I began this evening with a short discussion of Ten Years of Christogenea, which is found at the Christogenea Forum.

On the Gospel of John, Part 13: A Tale of Two Women

In our last presentation in this series, discussing the first 20 verses of John chapter 4, we gave some background into the history of Samaria from the time of the Assyrian deportations, in order to show that there were many Persians, Babylonians, Syrians and others who were resettled there by the ancient Assyrians at the height of their empire, and the Judaean historian Flavius Josephus generally referred to these new inhabitants as Cutheans. But, as we showed from the historical accounts of Scripture, there was also a significant number of remnant Israelites who had remained there, who had escaped the Assyrian captivity. Then in addition to these groups, there was also a large number of Levites and Judahites from Jerusalem who had relocated themselves to the area around Gerizim as early as the late 4th century BC, and who by this time could be called Judaeans. Many of these had mixed with the Cutheans, as Josephus had also explained. We also pointed out the fact that on at least a couple of occasions, Josephus certainly seemed to distinguish the inhabitants of Shechem and Gerizim from the peoples whom the Assyrians had imported. Then, around 330 BC, a second temple was built on Gerizim, and from that time a community of Judaeans and proselytes worshipped at Gerizim before that temple fell into disuse, over a period of about two hundred years. But even though the temple was abandoned, it is apparent that both remnant Israelites and the more recently introduced Judaeans had continued to inhabit the area.

Flavius Josephus, describing the period of the rule of John Hyrcanus which began around 130 BC, said that the temple at Gerizim “was now deserted two hundred years after it was built” (Antiquities 13:256), where it is evident that that period of 200 years must have been from the building of that temple to the time of John Hyrcanus. So to us, that also suggests that it was the Maccabees themselves, who were the Levitical high priests at Jerusalem, that had most likely put an end to the worship at Gerizim after their conquest of the area – although Josephus does not state that explicitly. But here in John chapter 4 it is also apparent that at least some of the people around Gerizim, whether descendants of the remnant Israelites or of those Judaeans who relocated there in the 4th century, had continued in the customs of their ancestors.

On the Gospel of John, Part 12: The Parable of the Samaritan Woman

In the later portion of John chapter 3, after the discourse which Christ had with Nicodemus, John, the author of our Gospel, described the baptizing of the people by the disciples of Christ, the contention which John the Baptist was having with certain pharisees about baptism, and then the inquiry which the disciples of John had made concerning the baptizing conducted by the disciples of Christ. He then recorded John the Baptist’s testimony in response to that inquiry, that “a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven”, which seems to have answered both the query of his disciples and the contention of the pharisees at the same time, and then in a clear reference to Christ he said “28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

At this point in time, John did not necessarily know that Yahshua was the Messiah, as we see that later, after John was imprisoned, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 11 and in Luke chapter 7, John had sent disciples to Christ specifically to ask Him that very thing. Rather, at this time John was simply proclaiming that one greater than he was going to come, and that his own purpose was only to make that announcement. Then John made the illustration of the bridegroom to inform his disciples that the one coming after him would have the people flock to him, and that he would be magnified, while John himself was diminished, and therefore that one was the expected Messiah, a role which John himself denied. In that manner, when John’s disciples saw one coming after him who fulfilled that description, they would know that he was the Messiah. But John, once he was in prison, could not see that for himself, so he sent his disciples to ask. So in that last part of John chapter 3, John the Baptist was not necessarily describing what was happening, but rather he was only explaining what was supposed to happen, which is according to the prophecies concerning him in Isaiah chapter 40 and Malachi chapter 3. Of the prophecy, men cannot tell what is going to happen, but can only know what Yahweh God has promised to make happen.

On the Gospel of John, Part 11: Bride and Bridegroom

This is the fourth and, for now, the final presentation of our commentary on John chapter 3. In the three previous portions of this series we hope to have discussed adequately the conversation between Yahshua Christ and Nicodemus, the faithful but puzzled pharisee. We also hope to have established the Scriptural basis for what is “born from above”, which is the establishment by Yahweh of the ancient children of Israel into a peculiar and separate people living under His law. We saw that this was stated explicitly in the words of Solomon, in Wisdom chapter 19. However we also hope to have established that in the spiritual sense, the term is applicable to the wider Adamic race by the nature of their original creation, while Solomon used language that invokes the Genesis creation account to describe the establishment of Israel under the law at Sinai as a new aspect of God’s creation. So he wrote, as we may translate the Greek, “6 For the whole creation in its proper kind was fashioned again from above, serving the peculiar commandments that were given to them, that thy children might be kept without hurt.”

Furthermore, we hope to have established that the “world” which Christ had come to save was that very same thing: the once-present and then-future world which had been, and which still is, promised to come of those very same children of Israel. As Solomon had also described in Wisdom chapter 18, the twelve tribes of Israel represented on the breastplate of the high priest are indeed the “world” of our Scriptures. They alone are also “that which was lost”, which Christ had explained that He had come to save at diverse times during His ministry, as it is recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The one statement in John 3:16-17 where Christ said that “God so loved the world” and that “the world through him might be saved” cannot be interpreted in a manner which conflicts with the other statement which He made where He said that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” But any seeming conflict is immediately dissolved once we take note of Solomon’s Wisdom where he attested in chapter 18 that “24 … in the long garment was the whole world, and in the four rows of the stones was the glory of the fathers graven….” The stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel, and they are the “whole world” of the Scriptures.

This evening, rather than present my commentary on the balance of John chapter 3, something which I am not yet quite prepared to do, I decided to present a related paper by Clifton Emahiser, and offer an expanded commentary on that. The paper is titled John 3:16, What It Says And What It Doesn't, and was finalized by Clifton on March 8th, 2004. Doing this, I will necessarily repeat several things which I said in Part 9 of my commentary on the Gospel of John, and also some things which I hope to state in Part 10, which is soon forthcoming. Doing this, the evolution of our opinions on John 3:16 may also be better understood, although I wish that Clifton were here to share that. In this paper, Clifton employed several of my own notes which I had sent to him on the subject, but also, because he was copying something I wrote to him in a letter, he referred to several other of my writings, which I shall endeavor to include or elaborate upon here.

John 3:16, What It Says And What It Doesn't

Most of Clifton’s pamphlet-sized essays were written in response to someone that he had questions from, or someone whom he questioned, or sometimes something he saw in the media. I do not remember the specific reason why Clifton had written this essay, but because he included a couple of paragraphs from a letter I wrote to him on the subject, and because they discussed the errors of a certain individual whom Clifton addresses here, we must have had an ongoing dialog leading up to this publication. As the impetus for this essay, Clifton recalls a trip he made to Louden, Tennessee, for a Christian Identity gathering in 1996. During the course of his nearly 20-year ministry, Clifton had made quite a few responses to what he had seen and heard at that particular gathering, and this was perhaps the last of them. Among those responses, he was compelled to write his papers on the Ephraim-Scepter Heresy, a Defense of Matthew & Luke and more significantly, the first 21 of his Watchman’s Teaching Letters, which were all subtitled with the question Just Who is This Patriarch, Judah? So it might even be safe to say that the single gathering in Louden was also the real impetus for Clifton’s starting his ministry.

The Hurricast, Part 1

Tonight I am going to talk briefly about our personal experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, just to have it on record. Then we will also present an interview with Shaun Winkler, a friend and fellow League of the South member from Mississippi who came to Florida as a volunteer in the hurricane relief effort. Because I have had many inquiries as to my own well-being and also that of Christogenea, my ministry, and how we are fairing after the storm, I will begin with an account from a personal perspective.

I hope to be able to do a second such podcast in the near future, from a more general perspective and related to our League of the South activities.

I recently did a presentation on The Role of Faith in a Successful Insurgency, Movement, or Community, which was actually inspired this past June at the National Conference of the League of the South by Jim O’Brien. I began that article with something that Dr. Michael Hill had said on Social Media, which was “In all successful movements, there is a vanguard, both intellectual and physical, that must push hard against the established order by violating their taboos and sacred cows, sometimes shockingly, to show the people that oftentimes audacity is the first ingredient for success. We will continue to be audacious and aggressive in our actions in real life and on the Internet.” A few days later, I found an article written by Dr. Hill himself, titled The League and Theocracy, which expressed a few of the same concepts that I had in my presentation. Today we have Dr. Hill with us, and I hope to discuss the ideals which are expressed in both articles.

On August 26th, 2018, William Finck spoke at the Fellowship of God's Covenant People in Northern Kentucky. The presentation was perhaps an hour longer than planned, and for that reason, the notes below do not contain the entire sermon, but only the original portion.

Psalm 44: 19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; 21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.

Being here [at FGCP] in March after the death of Pastor Mark Downey, and now passing through again after the burial of Clifton Emahiser, I thought I should seek to offer our community some encouragement.

Disaster and Death: Why Do We Suffer?

This is a broad topic. I won't ever be able to discuss every detail. But Yahweh willing, here we will hit on the important aspects. Perhaps anyone who hears this will stop blaming God for our woes....

This recording has been appended to the Christogenea Saturdays program for January 27th, 2018. It merits this serparate posting.

What if Jesus were descended from the Israelite tribe of Judah, as the Scripture says that He is? Well, of course He is, because the Scriptures do not lie. But what if the people known as Jews today were NOT of the tribe of Judah? Nor even of Benjamin or Levi? Then how could Jesus possibly be a Jew? The answer is easy, Jesus is not a Jew because the people known as Jews today are not of Judah. The Bible itself tells us this.

For this reason Jesus Himself told the church at Smyrna, in Revelation 2:9: "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

Just in case that is not understood, Jesus also said to the church at Philadelphia, in Revelation 3:9: "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee."

So according to Jesus Himself, the people calling themselves Jews at this time are not "real" Jews, meaning that they are not actually of the tribe of Judah. But how can that be? First, we will see that Paul of Tarsus agrees with Jesus, and the events which Luke recorded in Acts chapter 26 had actually transpired about 35 years before John recorded the Revelation.