CAN YOU SEE WHAT PAULUS SAW?

 

  Saul (Paul) went on his first missionary trip with Barnabas and John as ministers to those in Paphos on the island of Cypress. First examine the three: John was likely the beloved disciple of Jesus to whom heaven was revealed. The Book of Revelation was what John wrote about after he was boiled in oil and sent to the island of Patmos. Barnabas (“son of the prophet”) was a “good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and faith.” Barnabas surely had divine vision.

  Much is known about Saul but his transformation to Paul was when he first believed what he had always known. So that Saul could see, Jesus blinded him. With that, Saul surely had the same vision of heaven that John saw, and they both had the same vision of God’s Throne and Court as Ezekiel.

  Perhaps Barnabas, Saul, and John could all see through the “sea of glass” beneath the throne of God. On that transparent sea (“transparent” to those with special vision) those filled with the Holy Spirit of God could see Jesus as God and the seraphim still guarding the “midst of the Garden” from unauthorized entry. All three of those apostles could surely see and understand what Ezekiel saw in his vision of God when the heavens had opened (Ezek 1:1).

Why does Ezekiel play a part in the story of Paphos and the pro-counsel Sergius Paulus who scripture says “was a prudent man” and that Bar-Jesus was attempting to turn him away from the faith (Acts 13:7-8). By “prudent” it was meant that Paulus could wisely use his intelligence to put two and two together as four. Paulus was a Roman citizen and not a Jew so he had to have scripture explained to him. Who came to his aid? Bar-Jesus.

  Bar-Jesus was a Jew. He was called “Elymus” Although a Jew, Bar-Jesus (“Son of Jesus”) was called by the Trojan name of Elymus. He apparently had syncretized Greek mythology with Judaism. Kabbalah focuses on the spiritual world, souls, and angels and the higher meditative states. There is a congruence between Kabbalah, Greek philosophy, and even Greek mythology. “Kabbalah” as a sect came much later, but it was based on the principles of secret esoteric knowledge mostly from the Tanakh, or oral tradition. Just like Gnosticism, Merkabah texts were a source of what became Kabbalah.

  There seems to be much commonality between Gnosticism and apostolic “Kabbalism.” Simon Magus was the progenitor of Gnosticism and its secret knowledge, and Elymus Magus, perhaps, was a disciple of Kabbalism.  Surely, just like Merkabah teachers, Elymus taught Paulus about the mystical realm that Ezekiel saw, and incorporated Greek mythology. Jews were always guilty of syncretism (the combination of multiple religions into one). A good guess is that Elymus had done just that and misled Paulus.

  Elymus had not seen across the sea of glass. As a false prophet it was opaque to him. Elymus was temporarily blinded just as Saul was. Perhaps Elymus remained blind to what Ezekiel saw. Whatever happened to Elymus is unknown, but his blinding persuaded “prudent” Paulus? Paulus saw the power of the Holy Ghost in Paul and was persuaded. Whatever false knowledge that Elymus had been teaching was dispelled, and the faith of Paulus preserved him.

  The God and Paradise that Ezekiel saw was the same God that Adam saw. The same cherubim that Ezekiel saw was the same cherubim that were in the Garden Paradise. The same vision that Ezekiel saw was what the apostle John would write about later. Did John see the vision of Heaven on Patmos or just write about it? Perhaps John saw the vision in Paphos of Cypress of the heavenly Paradise when Elymus’s vision was clouded. Perhaps they all (but Elymus) saw across the “sea of glass” together!

  The actual name of Elymus was Bar-Jesus (“Son of Jesus, Yeshua, or Joshua”). Who would Paulus believe? The Son of Jesus or Jesus Himself. Paul called Bar-Jesus the “Child of the Devil” (Acts 13:10), not the “Son of Jesus” as his name would indicate!

  It is unknown what Elymus saw, but with the eyes of the Devil most likely he did not see unto the heavens. Perhaps everyone there who were filled with the Holy Spirit saw what Ezekiel saw (Ezek 1). Paulus was a changed man. Only Paul looked into the eyes of Elymus. Perhaps Paulus and the others looked through the sea of glass and saw the throne of God (Rev 4:6). John wrote about what Ezekiel saw. Those with the Holy Ghost can see that Ezekiel’s vision and John’s were the same!

  Even to this day, syncretism is rampant. The Gnostic gospels have been found and many now have faith in them and accept them as the gospel. Likewise, modern-day Kabbalism is more prevalent than ever. Many still worship the Greek gods as if they really existed as gods. Paulus was persuaded by seeing who God Is, it seems. His faith was increased by looking, not at Elymus, but straight into the eyes of Jesus!

  Do you see Jesus or is He just one of many? Look in the mirror… who do you see? “As gods” (Gen 3:5), people have nearly all become syncretic. Modern “Christianity” has become an amalgam of gods blended harmoniously with Jesus. Nearly everyone has become Bar-Jesuses.

  Elymus created a false god. He surely took what Ezekiel saw and made God what the Greeks presented to him as gods. Paul and those with the Holy Ghost came and showed Paulus the appearance of Jesus, and furthermore, that Jesus and God are One.  Paulus surely saw that same vision with the face of Jesus as God’s Face!

  God is not “God as you understand Him” but God whom you fail to understand. Elymus had read Ezekiel’s vision but never saw it himself. He thought that he understood God, but God is beyond human understanding. Only those with the Hoy Ghost can see the face of Jesus on God. Those who are blindly led as Elymus just cannot understand! Most Christians today are walking as blind as Elymus and have turned Christ into just another creature.

  Take for example the Unitarian-Universalist Church. It is the “Church of Elymus” because they have created in syncretism many false gods on par with Jesus.

  Recently, a former classmate wrote about liberal members of her denomination protesting; that “this is what Christianity is all about.” I questioned her version of Christianity. It was the Central Christian Church in ______.

   After reviewing their beliefs, they compare well with Elymus’s perversion of the Church, and it is not what Christianity is all about, but what the sons of the Devil misinterpret Holy Scripture to be. What bothered me was that a person who I once admired had been taken in by sons of the Devil and was beguiled by the same spirit that Bar-Jesus had.

  Hers was obvious but yours is less transparent. When you look in the mirror and only see your own beauty, then you have become your own god! That image in the mirror is a reflection of who you are, and unlike the transparent sea of glass under heaven, you have become blind to Jesus.