The day the Mormons came to my door.

I don't like confrontation, nor do I like to embarrass myself, so typically, I tell the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witness that I am not interested, and they leave, but not today.

For years I have heard others talk about how they have disarmed every statement that the Elders have made. Few ever tell you that the elders gave their hearts to Jesus, but there is some twisted sense of pride, knowing that they dissembled their arguments.

As I stood there, merely trying to be polite, I heard my spirit crying out, God, I have no clue as to what to say. So, I simply listened to their pitch, which was well-rehearsed, about how Jesus called disciples to himself, anointed them to be Apostles and prophets, and how that church grew out of their ministry. But the church went a tremendously long dark time because there were no prophets. At this point, the red flags went up, but I was still constrained by the Holy Spirit.

The two elders alternated in sharing their parts of the story, but essentially, they said that "John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and conferred upon him the Melchizedek or higher priesthood. After this Joseph Smith was directed to organize the Church of Jesus Christ again on earth, ... and that through Joseph Smith, Jesus again called forth the twelve Apostles." (I got the quote directly from their pamphlet, The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)

They then asked me if I wanted more information on Joseph Smith - the prophet, to which I replied, it isn't about Joseph Smith; it's about Jesus. While it is true that the church did go through a dark time, I made a point of talking about how there were four hundred years between Malachi and Matthew where no one seemed to hear God's voice. But you need to understand something, Mr. Smith is not and was the only prophet on earth. To prove my point, what do you do with the instructions God gave to Moses when Aaron and Miriam rose against him, for they, too, wanted to be deemed prophets.

Numbers 12:6-8 NASB He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream. (7) "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household; (8) With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?"

I then told them how Jesus had appeared to me in a dream or a vision and laid out my life before me. Shouldn't that, according to God's standard, make me a prophet as well? But don't ask me to tell you what that title prophet means because no one listens to me.

At this point, I brought up the most recent turn of events, as we found out about a year ago that my mother may have had pancreatic cancer. The Doctor would not say affirmatively without a biopsy, and my mother refused the biopsy. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me that, at best, I would only have her for six months. Well, no one was willing to hear that. Two months later, the Holy Spirit told me to go say my goodbyes to her as she would be going home within the week. I called one of my brothers, who lives a distance away, and told him that he needed to come quickly. Although he berated me, he still showed up the next day to say his goodbyes to Mom. She died the following Sunday.

As for false prophets and teachers, I know one personally, and today, he espouses that the church MUST suffer through God's wrath - that event in which He pours out His wrath upon Israel and the nations. This conversation then evolved into how I believe that God is out to save people and bring them into the kingdom. This can be seen in Matthew 24 and 25, where the Shepherd calls all the dead to Himself; these are people who were not part of the church and, by church standards, not worthy of God's mercy. He separates the group into those he designates sheep and those he terms goats. The sheep are then invited into the kingdom. Stunned, they ask why? To which Jesus says, because when I was thirsty you gave me water; when I was hungry, you fed me; and, when I was in prison you visited me. In reality, these people lived outside of their selfishness. The goats did none of those things and were cast off into outer darkness to follow their chosen leader - Satan.
I then told the two young Mormon men that I pray for them often, as I do not wish for them to have to endure God's wrath when merely believing in Jesus Christ as their savior was the way into God's eternal kingdom.

This led me to talk about the parable that Jesus told about the ten virgins. Do you realize that He was talking about the church today? I said, in a sense, you and I sit by some of those that make up the fifty percent. I looked into both their eyes. I asked, how is it that upon getting an invitation you would not prepare yourself, especially if you have a written invitation? These virgins ran out of oil, but did they ask politely? No, they demanded oil from the others, and not getting it, they went out into the night and tried to obtain oil from any of the households they could wake up. Obviously, they missed the entrance into the party, and I suppose, had to endure the potential wrath that is to come. I told them, that by the voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to me all the time, that I know that they have a comprehension of this Jesus I speak of. I also said I believe you have the potential of being one of those who will be caught up.

There is no Joseph Smith; it is all about Jesus and His word. I love His word, but I don't waste my time with false prophets.

They asked me if I would like them to come back with a book of Mormon, to which I said no, I can get several of those at the second-hand store if I needed one, but I don't because I have Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

I told them that I had chosen to be polite and friendly, just as I must choose Joy or not to be bitter. I told them how my small group had broken up over bitterness and how the remaining brother, because of the Word of God, has talked lately about the changes he perceives God is making in his life.

I thanked them for indulging me and wished them a great day. As they walked away, I wiped a tear from my eyes because having the Holy Spirit speak through me so powerfully always does that to me. I then prayed a prayer out loud that I do not expect you to understand, but I said, God, just wreck their day. To me, that is when He steps into the middle of your life, changes everything, and turns your heart toward Him.

I noticed something about this entire process. Within moments of answering the door, the fear and intimidation left me. All the questions I had in my mind just went away as the Holy Spirit began to speak through me. Honestly, it was such a short time ago and I am struggling to remember what and how I said it. To me, that is a pretty good indication that it was the Holy Spirit because I am not that clever.

I have been on a rant about false teachers lately.

Seeing as I have been on a rant about false teachers lately I thought I should add one more.

    Two more guys I tend to respect, were recently speaking on the subject “are there prophets in these last days.” Their answer leaned heavily upon the fact that God's word is the final word on things to come; and, it has been made available, unlike when the Apostle Paul walked this earth, and there was NO printed Word, so that every household could have sixteen Bibles and NOT study any of them.

    I happened to notice the comments associated with this teaching. A lady put up a “band-aid” sized banner, with pastel letters, spelling out “AMEN.” My spirit wrenched inside of me, and I wrote a comment for all to see.

    “While it is true that God's Word is the definitive of all prophecy, did He leave the door open for us to speak into other people's lives? Absolutely. (Try reading Romans 12:6; 1Corinthians 12:10; 1Corinthians 13:2; 1Timothy 4:14.) Those words, these two men spoke that day, implied that we are to keep our mouth's shut when it comes to outward expression.”

I asked the question in the comments,

    “Have you ever worked through your broken self-esteem, your introverted tendencies, and subjected yourself to the ridicule of religious zealots, who believe you should not and cannot speak like this to people, most of which are believers?”

“It's not so easy, is it.”

    At a small church I attended, I gave a word to a person that had come up front for prayer. The man with the Doctorate in theology got there first and prayed his well rehearsed words over this person, while I stood by waiting quietly. He walked away and I reached out and touched this persons shoulder before they could walk away. I did what the Holy Spirit told me to do. I looked into their eyes and began speaking into their life. The reaction said it all, as God had reached down inside them and tears began to flow. When I give Words like this, they typically speak to me as well, and I often weep afterward, mostly because I am so deeply affected by the idea that God would use me.

    Mr. Doctorate, had apparently stopped to watch and judge me, and he immediately approached me, saying, “never tell someone, “the Lord is saying,” because there is nothing we do that is not entwined with our broken human nature, and therefore, may not be the Lord, but your brokenness motivating the word you speak.” While what he said is sound wisdom, I had already seen rubbish like that and had chosen never to speak to someone in that manner. I often say, I believe the Holy Spirit is saying.”

    Here is the problem that all of us must face. That voice that you heard, and, therefore, believe is the voice of God, telling you to go that person and tell them that the LORD is telling you that you are wearing too much gaudy makeup and your skirt is too short, is your voice. (In case you did not notice, I was being facetious.) As believers, we have the Holy Spirit, leading us, guiding us, and showing us things to come. So, yes, it may well be the Holy Spirit, but He convicts through the Word of God, not you. Oh, and you are NOT the judge, Jesus is, so leave the judgment and criticism out of the conversation.”

What did that voice sound like?

    If you are honest, you would say, it sounded like my voice.

How connected is your voice to your angry emotions and religious traditions?

    It is wholeheartedly connected, but it can be trained and controlled.

    One day at church, a dear lady, whom I only knew by eyesight, stopped me and said, “Why aren’t you doing what the Holy Spirit told you to do?”

    Yikes, I knew what it meant to me, but what did it mean to her? So, I asked. Her response was very similar to the words the Holy Spirit had already been using to implore me about giving words to the church body.

    Speaking out like this was a gut-wrenching process for me, and I pleaded with God to find someone else. The Holy Spirit said, no, I want you, and I want your voice. Once I started, it went on for six weeks. Finally, after giving the first message to the church, my lady friend came to me and said, honey, no one beyond five seats could hear you. I thought I was yelling, so if I did that again, I would have to be louder.

    I remember the theme of the words I was giving to the church, and it went something like this, “Though you think you are sitting pretty, you have no idea what’s coming for many of you, and you will not be able to handle it. You need to feed on my word and strengthen yourselves.”

    That was the just of it, and it went on for six weeks. When He would speak to me, I would start shaking, overwhelmed by His presence. Finally, you could hear me down the street in the sixth week. Yes, there is a learning curve, but I never got to learn it as I was met at the door by the Pastor on the seventh week. He told me that several people told him that I made God sound angry. He continued to say, but I will say this. I listened to every word, and you could have taken those words directly from the Bible. Nonetheless, you will not speak out like that without my approval. That meant handing him a note with some rehearsed speech I believed I received from God while I was in the shower that morning. It never worked out like that for me. So when God would tell me to speak to the people, I would reply with, what will I say? And He would come back with, “start with, and the..” 

Are you kidding me, that’s all?

    “Yes, you will have to learn to trust me.” As you might expect, I was hurt and angry, not just with the people and the pastor, but with God. Sometime later, I left that church. In the meantime a few ladies would give words, but it came across like we were supposed to be lying in the clover and daisies. For a warrior spirit, this meant nothing.

    I have not been to a church since that allows the Holy Spirit the freedom to do and say what He wants, mainly because all of the churches are afraid of what the Holy Spirit will do. And though we sing worship songs that plead for the presence of the Holy Spirit, I find myself internally saying; you will freak out if He does, and you will unleash the security guards on the one exhibiting the Holy Spirit.

    You need to get real and read about the prophets of the Old Testament. Samuel, the prophet, hacked King Agag to pieces. The effects of Samuel’s actions were that the elders would ask him, do you come in peace when he came to town? Isn’t that Fascinating!

    No doubt, there have been flakes in the church. Flakes are a given when you have broken people involved, especially those who have no manners and have not learned to keep their mouths shut while someone else is speaking, nor can they keep their inner struggles out of the word being given.

    Surprise, we are all broken; this is precisely why you and I need to trust the Holy Spirits’ ability to lead and guide us and why we are so effective with some people and not others.

There is always more, but let us end with this. 

Be careful about who you judge and what you say, 

as your very words will be your judge.

Perhaps you are secure in God’s love and grace and confident that you will not be subject to the wrath that is coming upon the world.

But all of us (believers) will stand before Jesus and be judged for our acts or lack thereof.

For example, imagine you idolize Calvin Klein underwear, which is all you wear because they make you feel sexy. Yet, on that day, standing before Jesus, those things we have made idols in our lives will be burned up, and you may end up standing there with no underwear. Get my drift? Good.

The Hypocrisy of Liars, 1Timothy 4:1- 5.

 We closed out 1 Timothy chapter three with words meant to establish us and fill our hearts with faith. These words also define who Jesus is and give us words of strength and trust to share with others.

Why then, is there a need to open this fourth chapter of 1  Timothy by telling the young church leader - a young man that Paul treats as a son, that there will not only be those who turn away from what we believe, but they will work their way back into the church and start teaching in resistance to what Paul has taught?

A question such as this would only be valid if Timothy had not experienced demonic resistance such as this. Paul had already experienced this very thing, and, as we will see, the Spirit of God had spoken to him about the depravity and how those in the early church were not going to have to wait for two thousand years to experience this apostasy.

[As a side note, the mere usage of the term apostasy has many saying, Ah yes, that is the sign we were looking for. You need to know two things: 1. It is not your sign, and 2. We, those who thought we were sensible,  reading our bibles, could see that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 calls for a falling away of the church. The problem is that lying hypocrites got into the church and intentionally changed the meaning of the word apostasia to suit their momentary need. The Geneva Bible is one of the earliest translations, and they translated apostasia correctly and used the word a departing. That departing is the catching away of the church.] 

To make this report of Paul's even worse, the NLT, Paul calls them hypocrites that follow after deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

I told you one of the prime examples that we, as citizens, who enjoy a civil society, have to deal with is BLM inc. Founded by a Lesbian Marxist, BLM’s leadership consult with the dead for their daily direction. In doing this, they are following the teachings of demons.

But what if many of these people who have turned away from sound teachings are not so dramatic?

1 Timothy 4:1-5 ERV  The Spirit clearly says that in the last times, some will turn away from what we believe. They will obey spirits that tell lies. And they will follow the teachings of demons. (2) Those teachings come through people who tell lies and trick others. These evil people cannot see what is right and what is wrong. It is like their conscience has been destroyed with a hot iron. (3) They say that it is wrong to marry. And they say that there are some foods that people must not eat. But God made these foods, and those who believe and who understand the truth can eat them with thanks. (4) Everything that God made is good. Nothing he made should be refused if it is accepted with thanks to him. (5) Everything he created is made holy by what he has said and by prayer.

What was Paul trying to say when he said, "the Spirit expressly says."?

Many would say (if they were willing to be vulnerable) that they have no idea what it is like having the Spirit speak to them.

Since the Spirit is closely associated with wisdom, and we see wisdom spoken of in the Proverbs, then perhaps the voice of the Spirit sounds much like what we perceive as wisdom, which was way before the advent of fortune cookies. So we are talking about the voices that you comprehend to be in your head. Look at the words of Solomon, one of the wisest men on earth at the time.

“Wisdom calls aloud in the open air and raises her voice in the public places;” Proverbs 1:20 CJB

I happen to believe that the Holy Spirit frequently speaks to us, but because we are so attuned to the voices in our head, we think that thought or idea was our own and therefore dismiss the possibility that God could or would be talking to us.

We cannot get away from Paul - who, by his own admission, was an expert in the Old Testament. Therefore he must be referring to scriptures that will establish a viable witness for us. It’s either that or Paul, refers to the faith fathers, such as Abram, Moses, and Samuel, to name a few, to validate how God speaks to us.

2 Chronicles 15:2 does convey the idea that God is with you, along with His voice, but it does not explain how Paul could say that “the Spirit expressly says.”

“...the Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him, craving Him as your soul's first necessity], He will be found by you;...” (2 Chronicles 15:2b AMP)

And, this verse opens the door of explanation as to why He may not be talking to you, as you make NO effort to be with Him.

Unfortunately, 1 Timothy 4:1 is the only place we find the Greek word rhētōs used in scripture, so I cannot fall back on another scripture for my reference.

The word expressly, or explicitly is the Greek word rhētōs and means to express in words.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word explicitly as an adverb, which means to speak plainly, expressly, without duplicity, or disguise or reservation of meaning, not by inference or implication.

AVOW', is to declare openly, or simply to own.

Where else do we see this level of openness and honesty?

In God's conversations with Abram, where God would say, “as for Me,” God showed His character, as he declared openly, and He owned what He said by saying, He swore by Himself.

“Such teachings come from the hypocrisy of liars whose own consciences have been burned, as if with a red-hot branding iron.” 1 Timothy 4:2 CJB

A fitting quote from Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

“'Speaking lies in hypocrisy.' The apostate will pretend to be very pious and very religious. I have come to be suspicious of this pious position taken by super-duper saints who claim to have something special. My friend, if you do have the truth, it will make you humble because the first thing you will find out is how little you know.”

Hypocrisy is the Greek word hupokrisis and means acting under a feigned part.

You might say, as some do, are you kidding me! You're telling me that these people were faking it the entire time. On a personal note, several of my grandchildren have a daddy who did all the appropriate, religious actions, tears and baptism included; however, every time I encounter a study like this, I think of him. It sure seems like what he did was just an act.

Paul, in verse two, speaks of “their conscience being seared.” If this were literal, nerve endings would be burned off, and scarring would have taken place. In the surgical arena, they use a device that simultaneously cuts and seals, but nerves inevitably become damaged in the process.

1 Timothy 4:3-5 NASB “men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (4) For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; (5) for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”

The opportunity for people who come to the Lord, to become legalistic is an opportunity looking for a victim; this happens within the “faith movement.” Having been in the faith camp for several years, I would have fought with you, saying, NO, they are not because we only teach the Bible. To be honest, my first response is to say; Paul is talking about Jews. This assertion is probably valid as Paul, for many years, made his first stop in the synagogues, where he preached this gospel of Jesus Christ. The Jews, still to this day, abstain from certain foods; for example, they have no room for a pulled pork sandwich. Paul wrote about this very thing in his letter to the church in Rome.

As you read the passage, consider how your liberty could cause someone else to stumble. This life in Christ is not about living a legalistic life; it’s about consideration.

“I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food, your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:14-23 NASB)

The word destroy is the Greek word apollumi and has a wide range of meanings: to destroy fully, or lose. But also figuratively mar.

According to Webster’s dictionary, MAR is to injure by cutting off a part or to wound and make defective.

Do you see not only what the hypocrites can do, but what we, with our religious freedoms, can do to others?

 

God's steadfast love and compassion. Micah 7:18-20.

This post will be the end of our journey through Micah's prophecy.

The NLT translation headlines this section as,

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion

If you have been following my study on Micah, then you will agree that what Micah had to say was hard to hear. Much applies to our lives although we don't want to admit it, but pay attention to the last three verses.

Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago. (Micah 7:18-20 NLT)

• Where is another God like you? Many translations say it like this, Who is a God like you, as though there was something out there to compare Him to.

An acquaintance of mine, vehemently said, Jesus cannot come back because not everyone has heard the gospel, and yet those same people who have not heard the gospel serve a multitude of gods, many of which are carved out of the trees or palm branches near them. So then, what is the distinction?

• [It is God] “who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?” (NIV)

The ERV translation puts it this way - You take away people's guilt. What other god, if there is one, does that? Ponder this statement, “You take away people's guilt,” for a moment. Where else do we see this theme? For most of us, our minds look to the New Testament, but it is a theme repeatedly found in the Old Testament; one example is found in Exodus. Sadly, in the Old Testament, forgiveness was only temporary and required the death of a sacrificial animal, but with the New Testament, Jesus was that lamb, and He too was sacrificed once for the sins of the world. Jesus alone had that authority. Luke's gospel tells us that this forgiveness would be proclaimed to all. This process we see in Luke's gospel, how that Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day, is critical in God's plan to regain His creation, humankind, back again.

• The CEV translation phrases verse 18 like this, “We are all that is left of your chosen people, and you freely forgive our sin and guilt.”

I have sat in a Bible study, led by a man who is willing to tell you that no Jews advance into the millennium. In light of Micah's statement, and what Luke tells us, everyone who believes receives this forgiveness and therefore obtains eternal salvation and life with the Father. Religion constantly berates us for sin, almost as if the cross did not exist. But the cross indeed happened, and sins were forgiven. That is one of the reasons why both the Gentile and the Jew are forgiven. The burning question then will be, what did you do with the Son, the Messiah I sent to you? If you are a student of the Bible, then you know that there is a time of wrath coming. Sadly, we the church improperly call this time, the Great Tribulation when it is a time of wrath and judgment. An aspect of that judgment is against Israel for their rebellion and rejection. God told them it would come, and it will, but during this horrid time, many will come to understand that Jesus is the longed-for Messiah God. Understanding and believing are the requirements to obtain this eternal salvation, but once you are in the time of wrath, you must endure what that period holds.

• Many ask, what is God's character, and how can I know that? Well, here is one of those examples that tell us what His character is - “ because you delight in showing unfailing love.”

How did Micah know that? Because he and others like him were taught an oral history; a history that spoke of examples of God's love and mercy. There is no doubt that these stories were all intertwined with what seemed like perpetual war, but then that is what this community, called God's people, has been done since they left Egypt. Why call Israel a community at war? Because their mission, under God's orders, was to take the land God promised, and there was no way of doing that without conflict; that is why practically every story we read has a thread of bloodshed in it. I could not help but think about Jonah when I read this statement. The majority of the story we get on Jonah shows us a man, without reason, doing his best to escape God's directive to go to Nineveh. Bypassing all the details in-between, Jonah arrives at Nineveh and exclaims, 40 days and you are dead! This judgment is precisely what Jonah wanted; however, they repented, and God relented – showing them mercy (for the time being.) Where we find Jonah's real motive is at the end of the story where he says, I knew you would do that! What did God do? He delighted in showing His unfailing love to these barbaric Assyrians.

• “Once again you will have compassion on us.”

While God is always looking for ways to show compassion, the reality is that this will happen after Jesus comes back as the warring Messiah. Then compassion will be seen for not just God's people, but all who accept Him. 1000 years of peace, a time I have a hard time picturing.

• “You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!”

This verse has a familiar theme for me. Compare this statement above with a couple of others. Psalms 103:9-14 speaks of God's love for all who worship Him, and, how far He has separated us from our sins. Look at what Isaiah says. Jeremiah also speaks of God forgiveness. And lastly, Daniel reminds us that there is a price to be paid for sins – we have laws that uphold those penalties, but God, for reasons not explained in this verse, will put an end to their sin, atone for their guilt, and bring in everlasting righteousness? My opinion is somewhat irrelevant, but I see much of this happening on the cross. The requirement, on our part, is to believe in the Son. I suppose that means that I, in time, comprehend all that He did, but for now, to believe is enough.

• Micah 7:20 NLT  You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.

Once again, with men like Jeptha, Gideon, and Samson, all you focus on is the violence as they tried to free their people, but maybe that is where the faithfulness and unfailing love is hidden in the background as God is calling Israel back to Himself. A friend of mine seems to be undone by the possibility that God created evil. He heard Radio Pastor John MacArthur say God created evil. At this point, my friend became so inflamed that he turned off the radio and swore never to listen to Pastor MacArthur again. Perhaps created is an entirely inappropriate choice of words, and here is why. I hate when Pastors say, “this is what James is saying,” this is especially redundant and insulting when it is obvious what, in this case, James is telling us. Consider the logic as we learn that:

• “it is not possible for God to be tested by evil.”

Fortunately, we have an explanation, for God spoke about the person who foolishly says, God put me through this test or evil.

• “and He tempts no one.” (MKJV)

That would eliminate Him tempting or testing you and I. My friend, influenced by far too many voices, suggests that God instilled Adam with evil. If you read the creation account, you see nothing that indicates that, and there is definitive evidence that Adam and Eve obtained the knowledge of evil through the consumption of the fruit of the tree that represented that knowledge.

Let's play out one more scenario. If God, as Isaiah tells us, created evil, and humankind, in the spirit form, is made in the likeness of God, why wouldn't Adam know evil as well? To answer the question I need to understand what Isaiah said!

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” Isaiah 45:7 KJV

Form - yāṣar: A verb meaning to form, to fashion, to shape, to devise. The primary meaning of the word is derived from the idea of cutting or framing. [Word Study Dictionary]
The word create. Heb. bara, Poel Participle, which with "evil" requires the rendering "bring about." So I can understand the idea of creation, in Isaiah 45:7, as God brought about.
Light – the Hebrew word ’ôr. It is a masculine noun meaning light. In a literal sense, it is used primarily to refer to light from heavenly bodies.
Darkness is the same word we see in Genesis chapter one where we find the creation account. Most innocently read Genesis 1:2 where it says, “and darkness was upon the face of the deep,” and see the earth as a place that simply had no light. But an in-depth look into a simple word like darkness and you find something ominous.
Darkness - chôshek - the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.
Isaiah gives us one more word, evil.
Evil is the Hebrew word ra‛ or râ‛âh. It means bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: - adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displeasure, distress,

But, in speaking through Isaiah, only moments later, we get this:
“For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the LORD,” he says, “and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:18 NLT 

He (God) made the earth perfectly, and, inhabitable from the moment of its origination; and yet, something appears to have happened, and because of that we find the earth covered in darkness – chaos. Isaiah distinctly tells us that God brought about evil. Since God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He tempt any man with evil, then evil must have come from some other direction or source, and God, in time, had to allow it to be brought forth; we see that happening with Adam at the forbidden tree of knowledge. Jesus told us that He beheld Satan fall like lighting to the earth. Since Satan's one purpose in life now is to usurp God's authority and position, then it is safe to assume that the evil, calamity, distress, and adversity came with him.

• [What does the BBE translation of James 1:13-17 say?] “But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire.”

So, are you telling me that Eve was turned out of the right way because of personal desires? Yes. The MKJV puts it this way - “But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them.” Having struggled most of my life with self-esteem issues, I asked a counselor that used hypnotism about how this is done; this was important to me as I desire freedom from the fear associated with low self-esteem, and, I have seen stage shows where people do odd things like acting like a chicken. On a positive note, I have also seen a hypnotist get a lady past her morbid fear of snakes. When he was done with her, she was comfortable enough to hold a rather large snake. The counselor I spoke with, told me that the people doing odd things have a deeply inset desire to do those things and that these are the same people who drastically change with alcohol consumption. The counselor also told me that there was nothing they could make a person do if it is against their will. So, the hypnotized are only acting out upon their lusts/desires. In the MKJV you can see that they used the word lusts in James 1:13-17. Many perceive lusts as purely sexual, but it is not. Lusts are only desires that you have, like a fast or flashy car. In the case of Eve, she saw that the tree was not only good for food but that it gave you knowledge. The problem is that it was a knowledge that was not beneficial, for so many reasons; nor did she understand or care that her actions included the genetic alteration of the human species from that point forward – this is the best way for me to understand how we could all be born into sin.

Wait for the salvation of God. Micah 7:1-17.

As I move into the last chapter of Micah I feel a sense of relief because it seems that book studies/commentaries can, at times, be wearisome. In looking at statistics on the blog, I can see that readers have dropped off, especially when I use some of the oppressive wording that God is conveying in that portion of scripture. Perhaps that is why people do not and will not read their Bibles, because God often comes across as tedious. I too have to labor through sections as I try to make some of the darker passages more palatable. So when I opened Micah chapter seven today and began to do a quick read through, in hopes of moving quickly through Micah in one post, I found myself reading about many of the same feelings I feel as I write these posts. One sentence stands out, whether it is true or not is irrelevant, as it feels like it is.

No one is loyal to God; no one does right.(CEV)

I recognize that many of you have a heart toward God and desire all that God has for you, but there are others, that after reading a few lines, catch only a vague feel for the heart of God and simply leave the post, just as they leave the Word of God. Welcome to the heart of Micah and the close of his book.

This section is entitled by the translators as Wait for the God of Salvation.

The passage seems long, but I will break it down.

Micah 7:1-17 CEV  I feel so empty inside— like someone starving for grapes or figs after the vines and trees have all been picked clean.  (2)  No one is loyal to God; no one does right. Everyone is brutal and eager to deceive everyone else.  (3)  People cooperate to commit crime. Judges and leaders demand bribes, and rulers cheat in court.  (4)  The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. Your doom has come! Lookouts sound the warning, and everyone panics.  (5)  Don't trust anyone, not even your best friend, and be careful what you say to the one you love.  (6)  Sons refuse to respect their own fathers, daughters rebel against their own mothers, and daughters-in-law despise their mothers-in-law. Your family is now your enemy.  (7)  But I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer.  (8)  My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles! I may have fallen, but I will get up; I may be sitting in the dark, but the LORD is my light.  (9)  I have sinned against the LORD. And so I must endure his anger until he comes to my defense. But I know that I will see him making things right for me and leading me to the light.  (10)  You, my enemies, said, "The LORD God is helpless." Now each of you will be disgraced and put to shame. I will see you trampled like mud in the street.  (11)  Towns of Judah, the day is coming when your walls will be rebuilt, and your boundaries enlarged.  (12)  People will flock to you from Assyria and Egypt, from Babylonia and everywhere else.  (13)  Those nations will suffer disaster because of what they did.  (14)  Lead your people, LORD! Come and be our shepherd. Grasslands surround us, but we live in a forest. So lead us to Bashan and Gilead, and let us find pasture as we did long ago.  (15)  I, the LORD, will work miracles just as I did when I led you out of Egypt.  (16)  Nations will see this and be ashamed because of their helpless armies. They will be in shock, unable to speak or hear,  (17)  because of their fear of me, your LORD and God. Then they will come trembling, crawling out of their fortresses like insects or snakes, lapping up the dust.

In a sense, Micah is pouring out his heart in anguish before God.

• (1) I feel so empty inside— like someone starving for grapes or figs after the vines and trees have all been picked clean.

Who hasn't felt that? Maybe there are some; my wife would say to me, I don't understand depression. After several tries at explaining some of the symptoms of depression, she is now aware that she too goes through depression as well.

• (2)  No one is loyal to God; no one does right. Everyone is brutal and eager to deceive everyone else.

You should know that is a false premise. It is, however, the same premise that Elijah moaned about when he said, I am all alone; there are no other prophets besides me! God told him differently. The problem here is that it is easy to feel alone and needs to be recognized for what it is, a deception from the enemy. This happened to me. A group I used to sit in had someone new show up; the assumption that several of the men made was that this new guy knew nothing, and so they immediately tried to impress him with their knowledge. The question was asked, how tall was David when he slew Goliath? After several moments of awkward silence, as no one knew the answer, I responded with, about six foot four inches tall. Needless to say, I was verbally attacked. I could give you several strong reasons for saying what I did, but because I had gone against tradition, I was deemed disloyal to God, and they, were brutal and deceptive in their responses.

•  (3)  People cooperate to commit crime. Judges and leaders demand bribes, and rulers cheat in court.  (4)  The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. Your doom has come! Lookouts sound the warning, and everyone panics.

That has never changed; it is a part of that nature we inherited from Adam. Everyone does it, but it does not make it the right thing to say. Saying that the entire world has gone down the toilet is nowhere close to a true statement. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, said that a small portion of Joel chapter two had been fulfilled in their ears. This was the Holy Spirit of God talking through Peter, and God has never changed His mind about this statement.
It goes like this: Joel 2:28b-29 NLT  “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.  (29)  In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.

Are you having visions; dreaming dreams; has the Holy Spirit pour His spirit upon you, and are you prophesying? I know the answer and it is NO. Do you ever wonder why? Joel chapter two sounds more like hope and power; I would rather live in that instead of focusing on the doom that has come. I want to live in hope and power.

• (5)  Don't trust anyone, not even your best friend, and be careful what you say to the one you love.  (6)  Sons refuse to respect their own fathers, daughters rebel against their own mothers, and daughters-in-law despise their mothers-in-law. Your family is now your enemy.

These are the words of a wounded man – he is wounded by people he trusted; people he thought would receive the words he gave them. You can't cross deeply embedded tradition and not expect an attack. Religion, no matter how safe you think it is, is not your friend. Don't mistake a relationship with Jesus for religion. Jesus himself told us that those of our own households would become our enemies. Matthew 10:36.

• (7)  But I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer.  (8)  My enemies, don't be glad because of my troubles! I may have fallen, but I will get up; I may be sitting in the dark, but the LORD is my light.

In the midst of Micah's moaning, there is this amazing bright light. These words should be our battle cry no matter what.

• (9)  I have sinned against the LORD. And so I must endure his anger until he comes to my defense. But I know that I will see him making things right for me and leading me to the light.  (10)  You, my enemies, said, "The LORD God is helpless." Now each of you will be disgraced and put to shame. I will see you trampled like mud in the street.

We don't know what Micah did; we assume he led a pristine, carefree life. I don't think so, because God seems to take those of us who have been battered and turns us into testimonies and warriors for Him. Maybe, Micah was like me; he understood his weaknesses and frailties. In that understanding, I can easily say, I too have sinned. Paul said, confess your sins one to another; well I can guarantee you that I am not sharing my life with many of you as you will eat me alive just as they do on the Walking Dead television show. I have to be selective about who I share things with and how much I share. Just know, that I have a couple of people that I can and do share things with, and, there are things that I will take to the grave. Religion and selfishness almost guarantee that some will gloat over me, but note this truth – I will see you trampled like mud in the street.

• (11)  Towns of Judah, the day is coming when your walls will be rebuilt, and your boundaries enlarged.  (12)  People will flock to you from Assyria and Egypt, from Babylonia and everywhere else.  (13)  Those nations will suffer disaster because of what they did.

Verses 11, 12 both reflect hope and prophesy. To some degree the walls were rebuilt, and, in the six-day war, Israel's boundaries were enlarged. The UN would love to see that undone. Sadly, the prophets, including Micah, have spoken of enemies from those same nations that will flock to Israel, attacking Israel in the last days. The disaster that befalls them comes in the form of a firestorm [Ezekiel 38,39] and then a tremendous slaughter of all fighting forces when Jesus returns to earth. [Revelation 19:15]

• (14)  Lead your people, LORD! Come and be our shepherd. Grasslands surround us, but we live in a forest. So lead us to Bashan and Gilead, and let us find pasture as we did long ago.

Verse fourteen is prayer and a plea to God.

• (15)  I, the LORD, will work miracles just as I did when I led you out of Egypt.  (16)  Nations will see this and be ashamed because of their helpless armies. They will be in shock, unable to speak or hear,  (17)  because of their fear of me, your LORD and God. Then they will come trembling, crawling out of their fortresses like insects or snakes, lapping up the dust.

Verses 15 -17 is God's response. In the end, the nations will fear/respect the Lord God, and they will come and bow before Him – end of discussion.

Micah 4:1, It will come about in the last days.

If you were with me when I began the study on Micah, then you know that Isaiah is about 15 years older than Micah and he was affluent with robust social contacts thanks to his father, the priest. Both men were from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. However, Isaiah leans toward the big city, if I can call it that, while Micah, almost seems like a country boy. Micah pales in comparison to the volumes written by Isaiah, but Micah's words are just as cutting or uplifting within a mere seven chapters.

Chapter 4 spells out what many ask, as Micah paints a word picture of the house of the Lord. Raised to the highest point in Israel, with the nations flowing to it, and the Jews as the teachers, all people now want to learn of the Lord. Is chapter 4 all good news? No, but then Micah is trying to make a point.

Micah 4:1 NASB And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it.

Notice how similar Micah's words are to Isaiah's; this is one of the reasons that many think Micah is merely mouthing Isaiah's words.

Isaiah 2:2 NASB Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.

Ezekiel also spoke of the mountain of the house of the Lord.
Ezekiel 20:40 NASB "For on My holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land; there I will accept them and there I will seek your contributions and the choicest of your gifts, with all your holy things.

The comparisons: in Micah we see people streaming to it; in Isaiah, all the nations stream to it; and, in Ezekiel, we are told that the whole house of Israel will serve Me there.

• The whole house of Israel? These are those surviving the seven-years of wrath; this is in contrast to the teachings of some who say, only the Christians go into the millennial reign. Of those entering, we must include the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, marked by God for their protection. There is a notable reduction in those He refers to as the whole house of Israel, but by my rough estimate, there will be a little over 2 million survivors entering into the millennial reign.

Zechariah 13:7-9 MKJV  Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man who is My companion, says Jehovah of Hosts; strike the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. And I will turn My hand on the little ones.  8)  And it shall be in all the land, says Jehovah, two parts in it shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left in it.  9)  And I will bring the third part through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, It is My people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.

Most should understand this discussion so far, as a clear statement indicating that there will be Jews entering alive into the millennial kingdom.

• “It will come about in the last days.”

The disciple John - having gone through transitions in his mindset and spirit, such as: setting aside the rage, and receiving the Holy Spirit – (as promised by Jesus;) also endured multiple attempts to kill him for the sake of the gospel, and imprisonment upon the Isle of Patmos, writes the words we see in 1 John 2:18-19.

1 John 2:18-19 AMP Boys (lads), it is the last time (hour, the end of this age). And as you have heard that the antichrist [he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ] is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, which confirms our belief that it is the final (the end) time. 19) They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us.

• “it is the last hour.”
• “even now many antichrists have arisen,”
• this knowledge “confirms our belief that it is the end time.”
• The persons that became the antichrists came, at that time, out of their number. Does that mean that these have bred and divided, becoming the antichrists we now deal with? NO, but the tactics and unbelief still run rampant within the church body.
• And, John delivers a massive clue about the false prophet - a person who still qualifies as an Antichrist, when he says “he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ.” This statement by John leads me to Islamic prophecies that call for just such a man. I became aware of these Islamic prophecies when I read the Islamic Antichrist by Joel Richardson. I will leave you to pursue that on your own time.

Let's look at one last aspect of Micah 4:1. Here is the verse once again.
Micah 4:1 JPS  But in the end of days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow unto it.

Once again I point out how many have so convoluted the scripture that they are comfortable in their belief that no Jews enter into the millennial reign. You could not be more wrong.

Isaiah 56:5-7 JPS  Even unto them will I give in My house and within My walls a monument and a memorial better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting memorial, that shall not be cut off.  6)  Also the aliens, that join themselves to the LORD, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants, everyone that keeps the sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast by My covenant:  7)  Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Isaiah 66:23 JPS  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 16:19 MKJV  O Jehovah, my strength and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

Jeremiah 16:19 is significant to me, because I repeatedly proclaim that our Mormon and Jehovah Witness brothers and sisters, will awaken and throw those books that they have called the Bible, at the leaders who have led them astray; as they too will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and there is no God like Jehovah. Who will teach them?

Along with their belief that the Jews will not enter the kingdom, some even see Israel and the wars against it, as non-survivable. Again I say, that is not the case. Many will survive, while some will flee, and that is spelled out for us.

When Christ, for the last time, physically returns to the earth, it is for several reasons.

1. He will return for war.

1. He will, in such a short period that no one cares to define it, take His throne to reign for the thousand years. Here again, If Ezekiel and the prophets of old could see the New Jerusalem in their spirits, then it must already be out there, merely awaiting some command to descend. There is, of course, the leveling of the ground there, but God can handle that without our help and the fact that a horrendous earthquake occurs almost simultaneously as Jesus touches the ground on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, might solve any ground leveling issues.

Zechariah's words speak directly to those who chose to fight, and those who did not. Stop here for a moment and think about that. We see children, even today, being taught to hate and fight against the Jew; they will endeavor to fight against Jesus when He returns. However, there will be those, with their learned hatred, that will not fight. Look at what Zechariah says, “any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem.” These were not combatants; these are those who stayed home and took care of things.

Zechariah 14:16 NASB Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.

The Complete Jewish Bible says it this way: “Finally, everyone remaining from all the nations that came to attack Yerushalayim.”

Let's break down what we see here; I realize that many passages such as this one, seem to be laid out rather clearly, and yet, the Monday morning Bible teacher would repeatedly say that Jesus/God kills everyone and only Christians go into the Millennial reign. By expanding your window of studying from one scripture to comparative scriptures you can begin to see that your desired goal of death to everyone is, not only wrong but your perverted sense of justice.

• “any who are left of all the nations”
• “that came to attack Jerusalem”
• “will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.”

I mentioned that a day would come when the veil will be lifted from the eyes of all who remain. When will that day be? Paul speaks to that in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 11:25-26 MKJV  For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest you should be wise within yourselves; that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the nations has come in.  26)  And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

We do not and will not know when that day will come until it happens, and then, it will be too late for you to be caught up in God's grace; I, therefore, warn everyone about what's coming and that they will need to be strong. On the plus side, you will have the Holy Spirit to strengthen you. I know there are multitudes who deny that possibility, but since scripture backs me up, I will say it with confidence.

Someday soon, when the fullness of the nations has been met then we, the church, will be removed from the earth. On that day God will lift the veil from the eyes of all, including Israel.

Verse 26 tells us that all Israel shall be saved, but some will ask, why then would they be killed during the seven-years of God's wrath?

As Theologians you have undoubtedly read, multiple times, that God spoke of all when it is clear that not all were there, or included. It is not so different here, as many of those deemed “saved” during the time of wrath will die. This time of anger is not something to toy with, like those who say they will snow ski in hell.

As God's torrential punishment is being poured out, violent men will still be running around trying to kill anything that conflicts with their idea of god - Allah, or stands in their way.

 Since Jesus is the only way and I am not a good gambler, I choose Christ. As I look back on this relationship I have placed myself in I can say it was a good choice and has only grown more intense and profound with the years.

A Study on Zephaniah. Part 1, an introduction.

I will tell you what motivated this study. I went to a “Bible Study” that to some degree was promoted by a Southern California Christian radio host. I think the man is sincere and I think the work God has done in him, throughout the years, is legitimate. So a group of men, under the flag and theme of this radio host, put out a call for men to come to their bible study by using Instagram. I thought I would check it out but quickly determined that this was not what I thought it was going to be. What I did take away was a new found interest in the Book of Zephaniah. The “pastor” of this group told us that he had been at a loss as to what to talk about, and felt that he was lead to Zephaniah. I honestly do not remember anyone teaching out of Zephaniah, and so as he found some legalistic aspects to focus on, I began skimming through the three chapters that comprise the book and quickly heard this inside my spirit, this book is talking about the last days. I felt so strongly that night that I need to do a study on who the man was and what he had to say. This is that effort.

The overview given by The Biblical Illustrator tells us this

"Of Zephaniah, we know absolutely nothing but what he himself mentions in the superscription of his Book. No information can be gathered from the contents of the prophecy, where the writer’s personal history is wholly unnoticed." ¹

That seems like a hard way to start, especially when we have some particular information about Zephaniah.

Dake's Bible² gives us this information.

Date and place: The prophetic words were written in Palestine about 679-648 B.C.

Author: Zephaniah the prophet.

Proof of authorship: We have the testimony of the book itself that Zephaniah wrote it.

Zephaniah 1:1 NET. This is the prophetic message that the LORD gave to Zephaniah son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah delivered this message during the reign of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah:

Theme: Judgment of God upon both Jews and Gentiles for their many sins; and His goodness to the godly of both classes. The book opens with a message regarding immediate judgment upon Judah by Babylon, then depicts their judgment in the future day of the Lord (Zep_1:1-18). Zep_2:1-15 is devoted to immediate judgments of God upon Gentiles by Babylon-Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia, and Assyria. The prophet then returns to the immediate judgment upon Judah by Babylon, and also makes predictions regarding Israel in the future day of the Lord, in the reign of the Messiah (Zep_3:1-20).

Purpose: To make it clear to Judah that unless they would consecrate to do the will of God judgment would surely come, and to encourage the godly of the nation regarding the fact that final and complete restoration under the Messiah would come.

I have looked at more than just the commentaries I mention here. And yet, these authors convey, in few words, what I have seen with consistency in most. One thing I wanted to add here: several authors indicated that Zechariah's father and grandfather were prophets. In the Jewish mindset that meant that you were most likely to be a prophet as well. Don't you wish it worked that way? The Apostle Paul tells us that it is a gift and that we are to long for it. I am not sure why, but it helps to make life more interesting, especially when people say to you, how did you know that. I suppose I am just more willing than some others. I don't try to make it something to brag about, hardly anyone believes you anyway.

Albert Barnes commentary spells out another fact about Zephaniah.

"Zephaniah was called to his role not long after Habakkuk. Since his time was near to that of Habakkuk, so his subject was also related. Both lived when, for the sins of the reign of Manasseh, God had pronounced an irreversible sentence of destruction upon Jerusalem."³

Dr. John Gill states

"He is the last of the minor prophets that prophesied before the Babylonish captivity. His name, according to Jerom, signifies either "the Lord's watchtower", or "watchman"; or else "the secret of the Lord"; or, "his hidden one"; deriving his name, either from hpu, which signifies to "look out", as a watchman from his tower; or from Npu, "to hide"; which latter derivation is best; and some interpret it "a revealer of the secrets", or "hidden things, of the Lord"⁴

With the knowledge of the time in which he operated, and, the Babylonian captivity, I can piece together some of the events that would have motivated the man. People don't seem to understand something about the prophet, or the prophetic, there are humans involved, and unless you can lock yourself in a closet and do little else but commune with God, then you will be affected by the world around you. In other words, you cannot separate the man from the message.

An example of what I am saying can be gleaned from Daniel's life.

When he was taken captive, he was the cream of the crop. Educated, trained in several facets of life, which may have included diplomacy. If nothing else, in time, he would have been a Pharisee or a ruling member of the Jewish council. Daniel would have been of marrying age and therefore may have had a young lady picked out to be his wife. Captivity changed all that rapidly. Nebuchadnezzar would have had the young man castrated immediately, this act served a multitude of purposes, such as removing all hope of ever going back home to a normal life. Jewish law disallowed a castrated man from ever serving in the temple or entering for that matter; and, it ended his hopes of being married.

Another example and one that is even more prominent is Jonah.

We do not know if Jonah had been an eyewitness to what the Assyrians were capable of, or the stories he heard were very graphic; because of this ugly history of abuse toward Israel Jonah hated the Assyrians. These feelings of hatred were so intense that Jonah was willing to commit suicide to avoid bringing the prophetic message to them. What was Jonah's message? It offered no hope, and he gave none; at the end of forty-five days, Nineveh will be overthrown. All of Jonah's feelings and emotion can be summed up in one verse. This particular verse comes after the Ninevehites repented, hoping that God would change His mind or relent. Well, God did, and we find Jonah lamenting that decision.

Jonah 4:2 NET. He prayed to the LORD and said, "Oh, LORD, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! -- because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

I could expound upon other aspects of Jonah's saga, but they rely on history and logical speculation. The question you should ask is, why would a people so warlike, fearless, and bloodthirsty, give such immediate attention to a man like Jonah? The answers are there if you are interested and willing to dig just a little.

What kind of mental picture is painted about Zephaniah?

Nothing so ominous. Living between 679-648 BC, he would have been primarily influenced the Assyrian empire, just as Jonah was. We are told that Zephaniah operated prophetically under the rule of Josiah; yet, a timeline shows Josiah's influence to be from 640 – 609 BC and would, therefore, have only eight years to impact Zephaniah's life. He did, however, live under Manasseh's rule. So the question you have to ask is, who and what had the greater and certainly more painful influence on Zephaniah, and most importantly, the people of Israel?

  

So how did we get to Manasseh?

2 Kings 20:19-21 NET. Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The LORD's word which you have announced is appropriate." Then he added, "At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime." 20) The rest of the events of Hezekiah's reign and all his accomplishments, including how he built a pool and conduit to bring water into the city, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 21) Hezekiah passed away and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee in his commentary said this of Hezekiah.⁵

“This may seem like an awful thing for me to say, but Hezekiah should have died when the time came for him to die. Three things took place after God extended his life that were foolish acts: he showed his treasures to Babylon, which will cause great trouble in the future; he begat a son, Manasseh, who was the most wicked of any king; he revealed an arrogance, almost an impudence, in his later years. His heart became filled with pride. 2Ch_32:25 tells us, "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem." You see, it might have been better if Hezekiah had died at God's appointed time.”

Since we are now aware of Manasseh's reign, let's see what we can learn of the damage he did.

Smith's Bible dictionary informs us of Manasseh.

"The thirteenth king of Judah, son of Hezekiah, 2Ki_21:1, ascended the throne at the age of twelve, and reigned 55 years, from B.C. 608 to 642. His accession was the signal for an entire change in the religious administration of the kingdom. Idolatry was again established to such an extent that every faith was tolerated, but the old faith of Israel."⁶

From Easton's dictionary, we get this.

"Though he reigned so long, yet comparatively little is known of this king. His reign was a continuation of that of Ahaz, both in religion and national polity. He early fell under the influence of the heathen court circle, and his reign was characterized by a sad relapse into idolatry with all its vices, showing that the reformation under his father had been to a large extent only superficial (Isa_7:10; 2Ki_21:10-15). A systematic and persistent attempt was made, and all too successfully, to banish the worship of Jehovah out of the land."⁷

Now I can begin to understand some of the issues that perplexed the man giving the prophetic word. Manasseh had turned Israel into an idolatrous wasteland and was attempting to remove the worship of Jehovah out of the land. Sounds a bit like the world we live in today; no wonder he declares with such zest how God will wipe all flesh from the land.

Here it is August 26, 2018. Pastor Greg Laurie recently completed his massive gospel campaign at the Anaheim Stadium. However, even Pastor Greg had to deal with some controversy, as just before the series of meetings some whiner cried loud enough and caused them to change several of the billboards that pictured Pastor Greg holding a Bible. If you are a follower of Christ then you know that the Bible offends many people, including some “Christians”.

Here in California, our state assembly is working on the last actions necessary to pass Assembly bill AB 2943 which will make books (primarily the Bible) and other methods (such as counseling) that convey the idea of gender modification (a return to the sexual identity and orientation you were born with, whether it be in thought or deed,) illegal. That means that the Bible may become an unlawful piece of literature.

I don't know about you, but it sounds more and more like there is a systematic and persistent attempt being made to banish the worship of Jehovah out of the land (just as in the days of Manasseh), and I see it happening all across this nation called America.

Some may read this and get angry; others will consider a piece like this and decide it's time to get off their behinds and get proactive.

Do I know for certain that these are the things that motivated Zephaniah? No, but sin and debauchery have not changed, it merely spreads quicker in the modern world.

1The Biblical Illustrator By Joseph S. Exell, M.A.

2Dake's Study Notes (Finis Dake) Copyright © 1961, 1963, 1989, 1991 by Finis Jennings Dake. All rights reserved in the U.S.A. and Other Countries.

3Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible, published 1847-85

4John Gill's Exposition of the Bible; Dr. John Gill, D.D., (1697-1771); Published in 1746-1766, 1816; public domain.

5Thru the Bible Commentary By J. Vernon McGee; Thomas Nelson Publishers Nashville; Copyright 1981 by J. Vernon McGee

6Smith's Bible Dictionary, By Dr. William Smith. Published in 1863; public domain.

7Easton's Bible Dictionary. M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Published in 1897; public domain.

I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. Ezekiel 39:7 -13

God, angry with Gog, the leader of Magog, puts a hook in his jaw and draws him to the hills of Israel and kills, not only him but 5/6^th of those who have allied themselves with this person.

I feel strongly that we are looking at Tayyip Principe Erdoğan – a man who has risen from being a simple mayor to appointing himself as the Supreme Caliph of Islam. If that's true then all Muslims must obey his every command, as he now speaks for Allah.

What do I see here? An established and disrespectful ignorance of God.

We all seem to cry out for justice in this world because far too many have an established pattern of disrespecting, not just people, but God as well. Having prayed, much like many of you, that injustice and abuse would come to an end and yet, it flourishes, but I also long to see God respected. I suppose that means I am imposing my Western Christian mentality upon people, however, you can hear cries, much like this from every part of the world, if you were listening.

This event, we see here in Ezekiel 38, 39 is so closely tied to the catching away of the church, it is hard to tell when one begins and the other ends. One “brother” in Christ, responded to a post with a similar theme, by saying, “Jesus will take out his elect, and then the war will come.” He added, “The war is during the time of the Wrath of God, which begins at the 6th Seal. Rev. 6:17.” This response is wrong on so many levels. First, who are the elect? Any student of the Bible knows that the elect is Israel. But then, along came the followers of Jesus Christ, and Paul tells us that we are also the elect because we are in Jesus. This person gave no context, nor definition, and leaves us to make presumptions based on fragmented pieces from Paul's writings.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 NASB 7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8) Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

Here in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 the "he" that is taken out of the way, is, not only the restrainer but the church itself. Paul goes on to say, that it is then that the lawless one will be revealed. This lawless one is the Antichrist who makes a convenient peace covenant with many. So, my presumption must be that the elect is the church. But then his statement gets even more confusing as he uses Revelation 6:17 as a reference, and places the war deep within the seven years of God's wrath upon the earth, where the rich, and others, are crying for the rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of God.

So, let's see if God can put an immediate end to people profaning his name.

Ezekiel 39:7 NASB "My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Since this war in which God sends a firestorm upon the enemies of Israel, then can we assume that God shuts the enemies mouths? I ask because that is what we do; we assume things far beyond the context of the passages at hand. It is the KJV that correctly ascribes destruction to 5/6^th of the combatants that have come to Israel.

Look at all that God says about what is going to happen.

Ezekiel 38:19-20 KJV For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20) So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

• “in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;”
• “So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth,”
  A rather encompassing description.
• “shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.”
  I am not trying to diminish God here, but this type of event happens multiple times. How could there be any buildings left if every earthquake has caused all the walls to fall down? Similar to the terminology “all” that we see scattered throughout the Bible, when obviously not all were there, it is safe to assume that there was a tremendous amount of people, or, in this case, a tremendous amount of damage.

Ezekiel 39:6 KJV And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Here, in 39:6 the fire falls on the isles. This would mean the coastal regions. Does that mean all of them, or, in practicality, the nations that are involved in this horrendous scheme? The majority of the named nations are coastal nations to some degree.

If you are trying to determine the impact God has made by bringing, not only a firestorm but a great shaking, then you need to understand a few other influences.

2 Corinthians 3:14-16 KJV But their minds were blinded: for until this day remains the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15) But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16) Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

In Romans 11:25 the impact will be on Israel. Since this war is on the cusp of the removal of the church, then it is obvious that the vail is lifted immediately. The impact of God's action will have a monumental impact on the Jews that are still here.

Romans 11:25 KJV For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

When I put the information together, I can understand that the vail will be taken away, and, it will happen when the fullness of the Gentiles has come. That fullness, by the way, will only happen at the catching away of the church.

Another clue we have about the impact comes from the Revelation itself.

Revelation 7:9 KJV After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

These are martyred saints since the catching away of the church. Make note of the quantity, as it is innumerable.

If I were to make a generalized statement, it would be, YES, God has made a tremendous impact.

Ezekiel 39:8 CJB Yes, this is coming, and it will be done,' says Adonai Elohim; 'this is the day about which I have spoken.

I don't know if you have heard this sentence from skeptics, but I have, and it goes like this, you guys have been telling us that God is coming back for over two thousand years, so expect him to come back anytime soon! When you read a sentence like verse 8 you might think God has been hearing something similar as well. Someone wrote, Ezekiel gave these words over 20 centuries ago; the words are more valid today than they ever have been. How do I know this? A standard, liberal newscast, interviewed one of their reporters and asked about what grabs your attention about Syria. The reporter's response, this is no longer Syria. Everywhere I look I see troops from Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the United States. What does that mean? It means that the major players in this last days war of Ezekiel 38,39 are already on Israel's northern border.

In December of 2017 (it's only August of 2018 as I write this,) an Egyptian newspaper published a map showing cartoon tanks surrounding Israel and firing upon the nation. Their intent was to call for a Jihad against Israel.

Are the motivation and compliance lining up for an attack on Israel? Absolutely.

Here is where Ezekiel turns peculiar once again.

Ezekiel 39:9-10 CJB " 'Those living in Isra'el's cities will go out and set fire to the weapons, to use as fuel—the shields, breastplates, bows, arrows, clubs, and spears; they will use them for fire seven years; 10) so that they will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut down any from the forests; because they will use the weapons for fire. Thus they will plunder those who plundered them and rob those who robbed them,' says Adonai Elohim.

Is there a modern army that still uses clubs, bows, and spears as they do battle? No, they have tanks, artillery, missiles, Toyota trucks (with mounted anti-aircraft guns in the middle east,) and AK 47's. How many of these items could one use for fuel to heat your dinner or house? Very little, as everything I mentioned is made from metal, or burns toxic and will poison you, with possibly one exception, the wood from an AK47 (if they still make them like that.)

Ezekiel 39:11 JPS And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place fit for burial in Israel, the valley of them that pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop them that pass through; and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-Gog.

By the way, you are aware that God frequently uses people and their available weaponry to fulfill His desires?

Ezekiel 39:12-13 JPS And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. 13) Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them a renown; in the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.

What do I know from this statement?

• That it takes seven months to bury them all.
  This probably has more to do with the quantity of dead.
• While getting rid of dead bodies reduces health issues, the main reason is so that Israel may cleanse the land.
  Numbers 19:11-16 JPS He that touches the dead, even any man's dead body, shall be unclean seven days; 12) the same shall purify himself therewith on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day and the seventh day, he shall not be clean. 13) Whosoever touches the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and purifies not himself - he hath defiled the tabernacle of the LORD - that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. 14) This is the law: when a man dies in a tent, every one that comes into the tent, and everything that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. 15) And every open vessel, which hath no covering close-bound upon it, is unclean. 16) And whosoever in the open field touches one that is slain with a sword, or one that dies of himself, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
  So, the effective reason has much to do with being unclean for seven days. I get the general impression that Israel will not have time for such delays.
  Deuteronomy 21:23 JPS his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is a reproach unto God; that thou defile not thy land which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.
  This passage, if you will recall, is why they could not leave Jesus hanging on the cross overnight, and therefore permitted Joseph of Arimathaea who had asked to have his body for burial.
• “ all the people of the land shall bury them,”
  So, although there will be specific teams to bury the victims, all Israel will be helping out.
• “and it shall be to them a renown; in the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.”
  Jeremiah 33:9 JPS And this city shall be to Me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure unto it.
  Zephaniah 3:19-20 NASB "Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors, I will save the lame And gather the outcast, And I will turn their shame into praise and renown In all the earth. 20) "At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes," Says the LORD.

Although Zephaniah can say, I will give you renown and praise among all the people of the earth, God's wrath and punishment are not entirely accomplished as yet. Does that make God's word conflict with itself, and is therefore unreliable or not true? Hardly, for this moment in time, though a clear defeat for many, does not cover all of Israel's oppressors. The other question you have to ask as you try to validate God's word, does Israel, as yet, have all their fortunes restored? There is more cataclysmic activity, yet to come.

As I read Ezekiel 39:13 I found myself asking, did you mean what you just said?

• “and it shall be to them a renown; in the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.”

renown is the Hebrew word shêm and means the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064); an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character.

I keep finding God's mercy - an attribute that is part of His character and nature. For me, to read that God is giving Israel (those that remain,) honor and position, there is no way I can apply these attributes to Israel in the world's eyes. This has everything to do with Him, showing them mercy and bringing them into the millennial reign with honor. I know, this flies in the face of those who demand no mercy for those outside of the standard religious experience - you know, the one where you come to an altar, shed big tears, say all the right words, and then, go live like the devil once again. I decided, some time ago, that if I err, then I am going to err on the side of mercy. Besides, I can use all the help I can get.

Some would read this and attribute all this to God, but, that is not what it says. The verse tells us that Israel's actions in burying the dead will produce a conspicuous designation of honor and character at some point. That point is when Jesus, the Messiah shall be glorified. When will that take place? When he comes back as the conquering Messiah, and then takes his throne after He sets everything right. Some will read this and start whining that He is only glorified at the end of the millennial reign, and the Great White Throne is a part of that process.

Revelation 19:1-2 NASB After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2) BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, ...

Revelation 19:7 NASB "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

Revelation 19:11-15 NASB 11) And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war.

Revelation 20:4 NASB Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. ... and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 21:3-6 NASB And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ... 5) And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6) Then He said to me, "It is done.

If Ezekiel 38, and 39, are closely related to the catching away of the church, then this firestorm against Gog also marks the entrance of the Antichrist and his seven-year contract of peace, signed by many. Since the only clear time frames, we are aware of is seven months of not touching the bodies, and, a seven month period of burying the dead, we can only account for 14 months. 14 months is equivalent to 420 days, and the first half of the seven years of wrath (the fairly peaceful part,) lasts 1260 days, those having to endure this time period have 2.3 years of relative peace left, until this person we call the Antichrist breaks this treaty. Within the Muslim world, that means he calls it off.