Killing God - Part 44: God Is Not Dead

God’s Not Dead:

                Adam drew first-blood. He injured God, not in a physical nor spiritual sense, but emotional. Yes, God has emotions. He demonstrated love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, and even anger! The shortest verse in the Bible is one of the most meaningful: “Jesus wept.” ⁷⁹⁹ God cried. At what? Because he loved us so! Specifically, Lazarus for whom he groaned. ⁸⁰⁰ He mourned for a man who was dead to the point that he stank. Lazarus is the representation of mankind. We stink! We are spiritually decayed, and it takes the blood which God spilled to cleanse the sin and remove the stink of sin!

                After, Adam drew blood, mankind warred with God. Time and again man killed God, not in Heaven, but in the world. Cain killed God, not with his sacrifice but his attitude. Abel’s gift was more excellent than Cain’s ⁸⁰¹ not because meat is more valuable than grain for grain was an acceptable sacrfice as well. The excellent gift of Abel was self-sacrifice. He was obedient because he revered God. Oddly, Adam was credited with the first sin but was covered by grace. On the other hand, Cain was given liberty but abused it. The sacred writings on page ____ were Cain’s seed sinning wantonly and with impunity. God doesn’t control mankind. Although not on auto-pilot, God allows each person to make choices even if they are wrong. That is part of his loving us so! 

                Wrong choices are the sinful ones. Mankind is at liberty to sin ⁸⁰² but the character of the new creature is willingness to obey even though not required to for salvation. God doesn’t measure the number of sins, but the willingness of his creatures to obey of their own volition. The metrics for the degree of willingness goes from rebellion, to unwilling, to apathetic, to willing but failing, to willing and seldom failing. Never failing is on the scale but that belongs only to God Himself – Jesus Christ – who was innocent on all accounts. 

                Then we have those at the time of the deluge. None were righteous enough but Noah. However, his family was obedient. By grace, Noah was saved and with mercy his household was. Eight persons were saved by grace. All others died by the water when they could have lived by it. They rebelled against God, and Noah was a laughingstock. ⁸⁰³ God’s Spirit was nearly killed in the ante-deluvian age except with one man who had faith to trust the Lord with his future. God protects Himself: he cannot be killed and will protect Himself from those who try. Even the thought of God was gone so God destroyed the world and brought new creatures through the flood. It was their seed which was planted and the Table of Nation in the Bible divulge to where those seeds were planted. ^{804 805} I am descended from Japheth and am not a chosen person. God included me by grace, not in apostolic times, but in the beginning. Japhethites are the peculiar people and half the Gentile population. 

                On the other hand, the Israelites were the defenders of the faith but although they oftentimes attempted to destroy God, the patriarchs kept God alive during all those centuries by their belief in the coming Messiah. Most of the Shemites (Shem’s line) rejected the Cornerstone of the Church. ⁸⁰⁶ Although the foundation was set with the Catholics, God was again rejected as the Pope replaced Caesar as Pontifex Maximus – “the greatest priest”. ⁸⁰⁷ That title is reserved for the truly Greatest Priest – the one on the order of Melchizedek”. ⁸⁰⁸

Figure 3: he world according to the Mosaic account (1854 map) Wikipedia: "Generations of Noah"

                Babel was the home of pagan religions. Most of the gods of mythology evolved from Assyrian and Babylonian Gods and goddesses. Their gods could be somewhat seen, although just faintly. In those times the people squinted 20-20 to see the faint outline. Andromeda could be seen in the sky as well as Aries, Gemini, Pagasus, Perseus, Virgo, and many more. ⁸⁰⁹ These were the Greek gods but they were derived from Mesopotamian – Sumerian and Babylonian gods. ⁸¹⁰ Early people found their gods in the stars and many still do! 

                The Tower of Babel is believed to be a ziggurat with a level of each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. ⁸¹¹ Mankind was looking for God in the stars although He is a personal God who was right there!  Yahweh is unique! He is unseen. Because mankind needed a visual God, He visited the world. Jesus is God manifested in flesh. Although He was clearly seen, people still look to him in the stars, and elsewhere. 

                Before Babel mankind spoke a common, perhaps divine language. Many believe it to be an archaic form of Hebrew. Because those at Babel were killing the One True God, He confounded their language – sort of what is called “encryption” in modern times. Mankind was divided into language groups so that they could not understand each other. ⁸¹² Because mankind was in discordance with God they grouped together with those who they could understand and scattered about the world.

                It was not until people were of one accord with each other until God came down in accordance with them. At Pentecost, millennia later the languages were decrypted for a time until the Church was formed. ⁸¹³ Many of foreign nations spoke and understood each other. The divine language had returned. It once was there until the people sought false gods with a false church. God decrypted the encrypted language to build a new Tower to the unseen Heaven. The Holy Ghost descended after God ascended. Those who understood, were the new Church. The tower of Babel again represented the contaminated earth, and rather than being destroyed by water, it was destroyed by confusion.

                Mankind traveled to all ends of the earth. The Egyptians had their own gods, many renamed to agree with the confounded language. Egypt in Scripture, represents sin. God sent Joseph there for a purpose. He was the God’s emissary who tamed Egypt for the Hebrew people’s punishment. Jacob’s sons all went there and grew into the millions as they learned the culture and gods of the Egyptians. They were the Church. If not for God and Moses, the Church would have died in Egypt, and with the Church gone, God would be dead according to Satan’s plan.

                The exodus, from the book of the same name ⁸¹⁴ is a story of salvation. Egypt represented the ante-deluvian world, the Red Sea the flood, and the wilderness the ark. Noah’s forty days were turned into forty years for the Hebrew people. Unlike Noah and his family who stepped on dry land, Moses and the Egyptianized Hebrews weren’t allowed in Canaan. It seems that, indeed, Paradise was still guared by Cherubim – gigantic ones who had perhaps inbred with mankind! ⁸¹⁵

                The Hebrews re-entered the Garden through the one Gate. It was not because they did not sin but because they knew the password for re-entry. The Word allowed them back into Paradise because they knew His Name – Jesus! Joshua is merely from the Hebrew Yehoshua – “YAHWEH is salvation” from which the English name “Jesus” is the same! Yes, it was by God’s Name that the cherubim allowed the Hebrew people to re-enter the Garden. There was no other way they could have entered because the Gates is straight and the Way to it narrow. ⁸¹⁶ The Garden was gone but its foundation was there – Jerusalem – “the foundation of peace”! ⁸¹⁷

                God had Church in the wilderness. He gave them the Law of Mount Sinai, and then judged them by it. ⁸¹⁸ The Law was written on stone for perpetuity! All the Hebrews failed – even Moses who sought to draw water his way rather than follow God’s instructions. ⁸¹⁹ God threshed out the Church before he opened the Gate to Paradise. Only those who were born in the wilderness were allowed in. The wilderness represented the world, and the Hebrews who were born there represents the new birth. The few who were allowed in overcame the world! ⁸²⁰

                Time and again, God threshed the Hebrew people having Church with them wherever they traveled. God united them with one vision: when they saw the cloud by day and the light by night they saw God. When they heard Him speak it was the Voice they heard. The patriarchs understood! They saw Jesus! ⁸²¹ When Joshua crossed the Jordan he stood still in the deep water, actually doing what Jesus would do years later at what appears to be that same spot! ⁸²² The Word gave the instructions to Joshua for a purpose. He was doing what his namesake would do at his introduction to the world! ⁸²³

                They saw Jesus threshing the people having Church with them when Abraham was given his covenant. It was his seed by which Paradise was re-entered. The Abrahamic Covenant contained the password. It was Yehoshua which was Joshua and Jesus.  Yehoshua is still the same password required to this day to enter the Gate to Heaven, still guarded to prevent those not born-again from entering! ⁸²⁴ All mankind must dwell in he wilderness and overcome its temptations. What is the temptation? To be as gods – masters of our own domains.

                The Garden was destroyed time and time again. God had kept it clean for a time because Melchizedek had been King there. David obtained the foundation of the earth, its navel, and established God’s Kingdom there again, just as Yahweh had promised Abraham. Over the centuries syncretic kings one after another destroyed the Garden. Wars tore it down and after the Church was rebuilt, it was torn down again! Sin destroyed the Church. God supplied one righteous king after another but sin entered into the hearts of the kings one after another. For all practical purposes, Sodom was rebuilt on Holy Ground!

                God destroyed half the Church – those in the northern Kingdom of Israel. That was the second major Church split. The first has occurred when Lot and Abraham separated. Abraham had chosen safe space where the sin was less. Lot chose the way of sin, nearly killing his half the Church. ⁸²⁵ Then the Church was wiped out as the Babylonian under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Church and its temple! (Not Solomon’s but God’s.) ⁸²⁶

                A loving and graceful God allowed Cyrus the Mede to be more generous. He allowed the City of David and the temple to rebuilt. There the Law was rediscovered and Ezra merely read it to the people. ⁸²⁷ The Church was rebuilt after God was nearly killed. Mankind’s quest to kill God was delayed for many hundreds of years!

                As God allowed nations to be built to fulfill His purpose, he remained silent for four-hundred years! God was not dead yet but like the silence before a tornado, the storm was about to come!

⁷⁹⁹ Holy Bible; John 11:35.

⁸⁰⁰ ibid; John 11:38.

⁸⁰¹ ibid; Heb 11:4.

⁸⁰² ibid; Gal 5:1.

⁸⁰³ ibid; Gen 6:9-9:17.

⁸⁰⁴ ibid; Gen 10.

⁸⁰⁵ Wikipedia; “Generations of Noah”.

⁸⁰⁶ ibid; Mat 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17.

⁸⁰⁷ Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, s. v. Pontifex.

⁸⁰⁸ Holy Bible; Psalm 110:4.

⁸⁰⁹ http://www.wwu.edu/skywise/greekmyth.html

⁸¹⁰ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1998JBAA..108....9R

⁸¹¹ Henry H. Halley; Halley’s Bible Handbook; “Tower of Babel”.

⁸¹² Holy Bible; Gen 11.

⁸¹³ ibid; Acts 2:1.

⁸¹⁴ ibid; Exodus.

⁸¹⁵ ibid; Num 13:33.

⁸¹⁶ ibid; Mat 7:14.

⁸¹⁷ Wikipedia; “Jerusalem”.

⁸¹⁸ Holy Bible; Exod 31:18.

⁸¹⁹ ibid; Exod 17:6.

⁸²⁰ ibid; John 16:33.

⁸²¹ ibid; John 1:1-2, 14.

⁸²² ibid; Exod 28.

⁸²³ ibid; Mat 3:16.

⁸²⁴ ibid; John 14:6.

⁸²⁵ ibid; Gen 13:12.

⁸²⁶ ibid; Jer 52.

⁸²⁷ ibid; Ezra.