Test Blog

6. Heaven's Bestiary The Bible (and thus The Chronicles of Time) has an amazing bestiary. Most of these creatures are mentioned only in the Apocalypse of John (Revelation), but some are mentioned in the Old Testament as well. 1) Four Living Creatures—in the Bible, these creatures make an appearance in God's throne room, though in CoT they are gargoyle-like creatures that guard the throne room doors. 2) Horses of Fire—in 2 Kings, these are the mounts the angels ride. In CoT, they are not actually made of fire, but have coats of metallic amber with golden manes and tails that give the impression of flaming horses, especially when in motion. They also have a shimmering aura so to a mortal, they would appear to be like fire even when standing still. They also have wings, since they fly from heaven to earth and back again. 3) White Horse—the Bible says Jesus makes his return on a white horse, Again, since this horse flies from heaven to earth, in CoT, it is a pegasus. Actually, I ma...

5. The Angel Armies "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation … and all the angels shouted for joy?" —Job 38:4, 7 Since the Bible states that the angels were witnesses to the creation, many Bible scholars assume they were created outside of time (before Day One). The Hebrew word for angel is Malak (the term I use for angels in CoT), which means messenger . Over 200 times throughout the Bible, God is referred to as Yehovah tsaba' , often translated "the Lord of hosts." According to Blue Letter Bible , hosts means: army, war, warfare, host of organised army. So Eugene Patterson's translation of the Bible, The Message, is spot on when it translates  Yehovah tsaba' as God of the Angel Armies, a phrase in the popular CCM song: Whom Shall I Fear? by Chris Tomlin I know who goes before me I know who stands behind The God of Angel Armies Is always by my side The one who reigns forever He is a friend of mine The God of Angel Armies Is always by my side...

2. The Eternality of God So by now you may have given up on this study ever starting with Genesis, or even John 1:1, as both passages that start with "In the beginning..." But "In the beginning..." means at the beginning, as in the commencement of Creation / the beginning of Time. What we have been discussing is before the beginning. Before Creation. Before Time. Eternity does not have a beginning. There are three phases in God's redemptive plan: Eternity Past. Time. Eternity Future. Physicists usually define Time by its measurement. And most physicists agree that time had a beginning. Indeed, according to the prevailing cosmological model, time itself began as part of the entire universe. So Time began at the beginning of the universe (measurement by "evening and morning, the first day"  Gen 1:3 ), and it will end with the passing away of this world ( Revelation 21:1), and the creation of the new world which will not have a sun, and thus no measur...

4. The Book of Life "The book of life written before time . . ." — Apocalypse 17:8 Yup. We're still in Revelation. Pretty cool, right? Revelation says the book belongs to the Lamb who was slain. In other words, Jesus, or as I like to call him in CoT, the Prince. While the Bible says the book of life was written before the Creation of the world, it does not say what it is was written in . In CoT, I have the Prince write it in blood. (Can anyone guess where the blood came from? Yea, it's a bit macabre. But it also seemed to fit the overall Biblical idea that blood is the highest form of payment one could offer.) Think about that for a second: He wrote your name. Yes, you. Whether you are an agnostic, Muslim, Jew, Christian, or even atheist, he wrote your name. (Gasp! She's a universalist. Heretic!) No worries, dear reader. Check out Exodus 32:33. “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book." —God. So before the beginning of time, every name of e...

3. The Lamb who was Slain "I saw a Lamb...as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes...slain from the foundation of the world." —Apocalypse 5:6, 13:8 Why does a chronological Bible study start with the last book of the Bible? Strange as it may seem, it is the Bible that is not chronological (that's why there are so many Chronological Bibles on the market). However, even those—as far as I know—don't start in Revelation (a.k.a Apocalypse) with the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. But that is precisely where His story begins, and thus it is where this blog (and The Chronicles of Time ) starts. So who killed the lamb? Well, who killed Jesus? Roman soldiers? The Jews? Pilate? Caiaphas and the rest of the Sanhedrin? Nope. According to the Bible, Jesus was killed by his Father. Bluntly put, God killed him. "God did not spare his own Son but gave him up [to be killed]." (Romans 8:32) . As the International Standard Version puts i...

1. I Am Who I Am "I am who I am." —Exodus 3:14 The transliteration is ’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh. There are 3 main schools of thought on the correct translation: I am who am I will be what I will be. I am the Being One / the Uncreated Self-existent One. I personally believe #3 is the most accurate interpretation. However, I must admit, I find the following alternative by professor Christine Hayes quite intriguing: "Some have argued that the name Yahweh expresses the quality of being, an active, dynamic being...who brings things into being, whether it’s a cosmos from chaos, or now a new nation from a band of runaway slaves. But it could well be that this is simply God’s way of not answering Moses’ question...I’ve often wondered if we’re to read this differently: Who am I? I am who I am, and never you mind."    — D escriptions of God in the Bible After all, when Jacob asks with whom he is wrestling, the reply is "What is that to you?" (Genesis 32:29) When Moses inf...