

Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.

2 Kings 1:11-17 excerpts CSB

The Ascension of Elijah.

The time had come for the LORD to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal,

2 Kings 2:1 CSB

Elijah’s departure is unique, as he is one of only two people in the Bible, along with Enoch (Genesis 5:24), who did not experience death.

The whirlwind signifies God’s powerful presence, often associated with divine intervention (Job 38:1, Nahum 1:3).

Elijah’s ascension prefigures Christ’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11), symbolizing victory over death and the promise of eternal life.

2 Kings 2:1:: Biblehub.com STUDY BIBLE commentary
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First Century A.D.
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A Son of David, the Son of Man, rides victoriously into Jerusalem now captive of Rome, challenging Jerusalem’s leaders to a duel to the death –

+ His +

– for the redemption of sinners.

“King Jesus, King Jesus, King Jesus, Hosanna!, they cry out…

And within a few days their KING of the JEWS will be crucified on a Roman cross.

An Uplifting Recollection

The Son of Man walked once more toward a familiar hillside covered with an olive grove.

What must Jesus have recalled as the Lord approached Gethsemane with His eleven dear friends one last time?

Remember?

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.

Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Gospel of Mark 9:4 CSB

A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud:

“This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”

Mark 9:7 CSB

.. They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant…
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NEXT: Ezekiel 
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April 8, 2025
Sanctification – saints washed in Christ’s Holiness
Sanctification occurs only 5-10 times in the New Testament, while “sanctify” occurs 70 times in 65 verses in the KJV throughout the Bible.

Doesn’t sanctification require someone or something to be ‘sanctified?’

What is sanctification?

How is it different since Christ Jesus?

Sanctification in the Old Testament

Moses on Sinai

Exodus 19 NKJV excerpt

And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain..

‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

… ‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

Exodus 19:3-6 except NKJV

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

קָדַשׁ qâdash,

to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):—appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self),

Exodus 21:5-7

“Also let the priests who come near to Yahweh set H6942 themselves apart H6942 as H6942 holy H6942, lest Yahweh break out against them.”

And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You [testified to] warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and set H6942 it apart H6942 as H6942 holy H6942.’”

Exodus 19:22-23 LSB – noting H6942 meaning Sanctify or Hallow

שְׁמֹות (Exodus) 19 :: Masoretic Text

19:22 וְגַם הַכֹּהֲנִים הַנִּגָּשִׁים אֶל־יְהוָה יִתְקַדָּשׁוּ פֶּן־יִפְרֹץ בָּהֶם יְהוָה׃
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19:23 וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־יְהוָה לֹא־יוּכַל הָעָם לַעֲלֹת אֶל־הַר סִינָי כִּי־אַתָּה הַעֵדֹתָה בָּנוּ לֵאמֹר הַגְבֵּל אֶת־הָהָר וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ׃
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Does this washing for holiness before God bring any sanctifying fear over you before facing the LORD your Maker?

An Old Testament Word

You may recognize the same word in a couple of important places in the Bible.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified H6942 it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.

Genesis 2:3 LSB

זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ׃

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep H6942 it holy H6942.

Exodus 20:8 WLC, LSB
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AND perhaps like me, you recall a similar sanctification from the Word of the Gospels. 
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Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9 RSV

Sanctification then prepares unholy sinners to face the Most Holy.

Sanctification in the New Testament

The A.D. first century Greek verb Jesus and the Apostles use is hagiazō.
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verb - From ἅγιος (G40) adjective (most holy thing, a saint) 
- From hagos adjective (an awful thing) [cf ἁγνός (G53) adjective, properly, clean, i.e. (figuratively) innocent, modest, perfect:—chaste, clean, pure. 
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- to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
- to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
- to purify
  - to cleanse externally
  - to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
  - to purify internally by renewing of the soul
    
    Strong’s G37 – hagiazō
The Apostle Paul, in referring to a long list of sins of the Corinthians writes:

And such were some of you; but you were washed,

but you were sanctified G37,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 LSB

Therefore, dear chosen of Christ Jesus, do you see yourself as:

a most holy thing, a saint ?

The A.D. first century Greek adjective of the same root is hagios.

Are YOU a HOLY Saint of JESUS Christ, therefore sanctified to Him in your mortal AND eternal life?

Sanctified saints

“For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

Gospel of John 17:20 LSB

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Hebrews 2:10-11 BSB

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17 CSB – Jesus’ prayer for disciples

Sanctification of children learning to walk in Christ

To the saints in Galatia:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 4:8-9 ESV

To the saint sitting with you in church:

In conclusion, the best way to examine some of the jargon of Scripture like anointed, consecrated, sanctified, justified and holiness is in prayerful time in the Bible itself.

How better to explain sanctification (or any ‘Christian’ jargon) to a new child of the faith with whom you worship than with Biblical text?
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READ any of the links provided in the Scriptures above. 

OR For more on the topic of Sanctification you may search it here on TalkofJESUS.com OR simply read the earlier post below with my closing thought. 
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Sanctification – a refining of our holiness in Christ

For this is the will of God, your sanctification.. For God did not call us to impurity,

but in sanctification.

Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man

but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3a, (3b-6 short list of our impurity) 7-8 LSB

~A.D. 51 – Paul writes to encourage the Thessalonian Church
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A look back from 2025 CE to an earlier look at Sanctification
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Paul’s unfinished encouragement of the Thessalonians

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
February 8, 2025
What God Hath Wrought 2
Paul’s Mission – 2 REPORTS
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A.D. 57

Previously:
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TO James and the Church:

And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Acts of the Apostles 21:19 – ASV – Paul’s account of his third mission to th

What God Hath Wrought

“Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed..” – Acts 21:20b ASV

James and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem then put forth a plan for Paul to prove his faithfulness to the LAW of Moses to the thousands of Jews in the Temple.

TO Jewish Worshipers including Proselytes in the Temple courts:

Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ are convinced, yet through the Spirit Paul will proclaim Christ to the larger multitudes of the Temple courts divided for Jews and separately set-apart areas for God-seekers among the Hellenists and pagans.

Acts of the Apostles 21: ASV

and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
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James, of course, does not receive the murmuring of those influenced by the anti-Christs among the temple leadership; however the issue at hand is for Paul and the Apostles to proclaim CHRIST TO JEW AND GENTILE ALIKE.
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The Lord Jesus had received the same sort of reception in the Temple as the Apostles do now.

John 5:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
Gospel of John 5:39-40 LSB – witness of the Lord Jesus to the leaders of the Temple

“How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the only God?

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.
Gospel of John 5:46 – The Lord Jesus challenging leaders of the Temple

“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
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James knows how these same Temple officials some twenty ago had falsely convicted and then crucified his beloved half-brother, JESUS.

These will not believe Paul either.

Yet by God's grace some will believe the Apostle when Paul once again proclaims Christ in Jerusalem's Temple.
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What God hath Wrought through MOSES
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a Scriptural sample from the Torah from which PAUL or any of the Apostles could have preached on this or any day.
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מֹשֶׁה
מֹשֶׁה (mōšê), occurs 766x in 704 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses^H4872 hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

– Exodus 3:6

Then Moses H4872 answered and said, “What if they will not believe me and will not listen to my voice? For they may say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”

– Exodus 4:1

So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their weakness of spirit and hard slavery. – Exodus 6:9

Therefore the people contended with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.”

And Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”

But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to put us and our children and our livestock to death with thirst?”

– Exodus 17:2-3 LSB

the Tabernacle & the Temple

Now it happened, in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected… He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and he put up the screen for the gateway of the court.

Thus Moses finished the work.

– Exodus 40:17,33 LSB

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle.
40:34 וַיְכַס הֶעָנָן אֶת־אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וּכְבוֹד יְהוָה מָלֵא אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן׃
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Paul could have preached of MOSES and the Tabernacle. 

The Apostle could have witnessed SCRIPTURE recalling THE GLORY OF THE LORD filling the Temple during its dedication by Solomon.
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Paul legitimately could have asked Judea's leaders,
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‘WHEN HAS THE GLORY OF THE LORD EVER FILLED THIS TEMPLE REBUILT BY HEROD UNDER ROME? ‘

Yet Paul had no need to reiterate this truth that leading Jews under ROME seeking the Apostle knew all too well.

AND the Apostles knew all-to-well that ‘circumcision’ (the mark of the Jew) was NOT the real issue.

‘forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children..’
FALSE WITNESS against the Apostle to the gentiles, Paul.

Nor was Moses, against whom many had been stiff-necked.

περιτομή – Circumcision
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Earlier in Paul's missionary journeys:
(the matter settled by James and the A.D. 49 Council of Jerusalem)
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But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

Both the apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.
Acts of the Apostles 15:5-6 LSB

ACTS 21

Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

27 Now when the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, crying out,

“Men of Israel, help!

This is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place;

and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

MORE false accusations and lies

This latest stirring of the CROWDS in ROMAN JERUSALEM resembles earlier riots and controversies ignited against the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST which Paul and many disciples of The Way have now proclaimed throughout much of Asia and Europe.

Paul, a Jew among jews, has abandoned an old Covenant broken by the Jews many centuries Before Christ.

“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.
Deuteronomy 10:16 וּמַלְתֶּם אֵת עָרְלַת לְבַבְכֶם וְעָרְפְּכֶם לֹא תַקְשׁוּ עוֹד׃
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“Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,

Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Lest My wrath go forth like fire
And burn with none to quench it

Because of the evil of your deeds.”

Jeremiah 4:4
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NEXT God-willing, we will return to the controversy unraveling in the Temple.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
May 10, 2024