God Is A Benevolent Dictator Who Came “Not To Send Peace But A Sword”

Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither:
the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Introduction

This time of year we hear a lot about “peace on earth, good will toward men”, which is what we read in:

Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

So how do we make Mat 10:34, “I came not to send peace, but a sword”, accord with the message of the angels in Luk 2:14, “…on earth peace, good will toward men”?

The answer is that those two verses, as they are translated, do not agree with each other. Christ either came to bring “peace… on earth” or He came “to send a sword”.

But before we look into how those verses can be made to accord with each other, let’s just ask the simple question. Is the world experiencing “peace… on earth”? Where in history, since Christ, has the earth known peace? Did Christ himself have a ministry marked by peace and joy? What are the words the holy spirit chose to characterize Christ’s experience on this earth?

Here is what we are told:

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

It is “we” who ‘hide our faces’ from our own Savior. It is “we” who ‘despised Him and esteemed Him not’. And soon enough, after we repent of doing so, we discover that we have been given that very same calling because:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Is Christ still “despised and rejected of men? According to the scriptures, while it is denied, and while the opposite is proclaimed by ‘many’, the truth is that He and His doctrine are despised and rejected more today than ever, simply because this is the Truth:

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

All who have ever chosen to be obedient to God have always, from the beginning, been hated by those who do not fear God. From Abel to Enoch to Noah to Abraham to Joseph to King David to “Daniel and his fellows” (Dan 2:13 and 18), those who typified God’s elect have always been “persecuted, despised and rejected of men”.

The positive and negative ‘sword of the Lord’

When ‘Daniel’s fellows’, the ‘three Hebrew children’, were facing the wrath of King Nebuchadnezzar and his fiery furnace, they did so having been told how the Lord had brought their nation up out of Egypt and how He had destroyed Egypt in the process of doing so. They knew exactly why they were now slaves in Babylon. They knew their parents had taken possession of the promised land and had then become complacent and adopted the customs of the nations they had driven out of the land, exactly as they had been warned not to do by the Lord their God:

Deu 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

It is shocking that well-known Christian ministers, with huge followings, admit that so-called Christian holidays have deeply pagan roots. But that doesn’t matter, they argue, because those pagan lies and practices have now been “Christianized”. God’s answer to that nonsense is “You shall not do so unto the Lord thy God”!

The story of ‘the three Hebrew children’ is here in the scriptures to tell us that we, too, are enduring the same process they endured. It was “an experience of evil” [Ecc 1:13]. They endured this trial at the hand of those who bear the Lord’s sword, as it is revealed to us in these scriptures:

Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Secular governments have not yet been replaced by the kingdom of God. That day may be near (Rev 11:15), but it is not yet here. Until that day arrives those who are the ambassadors of that inward kingdom must outwardly submit to the Lord’s sword which `He has placed in the hands of wicked men, “the basest of men”.

Dan 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

What knowing this means is that even the injustices of “the basest of men”, who are placed by God as rulers over the kingdoms of men, are actually the works of God Himself. In other words it was by the sword of God Himself in the person of Nebuchadnezzar by which the three Hebrew children were cast into the fiery furnace. It was by the sword of God that Darius cast Daniel into the lion’s den, and it was God who sent Satan as His sword, His hand, to take all of Job’s earthly possessions and all his children and then to strike Job with boils from his head to his feet. There is simply no denying what God Himself unashamedly owns:

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So until “the kingdoms of this world… become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”, we are commanded to be subject to the powers that be because all those powers, to the consternation of all politically-minded Christians, we are told in the New Testament as well as in the Old Testament, are ordained of God:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. [Dan 4:17]

What happens to us when we are not granted to submit ourselves to the Lord’s anointed wicked? Is it not the Lord Himself we are resisting?

Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword [of the Lord] in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Notice what we are commanded: “Do that which is good, and [we will] have praise of the same”. There has never been an act of mankind more evil than the slaying of the unspotted Lamb of God. There has never been, and there will never be a more worthy person for whom we should be willing to fight and give our lives. But “that which is good” simply does not include fighting against flesh and blood with a physical sword. The moment we take up a physical sword, whether it is to save our own physical life or the physical lives of others, we have at that very moment lost our spiritual protection and our spiritual standing with our Lord, as He made clear to all of us through the natural reaction of the apostle Peter when the Jewish mob came to arrest and crucify our Lord:

Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Christ is the ruler of all things in heaven and in earth. That includes every organization of men, from the most murderous dictator who has ever lived, to the most hypocritical, militaristic religious leader, to the worst terrorist or group of terrorists who have ever lived.

We read earlier:

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

It was with the hope of being rewarded with deliverance from death that Daniel’s “three fellows… were not careful” to answer King Nebuchadnezzar. The Word of God increases our hope and our faith in the Works of God, by demonstrating just how “the Lord and His Christ” will be given the powers of the kingdoms of this world. When I say “just how the Lord and His Christ will be given the kingdoms of this world” I am not speaking of physical details but of spiritual principles which demonstrate just how that goal will be accomplished. The story of Daniel and his “fellows” demonstrates for us the spiritual principles which will empower those who will be in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection” to rule over the kingdoms of this world” (Rev 20:4). Daniel’s three “fellows”, like any of us, did not know when they were summonsed before the King Nebuchadnezzar just how they would fare in every detail. Nevertheless this is what they told the king:

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

“If it be so” demonstrates the hope of salvation that was in these three men. God had not taken them into His confidence to the extent of telling them exactly how He would deliver them, but “He will deliver us out of your hand” demonstrates the faith and hope they had in the power of their God to do what He had promised before to do for those who were obedient to Him under the most dire circumstances. These men knew and had read that He had promised to be “a very present help in time of trouble”, and they believed His promise.

Psa 46:1 To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Those words “if not” demonstrate that these men had hope of something beyond this earthly realm. Their hope was not only in physical deliverance, even though, “for our sakes” (1Co 10:11 and 2Co 4:15), they were physically delivered from the fiery furnace, and like Joseph they were then rewarded with a physical position of rulership in the kingdom of Babylon. Those things physically happened to them, and they are written as types of the spiritual power we will inherit over the kingdoms of this world if we keep our hope in Christ to the end. Without that hope we could not endure the trials which are placed upon us. Without that hope we could not be saved:

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

This is the same hope Christ had in the sovereign, benevolent, uncompromising work of His Father. Christ was placed by His Father in the same physical position as the three friends of Daniel.

King Nebuchadnezzar offered Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego a way to avoid having to endure the flames of the fiery furnace.

Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Dan 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?

Just like them, Christ had also been offered a way to avoid having to endure the shame, the anguish, and the humiliation of the cross.

Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Luk 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

“For it is delivered unto me” again demonstrates the work of our sovereign, benevolent dictator, God who has come to send a sword and to turn the whole world against His chosen few whom He is now using all this hatred and evil to prepare to be trusted, proven, servant kings and priests in His soon-coming kingdom.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

We are not saved for our own sakes. Our salvation necessitates our becoming kings and priests in the next age, and then to be used of God as those who will bring life to all who have ever lived and died (1Co 6:2-3).

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

There is a great parallel between Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the words of the three Hebrew children spoken to King Nebuchadnezzar. The only difference is that while Daniel’s friends were speaking to the King about their resolve to obey God rather than man, Christ was taking to His Father about His same resolve.

Notice what Daniel’s friends told King Nebuchadnezzar:

Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Compare those their words to King Nebuchadnezzar to the words of Christ to His Father:

Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

The natural man cannot see it, but Christ, with the same resolve demonstrated by those three men, was also “saved… from death”:

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

The three Hebrew children were “saved from death” only as types and shadows of what Christ experienced in actual spiritual reality. Their salvation was of their flesh, and it was temporary deliverance from death, while the salvation of the captain of our faith is spiritual and permanent. That is the salvation we are all hoping to achieve through Christ.

Faith, hope and patience are not all one and the same, but we cannot have one without the other. We cannot have saving faith without having patience, and we cannot have faith or patience without having the hope by which we are saved.

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

The three are inseparable, and the degree of these three virtues, we are told, is essential for our salvation and nothing less than a gift from God and a work of His benevolent, dictatorial, sovereign will.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

It is a wonderful and blessed gift from God to be given to see the Lord’s wicked servants as His wicked, rejected anointed who we are to “touch not”. We may and we must “flee to another… city”, when He uses His sword of wicked men to try us, but we must never lift a finger against the Lord’s own sovereign, wicked, anointed sword.

King Saul is but one of many types of “wicked men, who are thy sword”:

1Sa 24:6 And [David] said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S [wicked] anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
1Sa 24:7 So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
1Sa 24:8 David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
1Sa 24:9 And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
1Sa 24:10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.

So it is to this day. Wicked men of the world, the basest of men are “the Lord’s anointed… sword”, and when we take up arms against them, we are not “doing that which is good” (Rom 13:3) regardless of how much it may appear that we are doing so by saving the physical lives of others. Saving the physical lives of many others is always the ‘what if’ scenarios with which we are challenged to forsake the doctrine of Christ to save our own flesh and to avoid the persecution which is the certain fruit of being faithful to Christ and His doctrine.

Christ tells us that He has has been given all power in heaven and in earth:

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Christ is at this very moment sovereign over all men and all earthly rulers. They are merely clay in His hand (Jer 18:4). The great Potter does not consult with or give an accounting to the clay in His hand.

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

We are told that at the appointed time the beast will turn on the harlot who has ruled him and will “eat her flesh and burn her with fire”:

Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

In the outward application of this prophecy, the beast has already turned on the great harlot of religion. That beast is already telling the whole world that “no monotheistic religion is peaceful”. The beast who hates the great harlot, and all of her daughter religions, is actually quoting Christ’s own words to make their point:

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Anyone who knows the voice of the True Shepherd, Christ, and who knows and recognizes His doctrine, His “voice”, knows that Christ alone knows the way of peace, and that to say that His doctrine is not a doctrine of peace is an ignorant and blatant lie. The very meaning of Matthew 10:34-38 is verse 39:

Mat 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

It is the doctrine of Christ that until He establishes His kingdom on this earth, His true disciples are commanded “turn the other cheek, [and] resist not evil”:

Mat 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world [Greek: aion, age], then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The beast will be dethroned by Christ, and at that time Christ’s servants will, at His command and with the power of His word, fight against the kingdoms of this physical world. They will not need to do so with a physical military, because at that time they will be abundantly supplied with the power of His word, to physically destroy those kingdoms. In the meantime, “the power of His word… His hand” which will and which is destroying the nations, is the physical kingdoms who are already in the process of destroying themselves until ‘a man’s life will be more rare than the golden wedge of Ophir’.

Isa 13:12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

Isa 28:22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

Jer 5:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

Hos 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

That is exactly what is just now beginning to take place. The Lord’s “consumption… determined upon the whole earth, [His] controversy with the nations [which will] give them that are wicked to the sword”, will all be accomplished by these, the words of God. They take place within first, and when these words are fulfilled “[we] shall know that I am the LORD”. Then those in whom the Lord first fulfills these words will then become the saviors of all the rest of mankind who have ever lived and drawn breath upon this earth.

Exo 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
Exo 14:18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

This destruction of Egypt is also revealed as an inward process, within God’s elect as well as in the outward world, in the New Testament:

Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Those are the words of our benevolent dictator, sovereign Lord, who came to send a sword and to separate us from this world.

In closing we will consider how…

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

… has always been compatible with Luke 2:14, but not as Luke 2:14 has been translated:

Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That verse appears thus in the King James because it was so translated by men who have no concept of what these verses of Luke 17 mean:

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

For us to understand how Matthew 10:34 accords with Luke 2:14 we must be made aware of the truth of Luke 17:21 where we are informed that the only men who will experience the “peace, [and] good will” spoken of in that verse are those who have “the kingdom of God within [them]”.

Here is how that point is to be made. Here is Strong’s definition for the Greek word translated as ‘within’ in Luke 17:21:
G1787
ἐντός
entos
en-tos’
From G1722; inside (adverb or noun): – within.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
That word appears only twice in the New Testament:
G1787
ἐντός
entos
Total KJV Occurrences: 2
within, 2
Mat_23:26, Luk_17:21
But notice form what word G1787 is derived. We are told it is “from G1722”, and what is G1722? Here it is:
G1722
ἐν
en
en

A primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), that is, a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); “in”, at, (up-) on, by, etc.: – about, after, against, + almost, X altogether, among, X as, at, before, between, (here-) by (+ all means), for (. . . sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-) in (-to, -wardly), X mightily, (because) of, (up-) on, [open-] ly, X outwardly, one, X quickly, X shortly, [speedi-] ly, X that, X there (-in, -on), through (-out), (un-) to(-ward), under, when, where (-with), while, with (-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) prep.

This word appears far more often than the Greek word ‘entos’, and one of those entries is Luke 2:14, where we discover that it is translated as “towards’ instead of ‘among’ or even ‘within’, as it is far more often translated. It appears as ‘towards’ only three times.
G1722
ἐν
en
Total KJV Occurrences: 536
among, 119
Mat_2:6, Mat_4:23, Mat_9:35, Mat_11:11, Mat_16:7-8 (2), Mat_20:26-27 (3), Mat_21:38, Mat_26:5, Mat_27:56, Mat_28:15, Mar_6:3-4 (2), Mar_10:43 (2), Mar_15:40, Luk_1:1, Luk_1:25, Luk_1:28, Luk_1:42, Luk_2:44, Luk_7:16, Luk_7:28, Luk_8:7, Luk_9:46, Luk_9:48, Luk_10:3, Luk_16:15, Luk_22:24, Luk_22:26-27 (2), Joh_1:14, Joh_1:26, Joh_7:12, Joh_7:43, Joh_9:16, Joh_10:19, Joh_11:54, Joh_15:24, Act_4:12, Act_4:34, Act_5:12, Act_6:8, Act_12:18, Act_13:26, Act_15:7, Act_15:12, Act_15:22, Act_17:34, Act_18:11, Act_20:25, Act_20:32, Act_21:19, Act_21:34, Act_24:21, Act_25:5-6 (2), Act_26:4, Act_26:18, Act_28:29, Rom_1:5-6 (2), Rom_1:13 (2), Rom_2:24, Rom_8:29, Rom_11:17, Rom_12:3, Rom_15:9, Rom_16:7, 1Co_1:10-11 (2), 1Co_2:2, 1Co_2:6, 1Co_3:3, 1Co_3:18, 1Co_5:1 (2), 1Co_6:5, 1Co_6:7, 1Co_11:18-19 (3), 1Co_11:30, 1Co_15:12, 2Co_1:19, 2Co_10:1, 2Co_11:26, 2Co_12:12, Gal_1:16, Gal_2:2, Gal_3:1, Gal_3:5, Eph_2:3, Eph_3:8, Eph_5:3, Phi_2:15, Col_1:27, 1Th_1:5, 1Th_2:7, 1Th_5:12-13 (2), 2Th_3:7, 2Th_3:11, Jam_1:26, Jam_3:6, Jam_3:13, Jam_4:1, Jam_5:13-14 (2), 1Pe_2:12, 1Pe_5:1-2 (2), 2Pe_2:1 (2), 2Pe_2:8, 3Jo_1:9

within, 13
Mat_3:9, Mat_9:3, Mat_9:21, Luk_3:8 (2), Luk_7:39, Luk_7:49, Luk_12:17, Luk_18:3-4 (2), Luk_19:44, Luk_24:32, Rom_8:23
into, 12
Luk_5:16 (2), Luk_23:42, Joh_3:35, Joh_5:4, Act_7:45, Rom_1:23, Rom_1:25, 2Co_8:16, Gal_1:6, 1Ti_3:16, Rev_14:10
toward, 3
Luk_2:14, Rom_15:5, 1Jo_4:9

As is most often the case, the more literal translations catch this glaring mistake which appears to make the scriptures contradict themselves. This is how Rotherham’s translates this verse:

Luk 2:14 Glory, in the highest, unto God! And, on earth, peace, among men of goodwill.

In other words, ‘Peace among men in whom the King and His kingdom resides in this age.’

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

I hope our study today has helped you to see that our Lord does not need, and indeed will not tolerate, our ideas in accomplishing what He already had written in His book before we were ever born and before the world began, simply because He really is a benevolent dictator, whose ways are as high about ours as the heavens are above the earth. (Psa 139:16 and Isa 55:9).

His ‘sword’ which He sends in this earth with which we wage spiritual warfare, and with which He separates us from our families and friends in this world, is not a physical sword, but it is the sword of His word:

Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 78

“The judgments” Part I

March 22, 2015

For the study today, we are going to focus on an obscure concept hidden in scripture. While the verse we are studying today will not directly reveal it’s meaning in English, we are going to look at the original words recorded and the other place which they are used in scripture.

The verse we are going to study today is:

Exo 22:28  Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
Exo 22:28  Thou shalt notH3808 revileH7043 the gods,H430 norH3808 curseH779 the rulerH5387 of thy people.H5971

“Rulers and gods”

The first part of this verse tells us that we are not to revile gods, and the word “revile” here means to lightly curse. That is on contrast to the word used as “curse” in the second half of the verse which means to bitterly curse.

H7043

qâlal

BDB Definition:

1) to be slight, be swift, be trifling, be of little account, be light

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to be slight, be abated (of water)

1a2) to be swift

1a3) to be trifling, be of little account

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to be swift, show oneself swift

1b2) to appear trifling, be too trifling, be insignificant

1b3) to be lightly esteemed

1c) (Piel)

1c1) to make despicable

1c2) to curse

1d) (Pual) to be cursed

1e) (Hiphil)

1e1) to make light, lighten

1e2) to treat with contempt, bring contempt or dishonour

1f) (Pilpel)

1f1) to shake

1f2) to whet

1g) (Hithpalpel) to shake oneself, be moved to and fro

Part of Speech: verb

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root

Same Word by TWOT Number: 2028

So, we are told not to quickly, swiftly or lightly curse the gods. However, if the Lord will have us be fully committed to Him it may seem a little odd that we aren’t to lightly curse these gods.

The reason I say this is a light curse is because the majority of the time this word revile is used as curse or cursed.

H7043

qâlal

Total KJV Occurrences: 88

curse, 17

Gen_8:21, Lev_19:14, Deu_23:4, Jos_24:9, 2Sa_16:9-11 (4), Neh_13:2, Psa_62:4, Psa_109:28, Pro_30:10, Ecc_7:21, Isa_8:20-21 (3), Jer_15:10

cursed, 17

Lev_20:9, Lev_24:11, Lev_24:14, Lev_24:23, Jdg_9:27, 1Sa_17:43, 2Sa_16:5, 2Sa_16:7, 2Sa_16:13, 2Sa_19:21, 1Ki_2:8, 2Ki_2:24, Neh_13:25, Job_3:1, Job_24:18, Ecc_7:22 (2)

light, 7

1Sa_18:23, 1Ki_16:31, 2Ki_3:18, 2Ki_20:10, Isa_49:6, Eze_8:17, Eze_22:7

Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Gen 8:21  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

God did not utterly curse the ground for man’s sake, but knew there would come a time where the ground was not going to be cursed.

That “reviling” or “light curse” is different than what we see we are told not to do to rulers which are over us.

H779

‘ârar

BDB Definition:

1) to curse

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to curse

1a2) cursed be he (participle used pr in curses)

1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed

1c) (Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on

1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed

Part of Speech: verb

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root

Same Word by TWOT Number: 168

Strong’s defines it as:

H779

‘ârar

aw-rar’

A primitive root; to execrate: –  X bitterly curse.

“Arar” can be found in verses examples such as:

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

This bitter curse is one that endures and is not lightly made.

Having said all of that, what are we to make of “not reviling the gods”, and not “cursing the rulers” of thy people?

“GOD, God, LORD or Lord”

In order to find out what we are being told we must evaluate who the “gods” are who we are not to lightly curse.

In the Old Testament, we have different words in the KJV which tell us who we are talking about in reference to the English words God, GOD, Lord, or LORD being translated from Hebrew.

This study is NOT about the different names of God in the Old Testament and which of them  is the “name of God”, but this study is about how to figure out the emphasis placed on the word being used in any given Old Testament verse.

Exo 22:28  Thou shalt not revile the gods(H430), nor curse the ruler of thy people.

“Elohim” is used in Hebrew to describe both false gods and the “one true God”.  Elohim is sometimes translated as “god or gods” while other times it is translated as “God”. Those forms of the English word are not to be confused with “GOD” and we’ll see why in a moment.

However, we know from the sum of the Word that the God/GOD of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ.

A few examples of Elohim being used can be found in Genesis.

Gen 1:26  And God (Elohim) said, LET US make man in our image, after OUR likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

We can see Elohim being used in the plural sense here and speaking about “God”. However, we can see another example of the same word being used to describe false gods and the singular form of “God”.

Exo 20:1  And God(H430) spake all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2  I am the LORD(H3068) thy God(H430), which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods(H430) before me.

God refers to Himself and then names Himself “LORD” Elohim. This would make sense when we connect the New Testament explanation of who Jesus is.

Deu 10:17  For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

1Ti 6:13  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;
1Ti 6:14  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15  Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

We are being created in the very image of GOD and our LORD.

Psa 82:6  I have said, Ye are gods(H430); and all of you are children of the most High.

Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Joh 10:37  If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

When we see that we are not to revile the gods, we can conclude that we are being told not to revile those whom the Lord calls His children.

While we can apply this verse to “false gods”, we have been told by Jesus Himself that we indeed are “gods”.

The clarification and confirmation of the proper thinking on this verse comes when we look at the end of the verse.

Exo 22:28  Thou shalt not revile the gods(H430), nor curse the ruler (H5387) of thy people.

H5387

nâśı̂y’  /  nâśi’

Total KJV Occurrences: 130

prince, 56

Gen_23:6, Gen_34:2, Num_7:11, Num_7:18, Num_7:24, Num_7:30, Num_7:36, Num_7:42, Num_7:48, Num_7:54, Num_7:60, Num_7:66, Num_7:72, Num_7:78, Num_17:6, Num_25:14, Num_34:18 (2), Num_34:22-28 (7), Jos_22:14, 1Ki_11:34, 1Ch_2:10, 1Ch_5:6, Ezr_1:8, Eze_7:27, Eze_12:10, Eze_12:12, Eze_21:25, Eze_30:13, Eze_37:24-25 (2), Eze_38:2-3 (2), Eze_39:1, Eze_44:3 (2), Eze_45:7, Eze_45:16, Eze_45:22, Eze_46:2, Eze_46:4, Eze_46:8, Eze_46:10, Eze_46:12, Eze_46:16-18 (3), Eze_48:21-22 (3)

princes, 40

Gen_17:20, Num_1:16 (2), Num_1:44, Num_7:2-3 (3), Num_7:10 (2), Num_7:84, Num_10:4, Num_17:2 (2), Num_17:6, Num_27:2, Num_31:13, Num_32:2, Num_36:1, Jos_9:15, Jos_9:18-19 (3), Jos_13:21 (3), Jos_17:4, Jos_22:14, Jos_22:30, Jos_22:32, 1Ch_4:38, 1Ch_7:40, Eze_19:1, Eze_21:12, Eze_22:6, Eze_26:16, Eze_27:21, Eze_32:29, Eze_39:18, Eze_45:8-9 (2)

captain, 12

Num_2:3, Num_2:5, Num_2:7, Num_2:10, Num_2:12, Num_2:14, Num_2:18, Num_2:20, Num_2:22, Num_2:25, Num_2:27, Num_2:29

chief, 9

Num_3:24, Num_3:30, Num_3:32 (2), Num_3:35, Num_4:34, Num_4:46, 1Ki_8:1, 2Ch_5:2

ruler, 3

Exo_22:28, Lev_4:22, Num_13:2

rulers, 3

Exo_16:22, Exo_34:31, Exo_35:27

vapours, 3

Psa_135:7, Jer_10:13, Jer_51:16

prince’s, 2

Eze_45:16-17 (2), Eze_48:22

clouds, 1

Pro_25:14

governor, 1

2Ch_1:2

The word “ruler” as used in Exodus is mostly translated as “prince” throughout the Old Testament.

Gen 23:5  And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,
Gen 23:6  Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

And:

Num 1:16  These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

The reason I mentioned princes and not all the other words translated in English is because 1) there are a lot of them, and 2) prince gives us a clear understanding of who it is we are talking about.

A prince is a king in training.

When we see that Jesus is LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, and then connect the first part of this verse with the “gods” being referenced, then we know that the focus of this verse are the people around you whom the Lord has placed in authority over you.

“Yahweh” or “Adonai”

“Elohim” aren’t to be confused with “Yahweh” or “Adonai”.

Anytime you see the word GOD or LORD in all caps in the KJV, it is referring to the “Yahweh” of the Old Testament, but as we have learned from the “sum of thy Word”, “Yahweh” is Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and Israel was not made aware of this Truth.

That understanding did not come unto Jesus Christ brought it to us.

Joh 5:36  But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

There are other verses that speak to this Truth, but that is out of the scope of this study.

Finally, when we see the word “Aondai” we see it in the form of “Lord”.

A good way to see how all these English words were translated from Hebrew in the KJV is to read Joshua 7:6-7.

Jos 7:6  And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD (Jehovah, H3068) until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Jos 7:7  And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord (Adonai, H136) GOD (Yahweh,H3069), wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!

I was unable to find any reference to “God” at the end of Joshua 7:7, so I am not sure what inspired the KJV translators to use the word “God” towards the the end of this verse.

Regardless of that, you can see that the KJV translators tried to help us understand when a particular word was being used as God or Lord by using upper and lowercase letters to designate the Hebrew word.

The focus of the study today was to show that when the Lord tells us not to revile the “gods” or curse the rulers of the people, we were being told to not resist or curse those whom He alone, in His soverniety, has placed over us.

There are many examples that can be used, but Joseph was placed under the care of many different rulers before he finally became as the Pharaoh except for the power of the throne.

We too can learn from this that the Lord has a plan for our good but we must recognize that He knows better how to achieve the end goal of that plan than we do for ourselves.

Mike,

I’m listening to the peace offering study, and I’m trying to understand why Christ is called ‘the mighty God’ and ‘everlasting Father’.
Can you help me please? Thanks!

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

M____

Hi M____,

Christ is “the olawm [ same as the Greek word ‘aion’; also translated ‘everlasting’] Father” because He created the olawms, the aions.

Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds [ Greek – aions];
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds [ Greek – aions] were framed by the word of God [ Christ], so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Christ is both “the mighty God” and “the almighty”, but this is understood as being so only under His Father.

You asked:

… why Christ is called ‘the mighty God’ and ‘everlasting Father’.

He is “called ‘the mighty God and everlasting Father’ for one reason only; because “it pleased the Father…”

Col 1:15 Who [ Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

There is nothing here which conflicts with Christ ruling over His Father’s kingdom and being “equal with God” in every way but “in the throne”.

Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

The scriptures do proclaim Christ to be God, just as “ye are gods”. It is in that sense that Christ is God and is worthy of our worship. When we worship Christ, we are worshiping His Father, just as we worship the dragon when we worship the beast.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

None of these scriptural statements conflict with the fact that in the final analysis, even though Christ is (To use your own very scriptural words) “called God”, there is nothing in all of this which conflicts with the verse which says “to us there is but one God, the Father…”

Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.
Joh 10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
1Co 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

How are Christ and His Father “one”? What does Christ mean when He says He and His Father “are one”? He means they “are one” in the very same sense that you and I are one and in the same sense that we are all one in Christ:

Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

There is nothing here which would conflict with the fact that Christ is still, in the end, “subject… unto Him who did put all things under Him”. It is the Father Himself who “called” Christ a god, so who are we to do otherwise?

1Co 15:27 For he [ the Father] hath put all things under his [ Christ’s] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him [ Christ], it is manifest that he [ the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him [ Christ].
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

I hope these verses clear this up for you. If not let me know.
Mike

Hi Mike,

I have been a little disoriented lately with confusion regarding the Scriptures. I agree with your comment that Truth does not change. But when I came across Deu 22:20-21 or any other instance of encouraging death by stoning, I have found it hard to stomach that that could be Truth (not to mention unchanging Truth).
I apologize up front if I misunderstood or have been unable to understand what you meant by “Truth does not change.”
Thank you for any insight,

N____

Hi N____,

Thank you for your question regarding death by stoning in Deuteronomy.

Deu 22:20 But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:
Deu 22:21 Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

This is the carnal law God gave Moses to govern carnal life in the nation of ancient Israel.

Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

If a woman was proven to have had sex outside of marriage, she was to be stoned to death. The verses which follow instructed that ancient nation do the same if a man was caught having sex with another man’s wife.

Deu 22:22 If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.

Now let’s contrast these words concerning the judgment meted out for adultery and fornication under Moses, to the new “law of Christ”.

Joh 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
Joh 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Joh 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
Joh 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
Joh 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
Joh 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Joh 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

These “scribes and Pharisees” are the very same people who today have nothing better to do than to take the time to find fault with their own brothers and sisters in Christ, who have done nothing but feed them spiritual “loaves and fishes”, and heal them of their spiritual diseases. If those who are of this spirit had any true interest in what was actually in the scriptures, they would have gone to those scriptures, and they would have trembled before those words, instead of quoting only what was convenient for them to attempt to accuse the Christ of God.

Joh 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

What is the difference between the law of Christ and that of Moses? Christ did not condemn her for her sin, which was nothing more that the fruit of the law of sin which Christ himself had placed within that woman at creation. But neither did he condone her actions. This woman, just like each of us, was shown mercy. Now would that mercy have ended if she did commit adultery again?

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever [ Hebrew, olawm].

Isn’t it interesting that the people who want the Hebrew word ‘olawm’ to mean ‘eternity’ when it comes to the subject of hell, don’t believe it means that in this verse? Now since the law of Moses did not provide for mercy, it was not Truth, but it was a temporary carnal commandment for a carnal nation “till the seed should come to whom the promise was made”. Notice how scripture contrasts the law of Moses to the law of Christ.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

So the only people who claim that the law of Moses was Truth are those who do not believe Joh 1:17.
Just as manna seemed to be the true “bread from heaven”, and Christ Himself labeled it as such when giving it to Israel in the wilderness, it was nevertheless just a shadow and a type of the true “bread from heaven”.

Exo 16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Joh 6:31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

Was manna really “bread from heaven”? Only in type and shadow. It was, in reality merely a shadow of the true bread from heaven which gives us true and lasting nourishment.

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

So that is the truth of the entire economy of ancient Israel. “They were not ministering to themselves but to us”. These things all happened to them, and they were all written down for us as types and shadows of us.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [ Greek, typos, type, shadow]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

So everything that happened under that law was “unto us” and “not unto themselves”. You will find no Jews who would agree with that statement, and the same is true for the Christian world. Nevertheless there it is. The entire Mosaic system is just a shadow of how we are to show no mercy to the adulterous false doctrines within us which stem from the doctrines of that great harlot, Babylon.
If indeed God were not intent upon saving all men, and the world denies this, then He would indeed be a monster. But he is in the process of saving all, and He will do so through you and me if we are granted to be in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”.
So I hope that these verses of God’s Word will help you to see that God is saving all “through death” and that the end of a thing really is better than its beginning, no matter what that end is. It is through the relinquishing of this body that our new body is given, and it is the same event for all; even the women and the men who were and are stoned for adultery.

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

I pray these verses help you to see that God is, was and always will be an unchanging, loving heavenly Father, who will, through the different dispensations and through even death, bring us all to Himself in His own appointed time.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

In looking over this website, I see nothing concerning UNIVERSAL SALVATION. Is that because you don’t believe God wills that ALL be saved? Just what is a carnal babe in Christ?

K____

Hi K____,

Thank you for your question, but it indicates that you haven’t read much on this site at all. Universal salvation is spoken of throughout this site, but babes in Christ want to hear of nothing but Christ and Him crucified. This site, like all of Paul’s epistles, goes beyond the milk of God’s Word which milk includes the salvation of all which Paul preached to the Corinthians.

1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you [“carnal… babes in Christ”, 1Co3:1-4], save Jesus Christ, and him crucified [ for all… universal salvation].
1Co 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [ even] as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [ to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [ there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [ am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

There is plenty on iswasandwillbe. com about universal salvation. “Howbeit we speak wisdom among those who are being perfected”. There are those who call themselves ‘Pauline Christians’, who speak of nothing but grace, as if ‘grace’ were nothing more than a dead noun, defined as “unmerited pardon”. Such people simply cannot accept the strong meat of “the mystery, even the hidden wisdom.” That is why they call themselves “Pauline Christians,” just as Paul himself said “carnal babes in Christ” would always do. The doctrine of universal salvation is the doctrine Paul preached to these “carnal babes in Christ”.
There is plenty on this site about the milk of God’s Word, but this site also concerns itself with the “strong meat” of the Word of God. It is this same apostle who wrote much of the “strong meat” which is quoted on this site. Some of that “strong meat” is to be found in verses like these, which Paul spake “among them who are being perfected”.

Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Do you believe like the apostle Paul, that you should be “filling up in our flesh what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ”? After all, isn’t that what “the mystery” is? Is it not “Christ in you, the hope of glory”? If indeed, Christ is in you, will you not fill up His afflictions and suffer with Him, just as He Himself suffered? Is that not the very function of grace, according to this very same apostle Paul?

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [ Greek – paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint- heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

“Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” is simply too much “strong meat” for “carnal babes in Christ who want to hear of nothing but the milk of universal salvation. There is plenty of the milk of God’s Word on this site, but you will note that we go beyond the milk, and we “constantly affirm that we who believe ought to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts, and be careful to maintain good works“.

Tit 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

That is a verse of God’s Word which is seldom, if ever, mentioned in “Pauline Christian” congregations.
So I hope you will continue to “look over this site”. You will find no site on the web which teaches the total sovereignty of God any more than does this site. God being sovereign, He is obligated to redeem that which He created in a marred, sinful state. Indeed, that is the very purpose for starting with such inferior materials.

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [ the same] in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

There is no vote taken either to be “in Adam” or “in Christ”. It is all “His workmanship”.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Dear Mike,

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
Jas 1:14 but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

If we say that God created a devil named Satan to do the tempting for Him, then we not only deny these verses but we say that God is a conspirator. For example, a man hires another man to kill his wife. Who gets the greater blame for the murder? Usually, in an American court, the man that hires someone to do the deed gets the greater prison term.

Notice that the serpent (the devil in “disguise”) didn’t answer back to God with, “but, I was only doing what you told me (hired me) to do – why punish me?”

When we say that God specially created Satan to tempt man – it’s the same thing as saying that God tempts man. The verses above say that that is not true. The head conspirator says “go tempt man” or “go kill my wife” and the co- conspirator goes out and actually does the deed. Who is the tempter? – The head conspirator is the tempter – it was his idea to begin with. The one that actually does the deed was the one tempted – so Satan instead of being the tempter is actually the tempted.

Just one reason why a literal spirit being, specially created for that purpose, won’t work.

If on the other hand we say that the devil did this without God’s knowledge – Where does that lead? And if we say that Satan is a fallen angel and was just working against God’s Will – Where would that lead?

Sincerely,

C____

C_____,

I’m beginning to believe that you just don’t like the way God does things. It is not a debatable point as to whether God sends Satan to tempt people. The scriptures make that clear. Here is what we are told about evil spirits:

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

And this is what we are told about ‘Satan.’

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

I don’t think that even you are going to contend that Job’s ‘carnal mind’ slew all of his own children, destroyed all of his own substance and smote himself with boils. God sent Satan to do all that.

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

You see that? That is the first time that Job’s name is brought up in this conversation between God and Satan. Or as you would have it, between God and Job’s carnal mind. It is God who first got this ‘let’s try Job’ ball rolling. Now look at what you call ‘Job’s carnal mind’ replies:

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Now you are asking me to believe that this is Job’s carnal mind saying all this to God. But look at what Satan and the Lord agree to next:

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now[ The Lord’s ‘hand’ here IS Satan], and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD [ And did as he was commissioned].

If you have read ‘After The Counsel of His Own Will,’ then you know that this is typical of how God operates. This is what you call a conspiracy. And indeed it is from a carnal perspective. Satan is about as apt to resist an opportunity such as this as Hollywood producers are apt to pass up any opportunity to produce a violence filled, sexually oriented movie.
That is why it is worded like it is in James: “… God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man.” It doesn’t say that God does not do the trying. It only says “He Himself tempteth no man.” Or as you say ‘conspires to tempt men.’
No, the scriptures do not call this ‘conspiracy.’ That is where this ‘idol of the heart’ that wants to bring God down to a human level leads you. The scriptural “pattern of sound words is “God… works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
This system of bringing about evil in this world is what is referred to as His sovereignty. Christians like to tout their belief in God’s sovereignty, and yet absolve God from the responsibility of evil. God does no such thing Himself.

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

You might place the words ‘conspire to’ between the words ‘Lord’ and ‘do.’ I will just leave it as it is; a simple declaration of the fact that God is indeed the ultimate author of “all.”

Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own [ evil] way?

Here is one more example of what you term a ‘conspiracy.’ It is two accounts of the same event; David’s numbering of the people:

2Sa 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he [ the Lord] moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

How the Lord ‘moved David against the people’ is not revealed here in 2Sa 24. But it is revealed in 1Ch 21.

1Ch 21:1 And Sata stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Is this a ‘conspiracy?’ Is it a contradiction? No, it is neither. It is simply another example of the total sovereignty of God in “all things.”

Just a little more ‘food for thought’. Bear with me as I do with you.

Mike

Mike,

I heard someone actually say God does not foreknow our individual decisions. They used Gen 22:12 and Deu 8:2 as their prooftexts. Read those verses and they, at least on the surface, seem to back up this claim. But I know of many scriptures that declare God’s foreknowledge of the future, so I don’t think this idea of God not foreknowing individual decisions is correct, but I wanted to get your take on this topic? How do you view the idea of God not foreknowing our decisions? This may seem like a silly question because most would never say God does not foreknow everything , but there are some few who hold this view, and to me a God who is ignorant of certain things like the future is unsettling and has been bothering me. I think the theology of God not knowing the future is called “Open Theism”. I am guessing you have heard of it?

R____

Hi R____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask:

How do you view the idea of God not foreknowing our decisions?

The answer is, I view that idea as completely without one verse of scriptural foundation. Yes, it is true that Joshua told Israel “Choose you this day whom you will serve”.

Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [ were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joseph acknowledged that his brothers had chosen to sell him into Egypt.

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I [ am] Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Joseph does not say ‘God sold me here’, he says ” You sold me here”. But that is not the “sum of God’s Word on why Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egypt. Joseph goes on to explain, “because God did send me before you to preserve life.” Then he makes that statement even clearer:

Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

“It was not you… but God”??? If it really was God, then God knew in advance exactly what all ten of Joseph’s brothers were thinking, and He knew in advance just exactly what they were about to do. In other words, the truth of that situation and every situation that has ever been or ever will be is this:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Those “preparations of the heart in man must surely include the evil thought of selling Joseph into slavery in Egypt and selling our Lord to the high priest and every other evil thought. If it does not include all the evil “preparations of the heart in man”, then the Lord is not sovereign over much of anything, because this is the simple Truth concerning the preparations of the thoughts of mankind in general:

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

That is why only three verses after telling us that “the preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” in Pro 16:1 we are told this amazing Truth of God’s Word:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

That is also why Joshua, only four verses after telling Israel to “choose you this day who you will serve”, made this revealing statement about Israel’s ability to follow through with that choice:

Jos 24:19  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

Mercy and forgiveness of sins comes only through Christ. There was no mercy or forgiveness of sins under the law of Moses.

Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

So all flesh is inherently evil, by God’s design, and must be relinquished if we are to enter into the kingdom of God as our ultimate inheritance.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

So all who teach that God does not “foreknow our decisions” are simply blinded to the consistent truth of God’s Word which, from Genesis to Revelation, declares:

1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise” because:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Yes. it is true. The Lord Himself does not cause us to sin, but He does send evil spirits to cause every evil accomplished “in the city”.

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

You said:

I think the theology of God not knowing the future is called “Open Theism””

Yes, that is what it is called, and “open theism” is simply a man- made doctrine which declares that God has given mankind a will that is free from God’s influence. It is a doctrine which places the salvation of mankind in mankind’s own hands, via mankind’s supposed free will. What this does is to place mankind on the throne of His own heart, and the greatest battle any of us will ever fight is the battle to determine who sits upon and rules the throne of our hearts. Until we are willing to acknowledge that even our evil thoughts are the work of God via “an evil spirit from the Lord” to sell our brother in to slavery or to “thrust him through with a javelin”, like Joseph’s brothers, we will suffer the fruit of that doctrine of believing that we have brought evil upon ourselves. That is a lie. We may not want to acknowledge it, but God makes it very clear that all evil is His creation and not ours.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

It is by God’s own design that this battle must be fought, but all who teach the false doctrine of “open theism” and who want to keep the beastly “man of sin” upon that throne are completely unaware of the truth that is twice stated in these few verses of Rom 7, as well as throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. This is the Truth concerning our will as it relates to God’s Will:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

There it is before us twice repeated, “It is no more I that do it [ sin], but sin that dwells in me” via “a law” which is called “the law of sin and death” (Rom 7:23, 25, and 8:2).
It is by law that I must sin, but who created and sustains that law to this day?

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

So how can anyone overcome that law and be saved? Is this really a matter of anyone’s fabled ‘free will’? No, a thousand times, no. Here is the only way any of us will be saved from the law of sin that is in our members.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

It is in our flesh to serve “the law of sin”, and if Christ is not dwelling in these “vessels of clay”, then we will not have dominion over sin in our lives. But if He is living His life in us, then sin does not have the dominion, even as we dwell in vessels of sinful flesh and blood.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

How is it possible for the multitudes who come to Christ, as well as the many great “men of God” who are so educated and who have many degrees in theology, not to see that “it is not I that sin”? That is only possible by God’s divine intervention and by Him “giving them eyes that see, but do not perceive, and ears that hear, but do not understand.”

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

We all live by “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4), so we all first fail to see or hear the spiritual “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. But God “know the thoughts” because “the preparations of the heart are from the Lord” and the “open theists” have not yet been given eyes that see or ears to hear that Truth.
With these Truths firmly established, let’s now look at the two verses you reference:

Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Deu 8:2  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

Anyone who thinks that these two verses prove that God is unaware of what is in our hearts obviously thinks that the scriptures contradict themselves, and they do not believe that God creates evil and makes evil men for the day of evil in the lives of those evil men which we all are.
Anyone who thinks that God is “proving us to know what is in our hearts” for His own sake, apparently thinks that God didn’t even know where Adam and Eve were when He called out to them in the garden.

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Christ asked Adam, “Where are you”, not for His own edification, but so He could discover behind which tree Adam was hiding. Christ posed this question to show Adam that Adam was not where he belonged. So too, God proved both Abraham and Israel, not for Himself, but to show us whether we are yet humbled and are yet willing to put him ahead of all things on this earth. All “open theists” are completely unaware of the truth of these verses, and they have no clue what “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” means:

Psa 139:16  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
Psa 139:17  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Every evil day of every man whom God has made for the day of evil in every man was all “written in His book when as yet there was not one of them.” God has given us all this “experience of evil to humble us”, and He is “working all things after the counsel of His own will”.
If you have not yet done so, please take the time to read the paper in the Essential Reading section of the upper left corner of the iswasandwillbe. com homepage entitled After The Counsel of His Own Will.
I hope this all helps you to see that God is far more capable than we are able to conceive, and that even the preparations of the thoughts of all of us really were written in His book before the world began, and that the doctrine of mankind being given a free will which is independent of God’s will is not based upon scripture, but is based upon the vain reasonings of men who are not yet given the power to dethrone the beast who is still sitting upon the throne of their hearts.
This is the opposite of that doctrine, and this is when God knew what He had written in His book:

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Sir;

Isa 1:17-18 and Rev 3:20 … talk about salvation. My question is, if salvation is a done deal, why the invitation to reason, and also [ why is] Jesus knocking at the door (of peoples’ hearts)? Could you please comment on these two scripture verses?

Thank you,
L____

Hi L___,

The question you are struggling with is the same one I struggled with. Why, if God is all knowing, does He tell us not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, while in reality He knows we will eat of that tree and has already prepared the Lambnslain from the foundation of the world; Rev 13:8. Why does He say Come let us reason together, when in reality,…

Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, [ as] the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will…

… and…

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [ Gk. – drag] him?

The answer is that while God is all knowing [(Isa 46:10) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure…] WE DO NOT KNOW EVEN WHAT TOMORROW WILL BRING FORTH! Consequently, we must make daily decisions AS IF we, ourselves, were making those decisions, when all the while, the Truth is: it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Php 2:13). So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy (Rom 9:16).

It is an amazing Truth that the word ‘responsibility’ is nowhere to be found in the scriptures! The reason is The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Pro 16:4). That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things (Isa 45:6-7).

Is this also true of those he asks to “Come and let us reason together?” Is it true for those of whom He says: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Rev 3:20)? Here is your answer:

Joh 6:44) No man can come to [ sup with] me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [ drag] him.
Eph 1:11 [ He] worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So while the word ‘responsibility’ is nowhere mentioned in scripture, the word ‘account’ is everywhere mentioned; (Rom 14:12) So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God… (Rom 2:6) … Who will render to every man according to his deeds.

If you haven’t already, be sure to read Strong Delusion and Biblical Examples of Rightly Dividing The Word on www. iswasandwillbe. com. Those two papers will help you to keep God’s Word foremost in your mind as you make all those decisions that God, but not you, already knows you will make.

I hope this has been of help.

Mike >

Mike,

I enjoyed reading “After the Counsel of His Own Will” on the Internet.

How do you interpret Mat 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one (NKJV)”? From your teaching, it would seem that we should pray that GOD not turn us over to the buffeting of Satan, but yet “not to despise the chastening of the Lord.” Resist the devil and he will flee?

Any Light would be appreciated.

Thank You,

B____

Hi B____,

I am glad you enjoyed reading the paper on the sovereignty of God. You are right. We should pray to God not to “try us above what we are able to bear, but with every trial to provide a way of escape, so that we will be able to bear it.”

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1Co 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Knowing that God is sovereign does not exempt us from our need to be ‘the importunate widow.’ Knowing that God is sovereign demands that we become the importunate widow, and it demands that we beg and plead with God to give us His chastening grace to endure to the end the trials that are to come upon us.

The verses you refer to are:

Mat 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This is, of course, what is commonly called ‘the Lord’s prayer.’ These words are repeated by millions of Christians every day. Yet they are not even aware of what is coming out of their own mouths. Here they are asking God not to lead them into evil and temptation, and with the same mouth teaching that God does not create evil.

Of course, believing God’s word as we do, we know better:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So yes, we do ask God who “creates evil” not to let the Adversary buffet us above what we are able to bear.”

I hope this is of some help.

Mike

Dear Mike,

When studying one of your articles, I came across this phrase: “We cannot so much a commit a sin if it was not first written in God’s book before we were ever born.“
Could you throw more light on this please? Does this mean that those who sin could not help but sin because it was already recorded?

Thank you
M____

Hi M____,

The answer to your question is, yes, we cannot so much as sin or be evil men without our every thought and action being foreordained, and “written in His book, even the days ordained for us before there were any of them”.

Psa 139:16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (NIV)

Pro 16:4 simply restates this Truth in these words:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all [ things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

There are many ministers who will tell you God is sovereign and will yet deny the Truths of those two verses. There are literally hundreds of others which say the same thing. Every time we read that the Lord sent an evil spirit to cause sins to be committed, we are being told the same thing.

1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

That exact same spirit is in the mouths of all of the prophets of Babylon until this very day, as they teach the false doctrine of “free moral agency”.
Christians are so far away from the Truth of God’s Word that they want to protect God from His own Word which declares this Truth from Genesis to Revelation.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

“Predestinated” means that Psa 139:16 is True, and “all things” mean that Pro 16:4 is True.
If you have not yet done so, be sure to read the paper entitled After The Counsel of His Own Will. It is in the Essential Reading section of the upper left corner of the iswasandwillbe. com home page.
I am well aware of how radical this doctrine of God creating evil in you and me is, so in closing I will let the apostle Paul answer for me in Romans.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

There it is. It is twice repeated under the inspiration of the holy spirit. “It is no more I that sins… I find a law [ is in effect which dictates] that when I would do good evil is present with me”. Who created and sustains that law which dictates our sins? Is it free moral agency? Does the devil tempt us apart from God’s direction? The Biblical answer is an emphatic, NO! It is God who sustains that law of sin and death, and it is God who is doing it all as His means of “humbling us” in these bodies of clay and preparing us to live in new spiritual bodies which will be free from that law of sin and death.

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim [ God] has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

I hope this helps you to understand the extent of the total sovereignty of our loving heavenly Father, who really is working all things together for good for all of mankind who are all called according to His purpose.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

In the end all men will bow their knees to their loving Father.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [ not exclusively] of those that believe.
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [ the sins of] the whole world.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike