March 19, 2010
And at the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi! Eloi! lami sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34).
Dear Brethren,
G
od’s
Passover is almost here! Though we may try
very hard to
picture the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ during that terrible
time to enable us to have a better grasp and feeling for what He had
to endure for humanity, however, as mortal beings two thousand years
removed, as hard as we may try, we cannot fully.
In this present Pastor’s Comments, I intend to focus on just one area of Christ’s sufferings to try and clear up a misunderstanding of what some believe that Jesus Christ was not praying to His Father, but either to Himself, or for the people, while dying on the stake.
To Whom was Jesus Christ Praying?
This prayerful plea was voiced by Jesus Christ to His Father just before the Roman soldier thrust his spear into His side that resulted in His final loss of blood that brought about His death (John 19:34; Isaiah 53:12; I Peter 1:18-19).
The context of the Scriptures recorded here of that moment in time make very plain it was the Father to whom Christ was praying just as He did in His prayer for the Church shortly after the observance of the last Passover He observed with His disciples:
“… Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You (by His death in payment for sin). . . . And now, O Father, glorify Me along side (margin) Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:1, 5).
This Scripture alone (verse 5) disproves the theory of ‘The Thinker’, as preached and taught, that Christ had no previous existence:
John
17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify Me along side
(margin)
Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before
the world was”
The Meaning of the Name of God
Shortly thereafter Jesus Christ was arrested, beaten and then crucified. While in the closing few minutes of His human life, He cried out His prayerful question to His Father in the Aramaic language, which is Hebrew. The NAME He used is where the misunderstanding comes from in His prayerful plea.
Note the two Scriptures in the New Testament:
Now from the 6th hour until the 9th hour there was darkness all over the land. And about the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:45-46.)
The Name ELI is used in Matthew.
And at the 9th hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi! Eloi! lami sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34).
The Name ELOI is used in Mark.
A Difference in the Name in Matthew and Mark
As noted, the name Eloi is used in Mark and Eli is used in Matthew for God. The two Names are interchangeable as these Scriptures reveal and both have the same meaning.
Strong’s Concordance also reveal the two names, Eloi and Eli have the same meaning.
The question is— Who is Eloi or Eli?
First, consider a misunderstanding that also took place by the bystanders who were there at that time: They heard Christ cry out the name of Eli, and misunderstood Him to say Elias:
Some of the bystanders, when they heard it, said, “He is calling for Elijah.” So one of them at once ran off and took a sponge and soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick and held it up to Him to drink. But the others said, “Wait; let us see if Elijah does come to deliver Him.” But another taking a spear pierced His side, when blood and water came out (Fenton and MoffattTranslations). Jesus, when He cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit (Greek: pneuma – breath). (Matthew 27:47-50.)
In
passing— it is interesting to dissect the name of ELIJAH to see
its full meaning. While so doing we can have a better glimpse of why
that Name was given by God for its use by three men at three
different times in the ongoing history of Israel.
Elijah’s
Name
There are
TWO NAMES combined in the name of Elijah’s. Eli
means
the Father, as we will see in this writing, and JAH
makes
reference to the One who came to be both the Messiah and Jesus
Christ.
The
name ELIJAH makes known that he, the original Elijah, and the two who
would follow in their times with the same name would represent both
God our 
Father, EL, and JAH,
Jesus Christ.
Elijah was used to perform Their will with ancient Israel, as was John the Baptizer to prepare the way for the Messiah, and as did the promised Elijah of our time, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (Malachi 4:5-6).
In addition to preparing the way for the return of Jesus Christ,
Mr. Armstrong was also used to preach the Gospel and the Ezekiel warning message to Israel, the Church of God, and the world in general.
The Prayerful Plea of Jesus Christ
The prayerful plea of Jesus Christ occurred while nearing death on the stake (Greek = Stauros, a stake), the apostle Peter called it a tree, I Peter 2:24).
Christ’s prayer and plea was prophesied many years before in a Psalm of David:
“My God (EL), My God (EL), why have You forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1).
Companion Bible – Appendix 4:IV EL is essentially the Almighty. It is rendered ‘God’ as Elohim [= God Family, Genesis 1:1, 26] is, but EL is God the omnipotent. Elohim is God the Creator [through the Word, Jesus Christ, John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-2] putting His omnipotence into creation. He is the God who knows all (first One, Genesis 14:18-22) and sees all (Genesis 16:13, EL) and that performs all things for His people (Psalm 57:2. Elohim); and in Whom are all the Divine attributes are concentrated.
Genesis 17:1 “I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD” = EL Shaddai (Appendix 4:VII, This title assures Abram that He who had called him was almighty to supply all his need. Compare first occasion in the N. T. (II Corinthians 6:18), which assures us of the same supply. Appendix 4 viii, 2
II Corinthians 6:18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be to Me for My sons and daughters,” says the LORD Almighty.
Companion Bible: Almighty only here and nine times in Revelation.
God the Father Turned His Back on Christ, Why?
Why did GOD the FATHER turn His back on Christ at that most terrible time in His human life?
The simple answer is that Christ took upon Himself the sins of humankind and because of it He had to pay the penalty of the 2nd death for each and everyone – once called and selected – godly repentance is then tearfully expressed to God our Father through His beloved Son Jesus Christ, it is removed (John 3:16-17; Acts 2:22-39).
Jesus Christ Bore on Himself the Sins of Mankind
Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold the LORD’S hand is NOT shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ears heavy that it cannot hear, BUT your iniquities have SEPARATED you from your God; and your SINS have HIDDEN His face from you, so that HE WILL NOT HEAR.”
Isaiah 53:4-6, 11-12 “Surely He has BORNE our sicknesses (margin) and CARRIED our sorrows (margin: pains, sorrows, grief); yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God (= Elohim ) and afflicted. But He was WOUNDED (margin: pierced through) for OUR TRANSGRESSIONS (Spiritual, Psalm 103:3) and the LORD has LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITIES OF US ALL.” He shall BEAR their iniquities . . . and He BORE THE SIN OF MANY.
John 9:31 “Now we know that God (Greek, Theos) does NOT hear sinners.”
God our Father
Notice God our Father in relation to sin:
Habakkuk 1:13 “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.”
God sends His seven angels throughout the earth to report back to Him the conditions of the earth (Revelation 1:4; 4:5, 5:6). An example is that of Christ sending His two angels into Sodom to see if the wickedness was as great as reported to Him (Genesis 18:20-21).
Melchizedek Blessing Abram
Further proof of the meaning of El being our Father—
Genesis 14:19-20 And He (Melchizedek) blessed him (Abram), and said, “Blessed be Abram of the MOST HIGH GOD (Hebrew: El Elyon), possessor of heavens and the earth. And blessed be the MOST HIGH GOD (Hebrew: El Elyon), …”
Since our Father is the MOST HIGH GOD – He was and is greater than Jesus Christ; as so stated by Him:
“. . . if you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28).
Companion Bible: Hebrew EL ELYON Appendix 4 First One of the title. Compare 1st occasion in N. T. Luke 1:76, 35 Deuteronomy 32:8 Acts 17:26 Psalm 9:2 Psalm 83:18 Numbers 24:16
Further Meanings of Names of God
ELOHIM = The Family Name of God and Jesus Christ. This name occurs 2700 times
ELOAH = ELOHIM
ELYON = First occurrence is Genesis 14 is with EL and is rendered the MOST HIGH GOD. It is with EL and ELOHIM. It is associated with Christ as the Son of the HIGHEST. [Meaning the Father with His Son]
ADONAI is the Lord in relation to the earth; and as carrying out His purpose of blessings in the earth.
Companion Bible, Appendix 32: “Out of extreme (but mistaken) reverence for the effable name ‘JHVH’ the ancient custodians of the Sacred Text substituted in many places “Adonai” (see Appendix 4 viii 2). Those in the AV and RV, are all printed ‘Lord’. . . .”
Combinations of Names
Adonai JHVH = Lord GOD
JHVH = Elohim Lord GOD
Elyon El = Most High God
El Shaddai = God Almighty
Proof Conclusively
Though this writing could be more extensive than as presented here, I feel it is more than sufficient to prove that Jesus Christ made His final prayer and plea to His Father in heaven, and NOT to Himself, nor to the people assembled there at that time.
Redeeming the Time for Final Preparation
At the same time we need to seriously consider and examine ourselves, as admonished by Christ through the apostle Paul, to try hard to see ourselves as Christ sees us and cry out with godly repentance where we see we are wrong (I Corinthians 11:31-32; II Corinthians 13:5).
Failure to do so could lead to disastrous results— such as the Great Tribulation and conceivably the 2nd death (Hebrews 6:1-8; 10:26-31). The Passover is that important to God and it should be for each one of us as well— IF we place any real value on our relationship with God and the Promises He holds before all of us.
As we can see from these Scriptures it is extremely necessary to PREPARE ourselves before we PARTAKE of those precious symbols during the Passover service.
There is little time left between now and then. And with this in mind, we MUST take advantage of this interval of time to prepare ourselves before partaking of those precious symbols that have the meaning of health and well being along with forgiveness for our Spiritual sins.
Until
next time, your brother and servant in Christ,
Don
Billingsley
http://bodyofchristonline.us/ http://cog-ff.com http://www.ezekielwatchman.org/
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