." Look at the history of mankind in order to see what carnal wisdom has given the world.
" But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth./ This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish./ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."(Jas.4:14-16)
How did Constantine1 transform the early church but in strife and in his sensual pride? The history of his reign gives us ample evidence where he promoted heresies and set differing camps of Orthodoxy against heresies fight it out? There was 'confusion and every evil work.' The pagan Empire was all iron and the church bought by the blood of Jesus Christ after the State had got into the act was miry clay. This is devilish since it is steered by foolish shepherds with their carnal wisdom. Before this state of evil work could go further God shall step in, and we are seeing the curl of a tsunami shaping up.
God has not changed his doctrine because the churches are all led helter-skelter by reason than faith. We see a great army of dry bones. The Spirit presents them as a vision meaning they exist only in the divine Will or the world of the Spirit. God shall use these dry bones to control the events narrated in the ch.38.
"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him," This we shall discuss in the coming post, which concludes our meditations on the psalm.
"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings" We are called to be priests and kings. So we shall discuss the kind of wisdom we ought to cultivate. In Jesus Christ is the fulness so we shall learn of him. As the true and faithful witness he can be the only way, the truth and the life. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,/ And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Re.1:5-6)
The Spirit has presented Adam as a stand-in for the Son. The deep sleep of Adam refers to the death of Jesus Christ. Till his Advent we have several heroes of faith and each of them reveal an aspect of the Son. God fashions the woman from one of his ribs, and how does Adam respond?
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man./ And Adam 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." (Ge.2:22-23) Whence did his knowledge come from? Isn't it from God and he thought as His son. ( Luke 2:38) The Spirit makes him as a double for the Son where wisdom from heaven is freely given to him. It is for this reason God commanded him not to eat of the fruit of the tree. As son of God knowledge of good and evil was superfluous. His sin was in obeying the doctrine of Satan. As a son and as the double for his Son diobedience was no option. For wisdom from heaven to work in anyone the condition is to be led by Jesus Christ.
Wisdom from heaven is to be led by the word of God. It creates peace all around. 'But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
Once the reverence for God and his word was gone what was left? "For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works./ Therefore their days did he consume in vanity," (78:32-33). This is plain addiction. Overindulgence and craving are signs of a consumer society given to be consumed in vanity. In a permissive society man degrading so love is more a bondage. Are we being tricked or are we free citizens exercising healthy appetites, given by God?
Fools rely solely in their rational faculties, which is under the department of 'wisdom of this world'. In the Four horsemen figuring in the vision of St John what have we coming in the rear?
"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."(Re.6:8) Jesus Christ the rider on the white horse is pre-eminent in all things so we see him ahead of the cavalcade. By his death and resurrection Jesus Christ overcame death so we ought not be afraid. We are secure. "All things were created by him, and for him:/And he is before all:/And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."(Col.1:16-17)
'With the beasts of the earth' Hell following death gives pestilence a place. Does anyone by reason foresee pandemic as they hit us?
"And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit./ And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power./And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Re.9:2-5)
"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth./ Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."
Salvation is in none other than in the Son who is the heir of all things. The two worlds framed by God reveals faith which is one; the other is the word of God. The Word of God, as the Law or the constitution is a sound as well as a sign. In short the world made to appear is a sign. Jesus Christ as the slain Lamb, the Lamb of God and the Throne of God and of the Lamb are all one and the same.(He.11:3)
"If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." (Pr.9:12) The Spirit has given us the God document, the Bible is inerrant. So you cannot cut and paste passages from Scripture to make the nation of Israel as the central plank for your religion and practice. Jesus Christ, who of God is become our Savior Lord so all our glory should be in him. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:/ That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."(1 Co.1:30-31)
"Judge not, that ye be not judged./ For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."(Matt.7:1-2) God is the God of both poor and rich and absolutely impartial. "Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:/For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them." (Pr.22:22-23)
As with man so with His creation. " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."(Matt.10:29) The Spirit instructs how Israel murmured against divine Providence. "And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust."(Ps.78:18).
This chapter recaps the journey of the Israelites when the LORD God delivered them from their enslavement in Egypt in miraculous and at times fearsome ways. The LORD God went before them in the pillar of fire or cloud leading them through the desert to bring about their readiness to enter the promised land. He feed them with manna and quail, made water to flow from rocks where there was no flowing water before. At Sinai, He covenanted with them to be their God and they His people. Over forty years the people who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness as God had said would occur because of their unbelief. This new generation would be the ones who enter the land promised under Joshua and Caleb's leadership.
Aaron had died on Mt. Hor when God had called him up the mountain to breathe his last. Now, encamped east of the Jordan River in Moab, God tells Moses to instruct the people to drive the people out of the land completely, to destroy all items involved in idol worship. He also warns them that if they do not do these things, the people they allowed to remain would be a source of vexation to them as long as the Israelites occupied the land. God also said that if they fall into the same idolatry as those they drive out, then God will drive them out of the land also.
God did not give a lengthy speech to these people here. he was very concise and pointed in His instructions. What He wanted the people to do was very plain. Yet, God knew that the people will not follow his commands fully. And He especially knew that the Israelites would repeatedly turn to idolatry, divination, witchcraft, and sorcery over the time He allows them to possess the land. Even so, He puts forth His commands and that is that!
The Israelites are so, so close to receiving the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. They have encountered the LORD God in amazing ways that should have burned into their hearts the worthiness of God who they are to worship alone. How many will stay true?
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
The Bible as the God document holds everything in the visible world as the mirror image of the mind of God. The worlds framed by the word of God admits nothing else. So the strategy of Satan to rake up kings from the east to do his bidding shall not stand. The Son is the heir to all.("his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;/ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,-He.1:2-3; 11:3)
In the narrative mode the Spirit brings all events persons and nations in direct frame of reference to the Son.
How Joab killed Amasa was not a singular act of treachery. (2 Sa.20:8-10).Thus when the Spirit warns 'Kiss the Son' this action is with reference the kiss of Judas Iscariot. "But Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?""( Luke 22:48-NIV). Such betrayal on the part of man has its other side reconciling with him with a kiss. This principle of Similitude we have seen elsewhere. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."(Ps.85:10)
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
What is the quality of iron? "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."(Pr.27:17) In the context we are considering divine displeasure has its own weight. "Tit for tat' it says. The Lord has the enemies to Christ in derision. "Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." For the context look at the manner miry clay in the King's Dream has sought the weight of iron but it shall be in vain.
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,...but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." (Dan.2:43-44)
In Re.6 the horseman on the red horse carried a big sword. "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." (Re.6:4) He is what eggs on the kings of the east from the first ever skirmish to the final battle described in Ch.19. What the rider on the red horse does not know is that the rider on the white horse has already gone before him and we meet him in the same chapter. "And his name is called The Word of God./ And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean./ And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God./ And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords."(Re.6:2;; 19:13-16)
Revelation 1:1 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST ........ and he (the Spirit of Christ) SENT and SIGNIFIED IT (the REVELATION of himself) to his servant John:
Most think Revelation is a prophecy of anti-christ; even though, the WORD says it's the REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST.
The ENTIRE word of God is the voice and words of JESUS CHRIST, different men through the ages have taken pen in hand and recorded the WORDS of Christ, yet, they are Christ's words, not the words of the one who penned them.
These are Christ's words, REVEALING himself to the carnal mind of man:
Revelation 4:7 And the FIRST BEAST was like a lion, and the SECOND BEAST was like a calf, and the THIRD BEAST had a face as a man, and the FORTH BEAST was like a flying eagle.
Are these FOUR BEAST four different things, or, are they four descriptions REVEALING JESUS CHRIST?
Scripture says, NO VERSE is the private interpretation of the verse itself, but has to be understood by applying other verses of scripture to understand.
We have to find the interpretation of Revelation 4:7 in other scriptures to understand.
Numbers 24:7 He (the Spirit) shall pour the water out of his (Christ's) buckets, and his (Christ's) SEED shall be as many waters (peoples, tongues, and nations) and his (the Spirit's) king (Christ) shall be higher than Agag, and his (Christ's) kingdom shall be exalted.
Numbers 24:8 God brought him (Christ) out of Egypt; he (Christ) hath as it were the strength of a unicorn (ox): he (Christ) shall eat up the nations his (Christ's) enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows (words).
Numbers 24:9 He (Christ) crouched, he lay down LIKE A LION, and as a GREAT LION: who shall stir him (Christ, a lion) up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee (Christ, the Spirit of prophecy), and cursed is he that curseth thee (Christ, the spirit of prophecy).
LOOK to the scriptures; all FOUR BEAST, the lion, the calf, the man, the eagle, are CHRIST.
All these three we find in this verse. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, Express image, the will when translated is either as an emblem or as man so the only begotten Son explains it. secondly is the glory of his body. thirdly in this clause,'when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:' It is life everlasting.'(He.1:3)
The Spirit employs Law of Gradation to club together events for instance wars persecutions with frame reference to the Son who is appointed the heir of the world 'made to appear.' . The writer to the Hebrews records,"his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." (He.1:2-3). An example we have in this verse,"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."(Matt.23:35)
Satan amasses an army the number of which is clubbed together from the beginning till he is cast into the lake of fire, "Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."(Re.20:8). The same Satan lending his authority to the beast who is shown having one characteristic, 'And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.'(Re.13:3) If God dealt a fatal blow to Hitler the next beast shall have that fatal wound and who is darkening the door of 2ist Century?
The number 7 is a sure signal that we are looking at events as a continual process into which the word of God steps in to control events so Hitler is knocked out to give His children a time to get their acts straight. Gospel of salvation and of judgment.
'The kings of the earth set themselves' would mean that the movers and shakers of the earth have a script ready. It may be 'Holy Roman Empire' or Calvin's City of God. In such a case we have the Worker's Paradise coming from the nascent Bolshevik Russia. We also have seen Divine Rights' or 'Bill of Rights' all of the same order,- the point is it is conceived by some mind,- and the Spirit is not blaming high-mindedness of man, but warning us that in its operation it is against the Lord. The serpent in the Garden of Eden did not simply speak his mind but was tutored by a fallen angel,- Satan or Lucifer or whatever. The point is that it is scripted in the world of the Spirit and in bad faith delivered to man 'created in the image of God.'. In the case of Adam God had given the man a commandment and Satan would defeat His purpose by deceiving the woman. It is thus Satan has sinned from the beginning. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."( 1 John 3:8)
Who shall accuse the Founding Fathers of the US of bad faith? When they declared 'in God we trust' they were asserting their Christian faith. The point was that whether the nation and God was as one in their purpose? The founding fathers had slaves and the moral issue was not addressed at the time, it must be said that this moral ambiguity was enough for Satan. We know Satan had much legroom to make the bills serve his purpose than of God.(For instance Jim Crow laws in the post Restoration period. It is thus man who is not building with Christ creates a swamp instead of new Canaan.
Satan is the author of confusion and 'free speech' when he has given expression you hear now. Without truth of the word to subdue all ungodliness forcing upon you one is taken by the flood of misinformation. (Gal.3:1-3)
As with man we have seen birth of nations where the founding fathers swore their solemn oath,'In God we Trust'. What we see the nation put under the greatest constitutional crisis the citizens who love law and order ought to remember what Jesus had said,"Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,/Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish."( Luke 14:29-30) This objective lesson brings us to consider the rage of the heathens.
"Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright./A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back./If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servantsarewicked."(Pr.29:10-12) Who created cultural wars based on color? A ruler who hearkens to lies surely would have learned from the father of lies. All his servants as the word of God speaks of them, are wicked.
"The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense."(Pr.10:20-21-NIV)
The Golden Three in a nutshell
In purpose is it the glory of God that I seek? God blesses us in his Son.
2. Do we accept our sufferings identifying with what the Son underwent for our sakes? Do we learn from it to help others in their distress?
3. Our faith in his providence is our reward, view it as more as 'the love of Christ' constraining me so faith learns from experience and it serves as the second wind to glorify his Name without tiring our physical reserves.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Rage is a characteristic of man who is void of understanding. In the lexicon of the Spirit he is morally deficient. In the Bible there are several instances of enterprises undertaken by them. The Tower of Babel was one such. Their prime concern was to defeat the holiness of God. Lest God should judge them again as he did with the old world they had the means. So it was but it would not go further. They had the muscle-power and the brains; nor was there any dearth for materials but their speech betrayed them just as the Galilean accent of Peter led him to deny his master thrice in a single night. When morally devoid what does a fool speak? In our times it would be conspiracy theories. It is thus the tower of Babel stand as a monument to folly of ungodly men. Their rage is expressed and amplified in so many sound bytes. Does it mean any thing? Nothing. What Internet Age does is what morally deficient man has set up and is of no consequence.
Jesus speaks of a builder who set about building a tower with similar results as we have seen in the tower of Babel. ( Luke 14:28-30) He did not build with God who is the maker and builder, and not according to his purpose. In the many trials of Job we came across what St James speaks of his patience. "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." Here we have the Golden Three that makes any enterprise of man succeed. In purpose both God and man are as one. Secondly his steadfastness to endure even as Job suffered. Thirdly the grace of God that passes all understanding so man has to take him on trust."Unless theLordbuilds the house,/those who build it labor in vain. Unless theLordwatches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain."(Ps.127:1-3) (1 of 2)
There is a verse in the N T that warns those who do not receive the Apostles are not welcomed or accepted while preaching evangelizing or explain "the way" they will be an anathema before God
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Job was a righteous man. " But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."( Job 23:10) His patience was a virtue, which was not his patrimony but taught of God in the midst of the fire that tried him daily. 'Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful."( James 5:11-ESV) Do we not see faith in the manner he received it each day? He did not change his stance while to his friends it smacked of mulishness to hold on still to righteousness. It was obvious to the whole world 'here is a wreck, in body and worldly goods! Instead of speaking what was right they did injury to holiness of God to which we shall come anon.
Was Job guilty of pride, to hold onto his righteousness? He knew faith in God's mercy that made him weather the storm about his hearth,- for daily it came in waves. His unfortunate wife was lost in the domestic tragedies she could not understand. St James speaks of mercy which has the righteousness of the Son and also a form,- this was the fourth presence in the story of the Three Hebrew Children Thrown Into The Furnace. Only with experience or growing in grace we begin to appreciate the verses in the Book of Lamentations. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;/ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."(Lam.3:22-23). In a nutshell the grace of Jesus Christ works from within, and 'Christ in me' is not making a show for fools. Consider Jesus who refused the Jews who would want a sign from him. We are living in the same similar wicked and adulterous generation. Till he comes to gather his saints we shall see fools of the same stripe, only that they call it 'prosperity.' They are the chaff.
"And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper./The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away".(vv.3-4)
Ungodly are those who have not the Son. ( 1 John 2:23). We see several examples in the history of Israel where they made light of the commandments of God. "Be ye holy for I am holy."
How did the sons of Aaron serve God?
"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not./ And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord./Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace."(Le.10:1-3)
When God presented his Son to the world it was not as a teacher but as the Savior of the world. ( John 3:16) "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." (He. 1:6). Without giving glory to God and his Word we pride of belonging as citizens of nations. How nations flounder under their own conceit? "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. (Je.2:11-13)
It pleased God the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fullness dwell. (Col.1:18) So our witnessing can only work with the true Light where he is the Way.
The chaff is what will-worship wants to achieve as against God and his glory above all.
What it means to live by fruit of our lips? "From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence."(Pr.13:2-ESV) Mouth that utters knowledge is compared to the plants and how fruit develops from flowers. Think of Maigret's painting 'The Son of Man'. Where the lips ought to be we see the apple under his bowler hat. The Spirit similarly transfers the fruit of the word hidden in his soul into works that can be understood. "A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth;andwith the increase of his lips shall he be filled."(Pr.18:20)
In Deuteronomy we see the word connecting heart of man where belly represents the inner man and mouth, the world of the flesh and blood. Moses admonishes the nation, "Therefore choose life." (De.30:14,19) How did the nation of Israel choose? "The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." (Matt.27:21-ESV)
Lips from the above can be lifted to represent the state and the Word of God, as Moses and Aaron represented the civil and ecclesiastical governments respectively. The children of darkness chose Barabbas because he was one of them. Such choices mark the history of the church. Pagan state versus the early church was one such moment and who won, not the word of God. Advent of Luther and Calvin did not help the case either. The miry clay of church still struggles to come to compromise with the nationalism representing the state. Jesus rejected the idea of setting a civil government before he had perfected the will of his Father. ( John 18:36). Yet temporal power is so attractive to those who serve both God and man; and they need not expect any reward beyond the mess they helped create. Look about us to see what I mean.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
As Christians what is our hope? "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.:(Col.3:4). God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in his Son and the Psalm teaches how we should conduct ourselves. God blessed us for a purpose so we are to attend to where we stand and with whom, "If God be for us who can be against us? (Ro.8:31). St Paul writes "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."(Ro.8:28)
How often we find examples of those who started well but somewhere lost their wind along the way. It is daunting to take up the challenge by our own strengths. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: Teach me thy statutes.(Ps.119:11-12). After having entered to race according to our calling how on earth can we hang about the fleshpots of Egypt as it were? "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:/Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)(Ph.3:18-19)
"But his delight is in the law of theLord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, YE ALSO ARE BECOME DEAD TO THE LAW BY THE BODY OF CHRIST; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For WHEN WE WERE in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to BRING FORTH FRUIT UNTO DEATH.
( The law shows us we have a fleshly nature that is fallen and incapable of bringing forth fruit unto God.)
Galatians 3:21-25.
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Romans 7:6.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
You said oudeis could mean no man, but a better meaning or translation is no one,
If we applied the Greek meaning of the word oudeis as you say it would read; " No man or no one in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
It doesn't change anything!
The emphasis is where John looked.
If it means nobody was in heaven then you would have to say nobody was on earth and nobody was under the earth as well.
So where is everybody?
John looked in the three places where men are present.
If they are only on earth and under the earth, John should have left heaven out all together.
I'm convinced where Jesus will be we will be with him also. John 14:3.
Hi Jema, I'm sorry it took so long. Detailsit is my fault. I don't know what possessed me to put cbd oil in my food, yes, in my food. I know some oils are good to take care of hair, on hair not in food. Why cbd oil? I have repented of everythingvanity, ignorance, disobedience.but my hair keeps falling off. For three years. So, as George Muller cried out"Now Lord heaven or restoration. I'm ready to go home. Thank you and God bless you by showing off His supernatural power in your walk with Him.
So, let me get this straight... souls are in hell, idk, Hitler, Stalin.. whatever, ok, some kids that died at age 14, 16.. whatever. So they are suffering?.. then they are lifted out to be judged, so God can say, um.. go back for eternity?.. This idea came out of the dark ages, one of fear and anxiety to help build the vatican.. I grew up catholic, I know these things. Scripture, Jesus, says they will be rewarded according to their works. So, according to their works?.. Hitler has the same punishment as some kid at 17 who took his own life on drugs? No, the enemy wants us to think this, the wicked will be burned up.. eventually, cease to exist. Malachi ch 3, the wicked will be ashes under the soles of your feet. You ever have to put a dog down?.. a horse?.. let me tell you, it's misery, God doesn't delight in the death of the wicked. Death WILL end, not go on for eternity in some torture without end. Will it be eternal?.. yes, no coming back, is the fire unquenchable? yes, the fire of God cannot be extinguished except by the one who prepared it. Revelation 20:13.. and every man was judged according to his works.
Six (6) years after my first comment on Gen Ch. 41 we are now only 4 months away from the New Year (2024).
From the numbers in Gen Ch. 41 we eventually get to 3:3:3 (please see my comment 6 years ago (2017).
We could also place more significance on this by recalling that the COVID Global Pandemic started ringing alarm bells in the third month of the third decade of the third millennium (March 2020).
But could the third number 3 not just be referring to the month but possibly the year that we're in right now, that is 2023?
As I said there's only 4 months of 2023 left now. With the invasion of Ukraine entering some sort of stalemate we won't have long to wait to see if 'the crisis' morphs into the final nuclear solution. So much has been said about global warming and the reduction of emissions by the year 2050, but if 'the crisis' does reemerge before the end of 2023, we won't have to worry about how hot it'll be in 2050, will we?
Is it fair for me to assume that , Simon the leper of Matthew Ch 26 V 6 is actually Lazarus of John Ch 11 V 1-6 ? Maybe his name is changed to Lazarus because it means God will help ? When Jesus reaches Bethany , Lazarus has been in the grave , or rather cave , for four days and his body will be corrupted and will smell like it . In Leviticus Ch 7 V 17+18 we read that meat should not be eaten even on the third day , as it is likely to be decaying , good advice which is still heeded by many today . Is it possible , that Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus ,when he was on his way to Bethany ? If so , it would add an even deeper significance to the final words of the parable : neither will they be persuaded , though one rose from the dead , might this imply that Jesus was not speaking of his own ressurection but of what he was about to accomplish in ressurecting Lazarus from the dead after four days ? In Ezekiel Ch 37 , we read of the ressurection of the bones of the whole house of Israel , which we are part of now having been grafted in . This , by implication , takes place after those bones have been laid in the earth for many years . Four days or four hundred or four thousand years , it makes no difference to the God of all creation . Luke Ch 20 V 38 . We are Lazarus , unclean in life as gentiles ( Lazarus was unclean in life because of his leprosy ) and in need of God's help .
"Be Ye Wise" (2 of 2)
." Look at the history of mankind in order to see what carnal wisdom has given the world.
" But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth./ This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish./ For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."(Jas.4:14-16)
How did Constantine1 transform the early church but in strife and in his sensual pride? The history of his reign gives us ample evidence where he promoted heresies and set differing camps of Orthodoxy against heresies fight it out? There was 'confusion and every evil work.' The pagan Empire was all iron and the church bought by the blood of Jesus Christ after the State had got into the act was miry clay. This is devilish since it is steered by foolish shepherds with their carnal wisdom. Before this state of evil work could go further God shall step in, and we are seeing the curl of a tsunami shaping up.
God has not changed his doctrine because the churches are all led helter-skelter by reason than faith. We see a great army of dry bones. The Spirit presents them as a vision meaning they exist only in the divine Will or the world of the Spirit. God shall use these dry bones to control the events narrated in the ch.38.
"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him," This we shall discuss in the coming post, which concludes our meditations on the psalm.
"Be ye wise"
"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings" We are called to be priests and kings. So we shall discuss the kind of wisdom we ought to cultivate. In Jesus Christ is the fulness so we shall learn of him. As the true and faithful witness he can be the only way, the truth and the life. "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,/ And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (Re.1:5-6)
The Spirit has presented Adam as a stand-in for the Son. The deep sleep of Adam refers to the death of Jesus Christ. Till his Advent we have several heroes of faith and each of them reveal an aspect of the Son. God fashions the woman from one of his ribs, and how does Adam respond?
"And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man./ And Adam 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." (Ge.2:22-23) Whence did his knowledge come from? Isn't it from God and he thought as His son. ( Luke 2:38) The Spirit makes him as a double for the Son where wisdom from heaven is freely given to him. It is for this reason God commanded him not to eat of the fruit of the tree. As son of God knowledge of good and evil was superfluous. His sin was in obeying the doctrine of Satan. As a son and as the double for his Son diobedience was no option. For wisdom from heaven to work in anyone the condition is to be led by Jesus Christ.
Wisdom from heaven is to be led by the word of God. It creates peace all around. 'But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
"Be Ye instructed"
Once the reverence for God and his word was gone what was left? "For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works./ Therefore their days did he consume in vanity," (78:32-33). This is plain addiction. Overindulgence and craving are signs of a consumer society given to be consumed in vanity. In a permissive society man degrading so love is more a bondage. Are we being tricked or are we free citizens exercising healthy appetites, given by God?
Fools rely solely in their rational faculties, which is under the department of 'wisdom of this world'. In the Four horsemen figuring in the vision of St John what have we coming in the rear?
"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."(Re.6:8) Jesus Christ the rider on the white horse is pre-eminent in all things so we see him ahead of the cavalcade. By his death and resurrection Jesus Christ overcame death so we ought not be afraid. We are secure. "All things were created by him, and for him:/And he is before all:/And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."(Col.1:16-17)
'With the beasts of the earth' Hell following death gives pestilence a place. Does anyone by reason foresee pandemic as they hit us?
"And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit./ And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power./And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. (Re.9:2-5)
"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth./ Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."
Salvation is in none other than in the Son who is the heir of all things. The two worlds framed by God reveals faith which is one; the other is the word of God. The Word of God, as the Law or the constitution is a sound as well as a sign. In short the world made to appear is a sign. Jesus Christ as the slain Lamb, the Lamb of God and the Throne of God and of the Lamb are all one and the same.(He.11:3)
"If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." (Pr.9:12) The Spirit has given us the God document, the Bible is inerrant. So you cannot cut and paste passages from Scripture to make the nation of Israel as the central plank for your religion and practice. Jesus Christ, who of God is become our Savior Lord so all our glory should be in him. "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:/ That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."(1 Co.1:30-31)
"Judge not, that ye be not judged./ For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."(Matt.7:1-2) God is the God of both poor and rich and absolutely impartial. "Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:/For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them." (Pr.22:22-23)
As with man so with His creation. " Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."(Matt.10:29) The Spirit instructs how Israel murmured against divine Providence. "And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust."(Ps.78:18).
Aaron had died on Mt. Hor when God had called him up the mountain to breathe his last. Now, encamped east of the Jordan River in Moab, God tells Moses to instruct the people to drive the people out of the land completely, to destroy all items involved in idol worship. He also warns them that if they do not do these things, the people they allowed to remain would be a source of vexation to them as long as the Israelites occupied the land. God also said that if they fall into the same idolatry as those they drive out, then God will drive them out of the land also.
God did not give a lengthy speech to these people here. he was very concise and pointed in His instructions. What He wanted the people to do was very plain. Yet, God knew that the people will not follow his commands fully. And He especially knew that the Israelites would repeatedly turn to idolatry, divination, witchcraft, and sorcery over the time He allows them to possess the land. Even so, He puts forth His commands and that is that!
The Israelites are so, so close to receiving the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham. They have encountered the LORD God in amazing ways that should have burned into their hearts the worthiness of God who they are to worship alone. How many will stay true?
"Kiss The Son"
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
The Bible as the God document holds everything in the visible world as the mirror image of the mind of God. The worlds framed by the word of God admits nothing else. So the strategy of Satan to rake up kings from the east to do his bidding shall not stand. The Son is the heir to all.("his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;/ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,-He.1:2-3; 11:3)
In the narrative mode the Spirit brings all events persons and nations in direct frame of reference to the Son.
How Joab killed Amasa was not a singular act of treachery. (2 Sa.20:8-10).Thus when the Spirit warns 'Kiss the Son' this action is with reference the kiss of Judas Iscariot. "But Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?""( Luke 22:48-NIV). Such betrayal on the part of man has its other side reconciling with him with a kiss. This principle of Similitude we have seen elsewhere. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."(Ps.85:10)
(1 of 2)
(1 of 2)
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
What is the quality of iron? "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."(Pr.27:17) In the context we are considering divine displeasure has its own weight. "Tit for tat' it says. The Lord has the enemies to Christ in derision. "Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure." For the context look at the manner miry clay in the King's Dream has sought the weight of iron but it shall be in vain.
"And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,...but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." (Dan.2:43-44)
In Re.6 the horseman on the red horse carried a big sword. "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." (Re.6:4) He is what eggs on the kings of the east from the first ever skirmish to the final battle described in Ch.19. What the rider on the red horse does not know is that the rider on the white horse has already gone before him and we meet him in the same chapter. "And his name is called The Word of God./ And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean./ And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God./ And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords."(Re.6:2;; 19:13-16)
Revelation 1:1 THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST ........ and he (the Spirit of Christ) SENT and SIGNIFIED IT (the REVELATION of himself) to his servant John:
Most think Revelation is a prophecy of anti-christ; even though, the WORD says it's the REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST.
The ENTIRE word of God is the voice and words of JESUS CHRIST, different men through the ages have taken pen in hand and recorded the WORDS of Christ, yet, they are Christ's words, not the words of the one who penned them.
These are Christ's words, REVEALING himself to the carnal mind of man:
Revelation 4:7 And the FIRST BEAST was like a lion, and the SECOND BEAST was like a calf, and the THIRD BEAST had a face as a man, and the FORTH BEAST was like a flying eagle.
Are these FOUR BEAST four different things, or, are they four descriptions REVEALING JESUS CHRIST?
Scripture says, NO VERSE is the private interpretation of the verse itself, but has to be understood by applying other verses of scripture to understand.
We have to find the interpretation of Revelation 4:7 in other scriptures to understand.
Numbers 24:7 He (the Spirit) shall pour the water out of his (Christ's) buckets, and his (Christ's) SEED shall be as many waters (peoples, tongues, and nations) and his (the Spirit's) king (Christ) shall be higher than Agag, and his (Christ's) kingdom shall be exalted.
Numbers 24:8 God brought him (Christ) out of Egypt; he (Christ) hath as it were the strength of a unicorn (ox): he (Christ) shall eat up the nations his (Christ's) enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows (words).
Numbers 24:9 He (Christ) crouched, he lay down LIKE A LION, and as a GREAT LION: who shall stir him (Christ, a lion) up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee (Christ, the Spirit of prophecy), and cursed is he that curseth thee (Christ, the spirit of prophecy).
LOOK to the scriptures; all FOUR BEAST, the lion, the calf, the man, the eagle, are CHRIST.
God Bless You!
The Decree
All these three we find in this verse. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, Express image, the will when translated is either as an emblem or as man so the only begotten Son explains it. secondly is the glory of his body. thirdly in this clause,'when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:' It is life everlasting.'(He.1:3)
The Spirit employs Law of Gradation to club together events for instance wars persecutions with frame reference to the Son who is appointed the heir of the world 'made to appear.' . The writer to the Hebrews records,"his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds." (He.1:2-3). An example we have in this verse,"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."(Matt.23:35)
Satan amasses an army the number of which is clubbed together from the beginning till he is cast into the lake of fire, "Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."(Re.20:8). The same Satan lending his authority to the beast who is shown having one characteristic, 'And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.'(Re.13:3) If God dealt a fatal blow to Hitler the next beast shall have that fatal wound and who is darkening the door of 2ist Century?
The number 7 is a sure signal that we are looking at events as a continual process into which the word of God steps in to control events so Hitler is knocked out to give His children a time to get their acts straight. Gospel of salvation and of judgment.
'The kings of the earth set themselves' would mean that the movers and shakers of the earth have a script ready. It may be 'Holy Roman Empire' or Calvin's City of God. In such a case we have the Worker's Paradise coming from the nascent Bolshevik Russia. We also have seen Divine Rights' or 'Bill of Rights' all of the same order,- the point is it is conceived by some mind,- and the Spirit is not blaming high-mindedness of man, but warning us that in its operation it is against the Lord. The serpent in the Garden of Eden did not simply speak his mind but was tutored by a fallen angel,- Satan or Lucifer or whatever. The point is that it is scripted in the world of the Spirit and in bad faith delivered to man 'created in the image of God.'. In the case of Adam God had given the man a commandment and Satan would defeat His purpose by deceiving the woman. It is thus Satan has sinned from the beginning. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."( 1 John 3:8)
Who shall accuse the Founding Fathers of the US of bad faith? When they declared 'in God we trust' they were asserting their Christian faith. The point was that whether the nation and God was as one in their purpose? The founding fathers had slaves and the moral issue was not addressed at the time, it must be said that this moral ambiguity was enough for Satan. We know Satan had much legroom to make the bills serve his purpose than of God.(For instance Jim Crow laws in the post Restoration period. It is thus man who is not building with Christ creates a swamp instead of new Canaan.
Satan is the author of confusion and 'free speech' when he has given expression you hear now. Without truth of the word to subdue all ungodliness forcing upon you one is taken by the flood of misinformation. (Gal.3:1-3)
As with man we have seen birth of nations where the founding fathers swore their solemn oath,'In God we Trust'. What we see the nation put under the greatest constitutional crisis the citizens who love law and order ought to remember what Jesus had said,"Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,/Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish."( Luke 14:29-30) This objective lesson brings us to consider the rage of the heathens.
"Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright./A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back./If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servantsarewicked."(Pr.29:10-12) Who created cultural wars based on color? A ruler who hearkens to lies surely would have learned from the father of lies. All his servants as the word of God speaks of them, are wicked.
"The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense."(Pr.10:20-21-NIV)
The Golden Three in a nutshell
In purpose is it the glory of God that I seek? God blesses us in his Son.
2. Do we accept our sufferings identifying with what the Son underwent for our sakes? Do we learn from it to help others in their distress?
3. Our faith in his providence is our reward, view it as more as 'the love of Christ' constraining me so faith learns from experience and it serves as the second wind to glorify his Name without tiring our physical reserves.
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Rage is a characteristic of man who is void of understanding. In the lexicon of the Spirit he is morally deficient. In the Bible there are several instances of enterprises undertaken by them. The Tower of Babel was one such. Their prime concern was to defeat the holiness of God. Lest God should judge them again as he did with the old world they had the means. So it was but it would not go further. They had the muscle-power and the brains; nor was there any dearth for materials but their speech betrayed them just as the Galilean accent of Peter led him to deny his master thrice in a single night. When morally devoid what does a fool speak? In our times it would be conspiracy theories. It is thus the tower of Babel stand as a monument to folly of ungodly men. Their rage is expressed and amplified in so many sound bytes. Does it mean any thing? Nothing. What Internet Age does is what morally deficient man has set up and is of no consequence.
Jesus speaks of a builder who set about building a tower with similar results as we have seen in the tower of Babel. ( Luke 14:28-30) He did not build with God who is the maker and builder, and not according to his purpose. In the many trials of Job we came across what St James speaks of his patience. "You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." Here we have the Golden Three that makes any enterprise of man succeed. In purpose both God and man are as one. Secondly his steadfastness to endure even as Job suffered. Thirdly the grace of God that passes all understanding so man has to take him on trust."Unless theLordbuilds the house,/those who build it labor in vain. Unless theLordwatches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain."(Ps.127:1-3) (1 of 2)
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish."
Job was a righteous man. " But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."( Job 23:10) His patience was a virtue, which was not his patrimony but taught of God in the midst of the fire that tried him daily. 'Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful."( James 5:11-ESV) Do we not see faith in the manner he received it each day? He did not change his stance while to his friends it smacked of mulishness to hold on still to righteousness. It was obvious to the whole world 'here is a wreck, in body and worldly goods! Instead of speaking what was right they did injury to holiness of God to which we shall come anon.
Was Job guilty of pride, to hold onto his righteousness? He knew faith in God's mercy that made him weather the storm about his hearth,- for daily it came in waves. His unfortunate wife was lost in the domestic tragedies she could not understand. St James speaks of mercy which has the righteousness of the Son and also a form,- this was the fourth presence in the story of the Three Hebrew Children Thrown Into The Furnace. Only with experience or growing in grace we begin to appreciate the verses in the Book of Lamentations. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;/ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."(Lam.3:22-23). In a nutshell the grace of Jesus Christ works from within, and 'Christ in me' is not making a show for fools. Consider Jesus who refused the Jews who would want a sign from him. We are living in the same similar wicked and adulterous generation. Till he comes to gather his saints we shall see fools of the same stripe, only that they call it 'prosperity.' They are the chaff.
"And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper./The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away".(vv.3-4)
Ungodly are those who have not the Son. ( 1 John 2:23). We see several examples in the history of Israel where they made light of the commandments of God. "Be ye holy for I am holy."
How did the sons of Aaron serve God?
"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not./ And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord./Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace."(Le.10:1-3)
When God presented his Son to the world it was not as a teacher but as the Savior of the world. ( John 3:16) "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." (He. 1:6). Without giving glory to God and his Word we pride of belonging as citizens of nations. How nations flounder under their own conceit? "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. (Je.2:11-13)
It pleased God the Father that in Jesus Christ should all fullness dwell. (Col.1:18) So our witnessing can only work with the true Light where he is the Way.
The chaff is what will-worship wants to achieve as against God and his glory above all.
(2/2)
What it means to live by fruit of our lips? "From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence."(Pr.13:2-ESV) Mouth that utters knowledge is compared to the plants and how fruit develops from flowers. Think of Maigret's painting 'The Son of Man'. Where the lips ought to be we see the apple under his bowler hat. The Spirit similarly transfers the fruit of the word hidden in his soul into works that can be understood. "A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth;andwith the increase of his lips shall he be filled."(Pr.18:20)
In Deuteronomy we see the word connecting heart of man where belly represents the inner man and mouth, the world of the flesh and blood. Moses admonishes the nation, "Therefore choose life." (De.30:14,19) How did the nation of Israel choose? "The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." (Matt.27:21-ESV)
Lips from the above can be lifted to represent the state and the Word of God, as Moses and Aaron represented the civil and ecclesiastical governments respectively. The children of darkness chose Barabbas because he was one of them. Such choices mark the history of the church. Pagan state versus the early church was one such moment and who won, not the word of God. Advent of Luther and Calvin did not help the case either. The miry clay of church still struggles to come to compromise with the nationalism representing the state. Jesus rejected the idea of setting a civil government before he had perfected the will of his Father. ( John 18:36). Yet temporal power is so attractive to those who serve both God and man; and they need not expect any reward beyond the mess they helped create. Look about us to see what I mean.
vv.1-2
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
As Christians what is our hope? "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.:(Col.3:4). God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in his Son and the Psalm teaches how we should conduct ourselves. God blessed us for a purpose so we are to attend to where we stand and with whom, "If God be for us who can be against us? (Ro.8:31). St Paul writes "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."(Ro.8:28)
How often we find examples of those who started well but somewhere lost their wind along the way. It is daunting to take up the challenge by our own strengths. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O LORD: Teach me thy statutes.(Ps.119:11-12). After having entered to race according to our calling how on earth can we hang about the fleshpots of Egypt as it were? "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:/Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)(Ph.3:18-19)
"But his delight is in the law of theLord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."
Part 1
Romans 7:1-5
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, YE ALSO ARE BECOME DEAD TO THE LAW BY THE BODY OF CHRIST; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For WHEN WE WERE in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to BRING FORTH FRUIT UNTO DEATH.
( The law shows us we have a fleshly nature that is fallen and incapable of bringing forth fruit unto God.)
Galatians 3:21-25.
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Romans 7:6.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
See Part 2.
Yes , JESUS said about His commandments: What are them?
You said oudeis could mean no man, but a better meaning or translation is no one,
If we applied the Greek meaning of the word oudeis as you say it would read; " No man or no one in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
It doesn't change anything!
The emphasis is where John looked.
If it means nobody was in heaven then you would have to say nobody was on earth and nobody was under the earth as well.
So where is everybody?
John looked in the three places where men are present.
If they are only on earth and under the earth, John should have left heaven out all together.
I'm convinced where Jesus will be we will be with him also. John 14:3.
God bless.
- A Creature of God
Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he
them."
-Performance Issues
i.Low resistance to temptation
Genesis 3:13 "And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the
serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."
ii.High level of corruption
Genesis 6:12 "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon
the earth."
Puzzle
In light of these issues, what is the meaning of "in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."?
Six (6) years after my first comment on Gen Ch. 41 we are now only 4 months away from the New Year (2024).
From the numbers in Gen Ch. 41 we eventually get to 3:3:3 (please see my comment 6 years ago (2017).
We could also place more significance on this by recalling that the COVID Global Pandemic started ringing alarm bells in the third month of the third decade of the third millennium (March 2020).
But could the third number 3 not just be referring to the month but possibly the year that we're in right now, that is 2023?
As I said there's only 4 months of 2023 left now. With the invasion of Ukraine entering some sort of stalemate we won't have long to wait to see if 'the crisis' morphs into the final nuclear solution. So much has been said about global warming and the reduction of emissions by the year 2050, but if 'the crisis' does reemerge before the end of 2023, we won't have to worry about how hot it'll be in 2050, will we?
Is it fair for me to assume that , Simon the leper of Matthew Ch 26 V 6 is actually Lazarus of John Ch 11 V 1-6 ? Maybe his name is changed to Lazarus because it means God will help ? When Jesus reaches Bethany , Lazarus has been in the grave , or rather cave , for four days and his body will be corrupted and will smell like it . In Leviticus Ch 7 V 17+18 we read that meat should not be eaten even on the third day , as it is likely to be decaying , good advice which is still heeded by many today . Is it possible , that Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus ,when he was on his way to Bethany ? If so , it would add an even deeper significance to the final words of the parable : neither will they be persuaded , though one rose from the dead , might this imply that Jesus was not speaking of his own ressurection but of what he was about to accomplish in ressurecting Lazarus from the dead after four days ? In Ezekiel Ch 37 , we read of the ressurection of the bones of the whole house of Israel , which we are part of now having been grafted in . This , by implication , takes place after those bones have been laid in the earth for many years . Four days or four hundred or four thousand years , it makes no difference to the God of all creation . Luke Ch 20 V 38 . We are Lazarus , unclean in life as gentiles ( Lazarus was unclean in life because of his leprosy ) and in need of God's help .