bible – Page 11

Biblical exhortation, and the modern Silence of the Pulpits

Posted on September 27, 2013 by elizabethprata

“I exhort you!” “I beseech you!’ We read those biblical phrases a lot. So. What do they mean?

That is what this blog essay is about.

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:13)

Paul is urging Timothy to be bold and stay strong. Timothy was a pastor. However, exhortation is not only for pastors. Gills Exposition says of the verse,

“Exhortation” intends the stirring up of believers to the exercise of grace, and the discharge of duty; and is a considerable part of the work of the ministry, and on which a minister of Christ should much insist; –

Mike Ratliffe on the same verse
What is exhortation? In 1 Timothy 4:13, the word I translated as “exhortation” is the noun παρακλήσει, which is the Dative, Singular form of παράκλησις or paraklēsis, which refers to an “admonition or encouragement for the purpose of strengthening and establishing the believer in the faith (Romans 15:4; Philippians 2:1; Hebrews 12:5; 13:22). Technically, an exhortation is the application of the exposition of scripture. It challenges God’s people to obey the truth of God’s Word and warns them of the consequences of not doing so.

The pastor exhorts the believer, and the believer exhorts the believer. As a matter of fact, some believers have been given the gift of exhortation!

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8).

GotQuestions explains the gift of exhortation,

“The gift of exhortation is a person’s unique ability to encourage and edify others. This person delights in finding Scriptures that apply to a situation and teaching others how to apply them. People with this gift are often involved in teaching, counseling, and discipleship training ministries within the church. Exhorters are among the first to find believers who are floundering in their faith. They come alongside the weaker ones to encourage, confront, if necessary, and model victorious living.

Jesus exhorted and John the Baptist exhorted. Their first words and the main thrust of their ministries were to tell people to repent. Believers should exhort people to repent, whether you have the gift of exhortation or not. It is what Jesus came to do, seek the repentant and save the lost. As His ambassadors it is what we are here to do.

GotQuestions again, “Regardless of our primary gifts, all Christians should desire to become better at exhortation to build up those who are weaker, encourage those who lead, and strengthen the Body of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Corinthians 1:4).“

So what else should we exhort about? –Peter also exhorted to people that they should repent. (Acts 2:38).
–John exhorted to people about truth. (3 John 4).
–James exhorted people to good works in Christ (James 2:17-18)

So if pastors are urged to exhort, and believers with the gift are urged to exhort, and believers without the gift are urged to exhort, why isn’t the church exhorting?

Christians are being persecuted everywhere! Chased, hunted, killed, and churches burned! Here is a snippet from an article called The Silence of the Pulpits

If you are even slightly awake about the world news today, it is no surprise that Christians are being killed, raped, and brutalized throughout the Islamic world. However, there is a place where you can go to escape the dreadful and relentless details of Christian annihilation by Islam. You can just go to church. …
The principal reason public opinion hasn’t been galvanized around the persecution of Christians is that the various church leaderships either ignore or dance around the issue. If churches don’t speak up forcefully, then it is unrealistic to expect the world’s democratic governments to do the same.And so the response found in nearly every church to the murder of Christians is…wait for it…complete silence. Not a mention or reference to it, or to the brutality against Christians that happens almost every day in the Islamic world. This is not a passive silence, because if you try to change it, you will fail. The silence is an active, working conspiracy that goes throughout nearly all of Christendom.“

The article’s author goes on to propose that the reason for the silence means one must examine the who the people are doing the persecuting, and since facts are the enemy today, they don’t like speaking about the fact that Muslims are doing the killing. (ans why are Muslims doing this Christian-killing? They hate Jesus).

If we are supposed to exhort unto the truth in opposition to false doctrine, as John modeled for us, then why is there a deafening silence from evangelicals?

John MacArthur on the Deafening Silence of Evangelicals
“There is a widespread reluctance in the evangelical community to offer strong, biblical critique in response to theological error. And the glut of unrestrained charismatic teaching serves as a glaring example of that. Theological pacifism has inadvertently given license to many false teachers. They have free reign to misrepresent the Holy Spirit and mislead the people of God by proclaiming their imaginings as direct revelation from the Lord. Believers cannot sit and watch as such blasphemy poisons the minds of people looking for the truth.“

No, a person is not being humble and gentle when they remain silent and do not exhort when they should.

Bill Muehlenberg said in his essay “The Sin of Remaining Silent – and Doing Nothing“
“Remaining silent and inactive about evil when we have a chance to make a difference is not just cowardly, but sinful. We are called to be proactive in promoting that which is good and resisting that which is evil. Apathy, fence-sitting and refusal to engage are not options for the biblical Christian.”

If a sister is reading a book you know for a fact to be thoroughly permeated with false doctrine, will you sit still and say nothing? If a precious brother says he is a Christian but refuses to go to church to hear the word and worship Him, will you let it go? If you are a pastor and you know for sure that a member is watching porn, or engaged in adultery, should you exhort that brother or sister to repent? Yes you should.

Paul told Titus that as an elder he should encourage those who are in sound doctrine to continue and refute those who contradict. (Titus 1:9)

Exhort with all due love to the brethren and others! Stay strong and speak up. Exhort!!

—————————

Four hundred pomegranates!

Posted on September 19, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I am reading 1st Kings. I read 1 Kings 6, 7 and 8. Solomon built the Temple, his Palace, and in chapter 8, prayed blessings unto God.

I was entranced in chapter 7 by the description of the temple artifacts. Whoa, the cherubim wings! Fifteen feet wide?! They are very powerful angels in real life and if they look like they do as represented in bronze in the description of the temple that are awesome!

Le Moyne’s Botanical Watercolors, 1585

I also got stuck on the detail the LORD put in the chapter about the 400 pomegranates.

“Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.” (1 Kings 7:40-44)

I got to thinking,
“Why 400 pomegranates?”
“What was Hiram thinking when he made all those pomegranates?”
“Did Hiram get tired of making 400 pomegranates?”
“Why pomegranates?”

The other questions can’t be answered this side of the veil, but I can always ask Hiram when I get there.

As to the pomegranates, I did find out a lot of stuff from the bible. Thanks to Wayne Blank of Keyway Bible Study, here is the lowdown on pomegranates.

The LORD was bringing the people out of bondage and delivering them to a land rich with provision. One of those provisions was fruit of the land, and one of those fruits was pomegranates.

photo credit: chany14 via photopin cc

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-10)

Joel spoke of the pomegranate’s absence being the opposite of provision. When disobedience comes in, everything dries up. In Joel 1:12 we read,

“The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.”

Wikimedia commons

Back to 1 Kings, in addition to the pomegranates being cast in bronze for the temple adornment, the LORD had ordered Moses to direct the priests to make specific garments in which they would carry out their duties. The hem of the robe must be adorned with pomegranates.

“He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.” (Exodus 39:22-26)

The pomegranate is a good candidate for the forbidden fruit that was eaten in the Garden, though we cannot be sure. As a personal anecdote, we used to eat them at Thanksgiving. Every family has their traditions, and in ours, my mother always used to buy lots of shelled nuts and put them in a bowl with nutcrackers. Filberts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts…they were all there and I enjoyed them each year. They were the one-per-year friends. Me and my cousins would sit around and pick nuts and laugh and talk.

She also used to put out a bowl of pomegranates. I don’t know why that particular fruit, but there they were. I remember them as being delicious, juicy, and refreshing.

If you enjoy studying flora and fauna, try a study of the bible’s natural history. The birds, insects, animals, and plants in the bible is a wonderful study. I can’t wait to find out why the Lord prefers pomegranates, what their symbolism is and what they mean to Him.

Meanwhile, I wonder…was a pomegranate the fruit that Eve and Adam ate in the Garden? Will a pomegranate tree be one of the fruit trees lining the River of Life in the Millennium?

“And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12)

LOL, that is the original “Fruit of the Month Club”!

bible, marriage, morality, tim gunn

Tim Gunn chose celibacy thirty years ago. How about you?

Posted on August 7, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m writing three loosely connected blog entries. The first one was about marriage. The second was about divorce. This third one is about celibacy.

Tim Gunn, Wikipedia pic

I started watching Project Runway this summer. (Thanks, free Hulu!). Project Runway is a contest show where each week the fashion designers must create a fashion look and the best one is selected and the worst one causes the judges to boot the designer. During the times while the designers are creating, a man named Tim Gunn who used to be a professor of fashion at the Parsons New School for Design in NY comes in and consults with the contestants. He mentors them and helps them. He is very good at what he does.

Being the fashion industry and set in NY, there are many gay contestants. Some don’t talk about it and some do. Mr Gunn doesn’t. After binge-watching a bunch of episodes, I became interested in Mr Gunn. He seemed like a very nice man.

Googling him yielded uniformly that he is, indeed, a nice man. He’s very caring and genuine with the contestants and very skilled in his ability to mentor and draw out their thoughts and convert them to concrete design. I enjoy his style as a teacher and also his clothing style!

It turns out, that yes, Mr Gunn is gay.

The most prominent item in the search results was this: he stated in an interview last year that he has been celibate for 29 years.

photo credit: Dead Air via photopin cc

He said that his partner broke up with him, which was devastating, and said the boyfriend did so because Gunn’s sexual perfomance wasn’t all that great. It also was said that Gunn had struggled with his sexual preference and as a result he had attempted suicide as a young man. Gunn said that he made the decision to abstain from sex because “it’s very psychological”. Lastly, he was very worried about staying healthy, since at that time the pestilence afflicting the gay world, AIDS, was rampant. He said he is glad to be alive today.

When Mr Gunn made his declaration last year, it stunned secular society (at least, the segment of the society that follows these things). The LA Times said that he “blew the nation’s mind this week” and asked, “How weird is it to go without sex for 29 years?” Others speculated that this was so unusual that perhaps a new disorder should be added to the DSM–IV for asexuality. The tone of the article was that certainly no one would make this choice if there wasn’t something wrong with him.

Certainly, society’s pressure to be sexual was felt by Mr Gunn, who insisted that he had ‘nothing to be ashamed’ of, and that he “is a fulfilled individual.”

Excesses at the NY Gay Pride parade.
photo credit: Boss Tweed via photopin cc

Heterosexual youths hook up like it’s nothing nowadays. The adherents to a homosexual lifestyle in particular insist that one be promiscuous, in a celebration of ‘pride’ in their choice to have unnatural sex. Gay men are supposed especially lusty and proudly strut and have sex at the drop of a hat.

The day after Mr Gunn’s revelation, the LA Times reported, “Today, Tim Gunn’ was one of the mostly widely searched terms on Google, partly because such an admission was shocking even in a world that thrives on TMI.”

That’s because the lustful world cannot conceive of a person not indulging their lusts.

Here is the point, he made a personal decision to refrain from sexual activity (for whatever reason) and held to that for three decades. If a man who has unnatural lusts can do that for himself by himself, then what can a person struggling with homosexual thoughts and desires do who appeals to the Holy Spirit? The Spirit aids us in resisting lusts, and Mr Gunn shows us that it can be done.

The Holy Spirit helps all of us in resisting that which is not profitable. He helps us resist any and all sins. In today’s society, l-ust, promiscuity, fornication, homosexual sex, adultery, p-ornography are the most deeply embedded of the sins and the ones society most pressures us to succumb to. However they are exactly the sins which should be most resisted.

photo credit: EssG via photopin cc

This is what Jesus said about marriage and the marital bed:

“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:12)

So there are three categories. Those who were born without an ability to engage in a sexual union. Second, some have had some sort of accident, or undergone some kind of religious rite, or some slaves castrated to work in a harem, etc. and physically cannot perform.

The third category are people who feel led to remain single and not married (not because of an unwillingness to commit) but do so by a dedication to this state of singleness (‘made themselves’) and it is for the sake of the kingdom.

Jesus is saying many things here. First, that if you are married, it is not good to be celibate. Celibacy is only good for those who are not married. The context of his sermon here is on the subject of marriage & divorce.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:1-5,
“Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

So we know not to make ourselves eunuchs if we are married. That does not further the cause of the kingdom.

At the end of His talk, Jesus said “let them receive it.” This means receive His whole teaching on marriage, sex, and singleness. It is not a command, because He said, ‘let them’ receive it. If you are married, have a happy and fruitful marital bed. If you are single and feel that the Lord is not leading you into marriage or back into it if you are widowed or widower, let them receive it. It is all for the sake of the Kingdom.

Now, does one think that the Holy Spirit is not going to help in either of these cases, the married or the single? Of course He will! He ministers to us, helps us resist unwanted thoughts, convicts us of potential actions, brings scripture to mind in dangerously tempting situations.

The world cannot understand a Christian’s actions regarding sexual conduct. The world was amazed, perplexed and felt almost betrayed by Mr Gunn that he chose to make himself a eunuch for three decades.

They won’t understand. Here is John MacArthur expounding on the Matthew verse, especially the part where Jesus says, ‘let him receive it.’

photo credit: soundfromwayout via photopin cc

“I think this is a very important statement at the end of verse because, you see, the Lord puts this in there knowing that most people aren’t going to be able to hear this, right? I mean, if I go into the average situation with a bunch of pagan people, I mean, if I went down and spoke at the local Kiwanis club, for lack of a better illustration, or if I went into the local college classroom and I said, “Now, I want you to know, people, this is the law, here’s what is God’s standard: you will marry one person for the rest of your life and make a lifelong commitment‑‑no divorce. Furthermore, if you are single, you remain single for the sake of the kingdom of God, not to play around.” Now, how well would I be received? They’d say, “Who is this idiot? Where did you come from?”

Take heart single people. The Holy Spirit will help you resist desires. Gill’s Exposition explains of the Matthew verse:

“But here it means such, who having the gift of continency without mutilating their bodies, or indulging any unnatural lusts, can live chastely without the use of women, and choose celibacy: for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; not in order, by their chaste and single life, to merit and obtain the kingdom of glory; but that they might be more at leisure, being free from the encumbrances of a marriage state, to attend the worship and service of God.”

If you are single, choose celibacy. You are doing something for the Kingdom! Not that your choice expands it, but that in the extra time you have in being single, you can devote yourself to the Lord instead of the the spouse & children. If Tim Gunn can do it without aid of the Holy Spirit, you certainly can. “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Why should you cast your cares on Him? Because He cares for you.

photo credit: Lel4nd via photopin cc

bible, charismatic, dreams

What the bible says about dreamers

Posted on July 18, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Elizaeth Prata, Dreams, 2003

Everyone is dreaming a dream now. Everyone is having a vision now. It’s practically the ticket of entry into a church and almost required for faith…among the Charismatics and false teachers, that is.

Until about about 100 years ago when the charismatic and experience-driven Azusa Street Revival broke out, these kind of ecstatic experiences never were part of a normal Christian working faith. Since 33 AD or certainly since 94 AD, the normal Christian did the ‘boring things’ of prayer, service, congregational worship, study, ministry, work, and family building. But why do all that when you can have an experience, hear God personally, and have His ‘truth’ plopped right down on your head and become famous over it?

The truth is, for 1900 years, dreams were not a part of the normal Christian expectation, and the following verses denounce, diminish and dismiss the experience of having a dream as important at all.

“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” (Jude 1:8)

MacArthur explains this verse:

“So what we have here then at best is that false teachers, now follow this, false teachers inevitably have to have a source for their deception. And they have to have a source that’s believable. They have to have a source that has some authority, or that is convincing. So they can’t just say, “I think…” They can’t just say, “I feel…” They can’t just say, “We’ve got a committee in our group and we came up with this deal.” The really effective false teachers and apostates will inevitably tell you God communicates to them in secret ways, in their dreams, in their visions. These are revelatory experiences. Apostate false teachers from Joseph Smith to Benny Hinn and everybody in between claim that God speaks to them in their dreams, in their visions. And this, of course, transcends the necessity to be submissive to the Word of God which is not in their hearts anyway. And it gives them the illusion of authority and God gets blamed for all their aberrations. They reject the Word of God.“

MacArthur calls those the ‘terrorists of the church‘.

“[ Paul’s Visions and His Thorn ] I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 12:1)

Paul is telling the Corinthians of his troubles, and had just listed his persecutions. It was an incredible list, so incredible that it had all happened to one person, Paul said that God Himself is witness to it. And though it does no good, Paul said, he must go on telling them of his visions though it was not profitable, because it could tempt him to pride. However, the Corinthians’ fascination with the false teachers’ false visions and revelations left him little choice to tell what a real apostle who had real dreams and real revelations is all about. The point here is, there is nothing to be gained by telling of visions and dreams.

“Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about

Gustav Klimt: Music, 1895

visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,” (Colossians 2:18).

This tells us that visions puff up and that going on about them would disqualify you! All that going on about dreams and visions do is spiritually intimidate the brethren! Don’t fall for it!

“And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” (2 Peter 1:19)

What Peter is saying here is that despite having seen the transfigured Jesus Himself prior to even the resurrection (!) Peter says there is something more sure than a powerful experience like that: the WORD.

MacArthur explains:
“Literally the Greek order is this, “And we have more sure the prophetic word.” More sure than what? More sure than experience, even the valid, genuine experience of the Apostles. Peter’s reply to anyone who wants to question his experience is that there is a more reliable source, that is the Word of God. … God Himself has repeatedly emphasized that the Word is a sufficient source of truth, the Word is in inerrant, the Word is in infallible, truth never to be questioned, and never to be helped along or validated, as it were, by experience.”

Just because an experience may be credibly supernatural does not mean it came from God.

Fazzini sculpture “Resurrection” @ Vatican

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24).

Please do not listen to dreamers and people’s retelling of visions. Please do not seek after dreams and visions. Do not undergo a trance in order to induce a dream or a vision. If you think you have had a supernatural dream, keep it to yourself, consult the bible to see if it is consistent with the more sure word. If it is, praise the Lord and go on about your business. If it is not, pray to be protected from satanic invasions such as that and then examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5).

bible, encouragement, exhortation, worship

Worship Jesus

Posted on July 16, 2013 by elizabethprata

Worship Jesus and Jesus alone. Worship this same Jesus as God revealed Him to the world.

Do not worship Prophets, past or present.

“And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:4-5).

Jesus stopped Peter from making three tabernacles. It is acceptable to worship ONLY Jesus. This is such a strong truth that the Spirit stopped Peter from proclaiming worship of Moses and Elijah while he was still saying it.

Do not worship Angels.

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (Revelation 22:8-9).

Again we read, ‘Worship God.’ Angels are fellow servants with us of the Most High God.

Do not worship men.

“And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” (Acts 14:11-15).

Worship Jesus. Listen to Him.

bible, encouragement, scripture

Midday encouragement

Posted on June 29, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I really enjoy photography, looking at photos and taking them. I have many photos that I enjoy digging out and looking at and playing with as digital software technologies continue to be made available.

As I look at them, more often than not, a bible verse comes to mind. like the Penobscot Bay schooner I’d snapped it was while passing by the schooner we were on, the ‘do not drift away’ verse from Hebrews. It’s here.

I’ll be doing this more often. A short burst of encouragement from a verse, with photo. Here is today’s-

Friends, the road is long and we cannot see around the curve. However we know the end of the story. It ends in glory. Keep walking in Jesus’ name, rejoicing as you go.

bible, God, holy, salvation

We are to be holy because He is holy

Posted on May 30, 2013 by elizabethprata

Last night at Wednesday night bible study, we were approaching 1 Peter 1:10 toward the end of the lesson: (“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully”)

and the next section in 1 Peter 1 is titled “Called to be holy.” In vv. 10, & 13-21, it reminded me of the study I’m personally doing in Zechariah. This blog entry is about sharing my thoughts of the parallels between 1 Peter 1:1-21 and Zechariah 3. Chapter 3 in Zechariah is a tremendous passage in a tremendous book that really stopped me in my tracks this week.

Perhaps the reference Peter makes to the prophets of old prophesying about the grace of God can be seen in view here in Zech 3:1-5. Let’s see.

“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” 5Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.”

My understanding is that Joshua the High Priest here is a picture of all Israel, called to be a holy (priestly) people before God and a light to the Gentiles. Now, I don’t want to spiritualize this passage or make it be about the Church. In this vision, God was giving direct comfort and an explicit message to Israel, but there is a wider view that I think I as a NT believer after the cross can safely take in seeing the character of satan in this scenes and the character of God, because those things don’t change.

In looking at the nature of the uncleanliness of Israel in their sin … the words used here refer to their uncleanness as human waste of the filthiest kind. That is what “Joshua”/Israel was covered in. That is how God looks at sin. This is always instructive to see. Sin is not just ugly, but it is the worst sort of pollution.

The thought of standing before God in my own waste is a jarring enough picture. Satan is right to accuse Israel, they were filthy. They were idolatrous, blasphemous, and sinning upon sin. How does that old adage go? “when satan talks to us he lies but when he talks to God he tells the truth”. He is truthfully pointing out the sin staining Israel.

Satan accuses us New Testament believers also, including me. (Rev 12:10). I can imagine him standing next to Jesus saying, “Did you see that? She is filthy with sin!” Ow!

But the wondrous part is when I read in Zechariah that the LORD rebuked satan for pointing it out and making the accusation!! He reminds satan that He has pulled Israel out of the fire (and us too, after the cross, 1 John 2:1). How great is His mercy that despite our filth, He loves His chosen people (and by extension, us)! It is a tremendous, tremendous scene.

And then His mercy deepens by His decision to place clean garments on Israel. They truly are a people close to His heart aren’t they! And His Holy, Merciful nature is that He also put clean garments on us when we become justified. Perhaps I can say that as Peter says in verse 7, the faith that is “more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire” is this garment of salvation! The clean garments he places on us, and it is an amazing thing. Faith in His word He’ll cleanse us of our sin and have it remain so, forever, despite satan’s accusations.

As Zechariah closes out the section saying that the LORD ordered that a clean turban be put on the High Priest’s head, we read in Exodus 28:36 that the turban had an engraving on it that said “HOLY TO THE LORD”.

Replacing Israel’s filth stained garments, and after the cross, replacing the Church age believer’s filth stained garments, is to me the most incredible act in the entire universe. Is this what the angels think also, and is why they long to look into such things? (1 Peter 1:12). I dare to speculate perhaps so.

As we read further in the 1 Peter 1 chapter, the upcoming verses 13-15, the call of Peter for us to be holy is contrasted by this scene in Zechariah of the grace and mercy of God, who cleans His children of our own excrement, calls us holy, and gives us the garments to prove it so. Though the scene in Zechariah is discrete to Israel, I can use that picture to extend it through the cross to understand that He rebukes my accuser, cleans me of my filth, places on my head His name, and ordains over me the call to be Holy. We are to be holy because He is holy (Lev 11:44).

Understanding where I came from and what God has done for me through Jesus, and seeing the scene described so graphically in Zechariah helps me want to adhere fervently to the call of Peter to be holy for His sake- and not mine.

God is so great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bible, end of days, prophecy, quantum leap, rapture

Make a quantum leap with me

Posted on May 18, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I published this almost two years ago to the day. I have been thinking about quantum leaps again, a lot, so I thought I’d re-post this.

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I love learning how the bible is a book of science. If true and honest science were to be considered, scientists would accept that the earth is a young earth. Science shows it, but they “believed the lie” – the lie being (in my opinion) that God didn’t create the universe. And if He is not Creator, therefore maybe He is not Redeemer either. Hey, that lie works for satan.

In any case, I learned about quantum leaps this week.

The heavens and the earth (Hebrew phraseology for the universe) will disappear. That is a fact. But how? And where will we be? My question regarding the first was answered to my satisfaction this week. It involves quantum physics. LOL, stay with me!

If you make a fist and bump your fist from below with your other hand, your fist moves up from the bump. Keep that in mind as I explain. A quantum leap happens when a photon strikes an atom, it boosts an electron into a higher orbit. And when that occurs the electron moves from the lower to the upper orbit simultaneously without having traversed the intervening space. That’s a quantum leap. (Definition from John MacArthur). Or this, “A quantum leap is a leap from A to B, without passing through any of the points between A and B. Imagine that you enter a train in A-ville. You sit in your seat, and the train is instantly transported to your destination of B-ville. You just made a quantum leap.”

Amazing! The electron blinks out and then blinks back into a higher state of being – instantaneously! This makes sense to me when thinking of two biblical events prophesied to come: the Rapture and the New Heavens/New Earth.

Rapture: “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52). When Jesus calls us with the last trump and the voice of an archangel, we will be translated instantaneously from fleshly human with sin nature to glorified eternal person with no sin nature. This will happen in the blink of an eye, which is said to be 150 milliseconds. The how of it seems to me to be a good definition of a quantum leap. We are translated from a lower state of being to a higher state of being, instantly.

At the end of time when Jesus makes a new heavens and a new earth, it appears to me also that it could happen as in the definition of a quantum leap. The earth is translated from a lower state of being to a higher state of being, instantly.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10) … “looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (Verse 12-13)

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” (Revelation 21:1)

When I read things like this and I ponder the enormity of the unified system that is the universe, (yes I believe string theory is correct) it makes me feel a great sense of awe for Him and I love the Creator all the more. That we polluted his perfect creation with sin and He redeems us anyway makes me feel humbled and I love Him all the more. It’s all good!
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bible, judgment, new earth, ruin porn

Why are people attracted to ruin? (A beautifully decaying world)

Posted on May 11, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

In the beginning, God created a perfect universe, the beautiful stars, and a habitation for His people, humans. Earth was perfect. Rivers were sparkling and drinkable. Trees and flowers were lush and abundant. And Adam and Eve were His triumph, people with whom to have fellowship with Him. I can’t imagine how beautiful it all was, but I know He is going to restore it. (Revelation 21:1; Ezekiel 47:1-12).

When Eve and then Adam sinned, God cursed the earth. (Genesis 3). Thorns sprung up. Animals turned to carnivores. Sweat and blood and labor and toil became the characteristics of man’s life.

Despite the present despoiling of the earth after all these thousands of years, it is still beautiful in many places. Like this-

Photograph by Ireena Worthy on Flickr

Photograph by Mario Neumann (scuba.hamburg on Flickr)

Photograph by Nick Lippert (via Komo News)

There are many more beautiful photographs here: Top 100 photographs of the year 2012

I’ve said over an over that this present time, and every day thereafter, draws humankind closer to the moment when there will be a final dividing line. The middle ground that the Lord has graciously allowed is disappearing day by day. After Revelation 13 when humankind is forced to choose between the beast or the Lord (Rev 13:16-17), the final destinies will be set. Every day we go forward in time is another day that widens the gap between believer and unbeliever. it all is drawing down to that.

And each day we go forward widens the gap between believers and unbelievers. Every day, more apostates are unmasked. Every day more and more false prophets and preachers infiltrate pulpits. Every day more thousands fall for satan. It widens, until the earth is a battleground of them versus Jesus. (Revelation 16:14-16).
“It’s a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.”Therefore the curse is proceeding apace, also. Amid the beauty of those scenes above, and many, many more, we have scenes of ruin.

Strange Geographies: The Mojave Desert’s Airplane Graveyard

Submerged ghost town comes up for air
In this May 7, 2013 photo, birds fly over the village of Epecuen, Argentina. Epecuen village was once home to 1,500 residents before it started flooding on November 10, 1985. After heavy rains the lake Epecuen burst its banks. It only took 20 days for the town to submerge beneath almost 10 metres (30 feet) of water forcing everybody to leave. As the years passed slowly the water started to recede. Nowadays the town that was never rebuilt, and was famous for therapeutic salty waters that surrounded it, is once again becoming a tourist destination but for the ruins that have been left. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Tank graveyard on Afghanistan

Photo: Ilya Varlamov

I thought these next two photos were eerily similar. Pompeii was the Roman-era vacation seaside resort town of about 20,000 people, that was covered in ash in 79AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, obliterating the town in ash in just a few days. Before the curse, volcanoes didn’t erupt. After the curse, earth became our enemy. The town was submerged under ash for 1500 years, and re-emerged after it was re-discovered in 1748. Excavations have been ongoing ever since. Today, Pompeii is a huge tourist draw with 2.5 million visitors arriving each year to view the ruins.

The photo below that is of the Argentine lake resort town of Epecuen, formerly home to about 20,000 people that was suddenly submerged with water when the lake overflowed its banks in a violent rainstorm. Within days the town was obliterated.

“It’s a bizarre, post-apocalyptic landscape that captures a traumatic moment in time.”

“I came to see the end of the world!”

Why do people travel 6 hours to the town of Epecuen from Buenos Aires to view ruins? What attracts people to the post-apocalyptic visions? The NY Times examined the whys and wherefores of what it is about ruin and blight that attracts tourists. Detroit is the UN capital of ruin porn, a visual genre that not only photographers and artists explore, but tourists to also, coming to the city specifically to stare at ruined buildings. People are simply fascinated by it, as they demonstrate by driving to Epecuen over rough country roads. The NY Times article states,

“Meditation on ruin is a long and noble tradition. In Renaissance Italy, antiquarians like Leon Battista Alberti and Poggio Bracciolini began to promote the study and preservation of Roman ruins, which, to that point, had been unsystematically pushed aside as the city expanded. According to Alberti’s biographer, Anthony Grafton, they also “made fun of those who became too depressed” about the ruins, like poor, oversensitive Cyriac of Ancona, who “seemed to mourn the fall of Rome with excessive emotion.” “

We think nothing of viewing the Colosseum in Rome, a ruin, but ponder the whys of people driving to Detroit to look at falling down buildings. Perhaps the ancient has more mystique, and thus pondering the ruins of today is just plain morbid? A Paris family flew to Detroit to see the ruins of the once-beautiful Packard Plant, and when asked what appealed to them about Detroit, “One of them gleefully exclaimed, “I came to see the end of the world!”

In this article titled the Psychology of Ruin Porn, ruin photographer Matthew Christopher said, “I’d like the viewer to step back just a bit and to see the horror story that’s implicit in the image,” he says. “These pictures document physical conditions that are the direct consequences of failed economies.”

I agree with his assessment but would edit it to a biblical stance. When people are drawn to modern ruin, either in images or to places, it is to personally interpret not just the physical conditions that are the direct consequence of failed economies, but to document physical conditions that are the direct result of sin and the curse.

See, all people respond to the creation. All. People.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

Romans 1:18 says tough that people deliberately suppress the truth. The feel it. They know it. They suppress it. Yet their fascination with it peeks out in trips to ruins, to ponder the explosiveness of a long-dormant volcano, a once-placid lake becoming a killer, weapons of ear dying in the desert. The earth is blighted by disease,war, and cataclysms, and we cannot help but ponder the power of it all. The fascination with ruin, pure and simple, is people pondering their eternity, thinking they have escaped such a ruin themselves. But they have not.

The same is true for people who travel far and wide to view the beauty of the earth. They are responding to God’s eternity set within their hearts.

The Lord has dominion over all. As we see in this verse from Ezekiel 21:27, it is prophesied of Israel–

“A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.”

Yet the Lord’s dominion extends also to the church and the whole world. Wesley’s notes explains, “Shall be no more – Never recover its former glory, ’till the scepter be quite taken away from Judah, and way be made for the Messiah. He hath an incontestable right to the dominion both in the church and in the world. And in due time he shall have the possession of it, all adverse power being overturned.”

Ultimately, all earth will be a ruin before the Lord renews it. That is why we do not cling to the cities of today, nor do we exult in their passing, for that means the unsaved people within them are passing into eternity of hell. The writer of Hebrews said, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

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Gog Magog connection to Boston Marathon bombers/Chechnyan region

Posted on April 20, 2013May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Baghdad. Karachi. Lebanon. Damascus. These are the places on maps our eyes rove to when thinking of terror, jihad, and evil. We see a great amount of hate emanating from these places where satan has his throne. (Revelation 2:13; Ezekiel 28:12).

And just when we got used to this place or that place being the seat of terror, BLAM! Chechnya!

The two brothers who executed the terrorist bombings at the Boston marathon were from Chechnya. They were Muslim and subscribed to a jihadi point of view. The Boston police Commissioner said, “We believe this man to be a terrorist,” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. “We believe this to be a man who’s come here to kill people.”

I had to look on a map to see where Chechnya is.

Aha. This explains a lot. It is part of ground zero of where the Gog Magog nations will combine to attack Israel in the Gog Magog Ezekiel 38 war.

Russia’s Caucasus: breeding ground for terror
“Militants from Chechnya and other restive regions in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus have targeted Moscow and other areas with bombings and hostage-takings, but the allegations of involvement in the Boston Marathon explosions would mark the first time they had conducted a terror attack in the West. The conflict in Chechnya began in 1994 as a separatist war, but quickly morphed into an Islamic insurgency whose adepts vow to carve out an independent Islamic state in the Caucasus.”

“The word of the Lord came to me; Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army – your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops – the many nations with you.’ (Ezekiel 38:1-6).

These Magog coalition nations are the nations of today –

Magog – there are over 130 historical references tying Magog to the ancient Scythians. In Colossians 3:11 Paul mentioned the Scythians. The Strong’s concordance identifies a Scythian as an inhabitant of Scythia or modern day Russia. The Great Wall of China was known as the “Ramparts of Magog” in ancient times and was built to protect China from Magog. Magog was a son of Japeth and inhabited central Asia. His children, the Scythians, are the ancestors of today’s Russian people.

Meshech and Tubal – These two were brothers of Magog and are linked to the same general area, but more likely with the Turkic people. Josephus associated Meshech with Cappodocia, home of the ancient Hittite Empire in Eastern Turkey.

Persia – Iran

Cush and Put – Ethiopia, Libya and the north part of the continent; Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, etc.

Gomer– Eastern Europe of today.

Beth Togarmah – Armenians of today call themselves the House of Togarmah. The Turks (but not the Kurds, who are the ancient Medes of Media-Persia fame) are also included, and they’re the ones Ezekiel had in view.

Sheba and Dedan – commentaries none-the-less identify these two as probably representing the nations of the Arabian Peninsula, notably Saudi Arabia. The ancient capital of Saudi Arabia is still called Dedan on many maps today.

Tarshish – No one is sure. (go to link to see full explanation with scriptures)

Now look at the map again. Chechnya is smack dab in the middle of the exact geographic region which will combine in an unholy alliance against God, striking His nation Israel in the last days.

One thing that the surprise Chechnyan connection and the surprise US terror act tells us, is that satan is alive and well and busy, even in ways and in places we are not aware. If there is a good to come of this act, it is to unite us in prayer, to take a stand for Jesus, and to remember to put on our armor and be on guard even more vigilantly- spiritually.

No matter how dark the day, the Light is coming. He will prevail. He already has prevailed. In this way, all things are working perfectly to work out His plan. In the glory of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me. His truth marches on! His day is coming!