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Chapter       2

 

THE GLORIES OF ZION

 

”Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of  God” (Psalm 87:3)

One of the problems many have with understanding the Bible is embedded in the fact that the Bible speaks in historical, future and present realities.  Then there are Conditional prophecies which has future significance base on our present actions.  The city ofZionis historical as well as prophetic.  One is thus forced to decide to which reality the various references belong.

The Bible presentsZionas being a very glorious city.  This refers to theZionof the past, as well as the future.  God Himself will be the architect of futureZion, and judging by the job God has done in making both humanity and the Universe, the future city ofZionpromises to be something extraordinary.

 

HEBREWS11:16 “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”

Note the facts the Bible reveals about the city God has promised to prepare:

 

1.  The city will descend from heaven as a bride. (Revelation 21:1)  2.  It stands 216 feet high, and 315 miles on each side, with Jasper walls.  3.  It has twelve gates made from solid pearls and streets laid with pure gold.  4.  Its twelve foundations are poured from many different precious metals such as Jasper, sapphire, emerald and topaz to name a few. 5.   This city has an amazing tree called the tree of life.  6.  Whenever one eats from this tree, it brings life and keeps away sickness.  7. Zionwill eventually come from heaven to earth, and no sinners or wicked person will live there.  John the Revelator writes.

 

          Revelation 21 “3 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...

          21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away...

          21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel...

           21:14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb...

         21:16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal...

         21:18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.21:19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.21:21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.  21:22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 21:23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”

The Bible also declares that Jesus will reside in the city, and other citizens will build houses and plant the gardens of their dreams there.  There will be no death, sickness, jealousy, hatred, bigotry or prejudice, the sea will be like glass, animals will be tame and there will be no deserts.

The SABBATH

InZion, men will worship before Yahweh and sing his praises on His day.  Every Sabbath will be a time of refreshing worship.  People will take the time to visit with their Creator and thank Him for His goodness in allowing them to be citizens ofZion.  The prophet Isaiah writes concerning the Sabbath.

 

          Isaiah 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall  remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”

The Sabbath was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden on the continent ofAfrica.  When it was first instituted by God, it was established on Saturday the Seventh Day of the week.  It was here in the home of the first man, that God blessed, hollowed and sanctified the Sabbath.

 

^“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ²And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ³And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:1-3)

 Africans therefore, which included Adam, were the first keepers of the Sabbath.  It was from Africathat Sabbath worship spread to Palestineand then the world.  The Sabbath is not Jewish as some miss-informed priests and pseudo-scholars would have us believe.  The Jews accepted the Sabbath when it was restated on the Mount and written on the tables of stone after their release from slavery.  The Sabbath existed long before there was ever a Jew.  It existed from the creation of the earth.  Moses, who wrote the book of Genesis while he was living with the Black Midianites, wrote:[1]

 

          Genesis 2:2 “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

The Sabbath is eternal.  It existed before sin, and it will exist after sin.  It is a perpetual sign that God is man’s creator.  This was the general belief which prevailed until the Nation of Rome defeated the city states ofCarthageand became a world power.

Sabbath keeping began to change when the Sons of Japheth (Caucasians or Whites, commonly called Europeans) began to inherit the tents of Shem (Jews).  When the Romans accepted Christianity, they instituted what was later to be called the Papacy and took upon them the prerogative to change time and God’s law.

THE PAPACY

“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God....He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor and king of kings so that if it be possible that the angels err the faith, they could be judged and excommunicated by the pope.” (The Roman Catholic Eccleastical dictionary)

 

          “The church has changed Sabbath...from Sabbath to Sunday not by the command of Christ but by its own authority” (Holtzman, Canon and Traditions P. 263)

The above quotes attest to the arrogance of Roman Catholicism.  The boast of their power emphasized in the change of the Sabbath.  This change, according to the Bible, the Papacy would attempt, and it would lead to the wearing out of the saints of the Most High God.

Read what Daniel has to say concerning Papal Rome in the Daniel 7:23-25.

 

          “23  Thus he said,  The  fourth beast shall be  the fourth kingdom upon earth,  which shall be diverse from  all kingdoms,  and shall  devour  the  whole earth,  and shall  tread it down,  and break it in pieces. 24  And the  ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:  and  another  shall  rise after them;  and  he  shall  be  diverse  from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High,  and shall wear out  the saints  of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given  into  his hand  until  a time  and times and the dividing of time.”

The Papacy tried to force this change upon all Christians and was successful everywhere except on the continent ofAfrica.  Here the Ethiopians for generations continued the biblical teaching of Sabbath keeping when the Catholic Church forced all others to follow her in this apostasy.  Ellen G. Whites states.

 

          “The History of the church in Ethiopiaand Abyssiniais especially significant.  Amid the Gloom of the dark ages, The Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and forgotten by the world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom and the exercise of their faith,  but at last Rome learnt of their existence and the Emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the pope as the Vicar of Christ.  Other concessions followed. An edict was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalty.” [2]

Capitalism soon completed the workRomehad begun.  The desire for money and riches has led many to disregard God’s law of rest and spiritual growth.  Love of riches has replaced mans dedication to God.  Every person of African descent must become aware however that Sunday keeping is a European institution.  It is simply another attempt by colonial powers to enslave the Africans.  Blacks should endeavor to return to God’s 7th Day Sabbath.  They have always been people of the Bible, and nowhere in scripture is there recommendation for a change from Sabbath to Sunday by Jesus or His disciples.

There are a number of reasons that contributed to the change of the Sabbath from the Seventh Day to the First Day which are worth exploring.

After the death of Jesus, and the fall of the Holy Spirit some 50 days later, there was a tremendous growth in the Church.  People of all races, color and creed began to accept Jesus as Savior and turn to Him in large numbers.

Quickly the Africans who had been traveling toJerusalemfor centuries spread the word in their homeland that the Messiah had come.  The Ethiopian Eunuch sent by Candice Amanateree had no doubt convinced the Ethiopian people that the Messiah of David had finally come and died for the sins of the people.  The Eunuch obviously believed this because the Bible says he was baptized by Philip.  The devil then got angry.  He had tried all he could to put an end to Jesus and His followers, but it was not working.

 

          “Paganism realized that should the gospel triumph, her temples and altars would be swept away, therefore she summoned her forces to destroy Christianity. The fires of persecution were kindled. Christians were stripped of their possessions and driven from their homes.  They were crucified and burnt, sealing their testimony with their blood.  Nobles, slaves, rich, poor, learned and ignorant alike were slain without mercy.

          Christians were accused of the most dreadful crimes.  They were held responsible for the greatest calamities.  Famine, pestilence and earth-quake were blamed upon them.  They were condemned as rebels against the empire, as foes of religion and pest to society.  Great numbers were thrown to wild beasts or burned alive in the amphitheaters.  Some were crucified; some were covered with the skins of wild animals and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs.  Multitudes watched and jeered as their dying agonies went up to God in a plea for help.

          Under the fiercest persecution these witnesses for Jesus kept their faith.  Though deprived of every comfort they uttered no complaint.  In vain were Satan’s efforts to destroy the churchof Christby violence.  The gospel continued to spread and multitude continued to call on the name of Jesus.  Thousands died horrible death, and thousands more simply converted to fill their positions.”[3]

Satan then devised a new plan.  What he could not accomplish through persecution, he would accomplish through trickery.   He would plant his banner in the Christian Church.  He would align Paganism and Christianity, and call it by a new name, Catholicism.

Thus persecution ended, and prosperity began.  Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith while they rejected others.  The barbarians knocking at the gates ofRomewere allowed to profess to accept Jesus as the Son of God, but felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart.

The church was in peril.  What prison, torture, fire and sword were not able to do, prosperity achieved.  A union between Christianity and Paganism took place.   The objects of pagan worship were exchanged for Christian objects.  The Black Madonna was replaced with her European counterpart.  Sunday the day of the Sun, took the place of the Seventh Day Sabbath ordained by God, and theAfricanChurchand the Roman church went their separate way.  The Romans followed paganism, while the African church was lost sight of.  Christianity entered a new era.

Satan had offered Jesus the world, if only He bowed down and worship Him, now he does the same thing with men.  Jesus had responded, “Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve”. (Luke 4:8.)

Men however responded differently.  We accepted the gifts of Satan.  The church then became powerful on earth, but weakened in God’s sight.  The papacy was invested with authority over all Bishops and Pastors.  He was soon regarded as infallible, which means he is God and demands the homage of all men.  This lead to the banning of the Bible which could not be used to support the positions the Church was now taking.  People were not allowed to have Bibles in their homes and the priest and Papacy came to be accepted as the universal representative of God on earth.

The Sabbath Day became a day of fasting, and Sunday a day of celebration.  The Dark Ages had begun.  Then as the power of the church increased, the dark ages deepened.  Faith was transferred from Christ to the papacy.  Men were taught the papacy was the mediator, and no one could come to Christ without coming to Him.  Long pilgrimage, acts of penance, the worships of relics, the erection of churches, shrines and altars, the payments of large sum of money to the church were done to appease the wrath of God.  Everyone had forgotten that God had commanded:

 

Exodus 20:4   “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,  or that is in the water under the earth: Exodus 20:5   Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I  the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers  upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate  me;  Exodus 20:6  And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

 

Image worships became acceptable.  Candles were burnt before images in the custom of the pagans.  The mass replaced the communion; purgatory was created to put fear in men’s heart and penance to remove that fear.

The worst ofRome’s inventions was the inquisition.  Because of this dreaded institution, the mangled form of Millions cried out to God for vengeance upon this apostate power.  FromEuropeto the new world, millions were massacred in the name of religion.

God had described the Empire of Rome in the following way to the prophet Daniel:

 

          Dan 7:7   After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron  teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the  feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Dan 7:23   Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.  Dan 7:24   And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”

 

This dreadful and terrible beast, otherwise call the iron monarchy of the World, began under the Caesuras in 168 BC terrorizing the world and destroying all in its path.  The ten horns represent the 10 nations ofEuropeinto which theRoman Empiredisintegrated, after which a little horn arose.  Note the following about the Little Horn.

1.      It came up among the ten horns.  It would arise out ofRome.

2.      It came up after the ten horns. After 476 AD which was the breakup of theRoman Empire.

3.      It was different from the first ten- The others were political, but this will be religious.

4.      It would displace three Kingdoms. The papacy destroyed the Heruli, Ostrogoths, and Vandals.

5.      It would have eyes like a man -- Eyes signified divine intelligence, but this was human eye, signifying it was led by a man who presumes the authority of God. 

Furthermore the Bible says:

 

          Dan7:25   “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

 

The apostasy of the Christian church would undermine the authority of God.  Those who opposed it would be worn out.  God’s authority is based on His creator ship.  He commanded through John in Revelation 14:7.

 

          Rev 14:7  “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

 

God is here demanding worship.  He demands it on the authority of His law, and the bases of Creation.  A man would come along however, that would think to change times and law.  God cannot change His law because that is not in His nature, because the Bible states God cannot change

 

          Psalm 89:34  “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the things that have gone out of my mouth.”

 

This little horn would set up a new day in a bid to replace God’s day.  God did 3 things to the Sabbath when he created it according to Genesis two:

 

1.      He blessed it

2.      He rested on it

3.      He sanctified it.

Since, no man but God can bless or sanctify, this means the 7th Day remains forever blessed and sanctified. 

Early in the 2nd Century however, Christians began to celebrate the Crucifixion weekend.  They centered this on the day of the Passover, which was the day Christ was crucified.  People soon began to associate Christianity with Judaism, so the church decided to celebrate the resurrection instead of the crucifixion. 

Sixus, Bishop of the church then instituted the annual resurrection feast.  The pagan had been celebration Sunday for centuries as the Day of the Sun, and they welcomed such a change.

In Ad 200 Pope Victor said all bishops who would not follow the plan of the yearly observance of Easter would be excommunicated.  This of course was just his attempt to show his control over the church.  Prior to this, the situation was as described below.

 

“Although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandriaand Romeon account of some ancient tradition have refused to do this.”[4]

 

Later in 321 AD Constantine Emperor ofRomeand leader of the Church passed the first Sunday law to hold sacred the venerable day of the sun.  Things then began to change.

 

"An on the day called Sunday, all who live in the cities or in the country gather together to one place...Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly because it is the first day on which God made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on that same day rose from the dead.”[5]

Rich men who worked on Sunday were fined half their estates, if they continued, they would be made slaves.  Servants were flogged and the lower classes banished from the Kingdom.

In the early years of Christianity,Africaflourished as a Christian center. Ethiopiawas converted to Judaism during the time of Solomon and they were among the first to accept Christianity.  When the world itself, followed Catholicism, and the Crusades and Holy wars raged, there was one nation that was quietly serving God in seclusion.  Cut of by Moslems invaders, and fighting for survival, the "Land of the Cushites" vigilantly upheld the gospel of Jesus Christ.  J. ARogersin his book “Great Men of Color," tells the following story.

 

“In AD 330 a number of Phoenicians who were on route to India were shipwrecked off the coast of Ethiopia, among them the two young sons of the leader Merobius.  The Ethiopians who were then at war with Rome, killed all except the two lads.  These were presented to the king, Abraha, who took them into his household, one of them Frumentius, became tutor of Abraha, the crown prince, whom he won over to Roman Catholicism.  After making other converts, Frumentius returned to Constantinople where he was received by the Emperor, Constantine the Great, who was so impressed by his story that he anointed him head of the church.  Returning to Ethiopia with his aides, Frumentius established the church with Abraha, who was now king, giving him full support.

E. G White further comments:

 

          "Beautiful churches were built, and Catholicism was introduced.  Other concessions followed. An edict was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest penalty. But Papal tyranny soon and it soon became clear to the Ethiopians the plan of the Papacy, so war broke out.

          After a terrible struggle the Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the ancient faith was restored.  The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism, and the despotic power of Rome.”[6]

Later because of the institution of African slavery the African woke up inAmericaconvinced Sunday the first day of the week was God’s Sabbath.

Very few people are aware that the slave was never taught about Christ while in slavery.  It was witchcraft and voodoo that reigned on the plantation.  There were no churches for slaves, and the slave had to go to the church of the slave master and sit on the ground in the back.  This was not allowed too often, because the slave master could not afford to have the slave hearing the same sermons as white folks.  The slave master would sometimes invite the preacher to the plantation who would tell the slaves that if they obeyed their master and refrain from stealing his hog, then one day God would place them in the great kitchen in heaven, where they would serve their master with dignity forever. 

The knowledge that in Christ there was neither bond nor free would have led to rebellion after rebellion on the plantations.  This was the message the slaves heard when a black preacher came to town and gathered them for service.  For the most part however, it was not until slavery had ended that the slaves began learning about Jesus and flocked to Christianity in large numbers.

The recently released slaves found preachers moaning from the pulpit, who knew very little of what the Bible had to say, but he knew how to moan.  Without realizing they were walking in the wrong path, the people continued in the tradition of their misled leaders, for them the words of Jesus, rings loud and clear, “In vain, do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

In the newZion, Sabbath worship will be restored, and all flesh will return to walk in the path of obedience to God.