A Voice in the Wilderness

The woman drunk with the blood of saints. Revelation 17:6,7.

Posted on 12/17/2021 by remso

In my previous post, I only covered two verses. I suspect the reason I did that is that the majority of us are experiencing the World Economic Forum’s goals of global dominance and a concerted effort to reduce the world’s population. While, on the other hand, we are trying desperately to figure out who is pulling the puppet strings intended to make us dance.

Here is a portion of Revelation 17:5 to help prove my point.

Revelation 17:5b. ISV …BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND DETESTABLE THINGS OF THE EARTH.

Some might say, what they are doing is NOT detestable, and it is common among my community of friends. We all have a community of what we call friends, just as Jeffrey Epstein did. However, they were all so blinded that they could not or refused to see that what they are doing to children was no better than what Israel did with that Molech idol that they coerced Aaron to make in the wilderness.

The Old Testament does not convey the depth of perversion involved in what Israel did there with that idol. But, as you can see from this ISV translation that we are told, it was just an idol to be used in a festival. Well, that sounds like a good time is to be had.

He took them (their gold adornments) from them and, using a tool, fashioned them into a molten calf. The people said, “This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and then he proclaimed, “Tomorrow is to be a festival to the LORD.” (Exodus 32:4-5 ISV)

But Stephen understood what it was and what they did there that day, and he retold the details to the Jewish council that would soon kill him because of false charges that caused him to be standing here.

Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him (both God and Moses) but pushed him aside and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt — we do not know what has happened to him!’ At that time, they made an idol in the form of a calf, brought a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, house of Israel? But you took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the images you made to worship, but I will deport you beyond Babylon.’ (Acts 7:39-43 NET.)

That sacrifice was their children, which they roasted as they danced.

Albert Barnes, in his commentary, explains for us what Moloch was. “Moloch – This word comes from the Hebrew word signifying “king.” This was a god of the Ammonites, to whom human sacrifices were offered. Moses in several places forbids the Israelites, under penalty of death, to dedicate their children to Moloch, by making them pass through the fire”.

God’s character and moral law have never changed, and His law has been written upon the heart of every living being; it has been this way since He put humanity on this earth.

First, it is essential to note that Satan understood that humans would know good and evil.

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5 NASB)

Let’s take for granted that you don’t believe me, then look at this interaction between God and Cain. This interaction brings us to my second point. Cain, having sacrificed improperly, brings God into the picture (in the form of Jesus), and God has a conversation with Cain.

“Abel, on his part, also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:4-7 NASB)

God could not have this conversation unless He, in some manner, had previously instructed Cain on what is right and how to do it. God’s nature is not to pull a sneak attack on you and then laugh as He throws you mercilessly into hell. Therefore, we can lean on one of two things.

Because we see nothing that tells us that God instructed Cain, his instructions had to come from Adam. I am telling you this because I have heard these foolish arguments.
Since Adam gave up the dominion of the earth to Satan by his actions, God had to come down and slaughter enough animals to offer a sacrifice for both Adam and Eve, but explained why; and then made clothing out of the skins. Information about the necessity of a sacrifice, and perhaps the clothing, was passed from Adam to Cain and Abel. And we know this by inference – Abel sacrificed a lamb, the firstborn, and God accepted that sacrifice.

So, even though this next piece of information comes from Leviticus, it seems to have come after the Moloch incident. Of course, some will take this idea to the next level and say, see, these people should not be held responsible for roasting their children to a false and abhorrent god. Sorry, that argument is not going to work, and I have already told you why.

‘You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:21 NASB)

Just in case you think I was kidding about this Moloch stuff, check this out.

“You shall also say to the sons of Israel: ‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ‘I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name. ‘If the people of the land, however, should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death, then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.” (Leviticus 20:2-5 NASB)

If you have been bold enough to speak out against the vaccine tyranny on YouTube, then your page, or at least your speech, has probably been blocked, demonetized, and made to disappear from the internet. I say this because some have made compelling documentaries about how the rich kill the children they take off the street because they believe that they gain some dark spiritual power. Do not think for a second that they will go unpunished.

So much for an introduction. Let’s move on to Revelation 17:6.

Revelation 17:6 NASB “And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.”

Drunk is the Greek word methuō and obviously means drunken, but it is also (as Thayer’s dictionary conveys) metaphorically indicative of one who has shed blood or been murdered profusely.

If you were to ask me, when does all this blood get shed? I would have to say, look at the third world nations, especially those with a considerable Islamic influence, because there is hardly a week that goes by where anywhere from ten to 100 churchgoers are shot, burned, or bombed.

Is it just the third-world nations?

Hardly because the news out of Europe frequently has some fool screaming Allahu Akbar while stabbing or shooting ten or so people. The fact that the passage tells us that the “woman” is drunk with the blood of saints tells me a significant motive of the global elite is to kill off those who associate themselves with Christianity. I can tell you that our governing bodies are turning against the Church daily here in America.

Our California governor was sued, and a judgment was rendered by the state supreme court. The decision against him prevents him from making proclamations against the church.

So how does our illustrious governor responds to a court order?

He hands off his dirty work to local city councils, such as San Jose’s or the state health department. But, you might ask, how is the state health department playing into this role? Since the California governor cannot declare our church assemblies illegal, he has the health department limit the number of people who meet indoors to 1000, which again attempts to disrupt the church. Here is what is interesting about this. Since the initial Covid shut down, many churches have closed their doors and not reopened.

In the last few weeks, before writing this post, I have come to find out that California Governor Gavin Newsome, the nephew of Nancy Pelosi, was a recent graduate of the Klaus Schwab school of global governance. When you consider that Klaus Schwab is the dark lord leader of this international governing body that we see in the end times, it only makes sense that this school is an educational ground for future oppressors.

“drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.”

For a period of time, I thought that the context of the word saints, as used here, only spoke of those who were killed during the time of wrath. However, if you look up the word saints, you will find that Paul addressed the believers as saints on several occasions. Therefore, we cannot limit this conversation to the time of wrath alone, especially since Christ-followers are killed daily.

In the reference to the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, the definition of a witness is not so rigid.

Why say that?

The thief on the cross is one of the most dramatic examples of a witness that fits outside of the religious definition. Before the crucifixion, we know nothing about these two lawbreakers hanging there with Jesus.

Yet, as soon as the conversation begins, you get a strong sense that everyone in this scenario is a Jew.

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43 NASB)

It is clear that there is an understanding that Jesus is God in this man, that they, the criminals, deserved punishment, but Jesus did not; and he asked that Jesus remember him, to which Jesus said, I will.

This interaction had none of the standard religious talks, and yet the thief, also nailed to a cross, had a heart toward God; this was evident because he expressed an understanding of who Jesus is, and he knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong. All of these assessments are true. The thief did not cry out for salvation, did not necessarily plead for forgiveness of sins, and may not have been able to have a lamb sacrificed for his benefit.

Can you see that that there is nothing standard about this process?

And yet, Jesus told him, this day, you will be with me in paradise. A vast number in the Middle Eastern world have been brutally murdered for not bowing to Allah and giving their allegiance to this god who is no god.

Is it possible that they, like the thief on the cross, by rejecting a false god, gave their lives to the God who created the heavens and promised them a life of peace with the Father?

John, in Revelation 17:6, says, “When I saw her, I wondered greatly.” Wondered sounds so benign and simplistic, why would anyone feel the need to pursue such a simple word? Because I always read this and thought, this is like looking at a horrific car crash and not looking away.

The word wondered is the Greek word thaumazō, and it means to regard with admiration or to reverence.

Suddenly I find myself disgusted, or, at the least, taken back by the fact that John was not repulsed. After all, this is the entity drunk on the blood of saints. The obvious thing that I see here is that riches and power have an extraordinary draw on us.

Revelation 17:7 NASB And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

What an odd question this angel asked. It is almost as if John is surprised this entity is so attractive. Isn’t that the way Satan seems to work? Revelation 17:7a. BBE, puts it this way, And the angel said to me, Why were you surprised? He makes the worst of things seem attractive, at least for a time.

The angel begins to answer the question.

“I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.”

Mystery? The Greek word is mystērion and for me, the meaning is unusual. Mounce’s dictionary says it best. It is “a matter to the knowledge of which initiation is necessary; a secret which would remain such but for revelation.”

Every time I see the word mystery, I get a sense of something we cannot possibly know.

One of my pastors verbally attacked me because, as he claimed, NO ONE can understand the book of Revelation or eschatology. Obviously, he did not, and he asserted, that is why I don’t teach it.

How does the Revelation open?

Revelation 1:3 NASB “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

Another translation reads, God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church.

Based upon this, should I make the foolish assumption that God does not want me to understand?

The answer is NO. He desires for us to know, it merely requires an open mind and the time to look at passages in the Old Testament, because there is little in the New Testament that did not come from the old.

Romans 16:25,26 NASB tells us

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;.”

Paul, writing to the church at Colossae, says

I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship from God — given to me for you — in order to complete the word of God, that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:25-26 NET.)

Alright, so it’s no longer a mystery to the believer, as the Word of God – scripture is the thing that allows us to understand things that used to be mysteries.

This “mystery” is what the prophet Daniel dealt with as he was frequently shown images that made no sense. A lack of understanding prompted him to ask for interpretations, which were provided, although I doubt some of the explanations made sense because they were for future times; nonetheless, explanations were freely given. I genuinely believe that we are living in those times now.

Next time we will regroup at Revelation 17:7 and move forward quickly from there.

In the meantime putting yourself into the arms of Jesus moves you into the category of those who have had the mystery opened up to them, but there is also the knowledge that you are accepted and loved by the Father.

Posted in antichrist, Apostle Paul, bible study, End times, false teaching, God's character, Islam, judgment, mystery, New World Order, one world religion, Prophetic, Revelation, seven headed beast, ten horns and seven heads, the nations, the word of their testimony, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, unrighteousness, wickedness | Tagged Angel, Beast, Bible, blood, carries, drunk, end times, God, heads, horns, Jesus, Klaus Schwab, last days, mystery, prophecy, Revelation, Saints, Scripture, seven, surprised, ten, witnesses, woman, wondered | Leave a comment

Baylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots. Revelation 17:4,5.

Posted on 12/14/2021 by remso

In the previous post on Revelation 17, I talked about this nondescript woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast.

Revelation 17:3 MKJV And he carried me away into a desert by the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, filled with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

This is the only place you will find a reference to a scarlet-colored beast, however, as you attempt to pursue a definition as to who this beast is, you will find: a scarlet beast, a red beast, and a red serpent – an analogy to the beast, and a correlation to Satan, as well as the title of the antichrist.

The woman, on the other hand, has some clear definition, some of which we find in Revelation 17:4; and this is where we begin.

Revelation 17:4 MKJV And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet. And she was gilded with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

So, this nondescript woman is.

Arrayed in purple and scarlet.

According to Albert Barnes commentary, robes dyed in that color were commonly worn by persons of rank and wealth. So we know that she is associated with rank and wealth.
(As the NASB indicates) she is adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.

The NLT translation tells us she wore beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls.
Having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

A golden cup from the Pulpit commentary – “Babylon, as the instrument used by God for his judicial purposes, is likened to a wine cup, which “made all the earth drunken” (comp. Jer_25:15-17,).

“For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. “They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” Then I took the cup from the LORD’S hand and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it:” (Jeremiah 25:15-17 NASB)

Abominations is the Greek word bdélugma and means according to the Word Study Dictionary, to emit a foul odor, to turn away through loathing or disgust, abhor. Generally, that which is detestable to God, and, in the Jewish tradition, it is that which was unclean and especially of impure idol worship; hence, idolatry, licentiousness, abominable impurity.

An obvious problem with our understanding of these abominations is that those who are partaking in this cup cannot perceive the foul odor and see nothing wrong with the idea that what they are doing is idol worship.

The other word used in reference to this woman is fornication. Fornication is the Greek word porneía and means to commit fornication or any sexual sin. Fornication, lewdness, or any sexual sin.

If I say names like Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislane Maxwell, do you not believe we are neck-deep in porneia?

Revelation 17:5 NASB and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

As we have traversed through Revelation, chapter thirteen has used the same language.

“And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.” (Revelation 13:1 NASB)

Here, the dragon is Satan; and, almost like a coach standing on the sideline, he watches his play being put into action. The beast here in Revelation 13, IS NOT the antichrist at this point. So the beast coming out of the sea is the global heads, princes, and kings, that though they may continue to fight, have a goal of unified global world leadership under one man.

Do you not see that this scheme has been actively played out before us, for possibly a thousand years or more?

Babylon – Isaiah tells us that the nations will gather together against Babylon. Nations may not be organized government; I know that is hard to visualize seeing that the majority of the “nations” are following the idea of global governance.

Isaiah 13:1-6 NASB The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. (2) Lift up a standard on the bare hill, Raise your voice to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the doors of the nobles. (3) I have commanded My consecrated ones, I have even called My mighty warriors, My proudly exulting ones, To execute My anger. (4) A sound of tumult on the mountains, Like that of many people! A sound of the uproar of kingdoms, Of nations gathered together! The LORD of hosts is mustering the army for battle. (5) They are coming from a far country, From the farthest horizons, The LORD and His instruments of indignation, To destroy the whole land. (6) Wail, for the day of the LORD, is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

If we recognize that Babylon, at this point, is not a singular entity, but a way of life that idolizes wealth instead of God, then this may be easier to understand. We, in America, are slowly being enslaved, in opposition to the constitution upon which this nation was founded, by people that wish to enslave us. At some point in time, during the time of wrath, God will burn their thrones to the ground.

And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased! “The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers (Isaiah 14:3-5 NASB)

The prophet Jeremiah declares what your heart already knows about Babylon but may not have been able to define.

Because the whole land is filled with idols, and the people are madly in love with them. (Jeremiah 50:38b. NLT)

Consider that Babylon is the mother of all harlots. Nimrod, on the plains of Shinar, established idolatrous worship that for us, that is not defined in scripture. We have to pursue a historical path to find this information.

Biblically we have evidence against Israel, from the prophets.

then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech. (Leviticus 20:5 NASB)

Molech is the idol that God’s people, (who had only days before been rescued from Egypt,) had Aaron build for them when Moses stayed on the mountain for over forty days (a time frame that goes against human logic because people typically die when they do this.) Again, we do not have a definition of Molech until Stephen, in the book of Acts, is brought before the Jewish council. Here, he reiterates that Israel did this detestable thing, and NO one challenged what he said.

When you read about Numbers 25:1 you see this.

While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. (Numbers 25:1 NASB)

Immediately, I thought of Balaam. Back yourself up to chapter 24 and you find Balaam. When king Balak propositioned Balaam to curse Israel he would not do it. Balaam is difficult to understand because all the fingers point to the possibility that he was like a hitman for hire. I say this because we do not see a recognition of his relationship to God like we do with all the other legitimate prophets.

Balaam apparently tried to petition God (as though he had a right,) and was told by God, don’t even think about it. So what Balaam did tell Balak was to bring the cute girls in from the other nations and they will seduce Israel with their idols and destroy Israel from the inside. That is exactly what you see here. If you do not make a decision to follow after God, you will fall for any stupid thing that comes along.

Since this all emanates from Babylon, perhaps we should look at how and who started this ideology and is driving the madmen who are trying to reduce the population to a few million so that they can live like the kings they think they are – free from God.

Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
(Genesis 10:8 NASB)

Before I move forward with the obvious, I want to touch on this idea of Nimrod being a mighty man.

Mighty is the Hebrew word gibbôr and means he became a powerful man; and by implication, a warrior, tyrant; and, includes the term giant.

Standard religious commentaries will try to make you believe that he was simply a great man of business. To help dispel this idea, the book of Numbers shows us the Jewish spies going into Canaan and then reporting back, was that there were giants in the land. These men weren’t trying to describe them as great men of business, they were massive humans, and the Hebrew word used to identify them as giants is gibbôr.

Based on this information what was Nimrod?

A gibbôr, a giant.

Associate this word with a warrior tyrant and you get a better feel for how he dominated.

All this prompts a question. If the giants of generation six were gibbôrs how did this guy get to be a giant?

If you study Genesis six you will see this.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4 KJV)

The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japeth. Ham looked upon his father’s nakedness and was cursed for what he did. Ham had a son named Cush and he had a son named Nimrod.

If Noah’s family was allowed on the Ark because they were “perfect in his generations” then how did the demonic influence of the fallen angels, which created the giants upon the land, infect the lineage of Noah to create Nimrod?

I will tell you this, we make huge assumptions, and one that causes a great rift in our beliefs is that the generations of our families cannot or will not move away from the God that you once served. Nimrod neither walked in the ways of Noah nor did he want to; he moved in the opposite direction.

The Smith’s Bible Dictionary has this to say about Nimrod.

Nim’rod. (rebellion; or the valiant). A son of Cush and grandson of Ham.

The events of his life are recorded in Gen_10:8; ff., from which we learn

that he was a Cushite;
that he established an empire in Shinar, (the classical Babylonia), the chief towns being Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh; and
that he extended this empire northward, along the course of the Tigris over Assyria, where he founded a second group of capitals, Nineveh, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen.

If you remember your bible stories, then you know the story of Jonah. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim a horrendous judgment against them. These people were the hated enemies of Israel and Jonah refused by catching a ship toward Spain. The ship got caught up in a deadly storm and Jonah effectively committed suicide by having the crew throw him into waters that sink ships. He did this because he knew that God would relent when the people of Nineveh repented, which they did, and showed them mercy. You will find this in great detail in the Jonah named after him.

Posted in Babylon, bible study, COVID 19, doctrines of demons, End times, fallen angels, Harlot, Harlot of Revelation, New World Order, Nimrod, one world religion, Revelation, sexual sin, ten horns and seven heads, Thoughts | Tagged Bible, end times, last days, Scripture | Leave a comment

What shall we then say about Abraham? Romans 4:1-12.

Posted on 12/11/2021 by remso

By the time you finish with Romans chapters two and three, you might wonder why God gave the law. It almost seems useless, but it is not, for it shows us the mercy of God. Those that choose not to figure out what the nature and character of God are, will never understand this statement.

What have we learned?

That His law is righteous.

If you only remembered one thing about the law, the idea that it is focused on love, starting with God and your relationship with Him would be crucial. Everything else lives in the concept of treating people right, based on love.
His law is written on the heart of every human being; it always has been.

We are told by scripture that there is no excuse, and there is nothing holding back God’s righteous judgment from coming upon the nations and the Jews.
Never let anyone tell you that God has cast away the Jews.

Paul, in a sense, responds to this very thing when he tells us that the promise was made to Abraham and his seed. That promise has never been rescinded; and, if you will study Romans chapter 11, you will see that we Gentiles have been grafted into the good stock.
No one is righteous.

That sounds rather hopeless, but it is not because Jesus poured out His own blood to redeem us and sanctify us by that blood.

Do you believe that? If you don’t, then it is something that you have not acquired to yourself through faith.

Perhaps the best way to understand this is to visualize that what happened with Adam in the garden was to modify his DNA to a damaged segment that gives us a propensity to sin, and that has been passed on to all humanity.
And finally, the righteousness of God only comes through faith.

As I pointed out above, the sanctification needed to make us righteous comes through faith alone. Jesus has done all that is necessary and will never go back on the cross for you. All you have to do is to accept that He gave you the opportunity for an eternal life with the Father, and all you have to do is believe and receive that life.

The authors segmented our Bibles into sections. This particular one opens with this line –

Abraham was justified by faith.

I am going to use the NASB, as it is my preferred translation (although it troubles me at times) for our introduction here.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
(Romans 4:1 NASB)

Allow me to approach this idea of Abraham being my forefather. It was because of the promises made to Abraham that the Jews cling to their heritage, religion, and culture. Paul points out that these are not the things that make you righteous, it is the faith that Abraham had that made him righteous. Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is a tedious effort to straighten that out.

I then am only a Jew because of God’s adoption. How this adoption happened is central to the gospel that Paul preached.

In Ephesians 1:4,5, Paul tells us that we were predestined to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ.
To the church in Rome, chapter eight, verse fifteen, he writes that they have received a spirit of adoption.
And, he informs the church in Galatia, chapter four verse five, that the price Christ paid allows us to receive the adoption as sons.

In case you did not notice, this adoption is available, but it is not automatic. This is where faith and acceptance come into play.

To make this interesting try to imagine going to an adoption agency and choosing a purple-haired teen, who is playing a video game they won’t put down as you try to hold a conversation, that would not only establish their character, but you are trying to let them know what your character is, and what you can offer them.

In a sense, this is what God did with us, as He parks His vehicle in front of this global adoption agency. Having been given the tour, he has seen those living there and decides to adopt them all. He pays the fees – in this case the life of His own Son, and tells them all to jump into the bus. One young teen says, FINE!, I’ll go, but I won’t take out the trash. God just laughs knowing that in time, we all have to take out the trash.

The trash, in this case, is not only the junk we think we can’t survive without, such as emotional baggage or habits we have developed because we thought they would help us survive; however, it is also bits of garbage that others have dumped into our lives through faulty teaching. In a simplistic way I have just buried volumes of theology into a simple statement; and, in time, the Holy Spirit that lives within you will teach you these things.

Romans 4:2 NASB For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

If Abraham was justified by works, what were the works?

God hoped the man would follow His instructions.

God told Abram (he is not yet called Abraham), to leave this place and your relatives and go to a place I will show you. Rather open-ended, but, in time, Abram left.

Genesis 12:1 NASB Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house To the land which I will show you;

So many things happened along the way. There was the struggle with Lot’s herdsmen; Lot is taken captive in a battle and Abraham has to rescue him; and then, Lot moves to Sodom – a horrible choice.
Those instructions included circumcising yourself as a mark of this covenant he had with God. Circumcising yourself would have been monumental and painful, but then there was the request by God for Abraham to offer up his only son. This too would have been horrific and yet Abraham was within inches of killing his “only son” on the sacrificial altar. God stopped that process by “providing himself as the lamb.” Suddenly there appears a ram.

“Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.” (Genesis 22:8-9 NASB)

“He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.” (Genesis 22:12-13 NASB)

Ah, but Abraham was not justified by his works or actions, if I may. He was justified – made right by faith. We know this because we are told that Abraham believed God.

Romans 4:3 NASB For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Watch how Paul challenges the logic and religion, by pointing out that this righteousness is a gift and cannot be earned.

Romans 4:4 NLT When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.

The problem is that, in some way, all religion makes you try to earn some aspect of your righteousness.

Romans 4:5 TLV But to the one who does not work, but trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his trust is credited as righteousness—

This idea of gaining a righteous standing with God was understood by King David years before Paul came on the scene.

Romans 4:6-8 TLV just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: (7) Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. (8) Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will never count against him.”

Remember earlier when I said that adoption is available to all, but it is NOT automatic. I had to restrain myself at that point because I wanted so badly to tell you your sin is forgiven and you did nothing to make that happen.

Look at what David says in verse 7. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.”

The question then becomes, what are we to do with such freedom, and what does it imply?

Well, as the “Chrisitian” band, the Newsboys, said in their song “I Am Free”, you are NOW free, but to do what?

to run
to dance
I am free to live for you

Some interpret this freedom as grace; however, many will tell you that this grace gives us the freedom to push the boundaries of sin, as though we are no longer subject to the law. How is that possible when the law is written upon our hearts?

Romans 4:9 NASB “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.””

Although I doubt you are confused, allow me to define who the circumcised are – the Jews.

Who then are the uncircumcised? The Gentiles.

In light of the fact that “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness,” Paul, in his Jewishness, gets a little saucy as he says.

Romans 4:10 NASB “How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;”

What was credited?

His righteousness.

Was he a Jew at the time?

The terminology, uncircumcised, would plainly tell you NO. So, Abraham was a gentile. The NLT translation states, “Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!”

And, he did this so that he might be the father of all, though they are uncircumcised. What’s the importance of this? Abraham, an allusion to Jesus Christ, the Father, is the father to everyone who believes in Jesus.

Romans 4:11 TLV

And he received the sign of circumcision

as a seal of the righteousness

of the trust he had

while he was uncircumcised,

so he might be the father of all

who are trusting while uncircumcised—

that righteousness might be credited to them as well.

But it is not just about the uncircumcised, as Abraham is the father of the circumcised who believe and walk in the steps of faith.

Romans 4:12 Moffatt NT “as well as a father of those circumcised persons who not only share circumcision but walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had as an uncircumcised man.”

No one is excluded, and under NO circumstance is God done with the Jews. He is, however, looking for the Jews to apply faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Posted in bible study, forgive, forgiven, righteous, Romans, Sin, unrighteousness | Tagged Abraham, Belief, believed, Bible, boast, Christ, covered, credited, deeds, earned, end times, flesh, forefather, forgiven, found, gift, God, hope, Jesus, justified, lawless, never, righteousness, Romans, Scripture, sins, work, works | Leave a comment

The great harlot who sits on many waters. Revelation 17: 1 – 3.

Posted on 12/06/2021 by remso

As you are doing Bible study, are you feeling pressured, as though you were running in a 50-yard dash? I have, and though it is little more than the voices in my head (and yes, I have voices in my head), the notion that I have go faster is there.

This may not mean anything to you, but as I went through grade school and college, I honestly thought, for many years, that my brain did not work. As a result, I had to figure out how to make school work, and rushing does not work. Because of these life experiences, I take Bible study a bit more seriously than others.

Just for the diversion, today, 12/02/21, my number two brother died of Covid. Don’t get me wrong, I refuse to cave when it comes to fighting against the oppressive regimes trying to kill us off with their lousy vaccines. This death was not a surprise but has taken a short cut into my Bible study time.

With that being said, we have made it to Revelation 17.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

This is a personal favorite as I try to debunk previous harmful teachings.

Revelation 17:1 NASB “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,”

In chapter 16, we saw the last of the seven bowls. The last event of God’s wrath within the seals, trumpets, and now bowls, the seventh of any of these, has been the painful migration into the next series of events. With the last bowl being poured out, the last event to happen is Jesus finally coming back to earth as the warring messiah and cleaning house. Based on what 17:1 says, we have now moved into some explanatory information.

“Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.”

– Judgment is the Greek word krima and means the decision, a decree, or judgments against the harlot.

– Harlot is the Greek porne. Alarms should have gone off in your head by merely seeing this word. The meaning runs along this vein – one who yields themselves to defilement for the sake of gain.

Using the phrase” judgments against the harlot” makes more sense when you begin to see it as a controlling entity currently operating in unity with the global community, something we have never seen before.

– “who sits on many waters,”

John Gill’s commentary tells us that this phrase “who sits on many waters,” is to be interpreted as people, multitudes, nations, and tongues, … and this is said in reference to Babylon. I bypassed the somewhat standard reference to the harlot being subject to the jurisdiction of Rome primarily because I despise how easily we cling to tradition, even if it’s wrong. Most of the teachings that I have heard have referred to Rome as the harlot. But, hey, guess what, the majority can be wrong, so stick with scripture.

One of the ways I try to interpret obscure passages is to find “witnesses” from other parts of the Bible; I do this as a form of validation. We can find such confirmation in Jeremiah 51:13.

Jeremiah 51:13 NASB “O you who dwell by many waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end.”

Get real, this could be any number of nations, and our discussions are nothing more than futile speculations unless we pursue the context. In terms of context, Jeremiah 51 gives us a physical association with this harlot that sits on many waters and may correctly motivate us to look at something other than a biological woman, a place, or a philosophical construct.

Before we get to lost in rabbit trails, let’s get back to Revelation 17.

Revelation 17:1-2 NASB Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, (2) with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”

Think about this, the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with this harlot since time began and have been made drunk with her immorality.

Drunk is the Greek word methyō and is used metaphorically in Revelation 17:2, there it means “to become drunk with fornication, i.e., never having enough of it” (Word Study Dictionary)

It is somewhat overwhelming and scary to think that this delusion of power has made these “fools” drunk for a long time.

If you are paying attention to the explanation, it is not just the standard definition, such as alcohol; it is drunk on fornication. Most of us associate fornication with sexual activity; however, we cannot exclude fornication because it is associated with never having enough. Since the arrest and suspicious death of Jeffrey Epstein and, in time, the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell for sex trafficking, many of us are aware that the swamp, as former President Trump called it, may be deeply involved in this “drunkenness.” The obvious factor here is that a vast number of leaders appear to be involved over a wide variety of venues.

To put the idea of kings becoming drunk with power in perspective, you need to know about Klaus Schwab, the head of the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum is the organization that Bill Gates has been helping to finance, and it is where Mr. Schwab has been training world leaders in his school for Young Global Leaders. The shortlist of some of these “kings” include Chancellor Angela Merkel; Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain; Emmanuel Macron, the President of France; Sebastian Kurz, who was until recently the Chancellor of Austria; Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand – whose stringent lockdown measures have been praised by global health authorities; Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary; Jean-Claude Juncker, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg and President of the European Commission. Many leaders of the health institutions of their respective nations; the current US Secretary of Transportation Peter Buttigieg; Microsoft’s Bill Gates; Amazon’s Jeff Bezos; Virgin’s Richard Branson; and the Clinton Foundation’s Chelsea Clinton.

If all these players have the same goal, then surely you can see that eliminating consumers while protecting the assets and food chain for the rich helps create the philosophical construct they long for.

Revelation 17:3 AMP “And [the angel] bore me away [rapt] in the Spirit into a desert (wilderness), and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was all covered with blasphemous titles (names), and he had seven heads and ten horns.”

In looking at the UCRT Cross reference on Revelation 17:3, I found a short commentary on the word “wilderness.” The editor said, “this is the state of the church.” I looked to see when this commentary was published and found 1992.

Around this time frame, after several years of drinking too much, I had been going to an independent church that seemed to be on fire for the Lord. The uncomfortable part of this equation is that I lived with a beautiful lady, and we were expecting our first child together. An acquaintance of mine, whom I worked with, threatened to turn me into the church leadership; the result of which would have removed me from anything I had been involved in, and demanded that I separate from my soon to be wife for six months – as though that is a magical number. In a short period, I got my new family out of there, and, only a few months later, that same acquaintance got divorced and had an affair with a lady from the same church.

This is not an accounting of affairs, but I am trying to point out that OUR brokenness, from the pastors to the parking lot attendants, infests every church we have anything to do with. However, it isn’t necessarily our actions that make the state of the church a wilderness so much as it is the preaching and backbone of the person preaching that seems to play the most significant role in whether the church is on fire or not.

I saw a woman.

At this point, she is nondescript, but that is not a problem as we have already been given pointed descriptions.
- the great harlot
  
  This speaks to fame, influence, and power.
- who sits on many waters,
  
  Doesn’t this convey the idea of a global influence? Or the fact that the influence she pushes infests many nations.
- with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality,
  
  This statement does not tell us that everyone complies or whether the handful of small nations pushing back against this global governance will survive. Still, it demonstrates that most “kings” are falling into place and advocating what the Klaus Schwab school of global governance is apparently conveying.
- and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”
  
  While the rulers of this earth commit their acts of immorality, those that are not so powerful, all the way down to the ordinary person, are drunk with the wine of her immorality. As you can see below, prophecies of this nature are not uncommon to the Jews.
  
  It will come about at the end of seventy years that the LORD will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her harlot’s wages and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. (Isaiah 23:17 NASB)
  
  The next verse speaks of Balaam, who submitted to the wine of her immorality when he caved to the badgering of Balak, who wanted him to curse Israel.
  
  ‘But I have a few things against you because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. (Revelation 2:14 NASB)
  
  Considering how the angel of the Lord, which is typically Jesus, had told Balaam that he was NOT to curse Israel, it is surprising that he circumvented the command by telling Balak that he could destroy Israel from the inside if he introduced the young, attractive women from the other nations. They would bring their gods into the Israeli camp and pollute it. To put it differently, if you bring in the cuties, the men will be drunk with lust for them and destroy themselves.
seated on a scarlet beast

Do a search for a “scarlet beast,” and you will only find one reference, Revelation 17:3 NASB. You will not see this term in the KJV; however, other versions call it a scarlet, scarlet-colored, or a red beast. I am pointing this information out if you are going to try to do a word search that might explain what this scarlet beast represents.

The passage (Revelation 17:3) tells us the most crucial clue to define this red beast.
He had seven heads and ten horns.

We saw these seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 12:3; however, we are told that the beast is a great red dragon. Do not let yourself get confused, as Satan, the dragon, is the beast, and yet, he empowers the beast with seven heads, out of which the antichrist, another beast, comes.

And another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads! (Revelation 12:3 MKJV)

Revelation 13:1 describes a beast but not much else, and yet its description is very similar to what we see in Daniel seven.

And I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. And on its horns were ten crowns, and on its heads was the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1 MKJV)

Daniel 7 picks up on several of the characteristics spelled out in chapter 7.

After this, I looked in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, frightening and terrifying and very strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns. (Daniel 7:7 MKJV)

This fourth beast, the scarlet beast, is aligned with Nebuchadnezzar’s statue. Unlike the first three, the fourth beast is undefined in scripture, but the clues are there, the majority of which are historical. If the third beast was the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great, then the fourth beast, represented by the remaining two legs and initiated with the last two remaining Grecian generals, Seleucid in the north and Ptolemy in the south. Just looking at the statue tells you that a thread of the Grecian empire ran down into the feet. Still, it is known that both realms intermingled with the Assyrian empire, a remnant of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires, and is demonstrated by the usage of the word mixed to explain the iron and clay mingling of the ten toes. The word mixed is the Hebrew word arab.

So, out of the iron legs, feet, and toes, we find the seven heads and ten horns.

Posted in antichrist, bible study, dragon, End times, false teaching, Harlot, Harlot of Revelation, judgment, judgment, Prophetic, Revelation, seven headed beast, ten horns and seven heads, Thoughts on scripture, wickedness | Tagged Bible, end times, last days, prophecy, Scripture | Leave a comment

A massive earthquake, such as has never been seen. Rev 16:18 – 21

Posted on 11/30/2021 by remso

In our last look at Revelation 16, we saw a demon horde gathering all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon. I pointed out how this term Armageddon is only found one time, in one place, and that is here in Revelation 16:16, it is however a common term when you look up the term Jezreel valley and Meggido. Virtually every biblical battle has been fought in this valley, including the one in which Goliath was killed by David.

The NASB entitles this next section THE SEVENTH BOWL.

The seventh wrath event, whether it be the seals, trumpets, or bowls, has been the transition into the next event. The difference here is that God’s wrath being poured out ends with the bowls.

Revelation 16:17 NLT Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!”

Immediately I noticed something different; the angel is pouring this final bowl into the air.

Why is that important?

Because humanity does not live in the air, that appears to the realm of the spirit, which has more reality to it than the earth does. While some might try to argue that we have our influence over the air because we have people living in space stations to prove the point. Fools, you are merely pointing out the extent of your pollution.

Just a side note to ponder.

Ephesians 6:12 NASB For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Pay attention to the terminology used in Ephesians 2:2.

Ephesians 2:1-2 NASB And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, (2) in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Who is the prince of the power of the air?

If you said Satan, you would be correct.

The earth, with all its resources and beauty, has been the fuel for the damage done to the earth, the very thing that God gave Adam dominion over. Since Adam saw fit to hand the dominion of the earth over to Satan, wouldn’t it then be fitting to destroy this polluted earth and start over?

In Revelation 16:17, what does the angel mean when he says, “It is finished”?

The phrase refers to the end of wrath and that only happens when Christ returns as the warring Messiah, which is defined in Revelation 19 and conveyed over several verses.

Revelation 19:11 NASB And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war.

Revelation 19:14-15 NASB (14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (15) From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

Revelation 19:19-21 NASB (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (20) And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (21) And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

It is done, and this is what happens next.

Revelation 16:18 CJB There were flashes of lightning, voices, and peals of thunder; and there was a massive earthquake, such as has never occurred since mankind has been on earth, so violent was the earthquake.

Lightning, voices, and peals of thunder; what happened when God spoke words of affirmation over Jesus when He got baptized?

The people standing around there heard thunder, and we know that a couple of them became disciples of Jesus shortly after this event. Consider what the people heard as Moses spent time with God on Mount Ararat; they heard thunder.

Isaiah 30:30 NLT And the LORD will make his majestic voice heard. He will display the strength of his mighty arm. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.

What is my point?

God has been trying to speak to people since the garden, but most only hear indecipherable noise and thunder.

As a result of this earthquake.

Revelation 16:19 MKJV And the great city came to be into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the anger of His wrath.

“The great city” is Jerusalem. Some would have you believe that this is Rome or (a rebuilt) Babylon. Let me show you something.

“And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone will hurt them, so it is right for him to be killed. These have authority to shut up the heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. And when they complete their testimony, the beast coming up out of the abyss will make war against them and will overcome them and kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And many of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three days and a half, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be put in tombs.” (Revelation 11:3-9 MKJV)

These two witnesses are the two prophets that God sends back to earth. Revelation 11:3-9 defines not only where these two witnesses are standing, but backs it up with the bold statement, “where our Lord was crucified.”

As for these other references.

“Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. (Jeremiah 23:14 NASB)

In the next verse, He directly calls them Sodom and Gomorrah, communities that had long since been destroyed.

If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. Listen to the LORD, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9-10 NLT)

Ezekiel has the strongest association of Israel to Egypt because it refers to Samaria and Jerusalem and these are central to modern Israel.

They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts. The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 23:3-4 NLT)

Some would say, that was overkill, but I have experienced the arguments of those who reject wisdom merely because I left out one example or detail. So, in my mind, there is no doubt Revelation 16:19 is talking about Jerusalem.

Keep in mind the fact that this last bowl was poured out upon the air. It may not make any difference in the scheme of things but it does demonstrate that God can have anger and wrath. (Side note, He never pours out that wrath upon those who are His. This statement becomes clear when you understand that His nature is love, though it may not seem like it especially when there are laws attached to His actions.)

Consider, how we opened this look at Revelation 16, with a massive, violent earthquake, such as has never occurred since mankind has been on earth. Add to this the fact that thunderstorms, along with lightning, tend to bring about severe weather.

Revelation 16:20-21 NASB (20) And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (21) And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail because its plague *was extremely severe.

Every island fled away,
the mountains were not found,
huge hailstones – about one hundred pounds each, came down upon men;

And what did the humans do?

They blasphemed God because of the hail and its severity.

I know I have mentioned this before, but an acquaintance of mine tried to tell me that this time is NOT God’s wrath. Oh, I beg to differ as I am hard-pressed to call it anything else.

Posted in Babylon, bible study, End times, Israel, judgment, judgment, Prophetic, Revelation, the nations, Thoughts, two witnesses, wrath. | Tagged Babylon, Bible, blasphemed, Earth, earthquake, fled away, God, hail, hailstones, hope, hundred, island, lightning. thunder, mountains, nations, pound, prophecy, Scripture, the great city, violent | Leave a comment

Only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. Rom 3:9-31

Posted on 11/27/2021 by remso

Romans 3 opened with this statement, “then what’s the advantage of being a Jew?” To the Jew-hating racist, this rant is a part of their bye-laws.

It is obvious that chapter three opens in the middle of a conversation and I can see the need to find out what the conversation is. As chapter two comes to an end, we come to understand that the Jews received the law. Most perceive the law as an ominous thing, but if you take this train of thought back to the original ten commandments it boils down to this, love God, love on people, and do the right thing. Loving on people doesn’t seem all that ominous.

Did you ever wonder why God felt the need to “oppress” these people He just rescued out of Egypt with what eventually became over 600 laws?

First, it was the Jewish religion that came up with a vast number of laws. Secondly, in trying to explain why I think God had to quickly bring the hammer down on these people, I will be polite and say perhaps it is oppressive because anyone who reads attentively about this event in Exodus, which parallels with Stephen’s testimony before the Jewish council, as seen in the book of Acts, you can come to the conclusion that the greatest majority of them were effectively Egyptians and had NO understanding or faith in God.

If you read my last post on Romans 3, then you also know that they were not Jews. The entirety of the story which includes the birth of Moses leaves me scratching my head as I try to figure out how Moses’ birth mother was able to hold to the oral heritage, that at minimum went back to Jacob and his twelve sons. When I read through the chain of events that brought Jacob and the family into Egypt, it almost seems as though God dissipated into the background.

Assuming that you struggle with what I just said, consider the generations of your own family, where the great grandparents may have held tightly to the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and yet just a couple of generations later the God of my grandparents is rarely mentioned unless it is used as a curse against another human. If it weren’t for God reintroducing Himself to Moses, we might not be having these discussions.

That being said, does being the proud owners of the law, capable of reciting so much of it, make you righteous?

No, it does not. Paul tells us that it is the doers of the law that are right with God; and, what a great mystery, like the Gentiles, who may not have been privy to these laws, still seem to obey those laws. At this point, we call this a moral standard and many of the Gentile world is living by it. Paul tells us this happens because God has written this moral standard – laws, upon the heart of every human.

How did this happen?

We are, every one of us, created in God’s image [This is the point at which many of you should start spitting on yourself as you try to disown and separate yourself from the God you claim to hate.]; and God’s image – His nature or character if you will, has that moral standard built-in. It is who He is. Wow, no wonder, even with all the evil you have done, Satan has been trying to kill you. You look like a child of God and you didn’t even know it.

With that let’s continue with Romans 3.

Romans 3:9 NLT Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.

Notice that Paul’s focus is upon the Jewish reader who has accepted Jesus Christ as the longed-for Messiah. Just the fact that these brothers can claim Jewish heritage, for most, gives them a sense of pride and righteousness. [My Jewish heritage dissipates into the background because it comes through my grandfather, and for some reason, which I don’t understand, disavows me as a Jew.] Having excoriated this church body, and by extension the global community of Jewish believers, you are NOT gaining an advantage merely because you hold to laws.

Dare I say, just because Paul tore into them, then I get to be elevated because I too am a believer and have faith in Jesus?

Paul says, NO, NOT AT ALL, because we are all under the power of sin. I have actually sat in church long enough to get the impression that merely because I came to Jesus all of my nasty habits and the trail of carnage I created just goes away.

Are you kidding me, what did Paul just say?

“all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin.”

Like I have mentioned in previous posts, people in Recovery, even if it has been 15 plus years, know that the sin that so easily besets them is lurking out there waiting to lure them back into captivity.

Romans 3:10-18 NLT

(10) As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one.

(11) No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.

(12) All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”

(13) “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.”

(14) “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

(15) “They rush to commit murder.

(16) Destruction and misery always follow them.

(17) They don’t know where to find peace.”

(18) “They have no fear of God at all.”

Well, that was discouraging and it is without hope. We will get there.

Romans 3:19-20 NLT Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. (20) For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

So, we are all on the same playing field, and we are all sinful.

Romans 3:21 NLT But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

Without the keeping of the law?

Hold up a minute. How did this law thing start? With ten commandments that told us to love God, people, and to act right. That never went away and besides, those commandments are a part of that moral fiber that speaks you constantly, whether you obey those laws or not.

So how do we get to be right in God’s eyes?

Romans 3:22-23 NLT We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (23) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Oh, and by the way, “this is true for everyone who believes,” because everyone has sinned and, therefore, falls short of God’s standard.

Perhaps another way of looking at this is to see us all as being genetically damaged. This genetic damage is undetectable since it is a common marker throughout the DNA of all humanity; and, few will contemplate the idea that we got this damage from Adam and that he became damaged by eating that fruit. Many refuse to believe that our DNA can be damaged or modified by something we put into our bodies – this is happening as we speak through the global mRNA injections.

Our situation is really quite hopeless unless we have a savior, and we do – it is Jesus Christ, the one who put Himself on the cross for us. He paid the sin debt and made us acceptable in God’s sight. As Pastor JD Farag of Calvary Chapel Kaneohe, Hawaii, says, “But God.” God is always there and has a plan.

Romans 3:24-25 NLT Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (25) For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

People have asked, why didn’t God just destroy Satan, throw away Adam and Eve – as they were obviously broken, and start over?

The answer is right there in the passage above, and it has everything to do with this moral character that makes Him who He is, a God that cannot lie – and you will find no untruth in Him. Genesis tells us that God gave Adam dominion over all the earth. You will rarely hear anyone tell you how extensive this dominion was. Adam’s eyes were wide open when he handed control of the earth to Satan. Satan, from that moment forward, had legal control over the earth, and Adam had sinned. By God’s law, the wages of sin was death, and no one has been able to escape that legal demand.

So God, through the legal process which has been there before time began though not so evident to the Gentiles, inserted His Son into the earth, free from the genetic alterations that embedded sin within us, and beat Satan at his own game by becoming the unblemished lamb, the sacrifice for sin; and, rose from the dead to be the high priest that poured His blood over us, freeing us from the debt that sin demanded.

We are now free to follow Jesus back to the Father. Of course, while we live on this earth, none of us are free from death, but we will be once we are in the presence of the Father, and it is this change that we see in 1 Corinthians 15:52 that makes that happen.

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:52

“ God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”

Verse 25 states, “ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.”

If you had not been walking through Romans like this, would you have understood that this is referring to Christ’s journey from the cross to the throne?

I am not sure I fully understand why, but occasionally I have to remind myself that the full journey, which was necessary for us, took Him into hell, and up to the throne room in heaven – the pattern for the one here on earth.(Hebrews speaks of this.)

Romans 3:26 NLT for he (God) was looking ahead and including them (The Gentiles) in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

In speaking to the Jews he says,

“Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.” Romans 3:27 NLT

Why would Paul feel a need to say something like this, unless it was common for the Jews to boast about how superior they were?

Who were they boasting to?

The Gentile believers who were a part of this combined body in Christ.

Romans 3:28 CJB “Therefore, we hold the view that a person comes to be considered righteous by God on the ground of trusting, which has nothing to do with legalistic observance of Torah commands.”

Doesn’t it make sense, based on the terminology in the verse above, that the context of this letter, has in part, the heart and actions of Jewish believers?

“Or is God the God of the Jews only?

Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles?

Yes, he is indeed the God of the Gentiles;” (Romans 3:29 CJB)

Even if it causes you to choke.

“because, as you will admit, God is one. Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting.”(Romans 3:30 CJB)

The terminology “God is one, was a Jewish understanding.

“GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies enthroned over the cherubim-angels, you are God, the only God there is, God of all kingdoms on earth. You made heaven and earth. (Isaiah 37:16 MSG)

And lastly, for those who think that grace removes all responsibility from their lives.

Romans 3:31 NLT “Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.”

Amen!

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Faith, God's character, In Christ, Jesus, Jews, redemption, righteous, Romans, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, unrighteousness | Tagged applies, Belief, Christ, end times, excuses, Faith, freely, gentiles, God, grace, guilty, hope, Jesus, Jews, keeping, law, purpose, requirements, Romans, sacrifice, Scripture, seeking, Sin, sinful, wise | Leave a comment

What’s the advantage of being a Jew? Romans 3:1-8.

Posted on 11/20/2021 by remso

We have made it to Romans chapter three, and immediately there is a sense that something is missing, as though we drop into the middle of a conversation. Based on this introduction if you were to say to me, I don’t understand Romans 3 I would completely understand. Here is verse one.

Romans 3:1 NLT Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision?

Because, as I noted above, we are missing the context, let’s look at the context.

“In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” (Romans 2:27-29 NLT)

Why, would the uncircumcised Gentiles, a people group despised by the Jews, condemn the Jews?

Even I, a Gentile convert accepted into God’s grace and love by the sacrifice of Jesus, a Jew, understand that God came to the Jews first. Paul tells us it is because they did not obey the law necessary to take away their sins, at least for the moment.

The problem, for me, is that I don’t obey the law either; in fact, it is even worse than that, I can’t because there is something trying to push me to the dark side all the time, and that is why we needed a savior.

Paul takes this one step further by talking about circumcision.

Beginning with Abraham, circumcision was the sign of the covenant between Abram and God.

“This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. “And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.” (Genesis 17:10-12 NASB)

A question, were there any Jews at this point, following laws?

The answer is NO, and there was none until several hundred years later, and they were descendants of Judah; and yet they followed God’s instructions to Abraham concerning the covenant, by getting themselves, their children, and Gentile servants who lived in their house circumcised. Their actions, in their mind, signified that they were God’s promised people.

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

Great in every respect.

First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

[We have already seen that God initiated these words/oracles when he spoke to Abraham. However, Romans 2:13-15 conveys that it is only the doers of the law who gain a righteous standing with God; and Paul tells us that many of the Gentiles do that and they have never heard of the law. Why? Because God saw fit to write His law – all ten of them, upon our hearts.]

Abraham complied by getting circumcised as a sign.

What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?

[The NLT puts it this way,

“True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful,

does that mean God will be unfaithful?”]

(Romans 3:1-3 NASB)

It’s a rhetorical question, which Paul promptly answers.

Romans 3:4 NLT “Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

“Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true.”

Often our purpose in a study is to prove or disprove that a statement is valid or true. Job certainly does that for us.

“Listen to me, you who have understanding. Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong.” (Job 34:10 NLT)

And though the questions come from Bildad there are still valid and true.

“Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right?” (Job 8:3 NLT)

The answer is a resounding NO. Sadly, those who ignore the morality that dwells will find out that He is just and true.
“You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

Almost everyone struggles with this portion of Romans 3:4, and it just occurred to me why they struggle. We think this is talking to us, about us, and it is NOT. It is talking about God, His Word, and His actions.

Virtually everything in the NT came from the Old and this line that Paul speaks sounds very much like King David in the Psalms.

“Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.” Psalms 51:4 NLT

Having spent some time in recovery, I came to find that honesty was the best option. As King David just said, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.” There is, as the NASB states, NO JUSTIFICATION for what we do. Thank God for being a savior and for the fact that God purchased us back and marked us with a seal of this covenant we have with Him, which is the Holy Spirit that comes into the life of every believer that accepts Him.

Many times, because I have had these discussions/arguments with “Christians” I will put forth the argument to address the question before it comes.

Romans 3:5 NASB But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)

The NLT puts it this way.

But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.)

Maybe this is what we do when we declare ourselves to be covered by God’s grace and therefore free to cuss all we want. In this case, you are NOT proving anything other than the fact that you are an ignorant dolt that cannot communicate your emotions and feelings by the use of proper language and grammar. I certainly do not look at people like this and immediately say, my, how good God is, and neither does the general public. I can, however, extend grace toward these people.

After being in recovery for a time, I was asked to lead the men’s anger group. Being a participant is entirely different from being a leader that has to attempt to reign in someone who is on the edge of being out of control. One brother had been a medic with a special ops team during the Vietnam war. As a special ops medic, you have to fight as well as patch people up. For a time this guy merely sat alone in the break room, stroking the head of his stress dog. I stopped to talk with him and got an earful of cussing. He then said, see, you cannot handle the volcano inside of me. I responded by saying, I can handle anything that comes out of your mouth, but I would prefer to hear Jesus. He eventually came around.

Paul must have heard statements like this, “isn’t it unfair for Him to punish us?”

Are you serious? I already showed you a statement about God from Job 34:10 and it reads like this.

“Everyone knows that God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong.”

Promoting sin goes against the nature and character of God. God is the moral standard and there is nothing unjust or unfair in what He does.

Again, Paul answers his own question.

Romans 3:6 NLT Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world?

What we do not perceive, is that God’s decisions have all been played out because there is a legal standard, based upon His moral standard; and controlled His actions in purchasing the human race back from the control of Satan.

“But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.” (Romans 3:7-8 NLT)

Merely to say, my dishonesty, or as most translate, lie highlights God’s truthfulness and brings him more glory, demonstrating how dishonest we truly are. Again, go to recovery and you will find people standing before you and saying, “Hi, I am …. and I have 15 years of sobriety.” In saying this, they are admitting that a return to the activity they are testifying of is freedom, and it is hanging out there waiting to grab you and take you captive once again if you let it. God, may, in time, get the glory, but He does so only as you testify to your dependence upon the freedom He brings.

People who are foolish enough to go back to their vomit, are nothing more than fools.

Turn to Jesus.

Posted in Thoughts on scripture | Tagged advantage, Belief, Bible, Christ, circumcision, condemn, demonstrates, end times, fair, God, good, hope, inflicts, Jesus, jew, judge, lie, purpose, qualified, righteousness, Romans 3:1-8, Scripture, sinfulness, unfaithful, unrighteousness, value, world, wrath | Leave a comment

Evil spirits that looked like frogs leaped from their mouths. Revelation 16:13-14.

Posted on 11/17/2021 by remso

I ended the previous post with these verses.

Revelation 16:13-14 NLT And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. (14) They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.

What can I gather from this?

That the evil spirits leap from the mouths of the dragon/Satan; the beast/antichrist; and the false prophet/and we will try to identify a person that fulfills this role momentarily.

The spirits are clearly identified as demon spirits.

Demons are not some bizarre, original creations, they are fallen angels. Now, there might be some association with the hybrids/Nephalim that were created by the fallen angels having sexual relations with human women, but that is not our purpose here so I will leave it at that.

Defining the false prophet is not a simplistic answer, so let’s dig into this for a moment.

If I were to say, there was an oil spill, would you assume it was an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf that got hit with an explosive UAV, or would you theorize that I had a bad moment while trying to fry chicken?

As you can see the answer requires a bit more information doesn’t it, especially if I wanted you to perceive an accurate mental picture of what got spilled and where. Now, with this bit of information apply my logic, in this case, to whom or what this person is.

Let’s apply this assumption to the oil scenario. If you are a chef, can you receive information that provokes you to consider oils other than, olive or vegetable oil, especially if you wanted to comprehend something like a ruptured oil line in Long Beach Harbor, that was damaged by a ship anchor and polluted miles of beaches? Any reasonable person would and should be asking these questions.

Why tell you any of this?

Because there was a day at church when we were having lunch together. I can be rather introverted at times and on this particular day, I chose to make conversation with some people I had seen frequently but never talked with. Just days before this moment I had come across archaeological information from Israel that opened a door that changed the way I look at Jesus, “the carpenter.”

The first consideration about Jesus being a carpenter, and part of my religious mentality is,

He did NOT say these words about Himself; they were spoken by others about His father.

Matthew 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son?
Secondly, those speaking about Him did NOT say carpenter, they called Him a tektōn, but you would not know that unless you took the time to use an interlinear translation and see for yourself.

A tektōn is a craftsman and does not limit Him to being a carpenter. The idea of Him being a carpenter came from tradition. Non-Biblical tradition informs of this, and it is tradition that tells us that you learned your father’s trade. If you want to find problems with this, you can around doing nothing and take guesses as to how old Jesus was when Joseph died.
We cannot assume that Jesus was a carpenter, but we do.

So we live in an extra-biblical world on a daily basis.

So, how does information like this change my life or perception?

Perhaps it doesn’t change anything unless you are willing to consider information OTHER than direct Biblical information.

Guess what I talked about with these strangers?

Archaeology, and how the Israeli archaeologists had uncovered a granite quarry, no more than a quarter-mile outside of Nazareth, the town Jesus grew up in. At the quarry, those scientists found broken and partially completed remnants of granite drinkware, all of which clearly showed lathe marks.

The family I shared this information with seemed to follow what I was saying; however, with only a moment’s hesitation, the husband said, “I do NOT believe that we should consider anything extra-biblical in forming our understanding of Jesus.”

I responded by saying, fascinating that you should say that, as we accept the idea that Jesus was a carpenter when the Greek terminology tells us that Jesus was a tektōn. We don’t challenge what the word tektōn means, we merely accept that it means Jesus was a carpenter, however, it is an undefined term and cannot be defined without additional information.

So what do we do with this information?

We can choose to ignore that archaeology has intelligibly demonstrated that it was possible for Jesus to be a craftsman at this particular quarry. You might also try to tell me that we have no evidence to demonstrate that Jesus was a craftsman with granite, but we do, and it is NOT so unbiblical.

In the second chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus and the disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.

“On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus *said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus *said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” His mother *said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”” (John 2:1-5 NASB)

No other disciple recorded this incident so we have NO other biblical information to pull from, and, therefore, have to make logical, and non-biblical assumptions.

What we do see is a mother inserting herself into a situation that may not have been her responsibility.
We do not know how she would know they were out of wine,
And, neither do we know the ethnic origins of the servants that Mary spoke to.

To say they were Jewish servants is pure conjecture on your part. Keep in mind that the Jews were quick to tell Jesus, that we have NEVER been slaves to anyone; so, we must assume that these were Gentile servants.
What is made very clear to us, is that Mary understood Jesus’ capabilities for the miraculous, and told the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

What happened next is extraordinary.

Jesus seemed to know that there were stone pots, of enormous size. Remember, we have NO other constrictive information, so anything we assume about this is conjecture.

Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus *said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. And He *said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. (John 2:6-8 NASB)

Nobody pays attention to the fact that these stone pots were most likely handcrafted, lathed, and capable of holding up to thirty gallons of water; and quite possibly made one-quarter mile outside of Nazareth. The other significant thing was that they were made of stone and Jesus seemed to know all of this.

What is the big deal about that?

Israel had some severe sanitary laws, laid out by God, that they had to abide by. For example.

‘As for any earthenware vessel into which one of them may fall, whatever is in it becomes unclean and you shall break the vessel. (Leviticus 11:33 NASB)

For the longest time, all they had was wood or clay vessels from which to eat. However, history records that several years before this wedding, an enterprising Jewish council member realized that the restrictions of God’s law said NOTHING about granite and therefore was meant by God to always be ceremonially clean. This entrepreneur presented his case to the council and they agreed. From that day forward granite was declared perpetually clean and it is looked on as clean to this day. For the most part, we Gentiles know nothing about Jewish laws concerning cleanliness, nor do we know that a Jew could explain this to you if you asked, as they hold to this exception to this day.

If those pots had been earthenware and Gentile slaves had touched them, the pots would have to be broken and trashed; but since they were granite, Jesus could have slaves fill them, without a thought.

Is it possible that the craftsman, Jesus, made those very pots?

We have nothing to tell us otherwise.

Because Jewish law was modified, it was now possible for Gentiles to fill the waterpots without harm. All this information may have played a role in Jesus turning the water into wine, but should you exclude it because it is extra-biblical?

The answer from this man I spoke to was, no.

If I have done my job in conveying this story, then you should be able to see that extra-biblical information might help to explain who this false prophet is.

While we, in the Christian community, have prophetic Words and scriptures contained in the Bible to guide us in our attempt to understand, we should not be shocked to find out that Islam does as well. For them, scriptures are the words of the Qur’an and they have their own prophetic words in writings called hadith.

Our imagery of the false prophet varies so much that some portrayals show the man as a vicious wolf covered in sheepskin; and yet, this is how Islam portrays Jesus, although they don’t call Him that, they call him the Dajjal¹.

Here is a short definition of what they perceive the Dajjal to be.

Dajjal means “deceiver” in Arabic. In Islamic eschatology, Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal is an evil false prophet who, it is said, will come to earth and try to lure people into following Shaytan (Satan). It is believed he will then be destroyed by Christ/the Imam Mahdi.

The Dajjal, to Muslims, is the false prophet, the same person we believers understand to be Jesus.

How convenient that Jesus shows up about the same time as the biblical end of the false prophet and Islam’s Mahdi – the antichrist.

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”” (Revelation 19:11-16 NASB)

And the beast [the Antichrist] was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast [An interesting fact is that the only one who takes this mark will be those who DO NOT have their names written in the book of Life.] and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20 NASB)

How does the Bible describe the false prophet?

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11 NASB)

The fact that he had two horns like a lamb is indicative of him being a representative of “godly teaching,” either that or a Jew. Keep in mind, that the Bible sitting on your shelf, is a Jewish book and is centered on the Jews. We, the church, are just a side note.

As I have pointed out in previous posts, there is a man who already exists and fits this role. His name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane, and he has been the high priest designate since 2016. When I mention this and show the picture of the Rabbi, their response is, that he seems like a nice man.

This phrase “ he seems like a nice man” is exactly what the enemy wants out of us, as it will be the catalyst for a great deception. Think about this, scripture tells us that he has two horns like a lamb. City folk, like myself, perceive the horns as a bad thing not knowing that all sheep eventually produce horns and that the shepherds presumably cut them off to preserve the wool of other sheep.

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24 NASB)

If, a loved man, like this, suddenly began performing great signs and wonders, do you think it might be possible to draw Jewish teachers away from their fragile relationships with God?

No doubt in my mind. Although religious teachers, who ignore God’s words, portray this “misleading” differently and try to make you think this is talking about you instead of God’s chosen – the Jewish leadership. Remember, there is always a context and it applies to a time when the church, as the body of Christ, is gone.

It would be impossible to mislead the church if it has been caught away.
Secondly, this time is halfway through the seven years of God’s wrath upon Israel and the nations – the time seen as the time of the antichrist.

Horns like a sheep are telling us that the false prophet is a religious man.
Performing great signs only happens at the halfway point, and, up to this point has NOT been a regular part of the false prophet’s functions. If this man, who becomes the false prophet, has been acting as the high priest, imagine the awe and respect he will have.
When it comes to signs and wonders, you have to keep in mind that there have been two witnesses from God, and they have been performing signs and testifying of God’s greatness for three and one-half years. With their mission accomplished God allows for them to die. You have to realize that everyone has tried to kill them without success or harm. These two witnesses have been doing the very thing that this false prophet will do. It is not a question of mimicry, but it is exactly what Satan/the serpent/the dragon does, he perverts God’s will and ways, and, as scripture shows us, he is empowered by Satan just as the beast is.

Revelation 13:11-12 NASB “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence…”

Daniel 8:24 is speaking about the insolent king that will come when he says this.

“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And prosper and perform his will; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. (Daniel 8:24 NASB)

Since you know that the false prophet exercises ALL THE AUTHORITY of the first beast, then you should understand that it is the dragon that gives the false prophet this authority. If you want validation of what I just told you above, then read the entirety of Revelation 13:11-17.

One last comment.

These two passages that I initiated this study with are here to show you a purpose.

And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
(Revelation 16:13-14 NASB)

The entirety of their purpose is to gather the kings of the whole world for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

“kings” is the Greek word basileus, and according to Thayer’s definitions also means leader of the people, prince, commander, or lord of the land.

It would seem that everyone who thinks they have power is being drawn to this battle.

The terminology that the NASB uses is the phrase “the war of the great day of God, the Almighty,” Many focus on the term Armageddon and will deem this battle we see in Revelation 16:14 to be that very battle.

If you do a word search for the term Armageddon the KJV produces one result, while the NASB gives us NO instances of the term.

The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury defines Armageddon in this manner. It is called

The Hill of Slaughter,
The Mount of Decision or Sentence (Lange).
The Meggido Valley,
A symbol of defeat;
A hill of victory.
Armageddon is also known as, the Hill of Megiddo, where the Lord would avenge the crime of the heathen (Gebhardt, p. 274, cited in Dusterdiek, Note LXXX, p. 425)
I will add that virtually every Biblical battle has been fought in this valley.

An example of this comes from the book of Judges.

“Kings came; they fought. Yes, the kings of Kena`an fought at Ta`anakh, by the waters of Megiddo; but they took no spoil of silver. (Judges 5:19 CJB)
And that Megiddo is situated in the plain of Jezreel, which happens to be where David killed Goliath.

1 Samuel 29 tells us of how David, running from King Saul, went to Achish and allied himself to him, in the land of Philistines, the Jezreel valley.

Though we are not there yet, the only place we find Armageddon in the scriptures is in Revelation 16.

And he shall gather them together into a place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (Revelation 16:16 DRB)

Notice that it does not imply that you will find the word in the Old Testament, merely because it says, “in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”

So, in the world of battles, we have the

Gog, Magog war of Ezekiel 38,39. This will be a massive attack against Israel. It almost sounds as though this war has some nuclear weapons being launched, and God appears to launch fireballs against the enemies of Israel. This might happen moments before the rapture of the church, or a short time later; it’s hard to say.
The antichrist calls for peace, but keep in mind that Israel is not mentioned in that call. Three and half years later, the false prophet will launch a deadly war against believers and Jews. At some point 2/3 of Israel is killed or destroyed.
Revelation 19 tells us that Jesus returns at the end of the time of wrath. All those who chose to fight against Him will be killed. This battle also happens in the Jezreel valley, and there is where the blood will run as high as the horses’ bridle.
After all this, we enter a thousand years of peace. While people stop fighting, consider that the nations, though limited in number, will continue to live during this time and still have their free will choices. At least Satan will be bound and unable to affect their decision-making process. At the end of these thousand years, Satan will be released to deceive the nations one last time. They will rise up in a war against God and the Holy City, where most of us will live. This battle will also take place in the Jezreel Valley.

With this information and lack of scriptural witnesses, it seems that it would be inappropriate to walk in confusion and call everything the battle of Armageddon.

Hopefully, this helps.

Today would be a great day to turn your life over to the Lord.

1I had intended to give you extensive, extra-biblical, information, but I get whined at about my posts being too long already. If you want more information then I suggest you do an internet search for Dajjal; Isa ibn Maryam; The Mahdi; Twelvers; Islamic prophecies; Qur’an, and Islamic eschatology. You should find the answers you seek.

Posted in Antichrist, bible study, dragon, End times, false prophet, false teaching, Gog, Hope, Islam, judgment, Magog, Prophetic, rapture, Revelation, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture, two witnesses | Tagged battle, Beast, Bible, demonic, dragon, end times, evil, false, frogs, gather, God, great judgment day, hope, Jesus, last days, Lord, miracles, mouths, prophecy, prophet, Revelation 16:13-14, rulers, Scripture, spirits, world | Leave a comment

When Gentiles, who do not have the law… Romans 2: 12-21.

Posted on 11/13/2021 by remso

A slight shift in thought, but not really.

The Biblical caption inserted by the translators reads like this:

God’s Judgment and the Law

Romans 2:12 CJB All who have sinned outside the framework of Torah will die outside the framework of Torah, and all who have sinned within the framework of Torah will be judged by Torah.

Who would have sinned outside the law?

The Gentiles/nations. An example of the nations is easily seen when you look at Nineveh; that large city that Jonah had been sent to with the purpose of delivering a message of destruction.

The threat of death sounds rather ominous, but he is making a point that few will catch. It is that these people – the Gentiles world, will not be judged according to the law.

How then will they be judged?

Look at Matthew 25 where you find the sheep and goat judgment. (At this point, we have to apply some logic, as there is no clear, directive that tells us to treat these two groups as the same. Here are some of the reasons I do so.)

What we see in Matthew’s account, is a parallel to Revelation, however,

in Matthew 25:32 we see “All the nations” being gathered before Him, whereas in the Revelation it merely states that the “ the dead, the great and the small” are brought before Him.
In the gospel of Matthew, it is Jesus who has “segregated” the massive crowd of those who died outside of Christ or the law; and yet, the sheep are shown mercy and given entrance into the kingdom of God. While Revelation 20 does not show us the segregation, it merely speaks of those who received the harsh judgment.
Those, in Matthew’s account, who are stunned by this mercy, ask why.

The answer from Jesus comes,

because when I was hungry – you fed me;
when I was thirsty – you gave me a drink;
when I was incarcerated – you came and visited me.

All these things Jesus mentions are indicative of persons acting in the nature and character of the Father God; and yet, WE do not perceive them as having known the Father, why?

Because we did not see them doing the appropriate religious thing, in a religious manner. Look closely at what Revelation 20:13-15 tells us.

Revelation 20:13-15 NASB (13) “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. (14) Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (15) And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

These people, just like those in Matthew’s account, were judged by their deeds. How odd considering that Paul’s gospel plainly states that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ as our savior. Since I can perceive a chain of events, such as the catching away of the church;

Then it’s obvious that neither Matthew’s crowd nor the one we see in Revelation 20, have put their FAITH in Christ, at least that is NOT apparent to me.
These are NOT the martyred saints from the seven-year period, as they were resurrected just as the seven-year period began;
There is one other thing that stands out, and that is the fact that many of these have lived through the thousand-year reign, chose to fight against Christ one last time, and are now counted among the dead – a number that may go back to Cain and Abel in the garden.

If I focus strictly on those who are deceived and fight against God, one last time, at the end of time, it is hard to perceive that any of those would be found in the book of life, but still, Jesus looks to see if there is any mercy that could be extended to them because of their deeds, which are detailed in Matthew 25.

Do you not yet understand that sin was forgiven at the cross, and this includes these deceived people who came to believe that they could kill God?

Oh, we do not escape judgment, and neither will they, but they will judge according to what they did with Jesus, just as all believers are.

This justification seems almost miraculous but read on.

Romans 2:13 NASB for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

These people have somehow been followers of the law, and they were not Jews. I might put this another way, These people we see in Matthew 25, where they are called sheep, have managed to follow the law written upon their hearts, and the majority of this crowd may have had NO RELIGIOUS experience, as defined by religion. I once heard a missionary state, that even though some of the people groups they encountered had never been contacted by outsiders, they still had standards that they lived by, such as, don’t eat other tribe members. If they demonstrated any of the qualities seen in Matthew 25, then Jesus extends mercy to them.

Don’t think for a second that God will allow you to bring YOUR garbage into His kingdom, and therefore, somehow, these too will be changed in a twinkling of an eye.

Hey, wait a minute, isn’t Romans 2:13 talking about me as well?

It is and you can see that in the phrase “for when Gentiles. If you are NOT a Jew, then you are a Gentile.

Romans 2:14 NLT Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.

(14 NASB) “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,”

I had originally put forth the NASB because it frequently conveys an understandable account, however, in this case the NASB uses a phrase that portrays those Gentiles as being a law to themselves. I suppose I watched to many cowboy movies when I was young because characters that operated as a law to themselves were the bullies that murdered others just to get their way, and that is not what we are talking about here. For that reason I gave you the NLT translation as well because it says, “they instinctively obey it (that law written upon their hearts,) even if they don’t openly accept that the law came from the heart of God.

(Romans 2:15-16 NASB) in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, (16) on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

Instinctively is an excellent choice of words as we are so prone to attribute our behavior to that concept instead of accepting personal responsibility. Many, leaning upon their heritage, will say something foolish like, it is just an instinctive within in my heritage to be an angry and violent person.

One more thing I want you to consider before letting go of verses 15-16, and it is this.

“their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”

They, whoever they are, lived their lives without the benefit of a Bible. An acquaintance of mine would tell you that Jesus cannot return for His church because of that very issue.

Sorry, I do not see it that way, because, as the Amplified Bible conveys,

“They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there,” (BBE) “their sense of right and wrong giving witness to it, (CJB) “for their conflicting thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them.”

With the law written upon their hearts, their hearts provokes them to live by God’s moral standards, even if they cannot express that it is God’s moral standard living there. So there is no excuse available to them. In other words, they cannot whine about NOT having a printed copy of the scriptures and, therefore, did not know.

Seriously, how many of us have six Bibles and open none of them in an effort to curtail and maintain our lives before God?

And, though our hearts will often judge, when it is not our place to judge, and condemn these at this final throne, to the fires of hell, we refuse to acknowledge that God has the right to show these at the judgment seat, mercy. In order to come to the conclusion that all here must go to hell, we have to set aside the Word of God where it says, “ their thoughts alternately accusing or defending them.”

Consider something. We know that all believers will be “judged,” and yet, you expect mercy. The idea of judgment for the church comes from Romans 14:10, where it plainly states, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. I would like to point out that the word judgment/bema is the same word used to describe the rostrum or podium at the Olympic games where the awards are given for an outstanding performance. You are not here to be judged, as though some part of the body of Christ should be cut off and thrown into the pit of hell. You are safe in the arms of Jesus and thanked for the smallest of efforts. You will be given a crown, which we will delightedly cast before the feet of Jesus, the only one who deserves our accolades.

Why can’t you allowthese that God has brought before His throne the same mercy?

It’s a rhetorical question that does not demand an answer.

A not-so-friendly approach.

Romans 2:17-21 NASB But

if you bear the name “Jew”
and rely upon the Law
and boast in God,
(18) and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,
(19) and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind,
a light to those who are in darkness,
(20) a corrector of the foolish,
a teacher of the immature,
having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth,
(21) you, therefore, who teach another,
do you not teach yourself?
You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal?

Note the practical and logical side of this; wouldn’t the confident guide, a teacher and corrector of the foolish, teach themselves?

Of course, they would, that is unless they were deluded.

Romans 2:22-23 NASB

You who say that one should not commit adultery,

do you commit adultery?
You who abhor idols,

do you rob temples?
(23 CJB) You who take such pride in Torah,

do you, by disobeying the Torah, dishonor God?—

If this is the way you live, then you need to know, there is no HONOR in that, and you can see Paul’s reaction in verse 24.

“For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.” (Romans 2:24 NASB)

No wonder the world blasphemes God, we certainly haven’t shown them anything.

Romans 2:25 NLT The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.

But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. I think these words would sting if I was a Jew (I do have some Jewish blood, but I don’t count because it comes through my grandfather and not my grandmother. Go figure. Thank God I was adopted.)

Romans 2:26-27 NLT And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? (27) In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.

Well, Romans 2:26-27 bites, but why?

Because the law of God is written upon the hearts of everyone.

Romans 2:28-29 NLT For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. (29) No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God.

And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law;

rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit.

And how about this:

a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Do you have a changed heart?

Posted in bible study, forgiven, Freedom from sin, heart, Hell, Jews, marked, Romans, sealed, Sin, the nations, Thoughts on scripture, unrighteousness | Tagged Belief, Bible, conscience, defending, doers, gentiles, God, hearers, hearts, hope, instinctively, Jesus, Jews, judged, justified, know, preach, Romans 2, Scripture, show, sinned, steal, teach, the law, written | Leave a comment

He will judge everyone according to what they have done. Romans 2:1-11

Posted on 11/06/2021 by remso

Chapter two opens like this “Therefore you have no excuse,”

Chapter two is starting deep within a thought, the passage, therefore, demands that we stay within the context. To do that we have to go back to Romans 1:21.

Romans 1:21 NASB For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Who is Paul speaking about in Romans 1:21 when he says they?

The Jews.

Can we apply this statement to ourselves?

The short answer is yes. BUT, since we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, are we subject to the wrath of God, as Israel brought on themselves? (See Ephesians 1:13).

The long answer is No, as it certainly seems as though there are so-called Christians that fit the description we see in Romans 1:21. If you don’t understand this idea of so-called Christians, then consider what John said.

1 John 2:19 NASB They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

It is rather clear that not everyone is a part of the body of Christ. Since we have a terrible time distinguishing between wheat – an edible grain, and brome – a weed, it is wisest to let Jesus sort them out at the end of the millennium.

Sealed is the Greek word sphragizō and means to stamp for security, preservation, to secure to someone, make sure, deliver over safely.

All the defining words for sealed lean toward God marking us, just as He marks the 144,000 so that they cannot be harmed. At this juncture, I want to point something out. God is not necessarily preserving you from the daily tribulations of life – for some, those tribulations are deadly and we are not in the time of wrath as yet. So don’t go thinking that tribulations include the propeller on your speed boat. Considering that Jesus said, they will hate you because of Me; this hatred then would have more to do with your testimony, whatever that looks like, than your whining about having to replace the tire rim on your sports car.

Back to Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God…”

What qualified as knowing?

Samuel, raised in the courts of the “temple” should have and would have known God and His ways/laws, and yet his sons did not.

1 Samuel 2:12 NLT Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the LORD

Job, lamenting to his companions, tells them to shut up and listen for a moment, and then they can go back to berating him. When they stop talking, he says,

Job 21:7-13 NLT “Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? (8) They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. (9) Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. (10) Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves and never miscarry. (11) They let their children frisk about like lambs. Their little ones skip and dance. (12) They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute. (13) They spend their days in prosperity, then go down to the grave in peace.

And yet they say to God,

Job 21:14-18 NLT ‘Go away. We want no part of you and your ways. (15) Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’ (16) (They think their prosperity is of their own doing, but I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.) (17) “Yet the light of the wicked never seems to be extinguished. Do they ever have trouble? Does God distribute sorrows to them in anger? (18) Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm like chaff? Not at all!

And James in the New Testament says,

James 4:17 NLT Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Historically, what do we know of people obeying God’s law and ways, or not?

Eve, knew the law, even when there was none (written in stone); she disregarded the law that was passed to her by Adam and partook of the fruit. Cain knew the law, and we can know this because God himself said, if you do what is right. The implications are that Cain knew what was right. The statement from God would be illogical if this information had not been passed along to Cain. Noah, upon leaving the Ark, made a sacrifice, proving that he too knew what was right, and still there was NO known law, as we understand it.

Romans 1:32 NASB and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Chapter one of Romans spells out how the Gentiles, without the law, practice the law of God, and contrasts this against the Jews, who were given the law of Moses, and expected to know it and live it.

So, the “they” can mean almost anybody here.

With Romans 2:1 the idea is that God is talking to people in general, and yet to a specific crowd that feels comfortable judging others.

Romans 2:1 NASB Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for, in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Who is passing judgment?

Aside from possible envy or racial hatred, why would the Gentile world pass judgment? The Jewish world, on the other hand, has a deep resentment for the Gentiles. (The Gentiles are not merely white Americans; they are anyone outside of Judaism; and, they are considered dogs. The Assyrians, for example, were considered among the nations, and, as we see in the story of Jonah, a hated people.)

We are told that those who pass judgments are only condemning themselves – for these judges are doing the same thing.

Romans 2:3 NASB But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

If we are talking about believers, and that is who Paul was writing to, then what judgment(s) are we looking forward to?

None of us are looking forward to judgment, however, there is only ONE for the believer, and that is the Bema seat of Christ. At this judgment seat, you get rewarded.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV

Judgment here is the Greek word bema.

J. Vernon McGee tells us:

“This was the place where the judges of the city would meet the citizens and would judge them for certain things—there was no question of life or death. At the judgment seat of Christ only believers will appear. It is not a judgment of the believer’s sins, which Christ fully atoned for on the Cross. The judgment is to see whether you are going to receive a reward or not.”

What if your judgments against others, entirely fall upon you, here, in this life; in my case, that was very true.

Does it strike anyone else odd when verse three describes an inescapable judgment and then refers to that judgment as, the goodness of God which leads to repentance?

Romans 2:4 MKJV Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, and the forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Maybe the implication is this:

But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. (Romans 2:5-6 NLT)

Since the religious idea is that this judgment is completed while standing before Him, at the Bema seat.

Where are we at this point?

We made it; we are in heaven, and here you should NOT have any possible consequence of being sent back to earth, where you could endure the pains of God’s wrath.

If that is the case, then what’s the problem – why worry?

Yes, this inordinate mercy puzzles me too, and no, I do not have a good answer as to why this happens, aside from the fact that God is more merciful than I can comprehend.

The NASB renders Romans 2:6 in this manner.

“who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:”

Thayer’s definition of render – is the Greek word apodidōmi. It means 1) to deliver, to give away for one’s own profit what is one’s own to sell 2) to pay off, discharge what is due 2d) to render account 3) to give back, restore 4) to requite, recompense in a good or a bad sense

Most of these definitions speak to me of a God showing mercy and giving life, where I often think that none would be deserved. An example of this is seen in point #1, where it says, “to give away for one’s own profit what is one’s own to sell.”

Jesus did just that and will do it, again. While, by legal standards, we do not, will not, and, cannot measure up, thank God, Jesus did measure up; and, we are not judged by any other standards.

In definition #2 we are told that He paid off and discharged what was due because of OUR sin. Therefore, our rendering would be based upon what Jesus deserved, not us, and He gets life with the Father; glory, and honor.

The context has not changed as we move forward.

Romans 2:7-10 NASB to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; (8) but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath, and indignation. (9) There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, (10) but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Verse ten screams out of the Sheep and goat judgment. – Matthew 25:31-46.

(I get it, religion screams that everyone being presented here, at the great throne of judgment, goes to hell; but that attitude demonstrates your lack of Biblical understanding and a leaning on tradition over scripture. You need to put those methods of interpretation in the trash.)

In Matthew’s account of the final judgment, the good shows up as Jesus responds to the crowd He designates as sheep, saying, you are gaining this access today because you acted in a similar loving manner that I would have. For example, you visited Me in prison; you gave Me a drink of water when I was thirsty; and, you put clothes on Me, when I had none, and so on.

Paul continues to explain –

Romans 2:7-10 NLT He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. (8) But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. (9) There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. (10) But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.

Verses 7-10 have a positive and a negative spin to them.

Let’s just say that my goal is to live my life in the light of verses 7 and 10, where I pursue eternal life; keep doing good – as much as I am able; and to seek after the glory, honor, and immortality that God offers. Then the end result should be and will be, glory, honor, and peace from God.

Note the negative side of this.

“There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil – for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good – for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.” (Romans 2:9-10 NLT)

Why?

Romans 2:11 NLT For God does not show favoritism.

Although the theme leans toward the Jews and Gentiles,

What if, it is speaking to those of us, who by the grace of God alone, have salvation and peace?
What if, our salvation has nothing to do with where we can afford to eat dinner, the size of our RV, or the beauty of our KOA campground?
What if, no matter how much money you have, you found out that WE are all in the same boat, and our REWARD is based purely upon the conversational relationship we have with God and acceptance, on our part of His Son?