The Timing of Salvation

     The promise from God to Israel was to "place salvation for Israel in Zion;" to wit:

I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. (Isa 45:13).

     Therein "salvation" has many meanings:

• The Jews will return to their homeland in the days of Darius the Persian.
• The Jews will have Zion for posterity.
• The Jews will be saved in the end.
• The Japhethites will have  Zion as their salvation, and
• Salvation will be in Zion.

     Zion is an important place. I believe the world has always been jealous of the Jews because Zion is the place of their salvation, and either everyone wants to short-circuit that promise or want that place for their own salvation - most notably the adherents to Islam. Islam means "peaceful". 

     The exact location of Zion is debatable, but most attest to it being the City of David, although more specifically Mount Moriah - the location of the Temple Mount which now is the location of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, meaning the "foundation of peace," is an holy city of Islam. The reader can see that "Islam" and "Jerusalem" have as a roots the word "peace," and thus two religions lay claim to that Holy City of God.

     "City of God" is important as well:

Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Rev 3:12)

     Isaiah and the apostles were the "foundation of the Church:"

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephes 2:19-21)

     Jesus was the "cornerstone" or the "datum" to which the Church is built. Bishops "superintend" the building of the Church, and deacons are their helpers. Individual Christians are the pillars in the temple of God (Rev 3:12).  The roof of God's temple is grace as even the unworthy have a place beneath the "roof" of the temple (Luke 7:5-7). Hence the whole "Temple" from Cornerstone to the roof. Christians are part of the temple; indeed we are the "temple of God" (1 Cor 6:19) as "lively stones," as in, "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 2:5).
    As "pillars" of God's Temple, we are lively stones who profess and build the doctrine of grace (the roof). Thus, in those passages the plan  for the Church of God. is revealed.
     True to His promise, the world returned their homeland to them in 1948. As owners of the land of David, the Jewish people owned Israel, and Zion was their City of God. It wasn't out of love that Jews returned to their city but because the world hated them. After WWI, Churchill isolated the Jews as if they were lepers because the world hated them. After the hatred was demonstrated so vehemently in the Third Reich and Soviet Communism, as well as under British prejudice, the Jews were cast out of the wilderness back into the City and Garden of God. Their punishment was the very place they desired to be! That was part of Isaiah's prophecy.
     Jews will become pillars of the Christian Church which were set aside for the Jews who declined it. God prophesied Himself that the Japhethites would dwell in the "tents" of Shem (i.e., Gentiles would dwell in the tabernacles of the Jews.) Even today, Christians, whether they admit it or not, are Messianic. I call myself a spiritual Jew because true Judaism is Christianity, to which Gentiles are heirs. As Abraham's faith in Jesus's purpose was demonstrated on Mount Moriah, that's the place the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the empty tomb of Jesus, and is the most Holy Place of Christianity. That is in the old city of David, which is the City of God, and someday will be New Jerusalem. Until then, the harlot Babylon (Islam) seems to own much of the City of David.
     Why is modern-day Jerusalem the "harlot Babylon" (Rev 17:5). Because of the fornication against God therein as Islam contaminates the holiness of the place with their seven pillars (mountains). Someday, God will make the city holy again and Allah will be cast into Hell.
    "Salvation" is important and misunderstood. Jews always take it as their own salvation as a people and in the end a spiritual salvation for them. The mystery of God is that salvation is by grace, for everyone, and by the Way of Jesus. That "Way" has two meanings: the path to Calvary and the Doctrine of Christ (2 John 1:9). That "doctrine" is the Word of Christ (1 Tim 3:6) which is being like God, not as gods (Gen 3:5), but diminishing oneself and elevating God (John 3:14).
    The first step to salvation is to be born again (John 3:7) which is John 3:14. With that enlightenment, the believer has the "hope of salvation" (1 Thes 5:8), and if they are certain of their hope. it is the "assurance of salvation" (Heb 6:11) which is having hope to the end.
    That assurance is continually tested, and is a test of faith. Isaiah referred to it in the key verse, as "overcometh." Life is tribulation from Satan; God and Christians together overcometh Satan and his temptations. Just as with faithful Job (Job 1), God does place a hedge of safety around righteous people. Satan cannot kill them, but they must withstand the doubts he raises. Thus the regenerated person has safety, but is not yet saved. For those who are certain, it is as good as done!
     Salvation is for those who overcome the world. That faithful endurance is until the end which is death. Death is the "train crash" or when Christians are saved from perishing in the inferno. God judges who has overcome the world and who has not. The faithful will be glorified- given imperishable holy bodies when Jesus returns in the sky. Christians will be "snatched up" (raptured) on that glorious day.
     Jesus will not be everywhere in the sky when the trumpet sounds. Like the Messianic Jews, I believe he will come back where he ascended, specifically the city of God -  Jerusalem, and precisely at the Mount of Olives which is the place in the midst of the Garden where the Tree of Life was in the beginning (Gen 2:9). I believe Jerusalem is like a funnel where the Christians of the world, both the living and the dead, shall ascend to Jesus  just as did the dead saints were released from death there when Jesus gave up the Ghost (Mat 27:52).
     Ultimate salvation for mankind is when 144,00 Jews near the end will be saved (Rev 7). "Salvation" is when Satan physically and spiritually dies, and can harm mankind no more! When Jesus died on the cross, the Serpent was vicariously crucified in his "tree" (the non-repentant thief). That's the lifeless brazen serpent Moses held high!
     Salvation for mankind is when Satan really dies forever! The Jews who are righteous will be saved at that time. Because we Gentiles believe before the rapture, our salvation is then - when the passengers in the "crashing train" are miraculously ejected into Heaven!

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. (Isa 62:1-3).

    What was Isaiah seeing and writing? He was seeing Japhethites dwelling in the tents of Shem. They would no longer be called Gentiles, but Christians. To the Jews, "Gentile" meant unclean. God cleaned up an unclean people, and made them upright if they profess His Name. Those who see Jesus as the promised Messiah were called "Christians" (Acts 11:26).  Isaiah saw them as they were called by that new name only centuries before!
     Prophecy coming true validates my faith. I hope it does yours as well. Isaiah had 100% accuracy because he saw true things before they occurred. He never missed a prophecy; he validated God because God allowed him to see things above the sea of glass that the uninspired cannot see.
   

Mysterious Ways

     There is no Bible verse which says, hate the sin but love the sinner, although that idea is a thread throughout. Where is it? Everywhere! Likewise, neither is God works in mysterious ways in any one verse. That does not mean that God does not do things mysteriously.
     Paul spoke often of "the mystery of God," for instance in Colossians 2:2, and referred to that mystery in this passage: "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (1 Cor 2:7).
     Paul revealed the mystery when he wrote, "And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Ephes 3:9). The mystery is that the entire Bible is about Jesus and his purpose. Paul revealed the mystery of God: it is really the mystery of Christ:

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: (Ephes 3:3-6).

     It seems that the mystery is that salvation is for everyone; not just particular people,  and it was by grace, and for all ages. Not only did Paul understand the mystery, but Jesus's beloved friend, John, revealed the mystery his Gospel chapter one; it was Jesus all the time!  In my mid-thirties, God revealed the mystery to me. I was not seeking hidden knowledge but it was as if a light shined. I finally understood the Old Testament; it was all about Jesus! Now when I read those mysterious passages, I ask myself, "What has this to do with Jesus?" Self answers me, and I understand the Word, which Paul revealed as Jesus Christ.
     The problem with Judaism, is that they don't know the mystery... never did! I'm referring to the teachers of the Law and the common Jew. They didn't understand God at all, to the extent that when the Messiah came, they could merely wonder, Who is this man who claims to be God? then deny him.
    The Church is made up of those who have had the mystery revealed. They understand that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Those people are "partakers of his promise" and that is that the way and the truth provide life! The truth of the gospel is that it is not by the Law, but by grace you are saved (Ephes 2:8).
     The apostles understood the mystery; John and Paul more so than the others. There is a crystalline "sea of glass" on which God's throne sits with Jesus at His right hand (Rev 4:6). To see Jesus alongside God, Saul was blinded that he could see. In the darkness, he looked up unto the heaven and God showed His face to him. He saw the face of God, and that He is called Jesus.
     When Saul saw, he became a new person because he saw the Light clearly although blinded. He was born again, and with a new bright nature, Jesus renamed him Paul, as he had went from questioning to humbled. (The meaning of those names, respectively.) God revealed His mystery to him, and the mystery is Christ!
     Not only were the apostles the foundation of the church, laid from the Cornerstone, but so were the prophets:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephes 2:19-21)

     The apostles know the mystery and so did the prophets. Isaiah revealed the mystery long before Saul was ever born:

15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 19b I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. (Isa 45; italics mine)

     Isaiah knew that God's Word was pre-incarnate Jesus because he has bright eyes. By that I mean, those who looked for truth and to whom truth was revealed. A prophet by definition, sees Truth.  God allows them to see Him clearly through that sea of glass for special reasons - to tell ancient men about the mystery of Christ.
     In the passages immediately preceding, Isaiah revealed the mystery. "The Word" is the coming Messiah. Few understood that hidden knowledge; those that did it was accounted to them as faith (righteousness), as it was with Abraham (Rom 4:3). I believe that Isaiah saw Jesus transfigured in a vision because he referred to the Savior's "glory." (My contention is that God glorified the Son of Man at the transfiguration as His Flesh was brought in proximity to the Father to prepare Jesus for the cross. It may be that the transformation was from Son of Man to Son of God!)
    The mystery of God and God hiding Himself must not be confused with the secret knowledge of the Gnostics. God is not secret. Even the stones shout out His Name:

And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:39-40).

    The Word has been shouted since the beginning of the world, but few would hear the shout. Not only does it take bright eyes to see Jesus in God but astute ears to hear the shout. (Mat 11:15). If people are willing to listen, indeed, they shall hear. If they are willing to see, they shall see. Obedience is not the gospel; willingness to please God is!

Contract Killing

     A hired killer usually has one motive - money. The desire for money is for his own satisfaction. The contractor has the more important motive - hatred. We think of hatred as despising another human being, but hatred has a  much wider meaning than that. The entire Ten Commandments are motives: The first type of hatred is denigration of God by: (1) Making Him insignificant, (2) mocking Him with images of false gods, (3) taking God's Purpose for granted, and (4) desecrating His Holy Day. The second type of hatred is for others, and are (5) dishonoring parents, (6) killing, (7) selfishly satisfying yourself rather than your mate, (8) stealing, (9) lying about others, and (1) lusting after what they have, or jealousy.
     Scripture identifies all ten of those precepts as how to hate. They can be summarized by the two types: (1) Ways of hating God, and (2) ways of hating others. The Greatest Hatred is of God, and the hatred like unto it, is hating others.
     Note that the contract killer has but one motive - coveting what others have to satisfy himself. His "hatred" is because someone else has money that he wants enough to kill for it. Of course, inside, going unnoticed is that the contract killer hates God by ignoring His authority. "Avarice is the root of all evil." (1 Tim 6:10 paraphrased). I used "avarice" because it isn't money people love, but what can be purchased with it, the influence it brings, or even prestige. As my friend said, "I just like luxurious things."
     On the other hand, the contractors have a deeper hatred. They want another person(s) killed because he or they stand in their way in the retention or pursuit of things. That could be anything, but history has shown that the world kills other people to keep their myth - beliefs, traditions, and false notions. I have come to the conclusion, for instance, with all the discussion and name-calling, no on ever seems to change their myth.  Logic, reason, and truth have no utility in validating their myth.
    For instance, one man told me that he hated Jews. When I asked him why, he replied, "Because my father did." He lived a myth. I tried to persuade him that Jews are worthy of love. He never responded, only desiring to retain his myth that Jews deserve to be hated.
    At one time, I believed that pro-choice people were accomplices to murder because they didn't do the procedure but only encouraged it. Pro-choice is not a political ideology but a moral precept or one of the standards of behavior according to their own belief system. Many "Christians" accept the idea of abortion. As Christians, they should be able to support their moral stance with Holy Scripture. That cannot be done; they must ignore God's will, which was written on stone: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exod 20:13).
     Why would anyone desire to kill their own offspring? As I wrote above, it's  because they stand in their way in the retention or pursuit of things. The unborn child presently is a little inconvenient, but with delivery, is perceived to be a great inconvenience. God's decree does not have exceptions, such as, it's okay to kill if it would cause inconvenience. 
     The proponents of abortion usually want to abort because they perceive that a baby would somehow stand in the way of their own life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The mothers who abort their offspring are covetous of what they could have, but will not have if the babies are brought to term. Somehow the Serpent has deceived them, and their enablers; the baby is nor really a person, and thus cannot die, or even God will forgive that transgression.
     The former is from the forked tongue of the Serpent, and the latter is a partial truth. God will forgive that sin, but sinning with that idea already in mind is disrespecting God's will. Jesus didn't die to allow us to sin, but to defeat sin. Death is the penalty for sin, and sin cannot be rewarded. The mother, like Eve before her, will somehow suffer the consequences of sin, even if God redeems her.
     Much of the time, mothers-to-be are merely deceived. Just as Jesus said on the cross, "They know not what they do," and can be forgiven. (Luke 23:34). This commentary is more than about abortion, however; it's about who is responsible for the death of Jesus! 

Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. (John 19:10-12)

     Pilate is the "contract killer" of whom I wrote before. He killed Jesus because of avarice. He desired to maintain his consulate, but feared if there was a Jewish uprising, he would lose his lofty position. We find that Pilate didn't hate Jesus. He tried to protect Jesus to no avail because the mob demanded it. He perceived that he had nothing to gain: "So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves."
     Pilate was a contract killer without an obvious motive! He sinned by murder, but hatred was not in his heart. Secular writings relate that he may have even admired Jesus, and thought him a good man. Pilate's motive was avarice - the love of good things. At that moment, Jesus was just a little inconvenient to his aspirations.(Note: Another view is that Pilate became a disciple of Jesus.)
      (Ironically, Pilate lost his consulate. There are consequences of sin.)  Within six years of Jesus's death, either Caligula had Pilate put to death or he committed suicide. My guess is that he sold Jesus out just as Judas had before him, and he ended his own life rather than face the guilt. Jesus was just a little inconvenient to Pilate.
     On the other hand, Jesus was a great inconvenience to the mob! He had been an inconvenience to Herod when he was born. Jesus was a threat to Herod's tradition - the Hasmonean Dynasty of which he was king. A new King would stand in Herod's way, so he sought to kill him with the slaughter of the innocents. Herod was a radical post-birth abortionist even before New Yorkers were even a gleam in their grandparents' eyes!
     Likewise, Jesus was an inconvenience to the Jewish myth. They believed erroneously that eternal life was obtainable by works. Jesus came to expose their error (salvation was always by grace.) They were threatened; the chief priest was even threatened with the loss of his stature because Jesus was the High Priest on the order of Melchizedek. (The priest and king of Salem is thought to be God who manifested Himself, or as He would someday be called - Jesus.)
     Jesus told Pilate that his deliverers had a greater sin than he. (That dispels the myth that there are not degrees of sin.) It turns out that since Jesus died for all mankind, everyone - Jew and Gentile - had greater sins than Pilate. The Jews did kill Jesus; they were the mob, but they killed him for the Gentiles as well. We all our Jesus's murderers, and deserve death!
     Likewise, any and all who propagate abortion have greater sins than the mother or even the doctor who performs the abortion. The former is doing it for convenience and the latter for avarice. On the other hand, those who propagate abortion have a higher motive - sexual freedom (Commandment No. 7.) Their sin is as David's - murder for the pursuit of sexual freedom. That is a grievous sin, and David lamented about it in Psalm 51.
     I believe that the legislators and judges who propagate and justify abortion are those having the greater sin than either the woman or the doctor. They are symbolic Jews.  I believe the voters are the "Gentiles" who don't believe they are the ones killing Jesus. It turns out that the Gentiles were as guilty as the Jews, and I believe the voters as guilty as the legislators and judges who propagate abortion. They may not know that they are, but that does not suppress their guiltiness.
     The myth that Jews killed Jesus must be dispelled. I wasn't even there, but I killed Jesus! Likewise, the voters who put abortionist in office to plan the offense, are as guilty as the contract killers of the innocents. They do it, not out of convenience, but for power. Their myth is that the unborn are sub-human parasites. Where have we heard that before? Just ask a Jew!
    This was lengthy, but it was to make a point: voters are as guilty as the abortion doctor or the mother, and share the guilt with judges and legislators who they promote.



 

Threshing

      My regular readers by now know that the phrase "threshing floor" has great significance, specifically Ornan's threshing floor:

So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 1 Chron 21:14-16)… And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. At that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. (1 Chron 21:27-28)… Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. (2 Chron 3:1).

     Before, I always missed the significance of the threshing floor. It seemed that David merely wanted to pay a fair price for a place to build his altar to God. That seems honorable and reasonable.  Why would the Lord punish Israel with pestilence? He did a census of fighting men; he was measuring his power.
     We know from scripture that God felled the walls of Jericho with the hand of no men. At that time, Joshua had faith in the Lord for deliverance. Any time the Lord delivers the Hebrew people in scripture, it is a foreshadowing of "Joshua's" (Jesus's) salvation. David was preparing to save himself, and compared armies to do so. Israel had 1,100,000 fighting men, Judah 470,000  soldiers, and the tribes of Levi and Benjamin were not counted upon for anything.
     David depended on Israel for numbers to defend itself against Judah. He counted the Lord for naught. That lack of faith disappointed the Lord, and he threshed Israel for David's lack of faith!
     Ornan (Araunah or Araniah) owned the threshing floor where the prophet Gad had instructed an altar to be built. "The name Araniah can be seen as the word ארן plus יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHWH or Yahweh. The meaning may be "Yahweh Is Firm." (Abarim Publications: "Araunah" and "Araniah"). That makes sense because God was firm with Israel there, costing David 70,000 men of Jerusalem through a plague.
     God is indeed firm in his justice, and on Ornan's threshing floor, threshed the Israelites for their insult. We know from scripture that the line of Japheth would come to "dwell" or worship in the "tents" of Shem (Gen 9:27). With a little poetic justice the permanent "tent" - Solomon's Temple would be built on Ham's Land as Ornan was a Jebusite and of the line of Ham!
     Now back to threshing: God brought up Nebuchadnezzar to thresh the Jews not many years after Israel was threshed and winnowed (the Diaspora). God doesn't need numbers, we remember; He wants faithful men. After Jerusalem was threshed by the Babylonian Empire, the Lord, by grace, made Cyrus powerful (Isaiah 45). 
     He allowed Jerusalem's wall and temple to be rebuilt (Nehemiah). God's M.O. when threshing is to thresh, winnow, and then preserve the good grain. According to the New Testament Parable of the Sower (Mat 13:3-8), the threshing floor has great significance, and the threshing at Jerusalem was a foreshadowing of that. In that parable, the threshing floor was natural: thorns, birds, and rocks did the threshing but "good" ground made much fruit. God even counted the fruit! The "good" ground is dependence on the Lord for the harvest. David had not done that.
     David planned a temple on Araniah's threshing floor after God told David that he didn't need a house. We find from the Parable of the Sower that God still does not. He threshes using things made by His hands. Just as He didn't need David's soldiers, He didn't need the sower to sow only on good ground. Only God is good (Mat 19:17), and it must be on His solid ground - "Yahweh is firm" or Araniah. 
     It turned out that God didn't need His temple to thresh. He could do it anywhere there was rocky and solid ground. He didn't even need the Jews. His sowers were Jews but the reapers were Gentiles. They grew on the good ground. That outcome was Japheths living in the tents of Shems', just as God planned from the time the earth was re-created.  The tents of Japheth are the souls of Christians. We are the temples of God (1 Cor 6:9). Those "tents" came from the Shemites' want of buildings.
    The Church is Japheth's 'Tent." It is nomadic and invisible, and can be moved worldwide. The purpose of the Church is like Ornan's threshing floor and the Parable of the Sower. Mankind doesn't do the threshing but God. Just as the prophet Esra merely read scripture, and God planted the seed, preachers are the sowers and God does the threshing.
     Ironically, beneath the foundation stone (Ornan's threshing stone) lies an unexplored abyss. Jews believe it is the access to Hades. That's where the chaff will be burned according to John the Baptist, "He (Jesus) shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Mat 3:11-12). Ornan's threshing floor represents God's winnowing fan, the purge on His floor, and its chaff sent to the fire beneath the threshing stone. Of course the Lord will garner the wheat left on the threshing stone. That is God having Church!
     Ornan's threshing floor points to Jesus as the Thresher. That "story" is in scripture for a purpose - to understand the Purpose of Jesus. God showed His face to some who will die for not recognizing it, and for others to live because they do!

The Story of Luann

     Luann (not her real name) was one of the nicest girls you'd ever meet! She was my friend and fellow Christian. We attended the same church in Poughkeepsie (not a real place). The names and places are changed but the story is true. 

      Luann was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, now called dissociative identity disorder - "a mental disorder characterized by at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states." (American Psychiatric Association (2013), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing, pp. 291–298 ).  Luann was at least two "people," possibly many more. Of course, she seemed to have one body but several personalities.

     "Personalities" are how people interact with the world and its people. It is a difficult characteristic to define but most people know what it is from experience. I prefer to call it "personal uniqueness," and is a trait much like the unique set of fingerprints which each person has. Perhaps, just as fingerprints, personalities are inborn as well. 

     Psychologists consider personalities to be specific behaviors, cognitions, and emotions experienced by who else? Persons. We know that a baby's personality is there at delivery. The gestating baby doesn't obtain personality in the birth canal. The newborn infant behaves, thinks, and obviously expressed emotions. Why would they not? They just squeezed through a Chinese hand cuff head first! Babies are delivered as angry, emotional individuals who act-up to show whose boss. 

     As her penalty for independence, God told Eve, the mother of all, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen 3-16). That was an understatement; sorrow is more like experiencing Hell, according to most women. How sorrowful is that? The baby soon forgets, but the mother never will.

     The newborn already has experienced personality. Sonograms and 3-D imaging show babies behaving in the womb. Some images have shown twins embracing just as John the Baptist spiritually embraced Jesus from a distance when he was in the womb (Luke 1:44). Both John and Jesus had a developed personality long before they were born. Geselle's Growth Gradients indicate that personalities are a system, and that all systems grow proportionately during development as each system supplements and complements each other. 

     Each person is born with one personality. All babies know who they are! There is no evidence that there they have more than one personality. Sure they cry one moment and are content the next, but that's normal. Everyone does that! I hope that I have established that one personality is the normative and that each person is endowed with one from sometime before birth. 

     Like hearts which commence beating at about 22 days after conception, the heart is developing from conception to beating. Likewise, the personality is dormant until sometime after conception, then it reveals itself. Psychologists have seen personality as early as six months (UICEF; "The Bump"; Patz, Avia). That's when they see what is obvious. Just as the heartbeat, it is in formation before the personality is developed enough to be detected. Let's call that the "personality beat."

     When did Luann obtain more than one personality? She had more than one; I saw at least one more and her husband saw several. Her psychotherapist saw many more!

     One day, a friend said they were praying for Luann. I asked why. She replied, "She has multiple personality disorder." I wasn't surprised because I had seen evidence of that. However, I took exception to it. My quick prognosis was based on scripture. Please examine "The Story of the Man of the Gaderenes."  Dr. Jesus psyche-analyzed the crazy man; Jesus looked into the man's soul and knew what was in there!   

1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. ² And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, ³ Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: ⁴ Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. ⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, ⁷ And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. ⁸ For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. ⁹ And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. ¹⁰ And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. ¹¹ Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹² And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. ¹³ And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. (Mark 5)

     Just as Luann, the man of the Gaderenes was acting crazy, which was obvious, but he wasn't acting! He was having great tribulation - "distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). He was suffering oppression from demons. That's what demons do in people; they create chaos in their personality. The man of Gaderenes (Jeckel) had many personalities (Hydes) (From the Story of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde). Like the Gaderene, Luann cut herself and was imprisoned just as in the womb. She would curl up in a fetal position just as her embryo had years before. 

     Although Luann was happily married as Luann, one of her other personalities was a bar room tramp. Her loving husband told me that. She wasn't acting crazy, nor was she crazy, she seemed possessed.   

    I told my friend, "She doesn't have multiple personalities; she has demons." My friend looked at me as if I was crazy, as did he pastor to whom she consulted. 

    Not long after, I saw my friend with a book. It was about praying out demons. My friend said the pastor was now counseling Luann for possession. Before that he had bought into the prognosis of the psychiatrist. My friend said, "We prayed out the demon; she's okay now." I responded, "She has more than one; she has legions of demons." She was "the lady of Poughkeepsie" who had legions of demons, I believe.

     There were many demons which needed prayer. Luann confessed Christianity. It appears that the man of Gaderenes was a believer as well as he called on Jesus, "worshiping him from afar." Demons attack believers even more intensely than non-believers because the latter are already "owned." Jesus made him safe from demons, and Jesus had the power to set Luann free.

     As far as I know, the Christians never prayed out any more demons, but he loving husband surely did. By last accounts, she seemed at peace, and her self-destructive behavior had ceased. I truly believe she had been possessed, though, because she and her husband told me her story: Her family had been Satanists in Poughkeepsie. She was raised Satanically, even sacrificing herself sexually to coven members. 

    As far as the community knew, Satanists are anomalies in and around big cities. Around Poughkeepsie were four covens. The local "ghostbuster" on the Poughkeepsie police force told me that! Luann surely was possessed but most people accept psychology as pre-eminent to Christology. 

    While shopping, I met Luann and her husband. She had a skin-head haircut and was on crutches. I teased her about becoming alternate, and asked about the crutches. She was candid: The Satanists, including her father and brother, kidnapped her, cut her hair, and broke her leg backwards. I was told that those were typical Satanic discipline methods.  Luann validated what her life had been before she became a Christian. As a Christian, Satan got payback. The life of any Christian is tribulation. Our legs may not het broken but our will can be! That's what demons try to do.

     I hope that Luann's tribulation is over. I hope the demons were prayed out. My wish is that God has mercy on this tormented Christian's soul, as Jesus had on the man of Gaderenes.

     Another friend of mine and I prayed with another young man who was troubled. He told me that he was possessed. He professed to being a Christian, but faced daily tribulation from "demons" (his words). We prayed a sinners prayer with that young man, although he already confessed Christ. He cried and begged for relief. As a sinful Christian, I didn't have faith enough to defeat principalities. Surely, this was a "mountain" that neither my friend nor I could move. He knew that demons were playing havoc with his mind. Psycholgists would say that he was having cognitive dissonance. He may have been, but I believe that demons were doing it.

     I have other friends who died from "cognitive dissonance," even taking their own lives. Their minds went foul, but I believe demons fouled them. The preacher at one said, "He had his demons." I believe he did!

     I hope Luann's story ends well. It will unless she looks back. Satanism is based on pleasure and doing your will; not God's. We all make choices. When we look to the world for pleasure, it opens the path for demons to come in. Unless we follow the apostle James's advice, we too can be demonized because there is a spiritual war in progress.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (Jas 4:7-10).

    Before the evils can flee, Christians must believe they exist. Jesus knew they did, yet some still disbelieve. The apostle Paul believed; they were a thorn in the flesh:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephes 6:12).

    Just as Jacob, I would rather wrestle with God and win than with the devil and lose!

Note: In my commentary a few years back, I presented the demonic Simon Magus as Paul's thorn in the flesh. (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2014/12/pauls-thorn-in-flesh.html) and (https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2015/12/simon-magus-was-he-thorn.html).

I

     Yesterday I wrote about "AM" - the most important word in Existence. Second to it is "I" and it's objective case "ME." Other usages are the possessive adjectives "MY" and "MINE."
     Since the textus receptus is in Koine Greek, that language has always been significant. Jesus actually spoke "the Word" in Greek, and not Hebrew as he did before he became flesh. Jesus professed to be God in his repetitive use of the words, "EGO EIMI" - "I AM." The noun "i" actually should not be capitalized except in the case of the Divine Presence, but it is. Ironically the plural of "i" is the combining word "is" (i's).
     "I" thus came full circle back to "IS" and the Greek word einai (to be). One can easily see the connection between "EIMI" or "AM" and "I". There seems to be little distinction between I and AM and the phrase is sort of redundant. Ironically "IS" in the German is "IST" from their word sīn (to be). Our English word "sin" comes from Old English sinne, and was derived from the German language sunta. Eventually, sin can be traced back to the Hebrew śin. (etymologies from Merriam-Webster Dictionary). 
    From the etymology of the words "I" and "SIN," there seems to be a correlation. God is "I AM" and mankind "I SIN." That is implied in, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). That applies to everyone: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). Not only do we lie, but make Jesus out to be a liar.
     Sin is inherent in the "I". Sin is in our DNA, and the word "Adam" - "mankind" is intricately connected with sin. Theologians call that condition "original sin" and that is the propensity and desire to do as one wills in defiance to God's will. Just as "I AM" has a divine association between the two Words, "I SIN" is just as intricately connected. Sin is all about the "I".
    "I" in the Greek is "EGO." Sigmund Freud borrowed that phrase as part of the apparatus of the psyche (soul). The ego is the "reality principle" which controls the "id" or drive for benefit. Let's call the "id" the preference for pleasure over tribulation.
    Freud's "id" is the only component of the psyche present at birth, and acts according to the pleasure principle. The id corresponds quite well to the existence of the I's inborn original sin - the desire for pleasure. Briefly, the super-ego is the learned component of the soul which referees the other components. A derivative of the super-ego is guilt from the human conscience. Id is inborn desire to pleasure (Mark 7:20-23), and super-ego is learned sin from practice as scripture describes (1 John 3:4).
    "Psychology" means the "study of the soul." Whether its adherents like it or not, psychology is a religion. Freud even used Judeo-Christianity to derive his new religion. He recognized clearly what the Serpent meant, "Ye shall be as gods" (Gen 3:5). Psychology is so well respected because it is the Cult of Self.  It is the study of "I" - my ego and yours. Most things in Freudian psychotherapy were borrowed from God's Word and distorted into Freud's words. He made the Word scientific and hid the Serpent within his philosophy.
     There is much truth to psychology. However, the Serpent uses truth to deceive. He made life all about Adam and Eve - their I's or egos. It was really about the "Supra-I" (Supra-Ego) - the great I AM. Within man, Freud called the Supra-Ego the "super-ego," making each of us the gods, and robbing God of His supremacy. (Supra means "beyond"  and the term means "beyond the I")  Rather than God as the Authority, each of our "I's become our authority. We are the masters we serve, unless our conscience, touched by God, changes our desires (the heart.)
     God's faculty is "His will" and the power is the Holy Spirit. Mankind's faculty of "the will of the I" is powered by God in the beginning but confused by the Serpent. Whereas mankind originally knew only good (Gen 1:29), after eating of the "psychology tree," the knowledge of evil was imbued, displacing the Holy Spirit. I use the nomenclature, "psychology tree" because that was the origin of that new religion. It just as easily is called the "philosophy tree" because it's representation of the love of wisdom. Their God seems unknown, and Paul proclaimed themselves the True God (Acts 17:23). I proclaim that they had made themselves gods and their names were all Ego. 
     Listen to us: We use most often the words: I, me, my, and mine. It's clear who are the gods. How often do we think of EGO EIMI? It is always our own ego of which we think. "I am hungry," or "I want that." As I pointed out yesterday, John the Baptist would not even use "I am" (ego eimi) in the same sentence so as not to diminish God!
    Rebirth is returning to our genesis where the ego is insignificant - before Adam and Eve became egos. Before, it was about God; after sinning, life became mostly about those two "I's" Adam and Eve were made the "Is" (plural of "I"). They became "i am's" and God's identity was stolen!
    Regeneration is all about diminishing our egos and elevating EGO EIMI - diminishing our "I" and lifting up his "I."

Bullying

     In these times everyone seem to be victims. Many are indeed victimized. Even countries are bullied; for instance Israel is the bullied nation of the world. Victims have their defenders; in the case of Israel, the United States is its defender.
     I was bullied in high school. There was no other reason other than the bullies were bigger than me. As medium-sized, I protected the smaller guys from the big bullies. I have been kicked in the face and elsewhere because I was a bully protector.
     My daughter was unmercifully bullied in high school merely because she wasn't from a wealthy family, although we certainly were not poor. Bullies don't need reasons. Some people are cruel by nature. I never cry because I was bullied, but cry when I think of my wonderful Heather suffering from the mouths of bullies. I was physically accosted and ridiculed for being a "dumb Kentuckian" in the Hoosier state. Heather suffered emotional bullying just because she wasn't as wealthy as other girls, or maybe it was because she was prettier and classier. Bullies don't need reasons.
     I never bullied but I was as bad in one case.; I ridiculed an unattractive and afflicted older girl. After fifty years, I still cringe at my evilness. I shed tears because I was mean to a fellow human. Unattractive people are easy targets, and so are ultra-thin and overweight people. I know a pretty girl who finds it difficult to find a suitable dating companion. I reminded her that those who society finds unattractive may never have a date or be loved. I hurt for them. Maybe it's not bullying, but it is unfair. Unfairness is being the victim with only society being the bully.
      Bullies are ugly. Oh, their presentation and outward appearance may hide it awhile, but inside iniquity rears its ugly head. Bullying is iniquitous. People who bully are not empathetic nor caring.
      Jesus was bullied. The scribes and Pharisees dogged him all through his ministry. The chief priest, Caiaphas, bullied Jesus all the way to the cross. Centurions bullied Jesus by casting lots for his clothing - the very shirt off his back. Those who bullied Jesus, "had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews (Mat 27:29)! They took the Kaepernick knee to Jesus, who was even made to carry his own cross.
     The Jews bullied Jesus to death. They were graceful to Barrabbas the thief, but insisted that Jesus die for just being Jesus. The death of God was the ultimate bullying, but since Cain slayed Abel, the fittest always bullies those they perceive less fit. The hero of evolution - Charles Darwin - developed the concept of "survival of the fittest." That idea is the ticket to bullying. The Third Reich was based on bullying Jews, Christians, and other non-Germanic peoples. They bullied England and made a fool of Neville Chamberlain by provocation and fear-mongering.
     Bullying came to mind because I saw an episode of America's Got  Talent (AGT). The winner of that night's competition immediately revealed his sexual orientation, and said that he was bullied for that. Christians rightfully consider homosexuality as unrighteousness as is fornication and other sins of the flesh. True love is not wanting that they should perish (John 3:16). To that end, tough love is the use of reproof and correction (2 Tim 3:16). As with any sinner, it must be done without provocation. Shouting epithets at sinners is counter-productive. That is not the way of true Christians. Christians are not haters although Popper's Paradox of Tolerance allows haters to define and despise those they deem haters. Recent events have shown that those who condemn the most for intolerance are the most intensely intolerant and are the worst haters.
     The man on AGT was victimized by haters. We don't know how intensely, but bullying is wrong and immoral. Perhaps he was bullied more so because of mannerisms or whatever. I've even seen gigantic and beautiful people bullied. As a result of my victimization by bullies, I grew stronger and motivated. Just as my poverty was a factor that made me successful, being bullied made me less likely to bully. That goes for my daughter as well; she has a tender heart.
     According to Popper's Paradox of Tolerance, it's okay to bully Christians because Christianity condemns homosexuality. Liberals have misidentified Christians and even God as hateful. Christians are bullied now by the very ones who have been bullied. In modern times, the LBGT movement has gotten in  the face of Christians, and demanded acceptance. The bullied have become the bullies.
     Examine the following passages:

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.  But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.(Gen 19:1-10).

     Lot was congenial and nice to the men who desired to have sex with the male angels. He even offered his daughters to protect the angels from being accosted. The men of the city were burning in lust for the male angels; so much so that they provoked and bullied Lot. We have come full-circle - it is wrong for straight people to bully homosexuals and as wrong for homosexuals to bully Christians and straights.
     There is normalcy and deviancy. For some, society defines both, and it is dynamic. On the other hand, God's precepts are unchanging. "Normal" is not enough for Him. Christians are to be supra-normal  - even loving enemies and the unrighteous. God commands that because love is hard work.
     Deviancy in God's vocabulary is "abominations." There is a long list of them in the Book of Leviticus. Some things "normal" people do. God frowns on the sins of "normal" people just as he does others who are deviate from his precepts. God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). As such, Christians are to reprove and correct homosexuals just as we are expected to do the same to fornicators, gluttons, drunks, and the licentious. Homosexuality is not exempt from God's precepts!
     God is both tolerant and intolerant; I have previously labeled that as God's Paradox of Tolerance. He forgives innumerable times (implied in Mat 18:22), and even "forgets' sin (Heb 8:12). On the other hand, unrepentant sins are the wages of death (Rom 6:12). The former is extremely tolerant and the latter extremely intolerant. God cares little for "political correctness" because his precepts are divine justice and are just.
     The theme of the Bible is twofold: (1) love sinners, and (2) hate sin. Jesus died in our place because of our sin; to rationalize sin is foolishness. It's okay to hate homosexuality, but at the same time, Christians must love the homosexuals. Does that mean condone their lifestyle? No; we are to love them despite their iniquity. Are they welcome in church? I answer the question with, "Should you be welcome in the church." We are all sinners who fail God (Rom 3:23). On the other hand, just as fornicators and adulteries, unless forgiven and the sins are past, have behaviors inconsistent with church membership, as do homosexuals. God doesn't make exceptions for sins which are in vogue. Those who drowned in the flood concluded that too late!
     We are required to love sinners, but not their bullying. Society in this day and age is bullied into accepting LBGT's as normal. Because most Christians won't be bullied on that issue, society and liberal churches do the bullying. They ignore God's Paradox of Tolerance while utilizing Popper's.

Note: Popper's Paradox of Tolerance: ""In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance."