Historicist

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The Tents of Kedar, Psalm 120

Mohammed in the Bible

This is one of those Passages where we shake out heads and go “I don’t know”. However all the answers are in old theology books. There is nothing new under the sun. There is always someone in ages passed that knew what the passage meant.

Psa. 120:

 A Song of Ascents. 

1 In my distress I cry to the LORD, that he may answer me: 

2 “Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” 

3 What shall be given to you? And what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? 

4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree! 

5 Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! 

6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 

7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war! 

So where was or is Meshech and what or who are the tents of Kedar?

Meshech

Meshech is one of the sons of Japheth from whom the Europeans descended [Gen 10:2]. And it never has been a good place for the children of Israel to be in their wanderings. The Crusades, The INQUISITION, the progroms, and constant evictions followed them everywhere the wandered. It wasn’t until Oliver Cromwell in 1699 that they could even be buried in England.

Kedar

Maimonides a.k.a. The RamBam

Kedar was a son of Ishmael [Gen 25:13]. The question is why of all the sons of Ishmael this one and not one of the other 11? Because Mohammed was of the Koresh clan and they descended from Kedar. As the RamBam put it “for the Madman and imbecile is of the lineage of the children of Kedar as they readily admit.” Maimonides, “Letter to Yemen” 1:4. The RamBam wrote in Hebrew so the word translated as “Madman” would have been “Meshugana”.

Maimonides saw that this was a prophecy about the subjugation of the Jews to the Arabs because of the teaching of the Meshugana one. That this was because of the Jews sin, and there was noting to do but endure.

Remember, my co-religionists, that on account of the vast number of our sins, God has hurled us in the midst of this people, the Arabs, who have persecuted us severely, and passed baneful and discriminatory legislation against us, as Scripture has forewarned us, “Our enemies themselves shall judge us” (Deuteronomy 32:31). “Letter to Yemen” 1:4

You might also be interested in this Muslim sight Mohammed in the Bible

 

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Psalm 74 – The Leviathan

 A Maskil of Asaph.  

What is A Maskil?

There are 13 Psalms that are designated a maskil. They are 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89 and 142.

The Hebrew word maskil means instruction and is either:

  1.  A psalm with something special to teach, like 32 and 78, or
  2.  A psalm that the Psalmist wrote in a very clever way.

Who was Asaph?

There are three different men with the name of Asaph.[Neh. 2:8; 1Chr. 6:39;  Is. 36:3] The Asaph identified with twelve Psalms; 50, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83,  is said to be the son of Berechiah who is said to be the pro-generator of the Asaphites. [1 Chronicles 6:39 ; 2 Chronicles 5:12]

FYI: When ever one runs into something in the Bible that makes little sense at first reading, it is important to look at all the passages that cover the same subject. As the theologians say “the Bible is its own best commentary.” So there is a list of other verses for your comparison at the end of the post of all Leviathans, sea monsters, and dragon passages that come to mind.

The Psalm

Now let us examine our clever psalm. It is a psalm of both typology and symbolism. The Psalmist asks Why?

A Maskil of Asaph.

1 O God, why dost thou cast us off for ever? Why does thy anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?  

2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old, which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thy heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where thou hast dwelt.  

3 Direct thy steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!  

The psalmist predicts a time of judgment by God on the sheep of Thy pasture. This is the first indication of symbology, as the people are called sheep. A time is coming when the sanctuary shall be in perpetual ruins. This is both about the (type) Babylonian Captivity of the Jews and the (antitype) Babylonian Corruption of the Church.

Sanctuary Burned

4 Thy foes have roared in the midst of thy holy place; they set up their own signs for signs.  

5 At the upper entrance they hacked the wooden trellis with axes.  

6 And then all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.  

7 They set thy sanctuary on fire; to the ground they desecrated the dwelling place of thy name.  

8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.  

9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.  

Loudness in the holy place is always a sign that something is amiss. It is one thing for a preacher to be loud enough to be heard at the back of the crowd, it is another for the noice to be riotous and unruly.

The sanctuary is where one meets the Lord with humility and reverence. These fellows revel in their supposed victory over the true believers. They think that they are now the masters the King’s sanctuary.

Signs for signs is hard to get the meaning of. In Hebrew something double stated is a negative. As in Captivity captive, which means to be released. Signs for signs would mean no signs or false signs.

Verses five and six are completely inaccurate in translation. They merely state that the wood of the temple was cut down with axes and burned. There is no entrance or wooden trellis mentioned in the Hebrew. In life the temple had a wooden roof and door.

How Long?

10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile thy name for ever?  

11 Why dost thou hold back thy hand, why dost thou keep thy right hand in thy bosom?  

The lament that there is no one who knows how long the captivity would last. This is not because the information was not given but because the people did not heed Jeremiah. Nor does the church seek out the numbers in Daniel and the Revelation, as to how long the corruption of the church is to last. Instead of reading the passages for what they said, they always sought the Second Coming. Turning their eyes from seeing their own judgment.

The great question of both Lamentations and the church of the Dark Ages. How long? The suffering went on and on, even though the Roman church was claiming victory as the true church suffered for over 400 years of the INQUISITION.

Leviathan

The Beast Comes Out of the Sea by Giusto De’ Menabuoi (c. 1320–1391)

12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.  

13 Thou didst divide the sea by thy might; thou didst break the heads of the dragons on the waters.  

14 Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.  

15 Thou didst cleave open springs and brooks; thou didst dry up ever-flowing streams.  

16 Thine is the day, thine also the night; thou hast established the luminaries and the sun.  

17 Thou hast fixed all the bounds of the earth; thou hast made summer and winter.  

Job and the 104th Psalm refer to leviathan as a real sea creature. However here it is multi-headed. This cannot be a real animal. This animal is symbolic just like God calling His people, sheep.

Isaiah called him the twisting serpent of the sea. [Is. 27:1] And later names it Rahab which in Hebrew means to be defiant, arrogant, boisterous or stormy. [Is. 51:9]

However we don’t get a real description of it until Revelation 13, where it is called the beast from the sea. It is described as having ten horns and seven heads and is made up of all the beasts from the sea in Daniel 7. It represents all the imperial powers that have ruled the Western World from the time of Babylon. It gets its authority from Satan [Rev. 13:4]

Now Satan is the ruler of this world, and he has ruled through these imperial powers for 2520 years. [John 12:; 14:30; 16:11; Eph. 6:12]

We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one. 1John 5:19 

Satan is now out of time. Soon his heads will be crushed, and the imperial powers will blow away like chaff according to Daniel 2, on the day of our deliverance.

Deliverance

18 Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs, and an impious people reviles thy name.  

19 Do not deliver the soul of thy dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of thy poor for ever.  

20 Have regard for thy covenant; for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.  

21 Let not the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise thy name.  

22 Arise, O God, plead thy cause; remember how the impious scoff at thee all the day!  

23 Do not forget the clamor of thy foes, the uproar of thy adversaries which goes up continually! 

This is our prayer and our hope. Let Leviathan be no more. No king but Jesus/Yeshua.

Verses

Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. Job 3:8

“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Job 41:1 

There go the ships, and Leviathan which thou didst form to sport in it. Psa. 104:26

In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. Is. 27:1 

 2 Daniel said, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.  3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. Dan 7:2-3

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads.  2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bears, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.  Rev. 13:1 

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bears, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. Rev. 13:2

The sea or waters

And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. Rev. 17:15 

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. Rev. 19:20

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The Veil

The VeilBy this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing Heb. 9:8

The dispensationalists, with their carnal minded literal interpretation, see only the functional literal curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. And at the present, they are all excited by the ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel weaving a new curtain.

However, they completely miss the typological meaning that was clearly intended from its very name in Hebrew. The veil, or parokhet in Hebrew, roots from the verb prkh for tearing, pulling apart, or separating. In its very name, there is the knowledge that it existed to be torn!

FYI: Tradition holds that the veil of Herod’s Temple was 60 feet long and 20 or 30 feet wide and the thickness of a man’s hand. (See Also: The Thickness of the Temple Veil)

The Instructions to make the Veil

Although the description here is of a truly magnificent weaving made by people traveling about a desert, the veil typologically represented the fleshly body of our Lord.

31   “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; in skilled work shall it be made, with cherubim;  32 and you shall hang it upon four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, upon four bases of silver.  33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy.  34 You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place.  35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table; and you shall put the table on the north side. Ex. 26:31-35

The Construction

35   And he made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked he made it.  36 And for it he made four pillars of acacia, and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver.  37 He also made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet stuff and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework;  38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze. Ex. 36:35-38

Linen

The veil was made of linen. Those who serve God are always represented as wearing linen. It represents righteous deeds.

7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;  8 it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure” — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Rev. 19:7-8

And the priest who is anointed and consecrated as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement, wearing the holy linen garments; Lev. 16:32

When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. Ezek. 44:17

And I said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” Dan. 12:6

I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7:14

Blue 

The order of the colors in the Tabernacle, Temple or Veil, by importance never change. There is a hierarchy of the blue, purple, and scarlet; the blue always ranking first. Another way to look at the order is the substitutionary death comes first, the authority to pardon, and then the ransom.

In the Hebrew, the blue that binds the curtains is tekelet. It is the same blue that is in the priests garments, and the binding thread of the tzitzi or tassels, and is used to connect or bind the curtains to the gold clasps, and the golden ephod. It is the blue that holds all the holy things together.

“Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue;” Num. 15:38

FYI: It is the shade of blue that is on the flag of the modern state of Israel.

There is much written as to what the blue represents. Lots of speculation points to the sky and heaven. But, the best explanation I found was a few years ago reading an article by a medical doctor explaining all the things that happen to a body during crucifixion. The actual cause of death is asphyxiation. The lungs fill with fluid and the body has no way of coughing it out. In this way the body dies of asphyxiation always presents as blue. Like the binding blue thread the death of our Lord binds us together.

Purple

In ancient times, purple was one of the hardest and therefore the most expensive dyes to obtain. It came from a sea snails (Bolinus brandaris) that only lived in a few areas of the Mediterranean. The dye was prized for its non-fading properties. The more a garment was exposed to sunlight, the darker the purple became.

FYI: Lydia was a seller of purple goods. [Acts 16:14]

And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple robe; John 19:2

It is by it very expense, the color favored by royalty; and as such, represents Messiah as King of Kings.

Scarlet

The Hebrew word for scarlet is tola’ah and its’ root comes from the word for worm, tola. It is actually a specific scale insect. In the English language it is the Crimson Worm (Latin, Coccus Ilicus), from which red dye is extracted.

The adult lays its eggs on the branch of tree, as a dying act, covering them with red dye to hide them from predators. The crushed Crimson Worm contains an anti-bacterial agent, and was used in the purification compounds of the Law, where there has been plague (Lev 14:52) and in the ashes of the red heifer (Lev 19:6). So, the literal tola represents the spiritual cleansing blood of Messiah.

. . . how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Heb. 9:14 

Cherubim

Cherubim are used extensively to decorate the tabernacle and even more so in Solomon’s temple. (See Also: Eagles and Eagles Wings) As a decoration on the veil, they are said to be made of cunning work. The Hebrew is cheshev, which roots from word “to think, devise or plan.” Much thought was to be given to these decorations.

Cherubim are very curious creatures. This is the only time they are mentioned in historical narrative. They are usually in poetry or symbolic literature. They are described as having four heads and six wings. Their heads are made up of a lion, an ox, a vulture, and a man.

The cherubim are described as God’s chariot or holding up God’s Throne. [Gen 3:24; 2Sam. 22:11; Psa. 18:10; Psa. 80:1; Psa. 99:1; Is. 37:16; Ezek 1; Ezek 10; Rev. 4:7 ff]

FYI: Cherubim is the plural of cherub.

As a decoration, they were to represent the body of the coming Redeemer. A shadow of the coming Redeemer who by type was not just a man, but Deity. For He too, is symbolically held up by the cherubim.

The Veil, or His Flesh, Conceals His Glory

In the Greek, we are told that his dwelling with us was as temporary as the tent, or tabernacle.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John 1:14

This glory was the same as seen of old by Moses.

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Ex. 40:34-35

The glory was hid from view by the veil. Just as our Lord’s true nature was hid in a fleshly body. He veiled that glory, taking the form of a man.

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  8 And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Phil. 2:6-8

But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one. Heb. 2:9

After the crucifixion, His friends were rushing to get Messiah’s body into the tomb. The veil having fulfilled its purpose, was torn. Because of the death of Messiah, all can now approach the real, or antitypical, Throne of God.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; Matt. 27:51 

And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Mark 15:38

. . . while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Luke 23:45

The old Mosaic Age was passing away as the New Kingdom age was growing out of it. (See Also: Dispensations)

. . . by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, Heb. 10:20

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David’s Victory a Type of Messiah’s Victory

headNow then bring it about; for the LORD has promised David, saying, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and from the hand of all their enemies.’” 2Sam. 3:18

The Philistines stand in typology as the enemies of David and the Israelites representing the antitype of the spirit enemies of Messiah and the Congregation.

For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Eph. 6:12  (c.f. Rom. 8:38; Eph. 3:10; Col. 1:16; Col. 2:15)

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Rev. 12:10

Messiah’s authority to win this battle is a given.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. Luke 10:19

. . . then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Rom. 16:20

. . . to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. Eph. 1:6

7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 which he lavished upon us. Eph. 1:7

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Cor. 15:57

Although Satan was defeated at the cross, he still afflicts God’s people, just as David defeated the Philistines, yet they continued from time to time to afflict God’s people. It was not until Hezekiah that the Philistines were finally defeated. (See Also: Philistia Who?)

He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city. 2Kings 18:8

So Satan will not be defeated till he is thrown into the lake of fire.

. . . and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Rev. 20:10

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Anti christ is the 12th Imam?

wolf in sheep's clothing 2or so some Futurists Interpreters of the Bible have now begun to teach, (for they have an ever changing rule of interpretation that lets them imagine what ever they feel like is the meaning of the text.)

The 12th Imam

Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdī was to the Twelver Shī‘a Muslims, a Mahdi or “guided one” born 869 and disappeared in 941. The twelfth Mahdi is supposed to be ultimate savior and is prophesied to emerge with Isa (Jesus) to bring world peace.

Sunni Islam and other minority Shias believe that the Mahdi has not yet been born.

A New False Teaching in the Church

There is a problem with this as with all other Futurists speculation, it ignores what the Bible actually says about the antichrist.

Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. 1John 2:18 

For a full look at all the verses in the Bible about antichrist click here.

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The Lord’s Day

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet Rev. 1:10 

right_handThe first commentary I ever read on The Revelation, went to great lengths to explain that, “The Lord’s Day” was Sunday the first day of the week. The second commentary I read went to equally great lengths to explain that it was the seventh day of the week or the Sabbath.

After many years of study it has occurred to me that these attitudes are born on both sides of anti-Jewish sentiment, and general ignorance of the Torah. For the rather obvious truth is that it is Yom Kippur/The Day of Atonement, which can fall on any day of the week. The reasons for this are plain as day.

First, the Lord presents Himself as the Ancient of Days with the right and power to judge. [Dan. 7:9; Rev. 1:14]

Second, the seven church’s for whom the letter was intended are warned of their short comings. [Rev 2-3]

Third, There are 24 elders all dressed as High Priests on Yom Kippur. They are wearing white and have golden crown and golden censors. [Lev. 8:9; Lev. 16:4, 12 Rev. 4:4; Rev. 5:8]

The rest of the book is about God’s judgements, on those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and those who is not. [Deut. 29:20; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 20:15; 21:27]

The entire book is one great call to get right with God for today is the day of salvation, today is Yom Kippur/the Day or Atonement. Its point is, that it is always Yom Kippur before the throne. The final sacrifice has been made. The way to the throne is open to all on this day, and it is always this day before the throne.

However at the end of the day, the offer of Salvation will be withdrawn, the gates will be closed, and there will be those left outside. [Rev. 22:15]

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Psalm 22:26-28

second-coming226 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; 

those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live for ever! 

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; 

and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. 

28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, 

and he rules over the nations. 

What a marvelous promise for those of faith. We forget in this land of abundance that for most of the world’s history, people have struggled to get enough to eat. Our Lord promises satisfaction for those that seek Him. There are those who make these blessing passages about physical wealth and health in the here and now. However in the here and now, it is meant as spiritual sustenance.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matt. 5:6

The satisfaction is for the heart not the body. As we study and become closer to understand God’s plans and purposes, there is a satisfaction and peace that is hard to put in human words.

There will come a time when all will be brought into submission, and righteousness will be enforced with a rod of iron. Then everyone on the earth will remember. In order to remember something if must first be something that was forgotten or at least not brought to mind. The whole world has forgotten their creator. As a whole we have forgotten our willful sin of disobedience and the consequences of being out of fellowship or right relationship with our Creator. Because we do not remember our fall we forgot what it would take to make the relationship right.

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.” Gen. 3:15

There is usually a small twisted memory of this in almost all peoples and cultures.  But it is so twisted that the truth was lost. But a time will come when they will remember that the Lord God who made heaven and earth would need to come and suffered for us. It is He and He alone who would restore the relationship between men and their God, as the beginning of this Psalm explained. He had to come and suffer, that was the only way.

All the nations belong to the Lord, even the ones that don’t know it. It is time to remember the forgotten truths of old.

. . . but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Gen. 2:17

We ate a piece of fruit, or perhaps the fruits is the only way we can understand what our infinite forbearers did, since we are now finite. The essence of the tail is that they were told not to do something and they then did that forbidden thing, bringing death to everything and everyone, somehow their actions caused the second law of thermodynamics to come into play. (The Second Law of Thermodynamics, where everything runs down, waist aways, or ceases to be).

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; Rom. 8:22

We sit here groaning for things we do not completely remember. But dominion belongs to the Lord, and what was will be again. For our souls know redemption, but our bodies still wait for the fulness of the promise.

18   I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;  20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;  21 because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.  22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now;  23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Rom. 8:18+25

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Psalm 22:22-23

22 I will tell of thy name to my brethren; second-coming2

in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee: 

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! 

all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, 

and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel! 

After the humiliation and rejection of the crucifixion, we join the triumphant praise and exaltation section of this Psalm. It starts with a line that is repeated in the book of Hebrews. Where it states that He is not ashamed of us, even though in our weakness we are often ashamed of Him.

10  For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brethren,  saying, “I will proclaim thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.” Heb. 2:10-12 

His name is to be proclaimed. Not by ministers or priests but rather by “I” and the proclaiming is in the piel infinitive tense, which means “I” is caused to proclaim, recount, relate this information forever. We cannot stop, we must speak out. The only people who are mad at us for speaking the truth are those people who are living a lie. Keep speaking the truth.

I will praise Him in the congregation. It is only in the congregation that our admiration and reverence for His great act of love is even understood. (See Also: The Ekklesia)

The Psalm sounds as though it is restricted to just the children of Israel, however the writer of Hebrews is clear that all are children of God.

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. Is. 8:16-18

This was the declaration given to the shepherds. The joy would not longer be extended only to the children of Israel but it would be for ALL people.

And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; Luke 2:10

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14

Instead of our faith bing inherited through the blood line of Abraham our faith is now based on pleasing Him. To have peace with our maker is an act of obedience. The door is open too all.

I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9

Fear the Lord

23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! 

all you sons of Jacob, glorify him, 

and stand in awe of him, all you sons of Israel!

The post modern inherited churches have forgotten to stand in awe of God. The churches sing of an awesome God as if this word means some kind of casual greatness, or beauty. However to be in awe of something or someone is to be terrified or in dread. This new culturally sensitive theology has God as either their best buddy or a myth, either way there is no need to fear Him.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practice it. His praise endures for ever! Psa. 111:10

When we are young we often think that the older people in the congregation are old and stogy. We make light of all things holy. We laugh and play with our grace, almost to the point of being sacrilegious. But as one gets older we often examine that tear in the vale of grace, and are terrified by what we perceive is there. Yes, indeed, God is awesome, and our souls are spared only because of that curtain of grace. Our suffering Redeemer earned our awe. When we step back and consider this curtain, we see that it is made of our Redeemer’s own blood.

We stand in holy awe, and fear for the ignorant young people.

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Psalm 22:18-19

crosstwilight18 they divide my garments among them, 

and for my raiment they cast lots. 

19 But thou, O LORD, be not far off! 

O thou my help, hasten to my aid! 

For those who do not believe that Yeshua/Jesus was not who He said He was and that He arranged to fulfill all these odd prophecies, How did He arrange this one? How did he get Roman soldiers to preform this act?

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his garments and made four parts, one for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom;  24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfil the scripture, “They parted my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” John 19:23-24

This prophecy was written one thousand years before the events described. There is just no way to have faked or arranged this. It stands as one of the great proofs that He was who He said He was. The other is Daniel 9.

As our Lord was dying they were casting lots for his clothes. So His call for help is one of promise. The deed was done. His humanity now reminds God of the three day deal. Be not far off, hasten to my aid. There is just that shadow of not quite doubt, just a need for reassurance. His deity knew He had the victory His humanity was suffering. We all need to be told that it will be ok.

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Mystery Babylon

nebuchadnezzar-2The Mystery Religions

Babylon’s Demise and Rebirth

Recently I have been taking a course on the internet to improve my writing skills. The first lesson was about making things personal and emotional, something we strive not to do. Theology is supposed to be cold and analytical. The emotional response is supposed to come from the leading of the Holy Spirit and not by any emotional manipulation from the writer.

Anyway the opening here is my attempt at such a style. I doubt I will repeat it, and I was unable to express how upset and distressed I was at the time.

When I was in high school. I became greatly interested in the Bible and what it meant. Prophecy was one of those areas that made no sense to me. So when one of the slightly older young persons came back from Bible College offered a course on prophecy using the Late Great Planet Earth as his teaching text, I was all in. Our pastor was in the room agreeing with everything that was taught. I found it all very exciting. We were learning secret knowledge that was hidden in the Bible. However my expectation were of a more complete understanding. What was taught was quit confusing as we kept hopping all over the Bible in a way that we had previously been taught was the way cults teach. They kept connecting passages that I could not understand how they were connected.

During one of these lessons the young man who was teaching the class said something I thought odd. He said, “If we only knew what the Babylonian Mystery Religion was, we would know what to look for.” I thought to myself, why don’t we know what the Babylonian Mystery is? When I got home that night I went to my parent’s Encyclopedia Brittanica pulled out the Index and looked it up. It said, “see Mystery Religions”. Now I was really curious. So I turned to Mystery Religions and found columns of articles. Obviously my pastor and the young man had not availed themselves of an Encyclopedia. I sat and read these articles one after another till bed time, after which I decided that the pastor and this young man were idiots. Anyone with an Encyclopedia knows exactly what the Babylonian Mystery Religion was and is.

The History

Many centuries have passed since Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon. Long ago the city became a desolation. During the reign of Antiochus I the city was officially depopulated when in 275BC the inhabitants were transported to Seleucia. So by the time of John’s writing the Revelation (ca. 96-98AD), Babylon itself had long been an abandoned waste.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. 20 It will never be inhabited or dwelt in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. Is. 13:19-20

The Babylon in The Revelation is therefore symbolic for several reasons. First of all, ancient Babylon has laid in continuous ruin for approximately 2250+ years.  The Revelation makes references the outer purple and scarlet clothing of the priests serving in the Temple. This is a further indication of the woman’s or church’s symbolic religious wickedness. Her name and her action are described as the Babylonian mystery religion. In John’s day, this religious abomination was centered in Rome.

 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication;  5 and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s abominations.”  6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Rev. 17:4-6

After the death of Belshazzar the Chaldean priesthood was expelled from Babylon by the Mede-Persian kings. They traveled up the rivers valley and over the mountains finally settling on the Aegean coast in the town of Pergamos. There they established the College of the Pontiffs. The leader of this group was know as the Pontifex.

This title was handed down till at last it was held by Attalus III the last king of Pergamos.

“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; Rev. 2:13 

Upon his death in 133 BC, he left in his will all his dominions to the Roman peoples. The College of Pontiffs was moved to Rome, and for a time the tile Pontifex was forgotten. However Julius Caesar arranged to be elected Pontifex Maximus, making himself the head of both the Roman State and the Roman Religion. He became the true legitimate Babylonian Pontiff, further taking the title Venus Genetrix meaning that Venus was the mother of the Julian family. He appeared before the Roman people in all the pomp of Babylon wearing the robes of scarlet, with the crosier of Nimrod, the mitre of Dagon, and the keys of Janus and Cybele. So too did all the Emperors after him, until the Christian Emperor Gratian denounced the title as pagan and refused to wear the idolatrous pontifical clothes, and again the title lay forgotten. Until 610 AD. when Boniface III usurped the title Pontifex or Pope.

crosierFYI: Pontifex means bridge builder. Maximus means the highest, greatest, supreme, or sovereign. A crosier is a ceremonial staff carried by a king or bishop or an abbot, hooked at one end like a shepherd’s crook. A mitre is a tall pointed cleft hat originally worn by the priest of Dagon. The keys of Janus and Cybele were changed out and styled as the keys of Peter.emblem_of_vatican_city-svg

The only early church father to use the term Pontifex was Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225AD) iwho used the title as an insult to any bishop who claimed to supersede any others.

In opposition to this [modesty], could I not have acted the dissembler? I hear that there has even been an edict sent forth, and a peremptory one too. The “Pontifex Maximus,” that is the “bishop of bishops,” issues an edict: “I remit, to such as have discharged [the requirements of] repentance, the sins both of adultery and of fornication.” O edict, on which cannot be inscribed, “Good deed!” … Far, far from Christ’s betrothed be such a proclamation!

—Tertullian, On Modesty ch. 1

The Mystery Religions

The Pontifex Maximus was in theory the head of all the mysteries. There were many varied mystery religions, the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Mysteries of Cybele, Mythic Mysteries etc. however they all have a few things in common in the basic structure of their rituals. Once initiated into the mystery a person was given secret knowledge that would guarantee that a person would end up in a good place or reward in the afterlife. To be initiated there was always a blood oath, that insured that the initiate would keep the secrets of the mystery. Then there was a confession in which all crimes were confessed to a priest of the Mystery, whether they be against the gods or men. A communion of sorts was taken in which the drink and/or the cake or bread may have contained opiates or hallucinogens, so that one might better commune with the god. Then there was some kind of ordeal, a maze, or tunnel from which the initiate was born again. The secret information was then imparted and a large party was held. Some of these parties became so notorious that they were banned by the Roman government as they thought them too wild. (It must have been some orgy for the Roman’s to have been offended.)

Although many secret societies have adopted the ritual nature of these mysteries only one stands out as having adopted the full religious meaning of all that was in Babylon, that is the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Rome is many things, but Christian is not one of them, it is Babylonian to its very core. The Pontifex Maximus is openly proclaimed, the College of Pontiffs is now the College of Cardinals, and the rituals of the mysteries have become the sacraments.