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“THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS” “Take heed that no man deceive you” In early April news organizations breathlessly reported the “discovery” of a new Gospel the ‘Gospel of Judas,’ as it is being called. Actually the discovery wasn't new, since the ancient papyrus codex, a small book written in the ancient Egyptian Coptic language, had been discovered sometime in the late 20th century and was offered for sale by an Egyptian antiquities dealer in 1983. What was new was that it had been translated and was now the subject of a TV program, magazine cover story and two books by the prestigious National Geographic Society. Could this actually be a document authored by Judas, the disciple who infamously betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver as recorded in the Bible? If not, what exactly is it? An April 7 USA Today cover article stated,
And indeed it does. To a regular Bible reader, the text is so strange as to be virtually incomprehensible. Apart from a few names familiar to Bible readers, the manuscript is utterly foreign. That's because the “Gospel of Judas” is one of a number of gnostic writings discovered in Egypt during the last century. Gnosticism, which takes its name from gnosis, the Greek word for “knowledge,” was a movement that began in the first century and flourished for several centuries. This particular document has been dated to A.D. 220 to 340, when the gnostic movement appears to have been near its peak in Egypt. Gnosticism emphasized special or secret knowledge (hence the name of the movement) involving mysticism, cosmology, the angelic realm and the soul. A basic (but heretical) premise of the “Christian” version of gnosticism was that Jesus was never a real flesh and blood human being like us, but only appeared to be human. These strange and antibiblical beliefs permeate the “Gospel of Judas.” The translation of the document provided by the National Geographic Society is filled with references to mystical gnostic teachings on cosmology, imaginary spirit realms, ranks of angelic creatures and spirit beings called “aeons.” Since it is the product of a strange sect with no real connection to Jesus Christ or His disciples, it presents a vastly different view of God and Jesus Christ. For example, it has Jesus mocking the disciples for praying to “your god,” a being who, in gnostic theology, was inherently evil and corresponded to the God of the Old Testament. It contradicts the record of the authentic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in many ways. It has the disciples seeing visions and Jesus interpreting those visions. It states that Jesus often appeared to the disciples not as Himself, but as a child. It has the disciples getting furious at Jesus to the point that they “began blaspheming against him in their hearts.” It also bizarrely has Jesus describing Judas, who in reality was a thief and betrayer whom Jesus called “the son of perdition” (John 17:12), as the disciple who “will exceed all” the other disciples by playing a role in the killing of Jesus' physical self so His supposed inner man could be set free. Regular readers of the Bible are no doubt familiar with the fact that the New Testament books constantly quote and refer to the Old Testament, demonstrating the unity found throughout the Scriptures. It is striking that this manuscript contains no quotes or accurate references to anything else found in the Bible, other than the last few sentences briefly describing Judas betraying Jesus for money. And, of course, it is difficult to imagine when Judas would have written his story down or told it to someone else, since Matthew records that shortly after betraying Jesus, Judas was filled with remorse, returned the money to the priests and committed suicide by hanging himself (Matthew 27:1-5). It's not surprising that this document should vary so greatly from biblical teaching. The bizarre philosophies expressed in it simply didn't exist when Jesus Christ actually lived. These ideas came along several decades later and weren't fully developed for another century or two which is when this “Gospel of Judas” was written. The Daily Telegraph (London) summed up this incongruity well in quoting Aberdeen University New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole, who said:
This so called “Gospel of Judas” serves no useful purpose for Christians other than to show how utterly clouded and confused human thinking comes when we reject the truth of God and His Word.
Rev. Bertrand L. Comparet, A.B., J.D. One of the greatest figures in history is the prophet Jeremiah. God commissioned him to carry out a double task:
His rooting out and throwing down was completed when Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army finished the deportation of the Kingdom of Judah to Babylon, its last traces being thrown down when the murder of governor Gedaliah was followed by the flight of the survivors to Egypt, compelling Jeremiah to accompany them, despite his warning against this. But WHAT AND WHERE DID HE PLANT? Historically, the Bible does not tell us, as it last mentions him at Tahpanhes, in Egypt. Just as Jeremiah, in Jerusalem, had warned the people of Judah not to rebel against Babylon, so had Ezekiel, at Babylon, given the same warning, giving the parable of a great eagle which cropped off the top twigs of the cedar tree (an emblem of Judah’s royal family), carried it to Babylon and planted it, where it became a low vine; but another eagle came along and the vine grew toward him. Ezekiel says the first eagle is Nebuchadnezzar, and the second is Pharaoh of Egypt, and warns of punishment for breaking the covenant to be a vassal of Babylon. THEN, IN CONTRAST TO WHAT “THE EAGLES” HAVE DONE, GOD SAYS WHAT HE WILL DO:
Feminine words are used for “young twigs a tender one”, though masculine words would have served as well. Nebuchadnezzar killed all the sons of the King of Judah, thinking this destroyed the royal family; but under Israel law, when there were no sons the inheritance went to the daughters. (Numbers 27:8) The 43rd and 44th chapters of Jeremiah record that he, with his scribe Baruch, and the king’s daughters; were taken by the remnant of the people to Tahpanhes, in Egypt; there he warned them that they were all doomed, except such as could possibly escape from Egypt. THIS ESCAPE IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROPHECY THAT JEREMIAH WOULD “BUILD AND PLANT.” Churches which like to call Jeremiah “the prophet of doom” have created the fable that he died in Egypt: but by this they accuse their God of failure and falsehood, for Jeremiah could only “Build and Plant”, as God prophesied, after leaving Egypt; so let us see WHAT JEREMIAH BUILT AND PLANTED AND WHERE. The king’s daughters were the “tender twigs” which God said He would plant. Where could Jeremiah have taken them? Remember, it must be to a great Israel nation: “In the mountain in the height of Israel”. He did not take them to Babylon, where the people of Judah were captives, for that would have been recorded by Ezekiel and Daniel if it had happened. He would not have been allowed to take them through the Babylonian Empire to where the ten northern Tribes of Israel were by this time known as the Scythians. The record is clear that he did not take them back to the old Kingdom of Judah to stay, though he probably stopped off there long enough to pick up the Ark of the Covenant and Jacob’s Pillow, the Stone of Destiny, which had been hidden from the Babylonians. Where else were there Israelite kingdoms? In Greece, in Spain and in Ireland. Historians agree that Greece was barbarous until a high civilization was brought there by settlers who had come from Egypt, but were not Egyptians, being aliens expelled by the Egyptians. These are the DANAOI, seafarers of the Tribe of Dan, who had left Egypt by sea. The date is approximately that of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. Also near this date, Ireland had been conquered by highly civilized invaders who came by sea, the Tuatha De Danaan, or “Tribe of Dan”, who ruled Ireland for about 200 years thereafter. Another Hebrew migration from Egypt was that of half of the Royal Tribe of Judah. This Tribe consisted of two branches, respectively the descendants of Pharez and of Zarah. The Zarahites were men of great ability, even Solomon being compared to them in wisdom; but the Pharez branch was considered the older, hence entitled to preference as the Royal line. So, the Zarahites sought other lands where their ability might seek its own level. They settled in Crete, also founded the cities of Troy and Miletus. After the fall of Troy, somewhere near 1,000 B.C., Brutus the Trojan and his followers went to England, founding what became the City of London. Miletus became a great power: Milesian coins bore the Lion of Judah; Milesian mercenary troops were hired by Egypt as its chief Border Guards; and Milesians from Spain, with a considerable fleet and army, conquered the Tuatha De Danaan and settled in Ireland, where Milesian civilization lasted as long as Ireland remained independent. Their language was “Phoenician”, which is a Semitic dialect akin to Hebrew and became the Gaelic language of ancient Ireland and Scotland, which even today is nearly identical with Phoenician. The Irish Chronicles also record that the Milesians introduced the Laws of Moses, which remained Irish Law until the time of St. Patrick. Ancient Irish history records that, about 583 B.C., there came to Ireland from Egypt “Ollam Fodhla” (that which means “The Great Prophet”), with "Brugh" his scribe and Tea Tephi, the daughter of a king. Irish tradition has always identified “Ollam Fodhla” as the Prophet Jeremiah; Brugh, his scribe is, of course, Baruch, mentioned in the Bible as Jeremiah's scribe. Near Jeremiah’s tomb in Ireland, is a stone inscribed with hieroglyphics which show a star formation which could only have been seen about 583 B.C., which was the time of Jeremiah's migration from Egypt. While the Bible records the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines, it does not mention its capture by Babylon, although it does mention their looting the golden vessels of the Temple; hence we may be sure the Ark was safely hidden. In taking the king’s daughter on his divinely commanded mission TO BUILD AND TO PLANT, Jeremiah would naturally try to take along the remaining sacred objects. While there is no positive record of his taking the Ark, the Irish Chronicles do record his bringing the Stone of Destiny, Jacob’s Pillow; and from Ireland, it is historically traced through Scotland to England, where it was a part of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. [Note: the stone was returned to Scotland in the 1990’s with the proviso that it would be made available to England for future coronations.] The family of a member of our congregation had their genealogy traced and published; and it records that one ancestor came to Ireland with the Prophet Jeremiah, this ancestor's duty being that of Custodian of the Stone of Destine. I might add that this is not mere wishful thinking, for the member who had the genealogy traced and published knew nothing of the identity of the Anglo-Saxon people with the Israel of the Bible. The princess Tea Tephi, brought to Ireland by Jeremiah, is undoubtedly the daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah. She was married to Eochaid, the Heremon (Or Chief King) of Ireland, who was of the Milesian dynasty and therefore of the Zarah branch of the Royal Tribe of Judah: so the two branches of the Royal Tribe were now united in the royal family ruling the free half of Judah. As God said to Jeremiah, He would clip off a tender twig from the highest twigs of the great cedar tree of Judah and plant it “in the mountain of the height of Israel”, which was fulfilled by this royal marriage. Jeremiah was a prophet of doom only to the Palestinian Kingdom of Judah and his prophecies were accurate. But this was not the end, for God said
Having finished the rooting out and throwing down, Jeremiah went on to BUILD AND TO PLANT in Ireland, where God’s people, Israel, had established a high civilization, just as God had prophesied.
LET THE JEWS TELL YOU – THEY ARE NOT ALL ISRAEL
Herewith is the most recent Jewish reply to the same question:-
1ST AND 4TH JULY TWO DAYS TO REMEMBER On 12th July (1st July on the old calendar) the Protestant forces of William III, Prince of Orange, decisively defeated the armies of the Papist King James II on the Banks of the Boyne. Thus our civil and religious liberties were saved and the Protestant character of Britain’s Throne and Constitution established once and for all. The Revolutionary Settlement of 1688 was saved by force of arms; the arms of Israelites made up of Ulster Protestants, French Huguenots, Danes, Swedes, Finns, Dutch, Germans and English and Scots truly the Lord’s Host.
"By
conflict our rights were gained By
conflict those rights have been maintained.” Every Ulster Protestant, whether they be members of the Orange Order or not, ought to be proud of these events, and support the parades and services of thanksgiving for such a glorious heritage. Truly, the Battle of the Boyne was Ulster’s own Red Sea. We must beware of and resist those who would seek to take our rights away in 2006. On 4th July our American friends will be celebrating on their National Day, the issuing of their Declaration of Independence in 1776. The date in itself being of significance to students of prophecy, marking the end of 2520 years or seven prophetic times of punishment on the House of Israel from the first deportations to Assyria of Mannasseh, Gad and Reuben, the tribes on the East of the Jordan. As a result of the Declaration, a nation (the great nation of prophecy) was born in a day. We Ulster folk have a special link to this because throughout the Eighteenth Century, thousands of Scots/Irish had sailed the Atlantic to settle in the American colonies. The Declaration of Independence was in the handwriting of an Ulster/Scot, Charles Thomson of Maghera. It was first printed by an Ulsterman, John Dunlop of Strabane. It was first read in public by Colonel John Nixon, the son of an Ulsterman and for the first month the only signature on it was that of John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts, the descendant of Ulster Presbyterians. Truly there are vital links between our two countries. Remember that George Washington said:
Many of whose forefathers had fought at the Boyne. By Olwen Anderson A BOLD CHALLENGE TO “SPEAK THE WORD ONLY” (MATTHEW 8:8)
THE stranger within my gate, He may be true or kind But he does not talk my talk, I cannot feel his mind. I see the face and eyes and mouth, But not the soul behind.
The men of my own stock, They may do ill or well, But they tell the lies I am wonted to, They are used to the lies I tell. And we do not need interpreters Where we go to buy and sell.
The stranger within my gate, He may be evil or good. But I cannot tell what powers control – What reasons sway his mood. Nor when the gods of his far off land Shall repossess his blood
The men of my own stock, Bitter bad they may be, But at least they hear the things I hear, And see the things I see. And whatever I think of them and their likes, They think of the likes of me.
This was my father’s belief, And this is also mine. Let the corn be all of one sheaf, And the grapes be all of one vine. Ere our children’s teeth are set on edge By bitter bread and wine.
RUDYARD KIPLING
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