REVIVAL VS REPENTANCE

  “Revivals” have traditionally been times when people’s hearts turn to God.  Because churches today seldom have unbelievers attend, evangelists pretend that revivals are to spiritually revive Christians. Many of those same preachers say, “I know that I know that I know that I am saved.” If that’s the case, then why do they need revival? To be honest, all Christians doubt at times. “Doubt” is the difference between perfect faith that only God has and the faith of the Christian. No one has the faith of God because they are not gods!

  Abraham had great faith. Scripture uses him as the example and the epitome of human faith. However, even Abraham fell short at times. When people sin, it is for two reasons: (1) Either they doubt God, or (2) doubt the judgment of God. Either way, any sin precludes perfect faith. There is none without sin, and hence everyone doubts.

  What do imperfect Christians need, then? Repentance. Christians need to repent. That is individual revival. However, repentance should be ongoing, and revival not necessary. Backsliding should never occur. Christians should not be comfortable living in sin. “Revive” means to bring back to an original condition. Calvinists believe the original condition is “eternally secure.” For them, revival, if they truly believe that, would be entirely unnecessary for individuals.

If revival is for the general public, based on the Calvinistic doctrine of “election,” then revival is not needed for the nation either! The doctrine of “eternal security” would mean that revival is never necessary.

  It seems (a hypothesis) that “revival” is for weak Christians and weak nations. However, the Great Commission is to go unto the nations, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Mat 28:19). That was explained further in the passage, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Mat 24:14). That is not only the gospel message, but was always “gospel.” Revivals are the reverse of  that; rather than you going unto the nations to present the gospel, revivals are the nations coming to you! As they did to Judah and King Asa.

  In the case of King Asa of Judah, his people had been true to God, but he, through God, revived his nation. That was a period of corporate repentance led by him. It was a revival of a Godly nation. They put away idolatry for the most part, but kept their high places. Repeated revivals are needed because Christians need further revival to tear down their own “high places” (scripture calls them “strongholds”).

  Asa’s adversary, Israel, under King Jeroboam, became a heathen nation. They put aside God entirely and turned to Ashtoreth and her “husband” El. When Judah had a revival, many of those who God called came from Israel to live there under God as is written, “And he (Asa) gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him” (2 Chron 15:9).

  God had a revival with the people of Israel. Those who had worshipped Ashtoreth and El, worshiped Yahweh because God called them to Judah where the Spirit of God was.

Note that before Israel could be revived, Judah needed repentance and a new way of living. The nation of Judah was a witness to the nation of Israel. When in Israel, do not do as the Israelites do, but as the Jews (Judeans) do, and both are to do the things of God.

Changing allegiances is revival! It is serving the right “master” from the two (Mat 6:24). Those Christians who sin regularly endeavor to serve two masters. For them, revival is selecting which “master” to serve as the Israelites did. They dumped Jeroboam for Asa as King, and dumped Ashtoreth for Yahweh.

  Many Christians find it laughable that they would serve two gods. They are gullible! If Christians are not serving God (I AM) they are serving themselves (I want TO BE a god). The desires of people rule them, and their flesh must be appeased. In a sense, their “idols” are their own flesh! Those things which please the flesh are merely sacrifices to the “gods of self.” Individual “revival” is repentance and a turning away from oneself and toward God.

We make excuses why unbelievers are not in church during so called “revivals.” It’s because the Church has yet to be revived. They mourn little over loved ones who are destined for Hell. If they cared about them as they should, they would beg those they love to come to learn about how to be reborn!

  Why people don’t invite others to revival is explained between the lines in the Bible: For (your name here) am so apathetic to the lost, that I took God’s only begotten Son for granted, and that whosoever would have believeth in him and should not have perish, are not worth the trouble to tell them the way for everlasting life. (anti-John 3:16).

One atheist accused all Christians of hypocrisy by saying, “If Christians were as loving as they claim, they would not be able to sleep at night because those they love are going to Hell.” To atheists, WE seem like the unfaithful and uncaring!

  Agape-type love is essentially wanting that none should perish, even enemies. Standing idly by as they travel the way to perishing is apathy, or vain-type of “love,” and is just a mild form of hatred.

National revival is for the nation to revert to God. “The great revival” (The Great Awakening) lasted from about 1735 to 1737. Jonathan Edwards preached (read only) his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and sinners cried in grief for their sins. The nation then fell into sin, and God revived the nation again with the Second Awakening about 1802. People “saw the light” – God’s truth, and repented en mass. Sinners were not only “revived,” but the nation was!

When the Jews were dispersed to Babylon, by God’s grace, after seventy years, many returned home. They had never heard the Word of God since it had been lost to them.

  Just as Jonathan Edwards merely read his sermon, the prophet Ezra stood on a box and did nothing but read Holy Scripture, and the nation was revived as new hearers heard and believed (Ezra 7-10; Neh 8). The point is that “revival” is mainly for unbelievers to instill belief!

Before the heathens can be revived, the Church must be strengthened. A failing Church must be revived. “Failure” is not numbers, but the teaching and practice of doctrine!

  The Church is not the building with walls of brick and stone, but the faith of those in accordance with both God and others (Acts 2). Solomon built the first Church building and God saw fit to fill it with His Presence. Before the Temple, there was no building for God. He didn’t need one for His “Church” is wherever people loved and trusted Him! The same holds true today.

What is the Church? The same as always:

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 Church are the citizens of the Kingdom of God, who live according to the precepts of His household, and then, in that passage, the structure of the Church is identified: Jesus is the Cornerstone, the prophets (including Abraham and Moses) built the foundation, then the apostles laid the “concrete” atop them.

  Then the Church was “framed together” in unity and according to God’s Plan. Those patriarchs like David and King Asa were part of the frame, and many others as well.

After Christ came to review his Church, pillars were required, and they will be: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God” (Rev 3:12). Glorified Christians will be the “pillars” because they have endured to the end. Until that time, the pillars are in the making. They are the “lively stones” of which Paul spoke (1 Pet 2:5).

  Atop that “building” sits the Holy Cross of Jesus which points the Way to Heaven. The Church has a destiny as well. It will have few who endure because they either didn’t hear the gospel or preferred their own vain philosophy. The former is represented by the Tree of Life and the latter, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

  Sinners cannot make choices unless they hear the choices and the consequences of right choice and wrong choice. Revival is for that reason. The Temple wasn’t built on the threshing floor for nothing; it’s where sinners are threshed and winnowed until the “good” grain alone exists. The royal priests (Christians) have a spiritual duty – to bring in the sheaves for the threshing. That is revival, and the harvesters have a duty to bring them in!

  Now, back to King Asa’s “revival:”

1.       And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God: for he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves. (2 Chron 14:2-3)

2.       And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee. ( 2 Chron 14:11)

3.       Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. (2 Chron 15:3-4).

4.       And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. (2 Chron 15:5)

5.       And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the Lord, that was before the porch of the Lord. (2 Chron 15:8)

6.       And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. (2 Chron 15:9)

7.       So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem… And they offered unto the Lord the same time. (2 Chron 1510b-11a).

8.       And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul. (2 Chron 15:12).

9.       And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the Lord gave them rest round about. (2 Cor 14-15)

10.   Because thou didst rely on the Lord, he delivered them into thine hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (2 Chron 16:8b-9)

11.   Asa slept (rested) with his fathers (2 Chron 16:13)

  As Ezra long ago, sometimes the Word needs no explanation because the vocabulary (Word) of God is sufficient. God gave Asa the Word (Jesus), he wrote them down for posterity. That’s how God revived Judah, and that’s how He will revive our own nation. As it started first with Asa and his “chosen” (peculiar) Jews, as royal priests, it also starts with us “peculiar” Christians!

  What about the preacher and deacons? Note that neither are in the Foundation of the Church, were not called as the apostles were, but were appointed to superintend the building of the Church (bishops) and be foremen under the superintendents (deacons). Of course, they too are “lively stones” and superintend the building-up of the pillars of the Church.

  Everyone has a part in revival. Some call sinners to God’s “House”, others teach them how to build, but then others are made into lively stones to be pillars in the end. The purpose of everyone is to be a “structure” for the Cross and the Doctrine of the Tree of Life.

  The first Church building was built of cedar and stone. The cedars perished long ago, but the stones still remains. That’s the threshing as well. Some will be the “cedars” and others the “lively stones.” Revival is for miracles as well – to turn cedar into stone for an enduring Church!

Safe from Sin; Saved in the End

KEY VERSES: Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king (Rehoboam) humbled themselves; and they said, ‘The Lord is righteous.’ And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the Word of the Lord came… saying, ‘They have humbled themselves; therefore, I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem’… And when he (Rehoboam) humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that He would not destroy him altogether: and also in Judah things went well… he (Rehoboam) reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his Name there… (2 Chron 12:6-7, 12, 13b)

  After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam, became King of Israel. An adversary of the house of David, Jeroboam, had fled to Egypt to ally himself with Pharaoh against Rehoboam. Once the people of the northern kingdom resented Rehoboam, Jeroboam came back and was made king of the new kingdom of Israel. The Kingdom of David had been reduced to the weak kingdom of Israel and the stronger one in the south, Judah.

  Before Jeroboam had been made king, God, through the older faithful men, had encouraged Rehoboam to make peace with Jeroboam. The younger generation advised that he take a firm hand against the northern tribes, and Rehoboam tried to strong-arm them into submission.

That failed, and then the Pharaoh invaded Judah and destroyed all their cities but Jerusalem. All of King Solomon’s treasures were misappropriated by the Egyptians, and the people of Judah (Jews) came to be satisfied with bronze. They were humbled, as was King Rehoboam!

The key verses above are about the humbling. God granted the Jews deliverance because they were humbled. They were safe from Pharaoh.

  In scripture, Egypt represents sin and Pharaoh, the Devil. In typology, the Jews and Rehoboam were saved from sin, and the “Devil” Pharaoh, would not destroy them.

  This humbling of the Jews is a foreshadowing of God’s grace. God could have allowed Pharaoh to rule over Judah, the Jews deserved that, but by grace, God was merciful on the Jews, and delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh, and protected them thereafter.

  If Pharaoh had destroyed Jerusalem, Judaism would be dead, and the Abrahamic Covenant with the promise of the Messiah through David would have never come about. The Jews deserved destruction, but were kept safe from Pharaoh so that God’s Plan would come to fruition. Think on that: Because God was merciful to sinful Rehoboam, He was merciful to us by keeping His promise of a Savior. Compare God’s grace in delivering the Jews from sin, to the grace of Christians saved from sin: “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Ephes 2:5).

  In that verse, Jesus “quickened” or kept Christians alive as they had been dead in sin. Sin is spiritual death. It’s when people do what is right in their own eyes, and disregard God’s Will. God says that He is the great “I AM” and sinners want “TO BE.” That is spiritual deadness, but God, by grace, allows those who are humbled to be saved from sin immediately!

James, inspired by God, gave Christians exemplary advice:

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 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 4:6-10)

  “Humility” is the attitude that occasions God to provide His grace. Rehoboam and the Jews were humbled by Pharaoh. God uses the Devil as a tool to humble His people, and He used Pharaoh for the same reason.

  When things get tough, arrogant sinners are often humbled. For instance, America was under attack by demonic Islamic terrorists who destroyed America’s own “high places.” When our phallic symbols fell, the after-affect was humility. Just as with Rehoboam, it was only temporary.

Humility is when sinners diminish themselves and let God do the lifting-up. Sinners own desires “TO BE” their own gods, is extinguished when they realize that only Jesus “IS” God!

  When sinners become persuaded of that, they are converted by rebirth, which Jesus said, “Marvel not; ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

  Rehoboam was saved from his own sin, but not from Pharaoh. Pharaoh was merely a tool to make Rehoboam fear God and to humble himself. As a result of Rehoboam’s humility, God delivered Rehoboam from sin (the laws of Pharaoh), but he did not kill Pharaoh. Rehoboam had to deal with Pharaoh on a day-to-day basis, hence his bronze shields for safety.

  Scripture speaks of that as well where it is written, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephes 6:16). That’s what Rehoboam did, not with arrogant shields of gold which Pharaoh impounded, but shields of brass. The gold represented that Rehoboam was king, but brass that he was ordinary (or peculiar).

Rehoboam and the Jews were delivered from death by the hands of Pharaoh just as Job was from Satan. Of course, as with Job, “Satan” could still harm Rehoboam but not kill him. That is where the born-again Christian is with sin; he is free from sin, but not dead to Satan unless he endures to the end (Mat 10:22).

  From the key verses, Rehoboam, “Humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that He would not destroy him altogether.” Rehoboam was saved from his sin, and not destroyed (perished). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

  Rehoboam was delivered from immediate death, at that time, but he died in apostasy; he did not endure to the end. (1 King 14:30) as he warred with Jeroboam until his death, and remained in conflict with God’s Will that there be peace.

  He was kept “safe” from sin, but not saved from the consequences of sin which is death: “But God had so much loving-kindness. He loved us with such a great love. Even when we were dead because of our sins, He made us alive by what Christ did for us. You have been saved from the punishment of sin by His loving-favor (Ephes 2:4-5; New Life Vers.)

  The “punishment for sin” is death, and the author of death is Satan. Salvation is when living souls of Christians are entirely beyond the influences of Satan, and that occurs at the end of mortal life. Thus, “salvation” is in two stages: (1) safe from sin, and (2) saved from the evil one and eternal punishment in Hell.

  Rehoboam, like Christians, are safe from adversaries, but the adversaries can still taunt them, as Pharaoh and Jeroboam continued to do. Their humility kept the Jews safe from utter destruction, but the Jews are still in danger of capitulation to evil until Jesus comes again – when those dead in Christ will rise first followed by the living Christians. That occasion is called the rapture and is a “snatching up” from the influence of the world.

  Be safe, Christians, from sin and Satan, until you are saved from the evil one in the end.

TYPOLOGY OF THE TWO KINGDOMS

KEY VERSE: And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only. (1 Kings 12:20)

TOPIC: Jeroboam would be king

  God created one kingdom – the Kingdom of David. It appeared that Saul had been king of God’s Kingdom, but Saul was a type of Lucifer whose identity was Prince of the Power of the Air (Ephes 2:2). Lucifer’s people were “children of disobedience” as Jeroboam’s line would be.

Compare Jeroboam to the Devil; Lucifer would be king:

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

  Lucifer, with his pride, sees himself as King of the realm of God. Saul, the meek, didn’t visualize that until he became powerful. Saul was the epitome of most politicians today. Saul soon established himself, not only as king, but prophet as well, in that he did not wait on Samuel the prophet, but did Samuel’s function himself.

  David was a an after God’s own heart. Although he was a type of prodigal son, God welcome him back with open arms. David was chosen to establish God’s Kingdom on Earth, and Saul as David’s adversary. His kingdom was merely prince to David’s king!

David was a type of Christ in that he supplemented the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants. What is often forgotten is that King David was also a foreshadowing of Jesus, and the Kingdom of David, a type of Kingdom of God. Prophecy indicates that in the end, the earthly Kingdom of David will share the “space” of Israel with the Kingdom of God when Heaven comes down to its foundation. The Kingdom of David is perhaps Paradise on Earth (The Garden of Eden), and will be replaced by Paradise in Heaven.

  The Garden, Israel, and Heaven all have the same government:

Our prayer is to be: Thy (Jesus’s) kingdom come, Thy (God’s) will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Mat 6:10

And I (Jesus) will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mat 16:19)

  In those passages are a clue. The translators saw the context quite well! “In earth” and “in heaven” says much! A novice will automatically misquote that as “on Earth” and “in Heaven” with capital letters!

  The point is that the two kingdoms are physical and spiritual, and they are the “heaven and earth” as in Genesis 1:1. In that passage, the Earth and the Heaven had not been created (in the beginning or first “step”.) When Jesus said “in earth” and “in heaven” he was indicating that there is one Kingdom with two substances – the visible and invisible, that scientists refer to as matter and perhaps antimatter. (My latest book, On the Origin of Man and the Universe, explains that contention.) Therefore, no longer let “in earth” confuse the reader!

  Saul’s Kingdom represented God’s physical Kingdom and David’s, God’s Spiritual Kingdom. Jesus indicated that Christians should pray they be one Kingdom, and of course, prophecy indicates they will be when Jesus comes to reign. David’s reign was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ millennial reign, as Jesus was called “the son of David” (Mat 1: 1 and many other places.)

The Garden of Eden had been God’s Kingdom; thus, the Kingdom of David had been the rebuilding of God’s Garden Kingdom. The Garden of milk and honey was referred to as “the land of milk and honey,” with both representing prosperity or well-being.

  Israel is therefore a special place. It’s the axis between Heaven and Earth and heaven and earth. According to the premise in my book, the physical and spiritual are presently separated by a “firmament” - an abstract “dome” which science calls the “celestial sphere” that appears as a dome at any location on planet Earth. As prophesied in Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down (descending) from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

  Note that neither is “heaven” capitalized therein! Perhaps New Jerusalem will merely transcend the invisible and become visible. In other words, New Jerusalem co-exists with present Jerusalem, and it will be revealed, after the “harlot Babylon” is made clean by fire. Jerusalem, as with Jesus, will be transfigured from two realms into one!

  When David passed, Solomon built God’s House in Jerusalem. Therein sat God’s throne, made of ivory, having six steps and a footrest (2 Chron 9), as God had promised David a throne in the same great city, which would pass down through Solomon as God revealed to him: “Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel” (2 Chron 7:18).

  The ivory throne of the Temple has several meanings: (1) God’s Realm, (2) Creation, (3) judgment, (4) redemption, and (5) reward. Note that the throne for God was beneath two cherubim in the Temple who guarded it. That Throne represented the Kingdom of God in the Garden!

The Holy Cross of Jesus is represented by that throne in that the cross itself was a type of throne, and the footrest was the throne’s seventh step. Surely the six steps may have been the processes of crucifying Jesus, or his purpose: Step 1: his birth, Step 2: his ministry, Step 3: his persecution, Step 4: his agony, Step 5: his judgment, Step 6: his death and apparent separation, and Step 7: his entombment, wherein he rested. However, Step 8 is the continuation of Jesus’s reign and commenced with the resurrection, and the last step will be forever; what I call “day eight.”

  2 Chronicles 7:18 above relates the Davidic Covenant, and as the others it had stipulations:

But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. (2 Chron 7:19-20).

  Well, Solomon turned away and it became Jerohoam’s (his son’s) responsibility to fulfill the Davidic Covenant. (That covenant was merely a continuation of the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic Covenants.)

  David could not build God’s House (the Temple) because although he was spiritual, he had been too physical as he had killed so many. The Covenant was through Israel (Jacob). “Israel” was the Kingdom of David and Solomon. Solomon could build God’s House but he wasn’t spiritual. Solomon was the antithesis of David.

  Once David and Solomon had died, so did The Kingdom of David. However, the spiritual Kingdom of God will never die! The Covenants will be fulfilled as John the Revelator saw. He saw into the invisible Realm of God, when in his time, the earthly kingdom and its temple and Messiah had died. Israel, to the Zionist Jews, seemed gone, and the Covenants torn-up. John envisioned the Davidic Covenant fulfilled with Jesus on the throne in Heaven and the heaven (invisible Kingdom).

  With Solomon’s death, the Covenants appeared to be as bleak as when Jesus died on the cross and Herod’s Temple destroyed. Only a few saw God’s Temple still extant in the souls of men! That was the case when Jeroboam rebelled and became king of Israel, leaving Jerohoam as king of only Judah.

“A man of God” called “the man of God” as well went to Israel in an attempt to keep the Kingdom of David intact (1 Kings 13). God directed him to not eat nor drink in Israel, or take the same path on which he had arrived. Along came a prophet from Bethel who dissuaded the man of God from his divinely assigned task. He used deception: that the man of God would not suffer any consequences. Of course, the man of God died because he was beguiled by the old false prophet who had turned to Jeroboam’s golden calf idol.

  “The man of God” represents Adam, and is as well written, “The Adam of God.” Of course, the false prophet represents the Serpent in the forbidden tree. The man of God died, but the “Serpent” did not. That’s the situation which exists with mankind and Satan up until Jesus was born! Both Adam (man) and us (mankind) were redeemed with God on His “Tree.”

  That’s the same with the united kingdom of Israel. It was not yet time for redemption and would still have to undergo trials until the False Prophet dies as well. That happens in the end!

Israel, under Jeroboam, represents the physical kingdom in the Great Tribulation. It has the false prophet, false gods, false leaders, an evil “king,” and a hellish government. I believe that is Muhammad, Allah, some narcissistic ayatollah, an Islamic prince with a world-wide caliphate, and Sharia Law. Their false Temple is already in place were Solomon’s was, namely the Dome of the Rock. That “house” is not God’s and  is not yet a temple, but a shrine with big plans for it in the future government of the Tribulation.

  The man of God came to save Israel from his own past experiences. He (his type) was deceived again by false doctrine: Should he eat from the Tree of the Doctrine of Christ with its twelve righteous fruits, or from the doctrine of sin with its forbidden fruits? Jeroboam, beguiled by the actions of the false prophet, would become king of Israel. Note that, that is what Lucifer desired! Jeroboam was a type of Lucifer.

  Solomon built a throne for God as mentioned earlier. Who would keep the throne? Judah had it for safe-keeping. That ivory throne represented God’s throne in Heaven as well as the Creation of the heaven and earth. It too was a celestial “ladder” like Jacob’s and also represented the Cross of Jesus.

Ivory was for Jesus’s purity, gold for his kingship, and the footrest for his governance of the earth itself. The seat was his throne and the footrest His footstool (Isa 66:1). The throne was for God resting from creating and keeping the world. His footstool was six steps down, according to the description, ending in the place His feet would rest. That represents earth, and the throne heaven.

The six steps represent the six “days” of creation before God rested on the last “step.” If Genesis 1:1 is examined, “in the beginning” means in the Hebrew, “rank one.” It was the primary “step” in the processes of creation, and it began with God on His throne, and terminated with God resting with His feet on the footstool of the earth.

  The six steps, as I described them in my book, represents the six specific processes leading to uniting of heaven and earth. Each step represents one step in the overall creation process. Of course, God on His throne was the beginning, and the “first fruit” in that He was before the beginning!

I use as evidence for my hypothesis that the ivory and gold throne which Solomon built for God represents the celestial axis and the Creation processes, one step at a time!

  Of course, God’s Plan could not be usurped by the Serpent, the false prophet of Israel, nor Jeroboam! Remembering that the Abrahamic Covenant was through Israel, the nation of Israel must be the one! It took time and tribulation, but in 1948, the nation of Israel came into existence again. That was a necessary and profound requirement. Jeroboam and that line would not sire the True King – Jesus. However, Jerohoam, Solomon’s son, and the seed of David would!

  As I write, those who know Jesus, know the outcome: Israel was where Jesus was born to keep us safe, and where he will come to save us at the rapture. The Kingdom of David on Earth will become the Kingdom in earth wherein things are done as they are in the invisible heaven!

Plan of Salvation In One Verse

KEY VERSE: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)

  “My people” are the “nation” of Christ; those known as “Christians.” The next phrase, “Called by my Name,” identifies God’s people. His people are those who are addressed by God by His Name. The “address” is the Way of Christ as Christians belong to him.
  John begged that the nation of Judah, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” (Mark 1:23) which was also prophesied by Isaiah (Mat 3:3); to “make his paths straight” (Mat 3:3). Matthew identified how that should be done when he wrote, “John came unto you in the way of righteousness” (Mat 21:32).
  Righteousness is an internal quality of right-living people. Right-living is doing things the way of Christ, or better said – the Doctrine of Christ; condensed to loving Him intensely and fellow men as well. Intensely is with the heart, mind, soul, and strength! (Mark 12:30). What more is there left?
  It turns out that Christ’s path has a “straight gate.” That gate is with a steadfast mind on God’s Will. His Will is that His people love Him and others. “Steadfast” implies strength, fortitude, and longevity. The Way is not brief, but for the duration of Christians’ existences. Perhaps the identification as a Christian also requires steadfastness since regeneration is not at one cross-section in time, but for the duration of life (Matt 10:22).
  Of course, those who are “born again” obtain a regenerated heart in that, if efficacious, it would have been “circumcised.” The Calvinistic viewpoint on regeneration is a moment in time (John 3:5-8). That event commences the regeneration, but the flesh is not regenerated until the rapture – when the dust is caught up and the “silver cord” (Ecc 12:6) renewed with the soul. Of course, that means a regenerated existence back to the Designer’s intention; just as it was in the Garden.
  Sinners live with congestive spiritual hearts. Their spiritual hearts don’t “pump” well as their spiritual strength is not there. Within the spiritual arteries are blockages. Sin blocks God’s Holy Spirit from what should be healthy hearts. Cutting off the foreskin of the heart (Deut 10:16) is removing the blockage of sin with right-living to obtain a healthy spiritual life in preparation for an eternal life.
Circumcision of the heart keeps “the silver cord” from being loosened. That strength is steadfast faith, which is associated with endurance to the end. Full regeneration is at the resurrection, but the regeneration of the soul, as it was “before the foundation of the world,” occurs at death (John 17:23-25).
  That means that the soul is made perfect in Christ. That’s what Paul meant with, “To live is Christ; to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). Thus, the Way of Christ – his path – leads from imperfection to perfection. Its Way is not at the starting gate but the finish line! In between the two should by spiritual growth. A perfect body is one of the entire body, not just the heart, that is cut off.
  The flesh is the receptor for pleasure. Illicit or unrighteous pleasure will be cut-off when perfection is obtained at full regeneration. Until that time, the circumcision of the heart suffices!
  The keyword in the key verse is “name.” Not just any name, but by the Name which God was called when he came in the flesh. The Name, “Jesus,” is the password through the straight gate which leads to the path of God.
  If you remember, Paradise was walled, had one gate to get in, one access to the gate, and it was guarded by cherubim. Not just saying “Jesus” is enough, but dedication to Jesus. God looks at the heart and tells the cherubim that the Christian is worthy of entering in.
  Ironically, “worthiness” is not what Christians do, but are willing to do. They crucify themselves, at least their hearts, and God looks for those regenerated hearts before he regenerates the flesh, as the soul will be already regenerated.
  Resurrection is important. The flesh is the “land” in the key verse. The Jews thought it was their little part of the Earth. On the other hand, Abraham knew the true identity of the Promise Land; it was abiding in New Jerusalem, or Heaven in new flesh! The real identity of the “land” goes back to the dust from which mankind was created. That dust will be regenerated at the Resurrection back into the flesh it was once generated – back to the image of God!
  We know God’s “name”. It is not “God” or even “Jehovah” nor “Yahweh.” God’s “Name” is “Jesus” (in English). The key verse says that His people are to “seek my face.” The Face of God goes along with His Name; God’s “Face” is the face of Jesus. Of course, it is not merely God’s Face who Christians are to seek, but His Mind, Heart, Soul, and Strength which is identified by The Name and Face. For God to recognize Christians on His throne, Christians must recognize God by His Person – Jesus.  Recognition by God at the gate to Heaven is imperative:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Mat 7:22-23).

  Christians will recognize God by His Face and Name. How will He recognize you? He will look, not for the circumcised foreskin of the penis, but the circumcised heart (Rom 2:29). It is imperative, consequently, to understand what it takes to have the heart circumcised! That merely consists of diminishing yourself and elevating God as implied in John 3:14.
  “Sin” is your wanting “TO BE” rather than accepting God Who already “IS” in that He is “I AM;” that self-esteem must be transformed into Christ-esteem. As the key verse says, His people, “shall humble themselves.” God does the humbling, but His people become meek in His Presence. Their reward? Inheriting the earth, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5).
  That seems to mean some type of inheritance on this planet, does it not? Note that the translators did not capitalize it. The meek will get their “dust” back – their elemental particles from which God created them. In other words, they will be regenerated back to their original state, and in the Presence of God. That is “glorification” – as it was in the beginning – you and God, and God and you in perfection!
  “Blessed” in Matthew 5:5 means “blissed.” Those humbled by the Presence of God (Jesus) will be blissed. Bliss can only be obtained from existence in Paradise.
  Calvinism espouses “by grace alone” (sola gratia in the Latin.) It is true that God, all alone, died on the cross on our behalf and He is the One who propitiated His Own blood, but there are things we must do in gratitude for that. The key verse answers the doing things: “Pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways.”
  Praying is magnifying God and seeking forgiveness. Seeking His Face is looking to Jesus for the sacrifice. The hard part is “turning from wicked ways.” That’s what His people can do in gratitude for God’s sacrifice on their behalf. The old creature commences the path to a new creature:

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor 5:37).

  The new circumcised heart comes first! The entire new creature is a renewal (regeneration) of the original creature. The big difference is that in the end, Satan will not be there to re-corrupt, neither the hearts nor souls of God’s people! The “silver cord” will be retied, and Christians will be at one with God.
  Lastly, the key verse indicates that He will hear from heaven. We think of “hearing” as audible sound. Of course, God knows our thoughts. What will He “hear?” His people’s attitudes (humility), their prayers (repentance), to whom they pray (Jesus), and their allegiance (them turning their backs on Lucifer).
  Never take crucial words shallowly. Each of God’s Words has extreme impact on our eternal well-being. The plan to save our wretched selves from the evil one and perishing is contained in that one verse. It is the prescription for healing the soul, and it must be followed!

REWARD AND PUNISHMENT

  Proverbs provides so much insight into salvation, existence, Heaven, Hell, and the world. Today, I read of Solomon’s wise words from God on reward and punishment.

  Atheists don’t believe in God. Perhaps that is because they fear punishment as they know that God standards are high. They are quitters; they know they will fail, so why try? Their pretense is that belief in the unseen is irrational. However, the most irrational of all thinking is that existence happened by chance, without causation, and precisely ordered without anyone to organize it.

Some who portend to be Christians, believe the myth that Heaven is for real but Hell is not. They think that they deserve the reward, even for evil doings, and are not bad enough to be punished in Hell.

  Others believe that Christians only need be good, that the reward is in life. And others believe that life is Hell, and death is reward in itself.

  People prefer to live a lie because they know they do not deserve Heaven, but they do fear Hell. By denying the reward exists, eliminates the possibility that punishment may be forthcoming.

  Many, as myself, came to believe in Jesus, not out of love, but that punishment “scares the Hell out of us!”  Why is there Hell? Because there is a Heaven. Why are their prisons? Because there is freedom! For every thesis in life there is an antithesis. Reward and punishment are complementary, although rational people have the preference that they not be “complimented” with Hell!

  Denial of Hell is irrational thinking. It won’t go away just because sinners will it into non-existence. Is Hell for real? I trust that it and there is only one way to escape it! You might say, “I won’t go there because it doesn’t exist.” That is a possibility to be honest, but is a huge gamble. What if you are wrong; then you go there forever!

  Christians have two hopes: (1) That they escape Hell, and (2) that they will be rewarded in Heaven. Escaping Hell is great, but existing in limbo without existence is horrifying. Hell has two characteristics: (1) Isolation from God and even other sinners, and (2) torment by hatred and by fire. Possibly a third is that it is everlasting. Many would face Hell if it was for an instant, but Hell never ceases!

  The time element of punishment is what I most feared. I actually thought, I can withstand Hell for a short duration, but I cannot for eternity. Endless time in Heaven is a hope, but the same in Hell is a dread. Thusly, “time” scares the Hell out of people, and provides the hope for endless time in Paradise.

  Judgment separates the two. Thinking that you deserve Heaven is damning. Your punishment for esteeming yourself so highly is forever perishing in Hell. Ironically, knowing that you deserve punishment for your sin is preserving. You will be rewarded for your attitude of humility.

Knowing that you deserve punishment, but failing to submit yourself is also damning. You will indeed be punished.

  Understanding that you don’t deserve reward is rewarding. So, it’s not deserving or undeserving which rewards and punishes, but worthiness.

  Before I comment on worthiness, consider those who know that they deserve punishment but may be pardoned of the “crime.” Their attitude is right. They are the meek. Solomon described them this way:

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. (Prov 10:30)

Compare that to what Jesus said about the humble:



  “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5). Jesus was just restating His Word given to David in song: “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psalm 37:11). “Peace” is Paradise; that place which is called Heaven.

Solomon phrased Heaven and Hell a little differently. “The righteous” are the meek. Their makeup is of the elements of the earth. As such, they will always have flesh. Eternal “flesh” is a glorified body in that it will be immortal and perfect with no sickness, hunger, or death! It may also be that they will reside forever on Earth when New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven (Rev 21:1).

  Then Solomon said, “The wicked shall not inhabit the earth.”  They will not have real glorified bodies, nor will they reside in the Paradise of New Jerusalem. The wicked shall lose out on glorified bodies and eternal Paradise whether in Heaven or the City of God on Earth.

The key question is then, “Who is worthy?” Worthiness is not what we do of our own efforts. “Worthiness” is meekness – those who know they have not the power to save themselves, but God does. They know their place in the eternal scheme of things. When sinners understand that premise, they are “born again” (John 3:7).

   It is not their own understanding that makes them worthy, but acknowledging the truth and responding to it for, “The truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). In that verse is, “knowing the truth.” That is understanding the Light which God has gracefully given unto you. (John 3:21). Their “deeds are made manifest.” They understand that they have sinned against God and deserve punishment.

  Sinners have an “understanding” problem. They don’t see things God’s Way. They perceive themselves as too good to deserve punishment. That elevates them to godhood, in their eyes, but “only God is good” (Mat 19:17).  “Sin” is ultimately man’s desire “To Be” – to be as God Is (Gen 3:5). They consider their own knowledge greater than God’s, so they perceive themselves as the “Ego Eimi” (Greek) which is the “I Am” rather than God who Is. “Sin” then is an offense against God, perceiving oneself as God rather than Him. It offends God that you think you know more than Him!

  Some believe that there may be punishment for their offenses, but that God is not really God. What makes a God is His Power to Create. If there is a God, and there is, then His mind must be Almighty enough to make all things happen (Mat 6:33). One of God’s attributes is all-knowing. That is called “omniscience.” Another is almightiness, which is called “omnipotence.” And another of his Powers is “omnipresence” – always there. Solomon understood God as shown in his writings:

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. (Prov 15:3)

  Therein Solomon speaks of God’s always-presence, and all- knowingness. Because evil and good requires discernment, therefore God is all-knowing as well. That saying is important because God knows everything about you; there are no secrets, and all the sins you do in private may as well be on display in the sky for all the good secrecy will do.

  I don’t worry so much about my sins as I do my thoughts. Only God and I know them; God hates my thoughts, and my own thoughts terrify me because the fantasy of sinning is just as objectionable as sinning (Mat 5:28).

  Christians have more of a problem with that than do atheists and pagans who just don’t care what God thinks. As such, we are not gods as our mental sins reveal! We think that we are strong, but when temptation comes, we find that we are weak. Sinning Christians have little self-control, yet they once claimed to be masters of their own souls!

  Our thoughts convince us that we are not gods if we only listen to our thoughts! Because we are human, we were born in iniquity (Psalm 51:5).

The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. (Prov 15:9)

  Yes, we are born wicked. All have sinned, and deserve punishment! That includes even you that think they have done good. “Goodness” is not only the humane things (Commands 5-10) as the rich young man (Luke 18) discovered but Commandments 1-4 as well! The Ten Commandments are ways to be righteous. Living righteously by obedience as Solomon wrote, is how Christians demonstrate their love for God.

  Loving God makes them worthy of reward, and failing to love God worthy of punishment. Does it not make sense that people should love our Creator? Denying creation makes that sensible notion nonsense.

  That’s one reason the world does not believe that it was created, but just happened. A Christian must not only believe in the Creator, but love Him for generating us and our habitat. Likewise, that love extends to loving God for regenerating us, and for providing for us an eternal habitat where our reward is promised.

  Now look at the first key verse about reward and punishment:

The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. (Prov 10:3)

  “Famish” is “starved from nourishment.” Just as God provided for man in the Garden of Eden, all our needs will be provided in Heaven. Since our reward is Paradise, there will be no famishing there! Socialists should like the idea of Paradise because it will provide in Heaven what they seek on Earth. However, they don’t because their false god promises them reward on Earth, and deny the existence of God, Heaven, and Hell.

  “The substance of the wicked” is the flesh and soul of sinners who have not sought redemption. Somehow, their flesh will burn for ever but never quite perish. John 3:16 says that God “wants that none should perish.” That’s not dying once but perishing is dying endlessly!

  Think of having lung cancer without morphine and its pain… and that pain never ending. Hell is infinitely worse than cancer and the burning and torment never stops.

  Why would we deserve that? Because of unbelief. If someone does not believe in a Savior, why would they expect to be saved? Indeed, what are sinners saved from? Hell! God made the heaven and earth, and he also made Hell. The problem with some is that they have no God to turn to, and some actually think that doing humane things will save them from punishment!

The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. (Prov 3:8)

  Some have been convinced by Calvinists that the Ten Commandments are no longer valid. Think not? Do you really believe that you can murder someone and God will overlook it? Do you really think that you can have another “god” and the jealous God not care? Such distortion of scripture is heresy. Think on The Ten Commandments as “The Ten Prescriptions” for healing of the nations, and you will understand why Jesus came to fulfill them, not replace them.

  God can be an angry God, although He is loving. Why would He be angry with His creatures? Because they think they can outwit, outlast, and outplay God! They presume His Supremacy, not unlike Lucifer himself who is their real father. Now look at the next reward and punishment:

Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. (Prov 3:6)

  “Blessings” are blissings. Bliss is in Heaven alone. Living justly results in the reward of eternal bliss. However, the wicked shall be treated with violence.

  Think of torture, perhaps of an ISIS-type of punishment only  multiplied. As pain is inflicted on the damned, just like ISIS, demons will taunt, as they also mocked Jesus. They also murdered him, and when people have hatred that is as murder (1 John 3:15). Hatred is offensive to God and is the greatest sin. How is that known? Because to love is The Greatest Commandment! Solomon contrasted love and hatred:

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. (Prov 10:12)

  Name all the sins possible. If God, others, and even enemies are loved, there would be no sin. Why is there sin? Because we love ourselves more than God or others, and certainly our enemies. True Christians detest that feeling of hatred. I have to fight not hating God’s adversaries. I try to do that for Him. That too is sin even though done with good motives!

  Hating enemies stirs up strife as Solomon said. We are to love even our enemies which covers the sin of hatred!

  Another Calvinist misrepresentation is sola gratia – by grace alone. That idea is admirable because God alone died on the cross, and was abandoned. We had no part in shedding blood for our own sins, and dying because of them. To Jesus goes all the credit.

  However, what should be the attitude of the pardoned? Christians should desire to do right. Love is indeed hard work! It is not efficacious to work for our salvation, but laboring to do right things is counted as gratitude on our behalf. Doing righteous things is thanking Jesus for His gift of redemption. Our labors reveal our gratitude or vanity, if we do not labor! Wise man Solomon knew that love is hard work and laborious:

The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. (Prov 10:16)

  There were two types of fruits on the trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden. The fruits of the Spirit were twelve. Those with gratitude would show patience, kindness, love, and so forth. The forbidden tree had many “fruits”. They were such things as lasciviousness, fornication, envy, and such (Gal 5). People are known by their “fruits”. Right fruits provide reward, and wrong fruits punishment. All of those characteristics are what people are willing to do with their lives!

  Do not fool yourselves; what you do and think has a great bearing on your sincerity and relationship with Christ. It is not that Calvinism is totally wrong, but misapplied in many places. It may actually encourage unrighteousness!

  I mentioned before that the Commandments were more like “Prescriptions.” Prescriptions are instructions of things to do for healing and to maintain healthy lifestyles. Rather than viewing prescriptions as commands, look at them as “Instructions” as Solomon did:

He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. (Prov 10:17)

  Instructions, or Commandments, are how to keep “the way of life.” Well, Jesus is the Way (John 14:16) and The Doctrine of Christ is the straight gate. To where? Reward in Heaven! Jesus’s “doctrine” is love. It is the “prescription” for reward. The “Ten Prescriptions” are Ten Ways to love the Lord and others!

  We all use instructions to understand the workings and intents of new things. God’s Instructions are your own operating manual to perform very good. When glorified in Heaven, very good will be to perfection!

  Given instructions, if they are not followed, there may be dire consequences. Following instructions provides rewards; in this case, eternity in Heaven. Failure to follow instructions is at your own peril. God provided the Way in His Instructions, but whose fault is it if the instructions are not followed?

It’s obvious that those who ignore prescriptions may die. What people fail to understand is death! It is more than the cessation of breathing Earth’s air, and loss of thinking; it is eternal misery!

  Christians do the best they can with the instructions. God recognizes their intent, and provides what’s missing by grace! That is Jesus fulfilling the prescriptions that we are unable to fill ourselves. In other words, God provides the vaccine but we must take it!

As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. (Prov 10:25)

  That verse is another set of the rewards and punishments, said in a different manner. Life is a whirlwind. Only the elderly can vouch for that.

  Children think they will live for ever because time seems to pass so slowly for them. The wicked worry only about life on Earth. As they age, life indeed passes as fast as a whirlwind. In fact, tomorrow may never come; we just expect that. When least expected, like the tornado after a silence, the end will come for us all.

  The wicked should only expect eternal death, but for the righteous, their expectation should be an everlasting foundation. Ironically, life began, according to Jews, on The Foundation Stone in Jerusalem, and will be everlasting on that same stone when New Jerusalem comes down! The City of God will endure forever as will the New Heaven and the New Earth for their substance will change.

  To obtain the reward requires the good fight. Solomon spoke of that as well:

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. (Prov 10:29)

  There is an invisible revolution in progress, and there has always been. Lucifer, now fallen, would be king of the Heaven and Earth whereas now he is merely a prince of the power of the air (Ephes 2:2). Once sinners are born again, Satan doesn’t leave them alone. He steps up his attacks using demonic angels. That “whirlwind” of which Solomon spoke is the Prince of the Power of the Air. Satan keeps on blowing, blowing, and blowing, and won’t go away until we’re dead! The Holy Ghost provides safety and comfort until Christians are safe in Heaven. What saves and from what are Christians saved from?

Righteousness delivereth from death. (Prov 11:4b)

  First off, Adam and Eve failed to understand death. They had no idea since it had never occurred before, and with sin they saw no change. They seemed to remain living souls. However, they did not realize that death is really dying souls with death never quite consummated! That’s what sinners are saved from, and of course, it occurs when Satan has no more influence over them. That is the rapture or physical death whichever occurs first.

  Those who believe but do not repent should fear death; it will come quickly, like that “whirlwind.” If they admit wickedness, they should expect punishment. Remembering that doubters (evolutionists) do not understand God’s time, they do not understand that the punishment is not for a short time, but forever. Consider the following passage in that regard:

When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. (Prov 11:7)

  Wicked men, at least those who admit it, expect to perish but may fail to understand that death is forever, and what is called “living Hell” – dying but constantly aware of it.

  The hope of the wicked is that somehow they can escape justice and go without punishment. Perhaps they prefer annihilation, but “nothingness” is an atheistic myth to just get by. Heaven or Hell are the only two doors on Eternal Price is Right! Sinners can only wish there was a door number three with a step off into void!  “Wishing” is false hope. The hope of the righteous is not to perish. We see from the passage above that for unjust men, perishing commences in this life for they have no hope. Think on that; is life really living if there is no afterlife? They as well be dead already without hope! Continue on:

As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. (Prov 11:19)

Right-living is the responsibility for Christians. Those who want a reward pursue it through living according to God’s Will. Christians are held accountable for their spiritual condition. Wisely, they choose Heaven and the only Way to get there is through Christ. There is no other way, according to scripture!

  Likewise, evil people are responsible for their punishment. But what do we hear from them? They blame God. “A good God would not send anyone to Hell.” Unrepentant sinners, not only choose Hell for eternity, but by continuing in sin, pursue Hell. Blaming is part of the original sin.

The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand. (Prov 12:7)

  Not only will the wicked be overthrown, but they will be thrown into Hell, the bottomless pit, along with their father, Satan. The righteous will stand before God’s throne forever yet never tire. Some wicked “Christians” cannot even stand a few minutes of church each week!

Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner. (Prov 13:6)

  Wickedness is joining forces with the Devil. Even young children are prone to wickedness as they lie about mundane things. Their temper-tantrums for nourishment and attention continues on in life.

People keep themselves from being upright as that is human nature since the fall of man. Unless born again, that childish behavior will continue on throughout life until eventually, Satan’s dark angels will overthrow those little make-believe gods. Satan wants to be God; Why would he entertain they idea that you are? Strictly, as most despots, until he has no further use for your service! Continuing on in that vein of thought, consider this verse:

The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. (Prov 14:11)

  The “house” and “tabernacle” are the souls of the wicked and the righteous, respectively. Like the “House” that Solomon built for God, it was empty for God always lived in men’s hearts. Their empty “houses” will be thrown into the lake of fire and burn, never quite burning down, but burning forever. That “house” will be the wicked person’s soul.

  Righteous Jews looked from their tabernacles at God’s Tabernacle where He appeared to them Thus, the tabernacles of Christians are their immortal souls. They are referred to as Temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 6:19).

  People are afraid of ghosts; so much so that they took Jesus’s Holy Ghost from scripture, excepting the King James Version. That “Ghost” is God’s Holy Spirit who experienced death with God’s Flesh on the cross. Ghosts are spirits of dead men. When Jesus died, he had God’s Spirit, but gave up the Ghost as he died, as all righteous men do. Experience with humanity transformed God’s Spirit.

Jesus is the Way to eternal life in Heaven. Without his Name, then there is no other Way to get there to obtain the reward. Those who take God’s Name vainly, and the Son’s Purpose, forfeit the Way of life because they refuse to go the Way to obtain the prize.  Examine the following:

The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath. (Prov 15:24)

  The Holy Cross is the directional indicator for Heaven and Hell. The Way of the Life points upward toward Heaven on the cross toward the Kingdom of God. That is the reward for those who are wise enough to take the path less taken! The other end the Holy Cross is imbedded in earth, and is planted in rocky soil. The punishment for those without wisdom to allow God to save them is Hell beneath. Righteous people escape Hell by looking up at Jesus on his “pole.” He became sin to kill the Serpent who had hung on his own tree right before! (Judas Iscariot.)

  God is Just. Your reward is up to you, and the work is merely having God-given faith that Jesus saves. The flip-side is that the unwise go to Hell beneath. We see from that last passage, that salvation is departing from Hell beneath because that is the destination of those who are not wise!

Reward or punishment. It’s your choice! Choose paths wisely, I suggest.

I SEE WHAT YOU SEE!

  As one who was hard to convince that God is real, I look for continuity in scriptures. Science refers to that as “internal consistency.” The first three gospels are synoptic in that they describe Jesus from the perspectives of three different writers. I call that, “Jesus in 3-D.” On the other hand, John knew and loved Jesus intensely, and described both his Flesh and Spirit. John knew The Word of the Old Testament quite well!
  Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote much about Jesus’s identity on Earth – The Son of Man. John wrote more about the spiritual Jesus – The Son of God. John even understood God in transition, “(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39; KJV), and even Luke confirmed that when he wrote, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” The Book of John describes Jesus in 4-D!
  Glorification transformed God entirely. The Father suffered with His Son, His Flesh died, and God’s Spirit experienced death inside a Man. Hence, God’s Spirit was transformed into Jesus’s Ghost, not that they are different entities, but the same entities with new experiences. Glorification of the Son  is the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost after experiencing death and resurrection. Jesus, The Son of Man, was given new flesh in congruence with his new countenance.
  With that said, wise Solomon knew Jesus as well! Read his proverbs and ask yourself, “Where have I read that before?”

22 “The Lord possessed me (Jesus) at the beginning of His way, before His works of old.

23 I have been established from everlasting,

From the beginning, before there was ever an earth…

27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there…

29b When He marked out the foundations of the earth,

30a Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman…

31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men. (Prov 8)

  Well, where have you read that before? Perhaps John and Solomon were inspired with the same knowledge and wisdom! Perhaps John was, not only “the beloved,” but inspired immensely. He understood Jesus thoroughly, more so than any of the others.  Now read what John wrote, and tell me that he is not as wise as Solomon!

You loved Me (Jesus) before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24c)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3)
14 And the Word became flesh (Jesus) and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
3 Is this not the carpenter (more precisely; tradesman), the Son of Mary? (Mark 6:3a)
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

  Solomon and John were privy to the same Word. John knew and loved Jesus immensely, and Solomon knew him well, but had difficulty in loving him. Compare the two sets of verses: Are they not saying the same thing about Jesus? I submit that they are!
John and Solomon both wrote knowledgeably about the Creation and the Purpose of Jesus. As you likely know, “Genesis” means “Generations.” Not only did John and Solomon write about the generation of the heaven and earth (Gen 1:1) but John also wrote about the regeneration of the heaven and earth (Rev 21). The Book of Revelation is not only inspired prophetic visions, but could as well be called The Book of Regenesis in harmony with the generation of mankind which is called “Genesis.”
  I believe referring to John 3:7 as regeneration is in error: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” It is fully persuaded and results in conversion. John knew of what he was speaking; he knew Jesus was talking about a return to the original condition in which mankind was generated. That was “very good” (Gen 1:31) or as we would say, “perfection!”
  Perfection will never be achieved because of the air (environment) of the world since Satan is prince of the power of the air. Satan had no power in the Garden other than the ability to deceive. Regeneration can only be achieved when Satan is of no influence. Although Christians are free from the bondage of sin, they are still in jeopardy of deception. Life, even new life, is always in jeopardy because Satan is still alive and we are as well.
  Thus, “regeneration” is a return to the Designers Intent and is perfection. Not by coincidence, generation took six days. Likewise, regeneration is not a cross-section in time, but it must be enduring in faith to the end (Mat 24:13). The time it takes is six spiritual days until on the seventh spiritual day, God rests in Jesus’s millennial reign!
  It seems that “conversion” is when one who is “born again” begins the regeneration of man, and it is completed subsequent to death, for as Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).
  What is gained? Regeneration! What was Adam when he was generated? A perfect (very good) man.   What will Christians be when they are fully regenerated? Perfect as well. Adam lived in Glory and when Christians die and resurrected, regeneration is complete, and they too will be in Glory. That is “glorification.” Regeneration is not complete until there is a new creature; both spiritually and physically. Those who are converted soon experience the beginning of spiritual regeneration, but perfection cannot be achieved until they are away from the “air” of the world.
When are Christians “saved?” It has two components: (1) Jesus made it safe for mankind from sin when he propitiated his own blood, and (2) Christians are saved from perishing when they die and are glorified.
  Note that the blood would save man from sin because Judas, symbolic of Satan, hung on his tree. Since man could still sin, then as long as faith endures, they are “safe” from the evil one, but not the consequences of sin. “Saved” is when there will be no consequences. When is that? In Glory!
Those who are certain of their destiny because of faith have the assurance of salvation. Justification is NOT “just as you never sinned,” but “just as the ransom of your sinful flesh has already been paid!”
  Safe from sin is guilty as charged, but living freely because the bond as been paid. The “leg iron” has been replaced with a mere ankle bracelet. You are free indeed, but it depends on whether you believe that The Judge will save you in the end. It’s not that Christians are released on good behavior, but an attitude of willingness to love the Judge and the “jury.”
  You are part of the “jury” since men also judge, and you often convict yourself as David did. What other court is there wherein the criminal can be both defendant and juror? Only in God’s Court!
Many things happened in the beginning. Throughout the centuries, inspired men understood the same things. More inspired men even knew that in the end, things will be as they were in the beginning. The interim period is physical existence which living people refer to as “life.” Life is a test period, and the Tester, Satan, is always on the prowl to see in whom your confidence fully lies.

FINDING THE PLAN OF SALVATION - Conclusion

KEY VERSES: (THE PLAN OF SALVATION.)

Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. (1 Chron 29:1)

  The “House” that Solomon built was not for people, but for God. Let’s digress for a moment on the modern “church” (small letter). They too are palaces for God, and not for man. However, there has been a turn-around in that God’s palaces of brick – the church – is more for the entertainment and ideas of men! Nothing in God’s House should be taught but the Doctrine of God. Now it is the vain philosophies of men (Col 2:8).

  Likewise, the dramas, music, and even the message are more to tickle the ears for the amusement of the people because they will not want to hear sound doctrine  (2 Tim 2:4)!

When sound doctrine is taught, sinners should be offended because sound doctrine is to convict. If guilt is not experienced in God’s House, then perhaps the message is not sound doctrine. There is a time for joy and a time for mourning. Sometimes, the meek should mourn for their affronts to God!

  God chose Solomon to build the Temple, but the plans came from God through David. God planned His own House and generated all the materials for its building. Solomon, as “young and tender” was “as the little children” of whom Jesus spoke in explaining conversion of coming to God (Luke 18:16). Solomon was to put his knowledge aside and hearken unto truth. That is wisdom! “Keep my commands and live. Get wisdom. Get understanding!” (Prov 4b-5a), and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Prov 3:5). That is being “young and tender.”

  As far as “the palace is not for man, but the Lord God…” that also applies to the “palace” which lies within the saints of God. I repeat again an important verse:

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Cor 6:19-20)

  Just as God’s Palace was not for people, the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, is for God! Your body and spirit are not your own, but belong to God who purchased them for a price. That is in reference to God redeeming you from perishing forever by paying your bond with His own Flesh!

  (As a side-note, it is infuriating to hear from feminists, “It’s my body, and I have a right to do with it as I please,” in reference to abortion.) That silly statement contradicts God and is rebelliousness.

  It is imperative to understand that when someone is “born again” the old “house” (the soul) is put asunder along with its filth, and a new “House” is created all cleaned from filth. The doctrine of sin is removed and replaced with the Doctrine of Christ (2 John 1:9).

That refers back to what must be taught in God’s Palace; the Doctrine of God, not the philosophies of men. That was done in Athens, and Paul confronted the philosophers.  It is not what science says but what The Word speaks! His Voice is written down in Holy Scripture. It is used to test for faithfulness (saintliness).

  You are for God’s service, not for God to serve you! That was done one time once and for all… now it’s your turn in gratitude for His service!

Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? (1 Chron 29:5b)

  Solomon did not consecrate the House to the Lord. He was willing to consecrate himself! “Consecration” is “sanctification.” He set himself apart to serve God, not God to serve him! Before Solomon built God’s House, he was willing to allow God to clean his house, and by that, I mean his soul of unfaithfulness (infidelity against God). A post-lude to conversion is sanctification.

  If truly converted, sinners will want their “houses” cleaned:

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)

  Solomon cleaned God’s House, but God cleansed Solomon’s House for habitation for Himself! Solomon was willing to be consecrated, although God did the consecration. It’s the same with sanctification! “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…” (1 Pet 3:15a). That is the willingness to be made clean.

(They all) offered willingly? (1 Chron 29:6b)

  Following the example of Solomon, they all offered willingly to construct God’s House.  Jesus did the same thing: “And for their sakes I (Jesus) sanctify myself, that they (us Christians) also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:19). Because Jesus sanctified himself is an example for us to be sanctified.

  Jesus came to save us from sin, not for us to reside in sin. In fact, “born again” is saved from sin. “Glorification” is saved from death and the Devil. When one speaks of conversion, it is better said, “I am saved from sin and look forward to salvation in the end!” (Mat 10:22). In between, God’s House – your soul – must be kept clean for cohabitation with God!

Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. (1 Chron 29:9)

  Simply put, “joy” is submitting to God’s service. Just as the people rejoiced for David’s name, we are to have joy in the Lord’s Name! Willingly providing the “property” for God’s Temple inside us, brings joy to the King as well as ourselves.

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. (1 Chron 29:13-14)

  God had blessed the Israelites with safety from their adversaries. God had defeated sin on their behalf. The people thanked God for their rescue and safety from adversaries. “Part two” of conversion is giving thanks to the savior. God had saved the Jews from peril many times, and they were grateful. They praised Him for it!

  Likewise, out of gratitude for providing safety from the adversary, by living for God, Christians are to “praise God’s glorious Name.” What Name must we praise? The Savior who is called “Jesus.”

  The people understood that they were merely serving God, and “that all things come of thee.”  Christians must understand that they had no part in becoming a Temple for God’s Presence, and that God provide all things.

  We merely serve Jesus, the Carpenter, because he is who built the Temple inside us! It is a sturdy, fortified, and strong “temple” as it must endure the fiery barbs of the Devil. God keeps us safe through his shield of faith which is the Word of God (Ephes 6.)

  If people do not have gratitude for Jesus paying our fine, then perhaps they are not even safe, but vulnerable to the adversary. Dietrich Bonnhoeffer referred to safety without gratitude as “cheap grace.” It was not! Our Temple cost God much for He paid the price just as He provided all the material for the House of God!

O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. (1 Chron 29:16)

  There are two substances: space or void and matter (Gen 1:1). God created matter and the space to contain it. All that exists, is by the hand of God, specifically Jesus for the physical attributes of God is Him manifested. God manifested is called Jesus.

  The house for his “holy name” is a Temple for Jesus for that is what God is called! The “house” is the matter which contains the void. Void is where the soul resides because it is the absence of “things.” God was tought to need a House to fill with His Spirit. Solomon’s Temple was to house God’s Spirit just as the human soul does.

  The “store” was free stuff… what the Jews gave back to God that was His out of their abundance. It came from God and they gave it back. They tithed to the storehouse as was God’s Will (Mal 3:10). Treasures are to test the sincerity of faith. In that money is the root of all evil, to diminish the affects of money, it is to be cheerfully given. Those who take God seriously and trust Him, bring things to His “store.” Charity is another way to demonstrate love. We can’t pay God for dying in our place, but we can return a portion that is His.

  Tithing is an important aspect for the assurance of salvation. Those stingy with God’s money have their reward already. To build God’s House, not only meant tithing of gain, but tithing of time. All the workers must be willing to build God a fitting House. That goes for building Him a spiritual “house” within as well.

  Grace does not dismiss God’s expectation for something in return. For loving us, He anticipates love in return. That is shown by sacrifice to Him in time and with gain. Our things belong to God, and our time does as well. Tribute and service to God lengthens our days on Earth as well as stores up our love for eternal existence with God.

I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. (1 Chron 29:17)

  Willingness to give of oneself emits joy. God didn’t demand that His people sacrifice gain and service, but they saw both were necessary to build for God a proper House. God does not want to demand for it all is His already. He wants us to give back some of what He has given.

If willingly given, then there is joy. If joy is not forthcoming, then the gifts of time and gain are payment for what has already been paid. Those who are God’s true people love to serve Him. If they are not serving, then perhaps they are not His. If joy is missing, perhaps God has withheld or retracted His Spirit.

  God doesn’t come and go. He Is always with us. He can be seen only by those whose eyes are bright enough with His Light to see Him in the dark. A bright spirit has bright eyes! If people can’t see God, then they are spiritually blind. God’s House is important as is written, “Now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here.”

  On the other hand, God “triest the heart” of Solomon.  It was not coincidental that God picked the threshing floor for His House! “Threshing” separates the grain from the chaff. Once the harvested grain is placed on the stone, it is threshed to separate the grain from the stalk. Once the threshing is finished, then a winnowing fan blows the chaff off the floor into the space below.

Beneath the Foundation Stone of the threshing floor is an abyss. The chaff would all blow down into the Earth and there it would decay. That is much like the parable of the tares: “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Mat 13:30). Of course, both are symbolic of the righteous and unrighteous. The “tares” are the unrighteous who will be winnowed with the chaff into Hell.

  God’s House would be much like the threshing floor. Everyone is welcome therein, but many will perish. The threshing floor was where God judged the grain and threshed out the chaff. His House would be the same. Not by coincidence as well, the Foundation Stone is believed to cover the Holy of Holies. That’s where the best, clean grain is “stored.” In ancient times only the ceremonially cleansed and righteous priest could enter in. It would seem that the Holy of Holies are where the righteous (the good grain) is stored. Until when? God judges whether it has endured the environment of the world.

  Nearby The Foundation Stone, and maybe on it in the beginning, is Golgotha – the place of Adam’s skull. My book, The Skull of Adam, explains that thoroughly. The cross of Calvary whereon Jesus died, is the directional marker for the what “grain” is left. The horizontal seems to represent the winnowing of who goes where, and the vertical the direction they shall go. The cross stands on Rock and points toward Heaven. Its lower end represents those who are winnowed to Hell and the upper end points toward the Kingdom of God. (See my book, On the Origin and Survival of the Species, for more about the symbolism of the cross.)

  The Foundation Stone is believed to be the origin point of the universe. It is the axis mundi of the cosmos. Thereon, Adam is believed to have been created. Thereon, Adam was surely judged, but only after He was found guilty and offered reprieve by God. He threshed Adam and Eve severely on that old “floor.” God “had church” there with Adam and Eve. What better place to build a House of God of cedar than where the trees of the Garden of Eden once stood?

The “trees” of the Garden surely represented living souls. That came to me that trees were as men walking. As blind Bartamaus received his sight, he saw “men as trees walking” (Mark 8:24). Of course, there were no other men in the Garden but there would be!

  Many of those “trees” over the years were judged on Ornan’s Threshing Floor! The Foundation Stone seems to be the first “Church.” As the place mankind originated, there seems to be an attraction between God’s people and that small rock in The Promised Land.

In the interval between the creation of that stone and God’s House, Church was wherever the Hebrews went. Their tabernacles (tents) were their “houses” surrounding God’s Tent. Their tents represented their souls and God’s Tent His Spirit. They were the “tents of Shem” mentioned in Genesis 9:27. In the interim, judgement came upon those whose tents were righteous and those whose were not!

  People always came to the “Church” from the time of Noah until God’s House was built. However, Jesus turned that around; rather than bringing people to God, we are to take God to them! “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Mat 28:19). God is wherever righteous people go. No wonder God had no need for a house!

  God’s invisible House was built during Pentecost when people came together of one accord. (Acts 2). Church after that no longer needed a building for each Christian again had their own tent; it was their soul which is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

  What good came out of tabernacles? Those tents are forerunners of Christ in us! They were symbolic of our living souls. What if we could only have Church in God’s House? Obviously, God would be confined to one place. To pass along God’s Spirit, we must have Jesus’s Ghost living in our tents! “Church” is where Christians are. It’s a shame that few converts represent the invisible Church very well. Many don’t even represent their local church as they should.

  The point in the key verses preceding is that God’s House is a place of trying or testing. Sinners are welcome there as chaff is converted to grain with Jesus’s miracles! The faith of the converts is tested, and in the end, all will be judged, not in God’s House here on Earth but in Heaven: “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

  God’s House on Earth has changed, but in Heaven, God has a House – actually a palace with many surrounding mansions. Those mansions are much like the tents of ancient times. In Heaven, God’s creatures will again come to God because there will be no need for a threshing floor since the threshing has preceded, deciding which Christians are worthy of dining with God! (1 Cor 11:27).

  You see, Solomon’s Temple (aka God’s House) has great significance. God already had a throne in His House in Heaven, why would he need a House for His “footstool” on Earth (Acts 7:49)?

And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision. (1 Chron 29:19)

  “A perfect heart” is a willingness to please God perfectly. “The heart” is not the flesh but the Spirit and countenance of Christians. It is their attitude toward God. Perfection is achieved when the heart is “circumcised” (Jer 4:4).

  God does the circumcision, the priest need not as Moses found out. Jeremiah explained that: “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Jer 4:4). Christians should be willing to have their hearts circumcised, but God cuts the flesh off with His own sword: “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live” (Deut 30:6).

A perfect heart, then, is a loving heart. Jesus repeated that as The Greatest Commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Mat 22:37).

  To build God’s House (The Church which is us Christians) requires a loving spirit and a kind nature. That kind of love cuts off the flesh of the heart so that the soul lives on for eternity with a new, perfect heart!

And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord… (1 Chron 29:21)

  The Jews sacrificed animals. It was not really the animals God wanted, but the willingness to sacrifice things of value as we found out when Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only remaining son to God. Sacrifices are things which one gives of themselves. The best sacrifice to God is always ourselves.

  We are to be “living sacrifices.” God calls that “our reasonable service” (Rom 12:1).

It is the flesh from our heart that we are to sacrifice. Our wills and bad attitudes are cut-off and given to God as we diminish ourselves and elevate God. Our old attitude that we are as God is hung on our own cross, and a new attitude is given to the new creature: To “deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

  We are not to have self-esteem but meekness. Our esteem must be for Christ who will lift us up (Jas 4:10).

And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. (1 Chron 29:22a)

  Because of the accord, they ate supper with the Lord. This meal is a foreshadowing of Jesus’s Last Supper with the apostles. They were a sad lot, though, in contrast with gladness in Solomon’s Day. If they had only remembered the gladness of Solomon’s building God a House, they would have understood that Jesus’s impending death and resurrection was a time for gladness as well (with the exception of Judas who was soundly threshed by guilt just as David was!) Jesus was soon to be transfigured into the Cornerstone of God’s new House – The Church!

And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel. (1 Chron 29:25a)

  Mankind’s problem is that we magnify ourselves which was the way with the first sin (Gen 3:5). That’s a wrong attitude; the Lord magnifies the righteous. How so?

  Those who are born again are royal priests; they replace David’s priests, Eleazer and Zadoc, who are no longer required. What’s more, we no longer need a king other than Jesus. Why is that? We shall inherit the earth (Mat 5:5). It seems that God will retain His throne in His House, but our bodies will remain physical, not as has been, but a new creation which is a glorified body!

  Death is judgement with reward and punishment. “Salvation” is saved from punishment and occurs at death. God puts a hedge of safety about us so that Satan cannot kill us until we die.

Conversion is the time in our lives when we realize that we cannot save ourselves but God can! That’s when we are safe from the evil one, but saved from sin in that God made the propitiation with His own blood. There is a difference between saved from sin and saved from Hell. We are safe as long as we are in God’s House and He in us!

Summary:

  God converted a threshing floor (1 Chron 21:22) into His House. Likewise, Christians are converted from a den for Satan into a Temple for God. Who lives in your “house?” To Whom does your soul belong?

  David insisted on not having the threshing floor granted to him, but to pay full price. It was Ornan’s threshing floor, but David soon converted it to God’s threshing floor! God paid the price to purchase it by providing the blessings (spoils of war) for His own House, just as Jesus paid the price for his temple in our “land” (bodies).

  The money is important because the Jews were kept safe from the plague. Jesus paid the price for our own safety from the plague of sin (See the Book of Job.) The story of Solomon building a House for God is much more than how to build a church building, but the construction of the Spiritual Church to which Christians in accord with God and each other belong. As one of the “lively stones” making up the pillars of the church, we are construction material for building God’s real House – the invisible Church!

  The material must be “very good” to meet God’s standards (Gen 1:31). Our perfection depends on whether or not we are willing to be perfect material. Just as Jesus made wine from water, he makes good “timber” from bad. As Christians, we are to allow God to mold us into what He needs!

  Solomon building a House for God is more of us becoming the Church which is God’s. I believe that the Jews knew what they were doing; they were building a Church for Jesus, and they were the pillars!