In this Issue
From the Publisher
Desolation of the Earth. Does the Bible teach it?
Recent articles published
Additional photographs and audios for the website
The Concept of the Foreigner in the Scriptures
Doctrines of the Sabbatarians over the Centuries - updated
Trinitarian Academics
Was Opse Matthew's Oops?
Let us all use the Gifts and Talents God has given to HIS Children (part 1)
Rare Items Sought
Church of God periodicals - latest editions online
List of our Websites and Blogs
How to Navigate the Friends of the Sabbath site
From the Publisher
Dear subscribers,
So much information arrives on my desk that this necessitates publishing a newsletter more frequently than originally planned, but that is a good thing!
In this edition I include an article by elder John Lemley, proving the Wednesday crucifixion doctrine. It is a must read.
Amongst other items is an article by yours truly for members to use their gifts and talents. My Mum taught me all my life to do so to honour God. But jealous men try and prevent Christians using their gifts, don’t they? Referring to bullies, horrible teachers or people out there in general who were awful toward others, she posed the question: “Are they God?” The obvious reply was “Of course not!” She then responded “Then there is nothing to fear. Just go ahead and use the gifts and talents God has given you. No man has any right to try and stop you. If they do, they are offending God”. And we all know the end result for doing that.
Finally, donations are gratefully received to continue the websites and all that entails. But only if you are in a position to do so.
Sincerely,
Craig M White
Publisher
PS: Check ‘What’s New’ regularly for updates and new uploads. Remember, you can view past editions of this newsletter (vol. 1 no. 1 to vol. 2 no. 2) here and vol. 2 no. 3 onward here.
Desolation of the Earth. Does the Bible teach it?
by Andrew Ferguson Dugger (c1890s)
John Lemley has scanned this old booklet by Church of God (Seventh Day) pioneer Andrew Ferguson Dugger (father of the famous Andrew Dugger). This represents another recovered item that forms part of our history.
I have been after this old booklet for decades!
Recent articles published
My short article on A Note on Colossians 2:14-17 has now been published in The Sabbath Sentinel. Alas, the draft version was published by mistake, not the final version. But that does not affect the overall message I was trying to get across.
The Inevitability of a European Defence Force, World News & Prophecy Review blog.
The Coming European - Russian Axis, Twenty-First Century Watch magazine.
The Brats of Europe Need a Good Spanking in Origin of Nations newsletter.
Highlander and Lowlander Similarities and Differences in Origin of Nations newsletter.
Additional photographs and audios for the website
The Armstrong family have continued to send me valuable information. The recent items include:
1. Mr & Mrs Armstrong with the famous Clarence the lion (above). See the trailer for the movie here:
The photograph was taken in January 1967.
2. GTA in the navy (6 photographs).
3. 'The True History in the Holy Scriptures' by Benjamin Chapman. This is a collection of information. NB: those parts based on Dr Hoeh's old Compendium must be regarded as obsolete. Hoeh eschewed most of the Compendium in the early 1970s though inexplicably, some are still holding on to it. Are the handwritten notes on the small pages 12-13 that of Herman Hoeh's? There are other handwritten notes, but I am not sure if they are Hoeh's, Chapman's or someone else's.
4. Collection of miscellaneous information from the 1980s-90s.
The website contains many old Garner Ted Armstrong sermons, studies and him singing at various events. A further four audios of him singing have now been received and are uploaded here.
1. GTA sings-Caro Mio Ben
2. GTA sings-Tu Lo Sai
3. GTA sings-Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
4. GTA sings-Deep River
5. GTA sings-Water Boy
Ted and Beverly Duet-La Ci Darmen by Mozart
Also, a number of TV program notes are progressively being uploaded to that page as well. Some further historical items have now been received including:
Beverly Gott singing unknown year (2)
Beverly Gott singing unknown year
Carole Mattson and Jimmy Gott 1951 to Ted in Navy
The above 3 audios can be found here.
More to come!
The Concept of the Foreigner in the Scriptures
I recently updated an article The Concept of the 'Foreigner' in Scripture discussing the meaning of foreigner/stranger and what it really means.
This article was originally written as a chapter in a larger paper. Due to the current debate surrounding massive illegal migration into the West, I thought it time to update the chapter and present it separately in an attempt to help those who seem to be swept away with the globalist tide which is supported by the media and academia. It is they who are nudging the world, undemocratically and unnaturally toward world integration and world governance.
Christians are meant to THINK and rightly study the Word of God, not reorient it in the light of leftwing pressures. They are not meant to dwell at ease with the world and to permit its false philosophies to permeate it.
“It’s amazing the sloppiness utilised in Biblical interpretation, taking a verse out of context with the intent to compromise with the world and its political correctness/globalisation. Some are now aligning with the world on the term ‘the foreigner’ taken from the Old Testament to adapt to this world’s immigration policies.”
The above was written by this author in 2008 before political correctness evolved into wokeness. This movement and its twin, globalisation, are Western variants of original Communism. In fact, I wrote an article in 1996 which I have never completed The Next Apostasy in the Church of God will be Political Correctness. The article argued – based on my observations of directions in the Church and many comments and positions by certain elders – it seemed clear to me that was going to be the result, given the education system and media infiltrating the minds of the members since the 1960s uprisings which peaked in 1968. From there were get political correctness/wokeism.
I subsequently wrote to head office asking for sermons, studies and articles to be published countering the world’s positions on a range of social issues, lest we be absorbed into the Church.
Doctrines of the Sabbatarians over the Centuries - updated
Fyi, I have now updated the paper Doctrines of the Sabbatarians since the First Century by adding in large amount of information from internet searches.
In addition, note what Nina Garsoïan stated concerning the Paulicians - they were
"accused of being worse than other sects because of adding Judaism" (The Paulician Heresy, p. 213) [emphasis mine].
She contests the conventional perspective that categorized Paulicians as Manichaeans or Gnostics, underscoring their origins in a reformist Christian movement. Garsoïan's research emphasises that these allegations were frequently overstated by adversaries to depict the Paulicians as heretics, associating them with Judaizing groups to rationalize persecution.
Also updated is Research Notes. Early Doctrines of the Eastern Churches.
Trinitarian academics
Ever since my early teens I have been reading about the trinity doctrine from all viewpoints. I was told by various ministers that if I didn’t believe in it, that I would go to hell.
But reading Church of God literature and over time, further research, I came to see accept the Binitarian position. Many years later I assembled all of this research in the paper Binitarianism/Ditheistic Monotheism & the Exalted Christ in Church of God Doctrine.
What has struck me is the shallowness of the trinity doctrine. How its chief adherents use fear tactics and ancient Church Fathers and others to bolster their claim. And even in the most rigorous and detailed academic work, their conclusions are anaemic.
In fact, it is of interest that some academics are obviously embarrassed by the concept and when they write their papers on the Godhead, the Father and Christ dominate as if these academics held to Binitarianism. The holy spirit as a part of the trinity hardly makes an appearance in their papers, except almost as an after-thought and as a necessity to appease their church leaders, it seems.
Within this context I was recently reading Stephen R. Holmes' article "Classical Trinitarianism and Eternal Functional Subordination: Some Historical and Dogmatic Reflections," published in the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 35, No. 1, 2017, pp. 90–104) which is another example of the silliness and nonsense that is espoused.
Here are some extracts [emphasis mine]:
"To be ‘trinitarian’ is to hold to the doctrine developed in the fourth-century debates." (p. 90)
He even calls trinitarianism a “tradition” on page 91.
"...the word ‘trinitarian’ demands definition, and the first point I want to make is that the only possible definition it may gain is historical... Scripture does not define for us the word ‘trinitarian’—the word is not a biblical one." (p. 92)
"... it is a matter of record that the requirement to be Trinitarian was inserted to prevent those who claimed to believe the Bible, but who denied the Trinity, from seeking membership. This highlights the fact that the word ‘Trinitarian’ has typically been used to judge the adequacy of various proposed readings of Scripture. Arians, Socinians, Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, and various others all read Scripture wrongly because they fail to read it in a trinitarian way." (p. 92)
"Famously, Nicaea actually anathematises all who teach more than one hypostasis in the Godhead; Constantinople, or at least that summary of it that has reached us, makes no mention of ousia or hypostasis at all; the Creed will insist the Son is homoousios ton Patri, but says nothing similar of the Holy Spirit, and, again, does not use the word hypostasis at all. These documents, vital though they are, simply do not codify what we now call trinitarianism" (pp. 93-94)
"I would have arrived in the position of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, or the Oneness Pentecostals, of rejecting trinitarianism out of faithfulness to (what I perceived to be) the Biblical revelation" if it were not for these traditions (p. 95).
"Thomas Aquinas, who understood this well, suggests that there are therefore five things only we can know about the persons of the Trinity: that the Father is unbegotten, that the Father begets the Son, that the Son is begotten of the Father, that the Father and the Son together spirate the Spirit, and that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This point is crucial to fourth-century trinitarian theology because it defends the core doctrine of divine simplicity. To surrender this point, on orthodox trinitarian logic, is to deny the unity of Father, Son, and Spirit; it is to embrace polytheism." (pp 99-100)
"Origen offered the standard defence of eternal generation, a doctrine that of course is enshrined in the Creed. God does not change, and so the Son is co-eternal with the Father, and yet the Son has His origin in being begotten from the Father; how do we square these three necessary biblical truths? By, Origen suggests, asserting that the generation of the Son is not the beginning of a new relationship, but the eternal way of being of the Father and the Son. The Father is eternally begetting the Son; the Son is eternally being begotten of the Father (and, to complete the list, the Father and the Son are eternally spirating the Spirit, and the Spirit is eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son)." (p. 100)
“… to deny eternal generation is certainly to deny the doctrine of the Trinity, and, given that ‘eternally begotten of the Father’ is a confession of the Nicene Creed, is in grave danger of departing from what can meaningfully be called Christianity—it is, once again, to side with Unitarians and Jehovah’s Witnesses in claiming that the Christian doctrine of God is unbiblical." (pp. 100-01)
"God is pure act, the single, simple eternal act of the begetting of the Son by the Father and the proceeding of the Spirit from the Father and the Son. That is certainly to say that the relational distinctions that define the divine simplicity have a proper order to them—we most properly name God as the dominical baptismal formula does, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father is unbegotten, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and so there is a taxis, an order, in the eternal divine life. This, I take it, is the eternal analogue to the order we found in the inseparable divine acts, but there is no hint here yet of subordination, authority, or submission." (pp. 102-03)
All I can say is “what jumping through hoops” by theologians and academics to arrive at the trinity doctrine! Some of them really do seem to be embarrassed by this doctrine and struggle to explain it.
Finally, I have added this information and more to the paper Binitarianism/Ditheistic Monotheism & the Exalted Christ in Church of God Doctrine. Notice pages 29 and 97 of the paper.
Was Opse Matthew's Oops?
By John Lemley
This article is dedicated to my dearly loved and greatly missed father, Arthur Lemley (1915-2002), and mother, Mary Stratton Lemley (1928-2006). By both words and example, their constant drive to discover Bible truth and their passion and love for in depth Bible study impressed me to emulate those same qualities in my approach to God and His Word. As a result, my constant goal while reading the Bible is to discover what God intended to communicate when He inspired it.
Thank you, God, for my parents. Help me to successfully pass the baton they so nobly carried and influence others to love your truths as earnestly as they taught me.
This article is written for people, who like them, enjoy investigating the “jots and tittles” of scripture; the small, seemingly insignificant points. Sometimes treasures are found in the most unexpected verses. I ask for your indulgence in this study on Matthew 28:1. Perhaps sometime, someone, somewhere will find the journey to be exciting like it was for my parents and is for me.
“That I might make you know the certainty of the words of truth; that you might answer the words of truth to them that send unto you” (Proverbs 22:21.
Was Opse Matthew’s Oops?
John Lemley
Meeting opse
Opse is the first word in the Greek text of Matthew 28:1. In the King James Version this verse reads, “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.” The words “in the end” are translated from the Greek word οψε (pronounced opse).
Many authors and Bible scholars have come to the conclusion that opse means “late.” See A. T. Robertson[1], R.A. Torrey[2], Barbara M. Bowen[3], Albert Smith[4], Alan McNeile[5] and Joseph H. Thayer[6]. Thayer’s comments are especially attention-grabbing. He includes “after” as a possible definition, citing two extra-biblical examples, but then adds “an examination of the instances just cited (and others) fail to sustain the rendering after.”
Other theologians give preference, with varying degrees of certainty, to the view that opse means “after”. See Abbott-Smith[7], James Moulton[8], Liddell/Scott[9], Goodspeed[10] and Bacchiocchi[11]. (Additional sources commenting on the occurrence of οψε in Matthew 28:1 are given in Appendix 3).
How can one little word be the subject of such debate? Why would Thayer state that the pagan Greek sources used to support the theory “opse means after” fail to sustain that rendering? Had the “opse can mean after” scholars discovered something in the Greek intricacies which Thayer had missed? Or, had Thayer’s research found something the others had missed? Did these two camps base their position on Greek grammar, a prior understanding they brought to the text or something else?
A well-known fact is that it is fairly common for scholars to disagree on the meaning of Greek words. Knowledge of Greek does not ensure consensus. Debating words and their meanings is the stuff of theological journals. Scholars, like everyone else, can reach conclusions subjectively rather than objectively; a fact they seem to enjoy pointing out to each other.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons scholars give for their differing opinions about the meaning of opse, compare those reasons and discover which position seems to be the most plausible.
First, identify the word opse grammatically. Notice that it is an adverb. The 1964 edition of Webster’s Dictionary defines an adverb as “any of a class of words used to modify a verb, adjective (or other adverb) by expressing time, place, manner, degree, cause, etc.” In Matthew 28:1 opse is an adverb of time. Thayer (1889, p. 471) and Abbott-Smith (1948, p. 331), scholars on both sides of the debate, agree.
Next, identify which word opse modifies. The second Greek word in Matthew 28:1 is de, a conjunctive particle. The third word, sabbaton, is a noun. Sabbaton is the word opse modifies.
Matthew 28:1 in Other Versions of the Bible
The earliest version this author has found that translates opse as “after” is the 1904 edition of the Twentieth Century New Testament. Since 1904 other versions of the Bible, in English and other languages, have also chosen a word meaning “after.”
On the other hand, pre-1904 versions translate opse in Matthew 28:1 as evening, late, or in the end. (See appendix 2 for a detailed list). There is consistency throughout six centuries of English translations of the Bible. The table below lists the number of Bible versions that translate opse in Matthew 28:1 with a word meaning the last part of the day. I am not aware of any instances of the word after ever being chosen by the early translators for this verse.
What happened near the turn of the nineteenth century to prompt translators of many versions to translate opse as after instead of late? The two meanings seem to be mutually exclusive. For instance, if one intends to put solder at the end of a wire, but misses and the solder drops after the wire, it makes a big difference. Or, if the phone rings late in a meal it is quite different from ringing after the meal.
Similarly, it was either in the end of the Sabbath or it was after the Sabbath when the two Marys came to see the sepulcher. The word in is significant to the meaning of the text. If a noun is described as being in anything, then it cannot be out of or after that thing. Basic rules of Bible interpretation rule out the possibility of both being true. The two options are mutually exclusive. One scenario cancels out the possibility of the other. Which meaning of opse did Matthew intended to communicate – “late” on the Sabbath or “after” the Sabbath? Other occurrences of opse in the Bible will assist in answering that question.
Opse in the Old Testament (the Greek Septuagint)
The four places where opse is in the Old Testament are:
§ Genesis 24:11 – “And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening (opse), even the time that women go out to draw water.”
Opse (οψε) is translated from the Hebrew word ereb (ברע) meaning “evening.” The events from verses 11 to 33 are most easily understood as happening at the end of a day when there was still enough light to see clearly. During this ereb (ברע) or opse (οψε) Abraham’s servant prayed, Rebekah came to the well, they conversed, Rebekah drew water for the servant and his camels, the camels drank until they are finished, more conversation occurred, Rebekah ran home to tell her family, Rebekah’s brother (Laban) ran to well to meet the servant and the servant traveled to Laban’s house. The chapter doesn’t say when the sun went down, but it is hard to imagine them doing many of these activities in the dark.
§ Exodus 30:8 – “And when Aaron lights the lamps at even (opse), he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.”
Again, opse is translated from the Hebrew word ereb (ברע) and refers to an “end of the day” event. There was certainly enough daylight for Aaron to see what he was doing while lighting the lamps.
§ Isaiah 5:11 – “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink: that continue until night (opse), till wine inflame them.”
Opse is translated from the Hebrew word nesheph (ףשׁנ) meaning “dusk, when the evening breeze prevails.” This verse refers to people who consume strong drink all day long; from the beginning to the end of the day.
§ Jeremiah 2:23 – The Septuagint has the phrase “her voice has howled in the evening (opse)” instead of the KJV “thou art a swift dromedary traversing her way.”
These four scriptures show that opse refers to an event occurring during the closing part of a day – not after the day and certainly not on the next morning.
Opse in the New Testament
In addition to Matthew 28:1, interestingly, opse is found only two other places in the New Testament:
· Mark 11:19, “And when even (opse) was come he went out of the city.”
· Mark 13:35, “Watch therefore: for you know not when the master of the house comes, at even (opse), or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.”
Just as in the Greek Old Testament, these New Testament occurrences describe a time during the closing part of a day – certainly not the next morning.
Meeting opse’s family
opsia:
The twenty passages in the table in Appendix 1 are found in nine stories. Five occur prior to sunset and four appear to be at sunset.
Closing hours of the day
· Mark 4:35 – After a day of preaching parables from a ship, the multitude is sent away. Jesus and the disciples start out across the Sea of Galilee “when the even (opsias) was come.” A storm rises up, frightening the disciples. Jesus calms the storm.
· Matthew 14:15, “and when it was evening” (opsias); and Mark 6:35 “when the day was now far spent” the disciples suggest sending the multitude away to buy food. The miracle of feeding the 5,000, plus gathering twelve baskets of fragments, sending the multitude away, and Jesus going up into a mountain to pray all occur before the text then says, “when the evening was come” (opsias) (Matt. 14:23 and Mark 6:47; John 6:16 (opsia). Even then it was still light enough for Jesus to see His disciples rowing their ship in the Sea of Galilee. This story is unique in that it mentions an early and a late evening on the same day.
· Matthew 20:8, “So when even (opsias) was come.” This was the end of the work day when the laborers were paid their wages.
· Mark 11:19 – After cleansing the temple “when even (opse) was come, he went out of the city.”
· Matthew 27:57 and Mark 15:42, “when the even (opsias) was come;” – Joseph of Arimathea left the crucifixion site to go ask Pilate for Jesus’ body. This is likely near the beginning of the evening (after 3 PM) because there had to be enough time to complete the burial preparations before sunset.
Sunset
· Matthew 8:16 “when the even (opsias) was come” and Mark 1:32 “And at even” (opsias) – the people bring the diseased to Jesus for healing. Mark specifies that this was “when the sun did set.”
· Matthew 16:2 – Jesus answered the Pharisees’ request for a sign by saying, “When it is evening (opsias), ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.”
· Matthew 26:20 “when the even (opsias) was come;” Mark 14:17 “in the evening” (opsias) – Jesus and His disciples gather to eat the Passover.
· Mark 13:35 – “…ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even (opse), or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.” The first of the watches was called opse. It began at sunset, which was as late in the day as possible.
Opsia occurs fifteen times in the Greek New Testament and only once in an apocryphal Greek Old Testament book. The Liddell Scott Lexicon lists about twenty other Greek words which are various forms of opse. In no case do any of these words clearly mean after or describe a morning event. It always means late, often describing an event occurring late in the day.
How opse in Matthew 28:1 is translated in Other Versions
Early Bible translators and early Greek copyists understood the Greek term “opse de sabbaton” (οψε δε σαββατων) in Matthew 28:1 to mean “in the evening of the Sabbath.”
In Matthew 28:1 the Old Syriac Curetonion Version of the fourth century reads, “b’ramsha b’shabat,” or “in the evening of the Sabbath.”[12] .
The Syriac Peshitto version of the fifth century reads, “In the evening of the Sabbath.”[13]
The Latin versions of the fourth and fifth centuries read, “Et in vespere Sabbathorum” or “in the evening of the Sabbath.”
The Ethiopic version of the sixth century reads, “in the evening of the Sabbath.”[14]
The Ethiopic Didascalia (p. 126), commenting on Matthew 28:1, reads, “and when it was evening in the twilight of the Sabbath.”
The Arabic version reads, “in the evening of the Sabbath
The Old High German version reads, “In themo abande thes Sambaztages” or “in the evening of the Sabbath.”
None of these translations of opse or opsia refer to the next day.
The consistency of “opse meets late, not after” in its occurrences throughout Bible, in scribal notes and in early Bible translations prompts the question: “What is meant by the Greek word opse in Matthew 28:1 – the closing hours of a day or at sunset?”
Help from a synonym
Εσπερας, referenced above, is used the same way at opse, so quite likely they are synonyms. Interestingly, the New Testament only has esperas in books written by Luke, whereas Matthew and Mark preferred opse.
§ Luke 24:29, “But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening (esperas), and the day is far spent…”
§ Acts 4:3, “And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide” (espera).
§ Acts 28:23, “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening” (esperas).
Esperas is very common throughout the Septuagint, occurring just over 100 times, starting with “the evening and the morning” in the creation account to Zachariah’s mention of “the evening time” (14:7). Notice it’s similarity in use with opse in the following examples:
§ Exodus 30:7-8, “And when Aaron lights the lamps at even (opse)…”
§ Exodus 27:20-21, “…Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening (esperas) to morning…”
The context of both passages is about lighting the candlestick in the tabernacle.
Greek Copyists use of esperas:
A dozen Greek manuscripts of Matthew from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries have been discovered containing marginal comments on Matthew 28:1. They all agree that “οψε δε σαββατων” was “in the evening of the Sabbath.” The marginal readings use opse’s synonym – esperas.
Σαββατω εσπερας – Sabbato esperas
Σα εσπερας οψε σαββατων – Sa esperas opse sabbaton
Σα εσπερας αρχ οψε σαββατων – Sa esperas arche opse sabbaton
Σαβατω εσπερας – Sabato esperas
Σα εστι οψε σαβατ – Sa esti opse sabat
Σα εστι οψε – Sa esti opse
Σα εστις – Sa estis
Σα εστι – Sa esti[15]
The Greek word εσπερας (esperas) has only one meaning; that is “evening.” Therefore the Greek copyists from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries understood, according to their marginal notations, that “οψε δε σαββατων” meant the σαββατω εσπερας or “evening of the Sabbath.”
“In the evening of the Sabbath” was the historical understanding of Matthew 28:1 by the Bible translators and Greek copyists of the Middle Ages. They wrote esperas in the margin for good reason. They followed the example of the translators of the Septuagint, nearly a thousand years earlier. As previously noted, opse is used for “even” in Exodus 30:8 to describe when Aaron is to light the lamps. And, in the companion text in Exodus 27:20-21, esperas is used to translate the word “evening.”
Opse in Other Greek Writings
The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae is the largest existing data base of Greek texts from Homer (8th century BC) to the fall of Byzantium (A.D. 1453). That data base lists 1,867 times when an early Greek writer used the word opse. The vast majority of cases use opse in the context of late. In none of the occurrences would “after” be contextually fitting as an option for translating opse.
How Friedrich Blass, the Greek author most often referenced in articles favoring “after” over “late,” actually used opse.
Mr. Blass was a professor of classical philosophy at the University of Halle in Wittenberg, Germany. He is the one others regularly reference as their basis for translating the Greek word opse in Matthew 28:1 as after instead of in the end of, evening or late.
Mr. Blass wrote the “Grammar of New Testament Greek,” 1896. The 1911 English translation includes his comment on the objective genitive in Matthew 28:1. Surprisingly, Mr. Blass did not reveal a previously undiscovered Greek nuance as his reason for changing opse from its historic meaning of late to after. He did not base his explanation on Greek grammar, syntax, word order, or some other linguistic peculiarity of opse. Here is what he wrote on page 97:
As a definition of time; opse sabbatοn Mt. 28:1, but not "late on the Sabbath," since the next clause and Mark 16:1 show that the meaning must be "after the Sabbath" (emphasis added).
It is important to notice that he did not base his conclusion on his expertise in the Greek language. Instead he drew upon his personal presupposition as to the meaning of (1) the next clause "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week" and (2) Mark 16:1. It is beyond the purpose of this article to thoroughly address the two “problems” Blass gives. There are explanations for both of these “problems” which do not require changing opse from its natural definition. For instance, Robertson asks, “Why allow only one visit for the anxious women?” Why should Matthew have to answer to Mark? Why can’t Mark answer to Matthew?[16]
It is significant to note that the author Blass cites is Flavius Philostratus (early third century), a pagan Greek writing in Attic Greek. Eight instances of Philostratus using the word opse in his writings have been discovered. Most of those times opse clearly means “late.”
What did Philostratus Actually Write?
1. Life of Apollonius, book 4, paragraph 18, line 7:
“It was then the day of the Epidaurian festival, at which it is still customary for the Athenians to hold the initiation at a second sacrifice after both proclamation and victims have been offered; and this custom was instituted in honor of Asclepius, because they still initiated him when on one occasion, he arrived from Epidaurus too late (opse) for the mysteries.”
It was an annual custom, in the Greek city-states, to give heroes special recognition at an early point in the program. The Athenians, though, scheduled the ceremony near the end in memory of Asclepius, a famous hero who had arrived too late.
2. Life of Apollonius, book 6, paragraph 10, line 24
“Now those who come to the Pythian festival are, they say, escorted with the sound of pipe and song and lyre, and are honored with shows of comedies and tragedies; and then last (opse) of all they are presented with an exhibition of games and races” (C.L. Kayser, in the Loeb Classical Greek Series).
Blass cites the above two passages from Philostratus as examples of opse meaning after and applies his translation as evidence that opse Matthew 28:1 means after. Translations of the pertinent phrases are given below for easy comparison.
o 4.18 "…he arrived from Epidaurus too late for the mysteries." – Loeb Classical Greek Series.
o “…he arrived from Epidaurus after the mysteries.” – Blass
o 6.10 "then last of all they were presented with an exhibition of games and races..." - Loeb Classical Greek Series
o οψε τουτων (opse touton) “after these things.” - Blass
3. Life of Apollonius, book 6, paragraph 34, line 17
“Then is it not disgraceful,” replied Apollonius, “that you (Titus, who co-reigned with his father AD 71-79; then alone until AD 81) should be instant in demanding their (the citizens of Tarsus) punishment, and yet dilatory (opse) in conferring a boon; and be ready yourself to undertake the punishment, but reserve the benefaction until you can see and consult your father (emperor Vespasian, reigned AD 69-79)?”
Upon hearing Apollonius’ rebuke, Titus recognized his hypocrisy and immediately granted the request to the people of Tarsus.
4. Life of Apollonius, book 8, paragraph 28, line 7
“Apollonius was a well-known, even deified, Greek philosopher. Damis was his life-long friend. In the year AD 96 the Roman emperor, Domitian was assassinated and Nerva (another friend of Apollonius) became emperor. Nerva wrote to Apollonius inviting him to serve as his advisor. Apollonius replied, ‘We will, my prince, enjoy one another’s company for a very long time during which neither shall we govern others, nor others us’ and asked Demis to carry his reply to the new emperor.”
What Apollonius meant was that both he and Nerva would soon die and their souls would enjoy eternity together. The premonition was correct. Apollonius died a few days later and Nerva in AD 98.
But, his friend, Damis, who carried the cryptic message, had no idea what it meant. It wasn’t until after Apollonius died that the meaning dawned on him. The text says: “Damis…only understood his master’s device much later (opse).”
5. Heroicus 702, line 19
“Although Philoktetes, the son of Poias, served as a soldier late in the Trojan War, he shot the arrow best among the mortals, since, they say, he learned how from Herakles, the son of Alkmene.”
6. Heroicus 723, line 1
“He (Hektor) fought mightily, and he alone of the Trojans remained outside the wall of Troy to perish late (opse) in the battle.”
7. De Gymnastica 13.17
“In the 145th Olympiad they added the boy’s pankration. I do not know the cause of the slowness of adding it, since it was already flourishing in other places. For this contest began late [opse] in the series (or cycle) of the Olympiads, when Egypt was already crowned and this victory went to Egypt.”
Here opse means late in the cycle of Olympiads, since it was the 145th Olympiad (648 BC), before the boy’s pankration was added as an Olympic sport. The pankration is a martial arts sport consisting of a blend of boxing and wrestling.
8. De Gymnastica 43.21
“…wild olive and buckthorn anointed them copiously, so that they trained without becoming ill and grew old late [opse]; some competed in eight, and some in nine Olympiads…”
Here opse means that the effects of aging overtook them late (relative to others); they “grew old late.” Those who used the anointing oil did not experience the effects of aging as young as the other athletes did so were able to compete in eight, or even nine, Olympics.
Granted, the time when Matthew wrote his account of Jesus’ life was about three hundred years after the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew into Greek and only a little over one hundred years before Philostratus wrote. Would this fact invalidate comparing uses of opse in the Septuagint since it is separated from Matthew by more years than Philostratus? I suggest not, for the following reason:
§ The Septuagint was translated from Hebrew into Greek. Therefore, “the words are Greek, but the syntax is Hebrew.” See Bernard Taylor, The Analytical Lexicon to the Septuagint (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994), p. ix.
§ A new and expanded edition was published in 2009 (Hendrickson). It now also includes the glosses from the Lust Eynikel Hauspie LXX Greek Lexicon. In the new edition the above quote was replaced with the following: “While the words are Greek, for the most part their order reflects the underlying idiomatic Hebrew and (in portions of Ezra and Nehemiah and Daniel) Aramaic, and parataxis is the norm. Beneath the surface, however, the general syntax is that of Koine Greek.”
§ Mr. Taylor’s statement that the LXX ‘reflects the underlying idiomatic Hebrew’ gives opse a Hebrew flavor in the Greek New Testament; a flavor which is missing in pagan Greek writings. They are both of the same genre, therefore the LXX backgrounds the GNT (Greek New Testament).
More research needs done on this point. But, it is interesting to note the all of the examples of opse meaning "too late" are from pagan Greek sources. The four occurrences of opse in the Old Testament and three in the New use opse with the meaning of “late.” In addition, well over one hundred occurrences of opse in documents written by church leaders all consistently only use opse to mean “late.” None ever use it with the “too late” meaning. I believe this is because they used opse under the influence of the Hebrew word esperas which is simply the Hebrew word for evening.
What Does “Late” Mean?
The words “late” and “opse” have two basic meanings:
1. Happening far into or toward the end of a certain period of time. In this situation the emphasis is on the time period; late in the week, season, year, event, etc. Late is often followed by “in.”
Examples include:
Philostratus #2 above – late in the festival
Philostratus #3 above – late in expressing kindness
Philostratus #5 above – late in the Trojan War
Philostratus #6 above – late in the battle
Philostratus #7 above – late in the cycle of the Olympiads
Philostratus #8 above – late in life
2. Happening after the usual, proper or expected time. In this situation the emphasis is on the event or goal which was missed; a meeting, appointment, deadline, etc. Late is often preceded by the word “too” and followed by the word “for.”
Examples include:
Philostratus #1 above – too late for the mysteries
Philostratus #4 above – too late coming to an understanding of the importance of the letter he delivered, or he would have said “goodbye” to his friend.
So, which meaning is intended in Matthew 28:1?
§ Matthew simply identified the time of the women’s visit to the tomb as occurring late during the day
or -
§ The women tried to reach the tomb during Sabbath hours, but arrived too late.
The context simply states that the women came “to see the sepulcher. ” The phrase “in the end of the Sabbath” defines the time of their visit. There is no hint that it was a goal the women missed – arriving too late. The context supports the first meaning of the two possibilities listed above.
Meta, an Unused Option
If Matthew wanted to state that the women came to see the sepulcher “after the Sabbath” a perfectly good Greek word existed – meta. Matthew knew the word well. He used meta sixty-eight times in his book.
Occurrences of meta in the accusative case:
§ About 360 times in the Septuagint.
§ 100 times in the New Testament, ten of which are in the book of Matthew. See Matthew 1:12; 17:1; 26:2; 27:53, 62 and 63 plus the four special cases below.
Matthew uses meta in the accusative case and follows it with the word de in the following passages:
24:29 – after the tribulation
25:19 – after a longtime
26:32 – after I am risen
26:73 – after a while
Farewell opse!
The most recent occurrence of opse, according to the TLG data base, is in a 16th century document. It seems that about that time opse finished its long, faithful service to the Greek language. For at least 2 ½ millennia opse functioned well through the Ancient, Koine, and Byzantine eras. The word is missing in the Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek.[17]
Matthew 28:1 in the 1994 Modern Greek New Testament reads: Kai otan pia e ora (και οταν πια η ωρα). An acquaintance, who emigrated from Greece, translated the passage thus: “And when it was finally time for the evening to set on the last day of the week…”
Though opse appears to now be obsolete, its definition survives in this modern Greek translation.
Conclusion
Three points are noted regarding Matthew’s use of opse in 28:1.
1. He did not mean “after the Sabbath.” That is why he did not use the word meta. The Sabbath had not yet ended.
2. He did not mean “too late for the Sabbath.” The context gives no hint that the two Marys missed a goal of wanting to arrive at the tomb on the Sabbath. Their purpose was “to see” it.
3. He wrote opse de sabbaton because he meant to express that it was “late on the Sabbath” when they saw the tomb.
The evidence favors the scholars whose research has caused them to support the word late instead of after for the following six reasons:
1. All of the Bible uses of opse and its related words refer to an evening event. A morning application is impossible by definition.
2. Bible translations, prior to the twentieth century, translate opse with a word showing it is referring to a time within the Sabbath.
3. None of the commentaries that I have found, prior to Mr. Blass, use the “opse means after” argument.
4. The Greek source (Philostratus) that Blass gives for evidence that opse can mean “after” is removed from Matthew by time, distance and culture. Basic rules of hermeneutics caution against giving across-the-board comparison in such cases. In addition, other Greek scholars translate the phrase as “last of all”.
5. The examples Blass does give for translating opse as “after” are all in the context of “too late.” This finding supports Thayer’s statement that “an examination of the instances just cited (and others) fail to sustain the rendering after.”
6. If Matthew had intended to state that the two Marys came to see the sepulcher “after” the Sabbath, it seems he would have used “meta,” a word clearly meaning “after” and one he used for “after” elsewhere.
So, was opse Matthew’s oops? The biblical, historical, linguistic and grammatical evidence all give evidence that Matthew used opse because he meant “late Sabbath.” Clearly, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher before sunset on Sabbath.
Appendix 1: King James Version translations of the Greek words opse, opsia and hora.
Appendix 2: Matthew 28:1 in various English translations
CHART FORM
AS A LIST
1389, Wycliffe, in the evening
1526, Tyndale, at even
1539, Cranmer, upon an euening [evening]
1557, Geneva, the latter end
1560, Geneva, in the end
1568, Bishops’ Bible, in the end
1582, Rheims, in the evening
1599, Geneva, in the end
1611, King James Version, in the end
1833, Webster’s Bible Translation, in the end
1859, Cottage Bible, in the end
1862 NT, Young’s Literal Translation, on the eve
1873, Rotherham, late
1881, Revised Version, late
1890, Darby, late
1891, The People’s New Testament, in the end
1893, Syriac Peshitta, edited by Hastings, in the close
1895, English Revised Version, late
1901, American Standard Version, late
1904, Curetonian, in the evening
1912, Modern Reader’s Bible, edited by Moulton, late
1922, Moffatt, at the close
1930, Concordant, in the end
1941, Douay, in the end
1958, Syriac Peshitta, edited by Lamsa, in the evening
1971, New American Standard Bible, late
1980, KJVII, late
Appendix 3: Additional sources commenting on the occurrence of οψε in Matthew 28:1
Opse means late
1. “A Treatise on the Sabbath,” (German Reformed Church Publication, Chambersburg, PA, 1842), p. 18.
2. “On the Sabbath,” (Utica Christian Magazine, 1813), pp. 47, 56.
3. Robert Saint Clair, “How To Observe the Sabbath,” (Rainham Centre, Ontario, Canada, 1904), pp. 7, 16-18.
4. Yehoshua Meir Grintz, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 79, 1960, “Hebrew in the Days of the Second Temple,” pp. 32-47. He writes: “…the two phrases (‘late in the Sabbath’ and ‘as it began to dawn’) are mutually exclusive” if dawn means daylight on the first day of the week.
[1] Archibald T. Robertson, A Hormony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, New York, 1950, pp. 287-291. “This careful chronological statement according to Jewish days clearly means that before the Sabbath was over… this visit by the women was made ‘to see the sepulcher.’ Both Matthew here and Luke (23:54) use dawn for the dawning of the twenty-four hour day at sunset, not of the dawning of the twelve-hour day at sunrise…Why allow only one visit for the anxious women?”
[2] Reuben A. Torrey, Difficulties in the Bible, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1907, pp. 74-77.
[3] Barbara M. Bowen, Strange Scriptures That Perplex the Western Mind, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1944, pp. 106-107.
[4] Albert Smith, The Law of God and the Sabbath, a Protest against Antinomianism in General, Leicester, England, reprinted from The Bible Advocate, April, 1912, p. 41.
[5] Alan H. McNeile, The Gospel According to St Matthew, MacMillan & Co., Ltd. London, 1955, p. 429. “Mt. cannot intend to mean Sunday morning, but refers loosely to Saturday evening.”
[6] Joseph H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament, Associated Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI 49315, p. 471. a. Opse means “after.” With a genitive…i.e. at the early dawn of the first day of the week – (an interpretation absolutely demanded by the added specification τη επιφωσκ...; Plut. Numa 1.4; Philostr. Apoll. 4,18); [but an examination of the instances just cited (and others) fail to sustain the rendering after…]. b. Opse means “late.” Οψε followed by a genitive seems always to be partitive, denoting late in the period specified by the genitive (and consequently still belonging to it)…Hence in Matthew ‘late on the sabbath’).
[7] G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1948, pp. 331-332. “with genetive, late or on; and in late writers also after (M. Pr., 72f.), a sense which seems to be required in Mt. 28:1.”
[8] James Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, pub. 1906, p. 72. “In Matthew 28:1 (RV) we have οψε with this genitive, “late on the Sabbath,” cf. The Tebunis Papyri 230 (ii/B.C.), and Philostratus (ap. Blass 312). This last writer however has also οψε τουτων. “after these things” and Blass now adopts this meaning in Matthew, giving other quotations. This use of οψε = after involves an ablative genitive, “late from.”
[9] Liddell/Scott, English Greek Lexicon, (1940, p. 1282). opse, as a preposition with genitive, ‘ο τουτων (ho touton) "after these things," Philostrat, VA 6.10, cf. 4.18; so perhaps opse sabbaton "after the Sabbath day, Matt. 28:1. Liddell lists book 4, paragraph 18, line 5 as another example of opse meaning “after.” However, C.L. Kayser, in agreement with the context, translates opse musterion as “too late for the mysteries.”
[10] Edgar Goodspeed, Problems of New Testament Translation, (p. 43). oψε (opse) ... is also used by late Greek writers like Philostratus (second to third centuries) as a preposition meaning "after," followed by the genitive, opse touton "after these things." (Life of Apollonius, vi. 18; iv. 10: "after the mysteries").
[11] Samuele Bacchiocchi, The Time of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, (Biblical Perspectives, Berrien Springs, MI, 1985), pp. 49-55.
[12] Evangelion De-Mepharesha, the Curetorian Version of the Four Gospels with the Sinai Palimpst and Early Patristic Evidence, edited by F. Crawford Burkitt (England. Cambridge University Press, 1904), 1:171.
[13] The Holy Bible from Ancient Eastern Manuscripts containing the Old and New Testaments translated from the Peshitta, the Authorized Bible of the Church of the East, translated by George M. Lamsa, (Philadelphia, A.J. Holman (Comp. 1957) at 987.
[14] Biblia Sacra Polyglotta, vol. 5 (Graz, Austria: Akademische Druk – U. Velagsanstalt, 1965).
[15] The Greek manuscripts with these marginal readings include F2, E, G1242, H, Y, L, M, Ω, F1, 118, 157 and 788.
[16] Archibald T. Robertson, “Word Pictures of the New Testament”, Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1930, p. 240.
[17] Manolis Trianfyllides, The Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek, Institute of Modern Greek Studies, University of Thessalonica, 1998.
Let us all use the Gifts and Talents God has given to HIS Children (part 1)
I have tried over the years to be an example to the children of God to use the talents and gifts God their Father has given them. This tremendous energy and capacity is hardly used or tapped into by many churches due to the spirit of competition or jealousy.
This has led to a lifeless, boring and dying church for which there is no denial or defence.
Some years ago I visited another congregation during an interstate trip. The sermon was one of the worst I had ever heard: unBiblical and contrary to the preacher’s own church. But a rebellious, defiant attitude could be detected against the Church’s teachings and ruling body. Some don’t read or abide by their church’s policies; pastoral handbook; directives from on high; or the Biblical doctrine on this subject.
The entire sermon was devoted to members with ‘get up and go’ or using their initiative. He just had to go on and on against members having much of a role in the church and even misapplied the Holy Scriptures to this end, claiming that Matt 25:14-30 referred to members being active in the church and using their gifts and talents. Bizarre and even blasphemous.
Years early in 1986 a minister, filled with jealousy, viciously attacked me (as he did others) when he heard through the grapevine that I was going to get a book published on the origin of nations based on Genesis 10. He used to be really jealous of accomplished people, accusing them of having great pride and being haughty and behind their backs he would pile on all sorts of false accusations to legitimise the actions without their knowledge. Eventually he managed to drive the out of the church. This was rather common in those days.
I knew his tactics and moved church congregations to get away from the madness, like others did. Needless to say, he left the truth of God and went into apostasy a few years later. Given his track record over a number of churches; drinking too much; attacking other ministers; setting people up and so on, perhaps he was never converted. But is an example of how Satan infiltrates the Church.
Regardless, Satan used him to brutalise many and ruin their lives. A reckoning is coming with God for false leaders (Heb 10:31).
It happened again a few years later. Slander and defamation have been a common practice. And all because of jealousy and envy:
“Envy is the feeling of disapproval by hearing the successes of others. This term is always used in the negative or evil sense in the New Testament. Some preachers in Rome evidently resented Paul’s success in ministry.
It takes maturity to rejoice in the success of others. Immaturity constantly compares self with others. Juvenile Christians are intimidated by the accomplishments of others.
Envy not only means to desire to have what someone else has but to seek to deprive another person of what they have. In other words, in some way envy seeks to diminish the accomplishments of others. If a church in town is blessed with significant growth, another church may say “all they are concerned about is numbers.” Envy never builds up; it always lessens the person who exercises it. “Envy is rottenness to the bones” (Proverbs 14:30); envy will rot the core of our person.
When people feel diminished by the success of others there is a corollary that always comes with this–strife. Strife is an expression of enmity. These two evils are stitched together in James 3:16, “For where envy and self-seeking (strife) exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” People try to outdo and eclipse others where there is envy in motivation.
Churches are often neutralized because of this deadly combination. Think of a church full of people threatened by everybody else. Strife is inevitable.” (Grant Richardson, Verse by Verse Commentary online) [emphasis mine]
Target on your back
It seems that once a Church member just raises their heads and attempts to do something (write a book, organise a seminar, launch a newsletter, give a presentation, arrange this or that), then jealousy and horrible actions eventuate. My Mother warned me during my youth that if I used my God given talents, persecution may arise (I say “during” as she iterated this on a number of occasions, and it stuck in my head).
She insisted that I develop and use my talents (as should everyone) as they are God-given – regardless of harassment and jealousy. “If God is for you, who can be against you?” she repeated from time-to-time. And no human has the right or authority to negate them.
We must be on God’s side and defy the jealous and rebellious.
Is it really pride to use your spiritual gifts?
In the Bible, the term "pride" frequently denotes a sinful disposition characterised by arrogance and vanity, rather than taking pride in an achievement, family or country. It represents an excessive self-love and preoccupation with oneself, which often results in neglecting God and others. It can take the form of elevating an office or putting oneself on a pedestal and putting others down out of jealousy - puffing oneself up. Although feeling satisfaction in one's accomplishments or job is not intrinsically wrong at all, the Bible cautions against vanity that raises oneself above others or fosters a deficiency in humility. It includes imagining rivals and being jealous. Such pride does not see that it is hindering or undermining others. It sees only itself and using its position to lie about others to their buddies in an attempt to trip up the innocent. I can related many stories of the suffering of people who have talked about this madness. It uses excuses such as ‘we are only warning’ or that ‘ there must be other issues with the person’ or that ‘we heard this or that about them [without checking]’ etc.
The reality is that if members have ‘get up and go’; or use their initiative; or organise things; and especially if they use their God-given gifts and talents, the jealousy comes at them like a tidal wave! Instead of using the talents in the Church, it is crushed and disappointed members leave or succumb to the negativity. Lies are spread about them. Suspicion is cast upon them. Much goes on behind their backs to destabilise them, particularly with their peers. But some who are not leaders similarly engage in these attacks – after all, it is the same spirit involved with the same outcomes – harm to the innocent and gradual white-anting of the Church.
Many of those who undermine the spiritual gifts and talents of others do so consciously and with deliberate intent.
Undermining others
Herbert Armstrong warned against hurting others. Such have learned
“the way of vanity, exalting the self above God (and not God above the self), the way of lust and greed, the way of opposition, of competition and strife, the way of jealousy and envy, the way of resentment and bitterness, and essentially wanting to get even and to hurt the other fellow.” (sermon, 31 January 1976)
They are cunning, crafty, subtle, pretend to be the victim, deceitful, guileful – though their relatives and friends may be be blind to their tactics (www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deception and www.merriam-webster.com/
|thesaurus/deceitfulness). The Bible exhorts us to lay aside this craftiness or guile (ie being sneaky, deceptive) in John 1:47; IICor 12:16; IThess 2:3; IPet 2:1, 22; 3:10; Rev 14:5.
What are the causes for such behaviours?
Don’t they realise that one sin begets another? For instance one has to descend into tactics to undermine others such as involving in gossip, slander, avoidings, refusal to recognize them and so it goes.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the [penalty of the] law.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:16-21)
“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.
This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” (James 3:14-15)
Church services should be a time of asking others about their needs; of arranging get-togethers; looking out for others – that is to me Millennial in a sense. It is not the time for selfishness and ambition!
It is a time to represent the Messiah: to learn and practice they way of GIVE and not of GET.
Christ says:
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matt 23:33, ESV)
How some try and undermine Christians
In 1986 a false minister who, some claim, had demon problems, tried all he could to undermine members with talents and gifts he was jealous of by fabricating lies about them spreading them to other ministers claiming that they were trouble-makers, ambitious and proud. In the late 1980s he was assisted by another minister, a close friend. Together both spiritually raped and pillaged the two congregations under them, smashing them up (there are many witnesses to their behaviours and diaries, letters etc). The consequent devastation of the congregations and individuals they left mauled and bleeding was that the members identified God’s Law, ways and doctrines with this extreme cultic behaviour. They consequently fell into the arms of the apostasy. Almost every single lady left after just a few months of the terror.
These particular ministers (and their faction) said that God inspired them and that they sat on the Seat of Moses; that they had dreams where God showed them things; they were so close to God as ‘priests’ that there were almost completely impervious to sin and problems; and that God backed them up regardless, even if they damaged others.
Their view continues to be that they must never apologise; be seen to be invincible; create a lager around themselves; and never admit to any wrong-doing. Eg falsely accusing the members of rebellion when they rebel against their own leadership
Let the Bible speak about all of this
Tragically, they have their reward. Notice:
“… that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” (ICor 12:25)
“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out [KJV= avoid] for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. [ie those that do not care for others are causing division]
For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. [cp Dan 11:34]
For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.” (Rom 16:17-19)
“… that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.” (Rom 1:12)
So, by not caring for others properly is causing division!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Gal 5:22-26)
There are many ways such a jealous person may operate. For instance, because their self-centredness and jealousy makes them feel threatened by another, they must undermine them, leave them off invite lists, preventing their participation and undertake means to isolate them.
Another way of putting it is that they ‘have the spirit of competition’ – that is they see the other person as a rival. They become envious.
It is the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ – cut down and even eliminate those one is jealous and envious of. Some cultures have this characteristic so imbedded that they do this as second nature and go into denial mode when this attitude is brought to their attention.
Be Happy for Others!
“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (ICor 12:26)
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Rom 12:15 ESV)
“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Rom 15:2)
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (IThess 5:11)
Once they quit the jealousy and the false doctrine that we don’t have gifts and talents, those gifts an talents will be discovered, nurtured and utilised. Then the Church will be happy and grow, instead of being a revolving door. But some are too dour and lifeless, fruitless and lacking in growth. Seeing positive in others is just not their thing!
My old article on Jealousy and Envy in Scripture discusses the concept. A related Bible study is Do You Block the Talents of Others? And those who gain satisfaction from undermining others and/or gain the position or outcome they crave, then They have their reward.
In the end, one has to just stand up to the detractors. As Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) 19th century Scottish historian, essayist and satirist stated):
"The block of granite which was an obstacle in the path of the weak, becomes a stepping stone in the path of the strong."
Rare Items Sought
I ask you to join me in praying for the following to be found and made available to us for the purpose of filling in the gaps in Church of God history:
Late 1800s/early 1900s Church of God (Seventh Day) booklets and tracts.
Ministerial Letter from the 1956-65 (precursor to The Bulletin, Pastor’s Report and Pastor-General’s Report).
Ministerial conference materials (handouts, notes, agendas) 1950s-1990s.
The Portfolio - Pasadena (earliest editions).
Ernest Martin’s paper on Pentecost (1961).
Videos of evangelists’ sermons, AC lectures, Bible studies (especially Herman Hoeh and Raymond McNair).
A long list of what is sought can be found here.
Church of God periodicals - latest editions online
Below are links to a number (but not all) Church of God periodicals:
Beyond Today - United Church of God.
21st Century Watch - Intercontinental Church of God.
Tomorrow’s World - Living Church of God.
Advocate of Truth - Church of God (Seventh Day), based at Salem, WV.
Bible Advocate - Church of God (Seventh Day), based at Denver, CO.
International News - Church of God, International.
List of our Websites and Blogs
History Research Projects Foundation (a tax exempt foundation)
Friends of the Sabbath
Friends of the Sabbath (Facebook group)
Friends of the Sabbath Telegram channel
Origin of Nations
Origin of Nations news and information (Facebook group)
Lost Tribes (Facebook group)
Origin of Nations & World News Discussion Forum (e-mail group) [NB: click on the link and search for the forum]
HWA Library & Archives
HWA Library & WCG Archives (Facebook group)
HWA Library & WCG Archives (YouTube)
WCG & HWA News, Library, Archives Discussion Forum (e-mail group) [NB: click on the link and search for the forum]
My Articles & Papers
Globalresearchera1 (Academia site with select articles only)
World News
Global Newsa1 (X page - formerly Twitter)
GlobalNewsa1 Telegram channel (world news)
Bible Study, Church History and Other
Work of God through the Ages (Facebook page. Note: this page will be closed after the almost 700 members transfer to the new group referred to below)
Work of God through the Ages (Facebook group)
Global Bible News, Studies and Information Telegram channel (Bible history, archaeology news etc)
Sharing and Giving (currently inactive)
How to navigate the Friends of the Sabbath website
The website is vast with 400 gigabytes of information, periodicals, articles, papers, photographs, audios and videos. The information has taken years to build (since the 1990s) and decades to collect the information (since the 1970s).
Due to its size, the huge number of categories and sub-categories, pages and sections it can be daunting to navigate or to find the relevant information the browser or researcher may be seeking.
So, what I recommend to everyone is to simply go to the Explore by Subject Order section. In that you will find the most important areas to explore. Try it and see how you go - you never know what fascinating and helpful information you will come across!