The Message of the 3 Verses
In the New Testament there are only three verses which contain all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. In each case, Christ Jesus is doing the speaking. For the deeper student, this means our Father has set these verses apart from all of the others in the New Testament, because He wants us to take a good, hard look at them. Why? Because taken together, these three verses form a special hidden message direct from Christ to those with "eyes to see and ears to hear" in these end days. You might say they form a "step one...step two...step three" synopsis of what Christ would tell you if He were to sit down with you right now, and advise you on how to handle these final days leading up to His second coming.
In the order that they appear in the New Testament, these three verses are:
Mt. 5:30
Luke 4:18
Rev. 2:10
In the following study, I will give you the texts of each of these three special verses, one at a time, and my comments will follow each verse. Then, I will put it all together for you, so you can see the special message Christ has hidden there for His elect -- those with eyes to see and ears to hear -- of these final days:
I.) Here is the first verse in the New Testament that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet:
Matt 5:30 -- And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (KJV)
According to Dr. Bullinger in the Companion Bible, the phrase "right hand" is an hypocatastasis. That is, it’s a figure of speech. Just as one’s "right eye" in Matt. 5:29 is a figure of speech meaning one’s choicest possession (i.e., that which brightens your eye when it is looked upon), so one’s "right hand" is a figure of speech meaning the thing upon which you focus your most intense efforts. Biblically speaking, your right hand is your hand of power. As a figure, then, it refers to something you are working hard at, or are focusing your efforts upon with diligence and intensity.
With that in mind, Christ is saying in this verse that if there is something in your life that is so all-encompassing that it has become a distraction to your daily spiritual growth in His Word, or has become a hindrance to your service to Him as a seed planter and a watchman, then get rid of it. For it is better to eliminate it and get into heaven, than to end up in jeopardy of hell because you allowed yourself to be distracted from your service to Christ.
Obviously, even one’s daily job, or a hobby, can become a distraction from one’s service to Christ in these end days. This is particularly true if, out of lack of discipline, you were to let your job, or hobby, or anything else, get in the way of your studying and absorbing His Word each day. Ultimately, letting anything distract or hinder you from studying His Word each day will without a doubt prevent you from serving Him as an effective seed planter and watchman in this final, crucial generation.
After all, the Scripture tells us that in the final days before Christ’s arrival, the vast majority of the people of the world -- including much of Christianity -- will accept the "mark of the beast" in their foreheads or in their RIGHT HANDS. The mark "in their forehead" means they will believe in antichrist -- the false Christ -- as if he were Jesus Christ. And the mark "in their right hand" means they will be HARD AT WORK for antichrist and his beast system. Of course, as II Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Revelation 13:11-14 tells us, they will do so because they have been deceived by the antichrist into believing that he is "God" by the miracles he performs "with great power and lying wonders." And II Thessalonians 2:10 tells us the people are deceived because they "received not the love of the truth" when it was placed before them.
This makes Christ’s admonition in Matthew 5:30 all the more important. Biblical illiteracy is rampant in this world today. It is the status quo, even in the Christian church where entire congregations – even entire denominations -- are hindered from receiving the love of the truth by two plagues: First, the plague of "political correctness" which uses the false excuse of "racism" to prohibit the teaching of Christ’s doctrine on the crucial subject of the Kenite (see Rev. 2:9, Rev. 3:9, John 8:44, and Christ’s explicit explanation of the Parable of the Tares in Matt. 13:36-43). And secondly, the plague of the traditions of man being substituted for God’s truth (such as the "apples in the garden" tradition being substituted for the truth about the seduction in the garden of Eve by Satan, the fly-away tradition being substituted for the correct chronological order of events leading up to Christ’s second advent, and the pagan feast of Ishtar being substituted for the Feast of Passover).
In short, Christ is saying that if ANYTHING you focus your efforts upon -- in your personal life or in a Christian church or ministry -- has become a hindrance or distraction to your daily growth in His Word and your subsequent entrance into the kingdom of heaven, then get rid of it.
II.) Here is the second verse in the New Testament that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet:
Luke 4:18 -- The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (KJV)
Why would Christ want us to focus our attention on this particular verse? Students of God’s Word who have studied in-depth know that this verse is very special, for it is a direct quote from the prophesy given in Isaiah 61:1-2 regarding the first and second advents of the Messiah.
In Isaiah 61:2, the prophetic text continues, "To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;"
But when Christ quoted that prophetic text from Isaiah in Luke 4:18-19, He purposely left out part of the text. Christ followed with, "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord," and stopped.
He purposely left out the words, "...and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn."
Why? The answer is given in Luke 4:20-21. "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (KJV)
You see, this was Christ’s FIRST advent, in which He came to preach the "good news," the Gospel of Salvation, and to provide the necessary sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He was telling the congregation that He and He alone was the One prophesied of by Isaiah, Who would come with the message of truth to bring healing and salvation to all who would listen. He was telling the congregation that He was, indeed, the Messiah they had all been awaiting. His first advent, then, is known as "the acceptable year of the Lord."
But as we can see from Luke 4:19, Christ purposely left out the remaining text from Isaiah 61:2 which states, "...and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn." Why? Because the "day of vengeance" occurs at His SECOND advent, when He arrives as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and takes vengeance on His enemies.
This "day of vengeance of our God" is described thoroughly in Revelation 19:11-16 as follows:
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." (KJV)
That day of vengeance is also described in Deuteronomy 32:40-43, as follows:
"For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people." (KJV)
So, we can now see that at Christ’s second advent, He arrives to take vengeance upon His enemies, and to extend mercy to those who love and serve Him. His second advent, then, is known as "the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;"
This is why Christ Jesus has drawn our attention to Luke 4:18, which is the second verse in the New Testament that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. He wants us to know for a surety that the TRUE Messiah has both a first and a second advent. And that if the first advent is already past, then the second advent -- the "day of vengeance of our Godd, to comfort all that mourn" -- is certainly drawing nearer with each passing day. And most importantly, since Christ arrives to earth at His second advent to take vengeance upon His enemies, then indeed, His chief enemy – Satan – must certainly be here on earth at that time! And as we know from II Thessalonians 2:1-4, not only will Satan be here, but he will have seated himself in the Temple in Jerusalem and will be pretending to be God himself!
Keep all of this in mind, for we are almost done with this study now, and in just a moment I will tie up all of the loose ends for you. But first, let’s take a look at the third and final occurrence in the New Testament of a verse that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet...
III.) Here is the third and final verse in the New Testament that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet:
Rev 2:10 -- "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (KJV)
Pretty neat, huh? As anyone who has studied our Father’s Word in-depth knows, this verse refers to the time just days before Christ’s second advent, when antichrist is on earth and has seated himself "in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (see II Thess. 2:1-4). At the very end of his short reign on earth, he gets fed up with God’s elect, who are standing firmly against him, and he has them delivered up before him and put on public trial, in a vain attempt to convert them and deceive them into bowing to him as "God." But as we know from the Book of Mark, this backfires on old Apollyon. Instead of converting the elect, he ends up giving them a worldwide public forum from which to preach the Gospel to the entire globe. And best of all, our heavenly Father does all of the talking through the mouths of His elect! Let’s take a look:
Mark 13:9-13 -- "But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (KJV)
Wow! Just as we are told in Rev. 2:10 above -- which is the third and final verse in the New Testament that contains all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet -- some of God’s elect will be cast into prison and tried for 10 days, but those who stand firm in God’s Word even in the face of death will be given "a crown of life." That is, they will receive the reward of eternal life, which is the "first resurrection" described in Revelation 20:6. Let’s take a quick look at it...
Rev 20:1-6 – "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (KJV)
What a beautiful reward! The martyrs of God, as well as all of those who stand toe-to-toe against Satan and refuse to worship him, or receive his image, or receive his "mark" (that is, they refuse to buy into his false one-world system or work for it) will take part in the FIRST RESURRECTION. This means they will receive immortal souls at Christ’s arrival. The "second death" – which is the death of the soul in the lake of fire (see Rev. 20: 13-14) – will have no power over them. They will not only rule and reign with Christ for the thousand year period known as the Millenium, they will be granted life eternal!
In short, Christ draws our attention to Rev. 2:10 so that we will understand that He has the victory, and that those who serve Him faithfully to the end of this flesh age will share in that victory, and be granted eternal life at His second advent.
The Hidden Message in the Three Verses...
Okay, then, let’s put it all together and see for ourselves why our heavenly Father has set these three particular New Testament verses apart from all of the others, by making them the only verses in the New Testament to contain all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet. Keep in mind that in each of these three special verses, Christ Himself is doing the speaking. It is no mere coincidence that in the only three verses in the New Testament in which all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet appear, Christ is speaking. In essence, He is speaking directly to YOU and me! With that in mind, you might say that the special message of these three verses form a "step one...step two...step three" synopsis of what Christ would tell you if He were to sit down with you right now, and personally advise you on how to handle these final days leading up to His second advent. Here, then, contained in these three verses, is the special message from Christ to His elect in these end days...
Mt. 5:30
If something you are focusing your efforts on right now is distracting you from studying My Word and serving Me, then eliminate that thing from your life and get yourself back on track, so you don’t end up deceived and in risk of condemnation at Judgement time.
Luke 4:18
After all, the time grows late. I have already fulfilled My first advent, during which I provided you with the truth and with salvation. (Therefore, My second advent grows closer with each passing day, at which time I will pour out My wrath upon My enemies, and bring comfort and reward to those who love and serve Me.)
Rev. 2:10
In light of all of this, remember that the victory is Mine. Don’t allow yourself to be gripped by fear regarding any of the things you will have to endure during the approaching time of tribulation. Indeed, the devil will be here, and he will throw some of you into prison for 10 days to test you. But stand firm in My Word, even in the face of death, and I will reward you with eternal life.
Now isn’t that a powerfully succinct message from Christ Jesus to His elect in these end days? (And wasn’t it worth the wait?)
Steve Barwick