COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  Muslims Don't  Comprehend Difference Between Speculation vs. Fact.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]  SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 79A]
 
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.  19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.  20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.  Luke 22:18 – 20,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Here we see Jesus (Yeshua) getting ready to become the ransom sacrifice that will give all obedient men the opportunity to gain eternal life.  Also, telling us in Luke 22:19 – 20 to keep doing this in remembrance of him.  Why then, was it necessary?  Its necessity was explained at Romans 5:12 – 19, [AV] “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13  (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.  15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  16  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.  17  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”  
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]  Muslims Don't  Comprehend Difference Between Speculation vs. Fact"
 
Some Muslim individuals use off beat encyclopedias to try and prove their derogatory myths, it matters not that even these sources identify the information as speculative.   In fact the authors/editors of this encyclopedia, LoveToKnow, clearly show they do NOT HAVE much faith in their work with the statement, " Since this information is from 1911 it is outdated and contains many OCR errors (typos). It is for research purposes only. The information is "AS IS", "WITH ALL FAULTS". User assumes all risk of use, damage, or injury. You agree that we have no liability for any damages. We are not liable for any consequential, incidental, indirect, or special damages." So if they do not vouch for its reliability we must conclude it is unreliable and just hear say speculation; whereas, I use all kinds of encyclopedias, i.e., the renown well recognized ones, not ones like, ""JOSEPH (HUSBAND OF MARY)." LoveToKnow 1911 Online Encyclopedia. (c) 2003, 2004 LoveToKnow."   However, even that encyclopoedia clearly says that little is known about Joseph and only his geneology is given in the Bible, it no where gives his age; whereas, PapaMo claimed previously it was 90 years, now see the facts of what I say for yourself,
"JOSEPH, in the New Testament, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He is represented as a descendant of the house of David, and his genealogy appears in two divergent forms in Matt. i. 1-17 and Luke iii. 23-38. The latter is probably much more complete and accurate in details. The former, obviously artificial in structure (notice 3X14 generations), traces the Davidic descent through kings, and is governed by an apologetic purpose. Of Joseph's personal history practically nothing is recorded in the Bible. The facts concerning him common to the two birth-narratives (Matt, i.-ii.; Luke i.-ii.) are: (a) that he was a descendant of David, (b) that Mary was already betrothed to him when she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, and (c) that he lived at Nazareth after the birth of Christ; but these facts are handled differently in each case. It is noticeable that, in Matthew, Joseph is prominent (e.g. he receives an annunciation from an angel), while in Luke's narrative he is completely subordinated. Bp Gore (The Incarnation, Bampton lecture for 1891, p. 78) points out that Matthew narrates everything from Joseph's side, Luke from Mary's, and infers that the narrative of the former may ultimately be based on Joseph's account, that of the latter, on Mary's. The narratives seem to have been current (in a poetical form) among the early Jewish-Christian community of Palestine. At Nazareth Joseph followed the trade of a carpenter (Matt. xiii. 55). It is probable that he had died before the public ministry of Christ; for no mention is made of him in passages relating to this period where the mother and brethren of Jesus are introduced; and from John xix. 26 it is clear that he was not alive at the time of the Crucifixion.
 
Joseph was the father of several children (Matt. xiii. 55), but accolding to ecclesiastical tradition by a former marriage. The reading of Matt. ~. 16, in the Sinaitic Palimpsest (Joseph . . . begat Jesus, who is called the Christ) also makes him the natural father of Jesus, and this was the view of certain early heretical sects, but it seems never to have been held in orthodox Christian circles. According to various apocryphal gospels (conveniently collected in B. H. Cowpers The Apocryphal Gospels, 1881), when married to Mary he was a widower already 80 years of age, and the father of four sons and two daughters; his first wifes name was Salome and she was a connection of the family of John the Baptist.[source -  LoveToKnow 1911 Online Encyclopedia. (c) 2003, 2004 LoveToKnow
]
However, the Bible the ultimate standard does NOT say anything about a former marriage so anything said on that is pure speculation.    Let's look at what the ultimate standard, the Bible says:
 
Matthew 1:16, " and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." (American Standard Version; ASV), NOTICE no note of Joseph having been a widow.
 
Matthew 1:18, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." (ASV).
Matthew 1:20, "But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." (ASV).
Mark 6:3, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended in him." (ASV), NOTICE , it says his brothers and sisters, NOT, half-brothers and sisters.
Luke 1:27 , "to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary." (ASV).
This same individual said,

- Aisha was engaged to another man before Muhammad (PPBUH) , that gives us an idea about her readiness for marriage as well as to traditions of a different era ...

Now is he trying to say that Muhammed stole her from another man?    In those days, individuals did NOT just brake engagements on a lark as some do today.    They were considered once engaged, actually betrothed, as belonging to the other family in those days, and even today to a degree in my own culture, so let's get real.
 
Now this same individual quoted the following in a futile attempt to justify Muhammad taking 9 year old Aisha as his wife,

Pedophilia TODAY is defined as sexual interest toward children, either prepubescent or at the beginning of puberty ..with age difference greater than 5 years ..so by today's standards ..Joseph would incorrectly be considered a pedophile ..whether he had sex with Mary or not ..[source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paedophilia]

Obviously, thereby clearly showing that Muhammad had done something wrong.    This was clearly an admission by a Muslim that Muhammed had skeletons in his proverbial closet, and incredibly he did this while throwing derogatory speculative charges at Joseph the husband of the virgin Mary.    This clearly shows desperation on their part to throw derogatory comments at the Bible and true Christianity.   In fact, other Muslims dredge up writings of so called Bible critics who are just individuals out to grandiose themselves and their own ego and get an audience and who care NOT about facts and realities.   They insinuate that apparent contradictions, ones that without further investigation, are real contradictions and make other unfounded speculative charges.
 
The most ridicules part of the entire absurd scenario is the fact that Muhammad was a plagiarist who actually got his material for writing the Koran from the Bible and did not even do a good job of copying; hence, if the Bible had any errors, these would have been exponentially exacerbated in the Quran (Koran).    Let's look at one example of a scripture copied from the Bible not too well and how confused Muslims who do not comprehend the Bible even thing the Bible original is saying something bad as they do not comprehend it is saying the same thing as the Quran (Koran) that Muhammad got his material from.    In the writing, Muslims do Not Comprehend the Bible it shows this clearly, " Muslims clearly do not comprehend the Bible and see problems where there are none, and come to completely wrong conclusions. This is strange given the fact that their holy book is actually a plagiarized knockoff from the Bible. Let's look at a few instances where they utterly fail to comprehend, one of them in fact where their book is actually saying the same thing as the Bible in different words.
 
LUKE 1:35 VS. SURA 3:47:
 
Let's first look at what the Quran (Koran) says at Sura 3:47:
 
Sura 3:47, "She said, "My Lord, how can I have a son, when no man has touched me?" He said, "GOD thus creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He simply says to it, `Be,' and it is."
 
And, Sura 3:48 says, ""He will teach him the scripture, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel." Interestingly here the Quran (Koran) actually speaks of the first five (5) books of the Bible, the Torah; yet today many Muslims rail against the Bible from which their book the Quran (Koran) was plagiarized from.
 
Now the Bible says at Luke 1:35, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God." (American Standard Version; ASV).
 
Interestingly although both the Quran's (Koran's) 'Be' and the Bible's (in some translations only) overshadow both refer to exactly the same thing, but use different words, some Muslims do not comprehend this and think overshadow has bad connotations. Both these passages refer to God's (YHWH) using his active force or power referred to in the Bible as Spirit or Holy Spirit to implant the life force of his only begotten Son, that we know as Jesus (Yeshua) into the womb of the virgin Mary as recorded in Matthew 1:18-25, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But when he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she shall bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us. 24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife; 25 and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS." (ASV). Now some may not understand just what this force or power of God (YHWH) is so here is a brief explanation.
 
A brief consideration on and reasoning on Acts 10:19-20; Acts 16:6; Acts 13:2-4; Acts 15:28; Romans 8:14; Romans 8:26; Ephesians 4:30; and 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 will show that the Spirit or Holy Spirit is God's (YHWH's) active force or power and emanates from him and is a force completely controlled by him, and is capable of giving him feedback and gathering for him information.
 
But first let's see why the Spirit is indeed God's (YHWH's) active force or power from an understanding of the ancient word 'pneu'ma' translated Spirit or Holy Spirit in English. The neuter Koine Greek word for spirit (pneu'ma) is used with the neuter pronoun "it" since it is lacks gender. This fact is conveniently over looked or hidden by most Trinitarian translators of the Bible as admitted in the "New American Bible Catholic Bible," regarding John 14:17: "The Greek word for 'Spirit' is neuter, and while we use personal pronouns in English ('he,' 'his,' 'him'), most Greek MSS [manuscripts] employ 'it.'" So when the Bible uses masculine personal pronouns in connection with pa·ra'kle·tos at John 16:7, 8, it is conforming to rules of grammar, not expressing a doctrine. And in Ancient Hebrew the word here rendered Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit, or Spirit which is translated from 'ru'ach' meaning "breath; wind; spirit." In Latin, it is spiritus, and in Sanskrit, 'prana' which means both "breath" and "spirit." And the pertinent definition in the Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary (ISBN 0-308-10309-2 and 0-308-10310-6) clearly states, (4) <Often Cap.> In the Bible, the creative, animating power or divine influence of God...[etymology-[<Old French, 'espirit' <Latin, 'spiritus' bredth, spirit <'spirare' to breathe]. So we can see it, the Holy Spirit or Spirit is truly God's (YHWH's) active force or power and not a spirit being as are Almighty God (YHWH) and his Son, Jesus (Yeshua). This point is very well made in the New International Version at Luke 1:35, "The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[1] the Son of God." (The New International Version; NIV). Sure shows that the Holy Spirit is nothing but God's (YHWH's) active force.
 
Now from the study of science and technology we know that with respect a force there can be four possibilities or possibly five applicable questions, which are as follows:
 
(1) Is it an uncontrolled force?
 
(2) Is it a controlled force?
 
(3) Is it controlled, but without feedback?
 
(4) Is it controlled, but with feedback?
 
Is it direct or indirect feedback?
 
However 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 shows it to be a controlled force with feedback that appears to be direct feedback, "But unto us God revealed [them] through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. 12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God." (American Standard Version; ASV), clearly showing that the "spirit which is from God," and God "revealed [them] through the Spirit," and uses it to search all things, thus showing it is a controlled spirit capable of feedback. God (YHWH) has complete control over his power or force and can choose its fields of operations as testified to at Romans 8:14, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." (ASV) clearly showing he can use to lead individuals and that it belongs to him. And John 16:13 clearly shows it as a force, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come." Since it is quite clear that it is a controlled force, "shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak,"
 
Clearly it is a controlled force used by God (YHWH) to do many things as testified to at Acts 10:19-20, "While Peter was meditationg on the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'There are two men looking for you. 20 Get up and go down, and without hesitation go on with them, for I have sent them.'" (The New Testament by Charles B. Williams); And the fact that it is a closely controlled force is further affirmed at Acts 16:6, "And the Spirit bade me go with them, making no distinction. And these six brethren also accompanied me; and we entered into the man's house:" (ASV); And at Acts 13:2-4, "And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus." (ASV); And at Acts 15:28, "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:" (ASV) clearly indicating direct feedback to and response by God (YHWH); which is further shown by Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption" (ASV) which once more indicates that is gives direct feedback and it reacts to the feelings of God (YHWH) from which it emanates thus a tightly controlled force or power.
 
Thus we can see and have an accurate understanding of what is being spoken of in both the Quran (Koran) and the Bible and see that it is exactly the same event and/or occurrence." [source - Muslims do Not Comprehend the Bible by Iris the Preacher 2004].
 
LEARN  MORE  AT  WWW.JW.ORG
 
 

COMBINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 81A]
 
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.  Hebrews 2:9,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Here we see that Jesus (Yeshua) was to “taste death” for every man as his sacrifice, his perfect human life would serve as a ransom to lift inherited sin off of all obedient mankind – those striving to live their life in accordance with his Father’s Book of Guidance, the Bible.  This was necessary as shown by Romans 5:12, [AV] “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”  Romans continues at 5:14 – 15, [AV] “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.  15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.”  
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES:
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Mafi or Menteng (Baccaurea racemosa).  This Indonesian fruit is almost extinct.
It seems that amino-acid sweet meat is very, a little because ore than. The fruits of this banyakterdapat in Bogor and surrounding areas In Central Java,. menteng called mundung.Menteng, kepundung, or (to) mundung is like a tree fruit producer by Almighty God (YHWH) unto period that can be eaten in brief. fruit menteng similar to buahduku but feature stories trees in different taste is usually.  [source - retrieved from   http://bloggerizq.blogspot.com/2010/01/buah-buahan-asli-indonesia-yang-hampir.html   and translated from Indonesian into English    on  5/24/2013]
Baccaurea racemosa (Reinw. ex Bl.) Mull.Arg., in DC. Prodr. 15, 2 (1866)
Latin for 'raceme'.
Synonyms
Baccaurea bhaswatii Chakrab. & M.Gangop.
Baccaurea wallichii Hook.f.
Coccomelia racemosa Reinw. ex Bl.
Pierandia racemosa (Reinw. ex Bl.) Bl.
Pierardia racemosa (Reinw. ex Bl.) Miq.
Description
Understorey tree up to 20 m tall and 34 cm dbh. Stipules ca. 5 mm long. Leaves crowded at twig tips, alternate, simple, penni-veined, glabrous. Flowers ca. 3 mm diameter, white-yellow, placed in racemes. Fruits ca. 16 mm long, red, ramiflorous, dehiscent capsules, seeds with blue aril.
Ecology
In undisturbed mixed dipterocarp to sub-montane forests up to 1100 m altitude. Common on alluvial and dry (hillsides and ridges) sites. On sandy to clay soils. In secondary forests usually present as a pre-disturbance remnant tree.
Uses
Fruits are edible.
Distribution
Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei, Sabah, West-, Central- and East-Kalimantan), Celebes, Moluccas.
Local names
Borneo Engkumi, Kayu masam, Kokonau, Kunau, Kunyi, Longkumo, Moho liox, Tunding undang, Umbarian.
Java Menteng.
Peninsular Malaysia Asam tambun, rambi, tamut, tampoi.
Sumatra Roesip, kisip.  [source - retrieved from    http://www.asianplant.net/Phyllanthaceae/Baccaurea_racemosa.htm   on  / /2013]
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth."Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!
 
 
 
 

COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  Let's Have Reality in Translation.     With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]  SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 83A]
 
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.  22  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.  23  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.  Isaiah 65:21 – 23,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
And in the New Testament this promise is once more stated at Revelation 21: 3 – 5, [AV] “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”  
 
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To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2]  Let's Have Reality in Translation:
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
The understanding with respect some scriptures in the Bible is badly clouded by translational errors caused either by the translator's bias, lack of understanding of idiomatic expressions, or lack of understanding of ancient writing styles.   Many of these can readily be seen by careful readers as they do NOT jive with the remainder of the Bible and/or do not make any sense upon close examination.   Some of these scriptures are those whose meaning is the most questioned and argued by Bible translators and/or scholars.   Yet most show flawed meaning when they are closely examined in lack of agreement within themselves and/or with near by scriptures.    To better grasp the subject we will examine the case of John 1:1 whose meaning is perhaps the most disputed of any in the entire Bible due to biased translational renderings in most Bibles in common usage.
 
THE CONSTRUCTS:
 
Let's first examine the most common constructs used for translating this scripture and then consider the facts and last some advanced translational items dealing with this scripture.
 
The 10 possible constructs of John 1:1 that do NOT violate any rule of Koine Greek grammar with the exception of the fact is that THE-OS' (=God) is a count noun, not a mass noun or an adjective. As a count noun it MUST BE countable, i.e. either definite or indefinite (i.e. either "a god" or "the God") for two of the constructs:
 
<1> "and a god was the Logos." [example of Bible using, Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jurgen Becker Harwood, 1979]
 
<2> "the nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God" [example of Bible using, Schonfield, 1976]
 
<3> "The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the word was." [example of Bible using, The New English Bible, NEB, 1961-present standard Bible agreed to by most denominations in the United Kingdom]
 
<4> "And the word was a god" [example of Bible using, The New Testament in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Achbishop Newcome's New Translation: With a Corrected Text.]
 
<5> "and the Word was divine" [example of Bible using, The Bible: An American Translation, by J.M.P. Smith and E.J. Goodspeed. }
 
<6> "and the Word was God" [example of Bible using, American Standard Version, ASV] [note, this construct violates the count noun rule of Koine Greek]
 
<7> "He was the same as God" example of Bible using, Today's English Version.]
 
<8> "the Logos was divine" [example of Bible using, The New Testament: A New Translation, by James Moffat]
 
<9> "r war bei Gott und in allem Gott gleich"[He was with God and in all like God] [example of Bible using, Haenchen (tr. By R. Funk), 1982]
 
<10> "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] [example of Bible using, Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch, 198
 
As we can see, here are ten different constructs possible without violating any rule of Koine Greek grammar except the count Noun rule. So, now, let's look at what follows in context in general format at John 1:2:
 
"The Word, then, was with God at the beginning," (The New English Bible, NEB)
 
"The same was in the beginning with God." (American Standard Version, ASB)
 
"The same was in the beginning with God." (Authorized King James Bible; AV)
 
"He was in the beginning with God." (Revised Standard Version; RSV)
 
"He was in the beginning with God." (The Confraternity Edition of the New Testament - Catholic)
 
As is easily seen, John 1:2 is substantially the same in all translations. However, in context it does not harmonize with some of the constructs used which do not violate any rule of Koine Greek grammar with the exception of the count Noun rule to be explained later.
 
However clearly some of the ten (10) or more basic constructs agree in context with John 1:2 and some do NOT. Let's look at the point where some do not agree or harmonize with the context of John 1:2:
 
John 1:2 plainly says that the Word, or Logos, who is Jesus (Yeshua) was with God in the beginning which would be impossible if Jesus (Yeshua) was Almighty God (YHWH) himself.   This rules out constructs 6, 7, and 10, represented below, as impossible as they do NOT harmonize with context.
 
<6> "and the Word was God" [example of Bible using, American Standard Version, ASV] [note, this construct violates the count noun rule of Koine Greek]
 
<7> "He was the same as God" example of Bible using, Today's English Version.]
 
<10> "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] [example of Bible using, Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch, 198
 
And two of these constructs do violate the count Noun rule of Koine Greek; to wit, constructs 6 and 7.
 
Now exactly what is the count Noun rule of Koine Greek? It is as follows:
 
The fact is that THE-OS' (=God) is a count noun, not a mass noun or an adjective. As a count noun it MUST BE countable, i.e. either definite or indefinite (i.e. either "a god" or "the God").   The trinitarian argument hinges on stripping THE-OS' of its count-ability, so that it is purely qualitative.   However, if a noun is PURELY qualitative, it is not a count noun. An adjective or a mass noun may fit their requirement for emphasizing qualitativness only, but a count noun MUST BE countable, for that is what *count* means when describing a count noun.   If he accepts this rather elementary rule of English grammar, you can demonstrate that, as a count noun,  THE-OS' may be translated either "the Word was God" (="the Word was The God", which is Sabellianism), or "the Word was a god". Since orthodox trinitarians reject "the Word was The God" (=Sabellianism), they are left with "the Word was a god" -- that is, if they remain true to English syntax (and English syntax is what ENGLISH translations are supposed to follow!). If one argues the point, let them provide an example of a non-countable *count noun* that is not used in a contrary-to-fact situation, such as a metaphor.   I have yet to find anyone, trinitarian or otherwise, who is able to meet this challenge.  Rolf Furuli, one of the two best living Koine Greek scholars, discusses this in his book, THE ROLE OF THEOLOGY AND BIAS IN BIBLE TRANSLATION, as does Greg Stafford, in his, JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DEFENDED: AN ANSWER TO SCHOLARS AND CRITICS.   There are also some very good posts by Wes Williams on greektheology that discuss this issue.   I suppose if you search the greektheology archives using the word "count" or the name "Wes" you will find much helpful information. [source - Kats]
 
"To preserve in English the different nuance of the-os' [god] with and without the article, some (Moffat) would translate 'The Word was divine.'"
 
Notice a literal translation of John 1:1,2:
 
"In the beginning was the world and the word was toward the god and god was the word. This (one) was in beginning toward the god."
 
In these two verses we see six nouns, three referring to the Greek word logos (word, which most recognize to be Jesus) and three referring to the Greek word the-os' (god). We notice each reference to logos (word) is preceded by the definite article "the", while two of the three times the word the-os' (god) occurs, it too is preceded by the definite article "the".   For some reason, John does not provide the definite article with the-os' when it is associated with "The Word".   We thus see two definite individuals mentioned in this verse. "The Word", Jesus Christ, and "The God", who is Almighty God Jehovah. John does not say "The Word" is "The God".    In fact, most Trinitarian scholars would argue that if John had said the word was "ho the-os'" (The God), it would amount to sabellianism (the belief that Jesus is both the Father and the Son).   As such, it is commonly agreed upon that John was not identifying Jesus as God but rather, was describing him as deity.   But if John did not say "The Word" is "The God", then what did he mean by saying, "the word was god"?
 
In Greek, it is possible for a noun to act as an adjective when it is not accompanied by the definite article.   Consider a Biblical example of this in John 6:70. "Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" (NIV)
 
Here the noun (devil) is not proceeded by the finite article (the). To reflect this most Bibles place the indefinite article (a) in front of it.   Thus, Jesus was not identifying Judas as "THE Devil", he was saying Judas had the qualities of the devil.   He was acting like the devil so he was A devil though not THE devil.   This example helps us to see how the lack of the definite article can cause a noun  to act as a predication rather than an identification.
 
Regarding this point, noted Bible scholar William Barclay writes:
 
"When in Greek two nouns are joined by the verb to be and when both have the definite article, then the one is fully identified with the other; but when one of them is without the article, it become more an adjective than a noun, and describes rather the class of the sphere to which the other belongs...
 
"John has no definte article before theos, God. The Logos, therefore, is not identified as God or with God; the word theos has become adjectival and describes the sphere to which the logos belongs...
 
"This passage then [John 1:1] does not identify the Logos and God; it does not say that Jesus was God, nor doesit call him God; but it does say that in his nature and being he belongs to the same class as God."
 
Mr. Barclay's observations are duly noted in the example we considered with Judas Iscariot being "a devil".
 
Now let's consider what the Greek Scholar Jason BeDuhn from the Northern Arizona University has to say: "The Greek phrase is theos en ho logos, which translated word for word is "a god was the word."   Greek has only a definite article, like our the, it does not have an indefinite article, like our a or an.   If a noun is definite, it has the definite article ho. If a noun is indefinite, no article is used. In the phrase from John 1:1, ho logos is "the word."   If it was written simply logos, without the definite article ho, we would have to translate it as "a word". So we are not really "inserting" an indefinite article when we translate Greek nouns without the definite article into English, we are simply obeying rules of English grammar that tell us that we cannot say "Snoopy is dog," but must say "Snoopy is a dog."
 
Now in English we simply say "God"; we do not say "The God." But in Greek, when you mean to refer to the one supreme God, instead of one of the many other beings that were called "gods," you would have to say "The God": ho theos. Even a monotheistic Christian, who believes there is only one God and no others, would be forced to say in Greek "The God," as John and Paul and the other writers of the New Testament normally do.   If you leave off the article in a phrase like John 1:1, then you are saying "a god." (There are some exceptions to this rule: Greek has what are called noun cases, which means the nouns change form depending on how they are used in a sentence.   So, if you want to say "of God," which is theou, you don't need the article.  But in the nominative case, which is the one in John 1:1, you have to have the article.   So what does John mean by saying "the word was a god"?   He is classifying Jesus in a specific category of beings.   There are plants and animals and humans and gods, and so on.   By calling the Word "a god," John wants to tell his readers that the Word (which becomes Jesus when it takes flesh) belongs to the divine class of things.   Notice the word order: "a god was the word."   We can't say it like this in English, but you can in Greek.   The subject can be after the verb and the object before the verb, the opposite of how we do it in English (subject-verb-object). Research has shown that when ancient Greek writers put a object-noun first in a sentence like John 1:1 (a be-verb sentence: x is y), without the definite article, they are telling us that the subject belongs to the class represented by the object-noun: :"The car is a Volkswagen." In English we would accomplish the same thing by using what we call predicate adjectives. "John is a smart person" = "John is smart." So we would tend to say "The word was divine," rather than "The word was a god."  That is how I would translate this phrase. "The word was a god" is more literal, and an improvement over "The word was God," but it raises more problems, since to a modern reader it implies polytheism.   No one in John's day would have understood the phrase to mean "The word was God" - the language does not convey that sense, and conceptually it is difficult to grasp such an idea, especially since that author has just said that the word was with God.   Someone is not with himself, he is with some other.   John clearly differentiates between God from the Word.   The latter becomes flesh and is seen; the former cannot be seen. What is the Word?   John says it was the agent through whom God made the world.   He starts his gospel "In the beginning..." to remind us of Genesis 1. How does God create in Genesis?   He speaks words that make things come into existence.    So the Word is God's creative power and plan and activity.    It is not God himself, but it is not really totally separate from God either.   It occupies a kind of ambiguous status.   That is why a monotheist like John can get away with calling it "a god" or "divine" without becoming a polytheist.   This divine thing does not act on its own, however, does take on a kind of distinct identity, and in becoming flesh brings God's will and plan right down face to face with humans.
 
DEEPER TECHNICAL FACTS ON JOHN 1:1:
 
For those who like to know the technical facts behind the translation, correct, of John 1:1, here they are:
 
But, first a definition, Jesus (Yeshua)-A Godlike One; Divine
 
Some salient Bible editions on the subject,
 
1808 ; "and the word was a god" , --- TheNew Testament, in An ImprQved Version, Upon , the Basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation:
With a Corrected Text; London,
 
1829, , "and the I,.ogos was a,gqd" -- The Monotessaron; or,The Gospel History, ,According to the Four Evangelists, , by John S. Thompson,
Baltimore. ,
 
1864 -- "and a god wasth~,Word" -- TheEmphaticDiagiott (.)'2\ lrlteriinear r.eading), by Benjamin V{ilsorl, New York an<;lLondon.
'
1935 "q,nd the ,Word was divine" -- 'l'he Bible-An American .Translation" by " J. M. P. Smith andE. J. Goodspeed, Chicago.
 
1950 "and the Word was a god" -- New World Translation of the Christian Greek , Scriptures, Brooklyn.
 
1975 "and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word"* -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz, GOttingen, Germany.*
 
1978 "and godlike sort was 'the Logos"" -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes
Schneider, Berlin.*
 
1979 . "and a god was the Logos"" -- Das Evangelium nach Johannes, Jurgen Becker,
Wirzburg, Germany.*
* Translated from German.
 
These translations use such words 'as "a god," "divine," or "godlike" because the Greek word eEO<; (the-os') is a singular predicate noun occurring before the verb and is 'riot preceded by the definite article. This is an anarthrous "the-os'". The God with whom the Word, or Logos, .was originally is designated here by the Greek expression Qedz, that is, "the-os'". ,proceded by the definite article ho. .This'is an articular, "the-os'". . The articular construction of the noun 'points' to an identity, a personality,; whereas a singular ,anarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb points to,a quality about someone., Therefore, John's statement that the Word, or Logos,--was "a god" or "divine" or "godlike" does not mean that he was the God with whom he was. It merely expresses a certain quality about the Word, or Logos, but it does not identify his as one and the same as God himself..
 
In the Greek text there, are many cases of a singular antarthrous predicate noun preceding the verb, such as those listed in the accompanying chart. In these places translators insert the indefinite article "a" before the predicate noun in order to bring out the quality or characteristic of the subject. Since the indefinite article is inserted before the predicate noun in such texts, with equal justification the indefinite article "a" is inserted before the anarthrous "the-os'", in the predicate of John 1:1 to make it read "a" god. The Sacred Scriptures Confirm the correctness of this rendering.
 
In his article "Qualitative Anarthrous Predicate Nouns: Mark 15: 39 and John 1:1," published in Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 92, Philadelphia, 1973, on p. 85 Philip B. Harner said that such clauses as the one in John l:1, "with an arthrous predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning. They indicate that the logos has the nature of "the-os'". There is no basis for regarding the predicate "the-os'" as definite."  On p. 87 of his article, Dr. Harner concluded: "In John 1:1 I think that the qualitative force of the predicate is so prominent that the noun cannot be regarded as definite."
 
Following is a list of instances in the gospels of Mark and John where various translators have rendered singular anarthrous predicate nouns occurring. before the verb with an indefinite article to denote the indefinite and qualitative status of the subject nouns, check the following Bibles for the following scriptures:
 
Scriptures, Mark 6:49, Mark 11:32, John 4:19, John 6:70, John 8:44, John 9:17,John 10:1, John 10:13, John 10:33, John 12:6, John 18:37 in the following translations, New World Translation (NWT), Authorized King James Bible (AV), New International Version (NIV), Revised Standard Version (RSV), and Today's English Version (TEV).
 
CONCLUSION:
 
Now many so called Christians point to John 1:1 to try and prove that Jesus (Yeshua) and his Father, Almighty God (YHWH) are one spirit being, an impossibility as one can NOT both be the son and the father at the same time as we all know.   They use things to cloud the issue such as things are different in heaven or those are the words of men.  In doing so they clearly forget that God (YHWH) used over 40 faithful man through divine inspiration to write the Bible as scribes that took the thoughts of men under divine inspiration and put them in the words of men so we could understand.  Yet many biased translations say Jesus (Yeshua) is God (YHWH)such as the Authorized King James Bible (AV), "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  But even the translational constructs clearly show the bias and the error in translating John 1:1 this way.   How so?  Well as a starter, one can NOT be with someone and also be that someone, that is an impossibility.  But getting past that, even if one is to accept this error there is yet another impossibility.  What is it?  To have a Trinity, one must have three of a kind, and no matter how you translate John 1:1 there is NO three of a kind, nor for that matter three of anything.
 
 
APPENDIX:
 
(1) How some Bible translators who did not have bias translated, i.e., were striving for translation fidelity and NOT to support this or that perception:
 
1928: "and the Word was a divine being." La Bible du Centenaire, L'Evangile selon Jean, by Maurice Goguel.
1935: "and the Word was divine." The Bible-An American Translation, by J. M. P. Smith and E. J. Goodspeed.
1946: "and of a divine kind was the Word." Das Neue Testament, by Ludwig Thimme. 1958: "and the Word was a God." The New Testament, by James L. Tomanek.
1975: "and a god (or, of a divine kind) was the Word." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Siegfried Schulz.
1978: "and godlike kind was the Logos." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Johannes Schneider.
1979: "and a god was the Logos." Das Evangelium nach Johannes, by Jurgen Becker Harwood,
1768, "and was himself a divine person" Thompson,
1829, "the Logos was a god Torrey,
1961, "what God was,the Word was" Moffatt,
1972, "the Logos was divine Translator's NT,
1973, "The Word was with God and shared his nature Barclay,
1976, "the nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God" Schonfield,
1985, "the Word was divine Revised English,
1989, "what God was, the Word was Scholar's Version,
1993, "The Divine word and wisdom was there with God, and it was what God was" Madsen,
1994, "the Word was <EM>a divine Being" Becker,
1979, "ein Gott war das Logos" [a God/god was the Logos/logos] Stage,
1907, "Das Wort war selbst gttlichen Wesens" [The Word/word was itself a divine Being/being]. Bhmer,
1910, "Es war fest mit Gott verbunden, ja selbst gttlichen Wesens" [It was strongly linked to God, yes itself divine Being/being] Thimme,
1919, "Gott von Art war das Wort" [God of Kind/kind was the Word/word] Baumgarten et al,
1920, "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] Holzmann,
1926, "ein Gott war der Gedanke" [a God/god was the Thought/thought] Rittenlmeyer, 1938, "selbst ein Gott war das Wort" [itself a God/god was the Word/word] Lyder Brun (Norw. professor of NT theology),
1945, "Ordet var av guddomsart" [the Word was of divine kind] Pffflin,
1949, "war von gttlicher Wucht [was of divine Kind/kind] Albrecht,
1957, "gttlichen Wesen hatte das Wort" [godlike Being/being had the Word/word] Smit, 1960, "verdensordet var et guddommelig vesen" [the word of the world was a divine being] Menge,
1961, "Gott (= gttlichen Wesens) war das Wort"[God(=godlike Being/being) was the Word/word) Haenchen,
1980, "Gott (von Art) war der Logos" [God (of Kind/kind) was the Logos/logos] Die Bibel in heutigem Deutsch,
1982, "r war bei Gott und in allem Gott gleich"[He was with God and in all like God] Haenchen (tr. By R. Funk),
1984, "divine (of the category divinity)was the Logos" Schultz,
1987, "ein Gott (oder: Gott von Art) war das Wort" [a God/god (or: God/god of Kind/kind) was the Word/word]
 
(2) Amplification on How Some Bible Translators Translated John 1:1 And Why:
 
"And the word was a god" - The New Testament in An Improved Version, Upon the Basis of Achbishop Newcome's New Translation: With a Corrected Text.
 
"and a god was the Word" - The Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson.
 
"and the Word was divine" - The Bible: An American Translation, by J.M.P. Smith and E.J. Goodspeed.
 
"the Logos was divine" - The New Testament: A New Translation, by James Moffat.
 
"what God was, the Word was" - The New English Bible.
 
"He was the same as God" - Today's English Version.
 
"And the Word was a god" - New World Translation
 
LEARN  MORE  AT   WWW.JW.ORG
 

COMBINATION OF THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
 
SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 85A]
 
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  Romans 8:16, [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
There was great excitement in Jerusalem on Pentecost 33 C.E. as this time marked the start of the wheat harvest.  And while much activity was taking place in the temple area, and even more important event was taking place in an upper roam in the city,  Acts 1:13 – 15, [AV] “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.  14  These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.  15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)”  And Almighty God’s (YHWH’s) Holy Spirit came down on the gathering as prophesied by the Prophet Joel at Joel 2:28 – 32, [AV] “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:  29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.  30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.  32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”  Yes, His Holy Spirit was poured out on them as testified to at Acts 2:2 – 4, [AV] “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  3  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” In fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.  And all started as shown by Acts 1:8, [AV] “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 
 
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Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
THE RARE FRUIT TREES AND VEGETABLES:
Here is a Commentary on Bountiful Trees and Vegetables God (YHWH) has provided for mankind, specifically the Anagallis arvensis , Pimpernel
 
Abundance: common
What: flowers, leaves, stem 
How: dried and powdered, tea 
Where: sunny fields, yards, 
When: spring, summer 
Nutritional Value: medicinal
WARNING - DANGERS: CONTAINS SMALL AMOUNT OF SAPONINS WHICH CAN CAUSE STOMACH UPSET. SOME PEOPLE DEVELOP SKIN RASHES FROM CONTACT. IT ALSO CONTAINS SOME ESTROGEN MIMICS.
 
The scarlet pimpernel has a tradition of medicinal use going back to the ancient Greeks. They considered it to be a "cure-all", capable of treating any sort of injury, illness, or infection of bone, muscle, eye or other organ.  The plant was dried and powdered, this powder then consumed in a drink.  The raw plant has a rather unpleasant taste, probably due to the small amount of bitter saponin compounds it contains.  It was also used as a wash for bad skin.  Perhaps more importantly the pimpernel was thought to raise spirits and dispel melancholy, for which tea made from the fresh plant was recommended.
 
The pimpernel flowers close up when rain approaches, allowing them to be used as a crude method of predicting bad weather. The flowers also close up in the evening and won't reopen until stuck by sunlight.
 
The young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, but generally they are too bitter.  Also note that they can be fatal to small animals such as rabbits and rodents so don't feed them to pets.   ALSO, DON'T MISTAKE IT FOR CHICKWEED (STELLARIA MEDIA)
 
WARNING - PIMPERNEL CONTAINS AN ESTROGEN MIMIC AND SO IF THAT SORT OF THING CONCERNS YOU THEN AVOID THIS PLANT. THE ESTROGEN MIMIC CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS DURING PREGNANCY AS WELL WITH CERTAIN HORMONE-SENSITIVE ISSUES.   THESE INCLUDE CANCERS OF THE BREAST, UTERUS, AND OVARIES ALONG WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS.   [SOURC - RETRIEVED FROM   HTTP://WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM/2012/01/PIMPERNEL.HTML  ON  3/30/2016]
 
In Genesis 1:11-13, "And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. (American Standard Version, ASV)[for more details, go to  www.jw.org].
 
To view this plant, go to, http://www.foragingtexas.com/2012/01/pimpernel.html
 
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org! 

COMBINATION OF [1]  THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY AND [2]  When God's (YHWH's) Kingdom Starts Ruling.   With the Scripture of the Day first.
[1]  SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY [VOL. 87A]
 
 
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  Ephesians 1:7,  [authorized King James Bible; AV]
 
Almighty God’s (YHWH’s)great gift to mankind was providing His only begotten son, Jesus (Yeshua), as a ransom as the means of lifting inherited sin, from Adam’s disobedience, off of all mankind. As Romans 5:10 – 11, [AV] says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  11  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” 
 
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To enjoy an online Bible study called “Follow the Christ” go to,http://www.network54.com/Forum/403209/thread/1417398076/last-1417398076/Digital+Book+On+18+Part+Follow+Christ+Bible+Study 
 
Your Friend in Christ Iris89 
 
Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to WWW.JW.ORG!
 
[2[   When God's (YHWH's) Kingdom Starts Ruling: [PRESENTED AS A SERIES]
 
 
[gracious thanks to Bible Scholar Nat for sending me much of the data for this article]
 
INTRODUCTION:
 
This is a matter over which many have different opinions, so let's let the Bible, the Word of God (YHWH) clear up the matter for all.
 
First, there are two distinct phases to when God's (YHWH's) Kingdom starts to rule.   The first phase is when it starts ruling in heaven and the second phase is when it starts ruling over the earth.
 
Second, the first phase has already occurred, and this is spoken of in Revelation 12:1-11, " And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels [going forth] to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels; 8 And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. 10 And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death." (American Standard Version; ASV).   This article shall show when this occurred.
 
Third, there is the second phase which is yet to occur that all pray for in the Lord's Prayer as recorded at Matthew 6:9-15, "After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil [one.] 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (ASV).
 
UNDERSTANDING MATTHEW 16:28:
 
Let's look at this scripture and its significance, Matthew 16:28, "Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (ASV).
 
Now here is the understanding on this scripture:
 
"The Transfiguration Builds Faith
The transfiguration was a prophetic event. Said Jesus: "The Son of man is destined to come in the glory of his Father with his angels . . . Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here that will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:27, 28) Did some of the apostles actually see Jesus coming in his Kingdom? Matthew 17:1-7 states: "Six days later Jesus took Peter and James and John his brother along and brought them up into a lofty mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them." What a dramatic event! "His face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light. And, look! there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, conversing with him." Also, "a bright cloud overshadowed them," and they heard God's own voice saying: "'This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to him.' At hearing this the disciples fell upon their faces and became very much afraid. Then Jesus came near and, touching them, said: 'Get up and have no fear.'"
This awesome event likely took place on one of the ridges of Mount Hermon, where Jesus and the three apostles spent the night. The transfiguration evidently occurred at night, making it especially vivid. One reason Jesus called it a vision was that long-dead Moses and Elijah were not literally present. Only Christ was actually there. (Matthew 17:8, 9) Such a dazzling display."
 
 
 
This gave Peter, James, and John a spectacular foregleam of Jesus' glorious presence in Kingdom power. Moses and Elijah find parallels in Jesus' anointed joint heirs, and the vision powerfully reinforced his testimony about the Kingdom and his future kingship.
 
 
 
The transfiguration helped to strengthen the faith of the three apostles who were to play a leading role in the Christian congregation. Christ's shining face, his glistening garments, and God's own voice declaring that Jesus was His beloved Son to whom they should listen-all of this served its purpose most effectively. But the apostles were to relate the vision to no one until Jesus was resurrected. Some 32 years later, this vision was still vivid in Peter's mind. Pointing to it and its significance, he wrote: "No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we acquainted you with the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was by having become eyewitnesses of his magnificence. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when words such as these were borne to him by the magnificent glory: 'This is my son, my beloved, whom I myself have approved.' Yes, these words we heard borne from heaven while we were with him in the holy mountain."-2 Peter 1:16-18.
 
 
 
 Of utmost importance was God's proclamation: "This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to him." This statement focuses attention on Jesus as God's enthroned King, to whom all creation must render obedience. The overshadowing cloud indicated that the fulfillment of this vision would be invisible. It would be discernible only with the eyes of understanding on the part of those who recognize "the sign" of Jesus' invisible presence in Kingdom power. (Matthew 24:3) In fact, Jesus' instruction not to tell the vision to anyone until he had risen from the dead shows that his exaltation and glorification would come after his resurrection.
 
 
 
After referring to the transfiguration, Peter stated: "Consequently we have the prophetic word made more sure; and you are doing well in paying attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and a daystar rises, in your hearts. For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was at no time brought by man's will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit." (2 Peter 1:19-21) The transfiguration underscores the reliability of God's prophetic word. We must pay attention to that word and not to "artfully contrived false stories" that do not have divine backing or approval. Our faith in the prophetic word should be strengthened by the transfiguration because that visionary foreview of Jesus' glory and Kingdom power has become a reality. Yes, we have undeniable evidence that Christ is present today as a powerful heavenly King.[source - WT of  4/1/2000, page 12-14.]
 
 
 
And another source said:
 
"When Jesus Comes in Kingdom Glory
"Some of those standing here . . . will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."-MATTHEW 16:28.
 
 
 
SHORTLY after Pentecost 32 C.E., three of Jesus Christ's apostles saw a memorable vision. According to the inspired record, "Jesus took Peter and James and John his brother along and brought them up into a lofty mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them."-Matthew 17:1, 2.
The transfiguration vision came at a critical time. Jesus had started to tell his followers that he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem, but they found his words difficult to grasp. (Matthew 16:21-23) The vision strengthened the faith of Jesus' three apostles in preparation for his coming death and also for the years of hard work and testing that would follow for the Christian congregation. Can we today learn something from the vision? Yes, because what it foreshadowed actually takes place in our time.
 
 
 
 Six days before the transfiguration, Jesus told his followers: "The Son of man is destined to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will recompense each one according to his behavior." These words would be fulfilled at "the conclusion of the system of things." Jesus further stated: "Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here that will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:27, 28; 24:3; 25:31-34, 41; Daniel 12:4) The transfiguration took place in fulfillment of these latter words.
 
 
 
Exactly what did the three apostles see? The following is Luke's description of the event: "As [Jesus] was praying the appearance of his face became different and his apparel became glitteringly white. Also, look! two men were conversing with him, who were Moses and Elijah. These appeared with glory and began talking about his departure that he was destined to fulfill at Jerusalem." Then, "a cloud formed and began to overshadow [the apostles]. As they entered into the cloud, they became fearful. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: 'This is my Son, the one that has been chosen. Listen to him.'"-Luke 9:29-31, 34, 35.
 
 
 
Faith Strengthened
 
The apostle Peter had already identified Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16) Jehovah's words from heaven confirmed that identification, and the vision of Jesus transfigured was a foretaste of Christ's coming in Kingdom power and glory, eventually to judge mankind. More than 30 years after the transfiguration, Peter wrote: "It was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we acquainted you with the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was by having become eyewitnesses of his magnificence. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when words such as these were borne to him by the magnificent glory: 'This is my son, my beloved, whom I myself have approved.' Yes, these words we heard borne from heaven while we were with him in the holy mountain."-2 Peter 1:16-18; 1 Peter 4:17.
 
 
 
Today, our faith too is strengthened by what the three apostles saw. Of course, events have moved on since 32 C.E. The following year, Jesus died and was resurrected, ascending to the right hand of his Father. (Acts 2:29-36) At Pentecost of that year, the new "Israel of God" was brought forth, and a preaching campaign began, starting in Jerusalem and later spreading to the ends of the earth. (Galatians 6:16; Acts 1:8) Almost immediately the faith of Jesus' followers was tested. The apostles were arrested and severely beaten because they refused to stop preaching. Soon Stephen was murdered. Then James, an eyewitness of the transfiguration, was killed. (Acts 5:17-40; 6:8-7:60; 12:1, 2) Peter and John, however, survived to serve Jehovah faithfully for many more years. In fact, toward the close of the first century C.E., John recorded further visionary glimpses of Jesus in heavenly glory.-Revelation 1:12-20; 14:14; 19:11-16.
 
 
 
 Since the beginning of "the Lord's day" in 1914, many of the visions seen by John have been fulfilled. (Revelation 1:10) What of Jesus' 'coming in the glory of his Father,' as foreshadowed by the transfiguration? This vision began to be fulfilled at the birth of God's heavenly Kingdom in 1914. When Jesus, like a daystar, rose on the universal scene as a newly enthroned King, that was, as it were, the dawn of a new day. (2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 11:15; 22:16) Did Jesus at that time recompense some according to their behavior? Yes. There is strong evidence that shortly thereafter, the heavenly resurrection of anointed Christians began.-2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 14:13.
 
 
 
Soon, though, Jesus will arrive "in his glory, and all the angels with him" in order to judge mankind as a whole. (Matthew 25:31) At that time, he will reveal himself in all his magnificent glory and give to "each one" just recompense for his or her behavior. Sheeplike ones will inherit everlasting life in the Kingdom prepared for them, and goatlike ones will depart into "everlasting cutting-off." What a splendid conclusion that will be to the fulfillment of the transfiguration vision!-Matthew 25:34, 41, 46; Mark 8:38; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10.
 
 
 
Jesus' Glorified Companions
 
Jesus was not alone in the transfiguration. Moses and Elijah were seen with him. (Matthew 17:2, 3) Were they literally present? No, for both men had long since died and were asleep in the dust awaiting a resurrection. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; Hebrews 11:35) Will they appear with Jesus when he comes in heavenly glory? No, because Moses and Elijah lived before the heavenly hope opened up to humans. They will be part of the earthly "resurrection of . . . the righteous." (Acts 24:15) So their appearance in the transfiguration vision is symbolic. Of what?
 
 
 
In other contexts, Moses and Elijah are prophetic figures. As mediator of the Law covenant, Moses foreshadowed Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant. (Deuteronomy 18:18; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 8:6) Elijah foreshadowed John the Baptist, a forerunner of the Messiah. (Matthew 17:11-13) Further, in the context of Revelation chapter 11, Moses and Elijah foreshadow the anointed remnant in the time of the end. How do we know that?
 
 
 
Well, turn to Revelation 11:1-6. In verse 3 we read: "I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth." This prophecy was fulfilled upon the remnant of anointed Christians during World War I. Why two witnesses? Because the anointed remnant perform works that, in a spiritual way, are like those of Moses and Elijah. Verses 5 and 6 go on to say: "If anyone wants to harm [the two witnesses], fire issues forth from their mouths and devours their enemies; and if anyone should want to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. These have the authority to shut up heaven that no rain should fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every sort of plague as often as they wish." Thus, we are reminded of miracles performed by Elijah and Moses.-Numbers 16:31-34; 1 Kings 17:1; 2 Kings 1:9-12.
 
 
 
Who, then, do Moses and Elijah foreshadow in the context of the transfiguration? Luke says that they appeared along with Jesus "with glory." (Luke 9:31) Clearly, they foreshadow Christians who have been anointed with holy spirit as "joint heirs" with Jesus and who thereby received the wonderful hope of being "glorified together" with him. (Romans 8:17) Resurrected anointed ones will be with Jesus when he comes in the glory of his Father to "recompense each one according to his behavior."-Matthew 16:27.
Witnesses Like Moses and Elijah
 
 
 
There are notable features that mark Moses and Elijah as fitting prophetic pictures of Jesus' anointed joint heirs. Both Moses and Elijah served as Jehovah's spokesmen for many years. Both faced the wrath of a ruler. In a time of need, each was supported by a foreign family. Both boldly prophesied to kings and stood firm against false prophets. Moses and Elijah both saw demonstrations of Jehovah's power on Mount Sinai (also called Horeb). Both commissioned successors on the east side of the Jordan. And the times of both Moses (with Joshua) and Elijah (with Elisha) saw the greatest number of miracles, apart from those that occurred during the lifetime of Jesus.
 
 
 
Does not all of that remind us of the Israel of God? Yes, indeed. Jesus told his faithful followers: "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things." (Matthew 28:19, 20) In obedience to these words, anointed Christians have served as Jehovah's spokesman from Pentecost 33 C.E. until now. Like Moses and Elijah, they have faced the wrath of rulers and have witnessed to them. Jesus told his 12 apostles: "You will be haled before governors and kings for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations." (Matthew 10:18) His words have been fulfilled repeatedly during the history of the Christian congregation.-Acts 25:6, 11, 12, 24-27; 26:3.
 
 
 
 Further, anointed Christians have been as fearless as Moses and Elijah in standing for truth against religious falsehood. Remember how Paul denounced the Jewish false prophet Bar-Jesus and tactfully but firmly exposed the falseness of the gods of the Athenians. (Acts 13:6-12; 17:16, 22-31) Remember, too, that in modern times the anointed remnant has boldly exposed Christendom and such witnessing has plagued her.-Revelation 8:7-12.
 
 
 
When Moses fled the wrath of Pharaoh, he found refuge in the home of a non-Israelite, Reuel, also called Jethro. At a later time, Moses received valuable organizational counsel from Reuel, whose son Hobab guided Israel through the wilderness. (Exodus 2:15-22; 18:5-27; Numbers 10:29) Have members of the Israel of God been helped similarly by individuals who are not anointed members of the Israel of God? Yes, they have been supported by the "great crowd" of "other sheep," who have appeared on the scene during these last days. (Revelation 7:9; John 10:16; Isaiah 61:5) Foretelling the warm, loving support that these "sheep" would offer his anointed brothers, Jesus said to them prophetically: "I became hungry and you gave me something to eat; I got thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you received me hospitably; naked, and you clothed me. I fell sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to me. . . . Truly I say to you, To the extent that you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."-Matthew 25:35-40.
 
 
 
 Further, the Israel of God had an experience comparable to that of Elijah on Mount Horeb. Like Elijah at the time he was  running from Queen Jezebel, the fearful anointed remnant thought that their work was done at the end of World War I. Then, also like Elijah, they had an encounter with Jehovah, who had come to judge those organizations claiming to be "the house of God." (1 Peter 4:17; Malachi 3:1-3) While Christendom was found wanting, the anointed remnant was recognized as "the faithful and discreet slave" and was appointed over all Jesus' earthly belongings. (Matthew 24:45-47) In Horeb, Elijah heard "a calm, low voice" that proved to be that of Jehovah, giving him more work to do. In the quiet period of the postwar years, faithful anointed servants of Jehovah heard his voice from the pages of the Bible. They too perceived that they had a commission to fulfill.-1 Kings 19:4, 9-18; Revelation 11:7-13.
 
 
 
Finally, have outstanding manifestations of Jehovah's power been channeled through the Israel of God? After Jesus' death, the apostles performed many miracles, but these gradually ceased. (1 Corinthians 13:8-13) Nowadays, we do not see miracles in a physical sense. On the other hand, Jesus said to his followers: "Most truly I say to you, He that exercises faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do; and he will do works greater than these." (John 14:12) This had an initial fulfillment as Jesus' disciples preached the good news throughout the Roman Empire in the first century. (Romans 10:18) Even greater works have been done today as the anointed remnant has spearheaded the preaching of the good news "in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations." (Matthew 24:14) The result? The 20th century has witnessed the ingathering of the greatest number of dedicated, faithful servants of Jehovah in history. (Revelation 5:9, 10; 7:9, 10) What magnificent evidence of Jehovah's power!-Isaiah 60:22.
 
 
 
Jesus' Brothers Come in Glory
 
As the remnant of Jesus' anointed brothers finish their earthly course, they are glorified with him. (Romans 2:6, 7; 1 Corinthians 15:53; 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17) Thus they become immortal kings and priests in the heavenly Kingdom. With Jesus, they will then "shepherd the people with an iron rod so that they will be broken to pieces like clay vessels." (Revelation 2:27; 20:4-6; Psalm 110:2, 5, 6) With Jesus, they will sit on thrones judging "the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matthew 19:28) Groaning creation has eagerly awaited these events, which are part of "the revealing of the sons of God."-Romans 8:19-21; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8.
Paul spoke of the revelation of Jesus during the "great tribulation" when he wrote: "He comes to be glorified in connection with his holy ones and to be regarded in that day with wonder in connection with all those who exercised faith." (Matthew 24:21; 2 Thessalonians 1:10) What a magnificent prospect that is for Peter, James, John, and all spirit-anointed Christians! The transfiguration strengthened Peter's faith. Surely, reading about it strengthens our faith too and fortifies our confidence that Jesus will soon "recompense each one according to his behavior." Faithful anointed Christians who have survived to this day see their confidence confirmed that they will be glorified with Jesus. Other sheep have their faith strengthened in the knowledge that he will save them through the end of this wicked system of things into the glorious new world. (Revelation 7:14) What an encouragement to stand firm to the end! And this vision can teach us much more, as we will see in the following article.[source - WT 5/15/1997, pp. 9-14].
 
 
 
And another source said:
 
 
 
"It was to the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometime after Passover of 32 C.E., the Son of God told his disciples: "Truly I say to you that there are some of those standing here that will not taste death at all until first they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." (Matthew 16:28) In a matter of days, those words of Jesus were fulfilled. Taking with him the apostles Peter, James and John, God's Son climbed a high mountain, presumably Hermon. On a spur of this mountain, the following took place: "[Jesus] was transfigured before them, and his face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light." Thus the three apostles had confirmed to them that Jesus' coming in Kingdom power would indeed be glorious. Then a "bright cloud" formed and a voice came out of it, saying: "This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved; listen to him."-Matthew 17:1-5." [source - A Hope With A Sure Guarantee, page 36-37].
 
 
IMPORTANCE TO US OF TODAY:
 
 
Fulfillment of Bible prophecy in our day indicates that Jesus' presence in Kingdom power began in 1914 C.E. (Matt. 24:3-14; 25:31-33) Obviously, Matthew 16:28 could not refer to this event, for Jesus there spoke of something that would take place before the apostles all died. Then what could that have been?
The Hebrew Scriptures had foretold that the Messiah was to be an everlasting king. (Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:12-16; Isa. 9:6, 7) Daniel's vision in particular gave Jews reason to expect the Messiah's reign to be glorious, powerful, magnificent. (Dan. 2:44; 7:13, 14) But just who was to be this Messianic king, and would he rule from an earthly throne? Even Jesus' disciples who accepted him as the Messiah could benefit from assurance that he would reign from heaven with power and glory.-Matt. 16:16-22; Acts 1:6.
Accordingly, less than a year before he died Jesus explained that some of the apostles would "see the Son of man coming in his kingdom," or, as Mark phrased it, "see the kingdom of God already come in power." (Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1) After Jesus was no longer among them, the disciples would be able to draw strength from their having been eyewitnesses of his future heavenly presence in Kingdom power.
But how were Jesus' words in Matthew 16:25 fulfilled? Often the meaning of a verse is suggested by its context. In this case, all three Gospel accounts of Jesus' promise about seeing him in his kingdom lead immediately into the record of the transfiguration.
 
 
 
 Now this opens the important question of when this will take place.   Of course we do NOT know the hour or the day as even God's (YHWH's) Son, Jesus (Yeshua) stated that he did not know that at Mark 13:30-32, "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." (ASV).   But world conditions clearly show we are in the end times and the culmination of the end times can not be very far in the future.
 
 
 
Let's consider Matthew 24:33-35, "even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, [even] at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (ASV).
 
Comments by others on this scripture:
 
"These Things Must Take Place"
 
 
Do you know and understand Jesus' answer? It is found in three of the Gospels. Professor D. A. Carson states: "Few chapters of the Bible have called forth more disagreement among interpreters than Matthew 24 and its parallels in Mark 13 and Luke 21." He then gives his own opinion-just another of the conflicting human views. In the last century or so, many such views reflected a lack of faith. Those offering them held that Jesus never said what we read in the Gospels, that his sayings were later corrupted, or that his prediction failed-views shaped by higher criticism. One commentator even approached Mark's Gospel 'through the lens of Mahayana-Buddhist philosophy'!..
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A Tragic Fulfillment in the Offing
 
 
 
The apostles knew that Jesus was the Messiah. So when they heard him mention his death, resurrection, and return, they must have wondered, 'If Jesus dies and goes away, how can he carry out the wonderful things that the Messiah is expected to do?' Further, Jesus spoke of an end for Jerusalem and its temple. The apostles might have wondered, 'When and how will that occur?' In trying to understand these things, the apostles asked: "When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion?"-Mark 13:4; Matthew 16:21, 27, 28; 23:37-24:2
.
 
 
Jesus foretold that there would be wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, hatred and persecution of Christians, false messiahs, and a widespread preaching of the good news of the Kingdom. Then the end was to come. (Matthew 24:4-14; Mark 13:5-13; Luke 21:8-19) Jesus said this early in the year 33 C.E. During the following decades, his alert disciples could recognize that the foretold things were in fact occurring in a significant way. Yes, history proves that the sign had a fulfillment at that time, leading to a conclusion of the Jewish system of things at the hands of the Romans in 66-70 C.E. How did that come about?
 
 
 
 During the hot Judean summer of 66 C.E., Jewish Zealots led an assault on Roman guards in a fort near the temple in Jerusalem, sparking violence elsewhere in the land. In History of the Jews, Professor Heinrich Graetz relates: "Cestius Gallus, whose duty it was as Governor of Syria to uphold the honor of Roman arms, . . . could no longer witness the rebellion spreading around him without an effort to stem its progress. He called his legions together, and the neighboring princes voluntarily sent their troops." This army of 30,000 surrounded Jerusalem. After some fighting, the Jews withdrew behind walls near the temple. "During five successive days the Romans stormed the walls, but were always obliged to fall back before the missiles of the Judæans. It was only on the sixth day that they succeeded in undermining a part of the northern wall in front of the Temple."
 
 
 
Just think how confused the Jews would have been, since they had long felt that God would protect them and their holy city! Jesus' disciples, though, had been forewarned that calamity awaited Jerusalem. Jesus had foretold: "The days will come upon you when your enemies will build around you a fortification with pointed stakes and will encircle you and distress you from every side, and they will dash you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone in you." (Luke 19:43, 44) But would that spell death for Christians inside Jerusalem in 66 C.E.?
 
 
 
When replying to the apostles on the Mount of Olives, Jesus predicted: "Those days will be days of a tribulation such as has not occurred from the beginning of the creation which God created until that time, and will not occur again. In fact, unless Jehovah had cut short the days, no flesh would be saved. But on account of the chosen ones whom he has chosen he has cut short the days." (Mark 13:19, 20; Matthew 24:21, 22) So the days would be cut short and "the chosen ones" saved. Who were they? Certainly not rebellious Jews who claimed to worship Jehovah but who had rejected his Son. (John 19:1-7; Acts 2:22, 23, 36) The true chosen ones back then were those Jews and non-Jews who exercised faith in Jesus as Messiah and Savior. God had chosen such ones, and on Pentecost 33 C.E., he had formed them into a new spiritual nation, "the Israel of God."-Galatians 6:16; Luke 18:7; Acts 10:34-45; 1 Peter 2:9.
 
 
 
Were the days "cut short" and the anointed chosen ones in Jerusalem saved? Professor Graetz suggests: "[Cestius Gallus] did not deem it advisable to continue the combat against heroic enthusiasts and embark on a lengthy campaign at that season, when the autumn rains would soon commence . . . and might prevent the army from receiving provisions. On that account probably he thought it more prudent to retrace his steps." Whatever Cestius Gallus was thinking, the Roman army retreated from the city, with grave losses inflicted by the pursuing Jews.
 
 
 
That surprising Roman retreat allowed "flesh"-Jesus' disciples who were at risk inside Jerusalem-to be saved. History records that when this window of opportunity opened, Christians fled the region. What a display of God's ability to foreknow the future and to ensure the survival of his worshipers! Yet, what of unbelieving Jews who remained in Jerusalem and Judea?
 
 
 
Contemporaries Would See It
 
 
 
Many Jews felt that their system of worship, centered on the temple, would long continue. But Jesus said: "Learn from the fig tree . . . this point: Just as soon as its young branch grows tender and it puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. Likewise also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away."-Matthew 24:32-35.
 
 
 
In the years leading up to 66 C.E., Christians would have seen many of the preliminary elements of the composite sign being fulfilled-wars, famines, even an extensive preaching of the good news of the Kingdom. (Acts 11:28; Colossians 1:23) When, though, would the end come? What did Jesus mean when he said: 'This generation [Greek, ge·ne·a´] will not pass away'? Jesus had often called the contemporaneous mass of opposing Jews, including religious leaders, 'a wicked, adulterous generation.' (Matthew 11:16; 12:39, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36) So when, on the Mount of Olives, he again spoke of "this generation," he evidently did not mean the entire race of Jews throughout history; nor did he mean his followers, even though they were "a chosen race." (1 Peter 2:9) Neither was Jesus saying that "this generation" is a period of time.
Rather, Jesus had in mind the opposing Jews back then who would experience the fulfillment of the sign he gave. Regarding the reference to "this generation" at Luke 21:32, Professor Joel B. Green notes: "In the Third Gospel, 'this generation' (and related phrases) has regularly signified a category of people who are resistant to the purpose of God. . . . [It refers] to people who stubbornly turn their backs on the divine purpose."
 
 
 
The wicked generation of Jewish opposers who could observe the sign being fulfilled would also experience the end. (Matthew 24:6, 13, 14) And that they did! In 70 C.E., the Roman army returned, led by Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian. The suffering of the Jews who were again bottled up in the city is almost beyond belief. Eyewitness Flavius Josephus reports that by the time the Romans demolished the city, about 1,100,000 Jews had died and some 100,000 were taken captive, most of those soon to perish horribly from starvation or in Roman theaters. Truly, the tribulation of 66-70 C.E. was the greatest that Jerusalem and the Jewish system had ever experienced or would ever experience. How different the outcome was for Christians who had heeded Jesus' prophetic warning and had left Jerusalem after the departure of the Roman armies in 66 C.E.! The anointed Christian "chosen ones" were "saved," or kept safe, in 70 C.E.-Matthew 24:16, 22.
 
Another Fulfillment to Come
 
 
 
However, that was not the finale. Earlier, Jesus had indicated that after the city was devastated, he would come in Jehovah's name. (Matthew 23:38, 39; 24:2) He then made this clearer in his prophecy uttered on the Mount of Olives. Having mentioned the coming "great tribulation," he said that afterward false Christs would appear, and Jerusalem would be trampled on by the nations for an extended period. (Matthew 24:21, 23-28; Luke 21:24) Could it be that another, a greater, fulfillment was to come? The facts answer yes. When we compare Revelation 6:2-8 (written after the tribulation on Jerusalem in 70 C.E.) with Matthew 24:6-8 and Luke 21:10, 11, we see that warfare, food shortages, and plague on a greater scale lay ahead. This greater fulfillment of Jesus' words has been occurring since World War I erupted in 1914...
 
 
Referring to the tribulation just ahead of us, Jesus said: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days [the destruction of false religion] the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."-Matthew 24:29, 30.
 
Hence, Jesus himself says that "after the tribulation of those days," celestial phenomena of some sort will occur. (Compare Joel 2:28-32; 3:15.) This will so startle and shock disobedient humans that they will "beat themselves in lamentation." Many will "become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth." But this will not be the case with true Christians! These 'will lift their heads up, because their deliverance is getting near.'-Luke 21:25, 26, 28.
 
 
Judgment Ahead!
 
 
 
Note that Matthew 24:29-31 foretells that (1) the Son of man comes, (2) this coming will be with great glory, (3) the angels will be with him, and (4) all the tribes of the earth will see him. Jesus repeats these elements in the parable of the sheep and the goats. (Matthew 25:31-46) Hence, we can conclude that this parable deals with the time, after the opening outbreak of tribulation, when Jesus will come with his angels and sit down on his throne to judge. (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; compare 1 Kings 7:7; Daniel 7:10, 13, 14, 22, 26; Matthew 19:28.) Who will be judged, and with what result? The parable shows that Jesus will give attention to all nations, as if they were assembled right before his celestial throne.
 
 
 
Sheeplike men and women will be separated to Jesus' right side of favor. Why? Because they used their opportunities to do good to his brothers-anointed Christians, who will share in Christ's heavenly Kingdom. (Daniel 7:27; Hebrews 2:9-3:1) In line with the parable, millions of sheeplike Christians have recognized Jesus' spiritual brothers and have been working in support of them. As a result, the "great crowd" have the Bible-based hope of surviving "the great tribulation" and then living forever in Paradise, the earthly realm of God's Kingdom.-Revelation 7:9, 14; 21:3, 4; John 10:16.
 
 
 
What a different outcome there will be for the goats! They are described at Matthew 24:30 as 'beating themselves in lamentation' when Jesus comes. And well they should, for they will have built up a record of rejecting the Kingdom good news, of opposing Jesus' disciples, and of preferring the world that is passing away. (Matthew 10:16-18; 1 John 2:15-17) Jesus-not any of his disciples on earth-determines who the goats are. Of them he says: "These will depart into everlasting cutting-off."-Matthew 25:46.
 
 
Our progress in understanding the prophecy in Matthew chapters 24 and 25 has been thrilling. However, there is a part of Jesus' prophecy that merits our further attention-'the disgusting thing that causes desolation standing in a holy place.' Jesus urged his followers to use discernment regarding this and to be ready to take action. (Matthew 24:15, 16) What is this "disgusting thing"? When does it stand in a holy place? And how are our present and future life prospects involved? The following article will discuss this.[source - WT 5/99/1999, page 8-13].
 
USE OF 'GENERATION' BY JESUS (YESHUA):
 
 
Many scriptures confirm that Jesus did not use "generation" with regard to some small or distinct group, meaning only the Jewish leaders or only his loyal disciples. Rather, he used "generation" in condemning the masses of Jews who rejected him. Happily, though, individuals could do what the apostle Peter urged on the day of Pentecost, repent and "get saved from this crooked generation."-Acts 2:40.
 
In that statement, Peter was clearly not being precise as to any fixed age or length of time, nor was he tying the "generation" to any certain date. He did not say that people should get saved from the generation that was born in the same year Jesus was or the generation that was born in 29 C.E. Peter was speaking about the unbelieving Jews of that period-some perhaps being rather young, others being older-who had been exposed to Jesus' teaching, had seen or heard of his miracles, and had not accepted him as Messiah.
 
 
That evidently is how Peter understood Jesus' use of "generation" when he and three other apostles were with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. According to Jesus' prophetic statement, Jews of that period-basically, Jesus' contemporaries-were going to experience or hear of wars, earthquakes, famines, and other evidences that the end of the Jewish system was near. In fact, that generation did not pass before the end came in 70 C.E.-Matthew 24:3-14, 34.
 
It must be acknowledged that we have not always taken Jesus' words in that sense. There is a tendency for imperfect humans to want to be specific about the date when the end will come. Recall that even the apostles sought more specifics, asking: "Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?"-Acts 1:6.
 
In fact,
 
"Saved From a "Wicked Generation"
 
 
"O faithless and twisted generation, how long must I continue with you and put up with you?"-LUKE 9:41.
 
 
WE LIVE in calamitous times. Earthquakes, floods, famines, disease, lawlessness, bombings, horrendous warfare-these and more have engulfed mankind during our 20th century. However, the greatest calamity of all threatens in the near future. What is that? It is "great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." (Matthew 24:21) Yet, many of us may look forward to a joyful future! Why? Because God's own Word describes "a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues . . . 'These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation . . . They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore . . . And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.'"-Revelation 7:1, 9, 14-17.
 
 
 
The inspired record at Matthew 24:3-22, Mark 13:3-20, and Luke 21:7-24 introduces Jesus' prophetic description of "the conclusion of the system of things." This prophecy had an initial fulfillment on the corrupt Jewish system of things of the first century of our Common Era, culminating in an unprecedented "great tribulation" on the Jews. The entire religious and political structure of the Jewish system, centered at Jerusalem's temple, was thrown down, never to be restored.
 
 
 
Let us now consider the circumstances that surrounded the first fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy. This will help us better to understand the parallel fulfillment today. It will show us how urgent it is to take positive action now in order to survive the greatest of tribulations that threatens all mankind.-Romans 10:9-13; 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 15:58.
 
 
 
"The End"-When?
 
 
 
About the year 539 B.C.E., God's prophet Daniel was given a vision of events that would occur during the final "week" of a period of "seventy weeks" of years. (Daniel 9:24-27) These "weeks" began in 455 B.C.E. when King Artaxerxes of Persia ordered the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. The final "week" started with the appearance of Messiah, Jesus Christ, at his baptism and anointing in 29 C.E. God-fearing Jews of the first century C.E. were well aware of this time feature of Daniel's prophecy. For example, concerning the crowds that flocked to hear the preaching of John the Baptizer in 29 C.E., Luke 3:15 states: "The people were in expectation and all were reasoning in their hearts about John: 'May he perhaps be the Christ?'"
 
 
The 70th "week" was to be seven years of special favor extended to the Jews. Starting in 29 C.E., it included Jesus' baptism and ministry, his sacrificial death "at the half of the week" in 33 C.E., and another 'half week' until 36 C.E. During this "week," the opportunity to become Jesus' anointed disciples was extended exclusively to God-fearing Jews and Jewish proselytes. Then in 70 C.E., a date not known in advance, the Roman legions under Titus exterminated the apostate Jewish system.-Daniel 9:26, 27.
 
 
 
Thus the Jewish priesthood, which had defiled Jerusalem's temple and conspired in the murder of God's own Son, was wiped out. Gone, too, were the national and tribal records. Thereafter, no Jew could legally claim a priestly or a kingly inheritance. Happily, though, anointed spiritual Jews had been separated as a royal priesthood to "declare abroad the excellencies" of Jehovah God. (1 Peter 2:9) When Rome's army first besieged Jerusalem and even undermined the temple area in 66 C.E., Christians recognized that military force as "the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place." In obedience to Jesus' prophetic command, the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea fled to the mountainous regions for protection.-Matthew 24:15, 16; Luke 21:20, 21.
 
 
 
Those faithful Jewish Christians observed the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy and were eyewitnesses of the tragic wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and lawlessness that Jesus had foretold as part of the "sign . . . of the conclusion of the system of things." (Matthew 24:3) But had Jesus told them when Jehovah would actually execute judgment on that corrupt system? No. What he prophesied about the climax of his future royal presence surely applied also to the first-century "great tribulation": "Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father."-Matthew 24:36.
From Daniel's prophecy, the Jews could have calculated the timing of Jesus' appearing as the Messiah. (Daniel 9:25) Yet they were given no date for the "great tribulation" that finally desolated the apostate Jewish system of things. It was only after the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple that they realized that the date was 70 C.E. However, they had been aware of Jesus' prophetic words: "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur." (Matthew 24:34) Apparently, the application of "generation" here is different from that at Ecclesiastes 1:4, which speaks of successive generations coming and going over a period of time.
 
 
 
"This Generation"-What Is It?
 
 
 When four apostles seated with Jesus on the Mount of Olives heard his prophecy about "the conclusion of the system of things," how would they understand the expression "this generation"? In the Gospels the word "generation" is translated from the Greek word ge·ne·a´, which current lexicons define in these terms: "Lit[erally] those descended fr[om] a common ancestor." (Walter Bauer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament) "That which has been begotten, a family; . . . successive members of a genealogy . . . or of a race of people . . . or of the whole multitude of men living at the same time, Matt. 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 1:48; 21:32; Phil. 2:15, and especially of those of the Jewish race living at the same period." (W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words) "That which has been begotten, men of the same stock, a family; . . . the whole multitude of men living at the same time: Mt. xxiv. 34; Mk. xiii. 30; Lk. i. 48 . . . used esp[ecially] of the Jewish race living at one and the same period."-J. H. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
 
 
 
Vine and Thayer both cite Matthew 24:34 in defining "this generation" (he ge·ne·a´ hau´te) as "the whole multitude of men living at the same time." The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1964) gives support to this definition, stating: "The use of 'generation' by Jesus expresses his comprehensive purpose: he aims at the whole people and is conscious of their solidarity in sin." Truly a "solidarity in sin" was apparent in the Jewish nation when Jesus was on earth, just as it marks the world system today.
 
 
 Of course, Christians studying this matter guide their thinking primarily by how Jesus used the Greek expression he ge·ne·a´ hau´te, or "this generation." He used it consistently in a negative way. Thus, he called the Jewish religious leaders "serpents, offspring of vipers" and went on to say that the judgment of Gehenna would be executed on "this generation." (Matthew 23:33, 36) However, was this judgment limited to the hypocritical clergy? Not at all. On a number of occasions, Jesus' disciples heard him speak of "this generation," applying the term uniformly in a far wider sense. What was that?
 
 
 
"This Wicked Generation"
 
 
In 31 C.E., during Jesus' great Galilean ministry and shortly after the Passover, his disciples heard him say to "the crowds": "With whom shall I compare this generation? It is like young children sitting in the marketplaces who cry out to their playmates, saying, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance; we wailed, but you did not beat yourselves in grief.' Correspondingly, John [the Baptizer] came neither eating nor drinking, yet people say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of man [Jesus] did come eating and drinking, still people say, 'Look! A man gluttonous and given to drinking wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'" There was no pleasing those unprincipled "crowds"!-Matthew 11:7, 16-19.
 
 
 
Later in 31 C.E., as Jesus and his disciples set out on their second preaching tour of Galilee, "some of the scribes and Pharisees" asked Jesus for a sign. He told them and "the crowds" who were present: "A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. . . . That is how it will be also with this wicked generation." (Matthew 12:38-46) Obviously, "this wicked generation" included both the religious leaders and "the crowds" who never came to appreciate the sign that was fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection.
 
 
After the Passover of 32 C.E., as Jesus and his disciples came into the Galilean region of Magadan, the Sadducees and the Pharisees again asked Jesus for a sign. He repeated to them: "A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah." (Matthew 16:1-4) Those religious hypocrites were indeed most reprehensible as leaders among the unfaithful "crowds" whom Jesus condemned as "this wicked generation."
 
 
 
Toward the end of his Galilean ministry, Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him and said: "Whoever becomes ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him." (Mark 8:34, 38) So the masses of unrepentant Jews of that time obviously made up "this adulterous and sinful generation." Some days later, after Jesus' transfiguration, Jesus and his disciples "came toward the crowd," and a man asked him to heal his son. Jesus commented: "O faithless and twisted generation, how long must I continue with you? How long must I put up with you?"-Matthew 17:14-17; Luke 9:37-41.
 
 
 
It was likely in Judea, after the Festival of Booths in 32 C.E., "when the crowds were massing together" around Jesus, that he repeated his condemnation of them, saying: "This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign. But no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah." (Luke 11:29) Finally, when the religious leaders brought Jesus to trial, Pilate offered to release him. The record says: "The chief priests and the older men persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, but to have Jesus destroyed. . . . Pilate said to them: 'What, then, shall I do with Jesus the so-called Christ?' They all said: 'Let him be impaled!' He said: 'Why, what bad thing did he do?' Still they kept crying out all the more: 'Let him be impaled!'" That "wicked generation" was demanding Jesus' blood!-Matthew 27:20-25.
 
 
 
A "faithless and twisted generation," egged on by its religious leaders, thus played a key part in bringing about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fifty days later, at Pentecost in 33 C.E., the disciples received holy spirit and started to speak in different tongues. Upon hearing the sound, "the multitude came together," and the apostle Peter addressed them as "men of Judea and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem," saying: "This man [Jesus] . . . you fastened to a stake by the hand of lawless men and did away with." How did some of those listeners react? "They were stabbed to the heart." Peter then called on them to repent. He "bore thorough witness and kept exhorting them, saying: 'Get saved from this crooked generation.'" In response, about three thousand "embraced his word heartily [and] were baptized."-Acts 2:6, 14, 23, 37, 40, 41.
 
 
"This Generation" Identified.
 
 
 
What, then, is the "generation" so frequently referred to by Jesus in the presence of his disciples? What did they understand by his words: "This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur"? Surely, Jesus was not departing from his established use of the term "this generation," which he consistently applied to the contemporary masses with their "blind guides" who together made up the Jewish nation. (Matthew 15:14) "This generation" experienced all the distress foretold by Jesus and then passed away in an unequaled "great tribulation" on Jerusalem.-Matthew 24:21, 34.
 
 
 
In the first century, Jehovah was judging the Jewish people. Repentant ones, who came to exercise faith in Jehovah's merciful provision through Christ, were saved out of that "great tribulation." True to Jesus' words, all things prophesied occurred, and then the "heaven and earth" of the Jewish system of things-the entire nation, with its religious leaders and wicked society of people-passed away. Jehovah had executed judgment!-Matthew 24:35; compare 2 Peter 3:7.
 
 
 
Those Jews who had paid attention to Jesus' prophetic words realized that their salvation depended, not on trying to calculate the length of a "generation" or of some dated "times or seasons," but on keeping separate from the evil contemporary generation and zealously doing God's will. Though the final words of Jesus' prophecy apply to the major fulfillment in our day, first-century Jewish Christians also had to heed the admonition: "Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man."-Luke 21:32-36; Acts 1:6-8.
 
Today, "the great day of Jehovah . . . is near, and there is a hurrying of it very much." (Zephaniah 1:14-18; Isaiah 13:9, 13) Suddenly, at Jehovah's own predetermined "day and hour," his fury will be unleashed upon the world's religious, political, and commercial elements, together with the wayward people who make up this contemporary "wicked and adulterous generation." (Matthew 12:39; 24:36; Revelation 7:1-3, 9, 14) How may you get saved out of "the great tribulation"? [source -  WT 11/1/95, pages 10-15]
 
THE FACTS ON MATTHEW 10:23:
 
Matthew 10:23, " But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." (ASV).
 
Now, "What is the meaning of the following statement, recorded at Matthew 10:23: "You will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives"?
Jesus said that in the year 31 (A.D.). This was when he was sending out his twelve apostles, in twos, to preach in all the cities of Israel. It may have been, as in the case of the seventy evangelizers whom Jesus also sent out to preach, that the apostles were sent in advance of Jesus and that Jesus would later come to the places where they had preached. (Luke 10:1) This, however, does not appear to be the thing referred to by Jesus in Matthew 10:23, namely, that he would personally, in the flesh, follow up his twelve apostles in the cities in which they had preached.
 
It is evident that when Jesus gave his twelve apostles these preaching instructions, he was doing so for the years that would follow his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, never to come back again to the earth in the flesh. How is this evident? From the fact that Jesus spoke to the apostles about their being mistreated in the synagogues and being haled before governors and kings "for a witness to them and the nations." (Matt. 10:17, 18) There is no record that such things occurred during the short preaching campaign in which the apostles engaged in Israel exclusively, after which they returned to Jesus and made their reports. At the time that Jesus gave them the above instructions, he plainly told them not to go to the nations or even to the Samaritans on this preaching campaign, but only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."-Matt. 10:5, 6.
 
So it must have been because he looked ahead to their world-wide preaching among outside nations after his ascension to heaven that Jesus said to the apostles: "You will be objects of hatred by all people [not merely Israelites] on account of my name; but he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved. When they persecute you in one city, flee to another; for truly I say to you, You will by no means complete the circuit of the cities of Israel until the Son of man arrives."-Matt. 10:22, 23.
 
On the occasion of saying those words, Jesus gave the apostles, for the immediate preaching campaign, a local territory assignment. It took in the territory of Israel in Palestine, namely, Judea, Galilee and Peraea, and did not include Samaria. By covering this they would "complete the circuit of the cities of Israel." So now Jesus used this temporary, limited territory assignment as an illustration of their final complete territory assignment. Before he ascended to heaven the resurrected Jesus made their territory assignment the entire world, for he said: "All authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth. Go therefore [everywhere in the earth] and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit." (Matt. 28:18, 19) This enlarged their territory assignment beyond the borders of Israel, yes, beyond the borders of so-called Christendom and out into the so-called pagan world that does not belong to Christendom. Under Jesus' instructions, his disciples were to undertake to complete the circuit of the whole inhabited earth, preaching the good news of God's kingdom to all, to Jewish people, to professed Christian people and to all the pagan peoples.
 
To be continued in vol 88A
 
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