January, 2011

Contents

A Child is Born
On Daniel's Seventy Weeks
American Presidents
Personal
Jacob's Troubles, Future or Fulfilled?
The Great Mystery Of Godliness. 1Timothy 3:16
A short Bible lesson, Jeremiah 3:11
Charity
First Degree Feminist
Al Gore
Avoiding Toxic Aluminum
Larry Lilly's Letter

A Child is Born

Isaiah 9:6, 7

For what it is worth, I consider vv. 6 & 7 some of the greatest verses in Scripture. Their depth cannot be fathomed, and they are the basis of the glorious promises of the limitless expansion of the kingdom of God.

I certainly wish there were enough room here to develop just vv. 1-5, but there is not. However, the entire chapter is posted at biblicalexaminer.org.

The prophet sees the Messiah born and then growing up in the midst of great darkness, Galilee of the nations (Gentiles). In these two verses, he continues on with this thought and expands upon it.

V. 6, For ties what he is about to say in with the previous statements that the Messiah will come and His kingdom will not only prevail but expand world-wide. The rod of the oppressor will be broken, as in the day of Midian.

The deliverance from under the oppression of the world, which is to be accomplished by the Messiah, is compared to the deliverance in the day of Midian, v. 4.

Midian numbered about 135,000 men, Judges 8:10, while the total number of fighting men of Israel was only 32,000 men, 7:3. And even that was too many for the Lord, so He thinned this number out to only 300. That made the odds 450 to 1, representing tremendous odds against any kind of victory in anyone's book. But the Lord gave a complete victory.

Victory over Midian gives us some tremendous conclusions for the Church. Humanistic thinking demands numbers for any kind of victory, but Judges 6, 7 teaches quite the opposite. Gideon smote the Midianites as one man. Gideon is the example, and through him, God delivered His repentant people from overwhelming odds.

V. 6. The child's nation Israel (the Gospel Church) will increase to boundless proportions. All of the enemy will be crushed, and all their efforts to cast His cords and bands away from themselves will be overturned, and even used against them. Psalms 2.

How can these glorious things take place? For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given... The promise of the triumph of Christ's Church is beyond human comprehension. Moreover, a great many Christians refuse to believe that such a triumph can take place because of the sinful human nature. But it will take place! Why? For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...

unto us a son is given. Clearly, Christ was given by the Father. John 3:16, &c. He came into the world completely apart from any human intervention. He was given by the Father as a sacrifice for the sins of His people. He was given by the Father to rule and reign forever and forever over the kingdoms of men, which are given to whomsoever He will. Daniel 4.

It is also significant that the prophecy mentions the coming of a child, a son to be more specific. Thus we have a clear reference to Psalms 2 where the rebels of the world who are attempting to overthrow God, are told to kiss the Son. Isaiah tells of the coming of that Son who is the King of the whole earth.

The promise seems beyond human comprehension, and it is. The promise of a glorious future was especially astounding to the people who lived at the time of Isaiah. Assyria was about to overrun them, and total annihilation appeared imminent. But the glorious promise of Isaiah the Prophet is based in the promise of a child, who will bring all of the promised glorious things to pass.

Hope in man is useless. Isaiah's hope can only be accomplished in the son which is given.

In v. 6, we also see the mystery of the incarnation revealed. God became man in the body of Jesus Christ. Who else can lead His people to the promised victory of vv. 1-5 other than God with us?

The government shall be upon his shoulder... Of the increase of his government... Twice we are told that the child, at maturity, is the King of all. Not only the King of all, but His kingdom will have limitless expansion. Isaiah gave this wonderful promise in contrasted with the imminent destruction by the world's power of the covenant-people in his time.

Hengstenburg makes a good point: "Although His kingdom is not of this world, John xvii. 36, it is, must be for that very reason, so much the more all-governing." (E. W. Hengstenburg [1802 - 1869], Christology of the Old Testament, p. 451. McDonald Publishing Co, McLean VA. 22101.)

If His kingdom were of this world, the only way that He could rule and expand would be through physical, military force. But because it is not of this world, but spiritual, He rules and expands by spiritual means.

The names

In Scriptures, a person's name describes the person. When a person changes, his name changes also. Saul's name was changed to Paul. Abram's name was changed to Abraham, &c.

Quite some time ago, I watched a Karate movie. About the only thing I remember of it is that the Oriental teacher insisted that the three brothers change their names from "Christian" names to Oriental names.

This son that is given is so complete that one name cannot describe Him; therefore, He is called by five names. Each of these names can stand alone, or stand together. Together seems more needful, for they describe the one person—the King, the child who was to have (now has) the total government upon His shoulders.

Notice that these names make it clear that He is the self-existent one; to Moses He was the great I AM. The amazing thing is that the self-existent one became a child, totally dependent upon His mother; then totally dependent upon His family, and then He was dependent upon friends for His support. (However, He made it clear that He was dependent upon the Father.) Then at His resurrection, He again became the totally self-existent one.

Wonderful.

A cross reference here is Judges 13:18, where the angel of the Lord told Manoah, when asked what His name was, that His name was secret - marg. wonderful. (BDB [pg. 810] does not give this passage in Judges as the same word, but a related word under 6383-wonderful, incomprehensible.)

BDB-wonder (as unusual, extraordinary); 1. wonder: extraordinary, hard to be understood, God's dealings with His people is a different Hebrew word listed under this 1.) Is 9:5 marvel of a conselor, wonderful conselor (of Mess. king); (then another Hebrew word, still under 1,) La 1:9 she (Jerus.) hath come down marvelously.

Isaiah 29:14 is excellent. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. (See 1 Corinthians 1 & 2.)

Add to this the other passage in Psalms 119:129 Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them. and Lamentations 1:9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself. and this is what we have.

"Anything which is fitted to excite wonder and amazement, from any cause, will correspond with the sense of the Hebrew word."

Starting with about chapter 40 of Isaiah, we see the Lord emphasizing wonderful with 55:8 and 9 (adding in the rest of the passage) summing it up:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth in singing. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Wonderful

1. He is God and His method of working is as far above our understanding as are the heavens above the earth. Thus, His ways are secret to man; they are only revealed by His Spirit through His word, and then only as much as finite man can comprehend. Man can only catch a glimpse of His workings, similar to the glimpse he can catch of the heavens.

2. His workings are completely contrary to the wisdom of the wise men of the day. In fact, His workings are hidden from the wise and prudent.

3. Included in this wonder is His law. How does He work through His law-word? All we know is that it shall accomplish that which He pleases, whether judgment or blessing.

4. Also included in this wonder is judgment. Even His judgments are beyond the understanding of men.

Remember the context of Isaiah's message in chapter 9. To the natural eye, it was hopeless. Isaiah now tells them that the workings of the Lord are wonderful, completely beyond human understanding. This is why we must act by faith, for we do not understand how God works. We only have the promise that His word does work.

Observe

It would not be a cause of amazement for the King (King Jesus) to rule (and enforce peace) by military might. Many men have done the same, past and present. This King, who has the government upon His shoulder and whose dominion will cover the earth, will expand his Kingdom in such a way as to bring amazement to all who see His rule. He is wonderful, amazing in His governing of mankind. His reign is a spiritual reign in the hearts of men, causing His former enemies to willingly, gladly and joyfully submit to His law-word. Romans 5:10. The natural man cannot understand anything but physical, military might, so he must reject any other means of conquest.

Consider how prosperous nations would be without their warring nature.

His name shall be called Wonderful, which is the number one characteristic of our King. Everything about Him, past, present and future, is Wonderful, amazing and rejected by the natural man because he cannot understand it.

"[His] whole nature is wonderful, of unfathomable depth, and cannot, therefore, be expressed by any human name." Hengstenburg. The unknown name of the Saviour in Revelation 19:12 speaks of the immeasurable glory of His nature.

Wonderful includes His creation of the world, His total sovereignty over all men, nations and creation as revealed in the Book of Daniel. Wonderful includes His incarnation as a man and humanity, His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension and especially His method of conquering and ruling over all the kingdoms of men. It is all amazingly beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

When we try to reduce any of these points about Isaiah's prophesied son (and many more) to the level of our understanding, we have made a god after our own image.

Counselor

The next name here is Conselor. (3289, BDB, 419a. Is 9.5 wonder of a conselor, of the ideal ruler predicted. More generally, conselor, adviser Pr. 15.22) Again, as with Wonderful, Conselor is identified with Wonderful.

Hengstenburg also connects the two, "the King is a Wonder as a Conselor, because His whole person is wonderful." The parallel passage is 28:29. On the other hand, Keil separates the two names, identifying conselor as the second name for the Son that is given, using Isaiah 11:2 as his justification.

Clearly, this King rules with no advice from anyone. He is the Spirit of Counsel; He, therefore, needs no counsel. Romans 9 & 11.

It is impossible to separate these attributes because they are in the same Divine Person, Jesus. He is Wonderful, Divine Counselor, and all of the rest of these names all combined without confusion in this one person. We will leave the debate as to whether these names should be connected or not, to others. Either way, this son who has the government upon His shoulder, rules in the Kingdom of men, raising up whom He will, putting down whom He will, and all with no counsel from anyone. His will not only shall be done, but it is being done on earth. Again, the book of Daniel is clear on this.

Of course, included in conselor is the fact that the Son-King is the Conselor to all who need counsel. His word directs every path. His word alone reveals the way we are to walk. His counsel is always right and perfect, completely above error. Psalms 119:105.

He indeed is the Wonderful, Amazing Conselor to His creation. He alone knows the way of life. Though the way seems dark and hidden, He knows the way through the wilderness. Psalms 136:16. His ways are past finding out.

The Mighty God

The next name, the mighty (1368) God. (BDB the Messiah is 9.5; attribute of God especially as fighting for his people Ps. 24.8.8; Dt. 10.7; Ne 9.32; Is. 10.21; Je. 32.18)

As we see, the Son is identified as the Messiah who is mighty in battle. The mighty King, named Immanuel (7:14), is the one who will lead His people to victory. Isaiah 10:21 identifies who the people are—they are the remnant of Jacob. Christ fights for His people, the church, in the same manner as in the day of Midian.

A cross reference in my Bible for the mighty God title here is,

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Now, follow the context Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

The work of the mighty God is preformed in purifying a people unto Himself. We are again reminded of Gideon and Midian. God purified to Himself a man, then a group of men, then the nation. The result was the mighty God overthrew the great Midianite army with an extremely small group of men who had to exert no military might.

The peculiar people who are zealous of good works are the redeemed. As they continue in their good works, their God shows Himself strong through them. The result: The world is conquered for Christ and His kingdom.

Everlasting Father

This is the most amazing of all the names for the son.

Hengstenburg identifies the Everlasting Father (Father of eternity) as the third name; Keil identifies it as the fourth. This name clearly states that Jesus is the God of eternity, past, present and future. Hengstenburg quotes Luther: "Who at all times feeds His Kingdom and Church, in whom there is a fatherly love without end."

Joseph Parker (Preaching through the Bible) makes an excellent point that Christianity is a prophetic religion—it deals with the future. "It deals with the science that is to be, with the politics yet to be developed, with the commerce that is yet to be the bread producing action of civilized life." The law of God is given that we might control the future as it deals with very practical matters.

The implications of this name are many.

1. Jesus is the everlasting God with us in the flesh. He is the everlasting Father in a manner that can be comprehended by man.

2. The promises (both good and bad) made by God in His word, will be fulfilled. He not only made them, but he will be around to see that they are fulfilled.

3. He is the God of eternity. This means that He is in total control, not man nor the devil.

4. Obviously, the One who controls eternity will not have His plans foiled by man or devil.

5. The everlasting Father! This demands a view of history that is working the plan of a Sovereign God. Amid all of the turmoil and doubts, His plan is being worked. He not only knows what is going on, He laid the plan before the world began as to what would go on.

6. Jesus is the Sovereign God of eternity, yet while He was here, the Father was in heaven. Impossible to understand!

7. Either intentionally or unintentionally, Daniel builds a great house upon Everlasting Father, the Sovereign ruler of time and eternity. 4:3, 17, 25, 34, 35, 5:21, 6:26.

The rest of Daniel builds on the fact that the kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom, ruled by an everlasting God, who controls the kingdoms of men according to His sovereign will. His sovereign rule from the heavens extends from the time of in the beginning to when time is no more. Parker gives an excellent treatment of Daniel, the horns and the kingdom of the everlasting Father.

Daniel 5. Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that God is an everlasting sovereign God whose will alone rules the world. His son (grandson) Belshazzar, even though he knew what God did to his father (grandfather), was himself lifted up with pride. Belshazzar's generation learned the hard way what Nebuchadnezzar learned. God raised up another kingdom to overthrow Babylon, Darius the Mede, who took the kingdom at the age of 62.

For us: Our generation, like Belshazzar's, has forgotten that God the Father is King, ruling in the Kingdom of Heaven, and doing His own counsel on earth. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and rules all events of earth to the very minutest detail, even to individual hairs and birds.

It took a complete collapse of Belshazzar's kingdom to teach this lesson to the pagans, but God taught them, and they gave glory to Him.

What will it take today to teach even the professed Christians that God alone rules in the affairs of men, let alone teach the pagans? We can be assured that this lesson will be taught, and the harder men resist it, the worse the lesson.

The everlasting Father! What a wonderful name for Jesus. A name that is totally beyond our comprehension—the possessor and ruler of eternity.

The Prince of Peace

Prince of Peace. His final name... In its order, it implies that the means of accomplishing the other aspects of His personality (mighty God, everlasting Father, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and spreads over the whole earth) are to be viewed in this light.

Remember, Isaiah prophesied at a time when Assyria was on the verge of overpowering the covenant-people. He is painting a picture of a glorious future in the face of total destruction. Many Christians see this God-King as a terrible king who will come with great physical might to spread the blood and guts of his enemies all over the face to the earth. To the natural man, there is no victory apart from force of arms, military victory.

Illustration: Though never attending church, General Douglas MacArthur claimed to be a Christian. As the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), he realized that military might could not bring peace, so at the end of WW II, he asked Christian America to send missionaries to Japan to win the hearts of the people to peace. A few answered his call, but not near enough to convert the nation to the Prince of Peace. He realized that Japan's god had been militarily crushed, and the power vacuum would be filled, either by the Prince of Peace, or by secular powers. (http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=3, http://www.bimi.org/worldMag/208A2.php)

Isaiah gave his prophecy in the midst of approaching darkness. Thus, in the darkness of oppression under Rome, the old national Israel looked for a literal fulfillment of the prophecy. They passed their false hope on to 19th century Christianity and it is still with us today.

As a sad side note here. The leader in China, Mao Tse Tung, saw that physical warfare was not the answer to subduing the hearts and minds of people. His answer was to write a book, The Thoughts of Mao. With this, he sought to conquer the people. It is sad that the ungodly grasp what so many Christians refuse to see; that is, the true war is for the mind and hearts, not for the bodies.

Because most Christians see King Jesus as a blood and guts king, they have yielded the war for the minds and hearts to the wicked one. The devil knows that winning the hearts of the people is his key to world-wide dominion, so he has subdued the education facilities to his lies. Thus, he has a great upper hand in winning the battle that many Christians will not admit is taking place.

The son's kingdom is established and spreads over the whole earth. It is spread through peaceful means, but not always is there peace. Remember His name is also the mighty God, viz., the God-Hero.

Peace is the aim; it is offered to all the nations in Christ; but those who reject it, who rise up against His kingdom, He throws down, as the God-Hero, with a powerful hand, and obtains by force peace for His people. But war, far as it takes place, is carried on in a form different from that which existed under the Old dispensation. According to Micah v. 9 (10), ff., the Lord makes His people outwardly defenseless, before they become in Christ world-conquering... According to chap. xi. 4, Christ smiteth the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He slayeth the wicked. (Christology, pp. 451, 2.)

Notice the thought here. The people of God are made defenseless before their enemies and the enemies of God. This defenseless condition is presented in Zephaniah 3. The forces of evil see their opportunity to move against the people of God, and do so. The Lord, the mighty God, shows Himself strong, as He fights for His people in such a manner that there can be no mistaking who won the victory.

The Kingdom of God will, through the Redeemer, acquire an ever increasing extent, and, along with it, perfect peace shall be enjoyed by the world. For it is not by rude forces that this kingdom is to be founded and established, as is the case with worldly kingdoms, in which increase of government and peace, far from being always connected, are, on the contrary irreconcileable opponents, but by justice and righteousness. (Ibid., 452)

The situation from which Isaiah is writing is the same: The covenant-people are seemingly defenseless. They have a king who claims to be part of them, who has rebelled against God. They have the confederacy of the nations against them, ready to attack at any time. They have the king making the deal with the very ones who will overrun them shortly. All hope is gone for any kind of relief. Those who are trying to remain true to the Lord are defenseless.

Isaiah 9:6 & 7 is the promise given that in the hopeless situation, God is still in total control and the Prince of Peace will prevail in His good time. Those who stand against His kingdom and the Prince of Peace will be cast down to the dust; they will be subdued to the Kingdom of God. As mentioned by Hengstenburg, the enemies of the Kingdom will be smitten with the rod of iron which proceeds out of the mouth of God—that is, the word of God. God's law will be allowed to produce its promised result, which is destruction for those who hate it. (See Psalms 45.)

V. 6, describes the King (Jesus). V. 7 describes His kingdom and its growth. This verse is one of the more obvious passages which describe the Kingdom of our God, King Jesus and His kingdom. Modern Rationalistic ‘Scholars,' who have sought to do away with the obvious teaching of this passage, have ‘forced' it to refer to King Hezekiah, who would have been about nine at this time. (I can just see the Prophet calling the 9 year old Hezekiah, the everlasting Father. It was the kings who called the Prophets father, 2 Kgs. 13:14.)

Though the natural temptation is to make v. 7 a literal king with physical rule, such an idea is totally without Scriptural support. Not only is that idea against common sense, but violates v. 6. V. 7 can be no one except King Jesus.

Then we have Psalms 72, which is an obvious parallel passage of Isaiah 9:7.

But v. 6 absolutely forbids making v. 7 apply to anyone other than King Jesus.

Psalms 72:

I. Isaiah 9:6 should settle the matter, but for some who require a bloody reign of King Jesus, it probably is not (their "rightly dividing the word of truth", allows them to divide passages from their context, and thus from their true meaning). Another point about v. 7 is that it this indicates judgment descending (upon the mown grass, Hosea 6:3), that justice and righteousness might be exalted.

II. Psalms 72:8 is clearly Isaiah 9:7, as is v. 11. All nations will serve Him, and this is done with a willing heart, through peaceful means through a changed heart.

III. V. 17, men shall be blessed in him... This is obviously Genesis 12:3 which is a reference to the Israel of God, the church. See the book of Galatians.

IV. Also in v. 17 is all nations shall call him blessed. My marg. gives Luke 1:48 and Philippines 2:9-11. Both are obvious references to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spurgeon points out that the overwhelming implication of this Psalm (72) is a personal reign of the King. That may be so, but that still leaves us with 72:6, as well as the parallel passage in Isaiah 9:6, 7. I really do not see how one can hope for a literal reign when we consider Spurgeon's strong words in Psalms 45. (Treasury of David.) He is close to dogmatic about that Psalm being the reign of Christ, who is seated in the heavens, in the heart of the believers, who will then reign in His stead on this earth.

Isaiah 9:7 shows:

1. The size of His kingdom -- It has no end, taking in all the nations of the earth.

Limitless is the increase of his government. There are many more parallel passages, e.g., Isaiah 2:2, 4, Micah 5:4 (1-4), Zechariah 9:4 (see comments in Zechariah at http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/Com/Hosea%209A.html) and others. If one keeps track of this increase thought as they read the Old Testament prophets especially, he would be surprised at the prevalence of this doctrine. Is it not significant that these increase passages are given in the context of the oppression of Assyria of the covenant-people.

2. The result of His government -- Peace.

Peace is totally contrary to human governments. As human governments increase, so does war, conflict and corruption, WITHOUT EXCEPTION. When this child's, or son's government increases, peace, righteousness and justice increases. His love for His people will not allow His kingdom to be reduced to the level of human government. His rule is from within, the Prince of Peace dwelling within the believer, and conquering the "war-mongers" from within.

Outward rules have never, nor will they ever bring peace. Only the changed heart subdued to the Prince of Peace has ever brought peace. Consider this short quote from Hengstenburg:

How necessary soever, under certain conditions, war may be for the kingdom of God, --as indeed the Saviour also says that (in the first instance) He had not come to send peace but a sword--it is after all only something accidental, and rendered needful by human corruption. The real nature of the kingdom of God is peace. Even in the OT, the Lord of the Church appears as the Prince of Peace, Is. ix. 5. According to Luke ix. 56, the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. In order to impress upon the mind this view of the nature and aim of the Church, the Temple,-- the symbol of the church-- must not be built by David the man of war, but by Solomon, the peaceful; the man of rest, 1 Chron. xxii. 9. (Hengstenburg, Christology, pg. 94. See my notes in Psalms 45, which forced me to give up my premil faith. http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/Com/Ps%2045.html)

Certainly, war and conflict must proceed peace. It is the strong man armed which assures peace. Christ fought the conflict with the evil one, and won on the cross, Colossians 2:15.

The strong man was defeated and his house spoiled, Luke 11:21, 22. However, the man freed from the hold of the strong man, the devil, did not replace the sin he was freed from with righteousness, vv. 23-26. The result was worse than before he was set free.

Peace results from conflict, but the conflict is not in human terms, nor is it our conflict. The conflict was spiritual, and it was between our Substitute and the Devil. It brought the victory in our place to our King, King Jesus. That victory established the King on His throne above every name that is named. That victory is ours to claim by a living faith (a faith that lives and applies the law of God), 1 Corinthians 15:57, 58.

The Lord ascended to His throne on high at the right hand of the Father. From this throne, His kingdom spreads over the earth as water world-wide. Habakkuk 2:14

3. Who's throne it is-- David's.

James Hastings says this about David's reign:

He set himself to free his country from its enemies, to secure it against invasion and to make the people one. Jerus, was virtually his creation; he strove to make it the religious and political center of his kingdom;... (James Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, vol. I, pg. 573.)

Hastings goes on to describe the nature of David's rule and concludes with:

In two respects the reign of D. became an ideal for later times. He was remembered as a just and patriotic ruler; and when oppression and injustice became only too common in Israel, the great prophets looked forward to a time when again a righteous king should sit on his throne (Jer. 23:5; cf. is 15:5), and who was afterwards termed the Messiah. Again, it was through D. that the group of Isr. tribes became a powerful nation, and extended its sway over the neighboring peoples. Thus Israel began to feel that it has a mission in the world; and though D.'s empire began to melt away even in the darkest hour. Still the people believed that in God's own time they would be called upon once more to subdue the surrounding nations (cf. Am 9:12), or like a second D. to proclaim to heathen races j"'s great and holy name (cf. Is 55:3-5). (Ibid.)

Basically, the rule of David was over the covenant-people of God. His rule was for their welfare and protection. He led them in their service to the Lord as they represented God to the heathens. The terms and goals of David's rule is identical to the Son of David, King Jesus.

Barnes' comments are good here:

When it is said that he would sit upon the throne of David, it is not to be taken literally. The peculiarity of the reign of David was, that he reigned over the people of God. He was chosen for this purpose from humble life; was declared in his administration to be a man after God's own heart; and his long and prosperous reign was a reign over the people of God. To sit upon the throne of David, therefore, means to reign over the people of God; and in this sense the Messiah sat on his throne.

Peter's message was very pointed in this area. See Acts 2:32-36 where he clearly tells these Hebrews that the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this Davidic prophecy.

However, David's house did not rule by perfect judgment and justice. He did better than anyone before or after him, 2 Samuel 8:15, but he was still far short of the judgment and justice called for in Isaiah 9:7, 2 Samuel 23:1-5. Even so, he received the covenant-promise of God that the Lord would raise up someone from his line to rule according to judgment and justice, 2 Samuel 7:12-16. (See our notes on Isaiah 2:1-5 and in Acts, PETER's FIRST MESSAGE. The book of Acts is a good book for a thorough study. There are a great many doctrines established there.)

4. How it will be established -- by judgment and with justice.

5. How it will be supported, continued, or ruled -- by judgment and with justice.

6. When it will start -- from henceforth.

7. How long it will last -- even forever.

Numbers 6 & 7 refer back to the promise given to King David in 2 Samuel 7:13. Again, referring to Hengstemburg:

"House of God" is, in ver. 14 of the parallel text, used of the Church, and in parallelism with "kingdom of God,"--a sense in which it occurs as early as in Numb. xii. 7. This usus loguendi is quite common in the New Testament; compare 1 Tim. iii.15; 2 Cor. xi. 16; Heb. iii.6. In the first two phases of the temple of Solomon, the house consists in the first instance of ordinary stones, --although, even there, the spiritual is concealed behind the material; but in its third phase, the natural is altogether thrown off, and the house is entirely spiritual--consisting of living stone, 1 Pet. ii.5. --That the expression: "for ever, " in the second clause of the verse, is to be taken in its strict and full sense, is proved not only by the threefold repetition, but also by a comparison with the numerous secondary passages, in which the duration of the Davidic dominion appears as absolutely unlimited." (Christology, pg. 98.)

We have no choice but to see this as speaking of the Kingdom of God, which is ruled by Christ the King over the people of God upon the throne of David.

8. What will accomplish or perform this glorious ‘happening'-- the zeal of the LORD of hosts.

CONCLUSION:

All of the above, numbers 1-7, are totally beyond human comprehension and understanding. We are so used to the kingdoms of men and how they are established and kept in power, that we are unable to even think in the terms given in vv. 6, 7. So how does the Isaiah handle the human understanding issue? He tacks on this last statement to explain how it will be done—The zeal of the Lord of host will perform this.

This great change is brought about by the zeal of the Lord who raises this glorious King to His people; comp. John iii. 16. The zeal in itself is only energy; the sphere of its exercise is, in every instance, determined by the context. In Ex. xx. 5; Deut. iv. 24; Nah. i.2, the zeal is the energy of wrath. In the passage before us, as in the Song of Solomon vii. 6, and in chap. xxxvii. 32: "For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and escaped ones out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this," the zeal of God means the energetic character of His love to Zion.. (Christology, p. 453.)

The Kingdom of God will, through the Redeemer, acquire an ever increasing extent, and , along with it, perfect peace shall be enjoyed by the world. For it is not by rude force that this kingdom is to be founded and established, as is the case with worldly kingdoms, in which increase of government and peace, far from being always connected, are, on the contrary irreconcilable opponents, but by justice and righteousness. (Ibid., p. 452.)

Our hope is in Christ. Our proof that the promise of his everlasting and limitless kingdom will be accomplished is Isaiah 9:6

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

He ascended to His throne on high, from where He now rules and reigns over all of His Creation, or we are of all men most miserable.

On Daniel's Seventy Weeks

By Larry Pierce, Drafted On Pearl Harbour Day, 2010.

1. This evening's discourse is on the passage found in Daniel 9:24-27 which describes the seventy weeks of Daniel. The historical setting is found in the opening verses of the chapter. In 538 BC, the first year of Darius the Mede, the son of Cyaxeres and first cousin to Cyrus the Persian, Daniel understood the prophecy in Jeremiah 25:12 concerning the length of the captivity of Judah which started in 607 BC. {a} It is important to note that Daniel understood these years as normal years as we do today and the type of years were the same kind that the Jews used; otherwise how would he know they were almost expired. The Jews understood the length of the year quite well. Otherwise, the dates of their harvest feasts would drift and some years the harvest would not even be ready at the time when they were to celebrate the Feast of First Fruits. Also Daniel knew there was no gap in the seventy years, otherwise the measurement would be meaningless.

2. Once Daniel understood the prophecy, he betook himself to prayer confessing the sins of his people and himself. It was then that Daniel was given a vision of a time period seven times longer than the time of the captivity. Almost all expositors concede that each week or heptad represents seven units — each a year long. The term week in most translations expresses a quantity not a specific time period. It would be similar to our using the word dozen.

3. Tonight's discourse will briefly discuss this passage in Daniel with respect to, first: its historical fulfilment; secondly: the popular understanding of this passage of how it fits into history ; and finally: a fearful warning. Books have been written on this passage so our treatment will be quite summary and we urge you to read some of the books on the subject that we will list at the end of this discourse.

4. I. Now consider the HISTORICAL FULFILMENT of this passage.

5. It is said that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. {b} A lack of knowledge about ancient history has made possible the most interesting prophetic interpretations of today. In 1612, Archbishop James Ussher solved the problem of Daniel's seventy weeks by a careful analysis of ancient history and published his solution. {c} Without going into all the details, Ussher noted that there was no way to make Daniel's seventy weeks fit with ancient history if he used Ptolemy's Canon's date for the start of Artaxerxes' reign of 465 BC. Having completed his analysis of the Old Testament divided kingdom many years earlier, he knew that the Jews counted the first year of a king's reign to be the time when he was appointed viceroy by his father, as in the cases of Jehoram (son of Jehoshaphat), Ahaziah (son of Ahab), Ahaziah (son of Jehoram), Amaziah, Jeroboam II, Jotham, and Hezekiah. {d} In reading the Greek historian Thucydides, Ussher learned that Xerxes had appointed his son Artaxerxes as viceroy in the twelfth year of his reign in 474 BC. {e} An archaeological find in Egypt in the mid-nineteenth century independently confirmed Ussher's conclusions.

6. Hence the correct starting date for the reign of Artaxerxes is 474 BC not 465 BC. In Daniel 9:25 it states that the wall of Jerusalem would be built in troublesome times. If Daniel's seventy weeks started in 445 or 444 BC as is the popular opinion, the Persian world was peaceful for the first time in many years. However, if the seventy weeks started in 454 BC, such was not the case. In 460 BC Egypt under King Inaros revolted from Artaxerxes. He called in the Athenians who were the strongest military force outside of Persia to support him in his rebellion. The Athenians sent their fleet of 200 ships accompanied with some of their allies to Egypt. They also acted as military advisers to the Egyptians. After several battles involving almost a million soldiers, the Egyptians were finally defeated in 454 BC. Artaxerxes sent several huge armies numbering as many as 400,000 soldiers into Egypt. Anyone knowing his geography, knows that the only way to do this is right through Palestine. Seeing an almost half million man army march through your neighbourhood, would be a tad unsettling! While Nehemiah was busy rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, battles involving upwards to a million soldiers were being fought only a few hundred miles away in Egypt. {f} This puts a slightly different interpretation on Troublesome Times. It was not Sanballat and Tobiah complaining to Artaxerxes about possible zoning bylaw infractions committed by Nehemiah!

7. Now when was Christ crucified? Everyone agrees that that event occurred within the seventy week time period. The most serious attempt to fit Daniel's seventy weeks into history was done by Sir Robert Anderson in his book, The Coming Prince. He made many dubious assumptions to force fit this time period into his misunderstanding of ancient history. He made at least the following assumptions.

1) The Messiah was cut off at the END of the sixty-ninth week not AFTER the sixty-ninth week as the Scriptures state. He assumed that the Messiah was cut off at the precise end of the 483rd year not sometime in the years 484 through 490. In verse 26, the Hebrew word (Strongs No. 310) means "after" and cannot be tortured into meaning "at the end of."

2) He created a mythical 360 day prophetic year to try to fit the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel into secular history. Nowhere was such a year ever used in ancient history and also Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years of captivity used normal years not these imaginary prophetic years. The closest thing to a 360 day year is found in Herodotus. He describes the Egyptian year as being composed of twelve thirty day months to which were appended five days each year and every fourth year they added six days just as we do today. {g}

3) He used the time when Artaxerxes became sole king in 465 BC as the starting point for the prophecy, not when he was appointed as viceroy by his father.

8. He ended up with April 14, 32 AD as the time of the crucifixion of Christ. However, he did not state the day of the week when this event happened. If 32 AD is the correct year then Christ was crucified on a Monday. He also made a three day error in his calculation because he did not understand the intricacies of the calendar and century years. Interestingly only two years 33 AD and 36 AD have Friday as a Passover date. 36 AD is too late leaving only 33 AD. Eusebius in his Chronicles cites Phlegon as dating the year of the crucifixion as the nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad. Both these values equate to 33 AD. According to both Ussher and Sir Anderson, the Passover was held on Friday, April 3, for the year 33 AD. Now if we start Daniel's seventy weeks at 454 BC and assume normal 365.25 day years, 33 AD lands us in the fourth year of the seventieth week or the midst of the last week. {h}

9. Many futuristic systems of prophecy either completely ignore or worse, are totally ignorant of ancient history. As a result they have developed the most interesting theories that would not stand the light of day if people had a better knowledge of ancient history!

10. II. We shall now deal with THE POPULAR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THIS PASSAGE FITS INTO HISTORY.

11. All interpretations that hold that some part of this passage is still future, must insist that there is a gap of unspecified length somewhere in this period. This should be obvious for if the periods started sometime in the fifth century BC and is only 490 years long, there must be a gap somewhere. This gap is normally inserted between week sixty-nine and seventy of Daniel. This gap is now almost 2000 years and still counting! This means that only the first 483 years of this prophecy have been fulfilled and the remaining seven years is still future.

12. There are two very serious problems with this interpretation. First it does not agree with ancient history. We discussed this in our first point.

13. Secondly, it requires that measurements have gaps. The prophecy is broken down into three periods of 7, 63 and 1 week. Let a = 7 weeks, b = 63 weeks, c = 1 week and d = 70 weeks. (> is the greater than symbol) Then:

now d = (a + b + c)

(a) + (b) + (c) > d

(a) + (b) + (c) > (a + b + c)

Dropping the brackets for they are not required for the + operator.

a + b + c > a + b + c

Simplifying:

0 > 0

Asserting that measurements have gaps in them is equivalent to saying that zero is greater than zero which is a logical absurdity.

14. Just because a measurement is broken down into parts does not mean there is a gap between the parts. I cite two examples. The creation week is described in Genesis 1 as occurring in seven days. This does not mean there is a gap between the days, for in Exodus 20:9,10 we are told the total elapsed time was seven days and this is the basis for our seven day week. In Genesis 5:3-5 we are told that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born and lived 800 years after that and died at the age of 930 years. This is exactly what we would expect. If measurements really had gaps we could not be certain of the length of the creation week or how long Adam really lived. In fact every measurement in the Bible, that is the sum of its parts, would be suspect and up for grabs.

15. Now for those claiming there is a gap in Daniel's seventy weeks, the burden of proof is:

1) First they must cite a precedent. Otherwise it is just an arbitrary assertion on their part which is illogical. They must produce a measurement from anywhere in all of human literature where it is clear from the context that there is a gap. That is the sum of the parts exceeds the total. This concept is not found in any dictionary or lexicon I have seen. Even the grand daddy of all dictionaries, the giant unabridged Oxford English Dictionary does not even give a hint that a measurement may have a gap. (I stand corrected, it is listed under the entry entitled Fraud!)

2) The first task is impossible, but the second one is even more difficult. They must show that this is the only possible explanation for Daniel's seventy weeks. All other explanations are false and they must be able to give a logical proof of this, thus confirming their own position.

16. I have seen two attempts (very feeble attempts) to justify this most interesting idea. One pastor I asked cited these verses to prove measurements have gaps.

"To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn"; {Isaiah 61:2}

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him." {Luke 4:18-20}

17. The pastor said that this proved there was a gap between the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance because Jesus only quoted the first part of the verse from Isaiah. First of all these are not measurements at all for no one believes the year here is a literal 365.25 day year nor the day here is a 24 hour day. More to the point, is this not still the acceptable year of the Lord? Is not the Lord still receiving sinners and cleansing them in the Red Sea of his blood? I know of no one who would hold that we are in the day of vengeance. The most normal interpretation of the passage in Isaiah would be that when the acceptable time is over, then the time of vengeance begins. There is as much of a gap between these two time periods as there is between someone being alive and then being dead — NONE.

18. The second attempt to prove there is a gap is based on Daniel 9:27. It is maintained that the antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for seven years.

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week." {Daniel 9:27}

19. It is assumed that the he in this verse refers to the antichrist and the many refers to Israel and the covenant lasts for one week. Since most people do not know Hebrew, they do not realise that the word for is not in the Hebrew, and worse, it is not even implied. Any beginning student of Hebrew can confirm this fact after only a few days of initially studying Hebrew! The word for should be in italics but it is not. It could just as easily have been translated in which destroys the entire futurist interpretation. Hence an entire theological skyscraper has been constructed on a word that is not even in the original text! One possible translation of this verse is given by the LXX as: —

"And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation." {Daniel 9:27 LXX}

20. From the Hebrew it is not at all obvious who or what is the subject of the verb confirm or establish. Although it may seem strange to have time as the doer of the action, there is a biblical precedent for it as found in Malachi 4:1 where the time word day is actually burning people up. Both the passage in Malachi and in Daniel are prophetic and express a thought in a very poetic and picturesque way. As translated by the LXX, the one week has nothing to do with the length of the covenant but when it was initiated.

21. The six events listed in Daniel 9:24 outline the events that must take place within the seventy weeks.

1) To finish the transgression. {Matthew 23:32}

2) To make an end of sins. {Hebrews 9:14,26 10:12, 1:3}

3) To make reconciliation for iniquity. {Romans 5:8,10 Colossians 1:12-22}

4) To bring in everlasting righteousness. {Romans 14:17 Isaiah 51:8 1 Corinthians 1:30}

5) To seal up the vision and prophecy. {Isaiah 6:9,10 Matthew 13:14,15 John 12:39-41 Acts 28:25-27}

6) To anoint the most Holy. {Hebrews 9:22-24}

All these events occurred either when Christ was crucified or a few days later when he rose from the dead. (Spurgeon preached an excellent sermon on Christ making an end of sins, No. 759, Metropolitan Pulpit.) As we have shown in the first part this was the middle of the seventieth week. Ironically futurists maintain the Messiah was cut off after the sixty-ninth week according to Daniel 9:26 and then immediately reinterpret that to mean at the end of the sixty-ninth week. If I asked any child to tell me the number I was thinking about if that number was between one and ten and came after nine, his answer would be ten. Likewise when we are told that the Messiah will be cut off after the sixty-ninth week (not the end of that week but after that week), in what week was he cut off? The answer is obvious, the seventieth week; and this is exactly what we find happened according to ancient history.

22. Most futuristic systems, excluding postmillennialism and amillennialism, insist that these six events have not occurred yet and do so by interpreting them in a futuristic way. This looks like circular reasoning to me! The passages listed beside each of these six events shows at least one possible biblical fulfilment that is in the past. To establish that these six items are future it must be shown that they have had no prior fulfilment. No logical proof can show this. All they can hope for is that people are ignorant of the possible fulfilments recorded in Scripture as listed above. Substituting one impossible proof for six impossible ones hardly seems like progress in proving that measurements have gaps. The simplest way to disprove the gap theory to any prophetic speaker believing it is this. When the time comes to pay him his honorarium for speaking just give him a cheque for $70 and say there is a gap between dollar 69 and 70 and really the total amount exceeds his total honorarium!

23. III. Now let us conclude with A FEARFUL WARNING concerning futuristic systems based on historical fiction or illogical reasoning.

1) The first problem I see is the dumbing down of the saints. Few pastors are exposed to rigorous logical reasoning in their seminary training. Even fewer can impart these skills to their congregations. As a result most saints are ill prepared to critically examine what is taught from the pulpit. If the pastor is sincere and speaks with authority, the congregation will blindly accept whatever he says. The noble Bereans did not uncritically accept what even an inspired apostle taught but diligently searched the Scriptures to see if these things were so. How much more should today's saints try every teaching by the scales of the sanctuary when so much error and nonsense is afoot.

2) Secondly the pulpit ministry is severely compromised when pastors cater to itching ears by proclaiming the speculations of men instead of expounding the unsearchable riches of Christ. Few saints today are well grounded in the faith and most are ignorant of the great truths proclaimed in the Protestant catechisms from the reformation. Precious pulpit time is squandered on unproveable prophetic speculations rather than trying to edify the saints. Money is wasted on prophetic conferences and prophetic resources which are little better than mere speculations based on the latest headlines.

3) Thirdly, it may come as a shock to prophecy mongers that no system of prophecy (with the possible exception of Prophetic Agnosticism, e.g. "We do not know!") can logically demonstrate its validity. It is all based on conjecture and assumptions. The proof of this is quite simple. Suppose this were not the case. Then if someone could demonstrate the logical validity of his system of prophecy, he would by direct inference falsify all other views. This has never been done and likely never will be done this side of eternity. We all see through a glass darkly! Since no system of prophecy can logically demonstrate its validity, it follows that its speculations have no place in the pulpit much less in doctrinal creeds of any church. Some churches even go so far as to censor the teaching of opposing views which point out serious problems with their church's position. Do you think they learned this tactic from evolutionists? About as far as we can go is what the old Nicene or Apostles' Creed said about the end times.

a) The Second Coming of Christ

"We believe … he will come again in glory,"

b) The Judgment

"to judge the living and the dead,"

c) The Eternal Reign of Christ

"and his kingdom will have no end … "

d) The Resurrection

"We look for the resurrection of the dead,"

e) The Eternal hereafter

"And the life of the world to come."

4) It is claimed that the prophetic teaching is an incentive to holiness since Christ could come at any moment. (I suppose that those who advocate this view have never thought that one could die at any moment too!) Unfortuanately this unscriptual doctrine has had just the opposite effect. Most prophetic teaching is pessimistic and leads to a withdrawal from engaging the society with the gospel. Theologically this is called pietism. How often have I heard the saying, "You do not polish brass on a sinking ship!" They look upon the world as a vessel that is breaking up and going to pieces, never to float again. We are to pluck, they say, the elect from off her, but the world itself is to be destroyed, and cast away as an unclean thing. Well their pessimism has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the last 150 years most saints have withdrawn from actively engaging the world. They have abandoned being salt and light in the world and await the end in their holy huddle. They preached pessimism and despair and sure enough they got it!

5) Astronomy and prophecy mongering have a lot in common. Both disciplines produce such wholesale returns of conjecture for such a trifling investment of facts. Also neither disciple affects the here and now. Astronomy is the only science where scientists worldwide fully co-operate with each other. This is because astronomical research has no practical bearing on what we do today. What would you do differently tomorrow, if the centre of the galaxy did not contain a black hole? Unfortunately prophetic speculations suffer from the same problem. If what you believe will happen in the future concerning the antichrist turned out to be false, what would change in your lifestyle? And that is just the problem. Preaching prophetic speculations does not promote holiness. Preaching the ethical and moral implications based on sound scriptural exegesis hits where it hurts. The hearer cannot plead ignorance on the last day about his duties.

Conclusion

24. There are many other points I could have raised but this discourse is already too long. I have a book in my library entitled The Day And The Hour. {i} It contains a list of all the prophecies people have made in the last two millennia concerning the return of Christ. (Futurists have such an irresistible urge to make predictions based on current events and time delights in making idiots of them all!) There are two things in common for each pundit —

1) Each claimed to perfectly understand the Scriptures on which they based their predictions and how they related to the current events of their era.

2) Each pundit was 100% wrong!

25. With a 100% failure rate of all these geniuses down through the ages, do you not think we should have learned something? Are today's tea leaf readers any better than those of old? I think not! It is high time to stop all this prophetic speculation which is not to anyone's edification and preach the verities of the Bible about which there is no question among Bible believing Christians. If only the money wasted on the Left Behind series and prophetic conferences had gone to missions, how much more good would have been done. While men are dying, hell is filling, the gospel is not taken to the people, the people do not come to the gospel, and the multitude go their way as though there were no Christ, and no heaven, no hell after they died — what are we doing? At the last day, I can see these prophetic pundits who are held in much esteem today say —

"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?" {Matthew 7:22}

You know the answer in the next verse. May God save us from such a fate as theirs! We close with the following quote from Spurgeon puts prophectic matters in perspective:

"23. 4. Let me also say that I do not perceive anything in this summary tending remarkably to exalt prophecy. I would not make this remark if it were not that there is a certain troublesome sect abroad nowadays to whom the one thing needful is a perpetual speculation upon prophecy. All the bells in their steeple ring out "prophecy! prophecy! prophecy!" They plume themselves upon an expected secret rapture, and I do not know what vain imaginings besides. Where prophecy is preached in connection with their shibboleth, there the gospel is preached, and all ministers besides their own, however honoured by God, are railed at by them as part of Babylon, against whom men are to be warned. They, truly, are wise men, and can afford superciliously to look down upon their fellow Christians as the slaves of sect and system, being, I venture to say, far more sectarian than the worst of us, and more bigoted to their system than Romanists themselves. My dear friends, if you have any time to spare, and cannot find any practical work for Jesus, study the dark places of prophecy, but do not read modern prophetic works, for that is a sheer waste of time and nothing better. Hold off as you would from a serpent from the idea that the study or preaching of prophecy is the gospel, for the belief that it is so, is detrimental beyond conception. The gospel which is to be vehemently declared is this: — "God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." As long as London is reeking with sin, and millions are going down to hell, let us leave others to prophesy, let us go with anxious hearts to seek after souls, and see if we cannot by the Spirit's power win sinners from going down into the pit." {k}

Footnotes

{a} We are using the dates from James Ussher's work, The Annals of the World. Modern archaeologists and other sciolists have shed much darkness on this subject with their unbiblical conjectures. We have tried to use Ussher's work rather than cite the original writers on which it was based since few people have ready access to those authors.

{b} Over a hundred years ago Anstey published a chronology and started Daniel's seventy weeks with the decree of Cyrus in 536 BC. He claimed that about eighty or so years of ancient history between 536 BC and the death of Christ were fictitious. Ussher has carefully documented this time period with almost 12,000 citations from ancient Greek and Latin historians and his calculations are reenforced with eclipse data documented from Ptolemy's Almagest. Before we even start to take Antsey or his adherents seriously, we would like to know just where they plan to amend ancient history to fit their theory and how they plan to make the eclipse data fit their revised history. The final nail in the coffin for this theory recently happened with the finding of an astronomical diary designated as VAT 4596 by the Berlin Museum. This information independently confirms the dates in Ptolemy's Almagest. This diary fixes the thirty-seventh year of the sole reign of Nebuchadnezzar at 568/567 BC with thirty verified astronomical observations. This combination of events would not occur for several thousand years either before or after this date and by implication fixes the date for the first year of the sole reign of Cyrus at 536 BC. We wish Anstey's followers good luck with their historical revisionism. On the other extreme, many full preterists have spiritualised Daniel's prophecy and do not take it as a literal 490 year period. This is most ironic since these very same preterists boast about taking all biblical time texts literally.

{c} J. A. Carr, The Life And Times Of Archbishop James Ussher, p. 90, Reprinted 2005, Master Books, Arkansas.

{d} James Ussher, The Annals Of The World, p. 90, 2003, Master Books, Arkansas.

{e} Ussher, p. 146, 147, opt. cit.

{f} Information for the paragraph comes from p. 151,152, James Ussher, op. cit.

{g} Information for the paragraph comes from p. 822,823, James Ussher, op. cit.

{h} Herodotus, book 2, section 4. (page 279 in Loeb book no. 117) Both Strabo and Diodorus Sicilus state the same thing.

{i} Gumerlock, Francis, The Day And The Hour, 2000 AD, American Vision, Georgia.

{j} C. H. Spurgeon, Sermon No. 786, "The Great Mystery Of Godliness" Updated edition by Larry and Marion Pierce, The entire sermon is to be posted on AnswersInGenesis.Org in May 2011

Suggested Reading

a) Archbishop James Ussher, The Annals Of The World, 2003, Master Books, Arkansas.

b) Sir Isaac Newton, Newton's Revised History Of Ancient Kingdoms, 2009, Master Books, Arkansas.

c) Philip Mauro, The Seventy Weeks And The Great Tribulation, Grace Abounding Ministries, Inc. Sterling, Virgina.

d) Ovid Need, Death Of The Church Victorious, 2002, Sovereign Grace Publishers, Indiana

I notice that the publisher is now selling the book for $16 ea. I must follow suit. New price, $16 plus postage.

History Quiz: American Presidents

by Clyde

1. What American President launched a massive invasion of another country that posed no threat, and without a declaration of war?

2. What President raised a huge army at his own will without the approval of Congress?

3. What President started a war of choice in violation of every principle of Christian just war teaching?

4. What President said that he had to violate the Constitution in order to save it?

5. What President declared the elected legislatures of thirteen States to be "combinations" of criminals that he had to suppress?

6. What President said he was indifferent to slavery but would use any force necessary to collect taxes?

7. What President sent combat troops from the battlefield to bombard and occupy New York City?

8. What President sent the Army to arrest in the middle of the night thousands of private citizens for expressing their opinions? And held them incommunicado in military prisons with total denial of due process of law? And had his soldiers destroy newspaper plants?

9. What President was the first ruler in the civilized world to make medicine a contraband of war?

10. What President signed for his cronies special licenses to purchase valuable cotton from an enemy country even though he had forbidden such trade and punished other people for the same practice?

11. What President refused medical care and food to his own soldiers held by the enemy country?

12. What President presided over the bombardment and house-by-house destruction of cities and towns that were undefended and not military targets?

13. What President's forces deliberately targeted women and children and destroyed their housing, food supply, and private belongings?

14. What President's occupying forces engaged in imprisonment, torture, and execution of civilians and seizing them as hostages?

15. Under what President did the Army have the largest number of criminals, mercenaries, and foreigners?

16. Who was the first American President to plot the assassination of an opposing head of state?

17. Who had the least affiliation with Christianity of any American President and blamed God for starting the war over which he presided?

18. What President voted for and praised a law which forbade black people from settling in his State?

19. What President said that all black people should be expelled from the United States because they could never be full-fledged citizens?

20. What President was the first to force citizens to accept as legal money pieces of paper unbacked by gold or silver?

21. Who was the first President to institute an income tax?

22. Who was the first President to pile up a national debt too vast to be paid off in a generation?

23. Who is considered almost universally as the greatest American President, indeed as the greatest American of all times and as a world hero of democracy?

24. What predecessor is President Obama ( Barry Soetoro ) most often compared to?

This is a take-home quiz. Please grade yourself.

Personal

Greetings

As you will see below, time ran out on us in 2010, and I was unable to get out any kind of a holiday greeting. So, Bettie and I trust you had a pleasant and safe time with your family, and maybe even were able to renew old friendships. We did get to spend time over the last two months with all our children and grandchildren, now totaling 25, as well as with one of Bettie's sisters.

I am concerned about the New Year and the evil it may easily hold for those of us who love the Lord, and who try to remain consistent for him. It seems like most folks are intentionally ignoring the turmoil around them. However, we know that the Lord lives, and he is seated at the right hand of the Father. It is his will, and his will alone that is being accomplished on this earth.

Death Wish

It appears that there is a death wish sweeping the world. It is not that the people want to die, but those who control the events want everyone but themselves to die. However, we as Christians realize that God is the unseen hand behind every event in heaven and earth.

Blaylock: Fluoride's Deadly Secret

http://www.infowars.com/blaylock-fluorides-deadly-secret/

See Dr Mercola's article, mercola.com

" Avoid this Type of Water Purification

I've been discouraging people from drinking this water for over 10 years now. The contaminant level is astronomically high as it becomes concentrated - some of its contaminants are over 10,000 times as toxic as chlorine. And that's not all."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/18/distilled-water-interview.aspx

Natural, mountain spring water is the best water available. Ask those who have lived in your area for some time. There is a link to a spring map on the site.

Go to mercola.com, and get on his health news letter.

Read below, and start seriously reading labels.

As I have tried to hold to a very strict diet, several things have come to my attention.

Health hazards

1. Vegetable oil. The only safe oils are olive and coconut oils.

2. Soy in all forms. I called a supposed organic food company about their use of soy. They assured me that it was "organic soy". May I ask, how being organic changes the dangerous, killing properties of soy, e.g., estrogen, which is destroying "manhood"?

It is almost impossible to find any food free of soy ingredients and/or vegetable oil. A local store in PA that sells dents had a large amount of canned tuna, much "packed in water". However, looking at the label, water was the first ingredient, then vegetable broth and soy. It was not long ago that packed in water meant packed in water. Now, it means packed in water based ingredients.

It is difficult to get animal feed of any kind, e.g., chicken feed, without soy, and the soy shows up in the eggs. Cows are fed soy, so it shows up in the milk and meat. But soy free feed is becoming more available. We know a family in PA that has started a family business of providing soy-free feed, especially for chickens. They replace soy with field peas, and their business is "booming". People are wising up about soy, and are willing to pay extra for soy free feed. The farmers are seeing the demand rise for replacement protein (field peas), and are starting to plant according to the demand.

3. We are learning that neither corn, which is especially bad, nor rice are safe to eat in their natural state.

4. GMOs are having a deadly effect upon the human population. We have mentioned that several times.

5. The love of money is truly the root of all evil. We have known for years that the more a food is processed, the more dangerous it becomes, but everyone wants their cut from the food chain, so processors all add the cost to their process that degrades the food to absolutely useless level where it is no more than something that makes one feel full. The lack of nutritional value results in high medical bills.

6. Microwave ovens are deadly. A simple web search will tell you far more of the dangers than you want to know.

7. Farm raised fish. Use only wild caught. Watching what is going on, we see the effort to offer GMO altered fish to the public. If it is allowed in the fish farms, those altered fish will end up in the wild, the same as the experimental "super bee" became public some years ago through the negligence of a "bee keeper". Yet no one is held responsible.

As more dangerous foods come to my attention, and I read labels more, it certainly seems to me there is a united conspiracy to make us sick and kill us to reduce the population..

Consider the medical-industrial complex—the sicker the food can make us, the more money in the pockets of the big medical interests.

Another overlooked poison in our food supply is Aluminum. One would think Aluminum is an industrial product, but the food industry has found many uses for Aluminum, and it has become an FDA approved food. The medical industry is reaping the profits. See http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/dr_blaylock/Avoiding_Toxic_Aluminum/2010/12/23/368304.html?s=al&promo_code=B632-1

As Rush Limbaugh says, "Follow the Money".

Travel

It seems that since last August, we have done nothing but drive. One of Bettie's nephews from Brazil had a music scholarship at Morehead College in KY, as an exchange student. He flew into Cincinitti, and after spending some time with the Indiana side of the family, we picked him up and brought him to WV. Then we went to Vienna, VA to pick up a Harley. After spending the night with the Strickers, (Mrs. Stricker is an excellent piano teacher) Jonathan and I spent the next two days on the Harley, one day in the rain.

From there, we took Jonathan to PA to our son's place for a few days, and then we took him to Morehead, where we left him for his semester of advanced piano instruction.

Then I had to take Bettie to Atlanta to meet Bettie's oldest daughter for her 10 day Jane Austen tour. I spent the 10 days in the south with friends and grandsons, including a Sunday service at Mt Zion Bible Church in Pensacola, FL, Jeff Pollard, pastor. Chapel Library is their printing ministry. It is amazing how the Lord has blessed that ministry. As you may know, Chapel Library supplies material (basically reformed theological) free of charge. If you are not on their mailing list, get on it. Order a catalogue at chapel@mountzion.org. I then picked Bettie up in Atlanta and came home, probably 2500 miles later.

I started a very strict diet for prostate problems, requiring organic and fresh food as much as possible. Organic is almost unheard of in our WV location, probably because many raise a lot of their own food, or do not understand the health issues of manufactured food.

So we have basically been staying where fresh and organic food is readily available at a reasonable price (including soy free raw, whole dary products, milk and soy free eggs) in PA at Bettie's son (2.5 hours each way). We have been going back to WV on weekends. (A "nutritionist" I spoke with said that prostate problems are a direct result of diet, which I do not doubt: among other things, corn in diet [all US corn has been corrupted with Monsanto's GMOs], a lack of Co-Q10, as well as an overabundance of estrogen in men.)

November 3rd, we had a funeral in Indiana, which was about 1,200 mile round trip. 15 years ago, an elderly lady in the church there ask me to do her funeral, and gave me the passage she wanted me to use. She died at the age of 98. Of course, I did the funeral, and it was a wonderful opportunity to preach the gospel to some lost people.

Interesting note: She was widowed at the age of 35, with no children. She never remarried, and supported herself by making beautiful quilts, which she completely hand stitched. With no children, she had no one to care for her. However, she had a nephew who took her in. He is a sodomite, but for 6 years, he cared for her as though she were his mother.

I am sure I can offend some people with this statement, but I must say that that sodomite has more "Christianity" than many Christians I know of. It seems that today few Christians want to be bothered with their elderly family members once they can no longer care for themselves, or might become a burden to them in some way. God will judge and is judging this nation for their total disregard of "honour thy father and mother that your days may be long upon this earth". Actually, he is judging this nation for its total abandonment of God's law, particularly among those who profess to be his people.

We also were able to look in on our old church in Linden; they had the funeral dinner. The church is doing exceptionally well, gaining new, young and homeschooling families. The new families who joined with us the last couple of years we were there have stayed with "it", and the Lord has and is blessing them in a mighty way. It was a very good and enjoyable visit.

After a few more trips to our son's place, we had to go pick up Bettie's nephew again, with a side trip to IL. We then took him to Vienna for a piano recital, and then to PA for Christmas. After Christmas and the Sunday service in WV, we took him to another aunt's home in SC, and they will see him back to Cincinnati, where he must catch the plane back to Brazil.

All in all, this Summer and Fall involved more time in the car than at home, and more gas money than we care to think about. We hope to return to a reasonably normal life after Bettie's nephew returns to Brazil, and Matt and Jennie (with 9 children) move to South Africa. (We are looking forward to visiting them in Kenya within the next year, Lord willing.)

On the road so much, I missed deer season. We can bait them in WV, so I shoot them from our of back living room window.

After the deer totaled our 2000, 5 speed Camry (at 202,000 miles 32 or so mpg), we got a used 2002, 5 speed Camry with 145,000 miles on it (28-36 mpg, depending on whether or not we use ethanol gas.) It is a small car for us, but has not "missed a beat", and drives very well.

Far too many miles in too short of a time.

Some years ago while speaking at a conference, I met John Noe. We spoke in the same conference for several years. He told me that he had been contacted by "Hollywood" to write a script about the Fall of Jerusalem. He told me he was no script writer, but he was going to try it anyway. After some years and a lot of help, the script is ready. It is a $100 million effort, of which $50 million has been raised.

The money making potential of "Religious" movies was made clear by the amount that "The Passion of Christ" made. Money has motivated even pagan investors to invest in "religious" movies. The movie is scheduled for 2011. See the announcement in this issue of the Examiner.

Interesting

As I am reading a book by Cornelius Van Til, I thus far noticed a couple very interesting point he that are worth repeating. First, Van til summarizes the theological options available to a Christian in two broad categories: One is either committed to a Roman Catholic/evangelical theology or committed to a Reformed theology. Though there are significant differences between the two theological systems, Van Til argues that, with respect to the doctrine of God and the will of man, the two are virtually identical. Second, fallen man believes that if he could obtain comprehensive knowledge, he could wipe God out of existence, and he would be god. (Van Til, The Defense of The Faith, P&R Publishing, pp. xv & 36.) As I thought on Van Til's statement, I was reminded that man's ever increasing desire to understand everything about everything, apart from understanding about the Creator, is modern man's effort to wipe out God.

Time of Jacob's Trouble

Future or Fulfilled?

By Thomas Williamson

"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." - Jeremiah 30:7

There has never been a consensus or unanimity of opinion as to the meaning of this prophecy of Jeremiah. Therefore, we must be cautious not to be dogmatic about its meaning, or to build an entire theology on this one verse.

Some modern commentators have assumed that Jeremiah is writing about the future Great Tribulation period, to take place at least 2600 years after Jeremiah's time. It is believed that the Tribulation will be specifically used by God as a time of judgment, testing and persecution for the Jews, in order to force those who survive to accept Christ as their Messiah. It is further assumed that since the main purpose of the Tribulation is to clobber the Jews, there is no need for Christians to be around, and therefore they will be "raptured out" before the Tribulation begins.

However, not all commentators agree that Jeremiah is talking about a far distant future tribulation to take place at the remote end of the Church Age. Many expositors have believed that Jeremiah refers either to the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews (586 to 538 BC) which began shortly after this prophecy was delivered, or else to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD.

Matthew Henry assigns this prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. He connects Jeremiah's statement that "none is like" this day of trouble, with Christ's statement in Matthew 24:21, (which he sees as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem) that "then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

Adam Clarke sees the "time of Jacob's trouble" as a reference to the conquest of Babylon, where the Jews were held captive, by the Persians in 538 BC, and then he also applies it to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. "When the Medes and Persians, with all their forces, shall come on the Chaldeans, it will be `the day of Jacob's trouble,' trial, dismay, and uncertainty: but he shall be delivered out of it, - the Chaldean empire shall fail, but the Jews shall be delivered by Cyrus. Jerusalem shall be destroyed by the Romans, but the Israel of God shall be delivered from its ruin. Not one that had embraced Christianity perished in the sackage of that city."

Matthew Poole casts his vote in favor of the Babylonian Captivity as the "time of Jacob's trouble:" "[It] is not agreed, nor yet whether this text refers to the times of the Messiah, when the nations should tremble, or the time when Darius invaded Babylon, or the times of Gog and Magog (of which read Ezekiel 38), or the time when the Chaldeans invaded Judah: this last seemeth most probable, and that God by this intended only to rouse the Jews out of their security, and put them off from expecting peace according to the flatteries of the false prophets, assuring them that the times that were coming next were not times of peace, but such as should make them tremble." Poole sees the "breaking of the yoke" from the necks of the Jews, in Jeremiah 30:8, as a reference to the fall of the King of Babylon at the time of his defeat by Darius.

F. Cawley, in "The New Bible Commentary," says, "The time of Jacob's trouble could be applied to the immediate situation [imminent captivity in Babylon], though it has a much longer period in view - the whole period of the captivity."

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown agree that Jeremiah 30:5-7 refers to the Babylonian Captivity, with emphasis on the Persian conquest of Babylon at the end of that captivity, which results in the Jews being delivered. The "trembling" of Jeremiah 30:5 refers to "the misery of the Jews in the Babylonian Captivity down to their ‘trembling' and ‘fear' arising from the approach of the Medo-Persian army of Cyrus against Babylon" while verse 7 deals with "the partial deliverance of Babylon's downfall," which in their view "prefigures the final, complete deliverance of Israel, literal and spiritual, at the downfall of the mystical Babylon (Revelation 18, 19)." This view may give some comfort to the adherents of a future "time of Jacob's trouble" but even here the primary interpretation is with regard to the Babylonian Captivity, already fulfilled, an event which prefigures a future deliverance of literal and spiritual Israel.

Only in recent years has it become popular to use Jeremiah 30:7 as a proof-text for a "primarily Jewish" nature of the future Great Tribulation, even though there is nothing in the context of Jeremiah's prophecy that hints of such an event, or of such a remote fulfillment of a prophecy that seems to fit so well into the context of the urgent Babylonian threat against Judah at the time that Jeremiah spoke.

It is certainly convenient and comforting to think of the Great Tribulation as "primarily Jewish," which by implication lets all Christians off the hook for such a time of trouble (even though the Bible teaches that Christians should expect tribulation, Acts 14:22, John 16:33, Romans 5:3, 1 Peter 4:12, Revelation 1:9, etc.)

The description of the phantasmagoria of horrors that are soon to be experienced by the Jews in Palestine has become a staple of modern prophetic preaching. Jerry Falwell has said, "There will be one last skirmish and then God will dispose of this Cosmos . . . Millions of Jews will be slaughtered at this time but a remnant will escape."

Tim LaHaye says, "Prior to Israel's conversion, Zechariah predicts that two-thirds (`two parts') of the Jewish people in the land will perish during the tribulation period. Only one-third of the Jewish population will survive until Christ comes to establish His kingdom on earth." In reality, Zechariah does not predict that two-thirds of the Jews will soon die in Israel. The context of Zechariah 13:8 is that of events in the First Century AD, meaning that the prophecy with regard to the deaths of two-thirds of the Jews was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. (One wonders, why is it that those who really believe that two-thirds of Jews living today in Israel will soon be killed are not doing everything they can to warn those Jews and urge them to leave Israel before it is too late? Don't they care about the Jews? Hmmm, and Huhhh?)

Entire books have been written about how the Jews will suffer in the future Tribulation. Jack Van Impe and Roger Campbell, in their book "Israel's Final Holocaust," have a chapter entitled "The Time of Jacob's Trouble," in which Jeremiah 30:7 is used as the proof-text for the predominantly Jewish character of the Tribulation. They say, "It must be remembered that the Tribulation is especially related to Israel." That is a polite way of saying that God is really going to stick it to the Jews. Somehow some of us have gotten the idea that the Jews will be deserving of worse punishment than the Gentiles when Christ returns, but is this not a subtle form of anti-Semitism? Why the poor Jews should be singled out for God's wrath, over and above all the billions of nasty, brutish, unregenerate Gentiles, is not really explained, other than the ritual reference to Jeremiah 30:7, a verse which has been wrenched out of its context of events among the ancient Jews of third Century BC.

Meanwhile, it must be considered very questionable whether any of the Old Testament prophecies of judgment against the Jews can be applied to the time period after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Christ said in Matthew 23:35-36 that the Jews living in His generation (from 30 to 70 AD) would suffer and pay the price for all the sins of their forebears: "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." (Zacharias was not chronologically the last Old Testament martyr, but he was the last martyr in the Jewish Old Testament, in which the book of 2 Chronicles is placed last).

The unsaved Jews who called for Christ's crucifixion in Matthew 27:25 were more accurate than they knew, when they said, "His blood be on us, and on our children." The punishment for their rejection of the Messiah literally fell upon them and their children, that is to say, the generation that was living when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD. There is no need for any Jews living today or in the future to suffer that punishment, nor is such a judgment on the Jews predicted in the Word of God. Jewish people living today are in no way to blame for Christ's crucifixion, any more so than Gentiles living today.

Christ said with regard to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, "For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled," Luke 21:22. Virtually all commentators, including Scofield, agree that in this passage Christ was talking about the AD 70 judgment upon Israel, not some future Tribulation period. So the question is, when Christ said that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN would be fulfilled against the Jews, during the "days of vengeance" from 6-7 to 70 AD, did He really mean ALL THINGS, or did He mean that some things written against the Jews, such as Jeremiah's prophecy of the "time of Jacob's trouble," would remain unfulfilled until 2000 years later?

If we give Christ's words some serious thought, then it will become apparent that the concept of a "primarily Jewish" nature of a future Tribulation is unscriptural. ALL THINGS with regard to God's vengeance against the Jews, including Jeremiah's "time of Jacob's trouble" and the Zechariah 13:8 slaughter of two-thirds of all the Jews, must have been fulfilled by the time of Rome's invasion and destruction of Israel in 70 AD. Many terrible things have happened to the Jews since then (Spanish inquisition, Russian pogroms, Hitler's holocaust) but none of these things were specifically predicted in the Bible and none of them had to happen in order to fulfill any definite prophecies with regard to God's "vengeance" against the Jews. The prophecy teachers who say that two-thirds of all the Jews have to die in order for Christ to return are mistaken. Not a single Jew has to die in order for Christ to return.

My personal conviction with regard to the meaning of Jeremiah 30:7 is that the time of Jacob's trouble, and of his being saved out of it, were totally fulfilled when Judah was taken into captivity by Babylon in 586 BC and then liberated by the Persians in 538 BC.

The entire context of Jeremiah's passage is with regard to these events in ancient times. In Jeremiah 29:1-4 the prophet says he is writing to the first group of captives who are already in Babylon. He assures them that God will take care of them and cause them to prosper (29:5-7). He says they will not be coming back to Judah immediately as promised by the false prophets, but that they will be restored from captivity after 70 years (29:8-14). In 29:15-32 he rebukes various false prophets, some of whom will shortly be executed by the King of Babylon. His prophecies in chapter 30 are simply a continuation of chapter 29 -in 30:3 he promises again, as he did in 29:8-14, that the Jews will be returning to their homeland in Palestine. 30:18 speaks of the return of the captives and the rebuilding of Jerusalem which the Babylonians had left in a ruined state. There is absolutely no reason to believe that in 30:7, with the mention of the "time of Jacob's trouble," the prophet has suddenly jumped out of the context of events in the 6th Century BC, to refer to some mysterious, unknown crisis that is to come upon the Jews 2600 years later.

The Scofield Reference Bible attempts to create a discontinuity between Jeremiah 29 and Jeremiah 30 by putting a large break in the page, in the middle of those 2 chapters, with the words "Prophecies Not Chronological," hinting that at this point the prophet has suddenly jumped into prophecies of the remote, distant future. There is no justification for breaking up the text at this point. Even the chapter division between 29 and 30 is not inspired - the chapter divisions were not added until the 13th Century AD.

In light of these considerations, it is time for us to reconsider and rethink the entire school of speculative prophecy that postulates that a future Great Tribulation will be primarily for the purpose of judging and punishing the Jews. There is plenty of sin and wickedness to go around among all of us in these last days, and there is no reason for the Jews to take the brunt of the punishment, over and above the Gentiles, for mankind's end-times rebellion.

There is no hint of this emphasis on gloom-and-doom for Jews in the end-times in Paul's prophecy of Romans 11, in which he says, "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Romans 11:25-26.

The Great Mystery Of Godliness

C.H. Spurgeon

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. {#1Ti 3:16}

23. 4. Let me also say that I do not perceive anything in this summary tending remarkably to exalt prophecy. I would not make this remark if it were not that there is a certain troublesome sect {c} abroad nowadays to whom the one thing needful is a perpetual speculation upon prophecy. All the bells in their steeple ring out "prophecy! prophecy! prophecy!" They plume themselves upon an expected secret rapture, and I do not know what vain imaginings besides. Where prophecy is preached in connection with their shibboleth, there the gospel is preached, and all ministers besides their own, however honoured by God, are railed at by them as part of Babylon, against whom men are to be warned. They, truly, are wise men, and can afford superciliously to look down upon their fellow Christians as the slaves of sect and system, being, I venture to say, far more sectarian than the worst of us, and more bigoted to their system than Romanists themselves. My dear friends, if you have any time to spare, and cannot find any practical work for Jesus, study the dark places of prophecy, but do not read modern prophetic works, for that is a sheer waste of time and nothing better. Hold off as you would from a serpent from the idea that the study or preaching of prophecy is the gospel, for the belief that it is so, is detrimental beyond conception. The gospel which is to be vehemently declared is this: - "God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." As long as London is reeking with sin, and millions are going down to hell, let us leave others to prophesy, let us go with anxious hearts to seek after souls, and see if we cannot by the Spirit's power win sinners from going down into the pit.

No. 786-13:697. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, December 22, 1867, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

Puseyiam

I was reading through your book again, and was surprised to see what you said about Dr. Pussey. p. 164. He tried to reintroduce Catholic ritualism into the Anglican Church. Hardly a step forward. Spurgeon has some very harsh things to say about him.

Puseyiam: OED

A name given by opponents to the theological and ecclesiastical principles and doctrines of Dr. Pusey and those with whom he was associated in the ‘Oxford Movement' for the revival of Catholic doctrine and observance in the Church of England which began about 1833; more formally and courteously called Tractarianism. Now little used.

Dr. Pusey's initials were appended to No. 18 (21 Dec. 1833, on Fasting) of the Tracts for the Times, and, of the ninety, seven were written by him. His academic and ecclesiastical position gave great weight to his support of the movement, and specially associated his name with it. (Larry Pierce)

A short Bible lesson

Jeremiah 3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Hath justified herself Judah had had the benefit of the warning given by Israel's example. Both abandon Yahweh's service for idolatry, but Israel is simply "apostate," Judah is also false.

The verse is important,

(1) as accounting for the destruction of Jerusalem so soon after the pious reign of Josiah. Manasseh's crimes had defiled the land, but it was by rejecting the reforms of Josiah that the people finally profaned it, and sealed their doom:

(2) as showing that it is not by the acts of its government that a nation stands or falls. Ahaz and Manasseh lent the weight of their influence to the cause of idolatry: Hezekiah and Josiah to the cause of truth. But the nation had to determine which should prevail. Excepting a remnant it embraced idolatry, and brought upon itself ruin: in the remnant the nation again revived. {#Jer 24:5,7} (Barns' Notes)

Observe:

First. Israel had no example to show the Lord's vengeance against her adultery with the rocks and sticks, so she was not as coupible as was Judah, who had the warning of her sister's destruction.

Second. The situation with Judah and her kings shows us that nations do not rise and fall according to their governments. Rather they rise and fall according to the hearts of the people.

There is no political hope for America and the "West" in general. The hope is religious. Only a return to the Biblical faith in the hearts of the people can salvage what is left of the "West"

Vv. 12-17. The only answer to the problem at hand is to admit sin, and return to obeying the command word of God.

Results of "conversion":

* Rather than anger, mercy will come from the Lord. Anger or Mercy. All of God's promises are conditioned upon man's conduct, and man's evil heart and conduct can only be changed by the Spirit's call, v. 17.

* Entrance into Zion, the true Church, which is the city of the Great King. Psalms 48:2, Romans 11:26, Hebrews 12:22. The fulfillment of the promise started with the return of the Babylonian exile to Palestine, but is completed only in Christianity, the Gospel Church. Jeremiah 3:14-25. Cf. Jeremiah 31:27-34.

* Anger gives pastors according to the wicked hearts of the people. Repentance and mercy results in giving Godly pastors according to God's heart.

Pastors "Kings, rulers". {compare Jer 2:8} Not military usurpers, {Ho 8:4} but true servants of God, as David. {1Sa 13:14} (Barnes' Notes)

By shepherds we are not to understand prophets and priests, but the civil authorities, rulers, princes, kings. {cf. Jer 2:8, 26} (Keil & Deltzsch) Cf., Psalms 78:70, 71, Ezekiel 34:23, Hosea 3:5. Note in 2:8, priest, pastors, prophets are listed separately.

Obviously, God has given us ungodly civil leaders because of the wickedness of men's hearts. Among other things, a man's word used to be his bond, but no more even among "Christians". Psalms 15:4. Politicians simply reflect the attitude of the people.

I do not know how many times Christians have said they would do something, but never got around to doing it.

V. 18, a promise that no matter where God's people were scattered, they would be called to unite together in one. The Lord, as a bee keeper hisses for his bees, will hiss for his people to be gathered around him. Isaiah 5:26:

Zechariah 10:8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.

Vv. 21ff. The voice of repentance, returning to the Lord, is what is sorely needed in our day. Only then can he heal.

"Return and you will be healed" is the plea for our day. But are his people willing to return? How many actually see the need to turn, and if they do see the need, how many are willing to pay the price to return?

We are now living in the last days of freedom in America. The priests, pastors (civil rulers), and prophets are far more interested in retaining their life style than returning to righteousness, because the people themselves are given to covetousness. Jeremiah 6:23, 8:10.

People desire happiness and the "good life" with no responsibility to God–an impossible dream.

The call to Gods' people is not one of hardness but tenderness. Weeping, begging, pleading was with Jeremiah's warning.

Lamentations 5:21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

There is no political hope for America and the "West" in general. The hope is religious. Only a return to the Biblical faith in the hearts of the people can salvage what is left of the "West".

Prognostication: Oboma will be reelected as God gives us the liars, cheats and covetous in response to the hearts of the people.

Charity

You may have already seen this, but here it is anyway.

The next time you open your wallet or purse to donate to an organization remember the following....and then go local to a church, synagogue, mosque, or any other local charity including the Salvation Army. Good for them. Keep those donations coming in folks!!

Subject: Charity pays

As you open your pockets for yet another natural disaster, or Christmas Season, keep these facts in mind:

PRESIDENT and CEO of the AMERICAN RED CROSS: Marsha J. Evans, salary for year was $651,957 plus expenses. (That's $74.42 an hour for EVERY hour of EVERY day.)

PRESIDENT of the UNITED WAY, Brian Gallagher, received a $375,000 base salary, plus numerous expense benefits. (That's $42.80 an hour for EVERY Hour of EVERY day.

UNICEF CEO received $1,200,000 per year plus all expenses and a ROLLS ROYCE car where ever he goes and only cents of your dollar goes to the cause. (That's $1369.86 an hour for EVERY hour of EVERY day.)

THE SALVATION ARMY'S COMMISSIONER Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.

NO FURTHER COMMENT NECESSARY

First Degree Feminist

Sarah Palin Says Issue Of Wife/Mom Being Keeper Of The Home Is A "Petty Little Superficial Meaningless Thing"

That Sarah Palin is a hard-core feminist, with no Christian/Biblical view whatsoever of what a wife/Mom ought to be, has been starkly and explicitly revealed in a Fox News interview (11/2/10) where she appeared with another hard-core feminist, Geraldine Ferraro, who was Walter Mondale's vice presidential running mate when he sought the Presidency in 1984.

Here's an excerpt from that interview.

PALIN: … Geraldine had also been grossly attacked back in ‘84, and I remember as a young college student watching what it was that you were going through.

FERRARO: Oh, don't tell me how young you were then

(LAUGHTER)

PALIN: … and know that, A, that — and more power to you for busting that glass ceiling, you know, and standing on the shoulders of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and others who had come before you, of course, so many years ago, and then you busting through, and then the opportunity that I and other women following you have been able to seize. That's just been wonderful. It's been great for our nation. It's been — but yes, it kind of seems, Geraldine, like some things haven't changed. There are still the Neanderthals out there who pick on the petty little superficial meaningless things, like looks, like whether you can or can't work outside of the home if you have small children. All those type of things…I would so hope that at some point, those Neanderthals will evolve into something a bit more with it, a bit more modern and a bit more understanding that, yes, women can accomplish much.

The entire interview can be seen on YouTube here.

http://www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=1715

Al Gore

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal Nov. 27, called, "Al Gore's Ethanol Epiphany".

Welcome to the college of converts, Mr. Vice President. "It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," Al Gore told a gathering of clean energy financiers in Greece this week. The benefits of ethanol are "trivial," he added, but "It's hard once such a program is put in place to deal with the lobbies that keep it going."

(In case you missed any, the answer to each history quiz is Abraham Lincoln; aka Abraham Wolfgram... oui vay ! [sudo-christian])

Avoiding Toxic Aluminum

Dr. Blaylock, December 23, 2010

Toxic metals in our environment can produce a slow degeneration of our nervous system, including damage to the brain. The toxic effects of aluminum, the third most common element on earth, have been associated with dementia and brain inflammation, and perhaps put us at risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.

In addition to environmental sources containing aluminum, including drinking water, thousands of products are made from aluminum — from the engine in your car to food packaging. If you check the ingredients on medications, you will see that most contain an aluminum additive. For more information on food additives and the damage they can cause to your body, read my newsletter " Food Additives: What You Eat Can Kill You."

Until recently, the main food source containing aluminum was baking powder. Biscuits, pancakes, and most baked goods have added aluminum. You can buy aluminum-free baking powder, but that version is rarely used by food processors. Salt previously contained added aluminum to prevent caking, but it has been removed from most brands. Sea salt, however, still contains aluminum.

Some natural products, such as black tea, also have very high aluminum levels. The tea plant selectively extracts the aluminum from the soil and concentrates it in the leaves. (Green tea has far less aluminum, and white tea has very little.)

The No. 1 food source for aluminum is soy products. Soybeans naturally have very high aluminum levels along with high glutamate levels. Americans have been convinced by a clever marketing campaign to consume massive amounts of soy, including the most commonly used formula for babies.

If this is not bad enough, soy also has very high manganese levels and fluoride levels, both known neurotoxins. So soy foods and drinks have quite a neurotoxic mixture: aluminum, glutamate, fluoride, and manganese.

Even the American Academy of Pediatrics expressed concern about the neurotoxic level of some of the metals in soy baby formula. Studies that looked at aluminum absorption in babies exposed to aluminum found that infants absorb a considerable amount of aluminum from ingested products.

A great number of processed foods, medications, and drinks are loaded with aluminum. And because aluminum is added to drinking water, our plant foods are accumulating (bioaccumulating) the aluminum, so that over time the levels will continue to rise, just as we have seen with fluoride.

It is important to check all labels on foods and medications. If you see aluminum, don't buy the product. For more tips choosing foods, read my special report "How to Avoid Poisonous Foods."

The following natural substances can reduce inflammation and remove harmful metals from the body.

• Bee Propolis. Several studies have shown that bee propolis (a flavonoid-rich, resinous substance that bees collect from tree buds) can counteract the damaging effects of aluminum. Rats given aluminum plus propolis or propolis alone demonstrated an elevation in antioxidant enzymes and a return to normal blood lipid profiles. Propolis has also been found to have powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

• Ascorbic Acid. In another study, male New Zealand rabbits were given aluminum chloride and varying doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Researchers found that vitamin C significantly reduced the level of free radicals generated by the aluminum and returned total lipid and cholesterol levels to normal.

• Chelators. A chelator is a substance used to remove excess metal from the body. The traditional pharmaceutical treatment for aluminum overload is desferrioxamine, a chelator that is administered either intramuscularly or via IV. Unfortunately, this can cause painful swelling at the site of the injection and has a number of serious side effects.

A newer agent, called Feralex-G, appears to be superior and can be taken orally. Recent studies have shown that, unlike most other aluminum chelators, Feralex-G can remove aluminum that has bound to the cell nucleus. (Aluminum tightly binds to the nucleic acid of DNA; this causes much of its toxicity.)

Combining vitamin C with Feralex-G significantly improves removal of aluminum from the cell nucleus, a process called shuttle chelation.

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/dr_blaylock/Avoiding_Toxic_Aluminum/2010/12/23/368304.html?s=al&promo_code=B632-1

Note: Avoid aluminum cookware as you would poison. Use cast iron.

Larry Lilly's Letter

A friend writes to gently chastise me for referring to the books and writing's of Garrison Keillor from the little town up in Minnesota, Lake Woebegon. I do recognize that Mr. Keillor is not as deeply spiritual as my friend and I, but I like the guy and I know several of the people he writes about. The man in today's Keillor quote is known by most of us, under different names to be sure, but we do know him or his brother.

Here is an excerpt from Gary's, Leaving Home:

" Larry, a resident of the fictional town of Lake Wobegon. Larry was saved 12 times at the Lutheran Church, an all-time record for a church that never gave altar calls. There wasn't even an organ playing "Just As I Am Without One Plea" in the background. Regardless of that, between 1953 and 1961, Larry Sorenson came forward 12 times, weeping buckets and crumpled up at the communion rail, to the shock of the minister, who had delivered a dry sermon on stewardship But now he needed to put his arm around this person, pray with him and be certain he had a way to get home. "Even we fundamentalists got tired of him," Keillor writes. God didn't mean for you to feel guilty all your life. There comes a time when you should dry your tears and join the building committee and grapple with the problems of the church furnace and the church roof. But Larry just kept repenting and repenting."

—Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home

In my "humble" opinion Garrison is on to a truth that many in my circle of religious wonders fail to grasp. There really does come a time when it's time to get down to what Ethel Waters described as the "daily" life. Life even, or should I say, especially the Christian life, involves a practical grind, a doing of the things that need to be done. Personally, I wish this weren't true. I would rather sit around and weep and shout and hear angel wings flapping and have grand visions and just otherwise feel good all over, especially in the middle and just kind of ride life out while waiting for Jesus to come and get me. After all, the church could hire sinners to do the daily work. They would probably do a better job anyhow.

I must admit though, that the sight of Larry coming to the front again, is a sight that the grandchildren should see. People like Larry, actually coming to the front of the church and weeping and making a big to do about sin are a vanishing breed. Sort of like taking a train ride. You better have this experience while you can. You will always be able to watch someone fix the furnace or empty the pail where the roof leaks, but no one has as yet felt the moving of the spirit to risk life and limb by going up on the roof and fixing the leak.

In all honesty, I don't think Mr. Keillor has thought through the guilt part . Without a sense of guilt, people would do the practical things that need doing out of love for Jesus. I don't think this has ever been tried. It may work, but I seriously doubt it. Mr. Keillor is a writer, a Yankee and a Lutheran, evidence enough for me that his ideas on religious things are suspect.

Larry Lilly <BraveLML@aol.com> Use with credit.