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Jesus and His Ministry

Jesus Christ was conceived on the night of 4 BC, December 22 / 23; the Winter Solstice for 4 BC occurred on December 23 at 01:07 hours.
Jesus Christ was born on 3 BC September 11 6:18 pm – 7:39 pm [Jerusalem Time] – Possibly around / at 7.00 pm.
Jesus Christ was died on Friday 31 AD, April 27 at 3 pm [Nisan 14]
Conception occurs when the male sperm meets the female egg and fertilizes the egg inside one of the fallopian tubes, thus producing a new life. After a few days, the fertilized egg will travel to the woman’s uterus where it will implant itself into the wall of the uterus.
For the standard pregnancy the due date is 266 days (38 weeks) after conception.
266 days (38 weeks) before the 3 BC September 11 birth is 4BC December 19.
However, teenage pregnancies are usually of a slightly shorter duration that more mature mothers. Therefore a duration of 263 or 262 days (37.5 weeks) is more realistic.
263 days before the 3BC September 11 birth is 4 BC December 22.
262 days before the 3BC September 11 birth is 4 BC December 23.
In Gematria, 263 = Refugee in a Foreign Land. Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, became a refugee in the foreign land called Earth to pay the price [a blood sacrifice] for our sins so that we could be redeemed / reconciled back to, and accepted by, His heavenly Father, God / YHWH.
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour? Many people have not.
In Gematria, 262 = Rivals Refuse to Reconcile.
Either way, the Winter Solstice marks the darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere; this being the shortest amount of time between sunrise and sunset [due to the Earth’s relation to the Sun and the angle of the Earth’s tilt].
So, precisely at this re-birth of a new year, Mary is visited by “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” Naturally, this act would occur while Mary was sleeping.
According to Science and also God, life begins at conception.
“Human development is a continuous process that begins when an oocyte from a female is fertilized by a sperm from a male”.
“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to form a single cell, the zygote”.
THE BIRTH OF JESUS – 3 BC September 11 6:18 pm – 7:39 pm [Jerusalem Time]
THE BIRTH OF JESUS – 3 BC September 11 4:18 pm – 5:39 pm [British Summer Time – BST]
First day of Jewish New Year (Tishri 1). New Moon in Royal Constellation Leo (Judah). On September 11, 3 BC, sunset was at 6:18 pm and moonset at 7:39 pm. Jesus Christ was born on September 11, 3BC sometime in that 81 minute span of time between 6:18 pm and 7:39 pm [Jerusalem time]. In Gematria 81 = Holy Angels.
Jesus died on Friday 31 AD April 27 at 3 pm [Nisan 14] Jerusalem time.
Time Summary:
457 BC Autumn – The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. A decree by Artaxerxes I Longimanus and his 7 counsellors to Ezra in the Autumn of 457 BC was to organise the nation along the lines of the Mosaic code and to re – establish the city government of Jerusalem. [See Ezra 7, Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 1].
483 years later = Remainder of year in 457 BC + 456 full years to end of BC era + 26 full years in AD era + Portion of year in 27 AD.
27 AD Autumn – Jesus at His baptism received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and soon afterwards began His ministry.
Gospel preached by Jesus for 3 ½ years = 27 AD Autumn + 3 ½ years = 31 AD Spring.
31 AD Spring [Friday 31 AD April 27] – Christ, the true sacrifice, dies for our sins on Calvary.
in the MIDST [in the middle] of the week [Daniel 9:27]
Gospel preached by the Apostles for 3 ½ years = 31 AD Spring + 3 ½ years = 34 AD Autumn.
34 AD Autumn = The stoning of Stephen = Jews finally sealed their rejection of the gospel = Gospel taken to everyone.
Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the MIDST of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
70 prophetic weeks = 7 prophetic weeks + 62 prophetic weeks + 1 prophetic week = 49 actual years + 434 years + 7 [or 3 ½ + 3 ½] years = 483 years + 7 years = 457 BC Autumn – 27 AD Autumn – 34 AD Autumn.
The initial seven weeks (or 49 years) saw the streets and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. The additional 62 weeks (or 434 years) reached to the time when Messiah should appear. This 62-week period was, in contrast, a rather quiet or silent stretch of years, including the time between Malachi, last of the prophets, and John the Baptist, herald and baptizer of the Messiah. It was, significantly, a period when there were no special prophetic communications from God to the people.
But the initial seven weeks of years, together with the 62 weeks, were to be considered as an uninterrupted chronological unit of 69 weeks (Daniel 9:25), and were to be without a break or gap. That is a total of 69 “weeks” of years (making 483 years) leading up to the final week of seven years, in the midst of which Messiah would be “cut off.”
The day of Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other disciples following the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ (Acts 2).
Pentecost comes from the Greek word pentekoste which means fiftieth; it was from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Sunday 31 AD, April 29 to Sunday 31 AD, June 16.
Note that both are Sundays and, in modern understanding, there are only 7 weeks equalling 49 total days.
The Resurrection (Luke 24) took place on the Feast of First Fruits. The Pentecost was seven weeks later. That’s why it’s sometimes named the Feast of Weeks. The dates of both were established by counting from the first Sabbath after Passover. The feast of First Fruits was the first day after the Sabbath and Pentecost was after 50 days; there being only 49 complete days.
In just the same way, a jubilee is not 50 complete years, but 49 complete years with year 50 of one jubilee also being year 1 of the next jubilee. See below [near the end] for more on Inclusive Reckoning.
Acts 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come [Sunday 31 AD, June 16], they were all with one accord in one place.
2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It was an event that occurred on this day – the day of Pentecost – Sunday 31 AD, June 16 – that the church, including almost everyone in the S.D.A. churches, has forgotten or overlooked. As a result of Jesus giving His Holy Spirit to His followers, Jesus has now forfeited for eternity His Omnipresence. In form, He will now forever appear like a man bearing the scars of His crucifixion acquired through bearing and paying for our sins – the sins of all mankind which He bore and caused His death through Him having a heart attack.
CHRIST HAS GIVEN HIS SPIRIT AS A DIVINE POWER to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. {DA 671.2 1898}
The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. {DA 671.2 1898}
The Holy Spirit was sent as the most priceless treasure man could receive. {DA 671.4 1898}
He [Christ] determined to give His representative, the third person of the Godhead. This gift could not be excelled. He would give all gifts in one, and therefore the divine Spirit, converting, enlightening, sanctifying, would be His donation. {ST, December 1, 1898 par. 2}
Christ said of the Spirit, “He shall glorify me.” As Christ glorified the Father by the demonstration of his love, so THE SPIRIT WAS TO GLORIFY CHRIST by revealing to the world the riches of his grace. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of his people. {RH, May 19, 1904 par. 4}
Note: If the Holy Spirit was a god, then he would not need to glorify Christ, nor His Father.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD; IT IS ALSO THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. IT IS THAT DIVINE, MYSTERIOUS EMANATION through which they carry forward their great and infinite work. — (Uriah Smith, GC Bulletin, March 18, 1891, pp. 146, 147) {EMANATION – something which originates or issues from a source.}
The terms “Holy Ghost”, are a harsh and repulsive translation. It should be “Holy Spirit” (hagion pneuma) in every instance. THIS SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD, AND THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST; THE SPIRIT BEING THE SAME WHETHER IT IS SPOKEN OF AS PERTAINING TO GOD OR CHRIST. But respecting this Spirit, the Bible uses expressions which cannot be harmonized with the idea that it is a person like the Father and the Son. Rather it is shown to be a divine influence from them both, the medium which represents their presence and by which they have knowledge and power through all the universe, when not personally present. — (Uriah Smith, RH, October 28, 1890)
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, which is sent to all men to give them sufficiency, that through His grace we might be complete in Him. The Lord has provided that we should always be under the teaching and influence of the Holy Spirit. We shall then discover that the law of God is holy, just, and good, and we would learn to delight in the law of God. We love the requirements of the law, and from our hearts render obedience to its requirements. {Lt11a-1894}
True faith and repose in God are always accompanied by the illuminations of the Holy Spirit, whose temple we are. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, IT IS HIS REPRESENTATIVE. Here is the divine agency that carries conviction to hearts. When the power of His spirit is revealed through the servants of God, we behold divinity flashing through humanity. When accompanied by the Holy Spirit, the presentation of truth as it is in Jesus will be of more value than all the honor or glory of the world. {Lt18-1895}
Cumbered with humanity, CHRIST could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HIMSELF DIVESTED OF THE PERSONALITY OF HUMANITY AND INDEPENDENT THEREOF. HE WOULD REPRESENT HIMSELF AS PRESENT IN ALL PLACES BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT, AS THE OMNIPRESENT. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall (although unseen by you), [This phrase was added by Ellen White.] teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you [John 14:26]. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will come not unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you [John 16:7]. {14MR 23.3 1990} (Ellen White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, pages 23, 24; written February 18 and 19, 1895)
NB: DIVESTED meaning: To strip or deprive (someone or something), esp. of property or rights; dispossess. To deprive someone of (power, rights, or possessions). Example: men are unlikely to be divested of power without a struggle.
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the THIRD PERSON OF THE GODHEAD, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. CHRIST HAS GIVEN HIS SPIRIT AS A DIVINE POWER to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. {DA 671.2 1898}
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children keep yourselves from idols.” The Lord is soon to come. We want that complete and perfect understanding which the Lord alone can give. It is not safe to catch the spirit from another. WE WANT THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST. If we commune with God, we shall have strength and grace and efficiency. {Lt66-1894}
. . .The whole of the gospel is embraced in the third angel’s message, and in all our work the truth is to be presented as it is in Jesus. . . . Let nothing lessen the force of the truth for this time. THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE MUST DO ITS WORK OF SEPARATING FROM THE CHURCHES A PEOPLE WHO WILL TAKE THEIR STAND ON THE PLATFORM OF ETERNAL TRUTH. OUR MESSAGE IS A LIFE AND DEATH MESSAGE, AND WE MUST LET IT APPEAR AS IT IS, THE GREAT POWER OF GOD. WE ARE TO PRESENT IT IN ALL ITS TELLING FORCE. Then the Lord will make it effectual. Ms 19, 1900, pp. 1, 4, 5. (“A Perfect Ministry. Its Purpose,” March 5 1900.) {1MR 57.3}
Jesus – Now forever in human form.
The Lord desires us to improve in prayer, and to offer our spiritual sacrifices with increased faith and power. “To them gave He power to become the sons of God.” He has given His own Son for our redemption. If by living faith we accept Him as our Saviour, we are placed on vantage ground with God; for Christ stands before His Father, saying, “Lay their sins on me. I will bear their guilt. They are my property. I have graven them upon the palms of my hands.” In our behalf HE PRESENTS BEFORE HIS FATHER THE MARKS OF THE CRUCIFIXION WHICH HE WILL BEAR THROUGHOUT ETERNITY. {Ms91-1901}
CHRIST ASCENDED TO HEAVEN, BEARING A SANCTIFIED, HOLY HUMANITY. HE TOOK THIS HUMANITY WITH HIM INTO THE HEAVENLY COURTS, AND THROUGH THE ETERNAL AGES HE WILL BEAR IT, as the One who has redeemed every human being in the city of God the One who has pleaded before the Father, “I have graven them upon the palms of my hands.” The palms of his hands bear the marks of the wounds that he received. If we are wounded and bruised, if we meet with difficulties that are hard to manage, let us remember how much Christ suffered for us. Let us sit together with our brethren in heavenly places in Christ. Let us bring heaven’s blessing into our hearts. {RH, March 9, 1905 par. 6}
Note: Although trinitarians dwell upon the sacrifice of Jesus’ death they do not understand that, since Pentecost, JESUS HAS FOREVER GIVEN UP HIS OMNIPRESENCE.
Returning to the Winter Solstice for 4 BC, Jesus Christ was conceived on 4 BC, 23 December at 01:07 hours; some cite the time on this day as 05:51 hours.
As we have said, according to Science and also God, life begins at conception.
Therefore Jesus would have been 30 years of age on 27 AD, 23 December at 01:07 hours.
Although baptised in the Autumn, it was then that Jesus fully commenced His ministry, in accordance with the Word of God.
Numbers 4:3 23 30 35 39 43 47 From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
1 Chronicles 23:3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
23:4 Of which, twenty and four thousand [were] to set forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand [were] officers and judges:
While all the above relate to the Tribe of Levi and not to the Tribe of Judah [ancestor of Jesus], it is noted that 1 generation earlier, Levi was the third son, and Judah was the fourth son, of Jacob and Leah. Jacob being the son of Isaac, being the son of Abraham, being the first Jew / Hebrew. So from Jacob, they were all related.
Many of the Jewish leaders and prophets of the Hebrew Bible claimed membership in the tribe of Judah. For example, the literary prophets Isaiah, Amos, Habakkuk, Joel, Micah, Obadiah, Zechariah, and Zephaniah, all belonged to the tribe.
Notable descendants of the Levite lineage include Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Malachi.
Joseph was from the tribe of Judah, that’s why he had to go to his home town in Bethlehem to register for the census. It also fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah (Jesus or Yeshua) would be born in Bethlehem. The wise men did not attend on the night Jesus’ birth, but probably 1 ½ years later after travelling form the Far East. We know this because Scripture tells us they gave gifts to the young child, not the baby. King Herod then ordered all babies under two years of age to be killed. Joseph had been told to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, fulfilling another Old Testament prophecy where God said, “Out of Egypt I will call my Son.”
1 BC, December 29: Total Eclipse of the Moon (started at dusk). Associated with Herod’s Death. Herod died around [20 days later] 1 AD, January 18. [Josephus’s remark in Antiquities 17.6.4 that there was a lunar eclipse shortly before Herod died].
Joseph was the adopted father of Jesus which was considered legally the same thing, therefore fulfilling another Scripture that Christ will ultimately rule as King from the Tribe of Judah and following in the footsteps of King David who incidentally was also born in Bethlehem.
After Herod’s death Joseph and Mary then went back up to Nazareth where Jesus was brought up. The Old Testament also said that He would be called a Nazarene. Christ fulfilled over 100 Old Testament prophecies to the letter, and that is why He was and is the true Messiah.
Joseph was from the kingly tribe of Judah. Mary’s mother (also Mary) was a full-blood Levite (priestly tribe). Mary’s father (Heli) was a full-blooded tribe of Judah man. Jesus, therefore, is both King and High Priest. Jesus had four half-brother’s and three half-sister’s.
Mary had a cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin to Jesus. That gave Jesus the legitimacy of His role as our High Priest also fulfilling prophecy.
Mary’s cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with her husband Zechariah’s son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:5–25 39–45 56–80). Mary was the prophesied “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) and through the power of the LORD God the Father Himself, she did indeed become pregnant with His Son and became the Messiah, Jesus (Matthew 1:1–25; Luke 2:1–40). Because of Mary and Elizabeth being cousins, that made John and Jesus second cousins. But their familial relationship was never revealed at all in the Bible. Only Mary and Elizabeth’s is mentioned (Luke 1:36).
Luke 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
Lk3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
Lk3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. {With the trinity doctrine we have a Jesus formed from two fathers – if you say that the 3 gods are one then you must also say that Jesus formed himself!} {The voice of God confirms Jesus as His Son in a singular context – no plural God.}
Lk3:23 And Jesus himself began to be ABOUT thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was [the son] of Heli,
Jesus was thirty years old before He entered His public ministry. The period of His childhood and youth was one of comparative obscurity, but of the highest importance. He was in this obscurity laying the foundation of a sound constitution and vigorous mind. He “grew, and waxed strong in spirit.” Luke 1:80. It is not as a man bending under the pressure of age that Jesus is revealed to us traversing the hills of Judea. He was in the strength of His manhood. Jesus once stood in age just where you now stand. Your circumstances, your cogitations at this period of your life, Jesus has had. He cannot overlook you at this critical period. He sees your dangers. He is acquainted with your temptations. He invites you to follow His example. {Lt17-1878} (Written March 14, 1878, from Healdsburg, California, to F. E. Belden, Ellen White’s nephew.) Also in {4MR 235.3 1990} and {20MR 72.3 1993}
No one is so poor, so lowly, so sorrowful but that Jesus can feel for him. He walked in the most lowly and humble ways of our human life. He suffered shame from His earliest youth and passed through the experience of the poorest, the most despised and sorrowful. At thirty years of age He began to preach to the people. He healed the sick, raised the dead, comforted the mourning, and forgave the sins of those who were sorry for breaking the law of God. But every day the shadow of the cross fell on His pathway. Every day that He did His deeds of love to the people brought him nearer to Calvary’s cross, where He laid down His life for us. {Ms45-1892}
The wisdom of the divine purpose has shrouded in mystery the history of the early period of the life of Christ. Of the humble home at Nazareth, God has withheld all knowledge that would merely gratify a profitless curiosity. During the years of childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus shared the common lot of humanity in all things except sin. For thirty years before he began his public ministry, he was unknown to the world. All this time he kept within his own heart the secret of his work and the character of his mission. His life was that of a servant, a toiler at the common duties of life; he was the least among the sons of men. {YI, August 5, 1897 par. 7}
Jesus did not become a student in the schools of the rabbis; for this channel was corrupted with error, with false doctrines, with the maxims and traditions of men. This cost the Son of God much pain and sorrow; but by this very means he was learning the hard lessons of silence and patient waiting. His life was not one of indolence; these early years were spent in preparation for the life upon which he was to enter. {YI, August 5, 1897 par. 8}
Words cannot express the greatness of the love of God for man; but Christ has revealed it in his life in humanity. Only by himself assuming human nature, and reaching down to the very depths of human misery, could he lift the race from its darkness and despair. The cross of Calvary, the offering of himself upon the altar of sacrifice, reveals the humiliation to which the Son of God submitted. {YI, August 5, 1897 par. 9}
At His visit to the temple in His boyhood, as the mystery of His lifework opened before Him, Christ had said to Mary, “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49. These words struck the keynote of His whole life and ministry. Everything was held in abeyance to His work, the great work of redemption which He had come into the world to accomplish. Now He repeated the lesson. There was danger that Mary would regard her relationship to Jesus as giving her a special claim upon Him, and the right, in some degree, to direct Him in His mission. For thirty years He had been to her a loving and obedient son, and His love was unchanged; but He must now go about His Father’s work. As Son of the Most High, and Saviour of the world, no earthly ties must hold Him from His mission, or influence His conduct. He must stand free to do the will of God. This lesson is also for us. The claims of God are paramount even to the ties of human relationship. No earthly attraction should turn our feet from the path in which He bids us walk. {DA 146.2 1898}
The Gospels give us little information in regard to the youth and early manhood of Christ, and because of this it is claimed by some that there is nothing to relate. True, Christ lived the life of a common laborer, but there is much that could be said of that pure, undefiled life. His was a character among characters, which placed in strong contrast holiness and obedience, and unholiness and disobedience. Although he did not enter upon his public ministry until he was NEARLY thirty years old, he was always doing good. His life was in conformity to the life and character of God. His childhood and manhood ennobled and sanctified every phase of practical life. {RH, October 24, 1899 par. 9} Also {Ms24-1898}
Christ and the heavenly universe saw that the power of Satan was taking the world captive, that nearly all mankind was under his deceiving power. The gold and silver and precious things of earth possessed a charm for men. To them riches meant power and honor, and they would do any injustice or violence in order to obtain that which they coveted. The fear of the Lord was fast departing from the earth. And the Son of the Highest came to the earth. “Lo, I come,” he said, “to do thy will, O God.” His arm brought salvation. He began his mission in the lowly walks of life, placing himself where the family of which he was a member required his service. He did not shirk responsibilities, but carried into his labor cheerfulness and tact. He restored every department of human industry as if it were a part of his commission from God. The Commander of heaven became subject to command, but in it all he manifested heartiness and devotion. He was a perfect pattern in every place. {RH, October 24, 1899 par. 10}
Christ passed through all the experiences of his childhood, youth, and manhood without the observance of ceremonial temple worship. He held no office, he assumed no rank. He passed through the experience of infancy, childhood, and manhood without a stain upon his character. He consecrated himself to God that he might benefit and bless others, to show that in every period of life the human agent can do the Master’s will. {RH, October 24, 1899 par. 11}
Christ was a physician of the body as well as of the soul. He was minister and missionary and physician. From his childhood he was interested in every phase of human suffering that came under his notice. He could truly say, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. In every case of woe he brought relief, his kind words having a healing balm. None could say he had worked a miracle, yet he imparted his virtue to those he saw in suffering and in need. Through the whole thirty years of his private life he was humble, meek, and lowly. He had a living connection with God; for the Spirit of God was upon him, and he gave evidence to all who were acquainted with him that he lived to please, honor, and glorify his Father in the common things of life. {RH, October 24, 1899 par. 12} Also in {5BC 1088.6 1956}
The Sun of righteousness came to our world to work for the uplifting of humanity. He came in humiliation and poverty, born of humble parentage, and in an obscure village. When He was thirty years of age, His public ministry began; and then the obscurity vanished, as He worked with divine power to release the souls that were controlled by demons. The power of the Lord Jesus is the only power that can cope with the fallen spirits who have taken possession of the souls of human beings. The Saviour came to our world to reveal Himself as the light and life of men. {Ms78-1905}
In the proclamation of the truth there is to be no display. Let worldlings carry on their large gatherings, with their great display, but let not God’s people suppose that this is the way to preach the gospel or to present the truth. Outward display does not give influence to the truth. It does not add to the usefulness or the success of the workers in God’s vineyard. Ministers and medical missionaries, be true to your calling. Make no exhibitions for display. In your expenditure of means, let the self-denial of Christ be seen. In our behalf He laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and clothed His divinity with humanity, coming to this world as a babe, and for thirty years living here as a man among men. He lived the life of a poor man, yet He was the Prince of heaven. “Lo, I come,” He declared, “in the volume of the book it is written of He; I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart” (Psalms 40:7-8). The prophet Isaiah bears testimony, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders: His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). {Ms145-1905} Also in {MR760 17.3 1980-1981}
John, the beloved disciple, bears witness: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This is He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” {Ms145-1905} Also in {MR760 18.1 1980-1981}
“He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” {Ms145-1905}
In this Scripture God and Christ are spoken of as two distinct personalities, each acting their own individuality. {Ms145-1905}
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven; yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before Him, and shall set us in the way of His steps.” {Ms145-1905}
“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the BOSOM of the Father, He hath declared Him.” Moses, pleading with God, said, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” And He said, “I will make all My goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy unto whom I will show mercy. And He said, Thou canst not see My face, and live; for there shall no man see Me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, that I will put thee into the cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand, while I pass by. And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen.” {Ms145-1905}
Jesus claimed His sonship to the Eternal. . . . His first visit to the temple had awakened new impulses. All earthly obligations were, for the time, lost sight of; but with the knowledge of His divine mission, and of His union with God, He did not resist the authority of His parents. At their request He returned with them as a faithful, obedient son, and aided them in their life of toil. He buried in His own heart the secret of His future mission, waiting submissively until the period of His public ministry should commence before announcing to the world that He was the Messiah. He submitted to parental restraint, for the period of eighteen years after He had acknowledged that He was the Son of God, and lived the simple, common life of a Galilean, working at the carpenter’s trade. . . . For thirty years He submitted to parental restraint. . . . {SD 129.2 1955}
In Gematria, 30 = Adoption – Blood of Christ – Blood (children) – Dedication – Consecration – Maturity for Ministry
Back to the Birth of Jesus
The number Pi is a mathematical constant, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
• Pi = 22 / 7 or 355 / 113 or 103993 / 33102 or 3.1415926535 8979323846 2 ….
At the very start of this never ending number you have the Birth of Jesus:
• 3.14159
• Year: 3BC Day: 11 Month: 9 [September].
Considering the Gematria meaning of the first 22 digits of Pi:
• Pi = 3 . 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 53 5 8 97 93 23 84 62 …..
Jesus born on Earth for us on [-]3.11.9 [3 BC September 11]
• 4 = God’s Absolute Control over His Creation & World / Earth (directions, winds, empires) – Universal Truth – Creative Works including All Things Terrestrial – Message (hear)
• 5 = Power & Divine Grace – Mercy – God’s Goodness – Pentateuch – Redemption – Human Weakness (life, child) – [Living] Faith
• 2 = Union – Division / Divide (break) – Separation – Witnessing – A Difference – Double Portion – Duality – Contrary (light/dark, good/evil) or Complimentary (spiritual/material; divine/human)
• 6 = Man (conscience, flesh) – His Weakness – Manifestation of Sin – Evil – Satan (& his influences) – Something Incomplete or Imperfect
At the very beginning of Pi, we see that God so loved the world [4], that He gave His only begotten Son [born on 3 BC September 11] that through His Grace [5], Man [6] may find salvation from sin. By accepting and believing Jesus we become married to Him; thus He forms a union [2] with His believers.
The decimal integers of Pi continue with the integers 53 5 representing our role and God’s answer to sin:
• 53 = Faithful Witness
• 5 = Power & Divine Grace – Mercy – God’s Goodness – Pentateuch – Redemption – Human Weakness (life, child) – [Living] Faith
It is then followed by the decimal integer 8 which is God’s promise of salvation to His believers:
• 8 = New Beginning / Birth – New Order / Creation – Circumcision of the Heart – Resurrection – Eternal Life – Holy Spirit – New Man (eyes)
Then the decimal integers 97 which relates to the destruction of Satan, his angels and all who have not accepted Jesus:
• 97 = Fire Burns Enemies
Then the decimal integers 93 which shows how the above is done:
• 93 = Might of God
Then the decimal integers 23:
• 23 = Death
Here we see, through the Might of God, that God’s people commence Eternal Life while all those others are completely destroyed.
The decimal integers of Pi continue with the digits 84 and then 62:
• 84 = Court of the Lord
• 62 = Jerusalem the Royal City
Both of these having reference to the new Jerusalem:
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of MY GOD, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of MY GOD, and the name of the city of MY GOD, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from MY GOD: and [I will write upon him] MY new name.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Summary: In the very first 22 digits of Pi [the unit digit plus the first 21 decimal digits of Pi] God has marked out what has happened from the birth of Jesus to what will happen in the future.
• 22 = Spiritual Knowledge – Light – Insight – Making Manifest – Revelation
Note: The number 22 was and still is significant.
The Hebrew alphabet is made up of 22 letters, these were used to compose the Word of God.
There are 22 Books in the Aaronic (Levitical) Old Testament, which is the light of God for Israel.
Psalm 25 contains 22 verses, each of which begins with a different letter of the alphabet, from aleph to tau.
Psalm 119 is divided into 22 parts, designated by the names of the letters: aleph, beth, gimel, daleth, etc..
The Book of Revelation concludes the Bible and ending on Chapter 22.
Jesus quoted part of Psalm 22:1 while in agony on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
As Pi = 22 / 7 or 355 / 113, we consider the Gematria for these 4 numbers:
God’s people have
• 22 = Spiritual Knowledge – Light – Insight – Making Manifest – Revelation
and acquire
• 7 = Spiritual Completeness / Perfection – Sanctification – Resurrection – Covenant – Holy Spirit – Finished – Totality – God’s Seal – The End (sword)
while all others have
• 355 = Weak Spiritual Judgement
and try to
• 113 = Snatch Away the Saints.
The sad history of Judas is a lesson for all. Judas was blessed with wonderful opportunities. He was with Christ during the entire period of the Saviour’s ministry. Day by day for three years he listened to His instruction and witnessed His marvelous works. Had he been willing to renounce all selfishness, the Lord would have used him to advance His kingdom. But Judas loved gain. He was a speculator. He thought that he could manage the finances of the church, and so make money. Stronger and stronger grew his covetousness, till at last he sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver. {ST, February 19, 1902 par. 11}
Inclusive Reckoning: It is essential to understand how the Bible and ancient Israel counted so that we may harmonize Scripture and understand the appointed times of God / YHWH. What is Inclusive Reckoning? The common mode of counting employed in the Bible is shown to have been inclusive reckoning, that is, counting both the first and the last unit of time in calculating an interval. This method was also used generally by other ancient nations, as is shown unmistakably by source documents.
It was customary with the eastern nations to reckon any part of a natural day of twenty-four hours, for the whole day. Accordingly, they used to say a thing was done after three or seven days, if it was done on the third or seventh day, from that which was last mentioned. Instances of this may be seen, 1 Kings 20:29; and in many other places. The Hebrews had no word to express a natural day, they used night and day, or day and night for it. So that to say a thing happened after three days and three nights, was with them the very same, as to say, it happened after three days, or on the third day. See Esther 4:16, 5:1; Genesis 7:4 12; Exodus 24:18, 34:28; Jonah 2:1.
Since it is clear that this mode of counting was the common practice in Bible times, and widespread in many countries, it is useless to try to understand this period as three full 24-hour days, according to the modern Western habit of counting. To do so violates both historical usage and Biblical statement, and creates a difficulty that would not exist if the ordinary usage of common speech and of examples in the Bible be taken into account.
An Egyptian inscription recording the death of a priestess on the 4th day of the 12th month relates that her successor arrived on the 15th, “when 12 days had elapsed.” Today, we would say that when 12 days had elapsed after the 4th, the date would be the 16th.
A traveller in the East writes: “At length the tenth morning arrived – the tenth morning because, though we performed nominally ten days quarantine, yet it was, really, only eight days. We landed at nine o’clock in the evening of the first day, and were liberated at six o’clock in the morning of the tenth day, but it was held to be ten days according to the custom of the East.”
The Greeks followed the same inclusive method. They called the Olympiad, or the four-year period between the Olympic Games, a pentaeteris (five-year period), and used other similar numerical terms.
The Romans also, in common usage, reckoned inclusively; they had nundinae (from nonus, ninth), or market days, every ninth day, inclusive, actually every eight days, as indicated on ancient calendars by the letters, A through H.
Mathematicians and astronomers were aware that this reckoning was mathematically inexact, but it persisted even down to the present day in the Orient.
The clearest Biblical demonstration of inclusive counting is in the New Testament (see Acts 10:30 where a period of 72 hours is reckoned as “four days ago,” not “three”), but an Old Testament example is found in 2 Kings 18:9-10. The siege of Samaria lasted from the fourth to the sixth year of Hezekiah, which is equated with the seventh to the ninth year of Hoshea, and yet the city is said to have been taken “at the end of three years.” In modern usage we would say two years, by straight subtraction. Obviously the Bible writer reckoned inclusively (years four, five, and six totalling three years).
A Hebrew boy was circumcised when “eight days old” (Genesis 17:12), that is, “in the eighth day” (Levites 12:3). Similarly Luke speaks of circumcision “on the eighth day” or “when eight days were accomplished” (Luke 1:59, 2:21). Evidently “when eight days were accomplished” (or “at the end of eight days,” RSV) does not mean eight full days from the date of birth, but eight inclusive.
Jeroboam II of Israel succeeded his father Jehoash in the 15th year of Amaziah of Judah (2 Kings 14:23), and Amaziah “lived after the death of Jehoash … of Israel fifteen years” (2 Kings 14:17). A modern reader would mentally add 15 to 15, reaching Amaziah’s 30th year, yet Amaziah reigned only 29 years (verse 2). Inclusive reckoning is again the most logical explanation, since 15 years, inclusive, from the 15th year is the 29th, in which he evidently died.
When, at the death of Solomon, Rehoboam was petitioned to lighten the tax burden, he told the people to depart “for three days” (1 Kings 12:5) and then return for his decision “after three days” (2 Chronicles 10:5). They came “the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day” (1 Kings 12:12; cf. 2 Chronicles 10:12).
Esther asked the Jews of Shushan to fast, and by implication, to pray, for her before she went in to the king unbidden, and then she approached the king “on the third day” (Esther 4:16, 5:1). Obviously a period of “three days” ended on the third day, not after the completion of the three days, as we would reckon it.
The above examples serve to explain the supposed difficulty in the three days between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The texts are as follows: “In three days” “After three days” “The third day” Matthew 26:61, 27:40 63, (12:40 & 3 nights), 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 27:64; Mark 14:58 (within), 8:31, 9:31, 10:34; Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7 21 46; John 2:19-21. It is obvious from these texts that “in three days,” “after three days,” and even “three days and three nights” are all equivalent to “on the third day.” One writer (Matthew) uses all three phrases for the same period. The interval from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning is three days, by inclusive reckoning.
Jesus says (Matthew 16:21) that he will “be raised again the third day.” Hence, in Jewish usage the third day must mean the same as three days and three nights. It was and is customary with the Orientals to make any part of the day stand for the whole twenty-four hours. Compare Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; 2 Chronicles 10:5 12; Esther 4:16; Genesis 7:4 12; Exodus 24:18, 34:28. It will be seen in the account of the resurrection of Christ that he was in the grave but two nights and a part of three days. See Matthew 18:6. This computation is, however, strictly in accordance with the Jewish mode of reckoning. If it had “not” been, the Jews would have understood it, and would have charged our Saviour as being a false prophet, for it was well known to them that he had spoken this prophecy, Matthew 27:63. Such a charge, however, was never made; and it is plain, therefore, that what was “meant” by the prediction was accomplished. It was a maxim, also, among the Jews, in computing time, that a part of a day was to be received as the whole. Many instances of this kind occur in both sacred and profane history. See 2 Chronicles 10:5 12; Genesis 42:17-18. Compare Esther 4:16 with Esther 5:1.
Jonah’s case was analogous to this, as being a signal judgment of God; reversed in three days; and followed by a glorious mission to the Gentiles. The expression “in the heart of the earth,” suggested by the expression of Jonah with respect to the sea (Jonah 2:3, in the Septuagint), means simply the grave, but this considered as the most emphatic expression of real and total entombment. The period during which He was to lie in the grave is here expressed in round numbers, according to the Jewish way of speaking, which was to regard any part of a day, however small, included within a period of days, as a full day. (See 1 Samuel 30:12-13; Esther 4:16, 5:1; Matthew 27:63-64, etc.).
We must compare Scripture with Scripture and use the idiom of the language in which the Bible was written and not our own thoughts and ideas. Three Days and Three Nights: It seems that it does not matter how much Scripture you provide to those believing in a Wednesday crucifixion, they cannot get their head around three days and three nights. The Jewish way of reckoning time was to regard any part of a day, however small, included within a period of days, as a full day. If one can accept this simple fact, then they should have no trouble with Matthew 12:40.
For more information, visit:
http://www.godswordexplained.com/
In particular:
http://www.godswordexplained.com/?page_id=508
http://www.godswordexplained.com/?page_id=526
http://www.godswordexplained.com/?page_id=699
http://www.godswordexplained.com/?page_id=715
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