What was thought to be bible inconsistencies was really misunderstandings,I explain

[God is love]

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 26;15-21

Tyre was situated on the ciastline of Palestine about halfway between Carmel in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon. Tyre at that time consusted of two parts. A mainland with a rocky coastline {a strong defense} and a city upon a small island, about half a mile from shore.

Ezelkiel predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to Tyre. As predicted Nebuchadnezzar, at the end of thirteen years, took the city on the mainland and Tyre was forgotten for 70 years as Isaiah had foretold in Isaiah 23:15

Nebuchadnezzar conquered the mainland city but was unable to subdue all of Tyre because of it's strategic position on the island. The island fortification became the central city. The ruined city on the shore was not rebuilt.

In 332 B.C Alexander the Great moved south and camped on the ruins of anciant Tyre. Thus isolating the inhabitants on the offshore island. Alexander wanted to bring his troops into Tyre to worship their gods. He built a causeway 200 feet wide towards the island. It was repeatedly destroyed. Alexander sent a fleet of 224 ships. The inhabitants were either murdered or sold into slavery.

Tyre was permanently joined to tye mainland. It was prophesied that Tyre would be scraped clean and made like the top of a rock. That was fulfilled. The ruins of old Tyre were thrown into the sea. Because of the prevailing breezes local fishermen come to the barren, rocky out crop to spread their nets to dry."

Ezekiel 26:14
"And I will make thee like the top of a rock, thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon. Thou shalt be built no more, for I, the Lord, hath spoken it."

Zechariah

Zechariah 11:12-13
"So they weighed for my price 30 p[ieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter, a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the 30 pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the House of the Lord."

That was fulfilled when Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver to betray our Savior.

Next will be the New Testement

 

[God is love]

Jesus's lineage

The proper translation of Luke 3:23-31 is
"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, having lived with His father, being, as was supposed of the world, the son of Joseph, who was from the loins of Heli." People supposed that Joseph was Jesus' father because they were unaware of how Jesus was conceived. Matthew 1:6-7 is the lineage of Jesus through king David's son, Solomon.
"And Jesse begat David, the king, and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias ans Solomon begat Roboam...etc" until Jacob, whose brother {name not mentioned} was the father of Mary, who is the mother of Jesus. Joseph was the son of Jacob, he married his uncle's daughter {his cousin}, Mary. He was like Mary a descendent of King David through Matthan, the father of Jacob and the and the fathet of Mary's father.

John the Baptist

Mark 1:2 Jesus quotes Isaiah
"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee."
This is refering to Malachi 3:1
"Behold, I will send my messenger before thy face, he shall prepare thy way before me...."
This messenger that prepares the way of the Lord is John the Baptist

John 3:22-24
"Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judaea and there He tarried with them and baptized."
"And John {the Baptist} also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there and they came and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison."
Jesus' ministry/teaching began before John the Baptist was arrested.

Mark 1:14
"Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God."
Mark didn'y mention in his account Jesus' ministry before.

Next,
The angel that appeared unto Mary and Joseph,
Jesus name shall be "Emmanuel" Gos with us.
The angel's prophecy "He shall be great" and He shall be given the throne of David.
Demons recognize Jesus as the Son of God.

 

[God is love]

The angel that appeared unto Mary and Joseph,
Jesus name shall be "Emmanuel" God with us.
The angel's prophecy "He shall be great"
Demons recognize Jesus as the Son of God

Luke 1:26-31
Verse 30 "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God."
Verse 31 "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus."

Matthew 1:18 {After Mary conceived}
Verse 20 "...the angel of the Lord appeared unto him {Joseph} in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou Son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife..."

Verse 21 "She shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is, God with us"

The angel sai He shall be called Jesus and said others would call him Emmanuel, God with us. It is a description of Jesus. Some have called Him "Son of David". Some have called Him "Good" {Matthew 19:16 "Good Master"}, others, teacher, master, Messiah/Christ {John 1:41 and John 4:42}, King {Luke 19:38}, Son of God {Matthew 16:16}

Isaiah 9:6
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wondeful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace."

In Luke 1:32 The angel says
"He {Jesus} shall be great and shall be called the son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father {ancestor} David."

In Matthew 1:21 The angel says
"And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins."

At Jesus baptism in Matthew 3:17 and Mark 1:11 a voice from heaven says that Jesus is His Son.

New topic

A multitude follows Jesus,
He heals people and demons recognize that Jesus is the Son of God.

Mark 3:7
"A great multitude from Galilee followed him and from Judea."

Verse 8 "And from Jerusalem, from Idumaea and from beyond Jordan and they about Tyre and sidon, a great multitude when they heard what great things He did, came unto Him

Verse 9 "He spake to His disciples that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him."

Verse 10 "For He had healed many insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had plagues."

Verse 11 "And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried saying, Thou art the Son of God."
Demons recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Demons know the truth but have chosen not to obey God. They choose to tempt mankind so that others don't obey God. They choose to torment those that do obey God BUT Jesus Christ has power, MORE power and authority than all the demons that exist combined and more power than Lucifer and He has the authority to cast demons out of humans and to cast them unto outer darkness, that black hole in space that was recently discovered.

In Verse 20 "The multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread."
They were unable to eat.

Verse 21
"When his friends heard of it they went out to lay hold on Him."
Perhapps to pull Him away from the crowd because they thought He would be overwelmed as they were. If they were emotionally disturbed by the throng, they thought He would be too. If He didn't want to leave the crowd, He would rather heal or teach the people, they might have thought that He was out of His mind or beside Himself. However, because they would not want to stay in the the midst of the pressing crowd and help the people, they would rather eat, doesn't mean that Jesus is not thinking well or using good judgement. It shows that Jesus was thinking more of others than Himself.

Next,
Jesus teaches in the synagogue
Fleeing into Egypt
How John the Baptist was spared

 

[God is love]

Jesus teaches in the synagogue

Mark 6:4-6
Jesus said, A prophet is not without honour but in his own country and among hos own kin and in his own house."

verse 1 of this chapter
He went out from thence and into His own country."

Matthew 6:2
He began to teach in the Synagogue and many hearing hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto Him that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands."

Verse 3 "Is not this the carpenter son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses and Juda and Simon? and are not His sisters with us?

They, {those in the Synagogue that day} thought that a carpenter couldn't be a prophet, that wouldn't have the wisdom to be a prophet. However DAVID WAS A SHEPHERD BOY TENDING SHEEP WHEN HE WAS MADE A KING. Jesus is the good shepherd and we are His sheep that He wants gathered in to His fold and some day He will be King.

Matthew 13:55-57 same event

In verse 56 Some of those at the synagogue asked the question
"Whence then hath this man all these things {wisdom, mighty works} ?"
The next verse says "Theye were offended in Him."
Those that asked the question were offended, not His sisters. Matthew's version of this event reveals that they were offended that a carpenter would teach them because they thought a carpenter was a manuel laborer and lacked wisdom. They were wrong.

When Jesus said in verse 4 of chapter 6 "A prophet is not without honor but in his own country and among hos own kin and in his own house."
Jesus wqas speaking of being unbelieved in His own country because He was a carpenter's son.

Verse 6 says "He marvelled because of their unbelief." and verse 5 "and He could there do no mighty work save that he laid His hands upon a few sick and healed them."
If people do not believe in His healing, He can't offer His healing to them.

Jesus was saying that prophets have been without honor among their own kin and in their own house but Jesus wasn't saying that He wasn't honored in His own house because in John 2:1-10 there is the account of the marriage in Cana. Mary in verse 5 says unto the servant "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." Mary obviously had confidence in her son Jesus.

Fleeing into Egypt

Luke 2:22-40
In verse 10 an angel says unto the shepherds abiding in the fields
"for unto you is born this day in the city of David {Bethleham}, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Verse 12 "And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

Verse 17 "they made known abroad the saying {prophesy and what the angel spoke} concerning the child {who He would be}.
It is obvious the babe wasn't a child yet because in verse 16 "came with haste."
Verse 21 "and when 8 days were accomplished {the babe was 8 days old} for the circumcising of the child. His name was called Jesus"
Verse 22 "And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord {Heavnely Father}."
After Jesus was born in Bethleham of Judaea in the days of Herod. Wise men {from the east} inquired "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" Herod was troubled thinking he would be dethroned. Herod demanded the chief priests and scribes tell where the Messiah should be born. They said Bethleham. "For thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethleham, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda, for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." Herod inquired of the wise men what time the star appeared. They didn't say. The star may have appeared some time after Jesus' birth.

In my post "Shroud of Turin, Photograph of the Resurrection" in Comparative Religeon, I gave the "non bible" account of anciant Chinese records that show that a Nova appeared in april 4 B.C. The wise men came from the east. China is east of Israel and is known as the East. If they saw this Nova, it appeared four years after Jesus birth. Herod sent the wise men to bethleham to find where the baby that would be the King of the Jews. Herod wanted the location because he wanted Him killed. The distance between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, in those days, may have been a day's journey or more.

Verse 9 of Chapter 2 in Matthew
"They departed and lo, the star, which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."
Jesus by that time was a young child, probably 4 years old.

Verse 11
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, His mother and fell down and worshipped Him..."
After this time Verse 13 "The angel of the Lord, appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and His mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him."

How was John the Baptists spared?

It is possible an angel warned Elizabeth, John's mother or his father as Joseph was warned. Another possibility is that John did not live in Bethleham.

In Luke 1:39-41
"Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth {John's mother}. And it came to pass that when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost."

Verse 80 reads
"And the child {John} grew and waxed strong in spirit and was in the desert till the day of his shewing unto Israel."

It seems that John was living in the desert till he began baptizing.

Mark 1:16
"And John was clothed with camel's hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins and he did eat locusts and wild honey."

Verses 4 and 4
"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before my face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." and
"John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentence for the remssion of sins."

Next,
What is a Nazarene
Jesus baptism
Jesus went into the wilderness

 

[God is love]

Matthew 2:23
"He shall be called a Nazarene"
A Nazarene is a person belonging to the town Nazareth. He was sometimes called Jesus of Nazareth, another name for Nazarene. They are the same.

A Nazarite {not to be confused with Nazarene} is a consecrated man. A man under a vow to abstain from wine, from any cutting of the hair. The vow might be lifelong or for a short period.

Numbers 6:3
"He shall seperate himself from wine and strong drink."

Verse 5 "He shall be holy and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow."
Jesus wore His hair long. He probably was a Nazarite as well as a Nazarene.
John the Baptist was a Nazarite
"He shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink."

Jesus' Baptism

Matthew 3:11-14
Verse 13 "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him saying, I have need to be baptized of thee. Jesus answering said uno Him, suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness...and Jesus was baptized..."

John 1:29-34
"The next day John seeth Jesus comming unto him and saith, Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me."

Verse 32 "And John bare record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon Him."

Verse 33
He that sent me to baptize with water the same said unti me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John said in John 3:30
He {Jesus} must increase but I must decrease.

In Matthew 11:2-3
"He {John} sent two of his disciples {to Jesus} and {the disciples} said unto Him {Jesus}, Art thou He that should come {the Messiah} or do we look for another?"
One of the difficulties experienced by John was persuading his disciples to forsake him and become the disciples of Jesus Christ. John found some of his disciples reluctant to detach themselves from him and to follow their true master.

An example is John 3:25-26
John sent them to ask the question so that Jesus would teach them and they would know for themselves and be edified.

New Topic

Matthew 13:42
The proper translation of this is
"And they {His angels and messengers of heaven} shall gather out His kingdom, sll things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them out among the wicked..."

Matthew 8:12
The proper translation is
"But the children of the wicked one shall be cast out into outer darkness."
Perhapps the "black hole" in space that was discovered is where they will be cast. It was discovered that it doesn't allow light in.

New Topic Both Jesus and John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit

As already mentioned when Jesus was baptized, He saw the Holy Spirit descending and in John 1:32 John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit too. An event like that would be seen by both of them.

Luke 3:22
"A voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Mark 1:1
"And there came a voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

Mark 3:17
"A voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
Matthew who was recording the event was saying what was heard {paraphrasing}, using "This" instead od "Thou art".

New Topic, Jesus went into the wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11 and Mark 1:12-13 {in both} Following {Jesus} Baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness.

John 1:29-37
In verse 32 John says "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon Him."
John is talking past tense. The baptism was mentioned but wasn't happening at that time. It had already happened and Jesus had already been in the wilderness forty days. After this John sees Jesus again. Soon after was the wedding at Cana.

Next,
Peter becomes a disciple of Christ
Jesus delivers Semon on Mount
and the treasure of the heart

 

[God is love]

Peter becomes a disciple of Christ, Jesus delivers Sermon on Mount
and the treasure of the heart

John 1:35-42 Verse 37
"And two disciples {two of John's disciples} heard Him {Jesus} speak and they follwed
Jesus."

Verse 38
"Then Jesus turned and saw them following and saith unto them, What seek ye? They saidunto Him, Rabbi {master} where dwellest thou?

Verse 39
"he saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt and abode with Him that day..."

Verse 40
"one of the two which heard John speak and followed {Jesus} was andrew,Simon Peter's brother, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ."

Verse 42
"He {Andrew} brought him {simon Peter} to Jesus. When Jesus beheld Him, He said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jona."

Matthew 4:18-20 and Mark 1>16-18 are the same account
"And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter {He was called Peter by that time} and andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers. And He saith unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Jesus had already met them and they were already His disciples and now He was calling them to be missionaries.

Luke 5:2-11
"And He saw two ships standing by the lake but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Now when He had left speaking He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have tolied all the night and have taken nothing, never the less at thy word, I will let down the net."
Peter called Jesus, Master. This therefore was not their first encounter. Peter was already a follower, a disciple of Jesus.

New Topic

Matthew 5:1
Jesus delivers Sermon on Mount

Luke 6:17-49 Jesus delivers sermon on plain.

These were sermons at different times and places. In the sermon on the mount Jesus focuses on how we should reconcile with ememies and being kind to everyone.

Treasure of the Heart

In the sermon on the plain Jesus says "As ye would that men should do to you do ye also to them likewise." and "Be ye therefore merciful as your Faher also is merciful." He also said "For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." and "A good man out of the good of treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good and an evil man of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil, for of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh."

These sermons aren't mentioned in Mark or John. That's not saying they didn't happen, just they didn't record them.

Next,
do not alms before men, clean and unclean animals, and
Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it.

 

[God is love]

Do not alms before men, clean and unclean animals
Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it.

Matthew 6:1-4
"Do not your alms before men, to be seen of them."

Verse 2
"...that they may have glory of men"
Almsgiving is the contribution of free gifts to relieve the poor.

Matthew 5:16
"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Your light is your example, your example of the principles as you live them.

I heard the saying "You may be the only scriptures, they ever read."
Your good works also includes sound speech.

Those that do alms before men to have the glory of men, have an earthly reward . Those that show the principles of the gospel alive in them, bring glory to God because they are His principles. It is your intention that determines your reward.

New Topic, unclean and clean animals

Leviticus 11:47 and Deronomy 14:3-21
The law distinguishes between unclean and clean animals. Clean are those that have a parted hoof or cloven foot and "cheweth the cud". Those in the waters that are clean are those with fins and scales in the rivers and the seas. Those that are unclean would not be healthy to eat. The reason that they are unclean may have something to do with their living habits or what they eat or they weren't made to be eaten. Eating clean animals doesn't make you clean spiritually. It's just healthier. Eating unclean animals defiles the body {physical health} but not the spirit.

Jesus said in Mark 7:14-15, verse 15 "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile a man."
Those words that you say {profanity or lies} defile a person's spirit and reputation.

Titus 1:15
"...their mind and conscience is defiled." Jesus explains in Mark 7:18-23
"Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entering into the man,
cannot defile him because it entereth not into his heart but into the belly..."

Verse 20
"That which cometh out of man defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart
of men, proceed evil thoughts..."

Timothy 4:4 says "Every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer {blessing food}."
These animals are God's creatures, His design.
"all things which are good cometh of God."
Moroni 7:12 {Another Testement of Jesus Christ}

"The good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment or for houses {trees} ot for barns or for orchards or for gardens or for vineyards,...all things which come of the earth in the season thereof are made for the benefit and use of man, both to please the eye and gladden the heart."
These creatures are good in and of themselves. They are not evil. They only do what instinctively {naturally} they do. They don't defile spiritually. However most animals are not healthy for the body. Fish is healthy for the body. In times {earlier times}of famine or winter when vegetables and fruit are not in season and sometimes weren't available, meat provided food. When meat is eaten it should be eaten sparingly
{not much}

Jesus came to fulful the law

Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus says "think not that I am come to destroy but to fulfil.
Jesus wasn't changing the law, He was fulfilling prophesy. One of them is in Isaiah
"He was wounded for our transgressions."
This prophesy can only be interpreted to be a redeemer. None would be wounded for another's transgressions and be able to atone for the transgressions of others. Only a person who is pure {without sin or blemish}.

Daniel 9:26
"After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off."

Verse 27
"...he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."
After Jesus Christ's sacrifice the law was fulfilled, forever and there is no more need to sacrifice animals.

Ephesians 2:13-15 in verse 14
"for He {jesus Christ} is our peace who hath made both {Jew and Gentile} one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us."
This also pertains to reconciliation beween God's children and God.

"The law of commandments contained in ordinances." was the old covenant of animal sacrifices.

Psalms 50:5
"Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

Jeremiah 31:31-32
"Behold the days come saith the Lord, that I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt."

Verse 33
"But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel. After those days saith the Lord, I will put the law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts..."

Isaiah 61:8-9 mentions making an everlasting covenant.
"For I, the Lord love judgement, I hate robbery for burnt offerings and I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the gentiles and their offspring among the people, all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed."

Next,
Jesus healed many
Unbelief handicapps the ability to use God's power

 

[God is love]

Jesus healed many, Unbelief handicapps our ability to avail ourselves of God's power.

Mark 1:32-34
Jesus healed many

verse 33-34
"And all the city was gathered together at the door. And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases and cast out many devils."
Jesus healed all the sick that were there and there were many. Jesus never turned any person away.

Matthew 8:16
"When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils and He cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick."

Luke 4:40
"Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them."

The ruler's daughter who was dying

Matthew 9:18 The proper translation is
"While He spake these things unto them, there came a certain ruler and worshipped Him, saying, My daughter is even now dying but come and lay thy hand upon her and she shall live."
This is consistent with Luke 8:42
"For he had only one daughter, about twelve years of age and she lay dying..."

the man possessed with devils who acknowledged Jesus was the Son of God

The proper translation of Matthew 8:28
And when He was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him a man possessed with devils, comming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce so that no man could pass that way. And behold, he cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?"
This account coincides with Mark 5:2-16 and Luke 8:26-36

Unbelief handicapps the ability to use God's power

Matthew 10:1-8 verse 1
"And when he had called unto Him his 12 disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness."

Verse 8
"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils."

Matthew 17:14-16
"There came to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son..." I brought him to the disciples and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and sssssaid...bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus to Jesus and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief..."

Next,
Peter learns that every nation that reverences God and works righteousness is accepted with God
Division in families over beliefs

 

[God is love]

Every nation that reverences God and works righteousness is accepted with God.
Division in families over beliefs.

Matthew 10:5-6
"these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded saying, Go... to the lost sheep of the House of Israel."
Peter was one of the twelve.

Acts 10:30-35 explains Acts 15:7
Acts 10:30-35
"and Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and call hither Simon {Peter}...Immediately therefore I sent to thee... Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." Then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of persons but in every nation he that {reverence} Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him."

Acts 15:7
"Peter arose and said unto them, Men and brethren ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe."

Division in familes over beliefs

Matthew 10:34 verse 35 explains verse 34
"For I come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against the mother..."
This is division because of belief or principle that varies with members of a family.
This would be regarding Jesus' doctrines. For example, a daughter believes but a mother does not.

Jesus gave the commandment to honor your father and mother but just like in the old testement times some parents did not live the commandments and did not pass them onto their children. Children should honor their parents when they honor the Lord. This is like the seperation of the wheat and the tares {weeds}. Parents should teach the principles of the gospel to their children but if they don't obey that is their choice. They have the right to live their own way but we can pray for them to want to live right. Betty Eadie says in her book "Embraced by the Light" that a mother's prayers are seen by those in the spirit world like broad beams of light.

Hebrews 4:12
"For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edge sword."
The sword spoken of in 10:34 is the word of God that causes a division between people because of opinion. Jesus has never been violent nor has He ever said to be. He has said the opposite, to love {be kind or civil} your enemies. He has advocated tolerance.

Luke 12:52 explains why He said He gives {causes} division "From henceforth there shall be five in one house divided..." because of varying opinions. Some believe, some do not.

John 7:43
"There was division among the people because of Him."

John 10:19
"There was division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings."

John 16:33
"These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world
ye shall have {testing to see how you will choose}. Division tests you, whether you will give up your standards/values and give in or uphold your values. There may not be peace on earth but there is peace with Jesus and peace in knowing the benefits of heaven that He provides for us.

Next,
Salvation
calling upon Jesus the Lord, Confessing, Grace
Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. Jesus did not try to avoid the cross, He willingly went to the cross.

 

[God is love]

Salvation, calling upon the Lord, Confessing, Grace
Jesus willingly made the atonement

Salvation

Acts 2:21
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved"

Acts 16:31
"They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

In verse 33 " and was baptized"

Mark 16:16
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."

John 3:5
"Jesus said "except a man be born of water {baptized} and of the Spirit
{receive Gift of the Holy Ghost}, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God
{celestial kingdom}
It's a spiritual birth and cleansing.

Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13
"He that {perseveres} to the end shall be saved."
Mark 13:13 "He that shall persevere unto the end, the same shall be saved."

All of the above saves. It is a process of believing {accepting}, being baptized
{the ordinance that washes clean} and persevering
{being good, living commandments}. Your faith perseveres, continues...

Romans 10:9-10
"If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Faith with works

As Jesus said in Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven."

James 2:22
"Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"

James 2:17
"Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead."

James 2:24
"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only."
It is saying "not by faith only" Faith is part of justification.

FAITH AND WORKS IS HAND AND HAND, TOGETHER

Romans 2:6
"He {God} will render to every man according to his deeds."
Although we may do good nobody is perfect, we have weaknesses. That is why
"He {God} gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Some believe that Salvation is by grace alone {just believeing that the atonement forgives us os all sin and doesn't require works of repentence. Jesus Christ did not make the atonement to give a liscense to sin.

"For behold I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent."
Doctrines and Covenants 19:16-17

We should be willing to live the principles. If we appreciate that sacrifice that Jesus Christ made we would want to live His principles to show that we love Him.

The reason why we need Grace is because nobody is perfect, some people live some principles, others may live most principles or all the principles but they don't live those perfectly althpough they make an earnest effort. That is why we need Grace, the mercy that Jesus Christ extends to us due to the atonement he made for us.

I made the analogy of borrowing salvation on credit, the credit being a result of our good works or living the commandments and other principles. People don't have enough good to be worthy so we borrow the atoning the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ cosigns our loan of salvation. Our good works earns credit that helps you get that loan. Jesus Christ's credit with hevanely Father compensates for the rest, the credit we lack.

Believeing with the heart implies much more than intellectual acceptance. It's expressed in our behavior. That is evidence of sincere acceptance. Perseverance is our committment to it.

Next,
Jesus did not attempt to protect Himself when the appointed time was to make the atonement. He willingly sacrificed His life for us.
John the Baptist was a type of Elias, John was to prepare the way of the Lord.
Sign seekers

 

[God is love]

Jesus did not attempt to protect Himself when He knew that Judas would betray Him. When the appointed time was to make the atonement, He willingly sacrificed His life for us.
John the Baptist was a type of Elias, John was to prepare the way of the Lord.
Sign seekers

Jesus was protecting His life until the appropriate time to make the atonement.

Matthew 10:28
"...fear him who is able to destroy both soul {those that preach false doctrines}
and body in hell."

Matthew 12:15-16
"But Jesus knew when they took counsel and He withdrew Himself from thence and great multitudes followed Him and He healed their sick. He charged them that they should not make Him known."
It was not His appointed time to make the atonement. He had more work to do, teaching, healing.

John 7:1-10 and 8:59 and 10:39 and 11:53-54

John 7:1-10
"After these things Jesus walked in Galilee for He would not walk in {Jerusalem} because the Jews sought to kill Him.

John 8:59
"They took up stones to cast at Him but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple."

John 10:39
"They sought again to take Him but He escaped out of their hand."

John 11:53-54
"From that day forth, they took counsel together to put Him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim and there continued with His disciples." At the time Jesus was appointed to make the atonement, He didn't withdraw or hid Himself or try to escape. He knew what He had been appointed to do. Proof is in Matthew 16:21-23 "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from thee, {a remote possibility}, Lord, this shall not be unto thee But He {Jesus} turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me..."

Jesus also knew who would betray Him. Matthew 17:22-23
"The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men. And they shall kill him and the third day He shall be raised again." Jesus also knew who would betray Him.
John 13::21,26 "I say unto you that one of you shall betray me." and "He it is, to whom I shall give a sop {morsel of food} when I have dipped. And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot."

John the Baptist, a type of Elias

John 1:21
"And when they asked him {John the baptist} Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered and said, No."
John was saying that he was not that prophet, the prophet Elias, who would come to restore all things. That prophet Elias didn't come until the 1800's.

Matthew 11:7-15 and 17:12-13

Matthew 11:10
"For this is He {Jesus speaking of John the Baptist} of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee."
John the Baptist was preparing the way of the Lord, for the Lord's mission on earth.
The Lord's work of setting up His church with authority and teaching principles, restoring the principles that had been forgotten or abandoned. Jesus was comparing John the baptist to Elias who would prepare the way for the Lord's second comming. That would happen after the atonement and resurrection at a future time.

It was foretold that there would be another apostasy {people abandoning their faith and God's principles}. The principles would be lost again. Some of the causes would be mistranslations or interpretations. The philosophies of men would be mingled with scripture and the doctrines of men mingled with scripture, thereby distorting the gospel. Elias would come to restore the church that Jesus established with authority. He would also restore the principles that Jesus taught.

Quoting Luke 1:16-17
The angel that appeared and spoke to John the Baptist' father said "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him {the Lord} in the spirit and power of Elias."
That is to say that John the Baptist had the same mission in his time that elias would have at his appointed time on earth, at a future time, to restore the gospel and the ordinaces, the priesthood with authority, etc.

They both had the mission of "making people ready, preparing them for the Lord"
Luke 1:17

Another Topic, He that is not against us is on our part


Matthew 12:30
"He that is not with me is against me."
As Jesus went about His ministry, Jesus was met with varied reactions. There were some who openly opposed Him, there were some who were indifferent and there were others who gladly accepted Him. The indifferent were neither for nor against.

Mark 9:40 is explained with the previous verses 38 and 39
"And John answered Him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name and he followeth not us and we forbade him because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me."
Verse 40
"For he that is not against us is on our part {partly with us}."

Sign seekers

Mark 8:12
"And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign."

Luke 11:29
"This is an evil generation, they seek a sign and there shall no sign be given them but the sign of Jonas, the prophet."
Verse 30
"For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of man be to this generation."

Mark 8:12
"And He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, Why doth this generation seek after a sign."
Probably Jesus wondered why they sought a sign after He had done so many miracles.

Acts 2:22
"Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know."

John 20:30
"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book."
When "Certain of the scribes and of the pharisees" said "We would {request} see a sign from thee."
Jesus said that the sign of Jonah {the prophet} shall be given to this generation. They already had a sign and didn't think that was sufficient. They wanted more signs. Jesus gave signs to those that believe {would believe}.

Isaiah 7:14
"The Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son..." They has this sign and the sign of the star that the wise men from the East saw and recognized but the scribes and pharisees didn't.

Jeremiah 10:12
"Learn not the way of the heathan and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven for the heathan are dismayed at them."

Matthew 16:3 asks the question "Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" There are SIGNS FOR OUR PRESENT TIME in Luke 21:7 "They asked Him {Jesus}, saying, Master, when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?"
Verse 10
1. "Nation shall rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom and great earthquakes shall be in divers places and famines and pestilences..."

Matthew 24:24
2. "there shall arise false christs {those claiming to be after Jesus' atonement} and fasle prophets and shall show great signs and wonders {magic}

Mark 13:14
3. "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation {an idol of the antichrist}spoken of by Daniel the prophet {Daniel 11:31, standing where it ought not to be
{in the holy of holies in the third Jerusalem Temple}, let him that readeth understand
let them that be in Jerusalem flee into the mountains {Petra ?}.
The antimessiah will set up an idol of himself in the third temple. That desecrates the temple and makes Judea desolate because the people have to flee into the wilderness.

Revelation has signs that have already happened and some that warn people not to accept the mark of the beast. The antimessiah will force people to use a mark {number} that identifies them as an i.d. This is what a person would be forced to use to buy or sell {food, clothing, whatever}. It's like a credit or debit card. It will be implanted in either the hand or if you are an amputee, the forehead, to be scanned when buying. This is called Biometrics which is already starting as implants to trace and scanning such as retina scanning to better identify people.

Matthew 24:30
"Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man {Jesus Christ} in Heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man comming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory."

Next,
Faith as a grain of mustard see
Leaven

 

[God is love]

Faith as a grain of mustard seed
Leaven

Faith as a grain of mustard seed

Matthew 13:58
"He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

Matthew 17:20
Verse 19
"Then came the disciples to Jesus and said, Why could not we cast him {demon} out?"
Verse 20
"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief. ...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed {tiny amount of faith}...nothing shall be impossible unto you."

Mark 9:23
"Jesus said unto them, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to Him that believe."

Verse 24
"The father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief."
The man wanted to believe that Jesus would cure his son. Jesus said that if you have faith {belief} to be healed, you will be healed.

Jesus also said whatsoever things He speaks are possible, therefore if Jesus says "if you have faith to be healed, you will be healed, it's possible."

The proper translation of Matthew 19:26 is
"Jesus beheld their thoughts and said unto them, With men this is impossible but if theyr will forsake all things {sins} for my sake, with God, whatsoever things I speak are possible."
Jesus was saying salvation isn't possible with men trying to save themselves, They need a savior They have to be willing to give up their sins, forsake them.

The proper translation of Mark 10:27
"With men that trust in riches, it is impossible {for those who trust in things} but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all {sins} for my sake, for with such all things are possible."

There, in sum, Jesus is saying you need to trust in God.

New Topic, swearing

Matthew 5:37
"Let your communication be, yea, yea, nay, nay..."
In other words saying yes or no instead of swearing an oath.
In those days they would swear an oath to prove they would keep a promise.

New Topic Jesus was not deceptive

John 7:2-10 In verse 8 Jesus says
"I go not yet unto this feast for my time {appointed time} is not yet..."
In verse 10
"...then {when it was the right time} went He {Jesus} also up unto the feast."
Jesus didn't say He wasn't going to attend the feast. He was saying "not...yet".
When He went up, He went up secretly, not openly {with much public} because
Verse 7 "Because I testify of it {jerusalem at the time} that the works are evil."
and Verse 11 "The Jews sought Him"
The Jews sought Him because He had testified that their works were evil.

Verse 12
"There was much murmuring among the people" and in Verse 13 there was "Fear of the Jews." Proverbs explains the effect of fear verses trusting in God. Proverbs 29:25
"The fear of man bringeth a snare but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."
The Pharisees feared the people would continue to follow Jesus. They thought they would not have the same benefits as they had been enjoying. They had a motive to find fault and accuse Jesus and ensnare Him. Some Jews feared what the Pharisees would do to them if they followed Jesus.

Leaven

Matthew 16:6
"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
Leaven is what causes fermentation in cooking. It is associated with corruption because fermentaion is caused by a substance being agitated and broken down.
So He is saying, Beware the corruption of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Mark 8:15
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
These may have been warnings at different time.

Next,
Well intentioned Peter, the colt and the fig tree

 

[God is love]

Well intentioned Peter, The Colt and the Fig tree

Well intentioned Peter
In Matthew 16:23 Peter was well intentioned when he wanted to protect Jesus because Jesus in verse 21 made them aware "how He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests, etc..." Peter responded "Be if far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee." Jesus said to satan who was present hoping Peter's remark would tempt Jesus to protect Himself. Jesus knew that His mission {part of it} was to make the atonement.

Matthew 16:18 Jesus says
"Thou art Peter and upon this rock {foundation}, I will build my church." He{Peter} would be the presiding apostle {like a supervisor}.

The Colt

Matthew 21:2-6 and Mark 11:2-7 and Luke 19:30-35

Mark 11:2-7
"And He saith unto them, Go your way into the village... and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, where on never man sat, loose him and bring him."
"And they went their way and found the colt tied by the door... and they loosed him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, what do ye loosen the coly? And they said unto them as Jesus had commanded {in verse 3 "if any man say unto you, why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him and straigh way he will send him hither."} And they brought the colt to Jesus {to the place where He was} and cast their garments on him {the colt}.

John 12:14
"And Jesus when He had found a young {, where they had placed him} sat thereon, as it is written."

It is written in Zechariah 9:9
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, o daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon a colt."
Jesus was fulfilling another prophesy.

The Fig Tree

Matthew 21:19-20

"And when He saw a fig tree in the way He came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee hence forward... and presently the fig tree withered."

Verse 20
"And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled saying, Hoe soon is the fig tree withered away."

Mark 11:13-14
"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find anything thereon and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves."

Verse 14
"And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter... And His disciples heard of it." Matthew 21:19-20 "And when His disciples saw it, they marvelled saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away."

It says in Mark 11:20-21 that they {the disciples} saw it the next day.
"And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, Behold, the fig tree which thou curesedst is withered away."
They disciples discovered the withering the following day.

 

[God is love]

To understand Jesus' authority, you have to understand Heavenly Father's and Jesus Christ's individual roles.

Matthew 20:23 and mark 10:40

Matthew 20:23
"To sit on my right hand {by throne in Heavenly father's Kingdom} and on my left, it is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." It's Heavnely Father's kingdom and therefore Heavenly Father bestows the honors upon those who have done well. Jesus Christ, His Son, whose who was chosen amongst Heavenly father's spirit children to be the creator of this earth, chosen to be the messenger of Heavenly Father's principles {the gospel}.

Spirit intelligence always existed. Heavenly Father was most intelligent, most knowledgeable. He knew how to create, He learned what was right. There were other spirit intelligences that existed, all of us and others who have come before. After perfecting Himself with His wisdom, His own enlightenment, Heavenly Father wanted
to help the other spirit intelligence to progress, improve, perfect. Heavenly Father became a Father to these spirits which includes us. So we became His spirit children.

Heavenly Father choose amongst those spirits, the most righteous spirit to teach His principles. He choose Jehovah/Jesus. Being qualified {because of His righteousness}
to be the messenger of the good way to live {the gospel} and He was worthy to be the perfect example.

Heavenly father gave Him {Jehovah/Jesus} the right to create this planet, all it's creations {trees} and creatures and bodies for human beings. Jehovah/Jesus was cocreator with Heavenly father in that He used His design. Gensis 1:26
"Let us make man in our own image" Having made the first body for Adam, Heavenly Father made Eve. Heavenly Father's design was that their bodies would be able to reproduce and create others. In a way reproduction is cocreating with Heavenly Father's design.

When a woman conceives, Heavenly father places spirits in those developing bodies. Heavenly father wants us to enjoy the beauty of Jehovah/Jesus creations {nature}. Since Jehovah/Jesus was chosen to be the messenger from heaven, He communicated to people on earth through a mediator, a preselected {chosen} prophet. For instance Jehovah spoke to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets all the way to Malachi. Jehovah gave instructions to these prophets to teach God's principles to the people on earth.

Heavenly father observing realized that some spirits were listening to His principles through the prophets and some weren't. Some were listening but not living the principles. Some weren't doing the don'ts but they weren't doing What they should be doing such as "Love thy neighbor". He knew that we would not be automatically perfect, that we would learn and practice but sometimes fail to live up to the principles taught. He knew that justice required punishement for sin but knowing that all of us would fail to be perfect, Heavenly Father designed the plan of salvation so we could be forgiven. Heavenly Father's plan would be an atonement. The atonement would involve a sinless person who would be punished to satisfy justice and offer mercy to the penitent, those that fely sorry and wanted to repent, those who wanted to improve.

Heavenly Father reviewed the spirits to see who would be willing to make such a sacrifice and of those who would be capable of living a sinless life. Jehovah/Jesus
was the most loving spirit and offered Himself to make the sacrifice. He was qualified because He was the most righteous spirit. He would be able to live a sinless life so He was the best qualified.

After having created this planet, He had the mission of being the messenger or "the Wrod" as John called Him in his gospel and in the meridian of time, to be born and be the teacher and living example of the "Word" or gospel and at the appointed time to be the messiah and make the atonement.

Although some may not understand the reason for the atonement, you can see the love that Jesus Christ had for us.

As mentioned in my post "Why did God place us on earth away from Him, Plan of Salvation..." Life tests us. There are happenstance tests that test our knowledge or performance of what we know. A test of knowledge is like what children experience at school, they are asked what they know that has been taught. To use an adult example, it's like a driver's liscence, written test. Then there is the test of performance to see if and how we will perform what we know such as {in the driver's test analogy}, the road test. A moral {ethics} test of knowledge would be when you are asked questions in Sunday school. Another example may be when a person asks you a question for advice "what should I do in this situaltion?". A person may be asking you whether they should lie {for example}. A person may be asking you "What are your principles?" Sometimes, if you are religious, you may be asked as people are here on this website, "What is your religeon?, What are the doctrines, principles?" The moral performance test is a test to see how you will react to situations that involve choosing what is ethically right or not. It tests wether you will live the principles you have learned. The principles that your conscience makes you feel are right. Using the "driver's test analogy" again, your performance is being tested as well as your knowledge. Like the road test, it tests your reaction regarding ethics, how well you react, and your reaction time.

For example, a moral road test would be finding something a person
lost such as a wallet. This situation tests your knowledge, what was taught to you, what you should do with other people's property. Jesus taught we should return what was lost. We should treat others as we would want to be treated. Therefore we should respect other people's property and return it. This moral road test also tests your moral performance, whether you will do as you have been taught that you know to be right, whether {in this case} you will return the wallet. Just like the "road test" it tests your reaction time, how soon will you return the wallet.

Next,
opposition tests

 

[God is love]

I want to preface this by saying that the opposition is not from God because God does not oppose good. I personally don't think that "job" is a literal historical event in history because it is opposite to God's character to harm the good. The book of "job" was handed by a person, who claimed to be a prophet, to some Jews, while in exile in the desert, after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem. The people that weren't captured, fled. These Jews who had escaped were destitute, some seperated from family members who were either killed or in captivity. They had to sustain themselves with what was in the desert. They probably didn't have adequate food or shelter. Their shelter may have been caves like those that were by the dead sea in which the dead sea scrolls were found. They probably weren't able to get medical attention for ailments.

When they saw the book, they also thought that it wasn't like any of the other books of the Old Testement in how God was portrayed. The God portrayed seemed out of character, unlike God's true nature. Probably because as said before God doesn't harm good people. He is loving and also practical. He needs people well to serve Him and God doesn't make deals with lucifer to afflict His children to see if they will love Him while he is afflicting them. That would be like a contract hit or in this case {disease, crop failure, etc} to see if the victim will continue to love you or sue you. That would be abuse to satify ego. God doesn't need to make a contract with lucifer to torment. That is what satan does. Lucifer tries to discourage and depress servants of God. That way some give up their effort to serve God. It's his way of hurting Heavnly Father's plan to save us.

The way that God tests our love is with requests to do service, sometimes it is a chsllenge and when the adversary opposes, sometimes it makes it a difficult challenge but God provides a way. God says
"the Lord giveth no commendments unto the children of men, save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."
1 Nephi 3:7 {Another Testement of Jesus Christ}


All the other books were already scripture before the destruction of Jerusalem. Job was not a part of scripture before the destruction of the Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem was the event that ended the the old testement historical record. They {the Jews that received it from the unnamed person who gave it} weren't sure whether to include it with the books of scripture but eventually did. Job was added while in exile, after all the history up to that time had been recorded.

Perhapps this story was relevant to the time of exile. They probably thought the destruction of Jerusalem was God's punishement because they didn't repent when they had been warned by prophecy that if they didn't repent Jerusalem would be destroyed. They probably identified with the Job allegary tale. They probably thought God was testing them to see if they would return to Him. It also resembled the persection they were experiencing then and their seperation from God as they weren't able to worship Him as they once did. They didn't have a Temple anymore.

I believe it is an allagorical {fictional} story to illustrate something. such as in Hosea 1:2 in which God is instructing Hosea to marry a harlot. That should not be interpreted literally because God wants men and women to honor chatity till marriage. Although the harlot would be forgiven if she repents. This was fiction like some f the parables}. It was to illustrate Hosea {a prophet of God} who was to teach the wayward Israelites to live good lives. In a way he was joining himself to them to be their spiritual support. Some were worshipping false gods. This was described by God as being a type of harlot. The Israelites had a covenant with Jehovah that He would be their God. It's was likened to a marriage liscense. When they are worshipping other gods it was as if committing adultery, being unloyal, unfaithful, uncommitted to the contract. This has been said in scripture, some verses of the Old Testement such as
Jeremiah 2:20
"I will not trespass when upon every high hill {where altars to false gods were}, thou wanderest, playing the harlot."

God would not instigate, support or approve bad behavior to cause a good person to suffer, just to see what they will do. It's natural what they will do, they will react with aversion to the cause and will attempt to protect themselves from further injury. In the case of physical affliction the body would have the normal involuntary reactions to pain. Nothing really surprising to a God who knows us so well and how our body reacts to pain. There really isn't a need to test our reaction to pain, other than to see if we will return evil for evil. However there are courts and when matters of abuse don't cease, we have the right, our constitutional right, to use the court system to redress the wrongs and have restitition or compensation made. If restitution is not possible then it will be made in God's court.

The guy behind all the evil people in the world is lucifer. He opposes all good, afflicting those that are good enticing {trying to make sin temporarily pleasurable} people to do wrong.

These are two kinds of oppostion:
One is to afflict when we are doing good.
"Satan comes to lie, steal, kill and destroy."
Good people can pray for protection.
God has more power than satan.
Jesus was able to cast out demons.
Lucifer tries to obstruct good works, making the task more difficult. It is his hope that those doing good will be overwelmed and give up.
However those who see the cause as worth the challenge are persistent and plough through.
A second type of opposition is to tempt people to do wrong.
Since he doesn't have a body, nor his demons, he deceives others to do his dirty work,
tempting people to do evil, offering them false hope that he will protect them.
Think about it! If Lucifer says "Do what you will, whatever you want", and he believes it's allright to lie, how could anybody trust him. If he thinks "it's okay to lie, don't worry about rules." then he thinks it's okay to lie himself, to lie to you! If he says it's okay to lie, he may be lying to you. I wouldn't trust a person who says "it's okay to lie"
Be safe! Don't.

Some have trusted lucifer and done his dirty work. When there are negative consequences, lucifer doesn't come to the recue instead, after a person has served him, and he's done with them {hasn't any further use}, lucifer tosses them aside like used toliet paper. Whatever lucifer may have promised, he won't feel obligated to do because, after all, lucifer is okay with lying so he's okay with breaking his promises.

Lucifer sometimes tests good people to see if they will return evil for evil. Some people who have been afflicted want to harm the perpetrator. People who have been wronged seek revenge. Lucifer is trying to provoke the good people to sin. This way he has caused two people to sin, the person who afflicted and the person afflicted who retaliated. When he causes this he thinks he's won more souls and the more souls he's won, the less Heavenly Father will have in His Kingdom.

Lucifer uses people to deprive Heavenly Father of His children. He knows that Heavenly Father loves us so He wants to be with us again. When lucifer deprives Heavenly Father of some of His children, Heavnly Father feels the loss. It causes Godly sorrow. It is similar to a child who runs away from home and doesn't return or a child who is suddenly abducted. You want your child to be safe with you at home.

Next,
The authority Jesus has and His desire to help us make the final grade.

 

[God is love]

Jesus authority
His desire to help us make the final grade.

Jesus' authority

As mentioned before Jehovah/Jesus was creator and messenger and Messiah. Since we are taught His principles and should live them and because we are tested on performance, Jesus knew we needed a perfect example to live by. Jehovah planned to be the perfect example. As mentioned before Jehovah was the most righteous spirit and He is pure and perfect. Jehovah determined that He would come to earth, become as man {be born} and as part of his mission on earth, He would teach and exemplify what He taught. His life was a living ilustration of how we should live the principles.
In sum, Jesus was the messenger of the principles, he taught the principles and He lived the principles and he was the messiah.

Jesus want to help us make the grade.

Jesus wanted to help people pass their "road tests" by showing them how. As mentioned in the post 'Why did God place us on earth away from Him, Plan of Salvation..."
I mentioned an after death experience, during the experience, there was a review, in the form of {what was described as being similar to} a halogram. You see what you have lived, what you have done and what has happened to you as if watching a halogram. It's like a midterm exam. It shows how you need to improve. God evaluates your review, your performance and with His criteria determines whether your actions warrant spirit prison {such as murder, theft, etc} or spirit paradise. Those in spirit paradise wait for resurrection when Jesus Christ comes again.

During the millenium, they have a chance to improve and perfect and prepare for the final exam. The incentive with His plan is; to not do wrong in order to avoid suffering caused by wrong doing also to avoid the justification {a reason} of punishment. Another incentive more postive than just avoiding evil is the desire to be good and to do good for the sake of the good, in other words you want to be good because you enjoy the good that good brings, "the Good Life". Some want to be good because they want to improve self or to do good for others,help them be good, do good. I think I've over used the word good here. In doing so they are earning a place with God in His Kingdom, to live with Him and His Son, Jesus Christ forever and to enjoy the blessings He wants to bestow on us there.

The atonement makes it possible for those who fail some of their attempts to be good to try again. What we lack in credit, Jesus will make up with His, as we strive to be better.

Next,
Whose kingdom is it?

 

[God is love]

Now to the question itself "Wjhose kingdom is it?"

Heavenly Father's kingdom.

Heavenly Father is the king of the universe. He shares His kingdom with His Son, Jesus Christ, who sits at His right, beside Him. Heavenly Father bestowes the honors in His Kingdom.

Jesus is the king of this world.
Heavenly Father has bestowed upon Jesus all authority over this earth. This earth if Christ's kingdom. He earned. He bought it with His atonement. He has inherited us from Heavenly Father. We are now Christ's. We are His.

So Matthew 28:18 and John 3:35 are correct. Jesus Christ has all authority here on earth and will forever more. He will rule and reign here.

Matthew 28:18
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth."
John 3:35
"The father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand."
Heavenly father also has given to Jesus Christ all power in heaven such as to create this world.

In Matthew 20:23
"...to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
Heavenly father prepares a place in His kingdom for those who are worthy of a place. Heavenly father preselected a place for Jesus Christ to sit in His Kingdom after Christ's mission. Heavenly father selected a place beside Him. Heavenly father has already made the descision. That is why it wasn't Jesus descision to make, who should sit where. That descision had already been made. Heavenly Father already designated that Jesus Christ would sit at His right hand.The place beside Heavenly father was earned by Christ and was already prepared for Him. It is His rightful place.

In the previous verse Jesus asks "Are you...able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with." This baptism was not a baptism in water or the baptism of the Holy spirit. His baptism was suffering on the cross. Where He was punished for the sins of others to offer forgiveness to those who repent.

Next,
When will the kingdom of God come to earth

 

[God is love]

When will the kingdom of God come.

Luke 17:20-21
"And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come {to earth}, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation."
Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God doesn't come by observing when it will come. In other words, observing {looking for signs}. Observing signs doesn't produce a king or kingdom or government. It just indicates when it is about to occur.

The kingdom of God will come when Jesus will come. That time {as Jesus said}
"the day and hour no man knoweth, no man, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only." Matthew 24:36

The disciples asked a similar question but they specifically asked for a sign of Jesus comming the second time. This is in Matthew 24:3 "Tell us when ssshall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy comming?" They were asking a sign of Jesus comming.

He was willing to give them signs because it is so important. They are signs for our time, these latter days. There are many signs of His comming.

These are the signs:
1. Take heed no man deceive you

2. Many shall come in my name, saying "I am Christ"
The true Christ will come in the clouds, He will not just appear somewhere as a normal man. He will descend from the sky.

3. Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars
For nation shall rise up against nation.

4. There shall be famines

5. There shall be pestilences and

6. earthquakes

7. many false prophets

8. The love of many will wax cold

9. The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.

10. Daniel the prophet's prophesy in Daniel 11:31 which reads
A. "They shall pollute the sanctuary of strength {the third Jewish temple} and
B. and take away the daily sacrifice and
C. they shall place the abomination {an idol} that maketh desolate {that brings a curse upon them}

The origin of this begins with a world war that is caused because a king leader} wants world power and makes war against the covenant land {Jerusalem}. This will cause a world war {Armagedden} in the valley of Meggido. Jerusalem will be in the center of the conflict. All nations that are against Israel will be gathered in one place, Meggido.

The power hungry world leader will desocrate {pollute} the third Jewish Temple. He will take away the animal sacrifices AND SHALL PLACE AN IDOL OF HIMSELF IN THE HOLY PLACE {THE HOLIEST PLACE OF THE TEMPLE, THE HOLY OF HOLIES} and demand they worship him. He will rule over them and claim to be their king and he will claim to be god. This is the antichrist.

Jesus says when this happens

11. "Let them which be in Jerusalem, flee into the mountains {Petra}

12. The sun and moon shall be darkened.

13. Then shall the Lord {Jehovah} go forth and fight against those nations
{that fight against Jerusalem}." Jesus Christ will defend the Jewish people.
Mark 13:28 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree when her branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near. So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors."
Luke 17:20-21 verse 21 The proper translation is
"For behold the kingdom of God has already come unto you."
Jesus said that because He is the future King. He also represents the righteousness of His kingdom that will be. His kingdom will have good people, people who want to be righteous.

Jesus was a living example of His Kingdom that He will set up {physically} upon the earth.

The probable reason why Jesus didn't give the pharisees a sign of His second comming, is because they didn't recognize the signs of His first comming, that He was their Messiah.

Matthew 25:34
"Then shall the king say unto them on His right hand, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

John 14:2-3 The proper translation is
"And when I go, I will prepare a place for you and come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, ye may be also."

Matthew 25:34 is about the kingdom that Jesus Christ will set up when He comes again.
Verse 31
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory."
The Kingdom has been prepared from the foundation of the earth. Because that is when He created the earth and upon it, the garden of Eden. In the future, during the millenium, when He will be King, the earth will be as it was in the garden of Eden.
The Kingdom, how it will be organized and function, etc has been prepared too. This kingdom on earth will be for all good people.

John 14:2-3 is about Heavenly Father's Kingdom Verse2 describes
"In my father's House are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
During the millenium, People who are good {descent} will have the opportunity to make improvements, perfect themselves.

After the millenium, there will be an evaluation and this evaluation, how well you have done, determines the degree of rightiousness you have achieved and the degree of joy or glory you are worthy to receive, in Heavenly Father's Kingdom. The "Many mansions" are places for those worthy to reside in Heavenly Father's Celestial Kingdom.
These places aren't predetermined {like destiny} therefore they wouldn't be prepared in advance. It is determined by personal choice, how much good we choose to live.
When that is evaluated {our performance} a place will be prepared in the Celestial kingdom at the level of righteousness we have achieved, we will receive the joy we deserve.

God is a fair God.

 

[God is love]

Judas betrayal

Matthew 26:14-25, Mark 14:10-11 and Luke 22:3-23
Judas made a bargain with the chief priests.

Matthew 26:14-15
"Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went unto one of the chief priests and said unto them, What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver."

Both Marka nd Luke say
"that they {the pharisees} were glad and promised to give him money. Matthew says they promised thirty pieces of silver. Luke 22:6 says that Judas "sought opportunity to betray Him unto them {the chief priests in the absence of the multitude."

John 13:21-30 verse 27
"Then Jesus said unto him, That thou doest, do quickly"
That is when he went to the chief priests to tell them of an opportunity to grab Him.

In Matthew 26:21,25 At the last supper Jesus reveals that Judas will betray Him.
He said the same in Mark 14:18,20 and John 13:21,26
Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him in the garden of Gethsememe. This proves that Jesus willingly sacrificed His life.

Matthew 26:26-29 and Mark 14:22-25
Verse 26
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the disciples..."
Verse 27
"And He took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it..."

This is the same in Mark
Mark 14:22 is the same as Matthew 26:26
Mark 14:23 is the same as Matthew 26:23

In luke 22:17-20 it was the same order, bread then {fruit of the vine}
Verse 19
"He took bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them..."
Verse 20
"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testement..."
The cup in verse 17 mentioned before this was taken and He gave thanks and said "Take this and divide amongst yourselves. He did not say over this cup "this is the new testement" as He did over the cup that was served after the bread.

Next,
Peter's denial and the sleepy disciples

 

[God is love]

Sleepy disciples and Peter's denial

Peter's denial

Matthew 26:34
"Jesus said, I say unto you, That this night before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

Luke 22:34
"He said, I tell thee Peter, the cock shall not crow this day before that thou shalt thrice deny me that thou knowest me."

John 13:38
"The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice."

Mark 14:30
"And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night before the cock crow twice thou shalt deny me thrice."
The only difference between Mark and the others is that in this account the recorder recorded how many times that Jesus said the cock would crow after Peter denied Jesus three times. He said the cock would crow two times after Peter denied three times.

Sleepy disciples

Luke 22:45
"When He {Jesus} rose up from prayer and was come to His disciples, He found them sleeping for sorrow."

Matthew 26:40-45
"He cometh unto His disciples and findeth them asleep."

Verse 43
"And He came again and found them asleep for their eyes were heavy."
So Luke did not think it was important to include that Jesus found them a second time asleep.

Judas kiss

Matthew 26:49-50 verse 48
"Now he {Judas} that betrayed Him gave them a sign saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss the same is He, hold Him fast."

Mark 14:44-46 verse 44
"And he that betrayed Him had given a token saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss that same is He, take Him and lead Him away safely."
The betrayer instructed them to hold fast and take Him away safely. If they held Him quickly, before the disciples could defend Him, they could take Him away safely.

Matthew 26:49
"And forthwith he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master and kissed Him."

John 18:2-9 verse 4
"Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye?"
Verse 5
"They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He. And Judas also which betrayed Him, stood with them. As soon as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward and fell to the ground."

Verse 8
"I have told you that I am He, if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way."

Luke 22:49-53
"When they which were about Him saw what would follow, they said unto Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear."

Verse 51
"He {Jesus} touched his ear and healed him."

Verse 53
Jesus was speaking to the chief priests and captains of the Temple.
"When I was daily with you in the Temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me but this is your hour and the power of darkness."
They took Him in the darkness, in the absence of a multitude because He was popular with the people.

Matthew 26:53
"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels."

Verse 54
"But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled."

Matthew 26:57
"and they that had laid hold of Jesus led Him away."

Luke didn't wish to include the liss perhapps he was more affected by the insult added to injury.

Missionaries to protect themselves

Luke 22:36-38 verse 35
"And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse {money} and scrip...lacked ye any thing? And they said nothing."
This was referring to an earlier directive Jesus gave to His disciples regarding missionary work. Now He was instructing them to be able to defend themselves against those that would persecute them, the high priests who would seek to kill them.

Verse 36
"Then He said unto them but now, he that hath a purse, let him take it and likewise his scrip and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."
He was also telling them that they would have to provide for themselves since there would be increasing oppostion from the chief priests. It would put fear in people who would want to make accomodations for them {missionaries}.

In Matthew 26:52'
"Said Jesus unto him, Put up thy sword into it's place for all they that take {use} the sword shall perish by the sword."
Jesus was saying not to use the sword offensively {nobody had grabbed Jesus yet} He was also saying not to use their swords to defend Him because Jesus knew He what His mission was, that he was the Messiah.

Luke 22:49
"When they {some apostles possibly some disciples {followers}} which were about Him saw what would follow..."

Verse 50
"One of them smote the servant of the high priest"
This was in their estimation defending Jesus as they foresaw what would happen to him but Jesus saw it as agression because it was preempted. That is why he sai to put the sword into it's place {in it's sheath}.

He also said in verse 53
"Think thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels."
Jesus was aying that He could avail Himself of angels to defend Him if he wanted to defend Himself. but in verse 54 He says "But how then shall the scriptures {prophecies} be fulfilled."

Next,
The scribes, elders and chief priests, Caiaphas assembled to consult
The inquiry
Pilot
Passover