Kingdom Ready

Introduction

One of the previous articles on this site discusses the group of people called the “Nephilim”, who are first referenced in Genesis chapter 6. In particular, that article investigates the origins of that group.

That article puts forth the possibility that the Nephilim were the children of rebellious angels, who mated with human women. As a result, the Nephilim were essentially a race of “superhuman bullies”. Here is the link to that article:

Who were the “Nephilim” of Genesis 6?

As mentioned in that article, it appears that the rebellious angels were “imprisoned” in some way, after they committed the sin of mating with human women. In particular, 1 Peter 3:18-20, 2 Peter 2:4-5,9-10 and Jude 1:6-7 all state that God imprisoned those angels because of their sin.

Introduction

One of the intriguing items about Jesus‘ ministry is that during his time on the earth, his mission was to spread the gospel to Jews – http://www.texansjerseyschina.com not to Gentiles. In addition, Jesus also instructed his disciples to only preach to Jews – not to Gentiles. For example, consider the following passages:

Matthew 15:24 (ESV):

^24 He [Jesus] answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 10:5-6 (ESV):

^5 These twelve [disciples] Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, ^6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

John Roller is teaching a college-level class on Flavius Josephus. After learning that this was being recorded, I cajoled him into letting me podcast it. I’ve listened to some of Roller’s other stuff (especially on conditional immortality) and interviewed him on Truth Matters as well. He is whimsical, knowledgeable, and grounded.

Josephus lived from a.d. 37 to 100, the generation after Jesus’ death. He was an eye-witness to the great Jewish War of a.d. 66 to 74. He wrote two massive historical tomes: The Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War. Both of these works contain unique insight into the world of the first century that would otherwise remain buried in silence. For example, Josephus tells us a great deal about the Herodian dynasty, especially Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, and Herod Agrippa. He talks about Pilate, James, and even Jesus, though that section may have been tampered with by later Christian copyists.