A Voice in the Wilderness

The antichrist. How, then, do we fit the Roman Empire into this mix? Daniel 9:26 and a few other verses.

Posted on 01/15/2024 by remso

In the previous post, I referred to Daniel describing the statue, with the head of gold, to Nebuchadnezzar. He tells Nebuchadnezzar that he is the head of gold. Both the silver and the bronze are referred to as inferior kingdoms, and though history lends a hand and gives us an identification of the Persian empire (technically the Medo-Persian empire) and the Grecian/Macedonian empire initiated under Alexander the Great, we are not given the identity of the fourth empire.

Have you ever wondered why?

Is it possible that Nebuchadnezzar’s act of turning his heart toward God played a role in the way God felt about the Babylonian kingdom under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule? We see nothing in the other kingdoms that indicates a leader who followed after God.

Since the first three empires are closely chronicled and in rapid succession, why NOT the fourth empire?

Since you can’t have legs without thighs, it seems ridiculous to assume that there is not a continuous succession. Alexander’s reign covered the belly and the thighs on this statue.

What happened to cause the transition from bronze to iron?

Again the scriptures do not tell us, but history does.

Alexander died.

So if you insist on throwing out the argument, I do not believe we should concern ourselves with information outside the Biblical texts, then you should not accept that Alexander the Great even existed.

Wait a minute; historically, we know that four generals were left contending for control of the empire. An obvious problem is that statues of humans don’t have four legs. Daniel chapter 10, in a cryptic fashion, covers a great deal of this intrigue. In the end, there are only two generals in charge of what is left of the Grecian empire’s control of the Middle East – Seleucid in the North and Ptolemy in the South.

As I pointed out, all these materials from which the statue is made have strength, but Iron has a brittle fragility. The iron goes all the way to the feet, where we see an unimaginable mix of iron and clay. The antichrist that we know will come on the scene comes out of these ten toes. Mixed, by the way, is the Aramaic word for arab.

How, then, do we fit the Roman Empire into this mix?

The standard assumption emerges from Daniel 9:26.

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”
Daniel 9:26 NKJV

Religious tradition makes the association with Titus Vespasian as the prince who came and “his” troops, under the Roman flag, destroyed the temple and the city in 70 AD.

We arbitrarily assume that troops are “all” Italian Catholics (I am being facetious here) and that Titus gave the orders to destroy the temple. The problem when you choose to use Daniel 9:26 to answer your question is that you are choosing to IGNORE the historical record given by Josephus and Tacitus.

Josephus and Tacitus both recorded that:

Titus was under a mandate from the Emperor to maintain peace.
That the majority of the Roman troops, at this time, were conscripted Assyrian troops.
That the Assyrians had an overt hatred of the Jews.
That it was the Assyrians that set fire to the temple and ignored Titus’ orders to stop.
That the Assyrians continued with a slaughter of the Jewish people.

Prince is the Hebrew word nâgı̂yd/ nâgid and means a commander or a religious leader (think high priest); chief, governor, leader, noble, prince.

In most cases, Bible translators chose appropriate terms to fit the context of the sentence. Applying the title of prince to Titus because he is a commander makes sense.

The King James concordance only shows 47 uses of the word nâgı̂yd. The word translated as prince only happens 8 times, but none of them apply to this character that we will eventually call the antichrist.

Ezekiel has an indirect reference to the antichrist but refers to him as the prince of Tyre.

“Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas’; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God–”
Ezekiel 28:2 NASB

Consider these attributes assigned to the antichrist.

Your heart is lifted up.
You have said, I am a god.
I sit in the seat of gods.
And, you make your heart like the heart of God.

In Daniel 9:25-26 the term prince is used twice; once for the Messiah the Prince (Jesus), and the other in verse 26, which we already talked about.

“After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast [Roman Empire]–terrible, powerful and dreadful, and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and crushed and trampled what was left with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns [symbolizing ten kings]. [Dan. 2:40-43; 7:23.] I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things.”
Daniel 7:7-8 AMP

There is much ado about ten – empires, kingdoms, regions.

This little one comes out of the ten horns/empires.

Three of the horns – kingdoms are plucked up by the roots before this man’s kingdom.

And guess what?

This little horn has eyes and a mouth speaking blasphemy against God.

If it is not the man himself with the eyes and mouth speaking, then it is a spokesperson.

It was Jesus who defined blasphemy for us when he told the scribes and Pharisees who were attributing His works to the devil that they were committing blasphemy.

So we can expect this man to tell all those that will listen, that God’s works are Satan’s works, but he may not openly say Satan, he might attribute God’s words and actions to Allah.

Have you considered the names and attributes assigned to this man?

The Antichrist (1,2 John)A poignant aspect of this conversation is the time frame in which John spoke these words. The entirety of the church was to have been on rapture watch since.
The insolent king; of Daniel 8.
the Beast of Revelation 13;
- Since the antichrist is also referred to as the beast, and Revelation 13:1 describes “a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads,” then it is describing an overarching ruling body that has covered aspects of the earth since about 600 AD.
- Who is the dragon? Satan.
- What does the sand of the seashore speak of? First, all eschatology has Israel, or the land promised to Abraham, as the center of its focus. Since these sands have to do with the region of the Middle East with Israel at the center, then the sands represent the lands of the coastal regions of the Mediterranean and the people in general, or the Gentiles, but more specifically, the Islamic nations.
- “Ten horns, seven heads… and on his heads were blasphemous names.” Since we covered Jesus’s explanation of blasphemy, then these kingdoms are such that they blaspheme God by their beliefs, teachings, and actions; in particular – an intense, undefinable hatred of the Jews merely because they are Jews.
- Many will take this portion of Revelation 13,” I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast,” and apply it to the antichrist, it is NOT, it is a powerful ruling body. In 1924, such a powerful voice, the Ottoman Empire, had so angered the Mideastern world with its Islamic pirates that roamed the Mediterranean Ocean, capturing anybody who sailed those seas, taking them captive, and selling them as slaves on the Ivory Coast. Well, the wealthy shipping vessels and yacht owners shouted loudly enough for the saner world to take notice and take up arms against the Islamic Ottoman empire. In 1924 the empire was crushed, disbanded, and deemed illegal, or so the world thought. In a sense“one of his heads was as if it had been slain.” The world, for about 20 years, thought that Islam, as a global threat, had been slain; in theory, the head had been slain.
- “And his (a kingdom or ruling body) fatal wound was healed. The healing came through the Muslim Brotherhood, which emerged primarily from Egypt in the 1940s and made a covenant with the Nazis. We, in modern history, also witnessed the resurrection of the Islamic Empire in 1979 with the capture of the American Embassy in Iran. After this 444-day event, the Caliphate was restored along with the Mullahs as leaders. “And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.”Keep in mind in Revelation that this beast is not yet the man so many are looking for. Currently, “the whole earth” is following Islam, but in time, there will be a man to supposedly lead all of Islam in a particular direction; one of those directions will be a unified hatred of the Jews and their God.
Revelation 13 shows us the same things that Daniel saw, and Daniel pleaded for an explanation. Perhaps we should pay attention to what Daniel was shown.

Daniel 7:4-6 NAS95 “The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man; a human mind also was given to it. 5 “And behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, ‘Arise, devour much meat!’ 6 “After this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.”

Very similar.

the Man of Sin, or Man of Lawlessness, of 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12;

2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 NAS95 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

What is the “it” we see in 2 Thessalonians 2:3?“It” is the coming of Jesus to collect His bride, removing them from the earth and allowing for the antichrist to be released upon the earth, and the unleashing of God’s wrath upon the residents still left upon the earth. Yes, the saints will still be impacted by God’s wrath.If one only gives 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 a cursory read, they will encounter verse three, think that the apostasy, of the church in general, must still come first, and possibly believe that will never happen. Many people I have talked with still cannot see a problem with churches. We are performing homosexual marriages, aborting babies without regard, and having transgender reading hour performed by men dressed as women prepared to do a striptease act.Several years ago, a brother in Christ, in doing his doctoral thesis, found that the state church, the Catholic church of the 1500s, demanded that King James do a rewrite of the popular Geneva Bible and make it say apostasy instead of a departure, as so many people were leaving the Catholic church for Protestantism. The Geneva Bible reads like this: “Let no man deceiue you by any meanes: for that day shall not come, except there come a departing first, and that that man of sinne be disclosed, euen the sonne of perdition.”If you paid attention to what you read in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, you would find that verses 7,8 clarifies any confusion by declaring that a departure of the church is necessary, as the church restrains the antichrist (he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed,) and it will do so until he (the church) is taken out of the way, and then the wicked one will step forward. Until this happens, we will not know who this man is.
Other titles for the antichrist, several of which we have covered:(1) “the king of Babylon” (Isa_14:4);(2) “the Assyrian” (Isa_14:25; +**Mic_5:5 note);(3) “Lucifer, son of the morning,” in opposition to “the bright and morning star” (Isa_14:12);(4) “the Prince that shall come” (Dan_9:26);(5) “the king of fierce countenance” (Dan_8:23);(6) “the vile person” (Dan_11:21);(7) “the willful king” (Dan_11:36);(8) “the man of sin” (2Th_2:3);(9) “the son of perdition” (2Th_2:3);(10) “that wicked (or lawless) one” (2Th_2:3; Rev_13:18);(11) “the beast with ten horns” (Rev_13:1);(12) “the little horn” (Dan_8:8) [CB]. =1Ki_22:11, =Psa_75:10; =Psa_132:17, Isa_27:1, =Zec_1:18, **Mat_24:5; **Mat_24:15, 2Th_2:3-4, 1Jn_2:18; 1Jn_4:3. (The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury)

For many, by the time you read this, Jesus will have come back for His bride, the followers of Christ. He still holds out His arms for you. All you have to do is give Him your life and accept Him into yours.

Posted in 2 Thessalonians, 70 weeks, antichrist, Antichrist, apostasy, bible study, confirm, covenant, Daniel, departure, empire, Nebuchadnezzar's statue, Revelation, ten horns and seven heads, the fourth kingdom, the king of fierce countenance, the little horn, the prince that shall come, the willful king | Tagged Assyrians, Bible, Christ, city, come, Daniel's prophecies, destroy, empire, end times, fourth kingdom, God, hope, iron, Jesus, Jews, kingdoms, last days, Nebuchadnezzar, people, prince, prophecy, Rome, sanctuary, Scripture, Titus | Leave a comment

I want to talk about the antichrist persona for a few minutes.

Posted on 01/06/2024 by remso

I pay a lot of attention to conversations about eschatology (end times events as they relate to scripture.) Everything going on around us is related to biblical end-times events; this includes Israel at war, the breakdown of our governmental systems, the collapse of global economies, and the coming of a man – the antichrist, that will shortly step up to take control over practically everyone and everything.

A large portion of scripture speaks in terms of “everyone” when clearly not everyone was there. One of the blatant examples comes from the narrative surrounding the three Hebrews who were brought into Babylon at the same time as Daniel, and they are the same ones who were thrown into the fiery furnace.

Daniel was not included with them; why?

When you read the account dealing with Daniel and the three other Hebrews, you find that Daniel, after giving the King the dream and the interpretation, was promoted and made the ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel’s Hebrew brethren were included among the wise men, and Daniel requested that the king appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (their Babylonian names) to manage the province of Babylon while Daniel was busy elsewhere. Logic tells you that Daniel had an entourage while he was doing business in various regions of Babylon, so obviously, there were a number of others not there to bow before this statue. Read the narrative in Daniel 2:46-49.

So, let’s not assume that everyone, as scripture denotes, is always in compliance. Certainly, Samson was not, yet God deems him a fine example of an upright man. (You can read about Samson’s adventures and sordid love life in Judges chapters 13 – 16.

If I want to get a firm grasp of this man, the antichrist/beast, I think it best to initiate this quest in Daniel chapter two. The saga sort of begins with Nebuchadnezzar during the second year of his reign.

“One night … Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep.”
Daniel 2:1 NLT

So Nebuchadnezzar calls the people he depends on for answers to help him. But!!!

“He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers, and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”
Daniel 2:2-3 NLT

Nebuchadnezzar, speaking about Daniel and the three others who came from Israel, had this to say.

“Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.”
Daniel 1:20 NLT

Why then would you choose anyone else to tell you what your dream was, and yet look who he chose.

Magicians,
enchanters,
sorcerers,
and astrologers.

If you are one who does not put your faith and hope in God, then this probably seems like a good idea. My father, with his sense of humor, would always make a comment about the tellers of fortunes and futures, how that if he were to go in there, the first thing he would say is, you tell me why I am here. Well, when you think about it, it makes sense.

After making a plea before the King, Daniel is given a chance. He gives all the credit to God, and this is what Daniel said.

“While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen.”
Daniel 2:29 NLT

The details.

“In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight.”
Daniel 2:31 NLT

What made this thing so frightening?

“This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest, and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.”
Daniel 2:32-33 NKJV

The head was of fine gold,

“You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.”
Daniel 2:37-38 NKJV

Consider this as you make judgments about those who are giving Israel grief right now. Clearly, God uses whom He chooses to be His firebrand. Some He deems to be gold. So this head was the Babylonian empire.
Its chest and arms were made of silver,

Silver is a pliable metal, just as gold is; however, it is notably less valuable than gold and will tarnish. Daniel 2:38a merely says,” But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours…” Historically we know this to be the Medes and the Persians. All of these are known to be the basis of the Assyrians.

“The empire of the Medes and Persians, whose union was denoted by the breast and two arms of silver; and which was established on the ruins of that of the Chaldeans on the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, B.C. 538” (The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury)
its belly and thighs were made of bronze,

“…then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.”
Daniel 2:39b NKJV

Here is another of those over-the-top statements, and it is such because Alexander only controlled the majority of the then-known world, and the Roman Empire never held reign over the territories that Alexander did.

This belly and thighs of bronze is “the empire of the Macedonians, or “brazen-coated Greeks,” aptly denoted by the belly and thighs of brass, founded by Alexander the Great, who terminated the Persian monarchy by the overthrow of Darius Codomanus at Arbela, B.C. 331.” (The Ultimate Cross-Reference Treasury)

Let’s pause here for a moment. Bronze as a material for making weapons has advantages and disadvantages, strength, depending on the material integrated by the refiner’s fire, and it often has an attractive quality like gold.

The oddity is that it is difficult to separate the thighs from the legs, and nobody does that. So, from the belly to the toes, the fourth kingdom is an ever-weakening and fragile kingdom until the end when Jesus comes back and crushes it completely.
Its legs were made of iron,

Therefore, the legs are vital. In this case, they are of practical material, iron, but iron, like a cast iron pan, can shatter if dropped on a hard surface from mere feet away; I know this because I broke a covered pot in just such a manner. So the strength is only temporal.

The point I am making is that the kingdom(s) represented, from the belly of this giant statue down to the toes, is, in essence, an integration of one kingdom along with all the others.
And the feet – including the toes, were made of a mixture of iron and of clay.

The toes are ten, and they, too, are a mixture of iron and clay. The implications are that this kingdom, by the time it has reached this era, has gone through multiple leadership transitions, but from the thighs down, there is a common – deadly, yet fragile thread.

Clay can be used to make a nice model but is not strong.

A brief history. The bronze is Alexander. Dead, his empire is split into four and then two. The two start well – the bronze but finish poorly integrating with the Assyrians, descendants of the Babylonians, and Japheth, the father of Gomer, Magog, to say the least.

“You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
Daniel 2:34-35 NKJV

That stone is Jesus – He is God, and He is an aspect of the Father’s wrath that is being poured out upon the earth when this destruction happens. Jesus will shatter all the final ruling empires and kingdoms upon the earth when He returns. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t need to know all that as it would not affect him.

Posted in antichrist, Assyrians, bible study, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar's statue, Prophetic, the prince that shall come, Thoughts, wizards | Tagged Alexander, Assyrians, belly, Bible, bronze, Daniel, dream, end times, fragile, God, great, hope, Jesus, last days, Nebuchadnezzar, prophecy, Ptolemy, Scripture, Seleucid, statue, strength, the fourth kingdom, thighs | Leave a comment

And God saw the light. Genesis 1:1-4.

Posted on 01/04/2024 by remso

In my previous post, I had hoped to establish that all things were created perfectly from the moment Jesus first spoke all things into existence. I believe that the primary creation happened in verse one.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NKJV

But writing and thinking through the events of the first few verses of Genesis, I am reminded that Jesus, in time, will voluntarily set aside His divinity, which includes His knowledge, insight, and power, so that He could become a human being, untainted by sin, and thereby bring redemption and salvation to all who would receive this great salvation.

The sacrifice or price that would be paid to become a human was to quite literally be born a blank slate, and it may well mean that Jesus had to be told about the scriptural narrative that describes actions that He performed in creation by Joseph and, in time, the Holy Spirit. Put yourself in Jesus’s shoes for a moment and then try to imagine what you are supposed to do with information like this.

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

I feel strongly about this perspective. If such a revelation caused you to go into a tailspin, as it did me at first, my suggestion is that you relax and reestablish yourself in the words of Jesus that we find in Genesis and the Hebrew that makes those words work; and remember that Jesus is God.

The idea that Jesus lost His knowledge of who created all things was never a question that we see the Apostle John fretting over. John’s opening statement about Jesus demonstrates that he has become convinced, without question, that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:1-3 NKJV

I pointed out in the previous post that Jesus told us that He beheld Satan’s fall in a rather dramatic way.

“And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 NKJV

The problem with that is that we have few details that define what Satan’s fall looked like aside from that. Just because we do not see those details does not mean it did not happen.

So, let’s assume that the lights entirely went out.

Did God/Jesus merely quake in fear that Satan’s fall included a horrendous destruction?

No, the recovery process began with a peculiar act.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

There is a peculiar usage of the word hovering. It is the Hebrew râchaph. One of the defining words means to brood. The Word Study Dictionary refers to this hovering as an eagle hovering over its eggs. Honestly, it works the same for chickens or foul. All of this is part of the process of growth, which is an aspect of brooding. The Strong’s concordance adds that it is, by implication, to be relaxed.

Does a hen seem stressed as it broods over the chicks?

Only if a threat arises and then she will fight. If the mother hen flutters or moves, it is only to maintain a satisfactory temperature necessary for the embryo to progress in their growth.

So I can assume that God, in His brooding, was actively in the process of restoring and rebuilding the creation. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were actively involved in the recreation of the creation.

“Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3 NKJV

When God said, Let there be light, who was speaking?

It’s a rhetorical question, and I am not demanding an answer, but the simple answer is that Jesus spoke those words into existence. Watch what happens next.

“And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.”
Genesis 1:4 DRB

When I read narratives like this, I picture God standing there watching as Jesus precisely spoke creation into existence a second time (as though Jesus/God was troubled by the severity of the damage;) only moments pass when I realize how foolish such a thought process is, as God is not impacted by time and space as we know it. I remind myself that God knew that Satan would, in turn, destroy, deceive, and attempt to capture the hearts of God’s creation, and all of this was a part of God’s eventual plan of redemption that ends with the eternal removal of Satan once and for all.

Light is the Hebrew word ‘ôr. It means illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, …) Strong’s concordance/dictionary.

To assume that this is only the sun is erroneous as it also applies to stars, which are suns, just like ours; the difference is that other suns tend to be much larger than ours, and they are scattered across the universe at incomprehensible distances away from the earth; and then there are the reflective bodies, such as moons and planets. Seeing as there is no reference to heat, as we will soon see, then, while I cannot exclude the sun, it clearly speaks to the variety of things that emit or reflect light.

Question, can you typically see the effects of a flashlight on a bright day?

No, so it is obvious that the lights had gone out and the light that Jesus is now speaking into existence, once again, was not a blinding light. This tells me that the illumination was like some nights when the sky was clear.

Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Photo property of Google travel contributor Ivan Friedman

When we were teens dad took the family to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Besides the spectacular formations, it is known for the nightly bat flights that emerge from the cave (there are thousands of them.)

On the tour, the Park Ranger takes us to a deep place in the cavern, warns the audience not to move, and then turns out the lights for about a minute. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face, as there is NO illumination at all. It is a darkness that feels like it permeates you. Moments later, they turn the lights back on, and you are instantly reminded of how spectacular the ancient formations and reflective lighting truly are.

Divided is the Hebrew word badal. It is a primary root and means to be divided or separated: It also means to come over, dismiss, make a separation, make a distinction, partition, separate, or set apart.

In Genesis chapter 1, verse 4, we see this: “and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek. The Strong’s # is H2822. It is from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: – (darkness), night, obscurity.

When I think about the effects that Satan had on the earth, these words stand out.

misery,
destruction,
death,
ignorance,
sorrow,
wickedness,
obscurity.

The Strong’s # associated with chôshek – is H2821– châshak, enunciation khaw-shak’. It is a primitive root meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: – be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide.

Now ask yourself, when did Jesus begin to address Satan’s actions?

So Jesus did not only address the lights going out, but He immediately began attacking the damage that Satan brought about.

If you want a definition of who Satan is and what he does, you got it.

Jumping forward in time to the Garden. Eve, having bought into the deception, hands the fruit, with her teeth marks on it, to her “husband.” We have no indication that he was deceived, so Adam sets aside what God had told him and chooses to die with his “wife.”

It doesn’t matter what you call it; the treasonous act was to hand over the dominion – rule and control over the earth. Sounds bad, and lacking a relationship with Christ is a hopeless situation. But God had a plan all along.

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 BSB

We get bruised all the time. Some foolishly believe that this bruising is God’s wrath (tribulation;) it is NOT. It is just life, so get over it. Note, however, that God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will crush your head. You don’t typically get over a crushing; you die. Our hope is, to some degree, based on the reality that through Jesus, Satan’s head will be crushed – or at least put away forever.

Posted in bible study, changed, Creation, darkness, destruction, fallen angels, Genesis, Holy spirit, mystery, restore, Satan, Thoughts on scripture, water | Tagged Belief, Bible, darkness, death, deep, destruction, divided, Earth, form, Genesis 1:1-4, God, good, hope, hovering, ignorance, illumination, light, lightning, luminary, misery, obscurity, said, saw, Scripture, sorrow, spirit, void, waters, wickedness | Leave a comment

In beginning God created. Genesis 1:1

Posted on 01/01/2024 by remso

Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

When it comes to Bible translations, I transitioned from the King James version long ago as I came to understand that the NASB was a bit more accurate in translating to English. Many years ago, while listening to Dr. Chuck Missler on the radio, I learned that he preferred the KJV because the problems with that translation were well known, while other, relatively new translations or transliterations, which, too, had issues but, in some cases, were not identified yet. Taking Dr. Missler’s advice, I approach them all with a bit of skepticism. That being said, here is a translation that works for me when looking at Genesis 1:1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 AFV
(AFV – A Faithful Version) Copyright © 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011; York Publishing Company.

What is so different about the AFV?

It is one of the few versions that puts the word “the” in an italicized format to affirm that it is an added word and used only for the sake of clarity. I do not think verse one needed any added clarity at this point. So verse one could and should be read “In beginning.”

You might ask, what difference does it make?

To say, “In the beginning” denotes an emphasis on a specific point in time in which everything happened perfectly. The Hebrew word is rê’shı̂yth and means the first, in place, time, order, or rank (specifically a first fruit.) If you were to hold tightly to a specific point, why does scripture bother to point out other periods in which God/Jesus created? Almost as if the Hebrew is in opposition to a specific point, you should have noticed the reference in definition to this point in time being the first fruit. If there was a first of the fruit, then there were other fruits produced or gathered; none of which takes away from or diminishes the authority and power of God in creation, but it also does NOT limit His creative abilities. So, the more appropriate read of rê’shı̂yth would be “In beginning,” as this expresses the idea that creation was a process.

If you feel you need to continue arguing that everything was created at once, with one word, then why wasn’t Adam placed here on the earth at that moment? Notice that I did not mention Eve because she clearly came later, and we cannot define how much later she showed up.

What else can I learn from verse one?

That God created created the heavens and the earth.

Create is the Hebrew word bara, meaning to shape, bring about, make, or produce.

How do I look at this and not see a process?

I can, however, see why evolutionists think the way they do; the obvious is that they refuse to acknowledge or consider that there is an omniscient, eternal God that established our moral baseline and placed the knowledge and comprehension of that baseline within us through His Son, Jesus, who put Himself upon that cross in order to give us all salvation and a restored life with the Father. A life without problems or mistakes in it.

Does God have problems or make mistakes?

The answer is an emphatic NO, although someone lacking wisdom will throw in the creation of Lucifer/Satan and say, see, what about that?

Even the angels were given free will, and though we don’t know when this Satanic rebellion took place, it was obviously after verse one and was prior to God putting the man in the garden.

This is so much easier on the brain when you can acknowledge that the creation was a process.

If God created the Earth, then it had to be perfect from the beginning. Want evidence?

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
Isaiah 45:18 NASB

Note the words formed and made; Formed is the Hebrew word yāṣar and means to form, fashion, or devise. In my book, this word alone demonstrates a process. Made is the Hebrew word ‛āśāh, meaning to do, make, accomplish, or complete. If it was complete from the moment He spoke it into existence, there would be no reason to complete it sometime later unless something cataclysmic took place.

So God, in making the earth and everything related to it, did it perfectly from the beginning. In other words, it was NOT formless and void unless you can handle a process that allows for the sun and planets to be created out of spinning, formless masses of matter that God had to fashion into something usable (trying to reason that out simply defies logical thought). If God made everything, then He also had to make the formless masses from which He may have formed the universe.

Most of the “Christian community” will adamantly renounce such talk because they believe it implies an agreement with evolution. For someone to suggest that the Creation of the earth, in the Genesis account, could have taken an indeterminate amount of time garners abrasive negativity and the idea that I am now an evolutionist, which I am not.

How do I know that the fall of Satan took place after verse one?

Because verse two declares that the earth is now destroyed.

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NASB

Perhaps you have never heard what Jesus said about Satan.

“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 KJV

Jesus, the creator – according to John’s gospel, watched as Satan fell from heaven.

The word fall is the Greek word piptō and means to descend from a higher place to a lower; or to be thrust down.

When I apply Jesus’s eyewitness account, in which He compares Satan’s fall to lightning, it is easy to see that Satan’s departure from his heavenly position was fast and powerful.

Why is this important?

Because of the potential damage involved with Satan’s impacting the earth, the fall could have had a greater impact than some meteorites, such as those that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. An understanding like this makes it far easier to understand that the heavens sustained tremendous violence.

We have another piece of evidence concerning Satan’s plummet.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV

Who is the dragon?

Repeatedly, we learn that Satan is the dragon. One of the problems we seem to have is that the Book of Job renders Satan, in heaven, walking among the Sons of God. This gave Satan the opportunity to pursue a course of action against Job. So obviously, Satan did not receive complete destruction with his punishment, or he would not have been able to tempt Jesus nor offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth when he tried to tempt Him. His day will come.

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’ ”
Matthew 4:8-10 NKJV

Having been thrown down to earth, did God bestow him with authority and power?

No, but Adam did, and that was an aspect of the deception and willing participation in eating the fruit, in opposition to the ONLY rule God placed against the only two humans walking and dominating the earth. And yet, there it is, Satan is offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew …”.
Genesis 3:5-7 NKJV

They knew they had undone the life and pattern that God had laid out before them, and they knew they had just handed it over to Satan.

Did you see Jesus calling Satan a liar or reminding him that he had been thrown down to earth, stripped of power?

You did not see that because even Jesus knew that Adam had given Satan all this power. This is an interesting way of stating a fact, and it is interesting because Jesus had voluntarily set aside all that HE was to become a human – and He is still a human today.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV

If that is the case, and it is, then how did Jesus come to know and understand that Satan had been given his power through Adam’s betrayal?

The most substantial clue we have is a sparse statement about Joseph.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
Matthew 1:18-19 NKJV

Just is the Greek word dikaios and means that he was one that observed divine laws. In a wider sense, Joseph was upright, righteous, and one who kept the commands of God. (Thayer’s Definitions)

This title of being righteous was not one you gave yourself but was assigned by a watchful community – in other words, Jews. Because Mary stood her ground and maintained that this baby was implanted by the Holy Spirit, she was considered a tramp, worthy of nothing more than a stoning, and the baby was deemed an illegitimate child – a mumzer and He (the young Jesus) was excluded from entering the synagogue or learning from the rabbis. It may have been possible that Joseph could teach the young Jesus.

Obviously, somebody taught Him and taught Him well because without us having to have a discussion about it, it is clear that He knew the intimate details of the events that happened in the garden the day that Adam handed the world over to Satan.

Posted in bible study, creation, Creation, destruction, Satan, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged beginning, Bible, Christ, created, creation, darkness, deep, Earth, end times, established, fashioned, formed, formless, Genesis, God, heavens, hope, inhabited, Jesus, last days, process, prophecy, Scripture, spirit, surface, void, waste | Leave a comment

Lawlessness will abound, and the love of many will grow cold. Matthew 24:12

Posted on 12/19/2023 by remso

When I left off our study in Matthew 24, we were looking at verse 11. The context goes like this: the disciples asked when will these things – the destruction of the temple and His return as the warring Messiah. Jesus began to answer, but the first thing out of His mouth was that they do not allow themselves to be deceived. He then went on to tell them briefly what was coming.

“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

Christ is indicative of the Messiah but also the anointed one. This word anointed opens the door to self-appointment.
“…you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Why would this be important in a world where conflict is always going on?

The statement lends itself to something much larger than local skirmishes.
For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

Do names like Ukraine and the Soviet Union sound familiar? How about Israel and Hamas?
And there will be famines,

All of which are man-made.
pestilences,

This is the Greek word pharmakeia, from which we Americans get our word pharmacy. But it also applies to the neighbor that manufactures meth in his garage and the big businesses pushing their vaccines.
And earthquakes in various places.

In case you haven’t noticed, earthquakes are popping off all over the globe and are frequently associated with volcanic activity. Read Matthew 24:5-7 NKJV.

“All these are (merely) the beginning of sorrows.”

Verse eleven tells us that during this time, “…many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”

“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” Matthew 24:11 NKJV

Rise up? The Greek word egeirō comes from the idea of collecting one’s faculties: to waken; to rouse – literally from sleep, and in the extreme, to rouse from death. Now it is getting really dark – To raise again.

Imagine that while driving your car, your mind decides to go to some vivid, white sand beach where you had a great vacation. Suddenly you panic, collect your faculties, and realize that you cannot remember the last quarter mile of driving. It might also apply to the boxer who momentarily gets knocked out while fighting and gets awakened from a blow to the head.

Deceive many?

My thoughts lean toward a mass hypnosis, but that seems too much like something from a comic book, and yet, since October 7th, there is evidence of a mass deception. If you paid attention to the crowds wrapped up in this mass hysteria, most are younger, and I doubt they were ever disciplined for misconduct and, therefore, think that there are no rules. The college campuses where much of this riotous activity is birthed actively feed deception to the young and easily manipulated students through their professors, who arouse pitiful behavior in their students.

With all this in mind, comprehending a mass deception is not so difficult. However, the deception that Jesus speaks of has everything to do with a context; that context leans toward the Orthodox Jewish leadership in Israel.

First, give this some thought, if you can deceive the leadership, then you should be able to easily deceive the blind followers.

How is that possible?

Because, by their domineering tactics, they inform the followers what they can read or not read. For the most part, the Jews do not read the Torah for themselves but rely solely on the Rabbis reading it to them. The congregants are NOT, for example, permitted to read the prophet Daniel or Isaiah 53. It sounds like most of the people you sit beside are in Christian churches.

Secondly: The third temple, which is, at this point, not been built, has a chosen high priest, Rabbi Baruch Kahane. If the priesthood thinks this man is just a fine, young man, with outstanding qualifications, then there is nothing to take note of or to be alarmed.

Maybe this will help you understand.
I sat down at the after-service taco fest to eat lunch with a couple from that church that I only knew by face and began one of my random conversations. I did this because I am prone to be an introvert and I need to fight that, and my calling in life is to be a teacher of God’s Word.
I said to the man, did you know that the scripture says nothing about Jesus’s occupation except two verses. We assume that He was a carpenter, as His earthly father (a good man, by the way) is understood to have been a carpenter, and it is expected in this ancient culture that a young son would follow in the trade of His father.

The passages that reflect this are:

“When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?”
Matthew 13:54-55 NKJV

The other passage is:

“Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.”
Mark 6:3 NKJV

Since Mark’s gospel makes no mention of Joseph, the husband of Mary, we can only assume that he has been dead for quite some time.

In either case, the Greek word translated as carpenter is tekton. This word means a skilled craftsman or artisan) and can include a producer of fabrics, wood articles, and a carpenter. It means to produce, bear, bring forth, and could have included a person who lathed stone pots or wrote poetry.

An interesting thing happened about a quarter mile outside of Nazareth several years ago. A family owned a plot of land and wished to install a gas station. Well, you don’t make a move without the Israeli Antiquities department getting involved, and they discovered an artisan’s shop where they had been producing granite articles, such as large stone pots, by lathe. The intriguing thing is that Jesus seemed to know that the home where this wedding in Cana was taking place had such pots. History records that an entrepreneurial Jew realized that granite was not mentioned in the list of things that could be polluted, making that article unusable; therefore, it must always be ceremonially clean. The fact that the craftsman’s shop was so close to Jesus’s home may imply that He, too, worked there as a craftsman.

I pointed out how absurd the man’s assertion that we should only pay attention to scriptural references, and yet he was wholly given over to Jesus being a carpenter when nothing in scripture upholds his assertion. Now, picture a nation where the majority lives their lives this way.

So, a piece of information you won’t find in the Bible is the Islamic prophetic belief that our false prophet will descend Aaron and will function as the high priest in the new temple. They are also wholeheartedly given to the idea that this false prophet will give himself over to Islam, follow the Mahdi (a man who may well be the antichrist), and that our false prophet will be the enforcer of Sharia law on a global scale. This man, the false prophet, will be the Islamic version of Jesus.

Just something to think about.

How would you perceive this phrase “rise up” if it applied to one being “wakened” from the dead?

That only happens when God speaks a word over the dead. (Read John 5:21 NAS95. If you must have two witnesses, then look at Deuteronomy 32:39 NAS95)

But didn’t the witch of Endor call Samuel up from the dead? (Read 1 Samuel 28)

That is the show that she intended to put on for King Saul, but she screamed because Samuel arose, and he was not too happy about it. That day, Saul was stripped of his kingdom at Samuel’s word.

What if this “rising up again” has more to do with something comparable to those fallen angels chained up in the Euphrates? Read Revelation 9:13-15)

Dear Lord, NO, as 1/3 of the earth will die because of their release!

I hope you can begin to understand that this has nothing to do with God’s voice. The mere fact that many will be misled is a major part of the puzzle.

Now we look at verse twelve, where it says, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

“All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:8-12 NKJV

Although the hatred for Israel and the Jews has been ongoing since Abraham, this malicious and deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the hatred of Israel and the Jews has been dominating the internet and the news on a daily basis.

Do you want examples of lawlessness?

How about organized mobs that overtake high-end stores and clean them out. What about Antifa, BLM, or the effects of pro-Hamas “parades” or the takeovers of our highways on our “democratic” society? That and more are a part of this lawlessness.

“And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity,” Matthew 24:12 AMPC+

If it is not merely mass hypnosis, then it is like-minded, uneducated people who, with a minimal amount of motivation, are willing to kill some older Jewish man because he verbally withstood your cries to not punish Hamas and its pathetic followers. Here is one of the many headlines about the incident.

AP News – Man involved in confrontation with Jewish protester who died called 911 and cooperated with police

https://apnews.com › article › jewish-man-died-israel…

Nov 8, 2023 — California authorities are seeking help as they investigate the death of a 69-year-old Jewish man after a confrontation at a pro-Palestinian …

The Guardian reported,

“Posts circulated on social media included video of Kessler injured and lying on a sidewalk as people tend to him. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles reported that Kessler was struck in the head with a megaphone by a pro-Palestinian protester before he fell, which the sheriff’s office has not yet confirmed. An autopsy found Kessler died from a blunt force head injury and that his injuries were consistent with a fall, Dr Christopher Young, the Ventura county medical examiner, said at a news conference on Tuesday. He also had “non-lethal” injuries to the face, Young said. The manner of death was homicide, Young said, but that does not reflect whether a crime occurred.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/07/california-police-man-death-protests-israel-palestine

Matthew 24 was directed at the Jewish people who were following Him. So, when He is talking about a great body, who is He talking about?

The nation of Israel and the Jews.

Could He be talking about the church?

It seems easy to say yes, especially when a quick look around indicates that much of the church has grown cold. But the context presses the knowledgeable to keep our focus on Israel.

So, as you look at the news coming out of Israel, do you see lawlessness and the love of many growing cold?

No doubt about it, and the lawlessness and iniquity do not necessarily have to be coming out of the Israelis. This should be obvious as you watch the reactions of the so-called Palestinians.

The environment associated with Israel removing an entire community that has a driven goal to eradicate Israel is clearly associated with Jesus’s prophetic words concerning the time right before His return for His church.

Posted in bible study, deception, false prophet, lawlessness, Matthew's gospel, temple, the nations, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged abound, beginning, betray, Bible, deceive, end times, False prophets, God, grow cold, hated, hope, iniquity, Jesus, last days, lawlessness, love of many, Matthew 24, nations, offended, prophecy, Scripture, sorrows, temple, Tribulation | Leave a comment

“We are to know” what is going on around us. A different way to think about Eschatology. Matthew 24.

Posted on 12/07/2023 by remso

Thanks to a change in the atmosphere, I am jumping out of our study on Matthew once again.

If I did not say it before, let me say it now. I have been struggling with mild depression. Some would say it is a demonic attack, and I don’t doubt it, as Satan would love to stop anyone who has a sincere heart and wants to share the Word and Love of God with others. I feel as if my primary purpose in life is to do just that: share the Word, so it does not take a genius to imagine where this attack has hit me; yep, I lost interest in doing Bible studies, but I will add that there has been a tremendous amount of family-oriented activities taking place and I frequently stop what I am doing and take care of my wife, Doctor appointments, and grandparent duties. Well, sometimes you just have to dig yourself out of the pit, and that is what I am doing now.

Is it merely a strange circumstance that Israel would be attacked in the midst of my spiritual battle on the Sabbath (October 7, 2023), filling the nation of Israel with death, confusion, and war?

I don’t think so. What I do believe is that Satan, who knows his time is short, has released his demon hordes upon the earth, and we, who are followers of Jesus Christ, will experience attacks on many levels.

Oh, by the way, though I cannot legitimately claim that I am a Jew, I did, however, have a Jewish grandfather who died when I was around 12; because of this, I have progressively turned my heart toward Jerusalem. This attitude makes me feel a bit aggressive when someone attacks my nation.

With our eyes on the Holy Land, we should be hearing messages from Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and 1 Thessalonians, to say the least. I know I can’t get enough of intelligent messages about Eschatology – end times events.

With that said, I want to talk about the idea that “we are to know” what is going on around us.

A common verse used to berate those who are excited about the return of Jesus Christ for His bride is this.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Matthew 24:36 NKJV

First off, there is a context to this verse, and it has everything to do with Jesus talking exclusively to a Jewish audience.

What importance does that knowledge play in such a bold and rather blatant statement by Jesus?

They were not Christians as yet, for Jesus had not gone back to the Father; therefore, Jesus would not have spoken to them about things that pertained to anyone but Jews. So, everything we see in Matthew’s account was directed to Jewish ears and understanding alone.

As for understanding the idea of being the bride, many were Galileans, and Jesus first recorded “miracle” was at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Several of the newly chosen disciples were in attendance there. If anyone could understand the depth and meaning of being the bride, it would be a Galilean. If you are having trouble grasping what I mean by the depth of the Galilean wedding, it was bathed in tradition and Jewish understanding and held together by a contractual agreement, which the bride had every right to reject.

Another translation of Matthew 24:36 may give you more understanding.

“But of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Matthew 24:36 AMP

The Amplified Bible added words that provide us with alternative understandings, while other [italicized] words provide “synonyms and explanations in brackets and parentheses within the text […] The strength of this version is that it acknowledges that no single English word or phrase can capture precisely the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek.” The quotation is from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplified_Bible#:~:text=is%20unique%20among%20Bible%20versions,of%20the%20Hebrew%20or%20Greek.

So, if you must be one that holds to tradition – because this is the way we have always been taught, and, therefore, agree that NO ONE can know the day or the hour, then knowing that we can’t know the precise timing, we may easily be able to place ourselves within the season and what we are living in is the Baseball World Series, which we, in America, just experienced.

Let’s talk about this phenomenon called the World Series for a moment.

Do we have an idea when this series of games will take place?

Yes, it happens on a yearly basis, in September, after a prescribed number of games have been played by every team. That is not the case with Christ’s return, as He is first coming to collect His bride. Evidence, in every way, shape, and form, is pointing to Jesus’s soon return. We like to refer to this evidence as signs.
Once the World Series begins, are there things that we can absolutely know about the event?

The series will be controlled by rules.

In baseball, three outs bring about changes in the inning and the side as the home team now gets their opportunity at bat and a chance to score.

There will be a prescribed number of games played within the series to determine the winner. It is not mandatory, however, that the series includes the entirety of the seven games as it is a best-of-seven series, meaning that one team could win the first four games and, therefore, win the series.

And though each game has at least nine innings, there can be no tie games, and some games have gone on for well over 12 hours. Typically, the games last about two hours.

So, as in Jesus coming for His church, there are variables that affect the length of the period we are looking for and at.

The point of this was not to have a discussion of baseball, which may mean little depending on where you live and the restrictions you live under, but to make a point that we can know the timing of the rapture just as we can talk with understanding about the World Series. Since we have established that Baseball has variables, then we must surely know that the rapture or snatching away of the church is filled with variables. Consider this: the game belongs to God, and the rules, though set in scripture, are His as well.

Most translations entitle this next section of the Bible

“Signs of the End of the Age.”

This is how it played out. Having ridden the young colt into Jerusalem, the crowd welcomed Him with wild enthusiasm.

“And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:8-9 NKJV

Where do we find the Jewish context of what Matthew conveys?

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.”
Psalms 118:26 NKJV

Leviticus elaborates on the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths.

“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.”
Leviticus 23:34 JPS

And there are specific instructions associated with the Feast of Tabernacles.

“And on the first day you shall take the fruit of pleasing trees [and make booths of them], branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick (leafy) trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.”
Leviticus 23:40 AMPC+

The excited crowd anticipated the warring Messiah because all the signs pointed to Yeshua as being that Messiah.

But what did Jesus do?

“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.”
Matthew 21:12-14 KJV

This verbal onslaught went on for days.

“And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.”
Matthew 21:17 KJV

The next day, He went back to the temple.

“Now, when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’”
Matthew 21:23-25 NKJV

We have records that indicate that He delivered the parable of the two sons, the tenants (which was directed at the Jewish leadership), the wedding feast, and more. He cursed the fig tree because it had no fruit on it; He spoke about paying taxes to Caesar as a rebuttal against those who tried to trap Him; the Sadducees asked Him about the resurrection; and He berated the leadership over the demands that they placed on the people but would not follow themselves.

I imagine that the disciples thought they would be killed during this process. After two long days, they left the temple and headed to the Mount of Olives, and this was the best they could come up with.

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
And Jesus said to them,

“Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:1-2 NKJV

Jesus, finally seated on the Mount of Olives, begins to answer the question below.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
Matthew 24:3 KJV

While the answer to the questions has great depth, Jesus’s first response was this.

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”
Matthew 24:4 KJV

How many different ways can you be deceived?

Look up the Greek word for deceived, and you get planaō. It means don’t let anyone (cause you to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue): – [don’t let anyone make you] go astray, deceive, [don’t allow yourself to be] seduce[d], to wander, or be [taken] out of the way.

“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
Matthew 24:5 NKJV

This doesn’t even make sense to me. Since I know that Jesus will first come in the clouds and gather His church, it doesn’t make sense that people would try to portray themselves as the Messiah.

“My name” is the Greek word onoma; it means authority or character. The Word Study Dictionary tells us they will come using the name, title, character, reputation, or the person of Jesus.

An example can be seen in Jeremiah.

“Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own minds”
Jeremiah 14:14 NASB

Deceive? We already covered this. It is the Greek word planaō. It means don’t let anyone (cause you to) be [taken] out of the way.

I can remember Jim Jones and David Koresh. The latter managed to tell these fools that he was entitled to have other men’s wives. Try that line on me, and you are probably going to get hurt.

So, fools will cause you to go astray from God’s truth, which is His Word, and to be taken out of the way – the way is God’s way and not what Allah or some guru says. But wait, there is a context, and it is Jesus responding to their Jewish-oriented questions in a manner that they would understand.

So, even if you think you can stay committed to “the truth,” why can’t we understand what Jesus or the scripture is saying?

We can, but most will choose not to perceive that the Bible is a Jewish book written to a Jewish audience that somehow applies to us now because we were adopted into the family.

So, how many questions did the disciples ask Jesus?

Their questions covered three distinct events.

When will these things be?

This had more to do with the destruction of the temple, which was a relatively short few years away. The immediate destruction happened in 70AD. The future sign and destruction have a specific timing once the antichrist comes into power, and that only happens after the church is removed from the earth.
“What will be the sign of Your coming?

The NLT translates this portion in this manner: “What sign will signal your return.” As Jews, they were NOT asking about the church, as the church did not exist, and to be honest, filled with Gentiles, they would not have considered those attending to be worthy of the kingdom of God.
- The first thing to take note of, although since sin made time notable, there have been wars.
  
  “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom…”
  Matthew 24:6-7a NLT
- Secondly,
  
  “…There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”
  Matthew 24:7-8b NLT
  
  I cannot remember a time when some third-world nation wasn’t suffering a famine. Now, it is a common conversation pertaining to hunger and our streets here in America. And earthquakes, though common, are now incessantly in excess of 6 and 7s in terms of magnitude.
- Thirdly,
  
  “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.”
  Matthew 24:9 NLT
  
  While we were able to sit unrestrained, in many of our churches, the Spirit of the Lord – the Holy Spirit, had spoken through me, saying, the time is coming when you, too, shall experience persecution, and you will NOT be able to handle it.
  
  With the war in Israel and heated conversations about abortions, the hatred toward Jews and Christ-followers is growing more each day.
- Fourth,
  
  “…Many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.”
  Matthew 24:10 NLT
  
  I have watched this happen, and if you were paying attention, you would agree.
- Fifth
  
  “Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe things that are wrong.”
  Matthew 24:11 ERV
  
  Who is doing this?
  
  I honestly cannot imagine such a thing, but there are plenty of highly driven people, like those in the Faith movement, who are trying to act and speak in the authority of the name of Jesus. Consider that Jesus emphasized that deception would be great.
  
  Who was he talking to?
  
  Jews, and so our focus is on a Jewish impact.
  
  Did you know that a Rabbi was picked to be the high priest in the new Jewish temple once it gets built?
  
  It was reported by Israel 365 News, several years ago that his name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane. Although he did not feel it was the right time for such a declaration to be made, however, in 2022, he was front and center when a preparation necessary to sacrifice on the temple mount was performed. When I showed this man to some friends of mine, they made comments like, he looks like a fine young man; why would you think that he might be the one to cause such a deception? That’s my point; such a trusted man would cause such an uproar.

Posted in antichrist, apostasy, bible study, Deception, departure, End times, marked, Matthew's gospel, sealed, tabernacle, temple, the prince that shall come, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged Belief, Bible, Blessed, booths, bought, cast, comes, coming, day, deceive, end, end times, hope, hour, Jesus, last days, Lord, name, overthrew, prophecy, Scripture, sign, sold, stone, Tabernacles, temple, thrown, world | Leave a comment

Isaac is a type of Christ. Let me explain.

Posted on 11/04/2023 by remso

First off, I apologize to those who are regular readers. You could say I have been fighting a mild depression, and I have been occupied with the events surrounding Israel. One of my grandfathers was a Jew, and I feel a strong attachment to Israel. So, this post, triggered by a post I read several weeks ago, has had many interruptions. Life sometimes gets in the way.

I can’t remember ever hearing this before.

In Genesis 22:19 it shows us (in a type) Abraham coming down off the mount alone, for God received Isaac up – just as He would receive Jesus at a future date.

In case you are struggling to understand “a type,” think of it as a simile or model. Isaac, for us, is a pattern or model of Christ who was to come, and Isaac submitted himself, as Christ eventually would, to be the sacrifice for us by what He did.

“He (Abraham) considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him (Isaac) back as a type.”
Hebrews 11:19 NASB95

Look at this in another translation.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”
Hebrews 11:17-19 NKJV

So, how does the narrative describe what transpired?

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.”
Genesis 22:1-3 NKJV

Points to hold on to.

God tested Abraham by saying, “ Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.”

Didn’t Abraham have another son? He did, but it was not through the covenantal promise he made with God.

At Sarah’s insistence, Abraham went into Hagar, a servant girl of Sarah’s, as a wife, and nine months later, she produced Ishmael. Ishmael’s descendants became the perpetual enemies of the Jews with one purpose: to kill the Jews.

If Isaac is an allusion to Christ, then we can recognize that God loved His only Son as well.

Is it possible that Abraham announced to Sarah what he was going to do? He may have because we do not see any mention of Sarah again until she died in Genesis 23.
- Christ was not burnt upon an altar, but He was undoubtedly offered upon the same Mountain.
Abraham took the wood, the fire, and two young men. Perhaps these were there to help, or they could have been witnesses.

Problem: Sunday school often portrays Isaac as a young child who could have been forced through rough handling to submit to being sacrificed, when in fact, Isaac was big enough to successfully resist had he wanted to.

So then, Isaac willingly submitted, just as Jesus would eventually do.

“Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.”
Genesis 22:4 NKJV

Abraham has had to journey for three days to get to Mt. Moriah, even though he has no idea where he is going or the significance of this place. This should have alerted you to comparable language about Jesus, who spent three days and nights in, as Jonah did, in the belly of death.
Isaac noticed that they were missing the lamb to be sacrificed. Abraham’s response went like this.

“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they both went together.”
Genesis 22:8 MKJV

The inference was that God would provide “His own self” as the lamb necessary for our sacrifice, and He did just that through His Son. I can’t imagine what Isaac felt. It appears that Abraham, though we don’t see it in scripture, taught Isaac what it is to act in faith.

Did Abraham strike Isaac with the knife?

The answer is an emphatic no, but it appears that he went so far as to lift it as to slit his son’s throat. Sorry if that offends you, but it was the standard method of dispatching the sacrifice.

To shorten this, I will say that God provided a ram stuck in the thicket.

How did that just happen?

I don’t know, but it did, and Abraham took his son off the altar and offered up the ram.

God, once again, blesses Abraham.

“and said, I have sworn by Myself, says Jehovah; because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only one; that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And your Seed shall possess the gate of His enemies. And in your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 22:16-18 MKJV

Now, pay attention to what happens next.

“Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.”
Genesis 22:19 MKJV

Why did the description suddenly turn into a singular scenario?

The answer lies in what Abraham did. Short of killing his son, he went right up to the point where killing his son was next. God sees the heart and the dedication and accepts that.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED,”
Hebrews 11:17-18 NKJV

Abraham knew that God was able to raise up Isaac.

“For he (Abraham) reasoned that God was able to raise [him](this is an inference toward Isaac and Jesus) up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead [potentially sacrificed], he did [actually] receive him back from the dead.” (The italicized words within the parenthesis are mine.)
Hebrews 11:19 AMP

So the scriptures reflect Isaac as figuratively dead, an allusion to Jesus’s death and ascension into the clouds.

Just as we will not see Jesus again until He comes, at His Father’s dispatch, to collect His bride, we see no mention of Isaac again. Abraham sends the servant to find a wife for Isaac.

“but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” Genesis 24:4 NASB95

Something tells me that the time frame between the “sacrifice” of Isaac and his fetching of his bride is significant, but time eludes me. I am confident this was an intentional language choice meant to allude to Jesus being caught up to heaven because we don’t see Isaac again until He meets his bride, Rebecca.

Rebekah coming to Isaac.

“Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev.”
Genesis 24:62 NASB95

Now, we see him and her for the first time since the mount.

Notice where Isaac is; he is in the wilderness of the Negev, where we will eventually find Jesus, where He was tested by Satan.

“Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
Genesis 24:63-67 NASB95

In this narrative that we are living, Jesus, our sacrifice, was caught up to heaven, and we don’t get to see Him again until the day that Jesus once again meets His bride, the church in the air.

The term wife is the Hebrew word ‘ishshâh and means woman. Wife and woman are the same Hebrew word. H802 ‘ishsha^h meaning a woman.

If you are okay with losing your mind, look at what Adam said about Eve.

“The man said, “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:23-24 NASB

Did Adam have a mother?

No, he was a creation of God alone and made from the soil.

Did he ever have the experience of leaving his Father, God, before the moment in which he ate the fruit of that tree?

No, for when God saw that the man’s relationship with the animals was not a substitute for an intimate and conversational relationship with a woman, He had to make one. What a peculiar thought, as I am sure that God realized that naming all of the animals and then tending the sheep would not satisfy and already had plans to clone a perfect woman from the perfect man He would make.

Another consideration is that God knew that Lucifer, soon to be known as Satan in this narrative, would rebel, be thrown to earth, and cause a cataclysmic amount of damage to the creation. God also knew that Adam would eventually stumble and fall, but this was not a shock to God as He knew it would happen; therefore, fallen mankind became the path for God to insert His Son into the earth as a human capable of redeeming and restoring the humans back to God, by accepting His love if they chose too.

Since humanity carried a damaged DNA strain because of Adam, God had to bypass human genetics – this plays a role in the conversation we see in Genesis chapter six, where God had to bring a flood that would kill off all life on earth except for Noah’s family, as they alone were NOT polluted by the infiltration of the fallen angels. All this is why God asked Mary if she would be willing to carry the Son of God. I said it like this because Mary was “artificially” inseminated with a fertilized egg without having damaged DNA involved. This conversation demonstrates why it was said that Jesus had no sin. You would rightly assume that I was infected with sin if I turned over the vendor’s table and chased all these fine citizens off the church property with my handmade scourge, and yet scripture tells us that Jesus was without sin. Hmm.

We also make the assumption that Adam did not or could not interact or speak with the animals. It would be a limited conversation, as there was no news or sports to discuss. If you think this is crazy talk, then tell me how it is that the serpent in the garden held a conversation with both of them, and they were not alarmed, or why Balaam did not flinch when his donkey spoke to him?

I am not so sure that the sin that overtook the two of them in the garden, with all its horrid aspects, such as separation from the Father, which is clearly an emotional death, to say the least, as it separates you from the one that made you; and the physical death that we can only assume God described to Adam.

How would you understand death if you have never witnessed any form of death?

We are left to assume that this was all thrust upon them in the moments following the eating of the fruit.

Did this instant break in communication with the Father – through the death that sin brought, give Adam the elated emotions that we tend to associate with the experience of marriage?

I bring this up because this leaving, in some cases, has to be fraught with emotions, not all of which are pleasant, as so many in the Middle East get married only to immediately return to the added-on room or new additional floor of your parent’s home.

Posted in Abraham, bible study, Faith, Hebrews, Isaac, sacrifices | Tagged able, Abraham, alone, Belief, Bible, considered, dead, figurative, God, Hebrew 11;19, hope, Isaac, Jesus, Moriah, offered, prophecy, raise, Rebecca, received, returned, sacrifice, Scripture, son | Leave a comment

Blessed are those who mourn. Matthew 5:4 through?

Posted on 10/14/2023 by remso

Look intently at this.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him.
(Matthew 5:1 NKJV)

Jesus did not retreat in fear, nor did He retreat, but it was a strategic move because the voice travels better as it moves downhill. Aside from that, there was the need to teach His own disciples what the heart of God is.

Having gathered His followers and all the others, He opened His mouth and taught. In the previous post, I covered Matthew 5:3, where the God’s Word translation conveys this:

“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” (GW)

Though I did not elaborate on the idea that understanding that you are spiritually helpless it is much like an alcoholic who realizes that they are not in control and will never be.

Does God leave you helpless?

Absolutely not. God’s life in you makes you a son or daughter of the King and entitled, within reason, to all the authority of the King. Think about the children of diplomats and how protected they are.

“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4 NKJV)

Blessed?

It seems so odd to consider telling someone who just had their family blown up as they attended church in Nigeria that they are blessed.

The NLT unpacks Matthew 5:4 with “God blesses those who…” I think this way of perceiving what Jesus/God is about to say is more appropriate as, in most cases, it would be difficult at best to see this thing or event as a blessing.

Mourn is the Gk word penthéō and means to mourn, lament, or grieve over people or situations, and they do not have to be your own.

My takeaway on this is that in time, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God will turn this thing that has brought your mourning into a blessing. This turn may be in heaven, before the Father, but occasionally, it happens quickly within the current time frame.

“How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:5 ISV)

The other common word option is meek. Both meek and humble have an aroma of weakness in my mind for a long time. What changed my mind came about when I read the narrative about Moses. Allow me to elaborate.

(Now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.) Numbers 12:3 NKJV

Being placed in the river by his mother, you could certainly see Moses’ future as one that could be oppressed or dead. But that was not to be his fate. He was rescued by the Pharaoh’s daughter and raised to be nobility in the Egyptian court. The scriptures do not define how Moses came to understand what his true heritage was, but we have evidence that confirms our suspicions.

“And it came to pass in that length of time, that Moses having grown, went out to his brethren the sons of Israel: and having noticed their distress, he sees an Egyptian smiting a certain Hebrew of his brethren the children of Israel.” (Exodus 2:11 Brenton)

Based upon Exodus 2:11, it is hard to perceive the humility in Moses as yet. Perhaps we don’t understand the meaning of the word. I can tell you that it is not what my dear mother defined it as.

Humble, according to the Word Study Dictionary, is the Hebrew word ‛ānāw. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, supercilious, self-assertive, or low in rank or position.

We always build our arguments on at least two witnesses, so here is another.

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27 NKJV)

Let’s apply some logic to what we read here.

Moses, at his sister’s prompting, was given back to his mother to breastfeed until he was weaned.
There have been mothers who have allowed their children to stay on the breast beyond seven years. I suspect that most attempt to wean the child when their teeth show up around 18 months.
If Moses was given back to Bithia at 18 months, then there is “NO” way this child could have been taught about his heritage as a son of Jacob, a follower of Yahweh. (Keep in mind that these people, who kept to themselves, were sheepherders and followers of this unknown God, Yahweh. They were not known as Jews as yet.)
This puts the driving force on Bithia, the daughter of Pharaoh, who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the intermittent care of Jochebed (which, according to the Midrash, was the birth mother of Moses.) And, as far as we know, she used these opportunities to teach Moses about his heritage as a Jew.

Does that make sense?

Not unless you believe in a God that works through people, often without their understanding, and does what seems to be improbable and impossible.

This puts the motivation on Bithia, Pharaoh’s daughter who rescued Moses from the river, to have Moses placed in the care of Jochebed (who, according to the Midrash) was the birth mother of Moses.

So, can we define humility based on what we see in Moses?

Absolutely. In Numbers 12, we find someone making a defining statement about Moses. Since God had Moses write all these early books, we might assume that it was Moses writing, as the Holy Spirit instructed, about himself. The Apostle Paul and the Disciple John seemed to find writing about themselves a bit uncomfortable. The following passage is a definition of Moses for a reason. We know this because, in most translations, it is set apart by parentheses. The Berean Study Bible did not do so.

“Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.”
Numbers 12:3 BSB

Why bring up the word humble and apply it to Moses?

Because there was a jealous hostility arising in the camp, and it centered on the brother and sister of Moses.

“Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.”
Numbers 12:1-2 BSB

When I read this, I find myself saying, really, all this because he married another woman.

By the way, what became of Zipporah, the first wife?

Oh, she is still around. If you remember, she threw the foreskins of their sons at Moses, yelling that he was a bloody husband to her, after he insisted that his sons, who might have been young men at this point, were to be circumcised. This is just a guess, but it seems some distance was suddenly put between Moses and his wife. Later, we see Jethro, Zipporah’s father, come to Moses, and he brought Moses’ two sons with him. Those two sons became priests in the desert temple.

We have several examples that might define Aaron and why he acts as a spokesman for God, but what about Miriam?

One of the first places we see Miriam is in Exodus 15.

“Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Exodus 15:20-21 BSB

Seriously, that is all I could find. Perhaps she got the job because she was family.

Earlier in this post, I defined humility from the Word Study Dictionary. It is an adjective meaning poor, oppressed, afflicted, humble. It is used for persons who put themselves after others in importance; it is also used for persons who are not proud, haughty, or self-assertive.

This may have played a role in Moses’ and his resistance to going to Pharaoh.

Did you notice how Numbers 12:3 pointed out how both Miriam and Aaron were saying, “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” and “Does He not also speak through us?”

Well, they got a generalized answer.

“And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,”
Numbers 12:4-5 BSB

The answer was this.

“He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.”
Numbers 12:6 BSB

Did Aaron and Miriam meet these qualifications?

We are never told what their qualifications were aside from Miriam leading the worship choir.

I can tell you that Jesus spoke to me in a dream, but maybe it was a vision; all I know is that it felt very real. He related my entire life to me, and I was only about 25 at the time. I am now coming up on 70, and I can tell you that I saw the end, and it was filled with joy. Sadly, when I woke up, the only thing I could remember was that He had been there and the joy I felt. Truth be told, it has been a rough 45 years, and I am living through a rough time now. Maybe the joy has more to do with the joy we all will experience when He comes back soon for His bride, in the moment we call the rapture.

But when it comes to Moses, it’s different.

“But this is not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Numbers 12:7-8 BSB

Face to face?

Several translations use the terminology mouth to mouth. It is the Hebrew word peh and infers the mouth as the instrument of speech. You might say, we talk face to face. So this makes the relationship that Moses has different from anybody else’s up to this point.

It goes on to say,

I speak clearly,
face to face,
not in riddles,
and he sees the form of the Lord.

Not even Moses was able to look at the face of God, or he would die, so this is all symbolic but serious. To elaborate on the serious nature of this conversation, God says, “Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

Make no mistake, God was angry.

“So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed.”
Numbers 12:9 NKJV

Oh, He didn’t go away without acting.

“And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”
Numbers 12:10-12 NKJV

You should know by now that Leprosy is a fungal disease that is treatable nowadays.

Aaron pleads with Moses for help.

“So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “Please heal her, O God, I pray!” Then the LORD said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward, she may be received again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.”
Numbers 12:13-15 NKJV

Verse 13 is one of the most dramatic verses that help to define why Moses was deemed so humble because he put God first in decision-making.

Was Moses always so humble?

I don’t think so, and here is why. Remember how I asked the question, where is Zipporah, Moses’ first wife? Well, Jethro, her father, brought her back to Moses, along with the sons. As you well know, there are two sides to every story. In a region that still supports a culture where a woman can be treated as a farm animal, I can’t imagine what could have become of Zipporah. Perhaps humility played a large role in this marital affair.

“And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”) and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. Now, he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.” So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”
Exodus 18:1-11 NKJV

In contrast to Moses, the humble man – because he trusted and followed God, “the people,” including Aaron and Miriam, “behaved proudly,” according to Jethro.

Proudly is the Hebrew word zûḏ and means to treat someone insolently, proudly, or arrogantly. The people acted in opposition to Moses and showed their indifference to God.

The next day, Moses went back to work.

“And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening. So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.” So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you, you are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people so that you may bring the difficulties to God. And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will also go to their place in peace.” So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.”
Exodus 18:13-25 NKJV

And then Moses let his father-in-law depart, but the wife and sons stayed, as though Moses demanded they stay. If there was an impetus to stay, it came through Jethro.

“Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.”
Exodus 18:27 NKJV

Moses took his father-in-law’s advice.

Posted in bible study, Matthew's gospel, Moses | Tagged Belief, Bible, Blessed, brethren, children, comforted, distress, Earth, Egyptian, God, Hebrew, humble, inherit, Israel, Matthew, meek, Moses, Mourn, Pharaoh, refused, smiting, son, suffer | Leave a comment

He opened His mouth and taught them. Matthew 5:1-4.

Posted on 10/03/2023 by remso

We ended Matthew chapter four with this.

“… His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.”
(Matthew 4:24-25 NKJV)

Syria?

I have not heard that saga about Jesus was spread throughout all of Syria.

Can we attest to the fact that Jesus went throughout Syria?

No, I cannot prove any of that.

You know what we do know?

“There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.”
(Acts 10:1-2 NKJV)

Cornelius became convinced of who Jesus was – God’s Son- and obviously shared his faith. Going off this ESV map, I assumed that Cornelius lived on the Southern border of Syria.

Again, there is no way to validate this.

Look at where Caesarea is located. This map is from ESV Maps and provided through e-Sword Graphics. Caesarea Philippi is inland, South of Mt. Hermon, and close to Syria. Other maps show Caesarea at the lowest point in which that nation touches Israel along the coast. So, I am not clear which one is true. The Southernmost version is about halfway between Jerusalem and Syria.

The Pulpit Commentary says this about the cohort. “Jose hus, in the passage above quoted, speaks of five such auxiliary cohorts coming from Caesarea to join Vespasian’s army, and he tells us in another place (’ Bell. Jud.,’ 2.18, 7) that the principal portion of the Roman army at Caesarea were Syrians.”

Why is the information about the Italian Regiment important?

Because it feeds into the traditional response, we apply to those troops destroying the temple as though they were Italians answering to Titus when, as we learned from Josephus, those troops who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD were primarily Syrians. Yes, they fought under the Roman banner, but they did this only because they were conscripted troops with no other option but to participate and had a bitter hostility for the Jews.

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26 KJV)

Matthew 5 is entitled The Beatitudes by most translations.

“One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him,”
(Matthew 5:1 NLT)

Where did we leave off?

“News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.”
(Matthew 4:24-25 NLT)

So what did He do?

“and he began to teach them.”
(Matthew 5:2 NLT)

Teach? It is the Gk word didaskō and means to know, teach, or instruct by word of mouth. Didaskō has inherent in it the intent to influence the understanding of the person who is taught.

I find myself chuckling because many of those surging upon Jesus did not come to be taught; they wanted the free stuff, like healing and food.

As He taught, He said,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
(Matthew 5:3 KJV)

A more simplistic translation tells us,

“Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom f heaven belongs to them.”
(Matthew 5:3 GW)

Look at what Dr. J. Vernon McGee had to say. “Blessed ar the poor in spirit.” It doesn’t tell you how to become poor in spirit; it just says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Having had the self-esteem beaten out of me as a child, being poor in spirit takes on a whole new meaning for me. Sure, there are those who think their feces doesn’t stink, and many of whom have wrangled their way into the pulpits of some massive churches. One that comes to mind averaged over 3000 in every service. The pastor would brag about his earned Doctorate, the high price of his suits, and how he could eat better food at the restaurants in Beverly Hills. He turned the church over to his arrogant son shortly before the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 21; just the other day, I heard that this mega-church had locked its doors. To be honest, I felt some sadness about this rumor because there were many good people there.

Poor is the Gk word ptōchós; according to the Word Study Dictionary, it means to cower like a beggar, poor and helpless, completely destitute.

Perhaps the phrase from the GW translation, “… those who recognize they are spiritually helpless,” is more appropriate.

Before I move on, sometimes the simplest of words, like destitute, can take on a grander meaning. Destitute and a so convey the idea of being

impoverished
indigent
poverty-stricken
needy
and downright poor

Now try to associate these mental images with your spirit.

Just this morning, one of the devotionals that a group of us read by Max Lucado. I responded to the question Max put forth that went something like this: will you be prepared to reply when the time comes for you to respond about your faith that could mean your death, as it did for Queen Esther and Mordechai?

I am barely comfortable when I have to respond, and it has nothing to do with life. Put in a situation where can see a need to “witness” for Jesus, I can hear the Holy Spirit telling me to “go for it.” When I finally make the decision to just jump in (this entire process only lasts a couple of seconds,) the fear goes away, and an amazing courage takes over; I, too, am in tears because I can see how God, not only, blesses the person listening to me, but those words coming out of my mouth are speaking to me as well.

So what caused this perpetual internal struggle in me?

Much has to do with the way I was raised. Maybe this will help you understand. When I got married for the first time, I was a co-dependent disaster, so when the first marriage was coming to an end due to her infidelities, among other things, I was put in a psych hospital for threatening to kill her; there, they asked me how long my religious parents had been alcoholics. Considering that they never drank, I was hard-pressed to figure out how to deal with all these issues.

So, let’s take a moment to examine some of the defining issues associated with co-dependency.

A lack of self-esteem and self-love.
Inability to set functional boundaries with other people and protect oneself.

A website called priorygroup.com tells us that the red flags of codependency are: A mood that reflects how others feel rather than your own emotions. Guilt or anxiety when doing something for yourself. Doing things you don’t really want to do simply to make others happy. Idealizing partners or other loved ones, often to the point of maintaining relationships that leave you unfulfilled.

These are the things that escorted me into adulthood with little to no self-esteem.

Having grown up in “faith” churches that idolized strength and bravery, I can tell you that there is a tremendous amount of bullying and judgment that happens there. It may be a lack of understanding, but for the most part, they, too, are submitting to peer pressure while ignoring what the Word of God says.

What does the Word of God say?

How about this verse?

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6 KJV)

Offend is the Gk word skandalizō. This is the root of our word to scandalize, and I imagine it brings up a tremendous amount of negative imagery in most, but it also means to entrap, trip up (figuratively to cause to stumble [transitively] or entice to sin, To fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, or to offend.

And now you know the heart of the Father when it comes to children, and may I say it, abortion; and why Jesus said whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and that person was drowned in the sea.

Get real; if someone tied a two-hundred-pound millstone to your neck and tossed you into the ocean, there is only one thing that can happen to you, you die. Don’t get me wrong, this does not equate to the fiery hell that comes after the great white throne, but there is certainly judgment that comes while you are here on earth; some people think of this as karma.

“Therefore you are without excuse, O man—every one of you who is judging. For by whatever you judge an ther, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice t e same things. We know that God’s judgment n those who practice such things is based on truth. But you, O man—judging those practicing such things yet doing the same—do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3 TLV)

Yeah, I get it, you don’t see your cruelty as a judgment, but it is, and you can expect cruelty in return, both now in your lifetime on earth and at the judgment seat of Christ.

“… for when you judge someone else, you are passing judgment against yourself; since you who are judging do the same things he does.” CJB

Okay, wait a minute. You said we, as Christians, will not receive God’s wrath and judgment because that all went on Christ at the Cross.

Yes, I did, but it does not give you the right to be a jerk down here on earth, and we will all stand before Christ’s bema seat, where we will account for the stupid stuff that we did in the flesh. I have this tendency to think we will be thankful that all this broken, earthly mentality and our actions will be burned away, and we will be clean and free before Him.

The NASB uses the word stumble instead of offend.

“Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that of enses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”
(Matthew 18:7 KJV edited for readability)

What do they call it?

Oh yes, the formative years are when your self-esteem is supposedly being established. It probably occurs among females as well, but like a pack of wolves, the pecking order within the pack is established. This pecking order wasn’t just at school, it was a way of life at church, and I typically felt like I was at the back of the pack, and you wonder why religion disgusts me.

When I was around 12 years old, I was told by my mother that I would be beaten (and yes, that is the term mom used) if they found out I had defended myself. Now think about that; how would they find out that I defended myself unless I, or someone else, told them? They wouldn’t. The only other way would be physical marks on my face, arms, or hands.

On that note, I have been a stepdad twice. In the case of the first one, he came home from school with some horrible marks on his arms (these marks indicated that my son had been struck at least three times). I asked him what had happened, and he said that he had blocked a shot on goal in physical education class (with a teacher somewhere present). The kid who tried to score became enraged and began trying to hit my son on the head by striking downward with an overhand swing with the field hockey stick he was using. I said, what did you do? He responded with, I blocked his swings and then hit him back (I venture a guess that blocking those blows hurt a lot). My son said, I happened to hit him in the head, and he went down. He continued saying, I stood there for a moment in case his friends thought they might take a few shots at me, and then the teacher got involved and started tending to the boy on the ground. Having seen all the action, he told my son to go on to his next class, and nothing more was said. You see, even in the short time I was with that boy, I knew his heart, and he was not prone to violence. Now, imagine the injustice if I had beaten my son for defending himself.

I see that public education facilities will punish and suspend you for doing the right thing. Jesus did the right thing and sustained all the blows that were meant for us. Another way of describing this is to say that He redeemed us from sin – it didn’t matter how many or the manner of the sins; they were all taken upon Him through the cross.

Now, the question is, what will you do with the man upon the cross. His name is Jesus, and He is the only way to the Father. The thief on the cross next to Jesus merely asked, will you remember me and Jesus said yes. To some, this equates to asking Jesus into your life. Time is so short. Perhaps you should do that.