The Gospel of Luke,
Chapter 2 – Christogenea on Talkshoe, June 1st, 2012
Over
the last two weeks, we elucidated the exclusivity of Luke's gospel,
and also showed that Luke's gospel was indeed the gospel of Paul as
well. This must be remembered wherever Paul's epistles are
considered. We also saw that claims of the scoffers, those who say
that a virgin birth occurred in many ancient religions long before
the time of the Hebrew promise of such a thing , and furthermore that
Christianity had borrowed the idea, those claims are fully
discredited by any serious and honest scholarship. Among other
things, one more important aspect of this gospel that was attested
here last week, is how the accounts in Luke of the promises for the
people of Israel which were being fulfilled in Christ actually fit in
perfectly with the teachings of Paul in his epistles, which were all
written to dispersed Israelites. This will be the primary subject of
a talk I shall give this Sunday at the Fellowship of God's Covenant
People here in Kentucky.
1 And it happened in
those days that there came out a decree from Caesar Augustus to
register the whole inhabited world.
Caesar Augustus here is
Gaius Octavius, a nephew of Julius Caesar who adopted him, making him
his heir. He then became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He ruled
Rome as part of a triumvirate from 43 B.C., which ended in the civil
war with Marcus Antonius (Marc Antony) culminating at the Battle of
Actium in 31 B.C. From 27 B.C., Octavian was sole emperor of Rome,
and adopted the title Augustus, by which he is popularly known as
Augustus Caesar. Subsequent emperors also adopted the name Caesar as
a title, which was actually Julius Caesar's personal name, and they
also adopted the use of Augustus as a title, as it is seen later in
the New Testament where its Greek equivalent, Σεβαστός, 4575,
is used to refer to Nero Caesar (Nero
Claudius Caesar
Augustus Germanicus) in Acts 25:21 and 25,
and 27:1.
The word οἰκουμένη
(3625) is simply “world” in the King James Version but here it is
rendered the “inhabited world”, meaning that portion of the
“world”, or “planet”, which was occupied by Greco-Roman
society, which is the κόσμος.
The Romans surely did not register or take taxes from the aboriginal
races of Africa or Asia, and so we have a clear example of the
limited meaning of the word as it is used in the Bible, and it is
exclusive of the territories inhabited primarily by the alien races.
Strabo, the famous Greek geographer of the first century, described
the οἰκουμένη of his own time in depth, and confined it to
Europe, the Near East, and the White northern part of Africa. Strabo
knew of strange lands and strange peoples beyond these, but they were
not a part of his οἰκουμένη. Nor can they be considered a
part of his κόσμος.
Aside from the word
οἰκουμένη , there are two other Greek words in the New
Testament translated as world in most Bibles. The word αἰών
(165) is temporal, not spacial, and it describes an age, a
long but indeterminate period of time. The
word κόσμος (2889) is “order, … decency
… the form, fashion of a thing … of states, order,
government … an ornament, decoration, embellishment, dress
...” (Liddell & Scott). The corresponding verb, κοσμέω,
is “to order, arrange … to dispose, order, rule, govern … to
deck, adorn, deck, furnish, equip … to adorn, embellish ...”
(Liddell & Scott). It is evident, that if the Greeks had the word
οἰκουμένη to describe their physical world, then the κόσμος
was the arrangement of that world, and therefore κόσμος is
properly, but not always necessarily, translated as society.
It is also evident, since as Strabo and other Greek writers describe,
the Greeks considered the οἰκουμένη to be only that part of
the planet which they inhabited, and they knew of lands and tribes
outside of that part of that planet, neither the οἰκουμένη
nor the κόσμος could ever be imagined to include the alien
non-White races in the Biblical or Classical context!
We
can see that same idea in Daniel chapter 2, where Daniel is
interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the beast vision: “38 And
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh
all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”
The
beast empires of Biblical prophecy ruled over practically all of the
White people of the planet, “wheresoever
the children of men dwell”, and only ruled over non-Whites
where the tares (the descendants of Cain) and a small portion of
mixed-race peoples happened to already be involved, for instance in
later Egypt and in Arabia. The few exceptions, however, do not make
the rule. The οἰκουμένη of the Greeks, and “all the
earth” of the Hebrews, referred only to the White world of this
planet, and not to any of the aliens or the alien lands, although of
course there are also tares among the wheat.
Here are just some of
the other uses of the word οἰκουμένη in the New Testament:
Matthew 24:14:
“And this good message of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the
whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the Nations, and
then shall the end come.”
Luke 4:5: “And
bringing Him up he showed Him all of the kingdoms of the
inhabited earth in a moment of time, 6 then the False Accuser
said to Him: 'I will give to You the authority over all this, and
their honor, because to me it was delivered and to whomever I wish I
could give it.'”
Acts 11:28: “And
there arose one of them named Hagabos who indicated through the
Spirit that a great famine is going to come upon the whole inhabited
world, which happened in the time of Klaudios.”
Acts 17:6 “And
not finding them they dragged Iason and some brethren before the
rulers of the city, crying that “They who have been upsetting the
inhabited world are also come here”.
Romans 10:18 “But
I say, have they not heard? Yea, rather, “into all the land went
out their voice, and to the western extremities of the habitable
world their words.””
Hebrews 1:6: “Then
again, when He introduces the First Born into the inhabited world
He says: “and all messengers of Yahweh must worship Him.” ”
Revelation 3:10:
“Because you have kept My Word with patience, I also shall keep
you from the hour of trial about to come upon the whole inhabited
earth to test those dwelling upon the earth. ”
Revelation 12:9:
“And the great dragon had been cast down, that serpent of old, who
is called the False Accuser and the Adversary; he who deceives the
whole inhabited earth had been cast into the earth, and his
messengers had been cast down with him.”
Revelation 16:14:
“For they are the spirits of demons making signs, which go out to
the kings of the whole inhabited earth to gather them to the
battle of the great day of Yahweh the Almighty.”
The οἰκουμένη
– the White Adamic part of the “world”, the dwelling place
of men - is the concern of the Scripture, and the κόσμος
is its adornment, which we properly call society.
The scope of the Biblical story does not change with time, and the
Biblical concern is not extended to aliens simply because the White
man has enlarged his own boundaries.
2 This first
registration happened while Kurenios was governor of Syria.
Kurenios (the Roman
Sulpicius Quirinius) is recorded as being governor of Syria in 6-7
A.D., and he most certainly had an earlier tenure, as Luke tells us
here, in 3 B.C. although this has not been verified in the
fragmentary Roman records of the period. It is generally not known
among secular historians just who the Roman governors of Syria were
from 4 through 1 B.C. The office was typically held for two years,
and often its holders were reappointed to additional terms. Because
of this lapse in the records which we have available, there is
dispute over Luke and the time of Christ's birth. Accepting the
Biblical record, one should be persuaded that Sulpicius Quirinius was
governor of Syria during this period also, at least during the years
4 and 3 B.C. There are records of Quirinius' presence in Syria in
various capacities before 4 B.C. The year 3 B.C. would be Augustus’
25th anniversary as emperor, and also the 750th anniversary of the
year traditionally recognized by the Romans as the year in which the
city was founded (753 BC). There is archaeological evidence from
Paphlagonia and Armenia that an oath of allegiance to the emperor was
required along with a registration at this very time. From his own
words in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The
Deeds of the Divine Augustus),
which was his own funerary inscription and sort of an abbreviated
autobiography, Augustus wrote that in 2 B.C. he was granted the title
“Father of my Country” by “the senate and the equestrian order
and the entire Roman people”, which seems to have been the primary
purpose of this very registration. The registration most likely began
in 3 B.C., when Joseph and Mary were registered in Bethlehem, and
completed early in 2 B.C., in time for the emperor’s anniversary
festivities. Many commentators insist that Christ was born before or
during 4 B.C., which is impossible considering Luke 3:1 and 3:23,
where we find Luke's own comments concerning the age of Christ being
“about 30 years old” in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar,
which has to be near the fall of 28 AD.
The commentators who
place the birth of Christ back to before 4 B.C. do so because Herod
was alive for some time after Christ’s birth (as it is evident in
Matthew chapter 2), and the historian Josephus places Herod’s death
near an eclipse of the moon. One eclipse is known to have occurred,
through astronomical calculations, in March of 4 B.C., and they
assume that this is the eclipse which Josephus mentioned. Yet there
was another eclipse, which seems not to be mentioned by the
commentators, which occurred on January 10th of 1 B.C. This later
eclipse is a much more likely candidate by which to mark Herod’s
death. While its author is just another mainstream dispensationalist,
the book The Birth of Christ Recalculated,
by Ernest L. Martin, is a thorough argument in favor of the January
10th, 1 B.C. eclipse. [His research in this area is also available in
an online article, The
Lunar Eclipse of Josephus,
at askelm.com.]
3 And all had gone
to be registered, each to his city.
The Codex Alexandrinus
(A) and the Majority Text have “...each to his own city...”; The
Codex Ephraemi Syri (C) has “...each to his own land...”; The
Codex Bezae (D) has “...each to his fatherland...”. The text
follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א),
Vaticanus (B), and Washingtonensis (W).
4 So then Ioseph
went up from Galilaia, from the city Nazareth, into Judaea to a city
of David which is called Bethlehem, because of his being of the house
and family of David,
That the Greeks “went
up” to Jerusalem and certain other places is a common illustration
in the New Testament. In modern times Americans usually go “up”
north or “down” south, evidently because of the way in which we
orientate our maps. The word here is ἀναβαίνω (305), to
go up or to mount. The Greeks went “up” in altitude,
or to go inland from the sea. They went “down” in altitude or
traveling to the sea. A famous story, from the noun form of
ἀναβαίνω, is Xenophon's The Anabasis, often
translated The March Inland, which in the book was from the
coasts of Western Anatolia to Babylonia.
6. ἐξ οἴκου
καὶ πατριᾶς Δαυίδ, “of the house and family of
David”. Being of the house of David seems to denote a right to the
inheritance of what belonged to David, in line with or in the absence
of other heirs, as is evident at Genesis 15:2-3, II Samuel 3:10, et
al. Being of the family of David ensures us that Joseph actually
descended from David, hence the terms are not redundant, as many seem
to infer that they are. Πατριά (3965), elsewhere in the N.T.
only at Acts 3:25 and Ephesians 3:15, is “lineage, pedigree,
by the father’s side...II. ...a clan, house,
family...” (L & S). This may also be the reason for the
two separate genealogies of Matthew and Luke, as shall be discussed
when Luke chapter 3 is presented, although it cannot be told with any
absolute certainty.
5 to be registered
with Mariam, whom was promised in marriage to him, she being
pregnant. 6 And it happened to them while being there that the days
of which she was to bear had been fulfilled.
The Codex Alexandrinus
(A) and the Majority Text have “promised in marriage to him for a
wife”; the text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א),
Vaticanus (B), Ephraemi Syri, Bezae (D) and Washingtonensis (W). The
verb μνηστεύω, “promised in marriage” was discussed at
length at Luke 1:27, where it was explained that both betrothed
and engaged are possible alternatives. Here Luke again
stresses the fact that Joseph is not the natural father of the baby
which Mariam carries.
7 And she gave birth
to her first-born Son, and swathed Him and laid Him in a
feeding-trough, since there was not a place for them at the inn.
Only
the fifth-century Codex Washingtonensis wants the word which is
rendered “first-born” here. It appears in all other ancient
manuscripts where this verse is attested. That Luke would go out of
his way to explain that Yahshua was Mariam's first-born son
elucidates the fact, as it has often been presented here, that Mariam
indeed had other children later on in life, as we see James and Joses
and Jude, who are called “the brethren of the Lord” in the King
James Version, and also a couple of daughters, all who are mentioned
in her company several times in later Scriptures.
Matthew 12:46-47, from
an account also supplied by Luke and Mark: “46 While He yet spoke
to the crowds, behold, His mother and brethren stood outside seeking
to speak with Him. 47 And someone said to Him: 'Behold, Your mother
and Your brethren stand outside seeking to speak with You!'” Since
not one, but at least several of these children were still
accompanying their mother in her travels as Christ was already over
thirty years of age, it is evident that they were somewhat younger
than Christ. She must have had children later on in life.
Mariam
“laid Him in a feeding-trough”. A φάτνη (5336) is a
“manger, crib, feeding-trough” (Liddell &
Scott) and certainly not, as we use the word today, a crib as an
infant’s bed. Rather, a crib in this sense is “a rack or trough
for fodder; a manger” (The American Heritage College Dictionary,
crib, 2.b.). While manger is a kinder word than
feeding-trough, it seems not to retain the prophetic impact which the
event was foretold by: for as four-legged sheep eat their grain from
a feeding-trough, Christ is the bread of life for His own sheep, as
He Himself explains at John 6:30-50. We have life by eating out of
that trough.
8 And there were
shepherds in that area, dwelling in the field and keeping a watch by
night over their sheep. 9 And a messenger of Yahweh stood over them,
and the effulgence of Yahweh shone about them, and they feared a
great fear. 10 Then the messenger said to them: “Do not fear, for
behold! I bring to you a message of great joy which is for all the
people [not
'all peoples']: 11 That today there has been born to
you a Savior, who is the Anointed Prince, in the city of David. 12
And this is a sign for you, you shall find an infant swathed and
lying in a feeding-trough.”
The word χριστός
(5547), usually “Christ”, is primarily a Greek adjective which
means “anointed”. Therefore here it is “the Anointed Prince”.
Generally the Christogenea New Testament renders the word κύριος
where it is a title for Christ as prince, rather than as lord.
On
the surface, the accounts of Luke and Matthew are strikingly
different accounts of the circumstances surrounding the birth of
Christ. However they by no means conflict with one another. Matthew's
account is centered on the magi. Chapter 2 of Matthew's gospel opens
in this manner: “1 Now Yahshua being born in Bethlehem of
Judaea in the days of Herodas the king, behold! Magi from the east
arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying 'Where is He having been born King of
the Judaeans? For we have seen His star in the east and we have come
to worship Him!'” After the magi
see the Christ child (Matthew 2:11) only then does Joseph go to Egypt
(Matthew 2:13-14). The misconception is that the magi appeared on or
immediately after the night of Christ's birth. But Matthew never
explicitly tells us how long it had been between the birth of Christ
and the appearance of the magi. At Matthew 2:11, Joseph and Mary are
already staying in a house, a house which they did not have at the
birth of Christ, and therefore the child was no longer in a manger.
It may have been several months, or even many months, from the birth
of Christ unto the time when the magi appeared in Jerusalem! One
thing is certain, the magi never saw the manger, but these shepherds
described by Luke certainly did.
At
Matthew 2:7 it is seen that “Herodas calling the magi secretly,
exacted precisely from them the time of the appearance of the star”.
It must have taken the magi quite some time, after seeing this star,
to prepare for the trip that they had to take once they saw this
star, especially since they most likely came from Parthia. The Magi
were a priesthood found primarily among the Persians, Medes, and
Parthians. Babylon, one of the closest major cities of ancient
Parthia to Jerusalem, was 500 miles across the desert, and most of
Parthia was much further away than that. Therefore “Herodas, seeing
that he had been mocked by the magi, had been exceedingly angered,
and sending he slew all the children who were in Bethlehem and in all
of its borders from two years and below, according to the
time which he exacted from the magi”
(Matthew 2:16). So the magi must have estimated that the Christ child
was possibly as old as two years when they came into Jerusalem.
Luke's
account of the birth of Christ ends at the beginning of the second
month of His life, in the temple at Jerusalem, which is evident in
verses 22 through 24 of this chapter. Aside from the words of Sumeon
and Anna which were spoken in the temple at that time, and which Luke
recorded, there was nothing extraordinary about the appearance in the
temple of the infant Christ which should have attracted any
attention. The presentation and circumcision of a new-born infant at
the temple was an ordinary event. Therefore the account of these
events found in Luke concerning the birth of Christ easily took place
in the interim between His birth and the appearance of the magi,
which most likely occurred many months later. These accounts of
Matthew and Luke neither conflict, nor do they even overlap one
another.
13 And suddenly
there were with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly army
praising Yahweh and saying: 14 “Honor to Yahweh in the heights, and
peace upon the earth among approved men.”
The Codices Vaticanus
(B) and Bezae (D) have “of the army of heaven”.
The King James Version
ends verse 14 with the words “and on earth peace, good will toward
men”, a reading of the Greek which does not exist in any manuscript
from before the 6th century, but which is found in the
Majority Text. That edition, upon which the King James Version was
based, has εὐδοκία (2107) in the Nominative case, which may
also be read “...and peace upon the earth, goodwill among men”;
the text of the Christogenea New Testament follows the original
readings of the Codices Sinaiticus (א),
Alexandrinus (A),Vaticanus (B), and Washingtonensis (W), all of which
have εὐδοκίας, which is the Genitive case, “...and peace
upon the earth among approved men”, which may also have been
written “...and peace upon the earth among men of approval”.
Other versions which have realized this error, such as the
ASV and the NAS, have offered translations that treat the noun
εὐδοκίας as a verb: “And
on earth peace among men in (or with)
whom he is well pleased.”
15 And it happened,
as the messengers departed from them into the heaven, the shepherds
had said to each other “Indeed we should pass through unto
Bethlehem and see this account which happened which Yahweh has made
known to us.” 16 And being eager they went, and discovered both
Mariam and Ioseph, and the infant lying in the feeding-trough. 17 And
seeing it they made known concerning the account which had been
spoken to them about this child. 18 And all of those hearing wondered
concerning the things being spoken to them by the shepherds. 19 And
Mariam kept together all of these words, collecting them in her
heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, honoring and praising Yahweh
for all which they heard and saw, just as it had been spoken to them.
“And
Mariam kept together all of these words, collecting them in her
heart”: Here Luke tells us inexplicitly just how he had managed to
acquire these accounts in order to write them so intimately: for they
were passed down directly from Mariam herself. This event with the
shepherds did happen in the first week of the life of Christ, which
is readily evident as Luke's account proceeds.
21 And when eight
days were fulfilled for which to circumcise Him then His name was
called Yahshua, which He had been called by the messenger before His
conception in the womb.
At
Luke 1:31, the angel says to Mariam: “Now behold, you shall
conceive in the womb and you shall beget a Son, and you shall call
His name Yahshua.”
In
chapter 1 of Luke, concerning the birth of Iohannes (John the
Baptist), we read: “59 And it happened upon the eighth day that
they came to circumcise the child and they called him by the name of
his father, Zacharias. 60 And replying his mother said 'No, rather he
shall be called Iohannes!'” Therefore the custom is apparent, that
a male child was named upon his circumcision.
22 And when the days
of their purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses,
they brought Him into Jerusalem to stand before Yahweh, 23 just as it
is written in the law of Yahweh that “every male opening the womb
shall be called holy to Yahweh,” 24 and to give an offering
according to that spoken in the law of Yahweh, “a pair of
turtle-doves or two young pigeons.”
That every male opening
the womb (every first-born male) is sacred to Yahweh paraphrases
Exodus chapter 13, verses 2, 12, and 15. The duration of the mother’s
purification, during which she was separated from normal social
intercourse, was 33 days after the child’s circumcision, in
addition to the 7 days prior to the circumcision, for which see
Leviticus 12:2-4. For reasons that can only be conjectured, the
duration is much longer when the infant is a female 12:5.
Aside from illustrating
the customs which occurred here in the law, Leviticus chapter 12 also
shows, in verse 8, that Joseph and Mariam were indigent, since upon
the birth of their son they sacrificed two doves, rather than a dove
and a lamb: “1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and
born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to
the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. 3
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and
thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the
sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. 5 But if she
bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her
separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying
threescore and six days. 6 And when the days of her purifying are
fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of
the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a
turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation, unto the priest: 7 Who shall offer it before the
LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from
the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male
or a female. 8 And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall
bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt
offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make
an atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
The ancient Greeks had
this same custom of a woman remaining separate due to impurity after
childbirth, although the time was far reduced. David Kovacs
translates Euripides' Electra, line 654 and the words of the
title character, in this manner: “Ten days ago, the time a woman
who has given birth keeps pure.” A footnote in the Loeb Classical
Library edition states “In the Greek view birth, like death,
produces a taint (miasma), and
the woman abstains from intercourse with her husband to avoid passing
it on. After ten days she is ritually purified by a sacrifice.”
25 And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Sumeon and this man was
righteous and devout, expecting the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it was forewarned to him by the Holy
Spirit, not to see death before he should see the Anointed Prince. 27
And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and in there being
introduced to the parents of the child Yahshua, upon their doing that
which is according to the custom of the law concerning Him, 28 then
he took Him into his arms and praised Yahweh, and said: 29
“Now release Your servant, Master, in peace according to Your word:
Sumeon
was very old, had been promised to live until this time, and he could
now die in peace, on which account he spoke the words “now release
your servant, Master”.
Sumeon
was expecting “the consolation of Israel”. That word, παράκλησις,
may also be rendered as comfort. Isaiah 51:3: “For the LORD
shall comfort Zion”. Hebrews 6:18: “That by two immutable things,
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us”.
30 Because my eyes
have seen Your Salvation, 31 which You have prepared in front of all
the people:
“In
front of all the people”, the words τῶν λαῶν, the
Genitive plural form of λαός (2992), with the article, are “the
people, both in singular
and plural” according to Liddell & Scott, Brenton nevertheless
writes “peoples” in his Septuagint translation in some places
(i.e. Psalm 117:1). The A.V. has “people” here, ignoring the
presence of the definite article. Thayer makes no definite comment
but “the plural...seems to be used of the tribes of the people”
giving Genesis 49:10, Deuteronomy 32:8, Isaiah 3:13, and Acts 4:27 as
examples. Contextually, all of the tribes of the people of Israel is
the apparent reference here, as a single unit, though they be many
nations by this time (see the note at v. 32). However if the phrase
is to be understood as the King James has it, that is also a fair
understanding in light of Psalm 98:2, and Isaiah 40:5 and 52:10:
Psalm
98, from the Septuagint: “2 The Lord has made known his salvation,
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.”
Isaiah
40: “5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
Isaiah
52: “10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the
nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our
God.”
32 a light for the
revelation of the Nations and honor of Your people Israel!”
The phrase φῶς εἰς
ἀποκάλυψιν ἐθνῶν here is “a light for the
revelation of the Nations”, and it may have been rendered “a
light for a revelation of the Nations”. The word ἀποκάλυψις
(602) is a noun, meaning an uncovering, a
revelation (Liddell & Scott), and it is
the same word which supplies the alternate name for the Book of
Revelation in our Bible, the Apocalypse.
The King James Version rendering, “a light to lighten the
Gentiles”, uses the noun ἀποκάλυψις as a verb, which is
both impossible and inexcusable. Furthermore, the King James Version
rendering would require that the noun for nations
be in the accusative case, to be a direct object of the non-existent
verb, which it is not. Paul defines the faith which Abraham had as
being the belief in the promise of Yahweh, that his offspring would
become many nations, in Romans Chapter 4. Here we see that it is the
light of the Gospel which would make those nations manifest, and
certainly it did once the people of Europe became known collectively
as Christendom. This wonderful truth of the Christian Israel
fulfillment of Scripture is therefore hidden in the mistranslations
of the King James Version and most other Bibles.
While some versions
attempt to correct the King James Version's plain grammatical error,
not having any understanding they twist other parts of the statement.
For instance, the NAS has the phrase “A light of revelation to the
Gentiles”, but the preposition εἰς and the Accusative intend
“for a revelation”, where the NAS rendering would require the
preposition ἐκ, meaning of or from, and the Genitive form of the
noun. The ASV rendering is just as treacherous. Here the phrase is “A
light for revelation to the Gentiles”. That rendering would require
that the word ἐθνῶν, which is the Genitive case plural “of
[the] Nations”, instead be in the Dative case plural ἔθνεσιν.
Let us read verse 32 once more: “a light for the
revelation of the Nations and honor of Your people Israel!”Although
it is not properly a hendiadys, which is a grammatical construction
that employs a definite article and different nouns which refer to
the same entity, neither do we have here any construction which would
distinguish them: the Nations
and the honor here
certainly both belonging to “Your people Israel”, meaning the
Israel of Yahweh of the Old Testament. The Israelites were prophesied
to leave Palestine at an early time (II Samuel 7:10; I Chronicles
17:9; Genesis 28:14) and to become many nations (Genesis 35:11; Acts
9:15 et al.).
Genesis 28:14: “And thy seed shall be as the dust
of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
These things certainly happened, as it is revealed by
a study of ancient history that many of the Greeks, Romans, Trojans,
Phoenicians, and other peoples descended from Israelites migrating
out of Palestine long before the Assyrian deportations, and that the
Parthians, Scythians, Kimmerians, and others which became the
Germanic tribes all descended from the Israelites of the Assyrian
deportations. Along with certain Japhethite tribes (for example, the
Ionians at Athens whom Paul addresses at Acts 17:22-31), these
Israelites make up the population of Europe, and are the White
Europeans (as opposed to the later Arab and Turkic invaders) of
today. To them did the Apostles bear the light of the gospel, and in
them is found Christendom, fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies
which concerned the true Israelites, and not the jews.
Micah chapter 7: “7
Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my
salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD
shall be a light unto me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD,
because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and
execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I
shall behold his righteousness.”
Isaiah chapter 51: “3
For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste
places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert
like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. 4 Hearken unto me, my people;
and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me,
and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My
righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms
shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm
shall they trust. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon
the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and
the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein
shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my
righteousness shall not be abolished.”
Of course, Christ
Himself is the light which made the Nations and Glory of Israel
manifest. John chapter 1 explains that Christ was the light come into
the world, and at John 8:12 Christ exclaims: “I am the light of the
Society. He following Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life!”
Again we see that Luke is the Christian Identity
gospel, since while all of the gospels are important, Luke preserves
for us the very purpose of the gospel better than any of the others.
Luke chapter 1 informs us that through the fulfillment of the
promises, speaking of God, “54 He has come to the aid of His
servant Israel, to call mercy into remembrance, 55 just as He spoke
to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring for the age.”
Later in Luke chapter 1 we have spelled out for us by Zacharias the
very purpose of the coming of the Christ: “68 Blessed is Yahweh the
God of Israel, that He has visited and brought about redemption for
His people, 69 and has raised a horn of salvation for us in the house
of David His servant, 70 just as He spoke through the mouths of His
holy prophets from of old: 71 preservation from our enemies and from
the hand of all those who hate us! 72 To bring about mercy with our
fathers and to call into remembrance His holy covenant, 73 the oath
which He swore to Abraham our father, which is given to us: 74 being
delivered fearlessly from the hands of our enemies to serve Him 75 in
piety and in righteousness before Him for all of our days.” Now
here in Luke chapter 2 we see these same Old Testament promises to
Israel reiterated in the words of Sumeon: “30 Because my eyes have
seen Your Salvation, 31 which You have prepared in front of all the
people: 32 a light for the revelation of the Nations and honor of
Your people Israel!” Luke's gospel was also Paul's gospel, and
those who would despise it would cast away these assurances of
absolute Israelite exclusivity and the proofs of Israel Identity
found in our Scriptures. Those who would despise it cast aside the
links in Scripture between the ancient Hebrew and the Aryan people of
God, for no other writings in Scripture reveal these things to the
same extent as Luke and Paul reveal them.
33 And His
father and mother were wondering at the things being spoken
concerning Him. 34 Then Sumeon blessed them and said to Mariam
His mother: “Behold, He is set for a fall and a restoration
of many in Israel, and for a sign speaking in opposition. 35 But a
sword shall pass through your own soul also, that the
reasonings of the hearts of many should be revealed.”
Sumeon reveals the
travails that Mariam herself would undergo on account of her Son.
Christ was set for a “fall and a restoration of many in Israel”:
those who ignored or rejected him and sided with His enemies would
fall. All of those who would accept Him would be restored.
“He
is set for a fall and a restoration
of many in Israel...” From John chapter 12, after a
discourse between Christ and the leaders at Jerusalem: “42
Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but
because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should
be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more
than the praise of God.”
This is the meaning of
the illustration which Paul makes in Romans chapter 11. Paul is not
speaking of the cursed Edomites here, whom he already tells us in
Romans chapter 9 are the children of Esau and “vessels of
destruction”. Rather, he is only talking about the children of
Jacob, the “vessels of mercy”:
Here is Paul's allegory
of the olive trees, from Romans chapter 11, along with some comments:
“11 Now I say, did they stumble in order that they would fall?
[Meaning the true Israelites in Judaea.] Certainly not! [Because all
Israel shall be saved.] But in their fall is preservation to the
Nations [Without the crucifixion of Christ, there is no
reconciliation for Israel because the law of divorce is not
fulfilled.], for the provocation of them to jealousy. [Since they do
not understand the dispersions of Israel and the mercy that the
people of the dispersions are to receive, but rather they sought to
justify themselves by the law.] 12 But if their fall is the wealth of
the Society, and their defeat the wealth of the Nations [restoration
for all of Israel], how much more their fullness [when they too are
granted mercy]? 13 Indeed I speak to you, the Nations [of Abraham
through Jacob, evident in Paul's discourse at 1 Corinthians chapter
10], because I am an ambassador of the Nations [the dispersed of
Israel], I honor my office, 14 if possibly I would provoke to
jealousy my kinsmen, and preserve some from among them [as Paul told
us in the beginning of Romans 9, he only cared for his kinsmen who
are the true Israelites of Judaea]. 15 Indeed if the disposal of them
is the reconciliation of the Society, what would the acceptance be,
if not life from among the dead [that they too would be preserved]?
16 Now if the first fruit is sacred [the earliest Christians], then
also the balance, and if the root is sacred, also the branches. [It
is the whole seed of Israel that is holy!] 17 But if some of the
branches have been broken off and you, being of a wild olive tree,
were grafted in among them, having become a partaker of the richness
of the root of the olive tree, 18 you must not exult over the
branches; but if you exult, you will not sustain the root, or the
root you. [In all of Paul's letters, only the Romans are likened to
the wild olive tree: they are Israelites whose ancestors departed
from the main body in Egypt before Israel received the law and the
covenants. For this reason they are still olives, but they are wild
olives, yet they are still Israelites under the promises.] 19 Now you
will say, Those branches have been broken off, in order that I would
be grafted in? [The dispersion of Israel had no reconciliation
without the death of Christ.] 20 Correct, in disbelief they were
broken off, and you in faith stand. Be not proud, but reverent. 21
Indeed if Yahweh spared not the natural branches, perhaps you may not
be spared. [Those who continued to reject him ended up mixing in with
the Edomites and all the races they later mixed with in turn, being
excluded from the empire once it turned to Christianity.] 22 Behold
then the goodness and severity of Yahweh: certainly upon those who
have fallen, severity; but the goodness of Yahweh upon you, if then
you abide in that goodness, otherwise you also will be cut off
[falling in the trials of fire in this life]. 23 Moreover they also,
if they do not remain in disbelief, shall be grafted in; indeed
Yahweh is able to graft them in anew. [Again, all Israel shall be
saved.] 24 If you from out of a naturally wild olive tree had been
cut off, and contrary to nature had been grafted into a cultivated
olive tree, how much more can those natural ones be grafted into
their own olive tree?”
“And
for a sign speaking in opposition”: The King James Version is “and
for a sign which shall be spoken against”, and the ASV and NAS also
retain that sense. Somehow ἀντιλεγόμενον is
treated as a Passive Participle by those translations when in fact it
is an Accusative singular Present Medium Participle of ἀντιλέγω
(483), “to speak against...contradict...Passive
to be disputed...absolute to speak one against the other,
speak in opposition...” (Liddell & Scott). Therefore in
the Christogenea New Testament it is the sign which is doing the
speaking: the crucifixion of Christ is seen as having convicted His
enemies.
36 Then there was
Anna a prophetess, a daughter of Phanouel, from the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced greatly in age, living with a husband for seven
years from her maidenhood, 37 and she is a widow for as long as
eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, serving with
fasting and in supplication night and day. 38 And at that hour
standing nearby she confessed to Yahweh and spoke concerning Him to
all those awaiting redemption in Jerusalem.
The end of v. 36, with
the beginning of v. 37, may be read literally: “...she was advanced
in many days, living with a husband seven years from her maidenhood
and she is a widow up to eighty-four years...”. The traditional age
of marriage for a woman was no younger than 16, although a promise in
marriage may be made much sooner (betrothal). If Anna was 16 when she
lost her virginity, she became a widow at 23, and so she was 107
years old here, or perhaps only 97 if the reading of the Codex
Sinaiticus (א)
is correct, as that manuscript has 74 years rather than 84. Reading
84 years, Anna would have been born around 110 B.C.! The word
παρθένος, “maidenhood” in the text, may have been read
“virginity”.
As it is evident in the
gospels, many of the people of Judaea were awaiting a Messiah at this
very time, as we have also seen that Sumeon at verse 25, was
“expecting the consolation of Israel.” Daniel’s 70 week
prophecy, found at Daniel 9:24-27, must have been understood in some
degree, and there was messianic expectation throughout the region at
the time (as the woman at the well in Samaria also displayed, which
is recorded at John 4:25). Yet it is obvious that Daniel chapter 9
was not fully understood, since the prophecy that Messiah “shall...be
cut off” was not on the minds of the people, who rather expected
Him to become their temporal ruler at that time (Mark 15:43; Luke
19:38; Acts 1:6).
It is quite plausible
that Israelites of the tribe of Asher remained in Palestine and were
cognizant of their identity until this time. For while most of the
Israelites, including Judah and Benjamin, were taken away by the
Assyrians between 741 and 676 B.C., and the inhabitants of Jerusalem
along with the mainland city of Tyre were taken away by the
Babylonians, the island city of Tyre remained intact all through
these deportations and the throughout the Persian period, right up to
the time of Alexander the Great. It is more than evident in the Old
Testament that the tribe of Asher, along with some of the northern
Israelite tribes, fully inhabited Tyre and the coasts of what the
Greeks called “Phoenicia”, and that they were the principal
people of the “Phoenicians” of Greek literature. From Herodotus
and other sources it is evident that the Phoenicians of Tyre, the
island city, prospered well during the Persian period and had every
opportunity to spread themselves back to the mainland, before
Alexander built a mole out to the island and destroyed it for not
capitulating to him, which happened circa 330 B.C. While it is
obvious that “Phoenicia” became a mere geographic distinction,
and that the Canaanites of the region were later also called
“Phoenicians” by the Greeks (compare Matt. 15:22, Mark 7:26),
because they dwelt in that land, the Canaanites and related tribes
were absorbed into all of the other Greco-Roman districts in this
same manner (i.e. Judaea, Syria, Ituraea, Cappadocia, etc.), yet
certainly not all of the region’s inhabitants were of the polluted
Canaanite stock.
39 And as they
completed all the things according to the law of Yahweh, they
returned into Galilaia to their city Nazareth. 40 And the child grew
and was strengthened, being filled with wisdom, and the favor of
Yahweh was with Him.
The Codex Bezae appends
to the end of verse 39 the words “just as it was spoken through the
prophet, that He would be called a Nazoraion”, for which see
Matthew 2:23.
41 And His parents
had gone each year into Jerusalem for the feast of Passover.
All
men of Israel were commanded to appear before Yahweh on three of the
yearly feasts. This is commanded at Exodus 23:14-17, and also at
Deuteronomy 16:16 where it says in the King James Version:
“Deuteronomy 16: 16 Three times in a year shall all thy males
appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in
the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the
feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD
empty”.
This
was commanded in the law only of all of the men of Israel, and
therefore of the women it was voluntary. We see evidence of this with
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, at 1 Samuel chapter 1: “20 Wherefore
it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had
conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying,
Because I have asked him of the LORD. 21 And the man Elkanah, and all
his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and
his vow. 22 But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I
will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him,
that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.”
42 And when
He attained twelve years, upon their going up according to the custom
of the feast, 43 and having fulfilled the days, upon their
returning the child Yahshua had stayed behind in Jerusalem, and His
parents knew it not, 44 but they believed Him to be among the
travelers. Having gone a day’s journey then they sought Him
among the kinsmen and acquaintances. 45 And not finding Him
they returned to Jerusalem seeking Him. 46 And after three days
passed, they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the
teachers and listening to them and questioning them. 47 And all those
hearing Him were amazed by His intelligence and replies. 48 And
seeing Him they were astonished, and His mother said to Him “Child,
why have You done thusly to us? Behold, Your father and I
travailing have sought You!” 49 And He said to them: “Why
have you sought Me? Do you not know that it is necessary for Me to be
engaged in the matters of My Father?”
Literally only “for
Me to be in”, the phrase “engaged in” is an idiomatic
rendering of the word ἐν, for which at ἐν, II., 1. L & S
give an example of ἐν λόγοις εἶναι, as used by Plato,
“to be engaged in oratory”, where the literal meaning is
only “to be in words”. The next phrase, “the
matters”, is from the Dative plural Article, τοῖς, and is
literally “the things”. The large 9th edition of the Liddell &
Scott Greek-English Lexicon, at the Article, ὁ, ἡ, τό, B.,
II., 2., gives examples quite similar to this one and with similar
renderings illustrating this use of the Article. Literally the entire
phrase is “for Me to be in the things of My Father”.
We
see an episode where Christ as a child desired to act before His
appointed time. This, I am persuaded, is an example for us, that we
all want to act in our own
time, on our own volition, however our Father in heaven has
His Own plan, and that is the plan that shall and must prevail.
Christ realized this, and therefore knowing that the time was not
yet, He relented and “He was keeping Himself subject to them”.
The phrase indicates that He had the ability not to be subject to
them, even at 12 years of age, but that He knew that it was better to
await the proper time, and therefore it was meet for Him to remain
subject to them. There is a lesson in that humility and patience for
all of us today.
50 And they did not
understand the words which He had spoken to them.
His
parents must have realized that the young Yahshua was indeed an
extraordinary child, but they obviously did not understand how that
would impact the life they should have raising Him.
51 And He descended
with them and went to Nazareth, and was keeping Himself subject to
them. And His mother maintained all of these words in her heart.
καταβαίνω
(2597) is to descend here, the antonym of ἀναβαίνω.
“His
mother maintained all of these words in her heart”, which is how
these accounts were preserved so that Luke could make a compilation
of them later.
52 And Yahshua
advanced in wisdom and in stature and in favor before Yahweh and men.
The
British Israel interpreters love to make much about the “missing
years in the life of Christ”, the 18 years in the gospel between
this event which Luke has described, and his baptism by John at age
30. They usually assert that because John did not recognize Christ as
his cousin when Christ first came to him, that therein lies the proof
that Christ must have been in Britain during those years. This is all
quite creative, and once upon a time I was actually convinced by them
myself. But in the end there is no actual proof that Christ ever left
Palestine. Here Luke infers that he came of age in Nazareth, where he
states that Yahshua “descended with them and went to Nazareth, and
was keeping Himself subject to them” and where He then “advanced
in wisdom and in stature and in favor before Yahweh and men.”
It
is just as easily explained by Luke why John did not recognize Christ
as his own cousin. In Luke chapter 1, verse 80, it says this of John
the Baptist after he was born: “And the child grew and was
strengthened in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of
his manifestation to Israel.” In the wilderness, he evidently was
not in Nazareth, and did not see Christ until he was to baptize Him
in the Jordan many years later.
A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles is currently being presented by William Finck on Christogenea Internet Radio every Friday night at 8PM Eastern.
