The Prophets Lament

May 22, 2023

In the Old Testament, to be a prophet usually meant sufferings and a difficult life filled with sorrows. Many times the prophets were punished for preaching against the sinful ways of the people and even of those in authority. Since both the people and those in political office rarely took heed to the word of God as spoken by the prophets, frustration and mental anguish became the lot of these holy and persecuted men. The pain and pressure that the prophets experienced drove some of God’s chosen vessels to cry unto the Lord to take their life. When overwhelmed with the task of shepherding the children of Israel, Moses pleaded with God to kill him (Numbers 11:14,15). Elijah would also implore God to take his life after he had to flee into the wilderness in order to escape the clutches of Jezebel (I Kings 19:4). Now although the office of prophet-hood is quite a lofty calling, it also calls for much responsibility. As the saying goes, “heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

Initially, many of the prophets ran from the calling of God and from speaking the words that God gave them. For example, when Moses met the Lord God at the burning bush Moses protested the task of delivering the Hebrews and didn’t believe that he had what it took to stand before Pharaoh (Exodus 3:11). When the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, he too insisted that he was unable to fulfill the mission God gave him (Jeremiah 1:6). And most famously the prophet Jonah ran from the calling of God and ended up in a whale’s belly as a result of his disobedience. In contrast, Isaiah was the only one of the Old Testament prophets to volunteer his services to the Lord. For after his lips were purified by the help of an angel, Isaiah boldly accepted his prophetic calling saying: “Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8).

In the New Testament Jesus Himself testifies that John the Baptist was a prophet, and even more than a prophet. For John was the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus would go on to elevate John to such a degree, that the Lord even said, “among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:9-11). Jesus Himself was a prophet, and I believe it is safe to say that Jesus Christ is the prophet of all prophets. For Christ spoke as the prophets spoke, for it was the spirit of Christ speaking through the prophets. And in I Corinthians 12:28 we see that some in the Church age do indeed hold the title of prophet. For as it has been revealed to us in the book of Revelation 19:10 that, “…the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

 

References:

ABC’s Of The Bible. (Pleasantville, NY: The Readers Digest Association, Inc., 1991).

The Lives of the Holy Prophets. (Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent, 1998).

On The Perpetual Virginity Of Mary

May 22, 2023

The doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary (meaning that Mary was a virgin before, during, and after she gave birth to Christ) is a dogma held by both the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. Though the Orthodox Church agrees with the Catholic Church’s stance on Mary as ever virgin, it does not accept the Roman Catholic belief of the Immaculate Conception, which states that Mary was conceived without original sin. The Protestant Churches on the other hand not only reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, they also do not accept the belief that Mary remained a virgin after she gave birth to Jesus. However, the founder of the Protestant Reformation Martin Luther highly esteemed the Virgin Mary and fervently held onto the doctrine of Mary as Ever Virgin. It is also the stance of this author that Mary did indeed remain a virgin her entire life and this work will strive to support that belief and make a solid case for the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.

A Christian Apocryphal work dating to the mid-second century AD known as the Protoevangelium of James, or Infancy Gospel, or quite simply as the Gospel of James describes the events prior to and leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ. Though the Orthodox Church does not consider the entirety of this Gospel to be inspired, there are some elements of this work that may contain some accurate traditions regarding the life of the Virgin Mary that are not found in the four Canonical Gospels. For example, the Gospel of James states that Mary was dedicated to God from the age of three and remained in the temple until she began to be ritually unclean under the law of Moses and could no longer reside within the temple. Mary would now need a guardian to look after her outside of the temple because by this time her parents had already died and she had no siblings. Since Mary was a consecrated virgin she needed a situation where the guardian agreed not to touch her virginity. Because of this a selection was made by the priests as to who would look after Mary. As a result, Joseph who was an elderly widower with children of his own was chosen to be the suitable guardian to ensure that Mary would stay a virgin even though Joseph was legally married to her.

Apart from the Apocryphal Gospel of James, the four Canonical Gospels also reveal that Mary is ever virgin. First off, in Matthew 1:25 we read that Joseph, “…knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son.” At first glance this verse seems to say that Joseph knew not his wife during her pregnancy, but did have relations with her after Jesus was born. However, there are other scriptures that use the word “till” or “unto” to express something perpetual or eternal. For instance, in Matthew 28:20 Jesus tells His disciples that He will be with them always, “…even unto the end of the world.” Now we understand this scripture to mean that Jesus will always be with us, but the way in which it’s worded would seem that Jesus will be with us until the end of the world but not after that. It reads as if once the world ends Jesus will not be with us anymore, just as it is worded in Matthew 1:25 that Joseph knew not his wife till she gave birth to Christ, when in fact the Gospel writer is expressing something that goes beyond a certain amount of time or chronology and even extends unto eternity.

In addition to the scriptures of the New Testament which support the doctrine of Mary as Ever Virgin, there are passages in the Old Testament that also point to the perpetual virginity of Mary. For in Isaiah 7:14 it is written that a virgin will conceive and bear a son. Though this verse does not say a perpetual virgin, we can still tie Mary’s vow of virginity to what we read in the book of Numbers 30:3-6, where it speaks of women taking vows of virginity which last their entire life. Going further, we see in the book of Ezekiel a veiled prophecy concerning Mary’s ever virginity, where she is the typology of the eastern gate of the temple. For it is written that the gate looking towards the east shall be shut, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. The LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same. (Ezekiel 44:1-3). This passage from the Old Testament (though symbolic) is clear that by what door the Lord enters, no man shall enter. And as we read in the Gospel of Luke 1:35 the Holy Ghost came upon the blessed virgin, and by the power of the most high conceived the Son of God. This means that God impregnated her, and if God impregnated her then she is the bride of God. So if Mary slept with Joseph after Jesus was born, Mary would have committed adultery against God Himself!

Continuing in Luke’s Gospel we see that Mary is not only the Bride of God, but also the Mother of God. For as soon as Mary knew that she would give birth to the Messiah, she went to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth to share with her these glide tidings. It was then that St. Elizabeth (while pregnant with John the Baptist) saluted the Blessed Virgin and said to her, “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:42-43). In these verses we see that St. Elizabeth refers to the Virgin Mary as the mother of the Lord, and since the Bible says that the Lord is God, then scripture backs up the dogma of the Church which holds that Mary is the Mother of God, for she gave birth to the Son of God. In addition to the English title of Mary as the Mother of God, there is also a Greek title for the Virgin Mary in which she is called the Theotokos, meaning God bearer, for she brought forth God in the flesh. Going further, Panagia is also another commonly used title for Mary in the Greek language which means, “The All Holy One.”

When examining the virgin birth of Christ the Church Fathers tell us that the birth of our Lord was a miraculous birth, which took place in a miraculous manner. The Fathers state that God passed through the Blessed Virgin’s womb the same way light passes through glass without harming it. So during the birth of Christ no physical harm was done to Mary’s virginity. Also, since the mother of Jesus Christ became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and not through carnal pleasure the Virgin Mary in turn suffered neither pain nor sorrow in child birth to the infant Jesus. This miracle of a mortal woman who carried within her the consuming fire that is God and not being harmed, is reminiscent of the story in the Old Testament of the bush that burned but was not consumed. We also see in the Old Testament that the ark of the covenant was the earthly throne of God in ancient times. In the New Testament Mary too was a type of the ark which contained the holy presence of the Lord God: making both the ark and Mary sacred vessels which where not to be touched.

Another aspect that points to Mary as ever virgin, are the family members listed in relation to the Blessed Virgin as found written in the Gospels. For in John’s Gospel 19:25 it says, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.” Here the Bible says that the Virgin Mary had a sister and this sister was also named Mary. But as we all know it is not heard of that a man and woman would give the same name to two of their children. So going down this road we must come to the conclusion that the two Marys at the cross were not the same daughters of the same parents. It is however the tradition of the Orthodox Church that Cleophas, whom the Bible lists as the husband of the other Mary, was none other than the brother of Joseph who was betrothed to the Virgin Mary.

Now the word used in the Gospels to assert that Jesus had brothers and sisters, is the Greek word “adelphos”, which being interpreted can mean a sibling, a step-sibling, or even a cousin and a distant relative. For example, the Bible tells us that a certain James was the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), and Holy Tradition tells us that James the brother of the Lord was in fact the son of Cleophas, making Jesus and James first cousins. Since James and Jesus are cousins and not blood brothers, then this would make a strong case for the meaning of the word brethren in scripture to include relatives that are not of motherly relation. Also, in John 19:25-27 we see that Jesus made His disciple John to be the son of His mother Mary, and Mary the mother of John. The Bible says that from that hour John took the Virgin Mary into his own home. Now if the Blessed Virgin had other children besides Jesus then they would have taken care of their mother and would not have relinquished that responsibility over to someone else.

In conclusion it is seen throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments that there were some people, both men and women who remained virgins their entire life. The prophet Elijah was celibate his whole life as was John the Baptist and so was Jesus. Going further in 1 Corinthians 7:25-38 the Apostle Paul makes it clear that virginity is something very sacred and a desired vow in order to live out a lofty spiritual life. So if women who did not give birth to Christ remained virgins their whole life, then how could Mary as virtuous as she was ever let a man touch her, and how could any righteous man who knew that she gave birth to the Son of God even think of touching her after that? For as we see from the scriptures that some people have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake, and Jesus Himself encouraged His followers to do so if they could make room for this high calling. The Virgin Mary herself was so devoted to God that she was chosen to give birth to the Savior of the world and was set apart from the world and its lusts and has become greater than all the saints. For as the Blessed Virgin said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:46-48).

 

References:

Holy Apostles Convent. The Life of the Virgin Mary, The Theotokos. (Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent, 2000).

Strong, J. The New Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2010).

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

The Name of God

May 22, 2023

When the Lord called out to Moses from the burning bush, commanding him to lead the Israelites out of the bondage in Egypt, “..Moses said unto God, behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your Fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what is His name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3:13,14). This revelation of God’s name is the first time in the Biblical narrative where God Himself identifies His name as I AM. Going further, In Exodus 6:3 God reveals another one of His names that was previously unknown even to the three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And this name of God which the Lord revealed unto Moses was: JEHOVAH.

Now the name Jehovah, which God revealed unto Moses, is translated from the Hebrew as Yahweh: the Hebrew verb meaning “to be.” Yahweh can be abbreviated with four Hebrew consonants or letters, which read from right to left, are yodh, he, waw, and he. These Hebrew letters which abbreviate the name Yahweh are translated into English with the letters YHWH. This shortened form of the name Yahweh is called the Tetragrammaton. However, in order not to break the third commandment against taking the Lord’s name in vain, the Hebrews would later avoid saying Yahweh altogether and instead referred to God as Adonai, which means “My Lord.”

In its simplest form, the Hebrew name for God is El. The name El was also used by neighboring cultures surrounding ancient Israel to name their own gods. For example, the ancient Ugarit civilization which is located in modern day Syria, had a pantheon of gods and the god El was the chief of that pantheon. The titles given to the Ugaritic El were, “the King” and “the Father of Gods.” Now the Arabic name for God is Allah, with its designated epithets “the Merciful” and “the Beneficent,” which are close to the epithets of the Ugaritic El who is known as “the Kind, the Compassionate.” In the Hebrew Bible, El is often accompanied by a second word, such as El Shaddai, which means “God Almighty” and El Elyon meaning “God Most High.” However, the most common name for God is the plural term Elohim, which suggests that in His majesty God represents all aspects of divinity.

Though Elohim is a common name for God, the name of God most often used in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton. Now Rabbinic Judaism describes seven holy names for God which are YHWH, El, Eloah, Elohim, Shaddai, Ehyeh, and Tzevaot. These seven names are so holy that once they are written down, they should not be erased. For in Jewish culture it is forbidden to pronounce the name of the Tetragrammaton. In prayers it is pronounced as Adonai, and in conversation it is spoken as HaShem, which means “The Name.” For the true name of God was unknown and forbidden to all except for the High Priest who would speak “The Name” consisting of seventy-two letters, within the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem once each year on Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement.

JAH is another name for God which is popular among Rastafarians and is found in Psalms 68:4 in the King James Version of the Holy Bible where it is written, “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.” In the New Testament, the Lord God incarnates and is given the name Jesus, a name that Christian worshipers call upon for help and for their salvation. However, when Christ returns on His robe He will have a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:16). Jesus is also called the Word of God in the book of Revelation, and St. John even reveals to us that at His second coming Christ will have a name written, that no man knows, but He Himself (Revelation 19:12). So here we see that the only one who knows the true name of God is God Himself.

 

References:

ABC’s Of The Bible. (Pleasantville, NY: The Readers Digest Association, Inc., 1991).

Coogan, M. & Smith, M. Stories from Ancient Canaan. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012).

Green, J.P. The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible Vol. I. (Lafayette, IN: Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2000).

The Holy Scriptures, According to the Masoretic Text. (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917).

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

The Holy of Holies and The New Jerusalem

May 22, 2023

The Ark of the Covenant

In 2 Maccabees it is written that prophet Jeremiah, after receiving an oracle from God, took the Ark of the Covenant, hid it in a cave, and then sealed up the entrance. Jeremiah stated that the place where the Ark is hidden, “..shall be unknown until God gathers His people again and shows His mercy.” (2 Macc. 2). It is also believed that at the universal resurrection, the Ark of the Covenant will be the first to be raised up. This could be connected to the ark seen in St. John’s vision of the Apocalypse. After the seventh trumpet, the time of the dead, that they should be judged; St. John writes, “..the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” (Rev. 11:19).

The Holy of Holies

The dimensions of the Holy of Holies are found in 2 Chronicles 3:8, where it states that the height, width, and length of the Holy of Holies were 20 cubits square, and overlaid with fine gold. When calculating the ancient measurement of a cubit to modern English measurements, we come to a unit of length around 20 inches, per one cubit. Interestingly enough, when multiplying this measurement to that of the Holy of Holies we come to a figure of roughly 33 feet! In summation we can certify that the Holy of Holies was a golden cube shaped space.

The New Jerusalem

Now in the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation, St. John writes about New Jersusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. St. John hears 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…” (Rev. 21:3). This New Jerusalem and tabernacle of God has a relationship to the first temple and, more specifically, to the Holy of Holies. St. John continues, “And the city lieth foursquare…The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal…and the city was pure gold…” (Rev. 16, 18). So here we see a heavenly architecture: a golden cube if you will. This would seem to echo the golden cube of the most holy place in the temple of Solomon. Just as the golden Holy of Holies within Solomon’s temple containing the Ark of the Covenant, was the dwelling place of God on earth, so the New Jerusalem in heaven is itself a grand Holy of Holies and the golden city of the Lord Almighty and the bride of the Lamb.

The Spirit of Christ at work in The Prophets

May 22, 2023

The holy men that came before Christ, and who also preached and foretold the coming of the Messiah, were of the prophets. Now before the incarnation of the Son and Word of God, only a select number of men were granted this lofty office. Though these blessed individuals found favor with God, they many times fell out of approval with the people, and lost grace in the eyes of nobility and even royalty. The mission of the prophets was simple, to obey that which the Lord had spoken unto them, and to stand firm even unto death. Just as the prophets foretold and prophesied the coming of the Messiah, Christ Himself too was a prophet and uttered prophecies concerning future events. Christ spoke as the prophets spoke, for it was the Spirit of Christ speaking through the prophets. For the office of prophet is not just predicting the future, but having a special relationship with God and having a unique mission. Simply put, a prophet is a man of God.

Once in Nazareth on the Sabbath day (soon before Jesus began His ministry) He read from the prophet Isaiah – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted…to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19). After reading from the book of Isaiah, Jesus told those in the synagogue that in the day of their hearing this scripture was fulfilled. However, even though the Jews were expecting the Messiah they could not accept the carpenter’s son to be the King of Israel. Jesus then told them that a prophet is not accepted in his own country. This would prove to be prophetic. For no sooner had Christ opened his mouth, that all those in the synagogue were filled with wrath and tried to throw Him over the brow of a hill where their city was built. But he passed through the midst of them and went His way.

Persecution was a common occurrence for the prophets of the Old Testament, and by the experiences of which Christ suffered it would be evident that persecution was a fact of life for Jesus and for all who would follow Him. But in Matthew 5:12, Christ would give hope to all those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. And that is to rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Christ did warn us however, that there would be trials and tribulations, but also promised that if we be faithful unto death, He would give us a crown of life. Just as many of the prophets suffered imprisonment and even death, so too have countless Christian martyrs walked in the shoes of the prophets on their way before kings to give the testimony of Jesus Christ. Just as in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit strengthened the prophets, and so too now in the age of grace the outpouring of God’s Spirit has strengthened all of the saints and believers throughout the centuries. For though the Spirit of God was only for a select few before the coming of Christ, but now after the resurrection of Jesus, God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh – as spoken by the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28).

In His dialogue with the Jewish leader Nicodemus, Christ revealed that unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. In response to Nicodemus’ misunderstanding of being born again from his mother’s womb, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5,6). Christ emphasized the importance of the spirit over the flesh. For to be able to enter heaven, the requirement is to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – to be born again. Although it is a great mystery of how God works upon a person towards them being born of the spirit, scripture does reveal how having a carnal mind prevents someone from being receptive to the Holy Spirit. Christ Himself said, “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing…” (John 6:63). The Apostle Paul would go on to say, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6).

Another attribute of the prophets and specifically Christ, was the word they spoke and the power in which that word was preached. For instance, when Christ began to teach in the synagogues the people, “…were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mark 1:22). As being in a good disposition to be endowed with the grace of God, the disciples of Jesus were sent out and given power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. One Old Testament prophet – Isaiah – after seeing a most magnificent vision of the Lord sitting upon a throne, was distressed because he was a man of unclean lips. Thankfully for Isaiah, a seraphim angel took a fiery coal from off the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s mouth, which took away his iniquity and purged his sin. After this Isaiah would volunteer to serve God, when he heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? (Isaiah 6:1-8). Thus it is evident that only the Spirit of God gives man true power, authority, and everlasting life. As Christ said of God the Father, “I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” (John 8:28). And as Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

Now that we have looked into the spiritual gifts that God granted unto the prophets, let us now turn to the virtuous character of the prophets and of Christ. A key virtue of character that Jesus demonstrated was meekness. Christ said in the beatitudes – blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. The Lord would go on to say as He drew mankind to Himself, “Come unto me, all ye that labor…and I will give you rest…learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29). So here it is revealed that God is humble, not proud. The Lord is mighty, but also meek. So if we are to know God and receive His Holy Spirit, we too must humble ourselves and work to acquire a character of meekness. Just as Moses was a strong man and one of the most powerful of all the prophets, he was also the meekest of men. (Numbers 12:3).

In the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus reveals that, “God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). The Lord said these things to the Samaritan woman, whom He met at Jacob’s well. Christ also spoke unto her concerning how the Father seeks those that worship Him to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and that those who do so are the true worshipers of God. Just as man cannot live by bead alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God, so we men created in the image of God must live by the words that proceed from our own mouth. The words of the prophets were true, and many times God sent signs unto the people to show that the Lord did in fact send them. For after the raising from the dead of the son of the widow of Zidon, “…the woman said to Elijah, now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.” (I Kings 17:24). So here we see that the seal of a prophet, is the Spirit of Truth.

 

References:

Holy Apostles Convent. The Lives of the Holy Prophets. (Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent, 1998).

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