Category: The Nation Israel

Cain Came and Brought Shame #8

Sunday, June 29, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

With our completed Bible in hand, we can look back and see what damage Cain inflicted—especially the long-term effects. His wickedness not only caused the murder of God’s first prophet (Luke 11:50,51), but it began a way/method to approach God on the basis of our will and our preferences. Even today, the same works-religion system afflicts and deceives the (Jesus-rejecting) world.

Describing unbelieving Jews living during the seven-year Tribulation, the time period after our Dispensation of Grace, Jude wrote: “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core [Korah]” (verse 11). Although beyond the scope of our current discussion, suffice it to say that Jude selected three specific Old Testament accounts of rebellions against the God of the Bible. The Holy Spirit led Jude to mention Cain first. Again, instead of being God’s Messiah/Christ (as Eve assumed; today’s Scripture), Cain was the person who began a “way” (system, manner) of attempting to approach the God of creation on the basis of our will, trying to reach Him how we choose rather than how He instructed.

Cain was certainly not the Messiah. Actually, he paved the way for the Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah, and his satanic religious system (which would arise at least 6,000 years later)! Cain is a picture of the Antichrist and his followers; Abel is a type of believing Israel, God’s remnant of believers whom the unbelievers persecute. The Prophet Daniel described how the Antichrist will “destroy the mighty and holy people… and by peace shall destroy many” (8:24,25) and “speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High” (7:25). In the spirit/attitude of Cain, the Antichrist will speak against the God of the Bible and execute God’s people….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #7

Saturday, June 28, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Jesus Christ forewarned Israel’s religious leaders: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:43). Christ was referring to the climax of Satan’s policy of evil, when “the man of sin, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) would arise in the world’s governmental structure. National Israel refused Jesus as their King; hence, God would give them what they wanted (Satan’s error, spiritual ignorance). Instead, Israel would receive an “antichrist,” a counterfeit Messiah, someone who would fool them into believing he was their true Redeemer.

Intriguingly, this significantly parallels the passages of Cain’s birth and his murder of Abel. Adam and Eve had high hopes for Cain, going so far as to name him in reference to the Redeemer (Genesis 3:15 cf. today’s Scripture). However, they thought little of Abel, who would actually become God’s prophet and believer (God’s spokesman; Luke 11:50,51)—the name “Abel” means “vanity, emptiness.” In a tragic reversal, Cain turned out to be a mere professing believer; he disappointed his parents by killing righteous Abel (God’s child)!

Similarly, Israel saw no value in the true Messiah, Jesus, but she will have such high hopes for the Antichrist, for he will promise Israel peace and deliverance (and like Cain, the Antichrist will be manifested to be a disappointment). As Cain founded a civilization built on false religion (Genesis 4:15-17), so the Antichrist will (Revelation 13:1-18). Like Cain, the Antichrist will initially fool mankind, and introduce his own religious system, “the way of Cain” (Jude 11). As there was a “mark” associated with Cain (Genesis 4:15), so a “mark” will be associated with the antichrist’s religion (Revelation 13:16,17). Like Cain murdering Abel for following the Lord, the antichrist and his followers will kill believing Israel, those who trust Jesus Christ and reject that false religious system….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #6

Friday, June 27, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

Whilst Eve assumed that Cain would be a man who would serve the God of the Bible, 1 John 3:12 says, “Cain… was of that wicked one.” Cain was not a man of faith; he was eventually manifested to be Satan’s tool, not a believer in God’s Word. Like Satan (Isaiah 14:12-15), Cain wanted to be his own god, his own authority; moreover, like Satan, Cain wanted to get rid of God’s people, those who testified of God’s Word and who hindered the “progress” of Satan’s evil world system (the real reason why Cain killed Abel).

Spiritually, Cain was Satan’s son. Jesus commented to Israel’s lost religious leaders, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…” (John 8:44). Beloved, the same godless, sinful spirit (attitude) that operated in Satan controlled Cain and Israel’s religious leaders. It operates in today’s religious people (Ephesians 2:1-3), and it will operate in future religious people. They all want to do what they want; they starkly disregard the will and instructions of the God of the Bible. Like Cain, they offer the sacrifice they want, the sacrifice God never instructed them to bring. They refuse to depend upon Jesus Christ’s blood sacrifice for acceptance before God (the ONLY sacrifice He will accept); they prefer to offer their own “good” works, the fruit of their own hands. The Bible is clear that they, like Cain, will be rejected of God.

Satan’s chief way of corrupting the nation Israel was to infiltrate it with pagan religion (spiritual lies had been successful with Adam and Eve in Eden, and with Cain; Satan uses the same old tactics!). Baal worship, pagan idol worship, began in Israel in Judges 2:11-13 and it has yet to lose its grip. Beyond our present day, after our dispensation, Satan will make one final attempt to bring about what Cain started, and many “Abels” will perish….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #5

Thursday, June 26, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

As dispensational Bible students, we understand that the Bible books of Hebrews through Revelation are God’s dealings with mankind following His dealings in this the Dispensation of Grace. Hebrews speaks of “the world to come” (Hebrews 2:5)—Hebrews through Revelation encompass the future resumption and fulfillment of Israel’s program. Once our Dispensation of Grace ends with the Rapture (when we, the Church the Body of Christ, are caught up into heaven to meet our Saviour Jesus Christ; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), the nation Israel will have to consult the books of Hebrews through Revelation to see how God will recommence and accomplish her program.

To appreciate the prophetic significance of the story of Cain and Abel, we must consult two end-time Bible books, 1 John and Jude (two of the books of Hebrews through Revelation). Let us examine 1 John 3:11-16 first: “[11] For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [12] Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. [13] Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. [14] We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. [15] Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. [16] Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

The Apostle John warns Israel in the seven-year Tribulation, how unbelieving Jews will hate and slay their believing Jewish brethren. As Cain killed Abel, so lost Jews—misled by false religion, which wicked “way” Cain began—will kill their own relatives who believe and obey JEHOVAH God….

Cain Came and Brought Shame #3

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1 KJV).

Can you identify the very significant phrase our King James Bible contains in today’s Scripture, and why it was said?

At Cain’s birth, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (today’s Scripture). Eve and her husband, Adam, had great hopes for Cain, their firstborn son (they named him with Genesis 3:15 in mind, assuming he was the Redeemer whom God had promised, the Man who would undo what they did). Genesis 4:1,2 says Cain matured and worked with his father as a tiller of the ground; Abel, growing up in his older brother’s “shadow,” was overlooked, and thus had the lowly task of tending sheep.

When Cain and Abel were old enough to be accountable to God, they brought sacrifices to Him. Genesis 4:3-5 explicates: “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”

The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Hebrews 11:4 explains what happened in Genesis chapter 4: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” The Bible says Abel brought a blood sacrifice by faith, so that means that Cain brought his sacrifice of vegetation in unbelief. Cain brought a sacrifice that God never instructed him to bring, whereas Abel did exactly as God said. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and He rejected Cain’s. (Cain should not have been surprised at his rejection, for he knew God’s decree.)

Still, Cain was determined to avenge himself… even if it meant murder… even if it meant Abel….

At Calvary #2

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20 KJV).

The second verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.”

It is by God’s Word—specifically, the Law (the Ten Commandments)—that we learn what sin is (today’s Scripture). “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression [or “overstepping”] of the law” (1 John 3:4). The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1:8-11: “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.”

Read today’s Scripture with the previous verse: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19,20).

Romans 3:21,22 gives us the solution to our sin problem: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.” Jesus Christ shed His sinless blood to pay for our sins, and by faith in that alone, God’s righteousness would be given us, and our guilt and shame of disobeying God’s Law would be imputed to Christ!

At Calvary #1

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

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

The first verse of William R. Newell’s classic 1895 hymn “At Calvary” highlights today’s Scripture.

“Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.”

Before we came by faith to Jesus Christ, our lives epitomized emptiness and arrogance. We may not have been murdering, stealing, committing adultery, bowing before statues, or cursing the Lord Jesus Christ’s name; yet, our lives were vain and prideful. We were “walking, in the vanity [emptiness] of [our] mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that [was] in [us], because of the blindness of [our] heart: who being past feeling [had] given [ourselves] over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19).

Romans chapter 1 explains how God gave us Gentiles up and over to our “vain imaginations” and “foolish, darkened hearts” (verse 21). In Genesis chapter 11, God relinquished us Gentiles to enjoy the spiritual ignorance—“reprobate [worthless] mind” (verse 28)—we so desired. Once He let the Gentile nations go on their way, He created the nation Israel to become His earthly people. For the next 2,000 years, Satan’s sin (pride; 1 Timothy 3:6) operated in us Gentiles; hence, the Devil himself, the ruler “over all the children of pride” (Job 41:34), was our king. While we Gentiles were “without God” and “without Christ” (Ephesians 2:12), Jesus Christ died for us (today’s Scripture). As our pagan Gentile ancestors offered their worthless sacrifices in their heathen temples, Jesus Christ offered Himself to pay for their sins.

“Calvary” (Greek, kranion; Latin, calvaria, “skull”) only appears once in our King James Bible (Luke 23:33)—modern English versions eliminate it. In Hebrew, the place is “Golgotha” (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17), meaning “the place of a skull.” It was on this hill whose rocky formation resembles a human cranium, outside of Jerusalem, that Jesus Christ was crucified for us. While we were on our merry way to eternal hellfire, the eternal Son of God was put to death on Calvary’s cross that we might have eternal life!

A Prophet in the Wilderness #5

Friday, June 13, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

John the Baptist’s message to Israel was simple, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (today’s Scripture). Israel was to “repent”—change her mind about JEHOVAH, to remember God’s covenant with her, to acknowledge her failure to keep that covenant, to quit thinking like the Gentiles and to stop serving Satan and his evil world system. Israel’s confession of sins in the following verses was to acknowledge her breaking the Old Covenant, Law (see Leviticus 26:40-46). John’s water baptism was the means whereby Israel was cleansed of her idolatry, equipping her to become JEHOVAH’S kingdom of priests (Ezekiel 36:25; cf. Exodus 19:5,6).

Israel’s conversion was urgent: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand [near]” (today’s Scripture). In the near future, Jesus Christ would be baptized of John, thus manifesting Himself as Israel’s Messiah-King (John 1:31). Israel’s long-promised kingdom (foretold through the Old Testament prophets) was soon to be established.

Most of Israel’s priests were entangled in spiritual error, so John’s ministry was out in the wilderness, far from the Temple, far-removed from Satan’s religious system. This arrangement ensured John’s converts would be pure, untainted by the evil world system that had deceived Israel previously. God’s people would hear God the Father’s message about His coming Son and Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, from John the Baptist (see John 1:6-34)—it was a message unadulterated by Israel’s satanically-inspired priesthood.

The lesson we can take from this is simple: the same pagan religious system that gripped Israel still pervades Christendom, so we do not appeal to clergymen, denominational teaching-bodies, preachers, catechisms, creeds, seminarians, bulls, et cetera. We should go to the Apostle Paul (Romans through Philemon) to learn what God has to say to us Gentiles, just as the nation Israel was to go to John the Baptist to learn what God had to say to them. Thus, we will be a pure agency for the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:1-33).

A Prophet in the Wilderness #4

Thursday, June 12, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

Over 700 years before Christ, the Prophet Isaiah wrote of John the Baptist: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3; cf. Matthew 3:1-11; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-18).

The Prophet Hosea elaborates regarding Israel’s restoration to God: “[JEHOVAH speaking] Therefore, behold I will allure her [Israel], and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her…. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi [“My Husband”]; and shalt call me no more Baali [“My Master”]. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever… Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:14,16,19,23).

John was preaching in the wilderness to fulfill prophecy, but why did prophecy have him preaching in the wilderness? John’s purpose is described in Luke 1:16,17: “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him [the Messiah, Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Through John, God the Father (John 1:6) was calling Israel away from the apostate, satanic religious system that had so gripped and entrapped her, the system that her religious leaders—those “vipers” (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7), those spiritual children of Satan (John 8:44)—had placed upon her and with which they led her away from JEHOVAH’s truth (Matthew 15:1-14).

In order to become JEHOVAH’S wife (Hosea’s prophecy above), Israel had to forsake her idols and vain religion (the center of which was the Temple). The Gospel of the Kingdom that John preached in today’s Scripture was Israel’s chance to escape Satan’s bondage and become God’s chief nation in the earth….

A Prophet in the Wilderness #3

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:1,2 KJV).

Why is John the Baptist “preaching in the wilderness?”

John the Baptist’s father Zacharias was a Levitical priest (Luke 1:5ff.), so John should have followed his father in serving in Israel’s Temple twice a year. Yet, the Bible never says John ever served as a Temple priest. Instead, Scripture says of young John, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel” (Luke 1:80). In fact, today’s Scripture says that John the Baptist, now about age 30, began his ministry in the wilderness. In order to understand John’s peculiar ministry, we need to be mindful of the spiritual condition of the Temple.

The Tabernacle—from King Solomon onward, the Temple—was the hub of Israel’s religious system: there, her priests served JEHOVAH, the Ark of the Covenant rested, and her male Jews visited three times a year. That building was highly important because it was the place where JEHOVAH manifested Himself to Israel: hence, it was called “the house of the LORD” (Exodus 23:19 et. al) and “the house of God” (Ezra 3:8 et al.). Jesus Christ called it “my house” (Matthew 21:13) and “my Father’s house” (John 2:16).

However, Israel’s religious leadership defiled JEHOVAH’S pure Temple, and thus His nation, in various ways. According to Malachi 1:8, her priests offered in it sick and lame animals (which God forbade in Deuteronomy 15:21)—a main theme of Malachi’s message is Israel’s corrupt priesthood. Micah 3:11 spoke about Israel’s priests who taught for “hire.” Isaiah 29:13 (which Jesus quoted to describe the apostasy in His own day; Mark 7:6,7) mentioned how the Jews “have removed their heart far from [JEHOVAH], and their fear toward [Him] is taught by the precept of men.” Religious tradition was venerated, and God’s Word (the Old Testament scrolls) was largely ignored. Sound familiar?

So, God the Father had sent John into the wilderness to call Israel away from the apostate Temple….