The Favor of God

The favor God gives to whom He will... fascinates me. Obviously He has favored most everyone here on this blog - and hopefully those who just read.

Noah - favored out of a pit of humanity and moral decay.
Joseph - favored out of a literal pit - and a disfunctional family.
Moses - favored out of bondage.
Job - favored beyond spiritual attack.
Esther - favored out of extreme racism.
Ruth - favored out of poverty.
David - favored out of the field.
Daniel - favored throughout captivity.
Nehemiah - favored through adverse working conditions.
Paul - favored through shipwreck and persecution.

All this obvious favor, yet who would we dare trade places with?

Into Eternity

[Discussion begins already in progress...]

It boggles the mind. I can't even begin to understand. 1,000 years with Satan bound in chains, Christ on an earthly throne. I can't even imagine how the world would be. Just how bad could people be without Satanic influence? I know they can be easily led, and once Satan is released for a final season before being cast into the Lake of Fire, many will fall right back into line with their evil and sinful ways.

But how would the world be during His reign? Death isn't thrown into the Lake of Fire until later, so will there be death among the ranks of the lost during the reign? Inquiring minds want to know...

What a Day for Headlines!

COVINGTON, Georgia (AP) -- A driver ran over three young children and two women in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant Tuesday, police said. One witness described the man as having a smile on his face.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police are searching the Kansas City area Wednesday for a couple accused of raping, beating and strangling a 41-year-old woman and burying her in a shallow grave.

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman accused of murdering her three young sons by tossing them into frigid San Francisco Bay was due back in court on Wednesday after saying God summoned her to sacrifice her children, her lawyer said.

GARY, Ind. — A male student who has worn women's clothes to school all year was turned away from his high school prom because he was wearing a dress.


Taking Cheap Shots at Jesus
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
By Neil Cavuto (FOX News)

You wanna make a quick buck? Take a cheap shot at Jesus.
Just ask Dan Brown. Just ask Madonna. — Both have built careers on tearing Jesus down, even as they make outlandish stuff up!
I'm not here to refute "The Da Vinci Code" point by point; just to make this point: Jesus, a good man, and for many, a good Savior, is good material for writers who can't bother with the truth. And aging rock stars who can't handle the truth.
In an age we like to shock to score, going after Jesus, gosh, even thinking you "are" Jesus, is the Hail Mary of financial touchdowns.
It gets people talking, and marching, and protesting. But it keeps otherwise insipid movies alive, and pointless careers afloat. They thrive not on the brilliance of their points, but the controversy of their actions.
Leave it to man these days to think he is remotely capable of judging perhaps the greatest whoever walked this planet of all days. We are that arrogant. That dismissive. That revolting. But mostly that hypocritical. Cautiously avoiding offending Muslims over harmless cartoons of Muhammad, but thinking nothing of insulting Christianity by making a mockery of Jesus.
Going after Muhammad...sacrilege.
Dissing Christ...score.
There's no doubt trashing Jesus will create a buzz for your wallet.
I sometimes wonder whether all that rings hollow in something else. Your soul.

The Security of Bondage

Israel was complaining continually to God in Egypt - lamenting in many cases. The brick-making was difficult and then the straw supply stopped. Things were getting worse. God sent His redemption plan. Place the blood on the door and wait until the angel passes, then be ready to leave in a big hurry.

Marking the door was easy. Kill the lamb, mark the door, eat, keep the suitcase packed. Easy. Move out of town - in a hurry - don't look back - not easy. We all know it was not long before the Israelites were missing their fish and garlic, and the security of knowing what their day held, even if it was hard, miserable work.

We all vie for freedom. Ever been a teenager? Want to be about of the house where there is nobody to tell you when to get off the phone and turn out the lights? It's an attractive thing, until the freedom hits you. Paying for the phone, the lights, the food, the HOUSE... not easy.

Not that this is a bad thing. God sent His SON - Jesus - to grant us just such a freedom. It's not easy. After we apply the blood, then we have to be prepared to MOVE. There is no place for a comfort zone.

This applies to jobs. Even if it's time to move, we prefer to sit and put up with the mondain, or abusive, or unhealthy - simply because we are familiar with it. This applies to relationships. People want to be in a relationship, even if it is not beneficial. It's that attractive idea, again. Lets face it... it applies to everything. We talk ourselves into thinking that the 20% we had back in Egypt is bigger than the 80% we have now. It's TD Jakes 80/20 rule.

The grass is always greener, the bathrooms always cleaner...

Mingled Seed

Leviticus 19:19 (King James Version)
19Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

I had always questioned this verse. It seemed nonsensical to me. The theme is continually drilled throughout scripture, however. It's everywhere. From the beginning, we see that the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman are at war. Those seeds won't mix...

The parable of the wheat and the tares is a continuation of this. The enemy comes and sows a wild seed in amongst the good seed. The master of the field says "Leave it - i'll sort it out at harvest time." It's a fascinating truth that applies to wheat farming. A Kansas wheat farmer said that he, too, would leave the tares until harvest. They're easy to see, because the real wheat that bore fruit (grains on the head) are top heavy. When the wind blows (Holy Spirit) the heads will bow. The tares stand straight up! The enemy tries to corrupt the crop.

We are not to yoke ourselves unequally. This produces a corrupt fruit. It's mixing seed! Israel was not to inter-marry, although they did at times. They paid a heavy price. I'll have more on this as I learn from my reading.

Falling Short

To live like Christ, as all of you know, is difficult at best. It seems every time I think I have a handle on a particular aspect of His life, I lose perspective and find myself on a very un-Christ-like side of the fence.

A big for-instance: the Iranian nuclear showdown. I have a huge dislike for the Iranian leadership. I find them annoying, idiotic, and insulting. Every time the Iranian president runs his mouth off - and it is often - I find myself hoping he will attempt a move on Israel so that we can test the 'smoking hole' theory. On the other hand, I know that there are Christians in Iran. To boot, Iran is a nation of moderate, peaceful Muslims who protest the way their radical leaders run the country. These are people who are gracious, and would be open to relationships with westerners - even Christians. I'm somewhat hypocritical. So I find myself asking God not to wipe out Iran, but have mercy on its lost population. Is this not a maturation? I'm getting a handle on it, right?

Nope. I learn of scientists in Norway... or Sweden... who have decided they have found the oldest substance known to man. Petrified worm feces... I don't know how old they said it was. A billion years? It's stupid. It's so stupid that the liberal, agnostic scientific community is saying it's stupid. It's just as insulting to me and my faith that others go to such lengths to disprove our origin - our Creator. I've come full circle. I'm back to wishing ILL upon these dolts. Erase past progress... back to square one.

It's even more depressing for deeper reasons. I realize that these people are embracing their stupidity in order to defy God and His laws. I see it. I condemn that act. On the other hand, I don't want to love these people. In many cases, I refuse to do it. I see my belligerence, and I condemn that attitude... but I still fail to love - depending on my mood or the time of day. I'm still so far from being like Christ that all I can do is marvel at Him and what He overcame by dying - even for those who hate Him.

Raisin' the dead

Dave Reagan (of Lamb and Lion ministry: http://www.lamblion.com/ ) talks about multiple raptures. (Rapture discussion available on video download)

First rapture: Christ was the first fruits, raised from the dead, and caught back up to heaven as the disciples watched as described in Acts 1: 9.
* And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Second rapture: 1 Thess 4: 16, 17 reference where the "dead in Christ", those who looked to Christ (His Church/Bride) will rise first, then we (the living of the Church/Bride) will meet Him in the air.
* For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
* Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Third rapture: After the Tribulation, the Old Testament saints will be raised (Daniel 12:1, 2) - some to everlasting life, some to everlasting shame.
* 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.
* And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.

While trying to find that Daniel reference, I came upon a site trying to refute the multiple rapture claiming that Daniel 12:1, 2 refutes it. But as I read that verse, it seems to me that it reads as both redeemed and lost are raised at the same time.

Now, my one question has become two.
The first: If the OT saints are waiting to be raptured, how were Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus on the Mt. of transfiguration?

The second: What's your take on multiple raptures?

(As an aside, Dave asked his partner, Dennis Pollack, if he could explain why Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. Dennis said that it was Moses representing the Law, and Elijah representing the Prophets, and showing that Jesus was above both of them. And God the Father clarified it, after Peter offered to raise temples to all three, with His declaration, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him!")

Further Shaping of End-time Events

U.S. to restore relations with Libya
From Elise Labott
CNN

Monday, May 15, 2006; Posted: 11:53 a.m. EDT (15:53 GMT)

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi attends an African leaders' summit in Sudan in January.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Libya and remove the North African country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the State Department announced Monday.

---

This is interesting because Daniel names 3 of the 10 countries that will be part of the antichrist's empire. The three named are Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya. Why these three? Probably because they ride the fence, trying to be 'moderate' Islamic nations. This would never fly in the eyes of a hardline islamic dictator. Renewing relations with the west is not looked upon favorably. In addition, there are enough hardline citizens within these countries to support a coup.

Egypt has been considered moderate ever since Anwar Sadat, a lead well-liked by the west, which got him assassinated. Ethiopia may simply be so anarchic that they lend themselves to being conquered.

Lying Spirits

In this continued conversation/discussion with myself, I followed up with a bit of research on the AFR daily bible verse from this morning. It was from Proverbs:

Proverbs 15:22
Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

I was reminded of another story, found in Kings:

1 Kings 22
20And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
22And 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.
23Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Does anyone care to discuss these 'controversial' verses? There is no contradiction, here. The proverb stands true as a proverb. No proverb is 'the rule'. It is what it is - a proverb. The real interest lies in The LORD placing a lying spirit, and the LORD speaking evil concerning... These are translational issues, largely. We know that God will lift His hedge of protection, allowing Satan some leeway (Job). What about this lying spirit? Is this simply an angel in the ranks of the Lord's legions?

The Prophecy of the 153 Fish

Sungil and I were discussing this very thing on Thursday night's bible study. Ironically, Perry Stone posts this on his site just a couple of days later. It's very insightful.

The Prophecy of the 153 Fish

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn (John 21:11).

After 28 years of reading and studying the Scriptures, I am convinced that every word, phrase and number in the Bible is divinely positioned. At times a prophetic clue is hidden within the Scriptures, and must be researched by comparing verse with verse. Such an example is John 21.

In this narrative, Christ had risen from the dead and was with His disciples on the shores of Galilee. The disciples had caught a huge number of fish in a net. They were amazed that the net did not break . . . as had happened on other occasions (see Luke 5:6).

Nowhere in Scripture do we find that fish were counted, except on this occasion. Could a prophetic meaning be hidden within this event, a meaning that could speak to us today?



The Net and the Fish

When searching for Biblical insight, we must always allow the Scriptures to interpret themselves. Jesus told His disciples He would make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). In Scripture, the net and the sea can represent the nations of the world. This truth is alluded to in the parable of Matthew 13:47-49:

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous (Matthew 13:47-49).

In this parable, the net and the fish represent the nations of the world that will be separated, the good from the bad, at the end of the age. Saint Jerome, in his commentary on Ezekiel 47, stated that there were 153 different species of fish. He assumed that the 153 fish in John 21 referred to going into the entire world and preaching the gospel to all nations.

On the other hand, Augustine said that 153 is the sum of the numbers 1 through 17. Seventeen is 10 plus 7.

There were 10 sayings that created the world.
There were 10 generations from Adam to Noah.
There were 10 generations from Noah to Abraham.
Further, by taking 153 and breaking down its three primary numbers, we have:

100 (which alludes to the fullness of the Gentiles)

50 (which alludes to the fullness of Israel’s rest)

3 (which alludes to the fullness of the Trinity)

As you can see, 153 is a number that alludes to completeness, or fullness!



Hebrew Gematria

One of the laws of hermeneutics (interpreting the Scripture) among Jewish rabbis is called gematria. It is the root word from which we get the word geometry. Using Hebrew gematria, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have a numerical value. The alphabet can be interchanged for numbers, and the numbers can be interchanged for the alphabet. This is also true of the Greek alphabet.

In the early church, the fish became a symbol of Christianity. In fact, the fish was probably used long before the Roman emblem of a cross. This fish emblem was called the ICHTHUS. These letters form an acrostic for the words, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The abbreviation is IXO, and has a numerical value of 153!

With this knowledge, we can see that Jesus was letting them know that He was God’s Son!



The 153 Nations

If we compare Scripture with Scripture, the sea is the world and the fish can allude to the nations of the world. In the parable, a net is cast and the fish are caught. Soon, a separation occurs as the good is separated from the bad.

Could it be that there will be a total of 153 nations at the very end of the age? It is true that the number of nations fluctuate with political movements and as a result of wars. At the conclusion of World War I, the world began to divide into various nations as Russia annexed surrounding countries under the control of the Soviet Union. At that time there were just over 100 nations in the world.

After the conclusion of World War II, divisions among the nations continued. In the late 1980s, Robert Vandermaten contacted someone at the United Nations in order to pinpoint exactly how many nations existed at the time. Imagine his amazement when he discovered there were 153 nations recognized in the world!

Presently, there are well over that number. The United Nations currently recognizes 191 nations. Again, political shifts and amalgamations affect the number. For example, Yugoslavia was once a single nation. Since the fall of Communism in Yugoslavia, the country has been divided into five nations recognized by the U.N.: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

It is important to remember that during the Tribulation, nations will fall under the control of the Antichrist. This will create another shakeup among the nations of the world.

It could be that the 153 fish were a hidden clue, revealing that 153 nations would exist at the end of the age. This seems possible, considering the fact that the primary numbers composing 153 (100, 50, and 3) can allude to Gentile fullness, Israel’s fullness and spiritual fullness.

This is an interesting idea to consider.

Creation Days

Paralleling the creation days in Genesis to world history is an interesting study. I'm sure the depths of the topic are limitless. Particularly captivating is the creation of light. Sungil and I have spoken of this on many occassions. Light was created on the first day. The sun, moon, and stars were created on the fourth day. So, as SG and I - and probably BrianM have pondered, the light was here before the 'light sources' were here.

So, who is the light? Christ said, I am the Light. Christ came to us on the beginning of the 4th day. The Holy Spirit was there the previous 3,000 years, but the 'light source' appeared on day 4. Also, the moon was created. The church is the moon in scripture, as we are a reflection of the Son (sun). So, what are the stars representative of? We know scripture uses them to represent angels, but these were present before day 4.

Back to Day 4 and the creation of the lights in the firmament. Genesis 1 says the lights were for signs, and seasons, and days, and years. In Jesus' day, the people kept asking Him for a sign. No wonder He was so exasperated with them! HE was the sign! He called them an evil and adulterous generation, and also said that He was a physical representation of the sign of Jonah. Jonah, very representative of the fish, was dead for three days then resurrected upon the beach.

So, we know there was illumination on the first three days, even though the sun, moon, and stars were not yet present.

Cold-blooded reptile

In Genesis, the devil appeared in the form of a serpent. Serpent, i've learned, comes from a root word meaning to visually hypnotize. No doubt the devil did this very thing to Eve. (Gen 3:6) "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes..." A snake charmer comes to mind. We see the guys with the tall turbans weaving and bobbing back and forth with their little clarinets... 'charming' the cobra. You notice the eye contact. I really wonder if the snake may be the one attempting to do the charming - by sheer instinct.



In the Revelation, we see the devil again. This time, he is a 7-headed dragon. What in the WORLD has he been eating? We know he searches to and fro, seeking those whom he may devour. Apparently by this time, he has devoured many.

Red Tide

July 10, 2005

7/11 - Code Red: How come the waters of S. Cal. look funny?
Here's a great article in the latest issue of Surfer magazine that quotes Dr. Peter Franks of Scripps (who gave the greatest guest lecture I've ever witnessed when he came to my biological oceanography class and used nothing but food coloring, water, and a plexiglass tank to make undergrads grasp the most complicated concepts in how phytoplankton blooms occur) explaining why the waters around San Diego lately look so reddish-brown.
"Red waves at morning, surfers take warning?

Hidden Rapture Pictures

Am I obsessed with this? Or is it just so fun and exciting I can't stop? Is there a difference?

When Jesus turned the water into wine, there was so much going on between Himself and His mother, Mary, that most people totally miss it. It never occurred to me that they were having their own conversation. The disciples didn't know what they were talking about. Mary and Jesus had had countless conversations at the fire side, no doubt, and Mary was a spiritual GIANT. They have no wine. Hah! Truly. Do what He tells you, she says...

6 water pots - earthen. Can you get any closer to symbols of man? They were not filled (this is typical, most people aren't filled...). Jesus told the servants to fill them. Then, the water was drawn out (harpazo), at that point, the water becomes wine. The wine is presented to the 'master'. The Master does not know where the wine came from! Interesting, but he picture is awesome. When we are presented before God, He will not 'care' where we came from. That is something WE will know, but HE will not. God will see us as blameless, sinless children. We, however, will remember where we've been and realize the grace and mercy that brought us to that point.

Adam's Rib

Adam is put to sleep and a rib is taken from him. The rib does not become the bride until it is 'taken from the other ribs'. Just as Christ's rib was crushed in on the cross to birth His bride (blood and water gushes out - birth fluids). This goes so much deeper, but I don't know all the cool aspects yet.

Can anyone get the story out of the book of Esther? It's all there.