Church of God News

King Charles III (White House photo)

COGwriter

Unlike the very long reign of his mother, King Charles III expects to have a shorter reign, Here is a report about possible funeral plans for him:

King Charles’ Funeral Plans Unveiled After Monarch Is Given 2 Years to Live With Pancreatic Cancer

King Charles III has only been Britain’s reigning monarch for 18 months, yet his funeral plans are already set amid his battle with pancreatic cancer. Named “Operation Menai Bridge,” the monarch’s funeral processions will look similar to Queen Elizabeth II’s ceremonies, dubbed “Operation London Bridge.” As his cancer progresses, royal insiders tell In Touch that Charles’ final resting plans are of timely prioritization.

“It’s a fairly common thing to do among the British royalty, but in Charles’ case expediency is necessary,” says the source, who notes that “some courtiers believe Charles’ cancer is worse than they’re making it out to be.”

“Operation Menai Bridge” is set to include familiar protocols. When the monarch dies, Charles’ body will be moved from the throne room at Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. He will lie in state, and his official funeral will take place nine days later. He will likely be buried in the royal vault at Windsor Castle.

“It will have all the pomp and circumstance befitting a British monarch,” adds the source.

The update comes shortly after a separate high ranking royal insider told In Touch that Charles is not only battling pancreatic cancer – a timely update given that he did not share what kind of cancer he was diagnosed with – but has a mere two years to live. 03/29/24 https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/king-charles-funeral-plans-unveiled-131200834.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLmdvb2dsZS5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAH4t0oiZ4nGbSkIapaFHLj83FMhtBR8HNh-XqTRYXXiH-Zy9-BvnhlJvoQFrBT1oKmasPmOAlYJNqy1-03NmODP294Tg0QNOZUv80Z9-4BbetnMI5kMaLY5KQodL-aszZgCeEvI_LZ6XnF1jMtH1J6gQMpd3URq9mbVJ_WbjiYz0

Pancreatic cancer is often fatal within a relatively short period of time.

There have been reports that Charles may abdicate in favor of his son William before too long (see ‘Secret plan’ for King Charles III to abdicate in favor of Prince William?).

King Charles III is actually on the biblical throne of King David.

Here is something about that from our free online book Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?:

The Throne of David Was to Continue

Let’s look at some prophecies related to the throne of David:

⁴⁵ … King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever. (1 Kings 2:45)

³ “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ⁴ ‘Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.’”(Psalm 89:3-4)

² … Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! (Jeremiah 22:2)

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’” (Jeremiah 33:17-18)

The above passages make clear that the throne of David was to last. Since scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), then someone has to be on that throne now. Let me also state that there have been Levites ever since Jeremiah 33:17-18–the fact that they do not do their original biblical role for offerings does NOT change the fact that they still exist, which is all that scripture requires for them. It should also be noted that Young’s Literal Translation says “one” instead of “a man,” which literally allows for a woman to have the throne (the NET uses “successor” and the NLT uses “descendant”).

Furthermore, since God had Jeremiah write this during the life of the last king on the throne of David in Jerusalem (Zedekiah) this may also be suggesting that Jeremiah would be involved in the continuity of the Davidic throne.

Although some have improperly asserted that Jeremiah 33:17 does not mean that anyone actually has to be on the throne, only available to be on it, remember also the following:

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. (Genesis 49:10)

The Bible shows that scepter came to David of Judah when he became king (cf. Numbers 24:17; 2 Samuel 8:2). Some who do not accept that the British Royal family can be holding that scepter have said that, “Until Shiloh comes” means Jesus’ first coming. However, that is in error for three reasons.

The first is if that were the case, then where were the kings between Zedekiah (the last King of Judah) and Jesus? There were none.

And secondly, during His first coming, Jesus said His Kingdom was future (John 18:36), so He did not assume the throne then. Critics of what is known as British-Israelism do not seem to realize that and they wrongly rationalize away many scriptures. Jesus will sit on the throne of David in millennial the Kingdom of God.

And thirdly, note that Genesis 49:10 has to be a reference to the second coming of Jesus, as we did not see the obedience of the people given to Him during the first coming. Hence, biblically, there had to have been a royal succession from Judah’s line after Zedekiah until Jesus’ return.

Consider that through the prophet Nathan, God made a remarkable promise to King David:

¹² “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. … ¹⁵ But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-13, 15-16)

The throne was to be established forever—and it has been! And this is the throne Jesus will return to.

Scripture is plainly teaching that someone has had to have been on that throne since the time of the Zedekiah (a contemporary of Jeremiah), who was the last king of Judah in the Holy Land until Jesus returns to set up the millennial kingdom.

Since someone had to fill the regal role, we can see through historical records and legends that the royalty in the British Isles fits this.

Now, some have pointed to Jeremiah 22:28-30 as proof that, because God said that Coniah (also called Jeconiah) would not have son to be on the throne of David as proof that the line would not continue, that overlooks the fact that the line continued through Coniah’s brother Zedekiah (1 Chronicles 3:16).

Through the prophet Nathan, God made a remarkable promise to King David:

¹² “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. … ¹⁵ But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:12-13, 15-16)

The throne was to be established forever—and it has been! This is the throne Jesus will return to.

The idea that “Christ upon His return, will take over David’s throne” was believed by those who held to many Church of God doctrines in Transylvania during the late Middle Ages.[i]; see also Die Sabbatharier in Siebenburgen.[ii]

The idea that Jesus would return to the throne of David is NOT a 19^th, 20^th, or 21^st century invention.

This ‘throne of David’ doctrine is also taught in the New Testament:

³¹ … Jesus . ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. (Luke 1:31-32)

²⁸ So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28)

Notice that these are still future prophecies. Jesus has been appointed “heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus is not now on the throne of David and He will not be until the coming millennial Kingdom of God (cf. Acts 2:29-30; Revelation 11:15, 20:4).

Therefore, until Jesus returns, someone needs to be on the throne—and the British Royal Family has an occupant to this day.

The New Testament also teaches:

⁵ … Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed … (Revelation 5:5)

Note that even in the last book of the Bible, Jesus is again tied in with David and is prophesied to prevail. Jesus will gain the throne of David (Luke 1:32).

[i] Marx G. The Beliefs and Practices of the Church of God in Transylvania During the Middle Ages, 1588-1623

[ii] (The Sabbatarians in Transylvania) Ihre Geschichte, Literatur und Dogmatic (their story, literature and doctrines) ein Beitrag zur Religions und Kulturgeshichte der Juengsten Drei Jahrhunderte (a contribution to the religious and cultural history of the last three centuries) von (by) Dr. Samuel Kohn, printed in Leipzig, Germany in 1894

Portion of Septuagint Rendering of Amos 2

COGwriter

The Church of Rome considers March 31st to be a memorial day for the Hebrew Prophet Amos (the Eastern Orthodox use June 14th).

Here is some information about him from Wikipedia:

Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah,[1] was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II,[1] (786–746 BC) making the Book of Amos the first biblical prophetic book written. Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah but preached in the northern kingdom of Israel. (Book of Amos. viewed 02/22/2014)

Before becoming a prophet, Amos was a sheep herder and a sycamore fig farmer. Amos’ prior professions and his claim “I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet” (7:14) indicate that Amos was not from the school of prophets, which Amos claims makes him a true prophet (7:14). His prophetic career began in 750 BCE out of the town of Tekoa, in Judah, south of Jerusalem. (Amos the Prophet, viewed 02/22/2014)

It is interesting that he had to tell people that one becomes a true prophet in a manner that most did not expect. The Apostle Paul attempted to defend his apostleship that type of way (2 Corinthians 11:5, 22-29)–and that was to people who were supposedly in the Church of God.

One of the messages that Amos proclaimed is that the time would come when people would not be able to find the words of God:

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,
But shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

I have long believed that the above warning is a reference to a coming internet censorship. We have seen a lot of it since I first posted about it. Related to this writer (who is also a published scientist), Vimeo pulled our video: COVID-19 Leading to 666?, YouTube pulled Disney’s abominable promotions!, YouTube also pulled COVID-19: Eat what is good!, and Facebook pulled a post similar to the following: COVID interview: Dr. Fauci takes isolated vitamin D and synthetic vitamin C. YouTube also pulled a video we made on November 16, 2019 titled: Superbugs, antibiotics, and vaccines. In the Summer of 2023, YouTube censored the video, New Transgender Study, but then relented. However, because we do not trust Big Tech in general, nor Youtube in particular, we already had these up on other platforms, so they are still available.

Notice something about the USA and internet censorship;

March 28, 2023

In an era where the world has become more Orwellian than Orwell himself could have ever imagined, it should come as no surprise that the US government is once again attempting to expand its stranglehold on individual liberty. Enter Senate Bill 686, also known as the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act (RESTRICT Act). Far from being the limited TikTok ban it purports to be, the RESTRICT Act represents an unprecedented expansion of government power and surveillance, reaching into nearly every aspect of our digital lives.

Make no mistake, this piece of legislation is the “Patriot Act on steroids.” The RESTRICT Act would seemingly grant the US government total control over all devices connected to the internet, including cars, Ring cameras, refrigerators, Alexa devices, and your phone. It goes beyond the pale, with the end goal being nothing short of a complete invasion of your privacy.

Under the guise of national security, the RESTRICT Act targets not only TikTok but all hardware, software, and mobile apps used by more than one million people. This means that anything from your Google Home device to your smartphone could be subject to government monitoring and control. https://thefreethoughtproject.com/the-state/the-digital-iron-curtain-how-the-restrict-act-threatens-to-devastate-privacy-and-crush-free-speech-online

Here is more information on that:

The RESTRICT Act, S.686 – 118th Congress (2023-2024), being pushed through congress against TIKTOK will give the US government total control of all things connected to the internet. Cars, Ring cams, refrigerators, Alexa devices, your phone, etc. A sentence of 20 years in prison,… pic.twitter.com/KTntOxOF0f

— Conspiratorial Report (@CnsprtrlRprt) March 26, 2023

Irrespective of whether or not that gets passed, the fact that it was formally proposed should cause people who value freedom of speech to pause.

Censorship looks to be intensifying just before the start of the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), also called the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21). Perhaps under the guise of “neutrality,” perhaps under the guise of “The Patriot Act,” perhaps under the guise of “public welfare,” perhaps because of alleged “intolerance,” calling parts of the COG message “hate speech” (which at least one associated with the Biden-Harris Administration has already basically said) and/or national security threats/issues, something will be done to stop perhaps all of the organized media efforts to proclaim biblical truths. A short work will be done (Romans 9:27-28; see also Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word), which will trigger the end (Matthew 24:14), and likely then the famine of the word (Amos 8:11-12).

I believe that the government of the USA will be at least complicit with causing aspects of the truth of the Bible and its prophecies to be removed from at least parts of the internet.

While I often quote just the 11th and 12th verses of Amos 8, consider the two verses that follow.

13 “In that day the fair virgins
And strong young men
Shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria,
Who say,
‘As your god lives, O Dan!’
And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’
They shall fall and never rise again.” (Amos 8:11-14)

Verse 14 mentions Samaria. Samaria is a prophetic reference to the USA–for details on that, check out the article: Spiritual Samaritans: Old and New.

The reference to those who say the god of Dan lives is a reference to false religion (cf. Judges 18)–and the old WCG speculated that the idolatry of Dan was why it was NOT listed among the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4-8.

The false religion of promoting the LGBTQ agenda and other sins will not end well for the USA (cf. Romans 1:18-32).

And yes, the USA as we know it will fall and never rise again.

Amos had many messages, some that are particularly applicable now include the following:

9 “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; See great tumults in her midst, And the oppressed within her. 10 For they do not know to do right,” Says the Lord, “Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.” 11 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “An adversary shall be all around the land; He shall sap your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.” 12 Thus says the Lord: “As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out who dwell in Samaria — In the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch! 13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Says the Lord God, the God of hosts, 14 “That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground.” (Amos 3:9-14)

1 Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes! 2 Go over to Calneh and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? 3 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near; 4 Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall; 5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; 6 Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed. 8 The Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.” (Amos 6:1-8)

8 “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

9 “For surely I will command,
And will sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’” (Amos 9:8-10)

Amos is giving a warning to those called by Jacob’s name (which was also Israel), whom according to Jacob himself, would seem to be a reference to the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:16). In modern times, this would be the Anglo-Saxon nations such as Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and also the United States of America. The reference to trusting Mt. Samaria in Amos 6:1 could be a reference to trusting the USA to defend in the end (for more scriptures on this, please see Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel). That will not end well for the USA or its allies of the Anglo-Saxon nations.

Of course, few in those nations believe that they will be taken over and have such calamity. But that will come to pass. Most would not listen to Amos then, and most, sadly, will not listen to Amos now.

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) is pleased to suggest the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:42

Why Do People Die?

What does the Bible teach about death? Why do people die? Do all die in Adam? Are the wages of sin death? What is sin? Why do righteous people die? Are people who are dead suffering or are they merely sleeping in their graves awaiting the resurrection? Did Jesus die so we can live again? Is there a time to die? Do people die at the time it is best for them as well as others affected by their death? Does this have biblical support? Is death one of “all things that work together for good”? Can death be a form of correction and/or and end of suffering from God? What about the second death? If we are to be resurrected, why die in the first place? Can this mortal put on immortality and this corruptible put on incorruption? What about love and John 3:16? Is there really a glorious eternity ahead? Should we be comforted by prophecies of Jesus’ return and the resurrection? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Why Do People Die?

While there is sorrow, death fits as part of God’s loving plan for you and all others.

And that plan results in the resurrected Christian to be able to give love in a unique way to make the universe better for themself and every one else.

A glorious eternity is ahead.

Do not let the death of people dissuade you as the Bible also teaches that death will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26) and there will be no more death, nor sorrow, or crying” (Revelation 21:4).

More on God’s loving plan can be found in the free online book: The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You?

Those interested in early Christianity may wish to check out the following to learn more:

What Happens After Death? Is death like sleep, or is that a cultic idea? Can you speak to the dead? Here is a link to a related sermon: What really happens after death?
A Better Resurrection Is it better to be called now? Is it better to be Philadelphian? Here is a link to a related sermon: The Better Resurrection.
What Did Early Christians Understand About the Resurrections? Is there more than one future resurrection? Did early Christians teach a physical resurrection? Did early Christians teach three resurrections? Here is a link to a related sermon: Understanding the Resurrections.
The Second Death The New Testament speaks of something called the “second death.” Who will be subject to it? How does it end? Here is a link to a related sermon: First death, Second death.
Study the Bible Course Lesson 15: What is “Hell”? What are the different words translated as “hell” in English? Does Gehenna mean something different than Hades. What happens? What about worms dying not?
Are The Wicked Tormented Forever or Burned Up? How does one explain Revelation 14:11 in light of Malachi 4:3? What happens to the incorrigibly wicked?
Did Early Christians Teach They Were Going to Heaven? What do the Bible and scholars teach? What about ‘near-death experiences’? Here is a link to a related sermon: Heaven and Christianity. A shorter video is Dante Aligheri’s Inferno, Heaven, and The Real Hope.
Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? What does John 3:16, and other writings, tell us? Did a doctrine kept adopted from paganism? Here is a YouTube video titled Are humans immortal?
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair?, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to two videos in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios and El Misterio de Satanás, el Misterio de la Verdad, el Misterio del Reposo.

Garden Tomb location (Pixabay)

COGwriter

Was Jesus actually resurrected on a Sunday? Is that possible?

What does the Bible teach? (For some information about the ‘crucifixion’ in Spanish, please click on ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?)

Related to Spanish, there is a new video:

English title:  Did Christ rise on a Sunday?

Spanish title:  ¿Resucitó Cristo un domingo?

Spanish YouTube link:  https://youtu.be/AN5npovyGWk

Here is one explanation, primarily using New Testament texts about the day of the crucifixion and the day of the resurrection, from the 1952 booklet of the old Radio Church of God titled The RESURRECTION was NOT on Sunday by the late Herbert W. Armstrong explaining this:

It is commonly supposed, today, Jesus was crucified on FRIDAY, and that the resurrection occurred about sunrise on Easter Sunday morning.

It would seem that no one, until recently, ever thought to question or to PROVE this “Good-Friday-Easter” tradition. Yet the Bible tells us to PROVE all things. And you will be literally astounded by this proof.

For PROOF there is but one dependable authority; a sole historical record — the Bible…

The doubting Pharisees were asking Jesus for a SIGN– a supernatural evidence — in proof of His Messiahship.

Jesus answered: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the heart of the earth.” (Matt. 12:38-40). Now consider, please, the tremendous import — the overwhelming significance — of Jesus’ statements!

He expressly declared that the ONLY SIGN He would give to prove He was the Messiah was that He should be just THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the rock-hewn sepulchre in “the heart of the earth.”

The Significance of the Sign

These Christ-rejecting Pharisees demanded PROOF. Jesus offered but one evidence. That evidence was not the fact of the resurrection itself — it was the LENGTH OF TIME He would repose in His grave, before being resurrected.

Think what this means! Jesus staked His claim to being your Saviour and mine upon remaining exactly THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS in the tomb. IF He remained just three days and three nights inside the earth, He would PROVE Himself the Saviour — if He failed in this sign, He must be rejected as an imposter!

No wonder Satan has caused unbelievers to scoff at the story of Jonah and the “Whale!” No wonder the Devil has set up a tradition that DENIES Jesus is the Messiah!…

The BIBLE Definition

But the BIBLE definition of the duration of “nights and days” is simple.

Even these same higher critics admit that in the HEBREW language, in which the book of Jonah was written, the expression “three days and three nights” means a period of 72 hours — three twelve-hour days and three twelve-hour nights.

Notice Jonah 1:17: “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS!” This, they admit was a period of 72 hours. And Jesus distinctly said that AS Jonah was three days and three nights in the great fish’s belly, So He would be the same length of time in His grave!

As Jonah was in the “GRAVE” (see marginal reference, Jonah 2:2) 72 hours, after which he was supernaturally resurrected by God, by being vomited up, to become a saviour to the people of Ninevah upon proclaiming the warning to them, so should Jesus be 72 hours in His grave, thereupon being resurrected by God to become the saviour of the world!

Did Jesus know how much time was in a “day” and in a “night”? Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day … but if a man walk in the NIGHT, he stumbleth.” (John 11:9-10).

Notice the BIBLE DEFINITION of the expression, “THE THIRD DAY.” Text after text tells us that Jesus rose THE THIRD DAY. See how the BIBLE defines the time required to fulfill “THE THIRD DAY.”

In Genesis 1:4 God “divided the LIGHT from the DARKNESS. And God called the LIGHT Day, and the DARKNESS He called Night. And the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were THE FIRST DAY … and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were THE SECOND DAY, … and the evening (now three periods of darkness called NIGHT – three nights) and the morning (now three periods of light called DAY — three days) were THE THIRD DAY.” (Gen 1:4- 13).

Here we have the ONLY BIBLE DEFINITION which explains and COUNTS UP the amount of time involved in the expression “THE THIRD DAY.” It includes three dark periods called NIGHT, and three light periods called DAY — three days and three nights, and Jesus said they contained TWELVE HOURS for each period — a total of 72 hours!

That ought to be conclusive! Any seven-year old, near the end of the second grade, could figure it easily. We praise God that His plain truths are revealed UNTO BABES, and hidden from the wise and prudent!

What Is Wrong?

What is wrong with these plain, simple words of Jesus? How do these wise and prudent theologians KNOW Jesus was crucified “Good Friday” and rose “Easter Sunday?”

The simple answer is, THEY DO NOT KNOW IT — for IT IS NOT TRUE! It is merely TRADITION — a tradition we have been taught from childhood, and carelessly ASSUMED! Jesus warns against making “the Word of God of none effect through your TRADITION.” (Mark 7:13).

We have examined two scriptural witnesses, in Matthew and in Jonah, both setting the duration of the body of Jesus in the tomb as three days and three nights, which the Scriptures plainly define as 72 hours of time. Now let us examine four other Scriptural witnesses that PROVE THE SAME THING.

Notice Mark 8:31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and AFTER three days rise again.”

Our young second grader can figure this. IF Jesus had been killed on Friday, and then AFTER one day He had risen, the resurrection would have occurred on Saturday evening. IF AFTER TWO DAYS, it would have occurred Sunday evening, and if AFTER THREE DAYS, it would have occurred MONDAY EVENING!

Examine this text carefully. You cannot, by any process of arithmetic, figure any less than a full 72 hours — three days and three nights — in a resurrection which occurred three days AFTER the crucifixion! If Jesus was in the grave only from Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, then this text too, must be torn out of your Bible or else you must reject Jesus Christ as your Saviour! If He rose AFTER THREE DAYS, it might have been more than 72 hours, but it could not have been a second less!

Notice now Mark 9:31. “… they shall kill him; and AFTER that he is killed, he shall rise THE THIRD DAY.” The duration expressed here must be between 48 and 72 hours. It could not be one second PAST 72 hours, and Jesus still rise THE THIRD DAY. And it could not be Friday sunset to Sunday sunrise, because that is only 36 hours, carrying us into the middle of the second day, AFTER He was killed.

In Matthew 27:63 Jesus is quoted as saying, “AFTER THREE DAYS I will rise again.” This cannot possibly be figured as less than 72 full hours.

And in John 2:18-22, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and IN three days I will raise it up … but HE spake of the temple of his body.” To be raised up IN three days after being destroyed, or crucified and buried, could not be more than 72 hours.

If we are to accept all the testimony of THE BIBLE, we must conclude that Jesus was exactly three days and three nights — three full 24-hour days — 72 hours in the grave or the only supernatural proof He gave must fail.

The TIME OF DAY of the Resurrection

Now notice carefully this fact: In order to be three days and three nights — 72 hours — in the tomb, our Lord had to be resurrected at exactly THE SAME TIME OF DAY that His body was buried in the tomb!

Let us realize that very vital fact.

If we can find the TIME OF DAY of the burial, then we have found the TIME OF DAY of the resurrection! If the burial, for instance, was at sunrise, then in order to be left an even three days and three nights in the tomb, the resurrection likewise had to occur at sunrise, three days later. If the burial were at noon, the resurrection was at noon. If the burial was at sunset, the resurrection was at sunset, three days later.

Jesus cried on the cross soon after “the ninth hour” or three o’clock in the afternoon. (Matt. 27:46-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46).

The crucifixion day was called “the preparation,” or day before “the Sabbath.” (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14). This day ended at sunset, according to Bible reckoning (Lev. 23:32).

Yet Jesus was buried before this same day ended — before sunset. (Matt. 27:57; Luke 23:52-54). John adds, “There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews’ preparation day.” According to the laws observed by the Jews all dead bodies must be buried before the beginning of a Sabbath or feast day. Hence Jesus was buried BEFORE SUNSET on the same day He died. He died shortly after 3 p.m.

Therefore — notice carefully — the BURIAL OF CHRIST’S BODY WAS IN THE LATE AFTERNOON! It was between 3 p.m. and sunset as these Scriptures prove.

And since the RESURRECTION had to occur at the SAME TIME OF DAY, three days later, THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED, not at sunrise, but IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near sunset! Startling as this fact may be, it is the PLAIN BIBLE TRUTH!

If Jesus rose at any other time of day, He could not have been three days and three nights in His grave. If He rose at any other time of day, He failed to prove, by the only sign He gave that He was the true Messiah, the Son of the living Creator! Either He rose near the END of a day near sunset, or else He is not the Christ! He staked His claim on that one and only sign!

So a time-honored tradition must be shattered! Let us praise God for His TRUTH which has been preserved through the dark ages, so that the true light may now shine forth, if our hearts and minds are still willing to receive it! Praise His name! Do you LOVE the TRUTH as it is revealed, or despise it and love the traditions you have heard? “Whosoever despiseth the Word shall be destroyed!” Let us say with David, “How precious also are THY thoughts unto me, O God!”

What Day Was the Resurrection?

Now which DAY OF THE WEEK was the resurrection day? The first investigators, Mary Magdalene and her companions, came to the sepulcher on the first day of the week (Sunday) very early, while it was yet dark, as the sun was beginning to rise, at dawn. (Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).

Now here are the texts most people have SUPPOSED stated the resurrection was at sunrise Sunday morning. But they do not say that!

When the women arrived, the tomb was already OPEN! At that time Sunday morning while it was yet dark — JESUS WAS NOT THERE! Notice how the angel says “HE IS NOT HERE, BUT IS RISEN!” See Mark 16:6; Luke 24:3; John 20:2; Matt. 28:5-6.

Jesus was ALREADY RISEN at sunrise Sunday morning! Of course He was. He rose from the grave IN THE LATE AFTERNOON, near SUNSET!

And since we know the resurrection was just shortly prior to that Sunday morning, and that it occurred in the late afternoon of the day, we now may know THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST OCCURRED LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

The Sabbath day ended at sunset. It was late on that day, before the beginning of the first day of the week. It was not, then, a Sunday resurrection at all — it was a Sabbath resurrection!

Three days prior to Saturday afternoon is Wednesday afternoon. Hence, since Jesus was killed on a Wednesday and resurrected on a Saturday, there is no biblical reason for “Easter” to be on a Sunday. The resurrection was not on Sunday.

Some have claimed that one of the following scriptures (vs. 21) proves a Friday crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection:

13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.

17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”

18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”

19 And He said to them, “What things?”

So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”

25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:13-27)

But it does not. The strongest evidence in favor of Wednesday as the crucifixion is Jesus’ own words about being in the grave three days and three nights, plus the fact that the Sabbath He was interned prior to, was a high day. As far as the counting of three, different people use different expressions to mean things. For example, in modern times, to say something will happen next Sunday may mean tomorrow or a week from tomorrow, hence I do not believe that the “third day since” argument is adequate to discount Wednesday.

Furthermore, notice this explanation from the late Herbert W. Armstrong:

Another passage that might confuse is Luke 24:21: “… And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.” “These things” included all the events pertaining to the resurrection — the seizing of Jesus, delivering Him to be tried, the actual crucifixion, and, finally, the setting of the seal and the watch over the tomb the following day, or Thursday. Study verses 18-20, telling of “these things” and also Matthew 27:62-66. “These things” were not completed until the watch was set, Thursday. And the text says Sunday was the third day since these things were done. Sunday truly was the third day since Thursday. But it was not the third day since Friday, so this text could not prove a Friday crucifixion. (The RESURRECTION was NOT on Sunday, Radio Church of God, 1952)

Notice that “these things” were not limited to placing Christ in the tomb. Yet some have erroneously concluded otherwise.

Notice the following:

62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. (Matthew 27:62-66).

The day “which followed the Day of Preparation” was a Thursday and the third day since that would be Sunday.

Even some Protestant scholars have long realized that there is biblical support that Jesus’ resurrection may have been on Saturday. Notice what one wrote in 1907:

…the Bible nowhere says or implies that Jesus was crucified and died on Friday. It is said that Jesus was crucified on “the day before the Sabbath“…Now, the Bible does not leave us to speculate which Sabbath is meant in this instance; for John tells us, in so many words, in John 19:14, that the day on which Jesus was tried and crucified was “the preparation of the Passover” (emphasis added). In other words, it was not the day before the weekly Sabbath (that is, Friday), but it was the day before the Passover Sabbath, which came that year on Thursday–that is to say, the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified was Wednesday. John makes this as clear as day… To sum it all up, Jesus died just about sunset on Wednesday. Seventy two hours later, exactly three days and three nights, at…Saturday at sunset, He arose again from the grave. (Torrey R.A. Difficulties in the Bible. Originally published 1907; Whitaker House; Updated edition, October 2003, pp. 168-169, 173).

Furthermore, see what the late Jerry Falwell, a Sunday-keeper, and others have admitted:

The Bible is actually silent on the precise moment of resurrection. Jesus’ followers came to His tomb before dawn on the first day of the week (Sunday), but they did not witness Him coming back to life. They merely found an empty tomb. Even the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, a Sunday-keeper and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., agreed with that timetable, telling WND in 2001, “I personally believe He was crucified on Wednesday evening … and rose after 6 p.m. Saturday evening.” Most Christians today think Jesus died on a Friday and rose on Sunday. They point to Scriptures indicating a Sabbath day followed Jesus’ execution. But Sabbath-keepers claim it was not the weekly Sabbath of Saturday approaching. Rather, they say it was an annual Sabbath, a “high” holy day in the Hebrew calendar known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which supposedly occurred on a Thursday the week Jesus was killed. The Gospel of John mentions that Sabbath was the annual type. “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) … .” (John 19:31) In other words, Sabbatarians say there was more than one day of rest that week. Their timeline has Jesus slain on Wednesday – the day before the “high day” annual Sabbath on Thursday. They believe Jesus was in the grave for a full three days and three nights, finally arising Saturday evening, the second Sabbath of the week. The mention of “three days and three nights” is important for many, as Jesus used that phrase to prove His divine identity: “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so I, the Son of Man, will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.” (Matthew 12:40, New Living Translation) (Kovac, Joe. ‘Deception’: Christians war over worship day. Posted: March 16, 2008 5:24 pm Eastern. WorldNetDaily).

Hence, some do know the truth. And it is not just some Protestants. It is interesting to note that even into the 19th century, there was a ceremony in Rome that indicated a Saturday resurrection. Notice:

This ceremony is thus graphically described by the authoress of Rome in the 19th Century:”…the Pope himself, who walked beneath a crimson canopy, with his head uncovered, bearing the Host in a box; and this being, as you know, the real flesh and blood of Christ, was carried from the Sistine chapel through the intermediate hall to the Paulina chapel, where it was deposited in the sepulchre prepared to receive it beneath the altar…I never could learn why Christ was to be buried before He was dead, for, as the crucifixion did not take place till Good Friday, it seems odd to inter Him on Thursday. His body, however, is laid in the sepulchre, in all the churches of Rome, where this rite is practised, on Thursday forenoon, and it remains there till Saturday at mid-day, when, for some reason best known to themselves, He is supposed to rise from the grave amidst the firing of cannon, and blowing of trumpets, and jingling of bells…*” * The above account referred to the ceremonies as witnessed by the authoress in 1817 and 1818. It would seem that some change has taken place since then, caused probably by the very attention called by her to the gross anomaly mentioned above; for Count Vlodaisky, formerly a Roman Catholic priest, who visited Rome in 1845, has informed me that in that year the resurrection took place, not at mid-day, but at nine o’clock on the evening of Saturday. This may have been intended to make the inconsistency between Roman practice and Scriptural fact appear somewhat less glaring. Still the fact remains, that the resurrection of Christ, as celebrated at Rome, takes place, …on the day of Saturn…(Hislop, Alexander. Two Babylons. Loizeaux, Neptune (NJ), Second American Edition, 1959–originally expanded in 1858).

Whether the above ceremony still exists, this writer does not know. But it is interesting that at least one Roman ceremony involving the pope acknowledged a Saturday resurrection that late. Perhaps, this ceremony was originally adopted by Rome partially because the early Romans knew that Jesus was actually resurrected on Saturday.

Irrespective of that celebration, it is clear that there is evidence outside the Bible that among those that professed Christ, there were some who understood that the crucifixion was on a Wednesday and the resurrection was on a Saturday.

Some items of related interest may be include:

What Happened in the ‘Crucifixion Week’? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?) A sermon of related interest is titled What did and did not happen in the ‘Crucifixion week’?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? A related YouTube video would be Origin of the Cross.
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2033, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur 🙂 In the Spanish/Español/Castellano language: Calendario de los Días Santos. In Mandarin Chinese: 何日是神的圣日？ 这里是一份神的圣日日历从2013年至2024年。.
The Night to Be Observed What is the night to be much observed? When is it? Why do Jews keep Passover twice and emphasize the wrong date? Here is a link to a YouTube video titled The Night to Be Observed.
The Passover Plot What was the first Passover plot? Which plots have Islam and the Greco-Roman faiths perpetuated about Passover? A sermon video of related interest is The Passover Plots, Including Easter.
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well. Here is a related sermon, also titled Melito’s Homily on the Passover.
Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? Do they have any use or meaning now? What is leaven? This article supplies some biblical answers. Here is a YouTube video intended to be viewed for the first day of unleavened bread:
Christians and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.

(Public Domain Picture)

COGwriter

Here is another call for Europe to take military steps:

War a real threat and Europe not ready, warns Poland’s Tusk

30 March 2024

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned Europe is in a “pre-war era” and Ukraine must not be defeated by Russia for the good of the whole continent.

He said war was “no longer a concept from the past”, adding: “It’s real and it started over two years ago.” …

Mr Tusk used his first interview with European media since returning to the office of Polish prime minister at the end of 2023 to urge leaders around the continent to bolster their defences.

He said Europe did not need to create “parallel structures to Nato” but the continent would be a more attractive partner to the US if it became more self-sufficient militarily, regardless of who wins America’s November presidential election. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68692195

Europe must get ready for looming war, Donald Tusk warns

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, says Europe is entering a “prewar” era, cautioning that the continent is not ready and urging European countries to step up defence investment.

In an interview with a group of European newspapers reported by the BBC, Tusk said: “I don’t want to scare anyone, but war is no longer a concept from the past. It’s real and it started over two years ago.” …

Tusk has been using his platform to try to add a sense of urgency to Europe’s debates about defence and aid to Ukraine, amid fears about the future of American assistance and concerns about defence industrial capacity. …

What was most worrying was that “literally any scenario is possible,” Tusk said. “I know it sounds devastating, especially to people of the younger generation, but we have to mentally get used to the arrival of a new era. The prewar era,” he said. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/29/europe-must-get-ready-for-looming-war-donald-tusk-warns

Yes, many leaders in Europe consider that it needs to take military steps. Reasons include the following:

1. Europe knows it is not ready for war.
2. The USA should not be counted on for military defense.
3. Europe needs to get itself ready for war before the USA abandons it.
4. Fear of Donald Trump along with USA deficits is also a factor.

As far as taking steps go, we put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel bout two years ago:

18:27

Is the European Beast Growing Horns?

Does the conflict between Russia and Ukraine have prophetic ramifications? What about Ezekiel 38? Are we seeing a ‘historic shift’ in Europe to move towards more unity? What about non-EU nations like Sweden and Switzerland? Is Germany’s announcement to double its military spending to 100 million euros a big deal? Does the Bible tell of changes coming to Europe for it to rise up as a Babylonian unity successful military power? What about the United States of America and its British-descended allies? Could USA sanctions against Russia, including SWIFT restrictions, decrease international demand for USA dollars and cause inflation? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.

Here is a link to our video: Is the European Beast Growing Horns?

A great European army will rise up according to the Bible:

16 … the king of the north … 25 … shall stir up his power and his courage … with a great army. (Daniel 11:16, 25)

Europe, itself, will become the aggressor against the USA in the future per Daniel 11:39.

Yes, Europe’s “pre-war” planning and spending is setting the stage for war against the USA!

Europe already has PESCO, its Permanent Structured Cooperation–which it formed within a year of Donald Trump becoming President of the United States–his position was used as a reason, in my view, to accelerate the move towards a stronger EU military.

The Europeans are concluding that they want greater military capability as they have concerns about the USA.

‘Holy Saturday descent’ icon (Wikipedia)

COGwriter

This Saturday is called ‘Holy Saturday’ by the Roman Catholics. The Church of Rome and the Eastern Orthodox celebrate the day called Pascha (which is the Greek word for Passover) by the Eastern/Greek Orthodox and called ‘Easter‘ by English-speaking Protestants and Catholics on different days (for the Orthodox it is a week later). Both also observe something called ‘Holy Saturday’ (which is later for the Orthodox).

Now, the Bible does call the Sabbath day holy which, on the Roman calendar is a day called Saturday:

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. (Exodus 20:8-9)

But that is not what Roman Catholics mean when they call today “Holy Saturday.”

The Apostle Paul taught that Jesus died and that death is essentially like being asleep:

34 … It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:34)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)

Yet, many falsely claim that Jesus did not really die, but that He descended into ‘hell’/hades to preach to fallen angels and/or others after His physical death on the stake.

Vatican News called that “an ancient tradition” as opposed to a biblical teaching:

20 April 2019

Holy Saturday is the interlude between the pain of the death of Jesus and the joy of His resurrection. No liturgy is celebrated during the day. In silent expectation, the Christian community relives the loss of the disciples of Christ as recollection and meditation reign supreme. …

Even if everything seems to be silent, Christ is at work. In fact, according to ancient tradition, on this day, Jesus descended into the realm of the dead to save man and take him along with Him to heaven, where He precedes us and where He awaits us with open arms.

In the realm of the dead, Jesus meets Adam, the first man who here symbolizes the whole of humanity, shakes him out of his slumber and proclaims His salvation from which no one is excluded. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-04/holy-saturday-silence-expectation-mary.html

Here is some of what the Church of Rome has historically taught that happened on the day they call Holy Saturday:

What happened on the first Holy Saturday?

Here on earth, Jesus’ disciples mourned his death and, since it was a sabbath day, they rested. …

What happened to Jesus while he was dead?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” – Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek – because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.

Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”:

“It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Saviour in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.”

Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.

634 “The gospel was preached even to the dead.” The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment.

This is the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ’s redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/12-things-you-need-to-know-about-holy-saturday3

632 The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was “raised from the dead” presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection.478 This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ’s descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.479 (479 Cf. 1 Pet 3:18-19.) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 632)

While Jesus’ disciples mourned His death and would have rested on the Sabbath, when Jesus was dead, He was actually dead. Though He was raised from the dead on the day we now call Saturday.

There are several theological problems with the Roman view of ‘Holy Saturday.” Consider:

1. If Jesus did not really die, which He did (Romans 5:8, 8:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:10), then He did not really give His life.
2. Jesus said He would be like Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish (Matthew 12:40)–does anyone really claim that Jonah preached in ‘hades’ (called sheol in Hebrew) during that time? It is certainly not recorded that Jonah did that in the Old Testament.
3. There is no New Testament teaching that Jesus descended into Hades to preach to various spirits or dead humans. Plus dead humans are dead (see Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? and What Happens After Death?).

On that third point, first let me quote the Bible:

27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (Acts 2:27)

That passage does NOT say that Jesus descended and preached. Consider also the word translated as Hades means the grave or place of the dead.

It is NOT the same word as Gehenna (which had a fire) that is often translated as hell in many New Testaments.

It is also NOT the same word as Tartarosas which is used as a place of restraint for fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4). The Bible never teaches that Jesus went there after He was executed.

Furthermore, realize that Acts 2:27 is a quote (per Acts 2:25) of something David wrote in the Psalms:

10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (Psalms 16:10)

Sheol also means grave or place of the dead. Notice the following where Sheol is translated as grave:

5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks? (Psalms 6:5, NKJV; both the Catholic NJB and NABRE leave the word as Sheol, instead of using the translation as grave–see their Psalm 6:6)

Now let me refer to a statement from the late French Cardinal Jean-Guenole-Marie Danielou on whether the New Testament teaches the descent:

The Descent Into Hell…This doctrine appears nowhere in the New Testament,1

1 So W. Bieder, Die Vorstellung von der Hollenfardt Jesus Christi, p. 128

(Danielou, Cardinal Jean-Guenole-Marie. The Theology of Jewish Christianity. Translated by John A. Baker. The Westminister Press, 1964, p. 233)

Here is another Roman Catholic report:

April 7, 2023

Saturday in the Jewish Calendar, Shabbat, was the day of rest. Having completed his saving work on the cross, Christ honors the Sabbath as his body lays at rest in the tomb. And yet, Christ does not remain idle, for he is lord even of the Sabbath. …

As the Paschal candle enters the church in the Easter Vigil, one speck of light multiplies to hundreds. As the light spreads, God’s deeds and promises in the history of salvation from the creation of the world forward are read. We are reminded of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all of God’s holy people who died before Christ’s coming.

There is only one name under heaven given to men through which they can be saved—the name proclaimed to the dead on Holy Saturday. But how could those who died not hearing Christ’s name recognize it, and be saved? …

The harrowing of hell is a great mystery in more ways than one. How can an incorporeal spirit, the God-man Jesus Christ subsisting apart from his body, “descend” to the lower parts of the earth? The precise way in which incorporeal souls can be “in a place” cannot be fully manifest to us. Still, it can be said that Christ’s descent is like that of angelic motion: he contacts the souls in that place, and leads them forth to glory through his power.

If mourning is proportioned to the love lost, and if Christ is most deserving of our love, then Holy Saturday is the day of sorrow. Because mourning the dead is characteristic of man, Holy Saturday is a metaphor for the human condition. https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/contributors/holy-saturday-people/

Let’s briefly consider the above:

1. Yes, Saturday is the day of rest–but as Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus kept the Sabbath holy when He was alive.
2. Paschal, a reference to Passover, was kept by Jesus well as His disciples (Luke 22:14-22).
3. Neither Jesus disciples nor the early Christians kept an Easter vigil. The name Easter comes from paganism (see Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter?).
4. Yes, there is only one name under heaven by which we can be saved and that is Jesus–but Holy Saturday teachings are not the plan (to learn more of the plan, check out the free online book Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation).
5. To answer the question, “But how could those who died not hearing Christ’s name recognize it, and be saved?,” let me briefly state that the belief of the original catholic church was NOT anything resembling Holy Saturday (see the free online book
   Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession?). Instead. a version of apocatastasis was taught (for many scritural and historical details, check out the free online book
   Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation).
6. Holy Saturday is not a biblical doctrine. It is a symbol of error, not a metaphor for the human condition.

Anyway, the Bible teaches that Jesus was dead for three days and three nights. Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity upon incarnation (Philippians 2:7) and did not receive it back until He was resurrected (cf. John 20:24-29).

As far as WHEN He preached to certain fallen angels, the idea is claimed to come from 1 Peter 3:18-20). So let’s look at that:

Jesus Christ was the same God who walked and talked with Moses in the wilderness — the same “I AM” (see Ex. 3:14) who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. Paul makes this plain. “I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the [Red] sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…. For they drank from the same supernatural Rock which followed them, and the [‘that,’ KJV] Rock was Christ” (I Cor. 10:1-4).

This same Personage in the Godhead presided over the Flood in Noah’s day. Peter gives us the facts: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits [demons] in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (I Peter 3:18-20, KJV). (Schroeder JR. Who Was Jesus? Good News magazine, November 1975)

The time frame of the ‘descent’ was the time of Noah and that flood. Thus, it DID NOT happen during the time called the ‘crucifixion week.’

It has been said that one of Mel Gibson’s Passion movies was promoting this descent on Saturday error. Here is a video about that:

12:42

‘Passion’ sequel: Descent into Hades

Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ’ movie grossed over $600 million. He is working on a sequel tentatively titled ‘Resurrection.’ The actor who plays Jesus (Jim Caviezel) said this movie will have “shocking” parts. One part, that has been reported, is the idea that Jesus went to Hades after the crucifixion and prior to the resurrection to preach to souls in “hell.”‘ Is that what the New Testament teaches? Is this something original to the Apostles and what is called the “Apostles” Creed’? Did Jesus really die? What do the terms Hades, Sheol, Tartarosas, and Gehenna signify? What does the Bible teach about when Jesus preached in Tartarosas? Did Jerome include this in his Latin Vulgate? Is the ‘descent into Hades’ (Acts 2:27) the same as taught by the Catechism of the Catholic Church? What does the Bible teach us? Dr. Thiel answers these questions and more.

Here is a link to our video: ‘Passion’ sequel: Descent into Hades.

Do not let anyone mislead you that the ‘descent into hell’ position was taught in the Bible or was part of the original teaching of the Apostles.

Those who wish to learn more should also study the following articles:

What Happened in the ‘Crucifixion Week’? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?) A sermon of related interest is titled What did and did not happen in the ‘Crucifixion week’?
What Was the Original Apostles’ Creed? What is the Nicene Creed? Did the original apostles write a creed? When was the first creed written? Are the creeds commonly used by the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholics original?
Did Early Christians Believe that Humans Possessed Immortality? What does John 3:16, and other writings, tell us? Did a doctrine kept adopted from paganism? Here is a YouTube video titled Are humans immortal?
The Rich Man and Lazarus What was Jesus teaching in Luke 16?
Where are Enoch and Elijah? Booklet by the late Dr. Herman Hoeh.
What Happens After Death? Is death like sleep, or is that a cultic idea? Can you speak to the dead? Here is a link to a related sermon: What really happens after death?
The Second Death The New Testament speaks of something called the “second death.” Who will be subject to it? How does it end? Here is a link to a related sermon: First death, Second death.
Study the Bible Course Lesson 15: What is “Hell”? What are the different words translated as “hell” in English? Does Gehenna mean something different than Hades. What happens? What about worms dying not?
Are The Wicked Tormented Forever or Burned Up? How does one explain Revelation 14:11 in light of Malachi 4:3? What happens to the incorrigibly wicked?
Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? What do scholars and the Bible reveal?
Why Easter? Did early Christians observe Easter? What are the origins of Easter? What does Easter have to do with the goddess Ishtar. Where did the word Easter come from? Where do Easter eggs come from? What do rabbits have to do with Easter? Was Jesus resurrected on a Sunday? This is a video.
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation Will all get a fair chance at salvation? This free book is packed with scriptures showing that God does intend to offer salvation to all who ever lived–the elect in this age, and the rest in the age to come. Here is a link to a related sermon series: Universal Offer of Salvation 1: Apocatastasis, Universal Offer of Salvation 2: Jesus Desires All to be Saved, Mysteries of the Great White Throne Judgment (Universal Offer of Salvation part 3), Is God Fair, Will God Pardon the Ignorant?, Can God Save Your Relatives?, Babies, Limbo, Purgatory and God’s Plan, and ‘By the Mouth of All His Holy Prophets’.

Eostre: Goddess of the Dawn

COGwriter

The Continuing Church of God has the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:11:20

Is Easter a Really Christian Holiday?

Did you know that Easter is supposed to be Passover according to the ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church’? Was this originally observed by Christians on a day other than Sunday? Was Passover originally a resurrection holiday or a commemoration of Christ’s death? In this sermon, Dr. Thiel goes over many amazing historical and biblical facts about Easter and Passover. He cites Jesus’ words about worship. He also quotes the Apostle Paul who warned about combining demonic worship practices with Passover. He cites the Apostle John’s words about not being faithful to what he taught as well as some of what John taught about antichrists. Dr. Thiel addresses “fact checkers” and others who assert that the Babylonian goddess Ishtar is not associated with Easter. He cites the 8th century monk known as the “venerable Bede” who taught that Easter came from Eostre, the pagan goddess of the dawn. Dr. Thiel also discusses Easter eggs, Easter rabbits, and their ties to paganism. This is a sermon to watch if you are interested in worshiping God in spirit and in truth.

Here is a link to our sermon video: Is Easter a Really Christian Holiday?

Some item for future interest may include the following:

Did Early Christians Celebrate Easter? If not, when did this happen? Where did Easter come from? What do scholars and the Bible reveal? Here is a link to a video titled Why Easter?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
Should You Observe God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. A related sermon is Which Spring Days should Christians observe?
Keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread How should Christians keep Passover, especially if they are by themselves. Why does the Church of God not require lambs for Passover? How does one keep the Days of Unleavened Bread? For a step-by-step video for Christians to keep it, check out CCOG Passover Service. Here is a link to a related article in the Spanish language: Guardando la Pascua y los Días de los Panes sin Levadura.
Preparing for Passover The Apostle Paul taught that Christians should examine themselves prior to taking Passover. This YouTube video sermon gives suggestions on how to prepare.
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins? There is also a detailed YouTube video available titled History of the Christian Passover.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
The Passover Plot What was the first Passover plot? Which plots have Islam and the Greco-Roman faiths perpetuated about Passover? A sermon video of related interest is The Passover Plots, Including Easter.
Melito’s Homily on the Passover This is one of the earliest Christian writings about the Passover. This also includes what Apollinaris wrote on the Passover as well. Here is a related sermon, also titled Melito’s Homily on the Passover.
Is Lent a Christian Holiday? When did it originate? What about Ash Wednesday? If you observe them, do you know why?
What Happened in the Crucifixion Week? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?)
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries? Did you know that many in the second and third centuries felt that there were two major, and separate, professing Christian groups in the second century, but that those in the majority churches tend to now blend the groups together and claim “saints” from both? “Saints” that condemn some of their current beliefs. Who are the two groups?
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L’Histoire Continue de l’Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2033, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur 🙂 In the Spanish/Español/Castellano language: Calendario de los Días Santos. In Mandarin Chinese: 何日是神的圣日？ 这里是一份神的圣日日历从2013年至2024年。.

Israel hits Syria in heaviest raid on Iran proxies in months https://t.co/MBGWavrtLw

— New York Post (@nypost) March 29, 2024

COGwriter

Israel attacked Syria harder than usual:

Israel accused of killing dozens of Syria troops and Hezbollah fighters with major airstrikes near Aleppo

March 29, 2024

The Syrian army said Friday that Israeli airstrikes near the northern city of Aleppo had killed or wounded “a number of” people and caused damage. A war monitoring group said the strikes killed 44 people, most of them Syrian troops.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor group, said Israeli strikes hit missile depots belonging to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Aleppo’s southern suburb of Jibreen, near the Aleppo International Airport, and the nearby town of Safira, home to a sprawling military facility.

The observatory said 36 Syrian troops, seven Hezbollah fighters and a Syrian member of an Iran-backed group died and dozens of people were wounded, calling it the deadliest such attack in years. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hezbollah-syria-airstrikes-aleppo-gaza-hamas-war/

At some point I expect Syria to retaliate against Israel.

Syria is Iran’s closest ally.

Iran does not like Israel to hit Syria or Hezbollah (another Iranian ally).

Related to what can happen if Iran enters the conflict, that could fulfill prophecies in Isaiah 22:6-9 about “great damage” happening to Jerusalem. Related to Iran and Israel, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following Bible News Prophecy video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

15:03

Iran and Israel Conflict

European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrel, has been brokering the nuclear negotiations involving Iran and said that he thinks the deal is “in danger.” Iran blames the United States, whereas the USA says they are not delaying it. Israeli sources stated that Israel will stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Joe Biden says the USA would use its own military power to prevent Iran from getting such a bomb if need be. In 2021, Iranian lawmakers have submitted a bill seeking the government by law to commit to Israel’s destruction by the year 2040. Does the 22nd chapter of Isaiah point to damage coming to Israel from Iran and possibly Syria? Might Iran be concerned enough about limited progress with the USA to launch some type of attack? Is Iran the prophesied ‘King of the South’? Is it reasonable to think that the prophesied peace deal of Daniel 9:27 will not happen until after a military conflict, like a regional war? Should Christians watch the Middle East? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie discuss these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Iran and Israel Conflict.

But what about Syria and its capital Damascus?

In Isaiah 17:1, the Bible prophesies that Damascus will be turned into a ruinous heap!

The Bible shows that Syria’s capital, Damascus, will one day be destroyed:

7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Syria is Damascus (Isaiah 7:7-8).

3 Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron. (Amos 1:3)

1 The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. 3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,” Says the Lord of hosts. (Isaiah 17:1-3)

23 Against Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are shamed, For they have heard bad news. They are fainthearted; There is trouble on the sea; It cannot be quiet. 24 Damascus has grown feeble; She turns to flee, And fear has seized her. Anguish and sorrows have taken her like a woman in labor. 25 Why is the city of praise not deserted, the city of My joy? 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord of hosts. 27 “I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.” (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

Damascus has been claimed to be the “oldest, continuously-inhabited city” in the world. And while some have questioned that claim, the reality is that Damascus has not been destroyed to the point of becoming the “ruinous heap” since God inspired Isaiah, thousands of years ago, to record that would one day happen. The destruction would be expected to come from some type of warfare.

I have long felt that there were two biblically-related possibilities.

One is when the King of the South and the King of the North turn against each other as prophesied in Daniel 11:40-43.

And the other is related to an attack by Iran and Syria against Jewish Israel and Jerusalem as prophesied in Isaiah 22:6-9.

Why the ambiguity?

Well, mainly because Isaiah 17:1 is not totally clear about the time period, though the verses past it may be pointing to timing related to Isaiah 22:6-9.

If that is the case, then we could see Damascus destroyed within a year. Otherwise, particularly if its destruction is related to Daniel 11:40-43, that will not happen for at least four years from now.

A decade ago, we out out the following video on our BibleNewsProphecy channel:

11:54

Damascus and Syria in Prophecy

Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria?

That video goes through various scriptures and certain Islamic prophecies to explain what may and what will happen to Syria and its capital Damascus. Here is a link: Damascus and Syria in Prophecy.

We are getting closer to the time of Damascus’ destruction.

If Israel, Syria, and Iran begin to fulfill Isaiah 22:6-8, this could end up triggering the countdown to the start of the Great Tribulation!

Peace deals normally do not come until after military conflict. There looks to be so much destruction in Isaiah 22 that a “peace deal” would come out of it–but the deal is only temporary:

26 And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate (Daniel 9:26-27).

The above is referring to a deal or covenant that has a time element attached to it. In a sense, this numbered deal could be considered an end time countdown–which about seven years later would have the scriptures in Revelation about Armageddon being fulfilled.

One day, relatively soon, Iran might inflict major damage to Israel before or after Israel may turn Damascus into a ruinous heap.

These latest attacks from Israel as well as Hamas’ attacks may help embolden Iran and Syria to take strong military action.

The time is coming when God will take away the protection of Judah and the City of David (Isaiah 22:9: Jerusalem, cf. 2 Kings 9:28).

We look to be in a time of wars and rumors of wars as Jesus foretold (Matthew 24:4-8).

Watch! (cf. Mark 13:37)

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar al-Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
Iran in Prophecy Is Iran in Bible prophecy? If so, what does the Bible teach? What names, other than Persia, may be used to describe Iran? There is also a YouTube video titled Iran in Prophecy. Here are links to two related videos Iran In Prophecy and  Iran and Israel Conflict.
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation. A short video is also available titled Trump’s Deal of the Century and Daniel 9 27? Here is a link to something related in the Spanish language: Estados Árabes emiratos unidos y el tratado de paz en el medio este.
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? Two videos of related interest are: The Future King of the South is Rising and The Rise and Fall of the King of the South. Here is a version the Spanish language: ¿Esta Surgiendo el Rey Del Sur?
Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future What does the Bible say about Jerusalem and its future? Is Jerusalem going to be divided and eliminated? Is Jesus returning to the area of Jerusalem? There are also two related YouTube videos you can watch: Jerusalem To be divided and eliminated and God’s and Satan’s Plan for Jerusalem.

Photo from Temple Institute’s newsletter of February 2, 2024

COGwriter

The Temple Institute had the following in its newsletter today:

“This is the law of the burnt offering”

(Leviticus 6:2)

Adar Sheni 19, 5784/March 29, 2024

Parashat Tzav, the second weekly reading of the book of Leviticus deals almost exclusively with a detailed listing of different types of offerings to be performed in the Tabernacle. …

This Shabbat as part of our preparation for Passover we read parashat Para – all about the ashes of the red heifer whose purifying power enables us to enter into the inner courtyards of the Holy Temple! The Temple Institute continues its efforts to advance the raising of a red heifer and preparing for the preparation of the purifying ashes! …

Parashat Para: Ordinance Of The Red Heifer During the month of Adar four different special Torah readings are read on Shabbat. Three of the four are directly related to the upcoming month of Nisan and the holiday of Passover which begins on the 15th of Nisan. These three readings are known as Shkolim, Para and HaChodesh. This coming Shabbat we are reading parashat Para, the first 22 verses from Numbers 19,which describes the ordinance of the red heifer.

The Temple Institute held a ‘Red Heifer Conference’ two days ago, so this Sabbath service may be another step.

It was stated in the conference that the Temple Institute wanted to sacrifice a red heifer next month, and had tentative permission, but supposedly that will not happen. The conference was in Shiloh where the Israelites once had a tabernacle. One reviewer of the conference stated in English (the ‘Red Heifer Conference’ was in Hebrew) they mentioned that it is easier for the Temple Institute to  put together a tabernacle instead of a temple. Here is a link to the reviewers short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn19IAwSs6U

The reviewer also said that the red heifers are ready for sacrifice. Although he said that there was not really a time limit, that reviewer also said that he thinks that the red heifer would be sacrificed in Shiloh (others have pointed to the Mount of Olives–see: CBS: What these red cows from Texas have to do with war and peace in the Middle East. Red Heifer to be killed on the Mount of Olives?). Without giving a date, the reviewer seemed to point to possibly this year–we will see.

As most regular readers of this COGwriter Church of God News page are aware, on September 2022, five red heifer candidates arrived in Israel from the USA. One was disqualified as acceptable for sacrificial use last year (see Temple Institute says one red heifer disqualified, with four remaining viable). Since the Jews believe that there have only been nine qualified red heifers in recorded history, it is almost guaranteed that at least three of the remaining heifers will some day be disqualified.

This red heifer matter is a BIG DEAL to certain Jews, such as those in the Temple Institute and the reconstituted Sanhedrin (and apparently some in Hamas).

Christians, of course. do not need a red heifer sacrificed for redemption as the Apostle Paul was inspired to write:

11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15)

Christians do not need any heifer, but certain Jews who reject Jesus’ sacrifice think that they do. A red heifer is NOT a biblical requirement for Christians. And since Jesus came, it is also not one for Jews either. Yet, because the Jews reject Jesus, some believe having a red heifer is a biblical requirement.

Jews, of course, should accept Jesus. Related to proof from the Hebrew scriptures as well as Jewish traditions, the Continuing Church of God put out this sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:12:35

Jesus for Jews?

Since there are at least 200 scriptures in the Hebrew Bible that Jesus fulfilled, why do most Jews not accept Jesus as the prophesied Messiah? Is the claim in the ‘Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906′ that “there appears to be no evidence of any Jewish conception of a Messiah suffering through and for his people” true or misleading? What do Jewish writings, including those in the Babylonian Talmud (Mishnah and Gemara) and various Targums reveal? What about the Dead Sea Scrolls? Was the timing of Jesus’ arrival and death consistent with any Jewish writings or records? Do any Jewish writings point to Jesus miraculously healing the sick? Do ancient Jewish writings tell of the Messiah who would offer Himself to take away the sins of Israel? Do Jewish writings tell of Messiah son of Joseph dying to later be resurrected? Do any Jewish writings point to Messiah son of David coming in the clouds, like 1 Thessalonians 4 does? Are there Jewish writings claimed to be related to the archangel Gabriel which tells of a resurrection after three days? If the Jews believed the Old Testament and certain of their writings, shouldn’t they accept Jesus as the prophesied Messiah? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters.

Here is a link to our sermon: Jesus for Jews?

Getting back to red heifer matters, let me state that we know that the sacrifices will be re-implemented by certain Jews as the prophet Daniel was inspired to numerous times that they would be stopped:

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering … (Daniel 9:27)

31 And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation. (Daniel 11:31)

11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.  (Daniel 12:11)

So, we see that after a deal is made, 3 1/2 years later, sacrifices will be stopped. By who? Well, the “he” above was called a “prince” in Daniel 9:26 and will become the King of the North Beast leader as discussed in Daniel 11:31,40.  Since those that wait the 1335 days are then blessed–this looks to be a reference to Jesus returning and establishing the Kingdom of God a little less than four years after the daily sacrifices are stopped by the Beast.

Since the sacrifices will be stopped, they must start. And that is something that the Temple Institute and Sanhedrin are working towards.

The fact is that certain Jews (and others) have put a lot of time and money into red heifer projects.

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) is pleased to suggest the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

14:58

Temple Institute, Heifers, Hamas, and a Tent

In March 2024, the Temple Institute recently pointed out that how God blessed the Sabbath, He also blessed the construction of a tent tabernacle. They pointed out progress from the ancient Israelites. Should Christians be making spiritual progress each year before Passover? The Temple institute has stated that the area called ‘the Temple Mount’ needs to be cleared of Muslim mosques, etc. so that a ‘third temple’ can be built. It also claims that it has four thriving red heifers, one of which it wants to sacrifice before the implementation of regular animal sacrifices. Has Hamas claimed that the existence and possible use of a red heifer was a factor in its attack in Israel on October 7, 2023? Does the Temple Institute believe it must have a massive temple in order for sacrifices to resume? Or is having a priesthood, an altar, and a tent enough? What does the Sanhedrin say about that? Did Ezra write that animal sacrifices were made after the first temple was destroyed, but before the second temple was started? Is that believed by numerous modern Jewish rabbis and scholars? Does the Bible teach that regular animal sacrifices will be resumed? Could there be any relationship to the stopping of them and the return of Jesus? Is the day of Jesus’ coming getting much closer? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these issues.

Here is a link to our video: Temple Institute, Heifers, Hamas, and a Tent.

We all need to watch and pray as Jesus said in Luke 21:36 and grow in grace and knowledge and as the Apostle Paul wrote:

25  … exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.  (Hebrews 10:25)

That day is approaching more and more.

The red heifer matter is one to prophetically watch (cf. Mark 13:37).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required? Although people like Timothy LaHaye teach a third Jewish temple is required, who is ‘the temple of God” in the New Testament? Does the Bible require a rebuilt Jewish Temple? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Por qué no se requiere un templo judío en Jerusalén? Here is a link to two sermons The Temple, Prophecy, and the Work and God’s Temple in Prophecy. And here is a version of the latter one in the Spanish: El templo de Dios en profecía.
Nascent Sanhedrin and Prophecy The reconstituted Sanhedrin wants the reimplementation of animal sacrifices. A related video is titled Sanhedrin pushing animal sacrifices. And a newer one is: Sanhedrin makes burnt offering to dedicate altar!
The Red Heifer, Jewish Beliefs, and the End of the World The Temple Institute is watching a ‘red heifer.’ Why might this be important in the sequence of end time events? Here is a related link in the Spanish language Novilla roja descubierta en EE.UU. e Instituto del Templo está interesado en ella. Here are links to three related videos in English: Red Heifers and the Fate of the World and The Red Heifer and the End of the World and 5 Red Heifers and Year 5783?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book. We also have the book translated in the Spanish PRUEBA de que JESÚS es el MESÍAS and French PREUVES QUE JÉSUS EST LE MESSIE languages.

Heel (Wikipedia)

COGwriter

Artifax, a publication of the Near East Archaeological Society had two items some may find of interest, part of which my wife Joyce graciously typed as Artifax is not generally online.

Here is one item:

HEEL BONE CRUCIFIXION FOUND IN ITALY

Italian archeologists Emanuela Gualdi-Russo and Ursula Thun Hobenstein from the University of Florence report in a recent edition of the scholarly journal Archaeological and Antropological Sciences that they have excavated a poorly-preserved skeleton of a man at Gavello in northern Italy which has a nail hole through his right heel bone (calcaneus). This nail hole is thought to be evidence of crucifixion.

This crucified man is thought to have been about 30 years old when he was executed, and he was found in a simple grave–but not in a cemetery–without grave goods. The grave has been dated to the First Century AD…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nearly all of the pictures of Christ on the cross from late ancient to modern times show him with a nail or nails going through the top of his feet just above his toes. However, since there are now two examples of Roman crucifixions where nails were apparently driven through heel bones, it is highly likely that Christ’s nail(s) also went through his heel bones.

For many Christians, Genesis 3:15 contains the first prophecy about the crucifixion of Christ. This passage of Scripture has God saying to Satan; “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; and he will crush your head and you will strike his heel. (Billington CE, ed. HEEL BONE CRUCIFIXION FOUND IN ITALY. Artifax, Vol. 36, no. 2, Spring 2020, p. 17)

Many people had a particular perception of how Jesus was nailed to a tree and killed in the first century A.D. Scripture shows He was impaled on a tree. Since putting a nail through the heel was used in the first century A.D. (and the above Italian example is not the only one), plus the prophecy in Genesis 3:15, it certainly is reasonable to think that one or more nails through His heel was used.

Here is another item from Artifax:

Does the Nazareth Inscription Refer to the Resurrection of Jesus?

… the Nazareth Inscription speaks of moving corpses–note the plural from the tombs. Incidentally, Matthew 27:52 states when Jesus was resurrected: “The tombs of many were opened and the bodies of many holy people who had died were resurrected.” The use of the plural in the Nazareth Inscription is thus easily explained in terms of the resurrection of Christ …

The Nazareth Inscription is believed by many conservative Bible scholars to be a version of the Jewish High Priests’ explanation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ as is found in the Gospel of Matthew 28:11-15; in other words, Jesus’ disciples stole his body and perpetrated a fraud pretending that he had resurrected from the dead. …

I believe that it was taken from a rescript letter of the Emperor Claudius which he sent to King Herod Agrippa I, who was his close personal friend. It was the Emperor Claudius who made Herod Agrippa I the king of all of Israel, including Judah, which is even seen in the New Testament. King Agrippa I is mentioned in the Book of Acts as a persecutor of the early Christian Church in Jerusalem. …

It is likely that the Nazareth Inscription was ordered by the Emperor Claudius to be posted in Nazareth in order to counter what he considered to be a dangerous political-religious movement that said that their Jewish “king” had resurrected from the dead. The Nazareth Inscription threatens with death anyone who takes corpses from tombs in order to perpetrate a fraud.

It should be remembered that the titulus placed over the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew/Aramaic. The Emperor Claudius would have almost certainly been interested in a Jewish king–so also would have King Herod Agrippa I–whose followers claimed that he had resurrected from the dead.

Consider that Claudius wanted to quash early Christianity and also that he wanted to threaten Christians for perpetrating a fraud by claiming that King Jesus Christ had resurrected from the dead. Where would Claudius–or more likely his agent Herod Agrippa–have obtained the marble used for the Nazareth Inscription? The closest and easiest place to obtain marble, have it inscribed, and then shipped to Nazareth was most likely Kos.

Excluding its journey by sea, the total overland shipping of the Nazareth Inscription from its quarry on Kos to Nazareth would have been only about 25-30 miles total; the fastest, easiest, and the least expensive way for King Herod Agrippa I to obtain and to post the Nazareth Inscription in Nazareth.

The Nazareth Inscription is almost certainly a rescript, in other words a letter of response from Caesar to some official–in this case almost certainly King Herod Agrippa I–who had sent an earlier letter asking for guidance on how to deal with some problem, in this case the rise of Christianity.

If the Nazareth Inscription is an abridged version of an imperial rescript, as it almost certainly is, then it would naturally contain a “Decree of Caesar” dealing with this problem. Such decrees of Caesar were ordered to be placed in conspicuous public places. Kind Herod Agrippa I, who almost certainly sent the original letter of inquiry to Caesar Augustus, would have been responsible for inscribing and posting this “Decree of Caesar.”

In summation, based on the shipping routes of that day, King Herod Agrippa I could have easily ordered this Decree of Caesar to be inscribed on white marble at Kos and then had it shipped by sea to Ptolemais and from there overland to Nazareth where it would have been posted. This decree, that threatens with death anyone who removes corpses from tombs in order to perpetrate a fraud, fits very well with the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it does not at all fit the story of Nikias the Tyrant.

(Billington CE, ed. Does the Nazareth Inscription Refer to the Resurrection of Jesus?. Artifax, Vol. 36, no. 2, Spring 2020, pp. 12-13)

Consider the following:

9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. (Matthew 28:9-15)

Because the New Testament shows that the Jews and Romans did not want people to know the truth about Jesus’ resurrection, it is of little surprise that a story against the resurrection of others may have been planted, circulated, and posted also in marble.

Satan, and those against the truth, have long posted falsehoods to discourage people from believing the truth.

Hopefully, you are willing to accept the truth about Jesus, as well as His most faithful church.

The Church of Rome calls the day before “Easter” “Holy Saturday.”

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? Two related YouTube videos would be Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’, The Chrislam Cross and the Interfaith Movement, and Origin of the Cross.
What Happened in the ‘Crucifixion Week’? How long are three days and three nights? Was Palm Sunday on a Saturday? Did Jesus die on “Good Friday”? Was the resurrection on Sunday? Do you really know? Who determined the date of Easter? (Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Murió Jesús un día miércoles o un viernes?) A sermon of related interest is titled What did and did not happen in the ‘Crucifixion week’?
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui? Here is a link to a short animation: Which Church would Jesus Choose?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.