A voice in the wilderness

What you will find here are thoughts and commentary on what I happen to be studying. As for me, I have two daughters who have grown up without me. Education wise, I have two AS degrees, one being in Horticulture, but no bachelors degree. The longest time spent at any one job was 15 years. Sadly, I have not been the great success I had dreamed I would be, but I find that I am becoming more content as my relationship with the Father God grows. God's word is my passion.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

To not walk in darkness. A series Part 5.

He who follows Me...

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12 NASB)

This verse is a strong testament to eternal salvation, but there is a warning, the word follow, which seems to mean, one that follows as a disciple, in my mind, demonstrates a commitment, and I can think of many that came to Jesus in tears and were baptized before many of us, and still live like the devil.

The answer to that is, it is not for me to judge, but certainly could explain why they never seem to have any light.

As a disciple of Christ I do not make it my goal and purpose to walk in darkness. Now that might be debatable if I base my understanding upon what I feel like or see.

Darkness is the Greek word skotia. It is only used 15 times. 13 of those are interpreted as darkness. 2 are defined as dark.

Strong's concordance explains that the word means: dimness, obscurity (literally or figuratively): - dark (-ness). And tells us that skotia is a derivative from skotos which include shadiness.

We can see that Jesus did not mean that it had to be pitch black, but merely the shadows of life.

Did Jesus tell us that we are protected from even walking in shadows?

Faith tells us to stick our necks out on the line and say yes, but I think we are confusing the two things:

Jesus is the light and there are times that the light is purely internal.

Secondly, you have to walk through this life which is filled with darkness.

How do you walk through the darkness and not be in it? That can only be an internal, spiritual thing.

Why or what keeps us out of the shadows? Having the light of life.

Jesus is the light of life and receiving him into our your life is the key. You do that by giving control to him, receiving his forgiveness, and accepting that Jesus death and resurrection give us hope.

That hope is in spending eternity with the Father and the glory he has prepared for us.

To not walk in darkness. A series. Part 4

A constant irritation

One of my life's irritants is the consistent preaching from the standpoint of guilt and shame. How about instead of focusing on things that tend to promote sinning, perhaps focusing on things like:

1 John 3:4-6 NIV Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. (5) But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. (6) No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Let's be honest; guilt producing expositions (and it does not just come from pulpits) are meant to control and manipulate people. Sure, there may be the motivation to encourage a moral life but the truth is the one speaking is usually the one who is most torn by what they are saying and they do not trust God's ability to do what he said, therefore they feel the need to control you.

Do you not understand that the Holy Spirit of God lives in you. That happened on the day you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, understanding that he died and rose again to give you a new life and hope.

1 John 2:20-21 NIV But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. (21) I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

Don't get all bogged down in that word anointing, just understand that the moment he saw your acknowledgment and acceptance God poured out his life on you. You might have felt different, (I have heard it described so many ways, such as, it felt like a huge weight came off me.) but I know that over the course of time, and for many that was just hours later, most of the world seemed the same to you. People were still just as lousy as they were before, and for most of us there was no dramatic change in our language; we still had the ability to cuss like a sailor.

None-the-less God placed his spirit inside of you and that same Holy Spirit leads you and guides you into all truth and holds until the day of his return, that moment in which we hope. For some his return comes earlier through their passing from this life.

But thanks be to God! He always leads us triumphantly by the Messiah and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowing him. (2 Corinthians 2:14 ISV)

In whom you, having been given the true word, the good news of your salvation, and through your faith in him, were given the sign of the Holy Spirit of hope, (Ephesians 1:13 BBE)

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30 KJV)

Far to many struggle over the trinity, so let me give you a heads up.

We all seem to grasp that there is a God who created the universe, and yet John's gospel tells us Jesus was that Word and that Jesus was God. We are not allowed to exclude the Holy Spirit and yet do. Give the creation some serious thought and you come to realize that the Holy Spirit was there also.

Jesus told the guys (120+ of them) that he was going back to the Father but would not leave them. How? By sending the Holy Spirit, the comforter. The Holy Spirit is God, no less than Jesus was.

So make it easy on yourself, all three are God, God's representative, aspects of God, and each has its own character, and methods of interacting with us. The power and purpose are the same, to magnify the Father, God.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. (John 14:26 AMP)

To not walk in darkness. A series. Part 3

Archaic terms

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12 KJV)

The King James seems to be the most archaic in terms of colloquialisms, but is a great place to start if you are digging for life. If you use a modern version you can bypass some of the odd words like “followeth”. Let's try that and see if it helps.

Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, I am the Light of the world.

He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark,

but will have the Light which is Life. (John 8:12 AMP)

But what are the implications when Jesus uses a word like follow and walking in the same sentence? (remember, I said there was life in the words, so that is what I am looking for).

The dictionary explains the word follow as:

1. To go after or behind; to walk, ride or move behind, but in the same direction.

2. To pursue; to chase; as an enemy, or as game.

3. To accompany; to attend in a journey.

Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples can be seen the Lord Of the Rings as Samwise Ganji followed Frodo Baggins to Mordach and middle earth.

Thayer's definition states: to join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple.

The implications are that Jesus is asking for more than just a casual relationship.

To not walk in darkness. A series. Part 2

This is another meeting.

Many years ago, I heard a preacher talk about admonishing someone who tried to tell him about their dreams of Jesus. The speaker was not interested in what the image in the dream looked like but what he said, for the words could then be validated, or not, against the word of God.

If what Jesus said is of the utmost importance, and it is, then let's look at that and compare a couple of translations because even under what seems like the worst of conditions, there is life in those words.

John 8:12 ESV Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

I am the light of the world. What does that mean?

Clearly, the impact is toward everyone, but does everyone enjoy that light? No, then why not?

For one, there has to be an acceptance.

Jesus was not selective. He poured out his blood so that the entire earth could enjoy a life that sin had excluded us from. God spelled that out when he laid out the plans for the temple in the desert. For no one with sin could enter his presence, so Jesus shed his blood on our behalf, giving us access to God.

Now, acceptance of all that is another thing altogether and necessary to enjoy the hope that is in salvation.

Light eliminates darkness, but as you will see, darkness implies shadow and obscurity. Just look casually around you, especially inside the church building and you will find that most are walking in at least the shadows of darkness. As we pass each other in the hallways and say, “how are you doing,” not really caring about the answer so much as the formality, internally, many are suffering from tremendous conflict inside.

Here is a little human understanding: Placing a candle randomly in a room produces some light. There is no longer complete darkness, but there are things in a typical room that will obscure the light, and there are even places where the darkness can be fairly intense. Should you have a phobia, you may not want to even go in that area without taking the light with you.

But this is a human perspective, for scripture tells us that God is light and that there is no darkness in him.

1 John 1:5 ESV This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

So for Jesus to say I am the light is to say that he is that which shines, illuminates, God himself, and the eliminator of darkness. We would love to say the destroyer of darkness and that day will come, but we know that darkness still exists. We would have had no need for a light if there were no darkness, no obscurity, or shadows, but there is, and we still stumble in it.

This stumbling in the shadows is what we call sin.

I know most of you have heard the explanations of where the term sin comes from. It is an old English word used in archery for missing the mark.

Having shot competitive archery for a time allow me to expound. The mark or bulls-eye is about four inches in diameter, and at 80 yards out, it seems to be about an inch. The bale holding the target has many point-value rings, but the goal is to hit the center smallest one, obtaining the highest point value. Merely missing outside the bulls-eye is to miss the mark, but in life I was shooting at the target and struck it.

Was I trying to hit the mark? Certainly. But to miss the bale holding the target completely demonstrates a lack of skill or effort and anyone can do that.

While working toward improving your skills at hitting the bulls-eye is appropriate, be careful not to get wrapped up in works (thinking that you have to do this on your own or your acceptance into God's grace involves your mastery at hitting a bullseye). Our life and light are based on faith and God's actions toward us.

This light that comes package as Jesus is a free gift and no one gets more or less, they merely become more skillful at eliminating the darkness, and obscurity that the enemy of our souls is constantly trying to push into your life.

To not walk in darkness. A series. Part 1

I attend a men's bible study and we have been going through the book of John. Currently we are in John chapter 8. It is all so rich and worthy of thought, we never do it justice. I suppose that is one of my motivations for placing these blogs up here. To give someone the chance to discover the depth of God's word.

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

(John 8:12 KJV)

What is the context?

The last we saw Jesus he was sitting among a crowd, in the temple, teaching, when the Pharisees pushed a woman in front of him as they ranted about how she had committed adultery. One of the aspects of that story (it is reality, not fiction) is that the pharisees came ready to kill someone; that someone was Jesus, not the woman. Yes, that is an assumption but look at the story.

There were no witnesses presented; there was no second party to the crime against the law, and though they refused to recognize how correct they were in bringing her to him, he was not a person recognized to be the judge.

And, they brought the stones with them to carry out their judgment. How do I know they had stones meant to kill? Because after he challenged them they dropped their stones and slowly skulked away.

When Jesus stood to his feet the second time there was no one left but the woman, still standing there. If only the Pharisees had stayed they would have heard the five most important words in all the world, “neither do I condemn you!”

The crowd - we are not told when or how they parted but they had seen the Pharisees in action and these religious zealots were probably feared. Considering their entrance, the stones, and the anger, I imagine the crowd got out just as fast as they could.

The woman - Picture yourself in her shoes. God himself just told you that he does not condemn you, but then she did not know this was God, or did she? Consider also that she looked into the eyes of God, and who would want to leave after having those eyes look into your soul, especially after telling you that he did not condemn you.

Wow, what just happened? Teaching one minute, the next you are confronted by an angry crowd of religious zealots that throw a woman in front of you, demanding that you illegally produce a judgment against her. As far as we know he brings none. They were prepared with stones to carry out whatever justice they saw fit. Jesus response drove the Pharisees away, leaving only Jesus and the woman.

If you were reading along in your bibles you noticed that the next verse states, "Later on Jesus spoke to them again," So that leaves us with a gap in time, one we cannot resolve, and therefore must make an assumption about.

We will continue this in part 2.

Friday, June 7, 2013

You may never look at movies the same.

That is what John Eldredge tells you as you read through his book, Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive.

The Band of Brothers boot camp was filled with life stories told by men that had battled back, taken their place as the spiritual leader in their home, had their marriages mended, and their lives restored, because they acknowledged that there is an enemy who is relentlessly trying to kill or destroy you, and did something about it.

The majority of these men called themselves “Christians” even as they walked about in disastrous situations, but I think even the casual observer would have a hard time distinguishing between the casual “christian” and the world.

Many of us (I know of a few), much like those in AA, came to a point where we decided that what we were doing was not working, and that we had unsuccessfully tried to wrestle control away from God, deciding that we and the broken world around us knew better about how to handle the devastation around us. Most do not even realize that they are in a spiritual battle for their very lives because religion succumbed to outside pressure and sanitized what we have been taught, avoiding the idea that there is an enemy (his name is Satan), and that he is out to kill you. In a sense we had to take a realistic, moral inventory, give the control back to God, come to an understanding that we are in a 24/7 spiritual battle, and realize that our only hope is on our knees before God in prayer fighting for our minds, our families and those around us. Thus the concept of boot camp.

The band of brothers idea comes out scripture and warfare, for no man stands alone.

A common phrase among the military on the front lines is, “I've got your six!” meaning: someone is covering your backside as you press forward into the heat. No one should be able to sneak up from behind and take you out.

We did not come up with the idea of joining to together; it has been around for a long time.

From Shakespeare's Henry V, 1598:

KING HENRY V:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 CJB (9) Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage: (10) if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up -- woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up. (11) Again, if two people sleep together, they keep each other warm; but how can one person be warm by himself? (12) Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him; and a three-stranded cord is not easily broken.

Moses told God:

Numbers 11:14 GW I can't take care of all these people by myself. This is too much work for me!

So God had him distribute some of the governing aspects.

As we listened to talks and watched videos of John Eldredge speaking, movie clips were integrated into the talks. The clips helped to convey the theme.

Some of the clips were from:

The Last Of the Mohicans, with Daniel Day Lewis (One of my favorites)
Braveheart, starring Mel Gibson
Gladiator, Starring Russell Crowe
The Kid, starring Bruce Willis
Saving Private Ryan, with Tom Hanks

They all had a theme that related to the point being made.

This being said, I recently saw the animated movie EPIC.

Even in this animated movie there is the classic struggle between good and evil; the evil trying to destroy the life and beauty in everything for no clear reason other than pure selfishness, and isn't that Satan's goal also. Defeated, he goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; he is not a lion, he is a defeated foe but that does not stop him from bluffing. His most severe tactic is to feed you a lie and get you to buy into it. If he can get you to come into agreement with the lie then he has you and will destroy you with it.

An aspect of John Eldredge's Wild At Heart, is that far to many of us are posers. In other words, we put on a front. We do that for self-protection (think about strong fear motivations here), to make ourselves look better to others, and to try to fit in. I knew a young man who was desperately trying to live a lavish lifestyle (it served several purposes for him), while financially he was floundering. There are other circumstances to consider as I think about this young man in particular. I was a attending a church that focused heavily on financial prosperity and he got sucked into that trap.

When you look at movies like “The Kid” you pick up on the poser aspect rather quickly. Braveheart and Gladiator demonstrate moral character and leadership. The Last Of the Mohicans conveys several themes, but rescuing the beauty is a strong one. In our own personal lives, the beauty is our relationship with wife and family.

I really am not sure I conveyed all that I wished to say in this, but I enjoyed the themes that I picked up while watching Epic. Were they intentional? Perhaps, but when you consider that the true nature of God created man was good, and it became corrupted, then you understand better why man has been involved in an epic struggle ever since.

Asking Jesus to come into your life does not end the struggles, in fact it will probably increase them; not because Jesus and a relationship with him is bad, but because there is an enemy that is trying to destroy anything that looks like God. Since you were created in God's image you are a target anyway. At least with a relationship with Christ, one in which you follow him, you will have added support and tools. Use his name like you use your cell phone. Stay in constant contact, and grow in him.

Fighting for our lives (hopeispossible.wordpress.com)
Band of Brothers (streetsofsalem.com)
Remain In Him (devog.wordpress.com)
The Heart of God is Good (hiking2christ.org)
Forewarned is Forearmed (hiking2christ.org)
June 6, 1944 (stormy1218.wordpress.com)
A Practical Example in Hearing From God (crosslenz.wordpress.com)
Since we last spoke (omharris.blogspot.com)

Saturday, June 1, 2013

A challenge from a reader.

You said:

“John, as you said, was a Jew and as a Jew he would never had said that Jesus was God, it is contrary to the Hebrew scriptures, the Torah and the Hebrew culture. Son of God does not have a divine connotation, in a Hebrew context, it means King of Israel, if you don’t believe me read Psalms 2 carefully. Jesus is the Son of God because He is the King of Israel, he was made King of Israel (Son of God) after his resurrection (Romans 1:4). Is Jesus the Son of God ? Absolutely! But not a divine being although he lives now forever (received immortality) to rule the House of David forever and ever as it was prophesied (Luke 1:32-33) On the other hand, I agree Islam is the Beast of the Book of Revelations. Just my opinion...”

Response:

I put your statement in quotes, but I feel the need to give my readers some clarity. The way you opened your diatribe makes it appear that I am of the persuasion that John would never have declared that Jesus was God. Obviously, as I read your note, you are trying to chastise for my thinking. Thank you for your concern, but one thing has become crystal clear in my mind, Jesus was and is God, and so is the Holy Spirit that lives in me. I am indwelt by God. That happened the day I accepted him into my life, and by the way, HE is never leaving me.
Opinions are subject to challenge, always! In my writings I sometimes make it clear that I am stating an opinion. The reason I do that is because my traditional understanding may be wrong and I could not, at the time of writing, find solid evidence enabling me to state otherwise. Many people call bold, aggressive statements, delivered as fact conjecture (a statement delivered as truth but without factual basis). For me to state an opinion always subjects me to a backlash and I expect it, although it rarely happens. When the backlash or chastisement comes, it is always from religious zealots that prove their lack of discipline and understanding in reading scripture by the language and tone of their attack.
The Disciple/Apostle John, the author of not only the Gospel of John, 1-3 rd John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ, makes it very clear because of the message that he conveys that Jesus Christ was God. This is not some new doctrine I conjured up in my head. These are the words of the man that came to understand that Jesus was God. Do you not understand that John saw him in his glory, in heaven, and that is what he conveyed in writing the Revelation.
It also occurs to me that you may be Jewish for you leaned rather heavily upon the Hebrew scriptures, the Torah, and Hebrew culture. While it is not my intent to insult my Jewish brothers, I am sure that much of what I say does. Jesus had the same problem, but not with all. Nicodemus, hiding from the others, came to Jesus by night, and stated “we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do except God be with him.” After Jesus reply about having to be born again, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Are you a master of Israel, and know not these things? John 3:10 KJV Why on earth would Jesus ask him this if it were not possible to comprehend who and what he was from “the Hebrew scriptures, the Torah, and the Hebrew culture? When Joseph and Mary came to the temple on the eighth day, to have the baby Jesus circumcised, two approached them at different times: Simeon, a just and devout man, and Anna, the prophetess. Both of these, based upon the Tenach, the Torah, and Hebrew culture, knew and recognized the mâshı̂yach or messiah as some of us call him.

You demanded that I look at Psalm chapter 2. I assume that in your mind it would prove your statements, “Son of God does not have a divine connotation, in a Hebrew context, it means King of Israel”

Here is Psalm 2. It is relatively short.

Psalms 2:1-12 NASB

Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?(2) The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,

Response: Verse 2 is the first thing in this chapter that catches my attention. The word makes me think of what Samuel did to David when he anointed him to be king; perhaps that is where your mind is at. Anointed, the Hebrew word mâshı̂yach, and means 1) anointed, anointed one 1a) of the Messiah, Messianic prince. (BDB) This was the declaration made of Jesus the day he rode in to town on the donkey.

(2) Response: Verse 2 is the first thing in this chapter that catches my attention. The word makes me think of what Samuel did to David when he anointed him to be king; perhaps that is where your mind is at. Anointed, the Hebrew word mâshı̂yach, and means 1) anointed, anointed one 1a) of the Messiah, Messianic prince. (BDB) This was the declaration made of Jesus the day he rode in to town on the donkey.

Psalms 2:4 CJB (4) He who sits in heaven laughs; Adonai looks at them in derision. Are we required to refer to God by Adonai? I think not. I doubt many would even understand who that is. They tend to understand Lord if given the context.

(3) "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!"

(4) He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.

(5) Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,

"But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

Response: Maintaining the context we come to verse 6. Yea, I have set My king on My holy mount on Zion. (Psalms 2:6 LITV) Certainly David is not making this statement about himself. He could be referring to God setting David (himself) upon the holy mountain. Zion refers to Jerusalem. God declares it holy and also speaks of a new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament tells us: “The term to anoint or install has been found as a Ugaritic root in a mythological text. The office of king was a divine appointment in ancient Israel and other areas of the Near East. Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 B.C.) claims to have been installed by Ishtar, while the Sumerian King List (compiled sometime after 2000 B.C.) claims that towns received their monarchs by divine appointment. This ideology continued into the Israelite period.”

I would not attempt to argue that what Samuel did was merely a mythological tradition. I firmly believe that Samuel heard Adonai's voice and responded to it. It was a divine appointment function. But ask yourself, seeing as David was anointed king that day, why nothing seemed to change, nor was he placed upon the throne. There is an obvious answer, one not so dissimilar to why a man that is not divorced does not merely marry another, for a hostile king already sits on the throne and he is not giving up his position so easily.

"I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

Response: It is recorded in the book of Acts, chapter 13:33-34 NASB that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.' (34) "As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: 'I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.'

John MacArthur's bible commentary states: “This expresses the privileges of relationship, with its prophetic application to the Son-Messiah. This verse is quoted in the NT with reference to the birth of Jesus (Heb_1:5-6) and also to His resurrection (Act_13:33-34) as the earthly affirmations.”

(8) 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

(9) 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"

(10) Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Sorry dude; reading the second Psalm did not change my thinking.

John recorded many of Jesus Christ's encounters with Pharisees in his gospel, and they said the same thing (you are not God and we know where you live), even worse. Although the Jewish leadership chose to reject Jesus, they heard what he said and still denied that he could be the Son Of God. Merely being the Son meant that you carried the family traits and heritage. Jesus claims therefore were blasphemous to them and worthy of death.

John 6:38-42 NASB "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. (40) "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (41) Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." (42) They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven'?"

(John 7:19 NASB) "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"

John opened his gospel with definitive statements about Jesus being, not only God, but the creative force in the universe.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

(John 1:1-5 NASB)

You said, “Jesus is the Son of God because He is the King of Israel”

How does that work? You only become the Son if you perform? He was God before the foundations of the world, so your argument does not hold water.

Psalms 2:6 NASB "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

We have a repeat of the declaration in Hebrews.

Hebrews 1:4-5 NASB having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. (5) For to which of the angels did He ever say, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again, "I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"?

I read these passages and do not find any direct correlation to the “doctrines” you wish to convey. Without a scriptural backing you are merely espousing some tradition you have been taught and should not be interpreted by anyone as truth. Truth is only found in God and his word. That Word is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

You said, “Is Jesus the Son of God ? Absolutely! But not a divine being” Although you may agree with me on one point, the identity of the beast, this last statement alone leaves you suspect. Not divine? Really! To say that he is not divine, is to deny his very existence and reason for coming to this earth. True, he voluntarily chose to be a man and shed his divinity, but this is precisely what the writer of Hebrews is talking about in chapter one, all rights as the Son were restored after the resurrection. I suppose this becomes a problem if you are a devout, religious Jew.

Jesus was in a sense only starting his ministry when he was baptized by John the Baptist and had done very little, that we are aware of, to earn any position of recognition.

Matthew 3:16-17 NASB After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, (17) and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

If I am to look at this from a performance orientation he apparently did what he was told, but it seems that the book of Hebrews tells us that he inherited his throne through his death and resurrection, and yet there it is, the recognition of his Son-ship, indicating that he had entitlement.

Divine - DIVINE, a. [L., a god.] - Pertaining to the true God; as the divine nature; divine perfections. Partaking of the nature of God. Proceeding from God.

This is the same thing the pharisees did and they are to be judged for their response.

John 7:16-18 NASB So Jesus answered them and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. (17) "If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. (18) "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Over and over he told them, just as he tells you and anyone else that will listen to him. Jesus Christ is God. There is only one way to the Father and that is through the Son.

If you have not received this Jesus Christ into your life I suggest that you do it now. You do not know what tomorrow holds, and anyone of wisdom can look at the signs around us and understand that we are in the last days. He is coming again for his church, his bride, and we will meet him in the air. This is the hope that scripture speaks of.