Month: March 2023

The Key to Be Happy! #7

Friday, March 31, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

Have you ever wondered who or what is the “strange woman” of Proverbs? You can locate her in 2:16, 5:3, 5:20, 6:24, 7:5, 20:16, 23:27, and 27:13. She is strange, not in the sense of bizarre or ridiculous, but “strange” as in “stranger” (for example, see “strangers” of Ephesians 2:12—Gentiles outside of Israel’s covenants, apart from Israel’s God, et cetera). She is a foreigner, and once a man connects with her, he is eternally doomed! “Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell” (Proverbs 5:5). “Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death” (Proverbs 7:27). She has no personal relationship with the God of creation, the God of the Bible, so she is a foreigner to the truth.

This “strange woman” is exactly like the “outlandish [foreign, pagan, heathen] women” who fooled Solomon (see Nehemiah 13:26,27; cf. “strange women” of 1 Kings 11:1!). In fact, such illicit sexual relations in the physical realm are related to satanic sexual relations in the spiritual realm (see Numbers 25:1-3; 2 Peter 2:14; Revelation 2:14,20-22; Revelation 14:4). Notice how the “simple man” (lacking wisdom—leaving Proverbs to follow Ecclesiastes) is the victim of the seductive strange woman (Proverbs 9:13-18). Here is the supporter of the Antichrist, a participant of the Whore of Babylon religious system (Revelation chapter 17), proselytizing precious souls and leading them to eternal damnation (Revelation 14:9-12). Of course, like any prostitute, she promises her “clients” “a good time”—and, only when it is too late, will they realize the spiritual disease she has transmitted to them!

Proverbs is much more than a handy “daily philosophy book.” It is literally a matter of spiritual life or spiritual death in the ages to come. The Jewish people have possessed the Book of Proverbs for 3,000 years—not to mention Ecclesiastes. However, in spite of all those warnings in more than 1,100 verses, they will still accept the Antichrist! While none of this relates to us the Church the Body of Christ, there is always a valuable lesson we can learn here….

The Key to Be Happy! #6

Thursday, March 30, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

One of the Antichrist’s characteristics will be his “understanding of dark sentences” (Daniel 8:23). A brilliant man, someone endowed with satanic wisdom, he can deceive the masses by employing eloquent, elegant, seductive, lofty arguments. In fact, like King Solomon, he will follow the pattern of sin laid out in Ecclesiastes, enticing his supporters to chart their own paths (isolated from the one true God). While sounding unbelievable, this has happened on a small-scale countless times in human history.

World religious leaders, philosophers, founders of cults, et cetera, have drawn billions upon billions away from the God of the Bible by promising their groups “enlightenment,” “satisfaction,” “fulfillment,” “peace,” “prosperity.” The Antichrist will be a supreme master in these realms (see Daniel 11:21,23,24,27,32; cf. Psalm 55:20,21). Only Israel’s believing remnant, having accepted God’s wisdom, will be able to overcome these lies (see Matthew 24:4,5,11,23-26; Mark 13:5,6,21-23; Luke 21:8).

By the way, Job’s three friends—with all their useless, worldly, natural-man advice (see the Book of Job)—represent the lost religious leaders deceiving Israel throughout Christ’s earthly ministry (Sadducees, Pharisees, and Herodians). There is no wisdom of God in any of it, so the Jewish people as a whole were unable to recognize God’s wisdom that Jesus Christ declared to them. In the future (Daniel’s 70th Week), this ignorance will again be a snare, except Israel will now be vulnerable to accepting the Antichrist! As before, they did not learn the lessons of the Book of Proverbs, so they are bound to repeat Ecclesiastes (like apostate Solomon)!

There are 90 references to “fools,” “foolishness,” and “folly” in the Book of Proverbs—the Antichrist’s disciples. In Proverbs, there are well over 100 references to “wisdom” or “wise” people—the Lord Jesus Christ’s followers (the “happy” people of today’s Scripture). However, the fools have tried in vain to satisfy the void that only the Lord Jesus Christ can fulfill, so they have nothing but misery and hopelessness when He comes back to destroy the Antichrist, his adherents, and the evil world system he represents….

The Key to Be Happy! #5

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

Chapter 1 of Proverbs begins: “[1] The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; [2] To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; [3] To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; [4] To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. [5] A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: [6] To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. [7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

The first chapter of Proverbs sets the Book’s tone: the wisdom contained therein will keep Israel in God’s will, especially concerning Christ’s earthly ministry (which is 1,000 years into the future). Unfortunately, very few realize this prophetic significance of Proverbs. For example, did you know, dear friend, that, had Israel been walking by faith in Proverbs, they would have received Jesus Christ? Instead, they rejected Him, plotted to destroy Him, and crucified Him. Read Proverbs 1:10-19, compared to Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, and Luke 20:9-19. Proverbs is quite clear that they should have never conspired to do away with the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, notice the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts chapter 2, Pentecost) in Proverbs 1:23, and the outpouring of God’s wrath (Daniel’s 70th Week) in Proverbs 1:24-33 (cf. Joel 2:28-32 and Acts 2:16-21).

Ecclesiastes 12:13, the second to last verse of the Book, is Solomon’s deduction: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” This “fear of God” and these “commandments” are laid out in the Book of Proverbs. Had Solomon applied by faith what he knew in Proverbs (what the Holy Spirit had already used him to write), he would have never fallen into the spiritual trap of Ecclesiastes (what he wrote later). Israel, in the ages to come, is to learn these lessons so as to guard against the Antichrist’s lie program….

The Key to Be Happy! #4

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

Re-read 1 Kings 4:29-34 and 1 Kings 11:1-8. The transformation is downright striking! How were 1,000 pagan, devil-worshipping female lovers able to mislead wise King Solomon?! Did he not know any better? Here is a simple illustration of how having Divine knowledge imparted to us is not enough. We must apply it to life via wisdom—and that we have to do without fail. Solomon had spiritual light, but he did not walk in it all his days, and he (and the entire nation Israel) paid an extremely heavy price as a result (read 1 Kings 11:9-43).

Toward the latter half of his reign, King Solomon forsook the LORD. This is laid out in great detail in the Book of Ecclesiastes. A mighty king of Israel searches in vain to find happiness and fulfillment by amassing material riches, pursing entertainment, acquiring luxuries, obtaining secular education, and other carnal pleasures. He observes the world and speculates about everything he sees and hears but has no lasting peace or meaningful answers, leading him to dissatisfaction and anguish. Here is man’s lot without his Creator, the absolute best he can do apart from the living God. The final chapter of Ecclesiastes depicts an aged, dying fellow who realizes his quest has concluded with nothing but waste, bitterness, regret, and despair. Life is over, and he cannot re-do it!

What we have just described is the heart of the evil world system, which has deceived many through the millennia and will reach its ultimate form during Daniel’s 70th Week under the Antichrist’s system. Read Revelation chapters 17 and 18, noting the splendor, wealth, and corruption. This is what Israel’s believing remnant will be up against—what poor Solomon faced (and lost to) in a primitive manner. The Book of Proverbs is God’s wisdom designed to spare them from the humanism (human-oriented, God-rejecting philosophy) of Ecclesiastes. Proverbs says a great deal about wisdom versus foolishness, and the reason is that, in the ages to come, there will be a bitter struggle in the spiritual realm over the souls of people like this world has never seen….

The Key to Be Happy! #3

Monday, March 27, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

On one hand, Solomon’s wisdom: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:29-34).

On the other hand, Solomon’s folly: “But king Solomon loved many strange [foreign] women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods” (1 Kings 11:1-8).

Let us see how happy Solomon truly was….

The Key to Be Happy! #2

Sunday, March 26, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

History abounds with gloomy biographies of doleful individuals spending their whole lives seeking happiness—an exercise in futility. Brilliant philosophers, prolific writers, highly decorated military leaders, long-time politicians, affluent business leaders, innovative researchers, scholarly educators, and even respected religious leaders went to their graves utterly exhausted, completely frustrated, and totally miserable. Think about it; it is truly mind-boggling. We cannot estimate the total amount of time, energy, and resources they wasted to wind up at the end of their path with nothing to show for all their troubles! They were just more victims of Satan’s evil world system, an elaborate series of ingenious distractions designed to keep their eyes wholly off the God of the Bible and His purpose and plan for the ages. Without a meaningful context for anything and everything they did and said, they wished they had conquered nothing, discovered nothing, written nothing, made nothing, owned nothing, lived nothing.

Although Satan’s evil world system is in effect today, it has not yet reached its pinnacle. Starting in Genesis chapter 3, it has been strengthening these last six millennia, but will not culminate until the future time that the Scriptures title “Daniel’s 70th Week” (see Daniel 9:24-27). This is actually the context of today’s Scripture (and the entire Book of Proverbs): “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.”

Knowledge is acquired or learned information. Wisdom is the skill of properly applying that knowledge in particular situations. Understanding is the ability to see how knowledge and wisdom form one overall coherent picture or plan. It is not enough to know. We must use wisdom (apply what we know). It is not enough to be wise. We need to gain understanding (fathom how what we know and apply thereby contributes to a meaningful “big picture”). It all starts by having the right knowledge, the correct information, and then putting that data into use so it conforms to that which the God of the Bible is doing….

The Key to Be Happy! #1

Saturday, March 25, 2023

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Proverbs 3:13 KJV).

What is the key to happiness?

In this fallen world of poverty, depression, and other hardships, there is an endless search for happiness. People are desperate to locate some type of pleasure or contentment to escape their stressful, disappointing daily routines. They will fish, hike, ride a bicycle, play games, shop at thrift stores, sew, garden, watch television and/or internet videos, read books, talk on the phone, take vacations to exotic lands, gamble at casinos, visit nightclubs, purchase various high-priced items (vehicles, houses, electronic devices, and so on), and the list goes on and on and on. Are they ever truly satisfied though? Do they find lasting happiness? Alas, NO.

Not too many days ago, I stopped in one neighborhood to browse at an estate sale. The lady who owned the place was either in a nursing home or deceased. Whatever the case, her house and all its contents were now being sold. That place was like a maze! It had several bedrooms and bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, a large living room, a hobby/craft room, and innumerable halls and closets. She and her husband were apparently quite rich. At minimum, she had eight sets of fine dishes, 200 cookbooks, hundreds of knickknacks, countless wardrobes, and all sorts of sewing equipment and supplies. Without a doubt, she searched for happiness—but did she find it? Only the Lord knows her heart, of course, but the cultic literature I saw there led me to the conclusion she was a works-religionist and knew not the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour.

Today’s Scripture, an excerpt of the Book of Proverbs, describes a “happy” man. He is content or pleased, for he has discovered wisdom and obtained understanding (intangible possessions, as opposed to material goods!). If we can identify this wisdom and acquire this understanding, we too can and will be happy—eternally happy. We will be permanently satisfied, no longer needing to chase some fleeting, elusive, temporary, shallow sense of gratification that this fallen world has to offer us. Let us see the key to being happy….

Two Hungry Men! #4

Friday, March 24, 2023

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry” (Mark 11:12 KJV).

Who is this hungry man? Who else is a hungry man in the Bible? What exactly has caused their hunger?

The Lord Jesus during the Books of Matthew through John hungers for spiritual fruit in Israel, wanting Israel to become His kingdom of priests in the Earth. Nevertheless, the majority of Israel refuses Him during His earthly ministry, thus rejecting their opportunity to be God’s channel of salvation and blessing to the Gentiles (see Isaiah 60:1-3; Zechariah 8:20-23; Matthew 28:19,20; Acts 3:25,26; et al.). With Israel in unbelief, lacking a relationship with the one true God through Jesus Christ, that Jewish nation is unable to share God’s words with the nations (Gentiles).

In early Acts, the Apostle Peter is experiencing the same difficulty, so he too is hungry (chapter 10). Despite a believing remnant, Israel as a whole stubbornly remains in unbelief, so the Gentiles cannot be reached. In fact, the Little Flock has undergone much persecution since Christ’s Ascension in chapter 1, and this militant rejection of Christ makes the situation look hopeless. Without Israel’s national conversion, the Jewish people still cannot be God’s channel of salvation and blessing to the Gentiles. The covenants and promises of God are left unfulfilled. It is at this point in chapter 10 that Almighty God intervenes to communicate to Peter how he, in Joppa, will now visit and preach to some Gentiles in Caesarea (about a day away). This departure from the prophetic order of “Israel first” signals to Peter and the rest of the Little Flock that God is doing something different. It is not until many years later that Peter finally realizes his meeting with Gentile Cornelius was to prepare him to defend Paul’s Gentile apostleship in chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Conference.

As a final addendum, we can remind ourselves of the Apostle Paul’s yearning for unbelieving Israel to be saved during the latter Acts period (Romans 10:1-3). Like the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Apostles Peter and Paul, we should long for Father God’s will to be accomplished in our ministry. Also being “hungry for souls,” we “hold forth the word of life” (Philippians 2:12-16).

Two Hungry Men! #3

Thursday, March 23, 2023

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry” (Mark 11:12 KJV).

Who is this hungry man? Who else is a hungry man in the Bible? What exactly has caused their hunger?

Luke chapter 13 explains why the Lord cursed the fig tree: “[6] He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. [7] Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? [8] And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: [9] And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”

This Parable of the Barren Fig Tree summarizes Christ’s three-year earthly ministry. Remembering again that figs symbolize religion (see Genesis 3:7, the Bible’s first mention of figs), we establish how the Lord sought spiritual fruit in Israel but found none. Despite an outward appearance of life (green leaves), there was no internal fruit to satisfy God’s hunger for faith and righteousness in the nation (re-read Matthew 21:17-20 and Mark 11:12-14,20-21). The Law of Moses, which rabbinical scholars had watered down with manmade traditions, had not produced a nation that recognized its sin problem (and thus failed to acknowledge its need for the Saviour). The Old Covenant system was faulty—not because anything was wrong with it but because it could not impart life to sinners who had the problem (Jeremiah 31:32; Romans 7:12; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 3:19-24; Hebrews 8:7-13; et al.).

Coming into the early Acts period, the one-year extension of mercy given to Israel following Christ’s three years of earthly ministry (see Luke 13:8), we see the 12 Apostles (Matthias replacing Judas Iscariot) laboring under the power of the Holy Spirit to preach and therefore convert Israel to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is more unbelief and self-righteousness. Those first seven chapters of Acts ended with apostate Israel murdering Stephen, God’s prophet to the nation’s leaders. In chapter 10, Peter (or rather the Holy Spirit through Peter) now hungers for spiritual fruit in Israel….

Two Hungry Men! #2

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry” (Mark 11:12 KJV).

Who is this hungry man? Who else is a hungry man in the Bible? What exactly has caused their hunger?

The Lord’s cursing of the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-20; Mark 11:12-14,20,21) is frequently misunderstood as nothing more than a petty tantrum thrown in response to a tree’s barrenness and Jesus’ unsatisfied appetite. However, if we set aside such childish thinking, we will better grasp why this event took place and was even recorded as part of the Holy Bible.

Read today’s Scripture in a fuller context: “[12] And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: [13] And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. [14] And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. [15] And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; [16] And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. [17] And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. [18] And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. [19] And when even was come, he went out of the city.” (You can also read Matthew’s account, Matthew 21:12-20, which is non-chronological.)

In conjunction with condemning the Jerusalem Temple as “a den of thieves,” Christ cursed the fig tree. Figs in the Bible denote religion (for example, see Adam and Eve’s feeble “solution” to their sin problem in Genesis 3:7). The Lord Jesus condemns Israel’s religion as corrupt and unfruitful, which the fig tree represents….