Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 74

Hey brother S Spencer,

Thank you.

Number 3, referring to those who start their theology with a doctrine they choose. I understand this as preconceived ideas in our minds that block the truth of scripture. We share the same view: the time of Jacob's trouble will not be seven years, but in Revelation 11:2, it will be; they will tread under foot forty-two months. The kingdom will be established on this earth, an unconditional promise from God, and the land of Israel will be restored.

Just like pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation doctrines. Regardless of which is believed, these are doctrines of the rapture of the Church, not about the first resurrection, which scripture says there are only two. These seven years are not explicitly in Revelation but are often associated with a doctrine derived from Daniel 9:27, which is part of the 490-year or 70-week prophecy given to Daniel. This prophecy concerns the people of Israel and Jerusalem, with 490 years allotted for six specific events, and the destruction of the city and temple in vs 26 by the prince, Titus, and the people, the Roman army in 70 AD.

Additionally, verse 25 states that from the commandment, it will be 69 weeks until the Messiah. This occurred in Matthew 3:16, Luke 3:21-22, and was confirmed by Peter in John 1:45. The seven years had already passed when verse 26 states, "after threescore and two weeks shall the Messiah be cut off/crucified. 7 + 62 = 69 weeks. Jesus was anointed, and about 3.5 years later, He was crucified, not for Himself but for us. This was in the middle of the 70th week and ended the need for sacrifice and oblations, Scripture, not doctrine.

The prophecy given to Daniel in Chapter 9 has been fulfilled; the 70 weeks ended when Stephen was killed. Blindness is in part, and the gospel went to the Gentiles until their fullness. The 7 years are only part of the doctrine of the rapture of the Church, not in Scripture.

God bless,

RLW

Hi Bible Alone.

Sorry for such a late response.

You stated, "Christ Himself states this very clearly in John 18:36. The Kingdom of Christ consists of ALL of God's Elect throughout the history of the world,

Here's how John 18:36 reads, "Jesus answered, MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

JESUS SAID HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD!

The Davidic Kingdom, established through the covenant with King David, is a specific EARTHLY KINGDOM with a physical lineage and earthly reign.

The Kingdom of God, on the other hand, is a BROADER CONCEPT ENCOMPASSING GOD'S UNIVERSAL REIGN AND SOVEREIGNTY, both now and in the future, and can be entered through spiritual rebirth.

This is an eternal kingdom that has no beginning and ending and was never in need of being restored.

Blessings.

Thank you GiGi for sharing more about Kim's situation (past & present). Will continue to lay her life and concerns before the LORD of mercies and comfort. May He reveal Himself to her in such a way that her spirit will be lifted and her sorrows fade away for the Glory of the Living Loving God ministering to her. May the LORD strengthen you too in your deep concern for your friend, that every contact you make with her will be as God's Hands to bless and encourage her.

Thank you Aer805,

I appreciate your prayers and concern.

Thanks Chris,

Yes, she is in deep with self-pity. It has not been easy for her these past 30 years because her husband was a self-centered, unbeliever who did not care for her well through that time. She was able to get around well, care for herself, help out at my school and go to church easily up until about 2018 when her body began to get so achy from all the compensation her body was doing for the weaker, paralyzed side of her body. Once they hunkered down during covid, things just went downhill quickly. Her husband had lung cancer, then prostate cancer and finally leukemia, which took his life. In all the years of her disability, he did not help out much at home, still expecting her to cook all the meals, take care of the house and all while he worked. So, things have been hard for her for decades but expressly less manageable these past 5 years.

She is embarassed about her situation now, especially since she has gained so much weight and cannot keep herself showered and primped like she used to do. I pray that God will bring about a better solution to her life at this time and that she will become more open to having me visit. I would like to visit her once a week. I have only seen her a few times in the past 5 years. She was very fearful of covid and got used to not going anywhere for so many months. Well, things just got away from her and now she is in a bad situation. We have been friends for 30+ years.

Dear Richard,

Thanks you for your prayers for Kim.

I am glad to know that your trip to your cabin gave you some answers as to what needs to be done to make it a suitable place to stay.

I continue to pray for you and for your dad.

Hi Lbooth1955.

I got your sequence on the End times events.

Nicely laid out

Thanks.

God bless

Part 3.

In Daniel 9:20 we see Daniel making supplication before the LORD and confessing his sin and the sin of HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL.

"And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

In Verse 23 we see Gabriel come to give him answers according to his prayer. Daniel 9:23.

In verse 24 he says "Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE! ISRAEL!

The great Tribulation is to drive Israel to acknowledge their Saviour.

This is prophesied in Hosea 5:15. "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

In Matthew 23:38-39 Jesus says "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Israel will be saved out of the tribulation when they call on the name of the Lord.

Jeremiah 30:7 "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

The Church will be kept from the HOUR of the tribulation!

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee FROM THE HOUR of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

FROM THE HOUR of TEMPTATION!

The Church won't be here during this time period!

If the Church is raptured after the Great tribulation and the rest of the world is annihilated who's going to populate the Millenium?

Is the rapture a resurrection? No. Some of this group is alive!

Are those who are alive, then caught up "part" of the first resurrection? Yes.

The first resurrection is better understood as a category rather than a sequence.

Those who are in Christ whether sleep or alive is part of the first Resurrection.

More perhaps later

Blessings.

Something to think about:

Psalms 104:34

"My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD

In the time of sadness, we can always be glad we have GOD.

Amen!!!

Psalms 64:10

"The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory."

"Lord, help my unbelief,". Mark 9:24

This morning I heard some one say that

" honest doubt is better than fake faith.

Mark 9:24

"And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

Matthew 17:20

"And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

Just wanted to share this thought.

Thanks for reading. Be blessed.

Part 2.

Luke 1:31-33.

Again, Christ ruling "Jacob" on the throne of David haven't happened yet! Also, that throne did not exist during for Christ ministry here on earth.

What is Important is God confirmed his promises by an oath in Psalms 132:11 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. There are many of these promises!

Prophecies pointing to this section of scripture especially the 70 week of Daniel onwards centers around Israel and precisely "JACOB" as this seems to be used often when their rebellious nature is being highlighted. It speaks of "THE PEOPLE" of that nation. JACOB!

This is why it's called the time of Jacobs trouble! Jeremiah 30:7-9.

The Church was never in trouble in this respect.

Ezekiel 37:21-25 cannot apply to the Church. (Just one of many reasons why.)

When examining Ezekiel 36:20-27 we see whose reputation is at stake in keeping these promises. (Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.)

The Blindness of Israel will be lifted when the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Then God will focus his attention on Israel.

This is what James is saying in Acts 15:14-16. "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up.

He says "AFTER THIS! After what? After God takes out of the Gentiles a people for his name! This is where salvation has went to the Gentiles UNTIL the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

See Part 3

All roads lead to Armageddon

In the spiritual dimension; powerful principalities and powers await the timing of the Rapture in order to fully implement the Antichrist's covenant with many; the mark of the beast and eventually attempt to overthrow Christ Himself after gathering the nations together as Psalm 2 and Revelation 19 make clear. As to the details on that campaign perhaps I'll elaborate on a future post.

There are things which involve Michael in the last days. Daniel 12:1 states: And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

We also read in Revelation 12:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

In this power play we see two sides who both are contending for power; Satan of course will know that his time is short ( Rev. 12:12) as dictated by God. Michael as one of the Archangels is involved in fighting this anointed cherubim who fell and the outcome is already known. In doing this; of course Satan and his minions are cast down to earth and allowed for the brief space of 42 months to wreak havoc.

In light of these awesome and fearsome events we need to remember God's sovereignty. We also need to understand His purposes

Daniel 9:24 states: Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. This summarizes of course the 69 weeks from 444 BC to the crucifixion; but especially is focused on the last 70th week.

Good afternoon.

As promised, here I would like to share my approach and way of interpreting scripture and why I hold to the views I do, especially when it comes to eschatology.

Part 1

There are 3 major groups that we fall in according to the way we interpret eschatology and sadly with some of us it's according to the way they interpret the bible.

They tend to let their eschatology beliefs shape their theology of the whole bible.

There's Amillennial, Postmillennial and Premillennial,

Out of the Amillennial group there is a group called preterists that believe everything's been fulfilled.

That's another way of saying there is no Millennium.

There's Premillennial, but even within that group, there are three different subgroups, and they depend on whether you think that the rapture of the church occurs before, in the middle or at the end of the seventy weeks of Daniel.

One of the subgroups, "Post Tribulational" shares the same view of the Amillennial group. (The rapture is at the end of the seventy weeks of Daniel.)

From what I have observed when studying eschatology we have three groups of people.

1) Those who's going to take the bible literally/serious and trying to be precise.

2) Those who handle the scripture as mostly broad symbols.

3) Those who begin their theology with a doctrine they decided to hold on to, and they shape the way scripture is interpreted around their already established doctrinal beliefs.

Here is what I believe.

Luke 1:31-33 is to be taken literally!

This haven't happened yet. That's a problem for Amillennialism.

Christ ruling "Jacob" on the throne of David haven't happened yet!

That throne did not exist during for Christ ministry here on earth.

See Part 2.

Mt. 25.1-13 Parable of the Ten Virgins

The Parable begins with conjunctive adverb 'Then' where time places the significance of the kingdom. "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,/And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."(24.50-51)

Next point to keep in mind is the prophesy of end times has already been set rolling save for a few details. The Parable as phrased by Christ for the disciples refers to the world unseen and God has determined when the kingdoms of the world should be replaced. The sounding of the seventh trumpet indicates the day.(Rev.11.15)"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."(24.42)

"And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him./Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps." Who are these virgins and they are set apart by God among 144,000. (Rev.14.1) Obviously among those throng surrounding the Lamb on mount Sion we have the Jews, the Gentiles-all first fruits. This is a slice of what is unseen being set in the divine Will of the Father.

The hour refers to the coming of the Lord while the midnight refers to the day, so the kingdom of heaven is to be revealed and it is in heaven. Ten is with reference to the Jews out of the nation of Israel. Out of these five who were foolish. This is what we see in the book of Ezekiel, "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.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."(Ezek.9.4-7)

Psalm 103:19,

proverbs 19:21,

isaiah 55:11. kjv.

Greetings

James 2:21 "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?"

James 2:22 "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?"

Hebrews 10:24 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:"

Blessings

The harmony of God's Word is so beautiful and bursting with hope! Thank you for these promises and reassurance! They are much needed in such a time as this!

I will pray for your friend Kim. It sounds like a difficult situation. I pray she will continue in faith and not give up on the Lord.

Dear Chris,

I want to take a moment to thank you for your thoughtful response to my statements regarding the olive tree. While we may not see eye to eye on every detail, I truly value the dialogue we share. It is clear that there are certain points where we do find common ground, and I find that very encouraging.

It is a real pleasure to read your responses and to consider your perspective as we both continue to learn and grow in our understanding. I appreciate the time and care you put into your thoughts, and I look forward to continuing our discussions.

Thank you once again.

With respect and gratitude,

LBooth

Hello again in peace "Lbooth1955". I didn't get an answer to the question I asked about the day of God's wrath? Where is it mentioned? I think that Jesus is at least described well at the end of Revelation. I might be able to help you a little here when I checked it up, I found out, God's wrath. I do not doubt that you do not know it yourself, but to make the word alive for other readers. The day of God's wrath is mentioned in Proverbs 11:4 in Zeph 1:15 in Romans 2:5 and many warnings from Jesus and the Apostles mention some in Matthew 24:48-51 and Mat 25:13 Rev 14:19-20 And of course this word when the Earth is to be harvested. The day of God's wrath is when He begins to reap the Earth. So just to mention it in the book of Rev we understand that we are talking about what was and what is. And afterwards we have glorious days with the Lord and finally a new Earth and a new Heaven are created. I completely agree that the Bible was written for the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Those words have been mentioned many times, probably a whole study if you want. But when you have received the Holy Spirit, you can understand the reading. Therefore, the Jews deserve our thanks for their faithfulness to God.And last but not least, we must never forget that they are the first to receive the Word. But as we know, they did not accept Jesus when He visit Israel. But they will see Him, and we expect that Jesus has made everything ready for us. The day we lay down our earthly bodies we are truly with Him. We can't do anything more, so if we come to the last regret about something we didn't do, it's too late of course. I'm sure you've gotten good answers from others here in the forum.To be honest,I haven't read them all. Because we have something going on here now.And the day of the Lord's wrath is coming quickly.But before it we receive many warnings, as we have read the Lord's words in Matthew 24.Here Jesus says, among other things, wars, earthquakes, and so on.There we are. GBu

Jer.17.24 "Hallowed"

And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;"

God set blessings and curse befor man. 'if ye diligently hearken unto me' ine does so with the ear of faith. If any man is in Christ he is a new creation.Law of the Spirit has delivered us from the law of sin and death.' (Rom.8.1-4)

Secte who mix two laws of liberty and sin are compared to dogs turning to its vomit. 'I have seen the light and turn to vomit are the false brethren. " For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning./... to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."(2 Pet.2.20-22)

When you see Gothic cathedrals and its grandeur is amazing; sects build mega churches and when you hear limited Atonement of seven dispensations you are pardoned to wonder whence did they garner wealth to build them up. Churches robbed princes and merchant princes on the threat of hell fire, while sects swindle widows and the poor in their congregation promising untold riches waiting to be tapped.

Diligently abiding in Christ so a believer called to be a saint need not carry any burden to the city that hath foundations whose maker and builder is God seems to be rare these days. May God help us to be dandled as an infant up on many promises of God.

"For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees."(Isa.66.12)

Conclusion: priestly garments Jer.17.1 (2 of 2)

Those who rejected to enter into God's rest hallowed by God are under curse. God had foreseen their rejection in His wisdom and instituted the Law ofMoses. Under which the same principle applies Whole or nothing. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (Jas.2.10)

God set a meansurement which had everything to do with doctrine of Christ, so this compound number of 12 is made by the 'only begotten Son'. The Spirit sets it 4x3=12. On the other hand we have the vision of Ezekiel and in very telling way instructs us and it the number 6, signifying those who refusedto enter into the rest of God. It is exemplified in the two onyx stones, one for curse and the other for blessing. . So Judah's sin is a collective curse than of one man.God in this vision is indicating the measurement of the outer darkness.The Spirit takes over- 'he hand of the Lord was upon me'and tells him, "Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee' (Ezek.40.4) The measuringreed,'and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long '.(v.5)

In the end wehave multiples of 6, "It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.". Significant is the mark of beast is 6-6-6 indicating the body-soul,spirit. 18,000 is made up of 6x6x6x1000. For comparison 144,000 is made up 12x12x12x1000

Imposter churches having given a false interpretation to the Covenant has ever since taken over the same sin of Judah. Hence the false teachers instead of entering into thr God's rest has made a concord with darkness and cannot distinguish between holy and what is not. for instance tJer.17.24 "And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein".

Hi everyone, since I open my King James Bible every day at random, ps a morning ritual to say the least. I have to have something to share if the need arises. It is the Lord who will make us ready. Always be prepared! Help us on our journey to understand that the Holy Spirit is here with us.

In uncertainty:

Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Matthew 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Matthew 26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

Safe and Sound:

1 Cor 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Eph 4:12-13 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

So dear everyone, these are all trustworthy words, believe it and live it. He has so much to show us, and so much we have to live for. When we see this, all Scripture becomes manifest. Trust the Word. A few words on a sunny Sunday morning. Have a good day everyone in Jesus Christ name!

Jer.17.1 "Sin" (1 of 2)

"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;"

As conclusion to the priestly garments the office of Aaron was under the law of sin and death. No better example we can have than the two onyx stones "Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth./ With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave."(Exod.28.9-11) . Law of sin and death was indicated by the Law of Moses and the Decalogue. What was the sin of Judah? Law ofthe Spirit set all heavenly blessings andof the earth,"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come,"-Gen.49.10). Israel's rejection of the king that God had in mind and choice of Saul for a king showed a slippery path, cutting of Israel's blessing, and theAaron's office was a testimony to it.

The Word was God and the Word became flesh, the command number Four in the priestly garments testified Aaron stood in relation to Melchizedk 'but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.'The golden altar with four horns proclaims, east,west,north south the order of Melcizedk ('King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;'-Heb.7.2) establishes the Law of the Spirit. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death/ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:/That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."(Rom.8.2-4)

The Covenant in seven days set forth in the very outset of the Bible sets the Law of the Spirit. This accepts whosoever comes to God is accepted in the Son

Hi GiGi. What a sad lonely situation that your friend Kim is in. I know it can be so easy to blame God for the painful things that come into our lives, especially when we know we haven't done anything wrong to receive such undeserving hardship or discipline. She seems like she is now in a state where it is just self-pity & the overwhelming magnitude of her problems that are consuming her mind and spirit and she sees no way out of it. Unfortunately, we can all go through suffering to a minor or major extent and with her stroke, loss of husband and the indifference of her own daughter, all this together can be far too much to bear.

You have consistently tried to help her and your act of love should let her know that she still has a friend "that stickest closer" than her very own kin. As well, you can't be expected to devote all your time with her and neglect your own life and responsibilities at home. Even with her severe physical problems and limitations, you would know what her interests are, and whether suggesting something like that might prompt her to engage with you better. Anyway, those were just some thoughts, as I recall a friend who had multiple sclerosis for over ten years after which he ended his life by consuming all his medications in one hit. But in the time he was alive, I tried to keep up with visits, even for a short time to just chat, or take him to the bank, chemist, or hospital. Fortunately, he was the type that looked forward to my visits, as he probably did to others who came by, but his pain and sense of hopelessness in any improvement in quality of life, caused him to consider release in death better than bearing with the constant pain (he wasn't a believer, and very resistant to the Gospel). So, I feel very much for you too GiGi, as it can't be easy at all to see a dear one in such a state and being helpless to render her effective help. But God can!! So, we must pray and continue to plead His Hand of Divine help and blessing.

Page 3.

There's much more to write to respond to your other points, but that would not be worthwhile in such a discussion. Though I hope that what I have shared might have covered those other points.

In summary, from Paul's illustration in Romans chap 11, I don't see believing Gentiles being of placed in "Israel's tree" (i.e. becoming an extension of Israel), but that we have been given the opportunity and privilege of being brought in, from being outcasts, into the life-giving tree planted by God, being nourished & blessed along with Israel who have turned to faith in Christ just as us. Only one tree, whose branches were to be faithful and fruitful to their LORD and minister Truth and blessing to the heathen. They failed, many lost their position, and the heathen were then invited to join others in this common faith whose foundation & root only found in Christ. Thank you Lbooth1955 for these discussions - I have enjoyed them and have indeed considered what you've presented. As much as I can understand your belief, particularly of those of the 'wild Olive Tree', my reading of the passage & Paul's direct speech to the Gentiles doesn't convince me to alter or force any other interpretation. That cast off Israel do not form their own 'wild Olive Tree', rather remain in such a state of separation until their blinders come off. Blessings.

Page 2.

1 i. "Do we partake of Israel's tree? Do we fit the description of the wild graft?" As stated previously & without duplicating it here, we do fit the description of the "wild graft", simply because of Paul's reference to Gentiles, & by him speaking to them ( Romans 11:13-24). I realize that you read this differently, but I simply can't do so, for the passage seems very clear to me, especially when Paul warns the Gentiles not to boast of this great privilege (vv18,19); not to do as Israel has done (vv21,22); and a reminder to them of God's Plan/that mystery of both becoming one, once Israel takes off her blinders (vv25,26).

2 i. "Isaiah spoke of God's fruitful plant becoming wild - Isaiah 5:2-4". God planted a good vine, but it brought forth wild grapes. The whole vine became corrupted with rottenness and was to be destroyed (vv5,6). Whereas, Paul's illustration was for the removal of those of Israel who with hardened hearts & blinded eyes, were not fit to take up space and pollute the good Olive Tree & their position given to those of the Gentiles who would hear and believe. The vine was to be destroyed - the Olive Tree was, is and will be preserved.

2 k. "Ezekiel spoke of grafting branches of Judah and Israel together - Eze 37:16-20". This passage came up recently, to which I responded. These verses don't speak of "grafting" rather of 'joining'. The earlier verses (vv1-14) refer to Israel's future political and spiritual revival (the bones coming together and then their breathing into new existence). Then vv15-22, where Judah (Southern Kingdom) and Israel (Northern Kingdom) will one day come together and be joined together as one under Christ. The picture here is of these brothers who were once distinct and separate in both their ruler ship and exile, would one day be joined together, but not engrafted one into the other. To Page 3.

Thanks Lbooth1955. That was an extensive list of verses you shared to examine. Most of them I do agree with (on their own), in context to the chapter/book, but will only highlight a few requiring comments, using your point structure.

1 c. "Since the church exists now, the most popular identification of the graft is you" (using Romans 11:17). I understand that Paul's use of the natural Olive Tree and the Wild Olive Tree is NOT to compare Israel/blind faithless Israel with the Church, but simply comparing them to the Gentiles. Of course, when God receives the Gentiles by Grace through Faith based on Calvary, then they do become the Church of Christ in union (as one) with believing Israel.

But in Paul's illustration, I see it simply as two distinct trees (of the same genus, but one specially selected, planted and nurtured, and the other, uncultivated, unkempt, fit for nothing). As much as olives from a good tree can't be readily eaten in its natural form, more so from a wild tree whose olives are extremely bitter & best discarded. As a people, Gentiles are that wild Olive Tree fit for nothing, yet so as to be acceptable and nourished by God, He has brought us (those saved through faith) and grafted us into the natural good tree. This doesn't mean these believing Gentiles become spiritual Israel, for we only now partake of the same nourishment and blessings from the root of the tree & nothing else ( Romans 11:17,18). Israel and believing Gentiles are distinct in the Plan and economies of God, but together, by our common faith in Christ, are one as Christ's Church. To Page 2.

Sounds awful. I pray that God gives you wisdom and that her daughter and relation won't be taking advantage of her.

I; as per the norm this summer took a trip hours out of town and returned the same day; I got electric in the cabin although he has to check the heater and close an outlet later this week. I couldn't think of anything else when he asked me what to put on since lights work inside and outside the door. Between the snake (probably a harmless garter); in the porta potty and the fiberglass insulation opened up and exposed that wasn't used upstairs exposed to the heat the air wasn't suitable to spend a night there so once again I have come home after 10 hrs of driving; at least I got to hand out a GOSPEL tract up there so all wasn't lost.

My friend from church says he was willing to pay to rent the cabin; but I mentioned it didn't have running water but i said he can stay for free.

Keep me posted on that prayer request.

RP

Dear Friends,

I am asking for prayer once again for my friend Kim. She is disabled from a stroke she had 30 years ago, but the past 5 years have been so difficult with her husband dying of leukemia two years ago and she is unable to take care of herself due to being unstable of her feet.

Her daughter and her partner live with Kim, but barely take care of her. She spends all of her day in her bed. Her room is full of various junk food that she consumes instead of regular meals. Her daughter and partner do not get her up and in her wheelchair to take her out of her room to the living room to visit with them or share a movie or meal.

This really saddens me. Her doctor recommended for her to go to an assisted living situation but she won't for several reasons, she wants to stay in her home and she does not wish to displace her daughter due to needing to sell the house to pay down her assets until she can then have Medicare take care of the expenses of assisted living care.

She rarely contacts me now. I have taken her to a few appointments but does not wish for me to come over and just hang out.

She is lonely, depressed, and mad at God for having her life be so difficult and full of trials when she is trying to live in faith.

She is 67.

I appreciate if a few of you would keep her in your prayers often. Thank you.

Amen Lbooth1955.

Very well spoken!

I'm very busy this weekend,playing catch up!

Hopefully I can join you guys soon.

God bless.