Thursday, December 25, 2014

What about Preterism, compared to 'partial' preterism - what I believe?


I don't think there is an official definition for me, but
it entails the freedom to not have to stick to someone else's 
Traditional 'interpretation', [that have no foundation really, except
the majority of 'christianity' teaches them].

Matthew 24 is a great example, that is why there is so much 'discussion'
on how wrong some of us are in our 'beliefs'. People are afraid to follow
the scripture to the degree of 'division' amongst the brethren. I believe, for
example, that the disciples asked 'clearly', in my opinion, 3 questions, of
which the Lord went into details of each answer. But there prevails here
the tradition that the whole situation of the 'answer' only answers one subject.
Either it is talking about the 70 AD destruction and judgement of God, or it
is talking about the 'end days'. I believe it talks about both! 

I however have learned years ago to follow how the Lord leads, and it has
caused division, and that division has helped me to grow, and not be strung
along some traditional 'muddy path', that is as clear as that 'muddy path', in
its teachings.

Partial preterism is not the belief of Preterism at all. It takes from Preterism
the information and view that is correct. And leaves out the parts that are
not correct. Hence 'partial' preterism.

I could call it 'biblicism', but everyone thinks that is what they teach.

* edited to add this -

 I do not follow any teaching of man about partial preterism. I came up with my own beliefs without the knowledge of the 'Partial Preterism' taught and spoken about on the internet, and I do not prescribe to what they call 'Partial Preterism'. What I believe is what I call partial preterism.

Monday, November 10, 2014

THE QUEST OF THE FATHERS

        [By James Whitcomb Riley]

What were our Forefathers trying to find
    When they weighed anchor, that desperate hour
They turned from home, and the warning wind
    Sighed in the sails of the old Mayflower ?
What sought they that could compensate
    Their hearts for the loved ones left behind —
The household group at the glowing grate ? —
    What were our Forefathers trying to find ? 

What were they trying to find more dear
    Than their native land and its annals old, —
Its throne — its church — and its worldly cheer —
    Its princely state, and its hoarded gold ?
What more dear than the mounds of green
    There o'er the brave sires, slumbering long ?
What more fair than the rural scene —
    What more sweet than the throstle's song?

Faces pallid, but sternly set,
    Lips locked close, as in voiceless prayer,
And eyes with never a. teardrop wet —
    Even the tenderest woman's there !

But O the light from the soul within,
    As each spake each with a flashing mind —
As the lightning speaks to its kith and kin !
    What were our Forefathers trying to find ?
Argonauts of a godless day —
    Seers of visions, and dreamers vain !
Their ship's foot set in a pathless way, —
    The fogs, the mists, and the blinding rain I —
When the gleam of sun, and moon and star
    Seemed lost so long they were half forgot —
When the fixed eyes found nor near nor far,
    And the night whelmed all, and the world was not.

And yet, befriended in some strange wise,
    They groped their way in the storm and stress
Through which — though their look found not the skies —
    The Lord's look found them ne'ertheless —
Found them, yea, in their piteous lot,
    As they in their faith from the first divined —
Found them, and favored them — too. But what —
    What were our Forefathers trying to find ?

Numb and agasp, with the frost for breath,
    They came on a frozen shore, at last,
As bleak and drear as the coasts of death, —
    And yet their psalm o'er the wintry blast
Rang glad as though 'twere the chiming mirth
    Of jubilant children landing there —
Until o'er all of the icy earth
    The snows seemed warm, as they knelt in prayer.

For, lo ! they were close on the trail they sought : —
    In the sacred soil of the rights of men
They marked where the Master-hand had wrought ;
    And there they garnered and sowed again. —
Their land — then ours, as to-day it is,
    With its flag of heaven's own light designed,
And God's vast love o'er all. . . . And this
    Is what our Forefathers were trying to find.

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Abraham Ibn Ezra

Scholar and writer; born 1092-1093; died Jan. 28 (according to Rosin, Reime und Gedichte, p. 82, n. 6, 1167 (see his application of Gen.xii. 4 to himself). His father's name was Meïr and his family was probably a branch of the Ibn Ezra family to which Moses ibn Ezra belonged. Moses in his poems mentions Abraham by his Arabic name, Abu Isḥaḳ (Ibrahim) ibn al-Majid ibn Ezra (Steinschneider, "Cat. Bodl." col. 1801), together with Judah ha-Levi. Both were, according to Moses, from Toledo, and afterward settled in Cordova. Ibn Ezra himself once—in an acrostic—names Toledo as his native place ("Monatsschrift," xlii. 19) and at another time Cordova (beginning of the Ḥayyuj translation). According to Albrecht ("Studien zu den Dichtungen Abraham ben Ezra," in "Z. D. M. G." l.c. p. 422), it is certain that he was born in Toledo. Through his emigration from Spain his life was divided into two periods. In the first and longer of these, which extended almost to the year 1140, he won for himself in his native land a name as a poet and thinker. Moses ibn Ezra, who was an intimate friend of his, extols him as a religious philosopher ("mutakallim") and as a man of great eloquence; and a younger contemporary, Abraham ibn Daud, at the end of his history ("Sefer ha-Ḳabbalah," ed. Neubauer, p. 81), calls him the last of the great men who formed the pride of Spanish Judaism and who "strengthened the hands of Israel with songs and with words of comfort." In this first period of his life Ibn Ezra's creative activity was chiefly occupied with poetry; and the greater number of his religious and other poems were probably produced during that time. He likes to call himself "the poet" ("ha-shar," introduction to Pentateuch commentary) or "father of poems" (end of the versified calendar regulations); and in a long poem of lamentation (Rosin, "Reime und Gedichte des Abraham ibn Ezra," p. 88) he says: "Once in my youth I used to compose songs with which I decorated the Hebrew scholars as with a necklace." The fact, however, that Ibn Ezra had pursued serious studies in all branches of knowledge during his life in Spain, is shown by the writings of the second period of his life. The wealth and variety of their contents can be explained only by the compass and many-sidedness of his earlier studies.

The most prominent scholars among the Jews of Spain were Ibn Ezra's personal friends: in Cordova itself, which was his permanent residence, Joseph ibn Ẓaddiḳ and especially Judah ha-Levi. The latter was only a few years older than Ibn Ezra; and on one occasion addressed a very witty saying to Ibn Ezra's father-in-law (see Geiger, "Nachgelassene Schriften," iv. 332). In his Bible commentary Ibn Ezra afterward reported many text interpretations from his talks with Judah ha-Levi (see Bacher, "Die Bibelexegese der Jüdischen Religionsphilosophen," etc., pp. 132 et seq.). That he associated and debated with the representatives of Karaism, which was so widely spread in Spain in his time, and that he was well acquainted with their literature, is shown by many passages in his commentary on the Bible.

[ From : The unedited full-text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia]

And below you can see the type of thoughtline he espouses -

In the third part, Ibn Ezra explains how the Song of Solomon depicts the whole history of Israel, from the days of Abraham to those of the Messiah : the trials of Abraham, the exile of the Israelites in Egypt, their deliverance, the giving of the Law on Sinai, the conquest of Canaan, the building of the Temple, the secession of the Ten Tribes, the Babylonian exile, the return of the captives from Babylon to Palestine, the oppression of the Jews by the Syrians, the successes of the Maccabees, the Roman exile, and the future Restoration.

[ From: Essays on the writings of Abraham Ibn Ezra, 1877]

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

In reference to Kimhi...

Kimhi is important both as a grammarian and exegete. His exegesis, which owes much to predecessors, especially to Abraham ibn Ezra (1092-1167 A.D.), is remarkable for its clearness and sobriety, and its adherence to the plain and literal sense of the Scriptural text. Kimhi was a well-trained philologist for his time, and was an exact grammarian. Though he notices the old Midrashic interpretations in his commentary, he always sets exact and literal exegesis in the forefront. His work has exercised profound influence on later generations, not only of Jews, but of Christians. His commentary on the Prophets, as well as those on Genesis and the Psalms, are accessible in the Rabbinical Bibles, and have also been printed in separate editions. Latin translations of the more important parts of Kimhi's work were also made for Christian use. The Rabbi's influence on Christian circles is reflected in the English Bible, especially in the Authorized Version (AV) of 1611, where, it has been said, it can be traced "on every page."

(Quoted from "The Longer Commentary of R' David Kimhi on The First Book of Psalms", by R' David Kimhi, translated from Hebrew by R. G. Finch, B.D., 1919)

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Why Psalm 12:7 is not a 'preservation' verse for the Word...

As a start, we will look at the verse itself in the KJB -

 "Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation                 for ever."

The KJB being based on the previous 'version' of 1568, called the Bishops Bible, which in its text says -
  
"[Wherefore] thou wilt keep the godly, O God: thou wilt preserve every one of                         them from this generation for ever." 

Evidently the KJB translators believed the 'them' in the (a) part of verse 7 to mean 'the godly', as per their note in the gloss of the original 1611 printing - which reads as follows -
   
"Heb., 'him', i. every one of them." 

Most "pro-KJB/KJV-only" Christians of the Baptist realm will refuse to believe such a thing, especially from one who does not follow their 'belief'.

In the 1537 Matthews Bible, there is a curious note in its gloss that might have started this whole thing. The note for the word 'them' reads as follows - 

 "That is, 'such and such men', after Kimhi. But after Abr. Ezra, 'thy words'."                 

Next we will see who Kimhi is, and who Abr. Ezra is.

Trim your lamps, brethren.

Sunday, October 19, 2014


The only Bible I will preach from.
The Geneva Bible of 1560.

The creation in order?

Amos 9:6 - He buildeth his spheres in the heaven, and hath laid the foundation of his globe of elements in the earth: he calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the open earth: the Lord is his Name.

Very few verses speak of the world and planets we know about now days.
And 454 years ago God put it in his English bible for clarity and wisdom.
God is interested in facts, not guesses, and this section of verses proves that our Earth was, and was amongst, 'round' globular planets.

Which, as we know today, are a layered system of elements and such, that represent God's blessing for mans eventual use: of minerals, that would, and do, produce some of our common fuels; and various wonders that mankind now enjoys.

God has produced a real wonder, just in the planet we inhabit.
And as a result, the people that we share our planet with should know, by our testimony about the exactness of his written word, that he means everything he says.

And he says in 1 John 4:19 - We love him, because he loved us first.
Sharing God's love is top priority in our mission here.
Accuracy is important.

It all began at creation, and it ends with us believing the exactness of his word.

Trim your lamps.