Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 27: Why Christians Do Not Follow Torah Law, part 3 - The Epistle of Barnabas

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Show 27: Why Christians Do Not Follow Torah Law, part 3 - The Epistle of Barnabas · The Uncensored Catholic

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Hey, welcome today's show. Today we were going to start getting into the
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writings of the early Church fathers on why Christians no longer followed Jewish law,
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Mosaic law, Tora law, whatever you want to call it, and Jewish
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traditions. There was an extreme break in the early Church in the very first
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days of the Church, literally with the apostles, and you know, almost
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all the apostles were martyred. And I can't remember which one right now.
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I think it may have been Saint James. I'm gonna have to look it
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up, was you know, actually witnessing for Christ sharing the Gospel at the
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Tempo in Jerusalem and was taken up and thrown off the top of it to
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his death. There was no way jape or form were religious Jews able to
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accept the Gospel and maintain Judaism. Most Jews, at least half of them
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at least converted in the first couple of centuries to Christianity through the preaching of
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the Gospel, and the Christians were in no way, shape or form maintaining
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Jewish laws and traditions. I hope I can do this in two shows.
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It may take three. You know, one thing about about Catholics is they
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tend to be wordy. Catholics write, and they tend to write in great
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detail traditionally, especially in the early centuries. I am just a simple Southern
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man. I'm very plain spoken. I guess sort of the format of how
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I do these shows I give you this long passage and then I sum it
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up in just a few words. So it makes it a little easier for
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the modern mind to comprehend. But you have to remember at the Apostles and
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most of the early Church fathers were Jewish, and if there's anyone more precise
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with language a Catholic scholar, it is a Jewish scholar. These passages are
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going to be a little long, okay, and I'm going to sum up
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some things. I'm gonna skip around. I'm not gonna give you a dissertation.
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I mean, like Saint Barnabas is a really good example. Saint Barnabas
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may have been Saint Paul's disciple, his follower, that's mentioned many times in
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the New Testament. Modern scholarship tends to think, though, that the writings
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of Saint Barnabas were actually a student or a disciple of the original Barnabas It
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was very common at the time to attribute your work to your teacher, a
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sign of humility, but it also gave credence to what you're saying. It
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said essentially, this is where this is coming from. So while we do
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not know whether this was actually Barnabas himself or one of his closest students,
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it is a clear representation of what early Christians believed and how and why they
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broke away from Jewish tradition. Literally, why the apostles were still alive and
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under the gui guidance and authority of the Apostles. As I said before,
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you only have to pull up the DK that's d I d AC, which
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means the Teachings of the Twelve to find the first manual of Christian belief in
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worship, written even before the Bible was completed. This was like this was
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the first Catechism, you know, as they were still composing the books of
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the New Testament, they knew they had to have a solid guide for Christian
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worship. What day do we go to church? When you know, how
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do we go to church? What do we do at church? What are
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the tenants the maintenance of our belief? It's a very short document very available
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online, which is wonderful. Uh. You know, my ancestors did not
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have this. I feel confident that my ancestor, who was on the Mayflower,
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who was obviously looking for the true Church, if he had been given
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the d K, would have had to become Catholic. His conscience would have
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led him that way. Now maybe I'm wrong. You know, he was
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a fitz Randolph and pretty impressive man, as was his son. They came
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over on the second voyage of the Mayflower. But you know, you could
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also say contemporaneously, another of my ancestors seems to be I'm gonna put this
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in quote, seems to be John Carroll, the first bishop Catholic Bishop of
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the United States, who I believe was what nephew to Charles Carroll, the
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only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, and brother to the representative from
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Maryland who signed the Constitution and worked closely with George Washington on many things.
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I say, seems to be because my aunts I have three ancestors with almost
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the exact same name. They all lived within thirty miles of each other in
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a very rural part of North Carolina, one of whom was the grandson of
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John Carroll, and I mean, you know no doubt about it. The
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courthouse in the county was burned three times in the American revel illusion, in
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the War of eighteen twelve, and in the Civil War. So while it
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is almost impossible to think that these three Carroll men, who lived within a
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couple of decades of each other, within just a few miles of each other,
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were not related, I cannot dot the eyes and cross the t's on
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that. I feel very comfortable in claiming kinship too, you know, the
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first Catholic Bishop of the United States and Charles Carroll. But I could not
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prove it in a court of law. We could say I could prove it
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by empirical evidence, but I could not bring in the actual family histories because
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when the courthouses were burned, all the documents were left. Marriage were lost,
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I mean marriage certificates, property ownership. I can't even find the graves
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of several of my ancestors, one of whom he and his wife and his
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children. It appears that their graves may actually be at the bottom of a
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lake. Because after the Civil War, a what we would call carpetbagger,
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a person from the north with a lot of money, came into the empoverished
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South and bought the land that they owned and formed an amusement park on it,
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and seems to have dammed up the river sort of and put a large
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lake over the family cemetery. So, but the thing is, even the
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Carols in the seventeen hundreds and early eighteen hundreds, even though they were the
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probably the most prominent Catholic family in the entire United States, did not have
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access to the dak. It had not been well formally discovered and approved of
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yet. And now we have it, and it's absolutely amazing. But that's
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a short, succinct document. We get into Saint Barnabas, and we're getto
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Saint Justin Martyr and so many and I guess the only caveat I need to
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put on this is, do remember at this time the Christians were literally being
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hunted down and killed by the Jewish authorities, and persecuted by the Romans and
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rejected by the Greeks, and I mean, they were like almost at war
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for their survival. So when we do get to Barnabas, he's going to
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say some things that sound really harsh, even potentially anti Semitic. But we
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have to remember just like when we read Maccabees in the Old Testament, and
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we look at those their strong, bold nationalistic statements, and we were spect
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the Macabeans. I mean, they're fantastic, one of the best books of
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the Bible, such a tragedy that was stripped out of the Bible in the
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Protestants so called Reformation. These were people standing boldly and saying absolutely not.
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We are Christians now and we are no longer Jews. We may have Jewish
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heritage, you know that's genetically Jewish. Sure, all the Apostles, I
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think all of them and most of their followers were genetically Jewish. Jesus Christ
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himself is genetically Jewish. I mean, come on, this is not racial.
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What it is is we are now Christians and we no longer followed to
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the Jewish religion. And I have to point that out. Someone said today,
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you know, you seem like you're you need to be more clear that
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you're not criticizing the Jews. Well, okay, I'm just quoting Saint Paul
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when he said the Jews killed Christ. I'm not saying Jewish people are bad
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people. I think I think you got this right. So the writings of
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Saint Barnabas, and as I said, whether it's Barnabas himself or his student
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who wrote, come from about one hundred a D. One hundred a D.
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That's about the time. That's really like the dawn of the post Apostolic
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era. And if I'm not mistaken, the Apostle John he died about that
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time. I mean, he lived a very long life. He was I
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think the youngest of the Apostles, and I mean he this would have been
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contemporary essentially with the Apostles. This is from the epistle Barnabas, again about
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one one hundred a D. This is like one of the earliest Christian documents.
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All hell ye sons and daughters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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who loves us in peace. He calls him sons of daughters. Remember,
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Saint Paul says, rightly, you have called me a father to you.
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Well, when Protestants say, call no man father, and we have
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to explain, well, Jesus also said no, call no man rabbi,
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and call no man teacher. That doesn't exactly mean what you think it means.
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Otherwise you couldn't call your genetic father, father, daddy, dad,
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papa, whatever you call your dad, it would be the same through translation.
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And if you go to school, you would have no way of identifying
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the person who's instructing you. Here we have Barnabas saying, hell, all
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ye sons and daughters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
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loves us in peace. Seeing the divine fruits of righteousness abound among you,
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I rejoice exceedingly and above measure in your happy and honored spirits, because you
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have, with such effect, with such effect, receive the ingrafted spiritual gift.
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Wherefore I also inwardly rejoice all the more, hoping you to be saved,
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because I truly perceive in you the spirit poured forth from the rich love
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of the Lord. Your greatly desired appearance has thus filled me with astonishment.
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Okay, as I said, it's quite loquacious. He uses a lot of
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words, So let me kind of skip ahead of this rather long document to
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where he kind of, oh, shall we say, gets into combating the
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Judaizers, as Saint Paul called them. Since therefore the days are evil and
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Satan possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves
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and diligently inquired into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then
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our helpers, of our faith and long suffering and continuance are things which fight
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on our side. While these remain pure in what respects the Lord, wisdom,
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understanding, science, and knowledge. Rejoice along with them, For he
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hath revealed to all of us by the prophets that he needs neither sacrifices,
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nor burnt offerings, nor oblation, saying this, what is the multitude of
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your sacrifices? Unto me, saith the Lord, I am full of burnt
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offerings and desire, Not the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and
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goats. Not, when you come to appear before me, For who hath
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required these things at your hand? Tread no more my courts, Not though
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ye bring with you fine flower incenses, a vein and abomination to me,
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and your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure. He has therefore abolished these
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things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ is without the yoke
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of necessity, might have a human oblation. And again he says to them,
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did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt,
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to offer unto me any burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this, rather,
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I commanded them. Let no one of you cherish any evil in his
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heart against his neighbor, and love not the oath of falsehood. We ought,
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therefore, being possessed of understanding, to perceive the gracious intention of our
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Father. For he speaks to us, desirous that we, not going astray
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like them, should ask how we may approach him to us. Then he
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declares a sacrifice, pleasing to God, as a broken spirit, a smell
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of sweet savor to the Lord is a heart that glorifieth in Him that made
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it. We ought, therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation,
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lest the wicked one, having made his interests by his seat, should
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hurl us forth from true life again, just as Saint Paul was saying in
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the Bible, no more, no more temple worship, no more sacrifices,
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no more toral law. What is required now as a new law. Because
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Jesus Christ killed, he took upon himself the penalty of the law, which
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is death, and with his death and resurrection killed the law of Moses of
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the Torah and brought us a new life and a new law in a new
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church. He says, then again, concerning these things, why do you
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fast to me on this day? Saith the Lord, that your voice should
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be heard with a cry. I have not chosen this fast, saith the
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Lord, that a man should humble his soul. Nor though ye bend your
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neck like a ring and put upon you sackcloth and ashes, will ye call
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it an acceptable fast to us? He saith, Behold, this is the
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fast I have chosen, saith the Lord, not that a man should humble
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his soul, but that he should lose every band of iniquity. Untie the
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fastenings of harsh agreements. Restore the liberty. Restore to liberty them that are
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bruised. Tear in pieces every unjust engagement. Feed the hungry with thy bread,
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Clothe the naked. When thou seeest bring the homeless into thy house,
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despise not the humble. If thou behold him and not turn away from the
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members of thine own family, then shall thy break forth, and thy healing
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shall quickly spring up, and righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory
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of God showing compassy and then thou shalt call God. Then thou shalt call,
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and God shall hear thee. Whilst they are yet speaking, he shall
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say, behold, I am with THEE. If thou take away from THEE
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the chain binding others and stretching forth at the hands to swear falsely and words
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of murmuring, and give cheerfully thy bread to the hungry, and show compassion
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to the soul that has been humbled to this end. Therefore, brethren,
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he is long suffering, foreseeing how the people whom He has prepared shall,
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with guilelessness believe in his beloved. For he revealed all things just beforehand,
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that we should not rush forward as rash acceptors of their laws, as we
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went through yesterday. The law has many points, many things you have to
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do, and if you violate one point of it, you violate the whole
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point of it. And when Jesus was asked what is necessary, he said,
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love God with all your heart, and love your neighbors yourself. That's
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just a sainct point of what the wishes said it. Therefore, behooves us,
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who inquire much concerning the events at hand, to search dealentisly into these
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things which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all
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the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us. Let us
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hate the error of our present time, that we should set our love on
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the world to come. Let us not give loose reins to our soul,
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that it should have power to run with sinners in the wicked, less we
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become like them. The final summing block or source of danger approaches concerning which
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is written, as Enich says, for this end, the Lord has cut
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short the times and the days that his beloved may hasten, and he would
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come forth to the inheritance. And the prophet also speaks, thus ten kingdoms
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shall reign on earth, and a little king shall rise up after them,
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who shall subdue under the three kings in like manner. Daniel says concerning the
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same. And I've been held forth the beast, wicked and powerful and more
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savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how it sprung up for
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the tin horns and out of the little butting horn, and how it subdued
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under three of the great horns. You therefore understand, and this also a
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further beg of you, as being one of you, and is loving you
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both individually and collectively, more now than my own soul. Take keyed now
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to yourselves, and not be like some adding largely to your sins and saying
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the covenants both theirs and hours. That's a wordy as I said, this
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is a Jewish Catholic and there are going to be many run on sentences.
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But he's actually applying many of the prophetic words of the Old Testament that Protestants
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supply against the Catholic Church. And he's saying, no, the Old Covenant
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led to death. There's now a new people, a new nation, and
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new church. And you know, the end times began with the resurrection of
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Jesus Christ. The time is now short. Who knows how many tens or
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hundreds of thousands of years people have lived on earth. It had a long
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time to figure it out. We've only been Christians now for two thousand years.
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And he says, do not add to your sins, saying the Covenant
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is both. There's an hour saying that you have to follow the Torah as
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a Christian, or that the followers of the Torah can be Christians. But
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they thus finally lost it as after Moses had received it. He's saying,
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what was the gift given to the Jews was lost and had to be essentially
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put into laws that they had to uphold because they couldn't have the conversion of
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heart. Why couldn't they Not because of anything genetic, but because the Holy
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Spirit had not yet come that conversion of heart, that understanding of the Word
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of God only comes through the Holy Spirit. For the scripture saith and Moses
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was fastening in them out forty days and forty nights, and received the covenant
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from the Lord tables of stone written with the finger of the hand of the
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Lord, but turning away to idols, they lost it. For the Lord
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thus speaks to Moses. Moses, go down quickly, for the people whom
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Tho was brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed. And Moses understood
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the meaning of the God and cast the two tables out of his hands,
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and their covenant was broken in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might
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be sealed upon our heart. Let's just focus on this few sentences for a
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minute. He's literally saying, and this is I guess one of them are
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harsh sayings of Barnabas when Moses was given the Ten Commandments that was to be
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the entirety of the law. As Catholics, we still believe in the Ten
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Commandments. They tell us what is and is not mortal sin. Okay,
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when the Hebrews the Jewish people went back to worshiping idols while Moses was still
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up there with God. I mean literally, they could see the cloud of
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God above them, right. He's saying that they rejected what God was giving
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them at the time, and that covenant was essentially broken when Moses threw down
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the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were later written again, and that the
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entire law of the Torah, all the complexities of Leviticus, and everything that
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came after that, were because they could not uphold the law as given by
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Jesus. Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbors yourself.
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He says, you've heard it said, commit adultery, snap used, not
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steal. He says, the tin of Aments is still valid. But the
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new law I give you is to love God with all your heart and love
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your neighbor as yourself. Essentially, all the complexities of the total law were
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because of the rejection of the covenant given to the Jewish people by God through
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Moses. As I said, Barnabas is a controversial character. This is though,
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what the earliest Church believe. This is what was taught by the Apostles.
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And so while it may seem harsh, while it may seem even anti
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Semitic, while it may seem hard to understand, and I don't have an
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anti Semitic bone in my body, absolutely love the Jewish people. And I
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mean one of my favorite girlfriends that I used to day was a beautiful redheaded
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jew from California. And you know, her family was actually not religious,
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but they were the most charitable people I think I've ever met. They did
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more for helping the poor than really most Catholics, and I thought they were
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very good people, and we talked religion, and now I believe she did
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actually convert to Christianity. We kind of lost touch over the years after we
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stopped dating, but she was very close to that point when you know,
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we drifted apart. But in no way, shape or form do I have
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any problem with the Jews. It's not meant to be a racial thing.
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It is a historical event. When God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments as
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he was literally still there the people that he had just led out of Egypt,
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who has seen all these miracles, are down at the foot of the
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mountain, worshiping idols. And in this way of understanding all that toral law
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was given to that people that was so stiff necked as God often said,
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so hard hearted hearted, as the Bible often says, that they had to
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be forced into a rigorous law that was not God's will. I mean,
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God said, your sacrifices don't please me. What I want is the conversion
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of your heart. And that's what we find through Jesus Christ. And he
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goes on for a couple of paragraphs about resisting wickedness and not being proud,
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which is, you know, always a good thing, and he quotes many
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are called, and few who are chosen, And let's see for this end,
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the Lord endured to deliver his flesh up to corruption, that we may
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be sanctified through the remission of sins, which is affected by his blood of
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sprinkling. For it is written concerning him, partly in reference to Israel and
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partly to us, as the scripture saith us. He was wounded for our
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transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and his stripes. With his stripes were
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healed, he was brought as a sheep slaughter and as a lamb, which
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is done before its shearer. Therefore, we ought to be deeply grateful to
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the Lord, because he has both made known to us these things that are
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past, and has given us wisdom concerning the present, and has not left
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us without understanding in regard to these things. And skip him forward us a
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little bit understand how it was that he endured to suffer at the hand of
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men. The prophets, having obtained grace from him, prophesied concerning him,
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and he, since it behooved him to appear in flesh that he might abolish
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death and reveal the resurrection from the dead, endured what he did in order
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that he might fulfill the promise made into the fathers everybody preparing a new people
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for himself might show that while he dwelt on earth, that he, when
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he had raised mankind, will also judge them moreover. Teaching Israel and doing
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so great miracles and signs, he preached the truth. And let's see,
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but when he chose his own apostles who were to preach his gospel, who
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were sinners above all sin, that he might show He came not to call
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the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He manifested himself to be the son
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of God. For if he had not come in flesh, how could men
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have been saved by beholding him? Since looking upon the sun, which is
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to cease to exist, as as the work of his hands, their eyes
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might not be able to bear his rays. The Son of God therefore came
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in flesh from them. And when I smite the shepherd, and the sheep
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of the flock should be scattered. He himself willed thus to suffer, for
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it is necessary that he should suffer on the tree. For says he who
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prophesied regarding him, spare my soul from the sword, fashion my flesh with
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nails, for the assemblies of the wicked have risen up against me. And
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again he said, behold, I have given my back to scourges, and
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my cheeks of strokes. I have set my countenance as a firm rock.
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When therefore he has fulfilled the commandment. What saith he who is he that
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will contend with me? Let him oppose me? Or who is he that
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will enter into judgment with me? Let him draw near to the servant of
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the Lord, woe unto you, for you show all wax old like a
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garment, and the mall shall eat you up. And the prophet says,
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since as a mighty stone he is laid for crushing, behold, I cast
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down the foundations of Zion. A stone precious, Select a quarter stone honorable.
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Next, what says he, and he who shall trust in it shall
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live forever is our hope than upon a stone far from it. But the
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language is used inasmuch as he laid his flesh as a foundation with power.
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For he says, as he placed me as a firm rock. And the
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prophet says again the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the
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head of power. And again he says, this is the great and wonderful
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day which the Lord hath made. I write the more simply unto you,
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that you may understand. I am the off scouring of your love. What,
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then, again, says the prophet, the assembly of the wicked surrounding
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me. They encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb, And upon my garment
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they cast lot. Since therefore he was about to be manifested and suffering the
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flesh his suffering was foreshunt. For the Prophet speaks against Israel, woe to
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their soul, for they have counseled and evil counsel against themselves, saying,
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let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us. And
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Moses also says to them, behold these things, saith the Lord God.
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Enter the good land, which the Lord swore to give Abraham and Isaac and
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Jacob, and inherited a landflow with milk and honey. What then says knowledge?
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Learn trust, she says, And him who is to be manifested to
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you in the flesh, that is Jesus, is earth in a suffering state.
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For the formation of Adam was from the face of the earth. What
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then meaneth this into the good landlow honey? Blessed be our Lord, who
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has placed in wisdom and understand of secret things. For the prophet says,
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who shall understand the parable of the Lord except him whose wife prudent and who
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loves the Lord. Since therefore, having renewed us by remission of her sins,
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he has made us after another pattern. It is his purpose that we
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should possess the souls of children, inasmuch as he has created a new created
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us, a new by his spirit. Let me catch my breath. He
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is saying that the prophecies of the Old Testament say that by the time Jesus
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came, Okay, by the time the Messiah I am, the people of
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the Old Covenant would be so wicked they could not recognize him and would crucify
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him and kill him. And then he would rise up a new generation,
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not bound by the law, but who would be like children, living by
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faith and not by written words. As I said, it is word.
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So let's skip. Oh, I don't know, three four very long paragraphs,
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and he goes into well, in these next paragraphs, he goes into
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the sacrificial nature of Christ and the groups of fiction, really proving that He
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took upon himself all the consequences of sin and thus completed the law. The
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punishment was given, the verdict was finished, and it was done as he
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said. He represents Jesus essentially his escapegoat, the calf that was to be
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sacrificed, the ball son of Abraham. We can go on and on,
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and he does, but then here we get into an interesting point. He
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starts talking about the history of circumcisim. As we said, circumcision is sort
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of a symbol of the whole law. It's the outward physical symbol of those
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who keep the law. And he says the whole, sayeth the Lord.
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All the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but these people are uncircumcised in
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heart. But that will say yeay, verily the people are circumcised for a
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seal, But so is also every Syrian and Arab at all the priests of
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idols. Are these then also the bond of the covenant? Yay? The
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Egyptians also practiced circumcision. Let then, my children, concerning all things richly,
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that Abraham, the first, who enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit
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to Jesus, practiced that right having received the mystery of the three letters.
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Okay, let's just back up here. This is something that isn't mentioned in
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the Bible, maybe well known in many people who understand the history of ancient
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Egypt and whatever that you know, the ancient Middle East essentially, But he's
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saying right here that God commanded Abraham and his descendants to be circumcised as a
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sign they would follow the law. But the Egyptians were also practicing circumcision.
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And so were the Syrians and the Arabs and all the priests of idols.
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So then, obviously salvation could not be found through circumcision. That was a
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huge point at the time, and unfortunately has come back up. But you
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know, if we knew what they knew in the ancient world, we would
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know that the Jews were not the only people who practiced circumcision. Now,
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wherefore did Moses say, thou shalt night eat swine, nor the eagle,
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nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not possessed
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of scales. He embraced three doctrines in his mind. Moreover, the Lord
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saith to them in Deuteronomy, and I will establish my ordinances among the people.
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Is there then, not a command of God that they should not eat
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these things? There is? But Moses spoke with a spiritual reference. For
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this reason he named the swine as much as to say, thou shalt not
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join themselves to men who resemble the swine. For when they live in pleasure,
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they forget the Lord. But when they come to want, they acknowledge
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the Lord. And in like manner, the swine, when it has eaten,
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does not recognize its master. But when hungary, it cries out,
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and I'm receiving its food. Is again now that neither shalt thou eat,
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he says, the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor
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the raven. Nor shall they join themselves. He means, to such men
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who know not how to procure food for themselves by labor and sweat, but
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seize on that of others in their iniquity, and although wearing an aspect of
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simplicity, are on the watch to plunder others. So these birds, why
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they sit, ill enquire how they may devour the flesh of others, prove
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themselves pest to all others by their wickness. And thou shalt not eat,
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he says, the lamprey, the polypus, the cuttlefish. He means,
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thou shall not join thyself, or be like such men who as are ungoidly
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to the end and condemned to death in like manner as those fishes above accursed,
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float deep, not swimming on the surface like the rest, but make
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their abode in the mud which lies at the bottom. Moreover, he says,
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thou shalt not eat the hare. Wherefore thou shalt not be a corruptor
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of boys, nor unto such, because the hair multiplies year by year,
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are the places of its conception for as many years as it lives, it
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has for as many years as it lives, so many it has. Moreover,
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thou shalt not eat the hyaena, But he means thou shalt not be
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an adulterer, nor a corruptor, nor be like them that are such.
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Wherefore, because that animal annually changes its sex that was a myth of the
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time, that obviously doesn't happen, and is at one time male and another
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female. Moreover, he rightly detests the weasel, for he means, thou
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shalt not be like those to whom we hear of as committing wickedness with the
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mouth on account of their uncleanliness, Nor shall thou'll be joined to those impure
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women who commit iniquity with the mouth, For this animal conceives by the mouth.
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That was another popular myth of the day. Moses then issues three doctrines
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concerning meats with a spiritual significance, but they receive them according to their fleshly
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desire, as if he had literally spoken of literal meats. This is a
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little bit of mind blowing. If we think about the entire Kosher Jewish dietary
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tradition. He's saying that Moses was speaking in parables, you know, as
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Jesus often did, and that the people took it literally. Is he right,
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is he wrong? I don't know, but he's saying that literally,
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they were not to associate with human beings who acted in animalistic ways, not
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homosexuals, not fornicators, not liars, not those who wallowed in the mud,
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and it can come up, you know, etc. Etc. Those
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who wouldn't work, those who preyed on others, thieves, communists, you
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name it. This is one utter an ad. I mean, this is
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not the modern era. We cannot expect him to have full understanding of the
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zoology the biology of all animals. He was working in a symbolic way.
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And if he's right that Moses taught the people in parable as much as did
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Jesus when speaking to the Jews, we really ought to look more at the
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meaning of the law and not the letter of the law, which is exactly
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what Jesus said. He wouldn't change one eye out of the law, but
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when asked what is necessary, follow the ten commandments, Love God with all
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your heart, and love your neighbor. As yourself, he said. David,
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however, comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines, speaks in like manner.
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Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the council of the ungodly,
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even as the fish is referred to go in the depths of the sea,
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and have not stood in the way of sinners, even as those who
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profess to fear of the Lord but go away like swine, and hath not
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sat in the seat of scorners, even as the birds that lie in wait
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for prey take full and firm glass of the spiritual knowledge. But Moses says
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still further, you shall eat of every animal that is cloven footed and ruminant.
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What does he mean The rumined animal denotes him who, on receiving food,
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recognizes him who nourishes him, and being satisfied by him, is visibly
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made glad well spake Moses, having received respect to the commandment. What if
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Moses didn't actually mean don't eat pork, He meant don't associate with men who
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act like pigs. What if he meant you shall eat of the rumined animals,
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meaning act like the sheep. Sheep's ruminant animal in our time. We
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keep cattle, you know, we keep horses. You know, these are
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very horses, are brilliant and loyal, and they can be as close to
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the person who cares for them as your pet dog. Cowls are a little
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different, but every now and then you find one with a very sweet nature.
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Goats are very much like dogs. They're like dogs with hoofs. But
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specifically in his time you would be talking the sheep. And Jesus, of
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course, was the lamb the most docile of all creatures. What if the
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Law of Moses as it is written in the Bible in the Old Testament,
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is actually allegorical, That's what Saint Barnabas thought, or at least his student,
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who was actually taught by Saint Paul, the leading authority on the Law
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of Moses in the early Church. That's really something to think about, isn't
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it. What, then, does he mean that we ought to join ourselves
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to those who fear the Lord, those who meditate in the heart on the
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commandments which they have received, Those who both utter the judgments of the Lord
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and observe them, Those that know that mediation is the work of gladness,
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and who ruminate, ruminate upon the word of the Lord. But what means
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the cloven footed that the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks
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forward to a holy state to come to hold? How well Moses legislated,
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How is it possible for them to understand or comprehend these things? We,
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then, rightly, understanding his commandments, explain them as the Lord intended.
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For this purpose. He circumcised our ears and our hearts that we might understand
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these things. If, as the Torah observant Christians claim, the Christian must
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still follow Torah law, how can he explain that the first Christians had a
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completely different understanding of the toil law than did the religious Jews, with whom
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they were absolutely opposed in it war. So he then talks about the foreshadowing
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of baptism and the crucifixion in the Old Testament. Very important passage, very
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meaningful, and very well said. But we can go on with our topic
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here, and I would encourage you to look up the early Church fathers.
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You can find this book online. It's the Epistle of Barbas and read that
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because it is quite good. He said, But let us see if this
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people is the heir or the former and the Covenant belongs to us or to
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them. Hearing now what the scriptures saith concerning the people, Isaac prayed for
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Rebecca, his wife, because she was barren, and she conceived. Furthermore,
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also Rebecca went forth to inquire of the Lord, and the Lord said
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to her, two nations are in that war, him and two peoples in
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thy belly. And one people shall surpass the other, and the elders shall
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serve the younger. You ought to understand who Isaac was, who were beckoning
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concerning what persons. He declared that this people should be greater than that.
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And in another prophecy, Jacob speaks more clearly to his son Joseph, saying,
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behold, the Lord has not deprived me of thy presence. Behold thy
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sons to me, Thy may bless him. And he brought Manassa and Ephraim,
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desiring that Manassa should be blessed because he was the elder with his view.
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Joseph led him to the right hand and his father Jacob. But Jacob
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saw in the spirit the type of the people to arise afterwards and what says
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the scripture, and Jacob changed the direction of his hand and laid his right
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hand upon the head of Ephraim the second and the younger and blessed him.
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Very common thing in the early Church that the older brother did not receive the
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blessing the younger brother. If God had two people's, essentially two covenants,
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what was rightfully due the first was taken. We can see this in several
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stories in the Bible. I mean we can see it well over and over.
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I won't even get into Esau and all that. But what was rightfully
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due the older brother was taken and given to the younger brother, which is
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actually in violation of Jewish law. The very foreshadowing that what was given to
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the Jewish people would be taken from them and given to Christians is actually in
43:30
violation of the Torah. He said. An explanation, He says, yes,
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it is even so. But let us inquire if the Lord has really
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given that testament which he swore to the followers that he would give the people.
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He did give it, but they were not worthy to receive it on
43:45
account of their sins. For the prophet declares, and Moses was passing fury
43:50
days before. Okay. He goes on about the idle worship there at Mount
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Sinai again and apparently after God had done everything to show the Holy people he
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would leave them out of Egypt, through the awful experience of the desert and
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all that, and when they even got to the promised land and did not
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accept it, when they didn't accept manna in the desert, when they complained
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that there was no water, and Moses strut the rock. This is repeated
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over and over in the Old New Testament. God said, I chose us,
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my people. I'm going to give you this really hard law that you
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have to follow now because you've filled in every way. But what was going
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to be yours is the older brother. It will eventually be taken to you
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because you've rejected it, you killed the prophets. But we come after Moses,
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and it will be given to the gentiles, the gentiles, who,
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as we discussed yesterday, were never under the law, and as has said
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repeatedly in the New Testament, should never be under the law, because if
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the law was sufficient, there would be no need for the sacrifice of Jesus.
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And see further, Also, this is I'm skipping ahead more paragraphs.
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It's a long book. Further Also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in
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the decalogue which the Lord spoke face to face with Moses, to MOSI,
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melt Sinai and sanctify you the Sabbath day of the Lord, with clean hands
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and a pure heart. And he says in another place, if my sons
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skip the Sabbath, then I would cause mercy to rest upon them. The
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Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of creation. Thus and God made six days.
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God made in six days works of his hand, and may an end
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on the seventh day, and restaurant and sanctified it. Attend my child.
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To the meaning of this expression, he finished in six days. This implieth
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that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years. For a day
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with him is as a thousand years. And he himself testifies, saying,
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behold today will be as a thousand years. There from my children in six
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days, that it's in six thousand years all things will be finished. And
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he rested on the seventh day. This means it's when his son coming again,
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shall destroy the time of the wicked man and judge the ungodly, and
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change the sun in the moon of the stars, then he shall truly rest
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on the seventh day. Moreover, he says thou shall sanctify it with a
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pure heart, hands and a pure heart. If therefore anyone can now sanctify
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the day which God has sanctified it. If therefore anyone can now sanctify the
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God which the day which God has sanctified, except he is pure in heart.
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Of all things we are deceived. Behold. Therefore, certainly them one
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properly resting sanctifies it. When we ourselves, having perceived the promise, wickedness
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no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord,
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shall be able to work in righteousness, then we shall be able to sanctify
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it first, having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, he says to them,
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your new moons and sabbaths, I cannot endure ye perceive how he speaks.
46:53
Your present sabbaths are not acceptable with me. But that is which I
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have made name this, when giving rest to all things, I shall make
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a beginning of the eighth day, that is the beginning of another world.
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Wherefore also we keep the eighth Day with joyfulness, the day also on which
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Jesus rose again from the dead, When he had manifested himself, he ascended
47:16
into the heavens. So here he is just say the DDK before Barnabas,
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saying that the Sabbath is now Sunday, the Christian Sabbath is Sunday. That
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God never even respected the sabbath is being Saturday, because they were not sanctified
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in their hearts and in their hands. Only Jesus could make amends for the
47:45
sins that had been done. And after he was crucified, died, the
47:52
law died with him. He rose again on the eighth day, which is
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the Sunday, and we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also
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on which Jesus rose again from the dead, and when he had manifested himself,
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he assented to the heavens. He then goes on to talk about the
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Temple of the Jews. At the time. You know, this was about
48:20
the time the temple was being destroyed by the Romans. So he went on
48:27
in great detail explaining why it had become essentially a dent of iniquity, that
48:35
God, no lawyer, had pleasure in it, and it had to be
48:37
destroyed. After the religious Jews had rejected the Lord and crucified him, the
48:45
temple was to be no more, and the Temple Law was to be no
48:51
more, and the new temple is Jesus. He said he would tear down
48:57
the temple and raise it up on the third Day. And as members of
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the Body of Christ, we share as being the temple of the Holy Spirit.
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I guess that kind of wraps it up here. Which you've completely said
49:15
that the only thing that was living still in the Temple of the Jews after
49:21
the resurrection of Christ was Satan and death, and it had to be destroyed.
49:27
You can't say much more now, I cut out at some of the
49:30
harsher language. Barnabas was often also a bit given to boasting, which is
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one of the things that make people wonder if he actually was Saint Barnabas or
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a student of Saint Barnabas, because a younger man is more given to boasting.
49:46
The older we get, the more we learn. Humility God willing.
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I hope we all do. I hope I do. I pray for humility
49:53
daily. And as they say, be careful if you pray for humility,
49:57
because God will make it happen. But that's not actually a bad thing anyway,
50:04
y'all. We will pick up with Saint Justin Martyr on Monday. I
50:08
got I may be able to do a show tomorrow, I doubt it.
50:12
I got a lot of a lot of things on the agenda, a lot
50:15
of things have been putting off, and uh, but you know, I
50:17
try to do at least for a week anyway. And the words of Saint
50:22
Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't worry, and I would talk to
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you next time.