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Please read this DISCLAIMER: This is an unfinished, exploratory Christian study, not a statement of new doctrine or a replacement for the Scriptures, the gospel (the good news), or the teaching & discernment of Jesus’s Assembly (the church / in the NT’s Greek, the ekklesia). Its settled confession is historic, orthodox (non-heretical) Christianity: Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, truly God and truly man, who was incarnate for our salvation, crucified, bodily raised, exalted at the Father’s right hand, and who will come again.
The page distinguishes (by citing references for each source, as much as possible) between what the biblical canon explicitly says; historical questions about how biblical passages may first have been heard and later interpreted; and theological possibilities, or plausible scenarios about matters the the Law, Prophets, Writings, and Apostles (the Old and New Testaments) do not fully detail on their own—especially what hostile supernatural beings might have known, inferred, or misunderstood during Christ’s earthly life. The latter are proposals for consideration, not accounts of events in the invisible realms that were directly revealed to me or anything, and should be held with appropriate caution. Even though it’s obviously possible for the Lord to work through what I’m typing and meditating on and praying about as I type this.
This project may compare Scripture with ancient Jewish and early Christian writings, including texts outside the biblical canon, in order to understand earlier ideas and language of the ancient world. Such writings can be historically interesting and may illuminate how some early people thought/believed, but they are not Scripture (what the apostle Paul says is “God-breathed” in his 2nd letter to Timothy 3:16) and do not carry Scripture’s authority; Christians may reasonably differ over their date, value, and use. Likewise, historical reconstructions and narrative-style scenarios are not intended to weaken Christ’s identity, make claims of secret spiritual knowledge, or require agreement from faithful believers. Please keep the Bible open; and if you receive these things, please examine the Scriptures to see if they are so; and feel entirely free to reject any speculative conclusion while holding tight to Christ himself—the center of the faith and the purpose of this study.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2 LSB)
[…] YHWH [had] made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their armies. [He gives] life to all of them and the army of the heavens prostrates to [Him]. (Nehemiah 9:6 LSB)
The heavens and the heaven of heavens belong to YHWH your elohim […]. (Deuteronomy 10:14 LSB)
The Lord [was in the seventh heaven], along with His Beloved. (Ascension of Isaiah ?)
[…] The heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain [God] […]. (1 Kings 8:27 LSB)
The One who is not named dwells [in the seventh heaven] along with His Chosen One, whose name [was] not known. None of the heavens [could] know His name, because He is the only One whose voice all the heavens and thrones answer. (Ascension of Isaiah ?)
[…]
Praise was given to the One who is not named and the unique One who dwells in the heavens, whose name is not known by any flesh, who has given splendor to each heaven, who makes the splendor of the angels great, and who makes the splendor of the One who sits on the throne greater. (Ascension of Isaiah ?)
“YHWH is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.” (Psalm 113:4 LSB)
Samael [Satan] and his armies [were in] the firmament. [Since the world came to be until then, it had been like this, that] there was a great battle there, and the words of Satan, and they were envying each another. Like it is above, it is also that way on earth, because the form of what is in the firmament is here on earth. And this battle [would continue] until the [Beloved] comes and destroys him. (Ascension of Isaiah 7:9-12)
[…]
And [there was] a great sign […]: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation ?)
And [...] the voice of the Most High, the Father of [the] Lord, […] said to [the] Lord Christ, who [would] be called Jesus, "Go out and descend through all the heavens. Surely, You will descend through the firmament and through that world as far as the angel who (is) in Sheol, but surely you will not go as far as Perdition. And surely, you will make your likeness like that of all who (are) in the five heavens, and surely, you will take care to make your form like that of the angels of the firmament and also (like that) of the angels who (are) in Sheol. And surely, none of the angels of that world will know that you (are) Lord with me of the seven heavens and of their angels. And surely, they will not know that you (are) with me when I summon you with the voice of the heavens, and their angels and their lights, and when I lift up (my voice) to the sixth heaven, so that you may judge and destroy the rulers and the angels and the elohim of that world, and the world which is ruled by them, because they have denied me and said, 'We alone are, and there is no one besides us.' And surely, afterwards you will ascend from the elohim of death to your place, and you will not be transformed in each of the heavens, but you will ascend in glory and sit at my right hand, and then the rulers and the powers of that world will worship you." […] The Great Glory [gave] this command to [the] Lord. (Ascension of Isaiah 10:7-16)
The Beloved [descended from] where [He was alongside] the Lord. […] The Lord of all these heavens […] transformed until He was like us in appearance and in form. (Ascension of Isaiah ?)
Now, […] when […] Mary [the mother of Jesus Christ] had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18 LSB)
And she [the woman] was with child, and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. (Revelation ?)
In the days of Herod the king, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Now after that, there from the east arrived magi in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? Because we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” And when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:1-? LSB)
Then another sign […]: there was a red, great sea monster having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. (Revelation ?)
And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] was inquiring of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; because this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; because a Leader who will shepherd My people Israel will come out of you.’ ” Then Herod secretly called the magi and carefully determined from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child; and when you have found him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship him.” (Matthew 2:2-8 LSB)
And the sea monster stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.” (Revelation 12:1-4 LSB)
Now after hearing the king, they [the magi] went their way; And they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. And there, going on before them, was the star which they had seen in the east, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And after coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they prostrated and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Him. And the magi departed for their own country by another way. (Matthew ?)