Trumpets

Observance of the Feast of Trumpets is commanded by God and kept by members of the Church of God today. It is commanded in the Old Testament (Leviticus 23:23-25), but much of its meaning is explained in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15:51-56, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 8:1-6, Revelation 11:15-19).

We know that it represents the return of Jesus Christ to rule the earth (Revelation 11:15-19). It also represents the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saints to become full sons of God, which happens at the same time as the return of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-56, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 24:29-31).

It also represents the entire Day of the Lord, which starts with the first of seven trumpets, the seventh signaling the return of Christ (Revelation 6:12, 8:1-6, Joel 2:1, 31, Zephaniah 1:14-16).

The sound of a trumpet, or the sound of a shout, can in general represent a signal of a major event or series of events (Exodus 20:1-18, Leviticus 25:8-9, 2 Samuel 6:15, Isaiah 27:13). A trumpet can signal war (Joshua 6:1-5, Judges 6:33-34, 2 Chronicles 13:12, Nehemiah 4:15-20, Jeremiah 4:19, Ezekiel 33:1-6, 1 Corinthians 14:8).


Why We Understand the Meaning of the Holy Days

We understand the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets and all of God's annual holy days and festivals because we obey God's command to keep them. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Psalm 111:10). Some in the churches of this world recognize that the holy days represent things, and they think they can study the holy days in the Bible and understand their meaning, but without actually observing them. They are wrong. They may understand some of the meaning (generally, traditional churches understand that Passover represents the sacrifice of Christ, for example), but they seldom if ever understand fully. God intended the holy days to be observed as a teaching tool, to help us understand and to keep us in remembrance of His truth. He never intended that people who refuse to obey Him can learn the meaning of the holy days and God's plan by studying these days in the Bible, but not keeping them.

When we keep the Day of Trumpets in obedience to God's word, the Bible, we are expressing faith and trust in God, and God in turn opens our minds to understand His truth and the meaning of the Day of Trumpets.

This understanding does not come all at once.

Mr. Armstrong, when he was new in the Church of God, learned from the Bible (not from man) that we should keep the holy days today. He obeyed God and observed Trumpets and the other festivals, with his family alone, because the Church of God Seventh Day that he attended did not keep them. He kept them for several years without understanding their meaning or why God wants us to keep them, setting an example and showing God that he was willing to do what God says even when he does not understand the reason. God then opened his mind to understand from the Bible what these days represent, and in so doing revealed His plan for man's salvation to Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong then taught these things to the Church of God, proving them from the Bible, and members were able to see for themselves where and how the Bible explains these truths.

That is why we observe the Day of Trumpets today.

In a general sense, the Day of Trumpets reminds us of end time events leading to the close of this age and the beginning of the millennium.


End Time Events Are Being Prepared

The stage is being set in the world for the fulfillment of prophecies concerning the period just before the return of Christ. We can see the moral decline of the world and especially the United States and other western nations (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13, Matthew 24:12-13). We can see how Israelite nations such as the United States are being weakened by excessive debt. We can see Europe coming together, sometimes two steps forward and one step back, but moving towards unity nevertheless. Germany is prospering and increasing in political power.

Vladimir Putin seems to be trying to "take back" the Ukraine, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union led by Russia, but has become independent of Russia when the Soviet Union ended. He is taking advantage of the weakness of will of the United States and other western nations. This is a very significant event. As the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism enabled a number of eastern European nations to break free of Russia's rule and communism (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc.), as well as allow east and west Germany to reunite, so the aggressiveness of Russia now can serve as a prod to motivate Europe to build their military and to further unite.

Putin's strategy reminds many of Hitler's strategy. When Hitler began to take over small states, he used as the excuse that he was only trying to reunite the German people, since there were German communities in those states. He did this with Czechoslovakia and he did that with Poland. Likewise, Putin has taken over Crimea, part of the Ukraine, on the pretext that it should belong to Russia because of Russian people living in the Crimea, and he is supporting Russian separatists living in the rest of the Ukraine who want to be part of Russia.

It may be that Putin has a timetable and wants to use force and intimidation to unite with Russia or bring under the direct control of Russia most or all of the states within the former Soviet Union. The Ukraine may be only the beginning. He may desire to accomplish this in the last two years of President Obama's term of office if he thinks Obama is too weak willed to try to stop him.

Europe has a problem in that they are dependent on Russia for their natural gas to heat their homes, offices, and factories in the winter.

But Putin's actions are helping to prepare for the fulfillment of prophecy. For what he is doing, both by showing aggressiveness and by demonstrating America's weakness, is scaring Europe, and Europe is likely to react by increasing its military and its pace of unification.

Not only Europe, but some Asian countries are looking to increase their military in the face of possible aggressiveness of Russia or of Russia's ally, China (and North Korea). Japan has recently indicated they plan to build up their military more than before.

I would not be surprised if some or all of these nations develop nuclear weapons at some point: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Germany.

Russia and China have an alliance, and that alliance is likely to become stronger, especially as Europe becomes stronger. Bible prophecy speaks of an army of 200 million men (Revelation 9:13-16). That is a huge number, but if you combine the populations, industrial might, economies, and military power of Russia, China, India, and Japan, as well as other Asian nations, it becomes apparent how such a huge army is possible.

God can use this power to punish the nations of Europe as He will first use Europe to punish the nations of Israel. The Asian superpower that Putin is helping to build may, in a sense, "avenge" the Church and Israel against the beast power.

Hitler came into power in Germany partly because of the crisis of the worldwide depression of 1929 and the early 1930s. It make take a crisis or combination of crises to finally provoke Europe into completely uniting under the leadership of a strongman. People tend to look to strong leaders, even radical leaders, when they are afraid and in trouble.

Perhaps it will take a combination of a conquering and threatening Russia with a worldwide economic collapse triggered by the American debt crisis to cause Europe to really unite and make the sacrifices necessary to build a strong military. This would prepare them for war against the nations of Israel.


How Not to Be Deceived

In speaking about end-time events, Christ warned His followers about future deception (Matthew 24:4). There are many Bible indications that there will be a great religious deception at the end of this age.

How can we make sure we are not deceived?

I would suggest four things we can do that can help protect us from deception.

The first thing is to read or study the Bible and believe God. Not everything God says in the Bible is something we would believe if just some man said it. We all have our opinions. If we read the whole Bible, we are bound to find things in God's word we would not necessarily agree with if just a man said it. But the Bible is God speaking. When we find something God says that we did not believe before, we should believe God. We should trust that He knows more than we do and He will not lie to us. We should let the Bible correct us in our beliefs, and we should learn to agree with God. We should make up our minds to believe God more than our own opinions, more than the ministry and the leadership in the Churches of God, more than anyone's traditions.

And we should study the whole Bible to live by every word of God.

Second, we must make sure that we do not lie to other people and try to deceive them, about anything. Why is that important to not being deceived ourselves? Satan deceives the whole world (Revelation 12:9). It is only by God's supernatural intervention in our minds by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can escape or be protected from Satan's deceptions. Knowledge of the truth is a gift from God.

However, God has put a law in motion, what we sow, that we reap. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). God is a God of mercy, but also a God of justice. And He teaches us lessons, sometimes in a painful way. If we sow deception (by lying to parents, spouses, children, co-workers, neighbors, etc., about anything, not just religion), God may bring on us the fruits of our ways, to teach us the consequences of lying. God may do that by allowing other people to deceive us, and God may cause us to reap painful consequences of that deception. God in effect can say to us, "You think it is ok to lie and deceive others? Ok, I will let them lie to you and deceive you. See how you like being lied to, when you suffer because of the lies you have believed." God can allow us to be deceived by false prophets, then let us wake up when it is too late to escape certain painful consequences, when some damage has been done.

Study the life of Jacob. He lied to his father, and God later allowed him to be deceived, and he suffered because of it. Jacob must have learned a painful lesson about lying. He was lied to about his promised wife, being given Leah instead of Rachel, and he was lied to by his sons about Joseph, causing Jacob years of unnecessary mourning over Joseph, thinking Joseph was dead when he was really alive.

Third, avoid Satan's false prophets, as God commands (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). Avoid the occult. Pay no attention to and do not read the prophecies of false religion. Study the Bible for prophecy, and study history and current events to know what is happening, but do not study or expose yourself to astrology, soothsaying, divination, and the teaching and statements of prophets who are members of churches we know are false, except to the degree you may have to refute them when explaining some point of God's truth to someone else. But don't look to these prophets, thinking they may know some details of future events (because they are inspired by Satan and his demons), to learn more about future events than God tells us in the Bible.

A false prophet, inspired by Satan, may indeed know some points of truth about the future, revealed from the spirit world. But Satan and the demons he leads are enemies of mankind and of the Church. They are not going to help us by revealing truth. They can feed those who listen to them a diet of truth and error, well mixed to attain credibility. They are dangerous, and any man or woman who thinks he or she can learn more about the future by listening to spirit sources, not of God, is playing with fire. God's word is not to be mocked. He gives strict warnings not to listen to the spirit world, except to listen to God.

As with lying, God's law that we reap what we so is in force and applies. God allows the world to be deceived by Satan, but He does not want His people in the Church of God to be deceived by Satan. If we ignore God's warnings, He may not protect our minds from being deceived. God doesn't warn in vain. His warnings count.

Fourth, God did not give us the truth so we can use it only for ourselves. Others have sacrificed to bring us the truth, and we need to sacrifice to bring it to others. God gave us the truth, opened our minds and freed us from Satan's deceptions, not only so we can live by the truth ourselves, but so that we can preach the truth to others as those before us have preached it to us. God gives us gifts so we can also give to others.

Here again, what we sow we shall reap. If we are selfish, if we do little to get the gospel and the warning message out to others, we are practicing a way of life that is inwardly focused. If we sow that way of life, what will we reap? To know the answer to that, we should ask ourselves, what would have happened to us if those before us were likewise inwardly focused, not willing to sacrifice financially and otherwise to preach the gospel to us?

If others had not sacrificed to preach the gospel and the Ezekiel warning to the public, we would not know the truth. That is the fruit of an inwardly focused way of life. We would be as deceived as the rest of the world.

So if we become inwardly focused, not willing to sacrifice to preach the gospel and warning to others, letting them remain in a deceived state and captives of Satan - if God wants us to reap what we sow, might He take the truth away from us? Might He let us be deceived by Satan again, perhaps not completely but in part, enough to reap the painful consequences of deception to teach us a lesson?

If the events in Worldwide and in other Churches of God teach us anything, they should teach us that there is nothing permanent about God's truth in our minds as long as we are in the flesh. We can lose the truth if we do not value it, and if we do not value the way of life that brought that truth to us, the way of outgoing concern, enough concern to get the message of truth out to a world that needs it, we can lose the truth. If we aren't willing to share it as others before us have shared it with us, we do not deserve it.

If we do not preach the gospel, God can let us go back into a deceived state as we would be in if others had not preached the gospel to us.


Trials to Come and God's Wrath Against Sin

God punishes sin. Though God is love, He shows righteous wrath against sin and those who persist in their sins. The whole world is about to suffer God's wrath in the suffering to come.

Even we in the Church are corrected with trials for our sins. But this is for our good, so that we repent and God can do us good in the end (Hebrews 12:3-11).

Wrath and anger are not always wrong. In the account of Job, God was wrathful against Job's three friends because they did not say what was right, as Job did (Job 42:7). Yet a fourth man, Elihu, was also wrathful against Job and Job's three friends, and God did not rebuke him for his wrath, and of the four men who were with Job and participated in their conversation, this man, who was wrathful, was the only one God did not rebuke (Job 32:1-3). Rather it appears God used him and may have inspired him to help rebuke Job, for Job's good.

Criticism and rebuke are not necessarily wrong. It depends on the motives and if what is said is the truth. If a person is critical, but is motivated by a desire to help, and if what he says is true and needful, it is not necessarily wrong. In fact, it can be an expression of love. But wisdom is needed to know how to rebuke and when to rebuke (and when not to).

Consider the business world. Do businesses that are competitive try to correct each other to help each other improve? Suppose the president of General Motors sees a mistake that Ford motor company is making in its advertising. Does he call up the president of Ford and say, "I notice your are making a strategic mistake in your advertising. Here is how you should correct that mistake to make your advertising more effective."? No, rather, he keeps silent with Ford and hopes that Ford keeps making the same mistake, because the less effective Ford advertising is, the more likely a car buyer will buy some other make of car, such as General Motors, rather than Ford.

Trumpets represents a time when God will give strong rebuke to the world. And to a degree, we in the Church will suffer as well. We will suffer persecution, some more and some less, and we may suffer God's punishment if He has to correct us for our sins. Knowing the truth will not protect us. We have to live it also. If we sin like the world, we will suffer like the world.

Mankind as a whole has been suffering trials as the result of sin for about 6,000 years. That is part of the lesson God wants mankind to learn. Mankind is not learning that lesson now, but is experiencing the lesson and will understand it later. That is part of the plan of God for the salvation of mankind that the holy days teach us.

We in the Church of God suffer trials, not only because of our own sins, but because of the sins of the world. But we have an advantage. We in the Church of God have a concept that the people of the world do not have, and that concept has the power to help us through our trials and help us see the purpose in them, at least in a general sense, even when we do not know the reason for a particular trial.

That concept is character building. God is building character in us.

That one idea, that one point of knowledge, is something few in the world have, even among religious people. It is something we have that helps us make sense of the world and the suffering we go through. God gives us His Spirit and His truth and then allows us to suffer to teach us lessons and build His holy, righteous character in us. Suffering is part of a process. It has a purpose. Most religious people in the world do not fully understand that, and non-religious people certainly do not know this. But we know it.

Character building is a join venture or partnership between us and God. God's part is to teach us, reveal His truth to us, help us to understand the truth and empower us by His Holy Spirit to overcome our sins, and help us and guide us through the circumstances of this life to test us and teach us and give us the opportunities to practice His way of life and choose to believe Him and obey His law, even when it is hard. Our part is to believe, trust, and obey God, to fight against our sinful nature every day, and to overcome our sins. It is a struggle, but God makes it possible for us to win. In a sense, character building is God's job and our job. God builds character in us and we build God's character in ourselves by resisting temptation to sin and by obeying Him.

The end result is that the character that is built in us will prepare us for an eternity of happiness in God's kingdom. We must have that character to be in the Kingdom of God, for without God's holy, righteous character, the Kingdom of God would not be in the happy condition it is destined to be. Happiness in God's kingdom will come from obedience to God's law, and that obedience will come as a result of godly character in all of His children, character we are building in this life now.

That helps give meaning to our lives no matter what our circumstances.

Every day as we get up in the morning, we can know we have a job to do for that day: develop God's character by making right choices until right choices become our habit and way of life.

If we do that every day, we can look forward to the return of Christ pictured by Trumpets, having confidence and not fear.

That is something the world does not have.

God gives us the gift of salvation. But we still have to fight our human nature in order to fully receive that salvation. That is not a contradiction.

God's gift makes salvation possible. The sacrifice of Christ makes possible the forgiveness of our sins, and that makes it possible for us to have a direct relationship with the Father. God also gives us the gifts required for salvation: His truth, His Holy Spirit, and continuous help in this life. But we still have to fight.

An analogy is Israel coming into the promised land. God gave them the promised land. But they still had to fight for it. They had to wage war against the Canaanites. Does that mean that God did not give them the land, that they obtained it by their own power and authority? No. God gave them the gift, but what He gave them was the opportunity. He set them free from Egyptian bondage. He sustained them in the wilderness with water and manna. He gave them permission and authority to go into the promised land and settle it. And He gave them power to win the battles. To show that they could not take the land without God's help, there were a couple of occasions when they fought without God's help, and they failed. On those occasions they were defeated by their enemies. That would have been the story in all their battles if God had hot helped them (Numbers 14:39-45, Joshua 7:1-5).

Likewise, God gives us power and authority to overcome our sins and develop His character, but we have to fight to do it. In effect, God gives us the power to win the fight. That is His gift to us. Without that gift, we could not do it. Even with God's gift, it can seem hard. But it is possible. We can do it. It is not God's will that any one of us be lost (2 Peter 3:9-10). God is able to give us the help we need to succeed (Romans 14:4). He will not try us beyond what we can handle with His help (1 Corinthians 10:12-13).

Then, if we learn what God teaches us through trials, if we overcome, we will be changed at the seventh trumpet when Christ returns, or if dead we will be resurrected. We will then be immortal, full sons of God. Our character will be permanent and we will finally be freed from the struggle against our carnal, fleshly nature. We will be like Christ.


Preaching the Gospel and the Ezekiel Warning to the World

God has given us the job of overcoming our sins and developing the character that will prepare us for eternity in His kingdom. But we also have a job of preaching the gospel to the world, and that complements and reinforces our character development. It is partly through preaching the gospel and the Ezekiel warning that we develop the character God wants us to have.

The outstanding attribute of God's character is love. To develop God's character, we have to learn to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves, and we have to put that love into action and make it such a habit that it becomes our way of life.

We love God by believing and obeying Him, and that obedience includes obeying His commands to preach the gospel and the Ezekiel warning. By preaching the gospel and the warning, we glorify God, for we demonstrate God's fairness and love to warn the world while there is time for the people to repent. God is glorified because it is God who commands and empowers us to preach the truth to the public.

We love our neighbor by giving him the warning he needs before it is too late, just as we would want him to warn us before it was too late if we were headed for trouble and didn't know it.

The Feast of Trumpets reminds teaches us and reminds us of end-time events that will shake this world. Millions will suffer and die in the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord. God has given us this knowledge through the sacrifices of Mr. Armstrong and others who worked to make it possible for us to learn these things. God has also given us prophecies through the sacrifices and sometimes martyrdom of the prophets who penned the prophecies that God inspired them to write in the Bible.

Human beings have suffered and sacrificed so we can know the truth about Trumpets. God never intended that we receive this truth for our own self-interest only. We are to share what we have been given as others have shared this truth with us. We are to sacrifice to bring the gospel and the warning to the world as others have sacrificed to bring it to us.

God commands us to lift up our voice like a trumpet and tell the people their sins (Isaiah 58:1).

The Feast of Trumpets should remind us that this world, including our neighbors, is on the fast path to disaster. If we are developing God's character, we will show love to our neighbors by helping every way we can to get the warning message out.

Zeal for preaching the gospel can help motivate us to overcome our sins. We overcome our sins not just for our own benefit, but so that God will hear our prayers for the preaching of the gospel and will bless our efforts. Part of the reason Christ sanctified Himself by obeying God and resisting every temptation was for the sake of His disciples. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth" (John 17:18-19).

In Revelation, those who overcame did so by the blood of Christ and by the word of their testimony. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Revelation 12:11).

We have a unique opportunity and responsibility that has not existed in the Church in past generations. Today when we preach the gospel and the Ezekiel warning to the world, we are preaching to many who will live through the tribulation and Day of the Lord into the millennium. Our work can help start them in a right and teachable attitude because they will remember that God was loving and just because He sent us to preach the gospel to them so they would have a chance to repent. Israel is to be the model nation to set an example for other nations in the millennium, and they need to trust God and know that God is fair. Preaching the gospel and the warning to them now will help accomplish that. They will know God did not let them go into punishment without warning them first.

This particularly applies to those in the world who are religious, such as members of mainstream, traditional churches. They do not know the things they are doing that are wrong. The think they are serving God and pleasing Him by observing Sunday, Christmas, and Easter, by using images in worship, and such things. They need to be warned so they cannot later say, "I didn't know because no one told me or warned me, so I never had a chance."

If we love our neighbors, we will go all out to warn them. We will also make maximum effort to overcome our sins so that God will answer our prayers for the gospel and will bless and empower our efforts. This is an excellent motivation for overcoming, because it is based on outgoing concern for others and not just for our own salvation.

If we do not warn our neighbors in the world, their blood will be on our heads. But if we go all out to preach the gospel and the warning message, and if we go all out to overcome our sins, we can face end time events and the return of Christ pictured by the Feast of Trumpets with confidence, knowing we have done our part.


Here are links to posts in this blog on related subjects:

MEANING OF THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS:

"Day of Trumpets", dated September 6, 2010, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-of-trumpets.html

"The Meaning of the Day of Trumpets", dated September 26, 2011, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2011/09/meaning-of-day-of-trumpets.html

RUSSIA AND THE UKRAINE:

"Russia's Actions in the Ukraine", dated March 2, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/03/russias-actions-in-ukraine.html

AVOIDING DECEPTION:

"A Key to Faith", dated December 19, 2011, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2011/12/key-to-faith.html

"Lying to God", dated February 10, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/02/lying-to-god.html

"Was Job Self-Righteous?", dated June 28, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/06/was-job-self-righteous.html

"Faith Is More than Believing God's Promises", dated August 21, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/08/faith-is-more-than-believing-gods.html

"Renewing an Atmosphere of Faith in the Church of God", dated August 27, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/08/renewing-atmosphere-of-faith-in-church.html

"Do Not Cause Others to Sin", dated April 28, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/04/do-not-cause-others-to-sin.html

"How Should We Prepare to Resist Satan's Deceptions?", dated May 5, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-should-we-prepare-to-resist-satans.html

"Is It Always Wrong to Use to Pagan Writings in Teaching?", dated February 1, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/is-it-always-wrong-to-use-to-pagan.html

OVERCOMING SIN:

"Do We Overcome Sin by Our Power or by God's Power?", dated April 20, 2011, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2011/04/do-we-overcome-sin-by-our-power-or-by.html

"Stay Far from the Edge", dated April 6, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/04/stay-far-from-edge.html

"Repentance", dated April 11, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/04/repentance.html

"We Must Overcome by God's Power AND Our Power", dated March 25, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-must-overcome-by-gods-power-and-our.html

"Building the Wall", dated March 29, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/03/building-wall.html

"Being in the Right Fellowship Won't Save You", dated June 16, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/06/being-in-right-fellowship-wont-save-you.html

"Overcoming Sin", dated April 17, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/04/overcoming-sin.html

PREACHING THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD AND THE EZEKIEL WARNING TO ISRAEL:

"Preaching the Gospel - We Reap what we Sow", dated March 6, 2010, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2010/03/preaching-gospel-we-reap-what-we-sow.html

"The Work of the Millennium Has Started!", dated September 20, 2010, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/work-of-millennium-has-started.html

"When Might the Great Tribulation Start?", dated July 1, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/07/when-might-great-tribulation-start.html

"Which Americans Will Survive the Tribulation?", dated July 24, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/07/which-americans-will-survive-tribulation.html

"Does It Matter Which Fellowship We Attend and Support?", dated March 31, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/03/does-it-matter-which-fellowship-we.html

"Should the Church Flee Before It Finishes Delivering the Ezekiel Warning?", dated July 12, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/07/should-church-flee-before-it-finishes.html

"Does the Church of God Need to Unite to Do a Powerful Work?", dated July 19, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/07/does-church-of-god-need-to-unite-to-do.html

"How Is God Fair to Punish Those Who Are Blinded?", dated August 27, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/08/how-is-god-fair-to-punish-those-who-are.html

"To Be Effective in Giving a Warning, We Have to Overcome Even When It Is Hard", dated September 3, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/09/to-be-effective-in-giving-warning-we.html

" 'Beam in the Eye', and Preaching the Gospel to the World", dated January 14, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/01/beam-in-eye-and-preaching-gospel-to.html

"The Importance of the Identity of Israel Doctrine", dated February 8, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-importance-of-identity-of-israel.html

"Has God Made the Church an 'Ezekiel Watchman' for Israel?", dated February 13, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/has-god-made-church-ezekiel-watchman.html

"What Good Does It Do to Preach the Gospel If We Do Not Live It?", dated February 22, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-good-does-it-do-to-preach-gospel.html

"What Is the Church of God's Greatest Sin?", dated February 27, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/02/what-is-church-of-gods-greatest-sin.html

"False Repentance Movement in the Church of God", dated March 28, 2014, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2014/03/false-repentance-movement-in-church-of.html

PREPARING FOR SUFFERING AND TRIALS AHEAD:

"Preparing for Trials", dated August 19, 2010, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2010/08/preparing-for-trials.html

"Don't Let Your Love Grow Cold", dated September 3, 2010, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2010/09/dont-let-your-love-grow-cold.html

"The Groundwork for the Great Tribulation Is Being Laid", dated December 28, 2012, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-groundwork-for-great-tribulation-is.html

"Count the Cost", dated March 14, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/03/count-cost.html

"Preparing for the Coming Crises", dated June 9, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/06/preparing-for-coming-crises.html

"Inflation Isn't Here Yet, BUT...", dated October 24, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/10/inflation-isnt-here-yet-but.html

"Don't Demand Old Covenant Blessings if You Are under the New Covenant", dated December 8, 2013, link:
http://ptgbook.blogspot.com/2013/12/dont-demand-old-covenant-blessings-if.html


Here are links to related chapters or sections in Preaching the Gospel:

The Day of Trumpets - the Second Coming of Christ, Chapter 2

The Annual Holy Days and the Plan of God, Chapter 2

Our Attitude and Approach Towards God's Word, Chapter 1

How to Understand the Bible, Chapter 1

Focusing on the Bible, Chapter 5

The Source of Our Beliefs, Chapter 6

Faith, Chapter 6

How Could Trained and Experienced Ministers Be Deceived?, Chapter 5

The Responsibility of a Watchman, Chapter 3

The Ezekiel Warning, Chapter 3

CHAPTER 4 - WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL? - A LESSON FROM THE HOLOCAUST

Philadelphia's Open Door - Does It Apply to Individual Members?

Christ promises an open door to Philadelphia. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens": I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name' " (Revelation 3:7-8).

Does this promise apply only to organizations or to individual members of the Church of God who are Philadelphian in character? And if it applies to Philadelphians as individual members as well as to a Philadelphian organization, how does it apply? What is the "open door" anyway? What is it an open door to?

Do we as individual members have a personal connection with the promise of the open door given to Philadelphia, or is it just for leaders and ministers in an organization?

The term "open door", by itself, can mean a lot of things. It is easy to use that term to express any number of ideas - ideas of opportunity of one kind or another. I can say I have an "open door" to finding a better job, buying a house, etc. It can be used by Church of God speakers to illustrate our opportunity to overcome sin, to grow closer to God, to develop the character of Jesus Christ, etc. But to know what is meant by an "open door" in the Bible, particularly in Revelation 3:8, we should search the scriptures to see how the Bible defines the term. The Bible defines its own symbols. And an "open door", as used in Revelation 3:8, is a symbol, a metaphor. It is not a physical door made of wood on physical hinges in a physical frame. It is symbolic of something, and we can expect that the Bible, in other places, will define the symbol so we know what Christ means by it.

As Mr. Armstrong said, we should let the Bible interpret the Bible. Particularly, we should let the Bible define its own symbols, its own metaphors, and not insert our own meaning into a symbol that is different from what the Bible uses to define the term when the Bible does define the term elsewhere.

It is also an important principle of Bible study to get all the possible scriptures that may apply to a subject, not just a few selected scriptues to support one particular point of view or opinion. We are to live by every word of God (Matthew 4:4).

With these principles in mind, let's see if we can find elsewhere in the Bible what "open door" in Revelation 3:8 means. I did a search on the word "door" in the Bible to see what the Bible says about the "open door" metaphor. I used a Bible software program to search for that term, specifically, Nelson eBible. You can use any software program that lets you search for a particular word or phrase, or you can use Strong's Concordance if you do not have a computer. I searched for "door" rather than "open door" because the concept of an open door can be expressed with more than one phrase, such as "open door", "pray that God will open a door", etc. The word "open" might not be immediately next to "door", yet the meaning might be there. So to make my study complete, I looked up every verse with the word "door" in it.

I found more than 200 occurrences of "door" in the Bible. Most of the usages of the word "door" refer to literal, physical doors, but some are symbolic. I have included the complete list at the end of this post for reference for those who are interested. This can serve as an example to illustrate the application of the principles of letting the Bible interpret the Bible and getting all the scriptures on a subject.

I found 29 verses with the word "door" that seems to be used in a symbolic way. Most of these could not apply to the promise of an open door to Philadelphia in Revelation 3:8. For example, several verses refer to something being, "at the door" to show that it is near or will happen soon, such as Genesis 4:7 and Matthew 24:33. Job 38:17 refers to the "doors of the shadow of death". Psalm 78:23 refers to the "doors of heaven" for rain. Those are just examples.

But there are a few that might apply to the Church in some way, and I will examine those now to see if they can apply to the open door promised to Philadelphia.

Proverbs 8:34: "Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." The "me", the one speaking, is wisdom personified. Verse 1 says: "Does not wisdom cry out, and understanding lift up her voice?" Possibly, this could refer to a door to wisdom open to the Church of God.

John 10:7 and John 10:9 represent Christ as a door to the sheep. "Then Jesus said to them again, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture" (John 10:7-9). This represents Christ as a door for the Church to be saved.

Acts 14:27 represents a door of faith. "Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27). If faith can be represented as a door, then that door has been opened for the Church.

There are three passages in the epistles of Paul that refer to an open door for doing God's work and preaching the gospel. "For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Corinthians 16:9). "Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord" (2 Corinthians 2:12). "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak" (Colossians 4:3). Paul is consistent in the way he uses the metaphor of the "open door", using it to refer to God's work that Paul was to do.

Revelation 3:20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." This represents Christ as knocking on a door, wanting to enter, and is in a specific message for Laodiceans.

Revelation 4:1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.' " This seems to be an open door for John to enter in vision to see what God has revealed.

Which of these applies to the promise to Philadelphia of an open door in Revelation 3:8? Which of these can show us what the open door for Philadelphia represents?

The door in Revelation 3:20 in the message to the Laodiceans cannot be the open door in the message to Philadelphia. The open door for Philadelphia is a door that Christ opens and no man can shut. The door in the message to the Laodiceans is a door that Christ knocks on and must be opened by the Laodiceans.

The door standing open in heaven in Revelation 4:1 seems to be a door to the revelation given to John for the whole Church. John goes through that door in a vision to learn what is revealed to him and that information is written in the book of Revelation for the whole Church of God. It is not particular just to Philadelphia. What is revealed in Revelation is for the whole Church. That cannot be the "open door" promised to Philadelphia in particular.

Christ as the door for the sheep in John 10:7 and John 10:9 likewise applies to the whole Church of God, not just Philadelphia. Every Church of God congregation, all seven of the churches in the messages to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, must enter by the door that is Christ, or they are not part of the Church at all. And all seven churches in Revelation are part of the true Church (Revelation 1:13, 20).

Likewise, the door of faith in Acts 14:27 that was opened to the Gentiles applies to the whole Church of God, not just Philadelphia. Without that open door of faith, we would not be part of God's true Church at all.

What about wisdom's door in Proverbs 8:34? Could this be the open door for Philadelphia, a door to greater wisdom than the other six churches? The context of Proverbs 8:34 is more about the desire for wisdom on the part of those who seek her, "waiting at the posts of my doors". It refers to an attitude of mind on the part of those who seek wisdom. Moreover, there is a promise in the book of James for wisdom for whoever asks for it without doubting. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind" (James 1:5-6). This is a promise to all in the Church of God. Any of us can ask for wisdom, and it will be given to us. This is not a door that Christ closes and no man can open, at least not for us in the Church.

Paul speaks three times in his epistles of God opening a door for him for doing God's work. He speaks of a great and effective door opened to him in 1 Corinthians 16:9. He does not seem to be referring just to something regarding his personal salvation, but for the work he was doing. What was Paul's work? Preaching the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17, 9:16). In 2 Corinthians 2:12 Paul speaks of a door being opened for him by the Lord when he came to a place to preach the gospel. That obviously must mean that the open door Paul referred to was a door for preaching the gospel. In Colossians 4:3, Paul specifically asks the brethren to pray that God would open a door for Paul and his companions for speaking, for "the word". And since Paul asks the brethren to pray for that open door, that would be a metaphor for preaching the gospel that the membership would be very familiar with. Thus, when the early Church later read the book of Revelation, they would be familiar with that metaphor of the open door being for preaching the gospel, since it is something they have prayed for.

There are several characteristics of the open door Paul speaks of in these three passages, an open door for preaching the gospel, that helps match up this symbolism with the open door for Philadelphia in Revelation 3:8.

One, it is a door that God must specifically open. Paul specifically speaks of God opening the door, and likewise Christ says to Philadelphia that He opens and no man can shut or shuts and no man can open.

It is not a door that is necessarily open for all the Church of God at all times, such as a door for salvation or for wisdom. That is true in Paul's use of the term and in the message to Philadelphia. Paul says that the door was opened to him when he came to Troas to preach the gospel. This cannot be a door to salvation or to wisdom for Paul, since those doors were opened for Paul when he was converted, not later when he came to Troas. Likewise, the promise of the open door is not given to all seven churches in Revelation, but to Philadelphia specifically. That cannot be an open door to salvation or wisdom.

The door that Paul spoke of is something that the brethren were to pray for, that God would open the door for Paul and his companions. This also shows that it was not a door that is always open for the whole Church of God at all times.

It is clear, therefore, at least to me, that the open door promised to Philadelphia in Revelation 3:8 is a door for preaching the gospel effectively and powerfully. It is NOT an open door for truth, holiness, salvation, righteousness, or wisdom, since those things are always available for the whole Church of God at all times. The open door is something promised to Philadelphia, but not to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea.

The history of the Church of God reinforces this, for it was during the Philadelphia era while Mr. Armstrong was alive that the gospel was preached with power to multiple millions through the television program, the Plain Truth magazine, and multiple books and booklets. It has not been preached powerfully that way during most of the Laodicean era, which era we are now in, and it is not being preached as powerfully today, though some Church of God fellowships are more effective in preaching the gospel than others.

But that leaves the question, is it open just for Philadelphian Church of God fellowships on the organizational level, or is it also open for individual members who are Philadelphian in character? Is it open for members individually and not just for organizations that are Philadelphian?

I believe it is open for members individually when those members have the characteristics described in the message to Philadelphia. Revelation 3:8 says, "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name". Why does Christ give Philadelphians an open door? Because they have a little strength, have kept Christ's word, and have not denied His name. Those reasons why Christ gives the open door can apply to individuals as well as organizations, in fact, more so.

But that does not mean that each Philadelphian member must go out and preach the gospel as an individual. The work of Philadelphian Christians is generally accomplished through the organized efforts of the fellowship they attend and support. Individual Philadelphian members do the work of preaching the gospel by contributing tithes and offerings to a fellowship that is doing the work, by praying for the work, and sometimes by volunteer effort as they may have the ability and opportunity.

Probably, in most cases, any Church of God fellowship or organization will be effective in preaching the gospel to the world roughly in proportion to the percentage of members in that fellowship who are counted by Christ as being Philadelphian in character. Christ will answer the prayers of Philadelphian Christians for the preaching of the gospel. That is one way they have an open door. Christ will direct a substantial portion of the tithes and offerings of Philadelphian Christians towards the effective preaching of the gospel. Their contributions will be well spent in that regard. That is another way the door is open for Philadelphian Christians as individuals. Christ will enable them to support a fellowship that is preaching the gospel to the world effectively. He will help them understand where they should send their tithes and offerings.

Christ has power and authority. That is something the key of David may represent (Revelation 3:7). And He uses that power and authority to open a door for Philadelphia to preach the gospel effectively. Christ does not make that promise for those who are not in the Philadelphian condition. And through Philadelphians, Christ accomplishes a work, not necessarily IN the Church, but by the Church and through the Church. The work itself is done in the world. That is, the work of preaching the gospel is done by Christ THROUGH the Church, but IN the world.

It is a work of service to those outside the Church, to give them the truth as we have been given the truth, and it is accomplished by Christ through the Church, especially through that part of the Church that is Philadelphian in character. But it is not just accomplished in the Church for the benefit of ourselves only. It is an outgoing work, focused towards others, not focused on ourselves.

That is our personal connection with the promise of the open door. If we are Philadelphian in character, the promise applies to us as individual members. (And if we are not Philadelphian in character, the promise does not apply to us until we repent and become Philadelphian.) God will answer the prayers of Philadelphians and direct their tithes and offerings to support the preaching of the gospel. God will see to it that those tithes and offerings are spent wisely and effectively towards preaching the gospel to the world and the Ezekiel warning to Israel, IF we are spiritual Philadelphians, IF we have a little strength, have kept Christ's word, and have not denied His name (Revelation 3:8).

Christ is using the Church to do a work towards the world and for the world, to prepare the world for the events to come. Each Philadelphian Christian is involved in this personally. Philadelphians are involved in their prayers for the preaching of the gospel. Those who have tithable incomes are able to tithe and give offerings for that purpose. Some are able to help with volunteer labor. But for each Philadelphian, it is a very personal involvement to go through the open door.

I have taken the time to provide a list of scriptures relating to an open door to show how we must let the Bible teach us and let the Bible interpret the Bible. We are not to think that, just because we are baptized and have the Holy Spirit, we are somehow qualified to interpret the symbols of the Bible according to our own reasoning apart from how the Bible interprets those symbols. We should not construct meanings and interpretations for an "open door", and then suggest them and say, "Is this not an open door?", while ignoring the symbolism that God gives in the Bible for the open door.

I have tried to make this point in other posts in this blog. God's Holy Spirit leads us to understand what the Bible says. But we still have to look to what the Bible says. As we believe and strive to obey, God will help us understand. And God requires that we work to understand the Bible, that we expend the effort to study the Bible.

To read the Bible thinking that God will use words and concepts in the Bible to somehow "trigger" thoughts in our minds, put there by the Holy Spirit, but not backed up by the whole Bible, is not a correct way to study the Bible.

For example, suppose I read the message to Philadelphia and come across the promise of an open door in Revelation 3:8, and I think, what is the open door? Then I read other scriptures about salvation, and the thought comes into my mind, "That must be the open door, the door to salvation, the door to holiness. That makes sense. After all, is not salvation and the truth of God an open door? And since I have been baptized and have God's Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit must be guiding my thoughts right now to think that the open door is the door to salvation. That's it!" Wrong. If I think that way, I am no different than Catholics and Protestants who believe their own reasoning and imagination and human thinking more than they believe the Bible. I have to search the Bible diligently to understand what it means.

When I looked up the scriptures containing the word "door" to prepare this post, I did not know what I would find. I knew there were scriptures in the epistles of Paul referring to an open door for preaching the gospel. But I didn't know what else I might find that could be the open door in Revelation 3:8. It turns out, there was nothing else that could apply. But if there was, I would have had to change the way I wrote this post. I started out thinking that the open door in Revelation 3:8 must be an open door for preaching the gospel, even on a personal, individual member level, but I was prepared, as I looked up the scriptures, to admit to myself and to God that I have been wrong if I found evidence that the "open door" in Revleation 3:8 could be something else. I don't think I ever searched on the word "door" in the Bible before.

I have been careful in this post not to say "we" have an open door as promised in Revelation 3:8. Philadelphians have an open door. "We" are not all Philadelphians. To say, "we" would have to include me, and I cannot say I am Philadelphian in God's sight. I hope I am, but that is God's call. I should not praise myself, even by implication. Rather, I should think of being Philadelphian as a goal I should strive for, but figure I haven't made it yet. I would rather think of myself as a Laodicean who needs to repent, but maybe God counts me as a Philadelphian, than the other way around. If I think I am Laodicean, I will try harder to change and overcome. If I think of myself as Philadelphian, I may become spiritually lazy, thinking I have it made.

So "we" have the promise of an open door in Revelation 3:8 only IF we have the spiritual characteristics of Philadelphia.

But I will strive to be Philadelphian and strive to support the preaching of the gospel in my prayers and tithes and writings.


Here is the complete list of scriptures I found with the word "door" in the New King James version I found in my search, as a reference, for those who are interested. After each verse is my note indicating if it seemed literal or figurative, and if figurative, what it represented.

- Genesis 4:7 - metaphor: sin is near, at the door
- Genesis 6:16 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 18:1 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 18:2 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 18:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 19:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 19:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 19:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 19:11 - literal door, not symbolic
- Genesis 43:19 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 12:22 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 12:23 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 21:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 26:36 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 29:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 29:11 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 29:32 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 29:42 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 33:8 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 33:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 33:10 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 35:15 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 36:37 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 38:8 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 38:30 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 39:38 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 40:5 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 40:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 40:12 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 40:28 - literal door, not symbolic
- Exodus 40:29 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 1:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 1:5 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 3:2 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 4:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 4:7 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 4:18 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 8:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 8:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 8:31 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 8:33 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 8:35 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 10:7 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 12:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 14:11 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 14:23 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 14:38 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 15:14 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 15:29 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 16:7 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 17:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 17:5 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 17:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 17:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Leviticus 19:21 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 3:25 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 3:26 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 4:25 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 4:26 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 6:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 6:13 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 6:18 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 10:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 11:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 12:5 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 16:18 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 16:19 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 16:27 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 16:50 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 20:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Numbers 25:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Deuteronomy 15:17 - literal door, not symbolic
- Deuteronomy 22:21 - literal door, not symbolic
- Deuteronomy 31:15 - literal door, not symbolic
- Joshua 2:19 - literal door, not symbolic
- Joshua 19:51 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 3:23 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 3:24 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 3:25 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 4:20 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 9:52 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 11:31 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 16:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 19:22 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 19:26 - literal door, not symbolic
- Judges 19:27 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Samuel 2:22 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Samuel 3:15 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Samuel 21:13 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Samuel 11:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Samuel 13:17 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Samuel 13:18 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 6:31 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 6:32 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 6:33 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 6:34 (3) - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 7:50 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Kings 14:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 4:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 4:5 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 4:21 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 4:33 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 5:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 6:32 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 9:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 9:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 12:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Kings 18:16 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Chronicles 9:21 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Chronicles 22:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 3:7 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 4:9 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 23:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 28:24 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 29:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 29:7 - literal door, not symbolic
- 2 Chronicles 34:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:1 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:13 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:14 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:15 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:20 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 3:21 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 6:1 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 6:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 7:1 - literal door, not symbolic
- Nehemiah 7:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Job 3:10 - represents Job's birth
- Job 31:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Job 31:32 - literal door, not symbolic
- Job 31:34 - literal door, not symbolic
- Job 38:8 - represents door or limits of the sea
- Job 38:10 - represents door or limits of the sea
- Job 38:17 - represents doors of death
- Job 41:14 - represents doors of the face of the Leviathan
- Psalm 24:7 - represents doors to be lifted up for the King of glory to come in
- Psalm 24:9 - represents doors to be lifted up for the King of glory to come in
- Psalm 78:23 - represents doors of heaven for rain
- Psalm 141:3 - represents doors of the mouth for speaking
- Proverbs 5:8 - literal door, not symbolic
- Proverbs 8:3 - literal door, not symbolic
- Proverbs 8:34 - represents doors of wisdom
- Proverbs 9:14 - literal door, not symbolic
- Proverbs 26:14 - literal door, not symbolic, but compared to a lazy man
- Ecclesiastes 12:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Song of Solomon 5:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Song of Solomon 8:9 - represents a woman
- Isaiah 6:4 - represents a door in a vision of the throne of God
- Isaiah 26:20 - literal door, not symbolic
- Isaiah 45:1 - represents open door for Cyrus to subdue nations
- Isaiah 57:8 - literal door, not symbolic
- Jeremiah 35:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Ezekiel 8:3 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 8:7 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 8:8 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 8:14 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 8:16 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 10:19 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 11:1 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 33:30 - literal door, not symbolic
- Ezekiel 40:13 (2) - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:11 (2) - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:17 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:20 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:23 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:24 (3) - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 41:25 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 42:2 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 42:4 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 42:12 (2) - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Ezekiel 47:1 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a vision
- Hosea 2:15 - represents a valley as a door of hope
- Micah 7:5 - represents doors of the mouth
- Zechariah 11:1 - represents doors of Lebanon
- Malachi 1:10 - literal door, not symbolic
- Matthew 6:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Matthew 24:33 - represents something being close, at the doors
- Matthew 25:10 - literal door, not symbolic, but in a parable
- Matthew 27:60 - entrance of a tomb
- Matthew 28:2 - entrance of a tomb
- Mark 1:33 - literal door, not symbolic
- Mark 2:2 - literal door, not symbolic
- Mark 11:4 - literal door, not symbolic
- Mark 13:29 - represents something being close, at the doors
- Mark 15:46 - entrance of a tomb
- Mark 16:3 - entrance of a tomb
- Luke 11:7 - literal door, not symbolic, in a parable
- Luke 13:25 (2) - literal door, not symbolic, in a parable
- John 10:1 - door as entrance to a sheepfold
- John 10:2 - door as entrance to a sheepfold
- John 10:7 - represents Christ as the door to the sheep
- John 10:9 - represents Christ as the door to the sheep
- John 18:16 (2) - literal door, not symbolic
- John 18:17 - literal door, not symbolic
- John 20:19 - literal door, not symbolic
- John 20:26 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 5:9 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 5:19 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 5:23 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 12:6 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 12:13 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 12:16 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 14:27 - represents the door of faith opened to the Gentiles
- Acts 16:26 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 16:27 - literal door, not symbolic
- Acts 18:7 - "next door" - literal phrase, not symbolic
- Acts 21:30 - literal door, not symbolic
- 1 Corinthians 16:9 - represents a door for doing the work opened to Paul
- 2 Corinthians 2:12 - represents a door for preaching the gospel opened to Paul by Christ
- Colossians 4:3 - represents a door for preaching the gospel to be opened by God to preach, asking for brethren to pray that the door would be opened
- James 5:9 - represents something nearby, at the door
- Revelation 3:8 - promise to Philadelphia of an open door
- Revelation 3:20 (2) - represents Christ knocking at the door for Laodicea
- Revelation 4:1 - represents an open door in heaven

Name of God: Pronunciation or Meaning?

Regarding God's name, which is more important, pronunciation or meaning?

Does God require that we use as God's name a word that tries to preserve in spelling and pronunciation the original name for God in the original Hebrew? Or does God permit and even show by example we may translate God's name into a word that has meaning in our own language and use that word as God's name?

This is an issue with Jehovah's Witnesses and can come up from time to time as an issue in the Church of God. Some in the Church might think we need to pronounce God's name as it was originally pronounced in the original Bible languages in Bible times. Jehovah's Witnesses claim that "Jehovah" is how God's name is pronounced and should be used as God's name.

I want to make two points in this post.

One, it is impossible to know how a name for God was originally pronounced in Bible times because pronunciation changes over time. I have a Bible text that shows that pronunciation changes.

Two, God sets an example of translating a word for God's name into the language of the readers or listeners, a word that has meaning for them, NOT trying to preserve the original spelling or pronunciation. He has done this by inspiring New Testament writers, when writing the New Testament in Greek, to translate the Hebrew name for God into a Greek word with similar meaning when quoting the Old Testament. There are several cases of this, but I will use one to illustrate the point.

When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses asked God His name. "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His name?" what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." ' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations." ' " (Exodus 3:13-15).

This name, translated here as "I am who am" or "I am" in verse 14, is translated "LORD" in all capital letters in verse 15 and elsewhere in the Old Testament in the King James version and in the New King James Version. It can be translated "Eternal". It means the self-existent ever-living one. Jehovah's Witnesses call this name "Jehovah". Some refer to it as "Yahweh".

The name in the Hebrew text is made up of four Hebrew letters, often represented in our alphabet as "YHWH".

This is God's name in the Hebrew language in the Old Testament. In the King James version and the New King James version, it is usually translated into the English LORD or GOD, and you can tell when the words Lord or God refer to this name by the fact that "LORD" or "GOD" will be in all capital letters.

The decision to translate this name into the English word "LORD" is a decision made by King James version and New King James version translators. Is it wrong to use those words, or should we try to pronounce God's name as we think it was originally pronounced in Hebrew when the Old Testament was written?

I know of no way to know how this word was pronounced thousands of years ago. Inventions for recording the human voice and sounds only came into existence in the last couple of hundred years. We have no recordings of the sound of speech before then.

Pronunciation changes over time. That is a fact. It is a reason why different parts of the world speaking the same language have accents. Americans and Britons speak English, but with somewhat different pronunciations. Even within the United States, there are regional differences in how we pronounce words.

The Bible even records an incident in which one part of Israel had a different pronunciation of a word than another part of Israel. Yet, all the tribes came from Jacob. One part or both must have been pronouncing the word differently than Jacob and his immediate sons pronounced it. "The Gileadites seized the fords of the Jordan before the Ephraimites arrived. And when any Ephraimite who escaped said, 'Let me cross over,' the men of Gilead would say to him, 'Are you an Ephraimite?' If he said, 'No,' then they would say to him, 'Then say, "Shibboleth"!' And he would say, 'Sibboleth,' for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites" (Judges 12:5-6).

God shows that it is right and proper to translate God's name into a word with meaning in the language of the people reading or listening rather than to try to preserve the original spelling or to try to represent the original pronunciation. God shows us this by the example He set in how He inspired the New Testament writers, who wrote the New Testament in the Greek language under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to write God's name when quoting the Old Testament. God did not inspire them to insert the original Hebrew word for God's name into their Greek writings or to use a combination of Greek letters to try to represent how the Hebrew name for God might have been pronounced. Instead, God inspired them to translate God's name into the Greek word for "Lord", a word with meaning for Greek speaking readers.

Here is one example. In the Old Testament, we find this verse: "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33). That word, "LORD" is YHWH in the Hebrew, the same word God gave as His name to Moses in the passage of the burning bush. It is the same word Jehovah's Witnesses say should be pronounced "Jehovah", the same word that includes the meaning "I am" or "the Eternal".

Now, the writer of Hebrews quotes this Old Testament verse in Hebrews 10:16: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them". In this New Testament verse, the word "LORD" is not the Hebrew word YHWH. It is the Greek word, "kyrios", which means "lord" or "master", that is, one who has authority or ownership.

So the writer of Hebrews, as other New Testament writers, did not insert the Hebrew letters for God's name into his quote of the Old Testament verse to represent God's name, nor did he try to preserve the pronunciation of God's name in Hebrew in his quote, because it is obvious that the pronunciation of "kyrios" is nothing at all like "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". Rather, he translated God's name into a word in the Greek language that had meaning for a Greek-speaking readership.

And since he was writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, his choice to translate God's Hebrew name "YHWH" into the Greek word "kyrios" was approved by God.

Following that example, of translating God's name into a word that has meaning for the people who read the Bible in their own language, King James Version translators and New King James version translators have translated both the Hebrew word "YHWH" and the Greek word "kyrios" when used for God's name into the English word "Lord". So it is right for us to use the word "Lord" for God's name.

The same principle can apply to other names for God the Father or for Jesus Christ. It is not wrong to translate any name for God from one language to another, using a word that has meaning for those who use that language. We do not have to try to figure out how it was originally pronounced in the Hebrew or Greek and try to reconstruct that pronunciation, nor do we have to use original Hebrew or Greek spelling for God's name. We can simply use the English equivalent.