He was transfigured

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart.” (Matt. 17:1). A high mountain. I wonder where that mountain was. Israel has a few, Mt. Hermon and Mt. Tabor. But it was to be alone that Jesus climbed it, to be where people don’t live.

Jesus must have known what was going to happen there—a special meeting with His Father. Jesus had a heavier burden laying on Him than usual. He, just recently, had evoked a confession of faith in Him from Peter and the other disciples. Yet, Jesus knew that they needed a deeper faith than they were satisfied to have if they were going to survive the great disappointment of the cross. This was Christ’s heavy burden for His precious pillars of the new dispensation that must endure until He could purify His church and then return to destroy the works of Satan.

Peter, ever outspoken, and often unthinking, was slated to be the leading spokesperson of the gospel movement, as Aaron was for the new nation of Israel. But oh, how much sanctification he needed! He was wonderfully generous, but in a humanistic way. It wasn’t grace that steered his generosity, but self-sufficiency. Yet it was generosity and a trust and love for Jesus, the building blocks of character that Christ found usable in Peter for His work. Peter had a temper, also because he lacked grace. But this, too, would be put to good use when courage would be required to stand up against all odds, and when the church would need a man to look to who would demonstrate the power of God.

All this was on the mind of the Son of God as He led the way up the mountain. Then, as the three bedded down, Jesus went a stone’s throw apart to beseech His Father and unburden Himself on Him upon whose soul He so completely leaned. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1:1). Hour after hour, the communion continued. To no one else on earth could the Lord open His most private thoughts and concerns. He was a man and limited to a man’s sight; yet He had access to the Spirit without measure, and with that came His power to know the mind of God, His beloved Father.

He wanted no distractions; not even the wants and needs of the sick and poor. It was time to be apart. There is a time for everything, for every purpose under heaven, a time to die and a time to be born, a time to pluck up and a time to plant, a time to laugh and a time to weep, a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking. There is “a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” and had Christ, even as the Son of God, not taken the time away from teaching and healing the people and even His disciples, He could not have finished His course. He needed His Father; and if He needed God, how much more do we need Jesus, to communion with Him through His word in meditation and in prayer.

John went with them—the youngest of the group. He was just a teenager. Yet, he snuggled in close to Jesus; he kept an eagle eye on Him, amazed at every sight and sound. The Son of God was the greatest thrill of his life. But he was just a “stripling” (1Sam. 17:56) like David was as a youth, a “tender plant” (Is. 53:2). Yet this sapling would grow into a mighty oak, more perfectly representing the Lord than any other apostle, except maybe Paul.

From watching Christ so happily and awfully, John copied the same gentleness he saw in Jesus, using the same appellation, “little children.” He upheld the Law of God because he saw the deepest love of God in Jesus. “O how love I Thy Law; it is the meditation of my heart all the day,” was the melody of his heart as much as it was David’s. John didn’t have the theological dissertation that Paul gave the church, but he had the deepest experience of it. His theology was in his mannerisms and actions. Like that part of Christ, his life was a very powerful force for the truth. He exemplified what Paul tried his best to explain. John had “perfect love” which had cast out “all fear.”

On and on Jesus pressed His burdens on His Father. More and more He yearned to have the natural, dead human condition set aside so that He could speak face to face again with God, His Father. His crucifixion and terrible night of blackness was already laying its shadow heavy upon His thoughts. Could He pass the test? Did He have the fortitude to finish the plan of redemption, upon which all heaven hinged? Was His courage perfect? Was his connection with His Father strong enough?

Oh, if only He could have more evidence from above than only the scriptures upon which He lived! He had only what fallen man has to hold on to faith, except for His naturally divine nature from conception. Yet, He carried the weight of humanity in His being and body, and the separation from God that came with that condition left Him with the same silence to open communication that we must endure.

However, it was His natural-born union and same-mindedness with His Father that kept Him from being blinded by this, Satan’s kingdom. Yet, in this Christ had no advantage over us. Yes, He had no bad track record to deal with; He had no inherited or cultivated tendency to evil or power of sin to battle with. Yet, He had no advantage we can’t have through justification.

When we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, He treats us as if we have never sinned. He blots out our past sinful life. He forgives and forgets. “All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him.” (Ez. 18:22). God sends His Holy Spirit to change our vile nature and we are born again as if we had never sinned. We are without fault from our second conception and own a new operating principle for all that we do and think.

Through a vital connection with Jesus, through communion with Him through His word and prayer and doing His works, we are brought to the change of nature and we maintain that new nature. We are held in the palm of His nail-scarred hand, and He will never let us go without our determination to leave Him. Otherwise, our life is measured by His, His character infusing ours.

Through “transpiration” a daisy or a carnation can take on a whole new color. Just sit the flower’s stem in a solution of water and food coloring, and as the plant drinks up the colored water, the flower becomes that same color. Just like the flowers that turn blue by drinking up the blue food coloring, through our absorption of His sinless character and perfect life, through the new mind that comes with justification, the faithfulness of Jesus will be substituted for our sin-stains in our characters and lives.

Jesus finally supplicated His Father all the way to heaven. The barrier between heaven and earth became so thin that the power of God rested upon Him like the dew of night. His very human nature changed, and glory beamed from His face and body. This transformation will be known by us, when, in the day He comes in power, the Maker of suns and heavenly bodies, we will be predisposed to supplicate His presence beyond any other previous effort to have Him near. When, due to the circumstances of a world which is wicked and wholly demon-possessed and plagued with rampant sinfulness and disease, we in faith surmount the insuperable separation from heaven, then we will be brought face to face with God. On that powerful day our life will be preserved only by His grace, and our allegiance to the kingdom of righteousness will be indelibly stamped into our new, permanently divine natures. Eternally we will be worthy to walk before our Father in white. “And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.” (Rev. 22:4).

Jesus “was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.” “And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.” (Matt. 17:2;Lk. 9:30,31). What a beautiful message of love for Jesus from His Father. The Father surrounded His Son in a divine embrace as They had had before the Son’s incarnation, even from eternity. Like Moses, the type of Christ, feeding off of the Son’s eternal life on Mt. Sinai, without needing food or drink, now Christ fed off of His Father’s life-giving presence and heavenly atmosphere of holy love and pure righteousness.

Not only was the Father present to embrace His Son and to let His Son know that He was surrounding Him, but He brought Moses and Elijah with Him, too. Men who suffered in the same weakened nature as Jesus was yoked with, men “subject to like passions” (Jas. 5:17) as Christ, encouraged Him on in the similar but much more dominant of all self-sacrifices as the baptism of fire He must pass through for our redemption. As a human, Jesus needed to hear from other humans, men whose hearts were knit with His, whose minds had been transformed into His. He couldn’t count on His disciples in their present state, nor was Saul of Tarsus yet converted and in the truth. He must have the encouragement of the two greatest burden-bearers from the past.

Suddenly, the light woke up the three students of the great Master Teacher. Never had they ever seen Jesus of Nazareth look like this! Their Master was a great teacher and healer, but this was definitely not earthly! Imagine the face of your friend shining like the sun! It would get the same response of fear that the Israelites had toward Moses when he came down from Mt. Sinai.

The Master’s clothing was shimmering white like the moon. Isn’t this what we will have some day? We will be given heavenly bodies that will shine like the sun. Paul explains:

“All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1Cor. 15:39-49).

The three disciples were dead asleep, “heavy with sleep.” (Lk. 9:32). “And when they were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him.” Peter opens his eyes, and then opens his mouth. It seems, the moment his brain began to function, he began talking. But he was talking without thinking. “For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.” (Mk. 9:6). Startled from deep slumber and rushed directly into fear of the unknown, James and John froze, but their friend began a torrent of verbiage.

What was he really doing? He was, yet again, playing the dupe of Satan to disrupt Christ’s struggle to redeem the fallen human race. If only Satan could get and keep Jesus discouraged and weakened, Christ would not complete the perfect life exemplifying perfect righteousness by a son of Adam. Thus, the whole argument of Satan could be proven true, that no one can perfectly obey God’s Law.

Peter interrupting Christ’s communion with Moses and Elijah shortened the time the Lord had with these men who had also suffered under discouragement but were brought through it by the grace of God. But, even though the meeting was shortened, Christ’s love for Peter overlooked His lessened blessing by losing the special closeness to His Father so quickly.

After Peter voiced his recommendation for three lean-to’s for the Three, a strange “bright cloud” moved in, and as they found themselves entering into this strange ether of light, their fears heightened still more. Then came “a voice out of the cloud”—the voice of God! “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.” (Matt. 17:5). Stop talking; and listen to My beloved and perfect Son!!!!!!!!

Then, at the words of the Father, all three disciples ducked for cover. Wouldn’t you? Faces in the dirt, bodies trembling, breaths bated, brains perfectly upright and expecting an early judgment day, no more careless chit-chat with the royal Son of God and the two heavenly visitants. The Creator had spoken. All creatures beware!

Like Job after meeting the Lord God face to face, “Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Then Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:2-5).

“That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19). No one is exempt from this. Our entire race stands guilty of telling God how to run His business. Its time we stop presuming upon the grace of our Mediator and start to take Him seriously. “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Rev. 14:7).

I heard someone say that the Father didn’t mean to sound condemning to Peter or that Jesus Himself wasn’t rebuking Peter when He said, “Get thee behind me Satan!” But, reproof and punishment don’t conflict with the Law of love. Without truth and justice, mercy and grace mean nothing except feeling or emotion. Mercy without justice destroys justice. I’m glad God spanks us. We need it.

It’s like what Paul said, that “sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it [the commandment] slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” (Rom. 7:11,12). Paul took comfort in knowing that he needed to be slain by the Law. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Heb. 12:11).

“We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:3-5). But, of course, none of this can happen without “being justified.” (vs. 1). So, one evidence of whether or not we are justified is how well we accept rebuke and correction. Did you ever wonder if you were right with God? Do you really want to know how you can tell? Answer the question, How well do I accept punishment and persecution? How do I take character assassination and gossip and false witness? How is my patience?

After being scathed by the Ancient of days, and cowering for a bit, the three heard that familiar warm, melodic voice of their Master. In the same familiar loving, majestic tones, they heard, “Arise, and be not afraid.” (Matt. 17:7). They cautiously raised their heads, and found the whole episode to be over. “When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.” (vs. 8).

Yes, Peter had ruined the special gathering sent for the strengthening of his Master. Yet, Jesus was quiet and subdued. He had gleaned from that short experience what He had prayed for so earnestly. His Father was still the same toward Him. He had not defiled Himself by exposure to a sin-filled world. He was still accepted and beloved. Nothing had changed; the plan of salvation was still on track. And He had conferred with other men, though only mortals, redeemed mortals awaiting the confirmation of their redemption in their Lord’s propitiatory sacrifice.

And another concern was relieved in Christ, that of solidifying the faith of His disciples. The very voice of His Father struck a sharp arrow of truth deep into their bones—one more advancement in their training to become the stable and settled leaders of the new movement that would continue for the next 2,000 years. In the mouth of two or three witness shall every word be established. What their Master had been teaching them had been confirmed by God. Jesus was vindicated; all His words must be true. Now, Christ could go forward with establishing judgment in the earth, His apostles more ready to fulfill their part in God’s plan of salvation.

All Israel shall be saved

In discovering the future of Israel, as the Bible prophesies, it would be good to look at Dan. 9, Is. 10, and Rom. 11. The language there seems to speak about Matt. 24, Lk. 21, both of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, and of the end of the age.

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Dan. 9:24). The Hebrew word for “determined” is chathak, meaning “to cut off.”

So right at the outset of this prophecy the Lord God of Israel told them He was giving Daniel no doubt about what He was going to do to—not His people and nation—but to Daniel’s people and nation. That must have sent a chill down Daniel’s spine.

It was a follow-on message from that given by Isaiah, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land.” (Is. 10:20-23).

This Isaiahic language was repeated by Gabriel to Daniel, “And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Dan. 9:27).

The desolation and consumption decreed upon Israel were due to being “cut off” from God, cut off as a nation because their circumcised spiritualism was “incurable” (Jer. 30:12), but not cut off as individuals who would repent, as Paul testifies in Rom. 11:20 and infers in verse 22. This desolation and cutting off happened at the end of the 70 week prophecy by Daniel which occurred at the stoning of Stephen in AD 34, and which heaven made painfully clear to the Jews in AD 70.

Put together, the two complementary prophecies show what it is that Paul was speaking about to the Roman Christians. A remnant of Israel would “return...unto the mighty God,” or “be saved.” (Rom. 9:26). That remnant, according to Paul, were not those Jews who returned to Israel under Ezra’s revival after 70 years of Babylonian captivity, but those who accepted righteousness by faith under the Messiah’s great gospel revival. (Rom. 11:6). “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” (vs. 5,7).

It was this election, those who were more than called, but also chosen by God because they chose Him, (Jas. 4:8) who were precious to God and were spoken of in verse 28: “As concerning the gospel, they [the nation of Israel] are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election[those of Israel who accepted faith], they are beloved for the father’s sakes.”

The Gentile believers were beloved because the Jews were God’s enemies. And, not the whole Jewish nation, but the believing Jews were beloved because they were following the original plan of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and Moses, David, Daniel, all the prophets, etc. that is, they were walking by faith and not by depending on their behavior or self-generated repentance to get God’s approbation.

And Paul was staunching any superiority by Gentile believers over the Jewish believers because their rebellious nation was fighting against God through Christ at the time.

But its a false hope and wrong exegesis of scripture to say that verse 25 says a partial blindness of Israel occurred which will be healed just before Jesus comes. True exegesis says that part of the nation of Israel was blinded and will remain that way until the very end of the Gentile dispensation, when all who were called and chosen, Jew and Gentile, come into Christ, “added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:47).

Why make such a fuss over this verse?

Because the other interpretation subtly teaches a deadly heresy. To say that God’s blinding of Israel was partial insinuates that God is arbitrary and that He disregards human choice; it says that no matter what Israel does, it will be saved. It says that the Israeli nation cannot escape Christ’s acceptance and favor. And the falsehood also says the same about the Gentiles, by default.

After all, doesn’t the Lord protect Israel with a covenant, and also those that love her? “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” (Ps. 122:6). And of Abraham, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3).

But the Lord always blesses on condition of obedience from the heart. “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.” (Gen. 18:19).

But if I don’t have righteousness by faith by experience, then I will jump at a lie that a certain group of people can be saved without contrite, willing obedience, because if I can imagine that then I can imagine myself being saved, by proxy.

To boost this erroneous doctrine, verse 29 is called into the argument that God saves without repentance. But free will isn’t really free then. In that theory, the absolute sovereignty of God’s will is all that matters, and if He wants to keep all the Jews throughout eternity, even if all of them don’t want to be near Him, He will force them to stay there.

It’s a wonderful truth that God calls to us carte blanche, and abundantly ministers to the wants and needs of His alienated children without a word of repentance required in return. It is with His everlasting lovingkindness that He draws us. It’s this divine goodness that leads us to repentance to Him.

And then it is that salvation happens—after our involuntary repentance. “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners”—“to repentance.” And, for 7 years He came specifically for “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matt. 9:13;10:6). But they refused to be called lost sheep and were more concerned that “the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” (Jn. 11:48).

Savation is not based on sovereign will of God, but His response to our repentance, which is a spontaneous and natural response to His goodness that began the process. The truth is that salvation is not by grace alone, but by grace through faith in His love. We have an essential part to play in whether or not we are saved by grace.

To say that the the Jews will be saved as a nation really speaks of “once saved, always saved.” Once God’s people, always God’s people. Even though Paul, in Romans 9:18-22 plainly writes that God has the right to put away the Jewish nation, and He will. Because these verses are speaking in support of the Gentile believers, and against the Jews and their theocratic obedience. They unsuccessfully sought righteousness by seeking righteousness. The Gentile believers (and Jewish believers) found righteousness by seeking Jesus. (Rom. 9:30-32).

Here is the crux of the whole issue: those whom God has accepted and always will accept are those who serve Jesus through love and trust, “Even us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles,” “both Jews and Greeks.” (Rom. 11: 24;1Cor. 1:24). “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” (Rev. 14:12). The gospel to go to the whole world has never changed in its character and requirements. It is the unchanging gift of God.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation , and kindred, and tongue, and people.” (Rev. 14:6). It is an everlasting gospel from Christ’s day to the day He returns, and is for every nation, not for Israel only.

Thus, it is sound doctrine to say that all who have responded to Christ’s call, through His Holy Spirit, are the new Israel. And thus it is Biblically sound gospel to replace the old nation of Israel with the believers around the world. “And so all Israel shall be saved.” (Rom. 11:26). That is, all true believers will be saved; as Christ said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mk. 16:16). “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Phil. 3:2,3).

Let us discard the deceptive ploy by the Jesuits to focus our attention on the Middle East, and let us revitalize the original Protestant movement to preach and uplift Christ’s justifying cross to a Christian and non-Christian world, both of which are dead in trespasses and sins.

Let us protest the Vatican’s move to derail Protestantism and destroy it through erroneous teachings on the Jewish state. Speaking of the Papal power, the word of God prophesies, “He shall…think to change times and laws.” “And…it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered….And he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people….And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand…and by peace shall destroy many.” (Dan. 9:25;8:12,24,25).

Let us appropriate the threats and warnings of God to ancient Israel, and take them personally, and fear that if He destroyed recipients of the old gospel dispensation, He can destroy the recipients of the new one also. As it is written,

“But with whom was He grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
And to whom sware He that they should not enter into His rest, but to them that believed not?
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Heb. 3:17-4:2).

And let’s not look in vain for a nation-wide conversion of the modern Israeli state by some romantic group of 144,000 evangelists. But let us look for the conversion of lost sheep of the Israel of God wherever they are, in whatever nationality, whatever kindred, whatever tongue, and whatever peoples we find them.

Justice is good when done justly

It is certainly sad to see what a misunderstanding of God’s will can do to His reputation. Jesus warned, “The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

This is not a new problem, and it is still ongoing. But to destroy someone’s name through misconstruing his words doesn’t change that person’s character, only his perceived character. And it happens to people all the time, purposely.

So it shouldn’t surprise us to see the same thing happen to God by His enemy. There was nothing He did wrong, even in the Old Testament, in the way of justice.

When the man in charge of the German concentration camps was finally apprehended recently and condemned to death, was that condemnation unjust? Anyone who has seen the piles of dead bodies will agree that it was just. When a mass murderer is executed we breathe a sigh of relief.

Wikipedia says of Jeffrey Dahmer, “His murders were particularly gruesome, involving rape, torture, dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism.” Who will argue that he shouldn’t die for his misdeeds?

The actions directed by the Lord toward nations and tribes who we can suspect, and archeology is finding, were doing equally grievous acts were just actions. But if I’ve never come to know God as a God who would take all that justice upon His own head and know the infinitely worse destruction of hell, then I will not accept that those nations which were destroyed deserved their sentence of destruction.

Its only in the light of the cross that we can see that what happened in the Old Testament was just. And if the whole Old Testament were studied before making judgment on it, the reader would find that often the God who sent judgment on nations finally sent it on Israel because they had become equally violent and outrageously wicked as those nations which had been previously destroyed for the same wickedness.

Justice is not violence, its good. Its a form of mercy. But if I’m prejudiced toward a person who stands for justice, it doesn’t matter what you say, I’ll hate that person and disavow anything he says to be right.

Before throwing out the Bible, read the whole thing. Its the only honest thing to do.

A comment on markcarlton's blog

My friend, markcarlton has a blog to which I commented. The first half of this post is his answer to my first comment to him. And then I give my answer to his answer.

markcarlton (15:29:30) :
First, of all, I will grant that you are not an antisemite, but any sort of doctrine that seeks to replace the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the spiritual descendants of Abraham is not only unscriptural but anti semitic on the face of it. While Gentile believers have come to share in the covenant of promise through Abraham (Galatians) there is not indication is scripture that our inclusion has nullified the promises of God to the Jewish people. In fact in response to that suggestion Paul responded, simply, “May it never be!” (Romans 11:1)

Moving on, you can of course call the church “the New Israel,” but the Bible never does. No where does the Bible teach that the church has replaced Israel. Yes, David, God accepts us back one at a time, but there were national promises given to the Nation of Israel, and a covenant was made with the Nation of Israel, and the God who cannot change and who keeps his word will keep that covenant. As to the future salvation of the nation Israel, check out Romans 11:25-26:

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uniformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in you own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “the deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove the ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant when I take away their sin.

I would also refer you to Zechariah 12:10:
And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication, so tat they will look upon Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first born.

That this day will surely come is confirmed in Revelation 1:7:
Behold, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him…”

I agree with this statement you made:
And the church, as a whole, will know His judgment as much as anybody. They will know it more, because they were given more light, the gospel. They professed His glorified name, but never knew Him nor did His works. “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”
I also agree with this:
“Some of them, as well as some of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, will be saved…”

This mixed multitude that no one can count is whom Paul was referring in Romans 11:25 when he spoke of Israel being hardened “until the fullness of the gentiles have come in.” But as you your statement, “including Jews,” Is would say: Including Jews!!!??? No, Paul said, “then all Israel will be saved, just as it is written….for for the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.

Take care, brother, and thank you for your contribution.

P.S. I also disagree with your view that the apostolic church “was His carry-on for His everlasting gospel (covenant).” The church, according to Ephesians, is a new man, a mystery not known in previous generations but now being revealed.

2 07 2009
David (22:36:40) :
Mark,
How do you understand Rom. 11:14?
Paul was saying that he hoped to save “some of” his kinsmen, the Jews. Then in the next verse he uses the more general, unqualified “them”, sounding all inclusive of the salvation of the whole Jewish nation. But even though he did not include the words, “some of” when referring to the Jews in verse 15, he had already established what he meant when speaking of his burden for their conversion in verse 14.

Verse one gives the same meaning. God didn’t cast away all His people. Paul was proof of that. But Paul adds that only those who were foreknown were kept. That is, those he referred to in chapter 8:29. Many are called, but few are chosen, and those not chosen are lost. (2Cor. 4:3,4). Only the elect obtained the inheritance, and the rest were blinded, as God had warned from the days of Isaiah. (6:9-12). And Jesus re-warned of this. (Matt. 13:14,15).

Jesus again warned of the same rejection in a different way, “Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.
But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” (Lk. 13:26-28).

I don’t feel anti-Semitic any more than John did when he penned these words. “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the sabbath day.” (Jn. 5:16). The Jews blinded themselves and the truth needed to be told, as a way of provoking them to see the truth. “With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt shew Thyself froward.” (Ps. 18:26).

But maybe you say, “That was then and this is now. Things are different among the Jews toward Jesus.” I don’t see it. Or maybe you say, “Things will get better in the future when God pours out His Spirit upon them and then all of them will be saved.”
That notion is very unscriptural. Not in the history of fallen mankind was all of God’s people converted. Even in the pure apostolic church Satan had his people. Coming out of Egypt Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Nadab and Abihu, and many other full-blooded Israelites were in complete rebellion. Not to mention the 23,000 who died on the border of the promised land.

David made another plea to total consecration and faith, “after so long a time” (500 years after Moses) because so many Israelites perished because of unbelief and still were perishing in David’s day. There have always been the wheat and the tares in the congregation of the Lord.

The Lord has always loved His movement on earth. But there have always been those He waited long to “spew out,” “vomit out,” “shake out,” “destroy.” Yet, that corrupted component, even if it were the majority, would never be the tool of Satan to destroy the whole movement, which was predestinated.

Israel is not to be put on a pedestal; the Lamb of God is to be lifted up. “Behold your God!” “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.” “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.”

“All Israel,” as in “every Jew will be saved,” has never been scriptural and will never be. That is just wishful thinking. “All Israel,” as in God’s movement to reveal Himself to the world and all heaven, “will be saved.” But they will come from every nation, kindred, tongue and people, from the north, south, east and west, Jews and Gentiles alike. “And then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14).

Mark, I really am far from being anti-Semitic. Being candid toward Israel doesn’t make me a hater of the Jews.

How beautiful the feet of Christ

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Is. 52:7).

I look at women’s feet. Women have beautiful feet. I look at children and they have beautiful feet. I want to ask them, “What must I do to have beautiful feet?”

Beautiful feet. What does the child do to have them? Weekly pedicures? The kids run around like they’re in a race with light—300,000 km/sec! Needless to say, they have no time for a pedicure.

But what does it take to have beautiful feet? We wash one another’s feet at the foot washing service. Does this give us beautiful feet? Actually it does, and beautiful hands, too!

We aren’t talking about just beautiful feet, but How beautiful feet! How beautiful! We are talking about Jesus’ feet primarily, and, secondarily, the feet of all those who have followed Him. How beautiful were their feet! Beauty is not just the thrill of emotion; but mostly the awe of sacrifice. It is not the perfect appearance that is the most beautiful, but service, the sacrifice of self, a selfless heart, a beauty-filled mind and undaunted will to do good.

How beautiful the feet of Jesus, who effortlessly walked thousands of miles to minister to sorrowing individuals, to heal the sick, to cast the devil out people’s minds and lives. Bodily exhausted, yet His soul mounting up like an eagle, He braved hunger, thirst, cold winters, hot dusty summers, rained-soaked clothes, the suspicions of religious leaders and the ruling class, all just so that He could see a soul smile and take heart to endure on in the fight to please God.

How beautiful the feet of Jesus, who sought out every conceivable way to communicate the joy of communion He had with His Father. Working with people who, many centuries before, had lost faith and the science of salvation and the knowledge of the true God, He taught the esoteric lessons of faith and spirituality through their own hands-on real-life experiences; He yearned to get the message across that they could know the same love and happiness that He knew, the same two-way conversation with His Father, if they would sacrifice self and suffer along with Him.

They could have heaven on earth through the same way that He did. He would not cease to help His people see true deliverance from self-service, not until He used His last, final teaching tool—the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. “He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Is. 53:12). “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.” (Is. 42:4).

How beautiful the feet of Jesus, who after having had such a busy, active life uplifting all those around Him, after having travelled freely among the birds and animals and insects, the trees and the flowers and the elements, those feet were nailed down. His feet immobilized, made immovable by the people He came to deliver, the payment He received for all His labors.

Let us never forget what God has done.

How Beautiful
the hands that served
The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth
How beautiful the feet that walked
The long dusty road and the hill to the cross
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How Beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sins and bore it instead
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

And as He lay down His life
We offer this sacrifice
That we will live just as He died
Willing to pay the price
Willing to pay the price

How Beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes
How Beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure love so that others may live
How beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news and the love of the King
How Beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread and the sons
of the Earth
How Beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful is the body of Christ

To listen to the music of these lyrics go to http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/twila-paris-lyrics/how-beautiful-lyrics.html. Read the terms of service and then start the song.

Blessings...
David

The Lord God, the Son of God, the Master Teacher

“Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Prov. 20:5).

“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of His saints.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.” (Prov. 2:1-9)

Some ideas, some questions come to mind and pester us until we resolve them. God “has…set eternity in the hearts of men.”(Ecc. 3:11 NIV). We have the propensity to desire knowledge of the unrevealed, and an insatiable curiosity overcomes us as we live surrounded by an amazing creation.

Science seeks to comprehend this world. I seek to understand the Creator of this world. He, it seems, puts us in a certain situation as a means of teaching us about God and His character which we will find the greatest joy in imitating. He surrounded the first human with animals all of which had mates. This in order for Adam to realize that he needed a wife. Does this tell us anything about God and His Holy Spirit? What conclusions should we make from this? If Adam was to be made especially in the Godhead’s image, to reveal the Godhead, living in a menagerie of plants, rocks, metals, animals and gases, as our Creators do in Their universe, why did the Lord God wait for a time to give Adam a soul mate, one almost his equal? And why did He then wait even longer to give the first couple a son?

What does this scenario tell us about the Godhead? Was there a time when the Godhead was alone without Their kingdom of angelic hosts and worlds without number, until the Lord spake and it stood fast, as Eve was made from Adam’s rib? Was there a time when the Son was not—that is, not in the hearts of His unfallen kingdom as a Prince of peace and wonderful Counselor? Yes, the Son, all powerful and infinitely gracious, was not born as a son in their hearts until they saw the infinite depths to which He would go to protect and save the one worthless tiny world of Adam’s.

The Lord God, the great Master Teacher, designed the lesson so that Adam arrived at the truth through his own experience.

Abraham learned faith the same way. Instilling in Abraham the love for a son, the Lord brought him through many experiences that intensified his yearning and also tested his fidelity to his God. Would Abraham forsake faith as soon as being given his long sought-for son? Would he worship his beloved son when he would finally come? Or hold God as his supreme object of homage?

It took many years and many experiences good and bad, progress toward holiness and also failures. But finally Abraham was prepared to be the perfect model father—a type of God the Father. Thus, as the age of 100—a number figuratively representing eternity—the son of his dreams was begotten, “thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.” (Gen. 22:2).

Did Abraham recognize the grander lesson of the Godhead in all this? And did he see the bigger lesson of the love of God, as his love was fortified as the moments passed which he and Isaac shared together, day moving into day, year melting into year; especially when the Lord commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son. It was through the cross Abraham had to take up, the heavy loss of his precious lad who was the sunshine of his heart, that Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (Jn. 8:56).

Isaac was crucified with Christ, nevertheless he lived. And Abraham was crucified that day, too. Thus, the Holy Spirit was able to show him the great propitiation of Christ. He saw Michael, the precious Son of the Ancient of days, sacrificed at His Father’s own hand. “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief.” “Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin.” (Is. 53:10).

The deepest knowledge about God came through first hand experience.

Moses learned of God’s love for a world lost in sin. Israel had apostatized at the base of Sinai; and the Lord gave Moses the opportunity to sit back and watch the Lord God destroy that wicked nation below, still enslaved in sin. And then Moses would be honored to be the patriarch of a new nation.

But instead Moses offered up his own right standing with God and his eternal life, in order to buy time for the incorrigible, blasphemous Israelite rabble. What God wanted to teach Moses came out of Moses’ own mouth because of the sanctifying work of God leading up to that point, and by the crisis itself. Michael, Moses’ elder brother, must have cherished the time He spent with Moses on the mount, as He dealt with that unselfish, humble soul.

The Lord put David to the test with a lion, a bear, and then finally with Goliath. David glorified God by submitting to the preparation through communion with heaven, and also through submitting to the trial runs of the lion and the bear. Then when the big event arrived with Goliath, David was ready and he sprung right into action.

The Lord also taught many others by the same routine of learning through living.

What does all this say of the rest of us? That daily the Lord watches over our training, giving each of us many lessons outside of our study on the written lesson Book. The Bible is our text book to give us the foundation of our training. Without it we could not be able to correctly interpret the practical lessons that God gives us through His creation and His providences. It would all be total confusion without His written word. But if we will take up the yoke Christ has deigned to assign us, and learn in His school, we will not fail of the wisdom God has promised to give us all. And there shall be showers of blessings.

We’ll be following in the footsteps of Jesus, our elder brother, who in an infinite way submitted to His Father’s plan of training for Him, and who learned the eternal depth of His Fathers’ love for His innumerable children in heaven and earth. This in a way only the act of sacrifice could show Him, and reveal to the entire creation that He made.

Praying to the devil

In my previous post I mentioned the cutting edge of the prayer life is to let the Spirit of the Bible infuse our requests and desires in our praying. In the strength of the pathos of the Bible writer, who wrote under the inspiration of the Comforter, our hopes and needs become injected with the power of the Highest, and then we are taken far beyond what our natural, weakened faith could ever do in getting God’s ear.

We’re talking about the living, abiding word of God, the word that is God-breathed, the expression of unutterable love. “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field…. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Is. 40:6,8).

But we said that Satan’s greatest substitution to the true worship founded upon the word of God is the veneration of Mary.

How so?

Because praying to Mary is forbidden in the Bible. The Bible allows for only one Person to worship—God, the Father, through His Son. Since we can’t conceive of the Father, and since Christ was God made flesh and now we can identify with Him and know what divine love is through Him, we can respond in kind to the Father’s love by loving and obeying His beloved Son.

Any other object or person of worship is idolatry. Any other object or person of worship negates our inescapable condition of the need for redemption from sin. This includes even the veneration of Mary.

This is so because only the infinite divine love of our Creator/Redeemer can define sin by its contradiction to grace and love. Mary was not divine, nor is she the queen of heaven or the mother of God. One day a woman stood up in the midst of the crowds that surrounded Jesus. She must have been duly impressed by His righteous wisdom and holy love. But not accepting that He could be the Son of God, she gave her praises of Him in reference to His mother. Luke recorded the incident. “It came to pass, as He spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked.” (Lk. 11:27). But knowing that she needed to have her faith redirected into truth and knowing where her line of thinking would end up in the church, corrupted by the prevailing pagan customs, He answered, “Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” (vs. 28).

Where was Christ’s emphasis? On His heavenly Father, not His earthly mother. It was also not on paying homage, but in heeding His Father’s inspired Book and obeying it.

Why does Satan hate the Bible so much? Because its very fibers resonate a principle diametrically opposed to his nature. The Bible bulges with charity and justice; it shines forth of unpretentious faith; it dispenses the joy and freedom of a clean conscience. It tells of a nation which Satan had destroyed through his cunning and which God had restored and made happy through faith and childlike obedience to His law of love and goodness. It speaks of a Creator God who remonstrated for righteousness to His wayward children of Israel. Love, self-sacrificing love was breathed into every written word of that holy book. The devil fumes that everyone who looks at it will conclude that if God could be so patient and merciful and more than fair to that wayward nation, then He will receive every reader into His bosom as well.

Being cut off from God, Lucifer knows no joy and unselfish interest of others. Being under God’s curse, he cannot be a blessing in anything he does. Bitterness personified is the devil. Bitterness, because he cut himself off from God, makes him a devil.

Because he hated righteousness, he cut himself off from the God of both righteousness and pity. That left him without his Creator’s loving-kindness and tender pity. Now, the only relief he has in his ever-suffocating misery is self-pity. And since he wants as many sinners to join with him in rebellion as possible, he sends multitudes into the same misery that plagues him. In their separation from the God of love and righteousness, they too must resort to self-pity like their leader.

Since the fall of Adam, the devil has been responsible for separating the human race from their loving Creator. He does this by leading all to pity themselves. “Me, me! Poor me!” Forgetfulness of self was the atmosphere of heaven and of Eden; thus, Lucifer’s determined purpose to keep self foremost in our thinking. Through the gift of grace, forgetfulness of self will lead back to Eden again one day. Thus, to prevent this, Satan works in sinners to keep self in full view. But the life of self-centeredness, the life of hedonism, has undesirable consequences. No one can have a happy existence by living unto himself.

However, another trap Satan has prepared. When the forlorn sinner feels remorse for the life in which he is trapped, and decides to seek forgiveness from God for his self-centeredness, Satan provides a self-centered system of religion to appease the nagging conscience, but one that continues the self-centeredness. Amazing invention! How more cunning can the serpent be?! Wrote John concerning this: “I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel?” (Rev. 17:6,7). “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Lk. 16:8).

Without the devil’s designer religion, people would inevitably stumble upon the word of God like an oasis in the desert of self-indulgence. There they would realize conviction of sin and also a hope for the Savior from sin. “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” (Ps. 19:7). In the Bible they would find a God who exemplifies unselfish service, who sets a standard that brings both shame and guilt, but also hope for a better life. Repentance would follow, and restoration to the God they had forsaken. A new creature, a new life would result.

But repentance causes the undoing of Satan’s kingdom. So he, from the beginning of human history, has given an avenue for rebels to vent their shame and sorrow without facing God’s high standard of unselfishness. Thus, in the form of worship contrived by the devil, self is given center stage. Satan’s devious religion, worldwide, has always permitted and even encouraged self to be petted and indulged by providing for its escape from the presence before the principles of God’s law that brings recrimination to the conscience.

True repentance is defined as sorrow for sin and the renunciation of it. Valid repentance accepts the harsh reality of sin; it humbly admits to the dire results of self-love and temptation. It hates the actions that have brought damage to its loving Creator. It abhors itself for its sin, in the knowledge that God loves His children and will receive all who come to Him for forgiveness.

Repentance seeks Jesus, the only true advocate between God and man, who alone can forgive and who desires to forgive sinners. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all.” (1Tim. 2:5,6). Christ stands committed to upholding His Father’s government of righteousness, and in His presence the sinner trembles in fear of rejection. Conviction of sin takes hold and doubts build a high wall between the sinner and his Savior, hiding the possibility of acceptance from the great Mediator of mercy. But the Spirit of God is present to motivate the soul to move forward in hope to seek forgiveness of the Son.

Timidly, faith makes its case before “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29). Hoping against hope, broken and in great need, it waits to hear of the divine sentence against it. Then the Spirit of God confirms in the soul that God accepts and forgives the contrite one which has trembled before its Maker, who lays full responsibility for its sin upon the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8). The soul responds with heart-felt thankfulness to the voice of the Spirit with a new determination to obey all of God’s commandments, and rejoices to tell everyone of the Friend he has found in Jesus.

The new life in Christ is described by David: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord …. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.” (Ps. 40:1-3,7,8).

David said he had to wait patiently for the Lord to come to his help. This trial forges faith and experience in the needy one.

But Mary veneration so subtly and smoothly substitutes for Bible religion of conviction and repentance. Mary veneration does not bring Bible truth into the exercise. Beautiful repentance never need enter there. Being humbled is neither required not desired. In the veneration of Mary there is no comparison of the sinner to God’s standard of righteousness; there is no falling at the feet of Jesus, who takes the wrath and sorrow of God due the sinner. Sin is not an issue in venerating Mary, thus neither can sorrow for sin be. Guilt never really appears; rather it is fear of punishment that has precedence. Mary feels the sinner’s pain and dismisses it before any real pain can be known by the devotee.

All the tears that flow in the worship of Mary are in thankfulness for her obviating all real shame and guilt. The soul who renders to her adoration does so because she abrogated the law and the consequences to disobedience. Basically, the venerating of Mary is the cheap way out of trouble. It voids responsibility; it excuses people from facing the music. Mariolatry makes wimps out of men by helping them evade accountability to God. This Jesus never did. Thus, Catholicism and the Bible are polar opposites; they have always been and always will be mutual enemies.

Relating to King Solomon’s surrender to his Egyptian wife’s spiritualism, Ellen White writes:

With tender earnestness David entreated Solomon to be manly and noble, to show mercy and loving-kindness to his subjects, and in all his dealings with the nations of earth to honor and glorify the name of God and to make manifest the beauty of holiness. Prophets and Kings, p. 26.

He who in his youth was endowed with discretion and understanding, and who in his strong manhood had been inspired to write, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12), in later years departed so far from purity as to countenance licentious, revolting rites connected with the worship of Chemosh and Ashtoreth. Ibid. p. 57.

From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded a scepter, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave of others. His character, once noble and manly, became enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness, weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence upon Him. Ibid. p. 58.

Ancient spiritualism from Egypt and Babylon extended the same provision to worship without coming in line with God’s character. Likewise, Mariolatry and its Protestant forms, along with Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and all world religions, all appeal to strong emotion as the agent to cleanse the soul from sin. But the heart of corrupt man is deceitful and desperately wicked; and his emotional exercises are empty of true sorrow for sin. God’s Law alone can prompt repentance. We cannot manufacture it, not even by staring at an image or a painting, however beautiful or religious.

All such exercises are rejected by the God of the Bible. We cannot deny the plain commandments of God and think that He will be satisfied by our designing and heeding an inferior substitute instead, one more like Satan's character. The Lord says to the self-justifying sinner, “Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto Me.” (Job 40:7). And the prophet Habakkuk manfully stood ready expecting the Lord God to rebuke him. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.” (Hab. 2:1).

This is why the Bible firmly makes the man the foremost character through all its historical events and civil and religious duties. God wants manly people, men and women, which He develops through accountability and then forgiveness and confidence in His mercy. Satan seeks to destroy that manliness and holy boldness by excusing them from blame and guilt, and avoiding the grounds for forgiveness. The original Hebrew religion was a man-driven economy; God is spoken of as male. Rarely did a woman take charge. God was making a statement in all this. He was working in contradiction to the prevailing pagan religions, which from ancient times had exalted the “Queen of heaven” as opposed to their Father in heaven. (Jer. 7:18). The Hebrew religion stood up against the spiritualism which dissolved the resolution and weakened the confidence of the nations.

Spiritualism—Mariolatry, the Mass, and sacramental religion—weaken the human race at its foundation—in the spirit. Satan has sought to accomplish this from the beginning. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” (Is. 14:12). Through offering a woman, the “Queen of heaven,” in leiu of and to distract away from, the “King of kings and Lord of lords” and avering lawlessness over God’s authoritative Law, Lucifer has offered his intoxicating wine. “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” (Jer. 8:11). “By peace [he] shall destroy many.” (Dan. 8:25). And people will kill if this conscience-searing peace is threatened.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”(Rev. 18:1-4).

True Bible religion makes men out of the quivering wimps whom Satan has destroyed. Forgiveness from God and acceptance upon valid God-given repentance restores the true power of manhood in men and in women who believe in the Son’s forgiveness. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn. 1:12,13).

We can all have this hope-filled promise of the day we can help strengthen those weakened by false religion:
“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” (Is. 4:1).