Thanksgiving & the Temple

This week, we're going to have Thanksgiving in America. It's interesting because the whole nation that became the United States started out on all the principles based in the Bible.

One of the things that they did in the various states was they had different days of Thanksgiving. It's interesting when you understand how Thanksgiving became the last Thursday in November. That came because of President Abraham Lincoln. He put out a proclamation and a decree.

Go back and you look at what we have already studied recently concerning the repentance of the Ninevites and the king of Nineveh. He put out a proclamation that everyone should repent, that everyone should fast and not eat food or drink water and even the animals.

So, God honored that and God held off His heavy hand of correction that was coming against the king for the destruction of the Ninevites and Assyria and Nineveh the city.

So. likewise, during the time of Abraham Lincoln, we had the Civil War and the Civil War was tearing the nation right in two. In fact, Lincoln gave this proclamation on October 3, 1863, two years before the Civil War had ended. That's amazing! So, right in the middle of the war he said that everybody needs to stop and thank God! Lincoln says, in the midst of the Civil War, it was a tragedy:

(excerpts from Lincoln's Proclamation to the USA) Washington, D.C., October 3, 1863 by the President of the United States of America
https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

A Proclamation

…No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things (of God)….

Whatever they are, and even going through that war, the good things that come from God and everything that we have. Stop and remember this: everybody has to depend upon God, whether they believe in Him or not!

• you have to breathe
• you have to eat
• you have to sleep
• you have thought
• you have work
• you have a certain span of life

That certain span of life also is reflected by your various choices!

• IF you choose to sin greatly and your life comes to end early
• IF you choose to follow the things that are in line with the Word of God—whether you know it or not—and you may live to be 70 or 80, as it says in the Psalms

(continuing proclamation): …They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God…

Everything we have, the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food that we were able to eat, all of the materials that we're able to mine and dig and plant and harvest and all that, that all comes from God!

…who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins…

Lincoln is repenting of our sins!

…hath nevertheless remembered mercy….

Isn't that true? Every time there's correction, God remembers mercy!

…It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence…

That's repentance! That's why we won the Civil War, because Lincoln was leading the nation in repentance!

…or our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it…

Today, we have a small type of this as evidenced by the election that we have just gone through. It seems as though that more people are coming to understand that they have to have law and order, and they have to do things that are good. There has to be common sense, and they have to stop their evil and they have to stop all of their gross woke sins that have been put upon us.

So, we have a little bit of time. What will that time give us something to do?

• it'll give us time to preach the Gospel
• it'll give us time for all of us to grow in grace and knowledge
• it'll give time for more people to be converted and to attain to the first resurrection

So we're thankful for that! We're also going to see that:

• it's going to be for a time to fulfill prophecy:

(continuing proclamation):…be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union (unity).

So, that was Lincoln's Thanksgiving message!

Let's look at some things in the Scripture concerning thanks and thanksgiving.

Psa. 95—here's a Psalm of David and it's also a Sabbath Psalm.

Psalm 95:1: " O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving…" (vs 1-2).

That's what we need to do in every prayer, that we thank God for, everything that we have:

• His love
• His truth
• His righteousness
• His mercy
• His forgiveness
• His kindness

Everything to do with it!

God will bless even those not called to conversion if they do as President Lincoln said in his proclamation there.

"…and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms, for the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods" (vs 2-3).

There's no religion in the world that can come close to what the true God is, has done, is doing, and will do! It's all contained in the Bible. The Bible is really the most fantastic book on the face of the earth, because:

• it tells us about God, who he is, what He has done
• it tells us how we came to be
• it tells us about things before the ages of time
• it tells us about the creation of angels
• it tells us about the creation of the earth
• it tells us about how we overcome sin
• it tells us about what God has done to deliver us from sin
• it tells us what God is going to do in the future
• it tell us about when Christ is going to come

All of those things we can thank God for!

Verse 4: "In His hand are the depths of the earth; the peaks of the mountains are also His. The sea is His, and He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us… [Israel] …worship and bow down let us kneel before the LORD our Maker, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would but hearken to His voice" (vs 4-7).

• Isn't that interesting?
• What did Jesus say in the temptation with Satan the devil?

He quoted Scripture!

• What did He quote? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!

Consistent all the way through!

Verse 8: "Harden not your heart as in the rebellion, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness."

Psa. 147—here's another song of praise and how great it is. We're living in a time where we have so many things. We have more than any other generation in the history of the world.

Yet, instead of being thankful and come to God, we have a great movement to get rid of God! Right now, this nation is in a struggle between those who believe in God, and law and order and common sense, Not necessarily to salvation, because salvation is a calling!

But we see that when that is selected, then things come to a much more livable condition. It's going to be a great problem to get rid of all of the illegal immigrants that have come into the nation, but maybe there will be that little time of peace that comes along.

Psalm 147:1: "O praise the LORD, for it is good to sing praises to our God, for praise is pleasant and becoming. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel" (vs 1-2).

In a type, that has happened over there in the Middle East in what should be rightly called Judea and not Israel, because not all 12 tribes are there.

Verse 3: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

That happens when we come to Him in repentance and we ask God:

• to help us
• to heal us
• to heal our bodies
• to heal our minds
• to heal our thoughts

Then we commit our thoughts to Him! How great is He?

Verse 4: "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names. Great is our LORD and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite" (vs 4-5).

Now, think about this: When we pray, this is the God:

• we are coming before
• we are praying to

to thank Him for

• His love
• His grace
• His mercy
• His truth
• His righteousness

Verse 6: "The LORD lifts up the meek; He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praises upon the lyres unto our God" (vs 6-7).

That's quite a thing! Let's come to the New Testament and let's look at some of the things that we need to thank God for. There's a lot in the New Testament, and the New Testament is really fantastic and marvelous, indeed! Notice what He says here concerning:

• conversion
• what is to happen
• how we need to look to God to everything

2-Corinthians 4:3: "And having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, 'I believed, therefore, I have spoken'…"

Remember, the very first thing we always need to do is believe God!

• it will lead us to obey Him
• it will lead us to love Him

and

• receive His love
• understand His Truth

"…we also believe; therefore, we also speak, knowing that He Who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead shall also raise us through Jesus, and shall present us with you" (vs 13-14). That's an amazing thing!

Remember the Psalm that says, and also Heb. 2, where the Lord comes before God at the time of the resurrection, and He says, 'Behold, the children You have given Me.' Think about that! Think of what an inspiring time that's going to be at the time of the resurrection on the Sea of Glass.

Verse 15: "For all things are for your sakes, so that the abounding grace may cause the thanksgiving of many to overflow unto the glory of God. For this reason, we do not lose heart…" (vs 15-16).

That's why we always look to God in everything. Now, we're going to have times when we're a little discouraged. We're going to have times that are going to be difficult, but always be looking to God!

"…but if our outward man is being brought to decay, yet, the inward man is being renewed day-by-day" (v 16).

That's the whole point of conversion, day-by-day! Take every day the way that God wants it.

1-Tim. 2—let's see what Paul wrote to Timothy. This is quite interesting, because it's much like what happened in this recent election. There were a lot of people, not in the Church… Now, they may have been the 50-persenters, which I call the evangelicals. They're 50-persenters, because they don't have all the Truth of God and they don't obey all the Truth of God, but they have a concept of God!

So, they have been praying that Trump would win. A lot of them didn't vote because they said, well, we don't need to vote. Well, that was their choice to do. But nevertheless, because of the things that God put Donald Trump through, as we have covered, and the way that the people responded, we have a mandate for the country! More people have probably prayed for Donald Trump than any other person on the face of the earth at this time.

1-Timothy 2:1: "I exhort, therefore, first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men."

Not only just the Church, but that good things would happen to people in the world, as well.

Verse 2: "For kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all Godliness and respectability. For this is good and acceptable before God our Savior" (vs 2-3).

God doesn't want us to be all cloistered together in a cutoff little thing that has nothing to do with the outside world. Listen, God is giving us an opportunity to preach the Gospel and help bring many more into the knowledge of the Truth and to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God!

That's what God wants. That's why we need to pray for all the Churches of God. That God will work with them to do what He wants with them. Then it will work out.

Verse 4: "Who desires all men to be saved…"

Of course, as we know the Plan of God, the second resurrection and the Millennium; God is working toward that!

"…and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. for there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men—the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony of which is to be preached in its appointed times" (vs 4-6).

The appointed times are the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

So, let's have a good Thanksgiving this year. I know you probably will even be with people that are not in the Church; enjoy it anyway and have a good time and thank God for everything!

• for life
• for Truth
• for His Spirit
• for His Righteousness
• for His goodness
• for everything

so that we have a good Thanksgiving!

*****

The Temple & the Ark of the Covenant

As you can see, Jonathan and Wade dredged the Sea of Galilee and came up with a temple. (referring to a picture of the temple in Jesus' day)  We're going to talk about the temple in the Ark today because that's one of the most important things that's going to happen.

How do we know that there's going to be a temple that has to be the third temple and rebuilt?

Dan. 11—we will cover a little bit how that's going to happen.

We are living in the time of the end. How long it's going to be until it gets here? We don't know, but every day that passes brings us one day closer.

We also see happening in Europe that Europe is beginning to develop itself and it will grow into being a great world power again. Part of those things are going to take place because of the election that just took occurred here in the United States.

However long beyond the four years that these things are going to occur, we do not know. But we find this:

Daniel 11:40: "And at the time of the end…"

There's a beginning, there's an ending; we're approaching the ending. The only way we know that the end is coming is by the things that are taking place.

"…the King of the South shall push at him. And the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and sweep through. He shall also enter into the glorious land…" (vs 40-41).

That's into what is called today Israel, But that's an incorrect name. It should be Judea, because not all 12 tribes are there.

Daniel wanted to know what was when these things were going to take place. We find that God told him through an angel:

Daniel 12:9: "And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white and refined…." (vs 9-10).

That is between the time of the resurrection of Christ and until he returns. Not just a whole lot at the end alone. Now, there will be a whole lot, 144,000 and a great innumerable multitude, saved out of the Great Tribulation. So, that would include them, as well.

"…But the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand" (v 10).

Who are the wise? The ones who love God and keep His Commandments!

Verse 11: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away…"

Some people think we really don't need a whole temple as a temple, we just really need some sacrifices. That's not true! They may start out with sacrifices as they're beginning to build. But then you have to have the daily sacrifices. Let's look at what else it says here with that concerning that.

Verse 11: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." That is a leap year!

Note our In-Depth Study: Daniel & Revelation. We cover it and we have a great chart showing all the prophecies all outlined on a sacred calendar. That covers the last seven years. And we have on there that the last year is a leap year—1,290 days, a little more than one year! That's actually three and a half years, but the last one is a leap year.

Verse 12: "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days."

Waiting means lying in the grave! Or if you're still alive at that time, you're waiting for the resurrection! So, this has to be on the day of resurrection.

Matt. 24—let's see what Jesus said. This is not necessarily new for us, but it's necessary to cover it so that we know for sure that the Bible tells us that there must be a third temple! The big argument is: Where are they going to put it?

So, Jesus talks about the temple there being destroyed, not one stone left upon another in the first part of Matt. 24. Then He gives all the things leading right down because this chapter runs from what Jesus was telling them at that particular point about the things that would take place then, and it comes all the way to His return. So, this covers a great span of time. Right here at the time of the end, we have this:

Verse 14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations…"   and then shall the end come."

Today, we have that ability to do so with all the things that we have available to us. In addition to what the two witnesses will be doing, as we will see in a little bit, being in Jerusalem.

God has backed that up by having the Bible translated into over 3,000 different languages. So, no one is going to say in the end-time, 'O Lord, why didn't You tell us? Well, it's there!

Then it shows that there's an obligation for the Church! We've got to preach the Gospel, the second coming of Christ, and the things that will take place! Part of them is there will be a third temple!

Verse 15: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the Holy Place.'….

Where is the Holy Place? The Holy place is the Holy of Holies! Now, we'll show you a little bit about that with some of the things that we have here.

Then John  says, "…(The one who reads, let him understand.)" That was a parenthetical statement put in there by John so that we would be able to understand it at the end-time.

Rev. 11—let's see that this tells us that there will be a temple. Also, you go to one of the sermons that I did on who are the two witnesses and you will see it's not going to be anybody from the Church.

{transcriber's note: there are several messages on the subject of the Two Witnesses at truthofgod.org}

It's going to be the high priest of the coming temple and the governor of Judea at that time. They will be 'the two olive trees standing before the God of the whole earth.'

• God is going to select them
• God is going to convert them
• God is going to have them be the two witnesses against the whole world's system

Now, that's something to consider!

Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the Temple of God…'"

How are you going to measure the Temple of God if it isn't there?

"'…and the altar, and those who worship in it'" (v 1). That shows

• there will be an altar
• there will be sacrifices

That agrees with Dan.12

• there's going to be the abomination

which agrees also with Matt. 24; Dan. 12

Verse 2: "But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months." That's three and a half years!

Verse 3: "And I will give power to My two witnesses…"

• He selects them.
• He gives them power

"…and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth" (vs 3-4).  That goes right back to Zech. 3 & 4.

This is going to be the tremendously frustrating time for the beast and the false prophet. Because two men dressed in sackcloth in Jerusalem is going to frustrate every effort that they try to do with calling down plagues and different things like that, and they won't be able to stop them!

Verse 5: "And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies. For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will" (vs 5-6).

Quite a thing! These two witnesses are going to be absolutely a terrible thorn in the flesh of the beast and the false prophet.

Verse 7: "And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified" (vs 7-8)—right there in Jerusalem!

Isn't it interesting that everything in the world is now beginning to circulate around fulfilling these prophecies? The Chinese don't know that they are building up an army and combined with the other great nations of the Far East to have armies totaling 200 million.

When the resurrection takes place, it's going to be quite a thing! At first they will think that it is the second return of Christ, but then they will understand that it's coming from outer space. Satan will say, these are the invaders from outer space to take over the world, and all the armies gathered together here to fight against it to save the world. The Chinese at that time will be one of the major armies with their armies coming to try and save the world from the invaders of outer space.

Verse 11: "Then after the three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them"—and the resurrection begins!

Now, what I want to do is read a little bit from this report because there has been made in Jerusalem a replica of the Ark of the Covenant.

Now, here's a picture of it. It's not very big, but I'll hold it up. It's overlaid with gold made exactly like it is described there in Exo. 25.

Did we not hear from the Jews that they know where the Ark is buried? If they know where it's buried:

• Why haven't they gotten it?
• Why have they made another Ark in great detail according to the instructions in Exo. 25? They will need that to put into the Holy of Holies!

Here's another picture of the side of the Ark showing one of the scenes that they have done, and this is the burning bush right here.

It was first displayed in Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles this year. Then they took it to New York, and then they took it to Mar-a-Lago. Ding!

• Why did they take it to Mar-a-Lago?
• Is Donald Trump going to have something to do with building the temple?
• Who knows?

He's not going to be the beast, but somebody's got to have the world held in such a condition that they can build the temple!

Historic Ark Replica Makes Its Jerusalem Debut During Sukkot Festival
https://israel365news.com/397284/historic-ark-replica-makes-its-jerusalem-debut-during-sukkot-festival/

…the replica has already traveled to several significant locations, including Shiloh…

That's the first place where the tabernacle was put up.

…he ancient site of the Tabernacle, and has even made an appearance at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

• Why was that so?
• What is it about Donald Trump?

Trump says he's done more for the Jews than any other president, and that is true.

I remember talking with Darlene Reddaway some time ago, and she said, 'Do you suppose that Trump is going to have something to do with the rebuilding of the temple?' Well, could be! So, you have to answer the question, why did they take it by Mar-a-Lago on its way back to Jerusalem?

We know the story of the Ark. During the days of Samuel, Eli, who was corrupt, and his two sons—Hophni and Phinehas who were corrupt priests—that they went out to battle against the Philistines, and they lost the battle.

We find all of this account in 1-Sam. 5-7. They came back and said, Let's take the Ark and we'll win the battle. Even Adolf Hitler was looking for the Ark so he could conquer the world.

So, back to Eli and Hophni and Phinehas who came back and took the Ark, put it right out in the front of the battle, but because of their sins and corruption, they lost the battle! The Philistines captured the Ark. They took it and they put it into the temple of Dagon. That night Dagon fell on his face and lost his head. So they stood Dagon back up, and the next night he fell down again and both hands came off.

They didn't know what to do with the Ark. Then some gathered around and looked inside of it, and a great multitude were killed by looking inside of it, because that's what everyone wants. Everyone wants the power that supposedly goes with the Ark so that they can win their battles. But they didn't learn the lesson of Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons who took the Ark out there.

Eventually God struck them with hemorrhoids and mice, and then the priest, the pagan priest of Dagon, were consulted what to do. They said:

Make golden offerings in the form of hemorrhoids and mice, and make a new cart and put the Ark in it and put a cow on it that has never given birth and point it toward the Israelites.

Because they were all coming down and dying with this terrible plague!

• We have to understand, if any nation had it today, would they not have a lot of plagues?
• Would they not have difficulties if they had it?
• Yes, they would!

It's not in Ethiopia, though the Ethiopians claim they have it. Finally, David brought it to the temple.

{transcriber's note: It's best to watch the following, which is shown on the video of this message}

Now, what I'm going to do is first show you some things concerning the tabernacle. I've had these things for quite a while, and I have a big makeup of this. Here is one showing the tabernacle set up with the hangings of the fence around it. That's what it looked like. The children of Israel camped four of the tribes on each side, the east, the north, the south and the west.

There you see the fire by night and the cloud by day, and you see the tabernacle. It was not very big.

I have another book called The Tabernacle by Moshe Levine. I've had this book for almost 40 years.

I want to show you a couple of pictures here so that you can have an inside view of his rendition of the inside of the tabernacle, because there was not a temple; it was a tabernacle.

So here's the tabernacle. You see the back part is the Holy of Holies. Then there's the hanging curtain with the cherubim weaved into the very fabric of it. The high priest would go once a year into the Holy of Holies. Out front there you see the censors. You see the washing of hands and so forth.

Now, let's take another look at another picture that is interesting indeed. Let's look at the Ark of the Covenant. It's different than the Ark of the Covenant that they made now in the sense that the wings of the angels are completely different.

Here's a picture of the Ark of the Covenant. The two cherubim with their wings overshadowing. Now, there was no throne; there was nothing in between the two cherubim. But it was the Holy Place, because God put His presence there. That was so that He could dwell among them with His presence in the Holy of Holies.

Let's take a look at another picture here. Here is one when you read about it in the book of Exodus about the table of showbread. There was to be a loaf of bread, one loaf for each tribe sitting on little pans. There it is, six on one side and six on the other side. This is the table of showbread.

When David and those who were hungry came to the temple and the priest gave them the bread that was to be eaten only by the priests. Jesus brought that out. There's the table of showbread. That shows what the tabernacle looked like.

Now we're going to take a look at the temple of 70A.D. before it was destroyed. Remember, Jesus said that where the temple was, 'there would not be one stone left upon another.' Today, we'll show you what the problem is: the Jews would destroy the world so they could build it where they think they should build it. But that's not the place! That's where the Mosque of Omar is, the Al Aqsa Mosque.

The Jews want to build it there even if they have to kill every Muslim. So, this is the source of the problem that we have in the Middle East today.

{transcriber's note: It's best to watch the following, which is shown on the video of this message}

Now let's take a look at this rendition of the temple in 70A.D.

The man who did it; his name is Cooper. This came from the Associates for Scriptural Knowledge, Dr. Sielaff. {http://ernestlmartin.com/ask.htm}

Here we have the whole temple area. What did Jesus say of this whole area? That there would not be one stone left upon another.

This is the Roman fortress called Fort Antonia. It is still standing. This is the south wall of Fort Antonia. It is still standing there today. All of this has been destroyed. Not one stone left upon another!

So, this is the area right here where the temple must be built. It cannot be built here. They need to understand why. Now, in this area, right directly below it is the Spring of Gihon, where there's a constant flow of water that would come right up to the temple area. Then that water was used to wash the sacrifices and so forth.

Then it would come out here and go down. Beyond this, previous to this temple in 70A.D., the land extended clear way out beyond that. There was David's house, later Solomon's house, and right at the end of it was almost a cliff. Right at the bottom of it was a big moat that they have just discovered archeologically. That moat was 100 feet wide and 30 feet deep. That was to discourage invasion of troops.

This view right here is a view as it would be as if you were on the Mount of Olives. Where did the disciples come to Jesus to ask what's going to happen? On the Mount of Olives! So, this is as close to a view of what they were looking at when Jesus told them, 'Not one stone left upon another.'

What do we have today? The big argument over it is the whole Fort Antonia is still there! All of the stones, the walls, are still there!

Here is the Wailing Wall, the Western Wall, somewhere right along here. You've seen pictures of the Wailing Wall. Are there stones there standing, big stones, one upon another? Yes, indeed!

The Mosque of Omar is somewhere right around in here. I've shown you the picture that inside the Mosque of Omar is the Dome of the Rock, which is the point where Mohammed was allegedly ascending from to go to heaven. But that's just a fable, it didn't occur.

• the Jews say, 'We want this area to build the temple'
• the Muslims say, 'You will not get it'

That's what the problem is. So, what has to happen is this: At the right time, the Jews are going to have to understand that this is where they build the temple! (south of the area of the Mosque of Omar)

Now, a little bit more about the temple area. You see these two causeways right here on all of these colonnades? The soldiers could come directly out of here right to the top of the wall of the temple area.

So, when Paul was preaching, the troops had to come down here because the Jews were known to riot a lot, come against the Romans a lot, gather at the temple and cause problems. So, there were always Roman soldiers standing up there guarding the area.

When this came about with the Apostle Paul, he was coming with those to bring offerings for cleansing and the Jews got him and captured him. Then he was saved because the soldiers came down. We don't know if he was down in here and they came and took him, or whether he was right up in here. We don't know exactly where he was, but he was rescued from it.

{end of showing the temple area}

Then there was a great assembly of a lot of the Jews out there after Paul had been taken by the Roman centurion. He was taken to Fort Antonia.

The Jews plotted to try and have him come down so they could capture him and kill him. But God worked it out so that that the son of one of Paul's relatives came to the centurion. First of all, he came to Paul and told him what was going to happen. Then Paul sent him to the centurion to tell him what they were looking to do, because there were 40 men who had sworn an oath and were fasting about killing Paul.

The Jewish problem was this: they didn't want to have anything to do with any of the Gentiles, any of the other nations. That's why the problem and difficulty came about with God beginning to call the Gentiles.

Who did God start with? Cornelius (Acts 10). That's why you need the book that we have: The Apostle Paul's Teachings on God's Laws. Also that is Appendix Z in the Faithful Version Bible. Please understand, in the Bible we have the commentaries and we have the appendices that will help you understand things in the Bible that you wouldn't understand otherwise!

And one of the big difficulties was the absolute separation between the Jews and the Gentiles. They would have nothing to do with them.

Acts 10—let's review that and see why the Jews and the elders within the Church, even though they agreed that repentance was given to the Gentiles, we see that they didn't stop their separation by what happened with Barnabas, Paul, Peter and the crew coming down from James; they separated!

Acts 10:24: "And on the next day, they came to Caesarea. Now, Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his kinsmen and his intimate friends"—and all of his servants; it was a big deal.

A centurion was a man who was in charge of 100 troops, plus everything else that went along with that.

Remember that Cornelius was a righteous man; Cornelius, on his own, was praying to God before Peter even came. An angel came to him and said, 'Your prayer has been answered.'

He wasn't circumcised! He was an Italian! This is where the big problem came.

Verse 25: "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet, worshiping him."

And Peter said, 'Thank you; I'm glad you recognize that I am the first pope of the Catholic Church.' Nonsense!

Church at Home—churchathome.org—Was Peter Ever in Rome? Watch it, the whole thing!

Verse 26:"But Peter raised him up, saying, 'Stand up, for I myself am also a man.' And as he was talking with him, he went in and found many gathered together. And he said to them, 'You know that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew…'" (vs 26-28). That is a Jew practicing the traditions of the Jews!

What did Jesus say about the tradition of the Jews? Full well that you reject the Commandments of God that you may keep your traditions!

Here's where the whole controversy that went through the First Century Church all the way through. That's why Paul had all the difficulties wherever he went. Who were the ones that stirred up everybody against him but the renegade Jews?

Verse 28: "And he said to them, 'You know that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to associate with or come near to anyone of another race….'"

• you talk about segregation
• you talk about hatefulness

Even to this day the ultra right of the Jewish rabbis, everybody is called 'goyim.' They do not view the rest of humanity as human beings.

"…'But God has shown me… [by that special vision of the unclean animals on the sheet] …that no man should be called common or unclean'" (v 28).

Common means a Gentile who had been circumcised, because in the synagogue they had three categories of where people would sit:

• where the Jewish men would be
• where the Jewish women would be
• where the Gentiles would be

Verse 29: "'For this reason, I also came without objection when I was sent for. I ask, therefore, for what purpose did you send for me?' And Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house; and suddenly a man stood before me in bright apparel'" (vs 29-30). That was an angel!

Think about that! Peter had to explain this to the other Jews. Well to make a long story short:

• What happened? Peter began preaching the Gospel to all who were there!
• What did God do? He sent the Holy Spirit to show that He's going to deal with all nations!

Now that the sacrifice of Christ has been accomplished, now is the time that the Gospel starts going to the whole world. It has to go to all nations all people. So, He took Peter and sent him to be the first one to preach to the Gentiles and the Holy Spirit came down upon them.

What did Peter say? Who can forbid water? They were all baptized.

These Protestants today who say you don't have to be baptized, they are false prophets.

What happened? Peter stayed a number of more days living, eating, sleeping, teaching in Cornelius' house to all that were there!

Apparently those other ones who went down with Peter to Cornelius' house went back and told him in Jerusalem what happened.

Acts 11:1: "Now, the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God."

Caesarea was right down on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Verse 2: "And when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him."

The circumcision party was born at that time and that's the whole problem that happened when Paul went to the temple They found him because they brought charges against Paul that he was teaching that it wasn't necessary to circumcise Jewish children, which wasn't the case.

Here's the beginning of the problem. Those Jews who were there, as James said, were thousands that believed. Yet, they wanted to kill Paul.

Verse 3—those of the circumcision part were: "Saying, 'You went in to men who were uncircumcised and did eat with them.'"

I'll have to cover Gal. 2 a little later, but that was the heart of the problem.

Verse 4: "But Peter related the event from the beginning and expounded everything in order to them, saying"—he explained the whole thing.

Verse 17—Peter continues: "Therefore, if God also gave them the same gift that was given to us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to dissent?Do I have the power to forbid God?"

Now, that's an interesting verse there that everybody ought to pay attention to.

• no one has the power to undo what God does
• no one has the power to take the Ten Commandments and say, We're changing the Sabbath to Sunday

Peter—who was supposed to be the first pope—which he wasn't—said, "…Do I have the power to forbid God?"

The pope has no power from God; he's got power from Satan the devil!

Verse 18: "And after hearing these things, they were silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then to the Gentiles also has God indeed granted repentance unto life.'"

But it ended up that in the days when Paul went up to Jerusalem, there was the circumcision party. I hope these things help us all understand:

• there's going to be a temple built
• they're going to have to find that the place to build it

How long will it take to build the temple? We don't know! So, let's not gauge anything on how long it may or may not take. Let's gauge everything by how are we standing before God!

• Are we loving God?
• Are we keeping His Commandments
• Are we obeying Him?
• Are we serving Him?

That's what we need to be doing!

But we will probably live to see the beginning of the building of this temple.

Sidebar: The Jews believe because they said in this report that when the temple is built, it will be a blessing for the Jews and the whole world.

What do they mean by that statement? They mean by that statement that they misconstrue all of the prophecies of Christ's Kingdom on the earth as their kingdom when they have the third temple and they will rule the world.

This shows us what we're up against in this age and the things that we will be confronted with!

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 95:1-8
• Psalm 147:1-7
• 2 Corinthians 4:13-16
• 1 Timothy 2:1-6
• Daniel 11:40-41
• Daniel 12:9-12
• Matthew 24:2, 14-15
• Revelation 11:1-8, 11
• Acts 10:24-30
• Acts 11:1-4, 17-18

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 2
• Zechariah 3; 4
• Exodus 25
• 1 Samuel 5-7
• Galatians 2

Also referenced:

Articles:

• Lincoln's Proclamation to the USA) Washington, D.C., October 3, 1863 by the President of the United States of America
• https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
• Historic Ark Replica Makes Its Jerusalem Debut During Sukkot Festival

https://israel365news.com/397284/historic-ark-replica-makes-its-jerusalem-debut-during-sukkot-festival/

Book: The Tabernacle by Moshe Levine

From truthofGod.org:

• In-Depth Study: Daniel & Revelation
• Book The Apostle Paul's Teachings on God's Law (also that is Appendix Z in the Faithful Version Bible)

Church at Home—churchathome.org—Was Peter ever in Rome?

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 11/27/24

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