It Is Finished

     I started writing this blog in January 2011 preceded by several months on Facebook. It has been close to ten years of writing commentary daily. It has taken perseverance, and more than once I considered the cessation of writing. Somehow, when I was about to quit, I would get a word of encouragement from someone afar. At other times, I was satisfied with writing for myself to understand God better.
     My talent for God is teaching. I did that, along with some lay-preaching, for about thirty-years. Recently it has occurred to me, that although I perceive my gift as teaching, others may not. One elderly deacon told me to just accept it; that it's time for others to take the reign. I don't want to consider that God no longer has a use for me. That would be a sign that it is finished, and like Jesus, my purpose in existing has come to a conclusion (John 19:30).
     Jesus received the vinegar before he gave up the Ghost. The "vinegar" for me is real life. I believe that the sourness that Jesus tasted from the vinegar represented that most had failed to receive him. Just a short time before, on Palm Sunday, he had been celebrated like a conquering general. Then later, he was a mere criminal endeavoring to carry his own cross. Jesus's purpose had come to a conclusion. He was ready to die.
     Jesus died for mankind, on their behalf, and for their redemption. Although he was mocked at his death, he is still revered by much of mankind. Jesus's Word was received better in death than it was when he was living. My conclusion is that my commentary may be the same. It is my legacy. Although, I shall not redeem anyone, perhaps someday in the distant future, someone will read my simple thoughts, and think: That is so true!
     My plan was to cease writing my commentary at 200,000 views. With Facebook readership included, I'm sure that my goal has been met. All those readers have had an opportunity to consider Jesus for salvation. I could not go unto the world by any other means than by this blog. My own Great Commission is complete (Mat 28:16–20). My purpose in life is complete; as is written, "It is finished."
     First was the discouragement that Google's algorithm diminished my readership tremendously. The world had been my "church," but after that, merely the United States.. I was no longer going unto the world.
     Oftentimes I get excited at what God reveals to me. We all need someone with whom to share truth from scripture. To be blunt, I have nobody to which to share God's truths. That is dismal; being excited about God's Plan, but having nobody in which to reveal the Plan!
     When I was younger, I was asked, "Why are you always right?" My reply was, "Because I remain silent unless I am certain!" No longer is that true. I may still be certain, but the problem is that sometimes I'm certain of something that may not be correct. Perhaps that is a signal that it is finished. Credibility requires 100% accuracy. With age, my proficiency has waned. Now I am no longer certain, and must verify and reverify. That is my "vinegar." It's a tough "drink" to swallow, but realizing that my gift has remained unused so long that it is no longer a gift is devastating.
     Now is the time to end. However, that raises the question: Does God want me to end, or is it Satan's workers to whom I listen? Only time will reveal that to me. When the palm branches cease waving, perhaps it's time to call it complete. The sad part is that when Christians' purposes are complete, it's time the death angel calls. It is with great apprehension that I await the visit of the Angel of Death. Is the bell tolling? I cannot hear it ringing, but is it tolling for me?
     Have I run the race that God expects, or am I quitting very close to the end? No; I will continue to study for myself. Sadly, though, with no one with whom to share the Word, it is for me, to whom the bell tolls. So long, dear readers, it may be tolling for me.

Stress

     In the last few days things have not went right for me. It's not the first time, but life is surviving tribulation. The Great Tribulation, of course, comes at the end in an crescendo, but tribulation waxes and wanes until then. After the Great Tribulation, trials will end. Yes, trials or tribulations are tests of faith.
     Much of my own tribulation is of my own making. When the pecuniary becomes too important, tribulation usually follows. God blessed me often with undeserved profits from my ventures, but when profit-making becomes the motive, then tribulation follows.
     Recently, rather than prospering from my speculations, I have lost on most. Even when they turn out good, the worry is not worth the profit because material prosperity does not lead to contentment. In fact, the quest for prosperity leads to stress.  "The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:1) is perhaps better written, For avarice is the primary reason for all ill-effects (Strong's Dictionary). "Avarice" is the greed for material gain or wealth. What is real gain, then?

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil 1:21), and But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ... (Phil 3:7-8)

     Living for and in Christ is gain because there is a reward - eternal life! When we think on all the self-induced stress in life, nothing is important than our eternal well-being. Stress not only ruins the health of people but stresses the soul. While worrying about the things of the world, Christ is neglected. Our "tree" becomes the other one; the one beside the Tree of Life, as people focus on the wrong fruits of the spirit of that "tree."
     I have been stressed all weekend. It is of my own devices. If I was content with the blessings already at hand, and I have been very blessed, then I would not have pursued more gain. In other words, Satan doesn't cause tribulation; he merely offers a choice, and people cause their own tribulation. Serving mammon (wealth) is avarice, and serving two mastes (Luke 16:13), causes stress, although many Christians deny they serve two masters.
     I pray every day that my children remain safe in this world and are saved in the end. I pray often that God will save me in the end, although I know that I do not deserve saving - the true prosperity. Neither do I deserve any material gain. All that I have is by the grace of God. When I cease to trust God, I tamper with my own well-being. Sure, sometimes I win, but even the process of winning gain is stressful. My cousin owns a multi-million dollar company. His success is killing him, and he seems to be aware of that, but continues on anyway. He could live quite comfortably on what he has and retire from stress right now. The pursuit of gain is electing an early death; that is foolish, but we all seem to do it.
     A person I know just lost a son to cancer. As she faces that loss daily, I worry about a few dollars! That is foolish of me because I have been blessed with my children's and grandchildren's health!
     I have another relative who is happy with minimal living conditions. He is happy having little material things nor wealth. He seldom has any sickness issues at all. There are no signs of stress. To be blunt, people elect to be stressful by what is important to them.
      I envisioned Larry and Terri in a big white Jeep rather than a small old Saturn, and desired to have that. Procuring things is stressful. Right now I would be much happier the way things were. Likewise, I am expecting two large shipments of merchandise on which my hope is profitability. It may be gain or it could be loss. Speculation is a gamble, but is the stress worth it? I have concluded that even though I may make a profit, the profit is not worth the stress because stress kills the body and can lead to killing the soul!
     Stress is emotional strain people acquire by doing things outside the ordinary routine. Each day I got up, ran or biked, ate a good meal or two, enjoyed my wife in the comfort of a good home, and went to bed a contented man. Stress demolished that routine! Even with the help of Melatonin, I still awake at 3:00 am reliving what should have been. The more I try not to think on the things of the world, the more sleeplessness I have. Right now, I am really tired, but my stress keeps me awake even though I tell myself that God will take care of me. He will, but maybe not with profitability because "gain" in His Book is eternal life!
     Foolish people kill themselves. The entire Book of Job is tribulation - a great one for Job! Satan knew that people of little faith in God self-destruct. That is the method of the natural man. Job wasn't natural; he didn't depend on himself for prosperity; he depended on God. Job didn't self-destruct and even Satan couldn't kill him. His prosperity was restored by God because Job's thoughts were not on himself but God.
     Like Job, as long as I have the hope of salvation, what more do I need? Just enough nourishment to keep my family and me alive. Anything beyond that is riches that I don't deserve.

The Chosen - Part 2 and Wrap-up

     The question is, “Why were the Jews chosen people?” Specifically, we have seen that is the people of Judah, the lower nation, but eventually Judea – Old Israel.  That is almost modern-day Israel which was recreated in 1948. “Jewish” is not a religion but the nationality of the people of the nation of Israel (Judea). Their religion is Judaism which is the religion of Judah. Most, however, are secular today.
     My belief is that modern-day Jerusalem is the “harlot Babylon” from the book of Revelation. That’s because it is so irreligious now, as Babylon was pagan in its day. In other words, Israel the nation, is in the winnowing process as well. It must be cleaned up by threshing until it’s fit to become New Jerusalem, and again, “The City of God.” All elements of Ishmaelism (Islam) will be cleansed before Israel is again fit to be the chosen people.
     In the end, 144,000 will escape the threshing and become God’s righteous people as Christians.
     Now to answer the question directly, it is wise to use available resources. My resource is Holy Scripture because what I believe must come from the inspired word of God. God tells why in the following passages:

But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.  For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.  The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:  But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:5-8)

     Anything God does is out of love, so it is hi-lighted in the scripture above.  The reason that God chose the Jews was because He loves them. But He loves everyone, does He not? (John 3:16). Then, there must have been a secondary reason that makes Jews “special” (from above.)
     Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” is based on which species is able to multiply the greatest. From the scripture above, that is not God’s metric for survival. The Jews were the fewest of all people. Them being “the little guy” against the bullies may have contributed to God’s selection of them! It seems that perhaps God wanted to protect the lesser from the greater. Indeed, Jesus said, “The meek shall inherit the Earth.” (Psalm 37:11;  Mat 5:5).
     From the references, it can be seen that God told the Jews that as well as the Christians. Thus, meekness is God’s metric for survival, and it turns out that meekness is the strength which allows the human species to survive. (That by the way, contradicts Darwin.)
     Some little guys have “big guy attitudes.” Israel was a big guy (from the sea to the Euphrates and from Egypt to Turkey), but God diminished their numbers and territory with threshings from the Assyrians and Babylonians. He kept the “good grain” and blew away the “chaff” with those two wars. After the diaspora (dispersion of the Jews), mostly “good grain” was left and they merely heard the long- forgotten scripture (70 years in confinement without God) and hearkened unto God’s call. That was why the Jews were diminished – to make them meek.
     Of course, that was part of the divine Plan because God knows men’s hearts. The Covenant was written in blood with Abraham. Circumcision sealed the deal. It was a covenant of two parties and two parts; between God and the Hebrews and the conditions were God’s promise of prosperity for the Hebrews pledge of fidelity to God. “Prosperity” was ambiguous. The Hebrews thought that God meant the land of milk and honey – the land of Israel. Not so, God meant prosperity in New Jerusalem after they were saved from the cunning of Satan. The meek shall inherit the Earth in the sense that it is annihilated and regenerated (Rev 21).
     Abraham knew who God was when He spoke to him. Abraham served Melchezedec who as a man in the flesh was Jesus (Heb 7:1). Moses saw God on the holy mountain. He saw Jesus because when people see Jesus, it is God they see. (John 14:9). Then on another holy mountain years later, Moses finally saw God face to face… and lived although he was already physically dead!
     Moses was made meek to see God. He could not be buried in Israel because he was disobedient and not willing to do things exactly to God’s instructions. He took it on himself to add to God’s directions, then God humbled him by not letting him into the Promised Land. By grace, though, Moses did see God!
     In order to be special people chosen by God, the trait must be meekness. That is diminishing oneself as God is elevated.
     Moses and the righteous did that in the midst of the snakes. Although, Zipporah had circumcised Moses’s son, that was not saving. Remembering that safety was by the parting of the sea, salvation had not yet come because they had not entered the Promised Land. God threshed the “wheat” again and winnowed out the unfaithful with the pit of vipers. Jesus referred to that act as the sort of meekness required; to quit depending on themselves, but to depend on God. His words were, “Marvel not; ye must be born again,” (John 3:7) and then made reference to Moses using the serpent on the pole. (John 3:14). They were not to marvel at Jesus’s purpose which was vicariously killing the Serpent in his own “tree.” Thus, to be born again is total reliance on God and not on oneself; that is meekness!
     For the Jews, God’s Will was given:

For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. (Deut 14:2-3)

     Think on those verses:  It’s what God told Adam exactly! “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17). To be chosen, or peculiar, people need be obedient. It turns out that not because God demands it but because of His Will (Mat 6:10). That is submission to God and becoming humble (Note that self-esteem is not in the metrics, but Christ-esteem.) By abstaining from eating abominable things was still required of the Jews at the Council of Jerusalem in the New Testament. The willingness to obey remains to this day the attitude of God’s chosen people! In that passage, God equates chosen and peculiarity.
     Throughout the centuries, the Jews have been persecuted for trusting God, and the world considers them “a peculiar people.” Hitler even used their cranial characteristics to metricize their peculiarity, and used that to diminish them further. If anyone is persecuted for God’s namesake, then be sure, they must be peculiar, chosen people! (Luke 21:12). That is being bullied by the world, and God chose to protect the meek from the bully (Satan).
     To enter into the promised land, symbolic of eternal prosperity, required something:

And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. (Josh 24:21-23)

     We find that the “choosing” is still the party of two parts just as with Abraham. Joshua (symbolically Jesus who share the same name) must choose themselves. Be it God or strange gods they serve? Strangely enough, ourselves are the strangest gods! Adam and Eve were warned that with their new knowledge, they would think they are gods (Gen 3:5). Actually, choosing other gods is doing what your own will is, and ultimately it makes that person a false god.
     Here again, to be saved, this time in the paradise of Canaan-land, required diminishing their own will in favor of God’s Will. God chose all mankind, but only “Jews” up until that time chose God. 
As soon as Israel was established, there came a day when they desired a king. Saul was first, but another king made a pact with God by meekness. Solomon pointed out to God the character of his father, David, when he said, 

Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness… And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. (1 King 3:6,7,9)

     God took a lesser person who chose him and made them greater. It was not the species who was strongest which survived to Darwin’s criteria, but the meek made strong and came to be numbered greatly. Obedience to God’s precepts made the chosen Jews fit to survive. Wise Solomon pointed out the characteristics of those chosen: (1) walk in truth, (2) be righteous, and (3) have a pure heart. With that attitude God will have mercy on His people. David changed from an old sinful creature to a new regenerated one!  Note that Solomon said nothing about David chosen because he was a Jew. It was something internal, what is called “the heart.” 
     Anyone with that attitude are “spiritual Jews” – chosen peculiar people! “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Pet 2:9). That letter was referring to Christians and Jews as chosen, peculiar people. That answers the puzzle when God said that Japheth will dwell in the tents of Shem! The “tents” were the tabernacles, and soon, it was disclosed that the tabernacle is in all those who are born again! (1 Cor 6:9). Thus, what makes a “chosen people?” Not because they are Jewish but because of circumcised hearts! (Rom 2:29). 
     It appears that when the Jews trusted Jesus as they looked on the brass snake dead on his tree, they saw the blood of Jesus as effectual to save them from perishing. It is trusting the saving blood of Jesus as what makes people peculiar. As choosing is a two-way street, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mat 22:14). Calling is by grace. God calls everyone (John 3:16) but not all respond. Our response is trusting God; that’s how we choose Him. Ultimately, though, God knows who will respond and who will not. In effect, God does all the choosing (John 15:16). God knows the hearts of men and who will respond! He knew that some of the Jews, the meekest would respond. Likewise, God chose us Gentiles because he knows which of us will respond. 
     Furthermore, the chosen Jews whose number will eternally survive in 144,000. God chose that number back when he cut the deal with Abraham, and when he told Adam how special they were back in the Garden. 
     I am thankful that God chose me, and in return humbled me enough that I chose to accept that gift – not of myself but because of His love which I felt! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephes 2:8). As in the Abrahamic Covenant, God offers the gift, and the redeemed must accept the gift of the blood which the Redeemer proffered.

The Chosen - Part 1

     My good friend, Roger Cromwell, asked a pertinent question? “Why were the Jews God’s chosen people?” First off, it is important to know who is a Jew. “Jews” are those of the nation of Judah; the nation left last-standing from the Hebrew people. Judah became a nation, not from the tribe of Judah alone, but Benjamin and Judah. The other ten tribes were scattered throughout the world. Of the two, Judah was chosen by God, as can be seen with the following: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” (Gen 49:10).  In that context “Shiloh” means “Pacificator.” (Jewish Voice; 8-30-2018). It should be obvious, then, that Judah, namely the Jews, would be the tribe from which Jesus would be born.
     Jews did not always exist; It was not always the Jews who were God’s chosen people but different people in different times. We shall see in this commentary who are God’s chosen and who are not!
     If one examines all the passages, Jews, as “the chosen people” was a winnowing process, and ironically, the “winnowing” took place at Ornan’s threshing floor, better known as The Foundation Stone or the Axis Mundi (Axis of the Cosmos). There are two stages in threshing: stomping the harvest to drive out the grain from the chaff, and then to winnow by blowing the chaff from the grain. Ornan’s threshing floor represents judgment and a decision process, and it appears that was why God chose that location for His Temple to be built by Solomon at the instruction of David.
     Not only was Judah the last tribe standing in the winnowing process, but David was the last man standing! God had found his Jew from which Shiloh would come – King David.  With whom did the “winnowing” start? “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mat 1:1). Note that in Matthew 1:1 that scripture speaks of the generation of Jesus, and not by coincidence, Genesis 1:1 speaks of the generation of the Heaven and Earth. God’s Plan from day one was Jesus Christ as King of the Heaven and Earth – the Heaven as His throne, and the Earth as His footstool. (Isa 66:1).
     The winnowing process began with Adam. "The Word" of God struck a deal with him: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). God chose for Himself a man to redeem mankind. Animals would not suffice, but were a temporary sacrifice to be repeated yearly by the High Priest. The winnowing began with a living soul. God chose Adam for the winnowing process because he required redemption. Adam wasn’t a Jew, though. He was mankind. His name even means “man” (Etymology Online). Keep Adam’s name in mind, though, because Genesis 3:15 has great meaning for all mankind!
     The winnowing process continued with Noah, as he represented righteous mankind. He would be David’s line as well as all mankind’s. Jesus, of course, was the “second Adam” but Noah was a facsimile of Jesus as he was the Pacificator who saved mankind by himself being righteous. The first inkling of a Jew came from Noah… Shem by name. Shem is the father of the Semite nations – Jews and Arabs. God chose Shem as the pathway to the Messiah because he was more righteous. The winnowing process was still active, as God had another idea in mind when it was written:

And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Gen 9:25-27)

     Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Shem and Japheth covered Noah’s nakedness out of respect after Ham apparently disrespected Noah. The winnowing process eliminated Ham’s line, and his son, Canaan was cursed. He would not be the line of David nor the Pacificator because it was Shem and Japheth who pacified Noah and God. The two, in effect, covered the flesh (sin) of Noah and were both symbolic of what Jesus would do for all mankind!
     It appears that both Shem and Japheth were righteous and Noah prophesied that Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem. They are joint heirs of God. Shem represents the Jews of Judah which is well-known by the term, “Semite.”  Japheth represents most of the northern and western hemisphere – the Gentile world. Noah left a clue there; the Semites would lead and the Gentiles would follow. Keep that in mind as the winnowing process is narrowed to Shem’s descendants.
     Next came the Hebrews, the namesake of Eber, the ancestor of the Ishmaelites and Israelites; the former being the son of Abraham, and the latter the son of Jacob, called “Israel” by pre-incarnate Jesus. Keep in mind, that as Jesus was “The Word” throughout patriarchal times, Jesus (God) was selecting his own flesh, and establishing his own genealogy by who was the most righteous.
     Of course, that raises the question, “Did God make them righteous for His Name sake, or were they inclined to prefer righteousness?” Since all are called: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28), that some degree of love pre-exists in those who respond. (That is in opposition to “total depravity, by the way. Mankind would be totally depraved if it was not sensing that God cares for them.)
     Now let us back-up a bit: Cain was somehow illegitimate. I believe that he was born in iniquity as was David. What I mean by that, is that he was a result of pleasure, not obedience to multiplication. Eve exclaimed, “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen 4:1). Cain was from sinful Eve whereas Jesus was from righteous Mary. That is true, as the following demonstrates: “Cain, who was of that wicked one” (1 John 3:1). Eve begat Cain but it was through the law of sin of the Devil. Satan hand-picked Cain as heir to Jesus, but God picked righteous Abel.
     The world is not just one big automaton with humans having no influence on events. God surely picked Abel as the chosen one, but Satan circumvented that! However, because of God’s foreknowledge, He knew the chain of events. He as much as told Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15) that it would not be through Cain who was not yet even born. In order to continue the winnowing, since Satan killed God’s chosen one, Seth became the new heir for God. Genesis 3:15 was meant for Seth’s line, and the winnowing continued to see who was the most righteous!
     The Abrahamic Covenant was God choosing his people. He even arranged a test of faith. He asked Abraham to do to his son, what God would do to His own Son years later. Abraham was faithful. His line was chosen because Abraham demonstrated faith. He was willing to sacrifice his only remaining son.  “Willing” is a key word in scripture. Obedience is not the final straw, but the willingness to obey! Paul validated that when he wrote, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41).    Thus, it is the attitude toward God that is meaningful, not the action. Righteousness is based on attitude, then, not obedience to strict laws. Everyone of God’s chosen, even pre-dating the Jews, was selected based on their attitudes toward God. It seems, then, that God was choosing those for His own flesh according to their attitudes; are they willing to trust Him?
     Abraham was the epitome of faith. The faith of Christians to this day are measured against the faith of Abraham (Rom 4:16). That raises another question, “Was God really choosing them, or were they choosing God?” Perhaps the choice was theirs and God honored their choice just as he does today with all Christians, remembering that all are called but few are chosen!
     With the Abrahamic Covenant, God winnowed some more. Thereafter the Hebrews were the chosen people because of Abraham’s great faith. The Covenant even promised that the Pacificator would come through Abraham’s seed – his genes.
    Not to cover each step, but the winnowing continued in eliminating the Ishmaelites who became children of Cain, so to speak, and have their own religion – Islam. Then Esau was winnowed out as Isaac took his birthright. Shortly thereafter, Jacob wrestled with Jesus and won out (Gen 32:24)! Jacob showed respect for Jesus as well as fortitude. Jesus chose Jacob to bear him, and renamed him “Israel.” The Israelites became the chosen people, and the winnowing continued! God had chosen Israel, the person and the nation for David’s line and Jesus as the Son of David:

In this house (David’s), and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: (2 King 21:7),  And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel. (2 King 23:27)

     God was showing his future plans for the birth of the Pacificator. Israel was chosen, but he warned that Judah was in jeopardy just as the nation of Israel had been. Israel, under King David and Solomon, was split into Israel and Judah. Israel destroyed itself by sinful living; they were not willing to obey God, and Judah was poised to do the same thing! God always used the same criteria in winnowing, and Israel was about to be winnowed off the threshing floor. The criterion for being to good seed was who and what peoples were holy, according to the following:

Even to morrow the Lord will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. (Num 16:5)

(Cont. tomorrow).

Nazarite, Nazarene, and Christian

     In the West, those who worship Jesus are called “Christians.” In the Middle East, rather than Christians, they are called “Nazarenes” after “Jesus of Nazareth.” For instance, blind Bartimaeus called on Jesus, “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” (Mark 10:47) and Jesus did!
     More directly, Jesus is referred to as a “Nazarene” twice in scripture:

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene. (Mat 2:23)

For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. (Acts 24:5).

     In this day and age, Muslims mark the home of Christians with the Arabic “N” (ن “nun”– pronounced “noon”) to represent that it is the home of Nazarenes. Nun is to Christianity what the star of David is to Jewry; it is the sign of those persecuted and is another holocaust. Radical Muslims confront Nazarenes with a choice: they “must convert to Islam, pay a fine, or face ‘death by the sword” (Sisto, Christine; National Review; “Christian Genocide”; Jul 23, 2014). That is nothing new; it is from the Koran and has been their method of proselytizing since their beginning.  
     As can be seen, “Nazarene” means much in the Islamic world; they are the anti-Muslims which Muslims call “devils.” In the Christian religion, Islam, if not antichrists, are the religion of THE Antichrist. Jesus died because he is a Nazarene, and in the end, Christians will be beheaded in the fashion of Islam.
     John the Revelator wrote, “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands” (Rev 20:4). Being a Nazarene is a blessing and a curse: Christ blesses and the Antichrist curses.  Beheading is the Islamic method of converting and has been since Mohammad’s time:

When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them. (Quran 8:12).

     What that means has been spun to mean something else, but in practice, it has always been the last option for Nazarenes. Nazarenes have always been persecuted just as have the Jews. That persecution should reveal something: Christ is hated by the world and Nazarenes are “hated for His Name sake” (Mat 10:22), BUT, “He who endureth to the end will be saved.” What must be endured? In the end, beheading by the forces of the Antichrist.
     I have written in my blog that an Islamic Caliphate is the end of time government, Sharia its law, and the Islamic “Jesus” called “Isa” is the Antichrist.  However, this commentary is not about the apocalypse but the significance of being Nazarene.
     My church of choice in my younger days was the Church of the Nazarene. Obviously, they took their denomination’s name from Jesus the Nazarene and the early church. Their intent, much like the Churches of Christ, was to return to apostolic worship where the emphasis was on love and charity. Notwithstanding that, no denomination is scripturally pure, Nazarene doctrine is love practiced; the love of Jesus first, and the love of others with it. They loved me into their body of believers. They lived simply at that time, were modest, temperate, and sincere. That attitude won me over!
     Nazarenes had one precept which the others, primarily Calvinists, hated – the doctrine of sanctification, which is the setting apart from the world in dedication to Jesus. They took seriously, “be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16) and there are many passages that repeat that in different forms.
     Holiness, however, is not of oneself; Jesus bestows holiness, as is written: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13).  Holiness is not something Christians do, but welcome and practice. That is the Church of the Nazarene doctrine, and the goal is “entire sanctification,” not that it will ever be obtained but can be sought!
     Along with that doctrine was abstention from alcoholic beverages. Calvinists see holiness as salvation by works whereas Nazarenes see it as works of the regenerated. It is the outcome of the old creature becoming a new creation. (2 Cor 5:17). The transformation from the old creature to the new is much the same as being a Nazarite. Whereas Christians are to become Nazarites of sorts at regeneration as they are born again, one in particular was born a Nazarite. What, then, is a Nazarite?

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord:  He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.  All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.  All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at no dead body.  He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.  All the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord. (Num 6:2-8)

     As can be seen from Samson, doing those things are not saving, but they are things God wills for those “set apart” for service to Him.  The Nazarite is “sanctified” and that is the doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene and THE Nazarene. Why those three characteristics: (1) Abstention from alcohol, (2) not having the hair trimmed, and (3) contact with nothing unclean, primarily dead bodies?
     It may be that God wanted Samson to be sober and vigilant (1 Pet 2:8) to face his adversaries. His hair surely represented that he was endowed with the power of God as the story goes, and uncleanness was forbidden by Mosaic Law. In other words, God wanted Nazarites to be pure, holy, and set apart for “reasonable service” to Him (Rom 12:1). In other words, to be a Nazarene one should be a Nazarite. Perhaps uncut hair would be an obvious sign much as the star of David and nun would be for Jews and Christians, respectively.
     Nazarenes set themselves apart in my youth by modest living and dressed much like Mennonites do today. Granted, modesty does not achieve salvation but it is still God’s will!
     Samson was the first Nazarite. He was born a Nazarite (Jud 13:5) and his mother was to observe the same standards while Samson was in the womb. If it is not obvious to the reader, THE Angel of the Lord (pre-incarnate Jesus) told Manoah, Samson’s father, about Samson’s purpose and his wife’s responsibilities. Monoah is symbolic of Joseph, his wife as Mary, and Samson as Jesus. However, Samson was still imperfect in the world whereas Jesus was not!
     What one should get out of this story is that Nazarite separation is God’s intent. Jesus was not identified as a “Nazarite” but it should be obvious that he is. No place in scripture is it found that Jesus drank wine, nowhere in the Bible did Jesus touch the dead, but those near death were touched by Jesus or touched him. We find that touching was one of the most prominent ways Jesus used to heal. Virtue passed from him by touch (Mark 5:3), and it is assumed that when he died on the cross to heal all the sins of the world, the loss of virtue was tremendous!
     Cleanliness, then, is imperative to a Nazarite and to a Christian. In the Old Testament, Mosaic Law lists many ceremonial unclean things. The New Testament requires spiritual cleanliness, such as without lasciviousness. Nazarenes are to be spiritually clean; steering clear of the decadence of the world. In my youth, Nazarenes avoided television and movies by choice, but no longer practice that. That, indeed, we now see, was quite a good practice because of the decadence in entertainment!
     Did Jesus cut his hair or have it cut? Unlike Samson where scripture indicates that Delilah cut his, nowhere can it be found that anyone cut Jesus’s hair! The evidence is that Jesus was not only a Nazarite but a perfect Nazarene!
     There was one other obvious Nazarite; that was John the Baptist. You can do your own study there, but John, like Samson, was ordained from birth for a certain task – set apart to enunciate Jesus – and when his purpose was fulfilled, Herod had him beheaded just as Christians will be in the end of time.
     I admire the sincere Amish and Mennonites. They have explained to me that their modesty in life is not saving but to show a separation from the world. They can use some technology, for instance, but it never can be up to the standards of the world. Some type of setting apart is what all Christians are called to do.
     Personally, I find that abstention from alcohol is an easy thing to do for the Lord. I also find that not using the language of the world is another easy thing to do whether it be ill-mannerisms, the use of God’s Name with vanity, or even filthy words. None of those things will save me but Jesus’ blood has if I set myself apart as his and endure to the end. His goal for Christians is to be Nazarenes – those despicable people who once set themselves apart from the world!

On Filthy Lucre

     I certainly am no prude, but filthy and/or blasphemous language is like second-hand smoke to those who do not talk that way; it is very offensive. Because I am a big boy, however, I can take offensive things but rather not! The offence is not even against me but God. The apostle Paul wrote about filthy talk at least twice:

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth (Col 3:8), and Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. (Tit 1:11) 

     The most applicable is the latter verse from his letter to Titus. “Lucre” is for profit and filthy lucre’s sake is filth for profit. Paid entertainment which is filthy subverts whole houses and families. That describes the entertainment industry today! Most entertainment subverts entire families because parents can’t seem to turn it off! “Subversions” are attempts to overthrow or undermine doctrinal systems from within. In the case of filthy lucre, subversion is entertainment’s attempt to undermine the Doctrine of Christ: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (2 John 1:9).
     That means that whoever sits through entertainment which is filthy allow themselves to be subverted away from the Doctrine of Christ. They are sinning to be blunt! In reality, it is sheer stupidity that anyone would allow themselves to be drawn away from Christ by covert or overt means.
     There are hundreds of journal articles in psychiatric libraries about the pervasiveness of those with messages.  For instance, all songs contain messages whether they be religious songs or secular. That’s what songs are for! All movies have a message to purvey and often the message is covert. It’s just part of the entertainment and not the central theme. That method is subversion. Where have we read of that before?

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made… (Gen 3:1), And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Gen 3”4-5).

     Eve was saying, We’re not supposed to do that. Satan was responding cunningly, It’s okay; God is merely making you miserable with His stupid rules! Eve didn’t understand death because no one had ever died before. She thought that the entertainment was worth the risk. (Gen 3:6). When people pay to watch filth, they may be entertained, but they risk the wrath of God. That verse in the Book of Titus seems geared for the modern-day entertainment industry! Indeed, Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
     The trend this decade is to use F-words, apparently for the shock value. Scripture could be written, Marvel not, you will hear the F-word in most movies. (A play on John 3:7). Then people go, and yet marvel at the instances of the F-word. Many movie review sites will even tell how many instances of the F-word is used. A recent western movie had the F-word used forty-eight times. Christians would often say, I can ignore it once, but how can they ignore it forty-eight times! They can because they have become acclimated to filth. What viewers now expect from Hollywood is filth, and that’s what they get! One woman asked me why there are so many R-rated movies. I answered, “Because you vote for them!” Purchasing a ticket or watching a commercial is payment for filthy lucre.
     The sound of the F-word is not shocking any longer, but they still use it to undermine God. Movie actors and producers have demonstrated time and again that they are instrumental in the doctrine of the devil (the law of sin.) They ridicule the Doctrine of Christ readily and perfunctorily yet Christian still marvel at the excesses as they eat popcorn in harmony with filthy lucre.
     The F-word itself is not what’s wrong; it is the cunning behind its use. Those in the entertainment industry want to subvert Christians. That’s because the Doctrine of Christ is so reprehensible to them that they must proselytize Christians away from their doctrine. They are good at their job; look how many entertainers were once church-goers and proclaimed Christ. After subversion from that industry, they become mouthpieces for Satan; to wit: Jennifer Lawrence who trained for acting in a church now calls the cross a pitchfork and gives millions to Planned Parenthood.
     Another is Caty Perry who groomed her voice in the church choir as the daughter of a Baptist preacher and today is just another filthy entertainer who sold her soul for filthy lucre. Christians who pay to watch and hear them pay tribute to the Devil as the actors trade their souls for the love of money and for fame!
     Any honest psychologist will tell you that you become what you take in. The reason people indoctrinate with books, music, plays, movies, politics, and so forth is so that the hearer or reader is persuaded by what they take in. To be honest, that is what the Word of God does as well (Acts 26:28)! However, God does not subvert the reader but is transparent – that none should perish. Subversion is so that more will perish. 
     I’ve had Christians tell me that they filter-out the filth. Even psychologists would disagree with that lie to the self. I have tried to filter-out filthy lucre and almost freak out at my inability to do so! God had twelve good fruits on his Tree; he had none that needed filtering-out. On the Tree of Knowledge were  good fruits and evil fruits, and as we found out, Adam nor Eve were unable to filter them out. They chose to do evil, thinking they were sophisticated! The method the Serpent used to deceive them was subversion. He used subtilty, or cunning, (Gen 3:1) to have them do what their spirit told them was wrong to do. Paul spoke on that paradox:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Rom 7:18-20), or to put it simply, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. (Mat 26:41)

     Christians, you are being taken for a jolty ride because you become what you take in and fail to even realize it! I remember when Christians would not even watch television or go to movies because they could see where they were headed. I grew up mostly without a television because Dad saw the subversion in it. Now, the time has arrived. They are where Dad thought they would be long before the F-word was in vogue. 
     Filth is subversive. When I worked in Michigan, alongside many who were not Christians, I heard the gd’s and F-words continually. I never became acclimated because I didn’t want to! However, the lingering thought of continual bombardment interfered with worship and prayer at church. When I began to pray, filthy language would enter my mind because they had become embedded in my thoughts. Before I could pray for others, I had to pray for God to clear my mind of filth! Sometimes, I could not, and my worship would be in vain. Filth cannot be blocked out unless in a sanctuary from it. For me, my sanctuary is in church, but even there I hear God’s name in vain at times. That doesn’t hurt me, but it does God. Filthiness and vanity is why Jesus agonized before he died. He was about to die for those who profited from filth and even for those who blasphemed his Name! 
     Filthy lucre is also insulting. It assumes that everyone talks that way and cares not that it is spoken. In my world, people care, and filthy lucre is an insult to our God. We do not care to hear God insulted! 
     Filth is an insult to our intelligence as well. People who cheer at the films full of filth have limited appreciation for good scripts. The use of F-words and blasphemous language is a substitution for intelligent plots and true entertainment. If you are entertained by filth, you may have not only a spiritual problem but lack intelligence as well. The writers assume that you are so stupid that like seals, you’ll clap at anything – even their filth. Guess what; you will and do! They will provide more of the same because shallow people will always pay more for the filth. Their movie stubs validate that!
     I don’t want to go to filthy movies for three reasons: (1) I don’t appreciate subversive tactics, (2) I don’t want to be accomplice to discarding the Doctrine of Christ, (3) and neither do I want to insult God. He didn’t die that we could watch filthy lucre but so that we are saved from it!

Circumcision Part 3 (Final)

    Circumcision is signing the bondage of the Law in blood. “Bondage!” you cry out.  Yes, the Law is binding, as Paul explained in the following passages:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. (Gal 5:1-6)

     Just like the marriage bond filed with the government official, signing the bond of the Abrahamic Covenant is binding. Normally, in a bond, security is presented. With the Covenant, the security is yourself. In effect, the person who believes and is circumcised promises to pay, upon his or her default, their souls.  
     The person who is circumcised for spiritual reasons, indenture themselves for perpetuity since the Covenant is everlasting. Surprise! Everyone will default for if anyone says he is without sin, he is a liar (1 John 1:10).  The point that God made was that nobody can depend on their own fidelity for the reward; they must trust the fidelity of God’s Word. God’s truth is what makes men free (John 8:32).
     How can anyone be born again? They must “marry” Jesus! Marry Jesus! Abraham did that. His willingness to sacrifice his only remaining son was a commitment to that relationship. Abraham became a “bride” to Jesus’s the “Bridegroom.”
     Unfortunately, the Hebrews failed to join the marriage ceremony as brides to Christ. Was Abraham’s circumcision effectual in his reward? (We find that he did go to Heaven.) No; the circumcision was merely his signature to the “marriage pact.” Whether he signed it or not, he was still married to Jesus, which marriage could only be broken with fornication against his Bride, or blasphemy (Mat 12:31).
     Hence, it is not the “signature” of circumcision which was affective, but the change inside – from unbelief to belief. “Belief” in scripture, is more than believing; it is believing so intensely that there is trust. That trust in God is called “faith.”
     The change that Abraham experienced was heart-felt. The human heart reveals our natures. The obvious is hard palpitations with excitement, but more importantly are the peaceful rhythms of contentment. “Heart” is used to describe peace within. We call that “contentment.” “Joy” is when a person is so content, that the heart beats soundly without rapidity because anticipation of the reward is so profound! Thus, the heart is the representative of human emotions. Lust palpitates in the heart and disrupts contentment. People who lust have a I must have that attitude, and like the beasts, the anticipation becomes real! Peace is when lust is bound and people are free and have contentment. Scripture calls that “circumcision” as well, but not of the penis, but the “heart” as can be understood from the next passage:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. (Deut 10:16-17)

     Moses could not circumcise himself nor even his son. Zilpporah did the “dirty deed” for him. Neither can we circumcise our own heart and neither can anyone else. God circumcised Abraham’s heart with the gift of faith (Ephes 2:8), and Abraham, although he was making the sacrifice, had nothing to do with receiving the faith but using it!
     God circumcised Abraham’s heart and the sword of God cut the flesh from his heart, or as is written, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” God’s Word – Jesus – changed Abraham’s heart, not the sharp blade of the knife! Check that out with the following:

And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. (Deut 30:6)

    When was Abraham circumcised? When he had enough faith in God that he used it! His heart was circumcised when his faith exceeded his doubt, and his unwillingness changed to willingness. Abraham was born again, not by his own doing, but he knew that someday the blood of Jesus would redeem him and Isaac who he was ready and willing to sacrifice and be sacrificed.
     By doing that, he diminished himself and elevated God. Abraham was “born again” as he put Isaac on the altar to please God. That act signified that he was presenting a better sacrifice than even Abel. The Cain part of him was replaced with an attitude like Abel’s! That was Cain circumcised from the nature of him, and replaced by Abel’s nature (Heb 11:4), but better yet, the nature of Jesus whose was better than Abel’s (Heb 12:24).
    God supplied the “knife” to Abraham but he had to be willing to use it. As such, Abraham assisted in his “circumcision.” Just as with rebirth, Jesus does the rebirthing, but to be reborn is the willingness to be changed. The second birth, then, is yourself holding the “sword of the Word” with God wielding the power and guiding the sword, not toward our all-too-valuable penises, but to the more valuable heart:

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Jer 4:4)

     What happens at spiritual “circumcision?” That is when the old nature is cut off from the creature, and he or she becomes a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) and that is a change in the “flesh,” according to 1 Corinthians 5:16, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” In other words, the flesh is no longer important to those who truly believe in Christ.
     When is a person’s heart circumcised? Not at baptism, but at rebirth. Baptism symbolizes the circumcision of the heart which precedes. Abraham was circumcised to seal the deal (Gen 17) before he actually trusted enough to participate in the deal (Gen 22). Hence, circumcision was not the important thing, but the willingness to trust God!
     Circumcision, then, has no saving value: “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law (Gal 5:3). It merely signifies indebtedness to the Law. There is no gain in circumcision: “For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. (Rom 2:25). In fact, it is burdensome and extraneous, as is written:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;  Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. (Jer 9:25-26)

     One might ask, “Why, then, was Abraham circumcised?” It was a testimony for him  and the Hebrew people that their God was the One True God, unlike any other. They were willing to obey God but still failed to love Him as their hearts were not yet right, not having been circumcised. It was faith that made them spiritually circumcised:

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.  And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. (Heb 4:5-11)

     Therein is much. Foremost is that circumcision has no bearing on righteousness. It is not the blade which imputes righteousness but by God through the gift of faith. Although righteousness is imputed, circumcision remains a seal. What is that similar to? Baptism.

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Col 2:10-12)

     The “circumcision made without hands” is the circumcision of the heart. It is submitting the flesh to Christ for him to handle. It is Christ who circumcises the heart, and it is not of ourselves. Then after speaking of circumcision, Paul writes of baptism. Like circumcision, it is the seal that their hearts were changed.
     Circumcision requires someone to wield a blade. Zipporah did it for Moses’ son, but the sword of the Word is done without hands. Thus, lowering someone into the baptismal waters is not saving but symbolic as only Jesus’s hand can save! Since Jews were in bondage to the Law, baptism symbolically washes away the bondage “signature” which is the blood from the knife. The second birth sets free, and baptism is the emancipation ceremony.  
     Unlike circumcision which testifies to the power of the knife, baptism testifies to the Power of Jesus’s Name! Baptism reveals that although we are not chosen people as the Jews, but are peculiar people of a chosen generation (1 Pet 2:9). Baptism changes Gentiles’ spiritual identities from Gentile to Jew because circumcision is symbolic of baptism: “But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God”  (Rom 2:29).
     I hope that these three commentaries help to explain circumcision better and compare it to baptism. The order nor necessity of either circumcision nor baptism is important. Scripture has one “must be” and one “must do.” We must be born again (John 3:7) and we “must do” (Exod 18:20) the folliwng: “And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.”
     What is the one must do? Like the two things Jesus commanded with the one Greatest Commandment, we must do unto God and others with love!

Circumcision Part 2

     The rite of circumcision is important in scripture as it is found throughout the Old and New Testaments. “Rites” are ceremonial practices. Ceremonies are not “sacraments” in the sense that sacraments are consecrations, and rites are not. Sacraments, are thus, dedication to God’s Will or purposes for mankind. Rites, on the other hand, are ordinances, or practice of the commandments. Therein is a huge difference between ordinances and sacraments; the former is obedience, and the latter is dedication because of trust.

     Circumcision is a “rite” in that it is not saving, but obedience. Examine the process; one obedient to God’s Law has his foreskin cut-off. That is nothing more than following orders, and it is dedication by shedding one’s own blood to “prosper.” I use “prosper” here rather than “salvation” because salvation is the prosperity promised in the Abrahamic Covenant!

     Scripture says in order to prosper, “Marvel not; ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Why not be amazed? Because Jews thought circumcision was soterial (saving)!  The rite of circumcision is a token – an outward sign for what should be inside. From where did that idea come?

10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you… 13 My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. (Gen 17)

     Circumcision is like putting a “signature” to a document. In the case of the Abrahamic Covenant, it was a signature written in blood. Zipporah recognized the “importance” of it when she, rather than Moses, circumcised her son. Moses had shed blood before, and shedding a little more was meaningless. At any rate, Zipporah knew that the bloody rite was ineffectual  (Exod 4:25) – just a signature much like a wife signing a loan application half-heartedly. She understood that much more than Moses, it seems, and that is bourn out by scripture:

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. (1 Cor 7:19)  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. (Gal 6:15)

     Why circumcise then? It is a testimony for bondage to the agreement. The Covenant was for the Jews to be righteous, and their reward would be prosperity. Some believe that to mean the Promised Land of Canaan, but apparently Abraham knew it was the Paradise of Heaven. Abraham also knew that it was what was inside that mattered. Circumcision was signing on the dotted line that I am a new creature!

     New creatures are those regenerated back to God’s design in that the original generating was “very good” in the image of God. “New creatures” undergo a transformation from the old creature (2 Cor 5:17). Rebirth is merely half “born again” if a new creature is not forthcoming! As we still see today, “halfway born” is abortion - spiritual abortion in this case. Those who feign trust without changing abort the rebirth process.  What is important, then, is not the cutting asway of the foreskin of what is most problematic, especially for men, but changing what’s inside. Circumcision, in patriarchal times, did nothing more that testify to the agreement whether there was a change or nor. In fact, the Hebrews changed little. They continued to get circumcised but noting changed inside!

     The New Testament version, as you shall see, of circumcision is Baptism. As with circumcision, it too is a rite or ordinance, and is not a sacrament (something that saves.)  Like circumcision, churches which are enslaved to tradition, baptize on the eighth day after birth. That is ironic because baptism signifies change or rebirth, and infants have merely suffered the first birth! Formal churches get that idea for baptism from the timing of circumcision, as is written. “And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised” (Lev 12:3). Thus, baptism is timed as was circumcision for a reason; they understood that baptism is nothing more than circumcision. Those who adhere more closely to scripture understand that baptism, unlike circumcision, is at rebirth to seal the deal with God. Rather than sealed with blood, it is sealed with water (the invisible “ink” so to speak).

     Tomorrow, I will wrap up my commentary of circumcision. Stay tuned.

Circumcision - Part 1

     For those who are unaware, “circumcision” is cutting off the foreskin of the penis of a man for either of two reasons: (1) hygiene and (2) as a token of obedience, not really for the individual but for the nation, specifically Israel. "Medically it is a treatment option for problematic cases of phimosis, balanoposthitis that does not resolve with other treatments, and chronic urinary tract infections” (Wikipedia; “circumcision).
     Phimosis would make reproduction more painful and difficult, and the directive to "multiply" (Gen 1:28) would be jeopardized. Balanoposthitus is inflammation and that would discourage reproduction. Infections are uncleanness. Phimosis is fairly well a trap for bacteria, and in Mosaic Law, uncleanliness is sinful:

 Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.(Lev 5:3).

     God was somewhat tactful in this precept since a  man’s uncleanness is his unwashed  penis, and a woman’s her vagina in that menstruation is considered unclean, as it is written:

And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. (Lev 15:19).

     Adding to that is sex without coitus or attempts to engage in sex without conception:

The woman also with whom man shall lie with seed of copulation, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even. (Lev 15:18)

     Sexual uncleanness is serious business to God or it would not have been made Law! Of course, man is not under the Law, and never was, but God still had his reasons for each edict. The obvious was for the health of the Jewish people so as to multiply with proliference. The less obvious is abstention for birth control. In periods of uncleanness there would be no sex for multiplication, thus a natural form of birth control was available. Since men and women could not abstain due to lack of will-power, then God seemed to have helped them out somewhat! 
     The less obvious but possibly the most important reason was to discourage sex for pleasure, or sexual pleasure without the intention of multiplying. The Garden Paradise, even if it is not the Heavenly Paradise, has the same spiritual "climate." Heaven will be a place without sexual pleasure, as can be seen in the passage:

And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36).

     Your cry can be heard: "But there was sex in the Garden, was there not?" No there was not! All children were born aided by pleasure. God knew in advance that "multiplication" would occur outside of Paradise because of His foreknowledge. The Garden was never for sexual pleasure for any reason but to serve God, and not themselves! Sexual pleasure would have despoiled Paradise; sex had to be in the world, the place outside of Paradise. 

     Reproduction was serious business for God or He would not have commanded it. Leviticus 15:18  makes it clear that pleasuring without coitius was iniquitous. Some believe that the original sin was that sin. How would eating of forbidden fruit be associated with sexual pleasure? Directly it was surely not; the sin was disobedience, but why did Adam and Eve cover their genitals with an apron of fig leaves (Gen 3:7)? Because they were ashamed what disobedience had led to! 
     There were four rules given to Adam: (1) To have authority over the creation (Gen 1:26)– the animals, and themselves, (2) to multiply (Gen 1:22), (3) to not eat of the Wisdom Tree (Gen 2:17), and (4) to serve and protect the things of the Garden (Gen 2:15). Dominion over the animals included Adam and Eve for a reason - self-control. They were expected, not only to control the animals needs, but their own passions!
     Eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (The Wisdom Tree) provided them with understanding of a moral code; this is good and that is evil. Not knowing evil at that point, they ate, and maybe did something evil. Whatever it was, they understood that what they had done was not good which everything had been up until that time (Gen 1:31). One might think, What evil did they do?  Immediately, there was a clue – their aprons to cover their genitals! Although the genitalia are mere tools for reproduction, since the tree was also a “tree of beauty and pleasure” (Gen 3:6), perhaps the two used their new knowledge for pleasure rather than reproduction!
     That makes sense because immediately after being cast out of the Garden, what did they do? They pleasured themselves immediately. Their motive is not known, but they did pleasure in the conception of Cain (Gen 4:1). Since Cain was sinful, and that was his nature, it may be that his conception was in sin. Jesus validated that when he said, "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one..." (1 John 3:12).
Cain's sin was grievously materialistic and sexual:

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." (Jude 10:11). 

     We know from Revelation 2:14 that the sin of Balaam, and before him Cain, was food sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality. Sacred literature relates that Cain desired to marry his twin sister, Luluwa, whose name means "beautiful" rather than Abel's twin, Aklia/Aklemia ("gift of God"). Envy seem to be the nature of Cain who was always coveting what belonged to others! Cain had lust in his heart, not just jealousy which he is known for!

     Of course, Satan did not spawn Cain but he was apparently conceived due to lust rather than obedience. In other words, right after God forgave them for sinning, the two sinned again as is still the custom, or rather, the nature of the people sub-servient to the flesh.
     Why would that be? We know that David was “shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5) of which he repented. It seems that Cain had the same problem but did not repent! On the other hand, Abel had a righteous nature and was obedient to Adam and God. Perhaps Cain was conceived in pursuit of pleasure and Abel in an effort to please God.
     The point is that mankind’s genitalia are the main source of sin. That is obvious since fornication (sexual immorality) is a sin against the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, and for Christians, that means us! (1 Cor 6:18-20). Likewise, physical fornication is disrespectful to God, and is akin to spiritual fornication with “other gods.” (Jud 2:17). In the case of fornication, those “other gods” are ourselves!
     Whether sex without the intent to reproduce is wrong is not for certain, the preponderance of the evidence is that in the beginning that was not God’s intent. Thankfully, for those who pursue sex for pleasure, the Mosaic Laws no longer apply because as they were too hard to obey anyway. Mankind just did not have dominion even over themselves and only a few of the beasts because Adam and Eve failed God!
     However, the flesh is still mankind’s problem as they cannot please God by the flesh (Rom 8:8). The entire flesh is represented by the genitals in patriarchal times. Fig leaves were not sufficient to cover the entire flesh so God protected them from sexual prowess with coats of skin, undoubtedly from a lamb (Gen 3:21). The implication is that man’s own futile attempt to cover the tool was insufficient on two counts: (1) Man cannot cover his own sin, and (2) the entire creature must be covered. The Word (Jesus) did that with the skin of a lamb in the beginning, and covered all the flesh with his own flesh on Calvary. 
     The intent from the first sin onward was that only God could cover sin by grace and man’s works were ineffectual. By grace, God created Adam, and by grace, God covered Adam’s sin and re-created him (not to be confused with recreation!)
     In the Old Testament’s Abrahamic Covenant, circumcision of the male genitalia was symbolic of cutting off all the flesh. Why just the male? Because Adam was held accountable for sin (Rom 5:12) since God revealed to him alone His Will for mankind. (Eve had not been created when God revealed death to Adam.)
     Face it; people’s genitals are a huge problem for mankind! Early pagan worship provided sexual coitus in their temples. Even to this day, the phallus is a religious symbol for pagans, and the obelisks seen everywhere is the Freudian symbol for male prowess and dominance. The pubic area of women are the “high places” on which pagans worship, and are even called the Venus mons. Appreciate it or not, our genitals need covered for our own sake, and to respect God. Modesty is not an option; that became obvious with Bathsheba’s display of all her flesh to David!
     Circumcision was a partial remedy for the mankind’s pleasure problem but was ineffective because the desire for pleasure remained. Only those truly serious about the Will of God would honor the “seal” of the Abrahamic Covenant. It must have represented something more effective which Abraham understood! That is known because Abraham is in Paradise as he knew the blood which was really effective against the entire flesh.
     Some think of pleasurable things as idols. Not so! Mankind’s “idols” are their flesh and pleasurable things appease their self-gods by pleasuring the flesh. Hence, “the flesh” is not only the skin of the creature but his desires as well. Tomorrow that will be examined.

On Glorification

     The ultimate choice, or use of free will, is the notion of pleasure or treasure. Which shall it be? Yesterday’s commentary was on TREASURE. It was identified as “glorification.” Let’s take a look at that concept.

     Glorification is recognizing God for whom He IS! Glorification is God-focused, not person-focused. Nobody can be glorified without first glorifying God. If anyone searches for “glorified” in the entire Bible, 95% of all the hits will be God glorified. More, precisely, “glorification” is God’s suffering on the behalf of humanity, as Paul wrote, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom 8:17). That idea was validated by the apostle John:

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:38-39). 

     Glorification has an added component, it is not only suffering on the behalf of the creatures, but dying in their place. Jesus, was glorified by dying; he propitiated his own blood to redeem mankind. This is difficult to understand in that Jesus is God, but he glorified Himself when His own Flesh suffered for mankind. John 3:16 indicated why: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God was glorified in substituting His flesh for ours so that we could be regenerated immortal. Not just with eternal life, but eternal TREASURE. As mentioned yesterday, our treasures are in Heaven (Mat 6:20). “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.” (Mat 13:44).

     Treasure, for Christians, is when they return to the condition as in the Garden Paradise. In order to obtain glorification, consider this, “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:20-21). If Christians live like Christ, just as Christ, in the end, they will be glorified. They will gladly suffer for God by taking up their own cross by denying themselves and following Jesus (Mat 16:24).

Paul, Peter, and all the apostles glorified God by either suffering for, as in the case of John, or dying for Jesus. Their “cross” was dying for the Doctrine of Jesus. They did for Jesus what he did for mankind. Their deaths did not propitiate for the sins of mankind or even themselves, but glorified God.

     Glorification, for God, is being Himself. When Christians glorify God, it is for Him being as He is. We thank God for who He Is in our prayers. That is glorifying God. Because God loves the aroma of incense, in this case, our praise, He in return glorifies Christians who are sincere. The Third Commandment is essentially a command against the refusal to glorify God by taking Jesus’s Purpose with apathy. He died that we might live on, yet people trivialize God. Jesus sweated blood in agony for us (Luke 22:44), but what do most do for him? Minimize the profundity of him dying in our place!

    Jesus, as God, made Himself glory-worthy first for generating mankind (Gen 1:1). Mankind owes their lives to Jesus because his hand did the creating. Jesus glorified us when he made flesh from dust and breathed life into inanimate, formed clay. Jesus was shown to be glory-worthy again when he died that man could be regenerated. That is back to the original condition in the Garden. What is that? Doing freely the will of God! The first time around, Eve did Satan’s will, and Adam did his own because God told him His Will, not Eve.

    Jesus returned as Spirit as he was in the Garden (Acts 2). He was glorified. I believe that Jesus’s glorification commenced at the transfiguration on the mountain so that he could be powerful enough to redeem all the sins of mankind and face Satan on his own turf.

     The transfiguration was complete when Jesus said, “It is finished” and “gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30). A transition was made when the transfiguration was finished: Jesus was transformed from the Flesh of God into the Ghost of God’s Flesh. His “Ghost” went to Hell and dropped off the sins of mankind as his body rested in the tomb. When sin was defeated, Jesus’s Ghost came back to the tomb and Jesus’s flesh was resurrected. His glorification of God was finished! Look at that claim:

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:3-5)

     Jesus glorified the Father, “That they might know thee the only true God.” That’s how Christians are to glorify God, and by so doing, God shall glorify us! Why would God do that? Examine the following scripture:

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Rom 8:16-17) 

     Christians must suffer tribulation for God as He did for us. The apostles did that, and we are expected to as well. If we are ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of us (Mark 8:38). We must be not “ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Rom 1:16). That is our tribulation, and those who are not ashamed, glorify God by doing His will rather than Satan’s or our own! God’s will for mankind before we were ever generated had a purpose:

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:29-31). 

     Mankind was meant to be glorious. He created us for eternal life with imperishable flesh in a place without suffering or death!  “Very good” (Gen 1:1) is GLORIOUS! Ultimately the final stage of glorification is the resurrected body. Resurrection is having life breathed unto the creature again and remade a living glorious soul just as at the beginning. Regeneration and resurrection both result in glorification. We are remade in the image of God just as back in the Garden. Jesus, himself was not to be glorified as a high priest like Aaron, but Melchesidec (Heb 5:4-6).  Glorification, then is like Melchisedec. Look at him:

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. (Heb 7:1-3) 

     Glorification is being like Melchesedec, who, it is clear, was the identity of preincarnate Jesus. Abraham glorified Melchesedec with tithes, glorified him as “King of righteousness,” and as “King of Peace,” which is Jesus, because his purpose was to bring spiritual peace in Earth.

Abraham glorified God. Scripture then explains glorification of God: (1) without father, (2) without mother, (3) without descent, (4) no beginning, (5) no end, and (6) continuous Existence. Melchesedec was a manifestation of God, and anytime that God manifests Himself, that Person is Jesus!

     Glorification is the ever-present eternal image of God. Jesus was without Father or mother because he is God in the Flesh. He is called “the Son of God” because his flesh was generated by God for a purpose. He was to be glorified, and as I have shown, that is His purpose for us! The “treasure” which Abraham sought was not the land of Canaan, but glorification in Paradise – to be made again in the image of Jesus!

Location of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

     One of the most fascinating things which link the Old Testament to the New is “The Cave of Treasures.” According to the Book of Adam and Eve and the Conflict With Satan, that was Adam and Eve’s home after expulsion from the Garden of Eden and contained the gold, frankincense, and myrrh which was given to them at their marriage:

1 AFTER these things God said unto Adam, "Thou didst ask of Me something from the garden, to be comforted therewith, and I have given thee these three tokens as a consolation to thee; that thou trust in Me and in My covenant with thee. 2 "For I will come and save thee; and kings shall bring me when in the flesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death. 3 "But, O Adam, put these by thee in the cave; the gold that it may shed light over thee by night; the incense, that thou smell its sweet savour; and the myrrh, to comfort thee in thy sorrow." 4 When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped before Him. He and Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks, because He had dealt mercifully with them. 5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one. 8 The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed. 10 These remained by Adam in the House of Treasures; therefore was it called "of concealment." But other interpreters say it was called the "Cave of Treasures," by reason of the bodies of righteous men that were in it. 11 These three things did God give to Adam, on the third day after he had come out of the garden, in token of the three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth. (1 Adam & Eve 31) 

     It would seem that the Cave was called that because of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh which was contained therein. In verse ten above, that is not so. It’s because the bodies of righteous men were buried therein; to wit: Adam and Eve in the beginning. It may be that those bodies are treasured because they will arise first when the trumpet is sounded at Jesus’s return. (1 Cor 15:52).  That notion is also identified elsewhere:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mat 24:31-32) 

     Because Jesus ascended in Jerusalem (the Garden of Gethsemane) and his Holy Ghost returned there, (Acts 2), the best bet is that the living and dead in Christ shall be gathered at Jerusalem. “The Foundation Stone” under the Dome of the Rock was at one time much larger as it has been chiseled away with time. Somewhere in Jerusalem, perhaps the Garden of Gethsemane, Calvary, or The Foundation Stone; Christians will be “funneled” into Heaven from all over the world. It will not take time for that, but done in a “twinkling of an eye” as is God’s method. (1 Cor 15:52).

Where are the of Treasures, now, considering that the “treasure” is not the three substances; gold, frankincense, nor myrrh but the patriarchs? I was thinking on the Cave of Treasures as I awoke this morning, Where is it now? It struck me, possibly the Cave of Machpelah where Abraham and Sarah are buried, among others. It is called, “The Cave of the Patriarchs.” 

Jewish midrashic literature avows that, in addition to the patriarch couples, Adam, the first man, and his wife, Eve, were also interred in the Cave of the Patriarchs, a tradition supported by ancient Samaritan texts. The tradition is supported by the simple wording of Genesis 23:2, which refers to "Kiryat Arba... Hevron" ("arba" means four). Commenting on that passage, Rashi listed the four couples chronologically, starting with Adam and Eve. (Wikipeda; “Cave of the Patriarchs)

     In other words, the Cave of Machpelah is the same as the Cave of Treasures where the gold, frankincense, and myrrh were originally, and its location remains today the city of Kiryat Arba which is the “town of the four.” That has significance because four families were buried there, the first being Adam and Eve. Since, that Cave was where the gifts to Jesus were stored, were they still there?

It is known from scripture that “wise men from the East” brought three gifts. It was not necessarily three men but three gifts.

     Kiryat Arba is from the south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The wise men came from the East but possibly the gifts came from the South. In other words, wise men knew where to find them! It can be assumed that since God provided the guiding star, God would have revealed the whereabouts of the ancient treasures.

     Perhaps the magians (Greek; magoj) were not really sorcerers or magicians, but as sacred literature says, “kings shall bring me when in the flesh,” then later it is written therein, “Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one.” There were no wise men to bring presents to Adam, but there were to Jesus. However, perhaps those three “kings” were angels (messengers) because they brought the Good News.

     The wise men saw the star in the East. They were in the East where they viewed the star. One of two things may have occurred: (1) When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, he robbed Solomon’s Temple and took its treasures. Perhaps the three Treasures were stored there. The other alternative is that (2) God revealed to them where the Treasures were kept in the Cave of Malachpelah.

     Regardless, the three treasures given to Adam were, “Gold as a token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death,” and were obviously given to Jesus (God in the flesh) as tokens of his Kingship, Divinity, and suffering and death. The three gifts represented Jesus’s status and purpose, and they surely came from the Cave of the Patriarchs – righteous men’s legacy to him!

No one knows the whereabouts of those treasures today. Where the gold, frankincense, and myrrh are, is of no consequence for they were not the valuable “treasure.” What was? Jesus Christ and his heavenly realm. He is no longer King of the Jews, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; nor is he suffering and dead! He is King of His own realm, the God of everyone, and Jesus is alive, well, and eternal in Heaven. Where Jesus’s treasure is, is where ours are:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mat 6:19-21) 

     A few minutes ago, Terri and I were discussing the importance of wealth in life. My cousin is quite wealthy but can’t even find time to take a vacation in that his priorities are on his “kingdom,” which is his very prosperous manufacturing business. I told Terri that I considered that route to prosperity years ago twice, and stayed content with where I am. I am in great health and retired at a young age. My only worries now are the souls of those whom I love. My cousin, however, should be retired at his age but is still worrying about his “treasures.” It seems by his conversation that his treasures are his rare automobiles. My treasure awaits me; it is eternal life.

     Abraham was promised prosperity in God’s covenant with him. Jews, to this day, still believe that the prosperity was the milk and honey of Canaan-land. They missed the point, but Abraham knew the source of prosperity, and today he comforts new arrivals in his bosom (Luke 16:22), indubitably Paradise in Heaven. In that instance, the poor man Lazarus, not having treasures on Earth, received his treasure in Heaven. Inevitably, the treasure is always in Heaven. Where is the gold, frankincense, and myrrh now? Perhaps the three angels - Michael, Gabriel and Raphael – carried them there for safekeeping as tokens of Jesus’s Kingship, Divinity, and eternal life!