Lineage of David

 The Lineage of David

By Richard P. Joseph

12/21/2024

The Catholic church holds to the doctrine of Apostolic Succession.  They claim that they can trace the papal seat all the way back to Peter.  One of the things I find funny about that, among other things, is that Peter never claimed to be the bishop of any church.  In fact, if there was a bishop of Jerusalem in the first century, it was James, the brother of Jesus, not Peter.  That in itself is odd too.  Why would James be the bishop of Jerusalem and not Peter?  To make things more interesting, it is recorded in the writings of Eusebius and others that when James was martyred in 62 AD,  they found another blood relative of Jesus, Symeon, to replace him.  

Does anyone but me see a problem here?  This “line of David” seems to have been an attempt to reestablish a physical Davidic kingdom on earth that had nothing really to do with Jesus except to exploit his popular name.  James, of course, wrote a wonderful epistle and we don’t really know how exactly he was chosen instead of Peter to take that position but it just seems odd to me.  

Of course there were several persons by the name of James mentioned in the New Testament.  One was James the brother of John, one was James the son of Alphaeus, and one was James the son of Mary, or in other words Jesus’ brother.  So, my question here is, why was a relative of Jesus chosen to guide the church of Jerusalem instead of an apostle?  And when James was martyred in AD62, why was another obscure relative of Jesus (line of David) chosen as his successor?  It also appears that the Judaizer sect tended to be followers of James.  James, however, was not a Judaizer as he led the way for Paul to evangelize the gentiles without forcing them to be circumcised.  So back to the question of why James and others in the lineage of David were being chosen to lead the church especially when the apostles were still alive.

I can only speculate at this point but I think that some of them just didn’t get it yet.  It is almost as if they still believed that physical “Jerusalem” was going to be an earthly kingdom replete with a Davidic King, but gentiles will also be able to worship there too.  If we place ourselves in their culture and in their times, that isn’t a far fetched idea.  It would be hard to think out of the box.  Furthermore, even after the fall of Jerusalem, most Christians still were waiting for the second coming and it might just be for this very reason; that they were still waiting for a physical kingdom just like the futurists of today are waiting for.  Add to that, if a rapture did occur in AD66 and transport the faithful remnant into heaven then the new church would be fully void of inspired apostles.  That is why I have no problem today understanding that we may need to reconstruct the historical record from years of neglect.  Besides that, in today's computer age, we literally have more information at our fingertips than all of the ancient historians combined.  For example, we can clearly see that the physical Davidic lineage has ended and will never be reestablished again.  However, the spiritual Davidic kingdom has been established in Jesus Christ and will never be removed, replaced, superseded or extinguished.  It is an everlasting kingdom and is completely out of the reach of any human effort to thwart it.  Even Gabriel understood that the kingship is completely fulfilled in Jesus alone and no other.  

Luke 1:26-33            26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; [e]blessed are you among women!”

29 But [f]when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

This kingdom is here and it is now.  Rejoice and live.

Thousand Years

 A Thousand Years

By Richard P. Joseph

2 Peter 3:8 New King James Version (NKJV)

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

When I was young someone asked me “when was the war of 1812?”  I can’t rightly remember if I got it right or not but most people have to stop and think for a while and end up saying “I’m not sure”.  Then they feel embarrassed when they find out it was in 1812.  Of course it lasted a few years but the joke goes on.  That leads me to my question; “How long is 1,000 years”?   

Whenever I talk to futurists (those that believe that the return of Jesus is in the future) they inevitably go to 2 Peter and say that a thousand man years are equal to one day in God years, as if this is some sort of mathematical equation.  Well, maybe this question will help us figure it out; “How many cattle does God own”?    Psalm 50:10 reads; For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 

So, all you would need to do is use this mathematical equation to figure out how many cattle God owns:

How many cattle can fit on a hill X 1,000 = the amount of cattle God owns.  

Or you can google it and use the equation that I found there:

The phrase “the cattle on a thousand hills” conveys God's ownership of all creation and His limitless resources.

It is sad when google has a better biblical understanding than what most Christians do.  

In Revelation 20:2 John tells us that:

 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

So, was Satan bound for exactly one thousand years?  

Even though the number thousand appears many times in scripture it can mean different things.  It can mean an exact number but is used more as an estimate, and many times as the number of “an undisclosed period of time in which something needs to be completed”.  For example, God owns all of the cattle, or in other words, God needs nothing from us because he is complete and has an abundance of what he wants.  As far as 2 Peter is concerned, God is not bound by time limits like we are.  It has nothing to do with the number of years when Jesus would return.  When the work that the apostles needed to complete then Jesus will return, which happened in 66-70 AD.  Satan was bound at some point in the first century until God’s plan was completed for him (or it).  Then he would come out and wreak havoc to complete the plan.  The idea of one thousand is arbitrary.  It is the idea that God is in control of all things and is sovereign over all.  

Numbers, in ancient Hebraic culture, don’t always mean “amount”, it can mean other things and that is why we must attempt to understand 1st century Middle Eastern culture before we can rightly divide the scripture that was written at that time.  Therefore, Peter was not saying that the second coming was thousands of years hence, he was simply telling the scoffers of his day that the Parousia will happen exactly when God planned it to happen and that God is not on our timetable.   It did happen and God’s plan was completed exactly when He said it would be. 

Woe to those

 Woe to Those

By Richard P. Joseph

11/28/2024

Mass murderer, Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood.

Isaiah 5:20-21                                                                                          

20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!

The prophet Isaiah had strong words for the people of Israel during his lifetime.  The corruption of God’s then chosen people was out of control which led God to lead them into captivity for 70 years by the Babylonians.  They suffered the loss of their temple and homeland but God eventually brought them back for a second chance, which of course, they blew that too.  This was a people who reversed everything that the law of God called for, putting their selfish and sinful life first.  They were a master of deception and called the pure and holy things of God and earth evil, while calling all manner of impurity, evil, sexual perversion and worship of idols good; just like our modern day democratic party and big media do today.  

Recently, Joe Biden, the false president of the United States, honored a mass murderer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by awarding it to Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood.   Just like when they commandeered the rainbow, which used to be a sign of peace between God and the earth, and made it into a sign of violent sexual perversion, they now reward a woman who is responsible for the torture and murder of millions of babies, with the Medal of Freedom.   It is as if Joe Biden read Isaiah’s words and purposefully fulfilled them.  This is a perfect example of what Isaiah was warning against.  The Democratic Party calls evil good and good evil.  In today’s, so called,  post Christian era, everything that is evil is called good and everything that is dark is called light.  Children are nothing more than objects to be molested and mutilated instead of nurtured and protected.  Marriage today has no real meaning and the traditional family is scoffed at.  Even the words “planned parenthood” means “plan to not parenthood” as the goal is to slaughter your children.  Young kids are growing up thinking that communism is good and freedom is bad.  So what can be done about it?

Pray, repent and teach.  The iniquity must be broken and the gospel must be taught.  Men must once again take charge over their families.  They must pray and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They must repent of their sin and they must actively teach their families the gospel of Christ.  Going to church does not replace the man’s job of being the priest of his own family.  He alone is responsible for teaching his wife and his children the scripture.  He alone is responsible for living a holy life.  The change must begin in the family unit.  By the way, a family consists of a father, a mother and their children.  Those that don’t have all of that need to do the best they can without it but the goal is to produce strong, stable families all across this land.  The family unit is the core building block of society.  The stronger the family, the stronger the community the stronger the nation.  The liberals will again attempt to call two perverts a family but woe to them.  Keep the standard and don’t bend.  Keep the faith and don’t flounder.  Keep the truth and don’t be fooled.  Call good, good and evil, evil.  Be brave and stand tall.  Never cower and never back down.

Signs

 SIGNS

BY Richard P. Joseph

10/23/2024

“Sign,Sign,everywhere there’s signs, blocking out the scenery breakin’ my mind.  Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”  Les Emmerson

Us old folk remember the song “Sign” by a group that I never even knew existed called “The Five Man Electrical Band”.  It was a common hippie song that railed against the establishment but all in all a cool song.  Perhaps the song could be updated to include the plethora of “End Times” signage that we see on the highway and on the internet.  But that isn’t new really, I have been seeing this stuff my entire life.  Every time there is a change in regimes or a new war, or a new dictator, bam, sign, sign, everywhere there’s signs.  

In fact, even where there are no billboards or internet, people wanted a sign.  2,000 years ago when Jesus walked the earth, the Jewish leadership walked up to Jesus and challenged him to provide a sign from heaven for them.  After seeing multiple miracles, you would think “where have you been” but they still asked:

Matthew 16   1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ [a]Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of [b]the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

Actually, I never caught this before but I think Jesus was actually taunting them when, after being asked to show a sign from “heaven”, he then pointed at the sky and started telling them about how to read the weather patterns.  Then he got serious and informed them that the sign is coming and you won’t like it.  (See my other article “The Sign of Jonah”).  So, which signs are we really looking for today anyhow?

Actually, none.  You see, Jesus told those particular priests that “they” will see a sign in their lifetime.  Jesus never told anyone to wait thousands of years before they would see any signs, they were all imminent.   The sign would be very similar to what Jonah went through as he was in the belly of the sea creature for three days and three nights then came out a more bold and obedient servant of God.  While Jesus was always obedient, he entered the grave as a lowly criminal, according to the law, but was raised a conquering king.  This sign happened in the year AD 30.  The other signs that Jesus warned about were also to happen within that generation.  Jesus predicted the “End of the Age” was to come during the lifetime of the apostles.  In Matthew 24 Jesus told what signs to look for and then he said; “Matthew 24: 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”

So what is my point?

The point is, all of the signs that we were to look for have already been completed 2,000 years ago.  We, today, are the beneficiaries of those signs but we do not need to observe any more signs necessarily because all prophecy has already been fulfilled by AD70 when all of those signs came into fruition.  There are no new prophecies today and no signs to observe, just be fruitful in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.  People are actually sitting in their pew waiting for something that we already have, the Holy Spirit.  Instead of running and working in God’s kingdom, people are taught to sit around and wait for the big Jesus to fly out of the sky and start killing people like Stalin, Hitler and Mao did.  This is a very useless and dangerous doctrine that needs to be exposed.  Quit floundering in the darkness and start basking in the light.  Stop waiting and start moving.  Start drinking and stop thirsting.  Jesus really did what he said he would do, so just believe it and live. 

The vineyard

 The Vineyard

By Richard P. Joseph

10/10/2024

Isaiah 5:1-2  Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:

My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.

He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.

Throughout the old testament the prophets used the euphemism of a vineyard to represent Israel.  This was God’s garden that he planted among heathen nations and called it his own. He put his people in to tend it expecting good fruit but it constantly produced rotten fruit.   Vineyards were a very important industry in the ancient world.  It not only brought forth fruit to eat, it also gave the common drink of the day; wine.  Most people are aware of those things but what many people don’t know is that the leaves are also highly sought after for food.  If you go to any Middle Eastern restaurant you will find a dish called “grape leaves”.  Growing up in a Middle Eastern family, grape leaves were a common dish for us.  It usually is ground lamb, pine nuts, spices etc rolled up in a grape leaf.   This is better known today but when I was a child, Middle Eastern cuisine was not as common as it is today.  But I digress.  The new testament stays on task and uses the vineyard scenario in the same way as the old testament prophets used it, except this time it comes with judgment attached.  

One of Jesus’ first open miracles involved wine.  In John chapter 2 we read about the wedding at Cana.  John tells us that “after 3 days” Jesus was at a wedding in Cana, where John also tells us that he revealed his “glory”.  In ancient Hebraic literature, numbers usually have double meanings.  This was the third day since Jesus began gathering some of his disciples but it seems that 3 is an important number as Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the fish, Jesus was three days in the belly of the earth where he showed his glory by his resurrection from the dead.  As the story goes, Jesus’ mother prompted him to perform the act of changing 6 jars of water into wine.  Now we have the number six to deal with.  Six is usually the number of men; or in other words, a number of incompletion.  When they ran out of wine at the wedding, Jesus turned six pots of water into wine.  When they tasted the wine the master of the wedding exclaimed;  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”   The six pots represent the Law which is now being replaced by Grace.  In other words, the law was being fulfilled right before their eyes and the New Covenant was upon them.  The old covenant was inferior to the new covenant.  The good wine was preserved for last.  The new covenant is the new wine.  

In Matthew chapter 20 we read about Jesus’ parable of the vineyard.  The Jews of that day immediately knew that Jesus was referring to Isaiah chapter 5.  I encourage you all to read that entire chapter.  The reason you need to read it is so you can experience it like the Jews did when they heard it.  Us living 2,000 years later in a different culture and usually a poor understanding of the old testament scriptures, never really get the full effect of what they got.  Many today think “oh what a nice story” and then, by using relative thinking, come up with a myriad of different interpretations that have nothing to do with the original, and true, interpretation.  As soon as Jesus started in with his parable about a vineyard, the Jews knew something bad was coming, and that is because they had most of the old testament memorized, unlike us today..  In this parable, the owner of the vineyard hired workers in the morning, then more throughout the day, even until evening.  He then paid them all the same price.  The workers that were hired first did exactly what we probably would have done and said “hey, we worked all day and got the same pay that those that only worked one hour, what gives?”.  The owner then told them that he gave them exactly what he agreed to give them so he did them no harm but he, as the owner, can give to others whatever he wants.  He then said “ So the last will be first, and the first last. For[d] many are called, but few chosen.”  This represents that those that were called first, the Jews, were now given the same pay as the new gentiles that would be taking over the vineyard.  In order to press this point, Jesus gave two more parables about the vineyard. 

Here is the next parable Jesus gave;

Matthew 21:28 31 28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” 

This parable shows how one of the sons, those that lie and say they will obey God, are not really following God but those that actually “do” the will of God are those that please God.  Therefore, just because someone is a Jew, doesn’t mean they are doing God’s will.  In this parable, both sons are Jews. This is why the apostle Paul said "all Israel is not Israel", meaning that it is by faith you are saved, not by blood line. Then Jesus hits them with yet a third parable.  

Again, I encourage you to read Matthew chapters 20 and 21 to get the full effect.  In this third parable the owner (God) lends his vineyard to workers and goes into a far country.  He sent servants (prophets) to check on the vineyard during that time but the workers mistreated and killed them.  He then sent his son (Jesus) and they killed him because they wanted the vineyard for themselves.  But Jesus himself went into a far country (heaven, then returned in AD70) and punished the evil vinedressers and handed the kingdom over to another nation (the church).  

At the last supper, Jesus initiated this transaction by passing around the cup of wine and told his disciples that this is the cup of the blood of the new covenant.  The entire new testament is really the story  of eschatology.  It is entirely about the old covenant being complete and of the new covenant beginning.  It is the story of completion.  It is the story of a transfer of power.  It is the story of the last being first and the first being last.  But what is my real point in this article?

My point is to help Christians understand the bible the way the original audience saw it.  We need to experience it just like they did.

When Jesus gave the parable of the vineyard, he was really saying “hey priests, Isaiah 5 is being fulfilled right before your eyes”.  In Luke chapter 4 Jesus outright informs them that the scriptures are being fulfilled right at that time. 

 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 

When Jesus was on the cross he cried out in a loud voice so all could hear, letting the onlooking priests know that they just fulfilled Psalm 22.  

Mark 15:34  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

So as you read scripture, look back and reference it with the old testament scripture that it most likely originated from.  Put yourself in their shoes and see what they saw.  Know the old (original) testament well so that you can recognize the passages when you see them in the New (fulfilled) testament.  Do not rely on modern methods of relative interpretation.  Find out the original and true interpretation, and the bible will begin to open up like a movie. 

If it feels good, do it!

 If it feels good, do it!

By Richard P. Joseph

9/23/2024

John Adams is one of my favorite historical figures.  To me, the portly 5’7” man stands larger than life.  There were many great figures of our American Revolution including Samual Adams who seemed to be the instigator, George Washington, who was the might, Thomas Jefferson, the articulator and then there was John Adams, the one that all of those efforts seemed to be resting upon when it came right down to producing a product.  Adams was the product himself of a long line of Puritan Christians who would not, and could not, bend under pressure.  He held fast to his Christian morals at all cost and proved himself one of the most disciplined men of all time.  And while not all Americans stood as fast as Adams, there was a time when many Americans did hold to those same Christian morals as Adams held to.  

As I read through the two volume work of Page Smith’s biography of John Adams, and Original Intent by David Barton, one theme seems to repeat itself, that Christian morals are a necessity in order to keep a nation from falling apart.  John and Abigail Adams, who both spent much time in France, were disgusted with the products of the so-called “French enlightenment”.   The American revolution produced a nation faithful to Jesus Christ whereas the French revolution did quite the opposite; it rejected the gospel and embraced the darkness of man’s own morbid mind, producing a sexually promiscuous society that degraded their once Christian moral fabric.  That perversion is still very active today in France.  On page 915, Page Smith summarized that the American nation could recover after a tough presidential campaign for the simple reason that “among Americans there was a common consensus-common traditions and ideals- that lay deeper than the transient passions of party and faction.  As long as that remarkable consensus held fast, the nation would somehow endure.”    We now, in the 21st century, seem to have lost that common consensus.

Beginning in the 20th century, specifically in the 1960’s our common Christian heritage came under intense assault.  This attack was very reminiscent of the French enlightenment.  The hippie mantra of “If it feels good, do it”  was code for “Reject Christ and the established order” or in shorthand “stick it to the man”.  This was America's sexual revolution which produced all manner of debauchery, disease, sin, illegitimacy and social entropy.  It has finally matured and now, in 2024, we are on the cusp of losing our once great nation.  We are now in a free fall moving quickly into atheistic communism.  Once Christianity is rejected, our moral compass fails and all sense of freedom is lost.  Oppression and poverty is then the only possible option.  Freedom is unique to Christianity and once Christianity is replaced, so is freedom.  It is a scientific and mathematical equation that cannot be reworked into another product.  Just like a chemical reaction, it must absolutely work 100% of the time.  

Christianity + acceptance=Freedom and prosperity.

Christianity + rejection=oppression, suppression and poverty.

My favorite John Adams quote is one that he said during a speech to the Massachusetts Militia;

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  

What Adams is basically saying is that our constitution allows so much freedom that the only citizens that are able to live under it are those that have strong Christian morals.  Once those morals are absent, we must live under a dictator.  There is no other choice.  The hippies finally grew up and became our presidents and our legislators and our judges.  We are in the beginning stages of communism.  In fact this article will be banned on many platforms.  This is how communism works.  There is no freedom of speech, no freedom to defend yourselves and no incentive to improve your lot in life; in other words “social entropy” and death.  

We were all warned by God about social degradation in the bible and especially in God’s law.  Most people think God was joking when he gave Moses the ten commandments.  The fifth commandment reads like this;

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Most people only read the first part but you seldom hear the second part which ties your national existence in your homeland to the honoring of your parents.  In other words, once the family structure and order is compromised, your country becomes exposed and then deposed.  Moses warned the Israelites about this in the book of Deuteronomy and they didn’t listen and their days in their promised land was cut short in AD 70.   In today's hippie generated society, many kids don’t even know who their father is.  And even if they have a father, he isn’t doing his job of disciplining and teaching his children the ways of the eternal God.  In fact, it is now offensive to even say that a dad is necessary.  I can go on and on about this subject but suffice it to say that our national existence is inextricably tied to our moral fabric.  This really is an existential threat.  We will absolutely lose our nation if we do not have a massive great awakening immediately.  I hope and pray that that won’t happen but I can’t bend the rules of science, I can only follow the laws of nature and nature tells me that we must reverse our moral compass in order to survive this coming onslaught.   

 To sum this article up, I will now quote the giver of life himself;

Matthew 7:13-14

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and [d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.