The Savior made it quite clear, yet, early on, even the disciples did not understand, and ran and hid as cowards when the Lord was crucified.  Obviously, something miraculous happened not long after, that transformed those twelve into courageous ones unto persecution and death!  On the night of the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane, it seemingly required the kiss of betrayal by Judas to identify Jesus.  Did they all look so alike?  They were Galileans, and Jesus, according to Matthew, would be called a Nazarene.  Was this just another word for the pious Nazarite?  If so, then there were strict requirements by God the Father that had to be followed.  Abstaining from wine, strong drink and grapes was one of them.  However, we are talking about the Vine Himself!  The vow of the Nazarite required, as with Samson, “All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no rasor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.” Numbers 6:5.  The scripture goes on to tell us that “the consecration of his God is upon his head“…and “All the days of his separation he is holy unto the LORD.”  Jesus/Yahshua was the Vine, partook of wine…and was holy unto death!

Many people, even scholars, are thrown by the scripture of Paul in I Corinthians 11: 14 which says, “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?”  In Corinth, Paul was dealing with a rather perverse group, worshippers of feminine male gods, who interchanged male and female appearance and adornments.  He certainly was not putting down the vow of the Nazarite, which he himself took in Acts 18:18. The key to understanding is the Greek word Paul used here.  Instead of using the normal word for hair, thrix or trichos, he used the word komao or kome which means “ornamental tresses“!   According to the ancient Church writer, Hegesippus, of about 180 AD, James, brother of the Lord, was a priest of the Temple, and also had long hair.  From Hegesippus’  “Commentaries on the Acts of the Church”, James “drank no wine or other intoxicating liquor, nor did he eat flesh; no razor came upon his head…”.  It is written that James the Just was on his knees so much for the people that he had knees like a camel.  He, not Peter, was named the head of Jesus’ Church, the Way, and was so revered that his death was the spark that ignited the Jewish War in 70 AD. James also was a vegetarian, as was likely the Lord Jesus!  Jesus was described in ancient writings, and representative of the Shroud image, as tall…about 6 ft.

A lost, and very early gospel, if not the earliest…as some believe it to have been the source for the Gospel of Matthew, and compiled in the middle of the first century…not long after the Crucifixion of Christ…is called the Gospel According to the Hebrews.  It comes from the writings of Jerome (341-420 AD)…”De Viris Illustribus 2“…and I quote it here as Jerome wrote: “The gospel called according to the Hebrews which was recently transcribed by me into Greek and Latin, which Origen frequently uses, records after the resurrection of the Savior:  And when the Lord had given the linen cloth to the servant of the priest, he went to James and appeared to him.  For James had sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord until he should see him risen from among them that sleep.  And shortly thereafter the Lord said:  Bring a table and bread!  And immediately it is added: he took the bread, blessed it and brake it, and gave it to James the Just and said to him: My brother, eat your bread, for the Son of man is risen from among them that sleep.”  The words servant of the priest are not clear, but some believe it to have been a reference to Peter and John.  In I Corinthians 15: 5, Paul, in speaking of the Lord’s resurrection, confirmed that Jesus was first “seen of Cephas (Peter) then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.”

Like all gospels, this is a treasure, but especially as it had been lost to us, with only fragments remaining.  It also tells us that James had been in attendance at the Lord’s Last Supper.  A “pearl of great price”, it is also known and used by researchers of the Shroud of Turin.  The words linen cloth (note singular) jump out at you, and you realize that the scriptures were not going to give that away out of protection of the Lord’s evidence…or Way.  Was this the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” that Jesus would (future) give to Simon Peter? Did this foretell the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit…or the Spirit of truth, which would teach us all things and bring all things to remembrance? Jesus told His disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.  John 16: 7-11. Would this be evidence for Jesus that had been left lying, along with another smaller head cloth (Sudarium Christi), in His empty tomb? The linen cloth (Sindon, or othone mean a linen cloth or sheet, and othonion encompasses other strips of linen to tie the hands, feet, and one to keep the jaw closed). This is a mistake that many make, and often have our Lord wrapped up like a glued Egyptian mummy.  Not so!

Of the Comforter, Jesus said, “He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16: 14. He would look like, and reveal things just like Jesus. Of God’s suffering Servant:  ”He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth“.  Isaiah 42: 2-3. Compare this to Matthew 12: 16-21. Smoking flax translates scorched linen!  ”Thou has given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth“.  Psalm 60: 4.  The Hebrew word for banner is nec (nase) which means a flag, token, banner, sign or standard…as in the “sign of Jonah“…the only sign to be given to a wicked and evil generation!  Nacac in Hebrew means to gleam from afar, to flutter as an ensign, to raise as a beacon…and to be conspicuous!  This was the evidence (or sign) for the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ…and for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The ancient “Church fathers” all wrote about the evidence…in code…for protection and preservation. Some referred to it as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost.  The Pearl: Seven Hymns on the Faith, written by St. Ephraim of Syria in Edessa (where the Shroud was hidden), described the evidence, the Shroud,  beautifully and poetically…in 350 AD!  That is long before any radio-carbon tests, yet Ephraim mentioned much of the same controversy in those ancient times as we experience today concerning the Shroud of Christ and it’s inexplainable image.  How does one explain the first photo taken in Italy by Secundo Pia in 1898 becoming a perfect negative from the actual linen image?  Shroud of Turin.

Many have spoken against this sign, and have not believed or understood it’s significance.  ”And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be evil spoken against…” Luke 2: 34.  I approach the conclusion with a question.  What holds up a flag or a banner?  A pole or mast, right?  The Hebrew word for mast or pole, from scripture written long before the birth of Christ, is from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #8650…and is representative of what has upheld the Lords’s evidence and truth for about 500 years.  The word is…TRN…no vowels (Tav Reysh Nuwn)…”Toren” or…TURIN ! This is absolutely astonishing! And, you think that God doesn’t hide His Truths in plain sight?  Praise and Thankfulness to the Lord Jesus/Yahshua of Nazareth…and for His Banner and Body of Christ. May His Truths abide with you always and eternally.

The radio-carbon dating on the Shroud of Turin in 1988 has already been disproven…and the evidence in this post is from absolutely reliable Holy Scripture and other ancient voices that spoke before 20th century  science.  God IS science…and cannot be over-powered.  His WORD is the only answer!  Some Shroud researchers may disagree with me, but here it is!

Most importantly: Heed this carefully.  Jesus warned us:  ”Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come“.  Matthew 12: 31-32.  THAT is the ONLY unforgivable sin!  Aren’t we thankful to have been warned?

Did the Apostles use this evidence which, in turn, gave them the confidence and assurance to risk death in their preaching?  Yes.  At Pentecost, Peter described the Holy Spirit as two-fold, visual and audio.  Speaking in the Holy Spirit, the universal tongue understood by all, and going back to King David as prophet, Peter said, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses.  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear“. Acts 2:31-33.

“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  II Corinthians 4: 6.  The Shroud is believed to have begun as a facial portrait, with the Shroud folded behind, framed, and known as the Face of Edessa and the Mandylion.

“How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?  For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge“.  Jeremiah 4: 21-22.

That standard has been around for over two thousand years!…and we’ve not known Him.

Stay tuned for our next posting which concerns the Truth of the Biblical Exodus…and the actual faces of the people who experienced it.  This, and the above are being written in book form…and are being done in God’s time…not my own.  The Exodus story has much evidence from, not only scripture, but archaeology and ancient Egyptian artifacts.  This, too, will astonish you!

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.  Numbers 6: 24-26.

Contrary to popular belief, God’s love is NOT unconditional…there are many “Ifs” throughout His Word! 

Time and again, in the Scriptures, you will read, “Behold me, behold me“…or “seek my face“.  It is very clear in Jeremiah 4: 21-22, “How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?  For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding:  they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”  You may have noticed in this blog a plea to save the lives of wolves in this nation.  It has amazed me that those wolves have been leading the sheep to Jesus and the Word!  When Jesus said, as He sent the disciples out to preach the Gospel, “Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves“, He was denoting men as wolves.  But, God does work in strange and mysterious ways.  He abhors the murdering of His animals, as proven by Isaiah 66: 3, and in Hosea 6: 6, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”  The wolf shall dwell with the lamb on God’s holy mountain, therefore He loves them dearly.  It must have grieved Him terribly when He made the first sacrifice of animals that Adam had named, as a result of the original sin in the Garden of Eden, to provide coverings for Adam and Eve.  That is Genesis 3: 21.  Did God, in the beginning, intend for us to eat the meat, or flesh of animals?  NO!  “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat“.  Genesis 1: 29.  But, since that original sacrifice in the Garden, animals have paid the price for men…as atonement for sin.  And, man still slaughters animals…for profit, for food, and for evil sport.  You can read of the inhumanity and cruelty everywhere. 

 Is this God’s will?  NO!  “He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a MAN; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck…Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.” (Isaiah 66: 3).  What will God do about these evils?  “I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear; but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.”  (Isaiah 66: 4).  Moreover, what about the evils done to mankind?  Do we plead for the widows and the fatherless?  These are very tough times, and the “beginning of sorrows“.  “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.” (Isaiah 9: 16).  “WOE unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed.  To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!” (Isaiah 10: 1-2).  That is a heavy and dangerous WOE from God!  Cruelty and corruption are unacceptable in His eyes, as well as those who do not do HIS will, but selfishly and sinfully pursue their own pleasures and lusts.

So, the Lord sent His Son, Jesus/Yahshua, to be the Salvation of the world.  “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me.) to do thy will, O God….He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.“  “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh.”  (Hebrews 10: 5-20).  “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.  Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” (John 18: 37).  “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”  (Matthew 5: 17).  The law still applies today, which is the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses!  Did you think those laws were obsolete, and that we will not be judged by them? 

In truth, for what purpose did Jesus/Yahshua come to this earth, and partake of a flesh and blood body?  He came to do the will of Him Who sent Him!   He now sits at the right hand of the Father.  Where is the right hand of the Father?  Attached to His right arm!  “WHO hath believed our report?  And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?”  (Isaiah 53: 1).  His arm is His Power.  “Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy 6: 4-5).  Does this sound like One Who came to the earth to marry, and to beget children?  He tells us to plead for the widows and the fatherless…not to cause them to be that way!  This idea is an insult to God, and especially as He had already divorced the House of Israel!  “And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” (Jeremiah 3: 8). 

 For Jesus to have married, and even produced a child would have gone completely against His divine purpose for all of mankind!  Of marriage, Jesus told us, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh?  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”  (Matthew 19: 4-6).  A more clear answer lies at the foot of the cross as Jesus gave His life for us.  ”When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!  And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” (John 19: 26-27).  God’s law would have mandated that a wife would have been given priority.  But, Jesus clearly addressed His mother!  So much for the DaVinci theory!  Jesus was not married, to Mary Magdalene or anyone else.  He will be though, when He returns to claim His bride…His Church!  “For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” (Isaiah 54: 5). 

In the next post, learn what Jesus actually looked like, long hair and all…proven from Scripture and other ancient texts.  Also, find out if He was, indeed, a vegetarian.  The answers will astound you!  To be continued….

Most people believe that Creation took place in six days, and God rested on the seventh, and that completed Creation.  The Apostle Peter just told us that one day to God is a thousand years to us.  We must also understand that those “created”, bara in the Hebrew, and spoken into being, happened on the sixth day as male and female…not named Adam.  However, as Genesis 2 confirms. there was an eighth day creation, or formation, of the Adam, from whom God took a rib, tsala (as curved) to make his wife Eve.  The first DNA (Helix curve?)had been accomplished.  That formation, yatsar, of the Adam and Eve occured in the Garden of Eden, and was for the purpose of a perfect ancestral generation through which Messiah would come.  “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1: 8).  “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” (I Corinthians 15: 45).  The word or name Adam in the Hebrew means “To show blood in the face, to flush or turn rosy, red and ruddy”.   The eighth day creation of the Adam and Eve answers the nagging question of:  How did Cain go to the land of Nod, and take a wife?  The answer is that there were people, from the sixth day creation, already on the earth!  And…all races could NOT have come from one couple…Adam and Eve!

So, what really happened in the Garden of Eden?  According to Genesis 3, the serpent, or the “tree of knowledge of good and evil“, both of which represent Satan, beguiled Eve.  Was it a fruit, or an “apple” that caused the original sin in the garden, and that caused Adam and Eve to suddenly feel shame at their nakedness?  The Apostle Paul tells us that it was not.  “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (II Corinthians 11: 3).  If we take that word “beguiled” back to the ancient Greek, we find that the word is “exapatao” which means to seduce wholly!  Simply, we need only look at what the LORD God said to the serpent in Genesis 3: 15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”  The Hebrew word for seed is zera or zara, which means to disseminate or to conceive seed.  In John 8: 37-38, Jesus, in addressing the Pharisees, makes it very clear by declaring, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.  I speak that which I have seen with my Father; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.”  He goes on to really lay the truth on them in verse 44 with, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  Did He say they were Jews, or of the House of Judah?  No, yet they sought to kill Him!  Jesus makes it most clear in Revelation 3: 9, when He explains, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”  Those are the ones who crucified Him, not the House of Judah!  The seed of the devil, and of Cain, the firstborn twin of Abel, was the seed that was anti-Christ from the beginning.  Incidentally, Cain is NOT listed in Adam’s genealogy!  This should help to explain the error of anti-Semitism throughout the centuries and, after all, Jesus/Yahshua was a Jew (Hebrew)…of the king-line House of Judah, and of the priest-line of Levi.  There are twelve tribes of the House of Israel, not just the House of Judah!  Of the wicked which Jesus addressed, who are also considered false prophets, how shall we recognize them?  “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7: 16).  They may look just like we do, as do the tares, but by their deeds, good or evil, we shall know them.

After the original sin in the Garden of Eden, the Lord said, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3: 22). Just as the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the devil, the tree of life was Jesus Chrsit.  Note how we can eat of the tree of life and live forever.  Today, symbolically, we eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, which is known as Communion…or the Eucharist.  Well, that was foretold way back in Genesis…in the beginning!  “So he drove out the man ; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims , and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” (Genesis 3: 24).  The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”  (Deuteronomy 18 : 15 and 18).  “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.  And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: Whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak,“ said Jesus in (John 12: 49-50). 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.”  (John 1: 1-2).  Jesus was and is the Living Word of God…and IS God…from the beginning!  “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,”  (Isaiah 7: 14).  “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.“  (Matthew 1: 23).  Jesus said,”…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?  I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.“  (John 14: 9 and 6).  “He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.  And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.  (John 12 ;44-45).  “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6 ; 40).  That promise would apply to all who have been born since Jesus walked the earth.  So, how could we, after two thousand years, seeth the Son, Jesus?  We will find out in our journey of truth.

Jesus is reality, and there is proof, not only in the scriptures, but in many other ancient sacred manuscripts, as well as the evidence He left for all of us who would come after His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. That evidence is called today the Shroud of Turin, but, in truth, is the Shroud or burial cloth of Christ. He knew about all the doubting Thomases to come, and His precious Holy Spirit led this simple person to His hidden and wonderous treasures in His Word. No one could have been more astounded than I was as He showed me time and time again His truths that were hidden in plain sight to anyone who would seek them. The Apostle Paul also wrote extensively on them. A book is still in progress on this very subject…Truth…as is another one which reveals the truth of the Exodus…and the actual people and faces thereof. In that book, you will learn the true identity of who we call “King Tut“, and how he actually died. This person, meaning me, could not have known any of these things, but the puzzle pieces finally fit. It may have been that through much loss in my life, and the fact of being the daughter of a well-known earthly magician and escape artist, Leo Irby, that I was chosen for these truths to be revealed. That does not make me special any any way, but rather just an earthly vessel which needed…and sought to be filled with His truths. For more information concerning my personal inspiration, please read the “About” page. 

Does Jesus need proving? That was the daunting task of His apostles, and they paid an enormous physical price in doing so. He, and His evidence will never be proven by science, but rather by His Word alone. Yahshua/Jesus IS the Word, and He has worked since Creation to bring as many of His ever-sinning children back to Him. As we are to preach the Gospel…or Good News of God, then it must be preached in TRUTH…not by man’s private interpretations or denominations. There is, and always has been, only ONE Church called the Way. What is that Church? The Body of Christ! Did the many members of that ancient and early Church know this? Yes, they wrote about it…in a “mystery”.

I hope you will continue on this journey of truth with me, as there is much to be revealed concerning God’s plan, beginning to end. It all began “In the beginning”, which is where we must all start seeking His hidden messages and prophecy. It is all so simple, yet man has muddied it up with his own doctrines and traditions. As for Babylon, the Lord says, “Come out of her, my people“, and it is high time we do just that. Here is a hint to what lies ahead in our quest for truth. In Revelation 18: 23, we are told of Babylon that “by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” That word “sorceries” is the shocker, as if God did not know this then…the Greek meaning of that word is “pharmakeia“…or DRUGS! An excellent tool to finding these original truths, and highly recommended to any student of the Word, is the “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible“, which takes each word back to it’s Hebrew or Greek meaning. By the gracious love and mercy of God, may this blog bring many back to the Truth of His Holy Word…that we may be led to His eternal Kingdom by the only Way…His Way. Amen.