In each blog, I often reference many different topics that I've already covered (or will soon cover), and maybe you've missed. Please review my blogs to read more...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
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Gehenna
In an effort to recover from my rabbit trails found in Part 2... let's get back to Gehenna.
I'm just going to start by giving you every single New Testament reference to Gehenna... no hades or tartaroo yet. Just Gehenna.
(I previously warned you (in part 2) this would be intentionally tedious... I don't want to miss a thing... if not for your benefit, then mine.)
Here we go... first, the list from the KJV - twelve passages:
[1] Mat 5:22 ...Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [G1067 - gehenna] fire.
[2] Mat 5:29 ... thy whole body should be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[3] Mat 5:30 ... thy whole body should be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[4] Mat 10:28 ... destroy both soul and body in hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[5] Mat 18:9 ... two eyes be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna] fire.
[6] Mat 23:15 ... ye make him twofold more the child of hell [G1067 - gehenna] than yourselves.
[7] Mat 23:33 ... can ye escape the damnation of hell? [G1067 - gehenna]
[8] Mark 9:43 ... two hands to go into hell [G1067 - gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[9] Mark 9:45 ... two feet to go into hell [G1067 - gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[10] Mark 9:47 ... two eyes to be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna] fire.
[11] Luk 12:5 ... hath power to cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[12] James 3:6 ... is set on fire of hell [G1067 - gehenna]
Twelve individual passages, on four occasions that Jesus spoke on Gehenna.
The four occasions:
[1] Sermon on the Mount: Mat 5:22, Mat 5:29-30 are all the same occasion.
[2] Warning the Apostles Whom to fear: Mat 10:28 & Luk 12:5 - same occasion.
[3] Offending little ones: Mat 18:9 (see verse 8 also) & Mark 9:43-47 - same occasion.
[4] Upbraiding the Pharisees: Mat 23:15 & Mat 25:33 - same occasion.
One common message:
In Jesus sermon, recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus was not teaching His Disciples that they would be:
[1] ... brought before the judgment of the Nation of Israel if they were "angry with his brother".
[2] ... brought before the high council of the Jewish Sanhedrin if they "shall say to his brother, Raca".
[3] ... that they would be burned in the city garbage dump known as Gehenna, if they shall say "Thou fool".
[4] ... or, that they would be thrown into a Roman prison if they didn't become "reconciled to their brother".
________________________________
Judgment
Jesus is explaining His Judgments to His Disciples (and us) in comparison to MAN'S judgments.
We know from Scripture that Jesus will not turn His Judgment of His Elect over to the nations, council's, and judgment seats of this world.
The Disciples know nothing of Spiritual Judgment at this time.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judges no man, but has committed all Judgment unto the Son [Jesus]:
None of the judgments He mentions belong to any man... they belong to Him.
2 Co 5:10 For we must ALL appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body [our flesh here in this life], according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
Rom 14:10 But why do you judge thy brother? Or why do you set at nought [G1848 - despise] thy brother? For we shall ALL stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11-12 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, EVERY knee shall bow to Me, and EVERY tongue shall confess to God. So then EVERY one of us shall give account of himself to God.
When do we as Christians stand before Jesus?
When the rest of the world does?
No.
If we confess with our tongue, and bend our knee to Him at the Judgment (mentioned above) for the first time, how can we be a participant in His Millennial Reign or the New Heaven and New Earth?
We as Christians are taken to Christ before the Millennial Kingdom begins. The dead in Christ shall rise first and then those of us who are still alive will join them.
This is why it's so important to understand His timeline as found in Scripture!
We, as Christian's better be bending and confessing NOW if we want to have any part in His Coming Millennial Kingdom!
Don't you know that we're to Judge the world and the angels with Him one day?
We are His Body... He is our Head! We are One!
1 Co 6:2-4 Do you not know that the Saints SHALL judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you [Saints, Christians], are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters [are you unable to control / judge yourselves?]? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the Church.
In other words, we are destined to judge the world and angels on much more important issues than our own sins in this life... we're to judge those things in our own life now! While we are living and while we are living in Him!
We as Christian's will NOT be Judged at the Great White Throne Judgment... that Judgment is for those who did not accept Christ in this life. The second resurrection after His Millennial Reign comes to an end!
I'm not going to get into this too much now, but...
1 Cor 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves [now] we should NOT be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened [I have an upcoming blog on the difference between "chastened" and "punished"... there IS a difference!] of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [later] with the world [Great White Throne Judgment].
1 Pet 4:17 For the TIME IS COME [now] that judgment must begin at the House of God...
We, as Christian's, had better be giving an account DAILY of those fleshly deeds NOW - in this life! "For if we would judge ourselves".
This is in perfect agreement with what Jesus is telling us in Matthew 5.
"And if your right offend you, pluck it out..."
"And if your right hand offend you, cut it off..."
Jesus, our Parakletos convicts, and helps us to judge ourselves now. We judge ourselves by His standards!
If you choose to not do so voluntarily in this life?
Mat 5:30 ... for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast [G906 - thrown violently or intensely against your will] into hell [G1067 - gehenna].
Again - are we to literally pluck out our eye and chop off our hand?
Or... are we to read between the lines and learn something Spiritual from this parable?
_____________________
Taking into consideration, everything I mentioned above, and everything in previous parts...
... we just learned that we're to daily judge ourselves. Jesus convicts us, and helps us to do so.
If I look at Johnny's wife, and begin to lust after her... she's beautiful and catches my eye...
I have a choice - once I gaze too long, Jesus is pinging me...
"Glen... what are you thinking about?"
I now have a choice to make.
Do I continue to gaze and lust?
Or...
Do I Spiritually "pluck out my lustful eye" and turn away?
This is how we grow... this is how we replace the carnal with the Spiritual. This is how we work on these things. This is how we become more like Jesus.
It takes work... it takes practice... it takes prayer without ceasing... it takes a lifetime.
After all, better that I choose to voluntarily "pluck out my lustful eye" now and try to live for Jesus... than have my whole body cast into God's purging, Spiritual fire later at His Judgment.
This not only deals with Johnny's wife, but anything in your life that carnally owns you!
It could be booze, drugs, gambling, motorcycles, guitars, cross-stitching - whatever comes between us and Him!
I've had to pluck out far more eyeballs than my entire generational family has and am still trying to pluck!
Anything that keeps you from growing Spiritually and keeps you from becoming more like Jesus - you must choose to pluck out that eyeball! Chop off that hand!
Better to lose an eye, or a hand, than to lose your whole body! No matter how many times, pluck it out! Chop it off!
It's a decision between being Christ-like now - or, suffering the consequences later.
_____________________________
Why Gehenna fire?
What is it that you think God wants to "consume"?
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
It's a symbol of something much more... Gehenna fire represents the Spiritual Judgment and correction of our carnal hearts. It's just one piece to a large puzzle.
What then does plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand represent, but the fact that only part of one's body at a time is being destroyed in Gehenna fire... chip away at that carnality one piece at a time and replace it with Spirituality!
We can either have the different parts of our carnal mind burned by this Spiritual Gehenna fire, and reign with Christ, or we can have our whole body burned by this Gehenna fire and miss out on reigning with Christ.
1 Pet 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which IS to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But REJOICE, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding JOY.
I began to understand more when I understood the Valley of Hinnom (Old Testament name for Gehenna) and I will share that soon.
It's symbolic of everything we're discussing!
_________________________
Going to move on to Gehenna Part 4 soon.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
CLICK HERE! for an index to previous blogs.
___________________________
Gehenna
In an effort to recover from my rabbit trails found in Part 2... let's get back to Gehenna.
I'm just going to start by giving you every single New Testament reference to Gehenna... no hades or tartaroo yet. Just Gehenna.
(I previously warned you (in part 2) this would be intentionally tedious... I don't want to miss a thing... if not for your benefit, then mine.)
Here we go... first, the list from the KJV - twelve passages:
[1] Mat 5:22 ...Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [G1067 - gehenna] fire.
[2] Mat 5:29 ... thy whole body should be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[3] Mat 5:30 ... thy whole body should be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[4] Mat 10:28 ... destroy both soul and body in hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[5] Mat 18:9 ... two eyes be cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna] fire.
[6] Mat 23:15 ... ye make him twofold more the child of hell [G1067 - gehenna] than yourselves.
[7] Mat 23:33 ... can ye escape the damnation of hell? [G1067 - gehenna]
[8] Mark 9:43 ... two hands to go into hell [G1067 - gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[9] Mark 9:45 ... two feet to go into hell [G1067 - gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[11] Luk 12:5 ... hath power to cast into hell [G1067 - gehenna]
[12] James 3:6 ... is set on fire of hell [G1067 - gehenna]
Twelve individual passages, on four occasions that Jesus spoke on Gehenna.
The four occasions:
[1] Sermon on the Mount: Mat 5:22, Mat 5:29-30 are all the same occasion.
[2] Warning the Apostles Whom to fear: Mat 10:28 & Luk 12:5 - same occasion.
[3] Offending little ones: Mat 18:9 (see verse 8 also) & Mark 9:43-47 - same occasion.
[4] Upbraiding the Pharisees: Mat 23:15 & Mat 25:33 - same occasion.
One common message:
In Jesus sermon, recorded in Matthew 5, Jesus was not teaching His Disciples that they would be:
[1] ... brought before the judgment of the Nation of Israel if they were "angry with his brother".
[2] ... brought before the high council of the Jewish Sanhedrin if they "shall say to his brother, Raca".
[3] ... that they would be burned in the city garbage dump known as Gehenna, if they shall say "Thou fool".
[4] ... or, that they would be thrown into a Roman prison if they didn't become "reconciled to their brother".
________________________________
Judgment
Jesus is explaining His Judgments to His Disciples (and us) in comparison to MAN'S judgments.
We know from Scripture that Jesus will not turn His Judgment of His Elect over to the nations, council's, and judgment seats of this world.
The Disciples know nothing of Spiritual Judgment at this time.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judges no man, but has committed all Judgment unto the Son [Jesus]:
None of the judgments He mentions belong to any man... they belong to Him.
2 Co 5:10 For we must ALL appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body [our flesh here in this life], according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
Rom 14:10 But why do you judge thy brother? Or why do you set at nought [G1848 - despise] thy brother? For we shall ALL stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11-12 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, EVERY knee shall bow to Me, and EVERY tongue shall confess to God. So then EVERY one of us shall give account of himself to God.
When do we as Christians stand before Jesus?
When the rest of the world does?
No.
If we confess with our tongue, and bend our knee to Him at the Judgment (mentioned above) for the first time, how can we be a participant in His Millennial Reign or the New Heaven and New Earth?
We as Christians are taken to Christ before the Millennial Kingdom begins. The dead in Christ shall rise first and then those of us who are still alive will join them.
This is why it's so important to understand His timeline as found in Scripture!
We, as Christian's better be bending and confessing NOW if we want to have any part in His Coming Millennial Kingdom!
Don't you know that we're to Judge the world and the angels with Him one day?
We are His Body... He is our Head! We are One!
1 Co 6:2-4 Do you not know that the Saints SHALL judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you [Saints, Christians], are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters [are you unable to control / judge yourselves?]? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the Church.
In other words, we are destined to judge the world and angels on much more important issues than our own sins in this life... we're to judge those things in our own life now! While we are living and while we are living in Him!
We as Christian's will NOT be Judged at the Great White Throne Judgment... that Judgment is for those who did not accept Christ in this life. The second resurrection after His Millennial Reign comes to an end!
I'm not going to get into this too much now, but...
1 Cor 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves [now] we should NOT be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened [I have an upcoming blog on the difference between "chastened" and "punished"... there IS a difference!] of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [later] with the world [Great White Throne Judgment].
1 Pet 4:17 For the TIME IS COME [now] that judgment must begin at the House of God...
We, as Christian's, had better be giving an account DAILY of those fleshly deeds NOW - in this life! "For if we would judge ourselves".
This is in perfect agreement with what Jesus is telling us in Matthew 5.
"And if your right offend you, pluck it out..."
"And if your right hand offend you, cut it off..."
Jesus, our Parakletos convicts, and helps us to judge ourselves now. We judge ourselves by His standards!
If you choose to not do so voluntarily in this life?
Mat 5:30 ... for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast [G906 - thrown violently or intensely against your will] into hell [G1067 - gehenna].
Again - are we to literally pluck out our eye and chop off our hand?
Or... are we to read between the lines and learn something Spiritual from this parable?
_____________________
Taking into consideration, everything I mentioned above, and everything in previous parts...
... we just learned that we're to daily judge ourselves. Jesus convicts us, and helps us to do so.
If I look at Johnny's wife, and begin to lust after her... she's beautiful and catches my eye...
I have a choice - once I gaze too long, Jesus is pinging me...
"Glen... what are you thinking about?"
I now have a choice to make.
Do I continue to gaze and lust?
Or...
Do I Spiritually "pluck out my lustful eye" and turn away?
This is how we grow... this is how we replace the carnal with the Spiritual. This is how we work on these things. This is how we become more like Jesus.
It takes work... it takes practice... it takes prayer without ceasing... it takes a lifetime.
After all, better that I choose to voluntarily "pluck out my lustful eye" now and try to live for Jesus... than have my whole body cast into God's purging, Spiritual fire later at His Judgment.
This not only deals with Johnny's wife, but anything in your life that carnally owns you!
It could be booze, drugs, gambling, motorcycles, guitars, cross-stitching - whatever comes between us and Him!
I've had to pluck out far more eyeballs than my entire generational family has and am still trying to pluck!
Anything that keeps you from growing Spiritually and keeps you from becoming more like Jesus - you must choose to pluck out that eyeball! Chop off that hand!
Better to lose an eye, or a hand, than to lose your whole body! No matter how many times, pluck it out! Chop it off!
It's a decision between being Christ-like now - or, suffering the consequences later.
_____________________________
Why Gehenna fire?
What is it that you think God wants to "consume"?
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
It's a symbol of something much more... Gehenna fire represents the Spiritual Judgment and correction of our carnal hearts. It's just one piece to a large puzzle.
What then does plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand represent, but the fact that only part of one's body at a time is being destroyed in Gehenna fire... chip away at that carnality one piece at a time and replace it with Spirituality!
We can either have the different parts of our carnal mind burned by this Spiritual Gehenna fire, and reign with Christ, or we can have our whole body burned by this Gehenna fire and miss out on reigning with Christ.
1 Pet 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which IS to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But REJOICE, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding JOY.
I began to understand more when I understood the Valley of Hinnom (Old Testament name for Gehenna) and I will share that soon.
It's symbolic of everything we're discussing!
_________________________
Going to move on to Gehenna Part 4 soon.
Some of these excerpts are from my personal notes copied from 30+ years of studying... some of these notes are direct copies of various sources - I do not claim to have authored every word of this... it's just a mass collection I've tucked away over the years for my own personal studies... I didn't consider a bibliography at the time I directly copied small excerpts from various authors. Also, any emphasis (underlines, bold text, all CAPS, etc.) noted above was only meant to capture my personal attention as I studied...
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