The Churls and the Righteous

     Isaiah saw through the transparent sea of glass beneath the throne of God (Rev 4:6). It was transparent for him because Isaiah had a bright nature with bright eyes. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken (Isa 32:3). On the other hand the churls cannot see what Isaiah saw nor hear what he did. Of course, you are thinking, what are churls? Ceorls were the lowest rank of free men in England at the time the King James Version was written. They had a reputation, and from their behavior, the word "churl" was derived: "an impolite and mean-spirited person" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
     Strong's Dictionary defines it as stingy. I would say it is more self-centered and self-interested people who do not care about others. Generally, they would elevate themselves higher than they really were. Life would be all about them! 
     I can visualize the churls as low-status Americans living as if they are nobility, but having to spend on themselves what little they have to appear prosperous. Churls live the lie. Imagine, if you will, a wealthy person throwing a few silver dollars in a crowd of peasants with them behaving as dogs hoarding a few crumbs, then arising from the fray all content and proud for having taken the most silver, even from the other poor dogs who scurried with them.
     Now let's examine churls from Isaiah's perspective:

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment... And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken... The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right... And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. (Isa 32:1,3, 7, 17)

    Churls deviseth wicked ways.  I see that all the time. The way of the world is manipulation - pulling the strings of those who are not astute in such a way to obtain gain or power. Original sin, back in the Garden of Eden, is the first example of a "churl" at work. The Serpent was a churl. He thought himself the highest of the angels but he was only a churl. His rank in the Kingdom of God was not as an archangel such as Michael and Gabriel, but he saw himself in a different light:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (Isa 14:12-15)

     Not only was the Serpent elevating himself to godhood, but he was encouraging Adam and Eve to view themselves as gods themselves.  In King James's fiefdom, Lucifer was no more than the Coerl - the Ceorl of coerls. His nature was that of a churl. He personified the very word churl. Ezekiel saw the nature of Lucifer very well:

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. (Ezek 28:17).

    That is how churls consider themselves. They have a false perception of who they are! That passage exemplifies the churl in King James's court. He saw their pitiful self-aggrandizing  fantasy. Coerls, in James' court lived the lie. Lucifer, in God's realm is the epitome of liar-hood: "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44b).

     Thus, we have Lucifer, born low, who sees himself as high-born or even divine royalty, but on the other hand, Jesus was born King but made himself lowly:

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. (Heb 2:9)

    Churls are more like THE Churl: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him" (John 8:44a). Thus, Isaiah was comparing the mean-spirited people of the end of days as mean-spirited like their father the Devil.
     "Satan" is the royal title taken on by Lucifer. We say "devil" because Lucifer is not truly royalty but a creature, not from Hell, but bound for it!  Devil's are from Hell. After being bound a thousand years, Satan will then be THE Devil. Until then, he is merely acting as royalty, and his true nature will be revealed right before he is destroyed.
    No one should want to be a churl but many are! The best description of a churl nowadays comes from Jesus: "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me" (Mat 15:7-8). Not by coincidence, Esaias is a rendition of Isaiah. Jesus paraphrased Isaiah 29:13 "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men." It is clear to me that Jesus's "hypocrite" terminology was Isaiah's "churl".
     Hypocrites - churls - are more like Satan than God.. They endeavor to elevate themselves beyond their stature. In the Kingdom of God, ironically, churls and hypocrites fail to even have the rank of coerl because that classification was only for free men. Churls and hypocrites are in slavery and fail to even realize that. Why so? Because Lucifer is better at "churling" than people are! Lucifer out hypocrites frail humans. He is better at playing the role of Prince than we are, although we put on a fairly good act as well!
     Churls belong in church. Some use hypocrites as an excuse NOT to attend church. Where do churls belong? In church! Church is the threshing floor where God will tread out the good grain from the bad, and winnow out the chaff. Being a miracle worker, Jesus can make a new hybrid out of the bad grain. That miracle is turning the old creature into a new one, regenerating sinners, not back to their original birth state but back to the Designer's intent. I will continue to compare "regeneration" to a "re-genesis" because it came to me that God doesn't want us as babies, born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), but as Adams and Eves, both created in His image. That re-genesis is a return to bright natures with bright eyes: "The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken."
    The "old creature" before a re-genesis is in the image of Satan: "He deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right." The old creature lies and manipulates to elevate himself, just as their father the Devil. On the other hand, the new creature - those born again - have a new nature, or actually supra-nature: "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever."
     To put it simply, the person who is born again must actually be remade, not pretend to be! Their nature must change from coerl to servant - a reduction in actual rank. When Jesus was explaining what he meant by "born again" to Nicodemus (John 3), he referred to the time Moses held up the brass snake on a pole. All that looked to the lifeless serpent would be saved from the real serpents even though bitten. In other word's we are not to be churls, but are to diminish ourselves to servanthood - our reasonable position - as we lift up God.