Logic and the Trinity

Father and Son

Mt.20:23 – Father And Son – two persons.

Jn.3:16 – For Yahweh so loved the world that He gave, not Himself, but His Son.

Jn.3:17 – Yahweh sent His Son into the world. Did Yahweh send Himself?

Jn.5:37 – You have not heard or seen the Father (but they had seen and heard the Son) two different persons.

Jn.5:37 – There are TWO witnesses – (1) the Father and (2) the Son (two persons).

Jn.5:43 – Yahshua came in the Father’s name, but they did not receive him.

Jn.8:18 – There are TWO witnesses; the Father and the Son (two persons).

Jn.8:19 – You know neither me nor my Father (two persons).

Jn.10:29 – The Father is greater than all (others).

Jn.12:28 – Yahshua said, “Father, glorify thy Name.” A voice answered. Was it Yahshua answering himself? Are they One and the Same Person? Jn.14:1 – You believe in Yahweh, believe ALSO in me (two persons).

Jn.14:25 – My words are not mine, but His who sent me (two persons: sender/sent).

Jn.14:28 – My FATHER is greater than I – truly (two persons; Father & Son).

Jn.15:1 – I am the vine. My FATHER is the vine dresser; two different parties.

Jn.15:9 – The Father loved me, so I haved loved you (three parties; Father, Son & disciples).

Jn.15:10 – If you love me you will keep my commandments just as I have kept my Father’s commandments.

Jn.15:24 – They hated BOTH me AND my Father (two persons).

Jn.16:3 – You have not known the Father nor me (two parties; Father & Son).

Jn.16:28 – I came down from the Father and go to the Father. Did Yahshua go to himself?

Jn.16:32 – I am not alone, for the Father is with me (two persons).

Jn.17:1 – Yahshua prayed to the Father. Did he pray to himself?

Jn.17:3 – ETERNAL LIFE is knowing you, the ONLY TRUE EL, AND Yahshua Messiah whom you sent. Do we want eternal life? If so, believe in the Father and the Son (two persons).

Jn.17:4 – I glorified you on earth, and finished the work you gave me to do (the Boss & the workman). Jn.17:5 – Now Father, glorify me. Two parties; one is superior, one inferior).

Jn.17:11 – Father, keep my disciples, that they may be ONE AS WE ARE ONE. Comment: Yahshua and his Father were “one” just as the 12 Apostles should be “one;” that is, “one in purpose and doctrine.

Jn.17:18 – As YOU sent ME, so I send them into the world. Three parties: You, me, and them.

Jn.17:21 – That they may all be one in US; you and I. Us equals two or more persons.

Jn.17:22 – That the Apostles may be one as WE are ONE. Were the Apostles only one person, rather than 12 persons? Just as the Apostles were 12 individual persons, but with one goal, so the Heavenly Father and His Son were two individual persons with one goal.

Acts 2:24* – Here we have TWO persons: One ALIVE, one DEAD. Yahshua, being dead, could not raise himself. Who did? Yahweh raised him from the grave – from death (Acts 3:14,15).

Acts 2:27 – Yahshua’s soul was not left in hell; it too was raised from hell, from the grave, from the dead (vs.32). By whom? By the power of Yahweh (two persons are referred to here).

Rom.1:3 – Declared to be the Son of Yahweh, … by his resurrection from the dead (two persons).

Gal.1:1 – Yahweh (the Father) raised Yahshua (the Son) from the dead. Yahshua was subject to death, but his Father was not subject to death.

Eph.6:23 – Peace to all from Yahweh the Father AND from Yahshua. Two separate and distinct persons.

Ph.1:2 – Grace from Yahweh our Father AND from Yahshua Messiah. Two persons.

Col.1:1 – Paul an Apostle of Yahshua Messiah by the will of Yahweh (three persons: Paul, Yahweh, & Yahshua).

1 Th.1:1 – Peace from Yahweh the Father AND the Savior Yahshua (two persons; Father and Son).

2 Th.1:2 – Grace and peace from Yahweh the Father AND from Yahshua the Messiah (two persons).

1 Tim.1:1 – Paul, an Apostle of Yahshua by command of Yahweh AND Yahshua Messiah (Two persons).

1 Tim.1:2 – Grace, mercy and peace from Yahweh the Father, AND from Yahshua the Messiah.

2 Tim.1:2 – Grace and peace from Yahweh the Father AND from Yahshua our Savior.

Titus 1:1 – Paul, a servant of Yahweh, AND an Apostle of Yahshua.

Phil.3 – Grace to you, and peace (1) from Yahweh our Father AND (2) from Yahshua Messiah.

Heb.1:1 – Yahweh in times past spoke through the prophets, but in these last days spoke to us by His Son.

Ja.1:1 – James, a servant of (1) Yahweh, and (2) Yahshua.

1 Pe.1:3 – Blessed be the El and Father of our Savior, Yahshua.

2 Pe.1:2 – Grace to you through the knowledge of Yahweh, AND of Yahshua Messiah (two parties).

1 Jn.1:3 – Our fellowship is with the Father, AND with His Son Yahshua the Messiah.

1 Jn.2:1 – If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Yahshua the Messiah (Father Yahweh & advocate Yahshua (two persons). 2 Jn.9 – Whoever abides in the doctrine of Messiah has BOTH the Father AND the Son.

Jude 1 – Yahweh the Father, AND Yahshua Messiah (two persons).

Jude 4 – Some deny the only Yahweh, AND our Savior Yahshua the Messiah (two persons).

Rev.1:1* – The revelation which Yahweh gave to Himself. No. No. Yahweh did not give the revelation to himself, but to His Son Yahshua the Messiah.

Rev.1:4* – A salutation from two persons: (1) Him who is, who was, and is to come (the eternal Yahweh);

And from Yahshua Messiah the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, etc.(vs.5).

Rev.1:9* – The word of Yahweh and the testimony of Yahshua: Two persons.

Rev.2:8* – The words of him who died (Yahshua). It is impossible for the Father to die, therefore Yahshua is not one and the same person as the Father.

Rev.2:26 – He who overcomes, I (Yahshua) will give power over the nations, even as I myself received power from my Father (vs.27). Two persons: The lesser receives power from the other.

Rev.3:5 – Two persons: one of which will confess our names before the other. Who are these two? Father Yahweh and Son Yahshua.

Rev.3:12* – He who overcomes, I (Yahshua,Vs.11) will make him a pillar in the temple of MY ELOAH; and write on him the name of MY ELOAH; etc. Yahshua’s El was someone other than himself.

Rev.3:14 – The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of El’s creation. Two persons spoken of: (1) El the Creator, and (2) the one who was created – the True Witness (Yahshua).

Rev.3:21 – Overcomers will sit with me (Yahshua) in my throne, as I overcame and sit with my Father in His throne. Two thrones and two persons are spoken of: (1) the Father and His throne, and (2) the Son and his throne.

Rev.4:2-11 – He who sat upon the throne (Rev.4:2,3,9,10; 5:1,7; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5), was Yahweh, the Almighty El. Yahshua, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb who was slain, and who opened the seven seals (Rev.5:2-10); was not Yahweh. He stood before the throne on which the Father (Yahweh) sat: two persons.

Rev.5:11-13 – Praises were given to (1) Him who sits on the throne, and (2) the Lamb who was slain.

Rev.6:16 – Hide us from (1) Him who sits on the throne, and (2) the wrath of the Lamb: Two persons.

Rev.7:9,10 – Salvation belongs to our El, and to the Lamb: Two persons.

Rev.7:17 – The Lamb, now on the throne, on his Father’s right hand (Heb.1:3), will be their shepherd; and Yahweh will wipe away all tears: Two persons.

Rev.11:15 – The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Yahweh, and of His Messiah: two persons.

Rev.12:17 – Those who keep the commandments of Yahweh (first person), and who bear testimony of Yahshua (second person).

Rev.14:1,4 – These have the Father’s Name written in their foreheads (Greek – Father and Son’s name), and are the firstfruits to Yahweh AND the Lamb.

Rev.14:12 – Those who keep the commandments of Yahweh AND the faith of Yahshua: two persons.

Rev.15:3* – Three separate persons are named here: Yahweh, the Lamb, and Moses. If Moss and Yahweh are not one and the same persons, why should we think the Lamb and Yahweh are one and the same person?

Rev.19:4-7 – Four parties are named here: Yahweh the Almighty, The Lamb (Yahshua, the bridegroom), the bride of Messiah, a great multitude.

Rev.20:6 – They will be priests (1) of Yahweh and (2) of the Messiah

Rev.21:9,10 – Three parties: Yahweh, the Lamb, and the bride.

Rev.21:22 – Two parties are named: Yahweh and the Lamb. These are the temple in the New Jerusalem.

Rev.22:1 – The river of life flows from the throne of Yahweh AND of the Lamb (two persons).

Rev.22:3 – No more curse will be there for the throne of Yahweh And of the Lamb will be in the city: two persons.

Conclusion of these thoughts

To create only ONE person from these two:

(1) Yahweh the Father (who sits on the throne), and

(2) Yahshua the Son (the Messiah, the Lamb);

Requires too much bending of terms, titles, names, logic, facts, and Scriptures. It is much better to accept the “sincere milk of the Word” (1 Pe.2:2), and “receive with meekness the engrafted Word” of Yahweh (Ja.1:21),

“…which is able to instruct you for salvation through faith in the Messiah Yahshua. For all Scripture given by inspiration of Yahweh is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of Yahweh may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim.3:16,17 KJV).

One good work which we should continually promote is FAITH; Faith in the following:

(1) Faith in the one Supreme Being who has LIVED ETERNALLY. His Name is Yahweh, the Creator of the heavens and the earh and all things in them.

(2) Faith in Yahweh’s Son; Yahshua the Messiah, who DIED to redeem sinners and arose again the third day. He was “declared to be the Son of Yahweh… by his resurrection from the dead (Rom.1:1-4).

The Truth regarding the falsehood of the trinity

The Arian controversy was a Christological dispute that began in Alexandria between the followers of Arius (the Arians) and the followers of St. Alexander of Alexandria (now known as homoousians). Alexander and his followers believed that the Son was of the same substance as the Father, co-eternal with him. The Arians believed that they were different and that the Son, though he may be the most perfect of creations, was only a creation. A third group (now known as homoiousians) tried to make a compromise position, saying that the Father and the Son were of similar substance.

Much of the debate hinged on the difference between being “born” or “created” and being “begotten”. Arians saw these as the same; followers of Alexander did not. Indeed, the exact meaning of many of the words used in the debates at Nicaea were still unclear to speakers of other languages. Greek words like “essence” (ousia), “substance” (hypostasis), “nature” (physis), “person” (prosopon) bore a variety of meanings drawn from pre-Christian philosophers, which could not but entail misunderstandings until they were cleared up. The word homoousia, in particular, was initially disliked by many bishops because of its associations with Gnostic heretics (who used it in their theology), and because it had been condemned at the 264-268 Synods of Antioch.

Homoousians believed that to follow the Arian view destroyed the unity of the Godhead, and made the Son unequal to the Father, in contravention of the Scriptures (”The Father and I are one”, John 10:30). Arians, on the other hand, believed that since God the Father created the Son, he must have emanated from the Father, and thus be lesser than the Father, in that the Father is eternal, but the Son was created afterward and, thus, is not eternal. The Arians likewise appealed to Scripture, quoting verses such as John 14:28: “the Father is greater than I”. Homoousians countered the Arians’ argument, saying that the Father’s fatherhood, like all of his attributes, is eternal. Thus, the Father was always a father, and that the Son, therefore, always existed with him.

The Council declared that the Father and the Son are of the same substance and are co-eternal, basing the declaration in the claim that this was a formulation of traditional Christian belief handed down from the Apostles. This belief was expressed in the Nicene Creed.

Salvation why and how?

Before reading this article we would like to strongly suggest that you to have a Bible in front of you, either in print or on a website.  There are numerous Scriptures that are cited throughout this article, while only a few are quoted.  These Scriptures are all essential and have been selected to highlight the points being made.  After you’ve read a paragraph with referenced Scriptures, we encourage you to stop and look up the cited verses before continuing through the article.  This will allow you to full appreciate the essential truths being presented. Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong?  Perhaps as a child you stole a piece of candy or maybe you have told a lie.  Maybe you have done something even more severe.  Whatever it might be, you be confident that you are not alone, for many people have assuredly done the same.    In doing something such as stealing or lying, you have sinned.  The Illustrated Bible Dictionary explains that sin is done “either by omitting to do what God’s law requires or by doing what it forbids.”[1]  Unfortunately sin is something that we have all inherited from our father Adam. (Rom. 5:12)  It was not until after he sinned that he bore children.  Having become imperfect (sinful) by disobeying God, he was not able to produce children without sin.  Sin was passed on to all of Adam’s children, including each of us, and so we are deserving of death.  The apostle Paul, in writing to an early church in Rome, explained that “the wages of sin is death.”  (Rom. 6:23)  The source of this sin proves to be in our father Adam; for God explained to him that if he disobeyed he would die. Adam had the choice, he chose to disobey God, and so he brought death upon us all. (Gen. 3:11-19) When the apostle told those in Rome that “the wages of sin is death,” he did not stop there, leaving them without hope.  He reassured them, explaining that “the gift of God is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.”  God has promised to give his servants life that will not end.  But if we have all sinned and are deserving of death, how can this be? The words of Jesus Christ have been recorded within the Bible, where he explains that God took action to bring life to those deserving of death.  He said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing into Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”  (Joh. 3:16-17)   When Adam fell into sin, God did not intend to eternally condemn mankind to death.  He had a plan to restore mankind so that we would no longer die.  This plan would be accomplished through sending his son into the world.  When God sent his son into the world, he sent him as a human being. (Heb. 2:14) The difference between him and us though is that he was perfect, without sin.  (Heb. 4:15)   By him willfully offering his sinless life up as a ransom, he provided what was necessary to bring about the redemption of mankind. (Mat. 20:28)  He initiated the New Covenant by pour out his blood in death, through which God has forgiven our sins.  (Jer. 31:34; Mat. 26:28) How though can you benefit from this sacrifice?  Recall again John 3:16 where we read that it was by “believing into him” that people would receive life.  If we believe in him, we will also then believe in the one that sent him. (1Jo. 2:23) This belief is not simply a passive thought, where you merely acknowledge his existence.  We know from Scripture that even the demons, who are opposed to God and Jesus, do this. (Jam. 2:19)  The belief that is necessary and is truly considered faith is an active belief, where we have a true love for God and Jesus, where we practice our faith. (Jam. 2:14-25; 1Jo. 5:3) With a true, active faith, we have the promise of eternal life.  We are instructed to know the Father and the Son, and by doing so, in getting to know them through true faith, we will receive everlasting life. (Joh. 17:3)  But how can you do this?  You can come to truly understand the personalities of both God and Jesus by reading about them in the Bible.  You can come to see how they have dealt with others in the past and what they will do in the future to both those that serve them and those that choose to disobey.  You can develop a close, personal relationship through prayer.  In prayer you can express your personal thoughts and feelings; you can express your desire to repent of your former sinful course and to follow them.  (Mat. 6:9-13; Act. 26:20)  If you have not yet come to follow God and Christ, we invite you to do so.  God desires none to be destroyed, but he wishes for all to repent, including you.  (2Pet. 3:9)  By doing this, not only will you find a true peace today (Isa. 48:18), but you will have a confident outlook in this troubled world.  You will have an assurance, that if you endure to the end, not turning away from God, you will have everlasting life.  (Mat. 10:22; 24:13) [1] Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, Herbert Lockyer, Sri., Editor, with F.F. Bruce and R.K. Harrison. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), 994.

Future History

Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Future history. Who can say with any assurance what is going to happen tomorrow? Popular psychics of recent years, of course, have tried, for there are big bucks to be made from a gullible public if you can hit some paltry percentage of your guesses. Tell ’em what musician will be sleeping with what movie star next month, and the TV talk shows will throw significant amounts of cash at you and promote your latest book. Street corner gypsies will read your palm if you’ll grease theirs, telling you what they think you want to hear about your future. Or go uptown to the “young lions of the merchants of Tarshish,” excuse me, the financial prognosticators of Wall Street, where fortunes aren’t told, they’re made, by predicting what will happen to other people’s money—i.e., making educated guesses.

None of this is future history. There is no certainty that any of these predictions will come to pass, and their accuracy doesn’t correlate to how much money you pay for them. The vaunted Nostradamus made a tidy little sum publishing his cryptic quatrains—considered great entertainment by the cognoscenti of his day—but no one acted on them; no one changed the course of their life because of what they said. How could they? They’re vague to a fault, apparently the result of a great deal of effort to make them precisely that. The best you could do with them was to scan the events of the day trying to find something that sort of lined up. Occasionally, something did. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.

But future history? No. Even if they’re right sometimes, you can’t trust Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus, Madam Sabrina of 42^nd Street, or even your broker at Morgan Stanley to be as accurate as next Wednesday’s newspaper. (You can’t trust the newspaper either, but let’s not go there.) History, ideally, is a true account of events that took place in the past. You can trust it, learn from it, build your future upon it. Wise men study history so that they might avoid the mistakes of their forebears. They look at what they did right, and emulate them, and look at what they did wrong, and do something else. History is a stern schoolmaster. Those who ignore its lessons are doomed to repeat the class.

But if history teaches us anything, it’s that we do ignore those lessons. We always have. Solomon nailed it: “That which has been will be; that which is done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Oh, sure, we have technology the ancients couldn’t have dreamed of, computers, frozen pizza, and flush toilets, but human nature hasn’t changed one whit. Given the chance, we will chase after everything under heaven trying unsuccessfully to fill the void within us that only God can fill, just like Solomon said. We can look at history and try to figure out where we went wrong. We can peer ahead, hoping to avoid the disaster we suspect is lurking there. Or we can choose to live blithely in the present, willingly ignorant of both the past and the future. But we will never know peace until we come to terms with the One who holds the past and the future in the palm of His hand and calls it all now.

God knows how we’re built—after all, He built us. He’s aware that we have needs, and that the highest of these is the need to know Him. It’s just the way we’re wired. Yahshua, quoting Moses, put it like this: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) Perhaps that explains why the Word of God is replete with history—both past and future. God wants us to know Him, to have a relationship with Him, to understand who He is, what He’s doing, and what He plans to do in our future. Because we live within the constraints of time, He—who does not—must meet us within the framework of historical reality if He is to meet us at all.

Our relationship to God, time-wise, is like watching the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. Not on TV, you understand, but freezing our toes off in person in Pasadena. We are on the ground; we can see the float right in front of us, and we have a clear memory of the marching band that just passed. If we listen very carefully, we can hear the klop klop of horses’ hooves on Colorado Boulevard, telling us something about the immediate future: there’s an equestrian unit coming. Beyond that, only our knowledge of Rose Parades of years past can give us a clue, and then only in the most general of terms, as to what’s coming in the more distant future. That is, unless we have the official Tournament of Roses program. With the written schedule in hand, we’ll know that after the horses and the float from that big insurance company, the Shriners in their funny hats and miniature automobiles will arrive. The program helps us appreciate the effort that went into putting on such a grand event, and, on a more practical level, will let us make sure we’re not stuck standing in line at a hot-chocolate vendor’s cart when the guys in the little cars show up.

But while we’re down on the ground, watching life moment to moment, there is someone above us who sees the entire parade route from start to finish in one eye-gulp. This guy, from his lofty perch in the gondola of the Fuji blimp, witnesses every float, marching band, equestrian team, and even the fellows in the little cars—all at the same time. The entire parade is present tense to him.

All of this has a direct parallel in the parade of life—the march of human history. We live our lives one day at a time, trying to learn from the past and wondering what the future will hold. All the while, there is a God in heaven who sees the whole thing, end to end. This same God has given us His “parade program,” the Bible, so we’ll remember what’s past and have an idea what’s coming. Some of us have been watching the parade so long, we think it goes on forever, but the program states quite plainly that it does not. It had a beginning, and it will have an end. We can hear the music of the last marching band as it makes its way toward us. We can see the last float coming up the street. The end is almost here.

Look again at your program. See all those ads? Yes, I know. Most everybody ignores them. But they tell us something important: there is life outside the parade. The event happens on New Year’s Day, but we still have the whole year ahead of us, 364 more days to work and play, to laugh and love, to walk hand in hand with our Father, wide-eyed in awe at his greatness. The parade we’re watching is the whole of human history, but it’s only the first day. When the last float passes, when the music fades, it will merely mark the end of the beginning. Eternity lies before us.

So two things are apparent. First, God alone is in a position to know the future, because He alone exists outside of the bounds of time. Even his self-revealed name, Yahweh, means “I am,” i.e., “the self-existent one.” Second, He has chosen to reveal something of our future to us. (It’s not His future, mind you—all time is present to God.)

As I hinted earlier, revealing what will happen is one of the few tools God has to prove his deity to us without forcing us to worship him, and that is something He doesn’t want to do. That may come as a surprise, but it makes perfect sense. What’s the one thing the Creator lacks within himself? Companionship, fellowship. Let’s face it—it would be really hard to take God to court and try Him by a jury of his peers. He has no peers. Who knows how many eternities God thought about this before he started, but at some point He decided to do something about it. He started out by creating angels. (That’s a guess, of course; SF3.) These wonderful creatures were built to last forever, and they served God in the spirit realm. I believe that although they had the capacity for loyalty, they did not have the capacity for love, not really.

Eventually, one of their number, the most splendiferous angel of them all, became filled with pride, grew jealous of God, and rebelled, drawing away a third of the angelic host with him. Thus Ezekiel reports of Satan: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you…. You became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God… Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor….”  (Ezekiel 28:12,15,17)

Isaiah describes it like this: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”  (Isaiah 14:12-14) “I will be like the Most High?” God was looking for companionship, not competition. This wasn’t exactly what He had in mind. Then John describes how Satan got his following: “His [the Dragon’s] tail drew a third of the stars of heaven [a metaphor for angels] and threw them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:4)

I’m pretty sure none of this surprised God. It did, however, prove that angelic beings weren’t going to fill the bill as God’s companions. Instead, He would create an order of beings that, while lower than the angels, were made in His own “image and likeness”— beings with the capacity for love, not just loyalty. Their relationship with God would be different from the angels’ because their nature would be different.

But that would require some infrastructure. God converted some of His energy into matter—something that had never been done before (SF8)—and built a universe, complete with galaxies, solar systems, and planets, so His companions would have a nice place to live. Call me crazy, but I firmly believe that man is the end product of God’s creative process, the only reason He made the cosmos. This is not some arrogant religious-whacko theory akin to the “earth-is-the-center-of-the-universe” nonsense that almost got Galileo burned at the stake. But think about it. Does God need galaxies? What good do super-novae or quasars do Him? He lived quite nicely forever without them. We, on the other hand, need the heavier elements formed in stars for our very existence, for we are physical beings as well as spiritual, made quite literally of “the dust of the earth.” The wonders of creation are not so much an indicator of God’s greatness as they are a measure of his love.

And that, God’s love, is the key to companionship. The capacity to love is to some extent what gives us “the image and likeness” of God, for God is love. You see, love is the one thing that cannot be forced, even by an omnipotent deity, because if it is, it’s no longer love but something else. In that, it’s fundamentally different from obedience, loyalty, or even worship. It can’t be compelled, bought, stolen, held for ransom, or even manufactured; it can only be earned. It can’t be sold or bartered; it can only be given away. And here’s the rub: the capacity to love requires the capacity not to love. If the object of God’s affection cannot reject Him, then accepting Him is a meaningless concept.

That brings us back to God’s little paradox. How can he have a loving relationship with us—His would-be companions—if he leaves us no choice but to accept and reciprocate his love? If we have no choice, our love is nothing more than obedience; but if we do have a choice, our obedience demonstrates our love.

So He gave us a choice, a very simple way to demonstrate our trust, our love for Him, in the Garden of Eden. He said, “Do anything you want, but don’t eat fruit from this one tree, kids.” Then God left us alone for ten minutes—or ten thousand years; it doesn’t really matter—and we rejected His love. We woofed down the forbidden fruit like Oliver Twist with a bowl full of Fruit Loops. That didn’t surprise Him either, but I’m sure it saddened Him. Knowing what was going to happen, He already had a remedy ready, an antidote for the poison we had so eagerly consumed: He would divest Himself of His glory, enter our history as a mortal man, and offer Himself up as a sacrifice. And through this sacrifice, we could again become God’s companions, readmitted to His fellowship, just like Adam was before he chose to walk out on God.

But the remedy—the redeemer—didn’t just waltz into the Garden that afternoon and make everything swell again. It would be some time before He physically made his appearance. God wanted to reestablish a bond of trust with his companions first. So what was the first thing He did? He uttered prophecies to all the participants in the first sin:

“Yahweh said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel….’” By tempting the first humans to doubt Yahweh’s word, Satan had made himself God’s mortal enemy. So Yahweh informs him that a descendant of these same humans—and specifically of the woman—would ultimately be his undoing.

“To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you….’” Yahweh had created the man and the woman as equal partners. But the woman would, due to her key role in the first sin, henceforth be “ruled” by her husband, and women from that day forward would be frustrated in their desire to wield the authority that men held. “Women’s rights activists” must blame Eve, not Adam—and certainly not Yahweh—for the injustice they find in the world.

But the man didn’t get off Scot free. “Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’ (Genesis 3:14-20) The close, intimate fellowship that Adam had enjoyed with his Creator had been broken. His sin had separated him from his God, and as a result he had become mortal—his body would now grow old and die.

Three players, three predictions. Prophecy Principle Number One: pay attention to the object of the prophecy. God said something different to the serpent, to Adam, and to Eve. Determining who the prophecy is about will keep us from jumping to erroneous conclusions—sometimes. It’s not always this easy to tell who the subject is. For example, in the passages about Satan quoted above, Isaiah had begun by speaking out against the King of Babylon; in Ezekiel’s tirade, the prophet was hammering the prince of Tyre. In each case God shifted the subject in mid-prophecy. Earthly kings were used as metaphors for Satan. We need to stay on our toes.

Only God knows the future, because He alone exists independent of time. And He, from the very beginning, has shown a willingness to tell us what’s coming. Why, then, don’t most of us know what to expect? Why do we worry, fret, plan, and scheme? Why do we hedge our bets—compromise with a world system we know is flawed and corrupt? It’s because we don’t appreciate, deep down inside, that our Creator God actually is in control.

A few examples will serve to demonstrate that a solid faith backed with a knowledge of prophecy could give us a degree of peace most of us never experience. “He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.’ But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.” (Luke 18:31-34) If we knew what God had planned, if we really understood where we stood in Yahweh’s grand scheme, we wouldn’t sweat the small stuff. We could cheerfully declare with Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

On a practical level, correctly applying Biblical prophecies to our lives can save us from unnecessary pain. Yahshua warned Jerusalem, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44) By the time Titus besieged the city in 70 A.D., thousands of Christians, familiar with this prophecy, had already left town. Those who stayed died or were enslaved.

As if to make my point for me, Paul writes, “Now all these things [i.e., Israel’s misfortunes in the wilderness] happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (I Corinthians 10:11) If we study to learn the mindset of God and familiarize ourselves with his prophetic plan, we will be in a position to live according to His will in a sinful world, avoiding the coming wrath: we too can get out of Jerusalem before the Romans show up—if we know what God has predicted.

The study of prophecies that have already been fulfilled can go a long way toward correcting the misconception that this world is out of God’s control. Beyond that, they will tell us a great deal about how Yahweh intends to bring about His prophecies that have not yet come to pass (which, after all, is the subject of this book). Prophecy Principle Number Two: Yahweh doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Thus if we can determine how His prophecies were fulfilled in the past, we will be in a better position to predict how they will be fulfilled in the future. Though “His ways are higher than our ways,” though His judgments are unsearchable and His methods “past finding out,” the fact remains that He went to a great deal of trouble to see to it that we had information, and lots of it, that described our future. It’s there for a reason. It’s there because He loves us. When He said we’re supposed to “comfort one another with these words,” what words was He talking about? They were words of prophecy!

I mentioned how psychics and prognosticators can achieve fame and fortune by guessing correctly some of the time. God’s prophets were held to a slightly stiffer standard: “‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”  (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) The flip side of this truth was stated by Jeremiah: “When the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom Yahweh has truly sent.” (Jeremiah 28:9)

In fact, Yahweh works both sides of the street, vindicating the words of His true prophets by bringing their prognostications to pass while confounding the false prophets who presume to speak their own mind in His name. “Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: ‘I am Yahweh, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself, who frustrates the signs of the babblers, and drives diviners mad, who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness; who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers.” (Isaiah 44:24-26)

John put it like this: “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”  (Revelation 22:18-19)

Okay, got it. (1) Don’t attribute false doctrine to Yahweh (which, by the way, is the real meaning of the Third Commandment), (2) don’t ascribe deity to false gods, (3) don’t add to or subtract from His revelation, and (4) don’t deny the truth of God’s Word—or you’re toast. Now you know why I’m so careful about putting the real thing in a bold font. My ramblings may help you understand what God meant, but don’t confuse them with Scripture.

Consider what else Moses said: “The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) Moses realized that Yahweh didn’t tell us everything—our feeble minds couldn’t handle the strain. We’re on a “need to know” basis: what He did tell us, He told us for a reason. “All the words of this law” boils down to this, if I’m not mistaken: “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one! You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, Leviticus 19:18) Yahshua insisted that all of the Law and the Prophets hung upon these two interrelated concepts. Did you catch the connection? God reveals things to us so that we might love Him, or more to the point, return His love.

Being called as a prophet of God had its downside, besides the obvious problem of getting stoned—in the literal sense—if you announced something that God didn’t actually reveal. The sad fact was that God’s message was often unpopular, especially among the ruling elite. And since they often didn’t know the One who’d sent the bad news, they attacked the messenger instead. Some things never change. Yahshua Himself pointed this out to the scribes and Pharisees of His day in his own meek and gentle way: “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”  (Matthew 23:33-36; see also Luke 11:49-51) He sure had a way with words. Murder had been a time-honored way of silencing the truth from the first generation onward: The Zechariah He speaks of here is not the prophet, but the father of John the Baptist. Yahshua’s prediction, by the way, was fulfilled within that generation—less than forty years later—when Titus tore Jerusalem apart, stone by stone.

Prophets as a class had it rough. Jeremiah preached for forty years. Nobody listened. They finally threw him into a cesspool. Isaiah had a long and illustrious career, capped, legend has it, by getting himself sawn in two. But occupational hazards notwithstanding, God’s messengers felt compelled to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences. Amos put it like this: “Surely Yahweh does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? Yahweh has spoken! Who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:7-8)  Later, Peter and John, when told to shut up and go home, remarked, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you [religious leaders] more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

For all their dedication and courage, the prophets’ role was temporary, like our program for the Tournament of Roses Parade. Between every line they wrote was the understanding that the day would come when the light of reality would make their words seem pale by comparison, like a candle outdoors on a brilliant summer’s day. That doesn’t lessen the significance of their service, however, for without their words, many of us would not survive to see God’s bright tomorrow. Paul said it best: “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.  (I Corinthians 13:8-13)

None of the spiritual gifts are designed to last beyond our mortal bodies. But love is. Prophecies will fail? Yes. They were meant to guide us in this life, not beyond. Besides, the shocking truth is, God doesn’t always keep his word. Before you stone me, let me point out that there are several times in scripture where God clearly didn’t do what he told His prophet He’d do, and the reason was always the same: mercy. Prophecy Principle Number Three: God’s wrath is always tempered by his love; He postpones judgment till the last possible moment because He does not desire any of us to perish. He alone knows when our sin has reached the point of no return. Compare Genesis 15:15-16—“Now as for you [Abraham], you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”—to Numbers 21:23-24, some four hundred years later: “So Sihon [king of the Amorites] gathered all his people together and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and he came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. Then Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land.”

Because of his mercy, God didn’t wipe out a rebellious nation of Israel and start over with Moses, as He threatened to do. And He didn’t destroy Nineveh in forty days, as He proclaimed He would through Jonah. Instead, he showed mercy, patience, love—in the first case because the prophet interceded for the people, and in the second case because the people repented—buying their city another century of life.

We have no idea how deep the river of God’s mercy runs. But here’s another hint. Ever wonder why the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah, lived so long? He was the grandfather of Noah, and he died (at the extremely ripe old age of 969) the same year as the flood. This kind of “coincidence” begs us to dig beneath the surface to figure out what God may have been up to. Clue number one: he was the son of Enoch, a godly man with an intriguing story of his own—the second man listed in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. We’ll look at his story a little later. Could it be that Enoch named his baby boy something prophetically significant? At first glance, it seems not. Methuselah (Heb. Methuwselach) comes from two words, math meaning man, i.e., adult, and shelach meaning dart or spear. Not much help. But if we look at the primitive roots for those two words, we discover something provocative. Math is from mathay, meaning “to extend,” as in, “a man’s years are extended beyond those of a child.” Shelach, “spear,” comes from shalach, “to send away or cast out, hence, to forsake.” Some Hebrew scholars suggest that his name could be rendered, “when he dies (that is, at the extension of his years), it shall be sent.” Was Enoch saying his son’s life would personify the extension of man’s time on earth before they were cast out? Pretty thin, you say. Perhaps, but the guy did live longer than anyone else, before or since. I’ve come to distrust coincidences. I’ll put my money on God’s mercy any day.

Alright, then. Let’s get down to cases. I’d like to examine several Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillments, with an eye toward comprehending the ones that are still ahead of us.

Luke records this story about Yahshua: “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of Yahweh is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of Yahweh.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)

The quote was from the prophet Isaiah, but Yahshua had stopped and closed the book in mid-sentence. Isaiah had gone on to say: “…and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:2-3) Why didn’t Yahshua quote the whole thing? Because only the first part was being fulfilled there and then—during His first-century advent. By quoting this portion of the passage, He had claimed to be the promised Messiah (“He has anointed Me…”) but by cutting it short, He was saying, in effect, “I’m not going to do all these things at this time.” He was demonstrating Prophecy Principle Number Four: peaks and valleys—the concept of split fulfillment.

Where I live, the terrain is quite hilly. There are places where you can stand and see four or five ridges, one right after the other. But you can’t see what’s between them. The only way to tell how deep or wide the valleys are is to go down into them, to “live through them.” Prophecy is often like that. The seer is shown a series of mountaintops, but he can’t tell whether they’re all clumped together or whether there are deep valleys of time in between them. In this case, Isaiah saw two groups of events that would take place a couple of thousand years apart, but he didn’t know their fulfillment would be separate. He saw everything but the timing. When Christ came the first time—laying aside His glory—He brought us the good news of His salvation, healing and freeing us from the bonds of sin. But when He returns, He will have assumed His glory once again, wreaking righteous vengeance on those who have chosen to reject Him and comforting those, especially among the Jews, who have accepted His gift of love.

The principle of peaks and valleys caused a great deal of confusion in Yahshua’s day. Even His disciples thought, at first, that He had come to overthrow Rome and set up His kingdom on earth. But it should not be a source of confusion for us today. With the benefit of hindsight, we can know what they did not: we need not assume that a prophetic passage will be fulfilled all at once. God, rather, will do things in His own sweet time, and in His own inimitable fashion.

To clarify the principle, let’s look at one more example, the prophecies concerning the downfall of Babylon. This was no mean city. About fifty miles south of present-day Baghdad, it was originally founded by Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah. It was the premier city of the post-deluvian world, rising and declining in successive waves, as great cities often do. In 626 B.C., Nabopolassar the Chaldean threw off the yoke of Assyria (there are a bunch of Biblical prophecies predicting that, too) and rebuilt the city. His son Nebuchadnezzar II became its greatest monarch, dispensing God’s judgment upon an apostate and rebellious Judah in 586. Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, interpreted by the Jewish captive Daniel, pinpointed Babylon as the first of four great gentile world powers.

But before Nebuchadnezzar had drawn his first breath, Babylon’s fall had already been predicted by the prophets of Israel. Isaiah, writing over 150 years before the fall of Jerusalem, had said: “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who will not regard silver; and as for gold, they will not delight in it. Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces, and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye will not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.” (Isaiah 13:17-22)

He went on to say, “‘For I will rise up against them,’ says Yahweh of hosts, ‘and cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, and offspring and posterity,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, and marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,’ says Yahweh of hosts.” (Isaiah 14:22-23) Another prophet predicted: “‘They shall not take from you [Babylon] a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever,’ says Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 51:26)

So between the two of them, God predicted that the city of Babylon—then approaching its glory days—would be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah had been, never to be inhabited again, even by wandering Bedouins. It would be both a home for desert creatures and a swamp—seemingly a glaring contradiction.

The key, besides God’s omniscience of course, is the principle of peaks and valleys, split fulfillment. This is how the history unfolded. Half a century after the fall of Judah, as the Persians under Cyrus pondered ways to breach the formidable walls of the city, a couple of Babylonian deserters wandered into their camp. They pointed out that one of the things that made the place siege-proof was that the Euphrates ran under the wall. Perhaps the Persians could too. Cyrus conferred with his counselor, Chrysantas, who opined that if they could divert the river, they could waltz in and take the place without firing a shot, more or less. The course of the river had tended to shift from time to time anyway, wandering off and losing itself in marshes to the west of the city. Why not divert the Euphrates with a huge trench? Cyrus did just that, and on October 13, 539 B.C., he took Babylon while its overconfident regent drank himself under the table, celebrating, no doubt, the fact that nobody would ever get over his wall—the strongest city wall on earth at the time. (That story is recorded in Daniel 5.) Interestingly, though the Persian commander, Cyrus, was credited with conquering the city, Daniel says that his ally, Darius the Mede (a.k.a. the Gobryas mentioned in contemporary inscriptions as the man who defeated Babylon without a battle), took control of the kingdom, just as Isaiah had predicted.

But the prophecies were a long way from being fulfilled. Xerxes (a.k.a. Ahasuerus, the Persian king whose queen was Esther) sacked the place in 478 B.C. while quelling the rebellion of Bel-shimmani and Shamath-eriba. Alexander the Great took it from the Persians in 331 and planned to restore it to its former glory, but he died before he could do much, at the ripe old age of 33. Coincidence? If you say so.

The infighting among Alexander’s generals following his death eventually landed Babylon in the hands of the Seleucids, who took one look at the estimate for rebuilding the crumbling ruin and opted for a brand new capital city instead, Seleucia, forty miles north on the Tigris River—effectively doing for Babylon what Interstate 40 did for Route 66. Incredibly, they didn’t use any of its massive stones that had been quarried at such great expense; apparently the marsh that had inundated much of the city made them too hard to haul away. Babylonian bricks have been found elsewhere, but not its stones. Jeremiah was right.

Eventually, the ever-fickle Euphrates played its part again and changed course, leaving the city high and dry. By the time of Caesar Augustus it was virtually uninhabited; Strabo lamented, “The great city has become a desert.” It was used as a walled hunting preserve by the Persians, and a few die-hards struggled to keep the temple of Bel going until about A.D. 75. But even this wouldn’t last; the once mighty seat of Chaldean power was swallowed by the desert, awaiting the archeologist’s spade. Just like Sodom and Gomorrah.

These days, Babylon is of interest only to historians and megalomaniacs. Saddam Hussein, who would have died happy if he could have gone down in history as a modern-day Nebuchadnezzar, actually rebuilt a palace on its original Babylonian foundation between 1982 and 1989. But nobody lives there—nobody was even allowed in to see it for over a decade after the first Gulf War.

Bottom line? As unlikely as the prophecies sounded when Isaiah and Jeremiah (and Ezekiel, Habakkuk, etc.) penned them, they came to pass exactly as God had said they would. The “peaks” they saw were spread out over seven hundred years, but it all came to pass. “But what,” you may ask, “ever happened to ‘Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged’…? Seven centuries sure sounds like ‘prolonged’ to me.” Forget the infrastructure for a minute. If you consider that the government of Babylon under the Chaldeans lasted a mere forty-seven years after they destroyed Jerusalem, you’ll have to admit that its demise was rapid indeed.

All of this brings up another point. Prophecy Principle Number Five: Backup. God doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket, and, to scramble my metaphor, He always backs up his files.

The famous portrait of George Washington that hangs in the White House, the one that served as a prototype for the engraving on our one dollar bill, was painted by Gilbert Stuart. Most people don’t realize that Stuart painted three portraits of the first President from life, and he kept an unfinished one for himself to use as a model for future work—much to Martha’s chagrin. Whenever he needed money, he’d crank out another Gilbert Stuart “original” of Washington. He painted over sixty of ’em before he was through. Different backgrounds, different costumes, but always the same half-smiling tight-jawed face. Likewise, God has painted many portraits of things to come—different details, varying points of view, but all based on the same reality.

Peter said, “…No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:20-21) We can therefore expect any significant prophetic event to be examined in several different passages, often by several different prophets. God does not ask us to take any man’s word for anything. Rather, his Holy Spirit instructs different men to reveal different things about the same future event. Only when we examine each facet of the diamond do we gain a full appreciation for its beauty. This redundancy—this system of back-ups—also goes a long way toward ensuring that God’s Word survives our sometimes woefully inadequate (and sometimes flat-out wrong) translations.

We’ve looked briefly at Babylon, which was taken to task by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Habakkuk, Zechariah, and the Sons of Korah. Similar seven-lane highways could be followed to Nineveh, Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Phoenicia, Damascus, Ethiopia, Arabia, Elam, and yes, Israel—especially Israel. Daniel in the Old Testament and John in the New Testament apparently saw some of the same events, though with radically different imagery. This kind of redundancy is ubiquitous in scriptural prophecy.

In similar fashion, a prophet of God was often given the same information more than once. We see Joseph dreaming about his brothers’ sheaves bowing down to his, and later the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing down to him. (Gee, I wonder what that could mean.) Joseph recognized the “Sesame Street Factor” at once when he heard about Pharaoh’s dreams: “Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do….’ The dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.” (Genesis 41:25, 32) In the same way, Daniel was given several very different visions, many years apart, describing the times of the gentiles. God clearly doesn’t mind repeating himself if it helps us understand what He’s trying to tell us. We can expect the same rule to apply when we look at prophecies as yet unfulfilled.

Related to this concept is Prophecy Principle Number Six: God often reveals different aspects of a future event separately. When the police interview the witnesses to a crime, they expect to hear slightly divergent descriptions of the scene. One witness says the bad guy was wearing blue jeans. Another says he had on a red shirt and a baseball cap. One says he saw the perp waving a gun; another says he saw the guy throw something black into the bushes. This kind of testimony is complementary, not contradictory. It has the ring of truth. As a matter of fact, if the accounts are identical they smell to investigators like collusion, an attempt to hide the real story. In the same way, Biblical prophets are merely telling us what they saw at the scene of the crime. They never claim to have told us everything; on the contrary, they themselves often seem unaware of the significance of what they’ve witnessed.

It’s like the old story of the four blind men and the elephant. The first one grabs the tail and says the pachyderm is like a rope with a frayed end. The second hugs a leg and concludes that the thing is some sort of tree. The third feels the trunk, and pronounces the animal to be a species of large snake. And the fourth feels his way down the elephant’s side and announces that the beast is a mighty wall. Though they seem to be in complete disagreement, they’re actually all correct, but nobody’s got the full picture. Prophecy is like that.

I suppose the best example of this principle is the body of prophecies concerning the Messiah. There are several hundred of them in the Old Testament. Where did the prophets say He would hail from? Micah said he would come from Bethlehem Ephrathah—David’s home town, a few miles south of Jerusalem. Hosea, on the other hand, predicted that he would be “called out of Egypt.” Isaiah, not to be outdone, referred to Him as a “shoot [netzer] out of the stem of Jesse”—the same word being the origin of the name of the Galilean town of Nazareth, where Yahshua grew up; thus Matthew points out that He was expected to be a Nazarene. The three prophecies are seemingly contradictory, yet they all fit the human history of Yahshua like a glove (and, by the way, nobody else that we know of).

How about Messiah’s mission? Isaiah says, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… He was despised, and we did not esteem Him…. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:3, 7-8) This is one of many predictions of a Messiah who would suffer and die. If words mean anything at all, there is no way to make these verses apply to the nation of Israel and the trials they’ve endured, though the Jews have been trying valiantly to do that very thing for the last two thousand years. But Isaiah’s prophecy fits the life and death of Yahshua so well that to explain them away or ignore them is nothing short of intellectual suicide.

It’s far easier for the Jews, of course, to take the “reigning Messiah” passages literally. The same prophet says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) When Isaiah talks out of this side of his mouth, everybody responds, “Yea, verily! Bring it on!” But we’re looking at two advents of the same Messiah, two sides of the same coin. You can’t spend one side and keep the other. And so it is with as-yet-unfulfilled prophecy. We must be prepared to deal with seemingly contradictory evidence.

This leads us to Prophecy Principle Number Seven, the “That’s Impossible” factor. God sometimes progressively narrows the field through successive revelations until literal fulfillment is virtually impossible; and only then does He bring it to pass. Yahweh delights in doing what can’t be done: you know, raising the dead, parting the Red sea, making the sun stand still, stuff like that; you can almost hear Him chuckling, “If this were easy, any god could do it.”

Figuring out these conundrums usually requires some digging, but the gems we can find are beautiful indeed. At issue here are faith and information. If we see an apparent contradiction in scripture, we need to have faith that God doesn’t make stupid blunders; No, it’s us—we just don’t have enough information yet.

My favorite Scriptural “impossibility” is the lineage of the Messiah. It begins in the Garden of Eden. In the Genesis 3 passage quoted above, God began by intimating that sin would eventually be overcome via the human race, the “seed of the woman.” That rules out orangutans and amoebas. After the flood, Noah narrowed it down to one of his three sons, Shem: “And [Noah] said: “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem….” (Genesis 9:26-27) Later, God told Abraham, a descendent of Shem, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) The line passed through Abraham’s son Isaac (not his half-brother Ishmael): “Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.” (Genesis 17:19) Then his son Jacob, the second-born of twins, was given the nod: “And Yahweh said to [Rebekah]: ‘Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.’” (Genesis 25:23)

The patriarch Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, identified Judah—the fourth of his twelve sons—as bearer of the Messianic line: “Judah, you are he whom your brothers  shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [‘he to whom it—i.e., the scepter—belongs’] comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” (Genesis 49:8-10)

Let’s pause and take a breath. So far, God has narrowed the field five times (not including the de facto cut at the flood) effectively eliminating millions of people from consideration as Messiah’s ancestor. Note that the prophecies are getting more specific and detailed as time progresses. Note also that not once did God choose the chronological firstborn son to carry the Messianic torch (though listed second, Japheth was Shem’s older brother—see Genesis 10:21), as would have been expected by the people involved, reminding us that manmade traditions don’t mean a whole lot to Yahweh.

Also, there’s an interesting prophetic twist about Judah’s scepter—the symbol of royal authority. Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah. But once David succeeded him, 640 years after the prophecy was spoken, the throne of promise was never occupied by a king from any Jewish tribe other than Judah. The wording of the prophecy was precise: he didn’t say that no other tribe would hold the scepter, only that it wouldn’t ever depart from Judah. (Herod’s clan, the first kings since the Babylonian captivity, don’t count. They were not, properly speaking, Jewish, but were Idumaeans—descendants of Esau—and were placed and maintained in power by a foreign gentile government.) Yahshua the Messiah was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah. He could trace his lineage all the way back. Technically, his claim to the throne of David is what ultimately got Him crucified. But within a generation of His death, the genealogical records of the Jews were up in smoke with the rest of Jerusalem. This means that after A.D. 70, and certainly after A.D. 135 when the Romans came back and finished the job, no Jew could prove—or even demonstrate—his lineage. From that time on, it was impossible to present a legitimate, verifiable Messianic claim.

Okay, back to the prophecies. King David was the next to be pinpointed as someone in the Messianic line. Nathan the prophet came to him and said, “Yahweh tells you [David] that He will make you a house [a royal dynasty]. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.” Now here’s the kicker: “If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” (II Samuel 7:11-16)

Sufficiently confused? You should be. Is God referring to David’s son Solomon, or to the ultimate King, the Messiah? The answer is yes. Prophecy Principle Number Eight: there can be both near and far fulfillments for a single prophecy. It’s maddeningly hard to sort out sometimes, but God likes to put interrelated truths into the Biblical Blender and hit frappe. Let’s look at the details here. David’s physical son will reign in his stead: that’s obviously Solomon. God says He will establish his—Solomon’s—throne forever. That statement will soon get us into trouble, but let’s skip over it for now. The phrase “If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him…” makes no sense. Solomon did commit iniquity, but most certainly did not receive the “blows of the sons of men.” Rather, God’s mercy stayed with him, as the passage clearly predicts. So is the prophet talking about the Messiah? Christ committed no iniquity. What’s going on here?

The key is in the little word “If.” The Hebrew word ‘asher is a primitive and rarely used relative pronoun that can mean almost anything: when, who, which, what, if, how, because, in order that, etc. Strong’s notes that “As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.” Right. So the phrase really means, “If—or when—He is associated with iniquity….” The prophet is predicting the suffering of Christ! Then he finishes up by saying David’s house, kingdom, and throne will be established forever.

Everything rolls along nicely until we get to the last few years of the kingdom of Judah. God has finally had enough, and allows Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to haul the flower of Judean society off into captivity. The king that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah, or simply Coniah. Jeremiah prophesied, “As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off; and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear—the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of the Chaldeans. So I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you shall die. But to the land to which they desire to return, there they shall not return. Is this man Coniah a despised, broken idol—a vessel in which is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his descendants, and cast into a land which they do not know? (Jeremiah 22:24-28) The prophet says that both Jeconiah and his descendents are cast out. The inference is that neither he nor anyone in his line will ever prosper on the throne of David—and certainly not in the land of Israel.

Nathan just got through telling us that Solomon’s throne will be established forever. But Solomon’s royal line ran right through Jeconiah, who is toast, prophetically speaking. Oops. Now the only way the Messiah can ever reign is if he legally occupies the throne of Solomon through the line of Jeconiah—all of whose descendents have been disqualified. And He still has to be a physical descendant of David—we aren’t allowed to “spiritualize” any of this away. This whole Messiah thing isn’t looking too promising. Has God blown it?

There are two genealogies of Yahshua in the New Testament. The first is in Matthew, and sure enough, there’s Jeconiah, ugly as sin, right between Josiah and Shealtiel. This lineage runs through Joseph, the legal father of Yahshua. But Yahshua was born of a virgin; the prophets predicted it, and the gospels reported it. Mary’s genealogy, recorded in Luke, proves that Yahshua was indeed a descendent of David, but not of Solomon. Mary’s line went through David’s son Nathan (named, no doubt, in honor of the prophet). Thus while it looked for a moment like the coming of Messiah was impossible, the careful examination of prophecy points to one man, to the exclusion of all others: Yahshua of Nazareth.

By the way, there are a few big American denominations who have officially rejected the doctrine of the virgin birth as just too weird. Sorry, folks: no virgin birth, no salvation. Don’t blame me. Blame Jeconiah.

Let’s recap, then. Making sense of Biblical prophecy requires us to determine the context and the subject of the passage in question. Applying Prophecy A to Subject B is known in theological circles as “stupid.” We need to be especially careful not to confuse Israel with the Church; they’re two different things—notwithstanding the confusion that inevitably arises when God uses Israel as a metaphor for all of His redeemed. Just as a carpenter uses a hammer and a saw to get the job done, Yahweh employs both Israel and the Church, but in different roles.

Yahweh Himself, though, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. More to the point, He is consistent in his methods and modes of revelation. So if we can figure out what He’s done in the past, we can be confident about what He has told us concerning the future. And because God exists outside the bounds of time as we know it, He is not limited to simple, one-time solutions; He can—and does—split up the fulfillments of His prophecies over many years and many events. A partial fulfillment is like a down payment, demonstrating God’s intention to make good on His promises when the time is right. God has also been known to fulfill prophecies more than once—a near fulfillment foreshadowing a more distant one.

Not only are the fulfillments often split up, but so are the prophecies themselves. They are almost never given as complete, independent proclamations, but are rather doled out one piece of the puzzle at a time. They’re invariably repeated elsewhere in scripture, often in a different manner, from a different perspective, by a different prophet, with different imagery. Whether a later prophecy adds information to an earlier one, or a different metaphor is used to present the same truth, there is almost always some degree of redundancy in scripture. Truth is built up “line by line, precept upon precept.” Prophecy, in this respect, is no different from any major doctrine.

The fascinating thing about it is that the body of revelation was brought to us by scores of writers over a span of at least fifteen hundred years, and yet there are no real contradictions in any of it. To me, that proves what Peter said, that the Holy Spirit is behind it all. God seems to delight in predicting the “impossible,” only to create a solution so unlikely it’s sublimely ridiculous. I must confess to having a degree of impatience with people who insist Christianity requires an unacceptable “leap of faith,” as if you have to check your brain at the door in order to buy into it. I have found, rather, that it takes far more faith not to believe—to assume that the hundreds of prophecies that have already been fulfilled came about by accident, or luck, or blind coincidence—without the direct intervention of an omnipotent deity.

God knows exactly what He’s doing. The prophet Isaiah threw down the gauntlet, challenging false prophets to predict what would happen, and why: “Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save! Consult together, argue your case, and state your proofs that idol worship pays. Who made these things known long ago? What idol ever told you they would happen? Was it not I, Yahweh? For there is no other God but me—a just God and a Savior—no, not one!” (Isaiah 45:20-21, New Living Translation) If we understand what Yahweh has told us through His prophets, coming to trust in Him does not require a “leap of faith,” but merely a step out of the shadows into the light.

http://futurehistory.yadayahweh.com/Future_History_02_Future_History.Prophecy

Living within Christian principles.

The world is full of “spiritual” watchdogs and policemen. The efforts put forth by such ones to control the lives of others is often less than welcome. Yet some will say, “Doesn’t the Bible have certain things to say about our conduct and our outward appearance?” Yes! Are these to be considered as laws, or just helpful suggestions? How far is a Christian to go in counseling others? How do we view Christians who go to war, or who vote or hold public office? Let a former “policeman” give you some ideas.

The concept of living under Law is not bad in itself. Yahweh established a perfect Law with Moses and the nation of Israel. Jesus later came, not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). That meant that the laws contained therein were not wrong, outdated or prudish. Jesus came, not to say that the Law was too hard to keep, but to establish an even more exacting standard. This he did when he summed up the Law in two commands: “You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, and soul, and you must love your neighbor as yourself.” He says, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law….” (Matt. 5:20; 22:39,40)

Jesus’ death released us from a yoke of servitude to a written law (Col. 2:13-15). Yet, ironically, he promoted more absolute standards. He went a step further and clarified how one could fall short of God’s standards by what is in one’s heart, even if outwardly obeying the Law. In other words, Jesus revealed the principles undergirding the Law as being the standards to strive for. By teaching such a perfect standard of conduct, Jesus advocated a quality of faith and commitment that is actually unattainable for fallen humans, were it not for divine grace.

For instance: According to Jesus, not only is the ACT of adultery a sin, but the very passion of lust is a sin! (Matt. 5:27,28) Not only is stealing a sin, but coveting your neighbor’s belongings or his wife in your heart is sin. Not only is marriage sacred, but getting a divorce can make one an adulterer in God’s eyes! (Matt. 5:31,32) Not only is bringing harm to your brother a sin, but calling him a fool will make you liable to Gehenna! (Matt. 5:21,22) Additionally, if you are insulted, you should turn the other cheek. If a soldier asks you to walk a mile, walk two with him. If another asks for your overcoat, give it to them! You are to pray for your enemies and do good for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:38-40, 43-46). Who can then say that the Christian has it easier than the Old Testament Jew?

The difference is, God has given us the new birth and a new nature (1 Peter 1:23). Jesus made this possible through his death and resurrection (Heb. 9:11-15). We are redeemed and declared righteous. Jesus then takes that “seed” in us and forms it into a mature Christian, thereby sanctifying us. He trusts us to walk in that new nature that we now possess. We die to the old, corrupted nature of the fallen flesh (2 Peter 1:3,4). Were it not for this new birth and its accompanying grace, our condemnation would be greater than under the Law of Moses, for Jesus’ standards are more exacting and comprehensive than the Mosaic Law. Jesus said we are to be perfect (Matt. 5:48).

We can only hope to be “perfect” if we walk in the new nature (Gal. 5:16,17). We must be born again (John 3:3,5,7). How common is it to see the old nature of religious men and women trying to reach some artificial standard of conduct laid out for them by a religion or church, thinking that by doing so, they are somehow holy. Yet, the apostle Paul makes it plain that if we seek to justify ourselves by following laws or rules, we are still under condemnation, and Christ is useless to us (Gal. 2:15-21). All of the holy acts of all religious men are as filthy rags to God, unless they are performed by those whom he has regenerated by the Spirit (Isa. 64:6). It is the Spirit in us enabling us to do true works of righteousness, not our old nature.

Now the stage is set for comprehending the difficult sayings of Jesus, especially in his Sermon on the Mount.

Christ does not make concessions for our weakness by lowering his standards. He expects us to allow the Spirit to dominate our lives. To the extent this happens, we are able to follow his perfect standards.

While Jesus makes no concessions to his standards, he is rich in mercy and forgiveness when we fall short of them. He knows we will sin many times along the way (Heb. 4:15,16). He points us towards perfection. We are to keep our eyes on what he wants us to be at all times; not on some lesser, more attainable goal. Yet, he knows that we will grow old and die without attaining perfection (Phil. 3:12-14).

This can be most frustrating at times! It means that we will never reach a plateau in our Christianity. The “mountain” is higher than we can climb, and God has not set up “camps” on the slopes for us to live in; yet he allows us to make wayside rest stops to refresh ourselves and then continue on. Then, upon Christ’s return, his work in us is completed as we are transformed into perfection as in the twinkling of an eye (1 Thes. 4:16,17; 1 Cor. 15:51-53).
So, just what part does the church play in making rules for Christians?

God’s Work, Not Ours
In the realm of Christian religions, there are 3 approaches used in advocating standards of conduct:
(1) The strict approach – a code of conduct is laid out as “necessary,” and it is strict enough that only a few Christians will follow it, producing an appearance of righteousness.
(2) The merciful approach – a middle-of-the-road code of conduct is promoted that is workable (attainable) for most or all believers.
(3) The perfection approach – Jesus’ perfect standards are advocated, which are really principles to be followed from the heart rather than laws.
Some churches, and all of the cults, choose method #1; many churches choose #2.
However, not only do the first two approaches fall short of Jesus’ moral precepts, but the system designed for the few (#1) condemns the many and exalts the few; whereas in actuality, if RULES are to be followed, ALL are actually condemned because ALL will fall short of perfect obedience to those rules! System #1, therefore, provides a false sense of security. It is also substandard to the third approach.

System #2 is unbiblical as well. To water down the principles Christ gave and to replace them with a substandard law code is not acceptable to God. He will not tolerate sin, nor lesser standards; that is why Jesus had to die for our sins. He will only work within the perfect approach.

As Christians, we expect God to mold us and to perfect our conduct and our character. We cannot by ourselves mute the power of sin within us (nor can others do it for us!). The typical “religious” way of coping with our flesh can be likened to monitoring our outward conduct so as to look holy. This was the game of the Pharisees, yet inside they were rotten to the core (Matt. 23:27). Though it may seem a noble cause to try and alter our own heart’s desires, it cannot be done through living by a law code, whether it be strict or lenient.

So we drop the law code idea. We see Jesus’ lofty standards for what they are and we realize that we will never obey them perfectly, at least in this life. That’s why we are saved by grace! So we quit following rules and allow the grace of the Holy Spirit to do his work in us. We learn to become more like children as regards humility and simplicity (Matt. 18:3). We accept our inability to sanctify ourselves. Prayers are offered for the Holy Spirit to work changes within us, giving us a new heart; a pure heart. We are praying for a miracle; something that cannot be accomplished through obedience to laws and rules. God softens and shapes our hearts to the extent that we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us.

The Symptom Warriors
Chances are that you will come to understand these principles of grace versus law before some of your policemen – type friends do. Most of the time these “symptom warriors” mean well. They believe they can legislate spiritual growth. (Certainly life would be boring without someone to tell you how to dress and what movies to go see, what music to listen to, etc.)

The desire of the symptom warrior is to change your conduct so as to be more acceptable to God. Most of us have played this game at one time or another.

However, since we cannot really see the hearts of others or accurately perceive where they are in their relationship with the Lord, we often observe and react to outward symptoms. We are ever ready to point out symptoms to our brother that indicate his walk with the Lord is “not what it should be.” Because we lack the faith that God controls this process of perfecting his people, we suggest to our brother that if he would only correct the symptom, his heart will change for the better. We believe that if “Mark would only stop smoking, he would not feel so guilty and could approach the Lord easier.” “If Joan would quit watching soap operas, she would love the Lord more and her marriage would improve.” “If Johnny would quit watching Music Television (MTV), he could read the Bible more.”
Seldom do we stop and think that we are approaching the whole thing backwards. Why not get them interested in the things of God, and let God do the work? If you can’t get them interested in spiritual things, stripping them of their fun certainly won’t work! Besides, we may be reading the symptoms wrong in the first place.

But wasn’t Jesus very strict as to what we can and can’t do? Didn’t he make many statements regarding the living of a sanctified lifestyle?

Misunderstanding Jesus’ Words
When we consider the “difficult sayings” of Jesus regarding moral issues and our conduct towards others, we need to take several things into account. The setting, context, and intent of his words are vital. Yet we must not explain away the obvious moral messages there, reducing their impact by our misinterpretation of the passage. When Jesus says to love our enemies and to pray for those persecuting us, it is obvious that we are to be free of hatred towards persecutors of the faith, even though that may seem difficult or seemingly impossible to us under certain circumstances (Matt. 5:44-48). And, just because we can’t quite live it perfectly, we should not change the meaning of Jesus’ words, but allow his grace to cover us. This is the whole point – there are many areas of life in which we will find we cannot live up to Jesus’ standards. Rather than changing the standards, though, we learn to live a life of falling short while the sacrifice of our Lord frees us from condemnation and guilt (Rom. 8:1). He works in our lives with a view to perfection (1 John 1:8-10; James 3:2).

Hard Decisions
While Jesus speaks out against lying, fraud, thievery, fornication, etc., there are some areas of conduct and responsibility in which he is silent. This is true with issues such as self-defense, going to war, involvement in community affairs, etc. Jesus does not tell us whether or not we should consider going to war as a part of our obligation to defend our brothers or our nation, nor does he tell us to stay away from governmental affairs or political office (though he does tell us not to put our trust in such things). He does not speak out against self-defense (though he does speak about our reaction to threats of aggression or challenge–Matt. 5:39.

Though the Bible says we are transferred into the kingdom of God even now (Col. 1:13), we must also function in this fallen world, the kingdom of Satan (Eph. 6:12). The two kingdoms are at odds with each other, yet we must function in both. On issues related to secular obligations and supporting the government, Paul’s words in Romans chapter 13 can help us:
Let every person be in subjection to the superior authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1)
While God has established the secular authorities so that there is a measure of order and justice in this fallen world, they are not a part of his perfect kingdom. At times, they are directly opposed to the interests of his kingdom, and we must obey God as ruler rather than men when our loyalties divide us (Acts 5:29). While this is sometimes a black and white issue, such as when a government requires us to bow down to its leaders or to stop reading the Bible, etc., it more often lies in the gray areas. Such decisions should be very carefully weighed.

We may say, “What would Jesus have done?” Well, Jesus advocated his own lifestyle. It is interesting to note that he made no concessions for other lifestyles. Because of his higher calling, it was not proper for him to concern himself with the affairs of government or secular obligations. But note that the reason is the higher calling; NOT that such concerns are wrong! He also did not concern himself with having a place to sleep or what to eat tomorrow! The lifestyle he advocates is not lived by many persons, to be sure. Yet there are many brothers in Christ who advocate that we follow PART of Jesus’ lifestyle, yet are silent as to living the rest of it! Isn’t that rather inconsistent? What it boils down to is this – Jesus standards are absolute; if you are reaching out for his lifestyle, then do not teach the need to embrace part of it and reject the rest, or you, too, will be a hypocrite. At the same time, love your brother who is aspiring towards a life like Christ’s, and do not judge him. If he advocates going to war and you strongly disagree because Jesus would not have done this, ask yourself if you are living the rest of Jesus’ lifestyle yet. Are you continually preaching the Word, allowing yourself little rest, and staying up till the dawn in prayer at times? Have you foregone marriage for a higher calling? Do you have no place to lay your head, and no steady income? Yet to use the argument, “Do what Jesus would have done” suggests that we should apply this across the board.

We do seek to do what Jesus would have done, of course; but a lifestyle is something you grow into, and help from above is necessary along the way. To tell a person just to “do what Jesus would have done” may be the right answer, but you had better be ready to help that person understand why Jesus would have done certain things, and that they can only be done through the help of the Holy Spirit. The individual needs to know that we cannot change our pattern of life all in one day, either; God is willing to patiently work with us.

On Giving Advice
Giving advice to a Christian friend is not something to take lightly! It is better to point to what Jesus said or did that bears on a subject, rather than telling them what to do in a given situation. Let them make their decision according to their faith and commitment. To insist that others follow certain standards of conduct such as dress codes, movie or music preferences, types of recreation, business decisions, etc. means that we are making our own standards for another to follow, rather than allowing them to make a personal moral decision based upon their understanding of God’s perfect standards. God is the only one qualified to give us laws to follow, which he did in the case of the Ten Commandments. Yet, no one could keep them! Therefore, God did away with law, and established a better arrangement. Do we have the right to introduce laws when God has done away with law? (Gal. 2:16-21) To do so puts us under a curse (Gal. 3:10)!
Following rules for Christian living is of the flesh; letting the indwelling Spirit live through you is true Christianity. Paul says,
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Romans 8:15,9)

We need to have the faith that if our brother loves God, he will seek to walk in the Spirit. If he seeks the things of the Spirit, God will perfect his heart. OUR part is to encourage our brother or sister in their walk so that this love for God will be there in the first place. As we encourage and strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters, they come to love God more, and this seed of love is nurtured by the Holy Spirit.

The DEADLY Sins
We seem to have been taught that some sins are much worse than others. After all, adultery or murder are far more serious than lying or stealing, aren’t they?
Not so, according to the Word of God. While more visible sins may have a greater negative effect than others, all sin is deadly, in terms of its effect on our relationship with God. God hates sin, because it separates us from communion with him – that is the bottom line. We were created in his image, and he cannot stomach our self-degradation. It is like seeing part of himself marred and distorted.

If all sin, including the “secret” sins of envy, lust, covetousness and slothfulness are evil, then why do many “symptom warriors” jump on Christians who fall into the more visible sins, but then wink at the secret sins? Usually because in their hearts, these “warriors” have a distorted view of sin. They do not understand that the whole issue is not outward appearances, but maintaining a relationship with God, and God hates secret sins every bit as much as the visible sins. Those who practice sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. Yet, the Christian who falls into sin can continually come before the throne of grace for forgiveness and restoration. Yes, even the “symptom warriors” can be forgiven of their secret sins!

How Rules Affect Your Flesh
From the first year of our life, it is a built-in mechanism of the sin nature that we will rebel. By far the most common word first learned by toddlers is “No!” Why “no” and not “Yes”? Because our flesh is selfish, it wants its way or it will pout, lash out or seek revenge.

Before we learn and really believe that certain practices are morally wrong, we may not suffer a guilty conscience. But once we believe they are wrong, our flesh becomes reactive and through its natural rebelliousness it prompts us to seek the pleasure of sin all the more. Things that we view as sinful (whether or not they really are in God’s eyes) will titillate the flesh when we do them, not just because the act may bring pleasure to the body, but because rebellion is a fallen pleasure in itself (Pro. 9:17; Job 31:26-28).
This can be seen in its extreme form in ritual Satanism, where everything holy is blasphemed; pleasure being derived from the very act of blaspheming God. While that may sound revolting, the same sin factor is at work in all of us. It’s just that some of us allow it to take us farther along the road to degradation than others.

Though we have died to the old sin nature if we are born again, the flesh can still plague us in the same manner if we fall under law once more. We need to understand the principle of being set free from the endless cycle of sin and guilt, by living in the Spirit:
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (Rom. 7:5,6)

If you have a tendency to put rules on other Christians where the Bible does not give rules, you might be surprised to know that doing so is like trying to cure the sick with the AIDS virus! There are far more effective ways of promoting good conduct in others. Study the methods of Jesus in relating to others, and you will have success.

Why welding did not figure high on my career list

There I was, 23 years old. A Kawasaki Z400 purchased for a good price, (sigh.. its a motor bike ok?) a steal really, only problem to rectify was a small hole in the gas tank.

“Graham” I yelled, well that was his name, ” can we fix this hole thing?”

“lemme look..” he looked… “yeah, will have to weld it”.

So following his instructions, I removed the tank, pulled off all the lines to it and started filling it with water and emptying it several times. I then plugged the hole with a cork and filled it with water to the brim and left it sitting.

Later that evening, Graham asked me to empty the water out and hold the tank. I straddled the bike and turned the tank on its side so he could get at the hole.

He turned the tank back upright and wafted the burning gas torch over the filler hole. A small pop was heard.

“that clears all the fumes in the tank” he said,…..all knowingly…. ” turn it over now”.

I did.

Should’ve did’nt.

He bent over the tank as I gripped it between my knees to steady it. (should’ve didn’t #2). The gas torch began heating the hole area to be welded.

I remember vague things when the smoke cleared. Graham was halfway up the wall 10 feet away gently sliding to the floor. The torch was still lit. He had a look on face that had “oops” in it… somewhere…

I remember a ringing in my head and a gentle spreading numbness from my hips down. Ok, it wasnt that gentle, but it was numb, for a while.

I remember a bright white light right in my vision. “wonder if this is the bright light people say they see when death approaches?” i thought…

After my wife removed the lamp hanging from the ceiling things were not as bright…oh well.

I remember my wife saying “what you do that for?…idiot!”

I said something..(shouldve didn’t #3.)

Now a post accident head injury added to the list.

I remember the para medic saying ” that had to have hurt bud…how’dya get that slap bruise on yer face?”

“I’m married….”

“ooh, got’ya bud… lets get you to emergency…”

I remember thinking that the choice to have children or not have children was probably moot at this juncture. The reality was, I didnt really care too much for the moment….the numbness was fast un numbing.

It un numbed for 2 weeks…

2 very looong weeks.

I walked slowly the entire time.

Mainly, I remember the decision to forsake welding as a career option was firmly made that night.

Why I suck at this Christian Thing…

Ive thought about writing this message for a number of years. Family issues, personal issues, moral reticence,cowardice and sheer laziness contributed to the lack of presentation of my observations.

Finally, I have reached an age where excuses have run dry. My relationship with the worlds direction and intent is tinged with cynical amusement and wry understanding of the inability of man to work the real issues out. I dont have over much time left in earth years to contribute something to the grand repertory of knowledge via the written word, and in any event, what I write will only be a catalyst for deeper thinkers to research for themselves. That is enough for me. This site, is my “post”. I also subscribe to the theory of He who speaks the truth better have one foot in the stirrup.

I have been involved with Christianity all my life. ( I will only focus on Christianity as that is my belief). I have worked in evangelical missions, and actively promoted what was taught me to others in order to “save’ them. One day I asked the question, saved them from what?

20 years ago, I began a deep search of the Bible focusing on Doctrine and practiced beliefs. Very soon, I began to realize that in this life, NOTHING can be taken for granted.

I found out that I, (and by inference, All Christians) have been lied to,consistently, deeply and fundamentally. Our basic belief tenets have been inherited or assimilated or forced upon us by unscrupulous men who sought power and wealth by instilling a form of control over us.

But, the power behind all this has to be Gods sworn enemy, Satan the Devil. He has done a wonderful job thus far. He has, over the passage of time, converted CHRISTIANITY into a pagan religion and millions upon millions do not see it. Given enough time, ANYTHING can be changed. Truth can be swapped for lies, and hearts can be converted to follow a person, a belief or a doctrine, be it true or not.

Back in the early days of Christian growth, Rome found out it could not destroy the troublesome religion, so assimilated into what became the Catholic church. In doing so, The Devil installed false doctrines into “Christianity”. Christmas, the Trinity, Hell as a place of literal torment, ….Saint worship, Ritualistic association. The list is endless. When Protestantism erupted and the splitting of members from the Catholic church occurred, Many of these practices moved into the new churches.

The new Church of today, promotes Tithing, money blessings, Spirit healings, worshipping Jesus instead if God, Holy Spirit crusades, Rapture, Heavenly hopes ONLY if one is saved, once saved always saved.

Sigh.

I had to walk away from everything i believed in and start again. Walking by faith, has to be done in accurate knowledge. Many of you reading this will laugh disdainfully at these words, and thats ok. Until you take the time to study and research and be open to the fact that we as Christians have been misled, you will be subject to the false teachings of demon inspired teachings.

Christian Freedom Ministries publish works from all sources. We are not an ecumenical council or a practicing religious group. We do meet via internet, face to face meetings, written exchanges and study groups. We do not all share the same viewpoint on every matter. We do however, accept the following.

God is God.
Jesus is his begotten son.
The Holy Spirit is Gods agent.
Jesus Christ took on the exchange for Adamic falling, and is the only path to God.

The rest of our observed understanding can be found in these pages.

This scripture:

“Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place…then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.”
–Matthew 24:21

makes me wonder if the disgusting thing is perhaps the falseness of Christianity as taught today..

Who really wants to serve God?

Remember when you were a child, and your father wanted you to do something, and you had it in your mind that your way was better? Remember how at first he kept pulling you back on track, and you resisted, until finally he stood back and let you do it your way? Remember the tears when you saw it all go wrong before your eyes and knew that now not only did you have a mess to clean up, but also face the disappointment and anger of your father?

The only thing I was sure of when this happened to me as a youngster, was that my dad did love me and we would work it out somehow, but the suffering internally at failing him was very hard to bear. In the end, the only way through would be to trust him and do it his way to ensure success.

Being human is like this. We think we know best on everything. Currently, on a global scale, the world is suffering the results of mans wisdom. Governments working for the benefit of self. To accumulate control and subsequently power. Religions forcing people to take sides and possibly even preparing them for a global conflict for dominance. It comes down to self interest whatever field we examine.

In looking hard at the denominations of Christianity, again I see the same self seeking attitude within the “recognised” churches. Having a desire to “serve God is not the same as seeking his mind and thoughts and directions on every matter. Some where along the way, self interest and self seeking enter the picture. There is NO single christian denomination out there that has as its manifesto to serve God as HE wants. Not a single one. Traditional churches are bound up in religious dogmas and church teachings. Breakaway churches still adhere to some false teachings of their heritage. “New” denominations have succumbed to membership rules and self seeking self perpetuating inferences that they are the chosen vessel of God on this earth.

What God wants, what God has asked for, what God has stated clearly in the Bible, is not being done.

The sad out come of this reality, is that not one single organized church or body or denomination is acceptable to the creator because of their wayward course. He has stood back from them, he has allowed them to whatever it is they want to, and waits ti see if they will finally give up their fruitless course and turn back to him.

It isnt happening. In mans history, VERY few have turned around and sought forgiveness and done things the right way. So very few that in reality it has only been individuals that have done this. Not religions, not sects, not denominations. Not the Jewish race, not Muslims, Not Christianity, only individuals.

I have been forced to examine the Bible from a non influenced perspective. Forgetting all I have been taught, all I believed, all I thought was correct, and in doing so have confirmed that the words written above are true.

God has declared his intent and purpose and wishes for mankind in the scriptures. Its there.

When Jesus was on earth, he made a statement: : Matt 11:26 “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to babes. 26 Yes, O Father, because to do thus came to be the way approved by you. 27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son but the Father, neither does anyone fully know the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son is willing to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all YOU who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh YOU. 29 Take my yoke upon YOU and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart, and YOU will find refreshment for YOUR souls. 30 For my yoke is kindly and my load is light.”

I used to question this statement. It was the one thing in the entire Bible i had trouble accepting. Being a Christian was NOT easy. The load was NOT light. Following Christ to get to know God was NOT giving me refreshment.

Not until The day came when I undertook a review of my relationship with God through Christ, did i finally see that I was following Christianity and had no clue about what My creator really wanted from me, what he saw in me, how he viewed me, what he asked of me. Jesus was not saying that life would be easy, he was simply stating that Gods words for us and the requirements for being acceptable to God were not burdensome or heavy.

As a disciple of Christ, emulating his example to be acceptable to God and seek his mind on things, raises our hopes and lifts the burden of the worlds judgments on us. although subject to this worlds whims and desires, we no longer subscribe to their thinking on the future as to how life should be or look to the solutions that man propose. The reality is, nothing man has done in his own wisdom has ever worked or been of lasting benefit for more than a few years. Someone else always comes along with a brighter and better plan, and yet tinged with self seeking and self fulfilling criteria.

This worlds desires, and its wisdom, and its intents and its opposition to Gods will is going to pass away at some stage. Going down at the time is also the main antagonists of Gods wishes and that is the religions of the world. Being a member of a religion will not save us if we are not in harmony with Gods will.

These are drastic times. Times that need drastic action to examine ourselves and the course we are taking, the memberships of religion we have and the reality of what it is that God wants for us. Stop taking the easy way out or accepting your Pastors words as to what the Bible is really saying. The person you view as a God fearing man may just be a product of his own upbringing and the faulty teaching he was exposed to. So basically, if we face huge problems, make our prayers huge. The bigger the issues before us, the bigger our requests to God should be for understanding and seeking his blessing. Dont rely on ANYONE except Jesus sacrifice and your desire and willingness to find a relationship with the creator, if your heart is rightly motivated, he will NOT let you down.

The Bible is available to all. The most widely circulated book in existence, and the most least read.

Time for a change in your life.

Admin Comment

Recently, my inbox has been full of letters asking for  my thoughts on certain issues.

I can only give you this very clear and definite statement regarding the position of CFM personel. If it is not in the Bible, if it is not pertaining to scripture, if it is not a biblical concept or rationale, we have no thoughts or comments to make.

We do not follow, trust in, advocate or support any individual man or groups philosophy or wisdom. There is no school of thought, no novel concept, no interpretation that will ever usurp the validity of the Bible or Gods word. If we were to place our trust in man, we would surrender to the whims and wishes and self serving ideology that is so typical of sinful mankind. There is not a single organized religion in existence that does not have rules and regulations and tenets in opposition to Gods wishes in one form or another. In following the Bible, we free ourselves of the false aceptance of the Trinity, of eternal hellfire, once saved always saved and the many other falsehoods of accepted worship of God by men for men, but not acceptable to God.

We have no interest in the traditions of the Catholic church or the revised thinking of Protestantism. There is no affininty with eastern religions and non Christian teachings. Most definitely no acceptance of philosophical humanistic thoughts and concepts. There is only the Bible.

CFM did not look to find a way to formularize God into our lives so he was acceptable to us, we sought to find out how we could be acceptable to him and do his wishes. Reading the Bible is the only way to find out exactly what he wants from us.

There are many things we do not know. Yet, our faith built on reading and applying his wishes, has brought us to the position of realising that when it is time for us to know , it will be revealed. No one knows the date that God will draw the nations into battle with him for armageddon. No one knows what the disgusting thing in a Holy place is. No one knows who the two witnesses are. All we know is that we are in critical times that may or may not be the time period alluded to in the Bible prior to the tribulation, but critical they are.

It is time to accept God as our ultimate and benificient ruler through jesus Christ, and place our trust in him. Time to let go of the extra worries whether Gordon Brown or Mr Putin or Mr Obama will save us, they have their own agenda, and one thing is for sure, our eternal welfare is not in it.

All you out there trying to fit God into your life, STOP IT. Do it the other way round. It will save your life.

Narcissism

Collective Narcissism

Narcissism, Culture and Society*

by

Dr. Sam Vaknin

   Can families, organizations, ethnic groups, churches, and even whole nations be safely described as “narcissistic” or “pathologically self-absorbed”?  Wouldn’t such generalizations be a trifle racist and more than a trifle wrong?  The answer is: it depends.

          Human collectives (states, firms, households, institutions, political parties, cliques, bands) acquire a life and a character all their own.  The longer the association or affiliation of the members, the more cohesive and conformist the inner dynamics of the group, the more persecutory or numerous its enemies, the more intensive the physical and emotional experiences of the individuals it is comprised of, the stronger the bonds of locale, language, and history — the more rigorous might an assertion of a common pathology be.

          Such an all-persuasive and extensive pathology manifests itself in the behavior of each and every member.  It is a defining, though often implicit or underlying, mental structure.  It has explanatory and predictive powers (italics, RP).  It is recurrent and invariable; a pattern of conduct melded with distorted cognition and stunted emotions.  And it is often vehemently denied.

A possible DSM-like list of criteria (301.81) for narcissistic organizations or groups:

          An all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration or adulation and lack of empathy, usually beginning at the group’s early history and present in various contexts.  Persecution and abuse are often the causes, or at least the antecedents, of the pathology.

Five (or more) of the following criteria must be met:

1.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, feel grandiose and self-important (e.g., they exaggerate the group’s achievements and talents to the point of lying, demand to be recognized as superior simply for belonging to the group and without commensurate achievement).

2.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are obsessed with group fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequalled brilliance, bodily beauty or performance, or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering ideals or political theories.

3.     The groups as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are firmly convinced that the group is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status groups (or institutions).

4.     The groups as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, require excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation, or failing that, wish to be feared and to be notorious (Narcissistic Supply).

5.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, feel entitled.  They expect unreasonable or special and favorable priority treatment.  They demand automatic and full compliance with expectations.  They rarely accept responsibility for their actions (“alloplastic defenses,” they blame others).  This often leads to antisocial behavior, cover-ups, and criminal activities on a mass scale.

6.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are “interpersonally exploitative”, i.e., uses others to achieve their own ends.  This often leads to antisocial behavior, cover-ups, and criminal activities on a mass scale.

7.     The groups as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are devoid of empathy.  They are unable or unwilling to identify with or acknowledge the feelings and needs of other groups.  This often leads to antisocial behavior, cover-ups, and criminal activities on a mass scale.

8.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are constantly envious of others or believes that they feel the same about them.  This often leads to antisocial behavior, cover-ups, and criminal activities on a mass scale.

9.     The group as a whole, or members of the group, acting as such and by virtue of their association and affiliation with the group, are arrogant and sport haughty behaviors or attitudes coupled with rage when frustrated, contradicted, punished, limited, or confronted.  This often leads to antisocial behavior, cover-ups, and criminal activities on a mass scale.