Understanding more on the Roman Centurion who was commended by Jesus

Luke 7  (King James Version)

1 Now when He had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.


2  And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.


3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.


4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:


5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.


6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:


7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.


8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.


9  When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.


10  And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.

My Comments:
     In the First Century A.D., the primary training center for new recruits into the Roman Army was located on the island of Sardinia (cf. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 18.3.5).  There they drafted generally between the ages of 12-15 years of age.  Thereafter, the boot camp and combat training was for 5 years of unrelenting combat training and drilling.  That's 5 years.  Boys became molded in mind and body into fighting men like machines, until they could rigourously and daily endure 5 hours of non-stop combat exercises.  That is 5 hours of pretend battle practice every day, by men who came out of 5 years of training at the ages of 17-20 and then served a 5 year hitch at some location where they were sent, which made the average Roman soldier on first tour an age of 22-25 years of age when he finished, and 27-32 years of age when his second tour was over (after which most were released).  

     So in the case of the above passage in Luke, the Centuion is somewhere between 22 and no more than 32-37 years old (after which, even centurions were retired from service involuntarily) due to the extreme physical exertions, strength and cardio-vascular endurances required.  Josephus relates that those that call the Roman Army's every day "exercises as unbloody battles, and their battles as bloody exercises" (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 3.5.1) were NOT AT ALL mistaken in so saying.

    In this time in Israel's history, the Roman Centurion was usually placed in charge of outpost stations, such as having the charge of calvary and troop assignments as a sort of military sortie and policing action station, and would also have discretion and just enough autonomy to direct and order (under full Roman Military authority) an equal number of carpenters, masons and slaves, as the number of his troop assigned under him. 
The exception being when the officer of command of 400-600 Roman troops, such as a chiliarch, or higher would so direct...and these when they made their outpost rounds, or were of those chiliarch and higher permanently stationed 6 months at a time in Jerusalem or 6 months in Caesarea.

In other words, this Roman Centurion of Luke 7, who decided to join himself to the nation of Israel by faith, and be incorporated into the tribes of Israel by circumcision, profession, and good works toward the tribes of Israel...this one would likely have had as many as 20 Calvary, 60 foot-soldiers, 40-60 skilled workers and 20-40 slaves at his command and disposal.  By employing the 40-60 skilled carpenters and masons, skilled at building trenches and walled forts overnight, and then hewing out and making seige engines, etc., rapidly (cf., Josephus, WOJ, 3.5.1-2) to build a Temple for the Jewish Leaders, this Roman Centrion would have had even a great stone synagogue erected (from start to finish) in under 30 days, at Rome's own expense.  Indeed, this would have marveled the elders of the Jews, and made such a one as this -- even a Roman -- a righteous Gentile and one welcomed into the company of Jews as if one of the tribes of Israel.

In these times, Jews were careful to NOT associate with non-Jews, except by absolute necessity in business, government tax or plea requirements, and so forth.  Great prejudices of non-association were required toward outsiders...so much so, that preaching Judaism to non-Jews was considered a betrayal of the faith, regardless of that spoken by the prophets like Isaiah.

In Rome, a city of about 3 millions (at the time), there were only about 8,000 Jews living there Josephus, AOJ, 17.11.1 and WOJ 2.6.1)...most likely in one primary location near major commerce, being primarily in merchant and related trades.  Most of these 8,000 Rome located Jews also held Roman citizenship, a privilege not taken away from Jews until the administration of Florus in Judea in the 60s A.D.  Under Roman Law, Jews who were "Roman Citizens" and also closely observant to their faith as Jews, were grant royal exemptions from having their sons drafted into the Roman Army (Josephus, AOJ 14.10.11-19).

        By the wording of the above passage in Luke, we can clearly see that this Centurion was not originally Jewish by blood,
-- remember Jesus said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24)  --
nor was this Centurion represented as having anything other than a profession of faith with works, and was being accepted by a group of at least 7 Jewish judges or elders as ritually clean and accepted into and/or among the tribes of Israel as a righteous Gentile convert; hence, now part of the House of Israel with an official proclamation by at least 2 or 3 of those Jewish elders of a Sanhedrinal support ruling stating the above was so factually correct.  

By such a proclamation, we would have confirm that this Centurion is a "Ger", a "convert"...though the King James Version often translates this as "stranger" in the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses: Genesis to Deuteronomy).

Being sanctioned, this Centurion likely ordered his Command-post to be free of leaven during Israels annual 8 days of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:19); commanded that they observe Shabbat/Sabbath (Exodus 20:10, 23:12); that he personally attended Jewish services on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29); that he personally had gone to Jerusalem and as a Ger offered sacrifices to be made on his behalf (Leviticus 17:8); that he did not offer or allow idols or those things which ascended oneself in puffy pride or vanity within his own personal household or living space within his command (Leviticus 20:2, and the wordplay on the spelling of Mem-Lamed-Kaf).

As a result, as a As I stated previously, the Ger who loved Israel, he had the following rights:


1) To not be driven away or mistreated, nor oppressed by those of the 13 tribes of Israel (Exodus 22:21).

2) To be able to eat of the corners of farmer field's in Israel without harassment or accusation of theft (Leviticus 19:10, 23:22)

3) The right to be judged fairly and as equally with that of natural borns of the tribes of Israel of lineage through the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 1:16).

4) The right to be loved by G-D -- the G-D of Israel -- (as though a child by adoption in inference);

and when in Israel, to be clothed and fed by the charity of the sons of Israel (Deuteronomy 10:18-19).

5) The right to be given any ritually clean animal possessed by the sons of Israel, who were forbidden to eat such, for food. It was not traif (i.e., not ritual unclean) for the Ger to eat such an animal (Deuteronomy 14:29).

6) The right to personally partake of the food tithes offered for the priest, the widow, fatherless, when offered once every 3 years (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).



So indeed, this Centurion was adopted into the companionship of Israel in a way that no non-convert Roman soldier ever would.

The statement of faith made by the Centurion that he also believed into Christ as the Son of G-D by revelation (preceding the revelation given to Peter from G-D the Father) is found in this passage as

"...say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.   For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it."

-- comes from an exposure to Genesis Chapter 1, and an acceptance that Jesus is the Son of G-D from Heaven. 

Genesis 1:3  And G-D said,
                    Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:9  And G-D said,
                     Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and
                     let the dry land appear:
                     and it was so.

And repeatedly, throughout Genesis's opening verses, "And G-D said" and then it is followed by how that the very words were so (instantly, immediately, by mere thought and command).

This resonated with the Centurion who identified Jesus, the very one who could speak a word of command, and it was so that someone was healed of blindness, deafness, being maimed, or even of being dead.  A simple word of command that only a Son of G-D would have the direct authority to do, even as the Roman centurion himself had the command and authority received in himself by rank to say to one of his soldiers "go" and he goes, or to a servant, "come" and that servant comes. 

In fact, the Roman Centurion knew that where  Jesus was, because He is the Son of G-D, he neeeded only to utter the word of Command into the air, and the Creation (including all spirits) made by G-D would have to obediently carry out His command and His will.  Like in Genesis 1, all the Son of G-D needs do -- and by this he means Jesus -- is speak the word only, and like Genesis 1, it will be as "and it was so."

It is a Faith that is so obvious and so simply apparent from Jesus miracles, that no one in Israel "got it"...no one else YET understood, but this righteous Gentile who joined himself, by faith, to G-D and the House of Israel.

The message for us is to also believe into Christ Jesus simply and fully, understanding mature that the simplicity of Great Faith is often like that most revealed in understanding like that of a child, instead of making it so complicated and laden with something we so often (and wrongly) feel we must add to it.

Jesus is much more that an historical figure, back there, for those who are genuine Christians...born-again.  Jesus is the ETERNAL Living G-D (cf. John 1:18, 14),  who was with the Father before anything that was ever created was created, and spoke the Universe into existence by the thought and words of command (John 1:1-3).

In Prophecy, the L-RD must be King of the Jews. In history, Jesus was de facto the King of the Jews

Deuteronomy 17:

14 When thou art come unto the land which the L-RD thy G-D giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;

15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the L-RD thy G-D shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.

16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the L-RD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the L-RD his G-D, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
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In Deuteronomy 17:14-20, we examine some of the characteristics that a King of Israel is required by Mosaic Covenant to fulfill / complete:

1) He must be a brother, and may not be a stranger or alien grafted in (v. 15)

a) Jesus was adopted or grafted into the Tribe of Judah, and direct Davidic
lineage of Kings, through adoption as the son of Joseph.
b) Jesus was virgin born to Mary, who also was a descendant of Judah, and of
the Davidic line.


2) He may not multiply horses to himself, so as to set himself apart from the
people of Israel (v.16).

a) Jesus had no horses. He sat on a borrowed animal never sat upon in His
special proclamation entry into Jerusalem.
b) Jesus never separated Himself from the common Israeli except for periods
of rest and to pray. At most, these periods of separations were a matter of
days. In comparison, dictators might use horses to help separate
themselves from the common folk for many years.

3) He may not cause his people to return to, or subject themselves under
Egypt.

The Pharisees were attempting to bring about this exact abomination in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. The Sadducees attempted to polarize the country in the opposite direction, under Syrian rule, working in conjunction with Roman government. This, too, is forbidden.

4) He may not trust in the flesh of horses or the means of “war toys”
(such as chariots – or high end weaponry) to rule in strength and honor.

5) He may not take too many wives (i.e., he is forbidden concubines – v.17).

6) He may not multiply silver and gold to himself.

The implication of increase is under a conservative restraint, and only to be used for the proper and fair ministration of government.


7) He will have two written copies of Torah, one that he himself will memorize, and one that will be accounted to the priests as witness, to perform and do Torah correctly. He is therefore accounted as a priest himself in this regard (vv.18-20).

8) He may not set his heart above his brethren and must rule within the confines of proper interpretation of Torah (the Law), as according to what is right and to their best interests (v.20).

The L-RD is making allowances for an Earthly king, but as we shall see below, I Samuel 8:7 and 12:12 states that the L-RD (read the tetragrammaton Name each time the hyphenated L-RD appears) was the One and True King.


Since the True King of Israel is the L-RD...collectively, this demands an incarnation of the Almighty in Old Testament Scripture to take up His rulership as dwelling (in some future day) amongst mankind.

Exodus 15:18 - The L-RD shall reign for ever and ever.


Numbers 23:21 - He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the L-RD his G-D is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.


I Samuel 8:7 - And the L-RD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected ME, that I should not reign over them.


I Samuel 12:12 - And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the L-RD your G-D was your King.


I Chronicles 16:31 - Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The L-RD reigneth.


Psalm 5:2 - Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my G-D: for unto thee will I pray.


Psalm 10:16 - The L-RD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.


Psalm 22:28 - For the kingdom is the L-RD's: and he is the governor among the nations.


Psalm 24:7-10 - Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The L-RD strong and mighty, the L-RD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The L-RD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.


Psalm 44:4 - Thou art my King, O G-D: command deliverances for Jacob.


Psalm 47:2, 6-8 -
2 For the L-RD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
6 Sing praises to G-D, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For G-D is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
8 G-D reigneth over the heathen: G-D sitteth upon the throne of His holiness.


Psalm 48:2 - Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.


Psalm 74:12 - For G-D is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.


Psalm 84:3 - Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O L-RD of hosts, my King, and my G-D.


Psalm 93:1-2 -
1 The L-RD reigneth, He is clothed with majesty; the L-RD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.


Psalm 95:3 - For the L-RD is a great G-D, and a great King above all gods.


Psalm 96:10 - Say among the heathen that the L-RD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously.


Psalm 97:1 - The L-RD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.


Psalm 98:6 - With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the L-RD, the King.


Psalm 99:1, 4
1 The L-RD reigneth; let the people tremble: He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
4 The King's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.


Psalm 145:1 - I will extol thee, my G-D, O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.


Psalm 146:10 - The L-RD shall reign for ever, even thy G-D, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the L-RD.


Psalm 149:1-2 -
1 Praise ye the L-RD. Sing unto the L-RD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.


Isaiah 6:5 - Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the L-RD of hosts.


Isaiah 24:23 - Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the L-RD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.


Isaiah 33:22 - For the L-RD is our judge, the L-RD is our lawgiver, the L-RD is our King; he will save us.


Isaiah 41:21 - Produce your cause, saith the L-RD; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King of Jacob.

Isaiah 43:15 - I am the L-RD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.

Isaiah 44:6 - Thus saith the L-RD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the L-RD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no G-D.

Isaiah 52:7 - ...saith unto Zion, Thy G-D reigneth!

Jeremiah 8:19 - Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the L-RD in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?

Jeremiah 10:7 10 -
7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
10 But the L-RD is the true G-D, he is the living G-D, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.


Jeremiah 46:18, 48:15 - ... saith the King, whose name is the L-RD of hosts...


Jeremiah 51:57 - And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the L-RD of hosts.


Ezekiel 20:33 - As I live, saith the Lord G-D, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:


Obadiah 21 - And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the L-RD's.


Micah 4:7 - And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the L-RD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.


Zephaniah 3:15 - The L-RD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the L-RD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.


Zechariah 14:9, 16-17 -
9 And the L-RD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one L-RD, and his name one.
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the L-RD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the L-RD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.


Malachi 1:14 - But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the L-RD a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the L-RD of hosts, and My Name is dreadful among the heathen.


In past posts I have shown Jesus is the incarnate L-RD of Hosts come unto man from G-D the Father. Further, He did so come according to a specific prophesied timeline and manner, geographical location, family lineage, and by signs and wonders, appearing clothed in flesh via the womb of a virgin, and born into the world (as by water and the Spirit). But...

Was Jesus ever given a Kingship or officially recognized in human or mortal government as a King over Israel while on Earth? The answer is: Yes.

The action of Pontius Pilate’s writing the statement of Jesus as being the “King of the Jews” in John 19:19-20 is an “official act of Roman recognition of the aforesaid office/title of Jesus”.

We see the example in Rome's Legal Precedent by Julius Caesar, in examples retained for us by the historian “Josephus”.

Twice, Caesar makes a ruling and has that inscribed in plates of brass, and that plate is written in Greek and in Latin (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 14.10.2. & .3).

De facto, then, Jesus was the Roman Government recognized rightful successor of the line of Judah, and officially recognized as the one and only “King of Judea” by the government of Rome for about 6 hours: and the signage was a genuine benevolent attempt by Pilate to arouse the sentiment of the people to plead for mercy, and to have them call to have their “King” taken down and spared. Instead, there was no public arousal.

Upon His resurrection 3 days later, Jesus still retained that right of rulership as Shiloh, since there was no succession after Him.

Jesus was indeed physically raised from the dead (John 20:19-25, 20:26-29, 21:14-15) as the pre-eminent one from before the birth of Creation. He was witnessed by, and his identity confirmed by, at least 120 men (Acts 1:15) at his post-resurrection Mount of Olives ascension, which happened with the visible eye (Acts 1:9-11).

Jesus was transformed into the an eternal Resurrection body that fulfills the requirement of Scripture for His appearance upon His return (Revelation 1:7; Zechariah 13:6, 12:10).

The words of Psalm 47:5 being fulfilled at the ascension, indicate the time of morning the ascension occurred.:
G-D is gone up with a shout,
HASHEM with the sound of the shofar.

Nowhere in ancient Jewish Literature is there any evidence that Jesus stayed dead. In fact, there was a passing of a dreadful fear that was passed on. In Jewish oral tradition centuries later, it was attributed to sorcery...perhaps not just meaning those miracles he did before death, but especially His miracle of conquering death, and rising again from the grave. Certainly, it would have been investigated by the Sanhedrin, and Jesus would have also been seen and confirmed also by these agents of Caiaphas the 44 or so days He was up and walking around following the Leviticus 23 festival Sunday after Passover called Firstfruits.

We see the confirmation in the silence of the high priest to the resurrection testimony in Acts 5:17-42.

We see the confirmation in the fact that the Disciples of Jesus were not stoned for blasphemy or burned at the stake for mass healing miracles they conducted at the Holy Temple.

We see the confirmation of the resurrection by passivity of the very generation of Jews that saw Jesus, who refused to promote in writing from that day to this that Jesus' resurrection was not true. Instead, on occasion, it was leaders obtaining writs of permission to pursue and kill Christians, they were using other legal technicalities for their persecutions...and could not punish them for simply saying Jesus rose from the dead. Why?

In testifying Jesus was raised from the dead, and ascended to Heaven, and then NOT prosecuting the disciples for that, there had to be Sanhedrin witnesses of at least 2 or 3 or more when the Acts 1:9-11 event occurred, probably watching in shame from the Temple. Only where Stephen said he saw Jesus at the Right Hand of Power, with the presumption that he saw G-D the Father (which is not what he technically said, and of proclaiming he saw into the Spirit Realm like one of the Holy Prophets --

"Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of G-D." (Acts 7:56)

-- only then was he stoned dead for his testimony. So even Judaism's then hostile passivity to deny the resurrection and ascension of Jesus in the First Century A.D. confirms the bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.


Upon His ascension to Heaven prior to Pentecost, Jesus took the right of rulership by succession (the spritual Scepter) with Him, as no one of the tribe of Judah came ever after Him. And still, to this day, even now, Jesus is still the living King of the Jews and of all Israel (as Yeshua, the Messhiach) lives and holds the right of rulership while awaiting a proper time to return, as written in the eschatology of the Bible (both Old and New Testaments).

Psalm 11:4's INCARNATION Prophecy et al.

In the Hebrew, a correct reading and rendering of Psalm 11:4 into English (while sanctifying the NAME) is:

"HASHEM. In His Holy Temple, HASHEM: in the heavens, His Throne.
His eyes see: His EYELIDS WILL EXAMINE AND TEST THE INTELLECTUAL AND INTUITIVE KNOWLEDGE of the sons of Man."

The literal rendering of "Aph'Aph" is as the "fluttering eyelashes", and it denotes the activity of wings fluttering or sparks flying (ascending) upward.

As "eyelids" we see that the verb takes on a physical presence or manifestation. In effect, this Psalm is predicting an "incarnation" of the same HASHEM (i.e., the tetragrammaton name of YHVeH) who is in His Holy Temple, and who also sits upon His Throne in the Heavens.

What does the HASHEM come "in the flesh"/ "incarnate" do? He examines and tests both the intellectual and intuitive knowledge of the sons of Israel. Examine the Gospels, for in His dealings with most everyone, Jesus fulfills the Hebrew prophecy of Psalm 11:4 to the very word picture understanding, literally. He not only examines...He tests both the intellectual and intuitive knowledge in the particular type of "examination" that "Bachan" entails.


“You, HASHEM, are our Father (and)
‘OUR REDEEMER FROM EVERLASTING’ is Your NAME.” (Isaiah 63:16b)

“Our Redeemer” in the Hebrew is Ga’alenu.

Ga’alenu in the context of Isaiah 63:16 is He who purchases us and buys us back from sin from a time when sin was not. In other words, G-D who exists before sin, restores or is purchasing us back to be restored to an original position of what He originally intended us to be. It is not only to a time before all sin offerings (be it an “olah’/burnt offering, or a “hattat”/sin offering, or an “asham”/trespass offering), it is before the very foundation of the world, and before any Creation was ever created.

Isaiah 63 begins with the consequence and bloodiness of sin. In the Old Testament Covenant system, G-D makes Himself the Savior of those who trust rightly in Him (Isaiah 63:8). And who are they that put their trust in G-D rightly? In the entirety of the verse, we see…

“For You (are) our Father, though Abraham knows us not,
and Israel acknowledges us not.
You, HASHEM, are our Father (and)
‘our Redeemer from everlasting’ is Your NAME.” (Isaiah 63:16)

In many ways, it seems to be us...which is one of the reasons Christians (especially us of the Gentiles) love the book of Isaiah so much.

This "REDEEMER from everlasting" is the same as Micah 5:2,
“Whose goings forth are of old, even from everlasting.”This is Yeshua. This is the One called SALVATION.

Micah and Isaiah both shared circa 45-year contemporaneous ministry. The two actually compliment each other’s ministry. As the Scroll of Micah says,

“Who is a G-D like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the Remnant of His Heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again, and have compassion upon us; HE WILL SUBDUE OUR INIQUITIES; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19). Even so, Amen.


In various passages of the Tanakh, we read that:

"There is none holy as the LORD:
for there is none beside thee..." (e.g., I Samuel 2:2)

In Psalm 110:1, we find that there is the exaltation of the Lord or Adonai, which some would rather call the Master, and pronounce as Adonee -- but still, is He who in I Samuel 2:10 is identified as King Messiah.

In Daniel 9:25, Messiah the King and Master is called a "nagid" in the Hebrew. In effect, it means "one who is prominently before" or chief, encompassing governmental - military - religious ranks all into His one person.

The idea then carries us back to the manifestation of G-D incarnate -- the EL Gibbor -- who takes these ranks upon Himself in Isaiah (9:5 in the Hebrew Text, 9:6 in the English text).

In the following verse, He sits upon the throne of David, but it is to an heir or branch of David that an eternal rulership is promised. That is, it must be a Son of David who is both a Son and HASHEM Incarnate, as Jeremiah 23:5-6 tells us:

"Behold, the days come, saith HASHEM,
that I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch [a son},
and (as) King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute justice and judgement in the Earth.
In His days, Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely:
and THIS IS HIS NAME whereby He shall be called,
'HASHEM OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS'."

This HASHEM who is to become flesh, is asked by the Psalmist to visit Israel...to visit the Vine, and is identified as the RIGHT HAND of HASHEM in Name or Title (Psalm 80:14-15,17; cf. Exodus 15:3,6).

G-D lifts His HAND to the Nations,
and the (Right) HAND becomes a STANDARD [banner, sail, gleam from far away] to the people (Isaiah 49:22). This directly points us back to HASHEM-Nissi in Exodus 17:15, HASHEM our Banner:

1) Whom in Isaiah 5:26 is an Ensign to the Nations, and who causes the Last Days Aliyah Ingathering of Israel from out of all nations.
2) Whom in Isaiah 11:10 is identified as a descendant of Jesse, HASHEM manifest through this lineage, and trusted by us Goyim (Gentiles), in whom we find glorious rest.
3) Whom in Zechariah 6:12-13, will build the Temple of HASHEM, bear the glory, sit as king - priest - counselor upon it.
4) Whom was clearly identified in the Gospels as Jesus, in front of the High Priest and Sanhedrin, by an oath upon the Divine utterance by the High priest in Matthew 26:63-64.


In Daniel 9:22 ff., when looking for his appearing, we find that there are only 69 heptads of years to which the city of Jerusalem and the holy people (the nation of Israel) are to exist in the sense of a means that Daniel could recognize, from the time of a certain event to the time of King Messiah, the LORD Himself, was to appear or be made manifest to Israel in Judah.

Because "the NAME" -- YHVEH -- subsumes all 3 tenses of the verb "to be" in Hebrew (hayah, hoveh, yiheyeh) -- and that Yeshua is HASHEM -- when Yeshua / HASHEM the Messhiach was cut off by laying His life down, time stopped on the Judgment clock of G-D and the last week of Daniel's prophecy, the last 7 years, never played out.

That clock of prophecy still retains that single week of years -- 7 years -- and it is about to start up again, and bring such fright and devastation upon the world, that unbelievers should be as "Charada" (as those dead from fright, or fleeing to deep coal minds in uncontrollable fear) because of even the knowledge of it (should they choose to reject Christ).

Again, I reiterate, "The NAME" -- YHVeH -- subsumes all 3 tenses of the verb "to be" in the Hebrew because: G-D is above time, and beyond time, and the Creator of it. G-D created time for this particular enclosed Universe in which we live for the benefit of man, and encapsulated sin before it ever began. Time was created for our sakes, as it were.

In Judaism, YHVeH is spoken as " HASHEM" when simply referred by reverence. When YHVeH is directly read, it is spoken as "Adonai" in reverence. But when exorcism is performed, the name YHVeH is directly spoken. The very name of Jesus has an even greater authority in exorcism, because it is the name of man's redemption, and the new name which YHVeH Himself has made Himself known to us -- as He has also done with the Patriarchs and with Moses at the Burning Bush, for example.

I would ask those who do not believe in the Incarnation of HASHEM to consider Daniel 9:22 ff. in this way.

1) When can the finishing of transgression take place according to this time-line given Daniel?
2) What does the finishing of transgression truly mean?
3) Who or what makes an END of sins?
4) By when is the end of sins to take place by? And how is it possible?
5) What is covered by the "reconciliation of iniquity" and when and how is it to occur by?
6) Who or what can bring in everlasting righteousness? And when is it to occur by?
7) What is the legal weight of the clause "to seal up (both) the vision and prophecy"? Can it not be a means of stopping a "Judgement clock" and extend the deadline?
8) Whom is the Most Holy that must be anointed? By when must He be anointed by? And why would someone purposely say we must anoint a city or Temple in place of a Messhiach here? Where is its example in scripture? And what is the predominant and repetitive quotation of anointing in Scripture pointing to -- person or building(s)?


Regarding Jeremiah 23:1-8, The Jewish Commentary of Lamentations Rabbah 1:51 states:

'What is the NAME of the King Messiah?'

Rabbi Abba ben Kahana said:
His Name is "Adonai", as it is stated
- "And this is the NAME whereby He shall be called:
Adonai is our Righteousness." [verse 6].

In this, the Jewish reading aloud of Jeremiah 23:6 will be YHVeH "read" as Adonai. Adonai is the NAME of King Messiah, and therefore YHVeH is the NAME of King Messiah according to Lamentations 1:51's Rabbi Abba ben Kahana.

Therefore, when YHVeH speaks unto Adonai in Psalm 110:1, it is YHVeH speaking unto YHVeH, and G-D (the Father) unto King Messiah (who is also YHVeH).

In Psalm 65:5-7, the confidence is placed in G-D the Father of King Messiah (who here is called "salvation"), while King Messiah -- who is in the bosom of G-D the Father (Psalm 74:11-12; John 1:18) -- has the power to make still the storm and seas (cf. Psalm 107:28-30; and Jesus fulfilling this that only YHVeH King Messiah can do, in Matthew 8:23-27).

Hence, faith in G-D the Father through King Messiah as the only way of deliverance is actually an Old Testament concept fulfilled in the New Testament.

We therefore, as born-again Christian Evangelicals, are fully vindicated as practicing a restored form of that same Faith given by G-D to Israel that was to be dispensed to us of the nations from early times...but neglected by them to do so until after He was born among man, and discipled sons of Israel in person to do so. Hence, "redispensed" after an original intent through Christ.

We are called by the Hebrew Scriptures themselves to be worshipping G-D from G-D, Light from Light, very G-D of very G-d, begotten not made, who being once substance with the Father created all that was made.

And it is through the New Testament, that we realize that King Messiah, Yeshua, is He who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures.

From both the Old and New Testaments, we know that King Messiah, Yeshua, is He whom ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end.

Literally spelled-out in the Hebrew --
Yeshua (Jesus) is prophesied and identified as King Messiah From the Old Testament or Tanakh:

4 Times in the Torah (the first 5 or Mosaic books):

Genesis 49:18, the name Yeshua (Yod-Shin-Vav-Ayin) appears in the Hebrew as the identity of King Messiah in this and all following verses I will cite. From the Torah’s own prophecy, from Jacob speaking as one of the prophets, is Yeshua NAMED by the patriarch as the Savior of his progeny.

Savior / Messiah:

Ge 49:18 I have waited for thy Yeshua, O L-RD.


The G-D whom the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew:

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the Yeshua of the L-RD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

Exodus 15:2 The L-RD is my strength and song, and he is become my Yeshua : He is my G-D, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

In context of these two chapters, this same G-D, Yeshua, is He who "roars from Heaven" to save Israel at the Reed / Red Sea, and is He who saves and Raptures (snatches to safety) in Psalm 50:1-6, Psalm 29:3; Joel 2:11, 3:15-16.


He is scorned and lightly esteemed by those who claim themselves as the best and most upright of Jews or of Israel (Genesis Rabbah 77:1, Bamidbar/ Numbers 23:10, Yoma 73b) in the end times:

Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he abandoned G-D which made him, and scorned lightly the Rock of his Yeshua.


King Messiah who Jacob the Patriarch prophesied of, is Yeshua:

1Samuel 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the L-RD, mine horn is exalted in the L-RD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy Yeshua.

1 Samuel 2:10 identifies Yeshua of verse 1 as the Messiah, even as prophesied by Jacob in Genesis 49:18.


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Yeshua...Yod - Shin - Vav - Ayin

Yod - The abbreviative of the Holy NAME for G-D (YHVeH)

Shin - The phoenetic is related to the root word shnh, which is in turn related to shani (scarlet...appearing 42 times in the Tanach). Shnh is the more correct Gematriac translation than the next "traditional" option. Shin is secondly, also related to shen (ivory tooth, sharp), a derivative of the root word shanan.

Vav - A hook (as those silver and gold hooks upon which the Temple curtains of Exodus chapters 26, 27, 36, and 38 hang, for example). It can even be used to describe a peg (or nail) shape as those 3 found in Jesus at the Cross.

Ayin - artesian well spring flowing/living waters. It is also translated as that source of that which is seen with the eye. From the Ugaritic "yn" - 'to behold'. Often, lost in translation is the singular word 'eye', which also fails to convey the inward expression. In Jeremiah 5:21, for example, the Hebrew links the "eyes" to expression and inclinations of "the heart".

Thus, Yeshua is YHVeH's Crimson Hook which flows like a stream of living waters...in other words, the very name Yeshua, prophesied in the Tanach...speaks of the coming Cross and of G-D shedding his eternal blood upon it.

He upon whom the Universe hangs and is upheld by, is prophesied to hang upon the Cross...and in turn, become both the atonement and the sanctuary of all who trust into Him.



Yesha" and "Yasha" appear some 233 times in addition to "yeshua" as "salvation deliverance" in the OT. Most of my greatest critics admit being oblivious to researching the texts themselves or of the particulars of the Hebrew or Greek.

The point I am making with all this, is that Christ is readily available to be seen in the OT to the Hebrew reader and speaker. The less brainwashed they are on how NOT to read and NOT to think a certain way, the more easily they see what the text says, rather than through the prism of bias they insert into the text.

That brainwashing, says Paul in (2 Corinthians 3) is as a veil upon the mind and heart. When the veil is taken away, and one can read in liberty, Messhiach is more readily revealed as layer upon layer is easily removed, and the light of the post-Torah passages of the Tanakh shines forth. As a review of many of my threads show, Christ is everywhere in OT prophecy, from Genesis 1:1 to Malachi.

I bring "basar", or the "good news", that "salvation is of the Jews as a people, NOT of their rabbis". This last sentence, I believe, is consistent with the message from the Tanakh / Old Testament.

It is through the people of the Jews that Messhiach is come, and it will be "they" who will be as if first citizens, as if having an additional crown more than can be obtained by we gentiles. It is not an exclusion status...it is simply a reward "by means of grace of having been born via certain parents" status. "Slightly greater" in status, but NOT "better."

Jewish people in modern Judaism have it reversed, as if "salvation deliverance were from the rabbis, and either allowed or denied access at the rabbinic whim, salvation deliverance being dispensed like dew from Heaven from the rabbis to their own club...those being the same ethnic people as they."

The non-Hebrew nations or "gentiles" have repeated the same error of exclusivity right back at Judaism. Both sides need to admit error. We gentiles often readily admit ours, but arrogance and lofty pride forbids rabbins from theirs, and create tension.

We need to get back to the joying in the basar, the euaggelizo, the proclaiming of the good news of salvation, deliverance, and of Yeshua...the hope of even the ancient Patriarch Jacob -- as he spake by the Holy Spirit -- as he prophesied over his progeny.

The Nazirite Question: Was Jesus a Nazirite?

In response to a comment and question in the John the Baptist segment, there was a query about if Nazarene was to a person such as a Nazarite as well as to a place or not, and whether Jesus was a Nazirite as well. Let's look at it.

What is a Nazirite? Numbers 6:1-23 has the primary textual definition.

The word Nazir, in Hebrew, means to separated and consecrated person...even a (prince -- Deut. 33:16, Lam. 4:7 -- of the) Crown. Cf. Exodus 29:6, 39:30 and Leviticus 8:9.

In effect, the Nazir is likened to the engraved plate of gold that is placed upon the forehead of the High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies, and which reads "HOLINESS TO THE LORD."


Exodus 28:

36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

37 And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.

38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.
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A Nazir is also likened to an unpruned "shoot" and an unpruned "grapevine" that comes up out of the ground. Cf. Leviticus 25:5, 11 with Isaiah 53:2, 11:1.

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It appears that the Nazirite was to be prophetical of the coming Messiah, and what he should be like. If this is the case, even as Jesus fulfills Isaiah 53:2 and Isaiah 11:1, so he should prophetically be a Nazirite also. His forerunner, and herald, was also to be a Nazirite:

Luke 1:

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
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In the Greek context, a Nazarite can be called also as a "Nazarene". The Greek uses "nazarenos" and "nazaraios" for Nazarene, and chiefly "nazaret" for the location of Nazareth. These are apparently transliterary forms of "Nazir".

The Hebraic "Nazir" is related to the word Nadar, the vow of consecration. In effect, the Psalmist testifies in the voice of Messiah (in the song) that the coming Messiah is bound (Psalm 22:25; cf. Leviticus 27:2ff.) to offer himself as our vicarious sacrifice. The earliest occurence of Nazir is the prophecy of Genesis 49:26:

"The bended knee blessings of your father are above the bended knee blessings of my offspring; to the limit of the everlasting hills. May they be for Joseph's head, and for a crown, his brother's Nazir."

In what context was Nazir in this verse? It points back to the consecration dealing with the vision of Jacob's ladder. In Genesis 28:10-22, with emphasis on verse 11...Jacob beheld GOD and heard His voice via a dream at night. He lay down at Luz, and placed his head down upon the ground with stones in a circular manner around his head. And as he lay down, he beheld in a dream and vision the stairway to Heaven, and the angels of GOD ascending and decending upon it. Therefore, at Beth-el, HASHEM literally stood or hovered over Jacob, and blessed him with the right to the Land. That right extended to both Jacob and his offspring / progeny after him.

When Jacob later wrestled and prevailed to hang on without quiting, the pre-incarnate LORD renamed Jacob as "Israel" (Genesis 32:28-29), and it
so followed that even as a nation was often named after its patriarch, so too were Jacob's -- now Israel's offspring --named Israelites.

Thus, "for a crown, his brother's Nazir" (Genesis 49:26) is to imply the coming and consecrated one, the man of the vow who is anointed (messiah) and who will redeem his brothers as according to the vow of Psalm 22:25 (more readily seen in the Hebrew, which is Psalm 22:26). Cf. Zechariah 12:10, Isaiah 28:5; Isaiah 26:19, 25:8, 53:12.

We know that James, the half brother of the LORD, was also a Nazirite...
(e.g., the writings of Hegesippus http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf08.x.vi.ii.i.html )...and this should automatically alert scholars to pay attention to this distinction, often glossed past.

The Nazirite had an auto accessibility to the Holy Place of the Temple, or that greater than priests and prophets, for his access was unhindered by time of year cycles, or the ritual bath requirements of the priests. In fact, the callous statement of John 1:46's "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?", probably refers to the stench and abhorrance to bathing (as we might glean from Hegesippus) that these Nazirs of Nazareth took above that of other Israelis, who ritual bath bathed for at least every Shabbat gathering.

Hence, to be in an enclosed space with someone you could smell 50 feet away, upwind, was probably the intent of John 1:46.
"You think I want to meet stinky? Go on...git."

I do not believe that these Nazirites of Nazareth were in any violation such as Amos encountered many centuries earlier --

Amos 2:11
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

-- even though they may however have possibly been the descendants of such men.

Jesus became a Semikah rabbi by proper ordination and was recognized by the highest of religious authorities in Israel with the rank and status he had, as well as the fact he was next in line to David's Throne should kingship ever return to Israel. As a Nazirite, he effectually combined priest and king and teacher attributes, having the highest pedigree in all of Israel...and was feared because of it. Jesus appeared to have free access to the Temple in such a way as unhindered from any Court, something halicha (religious ritual) reserved for Nazirites. Nor did He need permission to take over a section of the Temple and preach, meaning he was counted not only as a teacher, but as a prophet, testified to by his many miracles he performed from raising the dead with a spoken word, commanding the deaf to hear and the blind to see, restoring hands that were lost and the ability for the paralyzed to walk, and so on. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Consecrated Vow or Nazir of GOD, the Messiah, who is the living fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

Nazarene as used in Mathew 2:23 --

"And he came and dwelt in Nazareth,
that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets:
He shall be called a Nazarene."

-- is a summary on the word play of Nazir / Nazar / Nezer. It is a distinction that is perhaps made by the one translating Matthew from Aramaic (cf. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.1.) as much as by Matthew himself. Perhaps.

We can also look at how Isaiah 9:6-7 plays off of his Galilean ministry of Isaiah 9:1-2, and passages such as Isaiah 11:1 with Genesis 49:26 and Exodus 28:36-38...but those would be generalizations rather than a specific singular word study.

In Lamentations 4, it is the people of Israel who are in the state of sin, and not the Nazarites, or the good whom they viewed as evil or perhaps simply despised
because of their goodness.

Lamentations 4:
6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.

7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire:

The use of "Nazar" / "Nezer" in Ezekiel 14:7 is technically 'pointing off" to a more general definition and reference that revolves around "holiness", "being set apart", and consecration".

Ezekiel 14:7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

Hence, a true Nazirite / Nazarite or Nazarene does NOT separate Himself to serve idols, and teach others this stumbling-block, etc. He separates himself to a consecrated and holy life to GOD, and teaches this to others also...which Jesus did.

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In 1658, Bishop John Lightfoot writes:

23. "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene."
[He shall be called a Nazarene.] Those things which are brought from Isaiah 11:1 concerning Netzer, the Branch; and those things also produced concerning Samson the Nazarite, a most noble type of Christ, have their weight, by no means to be despised.

We add, that Matthew may be understood concerning the outward, humble, and mean condition of our Saviour. And that by the word, Nazarene, he hints his separation and estrangement from other men, as a despicable person, and unworthy of the society of men. {{cf. Isa. 53:2-3 }}


I. Let it be observed, that the evangelist does not cite some one of the prophets, but all: "spoken by the prophets."

But now all the prophets, in a manner, do preach the vile and abject condition of Christ; none, that his original should be out of Nazareth.

II. David, in his person, speaks thus; I was a stranger to my brethren, Psalm 69:9.

III. If you derive the word Nazarene, which not a few do, from Nazir, a Nazirean, that word denotes not only a separation, dedicated to God, such as that of the Nazarenes was; but it signifies also the separation of a man from others, as being unworthy of their society; Genesis 49:26, "They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."

Therefore, let us digest the sense of the evangelist by this paraphrase: Joseph was to depart with Christ to Beth-lehem, the city of David, or to Jerusalem, the royal city, had not the fear of Archelaus hindered him. Therefore, by the signification of an angel, he is sent away into Galilee, a very contemptible country, and into the city Nazareth, a place of no account: whence, from this very place, and the name of it, you may observe that fulfilled to a tittle which is so often declared."

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Lightfoot appears to carry the impression that Nazir, after a sense refers to Ex. 28:36-38, the gold plate of the high priest's turban which reads "Holiness to YHVeH";
and from this we are to carry Exodus 28:36 further with the concept of Nazarene/Nazarite in the New Testament...we are to put on the mind of Christ...to separate from the world...to renew our minds...as holy [separate] unto the L-RD.







As I return a moment to James, the LORD's half brother, and oldest younger sibling: to have two Nazirs or Nazirites in the same family, let alone the same village called Nazareth, I believe is more than just coincidence. It appears to indicate
that the entire village may have consecrated their first born sons to be unbathing Nazirites, uniquely set apart to dwell in Nazareth in this period of History, from at least Herod I to the fall of Jerusalem.

Perhaps, that is why there is a clear historical expectation of Matthew's 55 A.D. Gospel that when he mentions Nazareth in a prophetical inference in the Aramaic, it was translated with the same historical expectation as Nazarene by those who translated it in the Greek. It means the world to those of the generation that knew what Nazareth was in the pre-70 A.D. world...but those in the generations after, it slowly became a lost insight of culture and setting. And perhaps also, the unbathing aspect was a uniqueness that puzzled John the Baptist, that he should see a fellow Nazirite get baptized. It just wasn't done.

I therefore think Jesus was probably both, a dweller of Nazareth and a Nazarite...hence, the mocking of being a "wine-biber" by his opponents. They wouldn't have used it if not to offer a slander that thought MIGHT carry weight. Jesus said he drank (Luke 7:33-34), but what he drank is not told us. But even as wisdom is justified of her children, so not one accusation against Jesus held. Notice in 7:33 that John the Baptist came neither eating or drinking. If he didn't eat food, when he came, the definition of drinking then is probably "water". John fasted from food and water, but the Son of Man drank water and ate food while those around Him got drunk. Hence the winebibber accusation. But had Jesus been drunk, they would have hauled him off to a Trial on drunkeness, as the Pharisees constantly waited with baited breath to catch Jesus at His every word on something...and could not.

So did Jesus drink wine, the blood of the grape? Apparently not.

So when all the information is weighed, was Jesus a Nazarite? I believe that it is very likely that he was, and that his village in Galilee also at one time held a special Nazarite distinction as well.

The location of Christ's Cross: Hidden to the south and right

Old Testament Confirmation in Teman and Toemnin

In the Hebrew of Habakkuk, the significant word that deserves our focused attention is “Teman”, which denotes “south and to the east.” That is, to the same general location of the Kidron as what we have already looked to -- in relation to the Great Two Witnesses and the True Messiah of Israel, YHVeH Messiah Jesus Christ. In the King James Version of Habakkuk 3:3, we read,
“GOD came from Teman,
and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.”

Teman is that which lays to the south of one’s Right Hand. It is likened to a servant who follows at his master’s right hand, but three steps behind. In geography, Teman is in Edom, to the south and to the right hand of Jerusalem, as one faces north: on the eastern bank of the Dead Sea (Jeremiah 49:7,20; Amos 1:12). Obadiah 9 calls Teman “Mount Esau”, “the hill of the firstborn son”.{1} Mount Esau is the location of the hidden city of Petra (“Petra” means the “Rock”, a Messianic identifier).

In Yiddish Food, according to the respectable work of John Cooper, we find that the Ashkenazi dish of Toemnin derives its name from Teman.{2} The Sabbath dish is “covered and hidden,” it is “concealed” for more than an entire day. It undergoes a period of “sleep”, of “rest”. It is “a dish of life” to some, a dish despised “as death itself” to others. The location of the Cross and the tomb of Resurrection, is to us, Toemnin: “it is hidden and concealed” by the ravages of wars --and the ravages of time -- upon the landscape of Jerusalem.

Paran, which accompanies Teman in Habakkuk, deals with the “revealing” of that which is “Teman” or “Toemnin” -- a revealing of that which is covered, having been hidden and concealed. Like the book of Revelation’s title, “Paran” is the “pulling back of a covering” to show what lies within. It is a revelation of that which was covered until now, that which was once hidden and concealed; but now, light having shone forth upon it, so that it is no longer in the state of darkness. Even as YHVeH Messiah taught,
“For not -- is a thing hidden (without a purpose),
which if (were)not (hidden), it may be revealed;
nor came it (first) into being (as) covered,
that it might come into the Light (and be not as a thing still hidden).”
(Mark 4:22 - translation mine)

Again, note the contrast of these two words, of being “hidden” and “revealed” in relation to Messiah’s ministry at the Cross.
‘To the South of one’s right hand’ -- Teman; Crucified (dark)
‘Covered’ -- Toemnin; Dead & Buried (dark)
‘ Revealed’ / ‘Revelation’ -- Paran. Resurrected (light)

Even as the covered Sabbath casserole dish must rest over a very low flame for more than a day, stewing in its own juices to be the tastiest: so too, should this mystery “come to light”, after having stewed for two days -- being two millennia (Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8), to be the most appreciated. Toemnin is as an allegory of being as a Sabbath food for those -- in these last days -- who would partake of a Sabbath Rest in the work of YHVeH Messiah: whom we know as Jesus the Christ. Amen. For it was on the High Sabbath of the Passover that Christ was crucified; and like the Sabbath casserole, He was hidden and concealed, as though under a lid. He was covered with a great stone in a tomb. The location was Teman -- “south and to the right” (of the Temple of Jerusalem).

Therefore, even as the early Church fathers might say,
"…Salvation is become a physical reality, and the Apostles are (shown to have been) filled with a form of completed knowledge or understanding, and the Passover of YHVeH advances…"
(The Epistle [of Mathetes] to Diognetus, .12 - translation mine)


GOD comes forth from the South and to the right to conquer

The word “Paran” tells us that Messiah, who was dead and buried, and covered up, is alive to be revealed unto all. GOD is not GOD of the dead, but of the living, energetic, and bright shining ones (cf. Matthew 22:31-32).

Unlike their modern day descendants, the people of ancient Israel were cognizant of their Scriptures beyond the five scrolls of the Torah. In the 1st Century A.D., there appears to have been one perspective in which GOD would come down in power from above, after the manner of “Paran”.{3} GOD would then, by means of a great and powerfully shining revelation, roll back the heavens and reality, as if He were rolling up a great Cosmic scroll. In doing so, GOD would then rid Israel of their enemies before the establishment of His Kingdom. But watch which direction He comes from.

"And YHVeH shall be seen over them,
and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning,
and YHVeH GOD shall blow the trumpet,
and shall go with the whirlwinds of the South." (Zechariah 9:14)

"YHVeH came from Sinai, [Mt. Sinai - from south and east of Jerusalem]
and rose up from Seir unto them;
He shined forth from mount Paran, [a revealing light from the south & east]
and He came from the myriads of the holy ones at the Right Hand
as His fiery hillsides (Heb. - asheda) went out to meet them."
(Deuteronomy 33:2)

In the Scriptures, noteworthy scholars inform us that the Hebraic singular ashed [spelled Alef-Shin-Dalet] (ravine, valley slope) is used only in Numbers 21:15. Its plural 'ashedot' or 'ashdot' is used specifically for the Jordanian River and its regions, including those near and around Mount Pisgah (Deuteronomy 3:17,4:49; Joshua 10:40, 12:8).{4} Clearly, there is a connection for us to look south and east of the Temple. Thus, from the Right Hand (East) and from or with the whirlwinds of the South, GOD comes down and forth, as the valleys and ravines lift up to meet His Coming.{5} GOD descends on Mt. Sinai in Arabia,{6} travels north, then northwest or westward toward Jerusalem. At such a time, GOD will reward the faithful who did not faint, and thrust out into the outer darkness the unfaithful (Zechariah 2:5).{7} All the while, reaffirming that it is in this direction, from the Temple, in which we ought to be looking.


Ezekiel’s vision of the coming Cross in this location

“And the glory of YHVeH went up in the midst of the city,
and stood (as though erected or propped up)
upon the mountain eastward of the city.” (Ezekiel 11:23)

In the Hebrew of the above verse, the Hebrew for “went up” is VeYaAhL (Vav-Yod-Ayin-Lamed), “alah” in the Qal imperfect. Comparison of “alah” in the phonetic should also be made (Alef-Lamed-He and Ayin-Lamed-He). In the Tanakh (Old Testament), alah is often translated as “that which is brought up”, and as “that which is offered up”.{8} The idea conveyed here, is not just that which merely “ascends” or “goes up from”; but “that which is being led away from.” It is a word picture prophesying of Christ being led away to the crucifixion.

The Greek equivalent is “ago’, from which root word “angel” is derived. It is a picking up, of carrying away, and of coming, going, or leading away. That “leading away” in “Alah” is the same experience that Jesus (called Yeshua in the Hebrew) experienced personally, in fulfillment of this prophecy, when He was led away from the midst of the city, from Gabbatha. At Gabbatha, within the walls of Jerusalem at “the Pavement”,{9} Jesus was judged and whipped, and dispatched. The Cross passed from here, through the Siloam Gate, and out to that mount “eastward of the city” (Ezekiel 11:23).

This verse is so important in prophecy, that in Ezekiel 43:1-7, we see how that Tawech (Tav-Vav-Kaf] is reinforced so that it clearly defines how that the entire Temple Mount area, including that which would later become known as “Gabbatha”. Again, “Gabbatha” was that “midst of the city” from which “the Glory of YHVeH” was “led away from.” Tawech is a derivative from a Hebrew root word that means, “to sever”. And, indeed, “after 62 weeks…Messiah the Prince…(was) cut off [severed], but not for Himself”(Daniel 9:23). So, even in Ezekiel, we have a prophecy signifying the manner in which Messiah must die consistent with that of Jesus Christ: as being led away (and rejected out of Jerusalem), then lifted up and killed (in a propped up manner such as a crucifixion).



The glory of GOD points us: EASTWARD.
When the glory of YHVeH “stood” upon the mountain, eastward of the city, the word used here for “stood” in the Hebrew is VaYAMaD (Vav-Yod-Ayin-Mem-Dalet). This word not only means “to stand”, but is also inclusive of “that which is propped up” or “erected”, such as the Cross. Even as the Cross was erected and stood up, being propped by means of a rope and pulley system, so too, does the prophecy point to a “suspension” or SeLaH of GOD’s Glory to the East of the Temple, and in relationship to the Siloam Gate.
In getting to this location, we find that the Kidron torrent river was flowing in John 18:2.
Twice, on the night prior to the Crucifixion, Christ and others crossed this flowing (flash flood runoff) river. That means: that there were at least two wooded bridges that specifically crossed the Kidron from Mt. Moriah to Mt. Olivet in Jerusalem in A.D. 30:
1) in the northeast area by the Temple spanning Olivet to Moriah; and
2) one to the south, spanning Olivet to the Lower city near the Gate of Siloam.

This latter point requires a road leading north on the westward side of Olivet from En Rogel to this bridge. Christ, upon being cast out of Jerusalem, was denied access of the lower city bridge, and had to wade through its frigid running torrent. This is informed us in prophecy found in 2 Kings 6:6. In this, we are shown that both Simon (now bearing up the Cross) and Christ (whom Simon bore up the Cross for) had to cross this stream of the Kidron. {10}

Only one “river” in Jerusalem is ever mentioned concerning the Passover. That torrent-flood runoff stream is Easterly from the Temple: the Kidron. In 2 Kings 23:13, the Mount of Olives is viewed in the context of a northern and southern mount, or a double peaked mount, as it were. Modern geographers will designate this Mount of Olives with 4 peaks. The southern aspect of this mount is known as Lehar HaMaschiyith , the “hill of destruction” or the “destroying mountain”.

While some uses of Maschiyith mean “to pull down” (e.g. Genesis 13:10, and Ezekiel 26:4); it is also translated as “to wound” in Exodus 21:26. Both of these carry Messianic implications: “the pulling down of strongholds” via the Cross, to which Paul alludes to in 2 Corinthians 10:4; and being “wounded for our transgressions” in Isaiah 53:5. Even the bruising of the head, while having His heel bruised in turn, in Genesis 3:15, can be experienced through the Cross in prophecy and Gematria at this location.

The tomb of “the rich man” is in this general location, at the westward base of this 4th peak of Mt. Olivet; for in relation to the Tomb, we see the prophecy of Isaiah, which states:
“[GOD] Who raised the Righteous (One) from the East,
called Him to His foot.” (Isaiah 41:2a)

That is “resurrected the Righteous One from the Eastern hill of Olivet”, and from this direction, GOD the Father “called Him up in the clouds to Heaven” -- Acts 1:9,11.

We are given an overwhelming amount of internal Biblical Evidence that places the Cross and the Tomb in this location South and East of the Temple. So why has this information been ignored, and why hasn’t this area been excavated as of yet? Because, as Paul points out, even when that which is known of GOD is made clear and apparent, men will prefer to hold an alternate version or slant upon the truth, to follow after the lusts of the vanity of their imaginations -- that they may be void of GOD in them (cf. Romans 1:18-23). And as Messiah puts it, “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”(John 3:19 - KJV).

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1 As indicated in Obadiah 9, Edom (the desert lands of southern Jordan, South of the River Arnon and EAST of the Dead Sea, is the place of origin for the modern Arab Palestinian; showing their claim upon Israel’s land is fraudulent. For further study and documentation, read the eminent Joan Peters in her book, Peters, Joan “From Time Immemorial”, © 1984 Harper & Row, published of late by JKAP in Chicago 2002. Joan Peters is a thorough researcher / author, in regards to Mid-East/Israeli affairs.

2 Cooper, John “Eat & Be Satisfied”, Northvale, N.J.: Aronson, © 1993 This entire section was inspired by the insight of Toemnin/Teman as a covered Sabbath dish.

3 In the First Century A.D., just like today, there was an expectancy of GOD's Spirit to mysteriously fall from the heavens and light upon the faithful in the same miraculous and eventful manner that in those times of antiquity GOD fell or came down upon His prophets and judges to deliver the people of GOD from their oppressors. This notion they gathered from passages and commentaries such as that which might have been gathered about Zechariah 12:8, which reads:
"And in that Day: YHVeH shall protect the inhabitants around Jerusalem;
And it will be that he who is feeble among them in that Day (shall be) like David:
and the House of David (shall be) like GOD, like the ANGEL of YHVeH before them."

(cf. The Hebrew - Greek - English Interlinear Bible (Literal translation), Green, Jay P., sr. (Editor), Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, second edition 1986.)

This led to the populist idea among the zealots, such as Judas Iscariot, that when the Kingdom of GOD came with Messiah, the feeble would receive vigor and rejuvenation to be as mighty David in his peak years. In that time, the House of Israel would take pre-eminence among the nations, and dwell as if they were gods. The Greek uses “theoi”, which Herodotus the Greek historian translates as “the disposers” (Herodotus, Histories, 2.52). In other words, the rabbis taught that the destiny of the Jews was to be the masters of this world. Being supermen, meant being GOD-empowered, and that power then being used to subject even GOD’s Kingdom to the human, but Jewish, whim.

In effect, World War II and German National Socialism was GOD’s object lesson to the Jews. This was because, in an attempt to name and claim by "faith", the leaders of the Jews at Jerusalem, those of the Sanhedrin (the ancient governing religious body politic of the Jews) called themselves "NASI" or "princes". It was for a warning upon the modern descendant of Jacob that GOD allowed an enemy to rise up and be “princes” and “rulers” called Nasi, though spelled n- a-"Z"-i. However, the eyes and ears were again shut to the obvious warning from GOD in not straying after the sins of these ancestors who are denounced in a manner like Korah, Datham, Abiram, and the prophet Balaam are in the Scriptures.

4 Harris, “The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament”, p.176
5 Isaiah 40:3-5
6 Galatians 4:25 clearly identifies Mt. Sinai as being in Arabia.

7 There will be Hebrew bodies piled high in Jerusalem’s Kidron and Hinom Valleys by the many tens of thousands, as every last Jew on earth (at that time) fights for their existence. These will also be piled as high as the horses bridle (cf. Zechariah 12:11; Revelation 14:20, 16:16). The return of Messiah, that there be flesh saved, regards His mission to the Jews, not the nations (Matthew 24:22, cf. vv. 16-22 in context; and Mark 13:20, cf. vv. 13-20 in context). The city of Jerusalem is besieged by the armies of anti-Christ in one-third, being westerly; and by the armies of the Asiatic warlords in one-third to the north and east. It is held from the Temple by one-third via the Jewish remnant, who for 45 days are hanging on for dear life from days 2580-2625, but are now being butchered in the valleys of Hinom and the Kidron, cut off from all escape (cf. Revelation 16:12, 16,19; Zechariah 12:3-9; Daniel 12:11-12; Jeremiah 31:38-40; Joel 3:14-17; etc.).

8 cf. Harris, Archer, Waltke “The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament”, Chicago: Moody, © 1980, 12th print, Vol. 2, p.666; Vo. 1, pp.41-46. ; Zodhiates, Spiros “The Complete Word Study Old Testament”, Chattanooga: AMG, © 1994, p. 2349. In regards to textual criticism, compare the Hebrew extensively in Gematriac phonetics extensively with the Greek “aggelos” and “ago”.

9 Notice: that Jerusalem’s use of “the Pavement,” is almost like that of what we could visualize as like unto a Colonial Square of Cobblestones. It is an expression that the rest of Jerusalem’s streets are NOT founded in stones, like many of the Roman main arteries; and that the streets were dirt and rock of the mountain itself. The only exception to this will be that of the Temple itself; but even within the Courts of the Gentiles, the pave stones were covered in a layer of dirt, to ease the securing of animal excrements, in order that the Temple be not defiled. This is demonstrated when Jesus, while at Solomon’s Porch, stoops down and writes (probably the Hebrew word for Falsehood: Sheqar רקש) in the dirt in John 8:6,8 -- (followed underneath by the names of the accusers, from oldest to youngest).

10 The tree or “cross” of 2 Kings 6:6 being cast into a river, is taught in miracle of the floating axe-head, as Irenaeus relates:

“And the man of GOD said, ‘Where did it fall?’ And he showed him the place. And he cut down a tree, and cast it in there, and the iron floated."

[That is, he cut down a tree and cast it into a river, --2 Kings 6:6 -- signifying that Christ had to carry His cross through the cold Kidron brook following a recent rain, and during runoff. This was a sign that through death, as through the Jordan, Christ will bear the souls of all men who believe, aloft to Heaven with Him. It is also a greater depth understanding to the bark (Heb. “eitz”) that was cast into Marah, and made the bitter waters sweet. This shows that the coming Cross of YHVeH is the only means by which one can attain the Living Waters of YHVeH, and hence, eternal life. For the laws and statutes were “uplifted” (Heb.- “nisahu”) as upon the coming Cross, and “tested” in the uplifting. (Exodus 15:23-24). Cf. Riskin, Shlomo - Jerusalem Post International, “Weekly Portion”, February 6, 2004 p.31]

This was a sign that souls should be taken up and away, being borne aloft through the instrumentality of wood, upon which he suffered, who can lead those souls that follow up and away and aloft that follow His ascension.
This event was also an indication of the fact, that when the holy soul of Christ descended [into Ge-Hinom], many souls ascended and were seen in their bodies. [Matthew 27:52]. For just as the wood, which is the lighter body, was submerged in the water; but the iron, the heavier one, floated: so when the WORD of GOD became one with flesh, by a physical and hypostatic union, the heavier and terrestrial having been rendered immortal by the Divine Nature, was taken up and borne into Heaven, after the Resurrection.” (Irenaeus, Fragments .28)
Roberts, “The Ante Nicene Fathers”.

New Testament specifics to the location of the Cross

In the New Testament's Book of Revelation, the Great 2 Witnesses of the Tribulation Period {1} are slain in Jerusalem, in a street spiritually called "Sodom and Egypt". These two witnesses will come in the near future, and they will confirm -- by their deaths -- a very close general proximity of where Jesus suffered His crucifixion.

Therefore, what I teach as being the true location of Christ’s crucifixion will eventually be confirmed by the prophetical and literal deaths of these two great witnesses. They will clearly be known to every nation on Earth, and their identification will be unmistakable. When the deaths of these two Great Witnesses are televised, the precise location of their bodies, lying exposed to public view and in respects to the Temple, will be known -- to within a matter of feet. The media will mark and aerial photograph the very spot, and the nations will demand that they continuously look -- “live from Jerusalem” -- upon their bodies. That Day of their demise will be greatly exalted as a Day of celebration, which must be immediately commemorated with gifts as if it were a “New Christmas” holiday (Revelation 11: 9-10). Let us look at it:

The Two Witnesses
"And I will bring forth to those 2 Witnesses of Me,{2}
and they will prophesy -- having been clothed in sackcloth -- 1,260 days.{3}
This they are: as 2 Olive Trees, and as 2 Lamp stands,{4}
standing before the GOD of the (whole) Earth.

And if anyone acts to execute harm upon them,
fire proceeds out of their mouths, and devours the enemies of them;
and if anyone acts to execute harm upon them,
thus, it is inevitably necessary that he is to be killed.

These have --and hold the right and might of -- Authority to shut the heaven,
in order that it does not rain in the days of their prophecy;
and the right and might of Authority - they do continually possess upon the waters, to turn them into blood; and to touch - strike - and smite the Earth with all plagues, as often as they will it to action, wherever and on whosoever.
And fulfilling their desires, they reach the full end of their Witness.{5}
The Beast, he ascending up out of the Abyss, will make war in their midst,
and will overcome them, and will kill them.
And the bodies of them (will lay) upon the Great City's Plateia,
which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our LORD --
was indeed -- crucified." (Revelation 11:3-8, w/ Greek word pictures - Translation mine)

In locating the Plateia (or “street of Egypt”) in Jerusalem, “where our LORD was crucified”, we revisit Matthew 13:22 with Jeremiah 46:7-8, and surmise that “Egypt” in Jerusalem deals with the Kidron Valley.

We are required (by Scripture) to first locate this geography of Jerusalem that is called “Egypt”; and then to intersect that location with the geography called “Sodom”. The manner in which the location of “the street of Sodom”, in Jerusalem, is identified as the Hinom valley -- is quickly dispatched with the fact that the Hebrew Ge-Hinom (“Valley of Hinom”) is transliterated in the Greek as Ge-henna (“the Valley of Burning Fires”). Here, the booths of branches were annually burned -- following the Feast of Tabernacles. Here, many tens of thousands of paschal lambs were likely cooked in open fire-pits for the Passover festivals. Here also, in the Valley of Hinom, did the children of Israel abort their fetuses, and burn them as sacrificial offerings in hopes of prosperity from the demons (e.g. Jeremiah 7:31-32). From branches to lambs to children, the Israelis apparently burned them all in the Valley of Hinom.

This part of the valley of Hinom to which we are most concerned, is directly SOUTH of the Temple, and runs in an east-west direction. Therefore, we need only to find the next intersection point: the Hinom valley representing Revelation 11:8’s “Sodom”, which Scripture describes as a place associated with “fire, brimstone (sulfur)… and great smoke as from a furnace” (Genesis 19:24,28).


The Gospel of Paul also points to this location

The book of Hebrews is identified by Irenaeus as being the good news of Paul, and composed by his pupil, Luke (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.1.). The inference is that this composition follows Paul’s death in Rome with Peter, on June 29, 57 A.D. Therefore, Hebrews is a pre-70 A.D. composition, with a pre-70 A.D. concept of Jerusalem, written only 27 years following the LORD’s Passion. In this book, Luke (in circa July of 57 A.D.) records the words of Paul, who taught:

"Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For that the heart be established with grace (is) a good thing --not with meats, which have not profited those who have been obsessed with them.
We have an altar, whereof they, which serve the Tabernacle, have no right to eat.
For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the Sanctuary
by the High Priest for sin, are burned without the Camp.

Wherefore, Jesus also,
that He might sanctify the people with His own blood,
suffered outside this gate. [The gate of burning, the Hinom]
Let us therefore go forth unto Him without the Camp, bearing His reproach."
(Hebrews 13:9-13)


In the Temple rituals, from what appears to be the case, the animals were sacrificed, and the bodies of the lambs were carried to one’s tent / tabernacle / or home in Jerusalem. The ashes of the sacrificial blood that was burnt upon the logs of the altar-fire, were removed from the Temple Mount, by assigned Levitical priests. These men were all 25-50 years old. They used cart and ass or cart and donkey, and traveled west from the Temple Court, and then south into and through the lower city. These Levites normally left the walls of Jerusalem by way of the Dung Gate, to burn the bodies of various sacrificial animals (bullocks, turtle doves, etc.) in the Hinom Valley through the rest of the year. They would then take the ashes, and bury them in the wilds of Judea, in the Dead Sea area, stopping through various Dead Sea Communities for this purpose. The vessels carrying the ashes of the blood of the Temple were separate and not to be mixed with the vessels carrying the ashes of the Hinom Valley. Simon the Cyrene was a Temple Levitical Priest, assigned to the vessels of the Hearth of Fire on the Passover, and was en route back to the Temple, when he was kicked about with the knees into submission by the Romans.

In regards to Kohen charge of burning the bodies of the Temple Sacrifice, the Passover lambs were the exception. The heads of every family gathering (pre-divided into groups of 13) would take the Passover home, and then take what was leftover himself into the Kidron to burn those bodies, being about 240,000 lambs incinerated each First Passover in the Hinom Valley. This lent credence to the Scripture of all Israel being called out by GOD to be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6; 2 Peter 2:9; cf. - Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6). At the Temple, the Kohen priests would burn the logs and the blood of some 230,000 to 240,000 lambs in the great altar cauldron, which measured some 30 feet across. The logs and blood of the Passover sacrifices are representative of the Cross. So, when Simon the Cyrene left the Temple, carting the Temple ashes of wood and blood, he was already carting the Cross. When he returned, he was chosen to fulfill that religious duty literally. And he was a man considered strong and robust by the Romans, being a powerful looking man between age 25 and 50.

Therefore, on the Passover, we must mentally re-adjust our senses. In A.D. 30, there was in the air the smell of burnt mutton, and the smell of blood. This was the incense of Jerusalem and for many miles round about, as the smoke choked the air like a thin fog of smog during Christ’s Passion. It is likely that Christ suffered not only a lack of oxygen from being crucified, and hyper-ventilated because of a large blood loss...but that he was effectively choking on the smoke from the Hinom as well. One of the signs given in the KJV's Acts 2:19's "signs in the Earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke."
The emphasis is that the crucifixion occurs outside the South-southeastern gate, through which the bodies of those sacrificial beasts were cast out and "burned". The only primary location known for this activity at Jerusalem is the Valley of Ge-Hinom, which is transliterated as 'Gehenna' (γεεννα) in the Greek, and as "hell" in the English.


Outer Darkness: the Plateias in Jerusalem
When GOD returns to Jerusalem to save the final Jewish/Israeli remnant on Day 2625,{6} He finds His people thrust into the “outer darkness” of the city (doomed to destruction). To these, He makes a way of escape by creating a Valley through Mount Olivet, and in effect, hiding them in the Cross. From thence, because of His glorious light and presence, all the nations round about at Jerusalem then find themselves as being thrust into the outer darkness, and doomed to destruction.
In grappling with this concept of being “thrust out into the outer darkness”, we may this concept better by looking in an odd place. When the Two Great Witnesses of the Tribulation are killed in the “street” of Sodom and Egypt, in Jerusalem on Day 1286 ½ in Revelation 11:8, John uses the word “Plateia”.

"And their dead bodies (that of the Two Witnesses, shall lie)
in the STREET [Gr. - Plateias] of the great city,
which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt;
where also our LORD was crucified.” (Revelation 11:8 - re: KJV)

In this passage of Revelation 11:8, we read, the word for "street" in the Greek as being πλατειας: PLATEIAS. To translate it simply as "a street" only, in this passage, is misleading and lost upon the English language reader.

The plateia is "the outer darkness":
a) “the echoing chasm”(outside a city);
b) “it is the fork of two highways;
c) it is that open area of two valleys joining; and,
d) it is also an open area’s corners or exalted points, be it a courtyard or park, that acts as a type of embankment or curve to be merged into.

The outer darkness and plateia are represented by “curves”. Darkness is a curvature of the principle of light. The Hebrew word for “righteousness” involves the concept of a perfectly straight line, rod, or beam. The concept of sin is to be curved, not fit as a straight line, to miss the mark due to a veering off. Plateia incorporates into its concept, not only a veering off, but a “dropping off”: such as an embankment that veers off downward, and becomes a ditch or chasm. This is representative of sin, and its end- result. Jesus tells us if those who are in bondage to sins, lead others suffering from the same bondage to the same types of sins, they shall both fall into destruction -- as though into a ditch.{7}

Here, in the angles, corners, and embankments of the Plateia: Judaizing hypocrites pray openly to be seen of men (Matthew 6:5){8}, even after they have robbed their own parents and spent their inheritances. They behaved as if to attract the giving of alms into their hands under false pretenses.{9} Here, in the angles, corners, and embankments of the Plateia: people eat and drink and some even teach (Luke 13:26); and here, the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind blend into the crowds (Luke 14:21).

So, by its own definition, the "Plateias" must either be within the city of Jerusalem at some court or open area, -- or it must be in the outer darkness of the city, where at least two “highways” or “valleys” meet. Two, because we need a “way” called “Sodom”, and another called “Egypt”, both intersecting -- as defined by Revelation chapter 11. Since Pompey filled the northern chasm up, and the Jews in Herod’s time built a new city called “Bezetha” upon this filled in place;{10} we must rule that this northern area is completely, geographically, and prophetically, as disqualified.

If you were to observe the location of Judas Iscariot’s last act, you would see that it is precisely in a “gonias plateian”, an embankment in the “outer darkness” of Jerusalem. The “gonias plateian” is an exalted place within the Valley, which could be prominently seen. Judas’ hanging served as an anti-thesis to the crucifixion. The Pharisees saw themselves as the “Sons of Light”, as protectors of the Holy Temple and the Faith. Those without were considered as “the Sons of Darkness” and “the children of Belial”. The Dead Sea Scrolls describe the rift within the Pharisaic sect, not the Essene. In this regard, I believe the Dead Sea Scholars scholars have been wrong from day one. The perspectives of the Dead Sea Scrolls are of rifts of those Pharisees who formerly served within the Temple, as being as highly placed as that of Temple Commanders, but who were unable to effect change -- so as to weed out corruption by the ruling establishment. That ruling establishment appears to be inclusive of the “house of Caiaphas”, a Sadducee Galilean “house” (or family tree) that bought and ruled the Sanhedrin and high priesthood through the power of wealth.

Therefore, we can now more clearly comprehend the actions and motivations of Judas Iscariot, as a loyal Galilean and devotee of a faction within the Sanhedrin. This same Judas was the betrayer of Christ. Judas had conspired with “the Sons of Light” against Jesus (Dead Sea Scrol1 QM 1:1ff; Luke 22:3-6), whose identities are described to us as that of being the Temple Commanders and scribes. But, when Judas realized that he was not in an alliance with “the sons of Light” after all, what did he do? He went out into the outer darkness, where Christ hung and quivered. In the outer darkness of the city -- the freezing body of Messiah was shaking violently upon the cross. Judas gazed in great remorse upon the Cross, and by hanging himself; Judas declared by his action (within the first hour or two of Christ’s Passion) that the “sons of darkness” had taken over the Temple within, and cast the true “Son of Light” without.

Christ hung and quivered in the “outer darkness” on a tract of land called “Golgotha”, on a clear and cold breezy day in March. The night rains had (by this time) fully blown through, and Jesus was hung in the one place where most of the 3,000,000 who gathered in Jerusalem and could gaze upon Him. Christ Himself, with His right eye not beaten shut,{11} would also have been able to gaze upon the disciple of Him, across the Valley, hanging limp and lifeless upon the tree, strangled by a cord on a tree limb that extended over the south Hinom embankment.

Judas would have had to crawl out and then dropped from the end of the limb for maximum viewing effect. He probably did not break his neck initially, but strangled himself in the manner that would have mimicked a Sanhedrinal judgment. As a false witness who caused an innocent’s death, the Temple Tradition was that Judas should have been strangled by two men pulling on a cord about his neck in the presence of the Sanhedrin acting as a Beth Din, following a fair religious trial. The first priests, because of their equal guilt, refused to condemn him or even consider the matter.

Upon the earthquake at 3 pm, when Christ died upon the Cross, the body of Judas (which had now hung for at least 4-5 hours by this time), bounced on the rope until the limb snapped, and fell headlong onto a boulder or such below, where his corpse broke in half, and spilled out all his bowels (Acts 1:16-18).

Picture now an analog clock with its two hands. Place the clock’s hands as revolving from the central point of the Kidron and Hinom juncture. This is your compass. Fix the 12 o’clock as north. Set the hourly hand for 3 o’clock. Set the minute hand for the number 7, so that your clock now reads 3:35. You now have the approximate compass position of Christ and Judas, as of 12 noon on March 23, 30 A.D., just before the whole world became as the confusion of night.12
This aspect of the crucifixion has been lost upon the Christian: that those who gazed upon Christ were offered this alternate spectacle of Iscariot across the Valley; and that Jesus too, would have gazed upon His own dead disciple.

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1 The Tribulation period is descriptive of the end of the world, as we know it. It is the end of the period of grace, and the beginning of Daniel 9:24-27’s 70th week of years. Each week of years is defined as 7 actual years upon the earth. When Jesus died upon the Cross, He stopped the Judgment clock, and we entered into a period of grace. That last week of years is determined to bring all sins, from the age of Adam to ours: to a finality, to cut it off and to kill it -- therefore judgment and wrath from GOD. This wrath is upon all those who receive not the atonement of the Cross. Mankind is called to ask GOD that He would pass over their unrighteous acts and rebellion toward Him.
The 70th week of 7 years is collectively called “the Tribulation Period”, but it is actually divided into two halves (Daniel 9:27; 12:11,12). The first half is also referred to as the “Tribulation”, while the second half is the “Great Tribulation” and the “Day of the LORD”. In the first 1290 days, there is still a call to believe and trust Jesus and his work of the Cross, that they might be taken up, and away from judgment in the coming Elijahn rapture. At Day 1291, nuclear war strikes America and Russia, an asteroid strikes the Mediterranean, and over the course of the next 1335 days, the world’s population is decreased to possibly only the hundreds of millions. Our current planet population is somewhere close to 7 billion.

2 The Two witnesses are two famous biblical figures who were raptured or snatched up by GOD, as though through a time portal -- from their times to ours. The primary Biblical candidates are Enoch (Genesis 5:23-24), and Elijah (2 Kings 2:7-8,11). However, Josephus tells us that his Temple copy of the Torah, which was captured in the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, indicates that Moses was indeed also “raptured up into Heaven,” and did not perish. -- The Temple Torah was taken to Rome, and placed in Vespasian’s “Palace of Peace” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 7.5.7). From here, in Rome, Josephus had full access to the Imprimis or “first” scroll of all Judaism Torah manuscript copies: that one scroll which was “in the first place” as the Source scroll (Josephus, Antiquities, 3.1.7., and 5.1.17.). From this source, Josephus informs us that Moses was clearly raptured into Heaven, like Jesus, from the presence of Joshua, in the location they were then at (Josephus, Antiquities, 4.8.48.).

This being the case, Enoch would then remain in Heaven as a type of the Heavenly Father. Moses and Elijah would then portal through time, even as seen upon the Mount of Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-5); and act as witnesses as a human type of GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Spirit. Moses the meek, possesses the characteristics of Jesus Christ the Messiah; and Elijah, displays the manners and character of GOD the Holy Spirit to the world for 1,260 days in the end-times.

3 The appearance of the 2 witnesses will be on Day 26 ½ from the circa 3 pm (Jerusalem time) signing of the 7 year Peace treaty which is signed by Israel, the “Palestinians”, representatives of the United Nations, Russia, Greece or Italy, the United States, and the European Union. They will probably show up at about 3 to 5 am that morning, Jerusalem time, upon the Mount of Olives in one of two locations: either the general tract of land where Jesus was crucified, ancient Golgotha; or in or near ancient Gethsemane. I do not believe it likely for them to show up first upon the bare exposed stone amongst the debris of the then “recently demolished Dome of the Rock”, but it is possible.

4 The number two symbolizes: the Two Covenants, Old and New; the Two Churches, Gentile and Jew. The Gentiles or nations of the New, do not and cannot replace the nation of Israel -- they simply join it, as a wild new Olive tree grafted into the great and large ancient one. Nor can the Jew dismiss the nations, as they are invigorated and made alive to an ever greater and greater fruitfulness because of them.
The symbolism of the two Olive trees: in the form of the two witnesses, they represent the Ark of the Covenant’s 2 Witnesses, being Cherubs or Seraphs. That is, those privy to the most holy and inner sanctum of GOD; who are instructed, and who know His will. The Cherubs of Solomon (I Kings 6:23-28) were each 10 cubits or about 17 ½ feet high (according to the more ancient 21 inch cubit, versus the less ancient 18 inch cubit).

5 Moses and Elijah will teleport to every nation upon the Earth (cf. Revelation 11:9-10), and instead of finding receptive audiences, they will be forced to command plagues and devastations upon the peoples they visit. They will have reached a full end of their witness, and ensured the safe in-gathering of all Jews upon the face of the Earth to Israel. Those of the tribes of Israel, who remain among the nations, are swiftly sought out and mercilessly slain. Moses and Elijah will perform miracles that will feed the ingathered nation of Israel, both physically and in the spiritual sense as well.

6 The Tribulation Period is divided into two sets of 3 ½ years. The first 3 ½ years last 1290 days, and the second
3 ½ years last 1335 days beyond, totaling 2625 days from the signing of the Treaty w/ anti-Christ, to the return of the True Messiah. (cf. Daniel 12:11,12)

7 Matthew 15:14. In context: Matthew 15:1-14 informs us that the “Holy Ones”, (the Pharisees), were robbing their parents, and driving them into severe poverty: so that they themselves might selfishly live softly. They considered the mission of protecting the Temple an excuse for starving people so that they may be fat, and well clothed, and live in oversized apartments or houses with fine things. Therefore, this particular sin of the Pharisees is “greed”, the love of money and wealth. Such desires are NOT planted by the Heavenly Father in the heart of the believer (Matthew 15:13). The vow of the Catholic priest to poverty after a fashion, is correct -- though his vow to refrain from marriage, is not. The consequences of soft living through robbery of Temple Treasuries, affected the families of these “Protectors of the Temple Order”, by teaching children the virtue of thievery and self-justification.

8 και οταν προσευχη ουκ εση ωσπερ οι υποκριται
"And/ but when you pray NOT shall (you) be as the hypocrites

οτι φιλουσιν εν ταις συναγωγαις και εν ταις
because they (brotherly) love in the Synagogues and in the

γωνιαις των
Corners (by the High or Prominent Places) of the
πλατειων
Plateian [the wide courts, streets, ways: inclusive of those ways and
valleys which surround city walls]


εστωτες προσευχη οπως αν φανωσι τοις ανθρωποις.
standing up alongside to pray so that may they appear to men.

“And when you pray, expressing your concerns and giving thanks,
you should not be as the actors who pretend brotherly love in the
Synagogues and in the places of prominence: the corners of the
Plateian, standing (up and openly) alongside to pray, so that they
may be seen of men.” (Matthew 6:5, translation mine)

9 Tertullian puts it this way: “Majesty is made a source of gain. Religion goes about the taverns begging” (Tertullian, Apology, .13). The city of Jerusalem was a city of pilgrimages and endless streams of people exercising charity upon the city and its Temple. Where there is an abundance of money, there are often an abundance of beggars.

10 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 14.4.1; Wars of the Jews, 5.4.2.

11 Cyprian, Against the Heresy of one Noetus, .18; tells us Christ closed His (one) eye upon the Cross.
After a beating of 400-600 open hand strikes, mainly by right hands against the left side of Messiah’s face, we would expect that whole eye to be bloated and swelled shut -- even hidden. Therefore, from Gabbatha to Golgotha, and until His death, Jesus was only able to see out of His right eye. This vision would also have often been blurred by sweat, blood, and agitation to the optic nerve from all the head trauma He suffered. However, there would have been moments of visual clarity. It was in these moments, whether several minutes at a time or more, that Jesus would have looked over the Valley, and seen Judas’ alternate spectacle / public apology. Satan probably spurred Judas into the act as a purposeful mockery, but the seriousness of the event was never used against Christ or his followers in that way.

12 Genesis 1:2 reads:
“And the Earth was then in a state of existence that no longer exists,
being an empty and barren place of nothingness, desolate, and without any life whatsoever; and the face immediately above the deep was darkness.” (Translation mine)

The Hebrew tells us that “In the Beginning…” the Earth had light upon its face, but not upon its depths. The earth was glowing, but not like a ball of magma. It was created as fully formed, as soft and hot. The word for the deep in Genesis 1:2 is tohum, i.e. “tohu”. While Job, 6:18 describes “tohu” as “a wasteland,” Job 26:7 uses “tohu” as the “dark vast and empty nothingness” upon which the Earth hangs. Tohu has a relationship with the Hebraic “hoshek”, which is “that darkness which is void of all light, promoting a predisposition to insanity and through chaos and the lack of orderliness.”

In the Greek New Testament, “hoshek”, in translation, is used to describe the literal blindness of men, as well as the spiritual. Genesis 1:5 informs us, that “GOD proclaimed the Light (as) Day, and the Darkness He labeled as Night.” The “Hoshek” [He-Shin-Kaf] He labeled as “the adversity (and the heartsick misery of falsehood)”, which a description of the sin nature. That is, before even the creation of the sun and the moon, there was a Day and there was a Night, and “the plan of Salvation”. Day and night created at the first, however, were in a state that no longer exists, nor can be comprehended at this present time. Psalm 104:2,5-6, suggests that the Earth in Genesis 1:2 was covered in light like as with a cloak of the shekinah clouds of GOD’s presence (2 Chronicles 5:13-14). Therefore, GOD covered “adversity (and the heartsick misery of falsehood)”, i.e. the sin nature that was to come, with the cloud of His glorious presence. Here, showing us that in the ages to come, that which is of earth would sin, and He would have to become its covering. This predicts the coming of the Cross from the foundation of the world.

The very word for “evening”, ereb / erev, has some 16 differing definitions to its usage. The rabbis themselves call this word “disorderly” and “chaotic”. Three of the more interesting definitions of “ereb” are:
1) as being a physical impurity;
2) as being swarms or dark clouds of flying insects;
3) as being that worldly pleasure and contentment that is derived from the hustle and bustle of trading and bartering, of purchasing and selling, of intermingling in the marketplace.
All of these are represented by the word “Egypt” in the Bible. But the more interesting aspect is its Gematriac association with Arab, which most appropriately describes the modern sons of Esau: which means “to ambush”, or “to lie in wait” as the crouching lion of sin. The word picture that is brought to mind, is that crouching lion of Cain’s anger and resentment that was ready to pounce Cain in Genesis 4:7.

In Gematria, the letter Ayin ע is interchangeable with the letter Alef א: spelling it now as [Alef-Rosh-Beth]. Rearranged, in the Gematriac analysis, Ereb now becomes Abur [Alef-Beth-Rosh]: “he who infuriates himself by crossing over from simply having wrongful thoughts, to the doing and carrying out wrongful words and acts.” Rearranged, this activity is Baar [Beth-Alef-Rosh]: “destined to be kindled and consumed by fire,” or as the “consummation of foods eaten by cattle” and cast out as dung piles. Therefore, from even before Adam’s creation, the destiny of Adam and his descendants, from Beginning to End, was foreseen and foreknown by the Almighty: from Adam’s rebellion, to YHVeH’s personal sacrifice, to the Lake of Fire and Judgment. And for man to choose “destruction over salvation”, “darkness over light”, is confusion and rebellion of the greatest disorder indeed.