Thursday, 13 February 2014
Revelation7-9 NWT(2013 Edition)
7 After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise,* having a seal of the living God; and he called with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed+ the slaves of our God in their foreheads.”+
5 Out of the tribe of Judah 12,000 sealed;
out of the tribe of Reu′ben 12,000;
out of the tribe of Gad 12,000;
6 out of the tribe of Ash′er 12,000;
out of the tribe of Naph′ta·li 12,000;
7 out of the tribe of Sim′e·on 12,000;
out of the tribe of Le′vi 12,000;
out of the tribe of Is′sa·char 12,000;
8 out of the tribe of Zeb′u·lun 12,000;
out of the tribe of Joseph 12,000;
out of the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 sealed.
9 After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues,*+ standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes;+ and there were palm branches in their hands.+ 10 And they keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne,+ and to the Lamb.”+
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders+ and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Let the praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever.+ Amen.”
13 In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes,+ who are they and where did they come from?” 14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,+ and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.+ 15 That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne+ will spread his tent over them.+ 16 They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat,+ 17 because the Lamb,+ who is in the midst* of the throne, will shepherd them+ and will guide them to springs* of waters of life.+ And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”+
3 Another angel, holding a golden incense vessel,* arrived and stood at the altar,+ and a large quantity of incense+ was given him to offer it with the prayers of all the holy ones on the golden altar+ that was before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense from the hand of the angel ascended with the prayers+ of the holy ones before God. 5 But right away the angel took the incense vessel, and he filled it with some of the fire of the altar and hurled it to the earth. And there were thunders and voices and flashes of lightning+ and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels with the seven trumpets+ prepared to blow them.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet. And a great star burning like a lamp fell from heaven, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs* of waters.+ 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. And a third of the waters turned into wormwood, and many of the people died from the waters, because these had been made bitter.+
13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven say with a loud voice: “Woe, woe, woe+ to those dwelling on the earth because of the rest of the trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to blow their trumpets!”+
9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet.+ And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key to the shaft* of the abyss+ was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft* of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the shaft* like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened,+ also the air, by the smoke of the shaft.* 3 And locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth,+ and authority was given to them, the same authority that the scorpions of the earth have. 4 They were told not to harm the vegetation of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.+
7 And in appearance the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle;+ on their heads were what seemed to be crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces, 8 but they had hair like women’s hair. And their teeth were like those of lions,+ 9 and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.+ 10 Also, they have tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails is their authority to hurt the people for five months.+ 11 They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss.+ In Hebrew his name is A·bad′don,* but in Greek he has the name A·pol′lyon.*
13 The sixth angel+ blew his trumpet.+ And I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar+ that is before God 14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: “Untie the four angels who are bound at the great river Eu·phra′tes.”+ 15 And the four angels who have been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were untied to kill a third of the people.
16 The number of the armies of cavalry was two myriads of myriads;* I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in the vision and those seated on them: They had fire-red and hyacinth-blue and sulfur-yellow breastplates, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions,+ and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 A third of the people were killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 For the authority of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with these they inflict harm.
20 But the rest of the people who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands; they did not stop worshipping the demons and the idols of gold and silver and copper and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.+ 21 And they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their sexual immorality* nor of their thefts.
Monday, 10 February 2014
The trinity according to the encyclopaedia britannica.
Neither the word Trinity nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament, nor did Jesus and his followers intend to contradict the Shema in the Hebrew Scriptures: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The earliest Christians, however, had to cope with the implications of the coming of Jesus Christ and of the presumed presence and power of God among them—i.e., the Holy Spirit, whose coming was connected with the celebration of the Pentecost. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were associated in such New Testament passages as the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19); and in the apostolic benediction: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14). Thus, the New Testament established the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity.
The doctrine developed gradually over several centuries and through many controversies. Initially, both the requirements of monotheism inherited from the Hebrew Scriptures and the implications of the need to interpret the biblical teaching to Greco-Roman religions seemed to demand that the divine in Christ as the Word, or Logos, be interpreted as subordinate to the Supreme Being. An alternative solution was to interpret Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three modes of the self-disclosure of the one God but not as distinct within the being of God itself. The first tendency recognized the distinctness among the three, but at the cost of their equality and hence of their unity (subordinationism); the second came to terms with their unity, but at the cost of their distinctness as “persons” (modalism). It was not until the 4th century that the distinctness of the three and their unity were brought together in a single orthodox doctrine of one essence and three persons.
The Council of Nicaea in 325 stated the crucial formula for that doctrine in its confession that the Son is “of the same substance [homoousios] as the Father,” even though it said very little about the Holy Spirit. Over the next half century, Athanasius defended and refined the Nicene formula, and, by the end of the 4th century, under the leadership of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus (the Cappadocian Fathers), the doctrine of the Trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since. It is accepted in all of the historic confessions of Christianity, even though the impact of the Enlightenment decreased its importance.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
On Messiah's origin.
Find article here
Micah 5:2Some trinitarians tell us Micah 5:2 (or 5:1 in some versions) teaches that Jesus has always existed ("from everlasting" - KJV). And since only God has existed for all eternity, Jesus must be God!
But look at other trinitarian translations of Micah 5:2. (E.g., "O Bethlehem ..., from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" - RSV, cf. JB, NEB, REB, NAB, NIV, AT, Mo, NRSV, NJB, Byington, and Young's.) Not only does this verse not teach that Jesus has always existed, it even speaks of his origin in very ancient times. (Origin: "a coming into existence" - Webster's New World Dictionary, 1973.)
Why would these trinitarian translations admit such a thing? Perhaps because it is difficult to honestly translate the Hebrew motsaah with a word that does not include this understanding. (Even when "goings forth" is the rendering, it appears it should also be with the understanding of "originating." For example, if we said "the command went forth from the King," we obviously mean the command originated with - or sprang from - the king! And when Micah 5:2 says of the Messiah: "O Bethlehem ..., from you shall come forth [the Messiah]," it can only mean that, in his earthly existence, he originated in Bethlehem!)
Obviously for so many respected trinitarian translators to choose this meaning ("origin") they must feel there is no other honest choice! The only meanings given by Gesenius for this word in his highly-respected Lexicon are "origin, springing" - #4163, Gesenius - cf. Micah 5:1 in The Jewish Publication Society's Bible translation, Tanakh.
And A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament gives the only meaning for this word as used in Micah 5 as "origin." - p. 187, Eerdmans.
It would make no sense to interpret this as meaning the Messiah's human origin springs from ancient times. We have just been told that in Micah's time the Messiah's human origin was to be a future event and would take place in Bethlehem. Also there are no humans who haven't sprung from the very first pair in ancient Eden. It would be ridiculous to make the point that the human Messiah came from ancient stock since every human has done so. It must mean that his pre-existence as a spirit person in heaven originated in very ancient times (as the very beginning of God's creation - Rev. 3:14; Prov. 8:22). The Bible Greek of the ancient Septuagint, in fact, at Micah 5:2 says: "and his goings forth were from the beginning [arkhe], from ancient days [aionos]."
The NIV Study Bible, in a footnote for Micah 5:2 explains: "origins...from of old. His beginnings were much earlier than his human birth."
BUT THE TRUE, ETERNAL GOD HAD NO BEGINNING!
As for the Hebrew word olam, it can often be understood as “ancient times” or “of old” and does not necessarily refer to “eternity.” Here is how olam is used in the following scriptures in the NASB:
of old (Gen 6:4)
days of old (Deuteronomy 32:7)
From ancient times (Joshua 24:2)
from ancient times. (1 Samuel 27:8)
the ancient path (Job 22:15)
the ancient boundary (Proverbs 22:28)
the ancient boundary (Proverbs 23:10)
the ancient nation (Isaiah 44:7)
ancient ruins (Isaiah 58:12)
ancient ruins (Isaiah 61:4)
the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)
the days of old (Isaiah 63:11) an ancient nation, (Jeremiah 5:15)
the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16)
the ancient paths (Jeremiah 18:15)
the ancient waste places (Ezekiel 26:20)
the days of old (Malachi 3:4)
Micah 5:2 literally says "days of olam." This same wording is found again in Micah at Micah 7:14:
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old [‘days of olam’] (Micah 7:14).
Try substituting “eternity” in the above scriptures. It’s clear that the NASB has rendered olam correctly in those scriptures.
So, adding the fact that the Messiah had a beginning in this verse to the possibility of olam meaning “ancient” as translated here in numerous Trinitarian Bibles and and in many other scriptures, it seems evident that the RSV has correctly rendered Micah 5:2 -
(RSV) Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
It's also very important to examine Micah 5:4 where Jehovah is recognized as being the God of the Messiah! (The NIVSB tells us in a footnote for this verse that the LORD [`Jehovah'] here - the God of the Messiah - refers to "God the Father.")
Micah 5:2Some trinitarians tell us Micah 5:2 (or 5:1 in some versions) teaches that Jesus has always existed ("from everlasting" - KJV). And since only God has existed for all eternity, Jesus must be God!
But look at other trinitarian translations of Micah 5:2. (E.g., "O Bethlehem ..., from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" - RSV, cf. JB, NEB, REB, NAB, NIV, AT, Mo, NRSV, NJB, Byington, and Young's.) Not only does this verse not teach that Jesus has always existed, it even speaks of his origin in very ancient times. (Origin: "a coming into existence" - Webster's New World Dictionary, 1973.)
Why would these trinitarian translations admit such a thing? Perhaps because it is difficult to honestly translate the Hebrew motsaah with a word that does not include this understanding. (Even when "goings forth" is the rendering, it appears it should also be with the understanding of "originating." For example, if we said "the command went forth from the King," we obviously mean the command originated with - or sprang from - the king! And when Micah 5:2 says of the Messiah: "O Bethlehem ..., from you shall come forth [the Messiah]," it can only mean that, in his earthly existence, he originated in Bethlehem!)
Obviously for so many respected trinitarian translators to choose this meaning ("origin") they must feel there is no other honest choice! The only meanings given by Gesenius for this word in his highly-respected Lexicon are "origin, springing" - #4163, Gesenius - cf. Micah 5:1 in The Jewish Publication Society's Bible translation, Tanakh.
And A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament gives the only meaning for this word as used in Micah 5 as "origin." - p. 187, Eerdmans.
It would make no sense to interpret this as meaning the Messiah's human origin springs from ancient times. We have just been told that in Micah's time the Messiah's human origin was to be a future event and would take place in Bethlehem. Also there are no humans who haven't sprung from the very first pair in ancient Eden. It would be ridiculous to make the point that the human Messiah came from ancient stock since every human has done so. It must mean that his pre-existence as a spirit person in heaven originated in very ancient times (as the very beginning of God's creation - Rev. 3:14; Prov. 8:22). The Bible Greek of the ancient Septuagint, in fact, at Micah 5:2 says: "and his goings forth were from the beginning [arkhe], from ancient days [aionos]."
The NIV Study Bible, in a footnote for Micah 5:2 explains: "origins...from of old. His beginnings were much earlier than his human birth."
BUT THE TRUE, ETERNAL GOD HAD NO BEGINNING!
As for the Hebrew word olam, it can often be understood as “ancient times” or “of old” and does not necessarily refer to “eternity.” Here is how olam is used in the following scriptures in the NASB:
days of old (Deuteronomy 32:7)
From ancient times (Joshua 24:2)
from ancient times. (1 Samuel 27:8)
the ancient path (Job 22:15)
the ancient boundary (Proverbs 22:28)
the ancient boundary (Proverbs 23:10)
the ancient nation (Isaiah 44:7)
ancient ruins (Isaiah 58:12)
ancient ruins (Isaiah 61:4)
the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)
the days of old (Isaiah 63:11)
the ancient paths (Jeremiah 6:16)
the ancient paths (Jeremiah 18:15)
the ancient waste places (Ezekiel 26:20)
the days of old (Malachi 3:4)
Micah 5:2 literally says "days of olam." This same wording is found again in Micah at Micah 7:14:
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old [‘days of olam’] (Micah 7:14).
Try substituting “eternity” in the above scriptures. It’s clear that the NASB has rendered olam correctly in those scriptures.
So, adding the fact that the Messiah had a beginning in this verse to the possibility of olam meaning “ancient” as translated here in numerous Trinitarian Bibles and and in many other scriptures, it seems evident that the RSV has correctly rendered Micah 5:2 -
(RSV) Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
It's also very important to examine Micah 5:4 where Jehovah is recognized as being the God of the Messiah! (The NIVSB tells us in a footnote for this verse that the LORD [`Jehovah'] here - the God of the Messiah - refers to "God the Father.")
Friday, 7 February 2014
Monday, 3 February 2014
2Peter NWT(2013 Edition)
2 May undeserved kindness and peace be increased to you by an accurate knowledge+ of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 for his divine power has granted* us all the things that contribute to life and godly devotion through the accurate knowledge of the One who called us+ by his own glory and virtue. 4 Through these things he has granted* us the precious and very grand promises,+ so that through these you may become sharers in divine nature,+ having escaped from the world’s corruption produced by wrong desire.*
5 For this very reason, put forth all earnest effort+ to supply to your faith virtue,+ to your virtue knowledge,+ 6 to your knowledge self-control, to your self-control+ endurance, to your endurance godly devotion,+ 7 to your godly devotion brotherly affection, to your brotherly affection love.+ 8 For if these things exist in you and overflow, they will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful*+ regarding the accurate knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For anyone lacking these things is blind, shutting his eyes to the light,*+ and has become forgetful of his cleansing from his sins+ of long ago. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling+ and choosing sure for yourselves, for if you keep on doing these things, you will by no means ever fail.+ 11 In fact, in this way you will be richly granted* entrance into the everlasting Kingdom+ of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.+
12 For this reason I intend always to remind you of these things, although you know them and are well-established in the truth that is present in you. 13 But I consider it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle,*+ to stir you with reminders,+ 14 knowing as I do that my tabernacle is soon to be removed, just as also our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.+ 15 I will always do my utmost so that after my departure, you may be able to recall* these things for yourselves.
16 No, it was not by following artfully contrived false stories that we made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather, we were eyewitnesses of his magnificence.+ 17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory when words such as these* were conveyed to him by the magnificent glory: “This is my Son, my beloved, whom I myself have approved.”+ 18 Yes, these words we heard coming from heaven while we were with him in the holy mountain.
19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, and you are doing well in paying attention to it as to a lamp+ shining in a dark place (until day dawns and a daystar+ rises) in your hearts. 20 For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. 21 For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will,+ but men spoke from God as they were moved* by holy spirit.+
2 However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you.+ These will quietly bring in destructive sects, and they will even disown the owner who bought them,+ bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. 2 Furthermore, many will follow their brazen conduct,*+ and because of them the way of the truth will be spoken of abusively.+ 3 Also, they will greedily exploit you with counterfeit words. But their judgment, decided long ago,+ is not moving slowly, and their destruction is not sleeping.+
4 Certainly God did not refrain from punishing the angels who sinned,+ but threw them into Tar′ta·rus,*+ putting them in chains* of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment.+ 5 And he did not refrain from punishing an ancient world,+ but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness,+ safe with seven others+ when he brought a flood upon a world of ungodly people.+ 6 And by reducing the cities of Sod′om and Go·mor′rah to ashes, he condemned them,+ setting a pattern for ungodly people of things to come.+ 7 And he rescued righteous Lot,+ who was greatly distressed by the brazen conduct* of the lawless people— 8 for day after day that righteous man was tormenting his righteous soul* over the lawless deeds that he saw and heard while dwelling among them. 9 So, then, Jehovah* knows how to rescue people of godly devotion out of trial,+ but to reserve unrighteous people to be destroyed* on the day of judgment,+ 10 especially those who seek to defile the flesh of others+ and who despise authority.*+
Daring and self-willed, they are not afraid to speak abusively of glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them an accusation in abusive terms, out of respect for* Jehovah.*+ 12 But these men, like unreasoning animals that act on instinct and are born* to be caught and destroyed, speak abusively about things of which they are ignorant.+ They will suffer destruction brought on by their own destructive course, 13 suffering harm as their reward for their own harmful course.
They consider it pleasurable to indulge in luxurious living,+ even in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes who revel* in their deceptive teachings while feasting together with you.+ 14 Their eyes are full of adultery+ and are unable to desist from sin, and they entice unstable ones.* They have a heart trained in greed. They are accursed children. 15 Abandoning the straight path, they have been led astray. They have followed the path of Ba′laam+ the son of Be′or, who loved the reward of wrongdoing,+ 16 but was reproved for his own violation of what was right.+ A voiceless beast of burden speaking with a human voice hindered the prophet’s mad course.+
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a violent storm, and the blackest darkness has been reserved for them.+ 18 They make high-sounding statements that are empty. By appealing to the desires of the flesh+ and with acts of brazen conduct,* they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error.+ 19 While they are promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption;+ for if anyone is overcome by someone, he is his slave.*+ 20 Certainly if after escaping from the defilements of the world+ by an accurate knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they get involved again with these very things and are overcome, their final state has become worse for them than the first.+ 21 It would have been better for them not to have accurately known the path of righteousness than after knowing it to turn away from the holy commandment they had received.+ 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was bathed to rolling in the mire.”+
3 Beloved ones, this is now the second letter I am writing you in which, as in my first one, I am stirring up your clear thinking faculties by way of a reminder,+ 2 that you should remember the sayings previously spoken* by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all know this, that in the last days ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires+ 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his?+ Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.”+
5 For they deliberately ignore this fact, that long ago there were heavens and an earth standing firmly out of water and in the midst of water by the word of God;+ 6 and that by those means the world of that time suffered destruction when it was flooded with water.+ 7 But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are reserved for fire and are being kept until the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly people.+
8 However, do not let this escape your notice, beloved ones, that one day is with Jehovah* as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.+ 9 Jehovah* is not slow concerning his promise,+ as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.+ 10 But Jehovah’s* day+ will come as a thief,+ in which the heavens will pass away+ with a roar,* but the elements being intensely hot will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be exposed.+
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion, 12 as you await and keep close in mind* the presence of the day of Jehovah,*+ through which the heavens will be destroyed+ in flames and the elements will melt in the intense heat! 13 But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise,+ and in these righteousness is to dwell.+
14 Therefore, beloved ones, since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.+ 15 Furthermore, consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you according to the wisdom given him,+ 16 speaking about these things as he does in all his letters. However, some things in them are hard to understand, and these things the ignorant* and unstable are twisting, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 You, therefore, beloved ones, having this advance knowledge, be on your guard so that you may not be led astray with them by the error of the lawless people and fall from your own steadfastness.*+ 18 No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
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