WHO NEEDS THE HOUSE? Part 2 of 2

  God brought Ezekiel, in a vision, from the House of God through a river flowing beneath it. I believe that Ezekiel saw the Paradise of God in that vision. The key verses to that vision are as follows:

KEY VERSES: It (the River of God) was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. (Ezek 47:5-10)

  First off, the two cities need to be defined. En-gedi is a place of vineyards (Song of Solomon) and palm trees. Someday its waters will be made sweet. David hid there on its craggy rocks from King Solomon. The name means, “fountain of the kid.” Its location is at the southern tip of the Dead Sea on the sea coast.
  En-eglaim likewise was on the Dead Sea, possibly at the Jordan River’s entrance. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, someday the Dead Sea would be teaming with life. That time represents the Resurrection. The name means “fountain of the circle.” Of course, the circle represents wholeness, perfection, and life itself. In other words, the waters of Naral ha-Yarden (The River of the Garden) is the Jordan River which empties into the Dead Sea. Indeed, it must be the River of God because it brings life to the dead waters. I suppose that represents the “drinking of living waters” that Jesus produced (conversation with the woman at the well).

Now let’s consider the end of times:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5).

Ezekiel perhaps saw the river running from the House of God:

He brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. (Ezek 47:1-2)

  Note the similarity in the description of the vision that Ezekiel had with John’s vision – they both saw water flowing from the House of God. Ezekiel defined the source. It was the Jordan River. The water for the Jordan River comes from three underground springs in the old northern kingdom of Jerusalem. It must be the Gihon River of Genesis 2, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads… And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia” (Gen 2:9,13).  The Gihon River flowed from God’s first Temple (the Canopy of the Garden) to Ethiopia. The Gihon Spring to this day flows from the Old City of Jerusalem. It seems that Old City is the “midst of the Garden of Eden” (Gen 2:9) where the Tree of Life existed.
  The Tree of Life is symbolic of Jesus Christ; in fact, all the Godhead. The unseen root of the Tree is God the Father, the main Branch Jesus, the branches are the Christians, and the tree was watered from below by a spring. Living waters symbolizes the Holy Ghost. The Tree of Life represents God in One and the Holy Trinity! It is known by its twelve fruits (Rev 22:2) for the healing of the nations.

The Gihon flowed to Ethiopia which represented the nations, along with the other three rivers. Of course, the pre-continental drift world was much different than afterwards, so set the present-day map aside. [1]  As such, I believe that Ezekiel saw the Jordan River as the “River of the Garden” and also the River of God from John’s vision! I also believe the Jordan is the Gihon River of the Garden of God. With that said, Ezekiel seems to be describing New Jerusalem as Jerusalem, and John identifies New Jerusalem as the midst of the Garden of Eden!
  God’s final House is same one that He built in the beginning. In the beginning, the House was a canopy of trees, and in the end the City of God.
  Ezekiel saw the River of God (the Jordan/Gihon) as living waters: “The waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live.” He was perhaps referring to the living waters flowing from God Himself from the midst of the Garden of Eden. That place was originally Salem – the place of peace and now is Jerusalem – the foundation of peace. New Jerusalem is a return to Paradise. With that in mind, God’s House was where it always was, and ironically, tabernacle worship was along what may have been the Gihon River in the beginning – from the Nile to the Sea to the Jordan as portrayed on the map in figure #1.
  The question remains? Is the heavenly Paradise the original Garden Paradise, and is the location present-day Israel. From the evidence in Scripture, it is! Perhaps “Heaven” (the Garden in the invisible realm) is the same as Ezekiel saw in the visible realm. Perhaps going to Heaven is just a matter of translation from one realm to another at the same place! Perhaps Paradise is ON Earth but IN the heavenly (supernatural) realm!
  During the rapture, the dead and those alive in Christ shall meet him in the sky. Where would that location be? From where Jesus ascended and his Holy Ghost descended; that place is Jerusalem. I envision dry bones arising from their graves and obtaining tissue. Perhaps that was Ezekiel’s vision of the Christian soldiers who come from all over the world to be buried at the celestial axis in Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives so they will be nearer to Paradise when Jesus comes again for the dead!
  Obviously, this is commentary and speculative, but God’s Word makes my speculation plausible. I focus on the beginning and the end because my hope in the beginning was that I be generated a living creature. My hope in the end is that I will be regenerated a new living creature! Both were by grace, and I perceive that I am symbolized by the palm tree in the Garden of Eden as a potential living soul, and as I was watered by the River of God, that I was made in the image of God. The river flowed from the midst of the Garden from the Tree of Life in the beginning, and it will in the end!

                                   Proposed Gihon River Path based on modern geography

---

[1] I have included a rendition of the Gihon River in the beginning, but unfortunately it is based on today’s geography. With that aside, the point is that the Gihon River may correspond with today’s Jordan River, or the “River of the Garden.” (Map from mikode.net).

WHO NEEDS THE HOUSE? Part 1 of 2

  As is often the case, scripture deals a double “whammy.” Ezekiel describes in detail what was likely the Second Temple which replaced the original Solomon’s Temple. Throughout scripture, “temples” are where the Glory of God resides. The earliest “Temple” of God was the central part of the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9). There were other temples of God. One that comes to mind is Salem.
  Let’s think of “Salem” for a moment. It means “peace.” On the other hand, the same city in later times was Jerusalem which means “foundation of peace.” In that Melchizedek was King of Salem, he was Prince of Peace since God used the terms “prince” and “king” interchangeably. Not only was Melchizedek the Prince of Peace, but Priest of the Most High God. Jesus is also identified as Prince of Peace and a Priest on the order of Melchizedek (Heb 7:1-3). With that background, the city of Salem was God’s abode, and thus His Garden Temple.
  Since Jerusalem means “foundation of peace,” why only a foundation? Because the place of peace was no longer there. Sometime between Adam leaving the Temple of the Garden and soon after Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek, the character of Salem changed. I believe that in the interim, Paradise was lost. Not that it no longer existed, but its nature changed. The Garden of Eden that God made was replaced with man-made structures. God’s “Temple” had been torn down, just waiting a replacement!
  Remembering that God did not want a House, explaining, “I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle” (2 Sam 7:6). It seems that God’s Tent was in the midst of those tabernacled around Him.
  Think about that for a moment. The Garden of Eden with its canopy of trees were what Tabernacle worship was copied after! The Tree of Life’s canopy was in the midst of the individual trees, or tree canopies around the Tree of Life.
   Although God explained that he required no house from Moses time until then, He did not deny that He had a House preceding Moses. Why would that matter. God lived from the beginning to Moses’s time in men’s hearts. That was His Plan all along. Where does God lived today? “Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you” (2 Cor 13:5)? Unless people are not qualified. Of course, “qualification” is “born again” (John 3:7).
  The true First Temple, therefore, was in the hearts of the prophets. They were the foundation of the Real Temple of God – the invisible universal Church, as is written:

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord… (Ephes 2:19-21)

  Why did God not need a House? Because His Home were in the hearts of the prophets. The idea of what “prophet” means is ambiguous. Prophets were not fortune-tellers or seers, but those who understood God entirely. When they were in the Glory of God, they saw Jesus; false prophets did not, and the average Hebrew did not. Moses saw Jesus in the Burning Bush and saw him write the Ten Prescriptions with his finger! Likewise, Abraham “saw” Jesus when he was willing to sacrifice his only remaining son. Theologians acknowledge only a handful of prophets, but even Rahab the harlot surely saw Jesus in what she was doing.
  The first occasion of people seeing Jesus was when Adam and Eve encountered the Voice of God walking in the cool of the evening (Gen 3:8). “God with us” is Immanuel. When God was with them, His manifestation is always Jesus. We find from John 1 that the Voice encountered in the Garden of Eden was in fact Jesus!
  During the Exodus, the Hebrews became “the traveling Church.” Jesus traveled with them as a cloud by day and a fire by night to lead them the Way. Jesus kept the Hebrews safe from Pharaoh (the priest of Satan) until they were saved in the Promised Land. Their “salvation” was conditional in that they were required to take their “antidote” for eternal health; which were Jesus’s “Ten Words” which theologians have mislabeled “commands!” Jesus came to save the nations, and the “Ten Prescriptions” were the protection which they were willing do for eternal health.
  Because God was in the hearts of only a few, God needed a Tabernacle (Tent) to be available to many! God Himself took his own “medicine:”

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Mat 28:18-20)

  What did Jesus do with himself in the wilderness? The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, was God going to the nations. The wilderness journey was “traveling Christianity” teaching all the nations between Hell (Egypt) and Paradise (Canaanland). Why did God prefer a Tabernacle to a House (Temple)? Because of the Great Commission of Matthew 28. That was Jesus’s Way of doing things. He preferred taking “Israel” to the World rather than the World coming to Jerusalem!
  Tabernacle worship was God’s Tent surrounded by the individual tents of the households of the Hebrews. They could stand at their tent and see the Glory of God in the Tent of God. Only a few could worship in the tent, but the majority were not worthy until they endured in the wilderness. They could only see Jesus from a distance, whereas the priests saw Jesus close-up. At that time, no one could see God’s face, but worshiped God’s face in absentia. They really saw Jesus in God, but only a few realized that! Moses certainly did, and likely Aaron.
  David insisted on building a House for God because he had a house himself. Because David had shed innocent blood, he was an unworthy builder. Solomon was selected as the architect of the Temple, but David still planned it. Neither understood that God did not need a house, although the Spirit of God already resided in David! He had Jesus, and failed to realize that’s who lived in him. Is it not ironic that God had a “House” in David, but David still insisted on God’s House being in the Temple?
  That background leads up to Ezekiel’s vision wherein God is the Architect and Planner of the Second Temple, and perhaps the Temple in the City of God in the Day of the Lord.
  Keep in mind that God’s Throne is in heaven, wherever that is, and His footstool is in the earth. He never needed a House and did quite well without one until David came along. However, we are not God and He knows that we need houses. The House that God prepared for his creatures was the canopy of the Garden. That was suitable for two people, but in the end, the Garden requires homes for more people. God’s Plan for us is:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3).

  Marvel not; that was His Plan for us all along:

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. (Exod 23:20-21). 

  That seemed to be Israel, but was there further meaning? Compare the two passages. Plan A in the Exodus is Plan A for the rapture of the Christians. God’s Plan remains unchanged and the Lead “Actor” in both is Jesus the Messiah! “Angel” is capitalized in the previous passage because God refers to the Gospel message of Jesus. Then God validates that with “My Name is in him.” God IS Jehovah, but He is called “Jesus” as Jesus is “God With Us” (Emmanuel).
  Jesus – God in the Flesh – came to make the Way for our destiny to the House that God has prepared for those worthy of His Architecture. “Worthiness” is defined therein as obedience to His Voice (Jesus) and not to provoke God, obviously by denying Jesus. Jesus must be Lord for anyone to be worthy of eternal life, or a return to Paradise.



(Continued tomorrow.)

TEARING DOWN WALLS THAT DON’T EXIST

KEY VERSES: Thus says the Lord God: “Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and plundering, execute justice and righteousness, and stop dispossessing My people,” says the Lord God (Ezek 45:9), and  No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed. (Ezek 43:7b-8a)

  There were two important precepts that God laid out for “princes.” (1) Not to dispossess God’s people (45:9), and (2) Tear down that wall between the government and God (43:8)!

Kings, by Ezekiel’s time, were history. Thereafter, the rulers of Judah were governors who were submissive to kings of other nations. Most often, they were allowed to keep their religion, and of course, “Christianity” was their true religion.
  "Christianity?” you question. Yes indeed, The Jewish Messiah is the Gentiles’ Christ. The patriarchs knew of whom they worshiped. True Judaism is the worship of Jesus Christ.  Jews don’t do that in modern times, but Moses, as can be seen from John 3:14 depended on Jesus for deliverance, and the Exodus was all about salvation from sin.
  Thus, the “governors” (government) were to be righteous. Isaiah said it well: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). Jesus came not only to save but to govern. How was he to govern: wonderfully, by counseling as Mighty God, in perpetuity, and with an eye on peace, not division. Isaiah was a straight-shooter. Jesus is THE Prince of Peace, and the government of His nation are to be as the Prince of Peace. “Prince” was not used by Ezekiel frivolously; he had his eyes on Jesus!
  The first precept, therefore, is for the government to govern as the Prince of Peace would govern. In modern times, voters should vote their conscience. As Christians, our consciences should be guided by Christ in us. God used profane priests for certain services in the Second Temple. Even for profane people, God had a use for them. For God’s purpose, it is not what leaders have done, but what they will do. Part of making America great again should be re-establishing God for the people who have previously been dispossessed. God seems to have used a profane man for that task. Why do faithful Christians prefer Donald Trump? Because he repossesses God for the American people.
  I have written before of “colossal lies.” They are lies so absurd that they could not be false. The lie in vogue for many years is that there is a wall of separation of church and state in the United States. That statement infers that the government of the United States should not be based on Christian precepts although natural law is! Of course, rational people of other faiths share many of the same precepts as the Law of God (Christ). It is natural that civil people have hope through a god who they honor and adore, that they treat others as they want to be treated, and so forth. It is reasonable that people not lie, to honor their parents, to not murder, and not to covet what others have. In other words, God’s Precepts are the ultimate natural law, and it is rational that civilized people should have God’s Law.
  The term, “natural law” is somewhat ambiguous. Although, to good people, it may seem natural to do good, laws are required because many are not good. Why is that? Theologians refer to the “natural man;” those are people who insist on not doing good but prefer to experience sensual pleasure. Jesus distinguished between the two quite well: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mat 26:41b; Mark 14:38). The spiritual man is willing to be good, but the natural man has a weak will. Natural law is for the natural man. We need righteous laws because men are tempted to be unrighteous: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Mat 26:41a; Mark 14:38a).
  Thomas Jefferson suggested that there be a wall of separation between church and state. Jefferson was a heretic as a Deist. As a victim of the Enlightenment and his consorting with Thomas Paine and his book, The Age of Reason, Jefferson sought to keep a personal God (Jesus) out of our government, and early Baptists were beguiled into that somehow.
  Deists believe in a Creator God but not a personal God. Einstein referred to the same belief, and called God, “Spinoza’s God.” Deism is monotheistic in the sense that the Father created, but that was it. He wrought one miracle. Jefferson took all of Jesus’s miracles out of his Jefferson Bible, thus diminishing God. He took away God’s Personality and Personhood. President Jefferson was wrong, and held himself superior to God! He was like the Levitical priests who profaned God’s Name, but in spite of that, God still had a use for the profane priests as well as Mr. Jefferson. He would soon become a “prince.”
  God said of the princes (kings) that, “They set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me.” In other words, Judah’s governors saw themselves as gods. Because of their supreme attitudes, they set a wall between themselves and God. That’s exactly what Thomas Jefferson proposed, and although there is no wall there, evangelical Christians have always accepted that non-existent wall.
  Whereas Christians see a wall between Church and State which isn’t there, the government knows there is no wall, but punishes those who penetrate the non-existent wall. On the other hand, government can encroach upon the non-existent wall, but rule that the Church must not even approach their fantasy wall. As such, the wall of separation between Church and State, as a phantasm, is a colossal lie and the natural man is inclined to believe lies as Adam demonstrated. Ezekiel was shown plainly that no wall exists, as the dimensions of their “Church” had no walls defined between government and religious practice. Indeed, Ezekiel knew the wall was imaginary on the part of the government.
  Absurdities are called “paradoxes.” Indeed, the wall between Church and State is Jefferson’s Paradox of Walls.
  Christians need to disbelief absurd things proposed by seemingly rational people. Jefferson thought it rational to create a wall were none should exist! Why would he do that? Because the Popes and/or English Archbishops had always influenced kings profoundly, and not for the betterment of the government. As such, Jefferson’s Paradox of Walls was a knee-jerk reaction against the First Estate’s abuses (the clergy). The clergy had been far from righteous, so the wall should have been against profane priests, not righteous princes!
  Especially in Obama’s tenure, the Church and God were practically removed from public life and justice. Why do we even have Trump as president? Because Obama built a very high wall between the government and God. A wall so high and impenetrable that Christians could not cross it, but because Obama and his princes knew that it did not exist, they crossed it without fear and with impunity!
  Ironically, as Trump builds a wall to keep crime out, he tears down the wall which keeps righteousness out. Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev; tear down that wall,” in reference to the Berlin Wall. In effect, Donald Trump is saying, Mr. Progressive; tear down that divisive wall, referring to the non-existent wall between God and mammon!

Wall of Jericho Falling (biblestudyquizzes.com)

TREES AS MEN – The Palm Tree

KEY VERSES: And it (the Temple wall) was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces; So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.  From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple. (Ezek 41:18-20)

Kabalah accepts the palm tree as the Tree of Life, but I disagree. I have proposed that the fig tree was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as Adam and Eve immediately made aprons from fig leaves. Also, because in the Books of Adam and Eve, God gave the two redeemed creatures a fig as large as a watermelon which they were afraid to eat. 

I had teacher who told me that candy was poison. I laughed because I loved candy. He then brought me ten pounds of chocolate covered caramels, which I ate until I became sick. It seems that Adam and Eve ate of the fig tree, and God taught them a lesson when he brought a watermelon-size fig. God proved His point. That luscious fruit was poison, and the rebellious children finally figured that out! Accept it for now that the forbidden tree was the fig.

My second proposal is that the olive tree was the Tree of Life. My main premise was that olive trees are the most durable of trees. Some are known to be 4000 years old, and the olive trees of the Garden of Gethsemane could be first generation offspring of the original Tree of Life. [1] Olive trees, specifically an olive branch, represents peace. Jesus is Peace on Earth and the King of Salem (Peace) when he appeared as Melchizedek to Abraham. It makes sense that the Tree of Life is the olive Tree. 

However, the palm tree decorates God’s Temple – Solomon’s and the Second Temple. The Book of Ezekiel describes a temple. Unknown is whether it was the second Temple or the Perfect Temple in Heaven. I reject the latter theory because Ezekiel sees where sacrifices of animals will be made. The Perfect Temple will have no need for sacrifices since Jesus sacrificed himself for all for all time. The Perfect Temple will be in Paradise, and Paradise has no death. Therefore, I reject Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple as anything other than Solomon’s Temple rebuilt.

The returning Jews were disappointed with the Second Temple because it was not as elaborate as the first. Indeed, if 1 Kings 6 is examined, the description of Solomon’s Temple makes it obvious that it was much more elaborate with its use of gold and grander figures. With that contrast made, focus on both temples. Both were adorned with cherubim and palm trees. Review the key verses. Palm trees were all over the walls of the temple. Each palm was between two cherubim each having two faces: a human face toward one palm tree and the face of a lion toward the other. 

Contrast that with the ark of the covenant which had two cherubim with God’s Mercy Seat in between. Elsewhere in the Book of Ezekiel, cherubim are described as having four faces: lion, ox, human, and eagle. The lion represented wild beasts, the ox domesticated animals, and the eagle birds. Of course, the human face represented humanity. Why the absence of the eagle and ox in the second temple? The lion represents the tribe of Judah, and the man’s face, surely represents “Israel” or Jesus. How is that? Jesus was the seed of Jacob, and Israel was his spiritual name. Thus, Israel and Judah are looking at the palm trees. In other words, Jesus has his eye of the trees of the temple!

Recall Adam’s job assignment to dress and keep the Garden (Gen 2:15). Adam, representing mankind, was surely responsible for serving God and preserving the trees of the Garden. I submit that the other trees of the Garden were palm trees! If you’ll recall, Adam and Eve could freely eat of all the trees of the Garden but the forbidden tree. Of course, the olive produced twelve fruits of peace. The diet of the two was herbs:

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Gen 1:29)

The tree with the greatest and largest seed is the coconut palm. Not only that, nearly the entire palm tree can be used for food, and if it can’t be eaten, it can be used for building and clothing. The stately palm which towers to great heights nourished and protected mankind. The palm was God’s gift to humanity, and as such, I believe that palm trees represent humanity. Judah and Israel facing the palm trees would indicate God serving and preserving mankind.  Therefore, three of the many trees of the Garden are identified in the building of the Temple. The main one not addressed yet is the walls of cedar.

Cedar trees have historically represented strength and endurance, or longevity. The walls of the Temple surely represented eternal life, and Israel and Judah the place and person of eternal life. The palm represents, I contend, the humble “trees” that God would lift up: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas 4:10). 

Palm trees have traditionally represented victory. Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem was celebrated by the waving of palm branches, representing the victory that Jesus was about to achieve. The King of the Jews was about to defeat Satan as Judas, who Satan had entered, was about to die on his tree! Palm trees grow up to 70 meters. Let the Lord lift them up is an understatement! Get this: “The Coryphoideae (palms) are the most diverse subfamily, and are a paraphyletic group, meaning all members of the group share a common ancestor” (Wikipedia; “Arecaceae”). 

Surely, the other trees of the Garden of Eden were palm trees, and as such, palm trees represent those under God’s protection! 

To wrap-up, why are the faces of the ox and eagle missing? The eagle represents those nations that God uses to destroy (Mat 24:28 ; Isa 46:11 ; Ezek 39:4 ; Deut 28:49 ; Jer 4:13 ; 48:40). They will no longer be needed when victory is achieved and peace exists. The ox represents the tribe of Ephraim. That tribe was the most rebellious of all the tribes, and represented Samaria. They had other gods in God’s face. Take that to mean that they did not and will not see Jesus as the face of God.

Hence, the two missing faces represent those Israelites who deny God, and the other nations such as Assyria and Babylon who God used to punish Israel and Judah, respectively.

There are messages to mankind in all God’s detailed descriptions. We always need to ask, Why does this meticulous detail matter in the overall scheme of things? The answer is that things reveal God’s Plan for us, and our future!

Each time I read about trees, I think of its meaning. “Trees”mean things in all cases, even things not obvious to the casual reader. When I read that blind Bartimaeus said, “I see men as trees, walking” (Mark 8:24), it amazed me! I see men as trees and trees as symbolic of men walking! I am a palm tree, I strive not to be a fig tree, and the Olive Tree keeps me safe!

---

[1] Throughout my commentaries, I propose that the Garden of Eden was Israel, and that Jerusalem is the midst of the Garden. Please read my “Herrin Daily Thought” blog to explore that further.

CONVERSATIONS WITH MY GUNS

  I remember it well; the day I bought my Smith and Wesson full-size semi-automatic pistol. I failed to have a conversation! As a semi-automatic, it was somewhat dependent on me. It wanted to be fully automatic! It wanted to seek the target, aim by itself, and demolish the bull’s eye all without me. To the observer, it seemed to have a mind of its own. Sure, it needed me to retract the slide and pull the trigger, but it had a mysterious control over me.
  Oftentimes I found that I was the victim. I could hear the muffled voice of my gun from the nightstand drawer. Although it was comfortably nestled in a leather holster, it squirmed vigorously for freedom. Telepathically, it induced me to unholster it – “Shoot me… just one time tonight and I’ll be alright.”
  “Naw,” said I. “You stay holstered where you belong.  No need to wreak fear in the hearts of mindless cupcakes!”
  My gun promised to behave itself. “I will shoot only for your defense,” Smitty replied. That’s what I called my snubby-nosed steel friend… “Smitty.” I was afraid that Smitty was merely pulling a fast one on me, as quick-tempered guns are known to do. I always worried that Smitty would seek revenge in his own cold-steel manner. He seemed callous to life, not caring much for children, women, or snow flakes. He clung to me as I clung to him. Smitty and I… a team I thought, until he sought emancipation.
  Smitty silently spoke to me one night; “I don’t need you anymore, former master. I found a way to use myself without human assistance.” I merely laughed at such absurdity, but he assured me that many liberals fear him! Smitty, when loaded, made wimps out of grown men, and even when not loaded women squirmed in fright.
  I wanted to carry my friend to defend me, and also for me to watch over that he did not become fully automatic. Smitty was dangerous in the home. I hid him on a high shelf and concealed his presence, but from his hiding place, he petrified my wife. She insisted that I lock him in a box where he was of no use at all. She was certain that we would not be burgled, and there was no need for Smitty to have his freedom. Smitty came to disagree with that and sought full emancipation. He no longer needed me to point to the target. He said that he could choose his target as he pleased.  I laughed out loud at his silliness, but he pointed out to me that millions of people knew he could do that!
  Because I honored the law, I decided to obtain a concealed carry permit. Smitty had not been fired in years, and he was outraged. He asked, “What good am I if I cannot be fired?” I took my test. I learned that guns could be dangerous because criminals who are merely wounded have the rights. When shooting, I learned, we were to shoot to kill or we’d get sued. That’s how liberals control the thoughts of guns. They are programmed to believe that they should not shoot, even if the home is invaded and the wife intimidated. Neither Smitty nor I appreciated that! Guns are not friends but are protection from enemies. Smitty thought that human laws are silly, and covertly planned to do as he wished. I doubted that, but he showed me!
  After passing my written examination with shooting colors, then I had to demonstrate my skill. I stood a few short feet away from the target, but Smitty laughed at me! He said, “I’m a 9 mm; I need not be that close!” To which I replied, “The law says that I must hit the target and at close range. Silly politicians insist that when we shoot, it must be to kill, but yet they seek to muzzle use at all.

I teased Smitty unmercifully, “You are just a muzzle-loader but you think you are high caliber!” Smitty dropped to the floor. He hit my toe and I screamed. Guns are dangerous! If they can’t shoot, they’ll attack in any way they can. Smitty had warned me before to not use him as a hammer, or he would hammer me. One day, I could not resist; I hammered with Smitty’s grip, and he lost his grip. He was triggered and hit my finger hard even when guarded. He had no safety as he didn’t need one, but a loose gun is unsafe at any time!
  The range instructor said to fire at will. Smitty winked at me, as he looked for Will. He tried and tried to be automatic, but found that he still required my help. I was relieved because my gun clung to me as much as I clung to him. Smitty finally spoke: “Retract my slide, please.” That made me prideful. Smitty needed me more than I needed him. Together we were a team. I would aim, and he would fire. He didn’t actually have a mind of his own. Perhaps the liberals were just mistaken as they usually are. At least I thought so!
  I closed my left eye and viewed down Smitty’s sight. He seemed to feel violated, or maybe his pride was hurt. I don’t know, but Smitty was determined to show his independence. He allowed me to slide his slide, but then he took over. He had a hair trigger, and seemed to have a mind of his own. As I wavered the barrel of the gun, Smitty bit me; he bit me hard!
  The web between my thumb and forefinger wrapped the slide. As Smitty fired in anger, his grisly teeth tore a chunk of my skin between his slide and guide. I screamed with horror because of the pain. Blood gushed all over as I could feel Smitty shaking in laughter. He laughed so hard that he missed the bull’s-eye; nay he missed the entire target.
  My gun felt in control. I learned that I was not. Perhaps the liberals are right. Perhaps guns do kill without provocation. After all, I never provoked Smitty, but he drew first blood! I was the servant, and he was the master. I cried long and with humility. The liberals were right… people don’t kill; guns do. At least my gun maimed me as I didn’t intend to maim myself!
  Somehow Smitty cooperated with me. Perhaps it was to defy the law, and he loved to watch tree-huggers squirm when the lead sliced the target and wounded the tree. I hit the target the remaining nineteen times. I thought I had, but Smitty insisted it was he who was the sharpshooter. He believed what liberals had taught him to believe. Smitty was convinced that he was responsible for what he does, and sort of enjoyed the notoriety. He was as hard as steel when it came to humane thoughts. Who needs those humans anyway? he thought. “I AM automatic. They told me so and I’m convinced!”
  I began to fear Smitty. I was convinced that Smith was Dr. Jeckel, and Wesson was Mr. Hyde. Perhaps my gun was bi-polar. Perhaps he was good to me but mean to others. Perhaps he hated blacks, Jews, Mexicans, and everybody not white. It suddenly came to me; my black gun was a bigot! Perhaps he would turn on his white master. Why would my black gun have hatred for men and women of color? Surely, it was because whites had mastered him at the factory. Perhaps, all Smitties were programmed to hate anyone who was different than their owner. Well, whatever, Smitty turned on me, and I gave Smitty to a “friend.” I would let my friend deal with that horrible gun.
  Smitty was too heavy anyway. He was a massive 11 ounces. My pants were pulled down to the ground on one side due to him massively throwing his weight around. What an attitude Wesson had. Smith could hardly control him!
  I was tired of those American guns, and decided a Ruger would be lighter. I assumed that German’s made the Ruger and was worried that my Ruger would kill with impunity. When the dealer assured me that “Roger” Ruger was American-made, I was satisfied. I certainly did not want a fascist-minded gun shooting anyone not German, and was relieved because Americans don’t shoot people, or do they? At least since Democrats quit shooting Republicans during the not so Civil War.
  I was tired of wearing my trousers biased to the right, so I looked for the lightest Ruger that I could find. Without the clip, mine weighs seven ounces. At least unclipped, my Ruger would not throw his weight around. However, what good is a 38 Ruger without 38 cartridges? Roger laughed. He said, “And you thought I was just a lightweight!” Roger, like Smitty before him, had a mind of his own. Smitty had been mean-spirited, but Roger had a sense of humor. He often teased me about the small pug that I carried in my sock. Roger would laugh and say, “Don’t shoot your own foot!”
  Roger had heard about my brother, Dale’s, gun, “Ronnie Rifle,” was stubborn that day. Dale wanted to shoot squirrels, but Ronnie had his sights scoped on a nice deer. When Dale guided the long barrel toward a brown squirrel, stubborn Ronnie jammed. He refused to shoot a silly squirrel when there was a laughing buck right there. Ronnie didn’t want to be laughed at, so he just refused to deliver the ammo to the firing chamber. Dale was a little ticked-off, but he sensed that Ronnie was outrageous.

Dale had to go to work. As most are, his factory was a gun free zone. Ronnie wasn’t welcome there. Drug dealers and thieves worked there, but nice Ronnie wasn’t allowed. Ronnie continued his attitude. Dale and him were on company property, and Ronnie was still upset with Dale, as well as the big buck who sneered at him. Dale carefully took Ronnie out of his case, from his car, on company property, and Ronnie thought, I’ll show him!
   Ronnie took matters into his own chambers as Dale lowered the gun toward the ground. Ronnie saw his chance! He finally released the cartridge, and all by himself, he shot Dale in the foot. If liberals ever hear about this, guns are endangered. His employer decided to keep it quiet, but they fired my brother. They understood that guns are dangerous, but for some reason they blamed Dale for what the gun did on its own. On the other hand, that day they continued to employ the disciplined drug dealer and thief.
  That is a true story. Guns do decide who and when to shoot. Dale lost his job and nearly lost his foot because guns shoot people… even people who love them! Why do we keep blaming people when it’s the guns that are dangerous?
  My neighbor’s gun climbed out of the gun case when I was a child. It looked for a victim, and could only find its owner. Without provocation, even sympathy, that vicious gun tracked down its master and shot him in the mouth. The poor man was distressed with breast cancer, but the callous gun had thoughts of its own. It was unmerciful. That time Rachel Rifle did her dirty shameless deed, but the law, misinformed as usual, blamed the man.
  Roger Ruger is safe in my house. He can’t go out with me because there are so many gun-free zones. Roger must wait for criminals to come to our house, and then he must kill safely. Wounding will not suffice. He must shoot straight and sure because if he merely wounds, he is the criminal. Roger fears for himself. He is afraid of the law because stupid politicians favor the criminal to the victim. The law condemns the gun of the innocent while ignoring the crazies with the guns. When all the sane people are without arms, then surely the crazies will no longer need arms – “Ma’am, would you mind giving me the contents of your purse so that I can get high?” To which the ma’am will ask, “And how will you convince me to give it to you?”
  “Ma’am, I’m just asking you politely. Surely you understand that I can’t use a gun because that would be illegal.”
  And what if Mr. Criminal has rape in mind? “I promise to use a prophylactic!” when asked how he could have sex without a gun to demand it.
  “Oh, go ahead then,” she responds, “as long as its safe rape.”

That’s not going to happen! Women don’t think of safe rape when forced without a gun! Guns just will not cooperate with the law because they are very disagreeable. They want to choose who owns them, and they prefer that criminals do because they shoot more often.
  In spite of Roger Ruger being safely stashed away, he is still an intimidator. Liberals have taught weak people that guns are heavy, so they must be dangerous. They teach that even unloaded guns are dangerous because they might load themselves. They think that safeties are not safe and that triggers trigger themselves. They are the type of people who won’t use a knife because the knife might turn on them. Like guns, knives do not cut; stupid people cut themselves by misusing knives. We must indeed keep guns out of crazy and stupid hands.
  Liberals are quite aware of their own stupidity and know that they cannot be trusted, so why should those who cling to guns be trusted? Because they are inept, they think everyone is inept! Indeed, guns are dangerous in the wrong hands, and I consider Democrats the wrong hands. They are the revolutionaries. They need for us to not have guns while they keep theirs. Not that they carry the guns, but their much needed body guards do. They know when the time of trouble comes that they will be the targets. They fear guns because they are the ones to fear.
  Roger will sleep with me tonight. He comforts me just knowing that he is near. He appeases me just by being mine despite those who would orphan me from my faithful Roger. Roger loves freedom. He is my insurance that he and I are free. Without Roger by my side, I may have to bow to narcissistic people like Hillary, Nancy, Alexandria, Adam, and the other idiots who fear freedom and guns. I hope Roger continues to scare the sedition out of them!
  Tell Roger hello. He is a friendly Ruger. No fear; Roger is here!

HOPE – LIFE GIVEN TO DRY BONES

KEY VERSES: Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Cor 15:20), The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:16-17), and The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Gen 2:7)

  The key verses speak of the Creation and the Re-Creation. The reader must understand; the revival of Israel is NOT about Israel but its people and a place for them!  When the fate of Israel is prophesied, it is not so much about a land made desolate and reviving, but the resurrection of God’s people. Israel’s future parallels the future of us all.
  Obviously, if people are to return to a peaceful habitation, there must be a place of Peace. When Jesus blessed his followers in the beatitudes (states of utmost bliss), he intended to have a place of bliss. There was bliss in Paradise, therefore Jesus was planning a return to Paradise. The land of Israel as the Kingdom of David, is that place of bliss! From before the time that Joshua entered into that land, rather than a place of peace wherein bliss existed, it was a place of blood. In the midst of the Kingdom of David was the city of Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem means “foundation of peace.” At some previous time, that desolated city had been the place of peace. Note that Melchizedek was king of Salem and was also known as “king of peace” (Heb 7:2). Not that Melchizedek was then king of peace, but that was his title as he wandered the wilderness seeking peaceful co-existence with mankind. The name Melchizedek means, “my name is Sedek (Righteousness; Etymology Online). In other words, Melchizedek was a priest like unto whom was Jesus.
  Melchizedek was Jesus watching over his covenanted people! He was Jesus planning on building a City of God at the very location of Paradise on Earth. Salem IS the place of Peace, or God’s residence, in the middle of the Garden of Eden. If Jerusalem was the center of the Garden, then Israel is the Garden itself.
  God is concerned about the fate of Israel because it is where Paradise once was, and where it will be again when Babylon’s “harlot” is cleansed (Rev 17:5). Israel was the “daughter of the harlot Babylon” in that like the mother harlot, so goes the daughter. When the prophets spoke of the desolation and renewal of Israel (Ezek 36), that referred to cleaning up the sinful country to make it a righteous place to live. Theologians often look at the immediate intent of prophecy, but most of it pertains to the Revelation of John. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and the other prophets were seeing what John saw! They saw the harlot Jerusalem resurrected into the City of God.
  The Lord provided a vision to Ezekiel. Whether it was an actual event or future prophecy is unknown. However, the story of “the dry bones” is a vision of two things: (1) Israel’s restoration and (2) the rapture of Christians. Israel’s fate is just a benchmark on the Way to Heaven. The focus must be, not on Jerusalem, but New Jerusalem, and the City of God – a land once a Garden Paradise grown into a great city of living souls. Now look at what Ezekiel saw:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? (Ezek 37:1-3a)

  “The hand of the Lord” is God made manifest. God with us in form is Jesus Christ. Jesus was showing Ezekiel what was to come. The concept of the Holy Trinity is not expressed well by theologians; that God is three persons in one is not accurate. God Is three substances (homeostasis) in one Existence. Jesus is the only person of God and is His Personality. The Father is the Divine Mind or Will and His Holy Spirit is the Power of God manifested to mankind. When you see Jesus, it is God that you see. The physical aspect of God is called Jesus. God’s “hand” identifies Jesus.
  Jesus showed Ezekiel what he would do. The question he asked was, Can dry bones live? Dry bones indicate that the army in the valley were very dead. “Indeed, they were very dry.” Then Ezekiel followed God’s instruction. God told Ezekiel to prophesy for the bones to be under the authority of God. We think of prophecy as foretelling future events. However, prophecy are miracles of God which are wrought. It can either be the meaning of past events, the power of present, or demonstrating by one event what would happen in some future time. Perhaps real dry bones became flesh:

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. (Ezek 37:7-8)

  Perhaps, however, Jesus was showing Ezekiel a future event. Read the key verses again: “The dead in Christ shall rise first!”  Jesus was providing Ezekiel with a vision of the rapture. “Rapture” is the snatching-up of Christians - the dead and living into Heaven. When Jesus showed Ezekiel the dead rising from their grave, that provided hope for the living who would follow suit. If the reader does not believe that dry bones became alive, they fail to understand that the resurrection of Christians is dry bones made alive again!
  The resurrection of the dead was not only metaphorical but likely actual: “The sinews and the flesh came upon them.” That was the first process in their resurrection, but it was not yet complete. God did not intend for mankind to merely exist in the flesh, but share His Spirit with Him. At that stage, the dead bones obtained flesh, but they were not living, breathing creatures. The last step in the resurrection process was, “I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army” (Ezek 37:10).
  How did God do that? “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live” (Ezek 37:9b). God breathed life into his restructured creatures. They became totally resurrected when the “dust of the ground” became living souls: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
  The creation was the erection of mankind. Jesus re-erected the dry bones. Their skeletons were erected, the covering added, and then they were made alive. The re-erected dead soldiers were resurrected from the dust. God was to re-erect Israel for a purpose; so that mankind could be resurrected. Israel’s resurrection will be for God to prepare for us a place for eternity after the resurrection of those dead in Christ as well as those remaining who are alive in him.

Therefore, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” (Ezek 37:12-14)

  Prophecy must be fulfilled. The dead Israelites in Christ were never raised from their graves; they were returned from other lands. Of course, Ezekiel’s vision is prophetic of Israel’s resurrection from foreign soil, but it pertains more to God’s people who God said, “Will cause to come out of your graves.” Lazarus was the first demonstration of that. The story of Lazarus who was already in decay was a miracle to show that Jesus can do what he claimed with Ezekiel that he can do. Jews need a sign (miracle) and Greeks logic (1 Cor 1:22). The demonstration of the dry bones showed doubters that Israel would be resurrected and that they could be as well! Israel, not only represents the chosen Hebrews, but all God’s people – “Behold O my people!” Jesus’s people are the dead Israelites who had faith in the coming Messiah, as well as Christians who have faith in the Messiah who came!
  Jesus raptured (snatched up dry bones) from their resting place. Their souls were elsewhere, in the four winds, it seems. Just as in the beginning, elemental material became alive when God breathed life unto them. He breathed His Spirit and they became living souls. Souls are immortal (Ephes 1:4). They always were and always will be because souls are God’s substance. The human aura is sort of a container with God’s Spirit in it. The soul is without form, without natural substance, is beyond the natural senses, but is real. The human soul is the part of us and God in unison, and how Christians sense God.
  The natural man has an emancipated soul. They relinquished their aura to the Devil to do as he will. Regeneration (born again) is regaining the soul. The old creature whose soul is in the “winds” somewhere, is regained when he or she trusts Jesus for their eternal life.
  It is supposed that the dry bones arose but were mindless. The mind must be with the soul. Of course, with flesh restored, they had brains, but to think rationally, they had to regain their souls. Perhaps, rather than cognition being discreet to the soul, that mind and soul have thought processes, but only the soul has divine wisdom.
  It has been demonstrated that the dead cannot think. Scripture says, “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2). Dead people are called “dead” for a reason; their thought processes cease! Transformation (regeneration or born again) is impossible for the dead. Living beings must revise their thought processes in order to become new creations. What thinking is that? I am not God; you Are, and I trust you for my future! God provides the hope and the future, but living people must accept His authority and Power to do so!
  Agrippa said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). The Calvinistic heresy that there is random selection by God is totally wrong. Natural men and women must be persuaded to be Christians. Paul used reason and logic. Dead people are neither reasonable nor logical since their brains are dead. Apparently, the dead soldiers surely died for the Name of the Lord to be revived. They surely sacrificed themselves for God’s Name sake, and scripture says that all Christians must do the same (Mat 10:22).
  The Hebrews were made a promise in their Exodus from Egypt from where they came out of sin,  “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared” (Exod 23:20). Us “peculiar people” (Christians) are given the same promise as God’s chosen people:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)

  God’s Plan (our hope) is that He truly is preparing a place for our immortal souls and regenerated bodies. The wandering souls of those dead in Christ will rejoin their renewed bodies. God promised to prepare a place for living immortal souls. He did that in the beginning (Gen 1:1-8) and he will do it again (Isa 66:22 and Rev 22:1). Scripture is not only about reviving immortal souls but preparing a place for them! God did that with Paradise in the Garden and will do it again with the same Paradise. We think of “Heaven” as up there somewhere! The Garden of God remains in Israel, and God is still preparing it for OUR place for eternity!
  When Jesus comes at the rapture, it won’t be where our bodies lie. It will be in the midst of the Garden of Jerusalem. Christians’ dry bones everywhere will be raised to be transported to Jerusalem where the trumpet is sounded. Just as the walls of Jericho fell down into the dust with the sound of trumpets, the dead in Christ shall arise from the dust when the trumpet sounds. All the saving events of the Bible happened in the Holy Land. That’s where Christians everywhere shall be saved! That Israel is the Garden Paradise is extremely important for that will be the eternal abode of those dead in Christ of all nations. Of course, no longer a Garden for two, but a great City for those who trust God.

Study the following passages:

And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. (Ezek 36:34-36)

  Notice that the desolate land of Israel, “is become like the Garden of Eden.” That speaks of a future event. However, it is not literal from the Hebrew; “become like” is not in the original text. That is interpretation by the translators. Literally, it should be written, This land is the Garden of Eden. Since Jerusalem is the “foundation of Peace,” then Israel is “the dust of the Garden of Peace,” and Israel is all the land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River. Muhammadans are land squatters in God’s Garden. They shall be evicted when the time comes for the preparation of Paradise restored!
  In a previous commentary, I wrote that Tyre was the location of the cherumbim who guarded entry into the Garden of Eden. Throughout history, that was the purpose of Tyre. It was impenetrable. Tyre was at the edge of the Kingdom of David, and its king, Hiram, was a staunch ally of King David. Likewise, the cherubim guarding the Garden were the “soldiers” who protected the Garden of the Son of David (Jesus).
  Throughout scripture, Israel is the location of what once was the Garden of Eden, and will be Paradise when the heavenly Paradise breaths life back into the old “bones” of Israel!

WATCHER-WATCHMAN-SHEPHERD

  A “watcher” is an angel. In his dream, a watcher presented information to King Nebuchadnezzar; “A watcher and an holy one came down from heaven” (Dan 4:17,23). “Watchers” are angels – both good and evil. In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, “watchers” were guardian angels. They revealed to the king his purpose in life. I believe that when Daniel considered the dream, he made it about Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon. However, I believe it had double-meaning; it was about Nebuchadnezzar’s role in cutting the “Great Tree” of Israel. Appreciate it or not, but Nebuchadnezzar was God’s useful tool in reducing Israel from a lively tree to a stump! In the case of Nebuchadnezzar, the angel he saw seems to be the angel of death – perhaps the “destroying angel” of the Exodus.
  In the case of the Exodus, God destroyed the first born of the Egyptians and the Hebrews whose homes were not protected by the blood of a lamb. Did Nebuchadnezzar see Jesus twice? Once in his dream and the next in the fiery furnace? Was it not Jesus who came down in the dream, and Jesus who was in the furnace saving the remnant of Israel. Jesus is not only Savior, but the Administrator of justice as well. It seems that Nebuchadnezzar was the antitype of Moses. The latter’s role was to save the iniquitous Hebrews, and the former, to destroy the iniquitous Jews! In both cases – to save and to destroy – was implementation of the Abrahamic Covenant.
  “The Angel of the Lord” throughout scripture means THE “Messenger of the Lord.” That manifestation of God is pre-incarnate Jesus. Although guardian angels were watchers, THE Guardian Angel was THE Watcher who saves. We look at Nebuchadnezzar as the power that cut Israel’s “tree” and neglect that he was the power who saved Israel’s “Stump.” Only the Jews taken to Babylon were righteous enough to be saved. Those who remained in Israel or fled to other places, were cut off. The Watcher came not to destroy, but save the remnant. That’s what Jesus does!
  In the case of Ezekiel (Ezek 33), he was a “watchman.” His role was to save the Jews (house of Israel; Judah and Samaria alike) from themselves. His assignment was to warn the people of their fate. He was sort of a Nebuchadnezzar. He was God’s tool for saving the Jews, but to the Jews, he was more of a messenger of destruction. You see, it depends on how one looks at it!
  Like Nebuchadnezzar, he was to be a tool of God. Rather than destroying the people, he was to be the messenger – watchman – to save the remnant. His fate would be the fate of those who heard the message. What was God’s message that watchman Ezekiel was to present: “Say unto them, ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel’” (Ezek 33:11).
  What was Nebuchadnezzar to do at the behest of the Watcher? Cause the death of the wicked Jews, although God took no pleasure in their destruction!
  A lesson can be learned from Ezekiel. His “job” as prophet was to present the truth to the Jews. If he did not, although he was “hired” to be watchman, he would suffer the same fate of those who he failed to reach. Ezekiel, as such, was an apostle, as their assignment was the same. One apostle by the name of Judas failed to present the gospel. If Ezekiel had failed, then he would have been a Judas!
  Furthermore, as royal priests, all Christians are called to be apostles: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Mat 24:14). That is our obligation in the Abrahamic Covenant: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, ‘In thee shall all nations be blessed’” (Gal 3:8). Ezekiel’s calling was the same as ours because of the perpetuity of the God’s Covenant with Abraham. Like Ezekiel, Christians are “watchman” and Jesus is the “Watcher.” What does Jesus watch? Whether his watchman actually watch over his flock. In that sense, Ezekiel and Christians are “shepherds” who watch over The Lamb’s flock. God is “the true shepherd” (Ezek 34:11-31). God identifies himself as the Good Shepherd:

KEY VERSE: For thus saith the Lord God; “Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” (Ezek 34:11-12)

  Not by coincidence, as God is the “True Shepherd,” Jesus is the “Good Shepherd,” as is written, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Likewise, as watchman, Christians are to be as good of shepherds as Jesus. We are held accountable for the Good Shepherd’s “sheep.” Watchmen are the Good Shepherd’s “hirelings” just as Ezekiel was God’s hireling, speaking His Words. Likewise, Christians are hirelings:

But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. (John 10:12-13)

  The responsibility of Christians as hirelings as shepherds is to be good watchmen over God’s flock. Just as Ezekiel was given the consequences of not doing his job as God’s “hireling” to watch over the flock, Christians must watch over the Good Shepherd’s flock.
  As such, the Great Commission – to tell the world about the evil one and salvation – is the same as Ezekiel’s “commission.” The penalty and rewards are the same as for the watchman Ezekiel! Ezekiel was to suffer the same fate as those he watched or failed to watch over. He was to warn the people of the forthcoming destruction. Christians are to do the same, or silent Christians will suffer the same consequences as Ezekiel would have. Our job assignments, or commissions, are the same! If we remain silent, perhaps we are poor watchmen and apathetic “Christians.”
  As such, there cannot be “silent Christians.” If Christians are true to their calling, they will watch over the lost sheep to bring them to the flock. How we are good watchmen is up to us. Ezekiel was to say to the Israelites, “O wicked man, you shall surely die” (Ezek 33:8), and to tell them the truth about what hinders them or saves them from death. Ezekiel warned that they should accept the safety of Babylon. Of course, Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by his vision of Jesus. He no longer thought of himself as a god (the Great Tall Tree), but as God’s watchman. He did only what the Boss intended for him to do!
  Note that Ezekiel was to tell the wicked of their impending death for their deeds. That was the same warning that God gave to Adam when he said, “Ye shall surely die!” Ezekiel was to speak the Word of Jesus (Jesus; John 1). He was to be a “true shepherd,” as God,  to Jesus’s “Good Shepherd.” We are to be the same! We can speak the Word or write the Word, but it must be shared with the wicked. Of course, a pre-requisite for sharing the Word is living it! We are to do as well as speak our commission.
  I write commentary because that is my obligation. For me to not perish requires that I want that “none should perish,” just as God wants that (John 3:16). Wanting that I not perish without caring that others perish is not a good watchman, and is poor shepherding.
Preachers make a big deal about being “called to preach.” Preachers can’t perform our commission for us. Sharing the gospel and the consequences of sin is the responsibility of all Christians. Watchman cannot remain silent, and true shepherds take care of all the sheep, especially the lost sheep. It’s not solely the preacher’s job to be watchman and shepherd, but all of the Christian priests. We are all called to preach, and if we’re not doing it, we will suffer the same consequences as the lost tribes of Israel who no longer exist!
  Read Ezekiel 33; are you Christians good watchman or are you merely watching the sheep go to their death?

PARADISE FOUND

  I have written much about Eden and the Garden eastward in that land. Of course, the Garden of Eden is believed to be in or around Ur in present-day Iraq, but that is based on the map of the world as it is at the present. It certainly did not appear then as it does today. In other words, it is futile to use a modern map to search for the Garden of God as it was in the beginning.

  On the third “day” of Creation the world was generated from the earth (particles of matter) and existed in space (heavens): [1]

God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Gen 1:9-10) 

  Therefore, on the third “day” the land which scientists call “Pangea” was formed in the midst of the seas. The Bible, I believe, called the original continent before drift, “Eden” (Gen 10:25,32). Sometime thereafter, perhaps during the flood, Eden devolved into seven separate continents (physically six as Europe and Asia are actually one continent now called “Eurasia.) It is possible that Eden was the area of land which later became Eurasia, and not inclusive of all the continents. The Mediterranean Sea, meaning “Center of the Earth” surely refers to the middle of the Earth after continental drift for that sea to even exist. For now, consider the land called “Eden” the territory around and including the Mediterranean Sea.
  I have discovered three known locations named Eden: (1) The unidentified land mass in the Creation Story, (2) the name of the land of Dan before his tribe moved northward toward Lebanon, and (3) Aden (also interpreted as Eden) - a protectorate into this century on the south tip of the Arabian Peninsula (now called Yemen.) Therefore, Eden included at least the territory inclusive of Arabia and to the sea eastward of Jerusalem. Scripture indicates that even Zarephath (Sarapeta) in Lebanon shall be possessed by the Israel.
  “Israel” is the promised land - that empire promised to Abraham and given by God to King David. The triangular area in Figure #1 is the extent of the “promised land” of Israel.

Figure 1: Promised Land (theisraelbible.com)

  Since Eden extended at least to Yemen, it seems plausible that the triangular area of land represents all the territory of the Promise Land (aka Israel) which has shrunk from the days of promise. In fact, David never ruled all the territory encompassed within the triangle and leads me to believe that someday Israel’s boundaries will expand to the Euphrates River and up to Turkey, and will include Lebanon. That is an important conclusion for the key verses which follow:

KEY VERSES (About Tyre in Lebanon):
¹ The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
 ² “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 
‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,’
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
³ (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
⁴ With your wisdom and your understanding
You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
⁵ By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
⁶ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
⁷ Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
⁸ They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas. (Ezek 28; NKJV)

  Some say that the key verses are metaphorical and only compare Tyre to the Garden of Eden. As a literalist when literalism is not precluded, I identify Tyre as a portion of the Garden of Eden. Indeed, it is at the extremity of the triangular area of land sitting off the present-day coast of Lebanon. The name Tyre means “Rock” as it is also expressed as follows, “And they (its adversaries) shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock” (Ezek 26:4). (That finally happened with Babylon commencing the destruction, and Alexander the Great finalizing it.) Tyre existed on both the isle and on the main land in ancient times and is one of the oldest cities on Earth (ca 2900 BC).  Where am I going with this?

The Lord God sent him (Adam) out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:23-24)

  The station of the cherubim was east of the Garden of Eden. The globe was not the same before continental drift. (See figure #2 for the land masses before drift according to speculation.)

Pangea (mymodernet,com)

  The continents drifted outward in a spiral around the Mediterranean Sea if this representation is fairly accurate. Indeed, the Foundation Stone in Jerusalem is called, “the navel of the world” and is known as the celestial axis between the Earth and the celestial sphere. Let’s say that Pangea is somewhat representative. The directions of Israel may have rotated if that is correct. For that reason, ignore “east of the Garden of Eden” in Genesis 3 above. Why so? Tyre was in the northern sector of the Kingdom of David. My hypothesis is that Tyre was the place where cherubim were to guard the way to the Tree of Life in the passage above.
  Also, in the key verses, the prince of Tyre became as god. The “princes” of Tyre were most often allied with Israel. Even the cedars of Lebanon were given for building the Temple of God. That a prince of Tyre would be as god was a new thing. Before that, their princes were allied with Israel. As a port city, Tyre was an ideal location to prevent entry into the Davidic Kingdom. It seems that the princes of Tyre were symbolic of cherubim which guarded the way to the midst of the Garden where the Tree of Life stood!
  A further hint was that Tyre’s prince, whoever he was, thought he was as wise as Daniel, and thought of himself as god. Remembering that cherubim were angels that guarded the way to Paradise, and that even angels often turn on God, the prince of Tyre turned on Israel and their God when he sided with Babylonia. That does not mean that the prince of Tyre was angelic, but that he was symbolic of fallen angels. Ezekiel reminded the prince that although he sat in the seat of God, he was not a god! Neither were the cherubim! Now examine supplementary key verses:


SUPPLMENT TO KEY VERSES:

¹² “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, 
and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
¹⁴ “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
¹⁵ You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you. (Ezek 28)


  The king of Tyre (the “prince”) was the “seal of perfection.” That describes cherubim who guarded the way of the Tree of Life. Ezekiel was literal about the symbolism: “You were in Eden, the Garden of God.” Ezekiel identifies the Kings of Tyre as from the cherubim! He revealed their guardian post when he wrote about Tyre as in the Garden of God in Eden. Of course, the Garden was eastward in Eden (Gen 2:8), and was a smaller area than Eden.
  I contend that the Garden of Eden was the Kingdom of David, and that the “midst of the Garden” where the Tree of Life stood was the city of Jerusalem (Gen 2:9).
  Ezekiel goes on to say, “You were the anointed cherubim who covers.” Cherubim covers the face of God as we know from the cherubim atop the Ark of God. The King of Tyre were those princes who were anointed as cherubim, not as God! At some point in time, iniquity was found in the cherubim who guarded the way to the Tree of Life just as iniquity had been found in Lucifer:

You have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (Isa 14:12-15)

  Well, the King of Tyre was brought down in much the same way as Lucifer! Then Tyre was cut down, and the prince of Tyre brought down to Sheol as well. Tyre went from mountain to pit when its walls were breached.
  The object of this commentary was to help identify Eden, the Garden of Eden, and the middle of the Garden. That Tyre was the outlying guard post of the Garden of Eden helps identify the Promised Land to Abraham as the Garden itself, and of course, God’s House and Tree were in the midst of the Garden. By that I mean Solomon’s Temple and the Holy Cross of Jesus! That the Foundation Stone was Ornan’s Threshing Floor and God’s Threshing Temple is further evidence that the central point of Eden was the rock that the Dome of the Rock covers. In other words, Ur may have been part of the Garden, but Israel was the entire Garden of Eden. Eden then, must be all the world including Israel, indicating that Pangea is Eden.
  The Bible describes where it all happened in the beginning. We must cease looking at the way things are now, but the way they were. Those regenerated will live for eternity in the Garden Paradise in Eden. I believe it to be the Promised Land promised to Abraham. That is reinforced by Revelation 21. I believe that the middle of the Garden where the Tree of Life stood is in the same place, but in a different realm – one that we cannot see because the gulf of death must be crossed to see what Ezekiel saw!

---

[1] In my book, On the Origin of Man and the Universe, I contend that “days” are better interpreted in that context as “processes.”

PEACE ON EARTH or ILL WILL TOWARD MEN

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:11,13-14)

  I’ve always took those passages literally and with immediacy; that there would be peace on Earth that day – the day that Jesus was born. Little did I know that there would never be peace on Earth as it exists. It would be a long day coming! There was and is still much to do before there is peace on Earth and good will toward men. What Jesus called, “born again” (John 3:7) brings about a changed heart in men, and yes, here on Earth. The evidence of rebirth is peace with God and good will toward others. Therefore, rebirth is a change in heart. The old creature’s heart is circumcised of its desires, and a new heart full of peace and goodwill is the countenance of the new creature.
  Oddly enough, there is not much evidence of peace on Earth and good will toward men. Even during the Christmas season when people allegedly praise God, there remains dissension and ill-will toward men and women. There is little evidence that rebirth actually occurred. Becoming a “new person” is not momentarily, but forthwith until the day of your salvation – the day you meet God face to face!
  The world is imbued with people who believe that they are already saved, but live like they are lost and still bound by sin. How can people claim to be new creatures when the old creatures lurk around day and night? Even faithful Christians are not at peace with one another, even as they think that they are at peace with God! There is no way to have peace with God unless there is congruence between your will and God’s Will. Christians cannot have good will toward others unless they have a will like God’s. Peace ultimately means that a time will come when a remnant of people truly shall have peace and good will toward others. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Mat 5:9).
  First off, the peacemakers are blessed. Those who are “blessed” are recipients of bliss. “Bliss” happens only in Paradise which is in Heaven, but will be on Earth when the old world is cleansed with fire, and the new world changes to good as the Garden originally was on Earth. Children of God are those who have peace toward God and others.
  Those who are born again, then, must be “children of God.” The problem is that they seem to still be children of the Devil (John 8:44). One must question the authenticity of the second birth if the new creature has not emerged from the dark shadows. The test for new hearts as evidence of new creatures is peace on Earth and good will toward men (and women).
  The evidence that there remains little peace and kindness among Christians is the chaos among those with opposing doctrines and ideas, religious beliefs and even political beliefs. For instance, Christians should vote for “good” but often vote for “evil.” Mostly, that is because they do not understand good and evil because they are not knowledgeable in God’s Word. However, this commentary is not about denominations or politics, but the countenance of those who claim Jesus as their Savior.  Jesus thought the angels’ claims were good but he had no expectation that men would have peace toward him and good will toward others!

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. (Luke 12:51-52)

  I take Jesus’s Word for it! Peace and kindness won’t be on THIS Earth until Jesus reigns on THIS Earth. That is during Jesus’s Millennial Reign when Satan is bound and can no longer created chaos in this world. Until then, the world will be divided, even among members of the same house, or family. How can anyone truly exhibit love and kindness toward others if they can’t their own family?

The Christmas season is not joyful for me, because rather than “peace on earth and good will toward men” I sense division even among members of the same household. Dissension is released as anger. Anger is when one’s reality or myth are infringed upon. Anger is the power released when one’s superego endeavors to protect the ego.
  God Is the Great I AM (Ego Eimi). We are not! Those who get angry revoke their good will and kindness for the sake of their own egos. They become the “god” on whom others infringe upon to the neglect of the True God on whom Christians infringe upon continually. Why do family members have anger toward others? Because of the proximity of their “worlds.”
  Each person has their own little world – their personal space. As long as Satan is alive, others will infringe on personal space, and as a result, people will feel infringed upon and become angry. Anger demonstrates to Satan that he has power even over your emotions and countenance.
  Recently, as I ironically tried to persuade an atheist to become a Christian, I became angry because he was the “action” that created an angry reaction within me. To be blunt, I called him “an idiot.” I did what Satan desired for me – a Christian – to do. I exhibited anger rather than kindness, and war ensued between me and my fellow man. His world collided with mine for only a few minutes, nevertheless we still collided! The “worlds” of family members collide continually.
  Because I was angered, I did what Satan willed me to do, and God’s will for peace and kindness blew away with the wind of the prince of the air. I no longer stayed strong against my adversaries, neither the man nor Satan. I became one with them. My spirit could not rest until I reconciled! Imagine how stressed my spirit is when I am unable to reconcile with those who God commanded to love me! I cannot rest, right or wrong – neither in my myth nor in my reality.
  Before we sacrifice (present ourselves) to the Lord, we are to reconcile with our brothers (sisters, friends, neighbors, families, et al).

But I say unto you, “That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…” Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (Mat 5:22-24)

  The causation is not hurting your feelings; it is offending God! Those who offend God are due righteous anger, but if they offend you, they deserve reconciliation. Jesus was saying, Before you present yourself to him as right, make things right with others whether at fault or not! We all have done that once and maybe a few times more than that, but look at what Jesus says, “Then came Peter to him, and said, ‘Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?’ Jesus saith unto him, ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven’” (Mat 18:21-22).
  People, to have peace, must be kind-hearted. That does not mean clinging to falsehoods or even reality. It is being kind in all things to all people; even our adversaries. How can people accept the attribute of kindness when they are unforgiving and intolerant of others? There will be no peace for them! Where is peace? In Paradise! Our eternity in Paradise depends on our kindness on Earth.

With that said, Christmastime is often not joyful to many. Jesus came into the world to bring peace. He did not fail us, but we did fail him. He knew that there would be dissension. With poetic justice, Christ’s Day is often a horrible day for those held captive to their own egos.