In regard to:In re Ted's post at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/feb2013/tedp226.htm, I would conclude Yeshua was Messiah from all of eternity past.
Just to be precise, the word "Messiah" means "anointed" in Hebrew. Just as the word "Christ" means "anointed" in Greek. Now, anointing is an action, a physical act done at some precise period in time, after which that person has then been "anointed".If the promised "God with us", half man, half God, "anointed one" had been "anointed" before He became half man, half God from all of eternity past, the question then rises, how did He get anointed and who did the anointing? I suppose a third and fourth question are, with what was He anointed and what was He before He was anointed?It's like Jesus Christ now carries the marks of His crucifixion upon His feet and hands which we know He did not have from all eternity past.Now, consider this. That the egg in Mary's womb was anointed with the WORD of God at conception. The Bible tells us that the WORD became flesh, and dwelt among us. From this we know the WORD was not flesh from all eternity, but became flesh.I would take it that the SPIRIT of God anointed the flesh in Mary's womb with the WORD of God.Now I've done posts on Five Doves before explaining how I see the Bible is true regarding how it states the greater must baptize the lesser with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus Christ. And how it states John the Baptist could "decrease" while Jesus Christ could "increase". And how it states John the Baptist could be the greatest born of women, which has to include Jesus Christ since He was born of women. And how it states the least in the kingdom of Heaven will be greater than John the Baptist. All seemingly impossible to explain for some but all making perfect sense when understanding the trinity and hierachy of God. Interesting stuff but currently off the subject and I don't want to get off the subject so I'll end this line of thought here. Don't want to get buried in minutia. :)Now regarding:In re the issue of how long is a "time, times and half a time", in Hebrew thought, when a plurality is used in a time certain way, it is considered to be double, or twice the singular, although in English it would look like an ambiguous amount of time. I'm sure Revelation was originally communicated in Hebrew, and this harkens back to the use of the same phrase in Daniel.
Dan 7:25 uses the Aramaic phrase "׳¢ײ´׳“ײ¼ײ¸׳� ׳•ײ°׳¢ײ´׳“ײ¼ײ¸׳ ײ´׳™׳� ׳•ײ¼׳₪ײ°׳�ײ·׳’ ׳¢ײ´׳“ײ¼ײ¸׳�" = "time, times and half a time"
Dan 12:7 uses the Hebrew phrase "׳�ײ°׳�׳•ײ¹׳¢ײµ׳“ ׳�׳•ײ¹׳¢ײ²׳“ײ´׳™׳� ׳•ײ¸׳—ײµ׳¦ײ´׳™" = "for a time, times and a half"
To tell you the truth, I don't read Aramaic or Hebrew very well at all. I know you read from left to right and originally there were no spaces between words. However, it looks like there are spaces between four words in the Aramaic and three in the Hebrew which get translated to six in the English and seven in the English respectively. I also don't know if they are adding or perhaps counting in this idiom. Say, counting from one, and then adding a half. Like one, two, and then add a half, like we have the idiom, one, two, buckle my shoe. In English, doesn't mean we are to add the one and the two together. At least not now. Maybe it did in the past.I also still can't tell if there are different words, one singular and the next one plural, or we have two singulars in a row which means a plural. Strong's concordance just shows the same Hebrew or Greek word for what is translated "time" and "times".Anyway, Thanks and Shalom -Ted Porter