The Raging Of The Nations
There is a culture war raging in America. The outcome of this conflict could not be more important - it is nothing less than the survival of Western civilization. This is because the roots of this conflict run far deeper than most people realize, and its consequences far more serious. For example, one of the major battlegrounds is over civil rights for homosexuals.
The Gay issue is just one manifestation of what
Psalm 2 describes.
1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.”
God’s Response
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.
The Decree
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
The Promise
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
The Warning
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
1. They rage
2. They plot
3. They counsel
They Rage & Plot
“Why do the nations rage?”
Whenever the Bible talks about the nations, it means the pagan Gentiles. All the nations except Israel were pagan unbelievers who each had their own gods and found their identity in the doctrines of those gods. This is described as “raging.” It’s like the raging of the sea.
When David wrote this Psalm under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he had in mind all the nations that he was fighting in order to establish the kingdom of God in Jerusalem. But the Holy Spirit had in mind all nations that reject God and His anointed One. David was God’s anointed one and so is Christ. David was a type of Christ. Just as David was making war to subject the nations to God’s rule, Christ also is doing that now. The Bible says, “He must reign until he puts all enemies under his feet.” God said to his Son through the prophet Isaiah, “The nation and kingdom that will not obey you shall be destroyed.”
Zech 14
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem [the church] will … worship the King, the LORD Almighty… If any of the peoples of the earth do not … they will have no rain…. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations (Zech 14:16-19).
The nations that resist the rule of Christ are raging by plotting a vain thing. It says, “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?.”
Every nation of the ancient world had their gods. False gods and idols are described in the Bible as being vain things. Actually, every nation in the world today is a theocracy. Every man has a god he believes in. Even the atheist worships a mental image of what he adores & venerates. Some worship nature; some worship the state; some worship man; and some worship themselves, and some worship the buffoon gods of Mt. Hollywood. Every other religion in the world ends up worshipping the state as the highest authority. That is what God’s word means when the rulers of Jerusalem said, “We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him & give us Barabbas the revolutionary!” This is raging & plotting a vain thing.
Envy Cuts Off The Heads Of All Authority And Traditional Values
Since the French Revolution of 1789, this raging humanism has taken over nation after nation. The aim was to destroy Christianity and the Law of God. They even tried to scrap the seven-day week and replaced it with a ten-day week. They cut off the heads of the rich people & the heads of all historical authority. They bowed to the goddess of reason. You can see from the picture what was meant by “reason.” It meant freedom from moral restraints & God’s authority. This is the aim of the socialists and the secular progressives of today who are trying to change the U.S. Constitution to mean something different from the original intent of our nation’s founders. This is a culture war that has been raging since the Tower of Babel & is intent on dethroning God’s rule.
Ever since the French Revolution of 1789, the nations have been raging & plotting in a brand new way. After the fall of Rome around 500 A.D., France became the 1st nation of Europe to become a Christian nation. But after 1200 years, CHANGE came. 200 years before that, at the time of the Reformation, there were many Calvinists in high places in France. The admiral of the navy was one. But then came St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. 30,000 Calvinist believers were slaughtered in one week. Over the next 200 years they were annihilated or run out of France. One was the father of my great, great grandmother, Mariah Bobo.
Then came God’s judgment. God gave them up and sent a strong delusion. Otto Scott, in his book, Robespierre, The Fool As Revolutionary, describes the conditions in France at that time.
For the first time since the decadent days of Rome, pornography emerged from its caves & circulated openly in a civilized nation… Strange cults appeared; sex rituals, black magic, Satanism. Perversion became not only acceptable but fashionable. Homosexuals held balls… Prostitutes were admired; swindles & sharp business practices increased… the word revolution became common; it no longer created shock but became a respectable, accepted word and idea… And no name was the target of more assiduous & filthy inventions than that of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France.
When Christ arose and sat down on the throne of David at the right hand of the Father, he said, “All authority is given to me in heaven and in earth.” America and all other nations belong to Christ. He has all authority over them. God said to him, “Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel (vs.8-9). God is in the process of dashing the unbelieving nations to pieces. France has been a 2nd class nation for 200 years now. But France is destined to return to Christ once again. This is not the end. Keep your eye on God for the next 100 years. He has some surprises up His sleeve.
America is a Christian nation and belongs to Christ and His people. God’s enemies know this subconsciously. That’s why they can only resort to tyrannical force. They are a minority, but right now they have the power. God has both authority and power, but he has given His enemies the power because of our sins.
Power is what they seek. Power is the watchword. They try to forcefully change the laws any way they can. They are lawless. They don’t care about legitimate authority because they know in their hearts they don’t have it. They are tyrants by nature. To prove it, when they run out of logic, they raise their voices and call names. “The workers of iniquity sharpen their tongues like swords and bend their bows to shoot their arrows of bitter words” (Ps 64:3). They invented a new doctrine called “separation of church and state.”
Why do they rage and plot a vain thing? Because they want to be free from God’s Law. They want to be liberal. They want to be free to use drugs, free to have illicit sex, free to abort babies, free to lie & steal, free to do swear & do whatever they want to do. So they make the government a substitute for God. “Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us.” “God’s Law makes us unhappy” they say. It creates pathologies and it is humiliating. A recent study reported on Fox News says that conservatives are much happier than liberals. They don’t understand that true freedom comes with rules, boundaries, and limitations (to quote the Dog Whisperer). Dogs and humans find our true harmony with nature when we become calm submissive to Christ our pack leader.
In the French Revolution, they paraded a woman through the streets dressed as the goddess of reason. Reason, they said, proves that humans have no moral point of reference, that nothing I think can be more wrong or right than what you think. They said there are no absolutes. They believed that as people became more knowledgeable they would eventually turn away from religious faith.
They Take Counsel Together
They have this thing all worked out. Their professors told them so. David Letterman' jokes and Oprah give counsel. Hollywood agrees. The media agrees. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. The friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4).
Psalm 2:10-12
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
Conclusion
What can you do about it? Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Arm yourself. Be aware of what is happening. Be a Christian soldier. Get educated on the issues. Be ready to give an answer. Attend SS. Read. Grow in grace. Spread the word. Instruct your kids. Give money to the cause of the kingdom. Be a witness. Jesus said, “All authority is given … go therefore and teach all nations…” Go for it. This is what you signed up for. Lay your life on the line. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Get excited. Pray for wisdom. Pray for the church to repent. Pray for leaders to arise. Enter the fray. Contend for the truth.
Young or old, you have a task. Uncle Sam wants YOU and so does Jesus. Side with God against yourself and be a victor.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tolerance
Tolerance
In 2008 America, atheists placed a sign next to a manger scene that says there is no God. They claimed their rights were being violated and that Christian symbols on public property also violated the separation of church and state. Gay people were demanding equal rights and the right to be married by the state. A group of them even invaded a church service and took over, demanding their rights. Moslem minorities were demanding special public schools. Illegal aliens were waving Mexican flags and demanding a right to vote in the U.S. What is the answer to all this chaos? What is the deciding factor in a pluralistic society?
In any nation, the majority rules unless a tyrannical minority, or a just law seizes it. Either “might” or “right” will rule. Minorities have the legal right to believe what they want, but they do not have the right to “take over” by force. So, they resort to “might” (i.e. force).
Pagans dominated Babylon and God sold His people into Babylonian captivity because of the broken covenant. He commanded His people to submit to Babylon and to pray for the peace of the place. Daniel and his three friends purposed in their hearts to not defile themselves with the king’s food because it had been sacrificed to demons. This tells us that faithful believers can tolerate the dominant culture and still not be defiled by it. We can be in the world and not of it. As a minority, it is rude to demand our rights. It is not only rude; it is presumptuous, arrogant, and intolerant unless the law requires it as in the case of Martin Luther King. But even in that case, force was not used nor should it be.
When Persia freed God’s people to return to Jerusalem, there were minorities in Palestine that did not tolerate the rebuilding of the Jerusalem culture. In this case, the Jews were right in resisting them because the law had given them permission and had even partially financed them.
Then, when Greek culture took over the world, Antiochus Epiphenes made a concerted effort to impose it on the Jewish minority by force. He made a law against circumcision and forced Jews to offer incense to Apollo. The religion of the one true God was hanging by a thread. He sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple and placed an idol in the Temple court. A small group, led by the Maccabee family blew the trumpet, fled to the wilderness and raised armed resistance. Against impossible odds they prevailed, recaptured Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. Happy Hanukkah.
Daniel had prophesied that this would happen over 400 years previously. He said that the reason for this trial was the sins of the Jews themselves (Dan 8). He also said there would be a faithful remnant that would do exploits for God (Dan 11). The Maccabees were the faithful champions that saved our godly heritage.
Now let us go back a few thousand years to the time of Abraham. He lived in a world of idolatry, but had enough freedom to establish a godly culture within his own camp. God told him he would have a descendant through whom all nations would eventually be blessed and that the land of the Amorites already belonged to him. (The only way to be blessed is to be a child of Abraham. Only those who enter the covenant of Abraham are blessed with special grace. Others are blessed with common grace. God rains on the just and the unjust alike. That is common grace. Special grace makes us acceptable to God. Common grace does not.)
God told Abraham his descendants would live in Egypt under a pagan culture for four generations and would not return to rule that land until then because the cup of wrath for the Amorites was not yet full. Four hundred years later Moses led them out of Egypt and God commanded them to destroy the inhabitants of that land because of their idolatry and degenerate culture. It had become so degenerate that it had to be destroyed in order to eventually bless all nations. The pollution of degenerate cultures had to be stamped out. There was to be no tolerance because the situation demanded it. God’s Law must dominate. Jesus defined love as the fulfillment of the Law. The destruction of pagan cultures was necessary “tough love” in order to save the world. A few must die in order to save many.
But God’s people failed to drive out all the idolatrous inhabitants of the land and God sold them to their enemies as judgment. Under oppression they then cried out to God and He rose up a judge to deliver them. This happened several times until there was no remedy and they were finally taken to Babylon in 606 BC.
In spite of these failures and judgments, the prophets predicted a Savior would come and all the ends of the earth would remember and turn to the Lord; all nations would bow to Jehovah (Psalm 22:27). They said that His kingdom would destroy all the others and that His kingdom would never be destroyed. He came, was crucified and arose in fulfillment of prophecy. He ascended to the Father and is now ruling with all authority in heaven and in the earth. “Yes. All kings shall bow to Him” (Psalm 72).
The most powerful pagan empire of all time ended up bowing to him 300 years later. But no sooner had that happened than barbarians from the north destroyed it. Then those same barbarians bowed to Him and became Christian Europe.
But now Europe and the West are living in a “post Christian” era. They have forgotten God just as the Jews did before they were carried to Babylon. The humanism of the French Revolution has taken over the culture in Europe and a minority in America now rules. Due to the Puritan foundation of America, Christians are still a majority, but are being defiled by the minority that is in control of the media and the education system. Eating the king’s food is defiling Christians and their children cannot even speak the language of Canaan.
The “Amorite” minority of the secular progressives are now changing the laws and the culture by means of tyrannical activist judges and legislators. The Hollywood culture and the educators love it so and cheer them on so they can be free to fornicate and destroy our children. It is not enough for them to do it privately. They have an agenda to impose their culture on Christians. They tolerate every pagan abomination, but do not tolerate God’s Law and Judeo Christian culture unless it is practiced in private. Their culture must be dominant by all means possible. They by no means tolerate Christian culture. “Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth take counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us.’ He that sits in the heavens shall laugh and make fun of them” (Psalm 2).
When gay people insist on “coming out,” they force us to accept their culture and to violate our own conscience. It is either their culture or ours. It cannot be both. Neutrality is a myth. By tolerating their culture, we violate ours. When they object to “Don’t ask; don’t tell,” they impose a tyranny on the majority. They want their way and will throw a fit to get it. They will cram it down our throats if they can and make people feel guilty for not tolerating them. God hates the sin and loves the sinner.
The reason this is happening to America is the same reason it happened to the Jews. God sold them to their enemies because of their own sins. Godly principles made America great. Godly laws and culture gave birth to prosperity, and the daughter is eating the mother. God warned His people that after He prospered them they would forget Him.
What were the sins of Christians that caused this? Bad theology. Gnostic dualism that separates the sacred from the secular and says, “The Lord is coming soon anyway, so why dominate the culture? Why polish brass on a sinking ship?” Christians abandoned the theology of the Puritans that made America great. They cut off the legs of the trunk with a truncated gospel that seeks to escape the world instead of changing it. That is a gospel without legs and not the full gospel. They think “getting saved” is just a matter of going to heaven and they forget that the purpose of salvation is not going to heaven. The purpose of salvation is to restore all things as they were in Eden. Our prayer should be “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The pastors have also swallowed the lie of “separation of God and state.” Many of them actually believe that preachers have no business getting involved in cultural issues and politics. Can you name one man of God in the Bible that was not involved in politics and/or cultural issues?
The eclipsing of the Puritan Hope is the cause. The Calvinist Reformers and the Puritans brought the Reformation and the Great Awakenings that changed the world and brought great liberty and justice like the world had never seen. In spite of their dark times and persecution, they believed the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Puritan Calvinists brought a new kind of government called republican democracy and capitalism. The first constitution in the history of mankind was written as a result of Puritan Calvinist Thomas Hooker’s sermon in 1639 Connecticut. “Freedom under law” was their watch cry. It is true that at first the Massechusetts Bay Colony inherited some of the medieval errors by not tolerating heresies, but in a few decades they moderated. This then resulted in liberty and justice for all. But sin was not tolerated.
The current “secular progressives” tolerate sin, but do not tolerate God’s Law. God’s word does not tolerate them because God’s love wants to bless all nations and the only way to do it is by the kingship of His Son. He says to the nations and their rulers, “Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Psalm 2:12). He says that the nation and kingdom that will not obey His Son shall be destroyed (Isa 60:12). Unless there is a radical reversal, God will replace what we knew of America with a socialist godless culture. This will result in financial downfall similar to what happened with every other socialist experiment. But just as Christian Britain was replaced by Pagan Anglo Saxons, and re-converted by the Irish missionaries, so others like Chinese Christians will re-convert America.
Jesus promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Daniel’s vision saw that His kingdom would grow and grow until it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. God promised His Son, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). That prayer, because God so loved the world, shall be answered. The meek shall inherit the earth.
When Christians are a minority as they are for example in China, we submit to majority rule as long as we are not required to disobey our God. Christians are the best citizens of any country. They work hard and do not commit crimes. True Christians are willing to pay the price for civil disobedience unto death.
In Christian nations, minorities must submit to the majority, also.
The progress of the atheistic and humanistic French Revolution has taken over much of American culture by means of treasonous activist judges. Instead of submitting to the original intent of the Constitution, they interpret it as a so-called “living” document and re-invented it according to their personal preferences. The Supreme Court in the 1890’s declared America to be a Christian nation, but in 1948 Justice Black reversed that with the new doctrine of “separation of church and state.” Based on that decision, the Court kicked God out of the public schools in the early sixties. The “hippie belch” out of the bottomless pit followed that. Then came the Court decision to legalize abortion in the early 70’s.
These decisions were unlawful and treasonous. Therefore, Christians are obligated to resist them and be willing to pay the price. The law of King Jesus must be obeyed. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 2).
The argument of the secular progressives now is what is called “multiculturalism.” Christianity is the only true multicultural nation. Babel’s attempt to unite everyone under one single government resulted in confusion and division. But on the Day of Pentecost God poured out his Spirit on people from all nations. They spoke in several languages, but understood each other because they were united under One Head. The secular progressives seek to “head up” everyone under the headship of “equal rights.” Their aim is to “cut off” our Head. The cutting off of heads in the French Revolution continues today.
A true Christian nation allows freedom of religion as long as others do not try to replace Christian culture. Christianity is what brought freedom of religion in the first place. The humanist faith of the secular progressives is a religion. Religions are based on presuppositions that are taken by faith. Evolution is a dogma taken by faith. Atheism is a religion. They presuppose the Bible is not true and base all their science and reason on that. Christians presuppose it is true and base all their reason on that. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing?” The real reason the Bible is rejected is because they have an “axe to grind.” They consider its laws to be “binding cords.” “They gather together against the Lord and against His Christ saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us”’ (Psalm 2). They hate God’s Law and want to be “free.” They reject the notion that sin results in slavery. “He that sins is a slave” (John 8:34).
In 2008 America, atheists placed a sign next to a manger scene that says there is no God. They claimed their rights were being violated and that Christian symbols on public property also violated the separation of church and state. Gay people were demanding equal rights and the right to be married by the state. A group of them even invaded a church service and took over, demanding their rights. Moslem minorities were demanding special public schools. Illegal aliens were waving Mexican flags and demanding a right to vote in the U.S. What is the answer to all this chaos? What is the deciding factor in a pluralistic society?
In any nation, the majority rules unless a tyrannical minority, or a just law seizes it. Either “might” or “right” will rule. Minorities have the legal right to believe what they want, but they do not have the right to “take over” by force. So, they resort to “might” (i.e. force).
Pagans dominated Babylon and God sold His people into Babylonian captivity because of the broken covenant. He commanded His people to submit to Babylon and to pray for the peace of the place. Daniel and his three friends purposed in their hearts to not defile themselves with the king’s food because it had been sacrificed to demons. This tells us that faithful believers can tolerate the dominant culture and still not be defiled by it. We can be in the world and not of it. As a minority, it is rude to demand our rights. It is not only rude; it is presumptuous, arrogant, and intolerant unless the law requires it as in the case of Martin Luther King. But even in that case, force was not used nor should it be.
When Persia freed God’s people to return to Jerusalem, there were minorities in Palestine that did not tolerate the rebuilding of the Jerusalem culture. In this case, the Jews were right in resisting them because the law had given them permission and had even partially financed them.
Then, when Greek culture took over the world, Antiochus Epiphenes made a concerted effort to impose it on the Jewish minority by force. He made a law against circumcision and forced Jews to offer incense to Apollo. The religion of the one true God was hanging by a thread. He sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Temple and placed an idol in the Temple court. A small group, led by the Maccabee family blew the trumpet, fled to the wilderness and raised armed resistance. Against impossible odds they prevailed, recaptured Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple. Happy Hanukkah.
Daniel had prophesied that this would happen over 400 years previously. He said that the reason for this trial was the sins of the Jews themselves (Dan 8). He also said there would be a faithful remnant that would do exploits for God (Dan 11). The Maccabees were the faithful champions that saved our godly heritage.
Now let us go back a few thousand years to the time of Abraham. He lived in a world of idolatry, but had enough freedom to establish a godly culture within his own camp. God told him he would have a descendant through whom all nations would eventually be blessed and that the land of the Amorites already belonged to him. (The only way to be blessed is to be a child of Abraham. Only those who enter the covenant of Abraham are blessed with special grace. Others are blessed with common grace. God rains on the just and the unjust alike. That is common grace. Special grace makes us acceptable to God. Common grace does not.)
God told Abraham his descendants would live in Egypt under a pagan culture for four generations and would not return to rule that land until then because the cup of wrath for the Amorites was not yet full. Four hundred years later Moses led them out of Egypt and God commanded them to destroy the inhabitants of that land because of their idolatry and degenerate culture. It had become so degenerate that it had to be destroyed in order to eventually bless all nations. The pollution of degenerate cultures had to be stamped out. There was to be no tolerance because the situation demanded it. God’s Law must dominate. Jesus defined love as the fulfillment of the Law. The destruction of pagan cultures was necessary “tough love” in order to save the world. A few must die in order to save many.
But God’s people failed to drive out all the idolatrous inhabitants of the land and God sold them to their enemies as judgment. Under oppression they then cried out to God and He rose up a judge to deliver them. This happened several times until there was no remedy and they were finally taken to Babylon in 606 BC.
In spite of these failures and judgments, the prophets predicted a Savior would come and all the ends of the earth would remember and turn to the Lord; all nations would bow to Jehovah (Psalm 22:27). They said that His kingdom would destroy all the others and that His kingdom would never be destroyed. He came, was crucified and arose in fulfillment of prophecy. He ascended to the Father and is now ruling with all authority in heaven and in the earth. “Yes. All kings shall bow to Him” (Psalm 72).
The most powerful pagan empire of all time ended up bowing to him 300 years later. But no sooner had that happened than barbarians from the north destroyed it. Then those same barbarians bowed to Him and became Christian Europe.
But now Europe and the West are living in a “post Christian” era. They have forgotten God just as the Jews did before they were carried to Babylon. The humanism of the French Revolution has taken over the culture in Europe and a minority in America now rules. Due to the Puritan foundation of America, Christians are still a majority, but are being defiled by the minority that is in control of the media and the education system. Eating the king’s food is defiling Christians and their children cannot even speak the language of Canaan.
The “Amorite” minority of the secular progressives are now changing the laws and the culture by means of tyrannical activist judges and legislators. The Hollywood culture and the educators love it so and cheer them on so they can be free to fornicate and destroy our children. It is not enough for them to do it privately. They have an agenda to impose their culture on Christians. They tolerate every pagan abomination, but do not tolerate God’s Law and Judeo Christian culture unless it is practiced in private. Their culture must be dominant by all means possible. They by no means tolerate Christian culture. “Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth take counsel together against the Lord and against His Christ, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us.’ He that sits in the heavens shall laugh and make fun of them” (Psalm 2).
When gay people insist on “coming out,” they force us to accept their culture and to violate our own conscience. It is either their culture or ours. It cannot be both. Neutrality is a myth. By tolerating their culture, we violate ours. When they object to “Don’t ask; don’t tell,” they impose a tyranny on the majority. They want their way and will throw a fit to get it. They will cram it down our throats if they can and make people feel guilty for not tolerating them. God hates the sin and loves the sinner.
The reason this is happening to America is the same reason it happened to the Jews. God sold them to their enemies because of their own sins. Godly principles made America great. Godly laws and culture gave birth to prosperity, and the daughter is eating the mother. God warned His people that after He prospered them they would forget Him.
What were the sins of Christians that caused this? Bad theology. Gnostic dualism that separates the sacred from the secular and says, “The Lord is coming soon anyway, so why dominate the culture? Why polish brass on a sinking ship?” Christians abandoned the theology of the Puritans that made America great. They cut off the legs of the trunk with a truncated gospel that seeks to escape the world instead of changing it. That is a gospel without legs and not the full gospel. They think “getting saved” is just a matter of going to heaven and they forget that the purpose of salvation is not going to heaven. The purpose of salvation is to restore all things as they were in Eden. Our prayer should be “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The pastors have also swallowed the lie of “separation of God and state.” Many of them actually believe that preachers have no business getting involved in cultural issues and politics. Can you name one man of God in the Bible that was not involved in politics and/or cultural issues?
The eclipsing of the Puritan Hope is the cause. The Calvinist Reformers and the Puritans brought the Reformation and the Great Awakenings that changed the world and brought great liberty and justice like the world had never seen. In spite of their dark times and persecution, they believed the knowledge of the glory of the Lord would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Puritan Calvinists brought a new kind of government called republican democracy and capitalism. The first constitution in the history of mankind was written as a result of Puritan Calvinist Thomas Hooker’s sermon in 1639 Connecticut. “Freedom under law” was their watch cry. It is true that at first the Massechusetts Bay Colony inherited some of the medieval errors by not tolerating heresies, but in a few decades they moderated. This then resulted in liberty and justice for all. But sin was not tolerated.
The current “secular progressives” tolerate sin, but do not tolerate God’s Law. God’s word does not tolerate them because God’s love wants to bless all nations and the only way to do it is by the kingship of His Son. He says to the nations and their rulers, “Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little” (Psalm 2:12). He says that the nation and kingdom that will not obey His Son shall be destroyed (Isa 60:12). Unless there is a radical reversal, God will replace what we knew of America with a socialist godless culture. This will result in financial downfall similar to what happened with every other socialist experiment. But just as Christian Britain was replaced by Pagan Anglo Saxons, and re-converted by the Irish missionaries, so others like Chinese Christians will re-convert America.
Jesus promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Daniel’s vision saw that His kingdom would grow and grow until it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. God promised His Son, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). That prayer, because God so loved the world, shall be answered. The meek shall inherit the earth.
When Christians are a minority as they are for example in China, we submit to majority rule as long as we are not required to disobey our God. Christians are the best citizens of any country. They work hard and do not commit crimes. True Christians are willing to pay the price for civil disobedience unto death.
In Christian nations, minorities must submit to the majority, also.
The progress of the atheistic and humanistic French Revolution has taken over much of American culture by means of treasonous activist judges. Instead of submitting to the original intent of the Constitution, they interpret it as a so-called “living” document and re-invented it according to their personal preferences. The Supreme Court in the 1890’s declared America to be a Christian nation, but in 1948 Justice Black reversed that with the new doctrine of “separation of church and state.” Based on that decision, the Court kicked God out of the public schools in the early sixties. The “hippie belch” out of the bottomless pit followed that. Then came the Court decision to legalize abortion in the early 70’s.
These decisions were unlawful and treasonous. Therefore, Christians are obligated to resist them and be willing to pay the price. The law of King Jesus must be obeyed. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 2).
The argument of the secular progressives now is what is called “multiculturalism.” Christianity is the only true multicultural nation. Babel’s attempt to unite everyone under one single government resulted in confusion and division. But on the Day of Pentecost God poured out his Spirit on people from all nations. They spoke in several languages, but understood each other because they were united under One Head. The secular progressives seek to “head up” everyone under the headship of “equal rights.” Their aim is to “cut off” our Head. The cutting off of heads in the French Revolution continues today.
A true Christian nation allows freedom of religion as long as others do not try to replace Christian culture. Christianity is what brought freedom of religion in the first place. The humanist faith of the secular progressives is a religion. Religions are based on presuppositions that are taken by faith. Evolution is a dogma taken by faith. Atheism is a religion. They presuppose the Bible is not true and base all their science and reason on that. Christians presuppose it is true and base all their reason on that. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing?” The real reason the Bible is rejected is because they have an “axe to grind.” They consider its laws to be “binding cords.” “They gather together against the Lord and against His Christ saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords from us”’ (Psalm 2). They hate God’s Law and want to be “free.” They reject the notion that sin results in slavery. “He that sins is a slave” (John 8:34).
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Dogs THAT CAN'T BARK
A Republican Christian heard my radio spot about socialism and abortion. He said I had no right as a pastor to be involved in politics. I asked if he could name one man of God in the Bible that had nothing to do with politics. He could not name one. Can you? Christians in America could be by far the largest voting block. We could turn this nation in one election toward righteousness in our laws. The two obstacles to this are gnostic dualism and fear.
Dualism separates the sacred & the secular. That is the spirit of anti-christ. Fear of man is the other problem. American freedom never would have rung if the preachers of the founding fathers' day had been "girlie men" like so many today. Satan whispers, "Play it safe, boys. Keep your offerings rolling! If not, your heads might roll," like John the Baptist who rebuked a king. God help us not to be like the shepherds described by Isaiah.
"They are all silent dogs; they cannot bark..." (Isa 56:9-11).
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Buffoon Gods
I have many times referred to the celebrities of America and the Hollywood crowd as the buffoon gods of Mt. Olympus. Zeus and his companions were more immoral than the fools that worshipped them. It is altogether fitting that the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver should have a mock-up of a Greek temple in the background for the speech given by the “son of Zeus.” Could the decision to have a Greek temple in the background be a Freudian slip?
If this son of a god becomes president will he be another Caesar? Hail Caesar! A god indeed! “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.” He will save us with health care for every citizen. He will visit vengeance on the capitalists, seize their stolen profits, and distribute them among the poor.
O! How the masses swoon. There’s a sucker born every day.
If this son of a god becomes president will he be another Caesar? Hail Caesar! A god indeed! “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.” He will save us with health care for every citizen. He will visit vengeance on the capitalists, seize their stolen profits, and distribute them among the poor.
O! How the masses swoon. There’s a sucker born every day.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Was Jesus A Socialist?
Was Jesus A Socialist?
Some people think Jesus was (is) a socialist. Socialism favors state control of the economy and the re-distribution of wealth. In other words, “rob the rich to feed the poor.”
Socialism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Socialism refers to any of various economic and political concepts of state or collective (i.e. public) ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods and services, some of which have been developed into more or less highly articulated theories and/or praxis. In a Marxist or labor-movement definition of the term, socialism is a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done with the goal of creating a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. This control may be exercised on behalf of the state, through a market, or through popular collectives such as workers' councils and cooperatives. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state, cooperative, or worker ownership of the means of production, goals which have been attributed to, and claimed by, a number of political parties and governments.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in From Under The Rubble, traces the history of socialism and concludes by saying that since it is a fact and not an opinion that socialism has failed every single time it has been tried in history, he poses the question, “Why, then, would anyone want to be a socialist?” His answer: Because “there is an organic unity between socialism and evil.”
How so? Was Jesus evil? Those who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity believe that Christ was the I AM who appeared to Moses and gave him the Law of God. Socialism breaks some of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not steal.” “You shall not be partial to the poor or to the rich.” Since socialism depends on class envy, it thrives on covetousness. “Thou shalt not covet.” Since the state pretends to be the savior, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name Caesar.” The state is the beast, Caesar. Every religion except Christianity ends up worshipping the state as god and savior. “What shall we do with your King?” “We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him and give us Barrabas!” (Barrabas represents those who want to overthrow Caesar. He had killed a man in an insurrection. Liberation Theologians like Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright want to do the same.
When, at age 30, I returned from the mission field, changed careers, and was struggling in the transition to feed my wife and four daughters, we borrowed money to buy a used trailer for $3400. I had to work two jobs to barely make ends meet. Then I saw an ad for government assisted housing and called the realtor. The realtor asked how much I was making and, totaling both jobs, I told her. She said I did not qualify because I was making too much. She said I would qualify if I quit one of the jobs. I said, “You mean it would pay me to work only one job? Never mind. I’ll trust God and do it myself.”
Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:12). He promises to prosper us if we keep the Covenant, work six days, and do not take on a “victim” mentality. To do otherwise is a tendency toward taking the mark of the beast (Caesar).
S
Some people think Jesus was (is) a socialist. Socialism favors state control of the economy and the re-distribution of wealth. In other words, “rob the rich to feed the poor.”
Socialism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Socialism refers to any of various economic and political concepts of state or collective (i.e. public) ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods and services, some of which have been developed into more or less highly articulated theories and/or praxis. In a Marxist or labor-movement definition of the term, socialism is a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done with the goal of creating a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. This control may be exercised on behalf of the state, through a market, or through popular collectives such as workers' councils and cooperatives. As an economic system, socialism is often characterized by state, cooperative, or worker ownership of the means of production, goals which have been attributed to, and claimed by, a number of political parties and governments.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in From Under The Rubble, traces the history of socialism and concludes by saying that since it is a fact and not an opinion that socialism has failed every single time it has been tried in history, he poses the question, “Why, then, would anyone want to be a socialist?” His answer: Because “there is an organic unity between socialism and evil.”
How so? Was Jesus evil? Those who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity believe that Christ was the I AM who appeared to Moses and gave him the Law of God. Socialism breaks some of the Ten Commandments. “Thou shalt not steal.” “You shall not be partial to the poor or to the rich.” Since socialism depends on class envy, it thrives on covetousness. “Thou shalt not covet.” Since the state pretends to be the savior, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”
Augustus Caesar said, “There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name Caesar.” The state is the beast, Caesar. Every religion except Christianity ends up worshipping the state as god and savior. “What shall we do with your King?” “We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him and give us Barrabas!” (Barrabas represents those who want to overthrow Caesar. He had killed a man in an insurrection. Liberation Theologians like Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright want to do the same.
When, at age 30, I returned from the mission field, changed careers, and was struggling in the transition to feed my wife and four daughters, we borrowed money to buy a used trailer for $3400. I had to work two jobs to barely make ends meet. Then I saw an ad for government assisted housing and called the realtor. The realtor asked how much I was making and, totaling both jobs, I told her. She said I did not qualify because I was making too much. She said I would qualify if I quit one of the jobs. I said, “You mean it would pay me to work only one job? Never mind. I’ll trust God and do it myself.”
Peter said, “There is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Jesus Christ” (Acts 4:12). He promises to prosper us if we keep the Covenant, work six days, and do not take on a “victim” mentality. To do otherwise is a tendency toward taking the mark of the beast (Caesar).
S
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Mark of the Beast
The Mark
Of The Beast
By Ron Smith
Revelation 13
1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
Commentary: This beast is Rome. The seven heads are seven Caesars: Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, & Galba. The ten horns are the ten provinces of Rome. Each province had a king like Herod who was under the authority of Caesar. Revelation 17 describes the seven heads as seven kings. He said five had fallen and “one is.” Nero was the 6th and therefore this was written during the reign of Nero.
2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.
Commentary: The head that was wounded was Julius. The senators killed him in order to destroy the dictatorship of empiricism. They thought they had killed it, but it arose in more power than ever with Augustus. All the world wondered at what Augustus had done when he brought about world peace. He said, “There is no other name in heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.”
4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
Commentary: Nero persecuted the Christians for 42 months from AD 64 to AD 68. Peter and Paul were killed at this time.
6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. 9 He who has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.
Commentary: Nero was killed with the sword in AD 68.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
The Beast out of the Earth
11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
Commentary: Giving “breath” to the image means causing the rule of Caesar to be effective. The image set up was a mental image. The signs produced could mean all the prosperity Herod brought to his reign. The fire could mean all his murders.
16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
Who Are These Beasts?
The first beast rises out of the sea and is international in government. (The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues - Rev 17:15) The second beast rises out of the land and is local. The first beast in Revelation 13 is the same as the 4th beast in Daniel seven. It is the dynasty of Julius Caesar.
The second beast arises out of the Promised Land. It is Jerusalem. This beast looks like a lamb. Lambs have to do with priesthood sacrifice. It represents the chief priests of Jerusalem. It has two horns. Horns are symbols of power. This beast is schizophrenic because one horn says, “We have no king but Caesar,” and the other says, “Give us Barrabas” (who wanted to overthrow Caesar in an insurrection). It then speaks like a dragon and says, “Crucify Him.” The function of this second beast is to make the whole world worship the mental image of the first beast (Caesar). Nero was the current ruling Caesar and was the beast in the flesh. The letters of his name in Hebrew add up to 666. (Every letter in Hebrew is also a number.) This second beast is later called the false prophet in Revelation 20 and the harlot supported by the beast in Revelation 17. Caesar supported the apostate Jerusalem. That is why she is called the “Whore of Babylon.”
The Book of Revelation arises in a crescendo of heavenly rejoicing when she is destroyed in chapter 19. Then follows the marriage supper of the Lamb. The clue as to the identity of the Whore of Babylon is when it says, “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev 18:24). Jesus also described Jerusalem similarly. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets” (Mat 23:37). No other city in history up to that point could be described this way. Neither Babylon, nor Egypt, nor Nineveh, nor any other city was famous for killing prophets.
To take the mark of the beast is to do what the chief priests of the Jews were doing. They said, “We have no king but Caesar; give us Barrabas and crucify Him.” To take the mark of the beast is to put Caesar (the government) as the highest authority. Those who take this mark believe that if the Supreme Court says it is okay, then it is. That is the same as saying, “We have no king but Caesar.”
What Does It Mean In Apocalyptic Language
To “Buy And Sell?”
In Revelation 3:13 Jesus said, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire.”
How does one buy gold from Jesus? Is it not by worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth? This shows that in Holy Spirit vision language, “buying and selling” is worship. The Spirit says in Revelation 13:16 that no one could buy or sell without the mark of the beast on their forehead and on their hand. This means they could not “worship” in the synagogue.
Put Out of the Synagogue
John 9:22b …the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
The Mark
Dt 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Just as Stephen called God’s Tabernacle the “tabernacle of Moloch” because of their wrong motive in worship, so here the Spirit is calling the God ordained custom of tying the words of God on their hands and foreheads the “mark of the beast.”
In Acts 7:42-44 Stephen said, “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed…”
Malachi 2:3 says the “refuse of your solemn feasts” will be rubbed on your faces. Isaiah 1:14 says, “Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me.” The very festivals God had ordained had become a burden to God because of their wrong motive in worship.
How Do We Apply This Today?
How do we apply this? It means that the very duties God has ordained can become sinful because of performing them from a wrong motive and going about to establish our own righteousness. Just as the Pharisees trusted in their fasting, tithing, and Sabbath keeping and left out mercy and justice, so Christians today can trust in their witnessing, their giving, their praying, their worship, their building of hospitals, helping the poor, fighting abortion, church attendance, and many other legitimate duties.
What the hypocrites of that day did is no different from what professing Christians can do now. One “mark” of this beast is when one thinks he has done his duty and must be careful of not going too far in our dedication and giving. Anyone who thinks that way is marked. Anyone who wants credit for all his giving and all his sacrifice has marked himself. We are also told to “mark” those who cause dissension and divisions (Rom 16:17).
Jesus said to go and learn what Hosea 6:6 means:
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
It means He desires substance over symbol.
Books & Tracts By Ron Smith
2411 Mimosa, Mission, TX 78574
956-585-4402
scronnie@aol.com
churchofthekingmcallen.com
BOOKS
The Visions of Daniel Fulfilled $15 +shipping @ amazon.com or $10 + shipping from Ron Smith direct only.
Apostolic Interpretation $10 + shipping (direct only)
Tracts (Free)
Beware of Dogs
Faith v. Works
Is Jesus Coming Soon?
ISLAM
Jehova’s Two Wives
Jehova’s Two Wives
Marks of a True Convert
Once Saved
Once Saved Always
One Holy Catholic Church
Richard Cameron
SIGNIFICANCE.
Stoddard Way to Know Sincerity and Hypocrisy Cleared Up
Stoddard, Defects of Preachers Reproved
The Coming Of Christ In Mat 24
THE FIVE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HEART
The King is Coming tract
The Love Song of Moses and the Lamb
The Many Comings of the Lord
The New heavens & earth
Thy Kingdom Come tract
TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSION
True And False Conversion
What We Must Understand to be Saved
Spanish Tracts
LosDefectosdelosPredicadores
Bautismo
Religión Por Afuera Y Por Adentro
Defectos De Los Predicadores, por Solomon Stoddard
Church of the King
7401 N. Ware Rd.
McAllen, TX 78574
Churchofthekingmcallen.com
On Ware Rd. Just South of Trenton ½ mile.
Of The Beast
By Ron Smith
Revelation 13
1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
The Beast out of the Sea
And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.
Commentary: This beast is Rome. The seven heads are seven Caesars: Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, & Galba. The ten horns are the ten provinces of Rome. Each province had a king like Herod who was under the authority of Caesar. Revelation 17 describes the seven heads as seven kings. He said five had fallen and “one is.” Nero was the 6th and therefore this was written during the reign of Nero.
2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.
Commentary: The head that was wounded was Julius. The senators killed him in order to destroy the dictatorship of empiricism. They thought they had killed it, but it arose in more power than ever with Augustus. All the world wondered at what Augustus had done when he brought about world peace. He said, “There is no other name in heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name Caesar.”
4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" 5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
Commentary: Nero persecuted the Christians for 42 months from AD 64 to AD 68. Peter and Paul were killed at this time.
6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. 9 He who has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.
Commentary: Nero was killed with the sword in AD 68.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
The Beast out of the Earth
11Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
Commentary: Giving “breath” to the image means causing the rule of Caesar to be effective. The image set up was a mental image. The signs produced could mean all the prosperity Herod brought to his reign. The fire could mean all his murders.
16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
Who Are These Beasts?
The first beast rises out of the sea and is international in government. (The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues - Rev 17:15) The second beast rises out of the land and is local. The first beast in Revelation 13 is the same as the 4th beast in Daniel seven. It is the dynasty of Julius Caesar.
The second beast arises out of the Promised Land. It is Jerusalem. This beast looks like a lamb. Lambs have to do with priesthood sacrifice. It represents the chief priests of Jerusalem. It has two horns. Horns are symbols of power. This beast is schizophrenic because one horn says, “We have no king but Caesar,” and the other says, “Give us Barrabas” (who wanted to overthrow Caesar in an insurrection). It then speaks like a dragon and says, “Crucify Him.” The function of this second beast is to make the whole world worship the mental image of the first beast (Caesar). Nero was the current ruling Caesar and was the beast in the flesh. The letters of his name in Hebrew add up to 666. (Every letter in Hebrew is also a number.) This second beast is later called the false prophet in Revelation 20 and the harlot supported by the beast in Revelation 17. Caesar supported the apostate Jerusalem. That is why she is called the “Whore of Babylon.”
The Book of Revelation arises in a crescendo of heavenly rejoicing when she is destroyed in chapter 19. Then follows the marriage supper of the Lamb. The clue as to the identity of the Whore of Babylon is when it says, “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev 18:24). Jesus also described Jerusalem similarly. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets” (Mat 23:37). No other city in history up to that point could be described this way. Neither Babylon, nor Egypt, nor Nineveh, nor any other city was famous for killing prophets.
To take the mark of the beast is to do what the chief priests of the Jews were doing. They said, “We have no king but Caesar; give us Barrabas and crucify Him.” To take the mark of the beast is to put Caesar (the government) as the highest authority. Those who take this mark believe that if the Supreme Court says it is okay, then it is. That is the same as saying, “We have no king but Caesar.”
What Does It Mean In Apocalyptic Language
To “Buy And Sell?”
In Revelation 3:13 Jesus said, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire.”
How does one buy gold from Jesus? Is it not by worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth? This shows that in Holy Spirit vision language, “buying and selling” is worship. The Spirit says in Revelation 13:16 that no one could buy or sell without the mark of the beast on their forehead and on their hand. This means they could not “worship” in the synagogue.
Put Out of the Synagogue
John 9:22b …the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
The Mark
Dt 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Just as Stephen called God’s Tabernacle the “tabernacle of Moloch” because of their wrong motive in worship, so here the Spirit is calling the God ordained custom of tying the words of God on their hands and foreheads the “mark of the beast.”
In Acts 7:42-44 Stephen said, “Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:
‘Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of your god Remphan, Images which you made to worship; And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed…”
Malachi 2:3 says the “refuse of your solemn feasts” will be rubbed on your faces. Isaiah 1:14 says, “Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me.” The very festivals God had ordained had become a burden to God because of their wrong motive in worship.
How Do We Apply This Today?
How do we apply this? It means that the very duties God has ordained can become sinful because of performing them from a wrong motive and going about to establish our own righteousness. Just as the Pharisees trusted in their fasting, tithing, and Sabbath keeping and left out mercy and justice, so Christians today can trust in their witnessing, their giving, their praying, their worship, their building of hospitals, helping the poor, fighting abortion, church attendance, and many other legitimate duties.
What the hypocrites of that day did is no different from what professing Christians can do now. One “mark” of this beast is when one thinks he has done his duty and must be careful of not going too far in our dedication and giving. Anyone who thinks that way is marked. Anyone who wants credit for all his giving and all his sacrifice has marked himself. We are also told to “mark” those who cause dissension and divisions (Rom 16:17).
Jesus said to go and learn what Hosea 6:6 means:
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
It means He desires substance over symbol.
Books & Tracts By Ron Smith
2411 Mimosa, Mission, TX 78574
956-585-4402
scronnie@aol.com
churchofthekingmcallen.com
BOOKS
The Visions of Daniel Fulfilled $15 +shipping @ amazon.com or $10 + shipping from Ron Smith direct only.
Apostolic Interpretation $10 + shipping (direct only)
Tracts (Free)
Beware of Dogs
Faith v. Works
Is Jesus Coming Soon?
ISLAM
Jehova’s Two Wives
Jehova’s Two Wives
Marks of a True Convert
Once Saved
Once Saved Always
One Holy Catholic Church
Richard Cameron
SIGNIFICANCE.
Stoddard Way to Know Sincerity and Hypocrisy Cleared Up
Stoddard, Defects of Preachers Reproved
The Coming Of Christ In Mat 24
THE FIVE CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HEART
The King is Coming tract
The Love Song of Moses and the Lamb
The Many Comings of the Lord
The New heavens & earth
Thy Kingdom Come tract
TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSION
True And False Conversion
What We Must Understand to be Saved
Spanish Tracts
LosDefectosdelosPredicadores
Bautismo
Religión Por Afuera Y Por Adentro
Defectos De Los Predicadores, por Solomon Stoddard
Church of the King
7401 N. Ware Rd.
McAllen, TX 78574
Churchofthekingmcallen.com
On Ware Rd. Just South of Trenton ½ mile.
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