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Concept - Protection.
The gates of the New Jerusalem will forever remain open - though there will be an honour guard at each [gate]. These gates will remain open because the Lord will have removed all sin and error from the Heavenly Realm.
However, the single gate which leads from this life to Eternal Life is narrow, difficult to find, and secure. The security associated with that gate protects the sheep dwelling with[;'However, the Gate which leads to Life is narrow, difficult to find, and secure. the sheep-fold.
[9] I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9 NIV)
[1] "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. [2] The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. [5] They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." [6] Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
[7] So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. [9] I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1-10 NRSV)
There is but one door, and Jesus is that door to the sheep-fold.
Entry to the Sheepfold is restricted! Entry is by invitation and permission only. However, although everyone is invited†, only those who do the will of the Father will be granted entry (Matthew 7:21-23).
[†
[23] Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? ... [30] "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. [31] Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? [32] For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:23,30-32 NIV)
Although God's words are addressed to Israel, they are indirectly extended to all mankind by reason of the Covenant:
3 Let not the foreigner say,
Who has attached himself to the LORD,
“The LORD will keep me apart from His people”;
And let not the eunuch say,
“I am a withered tree.” (Isaiah 56:3 (Tanakh))
6 As for the foreigners
Who attach themselves to the LORD,
To minister to Him,
And to love the name of the LORD,
To be His servants —
All who keep the sabbath and do not profane it,
And who hold fast to My covenant —
7 I will bring them to My sacred mount
And let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
Shall be welcome on My altar;
For My House shall be called
A house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:6-7 (Tanakh))]
There is only one entrance point to the Sheepfold, and that is controlled by Jesus, who is in charge of security:
[20] On that day I will call my servant Eliakim† son of Hilkiah‡, [21] and will clothe him with your robe and bind your sash on him. I will commit your authority to his hand, and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. [22] I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. (Isaiah 22:20-22 NRSV)
† The meaning of the name 'Eliakim' (Hebrew origin: God will raise (David Mandel)) is also used as an alias for Jesus.
‡The meaning of the name 'Hilkiah' (Hebrew origin: God's Portion (David Mandel)) becomes an alias for 'Jesus as part of the Trinity'.
"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens (Revelation 3:7 NRSV)
The Gatekeeper butterfly has aquired a Spiritual Dimension as a reminder of Jesus, the Gatekeeper to the New Jerusalem!
Computer programs sometimes have a hidden back door. But there is no back-door access to the Sheep-fold!
Thinking about the security of the Sheep-fold, reminded me of some thoughts I had long ago regarding the location of the garden of Eden.
A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. (12 The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli.) 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14 (Tanakh))
Where was the Garden of Eden? Despite much speculation, no one knows! The narrative doesn't give a lot of help; and natural features can and do change dramatically across the millennia. The search for the location takes on the aspect of the proverbial hunt for the needle in the haystack. The narrative would suggest a location somewhere in the vicinity of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. However, care is required for there could have been considerable changes in the landscape over time.
My thoughts about the topography of the garden are based on the security issues following the expulsion of Adam and Eve. After their expulsion, security would have been of paramount importance for as long as the Tree of Life remained in existence. Remember that a guard detail, armed to the teeth, was placed across the exposed eastern entrance to the garden:
He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24 (Tanakh))
There was, then, but a single entrance to the Garden. So the Lord God must have had absolute confidence in the security of the remainder of the perimeter - a perimeter extending a considerable distance, for this was no small spinney. I doubt whether the garden were walled, as this would not offer adequate security. It would have been relatively easy to build a ramp with whatever materials were to hand - something well within the capabilities of the ancestral stock from which Adam and Eve were taken. And, after the fall, Adam might have tried hard to return there - hence the heavily armed guard.
On the This Fabtrek web site I happened to notice a picture of the Euphrates which had a sheer cliff on one side:
Euphrates Valley. (Attribution, non-commercial: http://www.thisfabtrek.com/journey/asia/syria/20091117-deir-az-zor/syria-euphrates-valley-4.jpg)
Since a guard was only posted at the eastern entrance to the Garden, then if the Garden were situated in a re-entrant gorge having a single entrance on its Eastern side, and were enclosed by a natural barrier - sheer cliffs, which would have proved un-climbable in those times - then the security of the site could be ensured.
A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. (Genesis 2:10 (Tanakh))
Although there was a water supply, did the Garden require irrigating?
Were this the case, then an irrigation system would have been vital, especially as the garden started to mature, and water consumption rose. The emphasis on cultivation would suggest that a location making use of an irrigation system would have been preferable to a location on a flood plain. Historically, irrigation has played an important part in the life of the region.
So what became of the garden?
After Adam and Eve had been expelled from the garden, it was left unattended. Remember that 'the LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it' (Gen. 2:15 T). So, without this regular upkeep, it is reasonable to expect the garden to return to its original state.
Wikipedia gives the Tigris-Euphrates river-system climate as 'subtropical, hot and arid' (Tigris-Euphrates river system). Down through the ages, irrigation has been of the greatest importance in that region. Today, water rights are still a hot topic of contention.
The initial demand for water may have been on the low side. Gen. 2:8-9 T suggests that God planted the garden, and then brought Adam into it soon after, before the trees had grown to maturity. Adam would have been well placed to extend any existing water supply by setting up irrigation channels as the garden developed and matured, and as the demand for water increased.
Because the Tree of Knowledge wasn't seed bearing, it would have died off eventually.
In Scripture, the Tree of Life is generally associated with water; any disruption to the water supply would therefore have killed it off. Irrigation channels, then as now, require regular maintenance to keep them in proper working order; without regular maintenance, these channels would have become overgrown and also blocked with leaves, dead branches, and earth where banks had collapsed. Another possibility is that the course of the river changed over time, so that the Garden was denied water completely. Alternatively, the river could have dried up altogether, leaving just the Euphrates and Tigris that exist today.
The Tree of Life was seed-bearing and thus able to reproduce and re-seed itself. Had the tree fruited already, or had it not yet matured? I suspect the latter, simply because the Serpent would have used it to seal the fate of Adam and Eve once they'd eaten of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
The choice of a hot, arid region for the garden would have been a security measure, a fail-safe if sin were to enter the world. Because of the climate, the survival of the Tree of Life could be controlled through the water supply - something not easily accomplished in a region with a high annual rainfall!
With the disappearance of the Tree of Life, there would then be no further need of the services of the cherubim, with the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the entrance (Gen. 3:24 T), thus allowing them to be relieved of duty.
Eventually, the garden would have returned to the wild and been indistinguishable from the surrounding countryside.
[Disclaimer: this is personal speculation! However, in my defence, it would be satisfying if research could lead to evidence which would actually support the narrative.
Alan]
[21] Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. [22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21-24 NIV)
With the rejection of Jesus followed by His death at Calvary, the Mosaic Covenant, too, was discarded, to be replaced by a 'covenant with death' dreamed up by the priesthood of the Synagogue of Satan. Their covenant with death has continued to this day, sin feeding upon sin as their covenant continues its exponential growth in evil. John the Baptist and Jesus attempted to redirect people to the Covenant as it had been understood by Moses. But they only met with very limited success. The majority of Jews today pay lip service to the the lord Satan's covenant with death.
Paul made the situation worse by defiling and annulling the Mosaic Covenant. Which was seized on by the Gentiles and replaced by a 'new-covenant', the product of their evil imagining.
Little wonder, then, that it became necessary to shift worship entirely to the Spiritual Level, and to destroy the Jerusalem Temple, rendering the Covenant unenforeable at the Physical Level.
On the face of it, everything would appear to be rosy. Certainly, the new-covenant church have exploited the situation to the full, in order to peddle their evil doctrine.
So what are the limitations of this shift of worship to the Spiritual Level?
But before that question can be answered, it is necessary to factor in the outpouring of the Spirit on all believers. Just like Paul, the new-covenant church are able to cite the Spirit's authority and guidance for their evil doctrine. Their use of the Spirit then becomes the trump card which will destroy any opposition to their evil.
One need only stand back in order to see the absence of Covenant infrastructure, the absence of shepherds after the Lord's heart, and the absence of watchmen who, standing on the walls of Jerusalem, can respond to attacks from without as well as corruption within.
The Scriptures are not an easy read. Candace's treasurer, bright and smart as he was, found the Scriptures heavy going:
[30] Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
[31] "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:30-31 NIV)
And therein lies the key to the current limitations of the shift of worship to the Spiritual Level. Time to develop the implications.
If Candace's treasurer was struggling to understand the Scriptures, what hope for lesser mortals? Several points spring to mind:
[†Compare! At the time of Ezekiel6C, Israel were as dross before the Lord. No one would stand in the breach and repair the wall:
30 And I sought a man among them to repair the wall or to stand in the breach before Me in behalf of this land, that I might not destroy it; but I found none. 31 I have therefore poured out My indignation upon them; I will consume them with the fire of My fury. I will repay them for their conduct—declares the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 22:30-31 (Tanakh))]
[‡ Jesus expains the exponential growth of evil during outreach. Paul and the unknown writer to the Hebrews provide the initial evil, which is then built upon by the new-covenant church to what it is today. It will take a round turn and two half-hitches to bring these people up short; this to be followed by the appointment of shepherds after God's own heart.]
Nevertheless, although the shift to the Spiritual Level is necessary, it is not sufficient. Something more is needed!
The missing 'something' is the rebuilding of David's fallen Tent and the appointment of shepherds after God's heart.
The Lord provides insight into the operation of the Covenant at the Spiritual Level:
5 I looked up, and I saw a man holding a measuring line. 6 “Where are you going?" I asked. “To measure Jerusalem," he replied, “to see how long and wide it is to be.” 7 But the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him. 8 The former said to him, “Run to that young man and tell him:
“Jerusalem shall be peopled as a city without walls, so many shall be the men and cattle it contains. 9 And I Myself—declares the LORD—will be a wall of fire all around it, and I will be a glory inside it. (Zechariah 2:5-9 (Tanakh))
The Wall of Fire protects the integrity of David's Rebuilt Tent:
To gain entry to Jerusalem, it is necessary to pass through the Wall of Fire:
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 O mortal, set your face toward Teman, and proclaim to Darom, and prophesy against the brushland of the Negeb. 3 Say to the brushland of the Negeb: Hear the word of the LORD. Thus said the Lord GOD: I am going to kindle a fire in you, which shall devour every tree of yours, both green and withered. Its leaping flame shall not go out, and every face from south to north shall be scorched by it. 4 Then all flesh shall recognize that I the LORD have kindled it; it shall not go out. 5 And I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me: He is just a riddlemonger.” (Ezekiel 21:1-5 (Tanakh))
Teman, Darom, and Negev.
There is an assurance here that whatever becomes of Jerusalem physically, it will continue at the Spiritual Level. Its wall can expand to encompass the growing numbers seeking entrance. There is no hole in that wall: in order to enter Jerusalem it is necessary to pass through that Wall of Fire - no easy task! And those priests in the Order of Melchizedek, standing on that spiritual wall, are able to assess and report any threats from without or within.
With the Messianic Amendment to the Covenant, the single entry point to the New Jerusalem becomes that of the amended Covenant. It is quite telling that Paul et al defile and annul the Covenant; whereas Jesus updates it, and makes it the single entry point to the New Jerusalem by shifting worship entirely to the abstract Covenant at the Spiritual Level!
To the Samaritan at Jacob's Well:
[21] Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. [22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:21-24 NIV)
That there is a carefully controlled single entrance to the New Jerusalem is to be found, too, in the Book of Life. Jesus owns the Book of Life. And only those sinners whose names are listed in the Book of Life will be granted access to the New Jerusalem:
[27] Nothing impure will ever enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:27 NIV)
Even in the New Jerusalem there will be a constant reminder of security and the single gated-entrance to the city, for there will be an honour-guard of twelve angels, each one standing before their appointed gate:
[12] It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Revelation 21:12 NIV)
As people exit the city and then return, they will be constantly reminded of the Covenant.
As for those who had lived prior to the Mosaic Contract, they will stand in awe of the changes, and of the Father's care for His Flock down through the centuries. And their minds will be cast back to the fall, and to the guard posted at the entrance to the Garden Annex:
22 And the LORD God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!" 23 So the LORD God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken.
24 He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24 (Tanakh))
I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. (John 10:9 NRSV)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. [14] But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV)
Jesus is the Gate. And because the Book of Life belongs to Him, He is able to ensure secure access to the New Jerusalem:
Nothing impure will ever enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:27 NIV)
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12 NIV)
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 NIV)
There are twelve gates:
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. [11] It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. [12] It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Revelation 21:10-12 NIV)
With the removal of all sin and evil from the Heavenly Realm, these gates can safely remain open at all times - though each with an honour guard.
These gates will allow access to the surrounding countryside and to the Heavenly Temple flanked by the Two Olive Trees. Recall, too, the the Hall of Remembrance located within the Heavenly Temple:
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. (Revelation 2:1 NIV)
Of course, lampstands may be added or existing ones taken down and discarded:
[To the church in Ephesus]
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. [5] Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:4-5 NIV)
While checking out the Hall of Remembrance, look also for these churches:
16 In that day, the Egyptians shall be like women, trembling and terrified because the LORD of Hosts will raise His hand against them. 17 And the land of Judah shall also be the dread of the Egyptians; they shall quake whenever anybody mentions it to them, because of what the LORD of Hosts is planning against them. 18 In that day, there shall be several towns in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing loyalty to the LORD of Hosts; one shall be called Town of Heres.
19 In that day, there shall be an altar to the LORD inside the land of Egypt and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 They shall serve as a symbol and reminder of the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt, so that when [the Egyptians] cry out to the LORD against oppressors, He will send them a savior and champion to deliver them. 21 For the LORD will make Himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians shall acknowledge the LORD in that day, and they shall serve [Him] with sacrifice and oblation and shall make vows to the LORD and fulfill them. 22 The LORD will first afflict and then heal the Egyptians; when they turn back to the LORD, He will respond to their entreaties and heal them. (Isaiah 19:16-22 (Tanakh))
[Essay: The meaning and denotation of the individual golden lampstands (Revelation, chapters 1-3).]
Why lock the Scriptures? Shouldn't they be accessible to everyone, regardless? The Lord explains:
[10] Then the disciples came and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" [11] He answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. [12] For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. [13] The reason I speak to them in parables is that 'seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.' [14] With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: 'You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive. [15] For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn- and I would heal them.' (Matthew 13:10-15 NRSV)
Betrayal within the Covenant has always been a major problem. Jesus explains just how great that betrayal will become:
[10] At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, [11] and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. [12] Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, (Matthew 24:10-12 NIV)
Jesus explains the exponential growth of evil within the church from betrayal alone:
[15] "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. (Matthew 23:15 NIV)
Little wonder, then, that He seeks to protect His Church by keeping the wolves out! Or, perhaps, a more apt metaphor would be 'keeping the fox out of the hen house'. Certainly, the Lord has enough problems dealing with betrayal in the church, without adding to His problems by letting in the wolves and the foxes!
So, how does the Lord God lock the Scriptures against entry of undesirables?
It is safe to assume that the Lord's copy of the Covenant is highly structure and well-ordered! Liken this to a completed jigsaw puzzle.
If, now, that content is sliced and diced and the pieces scattered throughout Scripture, then the Lord has effectively created an academic jigsaw puzzle.
This can be seen with Covenant Law, and the listing of some 613 commandments. Even more obscure is the account of creation in Genesis chapter 1, which looks like a scientific explanation, but isn't.
[Assignment: Metaphor in Scripture.]
[Assignment: Word-play in Scripture.]
[Assignment: Explain why the use of unadulterated, original wording is an absolute requirement.]
The Scriptures have hidden depths! One example can be found in the account of creation and the fall:
[Adam] answered, "I heard you in the Garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
And He [God] said, "Who told you that you were naked?" (Gen. 3: 10-11 NIV1984).
Dr Paul Tournier discusses the difference between true and false guilt in his book 'Guilt and Grace'. And here, in this 'children's story' of creation and the fall, can be found the very first instance of false guilt. Compare Adam's words with Gen. 2: 25, where we read that previously 'The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame' (NIV1984).
The scope of the Scriptures is huge, and covers a wide range of topics. And this, too, can be glimpsed in the account of creation and the fall. Here, for example, the Lord God defines marriage; and in so doing He defines what marriage is not.
The scope and depth of the Scriptures is such that we can find hidden pearls when least expected. There is an unexpected flash of insight - and another piece of the jigsaw suddenly fits into place!
The Lord God knows what mankind are like. And He is aware of some of the problems they will have to face in the future. He has therefore embedded messages within Scripture which will help future generations in their distress. We may be able to anticipate some of these messages; but others may be beyond us and seem like gibberish.
The danger here is that translators may interpret these difficult passages and put their own spin on them. By imposing their own understanding, they effectively corrupt God's original words and intentions. Once these 'interpreted' versions of Scripture become accepted within the church, then God's original words are lost to future generations. This, in itself, is a serious matter; but with the coming exponential descent into evil, the resulting damage will be incalculable, making the original corruption that much more blameworthy.
[Assignment: Explain why the use of unadulterated, original wording is an absolute requirement for decoding embedded messages.]
Security is paramount at the Spiritual Level. Recall that Jesus now holds the Keys of David:
22 I will place the keys of David's palace on his shoulders; and what he unlocks none may shut, and what he locks none may open. (Isaiah 22:22 (Tanakh))
[Essay: The role of Obfuscation in securing Security.]
In this passage, Jesus offers everyone a key which will unlock the meaning of His words. Jesus places no restrictions on this key:
[46] If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
[47] But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?" (John 5:46-47 NRSV)
Yet Paul and the unknown writer to the Hebrews describe the Covenant as being lethal, based on inadequate promises, faulty, obsolete, ageing, and vanishing!
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant---not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, (2 Corinthians 3:6-7a NIV)
But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6 NIV)
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:7 ESV)
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13 ESV)
So, on whose authority was Jesus' offered a Key which was later to be thrown in the trash by the new-covenant authorities? Certainly not the Father's! And certainly not the Lord Spirit's! The Father would never offer a false key - to say otherwise is to break the Prime Axioms.
Without the necessary keys, much will remain locked and therefore inaccesible. To claim authority without possession of the associated keys is an error which - in today's context - could very well secure enrolment in the Blacklist.
[Essay: Having 'faith' does not entail access to the 'Keys of Authority'. Discuss the necessary and the sufficient conditions for having some level of access to the Keys.]
Version: 2024-12-12