Epistle of Barnabas 2 - The True Heart of God's Desire

Epistle of Barnabas Thread 1 - Second to Matthias - First in Understanding

Link to the Epistle of Barnabas

Chapter 2

Barnabas 2:1
Seeing then that the days are evil, and that the Active One himself
has the authority, we ought to give heed to ourselves and to seek out
the ordinances of the Lord.

---As the first thread outlined, the ordinances of the Lord (Jesus) are "the hope of life,
which is the beginning and end of our faith; and righteousness, which
is the beginning and end of judgment; love shown in gladness and
exultation, the testimony of works of righteousness."

---Jesus told His followers that He would raise the temple (His body / Church) in three days (3,000 years) if they destroyed it. One day is 1000 years as we will find out in chapter 15. The days he mentions are the 2 Days (2000 years) leading up to the final Day of the Lord (1000 years). Right now, we are at the end of the 2nd day. Hosea 6 indicates this by telling us when Israel would be raised again. The generation that sees this happen (Matthew 24 / fig tree bloom) would see the transition between the defeat of the wicked and the raising of the righteous on the last day (John 6:39-44). Hosea 6: 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. 3 Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.

Barnabas 2:2
The aids of our faith then are fear and patience, and our allies are
long-suffering and self-restraint.

---Fear is not dread. In this case, fear is our reverence for God. Patience is a person's threshold before going negative in any situation. The virtues leading to the ending of the law are listed in Galatians 5. Long-suffering is what we must do for others, just as God suffers for us. Self-restraint is the opposite of selfishness. It is restraining what we desire for the good of others.

Barnabas 2:3
While these abide in a pure spirit in matters relating to the Lord,
wisdom, understanding, science, knowledge rejoice with them.

---"These" refers to fear and patience. If our own spirit (Consciousness) is pure, then we reflect the same in the categories listed. Our world will reflect our own spirits collectively.

Barnabas 2:4
For He hath made manifest to us by all the prophets that He wanteth
neither sacrifices nor whole burnt offerings nor oblations, saying at
one time;

---When faith arrived, the law as overcome with love. Sacrifice is not necessary if we love others. The law is no longer a restriction and authority is not necessary. Today, we live in a world of laws and the burden of authority. When things are changed and the hearts of man are heeled (change of authority away from self), we will no longer need law.

Barnabas 2:5
What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices, saith the Lord I am
full of whole burnt-offerings, and the fat of lambs and the blood
of bulls and of goats desire not, not though ye should come to be
seen of Me. or who required these things at your hands? Ye shall
continue no more to tread My court. If ye bring fine flour, it is
in vain; incense is an abomination to Me; your new moons and your
Sabbaths I cannot away with.

---The previous order is changed and replaced with the law of love for others.

Barnabas 2:6
These things therefore He annulled, that the new law of our Lord
Jesus Christ, being free from the yoke of constraint, might have its
oblation not made by human hands.

---Why do we need laws today? Simply because people do not love each other. Once the Day of the Lord arrives, our High Priest will be present and a new oblation (Christ) is presented in place of the sinner's sacrifice. Christ becomes the propitiation for our sins and each person living receives the Holy Spirit as the new Crown (Mind) and Robe (Body) we possess. We are changed instantly. See the book of Hebrews on this topic of the role of Christ as our High Priest.

Barnabas 2:7
And He saith again unto them; Did command your fathers when they
went forth from the land of Egypt to bring Me whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices?

Barnabas 2:8
Nay, this was My command unto them, Let none of you bear a grudge
of evil against his neighbor in his heart, and love you not a false
oath.

Barnabas 2:9
So we ought to perceive, unless we are without understanding, the
mind of the goodness of our Father; for He speaketh to us, desiring
us not to go astray like them but to seek how we may approach Him.

---We approach God with our hearts. A true heart is not seeking good for reward. Duplicity is being double minded. A true heart is not seeking good to avoid judgment. Duplicity is removed when we are of a single mind.

Barnabas 2:10
Thus then speaketh He to us; The sacrifice unto God is a broken
heart, the smell of a sweet savor unto the Lord is a heart that
glorifies its Maker. We ought therefore, brethren, to learn
accurately concerning our salvation, lest the Evil One having
effected an entrance of error in us should fling us away from our
life.

---When the people were offering sacrifice, they were not presenting the best they had to God. In other words, they were honoring Him with their outward appearance, but inwardly, they were only serving themselves. God is not after sacrifice, but what the sacrifice represents. When the animal is burned at the altar, it symbolizes our own animal nature of selfishness.

See this thread: Mark of the Beast for Dummies for more on how the sacrifice relates to the beast of Revelation.

My Threads

reply to post by EnochWasRight


The Epistle of Barnabus plagiarizes the rest of the Bible. Every verse is another verse elsewhere in the Bible.

Maybe that's why it isn't included?

Look at Micah about the sacrifices. God is not pleased with ten thousand of rams or the firstborn.

Barnabas 3
6 To this end therefore, my brethren, He that is long-suffering,
foreseeing that the people whom He had prepared in His well-beloved
would believe in simplicity, manifested to us beforehand concerning
all things, that we might not as novices shipwreck ourselves upon
their law.

Barnabas tells us to believe in simplicity, the theories you throw around are far from being simplistic I'm afraid. The bible has nuggets of truth all throughout it, but separating the wheat from the chaff requires discernment.

The bible describes something we all know all too well, it has just convoluted it into thousands upon thousands of pages of rhetoric.

3NL1GHT3N3D1

Barnabas 3
6 To this end therefore, my brethren, He that is long-suffering,
foreseeing that the people whom He had prepared in His well-beloved
would believe in simplicity, manifested to us beforehand concerning
all things, that we might not as novices shipwreck ourselves upon
their law.

Barnabas tells us to believe in simplicity, the theories you throw around are far from being simplistic I'm afraid. The bible has nuggets of truth all throughout it, but separating the wheat from the chaff requires discernment.

The bible describes something we all know all too well, it has just convoluted it into thousands upon thousands of pages of rhetoric.

In other words, you only believe what your understanding allows?

reply to post by EnochWasRight


I only believe what logic allows. If it is not logical, it is not based in reality in my opinion. If it is illogical that means you should drop it and find a logical and simplistic solution.

3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by EnochWasRight

 

I only believe what logic allows. If it is not logical, it is not based in reality in my opinion. If it is illogical that means you should drop it and find a logical and simplistic solution.

Quantum mechanics is not logical. Many mathematical concepts are not logical to the mind. Axioms we formally thought were true turn out to be entirely based on a false notion of flawed logic. This is the problem. Each time the mind finds a new a higher axiom of truth, the lower axioms that caused contradiction are then resolved into the higher truth. If you examine the entire story from scripture, you find the contradictions and paradox created by lower reasoning is then resolved. There is nothing more logical than seeing from the open eyes of truth. Logic and reason are only possible if eyes and ears are opened. This happens by faith only, which is comparable to refinement of our ability to collapse wave function. This is less a function of logic and more of a function of choice.

reply to post by EnochWasRight


The difference is we can observe and record quantum mechanics, you cannot observe and record the concepts you are putting forward. There is no way to know that we really need a savior to save us from sins, the only evidence we have of such a concept is a book put together by the very people who killed the ones who wrote it and who had a very long history of lying, slavery, and deception.

3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by EnochWasRight

 

The difference is we can observe and record quantum mechanics, you cannot observe and record the concepts you are putting forward. There is no way to know that we really need a savior to save us from sins, the only evidence we have of such a concept is a book put together by the very people who killed the ones who wrote it and who had a very long history of lying, slavery, and deception.

Open you eyes and you might see a different story. Have you read this lately: DrudgeReport

Are you sure there is no evidence that sin has corrupted the Earth and left the debt of the thief to endure? Why do we need laws? What becomes of law in a lawless society? Tyranny. Are you sure you have no evidence for what the Bible outlines?

reply to post by EnochWasRight


I never said sin didn't exist, what I'm saying is that what evidence is there that we need some outside force or influence to save us from sin? The only thing that can save us is ourselves, not Jesus, not his death, nothing but ourselves. Love is what saves and love comes from within us. This is why Jesus said love others as yourself , because salvation comes from within through love of others.

I have a question. If lawlessness equals tyranny, what makes you think tyrants would end up legalizing the truth that eventually saves billions of people? Constantine was a tyrant and the head of a lawless society that was corrupt to the core. Why would he truly give us the truth with Christianity? Why would he give us the answer that would save us from what he and people like him were doing to us?

The answer is he wouldn't. The only thing tyrants do is lie for their own benefit. Look at the world today, you see what benefit the select few have received from religion. They have pacified us, making us wait for our savior to come and fix everything for us. It's not going to happen, they will keep doing what they do until they destroy the planet, all while telling us to keep waiting and waiting and waiting. Where has that gotten us so far? Nowhere but down hill.

reply to post by 3NL1GHT3N3D1

I have a question. If lawlessness equals tyranny, what makes you think tyrants would end up legalizing the truth that eventually saves billions of people? Constantine was a tyrant and the head of a lawless society that was corrupt to the core. Why would he truly give us the truth with Christianity? Why would he give us the answer that would save us from what he and people like him were doing to us?

The tyrant is a tool in the builder's hand. The next brick in the structure is ours to place if the cornerstone is set correctly. As long as we allow the builders to continue their own temple, it will simply fall down again. Did you read my thread on Epistle of Barnabas 15 and 16?