Our Fathers...

Our Father who art in Heaven...Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2.
This is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer.
Adam became the "Father of the Human Race" in Genesis 4:1-2,25.
GOD spoke directly to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, and in many other verses.

Noah, the Father of three sons, Genesis 6:10, his wife and his sons wives, were all that was left of the human race after the great flood, Genesis 7:23.
GOD spoke directly to Noah in Genesis 6:13-14, and in many other verses.

Our Father Abraham: Luke 1:73,3:8, John 8:39,53, Acts 7:2, Romans 4:1,12, James 2:21. He became the "Father of a Multitude of Nations" in Genesis 17:5.
GOD spoke directly to Abraham in Genesis 17:1-22, and in many other verses.

Our Father Isaac...Romans 9:10
GOD spoke directly to Isaac in Genesis 26:2-5, and in many other verses.

Our Father Jacob...John 4:12. He became the "Father of Israel" in Genesis 32:29, and he had twelve sons who became the "Father Figures" of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, Exodus 29-49.
GOD spoke directly to Jacob in Genesis 35:1, and in many other verses.

Moses was the "Father Figure" for GOD's chosen people, the one who would lead them out of the bondage of Egypt. Exodus 1 to Deut 34.
GOD Spoke directly to Moses from the Burning Bush in Exodus 3:4-10, and in many other verses.

Our Father David...Mark 11:10, who was both King, 2Sam 6:16, and Priest, 2Sam 6:18, foreshadowed Jesus Christ who is both King and High Priest in the New Testament.
GOD spoke directly to David in 2Samuel 2:1 and in many other verses.

"Thus said the Lord, the GOD of David thy Father...", 2Kings 20:5

"He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 16:15-17
In these verses it is shown that GOD had spoken through His "Father Figure", Peter, and Peter only, revealing the truth to him. Why then do some say that GOD does not speak today through His "Father Figure" on earth, the successor to Simon Peter?

"Father figures", are all throughout Holy Scripture.
You can readily see that GOD always provided a "Father Figure" on earth to shepherd His people.
GOD is the invisible head of His people, and His "Father Figure" is the visible head.

It is no different today.
GOD is the same yesterday, today and forever. The truth never changes. Since GOD is infinite truth, how then could He possibly change, since any change would then imply a defect in the truth?

Consequently, GOD does provide us with a visible head of the Catholic Church on earth today, a shepherd to lead His people just as He always has done, a present day "Father Figure". He is the Vicar of Christ, the Bishop of Rome.
We call him, "The Holy Father". He is our "Papa", the "Pope".
Since I have shown that GOD spoke directly to His Old Testament "Father Figures", who is there to deny that GOD does likewise to His present day "Father Figure", the Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the Catholic Church, the Pope?
Holy Scripture clearly has said that the Holy Spirit will speak, and the things to come He will declare to you, John 16:13. To whom will the Holy Spirit speak? To whom did GOD speak to directly in the Old Testament?
When the Holy Spirit speaks, it is the Holy Trinity speaking. The Father is the Speaker. The Son is the Word. The Holy Spirit is the Breath.

Isaiah 22:20-24, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim, the son of Helcias, and I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a Father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And I will lay the KEY of the House of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his Father. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his Father's house, diverse kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups to every instrument of music."

The House of David prefigures or "Types" the Catholic Church in many verses in addition to those given above from Isaiah. See 2Samuel 3:1, 5:11, 6:21, 7:26, 1Kings 5:5, 8:16-20, 12:19-20,
2Kings 17:21, 20:5, Psalms 122:5, Zechariah 12:7-11, 13:1, and Luke 1:68-69.

The KEY is the symbol of authority as shown in Isaiah 22. The KEYS of authority were given by Jesus Christ to the first Pope, Saint Peter, and to him alone.
"And I will give thee the KEYS of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 16:19.


This sounds just like GOD's "Father Figure" of today, the Pope. He has the authority of Abraham and Moses, and others of GOD's earlier visible "Father Figures" on earth. On his Crest are the KEYS, which symbolize that authority. He presides over the new House of David, the Catholic Church. Whatever he opens, none can shut. Whatever he shuts, no one can open. Whatever he binds on earth is bound in heaven. Whatever he shall loose on earth is loosed also in heaven.
When he speaks, "ROME HAS SPOKEN, THE ISSUE IS SETTLED". See Acts 15:7-12

See "The Papacy is Scriptural" for a more in depth look at the prefigurements of the Papacy in Holy Scripture.

Judges 17:10, "Be Father and Priest to me..."

Judges 18:19, "Come with us and be our Father and Priest."

Hebrews 13:17, "Obey your superiors and be subject to them, for they keep watch as having to render an account of your souls; so that they may do this with joy, and not with grief, for that would not be expedient for you."

"GOD always dealt with His people through one man."
Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.
©
Written by Bob Stanley, June 2, 2000
Updated May 1, 2004

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