The last Christmas is not in the Far distant land of Never, Never
Herodi an
Jerusalem & Temple is replaced by New City & Temple
In the Millennial Reign Following A 2nd Advent And Armageddon
Followed By An Eternal Heaven Age With A New Jerusalem City!
So Believers Wait for the Manger Lamb Who Is the Lion of Judah.
All our Lifetime Christmas Joys Cannot Compare with His Coming
I’ll know my Greatest Joy when all my Christmas’ are Behind Me!
December 25, 2011
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Micah 5:2 – But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
The large angelic choir in the heavens did not shine over the great city of Jerusalem to give their visible glory and song to King Herod, the Princes of Israel, the Priests, the Princes of Israel, or the rich merchants of Jerusalem. Instead they appeared to a group of shepherds, who were at the bottom of Jerusalem society. The humble were looking for a Messiah, a Savior. The proud were loo king for a conqueror to come as their
king to bring them great wealth and prosperity.
I Corinthians 1:26-31 – For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; [28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: [29] That no flesh should glory in his presence. [30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: [31] That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Micah 5:2 is one of the most beloved verses in Scripture concerning the birth of Israel’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. It has been put on display Christmas after Christmas, and preached vividly during that season from millions of pulpits. By the time it was fulfilled by Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, traditional teachings concerning the Messiah’s birth had replaced God’s account, and it is truly sad that Herod had to ask where he would be born, and perhaps even sadder that the scribes had to look it up. Some traditional teachings, by the time that Christ arrived, taught that Messiah the Prince would be born of royalty, or perhaps by the wife of the High Priest, or at least of wealthy parents who had great influence. Traditional teachings had completely departed from those verses found in the 53rd Chapter of Isaiah. He was not expected to be a suffering servant, but rather a great conqueror that would fight and destroy Israel’s enemies in battle after battle until Israel reigned supreme. Some traditional teaching suggested he might be born in the great city of Jerusalem. But when he came only a handful knew who he was, a man child whose Father was God, born of a virgin from the dirty little town of Nazareth, laying in a manger outside the inn in a cave in the small city of Bethlehem. Many “traditional” teachings of today will also cause most of the world to receive the man of sin, the antichrist, as the true Christ.
He was sent by His Father “to be ruler in Israel,” but Israel rejected him as both judge (Micah 5:1) and ruler, and they were without excuse, for all the prophets from Moses to Malachi had foretold of His “goings forth,” which had been from of old, from everlasting. His characteristics, His goings forth, His life, His purpose, and His death had been clearly revealed by God’s word before His Living Word arrived in sinless flesh. The following Scriptures reveal this truth. Had they studied His word and believed it they could have recognized Him.
Deuteronomy 18:18,19 – I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. [19] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Isaiah 53:6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Malachi 3:1 – Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
John the Baptist was the messenger God sent before Christ the Messiah, and Jesus was the messenger of the covenant made to the seed of Abraham and David. He came quickly to the temple after His temptation in the wilderness to cleanse it to be a house of prayer, not a den of thieves. And, at the final Passover, when He came again to cleanse it, He found the same den of spiritual and physical thieves saturating it with ungodliness. That is why He cried from the Mount of Olives before His arrest: [37] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which 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! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Matthew 23:37,38)
HE’LL COME SOON IN THE NAME OF THE LORD FOR A MILLENNIAL REIGN
EZEKIEL’S MILLENNIAL CITY AND TEMPLE
Ezekiel 40:2 – In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.
Ezekiel 43:2-5 – And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. [3] And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. [4] And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. [5] So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.
Ezekiel 48:35 – It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.
JOHN’S NEW ETERNAL HEAVENS, NEW EARTH, AND NEW JERUSALEM
Revelation 21:1-3 – And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
[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.
[3] And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Revelation 21:10 – And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Revelation 21:22-24 – And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. [23] And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. [24] And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem World News
Herod started the Temple, but great grandson finished the Job
By Arieh O’Sullivan (The Media Line)
November 11, 2011
It turns out that the Western Wall of the ancient Second Temple Mount wasn’t built during the reign of King Herod after all and that the place was a building site even when Jesus visited it.
Archaeologists have uncovered what they say is evidence that the massive retaining wall of the ancient Temple Mount wasn’t even started until at least 20 years after Herod died in 4 B.C.. The new findings challenge the perception that the enormous edifice, the largest construction endeavor in the ancient Holy Land, had been solely the work of the ancient king, known as Herod the Builder.
Herod is known as one of the great project engineers of the ancient world as well as for his legendary efforts to hunt down baby Jesus. Halfway into his reign, he decided to renovate the Temple in Jerusalem and greatly enlarge the mount it stood on in one of the biggest construction projects in the Roman Empire.
Clearing out an ancient drainage channel 2,000 years later, archaeologists got a glimpse of the ancient construction methods when they reached the foundation stones of the massive wall.
Because the stones, some weighing as much as 50 tons each, needed to rest on firm ground, a residential neighborhood that existed at the time was razed in order to reach the bedrock. Remnants of this wall above ground are revered as Judaism’s most sacred sight.
Excavations revealed a rock-hewn ritual bath under a foundation stone that had been filled with debris. This allowed archaeologists for the first time to examine directly underneath the wall where they found 17 simple bronze coins and three oil lamps from the first century A.D. That bewildered them.
“Four of the latest coins were minted under the Roman governor of Jerusalem, named Valerius Gratus in the 15/16 C.E. This is 20 years after Herod’s death so at least the western wall, or this segment of the western wall, was constructed long after Herod passed away,” archaeologist Ronny Reich told The Media Line.
“It took generations to build, not a few years. It adds something to history of construction of the largest edifice ever built in this country,” he said. “The project is Herod’s. We will not take it away from him. He foresaw it. He planned it. He provided the means for 18 years of construction. But he didn’t see its completion.”
Reich said Herod had apparently been motivated to take on the massive complex because Jerusalem was growing and more room was needed for the tens of thousands of pilgrims who would converge on the city with thousands of animals to sacrifice.
“It also matched his own glory and that suited him,” said Reich, a Haifa University professor who has been excavating in Jerusalem for over 40 years.
Until now, archaeologists have only had the written record of Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, who said the construction of the Temple project was only completed during the reign of King Agrippa II, Herod’s great-grandson, in the 50s A.D., meaning the whole project took over 70 years.
“Josephus and his figures are controversial among scholars. So here we have an independent archaeological datum telling us that indeed it took a long time,” Reich said.
The excitement among the archaeologists is still apparent because the greatness of this discovery wasn’t a treasure, but knowledge. It was always assumed that the construction was a running project for generations, and their find finally proved it.
“Discoveries are never spectacular, like items of silver or gold,” Reich said. “But if I learn something else and close the gap of knowledge on Jerusalem, then I am satisfied.”
Historians say that Herod took on the project in the 18th year of his reign (22 B.C.). The new temple structure itself, built around an older one that had been standing for hundreds of years, took about a year-and-a-half to build. It originally stood on a platform measuring some 250 meters (yards) by 250 meters built by the Hasmonean kings.
Herod’s plans called for a magnificent new massive platform more than double the size about 500 meters long and 280 meters wide with huge retaining walls creating an artificial surface for worship.
Reich said the evidence also indicated, in his eyes, that construction probably began on the eastern side, followed by the southern and northern walls built, and ending with the western wall. Their excavations were directly underneath the Robinson Arch, which served as a major entryway into the Temple Mount, meaning that it too must have dated from well after 15 C.E.
The findings even indicate that during the time of Jesus, the Temple Mount was a construction site. Reich said that the Gospel of John even indicated that it took a long time to build.
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ (John 2:19)
“I don’t know if this figure is accurate but it does corroborate our findings. It took more than the days of Herod, more than twice
the time to construct. The archaeological evidence now corroborates these texts,” Reich said.
For all the time it took to build, tragically, the edifice stood for less than a generation. The Romans destroyed it during the revolt of the Jews in 70 A.D.
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