A Bright and Sudden Cognition (Part I)

                The Story of How I Came to the Knowlege Leading to Atavist Biblicism (Part I)

It was a Saturday seemingly no different than any other. Around midday I had received long anticipated mail from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain State. Eagerly I opened the letters, hoping the copies of the Arabic New Testament had been been received with joy. They were not. Each of my friends expressed horror and outrage that I had sent them such a despicable book with such heinous claims for Jesus of Nazareth. I remember the letter from Saudi Arabia said, “I received the package and opened it, when I saw the book I opened it at Mark the first chapter and saw it, The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;' and I quickly closed it!” This was a massive miscalculation on my part. I had believed five of my one hundred pen-pals were at least ready and open to reading the New Testament. I was very wrong. And I felt vulnerable. I began to pray to God, asking him to make me strong becauseI felt as weak as water. They said God could not have a Son.

     They said Jesus was only a prophet—but a mere man. They said the New Testament was corrupted by Christians to say otherwise. I prayed, O, God, give me strength! Show me Christianity is the truth! Refresh me! Help me! Wearied, I sat down with my Bible and resolved that I would read an entire book of the New Testament with but one purpose in mind: to reflect on the story of our Lord as if I was there in the theater of antiquity. I chose the Gospel According to Luke (I don't know why). I began at chapter one and read all the way to chapter 11. And it was there that I came upon a discussion I had surely read countless times before,

“And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of robbery and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: that ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are unaware of them.”

    What Jesus was saying got my undivided attention. Before this I had never read this as Jesus basically upbraiding (or, if you prefer, dressing down) the Pharisees and the Scribes. I had been trained, from early on, to see these excoriations as aimed directly at generic and nebulous “religious people”—or, more than likely, Roman Catholics. So I had never ever seen or understood these passages as examples Jesus aiming charges at the synagogue of his day. I read on with deep interest:

“Then answered one of the Lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye Lawyers! For ye burden men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you!  For ye build the supulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation . . .”

     Jesus was telling the Pharisees, Scribes and Lawyers of his time that the crimes of murder from the foundation of the world would be required of his contemporary generation! I was amazed! Although I knew the Bible very well and considered myself a “Walking Bible,” somehow I had never remembered reading this or ever seeing it. I read on. “From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, which ye slew between the altar and the Temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.” There. He said it again—“It shall be required of this generation”! My mind began to percolate. Hadn't I read of a city in the Book of Revelation that was paying for killing the prophets, apostles and saints? It seemed so, but I wasn't sure. But I grabbed my copy of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and looked up the word, 'blood.' And there it was—Revelation 18:24!~ I quickly turned to it and read it with awe and amazement: “And in her [Babylon] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Another reference sent me back to Matthew 23:29-39. In verse 36 there, he stated again, “Verily I say unto you, All these thingsshall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

     My head began to spin like a top! How could this be!? How could this city not be who I, all my life, was taught she was?! Could it be that Jerusalem committed the crimes Babylon the Great in Revelation was also paying for? Could Jerusalem be Babylon? The idea seemed crazy on its very face! It seemed to be so obvious and yet so utterly ridiculous at once! And then it hit me all at once! Something happened a long time ago that I do not know about! I began to tremble uncontrollably. Cold beads of sweat broke out on my forehead and an ill feeling washed over me. My strength seemed to flow out of my heels. I looked to my left and I saw down a long tunnel what looked like bright flashes of fire and dark billows of smoke!

     Something had happened! It was something big and something dangerous! It was something very, very serious! Something singularly unusual! Something exceptionally grave had happened a long, long time ago, and I had never been told about it! In utter amazement and trepidation, I thought to myself, What church teaches this?

A Bright and Sudden Cognition (Part II)

                                                           I Had Already Been Warned

But I had already been warned. Not even a good four years before this, I had been warned by friends, 'If you read the Bible too much, you'll go crazy.' What did they mean? I did not know. And they did not elaborate. And as for me, I had to read the Bible. The end was going to be soon and I was learning more and more and pieces were coming together. I found the Bible to be entirely intriguing. It seemed fascinating to be living in “such a time as this.” I never knew what they meant until this astonishing information came together for me. In the Synoptic Gospels of Luke and Matthew Jesus was helping the Judæans understand the seriousness and the scope of their culpability in the deaths of the prophets and saints of God of old. Strangely, though, I had read these verses and passages many times before without actually thinking Jesus was talking to his own people during those days about something that was going to happen in their lifetime. It never occurred to me that their lifetime was obviously a very long time before my lifetime and current events. And this string of information was telling me that “Babylon” could not possibly be any 'One World Church' let alone the Roman Catholic Church! This information was telling me Babylon could only be first century Jerusalem. And that fact was immensely troubling to me. I had to press further to see where such an incredible idea would lead.

Research and Confirmation in the days, weeks and months that followed, gave myself time, perspective and circumspection to get over the initial shock of that fateful day. In about a week I devised a plan to get to the bottom of what had apparently happened, not knowing where anything would lead. And then, over a period of six months of intensive Bible study and note-taking a coherent picture began to emerge. I had accidentally tapped into facts long dormant and long forgotten. Obscure,yet staring anybody that ever reads the New Testament right in the face! These staggering realizations blew my mind by recalibrating the Bible and its prophecies into a whole new historical setting. This, in turn, changed my appraisal of the Second Coming, and end of the world, presenting these anew in an entirely different social and historical setting and outlook.

                                                     A Metaphor of this Discovery

It was like getting a super-sized puzzle for Christmas. But the box with the picture of the puzzle was missing. And let's say the puzzle also took a number of years to put together. And let's also imagine that all the while someone you trusted to know what they were talking about kept urging and encouraging you to believe the picture that would emerge from this puzzle would be thus and so—and you imagined it to be thus and so. And you kept imagining and working on it. You thought about it in every waking hour and dreamed about it in your sleep at night. Cherished thoughts. Happy thoughts.

This is what I am moving towards (you think to yourself). For you, this is reality. For you, this is history. For you, this is what it is all about. And for you, this is what the future holds. And then one day—suddenly—enough pieces finally came together and—bam—it is not at all what they said it would be! On the contrary, the picture you behold is completely different. You see constants that are stumbled over. You see constraints that seem to appear out of nowhere. You see details and elements which have been blithely disregarded—all in order to make parts of the picture 'serviceable' for presumptive and highly plausible, but ultimately improbable futurist notions, theories and dogmas.

     So you step away from these studies confused,astonished,unnerved,disoriented. You start asking thoughtful questions. You ask others to look at the puzzle (which by this time you have finished). Some won't say what they see, but you can see the realization in their eyes. I firmly believe that others, studying the Scriptures intensely, had gotten a glimpse of the same thing, but retreated, out of fear, thinking they had gone astray or crazy. But for me, there was nowhere to turn, no place to go and no way to go back. I took courage, went out and purchased a notebook and began research on the Bible world and milieu I was later to learn was called The Second Jewish Commonwealth. Six months later I obtained a copy of Josephus' Complete Works. This book contains The Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War. And within its pages, as I had already begun to strongly suspect, the historical situation of the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world most likely related to the Jew's now belated civilization and not what has been long been imagined (in various guises) in ecclesiastical traditions. And—sure enough, among the many astonishing accounts was this one:—

“Such prodigies had happened, as this nation, which is superstitious enough in its own way, would not agree to expiate by the ceremonies of the Roman religion, nor would they atone the gods by sacrifices and vows, as these used to do on the like occasions. Armies were seen to fight in the sky, and their armor looked of a bright light color, and the Temple shone with sudden flashes of fire out of the clouds. The doors of the Temple were opened on a sudden, and a voice greater than human was heard, that the gods were retiring, and at the same time there was a great motion perceived as if they were going out of it, which some esteemed to be causes of terror. The greater part had a firm belief that it was contained in the old sacerdotal books, that at this very time the east would prevail, and that some that came out of Judea should obtain the empire of the world. . .” (Josephus Complete Works, Appendix Dissertation 3 Chapter 13 See also Josephus' Wars of the Jews 6.5.3)

Jesus' indictment against Jerusalem, (See Figure 1) and the New Testament's uniform expectation of the Second Coming in the lifetime of the first Christians and these accounts of aerial war over Herod's Temple, a voice “greater than human and sudden movement of spirits exiting the doors of the Temple match exactly what was “most assuredly believed” among the Christians in antiquity. And the entire New Testament bares this out. And this has stupendous and staggering implications!

     It was because of these findings that, by 1983, I had completely abandoned the Medieval hodge-podge of anti-Catholic theological and apocalyptic rhetoric and misappropiated proof-texts. Most of the misunderstandig that led the first Protestant Christians to imagine the Roman Catholic Church was Babylon the Great are is epitomized in the works of Alexander Hyslop's book 'The Two Babylons.' And along with it went out Hal Lindsey and John Walvoord's many current events proof-texts. I came away with a revised picture of the cogent, continuous and unified aims and goals of salvation history and Bible prophecy.

     The first round of re-learning brought me all the way up to the end of the Jewish world in A.D.70, (and I thought that was overwhelming). But then (as if all that was not enough) I found myself standing on the threshold of Revelation 20. Looking around at the scenary (for it was a place very unfamiliar to me) I began to wonder intensely “What does this mean?” and “How does this fit into what has already transpired?” And, “Does this represent now and is there yet to be another “final” end? this newly acquired understanding was crowned by an astonishing fact: the re-establishment of the State of Israel in the summer of 1948 was not the first time Israel was able to regain her sovereignty and statehood since A.D.70—it was, in fact, the second time. And when was that? The first time was in the spring of A.D.132 and then it was as a result of Rabbi Joseph Ben Akiva's fatal proclamation of Simeion Bar Kokhba to be Israel's long awaited "king messiah" come at last. And Bar Kokhba's massive, misguided, and disastrous attempt to turn the hands of time back to the belated Temple era, religious polity and practices which were abruptly extinguished in A.D.70. But this time, with an army of 585,000 soldiers. Not short of weapons and arms, there was ample help from sympathetic Gentile nations, including Persia. We are told that the Jews came very close to beating and actually destroying the Roman empire and realizing their Messianic ambitions. But it was not to be. After a gargantuan effort (which had surprising initial successes) a brutal and loosing war lasted three and a half years before it came to a disastrous conclusion, in the fall of A.D.135.

I then learned to my utter astonishment, that the earliest Christians had originally believed the Old Testament had prophesied of both destructions of Jerusalem (A.D.66-70 and A.D.132-135). Thus, this second great war (not the first) because of its aims and significance and loss, was considered the Triumph of Christianity in antiquity, by default. In other words, when the Judæans could not win back what they had recently forfeited in A.D.70 (the Temple, the sacrifices, the oblation—in a word, the restoration of their world) it was a sure sign, a message sent by the Deity, vindicating Christian claims for Jesus of Nazareth. But that message is, incidentally, completely undercut and sabotaged by the 'current events' approach. Why? Because it would lead one to believe the apocalypse is either in abeyance or postponed and yet remains to be accomplished in a near or distant futurity. But if Jerusalem and Babylon are really one and the same city and the events expected by the announced by Christ and reconfirmed by the Apostles and believed by the entire first century Church really came to pass, as expected, then an understanding of the end of the world can never be the same. Because any fair and honest appraisal of the testimony of Jesus must also take into account what the extant history of those contemporary years tell us came to fruition.

                                                                  My Religious Upbringing

     I was raised in a small Christian sect, headquartered in Waycross, Georgia, called 'the First Born Church of the Living God.' Begun in 1913 by a covenant and charter by 13 Christian bishops, our religious beliefs included: “. . .the Second Coming of Christ, His thousand-year reign on the earth with the saints, both eternal and everlasting life and the resurrection of the righteous dead.” Growing up, I had not the faintest idea about all the complexities of what believing and being a Christian entailed. I did not know how old or young this Faith or Way was. I knew nothing of its enigmatic and mysterious past. I knew nothing of its Semitic, Hebrew and Judæan roots. Nor did I know of past dangers, perils and sorrows and bitter controversies experienced between opposing sides in a vanished world. But I familiar with the logic behind what we believed was roughly along the lines of God's switching from 'Plan A' (Israel) to 'Plan B' (the Church).

     According to this line of reasoning, (which is completely false in light of the New Testament's claims for why Christ left his riches and heaven and became a Suffering Servant for our salvation) in the first century, Israel allegedly refused Christ's “kingdom offer,” and, objecting to other aspects of his person and message, by Roman hands had him crucified. According to this explanation, then, the crucifixion of Christ was not exactly what God had in mind: the kingdom being set up at Christ's first coming was. The kingdom was then postponed and from that interruption, the prospect of the Second Coming (out of sheer necessity) came into being. And so (it is believed) at a future time (and one soon to us), events will come about that will ultimately convince Israel that Jesus isChrist, and then, basically, God will revert back to 'Plan A' again with the kingdom, a Jerusalem centered kingship of Jesus with a Temple cult lasting exactly one thousand years. At the end of this period Satan was to be released from the bottomless pit, allowed to instigate a final rebellion which would garner a staggering following. This final sedition would be Divinely put down, a final resurrection and judgment would take place, the earth would be utterly destroyed, a new one would be created and eternity would ensue after that. This was the basic story-line I remember being told.

     In 1969 it was clear to me that we believed Jesus was now, after all this time, coming back on the clouds for us very, very soon. This idea was preached vehemently, assurance and conviction. Then, at that very time, the debut of the interracial singing group Andraé Crouch & the Disciples helped cement, in lyrics and in melodies, a powerful sense of devotion, expectation and motivation that lent a feeling of

“rightness” that all Christians, in unison, black or white and of all denominational persuasions, were expecting Jesus to come back “any day now.”

Songs like It Won't Be Long, told us—

“It won't be long,

Till we'll be leaving here

It won't be long,

We'll be going home.

Count the years as months,

Count the months as weeks,

Count the weeks as days—

Any day now,

(We'll be going)

We'll be going Home.

It won't be long. It won't be long.”

     We were told that everyone who was living a life pleasing to God was going to disappear into thin air and re-appear in the clouds with Jesus and all the saints who had ever lived. We obtained this promise from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. We were told this was the long belated Marriage of Christ to his Bride, the Church described in Matthew 25:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:1-2; Ephesians 5:25-27; 2 Thessalonians 2:1 and Revelation 19:7. It was explained that God loved the Church as a collective, a bride (if you like). And so (it is said) what God the Father intended to do at the time of Christ, he postponed and was only now, because of the advent of the statehood of Israel in 1947, about to carry out. All these concept

were new and fascinating to me. Curious about all these things, I remember picking up the Bible and reading it. At one point, I recall coming across Philippians 4:4-5, where the Apostle Paul wrote these words:

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand."

     Here I was, a 9 year old boy (and I had just learned how to read) and I took note of it: “The Lord is at hand.” It did not make sense to me that Paul could say that so long ago.  And yet, even at that young age, it seemed terrifying t me to see something in the Bible that my prove the aspiraions of my church to be amiss.  You see, a large part of our believing in God and the Bible was that we maintained that the troubles of our times was the main proof that the Bible was right. We did not attend to archeology and Greek and context and exegesis and hermeneutics and history. Those considerations were as far away and foreign to us as imagining life on a distant planet in a remote galaxy. But we did not need to doubt or questionfantastic accounts in the Bible. Why doubt past events when events predicted by the Bible were happening right here and now before our very own eyes? So then, there was obviously no need for anything more than noting the inexorable direction and content of contemporary news! So by 1970 a new literary sensation, advocating just that approach, was making the rounds: Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth.

     Before this I had never really thought about or even heard of a Bible prophecy book. In Lindsey's small and easy to read account, he again held up the birth of the nation of Israel in 1947 as the pivotal sign that guaranteed for us that the New Testament's promises of this “Rapture,” was absolutely and certainly going to happen any day, without warning. It would be followed by an unimaginable seven year tribulation and then the Second Coming. Nobody wanted to be left behind, so everyone was encouraged to “Be ready.” The book was electrifying—as evidenced by the fact that it has now sold more than 30 million copies. But Lindsey was not the only author who shaped my early ideas about what eschatology and apocalyptics was supposed to be about. Other books, namely Alexander Hyslop's “The Two Babylons” and Fox's Book of Christian Martyrs helped beef up the idea of Roman Empire-Catholicentric “Babylon the Great”and interpretive scheme of the Book of Revelation by demonstrating the many ways in which pagan influences, early on, had gained an entry into Christian beliefs, practices, traditions and customs.

     Additionally, my Jehovah's Witness acquaintances firmly believed and warned that the end of the world was set to happen sometime in the autumn of 1975. Being ignorant of the reasons why, I went down to a local Christian bookstore and found a book titled, Thirty Years a Watchtower Slave. And at the city library I checked out a book called Armageddon Around the Corner. And yet, what I did not realize then (but do now) is that Watchtower, Pentecostal and Evangelical premises about Bible prophecy, the Second Coming and the end of the world are based on remarkably similar premises (if different dates). How so? They all encourage everyone to continue to look at current events as proof that everything the Bible said would happen is indeed happening—now. Ok. It was easy enough to do, but it is also inevitable to began to realize that wars and rumors of wars, and famines, earthquakes and pestilences and general mayhem are actually nothing new in human history. And, as if to drive this point home, 1975 came and went and what Jehovah's Witnesses had been bragging about for nine years came to absolutely nothing but embarrassment. Ditto for Evangelicals in the years 1981, 1988 and 2000.

     For other Christians, their understanding of eschatology is so ambiguous and conceived to be so far into the future as to seem irrelevant and superfluous to even discuss, let alone expect. None of these parties takes any comfort in what the New Testament seems to say about the Second Coming at face value because it knows of no “thief in the night return of the Lord shorn of the original Christians' lifetime.

So regardless of which group it is, disappointments and disillusionment have happened and will continue to happen across denominational and sectarian lines. And it is for basically the same reasons: the premises are deeply flawed. This treatise is my small contribution to all Christians, the People of God—or whoever double-checks it, verifies it and can accept it as “truths we hold to be self evident.” As such it is my hope it will edify, not puff up, enrich and not enervate. I believe what you are about to

encounter will give you an understanding of the Second Coming and the end of the world that closely resembles the logic and expectations behind ancient Christian thinking. And if you are not a Christian, this book has something for you too. It is written in the hopes that you will be able to more accurately appraise of what the church really is and you may put their trust in Jesus and become a Christian on the witness of this great Trinitarian world religion's original paradigm and premises.

Please join me on this very exciting exploration. Here I present reappraisals about a familiar subject from a perspective that does justice to the concept of "audience relevance."  This approach yields stunning realizations when rescued from 'current events' revisionism and when framed in its nascent period—a most auspicious and haunting and anomalous time in Jewish salvation history. Here is the beginning of a journey to a unique and tragic civilization. Here we get a look at a vanished world. Here the setting of the rise of Christianity, the greatest revolution in the history of the human race, can be comprehended in its highest, deepest and broadest sense. Understanding the end of the world is all about how various and seemingly dissonant texts and cryptic expressions makes sense. And understanding the end of the world is about non-cyclic long-term events which led, by the time of the arrival of the First Advent of our Lord, to short-term orchestration of events which brought a speedy fruition of the apocalyptic promises of Jesus Christ, the risen, exalted and triumphant Son of God.

Mark E. Mountjoy

Summer 2010

Babylon the Great City According the Bible

Many people are confused about the proper meaning of the Book of Revelation.  Different interpretations abound, each claiming to be the true interpretation.  But how can a Christian or a truth seeker really begin to understand this wonderful book of prophetic visions?  The true meaning of Revelation can only be known if men and women allow their conclusions about Babylon the Great be defined according to the Bible.

Questions Related to This Post

1. The Parable of the Vineyard was understood by the chief priests and Pharisees to apply to whom? (a) others (b) themselves (c) Romans.

2. Who were the wicked husbandmen in this parable?

3. Who are the servants who are mistreated and killed?

4. The son in the parable represented whom? (a) Christ (b) Elijah (c) John the Baptist.

5. Jesus applied the prophecy of Psalms 118:22-23 ("The Stone that the Builders rejected. . .") to whom?

6. If Christ was the Stone, who were the Builders? (a) Romans (b) Catholics (c) the Judaeans.

7. Who would forfeit the promised kingdom of God? (a) Wicked Christendom (b) the Roman Empire (c) the European Common Market (d) the planet earth (e) Judaea.

8. All the righteous blood shed upon the earth would be required of whom? (Luke 11:45-51; Revelation 16:5-7; 18:20-24).

9. Who was the first people to become covenant to God and then become unfaithful? (a) the Roman Catholic Church (b) Wicked Christendom (c) the capitol and holy city of Jewry, Jerusalem.

10. What would be the response of the Scribes and Pharisees be to the New Testament messengers God would send to them?

11. What did our Lord say in Luke 13:33 regarding the death of a prophet?

12. What idea did our Lord convey to the Jewish people in regard to events in their own future when he said: "Verily I say unto you. This generation shall not pass away until all these things be done."

13.What did our Lord inform Peter, James, John and Andrew of regard the holy city in whom was the Temple with "goodly stones"? (Mark 13:1-2 and 13:29-30).

14. What two covenants were involved in a struggle according to the Apostle Paul's allegory in Galatians 4:21-31?

15. What would happen to the allegorical bondwomen, according to the text?

16. According to our Lord, what would the daughters of Jerusalem and their children begin to say?

17. After reading several related texts regarding the persecution of the original Christians in the first century, one would get the idea that (a) Jewish persecution of the church was confined to Jerusalem. (b) Jewish persecution was spread out from city to city throughout Judaea and the vast Second Jewish Commonwealth Diaspora. (c) a Roman persecution received prominentn attention in the NT scriptures.

18. Internal evidence in the Book of Revelation shows the message revolves around (a) those who claimed to be Jews (b) those who were guilty of shedding the blood of the prophets, apostles and saints. (c) a great city where our Lord was crucified (d) all of the above (e) none of the above.

19. Can all institutions hold the title of "Mother of Harlots" ?

20. The trail of blood began with Zecharias, the son of Barachias (b) Jeremiah the prophet (c)Abel (Genesis 4:8).

21. The punishment for those crimes would surely come upon (a) our generation today (b) their generation then (c) all generations (d) a future generation.

22. Forty years from the beginning of Christ's ministry will land one in the year_____. (a) A.D.70 (b) A.D.606 (c) A.D.1914 (d) A.D. 1988 (e) A.D.2000.

23. Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and spoke of Christ's decease which he would accomplish where? (a) at the United Nations (b) on earth (c) in Rome (d) at Jerusalem.

24. The Apostle John (the author of the Book of Revelation) being a Jew, would naturally wonder at and greatly admire-- (a) the pagan and idolatrous city of Rome (b) New York City (c) the Great City of Jerusalem.

25. In Luke 11:47-48 Jesus castigated the Pharisees and Lawyers because they____ the deeds of their fathers against the prophets.

26. In Revelation 18:20 and 19:1-4 why does God judge and destroy Babylon the Great?

27. After King David served his own generation, he died. How long did David reign? (a) 2000 years (b) 6 years (c) 40 years.

28. How long did the ancestors of the first century Judaeans challenge God in the wilderness of Arabia?

29. Something to consider as you ponder this treatise: How do Matthew 23:29-39 and Revelation 18:20-24 relate to the basic thrust of this presentation?

Statement One:

     Since a correct understanding of the Book of Revelation begins with the testimony of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior, we begin our inquiry in the first book of the New Testament, Matthew.  As we progress, you will discover an astonishng unity and harmony in the message of the scripturs, from author to another and from book to book.  According the Bible, the chief priests and Pharisees understood the following parable to apply to themselves:

     "Hear another parable: There was a certain hoseholder, which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it; and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruis of it.  And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.  Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.  But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverenc my son.  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

     When the lord therefore of he vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?  They say unto him, He will miserable destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits n their seasons.  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The Stone which the builders rejccted, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth te fruits thereof.  And whosoever shall fall on this Stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.

     And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parable, they perceived that he spake of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the mulitude, because they took him for a prophet"  (Matthew 21:33-46)

Statement Two:

     According to the Bible, the scribes, Pharisees, and Lawyers of first century Judaea would be punished for killing the prophets. 

 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselvessss, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers!  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wisemen, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar.  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation"  (Matthew 23:29-36).

     "Then answered on of the Lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying, thou reproachest us also.  And [Jesus] said, Woe unto you also, ye Lawyers!  for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye touch not the burdens with one of your fingers!  Woe unto you!  for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.  Therefore, also said the Wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the Temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation"  (Luke 11:45:51).

"The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee!  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold!  I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.  Nevertheless, I must walk today, and tomorrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Luke 13:31-35).

     The magnitude of guilt and complicity that was being incurred by the Judaean leaders would continue with the betrayal of Jesus Christ.


Statement Three:


     According to the Bible, the first century Judaeans were totally responsible for the death of Jesus Christ and would be judged as a direct result of it.

"And it came to pass about aneight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.  And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.  And, behold!  there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem"  (Luke 9:28-31).

"From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day"  (Matthew 16:21).

"But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the king of the Jews?  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.  But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them"  (Mark 15:9-11).

"When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children"  (Matthew 27:24-25).

"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughter of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.  For, behold! the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck.  Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills, Cover us!  For if they do these things in a green tree, whall shall be done in the dry?  (Luke 23:27-31).

The scriptures we have just read reveal that Christ's death would be accomplished through the successful efforts of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes.  The Bible also showss that the leaders of Judaea had delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate because of envy.  And as the Lord trod with the burden of the cross on his back he promised woe would come upon Jerusalem because of these things.

Statement Four:

     According to the Bible, a generation may be the equivalent of between forty and one hundred years and included the group of people living within that general time-frame.

"Thus David, the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.  And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem"  (1 Chronicles 29:26-27).

"For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. . ." (Acts 13:36).

"When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.  Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. . . But with whom was he grieved forty years?  was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?"  (Hebrews 3:9-10, 17).

Now that we have the Biblical definition of a generation, we can align the beginning of that generation with the commencement of our Lord's ministry and thereby make some addition observations.

Statement Five:

     According to the Bible, our Lord's ministry began when he was about thirty years of age (circa A.D.30). In light of this, “this generation” of the New Testament, on the low end, would (without doubt) bring us to the year A.D.70.

“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son Heli. . .” (Luke 3:21-23).

“Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation” (Matthew 23:36).

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Matthew 24:34).

“Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done” (Mark 13:3).

“Therefore also said the Wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them shall they slay and persecute. That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation: from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the Temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation” (Luke 11:49-51).

“For these be the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled. . . Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22,32).

     Notice how Jesus placed great emphasis upon the fulfillment of specific and highly detailed prophecies to be fulfilled within “this generation—the generation of the scribes and Pharisees, of the chief priests and the Lawyers, of the Apostles and the first Christians. Jesus everywhere insisted that these things would surely and certaintly come to pass. Now let us examine the significance of the actions of the Judaeans.

Statement Six:

     According to the Bible, persecution of the first Christians by Jerusalem and her sons is depicted as an allegorical struggle between Hagar and Ishmael versus Sarah and Isaac. This conflict would end with the bondwoman and her son being cast out.

“And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was eventide” (Acts 4:1-3).

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And, behold! Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us” (Acts 5:27-28).

“The there came certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this Holy Place and the Law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this Place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on [Stephen], saw his face as it had been the face of an angel” (Acts 6:9-15).

“Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it
     When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold! I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he knelled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he feel asleep” (Acts 7:51-60).

“Tell me, ye that desire to be under the Law, do ye not hear the Law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband; now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of the promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free” (Galatians 4:21-31).

“For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judæa are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16).

     In the above scriptures, the New Testament vividly shows the nature and scope of the contention, acrimony and persecutions which was a grim reality among the first Christians, who lived in the late Second Jewish Commonwealth/ early Roman period. That situation, aptly portrayed in Paul's allegory of Hagar and Ishmael versus Sarah and Isaac, frames the conflict, not as Imperial or Papal Rome against the Church, but Jerusalem of the Law versus Jerusalem of the Gospel. In other words, the bondwoman and her son was Jerusalem and her people who were bound to the Law of Moses, at that time. However, the freewoman and her son were those who had been made free by the Son of God and were thereby heirs of the glorious kingdom of God, promised in the word of prophecy.

Statement Seven:

     According to the Bible, the original Christians were not at first beset by problems or persecutions from Roman sources. Instead, the difficulties were from Jewish opposition—not just in Jerusalem and Judaea, but internationally—throughout the entire vast and teeming Diaspora, whether their opponents were Semites or proselytes or God-fearing Gentile sympathizers. One particular hot-bed of virulent opposition was the western quadrant if Asia Minor:

“Unto the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thy canst not bear them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them to be liars:” (Revelation 2:1-2 cf. 2 Corinthians 11:12-13).

“Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold! The devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown life” (Revelation 2:8-10).

“And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write; These things saith he that hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth” (Revelation 2:12-13).

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold! I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold! I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold! I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved three. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:7-10).

     The above scriptures clearly evince fierce rivalry from Judaean loyalist living thousands of miles away from Jerusalem. However, the strength of the Jewish boast was due to the misguided belief that then, soon, God would intervene in history and make earthly Jerusalem victorious and destroy the power of the Romans, and exult the Jewish people with an everlasting kingdom based on Torah and Jewish Nationalism—a belief completely and utterly contrary the teachings and the testimony of both Christ and the Apostles. And this is where the true identity and fall of Babylon the Great becomes relevant to this study.

  

Statement Eight:

 

According to the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, Babylon the Great City has all the traits, crimes and fate to directly infer that this city was none other than first century Jerusalem—not a one world church, not pagan or Papal Rome or a present amalgam of religious alliances, monetary or commercial enterprises. Jerusalem was the metropolis who killed the prophets, apostles, and saints. She was the city in whom all the righteous blood shed upon the earth could be found.

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them: and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation6:9-11).

“And I beheld when had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken by a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
     And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Revelation6:12-17).

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:7-8).

“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done! And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquak, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:17-19).

“And there came of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

     So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written,

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:1-16).

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she siath in her heart,

I sit a

queen, and am no

widow, and shall see no

sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine: and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come” (Revelation 18:18:4-10).

“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.

Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (Revelation 18:15-24).

“And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia! And her smoke rose up forever and ever” (Revelation 19:1-3).

     This series of scriptures show the dramatic run up to the destruction of Jerusalem, one of the wealthiest cities in antiquity.  Her destruction took place during the exceptionally violent Jewish nationalist coup d'etat of A.D.66 and spanned to an awful climax in August of A.D.70. It was Jerusalem and Jerusalem alone that was the type and shadow of the New Testament Church. Earthly Jerusalem spend an entire forty years denying who Jesus of Nazareth was, lying about his resurrection, beating and killing the apostles, prophets, and saints of the New Testament. She also commissioned false apostles run circuits through the Diaspora to counteract the ministries of Paul and the other apostles and to intimidate Jews and God-fearers into the traditions of the elders and scribes—all the while repudiating her impending end. And then, as predicted, it happened. And once it became a reality, the former beneficiaries of Jerusalem riches mourned her sudden downfall, but the saints of God, and heaven, glorified God for his just judgment of that guilty city.

Answers.

 

1. (b) themselves.

2. The leaders of the city of Jerusalem.

3. The prophets of God.

4. (a) Christ.

5. To the chief priests and Pharisees and Judæa forfeiting the kingdom of God.

6. (c ) the Judæans.

7. (c ) Judæa.

8. Jerusalem.

9. Jerusalem.

10. Some they would kill and crucify, scourge in their synagogues and persecute them from city to city

11. “It is impossible for a prophet to perish out of Jerusalem.”

12. That truly they could expect to see fulfillment of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, the judgment and the coming of the kingdom of God in their lifetime.

13. That one stone would not be left upon another that would not be thrown down.

14. The Law covenant from Mount Sinai vs. the New Testament ratified in Jerusalem.

15. They would be cast out in order to prevent them from being co-heirs to the promises.

16. To the mountains they would say, Fall on us! And to the hills, Cover us!

17. Jewish persecution was spread out from city to city throughout Judæa and the Diaspora.

18. (d) all of the above.

19. No. Only one could.

20. (c ) Abel (Genesis 4:8).

21. (b) their generation then.

22. (a) A.D.70.

23. (d) at Jerusalem.

24. (c ) the great city Jerusalem.

25. Allowed.

26. Because she had the blood of prophets, saints and apostles on her hands.

27. (c ) forty years

28.forty years.

29.Jerusalem of the Gospels and Babylon the Great of Revelation are guilty of the same crimes and suffer the same fate: they must be one and the same city.

Summary:


    We have demonstrated with Jesus' Parable of the Vineyard that the chief priests and Pharisees of ancient Second Temple Judaism understood Jesus to have foretold their doom.  Other scriptures in the Gospels testify abundantly that the punishment for the untimely deaths of all the prophets and righteous would be required at the hands of ancien Judaea's leaders.  The Bible further shows that at Jesus' trial the Jews took total responsibility for the death of Jesus and would receive a just recompense for their perfidy.
     Time-wise the scriptures indicate that the context of "this generation" in the New Testament must be singularly understood to refer to Jesus' civilization, alive at the time of his mission and preaching. In fact, the Bible's own definition of a generation, as a rule, is that it means forty years.  Further, we saw that the relationship between the early Christians and the Romans is not highlighted in the New Testament--but the situation between the synagogue and the church is.  What is prominent is the disagreement, acrimony, persecution and bloodshed inflicted against the Christians by leaders and loyalists of the Jewish world. 
    The scope of this phenomenon extended far beyond the borders o Judaea.  It included the entire habitable earth of the Jewish Diaspora.  From the very beginning of his ministry, ou Lorddenounced the leadership of Jerusalem for her unrighteous works and her continuous pattrern of felonious misconduct.  It was this infamy which caused this beautiful and illustrous city of antiquity to be condemned to universal destruction according to the consistent message of Jesus, the Apostles and the Scribes of the New Testament Scriptures.