Bible Doctrine

So WHERE did the whirlwind carry Elijah?  Doesn’t the text clearly say, “Elijah went up by a whirlwind (not a fiery chariot) INTO HEAVEN?”  Yep, it sure does, but then one must ask which heaven, as the Bible clearly indicates that there are THREE heavens.  The apostle Paul mentions “a man in Christ….caught up to the third heaven,” calling the same “paradise.”  (See 2 Corinthians 12:2).  The man he speaks of is himself.  Read the entire chapter.  It is only a matter of conjecture and deduction that one surmises the second heaven must be that limitless expanse of outer space wherein are the billions of galaxies and other heavenly bodies (asteroids, comets, etc.)  The first heaven would then be the atmosphere around this planet, what we normally call the sky.  And THAT is where the whirlwind took Elijah, and, like the 8-year-old boy mentioned in Part 4 of this series of articles, Elijah may well have been lifted only a hundred feet, or so, into the sky.  Maybe not that high, maybe higher.  At any rate, you will soon see from the scriptures that Elijah was transported to another place on earth, not heaven.

I must tie up some loose ends in this account before looking at the text that proves Elijah did not ascend to the heaven of God’s throne in a whirlwind, a fiery chariot, or even a space shuttle.

One must consider the meaning of the Hebrew word “shameh” that is translated by the English word “heaven” in the 2 Kings 2 account.  That same Hebrew word is translated “air” in Genesis 1:26, 28, as well as Genesis 2:19-20, Deuteronomy 4:17 and Proverbs 30:19.  It should also have been translated as “air” in the 2 Kings 2 text.  Translating shameh as heaven in that text has led to a world of confusion.  The whirlwind caught Elijah up into the air – NOT heaven, at least not the third heaven, the abode of God.

Many fail to realize that the Old Testament books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings are parallel accounts and must all be consulted in order to get the fullest picture presented in these texts.  Elijah doesn’t surface again in the book of 2 Kings, leading many to think that having been caught away by the whirlwind Elijah is forever gone and gone to heaven.  Hold on, folks.  Elijah does surface again but only the Chronicles text provides this revelation.  As Paul Harvey would have said, you need to hear the rest of the story.

In 2 Chronicles the 21st chapter, beginning with verse 12, we read these words: “And a letter came to him (King Jehoram of Judah) FROM ELIJAH the prophet, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of your father David, because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers (in order to secure the throne), those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself, behold, the Lord will strike your people with a serious affliction – your children, your wives, and all your possessions, and you will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day'” (2 Chronicles 21: 1-15, New King James Version). 

Due to the blow-by-blow describing of what King Jehoram had done, and considering that his reign lasted only eight years, it is obvious this letter was written toward the end of his short reign, yet Elijah’s catching away by a whirlwind took place around the second year of Jehoram’s reign!  Elijah is well aware of what is happening in Israel and Judah years after being separated from Elisha, even writing a letter to King Jehoram long after the 2 Kings account.  It is also interesting to note that this account in 2 Chronicles is the ONLY mention of Elijah in all of Chronicles and that Elisha is not mentioned at all in Chronicles.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Here, word-for-word, is an actual news report from The Daily Mail, a British national daily newspaper, dated May 25, 2011.  First the heading of the article:

Boy, 8, Gets Sucked Into 200 mph Alabama Tornado, Survives

“An 8-year-old boy was sucked into one of Alabama’s tornadoes early Wednesday when it tore through his home, leaving him only with cuts and bruises after being carried almost 30 feet off the ground.

“Reginald Jr. Epps, known as RJ was at his home in Coaling, Alabama with his father Reginald, 35, mother Danielle, 36, and brothers James and Joel, ages 6 and 4, when the 200 mph tornado swept through.

The senior Epps told The Daily Mail the family was watching television when they heard the tornado coming.

‘I had just got some flashlights for me and my wife and we were all in the kitchen when we heard the wind pick up.  Then the windows at the back of the house blew out, it was like they popped,’ Epps said.

‘I shouted at RJ to get up and come with us to the bedroom, but when we made it in this roar started.  I looked up and the walls and the roof came away and RJ flew off with them.’

The storm passed on after around 30 seconds, but not before leaving the Epps’ home destroyed.  After it settled Epps said he saw RJ walking over from a distance.

‘When it settled down I could see this dark silhouette walking toward us and I realized it was RJ,’ Epps said.  ‘I couldn’t believe it.’

RJ, his brother James and their father were all taken to the hospital, and the children were released that day with only cuts and bruises.

Meanwhile, the boys’ father is being treated for a punctured lung, three fractured ribs and cuts and bruises.  His wife Danielle says RJ is traumatized and is not sleeping.”

Now I assure you when God Almighty has a hand in directing a tornado to pick up one of His faithful servants and transport him from one place to another, that servant will not be traumatized and will not suffer a single cut or the tiniest bruise.  THAT is exactly what happened to Elijah.  He didn’t board a fiery chariot that ran from earth to heaven with Elijah as the sole passenger.  The fiery chariot mentioned in the account in 2 Kings Chapter 2 in its splendor and glory passed in between Elisha and Elijah, amazing and startling Elisha as his eyes fixed on this supernatural scene.  He cried out to Elijah, “Look, look,” as it were, not realizing that a one-of-a-kind whirlwind had picked up Elijah on the other side of this chariot and carried him away.  When the fiery chariot disappeared, Elijah tore his clothes in despair and frustration.  His colleague was gone and he did not see the event.  He then knew he would not be receiving a double-portion of Elijah’s spirit as Elijah had told him “if you see me when I am taken from you only then will you have what you ask.”

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Actually, instead of calling this series of articles “A Chariot of Fire” I should have called the series “The Whirlwind,” because THAT is what caught away Elijah from Elisha’s side – a whirlwind, NOT a chariot of fire.  The first verse of 2 Kings Chapter 2 clearly says, “And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven (actually meaning the sky) BY A WHIRLWIND, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.”  Elijah did not board a fiery chariot at all.  Beginning with verse 9 of 2 Kings 2, we read: “And it came to pass, when they were gone over (the Jordan River – see verses 6 through 8), that Elijah said unto Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you, before I be taken away from you?’  And Elisha said, ‘I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’  And he (Elijah) said, ‘You have asked a hard thing, nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so unto you, but if not, it shall not be so.’  And it came to pass as they still went on and talked that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, AND PARTED THEM BOTH ASUNDER, AND ELIJAH WENT UP BY A WHIRLWIND INTO HEAVEN (or into the sky).  And Elisha saw it, and he cried (yelled to Elijah), ‘My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.  AND HE SAW HIM NO MORE, and he took hold of his own clothes (in anguish and frustration) and rent them in two pieces.”

Elisha did NOT see Elijah caught away by the whirlwind as God separated them by this chariot of fire.  Not seeing Elijah, not knowing the whirlwind had caught Elijah away, Elisha cries out to Elijah, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!”  He was saying, “Elijah, LOOK, LOOK, a chariot of fire.”  When the chariot of fire passed then Elisha noticed that Elijah was gone.  He then knew he was not going to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit as he had missed seeing the whirlwind envelop Elijah and carry him away.

Continuing with the 2 Kings 2 account, we read: “He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan, and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters, and said, ‘Where is the Lord God of Elijah?’  And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over (passing through the dry riverbed much as the children of Israel had passed through the Red Sea when it was parted by Moses).  And when the sons of the prophets, which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, ‘The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha’ (which was true, but not a double portion of that spirit).  And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.” (verses 13 through 15).  To be continued…..

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Now let’s look at that 5th verse of Hebrews 11 a bit more closely, especially homing in on that word “translated.”  Let’s see if other scriptures will give us an understanding into what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said Enoch was translated.  The English word “translated” in that text comes from the Greek word metatithemi (pronounced met-at-ITH’-ay-mee) and literally means “to change from one place to another, to transport.”  Now all other related scriptures, even the context of Hebrews 11, forbids this to mean transported from earth to heaven.  There is no mystical meaning to that word translated.  It is an Old English word no longer used today.  No one today would say the Nazis rounded up the Jews and translated them to concentration camps.  We now use the word “transported.”  But the Old English word translated meant just that, to transport someone from one place to another.  An Englishman of the 17th Century WOULD have said “I translated my sheep to market this morning,” meaning “I transported my sheep to market this morning.” (Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.  The modern word “translated” is a homograph.  It is spelled exactly like the Old English word translated but has an entirely different meaning.)

We find this word metatithemi again in Acts 7, verse 16, where we read, “So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, and were CARRIED OVER (metatithemi) into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.” (verses 15 and 16).  Jacob’s body was translated (Old English), or transported, or carried over from Egypt to Sychem, from one place on earth to another place on earth.  Translated does NOT mean moved from earth to heaven.

And now let‘s consider Elijah’s chariot ride, ever keeping in mind that Jesus emphatically and categorically stated that NO MAN has ascended up to the heaven from which Jesus came down, and also keeping in mind that the apostle Paul was inspired to write that “in Adam ALL DIE,” and, of course, that would include Elijah and Enoch, Moses and your grandma, and, yes, Billy Graham, too.  There is one other text we need note: Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings (and teachers of the Word of God) is to search out a matter,” correlating each and every applicable Bible text.  To be continued….

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

At the very start of His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ made one thing abundantly clear: “Verily, verily (or, of a complete truth), I say unto you that we (referring to Himself and John the Baptist) speak that (or of what) we do know, and testify that (or concerning what) we have seen, and you (the Pharisees) receive not our witness.  If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?  AND NO MAN (this would include Elijah and Enoch) has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man….” (See John 3:11-13).

Can YOU receive Jesus Christ’s testimony?  He clearly and plainly says that NO MAN had ascended up to heaven, not by a fiery chariot ride, not by being suddenly taken up to heaven without dying as many believe Enoch was so taken.  The 9th verse of this text points out that Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus when He uttered that profound statement.  Remember, Nicodemus was a “ruler of the Jews” – a spiritual leader, not a political ruler.  He was a teacher of the Hebrew scriptures.  Jesus knew what this man and his colleagues believed and taught, that both Elijah and Enoch had ascended to heaven without dying.  Jesus said, “YOU’RE WRONG!”  These Pharisees weren’t receiving Christ’s testimony in this matter.  For generations the Jews had firmly believed that both Elijah and Enoch indeed had ascended up to heaven.  Jesus was telling these Pharisees what He would later tell the Sadducees, “You do err, not knowing the scriptures.”

Remember, the scriptures clearly state that “it is appointed unto men once to die” (See Hebrews 9:27).  And the apostle Paul under divine inspiration declared “in Adam ALL DIE” (See I Corinthians 15:22).  Enoch and Elijah were both descendants of Adam, hence, THEY DIED!  Scripture clearly states that there is but one lone exception to this rule: those redeemed believers yet alive when Christ returns will never taste of death but will be instantaneously changed from mortal to immortal.  (See I Corinthians 15:51-52).

Then how are we to understand this passage in Genesis 5: “And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years.  And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, FOR GOD TOOK HIM!” (verses 22-24).  Where men make their greatest mistake is when they read that text as saying, “And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him to heaven to be with Him.”  But the text does not say that at all – not at all!

The phrase to be “taken away” by God means TO DIE, not to be taken alive to heaven, or it can mean to be taken to another location on earth.  “The righteous (like Enoch) perish, and no man lays it to heart (considers what is actually occurring), and merciful men are taken away (to escape persecution or worse), none considering that the righteous (those who walk with God) is taken away from the evil to come.  He (the one so taken) shall enter into peace.  They shall rest in their beds (here meaning death beds, their graves), each one walking in his uprightness (with God)” (See Isaiah 57:1-2).

God does not view death as do most mortal men.  Death, in general, is our enemy, the last enemy to be destroyed.  But God often brings one’s life to a close in order to prevent the righteous from suffering severe trials and persecutions.  Sometimes those who survive do not consider that God has shown mercy in ending a servant’s life in order for that servant not to face a horrible death at the hands of the ungodly.  If aware of Isaiah 57:1-2, as well as other passages of scripture, they might better understand what God has done.

In the 11th chapter of Hebrews we find a listing of many heroes of faith.  It speaks of how the elders, or patriarchs, received a good report through their faith and righteous walk with God.  The second person mentioned in that long list of Old Testament faithful is Enoch.  The 5th verse of that chapter reads: “By faith Enoch WAS TRANSLATED that he should not see death (at the hands of the ungodly), and was not found (by His persecutors), because God had TRANSLATED him, for before his TRANSLATION he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”  Now if one continues reading that passage he will find that the writer goes on to mention Noah, Abraham and Sarah, and then writes: “These ALL DIED in faith (including Enoch), NOT having received the promises (chief among them being immortality and heaven): (verse 13).  And, if you continue reading to the end of the chapter, you will read this declaration: “And these ALL (including Enoch), having obtained a good report through faith (as did Enoch), RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE (of eternal life), God having provided some better thing for us, that they (including Enoch) should not be made perfect” (verse 39 and 40).

In Part 2 of this continuing article we will examine just what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said Enoch was TRANSLATED.  Many have falsely assumed that to be translated meant that one was moved from earth to heaven.  That is NOT what it means at all.  The very context of Hebrews 11 forbids such an interpretation as the context says clearly that ALL those mentioned in that list of the faithful DIED and did not receive the promise of eternal life at that time. 

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Some time ago a verse of scripture came to my mind: Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” At that same moment the fullest meaning of that verse came to my mind, that Jesus IS building His “called out ones” into a cadre of faithful followers and believers and has been doing so for two thousand years and more! His “church” is not an identifiable denomination of like-minded Christians. His assembly of followers is culled from myriads of differing denominations. Some of His faithful ones have never been a member of any given denomination. But they have all been seekers of truth with a innate hunger and desire to please their Lord in all things.

The apostle Paul wrote, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). When true spiritual awakening begins to stir in a human heart, that person so stirred might be already affiliated with about any given denomination or assembly of believers. Those with whom that one is associated might have long embraced spiritual error in some matters of belief or practice. The one spiritually awakened might himself, or herself, be walking in error. But remember in John 9:41, Jesus said that those who are spiritually blind are without sin in that regard. And in James 4:17 we are reminded that it is the one who KNOWS to do right and fails to do so that is charged with sin.

To say that God is fair is a gross understatement. There is no mind in the universe that is as fair-minded as God. “Are not my ways equal?” says God to ancient Israel. (See Ezekiel 18:29). Few seem to grasp that God has a plan, a perfect plan, a plan that will eventually give all born human a chance, a grand opportunity of coming into a right and eternal relationship with their Creator. A human being’s death presents no obstacle to God, neither does one’s being born severely retarded, or blind, or deaf, or born into abject slavery and poverty. NOTHING is an impediment to God and His willingness and ability to impart eternal life to any human being.

Time figures largely in our manner of thinking and understanding. When we learn that the Colorado River has been carving out the Grand Canyon for six million years, our minds are staggered. When we are told that the earth itself is 4.5 BILLION years old, we are amazed. But to God “a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day” (See 2 Peter 3:8). Peter could just as accurately have said, “with God a day is as a billion years and a billion years as a day.” And your Creator’s “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (See Micah 5:2). Our Creator was industriously and ingeniously working, creating and producing long before 4.5 billion years ago.

Folks, we are not at the end of God’s great plan of the ages. We are in its very beginning stages. This is what most preachers do not comprehend. Some seem to think Jesus is going to suddenly “break through the blue” someday with a great ring of keys in His hand and say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s closing time.” When, in in all probability, He will say, “OK , let’s get started!”

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

One of the most difficult things any human will ever be called upon to do is to unlearn something he, or she, has learned and long accepted as established and unarguable truth. This difficulty becomes even more profound when that person realizes that just about everyone they know believes exactly the same as they do in some given matter. It is almost impossible for them to reconcile to their minds that their revered religious instructors and teachers could be wrong in some of the most basic matters discussed in the Word of God. That is why most Baptists live and die Baptists. Most Methodists live and die Methodists, etc., etc., etc. People, by and large, just do not change their religious beliefs. Then, too, they DO have a handful of scriptures that seemingly support them in their beliefs. To their mind, to change their beliefs they would have to deny the plain Word of God in some spiritual matter, concerning some Bible doctrine they hold to be true. Also, many have some experience they can point to, or fall back on, that seemingly supports them in their erroneous beliefs. If I have been “talking in tongues” most every Sunday in church, it will be hard, if not impossible, for someone to convince me that such a practice is not supported by scripture. I have the experience, partner, don’t confuse me with the facts. If someone has attended a seance and had grandmother speak to them from “the other side,” you will have a difficult time at best convincing that person that their grandmother is asleep in the grave, knowing nothing, awaiting a resurrection to life and wakeful conscious mind activity once more. Plus, that person may well have some scriptures they are certain supports them fully in their belief about grandmother’s present state.

I learned a long time ago that those who embrace spiritual error generally do not consider ALL the scripture texts and passages that address a given doctrine or belief. Scriptures that contradict their beliefs or practices are either pointedly ignored or frankly never considered. Perhaps that person embracing error just doesn’t know about these other texts or passages. And, of course, when they have “an experience” that supports their viewpoint, then they are quite effectively “locked in” to their present belief and will probably proceed through life and eventually die holding to their error. That’s just the way it is.

The Biblical doctrine of Gentile believers being spiritual Israelites in God’s eyes is a thoroughly established doctrine in the Word of God that many Christians have difficulty seeing and accepting. (See Ephesians 2:11-22).  God is called the God of Israel ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-EIGHT times in the Bible and ONLY ONCE called the God of the Gentiles! (See Romans 3:29). God inspired that phenomenal record intentionally and for a purpose. He wants us to see and view Him as just that – the God OF ISRAEL, as He wants us to see what Satan definitely does not want us to see, that any and ALL believers are and comprise spiritual Israel. Paul, the apostle to the GENTILES, was chosen by God to reveal this profound truth to the church. It is through Paul’s letters primarily – but not totally – that Gentile believers are given the revelation that in God’s eyes they are Israelites, the only true Israelites in God’s eyes – spiritual Israelites.  Study to show yourself approved unto God if you do not yet see this doctrine fully revealed in your Bible.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

There are some who believe that, during His earthly ministry, when Jesus Christ spoke He spoke only to the Jews. One of the last utterances Jesus Christ made before being crucified was to tell Pilate, “EVERY ONE that is of the truth hears my voice” (See John 18:37). Notice, Jesus did NOT say, “Every JEW hears my voice,” but “Every one THAT IS OF THE TRUTH hears my voice!” If in hearing Jesus’ words Pilate had believed Him, then Pilate would have been of the truth, or open to receiving the truth. It mattered not what was their nationality, race, or genealogy and it matters not today.

In sending forth the apostles with the gospel message, Jesus commanded them, “Go y therefore, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Spirit), TEACHING THEM (yes, ALL nations) to observe all things WHATSOEVER I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Greek “age”)” (Matthew 28:19-20). Note well, whatever Jesus had taught these Jewish apostles was now to be taught ALL NATIONS – ninety nine percent which were Gentile!

Jesus warned, “He that rejects me, and receives not my words (claiming He spoke only to the Jews), has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken (during His earthly sojourn), the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). So, friend, you better read the four gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John very carefully as Jesus Himself said YOU will be judged by those words someday regardless of whether you are a Jew or a Gentile!

“If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him.” He did not say, “If a Jew loves me the Father would love that Jew and the Father and Son would fellowship with him.” (See John 14:23). It was not to the Jew alone this promise was made. Jesus went on to say, “He that loves me not keeps not my sayings” (See John 14:24). Those who refuse to obey the Lord’s teachings in the gospel accounts are quite eloquently saying, “We don’t love Jesus Christ!” Let’s call a spade, a spade. Jesus does so.

Men step off into profound error when they misinterpret what Jesus meant when He told the Canaanite woman, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (See Matthew 15:24). They then misinterpret that to mean everything Jesus said was meant for the Jew alone to hear and obey. That, of course, is obviously absurd and clearly shown to be such by many other things Jesus said, as in the samplings given above. All Jesus was saying was that the call to the Gentiles to come to God was still future, though near at hand. And when a Gentile establishes a relationship with God through submission to Jesus Christ that Gentile becomes a spiritual Israelite, too. (See Ephesians 2:11-22).

Where men fall into gross error is when they take one or two statements of scripture and build a doctrine on those statements while ignoring a multitude of other texts. This holds true in most, if not all, doctrinal errors. God help you to understand is my prayer.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“The works of his hands are verity (truth) and judgment; ALL his commandments are sure (Hebrew, “firm, permanent). They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” (Psalm 111:7-8). ALL his commandments are sure, including the fourth commandment. It will stand fast forever and ever not merely until Calvary or the moment of Christ’s resurrection. The Psalmist leaves no doubt that he is speaking of the Ten Commandments in this passage as He clearly states that these commandments are the work of God’s hands, and in Exodus 31:18 it is written, “And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, the tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God” – the works of His own hands! “And the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables” (Exodus 32:16). And, when in anger over Israel’s worshiping the golden calf, Moses threw down those tablets and broke them, “the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and I will write upon those tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest'” (See Exodus 34:1). The only time the people of Israel heard the voice of the Lord was when He thundered the Ten Commandments from the heights of Mount Sinai. (See Deuteronomy 4:12).

Had you been a teacher in God’s church a year or two after its founding on the feast day of Pentecost, what could possibly have caused you to think “the sabbath commandment has been abolished and Sunday is the New Covenant holy day of rest?” Would you argue, “Well, the feast day of Pentecost that year happened to fall on a Sunday.” So what! What does that prove? Nothing, nothing at all! What could you possibly have said to the Jew that would convince him the fourth commandment had been abolished by Christ’s resurrection? Any learned Jew, would have quoted Psalm 111, verses 7 and 8 to you. How would you counter that argument? What if he quoted Isaiah 66, verses 22 and 23 to you, “For as the new heavens and new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT FROM ONE NEW MOON TO ANOTHER (MONTH AFTER MONTH), AND FROM ONE SABBATH TO ANOTHER, SHALL ALL FLESH (JEW AND GENTILE) COME TO WORSHIP BEFORE ME” Yes, every Baptist, every New Testament preacher, every Sunday school teacher – ALL FLESH – will finally and forever honor God’s sacred and holy eternal sabbath day! They might ridicule it today. They won’t ridicule it then. Satan’s deceptive powers are staggering and formidable. He can deceive ten thousand times ten thousand preachers and a thousand theologians in whom they place their trust. Never forget that. You do so at your own peril.

Those who think Paul himself sets aside the fourth commandment in Romans 14, I Corinthians 16, and Colossians 2 had better beseech the Lord to open their eyes as to what Paul is actually saying in those texts. They might want to look at Acts chapter 20 a bit more closely, too. They might read the Sermon on the Mount more carefully, especially Matthew Chapter 5. The central theme of the Sermon on the Mount is that not a tiny bit of the Ten Commandments can be changed or altered in the slightest degree! Heaven and earth will have to pass away before such a thing could occur. The sermon is addressed to those who profess to know God, who think of themselves as part of the kingdom, but whose lives do not reveal the character of the King – who have been fathered by God. God help you to understand is my prayer.

Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley