We find that at the very beginning of the Millennium (Christ’s 1,000-year rule on earth), even though Satan will be imprisoned, Asiatic hordes (referred to as “Gog and Magog”) will try to invade the Promised Land, but God will intervene and destroy those rebels (Ezekiel 38).

We also explained in a recent Q&A that at the very end of the Millennium, before the Second Resurrection, Satan will be released from his prison for a short time. He will deceive the nations so that they will try, once again, to invade the Promised Land. However, God will intervene and destroy those nations, as He did at the beginning of the Millennium. Many of those who die in these two rebellions will be resurrected in the Second Resurrection, but some might have committed the unpardonable sin during these rebellions. They will be resurrected in the Third Resurrection to be burned up in the lake of fire. They will cease to exist forever.

This poses the question as to when others will be killed if they commit crimes in the Millennium, worthy of physical death. Will they be killed at the time when they commit those sins or will this occur at a later time?

When we review the situation during the Second Resurrection which is also referred to as the Great White Throne Judgment period, we find that those who sin will die AT THE END of the period, not during the same. One of the seven of God’s annual Holy Days, the Last Great Day, symbolizes the meaning of the Second Resurrection. We say the following in our Statement of Beliefs:

“The Last Great Day which immediately follows the Feast of Tabernacles… symbolizes a 100-year period called the ‘Great White Throne Judgment,’ during which all persons who have ever lived and who were never called by God for salvation during this life, will have their first opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior (Leviticus 23:36; John 7:37; Revelation 20:11-12). At the end of that period, there will be a judgment during which all people who have ever lived and who have refused to accept Christ as their Savior, will be finally condemned to eternal death and destroyed in Gehenna fire (Revelation 20:13-15).”

This 100-year time period is alluded to in Isaiah 65:20, where we read: “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.”

The “child” is a reference to a true Christian who must become as a child to enter the Kingdom of God (compare Matthew 18:1-5). He will “die” at the end of the hundred years. His physical “death” occurs when he is changed to immortality at the end of the Great White Throne Judgment period. His physical existence will cease to exist or “die.” The same is true for those Christians who are alive when Christ returns; their physical existence will end as well at that time–they will “die” physically when they are being changed instantaneously into immortal Spirit Beings (1 Corinthians 15:51-54).

The “accursed sinner” is someone who commits the unpardonable sin (compare 2 Peter 2:12-17, especially verse 14). He will also live until the end of the 100-year period. He will die and subsequently be resurrected in the Third Resurrection, to be destroyed and burned up in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41). Many commentaries understand that the “accursed” sinner will indeed die at the end of the Great White Throne Judgment period:

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible writes: “… though the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be accursed; for though this shall be common in this state to good men and bad men, to live a hundred years, yet their death will not be alike; the good man will be blessed, and enter into a happy state of joy and peace; but the wicked man, though he lives as long as the other in this world, shall be accursed at death, and to all eternity…”

The Benson Commentary states: “… the sinner that dies a hundred years old shall be (that is, shall be deemed) accursed, or cut off by the justice of God for his crime.”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible adds: “But the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed – Though a sinner shall reach that advanced period of life, yet he shall be cursed of God and shall be cut down in his sins. He shall be held to be a sinner and shall die, and shall be regarded as accursed…”

When reviewing the situation in the Millennium, we find an interesting passage in Zechariah 13:3, which reads: “It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesies…”

We discussed this passage in a previous Q&A. We stated the following:

“In explaining the passage in Zechariah 13:3, the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary points out: ‘The substantial truth expressed is that false prophecy shall be utterly abolished. If it were possible for it again to start up, the very parents of the false prophet would not let parental affection interfere, but would be the first to thrust him through. Love to Christ must be paramount to the tenderest of natural ties’…

“We see from this passage that God will not permit idolatrous and demonic doctrines, as well as sorcery and witchcraft, to be taught or practiced in the Millennium. At the same time, the passage above refers to a rebellious, wicked and incorrigible person who refuses to be submissive and obedient to God, even though he has been repeatedly warned (compare Isaiah 30:20). During the Millennium, the death penalty will be ‘on the books’ and will even be enforced, either directly by God or human beings, in case of flagrant presumptuous violations (compare an early incident at the beginning of the Millennium, in Ezekiel 38:18-23; 39:6; also compare a similar incident at the end of the Millennium, in Revelation 20:7-9)…

“Even when considering conditions during the Millennium, we need to understand that the nations will be ‘gradually’ led to the truth. Foreigners will hear about God’s true and righteous rule in Jerusalem, and they will want to go there to learn more about it (Isaiah 2:1-3)…  But not everyone will readily follow [God’s] guidance nor respond to [His] oral teaching when they hear [a] voice behind them telling them to go the straight and narrow way. Some will need to be dealt with in more drastic ways, such as the temporary withholding of physical blessings (compare Zechariah 14:16–19)…

“Total rebellion will be dealt with quickly and thoroughly. Those who refuse to obey God will be destroyed. This will also serve as a lesson to others, so that they will not feel motivated to rebel also (compare Ezekiel 38:8–12, 15–23; 39:3–10)…”

Apart from the two rebellions mentioned in the Bible (at the beginning and the end of the Millennium), when sinners will be killed “on the spot,” we do not really know what will happen to those who commit serious crimes during the Millennium. We might wonder whether the commitment of serious crimes will even be allowed. It is certain that the death penalty for mortal crimes will be “on the books,” but a person might not be permitted to actually carry out such vicious acts, especially not towards other human beings (compare Isaiah 11:9). Even during the two rebellions at the beginning and the end of the Millennium, God will not allow that any innocent victim will be harmed.

In regard to Zechariah 13:3, the following additional thought was expressed in the Matthew Poole’s Commentary:

“Thou shalt not live; which I take to be not the sentence condemnatory, for, being private persons, they could not condemn him; but it is a repetition of the law which saith such shall not live… The father and mother thus should admonish and show the matter of law and danger, but not judicially pass sentence, and determine what shall be done…

“Shall thrust him through; or, wound, chastise with stripes that may leave their marks behind them; or rather, shall sharply reprove him, and with cutting words terrify him from the like practice. You read of words that are piercing words, Proverbs 12:18, words that run through as a sword… Besides, if it were to be understood of killing, the law directs to stone such a one, [Deuteronomy] 13:10, not to run him through with lance or sword.”

It is indeed interesting that the Hebrew word, which is rendered above as “thrust through,” is “daqar,” which can also mean “wounded” (Jeremiah 37:10), without conveying the thought of killing or dying.

Whatever the exact meaning and application of Zechariah 13:3, it is obvious that God will not allow or tolerate rebellious conduct in the Millennium and during the Great White Throne Judgment period. God will deal swiftly and righteously with rebellion and rebels, in accordance with His best judgment as to the manner and timing.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

In a recent Q&A on human nature and the wrong concept of “original sin” of babies, we stated the following about Jesus Christ’s conception and birth as a human being:

“… all are born with HUMAN NATURE or, as the Bible puts it, with SINFUL FLESH. Christ never sinned, but He came into sinful flesh (Romans 8:3). He had human nature passed on to Him through His mother Mary, and He needed God’s help to overcome sin in the flesh. He had the fullness of God’s Spirit within Him without measure, and that from conception (John 3:34, Authorized Version), which enabled Him to stay sinless…

“Christ was not in any way guilty or sinful because of an ‘original sin’ which had been passed on genetically to Him when He was conceived in Mary’s womb, but Christ was conceived with human nature… Romans 8:3 tells us that Christ came ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ to overcome and condemn sin in the flesh.”

We also said this:

“A baby in his or her mother’s womb is not guilty because of ‘original sin,’ nor has he or she committed any sinful acts in the mother’s womb. When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, He was not guilty because of any ‘original sin,’ nor did He commit any sinful act in the womb of His mother. But as a human being conceived with human nature, a baby has the propensity of and proclivity for sin, and it would have sinned following birth (The only exception was the Man Jesus Christ—even though He, too, was conceived with human nature, God the Father’s Holy Spirit dwelt within Him from inception without measure, enabling Him to overcome sin in the flesh—including His own human nature—so that He NEVER sinned.).”

When the Bible says that Christ came “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” it also expresses the concept that He came “in” or “into sinful flesh,” as we pointed out in the above-stated Q&A.

The fact that both expressions (“coming in the likeness of sinful flesh” and “coming in sinful flesh”) are conveying identical thoughts has been clearly understood by commentators and translators. For instance, the Jerusalem Bible renders Romans 8:3-4 as follows:

“God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law’s just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.”

The “likeness” of something or someone describes an IDENTICAL copy or representation of something or someone else.

The Greek word for “likeness” is “homoioma,” and means, quite literally, “something made like” or “being the same” (derived from “homos,” meaning “the same.”)

The same word is used in Romans 5:14: “… death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam…”

Adam’s descendants had not committed the same identical sin which Adam had committed, in that they did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they had sinned, of course, because death reigned over them, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We see, then, that the word “likeness” describes the identical duplication or representation of something else. If they HAD sinned according to the “likeness” of Adam’s sin, then they would have committed the same IDENTICAL sin.

The most convincing Scripture proving the accuracy of our statements in this Q&A can perhaps be found in Philippians 2:7 where we read that Christ came “in the likeness (“homoioma”) of man.” This is another way of saying that He came as a man; that He BECAME a man; that He WAS a man (compare John 1:1, 14).

So, when He came in the “likeness” of sinful flesh, He came in or into sinful flesh. That is, He became a man with human nature which is described as sinful as it CANNOT be subject or obedient to the Law of God (Romans 8:7). However, with the help of God the Father, Christ WAS able to OVERCOME His human nature—self—and learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

As Christ was fully man—as He came in the “likeness of man” and “in the likeness of sinful flesh”—He had to overcome His flesh and make sure that He would not succumb to the temptations of His flesh. That is why we read that Christ, “in the days of His flesh… offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear” (Hebrews 5:7). In that way, He overcame self.

We read that He had a human will which did not want to die, but He submitted to God’s Will, saying, “… not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39), adding, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (verse 41). He knew beforehand what would await Him, and He said to His disciples: “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished” (Luke 12:50). But if He had followed His human will to escape His pre-ordained fate (giving in to the will of His “weak flesh”), He would have sinned, as He would have disobeyed God’s Plan for Him and for all of mankind.

If Christ would not have had “sinful” human flesh or human nature, He would not have been susceptible to Satan’s temptations either (since God cannot be tempted by evil, James 1:13), but He clearly was tempted by Satan and had to conquer him (Matthew 4:10; Mark 8:33). When Peter tried unknowingly to circumvent the Will of God, Christ told him: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense [a stumbling block] to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:23).

As Christ overcame His human nature, Satan the devil and the world (John 16:33), so must we (Revelation 3:21).  With the living Christ in us, we CAN obey God and become and stay righteous, so that the “righteous requirement of the law” CAN be “fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4). We do not HAVE TO sin. Human nature cannot be subject to the Law of God, but God’s Holy Spirit in us helps us to overcome human nature and be obedient.

Christ NEVER sinned (Hebrews 4:15). But of Himself, He could do nothing (John 5:19, 30). It was the Father IN Christ who did the works (John 14:10), including the “works” of overcoming and staying obedient. With the help of God the Father’s Spirit within Christ without measure, leading, guiding and empowering Him, He could and did overcome the human nature of His “sinful flesh,” NEVER sinning even once (1 Peter 2:21-22; 1 John 3:5), and thereby becoming the perfect Sacrifice for us, paying the death penalty for our sins on our behalf and giving us the opportunity to “become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Lead Writer: Norbert Link

Many believe that the Shroud of Turin pictures Jesus Christ at the time of His death and burial. Apart from the fact that John 19:40 shows that Christ was wound in linen CLOTHES and that John 11:44 describes the custom of Jewish burials in using several CLOTHES and binding them about the dead body, in addition to the dead person’s face being wrapped with or in a cloth (a head swath), there are numerous additional problems with the idea that the one-piece shroud may be an authentic depiction of Jesus Christ.

On April 17, 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported:

“When the Shroud of Turin goes on display Sunday [April 19, 2015] for the first time in five years [while being on display until June 24, 2015], it will revive a long-running debate as to whether it is a medieval fabrication or—as Catholic devotees have believed for centuries—the burial cloth of Jesus Christ… The 14½-foot-long piece of linen, which bears a front-and-back image of a dead man’s body, is owned by the pope but safeguarded by the archdiocese of Turin.

“… the church does not take a stance as to whether it is authentic or not, leaving that question to scientists and historians. The results of carbon-14 tests in 1988 suggested the shroud was no older than the 13th century, but other experts have since suggested that the fabric tested may have been contaminated by centuries of handling…”

According to the Los Angeles Times, dated October 14, 1988, Cardinal Anastasio Ballestrero said that the “calendar age range assigned to the shroud cloth, with a 95% confidence level, is from 1260 to 1390 A.D.”

To contradict this conclusion, some point at traces of pollen from plants found only in the east Mediterranean [The retort is that those could have been easily brought to the place of the “creation” of the shroud.]. It has also been argued that extraneous matter, or radioactivity, could have skewed the carbon-dating results (The Economist, May 5, 2015). Most recently, it has been suggested that the great earthquakes mentioned in the Bible at the time of Jesus’ death and His resurrection (Matthew 27:51-53; 28:1) influenced, corrupted and falsified the finding of the radio-carbon test (The Today Show, NBC, June 17, 2015). All these proposals are of course without any scientific or archeological proof.

However, the real biblical reason which rules out totally the possibility of an accurate depiction of Christ on the Shroud of Turin, can be found in the writings of Paul to the Corinthian church.

In a Q&A on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, we explained that the Shroud of Turin could not possibly picture Jesus Christ, as it shows a man with long hair, and Christ did not wear long hair (verse 14).

We explained the following:

“… we are told that a man is not to wear ‘long hair,’ and that even nature teaches us that wearing long hair is a ‘dishonor’ to a man. The Greek word for ‘dishonor’ is ‘atimia.’ This word, or a related form (‘atimos’), can be found in the following additional passages: Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 6:8; 2 Timothy 2:20; 2 Corinthians 11:21 (translated as ‘shame’); and Romans 1:26 (translated as ‘vile’). Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance points out that ‘atimia’ can describe a comparative indignity or disgrace (under No. 819). The related word, ‘atimos,’ can describe something ‘less honorable [comparative degree]’ (under No. 820).

“…  the Old Testament permitted a man on special occasions to wear long hair. This exception is set forth in Numbers 6, known as ‘the Law of the Nazarite.’ Men were permitted to make a temporary ‘Nazarite vow’ to God. During the time of their vow, a Nazarite was not to cut his hair, but let ‘the locks of the hair of his head grow’ (verse 5). In addition, he was not to touch a dead person, eat any fresh grapes or raisins, or drink anything made from grapes, including wine. This law was inseparably connected with the ritual law of sacrifices: At the end of the separation, the Nazarite had to bring several offerings, and he had to go through additional rituals before the priest.

“The long hair of the Nazarite vow reflected, in physical terms, the willingness of the person to be under authority — under the authority of God. Sometimes, certain people were consecrated from their birth as Nazarites, to be separated to God throughout their lives. Famous examples are Samson (Judges 13:5,7); Samuel (1 Samuel 1:11); and — perhaps — John the Baptist (Luke 1:15; Luke 7:33).

“Jesus, however, was not a Nazarite. He grew up in the city of Nazareth and was therefore called a ‘Nazarene’ (Matthew 2:23) — which is of course quite different from being a Nazarite.”

Since we have no record of a written Old Testament prophecy regarding to Christ being called a Nazarene, we conclude that Matthew is referring here to an oral prophecy (He specifically states that this had been “spoken” of Jesus.) However, in Isaiah 11:1, Christ is called the “Branch,” in Hebrew “nezer.” This Hebrew word is very similar to the Hebrew word for Nazarene. It has therefore been suggested that Jews at the time of Jesus might have understood this verse to refer to someone from Nazareth.

In any event, Christ was not a Nazarite, because He did many things which were prohibited for Nazarites.

To continue with our above-quoted Q&A:

“Christ drank wine (Matthew 11:19; Matthew 26:29), and He touched dead people (Luke 8:49-55) — things a Nazarite was prohibited from doing. Archaeology and history have established that the Jews at the time of Christ did not wear long hair. Jesus did not wear long hair, either. He looked like a Jew — so much so that Judas had to kiss Him to identify Him to the soldiers that had come to arrest Him. [In addition, a Roman triumphal arch of the time period depicts Jewish slaves with short hair.] After all, it was He — the Word of God — who inspired Paul to write that a man is not to wear long hair. For Paul, this fact was so self-evident that he asked his readers, ‘Does not even nature itself teach you’ this truth? (1 Corinthians 11:14).

“In the early New Testament church, we do find occasional references to some who continued on occasion to make a temporary Nazarite vow (compare Acts 21:23-24, 26-27). It is possible that even Paul made a temporary Nazarite vow for a short time… However, these vows ceased within the church when the temple was destroyed, as the purification ceremonies could not be carried out any longer.”

It has been suggested that even though Jesus was not a Nazarite from birth, He made a temporary Nazarite vow from time to time. The Bible does not support this claim; in any event, Christ would not have been under a Nazarite vow at the time of His death; that is, He would not have worn long hair at that time. Note that at the end of the Nazarite vow, the Nazarite had to “shave his consecrated head” and burn his long hair which had been cut off (verse 18). But as long as the Nazarite was subject to and under his vow, he could not drink any wine or even “any grape juice” (Number 6:4).

We know, however, that Jesus kept the last Passover with His disciples on the night when He was betrayed, and at that time, they all drank the Passover wine together (Matthew 26:27-29; Mark 14:23-25; Luke 14:17-18  ). Therefore, Christ could not have been under a Nazarite vow at that time, which means, He did not wear long hair at the time of His death.

To summarize, whatever the Shroud of Turin is and however it came into being, it is quite impossible to conclude that it contains an accurate portrayal of Jesus Christ.

Lead Writer: Norbert Link