Watchman's Teaching Letter #113 September 2007

This is my one hundred and thirteenth monthly teaching letter and continues my tenth year of publication. With this lesson, we’ll resume our series on the teachings of Paul. Paul makes it very clear at 1 Corinthians 11:1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” So don’t ever accuse Paul of starting a new religion! And inasmuch as Yahshua Christ Himself said at Matthew 15:24: “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” So neither did Paul go to anyone other than “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, or he could never have made such a statement as he did at 1 Corinthians 11:1!

It is amazing, but almost every denominational religious sect today proclaims two gospels. They surely don’t get such an idea from Scripture, for Paul’s Galatians 1:8 states: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” From this verse, it should be manifestly clear that there is but one Gospel. Yet, one repeatedly hears the proclamation by so-called pastors: “Because the jews rejected Christ, He turned to the Gentiles.” They will demandingly insist that the jews (as they call them) are under the Covenant made to Abraham (as an earthly kingdom), and that the Gentiles are under the Gospel of grace (or a heavenly kingdom). Thus, they bring upon themselves the curse of Galatians 1:8. The bottom line is, the Gospel of the Kingdom which Yahshua Christ proclaimed is the same Gospel of the Kingdom which Paul took to the nations.

If the gospel to the nations were to anyone other than true Israelites, Paul could never have stated at Ephesians 1:7: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ...” Only a kinsman can redeem, so the Ephesians could only have been some of lost Israel Yahshua referred to at Matt. 15:24! Here Paul ties “redemption” and “grace” tightly together as one, so whenever Paul speaks of grace, he is referring to redemption. Redemption means to purchase something back which one owned before, so there is no way that Yahshua could have offered non-Israelites redemption. When Paul wrote, “In whom we have redemption ...” he was including himself on the same footing with the Ephesians, for both Paul and the Ephesians were Israelites! Paul continues at Eph. 1:10-11: “¹⁰ That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: ¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Again, Paul included himself with the Ephesians when he stated, “... we have obtained an inheritance ...” Had non-Israelites ever “obtained an inheritance”? Absolutely NOT! But both Paul, and the Ephesians he was writing to, did, through the covenant promises by Yahweh to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Paul never so much as hinted that the Ephesians were non-Israelites, yet that is the theme of churchianity today! Why didn’t Paul say, “In whom I have redemption” and “... I have obtained an inheritance ...”? What is there about the word “we” that many find so difficult? Why didn’t Paul tell the Ephesians, “I am under the kingdom promises made to Abraham, and you Ephesians are under the gospel of grace”? Yet, this is what nominal churchianity is reading into the scriptures today!

Maybe it would be well to go ahead to Colossians 2:8-9 which reads: “⁸ Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. ⁹ For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” In order to comprehend the connection to our subject we must go back to Eph. 1:10: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth ...” In essence, Paul was gathering back to Christ the Ephesians who were a portion of the lost Israelites! It is important to notice here that in Christ dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In short, Christ encompassed the Father, and the Son, and also the Holy Spirit. They are not three separate entities as some suppose. Just after His Resurrection, during the 40 days before His Ascension, Yahshua Christ looked like any other White Israelite, not some weird spook from outer space. He walked and talked with His followers and ate fish with them. When standing upon the Mount of Olives, He suddenly ascended as they watched Him go, not as some ghost or spirit, but rather they saw Him go bodily. Not only did He go bodily, but He will return bodily at His 2nd Advent. Now the non-whites are not Christ’s redeemed, so there will be no “gathering together in one” for them!

We notice that this gathering “together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” consists both of the earthly and heavenly. Therefore, we must differentiate between the two. Yahshua Christ made this distinction at John 8:23-24 addressing the bad-fig-jews: “²³ And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins ...” Yahshua Christ then went on to tell the bad-fig-jews that they must believe, but another passage at Romans 10:14 says: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Yahshua knew this, but He wasn’t about to explain this to the bad-fig-jews for He didn’t want them as converts. What then, were the sins of the bad-fig-jews which Yahshua had reference to? It all goes back to the days of Baal worship in Judaea where they had sex orgies under every green tree, where a few of the pure Judahite women birthed half-breed Canaanite children. Not only did this happen in Judaea, but some in the northern kingdom of Israel were also guilty of this same thing. To show you this, I will repeat a portion of William Finck’s Broken Cisterns, ^#2:

“Further support for these assertions is found in The Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary On The Bible by Charles M. Laymon, on page 455, which makes the following comment concerning Hosea 4:10-19: ‘The Absurdity of Baal Worship. The whole harlotrous system of Baal fertility rites is utterly ineffectual as well as degrading. Its purpose is to provide fertility for human beings, flocks, and crops; but though the people play the harlot, i.e. carry on the sexual fertility acts at the shrine, they do not multiply ... Despite woman’s usual secondary place in ancient society, there will be no double standard, for the men are responsible for the shame of cult prostitution. It is they who require their daughters to become cult prostitutes, lit. ‘holy women’ ...’ And further on concerning Hosea 5:7: ‘In their Baal worship they give birth to alien children (vs. 7), the offspring of sexual cult rites ...’ For Hosea 5:7 says: ‘They have dealt treacherously against Yahweh: for they have begotten strange children ...’ Here the implications of this, which still affect us to this day, shall be examined.”

If you were not formerly aware of the difference between a good-fig-Judahite of the tribe of Judah and a bad-fig-jew (half-breed Canaanite-Judahite mixture), you should be now! No wonder Jeremiah gave such a graphic depiction at 2:21-22: “²¹ Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? ²² For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith Yahweh.” Jeremiah was saying that the bad-fig-jews were nothing more than half-breed Canaanites, and that no amount of washing with strong lye-soap can wash the Canaanite appearance away! And the Canaanites had absorbed the Kenites at Genesis 15:19, who were the descendants of Cain (See Strong’s #’s 7014 & 7017). Yet, nominal churchianity tries to tell us today that these bastards are “God’s chosen people”! (And I do mean “bastards” in the literal sense!)

One should now be comprehending the difference between the earthly and the heavenly. There is no uncertainty that Yahshua was telling the bad-fig-jews that they were earthly or from beneath, and that He Himself was heavenly, being from above. But we must take into account that the White Adamic people are a heavenly people on the earth, as was also Yahshua Christ. That was what Yahshua was trying to explain to Nicodemus at John 3:3 when He said: “... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus was the first to misunderstand Christ’s words, but nominal churchianity has since assumed the same position. Those who practice biblical quackery today insist that this means to be regenerated spiritually. It should have been translated “born from above” meaning born of the heavenly race. The born-again concept is patently false. All one need do is go to verse 31, and we see that Yahshua Christ Himself was born from above: “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.” Thus, we have earthly-people and heavenly-people. David made it clear at Psalm 39:12: “Hear my prayer, O Yahweh, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” Therefore, it is the White Adamic people of the covenants to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that Yahshua Christ is to gather to Himself at Eph. 1:10. That “gathering together” could not begin until after the death and Resurrection of Yahshua, and Paul was assigned by Christ to begin that process. There is but one Gospel, and that is the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth with Yahshua as king over a heavenly race of people. All others need not apply!

To understand these things one must ask for wisdom, and secondly, one must be able to recognize false doctrine when it is being taught. For instance, one might hear the comment, “Abraham was the beginning of the jewish nation.” When you hear such a stupid remark, you can mark it down in your memory bank that that teacher doesn’t know what he is talking about, even though he may be able to quote passage after passage. One can hear these kinds of unlearned comments almost continually over radio and television. Paul in his prayer for the Ephesians wrote this at 1:15-23:

“Therefore even I, having heard of your own faith in Prince Yahshua and the charity which is for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease giving thanks concerning you, making mention in my prayers, ¹⁷ in order that the God of our Prince, Yahshua Christ, the Father of honor, would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in His knowledge, ¹⁸ the eyes of your mind being illuminated for you to know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the honor of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power for us who are believing, according to the operation of the might of His strength, ²⁰ which He produced in the Christ, having raised Him from the dead, and sat Him at His right hand in the heavenly places ²¹ over every realm and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the future. ²² And all things He placed under His feet, and has given Him a crown over all things in the assembly, ²³ which is His body, the fulfillment of that which all things in all are being fulfilled.” (Translation by William Finck in his Letters of Paul)

Inasmuch as we’re on the subject of Ephesus, it would be well to give an abbreviated review of some of its history. For the serious Bible student, there is much more history to be found than can be presented here. The Following is from the 1980 Collier’s Encyclopedia, vol. 9, pages 266-267:

“EPHESUS ... a famous city of Asia Minor, located at the mouth of the Cayster River south of Smyrna (now Izmir), dating from prehistoric times. Ephesus is said to have been settled before 1000 B.C. by lonian Greeks from Athens, and there during the seventh century B.C. waserected the earliest-known temple of the Oriental fertility goddess later identified as the Greek Artemis, whose cultoriginated in the pre-Greek period. During the seventh century,the government changed from an aristocracy to a tyranny, while during the sixth century the city was conquered by the Lydian King Croesus, who brought prosperity and splendor to Ephesus by contributing generously towards a new, enormous temple of Artemis. Fragments of the outer columns, adorned with reliefs and carrying Croesus’ dedicatory inscriptions, are still preserved in the British Museum. When Croesus suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the Persian King Cyrus in 546 B.C., Ephesus became part of the Persian Empire.

“During the Ionian revolt of 499 B.C., Ephesus remained loyal to Persia, and also participated on the Persian side in the Persian Wars with Greece. About 470 B.C. Cimon, the Athenian, was able to wrest the city from Persia and incorporate it into the Athenian Empire. When Athens and Sparta fought the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus remained loyal to Athens until captured by the Persians in 415 B.C.;later it came under Spartan control. In 401 [B.C.] Ephesus became the center of Cyrus’ revolt against his brother, the Persian king Artaxerxes.

“In 356 [B.C.] the temple of Artemis was burned down by Herostratus, a fanatic, but its restoration was soon begun and was encouraged and supported by Alexander the Great, who liberated Ephesus from the Persians in 334 B.C. The restored Artemision was celebrated as one of the Seven Wonders of the World during the Hellenistic era; in Roman times it became known as the Temple of Diana of the Ephesians. Parts of its remains are in the British Museum.

“Lysimachus, one of Alexander’s successors, resettled the city in the mountains and built a new harbor. Ephesus was held alternately by Egypt and Syria until its surrender to Rome in 190 B.C.; it was turned over to Eumenes of Pergamum until it was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 133 B.C. Joining the revolt of Mithridates of Pontus in 88 B.C., it surrendered in 86 B.C. and two years later it was sacked by Sulla. During Rome’s Civil War following the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C., Ephesus was exploited by both sides, but under Augustus the city became a provincial capital and was later one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire until it was captured by the Goths in A.D. 262.

“Christian Ephesus became famous not only through St. Paul’s visit to it, but as a bishop’s seat and the meeting place of many ecumenical councils during the fifth century of the Christian Era. Later the city was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, and it still belongs to Turkey. The rediscovery of Ephesus – the ruins lie in an almost inaccessible swamp, except for the mountain city founded by Lysimachus – was undertaken first by English archaeologists between 1869 and 1874 and later, from 1895 forward, by Austrians.”

To get an idea of how Paul’s ministry fits into the picture at Ephesus, I will now quote a portion from the Peloubet’s Bible Dictionary, page 182, under the heading Ephesus and subtitle:

“Connection with Christianity. – The Jews [sic Judaeans] were established at Ephesus in considerable numbers. Acts 2:9; 6:9. It is here and here only that we find disciples of John the Baptist explicitly mentioned after the ascension of Christ. Acts 18:25; 19:3. The first seeds of Christian truth were possibly sown here immediately after the great Pentecost. Acts 2. St. Paul remained in the place more than two years, Acts 19:8, 10; 20:31, during which he wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians. At a later period Timothy was set over the disciples, as we learn from the two epistles addressed to him. Among St. Paul’s other companions, two, Trophimus and Tychicus, were natives of Asia, Acts 20:4, and the latter was probably, 2 Tim. 4:12, the former certainly, Acts 21:29, a native of Ephesus.”

Now that we have a general view of the history of Ephesus, we will pick out the more interesting points and demonstrate how they connect with Israel’s past. At this point, it is important to grasp that some of the Israelites that had been in Egypt left there before Moses led those who remained through the Red Sea. In particular, some of Zerah-Judah left and settled in the area of the Dardanelles. The designation Dardanelles is derived from the name Darda found at 1 Kings 4: 31. If one will simply consult most any good dictionary one will find under the name “Dardan” that it will refer to the term “Trojan”. The major citadel of the Trojans was Troy, and up until 1870 critics dismissed the story of Troy as a myth. Since that time, however, archaeologists have discovered nine different layers at the site of Troy, the oldest going back to around 3000 B.C. These nine layers are nothing more than evidence of nine destructions at the site (usually by fire), and another citadel built on top of the former site. Which of the nine layers was the citadel of the Trojans hasn’t been determined with certainty.

But, there is another way to determine the approximate time that Darda settled in the area of the Dardanelles. First we will go to 1 Kings 4:31 where it reads: “For he (Solomon) was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite [Zarah-ite], and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.” The name Darda is the same person or namesake spelled Dara at 1 Chronicles 2:6 where it says: “And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.” Dara is #1873, while Darda is #1862, but Strong connects them. I have to believe that both of these passages speak of the same people, as most of the names match perfectly. We know that Zerah was the twin brother of Pharez born to Judah and Tamar at Gen. 38:29-30, so down-line the chronology would be: Judah – Zerah – ... Mahol ... – ... Darda, the genealogies often either skipping generations or referring to grandsons as sons. In The Iliad, Book 20, Homer gives a genealogy listing Hektor, the great Trojan prince and defender of Troy from the Danaan Greeks, as being the sixth generation from Darda. Since all ancient Greek sources tell us that Troy fell around 1185 B.C., one can see that the possible time frame for Darda surely coincided with the time that the Israelites were in Egypt. Another fact that many may not be aware of is that the clan of the Roman Caesars could trace their lineage back to the Trojans. That would make the Caesars twin brothers in lineage to Yahshua Christ! Well, that puts a whole different view on Zechariah 13:6 which reads: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” The bad-fig-jews were never Christ’s friends. Such a notion is absurd! That is why Christ directed the statement from the cross to the Roman soldiers casting lots for his garments at Luke 23:34: “Then said Yahshua, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.” All of those Roman soldiers may not have been of Zerah-Judah, but their leadership was in Tiberius Caesar. Of all the Roman soldiers who took part in the crucifixion of Yahshua, chances are every one of them were lost Israelites from one tribe or another. Isn’t it strange how everything we thought we knew turns out to be just the opposite?

Another tribe from which many left Egypt before the Exodus was Dan. The portions of Dan who settled in Greece are called Danaans or Danaoi by modern writers. Long after the Exodus, they were followed by Phoenicians from northern Israel, and by Dorians from further south, these too being Israelites. See William Finck’s brochures Classical Records of the Dorian & Danaan Israelite-Greeks and Classical and Biblical Records Identifying the Phoenicians for substantiation of these assertions.

The following is an excerpt from Finck’s brochure The Divorce Discourse: “The Dorian Greeks were not Israelites of the Assyrian deportations, but rather had migrated out of Palestine by the 12th century B.C., when they took the Peloponnesus from the Danaan Greeks. The Danaans, also Israelites, had left the main body of Israel much sooner, being a part of the tribe of Dan who left before the Exodus, leaving from Egypt and settling in the Peloponnesus.” We see here there were different parties of Israelites who had settled in Greece. The following is from Finck’s brochure on the Dorian and Danaan Greeks:

“... Further evidence that the Dorians were Israelites is found in Josephus, in his record of a letter written by a Spartan (or Lacedemonian, and they were also Dorian Greeks) king to Jerusalem about 160 B.C., which is found in Antiquities 12.4.10 (12:226-227):

“‘Areus, King of the Lacedemonians, To Onias, Sendeth Greeting. We have met with a certain writing, whereby we have discovered that both the Judaeans and the Lacedemonians are of one stock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just, therefore, that you, who are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concern as you please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your concerns as our own, and will look upon our concerns as in common with yours. Demotoles, who brings you this letter, will bring your answer back to us. This letter is foursquare; and the seal is an eagle, with a dragon in his claws.’ That this account of the letter, and its contents, is factual is verified by the reply to it recorded by Josephus at Antiq. 13.5.8 (13:163-170), by Jonathan the high priest.

“The reply to this letter was long delayed, due to the Maccabean wars and problems amongst the Judaeans which are described by Josephus. Since it is also documented in 1st Maccabees chapter 12 in the Apocrypha, here the version from Brenton’s Septuagint is supplied: ‘Jonathan the high priest, and the elders of the nation, and the priests, and the other people of the Judaeans, unto the Lacedemonians their brethren send greeting: There were letters sent in times past unto Onias the high priest from Darius, who reigned then among you, to signify that ye are our brethren, as the copy here underwritten doth specify. At which time Onias entreated the ambassador that was sent honourably, and received the letters, wherein declaration was made of the league and friendship. Therefore we also, albeit we need none of these things, for that we have the holy books of scripture in our hands to comfort us, have nevertheless attempted to send unto you for the renewing of brotherhood and friendship, lest we should become strangers unto you altogether: for there is a long time passed since ye sent unto us. We therefore at all times without ceasing, both in our feasts, and other convenient days, do remember you in the sacrifices which we offer, and in our prayers, as reason is, and as it becometh us to think upon our brethren: and we are right glad of your honor. As for ourselves, we have had great troubles and wars on every side, forsomuch as the kings that are round about us have fought against us. Howbeit we would not be troublesome unto you, nor to others of our confederates and friends, in these wars: for we have help from heaven that succoureth us, so as we are delivered from our enemies, and our enemies are brought under foot. For this cause we chose Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, and sent them unto the Romans, to renew the amity that we had with them, and the former league. We commanded them also to go unto you, and to salute you, and to deliver you our letters concerning the renewing of our brotherhood. Wherefore now ye shall do well to give us an answer thereto. And this is the copy of the letters which Oniares sent. Areus king of the Lacedemonians to Onias the high priest, greeting: It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Judaeans are brethren, and that they are of the stock of Abraham: now therefore, since this is come to our knowledge, ye shall do well to write unto us of your prosperity. We do write back again to you, that your cattle and goods are our’s, and our’s are your’s. We do command therefore our ambassadors to make report unto you on this wise.” Now that we have established that many of the Greeks were lost Israelites, let’s take a look at the history surrounding our subject of Ephesus.

From the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. X, p. 414: “EPHESUS, a very ancient city on the west coast of Asia Minor. It was situate on some hills which rose out of a fertile plain near the mouth of the river Caÿster, while the temple and precincts of Artemis, or Diana, to the fame of which the town much of its celebrity, were in the plain itself, at the distance of about a mile. The situation of the city was such as at times to command a great commerce ...

“The earliest inhabitants assigned to Ephesus are the mythical Amazons, who are said to have founded the city, and to have been the first priestesses of the Asiatic Artemis. With the Amazons we hear of Leleges and Pelasgi as in possession. In the 11th century B.C., according to tradition, Androclus, son of the Athenian king Codrus, landed on the spot with his lonians, and from this conquest dates the history of the Greek Ephesus. But here the Ionians by no means succeeded in absorbing the races in possession or superseding the established worship. Their city was firmly established on Coressus and Prion, between which hills lies the city harbor; but the old inhabitants still clustered in the plain around the sanctuary of Artemis. When, however, we call the deity of Ephesus Artemis, we must guard against misconception. Really she was a primitive Asiatic goddess of nature of the same class as Mylitta and Cybele, the mother of vegetation and the nurse of wild beasts, an embodiment of the fertility and productive power of the earth.”

Strabo, in his Geography, repeats the myth concerning the founding of Ephesus by Amazons (11.5.4), and tells us that while the Leleges did inhabit parts of Caria, which was the ancient name of the district which includes Ephesus, the region was inhabited principally by Carians. Later the region was settled by both Aeolian and Ionian Greeks, and while Ionians took Ephesus, Carians and Leleges continued to occupy its environs (12.3.21; 14.1.3). The relationship of the Carians and Leleges to the Israelite Trojans and Phoenicians is discussed by Finck in his brochure, Classical Records of Trojan-Roman-Judah.

Later Ephesus became even more Hellenized. From the same Britannica article: “Alexander established a democratic government at Ephesus. Soon after his death the city fell into the hands of Lysimachus, who determined to impress upon the city a more Hellenic character, and to destroy the ancient barbarizing influences. To this end he compelled, it is said by means of an artificial inundation, the people who dwelt in the plain by the temple to migrate to the Greek quarter on the hill now identified as Coressus, which he surrounded by a solid wall. He recruited the numbers of the inhabitants by transferring thither the people of Lebedus and Colophon, and finally, in order to make the breach with the past complete, renamed the city after his wife Arsinoë. But the former influences soon reasserted themselves, and with the old name returned Asiatic superstition and Asiatic luxury. The people were again notorious for wealth, for their effeminate manner of life, and for their devotion to sorcery and witchcraft.” Both Lebedus and Colophon were Greek cities near Ephesus, founded in ancient times, according to Strabo (14.1.3). The Ionian Greeks are descendants from Javan, a son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2). The Aeolian Greeks were a division of the Dorians (Strabo, 8.1.2), and so they were Israelites.

One purpose of this lesson is to give the Bible student an idea of what the political and religious environments were like in the Roman Empire when Paul was called by Yahshua to take the Gospel of redemption to the nations consisting of the lost tribes of Israel. While the Caesars and the other original founding Roman clans were of Zerah-Judah, Rome had fallen into a deplorable moral state. You name it, they were doing it. Everything immoral you see happening in America today was going on then in the Roman Empire and Ephesus was no exception. If you claim to be a Christian, put yourself in Paul’s shoes and contemplate how you might have handled such a situation. Well, handle it Paul did, and he didn’t mince words. Later on, after Rome became bankrupt monetarily, it was decided to make the slaves citizens so they could pay taxes. Some of the slaves were White people, but some were not. It had been a law in Rome that Whites could not marry with the other races, that is, up until that time. Once the non-white became a citizen, Rome could no longer deny interracial marriages, and that was the final demise of the empire. All of this had been predicted by the prophet Daniel.

Checking with the Dictionary of the Apostolic Church by James Hastings, vol. 1, under Ephesus, it is estimated that it had a population of a third of a million people, and with no high-rise buildings would have covered a wide area. It had a fine harbor along the banks of the Cayster. One can only imagine living conditions in such a crowded area. The message which Paul delivered both publicly and from house to house overwhelmingly astonished men day and night with tears, and to the Ephesians it was morally revolutionary. Though no frontal attack was made, nor offensive language used, by proponents of the Christian faith, it rapidly became evident that the old order and the new could not thrive side by side. This sort of thing was not peculiar to Ephesus alone, but followed Paul wherever he went. It is stated at Acts 17:6: “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also ...”

The only hope we have today is active stewardship in reliance upon the Covenant Yahweh made with Abraham. He saw in Abraham a people with a higher potential. So when Paul went to Ephesus, Abraham’s children listened and accepted the Gospel of redemption offered to them. In turn, the Ephesians carried the message all over Asia Minor. Everything starts and ends with the covenants given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! It is hoped, with this lesson, one will gain a greater perspective than ever on Ephesus and what Paul did there, and be in a position to challenge those who would censure him!