John Accomando

DEATH "SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY", AND THE HEAVENS "ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL":

1 Corinthians 15:54- "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY."

Few believers know what Paul was quoting:

Isaiah 25:8- "He will SWALLOW UP DEATH IN VICTORY; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it."

When does Isaiah describe this occurring? After the "heavenly signs":

Isaiah 13:10- "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."

Isaiah 24:23- "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."

When does the Lord say the heavenly signs occur? "After the tribulation of those days":

Matthew 24:29- "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"

And when does the "day of the Lord" occur? After the heavenly signs:

Acts 2:20- "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:"

So Paul inextricably links the resurrection/rapture to the post-trib "day of the Lord".

One resurrection. One rapture. At His second coming.

One other point, however. I've contended previously that that the 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vial occur simultaneously at the end, and one of the reasons is because the Lord described the 6th seal "heavenly signs" happening "after the tribulation of those days" (Matthew 24:29). While that, in and of itself, doesn't definitively place the 6th/7th seal at the end, there are some other clues. What else happens at the 6th seal?

Revelation 6:13-14: "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And THE HEAVEN DEPARTED AS A SCROLL when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."

Now look at the OT verses it's taken from:

Isaiah 34:1-5: "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and THE HEAVENS SHALL BE ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment."

So the "rolling together" is described, as well as the stars falling from heaven. But notice it also says that the Lord's fury is upon all their "armies", and also that His "sword shall be bathed". So while the "heavenly signs" of Isaiah 34:1-5 matches up with Revelation 6:13 and 14, we know that this can't happen at the 6th seal in a chronological framework, because the Lord's fury isn't upon their "armies" until Armageddon. The armies aren't even gathered together against Him until after the 6th vial:

Revelation 16:12-14: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

Which, incidentally, is also when the Lord tells us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief":

Revelation 16:15- "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

There are a few sets of verses which speak of the Lord personally destroying His enemies:

Matthew 24:50-51: "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut Him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

Revelation 19:15- "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

Revelation 19:21- "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth:and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

So Scripture seems to not only tie the resurrection/rapture to the "heavenly signs", but it also seems to place the heavenly signs at the very end of the week, heralding the Lord's emergence out of Heaven at His glorious appearing, for His saints (with us watching even after the 6th vial), and utter destruction for His enemies at Armageddon. This would also explain the Lord's enemies blaspheming the Lord and still unrepentant during the vials:

Revelation 16:9- "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues:and they repented not to give him glory."

...but suddenly petrified with fear at the 6th seal (you can only conceptualize this if you unlearn what you've always been taught is true, but it should eventually make sense). Why are they petrified with fear? Because gathered together against Him at the 6th vial, they see Him emerge out of Heaven (as described in Revelation 19:14-21), and run for cover:

Revelation 6:15-17: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

Do you see the points? This comes at the end; not the beginning (in my opinion). Just as a historical note, there is evidence that the early church fathers saw the judgments as nonsequential as well:

Victorinus:

"[A]lthough the same thing recurs in the phials [vials], still it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because what is decreed by the Lord to happen shall be once for all; for this cause it is said twice. What, therefore, He said too little in the trumpets, is here found in the phials [vials]. We must not regard the order of what is said, because frequently the Holy Spirit, when He has traversed even to the end of the last times, returns again to the same times, and fills up what He had before failed to say. Nor must we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning of those things which are prophesied."16

John Accomando

"AND EXCEPT THOSE DAYS SHOULD BE SHORTENED..."

Daniel 7:25 and Rev. 13:5-7 (as well as Daniel 12) are clear that the saints will be persecuted for 42 months. Prophecy never changes.

"Prewrath", however, argues that Matthew 24:22 means we'll leave before the 42 months are completed:

Matthew 24:22- "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

Again, prophecy doesn't change. What happens at the 4th trumpet? The days are indeed shortened:

Revelation 8:12- "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

This means that a 24-hour day will become a 16-hour day. Likely because the Earth will be spinning faster (perhaps because of "Wormwood" falling onto Earth at the 3rd trumpet).

Therefore, what would normally take 42 months in our current calendar, would only be a total of 28 months if the days are only 16 hours long. Actually, that's only true if the 5th trumpet blows exactly at mid-week. Regardless, even if it blows later, the total cumulative amount of time will be shortened, although we will still be here for 1,260 days (which will then feel like only 840 days). I believe this will increase our chances for survival.

I didn't come up with this concept. I first read it in Steven Straub's book "Changed", and it's beginning to make more and more sense.


Ken Kovach 
I think there are about 5 events in Rev. were the sun is darkened? I'll have to look it up. The fifth vial: dense darkness upon Antichrist's kingdom (16:10-11) Revelation 8:12- "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

But being Darkened doesn't mean the planets stop rotating does it. Hugh earth Quakes could knock earth a bit out of orbit? And maybe cause that. I don't know?

Joshua 10:12-14 (KJV) 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.


Cptn Sparkeigh 
I am curious as to the part of the verse that says "there should not flesh be saved". How does reducing the hours in the day save Jews and believers from Satan's wrath or God's Wrath, which ever you give credit to?

See, I don't quite understand how you get all of that out of a 'face value' interpretation. The text indicates that 'those days should be shortened' in order to save individuals from the tribulation which would otherwise take their lives. 'Those days' is referring to the Great Tribulation which Jesus just described to the disciples. PreWrath holds that our Lord Jesus Christ brings a stop to Satan's wrath (Revelation 12:12) in order to prevent the entire destruction of Jews and believers. This does not end the 70th week, just the "great tribulation, such as has not occurred . . ." Satan simply will not be permitted to create anymore martyrs under the alter.

Following the Great Tribulation (Those Days) being cut short, the 144,000 are sealed for protection from God's wrath, the believers that remain will be caught up and the trumpet judgments begin. It is with the trumpet judgments, followed by the Bowls, that God dispenses His Wrath.



John Accomando Cptn Sparkeigh,
Matt. 24:22 doesn't say that the prophesied 42 months of persecution gets cut short. Anyone honestly reading that verse will admit that it's the "days" which are shortened. Lo and behold, the 4th trumpet describes precisely that. It's not our job to speculate just how that will increase our chances of surviving the GT. Our job is to know how long Scripture says we're going to be here for, and according to Daniel 7:25 and Rev. 13:5-7, we're going to be persecuted for the full 42 months, so yes, that does bring us to the end of the 70th week.

I've stressed this over and over and over again in most every eschatologic discussion I've been involved with. The Lord NEVER described returning from Heaven with ANYONE other than His angels at His second coming. Neither did Paul describe it in 2 Thess 1:7, which is the ONLY verse in which Paul SPECIFIES who returns with the Lord from Heaven, and Paul is indeed describing Armageddon in 2 Thess 1:6-10. Paul was clear that we "meet the Lord in the air" AFTER He emerges out of Heaven (1 Thess 4:14-17), and Paul never said that the Lord whisks us away to Heaven afterwards.

So we meet Him in the air in our resurrected bodies, and JOIN the armies who have just emerged out of Heaven with the Lord.

Remember, the Lord compared His second coming to the days of Noah and Lot. Neither Noah nor Lot were raptured away to Heaven. Noah was safely above the flood waters, and descended when the waters abated.

Peter was clear that the Lord will remain in Heaven until the "restitution of all things":

Acts 3:20-21: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 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."

When is that? What did the prophets speak of?

Daniel 9:24- "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Only after the 70 weeks are complete will the Lord emerge out of Heaven. Not before those weeks are fulfilled.

Which is why the Lord is still telling us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief" even after the 6th vial:

Revelation 16:15- "Behold, I come as a THIEF. Blessed is he that WATCHETH, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

That obviously parallels Matt. 24:42-44 and 1 Thess 5:2 ("thief" reference), yet here is the Lord telling us to "watch" for His coming just before the 70th week is complete. It's also the same vial in which the armies are gathering against Him at Armageddon:

Revelation 16:14- "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

So how can the Lord be telling us it will be at an unknown day/hour? Because the unknown day/hour is Jewish idiom for the Feast of Trumpets, because it takes two watchmen on the wall looking for the new moon. It can only be narrowed to two days on any given year. Guess what the next feast day is on the prophetic calendar? The Feast of Trumpets.

There isn't a single OT description of the DoTL as being a time when the Lord only comes to the sky, fetches believers, and leaves again only to come back several months later. EVERY description is of Him coming definitively, conquering His enemies, and staying.

The rapture DOES happen after the 6th seal, but the 6th/7th seal happen almost simutaneously. The judgments cannot be sequential, for SEVERAL reasons. The 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vials occur SIMULTANEOUSLY, and the Lord emerges out of Heaven the second the week is complete. Not once are the trumps called "wrath". Only the vials are the "wrath of God", and I would argue strongly that the "wrath of the Lamb" is referring to the post-70th week DoTL.

John Accomando
Who are the "hagios" who the Lord said that He returns from Heaven with?

The reason I bring it up is because the popular teaching is that we come back with the Lord at His "parousia" (second coming), based on the following two verses:

1 Thessalonians 3:13- "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."

Jude 1:14- "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,"

It's natural to deduce that we come back with Him based on these verses, but is that what is really being said? What are those words in Greek?

1 Thessalonians 3:13- "εις το στηριξαι υμων τας καρδιας αμεμπτους εναγιωσυνη εμπροσθεν του θεου και πατρος ημων εν τη παρουσιατου κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα παντων των αγιων αυτου"

'In stirixai YOU hearts blameless enagiosyni front of God and our Father in the parousiatou our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of his saints'

Jude 1:14- "προεφητευσεν δε και τουτοις εβδομος απο αδαμ ενωχλεγων ιδου ηλθεν κυριος εν αγιαις μυριασιν αυτου."

'Prophesied it and though weeks ADAM enochlegon behold came LORD agiais myriasin him.'

Notice "αγιων" at the end of 1 Thess 3:13, and "αγιαις" near the end of Jude 14. These are both the word "hagios". These are "holy ones", or "set-apart ones". In the NT, it can refer to believers, but more often than not, it actually refers to anything holy OTHER than believers. Where else do we see it? When the Lord describes who He comes back with at His second coming:

Matthew 25:31- "οταν δε ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου εν τη δοξη αυτουκαι παντες οι αγιοι αγγελοι μετ αυτου τοτε καθισει επι θρονουδοξης αυτου"

'When the Son of man in his glory aftoukai all ye the holy angels after this then the seat for his thronoudoxis'

There are two key words there: "αγιοι" ("hagios"), and "aγγελοι" ("aggelos"). Let's look in the English:

Matthew 25:31- "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"

So the Lord only described coming back with His "holy angels". He describes them as being "hagios" ("set-apart" or "holy ones"). So the "hagios" who the Lord said that He comes back with are His angels. Nowhere did the Lord describe coming back from Heaven with the elect/body/bride/church.

Paul reiterated what the Lord said:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his MIGHTY ANGELS, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

This is clearly a picture of the Lord's second coming. In fact, the word "revealed" there is the Greek "apokalyptos". That's "apocalypse". Yet where does Paul have us right up until the Lord's second coming? Here ("rest with us..."). And who does Paul say that the Lord comes back with? His angels.

Notice also that Paul says that He "shall come to be glorified in His saints...in that day". In the "day" when He returns to exact vengeance upon His enemies, He shall come to be glorified in His saints. Now let me show you something that Peter said:

1 Peter 1:7- "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

Notice the word "appearing". That's the same Greek "apokalyptos" which I just showed Paul using in 2 Thess 1:7 to describe the Lord's literal second coming. So when does Peter pray that the trial of our faith us found "unto praise and honour and glory"? At the Lord's "apokalyptos" (not seven years prior).

The point of all this is to show Scripturally that the Lord only described coming back from Heaven at His second coming with His "holy angels" ("hagios aggelos"). Therefore, when we see "hagios" in 1 Thess 3:13 and Jude 14, it would incorrect to say "Aha! I KNEW that we come back with Him!" Why would it be incorrect? Because the Lord already TOLD us who the "hagios" are who come back with Him: His "hagios aggelos" (holy angels).

There is yet another way to know that we aren't the "hagios" who return with Him. Look at 1 Thess 3:13 again:

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."

Again, in the Greek, that last word is "hagios", and it's the very same word that the Lord uses in Matthew 25:31 to describe the angels who come back with Him. But look what Paul is praying here. He's praying for our hearts to be made "unblameable" at the Lord's second coming with His "hagios". If we're the "hagios" who come back with the Lord at His second coming, why would He be praying for our hearts to be made "unblameable" at that time? Weren't they made "unblameable" seven years prior (at a "pretrib rapture")?

Some like to quote Zechariah 14 as proof that we cone back with Him from Heaven. What does it say?

Zechariah 14:5- "And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee."

In Hebrew, the word which the KJV renders "saints" is actually the Hebrew "qaydowsh". It means the same thing in the OT that "hagios" means in the NT. That is, "holy", "holy ones" or "set apart". In fact, in the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the OT, which was completed before the Lord's incarnation), it renders "qaydowsh" as "hagios". So everything is in agreement with what the Lord said.

What about the "armies" in Revelation 19:14?

Revelation 19:14- "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

For some reason, people like to assume that "church saints" are the armies, DESPITE what the Lord clearly told us in Matthew 25:31. They reason that the bride is described in earlier verses (that she has "made herself ready"), so we must already be in Heaven. But that's circular reasoning. Scripture never says that we're already in Heaven. Only that the bride has "made herself ready". If we're here on Earth, we've also made ourselves ready for His return. If you really read those verses in Revelation 19, verses 6-10 are the wedding announcement, and verses 11-21 are a vivid description of the Lord's second coming. Not even a single verse describes a wedding actually taking place in Heaven. Not one. But why should there be any if the Lord is coming FOR His bride?

But what about the "armies" dressed in white. That MUST be us, right? No. Angels clearly also are arrayed in white linen:

Revelation 15:6- "And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in PURE AND WHITE LINEN, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles."

Who did the LORD say that He comes back from Heaven with? His "holy angels". Not once did He even hint that the church comes back with Him from Heaven. What is the main point of this? If we don't come back with Him from Heaven, then we never went up 7 years prior to His second coming. That stands to reason, as He never described any gathering together of believers prior to the tribulation.

John Accomando
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The "Day of the Lord"

Many modern, popular, eschatology teachers assert that the "day of the Lord" (DoTL) includes the 70th "week" of Daniel 9:27, and that we are therefore raptured prior to the start of that same span of time, which is widely referred to as "the tribulation", in futurist vernacular. Most of these same teachers would acknowledge that "The Great Tribulation" only encompasses the 42 months which follow the mid-week "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15).

Here are some excerpts from their writings on the topic:

Dwight Pentecost ("Things to Come- A Study in Biblical Eschatology")- "The term the Day of the Lord, or that day, is not a term which applies to a twenty-four hour period, but rather the whole program of events, including the tribulation period..."

John Walvoord ("The Rapture Question")- "The Day of the Lord as presented in the Old and New Testament includes rather than follows the tremendous events of the tribulation period. In a word, the Day of the Lord begins before the Great Tribulation."

Hal Lindsey- "Those who are left behind will be the ones who experience the 'Day of the Lord', which begins with the great Tribulation."

John Hagee- "This time [The Day of the Lord] begins at the exact moment the Lord appears in the clouds to gather the believing church unto him and 'that Wicked' is revealed...The rapture is therefore the sign that the tribulation has begun."

Perry Stone- "Based on the 2500 year old prophecy of Joel, there will be much activity with 'pillars of smoke' prior to the day of the Lord (the tribulation)."

Tim LaHaye ("Charting The End Times")- "Zephaniah 1:14-18 provides one of the most colorful descriptions of the 'great day of the Lord', which we commonly call the Tribulation period."

Thomas Ice- "I am driven to the inescapable conclusion that the [apostasia] refers to the Rapture of the Church which precedes the Day of the Lord, and holds back the revelation of the Man of Sin who ushers in the world-aspect of that period.....If this is true, (Dr. Tim LaHaye and I believe that it is), then it means that a clear prophetic sequence is laid out by Paul early in his Apostolic ministry. Paul teaches in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the rapture will occur first, before the Day of the Lord commences."

Ron Rhodes ("The End Times in Chronological Order")- "Because the antichrist's signing of the covenant with Israel begins the tribulation period, we can also say that this signing of the covenant begins the eschatological day of the Lord. Thankfully, Christians will escape this day because of the rapture."

Paul Enns ("The Moody Handbook of Theology")- "Thus the Day of the Lord is that extended period of time beginning with God's dealing with Israel after the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation period and extending through the second advent..."

John MacArthur ("Grace To You" sermon)- "Now as we approach the passage [1 Thess 5] you will remember that Paul has just completed explaining the Rapture of the church...Paul now turns to the horrible event that follows it, the destruction of the wicked. All those who are on Earth who reject Christ and reject God will feel the fury of God in the day of the Lord."

David Jeremiah ("How Should We Then Live?")- "The Rapture of the Church is the next event to happen on God's prophetic timetable---it could happen today!---and the Day of the Lord begins when the Rapture takes place."

Chuck Missler ("Koinonia House")- "This [the 70th week] is called the Day of the Lord. It's also the outpouring of God's wrath. Not Satan's wrath. God's wrath...the rapture, the 'harpazo', happens sometime prior to the beginning of that week."

Jack Van Impe- "Paul's argument in II Thessalonians can be summed up as follows. [1] The day of the Lord will not begin until the antichrist is revealed. [2] The antichrist cannot begin to act until the restrainer, the Church or believers, are removed. [3] Since the restrainer has not been removed, the Day of the Lord cannot have begun."

This is widely considered to be a "Who's who" of popular 20th and 21st century eschatology teachers, most of whom have either published books or produced videos on the subject of eschatology. Many are also constantly in-demand for speaking engagements, whether at a local megachurch or a major eschatology conference.

Popularity aside, however, Do their teachings about the DoTL actually align with Scripture?

Assuredly, the apostle Paul tells us that we're "not appointed to wrath":

1 Thessalonians 5:9- "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"

What is the "wrath" which we're not appointed to? The DoTL. He tells us as much in verse 2, as that's the theme of 1 Thess 5:

1 Thessalonians 5:2- "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."

A careful examination of Scripture reveals that it does indeed give us a timetable for the start of the DoTL:

Matthew 24:29- "Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"

Here, The Lord tells us that the heavenly signs follow the tribulation. Then Peter (in quoting Joel 2:31), tells us that the DoTL follows the heavenly signs:

Acts 2:20- "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord come:"

It should also be noted that Joel uses the "dark" moon and the "blood" moon descriptions synonymously:

Joel 2:10-11: "The Earth shall quake before them; the heaven shall tremble: the sun and the MOON shall be DARK, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for THE DAY OF THE LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

Joel 2:31- "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the MOON into BLOOD, before the great and the terrible DAY OF THE LORD come."

Joel 3:14-16: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the DAY OF THE LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the MOON shall be DARKENED, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."

So the sequence of events is:

Trib-->heavenly signs-->DoTL

Therefore, according to Scripture, the "wrath" which we're "not appointed to" is the post-trib, post-70th week DoTL. This is verified elsewhere:

Acts 3:20-21: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 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."

When is the "restitution of all things"? Surely, one wouldn't argue that it's before the final week. What does Scripture say? What did the prophets write?

Daniel 9:24- "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Again, Scripture verifies that the DoTL follows the trib, as the Lord doesn't leave Heaven until the 70 weeks are complete.

Other verification? Paul places the resurrection squarely after the tribulation, in a verse which escapes many:

1 Corinthians 15:54- "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.

What verse was Paul referring to? What was "written"?

Isaiah 25:8- "HE WILL SWALLOW UP DEATH IN VICTORY; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it."

When is death "swallowed up", according to the Book of Isaiah? After the heavenly signs:

Isaiah 13:10- "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."

Isaiah 24:23- "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."

As shown above, the heavenly signs FOLLOW the tribulation.

Furthermore, the Lord is still telling us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief" even after the 6th vial:

Revelation 16:15- "Behold, I come as a THIEF. Blessed is he that WATCHETH, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

One should note that this is also the same vial in which the armies of the Earth are gathering together:

Revelation 16:14- "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

Therefore, at the same vial in which the armies are gathering, the Lord is telling us to "watch" for His coming, in a verse which parallels His earlier words:

Matthew 24:42-43: "WATCH therefore:for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the THIEF would come, he would have WATCHED, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."

Matthew 24:37-39: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall ALSO the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, UNTIL THE DAY THAT NOE ENTERED THE ARK, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

The Lord distinctly compares His second coming to the days of Noah, but many readers don't see where the Lord says: "until the day that Noah entered the ark". Noah wasn't caught like a "thief". He was warned about when the wrath would begin:

Genesis 7:1- "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

Genesis 7:5-7: "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons 'wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood."

It was the WICKED who were caught unaware, because they weren't looking. Those are precisely the ones Paul said will be caught like a "thief" on the DoTL:

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4: "For yourselves know perfectly that the DAY OF THE LORD so cometh as a THIEF in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake YOU as a thief."

Some might also ask: "How can the wicked be saying 'peace and safety' while getting pummeled with the seals, trumpets, and vials?"

I've long-contended Scripturally that the judgments aren't chronological. The 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vial seem to occur simultaneously. In any case, what happens just before the 7th trump (the last trump, by the way)? The wicked are rejoicing. Why? Because the beast killed the two witnesses, who were calling down plagues:

Revelation 11:10- "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."

One can see that there is certainly a false sense of security. They're making merry, and sending gifts to one another. These are the ones to whom the DoTL will come upon like a "thief".

Lastly, How else can we know that the DoTL follows the tribulation? What else did Isaiah say about the DoTL?

Isaiah 2:17- "And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord ALONE shall be exalted in that day."

Yet who is the world exalting during the trib? The beast. Not only are the wicked NOT exalting the "Lord alone", but they're unrepentant, and even blaspheming Him:

Revelation 16:9- "And men were scorched with great heat, and BLASPHEMED the name of God, which hath power over these plagues:and they repented NOT to give him glory."

Revelation 16:11- "And BLASPHEMED the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented NOT of their deeds."

That all changes when they see the cosmic lights go out at the 6th seal heavenly signs, and also experience the worst earthquake ever experienced, immediately before the Lord emerges out of Heaven:

Revelation 6:15-17: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

So these men who were deceived by the unholy triad are now petrified with fear at the reality of who they are going to be up against at Armageddon. And what "wrath" is it? What follows the 6th seal heavenly signs? Again, the posttrib, post-70th week DoTL.

Therefore, according to Scripture, the DoTL follows the tribulation. So while those men I initially quoted frequently and confidently make themselves out to be the authoritative voices of eschatological doctrine, they are found to be squarely at odds with the Word of God.

As such is that case, Why are they praised by millions upon millions of believers, rather than sternly denounced as false teachers?

2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

God's got a plan. 

Type AMEN if you'll trust Him today!

‘Jesus-era’ cloth casts doubt on Turin Shroud
Ancient burial cloth used weaving pattern not seen in controversial linen By Rossella Lorenzi 
 
updated 12/17/2009 12:08:04 PM ET

An international team of researchers has found fragments of a burial shroud that cast serious doubt on the Shroud of Turin, the controversial linen cloth venerated by many Catholics as the proof that Christ was resurrected from the grave. Discovered in a Jerusalem cemetery known as Akeldama, or "Field of Blood," where Judas Iscariot is thought to have committed suicide, the shroud fragments were found around the remains of a man buried in a sealed chamber.

It is dotted with Roman-era burial tombs carved out of caves in the rock face.

In ancient times, pagan tribes burned children alive there as offerings to the god Moloch.

The ancient Israelites called the valley Gehinnom - the Hebrew for 'Hell' - and it was the site where the scapegoat was driven over a cliff on the Day of Atonement in Solomon's Temple.

Evidence: Archaeologist Shimon Gibson, centre, said tests had revealed the man suffered from leprosy and died from tuberculosisProbably a Jewish high priest or member of the aristocracy, the man suffered from tuberculosis and leprosy, as DNA of both diseases was found in his bones.

"This is the earliest case of leprosy with a confirmed date in which M. leprae DNA was detected," the researchers, from Israeli, Canadian, Australian, U.S. and British institutions, wrote in the journal PloS ONE.

Although the molecular identification of these diseases is significant for the geographical and temporal distribution of tuberculosis and leprosy in the past, "what marked this tomb as unique from the other tombs in the Akeldama cemetery was the discovery of degraded shroud textile," said the researchers.

Tests: DNA analysis of the fibres of the Jerusalem shroud, left, have revealed it dates back to the time of Christ's death. Experts say it casts doubt on the authenticity of the Turin Shroud, right

The first of their kind discovered in Jerusalem, the shroud fragments date from the same time of Christ's death, but are very different than the Shroud of Turin.

Radiocarbon tests and artefacts found in the cave prove almost beyond doubt that it was from the same time of Christ's death.

Professor Shimon Gibson, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb, said ancient writings and contemporary shrouds from other areas had suggested this design, and the Jerusalem shroud finally provided the physical evidence. It was made with a simple two-way weave - not the twill weave used on most controversial relics in Christendom, the Shroud of Turin , which textile experts say was introduced more than 1,000 years after Christ lived.

It wasn't one continuous sheet,' said Gibson, pointing out the Turin Shroud is a single rectangular sheet measuring about 14ft by 3ft.

And instead of being a single sheet like the famous item in Turin, the Jerusalem shroud is made up of several sections, with a separate piece for the head.'What our shroud shows is that the practice of having a separate shroud or wrapping for the body and for the head was common practice.
'There was a separate wrapping for the head itself, which was very important because when they brought someone to burial they would place the head wrapping separately on the face in case the person wasn't actually dead and woke up again, they would be able to blow off the face wrapping and shout for help,' said Gibson.

The Turin Shroud, which measures 14ft by 3ft, is unlike the burial practice of the time which used separate sheets for the head and body of the deceased

Find: The new shroud was discovered in a sealed cave in the Hinnom Valley near Jerusalem's Old City
'This did occur quite a lot in antiquity because they didn't have the medical means we have today. 
Ancient rabbinical writings mention people who woke up, apparently miraculously and lived for years afterwards. 
It was the custom at the time for the family to visit the tomb after three days to check their relative was indeed dead.
Gibson said this was probably the source of the Gospel story about Jesus's followers visiting his tomb three days after the Crucifixion, when they found it empty.

Discovery: The shrouded body of a man was found in this sealed chamber of a cave in the Hinnom Valley, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem

Video: Shrouds of doubt

If the remains in the Jerusalem tomb represent typical burial shrouds widely used at the time of Jesus, this casts strong doubt that the Turin Shroud originated from Jesus-era Jerusalem.

Scientific interest in the Turin Shroud began in 1898, when it was photographed by lawyer Secondo Pia. The negatives revealed the image of a bearded man with pierced wrists and feet and a bloodstained head.

In 1988, the Vatican approved carbon-dating tests. Three reputable laboratories concluded that the shroud was medieval, dating from 1260 to 1390, and not a burial cloth wrapped around the body of Christ.

The radiocarbon dating did not prevent many scholars from formulating various hypotheses on the shroud’s authenticity.

The debate over the Turin Shroud will not go away. Last month Barbara Frale, a Vatican researcher said she had found faint letters scattered on the cloth and claimed that was basically the burial certificate of a man named "Yeshua Nazarani."

Barbara Frale said computer analysis of photographs of the shroud revealed extremely faint words written in Greek, Aramaic and Latin which attested to its authenticity.proving it was the linen cloth which was wrapped around Christ's body.

Shroud skeptics quickly dismissed Frale's claim.

Kept rolled up in a silver casket, the Turin linen has survived several blazes since its existence was first recorded in France in 1357, including a mysterious fire at Turin Cathedral in 1997.

It has been on display only five times in the past century. When it last went on display in 2000, more than three million people saw it.

Historic: A diagram of where the body was found in the burial chamber. The chamber may have been sealed because he suffered from tuberculosis

Quake reveals day of Jesus' crucifixion, researchers

They say analysis of Dead Sea seismic activity points to Friday, April 3, in year 33    

N. Currier via LOCAn 1849 Currier & Ives lithograph shows the tumult surrounding Jesus' crucifixion. Geologists say the historical event may have taken place April 3 in the year 33, based on an analysis of seismic records.

Geologists say Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, in the year 33. The latest investigation, reported in International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided with the crucifixion: 
“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.” 
To analyze earthquake activity in the region, geologist Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences studied three cores from the beach of the Ein Gedi Spa adjacent to the Dead Sea.
Varves, which are annual layers of deposition in the sediments, reveal that at least two major earthquakes affected the core: a widespread earthquake in 31 B.C. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. 

The latter period occurred during “the years when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea and when the earthquake of the Gospel of Matthew is historically constrained,” Williams said. "The day and date of the crucifixion (Good Friday) are known with a fair degree of precision," he said. But the year has been in question.

• In terms of textual clues to the date of the crucifixion, Williams quoted a Nature paper authored by Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. Williams summarized their work as follows: 
• All four gospels and Tacitus in Annals (XV, 44) agree that the crucifixion occurred when Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36. 
• All four gospels say the crucifixion occurred on a Friday. 
• All four gospels agree that Jesus died a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath (nightfall on a Friday). 
• The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) indicate that Jesus died before nightfall on the 14th day of Nisan, right before the start of the Passover meal. 
• John’s gospel differs from the synoptics, apparently indicating that Jesus died before nightfall on the 15th day of Nisan. 

When data about the Jewish calendar and astronomical calculations are factored in, a handful of possible dates result, with Friday, April 3, 33, being the best match, according to the researchers.In terms of the earthquake data alone, Williams and his team acknowledge that the seismic activity associated with the crucifixion could refer to “an earthquake that occurred sometime before or after the crucifixion and was in effect ‘borrowed’ by the author of the Gospel of Matthew, and a local earthquake between 26 and 36 A.D. that was sufficiently energetic to deform the sediments of Ein Gedi but not energetic enough to produce a still extant and extra-biblical historical record.” 
“If the last possibility is true, this would mean that the report of an earthquake in the Gospel of Matthew is a type of allegory,” they write. 
Williams is studying yet another possible natural happening associated with the crucifixion — darkness. 
Three of the four canonical gospels report darkness from noon to 3 p.m. after the crucifixion. Such darkness could have been caused by a duststorm, he believes. 

Williams is investigating if there are dust storm deposits in the sediments coincident with the earthquake that took place in the Jerusalem region during the early first century.

~ The Lord's Prayer ~ Translations from Aramaic, Origins and History

The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies ~ The Lord's Prayer ~Translations from Aramaic, Origins and History of The Lord's Prayer

Biblical scholars disagree about Jesus' meaning in the Lord's Prayer. Some view it as "existential," referring to man's present experience on earth, while others interpret it as "eschatological," referring to the coming Kingdom of God. The prayer itself lends to both interpretations, and further questions are posed by the existence of other translations and the problems inherent in the process of translation.

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"This, then, is how you should pray:" ~Jesus, Matt 6:9

It has always been of great interest as to the many different interpretations of the various aspects of what is offered as foundational information about Jesus the Nazarene, what he said and taught, and how translations over the centuries have changed dramatically sometimes even altering the original meaning of a particular text.

The Aramaic Language has (like the Hebrew and Arabic) different levels of meaning. The words are organized and defined by a poetical system where different meanings of every word are possible. So, every line of the Lords Prayer could be translated into English in many different versions. As an example of how the intent of a passage can be changed, here are some translations of the Lord's Prayer directly translated from the ancient Aramaic language into modern English.

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The Prayer To Our Father
(translated into first century Aramaic)

Abwûn
"Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes,
d'bwaschmâja
who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
Nethkâdasch schmach
May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Têtê malkuthach.
Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d'bwaschmâja af b'arha.
Let Your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates)
just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Hawvlân lachma d'sûnkanân jaomâna.
Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikâna
daf chnân schwoken l'chaijabên.
detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma)
like we let go the guilt of others.
Wela tachlân l'nesjuna
Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
ela patzân min bischa.
but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.
Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l'ahlâm almîn.
From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Amên.
Sealed in trust, faith and truth.
(I confirm with my entire being)

---

Lords Prayer 
Translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos

O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos

Focus your light within us - make it useful.

Create your reign of unity now-

through our fiery hearts and willing hands

Help us love beyond our ideals

and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.

Animate the earth within us: we then

feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.

Untangle the knots within

so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.

Don't let surface things delude us,

But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.

Out of you, the astonishing fire,

Returning light and sound to the cosmos.

      Amen.

---

Lords Prayer
Translation by G.J.R. Ouseley from The Gospel of the Holy Twelve

Our Father-Mother Who art above and within: 

Hallowed be Thy Name in twofold Trinity. 

In Wisdom, Love and Equity Thy Kingdom come to all. 

Thy will be done, As in Heaven so in Earth. 

Give us day by day to partake of Thy holy Bread, and the fruit of the living Vine. 

As Thou dost forgive us our trespasses, so may we forgive others who trespass against us. 

Shew upon us Thy goodness, that to others we may shew the same. 

In the hour of temptation, deliver us from evil. 

Amun. 

---

The Lord's Prayer, sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, or the English equivalent Our Father, is probably the most well-known prayer in the Christian religion. The Lord's Prayer is excerpted from Matt. 6:9-13 during the Sermon on the Mount. A similar prayer is found on Luke 11:2-4.
It is called the "Lord's Prayer" because it was the prayer given by Jesus in response to a request from the Apostles for guidance on how to pray. Most Christian theologians point out that Jesus would have never used this prayer himself, for it specifically asks for forgiveness of sins or, more literally, for cancellation of debts, and in most schools of Christian thought, Christ never sinned. However since it says "forgive us our sins", not "forgive me my sins", Christ might have prayed it by way of identifying himself with the common plight of man and of asking for the forgiveness of the sins of his disciples.
The doxology (For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen) was not present in the original version of the prayer, but rather was added to the Gospels as a result of its use in the liturgy of the early church. For this reason, it is not included in many modern translations.

Origins of the Lord's Prayer

In the latter part of the second century, Matthew translates the Lord's Prayer in rather crude Greek, behind which one can still sense the original Aramaic. The commonly accepted version of the Lord's Prayer is the version of Matthew. This version however is admitted to be grossly inaccurate. It contains sixty-six words. The Revised Version of Matthew contains but fifty-five. Twenty-four words either do not belong to the prayer, or have been misplaced; while words which do belong to it have been omitted. In this regard, John E. Remsberg, author of  The Christ writes: "If the custodians of the Christian Scriptures have permitted the prayer of their Lord to be corrupted to this extent, what reliance can be placed upon the genuineness of the remainder of these writings?"

The Lord's Prayer, like so many more of the precepts and discourses ascribed to Jesus, is borrowed. Dr. Hardwicke, of England, says: "The so-called 'Lord's Prayer' was learned by the Messiah as the 'Kadish' from the Talmud." 

The Kadish, as translated by Christian scholar, Rev. John Gregorie, is as follows:

"Our Parent which art in heaven, be gracious to us, O Lord, our God; hallowed be thy name, and let the remembrance of thee be glorified in heaven above and in the earth here below. Let thy kingdom reign over us now and forever. The holy men of old said, Remit and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done against me. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil thing. For thine is the kingdom, and thou shalt reign in glory for ever and for evermore."

The eminent Swiss theologian, Dr. Wetstein, says: "It is a curious fact that the Lord's Prayer may be constructed almost verbatim out of the Talmud. The Sermon on the Mount is derived largely from the teachings of the Essenes, a Jewish sect to which Jesus is believed by many to have belonged."

In the early Church, the Christians living in the eastern half of the Roman Empire added the doxology ("For thine is the kingdom ect.") to the Gospel text of the Our Father when reciting the prayer at Mass. Evidence of this practice is also found in the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles), a first-century manual of morals, worship and doctrine of the Church. (The Didache also prescribed that the faithful recite the Our Father three times a day.) Also when copying the scriptures, Greek scribes sometimes appended the doxology onto the original Gospel text of the Our Father; however, most texts today would omit this inclusion, relegate it to a footnote, or note that it was a later addition to the Gospel. Official "Catholic" Bibles including the Vulgate, the Douay-Rheims, the Confraternity Edition, and the New American have never included this doxology.

In the western half of the Roman Empire and in the Latin rite, the Our Father was always an important part of the Mass. St. Jerome (d. 420) attested to the usage of the Our Father in the Mass, and St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) placed the recitation of the Our Father after the Canon and before the Fraction. The Commentary on the Sacrament of St. Ambrose (d. 397) meditated on the meaning of "daily bread" in the context of the Holy Eucharist. In this same vein, St. Augustine (d. 430) saw the Our Father as a beautiful connection of the Holy Eucharist with the forgiveness of sins. In all instances, the Church saw this "perfect prayer which the Lord gave" as a proper means of preparing for Holy Communion. However, none of this evidence includes the appended doxology.

The English wording of the Our Father that is used today reflects the version mandated for use by Henry VIII, which was based on the English version of the Bible produced by Tyndale (1525). Later in 1541 after his official separation from the Holy Father, Henry VIII issued an edict saying:

"His Grace perceiving now the great diversity of the translations of the Pater Noster hath willed them all to be taken up, and instead of them hath caused an uniform translation of the said Pater Noster, Ave, Creed, etc., to be set forth, willing all his loving subjects to learn and use the same and straitly [sic] commanding all parsons, vicars, and curates to read and teach the same to their parishioners." 

This English version without the doxology of the Our Father became accepted throughout the English-speaking world, even though the later English translations of the Bible including the Catholic Douay-Rheims (1610) and Protestant King James versions (1611) had different renderings of prayers as found in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Later, the Catholic Church made slight modifications in the English: "who art" replaced "which art," and "on earth" replaced "in earth." During the reign of Edward VI, the Book of Common Prayer (1549 and 1552 editions) of the Church of England did not change the wording of the Our Father nor add the doxology. However, during the reign of Elizabeth I and a resurgence to rid the Church of England from any Catholic vestiges, the Lord’s Prayer was changed to include the doxology.

Evolution of The Lord's Prayer

The Prayer to Our Father in the Original Aramaic

Abwûn O cosmic Birther, from whom the breath of life comes, d'bwaschmâja who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration. Nethkâdasch schmach May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest. Têtê malkuthach. Your Heavenly Domain approaches. Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d'bwaschmâja af b'arha. Let Your will come true in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense). Hawvlân lachma d'sûnkanân jaomâna. Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need, Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikâna daf chnân schwoken l'chaijabên. detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others. Wela tachlân l'nesjuna Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), ela patzân min bischa. but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose. Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l'ahlâm almîn. From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age. Amên. Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being)

The Lord's Prayer in Greek

Matthew's second century mistranslation of the Lord's Prayer in crude Greek, the commonly accepted version of the Lord's Prayer from which all others are translated.

ΠΑΤΕΡ ΗΜΩΝ Ο ΕΝ ΤΟΙΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΙΣ
ΑΓΙΑΣΘΗΤΩ ΤΟ ΟΝΟΜΑ ΣΟΥ (what looks like π, is γι: αγιασθητω)
ΕΛΘΕΤΩ Η ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑ ΣΟΥ
ΓΕΝΗΘΗΤΩ ΤΟ ΘΕΛΗΜΑ ΣΟΥ,
ΩΣ ΕΝ ΟΥΡΑΝΩ ΚΑΙ ΕΠΙ ΤΗΣ ΓΗΣ
ΤΟΝ ΑΡΤΟΝ ΗΜΩΝ ΤΟΝ ΕΠΙΟΥΣΙΟΝ
ΔΟΣ ΗΜΙΝ ΣΗΜΕΡΟΝ
ΚΑΙ ΑΦΕΣ ΗΜΙΝ ΤΑ ΟΦΕΙΛΗΜΑΤΑ ΗΜΩΝ,
ΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΗΜΕΙΣ ΑΦΙΕΜΕΝ ΤΟΙΣ ΟΦΕΙΛΕΤΑΙΣ ΗΜΩΝ
ΚΑΙ ΜΗ ΕΙΣΕΝΕΓΚΗΣ ΗΜΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΠΕΙΡΑΣΜΟΝ,
ΑΛΛΑ ΡΥΣΑΙ ΗΜΑΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΝΗΡΟΥ.
ΑΜΗΝ.

Transliteration:

Pater hêmôn ho en toes ouranoes;

hagiasthêtô to onoma sou;

elthetô hê basileia sou;

genêthêtô to thelêma sou,

hôs en ouranô, kae epi tês gês.

ton arton hêmôn ton epiousion dos hêmin sêmeron;

kae aphes hêmin ta opheilêmata hêmôn,

hôs kae hêmeis aphiemen toes opheiletaes hêmôn;

kae mê eisenenkês hêmas eis peirasmon,

alla rhysae hêmas apo tou ponerou.

hoti sou estin hê basileia kae hê dynamis kae hê doxa eis tous aeônas;

amên.

The 'Pater Noster' in Latin:

Prior to the Protestant Reformation, the Our Father was universally recited in Latin by clergy and laity alike. Hence it was then most commonly known as the Pater Noster. The rather curious English translation we have today is due to Henry VIII's efforts to impose a standard English version.

Pater Noster, qui es in caelis, 

Sanctificetur nomen tuum.

Adveniat regnum tuum,

Fiat voluntas tua,

sicut in caelo, et in terra.

Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie,

Et dimitte nobis debita nostra,

sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,

Sed libera nos a malo.

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer Old English (c. 450-1100)

This version of the Lord's Prayer probably isn't recognizable by the majority of modern English speakers. 1000 AD is before the Norman invasion of England and therefore many of the words in Modern English that were taken from French are not yet present in the Language.

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.

The Lord's Prayer Dated 1384 AD

Most modern English speakers should be able to understand some of this version of the Lord's Prayer when written. Spoken it would sound a great deal different; for instance, ou is pronounced like oo and in general the vowels have their continental value (oorra fahderr thut arrt in ai(r)venas ulwid bai(r) thee nahma, with trilled rr). Note the use of the letter þ, this has essentially the same value as "th" in modern English.

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name;

þi reume or kyngdom come to be.

Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene.

yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred.

And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us.

And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.

The Lord's Prayer Dated 1611 AD (King James Bible)

Most modern English speakers should be able to understand this version of the Lord's Prayer. Note the use of u in place of v. It is not until fairly recently that u an v have been considered separate letters.

Our father which art in heauen,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen.

Giue us this day our daily bread.

And forgiue us our debts as we forgiue our debters.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliuer us from euill.

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer Dated (1700-)

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The New Testament in Modern English (1963, tr. Phillips)

According to the New Testament, the Lord's Prayer is the name given to the only form of prayer Christ taught his disciples (Matt. 6:9-13). The closing doxology of the prayer is omitted by Luke (11:2-4), also in the R.V. of Matt. 6:13. This prayer contains no allusion to the atonement of Christ, nor to the offices of the Holy Spirit. All Christian prayer is based on the Lord's Prayer, but is also guided by that of His prayer in Gethsemane and of the prayer recorded by John 17. The Lord's Prayer is now comprehensive, the simplest and most universal form of prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, may your name be honored;

May your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day the bread we need,

Forgive us what we owe to you, as we have also forgiven those who owe anything to us.

Keep us clear of temptation, and save us from evil.

In Luke's far simpler version, 11. 2-4 NIV, it has become:

 "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'

Nazarene Transliteration of the Lord's Prayer Sound Bite in the Ancient Aramaic language

Avvon d-bish-maiya, nith-qaddash shim-mukh. Tih-teh mal-chootukh. Nih-weh çiw-yanukh: ei-chana d'bish-maiya: ap b'ar-ah. Haw lan lakh-ma d'soonqa-nan yoo-mana. O'shwooq lan kho-bein: ei-chana d'ap kh'nan shwiq-qan l'khaya-ween. Oo'la te-ellan l'niss-yoona: il-la paç-çan min beesha. Mid-til de-di-lukh hai mal-choota oo khai-la oo tush-bookh-ta l'alam al-mein.  Aa-meen.

Oh Thou, from whom the breath of life comes, who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration. May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest. Your Heavenly Domain approaches. Let Your will come true - in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense). Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need, detach the fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others. Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations), but let us be freed from that what keeps us from our true purpose. From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age. Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being)

THE CENTURION’S TESTIMONY by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles Lord’s Day Evening, March 21, 2010 “And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 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 15:37-39).

Jesus was nailed to the Cross at 9:00 AM. He died at 3:00 PM. It was unusual for someone to die from crucifixion in so short a time. Yet it should not surprise us. After all, unlike most of those who were crucified, Jesus had been nearly beaten to death earlier in the day. Before He was crucified, Pilate hoped to convince the crowd not to do it by giving Him a severe flogging instead. “In any case, flogging was no light punishment. The Romans first stripped the victim and tied his hands to a post above his head. The whip (flagellum) was made of several pieces of leather with pieces of bone and lead embedded near the ends. Two men, one on each side of the victim, usually did the flogging” (Frank E. Gaebelein, D.D., General Editor; The Expositor’s Bible Commentary,Zondervan Publishing House, 1984, vol. 8, p. 775; note on Mark 15:15).

The following is an explanation and description of the physical effects of flogging – which was written by a medical doctor,

The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the subcutaneous tissues, producing at first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles…Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area [of the back] is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue (C. Truman Davis, M.D., “The Crucifixion of Jesus: The Passion from a Medical Point of View,”Arizona Medicine, 22, no. 3 [March 1965]: p. 185).

Dr. Gaebelein’s commentary said, “It is not surprising that victims of Roman floggings seldom survived” (Gaebelein, ibid.). The Centurion and his band of soldiers – who were in charge of the crucifixion – were not surprised by the fact that Jesus died a few hours after going through such torture. What surprised them was the way He died!

When Jesus died, several things happened. For three hours “there was darkness over all the land” (Matthew 27:45). A few moments after He died, there was a tremendous earthquake that tore the great veil in the temple “from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:51). The earthquake and the darkness must have made a great impression on them, for Matthew says,

“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 27:54).

Liberal commentators tell us that the Roman Centurion was only saying that Jesus was like one of the gods in his pantheistic paganism. But they fail to mention that the Centurion had heard the High Priest and his cohorts, as well as the thieves, say,

“He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth”
       (Matthew 27:43-44).

So, the Centurion and his men had heard the chief priests and the Jewish thieves say repeatedly, “he said, I am the Son of God” (Matthew 27:43). The Centurion and his men had all day to think about that, and discuss what these Jews meant by “the Son of God.” In fact, being in Jerusalem the whole previous week, they had undoubtedly heard the term “Son of God” discussed repeatedly for at least several days. Dr. Lenski well said,

Rationalistic and modernistic exegesis does not regard the centurion’s confession as an admission of the deity of Jesus, for rationalism and modernism deny this deity. All [their arguments] will thus be dogmatic in the extreme… [The modernists say that the centurion’s] answer is then drawn from pagan mythology. Did the evangelists know of this officer’s confession and nevertheless record it when it really meant nothing for true believers?...Surely, the evangelists would not have tricked their readers (R. C. H. Lenski, D.D., The Interpretation of St. Mark’s Gospel, Augsburg Publishing House, 1946, pp. 726-727; note on Mark 15:39).

There was something else about the way Jesus died that convinced the Centurion that His enemies were wrong – and that He really was “the Son of God.” Listen very carefully to Mark 15:37 and 39,

“And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost”
     (Mark 15:37).

“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 15:39).

Jesus “cried with a loud voice” right before He died. “And when the centurion…saw that he so cried out [with a loud cry] he said, Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). Why would Jesus’ “loud voice” cause the Centurion to say, “Truly this man was the Son of God”? Listen to Dr. Gaebelein’s commentary,

The loud cry of Jesus is unusual because victims of crucifixion usually have no strength left, especially when near death. But Jesus’ death was no ordinary one, nor was his shout the last gasp of a dying man. It was a shout of victory… (Gaebelein, ibid., p. 783; note on Mark 15:37).

The Centurion had seen it all. At the beginning of the crucifixion he was an unbeliever. But he heard Jesus pray for him,

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”
       (Luke 23:34).

He saw the darkness fall over the face of the earth. He saw the earthquake. He “feared greatly” (Matthew 27:54). And now he saw Jesus die as he had never seen any other crucified man die! All the others became so weak they couldn’t breathe – and died in silence. But Jesus “cried with a loud voice”! Where did He get the energy to do so? This Centurion had presided over many crucifixions. But no other man had died with “a shout of victory.” The Centurion was convinced. Christ’s enemies had been wrong! He himself had been wrong! Looking up at the dead body of Jesus on the Cross, he said,

“Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

Was the Centurion converted? I think so, and here is why – he had been an unbeliever – but now he says, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). This is surely as good as Peter’s confession! Jesus asked Peter “Whom say ye that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Peter answered, “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus said,

“Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

The Centurion surely had as much faith as Peter! If Peter’s testimony of Jesus as “the Son of the living God” came from the Father’s illumination, the Centurion’s testimony must have come from the same source!

“Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).

And the Centurion made a better confession of his faith in Jesus than Peter did! Peter forsook Him and fled. The Centurion stood in full view of Christ’s enemies – and fearlessly testified,

“Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).

But the Centurion said something else of equal importance. Luke tells us that he also said,

“Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47).

That may not sound as important, but it is. Dr. Lenski tells us that he said both: “This man was the Son of God; this man was righteous.” It is the same thing the dying thief had said, when he was converted on the cross next to Jesus,

“This man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41).

The Centurion heard the converted thief say that. He had not believed it before. He had mocked Christ earlier – just as the thief had! (Luke 23:36; Matthew 27:44). But now, in their conversions, the thief and the Centurion agree,

“This man hath done nothing amiss.”

“Certainly this was a righteous man.”

By divine illumination, both the thief and the Centurion saw that Christ was not guilty. More than that – they saw His blessed righteousness! Did they know more? Scripture is silent. But they knew enough to say that Jesus was sinless, guiltless of the so-called “crimes,” for which His enemies crucified Him. The thief knew enough to call Him “Lord.” The centurion knew enough to say,

“Truly this man was the Son of God.”

We believe that the thief was converted. It seems to me that we should also think of the Centurion in the same way.

I do not place much value in tradition, for it may be tainted with superstition. And yet I cannot end this sermon without telling you that a very ancient tradition says this man became a Christian. Dr. Lenski said,

This Gentile, called Longinus in tradition, comes to faith beneath the dead Saviour’s cross. His confession is strong because of its αληθως [alaythos], “truly.” This adverb is set over against the Jewish unbelief and mockery. Whatever [they] may say, the centurion sees the truth of the divine Sonship of Jesus (Lenski, ibid., note on Matthew 27:54).

Some may criticize me for pointing out a Catholic tradition. Yet it seems to be older than Catholicism. I do not know if the tradition is true or false. It seems likely to be rooted in the truth, for the Gospel writers make much of this Centurion and I doubt that they would unless they knew him as a Christian afterwards. I also know that the conversion of the Centurion was like that of a Protestant. There is no Catholicism in it at all – no baptism, no penance, no sacraments. Simply faith in Jesus! And that is the way Christ saves everyone who comes to Him! Whatever you may think of the tradition, this man had the same kind of conversion as a Protestant or Baptist! There was nothing Catholic about it!

Now, what do we learn from all this? I think the Scriptures make the lesson plain – two men, the believing thief and the confessing Centurion, began by mocking Christ on the Cross, as did the rest of the crowd. But, after watching Jesus die, these two men, the thief and the Centurion, believed in Jesus. But two other men, the High Priest and the unconverted thief, saw the same events and remained in unbelief. That, I think, is the lesson God wants us to learn from the Scriptures. The two thieves could see the same thing – but one was converted and the other was not. Two men could see the same thing, but the High Priest remained unconverted while the Centurion believed. Two people can hear the same Gospel – and one be converted while the other remains in unbelief.

How many times have you read in the Gospels? How many times have you heard the Gospel preached? Others have come to Jesus and been saved. How is it that you remain lost? How can it be that you will not come to Jesus and be saved? How much longer will you wait? Jesus says to you,

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Jesus died in your place, to pay the full penalty for your sins. He rose from the dead to give you life. Why do you not come to Jesus? Why do you wait? Why not come to the Son of God?

Jesus loved the thief enough to save him at the very door of death. Jesus loved the Centurion enough to give him faith, even though this man supervised and executed His crucifixion, and ordered His hands and feet to be nailed to the accursed wood! And, my dear friend, Jesus loves you enough to pardon you and save your soul tonight – whatever sins you have committed – however long you have kept away from Him. Come to Him who loves you, and He will wash your sins away in His precious Blood!

I saw one hanging on a tree
   In agony and blood;
He fixed His [pain filled] eyes on me
   As near His cross I stood.

A second look He gave, which said,
   “I freely all forgive:
This blood was for thy ransom paid;
   I die that thou mayest live.”
(“He Died For Me” by John Newton, 1725-1807;
   to the tune of “O Set Ye Open Unto Me”).

(END OF SERMON)
You can read Dr. Hymers' sermons each week on the Internet
at www.realconversion.com. Click on “Sermon Manuscripts.”

Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: Luke 23:39-47.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith:
“He Died For Me” (by John Newton, 1725-1807).