Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 107

John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

Blessings

Ezek.37. "Vision of Dry Bones"-2

One crucial difference marks them as an army not fit for active duty. "and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together,bone to his bone,"But where are the voices? Before the ark of his testament is revealed wehave,"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings,"(Rev.11.19) The army in an open valley is not where the river of time led the 144,000 following the Lamb, and they are the first fruits so this valley are well controlled. The cherub with the flaming sword, and ministering angels are there like pillars of cloud and fire shepherding the Israelites while Pharaoh and his army was in hot pursuit.

37.12 "Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." The land is no longer the same since an earthquake lifted up the city which is now called new Jerusalem. Zech.14.10. The second vision from.v.14 is about those who found grace. "All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place." It is upon a mountain. (Isa.2.2)."And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all" My servant David refers to the city mentioned in the final vision of Ezekiel . 144,000 is not same as the land God allows them to build the city. (" It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there."-Ezek.48.29-35.) 6x6x6x1000. Compare with those who rejected the Covenant of Seven days: by Law of the Spirit they were judged when God judged Jerusalem in Ezek.ch.9.

Ezek.37: Vision of Dry Bones -1

This entire chapter is divided into two visions and it is very similar to the Vision of the Woman clothed with the Sun. It throws up the same woman, Eve as the mother of all living representing sons of Adam and the church. Pendent to are the same woman now sans her glorious apparel, are sent to the wilderness in which one has chosen her own place. Nevertheless both shall be on a crisis mode what with the dragon persecuting them alike.

Here we have the slain in Israel to which we owe the vision of Ezekiel in Ch.9.1-3 The group of seven tells us that the Law of the Spirit is at work. The cherubis to symbolically leave the temple,'And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub," The churub with the flaming sword in Gen.2.24 was to keep the way to the tree of life. This is an avenging cherub, fiery serpent jealously guarding the holiness of the Lord as the Brazen Serpent on a pole indicate,. What is their task to mark those who would be saved from destruction not from Babylon, nor from Rome. Command number Seven is a whole number."And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:/Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house./And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city."(9.5-11) and it is beyond recall."And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me."

So the dry bones in the open valley refers to them who did not find grace.

One crucial difference marks them as an army not fit for active duty. "and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together,"(37.7)

Modification required in the first half:

Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good." (Prov.20-23).

It pleased God that in him (Jesus Christ) should all his fulness should dwell. No more stringently can be this rule be applied than in translating the holiness of God as a building being built over the foundation of hia only begotten Son. Yet how lackadaisically all all the blood of martyrs shed in the pagan Rome served a tree we have as here?Tree of righteousness can only be grown having seed in itself and after his kind. The everlasting Covenanton the day Three is crystal clear:"and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth." The seed is the word of God and if this single measurement,'thy word is truth' is absent, what we get are heresies. Rightly so and like behemoth Christians drinking up doctrines of error ever since. ( Job 40.23)

Just one point: single measurement

"Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good." (Prov.20-230. It pleased God than in him (Jesus Christ) should all his fulness should dwell. No more stringently can be this rule be applied than in translating the holiness of God as a building being built over the foundation of hia only begotten Son. Yet how lackadaisically all the blood of martyrs shed in the pagan Rome served a tree we have as here?Tree of righteousness can only be grown having seed in itself and after his kind. The everlasting Covenanton the day Three is crystal clear:"and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth." The seed is the word of God and if this single measurement,'thy word is truth' what we get are heresies. Day Three is the command number for the Son. Thus building on the ruins of a Pagan Rome is not 'in our image;' neither the fruits the tree have yielded few and far between is will worship than for the glory of God. 'After our likeness' cannot be in treating the fulness of God in Christ in outward show of opulence. Herod's temple was one such and Jesus castigated it,"See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."(Mt.24.2). Abiding in Christ is entering into God's rest. The single measurement is faith holding both heaven and earth, by him all things consist' and it is "an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel." Both word becoming flesh and angel as ministering spirit,'as one what imposter churches use are abomination to God as diverse weights. So deity of Jesus is skipped over to make him easier to sell before the ungodly. What of angels? Not even a whisper, it is Papism. Are not angels' ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Heb.1.14)

Greetings Chris,

I appreciate your thoughts on these topics! I'll be careful with the Apocrypha and do more research.

By "Double judgment" he meant that individuals who lived before Christ will be judged by the laws of the Old Testament, whereas those after Christ are judged according to the New Testament. So, is this true? I wasn't provided any scripture references by him.

Question1:(Earthly Punishment vs Divine Punishment)

If a believer is punished on earth for their sins & completes their sentence, as per earthly laws, will they be judged again & be punished by God for those same sins? Or will the punishment be less severe in the afterlife? If so, what would a lighter punishment look like, & how does their personal accountability factor into this?

Question 2: (Physical Punishment vs Emotional Punishment)

If divine punishment involves being burned in eternal fire, a physical suffering, how can a non-beliver & a believer who caused not only caused physical but also emotional and psychological pain (like anxiety, embarrassment , mockery, insults, verbal abuse, cruel jokes, belittling comments, causing feelings of inadequacy and profound shame, betrayal, or humiliation), experience a similar level of suffering? How would God take these intangible, emotional wounds into account, and make the sinner experience that same suffering and accountable for them?

Question 3: (Accountability After Being Saved)

If Jesus, has already forgiven a believers future sin too, How is that just? Ex: if that believer who's in spiritual leadership (pastor), has caused severe harm to others & their lives, dividing families to exploit, sexual exploitation (rape), abortions , responsible for a person's demise indirectly, manipulating laws or people, abuse, & only pretend to repent when it becomes convenient at old age - claiming this was done to protect Lord's work? Isn't it true, If such individuals are not punished, there's no Justice severed in such Judgment, No Perfect Moral Judgment?

Rev.11.1-2 "The Gentiles"

"And measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein./ But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."

The Gentiles meant for worship from the outer court are nations from the left-behind church and the Jews. This shall be called the new earth.

What is the temple of God? " for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."(Rev.21.22) The 144,000 has already been fixed. As the river flowed from Eden to the tree of life on either side of the pure river of water of life, they have been ever since about the Lamb on mount Sion. When the temple is opened,'And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testamen." This ark of his testament is what the Father gave his Son. We shall look at some of the features of the outer court.

Rev.21.23-27

Light is called light of the Lamb and the nations called to the new earth walked under it. "for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

'And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it./for there shall be no night there./And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it./And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

"And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite."(2 Sam.24.18) Gentile or Jew,bond or free they were part of temple. The Covenant in seven days brought them along. They had entered into the God's rest by faith. Instead we have sects making Sabbath, an issue: they are the Gentles treading the holiness of God,

The prayer of Ana - Continued part 6

14 And Eli said vnto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

15 And Hannah answered, and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowfull spirit: I haue drunke neither wine nor strong drinke, but haue powred out my soule before the Lord.

16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and griefe, haue I spoken hitherto.

17Then Eli answered, and said, Goe in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, that thou hast asked of him.

18And she said, Let thine handmaid finde grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eate, and her countenance was no more sad.

It is impossible to leave God's presence sad. When she entered his presence,

When she entered his presence, she opened her heart - glory to God!

Anne understood that Peninnah was just someone who had been hurt, wounded, broken. what beautiful details in Your Word.

That's why we trust God. that this word will reach the hearts of men and women

who have difficult people in their lives - people who provoke them, make them cry, make them lose their appetite, even fall into depression.

May they have the courage to pray prayers of forgiveness - to release these people. ( Matthew 5:43-44)

The prayer of Ana - Continued part 5

10 And shee was in bitternesse of soule, and prayed vnto the Lord, and wept sore.

11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hostes, if thou wilt indeed looke on the affliction of thine handmayd, and remember me, and not forget thine handmayd, but wilt giue vnto thine handmayd a man childe, then I will giue him vnto the Lord all the dayes of his life, and there shall no rasor come vpon his head.

Hannah continued to pray to the Lord for a long time.

This caught my attention.

She was laying out before God all the battles she had faced with Peninnah.

And I honestly believe that during this prayer, Hannah forgave Peninnah.

The Bible doesn't say it directly,

but everything indicates that this was the case.

Why?

Because if she had bitterness in her heart,

if she was holding a grudge,

if her heart was still heavy with pain -

it wouldn't have flowed.

12 And it came to passe as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth.

13 Now Hannah, shee spake in her heart; onely her lippes mooued, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had beene drunken.

Eli began to pay attention to her. He noticed that she had been there for a long time, and that her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.

The prayer of Ana - Continued part 4

7 And as he did so yeere by yeere, when she went vp to the house of the Lord, so she prouoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

Whenever they went to the Lord's sanctuary, Peninnah would irritate Hannah so much that she would cry and not eat.

Now we're talking about going to worship - this is no longer just about being disturbed at home. Peninnah would bother Hannah on the way to the house of God.

We need healing - I learned this in therapy:

Because this kind of behavior is not normal.

There are things that are spiritual and there are things that need to be put

out in the open.

8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieued? Am not I better to thee, then ten sonnes?

Elkanah: "Hannah, why are you crying?"

He acted like he didn't know what was going on. Did he really not see it?

Where was he that he couldn't notice?

Because those who provoke don't always do it loudly.

It's through small, subtle gestures - the kind that only someone very attentive can see, right?

I'll come to the part of the prayer.

Then Elkanah asks:

"Am I not better to you than ten sons?"

Of course not, Elkanah! What kind of question is that? That was Hannah's dream.

9 So Hannah rose vp after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunke; (now Eli the Priest sate vpon a seat by a poste of the Temple of the Lord. )

I imagine they were sitting in the lobby. And Hannah got up, distressed, crying.

1 Chron.21. "Then the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."

Compare this with this verse from the book of Samuel. " And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite./ And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the Lord commanded."(2 Sam.24.18-19)

The Angel of the Lord points to oOrnan "And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat." The number Four refers to the word become flesh as well as man blessed of God. Canaanite or the Gentile he was busy with the threshing floor which corresponds to our world in the body. In the world framed by the word of God the Angel of the Lord directs his course in heavenly place while we has a part in the ministry furthering His will. In the second book of Samuel the emphasis is on the obedience aspect where David is set as double for the Son.

Just One Point: Angel of the Lord

"And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem."(1 Chron.21.16) Here we have a valley between heaven and the earth. The angel is positioned similar to the cherubim. It is not a flaming sword but a draen sword. He is not judging the earth but in the valley framed by the word of God. We are among the ungodly world but we are framed by the world of the Spirit and the angel of the Lord is the Spirit of christ working as a two edged sword. Judgment must first begin with the house of God, is iit not? Conscience of David pricked and he fell upon his face. "Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me." Who sent him but the Word? It is thus the Spirit of God worked with holy men of old. Seventy thousand tells also that it was determined by the Law of the Spirit."and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men."(vv.14-15)

We have another instance where Joshua meets the angel,"And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?/

15 And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." The world framed by the word is not as the ungodly men gather to spin conspiracy theories our walk should be as we stand on a holy ground.(Joshua.5.13-15)

The prayer of Ana - Continued

part 3

6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatnesse, and with the blood of lambes and goates, with the fat of the kidneys of rammes: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

It was God who did not allow Hannah to have children.

Hannah wasn't barren - because there's a difference between barrenness and God not permitting something.

Peninnah, her rival, would provoke and humiliate her. Because Peninnah had many children.

And you know - there are people who, even while producing a lot, still want to disturb you.

People who, even while doing a lot, earning more than you, still look at you and want to provoke you.

Peninnah also longed to be loved, but she didn't have that place in Elkanah's heart.

I just felt led to look at Peninnah's side of the story, because every person who wounds others is usually wounded themselves.

Peninnah kept bothering Hannah because she felt excluded, rejected.

That doesn't justify her actions toward Hannah, but she stepped into that place of bitterness, that place of rejection. ( Hebrews 12:15)

Did you get the emotional storyline?

Because there are emotional layers . We're talking about real people.

Peninnah was a difficult person - and she was chosen second.

Now imagine the atmosphere in that house: The children watching two grown women constantly clashing.

Because Hannah was the true lady of the house. but she was sad - because she couldn't give her husband a child.

And meanwhile, her rival Peninnah was always with Elkanah - It must have been heartbreaking.

The prayer of Ana - Continued part 2

3 And this man went vp out of his citie yeerely, to worship and to sacrifice vnto the Lord of hostes in Shiloh; and the two sonnes of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, the Priests of the Lord, were there.

Elkanah would leave his city and go up to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord Almighty.

At the main gathering place - the central congregation. Shiloh was like the high point where all the people of Israel would gather for the annual congress, which were the yearly sacrifices.

The people of Israel would come together there.

Let's picture a very large church that holds a general congress every year - a big celebration, a conference, however you want to call it.

But every year they would go there. And what was going on? Hophni and Phinehas - who were they?

They were the sons of Eli, the priest. And they themselves were priests of the Lord in Shiloh.

4 And all the hoste of heauen shalbe dissolued, and the heauens shalbe rouled together as a scrole: and all their hoste shall fall downe as the leafe falleth off from the Uine, and as a falling figge from the figge tree.

5 For my sword shall bee bathed in heauen: beholde, it shall come downe vpon Idumea, and vpon the people of my curse to iudgement.

Elkanah deeply loved Hannah, even though the Lord had not allowed her to have children.

He was the kind of husband who loved his wife regardless of what she could give him.

Modified

"I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven."(2 Cor.12.2)"

God made man in our image and after our likeness, which corresponds to Word was God to which we shall add this: the Word was God became flesh in due time and was sent to the world, So Jesus Christ claimed rightly, I have overcome the world"

the rest follows as before.

Just one Point: Three Heavens

God made man in our image and after our likeness, which corresponds to Word was God to which we shall call the the Word was God became flesh in due time, So Jesus Christ claimed rightly, I have overcome the world'. He commissions his disciples, " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."(Mt.28.18; jn 16.33) Word was with God explains Jesus Christ as the word become flesh whereas the angel of the Lord qualified as a strong angel or mighty angel refers to him in heaven. "when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him./And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire./But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."(Heb.1.6-8) The three heavens holds three thrones respectively.

"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."(1 Cor.15.28) The nations cast out come under outer darkness, while the Lord is there explains the kingdom of God. (Ezek.48.35). We shall shortly consider the Valley of Dry Bones

Zec,14.10 "From Geba to Rimmon"

"All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate,.."

Compare Geba to Rimmon with this expression very familiar in Israel. "From Geba to Beersheba" expressed the whole extent of the kingdom of Judah, just as "from Dan to Beersheba" described the whole length of Palestine. Here the Spirit is giving us new coordinates since the traditional site of Jerusalem has ben elevated and significance of places also do shift. This change owes to a cataclysmic earthquake to which we referred in the earlier post under the title "The Elevated Site.

Geba is a hill , a Levitical city given to the tribe of Benjamin. Whereas Rimmon once again is associated with the tribe and it marks the rock into which the remnant of 600 Benjamites fled.(Jud.20:45). Seven thousand of them were slain meaning the tribe had been to all intent and purpose was annihilated. This 600 is a remnant and it also applies to the nation of Israel. When Jerusalem is ransacked totally, leaves yet 'and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city."(14:2). This is how God has willed and it was shown out true in the case the tribe of Benjamin. So shall be with the nation of Israel. Only they shall be brought into the body of Christ through much tribulation.

The remnant of the Tribe of Benjamin found a rock to hide themselves. But when the Day of wrath there shall be no escape. "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places./ And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains."And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb (Re.6:14-17)

Zec.14 "the elevated site" (2 of 2)

God divided the waters,"and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." (Ex.14:22)

Similarly before crossing the Jordan, "That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.:( Joshua 3:16). In this book we have this verse:

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."(v.4)

The visions of Zechariah refer to deep valley and mountains of brass on either side,"behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass."(Ze.6:1) and in the first vision,"We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." The river of time connects waters above the firmament to the last chapter where the pure water of life flows through from middle of the throne of of the Lamb and of God,- various visions are thus strung up on the continuous thread highlighting the mercy of God.

Zec.14 "The Elevated Site" (1 of 2)

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee."(v.1) But this division is caused by a cataclysmic upheaval so " and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place," (v.10). In order to understand this earthquake the Spirit sets an earlier earthquake as a precedent."yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah." But here the Spirit is referring to the shaking the heaven and the earth once more. "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land."( Haggai 2:6). This is to elevate the city of Jerusalem on an elevated site, which is in the mid-air.

We have yet another clue as to the timing of the earthquake. Resurrection of the two witnesses. (Re.11) "And the same hour was there a great earthquake. And in v.14 we have this announcement from heaven: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.". It is clear that the site of Jerusalem has shifted. For this reason we read that the vision of St John gives it in mid-air. "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."(Re.21:2)

The Spirit has been preparing us from the parting of the red sea how irrational it was to put your trust in your eyes. "This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD."(Je.17:5-NIV) St Paul speaks "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.:(2 Co.4:18)

We shall refer verses where up or down west or east have their own significance.

Gen.3.24 "Cherubim" (2 of 2)

The cherubim held a faming sword to keep the way. It is of him God has warned about,'my name is in him'. The wanderings of the Israelites were a dry run for us because God has prepared a place for us. The cherubim keep the way so we have the spiritual rock which was Christ."And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind."(Ps.18.10;104.3-4)

In order to understand the significance of vallies in the Bible we shall examine the earth and heaven. InGen.1.1 we have the Father Son relationship. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool./The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."(Ps.110.1-2) Thus we have two thrones in terms of the Will and fulfilment. Secondly we have two worlds framed by the Word. (Heb.11.3) So before tribulation we have "And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,/... till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." We can infer that Eden is where the Word has his throne.

"the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."(3.23) Adam by sinning shall be judged according to the Word. The cherubim stands over the valley formed between heaven and the earth to keep the way for the sons of Adam. Thus we have one valley where the river from Eden flows, which is the river of time. flowing and the tree of life (Rev.22.2) The other valley is where cherubim stands. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley"(Zec.14.4-6). 'It shall be in that day'

Gen.3.24 "Cherubim" (1 of 2)

The river from Eden ran straight to the garden and the same river we see flowing in the middle of the throne of God and of the Lamb. God placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden. Curiously enough in the same place where the river takes a dive:"And from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."From passages elsewhere these four heads are four angels associated with the great river , the river Euphrates. It has a counterpart on the earth.the fourth river Euphrates.(Gen.2.10-14)

"So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Cherubim is the angel of the Lord and he set there to show the way to the tree of life. It is to him God warned Moses about."Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared./Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him."(Exod.23.20-21) The word of God does not change. Just as the Word became flesh we have mighty angel who is sent as ministers of fire. "his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire."

In the inaugural vision of St John we have the risen Christ whose' eyes were as flame of fire; and 'out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword:"(Rev.1.14-16) Similarly we have in 'another mighty angel' Rev. ch.10 who is' 'come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:" Like the cherubim He stands on a valley, "And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth," (10.2) God separated the dry land Earth, 'and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas' (Gen.1.9-10) The Angel of the Lord has a little book while cherubim have the flaming sword, which turned every way, it is the gospel of God.

I don't want to lose sight here of the fact that for the love of the Father Jesus did all this; and for the joy of seeing the labors that He did (See Isaiah 53:11). I may be too bogged down in His suffering; my hope is that when we feel wiped out and are stressed more we can look to the Spirit to strengthen us. I also want to look at the spiritual battles as evidence we are His children and of course the fact that the war is won already.

Thanks for the love and encouragement.

Agape; Rich P

1 Samuel - The Power of Prayer. Now, without prayer, things have only gotten worse.

Note: May the Lord grant the desire of your heart. Of course, in alignment with His will - it's always good to make that clear here.

The book of 1 Samuel marks and records the transition from the period of the judges to the period of the kings, right?

This change in Israel's life revolves mainly around three men: Samuel, Saul, and David.

And Samuel was the last judge of Israel- I learned that in Sunday School.

1 Now there was a certaine man of Ramathaim Zophim, of mount Ephraim, & his name was Elkanah, the sonne of Ieroham, the sonne of Elihu, the sonne of Tohu, the sonne of Zuph, an Ephrathite;

2 And he had two wiues, the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

So, the law at that time allowed that, so that a family wouldn't be left without descendants - the husband could take another woman, a second wife, to bear children for him. In that culture, this was permitted. But Elkanah brought a huge problem into his own home. Because not everything that is allowed is actually good. It doesn't mean it's going to work out. And so, he brought a serious problem into his household.

proverbs 27:5-6, Galatians 6:1, Matthew 18:15

Note: this is for us believers. I believe we are repentant sinners, we have to be.

Dear friend. Thanks for the answer and you're right, I was probably a little eager to contribute. And then it gets a little weird. Sorry. I don't have the patience of an angel to teach. Since I am far too impulsive in most of what I do. We are all so different! Isn't that good? Some people for encouragement, some people for reflection, some people for inspiration and so on. I don't know if you can exactly define a person as I am often perceived, but I try. (super optimist) Of course I have learned a few lessons. Since we are these different people in God's universe. So there is only one thing to hold on to. What you first learned from Him. What may not always be what you yourself want, but because the Lord wants. We can resist for a long time. Then I think of Jonah and others. I found out early on with the Lord that before a test, I always found a lot of obstacles. Absolutely terrible in fact! There are stories I don't even want to mention. But this is where I stood against. Never proud, but humble and trembling. Because it is right before God. John 7:17 became my words. And to remind all of you who take the time to read. Then there is never a mistake, that is when we learn to walk with the Lord. It is much worse not to try and do a good deed for the Lord. We are not talking about the flesh now. For in the flesh live those who act from their own ambitions, their own interests, those who want to defend themselves. For the Lord knows the heart and knows what lives in ours. It cannot fail. He is always with us. If anyone should think that one should make such a mistake that their name would be erased from the Book of Life. Can one believe that the Lord does not defend His children? Takes them home before the children can perish. Of course He can! Therefore we live in a time Grace upon grace. Because He is in control. Got some nice words for you today "Richard H Priday". Believe it or not, I've tested them. Mark 11:20-24 Not my will but the Lord's will, Amen Christ love

Zec.2.13-14 "Will the Real Israel show up?

What do we mean by the name Israel? The Spirit gives us the clear defintion to the word." And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Gen.32.28) The nation having rejected the Word and the Son cannot be called as such. Prophets of God has called Israel is inclusive sense in the great many visions. We shall examine two passages:

Zec.2 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith theLord./And many nations shall be joined to theLordin that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that theLordof hosts hath sent me unto thee./And theLordshall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again./Be silent, O all flesh, before theLord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.."Zec.2.10-13)Notice the line, "Shall choose Jerusalem again' refers to New Jerusalem.(Rev.21)

And again in Zec.14 "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south./And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: and theLordmy God shall come, and all the saints with thee."(Zec.14.4-5)

This is with direct reference to Rev.11.13 "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."

We see 'the great valley where God places cherubim, "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim."(Gen.3.24)

Heb.4.14-16 "A great high priest" Priest-King (2 of 2)

" we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,"

In the Vision of Zechariah it is evident that the Angel of the Lord is none other than the Word was God. "for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch." He is referring to Jesus Christ who is the Word which was with God. Jesus in his first Advent was as the servant-King, From the context it is obvious that Joshua, an Hebrew variant for the name Jesus is standing before God and his saints, and he represents men plucked out of tribulation, ' Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at.' Joshua is not the high priest in the traditional sense but his garments were not for beauty or glory but whom he represented."For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;/Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself." The Holy Spirit gives us a precedent in the manner Seth stepped in the void made by Abel's murder. He represented those who were cast off but they gave glory to God. "And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."(Rev.11.13) 'There is no redemption without shedding of blood.' The action of sealing the 144000," And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,/Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. They prevailed over God and men as Jacob. (Gen.32.28).

Christ's persecution and stressors during His earthly ministry

Matthew 14:13 shows that Christ's retreat indeed was after hearing about John the Baptist's martyrdom; also mentioned in Mark 6. There are several things we observe here; first of all in this case the Disciples were in mind here as they had finished ministry work and the Lord indicated they would go retreat and rest. This wasn't to happen; as the crowds followed Him. Jesus nonetheless miraculously provided for them; and immediately after this we see His next issue with the Pharisees; that of eating with unclean hands in Mark 7. I had touched upon the Lord Himself in a post from a few months back. Surely His grief would have been great as John was said to be the most Godly man alive and instrumental to prepare the way for the Lord (see Matthew 11:11).

Anyway; as we explore Matthew 7 we see the hypocrisy indicated with the Pharisees and their greatest dilemma of unclean hearts trumping any issues with unclean hands. Thus; in general we see the ceremonial law is of no spiritual significance.

It serves for purification to enable one to physically survive in the presence of God (at least at that time) before His atoning sacrifice rendered it unnecessary. This showed the whole perspective of the Pharisees was self righteousness and their rules and regulations had no value with unclean souls. Jesus used a prophecy in Isaiah 29:13 in Mark 7:6 in His rebuke. Isaiah had much to say about God being sick and tired of religious sacrifices and offerings with impure hearts (see Isaiah 1:17 and following verses).

The rest of Mark 7 shows Jesus in the area of Tyre ministering to the Syrophoenician woman and commended her great faith; and He also ministered in the area of the Decapolis. For this brief excursion He got a break from the Pharisees; but in chapter 8 He once again has to confront them in regard to their hypocrisy.

Christ's earthly ministry and persecution

I am focusing attention here on persecution but also the stressors in general Christ faced which I detailed in some posts from an earlier date. Yesterday I started with the initial response of the Pharisees which as I stated previously as well would eventually result in no less than 10 attempts on His life.

Since I'm trying to approach this with a chronological approach to His ministry for the 3 1/2 years I will try to identify each issue the Lord dealt with in light of that approach. Nonetheless; of course especially at the end during His last week on earth it all was caving in.

I touched on the Apostles already; and indicated that others tagged along or wanted to hang out with the Lord but He saw many leave after asking them hard questions as to their sincerity.

In this "episode" I'll delve into a different situation; one scarcely undertaken and that is when He cast the demons out of the man whose chief demon in charge called himself "legion". The owners of the pigs asked Jesus to leave the area; nonetheless the man was told to share in his household and associations all God had done for him (see Mark 5:13 and following few verses).

I'll just say here that probably due to economic reasons they didn't want Jesus hanging around with their pig farm.

The next episode is in Mark 5:40 where Christ has people laughing at him; that is mourners when He went to raise Jairus' daughter from the dead. On the surface; it would seem as though they had reason for this; although if they were truly mourning and not putting up a show you'd expect anger to be the reaction. Nonetheless; the concept of a soul being alive after death and also I would say a child being in God's presence ( Matthew 18:10) is something that is foreign to some but Jesus explained this in other scriptures such as Luke 20:38.

The next issue was the unbelief in His hometown ( Mark 6:4) after comments that he weas just the carpenter's son.

Ps.110.5 Priest King (1 of 2)

" But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Heb.1.8) This shall help us understand what he said to Old Samuel, "When they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord./ And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them."God had presented his Son as the King' and God in his Omniscience knew the people who rejected His counsel. He sent his angels and told Moses, "Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared./Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him."(Exod.23.20-21) But did they heed him? God adds,"According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee"(1 Sam.8.7-8)

God tells his Son,"TheLordsaid unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." This explains the silence in heaven for the space of half an hour indicating the earthly ministry of his Son.(Rev.8.1) "When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high":

When does his reign begin? Upholding all things by the word of His power is in power and glory,"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person," cannot mean any other than his kingdom is Word based. Thus his gospel and of his Father gives us 144 a constant. Forever aspect is in multiples of 1000. Thus we came across His sanctified ones standing on mount Sion. (Rev.14.1)We shall consider the second group which Joshua the high priest represents.They are also 144,000

Rev.11.13 "Brand plucked out of fire" (2of 2)

The angels 4 in number holding up four winds in (Rev.7.1) require to be subsumed into the entire narrative. Instead of the Lamb slain in Rev.5.6 we are presented with another image 'of the brand plucked out of fire. "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of theLord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him./And theLordsaid unto Satan, TheLordrebuke thee, O Satan; even theLordthat hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.(Zec.3.1-4)

God set apart 144,000 as sanctified ones and the writer to the Hebrews refers to them as heirs of salvation. "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:/ They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;/ And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail./ But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"(Heb.1.10-14) In a few posts we shall examine the role of Jesus Christ who is presented to the nation of Israel and the left-behind church as Joshua, the high priest. So we have the saying of Jesus,

"As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep/ And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd./Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again."(Jn.10.15-17) These 144,000 shall form the new earth.