Subject: Consider Rev 11:19 |
Bible Note: Dear THECROSS, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who was sent by His Father to die for our sins and He rose on the third day after His crucifixion. I believe in the virgin birth and that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, who came to save that which was lost. I believe in the Holy Spirit, He who was sent to comfort and to reveal the truth and light, to baptize and to seal us with God's seal. I believe that Jesus will return one day to receive us all unto Himself, but no man knows the day.. After reading all of the Scriptures that you mentioned (except the Apocryphal books Wisdom and Judith, since I do not consider those as 'canon'), you have explained much better why you believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the 'Ark of the Covenant', but I still do not agree with you that this is so. Hebrews 9:4 never states that the Ark of the Covenant was made of 'incorruptible wood'. Exodus 25:10 does not say this either! So if you are saying that the Ark was made of 'incorruptible wood', then either you are basing these assumptions on your own conclusions (which one cannot come to just by reading the text), or on the conclusions of a long standing tradition that does not prove to be 'supported' by Scripture here. All things must be supported by Scripture. If we begin to believe in tradition rather than Scripture, then we are taking our focus off of God's Holy Word, and putting our 'faith' in man's tradition, which is full of flaws, and God's Word is flawless (Psalm 12:6-7). I now see where you make the connection between Mary having the 'midden manna' of Jesus Christ and giving birth to Him, thus making her the new "Ark of the Covenant" and the "Queen of God", but this is nowhere to be supported in Scripture! Is it only coincidence that none of the Biblical writers ever even alluded to the same thing that you are talking about? Yes, all generations will call Mary 'blessed', since she was in a sense, the hand-maiden of God. However, Mary is in no way equal with God, nor does she have any characteristics of the Deity. If you read in Luke 2:34-35, does not Simeon say to Mary, "and a sword will pierce even your own soul"?? If this is so, then in what way is Mary shown to be Deity, since she will also be convicted of her sins? We should not call Mary, the mother of Jesus, 'blessed' to the point of worshipping her! This would be idolatry, and something that is not even acceptable to angels (Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9)! Mary was a servant of God as we are. In no way has she been placed as a "Goddess" over mankind. Not only does this teach polytheism but it is not Scriptural and is actually contrary to the teachings of the Bible. More to come, THECROSS.. Nolan |