Tribulation Report #031: Tipping Point

In the Social Sciences, we have the principle of tipping points. It's rare we can point to the exact moment when events and perceptions pushed this or that mass movement over the edge, but as a conceptual focus of discussion, it proves useful to speak of them. For example, we might point out the tax on salt was the tipping point of the French Revolution. In itself, innocuous, but there is always that one last straw that breaks the camel's back.

There are an awful lot of threads which are threats to peace and stability in the US. Before we go any farther, it's necessary to remind you all this breakdown in civil order is the goal, the hoped outcome by those who actually run things at the global level. It always means profit, because no government in history I can recall has ever laid down and died peacefully. They always expend great sums defending their prerogatives up until the last moment. Babylon is all about war and unrest. A great many powerful figures in US government are members or servants of Babylon. An awful lot more are simply useful idiots. That latter bunch are the ones provoked into pressing the envelope from one side or another. These are the true believers determined to remake the world in their image, except there are many of them with different competing images.

For now, we have the global socialist idiots running the show. They are pushing the envelope, attempting to remake us into a progressive's paradise. All the stuff we have previously associated with "liberals" is now on the fast track.

• Instead of actually doing the hard work of rescinding the 2nd Amendment, the current ruling regime is now working with the UN on a treaty which obliges all signatories to go back and force a change in national laws which serves the purpose of making it easy to call any firearm illegal, and serves as the excuse to confiscate all the firearms, ammo and associated stuff owned by that individual.



• The latest Hate Crimes legislation is the worst ever, and could easily make it illegal to possess a Bible, among other things. Yes, really.



• The latest flu scare is aimed solely at justifying the apparatus for martial law and forced inoculations. With that comes the power of arbitrary quarantine, confiscation of anything tangible and of value, and roundup of all living beings in a given area. The lesser included plan is forced national medical coverage, by which anyone capable of medical assistance will be forced to join the system, and every breathing human will receive mandated treatments regardless of actual need or desire.



• Police and various other law enforcement agencies are being trained to regard citizens as enemies, as dangerous people to be handled as guilty of terrorism before so much as investigating or contacting them. No one is allowed to rise to supervisory positions without first demonstrating the ability and eagerness to stonewall, lie and otherwise evade all accountability. Did a cop do it? It was de facto and de jure good and proper.



• A long list of thought crimes are being identified via the mainstream media. If you dare to say or write anything prohibited, regardless of whether it reflects facts or truth, you will be persecuted. You should also expect trumped up charges which will eventually be dismissed about the time you have lost everything worth having.



• State ownership of any commercial activity. It will begin with absolute tracking and control over the use of FRNs. Did you exchange a dollar? The government owns that process. Right now, it's about gaining a controlling interest in all banks and major industries. The whole key is use of credit.



• Many more things which have been going on for a long time, to include the demise of home schooling exemptions, restrictions on use of property you own, state ownership of children and pets, green lies about climate change, etc.

Yeah, tribulation is here. Frankly, I expect bloodshed to rise exponentially before the end of next month. I sincerely hope I am deluded on that; I would so very much love being proved wrong.

Meanwhile, what can you do? Not much. The real best defense begins inside your heart. If you serve Jesus Christ, nothing else matters. Count all your possessions, loves, hopes and dreams lost. All human relationships are subject to sudden end. Gone; all of it, everything. Your health and sanity, too. When you can accept putting all things on the altar of Christ, you are in a position to begin seeing what God can do through you to declare His Word, to reveal His ways to those around you.

Don't call on police, fire or ambulance. This depends, of course, on your locale. Some places have laws which limit the damage possible via contact with emergency services. Oklahoma does, but I put no faith in that. Those folks may not be your enemy, but they are most certainly not your friend.

Tell yourself the media lie with every word. The very fact news businesses exist is proof they have compromised with government. If by now you do not realize all government is a danger, you are lost. Their mouth-pieces will surely lie to you. They exist only to keep you from having time to focus on what really matters, so whether they misdirect by hyping something ordinary, tell a half-truth or outright lie, it's the same net result. Don't trust any news broadcast.

Shed excess property. In your mind, already you should have dismissed the likelihood you'll be able to keep anything you now own. All the stuff which is designed and tuned to a comfortably middle class life is now dead weight. That life is gone, and you'll see it actually hit home all too soon. The less you have to get rid of, the easier it will be when crunch time comes.

Gather survival stuff. This has already been hit repeatedly on this blog. Camping gear -- get cots and hammocks, wool and cotton bedding, backpacks and other easily moved baggage. Collect hand-powered stuff you are sure you'll use, non-electric lighting, miniature everything. Get used to traveling by foot; invest in really sturdy hiking footgear, wool socks, blister care products, etc. Create a "bug-out bag." You know the drill.

Weapons. If you are inclined to use weapons, get the ones you know best. Everyone should have one survival knife per household; hand axes, machetes, and other similar weapons. Archery is good; so are slingshots. Learn how to make and use impromptu weapons. Think about how fixed objects can become weapons, as it were. Learn hand-to-hand defense. By all means, guns are best.

Escape and evacuation. There is a high likelihood you won't know when the tipping point has come. You'll need to give at least a little thought to places along your daily routine routes and how you'll get off that route at the first sign of trouble. Are there natural or man-made features which might provide an advantage? Do you have an escape kit in your car?

Do you already have a strong trust in God to help you? Just restating the obvious. He may not want you to escape, but you should be aware of that already, and pray to have a strong sense of spiritual connection when the moment comes. Most of all, don't panic! You'll do dumb things you'll regret later. Disconnect and observe, as if watching to see what mighty things God wants to do in your life.

Make up your mind now those kinds things you have to resist, and what you are willing to do in that resistance. No one on this earth as a right to decided for you what Jesus demands. His Kingdom needs the pacifists, gun-toting rebels, and everything in between. Don't you dare judge your brothers' choices. Just make sure you have examined your own heart for your convictions from God.

I pray every day something shows me none of this was necessary. At the same time, I'm not sure this isn't the better life in the first place. With natural disasters alone, we have enough need to use all of this. My timing is likely way off, but I just don't see how it can hold together much longer. I don't fear it, because my life is already forfeited on the Cross, and the Kingdom owns me completely. But what I see is just looking really nasty, and some of us are bound to get hurt real soon.

Isaiah 43

We might say the only thing standing between Israel and destruction for which their sins so loudly call is the hard-headed determination of God to accomplish His purpose. Israel will be dragged along as the nation of God's revelation whether they like it or not.

So while Israel seems not to even notice when they are being punished for disloyalty to God, He is determined to protect them for His own sake. Be aware, this is more about God's nature than about specific Israeli history. This is how God operates, and Israel simply is the recipient in this case. Christians rightly see in this chapter promises for those in the Kingdom of Heaven, symbolically described for those in the Kingdom of Israel. For the sake of His own revelation, He will fend off every natural and man-made threat to His purpose in Israel. He destroyed other nations so she might be free and prosper. When the time comes, He can easily force Creation itself to hasten their return from dispersion across the earth. This is not meant as some concrete promise to be taken literally, but an expression of God's nature.

Naturally, the only reason God persists in this is because He wants the rest of the world to have a fair chance to see His glory, to know Him and His Laws, His claims on their loyalty as their God. Let them compare their gods to Jehovah. Israel is the proof God is the only God, because He protects His nation in spite of their sins. However, this is not to let them off lightly, for of all nations, Israel knows full well the depth of their betrayal, because they alone truly understand God. He won't tolerate their adherence to other gods, because they aren't real.

In days to come, He will humble Babylon for their sakes. Their departure from Mesopotamia will be like a fresh Exodus. Just as they left Egypt by a dry path in the sea, the same sea which destroyed their pursuers, so they will leave Babylon all but forgotten. Indeed, and fresh new miracles will attend their Return. He will Himself build the road, ensure sufficient water is available, and provide all the other comforts necessary for the journey. Yes, He would gladly do these things.

But His people won't bother to acknowledge Him. Have they simply grown tired of Him? Instead of freewill love offerings, they have brought Him sorrow. So let them meet Him in court. Let them explain why they have not observed the Covenant they swore on blood to uphold. Where has God fallen short? What justifies this neglect? Nothing. Israel has sinned from the beginning. Even the priests, those particularly called to keep the Covenant before the people, they too have sinned. For this reason, He will even allow the heathens to enter His own Temple. They will find no protection in His Temple if they profane it themselves.

Wednesday Extra: Follow the Money

Some very good people of God are afflicted with personal weaknesses. King David had his Bathsheba, too. Individual cases require an examination in context, and I am hardly the man to probe the actions and apparent motives of any man. All I have is the testimony. King David fell on his face before God regarding Bathsheba. The good servants of God have been doing it that way every since (and before). Jesus talked about accountability "pure in heart" -- someone so willing to remain loyal to God, they hold themselves up transparently to the world so all can see their sin in the context of God's grace.

So hiding things is inherently sinful. Yes, there is privacy, but it doesn't take much thinking to realize there's a difference between pillow talk and complete moral failure. In my Literacy series, I have shown how sexual indiscretions arise from a rejection of God's plan for sexual intimacy. His provision from the first was one man, one woman, for life. It's so obvious there was no need to state it bluntly that way. Any so-called Christian leader or prophet who divorces for less than infidelity or violence, and hasn't come clean on it, should never pretend they can go on leading.

People who show a distinct unwillingness to accept discomfort and poverty as the price of serving Christ are just as phony. When did it become a necessity to wear Armani or Gucci so people will hear the gospel? If that's the price of telling the truth, then your audience didn't hear any truth, regardless what you said. What did Jesus say about His cousin, John the Baptist? Prophets of God don't live in palaces and wear fine clothes; evil kings like Herod Antipas do. This is no call for an organized vow of poverty. That's another corruption. Jesus had nice stuff, and dined in style at the invitation of others. However, He said of Himself He maintained a low expectation of comfort. He told one seeker He had no place to lay His head, a reference to owning no real estate, and implying no intention to ever own any. This He said as a warning that following Him was not about eschewing creature comforts, but not being trapped by them, not caring if they come and go at God's behest. The Kingdom is not about comforts of the flesh, but of comfort of the Spirit. The flesh is just a tool.

Finally, there is this element of pride. We talk about being humble, but I find a great many Evangelicals don't comprehend the meaning. How did Jesus respond to the Pharisees when they suggested He was born in sin, an illegitimate child? He was not incensed, but noted simply they were missing the point. And when His disciples argued about leadership in what they supposed would be the glorious New Israel on earth in the court of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus washed their feet. He was willing to do anything it took, and nothing was too embarrassing or humiliating. Quick to defend yourself? Angry at personal insults? You aren't there, yet. You aren't walking the Spirit.

The loudest and most prominent supporters of Dispensationalism are, as a group, flagrant violators of these ideals. You might find some of that in folks on all sides of this debate, but it seems the unifying characteristic for the leading lights of Dispensationalism. They aren't even nice to each other, but plagiarize like madmen. You will find them clinging to the contention we must separate the message from the messenger. Fine; then why do they attack personally those who point out flaws in the message? I raise these issues because I don't buy the idea you can separate out the message, as if it were some objective and static quantity with its own existence. The message is always the testimony of the one speaking, and if your life is a moral shambles, and particularly if you can't admit your flaws, then your message is not important. I can't hear your words because your actions drown them out.

Let's be clear I am not defending the money-grubbing book and movie marketers on the other side of this debate. There are plenty of those opposed to Dispensationalism who are phony, too.

Christians cannot be "perfect" in the Hellenized sense of human perfection, but can be perfect in the Hebraic sense of mature. Mature people do not cling to creature comforts, do not take themselves too seriously, and can keep faith with the spouse God gives them. They don't have to dress up Christ in the marketing trends of the day, because they know Truth is a Person, and He makes His own path into the hearts of men. They simply show that Truth. They do it until they have spent all their wealth and health and there is nothing left. The mere existence of a fancy office, big budget, and marketing contracts, are all a guarantee there's something wrong.

Zionism, the Holocaust, and Dispensationalism industries all breed a horrific and un-Christlike hatred for men, an overbearing profit motive, and self-indulgence. That's because such sin is where those things were born.

Lesson 29: Reading Samuel

The primary problem with Israel was the failure of leaders to carry a passion for the Law. It does not require being spiritual to do that. All it requires is a sense of loyalty to the Covenant Emperor, as it were. They were not loyal, did not finish the job of destroying the filthy pagan shrines, and so were saddled with a future which would be more challenging. Still, loyalty and obedience were within reach. Some of the judges or warlords were also prophets, and they were best fit to help guide the political leaders.

The last of these judges was Samuel, a spiritual giant. It was not radically different from having a Moses again. Seeing the nature of his nation's weakness, Samuel developed a prophets' academy system. Notice some prophets are not particularly spiritual, it seems, so the system could have worked just fine on the level of the Law. Cultivation of loyalty and a trust for divine provision worked consistently when applied on that human level. While such a system, with decentralized politics and a religious architecture was not utterly unique among Semitic tribal nations, this one actually worked.

The nation's demand for a king was sin. Samuel warned them it was, and warned them of the oppressive consequences. Having a permanent king was the same as having a permanent warlord, with a permanent standing army, sucking up huge amounts of resources to feed such a large crew of non-productive people. Worse, these people would demand luxurious privileges denied everyone else. This was wrong. They rejected Samuel's advice and God's warning. God often gives people what they demand, even when it's not in their best interest. He knew this was coming, and did not head it off, but did teach them a lesson with the first king.

First off, Saul was not of the royal tribe, Judah. God can choose anybody He likes, but we get the sense He suckered the nation by offering someone who simply looked royal -- a big tall guy with some success in battle. Samuel loved the boy, too, but never forgot his God came first. So when the man persistently rejected God's Law and commands, opening his soul up for demons, it's no surprise the Lord took away the protection. Notice how Saul kept things rather primitive, without a real palace, no royal court, just a cranky old warlord wearing the title "king." He became arrogant, then greedy, then insane with only brief moments of clarity. His death and that of his sons was solely his own fault, because God could not grant victory to a man demon possessed.

The one fellow capable of soothing his moods was a young, very spiritual man, who knew how to worship. His worshipful music in Saul's "court" kept the demon weak, most of the time. Saul's deep suspicion was an accurate warning from the demon, who knew what was lawful, and knew David's spiritual authority, and somewhat of his destiny. David was a legitimate king, from the tribe of Judah. He truly loved his Lord, and was loyal.

However, David was far from perfect. This man suffered major character flaws, among them being a skirt-chaser. He also refused to execute justice far, far too often. He was rather lazy, far more interested in warfare and chasing girls. He also allowed his family ties to get in the way of justice. With so many doors open to Satan, it's no surprise his reign was tumultuous.

Still, he was useful in beating down the nation's enemies. The Lord had maneuvered things so there was no great imperial power anywhere nearby. Egypt was weak, the old Hittite Empire had faded, yet still strong enough to keep Assyria in check. Still, he enjoyed it entirely too much. The one best thing he did was organize and stabilize the Temple system before the Temple was built. The priesthood was renovated and a mass of musical instruments and psalms prepared. Of all the things we see in David, it was the one thing he did right. Jehovah was frankly moved by the level of devotion and loyalty David bore.

We see much in Samuel about vows and covenants. This emphasis on commitment stands in stark contrast to our modern Western world. We do have legally binding contracts, but only if there is someone willing to enforce them. There is nothing of the person in them, and the entire economic system of the West is based on impersonal requirements on property, not persons. In Samuel, the personal commitment is more important than the performance. This remains utterly foreign to us, and is one of the first things Israel learns to discard as she drifts farther from the Hebrew cultural matrix which gave her birth.

Under God's Laws, wise men do not quickly and easily make vows. They seek God's face as the primary Guarantor of all things. Barring anything indicating it's not a good idea, they make vows as a commitment of the self. They take upon themselves a binding promise to God Himself, whether it involves another person or not. The Laws of God protect those who keep such vows regardless of losses, because His greater promise under the Law is to eventually make it all work out. This is not about lawyers, but about loyalty to an Eastern Potentate. In our journey to Light, we must understand all mankind can reap the benefits of keeping God's Law Covenants, but only to the degree they are loyal to His rule. It's not necessary to be spiritual to keep the Laws, nor even to have a knowledge of God. A strong sense of loyalty and duty to justice will do, backed by a properly informed conscience. These things are available to all fallen souls without the Spirit.

Evil choices among leaders invite the demons to obfuscate the demands of the Laws. The system of understanding quickly becomes overrun, awash in false notions of what's right and wrong. Every wrong choice invites more demonic activity. This activity takes place on multiple levels, but it begins by government sin. Having a king over Israel was an invitation to weakness, regardless of all the good some individual kings did. They struggled against subjects continually returning to sin. Whole noble houses at the tribal and clan level were devoted to a political agenda to reassert idolatry and other sins at every opportunity. When the kings went wrong, it simply made everything worse. Only the Covenant plans of God saved Israel on many occasions. Yet at no time was Lawful righteousness out of reach.

When we do not promote God's Laws among the fallen, we put our hands to keeping sin alive, and demons in power. It is by His Laws His Truth is revealed to the fallen, and it by this revelation He chooses to bring some to spiritual life. Demons cannot restrain God's Spirit, but they can surely make our lives unnecessarily miserable, along with all those to whom we share our Light. Today, as demons rule on a global level, we have little hope of making God's Laws come to life and reap those promises on any significant scale. Yet this does not remove from us the burden of at least making the truth of His Laws known by refusing to engage in, or support, conduct against God's Laws. By our life lived in His Spirit, we will execute the Laws faithfully by His measure of things, but it is required for us to understand those Laws by His Word and Spirit, not by some feeble, corrupted Western materialist, empty legalistic, standard. The Spirit gave the Laws, and knows them better than any man can, so let us walk by the Spirit on our journey to a better understanding.

Yet Another Project: Roots of Dispensationalism

Let me reiterate my support for the work done by We Hold These Truths (WHTT) ministry. Few things are more worthy of effort than trying to convince American Evangelicals just how foolish and sinful it is to support Modern Israel with a blind, blank check approach. First, even if you are certain Modern Israel is some manifestation of Bible prophecy, this Israel utterly rejects God's Word, and pointedly rejects the Covenant of Moses which gave them birth, and is their whole identity. Second, Dispensationalism as the motivation for supporting Modern Israel is a pack of lies.

WHTT does make much of how Israel's actions cannot be supported by Christians of conscience. Their "protests" outside churches and such as CUFI conferences is aimed at showing how Israel's sins are too atrocious, asking how it is we can support them in their crimes. However, it's equally important we attack the doctrinal basis for supporting Modern Israel as something God requires of us for prophetic reasons.

Charles Carlson produced a video aimed at poking holes in Dispensationalism. You can order a copy from them; look for "The Roots of Christian Zionism." I must confess, I honestly felt he could do better if he reworked that presentation. After discussing it with him, he asked what I thought we could do, and if we could get off without paying a fortune. His first effort was rather expensive. For my part, I feel we could rewrite the video as two separate projects, as I outlined above, as a two-pronged educational effort. I also proposed we produce the second product in a series of short video lessons, something we might post on YouTube, perhaps.

What follows is an outline of my thoughts on the matter, and I openly encourage comments to sharpen things:

• There is some evidence the basic concept of "dispensations" did appear in Early Church writings. However, it is nothing like the modern expansion, because the original notions are based on various covenants in the Bible, and overlap chronologically.



• It requires some serious effort reading modern Dispensationalism back into the Early Church Fathers to imagine they believed any part of it. This is a major flaw in how the Dispies read Scripture, too.



• There is a fundamental disconnect between how modern Western folks view the world and how the Bible authors viewed the world. It's funny how so many secular scholars see this, but Western Christians flatly reject this notion. Dispensationalism is utterly impossible if you stand on the ancient Hebrew outlook. That outlook is often dismissively called "Eastern Mysticism" in an attempt to lump it all into the broader Eastern heritage, but Hebrew cultural background just barely fits into that framework. It is the same serious error made by Jewish intelligentsia over three centuries leading up to Christ, and the primary reason for legalism displacing actual Old Testament religion. Some scholars refer to this as "Hellenizing Judaism." The entire framework of mental assumption is different.



• The roots of modern Dispensationalism lie in deceptive materials written by Catholic priests to derail the popular notion the Pope was the Antichrist.



• Part of this requires we de-tangle the roots of Protestantism. While Luther and Calvin did influence English Protestantism, those English Protestants are mostly rooted in the proto-Protestantism of the Anglican Church. Baptists, Methodists, and a few others are more a matter of moving away from Anglican roots, compared to the Lutheran and Reformed strands which broke away from the Catholic roots. The latter are seldom afflicted with a belief in Dispensationalism, which has a stronger acceptance among English-based churches. This is really a problem of English Protestantism.



• There is a ton of material on Darby and his friends. Largely because everyone wants to hide it, we should probably emphasize the more scandalous parts of their backgrounds, and the really crazy system which gave birth to the PreTrib and Rapture ideas. There is a near-psychotic quality in the teenage girls' visions, the whole weirdness of how this stuff was just bought wholesale, and became the "orthodoxy" once it was some years down the road.



• Exposing Scofield's crooked past is important. Let no one forget just how sleazy and nutty is the whole background of American Dispensationalism. There was big push into Baptist territory by John R. Rice and friends, who held rallies to teach this stuff in the 1940s and 1950s. These men were not mainstream, and their intellectual background is suspect. Modern Baptists, at least, would not want to associate with these guys.



• Over and over again, we need to point out how time is the primary factor in hiding the trashy background of this stuff. The other major factor is the secrecy employed. No good thing can enter the church through secrecy and pretty facades over a dimly remembered past.

Lesson 28: Reading the Judges

We don't have a good English word for what we call "judges" in the Old Testament. The activity of "judging" represents bringing God's justice to a situation. Without that overtone, it would be easy enough to call them "warlords." Reduce political power to it's most basic and fundamental level and you get a warlord, someone with specific power to lead in mounting a defense to threat. Absent a threat, there is hardly any reason to grant such emergency power to anyone. During peace time, it remains the responsibility of clan and tribal leaders to maintain social order. That they failed to do so is the primary reason the judges arose.

In the tribal setting of Israel settling into and occupying the Land, the Covenant required clan and tribal leaders to maintain the covenant relationships among people, but also between people and God. There is no other way to explain the general failure of the nation to finish the job of driving out the former inhabitants. Notice what the angel at Bochim pointedly says was the whole point of the exercise: breaking down the pagan altars. Instead, they sued for terms with the local inhabitants, always allowing them to keep their own gods, idols and temples. When Joshua spoke to the nation, the leadership of each tribe was always up front, because the responsibility fell on them. It was they who failed to keep the Covenant, failed to obey the command to cleanse the land. Killing or driving out the Canaanites was a by-product of the primary aim of removing the deeply offensive local pagan religion.

Let us not forget the underlying principles at work here. First, there is the pure justice issue of nations defying God's Laws. Second, there is a distinct family evil in the Canaanites, and distinct curse upon them from Noah's time, in part because of the most despicable and flagrant flouting of those Laws. In particular, the Canannites were utterly disgusting in their sexual practices, and God does not take this lightly. Hidden in the background of this whole sordid tale is the severe and relentless judgment of God against loose and filthy sexual practices. Israel's leaders were derelict in grasping this essential element of the Covenant, since compromise and idolatry always meant engaging in these practices. Third, it wasn't absolutely necessary to physically slaughter every living human in the Land.

Hebrew language is dramatic, loaded with hyperbolic elements. It is downright stupidity to insist God's Word is somehow violated if we do not read back into it a Western precision and literalness which is utterly foreign to Hebrew people and God's own cultural framework for revelation. What mattered is not bloodshed, but a removal of the pagan altars and images. Had Israel simply done their duty of forcefully moving in and tearing down every such site, it would have been counted as obedience. Granted, such activity would certainly mean having to fight and kill the devotees of such sites. However, by walking in the assurance God was behind that, victory was assured every step of the way. It was not Caleb's peculiar war-making talent which cleared the Hebron Highlands, but his faithfulness as a spiritual man. He didn't quit until the job was done. Did he kill everyone? Again, it's hyperbole, because at the end of the narrative, the whole point was driving them out with their pagan religion.

Thus, we see a cycle which played out at the tribal and national level. The leaders would allow their clans and tribes to sin, and in so doing, lead their people out from under the Covenant protection. So the demons were permitted to come and stir up the remaining Canaanites, or some bordering nation, to begin harassing and oppressing Israel. At some point, the people would return to a modicum of faithfulness and call upon their Covenant God, who would then raise up a warlord. This warlord would judge the sin, often in the Israelis themselves first, then lead them in righteous judgment against their enemies. Things would be okay as long as that warlord remained in authority, keeping an eye on the Law and making the people obey it. Then they would fall away again, because their family chiefs would fail to keep things straight.

Citing such problems as the enemy having iron chariots does present a tactical problem. Israel was forbidden to use chariots because every draft animal -- onagers at first, then horses later -- were in those days inextricably tied to pagan religious practices. Israel was required to fight all wars as infantry. However, there were plenty of times when, in the power of God's Covenant protection, they defeated the charioteers. We can trace the use of heavy lances to skewer horses as the tactic, but the one deciding factor was faithfulness to the Covenant. Other historical factors are scarcely mentioned, things the prophetic authors took for granted, which we now have to work hard to dig up and understand, but what matters is the spiritual principle screaming at us from every page: Stay faithful to the Laws of God, and no one can stand against your nation. There might be other reasons for victory in battle which have nothing to do with any covenant, but most certainly within the Covenant, obedience reaps consistent shalom as promised. By the same token, violating the Covenants promises eventual disaster.

There was surely a large measure of patience on God's part. Folks don't suddenly apostatize in large numbers, so it's silly to expect demons to come rushing in overnight with large numbers and great authority to act. At some point, when Israel had drifted away, mistaking patience for God's lack of concern, they were entangled and needed help. God's response to their call might be a little delayed, too. Thus, we are reminded our Western sense of justice cannot possibly grapple with God's ways.

Eventually we realize the real issue is the utter weakness and failure of the clan and tribal leaders. They keep failing for whatever reasons, and it requires some hero. Throughout the whole period is that steady drumbeat of the call to diligence in observing the Covenant provisions, in order to gain the Covenant promises. This naturally fulfills a critical purpose in revealing God. It shows how He works, and what the world should expect from Him in dealing with nations.

Tribulation Report #030: Minimum Standard

So we have a second wave of home mortgages about to collapse, and any day now the commercial rental industry will decline rapidly from retail closures. At the same time, we have an approaching wave of consumer credit defaults, mostly charge cards. I note we in Oklahoma discovered some 75% of the entire wheat crop for this year was destroyed in a recent late freeze.

Aside from the troubles directly related to these things, we have the symbolic unhappiness registered in the Tea Bag protests. Now there's a lot of news leaking out about just how many big shots in government knew about and favored our use of torture. At the same time, we have the CDC in Atlanta saving up a half-million cheap coffins and there's news about a new hybrid flu bug spreading across the continent. Many police departments exhibit a complete lack of concern for citizens any more, and are frankly becoming enemies.

Of course, in the School of Holy Cynicism, we know the worst-sounding news is propaganda, a mass of noise and misdirection to keep you from noticing something truly dangerous coming from government. And if not within our own US government, surely among those of Babylon who own our country are those who would gladly see several million of us die real soon. And the things they might use to do that aren't pretty.

So we are facing rough times. Let's settle in our minds once and for all, the idyllic middle-class American lifestyle is gone. It's been taken and it's not coming back. If that's what you hope to recover when you discuss saving America, forget it. You'll never see it again in your lifetime. It may not be possible for the next generation following, nor the one after. But at the very least, it's over for us today. Any word to the contrary is a lie.

So we need to be ready in our minds, because other forms of preparation are probably too late. Just what is the minimum you need to live? If you have special needs for medical reasons, be prepared to suffer with them, even as you consider ways to survive. Let me provide an example, using me, since I know my own situation best.

Having served in the US Army, I have spent many days and nights in fairly rough conditions. More than once I dropped to the ground as I was, where I was, and slept as long as they would let me. Our basic field kit was supposed to get us a week at least without any stopping for rest or recovery of any kind. For civilian survival, it's different, of course. I'm not under military constraints to follow uniform procedures.

If I don't have to go anywhere, but have to stay holed up for some reason, I'm okay for at least a month. Cut the power and that requires some real ingenuity after a week. I believe we have a working hand-pump here, but it would be really busy shared between 170 mobile homes. But we have a small vegetable garden growing in our yard right now.

If I needed to go far away very quickly, here's what I would hope I could arrange. I would need a place to string a hammock, or a place to set a folding cot which I could put up on blocks. I need to keep my head about 3-6 inches above my feet because of stomach trouble. I would like to have access to water so I won't have to carry so much, but I have currently the means to hold 12 gallons for travel. I can make that last a very long time, including personal hygiene. Let's say three days minimum with my wife. Having no significant hair makes it really easy for me to keep clean.

I can easily grab and tote enough food for three days before the nutritional level begins to suffer a little. After a week, I'd be ready to start hunting and gathering a little, with lots of prayer. Simply surviving is possible for a couple of weeks, but it would be pretty unpleasant.

In a worst case scenario, grabbing what I could within 15 minutes, I could by myself walk a hundred miles with what I could carry, and make it in three or four days. It would be very hard, and I would be seriously dehydrated without water sources along the way. My bad knee would be swollen and painful, but probably functional. Still, I could do it, based on previous experience. Once I finish finding the parts for my military backpack, I'll have it pre-packed and ready to go. My wife would have to find a ride, because she's just not up to it.

Just how low could you go and still survive? What would you simply have to trust the Lord to provide? Don't forget that, ever.

Life of Christ: John 21

Seven of the disciples were idly waiting the promised meeting with Jesus, probably sitting in Peter's home in Capernaum. For lack of anything better to occupy their time, Peter returns to the one thing he knows best -- fishing. Some of the others we know were fisherman, and the rest probably were, too. They were seasoned professionals, working all night as all fisherman did in those days. Applying all their best skills, they caught nothing. When Jesus greets them from the nearest shore that morning; perhaps they mistook Him for an aggressive fish buyer. No, maybe this was a friendly surf fisherman, telling them where the fish were, advising them to drop their net over the right side of the boat. It wasn't simply catching fish there which mattered, but a sudden clear memory of catching more fish than was possible under ordinary circumstances.

The same thing happened some three years ago when Jesus first called them. They almost tore their nets that morning. The other three Gospels together tell how they had been following Jesus for a few weeks after that first meeting down in Judea. Back up on Galilee, they were cleaning up after a night of fruitless fishing. Jesus sat in the bow of one boat, asking they push out a bit. He taught for awhile, then had the boys run a single drag of the net. They argued, but did so, and the nets were overloaded in just minutes. Peter knew Jesus was holy, because he was struck by the sense of his own impurity. That's typical when people first awaken spiritually, after which a clear sense of unworthiness persists. They hauled the catch in, began counting it, and started repairing their nets. It was then Jesus called them to fish for souls of men.

John reminds us of that story, and by now we should understand the symbolism. All the human skill and experience in the world means nothing in the Kingdom if you aren't following Jesus. Obey divine guidance and you can't fail. They were still being called to fish for men's souls, not labor for food. So John recognized the scene at once, but it was still Peter who fully committed himself to that knowledge. The rest of the men rowed in the smaller boat. Fishing always required two boats; one large to hold the nets and fish, the other small to stretch the net out, then dragging it back around, encircle the fish. The net was too heavy to haul into the larger boat, so they struggled to tow it close to shore where it could be dragged up on the beach by hand. Jesus had breakfast already cooking, and wanted them to bring up some more fish. Peter shows his physical size and strength, and this time the net didn't tear, so they wouldn't be distracted by the mending task. A generous catch promised what lay ahead for spiritual fishermen.

Matthew described the Great Commission in words, but John shows it in symbols. Peter had denied Jesus three times, and was again wrestling with his wounded conscience. All those years of bluster, never carrying through. How could Jesus still use him to fish for souls? Three time Jesus asked Peter about his loyalty, and each time Jesus directed him to proceed with the task of shepherding souls. They were even now, no?

But there was more to it than this, for John indicates in his school boy Greek there was a difference in the quality of love discussed here. Jesus asked Peter if his love was sufficient to sacrifice for Him. Peter's answer was an honest estimation, and he limited the quality of his love to friendship. No more boasting. On the third round, Jesus changed his question, dropping down to Peter's level. Could he love well enough to be friends? Peter understand the reduction, and it shamed him. But he stayed honest and affirmed he could be Jesus' friend. Jesus said that was good enough for now. All too soon, when Peter was older, he would be led away to sacrifice for Jesus. Peter began as a big talking, big planning, wavering and unstable man, entirely too worried what other people thought. Not any more; Peter knew himself. That other man was dead, replaced by someone who was worthy of trust in Christ's eyes, worthy to be called a stone -- Peter.

Peter understood correctly this was meant to vest him with leadership of the remaining disciples. But Peter knew John was much closer to Jesus. He asked what was John's place, and John's end. Jesus replied Peter didn't need to concern himself with that, because John's mission was different. Peter would be executed, but John's end was God's concern. What if Jesus wanted John to live until His Return? By the time John published this Gospel, he was the only one of the Twelve still living, and by a wide margin at that. There were silly rumors arising from that conversation long ago with Peter, that John would indeed live until the Return. It would have created a lot of hysteria, as John was obviously not going to live forever, and could probably die any day.

It was at that point John reveals he was the "disciple whom Jesus loved" -- His best friend on a human level. He walked and talked with Jesus, and saw it all, and quite obviously knew Jesus personally better than anyone else. Stack up all the facts of Jesus' words and actions, and you could not record them all. John wrote what mattered most for those under his leadership at the close his life. His Gospel was aimed at portraying Jesus to a church far removed from the events portrayed, both in time, place and culture. Understanding John's Gospel requires moving from the worldly rationalist viewpoint to the spiritual, even mystical frame of reference; from the human rational to the heavenly symbolic logic; from the precise literal narrative to the parabolic. There was no other way to grasp the Kingdom of Heaven.

Fiction: In Plain Sight

They were hidden in plain sight.

As the federal government sent its investigators to work, they began combing the underground "Patriot" sites for clues about rebel tactics. Naturally, they ignored all the field reports, until it hit them over the head: The rebels were pretty much repeating the tactics which nearly destroyed troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and then Iran. It was IEDs, small raids, never more than a dozen rebel troops together. The difference was, the domestic rebels were much better trained, very disciplined, and completely unafraid. Their tactical training documents were not stored on underground sites, nor in confiscated computer hard drives and other media. They were stored in a thousand links to news stories, military reports leaked or simply unclassified, and think-tank analyses.

The only difference was the rebels were less likely to kill, but far more likely to destroy equipment, snarl every troop movement regardless of means of transport, and every shipment and supply convoy. And almost no one wanted to state the obvious regarding recon: The local population alerted the rebels every time a leaf blew or a trooper sneezed on the secure military installations and encampments. At the same time, no one ever seemed to know there were even any rebels around, much less could they offer any useful intel on them. Statistically, one in five adult males they saw was either a rebel or a direct supporter, and one adult woman in ten, but no one could prove anything. They went about their pitiful lives in plain sight.

Eventually, they discovered the training and doctrinal documents. Like the tactical guides they used, it was a matter of tracing visitor profiles to discover the rebels had sent so much traffic to websites completely open and legal. There were a half dozen primary discussion forums, rather like virtual think-tanks, where the members traded theories via fictional stories and what sounded like armchair commando chatter. The casual observer would sense it was the bitter regrets of veterans who never got very far in the system. It was always cast as, "If I had been in charge, we would have done it this way...." And everything the rebels did pointed back to just those kind of training concepts.

Running in formation is simply the same package with parades, uniform inspections, and most other BT drills. We all know it had nothing to do with combat readiness, and everything to do with fulfilling some wild fantasy of control via uniformity. Real PT should mimic actual combat experience. When you wear full combat gear, you aren't going to run anywhere, execpt in short sprints from cover to cover. Other than that, it's hike everywhere. Real combat PT is hiking in full gear, sprints now and then, with tactical rush maneuvers.

The rebels were like mounted cavalry, moving fast and far, but without the vehicles. They popped up from places you wouldn't think a human could even go, much less lay an ambush. When they had fired just a few rounds apiece, they disappeared leaving only footprints which might run for miles and miles, in all directions. One vehicle in pursuit actually ran out of fuel chasing a trio of footprints in and out of a wildnerness area. The trio came back and ambushed the vehicle when it died.

There is no place for uniformity which is not directly related to survival. That pretty much wipes away some 90% of regulations. We would never need to mass personnel for any reason except rescue, since it only makes you a target. Parades -- false pride -- and bureaucratic economics are the only reasons for uniforms. Need I mention the corruption inherent in massive purchase orders? We should offer a random collection of suitable clothing for those who can't afford their own, mostly old hunting gear. It's generally better quality, and no two men will ever dress the same for the same climate. Spend some time camping out in the weather until each man learns what works best for him. No one has a right to decide that for you.

The rebels wore mostly hunting gear of every description, but uniformity was otherwise non-existent. This was noted by the wounded survivors seeing them as they withdrew from an ambush. It was rare to capture a rebel body. The few live captures were short-lived, as the rebels quickly rescued their own. How a squad suddenly became a company-sized rescue mission two hours later was something no one could ever explain, but the rebels were always more comfortably dressed than the federal troops.

No compulsion. If a man doesn't feel like fighting, he shouldn't. Don't create some artificial unit structure based on ancient history. Take the willing and make them as effective as can be. What they can manage will have to be enough. Genuine fitness has nothing to do with mainstream visions of trim young athletes. Old, fat, crippled -- everybody can do something useful. We should all be good friends doing something we just can't walk away from, and willing to shift leadership until we find the best for different purposes. There's no need for silly career tracks, relative pay grades, privileges, or rank of any kind. It should all be voluntary. When you do it right, everyone figures out real quickly who should be in charge.

It had been noticed in ambushes all the shouting was coming from the convoys. When a raid struck, only those defending were yelling orders. The rebels were eerily quiet, though it appeared some used a form of sign language. Once or twice, there were odd little waves or dances, whistles, single words or sounds barked, and a smooth coordination of action so common in every engagement it was frightening. The rebels they saw were all shapes, sizes and ages. The federal troops were constantly faced with tactics not found in any field manuals, yet the rebels never seemed surprised by anything. Most disconcerting of all was the rebel tendency to smile so much, like it was all some big game.

Organization itself is not sacred. It should always be reworked to fit the purpose at hand. Never organize for its own sake. Frequent changes will prevent staleness. People who follow the same formula over and over make themselves a target. Ego trips and power struggles die when there's nothing to gain, nothing you can capture and keep as your own fiefdom. If you're a jerk, you won't get called much to join any action. Endanger the others and you'll be lucky to come home alive.

There had been reports of finding fresh graves in remote areas. The bodies were naked, often mutilated beyond easy recognition, and very few local governments had the funds these days to run sophisticated forensic labs to ID these bodies. Once or twice the bodies were found simply lashed to a tree. These were nude, shaved clean, missing faces and hands.

It really helps when you have nothing to lose personally. Sometimes something is so utterly important, you set aside your hopes and dreams, because you know you can't keep them anyway. Instead, you rise above all that stuff. If for no other reason than vengeance on those who took everything away, you find inside yourself a passion for justice on the cosmic level. Not racking up a big body count, but making darn sure they lose everything they hoped to gain from stealing your good life. Make it cost them the things they value most, the things on which they are so utterly reliant, they simply stop if it goes away. You've got to decide you can't get any of it back, so all that's left is justice.

Several times they had raided enclaves and neighborhoods they knew housed rebels. They never got anyone alive. Some who were trapped would commit suicide, blowing themselves up as the federal troops got close enough. Most of the time, the buildings were empty. There was precious little of intel value, aside from indicating their quarry had left just minutes before. A smashed netbook simply proved federal suspicions the rebels used ad hoc wifi networking to communicate. Just about all air traffic was encrypted these days, and no one could watch every frequency every hour or every day. One raid found, of all things, an ancient foil-lined snack cannister rigged for a tight, line-of-sight signal, but it was pointed straight up when it was spotted. Nothing about the rig indicated what direction it had been pointed previously. Otherwise, it was simple clothing, simple furniture of boxes and crates, simple kitchen gear, simple food supplies and never very much of it. Every location raided could easily be described as "austere."

Meanwhile, so many military vehicles had been torched, with most fires starting on the tires, the commanders in the field had been given blanket authority to commandeer anything they could find worth using. Where the rebels were strongest, that meant almost nothing. The most dilapidated rusting hulks were handed over with smiles, while diligent searches turned up nothing better than random wheeled toys, some missing the wheels. The citizens with the least were the most willing to surrender what little they had. When the people were generous, the troops got nervous, because they never got five miles away before an awful ambush struck.

Nor was any of the donated equipment ever rigged. They were too smart for that. There was never a sound, but suddenly the radios were all jammed, and the pavement erupted in explosions, destroying their few good vehicles. Rocks rained from the sky, trees fell on them, hills caved on them, or out from under them, water flooded them, wildfires blew across their path, and always the bullets, often from silenced guns. Then the awful quiet filled only with moaning and cursing.

Eventually, several unit commanders were fired when it became clear they were avoiding the rebel areas, but making up bogus reports of rebels in areas where people were still clinging to some relative propserity. Those areas were usually pretty peaceful, too, with all the violence coming from the federal troops. Not that the government cared a whit about the people and their stuff, but it meant one more asset not chasing the rebels. Too many units were at critical manning levels, and desertions were soaring. And the rebels seemed to be getting stronger.

This and so much more, all found in plain sight.

Lesson 27: Interlude on Spirit and Violence

Western culture and sensibilities are uncomfortable with variables. The more things we can nail down, the better we feel. Surely that helps to explain why we have no record of modern Christians walking on the surface of the stormy seas with Jesus, as Peter did. That event was more important for its symbolism than for its actual verity. Life in this fallen world is stormy, variable, and a great many things are simply inexplicable. That is anathema to Western culture, and it shows in our discomfort with Bible teaching which does not fall into mainstream patterns. For Peter to stand close to Jesus meant facing the impossible, the fearsome, the utterly insane necessity of things which could never be fully explained. Such is Life under the Spirit.

It is utter foolishness to suggest Jesus cleansing the Temple was not a violent act, or to suggest Jesus didn't actually hit anyone with His whip. Given how the Sons of Annas who ran the bazaar in the Court of Gentiles dressed in conservative Jewish clothing of their day, and Jesus was using a whip made from what amounts to strands of heavy binding twine, there was precious little physical injury to the merchants. However, Jesus did hit them, He did knock over tables and stacks of cages, and almost surely pushed them and kicked them, because those were all common acts in His culture. His actions were symbolic. Not purely symbolic -- the violence was real -- but the weight of the matter falls on the symbolism. Jesus expressed an utterly lawful contempt for what amounts to preventing Gentiles from worshiping in the Temple.

The evil in having the Bazaars of the Sons of Annas, a commercial activity licensed by the former High Priest Annas, arose from a smugly racist mindset still visible today in the behavior of some branches of modern Orthodox Judaism. That's because Modern Orthodox Judaism perpetuates the corrupt religion of the Pharisees in Jesus' day. This was so completely contrary to the spirit of Moses' Law, there are no words for it. Israel was called and chosen primarily as the channel for revealing God's Laws for mankind after the Fall. The Covenant of Moses was for Israel, binding on Israel alone. However, it exemplified what God intended for humanity in general. Had any other nation sought to make a covenant with God, it would have been broadly similar, but He would surely have altered many details. It was incumbent on the Levites in general, on the priests specifically, and most certainly a heavy burden on the High Priest to understand this and teach it, not to license a commerce which prevented it.

Jesus punished those merchants, and by extension that commercial activity, under the Law. Consider for a moment: This was a fully spiritual man -- the exemplar of Spiritual Man -- committing an act of violence to promote the Laws of God over fallen men. By no means did His actions support the government, but supported Law against government. He demanded a legitimate change using a legitimate means, all while knowing prophetically they would not change. The action was necessary for the sake of Divine Justice. His actions point out something important about the juncture between the Spirit Realm and the Fallen Realm.

In modern Christian circles we suffer a major schizophrenia about violence. On the one hand, we often cling to the pagan myth violence is always wrong. Scripture does not support that, obviously. We have no record of violent actions by the disciples and apostles after the Cross, but that's simply a matter of focus, and partly lack of need. Yet Paul counseled the Roman soldiers to cut away the lifeboats from their storm-tossed ship to ensure everyone survived together. If the self-interested sailors bailed out, there would be no one with sufficient expertise to make sure the ship ran aground, offering sufficient opportunity for everyone else to escape, too. Of all people, Paul surely knew his suggestion could have led to a violent confrontation between the soldiers and sailors. Nothing supports the supposition he somehow divinely knew it would not be violent; such is the typical pagan mythologizing of things unknown. Real historical evidence shows the soldiers would have menaced the sailors in cutting the boats loose, to make sure there was no mistaking their resolve. Paul was backing the implied violence for a very spiritual reason, and we often handle that very poorly.

Many time Moses, a very deeply spiritual man, commanded violence against unspiritual and spiritual alike for very spiritual reasons. When the situation was a matter of Law, the Law must be applied. There were things too precious to lose; he could not let it slide. Sometimes God Himself carried out the execution to emphasize the point. In the Early Church, we had Ananias and Sapphira dying at God's hand. God does not forbid violence in principle. All this slaughter of Canaanites is not a different God from the Father of Jesus cleansing the Temple, or healing the sick, both of which He did under the Law, before the Cross. The difference between fiery serpents and Levites with swords in punishing sin in Israel was God's choice, not some concrete principle. The choice fit the need of the moment for the purposes of God.

During His arrest in the Garden, Jesus did not condemn Peter's act simply because it was violent. God was quite ready to send battalions of angels to do violence no man could comprehend, if that was appropriate. The problem was the violence did not fit God's plan. Jesus didn't tell Peter to get rid of the sword, but to put it away. That's not hair-splitting, but stating the obvious, since Jesus had already told the disciples they needed a couple of swords for prophetic reasons (Luke 22:35-38). When they went out unarmed on their preaching mission, it was operating under the Law and customs of the people, but that system was about to go away. When Jesus later said they should exchange their cloaks for a sword, the statement was not wholly symbolic. To operate from an a priori rejection of violence will cause all manner of semantic dancing around that passage, and substitutes Western rationalism for the Eastern morals inherent in God's Word. Joshua, another utterly spiritual man, had no trouble executing men under the Laws of God by his own hands (Joshua 10:26).

This was not just Moses' Law, but the broader Laws of God for all fallen men at work here. We can presume in the Kingdom we should not need violence in working with other believers, but that's not always the case. One does not win debates and arguments by violence, but one can use it to prevent horrific evil by men who choose to operate outside the Spirit, and outside the Laws of God. We cannot possibly satisfy Scripture by proposing violence only as a response to violence initiated by others. Most of the time we would expect to absorb violence with peace. At other times, violence may be the only way to stop some apparently non-violent act. Simple blanket rules are silly and sinful. Circumstances and logic do not rule, but the Spirit of God, Who often defies logic and may well ignore circumstances. Our petty fears such an open standard regarding violence could open a floodgate of violence is simply Satanic -- it is purely a cultural expression of a narrow Western and materialistic middle-class culture. It is that very culture which allows men to conceal in their own hearts a readiness to violence controlled by mere emotion and false loyalties, because the damnable Western veneer of rationalism cannot possibly account for everything. By pretending it can, we guarantee the heart is never fully exposed to the Spirit of God for inspection. Worse, we pretend such rationalism should somehow rule fallen men, when it most certainly cannot, since it rejects the very assumptions of God's revelation about Laws.

When we understand the Bible by God's own cultural bias, we realize our modern Western assumptions will find us condemning things He blessed, and blessing things He condemns. Piously waving away objections to the violence of the Conquest on the grounds of mere logic and reason is utter failure, and the secular critics are right, so long as we stand on their grounds. Joshua did not suffer from a primitive view of God's love; Jesus endorsed Joshua's actions. If only His nation had remained true to Joshua's grasp of God's Law, there would have been nothing for Him to correct in explaining the failures of the Jewish leaders of His day. It was the utter failure of Israel to live by the words of God and Joshua (Joshua 1:8; 24:14-15). The place of violence in the Kingdom of the Spirit does not yield to human logic, but must always yield to the Spirit. These are seldom the same thing. Jesus stands out on the stormy waves, waiting for us to embrace Him.

Isaiah 42

This passage is one of many "Servant Songs" in Isaiah. Let no one forget the original intention was for Israel to be the good servant of Jehovah, bringing His Laws to men with a clarity otherwise not possible. The Covenant of Moses was the clearest revelation yet of what God requires of mankind, and in Israel alone would any find such a clear example of what it meant for a nation to be lawful before the Lord.

Thus, we see a symbolic servant whom God has chosen and empowered. The image is symbolic simply because, for too much of its history, Israel refused to be that servant. So through Isaiah, God holds forth the image of what could be. He would reveal what justice means to the Gentile nations. He won't be pushy or demanding, because it's not necessary. Truth makes its own path, so the servant of God can simply walk in purity and obedience. He will bother nothing, and nothing will bother him.

Foreseeing Israel would finally fail to be this servant, God must prepare a Servant who will fulfill the Law. Jehovah, even as He allowed the nation of Israel to choose death, preserved her long enough to give birth to His Son. Because the Covenant of the Law would fail because of no takers, His own Son would fulfill the Law, seal it up and end it. Then He would Himself become a New Covenant for all humanity. He would change everything. Since Israel kept returning to idols, both the standard man-made religious shrines, and the idols of the mind and heart, so these things will pass away, and something entirely new would come.

We should understand even the most bracing translation of praise into English is a poor substitute for Isaiah's soaring image drawn in the Hebrew tongue. People all over the world would begin praising the Name of God. For a long time, He would wait until that praise can be born. When the time was due, it would be painful for Him indeed. He would have to destroy so much of what He hoped to offer Israel. Instead, it would be one long disaster, trailing off into history, as the nation is destroyed who prefers strange, man-made gods.

The Lord's first servant, Israel, is so much like those idols. They cannot see the truth, cannot hear the Word. Isaiah pictures Jehovah as One who almost can't wait to bring forth His True Servant. He would restore the true meaning of the Law, restore the Law to its proper place in the Created order. As for Isaiah's days, the people seemed to have never even understood what treasures they held, what freedom was theirs, how powerful they could have been. No, they are robbed, in prison, and chased as prey. No one can deliver, for it was they who were supposed to deliver others.

Would Israel hear the warning? Do they not know they have forced God's hand to turn them over to Satan for torture? Their safety was the Law, but they chose the slavery of disobedience. Still, with all the prophesied punishments, He knew the nation would never respond -- not really. Superficial changes may come from time to time, but it would never stick. Set a fire all around the nation, but the people would hardly know until their own flesh was smoking.

Lesson 26: Reading the Conquest

Joshua inherited leadership of a nation considerably less whiny, somewhat less superstitious, but still worldly and unspiritual. He still led them according to the Covenant of the Law, and still had to put up with a lot of very human failings. For example, lacking spirit, these people tended to revert to emotionalism, which was deeply enmeshed with what is now a narrower superstition. They could proclaim their loyalty to Jehovah after a stirring victory speech, but if things went sour according to their expectations, they allowed their feelings to sour on loyalty, too. Even for spiritual people, God is not much impressed with feelings one way or the other. He might enjoy strong emotional attachment, but what He must see from us is loyalty which often defies emotions. So He's not much threatened by your anger with Him, either. If you can keep your will in line with your commitments, you haven't sinned. Feelings are neither righteous nor sinful, but reflect our fallen nature in general. This holds true for those without a spiritual faculty.

It becomes necessary to review the political context of all this invasion activity in order to understand what Scripture tells us about the spiritual understanding of things. Canaan was somewhat thinly populated by small villages, towns, and a few big towns, clustered around water sources and arable land. That means the central highland ridge was mostly unpopulated, and somewhat forested by drought tolerant trees. We know precious little of their culture except what is reported by the few literate literate folk who visited there from other lands. They uniformly disparage the Canaanite sexual depravity, noting if often seemed to rule some religious rituals. Temple prostitutes of all flavors could be found. It seems there is little else which bound them together.

Small city-states were the most common political division across the land. Regardless how small, most villages and towns suffered their own peculiar brand of internal political rivalries. The vast majority of the towns paid tribute to Egypt, but the quality of loyalty was uneven, constantly variable, and Egypt herself was given to a very uneven involvement in their affairs for good or bad. It's important to understand Israel was hardly the only nation invading or colonizing the place. Many of the cities suffered constant raids, mostly during harvest seasons, and petty disputes between each other. Alliances were quite fluid. Yet, they all spoke a tongue quite similar to Israeli Hebrew of that time, and there remained a mixture of religious ritual and expression which included things very similar and familiar to general Semite populations of the world at that time.

The list of places Israel attacked is a laundry list of the premier worship centers for the worst pagan rituals. For example, Ai was probably still mostly tents pitched among ruins, but the ancient temple was apparently the first thing they tried to rebuild. It was this Israel meant to destroy. Other cities had their own infamous ritual centers, or protected one nearby. Make no mistake, some of this filthy religious practice could bring a lot of revenue, and would be the primary economic activity. A temple was often the one biggest treasury, and would be guarded fiercely. Canaan was the bawdy pleasure tourist attraction, perched on the intersection of a great many international trade routes. To an unspiritual mind, this was just another raiding nation of robbers picking the choicest wealthy targets, which just happened to house the most diverse collection of degrading hedonistic attractions.

The Bible tells us today every pagan religion serves a demon disguised as a deity. As long as Canaan was awash in demonic filth, astride such a crossroads of traffic from all over the known world, it was the demonic magnet for reasserting the awful filth which justified the Flood. Demonic activity has a lot of consequences, but we must keep our eye on the one factor which matters most from our spiritual viewpoint: Demonic activity makes men lawless, and unchecked lawlessness hinders the revelation of God. Never forget the primary emphasis is not the presence or absence of human laws, but that of God's Laws for fallen mankind. Anarchy -- simply defined as the absence of governing authority -- which still sees humans fairly obedient to the God's Laws is not a problem. It's not about government but the desired effect of it.

Men must be able to receive the witness of God through human obedience to Law. Demons are not a problem because of spiritual conflict, per se, but because they make men lawless, regardless of what government may be present. Their power to change spiritual reality is constrained to activity under Law. Those who die in a fallen state are going to Hell regardless; they cannot steal your spirit once it is brought to life by Christ. They can invade your life, and that is their primary function among believers, but they are constrained by hard spiritual barriers. Their presence in strongest where God's Laws are weakest. The purpose of their presence is weakening observance, and the understanding, of Laws.

So we note Israel, with all her weaknesses and resistance to their own special revelation of Law, were still sufficiently lawful upon crossing into the Land they could defeat every nation opposing their drive to claim God's promises. It should amaze us just how little it takes to please God on this level. For such a poor loyalty, the Jordan dried up, hailstones fell on enemy troops, armies simply could not hold it together in battle, and fear colored everything the pagans saw. As they were so much more given to emotions and superstitions, we can imagine just how dark it was for them. Satan owned them on every level, and God had found it irrevocable. If there was any being capable of discerning when men had gone to far, it would be their Creator. The command to decimate the population living in Canaan was the last sad chapter on a very dark blot on human history, already so tragic from the Fall itself. We should count ourselves blessed not to have seen it.

Lesson 25: Reading the Wilderness

Nobody is exactly certain the route of the Exodus, the exact location of Mt. Sinai, or other landmarks, because the names aren't recognized, or not clearly associated with any sites today. The current popular mappings are poorly supported, at best, but seem better than the alternatives. We do not have to know. Israel marched east of Egypt, at least part of their time was spent on what we now call the Sinai Peninsula, and ended up at Ezion-geber, the first place on the journey of which we are relatively certain. They spent some time wandering about in the Wilderness of Paran just long enough for those age 20 and up at the departure from Egypt to die sometime around age 60. It is critical here to note the narrative refers to wandering more in the spiritual sense than in any literal sense.

It is so very easy to let movies and books by worldly people lead us astray from what really mattered. We've already established Israel was a very troublesome people. Precious few of them were spiritual, but the entire nation suffered under serious delusions about the nature of things even from a human angle. While they weren't spiritual, they were terribly superstitious. Keep in mind, they were hardly the only Semitic people in the Nile Delta; there were other nations from outside Egypt. All of them were pagan, apparently. There was some early trade contact with Hittites to the far north (associated with modern Kurds), and some of the rowdy Greek and Trojan cities. Israel had long been exposed with a broad mixture of religious traditions, including early magic markets. Most people with any apparent mystical powers probably bought the secrets from some other mystic. The whole known world took seriously supernatural powers, but had a very twisted view of what was real.

Some of those other mixed nations followed Israel out of Egypt, and brought their idols along. From this massive mixed mob, we have at least Moses who is spiritual, and later came Caleb and Joshua. Aaron was spiritual, but very weak. We have a hard time identifying anyone else who understood things of the Spirit Realm. Everyone else was simply superstitious. When we read between the lines, we find most of the political attacks on Moses aim at forcing him to reveal whatever secrets he had for persuading Jehovah to do this or that. They seemed to believe He was just another god, totally incapable of processing the idea of One True God, and that all gods were pretty impartial. If you just made the right incantations and performed the right rituals -- presto chango -- stuff happened. This is typical of nonspiritual people who believe there is anything beyond human logic. There was for them no such thing as a holy God; they were all the same, open to bribery and whatever, as long as they got what they wanted out of the deal.

In their eyes, because Moses was keeping the secrets, he wielded unjust power over all those poor benighted souls, leading them according to his personal mad dreams. This explains how they could so quickly insult their God. To the degree Moses was crazy, it was the fault of those he led, constantly drive him to distraction. All this serves to show just how radically different Moses was, but also how incredibly patient God was.

Notice what God is willing to do with just a minimum of cooperation: food from the sky when nothing else is available, enemies incapable of exploiting weaknesses, water found where no other man ever found it before, clothing which lasted forty years, and healing from snakebite just for looking up at a bronze statue. This is how God might treat people who don't know Him at all, if they only try to meet some of His demands for nations. These were blessings under the Law.

Look what happened when they pushed God too far: snakes biting repeatedly in huge numbers, earthquakes which precisely swallow rebel tents, wildfires which burn in a barren desert, deadly plagues which strike without any carrier vector, not to mention empowering what amounts to policemen executing thousands with no resistance possible. These were punishments under the Law.

There was another significant element in the constant rebellion, which was purely political. Reuben had been the first born, and the chieftains in his tribe wanted to forget Jacob had justly removed the birthright from Reuben and his tribe (Genesis 35:22; 49:4). The same was true of Simeon and Levi who were next in line (Genesis 34:25-31; 49:5-7). Reuben's tribe kept trying to reclaim it. Simeon's tribe accepted their fate, and Levi had a completely different mission. Since Levi was treated specially, with what was viewed as an advantage as the priestly tribe, it seemed unfair they got a reward and Reuben didn't. Judah gained the birthright, but Reubenite complaints were against Moses because everyone figured he was favoring his own Levite tribe. What everyone soundly rejected was the notion this was God's own idea, since God seemed to speak only with Moses -- or so Moses said. Miracles such as the budding rods didn't mean much, since most suspected Moses was doing the same old mumbu-jumbo. When plagues and such struck them down, they only surrendered because they had no defense against what they regarded as simply magic, and it didn't prove anything at all.

That particular generation was totally unfit for the life to which God had called Abraham, that of the desert nomad sheik. For some forty years, that generation died unnaturally early, as their children learned from scratch how to live and operate in the desert. They didn't keep the Passover, didn't circumcise, and were generally not allowed the honor of establishing the regular rhythm of life God intended for the nation. They were mostly held in default on the covenant, rather like in contempt of court in modern times. The next generation grew up on manna, lived their whole lives in tents in a land with only a few seasonal grasses and shrubs, on scant water supplies, and may well have been fighting off petty raids from other wandering tribes in that area. It was a completely different nation which turned north once more at the end of that period.

We learn very early in the Bible narrative, if someone requires proof to obey God, no amount of proof will ever do. By the same token, those whose spirit was touched by God could believe anything God said. That's why Caleb and Joshua had no trouble believing Jehovah could defeat the giants in southern Canaan Land. Had He not split the Reed Sea? Had He not destroyed the economy of Egypt and defeated all the pagan magicians? Spiritual men could believe God for anything, and were thus exempt from the early death which plagued the rest of the nation. Moses reviewed the Covenant of the Law one more time with this new generation, then passed the leadership to Joshua.

Purity and Fragility

If purity were the only standard which mattered, fellowship would never happen.

Each of us have to be cultivated, to be groomed from our poisonous ways to a better understanding of what Kingdom servants are like. Jesus personally continued the cultivation of His disciples after His Resurrection. Thomas needed to be shown once and for all the Kingdom did not operate on objective fact, but by the power of the Spirit. Peter had to be shown his unworthiness was no barrier to calling. No one is worthy except Christ. Our usefulness is purely a gift of grace.

God needs not a one of us, but has decided His revelation is best accomplished by using broken vessels. There aren't any other kind of vessels available. Human perfection while under the Fall is manifestly hopeless, a ludicrous notion worthy of ridicule. It is possible only if one ignores the divide between Law and Grace, confuses Law as the final and ultimate revelation of God. God had said it was not, so how do we have so many churches built on legalism?

Their failure of purity of understanding helps to symbolize the impurity we will find in every existing religious organization in existence today. If they were perfect, they'd be removed from the earth like Elijah or Enoch. Only in our failures can God's manifest holiness shine. That is His logic; if it fails to move men, they cannot be moved. So there are no perfect organizations with which we should feel glad to associate. There are only broken ones.

It's not for the sake of purity I have withdrawn from mainstream church, or the institutional church. It's pragmatic; they won't have me. While that could be a symptom of my own unworthiness, I would never argue against that. Rather, it's the simple realization my calling does not fit in any church I know. If there's one out there crazy enough to put me to work doing what I know I must do, I'll gladly join them. I'll do that knowing I must swallow their having compromised with an evil government demand they register and accept the terms of tax exemption. I'll do that knowing most would expect me to dress in a certain fashion, and behave in a certain way.

I'll do it because they can be cultivated. If they reject any efforts to move them closer to the ideal, they will have rejected my ministry and my presence. It's not that I demand my own way. There are some things on which I simply have no choice before God. Those things as a whole are the reason for rejection by them, not by me. I was glad to hang around the last church until they told me I was a problem. I'm not called to interfere with the ministry of others. I'll gladly stay out of their way. But if they accept some cultivation, I'll hang around.

Even if they just humor me, I'll hang around. The only grounds for rejection in Scripture is a notable threat to the operation itself, or the people in it. Sadly, it's more often the former than the latter. Actually, it's typically a perceived threat to someone in authority, or a threat to their position. Frankly, this is the 95% of what keeps me out of organized church. They won't even humor me.

Here at the house church, I lead because no one else does. I have the vision and calling, but if someone better equipped shared that vision, I'd be glad to step aside. I love teaching and leading, but that's not sufficient reason to hog the show. I'm sincerely praying others catch this vision and calling, because I can't possibly do it on a very large scale. Nor would I want to, because we have had way too much "on a large scale" with people in need falling through the cracks. I can only pastor just so many before I lose effectiveness. I can teach and research for thousands, but I can't offer that personal touch to anything near that many.

Feeling the call? You don't have to register with me; just grab the truth and run with it. I'd love to know if some of this work is working elsewhere, but I can't pretend to have any control. That's not how truth works.

Life of Christ: John 20

Jesus was dead and buried. As men and women not yet having the Holy Spirit to clarify things for them, they had up to the last moment believed Jesus was about to do something miraculous to change the political order of their day, and revive the ancient meaning and observance of the Law of Moses. If they understood anything at all, it was how Jesus had set about correcting the meaning of the Law. The Jewish leaders had corrupted it horribly, and Jesus taught the true meaning. Surely this truth had to be brought into force! Then Jesus was arrested, tortured, and died.

In their minds, there was nothing to keep them from being arrested next. It was not simply an observance of the Sabbath laws, but a very real fear this was not over, which kept them cautious about showing themselves in public. Now in the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread, they weren't supposed to leave Jerusalem yet. Only now was it nibbling at the edge of their consciousness to wonder what would they do with their little fellowship. Their actions arise in this context.

So it was before dawn Mary Magdalene went to the tomb; John does not mention the other women, but their presence is assumed. However, this Mary is the central figure in what John has to show us. It was just light enough for her to realize the large stone covering the door was completely drawn away from the entrance of the tomb, not even close enough to be of any use as a door. As Jesus' body was the only thing inside, she assumed it had been moved. She ran back to where Peter and John had gone to hide, and told them the body was moved. On the one hand, Joseph of Arimathea may have simply moved the body, which had been placed in his tomb for the sake of convenience. More sinister possibilities surely ran through their minds, though.

Given the amount of time they all seemed to spend there, we can safely assume they had been hiding somewhere in the northeastern suburb of Jerusalem, typically called Bethesda. It was sure they had seen the hasty burial, then went to the nearest safe place. That would put them just a short distance from where most new tombs of that era were built. Thus, they arrived just as the sun rose high enough for them to see clearly. The combined Gospel narratives make no sense if John wasn't considerably younger and somewhat smaller than Peter, arriving first at the tomb. It was cut into the rock below the level of the entrance, so John stooped down to see inside. Tombs in those days would have a single resting place with the feet facing and near the door. From his angle, John saw the collapsed casing of winding strips sealed by gum Arabic. Peter caught up and blundered on inside. He could see the head covering was folded neatly, and had an even better look at the collapsed casing, no body inside.

For John, it was proof enough there was nothing natural about this. Peter was less sure. In all of His teaching, Jesus had not yet explained how the Old Testament had prophesied of His resurrection. Rather, He had simply stated the fact, and it had just as simply gone over their heads. Whatever they may have been thinking, the men went to their quarters, instead of back to their hiding place. Mary Magdalene eventually got back to the tomb. She didn't go inside, but stood outside weeping at her sense of loss. So deep was her sorrow she did not recognize the two fellows sitting inside the tomb as angels. When they asked the cause of her distress, she told them. Another figure came up behind her, and she assumed he was the caretaker. Hebrew women seldom made eye contact with a man unknown or unrelated to her, so she was still looking down. He asked the same question and she requested to know if he had moved the body, not wishing to impose on the wealthy Joseph any further.

It took Jesus calling her name, in a way she must have heard a hundred times, before she realized it was Him. She cried out a respectful title, rather like the English "My Lord" and hugged Him. Jesus was not worried about the physical contact, but was using humor. He called for her to calm down, since He wasn't gone yet, implying He would be around for some time yet. However, it wouldn't be forever, so she needed to get cracking. She had an important mission -- to go and make sure the other disciples knew He was just about to ascend to Heaven. She carried out that mission immediately.

That evening, they all gathered secretly in the Upper Room to discuss this business of Jesus being alive again. Jesus Himself showed up without bothering to use the doors, which were locked. Most Jews believed in ghosts, and would surely think they were seeing one now, and it would not be good news. But Jesus told them to remain calm, proving beyond all doubt just who He was by the wounds they had all seen made. So this is the miracle by which He would assert His authority over the Jewish leaders! Perhaps, but He had something else on His mind. He asked them to forget about all that, and focus on a new mission. They were to go out and touch their world the same way He had. Then, He did something symbolic, by exhaling hard on them. It recalled the creative act of God first breathing life into Adam, but this was a New Creation, and a New Law.

Previously, forgiveness was a matter of Law. Now it was a matter of Spirit. The power of the Spirit about to descend upon them would give birth to a whole new order of things, symbolized by their new authority to decide by the Spirit whom to forgive. Yes, these men would lead a New Kingdom on earth, but not of the earth. It would be according to the new Law of the Spirit.

Thomas missed that meeting. When he heard the report of the others, he showed his character. He was objective, undriven by emotion, but driven without limit. He was not a man easily swayed by wild stories, but had come to believe in Jesus because he had been there and seen it himself. He was ready to die with Jesus, probably the only one of the Twelve actually capable of backing up that claim. Since they had all gone into hiding, who were they to convince him? So at the next meeting after the Feast was over, he came to put the matter to rest. Same conditions, with the doors locked. Jesus appeared as before. He invited Thomas to check for himself, to settle his doubts by whatever means necessary. Thomas was not a hard-head, but immediately confessed his renewed willingness to die, as it were. Jesus told Thomas in a round about way it was time to stop dealing in hard evidence and human logic. If Thomas was to spread the gospel, how could he ask others to believe something on terms he would not have accepted himself?

With that, John points out the reason for this Gospel. People who need evidence will never get enough. Still, John presents enough evidence to probably win a court case. And if that weren't enough, he could tell much more, but it wouldn't help. Instead, John selected a narrow range of incidents to emphasize the point: Jesus is the Son of God. His message and power were from Heaven. John wasn't trying to prove all this was true, but why it was important. This business of New Life in the Kingdom was not a matter of the mind, but of the Spirit and spirits. It was the higher, ultimate reality to which all things God had done in the past was pointing. Reason and proof won't get you there, won't pave the road, won't even point the way. Only the impossible power which brought Jesus back to life can do it, because it's that kind of Life into which we are all drawn.

Lesson 24: Introduction, Part 5

This is the birth of Israel as a nation. The people already existed as a nation, as normally defined, but the one formative event was not yet complete in terms of their national character. We've already established they were whiners, hard hearted, fickle and disloyal at the drop of hat, but their claim to uniqueness was their Covenant.

This lesson might also be titled, "Reading the Law," for that Law of Moses was their one claim to fame. It was granted in the midst of the Exodus. On the one hand, it was a proud moment to cross the Reed Sea on dry ground, then turning to watch as the pursuers were bogged down and drowned. On the other hand, the presence of the Pillar of God was not enough to keep them from fresh rebellions by the hour. In later generations, they would hardly remember their sins, but would make much of God's apparent favor. They knew the words of the Law, but not its meaning, and we see where that took them.

Because of our foolish tendency to agree too much with their mistaken analysis, we fail to recognize the Law was not entirely revolutionary in its time. It was based on Noah, and was a particular implementation of Noah -- that people, that place, that time. As written, the Law reflects a great deal of, not just Noah, but ethnic customs, standard legal precedent, plus some clarifications long lost over the centuries. The basic format of the Covenant was a standard suzereign-vassal treaty. God was the suzereign, the emperor, as it were. They were a vassal nation under His empire. Hint: The whole earth was His empire, and every nation was a vassal nation, though most were various stages of rebellion. This particular nation was singled out as the showpiece, another level of revelation to clarify in greater detail by example.

Such a treaty document takes the form of summarized legal policy. That is, we correctly read the Ten Commandments as principle, not legislation per se. A nation loyal to God as the emperor will tend to behave in a certain fashion, and will produce certain consistent results. Having presented this policy summary, the court prepares for the inevitable process of settling specific disputes as the means to clarifying how that policy is applied. Each decision becomes then an enunciation of legislation. It is not possible to cover every eventuality, but as time wears on, the body of precedent serves to explain how to get the results described in the policy summary.

A great many provisions in the Code were purely ceremonial, unique to the case. We've already noted they were merely symbolic of higher, spiritual truths, but they were also virtually impossible to transer to any other nation which did not have Israel's particular background and context. Other nations drawn from Semitic stock would recognize instantly much of the ritual code. On top of this, a great many provisions were nothing more than a reaction to pagan practices in the Land to which they were migrating. In a broad general sense, we who read this today as spiritual servants of God should note only the symbolic meaning of the worship rituals, because precious little would apply to any nation existing today, much less to us.

Similar for us would be the dietary provisions, the Kosher Laws. Much of it reflects the necessities of that time and place. God made all things, and nothing tangible can be called "holy" in the ultimate sense. Noah was allowed to eat any animal as a general principle, but pigs in the ANE were a health risk. Animals which "chew the cud and divide the hoof" were safer in that age lacking our modern sanitary measures derived from scientific study. Cling to kosher if you like, but don't ever make the mistake of thinking it applies universally, even as an expression of Law for nations. At the same time, realize kosher is still a pretty good way to avoid most modern health threats, as long as you realize the modern Orthodox Jewish version of kosher sometimes exceeds the actual requirements of Moses.

Aside from ritual and kosher, there is the purely pragmatic limitations of a law code written for a nation in a semi-arid land, whose primary economic activity is agriculture. For us to understand the intent of the Law requires we abstract principles of social conduct and extrapolate for the Information Age. Mere rote observance makes a mockery, even on the human level. The greatest danger is assuming all this is simply some useful morality tale.

We cannot discard everything which is simply unfamiliar to us. It is not simply the matter God chose this nation, this time, this place as the closest choice out of a great many other options to express some aspect of His character. Rather, from the very beginning, in Eden, through the family of Seth, through Noah and his son Shem, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then the particular genius of Moses, God was building a culture and people which uniquely expressed His will for mankind. This is God say, "Here is what I expect, and significant departures are sin." So pet your dog, eat your pigs, and make your living typing on a computer keyboard. But know beyond all doubt, if your nation does not live under the political structure of household, clan and tribe, you are living in a nation which has rejected God's design for human society and government. Do not expect God to bless your nation with prosperity, security and stability for very long if your nation continues to reject His model.

Moses spent over a month on that mountain in the presence of God Almighty. He wasn't strung out on dope, nor chasing psychotic visions. It is known fasting under the pull of the Spirit will suspend for a time the attention consuming needs of the flesh. During this period, Moses was in a deeply spiritual state. Not only was Moses receiving a vision of the Heavenly Courts, he was occupied in sifting with God the entire literary legacy of his people. Not simply what was true and what was fiction, but what was truly important as a revelation of God. The Books of Moses -- the Torah or Pentateuch -- were an editorial product. His visit to the Spirit Realm clarified everything in his head. The entire experience was purifying in ways we cannot put into words, but little wonder his face flouresced from the exposure.

Paul warned we must approach the task of discerning the Old Testament with fear and trembling. Not because it applies to us directly, but because it remains our burden to exemplify in word and deed what the Law requires of those without the Spirit. As the Law points back to deeper spiritual truth, so men cannot be alerted to the existence of such truth if they never brush up against a clear expression of the Laws of God for mankind.

Lesson 23: Reading Exodus

Living in the Nile Delta, Israel was not yet under the Law of Moses. In the main, they were still observing the other Law requirements which applied to them. Thus, when the Hyksos Invaders, who saw Israel as a possible rival nation, realized Israel outnumbered them by a wide margin, decided to enslave them as a part of their larger program for maintaining control. We see the Hyksos living on the border of paranoia. Meanwhile, the native Egyptians rather liked Israel. Thus, we find a thin layer of the uppermost power class hated just about everyone in their domain, and most everyone they ruled returned the favor. In the particular case of Israel, their adherence to the applicable commands of God gave them a measure of protection.

The concrete examples presented here help to clarify previously revealed truth. The human view of time has little bearing on God's action in this world. Israel was oppressed for quite some time before they were delivered. Time was not important, but the ripeness of sin for God's justice was the deciding factor. We also see a certain amount of oppression and tyranny is not sufficient of itself to justify a quick remedy from God. Nobody knows the precise dates, and things seemed to drift slowly into the situation we see at the beginning of Exodus, but we can safely assume several generations lived and died under the whip. However, during those generations, God prospered Israel, as signified by the exploding population, and an implied high average lifespan. God personally enforces the promises tied to obedience to His revealed will, and what makes sense from the ground of human logic simply does not apply. We would naturally expect oppressed people to pine away, but we would also expect a legal framework to operate more quickly. Yet both are subject to God's personal attention, and to planning He often does not reveal completely. This is universal, and is still in effect today.

Another critical element is God's tendency to make sure sin is fully revealed before He crushes it. Most of us in the West today are very uncomfortable with what appears God's laxity in addressing sin in others, but so harshly and quickly in ourselves. We who are spiritual are held to the higher standards, and should not be surprised when God allows fallen men to push past the barriers we understand. We are family, and we should expect a more loving and direct interest from God. The others are servants for hire, and He simply expects less of them. Egypt's Hyksos Pharaohs weren't that important, doomed from the start. God knew they could not be reformed; their own hearts in His eyes proved they had chosen the darkest path of evil. He gave them over to that choice, and acted when the fruit of their sin was fully ripe.

In the case of Israel, it was not they were spiritual -- they were manifestly unspiritual. Rather, it was God's often inscrutable plans. God had warned Abraham things would get tough on his descendants before they got better, so Israel should at least have known that much. Yet the comments of Moses to God, about a perception of taking too long to respond to their crying out to Him, probably reflects the general attitude of the people. They missed the cues to show God was intimately involved, but the bonus was they had gained a good measure of fatalism. In its proper place, fatalism teaches you to accept things God didn't promise to fix, or at least to wait until He does. But we know the entire nation of Israel were major whiners, and in the New Testament (Acts 7), Stephen noted shortly before he was martyred how Israel was probably one of the worst nations in history God could have chosen. This was on purpose.

Israel itself was a revelation. First, let's recall "loyalty" is the primary synonym for "faith." Lack of faith equals disloyalty. Acting as if God cannot or will not deliver on His promises is exhibiting a shift of loyalty to another master, Satan. There is no middle ground. Thus, of all nations on earth, according to Stephen, Israel was the quickest to change loyalties, the first to argue with God. Second, while noting this we see just how loyal God was in keeping His promises when Israel so justly deserved annihilation. Had not Moses intervened in prayer, that could have happened several times. If the most truculent nation in history can reap such blessings, surely other nations can, too. Not just the standard grade prosperity, stability and protection, but wildly miraculous levels of those things. A generally poor level of peace with God in terms of Law (the root meaning of the Hebrew word shalom) still brings generous measures of what every nation seeks on a purely worldly level.

The other major element in the Exodus narrative is Moses was a spiritual man. There isn't a lot of reference to it because the focus of Moses' calling was to be the channel for this one, highly specific implementation of Noah. He was intensely aware the nation contained precious few spiritual people, and they had to be guided by law. At the same time, we see him taking some perceived liberties with the Law himself, because he is held to a higher standard. He clearly understood the Law was not the ultimate revelation of God's character, but was His demand from Israel as a nation. It was a poor reflection of higher principles, just as the physical Tabernacle was a poor copy of God's Courts in Heaven (Hebrews 8:4-5). Moses had a chance to see, as it were, those real things in Heaven. He was deeply aware all the visible, tangible and logical trappings of the Covenant were mere symbols of a higher truth. For those who were spiritual, the Covenant was not binding, but symbolic.

Every step of the way, God was showing the magnanimous grace available at just the worldly level. The massive devastation on Egypt was a special case, but demonstrative of what God will do even today when a government embraces His laws for nations, as against those who reject them. On those terms, the tiniest righteous nation today can withstand a nuclear attack from the biggest sinful nation on earth. Nothing He allows men to discover and build can stand against His wrath, and no horror men can create has any hope against His promised protection.

Living in Babylon's Half-truths

A carefully selected half-truth is the worst lie of all. Satan can stand on any street corner and preach the orthodox Gospel truth, but without the power of the Spirit, it becomes, in effect, a lie. This is the very nature of what Satan does in our world, for he cannot create anything. He merely takes what is, God's truth, and twists it in the minds of humans. Our capitulation to his false story is his food, his power over the world.

The first lie which makes Western Christianity impotent is ignoring the Two Realms. Mixing the spiritual with the worldly guarantees Satan's message will be heard first. The Law Covenants (Noah and Moses) were given to express God's intentions for the fallen world. It covers the human conduct on a global scale, and in particular, His demands of human government. Any departure from His plan on that level guarantees a doorway for Satan to send his demons into whatever domain that government rules. Most demonic activity is not the deeply scary stuff of movies, but is simply keeping us blind to the truth. Those Law Covenants are different expressions of the same underlying principles.

The Spirit Covenants (Abraham and Christ) are equally linked as one. While it remains a duty of spiritual people to teach and promote the Law Covenants, those lower covenants are not the Gospel Truth of Grace. The provisions of each are not equally applicable to all humanity, because our God Almighty makes a distinction between His spiritual children and the rest of humanity. That distinction is not merely in eternal destiny, but in terms of every day expectations, of life lived moment by moment. We acknowledge the needs of Law even as we are called upon to defy human laws which cannot bind our conscience. The major element in our defiance is the failure of human laws to conform to God's Law Covenants.

The promises of the Law Covenants remain viable until The End. Those promises are God's grace to the fallen, regardless of their failure to own Him as Savior and Lord. The promises include a broad range of comforts which all men seek: sufficient food, protection from disease, social stability, national integrity and stability, and resistance against overt demonic activity. We know these things because they were laid out in detail in the one national covenant of Law which God had recorded for Israel. The specifications of that covenant applied only to that nation, that time, that place. However, human wisdom alone is sufficient to abstract the principles from that setting and arrive at broad general principles. It does not require a soul born again to understand these things. It requires only the wisdom to realize these things are built into Creation itself, the fundamental nature of how things happen, whether or not we understand the mechanisms in the laboratory. These principles remain in operation right now.

For we as Christians, under the Covenant of Christ, to understand what is going on in our world, and to make spiritually wise decisions about the current events in our world, requires we understand those principles. If we simply absorb the half-truth explanations of fallen men, or those of mistaken Christians who buy into Satan's lies, we will not know what is going on, much less what we should counsel or do ourselves. Those whose voices come across in the mainstream media, whose only concern is profit, not truth, will tell us whatever the highest bidder can sell them. They may have various filters, called "editorial policy", but that serves merely to condition how those half-truths are packaged. The most basic truth of what you see before you today is there remains a rather large group of people who seek control of all humanity, largely for the inseparable pleasures of power and wealth. Everything you see in the world today is a direct result of that seeking.

A primary path to that global wealth and power is the profit from making war. It would be fair to say every trouble in the world today is the result of efforts by this group of people to sell war goods and services. Because of the idiotic baggage attached to all the popular labels, I'm going to call this group by the name Scripture gives them: Babylon. Babylon has learned the one shortest path to power and wealth is provoking and keeping war active between nations. You will notice warfare is not so much an inherent evil, because God's Law makes room for that eventual necessity. He has prescribed regulations on it to make it consistent with His will. The first regulation is that going to war be the direct result of an attack which cannot be tolerated. War is all about killing people and breaking their stuff. It's not about teaching them a lesson; that's sin. It's about convincing them to quit doing evil and attacking your nation. Babylon cares not at all about such things, but will create convenient lies to falsely justify war.

It would take a book to lay out all the provisions of God's Law regarding war between nations, and we won't do that here. Rather, I will point out the lies filling the air around us today which seek to justify current wars, plus add new ones.

Islam is a system, and Muslims are the people who live by it. As with any complex, man-made system, it is not self-consistent, and can lend itself to all sorts of expressions. It could be used to make men fairly peaceful, but this hasn't been tried very often. Most Muslims, like any other group of fallen humanity, aren't all that interested in pressing things to the hilt. Most Muslims would rather get on with their lives within the framework a reasonable application of Islam. Islam is not itself a danger in that sense, but a tool Satan can use. It is a false religion, but no worse than any other religion made by men. Frankly, it is more of a social system and type of government than it is a religion.

The current agitation and violence today associated with Islam is actually the direct result of provocation funded by Babylon. Specifically, the Taleban in Afghanistan and nearby areas were funded and organized largely by the CIA. This is a fact easily established with a minimum of research. The ostensible purpose of this buildup was sold to us as the best way to raise up native resistance to "those evil Soviets". The CIA remains a tool of Babylon, and blatantly avoids obedience to US law and political control, though the majority of the official agents aren't fully aware of it.

The organization called "al-Qaeda" is simply an arm of the CIA, in cooperation with Mossad, MI6, and similar agencies. It is funded and controlled by these agencies, in part as a bogey man to keep us confused about what's going on in our world. Virtually every official announcement from the US government about al-Qaeda is partially false, and often utterly false.

The point is, most of the so-called Islamic threat in Western countries, the invasion and settlement, is the direct result of activities sponsored by the very governments of those countries at risk from the Muslim threat. Above those agencies, Babylon could care less whether the invasion ever succeeds, because they will continue to milk Muslims for the profits of Islamic expansion. The fear of this expansion is what milks profits from the nations at risk.

The reason these nations are so at risk is nothing inherent in Islam, nor in Muslim people, but because the relative difference in vitality of the communities. Western Civilization was planted with the seeds of self-destruction from the start. It wears the veneer of being Christian, of rising from the Christian influence on essentially the Germanic tribes sweeping across Europe, but Western Civilization is not Christian, except perhaps as a caricature of Christianity. Genuine Christian faith requires an Eastern mystical view (as dismissively labeled by Western rationalist scholars), as the entire revelation of God is couched firmly in terms of Hebrew culture. The very nature of spirituality means operating from a non-Western mindset, in large part because it rises far above mere logic and rational understanding. Faith is not based on reason, but comes down from above and makes unreasonable demands of reason, as it were. That Western Civilization steadfastly demands faith be reasonable amounts to a rejection of faith. So Western Civilization cannot claim Christ, and must stand on its own.

Western nations have uniformly bought the lies of Babylon, and have become the home of Babylon's leading lights. They live among us, but are not a part of us, rather like a succubus herd. They have sold us all manner of lies which eat away at what little strength Western Civilization once possessed. The philosophical assaults are legion, wearing many names: socialism, welfare, feminism, secularism, democracy, professional standards, unions, capitalism, marketing, consumer credit, etc. All lies which ate out the foundation. The current biggest lie is Zionism, the single greatest means for siphoning off wealth and productivity from the population as a whole.

Modern Israel is subject to the same Law Covenants as every other nation. While the actual Covenant of Moses was closed and sealed on the Cross, meaning there can be no genuine "Israel" in the Old Testament sense, the lie Modern Israel inherits some biblical mandate would be fairly harmless if she simply obeyed the general principles for all nations. She tartly rejects them, demanding a unique standing among all nations of the world, totally exempt from the requirements which rule the rest. This is by design, for Babylon has sponsored Modern Israel as special project for keeping senseless war passions high on all sides. Israel is just a tool. Her whole existence is a deep package of lies too monstrous, too audacious, mind-numbingly massive, so shocking no one has the sense to deny them. Indeed, just daring to question any part of the lies makes one a target of wrath which even the most violent Jihadis admire, and wish they could harness for their side.

Notice I assert neither the Holocaust Industry nor the Jihad are any reflection of truth. Both are grand lies opposed in the public eye for the purpose of milking prophets and profits, and the primary means to keeping most of the world at war. Both are manufactured and supported by Babylon. Anyone who buys into any part of that false narrative are suckers. We have a vast horde of ostensibly spiritual people captured by Satan to these lies. But for the rest of the world without Christ, the whole thing serves to prevent them ever hearing the demands of God regarding the Law for nations. His divine plan for human government seems so utterly preposterous, we can't even get people to read about it, much less consider it. To prove that, all we have to do is remind folks the best English phrase for describing the political system approved by God is "Primitive Tribal." Doesn't that sound ludicrous? That's what the Bible demands of humanity as a whole.

We are far, far away from truth. The world serves Babylon.

Lesson 22: Demonic Interlude

Before setting off on the next portion of our journey, we take a moment to consider the nature of things not obvious. Indeed, it's not obvious even in the text of Scripture, much less perceptible to those with dead spirits. We have mentioned how most writers in the Old Testament assumed an Israeli audience, with all the Hebrew assumptions, and all the Israeli lore no longer available to us today. What modern Jews might tell us seems wholly inconsistent with the Bible, as they have long ago discarded their original Hebrew worldview. Yet, in some New Testament passages we find Hebrew Christians citing some of this ancient Hebrew lore not found in the Old Testament. We must assume there is enough there for us to serve Our King, but that does not prevent us using His brand of spiritual logic to examine clues He left behind.

In particular, we refer to the revelation regarding Satan and his demons. It is necessary to begin pointing out their work at this point in our journey so the bigger picture becomes more clear to us. It's a part of the fuller picture Hebrew readers would have had as they read these ancient stories. The Kingdom logic says this: Since the data is scarce, so must our curiosity be about them. Poking and prodding and risking wrath is a worldly trait; cautious and respectful consideration of small things is a spiritual trait. It should be obvious Satan sponsors curiosity to the point of obsession, because this sin opens the door for him to twist our understanding of him.

Sadly, I must ask readers to discard most of what they may have heard from other Christians about demons. Even quoting Scripture can be deceptive if you read into it a meaning not intended. In John's Revelation, we find symbolic imagery aplenty, including discussion of Satan and demons. The Great Dragon is obviously their master. That his tail sweeps a third of the stars down to earth with him is obviously not literal, since nothing resembling such numerous celestial objects can be found on this planet. Nor should we even take the numbers literally. In general, the lesson is there are more of them than we'll ever know, and they are outnumbered roughly two to one by angels. All the standard folderol offering detailed descriptions of how they work and how to "take authority over them" is dangerously close to blasphemy.

Yet, we can know something about how they operate. We see a lot of them in the Gospels, as Jesus orders them to stop hurting people. How was it so very many of Jesus' nation were tormented by demons? The first answer is the utter failure of the Jewish leaders, the priests and Levites in particular, had departed from the original Hebrew mystical understanding of the Law. They had become Hellenized, in love with Western human rationalism. They were corrupt to the point of rejecting the correct explanations Jesus gave for what the Law required. This corrupted fascination with Western rationalism had been in place for over 200 years before Jesus was born, so the first line of defense against demons was utterly missing. The Jewish leaders were at fault for not being able to drive out demons, nor to keep them out, as the Law promised it could do.

Satan and his demons were cast to the earth, as it were. There is an implied reduction of privilege, a lost status and power. They were subject to the provisions of the Law of Moses and, by extension, the Covenant of Noah (the two Law Covenants), in the sense that observing those covenants defeated the demons in the sense of their possession of human lives as we see them in the Gospels. People with dead spirits remain fallen sinners, but God told Cain -- whose spirit was dead -- he didn't have to surrender to sin. Satan already owns the eternal destiny of the fallen, but he cannot simply possess their lives that way, unless there is some gross failure of human responsibility under law.

Even if the leadership fails, individual lawfulness will offer some protection. However, the Law Covenants recognized an additional layer of protection at various community levels, up to the national leadership. It should be obvious, even ignoring demons, a lawful leadership system tends to promote lawful behavior all the way to the bottom. But demons are involved in breaking down those layers of protection, too. Leaders with spiritual understanding are particularly pivotal, because Satan knows who they are. When spiritual people surrender to Satan, the consequences are far larger than if some fallen sinner surrenders on a particular issue. Demons target the spiritual most forcefully for the advantage it brings them.

Grace brings forgiveness in the spirit, but Satan may still own some of the consequences. God judges each detail in Heaven, and we may never know just exactly how each case comes out. This is where Job comes in; his story takes place between Noah and Moses. He is not a Hebrew, but his experience is fully applicable to the Law of Moses. Job is a spiritual man attacked by Satan. The first lesson is a spiritual man should not be chasing the earthly blessings of the Law, because he already has a foot in Heaven. Job's friends don't get this, and their reasoning is limited to Law, because they are not spiritual. They do not comprehend how Job's situation falls outside those bounds, which they assume to be universal. The Jewish leaders of Jesus' day suffered the same limited view, that God's favor is seen only in the blessings of this world, and spiritual enlightenment does not exist. We who are spiritual have to deal with this. The second lesson is we also have to deal with sorrow which seems unfair, until we fully embrace how we operate from a different plane. Job didn't quite grasp with his mind what his spirit should have seen clearly: God does what He does in our lives for His own reasons, and owes us no explanation at all. Satan is surely a factor, and we are not granted a full knowledge of such things, but are required to remain faithful (loyal) with our limited understanding.

However, when the spiritual element is removed, most things are written in stone, as it were. The Canaanites defied the Covenant of Noah, as had their progenitor from before the moment Noah cursed Canaan. His character infused itself into his descendants. By that open rejection, they invited demons. Their religious practices were filthy beyond description, and it served to increase the demonic presence in the land. When God sent Joseph to Egypt, it was necessary in part because that demonic outbreak was about to get worse by far. When it was time to leave Egypt, there was a similar outbreak of demonic power there. When the Israelites whined in the wilderness under Moses, they were inviting demons into the camp. When they invaded Canaan, they did not attack every city, only the places which served as the most demonic places of pagan worship. When they failed to finish the job, they left open the demonic presence on a permanent basis. David, as a spiritual man, beat them back from the nation at large, but left his household wide open to attack. Every king who compromised, spiritual or not, opened the door to demons who had been there a long time already.

When Jesus came into the land, do we not see what a demonic heyday it was? The very people who should have fully understood the demands of the Law Covenants had rejected the means to understand them. They traded away their Hebrew heritage of divine revelation, and demanded God operate according to such logic as man could develop on his own, outside revelation. God is not impressed, and Satan is enjoying himself. Things have not changed all that much since then, when it comes to demons and their work. Every nation since that time owes part of their history to how well they kept demons weak or strong. Modern nations today are still under that same system.

Lesson 21: Reading Joseph

In our journey from Darkness to Light, we travel with Joseph to Egypt. It was painfully obvious Joseph was his father's favorite. Cultural clues in the narrative indicate Jacob intended to make Joseph his vested heir. This violates custom and such law as applied to the situation, but would not be a sin, per se. The elder brothers were jealous, but might not have balked so much had Joseph been a little easier to tolerate.

Joseph was not arrogant, but immature. Consider: The fundamental nature of civility, the art of living peacefully with others, is paying attention to boundaries. Physical boundaries are obvious, ranging from markers of real estate to the concept of personal space. In blunt terms, you can do anything you please inside your own boundaries, but there are times when your circumstances require you to recognize reduced space ownership, and you simply aren't free to swing your arms wildly when your neighbors are within arm's reach. People who refuse to recognize conditional curtailments of their personal space are uncivilized. The concept certainly extends to communication. Not everything passing through your head is appropriate for discussion with every passing ear. Children typically struggle to understand the concept of appropriate topics and content, telling perfect strangers their most intimate details. Joseph, in his exuberance over his dreams, failed to observe wise boundaries. We can be sure his experience as a slave in Midianite custody, probably lasting a month or more, was sufficient to make him a little more circumspect.

The Joseph narrative (Genesis 39-50) is by far the very best storytelling we see in the Old Testament. While some pretty significant details are missing, since the writer assumes his audience was familiar with that time and place, we are drawn into the story with such power and grace, we come away feeling we had been there. This is the epitome of Hebrew communication arts, as the very structure of the language, the logic itself, gives highest priority to transmitting a first-hand experience. The language is evocative, not descriptive. There simply is no place in Hebrew culture for a dry statement of facts, of clinical description. The higest value in that culture was shaping your loyalties, not catering to your curiosity. The narrative begins with Joseph having already learned to serve, already determined to glorify his God.

There can be no doubt Joseph was a spiritual giant. The primary evidence is his ability to serve genuinely. Holding God's interests first looks an awful lot like honest love for those you serve. God blessed that devotion with unparalleled wisdom. Potiphar was heartbroken by the accusation against Joseph, but declined to execute him. Joseph was not deterred, but continued serving as before. Eventually court officials brought him to Pharaoh's attention and he served equally well in the Egyptian court.

It is necessary to offer some details the writer assumes we would know. The office of Pharoah was already long endowed with pretensions of demi-god status. Business in the court was loaded with ceremony and ritual, utterly pagan. On a human level, Joseph would be forbidden to have any part of it. On a spiritual level, it was necessary to endure it for God's purpose. Perhaps the best explanation is Joseph knew his God was real, but lived in a world where monotheism was simply incomprehensible. We know of a certainty the Egyptians had access to very convincing black magic, but we are conditioned to be very skeptical and cynical, even at a subconscious level. No one living at that time would have ever conceived of our frame of mind on such things. There would be nothing schizophrenic about Joseph holding loyalty for his own God, while accepting the temporal requirements of his situation under the authority of some other batch of local gods. His state of mind is not part of the story because the writer assumed a Hebrew audience, who would have grasped the subtleties, and still see Joseph as a model of holiness.

Notwithstanding the ritual veneer of Pharaoh's supposed divinity, we see a distinct limit to his political power. Best we can tell from historical sources, he was essentially first among many nobles, with some fluctuation in what he might pull off at any given time. Much would depend on the level of support from various noble houses in his realm. Most obvious is the matter of titular ownership -- his nobles owned their various domains in a rather weak feudal framework. By the time Joseph was finished keeping them alive through the famine, that titular ownership had been transferred to the royal household. The balance of power was changed forever, so to speak. When the next batch rulers rose to power there, they assumed the system already in place. We believe they were not native Egyptian, so naturally it was necessary for them to cement their position as the top level of society by elevating the divinity of Pharaoh even farther. Revolt against their position was no longer purely political, but darkly dangerous as rejecting the gods of the Nile.

This sets the stage for the sheer arrogance of trying to revive the ancient Egyptian monument building. Previous ruling dynasties probably fell in part from the sheer economic exhaustion caused by the likes of the pyramids. However, this new group chose the route of slavery to reduce the cost of their ambitious building projects, and the Hebrews were hardly the only victims of these incredibly harsh conditions. However, the Hebrews belonged to another God not tied to the Nile pantheon. A critical element of God's revelation, particularly in humbling the Egyptians, was raising His profile among the plethora of pagan religions. Joseph was uniquely placed by God's divine wisdom to set the stage, upon which yet another man would later stand as founder of the identity of the Nation of Israel.

Lesson 20: Reading Isaac and Jacob

Abraham was a spiritual man, a walking ocean of spiritual influence splashing up on everyone he encountered. Isaac was a spiritual man, but by comparison his tiny cup had a sip of water left in the bottom, evaporating all too quickly. God was a personal friend of Abraham, but Isaac was merely a distant cousin. Which means most of us would struggle to face what he did half so well.

Isaac did manage to stay in the land, and God prospered him for it. However, Isaac liked all the wrong things. We are told Esau was a big game hunter, and his behavior indicated he was barbaric and uncivilized, utterly dead in the spirit. Jacob had a conscience, but was a weasel. That Isaac doted on the big game hunter shows he did not understand God's model of greatness was shepherd, not hunter. Earlier references to Nimrod, the great king and hunter, carried an edge of disgust. It's impossible to imagine Isaac did not know of the prophecy regarding his sons, but he tried to get around it. Had he been obedient, he would vested Jacob with ceremonial covenant rights, and Esau could have kept the earthly blessings of prosperity. Instead, Esau showed contempt for anything beyond his next meal, and forfeited all rights. Isaac still planned to ignore this and vest Esau as his favorite.

Yet, Isaac was spiritual enough to understand he must not let Jacob stay in the land. By custom, Isaac was obliged to execute Jacob for his deceptive dealings, but he finally surrendered to God's will in the end. Jacob left the land no better than Isaac had been.

Jacob was a very carnal man in his own right, and his first approach to God was on the human law level. He would agree to make God his lawful sovereign in exchange for the basic necessities of life. That's pretty much what the Law of Moses was about, and the intent behind the Covenant of Noah. Notice he imagined God was somewhat rooted geographically, as if this was merely his tribal deity, the god of that particular place.

He went away a pretty decent man, somewhat repentant of his slick dealings with his brother. Instead, he was subjected to abuse of a far slicker con man, even as he learned to become honest. His domestic tempests became a fundamental reason God later outlawed any man marrying two sisters. Still, God did not allow all this petty rivalry to hinder His will. The man came back home with a stature of his own, rather like Abraham had when he came down from Haran. He was now ready for an encounter with God to raise him to a spiritual level, and a name change to Israel.

His latter dealings with Esau were not from fear, but a knowledge of Esau's nature. It would have been a sin to entangle his future with such a man. In passing, we note where the troublesome Edomites come from, and why they were so evil. They came from Esau, the epitome of anti-spiritual manhood. Still, Jacob never completely rose to real manhood himself. His sons were awfully rowdy, largely because he was an unwise father, too visibly partial. They suffered from a very uneven quality, on both the human and spiritual levels.

Meanwhile, in the background we note the Canaanites were nearing the climax of their wretchedness. God gave them rope to hang themselves, and it was necessary to move the covenant family away from this filth until they had reached the state they justified another Flood. However, God had promised to use human law to judge sin after Noah's time. First, He had to prepare a lawful people who were fit to wield His Law on the earth. We note the problem was not simply lawlessness, but a very Satanic religious culture.

Tribulation Report #029: Emergency Lessons

The lessons of emergencies and disasters are the best training for living through tribulation. Observe what happens during lesser emergencies, and see how people act, and in particular, how government officials act.

People suffering disaster tend to ignore the media noise, and simply do what comes naturally. For example, they panic if they can't get home to check on family, pets and property. On the other hand, they tend to know how to evacuate when their homes are threatened. The greatest threat, they always agree, is separation from those for whom they bear their first level of responsibility -- the immediate family unit. Pets usually come next, then property. That's pretty sensible.

The behavior of government officials is completely opposite. Okay, I suppose you would expect bureaucrats to dismiss anything which inconveniences them. That makes a certain kind of sense. However, those appointed to the front line of dealing with the public should never be allowed to get away with that. They will. Make an official complaint, provide massive evidence, and the bureaucrats above them will defend their actions. I have yet to hear or read the words of any government official which indicates they have any cognizance at all of human nature. They have their jobs to do, their sacred duties, and you can get stuffed if you don't like it. Even though you pay their salary and may have voted them into office.

We understand police, medics, and firefighters need unrestricted access to disaster areas. We understand they often don't know what's going on even in the thick of the action. We understand supervisors must do their best to coordinate utter chaos at times, and typically live with a large measure of failure until things fall into that indefinable rhythm for which no man can be sufficiently trained, but which often arises from some unconscious instinct in most emergency responders. Great stuff. I've been there. Anybody with brains knows that failure will dominate at first, and nobody will have a clue, much less have anything to tell them as they wait for news of their loved ones, etc. Only the most unconscionable self-centered whiners, the kind who want the whole universe pickled in their personal sorrows, would make a scene.

But what happens when bureaucrats and officials forget whom they serve? What happens when they forget people are the whole point? Government seems to know only one thing: control. Until they feel they have that, you could easily get hurt just asking them a question. I've seen that, too, up close and personal. It's wrong. They forget the mission is not control, but service. When bureaucrats and officials forget that every emergency and disaster requires at least one person who does nothing but pass information to those they claim to serve, they have no business drawing a tax paid salary. Fire them.

I don't mean the "public relations" professional liar appointed to make the government agency look good to the press. We are referring here to someone trained to focus on human needs, the very deep and instinctual need to know somebody gives a rat's patootie, even if they can't do a darn thing to help. Until they appoint such a person, nobody else has any business working any emergencies. That should be one of the first responders to anything bigger than a single car crash or single house fire.

Yeah, I'm dreaming. After my years as a Military Police supervisor and dispatcher, I realized the number one element in community support is supporting the community. I suppose it's because I know all this, I would never be hired by any government agency, because they seem to have a hot-blooded hatred for just that. Here are some examples, observed first hand, of what you can expect from the very best police agencies out there.

1. Following a tornado, ripping whole suburban neighborhoods apart, a man carefully left his safe area to get ice. The power was out, and he was trying to preserve the family's food supply. He drove a couple of miles to the nearest convenience store still operating, and got two bags of ice. Attempting to return home, a police officer refused to let him head back to his neighborhood. First, the officer denied there were any houses there. Then, he insisted there were power lines down across the road -- there were no power lines anywhere near that road. Then he forced the man to drive down a very congested street which ran... towards some downed power lines. The officer eventually realized he was wrong, and the man got home with most of the ice melted. The officer's department not only defended the officer, but said the man should have been arrested on the spot for daring to suggest the officer was mistaken.

2. After a rash of wildfires, the local fire department was called out to extinguish a rekindled hot spot. The location was on a rural road, a major thoroughfare. Over a dozen police cars came and huddled on either side of the firetruck, but not a one had enough presence of mind to station a road block at either major intersection on either side of the scene. Instead, they allowed traffic to enter the section blindly, only to have to turn around and take a detour. This created a major traffic snarl for at least an hour before someone ordered two of those cars to post out on the intersections. I understand they went grumbling, because they weren't allowed to hang out and watch the action.

3. Another fire in another part of the same town took out a huge steel building housing a wiping rag company, which started in the cleaning machines. Very difficult to extinguish. The firetrucks ran hoses across a major intersection. While there were police patrol cars on the scene, they did not even bother to protect the fire hoses for at least 30 minutes. Worse, this was an intersection in an area dominated by industrial buildings, many of which drew 24-hour truck traffic in and out. It took at least another half hour before anyone among the police officers had the presence of mind to post a road block back at the intersections leading into this trap. Instead, several big rigs, at least two with triples, totally unable to back out of there, were jammed and kept there for several hours. I understand the police department never heard of the concept of "defile" -- something military police learn how to operate before they are allowed to take their driving course.

(Defile: a passage on any high traffic road where only one lane is open for a significant distance. The requirement is to organize a rotating passage for traffic. The concept is the foundation for re-routing traffic around any obstacle, one of the first things Military Police patrols are required to check.)

These examples are so common, it is frightening to think how ordinary citizens will be treated if there is ever a real problem. Don't ever trust police to do the right thing. As we draw farther into difficult times, it should become instinctive to avoid them.

At the same time, even when things are massively chaotic, your neighbor is likely the best friend you'll find. Even random folks in the same fix as you can be some of the finest humans on earth. That is, as long as they don't have some government position which interferes with acting normal. That's the way normal people are, even those who aren't spiritually minded.

Life of Christ: John 19

It is typical of modern Western minds to debate the details of which day, which year, which exact minute events passed on the day Jesus died. The various Gospel texts seem almost to avoid the question. Anyone convinced they can divine the facts with any degree of precision based on careful parsing of the texts has already asked the wrong questions. John demonstrates what matters by barely discussing it. Yes, we know this trial before Pilate transpired on what is now called the Day of Preparation for Passover, in which the Passover meal is consumed just after sundown. On the day Jesus died, the Passover lambs were sacrificed in the Temple. He was the True Passover Lamb of God. All the other efforts digging for details are dangerously close to unholy obsesssion.

Having released Bar-abbas to the crowd, Pilate had Jesus scourged. While the Roman version is quite brutal, and the process grants the soldiers too much time to mock the victim, Pilate was hoping this screaming mob of bloodthirsty Jewish leaders would be satisfied. Jesus was apparently not quite beaten to the edge of death, because He was still conscious enough to stand during the soldiers' abuse and mockery afterward. Pilate went back out into the street where the Jewish leaders were waiting, and we could suppose they and the crowd of onlookers heard the beating. Then Jesus is paraded before them in the fancy robe, crown of thorns, and bleeding profusely from dozens of wounds.

Normally such a sight would end the matter, but Pilate underestimated the bitter hatred at work here. Make no mistake: Satan lived in the hearts of those men of Judah, for they had embraced his way, having long before rejected their God for some caricature found in massive precise nit-picking over the Law. It is the same overly precise picking at insignificant details which colors far too much of Western church theology and religion. It was this frame of mind which demanded Jesus die without mercy. Pilate refused to be involved. Here, finally, the Jewish leaders revealed the core issue of their complaint: Jesus had claimed to be the Son of God.

Pilate then realized just how crazy this whole thing was, because what little he knew of the Judaism surely made this the ultimate sin, yet this claim was so typical of rulers historically. Jesus was hauled back inside where Pilate sat in his official seat of ceremonial authority. His question appears aimed more at getting Jesus to say something about this claim of divinity. Did Jesus claim to be from Heaven? Any answer He gave would not help Pilate personally, nor would it help him in this dilemma. He warns Jesus this could be fatal. Jesus responded by noting He was indeed from Heaven, for it was divine authority that mattered here, not Roman. Pilate was being manipulated as a mere tool, but the blood guilt was actually on the hands of the Jewish authorities. Pilate struggled to avoid even this lesser degree of guilt, but to no avail. The Jewish leaders threatened to appeal to Caesar, with a complaint Pilate was derelict in his duty.

Pilate accepted his fate, as it were. Following official protocol, he pronounced sentence on Jesus for treason. To make sure they knew it was entirely their own decision, Pilate asked the crowd one last time. They had already been primed. It went so far the Chief Priests committed what was normally considered blasphemy, by invoking Caesar as their legitimate ruler. Jesus was turned over to the crucifixion detail, Roman troops. John notes in passing this was midday, using what for his audience would be standard Roman notation. We realize John skipped over a great deal of detail covered by the other Gospels, since it took half the day for Jesus to be finally led away to execution.

While the details of the actual execution are quite spare, John makes a point of discussing the charge publicly posted above Jesus' head. Pilate was in no mood to cooperate further in this travesty. Perhaps he's skewering the Jewish leaders by asserting Jesus really should be King of the Jews, or simply being sarcastic. John sees the hand of God, in this, as well as the prophetic fulfillment of how Jesus' clothing was disposed among the soldiers. Then John notes how Jesus appointed him to take up the care of His mother. Finally, he describes how Jesus actually died, fully in control. Jesus cried out in thirst, and a soldier gave Him a sip of the cheap wine Rome issues as military rations. He needed one last drink to wet His throat, so as to carry out the final act, by crying out in full voice for all the world to hear: It is finished! Jesus did not last as long as most crucifixion victims, but all we need to know is it was enough to pay for our sins.

Jesus gave up His Spirit, and was truly dead. John makes it a point to describe enough detail. In particular he offers his solemn testimony about the separation of blood and other body fluids, something seen only in truly dead bodies. Again, this fulfilled prophecy. The end of the matter was rather quiet and hurried. Two upstanding members of society, apparently members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph and Nicodemus, took care of the body with an eye to keeping the Law. Just a few hours remained before the Passover began at nightfall. The two men between them managed to properly dress the body with linen winding strips dressed with a large amount of spiced gum Arabic, all according to their custom. One of them owned a tomb very nearby, and they just made the time limit. John notes in passing this tomb was a standard offering to God, as yet unused for any other purpose.

Aside from making the obvious point Jesus really was dead, John seeks to show his readers what really mattered. No man ever died as Jesus died, because no other man was the Son of God. Jesus remained the Master of all things even as He died. The one man involved with any real earthly authority recognized this, a pagan Gentile. Yet, the very People of God refused to recognize it, because they didn't know their own God. The day Jesus died was their last chance to make amends, and they spitefully rejected that chance. Their day ended, and they were not to be spared, or passed over, any longer.

Hearing in the Spirit

I really do wish I had something I could just write up and make this easy. Unfortunately, the whole thing is a miracle from start to finish, and everywhere in between. No one can answer it for you. I'm seeking to know it well enough to teach it, but so far there's nothing I can write.

All I have are my own personal experience. Most of the time when people tell me they believe God is directing them one way or another, even if it seems to me implausible, I go along with it. If they tell me God told them something, the dubious meter hits a higher mark. I can't count the times people say that and it not turn out right. So when I believe God is telling me something, I remain skeptical.

When I was rotting in Texas, there came a point I knew God was taking me away from there. A short time later, it happened. Not wholly a miracle, but the situation changed -- Hurricane Rita -- such that I could reasonably ask someone who was then willing to help us move. It's not often I can make sense of something on that level. The number of times it didn't work out taught me to keep my mouth shut.

Recently, as I have studied and examined the ways we have been taught in the larger Evangelical community, and particularly by the Charismatics, I'm finding most of what we have written is, to be kind, baloney. I maintain the foundation for any such a thing remains convictions. If you can't delineate some of your convictions, I won't listen to you yakking about the will of God. From that foundation, I've been cautiously examining ways to winnow out the stuff I've sensed in the past which didn't work out. I'm still seeking an answer on that.

However, recently, I felt a powerful sense of anticipation. It was not specific, but it was clearly something in my spirit stirring. It became almost feverish earlier this week. Yesterday, the firestorms swept across the county here, coming within 2 miles of us. While I was ready to evacuate, and had done the mental exercise of considering what I would really need to carry away with me in our mini-van, I really believed we were safe. While there are still a few fires flaring back up, there's currently no threat to us where we live here in the trailer park.

Now that sense of anticipation has receded, taken on a wholly different character. There is nothing about it hanging directly over my head. So I suppose we can suggest I learned a little, though I didn't discuss it with anyone else beforehand. I knew some big event was coming, and those fires did destroy over 150 homes just within easy bicycle distance of here. God only knows what all else was destroyed: storage facilities, domesticated animal housing and the animals themselves, countless wild animals in the woods, etc. So I am thinking this heavy sense of anticipation was about the fires.

Meanwhile, I still have this sense some things are going to change dramatically, but not right away. Maybe next week, next month, next year... I don't know, but not right away. That's all I can put into words.

I'm still trying to figure this out.

Lesson 19: Reading Abraham

Abraham was by no means any more perfect than you or I. Upon entering the Land of Canaan, he is told by God this was to be his legacy. Yet, the first time a drought strikes, causing a famine, Abraham leaves. Not only did he sin, but as in the Fall in the Garden, he lost contact with his spiritual perspective. In fear he convinces his wife and half-sister Sarah, to emphasize the latter relationship between them. While God protected Abraham, even prospered him, this was God refusing to be frustrated by the sins of His servants.

Nephew Lot is not spiritual at all, but fears God on a human level, conditioned by culture. He chooses the wide, lush tropical Jordan Valley above the Dead Sea. The price of this choice is associating with the worst of Canaanite culture centers, Sodom and Gomorrah. This sets the stage for several major elements in the story. First, the cities of the valley are ripe for exploitation by greedy rulers. There is here the subtle warning an affinity for creature comforts is the root of all sorts of sorrow. The raiding kings carry off Lot's household along with everything else in town.

Abraham, who follows the calling of God to a more noble existence, is in a better position to take action. Abraham shows little concern for property, forfeiting his customary right to keeping the rescued loot. He seeks simply to fulfill the tribal obligations of saving his blood kin. In the process, we are introduced to a historical puzzle: Melchizedek. We see here a priestly king over a Canaanite city who clearly serves the same God as Abraham.

That Melchizedek is more important as a symbol than a fact of history is made obvious by the writer of Hebrews. We find in that letter a wealth of detail not recorded elsewhere in Scripture, but clearly demonstrating Jews up to the time of Christ had a huge background of historical data no longer available to us. Yet even there, little was known of this King of Salem. The text does not even tie Melchizedek's city with the nearby site of Mount Moriah, where Isaac was offered. So the writer of Hebrews takes advantage of the mystery and points out some of what it should tell us about faith in the Patriarchal Period (from Eden up to Moses). By describing a Priestly Order of Melchizedek, we are told the term is not necessarily literal, describing some officially established ritual order by earthly law, but by the higher Law of Heaven.

Those who walk by the Spirit, that higher Law of Heaven, are not subject to the laws God established for the rest of humanity. The writer of Hebrews goes on to clarify such is because we obey God directly as His family, satisfying God's will on a level which is not possible when operating according to earthly laws. The call to sacrifice Isaac is abhorrent to custom and law among Semites, a filthy practice of the local worshippers of Molech in the Hinnom Valley directly below Mount Moriah. Abraham acted lawfully on a much higher level, not bound by mere human custom and laws, and so Melchizedek was also unbound by mere human law. Thus, our understanding of the Covenant of Abraham is expanded by the presence of others who observe similar relations with Jehovah. This paves the way to understanding later incidents which occurred after the Law of Moses was given, but which were not bound by that Law. This older order, as it were, was not preempted by Moses, but was on a completely different level.

This did not keep Abraham from observing the customs of his time. He lived according to the Spirit in a certain context, as a means to revealing God. The promise of a son was bound directly to the ritual oath by which God bound Himself, by passing through the blood trough, while Abraham did not. That ritual served to reveal to Abraham in symbols he understood that his progeny would pass through very difficult circumstances (the smoking oven) by which God would show Himself more clearly (the torch). Again, creature comfort is to be despised in favor of serving to glorify God before the watching world. Sorrow in this world is something we should expect when serving the Lord.

Another major element we must always struggle to learn is God's view of things. For example, time. In essence, the spiritual perspective is all things in proper order, but never according to any schedule. Abraham rushed the issue of his heir. It created more trouble that it was worth. Again, God handled it, but it cost Abraham a great deal he sought to preserve. There is much about God's ways which are inexplicable to us, and we must learn to accept them. While we might understand the health issues behind circumcision in the ANE, it's more important to see it as symbolic of the unique requirements for sexual purity. Not without some cultural precedent, the degree and form of chastity in the Bible is virtually singular in human history. Lot escaped Sodom's destruction only to be trapped in the petty fears of his time, and his worldly answer to a high standard becomes the explanation whence comes two of Israel's worst enemies -- Moab and Ammon.

The vast gulf between the divine and the worldly is nowhere more starkly seen than the story of Abraham's intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah. So deep was their sin, not five righteous souls could be found there among the citizens, even by a human standard of righteousness (Lot was not a citizen). Those cities were a symbol of human evil gone too far, but the rest of the Canaanites were little better. Today, we have devised a human standard of justice which rejects God, even in His lower standards of human law. The destruction of Sodom is called a myth, or at least unjustified on the basis of mere sexual impurity. God's later commands of genocide against the rest of the Canaanites is also condemned, as if God were to be subjected to standards He revealed for sinners.

Even after all his face time with God, Abraham still carried the tendency to fail. His dealings with Abimelech showed the same old human fears. He did well in dealings with the Hittite colonists for a grave site, and in refusing to allow inter-marriage with the locals. As Eliezer learned his master's faith, we can, too. Eliezer's oath to Abraham serves to symbolize how we must approach our loyalty to God. The ritual of a hand under the master's thigh was an agreement to forfeit everything, not just property and life, but family as well. We must remain aware sin kills everyone and everything dear to us. But if we leave those things in the hands of God, and go about His business with full loyalty, we find a reward far greater. Eliezer's new master, Isaac, is the image of Christ here, as established when Abraham obeyed the call to sacrifice him. Isaac's reign as head of the household brought even greater comfort and prosperity than Eliezer could had asked.

Isaiah 41

During Isaiah's lifetime, there had been more than one resurgence of pagan idolatry. In some cases it might be seen as little more than a political reaction to royal reforms, but it has always been hard to separate politics and religion in that part of the world. Clearly, in God's eyes it made a difference, for typical political maneuvering was seldom condemned for its own sake, but straying from His Law was never acceptable. Having a political motive was no excuse.

The Mediterranean coastlands represent all Gentile pagan nations, but those far away in particular. In this case, they are a proxy for the various deities claimed in those lands. God calls on them to meet Him in court, where He sits as Judge. While scholars insist Isaiah refers here to Cyrus of Persia as rising from the north and east, just about every ancient empire (except Egypt) came from east of Palestine, typically attacking from the north, following the Euphrates up where it comes near the Syrian coast. Further, the Lord had accurately prophesied of Assyria and Babylon coming to dominate Palestine in turn, so Persia is just one more. No pagan deities managed to prophesy these things before they happened. Did they take notice? Of course not, but the Gentiles encouraged each other to invest more heavily in new images of their various gods.

Judah had no excuse for joining this madness. God chose them Himself, Creator of all things. Theirs was the only real God, and His divine favor was very real. When other nations dared to rise without God's calling, they were crushed and forgotten. It mattered not a whit how great and powerful they were, especially compared to little Israel. It was not Israel's greatness, but the greatness of the God of Israel, who could make them able to face any empire.

God pays close attention to the most needy of earth. If they call on Him, nothing they need is too hard for Him. Rivers in the desert, enough water to grow a massive forest, anything is possible with God. Indeed, His people would be like a massive forest growing along the banks of ancient rivers of His revelation.

So let these proud nations bring their deities to court. Let them prove they are real gods by a record of prophesies, such as the rise of Assyria and Babylon, let them compare with His direct promise there will be a Persian Empire. Or let them even fully explain Creation. No, they cannot, but are simply chunks of human artwork.

So let's get specific. There will be an empire arise far to the east (Persia) which will, indeed, call upon the God of Israel. The conquering ruler will treat mighty kings like piles of wet sand and clay. No other deity predicts this. Let's see if it happens. Indeed, it did, for Cyrus of Persia was aware of Israel's God, and gave Him credit by name. He was promised to set Israel free from the Babylonian captivity. So why is it no one in Jerusalem will now embrace this message by faith? Why do they cling to other messages from false gods, and ignore the message of their own? All these imported gods are a waste of decorative materials in Zion.

Lesson 18: Part 4, Introduction

To recap, we have seen the progress of revelation, mostly in the requirements for the Lower Realm. That is not to say revelations for the Spirit Realm did not happen, but were not much recorded. The whole point was to keep in plain sight the path to the higher reality. All commands regarding the Lower Realm point back to the Spiritual Realm. Satan clearly did all he could to keep mankind off track in the Covenant of Noah, substituting anything and everything for the blessings available from obedience. The Flood points out fallen men are utterly incapable of self-direction, and need human government. The Tower shows the greed for power and wealth of human rulers knows no boundaries.

Noah's descendants did not forget all man had discovered before the Flood, but took some time to regain the technologies. We have evidence of civilizations passing through various levels of the Stone Ages, into the Bronze Ages. While mankind did remain scattered and hard to unite, those thousands of different cultural developments also brought thousands of ways to drift away from the truth of God's revelation. There was yet no means to reliably discern among the various mythologies just what reflected reality. From our modern analysis of things hidden in the dim past, we can detect common themes, but we can only guess from the things recorded where we can find them. It is virtually certain much cannot be found, whether it was recorded or not, because the near constant warfare and destruction has forever lost much for us.

It's no surprise, then, those today lacking any spiritual interest at all would hold forth various images of the ancient past at conflict with what seems to be described in Scripture. Even among those who believe, the picture varies widely. We should not imagine this frustrates our God at all. It simply serves to remind us mere human intellect won't find much which truly matters, if anything at all. We can comfortably select the archaeological and historical interpretation which best fits a spiritual understanding of Scripture, but don't make too much of it. It's just a color commentary, as it were, to the main events on the field. In the end, people are only going to keep record of what's on the scoreboard. What matters most is the spiritual lessons, those things which cannot be known without the Spirit of God.

So it's pretty obvious mankind spread abroad, as God intended. At the same time, their understanding of the minimum earthly requirements also drifted far from the truth. This meant the path to spiritual reality was also more and more difficult to see. We have no idea how much time, as humans measure things, passed between the Tower and the birth of Abraham, but such a question is a distraction. Mankind needed a fresh revelation of both realms. Abraham was the chosen instrument.

This man lived in a culture which, near as we can tell, kept track of religious materials. Making sense of the Bible narrative as a whole, we find men in the Mesopotamian Valley were able to accurately track some minimum requirements for the worship of Him who eventually called Himself Jehovah. Please note, that name is simply the common English spelling of something which was pronounced and spelled various ways in various cultural and linguistic contexts, themselves each varying over time. It's just a word, and it will do, since it seems God Himself was not too concerned with the issue, allowing His servants to call Him all sorts of things. Most importantly, Abraham connected with God on a spiritual level, which was apparently rare in his day.

Abraham knew enough of the truth to recognize God's voice in whatever form it reached him. Nothing is said of the actual method, only that Abraham got the message. Looking back, that implies he was at least a scholarly man, probably regarded among his kind as nobility, such as it might have been. Abraham's family had immense property in a world where the vast majority of people were peasants, at best. Such a man was God's choice for a fresh revelation of both the Spirit Realm and Lower Realm.

First, Abraham was called to leave behind his whole world. While he did retain moveable wealth, he left the society to which his status was tied, as well as the entire cultural setting in which his expectations of life were framed. He sacrificed all that mattered to him, keeping only so much property as God found useful in this calling. More, Abraham was required to become something his people despised -- tent dwelling nomads. We happen to know, for example, circumcision was regarded with contempt in Mesopotamia, but was a necessity for nomadic life in the ANE. We can say Abraham sacrificed his life at God's command, and this is the fundamental requirement of spiritual birth.

Second, Abraham was called to settle in a land of filthy culture and abominable religion, to insure he and his descendants would see just how bad things were. The Canaanites were the polar opposite in terms of Noah's Covenant of what the Nation of Israel would become. Abraham's mission and calling included a faith assumption God would grant to his descendants the land on which he wandered. They would pass through some horrendous experiences, then arise a hardy nation with nothing to lose, ready to embrace what would amount to the clearest statement ever of what it would mean to observe the requirements of the Covenant of Noah.

That Israel never really fulfilled that purpose should have been expected. We know fundamentally it won't matter how precisely and clearly you reveal to fallen man God's will, he won't embrace it. Even when the revelation clearly states in detail just how it is following such a will is the best of all possible worlds for a fallen mankind, men will reject it. They will always seek some other path to their desires. No one should be surprised by this.

Nor should we be surprised when they reject the spiritual path revealed in full clarity and simplicity, either. The very failure of Israel was the channel in which Christ was to be born, to fulfill not only the lower commands of law, but all the higher redemptive purpose, as well. God knew Israel would fail, even as he revealed to Abraham he would father the nation which would become Israel. God knew the only way to answer the question was to drive down into the very center of human existence the undeniable revelation of Himself and His truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lesson 17: Reading the Tower of Babel

In our journey from Darkness to Light, we leave behind nothing but our confusion. The previous lesson reminds us afresh of the Two Realms, and the necessity of human government in the lower realm. That necessity itself is obliged to follow certain requirements which make up the shape and content of the Covenant of Noah. At this point, that shape and content assumes much, but has seen little enforcement, so confusion over God's demands is expected.

Remember, we are dealing with God as Eastern Potentate, the image He casts of Himself. Such a ruler would promulgate His laws as statements of desired results. He leaves it up to His servants to find appropriate ways to carry out His wishes. If they demonstrate a lack of ability or understanding, He gladly steps in to provide more detailed guidance, particularly upon request. He fully expects opportunities to clarify His will as time goes on, and has prepared for every eventuality. Surely He will not ignore flouting His wishes, though He will be patient until the moment is right for a lesson. Precedent is a critical element, and the first violation generally reaps the harshest punishment. Western notions of fairness and equality are frankly despicable, sinful whining before such a God.

Clearly we, as His servants, are expected to entertain a great mass of mystery, operating under God's inexplicable motives at which He only hints from time to time. Holiness is not defined as performance of a standard, for only He can grant the power to suceed. Holiness is defined as a desire to please God, regardless of our ability to perform. From His spiritual children, He wants loving loyalty. From the fallen world at large, He demands they observe certain limits which will permit His glory to manifest in His spiritual children as they walk among the dead. The Flood wiped away the first massive failure, and established the principle of civilization and human government. As time progresses, that principle is refined, because it cannot possibly be revealed all at once.

So the story of the Tower on the plains of Shinar establishes a refinement on the Covenant of Noah. There was nothing inherently wrong with all humanity at that point speaking a single language; it was the natural result of descending from a single man, Noah. Once organized under a human government, they moved to a place where primitive civilization could thrive. What is required? A place well watered, fertile and capable of growing crops. In this case, the alluvial plains of Mesopotamia were and are so temperate as to grow more than one crop per year. This allows the economic efficiency so men can begin to specialize at various tasks for making life more comfortable, and threats reduced. This is all part of the definition of civilization, but it was one other element which transgressed God's intentions.

The fatal flaw was amassing greater power in a centralized government, which would directly defy God's command to spread out in small tribal communities. While the tower did have an ostensible religious significance, probably primitive astrology, the underlying motive of choosing contrary to God's clearly revealed will is the central issue. The arrogance of great power under a single authority figure was just too much temptation for this primitive chief. He wanted it all for himself, and possessed the wherewithal to make it happen. The single point of failure was the unified language.

This is what God chose to change, to force mankind to carry out His command. We are provided precious little detail, and to assume every living being suddenly spoke incomprehensibly to each other is pushing things too far, a typical modern Western mistake. A difference in language assumes a difference in cultural orientation, a difference in what is important, of how things should be done. The sudden drift into cultural variation was sufficient for tribes and clans to separate over political procedure, and in the context of Hebrew literature, this is probably the best way to understand the narrative.

The most obvious lesson is a screaming objection to what men naturally do in politics, which is amass more power and authority over increasing numbers of people. Human logic cries out for efficiency of resources, chiefly human resources. This in itself dehumanizes them, a major sin against God. A small tribal government forces leadership to deal with individuals as people, not machinery or scenery. Everyone is blood kin and you can take away the protective affinity only when someone demonstrates a dangerous disregard of it themselves. To despise your own flesh and blood is so fundamentally evil, it hardly requires enunciation. Centralization of political power not only enables dehumanizing those governed, but requires it. God does not tolerate tyranny, and political conglomeration is impossible any other way.

Modern notions of participatory democracy is the Satanic lie, for the language of the claims of Babel was everyone wanted it that way. By whatever means, allowing masses of humans to freely choose things contrary to their own best interest is fundamentally wrong, as was demonstrated by what Noah's world was like before the Flood. The one and only proper form of government is within the limits of your own family. While some may complain that means they are forced to accept the rule of those randomly chosen by right of birth, regardless of ability, we note God implies here such is what He requires. It is later proven in Scripture not to be so iron-clad, but remains the place to start. Whatever sorrow which might arise from purely hereditary tribal rule, there is absolutely nothing else possible in this world which works out better in the long run.

The Fifth Day

Sundays were dead slow at the camp. Because of vestigial customs, the regulations didn't permit training, per se, but command expected all sorts of nifty propaganda activities in the middle of intensive cleaning and polishing. This cycle of conscripts were not yet allowed to attend chapel because of a mix up in scheduling chaplains. This mix up happened just about every cycle, and was the same mix up that put him on first Sunday duty among the drill instructors in this battalion. It was nice to have friends in the camp scheduling office. It allowed him to offer the one hour of sanity these trainees would see for the next twelve weeks.

Though his speech hadn't changed much since he was drafted into this position two years ago, he was constantly moving the session location to prevent other cadre from catching his performance. Not that most of them loved this job any more than he, but there were always a few spies, zealots who would have him before the commander, who in turn would be forced to act if someone presented an official accusation of disloyal speech. So far, virtually everyone in authority in this training camp was just one incident from deciding serving as an inmate in the stockade on the central base upstate might be more pleasant duty. But the paranoid atmosphere cultivated by the government prevented most of them from discussing with each other. But he knew, and it figured into his speech.

In his light body armor, he stood out from the drab brown-covered mass of bodies. He marched the company as one mass element down the one paved road, off the right at the end of the pavement, and up the hill to a dilapidated training area. They no longer used the weapons for which this range had been designed, but the caged bleachers and roof were still standing. Most of the newer cadre had no idea what was there, because the typical tight scheduling of training events didn't permit any reasonable measure of personal time, even if any of them cared to explore the unused corners of the camp. He filed the men into the bleachers with his hand resting against on his sidearm. Conscripts in this day and age were more dangerous than ever, and those who didn't wind up in prison during the first three days could still be pretty surly. This, even with armed cadre authorized to shoot a dozen trainees without much more than filing a few extra forms on the training cycle. The conscripts knew it, and were still somewhat in fear for now.

"Ready.... seats!"

They sat, almost as one.

"Trainees, I welcome you to the Sanity Hour." There were puzzled looks on some faces. "You have already entered twelve weeks of intensive training. By now, you realize you will be herded from place to place, with non-stop training sessions, and will be hard pressed to remember who you are. That is by design. Keeping you confused and disoriented, not knowing at any moment what's about to happen, and too busy to think, helps minimize the difficulty of our job as cadre."

Some of the men nodded, and there were even a few smiles. Suddenly he became very animated, using broad dramatic gestures and facial expressions.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking we are all sadistic SOBs who enjoy your misery. While our training attempted to make us that way, we aren't any more interested in being here than you are. However, aside from that frank admission, nothing we say or do during this cycle will betray that to you." Some were laughing at his well rehearsed comical posturing.

"There are a few things you need to understand, things which our training documentation assumes, but which no one will bother to explain. It is likely this will help you a great deal, as I give away the secrets" -- he looked broadly back and forth, as if worried someone else might hear -- "of how this training company has maintained the lowest dropout rate in this whole camp. Officially, this block of instruction is filled with moralist sermons on how to love your country, and be so proud of your appointed leaders ... and a bunch of other senseless crap. Today you will know the truth and become the best training company, because you will understand things nobody else gets told, things nobody else will tell you."

Despite the laughing and whispering to each other, he knew they were paying as much attention now to him as they would anything during the entire training cycle.

"You and I know there are thousands of individual humans wearing variations of this uniform. Inside the uniform they are all different in ways they are not permitted to express. We talk of 'The Army' almost as a person, yet refer to it impersonally as 'It'. Thus, The Army does not care how you feel about this or that, but It will demand you obey. We know it's nothing more than a convenient way of discussing what amounts to the official policy of the United States Army at any given point in time."

Placing one foot on a stray cinder block, he stood looking up and to the right in a gross caricature of the noble and dutiful soldier for a moment. A few of the trainees snickered.

"Would it surprise you to know the Army bureaucrats responsible for publishing that policy argue and fight daily over what gets printed in the official documentation? That the 'official policy' on some issues is changed back and forth several times a day before it eventually filters down to us? Some of those people can't find their own butts using both hands!"

He waited for the raucous laughter to die down.

"The reason I wear this rank and this body armor, and" -- he paused to pat his sidearm meaningfully -- "this weapon, is because I have come to terms with something I don't like very much. We humans are very complex creatures, and inside our heads we might be having internal policy disputes just like those bureaucrats. The Army senses that, and knows It can't force you to love what you do here. It can, however, bring to bear some uncomfortable moments if you don't at least pretend you like it. In effect, you are being told every day, 'You will do it and you will like it!' That's what it means when one of the cadre says, 'Let me hear some mo-ti-va-shun!' So you cheer and scream like idiots, and they stand there feeling like idiots right along with you."

More raucous laughter, along with applause.

"If you find this whole charade revolting, go right ahead and resist. I won't blame you. At some point I'm sure those bureaucrats are going to come up with something I can't take. Until then, things are just about tolerable. They are tolerable because I have come to terms with reality. You know if you raise a hand against any of us, you'll be lucky if we don't pound you to a pulp. If we consider you an actual threat, you'll get your butt shot." No laughing now. "That's reality. The same thing would happen to me, by the way."

"You can take just a moment to think of much safer, smarter ways to resist. You can look at my compromises and judge them any way you like, because there's nothing anyone can do about your feelings. I am hardly good and noble, but a part of me can't resist sticking my finger in the eye of authority by helping you keep your sanity and your sense of self. Officially you are each just another fleshbot meant to nobly face enemy fire and gratefully allow your body to be shredded for Old Glory. If that works for you, go to it! Hoo-ah! But most of us aren't that stupid. We would like to go home someday without being in a box."

Every eye was on him now.

"To do that means you have to know the system. You have to discern intelligently just what sort of facade The Army has to see. Don't fight it head on, because it's guaranteed you'll lose. The only heroes are dead heroes, regardless whether they fought The Army or fought for it. All you have to do is pretend, put on a show. The very fact you are human means you do not live by mere instinct, but can swallow a lot of idiocy from others. Don't let them draw you out; don't let them trap you and wrap you up in their idiocy. Humor them, give them just enough to pacify them, and get on with your life."

Smiles and knowing nods.

"The biggest problem you have is getting used to the idea what they want is a pretty big chunk of your time. Twelve weeks is a long time, but it's not forever. Don't forget, I have to do this twelve weeks over and over again! What you experience as a little bit of fear and wondering what comes next is plain old dreariness to me." He stood facing stage left. His shoulders slumped, his head hung limp on his chest. Then, he turned his head sideways, his face toward them, with all the weariness he could muster. "You mean I have to stomp up and down that dusty field and teach another group of hostile conscripts how to march? Something they don't like and probably won't ever do again once they leave here? Oh, gawd...." He let his chin drop back onto his chest, placed his hands over his face, and groaned plaintively.

The laughter was more restrained this time. He took a few steps closer to the front row.

"You can leave here in chains. You can leave here in ambulance. You can leave here in a hearse. You can struggle in senseless petty ways and leave here a lot later than any of us would like. You can leave here as a fleshbot and go die for Old Glory." He paused a moment. "You can leave here as a compliant whiner and milk the system for all that gets you. It won't be much. I'd rather you left here with your sense of self intact. There is that other way to beat the system, you know: Be smarter than the system."

He glanced around at them thoughtfully for a moment. Then he stepped back, locked his body to attention.

"On your feet!"

As they filed out of the bleachers, formed up, and marched down the dirt road, it was obvious this was not the same group which marched out here.

Life of Christ: John 18

From the very beginning, John had always emphasized the divine nature of Jesus, and especially the other-worldly viewpoint in regards to everything. The other Gospels had been around for some years, carrying their own different emphases, and John's Gospel assumes the reader is familiar with the narrative they offer. Thus, while he occasionally adds facts they left out, John often skips over details. His choice may surprise us until we remember that other-worldly emphasis. By now, people who had not yet developed that spiritual viewpoint would have made far too much of the human experience of Jesus, with a tendency to make Him too much a human hero in His trials. John reasserts by his choice of material Jesus was all about the Spirit Realm.

So it was John tells us briefly where Jesus and the disciples were when the arrest took place. Judas led a very large party of Temple officials, Temple guards, and Roman cohort troops. John skips over Jesus' prayer alone in the Garden as adequately covered elsewhere. However, John reminds us of Jesus' divinity and absolute authority in all these things. First, Jesus could see all this from His Father's standpoint in Heaven above, so no secret was hidden from Him. Second, He made one last expression of His divine authority to the men who rejected that authority. He demanded they explain whom they sought. When they named Jesus of Nazareth, He answered as God: "I AM!" At this, they were forced to back off a respectful distance and prostrate themselves before the Almighty. Miracle or not, it was the same divine command of respect which kept the same folks from arresting or stoning Him until His hour had come. His hour came when He said so, not before.

Then Jesus asked again whom they sought, to nail down the legal principle His disciples were not to be arrested. This fulfills His promise to keep them safe for the sake of future witness. Even Peter's blatant seditious act was ignored, but perhaps only because he chose to assault someone unarmed. While his willingness to fight probably arose from his own fear Jesus was right to tut-tut his promise to defend his Master, it was half-hearted at best. John identifies the unfortunate man for us. Jesus rebuked Peter for missing the whole point. Jesus was now ready to face the task His Father appointed.

He went along voluntarily, and John makes the point their first stop was the home of Annas, the former High Priest whom Rome deposed in 15AD. John makes the connection for us between Annas and the current High Priest, Caiaphas, who had accidentally prophesied the sacrifice of Jesus. So this was not an official hearing, nor legal in any sense. However, Annas still bore tremendous influence, and was determined to have his part in this matter.

John notes Peter followed him into Annas' courtyard. Legally, Peter could be classed a wanted man for his assault, never mind Malchus was healed on the spot. Nothing had turned out as Peter expected, so he was totally out of his element, and fearful of real world consequences. The first query he faced expected a negative answer. Peter joined the very men who had witnessed his crime to warm himself on the cold night.

Among Jews, a man who was High Priest kept that title until he died. We should not let this confuse us as we follow the narrative here, still in the home of Annas. It seems obvious Annas was seeking some evidence he could present to the Sanhedrin, in keeping with their firm plans to have Jesus executed. Perhaps this Jesus would confess His plans to usurp legitimate authority, even lead an armed coup. Did He have such secret plans? Jesus insisted everything about Him was in the open, and there had been no secret teachings or instructions. A Temple Guardsman there felt this answer was insufficiently obsequious, and struck Jesus. Jesus noted there was no legal grounds for that, and Guardsman had nothing to say, nor did Annas. With that, Jesus was marched off to see Caiaphas.

John takes a moment to tell us how Peter fell deeper into the grip of his own human fears. They began to recognize him standing there by the fire. One asked a bit assertively. The second had a much better grounds for accusing Peter, being related to Malchus. Upon his denial, Jesus' prophecy was literally fulfilled. While the warning Jesus gave Him used Roman jargon about the various watches into which the soldiers divided their night time guard posts. Rooster Crowing was the term for the third watch, just before dawn, but Peter's memory was jarred by a literal rooster crowing. John tells us enough to reinforce his thesis of Jesus' divinity.

Skipping over the Sanhedrin Court, John tells us briefly of how Jesus was turned over to Roman custody. He also reminds us this took place on the day of the Passover Feast, by noting the Jews could not enter the Roman governor's residence that day, since he was Gentile. Pilate humored them, meeting the delegation outside in the street. The Jewish leaders had no case under Roman Law, so Pilate told them to use their own Law. They informed him it was a capital case. Jews would have stoned Jesus, but He had prophesied His execution would be Roman. There is solid evidence this proceeding had been pre-arranged between Pilate and the Jewish authorities, but not so neatly tied up as the Jews had thought. Pilate decided to carry out a Roman investigation of charges of treason.

Did Jesus claim to be King of the Jews? Jesus knew Pilate had been manipulated, deceived by the Jewish leaders, and asked if Pilate really cared one way or another. Pilate denied any interest in Jewish politics. Why had Jesus' own government turned Him over the Rome? What had He done to stir them up? Pilate's commission from Rome required him at least to find out what was afoot. Jesus answered honestly, and in terms Pilate would surely grasp: Jesus was King in a spiritual sense, and was no threat to anyone's political authority. Well, could Pilate still hang things on this "King" business? Yes, strictly speaking, Jesus was born a King, but it was about truth, the sort of truth which needed no swords to advance His reign.

At this, Pilate realized this was none of Rome's concern. It wasn't even philosophically interesting to him personally. He announced to the Jewish leaders waiting in the street there was nothing he could do legally. John doesn't spare much for the details, but notes Pilate attempted to turn the tables on the Jewish leaders by appealing to the crowd about having this popular rabbi released in the customary gesture of good will in honor of Passover. Having already been primed by agitators, the crowd ended up calling for a real criminal, a very dangerous man named Bar-abbas.

Thus, John keeps before his reader's mind this is all a scripted drama, and the only one truly free to choose was Jesus. Everyone else simply played their assigned roles, mostly as unwitting servants of God Almighty.

Isaiah 40

In terms of chronology, the Assyrian threat is past, and Babylon is yet to come. However, Isaiah feels the conquest and exile as a present and painful reality in his spirit. Starting in chapter 40, he seeks to prepare the hearts of those who will see it firsthand. More importantly, there is a deeper spiritual message. While Judah does learn from the Exile, they lose more than they gain. Well before the Return and Restoration the foundation is laid for a complete loss of the spiritual viewpoint, and they lapse into a very superficial and worldly form or Judaism. The visions in these chapters range all over the time-line, to include portions which prefigure John's Apocalypse.

It is doubtful Isaiah knows or cares when the various visions are fulfilled. The spiritual viewpoint pays little heed to such concerns. Rather, he sees the hand of God at work, revealing His ways to a people who reject those ways. This is the same people who were given the most clear understanding of His ways for mankind, and were in the best position to perceive where this all pointed to in Eternity. They not only rejected His ways on earth, but closed the door for those to whom they were supposed to reveal them. The tragedy and sorrow of the Exile is outweighed by the tragedy of a nation preferring the world to Eternity, and how it would be such a long an tortuous path to the Messiah they would also reject. The Babylonian siege in the near term was the least of the nation's worries.

The only comfort for this nation will be the sense of restoring peaceful loyalty to their God. The work of the Spirit is to soothe the frustration and calm the fear of walking in service to a God who so perplexes us in our fallen minds. Israel had a double portion of God's revelation, and would be held accountable to a higher standard. It's possible the nation could learn from all this, and would be following God through the miles of wilderness separating Babylon from Jerusalem. Thus, the Return could be a genuine homecoming, glorious as the passage through the wilderness of Sinai, when God Himself made the path open by His divine presence. So crossing the sea would pale in comparison to a smooth highway across several hundred miles of scrub desert and rocky highlands. Instead, that image will symbolize the demand God will make for His people to be reshaped for the coming of His Son.

If people could only realize this world is but a shadow of things eternal. Isaiah is called upon to cry out this truth. Nothing in this world is worthy of our concern. God will gladly help us realize that by wiping away all our plans, indeed, whole nations will be wiped away. What matters is not human existence, but the revelation of God. If we could embrace that as far more precious than life, we would understand and sorrow would end. Zion was granted by God as the place from which that Word would proceed. Israel was instructed how to do this, but refused.

So it is God will do it for Himself. His own Son would come like a shepherd. This Shepherd would be the same One who laid out Creation with the measures of His hands. His the one who defines what is right and just. Nothing on this earth could suffice to give Him His due. Can any other being compare to Him? Can anyone produce a likeness glorious enough? No, it's all shoddy and cheap by comparison. We can produce nothing worthy of Him, and no power on earth can rival Him. Like seed dropped in the sand in a dry land, the wind of God's Spirit could blow away whole nations. We cannot even count the stars He knows by name.

For the Jews to think God pays no attention to their secret counsels is too silly for words. To think God isn't giving us our due is arrogance on a scale unimaginable. We are so far beneath Him, perhaps that explains why so many refuse to acknowledge Him as their One True Ruler. How sad, for those who come before Him with proper reverence will see His glorious revelation and know His power. The hardiest men on earth will hardly be in the same league as the servant whom God empowers. Indeed, their spirits will soar above eagles as their loyalty will see them threw every trial.

Another Old Heresy: Coping

"People simply cannot handle life without Jesus as their Savior," said the budding evangelist.

The Secular Humanist responded, "Nonsense. I've been coping all my life without your Jesus. I'm less neurotic than you are."

Under his breath the evangelist muttered, "You may think you're coping, but really you aren't." Meanwhile, he really did suffer more neuroses.

I can't count how many times I was told the strongest selling point of the Gospel is coping. It's a sacred doctrine people can't really deal with this fallen world without Jesus, though they may believe they are alright. This probably explains Rick Warren's financial success, since that is pretty much his whole "gospel" -- self-help psychology with Bible verses.

If there's anyone in this world suffering emotionally, I am. I've never been all that far from suicide. Chronic depression is hard-wired. Jesus did not die on the Cross to relieve me of my emotional distress. He may well do that -- I'm still here -- but that was not the point. I didn't come to Jesus for emotional peace. He fixes broken hearts, but we wrongly assume "heart" means emotions or feelings. The heart is the seat of our loyalty to Him, our will. It's where faith is manifested. Indeed, faith is virtually synonymous with loyalty and commitment.

Jesus died on the Cross so the Holy Spirit could invade our souls, bring our spirits to life, and make us able to serve the Father. We can do this utterly crippled, or completely at peace. And yes, sinners whose spirits remain dead can, indeed, cope with this awful world just fine. I can teach them something about it and they will do as good as anyone else without Jesus, and better than many with Jesus. It's a fact an awful lot of people leading in evangelical churches suffer quite a few neuroses, and some quite serious, even to the point of psychosis. Whether Jesus chooses to heal those things is not the point, and not a "selling point" of the Gospel.

People come to the Light because they can't turn away, because God Almighty is calling them.