Official Blog Site of the Apostolic Catholic Church of Beloved Ingkong

I’ve found a website referring to a comet called Nibiru which would possibly hit our planet on 2012. (search google for “2012 comet”) I remembered what Beloved Ingkong told us in one of His messages, that, a meteorite (not a comet) would strike our planet. This meteorite would release strange insects from beneath the earth. These insects will attack those people without the holy “seal” on their foreheads. Beloved Ingkong told us to have our loved ones be given the Holy Seal “tatak” so that these creatures would not harm them.

Nibiru, also known as Planet X is believed to exist in our solar system. The planet has a 3600 year orbit around the sun. 2012 is the year that this planet is expected to re-enter our solar system. Nibiru will attract a lot of debris (asteroids & comets). When it passes close to earth a comet will hit earth and cause a tremendous amount of damage. The comet itself will only be one of the effects of the planet Nibiru. Nibiru is quite large and will cause the earth to stop spinning as it passes. This will also be a devastating effect.

Watch this video about this comet here:

Youtube video about Nibiru Comet

What our Beloved Ingkong told us is a meteorite, if I heard it right, while Nibiru is a comet. I don’t know if they are related but it says that this comet would attract a lot of debris (which could be meteorites). IF this is true, let’s pray it’s not, let’s have our loved ones receive the Holy Seal “tatak” as soon as possible. We only have 4 years left… Let’s pray that this doesn’t happen.

The Historical Accuracy of the Bible

By Jim Sasser

 

To be divinely inspired, a book must be historically accurate.  For if its credibility cannot be established on the basis of known events, it certainly cannot be relied upon as an adequate guide in matters beyond our ability to check.  On the other hand, if we can demonstrate that such a book is correct in historical matters, to an extent unknown among human writings, then we have strong evidence that the authors were inspired by God.  In this lesson we shall learn that this is true of the Bible.

 

Down through the centuries, enemies of the Bible have attacked its historical accuracy. Time after time, the Scriptures have been thus questioned, only later to be shown correct by archaeology.  Archaeology is a study of relics, monu ments, tombs, artifacts, etc., of ancient civilizations.  Peoples and events, known before only in Biblical accounts, have been brought to light by the excavations of ancient cities. Always, the Bible has been proven right.  Let us consider a few of the cases of such findings:

Grapes In Egypt:

 

 

In Genesis 40 we are told how Joseph interpreted the dream of Pharaoh’s butler.  In this dream grapes are mentioned.  But the ancient historian, Herodotus, states that the Egyptians grew no grapes and drank no wine, and many therefore questioned the accuracy of the biblical account.  However, paintings discovered on the ancient Egyptian tombs, show the dressing, pruning, and cultivating of the vines, and also the process of extracting the juice of grapes, as well as scenes of drunkenness.  There can be little doubt then that Herodotus was wrong and the Bible right.

The Bricks Of Pithom:

 

In Exodus 1:11, we are told that the children of Israel built the treasure cities of Pithom and Raamses for Pharaoh.  In Exodus 5, we are informed that they made bricks first using straw, and then using stubble, because no straw was furnished them for that purpose.  In 1883, Naville, and in l908, Kyle, found at Pithom, one of the cities built by Israel, that the lower courses were built of bricks filled with good, chopped straw.  The middle courses have less straw including stubble.  The upper courses were made of pure clay, with no straw whatever.  It is difficult to read the biblical account and not be astonished at the amazing confirmation which archaeology here has given to the Bible.

The Hittites:

 

 

Forty-eight times in the Scriptures, a people called the Hittites are mentioned.  We find them blocking Israel’s path as it sought to enter the promised land.  We read of Uriah, the Hittite, whom David sent to his untimely death. However, in all the records of antiquity, not a reference to those people was to be found, and therefore, the skeptics attributed them to the imagination and fiction.  In 1876, George Smith, began a study of monuments at a place called Djerabis in Asia Minor.  This city proved out to be old Carchemish, a capital of the ancient Hatti.  We now know that the Hatti were the Hittites of the Bible, who, according to Prof. A.H. Sayce, “contended on equal terms with both Egypt and Assyria.”  The Hittites not only proved to be a real people, but their empire was shown to be one of the great ones of ancient times.

Sargon:

 

 

In Isaiah 20:1, we read, “In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him)…” This is the only mention of King Sargon in the Bible, and they only one in ancient literature.  His place in history was severely questioned on this account.  But in the years, 1842-1845, P.E. Botta, uncovered the tremendous royal palace of Sargon.  Among the other things discovered was an account of the siege of Ashdod mentioned in Isaiah.  Once more the Bible was right, the critics wrong.

The Flood:

 

Geneisis 7 and 8 tell us of the destruction of the world by a great flood.  To many, the story of the flood is actually a recording of ancient myths.  However, we have much evidence outside the Bible to show that the flood was a reality and that the Bible is true.  Notice the flood traditions of ancient peoples.  One scholar lists 88 different traditional accounts.  Almost all of these agree that there was a universal destruction of the human race and all living creatures by a flood.  Almost all agree that an ark or a boat was the means of escape.  Almost all are in accord in saying that a seed of mankind was left to perpetuate the race.  Many add that wickedness of man brought about the flood.  Some even mention Noe.  Several speak of the dove and the raven, and some discuss a sacrifice offered by those who were saved.  To anyone familiar with the biblical account, the similarity is astounding.  The universality of this tradition is such as to establish that the biblical flood was not a figment of someone’s imagination.

 

In 1872, George Smith, discovered the now famous Babylonian flood tablets.  In these, a certain person was told to build an ark or ship and to take into it seed of all creatures. He was given the exact measurements and was instructed to use pitch in sealing it.  He took his family into the boat with food.  There was a terrible storm which lasted six days.  They landed on Mt. Nazir.  He sent out a dove.  It came back.  He sent out a swallow.  It came back.  He sent out a raven and it flew back and forth over the earth.  When these people were safely out of the boat, they offered sacrifice to the gods.  The account differs from the Bible in some particulars, but is so much in agreement with the Scriptures as to make one wonder how the historical nature of the flood could be questioned.

 

Furthermore, archaeology has found positive evidence of a great flood in some ancient cities.  At Susa, a solid deposit of earth five feet thick was found between two distinct civilizations.  The nature of the deposit establishes beyond doubt that Susa was completely destroyed by a flood which was not merely local.  At Ur, the ancient home of Abraham, a similar deposit of water laid clay eight feet thick was found.  This deposit clearly shows that Ur was destroyed by a flood of such proportions that is must have been a vast flood such as the one of the Bible.  Further evidence could be presented, but this should be sufficient to demonstrate that the Biblical flood was a reality.

Jericho:

 

Josuha 6, tells how Israel conquered the walled city of Jericho.  For six day they marched once around the city.  On the seventh day they went aroung it seven times. The priests blew their trumpets, the people shouted, and when they did, “The wall fell down flat” (Josuha 6:20). The people then rused straitway into the city and burned it.  They took none of it to themselves.  They saved Rahab who lived in a house upon the wall and who had helped them previously.

 

Starting in 1929, Dr. John Garstang, excavated the ruins of ancient Jericho.  His discoveries orresponded remarkably with the Biblical account.  Jericho, he found, had a double wall, with houses built across the two walls.  This explains how Rahab’s house could have been built upon a wall.  He learned that the wall was destroyed by some kind of violent convulsion such as that described in the Bible, and that when the wall feel that it fell outward, down the hillside, or as the Bible says, it fell down flat.  Had the wall been destroyed by the battering rams of an enemy army, the walls would have fallen inward instead of outward. Furthermore, the city had been burned.  Once again, the spade of archaeology has established the accuracy of the Bible.

 

Sergius Paulus, The Proconsul:

 

 

In Acts 13:7, mention is made of Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus.  For a long time, skeptics contended that Luke should have called him propraetor instead of proconsul since this was the usual title. However, coins descovered on Cyprus, have positively estab lished that the governors of Cyprus  were proconsuls.  One such coin found at Soli on Cyprus bears the inscription, “Paulus the Proconsul”, very possibly referring to the very man mentioned in Acts.

 

Confirmation By Non-Biblical Writers:

 

Some Biblical accounts have been substantiated by non-Biblical writers. For example: the Jewish historian Josephus has said many things concerning facts in the Bible.  For example: in Matthew 14:3,4, we are told that Herod put John the Baptist to death for the sake of Herodias, his brother  Philip’s wife, because John had informed Herod that it wasn’t lawful for him to have her as his wife.  Josephus tells us why it was unlawful.  Herodias had originally been married to Herod’s brother, Philip. But she divorced Phlip and married Herod.  this unlawful marriage was the occasion of John’s rebuke.  The account of Josephus and the Bible are in perfect accord.

 

Apparent Inconsistencies:

 

Apparent inconsistencies fade away whenever the Bible is studied with an open mind. An example is found in regard to the ruling family of Palestine In Matthew 2:1, we read of “Herod the King” who was reigning when Jesus was born. Matt. 2:19 records his death.  Yet in Acts 12:12, we read once more of “Herod the King” putting James to death.  How could he do this if he were already dead?  Does the Bible contradict itself?  Josephus, an unbeliever in Christ, explains the difficulty by showing that Herod of Acts 12, was actually the grandson of the Herod mentioned in Matthew 2. The Bible agrees perfectly with the facts.

 

Again, Luke 2:1, mentions “Caesar Augustus” as the ruling monarch of the Roman Empire.  In Luke 3:1, we are told that John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. This shows that Augustus was no longer on the throne.  Still later in Acts 25:21, we find Paul appealing his arrest to August.  A superficial reading might lead us to suppose that the Bible contradicts itself.  But on close examination, with other known facts, we find that the emperor at that time was Nero, whose full name was Caesar Augustus Nero.  Luke, the author of both books in question, does not explain this because the first century readers were familiar with the fact that there were two different men named Augustus.

 

The attacks upon the credibility of the Bible have served to make stronger, not weaker, the conviction of every lover of the true Word of God.

 

 

Please read this article.  It might give you a different perspective.

Are the Biblical Documents Reliable?

By: Jimmy Williams

 

How do we know that the Bible we have today is even close to the original? Haven’t copiers down through the centuries inserted and deleted and embellished the documents so that the original message of the Bible has been obscured? These questions are frequently asked to discredit the sources of information from which the Christian faith has come to us.

Three Errors To Avoid

   1. Do not assume inspiration or infallibility of the documents, with the intent of attempting to prove the inspiration or infallibility of the documents. Do not say the bible is inspired or infallible simply because it claims to be. This is circular reasoning.
   2. When considering the original documents, forget about the present form of your Bible and regard them as the collection of ancient source documents that they are.
   3. Do not start with modern “authorities” and then move to the documents to see if the authorities were right. Begin with the documents themselves.

Procedure for Testing a Document’s Validity

In his book, Introduction in Research in English Literary History, C. Sanders sets forth three tests of reliability employed in general historiography and literary criticism. These tests are:

   1. Bibliographical (i.e., the textual tradition from the original document to the copies and manuscripts of that document we possess today)
   2. Internal evidence (what the document claims for itself)
   3. External evidence (how the document squares or aligns itself with facts, dates, persons from its own contemporary world).

It might be noteworthy to mention that Sanders is a professor of military history, not a theologian. He uses these three tests of reliability in his own study of historical military events.

We will look now at the bibliographical, or textual evidence for the Bible’s reliability.

The Old Testament

For both Old and New Testaments, the crucial question is: “Not having any original copies or scraps of the Bible, can we reconstruct them well enough from the oldest manuscript evidence we do have so they give us a true, undistorted view of actual people, places and events?”

The Scribe
The scribe was considered a professional person in antiquity. No printing presses existed, so people were trained to copy documents. The task was usually undertaken by a devout Jew. The Scribes believed they were dealing with the very Word of God and were therefore extremely careful in copying. They did not just hastily write things down. The earliest complete copy of the Hebrew Old Testament dates from c. 900 A.D.

The Massoretic Text
During the early part of the tenth century (916 A.D.), there was a group of Jews called the Massoretes. These Jews were meticulous in their copying. The texts they had were all in capital letters, and there was no punctuation or paragraphs. The Massoretes would copy Isaiah, for example, and when they were through, they would total up the number of letters. Then they would find the middle letter of the book. If it was not the same, they made a new copy. All of the present copies of the Hebrew text which come from this period are in remarkable agreement. Comparisons of the Massoretic text with earlier Latin and Greek versions have also revealed careful copying and little deviation during the thousand years from 100 B.C. to 900 A.D. But until this century, there was scant material written in Hebrew from antiquity which could be compared to the Masoretic texts of the tenth century A.D.

The Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947, a young Bedouin goat herdsman found some strange clay jars in caves near the valley of the Dead Sea. Inside the jars were some leather scrolls. The discovery of these “Dead Sea Scrolls” at Qumran has been hailed as the outstanding archeological discovery of the twentieth century. The scrolls have revealed that a commune of monastic farmers flourished in the valley from 150 B.C. to 70 A.D. It is believed that when they saw the Romans invade the land they put their cherished leather scrolls in the jars and hid them in the caves on the cliffs northwest of the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah, a fragmented copy of Isaiah, containing much of Isaiah 38-6, and fragments of almost every book in the Old Testament. The majority of the fragments are from Isaiah and the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The books of Samuel, in a tattered copy, were also found and also two complete chapters of the book of Habakkuk. In addition, there were a number of nonbiblical scrolls related to the commune found.

These materials are dated around 100 B.C. The significance of the find, and particularly the copy of Isaiah, was recognized by Merrill F. Unger when he said, “This complete document of Isaiah quite understandably created a sensation since it was the first major Biblical manuscript of great antiquity ever to be recovered. Interest in it was especially keen since it antedates by more than a thousand years the oldest Hebrew texts preserved in the Massoretic tradition.”

The supreme value of these Qumran documents lies in the ability of biblical scholars to compare them with the Massoretic Hebrew texts of the tenth century A.D. If, upon examination, there were little or no textual changes in those Massoretic texts where comparisons were possible, an assumption could then be made that the Massoretic Scribes had probably been just as faithful in their copying of the other biblical texts which could not be compared with the Qumran material.

What was learned? A comparison of the Qumran manuscript of Isaiah with the Massoretic text revealed them to be extremely close in accuracy to each other: “A comparison of Isaiah 53 shows that only 17 letters differ from the Massoretic text. Ten of these are mere differences in spelling (like our “honor” and the English “honour”) and produce no change in the meaning at all. Four more are very minor differences, such as the presence of a conjunction (and) which are stylistic rather than substantive. The other three letters are the Hebrew word for “light.” This word was added to the text by someone after “they shall see” in verse 11. Out of 166 words in this chapter, only this one word is really in question, and it does not at all change the meaning of the passage. We are told by biblical scholars that this is typical of the whole manuscript of Isaiah.”

The Septuagint
The Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, also confirms the accuracy of the copyists who ultimately gave us the Massoretic text. The Septuagint is often referred to as the LXX because it was reputedly done by seventy Jewish scholars in Alexandria around 200 B.C. The LXX appears to be a rather literal translation from the Hebrew, and the manuscripts we have are pretty good copies of the original translation.

Conclusion
In his book, Can I Trust My Bible, R. Laird Harris concluded, “We can now be sure that copyists worked with great care and accuracy on the Old Testament, even back to 225 B.C. . . . indeed, it would be rash skepticism that would now deny that we have our Old Testament in a form very close to that used by Ezra when he taught the word of the Lord to those who had returned from the Babylonian captivity.”

 

The New Testament (The Greek Manuscript Evidence):

 
There are more than 4,000 different ancient Greek manuscripts containing all or portions of the New Testament that have survived to our time. These are written on different materials.

 

Papyrus and Parchment

During the early Christian era, the writing material most commonly used was papyrus. This highly durable reed from the Nile Valley was glued together much like plywood and then allowed to dry in the sun. In the twentieth century many remains of documents (both biblical and non-biblical) on papyrus have been discovered, especially in the dry, arid lands of North Africa and the Middle East.

Another material used was parchment. This was made from the skin of sheep or goats, and was in wide use until the late Middle Ages when paper began to replace it. It was scarce and more expensive; hence, it was used almost exclusively for important documents.

Examples

1. Codex Vaticanus and Codex Siniaticus

These are two excellent parchment copies of the entire New Testament which date from the 4th century (325-450 A.D.).

2. Older Papyrii

Earlier still, fragments and papyrus copies of portions of the New Testament date from 100 to 200 years (180-225 A.D.) before Vaticanus and Sinaticus. The outstanding ones are the Chester Beatty Papyrus (P45, P46, P47) and the Bodmer Papyrus II, XIV, XV (P46, P75).

From these five manuscripts alone, we can construct all of Luke, John, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, and portions of Matthew, Mark, Acts, and Revelation. Only the Pastoral Epistles (Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy) and the General Epistles (James, 1 and 2 Peter, and 1, 2, and 3 John) and Philemon are excluded.

3. Oldest Fragment

Perhaps the earliest piece of Scripture surviving is a fragment of a papyrus codex containing John 18:31-33 and 37. It is called the Rylands Papyrus (P52) and dates from 130 A.D., having been found in Egypt. The Rylands Papyrus has forced the critics to place the fourth gospel back into the first century, abandoning their earlier assertion that it could not have been written then by the Apostle John.

4. This manuscript evidence creates a bridge of extant papyrus and parchment fragments and copies of the New Testament stretching back to almost the end of the first century.

Versions (Translations)
In addition to the actual Greek manuscripts, there are more than 1,000 copies and fragments of the New Testament in Syria, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, and Ethiopic, as well as 8,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate, some of which date back almost to Jerome’s original translation in 384 400 A.D.

Church Fathers
A further witness to the New Testament text is sourced in the thousands of quotations found throughout the writings of the Church Fathers (the early Christian clergy [100-450 A.D.] who followed the Apostles and gave leadership to the fledgling church, beginning with Clement of Rome (96 A.D.).

It has been observed that if all of the New Testament manuscripts and Versions mentioned above were to disappear overnight, it would still be possible to reconstruct the entire New Testament with quotes from the Church Fathers, with the exception of fifteen to twenty verses!

A Comparison
The evidence for the early existence of the New Testament writings is clear. The wealth of materials for the New Testament becomes even more significant when we compare it with other ancient documents which have been accepted without question.

 

*Where a slash occurs, the first date is conservative, and the second is liberal.
**New Testament manuscripts are fragmentary. Earliest complete manuscript is from ca. 350; lapse of event to complete manuscript is about 325 years.

 

Conclusion

 

In his book, The Bible and Archaeology, Sir Frederic G. Kenyon, former director and principal librarian of the British Museum, stated about the New Testament, “The interval, then, between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”

To be skeptical of the 27 documents in the New Testament, and to say they are unreliable is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as these in the New Testament.

B. F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort, the creators of The New Testament in Original Greek, also commented: “If comparative trivialities such as changes of order, the insertion or omission of the article with proper names, and the like are set aside, the works in our opinion still subject to doubt can hardly mount to more than a thousandth part of the whole New Testament.” In other words, the small changes and variations in manuscripts change no major doctrine: they do not affect Christianity in the least. The message is the same with or without the variations. We have the Word of God.

The Anvil? God’s Word.

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime:
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed . . . the hammer’s gone.
Author unknown

Notes

   1. C.Sanders, Introduction in Research in English Literacy (New York: MacMillan, 1952), 143.
   2. Merrill F. Unger, Famous Archaeological Discoveries (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1957), 72.
   3. R. Laird Harris, Can I Trust My Bible? (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), 124.
   4. Ibid., 129-30.
   5. Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Handbook (Chicago: Moody Press, 1967), 892.
   6. Ibid.
   7. Ibid.
   8. Sir Fredric Kenyon, The Bible and Archaeology (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1940), 288ff.
   9. B.F. Westcott, and F.J.A. Hort, eds., New Testament in Original Greek, 1881, vol. II, 2.

© 1995 Probe Ministries
About the Author
James F. Williams is the founder and past president of Probe Ministries International, and currently serves as Minister at Large. He holds degrees from Southern Methodist University (B.A.) and Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.). He also has pursued inter-disciplinary doctoral studies (a.b.d.) in the humanities at the University of Texas at Dallas.

During the past thirty-five years, he has visited, lectured, and counseled on more than 180 university campuses in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

He has also served on the faculties of the American, Latin American, and European Institutes of Biblical Studies. Jimmy can be reached via e-mail at jwilliams@probe.org.

Why read the Bible?  Is it really God’s Words?

First and foremost, the Scriptures are central to the Revelation of God to mankind.  St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote, “Divinely inspired Scripture, as the Divine Apostle calls it, is the Holy Spirit’s writing.  Its purpose is usefulness to men. ‘All Scripture,’ he says, ‘is inspired of God and useful.’ (2 Tim 3:16)”.  That is why the Holy Bible is important to the Apostolic Catholic Church.  The Churches of God guard them so carefully.  We as Christians venerate it and consider it sacred – holy, and read it during the services.  Those few words provide us, with a gently understated picture of how the Church views the Holy Bible.  The importance of this reverential regard for the Bible and its use cannot, be overstated; for it helps us understand why properly reading and interpreting it is a very sensitive matter.  That is because it is inspired by God.  Remember the words of St. John the Apostle in the first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

The Early Church Fathers project a specifically humble and positive attitude toward the Holy Bible, accepting them as the word of God, inspired by God the Holy Spirit, Mahal na Ingkong.  They consistently followed the interpretation which has been traditionally accepted in the Church from the beginning.  Nowadays, there are so called philosophers, historians and others (who called themselves theologians) who criticize and interpret the Holy Scriptures without regards to the traditions and doctrines of the church, even ignoring and disdaining this traditions and doctrines.  This is not to be, because the Church has held throughout the centuries the knowledge of the Scriptures, and only through the Church by the guidance of the Holy Spirit that all truth and revelation of God has been handed down since the Apostles.

St. Theophilus of Antioch wrote, “Moreover, in regard to the righteousness which the law enjoined, the Prophets and the Gospels are found to be consistent with each other, because they all spoke as being inspired by the one Spirit of God”.  St. Iranaeus of Lyons writes, “If, however, we are not able to find explanations for all those passages which are investigated, we ought to not on that account seek for another God beside Him who exists. This would be the greatest impiety.  Things of that kind we must leave to God, the One who made us, knowing full well that the Scriptures are certainly perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and by His Spirit.”

Guarding our faith and its foundation, the source of all doctrine and traditions, is the gift of God, His Revelation.  St. Paul said, “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, and the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10-11).  And again, “No man can say Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:3).

 

 

What does the Bible mean to your faith and to whom it is written for? 

The Bible was written long ago over a span of a thousand years by people who belonged to a culture far different from ours and who spoke languages we do not understand.  The Bible uses literary forms that vary greatly from ours.  Many of the most important words of the Bible were spoken in one language, written down in another, and translated into a third.  Small wonder then that we have problems discerning the meaning of the Bible.

It is the belief of the Apostolic Catholic Church and the two mainstream denominations (Roman and Orthodox Churches), plus many other Christian denominations that the Bible also has God as its author.  There is a degree of reliability in the Scriptures.  But how can God and man be both authors of the Holy Bible?  The Churches position is that God inspired the human authors of the Bible to write the books, using ones own talents, style and abilities.  Therefore, we can best understand by simply going back to time and place (Knowledge of science and history) of its human author and discovering what that author intended to express.

The interpretation of the Bible must be studied (under the Church’s interpretation) in order to discern the meaning of the Bible, which words alone cannot give us the full knowledge.  The passage of thousand of years and the fact it was written in other languages for people of different times and cultures mean that the study and interpretation is necessary if we want to gain the proper understanding of God’s Word.

The underlined and highlighted (in bold) words, constitutes what we call the “Bible Study Considerations”.  In studying the Bible one must consider the following:  

 

Scholarly research:

 

Correctly interpreting the Bible is the most important thing to consider.  This idea sometimes makes some people who study the Bible a little bit uneasy.  Nowadays, readers are saturated of different ways of interpreting the Bible.  Previous interpretations may not be the same in today’s current interpretation.  It seams like that because of this different interpretations that the Bible can be like just a story or a myth.  But the truth of the Bible is or still being understood, and discoveries in fields that are important in studying the Bible has just been recently being uncovered.  These discoveries by scholars are in the fields of language, archeology, and history.

 

• Language – Thousands of documents unknown since Biblical times are still being rediscovered.  Records of the ancient languages from the cradle of civilization in the Middle East have enabled scholars to decipher way of writing and thinking.  For example, the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls made scholars aware of new developments of the Old and New Testaments.  In these sense they are able to increase our knowledge of the Bible.

 

• Archeology – The science of archeology have improved and advanced because of latest technology and discoveries.  This shed new light on the Bible.  Ancient monuments and cities have been discovered and are being studied.  Many aspects of the Bible, especially places have been verified.

 

• History – With the aid of archeology and languages, new discoveries presented us of new and better understanding of what the picture is like during the ancient times.  We are able to document real historical truth in the Bible and differentiate the non-historical parts of the Bible from the historical.

 

As a result, we are in a better position to understand the original meaning that the Biblical authors wanted to relay, than any one since the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We now have to revise the way we look at the things in the Bible, that the Bible may not be a myth after all.  That there is history in the Bible, and poetry, poems, parables, stories, drama, fables, and other type of writings.  But most of all the messages contained herein have such a profound meaning in the lives of the people during those times and will have the same effect to us in our time.

 

This type of knowledge about language, archeology, and history may not be necessary for all people to understand.  That is why scholars work on these so that in can be presented to us in a better way.  The scholars had laid the groundwork for us and it is now for us to fully grasp it’s meaning thru God the Holy Spirit, Our Beloved Ingkong.  With the scholars help, we can learn to recognize and understand the literary forms commonly used today.

 

With the help also of the different translations (again must be translated in the context of the church beliefs and traditions) of the Bible.  We can discern the original meaning of the passages.  Translations now days are closer to the meaning of the words written long ago.  They may provide introductions to the Books of the Bible as well as notes that give historical background and explain difficult passages.

 

From now on we will follow faithfully the scholarship teachings of the Apostolic Catholic Church and to express views that are keeping with directions set by the Church.  But the opinions of the scholars can change as archeologists, linguists, and historians discover new evidence.  This should not alarm us.  Our faith rests not on the latest speculations of scholars, but on God’s wisdom and authority, which are certain and everlasting because they come from Our Lord Jesus Christ, who “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8).

 

Interfaith considerations (The Canon of the Bible):

 

Old Testament - The canon, or officially accepted list of books in the Hebrew Bible, consists of 24 books according to Jewish reckoning and is divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Law (Torah), often called the Pentateuch, comprises five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Prophets (Nevi im) are divided into three parts: the earlier prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings); the later prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel); and twelve books called the Minor Prophets because of their brevity. The 11 Writings (Ketuvim) include three poetic books (Psalms, Proverbs, and Job); the five scrolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther); an apocalyptic work, Daniel; and Ezra – Nehemiah and 1 and 2 Chronicles.   Christian Bibles arrange the books differently. The Law, or Pentateuch, comes first, then all the historical books. The poetical, or wisdom, books and finally the prophetic books follow these. Thus Ruth, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther appear in the second group and Daniel and Lamentations in the fourth.  

 

[Editor's Note: Christian Bibles also generally divide apart all of the separate Books, so the Canon is described as being a total of 39 Books, but which the same text are as the 24 Books of the Hebrew Bible. For example, where the Hebrew Bible counts the Twelve Minor Prophets as one Book, Christian Bibles almost universally count them as twelve Books.]

 

The Jews never ceased writing religious books. Several books composed in Hebrew or Greek after 300 BC are part of the Septuagint, or Old Greek version, and were regarded as Scripture by many Christians. Roman Catholics and the Orthodox include these books, called Apocrypha or deutero-canonical books, in the Bible. Protestants omit them or print them as an appendix to the Bible.

 

New Testament – The process by which the canon of the New Testament was formed began in the 2d century, probably with a collection of ten letters of Paul. Toward the end of that century, Irenaeus argued for the unique authority of the portion of the Canon called the Gospels. Acceptance of the other books came gradually. The church in Egypt used more than the present 27 books, and the Syriac speaking churches fewer. The question of an official canon became urgent during the 4th century. It was mainly through the influence of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and because Jerome included the 27 books in his Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate, that the present canon came to be accepted.

 

Basing it on the canons of the Bible.  A lot has happened to the original Bible.  We all knew that the Bible has been written originally in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.  The Bible that we use today is translations of the original.  The people that translated the original translated it base on their own understanding, knowledge, and religion.  Both the West and Eastern Catholics use different translations and approach in studying the Bible.  From both Churches there are other independent churches that have translated their own. 

 

The Protestant Church, had exclusively taken some books in their canon.  So in a way, when people, even though we are all called Christians, have very much different opinions and understanding on how to interpret the Bible base on their own churches doctrines or understanding.  So therefore, when studying the Holy Scripture with other groups beside your same group in your own church.  One must be very careful not to have a discussion wherein studying becomes a contest of one owns faith or knowledge.  The study of God in the Bible must be understood in the way God had presented himself to all of us, which is humility and love.

 

Deciphering abbreviations and Biblical references:

 

Deciphering – The usual way of giving a citation from the Bible is first to name the book (often abbreviated):  Mt refers to the Gospel of Matthew, 1 Pet to the First Letter of Peter.  Next comes a number, indicating the chapter.  Mt 2 would mean the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2.  The chapter number is followed by a punctuation mark of some kind (usually a colon, but sometimes a comma or a period), after which come more numbers signifying the verses.  Thus, Mt 2:19-23 means the Gospel of Matthews, Chapter 2, and Verses 19 to 23. 

 

If the citation refers to more than one chapter, it is printed Mt 2:19-3:16, meaning the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2, Verse 19 through Chapter 3, Verse 6.  Sometimes specific verses within the same chapter are referred to while others are skipped.  A comma is used to indicate verses that are skipped.  For example, 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-11 refers to the First Book of Kings, Chapter 2, Verses 1 to 4 and 10 to 11.  (Verses 5 to 9 are omitted).

 

This system may seem confusing at first, but it becomes easier as the reader becomes familiar with the Bible and with the process of looking up passages.  From this point on, all biblical citations will be given using abbreviations found in the Catholic Edition Bibles.  Other Bibles may use slightly different abbreviations, and some versions of the Bible may occasionally vary numbering of selected verses and chapters.  The reader usually finds these chapters and verses by looking in the general area of the passage that has been cited.

 

Bible references – Further assistance in reading the Bible can be found in many available Bible Study (Catholic Editions is highly recommended and authorized) aids.  A Bible Commentary (Saint Jerome Commentary is highly recommended) offers verse-by-verse explanations of Bible passages.  A Bible Atlas gives maps showing the world as it was during the various stages of the Old and New Testament history.  Atlases may also offer details about daily life in ancient times.  A concordance lists each occurrence of every word in the Bible and gives the chapter and verse where the word may be found.  A Bible dictionary offers explanations for important words, names, and places in the Bible.  Audiotapes of the Bible make the Holy Bible available for those who can’t read or reading is not available or convenient to them.  Computer programs available for many versions of the Bible allow user to access any word or verse and permit comparisons of versions in parallel columns on the computer screen.  Worldwide web/Internet information about the Bible can be accessed from everywhere that this is available for quick reference and studies.  Also there are paid and non-paid courses available that people can enroll and learn about the Bible.

 

There are literally thousands of books offering information about the Bible.  Some of them are very helpful and in conformity with Catholic teaching.  Other materials, even some that claims to be nondenominational, contradict our doctrines and attack the established Catholic faith.  You yourselves may judge the value of these materials whenever you come across one.  You can look at these nondenominational books through the library, browsing through the Internet or if you want to buy them.  Once you do decide, please bear in mind that to truly understand the Bible you must, allow yourselves to have the wisdom of God (Our Beloved Ingkong, God the Holy Spirit) overcome you.  And that you can only interpret these through the Church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In studying the Bible, we therefore need to do three (3) things.  Namely, 1) Scholarly research (which from the following paragraphs below will truly explain); 2) The Canon of the Bible; and 3) Deciphering its contents.  All three boils down into what the Bible ought to be understood, in its historical context, and then apply it into ones spiritual understanding.  So we go now to the core of this article.

 

ONE HAS TO REMEMBER, The Bible is a historical book.  It is not the same as a fairy tale book (Cinderalla) or “made for movie” type genre (Shrek).  Rather, it is a historical book, but within it is also, “Mens, spiritual guide book”, which is very much rooted in history.  A writer, Ernst Renan once said that “all history is incomprehensible without Christ.”  But it is also true that both Christ and the Scriptures are in the same way inexplicable without the historical background adjacent to which they are presented.

 

History is the study of the past, particularly the written record of the human race, but more generally including scientific and archaeological discoveries about the past. Recently, there has been an increased interest in oral histories and traditions, passed down from generation to generation verbally. New technology, such as photography, sound recording, and motion pictures, now complement the written word in the historical record.

 

The word history derives from the Greek ??????? (historia), “learning by inquiry” and that from ??????? (histore?), “to examine, to observe, to inquire”, in turn from ????? (hist?r), “a wise man, and one who knows right, a judge”.  

 

If indeed, based on the paragraphs above, the question now is this.  Is the Bible accurate in its historical authenticity? 

 

Hopefully the following paragraphs will enable you to have the basic understanding and ultimately answer for yourself, some of the questions that are hanging in your mind about the Bible’s accuracy. 

 

But before you do, the Apostolic Catholic Church stand will always be, that the Bible is accurate and authentic, because we know from our faith that it is the written Word of God handed down to human authors through divine inspiration by God the Father, Yahweh; that it became flesh through God the Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ for its fulfillment; and authenticated by God the Holy Spirit, Mahal na Ingkong through His Prophet’s and Saint’s.

 

Again, history is the written record of the past, and the study of it requires scientific (science) and archeological (archeology) discoveries.  This article will also now in general terms answer your other added questions (which do keep on showing up in our head) about two things:

 

1)    Do science, contradicts the Bible?

2)    Do archeology, contradicts the Bible?

 

Before we proceed, let us define, differentiate, and in the case of our discussion, “what makes archeology a science?

 

Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge“) is the effort to discover, understand, or to understand better, how the physical world works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding. It is done through observation of natural phenomena, and/or through experimentation that tries to simulate natural phenomena under controlled conditions.  Knowledge in science is gained through research.  Academically, history is the field of research producing a continuous narrative and a systematic analysis of past events of importance to the human race,  

therefore.

 

Archaeology is one of the newer branches of sciences in the field of research and systematic analysis.  The word itself takes us back to ancient times. “Arche” is the Greek word for “beginning.” Archaeology therefore is the study of beginnings.  Below are some of the newer definitions that have been already proposed by the scientific community.

 

1.     It is a science in the study of history from the remains of early human cultures as researched primarily by systematic excavations (i.e. Etymology and/or Anthropology).

2.     The systematic and descriptive study of antiquities (ancient times) via the exploration (excavations) of the remains of past humans.

3.     That division of historical research which investigates past civilizations from extant art, architecture, monuments, inscriptions literature, language, customs, and other material traces.

 

Now take a look at number 3.  It actually tells us the subdivisions of what type of information is needed in order for a person studying history needs to fully understand it.  In studying the Bible for any science (scientific truth), one has to study its archeology.  This study is called, Biblical Archeology.

 

Biblical archaeology is the science of archaeology that throws light upon the understanding of the Bible.  Which in part, in the study of the Bible, our Biblical archaeology will be primarily focused in the study of the culture and history of the Middle East and the Mediterranean world (specifically the countries within Eastern Asia up to India, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe) – that area which served as the historical context for the Bible.

 

REASONS FOR STUDYING BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

 

1. To Aid us in Understanding the Bible.

 

a. Each book of the Bible was written to a particular audience:

                              o Genesis is written to Israelites who have come out of Egypt.

                              o Judges is written to Israelites living under the monarchy of Israel.

                              o Chronicles is written to post-exilic Jews returning to the land.

                              o The epistles are written to various churches throughout the Roman

                       Empire.

 

In each case, the human author of the book assumes a certain amount of a prior knowledge. He assumes that he can speak of various geographic or cultural areas and that they will be known and understood and applied by his readers.  Our problem is that we are reading ancient Scriptures from a 21st century vantage point. A study of Biblical archaeology helps us to step into the sandals of the original readers and to interpret the Scriptures properly. It is only then that we will be able to apply the truths of the Scriptures rightly in our day.

NOTE:  It answer’s the question, “Why read the Bible?  Is it really God’s                          Words”?

1. To Affirm the Scriptural Narrative.

 

The Bible’s historical accuracy has long been the source of attack. These attacks have not abated in recent years; they have escalated in intensity. One of the necessary fields of Biblical apologetics will be the defense of the historical veracity of the Bible. The battlefield for this conflict will be the arena of Biblical archaeology.  

 

Make no mistake, this is no easy conflict.  There are many archaeologists who reject the Bible out of hand, going so far as to deny the historicity of the patriarchs, the Exodus event and the existence of David or Solomon and their kingdoms.

 

At the same time, we must realize that there are many things in the Bible which are not substantiated in current Biblical archaeology.  That is because we have only found a small fraction of the remains of antiquity.

 

Principle: The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.  This has been proven time and time again as new finds have substantiated areas which were previously thought to be in error.

NOTE:  It answer’s the question, “Is God the Author of the Bible”?

1. To Aid us in the Work of Bible Translation.

 

Language is not a constant.  It is always changing.  One has only to pick up a King James Bible to see how much the English language has changed over the past 400 years.  What it true of the English language is also true of the languages in which the Bible was written.

 

o The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew with a few chapters in Daniel being penned in Aramaic. Modern Hebrew has gone through some changes and there are a number of words in the Old Testament which are “hapax legomenon” – words which appear only once and which appear nowhere else.

 

How are we to determine the meanings of such words? It is the field of archaeology which provides assistance. Archaeological writings give us other examples of the usage of certain words and are a great help in interpreting the Bible.

 

o The New Testament is written in Koine Greek. The Greek of the New Testament is very different from the modern Greek which is spoken today. Fortunately, we have a great deal of examples of Koine Greek to compare with our New Testament vocabulary.

NOTE:  It answer’s the question, “What does the Bible mean to your faith and to whom it is written for”?

 

THE SCOPE OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

 

The lands of the Bible go far beyond the tiny boarders of the land of Israel. The story of the Bible begins in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.  By the end of the New Testament, our horizons have been stretched westward all the way to Spain.  This means that we could divide Biblical Archaeology into two distinct parts:

 

 

Old Testament Archaeology

 

The lands of the Old Testament would be those around the Fertile Crescent.  This is a large band of relatively fertile land stretching from the Persian Gulf northward along the courses of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and then south along the Levant. Though known as the “Fertile Crescent,” much of these lands can only be considered fertile when compared to the surrounding deserts.

 

 

 

New Testament Archaeology

 

Although still centered in the land of Palestine, our focus in the New Testament turns its attention westward. The story of Acts and the Epistles is a movement from Jerusalem to Rome.  Between these two periods is a time known as the “Silent Years.” It is a period when there were no prophets in Israel. But it is not a period which is silent with reference to history.  

 

Old Testament		New Testament
1600+ Years of History	400 “Silent Years”	70-90 Years of History
Centered on the Fertile Crescent		Centered on the Mediterranean World

 

The Jewish writings known as the “Apocrypha” and specifically the books of Maccabees were written during this period. The books of Maccabees are an excellent resource in filling in for us the historical details of what took place in Israel between the close of the Old Testament Scriptures and the beginning of the New Testament.

Archeology cannot prove that the Bible is God’s written word to us. However, archeology can (and does) substantiate the Bible’s historical accuracy. Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible — sometimes when historians didn’t think such people or places existed. For example, the Gospel of John tells of Jesus healing a cripple next to the Pool of Bethesda. The text even describes the five porticoes (walkways) leading to the pool. Scholars didn’t think the pool existed, until archaeologists found it forty feet below ground, complete with the five porticoes.⁷

The Bible has a tremendous amount of historical detail, so not everything mentioned in it has yet been found through archaeology. However, not one archaeological find has conflicted with what the Bible records.⁸

In contrast, news reporter Lee Strobel comments about the Book of Mormon: “Archeology has repeatedly failed to substantiate its claims about events that supposedly occurred long ago in the Americas. I remember writing to the Smithsonian Institute to inquire about whether there was any evidence supporting the claims of Mormonism, only to be told in unequivocal terms that its archaeologists see ‘no direct connection between the archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book.’” Archaeologists have never located cities, persons, names, or places mentioned in the Book of Mormon.⁹

Many of the ancient locations mentioned by Luke, in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, have been identified through archeology. “In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities and nine islands without an error.”¹⁰

Archeology has also refuted many ill-founded theories about the Bible. For example, a theory still taught in some colleges today asserts that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), because writing had not been invented in his day. Then archaeologists discovered the Black Stele. “It had wedge-shaped characters on it and contained the detailed laws of Hammurabi. Was it post-Moses? No! It was pre-Mosaic; not only that, but it was pre-Abraham (2,000 B.C.). It preceded Moses’ writings by at least three centuries.”¹¹

Another major archaeological find confirmed an early alphabet in the discovery of the Ebla Tablets in northern Syria in 1974. These 14,000 clay tablets are thought to be from about 2300 B.C., hundreds of years before Abraham.¹² The tablets describe the local culture in ways similar to what is recorded in Genesis chapters 12-50.

Archaeology consistently confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible.

http://www.everystudent.com/features/bible.html#3

Chart listing some of the major archaeological finds…

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIND	SIGNIFICANCE
Mari Tablets	Over 20,000 cuneiform tablets, which date back to Abraham’s time period, explain many of the patriarchal traditions of Genesis.
Ebla Tablets	Over 20,000 tablets, many containing law similar to the Deuteronomy law code. The previously thought fictitious five cities of the plain in Genesis 14 (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar) are identified.
Nuzi Tablets	They detail customs of the 14th and 15th century parallel to the patriarchal accounts such as maids producing children for barren wives.
Black Stele	Proved that writing and written laws existed three centuries before the Mosaic laws.
Temple Walls of Karnak, Egypt	Signifies a 10th century BC reference to Abraham.
Laws of Eshnunna (ca. 1950 BC) Lipit-Ishtar Code (ca. 1860 BC) Laws of Hammurabi (ca. 1700 BC)	Show that the law codes of the Pentateuch were not too sophisticated for that period.
Ras Shamra Tablets	Provide information on Hebrew poetry.
Lachish Letters	Describe Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Judah and give insight into the time of Jeremiah.
Gedaliah Seal	References Gedaliah is spoken of in 2 Kings 25:22.
Cyrus Cylinder	Authenticates the Biblical description of Cyrus’ decree to allow the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (see 2 Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:2-4).
Moabite Stone	Gives information about Omri, the sixth king of Israel.
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III	Illustrates how Jehu, king of Israel, had to submit to the Assyrian king.
Taylor Prism	Contains an Assyrian text which detail Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah, king of Israel.
PAST CHARGES BY CRITICS	ANSWERED BY ARCHAEOLOGY
Moses could not have written Pentateuch because he lived before the invention of writing.	Writing existed many centuries before Moses.
Abraham’s home city of Ur does not exist.	Ur was discovered. One of the columns had the inscription “Abram.”
The city built of solid rock called “Petra” does not exist.	Petra was discovered.
The story of the fall of Jericho is myth. The city never existed.	The city was found and excavated. It was found that the walls tumbled in the exact manner described by the biblical narrative.
The “Hittites” did not exist.	Hundreds of references to the amazing Hittite civilization have been found. One can even get a doctorate in Hittite studies at the University of Chicago.
Belshazzar was not a real king of Babylon; he is not found in the records.	Tablets of Babylonia describe the reign of this coregent and son of Nabonidus.

Ave Maria Purissima…

I reflected on the messages of Mahal na Ingkong thru the lips of our Beloved Patriarch, and I found a sublime truth that I once ignored, – His teachings about ‘TITHES and TITHING’.

Many ‘tinatakan’ including myself have made so much explanations to reason out and discard the idea of Tithing. Until, in my bible reading and reflection, I came across the following verses from the Prophet Aggeus 1:3-11:

3 And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Aggeus the prophet, saying: 4 Is it time for you to dwell in ceiled houses, and this house lie desolate? 5 And now thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set your hearts to consider your ways.

6 You have sowed much, and brought in little: you have eaten, but have not had enough: you have drunk, but have not been filled with drink: you have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed: and he that hath earned wages, put them into a bag with holes.

7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Set Your hearts upon your ways: 8 Go up to the mountain, bring timber, and build the house: and it shall be acceptable to me, and I shall be glorified, saith the Lord. 9 You have looked for more, and behold it became less, and you brought it home, and I blowed it away: why, saith the Lord of hosts? because my house is desolate, and you make haste every man to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens over you were stayed from giving dew, and the earth was hindered from yielding her fruits:

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon all that the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon beasts, and upon all the labour of the hands.

The verses says that while the people are having good and nice houses their table is empty or lack of food despite the fact that they planted many crops. They are not satisfied with what they earned from their labor, and even loses as if they put it inside a holed basket. They worked hard yet they earned less. They have good clothes but it did not help them during winter. They have good houses, their children are studying in good and reputable schools yet their family is broken.

In short, their seemingly bountiful appearance cannot hide the real suffering of not only material but also spiritual poverty. Most material poverty is rooted in spiritual poverty. Once you turned away from the life-giving source you cut yourself off from true life, from the true kingdom and reign of God.

There is nothing wrong in fulfilling our needs and satisfying our wants. What is wrong is that we switched the original priority ordained by God the Father, and of God the Son, and now God the Holy Spirit. What is that priority? Let us continue, please read what God the Father said through the Prophet Malachias 3:6-12:

6 For I am the Lord, and I change not: and you the sons of Jacob are not consumed. 7 For from the days of your fathers you have departed from my ordinances, and have not kept them: Return to me, and I will return to you, saith the Lord of hosts. And you have said: Wherein shall we return? 8 Shall a man afflict God? for you afflict me. And you have said: Wherein do we afflict thee? in tithes and in firstfruits. 9 And you are cursed with want, and you afflict me, even the whole nation of you. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance.

11 And I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer, and he shall not spoil the fruit of your land: neither shall the vine in the field be barren, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightful land, saith the Lord of hosts.

FIRST CAUSE: We worked so hard to satisfy only OUR-selves, build OUR houses, clothe OUR selves with good clothes, buy OUR selves with all things we say NECESSITIES but in reality are vanities and wants that we can still live without. AND WE FORGET THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH, we departed from the ancient ordinance of keeping His House and His priests through Tithes and offerings.We turned our priorities of fulfilling and satisfying our needs and wants from fulfilling our primary obligation to return to the Lord the first fruits and tithes of our labor.

We say we worship and follow the Holy Trinity yet we rationalize and explain things away that monetary or financial tithes are not needed by God because He is Spirit and that we need the money more than Him. And we say that it’s our hearts that matters in Him. And Beloved INGKONG asks for our sins and not for our money. It is true Ingkong is asking us our sins and sinful hearts but let us not lose sight of the fact that He in return, asking us to prove our love of Him by taking care of His House and His priests.

King Solomon, whose riches and wisdom is unsurpassable by anyone living or will live in this planet once said:

24 Some distribute their own goods, and grow richer: others take away what is not their own, and are always in want. 25 The soul which blesseth, shall be made fat: and he that inebriateth, shall be inebriated also himself. 26 He that hideth up corn, shall be cursed among the people: but a blessing upon the head of them that sell.

King Solomon says, ‘Others take away what is not their own, and are always in want’. The tenth percent of our gross income is NOT IN FACT OURS but to God, and since we keep that which is not ours WE ARE ALWAYS IN WANT. We are hiding the seed that is ordained to provide us the bountiful blessings we desire.

King Solomon added:

9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits: 10 And thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall run over with wine.

Honor the Lord with thy substance, honor him with the fruits of our labor. And what is that fruit of our labor? It is our income, our salary, and the profits we derived from our business. And the promise is said, OUR BARNS SHALL BE FILLED WITH ABUNDANCE.

The Poor Widow in the Gospel of Saint Mark 12:

41 And Jesus sitting over against the treasury, beheld how the people cast money into the treasury, and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And calling his disciples together, he saith to them: Amen I say to you, this poor widow hath cast in more than all they who have cast into the treasury. 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want cast in all she had, even her whole living.

The Lord praised and blessed the poor widow for her intention of providing the temple and the priests with what they need through the very amount she have – two mites ‘dalawang kusing’. The Lord did not praise the amount but the intention, the motive and the love she put in those two mites. He praised her for she gave all what she have since she cannot extract the tithes out of the two mites.

Now let me bring you back to the story of Prophet Eliseus (4 Kings 4:1-7) which will give us more understanding about the poor widow of the gospel.

1 Now a certain woman of the wives of the prophets cried to Eliseus, saying: Thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two sons to serve him. 2 And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me to do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I thy handmaid have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me. 3 And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty vessels not a few. 4 And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy sons: and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are full take them away. 5 So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons: they brought her the vessels, and she poured in.

6 And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood. 7 And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest.“

How much ever is our income or our salary, set aside the tithes of it for the Church and for the priests. With that Our OIL WILL NEVER RUN OUT until we are filled with all that we need in this life and in the next. Salvation is not alone in the life here after, but salvation can be claimed here and now – if we will only believe. It is belief and obedience that was lost and forfeited by our first parents, and this until now is the solution to regain the favor of God.

If we indeed believe that Beloved Ingkong is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, God, and deserves obedience as the Father and the Son – so we are bound to serve and exhibit our obedience by fulfilling the need of His church and of His priests [and sisters].

I like to get your attention to vow of Patriarch Jacob to Yahweh

20 And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

21 And I shall return prosperously to my father’s house: the Lord shall be my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.

Patriarch Jacob promised God that if he was blessed he will give to Him the tenth part of everything that He gave him, and he did. Many of us tinatakan asked Ingkong of several graces and blessings. We asked employment, we asked for child, we ask for house, we ask to get healed, we ask of so many many things, and we made promise or promises that we will fulfill once we received what we asked for. And when we received what we prayed most of us FORGETS, but INGKONG NEVER FORGETS!

Read the story of Patriarch Abraham:

8 But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God, 19 Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection the enemies are in thy hands. And he [Abram] gave him the tithes of all.

The High priest Melchisedech blessed Abram which became the foundation of him becoming the father of nations. In return of the wonderful blessings and graces of God through the hands of the High priest Melchisedech, father Abram gave him the tithes of all. What does it mean to us? We as sealed servants of our Beloved Ingkong must return blessing for blessing. The Church and the priest of Beloved Ingkong gave us the ‘hidden manna’ from heaven [the holy Eucharist] and the sacraments and we are EXPECTED, though they don’t say it directly to us, to give them that which was said of God to us – the Tithes, our share to the maintenance of the physical house of God.

Let us not murmur that we are poor, that we do not have anything to give especially to the church of Mahal na Ingkong. Let us be reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

29 For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. 30 And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It is clear, those who said they do not have will really become ‘not have’ and those who have will remain ‘always have’. Let us not become an unprofitable servant. Let us return blessing for blessing. Let us not worry as do those who do not known Beloved Ingkong.

19 Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. 20 But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. 21 For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.

We are asked not lay ourselves treasure on earth but in heaven instead. How can we lay our treasures in heaven and what kind of treasures is acceptable in heaven? You will say our love of Him, our obedience and worship of Him. Yes, that is right! When we give tithes that’s the material expression of our spiritual treasure that our heart is abounding. What we did to the least of our brother we did it to Him, says the Lord. In the same way, that what we did to the Church we did it to Him.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. 8 For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? 10 Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent? 11 If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

Many of us never receive because we never ask, we are waiting for door to open yet we never lift our hands to knock it.

SOLUTION: Set aside the tenth part of our income as our holy obligation to the Church. Include this in the monthly budget. If you can’t make it immediately then you may start from 5% and increase it accordingly until you can fulfill the complete tithe AND OBSERVE THE CHANGES IN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE AND OUTLOOK. Take the words of God for it as guarantee. The World will pass away but never His words.

SECOND CAUSE: SINS

ABORTION:Killing of the Innocent

11 Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand. 12 When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

The earth was cursed by God not to yield any fruit for those who killed their brother. We have only one Father and we are all brethren. In the great family of God mother, father, brother and sisters are all brethren. Those who aborted or caused other to commit abortion will never have any real peace – for they killed an innocent and helpless child.

Beloved INGKONG is giving us the way how to lift this curse by offering sacrifices and asking forgiveness for the soul or for each souls of those whom we caused to be aborted. The penance and reparation are thirty days (30) of 15 Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, kneeling, arms outstretched and with lighted white candles on both hands for each child. Thus, if one committed two abortions, she, he, must make it in straight of two months. Along with this daily prayer is the daily attendance of the Holy Mass and confession.

THE SINS OF THE FLESH (Leviticus 18,19

19 Thou shalt not approach to a woman having her flowers, neither shalt thou uncover her nakedness. 20 Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbour’s wife, nor be defiled with mingling of seed.

21 Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the idol Moloch, nor defile the name of thy God: I am the Lord. 22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination. 23 Thou shalt not copulate with any beast, neither shalt thou be defiled with it. A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate with it: because it is a heinous crime. 24 Defile not yourselves with any of these things with which all the nations have been defiled, which I will cast out before you, 25 And with which the land is defiled: the abominations of which I will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants.

23 “Because it is a heinous crime”… In Hebrew, this word heinous crime is expressed by the word confusion, signifying the shamefulness and baseness of this abominable sin.

26 Keep ye my ordinances and my judgments, and do not any of these abominations: neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you. 27 For all these detestable things the inhabitants of the land have done, that; were before you, and have defiled it. 28 Beware then, lest in like manner, it vomit you also out, if you do the like things, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 Every soul that shall commit any of these abominations, shall perish from the midst of his people. 30 Keep my commandments. Do not the things which they have done, that have been before you, and be not defiled therein. I am the Lord your God.

THE SINS OF ADULTERY AND FORNICATION

Leviticus 19:29 29 Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be defiled, and filled with wickedness.

Job 31:9-12 If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my friend’s door: 10 Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie with her. 11 For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity. 12 It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring.

Patriarch Job said, adultery is a heinous crime and it devoureth and destroy all livelihood and everything that a man have. This sin of the flesh destroys families, destroys the children, destroys relationship. And God also is angry for those husband who is stern upon his wife.

THIRD CAUSE: DISOBEDIENCE

11 I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. 12 I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God: who have brought you out of the land of the Egyptians, that you should not serve them, and who have broken the chains of your necks, that you might go upright. 14 But if you will not hear me, nor do all my commandments, 15 If you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments so as not to do those things which are appointed by me, and to make void my covenant:

16 I also will do these things to you: I will quickly visit you with poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and consume your lives. You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be devoured by your enemies. 17 I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before your enemies, and shall be made subject to them that hate you, you shall flee when no man pursueth you. 18 But if you will not yet for all this obey me: I will chastise you seven times more for your sins, 19 And I will break the pride of your stubbornness, and I will make to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass: 20 Your labour shall be spent in vain, the ground shall not bring forth her increase, nor the trees yield their fruit.

21 If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins: 22 And I will send in upon you the beasts of the held, to destroy you and your cattle, and make you few in number, and that your highways may be desolate. 23 And if even so you will not amend, but will walk contrary to me: 24 I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven times for your sins. 25 And I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my covenant. And when you shall flee into the cities, I will send the pestilence in the midst of you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of your enemies,

26 After I shall have broken the staff of your bread: so that ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and give it out by weight: and you shall eat, and shall not be filled. 27 But if you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk against me: 28 I will also go against you with opposite fury, and I will chastise you with seven plagues for your sins, 29 So that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places, and break your idols. You shall fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

31 Insomuch that I will bring your cities to be a wilderness, and I will make your sanctuaries desolate, and will receive no more your sweet odours. 32 And I will destroy your land, and your enemies shall be astonished at it, when they shall be the inhabitants thereof. 33 And I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and I will draw out the sword after you, and your land shall be desert, and your cities destroyed. 34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths all the days of her desolation: when you shall be 35 In the enemy’s land, she shall keep a sabbath, and rest in the sabbaths of her desolation, because she did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt therein.

36 And as to them that shall remain of you I will send fear in their hearts in the countries of their enemies, the sound of a flying leaf shall terrify them, and they shall flee as it were from the sword: they shall fall, when no man pursueth them, 37 And they shall every one fall upon their brethren as fleeing from wars, none of you shall dare to resist your enemies. 38 You shall perish among the Gentiles, and an enemy’s land shall consume you. 39 And if of them also some remain, they shall pine away in their iniquities, in the land of their enemies, and they shall be afflicted for the sins of their fathers, and their own: 40 Until they confess their iniquities and the iniquities of their ancestors, whereby they have transgressed me, and walked contrary unto me.

41 Therefore I also will walk them, and bring them into their enemies’ land until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed: then shall they pray for their sins. 42 And I will remember my covenant, that I made with Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham. I will remember also the land: 43 Which when she shall be left by them, shall enjoy her sabbaths, being desolate for them. But they shall pray for their sins, because they rejected my judgments, and despised my laws. 44 And yet for all that when they were in the land of their enemies, I did not cast them off altogether, neither did I so despise them that they should be quite consumed, and I should make void my covenant with them. For I am the Lord their God. 45 And I will remember my former covenant, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Gentiles, to be their God. I am the Lord. These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the Lord gave between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

SOLUTION: Obey the Lord with fear and trembling

Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. 3 If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and do them, I will give you rain in due seasons. 4 And the ground shall bring forth its increase, and the trees shall be filled with fruit. 5 The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear.

6 I will give peace in your coasts: you shall sleep, and there shall be none to make you afraid. I will take away evil beasts: and the sword shall not pass through your quarters. 7 You shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall before you. 8 Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others, and a hundred of you ten thousand: your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 I will look on you, and make you increase: you shell be multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you. 10 You shall eat the oldest of the old store, and, new coming on, you shall cast away the old.

11 I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you, and my soul shall not cast you off. 12 I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God: who have brought you out of the land of the Egyptians, that you should not serve them, and who have broken the chains of your necks, that you might go upright.

Conclusion: These are some of the causes of sufferings and poverty most of us are experiencing. Praise be the Lord God of the New Israel, the Philippines, and the new Jerusalem – the Apostolic Catholic Church that when we were sealed all our sins including curses were wiped away and forgiven. As He said, we are like newly born child. But this does not free us in our duty to obey and live our life under His laws. What our Beloved Ingkong removed from us is our sins and not our freedom, we can still sin if we like, we can be holy if we like, we can be as we like to become. Beloved Ingkong will remind us but will never force us to obey Him, the choice is still ours.

The key to prosperity is our dedication of the tenth part of our income for the needs of the Church and the priests. Material and financial prosperity is directly connected to our spiritual readiness. Our tithes are but forms and tangible expression of our way of collecting and laying of treasures in heaven – motive and intention also matters.

In closing,” SEEK YOU FIRST THAT GOD REIGNS WITH YOU, and all these things shall be added unto you.” If Ingkong really reigns in our hearts we will start to receive the great blessings we can ever imagine.

Gloria in Excelis Deo Aleluia INGKONG!