DOCTRINE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WORTHIES
Does scripture teach that the Old Testament Worthies would rise from the dead or is it simply a false traditional assumption proclaimed as truth?
Traditionally derived doctrines start like any other tradition. By combining small truths and small lies, traditional incidental doctrine builds a complete falsehood from small truths. They use minor changes to the truth to cause immeasurable impact and damage. When a false doctrine is used as braces or underpinnings for the falsity and infrastructure of another doctrine, the truth becomes lost in the wilderness of theology and religion.
Incorporating incidental doctrines can influence a desired outcome for both teacher and student, which increases the appeal of acceptance. A traditional doctrine's value is in it's ability to grow in any direction necessary to bolster other more desired doctrines that use the associated traditional doctrine as their lynchpin. The doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is an incidental traditional doctrine. However, it did not need to become a false doctrine, if taught correctly!
From my earliest memories of learning about Bible stories, the Old Testament Worthies doctrine has played a significant part in my life. This is true of nearly every Christian follower. Preachers and teachers taught in Church, Sunday school or in Vacation Bible School for Christians. There is a lack of breath in the Old Testament Worthy Doctrine. My former pastor and specifically my late father, Rev. Charles Cohenour Sr., sparingly taught on this subject. When he did, he used few words to move on from the Old Testament Worthies to whatever the main topic of his sermon was. I believe My Father reasoned there was not enough proof to base this traditional truth upon. Congregation questioning would lead to assumptions, which my father did not wish to teach.
In my teenage years, our family would frequently be invited to General Meetings, Regional Meetings and Minister Meetings held by different churches of the Body of Christ throughout the USA. We would travel as far as Chino, California, as close as Indianapolis, Indiana and many places in between. By traveling to other churches in the Body of Christ, I was occasionally exposed to the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies. The extent to which the Old Testament Worthies doctrine was taught during those visits was very sparse. However, the doctrine was mentioned as biblical truth many times.
The progenitor of this doctrine preached to me was our founder of the Body of Christ; the late Bro William Sowders, who by preaching his interpretation of Matthew 27:52-53 made this incidental doctrine an accepted Traditional Doctrine in our Body of Christ today. When Bro.William Sowers taught the doctrine, it was quickly accepted by the saints of the BOC. Bro. Sowders was rarely questioned and this doctrine became an accepted traditional doctrine, which is now presented as pure and Godly truth. Even after Bro. William Sowders died, the Old Testament Worthies doctrine is still taught throughout the country as it was when he was alive. Bro. Sowders taught more than 68 years ago.
Typically, it is used as a foundation for other doctrines, such as the Doctrine of Perfection and the Doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections. There was a specific application of the Old Testament Worthies doctrine in regard to moving out a living soul and those waiting under the Golden Altar. According to God's Old Testament Worthies doctrine, all the heroes from the Bible are in heaven, under the Golden Altar, in the First Resurrection.
This Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies addresses God's alleged Sovereign Right to allow certain exceptions to his established law. The Doctrine suggests God can operate outside of His own standards, suggesting the possibility that Almighty God may break his own oaths and tell lies at his own pleasure?
This doctrine also challenges human standards of what is fair and equal among followers of the church. The doctrine teaches that accumulating acts of Christian behavior warrants Godly favoritism. It likewise adds to a misconception that God indulges favoritism by giving certain elect predestined individuals preferential treatment.
The key question: Is this doctrine a truthful interpretation of scripture or a false traditional assumption preached as truth?
The problem is, the Apostle Matthew did write about a resurrection in Matthew 27, but Matthew left that specific resurrection open ended, as a church miracle. This open ended miracle left an opportunity for someone to take advantage of reason and perpetuate an agreeable doctrine to suit those who, using subtlety, built a doctrine that would and could be used to boost their own agenda.
There are books written and sermons preached that have been taught about this resurrection for many, many years without challenge. I believe there are unanswered questions concerning the post-interpretation of Matthew 27:52-53 that have remained unchallenged and that need to be made transparent.
There is definite truth in Matthew 27:52-53. We just need to see it and teach it correctly. This resurrection happened, but not as we have been taught.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Cohenour Jr.
December 15, 2020
“If I am to be true to my calling I must exercise my gift. I am called to be a teacher I should always bring to the children of the Lord a lesson to learn”.
Charles E. Cohenour Jr. 12-04-2014
Addendum: There are many doctrines that are preached and taught as the gospel that have never been labeled. I have labeled some in this text to describe their subjects. When you read about a doctrine you may or may not have known or heard of it anywhere else. I apologize for attempting to bring attention to a way of teaching a subject that may not have had a label in the distant past.
Special thanks for all the editing and help that was given by my wife Jean Cohenour who spent many hours correcting my horrid spelling and grammar. Without Jean this article would never have been written or understood. Thank you to those who also helped proofread and provided input in the early writing and may God bless you all.
CHAPTER 1: Where did Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies originate?
There is only one place in the Bible where the word "WORTHIES" is mentioned:
He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.
In this scripture, Nahum is not referring to any resurrected saint. He is addressing the nation of Babylon and the Medes coming against the city of Nineveh in battle. The"worthies" are soldiers of acclaim or nobles who were selected by either the King of Assyria or the King of Babylon. This scripture has nothing to do with the God fearing Prophets or honored saints. Again, there is no other place in the entire Bible that mentions the word "worthies".
In the 27th chapter of Matthew and in verses 52 through 53, the only passage that mentions a mass resurrection and the origins of the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is mentioned.
CHAPTER 2: What is the Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies?
The Doctrine of the Old Testament Worthies is a traditional doctrine taught among the religions of the Christian world and the Body of Christ. It has become a common biblical teaching, based on Matthew 27:52-53 and inspired by the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Most teachers integrate Foxe's Book of Martyrs with auxiliary metaphysical (speculative) scriptures which serve as support for this doctrine in addition to Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
Matthew's two lone Scriptures placed into the crucifixion narrative of Jesus constitute the basis of the doctrine of the "Old Testament Worthies." These two scriptures are intertwined, with the additional accounts of Jesus' crucifixion, in the synoptic gospels of Mark 15:25-47, Luke 23:39-49 and John 19:16-42.
This doctrine presumes these Old Testament Worthies (from now on I will refer to them as OTW) were Old Testament prophets and Old Testament faithful followers who served God until their deaths.
The suppositional doctrine suggests the OTW were elect, chosen by God, in their own time of existence. Admittedly, they were not average everyday ordinary servants of God; they did have an impassioned drive and dynamic fixation upon God's Will generated by their faith in God. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is used as text proof to give insight into these extra ordinary people.
The doctrine dogmatically teaches that God was biased in honoring these saints, rewarding them with a "PRE-RESURRECTION," after the resurrection of Jesus.
This reasoning is fueled by the belief that these "worthies" contrary to common reason and counter to resurrection law (Hebrews 11:39-40), deserved to be in the First Resurrection. According to the doctrine, the OTW accumulated enough positive favor with God to warrant a reward for their faith and dedication. That reward for faithful dedication was the mercy of God granting them the ability to bypass the Second Resurrection with a special exempted “pre-resurrection" before the First Resurrection.
CHAPTER 3: The Big Swerve!
The Doctrine of the OTW is taught differently in the Body of Christ which takes a big swerve from how it is taught in other Christian denominations.
In other Christian denominations, the OTW are resurrected, they learn about Jesus, then they die and ascend to heaven, awaiting another resurrection.
The Body of Christ teaches something entirely different. Within the Body of Christ it is emphasized that the OTW needed to fulfill the requirements of the First Resurrection after the pre-resurrection. According to some doctrines, the OTW was required to learn about Jesus' teachings and to claim Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. The OTW would have to receive Water Baptism, Holy Ghost Baptism, and Fire Baptism to gain perfection in order to assure themselves of a place in the First Resurrection. Other versions within the Body of Christ teach that most of the OTW already knew Jesus and his teachings in the New Testament.
As part of the doctrine of the resurrection exception, it is stated, "It is only just that the all-caring and just God should resurrect these faithful and deserving saints" who deserve this special exemption. In simpler terms the OTW has been revived because people want an act of fairness and equal opportunity for not only the OTW; they want the same fairness for a First Resurrection for all mankind! If the OTW got a special chance for a pre-resurrection because of their faith, why should we have to live to a higher standard than what the OTW did?
Teachings that readily accept this resurrection without questioning the entire passage are at the root of the problem. Once it was accepted as a true resurrection, the teachers had to be able to prove their acceptance as truth. This led to imagery, distortion of scripture and the insertion of other written stories to prop up their speculative ideology. To solve this problem, the teachers used their traditional framework. They needed supporting documentation and they found it outside of the Bible.
CHAPTER 4: Why Foxe's Book of Martyrs and its influence?
Foxe's Book of Martyrs was written by John Foxe. John Foxe wrote about the early Christian and Protestant martyrs, first published in 1563 by John Day. March 2013 marked 450 years since Foxe's 1563 publications. Patrick Collinson (emeritus Regis's Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, occupied the chair from 1988 to 1996) confirmed that Foxe was indeed a worthy scholar and that his text was historiographically reliable in 1985, and set in motion the British Academy's funding for a revised critical edition in 1984, completed by 2007.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxe%27s_Book_of_Martyrs#Foxe's_source_reliability
The influence of Foxes Book of Martyrs has profoundly affected the teachings of the Doctrine of the OTW. Foxes book is brought into the teachings of the OTW by skilled teachers repeating the martyrs contributions to unlearned and understudied congregations. They used Foxes' book as a weight and measure, making Foxes' evidence for the doctrine of the resurrection much more credible.
It has been my experience that some preachers focus at least fifty percent of their sermons on the Foxes Martyrs when teaching the doctrine.
This is done to make their congregation feel awkward about asking any questions about the validity of the Doctrine of the OTW. How could anyone deny the truth of what Foxes Martyrs endured in the name of Jesus Christ? In accepting Foxes Book of Martyrs, surely the story of the resurrection of the OTW should also be accepted as truth?
The purpose of Foxes' book is to connect the empathy of congregations with the resurrected saints of Matthew 27:52-53.
The purpose of this is to provoke a response related to Foxes and OTW martyrdoms. The shared martyrdom is used as a preponderance of evidence to support pre-resurrection for the OTW.
Through manipulated empathy, the OTW are granted an undeniable special pre-resurrection status based upon congregational emotional acceptance of these resurrected saints' worthiness, taught by influential teachers of this traditional doctrine. Instead of using godly logic emotional response becomes a key factor of acceptance.
CHAPTER 5: Inherent Paternal/Maternal feeling toward the Old Testament Worthies.
In general who doesn't feel empathy or sympathy for an abandoned child? Who doesn't jump to the rescue of a crying baby? Who wouldn't risk their lives to protect an endangered elder? Most of us would do amazingly dangerous things to help a child or helpless elder in need. It is innate within everyone’s being to leap to help or rescue those that are helpless. Most teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW will do their very best to instill this feeling of endangerment into a congregation's feelings for the OTW.
Those who teach the Doctrine of the OTW abuse the human emotion of paternalism and materiality for the helpless child and the elderly within the congregation. This creates empathy and sympathy for the OTW.
Those who hear this doctrine are taught to feel as though the OTW were and are in danger of missing what is rightfully theirs. The teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW infer that the Worthies may have been taken at a disadvantage, because they were born before the time of their Messiah.
They teach that the birth time of the OTW is the only real problem keeping them from the First Resurrection, therefore their time of birth was unfair. But we, being born in our time, can implore God to make things right for the OTW by believing this doctrine.
We are taught to believe in a loving God, who would not leave us nor forsake us, nor would he leave the OTW unjustly in the grave.
This logic begs the question; would God leave the OTW heroes to the Second Resurrection? God would surely hear their cries from the grave and save them! Wouldn’t God be fair, in an act of genuine fairness, to give the OTW one and only pre-resurrection to include them in the First Resurrection?
If God would provide a pre-resurrection for the OTW, then He must also find a way for us to be in the First Resurrection too? The hearts of the congregations who are being taught the doctrine of the OTW are led to the conclusion that, if God can make an unscheduled resurrection for the OTW, surely God will see our own efforts and sacrifice and give us some slack for the First Resurrection?
Listeners begin to believe that their righteous actions will outweigh their lesser sins. God will give them another chance or create special allowances for them the same way he has created an allowance for the OTW?
Through manipulated empathy and sympathy the teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW are leading believers into a manufactured false belief. These teachers subtly (the Serpent at work) shape and inspire believers to hope for their own special exemption in the First Resurrection.
CHAPTER 6: WAS MATTHEW 27:52-53 ADDED TO MATTHEW?
When studying the Old Testament, one of the first things that is noticed is that if Matthew 27:52-53 are removed from the Gospel, chapter 27 reads more naturally. The connection between verse 51 and verse 54 would seem better suited to the story, than the included 52-53 verses as written.
Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that was with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that was done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
If these two verses, Matthew 27:52-53, were removed, the Four Gospels would more closely match in the telling of the crucifixion.
However, none of the acquired manuscripts of Matthew written in Greek, Latin, or Aramaic leave out Matthew 27:52-53. This is because these verses were in the original writers' texts. The inclusion would have been added during the distribution of handwritten copies of the original writing to the churches and approved by Matthew himself.
These scriptures appear to have been added as an afterthought by Matthew to his story by Matthew himself. This addition is called a stream of consciousness. A stream of consciousness is a form of afterthought or indirect internal dialogue referring to a character or writer. This is an additional point of thought that the writer felt was necessary to add.
This stream of consciousness is a literary style in which Matthew's thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or conventional dialogue.
Bottom line: Matthew 27:52-53 is a legitimate part of the King James Version of the Bible as the unerring word of God, and they have the approval of not only Matthew but also Jesus and God Almighty.
CHAPTER 7: THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN AND SEEING IN THE DARKNESS
In two different books of the New Testament there is recorded a three-hour time of darkness during the period of Christ's crucifixion:
Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour, Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:44-45 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
During the final three hours of Jesus' life, when He was on the cross, an unusual darkness struck the land, which was NOT an eclipse of the sun.
This darkness was most definitely the result of God's directed intervention. The eclipse could not have been a natural solar eclipse for the following three reasons:
1. The maximum duration of a total solar eclipse is seven minutes, not three hours.
2. Because of the latitude of Jerusalem the maximum duration of seven minutes for an eclipse is even less.
3. A solar eclipse can occur only at a new moon, but we know that Jesus was crucified at the time of Passover.
Matthew 26:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,
Matthew 26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
Mark 14:1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened
bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
Mark 14:2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
Mark 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?
Passover occurs at the time of a full moon.
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.
Leviticus 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Darkness lasted from the sixth to the ninth hour after Jesus' death. While there is still light coming from the sun shining on earth during an eclipse, the scripture says that the darkness that fell could have been greater than an eclipse currently falling on Earth. The accounting of the darkness places the earthquake, the rending of the veil and the resurrection of the saints during the time of this profound darkness.
If the earthquake, the rending of the veil and the resurrection happened during the event, how could anyone claim to have seen all the events taking place simultaneously, unless they were in close proximity to each event?
A more fair question would be: how could anyone see anything during the darkness event?
CHAPTER 8: DISTANCE FROM THE FROM HEROD'S TEMPLE TO MT. CALVARY
The distance Mt. Calvary was 330 km, which converted into feet it is 3280.84 Ft., from the Temple of Herod. That distance is greater than one half a mile. If Matthew is believed to have seen the veil rent he would have to be able to be seeing with clear definition almost 11 football fields away, lined up end to end.
(http://www.askelm.com/golgotha/gol001.htmI)
The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that the witnesses on Mount Calvary did see the distance of eleven football fields, from a half mile, in darkness, during the earthquake destruction, the event of the Veil being rent, the event of the saints being resurrected from the dead and the dead entering into Jerusalem recognized by many while walking into the holy city.
Given the above physical conditions, the likelihood of these witnesses actually seeing these events is highly questionable.
CHAPTER 9: HEROD’S TEMPLE AND SEEING THE VEIL TO THE HOLIES RENT IN TWAIN
Corner stones are witnesses to the earthquake, the renting of the Temple Veil, and the resurrection of physically dead saints, according to OTW Belief.
On the eastern edge of Jerusalem, just west of Gethsemane and northwest of the Kidron Valley, sat the temple of Herod. Herod's temple court covered about 35.5 acres. On the far northwest corner sat Antonia Fortress, the home of the temple garrison that stayed alert for disturbances in the temple-disturbances that the governor was quick to quell so as not to attract unwanted attention from Rome.
Herod's temple sat skewed in the center of the large courtyard so that its entrance might better face due east. A balustrade (a low wall of stone posts and caps) defined the inner boundary of the Court of the Gentiles. Within the Court of the Gentiles, getting closer to Herod's temple, was the Court of the Women, accessed through the Beautiful Gate.
In the Court of Priests was the altar. Beyond these fixtures was yet a staircase leading to a curtain embroidered with a map of the known world that covered the entrance to the temple proper. Beyond it, behind another large curtain, lay the Holy of Holies, which none except the high priest was allowed to enter, and he only on the Day of Atonement. A stone marked the place where once the Ark of the Covenant stood.
Herod's temple existed until AD 70, which marked the end of the second temple era. At that time, after a long war between the Jewish Zealots and the Roman authorities, four Roman legions, led by Titus, besieged Jerusalem and burned down the temple. As the temple burned, the gold and silver ornamentation melted and seeped between the cracks in the stones. In their zeal for a stipend, the Roman soldiers took the temple apart, stone by stone, fulfilling Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:1-2:
Matthew 24:1 Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple.
Matthew 24:2 Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
The Jewish people were scattered in the Diaspora of 70 AD, and did not return en masse to Israel until after World War II. The temple mount, where Herod's temple stood, is now home to the Islamic Dome of the Rock. All that remains of Herod's work on the temple mount is the Western Wall, a 1,600-foot-long portion of the retaining wall Herod constructed to expand the temple mount.
On the boundaries of Herod's temple there was an outer wall which circled the building of the Temple and on the inside were two curtains, an outer curtain, and a second curtain called the Veil (inside of Herod's Temple) connecting to the Holy Place.
It is believed that the veil of the Holy Place was witnessed by the Centurion, his men and the women followers of Christ. This was far away on the hill of Golgotha. It is taught that these witnesses actually saw the veil being torn into two pieces, from top to bottom, from about a half mile away. This was in the darkness of an unnatural eclipse during a 5.5 magnitude earthquake.
It is highly unlikely that these people on Golgotha saw the veil being torn. This is because the veil was located inside the Temple hidden from everyone except the priests of the temple.
Exodus 28 teaches that only the priests or the Levite family of priests were allowed to be inside the temple and inside the second veil. The only people who would have been able to actually see the torn veil would have been a Levite or priest.
It also was highly unlikely that a priest would have been in the temple to witness the event happening unless by Time and Chance. This is because no ceremonies were being conducted at the time. If there wasn’t a warranted reason for a priest to look in at the veil, the veil was found torn at the next ceremony
It can be argued that when the rent was discovered, the information was passed on from one priest to another. This information could have been told to Matthew at a later time. One of these priests could have been Nicodemus. It was Nicodemus that helped prepare Jesus for his burial (John 19:38-40). Nicodemus was a follower of Christ and could have spoken to each of the writers of the gospels about what he had seen in the temple.
Acts 6:7 states a great number of the priests became followers of the faith. These priests could have likewise collaborated with Nicodemus spoken to the writers of the gospels telling of what they had seen or heard.
Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Likewise, Paul, an ex-priest, could be considered another source from which information could have been gained.
Many of these priests could have passed on the story of the veil being torn, but none of the writers of the Four Gospels nor any witnesses at Jesus' crucification could have seen or known of the torn veil by actually witnessing or seeing the tear. Each writer would have been told this fact perhaps much later than immediately after the resurrection of Christ.
CHAPTER 10: A 5.5 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE IS NOT MINIMAL
The doctrine of the OTW pays only minimal, if any attention to the impact of the earthquake and the destruction it would bring upon Jerusalem. The doctrine locates the source point of the disaster as being generated from the point of the cross of Jesus, as a result of his death.
The evidence at the actual sight shows the earthquake likely to have been a magnitude 5.5. Secular Geologist, Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical, and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences, researched the Dead Sea and revealed that at least two major earthquakes occurred: A widespread earthquake in 31 BC and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. Thus, this earthquake was clearly the one at Jesus' crucifixion.
https://www.christianevidence.net/2017/12/historical-evidence-darkness-earthquake.html
In a country where building a structure for a home should have included safety from the structure itself, safety was not considered. The primary form of construction was unreinforced mud bricks. A 5.5 earthquake can cause such structures to collapse crushing or suffocating the inhabitants.
It's why earthquakes in poorer countries tend to have death tolls in the thousands. However, the same quake in a developed country with a safer structure might only kill a few dozen people at most.
The most extreme example of this is the Port-a-Prince 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January 2010 which is estimated to have killed around 100,000 people. Compare that to the September 2010 7.1 magnitude quake that hit Christchurch New Zealand and caused a handful of casualties and no fatalities despite Christ Church having been hit harder than Port-a-Prince (The fact the Christchurch quake hit in the early morning did reduce casualties but the February 2011 aftershock is seen by authorities as a 'worse case scenario' and that killed less than 200 people - and around three quarters of those deaths were avoidable).
As far as Matthew 27 is concerned, no mention of the force of the earthquakes or even a slight tilt of any of the three crosses on the trees is made. Regardless of where the source points for the quake, the focus of the quake was Jesus' crucifixion. The witnesses were at the focus point or nearby. This was a major earthquake of monumental proportions accompanied by a one of a kind three hour eclipse anomaly.
This earthquake was so severe that Scripture says the rocks were ripped apart. Having suffered a 5.5 magnitude earthquake, its infrastructure would have been damaged. Buildings, roads, and people would have been severely damaged and faced collapse and destruction.
The rebuilding would have needed to be organized and swift because more Jews were to be coming from all over the country to Jerusalem. This was to honor the Day of Pentecost, which occurred 60 days after the crucifixion. There would be approximately 250,000 visitors during the holiday. There would have been mass attention to the rebuilding and mass hysteria caused by the loss of life and limb, which is never mentioned in any of the gospels.
However, the timing of the earthquake is uncertain. The earthquake is likely to have happened after the crucifixion. This would correspond to the veil being torn and the rock being rolled away from the tomb of Jesus.
A later earthquake event would also explain the reason why Jesus, after his resurrection, could go among the followers of the Christian Church for fifty days without being noticed by the Roman Government and the Pharisees.
Likewise, the destruction of the earthquake, the rebuilding and the influx of visitors, would account for Jesus’ ability to hide and be ignored by the Jewish people and Roman government.
It can be argued that the reason for the devastation to be left out of the Gospels is that this story and its consequences were dedicated to the crucifixion itself and the death and resurrection of the Savior. Entering into the totality of the event could take away from what Jesus Christ was trying to accomplish.
CHAPTER 11: THE WITNESSES OF THE CRUCIFIXION
Another event that the Doctrine of OTW stands upon is the actual witnesses to the death of Jesus. The witnesses are mentioned in:
Matthew 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
Matthew 27:55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Matthew 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children
Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome.
Mark 15:37 (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women whichcame up with him unto Jerusalem.
The witnesses were a Roman Centurion, the Roman Soldiers under his command at the cross, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the son of Joseph, and Salome, who was thought to be the mother of Zebedee's children. Furthermore, it is mentioned that many other women were present to witness this account.
It teaches that these witnesses actually viewed these events from the viewpoint of Mt. Calvary. Because these witnesses provide an actual physical account of what happened, their account is noted as fact, according to the Doctrine of the OTW.
According to the Doctrine the witnesses recalled all they had seen, when asked by Matthew, Mark and Luke, exactly as they had witnessed it on Mt. Calvary.
There is mention in the OTW doctrine accounts that witnesses saw the OTW rise from their graves, which were opened somewhere outside of Jerusalem. They saw the worthies walk into Jerusalem (the holy city) and watched as the worthies walked directly to the Church of Jesus Christ, where the worthies were recognized by friends and family.
If the witnesses saw all these events and recounted them to each writer, then why would only one writer, Matthew, write of the accounts of the resurrection?
Why weren’t these resurrected saints mentioned in Luke, Mark and John to verify the resurrection account of Matthew? The resurrection not being written of in Luke, Mark and John is an overwhelming enigma!
Perhaps there was no physical resurrection to be remembered or accounted for by Mark, Luke and John to write about.
CHAPTER 12: WAS JERUSALEM REALLY A HOLY CITY?
Matthew 27:53 states that the OTW "went into the holy city". It is assumed that this phrase "the holy city" means the actual city of Jerusalem during the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The actual term "holy city" is used only twice in the Four Gospels. The term is mentioned only in Matthew. The description is used in:
Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many:
The dead were seen entering the "holy city". This "holy city" in Matthew 4:5 is the place that Satan used as a setting for the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Jesus was taken by the Devil to the "holy city" where Satan "setteth" Jesus upon a "pinnacle of the temple" to be tempted by him to commit suicide.
Both of these descriptions of the holy city can be applied to either a natural or spiritual setting. You can use either of these terms to refer to Jerusalem or to the New Jerusalem.
In various interpretations of this passage, there is a popular doctrine called the Doctrine of Satan that teaches Matthew 4:5 is referring to either a natural or spiritual Jerusalem in times of spiritual temptation.
However, when teaching the Doctrine of the OTW, these teachers conclude that Matthew 27:53 is describing a natural city, the physical Jerusalem, in a natural condition.
Even if the testing of Jesus in the wilderness was physical in nature, the Devil did physically take Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. However, the testing was conducted on a mental plane during a spiritual confrontation. The term "holy city" was used as a spiritual description of a very vile city of sinners governed by two very vile godless empires.
The description used as the "holy city" in Matthew 4:5 or Matthew 27:53, would not have been an accurate spiritual description of the natural city of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus Christ. Before and during the time of Jesus, the city of Jerusalem was occupied and controlled by the Roman Empire, which was an idol-worshipping empire ruled by Godless heathens. The Empire of Rome appointed Herod the Great, a half-Jew who complied with Roman rule, as King of the Jews. The very fact that Herod was an imposed King by the Romans meant the city of Jerusalem was far from being a "holy city" during Herod's rule of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE.
1400 years before the appearance of Jesus as the Messiah, the Captivity of Egypt had produced idol worship within Israel lasting until the Babylonian captivity and destruction of the First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar II. This captivity brought to an end the physical worship of idols.
But another ideological idol became the God of the Jewish Nation. The rulers of the Nation of Israel forgot their "First Love" (God), and were not committed to the commandments of the Law of Moses, but were using traditional interpretations of the Law, as the law.
Israel had become worshippers of their scrolls of the Law, turning them into fictitious idols. Jesus clearly denounced this for which he was subsequently murdered by crucifixion at the hands of the Jewish nation. Their open denial of Jesus as their Messiah was likewise a denial of All Father God.
Long before the occupation of Rome, the Prophet Nehemiah, King David and the Prophet Isaiah had called Jerusalem a "Holy City”. Jerusalem was indeed holy because of its significance as the Place of Solomon's Temple, the holding place of the Ark of the Covenant.
Yet, the First Temple had been destroyed, and the Arc of the Covenant had disappeared. In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple. There is no record of what became of the Ark in the Books of Kings and Chronicles.
Then came the building of the Second Temple called "Herod's Temple". This was the temple building, not sanctioned by God and without the Ark of the Covenant. This would have been the Temple in which Jesus and the OTW would have been associated. This temple did not make Jerusalem the "holy city".
Jerusalem had also been called an adulteress by the Prophet Hosea 3:1:
Hosea 3:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine..
Ezekiel 22:2 calls Jerusalem a "bloody city”:
Ezekiel 22:2 Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.
In the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel, Jerusalem is accused of whoredom and misconduct:
Ezekiel 23:3-4 And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah.
Malachi 2:11 denounces Jerusalem as “idol worshippers”:
Malachi 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
If the description of Jerusalem in the New Testament as the "holy city" were factual, then in Matthew 27:53 the term is a false description of an actual vile city.
The description would have been a far stretch even if meant as a spiritual description of this vile city. The dead would not have gone into a "holy city" but would have "went" into a very unholy city.
Jesus used a parable to describe the condition of Israel in Matthew 12:45 in which Jesus said that that evil generation would take on 7 plus 1 evil spirits, meaning the nation of Israel was devil possessed.
Matthew 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
There is the possibility that "holy city" was a description of a spiritual condition, as the place where Jesus was tempted. Likewise, the place of the resurrection of the dead in Matthew 27 would have been in a spiritual setting.
Consideration of these specific saints that were seen by many and that walked into the "holy city" were those who were actually walking into the New Jerusalem, the one hundred forty four thousand, the Bride of Jesus Christ. And the only way to enter into the New Jerusalem is to have the Holy Ghost...which the OTW did not have prior to the Resurrection of Matthew 27:52-53.
Jerusalem being described as a "holy city" can only have a spiritual meaning if we are to understand Matthew 27:52-53 and Matthew 4:5. The "holy city" is a place of metaphoric heavenly conditions.
Considering the term "holy city" mentioned in these two scriptures is metaphoric for a spiritual place or spiritual plane of existence, is there any text proof for such a condition like this biblically to be taken seriously?
The Book of Revelation certainly uses the term "holy city" as a metaphor for several understandings other than the actual physical city of Jerusalem, Israel:
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
The Book of Revelation describes the "holy city" as the Bride of Jesus. Revelation 21 gives a full description of the spiritual city of "holy Jerusalem" as an actual dwelling place of God.
The metaphor "holy city" is a description of a spiritual existence or plane of spiritual reality in God.
To worship God we are told that we must worship him in spirit:
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
As we read of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness by Satan, the term "holy city" was very metaphorical for the place where Jesus faced a high-level spiritual confrontation. As well, the account of the OTW walking into the "holy city" is a very metaphoric term for saints moving into a spiritual place and a description of the Bride of Christ.
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 11:10 states that Abraham was on the lookout for a city. This statement was written from the Apostle Paul’s perspective. It is a spiritual explanation of what Abraham was spiritually searching for. However, Abraham was looking for something a tad different.
In Abraham's case, the place he was looking for was a country. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob were looking toward being with God, literally being with God in the afterlife. They wanted to be in that spiritual land prepared for them by God himself, in which God (unknown to them) was going to be preparing for them a city...the New Jerusalem: the Bride of Christ. Abraham,Isaac and Jacob did not know they were looking for the Bride of Christ. But in looking for a better country, they were likewise going to find the New Jerusalem.
The text proof for this is in Hebrews 11: 13-16:
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Hebrews 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Hebrews 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God "is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."
Hebrews 11:16 states that the Worthies were not looking for an earthly country, they were looking for a better heavenly country in which God (unknown to the Worthies) had prepared a city for them, which in New Testament terms, would be a heavenly city in a heavenly country. The city, by the time any of the OTW get there, the city will already be built, functioning and complete in every way.
All of the OTW of Hebrews 11 were looking for a country in which they would live forever; they were not seeking Jerusalem. The real promise to Abraham was a land eternal. The saints were seeking heaven, and God would provide that rather than a better country.y will also be given a heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, which is the Bride of Christ.
This is the spiritualization of what a "better country" would mean for the Worthies, if they claimed to have their entire inheritance saved. This city was never taught in the Old Testament; this city is only and specifically taught as a New Testament teaching.
Paul added the teaching of a city, the New Jerusalem, to Hebrews 11, as a detail of spiritual explanation as to what "looking for a better country" literally and totally meant.
Revelation 21:1-3 clearly reveals what city is prepared for all men in the last days and the beginning of the New Earth.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
The OTW, after their resurrection in the Second Resurrection, will be in the country for which they were looking and there they will find the city: New Jerusalem, the city God has built for all righteous men and women.
CHAPTER 13: DID THE WORTHIES KNOW OF THE PRE AND FIRST RESURRECTION
A pre-resurrection is never mentioned in any of the books of the Old Testament. A fabrication has been made to justify the acceptance of Matthew 27:52-53. A vast number of saints coming from their open graves is only mentioned in Matthew 27, and never in any other book of the New Testament.
Out of 65 books in the entire Bible, the subject of a pre-resurrection is never taught, explained, nor expected. This alone should give a preponderance of evidence that disproves any and all supposition that the OTW ever knew of a pre-resurrection.
Why then is there an insistence by the teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW to preach that the Old Testament saints knew of a pre-resurrection?
The reason for this traditional doctrinal belief is placed squarely upon the shoulders of the Apostle Paul by the teachers of the OTW. Paul's style of writing lends to this belief, when misused and taken advantage of by his writing of Hebrews 11:35:
Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.
The OTW teachers contend Hebrews 11:35 proves all the OTW knew there was a "better resurrection”. Teachings on "better resurrection" fancifully relate to the "Doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections". As a result, "better resurrection" is twisted into meaning "the First Resurrection". According to OTW teachers, the women in Hebrews 11:35 were looking for the First Resurrection for their loved ones as much as for themselves, which is a change from Hebrews 11:35.
To teach that the OTW would have a chance to be in the First Resurrection, Matthew 27:52-53 became the opportunity for a link to Hebrews 11 and may be the only scriptural way for the OTW to gain a pre-resurrection position.
The teachers of this doctrine continue the interpretation of this critical difference between the First and Second Resurrection, claiming that the First Resurrection is "better". Being in the First means those in the First Resurrection never die spiritually. Further understanding of "the better First Resurrection" is that there are rewards for being in the First Resurrection that are celestial rather than terrestrial.
The true meaning of Hebrews 11:35 is simple to understand. The women mentioned had lost loved ones to death; then those loved ones were resurrected only to die once again. These women were looking for a “better resurrection” in which their loved ones would never have to die ever AGAIN!
CHAPTER 14: ALL OF ALL THE OTW QUALIFIED TO A SUB-STANDARD OF PERFECTION
Hebrews 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39 "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith," . The OTW doctrine concludes that this passage qualifies the OTW categorically and unquestionably for such a pre-resurrection scenario.
It has been suggested that some teachers of the doctrine may go so far as to state that the worthies were in fact "overcomers", according to God's law, within the specific time period or dispensation of the Old Testament.
Some teachers add another qualification to their previously stated assertion of perfected OTW by stating, "If they were not overcomers, they were so close to perfection that they only needed to complete a few minor carnal behaviors."
The teachers use a fallacy called Argument By Scenario: telling a story that ties together unrelated material, and then using the story as proof they are related.
Additionally, the teachers state that "water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are the only things lacking for all of the Worthies."
The OTW didn't have to accept Jesus as Messiah for a pre-resurrection because, according to the doctrine, "they already had" accepted Jesus in their previous lives.
This knowledge plus the Holy Ghost would have empowered the OTW to easily move into the higher standard of perfection of the New Testament. The teachers of the OTW would double down on the doctrine adding once again "the OTW had to be overcomers" to move into the First Resurrection, just like everyone in the world today.
Some teachers' conjecturing of the Doctrine of the OTW suggests that these prophets and characters of Hebrews 11, may or may not have had a personal experience with Jesus. However, others also teach that the entire group of saints included in the chapter of Hebrews 11 could have been taught by Jesus himself.
Another caveat is given which claims, if the OTW did not have a personal relationship with Jesus, the OTW were certainly taught through Abel, Jacob and Noah about the Savior.
The OTW teachers likewise state that Jesus passed this knowledge to Moses about the pre-resurrection and First Resurrection. Moses then taught the rest of the OTW of Israel.
The knowledge of who the Messiah really was was passed down through every generation until the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi. There it stopped and was lost to Israel until the coming of Jesus.
CHAPTER 15: SCRIPTURES USED AS PROOF TEXT FOR OVERCOMING OTW DOCTRINE
The following proof text and words from various scriptures and phrases are used by teachers of the OTW to support their belief that they have overcoming behavior.
These texts include descriptors, which are:
PERFECT
UPRIGHT
HEAVENLY
RIGHTEOUS
HEIR OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
JUST
PLEASED
A GOOD REPORT
BY FAITH
RECOMPENSE OF REWARD
A BETTER COUNTRY
Noah in Genesis 6:9 "Noah was a JUST man and PERFECT in his generation, and Noah “walked with God" and in Hebrews 11:7 "and became the heir of righteousness through faith."
Abraham in Genesis 17:1 "the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou PERFECT" and
Hebrews 11:9 "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the HEIRS with him of the same promise".
Job in Job 1:1 "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was PERFECT and UPRIGHT, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil."
Abel in Hebrews 11:4 "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was RIGHTEOUS."
Enoch in Hebrews 11:5 "for before his translation he had this testimony, that he PLEASED God."
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph in Hebrews 11:16 "But now they desire a BETTER country, that is, an HEAVENLY."
Moses in Hebrews 11:26 "for he had respect unto the RECOMPENSE OF THE REWARD."
Rahab, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel, the prophets;
Hebrews 11:33 "Who through FAITH subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Hebrews 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
These scriptures are used or have been used as proof texts that the OTW were perfected or close to perfection in their day. Although they never had the baptism necessary for the New Man experience in the New Testament.
CHAPTER 16: THE RIGHTEOUS LINE OF FOLLOWERS
The Doctrine of the OTW involves another doctrine, the Doctrine of the Righteous Line of Followers.
The doctrine of saints teaches that righteous saints, faithful to God down through the centuries to our day, have a continuing line. Starting with Righteous Abel as the progenitor and father of this righteous line. This line continues down through Noah, Moses, all the Prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostles and the Early Reign Church and currently our Body of Christ.
Within the Jewish/Gentile Kingdom of God, the righteous line will continue through the 1000 year millennium reign after the Body of Christ.
In conjunction with the Doctrine of the OTW, the Doctrine of the Righteous Line is taught as the elect predestinated righteous line who knew about Jesus as the Messiah and about a pre-resurrection. They are taught that this knowledge qualified them as "up to the minute" believers, which meant that God treated them as perfect overcomers.
Based on the doctrines of the OTW and the Righteous Line, Abel taught a message about Jesus which was transmitted on to Jacob. Abel’s message was then strengthened by Jacob's personal vision. Jacob passed this combined knowledge by word of mouth to Moses, which was then strengthened by Moses' own supposed personal knowledge of Jesus. Moses passed this revelational burden of knowledge onto the OTW and the Righteous line.
The two doctrines incorrectly teach that this phenomenal knowledge was kept secret, told only to those who were worthy, being the Righteous Line of believers.
This doctrine was not passed on to every follower of God, because every follower was not as perfect as the Righteous Line.
This is not the correct way to teach the Righteous Line of Followers. This is because they were not perfect, nor was there any knowledge of Jesus being the Messiah in this group before the coming of Jesus and the Holy Ghost.
There was and is a Righteous line of Followers but they are such because of their Faith and Trust in the Promises of God and not in their completed or degree of Salvation…and they are not predestined to be so.
CHAPTER 17: JACOB’S LADDER AS PART OF THE OTW DOCTRINE
The Doctrine of the OTW uses Jacob and his ladder experience as another prop for its ideology. It is taught by the Doctrine of the OTW that Jacob knew Jesus as the Messiah. The doctrine falsely teaches that Jacob met Jesus during the time of Jacob's vision of the ladder and his worrisome night sleeping on the rocks for a pillow:
Genesis 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Genesis 28;12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
The Doctrine of the OTW teachers have taught that Jacob had a similar private and secret conversation, like Moses, with Jesus about the standards of "living up to the minute" and the “pre-resurrection” of Matthew 27:52-53.
However, the only conversation recorded with Jacob in Genesis 28 doesn't mention this information in any type of conversation!
Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Genesis 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Genesis 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Genesis 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
The Doctrine of the OTW includes all the prophets and other worthies of the Old Testament who were knowledgeable about the pre-resurrection and First Resurrection.
It is also taught that some of these prophets and worthies may not have had their own personal experience with Jesus, but according to the OTW doctrine, they were taught about Jesus and the pre-resurrection by word of mouth passed from teacher to teacher, believer to believer secretly to only those worthy.
The doctrine of the Old Testament was somehow kept a secret from those millions of Israelites who were not worthy of knowing about Jesus.
Knowing the secret of a pre-resurrection and the secret of a First Resurrection of Jesus would be an example of elitism, which is what wholesale predestination is all about.
Excluding the general body of believers from any known knowledge of God or His Son is in direct conflict with the scriptures concerning impartial treatment of God and the just living by faith.
Secrecy plays a huge part in the structural foundation of the Doctrine of the OTW.
CHAPTER 18: HOW the OTW DOCTRINE TEACHES MOSES KNEW JESUS PERSONALLY.
Let’s dig a little deeper. Some who teach the Doctrine of the OTW claim Moses personally knew Jesus as the actual Messiah who is to come to Israel:
Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Hebrews 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Hebrews 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
This part of the doctrine then uses Matthew 11 as text proof for this belief:
Matthew 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Matthew 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible
The scriptures of Hebrews 11:24-27, along with Matthew 11:26-27, are critical to the contention and misrepresentation on which this doctrine is founded. These two scriptures are taught as proof text for the Doctrine of the OTW suggesting Moses knew Jesus as the Messiah.
However a true interpretation is as follows:
God chose Moses to lead the Jewish people and Moses gave up his position as a prince of Pharaoh of Egypt in Hebrews 11:25.
Hebrews 11:26 further explains what the hardships of becoming the leader of Israel meant to Moses. Having to take on the leadership responsibility for a stiff-necked, idol worshipping, disbelieving people for the Lord's sake was an immense and thankless job, receiving little if any appreciation from the non-believing people he was leading.
The term in Hebrews 11:26 "reproach of Christ" is misunderstood by the teachers of the OTW mistaking Jesus the Messiah as the reproach, but it was meant to explain that the Nation of Israel itself was the reproach which Moses endured.
But for Jesus the nation of Israel was his reproach because of their misconduct, starting with the rejection of God when Israel made the golden calf to worship. This continued through the rejection and crucifixion of Christ and included the stoning of Steven.
At the time of the writing of the Book of Hebrews, Israel had rejected Jesus as their Messiah and had been judged for their misconduct in 70 AD.
Moses endured Israel and all their disobedience in the wilderness against God. Moses did not know Jesus as the Messiah, but hoped for a Messiah who would fulfill Moses' expectations for Israel.
Hebrews 11:27 explains Moses' choice of enduring the misconduct of Israel for the hope of a MessiahWith this hope, we can understand the relevance of the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ, who bore the punishment of sin on the cross by dying for the whole world, affecting even Moses, and resulting in the abolition of death.
Moses chose to serve God, reaping the rewards of Jesus' sacrifice. As a metaphor for Jesus and his sacrifice, Moses' acceptance of Israel was a metaphor for what he endured. This was so that Jesus might be born into the world to abolish death and put Satan under his feet.
Hebrews 11:27 states Moses' faith was so strong that it became his hope, and for Moses, it was "looking at him who is invisible". Moses did not see Jesus, but his faith was so focused that he could visualize the coming of the Messiah. As if Moses were seeing the Messiah who was not there, Moses' faith in the coming Messiah illuminated the darkness of the future. Careful reading and understanding proves these scriptures are misused and literally abused by the Doctrine of the OTW.
The Doctrine of the OTW teaches Moses taught the wise men of his time about Jesus and the "better resurrection”. Then word of mouth, spread the good news among other worthies the supposed truth about Jesus and the pre-resurrection. Despite this, this doctrine is not true and is simply imagined to support an agenda. There is no biblical proof to verify this false illusion.
CHAPTER 19: MOSES DID NOT MEET JESUS AS THE MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Jesus was God in the Burning Bush, but never revealed as Jesus the Son of God until revealed in the New Testament:
Matthew 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Matthew 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Matthew 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Luke 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luke 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
At the transfiguration of Jesus, Moses and Elias were resurrected and were spoken to by Jesus. A recording of the conversation mentions that the men at the transfiguration discussed Jesus' "death" and nothing else.
According to the Doctrine of the OTW, Jesus, Moses, and Elias spoke of the pre-resurrection. The Doctrine of the OTW falsely teaches Jesus told these men what they had to do to finalize their entry into the First Resurrection. The OTW doctrine teaches this about a conversation which no one heard except those who were speaking to each other.
A pre-resurrection is never mentioned in any of the books of the Old Testament. A pre-resurrection scenario is only mentioned in Matthew 27.
These two facts alone should be enough evidence to disprove any and all supposition that the OTW ever knew of a pre-resurrection.
Throughout the Old Testament, Jesus was never revealed as the Messiah. Jesus was the Old Testament representation of God on earth: whenever God is mentioned it is a reference to All Father God but Jesus is the representative in physical form.
In the Old Testament, Jesus is mentioned as Melchizedek, and Michael is the Arch Angel of God. A careful study of the Bible shows clearly that the God who physically interacted with humans in the Old Testament was the God who became Jesus Christ. He represented His Father, God Almighty.
Again, secrecy plays a huge part in the structural foundation of the Doctrine of the OTW. This is because it also has a hidden agenda to prove God's partiality toward those with certain beliefs or organizations.
According to this view, the pre-resurrection was somehow kept separate, secret, and not handed down to those who were unworthy to know about the hidden things of God and Jesus.
The idea of secretly knowing Jesus and planning for only those worthy to receive the Pre and First Resurrections is elitism and suggests predestination. This is in direct opposition to the plan of God and the teachings of our Lord.
CHAPTER 20: AN ADDITIONAL TWIST IS TAUGHT USING THE OTW DOCTRINE
There are those who preach the doctrine of the OTW with a twist. They preach that the pre-resurrection was reserved for those who may have died during Jesus' three and a half years of ministry on earth.
This slight adaptation of the Doctrine of the OTW is suggested only because of Matthew 27:53 which states "and appeared unto many” suggesting that because the words "appeared unto many" the "many" recognized those who had resurrected and were friends, relatives, sons and daughters of those resurrected.
This thought is an adapted teaching that has been ingrained into the minds of followers and has become part of the myth.
If there were a physical resurrection of the New Testament Worthies there are 6 accounts of possible saints that could have been in actual graves at the time of Jesus' resurrection in Jerusalem: John the Baptist, Joseph the step-father of Jesus, Zacharias the priest of the Temple, Elizabeth who was Zacharias' wife, Simeon a man who was just and devout, and Anna a prophetess. These were followers of Christ.
But as was the case in the Old Testament, the New Testament Worthies did not have the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they did not qualify to be in the First Resurrection. Therefore, it stands to reason that they did not deserve a claim that God would grant them in a pre-resurrection state. There are a few who accept the concept of the New Testament Worthies as part of the myth, and this is just an assumption.
CHAPTER 21: THE DOCTRINE OF PARADISE
We don't know exactly who would be worthy to take part in this pre-resurrection period described by Matthew 27:53. Some stretch this doctrine to include beliefs of another false doctrine called the Doctrine of Paradise.
The Doctrine of Paradise teaches Jesus rescued worthy people from a place called "Paradise" which lies just above Hell and just below Heaven. This idea uses as proof texts, 1 Peter 3:19 and Ephesians 4:8-10:
1 Peter 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
According to this doctrine of paradise, the resurrection occurred after Christ's resurrection, and when Jesus entered paradise, he preached to those in paradise, and then he released Old Testament believers, who had been held captive in paradise, into the supposed pre-resurrection.
The belief behind those being held in Paradise comes from the strange belief concerning the thief that hung on the cross beside Jesus. The thief is brought into the pre-resurrection with this attached dogma: the thief on the cross was taken to " paradise " with Christ the day he died until Christ arose, at which time, that same thief arose with a transformed body in Matthew 27. They believe that the thief was resurrected, then received water, Holy Ghost baptism. This completed his life on earth and led him on to become an overcomer, who died and ascended to heaven with Christ.
This belief has its roots in the Catholic church and you can read about it in the National Catholic Register at:
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/darmstrong/did-jesus-descend-to-hell-sheol- or-paradise-after-his-death
Essentially, the thief endured the cross and was forgiven by Christ, and some preachers transfer this belief to the OTW since they had suffered through enough Fire Baptism (trials) before the pre-resurrection to perfect themselves and therefore did not need the Holy Spirit to overcome.
However, these preachers also teach the necessity of the Holy Ghost for the OTW. There are requirements for the baptism of the Holy Ghost under the First Resurrection.
The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that these saints received the Holy Ghost on or after the Day of Pentecost Acts 2:1-4. There was no need for any further Fire Baptism for the OTW to endure everything they needed before they came back to earth.
The above is not true. The thief awaits the Second Resurrection.
This is how a church member can become uncertain about this belief. As soon as the dialogue of the doctrine of the OTW is accepted, all additions to the doctrine become acceptable.
CHAPTER 22: UNDERSTANDING HEBREWS 11:39-40; WHAT DO THEY SAY AND MEAN
The key to the belief that these resurrected saints knew of the First Resurrection is in Hebrews 11:39-40 and relies upon the interpretation of these scriptures concerning Moses and Christ:
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39 is a simple and straight forward statement by Paul the Apostle. Hebrews 11 mentions all the saints who have a good reputation with God. But they did not receive the promise, because they died before the coming of Christ.
Hebrews 11:40 explains that those Paul wrote to and were being taught by him were blessed to be receiving the word that Jesus imparted through all of the Apostles.
The Doctrine of the OTW gains momentum from Hebrews 11:1-38, then breaches truth and directly changes the meaning of Hebrews 11:39-40.
The Apostle Paul has his writing of Hebrews 11:39 twisted by the Doctrine of the OTW into a total denial of its true meaning. The false intention taught by the teachers of the OTW is that Hebrews 11:39 suggests that God Himself missed something, or forgot to pay full tribute to those that desired the “better resurrection”.
Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received NOT the promise.
The OTW teachers totally changed the meaning of Hebrews 11:40 into a misunderstood swerve of belief:
Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should NOT be made perfect.
The spin is applied by teaching that God owed the Worthies of "good report" and of the "righteous line" something other than a second resurrection; the OTW deserved a pre-resurrection.
According to Hebrews 11:40, Paul teaches a brutal truth about dispensations, which is exact and irrefutable. Hebrews 11:40 alone should be enough evidence to convince anyone who ever reads the Bible that NO OTW was never resurrected in Matthew 227. This scripture tells every reader that all the OTW did NOT know Jesus and that they did NOT have the Holy Ghost, which only the promise of Jesus Christ the Messiah could bring. They did NOT actually see the heavenly country or city prepared for them because they died. They are still awaiting their resurrection at the end of the 1000 year reign.
Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should NOT be made perfect.
Paul writes that the early reign church was provided with something that the OTW had no access to. Hebrews 11:40relates that this something was "some better thing" for those of the New Testament era. In terms of "better thing", it was the Messiah's teaching about the Kingdom and the comforter he would send to those who heard and believed his words. That“better thing” was not a “better First Resurrection”.
The reality of this matter is that the OTW did not receive the promise because they were born in a previous dispensation. This was at a time and place in which they could not have heard the teachings of Jesus or the Apostles. Hebrews 11:40 states "that they without us should not be made perfect." Both instances of "us" are the Apostles and the Church.
A worthy person cannot be made completely righteous unless the Messiah has come and his apostles teach the teachings of Christ.
The OTW teachers use Hebrews 11:39-40 to resurrect the worthies, treating them like a metaphorical Monopoly game where the "get out of jail free" card is used. They set up a false scenario about the worthies, changing the intent of these two scriptures into false doctrine.
A proof text that is provided by Paul proves that the Worthies did not resurrect as is written in Hebrews 12. In this sermon, Paul tells the people how grateful they should be, for God has given them the opportunity to be born into the dispensation which he has given them by chance and time.
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Hebrews 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Hebrews 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
The First Resurrection was not won on merit alone. There are strict requirements that have to be met. These requirements are as simple as being at the right time and the right place in order to benefit from the First Resurrection.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
"Better things" were given to those of the New Testament era, which were not granted to Abel. The "better things" are the Messiah and the Bride of Christ, both of which we are privileged to be a part of today. Abel and every other so-called worthy of the Old Testament will receive their "better things" in the Second Resurrection. Abel and the other OTW will then be given all the rewards promised by God to those of "good report".
If an OTW teacher were to be asked the question; “How could a pre-resurrection be provided by God?”, most of these teachers would either ignore the question or profess the matter is in God's hand to resolve.
These teachers insist that God owed the OTW something for their good report beyond the Second Resurrection. Next, the teachers use an argument tactic called the Divine Fallacy.
The Divine Fallacy is an illogical fallacy that only occurs when someone assumes that a certain phenomenon must occur as a result of divine intervention. This is because they don’t know how to explain it otherwise. The teachers of the OTW beg the question “And who are we to question God?" They use the Divine Fallacy argument to defend their OTW doctrine claiming it as godly logic to prove their point of contention.
CHAPTER 23: IF THERE WAS A RESURRECTION HOW MANY OTW RESURRECTED
OTW teachers never mention the number of Worthies they claim were resurrected other than "many". They say that there were all or some of the saints in Hebrews 11, but they leave that amount open ended. They put many in the upper room..but never how many..leaving that count open ended?
If there were a physical resurrection, how many would have been resurrected? How can anyone know the physical count of the OTW who were resurrected?
OTW speculation can be made with a starting point of Hebrews 11 by counting the number of saints mentioned in Hebrews it is possible to estimate the number of saints who were found worthy in Hebrews 11, and an assumed number can be considered by name, you will find the following saints found in Hebrews 11:
- Abel Hebrews 11:4
- Enoch Hebrews 11:5
- Noah Hebrews 11:7
- Abraham Hebrews 11:8, Hebrews 11:17
- Isaac Hebrews 11:9, Hebrews 11:17
- Jacob Hebrews 11:9
- Sarah Hebrews 11:1
- Joseph Hebrews 11:21
- Moses Hebrews 11:23
- Rahab Hebrews 11:31
- Gedeon Hebrews 11:32
- Barak Hebrews 11:32
- Samson Hebrews 11:32
- Jephthae Hebrews 11:32
- David Hebrews 11:32
- Samuel Hebrews 11:32
Hebrews 11 indicates that everyone else mentioned is part of a group, starting with the Prophets. In Hebrews 11:32, "the rest of the prophets”, which is a general term for the rest of the prophets.
This would include the following Prophets; Ahijah, Micaiah, Beeri, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Oded, Azariah, Hanani, Jehu, Jahaziel, Eliezer, Obadiah, Amoz, Isaiah, Zechariah, Micah, Nahum, Maaseiah, Neriah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Urijah, Joel, Ezra, Haggai, Malachi, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Mordecai and Seraiah.
Hebrews 11:35 mentions another general group, "Women," without naming them. Some of these women had their children resurrected. These women included the woman's son who was raised by Elijah in 1 Kings 17:22, the mother of the Shunammite's son raised to life by Elisha in 2 Kings 4:34-35 and the mother of the dead man who had resurrected after touching the dead body of Elisha in 2 Kings 13:21.
Hebrews 11:36 “And others were tortured" another group is called “Others" could have included an unknown amount of possibly 300 to 800 people.
Hebrews 11:37 "they" are mentioned three times as different groups of people, twice in Hebrews 11:37.
Hebrews 11:38 "They" means two or more people. "They," in verse 38, could be more or less than the total number of people in the above "others". The conservative estimate could be less than 300, possibly 1150. The three "they's" could account for from 150 to 900 people who were OTW, depending upon the imagination and commitment of a teacher of the Doctrine of OTW.
If we are conservative (very conservative) in the numbering of the saints in Hebrews 11, the count could be approximately 68 people. If we are liberal (but even conservatively liberal), then the number could be 1257, or if we are totally liberal, we could reach 3257.
This number does not account for biblical characters such as Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Esther, Sarah, or any other not specifically mentioned as OTW in Hebrews 11, but could have been included in the non-named groupings.
If the teachers of the OTW only account for 68 saints as the number of saints resurrected in Matthew 27, which would be saying very little for the saving power of Old Testament Faith, these 68 resurrected saints would be a formidable group of zealot type saints of God.
Silence from these newly resurrected saints in the church would be absurd. These resurrected saints would have been very familiar with persuading small and large groups of unbelievers to serve God. These zealots and their zeal would have been an unimaginable force in the building of the Early Reign Church!
Moreover, the idea that the Doctrine of the OTW keeps these saints quiet should make us pause and give serious thought to the far reaching idea of a physical resurrection of the OTW.
CHAPTER 24: THE OTW DOCTRINE TEACHES WHY THE SAINTS WERE RESURRECTED AND WHO THEY WERE.
The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that God had another special purpose for the resurrection of the OTW. This special purpose was to be a kind of TROPHY WITNESS.
The term is often used with little personal merit besides physical attractiveness. In addition to requiring substantial expense for maintenance, it is often unintelligent and unsophisticated. It does very little of substance beyond remaining witnesses. The OTW doctrine uses saints as a status symbol to acclaim the power and glory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It appears that teachers who use this as part of their teaching are unaware of this. This is because they are implying that the saints' resurrection had no substantial meaning or impact other than the resurrection itself. This is a derogatory or disparaging claim about and against those they claim to have resurrected.
To justify and rectify this Trophy Witness claim some OTW teachers have included another group of obscure saints that have very little written about them.
During this time of visitation after our resurrected Lord the Doctrine of the OTW includes the 500 saints of
1 Corinthians 15:6.
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
These 500 brethren are never mentioned before, during, or after the resurrection of Christ except in this passage. But the Doctrine of the OTW claims some or all of them as the saints of Matthew 27:53-53. Their claim is an unsubstantiated claim and cannot be proven by scripture.
The 500 were added to the mix of those resurrected in Matthew 27 and are used in another doctrine called the Doctrine of the First Fruits. The Doctrine of the First Fruits is used in tandem with Jesus being the first fruits of the First Resurrection mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23:
1 Corinthians 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The teachers of the OTW incorporate these scriptures using the fallacy of inconsistency.
Inconsistency is when he or she makes contradictory claims. Examples: I'm a strong believer in freedom of speech and think artists should never be censored. However, when musicians like Marilyn Manson influence the youth, you have to draw a line and say no more.
Some of the teachers insist that the first fruits of the resurrection were the saints in Matthew 27:53-53. They therefore attach the Five Hundred to the saints of Matthew 27. Their goal is to prove that actual dead bodies can be raised from the dead.
It then includes the 500 saints in the pre-resurrection period as trophy saints for the express purpose of witnessing Jesus during his resurrection period and to show the glory of this great honor as an OTW bonus reward.
This witnessing was not only a blessing and reward for the 500 (then) resurrected saints, but also a meaningful witness for the Church of Jesus Christ.
Including the 500 witnesses to Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 27:52-53 would prove the resurrection of Matthew 27 and would have far reaching effects even into our present day, portraying God's love and fairness that the doctrine of the OTW describes.
A second purpose of the doctrine is that those who witnessed the resurrection of Matthew 27 were specifically to witness the 120 of the Upper Room receiving the Holy Ghost and then being a part of the formation of the Early Reign Church.
It is believed that all of the Old Testament writers, including the 500, received their information from Jesus after his resurrection. It is claimed that during the 40 days before Jesus' ascension the OTW saints walked with Jesus and were instructed by him. The Doctrine of the OTW teaches that during their personal time with Jesus, their personal familiarity allowed them to know him as their Messiah. He taught them all he knew about the church and what he expected of them in the future. They would be receiving a crash course, a fast-tracked course on perfection from the Master himself because they were special.
Those blessings were part of the "Heir to the Promise Reward" trophy. If they had remained in the graves, they would have been missed! Being resurrected they could experience this promise themselves. Either they were among the one hundred twenty or they were among the three thousand who received the Holy Ghost shortly after the one hundred twenty in the Upper Room.
CHAPTER 25: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SAINTS AFTER THE DAY OF PENTECOST?
Strangely enough, even though the doctrine has the saints resurrected as trophy witnesses and learning at the feet of their resurrected Savior, they are never documented as joining the Apostles in the teaching of Christ's gospel.
There is no documentation of an appearance by these saints inside the Upper Room.
Neither is there documented records of their witnessing or being a part of the Holy Ghost baptisms of the three thousand.
The OTW have never been accounted for as ever being employed nor have they ever been documented having a place to live on their own.
The saints never proclaim the glory of their resurrection; they never rejoice nor testify of their blessings.
There are no records anywhere of these saints thanking God even for their very own resurrection.
They are never mentioned helping the church in any way.
The doctrine suggests that the resurrection of these mighty heroes of Jewish culture and their religious icons has no influence whatsoever on the nations of Israel or Rome. This is certainly not upon the church after they have risen.
As a matter of fact, the doctrine teaches that their resurrection played no role in decreasing or increasing persecution, nor in converting the lost and ungodly.
How does the Doctrine of the OTW counter these multiple problems?
The doctrine teaches SECRECY..SECRECY..SECRECY..
CHAPTER 26: THE CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
Because the teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW cannot explain the every day life of the resurrected saints, they teach a doctrine I will call the Conspiracy of Silence as part of the plan of God which falsely claims to be administered by Jesus.
To answer the problem of the saints having NO impact upon the church the Doctrine of the OTW answers the issue with the use of secrecy. The OTW teaches the saints were hidden by God, just as Jesus was hidden from the people in John 8:59 :
John 8:59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
IF today's congregations are true to their normal curiosity, each of the teachers of OTW will be asked what the resurrected saint's life was like after the resurrection? These teachers will then compel the listeners to believe in a church conspiracy of secrecy. The term is never used in the bible, but the concept is taught nonetheless.
Faithful believers are asked to acknowledge that the Worthies willingly accepted their uncelebrated role in the Church of Christ. Doctrine prescribes that listeners should recognize the OTW character's passive humility in his absence from Scripture. As a result, they were able to attend early reign church meetings in a low-key manner. According to the Doctrine of the OTW, we are expected to believe the resurrected’s shouting and singing of their victory in Jesus would have been minimal.
Those who teach and have taught the Doctrine of the OTW expect their congregation to believe that these historical leaders of the past, our hero’s of the Nation of Israel and Kingdom of God, would remain unacknowledged and hidden by every church. Their presence at a service was not to be acknowledged by any established saints and any new saints who were advised by the established church members that the secrecy of the resurrected saints was for everyone's protection!
The doctrine teaches that the Worthies and their fellow members of the church understood the negative impact their previous lives would have had on the church.
In the event that a church had openly advertised Worthies, former leaders of the nation would have become more famous for the resurrection of Worthies than for the resurrection of Jesus or for saving grace.
Also some teachers of the OTW Doctrine explain that the secret identities of the worthies were kept divinely hidden from anyone NOT a member of the church.
This secrecy became the unspoken rule Code of Silence conducted by God, through Jesus, including the twelve Apostles and the entire Church of Jesus Christ by way of a sort of trickle down effect.
The OTW doctrine teaches that this conspiracy was supposedly planned and explained by Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration to Moses and Elias.
Luke 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luke 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
The teachers suggest that after Jesus' resurrection he then resurrected Moses and Elias and the five hundred of 1 Corinthians 15:6:
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
According to the OTW doctrine, when Jesus was forty days after his resurrection, Moses and Elias helped Jesus to explain the plan of secrecy to the resurrected saints and disciples.
The secrecy was to give time for the OTW to reach perfection and to be in the First Resurrection without distraction. It would also save the OTW from unwanted constant scrutiny and persecution by the Pharisees, Scribes, Romans and the Jews.
In the Doctrine, it is taught that the church provided hidden places for the saints to live and worship so that they could eventually attain perfection.
Those who had attained perfection would wait for their catching away in the First Resurrection. The rest of their lives would be spent awaiting the Second Resurrection if they had not yet reached perfection.
The doctrine contends that the Pharisees, Scribes and Romans were obviously blinded to the actual resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27. The teachers of the OTW gave no Pharisee, Scribe or Roman the intelligence nor curiosity to notice anything about who the resurrected may have included. None of these leaders knew anything about the actual resurrection. The doctrine teaches that the Pharisees and Scribes seem unaware of the resurrection of their most prominent ancestors and religious leaders being alive and present in Jerusalem.
How could the church keep Abraham, Noah, Moses or Elijah the prophet a secret, when the whole nation of Israel were still looking for Elijah himself to appear before the coming of the real Messiah to pronounce their redeemer? How could the church expect to keep a resurrected John the Baptist silent?
If true, how could 68 (most likely more than 68) of truly the most passionate figures of the Old Testament standby…without a reaction…when hearing of or perhaps witnessing themselves…the testimony of Steven and his death by stoning, keep silent without saying a single word of praise or protest?
If the 500 hundred who were allegedly resurrected could have been any of King David’s 37 strong and loyal men among their number, how could the church keep any of those 37 fighting men quiet and in secret? Would anyone expect one of David’s mighty men to bow down to a Roman soldier or a Pharisee or the mob that killed Steven?
For Israel’s leaders to have no knowledge of these saints, nor the Roman leaders who occupied the so-called holy city, would have to have been an act of the Hand of God.
OTW teachers teach that indeed the Hand of God keeps these saints secret since no clear answers have been provided for the absence of scripture. This makes the conspiracy of secrecy legitimate. The ungodly leaders would have had to have the Holy Ghost blind them to the heroes of old walking in Jerusalem after being resurrected from the dead.
Which leads to this logical question: How could the resurrected saints have become perfected within a conspiracy of silence?
For the overcomer, fire baptism represents the most challenging part of total baptism. Persecution and interaction with the wicked, the unsaved, and the ungodly are the parts of Fire Baptism that perfect a saint. In a hidden church environment, ungodly behavior is very limited and the testing of the OTW would have been minimal.
This is contrary to the process of perfection taught by the writers of the New Testament. It would be impossible for the OTW to endure and overcome their testing and trials without sin-rich involvement.
However, contrary to the teachers of the OTW, the Bible teaches that Jewish and Roman leaders were indeed watching and persecuting the church. The church was constantly sought after and found and persecution was everywhere.
In addition to this, there is the non-notable feature of mass resurrected saints, which is their disappearance! They did...fall off the edge of the earth and were never mentioned again! The saints of Matthew 27:52-53 DISAPPEARED from the day of their resurrection and were never mentioned again.
Sadly their miracle was quickly forgotten by the church and by those who saw them entering the holy city.
If their account is true, and they were actually biblical heroes who were resurrected, it is one of the greatest supernatural phenomena to have ever happened on the face of the earth or in biblical history. Yet, biblically, it was so small and unimportant that the other writers of the Four Gospels never mentioned it.
This surely is unimaginable? How these highly favored past leaders of Israel, with their previous experiences serving God, coupled with Jesus Christ and his miracles and the additional knowledge of Jesus as their Messiah, then receiving Water, Holy Ghost and Fire Baptisms keep themselves hidden after hearing the commandments that Jesus gave..to preach his gospel to the entire planet as a secret is..inconceivable!
The amount of subterfuge suggested by the Doctrine of the OTW to provide for these hidden people would have had to be contingent upon a miraculous act of God. Keeping a Conspiracy of Silence among the church and keeping the resurrected saints themselves in secret should not be regarded as plausible, The enormity of such a Conspiracy of Silence would have been staggering.
CHAPTER 27: THE DEATHS AND BURIAL OF THE RESURRECTED SAINTS
Matthew 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,.
If verse Matthew 27:52 is literally a factual account of the bodies of the saints resurrecting out of their graves was it possible that one of the saints was Moses who walked in from across the Jordan River into the holy city? Did Daniel and Noah have their gravesites outside the walls of Jerusalem? Did any other Old Testament saints who had died in far-reaching places wander into the holy city from the sight of their graves? How long would it take for Daniel to wander from Babylon? Among those resurrected with a body, perhaps the most horrific case was the headless corpse of John the Baptist. Could his body walk into the holy city, waiting for his head to roll out of the King's palace?
This resurrection of Matthew 27 would transform every previous resurrection scripture into a miracle within a miracle. All resurrection miracles before and during Jesus' time on earth had not included a NEW BODY. With every previous resurrection, the resurrected were given life in the exact body they had died in. None were placed in a regenerated or recreated body. It was always the same body they had died in.
Not only did they resurrect in the OTW, but they were given brand-new bodies as well. Not only did they resurrect with brand-new bodies...they traveled vast distances and moved their actual grave sites to just outside of Jerusalem!
If recreated the OTW resurrected bodies would have been devoid of any physical or mental abnormalities. They would have been healthy, more healthy than at any time in their previous lives.
Teachers of the Doctrine of the OTW, however, claim that these miraculously healthy resurrected saints had a flaw. This is because they were designed by God to die quickly after receiving the blessings of baptism and perfection.
There is no discussion of how the doctrine's teachers learn this about the bodies of the saints except to say it is a divine supposition. Any denial of this would be considered blasphemy. Teachers of this doctrine teach that a quick exit was provided by God to keep any undo attention from the church because of the notability of the resurrected saints.
Likewise, to stay aligned with this belief in quick death, all Worthies would have died close to the same time due to their shared time of resurrection.
Yet, there is no explanation offered by the same teachers for the immense problems caused by a mass or near mass death situation. How would the early Christian church explain the mass death of sixty-eight or possibly thousands of saints? What would they do in order to be able to go unnoticed within Jewish burial traditions? Wouldn’t burying so many people at one time bring notice to the church causing more persecution?
Even if the resurrected saints had died on separate occasions, the constant burials would have had a significant impact upon the people of the city of Jerusalem as well as the Church of Jesus Christ.
A preparation and burial tradition for just one saint provides attention from the local community to the departed. If all the saints of the resurrection died at the same time in the city, what kind of repercussions would they have had?
Depending on the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament Law, burial had to occur within 24 hours Deuteronomy 21:23. This was due in part to the climate in Israel, and partly because the body was considered to be ceremonially unclean. Therefore, it had to be prepared for burial as soon as possible.
Shortly after death, family members would come to mourn and prepare the body for burial. The body was washed, anointed with various oils and spices, and wrapped with special white linen grave clothes that contained spices John 19:39-40.
How would the church explain the absence of families in the bodies of sixty-eight or perhaps to the thousands of possibly resurrected saints?
The burial practices of Israel during the time of Jesus included family and friends gathering in very intense periods of mourning, involving loud expressions of sorrow and lamentation. Those who grieved frequently wore sackcloth mourning clothes, made of rough goat-hair fabric, as an expression of sorrow. After the body was prepared, it was carried to the cemetery in a procession. This included professional mourners hired to express the appropriate communal grief, often being accompanied by someone playing the flute.
The period of mourning varied. Some believe that it lasted seven days as it does today in the Orthodox Jewish tradition. However, a rabbinical document refers to the mourning period lasting three days, possibly because after this amount of time it was evident that the person was actually dead. Following the sealing of the tomb, mourning continued for a total of thirty days.
How could the church cover up a succession of saints dying so quickly? Imagine the problem of successive burials of the resurrected, and the seemingly continued funeral processions.
The church’s integrity would have been completely lost, and the church would have been recognized as the Church of Death not the Church of Eternal Life.
This is part of the doctrine of the OTW, yet another fabrication within the secret coverup. One of the most blatant inaccuracies of The Doctrine of the OTW is that the burials were maliciously misplaced. They were also not considered to be information regarding the hidden doctrine of the OTW and are shrouded in the divine secrecy of the church of Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 28: THE GOD OF LOVE OR GOD OF PREDESTINATION
God, as Almighty God and the Father of Jesus, because of his own free will and counsel, created mankind for his own pleasure.
God determined that freewill must be given to each created being; he included decisive capabilities to choose between obedience and non-obedience.
In order for each being to choose their own willful path of Godly love and servitude, God gave each of them free-will thinking. God even gave angels free will..
You may believe that because Angels do the "Will of God" and God's will never changes, Angels were created with no will, only to do God's will.
This leads to a misconception: You may believe that if Angels are involved with a condition or in a situation concerning mankind they can only act and react as God has told them or commanded them to do. This would mean…that the condition or situation has already been…predetermined. This would mean there could be no randomness (variables that may change or occur without foreknowledge) about any condition or situation with which an Angel would be involved.
However, you may believe that mankind has free will, which requires the randomness of absolute chance which would break the causal chain of any predetermined circumstance.
Humanity would not be able to respond adequately to our choices if they were predetermined.
If you believe that angels have no free will, then you have to believe that God predestined all the events with which an angel is involved. There can be no randomness or variability of change. However, if the situation is not predetermined, then the Angel would be powerless to make a decision about how to deal with randomness since it is not predetermined.
In effect, this would mean that everything, including the next second that happens, God has already thought out and knows and causes everything to be according to his will.
According to the predetermination theory, it would be impossible for God to change any situation and God would not be an omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent God.
Consequently if in all situations all angels are predestinated, then all mankind is also predestinated, so there is no free will. This would make God’s grace, his plan of salvation a sham.
This in essence would make God not the God of Love, but the God of reciprocal narcissism. The God of reciprocal narcissism would not allow mankind to have feelings of love but would create in mankind a false "feeling of good" which is not true love.
The question of "why didn't he just make man perfectly in the first place" cannot be answered logically based on free will or predetermination.
This is not to say God does not use predestination within His plan of grace. In order to bring about his salvation plan, God has predetermined people. But God does not predetermine any person’s salvation.
CHAPTER 29: WHAT IS PREDESTINATION.
The majority of Monastic and Secular Churches do not actively preach predestination. Each type of religion believes in their own interpretation of predestination as their own traditional teachings dictate.
Generally accepted the definition of predestination is the divine foreordaining of all that will happen, especially with regard to the salvation of some and not of others.
This generality has been specifically associated with the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo and of John Calvin the French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation.
St. Augustine of Hippo is quoted as "Predestination is the foreknowledge and the preparation of those gifts of God whereby they who are delivered are most certainly delivered."
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12378a.htm
John Calvin's explanation was "By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man".
John Calvin (2012) "The Institutes Of The Christian Religion (Annotated Edition)", p.810,
The Body of Christ has an eclectic view of many doctrines taught throughout the world. The understanding of exactly what predestination is and its purpose is not standardized nor do pastors agree about predestination in biblical terms.
God predestined certain people, nations, angels and time. It is God who wills men and nations to perform duties concerning the destiny of mankind within his plan of salvation.
All humans are predestined to die a mortal death. All godly humans, who meet the highest standards of Jesus Christ, are predestined to be saved for immortality.
God has planned 144,000 predestined positions for the Bride of Christ. The number of Bride members is predetermined, but it is not predestined who will be in the Bride of Christ.
It was predestined by God that dispensations would differ in the blessings and curses that would or would not be bestowed upon them.
The flood, lasting a year in Noah's day, was predestined 120 years before it happened. Jesus birth as the Messiah could never have happened during the time of Daniel or David, but was predestined to occur during the time of Rome’s occupation of Israel’s. John the Baptist was predestinated to be the Herald of Jesus. Judas was predestined to be the betrayer of the Messiah. I could continue to talk about others, but only Jesus Christ was predestined for a specific pre-resurrection. None were predestined for salvation.
There was never a virgin birth during the time of Solomon or Esther, yet it was predestined to happen in the time of King Herod.
The people of Enoch's dispensation didn't have the Mosaic Law or the Law of Righteousness. During that dispensation of Enoch (God's friend) Enoch was translated and taken by God, so that Enoch should not see death. But Enoch's dispensational period did not allow Enoch a position in the Bride. Enoch's translation did not void out the laws that govern perfection and neither did Enoch ascend to heaven. Hebrews 11:13 states that Enoch died not receiving the promises which God had given in the dispensation of the Messiah.
Each dispensation has its own significant acts of predestination. None living before the dispensation of Jesus could lay claim to the predestined promises of righteousness given through and only by the coming of Jesus Christ. None before the dispensation of Christ could lay claim to the First Resurrection or a Bride membership.
It was not predestined that Moses or Abraham would sit at the feet of Jesus during the Roman occupation and the dispensation of Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 30: IT WAS NOT PREDESTINED THAT ANY OF THE OTW WOULD BE IN THE BRIDE
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
In every dispensation the people who obeyed God's law were predestined for a resurrection of the Just and the Unjust.
But the outcome of our current dispensation is far better than any other dispensation because of the birth of Jesus Christ and the First Resurrection. In our dispensation God has predestined one hundred forty four thousand saints to live in celestial bodies as the Bride of Christ in the First Resurrection.
Following ours, the next dispensation will be marked by drastic changes under the leadership of Jesus for a thousand years. Saints in the Millennial reign of God who overcome sin will never die and their mortal bodies will be changed into immortal bodies.
No dispensation before them has ever been given the opportunity to live as immortals directly changed from mortal bodies.
In my opinion, the claim that the OTW was in the First Resurrection is incorrect. This is because the Bride number has been predestined to be completed after Christ's birth and before the next millennium.
It is impossible for anyone to claim a Bride membership position from any other dispensation.
In the one thousand year reign, people could not claim a Post-Resurrection prior to the one thousand year reign or be considered fair if they requested it.
CHAPTER 31: GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
It is God's Plan of Salvation for mankind to eliminate sin, to overcome the world, and to defeat Satan. This is a means through which to find true love and eternal life with him. God made this possible through the empowerment of the application of the Word of God and the baptisms of Water, the Holy Ghost and Fire. In the absence of the Holy Ghost, which is the power of the Word of God, which overcomes mankind's base desires, mortal bodies will not become immortal bodies. Therefore, mankind would have a limited lifespan.
Adam was never made immortal but was made a mortal, an earthly being. God, in the beginning, had not set a determined end to mankind’s mortal lives. Mankind, through disobedience, moved God to establish a time limit on their mortal lives. This was after breaking His law against partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
But, if mankind hadn’t sinned, whatever time limit before the end of mankind’s life cycle...would have been God’s choice to decide. It appears God was prepared to work with mankind for as long as it took to create overcomers whether with or without Adam’s committed disobedience. Adam or one of his children could have sinned. It seems Adam did not take very long to decide.
The First Resurrection will be for those who become measurably like Christ before any other person.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
God determined the first humans to achieve this measurement would be part of a group containing one hundred and forty-four thousand saints and to be called the Bride of Christ.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
God has reserved this group for his son Jesus as his wife, naming them the Bride of Christ. The First Resurrection was only for the Bride of Christ.
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
These are the people during the early reign Church who gained eternal life and were caught up to heaven before any of the Second Resurrection. This group started within the early reign church of Jesus Christ establishing the first part of the Bride of Christ and is called the man child of the Church of Jesus Christ:
Revelation 12:5 KJV And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
The man child designation is a nomenclature for the saints of the Bride and not a gender specification because all in Christ are the same. In the early reign of the church, the Bride was not a complete male nor a male-gendered species, but a child (the term "man child" is used for a human child).
Galatians 3:27 KJV For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:28 KJV There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Until the church emerged out of the wilderness in this day and age, these saints were the only members of the bride.
The First Resurrection has specific fundamental rules that are orderly and absolute. The starting point for the First Resurrection is a dispensational act of God concerning time and chance.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 teaches mankind about the basics of God's plan for salvation and is explained in a counterpoise term for action and reaction that balances or neutralizes predestination.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
The understanding of these two scriptures is based on “time and chance happeneth to them all" for all humans, for all humans cannot predict their time of death. They are caught in whatever dispensation they are born into, and death falls suddenly upon them all.
Just as God did not create evil, God did not create chance or chaos; it is the result of God's Law and Order of Time and Chance. However, he also allows chance/chaos to affect godly and ungodly mankind.
Chance is the result of time. The reason God allows chance (or chaotic theory) is to prevent naysayers from claiming unjustly and unfairly that God favors certain people over others and treats mankind unfairly.
God created time and in doing so he allowed the result (the counterpoise of chance) to occur. Time and chance are the fields of battle on which creation and mankind battle it out. His plan uses time to control nature and human events that affect his plan. God uses time to create and ensure his predestined plan for human salvation. God allows people to prove themselves through free-will choice.
Mankind is now 6000 years old and has passed through many dispensations under God's authority. God doesn't choose who or when the general populace of mankind is born. He allows rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
The exception would be if God needed a specific person to be born for a specific task in God's Plan for Salvation. God predestined certain people such as Jeremiah, John the Baptist and Jesus. However, God does not predestine any individual to be saved from sin.
Salvation is never given. Salvation is earned. In reality, "time and chance" are fixed immutable standards that all people are subjected to under the curse of death.
There will be a time in which these factors of “time and chance” will have no more affect upon mankind, but that happens on the 8th day of creation.
While "time and chance" will still exist in the New Heaven and New Earth, they will not govern the Saints of God.
Revelation 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
However, now, under sin..in order to be in the First Resurrection..a member must be born DURING the dispensation of Jesus and alive AFTER the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
A member must first hear the word of God about Jesus and believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. A member must receive Water and Holy Ghost Baptism. A member must pass through Fire Baptism, becoming just and an overcomer, BEFORE they lay down their mortal body to receive an angelic body.
There are no exceptions to the fundamental truths of the First Resurrection and attaining the Bride of Christ.
If a disciple fails to become an overcomer, God in his mercy, has provided his disciples with a second chance to redeem themselves by a Second Resurrection.
The Second Resurrection requirements begin with a very simple requirement. John 3:16 tells us that anyone who believes in Jesus must do so.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
By fulfilling this requirement alone, a believer and follower of Christ can receive a resurrection called the Second Resurrection.
An exception to this requirement of the Second Resurrection applies to infants born to believers in Jesus Christ which are babies and children of indeterminate age.
Children of this age are unable to make informed moral decisions based on biblical and civil law. They would be unable to adequately make a decision about accepting Christ as their Savior and die before they themselves become saved.
1 Corinthians 7:13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
This rule also applies to those born mentally challenged adults who are unable to make informed mature moral decisions.
Infants, babies, and children must have one parent serving God at the time of the children's individual death. Parents must continue to serve God for the rest of their own lives.
The meaning of 1 Corinthians 7:13-14 is not influenced by the degree of salvation of the parent (whether a parent is perfected or not); it is given to all believers as a result of God's grace and mercy for their servitude.
Accountability for salvation as a child grows in maturity ending in adulthood. This is beginning with understanding the Word of God's Plan for Salvation and accepting Jesus as their own personal Savior. Once salvation has begun they must live as a disciple of Jesus for the rest of their mortal lives.
After that basic requirement of belief in God, the Second Resurrection demands become as strict as the First Resurrection requirements.
When the church of Jesus Christ was formed, the church became the only gateway through which a Jew or Gentile could attain resurrection.
The Law of Moses became a closed door to a resurrection because the Law had been fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Jesus established the Law of Righteousness and ushered in the Kingdom of God by way of the Church of Jesus Christ.
After the Church was established, false prophets came into the church preaching another Jesus. The church fled into a spiritual wilderness during the diaspora of the Church of Jesus Christ after the destruction of 70 AD.
The church in the wilderness propagated many churches as time marched on for thousands of years. During that time, churches of different denominations were established leading to the Second Resurrection.
In our present day a disciple of Christ may get a Second Resurrection if they are a member of any Christian denomination, organized or unorganized. During the current dispensation, a believer may not even belong to any kind of church. However, if the confessor professes Jesus, even secretly, the confessor will be accepted into Jesus' hands and rewarded with a resurrection.
God's children are held accountable for adhering to whatever Christian governing rules they may have been taught and believe.
However, they cannot accept Jesus as their savior and then continue to act as a child of Satan and gain any resurrection.
When a disciple receives his physical Second Resurrection, the requirements become even more difficult. This is especially true if the disciple does not wish to become a member of the Church that Jesus Christ will establish during his thousand-year reign.
In that future day in time, the Church of Jesus Christ will have been restored to the exact true teaching of Jesus. As Jesus' church, we will be able to assist each soul in completing their salvation, and in obtaining eternal life. The existence of another denomination at that time will result in destruction and the Second Death.
Those in the Second Resurrection are resurrected in a "Just and Unjust" spiritual condition of the soul.
Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
As the resurrected then died a second time with sin in their hearts because they had not conquered the lusts of the world or Satan. Therefore, they had to meet the criteria for perfection in Christ. All must receive Water, Holy Ghost and Fire Baptisms. They must overcome and eliminate all sin according to the exact teachings of Jesus' church. They did not meet the measure of Christ our Lord.
CHAPTER 32: HOW MUCH TIME DO THE RESURRECTED HAVE TO OVERCOME
Malachi 3:17 The Lord says he will spare those written in his Book of Remembrance. That book is the table of God's heart/mind just as the epistle of Christ is written upon the hearts of man.
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
In Malachi 3:16-17, God says that if the people fail to overcome after a time of uncertainty but still a reasonable amount of time, they will once again die and be forever gone, wiped from God's Book of Remembrance.
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Malachi 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
The time needed for the resurrected to meet their perfection is never given, but it is eluded to in Isaiah 65:20.
Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
The "infant" and the "old man" in this verse are the same individual. The explanation lies in Matthew 22:30.
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Knowing there is no marriage among the resurrected the consequence of that is there will be no more children born to the resurrected. Which puts Isaiah 65:20 into the correct perspective concerning the phrase "no more thence an infant of days".
Infants, children, and anyone else who is resurrected will have 100 years to become perfect. Those who do not attain perfection die the "accursed" death of the sinner.
Understanding the above teachings for each resurrection puts into perspective the anomalies of those mentioned in the Bible who actually resurrected before the First and Second Resurrections.
It is taught and accepted that the dead mentioned in Hebrews 11:35 were resurrected in the same fashion as Lazarus was in John 11:43-44, Jairus' daughter in Luke 8:52-56, and the widow's son in Luke 7:17:13-15. Upon being resurrected, each of these three participants lived a normal lifespan and passed away again. Each died twice and each of these people may have to die again in the Second Resurrection if they do not attain an overcomer's life.
As described in 1 Kings 17:17-24, Elijah prays and God brings back a young boy from the dead. 2 Kings 4:32-37, Elisha raises the son that he had foretold would be born to the Woman of Shunem, 2 Kings 4:8-16 a man's body thrown into a tomb is raised when it touches Elisha's bones, 2 Kings 13:21, Lazarus, Jairus's daughter, and the widow's son
Each of these resurrections happened within 5 days of their deaths. Each was resurrected by Jesus, or an Apostle or Prophet, who had directly administered the miracle by verbal and/or physical contact.
Each was purposely resurrected to prove the power and authority of God. Their miracles were proclaimed and continually told with widespread notoriety and written in the Word of God for all to read and declare.
The Old Testament, if it were resurrected, would have died thousands of years before Jesus. Their resurrections were never used in early reign time to prove God’s power or authority. No one talked about their supposed resurrection ever after anywhere else in the Bible. Notoriety did not happen to the OTW in any way.
CHAPTER 33: NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE ONLY
The First Resurrection and Second Resurrection doctrines are strictly New Testament doctrines.
Yet, the Doctrine of the OTW insists that all of the Worthies were looking for the First Resurrection. The teachers of the Doctrine of OTW misconstrue Hebrews 11:35 in order to prove their ideology as truth.
The OTW were taught only one resurrection. Isaiah mentioned a resurrection in Isaiah 26:19. Job 19:23-27 speaks only of a resurrection and not a Second Resurrection. Daniel 12:1-4 speaks of a resurrection, but never mentions the terms First or Second resurrection.
According to what the Doctrine of the OTW teaches, the resurrected Jesus of Matthew 27 received the Water Baptism and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. The OTW then accomplished their Fire Baptism in record time, claimed perfection, and quietly died, obtaining their place in the First Resurrection.
According to the Doctrine of the OTW, none of the resurrected of Matthew 27 were "UNJUST" nor were any raised to face judgement. But the truth is none of the OTW would have met the standards set for any of us to attain the First Resurrection.
Consequently, the manufactured pre-resurrection does not meet the criteria set forth by the First Resurrection since they were sinful and not overcomers. Only the Second Resurrection fits the progress that the OTW had achieved in their lives.
CHAPTER 34: THE BODY OF CHRIST BELIEVES IN TWO VERY DIFFERENT FIRST RESURRECTIONS
The Body of Jesus Christ teaches the First Resurrection in two (or more) ways. According to my understanding, overcomers, at the time of their mortal deaths, move into a new angelic body. There is no separation from God.
This is taught as literal truth because of the understanding of Water and Holy Ghost Baptism as an actual death of the soul and body, as taught in Romans 6:1-14. According to Romans 6, each believer begins their life under the curse of death because of sin. They are dead in sin. Once they recognize Christ as the Savior and receive Water Baptism they become dead in Christ, spirit, soul and body, awaiting their resurrection in Christ. Then when they receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost they are resurrected into the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When a disciple receives the Holy Ghost, their mortal spirit--our spirit--is separated from their soul and flesh. The soul and the flesh, referred to in baptism as the Old Man, die. The soul and flesh are resurrected and united again with the body, becoming a new man reborn and joined with God by the Holy Ghost. By Jesus, the Word of God, we are renewed in the image and likeness of God, in the knowledge of righteousness and true holiness. The spirit, soul and body are reunited to form a new creature which is born into the Kingdom of God.
Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
After completing their Fire Baptism, those following Romans 6:1-14 receive the promise of eternal life. They can then move directly into their new bodies on the day they die, as promised by Jesus in John 3:16 and Paul in Romans 6:22-23.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Those who believe in the teaching of the First Resurrection hold that they do not have to experience a bodily second death nor separation from the Holy Ghost and God. Others affirm and teach there is no physical death of soul and body in Holy Ghost Baptism. They believe death only happens to the spirit. Each saint will undergo a physical death as Jesus did during the First Resurrection.
These believe their spirits will wait in the grave or God's Book of Remembrance until the time of mass resurrection at the physical return of Jesus. In this way, they will be able to claim his completed bride. A new body is given to the overcoming dead at that time. These believe Romans 6:1-14 is a spiritual death not an actual death.
But if the OTW teachers believe Romans 6:1-14 is a spiritual death they believe the spirit, soul and body must die again at the end of their life to fulfill scripture making John 3:11 and Romans 6 false.
They believe Jesus died spirit, soul and body by separation from God and God's Holy Ghost. They believe they too...must die again spirit, soul and body to be like him. Unknowingly, they make their own bodies a propitiation for God's wrath. Their death is viewed as a self sacrifice for sin and Jesus is viewed as an example alone, taking his sacrifice out of the equation for salvation. Death becomes the giver of eternal life.
Death becomes the means by which God transforms believers into new bodies with eternal life, not Christ. Death could not have been abolished by Jesus in 1 Timothy 1:10. The belief that we have to die like Jesus is the single greatest error in this belief. Jesus and only Jesus was the propitiation for Adam's sin. There is no other suitable sacrifice for sin than Jesus' offering. No sacrifice is like Jesus, the sacrifice without blemish for the world, never guilty of sin, yet willing to die for our sins. If Jesus had not willingly died as the overcoming sacrifice for mankind's sake, mankind would have been lost.
If Jesus had NOT chosen to die for our sins, Jesus, being sinless and an overcomer with the power of the Holy Ghost…a mortal death could not have possibly taken him. No one can ever die and resurrect like Jesus. This leaves another question unanswered, which is how does this belief affect the Second Resurrection people? They reappear with a carnal mind, and they need to be perfected as well. Do they likewise have to die again...then await another resurrection?
The doctrine of the OTW contradicts the doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections directly. The sequential standard set for the First Resurrection is stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Paul's explicit emphasis on the sequential standard of resurrection is that the DEAD IN CHRIST shall rise FIRST! The Worthies did not die under Christ (the law of righteousness) they died under God under the Mosaic Law. To make OTW's resurrection an actual occurrence would make Paul a liar and a false prophet.
The biblical FACT is that the OTW of Hebrews 11 is not rewarded in Matthew 27. The characters in Hebrews 11 had no knowledge of the First Resurrection. In fact the resurrection anticipated by the OTW was never the Second Resurrection in the Old Testament. The OTW understanding of resurrection was always taught and thought of as a single resurrection.
It is only a spiritual resurrection which Matthew adds to Matthew 27:52-53 in order to declare the First Resurrection power of Christ and acknowledge Romans 6:1-14. Matthew inserted it to show Jesus' death, burial and resurrection power to those of Acts 2:1-4. Understanding this spiritual analogy, happening at a different time than the crucifixion, gives us an understanding of how Matthew intended Matthew 27:52-53 to be understood.
The 120 saints in the upper room became the first members of the First Resurrection on the Day of Pentecost. They were seen by many, 3000 people, as they began their walk into the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is the Bride of Jesus Christ.
God provided a way for mankind to achieve success through belief in Jesus Christ and his teachings. Each believer's denial of humanity's freewill and acceptance of the Will of God in their hearts will prove to God their love and devotion.
The acceptance of the doctrine of the OTW resurrection would allow an exception to these rules.
CHAPTER 35: RESURRECTIONS LAWS: CONDITIONAL OR NOT UNCONDITIONAL
The error-filled doctrine in the OTW of Matthew 27:52-53 attempts to mould God and Jesus into possessing the human carnally biased idea of what is fair and equitable. The OTW teachers believe this human attribute would make God a more understanding and forgiving sovereign.
An underlying statement put forth by the teachers of the Doctrine of OTW is: "It wouldn't be fair nor just for God to withhold the Holy Ghost and the First Resurrection from the OTW". The Fallacy of Fairness is an argument style popularized by the OTW doctrine. The Fallacy of Fairness in this doctrine is a cognitive distortion Proverbs 16:11:
Proverbs 16:11 A just weight and balance are the LORD's: all the weights of the bag are his work.
The fallacy measures others by their own equality, assuring everything is fair and balanced in life and therefore should be the same in biblical scripture. This belief in this fallacy compels God to let the church regulate the church by what is judged humanly fair instead of Godly ordained.
It is this belief that the Doctrine of the OTW uses to measure what is fair for the OTW. It propagates the idea that there are bias inequalities in most of God's doctrines, including the First and Second Resurrections. The OTW claims the elect are separated and chosen by God because of their bias within themselves. The OTW proponents repeat this concept at every opportunity until the fairness of the doctrine is accepted by their congregations.
The doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections is conditional, without exception. The First Resurrection requires followers to be overcomers and "dead in Christ". The Second Resurrection requires all members to be just and unjust, neither overcomers nor dead in Christ. In reality, the OTW did not meet the requirements of the First Resurrection; however, the concocted doctrine created from Matthew 27:52-53 allowed them false access to the Second Resurrection.
Teaching the doctrine of the OTW allows exceptions, which are deceptions, to the standards set by biblical doctrine. For there to be an actual physical resurrection of the OTW in Matthew 27, the First and Second Resurrections would have to be changed into the "Doctrine of Unconditional First and Second Resurrections". In other words, the Doctrine of the OTW would disavow God's restrictions for whatever scenario is imagined. It would create a demand that all of God's doctrines have some kind of special hidden clause for exceptions to any condition imaginable.
Teaching doctrines with hidden clauses leads to far reaching exceptions and deceptions not scripturally based such as:
- All babies belong to heaven, because they are innocent.
- If a person died immediately after receiving the Holy Ghost, they would be taken to Heaven.
- If a person died having the Holy Ghost, lived as a overcomer, but wasn't able to be Water Baptized, they can bypass Water Baptism and still make the First Resurrection.
- If a person did only positive things or enough positive things, they would be accepted into heaven, especially if they were related to a Christian family.
- A person's faith in the name Jesus and God's grace will get them to heaven, etc.
In this doctrine of the OTW, emotional deception is more significant than actual fact. It is driven by the fallacy of fairness. And within this doctrine is a hidden agenda to allow each person believing in the doctrine of the OTW the possibility of an exception for themselves, or loved ones. This will enable them to be part of the First Resurrection. According to the OTW teachers, a physical resurrection is acceptable in Matthew 27. This proves that exceptions to the First and Second Resurrection teachings are true for us today as well.
In reality, if an exception is allowed to a doctrine, then this exception promotes the idea that both the doctrine of the First and Second Resurrections should be tested. Perhaps the conditional demands of the First Resurrection doctrine can be discarded. It suggests that if you live a virtuous Christian life, but are unable to fulfill the requirements for the First Resurrection, God can make an exception for you. This is just as God did for the OTW.
Exceptions and deceptions are introduced when human logic is misused in God's doctrine. Doctrines don't work the way the carnal mind wants them to work. The cliché rebuttal is "the exception of the doctrine is what proves the doctrine". Many teachers think that this cliché somehow allows them to ignore the exception. They hide the deception, continue using the strict doctrine deceptively, until the time comes to take the hidden clause out and use it for themselves.
The account of the crucifixion in Matthew 27 did not allow for any exceptions to any of the biblical doctrines. The deception starts with the simple question; "Who was it that was resurrected"? That is the wrong question. The question should be: "Is the resurrection of the of Matthew 27:52-53 physical or spiritual?"
If the OTW resurrection is tested and proven to be a physical fact, then it is an exception. If, however, it is proven to be spiritual then it is an analogy.
A rule of the First Resurrection states "the dead in Christ shall rise first" 1 Thessalonians 4:16. If the resurrection in Mathew 27 is spiritual, there is no exception to this rule and this type of resurrection is part of an acceptable doctrine.
CHAPTER 36: A SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION AND REGENERATION MATTHEW 27:52-53.
Regeneration is a term used only twice in the Bible. The word is found only in Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5. This word literally means a "new birth." The Greek word so rendered (palingenesis) is used by classical writers with reference to the changes produced by the return of spring.
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
In Matthew 19:28 the word is equivalent to the "restitution of all things" mentioned in Acts 3:21.
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
In Titus 3:5, it indicates the passing from death to life that is well described elsewhere in 1 John 3:14 when the Mosaic Law is replaced with the New Law of Righteousness as the beginning and restoration of life unto eternal existence for all who believe.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Receiving the Law of Righteousness allows each to change from an old creature into a new creature in Christ Jesus 2 Corinthians 5:17; being born again John 3:5; a renewal of the mind Romans 12:2; a resurrection from the dead Ephesians 2:6; and a being quickened Ephesians 2:5.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
This change is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It originates not with man but with God John 1:12-13; 1 John 2:29 & 5:4.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe onhis name:
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
As to the nature of the change, it consists in the implanting of a brand-new principle or disposition in the soul; the impartation of spiritual life to those who are by mortal nature "dead in sin" (Romans 8:10).
Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
The necessity of such a change is emphatically affirmed in Scripture: John 3:3; Romans 7:5-6 & Romans 8:6; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1 & 4:23-2.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Ephesians 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Within the story of the crucifixion, written by Matthew, there is an actual factual account of a resurrection happening, but not a physical account. In Matthew 27:52-53, we read about the saints being regenerated from their actual physical graves and reborn into the Church of Jesus Christ. Matthew 27:52-53 is an observance of a spiritual occurrence directly connected with the doctrine of Spiritual Resurrection through the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
In order to make Matthew 27:52-53 adhere to the truth and to stay within the principles of the Word of God, how do we deal with these seemingly out of place scriptures of Matthew?
It is obvious that these scriptures were put into the Book of Matthew, by Matthew, as a sign of the resurrection power of Jesus. Additionally, they gave the church power. Jesus and the Apostles taught that if we receive the Holy Ghost and complete our Fire Baptism with the ultimate claim to perfection, we will walk in the spiritual Holy City which is the New Jerusalem (called the Bride of Jesus Christ).
Primary passages for the Doctrine of Spiritual Resurrection are directly written in Romans 6, Ephesians 2 and 1 Corinthians 12. The doctrine of Spiritual Resurrection teaches that we are spiritually dead in our sins before believing in Jesus our Savior.
Being dead in our sins concludes in mortal death, with or without a resurrection; the stipulation for a physical resurrection being the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior and receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Those who believe in Jesus but don't become overcomers are only eligible for the Second Resurrection. Through the acceptance of Jesus as our savior and receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we become resurrected in his resurrection. This begins our transformation into the perfect image of Jesus Christ. We are brought to spiritual life through Jesus resurrection our spiritual rebirth.
When our Old Man becomes a New Man, a spiritual rebirth happens for each of us. Our bodies and souls die when we receive the Holy Ghost. Our Old Man dies within the grave of our body, and our New Man is born reborn when our spirit rejoins our body.
All of us who receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost spiritually rise from the graves of our own bodies. Through overcoming the world and destroying Satan as Jesus did, we qualify to live in the spiritual Holy City called the New Jerusalem (the one hundred forty four thousand). We must continue our walk until we either reach perfection in Christ as a result of staying in the city, or we temporarily end our walk and physically die to await the Second Resurrection.
If those mentioned in Matthew 27:52-53 were OTW, they would not have met the requirements of the First Resurrection. God would have had to break his own word to create a special exempted non-biblical physical resurrection. There is no biblical exemption either written in the Law of Moses or in the Law of Righteousness to allow a special pre-resurrection.
Those who were raised from the dead in Matthew 27:52-53 were those who were witnessed by many receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost in Acts 2:24 on the day of Pentecost.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 is written to illustrate the totality of faith in Jesus Christ from beginning to end of salvation.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
The bible states that the physically dead cannot hear those words. The Dead cannot worship nor acknowledge anything that a living person can experience. The Bible states the Dead do not have any existence whatsoever. David provides clear details about the outcome of the dead:
Ecclesiastes 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecclesiastes 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
David also wrote in Psalms about the Dead;
Psalm 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
Could the graves written of in Matthew 27, which the saints were resurrected from, be their own dead bodies which were condemned to death without the Holy Ghost? Graves are defined as a burial site, graveside, cemetery plot, tomb, sepulcher, vault, burial chamber, mausoleum, crypt; last resting place. When it says "And the graves were opened"; does this refer to the physical place where a person's body is laid to rest, or could it mean something else?
According to Jesus, both men and women can be graves. Jesus made analogies of the scribes and Pharisees saying they were like graves and sepulchers.
Luke 11:44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
King David also mentions men as "graves":
Proverbs 1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
The prophet Isaiah writes that sinful man is a "pit" or grave:
Isaiah 38:17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
According to the above scriptures, men can be described as graves, in which sinful souls are awaiting destruction. This is unless redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb through the baptism of the Holy Ghost.A potential follower of Jesus asked Jesus a question in Matthew 8:22 and Luke 9:60.
Matthew 8:21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luke 9:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Jesus said "let the dead bury the dead". When Jesus spoke of burying the dead, he was actually speaking about those people who were alive and had ears and could hear. These individuals had the potential to recognize the Gospel of the Kingdom if they were so inclined to do so.
What about the dead, who were supposed to bury the dead? How did they get from their graves to bury anyone else? Were they resurrected too? Who is Jesus speaking about when he states "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice" in John 5:28? Were they the actual dead or those who died in Christ?
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Could all the sleeping bodies in natural graves hear Jesus cry to them? Or could they have been the Dead in Christ? It is only through hearing the Word of God preached by the church. This is because those who receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost die a death and are raised in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26-27 speaks of the children of God have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Colossians 2:12 states those who receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost are "buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith".
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
What Jesus said in John 5:28-29 can take on a new meaning if we consider the above.
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Could we consider that these scriptures in Matthew 27:52-53 are written about those who are not physically dead, but those that are dead to Christ? Could they be those who were alive and heard the Word of God, received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and either became a member of the Bride or died awaiting their reward in the Second Resurrection?
John 11:23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Jesus made a direct statement to Martha about her brother Lazarus. Jesus threw a caveat into her brother's statement in order to have hope for her brother's life. This is because she had been taught about the resurrection of the deceased. The Lord does not contradict her statement, but he adds that he alone gives access to any kind of resurrection life through knowledge and faith in him. Her knowledge of Jesus and her belief of Jesus as Messiah would gain her the resurrection of which she was speaking. During Jesus' resurrection, he prepared his followers for eternal life.
As he suffered in prison, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Colossi to encourage those who, if they continued to serve Christ, could be walking in the New Jerusalem:
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Paul writes that those who follow Jesus are those who are hidden with Jesus being spiritually dead, but physically alive with God. Paul then pinpoints who he is speaking about by adding those who will be in the Bride of Christ will appear with him in glory:
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
The apostle Paul tells the Christians in Rome that through their faith, they are established in his death...and can be in Christ's resurrection.
Paul explains that our Old Man, which is our cursed carnal spirit, is subject to death and buried in sin. The Old Man, which is ruled by sin, is made aware of, or hears, the Word we believe in, and we are baptized in water. However, we remain inert in Christ. As a result of the Holy Ghost baptism, we die both physically and so does our soul. Being dead in Christ there is a need for a resurrection. The baptism of the Holy Ghost produces a resurrection into Christ with a brand-new birth of the New Man. Paul states that because of this spiritual birth we are freed from sin, the curse of God is lifted and we now live in Christ as a New Man.
Because Christ lives in our baptism, we live in Him. If we continue in Christ, our resurrection will be forever with him, but if we cease to remain in Christ, we can fall back under the curse of death hoping for another resurrection (this is the reason for the term Second Resurrection).
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Romans 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
In Ephesians 2, Paul writes about God's mercy towards us in having raised us from the dead into the hope of eternal life through Jesus. Our salvation is completed when we continue to walk in his light.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The First Resurrection begins at the time of our resurrection in Jesus. In the First Resurrection, the One Hundred Forty Four Thousand members of the Bride are fulfilled. The First Resurrection began on the Day of Pentecost with the one hundred twenty of the upper room receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost Acts 2:38-41.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Acts 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Acts 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
This was the first time of mass resurrection of the soul and body from the dead. In addition, this was the first time the New Man was born. This was the first resurrection leading to eternal life. The resurrection on the Day of Pentecost was also witnessed by "MANY" devout men from every nation. Not only did these devout men observe them resurrect, a multitude came together and were confounded. The multitude turned into three thousand people witnessing the one hundred twenty walking into the streets of the holy city the New Jerusalem the Bride of Jesus Christ Acts 2:33.
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
These one hundred twenty disciples believed that Jesus had the Words of Life and knew that they were Dead in Sin because Jesus told them they were dead in John 5:25;
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
John 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
These one hundred twenty disciples heard Jesus speak while dead in sin in accordance with John 5:28-29:
John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
This passage, John 5:24 through John 5:29, describes scriptures concerning both the First and Second Resurrection. These scriptures tell of the spiritually dead hearing the voice of God. The voice of God is literally Jesus himself. In their graves of flesh, all are able to hear the words of Jesus.
In fact, after hearing these words, the disciples were baptized by the Holy Spirit, thus placing each of them in the First Resurrection. This is until either they fulfilled their salvation by living a life of overcoming victory or they perished in sin awaiting the Second Resurrection. When Jesus spoke these words in John 5:28, "all" in the grave were not physically dead; he was speaking of those spiritually "dead in Christ".
In John 5:29, Jesus mentions "damnation," which is a judgement upon those who die with sin in their lives. Those who do not reach this goal are judged unworthy of the Bride and will die until the Second Resurrection, the resurrection of damnation.
They have been raised in Jesus through the Holy Ghost, but because they did not become perfectly holy, they die in damnation. Those who pass away in sin, but have proved to God that they love him, will receive a Second Resurrection with a second chance at either eternal life or eternal damnation, after the thousand year reign.
During the Second Resurrection dispensation, John 5:29 takes on a different and finite meaning for "damnation," which means those that die again in sin after the Second Resurrection will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
The Apostle Peter's statement about worthies and King David makes this clear. Peter said in Acts 2:29: "'David. . . IS BOTH DEAD AND BURIED, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day?" Peter emphasizes this statement in Acts 2:34saying: "DAVID IS NOT ASCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS." Either David wasn't worthy therefore doomed for the Lake of Fire, or there were no worthy ones resurrected in Matthew 27:52-53.
A spiritual resurrection makes it much easier to understand Matthew 27:52-53 than to make up a resurrection for Hebrews 11. Matthew has connected a spiritual resurrection to Jesus' physical resurrection to illustrate the correlation between being physically and spiritually resurrected with him. The understanding is broken down like this:
Matthew 27:52 And the graves (physical bodies of the disciples) were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept (in sin) arose,
Matthew 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection (received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost), and went into the holy city (the New Jerusalem beginning their walk into the Bride of Christ) , and appeared unto many (were seen by devout men and the three thousand who received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost).
CHAPTER 37: TEACHING A NON-SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE
To impetuously accept and allow teaching of any doctrine such as the pre-resurrection of the OTW is a transgression. Can God continue to "wink" at such indiscretions which are imprudent and tempt God to judge?
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
This type of false teaching is in violation of the ninth commandment:
Exodus 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Usually, the reader of Exodus 20:16 understands that they should not speak ill of their neighbor. As deep as this scripture is, it includes misrepresenting the truth to all neighbors however you can. To willingly preach a false doctrine is inexcusable and a sin. A preacher or teacher becomes a false prophet if they willingly misrepresent the Gospel of Christ to any saint or godless person. To preach a doctrine as truth without proper study is an act of blind assumption and the commitment of the sin of emulation. It is possible for a teacher to be complacent about a false doctrine due to blind assumption.
These preachers and teachers do not take their service seriously and are not honoring God. It is more convenient for them to listen and use a man-made doctrine than to work and prepare the truth at the feet of Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches that we should communicate simply and without verbose rhetoric. According to Jesus, we are to avoid gossip, innuendo, and false words among one another. Do not preach or teach false doctrines that can harm the foundation of your faith.
Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us we are to teach subjects that have undeniable truth and substance;
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The Doctrine of the OTW is NOT evidence of things not seen, because this doctrine has no substance. When there are questions that challenge any doctrine, some questions become unanswerable. When asked these unanswerable questions teachers should simply say: "We don't know". That answer would leave those being taught with no place to turn, and they would have to learn to wait for God for an answer. As a consequence the believer must accept the non-answer as the answer.
Some teachers cannot, however, wait for answers from the Lord. For their answers, they look to other avenues of learning or tradition. These teachers then preach these false doctrines as truth leaving their congregations blindly believing whatever their teacher has taught them as truth.
To avoid judgement, the same teachers may then refer to a scapegoat text used for thousands of years and by thousands of teachers. This text is used for any questions that remain unanswered and they explain any doctrine they cannot articulate with rhetoric. Whenever there is a question, simply quote the following verse to explain the answer: Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD, but the things which are revealed belong to us and our children for ever, so that we may do all the words of this law.
There is an answer to the unexplainable...God knows the truth of it and he has chosen to keep it secret...refusing to share his hidden things with anyone; therefore, we too blindly accept the reasoning of the man of God instead of our own logic or scripture.
CHAPTER 38: TRADITIONAL DOCTRINE
Another answer that has become a standard acceptable form of persuasion is…if a doctrine, whether true or false, has been historically taught as a standard for many years…it has to be right. That type of doctrine can become a traditional doctrine accepted by the authorities of any church and the congregations of those churches. To question a traditional doctrine accepted by the Ministry is to act directly against 2 Thessalonians 2:15:
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
A traditional belief is believed because the doctrine has been preached over and over, year after year and accepted by a majority of ministers and their congregations. Because a doctrine, whether it be right or wrong, has been accepted by the ministry, all who are taught these doctrines are obligated to believe without question.
To accept this reasoning is a misrepresentation of 2 Thessalonians 2:15. The traditions spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 are the long established and fully proven truth of the Word of God, not the rhetoric of men.
Teaching a false doctrine or a traditional doctrine are scapegoat answers and have become as much a part of the Doctrine of the OTW as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Sadly, these misused answers have become part of other doctrines which cause questions of doubt in the minds of many students of the word of God.
In the Bible, we are not to agree with doctrines that do not conform to Godly logic and biblical reasoning. To what degree of negligence is a teacher or preacher held responsible? What is the punishment to be given for biblical and spiritually irresponsible teaching a false traditional belief? That judgement is only known to God?
The same responsibility for truth is likewise in the hands of the believer; each student is responsible for researching and establishing whether or not the doctrines taught are true in scope and nature.
Jesus addressed false teaching in John 5:39 and Revelation 2:2. Paul likewise added to Jesus' lessons in 1Thessalonians 5:21:
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Revelation 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Preaching a lie is a sin. Consistently believing a lie is a sin. To preach a doctrine without biblical proof is a lie. You can commit a sin by willfully accepting a doctrine just because the preacher or teacher taught it without researching whether it is true or false. Claiming non-responsibility for believing a lie is a sin:
2 Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
So, no matter if we are taught a true or false doctrine it is our responsibility to search the scriptures for the truth of what we accept as a doctrine of God. You have to love and know the truth in order to understand the difference between a true or false doctrine.
CHAPTER 39: IS THE DOCTRINE OF THE OTW TAUGHT IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
According to the Gospel of the Kingdom Books published between 12/31/1944 and 7/27/1947, there was a specific doctrine built upon the belief of actual Old Testament saints being resurrected in Matthew 27:52-53. The OTW doctrine was taught emphatically that old testament saints were physically raised from the dead after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many people saw them as they walked into Jerusalem.
The doctrine of the Old Testament is based on Matthew 27:52-53, connected to Hebrews 11. The saints of Hebrews 11 were not all included because only a chosen number were worthy to be in the pre-resurrection. Only the chosen people, the "heirs to the Promise," were allowed to be in that special pre-resurrection state.
In order to teach this doctrine of the OTW, they had to create a way to make these resurrected saints special. Names give identity, titles give power and validity to whatever is the subject of concern. They had to project a title for these people to grant these resurrected saints validity and power. They were called the chosen people: "Heirs to God" and "Heirs to the Promise through faith". They then repeated this part of their doctrine, which was reiterated by others in the ministry. After that, it was repeated by the people, until it became a traditional doctrine, believed even now, among the worldwide churches of the Body of Christ.
The ministry used Romans 4:13 and Romans 4:16 to describe the position given to every saint saved by grace and made an adjective (heir) into a noun, making the new noun into a title giving power to this doctrine.
Romans:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
The scriptures used changed the meaning of these scriptures giving them an intended dual meaning, which was fashioned to fit the Doctrine of the OTW. This was how they got past the rules of the First and Second Resurrections. The ministry first used this term "Heirs to the Promise" according to the GOK Books, in GOK Book Pg 21 dated 3/25/1945 for the OTW. They later added or changed this term to "Heirs of the righteousness which is by faith" in GOK Book Pg 34 1/19/1947.
An example of another doctrine that was not well thought out and later proven wrong was the Doctrine of the Cleansing of the Blood of the Egyptians from the Children of Israel. It was taught that the Forty-Year March was to cleanse the DNA of the blood of Israel.
The following was taken from the GOKingdoms PDF Pg 24 1/7/1945:
"Therefore, they are going back to receive the promises made to Abraham, - - The Prophets - - and Israel. It is not the German, the Frenchman, the Italian etc. but in Israel - - the Jewish nation! Any time there is any blood of a German, an Italian, etc. in a Jew, it is not the Jew that is being restored back to the promise given them, it is giving it to another nation. One reason God held the Jews in the wilderness for forty years, was because of the intermingling of the Jews in Egypt and their blood was mixed. God never promised anyone that promised land but the Jewish nation. God brought them out of Egypt and left them in the wilderness. And they bred and bred and re-bred and purified themselves, until every drop of Egyptian blood was gone. Then when they were purified, he took them to the promised land. All the mixed multitude fell a lusting in the wilderness."
This was preached with sincere intentions and from a pure heart in all honesty. The divine truth about this matter was believed to have been revealed by God to them. They believed they had the eyes to see and the ears to hear what God had revealed to them. This misguided truth of this was not only revealed to them, but it was also used to facilitate other misleading teaching agendas.
But, THIS TRUTH IS FALSE, according to modern day genetics: DNA tests can be traced back thousands of years. But they don't tell you a lot. They can only tell you about a tiny part of your ancestry. These tests are fun though, because you can figure out if you're related to Genghis Khan or Abraham Lincoln or anyone else famous.
Other tests can tell you a lot more about your relatives. For example, some new tests, like 23andMe, can tell if two people are up to fifth cousins. But these tests won't reveal how closely related you are. In the case of fifth cousins, they'll just be able to say that the two of you share great, great-great, and great-great-great grandparents. They can't tell you where the two of you fit in that family tree. At least not without more family members being tested.
https://genetics.thetech.org/ask-a-geneticist/how-far-back-can-ancestry-test-go
What this means is that forty years wandering in the wilderness is not enough time to purge DNA out of anyone's ancestry.
The purpose for which the Israelites wandered in the desert for the Forty Year March was to eliminate Jewish idol worshippers from the camp NOT to eliminate bad blood. There are two examples of incorrect doctrines that were not preached from biblical scripture, but made up with incorrect understandings.
OTW doctrine did not consider Spiritual Resurrection. Furthermore, the doctrine of the Cleansing of the Blood of the Egyptians from the Children of Israel did not comprehend genetic DNA testing.
CHAPTER 40: WHAT WAS THE TEACHING FOR THE OTW'S PURPOSE
The purpose was to answer the questions of Matthew 27:53&53; why were these scriptures written and who were they written about in an effort to make the bible unerring and unquestionable concerning what was stated as a resurrection from the grave.
An opportunity came when those that were given an answer became so easily persuaded by mere fabricated rhetoric. The answer being accepted the teachers then felt that they must have been correct in their rhetoric and consequently the answer was validated by God. Then the teachers found an agenda to make the doctrine of OTW part of the Bride of Christ.
Our ministry had to change the basic biblical order of the conditions for overcoming in our dispensation. The order and demands of perfection were devolved. Their claim was that the OTW were "up to the minute" serving under the law, which gave them the status of a "good report."
The ministry would then preach that being of "good report" was near or equal to perfection, thus making them, the OTW, worthy of a pre-resurrection, which then included a First Resurrection for them. They taught that the OTW were "heirs" to God, but needed to be "joint heirs" with Christ.
In the ministry’s presentation, the OTW qualified, because God imputed righteousness unto them and counted them righteous in his eyes, rewarding them accordingly.
The ministry's pre-resurrection criteria were simple but flawed in that they made the OTW an anomaly within a very structurally conservative dispensation that was bound by Mosaic law. All were placed under legal, moral and spiritual restraint and obligation by dispensational law and time. The old testament worthies did the right thing they could according to the understanding of the dispensation in which they were born. However, their dispensational criteria and qualifications for being recognized as "Perfect" in their day were lacking in Jesus' dispensation both in word and deed.
Each dispensation is governed by the rules of God and his Grace for mankind which work within time, chance and direct Godly intervention such as prophecy. Each dispensation was/is governed by a different set of laws from God. Each dispensation's set of laws demanded the behavior of faith and obedience, yet each consideration for righteousness was slightly different in weight and understanding.
Faith showed trust, trust was proven by obedience, obedience showed compliance with God, for which God declared an act of righteousness. In every dispensation, faith, trust, obedience, and compliance were accorded to some as an act of mercy, but did not void the laws of the next dispensation.
The Bible tells us that all men are subject to time and chance Ecclesiastes 9:11.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
It is a natural law provided by God to assure that all mankind is equal to each other and on common ground. Mankind has no claim to when they are born nor when they will die. God has decided he will only intervene when an intervention warrants a benefit for His will or plan for creation.
God used each dispensation before us to prepare and persuade mankind of the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah. Each dispensation before us was limited to what God permitted to be taught. Through time and chance, we are living in this dispensation after Jesus came to mankind as the Messiah. We are blessed to have the teachings and the Holy Spirit that can place us in the First Resurrection. Unfortunately, the OTW did not have this opportunity.
CHAPTER 41: AUXILIARY SCRIPTURES
Auxiliary scriptures are used to provide congruent contextual attributes with a subject of order in context. The Doctrine of the OTW written of in Matthew 27:52-52 has no auxiliary scriptures to prove its validity as a true physical resurrection.
Matthew has used a form of free flowing prose called a Stream of Consciousness which is a form of Indirect Internal Dialogue.
Matthew jumps topics in Matthew 27:52-53 to acknowledge the immediate benefit and power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matthew connects his thought of the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the spiritual resurrection of those who later receive a resurrection unto life through the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Matthew wrote these two scriptures as an afterthought.
The only scripture that may seem close to a physical auxiliary reference suggested by the teachers of the OTW is Isaiah 26:19. Because Matthew 27:52-53 and Isaiah 26:19 write about the dead arising from the graves and are falsely connected.
Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead:
By OTW doctrine, it is assumed that the unnamed person referred to in Isaiah 26:19 is Jesus Christ speaking of his own resurrection and the saints of Matthew 27:52-53. This assumption is incorrect. There is a reference to Isaiah and his own resurrection in the Old Testament in Hebrews 11. There is no allusion to Matthew 27:53-53 in Isaiah. Isaiah is specifically referring to himself, in an indirect internal dialogue, about himself.
Another scripture that is used inappropriately to prove that the OTW did resurrect and used as physical proof is 1 Corinthians 15:6.
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
Paul writes about a preponderance of witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15 concluding as proof that Jesus was seen by many people directly after his resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1 Corinthians 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
1 Corinthians 15:6 is cherry picked by those who preach the Doctrine of the OTW as direct scriptural proof that these five hundred unnamed brethren were the resurrected saints of Matthew 27:52-53 without any other proof than "just because".
1 Corinthians 15:6 has NO reference whatsoever to the Matthew 27 resurrection and to use this scripture as any kind of proof other than what Paul has purposed is a blatant piece of fiction.
CHAPTER 42: WHAT DOES THE BOOK OF MARK SAY ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION?
Mark 15:25-47 does not mention the resurrection of the dead nor does it refer to the earthquake. It does mention the eclipse and the centurion's exclamation.
Mark does mention the time that the actual crucifixion started, which was the "third hour." Jesus hung on the tree for more than 3 hours, beginning at the 6th hour and died sometime within the 9th hour.
The eclipse happened and lasted from the 6th hour through the 9th hour which Matthew, Luke and John agree upon.
Mark mentions a particular incident during the crucifixion which none of the others had written. Mark 15:29 writes that there were an unknown amount of people who "passed by" Jesus cross and "railed on him" that they were "wagging their heads" and saying," Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and builds it in three days" Mark 15:30 "Save thyself, and come down from the cross."
These people seem to have been the same people who could have been part of the crowd where Jesus was given his crucifixion decree in Luke 23:13:
Luke 23:13 And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,
These people were gawking or rubbernecking their way in or out of Jerusalem to see the spectacle that was Jesus in Mark 15:29.
These people were not named, but they could have been the chief priests, and scribes of Mark 15:31 that were mocking Jesus as well:
Mark 15:31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Mark 15:32 Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.
The Pharisees, scribes and people were at the sight of Jesus' crucifixion, but they seem to have left before Jesus' death. Mark 15:35 explains that there were only a few people who stood by.
It is written in such a way as to convey to the reader that all had left Golgotha with the advent of darkness. This hour began at the sixth hour. Mark 15:32 ends with Pharisees and scribes railing and picks up in Mark 15:33 in connection with the sixth hour:
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi , Eloi , lama sabachthani ? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Mark 15:35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
Mark explains that only a few people were present at the cross during the eclipse by using the words "some of them that stood by". It is mentioned in this account as well as the other three about how the Pharisees, scribes, and head waggers left the scene of crucifixion due to the eclipse and or earthquake.
Mark claims that the earthquake happened between the 6th and the 9th hour during the eclipse in Mark 15:38, but careful consideration must be given to the fact that there is no accurate time at which the earthquake happened, only that the veil was torn after Jesus' death.
The tearing of the veil can be directly related to the earthquake or thought to be a direct intervention of God.
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
The same type of time frame can be used for the centurion. This could mean the centurion may have spoken these words either at the crucifixion site or sometime afterwards when questioned by Mark.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Mark added that of the "some" that stood by there were women who were following Jesus. Mark wrote three accounts about the faithfulness of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the less, and Joses, as well as Salome. Mark does not include any other events mentioned in the other gospels.
Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
Again, Mark did not acknowledge any resurrection nor the opening of graves in his writings. Did Mark know of the resurrection but was given orders to be part of the Conspiracy of Silence which the Doctrine of the OTW teaches? Or was the resurrection something else entirely?
CHAPTER 43: WHAT DOES THE BOOK OF LUKE SAY ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION?
The Book of Luke does give a different account of the reason the Centurion spoke his famous words about Jesus being the son of God.
Luke 23:33 teaches that Jesus was on the cross, possibly before the sixth hour and during the sixth to the ninth hour of the eclipse. Luke does not mention the earthquake, but does account for the Temple veil being rent in the midst.
Luke 23:33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luke 23:46 mentions Jesus dying and Luke 23:47 includes the short one line statement of the Centurion.
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
His account is comparable to the Centurion's description of the spiritual process in which Jesus perished. According to the Centurion, Jesus died in a particularly egregious way compared to those who were dying beside him on the cross.
It is possible that the centurion could have told Luke his conclusion in Luke 23:47 sometime later while Luke was gathering information for his book.
Another oddity about Luke 23:47 concerning the Centurion was the strange and questionable reaction he made to the death of Jesus. Luke 23:47 claimed the Centurion "glorified God".
This claim can be viewed in two or more ways. Some believe this was a personal proclamation, by which the Centurion received salvation in his new found belief in Jesus as his savior in that same moment.
Others view this statement being made through the author's indirect internal dialogue. According to the author, the Centurion did not consider Jesus to be guilty due to the eclipse, earthquake, and the manner in which he died, not needing the Centurion's men to break Jesus' legs. This would mean the Centurion saw all that had happened, then made the statement, and unknowingly glorified God.
Luke was aware of the crucifixion incident and he asked the Centurion about it, and the Centurion expressed astonishment over the death of Jesus. After the Crucifixion and the grafting in of the Gentiles, the Centurion could have been a converted man of God.
Reading Luke 22:47 you can understand this reasoning. The literary tone of this sentence is written as if it were an addition to the account, not as it actually happened. The Centurion's account is indirect internal dialogue added to the story. This dialogue helps to prove that this story was compiled at a later time.
The wording of the Centurions statement alludes to the Centurion being a follower of Christ after the crucifixion. A centurion would not have been a follower before the crucifixion because he was part of and responsible for Jesus' death.
Luke 23:47 states; "he, [the Centurion), glorified God".
The glorification of God means a person knows God and has an experience with the God of which they speak. The Centurion then follows that glorification by stating what Jesus was "Certainly this was a righteous man".
To understand this statement is to conclude that it was written from a biblical knowledge of what "righteous" means. The meaning of righteous to an unsaved Roman centurion would be vastly different from the meaning of a saved Roman centurion.
As a clue to what the centurion may have meant or had at least a clue to his statement, we should consider the words spoken by the thief on the cross beside Jesus in Luke 23:41 about Jesus.
Luke 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
The thief explained that Jesus "hath done nothing amiss". The Centurion would have heard this remark and attributed this same type of remark to Jesus as meaning surely Jesus was innocent of any crime.
Remembering that the story was written some time after the crucifixion, the possibility of the Centurion becoming a Christian is very plausible. Luke would have asked his fellow Christians about the crucifixion. If the Centurion were a Christian, the crucifixion would have become part of his personal testimony. He would have been encouraged to tell his story at any given church meeting.
Even if the Centurion hadn't become a Christian, his story could have been bought for a price. That writer could have got the story and then passed it on to the other three writers.
According to the strongest evidence, the story was not written during the crucifixion. This also strongly suggests that the four gospels were composed later, including Matthew.
CHAPTER 44: WHAT DOES THE BOOK OF JOHN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE CRUCIFIXION?
The gospel of John's account of the crucifixion of Jesus is an in-depth look at the details of Jesus' character and the emotional impact of Christ's nature.
In addition, the Jewish hierarchy conspired to deny the Messiah as the Messiah approached the cross. This conspiracy is coupled with the Gentile denial that Israel has a new unrecognized King.
The story also addresses those of Jesus' followers who care less about their own lives and more about the life and death of Christ.
Passages in John speak of prophecy fulfilled that are not mentioned in the other three Gospels. Paul did not include the eclipse, the earthquake, the rent veil or the resurrection of the saints.
CHAPTER 45: GODLY LOGIC AND THE NINTH COMMANDMENT
It is God who logically created reality at the beginning of creation and it will be God who will make truth work logically in the end. Mankind has distorted Godly logic to the degree that mankind no longer understands Godly logic because of disobedience.
Mankind has replaced Godly logic with their own understanding of logic. Mankind has distanced themselves so far from God's logic that they no longer know how to pray or communicate with God. Mankind now tries to understand God's logic from Man's own logical perception which leads them to honor only man for their own creation.
God's logic sets the building blocks of understanding throughout the Bible and teaches us Godly logical truth which will make us free from sin.
God's simplest explanation of his logic was expressed in Jesus Christ. In Jesus were all things and for all things madeColossians 1:16.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Jesus is God's example of God's logic. To understand Jesus is to understand Godly logic.
Man's logic is the understanding of mortal thought defined by basic man-made rules. Traditional accepted principles are those which have been settled by a majority of men. This is according to whatever solid or binding principles and agendas have dominated during that period of time. Man's logic may or may not consider God's logic, while God does not try to understand anything created by man's logic.
Godly logic is the foundation of all beliefs established by God through his son, Jesus Christ, whether explicit or inferred. It is the understanding of the conditions or preconditions set by God in biblical scripture.
It is the method by which man is to understand God's will and perception. It is simple and unavoidable that there are certain functions of heaven and nature that are subjectively ordained by the Almighty Father God, at the foundation of creation.
To placate ourselves with a false doctrine to satisfy our need to rectify a perceived mis-justice to those of the Old Testament would be against Godly logic and against the boundaries of resurrection law. It is illogical to believe God would turn against his own laws governing the First and Second Resurrections. The purpose of this is to fix a mistake mankind accuses God of making in the past.
There is no scripture that proves God would give anyone a pre-resurrection. To preach and expect others to believe in a physical resurrection in Matthew 27, which includes the saints of Hebrews 11, is a false witness.
The ninth commandment of Exodus 20:16 tells mankind they should not bear false witness against any neighbour. It is commonly understood what the ramifications are if we do bear false witness against each other. In Revelation 21:8, all liars are to be placed in the Lake of Fire at the end of time.
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
In our future Godly world, a part of reality will be this behavior; no one tells lies or gives false information.
CHAPTER 46: THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
There are a number of things that can be finalized in truth and in righteousness after this study is pondered and considered about Matthew 27.
We have seen evidence both physical and scriptural regarding the story in Matthew that explains the inaccuracy of the misrepresentation of OTW doctrine. Some examples are straight forward and to be noted.
- There is no other biblical mention of a mass pre-resurrection before the First or Second Resurrection if Matthew 27:52-53 is an actual resurrection.
- The divine intervention of the eclipse with the darkness that it brought could NOT have happened during the OTW resurrection.
- The veil was the second veil inside Herod's Temple, behind the first veil and with no lighting available to see what was going on inside. The account of the veil being rent had to have happened and been revealed to Matthew sometime after the crucifixion of Christ. The priests of the temple would have told the story of the torn veil to someone or to Matthew.
- The distance from Mt. Calvary to the Temple would have been too overwhelming for even a young man to see all the events mentioned from Mt. Calvary.
- The earthquake was so severe that everyone would have been focused on their own safety, instead of watching the temple.
- Every witness had to have told their stories to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John sometime after the events.
- It was not claimed that any saint who rose from the dead was an OTW, or any known person.
- The resurrection of the saints took place later, after the resurrection of Christ, and at NO specific time.
- There are no scriptures directly linked to a physical resurrection in Matthew 27:52-53.
- If this was an actual resurrection of the OTW, the doctrine never addresses the life times of these saints after their resurrections nor their deaths.
- How could the church successfully carry out a Conspiracy of Silence keeping all the rising patriarchs hidden?
- How could they have kept the patriarchs quiet and forbidden them to preach?
- If these OTW resurrected did die, then the problem left behind would be their physical bodies and their Jewish burial practices.How could the church provide shelter, clothing, food and care for the rest of the resurrected lives?
Matthew's story contains various events that could not have happened simultaneously or in succession.
These events were written from Matthew's first hand experience and some of the events were told to Matthew by other witnesses. These events were witnessed by many different people from many different perspectives at many different times.
Matthew's story was written long after the crucifixion and the story was a sum of information gathered from approximately five or more witnesses.
According to this passage, the events are not sequential and this is an essential point in understanding this account of the crucifixion story. This passage is a carefully written historical account of the many different things that happened during the crucifixion. Describes the reaction of people in Matthew's time and shows how the death of Christ had effects, one being the spiritual resurrection of Matthew 27:52-53, explaining the significance of his resurrection.
This is a story about the tragedy of our Savior's death and the effect it had on the future of the people and nation during that time period. Matthew has used a form of free flowing prose called a Stream of Consciousness which is a form of Indirect Internal Dialogue. This dialogue lets Matthew jump topics and insert Matthew 27:52-53 to acknowledge the immediate benefit and power of the resurrection of Jesus, which Matthew later witnessed on the Day of Pentecost. Matthew is letting the reader know how the resurrection of Jesus aligns directly with the resurrection of the saints in Christ.
A truthful consideration of the facts and an understanding of the spirit leads to this conclusion. According to Matthew, the resurrection of saints is a spiritual baptism of the Holy Spirit. This leads to the account of this resurrection on the Day of Pentecost, which Matthew himself witnessed and preached.
Pinning down a teacher or preacher to claim the truth of these saints' resurrection will never be allowed to happen. This is because teachers and preachers need this false doctrine to be a pivotal point for their agendas.
No OTW were resurrected after the time of Jesus' resurrection, and the notion of a pre-resurrection is a myth. The truth is the doctrine of the OTW resurrection currently taught as a physical resurrection of the saints of Hebrew 11 in Matthew 27:52-53 is a FALSE doctrine.
CHAPTER 47: HOW WILL THE FALSE OTW DOCTRINE BE CHANGED TO THE TRUTH
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