I have two other questions to ask and hope you can help.
11 Thessalonians 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
What is meant by the "Temple of God?" I understand that the Temple was standing at that time but the reference is to the future. As there is no Temple and I don't see mentioned anywhere in scripture that there will be another until the millennium....what does it mean?
If the Temple is Christ (raised 3 1/2 days later) how can the man of sin be sitting there? If it means us, as the body of Christ, being the Temple....how can he be sitting there? Is the "he" spoken of here an entity...that man of sin, or is it his group of worshippers and if so...why is he referred to as "man."
Or, could it mean the site where His Temple was. The Holy place of Islam. Will he, the man of sin, "sitteth in" the site of the Temple of God,"shewing himself that he is God?" So...what is meant by the Temple of God?
My second question:
Exodus 16:31 And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed,white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Why is "house of Israel" written before the separation of the tribes? A sidenote in my Bible said there are "14 occurrences before the division of the nation into two kingdoms." But, it didn't explain why!
I hope you two can help with this.
..........Ping
PS: I thought your remark about recommending someone vote for a Democrat was funny...and scary!
I'll attempt to answer this since it's the shortest.:-)
Jacob was of course renamed Israel:
Gen 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Jacob of course had 12 sons whose offspring are called collectively "Israel"...or the house of Israel.
So this is just a way of referring to Jacob's (Israel's) offspring as opposed to the kingdom of Israel eventually became a political entity separate from the Kingdom of Judah.
In other words, all tribes are part of the house of Israel. But not all tribes were part of the Kingdom of Israel.
[II Thessalonians 2:1-4] Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Two things jump out at me here. This is happening before the second coming and a "Man of Sin" will be revealed.
[II Thessalonians 2:5-7] Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
This man of sin is not Satan. It is a "Man" and he will be a great leader of a Church/State system....commonly called in [Revelation 19:20]....the false prophet.
Paul speaks of the "Mystery of Iniquity" already at work in the first century. This was the early beginnings of the Church/State system that was begun by Simon Magus [Acts 8] after leaving Samaria and traveling to Rome. He was exalted as a god by the Romans and even had a statue erected in his honor on a bridge over the Tiber. Luke identifies this Man of Sin and his mystery religion and the others refer to him and his false religious system continually throughout the New Testament. The system he began was an offshoot of the Babylonian mysteries.....and it still exists today.
The False prophet will be an exalted Church/State ruler and he will sit in the temple pretending he is God. Young's literal translation shows the word temple to be: Strong's #3485. naos (nah-os')from a primary naio (to dwell); a fane, shrine, temple. Young's Literal Translation calls it a sanctuary: [II Thessalonians 2:4] who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called God or worshipped, so that he in the sanctuary of God as God hath sat down, shewing himself off that he is God -- [the day doth not come].
This is not speaking of the temple in Jerusalem....or the Heavenly Temple in the New Jerusalem. It is speaking of a man made edifice, a Church sanctuary, a famous structure, a well known City/Church/State building where this false prophet will attempt to convince humanity he is God!
[II Thessalonians 2:9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. His works follow after the patterns of Satan....and can be actually said to be Satanic......but he (The False Prophet) is a man.
Smiley to you....Douglas! :-) LOL