kathybyers2000 wrote:Greetings fellow believers in the Most High.
Thank you all for your condolences. We are all well in my family...
The first verse I look at is referring to the twelve apostles of the lamb, which only confirms for me that even at the time of the writing of the book of Revelation there were only twelve apostles, and not more, or less.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb....
This was a spiritual journey to the spiritual heaven as we all know. And this verse tells me that in the eternal heaven there are only twelve apostles of the lamb...
Shalom,
Kathy
Shalom Kathy,
That is absolutely right! I agree. The question is, who is the twelveth aposlte, Matthias or Sha'ul? If I had to make a choice based in Scripture, I would say Sha'ul.
As I mentioned, ALL 12 Apostles, were chosen DIRECTLY by Messiah, however, Matthias was NOT. Notice that this "lottery" was held BEFORE the Set Apart Ruach came down. Therefore, this casting lots to choose another Apostle was NOT inspired by the Ruach.
Sha'ul, on the other hand WAS chosen "directly" by Messiah. He changed his life and gave up EVERYTHING to be an Apostle. He had NOTHING to gain and all to lose. He Stayed true to his calling in the face of torture, danger, prison, disaster, ridicule, poverty, and more. He didn't even accept gifts from the assemblies, but earned his living by his own hand. A fake, would have given up looonnngggg before.
The only false Apostles/Prophets I see in Scripture are all in it for some reason, like POWER or MONEY. Sha'ul had none of these. In fact, he only had hardship and death to look forward to because of his choice.
In the book of Kepha (Peter), Kepha even recognizes him as a true Apostle, which probably went a long way in helping others to accept him, given his former reputation.
Again you are correct, there are ONLY twelve, and Sha'ul is one.