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order to keep the lunar and solar year synchronized, an intercalary month was added every three years or so. This makeup month was called Veadar. So he was stuck with a Jewish calendar that varied and a lunar year which sometimes varied and then had to be recalibrated, so to speak, with the solar yearly cycle. How was he supposed to figure out anything based upon a calendar which had varying year lengths? No wonder Sir Robert Anderson had c..
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William Struse |
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3c78678
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Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying . . . O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in th..
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William Struse |
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df4a141
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And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on ..
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William Struse |
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ca8b493
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the symbolism of the ketubah as it related to the bride of Christ--how the New Testament was a type of ketubah for believers. It described Yeshua's love and commitment, as well as how he intended to provide for his bride in every contingency. The modern Jewish ketubah, in many ways, was a symbolic prenuptial agreement which served as a substitute for the traditional bride price.
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William Struse |
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10aac2c
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The groom, instead of giving the father of the bride a sum of money, gave the bride a ketubah or contract which promised that sum at some future date as a means of provision for his bride in the case of his death or the dissolving of the marriage.
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William Struse |
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9c9eb8d
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I'm not hedging, Rachael. I want you to know I don't want a prenuptial agreement, because I see them as nothing more than a license to fail. I've given you my heart and all my earthy possessions, whatever life circumstances come our way. I have no expectations outside of what we can experience together.
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William Struse |
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3bc5a4f
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Did Solomon realize God would humble himself and take on the form of a man so that he could redeem mankind from their sins? So he could pay the price for their failings? Was sin allowed to happen so that mankind could learn to truly fear and appreciate God? Someday, when all the accounts were settled, would we look back with wisdom and understanding to see God's intention? Or looking back, would we see the whole panorama of life with the my..
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William Struse |
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a1cd289
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One counts the Jubilee as interrupting the yearly Sabbath cycle. In this method, you have seven sets of seven years followed by a fiftieth year, which then resets the count. The other school of thought counts the Jubilee as synchronized with the Sabbath cycle. In this method, the first and the last year of the Jubilee cycle overlap once every fifty years.
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William Struse |
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b0bcc38
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Tell, one, offering, loved. Or in other words, it could read, 'Proclaim YHWH (Echad) loved his offering.'" "And who was YHWH's offering?" Zane asked. "Yeshua," Rachael whispered reverently. Involuntarily, John 3:16-17 came into her mind, and she spoke those famous words, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into..
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William Struse |
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22473d8
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Throughout the Old Testament, the number fourteen is associated with sacrifice. During the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, thirteen rams, two bullocks, and fourteen lambs are required to be sacrificed. Every month for thousands of years, the moon has testified to those who have followed its cycles. From first visible light, the moon waxes for thirteen or fourteen days, reaching its maximum, and then for thirteen or fourteen more days..
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William Struse |
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2d40a08
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The prophecy of seventy weeks states the Messiah will be cut off after sixty-two weeks, or literally, sixty-two sevens. As I explained before, this sixty-two weeks follows the first seven weeks, so the cumulative total is sixty-nine sevens,' or 483 periods of time (69 x 7 = 483). Fourteen is associated with sacrifice throughout the Old Testament. Now, if my theory is correct, these 'weeks' or sevens will be measured by a symbolic length of ..
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William Struse |
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4c04fc9
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entered fourteen into one of the cells on his spreadsheet. Then he multiplied fourteen by the lunar cycle of 29.53 days. This gave him 413.42 days for each period of time. Next, he multiplied the 413.42 days by the sixty-nine weeks, or 483 periods of time. This gave him a total of 199,681.9 days, after which the Messiah was cut off. From his earlier research, he knew the "command to restore and build Jerusalem," given by YHWH and witnessed ..
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William Struse |
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8cf33dd
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27 AD is within the time frame many scholars believe that Jesus began his ministry. Depending upon who you listen to, Jesus was crucified or cut off two or three years later, in 30 AD." "What about thirteen?" Rachael asked. "From the list of Matthew, it also seems to be important. If fourteen is associated with the Messiah's sacrifice, is it possible that thirteen is associated with his birth?"
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William Struse |
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9db7bb9
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Maybe a thirteen-cycle period of time might explain the first part of verse 25. In all the commentaries of Daniel 9, few address it: 'Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks.' Clearly this indicates the Messiah comes after just seven 'weeks,' but then later in verse 26, it indicates he was 'cut off' after the sixty-ninth we..
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William Struse |
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aeeddfa
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What if the seven 'sevens' or forty-nine periods of time were just a device to indicate one magnitude larger fulfillment? In other words, 490 periods of time. Wasn't it somewhere in the book of Matthew that Jesus was asked by Peter if he should forgive his brother seven times? And what did Yeshua say? He said not seven times, but seventy times seven." Nodding, Zane said, "Okay, let's try your theory. If you are correct, then 13 month lunar ..
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William Struse |
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c2c2867
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entered the numbers into his spreadsheet: 13 x 29.53 gave him a 383.89-day period of time. Next he multiplied the 383.89 days times the 490 periods of time for a total of 188,106.1 days or 515.02 years. Five-hundred-and-fifteen years from the "command to restore and build Jerusalem" in 520 BC brought them to the winter of 5 BC. Looking at Rachael, he smiled. "Assuming that is what was intended by the first part of verse 25, it looks like it..
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William Struse |
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591e2b0
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What if the date is not referencing his birth, but the point when he became flesh--in other words, his conception? If his conception was in the winter of 5 BC, it would place his birth nine months later in the fall of 4 BC, wouldn't it?" "You've got a valid point there," Zane replied thoughtfully. "Let's look at this another way, from a big-picture perspective. Seventy 'weeks' times a thirteen-lunar-cycle period of time marks the conception..
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William Struse |
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ce28339
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Are you saying the seventy weeks are fulfilled? Most Christians say there are yet seven years to be fulfilled." "I don't know, Rachael. Frankly, I have to question all of my assumptions concerning the prophecy. Most scholars and teachers had the starting point over seventy years too late. What if they are wrong about the final week as well?" "I guess you have a valid point. But if the final week has been already fulfilled, does that change ..
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William Struse |
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05d4efc
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The Scripture is abundantly clear that Jesus will return again to rule from Jerusalem for one thousand years. I know many preterists believe the second coming has already happened, and they try to use an interpretation of Daniel 9 to support that belief. I just don't see how a preterist's position is supported with a literal interpretation of the Scripture. The second coming is not contingent upon any interpretation of the prophecy of seven..
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William Struse |
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5aebd76
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You know, we live in a day of so-called higher critics who question the credibility of passages like Matthew 1 and Daniel 9. This new information will provide a new basis to challenge those critics and encourage believers to have faith in the biblical record. Faith that in fact Jesus did come in the 'fullness of time' according to the plan of YHWH, a plan that even the cycles of the moon have testified to for thousands of years.
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William Struse |
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39763e0
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Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. ..
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William Struse |
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That ancient promise which found its ultimate fulfillment in the return of Jesus was fading from the expectations of many Christians. Many of today's churches no longer believed in the literal return of Christ. Instead, they believed in a version of the Order's philosophy which said Jesus was just another great man who had reached enlightenment. To them, mankind's ultimate hope did not find its fulfillment in the return of Jesus, but in the..
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William Struse |
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6bcf87f
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AHd yhvh Alhynv yhvh
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William Struse |
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2efb3b4
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For thou wilt light my candle: YHWH my God will enlighten my darkness. For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of YHWH is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save YHWH? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my h..
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William Struse |
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7cb3378
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As a daughter of a Christian mother and Jewish father, she had insight into the struggle that many Jewish people had concerning the Christian Messiah. For so long, Christianity had tried to distance itself from the Hebraic context of the Scripture. She understood that part of this stemmed from the persecution of early messianic believers by the Jewish rabbinic authority, but unfortunately, early Christianity had often gone to the other extr..
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William Struse |
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9ccacfa
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The Jubilee Code really did exist, and the 13th Enumeration was the key! That ancient list of names arranged in three columns that he and Rachael had first glimpsed in the dark tunnel in Capernaum not only proved Jesus was the Messiah promised in the prophecy of Daniel 9, but now he realized it was also a chronological waypoint which proved the history of the Bible had happened according to the predetermined plan of YHWH. Matthew 1 was a li..
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William Struse |
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b87ea83
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That was the true beauty of secular enlightenment. One of its basic tenets was that all paths led to god. That was a logical fallacy, but it sounded good. Yes, it was the first step on the path to the godhood of man and the enthronement of a man as god.
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William Struse |
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9b2b6da
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Hear my prayer, O YHWH, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I ..
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William Struse |
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e41b1c3
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That is a beautiful picture. Kind of like a snowflake--each built upon the same model, but no two are exactly alike." "Yes," the rabbi replied, "an apt way to describe it. When we look at the Jubilee cycles this way, an amazing pattern appears in the chronology of the Scripture."
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William Struse |
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0100ebc
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If you calculate the chronology of the Old Testament starting with Adam and then overlay a synchronized Jubilee cycle on top of it, you'll find that the Jubilee cycles act like markers for some of the most important events in biblical history as they relate to YHWH's covenant with mankind.
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William Struse |
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6033701
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What covenant do you mean?" asked Zane, a little puzzled. "Good question, Zane. I'm referring to the covenant of the coming Messiah. That promise first mentioned in Genesis where YHWH told Adam and Eve that their 'seed' would ultimately triumph over the Serpent. Later he reaffirmed that promise to our father Abraham after his faith was tested by being asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac."
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William Struse |
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0dae060
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That is why we call the books of the Bible up to the time of Yeshua the Old Testament. Testament is just the English word for beriyth, or covenant." "Exactly!" the rabbi replied. "The so-called Old Covenant is in its very essence a record of YHWH's fulfillment of his promise to restore mankind from their fallen state, a promise which he carried out through the promised 'seed."
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William Struse |
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16c9467
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Three of the world's most dominant religions claimed rights or roots in that ancient piece of real estate. The Order's goal for centuries had been to show the equality of all religions--their equal irrelevance, that is. The seeds of that belief had been planted in the churches, colleges, and institutions of the world long ago. Shane gave a self-satisfied smile. Most would never realize that by accepting the equality of all religions, they w..
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William Struse |
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d5785be
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You know, I've never heard it put just that way before. The New Testament or Covenant, then, is in reality the eyewitness accounts which testified to Yeshua's fulfillment of YHWH's ancient promise." "Bravo!" Rabbi Weidenhjelm said as he clapped his hands like an excited child. "That is the essence of the biblical message: YHWH working behind the scenes to accomplish his promise of reconciliation for all mankind through the promised seed, th..
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William Struse |
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f0661ba
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promises of YHWH. Hebrews 13:6 came to his mind, that famous quote from Psalm 118: "YHWH is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
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William Struse |
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23e3b04
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brings us back to the Jubilee. I believe I can make a reasonable case that the Jubilee cycles in the Scripture mark important waypoints in YHWH's plan for mankind. For example, the first recorded instructions for keeping the Jubilee cycle were given to Moses, no?" Both Zane and Rachael nodded. "What Jubilee cycle do you think Moses was born during?" Rachael ventured a timid guess, "The fiftieth?" "Bravo, Rachael. Yes, that is correct."
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William Struse |
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e627a76
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The mysterious Enoch was born on the eighty-ninth Sabbath cycle, which fell during the thirteenth Jubilee cycle. YHWH confirmed the covenant of the 'seed' with Abraham in his ninety-ninth year." Zane interrupted. "Wouldn't that have been Abraham's second Jubilee?" The rabbi smiled, pleased. "Now you're getting the hang of it. This covenant took place on the 301st Sabbath cycle. The following year, Isaac was born on the forty-third Jubilee f..
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William Struse |
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fe9cd8f
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If the Order had its way, the conflict in Jerusalem would not only end in violence, blood, and the death of those concerned, but ultimately the destruction of all three religions that claimed roots in this ancient land. The beauty of the plan was that each party would be pushed into a position which under normal circumstances would have been unacceptable.
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William Struse |
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320d439
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Once they could be forced to share the ancient site as equals, it would signal the surrender of their most important belief--the belief that their religion was the only true path to God. It was a symbolic victory not to be underestimated. Once Jews, Christians, and Muslims acknowledged each other as equals, they surrendered any claim to exclusivity.
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William Struse |
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57ddae2
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Jesus was born during the forty-first Jubilee cycle from Abraham. Abraham was born during the forty-first Jubilee cycle from Adam. Even more exciting to think about was the fact that they were living in the forty-first Jubilee cycle from Jesus. Zane knew now why the Order had so jealously guarded the secret of the 13th Enumeration. It proved that YHWH had a plan for mankind's redemption, an ancient promise of mankind's reconciliation throug..
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William Struse |
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eebc853
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That plan, it appeared, was quickly coming to its conclusion. Forty-one Jubilee cycles after Adam, the covenant had been renewed through the promise given to Abraham and his "seed." Then, forty-one Jubilee cycles later, the covenant was confirmed by its fulfillment in Jesus. Zane read Paul's testimony to that fact in his epistle to the Galatians:"
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William Struse |
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5a19243
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ySHrAl SHm`
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William Struse |
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d6ffbbc
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The 13th Enumeration was the key to an incredibly congruent picture of YHWH's plan of reconciliation for all mankind, through Yeshua, his Son.
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William Struse |
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181ada0
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When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
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William Struse |