War of the Seed by Lorri Frandsen - HTML preview

Seed

The Creator's Plan

Dedicated to the Warriors of Christ

who battle daily

against the Princes and Powers of the air

in our world today

WAR OF THE SEED tells the story of the cosmic, behind-the-scenes battle between the God of the universe and the forces of evil for the prize of humanity

Copyright 2024 by Lorri Frandsen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prier permission from the author, except in the case of brief notations in articles and reviews.

"In the beginning was the Word, and

the Word was with God, and the

Word was God. All things were made

by Him. In Him was life; and the life

was the light of men. And the light

shines in darkness; and the darkness

comprehended it not."

Elohim, the trinitarian God, spoke

creation into being through the

Word. Although creation would sink

into great darkness, Elohim had a

master plan - a plan so mysterious

that not even the angels understood

it at first. As the Word, He would

destroy death (through His own

death) and a new creation would

come into being through His

resurrection.

Elohim is a Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), meaning He is three Persons in One, a deep mystery impossible to understand. He has no beginning and He has no end. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere-present, and completely just and righteous in character. He is the Creator of the universe and all that is within it, including galaxies, planets, stars, and moons, many of which are located light years apart from each other.

Elohim's Record Book, known as the Bible, reveals that He is not alone in eternity, for He has created many creatures.

Elohim's creatures have different properties and seem to exist in alternate, or parallel realms. Some move in the spiritual realm while others exist in a physical realm.

However these domains can overlap, with spiritual beings associating with physical ones.

Elohim's angels were part of His creation,

designed to act as His messengers, swift as the wind and fierce as flaming fire. In the Book of Enoch 1 seven archangels are named - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Saraquel, and Remiel. Michael and Gabriel, two of the highest

angels, are the Creator's special messengers.

They are often mentioned in the Bible.

(The Book of Enoch 1 is not in the Canon of the Bible, but the apostles Jude, James, and Peter quoted from it, thereby relegating at least parts of it as being divinely inspired.)

Elohim created the earth with everything on it, including the oceans, land, fish, birds, and animals. In one part of the earth, Elohim made a garden called Eden, a particularly lovely place where momentous things were to happen.

Elohim created Adam and Eve, two humans who were placed in the Garden of Eden and instructed to make it fruitful. They were without sin and morally neutral, having never made a decision either for or against righteousness. Elohim gave them a choice by giving them a test of obedience, which they failed. They were told not to eat of a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the Garden, but they followed the lethal advice of a talking serpent and willfully rebelled against Elohim. From that moment on they became sinful and doomed to die spiritually, and later on physically.

Elohim had been aware that His human creation would rebel against Him, choosing death instead of the Life which He desired for them. However it was necessary to let them choose so that they would be able to return Elohim's love and form a close relationship with Him. If they had remained morally neutral, that could never have happened. Because sin had now entered the human world, there were negative consequences. Adam and Eve were now steeped in guilt and they felt alienated from Elohim. Adam was told that his labor would be hard from now on, and Eve's birth labor would be hard as well. Both were expelled from the beautiful Garden of Eden and prevented from returning by an angelic guard. They now had to make their way in a much less hospitable environment.

The serpent also bore Elohim's judgement because it had tempted Adam and Eve and led them into sin. Elohim pronounced that He would put enmity between it's seed (offspring) and the seed of the woman. He also stated that "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." This was a cryptic prophecy that would have dramatic fulfillment in the future. The serpent's identity has been associated with a fallen archangel, or Watcher, called Lucifer (also referred to as Satan) who had been expelled from heaven earlier. Some Bible scholars believe Satan entered into the body of the serpent and in this way was able to communicate with Eve.

A high order of angelic being were the

Watchers as described in the book of Enoch 1,

a book revealing what occurred in pre-flood

times. The Watchers were like the archangels,

very great in power and knowledge. They had

been present when the human race was

created and they had counselled with Elohim

around His throne and performed His decrees.

Just as Elohim had given Adam and Eve a

choice to either obey or defy Him, He had

done the same with the angelic realm. Many

of Elohim's angels had chosen to be faithful to

the Creator, but some did not.

The Watchers knew well that Elohim was a

Creator of order and that all of His creatures

had their place in the divine scheme of

things. They were designed to manoeuvre in

their own realm but they were also given the

task to oversee the humans on the earth.

However when they saw that human women

were fair to look upon, a plan formed in

their minds to put forth their own agenda in

defiance of Elohim. They would usurp

humanity to become divine imagers (gods)

and spawn progeny of their own who would

take over the earth and rule humanity under

their guidance and control. It was a coup

against the Creator's purpose and will for

His human creation. Making an oath to defy

Elohim, they descended on Mt. Hermon to

put their plan into effect. The Bible says they

took 'wives' among human women, any they

chose, and the women bore children to

them.

Elohim consigned the rebels to imprisonment in a dark place called the Abyss, where they would remain bound until their judgement at the end of the world. An eternal Lake of Fire awaits them. According to Enoch 1, the archangels Serial, Gabriel, and Michael were responsible for binding the wicked Watchers in the Abyss.

The progeny of the Watchers and human

women were the Nephilim. They were giants of

great stature, heroes of renown, fierce hunters,

and warring fighters. They lived together with

humans for hundreds of years in pre flood

times, quickly spreading over the earth and

becoming increasingly evil. At first they forced

the humans to provide for them from their

resources, but it was not long before the

humans were unable to meet their gargantuan

demands. Then the giants began to cannibalize

humans and even one another, drinking blood

to satisfy their raging appetites. They also

desecrated the animal kingdom, profaning all

that the Creator had so carefully and lovingly designed. Their wickedness was so great, and

spread so quickly, that the Creator was deeply

grieved in His heart and regretted ever having

made both the Watchers, and the human race.

Enoch 1 mentions the archangel Gabriel being tasked with destroying the Nephilim by causing them to war with each other. Enoch describes Gabriel as “one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim.”

The Nephilim giants were not the only

monster. Many believe that dinosaurs and

oversized beings existing on the earth.

humans walked the earth together. If so, the

There were also huge animal creatures that

antediluvian world was a very dangerous

were incredibly powerful and frightening to

place. However in spite of all the dangers,

behold. The Bible names Behemoth, who

humans had a very long life span at this

may have been a real type of dinosaur.

time. One of Adam's descendants,

Another one mentioned is Leviathan, a sea

Methuselah, lived to be 969 years!

Wickedness had spread so widely over the face of the earth that the Creator decided to send a flood to destroy the Nephilim, and humanity as well. Only one man, Noah, found grace in the Creator's sight. He was commissioned to build a great ark for himself, his family, and some of the animal kingdom. It took 120 years for Noah and his sons to build the ark so there was lots of time to warn the population of impending disaster. The ark was an ominous warning of what was to come. However Nephilim and human alike went on with their lives as usual, becoming increasingly lawless and violent. Then the flood finally came.

The waters broke from the sky (some scientists

think that a cloud canopy may have covered the

earth insulating it from the rays of the sun and

possibly explaining the longevity of life at the time). The waters in the deep also rose up in a cataclysmic deluge. There was no escape for

human, beast, or Nephilim. As the waters rose,

they all perished together. Not one remained

alive.

After over a year, the waters subsided so that Noah and his family could debark onto dry land on Mt. Ararat (near Turkey and Iran). The first thing Noah did was to build an altar to worship Elohim. Elohim instructed Noah that they could now eat meat. With the vapour canopy no longer shielding the earth, the climate and environment were greatly altered so that a vegetarian diet was no longer sufficient. From now on humans would live only about 100 years.

Noah's family multiplied and spread out over the land, establishing settlements in the new world. Noah and two of his sons remained faithful to Elohim, but a line of wicked descendants (through Noah's third son, Ham) rebelled and went their own way. A great grandson, Nimrod, settled in the land of Shinar and built a great temple (ziggurat) where he re-instituted all the old religious practices of pre-flood times including prostitution, idolatry, human sacrifice, and sorcery. In the Bible, Nimrod is called “a mighty warrior on the earth” and it is believed that he was Nephilimic as the Nephilim were often referred to as being great and mighty hunters.

Elohim saw that the humans were heading back into the perversity and bondage experienced by pre-flood civilizations. In order to hinder their descent into wickedness, He supernaturally confused their language so that the Ziggurat could not be completed. Many groups splintered off and left for other places to form nation states. The abandoned Temple was then called the Tower of Babel because of the indecipherable babbling that went on there.

Enoch 1 states that the Watchers who

cohabited with human women were doomed

to judgement, the Creator having no intention

of ever providing redemption for them. Their

Nephilim progeny were likewise destined for

judgement and could not be redeemed. When

the great flood came, all the Nephilim and all

the humans drowned and their spirits went to

Sheol, the place of death. Sheol also contained

Elohim's followers who died, but they were

separated from the wicked in a part of Sheol called Paradise and would later be redeemed.

Some of the spirits of the dead Nephilim did not go to Sheol. Enoch 1 says that about

1/10th of the them were allowed to remain on

the earth. They soon began to masquerade as

gods in the pagan religions that spread over the new world.

The Nephilim spirits, or demons, wanted a global world order similar to the one that had existed before the flood. This would give them much power over humanity. Elohim already shut down one world order attempt at Babel, but people still rejected their Creator and worshipped demon gods instead - except for a man named Abraham. Elohim called him and his wife out of the land of Ur and gave promises to them and to their Seed, referring to the Saviour (seed of the woman) who would battle with Satan (seed of the serpent) for the prize of humanity.

Elohim appeared to Abraham several times over the years, but one day He came with two of His angels. He again confirmed His covenant with Abraham and promised him a son, but then He revealed that the two angels were going on ahead to Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot lived, in order to bring judgement for the terrible sins being done there. This alarmed Abraham because he feared that his nephew Lot and his family would be destroyed along with the inhabitants of the cities.

Elohim is described in the Scriptures as dwelling in light so brilliant that no human being can approach Him. However as the second Person within the Godhead, He appeared to humans in indirect ways, such as a pillar of fire, a burning bush, or as a manifestation of a human or angel. These are called Theophanies. Sometimes He is called the "angel of the Lord" ( a term that occurs over 60 times in the Bible) but this angelic manifestation is unique from created angels. When Elohim appeared to Abraham, He appeared entirely human, even to the point of sharing a meal with His host. Yet Abraham saw beyond the physical, recognizing that his visitors were divine. He was even able to differentiate between the angels and Elohim Himself.

Elohim promised Abraham that if the angels found as many as ten righteous people living in Sodom, judgement would be withheld. Abraham felt sure there would be at least that number, so he was reassured of Lot's safety. As the angels, who are very beautiful, entered the city, they were quickly noticed and admired by the populace. Their admiration was mixed with lust, for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were very licentious.

The angels appeared in human form and

when Lot saw them in the city square, he

feared for their safety (not knowing then

that they were really angels). He knew

that as strangers to the city, they could be

attacked, as strangers often were. He

brought them to his home but a mob of

men - old and young - quickly gathered at

his door demanding that Lot send out the

angels so they could have sex with them.

Lot tried to appease the mob but they

threatened to attack Lot himself. The

angels brought him inside and struck the

attackers with blindness. Then they

instructed Lot to gather any other family

members together but his sons-in-law

refused to come.

Next day the angels forcibly led the frightened Lot and his family out of Sodom, warning them not to look back because God was about to judge the cities for their sins. As the angels were leading Lot's family to safety, Elohim rained down fire and sulphur. Lot's wife lingered along the way and turned back to gaze at the destruction, thereby imperilling her life as bitumen and salt smothered her. Some say a stone pillar of her remains overlooks the Dead Sea to this day.

Elohim and Abraham were friends and

Abraham now addressed his Friend by

His more personal name, YHWH.

Abraham had greatly longed for a

family. The dream of his heart was to

have sons and daughters who would

carry on his name. YHWH understood

fully. True to His promise YHWH gave

him a son who was named Isaac. The

Nephilim also wanted family, for

different reasons. Their progeny were

the giant Nephilim who were to spread

over the earth so as to conquer and

enslave humanity and establish their

rule over the planet.

YHWH also wanted family, but He was

a loving God who desired a close

personal relationship with His chosen

human children, who would be given

kingdom rule over the earth.

YHWH promised Abraham he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. They would all come through baby Isaac. In fact, many of YHWH's own children would be among them. They would be children who loved and trusted Him - faith children.

Isaac was treated like a prince. All the

dreams of his parents rested upon this

precious son of their old age. YHWH told

Abraham: "I will establish my covenant

with him as an everlasting covenant for

his offspring after him." It was a very great

promise and Isaac's parents clung to it

with every fibre of their being. Abraham's

affection for Isaac was so great that it may

even have rivalled the love he felt for

YHWH. Perhaps that is why YHWH put

Abraham to the test, to confirm that He

was the number one priority in Abraham's

life. It was to be the greatest test of

Abraham's entire life. Sarah wasn't

included in the test, perhaps because, as a

mother, she would have found it more

than she could bear.

Most of the pagan religions of that

time practiced human sacrifice, often

revolving around blood, and often

involving children. Geologists have

found many places where the bodies

of adults, children, and infants were

surrounded by religious altars,

ritualistic weapons, and other

religious objects. Ancient texts

describe the practice of human

sacrifice, and artwork depicts such

practices in many regions. So when

YHWH asked Abraham to offer up

Isaac, it wouldn't have been a foreign

concept to Abraham since all the

pagan gods demanded this. Abraham

didn't know that YHWH hated such

practices and was only testing him.

Abraham and Isaac journeyed three days to Mount Moriah. Though he trusted YHWH and had faith in His promises, it must have torn Abraham's heart to think of what he was about to do. When Isaac asked where the lamb was for the sacrifice, his father told him YHWH would provide. Little did he know, that was exactly what would happen.

Abraham was just about to sacrifice Isaac,

when YHWH's voice stopped him. A lamb

was caught in some bushes close by and

Abraham was told to sacrifice that instead of

his son. Abraham passed the test by being

willing to give up his dearest son to YHWH,

but YHWH would one day make an actual

sacrifice of His own Son for humanity. He

would rescue the nations from wickedness

by giving up His own beloved Son, Jesus

Christ, as a sacrifice for the sins of the

human race. That sacrifice would atone for

sin and put an end to spiritual death,

creating a New Creation through Him. This

was the grand plan from the very beginning

of time, even before YHWH had created the

world and everything upon it.

Abraham's grandson, Jacob, had a dream vision where angels were going up and down a stairway to heaven. It was like a portal where the spiritual met the physical.

Through this dream YHWH reaffirmed the promise He had made to Abraham that all the earth would be blessed through their descendants and He later changed Jacob's name to Israel.

Jacob had ten sons and a daughter from

Leah, one of his wives, and two sons from

his other wife, Rachel, whom he loved

more than Leah. Rachel bore him a son

called Joseph, whom he favoured above all

his other children. Jacob made a special

coat in royal colours for Joseph, which

aroused great jealousy in his other sons.

When Jacob sent Joseph out to check on

his brothers, they plotted to get rid of him.

They threw him in a well before selling

him to passing slavers. Jacob thought

Joseph was dead and didn't know he had

been taken to Egypt as a slave. He was in

deep grief for many years. Joseph had once

had a dream of his family bowing down to

him in honour, but that seemed unlikely

now. He was a lowly slave in Egypt, and to

make matters worse, he was falsely

accused of raping his owner's wife which

landed him in prison for several years. But

YHWH was with him.

Joseph never lost faith in YHWH who caused Joseph to have favour in all he did. When the king had troubling dreams and he was told that Joseph could interpret such things, the king called for him. Joseph told Pharaoh that his dreams foretold seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph's wisdom that he made him second in command over all of Egypt. Joseph stored grain for seven years and when the famine hit, everyone came to Egypt to buy grain, including Joseph's family. Just as Joseph had once dreamed, his brothers all bowed down to him as they begged to buy food. Joseph's brothers didn't recognize him. It had been thirteen years since they had sold him into slavery. He put them through a series of tests, to see if they had changed, and finding them repentant, he forgave them and revealed his identity. Then he arranged for his entire family to live in Egypt.

Joseph's life parallels the life of

YHWH's Son, Jesus Christ, the

promised holy Seed who would

arrive many centuries later. Both

were righteous; both were betrayed

by their brethren; both were

persecuted unfairly and brought low;

both were then raised up above all

others; and they both forgave their

enemies and ruled as kings over a

kingdom. Many characters and

events in the Bible were types, or

shadows, of the redemption YHWH

was to bring through His Son, Jesus

Christ. He gave many indications of

His grand plan, but they were

cloaked in mystery. Even the angels

longed to look into these things but

did not perfectly understand what

YHWH was doing.

YHWH carefully guarded the genetic

line to the Holy Seed because He loved

His human creatures and their

deliverance depended on the coming

Holy One. Before the flood, the wicked

Watchers had attempted to pollute the

human bloodline with their own

progeny, the Nephilim, in order to

make redemption impossible for

humanity. Their plan backfired but

they continued to search for ways to

thwart YHWH's plan. In Egypt they

tried to use a severe famine to starve

Jacob and his family, who they knew

were in the Seed's bloodline. Joseph's

people were shepherds and camel

herders and could easily have been

wiped out, but YHWH exalted Joseph

to a high position as vice-regent so as

to make it possible for him to protect

his family. Later YHWH chose his

brother Judah to carry on the

genealogical line to Messiah.

In the scriptures, there is a prophecy about Joseph's brother, Judah, which has a double meaning referring to YHWH's Seed. "You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his." The Lion of Judah is a symbol of the fierce majesty of an all-powerful King who rules over all. This is a recurring theme throughout the Bible.

The people of Israel (Jacob's new name) also called Hebrews (from Abraham's time) greatly multiplied over the next 400 years. They became so numerous that Egypt's Pharaoh became alarmed. He could see they were forming into a nation. To weaken them, he enslaved them and forced them to make bricks for building the pyramids. Carvings have been found on blocks of stone on the Sinai peninsula that resemble the Hebrew script. These hieroglyphs are very different to those of the Egyptians, providing evidence of the Hebrew culture.

Each of the nations of the world had Watchers over them. They were part of YHWH's divine council and they were called 'gods' and 'sons of the Most High' (they were created beings, unlike the divine Son of God). They were to execute justice over the lands they watched over, but they showed partiality to the wicked instead. Egypt's Watcher stirred evil in the heart of Pharaoh against the Hebrews. The king decided to depopulate the Hebrew nation by having their midwives kill all baby boys as they were being born. When that didn't work, he issued a decree commanding that every male Hebrew child be thrown into the Nile to the crocodiles.

One Hebrew family put their baby boy in a waterproofed basket and set it on the Nile River, trusting that YHWH would save him, which He had every intention of doing. An Egyptian princess discovered the babe and had compassion on him. She adopted him as her own and called him Moses. Through seeming coincidence, the baby was nursed for the first year or two by his own Hebrew birthmother.

Moses was greatly favoured in

Pharaoh's house and raised as a

high-born Egyptian prince. He

was educated and trained in all

the arts and sciences of the land.

Everyone loved him. But Moses

had been nursed by his own

mother until he was weaned and

perhaps he saw her from time to

time, because he knew he was a

Hebrew. He identified with his

Hebrew brethren and was

disturbed by how they were

being treated by their Egyptian

overlords. When he saw an

Egyptian taskmaster beating a

Hebrew slave, Moses became

e n r a g e d a n d k i l l e d t h e

taskmaster. Pharaoh soon heard

of it and Moses had to flee for

his life.

Moses was tending a flock of sheep

belonging to his father-in-law on Mt.

Horeb in Midian, when he saw a

burning bush that was not consumed

by the flames. There, the angel of the

Lord called to him, identifying Himself

as YHWH, the God of his ancestors. He

told Moses that He was sending him to

Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of

Egypt. Moses hesitated and tried to

evade the summons, but YHWH

assured him He would go with him. He

told Moses that he was to bring the

people back to Horeb to worship

YHWH on that very mountain. He also

gave Moses His personal name,

'Yahweh, I AM', to convey His love and

presence to His people. Moses still felt

a lack of confidence to carry out this

mission, so Yahweh had his brother

Aaron, meet him on the way.

Moses and Aaron traveled to Egypt

together. They knew it was very

daunting to approach Pharaoh because

he had many powerful magicians

trained in the black arts. Even though

the old Pharaoh (who had wanted to

kill Moses) was now dead, Egypt

hadn't changed over the years. Egypt

was still full of demonic worship of

everything under the sun - planets,

weather, animals, sun, death, fertility,

even Pharaoh himself - all controlled

by powerful demon-inspired priests.

Moses well understood the powers

wielded by these sorcerers because he

had been brought up around them.

Moses knew he was in for a heavy

spiritual battle. To encourage him,

Yahweh gave Moses a stick that could

turn into a snake.

Egyptian art was full of snakes,

depicted on coffins and even on

Pharaoh's crown (as a protective

talisman). Snakes symbolized evil and

chaos, but also life, rebirth and

healing. There was a cobra goddess

who represented guardianship over

childbirth. Another was believed to

guard the underworld and was

worshipped during funerary rites.

Eventually this snake god supposedly

became Ra’s successor as King of the

Sky. The wilderness had fiery flying

serpents and these were also depicted

in Egyptian art. It was no coincidence

that Yahweh gave Moses a rod that

could turn into a snake since Pharaoh

would recognize this as a show of

power.

The new Pharaoh scoffed at Moses

when he told him that the God of the

Israelites wanted him to let His people

leave Egypt. Pharaoh recognized no

authority but his own so he demanded

a sign of Yahweh's authority. God had

instructed Moses and Aaron to throw

down the staff when they met Pharaoh,

and when Aaron did so, his staff turned

into a huge snake.Pharaoh immediately

summoned his own magicians who

were also able to turn their staffs into

snakes. However, in an ominous

display of superior strength, Aaron’s

snake devoured the magicians’ snakes.

Yet in spite of this, Pharaoh's heart

remained obstinate. He was so

hardened that he refused to be

impressed by this obvious sign of

Yahweh's superior power.

Pharaoh wasn't relenting so Yahweh told Moses to put his staff into the Nile and it would turn the water into blood. All the fish in the Nile died and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river. Even the water in drinking vessels turned into blood and there was a terrible stink over the land. But Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same by their secret arts, so Pharaoh's heart remained hardened and he would not listen to Moses.

Like all tyrants, Pharaoh cared more

about his own power than for the well-

being of his own people. The suffering

of others did not move him. The Nile's

waters turning to blood affected the

Egyptians, but also the Israelites,

since neither could drink the water.

But Pharaoh's heart was hardened

even more. In fact he was so angered

that the God of the Israelites would

dare to challenge his powers, that he

doubled down on his oppression of

the Hebrews, making their lives a

nightmare. He increased their

workload and demanded that they

fulfill even more stringent work

quotas, threatening to enslave their

children if they were not met. Yahweh

knew this would happen and acted

accordingly.

Yahweh sent plagues of frogs, lice, locusts, boils, livestock pestilence, and days of darkness to get Pharaoh to change his mind, but to no avail. Finally Yahweh sent His destroying angel to kill the firstborn of everyone who did not have the blood of a lamb smeared on their doorpost.

All the homes of the Hebrews were passed over because they made sure to put the blood on their doors, but countless Egyptians died. All Egypt was in mourning and Pharaoh finally surrendered after his own firstborn died. He said Moses and the 600,000 plus Hebrews could leave. The huge entourage left Egypt laden with wealth, for the Egyptians were so glad to be rid of them that they gave the Hebrews all they asked.

The lamb's blood on the doorposts foretold the coming of a divine Lamb of God who would bring deliverance from spiritual death. His blood would pay for the sins of humanity. What occurred in Egypt was a shadow of what was to come. The blood on the door lintels was a sign of mercy which applied to Egyptians as well as Hebrews, if they believed Yahweh and took up His offer of protection. Some did, but most did not.

The Hebrews had been slaves in Egypt for 430

years and Pharaoh was losing his entire work

force. Yahweh led the 600,000 adult Hebrew

men (and likely as many women and children)

with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire

by night. That way they could travel night and

day to distance themselves from Egypt. The

Hebrews were unaware of what was awaiting

them, but Yahweh knew what was about to

happen and He warned Moses, giving him

instructions on what to do when they all came

to the Red Sea.

Pharaoh thought better of letting all his slaves leave Egypt and he was consumed with rage as he raced after them. He had learned nothing from the plagues Yahweh had sent earlier. His army raced after the Hebrews and saw them crossing the Red Sea, with Moses standing on the other side, his rod held aloft as the waters stood parted on either side. Thinking his army could cross as the Hebrews were doing, Pharaoh commanded his men to go forward, but Moses let down his staff and the waters returned to their place. Pharaoh's chariots and soldiers were mired in mud and found no escape when the waters closed over them. Not one remained alive.

Next day the Hebrews saw the Egyptians

dead on the seashore and were in awe of

Yahweh's great power. Not one of

Pharaoh's army made it out alive. Just as

in antediluvian days, a flood of water had

destroyed evil. The Hebrews celebrated

the monumental victory Yahweh had given

them. They were so elated that Miriam,

prophetess and elder sister of Aaron and

Moses, led the women in song and dance

with tambourines. Today the 'Song of the

Sea' is read on the seventh day of the

Jewish Passover, the day on which the sea

was split and the song was sung. On this

day, many Jews have the custom of staying

up the entire night, studying Torah, and

recreating the miraculous parting of the

sea. Some will even pour water on the

floor and then dance through it,

commemorating this miraculous event.

The Hebrews soon lost their jubilation at being set free from slavery. The rigours of desert life were hard on the people, who were not used to this kind of life and often grumbled at Yahweh and Moses whenever food and thirst overcame them. Yahweh was always faithful, providing water from a rock, quail, and even bread-like flakes that rained down from the sky every day.

The Hebrews called it manna and it sustained them until they came to the borders of Canaan.

The Hebrews didn't really know their God and the first thing Yahweh did through Moses was to reveal His holiness and hatred for sin. Moses met with Yahweh on Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments written on stone tablets so the people could know what Yahweh expected of them. The fire and smoke greatly impressed them with His power and might.

The ten Commandments are 10 basic moral rules which were necessary to establish order in Hebrew society, plus they clearly showed the extent of Yahweh's holiness. This moral standard is still used today in many nations and civilizations of the world, without necessarily following the God of the Jews. Of course to reach such a level of moral perfection required perfect obedience, and that disqualified everyone. But the Israelites affirmed to Moses that they would keep all ten commandments. They also built a tabernacle according to Yahweh's instructions. It was a tent-like structure that could be carried with them as they travelled through the desert.

Setting such an impossible standard was

Yahweh's way of showing the Hebrews

that they could not attain righteousness

in themselves. No one can keep the Law

perfectly, although many try to do so.

The Hebrews needed a Divine Rescuer

who would fulfill the righteous

requirements of the Law for them,

which is why Yahweh gave instructions

for the tabernacle. Everything in its

construction pointed to a coming Lamb

of God whose blood sacrifice would

break down every barrier between

Yahweh and humanity. The Lamb's

righteousness would provide their

salvation. The tabernacle, with it's many

animal sacrifices, was a constant

reminder to the Hebrews of their need

for a Deliverer and the blood payment

for sin that was required to approach a

perfect God.

The Hebrews quickly forgot their promise to follow Yahweh and rebelled against Him continually, greatly trying His patience. When Moses sent spies into Canaan, the people were overcome with terror because the spies saw giants living there. The Hebrew people refused to enter. It was at this point that Yahweh gave up on the older generation. They were sentenced to roam in the desert for forty years.

The older generation of Hebrews died off and Yahweh chose Joshua and Caleb to lead the younger generation. They were the only two who had not been dismayed over the reports of giants in Canaan and had wanted to obey Yahweh. They had almost been killed by the fearful Israelites as a result. All who had resisted Yahweh's command to enter Canaan died during the 40 years of wandering. Moses was not permitted to lead the people any longer because at one time he had dishonoured God by presumptuously usurping Yahweh's glory. He died on Mt. Seir, but he watched as the people crossed the border. Then he died and Yahweh buried him on the mountain.

The Hebrews were now a nation, calling themselves Israelites after the name Yahweh had given Jacob. The men had been trained in warfare by Joshua and Caleb and they were ready to conquer Canaan. On the border stood the city of Jericho. As they came near the city, they saw it was a heavily guarded fortress that seemed impregnable. It was very old, dating to 10000 BC. and was surrounded by a stone wall about 41 feet high. The city would be the first one attacked by the Israelites, but Joshua first commissioned 2 spies to enter the city and bring back information. It was a dangerous mission and the spies would have stood out as foreigners, making it difficult to conceal themselves among the people.

Before attacking Jericho, Joshua had

an encounter with a mighty warrior.

He looked human and so Joshua

asked Him whose side He was on.

The warrior introduced Himself as

the Commander of the Lord's Army

and told Joshua He had come to aid

him. Realizing he was speaking with

Elohim Himself, Joshua fell on his

face and worshipped Him. He was

then told to remove his footwear as

he was standing on holy ground. The

Theophany of Elohim then gave very

detailed instructions on how Joshua

and his army were to conquer

Jericho. He told Joshua: "Have I not

commanded you? Be strong and

courageous. Do not be afraid; do not

be discouraged, for I will be with you

wherever you go.”

The spies got into Jericho and came to

the house of a prostitute called Rahab.

However the king of Jericho found out

about them and he sent his men to

Rahab's brothel to capture them. Rahab

had heard about the great miracles

Yahweh had done in Egypt and at the

Red Sea. She believed that He would

surely give the Israelites victory in taking

the city. She hid the spies on the rooftop

of her house under some flax. When the

king commanded her to send the spies

out to him, she told the king that they

had left at nightfall and she didn't know

where they had gone. She urged the king

to quickly pursue them in order to catch

them before they left the city. The

soldiers left and the city gate was shut.

Rahab asked the spies to promise to show kindness to her family as she had shown kindness to them. The men agreed, as long as she didn't inform on them. Rahab let the spies out through her window which was on the top of the city wall. She told them to hide in the hills for 3 days before returning to their camp. The spies instructed her to hang a red cord from her window to show her location when Israel attacked. Joshua listened to the spies' report and, as Yahweh instructed, he had the Israelites march around the city for 7 days carrying the ark of the covenant while blowing the shofar continually.

On the 7th day Israel gave a loud shout and Jericho's walls fell flat, allowing Israel to march right in. Everyone was killed inside the city. Rahab and her family were the only survivors. The red cord had been her lifeline, indicating her faith in Yahweh, just as the blood of Yahweh's Son would one day rescue all who put their faith in Him. It was a shadow of the plan Yahweh had for humanity.

Rahab married Salmon, a prince of Israel from the tribe of Judah, thereby placing her in the genealogical line of the Messiah. There was no greater honour Yahweh could have given her.

She was now a part of Yahweh's people and in direct line to the coming Deliverer. In spite of her being a Canaanite and a former prostitute, she had trusted Yahweh and He had seen her heart and loved her. Her old life was gone and her new life was full of promise.

Israel pushed into Canaan and found many giant clans there - Rephaim, Anakim, Amalakites, and many more. These tribes were related to the Nephilim from pre-flood times. It would seem the Watchers had again cohabited with human women to produce giants. The Bible mentions King Og of the Amorites whose bed was 13 feet long and 6 feet wide. These throwbacks to the Nephilim were evil and a dire threat to Israel and Yahweh's plan for His people to establish His kingdom family on the earth.

Both the Nephilim and their progeny

were sometimes called "Gibborim".

These descendants were not as tall

a n d p o w e r f u l a s t h e o r i g i n a l Nephilim, but they were nevertheless

a very dangerous, gigantic warrior

race. They spread quickly, permeating

all of Canaanite society, so that it was

necessary to eradicate whole clans

and their cities, including the animals

because of the Nephilim's wicked

pollution and distortion of all they

came in contact with. Almost no tribe

was free of the giants' wicked

influence. Yahweh told Joshua to

destroy all the giants. With them

gone, Israel would finally be able to

settle in the land.

Shortly after Joshua died, Israel turned

a w a y f r o m Y a h w e h a n d b e g a n

worshipping pagan gods. The people

became increasingly lawless and

Yahweh withdrew His protection. The

neighbouring tribes of the Philistines

attacked Israel but Yahweh, in His

compassion, sent judges to help them.

One unlikely judge was Samson whose

birth was a miracle. At first his mother

was unable to have children, but an

angel appeared to her and said she

would give birth to a son. He was to be

a Nazarite all his life, which meant he

was never to drink wine, touch dead

bodies, or cut his hair or beard.

Yahweh gave Samson supernatural

strength which was linked to his long,

uncut hair.

When Samson reached manhood, he was overtaken by lust. He married a Philistine woman from the pagan conquerors of Israel, even though the Israelites were not supposed to marry outside their faith. That led to a confrontation and Samson started killing Philistines. On one occasion, he took up the jawbone of a donkey and killed 1,000 men. He became a scourge to the Philistines who wanted to capture him and make him their prisoner.

In spite of many attempts, the Philistines failed to capture Samson until his love for Delilah, a Philistine prostitute, entrapped him. Delilah was bribed by the Philistines to discover the secret of Samson's great strength. Samson treated her questions as a game and teased her with false answers, until her nagging began to annoy him.

Samson finally told Delilah that

his strength was due to his vow

to never cut his hair. As they had

done previously, the Philistines

were waiting outside Delilah's

apartment to overpower him in

case Delilah managed to get the

truth out of him. This time she

had succeeded. After Samson fell

asleep she quickly told the

Philistines about his secret. They

came and silently cut his hair.

W h e n S a m s o n a w o k e , h e

realized that his great strength

was gone. His enemies were able

to overpower him and they

dragged him off to prison.

Samson's eyes were gouged out and he

was brought to Gaza, where he was

bound with bronze chains and forced

to grind corn at a mill wheel. The

Philistines rejoiced that they had

defeated their great enemy and they

loved to humiliate him. But they also

made the claim that Samson's God,

Yahweh, was inferior in strength to

their own god, Dagon. To show off the

superiority of Dagon, they decided to

hold a feast in his honour to celebrate.

S a m s o n w a s t o b e t h e m a i n

entertainment. They were claiming

“Our god has given Samson into our

control!” Thousands of Philistines

were invited to the party.

Samson was chained to two large pillars that held up a house filled with Philistine lords and ladies. Three thousand were on the upper floor alone. No one had noticed that Samson's hair had grown longer over the months while in captivity. Samson prayed that Yahweh would once again give him power to defeat his enemies and Yahweh did so. Samson strained at the pillars and brought the house crashing down, killing thousands of Philistines, including himself.

Samson was impulsive, violent, and

driven by his lusts, yet Yahweh used

this warrior, with all his faults, for the

good of His people. Yahweh Himself is

perfect but sometimes uses the sin

already existing in the world to fulfill

His purposes. The story of Samson

showcases this. Samson is listed in the

Bible's 'hall of faith' in spite of his

many flaws. His name stands alongside

those of Moses and Abraham. Though

Yahweh's Law demanded perfection

(which doomed even the patriarchs),

His love for humanity provided a way

to His heart through faith. These

heroes all pointed the way to the

mighty Deliverer who would one day

overcome the world for His beloved

people.

Israel was not content with the judges

Yahweh sent to help them. They

wanted a king like the nations around

them, and so a tall, handsome man

called Saul became Israel's first king.

His appearance inspired confidence.

After all, he stood head and shoulders

above most men. Israel hoped that by

having a king, they would be able to

defeat the Philistines once and for all.

Saul was shy at first and even tried to

hide when the people wanted to

anoint him as king. However he had a

flawed character that soon revealed

itself when he was disobedient to

Yahweh's commands. He began to

like the power of his position and

w h e n c o n f r o n t e d b y a m a j o r

challenge, he failed miserably.

Goliath was a 10 foot Philistine giant.

The Philistines were a warrior race

related to the Nephilim from pre-flood

times, and they were all fiercely wicked.

They constantly tried to conquer Israel,

making the lives of Yahweh's people a

nightmare. One day Goliath challenged

King Saul to a battle wherein each army

would send out a champion and

whichever champion won, that army

would be declared victorious and the

losing side would be subject to the

winning side. All of Israel's army was

terrified and King Saul could find no

champion willing to take on the giant.

Twice a day for 40 days Goliath taunted

the Israelites, daring them to send a

champion to fight him, but no one dared

to take up the challenge.

A young shepherd boy named David

was sent by his father to bring

supplies to his brothers in the army.

He heard about Goliath's insults to

Yahweh and his mockery of Israel.

David loved Yahweh deeply and he

was incensed. He had complete faith

that Yahweh would protect him and

give him victory over the giant

b e c a u s e h e h a d p e r s o n a l l y

experienced Yahweh's protection and

deliverance many times. Often he

had encountered wolves and lions

which tried to attack the sheep he

was guarding. Yahweh had given him

the strength and courage to kill or

drive them off every single time.

Though just a teenage boy, he

volunteered as Israel's champion,

much to everyone's amazement.

No one had much hope that David would

defeat Goliath. A young boy, not yet full-

grown, against a ten foot giant seemed

sheer folly. King Saul offered his own

armour to David, but it was heavy and

cumbersome and David refused the offer.

He decided to use his sling instead, which

he had used many times with lethal

accuracy when facing predators in the

field. Goliath felt insulted when he saw

Israel's champion. He bragged how he

would kill him, but David answered right

back that Yahweh would give him the

victory. He rushed at the giant and flung a

stone that pierced Goliath's forehead,

felling him just long enough for David to

cut off his head. The Israelites were wild

with excitement and cheered David as their

hero. The demoralized Philistines fled in

terror.

David became very popular in Israel after having slain Goliath. He was handsome and well-liked by everyone, especially the young women who made up songs in his honour. He was also the 13th generation after Abraham, exhibiting the same trust in Yahweh that his ancestor had. And he was also in the genealogical line to the coming Messiah. Yahweh called him to be the next king of Israel, for He had rejected Saul because of his disobedience. King Saul watched David becoming more and more popular. He knew Yahweh had chosen him as the next king and became so jealous that he tried to murder David several times, until David and his followers finally had to flee into the country and hide in caves in the hills.

For the next 10 years David was a hunted man. He and his followers were relentlessly pursued by Saul and his armies, forcing David and his men to be constantly on the run. It was guerrilla warfare training that would later be indispensable when David became Israel's next king. But in the meantime it made David's life very precarious. He also had to watch out for the Philistines who roamed the land. There were enemies on every side and David's faith was often stretched to the limit, yet his trust in Yahweh only grew greater.

Eventually King Saul and his three sons were killed in a battle with the Philistines. Saul had been shot with an arrow and fell on his spear rather than be captured and tortured by the enemy. The men of Israel living nearby heard what happened and fled from their cities.

David was 30 years old when he was

crowned King of Israel. When the

Philistines heard this, they attacked

repeatedly, but Yahweh was with

David and gave him victory over his

enemies. David now took more wives

and had more children. He made

Jerusalem the capital and brought the

ark of the covenant there. His victories

in battle were tremendous. He fought

the Philistines, the Geshurites, the

Gezites, the Jebusites, and the

Amalekites. But he had troubles too.

His first wife, Michal, King Saul's

daughter, despised David in her heart

because of his passionate exuberance

in dancing before the Lord when the

ark was brought to Jerusalem. She

also may have resented him for taking

her away from her second husband,

given to her by King Saul.

During his lifetime David was a

shepherd, poet, musician, warrior, and

king. He excelled in every area. He was

also renowned for defeating his

enemies and he managed to retain

unfading popularity with his people.

He lived in a palace with his wives and

children and had everything a man

could hope for. His courage and

d e v o t i o n t o Y a h w e h w e r e a l s o exemplary. In fact, Yahweh described

him as "a man after My own heart who

shall fulfill all My will." But there was one blot on his record that would cost

him the loss of his blessings. It

happened during a war campaign when

he stayed back in Jerusalem while his

army was away fighting enemies.

David was walking along the roof of his

palace, gazing at the city below, when he

spied a beautiful woman at her bath in the

house next door. She was Bathsheba, the

wife of Uriah the Hittite - one of his

Mighty Warriors. David was entranced

with her beauty and lusted after her. He

sent his messengers to bring her to his

palace, where he slept with her. When she

became pregnant, David called Uriah back

to the city and tried to encourage him to

have relations with his wife, so that

Bathsheba's baby could then be passed off

as belonging to Uriah. However Uriah felt

uncomfortable because none of the other

soldiers got this kind of preferential

treatment, so he didn't take advantage of

this favour. Then David had his general

put Uriah in a dangerous place in battle so

that he would be killed. Everything went

according to plan - Uriah was killed and

David thought his secret was safe.

Yahweh sent a prophet to confront David

about his sins. He told David that even

though he would be forgiven, there

would be serious consequences.

Bathsheba gave birth to a baby son and

David loved the child, but true to His

word, Yahweh took back the life of the

baby and David was heartbroken that he

had caused the death of his son. David

deeply grieved and repented of his evil

deeds and Yahweh, in His mercy, forgave

him. David then comforted Bathsheba

and slept with her, and she became

pregnant and gave birth to another baby.

David named him Solomon. Yahweh

loved the baby and sent blessings

through the prophet Nathan. David then

nicknamed the baby Jedidiah meaning

'Beloved of Yahweh'. Yahweh also told

David that Solomon would build a

Temple for Him and He made it clear

that Solomon (meaning peace) would be

the next king.

The house of David was plagued by tragedy

- Tamar, David's daughter, was seduced

and raped by her step-brother Amnon;

Absalom, the girl's brother, then killed

Amnon in revenge for having dishonoured

his sister; David was estranged from

Absalom for having committed the murder;

Absalom then turned against David and

tried to turn the people against him as well;

and at the end of David's life, Absalom

attempted a coup to get the throne so that

his step-brother Solomon couldn't become

the next king. Solomon's mother,

Bathsheba, quickly summoned the prophet

Nathan to help her defeat Absalom, and

Solomon was publicly crowned as king.

Nathan had once prophesied that the sword

would never depart from David's house

because of his sins, and this certainly came

true, although Yahweh never stopped

loving David.

King Solomon succeeded to the throne

and he was renowned for his great

wisdom and fabulous wealth. Every

year he received from his taxes and

tributes the value of between

$1,092,906,000 and $1,165,766,400

(in U.S. dollars!) He was the world's

first and only trillionaire. He became

so rich that all his cups were made of

gold. Silver and other precious metals

were as common in Jerusalem as

stones. He also had thousands of wives

and concubines whom he acquired

largely to secure diplomatic relations

with other nations. The Queen of

Sheba from Ethiopia heard the stories

and was intrigued. She traveled all the

way from her homeland to meet

Solomon to see if the king was as wise

and wealthy as purported.

The Queen of Sheba was the ruler of the kingdom of Saba' (or Sheba) in southwestern Arabia.

She traveled in a long camel caravan bearing gold, jewels, and spices. The purpose of her visit was to test Solomon’s wisdom by asking him to solve a number of riddles. She also hoped to establish trade and commerce ties between Israel and her own country. The journey was 1,2000 miles to Jerusalem.

When King Solomon showed the Queen his palace and the temple he had built for Yahweh, she was overwhelmed, saying that the things she was seeing far surpassed what she had been told. Both heads of royalty exchanged gifts but Solomon's gift was much larger than the queen's.

Most of the king's many marriages were formed for diplomatic reasons with neighbouring nations. Many of those nations were pagan and practiced idolatry.

Ties with them enabled Israel to finally be at peace with her neighbours, but they also brought pagan practices into her culture. Solomon even set up altars to his wives' gods in Jerusalem.

Yahweh was angry that Solomon had

turned to idolatry and broken the

covenant. Yahweh warned that Israel

would be divided after the king died.

Only Judah would go to Solomon's son,

for the sake of His promise to David.

After Solomon died, it didn't take long

for Israel to become embroiled in many

wars. Even though the Jewish people had

defeated their enemies, built the Temple,

and had a wealthy economy, the nation

divided into ten northern tribes and two

southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin,

the only ones who remained loyal to the

House of David in Jerusalem. They

became known as the kingdom of Judea

(from where the word “Jew” was

eventually derived).

Yahweh sent many prophets over the years to steer Israel away from wickedness. One was Elijah who was expected to come back to earth to make way for the coming Messiah. (This was a metaphorical reference to John the Baptist who would point out Messiah's identity centuries later.) Elijah was taken up into the clouds of heaven in a chariot, his mantle falling down to Elisha, who would become the next prophet after him.

Another prophet was Isaiah who

foretold that Yahweh's Son, the

promised Seed, would establish an

everlasting kingdom when He came

to earth. More than 300 Scriptures

allude to Jesus, His lineage, and

method of execution, all of which

could not have been accidentally

fulfilled. They are remarkable proof of

the veracity of the Jewish Scriptures

and the clear identity of the Messiah

who knew He was fulfilling these

prophecies, and used this knowledge

to confirm His claims of being the

Son of God in the flesh. He would tell

His followers: " You search the

Scriptures because you think they

give you eternal life. But the

Scriptures point to Me!" (John 5:39)

In 589–587 BC) the Babylonian king,

N e b u c h a d n e z z a r I I , b e s i e g e d Jerusalem and destroyed the city and

Solomon's temple, carting off all the

spoils to Babylon. Archaeological

r e s e a r c h h a s s h o w n t h a t t h e

Babylonians systematically destroyed

the city with fire and that the city wall

was pulled down. The Kingdom of

Judah was dissolved and 10,000

prominent Jews were taken to

Babylon as well. These were set apart

to be trained for administrative

positions in Babylon. They were given

Babylonian names and treated well.

Daniel (renamed Beltashazzar) and his 3 friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were young Jewish noblemen who were given favour in King Nebuchadnezzar's court. They studied all the arts and sciences of Babylon while still remaining true to Yahweh. They were allowed to follow Yahweh's dietary rules and other laws as long as they didn't conflict with Babylonian decrees.

The faith of Daniel's friends was challenged the day the king decreed that everyone had to worship a 90 foot golden statue made in his image. The young men refused to bow to the statue, even after being threatened with death. They said they would bow down to no other god but Yahweh. The enraged king had them thrown into a fiery furnace which was so hot that even the guards, who threw the three Jews into the furnace, died. After a time Nebuchadnezzar looked inside the furnace and was amazed to see four men walking in the fire. One looked like an angel.

Nebuchadnezzar’s descendant,

Belshazzar, ruled after him, and

Daniel served as his counsellor too.

Then the Medo-Persians defeated the

Babylonians and Darius the Mede

came to power. Daniel again served

as a counsellor to the new king. King

Darius was generous and supportive

of the remnant of the Jews, but some

of his officials were jealous of Daniel

and disliked that he had the king's

favour. They tricked Darius into

forbidding prayer for one month to

any god but the king. Then they

waited to inform on Daniel who

continued to pray to Yahweh 3 times

a day as usual.

The king was reluctant to have Daniel thrown in a lion's den but he could not go against his own decree. However Yahweh sent an angel to stop the lions from harming him. When Darius went next morning to see how Daniel fared, he was overjoyed to see him alive and well. He had Daniel released and then he had the jealous officials thrown to the lions instead.

Daniel was a high official in Babylon who received many visions from Yahweh. Some depicted the future of the nations, such as the image Daniel saw with a head of gold (Chaldeans), arms of silver (Medes and Persians), torso of brass (Greece), and legs of iron (Roman). Then a stone not cut by human hands destroyed the statue and became a mountain filling the whole earth. This last kingdom was the Kingdom of Messiah.

Daniel received many visions from

Yahweh during his lifetime. One

vision was of Yahweh as the

Ancient of Days, sitting on His

flaming throne surrounded by

countless angels. His hair and

clothing were white as snow which

signify His existence before time

began, as well as His wisdom and

perfection. The throne is symbolic

of judgment. Then One who looked

human came on clouds and was

presented before Him. This 'son of

man' received dominion, glory, and

an everlasting kingdom and was a

picture of the coming Messiah.

Jesus knew this vision alluded to

Himself and He often referred to

Himself as the 'Son of Man'.

Daniel often received messages from Yahweh in answer to his prayers. One time there was spiritual opposition to a particular message from Yahweh concerning the future of Israel.

The angel Gabriel was bringing the message to Daniel in the form of a vision when he was opposed by one of the evil Watchers, the prince of Persia. This wicked angel managed to hinder Gabriel for 3 weeks, until the mighty archangel Michael came to his aid. Many of the conflicts on earth had direct parallels to cosmic spiritual warfare in the heavens.

The cosmic battle going on when

Daniel was praying to Yahweh to tell

him about Israel's future, was

intense. It involved Michael,

Yahweh's mightiest archangel, and

the Prince of Persia. It appears that

they were in conflict because the

Watcher did not want Daniel to know

Israel's future, or the timing of

Messiah's arrival to earth. Michael

was the Watcher over Israel and

always protected her from her

enemies, but Israel had fallen away

from Yahweh and it seems Michael

had been withdrawn from his post.

This is why Persia was able to

conquer Israel. However because

Yahweh loved Daniel and His people,

Michael was sent to help make

certain that Daniel received Yahweh's

reply to his prayer.

Enoch 1 has a lot to say about the

Watchers, although the Bible speaks of

them also. The book of Job mentions a

council of Watchers who were assigned

to the nations at Babel. They were to

carry out justice for the humans under

their authority, but they became evil

and led people into pagan worship and

idolatry, just as they do to this day. The

book of Daniel also alludes to them and

t h e a p o s t l e P a u l c a l l e d t h e m

'principalities and powers'. Although

powerful, they cannot withstand the

great archangel Michael, and they have

no defence against the power and

authority of the Commander of the

Lord's Army, which is a reference to the

Son of God Himself. This Commander

is also called the Seed of God and the

Watchers focus their opposition against

Him.

Just as had been revealed to Daniel, the

Romans became the next conquerors over

Israel. This occurred in 63 B.C. bringing

the region under Roman control, although

they used local leaders to govern. The most

famous was a ruthless military commander

named Herod the Great who remodelled

the Jerusalem temple. At this time Yahweh

came to be addressed as 'God' (derived

from the Greek) or 'Lord'. High priests

oversaw worship in the temple. One Jewish

group was the Pharisees, who adopted the

highest standards and were interpreters of

Jewish law. The Sadducees were a priestly

group that used the law but not the other

writings. Another group, the Essenes, lived

in separate communities. They considered

the temple leadership to be corrupt. There

were also Zealots who sought to regain

Jewish independence from Rome. Most of

the Jews were desperate for a Messiah who

would defeat the Romans and cause Israel

to rule over the nations.

The Jews awaited a majestic Messiah, a strong ruler who would drive the Romans from their land. It was imagined that He would come with great fanfare and all the nations would become subject to Him. However God had other plans for the Messiah's arrival. His plan was to send the Deliverer by stealth, under the radar of both man and demon. There would be no fanfare to herald His coming or alert the Watchers. Instead He quietly sent the archangel Gabriel to visit Mary, a young Jewish virgin living in Nazareth, to announce His plan.

Gabriel told Mary that she was highly

favoured by God. She was a woman of

rare faith, which is why God had chosen

her to bear the Messiah. She was

already betrothed to a man called

Joseph, an honest man who worked as a

carpenter, but they were not yet

married. Both were in the lineage of

King David, Mary being descended from

the tribe of Judah and a descendent of

David. However Gabriel told Mary that

Joseph, her betrothed, would not be the

baby's father. Mary would become

pregnant by means of a miracle of God's

Holy Spirit. Because her babe would

have no human father, no sin nature

would be inherited by Him through her

ancestor, Adam. This was highly

important for the rescue of humanity.

Mary must have been an exceptional

person for God to have chosen her.

She was a virgin, yet unmarried, and

pregnant. Being a virgin meant she

had never known a man, but as soon

as it became obvious that she was with

child, the world around her would

have assumed that she had slept with a

man. The obvious surmise would have

been that she and her betrothed

husband had sexual relations before

their marriage had been finalized.

That was not unusual, although

frowned upon. There was often a year

between betrothal and the marriage

feast. However in Mary's case, her

betrothed husband would have known

the baby couldn't be his. He would

naturally assume she had committed

adultery.

Joseph loved Mary but at first he made the logical conclusion that Mary had betrayed him with another man. Because of this he felt he couldn't marry her, but it placed him in a dilemma. Jewish Law condemned both the adulterous woman and the man she sinned with to the death penalty. Although this sentence was rarely carried out, exposure to public shame carried many serious repercussions.

However God revealed the truth to Joseph in a dream, and he immediately married Mary and kept her chaste while she carried God's holy Child.

Mary and Jospeh's journey to Bethlehem fulfilled the prophecy in Micah 5:2. "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."

Mary and Joseph were stragglers into Bethlehem due to Mary's advanced pregnancy. It must have been a very arduous journey for Mary. When they tried to get accommodation in the town however, they found all the inns were already taken. Finally an innkeeper let them use the stable behind his inn.

In a stable used for animals, Mary gave birth to a son, whom she named Jesus ("Yahweh saves"), the name Gabriel had instructed her to give to the baby. Mary placed Him in a manger filled with straw, and probably wondered at such an unlikely setting for the King of the universe.

A few shepherds watching over their

sheep were shocked to see a great

shining angel suddenly appear before

them. They were terrified until the

angel gave them the good news that the

Great Shepherd Himself had arrived

and they would find Him lying in a

manger. It was strange that these

shepherds were honoured in this way.

Shepherds were poor outcasts in

society, scorned by the Pharisees and

looked down upon by others. Yet these

ordinary shepherds were the first to

hear of Jesus’ birth and to spread the

good news. After they saw Him, they

joined the angels in glorifying and

praising God for the awesome news of

Messiah's coming.

God summoned Gentiles from the east to

visit the new King. They were magi (like

Daniel had been), powerful advisors from

Persia. The magi first appear in history in

the seventh century as a tribe in eastern

Mesopotamia. Many historians consider

them to have been Semites, which link

them with descendants of Noah’s son

Shem. They may also, like Abraham, have

come from ancient Ur in Chaldea. The

magi became skilled in astronomy and

astrology (which, in that day, were closely

associated) and had a sacrificial system

that somewhat resembled the one God

gave to Israel through Moses. They were

noted for their ability to interpret

dreams. They had seen a strange star

hovering in the sky, and learning that it

portended a great king to be born in

Israel, they made the long trek to

Jerusalem.

The Magi who followed the star were astronomers, and they likely had access to Daniel's prophecies which spoke of the time and place of Messiah's appearance. They linked the star to the prophecies and were able to follow it because it hovered low in the sky. It took 2 years to make their journey to Jerusalem.

The Magi visited King Herod in

Jerusalem and told him they'd seen

Messiah's star and were trying to find

Him. Herod wasn’t even a Jew. He was

an Edomite, one of Israel’s historical

enemies. He ruled by terror and murder

and was paranoid about losing his

position. One time he thought his own

sons were trying to assassinate him, so

he had them all executed. In the last

few years of his life, he became

increasingly mentally ill. When he

heard about a new king being born in

Judea, his paranoid fears were

magnified. He summoned his advisors

and discovered that the little king's

birthplace was Bethlehem. Then he

cunningly told the Magi to find the

child's location and inform him so he

could worship Him too, which was a lie

of course.

It is unknown how many Magi came

from the east to see the new king. It

is assumed there were three

because they brought three types of

gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh

- but there could have been more to

their number. The Magi were

thrilled to see the star return. It

probably was not an ordinary star

because it hung so low in the sky

that it could be followed by the

caravan. Very likely it was an angel

sent to light the Magi's path to the

house where the child lived with

His family. The little Messiah

looked like any other toddler, but

He was actually the highest of all

beings, God Himself in the flesh.

The Magi brought gold as a gift to Jesus. This was the Old Testament symbol of kings, so they were proclaiming Him king. They also brought frankincense which the high priest of Israel burned in the temple on the Day of Atonement. The Magi were proclaiming Jesus to be their high priest. The myrrh was an embalming oil, symbolizing Christ’s mortality as a man. These gifts may have shown that the Magi knew exactly who Jesus was - a King, a High Priest, and also Deity.

God warned the Magi to return home by a different route, without seeing Herod, and He warned Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod intended to kill Jesus. The valuable gifts from the Magi enabled Mary and Joseph to make the trip and set up a home there.

When Herod realized that the Magi

would not be returning to inform him of

the Messiah's location, he was enraged.

He sent soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all

the male children in the town and its

environ who were two years old or under.

This was the length of time ascertained

from the wise men first seeing the star

and then visiting Bethlehem. The Bible

says this incident fulfilled what was

spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping

and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping

for her children; she refused to be

comforted, because they are no more.”

Herod was driven by jealous fear and

probably by demons in this wicked act.

After Herod died, Jesus' family

moved to Nazareth where Jesus grew

up in relative obscurity. He probably

worked with Joseph at carpentry.

Later, after Joseph died, He would

have provided for His mother and

brothers and sisters. This was a time

when He would have been learning

many practical lessons about life,

people and relationships, and the

world around Him. During this time,

God His Father protected Him from

harm by keeping Him out of the

public eye, and with the great

Michael as Watcher over Israel, there

were no further reported attempts on

His life while He was growing up.

Jesus had an extensive knowledge of the scriptures, even as a young adolescent. As He studied Torah, He would have seen Himself as the Second Person of the Triune God and the Redeemer King of Israel. Mary and Joseph would have told Him of the angelic visitations and the Magi, which spoke clearly of His divine destiny. He also would have fallen deeply in love with His Father.

The first part of Messiah's mission

involved His identification with

the human race, as a figurehead,

just as Adam had been the

figurehead of humanity before

Him. Covenantal headship, also

known as federal headship, is a

r e l a t i o n s h i p i n w h i c h a n

individual represents a larger

group and the actions of the

representative are imputed onto

the larger group. Adam was a

covenant head whose actions

affected all those who were “in

him.” Jesus is also a covenant

head, and His actions affect all

those who are "in Him". It was

absolutely crucial to the whole

purpose of His coming and it

involved the symbolic act of

baptism so as to show this

identification.

Jesus was baptized by his cousin John

the Baptist in the Jordan River. The

Holy Spirit descended on Him as a

dove, symbolizing the peace Jesus

would bring between God and

h u m a n i t y . T h e F a t h e r ' s v o i c e thundered from heaven: “This is my

Son, whom I love; with Him I am well

pleased.” God was affirming Jesus as

His Son, and therefore also testifying

to His divinity. Later John would say:

“I saw the Spirit come down from

heaven as a dove and remain on Him.

And I myself did not know him, but

the One who sent me to baptize with

water told me, ‘The man on whom you

see the Spirit come down and remain

is the One who will baptize with the

Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify

that this is God’s Chosen One.” The

baptism also points to the Trinity of

the Godhead.

The next step to commencing His mission involved a challenge to Jesus' faith. It was a necessary part of His preparation for what was to come. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert where Satan, His adversary, waited. This was after Jesus had fasted for 40 days, which greatly weakened Him physically. Being tempted as He was, gave Jesus a better understanding of the temptations that come to all of humanity. However Jesus was unlike all others in that He had never sinned and had no sin nature.

Satan (or Lucifer) was once a powerful and beautiful cherub among the elect angels, until he rebelled against God and was stripped of his authority. He was highly ambitious and wanted to wield cosmic power, even over God Himself. His name means 'light-bringer' but he brings only death and destruction.

Satan caused the first humans to doubt God's goodness, thereby leading to their fall into sin and death. He would use this tactic repeatedly against humanity with great success. He tried it with Jesus, implying that God wasn't providing for Him, so He should make bread out of stones to satisfy His hunger. This temptation concerned the lust of the flesh, but Jesus replied with Scripture, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3: " A man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Satan then led Jesus to the top of the

t e m p l e a n d t h r e w o u t a n o t h e r temptation. He quoted God's promise

in Psalm 91 which was God's promise to

keep His beloved ones safe from all

harm. Satan suggested Jesus throw

Himself down from the pinnacle of the

temple in a spectacular bid to prove He

was the Messiah and to force God to

prove His Word. This temptation

concerned the pride of life, but the Lord

again replied with Scripture: "You shall

not put the Lord your God to the test."

Jesus was stating that it was wrong for

Him to abuse His own powers and

those of His Father.

For the third temptation, Satan took

Jesus to a high mountain and showed

Him a panoramic vision of all the

nations of the world, offering them to

Jesus if He would worship Satan. This

was a temptation concerning the lust

of the eyes, and offered a quick route

to the Messiahship that would bypass

the crucifixion for which He had come.

The devil already had control over the

kingdoms of the world but was now

ready to give everything to Christ in

return for His allegiance. However the

mere thought caused Jesus to recoil

from such a suggestion and He sharply

replied: “You shall worship the Lord

your God and serve Him only!" Then

Jesus commanded Satan to be gone.

After fasting for 40 days under the

gruelling conditions of the desert, plus

the spiritual battle with Lucifer, Jesus

was understandably exhausted. He

would have been dirty, dusty, and

famished, but He had also dealt with

the onslaught from Satan. Those three

temptations represented a mighty

spiritual battle, with the destiny of

humanity hanging in the balance. Had

Jesus given in to temptation, the

people already in Sheol would have

remained there forever, and salvation

for the rest of humanity would have

been lost. The Father, who was

carefully watching over His Son, sent

angels to minister to Jesus' needs,

providing Him with sustenance and

comfort. The angels are often sent to

aid humans, but this would have been

a special honour for them.

Satan's ploys didn't work. Jesus saw right through them. In the Bible, Satan is called the 'father of lies', and likened to a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, an accuser of the saints, and completely evil. His obsession is the enslavement and brutalization of humanity.

One of Satan's greatest deceptions is that he doesn't exist, but the Bible exposes him repeatedly. His cohorts are other Watchers (called 'principalities') and demons (disembodied spirits of Nephilim from pre-flood times). They battle against humanity, bringing disease, violence, murder, sexual licentiousness, poverty, tyranny, Satanic worship, and every form of evil imaginable. There is only one defence.

That one defence is Messiah Jesus. His

mission was to bring good news to the

poor; to bind up the brokenhearted, to

proclaim liberty to the captives, and to

open the prison for those who are

bound. This would also be the mission

of His disciples, who seem weak and

vulnerable, but have spiritual armour

well able to confront Satan who

opposes them. They also have the

mighty authority of Messiah Himself.

He promised them that whatever they

asked in His name would be done for

them. He also enabled them “to

trample on snakes and scorpions and

to overcome all the power of the

enemy.” Followers of Jesus are far

from defenceless when it comes to

fighting the evil forces of this world.

The language of warfare is everywhere

in the scriptures. In Isaiah 59:17 the

prophet says of God, “He put on

righteousness as a breastplate, and a

helmet of salvation on His head; He put

on garments of vengeance for clothing,

and wrapped Himself in zeal as a cloak.”

Angels are created to do warfare for

God's people and they make constant

appearances as warriors in the Bible.

Christians are also called to war and

Jesus has given them spiritual weapons

- a shield of faith; a sword of the Spirit

(word of God); a helmet of salvation; a

breastplate of righteousness; a belt of

truth; and feet shod with the message of

peace. This weaponry is spiritual but all

the more mighty because God's own

authority is behind it. It can tear down

formidable enemy strongholds.

Jesus began His ministry by teaching in the Jewish synagogues. The practice of meeting in synagogues emerged during the period of Israel’s Babylonian captivity when the Jewish temple was unavailable for worship. The Jews required an alternative gathering place for Jews who wanted to gather for prayer and worship on the Sabbath, and so synagogues were established throughout Israel.

In a synagogue in Nazareth

Jesus read the scripture:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on

M e , b e c a u s e H e h a s

anointed Me to proclaim

good news to the poor. He

has sent Me to proclaim

freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the

blind, to set the oppressed

free, to proclaim the year of

the Lord’s favour" Then

Jesus said: “Today this

scripture is fulfilled in your

hearing.” All the people in

the synagogue were furious

when they heard this,

t h i n k i n g H i m h i g h l y

presumptuous. They got up

Jesus revisited his hometown of Nazareth about a year and a and brought Jesus to a hill

half later, but again the people were offended by His teaching in order to throw Him off

and He was unable to do many miracles there because of their the cliff. However Jesus

lack of faith. From then on, Jesus went to other places in Israel walked right through them

where the people were more receptive of His message.

and went on His way.

The people in other parts of Israel

were more open to Jesus' message.

He was able to do miracles there,

which was very important to build

faith in His followers. He turned

water into wine at a wedding in Cana;

walked on water to meet His disciples

during a storm; calmed ferocious

storms with one word; healed

countless people from every disease

and infirm condition imaginable; cast

out legions of demons; produced a

temple tax from a fish's mouth;

restored withered limbs; caused an

enormous catch of fish; and fed

thousands of people on a few loaves of

bread and a few fish. His miracles

clearly proved that He was divine,

while also being human. No one had

ever done the things He did in Israel,

excelling every prophet in the past.

As more people heard about Jesus and

His miracles, they went out in droves

to see Him. Some were just curious,

others wanted healing, some wanted

to hear His wisdom, and the religious

ones (the Pharisees) wanted to see if

He could be useful to them. The

Enemy, of course, wanted to kill Him.

For His part, He did not entrust

Himself to the people who came out to

see Him. He knew all about people

and what was in their hearts. Most of

the people in Jerusalem who followed

Him did not have true, saving faith.

They were greatly impressed by the

signs Jesus did, but they did not

actually trust Him for salvation. It was

a primarily signs-based faith and not a

gospel-based faith. Jesus knew this

and was not surprised when many

turned fickle and later rejected Him.

Jesus used parables to explain why there were such different responses to His message.

Parables were easier for the people to understand, and easier for them to remember the lessons presented. One parable involved seed (Word of God) thrown on different types of soil (people's hearts). The ones with hard hearts didn't receive the message at all, and Satan (shown by the birds devouring the seed) came and took it away. Some seed fell on hearts without much depth and as soon as the sun rose (as soon as trials came), the Word withered and died in their hearts. Other seed grew up well enough, but thorns (cares of the world) choked out the Word of truth in their souls and they bore no fruit. Lastly, some seed fell on good soil and the Word took root and produced fruits of righteousness, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. Only one in four who heard Messiah's message actually received it and believed in Jesus as their Saviour. It was a very important parable because it showed so clearly why some became followers of Jesus and others did not.

In the parable, the merchant found

the treasure and was willing to give

up all he owned in order to purchase

the matchless pearl. In the same

way, the Kingdom of heaven is so

priceless that one can only obtain it

if one is willing to give up one's soul

for it. Jesus was telling His listeners

that no worldly possession or earthly

consideration can compete with

what He offers us. Only He can

fulfill our greatest needs, satisfy our

longings, give us peace in our hearts,

and make us whole and righteous

before God. This is a treasure

beyond all else and it is ours by faith

in Messiah. Exchanging our life,

which is temporal and offers no

Another parable was the story of a merchant who

future, for the Life of Jesus, which is

found a pearl of great price. The pearl represents

eternal and perfect, only makes

Jesus and the salvation He offers. This treasure sense. Everything is dross in

was hidden and could not be found by

comparison.

intelligence or worldly wisdom.

Another parable involved two houses, one built on sand and another built on a rock foundation. Jesus gave the spiritual meaning of the parable when He said: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” The proper foundation for a life is the Truth found in Jesus so that when the storms of life come against us, we are not moved from our confidence and certainty in God's love, provision, and protection.

Some loved Jesus, like women and

children who felt safe in His

presence. In a society not always

kind to them, they sensed the gentle

kindness in the Lord and gravitated

towards Him. Some of His closest

friends were women and they often

provided supplies for Him and His

disciples. In a time where women

could not associate with men from

outside their family, they sacrificed

social standing to follow Him. But

they did so gladly, and many

brought their children to Jesus to

bless them. Jesus especially loved

the little ones and some of His most

stern warnings were to those who

would cause them harm. "It would

be better for him to have a millstone

hung around his neck and to be

thrown into the sea than to cause

one of these little ones to stumble."

Jesus had many encounters with demons who were terrified of Him since He could cast them out of their victims with a single command. One of the reasons He came was to "proclaim liberty to captives and to open the prison to those who are bound." In one incident, Jesus cast out a legion of demons from a man, sending them into a herd of pigs which caused them to become insane. They raced over the edge of a cliff, but the man's mind was restored and he went on to follow Jesus.

Religious Jews called Pharisees

wondered if Jesus might be the

Messiah. They were hoping for a

leader who would restore Israel to

greatness and defeat the Romans.

They were strict Law-keepers and felt

sure they would be approved for

leading positions in Messiah's new

kingdom. At first they courted Jesus,

even flattering Him when they

addressed Him, but when Jesus didn't

reciprocate and began calling them

out for their hypocrisy and accused

t h e m o f b e i n g s e l f - r i g h t e o u s oppressors of the poor, they turned on

Him in anger. Their rage only

intensified when Jesus said they had

hard hearts and were spiritually dead.

They got together to discuss these

insults and their anger bubbled over

into vengeful hatred.

Jesus was shamelessly slandered by the

Pharisees. He drank wine, so they called

Him a drunkard. He reached out to

prostitutes, tax collectors, and Gentiles,

so they called Him a sinner. Yet Jesus

continued to grow more popular with the

common people. That was actually one

of the reasons why the Pharisees were so

jealous of Him. Everywhere He went, He

attracted huge crowds pressing around

to listen to His every word, watching His

every move. People felt the power of His

words which were filled with grace and

love, whereas the rulers of the Jews laid

heavy burdens on the people, treating

them with disdain and scorn. They

would never think of having dinner with

a tax collector, but Jesus freely

associated with people whom the

Pharisees considered nothing but vulgar

and useless.

Jesus was recognized as being both

righteous and merciful. The Pharisees

tried to give the impression that they

were righteous by strictly keeping the

Law and acting superior, but they were

unable to hide their hardened hearts

and lack of compassion. It galled them

that Jesus won the people's hearts with

His kindness, without compromising

His upright character. It had to stop, or

the people would choose Jesus over the

r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r s . A f t e r c a r e f u l deliberation, the Pharisees plotted and

came up with a plan to make Jesus

unpopular by portraying Him as either a

Law-breaker or an unmerciful Judge.

They brought a woman caught in

adultery before Him, asking Him what

they should do about her sin. They

thought they had Jesus completely

backed into a corner.

The Pharisees waited as Jesus

wrote something in the sand.

Then Jesus looked up and told

them that the one without sin

could cast the first stone. His

reply baffled them. Jesus

wasn't denying that the Law

was right in condemning sin,

but His response also made it

impossible to carry out her

execution. Everyone knew that

only the perfectly righteous

God is without sin, so they had

to admit defeat and left. Jesus

alone was qualified to condemn

the woman, but He didn't.

Jesus had not denied the Law's condemnation of adultery, so He was not a Lawbreaker, but He had extended mercy to the adulterous woman as well. He would later deal with her sins personally and fulfill the Law's requirement on her behalf, making His act of leniency perfectly righteous. He told the adulterous woman to go her way and sin no more.

The Pharisees had failed to make Jesus

unpopular by using the woman caught

in adultery, so they looked to other

means. They devised a plan to get Jesus

in trouble with the Roman authorities.

They asked Him if it was right for the

Romans to tax the Jews. It was a loaded

question because the people hated the

Romans and t he ir bu rd e ns ome

taxation, so if Jesus said it was lawful to

be taxed by them, the people would be

angry and turn away from Him. If He

said Roman taxation was not lawful, He

would be seen as an insurrectionist and

possibly be arrested. Jesus knew exactly

what they were up to. He told the

Pharisees to bring Him a coin

commonly used for paying taxes.

Jesus took the Roman coin and asked

the Pharisees whose inscription was

on it. They answered that it was

Caesar's. Jesus then told them that

they should give to Caesar what was

his, and give to God what was His.

This was a very clever way of bringing

home a clear message to the Jews.

Caesar minted coins and some had

his image on them. God has 'minted'

the human soul and stamped His

image on every one. So Jesus was

saying to give to Caesar his due - the

temporary stuff of this world - but to

give to God His due - our hearts and

souls.

Most Pharisees were very proud of

keeping the Law. They even followed

hundreds of extra rules to make them

appear super righteous. Of course not all

Pharisees were opposed to Jesus.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who

considered Jesus a teacher from God,

and there were others who thought so

too. However, generally a Pharisee

sought righteousness through the Law,

believing he could be justified on the

basis of his own merits. The Law of

Moses was given to the Jews to keep

them pure and separate from the

nations around them, acting as a

schoolmaster in order to bring the Jews

to Messiah, but most Pharisees didn't

believe that. They missed the point that

the Law required perfection, for

breaking even one command was to

break them all. Jesus was the only One

able to keep all of the Law.

Jesus said that keeping God's Law applied to not only actions, but thoughts as well. Sexual lust and hatred made one a lawbreaker just as the acts of adultery and murder did. The Pharisees were dismayed. They could act holy, but who could keep themselves from unholy thoughts?! No one could keep the Law and all the commandments perfectly, so what did Jesus mean by this?

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was intrigued

by Messiah's teaching. He visited with

Jesus at night to ask Him how anyone

could be accepted by God if no one

could keep the Law. Jesus told him

that no one could approach the Father

unless he was born again. Nicodemus

asked: “How can a man be born when

he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s

womb and be born a second time, can

he?” Jesus told him that unless a

person had a spiritual rebirth, making

him a new creation, he would not be

able to enter the kingdom of God. He

added: "What is born of the flesh is

flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is

spirit. So it is with everyone who is

born of the Spirit.”

The Pharisees had not considered that the Law was never able to save humanity. Everyone broke the Law at some point, so they assumed that God didn't expect perfection. In actuality the Law was added to keep sin in check during the interim until a perfect sacrifice for sin could be offered. Animal sacrifices offered in the Temple couldn't save anyone either. They were only reminders that fallen humanity needed a Saviour, a perfect sacrifice without blemish or flaw - a Lamb of God without sin. Believing in that divine Sacrifice caused the Holy Spirit to bring about the rebirth experience that Jesus talked about. Rebirth alone could do what the Law never could.

God had always intended to create a

new humanity that would have His

heart, mind, and Spirit. This new

humanity would be His own "holy

seed" birthed from the Seed of God,

which is Jesus. God had told this to

Abraham, promising an inheritance

of countless descendants. The

promise would be fulfilled apart

from the Law. Later, the Mosaic

Law was introduced, but it did not

annul the promises made to

Abraham or to Abraham’s Seed

(Christ). These promises were for a

new genus - a new creation - which

would live with Him forever and

would share in His very own Life.

But to bring that Life would cost

Him everything.

Jesus knew the high cost He would pay to rescue the human race. He told His incredulous disciples He would die in Jerusalem, but one of them, Peter, tried to rebuke Him for saying so. Jesus knew immediately that Satan was influencing Peter's mind to dissuade Him from His purpose, and sternly commanded Satan to leave.

Satan and his minions had been

watching Jesus and His disciples all

along, hoping for an opportunity to

destroy them. But Jesus had guarded

His followers over and over again. He

had stopped demons from attempting to

drown them in a raging storm at sea by

calming it with one word of command.

He had stopped the attack of a

demoniac filled with a legion of devils

by casting them out. He walked through

violent mobs that were going to stone

Him. He healed the family members of

His disciples when they became gravely

ill. He was ever on the alert for Satan's

evil strategies and quelled every

onslaught in the power and authority of

the Spirit inside Him. No one could

come to harm with Jesus there to

protect them. But the Enemy never gave

up trying.

Jesus went on performing miracles,

even raising the dead, which caused

great alarm among the Pharisees.

After Jesus raised His friend, Lazarus,

from the grave, His popularity

skyrocketed and the Pharisees saw

their influence over the people rapidly

d i s i n t e g r a t i n g . M u c h t o t h e i r consternation, their propaganda and

malicious slander weren't working.

Their attempts to trick Jesus were

futile because He was too clever for

them. If they didn't manage to stop

this new Rabbi - and fast - they would

lose all political and religious clout in

Jewish society. They would lose their

hold over the masses. Even some of

the Pharisees and Sadducees were

defecting to Jesus. It couldn't go on!

They began to make secret plans to

have Jesus arrested and killed.

W h e n e v e r J e s u s w e n t i n t o t h e countryside to teach, thousands came out

to hear Him. They would gather on the

hillsides, listening with rapt attention as

He spoke of His heavenly Father and His

coming kingdom. His Words carried the

unmistakeable ring of authority.

Sometimes Jesus would teach for hours

and the people would be too enthralled to

return home for dinner. On at least two

occasions Jesus was concerned about this

and provided a simple meal for all of

them - 5000 one time and 4000 at

another - from just a few fish and loaves

of bread. This miracle was a strong

reminder to the Jewish people of how

God had miraculously provided manna

for their forebears in the Sinai Desert.

However Jesus could see that most of the

people were more interested in the food

than in hearing the truth about God.

Wanting the people to have the right

focus, Jesus told them:"I am the Bread

of Life. Whoever comes to Me will

never go hungry, and whoever believes

in Me will never be thirsty." He was

speaking metaphorically, but the people

didn't get it and some lost interest soon

after. The Bible later described this

kind of person as being : "…darkened in

their understanding, alienated from the

life of God because of the ignorance

that is in them, due to their hardness of

heart." This is because the natural

person is unable to accept the things of

the Spirit of God. They appear foolish

to him and he rejects them. Spiritual

truth has to be spiritually discerned and

many of the Jewish people were not

focused on the eternal. They were

seeking temporal benefits which they

hoped Jesus would provide for them.

The crowds became confrontational when Jesus told them that whoever obeyed His words would never taste death. They asked if He thought He was greater than Abraham who had obviously died. Messiah replied, "Before Abraham was born, I AM." This was God's name, as given through Moses. It was a red flag to the Jews who recognized that Jesus was claiming He was equal to God. In their minds, this was absolute heresy.

One time Jesus indicated the Temple in Jerusalem and told the Jews, "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it up in three days." He was referring to Himself as the Temple and His coming death and resurrection. But He was also speaking of the Jerusalem Temple's destruction by the Romans. Most of the people missed this allusion to Himself, and even the disciples did not understand what He meant until after the fact.

The Temple symbolized the Messiah, and so did everything in it. Jesus often pointed this out to let the Jews know that He was the heavenly fulfillment of the earthly Temple - the Lamb of God, the Narrow Gate, the Light of the world, the Bread of Life, and the Living Water.

Messiah's speech became increasingly

intense. He reminded the Jews how

God, in the past, had withdrawn from

Israel whenever they rejected Him.

Now they were again rejecting God in

their repudiation of their Messiah. He

told the Jews they were in grave danger

and He wept when He looked into their

future. He foresaw the siege of

Jerusalem that would occur in 70 AD,

when Titus, the future Roman emperor,

and his 60,000 troops, would decimate

the city and its Temple. The siege would

last 5 months, during which time many

of Jerusalem's inhabitants would starve

to death. When the army finally

breached the city walls, they destroyed

the Temple by fire and the people were

massacred or enslaved. All the Temple

treasures were carried off to Rome.

Jesus foresaw it all and it broke His

heart.

The Jews were in danger from earthly threat, but even more so from a spiritual one. Jesus warned about Sheol (hell) as a place of spiritual darkness, a place apart from God's presence and without His protection, where all who rejected God would go after death. But even the faithful, like the patriarchs of old, went there. It was divided into a place for God's people (called paradise, or Abraham's bosom) and a place of torment for the wicked. The faithful awaited deliverance from the grave when the Messiah would come to deliver them.

Horrible as Sheol is, Jesus warned of a

final hell called the lake of fire, where

the wicked, both human and angelic,

would end up. It is a place of "weeping

and gnashing of teeth" - an eternal

state of spiritual anguish. Jesus also

referred to it as an “outer darkness”

describing it as the final destination of

those who reject Him. This is a state of

complete separation from God, never-

ending and inescapable. Though it is

the kindness of God that draws people

to Him, Jesus also used the fear of

judgement and hell to awaken people

out of their spiritual lethargy, giving

repeated warnings to seek Him before

it was too late. Only Messiah's

advocacy can protect one from this

doom.

Jesus often spoke of His kingdom,

and His disciples and the Pharisees

asked Him when it would come.

Jesus said it would come without

observation and it would span the

entire earth. He was speaking of a

spiritual kingdom that would be

comprised of people from every

nation of the world, not just the

Jews. The people of this kingdom

are those whom God has called out

of darkness into His light. They are

a chosen race, a holy nation,

sojourners and exiles on the earth,

whose citizenship is in heaven.

Nothing evil exists in this kingdom

- no child traffickers, murderers,

liars, no idolators, abusers,

extortionists, or adulterers. It is a

kingdom of grace and glory.

It was as a king that Messiah entered

Jerusalem on the Passover. Upon their

coronation, kings would commonly ride

in on a mount. Jesus chose to ride on a

donkey colt that no one had ever ridden.

It was a public announcement that He

was Israel's King. The prophet Isaiah

had written: "For a child will be born to

us; a Son will be given to us; and the

government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful

Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father,

Prince of Peace." Zechariah, another

prophet, had written: "Rejoice greatly,

Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter

Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious, lowly and

riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of

a donkey."

One disciple, Judas Iscariot, never

referred to Jesus as 'Messiah". He

would only refer to Him as "Teacher."

Judas followed Jesus in hopes that He

would overthrow Roman rule and thus

give Judas a position of power. Jesus

had entrusted him with the funds for

the group, and Judas was often

pilfering from it. Perhaps he was

hoping that once Jesus was crowned

King of Israel, he would retain his

financial post and become fabulously

wealthy. Judas was also a member of

the Zealots, known for their extreme

hatred of Rome. Many were violent

and aggressive, and they have been

called some of the world’s first

terrorists. Not all Zealots were violent,

but they had a reputation of being

forceful, aggressive agitators.

Jesus had never been in any doubt as

to Judas' character. In fact he was

chosen as a disciple because Jesus

knew he would betray Him. It was a

part of God's plan. Jesus had once

referred to Judas as a "son of

perdition", indicating what his end

would be. One time Jesus’ friend

Mary took some expensive perfume

and poured it over Jesus’ feet, wiping

His feet with her hair as an act of

worship. Judas objected, saying the

money would have been better spent

on the poor. Of course he didn't care

about the poor, but saw it as money

he could have skimmed for himself.

Jesus told him to leave Mary alone.

It was intended that she should save

the perfume for the day of His burial.

He added: "You will always have the

poor among you, but you will not

always have Me’.

Judas made a decision to do a most

despicable act. He decided to betray

Jesus to His enemies. Perhaps he felt

disillusioned that Jesus was not

turning out to be the Jewish ruler he

h a d h o p e d f o r . M a y b e h e w a s

disgruntled at being reprimanded by

Jesus over Mary's pouring perfume

over His feet. When Jesus mentioned

His coming death, Judas may have

thought he had wasted three years of

his life by following false hopes of

becoming wealthy and becoming

important and powerful. Whatever his

motive, he approached the chief priests

of the Pharisees and asked what they

would give him if he delivered Jesus

over to them. They offered him 30

pieces of silver, and from then on Judas

watched for an opportunity to hand

Messiah over to the authorities.

Jesus and His disciples had their last Passover supper together in an upper room.

Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him. Judas asked if it was he and Jesus affirmed it, and told him to quickly do what he was planning. Then Satan filled Judas' heart and he left them.

The disciples were troubled as Jesus

talked about His coming death, but

He assured them He was going away

to prepare mansions for them, and

He would come back for them. He

would also not leave them orphans,

but would send His Spirit to be with

them. He also assured them that

they could ask anything in His name,

and He would do it. Jesus also took

some bread and wine and said these

were to be used as symbols to

remember Him by. He likened the

wine to His blood and the bread to

His body. He said: "For my flesh is

real food and my blood is real drink”

meaning that salvation would come

through the sacrifice of His physical

body on the cross.

Jesus and His disciples went to the

Mount of Olives, to a private place

called the Garden of Gethsemane.

There He prayed about the cup of

suffering He was about to undergo.

He wanted His Father's will, but He

was dreading the spiritual separation

between Him and His Father that

would happen when He took on the

sins of humanity. Being human, He

was also dreading the pain and

suffering that was sure to come. He

asked His disciples to pray, but they

soon fell asleep and were no solace for

Him. He was alone with His anguish,

with no one to comfort Him. The

Bible says that Jesus was a “man of

sorrows and acquainted with grief”

and probably at no time was this

more evident than when He prayed in

the Garden that night.

Being the Son of God, Jesus knew in

detail everything that was about to

happen to Him. He knew that He was

facing one of the most horrible forms of

capital punishment in history. He

contemplated not just the pain He would

suffer, but more importantly the spiritual

separation that would come as He took

on the sins of humanity. So severe was

His agony that it caused Him to sweat

great drops of blood. This sweating of

blood is a real, but rare clinical condition

called "hematohidrosis," in which

capillary blood vessels that feed the

sweat glands rupture. It only happens

under conditions of extreme physical or

emotional stress. Jesus asked His Father

to remove the cup of suffering from Him,

but added that He would do whatever He

wanted. His Father then sent an angel to

encourage and strengthen Him.

Judas knew where Jesus often met

with His disciples, so he brought a

Roman cohort of soldiers (about 300

or more men) and also some officers

and chief priests to arrest Him - a

literal army sent to capture one man.

They were probably expecting an

insurrection of some sort, which is why

they came at night. Also it was well

known how powerful Jesus was for He

had quelled storms and walked

through murderous mobs, so they were

taking no chances. Judas came up to

Jesus, calling Him "Rabbi," and then he betrayed Him with a kiss (a

traditional greeting at the time). Jesus

asked the soldiers who they were

looking for. When they said "Jesus the

Nazarene," Jesus responded, "I am

He." The guard and soldiers drew back

and fell to the ground, unable to move

because of Jesus' Power.

At the Passover Supper Jesus had

cautioned His disciples to bring a

couple of swords with them in case they

needed to defend themselves. Jesus

said this because He knew that once He

was arrested, events would be in play

where He would not be able to protect

them as He always had done before.

When the soldiers came for Jesus,

Peter swung his sword and cut off the

ear of the high priest's servant. He was

t h i n k i n g t o r e s c u e J e s u s , n o t understanding that it wasn't Jesus who

needed protecting, but him and the

other disciples. Jesus stopped him from

going further and healed the servant's

ear. Jesus had prayed to His Father

that not one of those the Father had

given Him would be lost, so after seeing

that His disciples were safe, He

permitted the soldiers to arrest Him.

Jesus was tried before Annas (father-

in-law to Caiaphas, the high priest)

who interrogated Jesus, but the Lord

said everything He had done had been

in the open, so He wouldn't defend His

actions. In frustration, Annas sent

Jesus, still bound, to Caiaphas. It was

actually illegal to hold a midnight trial

on the Passover, and there were no

credible charges. However Jesus being

sent to the High Priest was essential to

God's plan because the scriptures

stipulated that the sin offering for

Israel had to be delivered by the High

Priest himself. Caiaphas asked Jesus if

He was the Messiah and Jesus

answered: "I AM. And you will see the

Son of Man sitting on the right hand of

the Mighty One and coming in the

clouds of heaven." In a rage, Caiaphas

tore his clothes and accused Jesus of

blasphemy.

The Pharisees met together and realized

that their charge of blasphemy might not

be considered worthy of a death

sentence by the Romans, so they

changed the charge to Jesus declaring

Himself a king. That way Rome would

see Jesus as an insurrectionist and give

the death penalty. The council of

religious leaders then sent Jesus to

Pilate, the Roman governor, who had

power of life and death and could

reverse capital sentences passed by the

Sanhedrin. Pilate asked Jesus if He was

the King of the Jews, and Jesus replied:

"My kingdom is not of this world. If My

kingdom were of this world, then My

servants would be fighting so that I

would not be handed over to the Jews;

but as it is, My kingdom is not of this

realm.’ Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So

You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You

say correctly that I am a king."

Pilate heard that Jesus was a Galilean and saw an opportunity to hand the problem over to Herod who had jurisdiction over Galilee. Herod was delighted because he hoped Jesus would perform a miracle. However Jesus remained aloof. In frustration, Herod handed Him over to his soldiers who mocked Jesus by putting a crown of thorns on His head and a royal cape over His shoulders. After a severe beating by his soldiers, Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate to share in his joke.

Meanwhile Judas was overcome by

guilt and went back to the priests to

return the money they had given him.

He told them he had betrayed

innocent blood. The priests couldn't

have cared less and told him it was

his responsibility. Judas then threw

down the money and left in despair.

The chief priests picked up the

money, and, because it was against

the law to put blood money into the

treasury, they used it to buy a potter's

field for a cemetery, calling it the

Field of Blood. After leaving the

priests, Judas must have felt the

disappointment of his lost dreams

and the horror of his wicked act of

betrayal, for he committed suicide by

hanging. Because Jesus had said

Judas was doomed to hell, it is

unlikely that Judas truly repented or

ever believed in Jesus as a Saviour.

In the early morning, Jesus was again in

the Praetorium in front of Pilate. The

governor felt the charges against Jesus

were spurious, and he was hesitant to

condemn Jesus to death, especially after

Procle, his wife, sent a note telling him

about a dream she had, and warning him

not to murder an innocent man. (Some

say Procle later became a Christian).

However Pilate didn't feel he could

ignore the Jews or their accusations.

Since it was the annual custom of

releasing a prisoner on the Passover, he

offered to release Jesus, but the crowd

(many of whom had been bribed by the

Pharisees) loudly objected. Then Pilate

had Jesus brutally scourged, hoping this

would satisfy them, but they kept crying

out for the death penalty. Finally Pilate

washed his hands in a basin, declaring he

found no charge against Jesus and was

innocent of His blood.

Pilate was afraid to run afoul of higher

authorities if this conflict between

Jesus and the Jewish leaders wasn't

resolved. But he still wavered on his

decision. Jesus told Pilate that he

would be held responsible for his

decisions, but the one who handed Him

over to him would bear the greater

guilt. He was referring to the High

Priest. Pilate was unnerved by these

words and again tried to set Jesus free,

but the Jewish leaders accused Pilate of

being no friend to Caesar if he did so.

Pilate asked them: "Shall I crucify your

King?" to which the Jewish leaders

replied, "We have no king but Caesar!"

Pilate found this ironic but saw no

other option but to issue the death

sentence. Jesus, who was already

weakened by loss of blood, was made to

carry a heavy cross to Golgotha. Some

grieved for their Messiah as He

struggled with His burden.

Eventually Jesus, the soldiers, and the

crowd all arrived at Golgotha. Pilate had

issued orders to fasten a sign on the cross

of Jesus saying: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." The chief priests objected to

this and wanted it changed, but Pilate

refused, saying: "I have written what I

have written." Crucifixion could take many

hours to kill the victim, causing heart

failure, suffocation, cardiac rupture, and

dehydration. It was an excruciating form

of torture, with the added humiliation of

being stripped and in full view of the

public. Satan, who would have been

watching everything, obviously thought

Jesus was finally in his power, but the

Lord once said He had legions of angels at

His beck and call, and He told Pilate that

he had no power over Him, except

whatever His Father allowed. So it was

only His great love for His followers that

kept Jesus on His sacrificial mission.

Jesus was crucified with two thieves, one on

either side of Him. One thief mocked Jesus

telling Him to walk off the cross if He was truly the Messiah. The other thief declared

Jesus was righteous and asked to be

remembered when Jesus went to paradise

(the part of Sheol for God's followers). Jesus

told the thief he would soon be there with

Him.

Jesus was surrounded by those

Pharisees who wanted Him dead.

They mocked Him and gloated that

they had succeeded in having Him

crucified, saying: "He saved others but

he can't save himself. He's the King of

Israel! Let him come down now from

the cross, and we will believe in him.

He trusts in God. Let God rescue him

if he wants him". Satan and the

demons were also celebrating because

they assumed they finally had power

over God's Son, who had so often

defeated them. They didn't know that

this war with God's Holy Seed was all

a part of God's Master plan. They

s h o u l d h a v e k n o w n , b e c a u s e

throughout history God had always

managed to manipulate evil to bring

about His righteous purposes..as He

was doing right then.

After excruciating hours of pain and

suffering, Jesus cried out: "My God, My

God, why have You forsaken Me?" He

was asking His Father why He was so

far from saving Him; why He had

deserted Him. This was the moment

when Messiah bore the full weight of

humanity's sin and the Father's

consequent rejection. The prophet

Isaiah had prophesied this moment

when he wrote: "Surely He has borne

our griefs and carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten

by God, and afflicted. But He was

wounded for our transgressions, He was

b r u i s e d f o r o u r i n i q u i t i e s ; t h e chastisement for our peace was upon

Him, and by His stripes we are healed."

A great darkness fell over the land

at three in the afternoon. But this

wasn't all that happened. The

earth shook, rocks split apart, and

some tombs broke open. A Roman

centurion was shaken by all this

and exclaimed "Surely He was the

Son of God!" Later it would be

discovered that the bodies of many

holy people, who had recently

died, were raised to life and these

went into Jerusalem where they

appeared to many people. Their

names are not mentioned and it is

unclear whether they had physical

bodies or not. Neither do we know

if they died a second time or were

translated like Enoch and Elijah.

But the incident showed that

something of a cataclysmic nature

was happening in the spirit realm

involving Life overcoming death.

At the moment of the earthquake, the thick, heavy curtain of the Temple was torn from top to bottom. This was astounding because the curtain was 60 feet long and 4 inches thick. It took 300 men to lift the curtain to install it. Only God could have torn it in half. This revealed the Father's great anger over sin and what was being done to Messiah. It signified that the barrier to God because of sin was torn down. Messiah, through His death, had removed it. But there was still something more that Messiah had to accomplish.

It was the Passover festival and the

priests didn't want bodies left on

crosses during the festival, so the

soldiers broke the legs of the thieves,

but when they came to Jesus, He was

already dead. A spear was thrust into

His side to make sure. All this fulfilled

the prophecy that said: "He protects all

His bones. Not one of them will be

broken." This ties in with the

instructions Yahweh gave to Moses

about the sacrificial lamb they were to

eat during the Passover in Egypt. "It

must be eaten inside the house. Take

none of the meat outside the house. Do

not break any of the bones." Jesus'

body was taken down from the cross

and He was laid in the tomb belonging

to a rich disciple, who together with

Nicodemus, wrapped the body in cloth.

The next day the chief priests went to Pilate because they remembered that while Jesus was still alive, He had said He would rise from the dead after 3 days. They wanted Pilate to secure the grave until the 3rd day to prevent the disciples from stealing the body and telling people Jesus had been resurrected. Pilate told them to take a guard and make the tomb as secure as they wished, which they did by sealing the tomb with a great rock.

Jesus went in spirit to the paradise

part of Sheol, although Jesus’ body

was still in the tomb. Paradise was

where Jesus told the thief they would

meet up after they both died.

However Death couldn't hold Jesus

because He was without sin. The

scriptures predicted the Messiah

would overcome death: “You will not

abandon Me to the realm of the dead,

nor will You let Your faithful One see

decay." Other prophets foretold that

God would one day abolish death:

“He will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away

the tears from all faces” and “I will

deliver this people from the power of

the grave; I will redeem them from

death. Where, O death, are your

plagues? Where, O grave, is your

destruction?”

At dawn on the Sabbath, there

was a violent earthquake and a

mighty angel came down from

heaven and rolled away the

stone covering the tomb. The

angel's appearance was like

lightening. He was so glorious

that the guards who were

guarding the tomb trembled

a n d f a i n t e d , b e c o m i n g

unconscious. When they

awakened, they found the

tomb empty. They were afraid

that Pilate would punish them

so they hurried off to the

Pharisees who said they would

tell Pilate that the disciples

had stolen the body.

Jesus returned to earth to bring the good news to His followers. He made several appearances; one was a personal appearance to Mary Magdalene who was in very deep grief. At first she didn't recognize Him, but when He called her name, she was overjoyed, and rushed to Him.

Jesus also visited His disciples and singled out Thomas, who had doubts about Jesus rising from the dead. He showed Him the wounds in His side and hands, and told him to doubt no longer.

Jesus met with His disciples many

times; once on the road to Emmaus

where He explained the scriptures to

two of His followers; once to encourage

Peter who had denied Jesus during His

arrest and was deeply guilt-ridden; once

on the shore while the disciples were

fishing where He provided a miraculous

catch of fish; once to His brother James

and all the apostles; once when He met

with His followers for 40 days and

spent time encouraging them; and then

He was seen by 500 of His followers at

the same time in Bethany. Then it was

time for Him to return to His Father in

heaven. He was taken up before their

very eyes in a cloud that hid Him from

their sight. Before He left, He promised

to send His Holy Spirit to be with them,

commissioning them to spread the good

news of salvation to the entire world.

The Seed of God had completed the mission which had been planned in the Godhead before the beginning of time. God had always wanted a family of beloved children who would love Him and reflect His righteous character. Through Messiah He had created a new genus - a new creation - that would live with Him forever in heaven. He had battled Satan, Nephilim, demons, and every kind of wickedness in high places on their behalf, and through it all, He had come out the Victor. He told His disciples, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

The War of the Seed had been won.