The marriage between YHVH and his Covenant-people, the Israelites, began with the Lord‘s paschal in Egypt. They conquered and possessed the Promised Land, establishing the kingdom of priest and the holy nation (Exodus 19: 5-6). The Laws were made into effect through the angels of YHVH in the holy land, and the matters of interpretations of the Laws prescribed by the Levite high priests. “20 See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared (Promised Land). 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion. Since my Name (means divine mission) is in him” (Exodus 23: 20-21). “53 you who received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it (Acts 7: 53).”
The
kingdom of priest and the holy nation in
Canaan was the manifestation of theocratic establishment of the twelve tribes
of Israelites on earth prescribed by the Covenant. Later, God raised the
Judges, so that they may save the Israelites from the raiders. The raiders were
from the five-rulers of Philistines of the following remnant Canaanites: the Hittites;
Amorites; Perizzites; Hivites, and the Jebusites (Judges
2: 16; 3: 2-5). The Israelites kept on the intermarriages with them and also
prostituting themselves to the Canaanites’ gods. The “Kingdom of priest and
holy nation”was frequently subjected to the raiders (Exodus 19: 5-6):
nonetheless, the theocratic era was considered to have begun right from the
Lord‘s paschal in Egypt in the year of Exodus, and by counting in their 40-years
wandering in the desert that theocratic era had spanned for approximately 391
years. The Theocratic nation died out when all the elders of Israel
rejected the “kingdom of priests”by asking Prophet Samuel to give them a king
instead of his corrupt sons (1 Samuel 8:6-7; 1 Samuel 12:12, 19; 1 Samuel 10:
25).
YHVH
explained unto Samuel that it was God whom the Israelites had rejected as their sovereign King. So the
Theocratic era ended, and the monarchy’s era began with the anointment of Saul
as the first monarch of Israel. “Samuel explained to the people the regulations
of the kingship. He wrote them down on the scroll and deposited them before the
Lord”(1 Samuel 10: 25). The monarchy had survived for approximately 511 years.
It began in the first year of King Saul in 1098
BCE till to the last reigning year of king Zedekiah in 587 BCE. [1] “Monarchy had become
the things of the past”when the last kingdom of Judah was carried off into 70-years
exile in Babylon.[2]
It seemed that God continued to grant
them miraculous protections and blessings throughout the monarchy era, as long
as the reigning king recognized God as his ultimate king above his earthly kingship.
The establishment of the Monarchy era was, in fact, the manifestation of their
rebellion against God, and yet YHVH continuously did many wondrous things due
to His oath to King David in upholding the promised Messiah under his lineage.
Those who walked in the ways of David would be upheld, and the evil kings were
uprooted. As long as the ruling king was responsive and humble before the Lord
then they would be upheld, by the miraculous divine interventions; delivering
them from their enemies as according to the prophecies of the Prophets of God.
YHVH sent his servants in proclaiming
the foundation of the future divine mission
of the promised Messiah. The prophecies are the holy foundation upon which He
fulfils his mission in redeeming mankind. The prophecies were one of the
holy foundations of divine mission on earth, fulfilling the perfect Way
of reconciliation. Later, the perfect atonement of mankind guaranteed true
deliverance for all nations on earth from the slavery of sins. Jesus Christ, the
redeemer of mankind fulfilled YHVH’s promise unto Abraham; that through his seed
all people on earth shall be blessed. The promised blessings are the redemption
in Christ and also the outpouring of the promised helper, the Holy Spirit. The
Mosaic Laws prescribed that the glory of God among his people could not be
manifested, unless there were sacrifices of sin offerings; atonement for the
priest and the people. Jesus came to fulfill the Laws, so that the people of God may receive the fullness of life
(John 10: 10). And through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, the people
of the Way would show forth praises unto God.
The
Church was born with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit; the seal of the New
Covenant. The beginning of fulfilment came on the day of the Pentecost. The
earliest persecuted Church was called the original Apostolic Church. The
original apostolic church died out when all the apostles who had seen Jesus
Christ alive left their earthen vessels. Later, the people of the Way were able
to institutionalize themselves according to their political regions and
affiliations, as more rulers embraced the Way, giving births to 23-Catholic rites including the Eastern
Orthodox Churches, the Latin Rites (Roman) and the Coptic Church. Protestantism
splintered from Catholicism approximately more than 1,000 years later.
According to the New Advent
Encylopedia, the reformation in England was choreographed by king Henry
VIII, plunging the former Catholic-”defender of faith”-nation into new
brand reformed Church of England, and later “the Act of Supreme Head was
enacted in 1534 CE,” [3] prescribing
the Monarch as “the Supreme Head of the Church”; this enactment defied the Papal
supremacy, [4] and
thus, legally cutting off any Roman influence on Henry’s accession on the
throne. In the same year, Pollen wrote that “the Society of Jesus” pioneered
by St. Ignatius Loyola took the vow together with his chosen colleagues in counter-reforming
the protesting-movements or the reformation. [5] The Scripture clearly reveals that division of the body of
Christ is caused by sins, but some reason out that to take apart is sense, as
to sanction the break-ups history of the Church. Thus, the tangible institution
of the Church was predestined to be divided. Some Christian scholars argue that
since the soul of the Church i.e. The Holy Spirit is only one, and therefore
spiritually speaking, the soul of the Church remains as one; they argue that
uniformity does not necessarily equivalent to the unity in the Spirit.
In
the conviction of Christ, Pilate found no proof in passing the verdict;
he was stupefied by Jesus’ uncanny remarks concerning his preordained-mission,
and the resumption of prosecution led Pilate‘s further unnecessary
investigation, enquiring “what is truth?” This enquiry ceaselessly resonates in
one’s vacuum of spiritual awakening. In our personal dialogue, the nature of
our curiosity seeks the satisfying answer to that question “what is truth?”Truth
is the holy foundation of God’s Creation i.e. the Word of God. Jesus had
once disclosed unto his disciples that he came to fulfil all Laws, the Prophecies
of the Prophets and the Psalms.
Though each spiritual “a priori” [6] of holy foundation of divine
mission is the Word of God, and yet all those three are distinguishable
of their purposes.
The
Word is the holy foundation of Creation and always be the sovereign
efficacious-spiritual-“a priori”of every divine plan. Thus, St. John wrote “in the
beginning was the Word.” Jesus testified concerning the tree of life,
but the “wounded”descendants of Adam rejected his testimony due to
the ingrained tree of knowledge in their souls. An atheist who does not
believe in the hand of God the Creator would have to rely on one’s capacity in
perceiving his surroundings as according to the tree of knowledge: in modern
times, the digest could be mostly derived from scientific reasoning. One of the
positive facets of seeing Catholicism vs.
Protestantism is discerning it, as
the clear sign of the nearness of his new
name. Transcending our souls into the presence of God’s Spirit would shed
off the outer tangible perceptions of truth, and thus we see those differences as
merely separating the uniformity, and yet mysteriously leading all
whose names written in a book of life to be One in the Spirit.
After all, our understanding of the
infinite divine Spirit is always insufficient and unrefined. Our consciousness
and faith are mentally shaped up by the doctrinal adherences of one‘s religion.
Not all people like changes; some choose to be faithfully honouring the
traditions. As in the footstep of Moses, the regular practice of striking the
sonorous lime stones in order to detect the presence of reservoired-water is
much safer than “speaking unto the stone.” Those who preferred the traditional
method were protested by those who claim to have heard the voice that
commanding them “to speak unto the stone.” These conflicting paradigms and
precepts have painted the governance of the Church, and thus they eventually
divided the masses into their own respective flocks. The influential authorities
split up the establishment of the Church institutions into strife and
divisions; the former mainstreams of the divisions were called Catholicism
which taught 23 rites, and later Protestantism was born. Since then the
divisions keep on splintering the protestant mainstreams into mushrooming brand
new churches. History is frequently exploited and misinterpreted. The authorship
of history neither discontinues nor becomes absolute. Therefore, Scriptural “truth”
is never to be validated by historical records.
Truth is always the Spirit of
Truth i.e. Jesus Christ. The holy
foundation of the Triune God‘s missions is always the Word. For Noah, the Word was definable as
simply the instructions of building the Ark. The Word of God also
included those ceremonial regulations in performing the ancient rites
of expiation. The Lyrics from God‘s heart were definable as the Word
of God as well; such as the Lyrics in Genesis 8: 21-22. Jesus disclosed all
those categories of Word in Luke 24: 44 as “everything must be fulfilled that
is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalm (Lyrics).” Jesus’
disclosure of his identity could be simply rephrased as “everything about me
must be fulfilled according to the spoken Word
of the Divine” St. John saw the salvific missions by the Hand of God along with
the chosen lineage, and thus he simply wrote “the Word became flesh.”The
word manifested in the midst of mankind both as the Son of the Most High and
also the Son of Man.
If we fly above into the sky, as if
having bird’s-eye-view on those things below; we would see the journeys of his
chosen; connected and elucidated with the prophesied destiny of God’s people.
It is unwise to reunite all churches under one tangible umbrella because this endeavour
would be likened as an upstream-rowing of a boat; such attempt discards the
prophecies (Word) revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and also by the
saints of the Church.
Unnecessary merges of Churches would
be against the revelations of God. We must learn from the resonating message of
Diaspora; thus, the dispersion must take place before His Second Coming. Jesus
foretold that the birth pangs: “10 many will turn away from the faith and many
will betray, and hate each another, 11 many false prophets will appear and
deceived many people (Matthew
24: 10-11).”So it was clear that the mainstreams churches would go through
further divisions, dispersions and apostasy. Dispersion fulfilled the
prophesied-birth pangs: the paintings are apostasy, divisions, strife,
sectarianism and deceptions. Therefore, any attempt to unify these dispersed
churches would only manifest our
pointless attempt to reverse the predicted deterioration of the tangible churches;
It is simply against Jesus’ prophecies.
It is against the prophecies revealed
by God who once dispersed the unified one-language inhabitants of the earth
with “72 major languages in the ancient incident of the forbidden tower of
Babel.” [7] Wikipedia the Free Encylopedia explained the
origin of many languages on earth; “because a count of all the descendants
of Noah listed by name in chapter 10 of Genesis provides 15 names for Japheth's
descendants, 30 for Ham's, and 27 for Shem's, these figures became established
as the 72 languages resulting from the confusion at Babel.” [8] Most of us are able to relate the
dispersion of the one-language ancient Babylon to divine Judgment;
paradoxically, such dispersion was necessary as to weaken the possibilities of
easy diabolic conquest of humanity. Seeing through the same lenses; we should
be able to see the break-ups history of the Church as filtered through the
fingers of God, so that the subtlest diabolic conquest of the bride could be transcendently and creatively deferred and delayed by the most mysterious
creativity of the Divine Spirit.
Complete unity and uniformity was
only practical for the once theocratic governance of the ancient Hebrews in the
Promised Land. It may not be necessary for the Church to remain in one tangible
unity in order to express the spiritual
marriage between the Jesus Christ and
his followers. Though the witnessing strength of the “Truth” is undeniably
marred by the divisions of many affiliations, it would be better to see the
splintering as the clear “Sign” of the nearness of the new name of Jesus Christ. God has allowed these paintings for her
bride, as manifestations of the shaken pillars on earth, so that God’s Word
would be fulfilled. God is not agitated with the divisions of the tangible
Church.
He is able to solve any problem with
his transcendent creativity. Our God is perfect. Seeing the replay of history
like in the days of the Judges’ era which had shifted into the Monarchy Kingdom
through the collective force of the elders would be inspiring. History keeps on
repeating though it does not appear to be exactly the same…like from the
theocratic Kingdom of Priests replaced by the Monarchy Kingdom of Israel, then
they were exiled into foreign nations: the Diaspora. It was somehow repeated by
the break ups history of the Church; Protestantism splintered from Catholic
rites. And then, Protestantism keeps on splintering into numerous unknown
traditions and roots. Unless splintered phenomenon was fulfilled, the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ on earth wouldn’t be near.
The birth of the Lamb of God had long
been preceded by the Diaspora which eventually ushered the unified “one” Old
Covenant people into fragmented sectarian flocks: the Zealots, the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, the Samaritan Jews, and the Essenes, and several Rabbinical Talmud
Lineages. Somehow, the divided Old Covenant people were just the right time for
Jesus to manifest himself as the “Word” became “flesh,” bringing forth the
establishment of the New Covenant. The dispersed phenomenon has to be
continuously painting the tangible body of the Church before the 2nd Return
of Christ. The Second Advent would be preceded by the phenomenon of break-ups
of the Spiritual Israelites (Churches) ...into numerous tangible
Churches...which would be adjudged by the rhyming verses of the fire of Chastisement:
a time, times and half a time.
When
the Church was born...the former Old Covenant people continued to observe the old
way of expiation. In the near future, the present numerous tangible
churches might continue their Churchianity even the then returned Christ
might have sealed the elect as prophesied in Revelation 7. They may similarly
emulate the same mistake done by the widow of Yahweh. The calloused hearts of
those Old Covenant believers insisted in observing the ‘way’ as according to Mosaic Laws though Prophet Isaiah had clearly
disclosed that God was no longer pleased with animal sacrifices (Isaiah 66:
3-4). Lamb of God had already perfected the foreshadowing Laws on the day of
Lord‘s paschal on the Cross: the sacrifices which blasphemed the atoning Cross
of Jesus led to “the destruction of the temple which according to Betchel had
taken place in 70 AD.” [9] Thus, Jesus’ return on the unique
day of the Lord would surely fulfil the prophecies spoken by Prophet Daniel “when
the power of the holy people is broken.” “Broken”here points to the
absence of divine favour which spans for a time, times, and half a time.
It is Judgment’s era—“desert.”
The Revelation concerning Catholicism
and Protestantism is...
But the Lord says through Prophet
Isaiah, “ 8 Remember this and consider, (a)
recall it to mind, you transgressors (increasing apostasy), 9
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am
God, and there is no one like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and
from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My purpose shall stand, and I
will fulfill my intention”(Isaiah
46: 8-10). Divine intentions (Judgment i.e. without daytime and night time)
or wills for Catholicism and Protestantism would stand. Human tendency
manifests our judgmental attitude towards our brethren in different
affiliations. God's purpose would stand ...He would winnow both of them
according to the revealed rebukes in the book of revelation (Chapter 2 and 3)
during the chastisement period of “a time.”Catholic calls that winnowing, as Chastisement which is
actually referring to the first phase of a time, times, and half a time. Then He would return… (Revelation
6: 12-17; Matthew 24: 29-31).
The
Apostles Creed “Jesus ascended into Heaven, seated
at the right Hand of the Father,” signifying His Melchizedec Mediator
ship in Heaven. ...but when He returns on earth there would be no One sitting
on that “Mediatory seat” because Jesus' name
had been pronounced “seven eyes, seven horns
and seven spirits.”However, his heart remains the same forever. Though
his mission is changing, He is forever immutable. His return means another
Mission of the Triune God on earth...the Judgment. Either Catholics or
Protestants; both of them are human spirits (the Divine vineyards) that
would enter the prophesied desert for a
time, times, and half a time. They would be judged by the dreadful
Judge. Sins are like thorns and briers. They are like fuel that caught up the
fire of God, and there would be billowing of smoke. There would be blood, fire
and billowing smoke as the Signs on earth.
Defining
true Christianity by merely referring to one’s membership of any established
church institution would only lead us into endless debates because eventually
one would be tempted to expose the history of wrongdoings, or the flesh of each
another. Exposing the history of the flesh of each another means endless
argument, as long as we are confined within this mortal flesh. Who would be
blameless when we are adjudged via our flesh? Blessed be those who are redeemed;
those who truly embrace the teaching of true Vine and true branches. However, Catholicism
remained the Mother Church because Protestantism was born from Catholicism and
not vice versa. Protestantism splintered from Catholicism. If Catholicism is
the theology instituted by Christ, as according to Catholic apologetics then
why God keeps on manifesting miracles and wondrous divine manifestations among
the splintered Protestantism?
The answer lies in the Divine
Creativity and ultimate Goodness of our Lord in reaching the world. The fact
was that Protestantism did not reject the Way,
but merely defying the papal supremacy. And neither did Catholicism side track
from the Way, but merely upholding
the traditions. Paradoxically, both remain the followers of the Way: and
yet they subtly oppose each another. Yahweh was somehow still continuing his
mission with the covenant people during the kings’ era though the kingdom was
bureaucratically ruled by an earthly king. Monarchy system was, in fact, the Israelites’
square rejection of YHVH‘s Sovereignty: the Lord’s intention for the old
covenant people was “6 you (a) will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," Exodus 19: 5-6; see
Israelites rejection of YHVH in 1Samuel 8: 1-22). The truth is Jesus Christ
(John 14:6). In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father, but by me.” The Truth is the Reality of God’s Spirit. The Word became flesh is the
reality of God in the midst of mankind. The reality of the presence of God is
only accessible when one is in the presence of the Spirit of Truth.
Questioning
true Christianity based on “comparative paradigms”would be rather a
manifestation of one’s failure in seeing the ultimate reason of being a
believer i.e. to be continuously reconciled to the Spirit of God. My soul is
free from subtle historical prejudices dished out by the mortal historians,
thus I see that Catholicism, and Protestantism are not guilty of anything. The
lay Christians might be deceived by the fine sounding arguments opined by the
historian-authors. Spiritual watchfulness would be helpful in differentiating
between historical subjects and the Truth. History always
presents the “facts,” but the “truth” is always communicated by the Spirit
of Truth. Besides, the Serpent is very wise; he has endless deceptions in
conquering the bride.
The
bride must be choreographed and divided, so that the beasts, as the “mouths” of the Old Serpent, could easily
conquer her imprints and missions on earth. The Adversary’s emissaries, the beasts
of the earth, are always seeking to
splash acid on the wounds, so that the saints are conquered. The beasts as
Satan‘s emissaries on earth had succeeded in conquering the holy people through
wars, antichrist-ideologies, and through economic conquests (the
slavery of fiat money). These three known classic manoeuvres of Conquest
had enmeshed the Church, and even the Church’s break ups became the subtle loop
holes for the church; making her to be easily infiltrated by “waters like
river spewed out by the Serpent.”Now, the power of church has broken...it
is the prophesied “desert”: ...a time, times, and half a time.
To be extremely tireless zealot with
the supremacy of one‘s doctrinal belief would rather set the boundary of the
infinite Spirit of God, thus manifesting our immature predisposition in
discerning the truth. Our judgmental inclination only manifests our earthly
precepts and unrefined understanding concerning the infinite and unfathomable
mystery of the Spirit of God: the
boundless Word. Edifying apologetics belongs to those who are
acquainted with the spirit of understanding and the spirit of wisdom; those who
know how to handle the Word that sharper than any double-edged-sword,
separating soul and spirit. Edifying apologetics is essentially the Spirit
of Prophecy. There is no time to entertain lawyering because it
merely displays our desperate desire in winning an argument. Time is running
out for an argument. Considering the nearness of his name, his message is not subduing every argument into the power of Christ or “Go,
my people win an argument.” But He said, “Go, my covenant people enter your own
chamber.”It is within your own chamber that
you would be strengthened by the presence of His Spirit; it is the fire of His
presence that lights up the wicks of
our spirits.
Blessed those pure heart for they shall see the Face of God
(Matthew 5:8). Jesus said that if your eyes are full of light then indeed your
body are full of light, and if your eyes are dark and indeed your body be
totally darkened. Jesus in his dying
breaths said, “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing.” The descendants of the wounded men ought to face the truth that our intellectual
capacities impede our understanding of the Most holy One. Unless we are
continously renewing our minds with our daily Manna, our human precepts would
not be transformed into seeing the
divine precepts. We continue our journey of faith as according to the precepts
shaped up by the teachings of our Churches. And yet our dominant consciousness is
undeniably remaining centred on our mortal grey matters within our cranial
skulls. Unless we are truly endowed with the gift of the Spirit “the fear of the Lord,” then we may
remain within the untransformed-cocooned-faith, dominated by our own mental-precepts.
Thus,
such cocoon is imprisoning us from having the right spirit of understanding and
the right spirit of wisdom. May the Lord
who is merciful and enduring lovingkindness endow us the operations of the gifts of the Sevenfold
Spirit; and may the spirit of the fear of the
Lord descends at our wicks of our spirits, so that even our flesh is
weak, and yet our spirits may be transformed into what He transcendingly
intends us to be, as according to the richness of His omniwisdom and omniknowledge.
Blessed be those who hold the treasure of Sion; the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 33:
6). The followers of Christ who are
inclined to cultivate judgmental predisposition would be ending up uninterested in practicing the
heart of Jesus, when it comes to forgiving their fellow brethren, they would find out as if pebbles along their throats of prayers. There must have
been subtle hatred that had seeped down the souls of the mortal men who claimed
to be the followers of Christ.
Every mouth that confesses to be
the followers of Christ would be facing the Judgment Seat of Christ. Therefore,
let Christ alone be the Judge who judges in equity. Jesus
said that if
your eyes are full of light then indeed your body are full of light, and if
your eyes are dark and indeed your body be totally darkened. Following Christ is
more than the knowledge of apologetics.
It is likened by Christ as the true branches and the true Vine: dependency. Does anyone
would be just enough to tell you that you are full of light or vice
versa? Solomon said “human spirit is
the lamp of God, it searches the innermost being
By Joannes Simin
End Notes
By Joannes Simin
End Notes
[1] Simin, Joannes. The Interpolated Chronologies in the Old
Covenant Based on Prophecies. ms. 2014
[2] Bechtel, Florentine. "Judaizers." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 24 Apr. 2014
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08537a.htm>.
[3]Thurston, Herbert. "Henry VIII." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 23 Apr. 2014
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07222a.htm.
[4] ”Supreme Head of the Church of England.”Wikipedia, the
Free Encylopedia. 23 Apr. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/upreme_Head_of_the_Church_of_England>.
[5] Pollen, John Hungerford. "St. Ignatius Loyola." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 24
Apr. 2014 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07639c.htm>.
[6] "a priori." Online
Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 24 Apr. 2014.
<Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/a priori>.
[7] “Tower of Babel: Enumeration of scattered languages.”Wikipedia,
the Free Encyclopedia. 23 April 2014. <Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel>.
[8] Ibid.
[9]
Bechtel, Florentine. "Judaizers." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 24 Apr. 2014
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08537a.htm>.
References (The Holy Bible)
The Holy Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. 14 Apr.2014.
<Catholic.org
The Holy Bible, New International Version. The NIV Study
Bible. The Zondervan
Bible Publishers. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1985.
The Holy Bible Knox Translation. Baronius Press Ltd. ed. 2012.
<newadvent.org http://www.newadvent.org/bible >.
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