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The Apocrypha

    Relationship Between the Biblical and Extra-Biblical Writings

 
   There is no doubt that the early writers considered the Old Testament writings to be initiated as a single work by God himself, as surely if he had written each letter upon a stone with his own finger.  This might also be said of the authors of the writings often classified as Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.  Although it might be concluded that at least some such writings can be attributed to false teachers and the making of deliberate forgeries, it must be conceded that many of these writers believed themselves to be moved by the same Spirit of God, even when they were writing under a pseudo name.  We can probably assume that none of these writers originally thought of their writing as an apocryphal book.  These authors most likely wrote their works in an attitude believing that God's Spirit was working through them to produce his document.  The writer thought himself moved by the unction of the Holy Spirit.  We need not needlessly charge them with deliberate fraud or deceit.  For the most part, these men were probably very devout believers in God.

    The word Apocrypha simply meant "hidden" and might have either referred to those books which had been hidden from the public or simply unknown by the public.  The Protestant Church generally designates this title upon the Old Testament writings: 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the last sixth chapters of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Song of the Three Holy Children, the Prayer of Azarias, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.  During the days when copies of such writings were extremely limited and scarce, it would be quite easy for some writings to remain hidden from or unknown to the general public.  Religious authorities might have merely chosen to hide from the public that which was considered as unprofitable for their own purpose, or perhaps contradicted the doctrines that they themselves had taught.  We need only to look as far as our own denominations to witness a similar christianized type of censorship.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Man will exalt one doctrine while suppressing another.  It matters little which of these doctrines is true and which is false.  It is man's opinion and man's doctrine which is exalted.  Any doctrine which might jeopardize or contradict the denominations favored doctrine or belief must be outwardly suppressed for the sake of the denomination itself.  There is usually no unction of God's Spirit which causes man to suppress these but man's own personal opinion.  Usually there is no divine revelation, or for that matter no logical reasoning employed, except that the favored doctrine has always been favored among the particular religious sect.  Do we think that the religious leaders before us were any different?

    Perhaps certain books were considered to promote gross errors in doctrine by those who could not thoroughly understand their true meaning, be they somehow lacking in the ability to understand the deeper religious significance or meaning intended.  Such Old Testament writings were once rejected by the religious authorities as uninspired or spurious while other such writings rejected by the Church today were accepted by these same authorities. We need only to point to such writings as: the Mishna, the Talmud, and finally the Kabbala.   The Church later thought of the writings of Eusebius, Tertullian, Clement, etc., along with a host of other such writings, some of which claiming at times the authorship of an apostle, as apocrypha; the word eventually being understood to represent those writings of non-canonicity.

    What is the Pseudepigrapha?  The term is a transliteration of the Greek plural noun that literally means "with false superscription".  According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary  (p. 1830), the term can be defined as, "spurious works purporting to emanate from biblical characters".  The Random House Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language defines the term as, "Certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character, but not considered canonical or inspired".

     The extra-biblical writings have long been considered to be somewhat problematic by many within both the Jewish and Christian communities.  These writings can often be considered problematic because they tend to raise questions that can be described as being somewhat antagonistic to the generally accepted  tradition and religious teaching.  They are generally esteemed as unprofitable and uninspired writings.  Some even regard such writings with great contempt.  Many within the more conservative branches of Christianity reject any notion that perhaps some of the bible writings might have been lost, and unthinkable that our present bible might be somehow incomplete.  Such people are often not aware that the Old Testament authors depended upon other such lost writings as their sources which they freely admit.  Among these are: the Book of the Wars of Yahweh (Num. 21:14), the Book of the Just (Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18), the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Ki 14:19; 2 Chr 33:18), the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah (1 Ki 14:29, 15:7), the Annals of Samuel the Seer (1 Chr. 29:29), the History of Nathan the Prophet (2 Chr 9:29), the Annals of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer (2 Chr. 12:15), the Annals of Jehu the Son of Hanani (2 Chr. 20:34), and others.

    Some teach that Moses compiled the Book of Genesis from other writings that surely had to have been handed down and preserved by his forefathers.  Genesis can be broken down into eleven separate history books, each being separated by colophons at the conclusion of  the books.  This is known to have been a popular style for such ancient writings.  The colophon that separates them often  contains the name and author of the document.  According to this theory we have eleven separate books having the following authors: Adam, Noah, and eight other authors which Moses merely compiled into one book.   If there did indeed exist copies of such ancient documents, it is quite possible that Moses only summarized certain events from each of these which the Holy Spirit would have him to include in the Torah as a foundation.  While we cannot have any way of knowing what else was included in these books, we should be at least willing to admit that we may not have a copy of every word which God had caused man to write down.

    There are some who regard at least some of the extra-biblical writings as promising in that it may help the student to better understand the times and thoughts of both early Judaism and Christianity.  As regards a "canon" of extra-biblical writings, there is no such thing.  As old as much of this literature is, sometimes dating older than 300 B.C., even the terms Apocrypha or Pseudepigrapha suggests something new for most people within the Christian community.  Many of them have never heard these words used before. The study of these writings seems to be somewhat in its infancy.  The recent findings of such manuscripts, and especially the uncovering of the Dead Sea Scrolls, has had a favorable impact upon the Christian community.  Many of them are now at least a little bit interested in what these extra-biblical documents might contain.

    In early Christianity, it is all too apparent that controversy existed over the acceptance of at least some of these writings within the churches.  When comparing the Second Epistle of Peter with the Epistle of Jude, it becomes obvious that the first author deliberately avoids steering his hearers towards the Pseudepigraphic writings whereas in the Epistle of Jude, speaking upon similar subject matter, the author does not hesitate to make reference to 1 Enoch and another writing containing a legend about the body of Moses, and even at one point even directly quotes from 1 Enoch.  It would appear that the two authors possess different views concerning the validity and inspiration of these writings.  This problem is known to have persisted for centuries in the early Church regarding the differing opinion as regards the acceptance or rejection of these writings.  It is a fact that many of the churches maintained an especially high regard for some of these writings, continued to read them publicly, and encouraged others to read them as well.  It is also well attested that the Epistle of Jude, which we all agree to be canonical today, was for a long time held highly questionable by many sects of the Church primarily because of its relationship to the Book of Enoch.

    We know that the Hebrew canon was not completed before A.D. 90 for we witness debates concerning the canonicity of Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Esther at that time.  As for the New Testament writings, the first listing of our accepted twenty-seven books does not even appear until A.D. 367.  It is obvious that all churches were very much in disagreement as to defining the recognized canon until the end of the fifth century.  The Book of Revelation was not accepted by the Greek Church until around the tenth century.  The Syrian church only accepted twenty-two documents into their New Testament canon, excluding 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.  The Ethiopian Jews had a different Old Testament canon than
their brothers in that they included various Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, especially including the Prayer of Manasseh, Jubilees, 1 Enoch, and 2 Esdras.  To refer to any book as noncanonical in the early church prior to A.D. 100 is to simply be historically inaccurate.  There simply was no defined canon.  The canonization of the scriptures came well after much apostasy had been allowed to infiltrate the churches.  The church age at that time was becoming spiritually dull as regards both their ears and eyes.  Even today the Catholic Bible differs from the Protestant Bible.  The difference between the two is the acceptance of the deuterocanonical writings by the Catholic Church.  These writings are considered to be apocryphal and uninspired by the Protestant community.  Many Protestants would consider their value as next to worthless.

    A complete study of all of the extra-biblical writings would be quite exhaustive.  The list of Apocrypha consists of both Old and New Testament writings.  The Old Testament Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical writings are probably the most familiar as they are included within the Septuagint and preserved within the Catholic Bible today.  Some of the other more familiar writings are: the Books of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, the Apocalypse of Baruch, 2Esdras, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Jubilees, and the Martyrdom of Isaiah.  Even this list would take us way beyond the scope of this present work if we are to investigate each writing thoroughly.  As for the Old Testament writings it is thought to be
most profitable to limit our focus on the deuterocanonical writings.  As the list of the New Testament Apocrypha is also quite extensive, we must limit our investigation to just a few of these.  We have chosen two versions of each of the apocalypses of Peter and Paul.  Finally, we believe that a study on the Apocrypha would be left wanting if failed to include the fascinating book entitled 2 Esdras.  This then is what we shall include in our present work.

    Why do we generally accept that the Book of Daniel is Holy Spirit written while we place the other Maccabaean writings on a shelf with the label, Apocrypha?  The authorship of the Book of Daniel is highly questionable according to most biblical scholars, as is true also of the time period in which it was written.  These scholars have concluded that the Book of Daniel is a "direct product of the Maccabaean struggles."  Daniel lived hundreds of years before the book was written so we can assume that the author is writing under a pseudo name.  This fact alone should make it a member of the Pseudepigrapha.  Some have even suggested that the book attributed to Daniel becomes the model for all later apocalyptic pseudepigrapha.   If the Book of Daniel, by scholarly and critical analysis should reveal itself to be written by a Pseudo author, how can we continue to proclaim it to be cannonical?   If  this book of Daniel, from all appearances, looks as if it rightfully should be rejected from the canon, and yet we continue regard it as a valid canon entry; is it not at least possible that some of these other writings were rejected, when in deed the Holy Spirit may appear to pay his own witness to it  thereby approving the writing?

    Beyond all of this we must ask ourselves if any of the extra-biblical writings appears to contain anything of value to the Christian community?  We think that after reviewing our careful analysis, the reader will at least be open to consider some of these apocryphal writings in a new light.  Regardless of what the reader shall conclude after our investigation this one thing shall remain; the reader will have a higher appreciation for the writings, not based upon what the scholars tells us, but rather based upon their individual intrinsic value.   Do we mean to suggest that any of these apocryphal writings should now be added to the canon on the basis of their being Holy Ghost ordained?  Nay, what we ask is merely that their inherent value be admitted, accepted, and preserved by the Church for future generations.
 

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The Biblical Canon

    Those who have went before us in the early church, had slowly begun to recognize the need to give a seal of approval upon the several different books that had been circulating throughout the church.   This was the beginning of what we might refer to as the canon.  It is remarkable how close these various early canons reflect what we find today within the collections of writings which we call, "The Holy Bible."  This voice of history helps us to easily discard the apocryphal writings for the most part, but there are some interesting discrepancies between the canons and what we have contained within our present sacred collection.

    The Canon Muratori is a manuscript written around the eighth century but published by a certain L. A. Muratori (1672-1750) for our preservation.  The canon contains only the four familiar gospels, and only the one book of Acts, indicating that all others are truly unnecessary and might very well introduce error.  We are also informed that Paul writes only to seven churches as John does likewise in his apocalypse so that we might easily discard those other epistles that bear the Apostle Paul's name.  The epistle of Jude, according to this canon,  should be discarded.  The Wisdom of Solomon is to be accepted.  As for the apocalypses, only that of John and Peter are acceptable, all others are therefore to be rejected.  At the time of this listing, the author makes note that this certain apocalypse or revelation of Peter is refused by some in the Church.  In addition to these, the writing of Hermas The Shepherd, should be read in the Church, but not publicly as if it was equal to the inspired writings of the prophets or apostles.

    Within the catalogue of the Codex Claromontanus, which belongs to the fourth century, both our current book of  Acts, written by Luke, as well as the Acts of Paul are listed.  Missing books include: Philippians, and both 1 and 2 Thessalonians.  The Epistle of Barnabas is listed but it is believed that this referred to the Epistle to the Hebrews, which we still maintain in our own sacred collection.  Again both the Shepherd of Hermas and the Revelation of Peter are included in the list.

     Within the Decretum Gelasianum, which belongs to a later sixth century, we have all twenty-seven of the familiar New Testament books listed in the recognized canon.  Following this is a list of apocryphal to be rejected.  Although the Shepherd of Hermas is listed as among those to be rejected, along with the Revelation of Paul, the Revelation of Peter is not mentioned at all.   This seems to be very strange in light of what we have mentioned previously.

    In the Chronography of Nicephrous, written in the eighth century, there is a canon catalog which also includes a listing of the Old Testament books.  The New Testament is wanting the Revelation of John but contains all other twenty-six books.  This list is followed by a list of rejected apocryphal writings that includes: 3 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus Sirach, Psalms and Odes of Solomon, Esther, Judith, Susanna, Tobit, The Revelation of John, The Revelation of Peter, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Gospel of the Hebrews, and a further listing of others.

    Another catalog of sixty canonical books from the seventh century drops the Revelation of John out completely without a word concerning it.  Others such as the Revelation of Ezra, The Revelation of Peter, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Acts of Paul, and all writings of the Maccabees, as well as many others are listed as rejected.  It is most interesting that there is not an utterance given to John's Revelation.

    What might we conclude then?  We see that our current compilation of the Holy Writ is not a mere accidental choosing of one writing over another, but is supported by many of our leaders who went before us, with the intention of steering us away from any of the so called false writings.  Still, there is a certain mystic or draw emitting from them, which promises a certain amount of value to the student who desires to spend a little time to explore or expose them for the fraudulent writings that they might be.  This being said up front, let us now proceed with our investigation to determine indeed if there be any value whatsoever in any of these books; but first let us say just a few more words on the subject of Holy Spirit inspiration and our present day biblical canon.

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Doctrine Of The Inspiration Of Scripture

    If one jot or tittle has passed away, so has the righteousness of Christ, for he is found to be a liar.  If he is a liar, then he is not without sin.  If he is not without sin, he is not blameless, hence he is no longer the perfect sacrifice.  The conclusion is that we must all be found in our sin, with no possible hope of salvation.

     This in itself raises a firm warning to all who might  be drawn to a study of the extra-biblical writings, whether they be Old Testament or New, Apocrypha or Pseudepigrapha.  We know for instance that the Apostle John sternly warns that we must not add or subtract from the Word of God.  Moses repeats similar warnings which are rehearsed again in the book of Proverbs believed to have been perhaps written by Solomon.

    But how can we ascertain which writings belong to the complete revelation?  The approach which many generally take is to merely accept the biblical canonization of old, thereby rejecting any possibility of the existence of perhaps a missing writing.  We must ask whether we can be completely assured that the "closed canon" position is of the Holy Spirit, or whether it is merely a deliberate or willing blindness on our part.  If for example we might accept perhaps yet another book such as 1 Maccabees as being divinely inspired, not that we support or suggest this but only for the sake of argument, does this then make us guilty of adding to God's revealed Word?  Is it possible that by our rejecting this book of Jewish antiquity we might also become guilty of subtracting from God's revealed Word?  To whom do we grant the rightful authority or awesome privilege to decide which writings are to be included in the canon and which others are to be rejected?  Should we grant such authority to apostate Judaism which existed in Jesus day; a people evidently blinded by God as Paul himself gives witness (Rom. 11:25 KJV).  Do we allow such men to limit our canon while it is evident that Jude accepts Old Testament writings which are not included in the recognized Old Testament Canon?  Perhaps we should rather grant such power only to the apostate Christian Church who could never totally agree whether Jude, Revelation, Peter, Enoch, etc.  are to be accepted or rejected.  Is there no Holy Spirit dwelling within us today as was with them?  Do they err less than we ourselves?  Anyone who reads the writings of the Early Church Fathers must seriously question their portion and limitations of the Holy Spirit's divine revelation.  Do we give these men of the past the power to discern and rightly divide the writings for us or do we grant that power to the Holy Spirit alone who is with us and in us individually?  Should we then simply take such awesome responsibility on upon ourselves so that we might judge for ourselves what is of God and that which is not?  Each man it seems must draw that line for himself.

     First Maccabees is one of two books, the other being Second Maccabees, which are considered to be our main source of historical information concerning the people of Israel during the middle part of the second century B.C.  The books are unlike any of the other historical books, in the sense that many do not believe either of these to be inspired by the Holy Ghost, which is simply to say that it is not God breathed.  As such, the two books were never considered to be canonical.   Some scholars on the other hand, are of the opinion that the two books of the Maccabees should not really be thought of much differently then any of the other canonized historical books.  Men who share this belief do not usually consider any of the historical books to be one hundred percent accurate.  The general consensus is that none of the books are even written by the authors of whom tradition would own.

    It is obvious that First Maccabees is more than a chronological record of Jewish history as the author freely tends to give his own interpretation concerning the events of which he writes.  The book is written from the perspective that the family of Mattathias had been a chosen instrument of God to help deliver the Jews from their present persecution.  This of course tends to give a certain amount of legitimacy to the claim of the Hasmonean high priestly dynasty.  The message of the book is a call to the Jewish people to return to the sacred writings of Moses, the prophets, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the law.

     The book is divided into three separate parts, one pertaining to each of the three sons of Mattathias, the most prominent leaders of  the Jewish resistance against the Hellinization of Jerusalem.   The first chapter begins where the prophecies of the Book of Daniel end, leaving us somewhat hanging in anticipation as to the actual fulfillment of his prophecies.  For instance, in Daniel chapter 11 we find the beginning of a very detailed prophetic scenario that will carry us all the way through to the resurrection of the righteous.
 

    Keeping in perspective with Daniel's prophecy, the first book of Maccabees begins almost as a parallel commentary to the next verse, explaining that this great king of Greece is to be identified with Alexander the Great.
 

    Returning back to the prophecy of Daniel we see that how the reign of Alexander must come to an end.  His kingdom is divided into four portions.  It is the commentary of First Maccabees that helps to further illuminate exactly how this prophecy was fulfilled by the four generals of Alexander.

    Now the author brings us to his present situation, almost as if reciting the prophecy of Daniel by giving us his interpretation.  We arrive at the persecution of the Jews under the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.  Below we have those prophecies of Daniel to which the author would desire to jog our memories, and then we have the introduction of Antiochus Epiphanes, and the terrible description of the great persecution that follows.

     In chapter 2, Mattathias himself is introduced to us.  We are told that Mattathias, together with his sons, "tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and observed deep mourning" (1 Macc 2:14).  Then Mattathias went throughout the town requesting that whosoever might be found in Israel to take a stand for God, should follow him out into the wilderness (1 Macc. 2:28-29).  We are to understand this as the beginning of the stand of the faithful as was prophesied by the prophet Daniel.
 

    It is quite probable that Jesus was referring to this book of First Maccabees together with the prophecy of Daniel when he said these words.
 

     If this be the case, then it would seem that Jesus is giving his stamp of approval upon this historical book.  We should not be to quick to cast it away as of little value to the Christian faith.  The fact is that this "abomination of desolation" is also elaborated upon in First Maccabees.

    This appalling abomination has been described as the altar of the Olympian Zeus erected upon the Jewish altar of burnt offering  or the statue of Zeus himself set up in Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes.   A third possibility is that it refers to three meteorite cult-stones (massebot), which were said to have been representative of  the God of the Jews, the Queen of Heaven, and their divine son, Dionysus.   In either case we have the sin of syncretism; that of the sun god cult with Judaism.  The persecution of the faithful included even their young babies being tortured to death.
 

    Chapter two ends with Mattathias transferring his God given authority to each of his sons.  He calls them to take a stand for God and the Covenant which infers a willingness to lay down their lives individually if such be required of them.  He rehearses the acts of their ancestors who have gone before them, admonishing them to do likewise with their own lives, while faithfully following the pattern set before them.  Afterwards, he leaves them with a powerful word of encouragement as an anchor for their soul.
 

    The majority of the book contains the history of Judas Maccabaeus.  It would seem that Mattathias had expected his son Simeon to take the head leadership however, he does not really assume his place of  leadership until  Chapter 13 at least 23 years afterward.   Judas was supposed to assume the rank of general, remaining subservient to Simeon, while commanding the troops of war against the gentiles, but such was not the case.  Instead,shortly after the death of his father, Judas rose up took take the place of his father and none of his brothers withstood him.
 

     Judas was considered to be a great hero in his days.  According to the author, Judas fought many battles and performed many exploits that have not been recorded.  Finally Judas died during the battle of Beer-Zaith (1 Macc. 9:5 NJB).   In that battle they were extremely outnumbered and filled with hopelessness rather than faith.  Their senses informed them that they were about to suffer a great defeat.  Their hope in God was lost, being replaced by great fear and despair.  Strangely, it is not Simeon who takes charge, but rather his brother Jonathan.  He was the peoples choice in that time of great danger and famine.
 

    Jonathan proves to be a mighty warrior and leader like his brother Judas.  The most important element of his life appears to be his inauguration to the office of High Priest.  His assumption into this priestly office began, not by the direct appointment of God, but rather by the words of King Alexander Balas, who claimed to be the son of Antiochus Epiphanes.   It is the king then who appoints Jonathan to this lofty position.  At the same time, he is given a title by the king, 'Friend of the King' (1 Macc. 10:20), while a royal robe and golden crown are also offered to him.  His new position of leadership, both as governor and priest, was acknowledged by all the faithful.  Jonathan had been rightfully a descendant of the priestly class through Joarib.  The recognized king, Alexander, had the authority to nominate him to this peculiar office.  Some say that it is around this same time that the "Teacher of Righteousness" of the religious sect known as the Essenes, had taken his refuge in the caves of Qumran.   The Essene sect probably finds its origin through an outward resistance to the Hellinization of Judaism which began around the time of Jason, the brother of Onias, who had usurped the office of the high priest (2 Macc. 4:13).  Certainly Jonathan's action was not acceptable with the Essene sect and would have caused a greater rift between the people of God.  And so we are told:
 

    We cannot judge whether God found this behavior of Jonathan to be an abominable shameful act or not, but sometime afterwards he is deceived into trusting Trypho who takes him (Jonathan) captive after slaying one thousand of his body guards.  The voices of the nations surrounding Israel were echoing:
 

    Eventually we have Simon seizing his predestined command over the nation of Israel (143 B.C.).   He is finally accepted as the rightful leader over  the nation of Israel.  The people, in their present state of confusion and crisis, readily accept him as their leader.
 

    We are told that Simon spent much of his own wealth to arm the nation by providing their pay himself  (1 Macc. 14:32).  Many believed Simon to be the long awaited messiah finally come to the nation of Israel.  Simon was credited with bringing forth a time of great peace, the likes of which,  the generations before him had never known.

    Second Maccabees seems to be somewhat of a supplement to First Maccabees.  It should not however be considered as a mere continuation of the first book, but rather as a companion testimony.  The author claims to be merely summarizing the five historical books of another man named Jason of Cyrene.  His desire was to condense the works of Jason so that others who may not have the luxury or the time to study the much larger works (2 Macc. 2:23 NJB), might also be able to enrich themselves with many of these historical facts.  As concerns the periods of history covered by these two books of Maccabees, we have what we might practically consider as a parallel testimony.  The time of this second book spans from 180through 161 B.C.

    Perhaps one of the most interesting portions of this book, is to be found not within the abridged works of Jason of Cyrene, but in the second letter which immediately precedes Jason's history story.  It speaks of a cave discovered by the prophet Jeremiah, in which he hid the tabernacle, altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant.  After hiding them, the cave was then sealed to block the entrance.  The secret location of the cave was never revealed.  It is taught that when God's time comes, the cave is to be rediscovered, and the ark will be returned into the hands of God's people.  A cloud of glory will arise as in the days of Moses, and all Israel will be gathered together (2 Macc. 2:5-8 NJB).  The gathering together probably includes the ten lost tribes.  It should be noted that this is the only time or place where such a thing is mentioned concerning the ark and tabernacle being hidden away.  Within that ark there had been an omer full of manna hidden away to be used as a witness to a future generation.
 

  There are good reasons why we should perhaps consider this prophecy as spurious and a mere fabrication of historical fantasy.  It is well known that the ark had disappeared sometime long ago when the temple had been destroyed, and that Jeremiah himself utters the following words concerning the lost ark.
 

    On the other hand, according to 2 Maccabees, this was not a clever invention of the author, but rather the same account had been documented within another apocryphal writing which we have not yet discovered.  This book gives witness that another historical or apocryphal book did exist at that time, but no one really knows much about the lost document.   Note the author's confidence in the truth of this fact concerning the hidden ark of the covenant.

     The other point that seems necessary to bring up is the fact that Jesus himself had also indicated that a future generation would eat of the manna which Moses had hidden.  This scripture is either an allusion to something else, or it is a direct reference to that manna which has been hidden away with the ark only to be revealed some time during the last days.
 

     Next there is some frequent mention of different libraries and collections of writings.  This describes a period of time which was rich in the writings of different men.  Obviously there had been attempts to preserve many of the ancient stories, legends, and facts that had been handed down from father to son, generation after generation.   We have multitudes of examples of such apocrypha both two hundred years before and several hundred years after the life of Christ.  While some have little regard for such ancient writings, others consider these libraries to have been a great contribution to mankind.  The caves of  Qumran have yielded great literary treasures some of which were probably being compiled during this period of time.

    Another interesting thing was happening during this period of history.  We are informed that a certain Jason, the brother of Onias, had usurped the high priesthood.  As soon as he had been given recognized authority from the king, he set out to Hellenize the entire nation of Israel.

     It was this type of apostasy, together with the teachings of Simon, the administrator of the temple (2 Macc. 4:1), which had most likely caused the initial development of a religious order we call the Essenes, a religious order that stressed great diligence in reading the sacred literature.   They retreated into the wilderness to flee from what they considered to be the gross pollution of Jerusalem.  There in the wilderness, they would await the coming of their messiah.  The founder of this religious sect was merely known as the "Teacher of Righteousness."    This community of believers wanted nothing to do with the "The Wicked Priest" of apostatized Judaism.  It is to them perhaps that we owe the preservation of many important historical writings

    It is because of the increased Hellenization of Jerusalem that God must chastise Israel with persecution by the hand of the wicked Antiochus.  It is also a time accompanied by extreme martyrdom of the faithful.  One of the famed incidences is the martyrdom of the seven brothers who are prepared to die rather then submit to these false practices of religious worship.  Each one is tortured in his turn after witnessing the execution of his brothers before him.  Each of them is given an opportunity to turn from their God and the law of Moses by showing an obvious outward act of  submission,  the willful ingestion of pork   In each case they are willing to die rather than to break the law of Moses.

    This book differs much from First Maccabees.  The first seven chapters are used to describe the time of Hellinization which precipitates the divine raising up of Judas as a type of savior to Israel.  The second half of the book is a history of the exploits of  Judas.  The author does not even regard it necessary to mention Mattathias, the father of Judas who was called Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 2:1 NJB).  Also the brothers of Judas are not considered by the author to be worth focusing upon.  The central hero of the Jews in that day is Judas alone, and his glory is not to be diminished by sharing it with his brothers.
 

    It is Judas who assigns his brothers Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan to positions of leadership over the rebel armies of Israel (2 Macc. 8:21).  Simon's leadership is somewhat called into question by the incident of his men accepting bribes of seventy thousand drachmas (2 Macc. 10:21) to free the captives and the fact that at least during one sudden confrontation with the enemy, Simon panicked and suffered some loss (2 Macc. 14:17).

     It has been proposed that the absence of the history and accomplishments of Jonathan, along with the emphasis on the temple and priesthood, might be suggestive of a great disapproval of the Hasmonean high priesthood.    It is further postulated that the Hasmoneans of the Essene literature may actually be nothing more than a mere personification of Jonathan himself.
 

    Azariah is the name of Abed-nego (Dan. 1:7 NJB).  This apocryphal writing may be found added to the Book of Daniel between Dan. 3:23 and 3:24.  Although this book of Daniel originally contained only the twelve chapters as we find in the Protestant Bible, various additions were made afterward to it.  No one is really sure when these additions were added but it has been suggested that this was done less than a century after the completion of the first twelve chapters.  This is assuming that the original book of Daniel had been compiled during the Maccabean period, although many would object to that late date as it takes away from the supernatural and prophetical nature of the book.

    The Prayer of Azariah, consists of a prayer of confession for the sins of  Israel as a nation, and is believed to have been written, sometime during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes.   This fact demonstrates how truly focused the Jews had been upon these prophecies of Daniel, and the belief that the present hour of their persecution had also been previously spoken of by the prophet himself.  The apocryphal writings have been so interlinked with the book of Daniel, that many believe Daniel's book to have also been written around that time.   The prayer consists of  three main parts.  The first is, as we have mentioned before, the prayer of confession for the national sin which they have committed, causing the
punishment that now befalls them.

    This prayer does not seem appropriate for Azariah to pray, at least not at this time.  It is  rather due to their faithfulness not to bow down to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, that these three youths are cast into this fiery furnace.  On the other hand, the prayer does fit the circumstances the Jews find themselves in during the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes.  For truly they had been forewarned by the prophet Daniel of this coming persecution, and it is because of their own sin that all this had come upon them.  For even in the days of Malachi the prophet, following the return from the Babylonian captivity, they were being warned by God to return to him in truth, and not in word only.

    The second part of the prayer serves as a reminder of the covenant.  They plead mercy on behalf of Abraham, the covenant friend of God.  They plead mercy upon promises made concerning his descendants, rather than upon a special right or privilege being based upon their own faithlessness or righteousness.  What is at stake here is not the destiny or fate of a people who prove themselves to be no better then the gentile nations.  Rather, it is God's own name and reputation that is at stake, and the covenant of his friend, the faithful Abraham.

     The final part is perhaps the most interesting of all.  It shows us clearly that this prayer is an insertion into the book of Daniel and must have been written a long time after the time of Daniel.  In Daniel's day there were recognized prophets who still spoke for God, by the Holy Spirit of God.  Daniel himself is numbered among the prophets.  Jeremiah has immediately preceded him, and Ezekiel seems to have been somewhat of a contemporary.  Even afterwards there were other prophets to come, and as such, we would not describe this time period as being a time in which there had been no prophet or divine leadership from heaven.  The time of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes however might well be described as a period in which there was no divine prince or prophet to lead and to guide the people into truth.  At least not any such authority being recognized as such by heaven.  Protestants have even  labeled this period as the four hundred years of silence, for it was a time in which there was no voice from heaven, so some say.  Now let us examine the third part of this prayer especially focusing in on this one important point.
 

    Our conclusion is that this magnificent prayer belongs to the same time as the Maccabees. More than this however, it seems that the various additions to the book of Daniel, quite possibly speak of a purposeful divine plan.  Why was the book of Daniel focused in on as a place to add these apocryphal writings?  What were the Jews of that day attempting to convey to generations to follow?  Were they trying to link the prophecies of Daniel to the Maccabee writings and the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes.  Perhaps the four hundred years of silence was not very silent at all.  Perhaps we need to consider the possibility that the apocrypha has been brought forth by the will of God and should not be tossed aside as mere spurious writings, as is often the case throughout the Christian Church today.

    This apocryphal writing may be found added to the Book of Daniel between Dan. 3:23 and 3:24, directly after the apocryphal writing known as "The Prayer (or song) of Azariah".  It  is believed that this is likely to be an addition to the original writing attributed to Daniel.    It seems quite possible that both writings were originally one document being later inserted into Daniel's book.  If taken as one complete whole, we might say that the prayer is a statement of the present situation while the following song is a song of hope and faith in a certain promise of deliverance.  The song is filled with praise to the God who sits within the heavens and an admonition to all of his creation to praise him.  The conclusion portion is that which stands out as very interesting.

    The conclusion of the song of the three seems to describe the actual deliverance from the flames of the intense destructive fire, but there is more here than immediately meets the eye. One part of the song seems to be very much a commentary on the hidden meaning of the story of  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  The fiery furnace in which they were cast by King Nebuchadnezzar was indeed a furnace that existed upon this earth.  The story however is not only history, but is meant to be a type of another truth, for it is written:
 

    We can clearly see that the fiery flames spoken about within this song, are not the flames of the actual fiery furnace of King Nebuchadnezzar, but rather are the fires which blaze underneath the earth in the underworld.
 

    The word translated as "Underworld" is the Greek a[|dou (adhj)  in the Septuagint.   It is almost always a Greek rendering of the Hebrew lwoav.     In the Old Testament, it signifies the dark "realm of the dead", and the "place of punishment for ungodly souls in the underworld".   In the New Jerusalem translation the word "Death" is personified.  In the Septuagint it is the Greek qanatou (qavnatoj)   which  is the same word used in 1 Cor. 15:26.

     In the usage of  qavnatoj here we seem to have an obvious personification of death as Barnes suggests, "Death is here personified as a tyrant, exercising despotic power over the human race; and he is to be subdued".   So it seems also in this song that death is personified as the ruler over the souls of men who reigns as the ruler over adhj or Hades.  So we see that when the three men sing, "he has snatched us from the burning fiery furnace, he has drawn us from the heart of the flame", while they are speaking of their present predicament, they are also speaking prophetically of the resurrection of the righteous.

    The name Bel refers to the idol worshipped by the Babylonians, which represented the god by the same name, whose name was also Marduk.   It is said that Cyrus of Persia also venerated this idol and would worship him on a daily basis, bringing to him such gifts as food and drink. The main point of the story seems to be to prove conclusively that only Daniel's God is a living God while all others are made of clay overlaid with metal.  Within they are void of a living spirit.  For this truth Daniel's life is put on the line.   It seems that Daniel had been greatly respected by King Cyrus, and the king had been somewhat confused as to why Daniel, being wise as he was, would refuse to give honor to the great god Bel.  Daniel's honesty aroused much hostility within the king when it had been suggested that he was himself being somehow duped by the priests of Bel.  Daniel had asserted:

    It seems amazing that the king had never questioned before on whether the god Bel truly was more than mere superstition.  His faith in his god seems to be almost childlike, and yet his anger is fierce and something greatly to be feared.  At stake here was not only whether this false god Bel was truly a god at all, or a mere image of Babylonian myth, but the circumstances became also an indictment against the king's own stupidity and ignorance.  If he had allowed himself to be duped repeatedly by this false priesthood than he had been proved himself  to be a fool.  Now he would prove it either way.  If Daniel was lying, he would be punished severely for having the gall to practically suggest that the king had played the fool for all these years.   On the other hand, if what Daniel had said was true, than he would be rewarded for his council in bringing these lies to the king's consciousness, and those
others would now be punished for their deliberate deception of the king.

    Unknown to the king, the priests had prepared a secret entrance to the table of Bel, that would allow them to take the gifts from the table.  This clever trick would cause it to appear as if the god had himself consumed the offerings.  Daniel had cleverly spread ashes upon the temple floor to discover the footprints of the priests who had stolen the food to make it appear to the king that the idol had consumed the portions.  Upon learning of the proof of their deceit, the king ordered the priests to be put to death and had further handed the idol of Bel to Daniel to be destroyed, as well as his temple.  The story of the Dragon is yet another story combined with the story of Bel.  It is not clear what god was actually represented as a dragon, as nothing is known of any such dragon-god in Babylon.   It is clear however that this creature had at one time been a living being, moving and breathing upon the earth.  Note the description as given by Cyrus.

    Daniel,  desiring to prove to the king that this creature was indeed no god at all, requested that he might slay the dragon without using either a sword or a club.  The king granted Daniel permission to see if the dragon was truly a god.  Daniel fed the dragon a concoction made up of pitch, hair balls, and fat.  Upon swallowing the food, the dragon burst from the inside out. This ended the existence of the dragon's life, and the priesthood was furious.  Together they threatened the lives of both the king and his family, and the king, fearing the priests, turned over Daniel to them to do whatever they chose.

     Daniel was cast into a pit of lions for six days with seven lions who were normally feed two human bodies and two sheep daily.  For the entire duration no other food had been given to these lions to ensure that they had been extremely hungry.  The Lord then transported the prophet Habakkuk, by the head of his hair, from Judaea to Babylon, with a bowl of meal in his hand.  The prophet threw down the meal to Daniel that he himself might not starve to death. Afterwards the prophet was again returned to the land of Judaea, by the hand of God.  The next day, King Cyrus looked into the lion's pit and discovered that even after seven days Daniel had still been alive.  Immediately Daniel was set free and the priests were instead thrown into the pit with the hungry lions.  The lions tore the priests to pieces.  Again Daniel had proven that his God was truly a living God.

    Perhaps the purpose of these two stories taken as one unit, is to show that there is no need for the Jews to fear the gods of Babylon, for as Daniel has proven, they are not truly gods at all.  The story somewhat magnifies a belief that Israel's many struggles, are not really against various kings or nations, but rather represents a struggle against the true priesthood of God, and the false.  That is to say the sons of the one true God versus the sons of the false gods. As Moses was pitted against the false priest and their magic during his days, Daniel's faith in the one true God is matched against the supposed supernatural power of these false religious systems and their gods. Daniel proves that these gods are ineffective and powerless against the one who knows the one true "living God".

    The Book of Ecclesiasticus, also known by the name, "The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach" is believed to have been written by a certain Joshua ben Eleazar ben Sira, also simply called, Ben Sira.  The book is dated sometime between 198 and 175 B.C.E., as it is during this era that the scribe is said to have studied and taught in Jerusalem.    What we have in this book is actually a translation of a collection of his teachings into one volume by his grandson. The original was written in Hebrew but it is only the Greek text, translated by the grandson, that is recognized by the Catholic Church as canonical.

     In chapter 38, we have an interesting appeal to the common man describing how the sage is meant to be a gift to the rest of humanity.  Through this one wise teacher, they might all  hear his words and become wise, as he is wise.  All may become themselves benefactors from all his labors, for his labors, although different from that of the common man, are labors nevertheless, whose effort also produces its own kind of fruit.  He further points out how that the common man must toil from sun rise to sunset, without ever possessing the leisure time necessary to acquire such wisdom on his own.  Such common men are to be commended as they themselves actually "sustain the structure of the world" (Si. 38:39 NJB) and "a town could not be inhabited without them" (Si. 38:32 NJB), but "the wisdom of all the ancients" (Si. 39:1 NJB) somehow escapes him, unless of course he should give heed to the voice of the sage, as he shall "shower forth words of wisdom" (Si. 39:9 NJB) and "display the instruction he has received" (Si. 39:11 NJB).

     In chapter 24 Wisdom is personified as she is also in Proverbs, chapter 8.   Wisdom is understood as a living spirit being or consciousness, being created in the beginning by the creator as the first of his creative works, being herself the very breath or spirit of his own mouth.  Wisdom seems to be the name of the Holy Spirit, the same who finds her tent or home within the body of the people of Jacob, which is merely the Old Testament Church.  Some have suggested that the concept is very much akin to that of the Hellenistic teachings of the goddess Isis.  It has likewise been suggested, that this personification of Wisdom as an actual female being, is equivalent to the later personification of this spirit, being again identified as Jesus Christ, said to be that pre-existing Word of God, who is also made into flesh (John 1:1-18 NJB).

    As the voice of the prophet passes away from off the scene, the voice of the sage apparently begins to have taken their place.   The importance of this book seems to be in its timely warning and exhortation of a people immediately preceding the terror and persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.E.).    The sage stresses the pursuit of the revealed wisdom of God, as well as encouraging a great zeal for the law itself.  In a time when the Jewish people will be enticed to accept the new Hellenized teachings, or asked to abandon their sacred holy temple, the priesthood, and the teachings of the law and prophets.  These admonitions of Ben Sira would at this time perhaps be remembered.  They should be regarded perhaps as the last words spoken by God himself.   Although the book was never accepted into the Hebrew Canon, it was frequently quoted in the rabbinical writings.  We may never know of the impact that such words of encouragement meant to the Jews during those days of persecution.  Such encouragement can be found in those words of  Ben Sira regarding those men of faith whom he has named.  Listed among them are: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, David, Elijah, Elisha, etc.

     The ending of Ecclesiasticus is a praise song of thanksgiving which is incredibly timely, almost prophetic, considering the days of temptation to shortly come upon the Jews.   The song reminds the people that their redeemer lives, and that no matter what they may be called upon to bear, no matter what kind of trial they might have to endure, in the end, they shall be saved from their destruction, and finally delivered from those terrible days of evil.
 

    The Wisdom of Solomon is reported to be authored by King Solomon.  Although not explicitly named, he is definitely alluded to within the book.

  You have chosen me to be king over your people,
  to be judge of your sons and daughters.
  You have bidden me build a temple on your holy mountain,
  and an altar in the city where you have pitched your tent,
  a copy of the holy Tent which you prepared at the beginning.
    (Ws. 9:7-8 NJB)

    The author evidently quotes the scriptures from the Greek Septuagint, and for this reason, is believed to have written this piece somewhere before the days of Philo (20 B.C.) but not before the existence of the Septuagint.  Although the author is definitely not Solomon and therefore remains anonymous, it was used by the early Church Fathers from the second century A.D.  Although Jerome opposed the book as not being inspired, it was generally recognized as being inspired throughout the Church along the same line as the other books which make up the Hebrew Canon.

    The book seems to be easily broken down into it's three natural component parts.  The first six chapters represent a teaching of eschatology.  This is followed by three chapters of wisdom, which are finally concluded with nine chapters of history.   The major emphasis is on an almost pretend dialog between the sinners of the world and the voice of the Holy Spirit of God.  Cessation from the biological life on earth does not imply extinction of one's self. Life goes on for both the righteous and the wicked, and judgment will surely follow.  The sinner appraises life as the short span of biological
existence upon this planet.  The words written here at least two thousand years ago sound almost akin to what we might hear the masses repeating even today.
 

  We came into being by chance
  and afterwards shall be as though we had never been.
  In time, our name will be forgotten,
  nobody will remember what we have done; ...
  let us leave the signs of our revelry everywhere,
  since this is our portion, this is our lot!
   (Ws. 2:2,4,9 NJB)

 There is no proof of God's existence.
No one might truly tell us of what lies beyond this life
for no one might possibly know.
Not one has ever returned from the grave
to tell us of these things,
so how might we know?
  No one is known to have come back  from Hades.
   (Ws. 2:1 NJB)

 As for the man of God,
he is as a thorn in the side of the sinner.
How might his words of warning be proven,
whether they might be true or false?
If God truly exists,
then let him prove himself by delivering his servant from destruction.
If he cannot deliver him,
than perhaps the servant of this powerless God is a mere fool.
Perhaps his God is merely an imagination in his own mind.
  Let us see if what he says is true,
  and test him to see what sort of end he will have.
  For  if the upright man is God's son,
  God will help him and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
  Let us test him with cruelty and with torture
  and thus explore the gentleness of his
  and put his patience to the test.
     (Ws. 2:17-19 NJB)

    The sage responds to false thoughts hoping to bring light to the eyes which Satan himself has blinded.  They do not know God and their perception is without true understanding.  Man was made to be immortal from the beginning.  Physical life is only temporary,  but our soul is eternal.  The pure soul will find a great reward at his end, but the evil heart will be severely punished.

   This is the way they reason, but they are mislead,
   since their malice makes them blind.
   They do not know the hidden things of God,
they do not hope for the reward of holiness,
they do not believe in a reward for blameless souls.
For God created human beings to be immortal,
   he made them as an image of his own nature;
   Death came into the world only through the Devil's envy,
   as those who belong to him find to their cost.
     (Ws. 2: 21-24 NJB)

    The sage warns the unrighteous of the day in which they all must stand before the great throne of judgment.  Then they shall receive the wages due to them, what they have done while in these fleshly bodies here upon the earth.  Then the righteous shall stand up and give witness against them to their shame.  They shall be filled with terror at the utterance of their just sentence.

    When the count of their sins has been drawn up,
   in  terror they will come,
and their crimes, confronting them,
   will accuse them
     (Ws. 4:20 NJB)

    This naturally leads to the second portion of this writing which is a description of, and an admonishment for, the seeking of godly wisdom.  There is a way in which wisdom might be discovered, but is does not come naturally to all men, but rather it must be sought earnestly by that man.
 

 For Wisdom begins with the sincere desire for instruction,
   anxiety for instruction means loving her,
   loving her means keeping her laws, ...
     (Ws. 6:17-18 NJB)

    Wisdom must be sought as the highest and greatest of all treasures.  It is wisdom alone which shall bring a person into the presence of God making them God's personal friends.  To spurn her is to do the same to the creator himself.
 

Although she is alone, she can do everything;
herself unchanging, she renews the world,
   and, generation after generation,
   passing into holy souls,
she makes them into God's friends and prophets;
for God loves only those who dwell with wisdom.
     (Ws.  7:27 NJB)

    Finally, the author concludes with a short exposition of history, showing us how wisdom was always at work in the lives of the mighty men of God, and how it is wisdom herself who has preserved her children from the very beginning.   Adam himself is protected and spared by his acknowledgment of his error through a repentant heart.  As such, our first father sets the path for each of his children to follow, but some refuse to walk in that path of repentance.  It is Cain according to Jewish legend who is responsible for the flood because he had willingly walked away from the revealed path of
wisdom.
 

   But when in his wrath a wicked man deserted her,
  he perished in his fratricidal fury.
  When because of him the earth was drowned,
  it was Wisdom again who saved it,
  piloting the upright man on valueless timber.
     (Ws. 10:3-4 NJB)

    And so the author continues on, recalling extensively the many scenes of Jewish history surrounding the Exodus from Egypt.  The date of the book is believed to be sometime during the first two centuries, most likely around the days of Christ or shortly thereafter (37-41 A.D.).  It is well known that the early Christian church treasured this book and interpreted the persecuted righteous one to refer to Jesus.
 

Let us condemn him to a shameful death
  since God will rescue him or so he claims.
    (Ws. 2:20 NJB)

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     Susanna, the wife of Joakim and daughter of Hilkiah, is brought into a life threatening situation because of the lusts and sin of two very prominent elders of  Israel.  It seems that these two had often used their lofty positions to take advantage of the women of Israel, by causing them to engage in sexual relations with them upon threats of being charged with being caught in the act of a sexual sin.  Although there is no vivid account of such a scene, we do have the statement regarding such activity by the mouth of Daniel.
 

    According to the Law of Moses a person could be judged guilty by the testimony of two or more witnesses.   This unfortunately enabled the two wicked judges to have much power over this innocent woman.
 

     The law was a two edged sword however, if in fact the two witnesses could be proved to be liars and the charges against the innocent might be discovered to be false.  In such a case, the accusers would suffer a fate similar to that which they would have imposed upon their innocent victim.
 

So, being found to be false witnesses, such a fate had been imposed upon these unjust judges of Israel.
 

     The woman is depicted as being a righteous everyday God-fearing woman, and becomes somewhat of a martyr, being condemned to death as a direct result of her righteous stand and trust in her God who would deliver her from her accusers.  The point of the story might indeed be to encourage the Jews during the Maccabean times, that if they might truly be found to be innocent before God, he will deliver them as he had done with this innocent woman, and visit their intended fate back upon the heads of their enemy.  The intended raping or ravishing of the woman might be an illustration depicting the intended abusing of the nation of Israel. The parallel would be in the outward act of submission of this national woman, to the engaging in sexual (spiritual) fornication of false worship with false gods.  If the woman as a nation would stand firm in her innocence of spiritual purity, her  God would deliver her.  On the other hand, if for a lack of faith she succumbs to the temptation of spiritual fornication, then she becomes guilty of the outward act.  Although she might save herself from certain death otherwise imposed upon her by the hand of her enemy, she would likewise pollute
and possibly lose her soul, by engaging in this act of faithlessness and spiritual impurity.

    The book has been coupled together with the Book of Daniel, like several others which are also believed to be written from the Maccabean times.  Daniel himself is said to be her savior and it has been suggested that the main purpose of this story may be an attempt to establish a foundation for Daniel's own rise to political prominence in Babylon.   Whether the story is a fable or perhaps did truly happened we cannot say with any certainty.  The fact remains however, that whether this account be true, or whether it be wholly fictional, we can be assured that certain men at various different times in history, would have abused their God given authority in similar ways.  As such, the story becomes true in a sense, even if the actual historical account is found to be completely fictitious.
 

     There are four major characters of interest within this story: Tobit, his son Tobias, his cousin Sarah, and the mighty angel Raphael.  The purpose of this book seems to be similar to that of the Book of Job, in its suggesting that there is a particular reason and plan for our lot of suffering in this life.  The reason might be unknown to us, but is decreed by the wisdom of God, that his own purposes and will might be accomplished through our lives.    Mills suggests that this story of Tobit seems to have a very strong Zoroastrian influence upon it. The story centers around the city Rases in Media which just so happens to be one of the most prominent places mentioned within the Avesta.

    Tobit is a righteous man who is blinded by the hot droppings of sparrows that had fallen into his eyes.  Although he sought out every physician, the more ointments they applied, the more blind the man became by the white spots appearing upon his eyes.   Sarah is the victim of a certain kind of demonic harassment, in the which, seven of her husbands have been murdered by the demonic spirit who is himself in love with her.    The demon is Asmodeus a name which means, "the destroyer" or "the destroying angel".  Many believe that the demon's name is derived from Aesma Daeva, the wrath demon of the Zoroastrian Avesta.  Hastings informs us that this Aeshma Daeva was known as the "covetous" or "lustful" demon.  This is the same personage that we encounter in Rev. 9:11 who is called the "angel of the abyss".  As Sammael was the head of all the Satans, so Asmodaeus was king of the demons, and the long haired Lilith was their queen.

    In both circumstances neither Tobias nor Sarah are able to deliver themselves from the snare of their enemy, and as such, they cry out to their God for deliverance.  The first is a situation of the physical realm requiring a miraculous physical healing while the second is a matter of the spiritual realm, requiring a supernatural deliverance from demonic oppression.  God's will in both of these cases is to heal, rescue, deliver, save, and restore.  God does not merely wave his mighty hand or speak his word to create a new reality.  Rather, the story goes on to show how God sends forth his angel to do his bidding.  He sends forth his trusted messenger, Raphael.

    Tobit, believing thinking that he is to die soon, summons his son Tobias to send him forth to a city where he had once left behind ten talents of silver with a certain Gabael, the son of Gabrias.  Not wanting to send his son out on this mission alone, Tobit inquires as to whom he might find to accompany his son on this dangerous journey.  The stranger Azarias enters the scene who is actually the angel Raphael cloaked in a body of human flesh.  The identity of Raphael is unknown to Tobit, that he is surely the mighty messenger of God sent forth to answer his prayer.  During the journey, Azarias (Raphael) speaks to Tobias concerning his cousin Sarah who is truly a prize to behold and as beautiful and lovely as any women.  He continues to encourage Tobias by suggesting that he has a legal right to take her for his wife, and not only might he gain this wonderful woman as his bride, but also he would become the rightful heir to her father's inheritance, for she had no other brother or sister. Tobias had heard of this woman of course, but it was also well known that she had been often plagued by a certain demon who was responsible for the murder of each of her previous seven husbands.

   Unknown to Tobias at the time, Raphael had been sent by God to deliver the girl from her bondage.  Azarias continues to instruct Tobias teaching him how she might be set free from this awful demonic influence by means of the smoke that comes from the burning of the heart and liver of a certain fish.  The gall of this fish might also be used to heal the eyes of one who might have been made blind by white spots upon his eyes.  So in his own hands, the lad had the power to break the spiritual bondage of Sarah and the physical impairment of his father.
 

    In the midst of great crisis in the nation of Judah, sometime perhaps during the days of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or the later Medo Persian kingdom, but more likely during the reign of  Antiochus; the great question is raised by Holofernes, general and chief of the Assyrian army, "Whom is God if not Nebuchadnezzar?" (Jdt. 6:1 NJB).   This quotation from the mouth of the general seems to tie this book of Judith directly back to the prophetic Book of Daniel.  It is in the book of Daniel that we recall how this Nebuchadnezzar had imagined a great tree in his dream.   That great tree had been cut down to its stump.   The person symbolized by this tree was to have his lot with the animals and to cease to have a human heart, until the seven years decreed should finally pass over him.  That is interpreted to mean, until every living thing might learn the verdict announced by the holy ones (Dan. 4:11-14 NJB).  In this way, all of mankind, and especially Nebuchadnezzar himself, might conclusively learn that it is the Most High who rules over human sovereignty, and it is he himself who raises up one man to be king, while yet humbling another.

    The book of Judith is the story of a righteous widow, who being strong in faith, becomes a type of deliverer for her people.  Being described as possessing great physical beauty, she uses her beauty to ensnare Holofernes.  Drinking himself into a state of drunkenness, he becomes an easy target for the woman who desires to decapitate the general, and so she does exactly that.

     It has been noted by many that the book of Judith is saturated with historical inaccuracies, the chief of which is the reference to Nebuchadnezzar as the king of the Assyrians.  If this book is to be considered as somehow inspired, then such inspiration might not be in the sense of historical accuracy, as to the literal account, but rather in some sort of a mythological or parabolic sense.    Regardless of the historical truth of this book, it would seem that the reference to Nebuchadnezzar is not to the king of Babylon in Daniel's day, but rather as to a title for another similar monarch who is hostile to the religious beliefs of God's people. Perhaps the names of personalities were changed deliberately to conceal the true meaning of this story from the current oppressors of Israel.  On the other hand,  the naming of Nebuchadnezzar might be deliberate, actually intending to point in effect to the various
prophecies of the greatest of all enemies, whom we commonly refer to by the title,  the Antichrist.  The bible refers to this same person as: the King of Babylon, the Syrian, the Assyrian, and the Prince that shall come, each title obviously referring to the same great enemy of God's people.    The Jews understood Antiochus IV Epiphanes to be the fulfillment of this one prophesied to come to desecrate the temple of God.     The warning found within the book then, might not be meant for the Assyrian alone, but might also be spoken as if against all the oppressors of Israel.

    The purpose of the story seems to be to encourage the Jews, perhaps shortly preceding or even during their great Maccabean time of testing.   It has been suggested that Judith herself is merely a personification of  several Israelite female personalities such as Miriam, Deborah, and Jael.    The book does seem to serve the purpose of being a brief summarization of Israel's history, as we witness in Achior's testimony and reply to Holofernes.  This Achior is said to be the "leader of all the Ammonites" (Jdt. 5:5 NJB).   As such, he seems to be well acquainted with the history of Israel.  He begins his summarization of their history, with their abandonment of the gods of their ancestors during the days of Abraham.  He tells of their Egyptian bondage, and recalls their magnificent deliverance by the mighty hand of their God. Finally, he rehearses in Holofernes' ears how that the success of Israel in their
many battles and wars, has always been due to their current relationship with their God, and not in mere natural or physical strength of military might.

   Holofernes remains unmoved by the speech of Achior.  After he finishes his speech, Holofernes orders his armies to move against Israel.  The plan was to seize control of the spring which provided water for the people of Bethulia.  It was thought that hunger and thirst would eventually cause the people to waste away.  Should any escape from out of the town, they also would be slain by the sword.  The enemy had encompassed the Israelites for some thirty-four days and as a result, there had been a great uproar among the people.  They were demanding that Uzziah somehow make peace with their enemy, even the selling of them into slavery must be better then their merely pining away and enduring such a slow death.  Uzziah requested that all people wait on God's deliverance for five more days.  Surely their God would deliver them in these five days, and if not, Uzziah had sworn by an oath that he would surrender.

    It seems that this oath is interpreted by the Spirit of God, at least according to Judith's understanding, as direct defiance against the Almighty and as a means to directly test God. She assures the elders, Chabris and Charmis, that although God does indeed have the power and ability necessary to deliver them, still it may not be according to his own will that he do so.  In either case, they have no right to make such a demand against God to move upon their behalf and to destroy the enemy from before their face (Jdt. 8:16).  It is not a matter that they should not believe in their God that he shall move on their behalf, but rather, that they should be willing to stand in faith, while refusing to surrender themselves to their enemies.  If they be slaughtered, then it is just, for they and their fathers have been guilty of many sins against God.  If  God decides to move to deliver them, then they shall become merely the benefactors of his mercy, for because of infidelity in their relationship with their God, they have no right to demand anything but
chastisement.

    Again their native history is summarized by Judith as it was before by Achior.  She reminds them how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were each tested in their own way.  Such ordeals are not meant as vengeance, she says, but intended to give them a reason to search deep within their own hearts, to see if there may indeed be any sin in their own house.  Judith then proceeds to pray to God, and in her prayer, she exclaims how that all that happens or
occurs, does so by the will and purpose of God.
 

    Judith adorns herself and sets forth to visit Holofernes, pretending to be sent from God, to advise him as to the best method and moment to slay the Israelites.  He is so attracted to her because of her outward natural beauty, that he summons her to his banquet, fully intending upon seducing her afterwards.   Holofernes, not being too careful as to the amount of wine that he has consumed, becomes well drunken, and during the night, Judith cuts his head from off his body.  She sneaks out of the camp and back to the city of Bethulia, where she encourages the rest of the Israelites with the head of Holofernes, claiming that this very night, the Lord God has delivered the enemy into their hand.

    Although the book was excluded from the Hebrew canon, this story of Judith continued to be very much a part of Jewish extra-canonical tradition.  As such, the little book has been the inspiration for works of Jewish art such as sculptures, paintings, and dramatic music.

    This peculiar book is often divided into its three original parts and entitled 4 Esra, 5 Esra, and 6 Esra.  The major part of this work consists of the middle twelve chapters (3-14) consisting of a Jewish apocalypse.  It is almost universally believed to have been originally composed in Hebrew during the reign of Emperor Domitan (A.D. 81-96).   The dating of this book rests upon the interpretation of Ezra's vision concerning the three headed eagle.  If it were not for this interpretation as given by Ezra, the scholars would be unable to date the book without much accuracy or credibility.   We find this very interesting as the content of this writing is exceedingly valued by the early Church and there seems to be more than a few references in the New Testament which might allude to this writing having existed in Christ's own time.  Hilgenfeld describes the wings of the eagle beast to be associated with the Greek kingdom rather than the Roman kingdom.  We cannot accept this theory because it is more than clear that the eagle must refer to the
fourth kingdom of Daniel (2 Esdras 12:11) which we know to be Rome.  If the book is to be regarded as truly inspired by God, the whole point in dating by the interpretation of the vision falls by the way side.  We have all witnessed how the scholars have dated Daniel's prophetic book extending its authorship to the time of the Maccabees.  Need we say more?

    The other two little books  were written between the first and second century.   They are classified as New Testament Apocalyptic literature.  They were attached to the book of 4 Esra, the one at the beginning (5 Esra, chapters 1-2) and the other at the end (6 Esra, chapters 15-16).  This is at least the general consensus although what we shall find through our investigation is that when it comes to this mysterious writing of Ezra, we simply cannot be too sure of anything.

     The Book of 4 Esra is divided into the seven apocalyptic visions which Esra had received from God to show him things concerning the past, present, and ultimately the future.  Ezra asks God when the time of the end shall finally come but God responds by assuring Ezra that just as a woman cannot retain her child in her womb at the end of nine months, so likewise at the time appointed it shall surely come to pass (4 Esra 2:40); and in the same way as a child is released from out of the darkness of her womb and is born into the earth, likewise shall those in the chambers of Hades be released when it is their time.  Ezra is assured that the time remaining shall be much less than the time that has already passed.

    In his second vision Ezra asks why God has taken so long to bring all of his plans to pass. Why could he not have simply created all things at once so that the end might come sooner. The question is a foolish one and God again responds by the symbolism of a woman giving birth.  Why doesn't a woman who is destined to have ten children have all these at the same time?  Instead, each child must be born the one after the other in his own time; likewise are the children who shall be born to the earth, each must be born the one after the other in his own time (4 Esra 3:46).

    The third vision of Ezra is quite interesting as it specifies a literal millennial reign of Christ upon this earth after which the end of all things shall come.  In the more familiar copies of 4 Esra the duration of this kingdom is specified as being four hundred years.  The Arabic versions of 2 Esdras specify one thousand years which better agrees with John's apocalypse (Rev. 20:4).   Another most interesting reference is that in which God informs us that Messiah shall be his Son (4 Esra 5:28).  Since the Jews did not think of the Messiah as being the Son of God, this reference, along with the teaching of the one thousand year millennial reign of Christ, might explain why this book in particular was held in such high esteem in the early Christian communities.  At the same time there is a reference that after this millennial reign of Christ, Messiah himself must die along with every other man living upon the face of the earth.  The earth will then enjoy one complete week of primeval silence as it was in the beginning and then all of the dead who remained in their graves shall arise to go forth to the great judgment of God.  Ezra becomes very much upset with the knowledge that although there are many who shall be lost, there are only a few who shall truly be saved.  God reveals to Ezra that such men might be equated with precious stones, gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay.  God shall not have remorse over the lost for they are but wood for the fire and they shall be turned to ashes.  They found no place for the attributes of God within their hearts, neither shall he find place for them (4 Esra 5:45-74).  God than sets Ezra straight by saying the following words:
 

    Finally, Ezra is let in on the true mind of God concerning the saved and the lost so that he may be able to lay his unprofitable concern aside.  God's focus is upon the saved rather than the lost.  At one time he was concerned about those who were dead and cut off from him.  He took measures to change all of this.  Today his true concern is for those who are alive rather than those who choose to remain in spiritual death and darkness.  The passage is beautiful.
 

    The fourth vision concerns a woman who weeps for her son who died as he entered into his wedding chamber.  Ezra is informed that the woman represents Zion, her child is the city come to its fulfillment in Solomon and the building of the temple, and the death of her child naturally represents the destruction of Jerusalem.  The woman then vanished before Ezra's eyes and a magnificent city appeared in all of its shining glory.  The revelation here is the equivalent to that given to John in his apocalypse concerning the Bride of Christ, the Holy City, and the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2).  Is it any wonder that the Church retained a special attachment to this writing?

 The fifth vision is that of a three headed eagle having twelve primary wings and eight other less significant wings to come up after.  Knibb suggests that the eagle is a fitting symbol for the Roman empire as the eagle was the military emblem of Rome.   Ezra is informed that this beast is the equivalent of Daniel's fourth beast which had ten horns.  Each of the twelve wings was to rule in succession one after the other.  Knibb suggests that the twelve wings and three heads of the beast might well correspond to the following Roman rulers:
 

   The eight little wings could well refer to the same persons represented by the larger wings before they had yet taken rule.  If we allow this possibility, then Knibb suggests perhaps the scenario as indicated below.
 

    We propose another alternative to the identification of the 12 + 8 wings and the 3 heads of the eagle as demonstrated below.
Most commentators would begin the reign of the first wing with Caesar which further allows the second wing to be Augustus whose own reign is at least twice as long as any other.
 

   The tables above deserve some clarification.  Beginning with Julius Caesar we have the twelve greater wings and the eight smaller wings of the beast.  Each wing represents a Roman emperor.  We are informed that the second will reign twice as long as any of the others which demands that we stop before Constantine the Great A.D. 306-337 who reigns for 31 years.

   Concerning the twelve wings we are told that the empire will be ruled by "twelve kings, one after another" (4 Esra 10:14).  The eight smaller wings represent eight periods in which the emperors will have a much shorter or trivial reign than the others by comparison.  The first two of these smaller wings will "come and go just before the middle of the period" (4 Esra 10:21).   If Valerian represents the first head of the eagle as we have indicated, then the period is among 44 B.C. and A.D. 253.  The middle of the period then is during the reign of Trajan (A.D. 98-117).  These two smaller wings must come into power  prior to the reign of Trajan and as such must certainly correspond to Caligula and Titus who reigned for very short duration of 4 years and 3 years respectively.  The revolt of Vindex and the conspiracy of Nymphidius have nothing to do with this vision.  Neither do Galba, Otho, nor Vitellius as they are too insignificant.  Four of the little wings must be "kept back until shortly before its end" (4 Esra 10:21).  This implies that their reign will follow the reign of the twelfth larger wing who answers to Commodus (A.D. 180-192).  The last of the two little wings "will be left until the end itself" (4 Esra 10:21).  The last two little wings refer to the antichrist as he has two appearances, the first is human and the second being superhuman.  Both reigns of antichrist shall be of very short duration which would appropriately make them little wings.

   Of  the four little wings that remain, the first emperor must reign longer than the second.  The first is Septimus Severus (A.D. 193-211) who reigned for 18 years.  Since Gordian III begins his reign around A.D. 224 for 20 years the second emperor of the four could not have reigned for more than 12 years.  Although Philip I follows Gordian III (A.D. 244-249), we think that the final emperor of the four is Decius (A.D. 249-251) who reigns for only 3 years.  Decius' reign seems to be more significant than the 5 year reign of Philip I.  The  first or middle head we believe to be the Valerian (together with Gallienus his son) reign (A.D. 253-268).  If we are correct that Constantine (A.D. 306-337) marks the final head then we can identify the second head.

  Although the reign of Marcus Aurelios Numerianus (A.D. 270-284) immediately precedes the reign of Diocletian (A.D. 284-305) for a duration of 14 years, both he and Claudius II (A.D. 268-270) seems to be far too insignificant to justify a place in the vision by comparison.   Although represented as being among the smaller wings, several of these emperors were significant in Jewish and Christian history.  The Roman  Imperial Cult declared that the Roman emperor was divine, that is to say, the emperor was a god.  Many of these emperors enforced their subjects to acknowledge them and worship them as gods.  Caligula, being convinced that he was the very incarnation of Jupiter demanded such worship.

  Titus was declared to be the "savior of the world" and consecrated by his brother Domitian after he himself had become emperor.  Septimus Severus accepted his proclaimed divinity and married the daughter of the Sun priest at Emesa that he might bring the empress into the imperial cult.  Christians were burned and their bodies thrown to wild beasts.  The persecution included the slaughtering of children and the Christian women were often shamed.

  Decius had initiated a terrible persecution of Christians which demanded that all subjects in the kingdom must obtain a certificate from their local commissioner acknowledging that they had offered up sacrifices to the Roman gods.  So we see that simply because these emperors are represented as little wings, this does not mean to suggest that their reign is insignificant.  Indeed we have identified the worst of all to be revealed in the eighth little wing, the Antichrist himself.

    The Roman Imperial Cult originated around the time of Julius Caesar and gained momentum in the time of Augustus.   Among Augustus' prime directives was the reviving of the state religion and the rebuilding of temples.  Under his reign the imperial cult was introduced throughout every province and often the emperor himself was worshipped as Dominus et Deus (Lord and God) although to his account we might say that the emperor never did demand such worship as others who came after him.   Tiberius did not want to be worshipped as a god.  In a famous speech addressed to the Senate he is quoted as saying, "I am a mortal and divine honors belong only to Augustus, the real savior of mankind".  This being said, there are other evidences which prove that he was indeed called or referred to by the title, "Son of God".

   Claudius I, like his predecessor Tiberius did not demand or desire that he be worshipped as divine although statues of himself and his family were erected throughout the city.  When Nero became the emperor he insured that Claudius would be worshipped by having him deified.  Nero himself was often depicted as Apollo and a statue of Nero was erected in the temple of Mars by the Senate so that he might be properly worshipped.  The statue was a one hundred foot bronze statue of himself representing him as the sun god having a star shaped crown.   Nero instigated the first state persecution of Christians in which both Peter and Paul are said to have been killed.   Although Vespasian had been regularly called both "lord" and "savior", he never sought or demanded divine honors to be paid to him.

  Domitian demanded that he be worshipped as "father of the gods".  He had a huge marble statue of himself erected in Ephesus that became the focal point of imperial cult worship throughout Asia Minor.  He demanded that Christians worship him as a god.  This of course would lead to increased persecution throughout the empire.  Trajan did not initially demand that divine honors be paid to him but eventually his name began to be linked together with Jupiter.  Trajan persecuted the Christians with punishment because they refused to honor the Roman gods.

  Hadrian was often identified as the Olympian Zeus.  Antonius Pius demanded that Christians offer up sacrifice to the emperor's statue.  To refuse to do so would mean the death penalty.  Marcus Aurelius executed Christians in the arena as gladiators.  Commodus is known to have beheaded Christians who refused to swear their loyalty to him and bestow divine honors upon him.

   As for the three heads, Valerian and his son Gallienus demanded that the Christians also worship and offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.  Their persecution of the Christians was a revival of the same which Decius had initiated which demanded that all subjects in the kingdom must obtain a certificate from their local commissioner that acknowledged that they had offered up sacrifices to the Roman gods.   The reign of Marcus Aurelios Numerianus (A.D. 270-284) does not seem to be significant enough to occupy the place of the second head so we have identified the second head of this beast to be the reign of Diocletian.  During his reign the imperial cult was revived and all Christians refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods were sentenced to death or hard labor in the mines.

  We are told that the three heads of Ezra's beast are to "bring to a head its long series of wicked deeds" (4 Esra 10:26).  We believe that the reign of Constantine (A.D. 306-337) completes the wickedness and so we have made him the third head.

  The union of Church and State that occurred during the reign of Constantine is the master plan of Satan to create the Babylonian Whore who shall ride John's apocalyptic beast until the time of the last of the two little wings shall come, that is until the day of antichrist.   As we are told that one of the heads will fall by the sword of the other head (4 Esra 10:28), we expect that this could possibly refer to Constantine finally putting to rest the terrible waves of State persecution against Christianity.  Constantine, as the last head on the beast, becomes somewhat of a foundation for the new Holy Roman Dynasty.  This dynasty will also fall by the sword in the end as we are informed by Paul that the antichrist shall be slain by the sword which comes forth from out of the mouth of Christ (2 Thes. 2:8 KJV).  The two little wings which represent the future antichrist had earlier attached themselves to this final head signifying that they had also attached themselves or become associated with this new style of Roman government of which Constantine is the head and founder.

   Next Ezra sees a lion who begins to speak with a human voice to instruct Ezra concerning the meaning of the vision.  The lion is revealed to be the Messiah who is to come.  He shall be revealed at the time of the end and he shall judge all ungodliness and denounce their wickedness.

  In Ezra's sixth vision he sees a man who arises from out of the heart of the sea.   This man flew with the clouds of heaven and from out of his mouth issued forth fire.  The man is the Messiah and is similar to the vision which John beheld in his apocalypse (Rev. 19:12-16) and the description given by Paul.

  The legend of the ten lost tribes was evidently widely known during the first hundred years A.D. and was much debated by Rabbi, some claiming that these would certainly return to fulfill the prophecy while others denied that these would ever return.  The notion of their being lost however was not contested.   Many scriptures seem to refer to the regathering of these lost tribes of Israel.
 

   The notion that the ten tribes remain lost to this day is not a popular notion, however, in light of the historical witness of Josephus, together with the testimony of 4 Esra and 2 Baruch (77),  we are forced to accept that the ten tribes never returned with Ezra to Israel except perhaps a handful from each tribe.  Note the following testimony of Josephus.
 

   It is likely that the following scriptural reference from Matthew's gospel also relates back to the gathering of all the tribes of Israel by the miraculous angelic or supernatural intervention of God himself.  It is without question that the latter day prophecy of Ezekiel that follows, not only relates to this same regathering of all twelve tribes back into one, but that this prophecy has never yet been fulfilled and must therefore be fulfilled accordingly.
 

  Jesus also makes reference of their being not one fold (Judah) but yet another fold (Israel) which also must be gathered to him.  It would be easy for modern day commentators to see in this remark a hint of the joining of the Gentile Church to the Jewish Church but this is a far greater a stretch than to make Jesus words simply mean what they say to the Jews he is presently speaking to.  The Jews of that day were quite aware that they had brothers dispersed all over the world.  James even addresses his epistle to his brothers "scattered abroad" (Jas. 1:1).  Perhaps he writes to them in hopeful anticipation and expectation of the prophetic fulfillment of their regathering.
 

   According to Old Testament prophecy the Euphrates river is to be dried up in the latter days so that these lost tribes might return home.  It is likely that John understood that what he was writing in his apocalypse referred to the lost tribes of Israel being regathered and returning.  He speaks of a miraculous sealing being done to mark the twelve tribes so that they might be preserved through the terrible tribulation (Rev. 7).  He further speaks of the miraculous drying up of the Euphrates river to allow multitudes to cross over dry shod (Rev. 16:12).   Ezra's seventh vision concerns the writing and restoring of the Old Testament books that had been lost along with other books that are not to be made  public during his time.  Ezra is handed a glass of water which had the color of fire.  When he drank the liquid in the glass his heart was inflamed with supernatural wisdom and understanding by the Holy Spirit.  Ezra completed 24 books which he made available to the general public and 70 others that were entrusted to only the wise.  We understand the 24 public books to be equated with the Old Testament.  We can be sure that 4 Esra must account for one of these other 70 books however we can only speculate as to the other 69 books.

   As for the first book (chapters 1-2) which is properly referred to as 5 Esra, its primary message seems to be directed to the nation Israel, to inform them that they have been cast aside for a new people, which God himself will now bring forth.   The preaching is one that almost echoes the message of repentance proclaimed by John the Baptist.
 

    The time of Israel's' grace has now come to an end.  No longer will God hear their cries.  As they have refused the prophets sent to them by the Lord of the covenant, so now they shall  be sent these messengers no longer.  They have refused to turn to God, and as prophesied of long ago, the kingdom is now to be given to another people who have not known him.  They will keep his words in remembrance, and they shall teach their children to remain steadfast in the covenant.  The shall turn from their wickedness, and they shall inherit the kingdom which Israel has rejected.
 

   The purpose of this book seems to be to identify the one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed ones of Israel as described in the Revelation of John the Apostle.  In that New Testament book we are told that these sealed ones are twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, but here we discover that the natural sons of the woman have been rejected.
 

   John had boldly declared, "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham"  (Mat 3:8 KJV).  This prophecy of John's is being fulfilled before their eyes.  As such they are admonished, "Go, my children, and ask the Lord for mercy"  (5 Esra 2:2).  The kingdom is promised to a people who were not a people.
 

The sealed ones spoken by John the apostle, are now to be received by the woman as her own sons.  As Seth was received as a son by Eve in the place of, and in stead of Abel, these sons also whom the Lord has sealed must now be received in the place of the sons of Israel. As Paul has said, these have been grafted into the root of Israel.
 

    Here then is the number of those sons who have been sealed by the Lord.  They are not the natural offspring of Israel, but they are indeed counted as the seed of Abraham, for by faith they have become the seed of Christ.
 

   One need only compare the account of John's sealed company with the representative seed who is described in 5 Esra, to determine whether these both prophecies must be referring to the same people.

   The last book (Chapters 15-16) is properly called 6 Esra.  It seems to be merely a rehearsing of the terrible tribulation period to come.  It offers no more hope to the believer than to expect that these things will come swiftly upon the earth.  There is however a prophetic utterance that might well describe the rising up of an extremely powerful Muslim kingdom throughout the world, but the words are much too vague to be of any true value.

   The time of this prophetic fulfillment seems to parallel that described in John's apocalypse by the great amount of blood that is shed upon the earth.

   There is an element of hope within this prophecy of doom however, for the elect shall be delivered from these days of tribulation, but we are not told how much they might have to endure before their redemption comes.
 

   This apocalyptic writing is said to have been circulated throughout the early Church with favorable acceptance.  It was written by an anonymous author sometime around the second century, but perhaps even later around the fourth century.   The book seems to have been written to somewhat explain Paul's out of the body experience of which he wrote by his own hand within one of the New Testament epistles.

   Paul is in this journey met by a little child who accompanies him throughout his journey.  The child is the Holy Spirit who is to act as his guide and interpreter to all the wonderful things that he is to behold.  During the journey Paul ascends into the many compartments of heaven, the tenth being the final and highest of all.  In one place he witnesses the souls of sinners being accused of their sin and sentenced appropriately.  At the seventh heaven he approached and old man, obviously representing the Father and Creator, on a glorious throne who forbid him to go any further unless he could motion with a secret sign.  Paul learned the sign and as such, he was able to ascend to the highest heaven.

   We can see the element of the Gnostic philosophy in the use of the secret sign that will award Paul a higher place in the heavens than the average believer.   This stamps the document with the signature of the Gnostic, but it should be pointed out that John contains a similar secret sign promised to the overcommers within his apocalypse.
 

   The above scripture may be perhaps one reason why many chose to reject John's apocalypse, believing it to be a writing propagated by the Gnostics.  While we know John's writing to be truly inspired while Paul's apocalypse to be an apocryphal fabrication of fiction, we still must be alert to the Gnostic nature which one may find hidden within some of the sacred writ.

   There are different versions of this book by the same name, however, it does not appear that this apocalypse has anything in common with the older Ethiopic text.  When such an apocalypse is referred to by any of the early historical Christian writings of the first few centuries, it is usually believed that such references most likely do not refer to this Gnostic apocalypse, although of this we can not be sure.  The document seems to have been written sometime during the third century, or perhaps the second century at the earliest.  This makes it circulated throughout the Christian church at the same time as the other apocalypse by the same name.
 This apocalypse seems extremely valuable, in the sense that it  yields to us a tremendous insight into the beliefs and teachings of the Gnostics.   The Gnostics thought of themselves as a higher level of Christianity.  They believed themselves to be privileged to a much greater revelation of the truth, and ultimately to a much greater reward.   In this particular writing Peter appears to be considered as the greatest of all the apostles.  Peter is the beginning of the Gnostic faith that has been built upon the greater revelations of the Gnostic church.  These Gnostic Christians are known to have considered themselves as the only true Christians and as such, special custodians of greater spiritual truths then all others.

   According to the Gnostic way of thinking, the flesh and blood Jesus is not the one to be worshipped.  He is the man and the sacrifice, but the essence is greater than he for the essence is Christ.  It is not the man Jesus Christ who is the one whom we pay homage to, but rather the spirit man who lived inside that physical body.  For the body is that of a dead man.  It is the spirit man who is alive.

   The vision of all of this is not to be merely passed on to all.  This information is privileged information to the elect.  It is given to Peter alone and will be shared only to those who are worthy to receive it.  This is very typical of the Gnostic philosophy.  Be strong! For you are the one to whom it was given to know these mysteries openly.  At first the Christian reader will find that he is appalled at such cult-like teaching.  It must be realized however that this sort of thing is not foreign to the teachings of Jesus nor of the rest of the bible for that matter. Note the words of Jesus himself.  Does he not sound like one of the Gnostics?
 

   Now compare the above with the teachings of the Gnostics below.
 

   So we find that there is indeed some value to be discovered within this apocalyptic writing, if only to discover the overall attitude of the Gnostic cult teaching.

    The Apocalypse of Paul, according to a certain quotation by Origen, was pretty much accepted by the early Church, however we know that there is more than one such document named after this same title.  This particular apocalyptic writing has nothing at all to do with the other Coptic Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul.  According to Augustine, the true church has never accepted this apocalypse, which has been evidently concocted by some particular religious group for their own personal motives.  It is believed to have been written sometime during the fourth or fifth century.

   This writing begins with a little introduction to inform us why this revelation had not been given to the Church in the days of Paul, while purporting to have been written by him.  The document had been hidden in a marble box along with the shoes of the apostle.  In the day when it was to be revealed upon the earth, a certain angel was sent three times to a man living in Tarsus in the house which used to belong to Paul.  The man had been afraid to open the box and so, he delivered it to the emperor, who made a copy and sent the original on to Jerusalem.

   The document describes Paul's out of the body experience in which he had been taken up to the third heaven where he begins his journey throughout the heavens and learns of the secret things which he is to right down, the same that we find within this text.  He meets various famous old testament personages such as Enoch and Elijah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, David, several of the prophets, etc.  He is able to witness first hand the punishment of the unfaithful presbyters, bishops, and deacons.

  Within this writing is a declaration that those who succumb to marriage will limit their own reward in heaven.  Faithful virgins shall inherit seven times greater the reward of those who have remained pure to their marriage vows but have thought to give themselves over to marriage.

   Over and over Paul is showed how that unrepentant mankind is destined to suffer grievously. The purpose of all of this vision seems to be to impress upon Paul's mind why God seems to be so full of mercy.

   One of the peculiar things found within this document is how those who are damned are still shown a certain amount of forgiveness and restoration.  For the sake of Paul and the angel Michael, who intercedes concerning the nation Israel, almost non-stop,  a special grace is shown to the inhabitants of Hades.  They shall now experience a day set free of torture?   This document seems to be of very little value.  Its author is apparently fixated upon the call to repentance, but it does tend to bring to remembrance other scriptures of warning to us all from the writings of the real apostle.  Each man is therefore admonished that we all must answer to God, and
receive from him a reward or chastisement, in accordance to what our works in this life deserve, whether we be in Christ, or out of Christ.

   There are different versions of this book that yield somewhat of a variation in translation, among which versions are the popular Ethiopic and Greek texts.  The origin of this book seems to be somewhere around 135 A.D.   There is also an Arabic version and a Coptic version named by the same title.  The book was accepted by some of the early Church Fathers as being a genuine writing of the Apostle Peter.  It was accepted as part of the Roman Canon being mentioned in connection with the Apocalypse of John in the Muratorian Fragment.    That document is dated around the second or third century and within it at line 69 it says,  "The Apocalypsos also of John and Peter only do we receive, which (latter) some among us would not have read in church."

   Eusebius of Caesarea (260-339 A.D.)  wrote that this book should be rejected as not being numbered among the divinely inspired scriptures.   Among the rejected writings must be reckoned also the Acts of Paul, and the so-called Shepherd, and the Apocalypse of Peter, and in addition to these the extant epistle of Barnabas, and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles; and besides, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem proper, which some, as I said, reject, but which others class with the accepted books.  (Church History of Eusebius III:25:4)

   The book was also regarded as an acceptable part of the Alexandrian Canon as Eusebius also writes concerning its acceptance by Clement of Alexandria as being numbered among the genuine sacred books.   To sum up briefly, he has given in the Hypotyposes abridged accounts of all canonical Scripture, not omitting the disputed books,  I refer to Jude and the other Catholic epistles, and Barnabas and the so-called Apocalypse of Peter.    (Church History of Eusebius  VI:14:1)
 

   The North African Church still received it as a sacred writing of the apostle in the days of Eusebius  and so we can clearly see that Eusebius' opinion does not necessary demand that we should automatically dismiss the writing completely as a worthless forgery or to be included among the category of spurious writings.  Due to his reputation within the Christian Church, his opinion does seem to have held great weight concerning this book as from his day forward it seems that the apostolic authenticity of the book fell by the way side and the book gradually fell out of the generally accepted canon.  It should be noted that Eusebius also included the Epistle of Jude, Apocalypse of John, and other of the General Church Epistles (Catholic) as falling into the same category.  There is another apocalypse attributed to John besides the one that now appears within the New Testament, however this is ascribed to the ninth century and is therefore probably not the one referred to by Eusebius.

   Various fragments have been preserved showing the general usage and acceptance of this apocalyptic writing within the early church.  In his Eclog., chapter 41, 48, 49; Clement of Alexandria refers to the aborted children and their being ushered into the protection of a caretaking angel  which itself is a direct reference to verse 8 of the Ethiopic text.  Methodius, Conviv., ii., 6, refers to the same reference, indicating it as, "divinely-inspired scriptures."
 

   One of the more valuable treasures of this epistle is the interpretation of the meaning of the parable of the fig tree which we also find in the Discourse on the Mount of Olives (Mat. 24:32 KJV).  According to this Apocalypse of Peter, the fig tree indisputably represents the house of Israel.

   This makes the nation of Israel to be the pivot point of prophecy as many have declared in our generation.  Others have rejected this notion however,  believing that Israel has nothing to do with these later day prophecies.  The time period must also coincide with the coming of Enoch and Elijah being the two witnesses spoken of by John.  Note how that the two witnesses are identified by Peter so that there might be no doubt as to their identity and why it is that they appear upon the earth in those days.
 

   This epistle is a witness to our generation, whether inspired or not it is irrelevant.  The fact remains that the early church understood this fig tree to represent the nation of Israel, and the two witnesses of John's apocalypse to be identified with Enoch and Elijah.  We discover a similar witness within the Gospel of Nicodemius, a writing which is dated somewhere in proximity of this apocalyptic writing of Peter.

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