Translation of Epistle of Barnabas – Text by Lightfoot (Way of Light) Kraft (Way of Death)
I want to look at this matter. How wicked are we? Are we worse than in the past?
EPISTLE OF BARNABAS
In the Epistle of Barnabas, written about 80 – 130 AD, the unnamed author writes of many things in his epistle, but he ends it with THE TWO WAYS, The Way of Light and The Way of Death. The section of THE TWO WAYS was borrowed from an earlier epistle, “The Didache,” and amended to the author’s preference. These points are very good, and in The Way of Light, it begins after a small introduction:
“Thou shalt love Him that made thee; thou shalt fear Him that created thee; thou shalt glorify Him that redeemed thee from death; thou shalt be simple in heart and rich in spirit; thou shalt not cleave to those who walk the way of death; thou shalt hate everything that is not pleasing to God; thou shalt hate all hypocrisy; thou shalt never forsake the commandments of the Lord. Thou shalt not exalt thyself, but shalt be lowly minded in all things. Thou shalt not assume glory to thyself. Thou shalt not entertain a wicked design against thy neighbour; thou shalt not admit boldness [I think “pride”] into thy soul.”
Soon after, we have this: “Thou shalt not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain. Thou shalt love thy neighbour more than thine own soul. Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion, nor again shalt thou kill it when it is born. Thou shalt not withhold thy hand from thy son or daughter, but from their youth thou shalt teach them the fear of God.”
I was struck by the sentence underlined. We all decry abortion, and it was practiced by the Romans and probably others. In the Old Testament days and beyond, unwanted babies were disposed of by pagans; that is, they were left outside or taken into some place and left for the elements to kill them or for animals to eat them. It was a monstrous thing.
The closing sentence from above deals with a parent’s discipline of the child. Of course, this has also been legislated against by the State, and a parent was arrested the other day for giving the child a little smack. Evil is surmounting itself and negating God in earthly governance.
WHERE IS THIS HEADING?
Of late, I have been thinking of the state of the world and its sin and sinful practices. Paul said this to Timothy – “Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… (2 Timothy 3:1-4).
Paul highlights some of the wickedness that will be present in the last days of the Church age, but we may ask, “Was not this wickedness always here? Was it not worse in Noah’s time? Was it not worse before Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Jerusalem? Was it not worse under the control of the Roman Catholic church that terrorized under the greatest wickedness and torture man could conceive for many hundreds of years up to about the 1700s? Could it be any worse than it was under the debauchery, the paganism, and the lawless Roman society?” In some ways, it does not seem to match that. That has caused me to think and try to come to a solution.
I think the answer to that must be, “No, it is not worse,” but Paul (through The Holy Spirit) is making us understand that before the Rapture, things are really bad (“really crook,” we would say in Australia). And there is some comparison here. In the 1800s and 1900s, at least in western society, there was a reasonable Christian influence and decency throughout society, but when we come to the 2000s, then everything took a steep nosedive. Wickedness, by comparison, is grotesque now. Paul added later in the chapter – 2Timothy 3:13, “Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
That verse is the difference. There is proceeding and advancing evil in a way it was not present before. In the days of the Roman Empire, they aborted their children or had the babies and then murdered them. Monstrous, we say! However, in my State of Queensland, controlled by the most wicked government the State has ever had, abortion clinics have sprung up everywhere.
SO, WHAT IS THE KEY DIFFERENCE?
These abortion clinics cater to what the State Government has LEGISLATED. That is the difference. Statewide, abortion is legal because the Government made it legal to abort the child up to the day of birth. In fact, there is a move, I believe, to extend that to a day or so after birth (to dispose of the baby). At least in the Roman Empire, it was never legalized the way it is now. The unborn child is either sucked out in parts from the womb or taken out and then put to death. How long will the God of life tolerate that?
God is not mocked. The evil people are getting worse, and worsening very quickly. I just mentioned abortion, but it can be applied to almost everything now. In 2006, the Queensland Labor (like the Democrats) Premier, Peter Beatty (like the American State Governor), caused this to happen – “The Queensland Opposition today declared the “lying season” open after a controversial bill passed through the house, allowing MPs to lie in parliament without fear of prosecution. The Criminal Code Amendment Bill was controversially passed by the government today, following heated debate by MPs in recent weeks. Under the previous criminal code, lying to parliament could result in criminal charges being laid.” (The Age Newspaper May 26, 2006)
Today wickedness is brazen. It is “in your face.” It is rampant, but most of society just winks at it. In Australia, Australians elect wicked governments these days because they elect governments that best mirror what they themselves are. So does the USA. That is why Biden got in (apart from the possible cheating).
There is also another key difference that separates us from the days of Paul when he wrote to Timothy. When I give you these initials, it will state it all! If you don’t know what the initials mean, I have put them at the end of the article. WEF; WHO; UN; EU.
Those organizations now control what is happening in the whole world. The entire world except for China and Russia. Many writers on RR have delved into what these organizations are doing, so I will not repeat that. Daymond Duck deals a lot with it. The Great Reset is here, and world socialism is upon us. The great delusion and subterfuge is here.
There is one unifying factor that is gluing all nations together under rigid control. It is climate change, and I make no apologies for declaring that. It is the greatest satanic delusion of modern times. The WHO and WEF are using that to batter nations into submission. In Australia, farmers have been demonized and persecuted for the alleged “pollution of the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, and waterways with some farm runoff.” Food now is getting scarcer with empty shelves everywhere. Australia’s beef cattle numbers have fallen from 30 million to 24 million. National sheep numbers have fallen from 180 million to 64 million today.
Timothy 3 says that in the last days, difficult (KJV – perilous) times will come. These difficult times will manifest themselves in food shortages, fuel and power problems, health problems, and worse and worse governments, possibly leading to discontent and riots breaking out with increasing costs of living and poverty. Christians will face greater and greater persecution, and it could be that the “Nero syndrome” will operate. I think it is a travesty that Christians think they can raise the climate change banner. Look and discern what is behind it, what the manipulation is, and who is manipulating it.
The zealots/climate activists pulled down the coal power stations, so now prices are skyrocketing, and blackouts are coming. Governments are chasing after lies. Because of climate change mania, fuel prices continue to rise. When you read into the correct science, you will see that global warming is a hoax, but delusion so alters a person’s perception that he is unable to understand. God is showing what a real delusion is like, for it is delusion that will rule in the Tribulation. This month, Bolivia has had the coldest temperatures on record. Some southern parts of Australia have had the coldest temperature for over 100 years, right at the start of winter.
BACK TO THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS
The second part of THE TWO WAYS is The Way of Darkness. The writer sets out instructions as warnings for the believers of his time. I selected this small section to shed light on the works of darkness, but those practices were present in his time at the beginning of the 2nd century and just before. When Solomon wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun,” this is true of wickedness. In Noah’s time, when every thought and intent of each person’s heart was evil before the Lord continually, we know wickedness reached far back. Evil is no different in our day, but as I suggested, the universality and legislated evil is altogether another thing.
Anyway, I will list what wickedness was known to the writer of The Epistle of Barnabas, the evil that pervaded his society. Is it any different with us? I think not!:
“But the Way of the Black One is crooked and full of cursing. For it is entirely a way of eternal death with punishment, wherein are the things which destroy men’s souls – idolatry, arrogance, pride in power, hypocrisy, duplicity, adultery, murder, robbery, conceit, [pride] transgression, guile [treachery], malice, stubbornness, sorcery, magic, greediness. Without fear of God, persecutors of the good [men]; Hating truth, loving a lie; Not knowing the reward of righteousness, not associating with what is good; Not judging justly, not guarding the rights of the widow and orphan;
“Being alert not with respect to the fear of God, but to that which is wicked – from whom courtesy and patience are far off and distant; Loving what is worthless, pursuing reward; Not showing mercy toward the poor, not labouring on behalf of the down-trodden; Reckless with slanderous speech, not knowing him who made them; Murderers of children (who are) corrupters of God’s creation [destroying the image of God]; Turning away from the needy, afflicting the oppressed; Advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor – sinful through and through!”
Our focus is not to be on the evil that is in the world, for that can lead to bitterness. I know a few who are so caught up with the injustice in society that their focus has shifted from the Lord. We must take stock that such a thing does not happen with us. Note what is there outside in the darkness and what is happening, but LOOK UP to the light, for our redemption could already be on the horizon.
God bless you all.
WEF = World Economic Forum
WHO = World Health Organization
UN = United Nations
EU = The European Union