Why Ruth Deserves a Book

     Ruth was a righteous woman who was not Jewish. Rahab was a prostitute, who also was not Jewish; she was a Canaanite. Ruth was a Moabite whose god was Chemosh (the fish god whose name means “destroyer”). The Canaanite gods were Baal and Ashteroth – the sun and moon god and goddess, respectively.

     What did Rahab and Ruth have in common? They were both “ancestors” of Jesus. Rahab was Joseph’s ancestor through King David as was Ruth! Joseph was Jesus’s legal father. Since the genealogy of Jesus in Books of Matthew and Luke are slightly different, without going through the provenance, theologians believe that the Matthew account is Joseph’s line and Luke, Mary’s. I believe that to be correct because to be the “son of David” would require a blood line back to David. Since Joseph did not sire Jesus, Mary must have been of the line of David as well.

     It took both Rahab the harlot and Ruth the righteous for Jesus to be who he Is. I have often wondered, What if one of my ancestors, maternal or paternal, had died before giving birth to my ancestor? I would not exist, and even if someone else had sired my ancestor along the way, I would not be who I am. For Jesus to be Jesus, both Rahab and Ruth were necessary, although one was a harlot and the other a faithful wife, even unto death. However, this commentary is not about Rahab but about Ruth.

     Chilion, the son of Elimelech and Naomi, was likely the son who was married to Ruth, but he and his brother Malon died before producing an heir for Elimelech who had also died. Levirate marriage required the closest relative to marry the widow of the deceased. Since both her sons had died, Ruth had no betrothed since usually the brother married the widow. That is important: God promised a Messiah to the Israelites in the Abrahamic Covenant. The name Elimenech means “God is my King.” He was an Ephrathite living in Bethlehem. Ephrathites were descended from Ephrah whose name means “fruitful.” It seems that God meant for the Messiah to be born to Ephrah. But how could that be with Elimilech dead and with Naomi too old to produce a male heir on time? The answer was Boaz. The name Boaz means “in him who is strong” (All from the Online Etymology Dictionary). It seems that for him, one of the pillars of the Temple was named “Boaz.”

     Boaz provided the missing heir who would grandfather Jesus. He was substitutionary for Elimelech since his line died out. Legally, the child Obed was Elimelech’s as implied by Naomi mothering the child by breast-feeding him, and not Ruth. That feeding was an Old Testament miracle because Naomi was old and had not naturally produced milk in scores of years! It was Ephrah who was to be fruitful, but God knew all along it would be Perez through Boaz who great-grandfathered King David.

     However, Mary wasn’t important enough to even know for sure who were her parents or lineage. There is much ambiguity about the Luke account being her genealogy. In fact, scripture presents genealogies as vanity (1 Tim 1:4). Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, and Mary likely not the biological mother. There was no coitus involved with Mary, hence no sperm. Without sperm, there would be no need for ova. In other words, God created Jesus as he did Adam, and Jesus was without an earthly father or mother (It is believed that Melchizedek’s description fits Jesus’s.) Mary may have been only a surrogate and her womb an incubator. If that’s not the case, there is no disrespect intended, but Jesus existed before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:20). Jesus’s birth was his “manifestation” wherein God made His own flesh. The root word for manifestation in the Greek is “rendered.” God rendered, or “produced a copy of Himself” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) just as he made Adam in His own image.

     I like Christian symbolism. Ruth and Boaz are important. They are types of Mary and Joseph, and Obed a type of Christ, as far as genealogy is concerned. Only two things are known of Obed: (1) His name means “worshipper,” so it can be implied that he worshipped Israelite God, and (2) he was David’s grandfather. As such, Obed was the intended ancestor for Jesus when the Abrahamic Covenant was divulged. Other than that, genealogies do not matter because both Joseph and Mary served God’s purpose as did Boaz and Ruth.

     We think of the virgin Mary as righteous, and she was. Ruth may have not been a virgin, but she was righteous. Rahab was unrighteous but because of her act of faith, that made her righteous. Ruth had faith as well. Maybe she was aware of her role for Jesus; maybe not, but God used her and she followed God’s will whether He spoke and explained it to her or not. Likewise, Boaz did the decent and righteous thing. God produced them (their natures and vessels), and they in turn produced Jesus, not necessarily biologically, but spiritually.

     Ruth and Boaz are exceptional examples from the Bible in what Holy Matrimony should be. They willingly obeyed the law of Levirate marriage, and although she slept at his feet before the betrothal, she did actually sleep specifically at Boaz’s feet. Boaz was honorable in that he could have selfishly taken Ruth as a wife, but he did so legally. He gave the closest relative first chance to buy Naomi’s land and birthright, before he did so himself. His marriage was honorable and holy, and the reason that particular genealogy matters is because it is a prime example of what a marriage should be based upon.

     The Church is the Bride of Jesus and Jesus the Bridegroom. Ruth represents the purity and fidelity of the Church, and Boaz is symbolic of Joseph to whom her purity and fidelity were reserved. She could have any of the younger men in the field, but she chose the older one, Boaz. She could have chosen her own family who did not worship God, but she chose a God-worshipper!

Who we marry is important! Perhaps she was unaware that at that moment she was part of the Plan of God to render Jesus unto the world. Righteousness is always the best way because regrets are not built on righteousness. I bet that right now, Ruth has no regrets as to how she and Boaz consummated Holy Matrimony. Just think of the honor of being the one of the “vessels” which rendered Jesus!

Mankind: To Be or Not To Be

     Four times in the Book of Judges, it says, “There was no king in Israel” (Jud 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25) and in two of those, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Liken that to Adam’s original sin; he denied God as King and did what was right in his own eyes. He knew the “King” but made himself  “as god” (Gen 3:5), and learned evil. Adam knew the Law (Do not eat of the Tree of Knowledge) and in spite of the threat of dying, he ate anyway.

     Ultimately all “sin” is the same, in the beginning, in the time of the judges, in Jesus’s day, and now. People do what they want to do without regard to God’s will. That is sin. We think of “sin” as transgressing the Will of God. The root definition is “to be” (Online Etymology Dictionary). When Moses asked God’s Name, he replied “I Am.” I Am and to be are essentially the same “existence.”
      Therefore, “doing what is right in our own eyes” is indeed presuming to be “as god.” The Israelites never abandoned God, and Adam didn’t either, but original sin is basically presuming to be as God.

     Adam didn’t actually commit the first sin; Lucifer did, as it is written: “Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.” Lucifer presumed to be “as God” and he knew quite well that Adam and Eve also presumed to be “as gods.” People, when they sin, presume to be as God is, but in actually, they are as Lucifer!

Jesus even made the comparison when he said:

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44).

     When people sin, they mimic Lucifer who is the Devil. They are not as God but as the Devil. The Devil cannot make you do anything. It is you who willingly sins – or presumes to be your own god. The Devil does not control you. As a “devil” you damn yourself to the place wherein devils are cast downward. In other words, Satan doesn’t send anyone to Hell, and neither does God. As the Devil, you condemn yourself to Hell (unless you are born again.) Satan’s role is always to tempt by providing the evil choice rather than the good one. Thus sin, because you do as you want to do, is always a choice. Jesus indicated that no one can serve two masters (Mat 6:24) and gave the two: God and Mammon, or the Lord and “gain.”

     Christians are to serve the Lord. That diminishes themselves and elevates God. Seeking gain is elevating oneself and diminishing the Lord. It’s not Satan who is made the “master” but sinners become the “existence” (sin – “to be’). God will not Be as you sin and assume for yourself the “be.” To be “born again” means that God is your existence, and you exist by His grace.

Yes, God’s first act of grace for his human creature was creating him and allowing him (and her) to continue to exist although they still sin and assume His Authority as their own. “Born again” is when we hang our existence on the “tree” and give it to THE Existence, who is God. “Born again” is relinquishing the esteem of oneself and esteeming Christ. (New Agers are all confused about “self-esteem” and the Church has bought into that lie.) Everyone’s problem is that they esteem themselves too highly and God not enough. Scripture says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (Jas 4:10).

     God does the lifting-up, not us, and if we are to “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness” (Jas 4:9). Does that sound like self-esteem or Christ-esteem? You know the answer!

     As part of presuming to be God, people want pleasure. In Gibeah the men of the tribe of Benjamin wanted pleasure with men: “As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him” (Jud 19:22). That is carnal pleasure or homosexual sexual intercourse. “As gods” people always seek to pleasure the flesh, and it may be that original sin included sexual intercourse, not for “multiplication” but for pleasure. A further aberration of carnal sin is wanting to pleasure with the flesh of those of the same sex. In the Book of Judges, they again tried to do the same as the men of the city of Sodom in Lot’s time.

     The men of Benjamin were satisfied with less than what they wanted: “The man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning” (Jud 19:25). They were bi-sexual in that any carnality was okay, but they preferred the flesh of men.

     There was no law in those days… they did what was right in their own eyes. After all those years and harsh punishment, nations still do as they want to do without fear of the law. The same situation existed in Noah’s time, and near the end, it will be as in the days of Noah (Mat 24:37). The Benjaminites were wiped out under God’s direction. All the women were killed, and by grace, the Israelites found the few remaining Benjaminites wives so they would not perish.

Benjaminites represent today’s sinners as well. They were found new brides. Sinners are not “as gods,” they are as Benjaminites. Israel found for us a bride as well. It is the Church. As we are not truly gods, and don’t deserve the Church, Jesus is the Bridegroom, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17), and we know that, that “Spirit” is Jesus and the “Bride” is the Church from the gospels.

     Furthermore, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2). Jerusalem was the harlot of the tribe of Benjamin. The man whose concubine was raped, cut up her dead body and distributed it to all Israel – twelve pieces for twelve tribes. She had been the harlot against that man, and paid the price by perishing. The division of her parts was a re-consecrating of Israel to God because that was a mode of sin offerings. Likewise, God will clean up the “harlot Babylon” (Jerusalem, I believe) and New Jerusalem will come down out of Heaven to a re-consecrated foundation (Jerusalem). The tribe of Benjamin were given wives by grace, and in the end, they will be given a new bride – Holy Jerusalem.

Samson On His Cross

     I’ve been told that unless teaching does not deal with salvation, do not teach it. That is ignorance for the entire Bible is about Jesus, grace, and salvation. All the reader need think while reading is, What has this to do with Jesus? Today we’ll study Samson, not his entire life, but the most important event in his life:

And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.  And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” (Jud 16:28-30)

     Samson was a Nazarite judge. Judges were deciders of the law, governors, and generals. There job was to serve and preserve the Israelite people, or in the King James Version, “to dress and keep” the Garden with the Garden representing the living souls of God’s “peculiar” people. (Note that Christians are called “peculiar” from the Greek, and Jews “chosen” from the Hebrew, but the Hebrew word also means “peculiar.”)

     Usually, the people went to the person and chose him or her (Debora) as judge. In the case of Samson only, his position as judge was ordained by the Lord before he was ever conceived. Of course, all the judges were chosen by God, but Samson was groomed for that position and the Holy Spirit grew within him as he grew.

     Samson was born of a barren woman – the wife of Manoah – who was told by “Jesus” that Samson would be a Nazarite. “The Angel of the Lord” was revealed to Manoah and his wife as the Lord Himself. Anytime in scripture wherein God is manifested, that “manifestation” is pre-incarnate Jesus. It is important to note that God is not one in three “persons” but three substances with one Person and one Personality. The Flesh of God was Jesus, or God in Person. The manifestation of God in the Old Testament was God in Angel form. Both God’s Person and His Angel were His messengers. Jesus’s purpose was to present the gospel “message” and then die to redeem mankind.  It is imperative to understand the nature and supra-nature of God. Jesus IS God. To think otherwise is the Arian heresy.

     Jesus, then, ordained Samson to be a Nazarite to serve and preserve the Israelites. It is to be noted that Jesus is the Supreme Judge, and as such, he was surely a Nazarite of which Samson was an imperfect copy, made only in the image of Jesus. We see from his experiences that he was an imperfect Nazarite: He failed on all three Nazarite ordinances. Yes, he likely drank wine at the feast (Jud 14:10), he touched a dead animal and became unclean, and he allowed his hair to be cut. By grace, God still used Samson to defeat “Satan.” The Philistines are symbolic of Satan just as were the Egyptians in earlier times.

     Before we get to the key verse, although Samson is the only named Nazarite (see Numbers 6 for the description), other prophets may have been as well. Samuel may have been and John the Baptist and Jesus surely were as they were both ordained for the Lord before they were conceived. (No, Jesus never drank wine; he was only accused of doing so!)

Jesus the Nazarene, born of a virgin, was certainly a Nazarite. Like Manoah’s wife, Mary was born “clean” but in both a spiritual and physical sense. (Note: That Mary was by immaculate conception is not scriptural; it is a catholic supposition.)

     Samson was symbolic of Jesus. Both were “king of the Jews” because in the time before kings, judges were the rulers. Samson was set apart or sanctified for his position. Likewise, Jesus was born to save mankind as Samson was born to save the Israelites. Samson’s salvation was for one time only to keep the promise of a Savior alive through his people. Jesus’s salvation was one time for all time for everyone. Jesus died on the Holy Cross to finalize his mission. Samson died on an unholy cross to serve and preserve his people. Now read the key verse again. He stood under the pillars and said, “Let me die with the Philistines.”

     If you remember from the Passover story, the Hebrews who painted their doorposts and lentels with blood would be safe from the Angel of Death. (Exod 12). Structures such as the doorposts and the building pillars around the main door of their fortress represent the cross of Jesus. Samson bore the weight of the pillars which supported the entire fortress to save the Hebrews and the promise of Jesus, just as Jesus bore the weight of the sins of all mankind to save them from perishing.

Samson did what all “peculiar” people are to do:

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34).

     Samson was taking up his cross – the burden of serving and preserving the Hebrews – and followed what The Angel of the Lord (Jesus) ordained him to do. “Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.” What do you see in that passage? I see Samson’s arms stretched out in the form of a cross, the very position in which Jesus was nailed to the Cross. Samson the Nazarite was a foreshadowing of Jesus the Nazarene.

     Nazarite and The Nazarene are important. Both represent being set apart from the world and purity. That is called “sanctification” in scripture:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes 5:23), and Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (Hebrews 13:12)

     Samson was sanctified by God to be holy and pure… and he failed. However, he was redeemed of failing when he denied himself and took up his cross and died with the Philistines. How he lived was of little consequence to God but what he was willing to do. When Samson bore the cross for Jesus, God forgot all his impurities. When we live for God, he forgets all our sins if we are willing to die for the love of Him. (Heb 8:12). Samson usurped Satan’s plan to displace God when he sacrificed himself. When Christians are set apart (sanctified) they also usurp Satan’s plan to replace God as king. Samson failed at sanctification; he was imperfect. Likewise, when Christians are sanctified, that does not mean perfection!

     What did Samson’s willingness to die for God do?

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. (Isa 14:12-13).

     Samson put Satan down, and Jesus cut Satan down to the ground! When we die for Christ, we live for Jesus, and when we live for Christ, we diminish Satan. Ironically, our flesh represents Satan and when we diminish ourselves, we diminish Satan. Samson did the ultimate diminishing of himself. He elevated God by dying as a service to Him – to preserve the promise of Jesus.

Sold Unto Perdition

  Recently I became fed-up with the reticence of Christians to learn more about God, and gave up on The Great Commission. A short time ago I quit commenting in my blog. However, because there is no one to "listen" does not mean that I can quit "shouting" the Words of God! Thus, I continue my job that the Lord has assigned me. Now read today's commentary about the cycles of sin and forgiveness:

The Israelites had seven cycles of sin in the time of the judges. Sin is cyclic and works this way: “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (Jas 1:14-15).

That’s why the Lord’s Prayer asks that God not lead us into temptation. (Luke 11:4). God does lead unto temptation, but temptation is not from Him! (Jas 1:13). God allows temptation to test His people. The period of time of the judges (over 300 years), God tested the fidelity of His people with cycles of sin, contrition, and pardon. He did that for them seven times, but for us, seventy times seven (Mat 18:22) since he expects from us what he does himself.

6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord…  7 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon. 8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel… 10 And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God. 13 Ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. 15 And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day. 16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. (Jud 10)

After several times, God tired of Israel’s sinning, and sold them into the hands of the Philistines. In scripture, Philistine represents “perdition” or “utter destruction.” In other words, Philistine represents the Devil. Apply those passages from Judges to what Paul said:

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God… 13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth… 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace… (2 Thes 2)

I hope that when you read the two passages together that you find that God always worked by grace, and what he did in patriarchal times is what He does in apostolic times, and yet today! The Israelites gradually fell away until they were fallen, and once fallen, by grace God lifted them up. They “cried out” to the Lord and admitted that they were sinners because they had forsaken Him!

The old saying goes, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” That’s what the Israelites did. Whoever’s land they were in, they did what the people therein did. Each kingdom had their own gods, and it was customary to honor their gods, even for those who had their own god!

“Syncretism” in the case of religion is having no problem worshiping various gods at the same time.

It is to be noted here what defines a “god.” Gods are those with creative power. If truly a “god” then they need no one to assist them. In other words, the term “gods” is oxymoronic. To be God, there can only be One! Having more than one god is cognitive dissonance. Mankind must delineate who to serve. Jesus said that man cannot serve two masters, but must inevitably select one. (Mat 6:24). Well, it was decision time for the Israelites, and they cried out to God. They chose God as their Master.

Man cannot serve God and mammon. We think of “mammon” as men or wealth. However, it is essentially doing what we want to do: When in Rome serve the Roman gods. When in Canaan, serve the Canaanite gods, when traveling to distant cities, serve yourself. Being a Christian is allegiance to God when no one you know is present. It’s when in Rome do as God would have you to do. God took them to Philistine. Finally, when they thought they were free from God, they were in bondage to the Devil, and they cried out.

People, when they secretly sin, are convicted by God, and if they truly love God and feel sorrow for disappointing Him, they cry out for forgiveness. God will do so “seventy times seven” or endless times. There were seven cycles of pardon to the judges, but throughout the history of Israel, God has surely forgiven them seventy times seven times.

Being put into the hands of the Philistines was not the last cycle of punishment for Israel. They were put into the hands of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Turks, Russians, and many more until they were finally contrite with the re-establishment of their homeland in 1948. The last time God has grace on the Israelites is in the end of time when 144,000 are delivered out of the hands of the Beast, who I believe is some Muslim religious leader assuming the name Isa (Jesus).

Now back to the sin cycle: There are cycles of temptation, lust, then sin. Then once sin is finished it brings forth death. Before sin is completed, God allows infinite cycles, but only until the person no longer cries out to God. When a Christian quits crying out to God that is called reprobation. God, by grace, saved the Israelites from the Philistines, but they still cried out: “We have sinned against thee because we have forsaken our God.” Doing what we want to do without regard to God’s Will is forsaking God. Christians can apostatize when they continue in sin and fail to ever cry out in remorse.

Because God is graceful, He will never leave or forsake us, but we can Him. Christians are “safe” as long as they have fidelity to God, and that is enduring faith to the end of our days. (Mat 10:22). 144,000 Jews will endure to the end during The Great Tribulation.

Christians must also endure to the end because “Goliath” still tries to slay us. That Philistine giant still taunts us as he did the Israelites. God slayed Goliath one time with the arm of David, and on the Holy Cross at Calvary, Jesus slew the “giant” Satan. And you thought God died on the Cross! You are looking at the wrong “tree.” Judas, symbolic of Satan, died on his tree. The Holy Cross and the Man on it slew the old Serpent on his tree when Judas hung himself. Note that Jesus could have saved Judas but Judas took it upon himself to do what he willed. The central point of being born again is that we can neither judge nor save ourselves.

The mystery of God is that salvation was by Jesus during all times, for all people, and always by grace. When are the Jews going to learn that they and Gentiles are “peculiar people” and when in Gentile land, we still do what God would have us do!

The Second Impetus for Islam

Gideon was an early judge of Israel and a devout follower of God. He diminished himself and elevated God (Jud 22-23) which is a hallmark of Christianity. God chose him to defeat the Medianites using merely 300 men against thousands so as to not elevate the Israelites in their own minds. As a result of triumphing over the Medianites, a specific group of Israelites desired that Gideon rule over them as well. The following passage relates that incident:

22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the Lord shall rule over you. 24 And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels' necks. 27 And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. 28 Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. (Jud 8:22-28)

There is no consensus by theologians on the reason for the construction of the ephod in those passages, but it became a snare (stronghold) for those particular Israelites. Herein is my own idea to its pertinence. Let me start with two clarifications:  (1) An ephod was a priestly garment worn on by the Levite high priest in ceremonial duties, and there was only one needed for the entire Israelite nation, and (2) in this particular case “Israelites” is used to describe, not the descendants of Jacob, but Ishmael. The problem therein is that Gideon, without God’s guidance, endeavored to make Arabs into Israelites and create a new religion because they were not heirs to the true one.

If you recall, Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Sarai’s Egyptian hand-maid, Hagar. God blessed him as well. He was to have his own kingdom with twelve tribes, consisting of the lineage of his twelve sons. Think on that; Jacob (Israel) was to rule the Promised Land with twelve tribes – his own twelve sons. There was a nation (Hebrews) and an evil mirror counterpart (Israelite Arabs) with each having twelve tribes.

Gideon, a righteous man, but without God’s instruction, endeavored to include the Ishmaelites in the Abrahamic Covenant. That was not God’s plan! History reveals that Arabs are mostly descended from Ishmael and are half Hebrew and half Egyptian. If you also remember, the golden calf god was from the Hebrew experience in Egypt.

Hebrews were forbidden to wear golden jewelry, specifically earrings, whereas we see here that Ishmaelites wore them as they were pagans. Gideon attempted to set up a separate congregation of the Hebrew religion, obviously with him as priest and the ephod for his wearing. It seems that since God had directed him and though he elevated God, he still felt worthy of being a priest. As such, Gideon endeavored to legitimatize a sect not ordained by God. It didn’t last but 40 years because in Judges 8:33-35 which followed, that new sect had become sacrilegious – playing the harlot – making Baal-Berith (Beelzebub of the Philistines) their god. (Jud 33).  (Palestine comes from the word Philistine.)

Now consider this: In the Book of Revelation (chapter 2) a reference is made to “the harlot Babylon” in reference to the end-of-time (apocalypse) religion. Somehow at this early date Ishmaelites had migrated from Arabia to Shechem in Israel and had identified with the Hebrew people, but they were bastard Hebrews not of Jacob. They were not included in the Abrahamic Covenant or the Promise of redemption. You may see where I’m headed.

The descendants of that group of people populate Palestine to this day and are Muslims. I’ve written commentary before wherein I identified the “harlot Babylon” as Islam’s residence in Jerusalem. Islam is eclectic – a blend of Judaism, Christianity, paganism, and Mohammad’s inspiration from some false god. Gideon somehow, I believe, had set the stage for Islam a thousand or more years before Islam came into existence.

Islam claims Ishmael and Hagar as Mohammad’s ancestors. Arabia and Palestine are part of Ishmael’s promise from God:

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. (Gen 17:20)

God did not have in mind creating a nation within a nation or a religion within a religion. It seems that he planned Islam! That ephod, representing a new sect of the Hebrew religion, was a “snare to all the Israelites.” It is implied that true Israelites were ensnared by the cult accidentally initiated by the pious Gideon… with good intentions of course.

Islam grew by ensnaring Jews and Christians who were at odds in Mohammad’s time about Holy Scripture. Islam snared, not only Jews, but Christians to found a new religion. I believe that those verses from Judges are symbolic of the advent of Islam which means “voluntary submission to God” (Etymology Online). You see from those verses that the Ishmaelites voluntarily submitted to God because of Gideon’s military prowess. Surely, not by coincidence, Islam is militaristic, and “submission” was not voluntary as conversion was by the blade.

Gideon was party, it may be, to the implementation of God’s plan for Ishmael’s descendants. Why would God purposely ordain Islam? For the same reason he allowed Lucifer to exist; he created Islam to test the nations. Shall God’s people remain true or will they not? Islam, as the end of time religion, is based on their Jesus (Isa) returning with a vengeance (from the Quran) and the type of vengeance – beheading (Rev 20:4)! God will use Islam to test the 144,000 Jews in the apocalypse just as he did the Jews in Gideon’s time.

Unwittingly, and with good intentions, Gideon set the stage for Islam. Just as God used Ishmael as the “father” of Islam, Gideon was also used by God to further the religion of Mohammad. It is not a coincidence that Islam has elements of both Judaism and Christianity (monotheistic in an area once abounding with pantheism) because it is an aberration of God’s Will just as Gideon’s newly form cult!

Seven Cycles of Grace

     Throughout biblical times there were many covenants but they were all essentially the Adamic Covenant with the promise of an Edenic Covenant... a return to Paradise.
     Of course, before the fall of Adam and Eve, there was still a covenant - The Edenic Covenant, often called "The Covenant of Innocence." That covenant was formulated with the generation of mankind. What theologians call "regeneration" is not conversion, but glorification. Glorification is a return to complete innocence and perfection; a return to the image of God.  Perhaps "regeneration" pertaining to conversion is the Calvinism showing in theologians! That event is "Spiritual Enlightenment" which Jesus called "born again" (John 3:7). Regeneration is a return to the condition existing at the time before sin... back to the generation when mankind was innocent.
     The Adamic Covenant was the "Covenant of Grace." The mystery of God is that the Covenant was always the Covenant of Grace no matter what theologians call it. The Covenant of Grace is that regeneration was for all people of all times and was because of the grace of the Word... Jesus Christ. Those in the Old Testament will be glorified because they saw the redeeming death of Jesus from afar and in the future, whereas those after the crucifixion from the testimony of eye-witnesses. Abraham saw Jesus crucified in his mind's eye just as I do this moment!
     The Abrahamic Covenant was a rewording of the Adamic Covenant because the Edenic Covenant had already been violated. There were essentially two parts to the Edenic Covenant:

1. You may not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or you will die, and 
2. You may eat of any of the other trees.

     Those "trees" were doctrines in addition to real trees. Disobedience would result in death; that is the death of the living soul. Obedience to those ordinances implied life; that the eternal soul would continue eternally living.
     The centerpiece of the other "trees" was the Tree of Life. That "Tree" represents Jesus. They could eat of "The Jesus Tree" for it was the "bread of life." All they had to do was to "dress and keep" The Jesus Tree and the ones like unto it... the other trees which represented other living souls which were to come!
     "Dress and keep" could have been translated, "serve and preserve."  Serving and preserving Jesus and our "neighbors" are the Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it. That's what Jesus was talking about! "Serving and preserving" are how Christians are to exhibit love. "The Ten Words" (Commandments) are Jesus's Words on how to accomplish the Covenant of Grace. Thus, the Mosaic Covenant is metricizing the Adamic and Abrahamic Covenants.
     God never changed covenants to suit the times ("Economy" in theological terms.) He just reworded them even more clearly each time to make them understandable so people were without excuse.
    The Adamic Covenant is given in Genesis 3:16-19, but let's focus on the following verse:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15).

    That verse is the promise for keeping the Adamic Covenant which followed. I'm not going to explain it word for word for I wrote an entire book on that one verse, The Skull of Adam. Essentially, that verse means that sin and Satan would be stepped on by Jesus thousands of years later at Golgotha - the place of Adam's skull. Tradition has it that Adam is buried beneath Calvary and Jesus death bruised Adam's head. Adam of course represents sin and Satan. Metaphorically, it was Satan's (symbolized by Judas Iscariot) who died when Jesus was crucified because Jesus still lives today! Satan was vicariously crucified and knows of his own doom which is coming!
     Throughout the time of the judges in Israel, there were seven cycles of grace: apostasy, oppression, supplication, and deliverance. "Seven" is a holy number. In the time of judges, there were only seven cycles before God delivered a king. (Keep in mind that the first king could have represented Saul for King David is representative of Jesus.) Jesus had grace in those days seven times covering forty-years each.  Now read what Jesus said about forgiveness:

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. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. (Mat 18:21:23)

     Jesus (God) had shown grace to the Israelites in seven cycles of disobedience and forgiveness. Now Peter wondered how many times that he should forgive, and Jesus made plain that seven times was just a start. It would be seventy times seven. Perhaps, the time of the judges were indicative of 40 x 7 = 280 years, and to the end, seventy times that or 19,600 years. In other words, be prepared to forgive until I return!  That is not to say that the end will come in those years, but prophecy indicates that it will be around 6000 years from creating before Jesus "rests" on the "seventh day" which may be the thousand-year reign when Jesus comes back. In other words, Jesus's grace and Covenant of Grace is until the King comes to reign just as after the period if the judges. That period represents the judgment for the disobedience of God's people up until King Jesus comes to reign.
     How many cycles of grace? Not seven, but seventy times that... 490 cycles of grace! The reign of judges were overlapping and some judges ruled at the same time. The Covenant of Grace would cycle 490 times from the Adamic Covenant until King Jesus comes again to snatch up those dead in Christ as well as living Christians. The present cycle seems to have commenced with the Great Awakening in the 1700s, or perhaps with the second "awakening" around 1802. Those were times of  forgiveness. We are now in a time of disobedience. Has another cycle started? Will this be the last cycle?
     Like it or not, disobedience in the time of judges was a result of the false Canaanite gods. God commanded that the Canaanites be destroyed, and the Israelites disobeyed. Those people live until this day and are a thorn to Jews and Christians. God knew and forewarned of Islam, and they failed to heed the warning. In the present cycle, the disobedience of the judges is the reason for calamity in the present times. The Canaanites still haunt Jews and Christians with their false god Allah.
     Islam has caused calamity in the world in cycles. Christianity and Judaism has suffered near extinction several times by Islam resurrecting the Beast Judas. He is, I believe, their Isa (Jesus). With their attempt for a global caliphate today, will it be the last cycle? I believe Jesus will come soon, and am prepared to meet him in the sky, although it may be my children or grandchildren.

The Rest of the Story of Salvation

People believe in God, accept the fact that Jesus died in their place, but fail to serve Him! Those people are not entirely Christians. They have been persuaded, usually as fire insurance against the terrible heat in Hell, but that's it! 

     Let's think for a moment: You are told by the doctor that you only have days to live because your heart is failing. By coincidence, the doctor only has days to live because he has cancer. The good doctor decides to donate his heart to you upon his death. He soon dies, you have heart surgery, and survive. He is no longer extant to thank but he has a son who is now without a father. What would you do? Well, there are two choices: (1) You could flippantly go on your way after a short thank you, or (2) you could show gratitude to the son on behalf of the father. 

     Most people, being nice, would say "thank you" and move on. That is the humane thing to do. It is polite and honorable. However, those who are sincerely grateful would serve the son and nourish him until he prospers. Some who were thankful, if it were them, would provide sustenance, safety, and honor to the son because of what his father did. That is graciousness.

     The problem with many Christians is that Satan tried to kill God. He waited patiently until God had flesh to do the dirty deed. Then Satan provoked people into crucifying God's Flesh. God did not die, but his flesh lives on because it was regenerated. The Father died! God suffered death but because He is infinite, He did not die. He made new flesh for Himself and lives in Heaven in form and on Earth in Spirit. 

     God sacrificed Himself just as the good doctor did. His Flesh was His "organ" for doing so. Like the good doctor who is in Heaven, God sits there on His throne. How should gracious people serve God? By serving and preserving His Flesh, namely Jesus in body and in Spirit.

    You say, "Serving and preserving; I have not heard that before!" Yes you have. God told Adam (man) to "dress and keep the Garden." Well, The Tree of Life was in the midst of it, and still is (Rev 2). Christians are to "dress and keep" The Tree of Life, or Jesus. As good a translation for "dress and keep" is to serve and preserve The Tree of Life. Christians are to serve Jesus and preserve the Doctrine of Christ. 

     With that background, examine what Joshua told the future Christians:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. (Josh 24:15-16)

    Joshua said to serve the Lord. The Israelites answered by saying, "Forbid that we should forsake the Lord."  Those passages indicate that the Hebrews were willing to serve and preserve the Lord. "The Lord" is Jesus. (That they are separate is the Arian heresy.) They as well have said, "We shall always dress and keep the Tree of Life!" 

     They were believers for they had heard about and seen the miracles of God. What if they had stopped short there? What if they had not pledged to serve and preserve the Lord? The memory of God and the hope of a Savior - and salvation - would have died right then! But Joshua, symbolic of Jesus, said, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

     In Christian terms, that means not only to believe, but to serve... just as the gracious recipient of the heart would serve the son to honor the father. As Christians, we need not honor the Father because we have the Son. When we see Jesus, we see God. Jesus said that. When the donor recipient sees the son, he sees the graciousness of his father. To be blunt, its not Christlike to accept the heart that God gives us, then go on our merry way! We must serve the Son and preserve the Father through His Son.

     There are no half-way Christians. It's nice to believe, and even trust God, but niceties are not efficacious. How well you serve God and preserve His prescriptions for longevity is what God expects. After all, He donated His Organ, His very own Heart, that yours may be circumcised of the virus of sin!

     What is sin? Ultimately, it's root is "to be." Rather than God who IS, it is you who are! "To be" means existence. Rather than God, those who "sin" assume the identity of God, and do as they please. They exercise their will, rather than favor God's Will. 

     Probably by chance, but perhaps part of God's Plan, is that the antecedents of Abraham served the moon god "Sin." Rather than serve the One True God, they served a pantheon of gods headed by Sin. In those days, dishonoring God was by honoring Sin. The point I'm making is that when one sins they as well be honoring the moon god. "But that god does not exist!"  you exclaim. Yes, he does. He is you. Sinners represent the moon god. We keep him alive each time we sin. He never really existed but we make him real by sinning. "For me and my house," sin isn't real... and "we will serve the Lord" who IS!