Authentication is the hallmark of a trusted relationship​

For example, without verification from a credit card agency would you relinquish your ID and card number over the phone?

Of course not!

What about spiritually? Will you blindly trust every spiritual message you receive?

Of course not! This would be MORE foolish than giving up your credit card number.

For this reason of trust, Jehovah has authenticated his word, verifying the author and giving faith to the reader.

But first he had to encrypt the message to endure thousands of years.

Here is a typical representation of SSL (secure socket - "https") communication over the internet.

A conceptual overlay for the exchange of ideas and information:



The opening sequence of any good communication will summarize the intent of the message and verify the author.

Almost every book of the Bible follows this pattern.

But primarily, as the first "message", this is precisely what our wonderful God Jehovah has gifted to us in the book of Genesis.

However, the message is encrypted; preserved as merely hashed data for those who "seek" and find Jehovah.

Every aspect of Genesis points to his Son, from the creation onward, in a few primary ways:

1. The sacrificial death of the Son
2. Replacing the older with the younger
3. Blood is required to atone for sins (this is strong authentication -- coming soon in this thread)
4. Jehovah is Justice

Adam and Eve​

Sinless mankind, without need of a redeemer or concern.

But wait!

Sin entered the world, and the guilty promptly covered themselves with vegetation to hide their Shame from Jehovah.

Now it is Jehovah who provides the first animal sacrifice -> and gives Adam and Eve animal skin covering.

What does this picture?

Jehovah will provide the sacrifice, his Son, the Lamb sacrifice. This and this alone will cover man's sin.

Not our feeble attempts to hide ourselves from Jehovah!

Cain and Abel​

The founders of the world.

Sacrifice of vegetation rejected -> sacrifice of a "lamb" accepted?!?

The younger is slain by the jealous brother, the older destined to wander about in ignorance and guilt?!?

What does this picture?

Jesus is the shepherd Abel, the "lamb slain from the founding of the world".

Both the shepherd and the lamb slain.

Who is responsible? The older! And he will continue until the end, "marked" for survival.

Abraham and Isaac​

The Father of a people has a Son.

But wait! It's the son of a slave girl from Egypt! There will be a SECOND son.

Sometime later, we find the younger Isaac will have the inheritance.

And it is the younger who will be sacrificed for sin, the Abel, The Christ.

Yet Jehovah again provides the "animal skin", and makes atonement for man's sin!

What does this picture?

Jehovah will give his own Son as the sacrificial atonement of man's sins.

---------- tomorrow, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph --- Continuing the Theme and authenticating Jesus as the Christ.

 

One of the increasingly challenging notions for some to accept in the Bible is "blood sacrifice". And no wonder, it seems to be an ancient (crazy) ritual!

But this idea is actually deep authentication for the veracity of the scriptures.

So, why blood sacrifice?

Is it simply to point to Jesus?

Certainly, the sacrifice of animals and sprinkling of blood DOES point to Jesus' sacrifice. But that doesn't answer "WHY".

The "why" question is actually quite deep, and demonstrates the authenticity of the God Jehovah revealed in the scriptures.


A) Jehovah CANNOT show partiality to any of his creation. If he were to be partial, his moral authority would be called into question.

Therefore, as Jehovah establishes objective moral and ethical duties, justice must be universally applied to all of sentient creation.

Adam and Eve sinned, Satan sinned, and therefore the just action/reaction of those choices MUST be applied precisely and without partiality.


B) Sin leads to death - and no, I don't mean "if you sin you will die". Rather, sin CAUSES death.

The far reaching outcome of a sinful course is spiritual and physical death of the sinner, and those around the sinner.

The abused becomes the abuser. The adulterer spiritually kills children, who in turn become corrupted. The thief kills those they stole from, perhaps directly, and perhaps by causation.


C) Blood represents life, the "life force" of the creation.

In the case of animal sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood, it serves as the physical manifestation of spiritual things - the SIN CAUSED the death of the animal.

The animal bore the brunt of the sin, instead of the sinner. (this shows how much Jehovah loves mankind)

And of course, Jesus as the prime sacrifice bore the brunt of our wayward course; he became the animal sacrifice and by his spilled blood takes the action/reaction justice from God that WE deserved.

Do you think it was a small matter that Jehovah asked his precious firstborn to become sin for us?


D) Jehovah wants all of his creation to live and live abundantly. He doesn't WANT to punish us, but he must, or he gives up his position as sovereign of the universe.

In the same way a particle necessarily reacts to the forces of the universe, so must sin be reacted against.


Therefore, animal sacrifice and the sprinkling of blood is the physical manifestation of a VERY complex series of principles, which ONLY make sense IF Jehovah is the true God.

Of course, many ancient civilizations practiced sacrifice... but we shouldn't conflate that fact and conclude that this was merely a ubiquitous ancient ritual.

Instead, those ancient civilizations inherited by word of mouth the ideas which began with Adam and Eve, and continued through Shem, Noah and Abraham.

Only the Hebrews had an inkling of these truths. The rest were just copy-cats devoid of understanding; thinking by sacrifice they had the favor of the gods.

"Yes, according to the Law nearly all things are cleansed with blood, and unless blood is poured out no forgiveness takes place."

- Hebrews 9:22, the action/reaction nature of sin causing death

"Therefore, it was necessary for the typical representations of the things in the heavens to be cleansed by these means, but the heavenly things require far better sacrifices. "

- Hebrews 9:23, animal sacrifice was a physical representation of heavenly concepts

"so also the Christ was offered once for all time to bear the sins of many"

- Hebrews 9:28, Jesus becomes sin and replaces mankind, so that Jehovah's perfect justice and perfect love can work in harmony for the benefit of his creation!

 

This is quite a new way of looking at old stories. Let me get off my post on the gospel and give some thoughts to this. Thanks for this essay; quite interesting.

 

I'm not sure it is a new way

I imagine that when Jesus privately opened up the scriptures to the Apostles, this is the sort of thing he told them about.

The OT, and in particular Genesis, is all about authenticating the Christ.

Two covenants promised, the younger as the sacrifice and inheritance; in the Jacob and Esau component, you'll see what I mean!

(if the repeating themes in Adam/Eve Cain/Abel Abraham/Isaac didn't convince you already)

 

Hi SingleCell,
I really liked this post. It’s good to use this kind of post as a “thinking†tool. I’ve spent the last few weeks gathering information about the thinking, teachings, and beliefs of the Israelites/Jews living during the time of Jesus. Some of it is quite interesting. So, I think I will post it, but I don’t quite know how to label the thread yet. It covers several subjects which Jesus spoke of, along with his parables. The reader has to “put on the mind†of 1st century Jews, along with 1st century Samaritans, Greeks and Romans. They were exposed to the teachings of the Rabbis, who gave their ideas of how to worship their God, Jehovah. One of their misguided ideas was not to mention his name, for fear of breaking the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.†(Ex 20:7 KJV)

There are some who feel that God’s name, Jehovah, should not be used because of not knowing the correct pronunciation. By not using his name at all, leads to confusion as in; “The LORD said unto my Lord,†(Ps 110:1 KJV) This lends falsehood to the belief of the Trinity. Just using all capital letters does not help a person to understand what the difference is. Some say that Jesus never used Jehovah in his prayers, he always said, My father, or Our father. I would have to ask this; When a person talks directly to their father, do they address him by his given name? What would it sound like? “Father, can I use the car, . . .â€, versus, “Richard, can I use the car, . . .†What would your father says if you used that form?

 

Almost midnight here. Time to hit the hay but.... I wanted to say that I like this thread !

 

Hi SingleCell,
Here is a portion of the subject of "Messiah" from the Dictionary of the Bible, C. R. Barnes, pg 707, 1900. I thought this might interest you. There will be more to follow.
“(3) Prophetic passages. The number of passages in the Old Testament regarded by the Jew in pre-Christian times as prophetic of the Messiah is much larger than that of the special predictions to which Christians have commonly appealed. It is stated by Edersheim to be upward of 456, of which 75 are from the Pentateuch, 243 from the prophets, and 138 from the Hagiographa. “But comparatively few of these,â€￾ he adds, “are what would be termed verbal predictions.â€￾ This harmonizes, however, with what has already been said with regard to the general character of the old Testament revelation. (For complete list of passages Messianically applied in the Rabbinic writings, see Edersheim’s Life and Times of Jesus. Appendix IX.) The predictions to which Christians as well as Jews have attached special importance embrace the following: Gen. 3:15 (the protoevangelium); 9:27; 12:3; 22:18; 49:8, 10; Deut. 18:18; 2 Sam. 7:11-16; 23:5; Psalms 2, 16, 22, 40, 110; Isa., chaps. 2, 7, 9, 11, 40, 42, 49, 63; Jer. 23:5, 6; Dan. 7:27; Zech. 12:10-14; Hag. 2:9; Mal. 3:1; 4:5, 6.â€￾ (Dictionary of the Bible, C. R. Barnes, pg 707, 1900)

 

Good point Tsaphah. And please, write that post! (on notepad, and then copy-paste into the forum)

Glad you enjoyed the post!

 

"Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn sin, when it has been carried out, brings forth death."

- James 1:15

In regards to the blood sacrifice post, I believe this is what James is talking about - the action/reaction nature of sin.

Rather than "the soul who sins will surely die", when sin bears it's fruit, it PRODUCES death. Two different concepts, one is the "judgment" and the other is the "fruit".

It is in regards to the fruit of sin which relates to animal sacrifice directly, because the animal didn't deserve to be killed - the sinner did (judgment), so the animal (and Christ Jesus) bears the fruit of sin in place of us.

... and I suppose, the judgment.

Hopefully that wasn't confusing But I do believe this complex issue deeply authenticates the Holy Scriptures to the spiritual reasoner; and since the Old Testament laws are one of the primary stumbling blocks for "Modern Man", worth thinking about and understanding, so you can "give an answer".

 

Hi SingleCell,
I can't attach the PDF, as it exceeds the file size allowed to upload. I posted the entire article in posts #5-#13 here:
http://e-jw.org/showthread.php?1210-The-quot-Great-Pyramid-quot-Controversy&highlight=Great+Pyramid

You can create a copy of this by copying each post and pasting it into your Word or other text program.

 

Thank you very much Tsaphah, for your hard work, and for the link!

I've slowly been going through this, and while interesting, ... is not like Divine Plan of the Ages in it's profundity

At best wishful thinking (IMO). Perhaps there are hints of truth contained in the architecture and design of the pyramid, but I'm not sure there is much value here.

What are your summary thoughts on this notion?

 

There are several different ideas about the pyramids of Giza. Russell had some very interesting ideas about it. I believe he was off on a few. Then, there is one of the Republican candidates for President of the United States; Ben Carson. He says that they were built as granaries by Joseph. (Gen 41:48-49)

One thing I am sure of, and may be wrong. They were not used for storing grain, and not used for the mummies of Egyptian Pharaohs. More than anything, I think they were used as observatories. This is based on the architectural design and locations. Other than that, I am willing to say I don’t know why they were built or their reason for being in that specific location. Everybody has their own thoughts. I think I’ll have another beer.

 

Someone asked why Jesus on two occasions "cleansed" the temple, the response fits with the theme here:

No the money changers are only mentioned once, in John. This is the first metaphorical cleaning cycle of the two covenants.

• “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2:16)

^ drives them out with a whip (beginning of ministry)

• "My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’"” (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46)

^ heals the blind and sick at the temple (end of ministry)

The Bible is a deep encryption system; one of the primary repeating themes is the notion that there would be two covenants, so "cleansing" of the temple twice is direct correlation with that encryption system. Moses went up the mountain twice and brought the commandments down twice.

Genesis is primarily an algorithm to demonstrate this concept - repeating theme of two sons (covenants), the younger receives the inheritance. (Judaism -> Christianity)

The NT continues this algorithm, for example, Jesus' first miracle was taking water from the purification vessel of the Jews and making it into "new wine" which was put out at the "marriage feast" second.

Paul discusses this encryption algorithm explicitly:

These things may be taken as a symbolic drama; for these women mean two covenants, the one from Mount Siʹnai, which bears children for slavery and which is Haʹgar. 25 Now Haʹgar means Siʹnai, a mountain in Arabia, and she corresponds with the Jerusalem today, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

• Galatians 4:24-26

 

Hi SingleCell:

It is interesting that you mention why did Jesus clear out the Temple two times during his ministry? I think I know the answer.

Since it was not in Jesus mission to knock down the Temple of the Jews during his ministry (he knew this would happen in 70CE, he did something that would be later recognized as prophetic by future Bible Researchers. It is for the same reason that there were two destruction's of the the Temples of the Jews.

So, Jesus cleaning out the Temple twice was to coincide with the two destructions of the Temples of the Jews. They were destroyed because they were unfaithful to Jehovah God and they were unacceptable to Jesus. This would also point forward in a prophetic statement that two spiritual "temples" would also need to be cleaned out and destroyed due to unfaithfulness.

The first century "church" that Jesus established himself became Apostate in the latter part of the first Century and morphed into the Catholic Church. No doubt Jesus came during the presence of the first and early second Century and tore down that spiritual temple of Jehovah and set up another one with disciples who had remained clean and those from the apostate one that recognized eventually the fall of the former "church".

The second "church" of Christ that would need to be cleaned out and knocked down would appear during the second presence of the Christ in "our day". That would be the Watchtower. Yes, for many years they were indeed the "church" or body that was approved by Jehovah God and his Christ, Jesus. But, just as the first new covenant Saints of the first presence of Christ during the first and second Centuries had become Apostate and unfaithful, so did the Watchtower when they brought the throne of Satan into their "temple" by having an adulterous relationship with Satan's organization instead of remaining faithful to Jehovah God and telling Satan and the U.N. to pound sand. What closed the case was their un-repentance concerning their sinful activity with the U.N. Therefore, this "temple" also would need to be torn down and the members would have to make their way out and find the second "temple" of the presence. I think that time is near. Make sure to keep your ear out for the voice of the Master, Jesus as he leads his sheep out of the old and into the new like he did going from Judaism to Christianity.

Frank

 

He definitely did, Book of John's "cleaning" was at the beginning of the ministry with the whip and the synoptic gospels were the cleaning and then healing.

The first covenant has already been cleansed, and the second covenant is about to be.

The transition from Christianity to the Kingdom.

The two temples in Israel are a compartmentalization of this into the first covenant.

"multi-dimensional"

 

Oh, interesting! Frank, can you expound on this?

I believe the scriptures repeat things in two's regarding the covenants

 

Hi All:

Too late tonight, but I will try to satisfy you tomorrow if I have time. But, the cleansing in John's account is early in his ministry and the account in Matthew is quite late in his ministry. Read them carefully Joshua and you will see this. These are not two accounts of the same event, they are two accounts of two separate occasions. I will expand on this more later.

SingleCell, what do you mean by "the first covenant has already been cleaned and the second covenant is about to be cleaned"?

Frank

 

U45:



The 2 Presences of the Christ

'I am not a pillar of the church, but a buttress. I support it from the outside' - Winston Churchill

We start with the famous question that the disciples put to Jesus on the mount of Olives:

1 Departing now, Jesus was on his way from the temple, but his disciples approached to show him the buildings of the temple.
2 In response he said to them: Do you not behold all these things? Truly I say to you, By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.
3 While he was sitting upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately, saying: Tell us, When will these things be [end of Jewish system], and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things? [end of Satan's system] (Matthew 24).

1 As he was going out of the temple one of his disciples said to him: Teacher, see! what sort of stones and what sort of buildings!
2 However, Jesus said to him: Do you behold these great buildings? By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.
3 And as he was sitting on the Mountain of the Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew began to ask him privately:
4 Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these [stones being thrown down] things are destined to come to a conclusion [end of Jewish system]? (Mark 13).

These 2 parallel accounts describe the same event in their literal meanings (which meanings are fairly symbolic). Luke 21 is not a parallel account because it is set in the temple not upon the mount of Olives.

In Matthew 24 and in Mark13 Jesus is asked the question by 4 apostles upon the mount of Olives at night. Whereas Luke 21 is set in the temple during the day and Jesus is not asked a question but volunteers the prophecy to those speaking about the beautiful stones of the temple (i.e. those close to those stones).

1 And having looked up, He saw the rich ones putting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He also saw a certain poor widow putting two lepta there.
3 And He said, Truly I say to you, This poor widow put [in] more than all.
4 For all these out of their abundance put into the gifts to God, but she out of her poverty put [in] all the living which she had.
5 And as some were speaking about the temple, that it had been adorned with beautiful stones and gifts, He said,
6 [As to] these things that you see, days will come in which a stone will not be left on a stone, which will not be thrown down.
7 And they asked Him, saying, Teacher, then when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign when these things are about to happen?

37 And [in] the days, He was teaching in the temple. And going out [in] the nights, He lodged in the Mount of Olives. (Luke 21 GLT)

3 And [as] He [was] sitting in the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew questioned Him privately: (Mark 13 GLT)

So in Matthew and in Mark the 4 apostles ask Jesus for a sign of a presence [A coded reference to 4 presences or parts of presences). But clearly Jesus was present when he was being asked the question. So the apostles are asking for a sign of his future presence (knowing that he is going to be physically absent).

22 It was while they were gathered together in Galilee that Jesus said to them: The Son of man is destined to be betrayed into men's hands,
23 and they will kill him, and the third day he will be raised up. Consequently they were very much grieved (Matthew 17).

In fact, although he left them at his death, we shall discover that he continued to be 'present' for another 42 years after his death until 74Nisan-75Nisan when the first part of the first presence ended. So the apostles were essentially asking: How will we know that you are still around when you yourself are in heaven?

The various signs that Jesus gave were certainly fulfilled at the time of the end of the Jewish system, when the temple was burned down and not a stone was left upon a stone. But unbeknown to the disciples at that time, there was to be a second fulfilment of the 'signs of the presence' in the last years of the World.

The 4 apostles asked Jesus a total 4 questions privately. These were:

1. When will the physical temple fall down
2. What is the sign of your presence (first or second)
3. What is the sign of the end of everything (Matthew)
4. What is the sign of the end of the Jewish system (Matthew and Mark)

Matthew asks all 4. Mark asks 1 and 4. But since these are parallel literal accounts of the same events, all 4 questions were asked of Jesus and the answer given by Jesus, was in fact all three answers of Matthew and Mark, which together apply to all 4 questions. The sign of Jesus' presence is very, very large. It is the entirety of Jesus' answer and it stretches from Matthew 24:4 - Matthew 25:46 and from Mark 13:5 - Mark 13:37 and from Luke 21:8-38!! It was a long answer. Here is the beginning of his answer in Matthew...

4 And in answer Jesus said to them: Look out that nobody misleads you;
5 for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
6 you are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom [World wars in second presence], and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another.
8 All these things are a prelude of pangs of distress.
9 Then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name [due to the authority from Jesus that his people have. The JWs fulfilled this in WW2, refusing to bow to the authority of the state and make war, and so ending up in concentration camps. The first presence true Christians were fed to the lions].
10 Then, also, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise and mislead many;
12 and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.
13 But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.
14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.
15 Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place, let the reader use discernment,
16 then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains (Matthew 24).

From this answer we can see that knocking down of the temple at Jerusalem, in fact by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD, which was the end of the Jewish system, occurred during the sign of the presence and therefore occurred during a presence. Furthermore the sign of the presence is also a sign of the conclusion of the system of things. So the end of the world occurs during a presence.

But if there was one continuous presence all the way from Jesus' death until the end of the world, then since he would never be absent he would not need to give us a sign for his presence. So it is apparent that the first presence ended, and was followed by a period of absence before a second presence began.

So the end of the Jewish system of things, the destruction of the physical temple in Jerusalem by Titus in 70 CE lies in the first presence, and the end of the world, caused by corrupt politicians, lies at the end of the second presence. So really Jesus is being asked: What sign (singular) is the sign of your first presence which contains the end of the Jewish system, which sign is also the sign of your second presence which ends with Armageddon.

Since a sign is needed to detect Jesus' presence, his presence cannot be plainly visible. So there are two invisible presences the first covering the end of the Jewish system and the second covering the end of the world.

Do you not behold these things?

Jesus says to his disciples: Do you not behold these things? referring to the buildings of the temple.

Now of course the disciples, sitting upon the mount of olives could see the temple buildings, in fact they pointed these buildings out to him. So in the literal meaning, yes they could see them. But in the greater meaning the answer is no. We have seen this before in the case of Nicodemus' second question to Jesus:

4 Nicodemus said to him: How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter into the womb of his mother a second time and be born, can he? (John 3).

Literally the answer is no, one cannot enter the womb of one's genetic mother a second time. But in the greater meaning, the answer is, yes. That is precisely how one is born again - see I12. It is such a great question. Nicodemus's words were inspired. Now in the case of Jesus' question to the disciples: Do you not behold these things? we have the same situation. Literally, yes, they could see the building. Symbolically, no, they could not see the greater building. So this is a good time to introduce the reader to what we call the Binary Question Principle of the true bible code...

Any unanswered question asked in the scriptures with two possible answers (normally yes and no), has the answer in the symbolic meaning, being the opposite of the answer in the literal meaning.

In other words with any unanswered binary question in the scriptures, both possible answers are true. Whichever answer is true in the literal meaning of a literal account, the opposite answer is true in the greater meaning of the account.

The temple buildings in the greater meaning are invisible physically just like his presences. Now the use of the plural word 'buildings', means that there are several true Christian religions, in the temple with the 4 cornerstones, for the scripture does not say 'building' of the temple. But both the building, the true religion, and the stones of the (buildings of) the temple are physically invisible in the greater meaning because the building is made out of living stones, sanctified men and women. These true Christians are invisible in that they do not look like temple stones and do not look any different to any other human, and some of them do not behave any differently either.

19 Certainly, therefore, you are no longer strangers and alien residents, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and are members of the household of God,
20 and you have been built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, while Christ Jesus himself is the foundation cornerstone.
21 In union with him the whole building, being harmoniously joined together, is growing into a holy temple in [the] Lord.
22 In union with him you, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit (Ephesians 2 - NWT adapted from Greek).

19 In answer Jesus said to them: Break down this temple, and in 3 days I will raise it up.
20 Therefore the Jews said: This temple was built in 46 years, and will you raise it up in three days?
21 But he was talking about the temple of his body.
22 When, though, he was raised up from the dead, his disciples called to mind that he used to say this; and they believed the Scripture and the saying that Jesus said (John 2).

19 What! Do you not know that the body of you people is temple of the holy spirit within you, which you have from God? (1 Corinthians 6).

4 Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected, it is true, by men, but chosen, precious, with God.
5 You yourselves also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it is contained in Scripture: Look! I am laying in Zion a stone, chosen, a foundation cornerstone, precious; and no one exercising faith in it will by any means come to disappointment (1 Peter 2).

One or more of the buildings of this grand temple of all Christianity must contain the living stones of Jesus' very body, the new covenant saints. To see why the New Covenant saints are his body, please consider the following scriptures...

30 We are members of his body (Ephesians 5).

18 He is the head of the body, the congregation (Colossians 1).

23 Because a husband is head of his wife, as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a saviour of [this] body (Ephesians 5).

The Marriage here is the new covenant. The New covenant saints collectively are Jesus' bride, engaged to him through this covenant. Hence we read in Revelation:

7 Let us rejoice and be overjoyed, and let us give him the glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has arrived and his wife has prepared herself.
8 Yes, it has been granted to her to be arrayed in bright, clean, fine linen, for the fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the holy ones (Revelation 19).

Jesus is the lamb here:

29 The next day he beheld Jesus coming toward him, and he said: See, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world! (John 1).

This marriage of the lamb takes place in heaven immediately after Armageddon. This is covered in Revelation 19 - see U151. But even whilst the new covenant saints are merely his fiancé, having entered into the new covenant, they are still regarded as Jesus flesh, his body, under Law:

23 In case there happened to be a virgin girl engaged to a man, and a man actually found her in the city and lay down with her,
24 You must also bring them both out to the gate of that city and pelt them with stones, and they must die, the girl for the reason that she did not scream in the city, and the man for the reason that he humiliated the wife of his fellowman. So you must clear away what is evil from your midst (Deuteronomy 22).

18 But the birth of Jesus Christ was in this way. During the time his mother Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph, she was found to be pregnant by holy spirit before they were united.
19 However, Joseph her husband, because he was righteous and did not want to make her a public spectacle, intended to divorce her secretly (Matthew 1).

So Jesus’ fiancé is treated in all respects as his wife, because in those days there was no question of either a man or a woman breaking their agreement with each other to get married (things have changed a bit since then).

OK so the New covenant saints are Jesus' fiancé, and have the same marital status as Jesus wife, which is one flesh with her husband according to Adam and to Jesus...

24 That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh (Genesis 2).

6 So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put asunder (Matthew 19).

So his fiancé is one in flesh with Jesus. So their bodies are his body. So his flesh, his body is here, when they are here. So his body, his wife, his fiancé, his flesh are the living stones of one or more of the buildings of the spiritual temple. And so if they are present then Jesus is present and if they are not and he is not physically down here himself, then he is absent.

So the two presences are split by an absence of Jesuswhich is an absence of his flesh, which is an absence of his wife-to-be, his fiancé, which is an absence of 1NC saints. But since these are the spiritual temple, we can see clearly that their first temple in the first presence is knocked down, so that no living stone rests upon no living stone and then replaced by a second temple in the second presence.

Definition: Jesus is present if his flesh is present upon the earth. His flesh can be a body which the angel Michael possesses or can be his fiancé, a 1NC saint with a valid water baptism so that he or she is clean in the flesh. Jesus cannot be one with unclean flesh.

Two presences mean two temples of 1NC saints, which means two true religions. We have already seen this is the case of gap in procreation of the children of Leah, who stands for the 1NC in the greater meaning of Genesis29/30 - see I32. We can also see it in the case of the temple curtain that Paul describes as representing Jesus' flesh, which was rent in two from top to bottom at Jesus' death.

51 And, look! the curtain of the sanctuary [Jesus' flesh] was rent in two, from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rock-masses [Jesus was the rock masses] were split (Matthew 27).

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness for the way of entry into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20 which he inaugurated for us as a new and living way through the curtain, that is, his flesh (Hebrews 10).

This would mean that our entrance to the Kingdom of God, through this curtain cannot occur until all the 1NC saints are dead, since they represent Jesus flesh and Jesus flesh is the temple curtain, and the temple curtain prevented everyone from entering the most holy, which pictures the Kingdom of God in heaven. But the curtain was rent from top to bottom. So the first presence, the absence, and the second presencetogether span the whole time period from Jesus to Armageddon.

Whilst Jesus was alive, his body, his flesh, was in one piece, but after he died his body became that of his wife, the 1NC saints, and they are split in two (like the curtain of the Temple) into the two presences of the Christ. The gap in time between the buildings (plural) of the spiritual temple, the gap between the presences, is represented by the two halves of the curtain, his flesh, his wife, his body by covenant. It is also prefigured by the temporal gap in time between the two physical stone temple of the Jews, Solomon's temple and Zerubbabel's temple. Don't forget that the Jews were not under the law of Moses whilst in exile in Babylon, because it is impossible to be under law without a functioning temple!! It was Ezra who took them back under law, he was a second Moses if you like - see Nehemiah 8-10.

The importance of this is that a lot of people over the last 2,000 years who have claimed to be new covenant saints, by their partaking of the bread and the wine of the 1NC, have been badly mislead. If they had listened to Jesus they would have known that he was going to be absent for quite some time, because he said:

11 You will always have the poor with you but you will not always have me (Matthew 26 adapted from Greek).

This response was made to the disciple’s indignation at a woman pouring expensive oil on Jesus' head. The woman is the new covenant, the expensive oil is the baptism in holy spirit, the head is the collection of new covenant saints who are to be the Kings of the Kingdom of God in heaven. So the response, in the symbolic meaning, means you will not always have the new covenant saints. It means, I will not always be present. In the literal meaning of course Jesus died. (End of Part I)