Kingdom Come

The reality is that we will always blend in with whatever group with which we associate.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ / The Promised Seed with Belial / Satan? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:14-18)

Interestingly, the phrase “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” is not found verbatim elsewhere in scripture. The closest quote is what the LORD said to Abram.

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation.” (Genesis 12:1-2)

This is supported by Joshua’s reference to this incident.

“And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood [not Noah’s, but a river, in this case, the Euphrates] in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan.” (Joshua 24:1-2)

No question about it, Abram was born a Chaldean in the midst of the renaissance of the pre-flood pagan culture. As long as he stayed there, he was subject to its laws and limited in his ability to serve the true God.

The book of Jasher, (pronounced “Yasher in Hebrew”) gives historical details of Abram’s early life and the culture from which he was sent out.

As one of the books designated “apocryphal”, is this a reliable source of information to include in a Bible study? Since there is such an ongoing debate over the apocrypha let’s see what respected theologians have determined.

Alexandrian Jews included the Apocrypha when they began translating the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek (the Septuagint) hundreds of years before Christ. Many of the church Fathers held the books in high esteem while not including them in their list of inspired books.

Tertullian wanted to include 1 Enoch because of its mention in Jude. 

Jerome said that the books may be read for edification, but not for ecclesiastical dogmas.

Augustine was convinced by Jerome to separate the Apocrypha from the inspired books of the Hebrew OT canon, but continued to support the use of the Apocrypha for edification. 

 Rufinus referred to the Apocrypha as “ecclesiastical” works that were of value for moral uses and introductory texts for new converts from paganism.

The Council of Laodicea held in AD 364 – significantly at the church described in Revelation as ready to be spewed out because of their lukewarm status (Revelation 3:15) – specified “Sun / Mithras-day” as the correct Christian “Sabbath day”  and eliminated Revelation from the canon of the New Testament as well as consideration of the Apocrypha.

This writer’s position is that, being referenced twice in scripture confirms Jasher’s validity as a reliable source of information. In addition, the expanded details in Jasher of the events documented more briefly in Genesis are validated by cultural practices of the time known from other historical sources. Some detractors claim that duplication is evidence of plagiarism, but that’s simply bias.

So quoting from Jasher:

When Nimrod had…conquered his enemies, all his brethren, together with those who knew him before, assembled to make him king over them. And he placed Terah the son of Nahor the prince of his host, and he dignified him and elevated him above all his princes…

As Arphaxad’s / Sargon’s descendant, the Semite Terah would have been a prince trained in warfare and government – a highly valued asset. It is standard practice in every successful empire to appoint according to merit, not family connections.

“Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon…And Pharaoh said unto Joseph…I have heard say of thee…And Pharaoh said unto Joseph…Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou…I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41)

“And [Nebuchadnezzar] the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” (Daniel 1:3-4)

and Nimrod reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah, and they were all under his power and counsel.

And all the earth was of one tongue and words of union, but Nimrod did not go in the ways of the Lord, and he was more wicked than all the men that were before him, from the days of the flood until those days. And he made gods of wood and stone and he bowed down to them…(Jasher 7:34-47)

This is done to lure the unclean spirits of the dead Nephilim into these inviting host bodies as his honored guests in hopes of accessing their power.

And Terah the son of Nahor, prince of Nimrod’s host, was in those days very great in the sight of the king and his subjects, and the king and princes loved him, and they elevated him very high.

And it was in the night that Abram was born that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night. And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens. And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import

…and they all went to the king and bowed down to him to the ground, and they said, May the king live, may the king live…a son was born to Terah the son of Nahor, the prince of thy host, and…and knew by our wisdom…the child that is born to Terah, who will grow up and multiply greatly, and become powerful, and kill all the kings of the earth, and inherit all their lands, he and his seed forever. And now our lord and king, behold we have truly acquainted thee with what we have seen concerning this child. If it seemeth good to the king to give his father value for this child, we will slay him before he shall grow up and increase in the land, and his evil increase against us, that we and our children perish through his evil…

Strategizing the death of a rival, real or potential, is not only credible but the standard MO for hotly contested seats of power. Eliminating sons was primarily managed by castration. “The Sumerian city of Lagash from around the 21st century BC provides the earliest records for intentional castration.” Whether or not the vision was true or an embellishment to their warning to a ruler, the sages clearly understood that Terah’s growing power within the government just increased with another son.

And the king said to Terah…give me the child, that we may slay him before his evil springs up against us...And Terah…took a child from one of his servants, which his handmaid had born to him that day, and Terah brought the child to the king…and the king took the child from Terah and with all his might dashed his head to the ground, for he thought it had been Abram…And Terah took Abram his son secretly, together with his mother and nurse, and he concealed them in a cave, and he brought them their provisions monthly…and Abram was in the cave ten years…

And when Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem…

This was obviously because only Noah and Shem had the temerity to hide Nimrod’s enemy from him. But that meant that he was raised…

to learn the instruction of the Lord and his ways…And Abram was in Noah’s house thirty-nine years, and Abram…went in the ways of the Lord…as Noah and his son Shem had taught him; and all…the inhabitants of the earth made unto themselves, at that time, every man his god; gods of wood and stone which could neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they became their gods. 

And Terah had twelve gods of large size, made of wood and stone, after the twelve months of the year, and he served each one monthly, and every month Terah would bring his meat offering and drink offering to his gods; thus did Terah all the days…for they served each man his own God

This corresponds to the the oldest living religion Hinduism, which acknowledges at least 33 million gods.

And there was not a man found in those days in the whole earth, who knew / identified himself with the Lord...except Noah and his household, and all those who were under his counsel…

And in the fiftieth year of the life of Abram son of Terah, Abram came forth from the house of Noah, and went to his father’s house…And Terah his father was in those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods…

…Abram was clothed with the spirit of God. And he called out and said, Woe unto my father and this wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone which can neither eat, smell, hear nor speak, who have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs which cannot move; like them are those that made them and that trust in them.

And when Abram saw all these things his anger was kindled against his father, and he hastened and took a hatchet in his hand, and came unto the chamber of the gods, and he broke all his father’s gods…

Possession of the promises only occurred as Abraham and his heirs acted in faith on God’s promise to supernaturally empower them to partner with God to fulfill his purposes, especially unto death.

Make no mistake, whenever a true believer stands up for the true God there will be a fight. Basically, people take it as a real put-down to their ego when they are told they need a higher power – and authority.

And Terah, seeing all that Abram had done, hastened…to the king and he came before Nimrod and…And he said…thus has he done to my gods and thus has he spoken; and now therefore, my lord and king, send for him that he may come before thee, and judge him according to the law, that we may be delivered from his evil...

Abraham was called out of Mesopotamia to take possession of the land of Canaan only after he publicly acted on his faith in Yahweh’s promise to restore life by remaining faithful unto death.

And Abram answered the king,saying…0 foolish, simple, and ignorant king, woe unto thee forever… Dost thou not know, or hast thou not heard, that this evil which thou doest, our ancestors sinned therein in days of old, and the eternal God brought the waters of the flood upon them and destroyed them all, and also destroyed the whole earth on their account? And wilt thou and thy people rise up now and do like unto this work, in order to bring down the anger of the Lord God of the universe, and to bring evil upon thee and the whole earth? Now therefore put away this evil deed which thou doest, and serve the God of the universe, as thy soul is in his hands, and then it will be well with thee…

And the king said to the princes and sages…decide what judgment is due to this man who reviled the king; who spake and did all the things that you heard.

And they all answered the king saying, The man who revileth the king should be hanged upon a tree; but!! Even more! having done all the things that he said, and having despised our gods, he must therefore be burned to deathfor this is the [Babylonian] law in this matter…

Nebuchadnezzar was simply following long-established practice.

And all the king’s servants, princes, lords, governors, and judges, and all the inhabitants of the land, about nine hundred thousand men, stood opposite the furnace to see Abram.

Can I get a witness?

And the Lord loved / joined identity with Abram…came down and delivered Abram from the fire and he was not burned [establishing a basis of trust for future occasions with Abram’s children.] But all the cords with which they bound him were burned, while Abram remained and walked about in the fire…three days and three nights, and all the servants of the king saw him walking in the fire, and they came and told the king…

And the king ordered Abram to be taken out from the fire; and his servants approached to take him out and they could not, for the fire was round about and the flame ascending toward them from the furnace…so that eight of them died.

And…the king called to Abram, O servant of the God who is in heaven, go forth from amidst the fire and come hither before me; and Abram…came and stood before the king.

And the king said to Abram, How is it that thou wast not burned in the fire? And Abram said to the king, The God of heaven and earth in whom I trust and who has all in his power, he delivered me from the fire into which thou didst cast me…

And Abram said to them…bow down to the God of the world who made you, and serve him, and go in his ways for…it is he who created the souls and spirits of all men, and formed man in his mother’s womb, and brought him forth into the world, and it is he [not the lower gods] who will deliver those who trust in him from all pain [including during the afterlife, which even they acknowledged their gods did not do].

And Abram went forth from the king [just like Asshur and Moses went forth, not just from the king’s reception hall but from his nation to another] and many of the king’s servants followed him, and about three hundred men joined him….

And from that day forward Abram inclined the hearts of the sons of men to serve the Lord.” (Jasher 12)

The description of Jesus Christ’s penultimate accomplishment of salvation is absolutely 100% applicable to Abram’s actions and defines him as a Christ-One.

“[To] deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage…it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God…himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:15-18)

What is not specifically mentioned in either Jasher’s or the Bible’s account is that this is most likely the point in time at which the individual known as Abram received this name. The accounts assume cultural competence on the part of the reader. (Yes, that’s snarky.)

Recall that the ancient function of names was to identify unique and memorable attributes of an individual. Since the base of the name Abram is “Ab / Father”, this was not given to him at his birth. Based on the visions associated with his birth he might have been called Eastern Star by his parents, and very likely The Usurper by his rivals. Using hermeneutics, we can induce that referencing Abram by the name Abram during his birth and early history was likely an anachronistic simplification of identification. It does become tiresome to pile on excessive appellations like “Prince Rogers Nelson, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince, Currently Known Simply as The Artist”.

Clearly, it would not have been until he became the leader of a group of people that Eastern Star or Reviler of the King would have been identified as a Father of a Nation, i.e. Ab-r-am. This determination is supported by the later modification to the identification as Ab-rah-am – Father of Many Nations.

This first single nation is commonly taught by Christianity as being the nation of Israel but it is patently obvious on the face of it that Israel is the father of the nation named after him, and the nation of Israel didn’t come into existence for over 400 years after God promised to bless the world through Abraham.

The identification of “Abram the Hebrew” establishes that when Abram left Ur of his ethnic Chaldean nation he was a member of the only nation that worshipped the one true God, – his (great-grand) father Eber’s existing nation, the Ebers / Hebrews.

The call to separate from one’s current membership in an idolatrous nation in order to keep the way of the LORD was not just to Abram or required of Jesus Christ but is a requirement for all persons identifying with YHVH’s plan of salvation.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath The Promised Seed / Christ with Belial / Adversary? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?…Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (II Corinthians 6:15-18)