Are They In Hell?

Post 247

If you have spent any time at all contemplating the last post beyond the really cool idea that Joshua was the type of Jesus the returning Conqueror to lead his people into the Kingdom of Heaven long anticipated from the wilderness and even before in Abraham, then you have with ever widening eyes of comprehension begun to see the topic we endeavor to reach.
The discovery of Moses’ limit of Type and Joshua’s specific forwarding of the Type to completion is foundational to identifying Jesus as the Christ. It locks in the pivotal point upon which all our related scriptural prophetic interpretation revolves. It opens the door to practical application of things seemingly unrelated. It is the keystone cipher to organize a temporal timeline of many loose prophecies that have no apparent meaning until they can be placed. With this knowledge, crossing the Jordan with Joshua opens the door to an entirely new and wonderful world with seemingly new rules… but it has rules, nonetheless. And now we can learn how and when those rules apply. And surprisingly, those rules of that new world apply at least in part, here, now, in this world, in a fresh and wonderful way.

I jumped ahead in the scriptural narrative to identify Joshua because with that identification established we know where on the timeline to place the Wandering People of the first gen Exodus Hebrews and apply the related prophecies known to be in this same timeframe, the time before Christ’s second coming.

But before we spiritually cross the Jordan River with Joshua into the greatly anticipated new world of “the kingdom of heaven” called the Promised Land, existing both now and future, in spiritual and physical forms, there are a few remaining things we still need to clean up on this side to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1, Matthew 3:3).

* * *

The Wandering People:

We ended The Uncommon Christian Walk segment of posts, leaving the first Generation Exodus people wandering the wilderness after having refused to enter the Promised Land;

“Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have (nonetheless) tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully…” Numbers 14:22-24.

Since this is such a landmark watershed moment, it warrants a pause here to explore for clues that might aid our understanding of their failure:

Why did they fail?

Why were they afraid?

How did Caleb make it where other failed?

Why was Joshua not mentioned with Caleb in this declaration?

And where then does this leave these failed people of God? in Hell?

* * *

Employment:

I had a fascinating discussion with a young waitress today in an otherwise empty restaurant. In short, she does not believe in a specific Creator God as a personality to which we are all accountable because that just does not make sense that such an accountability to His rules should determine if you go to Heaven or end up in Hell. Such a thing is just not logical or fair. Further she queried; What or where is Hell anyway?

So using her situation in life I asked if it was fair that her employer (the restaurant owner) would require of her to obey his rules as a condition of employment, to which she readily understood and agreed it was fair.

So suppose as the waitress employed by this employer, you feel it is just not important to come into work at the appointed time, or to perform the appointed tasks, have you damaged this relationship? Is the resulting consequence of turmoil fair? What right does this person have to direct your life in such a way? How dare he! Who does he think he is?

And if the heart of a particular waitress is constantly at odds with the wishes of her employer, how long will it be before one day he hands her a pink-slip (*1) and she is suddenly unemployed? If the check she receives for employment can desirably improve her condition of life (let’s call it “blessings”), is he evil for terminating their agreement after he said she could work for him? If employment with this owner means such access to blessing and unemployment means the termination of that access, then what and where is hell?

She could easily see that, in this analogy, the absence of the benefiting check would be the resulting hell that is simply the by-product of being unemployed, therefore heaven was where she was gainfully employed because of the benefit it provides.

Regarding this hypothetical termination, why did she find herself unemployed, was it the will of the owner? Can we say if she is suddenly unemployed it is because she wanted to be unemployed or is her condition simply a by-product of her unacceptable belligerent perspective of how her employment should be ordered?

Now as the conversation continued, it turned to focus on religion;

One religion says this but another says that, do this but don’t do that, God says this, but another says No; God says that, it’s all so ridiculous! I believe god is… and she went on to describe her confident self-created perception of god.

So continuing with the representation that she easily comprehend I asked her what significance do the opinions of a pack of customers sitting at the breakfast counter have regarding her successful employment? One might say her boss wants her to put these here, another says no he wants them there, a third says the owner wants her to do this work, but another says no, that’s not important. To this she smiled and agreed that the opinions of such people had very little to do with her successful employment, but then immediately jumped to the logical track that she was the only one who could make those determinations for her successful employment.

But is this so?

Or is she, in this mindframe, not just another Joe at the breakfast bar with an opinion? The only difference being her consequence of error, as she is on this side of the counter (employed). Shouldn’t she rather go ask the employer what he wants her to do instead of assuming that whatever she thinks she should do, is in fact his desire?

Employment is not about what you want to do or even think you should do. Employment is all about the will of the owner. You’re there for the check, not to usurp his ownership with your opinions of how it should be.

Today this Type still works to a degree, though as a result of multiple corruptions the “occupier’s” Social Gospel is even now decimating the successful application of this Type and I expect will soon have it so convoluted that the proper comprehension of the Type will be entirely destroyed though employment will sort of continue in a new democratic way.

Stepping on very dangerous ground, I offer you in addition a similar, though now already utterly decimated, type that God originally intended us to use. Please see my meaning not in the form we now observe, or even in the previous form that was already corrupted before we got to it, but see it in the form originally established by God himself.

*  *  *

The Gender Roles:

Originally God set up the genders and their very different roles, as a Type for us to easily understand our relationship with God. Being both human, God’s point was not to raise one gender as “superior” to the other, but simply to describe an unseen reality with a seen condition. Man played the part of God and woman played the associated part of humanity. This is why Man was given the inheritance and authority, and why woman was dependent upon man for her provision and protection. This was the original intent of marriage pre-designed between genders for after the fall, as a Type, to grant the favored woman incorporation into the man’s inheritance by marriage, so that we could grasp our proper standing with God.

Originally this wonderful type worked very, very well. The man wanted by desire a companion whom he could love and care for, and the woman needed protection and provision, and in return was fulfilled in blessing her loved husband with mutual children and a warm and happy home.

But this Type to aid our comprehension of how to have a happy and successful relationship with God was decimated by our mutual perversions and self-centered humanity of both men and women until we utterly destroyed that type which is now despised, and by simply bringing up the idea of these roles I am in danger of stirring up the wrath of liberated women declaring me a male chauvinist dinosaur. I am openly declaring that type now destroyed and though it has created new problems I am not disparaging liberation because of man’s abuse of his Type role, but rather for other reasons.

Yet so far we still have the remaining shreds of the institution of marriage though it now utterly corrupts, or at best misses, the Type it was originally intended to provide. Having abandon the Type, we have no reason to retain the shadow, and so, many today simply trade partners at will, and/or live together in happiness without feeling any need or consequence of abandoning an empty shell of a perceived meaningless institution.

The reason this is possible is because the institution was simply an important Type of something more important. Abandon the purpose; abandon the Type. But by abandoning both, we miss the more important door, i.e. the instruction to a successful relationship with God. Abandoning the desire for a successful relationship with God naturally results in the evaporation of the shadow of that relationship.

Today, with both men and women no longer properly playing their given roles of the Type, they have no reason to avoid fornication and adultery as the archaic rules have become meaningless and even despised because the only thing they know of the old ways are the oppressive corruptions that were handed down. Now with not only the meaning of marriage, but marriage itself so corrupted with self-serving designs, to attempt to declare marriage such a Type, is to further Scolios (twist) the comprehension of our relationship with God.

But we still have marriages… as best we can.

And we still have employees… as best we can.

And we still have a Faith… as best we can.

But all our types are quickly evaporating and so who can explain a proper relationship with God?

“If God is like my ex-husband, I want nothing to do with him!”

“If a relationship with God is like a marriage, I certainly want nothing to do with it!”

“My boss is a self-centered tyrant, is this the image or power of God?”

And just as the abused wife, or the maltreated employee, humanity shakes our tiny fist to demand our rights against an imagined tyrant God. But it was man who corrupted that Type, not God who is not a tyrant but a frustrated husband and employer with a willful wife and employee demanding their rights against his loving and all-wise authority.

Can you see that to now use this Type it is nearly impossible to sort out (straighten) the scoliosis in the effort to find the important truth?

But now we go even further:
Today our governing administration openly sponsors sodomy as an additional legal form of marriage, and so, though we do so in ignorance, marriage becomes the image of Mankind uniting with Mankind and not with God.

THIS, AND ONLY THIS, is why we are to outlaw sodomy. Abandon the message (Type) of God and there is no other legitimate reason. Disease, non-propagation of the species, unbalanced companionship, confusion, etc., are all arguable; for and against, like Democrats and Republicans you will never get the issues resolved because they each have been given an equally empowered platform from which to debate. The God platform has no equal so rejecting his authority is the only way to allow an opposing value as plausible. Once the God of values is rejected, the variety of contending values becomes unlimited, each demanding their equal rights with equal review, and without God they are equally valid from the perspective of a spiritual sodomite. To further argue fine points of logic against these contending values is to be shown a fool. Without the foundation of God as your sole support, your Christian values are hollow shells.

Such is this seemingly righteous political add preaching nothing but a foundationless desire for the god called freedom that has no ability to stand for anything except self-serving lusts: (http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=JVAhr4hZDJE&vq=medium#t=19)

* * *

The Exodus People:

Such a Type of marriage to God were the Exodus people. They needed protection from Egypt, and provision once rescued. And in their confused, wretched state, he led them gently through their cleansing, healing, instruction, and glory, to present himself such a magnificent bride, somewhat as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady_%28film%29) But having been adapted from a play, itself adapted by George Bernard Shaw (*2) from another work, this representation of something wonderful has been twisted to make us despise Mr. Higgins for his generosity in what he did for her because our perception of Mr. Higgins is a careless self-centered rich goat that had not taken into consideration the personhood of Eliza until after he saw what he had made, whereas Christ made clear his intention of marriage before he began the self-sacrificial work:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.

Nonetheless the gender type is already utterly destroyed and with this additional confusion we just fight with the application of such a distasteful sexist Type. So let’s use the Type of an employer:

Such a Type of employment were the Exodus people. They needed protection from a tyrant employer and a job once rescued, And in their confused, unemployable state, he led them gently through their misunderstanding resentments, instruction of the basic Show-up-to-work-on-time stuff, education of a useful employee, and the glory of a potential manager, to present himself such a magnificent business partner somewhat as Pharaoh did with Joseph. But today we despise Pharaoh for his generosity in what he did for him because even our perception of Pharaoh is that of a careless self-centered powerful goat that had not taken into consideration the personhood of Joseph.

This employment type is also now dangerously distorted as we “rise up” to bring down this tyrant employer and demand we all share in the ownership of his business. And today’s Christian is acting out this same resentful revolt against God our employer, demanding better conditions and better hours with more benefits, and the right to negotiate our ideas and desires into his business.

Regardless of the type used, at each step to help them, these people pulled away the shoulder in resentment and at the tenth “confrontation” they openly shamed God by refusing to fulfill his purpose for them; they refused to go in and take the Promised Land in his name and glory, and today we question his right to do so. Since this was the ultimate purpose for all the preparation, they had no more usefulness and he handed them their pink-slip. They were suddenly unemployed. Divorced.

But where does that leave them now? Is this not hell?

The answer is not simple; If viewed in comparison to employment or marriage on the other side of the Jordan, then yes it is. But (and it’s a very big BUT), they did not return to Egypt. This is critical to identifying where they ended up.

* * *

In God’s unimaginable extension of generosity, after termination due to an unalterable rebellious nature, God has yet a continuing benefit for them. Call it a severance package if you will. And since we called it hell by comparison to employment of the other side of the Jordan, we must in fairness evaluate the existence on this side in comparison to returning to slavery in Egypt. But this is not an easy comparison to make. It depends on what you choose to remember about Egypt.

All through their rehab they constantly remembered the abundant food that filled their lusts. These lusty foods were not provided here in the wilderness. That makes this hell. But remember Pharaoh killed off an entire batch of their male children in Egypt. No children died here in the wilderness but instead entered the Promised Land. That makes this heaven. And on we go with the two-sided argument that can never be reconciled because each side has an equal platform from which to argue. Why? because they are no longer where they were intended to be; on the other side of the Jordan.

There is a very curious passage in the Revelation that has remained a mystery for a long time. I believe this passage specifically (but not exclusively) applies here with this generation:

“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches…” Revelation 22:14-16a.

If you study the topic seriously, you will find that this is not hell, but it’s not inside the kingdom of heaven either!
* * *

The City and the Not:

Since this came from the last Chapter of the Last book of the Bible, the city Jesus is referencing is the last and final city, not a Type, and not a Type of a Type. So what city is this?

To discover the answer we find this city comes AFTER Revelation 21:1;

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”

Well that pretty much eliminates the New Jerusalem as the kingdom that comes down onto the old earth and lasts for 1000 years in the physical reign of Christ Jesus’ 9th kingdom (ref. Revelation 20:4-6 and Daniel 2:44-45+Revelation 17:10-14), but wait! Contrary to popular exposition, there is nothing in these passages that states the New Jerusalem comes down at this time! Clearly the New Jerusalem does not come down from heaven until the new heaven and the new earth are established!

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” Revelation 21:2 (see also 9-10).

I must stop myself from running ahead to jump into this exciting complex prophecy of still future days, but that is for a much later study. I bring it up here because it is the dogs and their companions that are my focus. These never make it through the gates of the city but are just outside the city wall. This is typed in the border “wall” of the Jordan River separating this from that. Is this place hell? Well now we have to define hell. We will soon see clearly that this place outside the gates (this side the Jordan) is not the Lake of Fire called the pit that in ignorance we tend to lump everywhere undesirable into and call it hell. We will explore this more as we go.

Now with this understanding of their corrupt unalterable nature and their end not the Lake of Fire, let’s continue in scripture and follow them in their wandering to see what we can learn.

* * * * * * *

*1 Pink Slip:

“Pink slip refers to the American practice, by a personnel department, of including a discharge notice in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of his or her termination of employment or layoff. Receiving a "pink slip" has become a metaphor for the termination of employment in general. According to an article in The New York Times, the editors of the Random House Dictionary have dated the term to at least as early as 1910.

Pink slips came back into the news circa 2009, with the layoffs following the Wall Street crash. The origin of the phrase is undetermined, and there is no evidence that termination notices are, or ever were, conventionally printed on pink-colored paper. In the UK and Ireland the equivalent of a pink slip is a P45; in Belgium the equivalent is known as a C4.

The term pink slip may also relate to the fact that many applications (including termination papers) are done in triplicate form, with the dismissed employee receiving the pink copy (hence the pink slip).”

 - (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_slip_%28employment%29)

*2 George Bernard Shaw:

Please, it’s not necessary to get side tracked with the following details; I only place them here for your curiosity.

“If any religion had the chance of ruling over England, nay Europe within the next hundred years, it could be Islam.”

“I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him (Mohammad) - the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity.”

"I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today."

- Sir George Bernard Shaw in “The Genuine Islam”, volume 1, Nov. 8, 1936.

Justify your social existence or be exterminated video

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Ljkoh_vmE&feature=fvst)

Abolish the U.S. Constitution video (only need to watch the first part)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Pk0NUiw2o&feature=related)

Designer of the famed Fabian Socialist Window:

(http://thinkinginchrist.com/2009/08/08/the-fabian-socialist-window/) I do not agree with everything this author declares, but the window information is good.

Wikipedia on the window:

“The stained glass window was designed by George Bernard Shaw in 1910 as a commemoration of the Fabian Society, and shows fellow Society members Sidney Webb and Edward R. Pease, among others, helping to build 'the new world'. Four Fabians, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Graham Wallas, and George Bernard Shaw founded the London School of Economics with the money left to the Fabian Society by Henry Hutchinson. Supposedly the decision was made at a breakfast party on 4 August 1894. Artist Caroline Townshend (cousin of Shaw's wife Charlotte Payne-Townshend and daughter of Fabian and Suffragette Emily Townshend) created the Fabian window, according to Shaw's design in 1910. Also included in the window besides Shaw and Townshend themselves, were other prominent Fabians such as H.G. Wells, Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Hubert Bland, Edith Nesbit, Sydney Olivier, Oliver Lodge, Leonard Woolf, and Emmeline Pankhurst…”

- (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Window)

The Fabian Website:

(http://www.fabians.org.uk/fabian-review/) Remember the Fabians are the company of the guy who wants to kill all those who cannot justify their existence.

Don’t miss the whole point, that Fabian Socialism is the intent to bring its designs by slow constant un-alarming changes often through answering “convenient” disasters, and this is my point of naming him here in the “harmless” corruption of an older message.

While today the claim is that we cannot know the nature of the plant until it is grown, I am instructing the education that we can and must identify the nature of the seeds we plant. After the crop is grown is not the time to reject the seed; “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” Galatians 6:7.

*

Moses In Two Parts

Post 246

In the previous section of topical work published into my first book titled: “The Uncommon Christian Walk”, beginning at post 227 On Tongues (http://when-did-reason-die.blogspot.com/2011/12/on-tongues.html), I presented the concept that Moses was the Type of Christ, and the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt is a road map of our Christian faith as revealed by the apostle Paul;

“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” I Corinthians 10:11

I suggested, but did not yet made clear, that this Old Testament roadmap is a second rut in the twin wagon tracks of our vehicle of faith to help us clearly find The Way Of The Lord which has long been overgrown and without that second rut to help identify the right way, we have run off of our New Testament Christian rut and are now following game trails and natural topography thinking it is the path to diligently follow. In this section I wish to develop that concept in depth, for reasons I will make clear at the end.

There is one very large obstacle in that OT rut (*1) of law, which causes many to stumble at trying to use that path as an assist to tracking (confirming) our own NT path of liberty; that obstacle is that Moses died without entering into the Promised Land. If he were actually representing the Christ as specifically as I claim, then this problem must be resolved.

Another large obstacle in that OT path is the fate of the first generation Exodus people who were baptized into the faith through the Red Sea then followed Moses as Christ through the wilderness, but at the last minute refused to cross the Jordan River and take the Promised Land due to fear. In my interpretation of these events; “Did that generation then end up in Hell?”

If the two paths are the united tracks of the same Wagon of Faith in Christ Jesus that I claim they are, we must clearly and acceptably resolve these questions:

* * *

Why did Moses as the Christ not make it into the Promised Land?

It seems unquestionable that my overlay of the faith onto this history is obviously flawed;

“Surely Christ is not kept from the kingdom!”

But let's explore this in detail:

“(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth)” Numbers 12:3.

That’s reasonably meek, wouldn’t you say?

And as only a slightly less important part of the narration to our topic, God said this of him when Aaron and Miriam challenged his unique divinely appointed leadership (Numbers 12).

In fact Moses was so meek that when God called him to return to Egypt and rescue his people, Moses asked for a spokesman to speak for him and God gave him Aaron as his Levi priest unto the people (Exodus 4:10-16). This “spokesman of the spokesman of God” is a fascinating study I would love to complete here with you but we must move on.

At the challenge of Aaron and Miriam, God affirmed without question that Moses was his only and specific spokesman who had no equal. All this overlays perfectly onto the Christ (Matthew 11:29, 21:5, I Corinthians 4:21, II Corinthians 10:1).

But as the Christ type, Moses angered God when he disobeyed and struck the rock as he was told to previously (Exodus 17:6), rather than speak to it this time as specifically instructed (Numbers 20:7-8);

“And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them (*2)” Numbers 20:11-12.

Now if you’re like me, you must quietly think that God seems a bit excessively harsh on Moses for this. But even more, this seems to break the otherwise obvious Christ overlay prophecy of dying once (Romans 6:10, John 18:14) for the people in the first time the rock was representationally struck.

Moses was kept from not only entering in himself, but because of this he was not allowed to bring that congregation into the land of promise; clearly there is something very significant here!

So stepping forward a layer (or in my analogy: “Jumping to the other parallel track”); Did Jesus the Christ bring his generation into the Kingdom of Heaven that John the Baptist declared was at hand (Matthew 3:1-2)? No, he died without accomplishing that job.  

Why did Jesus die before accomplishing that job?

If accurately representing the Christ, what did Moses say was the reason?

“And the LORD was angry with me for your sakes (1558), saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” Deuteronomy 1:37-38.

Sakes 1558 galal; from 1556; a circumstance (as rolled around); only used adverbially, on account of:-- because of, for (sake).

Moses seems to be blaming the people for his own failure, but how does that help the sakes (Leviticus 26:45) of the people? Moses told us that God said it has something to do with Joshua. 

We tend to want to end the first thought at the period and begin the next sentence as an alternate plan, but this is not so. The reason why God was angry with Moses was for their sakes; God’s anger refused to let Moses lead them in and gave that job to Joshua. This is the benefit God was declaring.  

But how does that add benefit to their sakes?

We find the answer only after we first understand why Jesus died without accomplishing the job;

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” John 10:17-18. (Did God cause Moses to strike the rock after telling him to speak to it? A very deep question that aligns with the free-will/Divine sovereignty debate.)

“I am the good Shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” John 10:11.

Jesus’ death, without accomplishing the job of leading them in, was his own doing for the sake of the people that we now know was his atoning sacrifice for our salvation. But now let’s analyze how this transpired:

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying… My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46.

The LORD was literally angry with Jesus for the sake of the people because Jesus literally took our sins upon himself before God, as Moses sinned representationally in the wilderness because of the people’s iniquity (Numbers 20:2-5). The next verses hint at the cause of Moses’ sin;

“…Here now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: …” Numbers 20:10b-11a. (I believe the striking and the number twice is yet prophetic but not as the first striking leads us to think. I will not resolve this shocking mystery until the next section [book]).

I realize it is only conjecture but doesn’t that sound more like the words and actions of an actor than a man uncontrollably angry? I believe that God choreographed this event for a reason, much as the sacrifice event of Abraham’s son. We know the reason but question the motive, but just who really killed Christ? Jesus himself takes the blame, but made it clear that he did nothing except directed by the father (John 5:30, 8:28-29).

I also see that this condition of Moses and Christ is revealed in the first Adam, who with knowledge chose to accept from the hand of his wife her sin of eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6-7). It was the woman to whom the serpent came and encouraged through beguiling reasoning to lust after and eat the fruit (genesis 3:1-5). I believe that in love for her, Adam with knowledge chose to join his wife in her condition rather than remain with God and become separate from her (*3). The scripture makes plain that Eve was beguiled not Adam (Genesis 3:12-13, II Corinthians 11:3), though Adam’s sin was very much still sin of accountable disobedience, as was Moses’, and in affect Jesus’ too, and the price had to be paid in all three cases. This is the meaning of the act of atonement (*4), though Jesus was the actual act that fulfilled the atonement while Adam and Moses were only Types that, while acting in representation, could not fulfill.

As the second Adam (I Corinthians 15:45), Jesus also literally departed from the Father (*5) to join humanity in our condition. Being sinless, Jesus, with knowledge, took upon himself our sin, which we give to him in confession (I John 1:9, Acts 19:18, Romans 10:9-10, etc.) much as Eve gave the fruit to Adam who took it from her with knowledge of what she had done and what it meant (Genesis 3:6,12). That confession includes not only our sin, but that we recognize that by our sin we caused Christ to die for those sins (I John 4:2, Luke 12:8, Matthew 10:32, etc.). And while Adam participated in Eve’s sin to join her, Jesus received our sin to join us.

The complexity of Moses’ burden of sin shows that this “choice” was not simply an uncontrollable act of the will or self-centered thoughts of weariness, but was a resulting passion due to the condition of the people. His sin was indeed because of frustrated (broken hearted) love for them! This is vaguely apparent in the verse describing his action.

Oh how I understand the implied sting it must be to emancipated modern womankind to think of such things in bearing such a burden of responsibility for what she has done to her husband Adam, but is this not EXACTLY the sting that we all, as mankind (Christ’s bride), must fully comprehend we have done to Jesus?! This very comprehension creates true becoming (attractive) humility (Philippians 2:8, Matthew 23:12, Acts 20:19a, I Peter 5:5, James 4:6).

Like the woman who pulls away from such a gender-defined guilt, humanity pulls away from the clear awareness that Jesus had no guilt in the burden that he bore for us. But the very heavy guilt that is ours before giving it to Christ to bear for us is what motivates our deep yearning for him (Genesis 3:16c) because such a price, he willingly paid, is the evidence of his deep love for us! (Romans 5:10a). Is that not what makes every young woman swoon; a strong man willing to suffer a pain that is rightfully hers, to love her that much in spite of her existing flaws that created the pain? (Romans 5:8). Is this not unconsciously why every young woman’s father seems to try to drive away her suitor, as a test of his depth of love for her that can endure through hard times? (Note: it’s not the woman herself driving him away, that is a whole other serious issue today that I will address in a post 249; “The Cinderella Syndrome”).

We know that Jesus did not complete his task of bringing his generation to completion by rescuing them from their enemies as prophesied (Luke 1:68-76, Numbers 10:9, Deuteronomy 20:4, 33:26-29, Isaiah 25:9-10, Isaiah 35:4, 37:33-35, Jeremiah 23:3-6, Ezekiel 34:22-24, Zephaniah 3:16-17, etc. etc.), and this is why the Jews still today so boldly claim that Jesus was not the Messiah. But they miss the fuller, deeper prophecy in Moses himself, that foretells this “failure” would happen first, for their sakes, because of their sin in breaking the law, as was represented by the needed addition of the brass serpent (Numbers 21:5-9) seemingly after the fact.

Beginning with Genesis 3:15, and most clearly with the Passover of Exodus 12, it is impossible to break out a single verse from Isaiah 53 showing the incredibly detailed prophecy of the suffering Christ, you must go and read it now! And there are many, many more such prophecies of Christ to suggest that Moses as the Type of Christ could not complete his mission before he died! (Hosea 13:9-11). In fact the scriptures seem to be excessive in declaring that Moses died before finishing the job, just to make sure we really get that fact when looking for the Messiah as the fulfillment of his Type (Deuteronomy 33:1, 34:5,7-8, Joshua 1:1-2, Romans 5:14 *6).

“And the LORD was angry with me (Moses) for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it” Deuteronomy 1:37-38.

* * *

So what does that make Joshua?

The short version is that it makes Joshua a type of Moses, the type of Christ:

Joshua: 3091 Yhowshuwa; from 3068 and 3467; Jehovah-saved; the Jewish leader...

It is not even lightly masked that Joshua is the representational name Jesus:

Jesus 2424 Iesous; of Hebrew origin (3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua), the name of our Lord and two (three) other Israelites.

Joshua was Moses’ protégé (Numbers 27:18-21) from a very early age (Numbers 11:28). He lived in the tabernacle (Exodus 33:11) and went up the mountain of God with Moses (Exodus 24:13-14, 32:15-17). He was Moses’ shadow in all things.

As Elisha received from Elijah his mantel, (passing from I Kings 19:19 to the second book; II Kings 2:9-15 not finding the body of Elijah after three days (II kings 2:15-18), so Joshua received from Moses his role passing from The Exodus narration to the Deuteronomy narration also not finding Moses’ body (Deuteronomy 34:6, Jude :9), though scripture makes sure we have no doubt that Moses was dead as dead can get (This is important to have documented in the perfect Type so long ago, because today the Muslims, and the Jews, claim that Jesus didn’t actually die. God’s perfect prototype of the man they both give great homage, shows that he did!). And of course Jesus' body was also NOT found, just as his Types predicted (Matthew 12:40, John 2:19-22).

So how can we overlay Jesus, the Only Christ, onto this duality of Moses and Joshua?

By understanding that Moses was a meek sactrifical lamb that was cut off before getting them in (Revelation 5:6-7, 13:8), but Joshua was a conquering lion (Revelation 5:5) that boldly got the job done by the power of God, after the long wilderness delay.
Moses was in two parts because Jesus comes as if in two parts, after the long wilderness delay.

And the lights come on! (*7)
(Numbers 23:23-24, Micah 5:8-9, Zephaniah 1:14-18, Revelation 1:13-18, 2:16, 5:5, 19:15-16).

Isn’t that amazing?!

* * * * * * *

*1 Rut as a path:

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths (5410), where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” Jeremiah 6:16.

Paths 5410 nathiyb; …from an unused root meaning to tramp; a (beaten) track:-- path ([-way]), X travel (-ler), way.

“For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths (5147) straight” Matthew 3:3.

Paths 5147 tribos; from tribo (to “rub”; akin to teiro, truo, and the base of 5131, 5134); a rut or worn track:-- path.

*2 A Clue:

“…Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore...” Numbers 20:12.

This is a very significant statement of cause that will help us discover the meaning of this second rock struck twice. Oh the many paths that need to be cleared for this coming highway! But we will have to delay this portion too for another time.

*3 Adam began sinless:

As an accurate type of Christ, Adam was indeed sinless until his own partaking of his wife’s sin, just as Jesus’ sin was in receiving the sin of his own bride (Romans 5:14) though Jesus did not partake of his own, which is partly why his sacrifice was able to cover our debt while Adam’s was not.

*4 Atonement:

3722 kaphar; a primitive root to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: -- appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).

*5 Jesus’ Separation From the Father:

Until Jesus came to earth he was literally the Word of God (John 1:1-3); When God thinks or feels, it is the Spirit, but when he speaks, it is “Jesus” himself that was spoken (John 1:3+ Genesis 1:3).

All that changed forever when Jesus departed from God as separate, to be made a man of a woman. This is the very importance of the virgin birth; and the natural human representational similitude, as an independent child is produced by half the male’s DNA and half the female’s DNA;

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” John 1:14.

Called the Son of God (Luke 1:30-32,34-35, 22:70), he also called himself the son of man(kind) (Luke 22:69). It’s a perspective thing.

We want so badly to suppose our sin had little consequences for him other than a few years walking on earth ending in a few days of intense suffering;

“No big deal for a God; He’s back in heaven and all is restored.”

But to consider that there was no turning back once he departed the father? WOW! The separation was a permanent event just as a child born of his father’s creative stuff is now an entity of his own for eternity. Just as Adam never returned to the same fellowship with the father that he once had; There is no going back; only forward. Jesus for eternity will now be the son of man interacting with the Father in this new way… because he obediently came to save us! The cost is utterly unfathomable, but he loves us that much!

The right response is NOT to think; “it’s because I’m worth it!” but because of his great love for such a wretch!

*6 Pre-Prophesied:

Now while Islam by prophecy is also looking for their 12^th imam “Christ” to return from occlusion and complete a similar, though self-fulfilling global conquest (http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/12th-imam.htm), the Hebrew scriptures pre-prophesied this Christ thousands of years before Mohammad, and long, long before the Qur’an or any other related Islamic script was written (Mohammad, the creator of the current form of Islam, was born in 570A.D.) and the Christian New Testament prophecies of the returning Christ were written within 100 years after Jesus, (still 400+ years before Mohammad), this does not even include the much older Old Testament prophesies that so perfectly describe this Christ, so just who is plagiarizing whom? The added confusion is that Islam has perverted the Abrahamic/Christian prophecy of the Christ and the result is a horrible hatred and murder driven faith among humanity in the name of God, albeit Allah.

*7 The Two-Part Moses:

 The Meek Moses was the self-sacrificing leader of a troubled people. By his redemptive consequence of staying with them on this side the Jordan, he was able to lead them in their troubles. Otherwise he would have crossed over with Caleb and left the rest of his people to fend for themselves.

The Warrior Moses; (Joshua), was whom after the wandering ended, led the “latter” Children across the river to conquer the specific boundaries of the Promised Land in the power of God, a job he commanded them to do.

The first Moses was not that guy, and making the switch was for the people's sakes as well: one sake of redemption and comfort, and another related sake of glory and completion.

*

Remembrance

The no-post post 

In memorial of the 400 years of captivity in Egypt
(Exodus 12:41, Acts 7:6),

In memorial of the 40 years between Moses’ first and second coming (Acts 7:30),

In memorial of the 40 days they searched the land in vain
(Numbers 13:25, 14:34),

In memorial of the 40 years between the first and second Exodus generation access (Deuteronomy 29:5, Acts 13:18),

In memorial of the 400 so called silent years of waiting between the Old Testament and the New Testament,

In Remembrance,

There will be no regular post for this week.

Deeply reflecting on what we have recently covered, please use the time to seriously consider the revealed meaning of this Concept of Delay;

“And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed (Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” Galatians 3:17-19.

* * * * * * *

(We will cover this further along the way.)

*

Rewarder

Hebrews 11:6
Post 245

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” Hebrews 11:6.

How familiar we are with this simple verse, many of us have even memorized it. We generically understand that it promotes a need to believe in God and determine to live the Christian life. This verse is most often used on the unbelieving in an attempt to encourage them to enduring faith and on rare occasions is even used on weary Christians who need encouragement to continue in that faith with determination. These of course are not wrong uses per se, but there is foundational depth here in this verse that usually goes unexplored and therefore unheeded.

* * *

Let’s take a moment and investigate the treasures found here:

I will restrain myself as much as possible from starting at the beginning of chapter 11 to explain in detail the incredible buildup to the topic of our present study verse, but will note that those previous verses declare what faith is:

It is actually substance as shown in verse 1.

It is the acceptable faith without the law, as reveled in verse 2.

The scientific secret door to the creation of the universe is contained in v. 3.

The mystery in righteousness of the law before there was the law, to them who are righteous, is shown in verse 4.

The prophecy of the supernatural shredding of temporal rules reveled by the rapture of the faithful friends of God, is found in verse 5.

And all these deep gems of wisdom and insight are hidden behind the simplicity of faith, just as all the law and prophets are hidden behind the great commandment;

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” Matthew 22:37-38 (+40).

Do you need to know more than that to be saved? No… if you can do that fully and honestly.

But can you know more than that if you wish? Yes; the scriptures are far richer than mankind has the ability to spend (Proverbs 25:2, Daniel 2:47).

But if fallen man had the ability to understand and successfully adhere to Matthew 22:37-38 then all the rest of scripture is a waste of ink. No, the rest of scripture is provided to us as the means to access the needed understanding to fulfill Matthew 22:37-38, that understanding is summed up in the name of Jesus Christ.

And so we find ourselves at Hebrews 11:1-5 teaching us just what faith is and what it can do, before it continues to verse 6 which begins;

“But without faith it is impossible to please him…”

Impossible.

That’s quite a confident word.

And by looking up the original Greek it means exactly what it seems to mean; Impossible.

But that’s no big deal, we assume we already have faith and so we quickly skip over that part as no longer relevant;

“I already have faith, let’s get to something I need.”

Really? (asked wryly *1).

So just which of the previous verses accurately describes your faith?

Is it the substance and evidence, or just the hope, of verse 1?

Does your faith evidence that you will receive a good report as in verse 2, rather than simply the hope that you will? (Matthew 25:21).

Does your faith provide the understanding that the universe was simply spoken into existence by the word of God and so enable you to give an intelligent reply to science, or does godless science persuade your faith to compromise with the “facts of known reality” to think that perhaps God used billions of years of evolution to make the tangible things? Is your faith suddenly shaken in doubt when the latest “science” “proves” the creation narration wrong? (verse 3).

Does your faith provide the understanding of the law without the need of the law; that results in a sacrifice acceptable, or does your faith in ignorance of the principle of the law get frustrated with God for rejecting your no-law sacrifice of Cain’s kind of faith in verse 4?

But at least we can all confidently relax (rest?) in our trump-card of faith; that we will, as Enoch, participate in the Last Days translation of verse 5 that we affectionately call the rapture; “That is faith you can’t argue with”, you say.

Really? (again) Finish that verse 5 you trust so much; “…for before his translation he had this testimony (3140), that he pleased God.”, is that honestly you or do you just hope it is you? Enoch’s translation was not a surprise; his testimony (evidence) was the reserved ticket for that trip *2.

Hebrews 11 is not about hope; it’s about faith.

But having great hope, we tend to read that first verse with the focus on hope and so all we can see is the hope;

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1.

But this verse is not about hope; it’s about faith, otherwise the verse would read;

“Now hope is the illusion of things hoped for, the imagination of things not seen” Webruised 11:1, but it doesn’t read that way.

Can you see the difference? Faith is actually substance and evidence for our hope of something sure but not yet acquired, while hope without faith is just a foundationless imagination of something only desired but no real steps to reaching that acquisition;

“I hope Bill Gates sends me a million dollars”.

Hope is a nice sentiment and provides encouragement to take action but is not the action itself. But now we see that faith is not the action either; the action is works!

Hebrews is just getting started describing the value of hands-on faith that actually achieves its desire at the end! This is why James tells us;

“…faith without works is dead” James 2:18,20.

Faith CANNOT stand alone without works (James 2:26), anymore than hope can stand alone without faith. Hope needs a vehicle, which is faith. Faith needs a vehicle, which is works (read the rest of Hebrews 11).

But did not Cain perform works by his sacrifice? Yes, but not in right faith.

In essence Cain’s works were done in hope, which is where most modern Christians find themselves. This is dangerously close to the strange incense burnt unto God by Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-3) when God slew them for it.

The one defining difference between them and Cain is that they did what they did in clear knowledge having just received the fresh relative laws in the previous nine chapters; they knew better, and the written law provided to them made that fact unarguable. Cain did not have such written law, but was still held accountable, to a lesser degree. (This is a mystery worth exploring perhaps later).

This is what makes the Jordan River Decision so permanent. This is the grave danger of playing games with God’s mercy again and again while “trying to learn” his ways; eventually you will have been given all the instruction you need, all the wasted opportunities to seal your conviction, and then accountability is called due swiftly (Proverbs 29:1).

The clear comprehension of this grave danger should motivate a more diligent (serious) learning while the manifold grace remains extended for that purpose! Without THAT faith, it is impossible to please him:

And all that was just the ground-work; the foundation of our present study verse that many say; “I already have faith, lets move on to something I need”.

* * *

OK, moving on:

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” Hebrews 11:6.

After the colon the verse explains why the need for faith to please God, but again it is common to assume;

“I believe that ‘God is’, so I’m good here too. Let’s move on.”

We naturally assume this passage is written for “non-Christians”, but while it is true that we can use the scriptures to reach the non-believers, the scriptures were written to us not them.

So why would Paul declare the obvious? Don’t all believers believe that God is? By definition it would seem so, but the verse uses that basic fact to support the next part of faith;

“…and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Believing in God is NOT enough, just like following Moses was NOT enough. Sure you have faith to believe that God exists, so what?, the demons do too (James 2:19)! So did Simon. So did the first generation Exodus people, but they did not enter in.

The rest of this verse explains the “so what”; the key is that we must have faith that believes God is as big as it gets, so that nothing can thwart his intended action, and THAT God is a rewarder of the diligent seeker.

But before you blurt out with; “I am a diligent seeker!” step back and review the previous thoughts of similar confidence in general that we tended to shred by simple specific exploration (I honestly am not trying to be mean here, we are exposing the wound for salve!), So are you really a diligent seeker?

Now don’t get frustrated and throw up your hands with the cry;

“It’s never good enough!”, THAT is a cry reminiscent of the Exodus people that brought God’s displeasure.

If you have crossed your Jordan then this is war; it’s supposed to be hard but you prepared for it. Stick with it because we are making progress! Doesn’t a tree surgeon prune apparently healthy limbs to produce better fruit? Don’t be defensive but rather learn what is needful, this is no longer criticism to chastisement but instruction for further improvement. This is conquering the Promised Land little by little! Bear with it without resistance, we are nearly to the point.

Yes, you have long been a diligent seeker, and frankly it has worn you out. Right? So how much diligence is needed to be good enough? (this part will really get you) IT’S NOT ABOUT THE DILIGENCE!

“Oh common!” You moan in confused and exhausted disbelief; “of course it’s about the diligence!”

But honestly it’s not, anymore than it’s about works, or the law.

This verse is about belief, not in the diligence but in the faithfulness of the Lord;

“… that he is a rewarder…”.

Now this is profound so think about it. It’s about the expectation (hope) that should result from the diligent search. But what have you spent years training yourself to expect from the Lord? Resistance, tribulation, trials? Isn’t that what you usually get from the Lord, by the truckload?

And so in “faith” we actually attempt to defend the Lord’s honor by mentally reinterpreting scripture to accommodate receiving these things from the Lord! I know it’s crazy but it’s true; We do that! Your EXPERIENCE has shown that God is not actually a rewarder but a heartless taskmaster! So how are we to possibly reconcile that, other than to accuse God of lying?

We have to take the whole passage in context rather than fixate on a single word in a single verse. The whole of chapter 11 is not about the diligence it’s about the faith, and frankly we have already shown your history of faith has been less than acceptable.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him”… diligence or not!

You have believed your experiences and logically concluded that God is NOT “a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. This is the same confusion of the diligent scientist whose “facts” prove God did not make the earth in six days. But instead of outright calling God a liar, we simply cover for him in “faith” and thereby make the fault his not ours! How’s that for confusion!?

* * *

So what’s the right answer at this point?

Since scripture has often and repeatedly declared God to be the active resister of iniquity, then IF I am finding resistance from God and not blessing, I should conclude that I AM ACTUALLY INIQUITOUS even while I am diligently seeking him!

God IS a rewarder of the diligent seeker… of both right and wrong variations! *3.

“…Wherefore he saith, God resisteth (498) the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” James 4:6, I Peter 5:5.

Resist 498 antitassomai; from 473 and the middle voice of 5021; to range oneself against, i.e. oppose.

5021 tasso; a prolonged form of a primary verb (which latter appears only in certain tenses); to arrange in an orderly manner, i.e. assign or dispose (to a certain position or lot).

This word resist describes a military type organized resistance! There is nothing passive here. God does not just refrain from helping the proud; he strategically moves against the proud, regardless if they are believers or not!

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your cares upon him; for he careth for you” I Peter 5:6-7.

So here is the tough part:

(aren’t you glad we finally came to the tough part?).

We have long been on the wrong side of God as every sinner is, but as Simonized Christians we have an extra burden that must be shed;

our perception of our experience!

In order for a geologically studied Evolutionist to actually believe God, he must struggle to shed the error of lies he has been taught and still firmly believes is unquestionable fact! The many missing link fossils now in possession, the geologic column, the evidences of micro evolution, the billions of years, the star dust, etc., etc., all are very compelling facts… of something, just not evolution. They are facts of deception and misdirection, which takes an open mind to discover.

And so are your experiences with God.

Now once you have crossed your Red Sea in faith, all the evidence can tell you that God led you into the wilderness to destroy you… or you can “believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” in spite of the apparent evidences to the contrary. The evidence is there on both sides depending on how you chose to see it, but it’s most naturally seen from the wrong view due to our predisposition that needs to change.

And the longer we spend in his Rehab program fighting against his design, the stronger we build our case against him until we have enough “evidence” to call him a destroying liar and untrustworthy.

But there is another way (I didn’t say easier).

The very moment that we stop resisting God’s program for us, and turn to him in treason against our former commander the Devil, God stops resisting us and uses the same program that once caused us pain, to begin the intended healing:

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” Jeremiah 33:3

(you really need to read on to verse 9!).

The tough part is to actually learn to trust that God has indeed stopped resisting you after you get right with him! The years of failure and struggle and loss as a Christian are quite a record to stand against in new faith expecting different results. This is far harder than a new convert who has no such history in confused faith; they know plainly that they once served Satan and now serve the Lord and so expecting different results is a no-brainer.

Not so for you, whose delusion masqueraded as faith in the Lord. The years of diligent but misguided struggle have indeed worn you down till there is just nothing left to give to the diligence of a corrected faith, and God knows that too; He used the wilderness rehab journey of hardships and miraculous provision and rest to retrain and strengthen Caleb! And he will do the same for you, if you let him.

Yes, there is diligence required as it were; “…Rewarder of them that diligently seek him”, but it’s nothing like what “wore you out” that you always thought was proper diligence! This is not the diligence of laboriously doing, but of waiting (6960);

“Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait (6960) upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” Isaiah 40:30-31.

Wait 6960 qavah; a primitive root; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect:- gather, (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, upon).

* * *

The point of this post is to encourage the renewed believer who has far too long been prisoner to the doctrine of Dirty Grace but has now seen the light dawn on the true faith.

Don’t fall back into the repetition of comfortable old diligence that produced no fruit. Yes, there will be a period of confusion and awkward application attempts in a faith so different that it just feels wrong, therefore, like the apostle Paul, you must count all your past religious experiences and knowledge as dung (Philippians 3:4-8), and only listen to the voice of God through his word. That voice is not your familiar mind that determines an interpretation “feels right”, you have proven that one flawed; You must begin to listen to God with your spirit (John 4:24).

Learning to distinguish the difference is not a weekend adventure, but with new faith that believes God is actually a rewarder of them that diligently seek him, you should have confidence to sort them out, even by trial and error.

* * * * * * *

*1 Wry;…[Middle English wrien, from Anglo-Saxon wrigian to turn, go, move] To twist; writhe; contort… 1. Turned to one side; twisted; contorted; also, made by twisting the features out of shape; as, a wry face or smile. 2. a. Marked by perversity or contrariness; wrongheaded; as, wry notions. b. Distorted; warped.

*2 Testimony 3140 martureo; from 3144; to be a witness, i.e. testify (literally or figuratively):- charge, give [evidence], bear record…

A false testimony is declaring you saw or experienced something that you did not actually see or experience. Many Christians today are Simonized (Acts 8) and yet fully willing to provide testimony to the power of God which they have not personally seen or experienced. Enoch’s productive testimony was given by his life that evidenced he pleased God! His translation was but a by-product of that testimony. Does your life provide that kind of testimony? It can and should! The success of a first battle having crossed your Jordan River in faith is just such a beginning testimony.

Welcome to the War of Rest!

*3 A rewarder of both good and bad:

Deuteronomy 28 is a very clear and detailed example of this concept that is literally bursting from every passage of the entire scripture. God is The Supreme Judge. Judges pass sentence for both the innocent and guilty. Today’s error of the faith is to miss this entire point! Moses, as the type of Christ, makes this very, very clear as he speaks prophetically from the mouth of Jesus:

“For I know that after my death (crucifixion) ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will be fall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands” Deuteronomy 31:29.

There can be no doubt that we as Christians have fulfilled this prophecy since Christ, and that the path of our Christian faith has become twisted in scoliosis. Now in clear recognition we must repent, for the kingdom of heaven is again at hand!

As a last days onion layer of the second generation of wilderness wanderers, we have finally returned to the Jordan River, can’t you smell it in the air just ahead?, let’s not disappoint our Lord, lets make ready to go in and boldly possess the land IN THE NAME (likeness and manner) OF THE LORD!

*