July 2021

Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead

May 23, 2023

Stretching all the way back in sacred history to the beginning of creation, we see that in the Garden of Eden man and woman were created in the image of God, and were also formed after God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26). However, though humanity (the crown of God’s creation) was originally made in a blessed state of body and soul, the transgression of the Lord’s commandment would soon plunge the entire world into a fallen condition. For the very moment our first parents Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, death entered into their bodies and bled over into the rest of creation, and as a result mankind was expelled from Paradise. Fortunately, God promised us that one day a deliverer would be born to heal fallen man of his sin sickness and that the Messiah would also trample down death, a condition which is foreign to the very nature of God and which was also foreign to man’s initial spiritual and physical makeup. Through the birth, death, (and most importantly) the resurrection of the promised Messiah, have we all been given a chance at immortality. For just as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, so too will all people from all the ages be risen from the dead at the end of this world. Some will be raised to everlasting life, while others will be raised to eternal condemnation. That being said, let us now take a closer look into these Biblical passages concerning the resurrection of the dead.

In Hebrews 9:27, it is stated that, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” However, in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel according to St. John it is written that Lazarus died and that Jesus raised him from the dead. Going further, we find in the seventh chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel that a widow’s son was also risen from the dead by Jesus. So since the Bible tells us that it is appointed unto men once to die, then why did Jesus raise people from the dead? We also know from holy tradition that Lazarus did indeed die again many years after his resurrection, so is there a contradiction here? Now it must be noted that Jesus loved Lazarus very much, and used the death and resurrection of His dear friend to foreshadow His own resurrection. As to the son of the widow of Nain, the Gospel tells us that Jesus had compassion on her, and so raised her only son from the dead. So it seems that even though God has established both spiritual laws and laws of nature, in His love towards mankind the Lord at times breaks these laws so that miracles may happen.

Concerning the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that, “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). From this passage it would seem that some people living at the last day will not experience a physical death, but will instead be caught up in both body and soul to meet the Lord in the air. Now the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20). So when the Lord returns in all His glory, this most powerful manifestation of God may be so intense that those living at the time of the second coming may in fact experience a physical death by being overcome by the epic majesty of God. Speaking on this most awesome of experiences St. Paul has this to say, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). This change that the living will go through at the end of time, must be nothing else but the putting on of incorruption which St. Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 15:53. For if flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, then a physical change is indeed needed to be able to withstand the awesome holiness of God. Though it appears that those living at the time of the resurrection will not die, there will definitely be a change in their bodies which in a form resembles a physical death, or that of a movement from corruption into incorruption.

Another instance where people have died, and then later are risen back to life, appears in the eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation. The two witnesses, believed to be prophets Enoch and Elijah, are the only two people in history who have not experienced a physical death, even though they have been alive for thousands of years. Their death will indeed fulfill Hebrews 9:27 which states that it is appointed unto men once to die. Though they are killed, they rise from the dead three days later and ascend into heaven, signifying that their resurrection must be one in which they are given new incorruptible bodies. For if they would have been risen without a change, their sinful flesh and blood could not have withstood the glory of God. Additionally, at the time of Christ’s resurrection the Bible tells us that saints from the Old Testament also rose from the dead, and came out of their graves and went into Jerusalem, and were seen by many (Matthew 27:52-53). However, the Bible is not clear as to the condition of the bodies of these saints who rose from the dead after Jesus. For instance, we know that Lazarus was raised from the dead, but not with an incorruptible body. Whereas the two witnesses are raised from the dead with an incorruptible body. So the nature of the resurrected bodies of the Old Testament saints is indeed a mystery. Going further, it has also been speculated that these risen saints still walk among us even to this very day.

The second coming of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead at the end of this world, will be the most intense, and most awesome, and most dreadful day in history, for it will mark the end of history. Some of us will be resurrected to everlasting life, while others will be resurrected to eternal damnation. On Judgment Day none of us will be able to make excuses, for the truth will trump all efforts to cover-up our sins. Everything will be laid bare, both our good works and our evil deeds. God is not partial and will judge us all fairly, playing no favoritism towards anyone. But by living a life of repentance the Lord in His mercy will take pity on those who cry out to Him day and night. For as it is written in Luke 9:56, “…the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them…”

Joseph, or Imhotep?

May 23, 2023

In recent times some historians, Bible scholars, and even a few Egyptologists have proposed the theory that the character of Joseph as found in the Old Testament is in fact the ancient Egyptian architect and polymath Imhotep. Just as Joseph rose to second in command over all the land of Egypt, so too was Imhotep elevated to such an honor. Though there are elements to this comparison that may not hold water, it is still a fascinating parallel that deserves further study. That being said, may we gaze with a discerning eye and an open mind as we compare Joseph with Imhotep.

As every modern day Egyptologist will tell you, Imhotep’s mummy has never been found. And as every modern day Bible scholar will tell you, the bones of Joseph left Egypt along with the children of Israel during the time of the Exodus. For it is written: “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.” (Exodus 13:19). So, according to the Bible the mummy of Joseph did not remain in Egypt, but was taken into the promised land through the efforts of the prophet Moses during the Exodus. So, since Joseph’s mummy was taken out of Egypt and the fact that Imhotep’s mummy has never been found, then this could be evidence that the Biblical Joseph and the Egyptian Imhotep are one and the same person.

Most Bible scholars place the date of the Exodus at around 1,200 BC, during the reign of Ramses II. However, according to the Bible the date of the Exodus is pointed out to have happened around 1,440 BC. For in I Kings 6:1 we are told that, “…It came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the forth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” The conventional dates of Solomon’s reign are roughly 970 to 930 BC. So if the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was in 966 BC, then according to the time frame given in I Kings 6:1, the date of the Exodus would be approximately 1,446 years before the birth of Christ.

The Bible also tells us how long the children of Israel stayed in Egypt, after the seventy souls came down from Canaan land and settled in the land of Egypt during the time of Joseph. “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” (Exodus 12:40). When adding the date of when the children of Israel left the land of Egypt, to the date of when the children of Israel settled in Egypt, we come to the year 1,876 BC as the date when Joseph and his family settled on the banks of the Nile. However, according to historians and other scholars Imhotep lived nearly a thousand years before Joseph in the late 27th century BC, or around the years 2,686 BC and 2,648 BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser.

The Egyptian priest and historian Manetho, who lived in the third century BC during the Hellenistic period, wrote thus of Imhotep, “During Djoser’s reign, there lived a man named Imhotep who had the reputation of the Greek god of medicine and who influenced the art of building with hewn stone.” So here we see that Imhotep was a man of many talents, what we would call today a Renaissance Man. By scanning the scriptures it would seem that Joseph too was multi-talented. According to the Bible Joseph was very responsible, could interpret dreams, and was a master in business administration, very much the same as Imhotep.

The many legends concerning Imhotep and all of his grand abilities, led many to believe that the man Imhotep was simply a mythical character. However, in the 20th century archaeologists excavating at Pharaoh Djoser’s pyramid complex discovered the base of a statue with the name Djoser on it as well as the name Imhotep. Along with Imhotep’s name the inscription included a long list of titles. One such title read thus: “Imhotep, chief after the king.” This title of vizier first appears in Egypt with Imhotep and was also the title bestowed upon Joseph. Imhotep was also the architect of Pharaoh Djoser’s step pyramid and it’s surrounding complex. Built on the plateau of Saqqara, this step pyramid designed by Imhotep is believed to be the first Egyptian pyramid ever built.

Standing side by side, Joseph and Imhotep do indeed share similarities, but chronologically speaking they are separated by centuries. Interestingly, in Upper Egypt there stands what is known as the Famine Stela, which dates back to the Ptolemaic period (305 – 30 BC). The stela bears the inscription of a famine which lasted for seven years during the reign of Djoser. Imhotep is also credited with having been instrumental in ending the famine, just as the Biblical Joseph saved Egypt from a famine that lasted for seven years. Though it may be difficult to confirm with certainty that Joseph and Imhotep are the same person, the parallels between the two are truly interesting to say the least. However, the argument to support the theory that Joseph and Imhotep are the same person is a cold case. But what is fair to say is that the life of Joseph is a mystery of the Bible, and the life of Imhotep is a mystery of history.

 

References:

Osman, A. The Hebrew Pharaohs of Egypt. (Rochester, Vermont: Bear & Company, 2003).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).

Constantinople, The Third World War, And The Sleeping King

April 11, 2024

For all of us living in the modern world I believe it is safe to say that we are indeed living in an era of wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). The twentieth century alone brought us World Wars One and Two, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and numerous other bloody battles scattered throughout the planet. And no sooner did we enter the twenty-first century when the events of September 11, 2001 prompted the United States to invade Afghanistan soon afterwards. Then we saw the United States government continue to expand their war on terror by invading Iraq in 2003. Since the early 2000’s we have been overwhelmed by wars and rumors of wars in the worldwide geopolitical landscape. It would seem as if all of these minor and sometimes major conflicts have been building up to a war that would dwarf any known confrontation the world has ever witnessed. And this mother of all wars would be none other than World War Three. The purpose of this work is an attempt to shed light on an Orthodox Christian prophecy concerning the third world war and the events leading up to, and following this global catastrophe.

Over the centuries there has come down to the Greek Orthodox Christians a series of prophecies concerning the Turkish people and the future liberation of Greeks from the yoke of Turkish oppression. For the people who make up the ethnic majority in the country that we know today as the Republic of Turkey are not the original inhabitants of this land. For beginning in the 11th century AD, the Seljuk Turks of Central Asia made there way through the Steppes and started conquering the territories of the Middle East and eventually made there way into the borders of the Christian Byzantine Empire. With the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453 AD, the territories of the Byzantine Empire would be absorbed into what would be known as the Ottoman Empire. In the years that followed many Orthodox Saints prophesied that God would one day deliver the Christian Greeks from the Turkish Muslims. One such sign to herald the Lord’s deliverance would be the resurrection of a former emperor of Byzantium known as “The Sleeping King” who would not only liberate the Greeks, but would rule the entire world and usher in a period of world peace and ignite a global renaissance giving all nations a chance to hear the Orthodox Gospel prior to the coming of the Anti-Christ.

In addition to the Greek Orthodox prophecies concerning the Sleeping King, the prophecies also reveal that the third world war will be initiated by a Turkish invasion into Greek territory. However, though the Turkish aim will be focused on an assault against the whole of Greece, only a few of the Greek islands will be annexed, leaving the rest of the mainland unmolested. Greece will be protected from the fighting, but God will allow the Greeks to suffer with hunger and starvation. Also, after Turkey invades Greece, Russia will come to the aid of the Greek nation and will fight the Turks heavily by bombarding Turkey with the majority of Russia’s arsenals and her military power. In the aftermath of this great conflict the prophecy states that one third of the Turks will perish in the war, one third of the Turks will retreat into the depths of Asia, and that one third of the Turks will become Orthodox Christians.

Although these prophecies are found written within the corpus of Orthodox Christian theology, some Greek Fathers (as well as laity) are not fully convinced as to the validity of such claims. Weather we should hold to these prophecies as the Word of God is debatable, considering how many of the events described may not line up with scripture. Amazingly there is also a Muslim prophecy which foretells the conquest of Constantinople, but by a Muslim army and of an event much like world war three, or as it is called in Arabic, the “Malhama.” Going further it has been recently suggested, by at least one Muslim scholar, that even though the name Constantinople is not found written in the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book does indeed describe a town that in many ways resembles the city of Constantine.

In verse 163 in the seventh chapter of the Qur’an a certain town is mentioned and is described as being a city by the sea, but the name of this city is unidentified. However, what the Qur’an does say is that the people of this town violated the Sabbath, which eventually kindled the wrath of God. For during the Sabbath day an abundance of fish would be clearly visible to the town’s inhabitants, but on other days the fish were not seen. In this way God tested the people in order to prove their faithfulness to Him and to His commandments. Though the whereabouts of this town and it’s people are not clearly presented in the Qur’an, there is at least some Islamic scholarship out there that attempts to clarify this ambiguity. For according to the research done by Skeikh Imran Husein, a Muslim scholar and an expert in Islamic eschatology, this unnamed town described in the Qur’an as a city by the sea is none other than the ancient Byzantine Christian city of Constantinople.

In Islamic eschatology a major sign of the end of the world would be the conquest of Constantinople by a Muslim army. According to Skeikh Imran Husein, the Turks believed that the prophecy was fulfilled in 1453 AD when the Ottomans conquered the great city. That is why the Turks changed the name to Istanbul – nullifying any Muslim prophecy concerning a city named Constantinople. For in the scriptures of Islam which are separate from the Qur’an and are known as the Hadiths, Mohammad is attributed with making the prophecy concerning Constantinople. However, in Islam it is forbidden to change or deny a Sunnah by Mohammad. So, for the Muslim Turks to deny the use of a name spoken by Mohammad, or to replace it with another name would be in direct violation to the teachings of Mohammad.

In the folklore of Greek Orthodox Christianity it has been said that when the Ottoman army was approaching Constantinople the Turkish Sultan looked up and saw hovering over the city what appeared to be a man’s hand with all five fingers clearly visible. Though barbaric, the Turks did have respect for the supernatural which prompted the Turkish leader to ask a Christian priest what this sign in the heavens meant. The priest responded by saying that if there were but five true Orthodox Christians dwelling in Constantinople God would preserve the city and prevent the Turks from taking it. As we know the Muslim Turks did take the Christian city, meaning that just like Sodom and Gomorrah there were none righteous abiding in Constantinople prior to it’s Turkish assault.

Even though the Church is the body of Christ and the apple of His eye, the Lord still sends forth judgments unto His people when they begin to drift away from His statutes and digress into apostasy. Just as the God of Israel permitted the destruction of the Temple in the Old Testament due to the sins of the people, so also does the risen Jesus correct His followers in the era of the New Testament when they transgress His law. For as the Lord hath spoken in Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Just because the Christians of Constantinople where members of the one true faith, which was first preached by the Apostles and then handed down unto the Fathers, their baptism into the Orthodox Church was not enough to exempt them from God’s vengeance, especially since they in turn did not preserve their baptism by living an active spiritual life in obedience to Christ’s commandments.

In conclusion, whether or not the Greek or Islamic prophecies concerning the future of Constantinople and the events of world war three are genuine prophecies, I do believe that the most infallible writings concerning the end times are found written in the Bible. The book of Revelation unfolds the passages of history, both past and future events, but in a cryptic fashion. Also, Revelation warns us about adding to or taking away from the words of the prophecy, for by doing so we bring upon ourselves utter destruction (Revelation 22:19). So when studying eschatology we must be very careful about not falling into delusion and from coming up with our own interpretations of prophecy, which in fact may be uninspired.

 

References:

Hosein, I.N. Constantinople in the Qur’an. (San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago: INH Publications, 2018).

Kinross, L. The Ottoman Centuries. (New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Inc., 1977).

Maulana Muhammad Ali. The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary.(Dublin, Ohio: Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore Inc., 2002).

Norwich, J.J. A Short History of Byzantium. (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1999).

Valavanis, G.D. The Marble Emperor: Saint Ioannis Vatatzis. (Larissa, Greece: Koutoulas K. Nikolaos, 2008).

Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).