JESUS AS ISRAEL AND ISRAEL AS JESUS

   Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, was pregnant with twins. Thy struggled together in the womb. They looked differently and had different natures. Esau was hairy and was hunter. One might see that he considered himself “king of the beasts”.

  Unlike him, Jacob was a tent-dweller. Perhaps rather than hunting wild beasts, Jacob grew domesticated animals. One was a hunter and the other a farmer of animals. When Isaac was on his deathbed, nearly blind, he desired that Esau serve him venison from the fields. Jacob beat him to it, acting as if he was Esau and served to Isaac savory goat.

  Not only was Esau a hunter but a “cunning” one at that. In the Hebrew, he was “yada sayid”, or precisely “seeing the chase” indubitably as his! Perhaps his nature was arrogant. God had said to barren Rebekah that two sons would be born to her… that,  “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen 25:23).

  The manner of Esau was more like the beasts and Jacob’s the husbandman. Keep in mind that Holy Scripture refers to The LORD GOD as the “Husbandman” [i] and that God’s heirs up to that time had been the same: Adam, Abel, Noah, and even Abraham who was a migrant grower of animals. Even their appearances were different. Esau was hairy and Isaac plain.

  Esau was Isaac’s heir by the law of primogeniture, as the firstborn, but Jacob would be heir because he was predestinated to be God’s chosen one. As a hunter, Esau’s nature was to kill. As the husbandman, the nature of Jacob would be to serve and preserve. Remember that Adam’s job was to “dress and keep the Garden”? [ii] His nature was to be the Husbandman in Paradise and that was what God chose Jacob to be.

  But ask yourself? Just who was the cunning one? Three times it took for Jacob to relieve Esau of his birthright. Jacob first grabbed Esau’s heel in the womb. That was an attempt at being first to be born and heir by primogeniture. Esau came out first. He was legitimate heir by the law of the land. His appearance was red all over as if wearing a hairy coat. [iii]

 After they began to grow, Jacob was a proud server of soup. He served red lentil soup to his brother, Esau, who then sold his birthright to Jacob because at that time Esau despised his birthright. [iv] Surely, he wanted to remain a hunter and not a husbandman like his father and brother.

  All that was to identify the manner and nature of the miraculously born twins in that Rebekah was barren; not having the reproductive organs to produce. That did not stop God from serving two seeds in her womb and preserving them because serving and preserving are the nature of The Husbandman!

  Esau had become “faint” from his hunting trip: to wit: “And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint:’ therefore was his name called Edom” (Gen 25:30).

  The name Esau means “doer, maker, or worker” (Abarim Publications). Hang onto that thought.

  The name Edom means “to produce or be red” (Ibid). A related name to Edom is “Adam” — “red, from the soil, beginning” (ibid).

  Jacob means, “He Who Closely Follows or Supplanter” and his new name, Israel, means, “he retains God or God Is upright” (ibid).

 “Supplanting” is to supersede another. Jacob tried that in the womb and failed, but it worked when Edom traded to Israel his birthright. Of course, that right had to be blessed by Isaac, and to obtain that blessing, Rebekah and Jacob cunningly tricked Isaac for the blessing, or prosperity, to supplant his brother.

  Jacob said that if he did such a thing, “I shall seem (be seen) to Isaac as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing” (Gen 27:12). Isaac was blind, so seem is better translated that “seen”.

  Be it said that even Jacob saw himself as a deceiver, even a cheater. The chicanery was for one thing: for Jacob to be the heir to Isaac and to God. The question, unanswered of course, is why did not God just bear Jacob first? The only thing that could possibly be is symbolism — the twins represent the transition from works (Esau) to righteousness with God (Israel). It is learned from the story of Cain and Abel that the works of Cain’s hand and his nature would not be enough. But Abel was the husbandman.

  The story of Esau and Jacob is a repetition of the story of Cain and Abel. Even Esau was much like Cain and Jacob the very nature of Abel. Could that be because of parentage? Just who was Cain’s father? Cain was of the Wicked One. [v] Abel is called, “righteous Abel”.  [vi]

  In previous commentaries, I made the claim that Cain was fathered by Lucifer, and Abel by The LORD GOD. [1] Was that the same for Esau and Jacob, but this time Isaac fathered Esau and God Jacob, or did Lucifer again sneak in his seed unto the womb of Rebekah? Those things are not to know, but it is imperative to understand that Esau was of the nature of the Beast, and Jacob the nature of God.

  The nation and person of Israel represents the Son of the Father: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hos 11:1). Here, the seed of Israel, then the nation of Israelites, were called out of Egypt. God called the nation of Israelites, at the birth of the nation, His Son! With that said, those of the seed of Israel (Jacob) are meant to be sons of God. Note that Edomites were not God’s “Son”.

  As the hunter in the field, Esau represents the Prince of the Power of the Air (Satan) and the field in which he hunted, the world. On the other hand, Israel (Jacob) was a plain (skinned) man who remained in his tent, [vii]

  The word, “tent” in scripture implies so much. The “Tent” of God is the celestial sphere and also the Garden of Eden. The Tent of God later was the Tent of Meeting, or the Tabernacle wherein He lived during the exodus.

  It is implied that Jacob, soon to be Israel, stood upright in God’s tent, although he crawled like his brother when in the womb of Rebekah, another of God’s “Tents.” Implied is that Esau was “the wanderer” like Cain whose name means just that, and Jacob like Abel who remained faithful under both the Canopy under the trees of God, and by then, upright Adam.

  Sacred literature represents the twin birth as a supplanting of works by grace. It was a change of times. God would change the clock, so the speak — how time would be spent; not by hard work and fainting from fatigue, but merely standing upright with God in the Tent of God.

 The futility of the works of Esau meant little because even though he worked hard for his father, the son that stayed near his father got the blessing. The same holds true to this day! Hard work counts for little, but who is the last man standing when the time comes.

  With Dismus (the thief on the cross with Jesus), Christ asked him not what he had done in life, but knew where he stood at the moment. Dismus stood upright with Jesus. God held him upright. Dismus did nothing to save himself but looked at Jesus who promised salvation to Paradise that day.

  Since the time that Jesus died, ergonomically speaking, all that anyone must do is stand upright and look at what Jesus is doing on their behalf.

  Pilate’s washing of his hands symbolizes that water was not efficacious. He saw Jesus, but then tried to cleanse himself of the sin that he was doing! Any type of water is obedience. Pilate seemed to go with Jesus, and perhaps later he did, but it would be by faith, and not by water. Jacob stood upright with God with the Holy Spirit of God on him because he was to be God’s son.

  Like Joshua long after, when he entered the Promise Land, he passed through the water on dry land and stood still, to ostensibly by wetted by Jesus. He was “born again” when he stood still, and perhaps was washed with the Holy Spirit. That was his “baptism of the Holy Ghost” of Jesus, whose name “Joshua” bears.

  Of course, Jacob failed in the womb. Amniotic fluid would not suffice. He was “baptized” without water when Isaac transferred his purpose on to Jacob. Isaac was of God and Sarah. Jacob would have the same relationship as his spiritual father — of God and the woman Rebekah.

(picture credit: Pexels; "Silhouette of a man standing under a tree:)

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[1] https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-planter-of-seeds.html

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[i] John 15:1

[ii] Gen 2:15

[iii] Gen 25:25

[iv] Gen 25:34

[v] 1 John 3:12

[vi] Mat 23:25

[vii] Gen 25:27

BLESSED TO BLESSING

  It came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac (Gen 25:11). God kneeled to Isaac. Isaac was the seed of Abraham to whom God also kneeled. [i] God had knelt to Adam and Eve, [ii] Noah and his sons, [iii] Ishmael, [iv] and promised to bless (kneel) to all the nations of the entire earth. [v]

 God did that! “Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9). A “certain woman” blessed the mother of Jesus, but Jesus said unto her, “Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:28).

  Blessed are those that (1) come in the Name of the Lord, and (2) those that keep the Word of God. (I capitalized both “Name” and “Lord” for a reason.) The Name of the LORD is Jesus [vi]and the Word of God is Jesus as well. [vii] God kneels to them that come to Jesus and keeps what He says as true.

  Thus, coming to Jesus and keeping Him is two different things and it takes both things to be regenerated. Coming to Jesus is “born again”. That is the “Jesus moment” of the believer. It is the “believing” part of becoming a new person. It is spiritual birth.

  On the other hand, keeping the Word of Jesus is the growing part of the new person. Why be born again if the rebirth is aborted? “Spiritual abortion” is apostasy.

  For some reasons, possibly since the King James translators were mostly Calvinists, the word, “apostasy” was left out of the translation. It is in the textus receptus (the original Greek): “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thes 2:3). The phrase “falling away” is apostasia in the Greek. That word means “defection from truth” and “forsake” (Strong’s Dictionary).

  Scripture says, “I (God) will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” [viii] God will never remove His blessing from anyone. God will never unkneel (sic) but some Christians will cease to bow down before Him.

  Philosophers ask, “Why me?” Another good question is, “Why Satan?” Satan is to test us! How does the testing go? To whom do you kneel; and who do you bless? Each time anyone sins, they kneel to Satan. Doing his will is blessing the Devil.

  Lucifer (Satan) does not want to be sent to heaven or hell. His desire is this: “I will be like the most High.” [ix] His desire is “to be”.

  Etymologically, the word “sin” comes from 14^th century Danish (es) which mans “to be” in English.  In other words, Lucifer is sin since he desires to be God. “For he hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Jesus is the great I AM, but when He became sin, He was TO BE us when He took on all the sins of mankind from the original sin and thereafter. In essence, for one day, Jesus bowed to Lucifer on our behalf! Satan, you wanted man to sin, so here it is. Deal with it!

  How did Satan deal with sin? Just as Isaiah predicted: Short range — “How art thou cut down to the ground” [x] and long term — “Thou shalt be brought down to hell.” [xi] God cut down Satan when Jesus died. Satan in Judas, “Departed, and went and hanged himself” [xii] then the body of Satan was buried in the Potter’s field — Gehenna or Hell. In the end, Satan knelt to God, and before the end, all sinners must kneel to, or bless, God.

  God is not blessed by believing. That is coming to Him. After coming, we must kneel to God, not at the altar alone but always. It matters not how righteous anyone has been because the wage is paid at the end of the day!

  Jesus Christ confirmed the faith of the thief beside Him on another Cross. He, as best he could, knelt to Jesus earnestly. Dismus (his name) said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). That was Dismus “coming to Jesus moment”. But he did not ask to be freed? That was his staying with Jesus until the end! He trusted Jesus for eternal life. Then Jesus confirmed to him that, that day he would be with Him in Paradise.

  On the other hand, what was happening beneath the crosses? The soldiers, “Bowed the knee before Him, and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’” (Mat 27:29).  They had their “Jesus moment” then they, unlike the thief, mocked Jesus by cursing Him. You see, “blessings” and “curses” are from the same Hebrew word. Which is which is dependent upon from whose mouth it is spoken.

  When the soldiers “hailed” Jesus, that was a mockery of a blessing. “Chairo” (Hail) means “to be well” (Ibid). They wished Jesus well in mockery. Rather than bless Jesus in their hearts they were bearing Him ill-will. Then they would do that mockery by bearing Him on the Cross.

  Coming to Jesus is easy. All need be is to see Jesus. That is what they Greeks requested of Philip when they asked, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” [xiii] That was their “coming to Jesus moment.” But what would they need to do? Bow to Jesus in earnest! They would kneel, or bless, the Lord God. In other words, more than coming to Jesus, they would need to serve Him. They had been slaves to Satan all those years, but now their servitude would not be a requirement or a demand, but a privilege to serve the Lord God.

  Isaac was blessed. God came to him and bowed to him as well. “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31) has great significance. God blessed Isaac with the expectation that Isaac would kneel to Him. For God to kneel in blessing, required that He have a bodily shape. That “shape” was the Holy Ghost of Jesus! [xiv]

  Blessings have results; to wit:

²⁵ Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, “And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. ²⁶ Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (Acts 3:25-26)

  Those verses are Luke’s conformation of the Covenant with Abraham. To children of the prophets (Isaac and Christians), God kneels to! Jesus would bless, or kneel, to Isaac and Christians by dying on behalf of them. That is the “blessing” that Isaac received and the same for his seed.

  Now, how was Isaac and Christians to bless Jesus? “In turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”  God expected Isaac to do that, and that He also expects of those who come to him. Following Jesus is turning away from iniquities. Iniquities are much more than one transgression, but “poneria” — from depravity (ibid).

  Get that? Every one of you “turning away” from depravity. Calvinism would have that you cannot do that because you are in “total depravity”. That would mean that there is not one ounce of “Good” in your two-hundred pound bodily shape that was made in the image of God.

  Of course, unless you come to Jesus, then you remain as well as totally depraved. Once you see Jesus, then He Comforts. [xv] With the aid and abetting of the Comforter, any disciple of Christ can turn away from iniquity.

  If indeed totally depraved, how can the person cast out that depravity? The Spirit is willing to do that but the flesh is weak! [xvi] The Ghost of Jesus helps with that task — to strengthen the flesh against its weakness. In other words, to have the flesh back in the image that God generated it. That process is called “regeneration” and requires that Christians do certain things; they turn away from their depravities. That is how the blessed would bless their Savior.

(picture credit: Alamy; "Mocked Christ")

 

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[i] Gen 14:9

[ii] Gen 1:22

[iii] Gen 9:1

[iv] Gen 17:20

[v] Gen 18:18

[vi] Mat 1:25

[vii] John 1-3,14

[viii] Heb 13:5

[ix] Isa 14:14

[x] Isa 14:12

[xi] Isa 14:15

[xii] Mat 27:5

[xiii] John 12:21

[xiv] Luke 3:22

[xv] John 14:6

[xvi] Mat 26:41

THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM

   Abraham died and Isaac turned to God to replace him. That may not be chronological because on Abraham’s deathbed it is written that Jacob was in Abraham’s bosom (The Testament of Abraham). Not his spiritual bosom, but truly so.

  On the other hand, perhaps Jacob was in Abraham’s bosom as the seed of Abraham. Perhaps each Christian is in Abraham’s bosom! That idea is a profound thought, but it has merit for two reasons: (1) The promise was for Abraham’s seed to be as numerous as the stars (rhetorically), and (2) God had a plan for His people before the foundation of the world! [i]

  The seed that would become Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom when Abraham laid on his deathbed! [ii] In death, Lazarus returned to the “dust” from which he came, just as Adam long before. [iii] Lazarus came from the seed planted by Abraham and in the time of Jesus, he returned.

  All true Christians were in Abraham’s bosom before they were ever born and will return to it just as Lazarus. The Promise was to Abraham and his seed. Paradise was Willed to Abraham by God, and Christians are the heirs of Abraham. Where better to be when Paradise is rewarded than in Abraham’s bosom because Abraham is the epitome of great faith: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal 3:7).

  Abraham had enduring faith! “The Book of Uprightness” (Jasher) says, “And there arose not a man who feared God like unto Abraham, for he had feared his God from his youth, and had served the Lord, and had gone in all His ways during all his life, from his childhood to the day of his death” (Jasher 26:34). That source says that Abraham and his children were blessed after his death (Jasher 26:49). Perhaps, therefore, Jacob was born after the death of Abraham.

  The faith of Abraham was from his youth to his death. Scripture refers to that as well:

⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows. ⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 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 24:8-14)

  “The Great Tribulation” is the time of sorrows. Speaking of Christians who are alive at that time, they shall be hated because of Jesus’s Name. Hatred will change the nature of some Christians. Their Christian nature will offend themselves! Then they that fall away will betray and hate one another. Perhaps now is “The Time of Sorrows” because even Christians are turning on one another.

  At that time, many false prophets shall come and deceive many. They have now arrived. You can smell the stench of falsehood if you are in the Word. The problem today is that the Word offends, even Christians. For them, the Word is not inspirational but only their own thoughts.

  The love once inside those Christians will wax cold. Before their nature was as fire, but in the time of sorrows, the fire will burn out. That is “apostasy” and the turning away from Jesus.

  Then comes the promise: “He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.” Salvation, therefore, is at the end, in contrast to those who misunderstand this passage: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14). Belief must then be enduring. “Shall have” is futuristic. But eternal life is immediate for those who remain faithful to the end.

  Just when does the “end” come? Whenever the gospel is preached to all the world. That time is now! Who has never heard of Jesus? Now is “The Time of Sorrow” because Christians are falling away as if already dead.

  Christ now seems to offend about everyone. Donald Trump said, “In reality they are not after me, they’re after you; I’m just in the way.” In reality they are not after you, they are after Jesus; and you are just in the way! [iv]

  With that said, if you keep the faith, you shall remain in Abraham’s bosom. Until when? The end when Jesus comes, and then you shall be in Jesus’s Bosom. Abraham is the promissory document. God’s Will has been written on his flesh — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Promise is the fulfillment of the promissory note. The note was “cashed”, so to speak, when Jesus came to redeem mankind.

  “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23). Everyone deserves death because all have sinned. Jesus Christ paid the wages that are due. His gift is eternal life. Eternal life is for “whosoever” believes. [v] It is for whosoever believes at the end. It mattered not that Demus, the thief on the cross beside Jesus, only believed at his end. All that became before was inconsequential; what was at that present time was of great importance!

  Because Abraham made it from his youth to his death at 175 years of age is remarkable, but Jesus said to[vi] “marvel not!”

  Would one sin doom Abraham? No! He still sinned! He misled Pharoah and Abimelech by not telling them that Sarai was his wife. He feared them more so than God, and rather than trusting God to preserve him, be deceived. Abraham did not have perfect faith. He did not “know that he knows that he knows” and all that superficial braggadocio. He had faith, but at times he still sinned.

  Those Christians who succumb to the wiles of the Devil at the time of sorrows, will receive their old natures back; “because iniquity shall abound.” Is “iniquity” (anomia) one sin? No, it is wickedness as if there is no Law. Mob mentality is iniquity; with everyone doing what is right in their own eyes as if there is no one in authority. [vii]

  The mob killed Jesus. They murdered their own God! Why would they do that? So that they would have no King and each of them could be the Law unto themselves.

  Why the mobs in this time of sorrows? For the same reason! Rather than oppression, mobs are arrogant as each person become their own God. “White privilege” was when the slaveholders were the arrogant ones. “Black privilege” turns the tables. Both are wrong and both are iniquitous.

  The arrogance of privilege by anyone is damning. Indeed, those who are humble shall be the ones that inherit the earth,” [viii] so why the discord? Because their faith is in themselves and not in God. The iniquitous are not looking at Jesus and what He can do! [ix] Abraham always followed Jesus right up until his last “will and testament.”

  He could have failed! Never forget that. He endured much tribulation that attacked his faith. Life was not “a bed of roses” for him. Even the government of King Nimrod was always in pursuit of Abraham because of his great faith. Abraham outlasted evil Nimrod and is still outlasting the Antichrist, and all the while, is still comforting Christians. If Abraham can do it; so can any Christian, but it may not be easy! 

(picture credit: Pinterest: :Judas's Thirty Pieces of Silver"; Antiquanova)

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[i] Ephes 1:4

[ii] Luke 16:23

[iii] Gen 3:19

[iv] Isa 14:12-14

[v] John 3:16

[vi] John 3:7

[vii] Jud 17:6

[viii] Psalm 37:11

[ix] John 3:14

AGONY AND ECSTASY IN REBIRTH

  The miracles continue. God again will defy science! God created life from nothing in the beginning, and now with the second generation in a row, God created a child from nothing; to wit:

²¹ And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² And the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it be so, why am I thus?” And she went to enquire of the Lord. (Gen 25:21-22)

  The word “barren” comes from the Hebrew word “aqar”. Rebekah was more than barren; for that means “incapable”, but she was “sterile” (Strong’s Dictionary). She was capable, but unable because she had no reproductive organs. God, however, was able, as He is in all things.

  Although without the “plumbing”, Rebekah conceived. She was impregnated. Unknown, in this case, like Abraham before him, was whether Isaac planted his seed. Isaac “intreated” the Lord. He asked the Lord to intercede for him. God would not need Isaac’s seed to fulfill the Covenant because scripture reveals that Rebekah was of the same seed as Isaac. [i] They were relatives with the same genetic “Adam”.

  What initiated the miracle of barren birth? “It came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac” (Gen 25:11). The Hebrew word translated “blessed” is “barak”. Blessed is implied because God kneeled to Isaac. Kneeling, for the Hebrews, meant submission. God submitted to Isaac! How did God serve Isaac? His Holy Ghost perhaps overshadowed Rebekah just as with Sarah before and Mary long after. Neither Sarah nor Rebekah were virgins like Mary, but they were incapable of reproduction without the miracle of divine intervention.

  Perhaps now, the reader might understand why the Israelites are God’s “chosen” and “peculiar” people! [ii] That is because, like Adam long before, God breathed life unto Isaac and Jacob (renamed Israel). In those cases, Sarah and Rebekah, since they were infertile, were no more than the dust of the ground from which Adam was created. They were as much “human incubators” for spiritual beings.

  God not only planted His Seed in Sarah and Rebekah, but He created the “soil” into which to plant it! He created a womb for them both, and a placenta with an umbilical cord for nourishment. The placenta is an impermeable membrane that protects the unborn baby from the world until born. Inside that “firmament” is the blood and amniotic fluid of the new person. The placenta separates the waters from the waters as in Genesis chapter one. In this case, the waters of the mother from the waters of the baby. The miracle of conception and gestation is the same design as the birth of the universe!

  Now for the scripture, “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?” (1 Cor 6:19). What was God doing for Isaac? He was building a Temple in Rebekah as He had Sarah. That “Temple”, her womb, was much like the celestial dome in which all things created are enclosed. Even the cosmos is the Temple of the Lord, and as such, “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of my rest?” (Isa 66:1).

  Well, Jacob (Israel) was in that “heaven” and Israel would be the “house” that God was building for His rest. Who was born in the “House of Israel”? David and the Son of David. When God was creating Jacob, he was starting the foundation of His Temple that we now call the “Church” — “(You are of the) household of God… are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephes 2:19-20).

  God was building the Church in both the womb of Sarah and the womb of Rebekah. The Cornerstone was laid when Jesus was born of God in much the same manner as Isaac and Israel! Jesus was the “Cornerstone” in that transaction. Isaac was laid in relation to Jesus. Was he the seed of Jesus? Of course, not carnal seed, but he was the spiritual seed of Jesus!

  God was building a House for Himself right there where the Garden had been. Israel was His House; David knew that and also what God was building. But Solomon was essentially building a house for himself!

  Christians are “born again”. [iii]  Rebirth is miraculous just as with Isaac and Jacob. Just as Jacob struggled with Esau in the womb, Satan’s legions do battle with Christians in the spiritual womb. That “womb” belongs to God but there is a battle of the spirits for whose you are!

  Inside the soul of Christians, they are seeded by Christ; but again, not a carnal birth, but spiritual! That Jesus is the Cornerstone is if prime importance, because inside there is a struggle whether Jesus wins the “wrestling match” or Satan. The winner is whoever the person chooses to win. Choose carefully!

   Christianity does not come easy. There are labor pains, caused not by muscles contractions, but by your “Jacob” wrestling with God [iv] in your “womb”, the soul. Jacob won the battle for birth against wicked Esau, and when you leave that altar, you must leave looking at God in the Face with arms spread wide.

  God served Isaac. He served him Jacob. Then Isaac served the Lord. God became his God. Once a sinner is born again, they have been served by God, then they must serve Him!

  Indeed, the “vocation” of those born again is to serve God and others. Serving God is to love Him and serving others is loving them in like manner. Agape love is essentially, good will toward God and mankind. 

  Now you know what God was up to back in the beginning stages of His Plan for you! There are two choices? Cooperate with God’s labor in rebirth or fight Him. I choose God! 

(picture credit: shutterstock.com)

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[i] Gen 25:20

[ii] Deut 14:2

[iii] John 3:7

[iv] Gen 32

THESIS AND HYPOTHESIS: IN WHOM TO TRUST

  I received some flack because I see the present-day dilemma more than medical but spiritual as well. We are being tested! Just how is that?

“Theses” are assertions. A “thesis” is one assertion. A “hypothesis” is the starting point for an assertion for an investigation. “Hypotheses” are good guesses in discovering facts. A “thesis” is the idea, or very notion, that the guess is accurate. A hypothesis must be tested to determine if the thesis is correct.

  The first thesis on record? “The serpent said unto the woman, ‘You shall not surely die’” (Gen 3:4). A thesis is to answer the question, “What is truth?” Pontius Pilate asked that of Jesus. [i] The truth, Adam believed, was from God who said, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:7).

  God revealed truth, but was it truth? Adam tested God. Rather than “truth”, Adam perhaps thought, that it was a mere assertion. Was he to believe God or the Serpent?

  God allowed Adam to test His thesis. The test was forbidden fruit. He said that eating of it would cause death. Eve was confused. She added something to the test outside God’s thesis — neither to touch (Gen 3:3). God did not say that, so, for the testing of Eve was no more than determining the degree of her ignorance. Jesus, much later, answered why Eve’s ignorance was not sin: “They know not what they do.” [ii] Eve did not die because God had only purveyed the reason to Adam and not Eve.

  Knowledge was necessary. Eve had no knowledge of anything but good up to that point. She was ignorant of death because no thing had yet to die.

  Adam was ignorant as well. Neither did he understand death. Surely, he thought death was the cessation of bodily functions. He understood life, but not death, because he was alive but had never died or had even seen death.

  The Serpent made a hypothesis based on the thesis that if they ate, they would die. Lucifer in the Serpent understood death. He biased the outcome of the test by knowing the truth and how to blind them from the truth by deception. Indeed, he was cunning!

  Eve was strictly emotional. The fruit that she would consume looked good and that was enough for her. Since she did not understand death, dying meant nothing to her.

  For Adam, he knew the truth. God told him His thesis. Would Adam believe God’s Thesis or the Serpent’s Antithesis? — that which is the direct opposite of God’s Thesis.

  As a sidenote, “serpent” makes Judeo-Christianity seem like mythology. Isaiah used the Hebrew word, sarap (seraphim). But he also used, nahas (image) in the same verse as the root. [iii] In other words, the Serpent was the image of the seraphim (plural of seraph). It was not a Serpent at all but a false image to whom they were speaking.

  The seraph made the test look innocent by using of one of Adam’s fellow, docile beings. That same technique is used to this day. Just look at the characteristics of psychologists. They are told to be non-judgmental and ameliorating. The cunning Seraph did just that! Both Adam and Eve were made comfortable speaking with the most powerful demon of them all.

  Any hypothesis is set up that way. The subjects must not feel intimidated. That worked for the Seraph — Satan — and it still works. Propaganda is used to make subjects feel comfortable in what they decide is truth. The Seraph comforted Eve — not to worry, you are safe under my tree.

  Now look at the truth: God was not “asserting” but demonstrating. He had recently created two living beings with souls. They knew that to be truth because they had experienced it! The thesis was all about life.

  “Life” is experiencing the Spirit of God. They both should have known that because they were alive, and they should have deduced that there was a cause for their lives. Since God was the Supreme Being in the Garden, the logical conclusion should have been that the Serpent did not, and that God did! They had the ability to reason that the animals did not have, at least in that magnitude.

  God’s truth was more than a “thesis”. They should have trusted God. Why would God destroy what He had just created? Logic would have it, since they had been good, that God had no reason that they should die. There was no reason to test God.

 Eve was not testing God, she either misunderstood Adam or her opinion took pre-eminence to Adam’s allegation. Neither should have been there to allow themselves to be tested. They had entered unto temptation just as God warns Christians not to do! [iv]

  Great faith is not even to enter unto temptation. Why? Because the trust of God is correct and expected in the outcome; that death will come. God did not say when or which death, but He told the ultimate truth; that they would die! Because He is the author of Truth, God knew it would be broken. So, He then provided the opportunity for grace.

  But Adam and Eve walked right into the test-giver without even knowing there was a test! Eve was the evidence. If she died, then God’s thesis would be correct. If she lived, then the Serpent’s antithesis would be correct. After Eve ate, the evidence was in: Adam did not see Eve die, so he ate. What Adam did not know that God knew, and even the Serpent, is that death is not when the flesh ceases to live but when the soul is emptied of the Spirit of God. Satan had seduced them to his way.

  Adam and Eve injected themselves with many unknown chemicals. The one compound that they had not previously known was “sin”. Satan shot, “all the fiery darts of the wicked (one)” into their healthy bodies, and they changed inside. Somehow, they knew that their bodies had been invaded by a foreign substance and were ashamed of themselves.

  God’s thesis seemed to have failed since Eve seemed to still be alive. People still think they are alive to this day but with sin in them, but they are spiritually dead. Jesus had something to say about life and death: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘He that heareth my Word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

  Therefore, “alive” is trusting in God’s word, and “death” is failure to trust in God.

  Eve had died and Adam failed to see it because death was in her soul and not her flesh. Then, Adam ate, and he died! God had told the truth after all, and the Thesis of God was accepted!

  Their ignorance was overwhelming as they gambled with the Devil without having his knowledge of both good and evil. He cunningly used his knowledge against their ignorance of the knowledge of evil.

  Never underestimate the knowledge of evil because it is used against you in the test without end — the testing of the flesh in the world until your flesh dies. What people consider is “living”; is death, if they are without the Holy Ghost of Jesus.

  Jesus used the example of the Israelites and Moses [v] to explain what it means to be “born again”. [vi] However, refer to the original test:

⁶ The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” ⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Num 21:6-9)

  The test with Adam and Eve was spiritual in nature, and now the new test was for real! The tester remains the Serpent, and since he no longer had legs to crawl, he was the fiery flying Serpent. [vii] The same injection occurred but the sample-size increased; many of the Israelites were tested. They failed to accept the truth with Adam and Eve because they were still alive, or so it seemed.

  The vipers were the “hardware” this time, replacing the fruit as in the first test. The test was a destination: Would they live to make it to the Promise Land where eternal life awaits them? The thesis of God this time was two-fold: (1) that there was a Promise and (2) that there was not only life but eternal life awaiting ahead.  The Antithesis of Satan who stood silently by without even conducting the test, so as to make it “fair” perhaps, was this: You cannot survive only by trusting God, you must trust your own selves to keep from perishing.

  By their own hand, both Adam and Eve had died spiritually, and Satan was confident that by their own hands, the fleshes of the Israelites would die as well.

  The trial can be summarized simply; In whom do you trust? God or yourselves? Satan even removed himself. They would not need to trust him this time because his poison was already in the Israelites with original sin. That poison made them “as God” in their minds! [viii] They were master of their own domain, they thought. God thought, We shall see! Then, God set up the test apparatus. He brought in snakes, poison, and then a “tree” with the Serpent dead in it. The lifeless brazen serpent was to show the Israelites what physical death is like, but underneath it all, how the spirit in Judas would die.

  Those who trusted God understood that this was the “Judas Tree” with Satan dead in it. [ix] They also had even more knowledge of good than Adam. They knew this meant that Jesus died on His Tree [x] to defeat Judas in his Tree. Why “Good Friday?” The Jesus Tree was Good, and it overcame the evil Judas Tree with Satan hung there inside Judas! [xi]

  Some of the Israelites saw what Jesus would do to THE Serpent and trusted God to do the same for them! That is why Jesus used that test to explain “born again”. [xii]

  The test was this: In whom would they have faith? The thesis is that those truly alive would trust their Creator. The antithesis by the “Antichrist” was that they would not trust God but themselves or some other thing.

  Perhaps they could dig a lake with deep water, but the flying vipers would merely become swimming vipers. Water would not keep them from perishing. Or perhaps they could set the field afire, but these were fiery serpents. Fire would not cause them harm. The only thing between them and life was a lifeless dumb snake on a fake tree. Some saw Jesus in that “tree” and trusted Him to keep them safe from the serpents.

  Although some had been bitten already, just by looking at the Power of God, saved them from death!

  And the test is still ongoing: This time, the Devil is holding up the needle. His thesis is that only his needle will preserve life. The needle and vaccine are the apparatuses for his test. This time the antithesis is for God. I AM standing there and call for you; to wit: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). God calls those who are willing come to Him.

  On the other side of the test room is the doctor’s needle surrounded by a viper. The government demands that you come whether you are drawn or not! Christianity is based on liberty to exercise your own will. Autocracies require you, To do as you are told without questioning. Luciferianism is based on deception. The former colludes with the latter to deceive you into doing as you are told.

  If the fruit of the tree had really been good, then there would have been no consternation. They would already have knowledge of that from God. Lucifer wanted them to mix evil with good knowledge. He knew that they could easily refuse evil, but deception was hard to reject!

  Why call some of the stabs “vaccines”? Because vaccines are known to be good if done under the right and valid tests.

  Right now, since the FDA has not approved the vaccine, you are the test. In whom shall you trust? The FDA has some who trust in Moderna, but it is not the FDA’s body, so who cares? On the other hand, they do not have enough trust to warrant their approval.

  Well, for me and my family; In God We Trust. Both of us have herd immunity. Why? We did little to avoid the poisonous darts of the Serpent and went wherever we desired to go. We went to church despite warnings. We went to holiday affairs because we trusted God to preserve us!

  We knew that we would soon be “bitten” but walked the way out of the dilemma without looking down nor looking back. Rightfully, we distrusted the snakes behind the vaccine and our own vicarious jails. We did not like the idea that if the injections were so good, why did they need to censor even Dr. Fauci’s colleagues.

  With this test, Satan was always there; invisibly corrupting the experiment to force the outcome his way. Well, for me and my family, Jesus overcame the Wicked One on our behalf! [xiii]

  Herd immunity is from God. In the beginning, I said that I would depend on God with God-given herd immunity. We, just like almost all the Israelites, were bitten by the “poisonous vipers”, but we had our eyes on Jesus.

  The best prevention of all is like the Greeks requested of Philip, “Sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:21). In whom do I trust? I trust in Jesus. He shall keep me safe from harm and, in the end, save my living soul for eternity. In whom do you trust? My bet they are the wicked ones in Washington who are now gods in God’s Face.

(picture credit: quora.com)

 

 

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[i] John 18:38

[ii] Luke 23:34

[iii] Isa 14:29

[iv] Luke 22:40

[v] John 3:14-15

[vi] John 3:17

[vii] Isa 14:29

[viii] Gen 3:5

[ix] Mat 27:5

[x] Acts 5:30

[xi] Luke 22:3

[xii] John 3:7

[xiii] 1 John 2:13