Christian Baptist Living

Month: January 2014

Asleep in Christ: Where Are Those Who Have Died?

What happens when the flesh body dies today? Is there a life after that event, and if so, what is it like now? Are those who have died in Christ in some outer chaos state of ‘nothingness’, with no awareness of anything? Some would have us believe that’s the way it is, and even worse, that our loved ones who have died are in the ground out there somewhere. It can clearly be seen that a personality which showed vitality and activity in their flesh body when alive, suddenly departs when their flesh dies. Just where does that ‘expression’ of personality go? Our LORD told us in His Word where that “spirit” goes, and His apostle Paul was sent to give believers comfort in the resurrection Message.
     Our LORD and Saviour does not want His to be ignorant of this matter of the resurrection, for our Lord Jesus Christ Himself rose on the third day, defeating ‘Death’, and Jesus Yashu’a Messiah became the “firstfruits” of that resurrection unto Life (Matt.16:21; Matt.28; Acts 10:37-43; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Cor.15:20).
     “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). If you were raised a Christian, as a believer on Christ, then no doubt you’ve heard that verse more than once. But because of the ‘commandments of men’, how that John 3:16 verse applies to those who “sleep in Christ” now is not often properly taught to Christ’s Body, The Church (Ekklesia). Many have distorted what Paul clearly preached on the resurrection, and because of man’s traditions, it has caused many brethren in Christ sadness and a wearisome hope for loved ones who have already passed on, when our Heavenly Father did not intend any faltering hope in Christ Jesus.
     The resurrection of the dead is the main subject of 1 Corinthians 15. It covers our Lord Christ’s resurrection, how It applies to those who are now “asleep” in Christ Jesus, and for how those still alive at Christ’s coming are “changed“, at the “twinkling of an eye”. I reference this 1 Corinthians 15 Scripture often in my studies for the same reasons Paul was having to renew this understanding among those at Corinth, because of some among them who twisted God’s Truth.
     I may have to cover this subject in two separate studies because of its deep spiritual nature, so let’s get to it, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus’ Name, Amen.

1 Cor 15:1    Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2    By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3    For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4    And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

     Those at the Church in Corinth had some problems staying focused on what Paul had taught when he had first preached The Gospel to them. Because of the pagan abominations happening around Corinth at that time, some had left off The Gospel of Christ. Elements of paganism obviously were twisting The Gospel among them. So Paul was trying to help renew That Spirit of The Gospel in them again, and he is making known within this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter how Christ’s resurrection is the beginning of Life for those who believe on Him.
     When Paul says he preached Christ crucified and risen “according to the scriptures”, he’s talking about The Old Testament Scriptures! The Old Testament Scriptures of God’s Word is all that was written at the time. God declares new things before they come to pass (Isa.42). Yahaveh (YHVH), through His Old Testament prophets testified that His Son Immanuel (‘God with us’), would come to die on the cross, be buried, and rise on the third day (see Psalms 22; Isaiah 53; Isaiah 7:14; Zech.13; Dan.9:24-26; Gen.3:15; Ps.16:10-11; Hosea 6:2; Isaiah 61:1-2; Zech.9:9; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 1:23).
     Furthermore, our Lord Christ struck Paul (Saul) down on the road to Damascus, as Paul was His “chosen vessel” (Acts 9). Paul was an excellent scholar in the Old Testament Scriptures, having studied with one of the best scholars of his day (Gamaliel; Acts 22). Yet Paul was zealous in ‘traditions’ of the Pharisees, instead of being given the missing link of God’s anointing through The Holy Spirit to put The Scriptures aright in his mind. Our Lord Christ did that for Paul, and thus Paul received The Gospel from no man, but directly from The Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 15:5    And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6    After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7    After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8    And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

     Our Lord Jesus was seen of Peter (Cephas) after He had risen, and then of the rest of the Apostles. Then Paul saw our Lord at a time when he was persecuting Christ’s Church, and our Lord Christ claimed Paul as His “chosen vessel” with a commission to further The Gospel (Acts 9).

1 Cor 15:9    For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10    But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11    Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

     By God’s Grace, He sent His Son to die on the cross for the remission of sins of all who would believe. That Grace includes the preaching of The Gospel, the hearing of The Gospel, and believing It by Christ’s sent ones who were witnesses. For those reasons, many of the Corinthians, and us, have also believed.

1 Cor 15:12     Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

     Now we get down to one of the problems Paul noticed among those of the Church at Corinth. There were “some among” them that were distorting the Truth about the resurrection, and how our Lord Jesus became “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor.15:20).
     The non-believing Jews sought to have Paul killed for preaching The Gospel. Because the sect of Sadducees refused belief in any type of resurrection, Paul only had to bring the matter up between the Sadducees and Pharisees when they were ready to do away with him (Acts 23:6). The sect of Pharisees accepted the doctrine of resurrection, but refused Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, and sought to execute those like Paul who were preaching The Gospel. We can easily see these parallels still existing today of those who distort The Gospel, i.e. that Christ rose on the third day after being buried in the sepulcher tomb which Joseph of Arimathea provided.
     What’s Paul really asking those at Corinth here? To not believe that there is now a resurrection of Life after flesh death is to refuse that Christ Himself rose. It’s as simple as that. Think about it. If there is no such heavenly operation put into effect by The Father, then how could He cause His Son Christ Jesus to rise on the third day, as written? When our Lord Jesus defeated ‘Death’ upon the cross, that’s when that operation of passing from death to Life ‘in Christ Jesus’, began. It doesn’t have to wait for Christ’s second coming to happen, our Lord put it into operation after He rose!
     God gave us a clear example of what happens upon death of the flesh body in The Old Testament. Let’s turn to Ecclesiastes 12:

Eccl 12:5    Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6    Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

     In these Ecclesiastes 12 verses, we are being given a view of flesh death approaching in later life, when many of the visions of our youth are but memories, and we prepare to go to our “long home”. In the Hebrew the phrase “long home” is ‘owlam bayith’, meaning ‘everlasting or perpetual’ ‘place or house’ (Strong’s nos. 5769; 1004). That means our Heavenly home. For one still in the flesh, it exists behind a spiritual veil today. If the “silver cord” is “loosed”, it means the band which keeps the joining of our ‘spiritual body’ within our ‘natural body’ (i.e. flesh body), is totally removed (“loosed” – Hebrew ‘rachaq‘, meaning ‘removed‘; Strong’s no. 7368). The “golden bowl” being broken, and the “pitcher” being broken at the fountain, are metaphors for the flesh body which is formed from the clay of the earth. The analogy is to an earthen ware jar being broken, symbolic for the flesh clay body losing the breath of Life Which sustained it.
     “Put all that into plain English please,” you might say? Alright. Our flesh body is not the real part of our ‘self’ or ‘soul’. The flesh was formed of the elements from the ground, and though our Heavenly Father performed a marvelous work with its design and operation, it was never meant to last forever. Because the flesh is earthy, it must have food from the earth to help sustain it, but it must also have the breath of Life (see Gen.2:7-8). As an unborn fetus in a mother’s womb, we lived from the Life of the mother’s blood. We moved around in the womb, kicked a little here, or a lot there, until we finally came out and took our first breath. That first breath allowed us Life independent of our mother. Our ‘soul’ while in our mother’s womb was then able to express itself outwardly, immediately showing a personality all its own. The ‘soul’ (Hebrew ‘nephesh’) is our intellect, mind, or expression of character.
     Then what happens to our flesh and our soul when our “silver cord” is “loosed” at flesh death? –

Eccl 12:7    Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it.

     The flesh body, being from “the dust” of the earth, goes right back “to the earth as it was”. That means at death it immediately starts breaking down in decay, going back into the elements of earthly matter which it was formed from. That flesh part will never be needed any longer, ever; we’re done with it at death.
     But the “spirit“, which is the breath of Life spiritual part from God, immediately goes back to The Father Who gave it. The Hebrew for that word “spirit” in the above verse is ‘ruwach‘ (Strong’s no. 7307). That Hebrew word ‘ruwach‘ is used and translated many different ways, but it is meant here in Ecclesiastes 12 as the spirit intellect in man which God gives (see Proverbs 16:2 & Psalms 104:29-30). Some interpret this part of man as ‘air’ only, like the earth’s physical air which we breath. We will discover later in this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter that there is more attached to man’s “spirit“, i.e. that it has the part of of us which we call ‘self’, personality, mind, intellect, or our ‘soul’. This is the part of us some call our ‘inner self’, and it continues after the flesh body dies, as written in that Ecclesiastes 12:7 verse.
     Continuing back in 1 Corinthians 15…

1 Cor 15:13    But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

     To deny that man has a “spirit” which God placed in the flesh at birth, which returns to The Father at flesh death, is to deny the “resurrection of the dead”. Not believing that as written, would also mean to deny that Christ rose from the dead.

1 Cor 15:14    And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

     The basis of Christianity and Salvation through God’s Promised Saviour Immanuel Jesus Christ, is our Lord’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Our Lord’s flesh was transfigured for a further proof that He rose from the dead (Matthew 28). Anyone who denies that has denied Salvation through Christ Jesus as The Saviour.
     What does Paul mean with the preaching of that point? If it sounds like he is linking the subject of where the dead in Christ are now, to our Lord Jesus’ resurrection, then you’re correct. Paul is doing exactly that to those who refuse to believe that man’s ‘spirit’ resurrects at flesh death (Eccl.12:7). Paul is saying something like, “Why are you listening to my preaching of The Gospel if you don’t believe the dead now rise? My preaching is in vain, and your faith also means nothing, if that’s what you think. For it would mean that you also don’t believe our Lord Jesus rose from the dead!” And that’s exactly the false doctrine which some at Corinth had fallen into, by listening to “some among” them say there is no resurrection, instead of listening to The Word through Christ’s apostle Paul.

1 Cor 15:15    Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: Whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

     Paul continues the rebuke at Corinth to those who have believed on false prophets among them in denying that the resurrection is already in effect now. “Here we’ve been preaching to you how God raised up Christ Jesus from the dead, and you mean you really didn’t believe The Gospel we first preached to you?” That’s what it means to deny the resurrection. It’s saying Christ did not rise. That would make Paul and all those who preach The Gospel liars to God’s Face.
     Right now some might be thinking to themselves, “But Dave, what this Scripture really means is the resurrection must wait until Christ returns on His second Advent, ushering in His Kingdom. Until then, all who die in Christ are ‘asleep’ in their grave!” Afraid not! That is not Paul’s Message here with this rebuke to those at Corinth, for even our Lord Jesus taught us what happens to those in Him after He rose:

John 5:24     Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him That sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25    Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26    For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself;
27    And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.

     In that John 5 Chapter, our Lord Jesus was hinting of His being delivered up to die on the cross, and then during His resurrection, He would go to the “spirits in prison”, who were in a state like the “rich man” of Luke 16, i.e. in Satan’s prison, the pit, and He would preach The Gospel Salvation to those who would also believe on Him as The Saviour. Then those who believed, would be brought out, and live according to God in the spirit! Where else is that written? I want to make sure to leave no doubt with this, so turn with me to 1 Peter 3…

1 Pet 3:18      For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19    By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20    Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

     When our Lord Christ resurrected, He was “quickened by the Spirit”, and angels, authorities, and powers were put under His Authority (1 Pet.3:22). Our Lord gave us in Luke 16 that there is a “great gulf fixed” border in Heaven, right now, where the ‘pit’ of hell is on one side, and God’s Paradise is on the other side, and that all “spirits” which pass through flesh death, go to one place or the other. According to our Lord in that John 5:25 verse, Christ preached to the “spirits in prison”, and led many of them out.
     Another example in 1 Peter 4…

1 Pet 4:5     Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
6    For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

     When The Gospel Salvation Message is “preached“, is Salvation through Christ Jesus offered along with It? Yes, of course. If the “dead” are literally ‘asleep’ in their graves, and ‘know nothing’, as some misinterpret Ecclesiastes 9:5, then how could they hear and understand The Gospel being preached to them by our Lord Jesus, as written above? So how is it that some say that the dead do not rise?
     Who are the real false witnesses concerning this subject of the resurrection? I’ll say it; it’s those who would rather listen to popular traditions and further them, either for gain, or out of ignorance through lack of deeper Bible study. That Christ rose from the dead is the major foundation of our belief in God’s Promised Salvation, thus this matter is not a light thing to play with.
     So I’m telling you to ‘rejoice’ in Christ Jesus, because our loved ones who have died and have also believed on Him, are with Him now!

1 Cor 15:16    For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17    And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

     If the dead do not rise right ‘now’, then Christ Jesus did not rise from the dead either. That’s what Paul just said here. And if God didn’t raise our Lord Jesus up on the third day, then neither do we have forgiveness of our sins through Him. It would mean we are left with no hope, and would still be in our sins with our ‘faith’ a vanity.
     Who wants us to refuse to believe that God raised up The Christ? The devil is that one which continuously hinges on denying the resurrection of Christ. Even the devil’s own tried to bribe the soldiers guarding our Lord’s tomb, to get them to testify that Christ’s Apostles came in the night and stole His Body away (Matthew 28).

1 Cor 15:18    Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

     Where does refusing to believe in the resurrection of the dead place those in Christ who have already died? It would mean that their “spirit” didn’t go back to God Who gave it, but instead that their flesh body went back to the dust, and that’s it, no life after death, “perished“, period (“perished” = Greek ‘apollumi‘, ‘to destroy fully’; Strong’ no.622). Through Christ Jesus we know there is Life after death, for He conquered ‘Death’ on the cross for us.
     Adding the lie that those ‘asleep’ in Christ are out back in the graveyard somewhere, and not in Life with Christ in the Heavenly dimension, is denial of the resurrection. That includes the false teaching that the flesh body which decayed in the casket in the grave is resurrected in the future at Christ’s return. We just learned from Ecclesiastes 12 that we have both a flesh body, and a spiritual body. That flesh body will not rise, as it’s gone back to the earthly elements after it dies. So at death today, that’s the only part that dies and perishes, i.e. the flesh body. Our “spirit” continues on to God. Then after that, the only possible death remaining is to the spirit body, i.e. mortal soul, being thrown into the “lake of fire” at the end of Christ’s “thousand years” reign (Rev.20; Matt.10:28). Those who are “asleep” in Christ now, and those of His who remain on earth at Christ’s coming, will not suffer that future “second death”, which is the casting of the soul into that ‘lake of fire’. Paul will explain more about these different bodies later in this Chapter.

1 Cor 15:19    If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

     If Christ did not rise, and there is no resurrection of the dead, then where is our hope? We would be like the non-believers wouldn’t we? How is their hope? Past this flesh life, they have none, because they have refused to believe on Christ for their Salvation. Since the flesh is all there is to life in their mind, they try to live flesh life to the fullest, thinking that when you die, well…, that’s it, it’s all over. So “let’s party”, they might say. What about us? What would it mean for all our persecutions and sufferings for our Lord Jesus, doing our best in following His Commandments and denying a fleshy lifestyle of the worldly? Wouldn’t that be misery for us, if we had no hope in eternal Life through Christ Jesus?
     That’s exactly what the non-believers consider of us. They think we’re foolish for believing on Christ for our Salvation, and that we’ve ruined our lives by not taking part in their “drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die” type attitudes. They reason that because they don’t believe in ‘any’ life after flesh death, thus many of them want to prolong flesh life with the attempt at cloning, etc.
     But we who belong to The LORD, are not miserable, because we have believed on Christ Jesus our Saviour, and He gives us The Holy Spirit Comforter to ‘know’ His Truth is Life, and not foolishness. Moreover, He gives us to ‘know’ Heavenly matters which puts the worldly wise to shame.

1 Cor 15:20    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

     When our Lord Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead, He became the First to resurrect to a Glorious Body. We know that Enoch and Elijah did not die, and that God buried the body of Moses. All others have died, and will continue to die in the flesh, all the way up to our Lord’s coming on the “seventh” angel sounding (Rev.11:15).

1 Cor 15:21    For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22    For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23    But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.

     The power of death started with Adam for breaking God’s Commandment. Except for Elijah, Enoch, and possibly Moses, since then all die. Likewise through Christ’s resurrection, “all” shall be made alive. Yes, that includes the ungodly also, but it does not mean they receive Salvation as one ‘in Christ’. Some of those will still have to make it through Christ’s “thousand years” reign. Many of them will not, as per Revelation 20. Therefore, the phrase “every man in his own order:” means according to God’s Plan of Salvation, not ours. Even as Paul stated in Acts 24 –

Acts 24:14     But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
15    And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

     Look up those KJV terms “just” and “unjust” in your Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. The resurrection of the dead applies to both the ‘righteous’, and to the ‘wicked’. The wicked must be raised also just to stand in front of Christ for Judgment, if not for any other reason (2 Cor.5:10). It’s also important to realize that Satan and his fallen angels only, have already been judged and sentenced to ‘perish’ (Jude 1; Rev.20; Ezek.28:18). Only Christ Jesus has sole Authority to pass judgment unto everlasting damnation, which is the casting of the soul into the ‘lake of fire’, and called the “second death” (Rev.2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8; see also Matthew 10:28; John 5:22).
     It’s easy for those in Christ to fall into the trap of pre-judging the wicked to condemnation of everlasting hell fire, when our Lord has not done so yet. That practice has helped further some of the false traditions which clouds proper understanding of the “resurrection of the dead” per this 1 Corinthians 15 Chapter. Of course those ‘in Christ’ pray and hope for deliverance from the hands of the wicked, but we must be careful about seeking ‘eternal revenge’ which only belongs to God. Other than Satan and his angels, all others are still under our Lord’s warning of being damned to perish in the lake of fire for doing wickedness (Matt.25:37-46). None have yet been cast into that “lake of fire” of Revelation 20:10-15. Am I saying that the truly wicked are going to receive everlasting Life in Christ Jesus? No. I’m saying that we know by The Word which ones have already been judged to perish, i.e. Satan and his evil angels (Matt.25:41). But for all others, we need to restrain our ‘own’ ideas of eternal vengeance upon those not judged by Christ yet. Vengeance belongs to our Heavenly Father, not us (Deut.32:35-43; Ps.94:1; Nahum 1:2; Rom.12:19; Rom.13; Rom.14).
     This does not mean for those in Christ to just lay down either. We are to be a little ‘salty’ for Christ (Matt.5:13). Enforcing God’s Law against the evil, as given to those whom God setup in authority on earth, is still required (Rom.13). But the term ‘to judge’ is often misunderstood within Scripture. A flesh judge of The Law sentencing a murderer to death is not ‘judging’ a ‘soul’ to eternal condemnation in the ‘lake of fire’. Only Christ can judge a soul to perish for the eternity, which is the “second death” (Matt.10:28).

1 Cor 15:24     Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

     This “end” Paul is speaking of here, is the ending of this second world age we are now in today. Christ’s “thousand years” Millennium reign upon earth is included as the last part of this second world age (Rev.20). The beginning of The Father’s Kingdom is the Eternity, and “third heaven”, or third and last world age, which Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians 12. That age is when God will make all things new, i.e. the “new heavens and a new earth” as written (Isa.65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13). But first, Christ must reign, putting all enemies under His feet, as per Rev.20 and here in 1 Corinthians 15. So I hope you realize that between that previous 1 Cor.15:23 verse and this 24th verse, there is a long stretch of time. Read these 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 verses in the way our Lord Christ read from Isaiah 61 in the Temple at the start of His Mission as Saviour (Luke 4:16-21).

1 Cor 15:25     For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
26    The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

     Our Lord Christ Jesus will reign, and ‘all’ knees will bow to Him as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Isaiah 45:23; Rom.14:11; Philippians 2:10; Rev.19:16). The final enemy that will be “destroyed“, or vanished (Greek ‘katargeo‘), will be Satan himself, as “Death” is another one of his many titles (Rev.6:8; 1 Cor.15:54). Satan’s destruction along with the wicked is written at the end of Revelation 20, and 21:8. That event is the “second death”, and occurs at the end of Christ’s “thousand years” reign, before He delivers up The Kingdom to The Father for The Eternity.

1 Cor 15:27     For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, “all things are put under Him”, it is manifest that He is excepted, Which did put all things under Him.

     When it was written in Psalms 8:6 that GOD The Father (YHVH) has put all things under Christ’s feet, The Father Himself is excepted in that, as His Son will reign in Authority over His enemies (Psalms 2; Isaiah 53; John 5:19-23; Eph.1:17-23). That is how The Father has declared Authority over all things, and during that “thousand years” reign of Revelation 20 by Christ Jesus and His elect servants. (See also John 1, as ‘The Word’ is Jesus Christ, and all things were made through Him).

1 Cor 15:28     And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him That put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

     All will be subdued, and bow the knee to Christ Jesus when He reigns upon the earth. All will confess that Christ Jesus is Immanuel ‘God with us’, GOD’s Promised Saviour (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23). When our Lord Jesus has fulfilled that “thousand years” reign upon earth, then He will deliver The Kingdom to The Father. Our Heavenly Father will then return to this ancient earth which He created (Rev.21:3; Zechariah 8; Ezekiel 48:35).

1 Cor 15:29     Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
30    And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

     Don’t let this KJV translation from the Greek confuse you. Keep to the subject Paul has been teaching us on, which is those who refuse the resurrection of the dead, and thus also that GOD raised His Son Christ from the dead. Paul is still mocking those who refused to believe in the resurrection. In so many words, he’s saying, “If you don’t believe that the dead now rise, then you don’t believe that Christ Himself rose from the dead. So what in the world are you baptized in The Name of Christ for? If Christ did not rise, then that is being baptized for the dead!”
     Further, “If you don’t believe that Christ rose, but you still see fit to get baptized in His Name, then why do you suffer ‘jeopardy’ (perils) everyday, if it is for the dead, that is, if you don’t believe Christ rose?” For one not believing that Christ rose, then to get baptized in His Name, it would be doing works in the name of the dead. Boy, ole’ Satan must really love those who would do that! Paul’s rebuke to those at Corinth for listening to those false prophets among them must have really stung them, showing their ignorance on a silver platter even. Imagine today, if a non-believer who refuses that Christ Jesus rose, gets baptized in Christ’s Name!?*@!. (I won’t discuss it here; but it happens.)
     But GOD The Father did raise His Son Jesus Christ up from the dead. Those who believe on Him and are baptized in His Name, suffering dangers in this world to work for Him, are baptized into Life, not death!

1 Cor 15:31     I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32    If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
33    Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

     Paul is saying, “I protest your boasting in tribulations and trials for Christ, since some of you don’t believe Christ rose. But I suffer daily persecutions for Christ Jesus, yet I have His Promise of Life, which some of you have refused!” Moreover, what Paul did suffer through at Ephesus by the children of Satan (“beasts“), because of the work GOD did through him there, would mean nothing, “if the dead rise not”!
     Many of those events of our Lord’s work through Paul at Ephesus was much like the spiritual warfare in the days of Moses against Pharaoh’s false priests. One Demetrius, a silversmith who crafted pagan idols for the false goddess Diana, had a strong contention against our Lord’s Work through Paul (Acts 19:24 forward).
     Truly; don’t be deceived. Companionship with corrupt men has been the ruin of many a good man. Paul and those with him did not go through Ephesus to have companionship with corruptness, but to preach The Gospel of Christ and help our Lord deliver many out of that corruption of false idol worship and associated practices. He knew he was walking literally into the halls of death at Ephesus, and even had prepared in his heart to die, as one already sentenced to death:

2 Cor 1:7     And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
8    For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
9    But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead:
10    Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in Whom we trust that He will yet deliver us;

     How could Paul and those with him have such resolve in their hearts against the fear of death? How did they overcome that fear in such a dangerous place? They overcame it through The Blood of Jesus Christ, knowing and believing in His Promise of Life!
     Do you think many of those in Christ who faced death on the battlefield were also helped by our Lord to overcome their fear of death, just as Paul and Christ’s disciples were? Yes, without any doubt whatsoever. Paul knew what the “resurrection of the dead” through Christ Jesus meant. We as belonging to Christ Jesus today, should also.

     I’ll stop here for this study, and pick it up again beginning at 1 Corinthians 15:34, as we will learn more about the “resurrection” in the next Part of this study.

Peace to you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

January 12, 2014
For Those Who Feel Turned Away from Christ by Church Traditions and Creeds

Maybe you’re a person who sees much hypocrisy among various Church systems of man today, so you delay in coming to Christ? It could be that you saw this apparent hypocrisy while being raised in a certain Church when young? Possibly you have a hard time understanding there are those in the Church who don’t always follow what they preach? Or is it that all the various denomination creeds of, “we don’t do that, or teach that in our Church”, and then you go to a different Church and find, “Yeah, we do that here, and we teach that here”? One Church has music, another one doesn’t. One Church uses many religious icons, another has none. Or maybe you heard certain preachers say something like, “that teaching from The Bible was taught to me by my great-granddad, and if it was good enough for him, it’s good enough for me and this congregation”; even though you verified from The Word it clearly didn’t fit Biblical Scripture? Did all of this make you turn away from Christ when you finally got out on your own?
At the same time, possibly you opened up your Bible and read for yourself, without allowing anyone to tell you what It says? And maybe, just maybe, what you read from Scripture didn’t fit with some of the various Church traditions and creeds being taught by many? And maybe you also noticed that many of those creed Churches keep teaching the ‘same’ Message over and over, never getting down to the ‘meat’ of God’s Word? Could it be that you have a heavy scientific background, with factual working knowledge, or your common sense tells you that this earth is older than the 6000 year myth which many Churches teach? In other words, have you always known there was more to The Word than they were teaching?

If you have experienced this, then you have come to one of the right places to learn why. Some may find this message a little hard to take, and wrongly think I’m attacking the Churches. I am not, nor do I judge my fellow brethren in Christ, for only our Father has that Authority and Power. There are some good Churches which teach God’s Word, instead of relying on men’s traditions, and if you find one, hang on to It. (For the deeper student of God’s Word, this Message is given weight per our Lord Christ’s Messages to the seven Churches in Asia, as five out of seven Churches had problems, while only two kept The Word of His patience. Revelation 2 & 3).

Facts Many Christians Find Hard To Admit

1.) Many do not have ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’. (Ezek.12:2; Isaiah 6; Isaiah 29:9-14):

Matt 13:10   And the disciples came, and said unto Him, “Why speakest Thou unto them in parables?”
11    He answered and said unto them, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”
12    For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13    Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14    And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias (Greek for Isaiah), which saith, ‘By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15    For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.’ (Jesus quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10).

This lack of having eyes to see and ears to hear is still going on today, as God revealed it would until Christ’s second coming. That Truth is hinted at in Chapter 6 of Isaiah the prophet pointing to Christ Messiah’s second coming. This situation has caused, and is causing some of the many confused doctrines of men to be taught today. Many ‘have to’ just accept what they are told to believe, because they can’t understand The Word for themselves. To some It is given to know, but they can’t find a Church teaching the ‘meat’ of The Word. Maybe this is your situation? It is not given to everyone to understand The Word; and God has His reasons for it, which can be discovered in Paul’s writings.
This lack of ‘eyes to see…’ by many will eventually lead many Churches today into the ‘one-world religion’, already slowly coming to completion. It’s ultimate king will be none other than Satan, on earth, claiming to be Jesus Christ. It is called, ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH’ (Revelation 17). Many think that false religious system applies to the ‘traditions’ of the Pharisees and Rome. That it will also include many Christian denominations of today, is part of their deception. And because many will be deceived, they don’t know that God is allowing it to happen, with the ‘strong delusion‘ of 2 Thess.2:10-12:

II Th 2:10   And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11    And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12    That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

     The ‘crept in unawares’, who purposefully distort the Truth of God’s Word, cause many who lack ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ to stumble at The Word of God. False traditions and creeds are then allowed to grow within the various deceived members of Christ’s Body. Traditions such as accepting lifestyles contrary to The Word. Traditions which keep the believer in bondage. And the biggest false tradition of all is not teaching God’s Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Those false apostles who have taken over the scholar position of The Word do not wish that God’s Word be taught line by line. The reason is that just by reading God’s Word line by line to the congregation will help expose false doctrines which are not part of God’s Word. Our Father would then be allowed to ‘speak’ to the members of the Body of Christ. False creeds and traditions are conjured up by men and are only ‘based’ on God’s Word. The Word of God then becomes ‘watered down’ without line by line study.

2.) Many Christians misunderstand God’s warning about false prophets and false apostles whom they allow to creep into various Churches. (Acts 15; Acts 20:29-31; Romans 16:17-18; 2 Corinthians 2:17; Galatians 1:7; 2:4; 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 2 Peter 2; 1 John 4.)

2 Cor 11:2   For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3    But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4    For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Paul was not giving this warning to non-believers, but to the Body of Christ’s believers. Even though Paul was an excellent scholar of The Old Testament, and having been converted directly by Jesus Christ, he was still afraid for those believers in Corinth. He feared that they might be deceived by false apostles and false prophets. In other words, Paul knew it was coming, as revealed by the Old Testament prophets. The spiritual war is not only out in the streets of the world, no; the battle is also right inside Christ’s Church. And today, there are many that are losing that spiritual battle against false prophets and false apostles. Many in the Body of Christ have allowed their minds to be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2 Cor 11:13-15
13    For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14    And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15    Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

The word ‘transformed’ is ‘metaschematizo’ in the Greek. It means ‘to transfigure or disguise‘ (Strong’s no.3345). The heart of Paul’s message here is that Satan has some of his own followers ‘disguised’ as ‘ministers of righteousness’, serving among various Churches. It should be obvious today with many of the abominations going on in some Churches, such as the acceptance of the ‘gay’ lifestyle and same sex marriages being performed by ministers; eastern monks chanting in front of the Communion Table of Christ, etc. Romans 1:18 through end, reveals that these abominations are still not acceptable by God. So their false teaching that all Old Testament Law is done away with, gets torn apart even by the New Testament in the Book of Romans.

Acts 20:27   For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28    Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.
29    For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30    Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31    Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

     Paul gave this warning more than once in his Epistles. Christ gave the same warning with beware of the false prophet who are ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt.7:15). Ezekiel 22 gives this same warning to the ‘house of Israel’. It still applies today, for the ‘house of Israel’ now are the Western Christian nations.
Many university and school systems have been taken over by these false workers of iniquity also. The True Doctrine of Christ is being attacked on every level in our society today, and especially in the various Church systems.
This attack is nothing new today. God warned His People to beware of it. The majority have not listened to God and His Christ, but listen to man’s doctrines instead. This same attack by false ones happened in Old Testament times especially. What makes people so naive to think that attack has stopped today, even after Christ gave that warning for our times? If you see these deceptions in the various Church systems of man, and know what I’m talking about, and haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior because of it, then read on:

3.)   God has given control of this flesh world to Satan and his children. Because of Satan’s deceptions which God allows, not only non-believers are being duped, but many of the Body of Christ’s believers are being deceived also.

Luke 4:5   And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6    And the devil said unto Him, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7    If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.”
8    And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ “

     The kingdoms of this flesh world have been ‘delivered unto’ Satan, and he is free to operate them. God allows it, again, for His reasons and not ours. Those reasons are also revealed to us in God’s Word (2 Thessalonians 2 for one. The Old Testament prophets give the full picture).
The many ‘flesh’ philosophers in the world live to twist people’s minds away from the reality of evil controlling this world. They try to say there is no God, nor Satan. They bring their doctrine on the doubter in stages. The next step of deception they use is that there is no ‘personal’ God, but mother nature is God. Then you’re ready for the next thought, that the evil in the world is because of man’s ignorance of mother nature’s natural laws. They’re right about one part; the evil is due to ‘ignorance’, but not of their view of law and science, but ignorance of a personal Godhead, The Father, Son, and The Holy Spirit. Their false views prevent God’s Truth from entering the mind and heart. Just as the choice to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, or not, is up to each person, listening to those world philosophers is each one’s choice also. But let me ask this. Has the world view helped alleviate the evil on the earth? Be honest with yourself. I don’t require a reply.

I Jn 2:16   For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17    And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The word ‘world’ is ‘kosmos’ in the Greek, and it means an orderly arrangement (Strong’s no.2889). It doesn’t mean the earth being utterly destroyed and turned into an asteroid belt. It means this ‘flesh age’ existence will pass away. The flesh existence is going to perish. It is temporary, not eternal. The Spirit of GOD is Eternal, and is Life.

     Many are seeking comfort today with things familiar in their lives. Man has always had this problem with ‘seeing is believing’ according to the flesh. The flesh is the root of this deception. Without it Satan wouldn’t be so successful. That’s why it is important to turn to Jesus Christ, our Salvation. He will help open your eyes and your heart, so you will receive ‘sight’, and hear with your spiritual ears, and be converted back to God, and be healed.
What then? Because you may see hypocrisy of man’s creeds and traditions in many Christian Churches, do you deny your own chance at Salvation through Christ? Because others choose to remain blinded to God’s Truth, does that mean you have to? Maybe Christ has a Mission for you, since you might be aware of the false traditions happening today. Could you be ready for the New Wine of Mark 2:22? ‘Old bottles’ are a symbol for traditions of men. Christ was teaching there that the full Word of His Truth, which is the ‘New Wine’, would break those ‘old bottle’ traditions of men if It was put into them. New Wine must go into ‘new bottles’. The ‘new bottles’ are a symbol for those who have not allowed themselves to be conditioned by heeding man’s false traditions. This was also the meaning of Mark 10:15, where only those who receive the Kingdom of God ‘as a little child’ will enter in. A little child has not been conditioned by years of creeds and traditions. So when one hears The Truth of God’s Word, like a little child does when learning from one they trust, they ‘readily’ receive It and understand It. Their ‘flesh understanding’ does not get in the way. Their self-pride is not puffed up from the flesh ideas of man. Christ’s Spirit is then allowed to dwell in them and to reveal His Truth.

January 12, 2014
For Those Who Feel Too Guilty To Come To Christ

Many feel, because of their bad habits and sins they commit in their lives, that Jesus Christ would never accept nor forgive them. Some who are ready and willing to accept our Lord Jesus as Savior, feel they must get their lives under control before they can come to Him. They might even say to themselves, “Jesus would never accept me; I mean, look at all the bad things I’ve done in my life. Every time I just think about what I’ve done in my past, it depresses me.” All of us, including those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, have done things in our past that we now surely regret. Much of those sins are the way of the flesh, caused by the ‘flesh thinking’. There never will be enough time to get your life together by yourself. It will not happen. There is no Salvation through the flesh, as it is destined to perish. As Paul the Apostle would teach:

Rom 8:5   For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6    For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
(KJV)

That spiritual mind of ‘life and peace’ is not of the flesh, as the flesh will always let us down, falling in sin. All have sinned. None are perfect in the flesh, and this flesh body will still continue to cause sin requiring a further need for repentance through Christ Jesus.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8    So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
(KJV)

Our spiritual nature in Christ can only be perfect to the Law of God, not our flesh. The flesh always fails in following God’s Law. The fleshy life cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is carnal, and condemned to death.

Rom 8:10   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11    But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
(KJV)

The flesh body will always fail, as said before, its destiny is to die and perish. The flesh cannot have eternal life and eternal peace (1 Corinthians 15:50). The reason why your soul was placed inside your flesh when you were born, was so you could make a ‘choice’, to either eternal life through Jesus Christ, or to eternal death, which is the casting into the ‘lake of fire’. That’s not a threat, but Truth. Eternal ‘death’ means ‘blotted out’, gone, just like you never ever existed. It can be no other way, as GOD’s Divine Nature is Life and there is no darkness of death in Him, as in the future death will no longer exist (Revelation 21:4). Our heavenly Father does not wish to lose any of His children which He created. That’s why we are all here born in the flesh, and appointed once to die and then the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
When you accept Jesus Christ as The Only One Who can offer Salvation from this bondage state of flesh, believing on Christ as Savior, then His Spirit will begin to dwell in you, quickening your soul and spirit, while you are still walking upon this earth. By His Spirit giving you that ‘quickening’, He gives you strength and peace, to help overcome this evil world of flesh bondage. And it’s yours for the asking.

Rom 10:9   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10    For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11    For the Scripture saith, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
12    For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [as for Gentiles]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
13    For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.
(KJV)

What Happens When You Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

       1)   When you realize the flesh always dies, you realize that your flesh cannot save you from its terrible state of death, and that there must be some other Way by a Higher Authority with all Power.

2)   When you believe that Jesus Christ is The Son of God, and GOD’s Savior, you ADMIT He is That Higher Authority with all Power, and there is none else.

3)   When you believe:
A) that Jesus Christ is The Only Begotten Son of God:
B) that He came in the flesh to offer Salvation to all who would only believe;
C) that He only was without sin in the flesh;
D) that He died on the cross and resurrected; and now sits on the right hand of God, and by this act Christ became The Victor over Death;
E) then you recognize that Jesus Christ paid the price for us so that we might obtain Salvation.

4)   When you repent to Jesus Christ, and ask forgiveness, confessing to Him that you are a sinner, and believe that He only has the Power to save you from this flesh state of death, and believe all the previous three statements, then you will have received His offer of Salvation. Then Christ’s Spirit will dwell in you, even now as He promised His (1 John 4; Ephesians 3:14-19).

     These are the steps each must take, and in sincerity, as God knows all hearts and all thoughts. Then after accepting Christ’s offer of Salvation, believing on Him, repenting to Him of yours sins and asking Him forgiveness,then go get baptized in Christ’s Name.
     Our Lord and Savior set the example for us as He Himself was Baptized of water (Matt.3:13-17). So we need to do likewise in obedience to His command (Matt.28:19; Eph.4:4-8; Col.2:11-12; 1 Pet.3:21; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38-39).

John 3:15   That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16    For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17    For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.
18    He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

     When Christ begins to spiritually dwell in you, He will help you to gain better control over the flesh. His Holy Spirit will guide and direct you in sincerity and in Truth as you seek Him further. Get to know His Letter called The Word of God. God personally wrote That Letter to you, which The Holy Spirit will help you understand as never before. Remember to ask our Father through His Son Jesus Christ for His Spirit of guidance in your study of His Word.
The offer of Salvation by Christ is given freely, as our Heavenly Father does love us. He wants us to return to Him as ‘sons of God’. Don’t wait until you can get your life in order, going it alone. It won’t happen. The flesh bondage was created to make sure you can’t do your own salvation (Galatians 3:22), ensuring we must rely on Christ Jesus as our Salvation to have eternal Life.

Peace be with you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

January 12, 2014
Who Can Save Us?

This is a question each professing Christian needs to resolve for theirselves in these latter days. It is yet again a time today to test the spirits, as the Apostle John said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
One of the matters which is again trying to creep into the Churches today is the false doctrine that someone or something other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth can offer Salvation. Some of that false attitude is because of various inter-faith movements springing up within Christian Churches. The inter-faith movement’s intention is to put Christianity on an equal par with all other religions of the world, and thus delegate The Lord Jesus Christ as merely a human flesh prophet, and not “Emmanuel” (Greek for ‘God with us‘ per Matthew 1:23). We know of the prophecy through Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 that many Christian believers would fall away and become apostates in the latter days before the second coming of Christ Jesus. The inter-faith movement, called ecunemicalism, a literal joining in fellowship with other religious ideas outside God’s Word, is designed to lead up to that great falling away from Christ.
The Apostle Peter gave a Message to the rulers and religious leaders in Jerusalem in his day. It’s worth repeating for our times also…

Acts 4:10   Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom ye crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11   This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12   Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

     The religious system in Jerusalem during Peter’s day refused The Cornerstone Jesus Christ of Nazareth as God’s Promised Savior “Immanuel” (Isa.7; ‘God with us‘ in Hebrew). Those rulers instead had Jesus The Christ crucified upon a cross that would fulfill prophecy given through David nearly a thousand years earlier (Psalms 22). The religious leaders of Peter’s day refused the “sign” which God gave back in Isaiah’s day, which stated, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel“ (Isa.7:14).
The “sign” of Isaiah 7:14 was first given to a remnant of the house of David at Jerusalem for Isaiah’s time, meaning the king line Promise God made to David of always having one of his offspring established on the earthly throne would remain true (2 Sam.7:8 forward). That Promise especially involves God’s Promised Savior Jesus Christ Immanuel, Who is to eventually sit upon that throne of the house of David, on earth, ruling over all nations with a rod of iron (Gen.49:10; Rev.12:5; Rev.20; Rev.21 & 22; Ps.2). The reign of Jesus Christ of Nazareth “Emmanuel“, on earth at His second coming of the future is also our hope, if we be in Christ. There is none other Name with the “sign” given, that will bring Salvation unto Eternal Life, and it is only for those who believe. That “sign” of Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in Jerusalem when a virgin (Mary) conceived by The Holy Spirit, and God The Son Jesus of Nazareth was born in the flesh (Matthew 1).
So what of the ‘crept in unawares’ which are trying to distort this Truth with doctrines that all religious belief systems lead to the same God? Can the earth save us? Can belief in spirits of trees in the forest, the sea, and the creatures upon this earth save us? Can we even save our own soul unto Salvation? Absolutely not. There is only one true belief whereby we may be saved, and that is on The Promised Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who shed His Blood upon the cross, and Who came in the flesh form, being without sin, as God with us on earth, Whom The Father also resurrected to the right hand of His Throne (1 Peter 3:21-22). Only God has The Power to save and can be perfect without sin (Gal.3:22). Such was our Lord Jesus The Christ on earth, and evermore.
What can we say then of the religious leaders today who invite other belief systems into our Christian Churches for the sake of solidarity and world brotherhood? Is that done in hopes that people of other faiths will come to solely believe on The Father through His Son Christ Jesus as we have? Some of them may do that, but that’s not the purpose of trying to join other belief systems with Christianity. Is the inter-faith movement of other faiths trying to join within Christianity in accordance with sound Christian Doctrine? What did the apostle Paul say about this…

2 Cor 6:14    Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

     Christian Doctrine from our Lord Jesus through His servant Paul thus states to not be unequally yoked together with those who refuse Jesus of Nazareth as The Christ. Sadly, that also includes anyone who professes to believe in God but… not specifically on Christ Jesus as God The Savior “Emmanuel“. Just believing there is a God is not enough, for “…the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19).

2 Cor 6:15   And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

     The word “Belial” is of Hebrew origin and is an epithet for Satan. There are many different belief systems in the world with some of them acknowledging there is a God, but at the same time refusing Christ Jesus as The Savior. Don’t be deceived away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus by falling away to those other faiths, for without The Only Savior Jesus Christ they cannot save. And if they refuse The Savior Jesus Christ, then they definitely have not believed on the same God The Father YHVH and His Son which true Christians have.

2 Cor 6:16   And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
17   Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18   And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

     Paul quoted the above three verses from passages in The Old Testament Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The above is directly from God’s Ten Commandments first given through His servant Moses to His people Israel. Notice here, the apostle Paul made this a Christian Doctrine of Christ’s Church which shall be God’s future and eternal Israel, both a spiritual and a physical Israel in His Kingdom to come.
Some will then say about this, “Well, I don’t see a problem with inviting peoples of other faiths to my Christian Church.” I’m not saying Christians should totally close theirselves off from the world, and nor did Paul or our Lord Jesus teach that. This subject is about joining outside doctrines of the world, even pagan doctrines from other faith systems, in with Christian Doctrine, and still trying to call it Christianity. Our Heavenly Father had a word for those type of places that do that; He used the Hebrew word Beth-aven, which means a house of vanity (Hosea 10). Let the Bethavens go on and deny God’s Holy Writ and try to supplant It with their own truth. But those who remain true to Christ Jesus are not to be swayed by them. Let them say our belief on The Father and The Son is outdated, backward, of the dark ages, etc. In time The Savior Jesus Christ will end their murmurings against true Christians who refuse to fall away to the antichrist/false messiah which the world religious leaders are preparing all nations to worship (Rev.13:11 forward)

Peace be unto you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey

January 12, 2014
Bible Study Tools Recommendations

There are several important tools for the English speaking student which will help in getting the most accuracy from The Word. These tools are necessary for the serious student. The goal is what The Old and New Testament Manuscripts teach, not just only the many Bible translations based on The Manuscripts.

King James Authorized Version of 1611

     Although there are many Bible versions for the English speaking student, a 1611 King James Authorized Version should be the ‘final word’, in English. It is somewhat difficult for the new student using the King James Version, however, with time and practice, and the use of study tools, it will be found that the King James is the most reliable translation in English. Since understanding our Father’s Message is the ideal, no other Bible version is recommended for English speaking students. Any other version than the King James Authorized Version of 1611 which is solely used, will take away from the importance of using a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. (If you’ve read my letter on the Massorah, you might be asking yourself about the Companion Bible. The Companion Bible is not a new translation. It contains the King James Authorized Version of 1611.)

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

     This reference gives the English student the ability to take the King James Bible back to the original language manuscripts that the King James translators used. Dr. James Strong performed a great service in providing this work to English speaking students. If you know how to use a standard dictionary, then you can use a Strong’s Concordance. It’s not that difficult.
     It is important, however, to get a Strong’s Version which contains the Hebrew and Greek dictionary Lexicons, for that is where the meat is. Don’t settle for any other version. Another note on getting a copy of a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. There are some new and improved Strong’s editions of late that edit out some of Dr. James Strong’s original work. Beware of that working also. Don’t settle for less than the ‘original’ Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance version that has not been edited.
You may be asking why a Strong’s is important. The original King James Version of 1611 contained a letter of introduction to King James and to the reader pointing out some of the imperfections dealing with that translation. I believe you can still obtain a copy of the original Old English first edition King James Version of 1611, with the italicized words and margin notes, from Thomas Nelson Publishers in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

The Companion Bible

     This is the 1611 King James Version study Bible which I highly recommend. It is not a new translation. As a matter of fact, It contains more of the items in the original King James than any other later printed version. The Companion Bible has outlined ‘structures’ based on the topics of each Biblical Book and Chapter, along the side margins. The structure outlines follow the Biblical Chapters and verse sections so that the student can always follow the current object and subject within Scripture. These structures are from The Holy Spirit, because their ‘order of appearance’ happens in only one form of literature known to man, our Holy Bible.
Another important item contained in The Companion Bible is the Massorah notes. The Massorah are notes within the most reliable original Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts (the manuscripts handed down from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the prophets). These original manuscript notes in Hebrew are found along the sides, top and bottom, and in-between the columns of Hebrew manuscript text. The Massorah has two parts; one to tell the scribe of the Hebrew texts whether their hand written copy is in good order, and the other contained footnotes on the interpretation of Scripture. The Massorah, when consulted, insured the one true understanding of many Old Testament Scriptures.
     Only one English speaking Christian scholar, C.D. Ginsburg, was allowed to compile the Massorah from all the most reliable Old Testament Hebrew manuscripts (they were dispersed in many countries) in a very rare work called, The Massoretico Critical Texts. Many of these Massorah notes are contained in only one study Bible today, and that is The Companion Bible. This version of the 1611 King James also has a wealth of information in the Appendixes that took years of study. This is truly a magnificent Work and only appeared in print again around 1990. I highly recommend It.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon

     Remember all those genealogies in The Word? They have messages too, otherwise God wouldn’t have put them there. The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon will help in translating Biblical names and places. Some parts of God’s Word are almost impossible to grasp in the King James without translating the names back to the original languages. Once translated, the message becomes obvious.
For example: In the Book of Ezra, the House of Judah was returning to Jerusalem out of the captivity of Babylon for 70 years. When Ezra the prophet got to Jerusalem with the people, he noticed there were no Levite priests that returned, so he sent back word to get Levitical priests. It was a sad state, because even many Levites, who were commanded to remain pure in their bloodline, had taken wives of the nations and mixed with the Canaanites during the Babylonian captivity. One particular Levite priest that returned to Jerusalem was named ‘Mahli‘. The reference Brown Driver & Briggs translation of this Levite priest Mahli is ‘Machliy‘ in the Hebrew, meaning ‘sick‘. Do you think that’s a coincidence? Here’s the translation from the Hebrew of another of the Levite priests who returned. Sherebiah, a Levitical priest who returned with Mahli, is ‘Sherebyah‘ in the Hebrew, meaning “Jehovah (Yaweh) has scorched”. Each of these brought their brethren with them, and you’ll also find that two hundred and twenty Nethinims (given to Temple service), who were of the nations returned along with them. These Nethinims were non-Israelite slave Temple workers assigned to the Levites; according to God’s Law they weren’t supposed to even be allowed near the altar, and here they were doing the priest’s chores.

Computer Bible Software

     I recommend Bible software written by Biblesoft. They sell Bible reference software in modules, so you can get what you need, then add on more modules later. They have all the references mentioned above, and more, except The Companion Bible. One particular module called The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge is outstanding.   With it you can do a context search from a Biblical verse that will bring up other parts of The Bible based on the subject of that verse, or chapter; not just on the key word you did the search from. You can have multiple windows open, compounding search on top of search, and the number of windows open at one time is only limited by computer memory.

The premier Bible Software program is Logos. While it is fairly expensive you get a very large number of resources with it.

Smith’s Bible Dictionary

   This is another reference that will help in translating Biblical names, nouns, and places.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words

     A monumental work by W.E. Vine, which helps the Bible student to learn the meanings of Biblical Hebrew and Greek words. Many of these are individual ‘word studies’ contained within this work by Vine. An excellent study tool to parallel with Dr. James Strong’s Concordance for The King James Authorized Version of 1611.

The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-Greek-English

     The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Sr, the editor and translator, is a copy of the Hebrew Massoretic text manucripts first set in 1866 by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Greek text of The New Testament is the Received Text set by Stephen Austin and Sons for the Trinitarian Bible Society in 1976. It is based on The New Testament in the Original Greek According to the Text Followed in the Authorized Version, edited by F.H.A. Scrivener as published in 1894-1902.
     To better explain just what The Interlinear Bible is, here’s a Preface note from Jay P. Green, Sr. The Interlinear Bible:

     “An interlinear Bible is the next best thing to a formal course in the Hebrew and Greek languages. Until now, however, an interlinear Bible has not been available to students of Scripture who speak English. Through the use of The Interlinear Bible, one can utilize the lexicons, word books, and other aids published during recent decades. One need only learn the Hebrew and Greek alphabets (see page viii), the work of a few hours.” (From The Interlinear Bible by Jay P. Green, Sr., Preface notes.)

by Dave Ramey

January 12, 2014
Lost Tribes of Israel study

The scattering by God of the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel is a very important study from God’s Word. Genesis 49:10 reveals that one from the tribe of Judah would always sit on the throne of Israel until Shiloh (Jesus Christ) come, and then the throne would be handed over to our Lord and Savior Christ.
There is a royal line of Judah sitting upon the throne of Israel today, but that throne of Israel is not in the Holy Land. Zedekiah, who lived and reigned during Jeremiah the prophet’s day, was the last king of the ‘house of Judah’ in the Holy Land. Since Jeremiah’s time, that throne was taken from the land we call Israel today, and no king of Judah has ruled there since then.
For God’s Word to be correct (Gen.49:10), then there must still be one of the tribe of Judah sitting on the throne of Israel. So where is that throne today?
These studies will help you discover this Truth.

The Promise to Abraham

The Birthright goes to Ephraim & Manasseh

The Separation of Israel into Two Kingdoms

The Ten Tribes of Northern Israel scattered to Assyria

The ‘House of Judah’ goes into captivity to Babylon and returns.

The Prophecy of The Ten Tribes Scattered According to Hosea the Prophet

The Ten Tribes Move Westward

The Royal Sceptre: Throne of David

The Royal Sceptre: Tearing Down, Building Up

January 12, 2014
How Does Christ Return?

There seems to be a lot of confusion about God’s coming Kingdom, and especially how our Lord Jesus Christ returns on the future second Advent of Messiah. This confusion about our Savior’s return should not be, because Christ’s disciples understood the events. Are we to think God didn’t tell us? That we are to only have hope in Salvation, and not know what It contains? Our Heavenly Father didn’t leave us guessing. He told us in His Word. He wants His People to know, and that’s why there’s so many examples to His People.
     Let’s begin with a study on Christ’s return in Acts 1. We ask a Word of Wisdom from our Father in Christ’s Name, Amen.

Acts 1:6   When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

     Did you notice that Christ’s disciples ask if Jesus was going to restore the kingdom to Israel ‘again’, meaning at that particular time? At this point in history, Jesus had resurrected and was in His Glorious Body. So His disciples knew His coming Kingdom was the next major event to expect. Why would they ask about Israel being restored? Because God said He would, in The Old Testament, and Christ’s disciples were familiar with It.
     This Scripture about the future restoring of the twelve tribes of Israel in Christ’s future Kingdom, upon earth, is where many believers are stumbling today. Paul’s teaching in Romans Chapters 9 – 12, are specifically about how he was sent by Christ to help fulfill His prophecy through the prophet Isaiah, about the Gentiles who believe on Christ as Savior. The believers on Christ of the Gentiles will be grafted in as part of the future Israel (see Isaiah 42; 49). That is the real meaning of the listing given in Rev.7:1-8 about the 144,000, which are the ‘chosen’ of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the next verse of Rev.7 are the Gentiles, believers on Christ Jesus, also included with future Israel, with Christ as ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS’: “…a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;” (Rev.7:9).

Jer 23:5   Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

     This ‘righteous Branch’ is Jesus Christ. He is our Righteous KING.

Jer 23:6   In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

7     Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, ‘The LORD liveth, Which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;’

It will no longer be a saying about how God delivered His People out of Egypt through Moses. That saying will be old after Christ returns on His second coming to lead the ‘restoring’ of Israel. (Notice the distinction between ‘Judah’ and ‘Israel’ in verse 6.)
     Again, Who is ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’, our True KING? Jesus Christ. So this event is still yet future to us, for Jesus Christ, our KING, has not returned yet, nor is His ‘judgement’ and ‘justice’ served on this earth.

Jer 23:8   But, ‘The LORD liveth, Which brought up and Which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.”

    This will be the new ‘saying’ when Christ returns to restore Israel back to the land God gave them.
The future return of Christ and the gathering to Him, the leading of the ‘house of Israel’ back to the land which God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s children as an everlasting possession, is the subject of this verse.
     Well, has Israel’s return happened yet today? Many think so, but they don’t even know who the ‘house of Israel’ is. They think it means all Jews. Not so, as the Ten Tribes of Israel who are still scattered among the various nations of the world after their captivity to Assyria, never returned as a people to the land we call Israel today. Those in the land of Israel today are the ‘house of Judah’, i.e. mainly from the three tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levite. And they are only a small part of the inhabitants of today’s land of Israel. The ‘house of Israel’ are not Jews; but they are Israelites, having Jacob as their father also (see the Ten Lost Tribes study).
     This event is when the ‘two sticks’ of Ezekiel 37, one for the ‘house of Judah’, and the other for the ‘house of Israel’, are put back together, to ‘restore‘ Israel again! That’s when the events in this verse 8 will be said, after Christ’s return. Those two ‘sticks’ God told Ezekiel to label are not put together yet today.
     This is why Christ’s disciples asked Him if it was time to ‘restore’ Israel, meaning all twelve tribes under His reign in the land God promised to them. The Gentiles who accept Jesus Christ as Savior are included also, as Isaiah 54 says that the tent (symbolic for the new Jerusalem) will be enlarged to include them.

Ezek 37:15   The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,

16    “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

    Just to make sure you know I’m not stretching the Truth, here’s the ‘two sticks’ which make up all twelve tribes of Israel.
     The ‘children of Israel’ included with the stick of Judah are those under the northern kingdom lands which left Ephraim during the split of both houses (see 1 Kings 12:17). They refused the calf idol which the king Jeroboam of the ‘house of Israel’ setup in northern Israel. But the majority of the ten tribes, with Ephraim being the largest, separated from Judah who dwelt in the south around Jerusalem, i.e. Judea.

Ezek 37:17   And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

     Remember, these two sticks represent the two ‘houses’ of all Israel which are still separate today. Both ‘houses’ make up the twelve tribes.

Ezek 37:18   And when the children of thy People shall speak unto thee, saying, ‘Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?’

19    Say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord GOD; ‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.‘ ‘

     This has not happened yet, as those ten tribes are represented by Ephraim, son of Joseph, who the Birthright Blessing Promise went to (1 Chron.5). As they were scattered from the Assyrian captivity, they went over the Caucasus Mountains, became known as Caucasians, and settled in the lands where they are now, Europe and the Americas.
     Many would still rather listen to the world’s lies about the land of Israel being fully established with all twelve tribes today. These verses are linked to Christ as KING, which obviously is not yet fulfilled today on earth. On the contrary, the land of Israel is being chopped up by the United Nations and their false allies. They refuse to even recognize Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel!
     Let’s now go back to Acts 1:

Acts 1:7   And He said unto them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.

8    But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

9    And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Christ answered His disciples’ question about the restoring of Israel as if they were never to know. At least that’s what some teach today. However, verse 8 ties with it, so don’t leave it out. In that next verse 8, Christ is telling them they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (always ‘spirit’ in the Manuscripts). Christ meant that the Holy Spirit would teach them the answer to their question.
     Then in verse 9 our Lord and Savior is taken up in a cloud. That’s where many stop, but we’re not going to.

Acts 1:10   And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11    Which also said, ‘Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, Which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.‘

These ‘two men’ in ‘white apparel’ were no doubt angels. Angels have the ‘image’ of man, as that’s the Image of our Father, as He created us in His Likeness, even man in the flesh. That’s also how Satan and his fallen angels look. They have the ‘image’ of man also. The idea of monsters in God’s universe is a big joke!
     Verse 11 tells us that Jesus will return back to earth, ‘in like manner’ as He ascended into Heaven. It’s very plain and simple. A first grader can understand it.
     So where was Jesus and His disciples when this event took place?

Acts 1:12   Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

The word ‘Olivet’ is ‘elaion’ in the Greek, meaning ‘an olive-orchard, i.e. (specially) the Mt. of Olives’ (Strong’s no.1638).
     Is there another witness in The Word to this event of Christ’s return upon the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem? Turn with me to Zechariah 14 in The Old Testament minor prophets:

Zech 14:1   Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

2    For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the People shall not be cut off from the city.

We are very near that ‘day of the LORD’ in my opinion based on Scripture and the state of world affairs. All nations are being gathered against Jerusalem as we speak. And their leaders are chopping up the land trying to appease the false peace process being pushed on them. The Palestinians are set to declare a Palestine state all around Jerusalem. Three villages very close to Jerusalem were given away just recently; just like that, and around 70,000 Israeli protested publicly. This ‘day of the LORD’ is God’s thousand year reign of His Son Jesus Christ, on earth. We are still waiting for it.

Zech 14:3   Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.

God is going to fight this future battle. Christ’s enemies won’t even have a chance. This event is the coming of Jesus Christ at the second Advent to earth.
     When did God fight this other battle He’s comparing the ‘day of the LORD’ to? You should know if you’ve been studying with me in the Book of Isaiah, for that other battle our LORD fought was against Lucifer in that time ‘of old’. That means at Lucifer’s first rebellion against our Heavenly Father. That old dragon didn’t win then, and he’s not going to win this time in our near future either.

Zech 14:4   And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

Here’s our other witness to Acts 1:9-12 and Christ’s return to earth, specifically where He ascended to Heaven from. Acts 1 stated that He would ‘so come in like manner’ as the disciples saw Him go into Heaven, there on the Mount of Olives. Then notice what happens next here in Zech 14:4; a big trembling and a ‘great valley’ appears. This isn’t in the clouds friend. It happens on earth! So what’s that ‘great valley’ for?

Zech 14:5   And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.

This ‘Azal’ means ‘proximity: he has reserved’ (Brown-Driver & Briggs; Strong’s no.682). Currently, its location is not known today. It represents the ‘new Jerusalem’ of Christ’s Kingdom upon earth in our future.
     The days of Uzziah refers to Amos 1:1 about an earthquake which happened in Israel (aprox.687 B.C.). When Christ returns, there’s going to be another earthquake similar to the one during Uzziah’s day. That event will ‘cleave’ that area in Jerusalem. Remember in Matthew 24:2 that “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
     Just as God paved the way for His People Israel to cross the Red Sea at the time of Moses, this ‘great valley’ is for the ‘gathering’ of God’s People to the land He promised them. Those ‘saints’ who are now with Christ in Paradise (heaven), our Lord and Savior brings with Him there. And those yet alive today at this future event, who are in Christ, will flee through that ‘great valley’ also, to be with our KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, on earth!
     That ‘Highway’ for God’s People to return, which means all those known by His Name (Christ man, or Christian), will pass over It as all Israel did coming out of Egypt in the time of Moses. See my Isaiah Chapter 11 study for even more. Also see Isaiah 19, as Israel shall be a third in inheritance with Egypt and Assyria.

Zech 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

7    But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

It’s true no one knows the day or the hour, but Christ did give us the season, and His seven signs to watch for. I covered those ‘seven signs’ and the ‘parable of the fig tree’ in two studies in my Archive. They fit this subject nicely here.
     These references to ‘that at evening time it shall be light’ are of Christ’s Glorious Light, which overshadows all other light in brightness. We are in Christ’s Millennium age at this verse.

Zech 14:8   And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

9    And the LORD shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and His name one.

This ‘living waters’ is that River mentioned in Rev.22:1 which proceeds from the Throne of God and of The Lamb. Now where does this verse say those ‘living waters’ go out from? From Jerusalem. The ‘new Jerusalem’ of Rev.3. Some who stay in The New Testament only think that ‘new Jerusalem’ is up in the clouds somewhere, and there is no more earth. It’s clear they haven’t been here and read Zechariah.
     Where is The LORD going to be KING over? ‘Over all the earth’. It just doesn’t get any easier than this friends.

Zech 14:10   All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.

11    And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

Revelation 20-22 gives more information on The Holy City coming down out of heaven to the earth. Ezekiel 39-48 are about the thousand year reign of Christ and His elect, to God’s Eternity, on earth. But a regenerated and cleansed earth.
     The word ‘men’ is ‘yashab’ in the Hebrew, meaning ‘to sit down; by implication, to dwell, to remain’ (Strong’s no.3427). So it’s talking about people in general, not just men as in males.
     I could go on and on, giving Scripture examples of this event from both Old and New Testaments. That Holy City with paths of pure gold, like transparent glass (Rev.21:21), will be reality, and from natural materials which God created. Places that are barren and desert are going to be changed, with flowing rivers from One source, our Father and His Son. God is coming to dwell with us, on this beautiful earth He made.

Rev 21:1-3
1    And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2    And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3    And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

     With this event we should come to understand, that God is not angry with the beautiful earth which He created for His pleasure, and for His children. He is angry at those who intentionally do evil to His children and to His creation. The flesh is sin, and as I said elsewhere, Satan’s rebellion during the first earth age is the cause for God bringing this flesh age into existence. And this Yehovah did so that each could make a choice who they would follow and worship, God through His Son, or the fallen angel Satan. So that’s why the earth’s state today is polluted. Flesh man cannot keep from polluting it, because of man’s flesh nature and flesh needs. That’s why God’s Eternity will not be a flesh existence. And our Father is going to cleanse this polluted state of His earth, as it has become a ‘ruin’ again because of Satan and his followers.


Peace be with you in Christ Jesus.
Dave Ramey.

January 12, 2014
The Royal Sceptre: The Tearing Down, Building Up

The previous Lost Tribe study revealed from God’s Word our Heavenly Father’s (Yahveh) Promise to His servant David, that one of his seed would always sit upon the throne of Israel, until The Saviour comes to claim it (2 Sam.7; Luke 1:31-33). Genesis 49:10 refers to our Saviour Yashu’a Jesus Christ by the name “Shiloh”, which is from the Hebrew meaning ‘tranquil, or place of rest’ (BDB 7887). For those who believe on The Saviour Jesus Christ, He is our ‘Rest’ (Isa.11:10; Heb.4:10; Matt.11:27-30). The word Shiloh was also the name of an early Israelite city in the land of Ephraim, and was a temporary place where The Ark of The Covenant dwelt. The tabernacle worship was setup in Shiloh after the children of Israel left Egypt and crossed the Jordan river into the land of Canaan (Joshua 18:1;1 Sam.4:3). The Old Testament city of Shiloh being in Ephraim’s land is thus linked to our Savior’s Title of “Shiloh” (Rest), and points to the nations which were to bear fruit of The Gospel in Him. And that especially since Ephraim was to become “a multitude of nations” (Gen.48:14-22). So what am I talking about with all this?
     Because the “house of Judah” at Jerusalem also fell into false worship after the ten tribes were removed out of the northern land, The LORD would end the reign of the house of David in Jerusalem, bringing king Nebuchadnezzar and his host upon Judea to remove Judah to Babylon (Jer.18 forward). That last ‘king of Judah’ to reign in Jerusalem was Zedekiah. It’s very important to note that Zedekiah was not the last king to rule in Jerusalem, but that he was the last king specifically of the seed of the house of David to rule there. And to this day, there still is not one of the ‘house of David’ sitting on a throne… in Jerusalem.
     So did our Heavenly Father keep His Promise He gave to His servant David, that one of his seed of the ‘house of David’ would always sit upon that throne of Israel, “…until Shiloh come”? (see The Royal Sceptre: Throne of David). Our Heavenly Father did not break His Promise to David, for He did bring that throne in Jerusalem down by the king of Babylon, and then began to plant and build up that throne of Israel elsewhere on earth. If we especially stay within God’s Word on this subject, then we will be prepared to recognize where God reestablished that throne of the house of David.
     There exists many different research sources on the subject of discovering what happened to the ten tribes of the “house of Israel” after their captivity to Assyria. Some of them are designed to lead the believer away from what God says, disregarding His Word as The Historical Guide, while trying to rely strictly on pagan history. As with the previous Lost Tribe studies, God’s Word will be the main historical Guide in this study.
     Let us continue, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.

Jeremiah’s Commission:
To the “nations“

     God’s prophet Jeremiah was called for a specific Mission in The LORD. Though Jeremiah was sent from The LORD to give a witness to the “house of Judah” of their coming seventy years Babylon captivity, there was still something more he was ordained to do:

Jer 1:3     It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4    Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5    “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

     We know from the Old Testament Books of God’s prophets that our Heavenly Father also sent Messages through His servants to non-Israelite nations. But wasn’t this ordaining of Jeremiah to be “a prophet unto the nations” meant also for the house of Israel, specifically under Ephraim who was to become “a multitude of nations”? In other words, was Jeremiah’s God given Mission as a prophet unto the nations linked to Ephraim also?
     At the start of Jeremiah’s commission God would use him to warn the house of Judah at Jerusalem that He was sending Judah captive to Babylon for seventy years:

Jer 25:1     The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the People of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2    The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3    “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.”

     The leaders and people of the “house of Judah” at Jerusalem and Judea didn’t only refuse God’s Word through Jeremiah for them to turn from their evil ways, but they refused all of The Lord’s prophets:

Jer 25:4    And the LORD hath sent unto you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5    They said, ‘Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6    And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke Me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.’
7    Yet ye have not hearkened unto Me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.”

     Because they would not even listen to our Heavenly Father so they might repent of their evil, God promised to bring the area of Jerusalem and the nations around it into a desolation, taking His people of the “house of Judah” captive to Babylon at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (Jer.25:8 forward). But was this the only service God’s prophet Jeremiah was ordained for, just to warn the “house of Judah” of God’s punishment upon them? If those in rebellion wouldn’t even listen to God’s other prophets in warning, then how would sending Jeremiah to warn them make any difference? Didn’t God already earlier give Israel a warning through Moses, that the land of Israel would become a desolation with the people being scattered through the nations for following the abominations of the pagans around them? (Deut.4:23-29).
     Jeremiah was indeed sent by The Father to give Judah at Jerusalem a warning of desolation, and also other nations around Judah (Jer.25:17 forward). But that wasn’t all Jeremiah was ordained to do:

Jer 1:9      Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, “Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth.
10    See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.”

     Jeremiah’s warning to the “house of Judah” of the seventy years Babylon captivity was only one service he was chosen to perform. For Jeremiah was also ordained to be set “…over the nations and over the kingdoms…”, but to do what? To “root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down…”. That part of Jeremiah’s Mission was God’s declaration of destruction upon the kingline of Judah in Jerusalem, and would conclude when the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) would come up to Jerusalem, lay siege to it, cause its desolation, and take the house of Judah, the king of Judah, and the king’s sons captive to Babylon.
     Jeremiah saw five kings of Judah from the house of David thrown down during his lifetime. Josiah was the first, having died in his chariot at Megiddo, and truly being the last king of Judah while the house of Judah was still free and independent. Then Josiah’s son Jehoahaz would reign and be carried to Egypt where he died; then Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah would reign and rebel against Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and be carried away captive; then Jehoiakim’s son (Jehoiachin) would reign and also be carried to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. And finally we come to Zedekiah, who reigned in Jerusalem eleven years under Nebuchadnezzar’s authority, and then he also was carried captive to Babylon along with his sons, all royal heirs to the throne. That last king of Judah in Jerusalem would see his sons put to death in Babylon, and then have his own eyes put out and die in Babylon (2 Kings 25; 2 Kings 23 forward). When our Heavenly Father said He would “root out” the kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem for this flesh age, He intended it to be well done. And so it was and still is rooted out of Jerusalem (Jer.52:9 forward).
     But what’s this Jeremiah 1:10 phrase “…to build, and to plant”? That building and planting is declared as part of Jeremiah’s Mission also, and had to have begun during his lifetime. The object that was to be to rooted out, pulled down, destroyed, and thrown down, was the Sceptre of Royal Rule given to the house of David in Jerusalem (specifically of the “house of Judah”). But we must not forget what God promised to His servant David, that one of David’s seed would always sit upon that throne of Israel, even until Shiloh (Christ Jesus) comes. Thus we are given in this same verse of that throne being rooted out, a Message that it was Jeremiah’s chosen duty “…to build, and to plant”; meaning to build and plant that throne of Israel. This would logically mean that Jeremiah had to have escaped that Babylon captivity for it to be fulfilled per God’s Word.
     So did Jeremiah escape the captivity of the king of Babylon to help God establish the re-planting of Israel’s earthly throne? Let’s continue to find out.

Jer 39:9     Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the People that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the People that remained.
10    But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the People, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

     At this point, the king of Babylon and his host had burned and destroyed much of Jerusalem. The majority of the ‘house of Judah’ were carried away captive to Babylon, much like the king of Assyria did about 130 years earlier with the ‘house of Israel’ (ten tribes) in the northern land. Only a poor remnant of Judah would be left in Jerusalem, with God still keeping His Promise of 1 Kings 11:36 that His servant David would always have a “light” before Him to dwell in Jerusalem.

Jer 39:11      Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
12    “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.”
13    So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;
14    Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the People.

    Isn’t it amazing that even Nebuchadnezzar, king of all the hosts of Babylon which came upon Jerusalem to destroy, was so concerned for Jeremiah’s safety? Well, our Heavenly Father Yahveh is in control, and God even called Nebuchadnezzar “My servant”, as in a ‘rod of correction’ sense upon His People (Jer.25:9). Not only did the king of Babylon make certain Jeremiah was set free, but Jeremiah was given money and food (“victuals” – Jeremiah 40:2-5). We shouldn’t be surprised, for God did promise to take care of Jeremiah all through these events, for He did ordain him to be a “prophet unto the nations” (Jer.1:5).
     Jeremiah’s heart was dreary because of giving God’s Warning to His people while they mocked him, cast him in prison, and essentially tried to silence him out of fear that the people might be weakened in fighting against the king of Babylon. God’s Message to the leaders of Judah was bad politics in their cause to defend Jerusalem.

Jer 15:15    O LORD, Thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in Thy longsuffering: know that for Thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

     At this point Jeremiah had just a little bit of doubt in what God promised him. What did our LORD tell him?:

Jer 15:19     Therefore thus saith the LORD, “If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20    And I will make thee unto this People a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee,’ saith the LORD.
21    And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.”

A Remnant Shall Escape

     Our LORD’s Message to Jeremiah was to ‘stand’ in Him, for Jeremiah had something else to accomplish besides giving God’s Message of desolation upon Jerusalem and the house of David there:

Jer 15:11     The LORD said, “Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

     God gave Jeremiah another Promise of comfort for his commission he was to accomplish. But who else did our Heavenly Father mean when He said this to Jeremiah, with “it shall be well with thy remnant”? Who else was with Jeremiah after the king of Babylon set him free? When Jeremiah was released from prison at Jerusalem, he was left to the charge of the governor Gedaliah, which was of a very small remnant that remained in Judea. Jeremiah dwelt with that remnant at Mizpah (Jer.40:2-6). Then a certain man named Ishmael would come to Mizpah where Jeremiah was, and slay the governor Gedaliah, also many of the Jews with him, and attempt to carry the residue of the people left in Mizpah to the land of the Ammorites:

Jer 41:10     Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the People that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the People that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

     So this Ishmael started his own captivity scheme, beginning to carry all the people of Mizpah captive, which included Jeremiah and… “even the king’s daughters”? Well which king’s daughters are these? They were Zedekiah’s daughters, the last king of the house of David that Nebuchadnezzar just hauled off to Babylon, remember? Recall king Josiah’s son Jehoahaz who was mentioned earlier in this study. Jehoahaz, a previous king of Judah, was the son of Jeremiah’s daughter Hamutal (2 Kings 23:31). That would make these “king’s daughters” of Zedekiah part of Jeremiah’s kinfolk. So it would make sense that these daughters of Zedekiah were put under Jeremiah’s personal care.
     A man named Johanan then freed this remnant out of Ishmael’s hand, and they all came to a place called Chimham near Bethlehem, to prepare to go into Egypt (Jer.41:17). At this point they asked Jeremiah to inquire of The LORD to discover what to do, which was definitely a good idea. It seemed common sense for them to go into Egypt to escape the hand of the king of Babylon who had just overthrown Jerusalem and Judea. Our LORD told that remnant to stay in the land of Judah, and they would be well taken care of, the king of Babylon even showing them mercy. But fleeing to Egypt would mean to perish (Jer.42:9). Johanan, who had charge over them, decided to go into Egypt anyway:

Jer 43:4    So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the People, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
5    But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
6    Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7    So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

     Now we are given a more detailed list of this group. Johanan took all the remnant of Judah, “the king’s daughters”, “Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch” the personal secretary of Jeremiah (Jer.36:4). Because Johanan and his captains decided to disobey God’s warning that they were not to go into Egypt to escape, what did that mean for the “king’s daughters” (daughters of king Zedekiah), Jeremiah, and his secretary Baruch who Johanan forced to go also? What did our Heavenly Father warn?…

Jer 44:11     Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12    And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
13    For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:

     God did give plenty of warning against their going down to Egypt, because He was sending Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to punish Egypt next (Jer.43:10-13). That’s why He told Johanan and the remnant not to go there. Can we just assume that Jeremiah, Baruch, and the ‘king’s daughters’ all perished in the land of Egypt? That’s what some would like us to think…along with the false idea that God broke His Promise to David that one of his seed would always sit upon the throne of Israel. But wait a minute. Was there a consolation to some of that remnant within God’s warning that we might have missed? Yes, it’s in the very next verse of Jeremiah 44:

Jer 44:14    So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.’ “

     Notice the last phrase, “…for none shall return but such as shall escape.” (Jer.44:14). Does that last phrase intend that no matter what, some among that company would escape captivity in one way or another? Yes, for God ordained Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations, for also “to build, and to plant” (Jer.1:10).

The Legend of ‘Ollam Fodhla’

     There are various legends within Ireland’s ancient history, that Jeremiah the prophet came there with his scribe secretary Baruch, and at least one of the “king’s daughters” of Zedekiah. Possibly the greatest archaeological evidence pointing to the legend, are the stones with ancient hieroglyphs (picture inscriptions) found in a sepulchral chamber near Oldcastle County, Meath, Ireland near the ancient hill of Tara (called ‘Teamhair‘ in The Annals Of The Four Masters¹). The hill of Tara is where the ancient kings of Ireland were coronated. One translation of the stones refers to a Lunar eclipse in the constellation Taurus joining with the planets Saturn and Jupiter in Virgo. By stellar calculation, this gave the date of Thursday, October 16, 583 B.C. The inscriptions form a type of symbol map, which tells a story of the travels of a ship on a journey. The first ship with five lines in it may symbolize passengers, Jeremiah, his scribe Baruch, two of the “king’s daughters” (of Zedekiah), and the last passenger possibly Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian who helped deliver Jeremiah out of prison, and whom God promised to save from the king of Babylon (Jer.38:7 forward; Jer.39:16-18).²
     The name Ollam Fodhla is given in The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, stating that Eochaidl was the first Ollamh at Teamhair (Tara). The title of Ollam, or Ollav, refers to a learned doctor of wisdom, and Fodhla indicates a king.³ Yet the same Annals also refer to the title of Ollav much earlier in Ireland’s history, when one Tighernmas established the wearing of different colors according to class and profession. A poet or Ollam was assigned six colors, with the highest of seven assigned to a King or Queen.⁴ The point with all this, is that Jeremiah could well have been an early Ollam in Ireland’s history. MacManus makes remark of Ollam Fodla in his work The Story of The Irish Race,

“His title, Ollam Fodla, Doctor of Wisdom, has preserved his memory down the ages. The legends indicate that he was a true father to his people, and an able statesman. He organised (sic) the nation for efficiency– divided it into cantreds, appointed a chief over every cantred, a brugaid (magistrate) over every territory, and a steward over every townland. Some traditions say that he established a School of Learning. And as crowning glory he established a School Feis of Tara, the great triennial Parliament of the chiefs, the nobles, and the scholars of the nation, which assembled on Tara Hill once every three years to settle the nation’s affairs.”⁵

     If some have noticed that I haven’t offered many dates within this, it is because of some doubt of the preservation of proper dates in Ireland’s history before the reign of the king of Ireland named Cimbaoth. His reign was contemporary with the time of Alexander The Great.⁶ Thus we are left with looking at major historical events within Ireland’s ancient history. The historical link of Ireland’s Hill of Tara (Teamhair) with one Tea Tephi is another major event. E.Raymond Capt. quotes a source from the Chronicles of Eri by Milner which links Tara, and the Lia Fail Stone (i.e. Jacob’s Pillar in my strong opinion):

In the “Chronicles of Eri”, by Milner, we find Eochaidh, the husband of Tea Tephi, associated with the Stone Lia Fail. The account is titled, “The Story of Lia Fail”, and states: “In the early days it was carried about by priests on the march in the wilderness (hence the much-worn rings still attached to it, one at each end). Later it was borne by the sea from East to West-‘to the extremity of the world of the sun’s going’ (an expression used by the Romans to describe Britain). Its bearers had resolved, at starting, to ‘move on the face of the waters, in search of their brethren.’ Shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, they yet came safe with Lia Fail…Eachaidh ‘sent a car for Lia Fail, and he himself was placed thereon.” The story of the Stone was then repeated by his order, “And Erimionn (Heremon) was seated on Lia Fail, and the crown was placed upon his head, and the mantle upon his shoulders, and all clapped and shouted.” And the name of that place, from that day forward, was called “Tara” (spelled “Tamhra” in the Irish language).⁷

     The important matter as stated before, are the events of this history, as Capt. rightly remarks: “There are many other variations of the story of the Stone being brought from Egypt to Ireland, which when added together present us with a rather confused story. This is understandable when it is realized that the Irish records are compilations at a late date of very early tribal histories. Each of these, written in a tongue difficult to translate, gives its own aspect of the one great story. However, they all agree in the following: The Stone, known as the ‘Stone of Destiny’, came from Spain, and before that, from Egypt. It came in the company of an aged guardian, who was called ‘Ollam Folla (Hebrew words that mean ‘revealer’, or ‘prophet’). Eochaidh (Eremhon) with his Queen Tea Tephi was crowned King of Ireland upon the Stone which remained at the Palace of Team-hair Breagh. It was the Coronation Stone of every ‘Ard-Righ’ (High King) of ‘Eireann’ for a period of about 1040 years; from King Eremhon (The Heremon) to the 131st Ard-Righ, named ‘Murcheartach.”⁸

     The subject of God preserving Jeremiah for his ordaining as “a prophet to the nations”, and “to build, and to plant”, and the Lia Fail Stone being brought to ancient Ireland, is linked with God’s prophecy to Joseph for the latter days:

Gen 49:22      Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23    The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24    But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel🙂

     Joseph’s seed would indeed be “a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well” (symbolic of great waters), and the “branches” of his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh would indeed “run over the wall”, founding the nations of western Europe and Asia Minor joined along with the remainder of the ten tribes of the “house of Israel”. And “from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel:” (Lia Fail Stone – Jacob’s Pillar, also known as The Shepherd’s Stone symbolizing The House of God per Genesis 28:10-22).
     Next, the Scarlet Thread of Tamar (Gen.38).

Peace be with you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey

Footnotes:

¹ Jacob’s Pillar: A Biblical Historical Study, by E. Raymond Capt. (Hoffman Printing Co., Muskogee, Ok., 1996), p. 41.

² Ibid., p.40.

³ Ibid., p. 41.

⁴ The Story of the Irish Race, by Seumas MacManus (Wings Books, New York, NY, 1966), p. 15.

⁵ Ibid., p.15.

⁶ Ibid., p.16.

⁷ Jacob’s Pillar: A Biblical Historical Study, by E. Raymond Capt. (Hoffman Printing Co., Muskogee, Ok., 1996), p.32.

⁸ Ibid., p. 32-33.

All references to “Strong’s nos.” are from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, PC Study Bible, Biblesoft, 1993-1996.

All references to “BDB” are from The Online Bible Thayer’s Greek Lexicon And Brown Driver & Briggs’ Hebrew Lexicon, PC Study Bible, Biblesoft, 1993-1996.

January 12, 2014
The Royal Sceptre: Throne of David

Many Christians today who have not been properly taught all of God’s Word, are not familiar with the True meaning of the Kingline of David as given in Scripture. We all know the Biblical story of how David slew the giant Goliath, and how he was anointed King over Israel. And supposedly that king line of Judah ended with Zedekiah during Jeremiah’s day. But God’s Message for That Kingline does not stop there by any means. No… that Message continues even down to our time today, and yet future, as Christ Jesus is Who That Throne is reserved for, forever and ever. Jesus Christ our Lord will be known as ‘KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’ Many have read that Title of Christ from Revelation 19:16, but have not understood Its full meaning for us today. This is a beautiful Message from our Father’s Word, and it lets us know that our Salvation in Christ Jesus actually has ‘substance’ and real Value which we can relate to, even while this flesh time still exists. It shows that God’s Promises from His Holy Word are True and everlasting. Let’s discover more about that Eternal Throne, as we ask a Word of Wisdom from our Father, in Christ Jesus’ Name, Amen.
     On the topic outline page of these Lost Tribe Studies, you will find a reference to Genesis 49:10. It is one of many verses given to us in God’s Word about The Everlasting Throne of Christ:

Gen 49:10   The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.
11    Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

     Genesis 49:10 is very specific that the Sceptre Rule would never depart from the tribe of Judah, nor would God’s Law ever depart from Judah’s responsibility of protecting It. Then we are given this big word ‘until‘, as a condition, and that it would all change, at Shiloh’s coming. That word ‘Shiloh’ is another figurative Title for Jesus Christ, and the geographical location of Shiloh was where the first Tabernacle worship was setup in the Holy Land in Israel (Joshua 18:1). Then we are also told in this verse that “…unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” Just who might “the people” be in that verse? (Those of Rev.7). That ‘gathering’ is specifically what Paul was speaking of in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, and 1 Thess.4:17 (also see Matt.24:31; 25:32; Mark 13:27; Eph.1:10; Ps.50; Luke 19:11). God’s Heavenly Cube of Rev.21:16 will be established on earth, at Zion; not in the polluted state this earth is in now, but on a renewed earth (Rev.21:1; 2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). And all those in Christ will be ‘gathered’ to our Lord Jesus Christ there, to Zion, The New Jerusalem, on a rebuilt earth (see Zech.14).

The Throne of David

     God established that Throne of Sceptre Royal Rule on earth, as an everlasting Covenant, the Promise being first given to Abraham (as ‘Abram‘; Gen.17). That Covenant originally included the Birthright Blessings of wealth and resources along with it, but eventually the Birthright ‘double-portion’ was given to the ‘sons of Joseph’ (1 Chronicles 5:1-2; Gen.48:22). But the Royal Sceptre of Ruler was to go to Judah.
     GOD gave His Promise of establishing that Throne to David, through God’s prophet Nathan:

2 Sam 7:8    Now therefore so shalt thou say unto My servant David, ‘Thus saith the LORD of hosts, ‘I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My People, over Israel:
9    And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
10    Moreover I will appoint a place for My People Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,

     God is telling David that He is going to establish a place for His People Israel, and David, a descendent of Judah, is given to rule over them, meaning all twelve tribes.
     The final fulfillment of verse 10 is not yet… as “the children of wickedness” still ‘afflict‘ God’s Israel even today, and the great tribulation is yet future to us, when Satan will cause the greatest affliction upon God’s Israel. So this prophetic event will be accomplished when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reigns with His elect, over a returned People of Israel, to the land God first promised them (see Ezek.37; Zech.14).

2 Sam 7:11   And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My People Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that He will make thee an house.
12    And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13    He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

     David wanted to build God a House, i.e. Temple, but David’s son Solomon was to build It. Notice this last verse 13. Did you catch what God said here with, “and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever”? Just how long is “for ever”? Does ‘forever’ mean only when Christ returns to claim that Throne, and then eternally forward? Are there ‘any’ cessations of that Throne allowed in ‘forever’? What I mean by this is, that since there is no one from the tribe of Judah sitting on the Throne over in the Holy Land today, as ‘king’, then it appears that this Promise from God has pauses in it. And thus the majority interpret this verse of 2 Samuel 7:13 to mean, that Throne begins with Christ’s reign at His second Advent. But we are going to discover there are no pauses, nor has there ever been a pause in God’s establishing of that Throne of Royal Rule by one of Judah, “for ever”. It is still setup on earth, even today! (Whoops! I ‘let the cat out of the bag’!).

2 Sam 7:14   I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15    But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
16    And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.””
17   According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

     Take a real good look at Verse 16. The phrase “and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee:” has a particular condition. “Before thee” means before David’s presence, and in presence of his seed after him, on earth! No? Still don’t believe it yet? Well, did David understand what God promised here in the same way, as a ‘continuous’ kingdom, everlasting, once it was first started long ago?

2 Sam 7:18   Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
19    And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord GOD; but Thou hast spoken also of Thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?

     That’s exactly how David understood this also, as a kingdom which would ‘never’ fail to end, and would continue even past Zedekiah, the last king of the ‘house of Judah’ in the Holy Land. (Notice I said ‘in the Holy Land’. That means it might still continue elsewhere outside of the land we call Israel today.) David well understood what our Father meant with ‘for ever’, because he even asked God how can this happen with man? David knew with all of man’s flesh ways, that Throne could never exist for long on earth. But with God, it’s a totally different story!
     Once God’s Temple was finished, Solomon then thanked our Father, and remembered God’s Promise to his father David, of establishing the throne of Israel everlasting:

I Kings 8:25   Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with Thy servant David my father that Thou promisedst him, saying, ‘There shall not fail thee a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel;” so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me.’

     Did you notice Solomon also understood God’s Promise to David, as our Heavenly Father said that ‘in My sight’, there should never fail a man to sit on the throne of Israel? Just how long is that then?
     The Kingdom of Israel was divided after Solomon’s days, with the ten tribes being taken away to Assyria, and never returned to the Holy Land as a people; all that we’ve covered in the past Lost Tribe studies. And even the ‘house of Judah’ went in captivity to Babylon about 130 years after the ‘house of Israel’, but a remnant of Judah did return to Jerusalem, to re-build a second Temple. That second Temple was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 A.D., even while Judea (house of Judah) was held captive during the Roman Empire. So… the historians think the Nation of Israel just ended, and ceased as a Nation through all of that. What do you think? Moreover, what do you think our Heavenly Father thought about His Promise concerning that Throne? He just told us, right here in I Kings 8:25; He even gave us the clue of “in My sight”, meaning the throne of Israel would never cease to exist, and that there would never “fail thee a man” to sit on that Throne, in God’s Sight, not man’s sight. So just because the majority of the world has failed to understand that It did continue, and even still exists today on earth, our Father knows better, for He gave that Promise of the earthly Throne of Israel to David and his seed forever. The ‘evil one’ thinks he’s going to get that Throne, but he never will (2 Thess.2). The throne Satan and his workers will set up in Jerusalem in our near future, during the tribulation, will be a false throne.
     The ‘present‘ of Isaiah 18:7 is where Christ’s True Throne will be brought to Zion from. Do you remember the people ‘beyond the rivers of Ethiopia’? (see Isaiah 18).

An Everlasting Kingdom

     Many have a difficult time grasping this, that the Throne of Israel has always been established, even upon earth; i.e. “as in heaven, so in earth” (Luke 11:2). And also, that Throne is the property of, and always has belonged, to God. That is the meaning of rule by Divine Decree when flesh kings and queens have sat on that Throne of Israel, because that Throne has ever been our LORD’s ownership, even as with all things:

Ps 89:3    I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant,
4    Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

     ‘All generations’ means even to TODAY’s time. Remember back to Gen.49:10 which stated that one from Judah would always have that sceptre Rule of Divine Kingship of the Throne of Israel, all the way to Christ Jesus’ second coming? Our Lord Jesus Christ is very close to re-claiming His Everlasting Throne on earth.
     The word ‘Selah‘ is ‘Celah‘ in Hebrew, and means a ‘suspension (of music), i.e., pause’ (Strong’s no. 5542). It means to stop and think, ponder on what was just said!

2 Chr 21:7   Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and as He promised to give a light to him and to his sons for ever.

Ps 89:34   My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.
35    Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36    His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

     God’s Word is sure, as He never goes back on His Covenant Promises; absolutely ‘never’. His may see punishment when getting out of line, but His Promises are True and stable, just as He is still in control today. Man can’t be that firmly established in himself; but our Father can.
     This Message here in Ps.89 is about Christ Jesus, our KING Who will rule upon that everlasting Throne. But it also includes the seed of David ‘until‘ Shiloh comes on the Second Advent of our Savior.
     I realize the great lengths I’ve gone to in trying to help others to understand the true meaning of this Throne everlasting, promised by God to David. Because of this Covenant Promise first given to Abraham all the way to David, the ‘house of David’ is still established upon the Throne of Israel, even today. Just because Its earthly manifestation is a little abased right now, does not mean It is no more. The Kenites have tried to totally exterminate It upon earth, and they think they’ve even succeeded today. But wait… all will see when The True Christ Jesus Messiah comes to claim that Throne everlasting, as many will be amazed to discover which land It departs, in order to go to Zion, The New Jerusalem!

Jer 33:23   Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24    “Considerest thou not what this People have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off’? thus they have despised My People, that they should be no more a nation before them.

     Jeremiah the prophet was in prison when God spoke this matter to him. The last king of Judah, i.e. Zedekiah, would be thrown down during Jeremiah’s days, and Jeremiah being one of God’s prophets, knew it was coming. Also, he and the people were kind of worried about it.
     These ‘two families’ mean the ‘house of Judah’, and the ‘house of Israel'(ten tribes). The ‘house of Israel’ was already gone captive out of the Holy land to Assyria during Jeremiah’s day. And now, it appeared that it was the ‘house of Judah’s’ turn to be made a waste.

Jer. 33:25    Thus saith the LORD; ‘If My covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
26    Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.’”

    This is God swearing by Himself. What He said here was something like “if I didn’t set the sun and moon, and the laws of all things in motion and in perfect order, then My Covenant with the seed of David is meaningless.” And further, “if you don’t believe that I Jehovah created all things, and set them in motion, then you can believe I will break My Covenant with David’s seed, to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob until Christ comes.” Our Father is basically telling Jeremiah not to worry about the coming destruction and captivity of Jerusalem, and the ‘house of David’. It would be well established; even forever! Moreover, Jeremiah would soon have a hand in helping to maintain the establishing of the seed of David, but elsewhere, outside the Holy Land.
     Christ Jesus is The Son of David, and He is The Branch of David Who will reign Israel forever. So seeing David’s lineage in trouble was a big matter. That’s where many teachers of God’s Word have left off with the ‘house of David’. The majority are taught that Throne is gone on earth, and will not be established until Christ Jesus comes. It’s true, the Throne of David belongs to our Lord and Savior at His return, but don’t forget that the Promise by God to David, also includes that Royal lineage of Judah, sitting upon that Throne of Israel, all the way up to Shiloh’s return (Gen.49:10). Even though historically David’s earthly Throne ceased to exist in Judea, with Zedekiah being the last king of Judah there, God’s Word never says It totally ceased to exist on earth, meaning somewhere else on earth. Anyone who has ever read I and II Kings, surely they remember two kings in the Holy Land at the same time, one over the ‘house of Judah’ in Jerusalem, and one over the ‘house of Israel’ in Samaria (see I Kings 11>).

     These previous examples from God’s Word show the Throne of Israel still must be in effect today upon earth, otherwise what our Father promised David would not be True. One of the goals the children of iniquity have almost completely pulled off, is that of brainwashing the majority of the ‘house of Israel’ and the ‘house of Judah’ into thinking that Throne ended on earth long ago with Zedekiah. The attack against that Throne throughout centuries of war, lies, and propaganda, has removed much of its true meaning and history from people’s minds today. But never forget, as our Father YHVH did swear by Himself in Jeremiah 33:25-26, if one from the ‘house of David’ ever failed to sit upon that Throne of Israel, then God didn’t create the heavens and the earth. For those in Christ then, we know His Throne everlasting, is still here with us on earth, and our Lord Jesus Christ is coming to claim It.
     I’m well aware of Mark 16:19 where our Lord and Savior ascended to Heaven to take His Place on the Right Hand of GOD. Heb.10:12 gives a little more info, and it’s about how Christ while now on our Father’s Right Hand in Heaven, is “…henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.” Christ’s full Kingdom Rule is still ‘expecting‘, for He is not returned yet (see Rev.11:15). Because many of my confused Christian brethren have been listening to false prophets, instead of our Father’s Word, they think Christ has already come into His Kingdom, and they await to be ‘caught up’ to Heaven, thinking The Kingdom Everlasting to be a ‘cotton-candy’ floating ether space beyond the stars. Do you remember I said Christ’s future Kingdom on a renewed earth has ‘substance’? God’s Word declares it! (see the study How Does Christ Return?)
     The next study will follow the ‘overturns’ God prophesied through Jeremiah, of His earthly Throne being removed from Jerusalem, and then becoming established elsewhere.

Peace be with you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

January 12, 2014
The Ten Tribes Move Westward

The last Ten Tribes study revealed from God’s Word in Hosea, our Father’s intent to scatter the ‘house of Israel’, causing them to forget their heritage as part of God’s People, taking on new names and customs and “…hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.” (Hosea 2:6). This ‘wall’ or hedged up way was to bring about the moving of the ten tribes to the lands our Father intended. It was done in similar manner that Rehoboam’s heart was hardened towards the ten tribes after his father Solomon’s death, to cause God’s prophecy of the split of both ‘houses’ to come true (I Kings 12). The ten tribes had ‘forgotten’ their knowledge as God’s People, similar to the forty years in the wilderness of being led by Jehovah out of Egypt through Moses until the time when they were to come to the promised land. Through generations this migration of the ten tribes came about. It didn’t happen all at once. And it happened in stages, just as their captivity to Assyria was in stages (II Kings).
     My plan with this particular study is not to document totally this migration through historical means. I only propose to call attention to a previously missing archaeological link to the lost ten tribe’s migrations. In this, others will have reference to some valuable information and resources for their further study on the ten tribes of Israel, i.e. the ‘house of Israel’.
     And we ask our Father to give us a Word of Wisdom in this study, in Christ’s Precious Name, Amen.

The Ten Tribes Scattered Further

     Hosea the prophet revealed a summary of God’s intent to scatter the ten tribes of Israel in all countries. Just to make sure that was no fairy tale from God’s Word, and that we will know ‘who’ was to be scattered, let’s cover a little from the Book of Ezekiel:

Ezek 1:3    The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.

     Ezekiel the prophet was in captivity to Babylon at this verse. This Chebar of Ezek.1:3 was in Babylon at his captivity home.

Ezek 3:4   And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them.
5    For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

     God sent Ezekiel to give a Message to both ‘houses’. Here He is telling Ezekiel specifically to “…get thee unto the house of Israel”. If you’ll remember from the past studies, the ‘house of Israel’, i.e. the ten lost tribes, were taken captive by the Assyrian to Halah, Habor by the river Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes (II Kings 17 & 18). These areas of Assyria, were to the north of Babylon (modern day Iraq) where the ‘house of Judah’ went captive later. The house of Judah’s captivity to Babylon came 130 years after Israel’s, so the ten tribes were captive in ‘the land of the Chaldeans’ first. They were just a little farther north than Judah.

Ezek 3:15   Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16    And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17    “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me.”

     This ‘Chebar‘ here in verse 15 is not the same place where Ezekiel lived in Babylon. This area is where God sent him to give prophesy to the ‘house of Israel’, as evidenced by these verses. That means to Assyria where the ten tribes were. This is very important, because many think Ezekiel was talking to his Jewish brethren in Babylon only, and not to the ‘house of Israel’ or ten tribes. This Chebar in Ezek.3:15 is modern Khabour, a tributary of the Euphrates, forty-five miles from Babylon.¹
     Ezekiel is then brought to those of the ‘house of Israel’, and is told by God to make a drawing on a tile of Jerusalem, showing what God would do to it. And this Message was all to the ‘house of Israel’ even though Judah is mentioned along with it (Ezek.4 – 6). Part of God’s Message in Ezekiel to the ‘house of Israel’, or the ten tribes, reveals they were to be further scattered after their Assyrian captivity:

Ezek 6:8   Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
9    And they that escape of you shall remember Me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from Me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
10   And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
11    Thus saith the Lord GOD; “Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, ‘Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.

     We know the ‘house of Israel’ was still being held captive in Assyria during Ezekiel’s time of Babylon captivity. Even those of the ‘house of Judah’ had not returned to Jerusalem at this point, and were still in Babylon. And yet, God through Ezekiel is telling the ten tribes that there would be a ‘remnant’ which will escape the sword of captivity, when they are scattered through the countries (Ezek.6:8). That means the ‘house of Israel’ or ten tribes were to be further ‘scattered’ from Assyria, not back to the Holy Land, but ‘through the countries’.

E. Raymond Capt and Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets

     Biblical historian, archaeologist, and educator E. Raymond Capt has provided us a very important archaeological link for the lost ten tribes of Israel in his excellent work Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets. He has joined many ‘links’ together about the ‘house of Israel’ from hard work done by researchers, historians, and archaeologists of the past. In my opinion, the conclusions Capt arrives at from his research and of others, concerning the Behistun and Assyrian Tablet artifacts, is possibly the single most important work on the ‘Ten Lost Tribes of Israel’, from the scientific aspect. There is ‘hard’ evidence in stone, not just from The Bible standpoint. Our Father has ensured His People would find His Truth, even to our day and time.

The “Jehu Stele” or “Black Obelisk”

     Sir Austin Henry Layard of England, found a stele in Kurkh on the Tigris river in A.D. 1846, which depicts Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, in triumph over Syria and portions of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (II Kings 17 & 18). It shows one of Western Semitic dress bowing on all fours to Shalmaneser. The text inscription above the scene states:

The tribute of Jehu (Iaua) son of Khumri (Omri): I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king, purukhti fruits.²

     This ‘Jehu’ was the son of Jehoshaphat and one of the anointed kings over the ‘house of Israel’ (1 Kings 19:16). The word ‘Khumri’ in the “Jehu Stele” is the Assyria name for Omri. Thus the Assyrians called the kings of the ‘house of Israel’ at that time ‘son of Omri’. This ‘Omri’ was a captain of Northern Kingdom Israel (ten tribes) which the people appointed their king (1 Kings 16:16).
     Therefore, the word Khumri, which refers to Omri king of northern Israel, is the first name used by Assyria for the ten tribes, or ‘house of Israel’. More evidence coming up…

The Assyrian Tablets

     English archaeologist Sir Austin Henry Layard also discovered, later at Kiyunjik in 1847, stores of clay tablets with Assyrian cuneiform writing along with Sennacherib’s palace, and the ancient capitol city of Nineveh. An Assyrian text translated from 1,471 of these 23,000 clay tablets discovered by Sir Austin Henry Layard, was published by R.F. Harper, and an English translation made available in 1930 by Leroy Waterman at the University of Michigan.³
These tablets cover a period of Assyrian history at the time of the captivity to Assyria of the ‘house of Israel’, i.e. ten tribes.
     The Assyrian name of Khumri for the ‘sons of Omri’ taken from the Jehu Stele mentioned above, was a pre-captivity name for the Israelites. These Assyrian Tablets further link the later Assyrian names for the ‘house of Israel’. According to translations from these Assyrian Tablets, Khumri became changed to ‘Gamir’ and ‘Gamera’, during the house of Israel’s captivity in Assyria. The Assyrian name “ga-me-ra-a-a” is translated to ‘Cimmerian’ by Prof. Leroy Waterman in Royal Correspondence of the Assyrian Empire, published by the University of Michigan in 1930.⁴ Thus, the word Cimmerian became one of the identifiers for those of the ‘house of Israel’.
     The Assyrian tablet gives proof for this Cimmerian marker in “Letter 112 – Arad-Sin to the Overseer of the Palace”, by connecting the Cimmerians with those of Gamir and Gamera.⁵ These Assyrian Tablets have provided a strong archaeological missing link to the ‘ten tribes of Israel’ which have been searched for many years. As several ancient histories, such as by Herodotus, Strabo, etc., mention the Cimmerians, their origins have been hard to determine without any archaeological foundation. The discovery of the Assyrian Tablets and their translation bridges the missing link in the gap.
     The Greek geographer Strabo states this about the Cimmerians:

Those Cimmerians whom they also call Trerans, or some tribe of the Cimmerians, often overran the countries on the right of the Pontu (south of the Black Sea) and those adjacent to them, at one time have invaded Paphlagnia, and at another time Phrygia even, at which time Midas drank bull’s blood, they say, and thus went down to his doom.⁶

Strabo also goes further about where these Cimmerians migrated:

Lygdamis (Tugdamme in Assyrian records) king of the Cimmerians, at the head of his own soldiers, marched as far as Lydia and Ionia, and captured Sardis (capitol of Lydia) but lost his life in Cilicia.⁷

     Interestingly enough, these areas where Strabo said these Cimmerians migrated to, are all regions where Paul and the Apostles went to preach The Gospel of Christ. Paul himself was from Tarsus, in Cilicia (Acts 9:11; 22:3). And Christ told the Apostles in Matthew 10:5: “…Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of Samaritans enter ye not: 6:But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Paul’s commission in Acts 9:15 was to preach Christ to the Gentile, kings, and children of Israel. With Christ’s command to go to the lost sheep, these nation links and migrations of the Cimmerians should become apparent. The seven Churches of Revelation were also in these areas of Asia Minor where Strabo says the Cimmerians migrated to.
     This link Strabo and other ancient and modern histories cited by Capt in Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets, joins many peoples of seemingly separate tribal names into the majority of one peoples, which went north, and west, northwest and southwest, from Assyria.
     Another branch of the Israelites which can be traced to the Scythians are the ‘Iskuza’, mentioned also in the Assyrian Tablets. As the term ‘house of Isaac’ is used to refer to the ‘house of Israel’ in Amos 7:16, this word ‘Iskuza’ was a natural Assyrian corruption of ‘Isaac’. This label further grew into the labels of ‘Shuthae’ by the Greeks and the word ‘Sacae’ by the Persians, which refer to the Scythians.⁸
     By these two groups, one called Cimmerians, which migrated west to Asia Minor and Western Europe from Assyria first, and the second group of Scythians who later migrated west to take over many of the Cimmerians’ lands, the ancestry of the peoples of Europe and Asia Minor can be traced to modern times. These would later form the Celts (Cimmerians), the Gauls, Normans, Norsk or Norse, Goths, and Germani peoples. A migration to ancient Britain by the Angles and Saxons (Isaac’s sons), would also form the several Welsh, English, Scots, and Irish peoples. These various peoples, of seemingly different ancestry, have mixed to make up the founding ancestral nations of today’s Europe. And those peoples who formed Europe all have one major trait in common. Though they had different names, and languages, they made up the Caucasian race which settled in Europe, having migrated from Assyria of Israelite origins. As can be discovered by Britain’s history especially, the various conquests of Britain by supposedly different nations of heritage, such as the Anglo-Saxons from Germany, the Danish and Norse, and then lastly the Normans of France, it should have been made up of many different races. All these various peoples which invaded Britain were of one common stock, either descendents of the Cimmerians, or of the Scythians. And they all have a heritage as being part of the ‘house of Israel’.

The Behistun Rock

On an old caravan road from Babylon to Ecbatana, the ancient capitol of Median, there is a carving on a mountain side made by Darius the Mede dated at 515 B.C. An English officer named Henry C. Rawlinson deciphered the cuneiform inscriptions on this carved mountain side, called the Behistun Rock. The inscriptions on the Behistun Rock were in three languages, Babylonian (Accadian), Elamite (Susian), and Persian.⁹

There are 20 panels of carvings. In the center is a depiction of King Darius with his foot over one captive chief, and 9 other captives all bound together.

Each captive chief is dressed differently, some with short tunics, others with long robes, and still others with the characteristic Hebrew cap.

Each paragraph of each inscription panel begins with the following: “I am Darius, the king of kings, the king of Persia.” And the 10th panel mentions “Sarocus“, the Sacan, one in Hebrew attire.¹⁰

     The word Armenia is mentioned also, as this was the area where these captives were taken and placed by the Assyrians. The word Sakkas is named in these inscriptions also. In the Elamite and Persian language inscriptions, the word Sakka is used to name some of these ‘chieftans’ in captivity to Assyria, but in the Babylonian inscription version, the word employed is Gimiri (verified for the British Museum by L.W. King and R.C. Thomson – Sculptures and Inscriptions of Behistun, pg.161).¹¹ That word Gimiri links back to what the Assyrians called the sons of Omri of the ‘house of Israel’, that is Khumri, and Cimri, or Cimmerian.

The Greek historian Herodotus gives an account of the Scyths (Sythians) in pursuit of the Cimmerians following a small passage known as the Dariel Pass, through the Caucasus Mountains northeast of the Black Sea.

     Herodotus states:

Scythia still retains traces of the Cimmerians; there are Cimmerian castles, and a Cimmerian ferry, also a tract called Cimmeria, and a Cimmerian Bosphorus. It appears likewise that the Cimmerians, when they fled into Asia (Asia Minor) to escape the Scyths, made a settlement in the peninsula where the Greek city of Sinope was afterwards built. The Scyths, it is plain, pursued them, and missing their road, poured into Media. For the Cimmerians kept the line which led along the sea-shore, but the Scyths in their pursuit held the Caucasus upon their right, thus proceeding inland, and falling upon Media. This account is one which is common both to Greeks and barbarians.¹²

     The name of Caucasian was derived from those peoples who once held and migrated through the Caucasus Mountains, east of the Black Sea. These would then further migrate west to the isles in Europe. II Esdras 13 in the Apocrypha is possibly another reference to this Passage in the Caucasus by the Cimmerians and Scythians.
     The Scythian migrations also went further east, to the Orient. These ‘Sok-wang’, meaning ‘Sakka princes’, fled to a valley of the upper Indus with Kashmir and Afghanistan as borders.¹³

     The historic traces of the Sacae, the Scythians, and the Cimmerians, have been written of by many historians, both ancient and modern. The evidence for their later migrations to Europe is plentiful. The only ‘link’ missing was that of the lost ten tribe’s captivity while in Assyria, and just how their identity as Israel was lost. Truly as our Heavenly Father said through Hosea:

Hosea 2:13    And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat Me, saith the LORD.

     He would hedge up their paths so they could not be found, and visit upon them the full Baalim of pagan idolatry which caused their falling away. And the very Baalism which the ‘house of Israel’ coveted became the system which gave them new names (khumri), losing their original heritage as God’s People ‘Ammi’. They became ‘Lo-Ammi’, not God’s People.

Hosea 2:14    Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
15    And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

     Then when it was time, they would be lured through the ‘wilderness’ and scattered through the countries, until… they came to new lands, and new vineyards, and Israel began to remember GOD through His Son Jesus Christ.

Hosea 2:16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call Me Ishi; and shalt call Me no more Baali.
17    For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
18    And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.

     And when they finally migrated to their new lands, and Christ our New Covenant was offered, GOD took away their ‘names of Baalim’ out of their mouths which Assyria gave them, becoming again ‘Ammi’, God’s People.
     Yet, paganism and worship of false gods, which are no gods, is still with His People of the ‘house of Israel’. Once again God’s People of the ‘house of Israel’ are becoming lost and again ‘Lo-Ammi’ (not My People). And another cycle of the same false Babylon World Order system is taking God’s People into another captivity. This time that bondage is not of geographical paths to Babylon and Assyria, but enslavement of our hearts and minds away from GOD and Christ, a spiritual captivity. Only through deception can one go into captivity again today. Understanding The Knowledge of Christ is the only Way to prevent that slavery of deception upon us today. Our founding fathers of the Western Christian Nations suffered that captivity and battled for our freedoms we have been so accustomed to. Let us not go into bondage again, for we are ‘Ammi’, His People, GOD’s People. And ‘Ammi’ includes all believers on Christ Jesus, a spiritual and a physical Israel.

Blessings to you in Christ Jesus,
Dave Ramey.

Footnotes:

¹ The Companion Bible, (Kregel Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI., 1990), margin note, p.1109.

² Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets. E. Raymond Capt, M.A., A.I.A., F.S.A. Scot. (Artisan Sales, Muskogee, OK, 1985), p. 97-99.

³ Ibid., pp. 100-101.
⁴ Ibid., pp. 122-123.
⁵ Ibid., p. 115.
⁶ Ibid., p. 125.
⁷ Ibid., pp. 135-126.
⁸ Ibid., pp. 120-123.
⁹ Ibid., p. 137.
¹⁰ Ibid., p. 139.
¹¹ Ibid., pp. 139-140.

¹² The Histories of Herodotus, Book IV.12. Translated by George Rawlinson, (Everyman’s Library, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997), p.308.

¹³ Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets. E. Raymond Capt, M.A., A.I.A., F.S.A. Scot. (Artisan Sales, Muskogee, OK, 1985), p. 157.

Original source of all Behistun images from either Wonders of The Past, Vol.2 (1937), J.A. Hammerton, Wise & Compton; or History of The World. Vol.I (1909), J.C. Ridpath (Jones Brothers Publishing), as presented through Art Today.

January 12, 2014