Category: The Nation Israel

Why Does Satan Exist?

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

“Then shall he [Christ] say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:41 KJV).

God is perfect, so how could He create a sinful being such as the devil? Also, why does God allow wicked Satan to exist?

When God originally created the heaven and the earth, He made creatures, angels and humans, to serve Him in those realms. One of God’s chief angelic creatures, “Lucifer” (the “light-bearer”), was “perfect in all [his] ways from the day [he] was created, till iniquity was found in [him]” (Ezekiel 28:15). Initially, God created Satan sinless, but he became prideful, and he desired to conquer God, to “be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-15; cf. 1 Timothy 3:6).

God then cast Lucifer (now Satan, “adversary”) out of heaven (Luke 10:18). Instead of immediately destroying Satan after his rebellion, God allowed him to exist so he could author an alternative plan to following God (thus allowing mankind a chance to exercise free will: follow God or Satan). Ever since Lucifer’s fall, his “policy of evil”—his “lie program”—has been operating. Satan’s goal is to rob God of His glory by ignoring the Creator and deifying the creature and the creation (Romans 1:25). In the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted Adam to rebel against God, which Adam did. Adam plunged mankind into sin and mankind became anti-God; consequently, lost mankind is cooperating with Satan’s policy of evil, even today.

In the context of today’s Scripture, we read of Gentile nations who refused to bless Israel during the future seven-year Tribulation (verses 42-46). These Gentiles who rejected God’s will—“goats” (verse 33)—will be cast into “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (today’s Scripture). These Gentiles will be guilty of following Satan in rebellion against God (persecuting God’s people Israel), and there is a penalty for anyone and everyone who rejects God’s Word to them.

The destiny of Satan, his fallen angelic cohorts, and every human who refuses to trust God’s Word to them, is the everlasting lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-15; Revelation 21:8).

When Israel’s God Will Come

Monday, June 25, 2012

“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert” (Isaiah 35:4-6 KJV).

Today’s Scripture has a two-fold application: the First and Second Comings of Christ.

According to the prophet Isaiah (preaching circa 700 B.C.), Israel’s God is coming:

  • Notice the first part of today’s Scripture: “[Israel]… Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.” This is actually a reference to Christ’s Second Coming, when He utterly destroys His (and Israel’s) enemies with fire (Zechariah 14:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 19:11-21). The believing remnant in Israel will then be ushered into her 1,000-year earthly kingdom (Revelation 20:4).
  • The next portion of today’s Scripture was fulfilled 2,000 years ago, when Israel’s God came to her the first time: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing” (cf. Matthew 11:5,6; Matthew 15:30,31; et al.). Jesus performed these miracles to demonstrate the physical healing and deliverance from sin’s curse that will occur during that kingdom (Isaiah 33:24; Acts 2:22; cf. Hebrews 2:3-5).
  • The ending of today’s Scripture—“for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert”—is another reference to Christ’s Second Coming (see Zechariah 14:8-10, which refers to the earthly kingdom that Jesus Christ will establish).

Isaiah chapter 35 (which you should read in its entirety) discusses the prophecies when Israel’s God will come to her. In hindsight, we see that God was actually referring to two separate events, nearly 2,000 years apart. Israel’s God came… and He will come again!

The Steps of a Good Man

Sunday, June 24, 2012

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way” (Psalm 37:23 KJV).

For those who complain about the King James’ italicized words, you certainly want “good” in today’s Scripture if it is to make sense!

In this fallen creation, good is oftentimes considered evil and evil is usually called good. Sinful man always totally turns God’s standards upside-down (see Isaiah 5:20).

A Jew living in the Old Testament economy was acceptable to God only if he, by faith, obeyed the Mosaic Law (as given in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy). Anyone who did not by faith follow God’s Word given through Moses, was completely out of God’s will and was under God’s wrath: this individual was not a “good man,” for his steps were not “ordered by the LORD,” and “he delighted [not] in [God’s] way.”

Just as God set forth Moses to be a pattern for any believing Jew in the Old Testament economy of Law, God has given us a pattern for us who live in the Dispensation of Grace.

If your Christian service is to be acceptable to God, the doctrine you believe and practice MUST be in accordance with Paul’s epistles of Romans through Philemon. Notice what Paul wrote in Philippians 3:17: “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.” (Link “walk” here with “the steps of a good man” of today’s Scripture.)

Paul pronounced the test for spirituality in this the Dispensation of Grace: “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). When we follow the Apostle Paul by faith, we are following Jesus Christ in this the Dispensation of Grace. To follow anyone else but Paul—and that includes Moses and even Jesus in the Four Gospels—is to be outside of God’s will. Paul is God’s spokesman to us.

Do you want your steps to be “ordered by the LORD?” Study and believe the doctrine in Paul’s epistles!

Yearn Not for the Old Life

Saturday, June 23, 2012

“And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat” (Numbers 11:18 KJV).

Israel has been free from Egypt for just over one year (Numbers 1:1). The Jews begin complaining against God, so God in righteous anger literally sends fire to consume some of them (Numbers 11:1-3). Why are they murmuring?

The Jews want to return to their old life in Egypt. Notice what they claimed in today’s Scripture, “For it was well with us in Egypt!” Life in Egypt was “well” for them?! The Jews, like all sinners, refused to follow God, even if it meant returning to Egypt, to once again be brutally treated as slaves and to have their children’s lives threatened (Exodus 1:7-21)!

Israel is hungry for meat, and she longs to return to Egypt and eat that former diet: “We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Numbers 11:5,6).

During verses 7-15, the Jews gather manna and continue complaining, so discouraged Moses talks to God. In today’s Scripture, God instructs Moses to tell Israel that He hears their whining, and if they want flesh, He will give it to them! God will punish them for their rebellion against Him by giving them quail for a whole month, until they are literally sick of it (verses 19-23,31-34)!!

In 1 Corinthians 10:5,6,10, Paul warned the Corinthians not to be like Israel, ungrateful for what God had done for them. Just as Israel should not have wanted to return to Egypt (bondage), we should not want to return to our lost state of bondage to sin (our life before we trusted Christ). Let us stand firm in our identity in Christ, yearning not for the old life!

Plastic and Paper Not Accepted in Heaven

Thursday, June 21, 2012

“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:18,19 KJV).

Mankind has always tried to purchase the things of God with money… unsuccessfully….

Simon is a sorcerer (wizard) who has “bewitched” Samaria with satanic deception and counterfeit miracles (verses 9-11). But, once he sees the apostles laying hands on believing Jews, and their subsequent receiving of the Holy Spirit (which belongs in Israel’s program, not ours), Simon sees an opportunity for economic gain. He offers the apostles money in exchange for their God-given abilities. The Apostle Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, gives God’s response to such matters: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” (verse 20).

Religion, down through the millennia, has been notorious for extortion. Consider all the poor souls who believed they could pay for God’s forgiveness in advance by purchasing indulgences from the Church of Rome! Ponder the cash penances paid after confession to priests. Consider the tithe demanded for salvation in today’s “Bible-believing” churches (which do not “believe” 2 Corinthians 9:7 and Titus 3:5).

Even if you had all the monetary wealth of all the ages, heaven’s gates would still be closed to you! The price for your forgiveness was paid, not with cash, but with the precious blood of God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28). For salvation, you can offer God every cent you will ever earn, and He will refuse it. God wants perfect righteousness, and none of us have that.

Remember, you will be unable to write a check or swipe your credit card at heaven’s gate. God does not want your money. He only wants His Son, and those who have trusted in Christ’s sufficient payment for their sins. Salvation is a gift that only Jesus Christ could buy (Ephesians 2:8,9). “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”

Theological Twaddle Intensifies the Battle

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3 KJV).

How does Satan “beguile” (trick) and “corrupt” our minds? Today’s Scripture and the following verse give us details.

Some of the most confused people with whom you will ever discuss the Bible are religious leaders, especially theologians (seminarians). Having recently “suffered” nearly five-dozen pages of “theological twaddle (nonsense),” I set aside the volume in utter disgust. The author, despite his Doctorate in Theology, was perplexed about God’s Word: he was just as “skilled” in Scripture as the average denominationalist. (Seminary = Cemetery for God’s Word.)

One needs only casually glance at Christendom to reach the following conclusion: “People who claim to spend the most time studying the Bible—those in seminaries, Bible colleges, monasteries, et cetera—are usually the very people contributing the most to Bible ignorance.” Quite a paradox!

Satan is extremely sneaky (“subtil”). The devil understands that the best way to corrupt our Christian minds “from the simplicity that is in Christ” is to complicate that simplicity: to make God’s Word less clear to us, so we grow discouraged from ever opening our Bible! Modern English “bibles,” although claiming to be “easier-to-read,” have only confused God’s Word with their corrupt readings and denominational biases.

Also, to Satan’s delight, many ministers preach “another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel” (the verse following today’s Scripture), thus keeping people ignorant as to what God is doing today. They encourage you to follow Christ’s earthly ministry (which was to Israel only; Romans 15:8), to believe and preach the “gospel” of Acts 2:38 (what was for Israel only; Acts 2:36), and to seek the “Spirit baptism” of Acts 2:4 (which again was for Israel only; Joel 2:28,29).

There is a spiritual battle occurring today (Ephesians 6:11,12). Satan contends to overthrow your Christian mind and faith (2 Corinthians 10:3-5), and he will use “theological twaddle” (religious tradition, human viewpoint) to do it. Guard yourself with dispensational Bible study: follow the Apostle Paul as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Behold, I Stand at the Door, and Knock

Monday, June 18, 2012

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20 KJV).

Today’s Scripture is often greatly misunderstood: it has nothing to do with salvation. It has nothing to do with “Jesus knocking at the door of a lost person’s heart” or “asking Jesus into your heart.” Contrariwise, it actually entails judgment!

Dispensational Bible study helps us understand today’s Scripture. First, John is its author (Revelation 1:4). John is not writing to us in the Dispensation of Grace; he is an apostle of Israel, writing to Jews in their kingdom program (Galatians 2:9).

Today’s Scripture is written to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, Jewish believers who will endure the future seven-year Tribulation (verse 14). These Laodiceans are “lukewarm,” “neither cold nor hot” (verse 15,16): they are materialistic and their works displease God (verses 17,18). They are “straddling the fence,” so to speak; therefore, the Lord through John admonishes these Jewish believers, “be zealous therefore, and repent [change your thinking!]” (verse 19).

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock” is best understood when compared to James 5:8,9 (also written to Jews during the Tribulation): “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.” In the context of today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ’s Second Coming is near, and God is warning these believing Jews to “get their act together” so they can be ready to accept their Messiah-King, and so their deeds and hearts (attitudes) are acceptable to Him.

Let us return to the context of today’s Scripture: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21). This refers to believing Jews entering their earthly kingdom (which Christ will establish at His Second Coming). How plain! Today’s Scripture belongs to Israel, not us.

Ignoring the Creator #2

Friday, June 15, 2012

“Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 2:29 KJV).

In the context of today’s Scripture (verses 26-32), the nation Israel is guilty of ignoring her Maker, JEHOVAH (the LORD). Instead, she worships pagan idols as though they deserve her allegiance. This blasphemous activity still occurs today…. albeit worldwide.

Our world abounds with idols: money, education, sex, drugs and alcohol, statues, religious leaders, and unquestionably self! In the scientific world, the preeminent “god” is certainly not Jesus Christ: the emphasis concerning origins is not on our intelligent Creator, but on some mystical, impersonal, inanimate, random process known as organic evolution. (Scientists still cannot explain how non-life spontaneously developed into life.)

“[They] worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator [Jesus Christ], who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25b). Israel had reduced herself to such ignorance—praising wooden and stone idols as though they had given her life. God responded in judgment (the Babylonian captivity of 606 B.C.).

We live in the Dispensation of Grace, so God is extending grace, mercy, and peace. However, God’s wrath against pagan idolatry will not be postponed forever. As God cautioned rebellious Israel, “…but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble…” (verses 26-28).

In the day of God’s righteous wrath against idolatry (Tribulation), no idol will be able to deliver wicked mankind, just as Israel’s pagan gods could not save her from God’s chastisement (Babylonian and Assyrian captivities). All the silly idols man has reverenced and faithfully served these past 6,000 years will prove themselves to be totally worthless.

Why not worship the true and living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, “who loved and gave himself for you” (Galatians 2:20d), by trusting in His finished crosswork on Calvary as sufficient payment for your sins? Unlike pagan idols, Jesus Christ is your Creator, so He alone is worthy of your praise, love, and dedication. Do not ignore your Creator! 🙂

Ignoring the Creator

Thursday, June 14, 2012

“Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 2:29 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah is rebuking the nation Israel. Why is God angry with them?

God formed the nation Israel during her Egyptian bondage, ultimately delivering her using Moses. From that time (circa 1500 B.C.), to the time of today’s Scripture (circa 630 B.C.), Israel has continually disobeyed God’s Old Covenant (Law). About a century before Jeremiah spoke today’s Scripture, God had punished and deported Israel’s ten northern tribes using the Assyrian armies. Now, Jeremiah is warning that God will soon overthrow Israel’s southern kingdom using the Babylonians (it eventually happened!).

Today’s Scripture and its context describe why God is upset with the Jews, especially those in the south (Judah). “As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets. Saying to a stock [wooden idol], Thou art my father; and to a stone [idol], Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah” (verses 26-28).

“Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people [Israel] have forgotten me days without number” (verse 32).

Israel is worshipping stupid idols of wood and stone, and claiming they gave her life, joy, and blessings! We snicker at such foolishness, but how many today worship the “intellectual golden calf” of evolutionary theory, claiming the creation randomly gave rise to our lives?! Praising a mindless, random, inanimate force (evolutionary theory) as though it gave us life is as foolish as Israel worshipping mindless, inanimate “gods” who she claimed gave her life!

“[They] worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator [Jesus Christ], who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25b).

Be Not Content to Be Spiritually Impotent

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

“But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?” (Luke 5:30 KJV).

The “goody-goody” scribes and Pharisees are at it again! How will our Lord respond to “put them in their place?”

In the context (verses 27-32; cf. Matthew 9:10-13; Mark 2:15-17), the Lord Jesus is eating in the house of Levi (later the Apostle Matthew; Matthew 9:9), a “publican” (as a tax collector, Levi was one of the most unpopular people at that time!). Many publicans and others are present with Jesus in Levi’s house.

The Pharisees and scribes notice the assembly, and like religious people today, piously exalt themselves. “We obey Moses—we fast, we pray, we circumcise, we keep the Sabbath…. But, look at those sinners ignoring Moses… the harlots, drunkards, and dishonest tax collectors… Oh, and Jesus and His disciples eat with them! Thank goodness we are not sinful!” These religionists proceed to ask Jesus’ disciples why they are eating and drinking with “publicans and sinners” (today’s Scripture).

“And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (verses 31,32).

Certainly, everyone in Levi’s house, except Jesus Christ, was a no-good sinner—even the (self-righteous) Pharisees and scribes (whom Jesus repeatedly called “hypocrites”). But, as Jesus explained, “Yes, they are sinners, but these are the very people I came to save! I am the doctor and I came to save the spiritually impotent!” (Ironically, these “godly” religious leaders of Israel—not the “sinful” people in Levi’s house—would later demand Christ’s crucifixion.)

There are millions upon millions who recognize their lost (hell-bound) state, but religious pride forces them to ignore it. Sadly, many will never trust Christ’s righteousness: like the Pharisees, they condemn “sinners,” but will never admit that their deeds are equally offensive to God. They will go out into a lost eternity, damned forever in hellfire, never to change their mind about salvation in Christ. Trust Christ today—be not content to be spiritually impotent….