What happens after Jesus returns? Some say that only the true Christians, which is usually defined as members of a particular church, will be raptured away where they will be “forever with the Lord.” Then I guess they will forever gaze on the face of God, or maybe hold harp music concerts. Actually, after their “rapture” the only significant event is a worldwide epidemic of auto accidents caused by driverless cars and trucks. Well, let’s get real.
Much of what is believed by Christian churches is from Paul’s imaginations. What appears, that is not known, is that Paul was appealing to those who knew Greek mythology and religion. The Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul. This is not found anywhere in the Hebrew Scriptures. So most are trained to ignore the Hebrew Scriptures, because didn’t Paul say that they were done away and replaced by “Christ?”
I heard someplace that someone once offered $10,000 to anyone who could find the words, “immortal soul” in the Scriptures. Of course, no one claimed the $10,000 because the words are not there. But Christians still doggedly hang on to the notion that when we die we either go to heaven or hell. Again, from Greek mythology.
In part three of this series, I stopped at the Great Resurrection that happens at the beginning of the next age as Enoch recorded in his vision of the “Weeks.” There will be one resurrection then with two results: (1) the resurrection of the righteous, those who overcame through the tribulation that started with Adam and Eve and ends at the culmination of our age: the seventh “week,” and (2) the”whole house of Israel” as revealed to Ezekiel.
We will now consider more detail concerning the resurrection of the righteous, also known as “the better resurrection.”
Now some will say that “The Great Tribulation” is only an end time event. But in the book of Revelation, “The Great Tribulation” is mentioned for the first time regarding the great masses of the righteous that no one could number in the seventh chapter. Prior to that the words do not appear except in some translations in Revelation 2:22 where it means intense suffering on account of the people committing adultery with a prophetess Jezebel who misleads her followers. Then it also appears on Matthew 24:21 where it again refers to the intense suffering that will come on the earth at the end of our age.
But this great tribulation is the entire period of seven “weeks” or ages where people from every nation, tribe, people and language found righteousness through discipline and trial. Therefore they can claim:
Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.
And they receive this promise:
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
This seems to have been an enigma for the Christians, as it is hard to wrap their minds around that idea that any could be saved before their Jesus came. The events of human history are taken with a view to the total time from the start of the first age to the end of the seventh and then the change comes. Read the list of those who were deemed righteous in Hebrews 11: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab (a prostitute), Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets:
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others had trials of cruel mocking and scourging, and bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawed in two. They were tempted and tested. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts, in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all obtained a good report through faith but have not received the promise. Elahim having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect.
This is the definition of the Great Tribulation that has come upon the righteous and faithful from the very beginning whom the world is not worthy. Therefore, they will obtain the better resurrection. To be part of that resurrection, it is falls upon all to turn from lies to the truth. From Hebrews 12:
And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to children?
“My son, do not despise Eyahuwah’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke, because Eyahuwah disciplines those He loves, and like a father, he scourges every son he delights in.”
If you endure chastening, Elah deals with you as sons. For what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?
For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby.
In consideration of this, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. Let it rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see Eyahuwah. Look diligently in case any one fail of the grace of Elahim and lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby cause many to become defiled. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
For you are not come to the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor to blackness, darkness, tempest, the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words. On hearing this voice they that heard cried out that the word should not be spoken to them this way any more. For they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it was to be stoned or thrust through with a spear. So terrible and awesome was the sight that Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and tremble.”
But you have come to mount Sion and to the city of the living Elahim, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and congregation of the firstborn who are written in heaven, to Elah the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Eyahushuah the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
See that you do not refuse Him that speaks. For if they who refused him that spoke on earth did not escape, much more shall we not escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth. But now he has promised, “In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill [my] house with glory, … and in this place I will grant peace.”
And this word, “once more,” signifies the removing of those things that can be shaken, like things that are made [like religions], that those things which cannot be shaken[like righteousness] may remain. We will receive a kingdom that cannot be moved, so let us have grace, whereby we may serve Elah acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our Elah is a consuming fire.
To have part in the better resurrection, the revealing of the Sons of Elah to the world, we must make straight paths for our feet now, and return to the righteousness of our fathers, who were promised a better resurrection, and who at that time looked forward to their children with the hope that they would obtain the same.
I actually believe in the accuracy of “Scripture.” I have been studying that all my adult life. However, what some consider to be Scripture is not, and what some do not consider to be Scripture is. Furthermore, all translations of the original language fail in many ways. Some translators have been deeply affected by the group for whom the translation is made. Others who tried to be more precise were murdered. Some believe and perhaps rightly so, that the original writings of the true apostles (the 12) were written in Aramaic and Hebrew. Whereas Paul’s writings were in Greek. Paul, the Pharisee, brought in a mixture of truth and error and from that made the sweet-tasting “kool-aid” that has poisoned millions of people since. It is believed that he even rewrote the writings of the true apostles into Greek and thereby reinvented the “Greek New Testament.” The history of Christianity is filled with intrigue, power-hungry politicians, heresy, apostasy, false testimony and murder. Jesus, knowing in advance told his disciples that those who are first would be last, and those who are the last would be first. We are entering the time of those who will come in last. Those who overcome the religions of this world have the opportunity to find themselves standing before the Father on the Feast of Firstfruits in the Kingdom after the close of this age. But those early and dark-age “Christians” and “church fathers” will be on the outside looking in and wondering how they got so far off track. The first step to overcoming the heresy is to stop reading Paul’s epistles and look for the gospel as it is revealed in the Torah (Law), and the rest of Hebrew Scriptures. If people cannot find it there, they certainly will not find it in Paul’s ramblings. It is tragic that many “Christians” only quote Paul to the exclusion of all Scriptures. These have donned the “dark smoky glasses” that Paul wrote about and have become blind to the powerful and awesome truth of the future of humanity that is contained in the real Scriptures. How can “God allow” error? So that those who have “insight” will come to understanding, but the others who are not wise will have to wait until the time when they actually see the writings of our fathers and prophets come to pass. Then they will repent and learn all about “doing-right.” Since I decided to “fast” from Paul, the Scriptures, the real ones, began to shine and beauty was found in the most unexpected places: those which Paul, the Pharisee, claimed were “done away” — at least that is what his followers were led to believe. Paul never quoted Jesus teachings. The true apostles, who never recognized Paul as an apostle, never quoted anything Paul wrote and in fact warned the people about his deception. The only Scriptures the apostles and Jesus quoted from and referred to were the Hebrew Scriptures and the Book of Enoch. And concerning those Jeremiah warned about the false pen of the scribes. (Jer. 8:8) Do yourself a favor. Stop reading and referring to Paul and be willing to learn the real truth of the Scriptures. Take off the darkened smoky glasses, and stop drinking the “kool-aid.”
You seem to imply that Pauls writings are not Theologically sound. Due to the historical proven fact that shows that God divinely protected the scriptures, dosent it seem feasable that the writings of Paul were meant (by God) to land into the Book of Books ? Thanks,….Dennis.
Good, thank you! Now I understand your purpose and what it is you’re trying to get across. I agree, so thanks for taking the time to explain. El Besino
Experience convinces me that we need to “put salve on our eyes, so we can see.” And remove from our eyes “Paul’s dark glasses.” Paul’s writings do not clarify the Gospel, instead they replace it, which is exactly what the Pharisees were trained to do. I do not say, “go back to our individual beginnings.” That is what got us into trouble in the first place. Rather we must literally go back to the Torah, and the Prophets and read and understand what these say. That is the foundation upon which we must build anew. We cannot go back to our beginnings, instead we need to walk away: from what the churches preach, from what our parents and family believe, from what our teachers taught, from what our friends want us to do or believe, and from what our nation’s leaders want us to believe. But as we do this, to be righteous, we must follow the path of righteousness, which means that we love all of these as we love ourselves, and treat them in the same way that we wish to be treated. Then they can see the Light that is in us, and desire the same. Read the quote again from Isaiah 52 in the comment above. What I wrote above can be summarized with this statement from Revelation 3:16-21, where He warns that He is about to spit the “lukewarm” out of his mouth:
Again, these are real images, and perhaps allegories, but they take nothing away from what has been written. Instead, they enlighten and offer hope and encouragement.
If we desire it and want it more than anything else, He will lead us out of ignorance, confusion, and deception into the Light: to the understanding and knowledge we need.
Ah, this is much better, so much plainer in speech. But as to allegories, if we can understand that Christ is “the living water” and that it is allegorical (in that “living water” does not mean a pool of liquid, or a mountain stream) then surely statements like “Fountain of Righteousness” and “Fountain of Wisdom” is allegorical. Like “Trees of Righteousness”. I don’t know if that’s where Paul was coming from; and I will surely study what other scholars (yourself included) have noticed about any difference between Paul’s writings (mail) and other Apostles teachings. I tend anyway to focus on the Acts of Jesus and his words. But then, I’m also ministering from a different level of understanding; I see that. Some, like you, the Lord has given to understand prophecy (perhaps you are even a prophet, in the meaning of prophets that are given to the people, which I see is different than a prophet raised by God for a specific proclamation about an impending act that we must prepare for; and yet you might even be such a one. I only say this because who am I, or who is anyone, to say this or that about another? Let my own understanding be “Yea, or Nay” only); some, like me, have been given insight into other matters. I am not confused or muddled by your teachings, though. I hold in the forefront that you are possibly so accurate that I would “miss the boat” as the saying goes, and I sure don’t want to do that. As to Paul, again, I can hold his own teachings in abeyance, since everything must be (to paraphrase) “according to the law and the prophets, which, if they speak not according to this, they are in error”. This includes all of us. If a man (Paul or anyone else) listens and then says “When the prophets said thus and so, they really were saying this and that,” I have to weigh it against the law and the prophets, which you, too, are saying we must do to avoid error or deception. Thus if it is said “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to a tree” what Christ said, and withered it; if that is taken literally, rather than to point out what He was REALLY saying, then we walk around with the understanding darkened. Don’t assume that I am against you; not at all. Even what I write, later I realize that some could read it a different way, and so that is why I tend to be overly explanatory. We, like you say, must go back to our Genesis, the BERESHITH, “In Beginning”, which is an introductory statement with a conclusion to be found. In other words, “In beginning,” it is a statement explaining all else that follows from there to the end, as in “in order to beget many sons who live as I do” should be the way the opening line is read, as opposed to “In THE beginning, the first thing I did was”. That is why the aleph and the tav appear in that first line; that is why He is called “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end”, so that we understand (as you point out) WHAT IT IS IN STORE FOR US, which is HIS LIFE, and we, one with him. Just like the cells of our bodies, billions of them comprising one, so too are we the cells of his body, billions of us. Christ is the “head” of that body in that respect. In the head the mind resides; each cell (who we are, to continue THIS allegory) thus is clothed with the same essence of his life, since we comprise the one body. By the way, I appreciate that you have this blog available; I greatly am fed by your understanding. In no way do I view you in any negative manner. We all are looking into understanding, as “through a glass, darkly” we know in part; but then shall we know even as also we know each other. Bless you, my brother El Besino
Because the Resurrection needs clarity and what was lost concerning it needs to be restored, I will write about these things in coming blogs. All living human beings are blood related to Seth, Enoch, and Noah, all righteous men. Therefore, we all have a great heritage, and regardless of where we come from after that, (for example, from Shem, Ham or Japheth, again, all righteous men,) we are indebted to these and for what they brought to our lives. I do not think it profitable to pick at Paul’s allegories and quasi-spiritual musings. It is futile. Now Enoch’s writings contain visions of what he was given to see in the heavenly realm. This includes what he was shown regarding the past, and the future, including the future of the Messengers, Watchers and their offspring from cohabiting with the daughters of men, which Peter and Jude wrote about. But to take what he saw and make allegories from it will prevent understanding. For example, he saw the Fountain of Righteousness and many Fountains of Wisdom. To him they actually exist. He saw them. But for us we have only to believe his vision and pray that we might drink from them, which we might actually do after the Resurrection and IF we obtain the better Resurrection. I recommend to all to go back to the beginning, to Genesis (BERESHITH) and understand the dialogue between Eyahuwah (mistranslated LORD) and the fathers, including Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and his sons. Note in particular the promises made by Eyahuwah and the statements where he said things like, “I will” do this or that. It is upon these promises beginning in Genesis and continuing through Revelation that our salvation depends. He gave His word and it is on His faithfulness to His own word we are saved. But in the process do not under any circumstances include the book of the “Acts of Paul” or any of Paul’s letters. One wise Theologian told me long ago, “Stop reading other people’s mail.” To understand we must “fast from eating or drinking from Paul.” I wrote in The Hidden Prophecy that the way to poison people spiritually is to mix the poison with what may taste good. And this is what Paul has done. Continuing to drink and eat from his letters will poison what we read in the Hebrew Scriptures and what was written by the true Apostles. And this is enough to keep us out of the Better Resurrection. But people will say, “But he wrote some good things.” He wrote things that may taste good, but in the Light of the Scriptures it becomes clear that what he wrote is both deceptive and not true. Pharisees, like Paul, love to talk in allegories and make the Law say things it doesn’t say. They love to say, “When the prophets said thus and so, they really were saying this and that.” This, in the minds of the hearers, corrupts the thought and “thus and so” is no longer understood to mean what it really says. We must be willing to “zero-base” our thoughts, and clean out the refuse and garbage in our mind, and build anew on the true Foundation. This process will make us “clean,” which is a prerequisite to righteousness.
Among current scholars, there seems to be no question that Paul did not write other epistles (such as Hebrews) and I’ve read about the controversies you mention between Paul and Peter or some other apostles. I see the distinction; however I also see that Paul was preaching based on his understanding (right or wrong). The letters attributed to Paul’s teachings DO seem to me to be “This is how I, Paul, see things in the Spirit”; yet so do we the same things. Thus I accept or reject parts of what he teaches. Some is right on, some is mythical in nature. But then, so too is much of the symbology in the books you lean on (Enoch). Yet what troubles my understanding is that, on the one hand, you say we are sons of Enoch The Righteous — which I think you’ve said means that every human being is therefore blood-related from that line (?) but on the other hand, there is the “seed of promise, the seed of faith”, which speaks of spiritual children, since faith does not imply the physical circumcision required to be Hebrew (Jew), but rather the circumcision “not of the flesh, but of the spirit”. Isn’t that a Pauline teaching? Peter was right in teaching the SPIRIT of the Law (circumcision, etc) but seems to be admonished by Paul, as though Paul is misunderstanding. Yet in some places, Paul seems to be spoken of an an equal (though in some places, not). Believe me when I say that you are closer to the truth than mainstream “christian” teachers, esp. those who teach a rapture of the saints so that they need not fear the tribulation (for it is OUT of tribulation that they are taken; as a RESULT of tribulation, they are SEPARATED, in other words, as opposed to being “removed” from experiencing tribulation). Further, you are correct in the understanding of the corruption of Greek mythological gods — but the gospels refer to them in a sense of “you’ve heard about Sheol” etc, which points to the current Greek influence of the time. Hell, the grave, was formed into “an abode” of fire and damnation. I struggle with the inward “self” that insists on being lord of my universe (my body). I believe that statements of “the immortal soul” etc., are in fact superstitious, erring beliefs, since the soul is carnal. If there is such a thing, it is the “mind of Christ” (from psuche [sp]) which we put on. Heavy sigh…O how the mind struggles to keep its authority! Keep up your excellent work; I’ll keep sorting through my belief system. I think once I understand what you are trying to say, I’ll have that “aHA” moment! El Besino