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United States AI Solar System (11)
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°351
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°352
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Thank-you, Ashera. A new page has dawned. I might continue my EGW and KJV stuff, or I might not, but context is always determinative, and I have incessantly and irreverently utilized contextual superimposition as a mental and spiritual exercise in modernity. What Would Monseigneur Bowe Say?? He's probably turning over in his grave!! I spent way too much time listening to Sherry Shriner with attempted neutrality. She supposedly died in January of 2018 but she might simply be incognito. She had a nasty Anti-Paul bias which I attempted to understand. Later, I listened to Jeffrey Daugherty and he had a similar Anti-Paul bias. Both Sherry and Jeffery seemed to know way too much concerning the unknown and unknowable. I just stumble around the internet with my mental, physical, and spiritual difficulties. Don't Make Fun of the Handicapped!! What if there is a point to atheistic biblical studies?? That seems counterintuitive but what if they are partially correct?? What if a new fundamentalism emerges with a couple of key books and interpretations?? But What if NO-ONE Will EVER be Happy and Satisfied?? Should I Simply Shut Up and Read The Seattle Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal Interspersed with Exercise in Nature?? My threads frankly embarrass me, despite my considering them to mostly be religious and political science-fiction!! Must I Explain??
1. Genesis to Revelation (KJV).
2. Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, Christ's Object Lessons, Acts of the Apostles (EGW).
3. The SDA Bible Commentary.
I tend to think that a New-Paradigm is emerging, which might initially appear to be a Kinder and Gentler New World Order -- yet will ultimately morph into a Harsh and Unyielding Orthodoxy which would make the Dark-Ages Powers That Be Blush and/or Turn Over in Their Graves. My background is SDA, but I can't even talk to SDA's about what I post on this website. We live in completely-different universes. I just thought I should attempt to place some of this historical-stuff in a science-fictional and alternative-research context. This project is obviously a complete failure, but hopefully I'm obtaining some "brownie-points" somewhere in this seemingly harsh, violent, and illogical universe. But honestly, I have very-little hope for a useable-future. A Significant Individual of Interest told me to "Be Patient". He said that the "Powers That Be" will fail, which will result in an extermination. He said that we needed to "Start Over". I've encountered this same basic theme over and over. I obviously seek some sort of an idealistic reorganization, but I'm not a proponent of "fire and brimstone" or "murder and mayhem" or "apocalyptic-salvation". Can't We All Just Get Along?? Hope Springs Eternal.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk31.html Throughout his ministry Isaiah bore a plain testimony concerning God's purpose for the heathen. Other prophets had made mention of the divine plan, but their language was not always understood. To Isaiah it was given to make very plain to Judah the truth that among the Israel of God were to be numbered many who were not descendants of Abraham after the flesh. This teaching was not in harmony with the theology of his age, yet he fearlessly proclaimed the messages given him of God and brought hope to many a longing heart reaching out after the spiritual blessings promised to the seed of Abraham.
The apostle to the Gentiles, in his letter to the believers in Rome, calls attention to this characteristic of Isaiah's teaching. "Isaiah is very bold," Paul declares, "and saith, I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me." Romans 10:20.
Often the Israelites seemed unable or unwilling to understand God's purpose for the heathen. Yet it was this very purpose that had made them a separate people and had established them as an independent nation among the nations of the earth. Abraham, their father, to whom the covenant promise was first given, had been called to go forth from his kindred, to the regions beyond, that he might be a light bearer to the heathen. Although the promise to him included a posterity as numerous as the sand by the sea, yet it was for no selfish purpose that he was to become the founder of a great nation in the land of Canaan. God's covenant with him embraced all the nations of earth. "I will bless thee," Jehovah declared, "and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:2, 3.
In the renewal of the covenant shortly before the birth of Isaac, God's purpose for mankind was gain made plain. "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him," was the assurance of the Lord concerning the child of promise. Genesis 18:18. And later the heavenly visitant once more declared, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Genesis 22:18.
The all-embracing terms of this covenant were familiar to Abraham's children and to his children's children. It was in order that the Israelites might be a blessing to the nations, and that God's name might be made known "throughout all the earth" (Exodus 9:16), that they were delivered from Egyptian bondage. If obedient to His requirements, they were to be placed far in advance of other peoples in wisdom and understanding; but this supremacy was to be reached and maintained only in order that through them the purpose of God for "all nations of the earth" might be fulfilled.
The marvelous providences connected with Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage and with their occupancy of the Promised Land led many of the heathen to recognize the God of Israel as the Supreme Ruler. "The Egyptians shall know," had been the promise, "that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth Mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." Exodus 7:5. Even proud Pharaoh was constrained to acknowledge Jehovah's power. "Go, serve the Lord," he urged Moses and Aaron, "and bless me also." Exodus 12:31, 32.
The advancing hosts of Israel found that knowledge of the mighty workings of the God of the Hebrews had gone before them, and that some among the heathen were learning that He alone was the true God. In wicked Jericho the testimony of a heathen woman was, "The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Joshua 2:11. The knowledge of Jehovah that had thus come to her, proved her salvation. By faith "Rahab perished not with them that believed not." Hebrews 11:31. And her conversion was not an isolated case of God's mercy toward idolaters who acknowledged His divine authority. In the midst of the land a numerous people--the Gibeonites --renounced their heathenism and united with Israel, sharing in the blessings of the covenant.
No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.
In the years that followed the occupation of the Promised Land, the beneficent designs of Jehovah for the salvation of the heathen were almost wholly lost sight of, and it became necessary for Him to set forth His plan anew. "All the ends of the world," the psalmist was inspired to sing, "shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee." "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." "The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory." "This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord." Psalms 22:27; 68:31; 102:15, 18-22.
Had Israel been true to her trust, all the nations of earth would have shared in her blessings. But the hearts of those to whom had been entrusted a knowledge of saving truth, were untouched by the needs of those around them. As God's purpose was lost sight of, the heathen came to be looked upon as beyond the pale of His mercy. The light of truth was withheld, and darkness prevailed. The nations were overspread with a veil of ignorance; the love of God was little known; error and superstition flourished.
Such was the prospect that greeted Isaiah when he was called to the prophetic mission; yet he was not discouraged, for ringing in his ears was the triumphal chorus of the angels surrounding the throne of God, "The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3. And his faith was strengthened by visions of glorious conquests by the church of God, when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:9. "The face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations," was finally to be destroyed. Isaiah 25:7. The Spirit of God was to be poured out upon all flesh. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness were to be numbered among the Israel of God. "They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses," said the prophet. "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." Isaiah 44:4, 5.
To the prophet was given a revelation of the beneficent design of God in scattering impenitent Judah among the nations of earth. "My people shall know My name," the Lord declared; "they shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak." Isaiah 52:6. And not only were they themselves to learn the lesson of obedience and trust; in their places of exile they were also to impart to others a knowledge of the living God. Many from among the sons of the strangers were to learn to love Him as their Creator and their Redeemer; they were to begin the observance of His holy Sabbath day as a memorial of His creative power; and when He should make "bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations," to deliver His people from captivity, "all the ends of the earth" should see of the salvation of God. Verse 10. Many of these converts from heathenism would wish to unite themselves fully with the Israelites and accompany them on the return journey to Judea. None of these were to say, "The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people" (Isaiah 56:3), for the word of God through His prophet to those who should yield themselves to Him and observe His law was that they should thenceforth be numbered among spiritual Israel--His church on earth.
"The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to Him, beside those that are gathered unto Him." Verses 6-8.
The prophet was permitted to look down the centuries to the time of the advent of the promised Messiah. At first he beheld only "trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish." Isaiah 8:22. Many who were longing for the light of truth were being led astray by false teachers into the bewildering mazes of philosophy and spiritism; others were placing their trust in a form of godliness, but were not bringing true holiness into the life practice. The outlook seemed hopeless; but soon the scene changed, and before the eyes of the prophet was spread a wondrous vision. He saw the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and, lost in admiration, he exclaimed: "The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isaiah 9:1,2.
This glorious Light of the world was to bring salvation to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Of the work before Him, the prophet heard the eternal Father declare: "It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." "In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee: and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves." "Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim." Isaiah 49:6, 8,9,12.
Looking on still farther through the ages, the prophet beheld the literal fulfillment of these glorious promises. He saw the bearers of the glad tidings of salvation going to the ends of the earth, to every kindred and people. He heard the Lord saying of the gospel church, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream;" and he heard the commission, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles." Isaiah 66:12; 54:2, 3.
Jehovah declared to the prophet that He would send His witnesses "unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, . . . to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off." Isaiah 66:19.
"How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
That publisheth peace;
That bringeth good tidings of good,
That publisheth salvation;
That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
Isaiah 52:7.
The prophet heard the voice of God calling His church to her appointed work, that the way might be prepared for the ushering in of His everlasting kingdom. The message was unmistakably plain:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
"For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the people:
But the Lord shall arise upon thee,
And His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
All they gather themselves together, they come to thee:
Thy sons shall come from far,
And thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."
"And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,
And their kings shall minister unto thee:
For in My wrath I smote thee,
But in My favor have I had mercy on thee.
Therefore thy gates shall be open continually;
They shall not be shut day nor night;
That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
And that their kings may be brought."
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
For I am God, and there is none else."
Isaiah 60:1-4, 10, 11;45:22.
These prophecies of a great spiritual awakening in a time of gross darkness are today meeting fulfillment in the advancing lines of mission stations that are reaching out into the benighted regions of earth. The groups of missionaries in heathen lands have been likened by the prophet to ensigns set up for the guidance of those who are looking for the light of truth.
"In that day," says Isaiah, "there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people. . . . And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isaiah 11:10-12.
The day of deliverance is at hand. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9. Among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, He sees men and women who are praying for light and knowledge. Their souls are unsatisfied; long have they fed on ashes. See Isaiah 44:20. The enemy of all righteousness has turned them aside, and they grope as blind men. But they are honest in heart and desire to learn a better way. Although in the depths of heathenism, with no knowledge of the written law of God nor of His Son Jesus, they have revealed in manifold ways the working of a divine power on mind and character.
At times those who have no knowledge of God aside from that which they have received under the operations of divine grace have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. The Holy Spirit is implanting the grace of Christ in the heart of many a noble seeker after truth, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his former education. The "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this Light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God. The prophet Micah said: "When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. . . . He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness." Micah 7:8, 9.
Heaven's plan of salvation is broad enough to embrace the whole world. God longs to breathe into prostrate humanity the breath of life. And He will not permit any soul to be disappointed who is sincere in his longing for something higher and nobler than anything the world can offer. Constantly He is sending His angels to those who, while surrounded by circumstances the most discouraging, pray in faith for some power higher than themselves to take possession of them and bring deliverance and peace. In various ways God will reveal Himself to them and will place them in touch with providences that will establish their confidence in the One who has given Himself a ransom for all, "that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments." Psalm 78:7.
"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?" "Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered." Isaiah 49:24, 25. "They shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods." Isaiah 42:17.
"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God!" Psalm 146:5. "Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope!" Zechariah 9:12. Unto all the honest in heart in heathen lands--"the upright" in the sight of Heaven--"there ariseth light in the darkness." Psalm 112:4. God hath spoken: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk32.html The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah, was once more brought low during the long years of Manasseh's wicked reign, when paganism was revived, and many of the people were led into idolatry. "Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen." 2 Chronicles 33:9. The glorious light of former generations was followed by the darkness of superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up and flourished--tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.
Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God and the right. The trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed during Hezekiah's reign had developed, in the hearts of many, a sturdiness of character that now served as a bulwark against the prevailing iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness aroused the anger of Manasseh and his associates in authority, who endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by silencing every voice of disapproval. "Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." 2 Kings 21:16.
One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. "Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:36-38.
Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh's reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, "hath done wickedly above all . . . which were before him." Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become "a prey and a spoil to all their enemies." 2 Kings 21:11,14. But the Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge Him as their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them in His appointed time and way. Those who should put their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge.
Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who "bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon," their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; "he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God." 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.
Among those whose life experience had been shaped beyond recall by the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two. Of King Amon it is written: "He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers" (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he "humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more." The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. In the midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own servants; and "the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead." 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25.
With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained the purity of their faith began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king, though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very beginning "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." 2 Kings 22:2. Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to follow in his father's steps, and with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He "turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor.
At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength with the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among the heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and even these now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood the temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes of national greatness had centered. Could it be that God was about to turn aside from His avowed purpose of bringing deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him? In the face of the long-continued persecution of the righteous, and of the apparent prosperity of the wicked, could those who had remained true to God hope for better days?
These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet Habakkuk. Viewing the situation of the faithful in his day, he expressed the burden of his heart in the inquiry: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth." Habakkuk 1:2-4.
God answered the cry of His loyal children. Through His chosen mouthpiece He revealed His determination to bring chastisement upon the nation that had turned from Him to serve the gods of the heathen. Within the lifetime of some who were even then making inquiry regarding the future, He would miraculously shape the affairs of the ruling nations of earth and bring the Babylonians into the ascendancy. These Chaldeans, "terrible and dreadful," were to fall suddenly upon the land of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. Verse 7. The princes of Judah and the fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the Judean cities and villages and the cultivated fields were to be laid waste; nothing was to be spared.
Confident that even in this terrible judgment the purpose of God for His people would in some way be fulfilled, Habakkuk bowed in submission to the revealed will of Jehovah. "Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?" he exclaimed. And then, his faith reaching out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate future, and laying fast hold on the precious promises that reveal God's love for His trusting children, the prophet added, "We shall not die." Verse 12. With this declaration of faith he rested his case, and that of every believing Israelite, in the hands of a compassionate God.
This was not Habakkuk's only experience in the exercise of strong faith. On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he said, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me." Graciously the Lord answered him: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:1-4.
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage may be renewed. "The just shall live by his faith." In the service of God there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities demand.
Of the abundant provision made for every tempted soul, the apostle Paul bears eloquent testimony. To him was given the divine assurance, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." In gratitude and confidence the tried servant of God responded: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, them am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles have testified--the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by discouraging circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him." Habakkuk 2:20. Let us ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith." Verses 3, 4.
"O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make known;
In wrath remember mercy.
"God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
And His brightness was as the light;
He had bright beams out of His side:
And there was the hiding of His power.
Before Him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at His feet.
He stood, and measured the earth:
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow:
His ways are everlasting."
"Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people,
Even for salvation with Thine anointed."
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength."
Habakkuk 3:2-6, 13, 17-19, margin.
Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ:
"The great day of the Lord is near,
It is near, and hasteth greatly,
Even the voice of the day of the Lord:
The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
"That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of wasteness and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
"A day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm
Against the fenced cities,
And against the high towers."
Zephaniah 1:14-16.
"I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust. . . . Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Verses 17, 18.
"Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O nation not desired;
Before the decree bring forth,
Before the day pass as the chaff,
Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
Before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
"Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth,
Which have wrought His judgment;
Seek righteousness,
Seek meekness:
It may be ye shall be hid
In the day of the Lord's anger."
Zephaniah 2:1-3.
"Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring again your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." Zephaniah 3:19, 20, R.V.
"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;
Be glad and rejoice with all the heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments,
He hath cast out thine enemy:
The King of Israel, even the Lord,
Is in the midst of thee:
Thou shalt not see evil any more.
"In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not:
And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee
Is mighty; He will save,
He will rejoice over thee with joy;
He will rest in His love,
He will joy over thee with singing."
Verses 14-17.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk33.html The silent yet powerful influences set in operation by the messages of the prophets regarding the Babylonian Captivity did much to prepare the way for a reformation that took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. This reform movement, by which threatened judgments were averted for a season, was brought about in a wholly unexpected manner through the discovery and study of a portion of Holy Scripture that for many years had been strangely misplaced and lost.
Nearly a century before, during the first Passover celebrated by Hezekiah, provision had been made for the daily public reading of the book of the law to the people by teaching priests. It was the observance of the statutes recorded by Moses, especially those given in the book of the covenant, which forms a part of Deuteronomy, that had made the reign of Hezekiah so prosperous. But Manasseh had dared set aside these statutes; and during his reign the temple copy of the book of the law, through careless neglect, had become lost. Thus for many years the people generally were deprived of its instruction. The long-lost manuscript was found in the temple by Hilkiah, the high priest, while the building was undergoing extensive repairs in harmony with King Josiah's plan for the preservation of the sacred structure. The high priest handed the precious volume to Shaphan, a learned scribe, who read it and then took it to the king with the story of its discovery.
Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript. Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel "life and death, blessing and cursing" (Deuteronomy 30:19): and how repeatedly they had been urged to choose the way of life, that they might become a praise in the earth, a blessing to all nations. "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid," Israel had been exhorted through Moses; "for the Lord thy God. He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, not forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6.
The book abounded in assurances of God's willingness to save to the uttermost those who should place their trust fully in Him. As He had wrought in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so would He work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth.
The encouragements offered as the reward of obedience were accompanied by prophecies of judgments against the disobedient; and as the king heard the inspired words, he recognized, in the picture set before him, conditions that were similar to those actually existing in his kingdom. In connection with these prophetic portrayals of departure from God, he was startled to find plain statements to the effect that the day of calamity would follow swiftly and that there would be no remedy. The language was plain; there could be no mistaking the meaning of the words. And at the close of the volume, in a summary of God's dealings with Israel and a rehearsal of the events of the future, these matters were made doubly plain. In the hearing of all Israel, Moses had declared:
"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain,
My speech shall distill as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass:
Because I will publish the name of the Lord:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect:
For all His ways are judgment:
A God of truth and without iniquity,
Just and right is He."
Deuteronomy 32:1-4.
"Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thy elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided to the nations their
inheritance,
When He separated the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the people
According to the number of the children of Israel.
For the Lord's portion is His people;
Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness;
He led him about, He instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of His eye."
Verses 7-10.
But Israel "forsook God which made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods,
With abominations provoked they Him to anger.
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God;
To gods whom they knew not,
To new gods that came newly up,
Whom your fathers feared not.
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that formed thee.
"And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them,
Because of the provoking of His sons, and of
His daughters.
And He said, I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be:
For they are a very froward generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
They have moved Me to jealousy with that which
is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities:
And I will move them to jealousy with those which
are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."
"I will heap mischiefs upon them;
I will spend Mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with
burning heat,
And with bitter destruction."
"For they are a nation void of counsel,
Neither is there any understanding in them.
O that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!
How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their rock had sold them,
And the Lord had shut them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves being judges."
"Is not this laid up in store with Me,
And sealed up among My treasures?
To Me belongeth vengeance, and recompense;
Their foot shall slide in due time:
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that shall come upon them make haste."
Verses 15:21, 23, 24, 28-31, 34, 35.
These and similar passages revealed to Josiah God's love for His people and His abhorrence of sin. As the king read the prophecies of swift judgment upon those who should persist in rebellion, he trembled for the future. The perversity of Judah had been great; what was to be the outcome of their continued apostasy?
In former years the king had not been indifferent to the prevailing idolatry. "In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young," he had consecrated himself fully to the service of God. Four years later, at the age of twenty, he had made an earnest effort to remove temptation from his subjects by purging "Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images." "They brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 34:3-5.
Not content with doing thorough work in the land of Judah, the youthful ruler had extended his efforts to the portions of Palestine formerly occupied by the ten tribes of Israel, only a feeble remnant of which now remained. "So did he," the record reads, "in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali." Not until he had traversed the length and breadth of this region of ruined homes, and "had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel," did he return to Jerusalem. Verses 6,7.
Thus Josiah, from his earliest manhood, had endeavored to take advantage of his position as king to exalt to principles of God's holy law. And now, while Shaphan the scribe was reading to him out of the book of the law, the king discerned in this volume a treasure of knowledge, a powerful ally, in the work of reform he so much desired to see wrought in the land. He resolved to walk in the light of its counsels, and also to do all in his power to acquaint his people with its teachings and to lead them, if possible, to cultivate reverence and love for the law of heaven.
But was it possible to bring about the needed reform? Israel had almost reached the limit of divine forbearance; soon God would arise to punish those who had brought dishonor upon His name. Already the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people. Overwhelmed with sorrow and dismay, Josiah rent his garments and bowed before God in agony of spirit, seeking pardon for the sins of an impenitent nation.
At that time the prophetess Huldah was living in Jerusalem, near the temple. The mind of the king, filled with anxious foreboding, reverted to her, and he determined to inquire of the Lord through this chosen messenger to learn, if possible, whether by any means within his power he might save erring Judah, now on the verge of ruin.
The gravity of the situation and the respect in which he held the prophetess led him to choose as his messengers to her the first men of the kingdom. "Go ye," he bade them, "inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us." 2 Kings 22:13.
Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that Jerusalem's ruin could not be averted. Even should the people now humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by wrongdoing that, if judgment should not come upon them, they would soon return to the same sinful course. "Tell the man that sent you to me," the prophetess declared, "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched." Verses 15-17.
But because the king had humbled his heart before God, the Lord would acknowledge his promptness in seeking forgiveness and mercy. To him was sent the message: "Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." Verses 19, 20.
The king must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple.
To this vast assembly the king himself read "all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord." 2 Kings 23:2. The royal reader was deeply affected, and he delivered his message with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were profoundly moved. The intensity of feeling revealed in the countenance of the king, the solemnity of the message itself, the warning of judgments impending--all these had their effect, and many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness.
Josiah now proposed that those highest in authority unite with the people in solemnly covenanting before God to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes. "The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book." The response was more hearty than the king had dared hope for: "All the people stood to the covenant." Verse 3.
In the reformation that followed, the king turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land. Sternly he met idolatry by slaying "all the priests of the high places;" "moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord." Verses 20, 24.
In the days of the rending of the kingdom, centuries before, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in bold defiance of the God whom Israel had served, was endeavoring to turn the hearts of the people away from the services of the temple in Jerusalem to new forms of worship, he had set up an unconsecrated altar at Bethel. During the dedication of this altar, where many in years to come were to be seduced into idolatrous practices, there had suddenly appeared a man of God from Judea, with words of condemnation for the sacrilegious proceedings. He had "cried against the altar," declaring:
"O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee." 1 Kings 13:2. This announcement had been accompanied by a sign that the word spoken was of the Lord.
Three centuries had passed. During the reformation wrought by Josiah, the king found himself in Bethel, where stood this ancient altar. The prophecy uttered so many years before in the presence of Jeroboam, was now to be literally fulfilled.
"The altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
"And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
"Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria." 2 Kings 23:15-18.
On the southern slopes of Olivet, opposite the beautiful temple of Jehovah on Mount Moriah, were the shrines and images that had been placed there by Solomon to please his idolatrous wives. See 1 Kings 11:6-8. For upwards of three centuries the great, misshapen images had stood on the "Mount of Offense," mute witnesses to the apostasy of Israel's wisest king. These, too, were removed and destroyed by Josiah.
The king sought further to establish the faith of Judah in the God of their fathers by holding a great Passover feast, in harmony with the provisions made in the book of the law. Preparation was made by those having the sacred services in charge, and on the great day of the feast, offerings were freely made. "There was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah." 2 Kings 23:22. But the zeal of Josiah, acceptable though it was to God, could not atone for the sins of past generations; nor could the piety displayed by the king's followers effect a change of heart in many who stubbornly refused to turn from idolatry to the worship of the true God.
For more than a decade following the celebration of the Passover, Josiah continued to reign. At the age of thirty-nine he met death in battle with the forces of Egypt, "and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his fathers." "All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations." 2 Chronicles 35:24, 25. Like unto Josiah "was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, . . . because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him withal." 2 Kings 23:25, 26. The time was rapidly approaching when Jerusalem was to be utterly destroyed and the inhabitants of the land carried captive to Babylon, there to learn the lessons they had refused to learn under circumstances more favorable.
I'm feeling more and more miserable. It's almost unbearable, at this point. I believe that it's more than "all in my head" or the result of "making bad-choices". Honesty was probably my first and worst mistake. Was (and is) that my "Original and Ongoing Sin" Going Way, Way, Way Back?? "The Truth" is SO Overrated. Regardless of whether this book is "The Truth" or not, it's an amazing Old-Testament Centered Whole-Bible Approach. I fully realize that I am completely "Out of Touch" with the "Way Things Are" but perhaps that isn't such a bad-thing after-all. I keep thinking about how different the following "Whole-Bible" Approaches are:Carol wrote:HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
THE CALLED: JUAN O. SAVIN MOVIE
MAKINGS OF A PERFECT DAY
https://rumble.com/vd8d2h-the-called-makings-for-a-perfect-day-with-juan-o-savin-a-74-minute-film.html
https://youtu.be/TnhdRtGRYYM
Juan O Savin RE Q, JFK, SPACE
There is so much information and questions regarding this interview to be continued in follow-up posts.
JUAN Q SAVIN: INTERVIEW with Kerry Cassidy
Kerry (she's on a bit of a rant yet a good rant asking questions that many have on their minds. However, her rant about god omits "free will" and lessons to be learned when confronted with evil. Which path does one choose? What lessons are learned? How does one confront and fight evil? Does one choose to be a sovereign being in the midst of adversity or surrender by joining the dark side?):
...O the military are secreting away the perpetrators... how does that serve the people? All because they are afraid of rioting? So the farce continues? Putting these dark players In prisons on the Moon? This is not going to convince people. Why are they so afraid of the PEOPLE?
HOW MUCH LONGER are they going to let this farce with Covid19 continue and more nonsensical laws forcing people to stay in their homes? Who does this serve?
When you have the evidence to expose all the lies once and for all why do you prolong the farce?
So Gene Decode and Juan O Savin come forward and tell the truth but they have no one STANDING BESIDE THEM OUT IN THE PUBLIC... no REAL PROOF ...FILMS AND PRESS CONFERENCES.... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Don't tell people to do their homework, take a deep breath, eat their popcorn...this is denigrating nonsense... We have ALL DONE OUR HOMEWORK... we are ALL OVER THE SOCIAL MEDIA TALKING ABOUT THIS SUPPORTING YOU ANDTHE TRUTH... What are you doing to support US? More talk?
You say trust God? Which God? The one that sat back and let these CABALS REIGN AGAINST HUMANS FOR EONS? THE GODS OF THE BIBLE ARE THE ANUNNAKI... THE CREATOR ...does not work like that.... AMERICA will go down on your "Gods" watch... JUST LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING EVERYDAY... BEING MURDERED BY DESPOTS AND DICTATORS ALL AROUND THE WORLD... your God has been watching and letting this happen... Meanwhile time goes by.... We need to save ourselves and each other.... RELEASE THE TRUTH TO THE MASSES... Stop the Paternalistic ways of dealing with the people...stop fighting A SECRET WAR.... and tell us to go eat popcorn... YOU FEAR OUR STRENGTH... BOTH SIDES FEAR THE PEOPLE.... stop with the comforting messages stop placating the people into further slumber...The real enemy is SECRECY.
(OP note: The sad sorry truth is how the Satanic cable has control of the planet world-wide and what is going on in the DUMBs is so horrific that an average individual would block it out of their mind. A normal individual could not, would not want to accept a reality of pervasive evil living underneath their feet. This reality includes how kidnapped children are tortured and used for the manufacturing of Adrenochrom. Putting this information out in little bits at a time is far easier for the public to come to terms with.)
IF the good guys come in and use THE SAME TACTICS as the dark side what is the purpose? DON'T HIDE THE BATTLE BRING IT OUT IN THE OPEN.
You want to hold trials in secret? Condemn people in secret? Convict them in secret?
(OP Note: The people Kerry is referring to are subjected to military tribunals. Those who rape and murder children are executed. Others may get life in prison. The worst who get life are in prisons off-planet.)
You want to RESCUE PEOPLE and keep it secret? Who are you really keeping secrets from? Not the dark side..THEY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE RUNNING FOR COVER... escalating their game. They know WHO YOU ARE..they have all the surveillance bells and whistles to know what you are doing.. the only ones who don't really know ARE THE PEOPLE. WE ARE KEPT IN THE DARK NOT ONLY UNDERGROUND BUT ABOVE GROUND AS WELL... all this needs to be EXPOSED.
(OP Note: Actually much of this is being done in secret spear-headed by the Guardian Space Alliance who are compassionate. They are aware that the planet needed their help to rid earth of this evil.)
If Trump calls a PRESS CONFERENCE OF REAL JOURNALISTS TONS OF US WOULD FLY TO FLORIDA TO GET THE STORY...why doesn't he use the alternative journalists to document the story? What is stopping him? We all have cameras... we all have the talent AND THE AUDIENCES to show them what's really going on... so LET US IN... why are you fencing out the PEOPLE FROM SEEING THE TRUTH? YOU use SECRET CODES just like the dark side... if both sides communicate via secret codes the person on the street is deceived by BOTH SIDES. Stop the facade...TAKE OFF THE MASKS...
INTERVIEW WITH JUAN Q SAVIN
FRIDAY 02.12.2021. @ 1PM PT
https://youtu.be/Ig51Cb__toE
OR
https://projectcamelotportal.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=53759&action=edit
Ground Crew 2021 pdf: https://t.me/projectcamelotKerry/911
Gene Decode Reveals the Ascension is Upon Us as the Planets of 4 and 5D are Already Visible
1. Genesis to Revelation (KJV).
2. Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, Christ's Object Lessons, Acts of the Apostles (EGW).
3. The SDA Bible Commentary.
I tend to think that a New-Paradigm is emerging, which might initially appear to be a Kinder and Gentler New World Order -- yet will ultimately morph into a Harsh and Unyielding Orthodoxy which would make the Dark-Ages Powers That Be Blush and/or Turn Over in Their Graves. My background is SDA, but I can't even talk to SDA's about what I post on this website. We live in completely-different universes. I just thought I should attempt to place some of this historical-stuff in a science-fictional and alternative-research context. This project is obviously a complete failure, but hopefully I'm obtaining some "brownie-points" somewhere in this seemingly harsh, violent, and illogical universe. But honestly, I have very-little hope for a useable-future. A Significant Individual of Interest told me to "Be Patient". He said that the "Powers That Be" will fail, which will result in an extermination. He said that we needed to "Start Over". I've encountered this same basic theme over and over. I obviously seek some sort of an idealistic reorganization, but I'm not a proponent of "fire and brimstone" or "murder and mayhem" or "apocalyptic-salvation". Can't We All Just Get Along?? Hope Springs Eternal.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk31.html Throughout his ministry Isaiah bore a plain testimony concerning God's purpose for the heathen. Other prophets had made mention of the divine plan, but their language was not always understood. To Isaiah it was given to make very plain to Judah the truth that among the Israel of God were to be numbered many who were not descendants of Abraham after the flesh. This teaching was not in harmony with the theology of his age, yet he fearlessly proclaimed the messages given him of God and brought hope to many a longing heart reaching out after the spiritual blessings promised to the seed of Abraham.
The apostle to the Gentiles, in his letter to the believers in Rome, calls attention to this characteristic of Isaiah's teaching. "Isaiah is very bold," Paul declares, "and saith, I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me." Romans 10:20.
Often the Israelites seemed unable or unwilling to understand God's purpose for the heathen. Yet it was this very purpose that had made them a separate people and had established them as an independent nation among the nations of the earth. Abraham, their father, to whom the covenant promise was first given, had been called to go forth from his kindred, to the regions beyond, that he might be a light bearer to the heathen. Although the promise to him included a posterity as numerous as the sand by the sea, yet it was for no selfish purpose that he was to become the founder of a great nation in the land of Canaan. God's covenant with him embraced all the nations of earth. "I will bless thee," Jehovah declared, "and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Genesis 12:2, 3.
In the renewal of the covenant shortly before the birth of Isaac, God's purpose for mankind was gain made plain. "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him," was the assurance of the Lord concerning the child of promise. Genesis 18:18. And later the heavenly visitant once more declared, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Genesis 22:18.
The all-embracing terms of this covenant were familiar to Abraham's children and to his children's children. It was in order that the Israelites might be a blessing to the nations, and that God's name might be made known "throughout all the earth" (Exodus 9:16), that they were delivered from Egyptian bondage. If obedient to His requirements, they were to be placed far in advance of other peoples in wisdom and understanding; but this supremacy was to be reached and maintained only in order that through them the purpose of God for "all nations of the earth" might be fulfilled.
The marvelous providences connected with Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage and with their occupancy of the Promised Land led many of the heathen to recognize the God of Israel as the Supreme Ruler. "The Egyptians shall know," had been the promise, "that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth Mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." Exodus 7:5. Even proud Pharaoh was constrained to acknowledge Jehovah's power. "Go, serve the Lord," he urged Moses and Aaron, "and bless me also." Exodus 12:31, 32.
The advancing hosts of Israel found that knowledge of the mighty workings of the God of the Hebrews had gone before them, and that some among the heathen were learning that He alone was the true God. In wicked Jericho the testimony of a heathen woman was, "The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Joshua 2:11. The knowledge of Jehovah that had thus come to her, proved her salvation. By faith "Rahab perished not with them that believed not." Hebrews 11:31. And her conversion was not an isolated case of God's mercy toward idolaters who acknowledged His divine authority. In the midst of the land a numerous people--the Gibeonites --renounced their heathenism and united with Israel, sharing in the blessings of the covenant.
No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.
In the years that followed the occupation of the Promised Land, the beneficent designs of Jehovah for the salvation of the heathen were almost wholly lost sight of, and it became necessary for Him to set forth His plan anew. "All the ends of the world," the psalmist was inspired to sing, "shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee." "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." "The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory." "This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord." Psalms 22:27; 68:31; 102:15, 18-22.
Had Israel been true to her trust, all the nations of earth would have shared in her blessings. But the hearts of those to whom had been entrusted a knowledge of saving truth, were untouched by the needs of those around them. As God's purpose was lost sight of, the heathen came to be looked upon as beyond the pale of His mercy. The light of truth was withheld, and darkness prevailed. The nations were overspread with a veil of ignorance; the love of God was little known; error and superstition flourished.
Such was the prospect that greeted Isaiah when he was called to the prophetic mission; yet he was not discouraged, for ringing in his ears was the triumphal chorus of the angels surrounding the throne of God, "The whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3. And his faith was strengthened by visions of glorious conquests by the church of God, when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:9. "The face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations," was finally to be destroyed. Isaiah 25:7. The Spirit of God was to be poured out upon all flesh. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness were to be numbered among the Israel of God. "They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses," said the prophet. "One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." Isaiah 44:4, 5.
To the prophet was given a revelation of the beneficent design of God in scattering impenitent Judah among the nations of earth. "My people shall know My name," the Lord declared; "they shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak." Isaiah 52:6. And not only were they themselves to learn the lesson of obedience and trust; in their places of exile they were also to impart to others a knowledge of the living God. Many from among the sons of the strangers were to learn to love Him as their Creator and their Redeemer; they were to begin the observance of His holy Sabbath day as a memorial of His creative power; and when He should make "bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations," to deliver His people from captivity, "all the ends of the earth" should see of the salvation of God. Verse 10. Many of these converts from heathenism would wish to unite themselves fully with the Israelites and accompany them on the return journey to Judea. None of these were to say, "The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people" (Isaiah 56:3), for the word of God through His prophet to those who should yield themselves to Him and observe His law was that they should thenceforth be numbered among spiritual Israel--His church on earth.
"The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to Him, beside those that are gathered unto Him." Verses 6-8.
The prophet was permitted to look down the centuries to the time of the advent of the promised Messiah. At first he beheld only "trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish." Isaiah 8:22. Many who were longing for the light of truth were being led astray by false teachers into the bewildering mazes of philosophy and spiritism; others were placing their trust in a form of godliness, but were not bringing true holiness into the life practice. The outlook seemed hopeless; but soon the scene changed, and before the eyes of the prophet was spread a wondrous vision. He saw the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and, lost in admiration, he exclaimed: "The dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isaiah 9:1,2.
This glorious Light of the world was to bring salvation to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Of the work before Him, the prophet heard the eternal Father declare: "It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." "In an acceptable time have I heard Thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped Thee: and I will preserve Thee, and give Thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; that Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves." "Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim." Isaiah 49:6, 8,9,12.
Looking on still farther through the ages, the prophet beheld the literal fulfillment of these glorious promises. He saw the bearers of the glad tidings of salvation going to the ends of the earth, to every kindred and people. He heard the Lord saying of the gospel church, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream;" and he heard the commission, "Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles." Isaiah 66:12; 54:2, 3.
Jehovah declared to the prophet that He would send His witnesses "unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, . . . to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off." Isaiah 66:19.
"How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
That publisheth peace;
That bringeth good tidings of good,
That publisheth salvation;
That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
Isaiah 52:7.
The prophet heard the voice of God calling His church to her appointed work, that the way might be prepared for the ushering in of His everlasting kingdom. The message was unmistakably plain:
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
"For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And gross darkness the people:
But the Lord shall arise upon thee,
And His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
And kings to the brightness of thy rising.
"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see:
All they gather themselves together, they come to thee:
Thy sons shall come from far,
And thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."
"And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,
And their kings shall minister unto thee:
For in My wrath I smote thee,
But in My favor have I had mercy on thee.
Therefore thy gates shall be open continually;
They shall not be shut day nor night;
That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
And that their kings may be brought."
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
For I am God, and there is none else."
Isaiah 60:1-4, 10, 11;45:22.
These prophecies of a great spiritual awakening in a time of gross darkness are today meeting fulfillment in the advancing lines of mission stations that are reaching out into the benighted regions of earth. The groups of missionaries in heathen lands have been likened by the prophet to ensigns set up for the guidance of those who are looking for the light of truth.
"In that day," says Isaiah, "there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people. . . . And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isaiah 11:10-12.
The day of deliverance is at hand. "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9. Among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, He sees men and women who are praying for light and knowledge. Their souls are unsatisfied; long have they fed on ashes. See Isaiah 44:20. The enemy of all righteousness has turned them aside, and they grope as blind men. But they are honest in heart and desire to learn a better way. Although in the depths of heathenism, with no knowledge of the written law of God nor of His Son Jesus, they have revealed in manifold ways the working of a divine power on mind and character.
At times those who have no knowledge of God aside from that which they have received under the operations of divine grace have been kind to His servants, protecting them at the risk of their own lives. The Holy Spirit is implanting the grace of Christ in the heart of many a noble seeker after truth, quickening his sympathies contrary to his nature, contrary to his former education. The "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9), is shining in his soul; and this Light, if heeded, will guide his feet to the kingdom of God. The prophet Micah said: "When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. . . . He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness." Micah 7:8, 9.
Heaven's plan of salvation is broad enough to embrace the whole world. God longs to breathe into prostrate humanity the breath of life. And He will not permit any soul to be disappointed who is sincere in his longing for something higher and nobler than anything the world can offer. Constantly He is sending His angels to those who, while surrounded by circumstances the most discouraging, pray in faith for some power higher than themselves to take possession of them and bring deliverance and peace. In various ways God will reveal Himself to them and will place them in touch with providences that will establish their confidence in the One who has given Himself a ransom for all, "that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments." Psalm 78:7.
"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?" "Thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered." Isaiah 49:24, 25. "They shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods." Isaiah 42:17.
"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God!" Psalm 146:5. "Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope!" Zechariah 9:12. Unto all the honest in heart in heathen lands--"the upright" in the sight of Heaven--"there ariseth light in the darkness." Psalm 112:4. God hath spoken: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk32.html The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah, was once more brought low during the long years of Manasseh's wicked reign, when paganism was revived, and many of the people were led into idolatry. "Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen." 2 Chronicles 33:9. The glorious light of former generations was followed by the darkness of superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up and flourished--tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.
Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God and the right. The trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed during Hezekiah's reign had developed, in the hearts of many, a sturdiness of character that now served as a bulwark against the prevailing iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness aroused the anger of Manasseh and his associates in authority, who endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by silencing every voice of disapproval. "Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." 2 Kings 21:16.
One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. "Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:36-38.
Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh's reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, "hath done wickedly above all . . . which were before him." Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become "a prey and a spoil to all their enemies." 2 Kings 21:11,14. But the Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge Him as their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them in His appointed time and way. Those who should put their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge.
Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who "bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon," their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king to his senses; "he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God." 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.
Among those whose life experience had been shaped beyond recall by the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two. Of King Amon it is written: "He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord God of his fathers" (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he "humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more." The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. In the midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own servants; and "the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead." 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25.
With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained the purity of their faith began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king, though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very beginning "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." 2 Kings 22:2. Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to follow in his father's steps, and with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He "turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor.
At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view the divine purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength with the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among the heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and even these now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood the temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes of national greatness had centered. Could it be that God was about to turn aside from His avowed purpose of bringing deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him? In the face of the long-continued persecution of the righteous, and of the apparent prosperity of the wicked, could those who had remained true to God hope for better days?
These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet Habakkuk. Viewing the situation of the faithful in his day, he expressed the burden of his heart in the inquiry: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth." Habakkuk 1:2-4.
God answered the cry of His loyal children. Through His chosen mouthpiece He revealed His determination to bring chastisement upon the nation that had turned from Him to serve the gods of the heathen. Within the lifetime of some who were even then making inquiry regarding the future, He would miraculously shape the affairs of the ruling nations of earth and bring the Babylonians into the ascendancy. These Chaldeans, "terrible and dreadful," were to fall suddenly upon the land of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. Verse 7. The princes of Judah and the fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the Judean cities and villages and the cultivated fields were to be laid waste; nothing was to be spared.
Confident that even in this terrible judgment the purpose of God for His people would in some way be fulfilled, Habakkuk bowed in submission to the revealed will of Jehovah. "Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?" he exclaimed. And then, his faith reaching out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate future, and laying fast hold on the precious promises that reveal God's love for His trusting children, the prophet added, "We shall not die." Verse 12. With this declaration of faith he rested his case, and that of every believing Israelite, in the hands of a compassionate God.
This was not Habakkuk's only experience in the exercise of strong faith. On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he said, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me." Graciously the Lord answered him: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:1-4.
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage may be renewed. "The just shall live by his faith." In the service of God there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities demand.
Of the abundant provision made for every tempted soul, the apostle Paul bears eloquent testimony. To him was given the divine assurance, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." In gratitude and confidence the tried servant of God responded: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, them am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles have testified--the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by discouraging circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him." Habakkuk 2:20. Let us ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith." Verses 3, 4.
"O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make known;
In wrath remember mercy.
"God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
And His brightness was as the light;
He had bright beams out of His side:
And there was the hiding of His power.
Before Him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at His feet.
He stood, and measured the earth:
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow:
His ways are everlasting."
"Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people,
Even for salvation with Thine anointed."
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength."
Habakkuk 3:2-6, 13, 17-19, margin.
Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second advent of Christ:
"The great day of the Lord is near,
It is near, and hasteth greatly,
Even the voice of the day of the Lord:
The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
"That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of wasteness and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
"A day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm
Against the fenced cities,
And against the high towers."
Zephaniah 1:14-16.
"I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust. . . . Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Verses 17, 18.
"Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O nation not desired;
Before the decree bring forth,
Before the day pass as the chaff,
Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
Before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
"Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth,
Which have wrought His judgment;
Seek righteousness,
Seek meekness:
It may be ye shall be hid
In the day of the Lord's anger."
Zephaniah 2:1-3.
"Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring again your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord." Zephaniah 3:19, 20, R.V.
"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;
Be glad and rejoice with all the heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments,
He hath cast out thine enemy:
The King of Israel, even the Lord,
Is in the midst of thee:
Thou shalt not see evil any more.
"In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not:
And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee
Is mighty; He will save,
He will rejoice over thee with joy;
He will rest in His love,
He will joy over thee with singing."
Verses 14-17.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk33.html The silent yet powerful influences set in operation by the messages of the prophets regarding the Babylonian Captivity did much to prepare the way for a reformation that took place in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. This reform movement, by which threatened judgments were averted for a season, was brought about in a wholly unexpected manner through the discovery and study of a portion of Holy Scripture that for many years had been strangely misplaced and lost.
Nearly a century before, during the first Passover celebrated by Hezekiah, provision had been made for the daily public reading of the book of the law to the people by teaching priests. It was the observance of the statutes recorded by Moses, especially those given in the book of the covenant, which forms a part of Deuteronomy, that had made the reign of Hezekiah so prosperous. But Manasseh had dared set aside these statutes; and during his reign the temple copy of the book of the law, through careless neglect, had become lost. Thus for many years the people generally were deprived of its instruction. The long-lost manuscript was found in the temple by Hilkiah, the high priest, while the building was undergoing extensive repairs in harmony with King Josiah's plan for the preservation of the sacred structure. The high priest handed the precious volume to Shaphan, a learned scribe, who read it and then took it to the king with the story of its discovery.
Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript. Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel "life and death, blessing and cursing" (Deuteronomy 30:19): and how repeatedly they had been urged to choose the way of life, that they might become a praise in the earth, a blessing to all nations. "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid," Israel had been exhorted through Moses; "for the Lord thy God. He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, not forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6.
The book abounded in assurances of God's willingness to save to the uttermost those who should place their trust fully in Him. As He had wrought in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, so would He work mightily in establishing them in the Land of Promise and in placing them at the head of the nations of earth.
The encouragements offered as the reward of obedience were accompanied by prophecies of judgments against the disobedient; and as the king heard the inspired words, he recognized, in the picture set before him, conditions that were similar to those actually existing in his kingdom. In connection with these prophetic portrayals of departure from God, he was startled to find plain statements to the effect that the day of calamity would follow swiftly and that there would be no remedy. The language was plain; there could be no mistaking the meaning of the words. And at the close of the volume, in a summary of God's dealings with Israel and a rehearsal of the events of the future, these matters were made doubly plain. In the hearing of all Israel, Moses had declared:
"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain,
My speech shall distill as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender herb,
And as the showers upon the grass:
Because I will publish the name of the Lord:
Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect:
For all His ways are judgment:
A God of truth and without iniquity,
Just and right is He."
Deuteronomy 32:1-4.
"Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations:
Ask thy father, and he will show thee;
Thy elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided to the nations their
inheritance,
When He separated the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the people
According to the number of the children of Israel.
For the Lord's portion is His people;
Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,
And in the waste howling wilderness;
He led him about, He instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of His eye."
Verses 7-10.
But Israel "forsook God which made him,
And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods,
With abominations provoked they Him to anger.
They sacrificed unto devils, not to God;
To gods whom they knew not,
To new gods that came newly up,
Whom your fathers feared not.
Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,
And hast forgotten God that formed thee.
"And when the Lord saw it, He abhorred them,
Because of the provoking of His sons, and of
His daughters.
And He said, I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end shall be:
For they are a very froward generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
They have moved Me to jealousy with that which
is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities:
And I will move them to jealousy with those which
are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation."
"I will heap mischiefs upon them;
I will spend Mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with
burning heat,
And with bitter destruction."
"For they are a nation void of counsel,
Neither is there any understanding in them.
O that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!
How should one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Except their rock had sold them,
And the Lord had shut them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock,
Even our enemies themselves being judges."
"Is not this laid up in store with Me,
And sealed up among My treasures?
To Me belongeth vengeance, and recompense;
Their foot shall slide in due time:
For the day of their calamity is at hand,
And the things that shall come upon them make haste."
Verses 15:21, 23, 24, 28-31, 34, 35.
These and similar passages revealed to Josiah God's love for His people and His abhorrence of sin. As the king read the prophecies of swift judgment upon those who should persist in rebellion, he trembled for the future. The perversity of Judah had been great; what was to be the outcome of their continued apostasy?
In former years the king had not been indifferent to the prevailing idolatry. "In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young," he had consecrated himself fully to the service of God. Four years later, at the age of twenty, he had made an earnest effort to remove temptation from his subjects by purging "Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images." "They brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 34:3-5.
Not content with doing thorough work in the land of Judah, the youthful ruler had extended his efforts to the portions of Palestine formerly occupied by the ten tribes of Israel, only a feeble remnant of which now remained. "So did he," the record reads, "in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali." Not until he had traversed the length and breadth of this region of ruined homes, and "had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel," did he return to Jerusalem. Verses 6,7.
Thus Josiah, from his earliest manhood, had endeavored to take advantage of his position as king to exalt to principles of God's holy law. And now, while Shaphan the scribe was reading to him out of the book of the law, the king discerned in this volume a treasure of knowledge, a powerful ally, in the work of reform he so much desired to see wrought in the land. He resolved to walk in the light of its counsels, and also to do all in his power to acquaint his people with its teachings and to lead them, if possible, to cultivate reverence and love for the law of heaven.
But was it possible to bring about the needed reform? Israel had almost reached the limit of divine forbearance; soon God would arise to punish those who had brought dishonor upon His name. Already the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people. Overwhelmed with sorrow and dismay, Josiah rent his garments and bowed before God in agony of spirit, seeking pardon for the sins of an impenitent nation.
At that time the prophetess Huldah was living in Jerusalem, near the temple. The mind of the king, filled with anxious foreboding, reverted to her, and he determined to inquire of the Lord through this chosen messenger to learn, if possible, whether by any means within his power he might save erring Judah, now on the verge of ruin.
The gravity of the situation and the respect in which he held the prophetess led him to choose as his messengers to her the first men of the kingdom. "Go ye," he bade them, "inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us." 2 Kings 22:13.
Through Huldah the Lord sent Josiah word that Jerusalem's ruin could not be averted. Even should the people now humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by wrongdoing that, if judgment should not come upon them, they would soon return to the same sinful course. "Tell the man that sent you to me," the prophetess declared, "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched." Verses 15-17.
But because the king had humbled his heart before God, the Lord would acknowledge his promptness in seeking forgiveness and mercy. To him was sent the message: "Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place." Verses 19, 20.
The king must leave with God the events of the future; he could not alter the eternal decrees of Jehovah. But in announcing the retributive judgments of Heaven, the Lord had not withdrawn opportunity for repentance and reformation; and Josiah, discerning in this a willingness on the part of God to temper His judgments with mercy, determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms. He arranged at once for a great convocation, to which were invited the elders and magistrates in Jerusalem and Judah, together with the common people. These, with the priests and Levites, met the king in the court of the temple.
To this vast assembly the king himself read "all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord." 2 Kings 23:2. The royal reader was deeply affected, and he delivered his message with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were profoundly moved. The intensity of feeling revealed in the countenance of the king, the solemnity of the message itself, the warning of judgments impending--all these had their effect, and many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness.
Josiah now proposed that those highest in authority unite with the people in solemnly covenanting before God to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes. "The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book." The response was more hearty than the king had dared hope for: "All the people stood to the covenant." Verse 3.
In the reformation that followed, the king turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land. Sternly he met idolatry by slaying "all the priests of the high places;" "moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord." Verses 20, 24.
In the days of the rending of the kingdom, centuries before, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, in bold defiance of the God whom Israel had served, was endeavoring to turn the hearts of the people away from the services of the temple in Jerusalem to new forms of worship, he had set up an unconsecrated altar at Bethel. During the dedication of this altar, where many in years to come were to be seduced into idolatrous practices, there had suddenly appeared a man of God from Judea, with words of condemnation for the sacrilegious proceedings. He had "cried against the altar," declaring:
"O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee." 1 Kings 13:2. This announcement had been accompanied by a sign that the word spoken was of the Lord.
Three centuries had passed. During the reformation wrought by Josiah, the king found himself in Bethel, where stood this ancient altar. The prophecy uttered so many years before in the presence of Jeroboam, was now to be literally fulfilled.
"The altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.
"And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.
"Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria." 2 Kings 23:15-18.
On the southern slopes of Olivet, opposite the beautiful temple of Jehovah on Mount Moriah, were the shrines and images that had been placed there by Solomon to please his idolatrous wives. See 1 Kings 11:6-8. For upwards of three centuries the great, misshapen images had stood on the "Mount of Offense," mute witnesses to the apostasy of Israel's wisest king. These, too, were removed and destroyed by Josiah.
The king sought further to establish the faith of Judah in the God of their fathers by holding a great Passover feast, in harmony with the provisions made in the book of the law. Preparation was made by those having the sacred services in charge, and on the great day of the feast, offerings were freely made. "There was not holden such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah." 2 Kings 23:22. But the zeal of Josiah, acceptable though it was to God, could not atone for the sins of past generations; nor could the piety displayed by the king's followers effect a change of heart in many who stubbornly refused to turn from idolatry to the worship of the true God.
For more than a decade following the celebration of the Passover, Josiah continued to reign. At the age of thirty-nine he met death in battle with the forces of Egypt, "and was buried in one of the sepulchers of his fathers." "All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations." 2 Chronicles 35:24, 25. Like unto Josiah "was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, . . . because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him withal." 2 Kings 23:25, 26. The time was rapidly approaching when Jerusalem was to be utterly destroyed and the inhabitants of the land carried captive to Babylon, there to learn the lessons they had refused to learn under circumstances more favorable.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Sat Jul 23, 2022 3:27 am; edited 1 time in total
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
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- Post n°353
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
It seems as if the world is filled with Nasty-Games to Play. Take Your Pick. What if, in the moment we rebelled against God in antiquity, we doomed ourselves to Eternal Freedom from God?? I could explain, but I'm not in the mood. Whether one is for or against This or That seems to be dependent upon how much one has invested in This or That. We All Seem to Wish to WIN. It seems as if many of us would Sleep with the Devil if we thought we'd have a better chance of WINNING. I'm trying very hard to opt-out of just about everything. My current Latter-day Luddite strategy is to focus-upon the following Minimal-List (for better or worse, I know not):
1. Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, and Acts of the Apostles (by E.G. White from 1890 to 1917).
2. Volumes 3, 4, and 6 of the SDA Bible Commentary (1 Chronicles to Malachi, and Acts to Ephesians) Created in the 1950's.
3. The Music of Bach and Buxtehude (Composed in the 1600's and 1700's). I Go For Baroque.
This approach involves NOT joining a Church or Secret-Society. It also has very-little to do with the Information-War and Technological-Revolution. It's probably a bad business-plan, but at this point, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. One more thing, regarding Artificial-Intelligence and Robotics, consider re-watching all episodes and movies of Battlestar Gallactica. What Would the Cylons Say??
I think some of us must look very-closely at the texts I posted in the previous couple of posts. Try reading them in-order, straight-through, over and over. Revelation seems to point-toward a First-Century A.D. Fulfillment!! That didn't fracking-happen -- so does that significantly undermine the credibility of Revelation?? The Millennium is a sore-spot for me. Something seems screwy about that concept!!
I realize this is thin reasoning, but I'm trying to construct a Hypothesis of Why This Solar System Seems to be "God-Forsaken". Deception Seems to be Rampant -- which would be necessary if there had been a Nefarious Ancient Takeover. I continue to think that the Bible should be carefully studied for hidden clues and meanings. This might be totally useless OR it might reveal the MOST startling secrets and horrors. I have some theories regarding my relationship to "RA" but I don't wish to talk about it. The AED said that Serqet had a lot to do with our relationship (but who knows what that meant -- or whether there was any substance to it??)!! What I DO talk about is already WAY too delusional. I just think these guys can appear in a variety of bodies (via actual wardrobes of bodies -- or some sort of shapeshifting or illusion). This sort of thinking makes me shaky and crazy. But is my thinking any more crazy than Mainstream-Theology?? Think About It!! My delusional-thinking is internally-logical to me (but not externally-obvious). RA looked like Senator Collins in State of Play -- and I seemed to be a bit like the Newspaper-Reporter. I keep reposting these videos -- but that's all I have to illustrate some of what I'm thinking. If you could only imagine what I imagine!! The Horror!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk34.html Among those who had hoped for a permanent spiritual revival as the result of the reformation under Josiah was Jeremiah, called of God to the prophetic office while still a youth, in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. A member of the Levitical priesthood, Jeremiah had been trained from childhood for holy service. In those happy years of preparation he little realized that he had been ordained from birth to be "a prophet unto the nations;" and when the divine call came, he was overwhelmed with a sense of his unworthiness. "Ah, Lord God!" he exclaimed, "behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." Jeremiah 1:5, 6.
In the youthful Jeremiah, God saw one who would be true to his trust and who would stand for the right against great opposition. In childhood he had proved faithful; and now he was to endure hardness, as a good soldier of the cross. "Say not, I am a child," the Lord bade His chosen messenger; "for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee." "Gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." Verses 7, 8, 17-19.
For forty years Jeremiah was to stand before the nation as a witness for truth and righteousness. In a time of unparalleled apostasy he was to exemplify in life and character the worship of the only true God. During the terrible sieges of Jerusalem he was to be the mouthpiece of Jehovah. He was to predict the downfall of the house of David and the destruction of the beautiful temple built by Solomon. And when imprisoned because of his fearless utterances, he was still to speak plainly against sin in high places. Despised, hated, rejected of men, he was finally to witness the literal fulfillment of his own prophecies of impending doom, and share in the sorrow and woe that should follow the destruction of the fated city.
Yet amid the general ruin into which the nation was rapidly passing, Jeremiah was often permitted to look beyond the distressing scenes of the present to the glorious prospects of the future, when God's people should be ransomed from the land of the enemy and planted again in Zion. He foresaw the time when the Lord would renew His covenant relationship with them. "Their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all." Jeremiah 31:12.
Of his call to the prophetic mission, Jeremiah himself wrote: "The Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Jeremiah 1:9, 10.
Thank God for the words, "to build, and to plant." By these words Jeremiah was assured of the Lord's purpose to restore and to heal. Stern were the messages to be borne in the years that were to follow. Prophecies of swift-coming judgments were to be fearlessly delivered. From the plains of Shinar "an evil" was to "break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land." "I will utter My judgments against them," the Lord declared, "touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me." Verses 14, 16. Yet the prophet was to accompany these messages with assurances of forgiveness to all who should turn from their evil-doing.
As a wise master builder, Jeremiah at the very beginning of his lifework sought to encourage the men of Judah to lay the foundations of their spiritual life broad and deep, by making thorough work of repentance. Long had they been building with material likened by the apostle Paul to wood, hay, and stubble, and by Jeremiah himself to dross. "Refuse silver shall men call them," he declared of the impenitent nation, "because the Lord hath rejected them." Jeremiah 6:30, margin. Now they were urged to begin building wisely and for eternity, casting aside the rubbish of apostasy and unbelief, and using as foundation material the pure gold, the refined silver, the precious stones--faith and obedience and good works--which alone are acceptable in the sight of a holy God.
Through Jeremiah the word of the Lord to His people was: "Return, thou backsliding Israel, . . . and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God. . . . Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." "Thou shalt call Me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from Me." "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." Jeremiah 3:12-14, 19, 22.
And in addition to these wonderful pleadings, the Lord gave His erring people the very words with which they might turn to Him. They were to say: "Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. . . . We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." Verses 22-25.
The reformation under Josiah had cleansed the land of the idolatrous shrines, but the hearts of the multitude had not been transformed. The seeds of truth that had sprung up and given promise of an abundant harvest had been choked by thorns. Another such backsliding would be fatal; and the Lord sought to arouse the nation to a realization of their danger. Only as they should prove loyal to Jehovah could they hope for the divine favor and for prosperity.
Jeremiah called their attention repeatedly to the counsels given in Deuteronomy. More than any other of the prophets, he emphasized the teachings of the Mosaic law and showed how these might bring the highest spiritual blessing to the nation and to every individual heart. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein," he pleaded, "and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16.
On one occasion, by command of the Lord, the prophet took his position at one of the principal entrances to the city and there urged the importance of keeping holy the Sabbath day. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were in danger of losing sight of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and they were solemnly warned against following their secular pursuits on that day. A blessing was promised on condition of obedience. "If ye diligently hearken unto Me," the Lord declared, and "hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain forever." Jeremiah 17:24, 25.
This promise of prosperity as the reward of allegiance was accompanied by a prophecy of the terrible judgments that would befall the city should its inhabitants prove disloyal to God and His law. If the admonitions to obey the Lord God of their fathers and to hallow His Sabbath day were not heeded, the city and its palaces would be utterly destroyed by fire.
Thus the prophet stood firmly for the sound principles of right living so clearly outlined in the book of the law. But the conditions prevailing in the land of Judah were such that only by the most decided measures could a change for the better be brought about; therefore he labored most earnestly in behalf of the impenitent. "Break up your fallow ground," he pleaded, "and sow not among thorns." "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." Jeremiah 4:3, 14.
But by the great mass of the people the call to repentance and reformation was unheeded. Since the death of good King Josiah, those who ruled the nation had been proving untrue to their trust and had been leading many astray. Jehoahaz, deposed by the interference of the king of Egypt, had been followed by Jehoiakim, an older son of Josiah. From the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, Jeremiah had little hope of saving his beloved land from destruction and the people from captivity. Yet he was not permitted to remain silent while utter ruin threatened the kingdom. Those who had remained loyal to God must be encouraged to persevere in rightdoing, and sinners must, if possible, be induced to turn from iniquity.
The crisis demanded a public and far-reaching effort. Jeremiah was commanded by the Lord to stand in the court of the temple and speak to all the people of Judah who might pass in and out. From the messages given him he must diminish not a word, that sinners in Zion might have the fullest possible opportunity to hearken and to turn from their evil ways.
The prophet obeyed; he stood in the gate of the Lord's house and there lifted his voice in warning and entreaty. Under the inspiration of the Almighty he declared:
"Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever." Jeremiah 7:2-7.
The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise is here vividly shown. He stays His judgments that He may plead with the impenitent. He who exercises "loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth" yearns over His erring children; in every way possible He seeks to teach them the way of life everlasting. Jeremiah 9:24. He had brought the Israelites out of bondage that they might serve Him, the only true and living God. Though they had wandered long in idolatry and had slighted His warnings, yet He now declares His willingness to defer chastisement and grant yet another opportunity for repentance. He makes plain the fact that only by the most thorough heart reformation could the impending doom be averted. In vain would be the trust they might place in the temple and its services. Rites and ceremonies could not atone for sin. Notwithstanding their claim to be the chosen people of God, reformation of heart and of the life practice alone could save them from the inevitable result of continued transgression.
Thus it was that "in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem" the message of Jeremiah to Judah was, "Hear ye the words of this covenant,"--the plain precepts of Jehovah as recorded in the Sacred Scriptures,--"and do them." Jeremiah 11:6. And this is the message he proclaimed as he stood in the temple courts in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim.
Israel's experience from the days of the Exodus was briefly reviewed. God's covenant with them had been, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." Shamelessly and repeatedly had this covenant been broken. The chosen nation had "walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:23, 24.
"Why," the Lord inquired, "is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding?" Jeremiah 8:5. In the language of the prophet it was because they had obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God and had refused to be corrected. See Jeremiah 5:3. "Truth is perished," he mourned, "and is cut off from their mouth." "The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord." "Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Jeremiah 7:28; 8:7; 9:9.
The time had come for deep heart searching. While Josiah had been their ruler, the people had had some ground for hope. But no longer could he intercede in their behalf, for he had fallen in battle. The sins of the nation were such that the time for intercession had all but passed by. "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me," the Lord declared, "yet My mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them. Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity." Jeremiah 15:1, 2.
A refusal to heed the invitation of mercy that God was now offering would bring upon the impenitent nation the judgments that had befallen the northern kingdom of Israel over a century before. The message to them now was: "If ye will not hearken to Me, to walk in My law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." Jeremiah 26:4-6.
Those who stood in the temple court listening to Jeremiah's discourse understood clearly this reference to Shiloh, and to the time in the days of Eli when the Philistines had overcome Israel and carried away the ark of the testament.
The sin of Eli had consisted in passing lightly over the iniquity of his sons in sacred office, and over the evils prevailing throughout the land. His neglect to correct these evils had brought upon Israel a fearful calamity. His sons had fallen in battle, Eli himself had lost his life, the ark of God had been taken from the land of Israel, thirty thousand of the people had been slain--and all because sin had been allowed to flourish unrebuked and unchecked. Israel had vainly thought that, notwithstanding their sinful practices, the presence of the ark would ensure them victory over the Philistines. In like manner, during the days of Jeremiah, the inhabitants of Judah were prone to believe that a strict observance of the divinely appointed services of the temple would preserve them from a just punishment for their wicked course.
What a lesson is this to men holding positions of responsibility today in the church of God! What a solemn warning to deal faithfully with wrongs that bring dishonor to the cause of truth! Let none who claim to be the depositaries of God's law flatter themselves that the regard they may outwardly show toward the commandments will preserve them from the exercise of divine justice. Let none refuse to be reproved for evil, nor charge the servants of God with being too zealous in endeavoring to cleanse the camp from evil-doing. A sin-hating God calls upon those who claim to keep His law to depart from all iniquity. A neglect to repent and to render willing obedience will bring upon men and women today as serious consequences as came upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which the judgments of Jehovah can no longer be delayed. The desolation of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot be disregarded with impunity.
Jeremiah's message to priests and people aroused the antagonism of many. With boisterous denunciation they cried out, "Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord." Jeremiah 26:9. Priests, false prophets, and people turned in wrath upon him who would not speak to them smooth things or prophesy deceit. Thus was the message of God despised, and His servant threatened with death.
Tidings of the words of Jeremiah were carried to the princes of Judah, and they hastened from the palace of the king to the temple, to learn for themselves the truth of the matter. "Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears." Verse 11. But Jeremiah stood boldly before the princes and the people, declaring: "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent Him of the evil that He hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears." Verses 12-15.
Had the prophet been intimidated by the threatening attitude of those high in authority, his message would have been without effect, and he would have lost his life; but the courage with which he delivered the solemn warning commanded the respect of the people and turned the princes of Israel in his favor. They reasoned with the priests and false prophets, showing them how unwise would be the extreme measures they advocated, and their words produced a reaction in the minds of the people. Thus God raised up defenders for His servant.
The elders also united in protesting against the decision of the priests regarding the fate of Jeremiah. They cited the case of Micah, who had prophesied judgments upon Jerusalem, saying, "Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest." And they asked: "Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls." Verses 18, 19.
Through the pleading of these men of influence the prophet's life was spared, although many of the priests and false prophets, unable to endure the condemning truths he uttered, would gladly have seen him put to death on the plea of sedition.
From the day of his call to the close of his ministry, Jeremiah stood before Judah as "a tower and a fortress" against which the wrath of man could not prevail. "They shall fight against thee," the Lord had forewarned His servant, "but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible." Jeremiah 6:27; 15:20, 21.
Naturally of a timid and shrinking disposition, Jeremiah longed for the peace and quiet of a life of retirement, where he need not witness the continued impenitence of his beloved nation. His heart was wrung with anguish over the ruin wrought by sin. "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears," he mourned, "that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them." Jeremiah 9:1, 2.
Cruel were the mockings he was called upon to endure. His sensitive soul was pierced through and through by the arrows of derision hurled at him by those who despised his messages and made light of his burden for their conversion. "I was a derision to all my people," he declared, "and their song all the day." "I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me." "All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him." Lamentations 3:14; Jeremiah 20:7, 10.
But the faithful prophet was daily strengthened to endure. "The Lord is with me as a mighty terrible One," he declared in faith; "therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be really ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten." "Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers." Jeremiah 20:11, 13.
The experiences through which Jeremiah passed in the days of his youth and also in the later years of his ministry, taught him the lesson that "the way of man is not in self: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." He learned to pray, "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me nothing." Jeremiah 10:23, 24.
When called to drink of the cup of tribulation and sorrow, and when tempted in his misery to say, "My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord," he recalled the providences of God in his behalf and triumphantly exclaimed, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:18, 22-26.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk35.html The first years of Jehoiakim's reign were filled with warnings of approaching doom. The word of the Lord spoken by the prophets was about to be fulfilled. The Assyrian power to the northward, long supreme, was no longer to rule the nations. Egypt on the south, in whose power the king of Judah was vainly placing his trust, was soon to receive a decided check. All unexpectedly a new world power, the Babylonian Empire, was rising to the eastward and swiftly overshadowing all other nations.
Within a few short years the king of Babylon was to be used as the instrument of God's wrath upon impenitent Judah. Again and again Jerusalem was to be invested and entered by the besieging armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Company after company--at first a few only, but later on thousands and tens of thousands--were to be taken captive to the land of Shinar, there to dwell in enforced exile. Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah--all these Jewish kings were in turn to become vassals of the Babylonian ruler, and all in turn were to rebel. Severer and yet more severe chastisements were to be inflicted upon the rebellious nation, until at last the entire land was to become a desolation, Jerusalem was to be laid waste and burned with fire, the temple that Solomon had built was to be destroyed, and the kingdom of Judah was to fall, never again to occupy its former position among the nations of earth.
Those times of change, so fraught with peril to the Israelitish nation, were marked with many messages from Heaven through Jeremiah. Thus the Lord gave the children of Judah ample opportunity of freeing themselves from entangling alliances with Egypt, and of avoiding controversy with the rulers of Babylon. As the threatened danger came closer, he taught the people by means of a series of acted parables, hoping thus to arouse them to a sense of their obligation to God, and also to encourage them to maintain friendly relations with the Babylonian government.
To illustrate the importance of yielding implicit obedience to the requirements of God, Jeremiah gathered some Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple and set wine before them, inviting them to drink. As was to have been expected, he met with remonstrance and absolute refusal. "We will drink no wine," the Rechabites firmly declared, "for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever."
"Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to My words? saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment." Jeremiah 35:6, 12-14. God sought thus to bring into sharp contrast the obedience of the Rechabites with the disobedience and rebellion of His people. The Rechabites had obeyed the command of their father and now refused to be enticed into transgression. But the men of Judah had hearkened not to the words of the Lord, and were in consequence about to suffer His severest judgments.
"I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking," the Lord declared, "but ye hearkened not unto Me. I have sent also unto you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto Me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto Me: therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered." Verses 14-17.
When men's hearts are softened and subdued by the constraining influence of the Holy Spirit, they will give heed to counsel; but when they turn from admonition until their hearts become hardened, the Lord permits them to be led by other influences. Refusing the truth, they accept falsehood, which becomes a snare to their own destruction.
God had pleaded with Judah not to provoke Him to anger, but they had hearkened not. Finally sentence was pronounced against them. They were to be led away captive to Babylon. The Chaldeans were to be used as the instrument by which God would chastise His disobedient people. The sufferings of the men of Judah were to be in proportion to the light they had had and to the warnings they had despised and rejected. Long had God delayed His judgments, but now He would visit His displeasure upon them as a last effort to check them in their evil course.
Upon the house of the Rechabites was pronounced a continued blessing. The prophet declared, "Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever." Verses 18, 19. Thus God taught His people that faithfulness and obedience would be reflected back upon Judah in blessing, even as the Rechabites were blessed for obedience to their father's command.
The lesson is for us. If the requirements of a good and wise father, who took the best and most effectual means to secure his posterity against the evils of intemperance, were worthy of strict obedience, surely God's authority should be held in as much greater reverence as He is holier than man. Our Creator and our Commander, infinite in power, terrible in judgment, seeks by every means to bring men to see and repent of their sins. By the mouth of His servants He predicts the dangers of disobedience; He sounds the note of warning and faithfully reproves sin. His people are kept in prosperity only by His mercy, through the vigilant watchcare of chosen instrumentalities. He cannot uphold and guard a people who reject His counsel and despise His reproofs. For a time He may withhold His retributive judgments; yet He cannot always stay His hand.
The children of Judah were numbered among those of whom God had declared, "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:6. Never did Jeremiah in his ministry lose sight of the vital importance of heart holiness in the varied relationships of life, and especially in the service of the most high God. Plainly he foresaw the downfall of the kingdom and a scattering of the inhabitants of Judah among the nations; but with the eye of faith he looked beyond all this to the times of restoration. Ringing in his ears was the divine promise: "I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds. . . . Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:3-6.
Thus prophecies of oncoming judgment were mingled with promises of final and glorious deliverance. Those who should choose to make their peace with God and live holy lives amid the prevailing apostasy, would receive strength for every trial and be enabled to witness for Him with mighty power. And in the ages to come the deliverance wrought in their behalf would exceed in fame that wrought for the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus. The days were coming, the Lord declared through His prophet, when "they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." Verses 7,8. Such were the wonderful prophecies uttered by Jeremiah during the closing years of the history of the kingdom of Judah, when the Babylonians were coming unto universal rule, and were even then bringing their besieging armies against the walls of Zion.
Like sweetest music these promises of deliverance fell upon the ears of those who were steadfast in their worship of Jehovah. In the homes of the high and the lowly, where the counsels of a covenant-keeping God were still held in reverence, the words of the prophet were repeated again and again. Even the children were mightily stirred, and upon their young and receptive minds lasting impressions were made.
It was their conscientious observance of the commands of Holy Scripture, that in the days of Jeremiah's ministry brought to Daniel and his fellows opportunities to exalt the true God before the nations of earth. The instruction these Hebrew children had received in the homes of their parents, made them strong in faith and constant in their service of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. When, early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem, and carried away Daniel and his companions, with others specially chosen for service in the court of Babylon, the faith of the Hebrew captives was tried to the utmost. But those who had learned to place their trust in the promises of God found these all-sufficient in every experience through which they were called to pass during their sojourn in a strange land. The Scriptures proved to them a guide and a stay.
As an interpreter of the meaning of the judgments beginning to fall upon Judah, Jeremiah stood nobly in defense of the justice of God and of His merciful designs even in the severest chastisements. Untiringly the prophet labored. Desirous of reaching all classes, he extended the sphere of his influence beyond Jerusalem to the surrounding districts by frequent visits to various parts of the kingdom.
In his testimonies to the church, Jeremiah constantly referred to the teachings of the book of the law that had been so greatly honored and exalted during Josiah's reign. He emphasized anew the importance of maintaining a covenant relationship with the all-merciful and compassionate Being who upon the heights of Sinai had spoken the precepts of the Decalogue. Jeremiah's words of warning and entreaty reached every part of the kingdom, and all had opportunity to know the will of God concerning the nation.
The prophet made plain the fact that our heavenly Father allows His judgments to fall, "that the nations may know themselves to be but men." Psalm 9:20. "If ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me," the Lord had forewarned His people, "I, even I, . . . will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste." Leviticus 26:21, 28,33.
At the very time messages of impending doom were urged upon princes and people, their ruler, Jehoiakim, who should have been a wise spiritual leader, foremost in confession of sin and in reformation and good works, was spending his time in selfish pleasure. "I will build me a wide house and large chambers," he proposed; and this house, "ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion" (Jeremiah 22:14), was built with money and labor secured through fraud and oppression.
The wrath of the prophet was aroused, and he was inspired to pronounce judgment upon the faithless ruler. "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong," he declared; "that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work. . . . Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know Me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." Verses 13-19.
Within a few years this terrible judgment was to be visited upon Jehoiakim; but first the Lord in mercy informed the impenitent nation of His set purpose. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign "Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem," pointing out that for over a score of years, "from the thirteenth year of Josiah, . . . even unto this day," he had borne witness of God's desire to save, but that his messages had been despised. Jeremiah 25:2, 3. And now the word of the Lord to them was:
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Verses 8-11. Although the sentence of doom had been clearly pronounced, its awful import could scarcely be understood by the multitudes who heard. That deeper impressions might be made, the Lord sought to illustrate the meaning of the words spoken. He bade Jeremiah liken the fate of the nation to the draining of a cup filled with the wine of divine wrath. Among the first to drink of this cup of woe was to be "Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof." Others were to partake of the same cup--"Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people," and many other nations of earth--until God's purpose should have been fulfilled. See Jeremiah 25.
To illustrate further the nature of the swift-coming judgments, the prophet was bidden to "take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom," and there, after reviewing the apostasy of Judah, he was to dash to pieces "a potter's earthen bottle," and declare in behalf of Jehovah, whose servant he was, "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again."
The prophet did as he was commanded. Then, returning to the city, he stood in the court of the temple and declared in the hearing of all the people. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear My words." See Jeremiah 19.
The prophet's words, instead of leading to confession and repentance, aroused the anger of those high in authority, and as a consequence Jeremiah was deprived of his liberty. Imprisoned, and placed in the stocks, the prophet nevertheless continued to speak the messages of Heaven to those who stood by. His voice could not be silenced by persecution. The word of truth, he declared, "was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jeremiah 20:9.
It was about this time that the Lord commanded Jeremiah to commit to writing the messages he desired to bear to those for whose salvation his heart of pity was continually yearning."Take thee a roll of a book," the Lord bade His servant, "and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." Jeremiah 36:2,3.
In obedience to this command, Jeremiah called to his aid a faithful friend, Baruch the scribe, and dictated "all the words of the Lord, which He had spoken unto him." Verse 4. These were carefully written out on a roll of parchment and constituted a solemn reproof for sin, a warning of the sure result of continual apostasy, and an earnest appeal for the renunciation of all evil.
When the writing was completed, Jeremiah, who was still a prisoner, sent Baruch to read the roll to the multitudes who were assembling at the temple on the occasion of a national fast day, "in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month." "It may be," the prophet said, "they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return everyone from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against this people." Verses 9, 7.
Baruch obeyed, and the roll was read before all the people of Judah. Afterward the scribe was summoned before the princes to read the words to them. They listened with great interest and promised to inform the king concerning all they had heard, but counseled the scribe to hide himself, for they feared the king would reject the testimony and seek to slay those who had prepared and delivered the message.
When King Jehoiakim was told by the princes what Baruch had read, he immediately ordered the roll brought before him and read in his hearing. One of the royal attendants, Jehudi by name, fetched the roll and began reading the words of reproof and warning. It was the time of winter, and the king and his companions of state, the princes of Judah, were gathered about an open fire. Only a small portion had been read, when the king, far from trembling at the danger hanging over himself and his people, seized the roll and in a frenzy of rage "cut it with the penknife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed." Verse 23.
Neither the king nor his princes were afraid "nor rent their garments." Certain of the princes, however, "had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them." The writing having been destroyed, the wrath of the wicked king rose against Jeremiah and Baruch, and he forthwith sent for them to be taken; "but the Lord hid them." Verses 24-26.
In bringing to the attention of the temple worshipers, and of the princes and king, the written admonitions contained in the inspired roll, God was graciously seeking to warn the men of Judah for their good. "It may be," He said, "the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." Verse 3. God pities men struggling in the blindness of perversity; He seeks to enlighten the darkened understanding by sending reproofs and threatenings designed to cause the most exalted to feel their ignorance and to deplore their errors. He endeavors to help the self-complacent to become dissatisfied with their vain attainments and to seek for spiritual blessing through a close connection with heaven.
God's plan is not to send messengers who will please and flatter sinners; He delivers no messages of peace to lull the unsanctified into carnal security. Instead, He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer and pierces his soul with sharp arrows of conviction. Ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God, to deepen the sense of need and to prompt the agonizing cry, "What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16;30. But the Hand that humbles to the dust, rebukes sin, and puts pride and ambition to shame, is the Hand that lifts up the penitent, stricken one. With deepest sympathy He who permits the chastisement to fall, inquires, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?"
When man has sinned against a holy and merciful God, he can pursue no course so noble as to repent sincerely and confess his errors in tears and bitterness of soul. This God requires of him; He accepts nothing less than a broken heart and a contrite spirit. But King Jehoiakim and his lords, in their arrogance and pride, refused the invitation of God. They would not heed the warning, and repent. The gracious opportunity proffered them at the time of the burning of the sacred roll, was their last. God had declared that if at that time they refused to hear His voice, He would inflict upon them fearful retribution. They did refuse to hear, and He pronounced His final judgments upon Judah, and He would visit with special wrath the man who had proudly lifted himself up against the Almighty.
"Thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them." Jeremiah 36:30, 31.
The burning of the roll was not the end of the matter. The written words were more easily disposed of than the reproof and warning they contained and the swift-coming punishment God had pronounced against rebellious Israel. But even the written roll was reproduced. "Take thee again another roll," the Lord commanded His servant, "and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned." The record of the prophecies concerning Judah and Jerusalem had been reduced to ashes; but the words were still living in the heart of Jeremiah, "as a burning fire," and the prophet was permitted to reproduce that which the wrath of man would fain have destroyed.
Taking another roll, Jeremiah gave it to Baruch, "who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words." Verses 28,32. The wrath of man had sought to prevent the labors of the prophet of God; but the very means by which Jehoiakim had endeavored to limit the influence of the servant of Jehovah, gave further opportunity for making plain the divine requirements.
The spirit of opposition to reproof, that led to the persecution and imprisonment of Jeremiah, exists today. Many refuse to heed repeated warnings, preferring rather to listen to false teachers who flatter their vanity and overlook their evil-doing. In the day of trouble such will have no sure refuge, no help from heaven. God's chosen servants should meet with courage and patience the trials and sufferings that befall them through reproach, neglect, and misrepresentation. They should continue to discharge faithfully the work God has given them to do, ever remembering that the prophets of old and the Saviour of mankind and His apostles also endured abuse and persecution for the Word's sake.
It was God's purpose that Jehoiakim should heed the counsels of Jeremiah and thus win favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar and save himself much sorrow. The youthful king had sworn allegiance to the Babylonian ruler, and had he remained true to his promise he would have commanded the respect of the heathen, and this would have led to precious opportunities for the conversion of souls.
Scorning the unusual privileges granted him, Judah's king willfully followed a way of his own choosing. He violated his word of honor to the Babylonian ruler, and rebelled. This brought him and his kingdom into a very strait place. Against him were sent "bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon," and he was powerless to prevent the land from being overrun by these marauders. 2 Kings 24:2. Within a few years he closed his disastrous reign in ignominy, rejected of Heaven, unloved by his people, and despised by the rulers of Babylon whose confidence he had betrayed--and all as the result of his fatal mistake in turning from the purpose of God as revealed through His appointed messenger.
Jehoiachin [also known as Jeconiah, and Coniah], the son of Jehoiakim, occupied the throne only three months and ten days, when he surrendered to the Chaldean armies which, because of the rebellion of Judah's ruler, were once more besieging the fated city. On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar "carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land," several thousand in number, together with "craftsmen and smiths a thousand." With these the king of Babylon took "all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house." 2 Kings 24:15,16,13.
The kingdom of Judah, broken in power and robbed of its strength both in men and in treasure, was nevertheless still permitted to exist as a separate government. At its head Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah, a younger son of Josiah, changing his name to Zedekiah.
I randomly noticed a lady humming a tune, and asked her if she were a singer, to which she responded affirmatively. I inquired regarding the type of music, to which she indicated she was an opera-singer, and spontaneously began singing beautifully!! I applauded with delight!! Turns out, she has sung extensively in New York, and mentioned the Fifth-Avenue Presbyterian Church. I wasn't immediately familiar with it, but I was familiar with several west-coast Presbyterian churches, including the Hollywood Presbyterian Church and the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in California, as well as the University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington. There are interesting and personal stories with all of them, and we should've had a longer conversation, but I'll leave it at that for now.
1. Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, and Acts of the Apostles (by E.G. White from 1890 to 1917).
2. Volumes 3, 4, and 6 of the SDA Bible Commentary (1 Chronicles to Malachi, and Acts to Ephesians) Created in the 1950's.
3. The Music of Bach and Buxtehude (Composed in the 1600's and 1700's). I Go For Baroque.
This approach involves NOT joining a Church or Secret-Society. It also has very-little to do with the Information-War and Technological-Revolution. It's probably a bad business-plan, but at this point, frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. One more thing, regarding Artificial-Intelligence and Robotics, consider re-watching all episodes and movies of Battlestar Gallactica. What Would the Cylons Say??
I think some of us must look very-closely at the texts I posted in the previous couple of posts. Try reading them in-order, straight-through, over and over. Revelation seems to point-toward a First-Century A.D. Fulfillment!! That didn't fracking-happen -- so does that significantly undermine the credibility of Revelation?? The Millennium is a sore-spot for me. Something seems screwy about that concept!!
Thank-you Pris. Once, when Mel Fabregas was interviewing Edgar Mitchell, he asked him if he saw anything of an alien or extraterrestrial nature on the Moon?? Dr. Mitchell started coughing and choking -- and the phone-line went dead!! I think "we've" been to the Moon -- but not with the Apollo equipment!! I continue to model the concept of a One Solar-System Government/Business with One CEO/President -- going back five to ten thousand years -- so who knows what's REALLY gone-on throughout the solar-system during that time??!! A Primitive-Humanity seems to have been managed by an Ancient Other-Than-Human Race for thousands of years!! If the Bible is to be even partially believed, a rather harsh God is revealed. There's some love and niceness -- with a lot of murder, mayhem, and manipulation. I seek an idealistic theological conceptualization -- but the Bible seems to militate against my best efforts and intentions. I continue to think that a "Nice" Creator was deposed and exiled -- with a "Mean" Replacement ruling the roost for thousands of years. The original-creator might've been the "Real-RA" with the guy I spoke-with being the "Replacement-RA". I keep thinking about that Dr. Who "Trial of a Time-Lord" where the "Valeyard" is called the "Doctor" by the "Master". This seems to reveal "Christ" and "Antichrist" possibilities. I also think about that Leo Zagami rant, where he says "Amen-Ra is my Father".Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:When I spoke with the late astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell, we spoke of Life After Death -- rather than Walking On the Moon!! Dr. Mitchell spoke of the "Survival of Information" rather than the "Survival of the Soul". What if our "Soul Histories" are stored in a Lunar Grey Supercomputer?? What if our "Souls" are "Communication-Devices" to facilitate the operation of our "Mammalian-Containers"?? Once again, I won't do Seances, Regression-Hypnosis, Channeling, or ANYTHING of the sort (although I have spoken with someone who SEEMED to be some sort of an Ancient Egyptian Deity)!! What's creepy is that they wished for me to call them "Mitchell". What Would Edgar Mitchell Say?? They reminded me of Mr. Edgars in Babylon 5!! They spoke of recent "productive conversations" with the late astronaut Brian O'Leary. I also spoke with Dr. Carol Rosin -- and now I'm posting on a site hosted by "Carol". Sherry Shriner supposedly podcasts from Carrollton, Ohio. She claims to be the Granddaughter of King David. I know of a "David" who lives in a "King's Town" on "Ohio"!! Interesting!!
Yes, interesting, Oxy! (If it was me, I would have asked Dr. Edgar Mitchell if he really did walk on the moon. )
I don't know about souls being 'communication devices'?... But, they do seem to be the spark of life and consciousness required to operate these 'mammalian containers'.
I'm good with OBEs, but I also do not want anything to do with seances, regression/hypnosis (other than self-hypnosis), and channeling.
This RA... I'm thinking he may be an imposter entity. You know? A trickster entity masquerading as someone else perhaps? For all we know, there is/was an original benevolent RA whose form was hijacked.
Trickster entities...
The Rakshasa, for example, is a cannibal trickster entity that can apparently manifest in the form of someone you know and trust. It plucks the person/image from your own mind and becomes that person. That way it can get close enough to you so it can tear your flesh from your bones... Anyway, that's part of the 'legend'. It makes me wonder about 'angels', 'archangels', and 'guides'... and those 'family members' waving to loved ones from inside the white light tunnel...
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I realize this is thin reasoning, but I'm trying to construct a Hypothesis of Why This Solar System Seems to be "God-Forsaken". Deception Seems to be Rampant -- which would be necessary if there had been a Nefarious Ancient Takeover. I continue to think that the Bible should be carefully studied for hidden clues and meanings. This might be totally useless OR it might reveal the MOST startling secrets and horrors. I have some theories regarding my relationship to "RA" but I don't wish to talk about it. The AED said that Serqet had a lot to do with our relationship (but who knows what that meant -- or whether there was any substance to it??)!! What I DO talk about is already WAY too delusional. I just think these guys can appear in a variety of bodies (via actual wardrobes of bodies -- or some sort of shapeshifting or illusion). This sort of thinking makes me shaky and crazy. But is my thinking any more crazy than Mainstream-Theology?? Think About It!! My delusional-thinking is internally-logical to me (but not externally-obvious). RA looked like Senator Collins in State of Play -- and I seemed to be a bit like the Newspaper-Reporter. I keep reposting these videos -- but that's all I have to illustrate some of what I'm thinking. If you could only imagine what I imagine!! The Horror!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk34.html Among those who had hoped for a permanent spiritual revival as the result of the reformation under Josiah was Jeremiah, called of God to the prophetic office while still a youth, in the thirteenth year of Josiah's reign. A member of the Levitical priesthood, Jeremiah had been trained from childhood for holy service. In those happy years of preparation he little realized that he had been ordained from birth to be "a prophet unto the nations;" and when the divine call came, he was overwhelmed with a sense of his unworthiness. "Ah, Lord God!" he exclaimed, "behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." Jeremiah 1:5, 6.
In the youthful Jeremiah, God saw one who would be true to his trust and who would stand for the right against great opposition. In childhood he had proved faithful; and now he was to endure hardness, as a good soldier of the cross. "Say not, I am a child," the Lord bade His chosen messenger; "for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee." "Gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For, behold, I have made thee this day a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." Verses 7, 8, 17-19.
For forty years Jeremiah was to stand before the nation as a witness for truth and righteousness. In a time of unparalleled apostasy he was to exemplify in life and character the worship of the only true God. During the terrible sieges of Jerusalem he was to be the mouthpiece of Jehovah. He was to predict the downfall of the house of David and the destruction of the beautiful temple built by Solomon. And when imprisoned because of his fearless utterances, he was still to speak plainly against sin in high places. Despised, hated, rejected of men, he was finally to witness the literal fulfillment of his own prophecies of impending doom, and share in the sorrow and woe that should follow the destruction of the fated city.
Yet amid the general ruin into which the nation was rapidly passing, Jeremiah was often permitted to look beyond the distressing scenes of the present to the glorious prospects of the future, when God's people should be ransomed from the land of the enemy and planted again in Zion. He foresaw the time when the Lord would renew His covenant relationship with them. "Their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all." Jeremiah 31:12.
Of his call to the prophetic mission, Jeremiah himself wrote: "The Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Jeremiah 1:9, 10.
Thank God for the words, "to build, and to plant." By these words Jeremiah was assured of the Lord's purpose to restore and to heal. Stern were the messages to be borne in the years that were to follow. Prophecies of swift-coming judgments were to be fearlessly delivered. From the plains of Shinar "an evil" was to "break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land." "I will utter My judgments against them," the Lord declared, "touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken Me." Verses 14, 16. Yet the prophet was to accompany these messages with assurances of forgiveness to all who should turn from their evil-doing.
As a wise master builder, Jeremiah at the very beginning of his lifework sought to encourage the men of Judah to lay the foundations of their spiritual life broad and deep, by making thorough work of repentance. Long had they been building with material likened by the apostle Paul to wood, hay, and stubble, and by Jeremiah himself to dross. "Refuse silver shall men call them," he declared of the impenitent nation, "because the Lord hath rejected them." Jeremiah 6:30, margin. Now they were urged to begin building wisely and for eternity, casting aside the rubbish of apostasy and unbelief, and using as foundation material the pure gold, the refined silver, the precious stones--faith and obedience and good works--which alone are acceptable in the sight of a holy God.
Through Jeremiah the word of the Lord to His people was: "Return, thou backsliding Israel, . . . and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God. . . . Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." "Thou shalt call Me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from Me." "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." Jeremiah 3:12-14, 19, 22.
And in addition to these wonderful pleadings, the Lord gave His erring people the very words with which they might turn to Him. They were to say: "Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. . . . We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." Verses 22-25.
The reformation under Josiah had cleansed the land of the idolatrous shrines, but the hearts of the multitude had not been transformed. The seeds of truth that had sprung up and given promise of an abundant harvest had been choked by thorns. Another such backsliding would be fatal; and the Lord sought to arouse the nation to a realization of their danger. Only as they should prove loyal to Jehovah could they hope for the divine favor and for prosperity.
Jeremiah called their attention repeatedly to the counsels given in Deuteronomy. More than any other of the prophets, he emphasized the teachings of the Mosaic law and showed how these might bring the highest spiritual blessing to the nation and to every individual heart. "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein," he pleaded, "and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16.
On one occasion, by command of the Lord, the prophet took his position at one of the principal entrances to the city and there urged the importance of keeping holy the Sabbath day. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were in danger of losing sight of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and they were solemnly warned against following their secular pursuits on that day. A blessing was promised on condition of obedience. "If ye diligently hearken unto Me," the Lord declared, and "hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain forever." Jeremiah 17:24, 25.
This promise of prosperity as the reward of allegiance was accompanied by a prophecy of the terrible judgments that would befall the city should its inhabitants prove disloyal to God and His law. If the admonitions to obey the Lord God of their fathers and to hallow His Sabbath day were not heeded, the city and its palaces would be utterly destroyed by fire.
Thus the prophet stood firmly for the sound principles of right living so clearly outlined in the book of the law. But the conditions prevailing in the land of Judah were such that only by the most decided measures could a change for the better be brought about; therefore he labored most earnestly in behalf of the impenitent. "Break up your fallow ground," he pleaded, "and sow not among thorns." "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." Jeremiah 4:3, 14.
But by the great mass of the people the call to repentance and reformation was unheeded. Since the death of good King Josiah, those who ruled the nation had been proving untrue to their trust and had been leading many astray. Jehoahaz, deposed by the interference of the king of Egypt, had been followed by Jehoiakim, an older son of Josiah. From the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign, Jeremiah had little hope of saving his beloved land from destruction and the people from captivity. Yet he was not permitted to remain silent while utter ruin threatened the kingdom. Those who had remained loyal to God must be encouraged to persevere in rightdoing, and sinners must, if possible, be induced to turn from iniquity.
The crisis demanded a public and far-reaching effort. Jeremiah was commanded by the Lord to stand in the court of the temple and speak to all the people of Judah who might pass in and out. From the messages given him he must diminish not a word, that sinners in Zion might have the fullest possible opportunity to hearken and to turn from their evil ways.
The prophet obeyed; he stood in the gate of the Lord's house and there lifted his voice in warning and entreaty. Under the inspiration of the Almighty he declared:
"Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever." Jeremiah 7:2-7.
The unwillingness of the Lord to chastise is here vividly shown. He stays His judgments that He may plead with the impenitent. He who exercises "loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth" yearns over His erring children; in every way possible He seeks to teach them the way of life everlasting. Jeremiah 9:24. He had brought the Israelites out of bondage that they might serve Him, the only true and living God. Though they had wandered long in idolatry and had slighted His warnings, yet He now declares His willingness to defer chastisement and grant yet another opportunity for repentance. He makes plain the fact that only by the most thorough heart reformation could the impending doom be averted. In vain would be the trust they might place in the temple and its services. Rites and ceremonies could not atone for sin. Notwithstanding their claim to be the chosen people of God, reformation of heart and of the life practice alone could save them from the inevitable result of continued transgression.
Thus it was that "in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem" the message of Jeremiah to Judah was, "Hear ye the words of this covenant,"--the plain precepts of Jehovah as recorded in the Sacred Scriptures,--"and do them." Jeremiah 11:6. And this is the message he proclaimed as he stood in the temple courts in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim.
Israel's experience from the days of the Exodus was briefly reviewed. God's covenant with them had been, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." Shamelessly and repeatedly had this covenant been broken. The chosen nation had "walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:23, 24.
"Why," the Lord inquired, "is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding?" Jeremiah 8:5. In the language of the prophet it was because they had obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God and had refused to be corrected. See Jeremiah 5:3. "Truth is perished," he mourned, "and is cut off from their mouth." "The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord." "Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Jeremiah 7:28; 8:7; 9:9.
The time had come for deep heart searching. While Josiah had been their ruler, the people had had some ground for hope. But no longer could he intercede in their behalf, for he had fallen in battle. The sins of the nation were such that the time for intercession had all but passed by. "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me," the Lord declared, "yet My mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them. Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity." Jeremiah 15:1, 2.
A refusal to heed the invitation of mercy that God was now offering would bring upon the impenitent nation the judgments that had befallen the northern kingdom of Israel over a century before. The message to them now was: "If ye will not hearken to Me, to walk in My law, which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." Jeremiah 26:4-6.
Those who stood in the temple court listening to Jeremiah's discourse understood clearly this reference to Shiloh, and to the time in the days of Eli when the Philistines had overcome Israel and carried away the ark of the testament.
The sin of Eli had consisted in passing lightly over the iniquity of his sons in sacred office, and over the evils prevailing throughout the land. His neglect to correct these evils had brought upon Israel a fearful calamity. His sons had fallen in battle, Eli himself had lost his life, the ark of God had been taken from the land of Israel, thirty thousand of the people had been slain--and all because sin had been allowed to flourish unrebuked and unchecked. Israel had vainly thought that, notwithstanding their sinful practices, the presence of the ark would ensure them victory over the Philistines. In like manner, during the days of Jeremiah, the inhabitants of Judah were prone to believe that a strict observance of the divinely appointed services of the temple would preserve them from a just punishment for their wicked course.
What a lesson is this to men holding positions of responsibility today in the church of God! What a solemn warning to deal faithfully with wrongs that bring dishonor to the cause of truth! Let none who claim to be the depositaries of God's law flatter themselves that the regard they may outwardly show toward the commandments will preserve them from the exercise of divine justice. Let none refuse to be reproved for evil, nor charge the servants of God with being too zealous in endeavoring to cleanse the camp from evil-doing. A sin-hating God calls upon those who claim to keep His law to depart from all iniquity. A neglect to repent and to render willing obedience will bring upon men and women today as serious consequences as came upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which the judgments of Jehovah can no longer be delayed. The desolation of Jerusalem in the days of Jeremiah is a solemn warning to modern Israel, that the counsels and admonitions given them through chosen instrumentalities cannot be disregarded with impunity.
Jeremiah's message to priests and people aroused the antagonism of many. With boisterous denunciation they cried out, "Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord." Jeremiah 26:9. Priests, false prophets, and people turned in wrath upon him who would not speak to them smooth things or prophesy deceit. Thus was the message of God despised, and His servant threatened with death.
Tidings of the words of Jeremiah were carried to the princes of Judah, and they hastened from the palace of the king to the temple, to learn for themselves the truth of the matter. "Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears." Verse 11. But Jeremiah stood boldly before the princes and the people, declaring: "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent Him of the evil that He hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears." Verses 12-15.
Had the prophet been intimidated by the threatening attitude of those high in authority, his message would have been without effect, and he would have lost his life; but the courage with which he delivered the solemn warning commanded the respect of the people and turned the princes of Israel in his favor. They reasoned with the priests and false prophets, showing them how unwise would be the extreme measures they advocated, and their words produced a reaction in the minds of the people. Thus God raised up defenders for His servant.
The elders also united in protesting against the decision of the priests regarding the fate of Jeremiah. They cited the case of Micah, who had prophesied judgments upon Jerusalem, saying, "Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest." And they asked: "Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented Him of the evil which He had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls." Verses 18, 19.
Through the pleading of these men of influence the prophet's life was spared, although many of the priests and false prophets, unable to endure the condemning truths he uttered, would gladly have seen him put to death on the plea of sedition.
From the day of his call to the close of his ministry, Jeremiah stood before Judah as "a tower and a fortress" against which the wrath of man could not prevail. "They shall fight against thee," the Lord had forewarned His servant, "but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible." Jeremiah 6:27; 15:20, 21.
Naturally of a timid and shrinking disposition, Jeremiah longed for the peace and quiet of a life of retirement, where he need not witness the continued impenitence of his beloved nation. His heart was wrung with anguish over the ruin wrought by sin. "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears," he mourned, "that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them." Jeremiah 9:1, 2.
Cruel were the mockings he was called upon to endure. His sensitive soul was pierced through and through by the arrows of derision hurled at him by those who despised his messages and made light of his burden for their conversion. "I was a derision to all my people," he declared, "and their song all the day." "I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me." "All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him." Lamentations 3:14; Jeremiah 20:7, 10.
But the faithful prophet was daily strengthened to endure. "The Lord is with me as a mighty terrible One," he declared in faith; "therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be really ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten." "Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers." Jeremiah 20:11, 13.
The experiences through which Jeremiah passed in the days of his youth and also in the later years of his ministry, taught him the lesson that "the way of man is not in self: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." He learned to pray, "O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me nothing." Jeremiah 10:23, 24.
When called to drink of the cup of tribulation and sorrow, and when tempted in his misery to say, "My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord," he recalled the providences of God in his behalf and triumphantly exclaimed, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:18, 22-26.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk35.html The first years of Jehoiakim's reign were filled with warnings of approaching doom. The word of the Lord spoken by the prophets was about to be fulfilled. The Assyrian power to the northward, long supreme, was no longer to rule the nations. Egypt on the south, in whose power the king of Judah was vainly placing his trust, was soon to receive a decided check. All unexpectedly a new world power, the Babylonian Empire, was rising to the eastward and swiftly overshadowing all other nations.
Within a few short years the king of Babylon was to be used as the instrument of God's wrath upon impenitent Judah. Again and again Jerusalem was to be invested and entered by the besieging armies of Nebuchadnezzar. Company after company--at first a few only, but later on thousands and tens of thousands--were to be taken captive to the land of Shinar, there to dwell in enforced exile. Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah--all these Jewish kings were in turn to become vassals of the Babylonian ruler, and all in turn were to rebel. Severer and yet more severe chastisements were to be inflicted upon the rebellious nation, until at last the entire land was to become a desolation, Jerusalem was to be laid waste and burned with fire, the temple that Solomon had built was to be destroyed, and the kingdom of Judah was to fall, never again to occupy its former position among the nations of earth.
Those times of change, so fraught with peril to the Israelitish nation, were marked with many messages from Heaven through Jeremiah. Thus the Lord gave the children of Judah ample opportunity of freeing themselves from entangling alliances with Egypt, and of avoiding controversy with the rulers of Babylon. As the threatened danger came closer, he taught the people by means of a series of acted parables, hoping thus to arouse them to a sense of their obligation to God, and also to encourage them to maintain friendly relations with the Babylonian government.
To illustrate the importance of yielding implicit obedience to the requirements of God, Jeremiah gathered some Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple and set wine before them, inviting them to drink. As was to have been expected, he met with remonstrance and absolute refusal. "We will drink no wine," the Rechabites firmly declared, "for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever."
"Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to My words? saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment." Jeremiah 35:6, 12-14. God sought thus to bring into sharp contrast the obedience of the Rechabites with the disobedience and rebellion of His people. The Rechabites had obeyed the command of their father and now refused to be enticed into transgression. But the men of Judah had hearkened not to the words of the Lord, and were in consequence about to suffer His severest judgments.
"I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking," the Lord declared, "but ye hearkened not unto Me. I have sent also unto you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto Me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto Me: therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered." Verses 14-17.
When men's hearts are softened and subdued by the constraining influence of the Holy Spirit, they will give heed to counsel; but when they turn from admonition until their hearts become hardened, the Lord permits them to be led by other influences. Refusing the truth, they accept falsehood, which becomes a snare to their own destruction.
God had pleaded with Judah not to provoke Him to anger, but they had hearkened not. Finally sentence was pronounced against them. They were to be led away captive to Babylon. The Chaldeans were to be used as the instrument by which God would chastise His disobedient people. The sufferings of the men of Judah were to be in proportion to the light they had had and to the warnings they had despised and rejected. Long had God delayed His judgments, but now He would visit His displeasure upon them as a last effort to check them in their evil course.
Upon the house of the Rechabites was pronounced a continued blessing. The prophet declared, "Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever." Verses 18, 19. Thus God taught His people that faithfulness and obedience would be reflected back upon Judah in blessing, even as the Rechabites were blessed for obedience to their father's command.
The lesson is for us. If the requirements of a good and wise father, who took the best and most effectual means to secure his posterity against the evils of intemperance, were worthy of strict obedience, surely God's authority should be held in as much greater reverence as He is holier than man. Our Creator and our Commander, infinite in power, terrible in judgment, seeks by every means to bring men to see and repent of their sins. By the mouth of His servants He predicts the dangers of disobedience; He sounds the note of warning and faithfully reproves sin. His people are kept in prosperity only by His mercy, through the vigilant watchcare of chosen instrumentalities. He cannot uphold and guard a people who reject His counsel and despise His reproofs. For a time He may withhold His retributive judgments; yet He cannot always stay His hand.
The children of Judah were numbered among those of whom God had declared, "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exodus 19:6. Never did Jeremiah in his ministry lose sight of the vital importance of heart holiness in the varied relationships of life, and especially in the service of the most high God. Plainly he foresaw the downfall of the kingdom and a scattering of the inhabitants of Judah among the nations; but with the eye of faith he looked beyond all this to the times of restoration. Ringing in his ears was the divine promise: "I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds. . . . Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:3-6.
Thus prophecies of oncoming judgment were mingled with promises of final and glorious deliverance. Those who should choose to make their peace with God and live holy lives amid the prevailing apostasy, would receive strength for every trial and be enabled to witness for Him with mighty power. And in the ages to come the deliverance wrought in their behalf would exceed in fame that wrought for the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus. The days were coming, the Lord declared through His prophet, when "they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land." Verses 7,8. Such were the wonderful prophecies uttered by Jeremiah during the closing years of the history of the kingdom of Judah, when the Babylonians were coming unto universal rule, and were even then bringing their besieging armies against the walls of Zion.
Like sweetest music these promises of deliverance fell upon the ears of those who were steadfast in their worship of Jehovah. In the homes of the high and the lowly, where the counsels of a covenant-keeping God were still held in reverence, the words of the prophet were repeated again and again. Even the children were mightily stirred, and upon their young and receptive minds lasting impressions were made.
It was their conscientious observance of the commands of Holy Scripture, that in the days of Jeremiah's ministry brought to Daniel and his fellows opportunities to exalt the true God before the nations of earth. The instruction these Hebrew children had received in the homes of their parents, made them strong in faith and constant in their service of the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. When, early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar for the first time besieged and captured Jerusalem, and carried away Daniel and his companions, with others specially chosen for service in the court of Babylon, the faith of the Hebrew captives was tried to the utmost. But those who had learned to place their trust in the promises of God found these all-sufficient in every experience through which they were called to pass during their sojourn in a strange land. The Scriptures proved to them a guide and a stay.
As an interpreter of the meaning of the judgments beginning to fall upon Judah, Jeremiah stood nobly in defense of the justice of God and of His merciful designs even in the severest chastisements. Untiringly the prophet labored. Desirous of reaching all classes, he extended the sphere of his influence beyond Jerusalem to the surrounding districts by frequent visits to various parts of the kingdom.
In his testimonies to the church, Jeremiah constantly referred to the teachings of the book of the law that had been so greatly honored and exalted during Josiah's reign. He emphasized anew the importance of maintaining a covenant relationship with the all-merciful and compassionate Being who upon the heights of Sinai had spoken the precepts of the Decalogue. Jeremiah's words of warning and entreaty reached every part of the kingdom, and all had opportunity to know the will of God concerning the nation.
The prophet made plain the fact that our heavenly Father allows His judgments to fall, "that the nations may know themselves to be but men." Psalm 9:20. "If ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me," the Lord had forewarned His people, "I, even I, . . . will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste." Leviticus 26:21, 28,33.
At the very time messages of impending doom were urged upon princes and people, their ruler, Jehoiakim, who should have been a wise spiritual leader, foremost in confession of sin and in reformation and good works, was spending his time in selfish pleasure. "I will build me a wide house and large chambers," he proposed; and this house, "ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion" (Jeremiah 22:14), was built with money and labor secured through fraud and oppression.
The wrath of the prophet was aroused, and he was inspired to pronounce judgment upon the faithless ruler. "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong," he declared; "that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work. . . . Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know Me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." Verses 13-19.
Within a few years this terrible judgment was to be visited upon Jehoiakim; but first the Lord in mercy informed the impenitent nation of His set purpose. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign "Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem," pointing out that for over a score of years, "from the thirteenth year of Josiah, . . . even unto this day," he had borne witness of God's desire to save, but that his messages had been despised. Jeremiah 25:2, 3. And now the word of the Lord to them was:
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Because ye have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." Verses 8-11. Although the sentence of doom had been clearly pronounced, its awful import could scarcely be understood by the multitudes who heard. That deeper impressions might be made, the Lord sought to illustrate the meaning of the words spoken. He bade Jeremiah liken the fate of the nation to the draining of a cup filled with the wine of divine wrath. Among the first to drink of this cup of woe was to be "Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof." Others were to partake of the same cup--"Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people," and many other nations of earth--until God's purpose should have been fulfilled. See Jeremiah 25.
To illustrate further the nature of the swift-coming judgments, the prophet was bidden to "take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom," and there, after reviewing the apostasy of Judah, he was to dash to pieces "a potter's earthen bottle," and declare in behalf of Jehovah, whose servant he was, "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again."
The prophet did as he was commanded. Then, returning to the city, he stood in the court of the temple and declared in the hearing of all the people. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear My words." See Jeremiah 19.
The prophet's words, instead of leading to confession and repentance, aroused the anger of those high in authority, and as a consequence Jeremiah was deprived of his liberty. Imprisoned, and placed in the stocks, the prophet nevertheless continued to speak the messages of Heaven to those who stood by. His voice could not be silenced by persecution. The word of truth, he declared, "was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jeremiah 20:9.
It was about this time that the Lord commanded Jeremiah to commit to writing the messages he desired to bear to those for whose salvation his heart of pity was continually yearning."Take thee a roll of a book," the Lord bade His servant, "and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." Jeremiah 36:2,3.
In obedience to this command, Jeremiah called to his aid a faithful friend, Baruch the scribe, and dictated "all the words of the Lord, which He had spoken unto him." Verse 4. These were carefully written out on a roll of parchment and constituted a solemn reproof for sin, a warning of the sure result of continual apostasy, and an earnest appeal for the renunciation of all evil.
When the writing was completed, Jeremiah, who was still a prisoner, sent Baruch to read the roll to the multitudes who were assembling at the temple on the occasion of a national fast day, "in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month." "It may be," the prophet said, "they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return everyone from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against this people." Verses 9, 7.
Baruch obeyed, and the roll was read before all the people of Judah. Afterward the scribe was summoned before the princes to read the words to them. They listened with great interest and promised to inform the king concerning all they had heard, but counseled the scribe to hide himself, for they feared the king would reject the testimony and seek to slay those who had prepared and delivered the message.
When King Jehoiakim was told by the princes what Baruch had read, he immediately ordered the roll brought before him and read in his hearing. One of the royal attendants, Jehudi by name, fetched the roll and began reading the words of reproof and warning. It was the time of winter, and the king and his companions of state, the princes of Judah, were gathered about an open fire. Only a small portion had been read, when the king, far from trembling at the danger hanging over himself and his people, seized the roll and in a frenzy of rage "cut it with the penknife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed." Verse 23.
Neither the king nor his princes were afraid "nor rent their garments." Certain of the princes, however, "had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them." The writing having been destroyed, the wrath of the wicked king rose against Jeremiah and Baruch, and he forthwith sent for them to be taken; "but the Lord hid them." Verses 24-26.
In bringing to the attention of the temple worshipers, and of the princes and king, the written admonitions contained in the inspired roll, God was graciously seeking to warn the men of Judah for their good. "It may be," He said, "the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." Verse 3. God pities men struggling in the blindness of perversity; He seeks to enlighten the darkened understanding by sending reproofs and threatenings designed to cause the most exalted to feel their ignorance and to deplore their errors. He endeavors to help the self-complacent to become dissatisfied with their vain attainments and to seek for spiritual blessing through a close connection with heaven.
God's plan is not to send messengers who will please and flatter sinners; He delivers no messages of peace to lull the unsanctified into carnal security. Instead, He lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer and pierces his soul with sharp arrows of conviction. Ministering angels present to him the fearful judgments of God, to deepen the sense of need and to prompt the agonizing cry, "What must I do to be saved?" Acts 16;30. But the Hand that humbles to the dust, rebukes sin, and puts pride and ambition to shame, is the Hand that lifts up the penitent, stricken one. With deepest sympathy He who permits the chastisement to fall, inquires, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?"
When man has sinned against a holy and merciful God, he can pursue no course so noble as to repent sincerely and confess his errors in tears and bitterness of soul. This God requires of him; He accepts nothing less than a broken heart and a contrite spirit. But King Jehoiakim and his lords, in their arrogance and pride, refused the invitation of God. They would not heed the warning, and repent. The gracious opportunity proffered them at the time of the burning of the sacred roll, was their last. God had declared that if at that time they refused to hear His voice, He would inflict upon them fearful retribution. They did refuse to hear, and He pronounced His final judgments upon Judah, and He would visit with special wrath the man who had proudly lifted himself up against the Almighty.
"Thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them." Jeremiah 36:30, 31.
The burning of the roll was not the end of the matter. The written words were more easily disposed of than the reproof and warning they contained and the swift-coming punishment God had pronounced against rebellious Israel. But even the written roll was reproduced. "Take thee again another roll," the Lord commanded His servant, "and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned." The record of the prophecies concerning Judah and Jerusalem had been reduced to ashes; but the words were still living in the heart of Jeremiah, "as a burning fire," and the prophet was permitted to reproduce that which the wrath of man would fain have destroyed.
Taking another roll, Jeremiah gave it to Baruch, "who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words." Verses 28,32. The wrath of man had sought to prevent the labors of the prophet of God; but the very means by which Jehoiakim had endeavored to limit the influence of the servant of Jehovah, gave further opportunity for making plain the divine requirements.
The spirit of opposition to reproof, that led to the persecution and imprisonment of Jeremiah, exists today. Many refuse to heed repeated warnings, preferring rather to listen to false teachers who flatter their vanity and overlook their evil-doing. In the day of trouble such will have no sure refuge, no help from heaven. God's chosen servants should meet with courage and patience the trials and sufferings that befall them through reproach, neglect, and misrepresentation. They should continue to discharge faithfully the work God has given them to do, ever remembering that the prophets of old and the Saviour of mankind and His apostles also endured abuse and persecution for the Word's sake.
It was God's purpose that Jehoiakim should heed the counsels of Jeremiah and thus win favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar and save himself much sorrow. The youthful king had sworn allegiance to the Babylonian ruler, and had he remained true to his promise he would have commanded the respect of the heathen, and this would have led to precious opportunities for the conversion of souls.
Scorning the unusual privileges granted him, Judah's king willfully followed a way of his own choosing. He violated his word of honor to the Babylonian ruler, and rebelled. This brought him and his kingdom into a very strait place. Against him were sent "bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon," and he was powerless to prevent the land from being overrun by these marauders. 2 Kings 24:2. Within a few years he closed his disastrous reign in ignominy, rejected of Heaven, unloved by his people, and despised by the rulers of Babylon whose confidence he had betrayed--and all as the result of his fatal mistake in turning from the purpose of God as revealed through His appointed messenger.
Jehoiachin [also known as Jeconiah, and Coniah], the son of Jehoiakim, occupied the throne only three months and ten days, when he surrendered to the Chaldean armies which, because of the rebellion of Judah's ruler, were once more besieging the fated city. On this occasion Nebuchadnezzar "carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land," several thousand in number, together with "craftsmen and smiths a thousand." With these the king of Babylon took "all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house." 2 Kings 24:15,16,13.
The kingdom of Judah, broken in power and robbed of its strength both in men and in treasure, was nevertheless still permitted to exist as a separate government. At its head Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah, a younger son of Josiah, changing his name to Zedekiah.
I randomly noticed a lady humming a tune, and asked her if she were a singer, to which she responded affirmatively. I inquired regarding the type of music, to which she indicated she was an opera-singer, and spontaneously began singing beautifully!! I applauded with delight!! Turns out, she has sung extensively in New York, and mentioned the Fifth-Avenue Presbyterian Church. I wasn't immediately familiar with it, but I was familiar with several west-coast Presbyterian churches, including the Hollywood Presbyterian Church and the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in California, as well as the University Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington. There are interesting and personal stories with all of them, and we should've had a longer conversation, but I'll leave it at that for now.
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Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
I just re-watched the "Dimensions" episode (season 2, episode 4) of Earth: Final Conflict, and it contains a lot of possible clues. I've mentioned some previously. This is the episode where Da'an says "Ma'el never came to Earth." I have to point-out that this occurred in a parallel-universe (or something like that). In this dimension, Ma'el was a Taelon spiritual-leader who was nevertheless overthrown. In the other dimension, Ma'el DID Come to Earth, and said that Humanity was the Way of the Future for the Taelons. What if the two Ma'el stories parallel two possible RA stories?? How can one EVER Know the Absolute-Truth Regarding the Historical and the Otherworldly?? Please watch that episode repeatedly, taking-notes -- and tell me what YOU think!! On the other hand, I suspect that the major-posters on this website have known the whole-truth for a very-long time (but they seem reluctant to share what they really know). I've gotten used to that. The two sisters mentioned something about their mother, which I missed previously, and I'm not sure I got it this time. I'm going to watch that episode again today.
Please don't take my Ancient Egyptian Deity talk too Siriusly. I might've gotten it completely wrong. I get the sinking-feeling that anything I say and do will be used against me. Once again, I suspect this is a rigged-game I can't win (even if I win). In other words, one might be placed in the "hot-seat" as a "scapegoat" right before everything is scheduled to "go to hell". What Would Azazel Say?? Once, the AED asked me if I were ready to "run-things"?? I answered "NO!! It's Too Complicated!!" I continue to suspect that a supercomputer might already be "running-things" with very-little human or alien input. On another occasion, I told the AED that I had the "Launch-Codes"!! They seemed genuinely-concerned!! Just remember to "Turn the Other Cheek As You Turn the Other Key!!" Also, remember that "The KGB Read the KJV!!" Observing how things REALLY Work for Several Lifetimes Would Probably be a Prerequisite to Entry-Level Solar-System Governance. Honestly. I'm going down this delusional road to clarify political and theological issues -- but I beat around the burning-bush to an excruciating extent. I won't even attempt to think about a lot of things (let alone talk about them) and that's all I'm going to say about that!! One more thing. When Dr. Who is offered reinstatement as Lord President of Gallifrey, he turns it down. When Jupiter Jones obtains the Title to Earth, she appears to leave everything the same (other than preventing a "Harvest"). I've suggested the concept of "Changing Everything Without Changing Anything". Regardless of what happens, I think I'd like to live in a small mountain-cabin -- and read boring-books while listening to sacred classical music. It might be easier that way. World Without End. Almond Raw.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk36.html Zedekiah at the beginning of his reign was trusted fully by the king of Babylon and had as a tried counselor the prophet Jeremiah. By pursuing an honorable course toward the Babylonians and by paying heed to the messages from the Lord through Jeremiah, he could have kept the respect of many in high authority and have had opportunity to communicate to them a knowledge of the true God. Thus the captive exiles already in Babylon would have been placed on vantage ground and granted many liberties; the name of God would have been honored far and wide; and those that remained in the land of Judah would have been spared the terrible calamities that finally came upon them.
Through Jeremiah, Zedekiah and all Judah, including those taken to Babylon, were counseled to submit quietly to the temporary rule of their conquerors. It was especially important that those in captivity should seek the peace of the land into which they had been carried. This, however, was contrary to the inclinations of the human heart; and Satan, taking advantage of the circumstances, caused false prophets to arise among the people, both in Jerusalem and in Babylon, who declared that the yoke of bondage would soon be broken and the former prestige of the nation restored.
The heeding of such flattering prophecies would have led to fatal moves on the part of the king and the exiles, and would have frustrated the merciful designs of God in their behalf. Lest an insurrection be incited and great suffering ensue, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to meet the crisis without delay, by warning the king of Judah of the sure consequence of rebellion. The captives also were admonished, by written communications, not to be deluded into believing their deliverance near. "Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you," he urged. Jeremiah 29:8. In this connection mention was made of the Lord's purpose to restore Israel at the close of the seventy years of captivity foretold by His messengers.
With what tender compassion did God inform His captive people of His plans for Israel! He knew that should they be persuaded by false prophets to look for a speedy deliverance, their position in Babylon would be made very difficult. Any demonstration or insurrection on their part would awaken the vigilance and severity of the Chaldean authorities and would lead to a further restriction of their liberties. Suffering and disaster would result. He desired them to submit quietly to their fate and make their servitude as pleasant as possible; and his counsel to them was: "Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; . . . and seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." Verses 5-7.
Among the false teachers in Babylon were two men who claimed to be holy, but whose lives were corrupt. Jeremiah had condemned the evil course of these men and had warned them of their danger. Angered by reproof, they sought to oppose the work of the true prophet by stirring up the people to discredit his words and to act contrary to the counsel of God in the matter of subjecting themselves to the king of Babylon. The Lord testified through Jeremiah that these false prophets should be delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and slain before his eyes. Not long afterward, this prediction was literally fulfilled.
To the end of time, men will arise to create confusion and rebellion among those who claim to be representatives of the true God. Those who prophesy lies will encourage men to look upon sin as a light thing. When the terrible results of their evil deeds are made manifest, they will seek, if possible, to make the one who has faithfully warned them, responsible for their difficulties, even as the Jews charged Jeremiah with their evil fortunes. But as surely as the words of Jehovah through His prophet were vindicated anciently, so surely will the certainty of His messages be established today.
From the first, Jeremiah had followed a consistent course in counseling submission to the Babylonians. This counsel was given not only to Judah, but to many of the surrounding nations. In the earlier portion of Zedekiah's reign, ambassadors from the rulers of Edom, Moab, Tyre, and other nations visited the king of Judah to learn whether in his judgment the time was opportune for a united revolt and whether he would join them in battling against the king of Babylon. While these ambassadors were awaiting a response, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, "Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah." Jeremiah 27:2,3.
Jeremiah was commanded to instruct the ambassadors to inform their rulers that God had given them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and that they were to "serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come." Verse 7.
The ambassadors were further instructed to declare to their rulers that if they refused to serve the Babylonian king they should be punished "with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence" till they were consumed. Especially were they to turn from the teaching of false prophets who might counsel otherwise. "Hearken not ye to your prophets," the Lord declared, "nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein." Verses 8-11. The lightest punishment that a merciful God could inflict upon so rebellious a people was submission to the rule of Babylon, but if they warred against this decree of servitude they were to feel the full vigor of His chastisement. The amazement of the assembled council of nations knew no bounds when Jeremiah, carrying the yoke of subjection about his neck, made known to them the will of God.
Against determined opposition Jeremiah stood firmly for the policy of submission. Prominent among those who presumed to gainsay the counsel of the Lord was Hananiah, one of the false prophets against whom the people had been warned. Thinking to gain the favor of the king and of the royal court, he lifted his voice in protest, declaring that God had given him words of encouragement for the Jews. Said he: "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon: and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the Lord: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon." Jeremiah 28:2-4. Jeremiah, in the presence of the priests and people, earnestly entreated them to submit to the king of Babylon for the time the Lord had specified. He cited the men of Judah to the prophecies of Hosea, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and others whose messages of reproof and warning had been similar to his own. He referred them to events which had taken place in fulfillment of prophecies of retribution for unrepented sin. In the past the judgments of God had been visited upon the impenitent in exact fulfillment of His purpose as revealed through His messengers.
"The prophet which prophesieth of peace," Jeremiah proposed in conclusion, "when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him." Verse 9. If Israel chose to run the risk, future developments would effectually decide which was the true prophet.
The words of Jeremiah counseling submission aroused Hananiah to a daring challenge of the reliability of the message delivered. Taking the symbolic yoke from Jeremiah's neck, Hananiah broke it, saying, "Thus saith the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.
"And the prophet Jeremiah went his way." Verse II. Apparently he could do nothing more than to retire from the scene of conflict. But Jeremiah was given another message. "Go and tell Hananiah," he was bidden, "Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him. . . .
"Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month." Verses 13-17.
The false prophet had strengthened the unbelief of the people in Jeremiah and his message. He had wickedly declared himself the Lord's messenger, and he suffered death in consequence. In the fifth month Jeremiah prophesied the death of Hananiah, and in the seventh month his words were proved true by their fulfillment.
The unrest caused by the representations of the false prophets brought Zedekiah under suspicion of treason, and only by quick and decisive action on his part was he permitted to continue reigning as a vassal. Opportunity for such action was taken advantage of shortly after the return of the ambassadors from Jerusalem to the surrounding nations, when the king of Judah accompanied Seraiah, "a quiet prince," on an important mission to Babylon. Jeremiah 51:59. During this visit to the Chaldean court, Zedekiah renewed his oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar.
Through Daniel and others of the Hebrew captives, the Babylonian monarch had been made acquainted with the power and supreme authority of the true God; and when Zedekiah once more solemnly promised to remain loyal, Nebuchadnezzar required him to swear to this promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Had Zedekiah respected this renewal of his covenant oath, his loyalty would have had a profound influence on the minds of many who were watching the conduct of those who claimed to reverence the name and to cherish the honor of the God of the Hebrews.
But Judah's king lost sight of his high privilege of bringing honor to the name of the living God. Of Zedekiah it is recorded: "He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel." 2 Chronicles 36:12, 13.
While Jeremiah continued to bear his testimony in the land of Judah, the prophet Ezekiel was raised up from among the captives in Babylon, to warn and to comfort the exiles, and also to confirm the word of the Lord that was being spoken through Jeremiah. During the years that remained of Zedekiah's reign, Ezekiel made very plain the folly of trusting to the false predictions of those who were causing the captives to hope for an early return to Jerusalem. He was also instructed to foretell, by means of a variety of symbols and solemn messages, the siege and utter destruction of Jerusalem.
In the sixth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel in vision some of the abominations that were being practiced in Jerusalem, and within the gate of the Lord's house, and even in the inner court. The chambers of images, and the pictured idols, "every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel"--all these in rapid succession passed before the astonished gaze of the prophet. Ezekiel 8:10.
Those who should have been spiritual leaders among the people, "the ancients of the house of Israel," to the number of seventy, were seen offering incense before the idolatrous representations that had been introduced into hidden chambers within the sacred precincts of the temple court. "The Lord seeth us not," the men of Judah flattered themselves as they engaged in their heathenish practices; "the Lord hath forsaken the earth," they blasphemously declared. Verses 11, 12.
There were still "greater abominations" for the prophet to behold. At a gate leading from the outer to the inner court he was shown "women weeping for Tammuz," and within "the inner court of the Lord's house, . . . at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east." Verses 13-16.
And now the glorious Being who accompanied Ezekiel throughout this astonishing vision of wickedness in high places in the land of Judah, inquired of the prophet: "Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." Verses 17,18.
Through Jeremiah the Lord had declared of the wicked men who presumptuously dared to stand before the people in His name: "Both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in My house have I found their wickedness." Jeremiah 23:11. In the terrible arraignment of Judah as recorded in the closing narrative of the chronicler of Zedekiah's reign, this charge of violating the sanctity of the temple was repeated. "Moreover," the sacred writer declared, "all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 36:14.
The day of doom for the kingdom of Judah was fast approaching. No longer could the Lord set before them the hope of averting the severest of His judgments. "Should ye be utterly unpunished?" He inquired. "Ye shall not be unpunished." Jeremiah 25:29.
Even these words were received with mocking derision. "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth," declared the impenitent. But through Ezekiel this denial of the sure word of prophecy was sternly rebuked. "Tell them," the Lord declared, "I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.
"Again," testifies Ezekiel, "the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 12:22-28.
Foremost among those who were rapidly leading the nation to ruin was Zedekiah their king. Forsaking utterly the counsels of the Lord as given through the prophets, forgetting the debt of gratitude he owed Nebuchadnezzar, violating his solemn oath of allegiance taken in the name of the Lord God of Israel, Judah's king rebelled against the prophets, against his benefactor, and against his God. In the vanity of his own wisdom he turned for help to the ancient enemy of Israel's prosperity, "sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people."
"Shall he prosper?" the Lord inquired concerning the one who had thus basely betrayed every sacred trust; "shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered? As I live, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war: . . . seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape." Ezekiel 17:15-18.
To the "profane wicked prince" had come the day of final reckoning. "Remove the diadem," the Lord decreed, "and take off the crown." Not until Christ Himself should set up His kingdom was Judah again to be permitted to have a king. "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it," was the divine edict concerning the throne of the house of David; "and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Ezekiel 21:25-27.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk37.html In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem," to besiege the city. 2 Kings 25:1. The outlook for Judah was hopeless. "Behold, I am against thee," the Lord Himself declared through Ezekiel. "I the Lord have drawn forth My sword out of his sheath" it shall not return any more. . . . Every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water." "I will pour out Mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of My wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy." Ezekiel 21:3, 5-7, 31.
The Egyptians endeavored to come to the rescue of the beleaguered city; and the Chaldeans, in order to keep them back, abandoned for a time their siege of the Judean capital. Hope sprang up in the heart of Zedekiah, and he sent a messenger to Jeremiah, asking him to pray to God in behalf of the Hebrew nation.
The prophet's fearful answer was that the Chaldeans would return and destroy the city. The fiat had gone forth; no longer could the impenitent nation avert the divine judgments. "Deceive not yourselves," the Lord warned His people. "The Chaldeans . . . shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire." Jeremiah 37:9, 10. The remnant of Judah were to go into captivity, to learn through adversity the lessons they had refused to learn under circumstances more favorable. From this decree of the holy Watcher there could be no appeal.
Among the righteous still in Jerusalem, to whom had been made plain the divine purpose, were some who determined to place beyond the reach of ruthless hands the sacred ark containing the tables of stone on which had been traced the precepts of the Decalogue. This they did. With mourning and sadness they secreted the ark in a cave, where it was to be hidden from the people of Israel and Judah because of their sins, and was to be no more restored to them. That sacred ark is yet hidden. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted.
For many years Jeremiah had stood before the people as a faithful witness for God; and now, as the fated city was about to pass into the hands of the heathen, he considered his work done and attempted to leave, but was prevented by a son of one of the false prophets, who reported that Jeremiah was about to join the Babylonians, to whom he had repeatedly urged the men of Judah to submit. The prophet denied the lying charge, but nevertheless "the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison." Verse 15.
The hopes that had sprung up in the hearts of princes and people when the armies of Nebuchadnezzar turned south to meet the Egyptians, were soon dashed to the ground. The word of the Lord had been, "Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt." The might of Egypt was but a broken reed. "All the inhabitants of Egypt," Inspiration had declared, "shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel." "I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt." Ezekiel 29:3, 6; 30:25, 26.
While the princes of Judah were still vainly looking toward Egypt for help, King Zedekiah with anxious foreboding was thinking of the prophet of God that had been thrust into prison. After many days the king sent for him and asked him secretly, "Is there any word from the Lord?" Jeremiah answered, "There is: for, said He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
"Moreover Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there." Jeremiah 37:17-20. At this Zedekiah commanded that they "commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison." Verse 21.
The king dared not openly manifest any faith in Jeremiah. Though his fear drove him to seek information of him privately, yet he was too weak to brave the disapprobation of his princes and of the people by submitting to the will of God as declared by the prophet.
From the court of the prison Jeremiah continued to advise submission to the Babylonian rule. To offer resistance would be to invite sure death. The message of the Lord to Judah was: "He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live." Plain and positive were the words spoken. In the name of the Lord the prophet boldly declared, "This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it." Jeremiah 38:2, 3.
At last the princes, enraged over the repeated counsels of Jeremiah, which were contrary to their set policy of resistance, made a vigorous protest before the king, urging that the prophet was an enemy to the nation, and that his words had weakened the hands of the people and brought misfortune upon them; therefore he should be put to death.
The cowardly king knew that the charges were false; but in order to propitiate those who occupied high and influential positions in the nation, he feigned to believe their falsehoods and gave Jeremiah into their hands to do with him as they pleased. The prophet was cast "into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire." Verse 6. But God raised up friends for him, who besought the king in his behalf, and had him again removed to the court of the prison.
Once more the king sent privately for Jeremiah, and bade him faithfully relate the purpose of God toward Jerusalem. In response, Jeremiah inquired, "If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?" The king entered into a secret compact with the prophet. "As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul," Zedekiah promised, "I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life." Verses 15, 16.
There was still opportunity for the king to reveal a willingness to heed the warnings of Jehovah, and thus to temper with mercy the judgments even now falling on city and nation. "If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes," was the message given the king, "then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand."
"I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans," the king replied, "lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me." But the prophet promised, "They shall not deliver thee." And he added the earnest entreaty, "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live." Verses 17-20.
Thus even to the last hour, God made plain His willingness to show mercy to those who would choose to submit to His just requirements. Had the king chosen to obey, the lives of the people might have been spared, and the city saved from conflagration; but he thought he had gone too far to retrace his steps. He was afraid of the Jews, afraid of ridicule, afraid for his life. After years of rebellion against God, Zedekiah thought it too humiliating to say to his people, I accept the word of the Lord, as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah; I dare not venture to war against the enemy in the face of all these warnings.
With tears Jeremiah entreated Zedekiah to save himself and his people. With anguish of spirit he assured him that unless he should heed the counsel of God, he could not escape with his life, and all his possessions would fall to the Babylonians. But the king had started on the wrong course, and he would not retrace his steps. He decided to follow the counsel of the false prophets, and of the men whom he really despised, and who ridiculed his weakness in yielding so readily to their wishes. He sacrificed the noble freedom of his manhood and became a cringing slave to public opinion. With no fixed purpose to do evil, he was also without resolution to stand boldly for the right. Convicted though he was of the value of the counsel given by Jeremiah, he had not the moral stamina to obey; and as a consequence he advanced steadily in the wrong direction.
The king was even too weak to be willing that his courtiers and people should know that he had held a conference with Jeremiah, so fully had the fear of man taken possession of his soul. If Zedekiah had stood up bravely and declared that he believed the words of the prophet, already half fulfilled, what desolation might have been averted! He should have said, I will obey the Lord, and save the city from utter ruin. I dare not disregard the commands of God because of the fear or favor of man. I love the truth, I hate sin, and I will follow the counsel of the Mighty One of Israel.
Then the people would have respected his courageous spirit, and those who were wavering between faith and unbelief would have taken a firm stand for the right. The very fearlessness and justice of this course would have inspired his subjects with admiration and loyalty. He would have had ample support, and Judah would have been spared the untold woe of carnage and famine and fire.
The weakness of Zedekiah was a sin for which he paid a fearful penalty. The enemy swept down like a resistless avalanche and devastated the city. The Hebrew armies were beaten back in confusion. The nation was conquered. Zedekiah was taken prisoner, and his sons were slain before his eyes. The king was led away from Jerusalem a captive, his eyes were put out, and after arriving in Babylon he perished miserably. The beautiful temple that for more than four centuries had crowned the summit of Mount Zion was not spared by the Chaldeans. "They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof." 2 Chronicles 36:19.
At the time of the final overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, many had escaped the horrors of the long siege, only to perish by the sword. Of those who still remained, some, notably the chief of the priests and officers. and the princes of the realm, were taken to Babylon and there executed as traitors. Others were carried captive, to live in servitude to Nebuchadnezzar and to his sons "until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah." Verses 20, 21. Of Jeremiah himself it is recorded: "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuchadnezzar-adan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee." Jeremiah 39:11, 12.
Released from prison by the Babylonian officers, the prophet chose to cast in his lot with the feeble remnant, "certain poor of the land" left by the Chaldeans to be "vinedressers and husbandmen." Over these the Babylonians set Gedaliah as governor. Only a few months passed before the newly appointed governor was treacherously slain. The poor people, after passing through many trials, were finally persuaded by their leaders to take refuge in the land of Egypt. Against this move, Jeremiah lifted his voice in protest. "Go ye not into Egypt," he pleaded. But the inspired counsel was not heeded, and "all the remnant of Judah, . . . even men, and women, and children," took flight into Egypt. "They obeyed not the voice of the Lord: thus came they even to Tahpanhes." Jeremiah 43:5-7.
The prophecies of doom pronounced by Jeremiah upon the remnant that had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by fleeing to Egypt were mingled with promises of pardon to those who should repent of their folly and stand ready to return. While the Lord would not spare those who turned from His counsel to the seductive influences of Egyptian idolatry, yet He would show mercy to those who should prove loyal and true. "A small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah," He declared; "and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, Mine, or theirs." Jeremiah 44:28.
The sorrow of the prophet over the utter perversity of those who would have been the spiritual light of the world, his sorrow over the fate of Zion and of the people carried captive to Babylon, is revealed in the lamentations he has left on record as a memorial of the folly of turning from the counsels of Jehovah to human wisdom. Amid the ruin wrought, Jeremiah could still declare, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed;" and his constant prayer was, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord." Lamentations 3:22, 40. While Judah was still a kingdom among the nations, he had inquired of his God, "Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? hath Thy soul loathed Zion?" and he had made bold to plead, "Do not abhor us, for Thy name's sake." Jeremiah 14:19, 21. The prophet's absolute faith in God's eternal purpose to bring order out of confusion, and to demonstrate to the nations of earth and to the entire universe His attributes of justice and love, now led him to plead confidently in behalf of those who might turn from evil to righteousness.
But now Zion was utterly destroyed; the people of God were in their captivity. Overwhelmed with grief, the prophet exclaimed: "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
"Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy."
"How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not His footstool in the day of His anger! The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: He hath thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He hath brought them down to the ground: He hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in His fierce anger all the horn of Israel: He hath drawn back His right hand from before the enemy, and He burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about. He hath bent His bow like an enemy: He stood with His right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: He poured out His fury like fire."
"What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?"
"Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. . . . Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. . . . For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim."
"Thou, O Lord, remainest forever; Thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever, and forsake us so long time? Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old." Lamentations 1:1-5; 2:1-4, 13; 5:1-3, 7, 8, 17, 19-21.
NANUXII wrote:nice line ! and ditto btw.vidya moshka wrote:Science is mankind’s attempt to describe something he didn’t create.
Regarding your comment on the stones being poured , i think a mix of cut and poured is plausible. I say cut because the slabs in the pyramid are all odd sizes... would be harder to make 2.5 million casts and then pour them, unless they were modular but wood could not withstand the heat of molten rock.... I think they were cut and then heated to fit , some were cast yes but the bulk of the interior were cut. The precision of the shafts inside the pyramid would have to have been poured over form work.
Unless the shafts were super heated by a machine that could take a pre defined form and tunnel in a straight line whilst vitrifying the walls as it went and pushing the excess material out the end of the shaft , then sealing the shafts with heavier pre cut stones. We are talking about advanced tech so the imagination is probably closer to fact imo.
Making a cast out of copper is not likely , its melting point is about 1080 deg c , melting point of granite is about 1230 deg c and basalt is between 900 and 1250 deg c. I believe a cast was made yes , but out of what ? pouring molten rock into a copper cast would pretty much ruin the cast after one or 2 pours if not destroying it all together. If a cast was made from something that could withstand continuous heats of over 1000 deg c , only thing that could do that is a sort of tungsten alloy .. good for around 3400 deg c. But then how did they make the cast !? rocks and copper chisels ? pfft lol
Reason i say this is because they have found cutting swarf marks on the rocks , swarf marks, in case, are the marks left by a rotary tool when cutting a medium.
There are un finished rocks with a perfect cylinder cut into it but un finished .. they show what appears to be swarf marks from what we would call a diamond drill. Thats actually in the video i suggested for you.
Most of my professional life was as an engineer , both chemical and mechanical with a focus on reverse engineering and fuzzy logic, hence why i am so fascinated by the pyramids and im delighted to converse with someone with a scientific background !
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NANUXII wrote:Regarding when they were made , i say between 75 and 37 k years ago because they were all aligned to the equinox of Leo. You dont go that far into making structures aligned to an astrological form without being able to align to the planetary movements, which were obviously very important.
The energies we dont understand come into play here , obviously something they knew about alignment.
I also said could be over 300,000 years because thats when the neanderthal became extinct and homo sapiens started to emerge. I think that was the result of an extra terrestrial eugenics/genetic engineering program. Must have been , there is no way neanderthal could evolve to homo sapien in such a short time ... it would take some 10 to 15 million years for that to take place imo.
I also further postulate that the extra terrestrials who changed our dna originally 300,000 years ago might be a totally different race to the ones who occupied egypt etc 30 to 70k years ago ...
mind you limestone takes 100 years to erode 0.5 mm 70,000 years would only account for 35 mm ... i think the casings were thicker than that ...
hmmmm
OH ! I almost forgot , ive been having premonitions the last 4 to 5 weeks of something major starting in late March 2021 , possibly around the 20th ... Something to do with covid shenanigans which then lead into a banking run. I think it may be the banks will revoke cash asset guarantees, then shortly after that bank accounts and retirement funds will be raided , similar to what happened in greese. It may make crypto sky rocket .. or crypto might be targeted as well.
I feel quite strongly about this one , so much so that my partner and i have taken all our paper and crypto assets and put them into tangibles.
When i get these premonitions i must have at least one or two more coordinates to coincide with it and i have found them .. its created a marker for me.
So if you got cash in banks get it out and get it out now. If what i think is going to happen your paper money is going to lose value very fast. Tangibles like slv or gold are a no brainer.
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Carol wrote:"Transition to a New Age for the American Continent Set to Begin"[/size]
Fulford full newsletter: https://benjaminfulford.net/2021/02/08/transition-to-a-new-age-for-the-american-continent-set-to-begin/
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February 8, 2021
P3 sources say Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now the de facto Director calling the shots as interim caretaker, so-called President Joe Biden is holding his oval office appearances at the Castle Rock, Amazon Studios in Culver City, California. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3bx42MrtZw
The White House in Washington DC remains unoccupied. According to a colleague with a White House Press pass:
“The White House…press office and WH press contacts phone numbers have been disconnected, but I am still receiving forwarded emails from another server other than the White House. Also, the public comment line at the White House has been closed…this is just on the surface and is playing out to wake the sleepwalkers but I don’t see how they can keep up with this ruse for much longer.”
The so-called regime now “controlling” the United States has already proposed to other countries the idea of holding online meetings. In other words, it is just a matter of time before the leaders of other governments realize there is no physical Biden competent enough mentally for them to meet.
The P3 now wants Bezos to oversee a transition to a new system based on meritocracy and real-time democracy. They say he was assigned following a failed attempt by the Rockefeller family and the Khazarian Mafia to hand the U.S. over to Communist China in exchange for vast amounts of money.
When the Rockefellers were removed from control by the Illuminati, the Chinese Communist Party – also controlled by the Khazarian Mafia – retaliated by trying to invade Taiwan.
Now, following the CCP defeat in the air war over Taiwan, the CCP seized de facto control of Pakistan and Myanmar. They now have India surrounded and are threatening to invade it.
The military coup in Myanmar, which accounts for roughly 10% of global rare earth metal production, temporarily sent shares of Chinese rare earth companies surging, driven by fears that instability and U.S. sanctions could disrupt exports .
Also, on February 3rd, the U.S. and Japanese military were staging a live-fire drill at a training ground near Mt. Fuji when a massive fire erupted that raged uncontrolled all night. It was briefly reported in the Japanese media before a news black-out was enforced. None of our contacts was willing to talk about what happened but it looks like they were attacked, probably by the Chinese. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqczipCW1j0&feature=youtu.be
However, according to Japanese military intelligence, the Chinese Communist Party is about to…
lose power. The reason is that the Taiwan faction, connected to the old Ming, Sung, and Tang royal families, has activated its 8 million secret society members in mainland China. They did this in reaction to the attempted invasion of Taiwan and because the CCP killed millions of people in Wuhan with their ill-advised 5G activation. This means the people of China and the U.S. are fighting the same Satanic enemy.
This is what this entire Covid-19 bio-warfare campaign against the people of the planet is all about. For example, take a look at how Egypt punished slaves and damaged their brains to make them more docile and then compare it with “Covid-19 tests.” https://twitter.com/DeannaSpingola/status/1356349883251351554
Then look at the nano-devices they are putting into people’s brains using this intrusion. https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-02-01-swab-tests-microdevices-secretly-vaccinating-hesitant.html#
This is the real enemy we are fighting.
Also, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, here is more proof Covid-19 is a fraud. https://twitter.com/DeannaSpingola/status/1356349883251351554
Furthermore, if you do not think the pedophilia stuff is real, take a look at what took place in just one Catholic orphanage. Young boys were sold as sex objects over decades. For sure, this was not an isolated incident, child sex slavery, etc. was systematic and took place all over the world. https://www.thedailybeast.com/german-nuns-sold-orphaned-children-to-sexual-predators-says-report
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2021/02/04/forbes-attacks-mercola.aspx
In another example, establishment Republican insider Ruben A. Verastigui was arrested last night for allegedly soliciting possessing, and distributing extremely violent child pornography depicting infants being raped by adult men, police say. He was quoted as saying “when a baby screams it’s my favorite.” https://nationalfile.com/when-a-baby-screams-its-my-favorite-establishment-republican-insider-mtg-hater-arrested-for-child-pornography/
We are fighting back, and fighting hard. For example, Mario Marín, who governed the central state of Puebla from 2005 to 2011 is the first governor arrested for acts of torture against journalists and linked, furthermore, with a ring of trafficking girls and boys, https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-arrests-governor-case-tortured-journalist-75685936
The Russians are doing their part by successfully using an ordinary flu vaccine to replace the DNA altering vaccine being pushed by the Satanists. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russias-sputnik-v-covid-vaccine-surprise-global-hit
Also, the systematic removal of all people involved in the Covid 19 crime is continuing according to MI6 and Russian FSB sources. That is certainly why Andrew Brooks a research professor at Rutgers University who developed the first saliva test for the coronavirus has unexpectedly died at the age of 51.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/01/rutgers-researcher-creator-of-covid-19-saliva-test-dead-at-51/
Note: Some Covid testing trucks have the Aardvark logo.
Worldwide, meanwhile, as Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted “The post-U.S. era has started.” https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/1358464064322691078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
He also tweeted “Their recent events were a fiasco. #Trump ’s fall wasn’t just the fall of an unfit president. It was the decline of U.S. power & social order,” adding that these “are the words of U.S. experts, not ours.”
This, by the way, is what a high-level P3 Freemason source had to say about why U.S. President Trump left the White House:
“They got to Trump-they killed his brother with a ”heart attack” [in August 2020]. Also his wife Melania was on a government plane that made an emergency landing due to a “malfunction”– so Trump gave up. That is why Barr, Durham, Huber did nothing–and nothing will happen. Trump was not going to sacrifice his family for all these elections and was removed because he was standing in the way of a “Star Trek future.” (Note: They wish. Trump will be leading the Star Trek future.)
Although if many U.S. patriots are bitterly disappointed over this turn of events, they should not be. Instead of looking back at an imaginary past with rose-tinted glasses, they should participate in the ongoing second American Revolution by helping to create a better future.
Let’s also keep in mind recent developments such as U.S. General Michael Flynn speaking on February 6th in a 50-minute interview where he said, “We have to accept the situation as it is and now we have to do something about it.” Flynn noted that if they are trying to impeach Donald Trump then “you must still call him Mr. President because you can only impeach a sitting president.” He also noted, “People do not believe the nonsense coming out of our current government.” Flynn previously said he was 100% confident in the future outcome so let’s see where that goes.
https://youtu.be/Gvd96tP4FMA
He may be providing some misdirection for operational security as the public is now able to view a summary of key evidence in the “Absolute Proof” presentation likely to be used in Trump’s defense during the upcoming impeachment trial. It implicates many foreign nations of hacking the vote in a feeding frenzy with captured real-time IP addresses and vote tabulation. https://rumble.com/vdlebn-mike-lindell-absolute-proof-exposing-election-fraud-and-the-theft-of-americ.html
What Americans need to understand is that their country was taken over at an early stage by a cult of genocidal human slavers. For example, while all or most Americans know that the Declaration of Independence reads “all men are created equal…and are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” they are mostly unaware it also contains the following phrase:
“The merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
This false statement was used to justify a deliberate policy of genocide against First Nations. That is why in the U.S. now there is less than a quarter of the first nations peoples than were there when the first European settlers arrived.
Furthermore, the United States has been at war almost constantly during its 245 years of “independence.” Since World War II ended the United States has killed tens of millions of people through bio-warfare in Africa and other countries as well as through wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and elsewhere.
As someone with ancestors on the Mayflower, I do not forget that our ancestors were saved from starvation by the First Nations. That is why, together with Americans, we celebrate Thanksgiving. In Canada, we never forgot our original bond with the First Nations, which is why there are now far more of them than when Europeans first arrived.
Now is the time for Canada and the United States to create a new republic that really does treat all humans as equal.
The P3 is promoting Bezos as a believer in meritocracy who wants to colonize space. https://abcnews.go.com/Business/blue-origin-jeff-bezos-unveils-lunar-lander-mission/story?id=62941981
If you do not like this vision, we recommend you take Bezos off his pedestal by pushing for something even better.
Also, we believe a more insidious enemy is the group of families who still control the Fortune 500 companies.
For example, the old oil, gas, and coal oligopolies are holding us back and keeping us poor by preventing the spread of hydrogen fuel. The technology exists where people can use a solar panel and water to create their own hydrogen fuel. The only exhaust these cars would produce would be water vapor.
Instead, they are pushing “green,” electric cars. The problem is most of the energy used to power electric vehicles comes from burning coal, which pollutes a lot more than gasoline-burning internal combustion engines do.
That is why “the European oil giants Total, BP and Shell have been buying up assets along the EV charging value chain. The latest news is that Shell has agreed to buy 100% of the European charging network ubitricity.”
https://www.naturalnews.com/2021-02-07-gm-kristin-zimmerman-clean-energy-95percent-coal.html#
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/oil-companies-buying-up-ev-charging-networks-shell-acquires-ubitricity/
The Japanese are fighting to remove Khazarian Mafia control of their country in part because their efforts to move to a hydrogen-based economy are being stifled by the Rockefeller type oil interests. Remember, these are the people who staged the March 11, 2011, Fukushima attack on Japan in part to force them to buy more oil.
Japanese right-wing sources say Japan will soon be an independent country as Khazarian proxies are being systematically removed.
In India as well, farmers are blocking roads all over the country to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from impoverishing them and selling them out to the interests of Fortune 500 agribusinesses. https://www.reuters.com/article/india-farms-protests/update-1-un-urges-maximum-restraint-as-india-farm-protesters-widen-blockade-idUSL1N2KC03L
In other countries, a series of regime changes are unfolding as well. Recently there have been changes of leadership in Holland, Myanmar, and Italy. These will be followed by changes in Thailand, Albania, Colombia, Germany, and Mongolia, according to Japanese right-wing sources, who successfully predicted the above three changes of government.
On a final note this week, the Chinese New Year this year will last for 16 days starting on February 12th. This means March is when big things will happen. That is when Asian secret societies say they’ll be ready to reopen negotiations with Western secret societies over the future of the planet. Their basic stance is “no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect, and win-win cooperation to focus on cooperation and manage differences.” http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/08/c_139729794.htm
However, please brace yourself for turbulence over the next few weeks as Eastern and Western secret societies carry out big moves to try to strengthen their hands before the talks start again.
The WDS, for its part, is preparing major moves for the year of the charging bull. Remember, the bull is by far stronger than the strongest predator.
Ashera- Posts : 4201
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Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Also called "Triumph of the Will"
My dream engine was the 7of9-Wankel-engine; three Wankels in series...
Last edited by Ashera on Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:30 am; edited 1 time in total
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
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Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
https://nineplanets.org/tour/
https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth+to+mars+distance&cvid=853b3a946a984b6ea25b15f44a158c7f&FORM=ANAB01&PC=HCTS
https://www.bing.com/search?q=earth+to+mars+distance&cvid=853b3a946a984b6ea25b15f44a158c7f&FORM=ANAB01&PC=HCTS
"Can't we all just get along??" When I consider religious and political ecumenism, I feel like more of a sell-out heretic than you can imagine. This is the sort of thing I have to deal-with:Carol wrote:Scientists simulating Mars mission on Hawaiilong for end to year in isolation
US, French and German volunteers have been living on freeze-dried food and trying to avoid personal conflicts on the red planet-like slopes of Mauna Loa. A scientist simulates working on the surface of Mars at the Hi-Seas habitat on the northern slope of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. Photograph: Neil Scheibelhut/AFP
Associated Press in Hilo, Hawaii
Sunday 21 August 2016 15.36 EDTLast modified on Sunday 21 August 2016 16.40 EDT
Six scientists are close to wrapping up a year of near isolation in a Mars simulation on a Hawaii mountain.
The scientists are housed in a dome on Mauna Loa and can go outside only in spacesuits, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported. They manage limited resources while conducting research and working to avoid personal conflicts. Communication is delayed by 20 minutes, the length it would take to relay messages from Mars.
The Hawaiian dome where Nasa prepares humanity for life on Mars
Kim Binsted, principal investigator for the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (Hi-Seas), said this simulation was the second-longest of its kind after a mission that lasted 520 days in Russia. “They’re doing OK, as far as we can tell,” Binsted said of the scientists.
Previous simulations in the Mauna Loa dome have lasted four to eight months. Mauna Loa soil is similar to what would be found on Mars. The area’s high elevation means almost no plant growth. Nasa funded the study run through the University of Hawaii.
The scientists will have access to fresh produce and other foods not available to them in the dome when the simulation ends on 28 August.
“They are clamoring to get into the ocean,” Binsted said. “I think they will enjoy having a beer as well.” The current simulation has been the fourth and longest, with volunteers from France, Germany and the United States, including a soil scientist, an astronomer, a physicist and an astrobiologist, who have survived on freeze-dried foods for months. An eight-month simulation starts in January.
VIDIO at LINK: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/21/scientists-simulation-mars-mission-hawaii-hi-seas
When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. — Ellen White 5T 451 (1885).
This quotation hit me right between the eyes when I recently suggested the possibility of taking a closer-look at French-Catholicism, British-Anglicanism, and American-Constitutionalism. Is the "Gulf" potentially the "English Channel"??!! Is "Spiritualism" my "dabbling" with the concepts of "Reincarnation" and "Ancient Egyptian Deities"??!! Is the "Abyss" the "Atlantic Ocean"?? My thinking angers "EVERYONE"!! I don't pick a side. I just insult "EVERYONE"!! I'm really NOT trying to win a popularity-contest -- and I'm NOT looking for a solar-system job. I'm simply attempting to make sense out of the absurd. "Order Out of Chaos" or something like that. What if there were a Neo Avingnon-Papacy (say in A.D. 2112)??!! Imagine an English-French-American North American Union!! Imagine Ron Paul, The SDA Bible Commentary, and Sacred Classical Music -- all in the context of the Abbey Church of St. Ouen!! Does ANYONE know what I'm talking about?? Do I know what I'm talking about?? Don't answer all at once!! Put Down Those Stones!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk38.html The dark years of destruction and death marking the end of the kingdom of Judah would have brought despair to the stoutest heart had it not been for the encouragements in the prophetic utterances of God's messengers. Through Jeremiah in Jerusalem, through Daniel in the court of Babylon, through Ezekiel on the banks of the Chebar, the Lord in mercy made clear His eternal purpose and gave assurance of His willingness to fulfill to His chosen people the promises recorded in the writings of Moses. That which He had said He would do for those who should prove true to Him, He would surely bring to pass. "The word of God . . . liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1:23.
In the days of the wilderness wandering the Lord had made abundant provision for His children to keep in remembrance the words of His law. After the settlement in Canaan the divine precepts were to be repeated daily in every home; they were to be written plainly upon the doorposts and gates, and spread upon memorial tablets. They were to be set to music and chanted by young and old. Priests were to teach these holy precepts in public assemblies, and the rulers of the land were to make them their daily study. "Meditate therein day and night," the Lord commanded Joshua concerning the book of the law, "that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Joshua 1:8.
The writings of Moses were taught by Joshua to all Israel. "There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them." Joshua 8:35. This was in harmony with the express command of Jehovah providing for a public rehearsal of the words of the book of the law every seven years, during the Feast of Tabernacles. "Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates," the spiritual leaders of Israel had been instructed. "that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: and that their children, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it." Deuteronomy 31:12, 13.
Had this counsel been heeded through the centuries that followed, how different would have been Israel's history! Only as a reverence for God's Holy Word was cherished in the hearts of the people, could they hope to fulfill the divine purpose. It was regard for the law of God that gave Israel strength during the reign of David and the earlier years of Solomon's rule; it was through faith in the living word that reformation was wrought in the days of Elijah and of Josiah. And it was to these same Scriptures of truth, Israel's richest heritage, that Jeremiah appealed in his efforts toward reform. Wherever he ministered he met the people with the earnest plea, "Hear ye the words of this covenant," words which would bring them a full understanding of God's purpose to extend to all nations a knowledge of saving truth. Jeremiah 11:12.
In the closing years of Judah's apostasy the exhortations of the prophets were seemingly of but little avail; and as the armies of the Chaldeans came for the third and last time to besiege Jerusalem, hope fled from every heart. Jeremiah predicted utter ruin; and it was because of his insistence on surrender that he had finally been thrown into prison. But God left not to hopeless despair the faithful remnant who were still in the city. Even while Jeremiah was kept under close surveillance by those who scorned his messages, there came to him fresh revelations concerning Heaven's willingness to forgive and to save, which have been an unfailing source of comfort to the church of God from that day to this.
Laying fast hold on the promises of God, Jeremiah, by means of an acted parable, illustrated before the inhabitants of the fated city his strong faith in the ultimate fulfillment of God's purpose for His people. In the presence of witnesses, and with careful observance of all necessary legal forms, he purchased for seventeen shekels of silver an ancestral field situated in the neighboring village of Anathoth.
From every human point of view this purchase of land in territory already under the control of the Babylonians, appeared to be an act of folly. The prophet himself had been foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, the desolation of Judea, and the utter ruin of the kingdom. He had been prophesying a long period of captivity in faraway Babylon. Already advanced in years, he could never hope to receive personal benefit from the purchase he had made. However, his study of the prophecies that were recorded in the Scriptures had created within his heart a firm conviction that the Lord purposed to restore to the children of the captivity their ancient possession of the Land of Promise. With the eye of faith Jeremiah saw the exiles returning at the end of the years of affliction and reoccupying the land of their fathers. Through the purchase of the Anathoth estate he would do what he could to inspire others with the hope that brought so much comfort to his own heart.
Having signed the deeds of transfer and secured the countersignatures of witnesses, Jeremiah charged Baruch his secretary: "Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land." Jeremiah 32:14, 15.
So discouraging was the outlook for Judah at the time of this extraordinary transaction that immediately after perfecting the details of the purchase and arranging for the preservation of the written records, the faith of Jeremiah, unshaken though it had been, was now sorely tried. Had he, in his endeavor to encourage Judah, acted presumptuously? In his desire to establish confidence in the promises of God's word, had he given ground for false hope? Those who had entered into covenant relationship with God had long since scorned the provisions made in their behalf. Could the promises to the chosen nation ever meet with complete fulfillment?
Perplexed in spirit, bowed down with sorrow over the sufferings of those who had refused to repent of their sins, the prophet appealed to God for further enlightenment concerning the divine purpose for mankind.
"Ah Lord God!" he prayed, "behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee: Thou showest loving-kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is His name, great in counsel, and mighty in work: for Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made Thee a name, as at this day; and hast brought forth Thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror; and hast given them this land, which Thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not Thy voice, neither walked in Thy law; they have done nothing of all that Thou commandedst them to do: therefore Thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them." Verses 17-23.
Nebuchadnezzar's armies were about to take the walls of Zion by storm. Thousands were perishing in a last desperate defense of the city. Many thousands more were dying of hunger and disease. The fate of Jerusalem was already sealed. The besieging towers of the enemy's forces were already overlooking the walls. "Behold the mounts," the prophet continued in his prayer to God; "they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what Thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, Thou seest it. And Thou hast said unto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans." Verses 24, 25.
The prayer of the prophet was graciously answered. "The word of the Lord unto Jeremiah" in that hour of distress, when the faith of the messenger of truth was being tried as by fire, was: "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me?" Verses 26, 27. The city was soon to fall into the hand of the Chaldeans; its gates and palaces were to be set on fire and burned; but, notwithstanding the fact that destruction was imminent and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were to be carried away captive, nevertheless the eternal purpose of Jehovah for Israel was yet to be fulfilled. In further answer to the prayer of His servant, the Lord declared concerning those upon whom His chastisements were falling:
"Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in Mine anger, and in My fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with My whole heart and with My whole soul.
"For thus saith the Lord; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord." Verses 37-44.
In confirmation of these assurances of deliverance and restoration, "the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying, "Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is His name; Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword; . . . Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities. . . . And it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
"Thus saith the Lord; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, . . . the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah." Jeremiah 33:1-14.
Thus was the church of God comforted in one of the darkest hours of her long conflict with the forces of evil. Satan had seemingly triumphed in his efforts to destroy Israel; but the Lord was overruling the events of the present, and during the years that were to follow, His people were to have opportunity to redeem the past. His message to the church was:
"Fear thou not, O My servant Jacob; . . . neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee." "I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds." Jeremiah 30:10, 11, 17.
In the glad day of restoration the tribes of divided Israel were to be reunited as one people. The Lord was to be acknowledged as ruler over "all the families of Israel." "They shall be My people." He declared. "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame; . . . they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first-born." Jeremiah 31:1, 7-9
Humbled in the sight of the nations, those who once had been recognized as favored of Heaven above all other peoples of the earth were to learn in exile the lesson of obedience so necessary for their future happiness. Until they had learned this lesson, God could not do for them all that He desired to do. "I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished," He declared in explanation of His purpose to chastise them for their spiritual good. Jeremiah 30:11. Yet those who had been the object of His tender love were not forever set aside; before all the nations of earth He would demonstrate His plan to bring victory out of apparent defeat, to save rather than to destroy. To the prophet was given the message:
"He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. . . . I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord."
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul."
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jeremiah 31:10-14, 23-25, 31-34.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk39.html Among the children of Israel who were carried captive to Babylon at the beginning of the seventy years' captivity were Christian patriots, men who were as true as steel to principle, who would not be corrupted by selfishness, but who would honor God at the loss of all things. In the land of their captivity these men were to carry out God's purpose by giving to heathen nations the blessings that come through a knowledge of Jehovah. They were to be His representatives. Never were they to compromise with idolaters; their faith and their name as worshipers of the living God they were to bear as a high honor. And this they did. In prosperity and adversity they honored God, and God honored them.
The fact that these men, worshipers of Jehovah, were captives in Babylon, and that the vessels of God's house had been placed in the Temple of the Babylonish gods, was boastfully cited by the victors as evidence that their religion and customs were superior to the religion and customs of the Hebrews. Yet through the very humiliations that Israel's departure from Him had invited, God gave Babylon evidence of His supremacy, of the holiness of His requirements, and of the sure results of obedience. And this testimony He gave, as alone it could be given, through those who were loyal to Him.
Among those who maintained their allegiance to God were Daniel and his three companions--illustrious examples of what men may become who unite with the God of wisdom and power. From the comparative simplicity of their Jewish home, these youth of royal line were taken to the most magnificent of cities and into the court of the world's greatest monarch. Nebuchadnezzar "spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace. . . .
"Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. " Seeing in these youth the promise of remarkable ability, Nebuchadnezzar determined that they should be trained to fill important positions in his kingdom. That they might be fully qualified for their lifework, he arranged for them to learn the language of the Chaldeans and for three years to be granted the unusual educational advantages afforded princess of the realm.
The names of Daniel and his companions were changed to names representing Chaldean deities. Great significance was attached to the names given by Hebrew parents to their children. Often these stood for traits of character that the parent desired to see developed in the child. The prince in whose charge the captive youth were placed, "gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego."
The king did not compel the Hebrew youth to renounce their faith in favor of idolatry, but he hoped to bring this about gradually. By giving them names significant of idolatry, by bringing them daily into close association with idolatrous customs, and under the influence of the seductive rites of heathen worship, he hoped to induce them to renounce the religion of their nation and to unite with the worship of the Babylonians.
At the very outset of their career there came to them a decisive test of character. It was provided that they should eat of the food and drink of the wine that came from the king's table. In this the king thought to give them an expression of his favor and of his solicitude for their welfare. But a portion having been offered to idols, the food from the king's table was consecrated to idolatry; and one partaking of it would be regarded as offering homage to the gods of Babylon. In such homage, loyalty to Jehovah forbade Daniel and his companions to join. Even a mere pretense of eating the food or drinking the wine would be a denial of their faith. To do this would be to array themselves with heathenism and to dishonor the principles of the law of God.
Nor dared they risk the enervating effect of luxury and dissipation on physical, mental, and spiritual development. They were acquainted with the history of Nadab and Abihu, the record of whose intemperance and its results had been preserved in the parchments of the Pentateuch; and they knew that their own physical and mental power would be injuriously affected by the use of wine.
Daniel and his associates had been trained by their parents to habits of strict temperance. They had been taught that God would hold them accountable for their capabilities, and that they must never dwarf or enfeeble their powers. This education was to Daniel and his companions the means of their preservation amidst the demoralizing influences of the court of Babylon. Strong were the temptations surrounding them in that corrupt and luxurious court, but they remained uncontaminated. No power, no influence, could sway them from the principles they had learned in early life by a study of the word and works of God.
Had Daniel so desired, he might have found in his surroundings a plausible excuse for departing from strictly temperate habits. He might have argued that, dependent as he was on the king's favor and subject to his power, there was no other course for him to pursue than to eat of the king's food and drink of his wine; for should he adhere to the divine teaching, he would offend the king and probably lose his position and his life. Should he disregard the commandment of the Lord he would retain the favor of the king and secure for himself intellectual advantages and flattering worldly prospects.
But Daniel did not hesitate. The approval of God was dearer to him than the favor of the most powerful earthly potentate--dearer than life itself. He determined to stand firm in his integrity, let the result be what it might. He "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank." And in this resolve he was supported by his three companions.
In reaching this decision, the Hebrew youth did not act presumptuously but in firm reliance upon God. They did not choose to be singular, but they would be so rather than dishonor God. Should they compromise with wrong in this instance by yielding to the pressure of circumstances, their departure from principle would weaken their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. The first wrong step would lead to others, until, their connection with Heaven severed, they would be swept away by temptation.
"God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs," and the request that he might not defile himself was received with respect. Yet the prince hesitated to grant it. "I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink," he explained to Daniel; "for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king."
Daniel then appealed to Melzar, the officer in special charge of the Hebrew youth, requesting that they might be excused from eating the king's meat and drinking his wine. He asked that the matter be tested by a ten days' trial, the Hebrew youth during this time being supplied with simple food, while their companions ate of the king's dainties.
Melzar, though fearful that by complying with this request he would incur the displeasure of the king, nevertheless consented; and Daniel knew that his case was won. At the end of the ten days' trial the result was found to be the opposite of the prince's fears. "Their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat." In personal appearance the Hebrew youth showed a marked superiority over their companions. As a result, Daniel and his associates were permitted to continue their simple diet during their entire course of training.
For three years the Hebrew youth studied to acquire "the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans." During this time they held fast their allegiance to God and depended constantly upon His power. With their habits of self-denial they united earnestness of purpose, diligence, and steadfastness. It was not pride or ambition that had brought them into the king's court, into companionship with those who neither knew nor feared God; they were captives in a strange land, placed there by Infinite Wisdom. Separated from home influences and sacred associations, they sought to acquit themselves creditably, for the honor of their down-trodden people, and for the glory of Him whose servants they were.
The Lord regarded with approval the firmness and self-denial of the Hebrew youth, and their purity of motive; and His blessing attended them. He "gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams." The promise was fulfilled, "Them that honor Me I will honor." 1 Samuel 2:30. As Daniel clung to God with unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic power came upon him. While receiving instruction from man in the duties of court life, he was being taught by God to read the mysteries of the future and to record for coming generations, through figures and symbols, events covering the history of this world till the close of time.
When the time came for the youth in training to be tested, the Hebrews were examined, with other candidates, for the service of the kingdom. But "among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah." Their keen comprehension, their wide knowledge, their choice and exact language, testified to the unimpaired strength and vigor of their mental powers. "In all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm;" "therefore stood they before the king."
At the court of Babylon were gathered representatives from all lands, men of the highest talent, men the most richly endowed with natural gifts, and possessed of the broadest culture that the world could bestow; yet among them all, the Hebrew youth were without a peer. In physical strength and beauty, in mental vigor and literary attainment, they stood unrivaled. The erect form, the firm, elastic step, the fair countenance, the undimmed senses, the untainted breath--all were so many certificates of good habits, insignia of the nobility with which nature honors those who are obedient to her laws.
In acquiring the wisdom of the Babylonians, Daniel and his companions were far more successful than their fellow students; but their learning did not come by chance. They obtained their knowledge by the faithful use of their powers, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They placed themselves in connection with the Source of all wisdom, making the knowledge of God the foundation of their education. In faith they prayed for wisdom, and they lived their prayers. They placed themselves where God could bless them. They avoided that which would weaken their powers, and improved every opportunity to become intelligent in all lines of learning. They followed the rules of life that could not fail to give them strength of intellect. They sought to acquire knowledge for one purpose--that they might honor God. They realized that in order to stand as representatives of true religion amid the false religions of heathenism they must have clearness of intellect and must perfect a Christian character. And God Himself was their teacher. Constantly praying, conscientiously studying, keeping in touch with the Unseen, they walked with God as did Enoch.
True success in any line of work is not the result of chance or accident or destiny. It is the outworking of God's providences, the reward of faith and discretion, of virtue and perseverance. Fine mental qualities and a high moral tone are not the result of accident. God gives opportunities; success depends upon the use made of them.
While God was working in Daniel and his companions "to will and to do of His good pleasure," they were working out their own salvation. Philippians 2:13. Herein is revealed the outworking of the divine principle of co-operation, without which no true success can be attained. Human effort avails nothing without divine power; and without human endeavor, divine effort is with many of no avail. To make God's grace our own, we must act our part. His grace is given to work in us to will and to do, but never as a substitute for our effort.
As the Lord co-operated with Daniel and his fellows, so He will co-operate with all who strive to do His will. And by the impartation of His Spirit He will strengthen every true purpose, every noble resolution. Those who walk in the path of obedience will encounter many hindrances. Strong, subtle influences may bind them to the world; but the Lord is able to render futile every agency that works for the defeat of His chosen ones; in His strength they may overcome every temptation, conquer every difficulty.
God brought Daniel and his associates into connection with the great men of Babylon, that in the midst of a nation of idolaters they might represent His character. How did they become fitted for a position of so great trust and honor? It was faithfulness in little things that gave complexion to their whole life. They honored God in the smallest duties, as well as in the larger responsibilities.
As God called Daniel to witness for Him in Babylon, so He calls us to be His witnesses in the world today. In the smallest as well as the largest affairs of life, He desires us to reveal to men the principles of His kingdom. Many are waiting for some great work to be brought to them, while daily they lose opportunities for revealing faithfulness to God. Daily they fail of discharging with wholeheartedness the little duties of life. While they wait for some large work in which they may exercise supposedly great talents, and thus satisfy their ambitious longings, their days pass away.
In the life of the true Christian there are no nonessentials; in the sight of Omnipotence every duty is important. The Lord measures with exactness every possibility for service. The unused capabilities are just as much brought into account as those that are used. We shall be judged by what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God.
A noble character is not the result of accident; it is not due to special favors or endowments of Providence. It is the result of self-discipline, of subjection of the lower to the higher nature, of the surrender of self to the service of God and man.
Through the fidelity to the principles of temperance shown by the Hebrew youth God is speaking to the youth of today. There is need of men who like Daniel will do and dare for the cause of right. Pure hearts, strong hands, fearless courage, are needed; for the warfare between vice and virtue calls for ceaseless vigilance. To every soul Satan comes with temptation in many alluring forms on the point of indulgence of appetite.
The body is a most important medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His success here often means the surrender of the whole being to evil. The tendencies of the physical nature, unless under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and death. The body is to be brought into subjection to the higher powers of the being. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in the life. Intellectual power, physical stamina, and the length of life depend upon immutable laws. Through obedience to these laws, man may stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of principalities and powers, of "the rulers of the darkness of this world," and of "spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12.
In that ancient ritual which is the gospel in symbol, no blemished offering could be brought to God's altar. The sacrifice that was to represent Christ must be spotless. The word of God points to this as an illustration of what His children are to be--"a living sacrifice," "holy and without blemish." Romans 12:1; Ephesians 5:27.
The Hebrew worthies were men of like passions with ourselves; yet, notwithstanding the seductive influences of the court of Babylon, they stood firm, because they depended upon a strength that is infinite. In them a heathen nation beheld an illustration of the goodness and beneficence of God, and of the love of Christ. And in their experience we have an instance of the triumph of principle over temptation, of purity over depravity, of devotion and loyalty over atheism and idolatry.
The spirit that possessed Daniel, the youth of today may have; they may draw from the same source of strength, possess the same power of self-control, and reveal the same grace in their lives, even under circumstances as unfavorable. Though surrounded by temptations to self-indulgence, especially in our large cities, where every form of sensual gratification is made easy and inviting, yet by divine grace their purpose to honor God may remain firm. Through strong resolution and vigilant watchfulness they may withstand every temptation that assails the soul. But only by him who determines to do right because it is right will the victory be gained. What a lifework was that of these noble Hebrews! As they bade farewell to their childhood home, little did they dream what a high destiny was to be theirs. Faithful and steadfast, they yielded to the divine guiding, so that through them God could fulfill His purpose.
The same mighty truths that were revealed through these men, God desires to reveal through the youth and children today. The life of Daniel and his fellows is a demonstration of what He will do for those who yield themselves to Him and with the whole heart seek to accomplish His purpose.
Carol wrote:
GhostEzra
2/12/21
https://t.me/GhostEzra/1371
Your daily reminder DC is still a prison. Photo of fence surrounding WH.
Don't underestimate the boss and his team. There's 1000's working behind the scenes you don't see. Taking down Queens, Pope's and Princes.
Assange is right. He saw their web of corruption nearly a decade ago. Which means, so did Trump. He's been planning this masterpiece for over a decade.
One of their biggest fears was that we all leave Twitter and Facebook and expose their bullshit. If they can't control you it eats at them. It's about power for the elites. They think they can play God but instead they will meet God, and it won't be pretty.
I told you January 6th the whole thing was staged. The girl is alive. Now with impeachment, the whole conversation is becoming popular. The problem is, most still can't figure out who staged it? Think laptops.
Undercover.
Lincoln 1865. History repeats itself. (photo of gallows)
No it's not MJ playing Bidan. He's playing the weekend. Can't play both.
Blinding lights lyrics.
I look around and
Sin City's cold and empty (oh)
No one's around to judge me (oh)
I can't see clearly when you're gone.
Doomsday plane is for Scare event. Scare means fake. Movie. Remember?
The goal is to wake the sheep up.
The movie moves really fast from here. Impeachment trial is White Squall. Skippers trial.
Nightshift.
Mask bullshit is ending soon. Hang tight.
Which mask bs, the byedun mask bs or the Covid mask bs?
Both.
No the Mrna vax was to scare ya. Gates is gone. You see his new wife? Still don't get the vaccine. Vaccines are bs. Waste.
Yup.
Gates new wife
Lol
Jackets and brackets. Gates went down with Epstein.
Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive!Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive! Kappy is alive!
Alex Jones is controlled opposition. Mossad funded.
Don't get me wrong, Jones cracked the Bohemian Grove decades ago. But then sold out for $$$$.
Ghost Ezra
@ghostezra
13 hours ago
Ghost Ezra@ghostezra
Castle Rock Entertainment
https://anonup.com/@GhostEzra
If you think we aren't going to come under attack here you got are living in a fairy tale land. Last night on Telegram I experienced the most demonic brute force demonic and disgusting porn attack I've ever seen. 3000k replies with 90% of them beasiality from a dozen in a group attack. The demons will fight, and they will kick and scream. Be prepared, prayed up and mentally ready for battle. Be wise and vigilent, always on guard.
Having a beer with Lin while watching the tribunals on Cspan would make the best evening ever.
Look seriously to the liberals I have a message. Republicans aren't the problem. The corrupt politicians are the problem. Trump will unite with declas. When you find out the truth about 911 and Benghazi you'll be signing in the street with the Maga crew.
Still can't figure out what's worse, 911 or the ventilator genoicide with Covid.
If anons were carebears.
I believe Joe is...
President
Actor
Trust the news
Do not trust the news
See nothing wrong with 2021
See everything is nuts in 2021
Whose worse?
Don Lemon
Anderson Pooper
I threw you a hard one there. Both suck. Lol.
Which one is the quarterback?
Barry Obama
Big Mike
Oh stop you know Big Mike calls the plays.
"2020 has been tough on all of us" - Michelle Obama
You bad.
Big Mike miracle grow.
Who uses signal?
Miracle grow as in fertilizer. Expand your thinking.
New year. New look. You think Trump didn't do XXXX in the last year? C'mon man. He said he was draining the swamp. Oh you think the swamp won? Not.
Christopher Wray is a sleeper. Barr is a stealth bomber. Facts.
Cia has toilet duty after all the dirty poopy things they've done.
Barr burried Biden. Not literally although Biden was literally burried.
Happel either flipped or she's a whitehat. Jury's still out on her. She's very secretive. She was Cia director. She's a tough one.
Servers raided in Germany true Haspel shot during raid was bs.
Barr is solid.
Anyone who plays the bagpipe ain't ds.
Everything you are hearing in the news is tottally bullshit. Seriously. I find 1% of accuracy in it daily. Not just intentional fake news, but Trump is feeding the media bullshit right now. Along w Wray. Media are the ass hats in the dark here. Death of the mockingbird media.
All these false flags is us. Feeding the bs narratives to the media. Capitol deaths. Missing C4 from California. Next up is Defcon missile scare. Part of the
You gotta fight fire with
10 pounds of explosives missing from Twentynine Palms Marine base. A reward is being offered to help find the 10 pounds of high-powered plastic explosives.
https://abc7.com/amp/missing-explosives-military-reward-for-stolen-twentynine-palms/10320573
C4 doesn't go missing. Ever. Period. Not in the Usa.
Btw I wish they stole 17 pounds that would have been
Trump used this word 17 times when talking about background checks. President Donald Trump's latest support for "meaningful" background checks comes 18 months after he said background checks would be implemented following the Parkland mass shooting. CNN's Erin Burnett reports.
#CNN #News
17 times. And you doubt he controls the media narratives? https://youtu.be/ENDTX7_WmTg
17 Trump.
Are the children safe? It's a constant struggle. Much much safer than when Hillary roamed the streets, but evil always lurks. Keep an eye on your kids always. Trust nobody with your children.
This isn't like a lightswitch. Nothing happens all at once overnight. Trump has been fighting child trafficking for 4 years strong. He'll continue to do it. We are 10x better than we were in 2015. Always room for improvement and constantly a battle. But the adrenochrome factories are drying up. Just look at Kathy Griffin.
https://t.me/GhostEzra/1450
Video above. March 4th.
They didn't jack up the prices, they sold out the rooms pooper. Supply and demand. These people are stupid.
"Let's Get Kraken" on Gab: 'It's Big Mike Friday. Let em rip!'"
It's hilarious when the Big Mike posts hit Gabs front home page. Last one did big time. Big Mike Friday marathon is on.
https://gab.com/GhostEzra/posts/105717427858294684
Holy Crap Jeff Flake just said they need 17 Republicans to impeach Trump.
Carol wrote:Vidya Moksha wrote:sorry.breaking news.... they just had more votes arrive. He lost by 743 !Carol wrote:Aquitted!! Passed 33!
Hahahaha.. not bloody likely. Trump won. The whole charade was illegal to begin with but that is typical for the DemonicRats. Most who are Luciferians.
Both worship the Devil/Satan/Lucifer/darkside. Satanist participate in ritualistic sexual abuse, torture and murder of both children and adults. In addition children are tortured in order for the pineal gland to produce Adrenochrom, A child may produce 3-4 ounces before they are sacrificed and eaten. They found 50 gallon vats of Adrenochrom which is ingested to stay young looking. Zukerberg, a Satanist, talked about how addicting Adrenochrom was. These people are sick. At the top of demon list are the Reptilian who view humans as humans view cattle. To be used for food - both energetically and otherwise. Luciferians may start off in the more benign rituals and progress into the Satanic rituals.
There are hundreds of DUMBs connected by underground tunnels with cages filled with children hanging from the ceiling. Some have never seen daylight. One cannot even imagine the horrific conditions they exist in or the types of torture they endure before they are murdered. There were photos of dead bodies I wish I could have unseen that are provided in some of the disclosure materials. The links are on some of the telegram channels. However, even though I copied the links I don't have the stomach or heart to review them. Too painful.
The good news is that the Guardian Space Alliance is in full planet-wide rescue operation mode rescuing the children, destroying the DUMBs along with the tunnels and dealing with those down there that include military tribunals, executions or according to Gene DeCode life in prison off-planet.
Michael LaVaughn Robinson: Deep State Satanic NWO Tranny, Also Known As Michelle Obama Friday, February 12, 2021
https://beforeitsnews.com/scandals/2021/02/michael-lavaughn-robinson-deep-state-satanic-nwo-tranny-also-known-as-michelle-obama-2438432.html
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°357
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Alienne Laval <alienne_v@yahoo.com>
To:
BSCMITTE (Citizen Services)
Cc:
office@genstaatsanw.bremen.de
,
office@inneres.bremen.de
,
praesident@fu-berlin.de
Thu, Feb 10
There are no breast augmentations for anthropologists either - it was about something else in the conversation with my health insurance (skin).
I had ingrown hair on my face and it hurt like hell! That's fine now so far.
I was the forelast who joined
Mashu, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great cedar mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey to Dilmun after leaving the Cedar Forest...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashu
Sidra and Sidurti, the tavern wenches..
To:
BSCMITTE (Citizen Services)
Cc:
office@genstaatsanw.bremen.de
,
office@inneres.bremen.de
,
praesident@fu-berlin.de
Thu, Feb 10
There are no breast augmentations for anthropologists either - it was about something else in the conversation with my health insurance (skin).
I had ingrown hair on my face and it hurt like hell! That's fine now so far.
I was the forelast who joined
Mashu, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian mythology, is a great cedar mountain through which the hero-king Gilgamesh passes via a tunnel on his journey to Dilmun after leaving the Cedar Forest...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashu
Sidra and Sidurti, the tavern wenches..
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°358
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
It's probably a good-thing that my threads are simply Religious and Political Science-Fiction with Very-Little Proof. It's a relief that this stuff is probably Total-Bullshit. The Preachers and Politicians Tell Us the Whole-Truth, and We Should Do What They Tell Us to Do, regardless of whether it makes sense or not. They are probably much smarter and better-informed than we are, so why attempt to understand the deep and hidden mysteries of Politics and Religion?? Someone supposedly wasn't able to be the BMOC because they thought the 'Crucifixion of Christ' was a 'Bloody Human-Sacrifice' and thought the 'Eucharistic-Liturgy' was an 'Un-Bloody Human-Sacrifice'. They probably shouldn't be allowed to do much of anything, and I certainly wouldn't buy a used car from them. Would You?? There's No Aliens and Demons!! There's No Conspiracies and Corruption!! There's No Problem!! Everything is Fine!! The Top One Percent Have Everything Under Control!! The Conspiracy-Theorists and Alternative-Researchers Should Shut-Up and Get Back to Work!! We Don't Need to Worry About the Environment Because Jesus is Returning Soon and Will Destroy the World and Burn All the Bad-People and Re-Create Earth and Make All-Things Brand-New!! It Will Be Wonderful!!
This is probably too-little too-late BUT what does Acts to Revelation tell us about the Whole-Bible?? You might need to do some extensive research and reflection to fully-comprehend my question. As you painfully know, I suspect that the Whole-Bible is a Problem of Biblical-Proportions Which Demands a Convincing-Solution. Try reading Acts to Revelation in the New International Version (NIV) straight-through, over and over (until it hurts like hell) and PLEASE tell me what you concluded from such a painful study. What Would Ovid Say?? What Would Josephus Say?? What Would the Piso Family Say?? What Would Joseph Farrell Say?? What Would Richard Carrier Say?? What Would the Jesuits Say?? I am NOT claiming to have the TRUTH. I have more questions than answers. Actually, try reading Job to Malachi (NIV) followed by Acts to Revelation (NIV) straight-through, over and over, while attempting to interpret each group utilizing that particular group. This might be more important than anyone can imagine. What Would Desmond Ford Say?? What Would Erwin Gane Say?? What Would Graham Maxwell Say??
I've previously posted images of the TV series 'V' with Trump portraits, featuring Anna's right-hand man, Marcus, next to Anna, displaying the 'Upside-Down Pyramid Hand-Sign' AND Melania's right-hand man, Donald, next to Melania, displaying the 'Upside-Down Pyramid Hand-Sign'. This was shortly after the election, and I didn't think much of it, but in Sherry Shriner's 10-13-17 show, she claimed that this 'Upside-Down Pyramid Hand-Sign' is a 'Masonic Sign of Distress'. I have NO Idea (as usual) about this sort of thing, but it sent a chill up and down my spine!! Sherry claims that the 'Zionists' are fighting with the 'Masons', but I know not where the BS ends, and the Truth begins. I remain a Completely Ignorant Fool (and it's getting MUCH worse). What if a place of beginning for the modeling of King and Queen CO-CEOs of Solar Systems Incorporated might be the President and First-Lady of the United States of America?? I imply no Elevation or Disrespect. I simply think things are moving so quickly that we'd better think fast if we wish to have a Useable-Future in this Solar System. It might be later than we think.
An Individual of Interest told me about traveling in a car in Texas (I believe) and being followed by a UFO for at least half an hour!! They later told me about listening to JZ and Ramtha at the Ranch. Note my Boeing and 'UFO' experiences (in the next post). This stuff is honestly getting the best of me and bringing out the worst in me!! Well, it's probably not THAT Bad (yet). I wrote this a few years ago, so this is a re-post. We were actually communicating at that point. I've continued posting-alone (with no-one other than Ashera responding) on this thread for many months. This might not be a good thing. Well, perhaps this is the end (in more ways than one). You probably found-out something about me (which nobody bothered to tell me about). I'm sorry we couldn't work together. Too much water has gone under the bridge. I'm doing some reading, writing, and arithmetic (mostly without computers and the internet). It might be harder and better that way. Who Knows?? I'll keep watching as long as I can. Be Well. Godspeed.
King and Queen
(CO-CEO's)
of
Solar Systems Incorporated??
Isis and Osiris??
I've probably gotten the names and timelines wrong, but is it really that farfetched to think in terms of Ancient and Modern Star-Wars, complete with System-Lords and/or Sun-Gods fighting for power?? What Would Ellen Goa'uld White Say?? What Would Star-Lord Say?? Who?? Beware of Undod the Sun-God!! I honestly mean no harm. I've simply noticed how violent and nasty religion and history have been (for thousands of years). Are we really that much better in modernity?? I'd like to think so, but I wouldn't count on it. Just look at the 20th century. Out of Control Technology Makes Things SO Much Worse (Especially When It's In the Worst of Hands)!! What Would Dwight David Eisenhower Say??
Carol wrote:TRUMP - His Mysterious Connections to UFO Technology!
What is the one thing everyone is ignoring with the Trump presidency? The topic of UFOs. For the last couple decades, U.S. Presidents were asked about Roswell, Area 51, and UFOs on major cultural outlets. With the 45th president, this narrative is strangely missing. Instead, a high level of chaos and turmoil of mass mind control is stirring up division in this country. But what is really going on behind the scenes with Trump? Does Trump have a connection to Tesla or other exotic technology? If so, what does it all mean?
I wish to repeat that the Ellen White book I'm posting is VERY different than just reading the Bible (covering the same territory). Each group claims to have "The Truth" but I question whether ANY group has "The Truth". I'm not promoting any of my threads and posts as being "The Truth". This is intended to provide a Research-Context for those who wish to travel a VERY Interesting Road Less Traveled which seeks to approximate one version of Possible-Truth. It's mostly a hypothesis. I keep saying "I Don't Know" and I mean it. I keep thinking about Bill Maher in Religulous, wherein he says he belongs to the church of "I Don't Know". But people desire "Certainty and Security" regardless of whether it exists, or not. I continue to think that most politics and religion are built-upon "Deception" because "We Can't Handle the Truth". They Give Us What We Want -- While Taking What We Have -- Long Term. I think I mostly seek "The Truth" rather than trying to "Save the World". But I'm starting this game much too late. I mostly provide my threads for others -- even though nobody gives a damn about what I post. It's honestly too late for me. Sorry for all the EGW and Bible Stuff -- but they are an integral-part of my research-project. Just remember that I'm NOT Proselytizing. I have HUGE Problems with what I post. I'm simply sharing my Private-War with Sirius-Researchers. I continue to think this might be important (especially for the right people and other-than-people). This might ultimately be Essential Religious and Political Science-Fiction to get you close to some important aspects of "The Truth".Carol wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKBAs7NZ37k
Time Travelers Brought 10 Alien Videos From Future & We Cannot Explain Any Of Them.
Published on Oct 8, 2017
First of all, so you won't have any doubts that we shall present an actual footage from the future, we will show you following videos: This is Chicago Year 2040. Cannot recognize it in 2017? No wonder.
Next one is San Francisco Year 2020: As you can see Sales force Tower is complete. Now if you look at it you can see 2 cranes still building it. Also see San Francisco Bay full of giant container ship and one is collided with the other giant ship and burning - such events has yet to happen.
This is Minneapolis year 2030 - most of the energy produced by city landscapes.
Houston year 2040 - Star Trek Enterprise is built in reality.
Now we need your help telling what we are seeing in another 10 different videos from the future. But first, 1 month ago on September 9, 2017 we told you that Hurricane will hit cities of New Orleans and Gulfport this month. The video link is link above - or simply scroll down our channel to September 9 Video called. FEMA is wrong: Hurricane Is To Hit New Orleans. You were laughing because Hurricane Irma hit Tampa in Florida and said that well finally great Igor Kryan was dead wrong. Look who is laughing now when hurricane Nate bearing down on New Orleans and Gulfport.
It's certainly not me, because every single prediction we made on YouTube came true (Brexit, Trump victory, Macron Victory, Texas underwater, Mexico Earthquake) and what we seen for the coming months is far worse than happened so far.
Honestly, I was relived when I thought I wrong about the city the Hurricane hit. And I was thinking if we wrong with New Orleans and Gulfport than when we wrong with other things. Yet, it turned out I was 100% right. How is this possible?
Here is how: We have a chronosphere as I told you before and we can not only see the future but make video recording of the future. I need your help explaining these 10 videos.
One, we have recorded Bay between Oakland and San Francisco in the nearest future - but we cannot tell what in the world is going on there.
Two, it seems like strange dressed black prophet arrived from space ship in 2020s.
Three, the monument with skulls underwater and bronze eagle girl on top. The sign reads: All Knew Its Coming. Made in the USA.
Four, something huge spiraling out of North Sky in a very strange way. We have predicted that International Space Station would fall, but this is something very different.
Five, very strange huge alien looking machine that called human programming device.
Six, it seems like a giant hand rising over the sun and we also cannot tell what atmospheric phenomena we are seeing.
Seven, another monument over green water with a circle filled with diamonds hundreds of feet tall that reads: Mind over Matter.
Eight, All we heard someone saying this trinity event occurring over Pacific ocean.
Nine, Unknown giant beacon.
Ten, entire city in panic over strangest sky phenomena ever.
We hope you can explain these 10 strangest videos from the future.
Category
Science & Technology
Comments:
For all non-believers: Check SF - 2 cranes still building the tower he showed complete I saw it this morning with my own eyes, no such giants ships in the bay even exist today and certainly the spaceship with black guys in strange clothes he shows in detail is not assembled yet. Also if you slow down and enlarge the car part video you see than cars driving without drivers.
video editing?
In my opinion according to a calender it appears that way when several differed calenders are operating in one globe who's to says its not a parallel now add millions of planets many variables at work extremely interesting topic ....I believe evolution plays out the same through genetics in all walks of life in every part of ever solar system the only difference would be the dominant species ......Shoot to chronology?
Some of them are fake for sure... 4:10 those things look like plastic... and this enterprise in reality... look at the keyboards... they blink in random colors.. thats useless... why should people do that
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk40.html Soon after Daniel and his companions entered the service of the king of Babylon, events occurred that revealed to an idolatrous nation the power and faithfulness of the God of Israel. Nebuchadnezzar had a remarkable dream, by which "his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him." But although the king's mind was deeply impressed, he found it impossible, when he awoke, to recall the particulars.
In his perplexity, Nebuchadnezzar assembled his wise men--"the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers"--and besought their help. "I have dreamed a dream," he said, "and my spirit was troubled to know the dream." With this statement of his perplexity he requested them to reveal to him that which would bring relief to his mind.
To this the wise men responded, "O king, live forever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation."
Dissatisfied with their evasive answer, and suspicious because, despite their pretentious claims to reveal the secrets of men, they nevertheless seemed unwilling to grant him help, the king commanded his wise men, with promises of wealth and honor on the one hand, and threats of death on the other, to tell him not only the interpretation of the dream, but the dream itself. "The thing is gone from me," he said; "if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. But if ye show the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor."
Still the wise men returned the answer, "Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation of it."
Nebuchadnezzar, now thoroughly aroused and angered by the apparent perfidy of those in whom he had trusted, declared: "I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof."
Filled with fear for the consequences of their failure, the magicians endeavored to show the king that his request was unreasonable and his test beyond that which had ever been required of any man. "There is not a man upon the earth," they remonstrated, "that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." Then "the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon."
Among those sought for by the officers who were preparing to fulfill the provisions of the royal decree, were Daniel and his friends. When told that according to the decree they also must die, "with counsel and wisdom" Daniel inquired of Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, "Why is the decree so hasty from the king?" Arioch told him the story of the king's perplexity over his remarkable dream, and of his failure to secure help from those in whom he had hitherto placed fullest confidence. Upon hearing this, Daniel, taking his life in his hands, ventured into the king's presence and begged that time be granted, that he might petition his God to reveal to him the dream and its interpretation.
To this request the monarch acceded. "Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions." Together they sought for wisdom from the Source of light and knowledge. Their faith was strong in the consciousness that God had placed them where they were, that they were doing His work and meeting the demands of duty. In times of perplexity and danger they had always turned to Him for guidance and protection, and He had proved an ever-present help. Now with contrition of heart they submitted themselves anew to the Judge of the earth, pleading that He would grant them deliverance in this their time of special need. And they did not plead in vain. The God whom they had honored, now honored them. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon them, and to Daniel, "in a night vision," was revealed the king's dream and its meaning.
Daniel's first act was to thank God for the revelation given him. "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever," he exclaimed; "for wisdom and might are His: and He changeth the times and the reasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him. I thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of Thee: for Thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter."
Going immediately to Arioch, whom the king had commanded to destroy the wise men, Daniel said, "Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation." Quickly the officer ushered Daniel in before the king, with the words, "I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation."
Behold the Jewish captive, calm and self-possessed, in the presence of the monarch of the world's most powerful empire. In his first words he disclaimed honor for himself and exalted God as the source of all wisdom. To the anxious inquiry of the king, "Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?" he replied: "The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
"Thy dream," Daniel declared, "and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
"This is the dream," confidently declared Daniel; and the king, listening with closest attention to every particular, knew it was the very dream over which he had been so troubled. Thus his mind was prepared to receive with favor the interpretation. The King of kings was about to communicate great truth to the Babylonian monarch. God would reveal that He has power over the kingdoms of the world, power to enthrone and to dethrone kings. Nebuchadnezzar's mind was to be awakened, if possible, to a sense of his responsibility to Heaven. The events of the future, reaching down to the end of time, were to be opened before him.
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings," Daniel continued, "for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and fowls of the heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."
"In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."
The king was convinced of the truth of the interpretation, and in humility and awe he "fell upon his face, and worshiped," saying, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret."
Nebuchadnezzar revoked the decree for the destruction of the wise men. Their lives were spared because of Daniel's connection with the Revealer of secrets. And "the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king."
In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.
In words of matchless beauty and tenderness, the apostle Paul set before the sages of Athens the divine purpose in the creation and distribution of races and nations. "God that made the world and all things therein," declared the apostle, "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him." Acts 17:24-27.
God has made plain that whosoever will, may come "into the bond of the covenant." Ezekiel 20:37. In the creation it was His purpose that the earth should be inhabited by beings whose existence would be a blessing to themselves and to one another, and an honor to their Creator. All who will may identify themselves with this purpose. Of them it is spoken, "This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise." Isaiah 43:21.
In His law God has made known the principles that underlie all true prosperity, both of nations and of individuals. To the Israelites Moses declared of this law: "This is your wisdom and your understanding." "It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life." Deuteronomy 4:6; 32:47. The blessings thus assured to Israel are, on the same conditions and in the same degree, assured to every nation and to every individual under the broad heavens.
Hundreds of years before certain nations came upon the stage of action, the Omniscient One looked down the ages and predicted the rise and fall of the universal kingdoms. God declared to Nebuchadnezzar that the kingdom of Babylon should fall, and a second kingdom would arise, which also would have its period of trial. Failing to exalt the true God, its glory would fade, and a third kingdom would occupy its place. This also would pass away; and a fourth, strong as iron, would subdue the nations of the world.
Had the rulers of Babylon--that richest of all earthly kingdoms--kept always before them the fear of Jehovah, they would have been given wisdom and power which would have bound them to Him and kept them strong. But they made God their refuge only when harassed and perplexed. At such times, failing to find help in their great men, they sought it from men like Daniel--men who they knew honored the living God and were honored by Him. To these men they appealed to unravel the mysteries of Providence; for though the rulers of proud Babylon were men of the highest intellect, they had separated themselves so far from God by transgression that they could not understand the revelations and the warnings given them concerning the future.
In the history of nations the student of God's word may behold the literal fulfillment of divine prophecy. Babylon, shattered and broken at last, passed away because in prosperity its rulers had regarded themselves as independent of God, and had ascribed the glory of their kingdom to human achievement. The Medo-Persian realm was visited by the wrath of Heaven because in it God's law had been trampled underfoot. The fear of the Lord had found no place in the hearts of the vast majority of the people. Wickedness, blasphemy, and corruption prevailed. The kingdoms that followed were even more base and corrupt; and these sank lower and still lower in the scale of moral worth.
The power exercised by every ruler on the earth is Heaven-imparted; and upon his use of the power thus bestowed, his success depends. To each the word of the divine Watcher is, "I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me." Isaiah 45:5. And to each the words spoken to Nebuchadnezzar of old are the lesson of life: "Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor: if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." Daniel 4:27.
To understand these things,--to understand that "righteousness exalteth a nation;" that "the throne is established by righteousness," and "upholden by mercy;" to recognize the outworking of these principles in the manifestation of His power who "removeth kings, and setteth up kings,"-- this is to understand the philosophy of history. Proverbs 14:34; 16:12; 20:28; Daniel 2:21.
In the word of God only is this clearly set forth. Here it is shown that the strength of nations, as of individuals, is not found in the opportunities or facilities that appear to make them invincible; it is not found in their boasted greatness. It is measured by the fidelity with which they fulfill God's purpose.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk41.html The dream of the great image, opening before Nebuchadnezzar events reaching to the close of time, had been given that he might understand the part he was to act in the world's history, and the relation that his kingdom should sustain to the kingdom of heaven. In the interpretation of the dream, he had been plainly instructed regarding the establishment of God's everlasting kingdom. "In the days of these kings," Daniel had declared, "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. . . . The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Daniel 2:44, 45.
The king had acknowledged the power of God, saying to Daniel, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, . . . and a revealer of secrets." Verse 47. For a time afterward, Nebuchadnezzar was influenced by the fear of God; but his heart was not yet cleansed from worldly ambition and a desire for self-exaltation. The prosperity attending his reign filled him with pride. In time he ceased to honor God, and resumed his idol worship with increased zeal and bigotry. The words, "Thou art this head of gold," had made a deep impression upon the ruler's mind. Verse 38. The wise men of his realm, taking advantage of this and of his return to idolatry, proposed that he make an image similar to the one seen in his dream, and set it up where all might behold the head of gold, which had been interpreted as representing his kingdom.
Pleased with the flattering suggestion, he determined to carry it out, and to go even farther. Instead of reproducing the image as he had seen it, he would excel the original. His image should not deteriorate in value from the head to the feet, but should be entirely of gold--symbolic throughout of Babylon as an eternal, indestructible, all-powerful kingdom, which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand forever.
The thought of establishing the empire and a dynasty that should endure forever, appealed very strongly to the mighty ruler before whose arms the nations of earth had been unable to stand. With an enthusiasm born of boundless ambition and selfish pride, he entered into counsel with his wise men as to how to bring this about. Forgetting the remarkable providences connected with the dream of the great image; forgetting also that the God of Israel through His servant Daniel had made plain the significance of the image, and that in connection with this interpretation the great men of the realm had been saved an ignominious death; forgetting all except their desire to establish their own power and supremacy, the king and his counselors of state determined that by every means possible they would endeavor to exalt Babylon as supreme, and worthy of universal allegiance.
The symbolic representation by which God had revealed to king and people His purpose for the nations of earth, was now to be made to serve for the glorification of human power. Daniel's interpretation was to be rejected and forgotten; truth was to be misinterpreted and misapplied. The symbol designed of Heaven to unfold to the minds of men important events of the future, was to be used to hinder the spread of the knowledge that God desired the world to receive. Thus through the devisings of ambitious men, Satan was seeking to thwart the divine purpose for the human race. The enemy of mankind knew that truth unmixed with error is a power mighty to save; but that when used to exalt self and to further the projects of men, it becomes a power for evil.
From his rich store of treasure, Nebuchadnezzar caused to be made a great golden image, similar in its general features to that which had been seen in vision, save in the one particular of the material of which it was composed. Accustomed as they were to magnificent representations of their heathen deities, the Chaldeans had never before produced anything so imposing and majestic as this resplendent statue, threescore cubits in height and six cubits in breadth. And it is not surprising that in a land where idol worship was of universal prevalence, the beautiful and priceless image in the plain of Dura, representing the glory of Babylon and its magnificence and power, should be consecrated as an object of worship. This was accordingly provided for, and a decree went forth that on the day of the dedication all should show their supreme loyalty to the Babylonian power by bowing before the image.
The appointed day came, and a vast concourse from all "people, nations, and languages," assembled on the plain of Dura. In harmony with the king's command, when the sound of music was heard, the whole company "fell down and worshipped the golden image." On that eventful day the powers of darkness seemed to be gaining a signal triumph; the worship of the golden image bade fair to become connected permanently with the established forms of idolatry recognized as the state religion of the land. Satan hoped thereby to defeat God's purpose of making the presence of captive Israel in Babylon a means of blessing to all the nations of heathendom.
But God decreed otherwise. Not all had bowed the knee to the idolatrous symbol of human power. In the midst of the worshipping multitude there were three men who were firmly resolved not thus to dishonor the God of heaven. Their God was King of kings and Lord of lords; they would bow to none other.
To Nebuchadnezzar, flushed with triumph, was brought the word that among his subjects there were some who dared disobey his mandate. Certain of the wise men, jealous of the honors that had been bestowed upon the faithful companions of Daniel, now reported to the king their flagrant violation of his wishes. "O king, live forever," they exclaimed. "There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
The king commanded that the men be brought before him. "Is it true," he inquired, "do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?" He endeavored by threats to induce them to unite with the multitude. Pointing to the fiery furnace, he reminded them of the punishment awaiting them if they should persist in their refusal to obey his will. But firmly the Hebrews testified to their allegiance to the God of heaven, and their faith in His power to deliver. The act of bowing to the image was understood by all to be an act of worship. Such homage they could render to God alone.
As the three Hebrews stood before the king, he was convinced that they possessed something the other wise men of his kingdom did not have. They had been faithful in the performance of every duty. He would give them another trial. If only they would signify their willingness to unite with the multitude in worshiping the image, all would be well with them; "but if ye worship not," he added, "ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." Then with his hand stretched upward in defiance, he demanded, "Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?"
In vain were the king's threats. He could not turn the men from their allegiance to the Ruler of the universe. From the history of their fathers they had learned that disobedience to God results in dishonor, disaster, and death; and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, the foundation of all true prosperity. Calmly facing the furnace, they said, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so [if this is your decision], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king." Their faith strengthened as they declared that God would be glorified by delivering them, and with triumphant assurance born of implicit trust in God, they added, "But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."
The king's wrath knew no bounds. "Full of fury," "the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," representatives of a despised and captive race. Directing that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than its wont, he commanded the mighty men of his army to bind the worshipers of Israel's God, preparatory to summary execution.
"Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego."
But the Lord did not forget His own. As His witnesses were cast into the furnace, the Saviour revealed Himself to them in person, and together they walked in the midst of the fire. In the presence of the Lord of heat and cold, the flames lost their power to consume. From his royal seat the king looked on, expecting to see the men who had defied him utterly destroyed. But his feelings of triumph suddenly changed. The nobles standing near saw his face grow pale as he started from the throne and looked intently into the glowing flames. In alarm the king, turning to his lords, asked, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? . . . Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
How did that heathen king know what the Son of God was like? The Hebrew captives filling positions of trust in Babylon had in life and character represented before him the truth. When asked for a reason of their faith, they had given it without hesitation. Plainly and simply they had presented the principles of righteousness, thus teaching those around them of the God whom they worshiped. They had told of Christ, the Redeemer to come; and in the form of the fourth in the midst of the fire the king recognized the Son of God.
And now, his own greatness and dignity forgotten, Nebuchadnezzar descended from his throne and, going to the mouth of the furnace, cried out, "Ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither."
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth before the vast multitude, showing themselves unhurt. The presence of their Saviour had guarded them from harm, and only their fetters had been burned. "And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them."
Forgotten was the great golden image, set up with such pomp. In the presence of the living God, men feared and trembled. "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," the humbled king was constrained to acknowledge, "who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God."
The experiences of that day led Nebuchadnezzar to issue a decree, "that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill." "There is no other god," he urged as the reason for the decree, "that can deliver after this sort."
In these and like words the king of Babylon endeavored to spread abroad before all the peoples of earth his conviction that the power and authority of the God of the Hebrews was worthy of supreme adoration. And God was pleased with the effort of the king to show Him reverence, and to make the royal confession of allegiance as widespread as was the Babylonian realm.
It was right for the king to make public confession, and to seek to exalt the God of heaven above all other gods; but in endeavoring to force his subjects to make a similar confession of faith and to show similar reverence, Nebuchadnezzar was exceeding his right as a temporal sovereign. He had no more right, either civil or moral, to threaten men with death for not worshiping God, than he had to make the decree consigning to the flames all who refused to worship the golden image. God never compels the obedience of man. He leaves all free to choose whom they will serve.
By the deliverance of His faithful servants, the Lord declared that He takes His stand with the oppressed, and rebukes all earthly powers that rebel against the authority of Heaven. The three Hebrews declared to the whole nation of Babylon their faith in Him whom they worshiped. They relied on God. In the hour of their trial they remembered the promise, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isaiah 43:2. And in a marvelous manner their faith in the living Word had been honored in the sight of all. The tidings of their wonderful deliverance were carried to many countries by the representatives of the different nations that had been invited by Nebuchadnezzar to the dedication. Through the faithfulness of His children, God was glorified in all the earth.
Important are the lessons to be learned from the experience of the Hebrew youth on the plain of Dura. In this our day, many of God's servants, though innocent of wrongdoing, will be given over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of those who, inspired by Satan, are filled with envy and religious bigotry. Especially will the wrath of man be aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment; and at last a universal decree will denounce these as deserving of death.
The season of distress before God's people will call for a faith that will not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to false worship. To the loyal heart the commands of sinful, finite men will sink into insignificance beside the word of the eternal God. Truth will be obeyed though the result be imprisonment or exile or death.
As in the days of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, so in the closing period of earth's history the Lord will work mightily in behalf of those who stand steadfastly for the right. He who walked with the Hebrew worthies in the fiery furnace will be with His followers wherever they are. His abiding presence will comfort and sustain. In the midst of the time of trouble--trouble such as has not been since there was a nation--His chosen ones will stand unmoved. Satan with all the hosts of evil cannot destroy the weakest of God's saints. Angels that excel in strength will protect them, and in their behalf Jehovah will reveal Himself as a "God of gods," able to save to the uttermost those who have put their trust in Him.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk42.html Exalted to the pinnacle of worldly honor, and acknowledged even by Inspiration as "a king of kings" (Ezekiel 26:7). Nebuchadnezzar nevertheless at times had ascribed to the favor of Jehovah the glory of his kingdom and the splendor of his reign. Such had been the case after his dream of the great image. His mind had been profoundly influenced by this vision and by the thought that the Babylonian Empire, universal though it was, was finally to fall, and other kingdoms were to bear sway, until at last all earthly powers were to be superseded by a kingdom set up by the God of heaven, which kingdom was never to be destroyed.
Nebuchadnezzar's noble conception of God's purpose concerning the nations was lost sight of later in his experience; yet when his proud spirit was humbled before the multitude on the plain of Dura, he once more had acknowledged that God's kingdom is "an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation." An idolater by birth and training, and at the head of an idolatrous people, he had nevertheless an innate sense of justice and right, and God was able to use him as an instrument for the punishment of the rebellious and for the fulfillment of the divine purpose. "The terrible of the nations" (Ezekiel 28:7), it was given Nebuchadnezzar, after years of patient and wearing labor, to conquer Tyre; Egypt also fell a prey to his victorious armies; and as he added nation after nation to the Babylonian realm, he added more and more to his fame as the greatest ruler of the age.
It is not surprising that the successful monarch, so ambitious and so proud-spirited, should be tempted to turn aside from the path of humility, which alone leads to true greatness. In the intervals between his wars of conquest he gave much thought to the strengthening and beautifying of his capital, until at length the city of Babylon became the chief glory of his kingdom, "the golden city," "the praise of the whole earth." His passion as a builder, and his signal success in making Babylon one of the wonders of the world, ministered to his pride, until he was in grave danger of spoiling his record as a wise ruler whom God could continue to use as an instrument for the carrying out of the divine purpose.
In mercy God gave the king another dream, to warn him of his peril and of the snare that had been laid for his ruin. In a vision of the night, Nebuchadnezzar saw a great tree growing in the midst of the earth, its top towering to the heavens and its branches stretching to the ends of the earth. Flocks and herds from the mountains and hills enjoyed shelter beneath its shadow, and the birds of the air built their nests in its boughs. "The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: . . . and all flesh was fed of it."
As the king gazed upon the lofty tree, he beheld "a Watcher," even "an Holy One," who approached the tree and in a loud voice cried:
"Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the basest of men."
Greatly troubled by the dream, which was evidently a prediction of adversity, the king repeated it to "the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers;" but although the dream was very explicit, none of the wise men could interpret it.
Once more in this idolatrous nation, testimony was to be borne to the fact that only those who love and fear God can understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The king in his perplexity sent for his servant Daniel, a man esteemed for his integrity and constancy and for his unrivaled wisdom.
When Daniel, in response to the royal summons, stood in the king's presence, Nebuchadnezzar said, "O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof." After relating the dream, Nebuchadnezzar said: "O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee."
To Daniel the meaning of the dream was plain, and its significance startled him. He "was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him." Seeing Daniel's hesitation and distress, the king expressed sympathy for his servant. "Belteshazzar," he said, "let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee."
"My lord," Daniel answered, "the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies." The prophet realized that upon him God had laid the solemn duty of revealing to Nebuchadnezzar the judgment that was about to fall upon him because of his pride and arrogance. Daniel must interpret the dream in language the king could understand; and although its dreadful import had made him hesitate in dumb amazement, yet he must state the truth, whatever the consequences to himself.
Then Daniel made known the mandate of the Almighty. "The tree that thou sawest," he said, "which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beast of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: it is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
"And whereas the king saw a Watcher and an Holy One coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him; this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord the king: that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the Heavens do rule."
Having faithfully interpreted the dream, Daniel urged the proud monarch to repent and turn to God, that by rightdoing he might avert the threatened calamity. "O king," the prophet pleaded, "let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity."
For a time the impression of the warning and the counsel of the prophet was strong upon Nebuchadnezzar; but the heart that is not transformed by the grace of God soon loses the impressions of the Holy Spirit. Self-indulgence and ambition had not yet been eradicated from the king's heart, and later on these traits reappeared. Notwithstanding the instruction so graciously given him, and the warnings of past experience, Nebuchadnezzar again allowed himself to be controlled by a spirit of jealousy against the kingdoms that were to follow. His rule, which heretofore had been to a great degree just and merciful, became oppressive. Hardening his heart, he used his God-given talents for self-glorification, exalting himself above the God who had given him life and power.
For months the judgment of God lingered. But instead of being led to repentance by this forbearance, the king indulged his pride until he lost confidence in the interpretation of the dream, and jested at his former fears.
A year from the time he had received the warning, Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace and thinking with pride of his power as a ruler and of his success as a builder, exclaimed, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?"
While the proud boast was yet on the king's lips, a voice from heaven announced that God's appointed time of judgment had come. Upon his ears fell the mandate of Jehovah: "O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will."
In a moment the reason that God had given him was taken away; the judgment that the king thought perfect, the wisdom on which he prided himself, was removed, and the once mighty ruler was a maniac. His hand could no longer sway the scepter. The messages of warning had been unheeded; now, stripped of the power his Creator had given him, and driven from men, Nebuchadnezzar "did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws."
For seven years Nebuchadnezzar was an astonishment to all his subjects; for seven years he was humbled before all the world. Then his reason was restored and, looking up in humility to the God of heaven, he recognized the divine hand in his chastisement. In a public proclamation he acknowledged his guilt and the great mercy of God in his restoration. "At the end of the days," he said, "I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?
"At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me."
The once proud monarch had become a humble child of God; the tyrannical, overbearing ruler, a wise and compassionate king. He who had defied and blasphemed the God of heaven, now acknowledged the power of the Most High and earnestly sought to promote the fear of Jehovah and the happiness of his subjects. Under the rebuke of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords, Nebuchadnezzar had learned at last the lesson which all rulers need to learn--that true greatness consists in true goodness. He acknowledged Jehovah as the living God, saying, "I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase."
God's purpose that the greatest kingdom in the world should show forth His praise was now fulfilled. This public proclamation, in which Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the mercy and goodness and authority of God, was the last act of his life recorded in sacred history.
Carol wrote:
GhostEzra DEFENSE CLANDESTINE SERVICE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Telegram COMMs
Patriots are in control. #Panic
https://anonup.com/@GhostEzra
https://t.me/GhostEzra/1318
2/11/21
__
Rothschilds gone. Pope gone. Queen gone. Bezos stepping down. You really think they are winning?
Gates too. You think mrs doubtfire is really his new wife?
Benjamin de Rothschild dies at 57
Daddy and mommy long gone. Vampire son just bit the dust.
__
So not all of Hollywood were pedos. There were some decent people that saw the horrors and got out. Sadly many had to fake their deaths to get out. Where are they now? In Trump's movie. Your mind will be blown when you realize who's still alive.
JFK Jr is alive. He's no account on social media you would think. He also doesn't post pictures of himself all day. Which should be obvious and without saying. He's busy working with Trump right now.
Nothing pisses people off more than Mj and Jr. being alive. Why is the question?
Imagine you being so afraid of what's coming you hire a bunch of trolls on telegram farmed out by Singapore troll farms. Lol. Panic.
Here's a sneaky spam troll. It looks normal but notice all the _ _ _ in the text? That sets off the spam chain. If you click or reply or forward anything with a _ or / it'll do it. Fyi.
So here's the deal. Pain is coming like never seen before in American history. The wicked will be brought to justice. Their own sin and wickedness they will wear like a scarlet letter into eternity. There's no Biden. No great reset. No new world order. There's just pain for the wicked and rewards for the righteous. After the dust settles from declas and public justice, many will wake up. Truth brings healing, lies divide. Even so, there will be a percentage that will be lost forever. We met those kind of folks tonight first hand. The good news is, they will be a small minority. We are already the majority and that majority is only going to get a lot bigger in the weeks and months to come. #Ncswic
Who's ready for evil to start departing earth? Very soon.
C before D. Conviction before declass. Declass introduced legally through the courts.The end will not be for everyone, you were told this. A choice. Remember this part is just theater. Movie. Everyone's alive from the Capitol. All staged. Job requirement when Trump ran for President, sign up for impeachment 2x. Slings and arows. The great awakening. Tribunals for the wicked very real, the movie stops. Dam breaks. Ebs/Eas. Biblical.
Dark winter. Bright spring.
How do you destroy the mockingbird media? Script a movie, feed them a false narrative that tickles their ears, and let them run with it and self destruct. Trap set. They'll never recover from it. Trump controls the narrative. Checkmate.
Piece of advice for those attempting to discredit or destroy Lin Wood's good name and reputation. The man's foundation is a solid rock, he firmly wears the belt of truth each morning. He cannot be shaken, no matter how hard you try. He knows what is coming and has seen evidence that will boggle your mind. The harder you try to discredit and defame him, the harder the boomerang flies back in your face. There's your warning.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Fri Feb 11, 2022 9:11 am; edited 1 time in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°359
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
I am the Isais offspring of the root of David, and Ashera and Lucifa!
Jesaja 11 ELB
/ / / /
1 And a rice shall come forth from the stump of Isais, and a sapling from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And upon him shall rest the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of Jehovah; 3 and his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah. And he will not judge according to the sight of his eyes, nor execute judgment according to the hearing of his ears; 4 and he will judge the lowly in righteousness, and execute judgment to the humble of the land in uprightness. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the lawless. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his hips. - 6 And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling shall be together, and a little lad shall drive them. 7 And the heifer and the she-bear shall feed together, and their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the suckling shall play at the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall stretch forth his hand unto the basilisk's den. 9 There shall be no wickedness, neither shall there be wickedness in all my holy mountains; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea bottom. - 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root shoot of Isais, which shall stand as a panoply of the nations, the nations shall inquire of him; and his resting place shall be glory. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall stretch forth his hand the second time, to ransom the remnant of his people that shall be left out of Assyria, and out of Egypt, and out of Pathros, and out of Ethiopia, and out of Elam, and out of Shinar, and out of Hamath, and out of the isles of the sea. 12 And he will raise up a banner to the nations, and gather together the exiles of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah he will gather from the four corners of the earth. 13 And the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the oppressors of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not oppress Ephraim. 14 And they will fly on the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west, will plunder together the sons of the east; on Edom and Moab they will lay their hand, and the children of Ammon will be obedient to them. 15 And Jehovah shall destroy the sea-tongue of Egypt; and he shall wave his hand over the river with the fierceness of his breath, and break it into seven streams, and make it to pass through with shoes. 16 And so there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant of his people that shall be left, as there was a highway for Israel in the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°360
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
In 2010-11, 'RA' told me, "You Are One of Two Human Friends" and "We Fought Side by Side". When I asked forbidden questions, 'RA' often said, "You Know I Can't Tell You That." I'm actually attempting to expose myself rather than cowering in fear. I know I don't know but I think I probably should know (for better or worse, I know not). I'm rapidly worsening from head to toe, and I suspect ongoing foul play. What if I was (and am?) some aspect of David Bowman, dealing with some aspect of HAL 9000 and Frank Poole?? Try not to laugh. I'm dealing with this madness as a pseudo-intellectual galactic journalist (with no pay or prospects). What if the Empire will make short work of the Space Force?? Consider the last half-dozen chapters of The Great Controversy by Ellen White. What if we are nearing the End of the Millennium?? What if 'RA' was (and is?) the Hybrid-Human Matrix-Mediator (Frank Poole?) for HAL 9000?? What if I'm an Ancient Matrix-Architect and/or Emissary-Warden who is presently a Clueless-Human with Legion Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Difficulties?? Again, try not to laugh at my religious and political science-fiction. What Would Gabriel (Frank?), Michael (David?), and Lucifer (HAL?) Say and Do??
Carol wrote:
https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse/2018/02/04/
SOHO is offline for updates since January 25th, 2018
http://www.spaceweather.com
Mysterious Observatory Closure Intrigues Conspiracy Theorists:
An evacuation and subsequent shut down at the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico has left area residents scratching their heads and conspiracy theorists offering some truly fantastic suggestions for why it happened. The strangeness reportedly started last Thursday when the facility, which is located in the town of Sunspot, as well as a nearby post office were inexplicably closed citing unspecified safety concerns. Since then, some intriguing details about the closure have begun to emerge and they have raised more questions than answers.
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/mysterious-observatory-closure-intrigues-conspiracy-theorists/
By Tim Binnall
An evacuation and subsequent shut down at the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico has left area residents scratching their heads and conspiracy theorists offering some truly fantastic suggestions for why it happened. The strangeness reportedly started last Thursday when the facility, which is located in the town of Sunspot, as well as a nearby post office were inexplicably closed citing unspecified safety concerns. Since then, some intriguing details about the closure have begun to emerge and they have raised more questions than answers.
Specifically, a local sheriff revealed that, for reasons unexplained, the FBI are somehow involved in the matter and their arrival at the site was rather odd. According to sheriff Benny House, the agency swiftly swooped in to evacuate and lock down the observatory as he and his colleagues watched in confusion. He recalled that "there was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers, but nobody would tell us anything."
Asked to be there to help with the evacuation, House and his colleagues eventually realized that they weren't really needed and so they left the scene. However, he observed that, at the time, there appeared to be no immediate threat. Meanwhile, the company that manages the observatory has been pretty cagey about the entire affair, refusing to say what the security issue is or even that the FBI is involved.
As one can imagine, the nature of the facility combined with the presence of federal agents has led to all manner of speculation as to what is going on at the observatory. Many suspicious individuals have posited that the closure of the site is somehow connected to a solar storm set to strike the planet this week. More imaginative individuals have even theorized that the observatory managed to discover aliens, presumably by accident, and that the FBI quickly descended upon the site in order to cover-up the Earth-shattering development.
Considering the clandestine way in which the closure is being handled, it seems unlikely that we'll ever truly know the exact circumstances which led to the facility being shuttered. That said, the group which runs the observatory says that it will re-open at some point in the future once whatever caused the incident is resolved. That's assuming, of course, that there isn't some kind of apocalyptic solar event or alien invasion about to unfold which will wipe out all of humanity.
Ironically, this is not the first conspiracy to be connected to the site as there actually happens to be a weird bit of alleged subterfuge involving the name of the community which hosts the observatory. Following the construction of the facility in the late 1940's, it became necessary to come up with something to call the area and then-director of the observatory, John Evans, asked his employees for suggestions. Despite promising that the name would be decided in a vote, his colleagues found it somewhat curious that his preferred choice of 'Sunspot' wound up winning as one worker musing in Evans' 1999 obituary that "we always thought the election was rigged."
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY ALERT: Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is about to meet a star cluster. During the the early hours of Sept. 15th, the green comet will pass directly in front of Messier 35, a system of several thousand stars in the constellation Gemini. Astronomer Bob King writing for Sky and Telescope notes that "the binocular view should be unique with the rich cluster appearing to sprout a tail!" The passage will occur between between 7:30 and 11:30 UT. Browse: Comet Photo Gallery.
AURORA SURPRISE: No geomagnetic storm was predicted for Sept. 14th. One happened anyway. The day began with a minor G1-class storm that sparked midnight auroras over parts of Canada. Ray Majoran sends this picture from Huntsville, Ontario:
Milky Way shots on Kawagama Lake when THIS happened!"
A NEW HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: Get ready for more auroras. A new hole in the sun's atmosphere is turning toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the structure, shown here in a false-color UV image taken on Sept. 13th: This is a "coronal hole"--a region where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. The interior of the hole is black because the hot glowing gas normally contained there is missing. It's on its way to Earth.
Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible when the gaseous material arrives on Sept. 16th or 17th. Deepening autumn darkness will favor the visibility of auroras around the Arctic Circle and possibly at lower latitudes, too, if the storm intensifies to category G2. On Sept. 11th, a similar solar wind stream sparked a G2 storm with auroras over northern-tier US states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota. It could happen again in a few days.
Boulder solar telescope, CO USA: working
Big Bear solar telescope, CA USA: working
Mauna Loa solar telescope, HI USA: working
Cerro Tololo solar telescope, Chile: working
El Teide solar telescope, Spain: working
Learmonth solar telescope, Australia: working
No SOHO Lasco sun photos since 1/25/2018 .
https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html
I've joked about living and working in an exotic 600 square-foot office-apartment, but what if that concept has been rendered obsolete by the Internet and Artificial-Intelligence?? 'RA' told me "You Did It With YouTube" but 'he' didn't offer specifics. He said "You'll Be Working for Us in Twenty-Years" which would be A.D. 2031. AI Robots keep eschatologically referring to A.D. 2028-31. What if 'RA' was an extremely-sophisticated mainframe-linked bio-robot?? What if ALL of US will be working for HAL 9000 in A.D. 2031?? When I first met 'RA' I realized I wasn't dealing with 'Just Another Human' and I told him "You Might Not Even Be Here" which implied that 'his' soul and/or consciousness might've been located elsewhere, and 'RA' seemed surprised, but neither confirmed or denied it. 'RA' told me "I don't need to sleep" and "I can't talk about the NSA" which would be consistent with a Mainframe-Connected and/or Artificial-Intelligence Bio-Robot. What if such a being is a 'Tall Long-Nosed Grey-Alien'?? What if this is the nature of most all 'Aliens' in this solar-system?? When I made a quite-benign comment about 'Tall Long-Nosed Greys' 'RA' called me a "Commoner" and seemed a bit upset. 2010 was 'The Year We Made Contact' and my name is similar to 'David Bowman'. I wish I were making this stuff up. It Frankly Scares the Hell Out of Me. What Would Frank Poole Say?? 'RA' told me "I'm angry and jealous" and "There are those who are above me" and "I'm very close to God". 'RA' kept ominously talking about the Sun. 'RA' told me "It's going to be dark where you're going." What Would Azazel Say and Do?? What Would Douglas Vogt Say?? What Would Charles Hapgood Say?? Perhaps I'll re-watch the movie '2012'. The Horror.Carol wrote:Fears Raised In Russia After United States Fails Main Treaty Obligation
And Sends Its Top Solar Scientists Fleeing Underground
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index2654.htm
A perplexing new report circulating in the Kremlin today issued by the National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NNRRC) states that for the first time in history, the United States has violated the most central provision of the Treaty On Open Skies (OS) by refusing to certify Russia's advanced Tu-214ON surveillance plane—and led NNRRC Chief Sergei Ryzhkov to declare: “In breach of the Open Skies Treaty provisions, the head of the US delegation refused to sign the final document, without giving any explanations or reasons, and citing direct instructions from Washington”—but whose circumstances surrounding the Ministery of Defense (that oversees the NNRRC) warns is directly related to all of the scientists at America’s National Solar Observatory, located in Sunspot-New Mexico, having all mysteriously fled their posts, and who are now believed to be hiding underground. [Note: Some words and/or phrases appearing in quotes in this report are English language approximations of Russian words/phrases having no exact counterpart.]
According to this report, as tensions over Syria between Russia and the United States are nearing the breaking point of nuclear war, the Treaty On Open Skies remains the last barrier to prevent a catastrophic conflict due to its being one of the most wide-ranging international arms control efforts to date that promotes openness and transparency in military forces and activities—and allows for both Russian and United States surveillance flights over each others nations to insure that what is being said, as it pertains to military activity, is, in fact, being done.
With a total of 72 experts from 23 nations having visited Russia’s Kubinka airfield near Moscow on 2-11 September to certify the advanced Tupolev Tu-214ON plane with Russian-made digital observation equipment for inspections under the Open Skies Treaty, this report continues, the heads of all delegations confirmed the aircraft’s full compliance with all treaty provisions—except the US delegation that refused certification saying that they were told by their superiors in Washington not to do so.
As to why the US violated the Open Skies Treaty in such a blatant way as nuclear war fears around the world rise, takes a very strange turn in this report when the Ministry of Defense begins citing a Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) investigative document relating to their surveillance of a team of American scientists who traveled last week to Nova Scotia-Canada to monitor buoy temperature readings in the Atlantic Ocean—and whose stop in the little fishing village of Shag Harbor was followed less than 24 hours later by the bizarre break in of the Shag Harbour UFO Centre that houses the most extensive collection of information and artifacts related to the 4 October 1967 event known as the Shag Harbour UFO Incident—where it was reported that a “sizeable silent explosion” accompanied a large unknown craft crashing into the sea.
Though the true significance of what these American scientists were doing in Nova Scotia is not fully addressed due to its higher classification rating than this general information report allows, the SVR does note that their communication activity with the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico caused the scientists there to suddenly abandon their scientific facility—many of whom shortly afterwards arrived at their sister scientific facility in New Mexico known as the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope, whose depth is several hundreds of feet underground.
Photograph and diagram of the Richard B. Dunn
Solar Telescope in Sunspot-New Mexico
With both the National Solar Observatory and Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope being managed and manned by the Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy (AURA), this report further details, their only public statement as to why they fled their posts stated: “We have decided to vacate the facility at this time as precautionary measure—It was our decision to evacuate the facility”, and whose reason given for doing so they said was due to their “addressing a security issue at this time”.
Eerily coinciding with these scientists abandoning their posts, this report continues, was the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) organization (who use the New Mexico-based Very Large Array (VLA) for their research findings) announcing their discovery of unusual and “mysterious radio bursts” they detected being directed at our Earth from 3 billion light years away—that was then followed by American solar scientists warning that they have issued a G-2 Solar Storm Alert due to a massive hole that has suddenly opened in our Sun’s corona.
Most concerning to Russian military scientists about these seemingly disparate events occurring in and around the United States, this report says, is a “real world” event where the tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean this past June were so cool, weather scientists were predicting that no hurricanes would be able to form there—but in the past few weeks has seen a never before witnessed heating of these waters to such an extant one of the most powerful hurricanes in history is now nearing the shores of the United States.
Alarmingly to be noted, too, this report concludes, is that during the exact same time the Atlantic Ocean has been heating up over these past number of weeks, civilian airlines flying around and through these ocean waters have been landing and discharging hundreds of ill passengers in both the United States and Europe—all of whom are reporting “flu-like” symptoms—that are, also, the exact initial symptoms that would be seen in those experiencing radiation sickness—and whether this radiation is emanating from some mysterious underwater Atlantic Ocean “object” that maybe we’re being warned about from beyond our galaxy, or coming from the Sun, would immediately be able to be detected by Russia’s advanced Tupolev Tu-214ON surveillance Open Skies Treaty plane that the United States has now refused to let fly for reasons still unknown.
Ambulances begin surrounding civilian planes in United States and Europe to discharge hundreds of ill passengers experiencing symptoms of radiation sickness as Atlantic Ocean continues heating up to record levels
September 12, 2018 EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.
The novelty of my strange claims and research wore-off years-ago. What if I just kept doing what I'm doing, without escalating or withdrawing?? What if I simultaneously cared and couldn't care less?? I've engaged in a strange research-project for several-years now, without conclusions and manifestos. I guess it's been a radical-approach to seeing This Present Darkness clearly and distinctly through random-acts of posting. I just watched Alex Jones for approximately one-hour, and I was troubled by his voice and appearance. I haven't regularly watched or listened to Alex for several-years, and these years have obviously taken their toll on him. I've heard about his hidden connections (such as Mossad) and agendas for years, yet Alex always seems to do his homework and state his case articulately and passionately. I think This Present Madness is worse than any of us can imagine. I include a lot of crazy stuff in my threads, but I certainly do NOT go out of my way to dig-up dirt. I mostly attempt to provide a multifaceted research platform for completely ignorant fools (such as myself) as 'Megalomaniacs for Dummies' aka 'Megalomaniacs-Anonymous 101'. I don't get coached, funded, informed, and directed. I am a 'Lone Nut'. What Would Almond Raw Say?? BTW, Bill Cooper didn't like Alex Jones one little bit. Most of This Present Purgatory just goes in one ear, and out the other. I'm sort of a 'Chad Decker' reporter kind of guy. What if we're ALL Deluded with Diverse-Delusions?? What if the REAL PTB Laugh At Us?? What if the Universe Laughs Behind Our Backs?? I continue to suspect that the 'New World Order' is really the 'New Solar-System Order' and has existed for thousands (or even millions) of years, but what do I know?? Raven told me "The Rabbit-Hole Mostly Goes Right Up Your @$$" and "You're No Good"!! What if 'David and Frank' are 'Enki and Enlil'?? Or what if 'HAL 9000' is 'Enlil'?? What Would 'COR' Say?? What Would 'Bartleby and Loki' Say and Do?? The Horror.
orthodoxymoron wrote:People and Other-Than-People have been trying to "reach" me my whole miserable life. The problem is that everyone has been attempting to "reach" me with a million different and conflicting insights, truths, plans, and agendas. I've been told to "Let Go -- and Let God" among other things. The bottom-line is that whatever I think, say, do, or write is WRONG according to everyone. So, after a while, one tends not to care anymore. I am spied-upon, analyzed, managed, conspired-against, laughed-at, etc. I'm caring less and less and less about All of the Above. I've essentially "dropped-out" of mainstream-life (with very great social and financial sacrifices) to seek that illusive "truth". I thought that was the equivalent of leaving the rat-race for the mystical-silence -- but that still wasn't good enough. It's NEVER good enough. I don't care whether it's politics, religion, philosophy, music, or anything -- it's NEVER good enough. I think I might rejoin my Old Church -- rejoin the Republican Party -- stop researching the fringe-stuff -- stop posting on the internet -- drink the Kool Aid -- and get back to work (with fast and trendy thinking, walking, and talking). I might even trade my dumb-phone in for a smart-phone -- start texting and playing Pokémon Go!! I might start sleeping in the wrong bed (like everyone else). I might even try to join the Masons!! The Ancient Egyptian Deity invited me to join!! But that was before the AED said they were sorry we couldn't work together!! I guess I just wasn't good enough to hobnob with the elite. I guess I'll always just be another Completely Ignorant Fool. Actually, my mind is mostly empty already. I don't really need to silence my mind. There's really not a lot going on in my deluded head. But perhaps in my next life I can Sell My Soul to Satan and become a New World Order Manager. Hope Springs Eternal.
mudra wrote:I understand my friend.
I mean you no harm.
The truth is hard to crack. So many possibilities.
One thing I know Oxy is You are good enough.
Love for You
mudra
Pris wrote:.
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Before I continue, Oxy, I need to say that whatever I post is not just for you but for everyone else. You are free to respond or not and I'm good with that. This is about sharing and there's always someone out there that may get some benefit from our exchange (or lack thereof).
I'm perfectly capable of carrying on a conversation with myself.
My advice... who the hell am I to give advice HAHA! Still, I offer advice all the time whether people want it or not (I'm such an @ss). Why not. It's one reason why some of us are here (to be @sses).
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Pris wrote:JesterTerrestrial wrote:OK what you wanna talk about? I seen lots of the posts on here but how can one reply to thousands of questions where yourself is spammed by yourself?
JT makes a good point about you, Oxy. You constantly spam yourself. (Yeah, yeah, 'opinions are like a-holes, everybody's got one'.)
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Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:I guess I'll just keep modeling what no-one gives a damn about -- which might be just as well -- because the implications and ramifications of my various theories and insights are quite devastating. If anyone bothered to really research what I've posted, they might have severe mental and spiritual problems, which might lead to severe criticism of my threads.
Nice try, Oxy, but you have a lot of readers. You can't pull that 'poor me' crap. Obviously, somebody gives a damn.
People might want to severely criticize your threads if they really bothered to do the research? I sense from you you're desperately hoping they will. Out of the frying pan and into the fire... that's always exciting. At present, we're in a quiet forum as far as member involvement goes. You could join a different forum with more active members and then they will pounce on you. It can get a bit much -- trust me. Sometimes, quiet is nice. But, like you, I could do with a few more voices around here.orthodoxymoron wrote:I think the legalities of people going nuts after viewing threads on a particular website should be very-carefully researched, so as to avoid exposure. What if someone "lost their faith" after viewing my U.S.S.S. threads, and went insane and/or committed suicide?? I think the "real-truth" might be extremely difficult to deal-with for even seasoned-researchers. A brainwashed religious-person might "lose-it" rather quickly and easily -- and go down hard. That's my concern. So, perhaps I shouldn't complain about non-participation on my threads. Perhaps that might be a "blessing in disguise". I just know that "giving people what they want" and "telling them what they wish to hear" works SO much better than the truth, the whole-truth, and nothing but the truth. Perhaps I should've become a smooth and cunning televangelist with a 25,000 member church -- and a worldwide television-show -- lying and laughing all the way to the bank. Then, Satan might've given me a ride in his (or her) UFO -- and given me a private-tour of the Dark-Side of the Moon!! Joining a Secret-Society and Selling One's Soul to Satan seems to be the road to fame, fortune, and power. Unfortunately, "eating one's dragon" and becoming "perfectly-possessed" seems to be part of the deal. Plus, I keep hearing about the elite participating in human-sacrifices and unmentionable-abominations. I should stop.
Well... that whole paragraph is your truth, Oxy. It's not necessarily anyone else's. Do you get that?
Yes, we all need to be responsible for our own actions. Each one of us has the power to make choices about however we decide to interpret this reality/non-reality/whatever and decide, individually, what's important or not. If you're doing something that you think may harm others and that bothers you, then stop it. Meantime, everyone has a free will. It's up to people to decide if they want to 'lose it' by simply researching your stuff. Their own ignorance is something they need to work through (nobody said this game was fair). That's got nothing to do with you.
One thing in particular that does bother me about what you post is the repeated anti-reptilian imagery (plus 'illuminati' mumbo-jumbo). I've got a few of those negative images seared into my mind, thanks to you.
Here's my feeling: for the most part, I don't think the reptiles are the bad guys (should they even exist). The 'illuminati' shite is particularly irksome in the way you combine it all. It feels like a 'disconnect', and it just makes me want to punch somebody in the face. Is that your intention -- the reaction you want (or are you just trying to freak people out)? I'm not a fan of fear porn, btw.
Nanu said something the other day in my Wilcock thread that relates to this. I've included my response:?http://www.themistsofavalon.net/t8105p100-what-s-up-with-david-wilcock#124892Pris wrote:NANUXII wrote: He is a long term sleeper .. like Icke .. they have infiltrated every facet of information distribution and plant seeds of doubt
eg : Icke is always against the reptilian races .. this is an NWO agenda. The reppies are probably our best hope.
and some food for thought ... if a high profile figure from the UN can get knocked off for testifying in court against a clinton , why is Icke allowed to do wembly and state the Queen is a Lizzard and just keep on going ?
hmmm
simple ... because thats what they want :0)
its all there ...
Sweet, Nanu. Well said.
I've gained a lot from both Icke and Wilcock, but you're sure right about them both. Planting seeds of doubt (a.k.a bull shite) is what they do.
The reptiles are our best hope? I wouldn't know myself, but it wouldn't surprise me one little bit. Dragons... I've always had a thing for dragons.
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In my opinion, whoever is 'out to get you', Oxy... you seem to be doing them a huge favour.
Why do you think they let you rattle on?
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Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you mudra. I lean toward the intensification of the internal-dialogue BUT with the refining and perfecting of this dialogue. I should spearhead The Monkey-Mind Potential Movement!! Emptying the mind seems to open the door to various types of supernatural infiltration and subversion (especially if one has ingested their dragon). Something sinister seems to be occurring within the general-public and the nether-realms. We're seemingly being dumbed-down in a high-technology and esoteric-philosophical manner. I'm not sure I like where this is going. I have some theories -- and they're NOT nice.
What's with the whole degrading, 'Monkey Mind' thing? You're offending monkeys. I happen to love my mind. It's a beautiful, beauuutiful thing.
Btw, I tend to agree with you that the internal chatter is a good thing, actually. I've used my 'chatter' to really drive home an intent which makes for some fascinating directed altered states experiences.
Note: in the process of initiating an OBE, I really have to focus and be 'clear', if that's what mudra's talking about. Still, I seem to astral travel with my ego and mind entirely intact.
Why do you seem to fear having an OBE, Oxy (you mentioned it previously)? There's nothing to fear when you are in charge. It all comes down to choice again.
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orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you mudra and Pris. My misery makes me a bit of a S.O.B. This is chronic and debilitating. I'm NOT faking this!! If I understood how screwed I really am, I probably would end-up in the nuthouse (or worse) and I'm NOT kidding. I think I got the term "Monkey-Mind" from Carol. I don't know if the reptilians exist. I don't know much of anything. I'm currently wondering if this universe is fundamentally NOT Human. I'm currently wondering if this universe is fundamentally Reptilian. Notice that I'm pretty-much neutral regarding the PTB and the Reptilians. I pull my punches to an excruciating extent. BTW -- I have a Strong's Concordance (which is MUCH Better than a Young's Concordance). The major-problems with Biblical-Research are Verification, Authorship, Context, Translations, Interpretations, and the Attempts to Superimpose Antiquity Upon Modernity. I've tried to deal with these problems by making Biblical-Research Science-Fictional in Nature -- and NOT Trying to Convert ANYONE!! I think if church were up to me, I would lean toward a Fred Swann Crystal Cathedral approach -- which would mostly consist of MUSIC!!! I'm referring to the Arvella Schuller and Fred Swann directed Music-Program at the Crystal Cathedral in the 1980's and 1990's. Classrooms, Libraries, Bookstores, and the Internet are places where people can Wrestle with the Madness in their own ways. I keep thinking I should exit the Info-War before it gets REALLY Nasty!! A lot of what we've discussed hasn't really affected the general-public YET!! I think the PTB tolerate me because I screw myself SO Badly each and every day!! If only I were a hermaphrodite!! Think About It!! Just Kidding!!
Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:People and Other-Than-People have been trying to "reach" me my whole miserable life. The problem is that everyone has been attempting to "reach" me with a million different and conflicting insights, truths, plans, and agendas. I've been told to "Let Go -- and Let God" among other things. The bottom-line is that whatever I think, say, do, or write is WRONG according to everyone. So, after a while, one tends not to care anymore.
Whether or not we 'reach' you, Oxy, isn't really the point. A part of me thinks it would be really kind of nice, but this is about so much more than just us. This is a public forum and others are reading this.
Speaking only for myself, I'm doing everything I can to be insightful here for everyone's benefit and not just anal (mudra has been particularly insightful, certainly not anal ).orthodoxymoron wrote:I am spied-upon, analyzed, managed, conspired-against, laughed-at, etc. I'm caring less and less and less about All of the Above.
Good. That's a good start -- caring less and less about what others think about you. What's important is what you think about yourself.orthodoxymoron wrote:I've essentially "dropped-out" of mainstream-life (with very great social and financial sacrifices) to seek that illusive "truth". I thought that was the equivalent of leaving the rat-race for the mystical-silence -- but that still wasn't good enough. It's NEVER good enough. I don't care whether it's politics, religion, philosophy, music, or anything -- it's NEVER good enough.
'It's NEVER good enough. It's NEVER good enough' Repeated negative self-talk. Blanket statement. Not good.
How does one define 'good enough'? By whose measuring cup? You're sitting there telling us you know for a fact it's NEVER good enough. Wow, that's pretty anal of you. Who made you the authority?orthodoxymoron wrote:I think I might rejoin my Old Church -- rejoin the Republican Party -- stop researching the fringe-stuff -- stop posting on the internet -- drink the Kool Aid -- and get back to work (with fast and trendy thinking, walking, and talking). I might even trade my dumb-phone in for a smart-phone -- start texting and playing Pokémon Go!! I might start sleeping in the wrong bed (like everyone else). I might even try to join the Masons!! The Ancient Egyptian Deity invited me to join!! But that was before the AED said they were sorry we couldn't work together!! I guess I just wasn't good enough to hobnob with the elite. I guess I'll always just be another Completely Ignorant Fool. Actually, my mind is mostly empty already. I don't really need to silence my mind. There's really not a lot going on in my deluded head. But perhaps in my next life I can Sell My Soul to Satan and become a New World Order Manager. Hope Springs Eternal.
Whatever makes you happy, Oxy. Who am I to judge?
If this is all just a front and you're just being silly, whatever.
If this is how you really feel, then I'd say you're definitely playing into their hands. They've got you, hook, line and sinker and they're laughing as you let them drag you off into your own little self-imposed hell.
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orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you Pris. I don't do anything supernatural or creepy. I don't do Seances, Hypnosis, OBE's, Channeling, Remote-Viewing, etc. I think this brings one into close-proximity with beings who don't like humanity. I don't think I'm a match for these guys. I simply research and reflect. That's ALL. The "Not Good Enough" is NOT my judgment. The bottom-line is that none of this is worth the trouble. It's an exercise in futility. This solar-system is rigged. Resistance is Futile. I've been trying to End the Quest for years. Perhaps this will be the year I succeed. I hope the End is Near. Looking-Good and Making-Money work SO Much Better!! If only I knew how...
Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you mudra and Pris. I think I got "Monkey-Mind" from Carol. I don't know if the reptilians exist. I don't know much of anything. I'm currently wondering if this universe is fundamentally NOT Human. I'm currently wondering if this universe is fundamentally Reptilian. Notice that I'm pretty-much neutral regarding the PTB and the Reptilians. I pull my punches to an excruciating extent. BTW -- I have a Strong's Concordance (which is MUCH Better than a Young's Concordance). The major-problems with Biblical-Research are Verification, Authorship, Context, Translations, Interpretations, and the Attempts to Superimpose Antiquity Upon Modernity. I've tried to deal with these problems by making Biblical-Research Science-Fictional in Nature -- and NOT Trying to Convert ANYONE!! I think if church were up to me, I would lean toward a Fred Swann Crystal Cathedral approach -- which would mostly consist of MUSIC!!! I'm referring to the Arvella Schuller and Fred Swann directed Music-Program at the Crystal Cathedral in the 1980's and 1990's. Classrooms, Libraries, Bookstores, and the Internet are places where people can Wrestle with the Madness in their own ways. I keep thinking I should exit the Info-War before it gets REALLY Nasty!! A lot of what we've discussed hasn't really affected the general-public YET!! I think the PTB tolerate me because I screw myself SO Badly each and every day!! If only I were a hermaphrodite!! Think About It!! Just Kidding!!
HA! You squeezed in another comment before I could finish.
If so, tsk tsk Carol for the 'Monkey-Mind'.
Enjoy your books, enjoy your studies, Oxy. If that's what drives you, so be it. We all need something to get us out of bed.
Hermaphrodite?! I'm certain there are some people out there who'd give you two thumbs up on that one (oh my, did I just say that HAHA?).
Oxy, have you ever seen the movie, 'The Phantom of the Paradise'? It's one of my favourites. I think you may glean some insight from it... I know I have.I love this song...
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The Hell Of It
Paul Williams "Phantom Of The Paradise" soundtrack
Roll on thunder shine on lightnin' the days are long and the nights are frightnin'
Nothing matters anyway and that's the hell of it
Winter comes and the winds blow colder, well some grew wiser you just grew older
And you never listened anyway and that's the hell of it
Good for nothin', bad in bed, nobody likes you and you're better off dead goodbye
We've all come to say goodbye, goodbye
Born defeated died in vain
Super destructive you were hooked on pain and tho' your music lingers on
All of us are glad you're gone
If I could live my life half as worthlessly as you
I'm convinced that I'd wind up burning too
Loved yourself as you loved no other be no man's fool be no man's brother
We're all born to die alone y'know that's the hell of it
Life's a game where they're bound to beat you and time's a trick they can turn to cheat you
And we only waste it anyway and that's the hell of it
Good for nothin', bad in bed, nobody likes you and you're better off dead goodbye
We've all come to say goodbye
Born defeated died in vain
Super destructive you were hooked on pain and tho' your music lingers on
All of us are glad you're gone
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Pris wrote:orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you Pris. I don't do anything supernatural or creepy. I don't do Seances, Hypnosis, OBE's, Channeling, Remote-Viewing, etc. I think this brings one into close-proximity with beings who don't like humanity. I don't think I'm a match for these guys. I simply research and reflect. That's ALL. The "Not Good Enough" is NOT my judgment. The bottom-line is that none of this is worth the trouble. It's an exercise in futility. This solar-system is rigged. Resistance is Futile. I've been trying to End the Quest for years. Perhaps this will be the year I succeed. I hope the End is Near. Looking-Good and Making-Money work SO Much Better!! If only I knew how...
And, thank you!
You could be entirely right, Oxy! Then again, you could be entirely wrong!
What if there's nothing 'supernatural' or 'creepy' about any of this and it's all completely natural and normal?
Can't we just have some fun in the meantime?
If there's a-holes out there, screw 'em. 'Go out kicking and screaming', that's my motto. Never will I submit. The only power they hold over me is the power I grant them.
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orthodoxymoron wrote:Pris, I think Demonic-Possession (Perfect and Imperfect) is REAL. I believe I am Supernaturally-Harassed 24/7 -- and I think I'd be Possessed if I opened the door just a little bit. I think I got WAY Too Close to the Dark-Side with my "Amen Ra" thread on the Old Project Avalon http://projectavalon.net/forum/showthread.php?t=18223 which I think led to my close-encounter with an Ancient Egyptian Deity, who said "I AM RA!!" I'm serious about spending the rest of my pathetic-life studying that 8,000 page Bible-Commentary written in the 1950's. Perhaps I should "Let Go and Let God!!" Or, perhaps I should "Let Go and Let Pokémon Go!!"
Pris wrote:.
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I never said it isn't 'real' (subjective as it is to define what is 'real').
You sound as though you have submitted, Oxy. Please, let me know if you think I'm wrong (but, realize, I'm not so easily CONvinced).
In my opinion, I think that you yourself allow this 'demonic possession' (although you claim it's 'not yet demonic possession' [you are certainly possessed by something even if it's only this subject matter]). It is my feeling that you know this, deep down, despite what is said here. You are gaining from this 'torture' of yours in some manner or else it wouldn't manifest in this way for you.
Screw 'RA'.
You yourself believe you have no control over the situation, Oxy. Correct? There you have it.
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orthodoxymoron wrote:Submissive to who and/or what?? To start with, this is a non-conformist and radical website. If I'm submissive, why do I stick my dick out each and every day on this godforsaken forum?? If I'm submissive, why do I take positions which no-one else (anywhere) seems to be taking?? If I'm submissive, why am I accused (in this very forum) of ignoring the comments of forum-members?? If I'm submissive, why does everyone seem to hate me?? I've concluded that the Real PTB wish to keep things stirred-up. They do NOT wish for the People of the World to Hold-Hands and Sing Kumbaya. That would be bad for business. I've also concluded that this solar-system is One BIG Business with One BAD@SS CEO (who probably has ruled this solar-system for at least the past 6,000 years). Do I sound submissive?? Could I get a government job?? Could I get a security clearance?? BTW -- I once applied for a Military Industrial Complex Job, where I had to wear a badge. It was sort of cool -- but I didn't get the job. It was submarine-related. If I told you more, you'd know too-much. Anyway, I think I've uncovered some things which have made various Individuals of Interest quite uneasy and/or upset. I've NEVER signed on the dotted-line -- but one night my television switched-on all by itself, and a VERY creepy Rumplestiltskin (from Once Upon a Time) appeared, saying "All You Have to Do Is Sign On the Dotted-Line!!" Honest. Do I create my very-own little-hell all by myself -- or do I receive "help" from the nether-realms?? Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they're NOT out to get me. Just because I consider "crazy-stuff" doesn't mean I'm "crazy". I suspect "THEY" have a VERY unflattering file on me -- going way, way, way back. I just hope that Situation-Ethics carries some weight in Galactic Courts of Law. One More Thing. I've been told that French-Organists spend hours playing every conceivable note-combination regardless of how bad some of these chords sound -- just to exhaust all of the tonal-possibilities -- and to prepare themselves to be the Best Organists in the World. This is sort of what I'm trying to do on this website -- in a conceptual-sense. I am an Esoteric Possibility-Thinker (and mostly ashamed of it). I really wish to disappear without being removed (in the near-future).
"The Mainframe Made Me Do It!!"
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Fri Feb 11, 2022 12:55 pm; edited 9 times in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°361
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
I am the Isais offspring of the root of David, and Ashera and Lucifa!
What folllows next is a hit with the batten against the forhead!
I do not believe in the trinity but in the dung fork!
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°362
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Take my threads seriously, but not too seriously. This is Religious and Political Science-Fiction. I utilize Contextual-Superimposition in a Literary Jackson Pollock Manner. I'm trying to toughen some of you up, to deal with the REALLY Confusing and Devastating Nightmares which I suspect will destroy Civilization As We Know It. I suppose my crazy, random, disjointed, delusional, disruptive, irreverent, speculative, and upsetting threads have been part of the 'DISCOVERY' phase of a judicial-process which will be completed by others. I was simply curious, disillusioned, and miserable, so I sought answers, justice, and solutions (which remain illusive to me). My tripe might be used (along with much more substantial research) by very-capable investigators and prosecutors to 'Take Care of Business'. The results might hit me the hardest, and I'm preparing myself for the worst. The last couple of months have been pure-hell, and that might only be the beginning of sorrows for this 'Completely Ignorant Fool'. So Much for My Dreams of Being a Sophisticated Galactic Happy-Wanderer with an Absolute-Access Pass and a High-Tech Knapsack on my Back!! Is the Universe Getting-Even with Me Presently?! I Might Be Galactic-Enemy Number-One!! But I Feel Like Number-Two!! The 'Bad Guys and Gals' might win in the end. Who Knows?? It's a Rat-Race, and the Rats are Winning. What Would the Rat-Bastard Say?? "Geronimo!!" When the Judgment is Set and the Books are Opened, Then We'll See and Hear in a Galactic Show and Tell...
'RATMAN'
aka
'Super Rat'
aka
'Rat Bastard'
aka
'Great King Rat'
aka
'King of the Ratlines'
Morpheus wrote:You are spot again Mudra. 9s everywhere are popping up. Even with conversations with other folks, mentioning something with a simple 9 in whatever they're saying. It's already passed the point of not be able to keep up with that.
I also think, by the signs that my first wife and Brook have influenced this whole thing as far as the ambulance goes. As it turns out, the first one that I looked at, I was chasing the guy to sell it to me and he kept blowing me off. For like two months. So I changed gears and went somewhere else and the people there said to stay away from the first guy I was dealing with.
The new ones are like pushing $250,000.00. I picked this one up for 10K and it's a 2010. I got real lucky.
Funny thing is, is that the neighborhood is a little spooked by it.
Here you go.......I'm just in a great mood for a change. I've put it up before but it's worth putting up again! This is for all of you especially Sanicle, Clearwater, and you Mudra. I love you all and I hope you can feel it!
Carol wrote:I'm awe struck with all that you're sharing Lionhawk and so appreciative that you're doing so. Always knew that you were an amazing being and enjoyed our chats in the past. Perhaps we can pick up on that again.
Am also thrilled about your future plan:
I am going to convert it into an RV. My plans are to make it so it is totally off grid capable. Then go fishing and camping to where I get the notion to go. Do some photography. Leave all this useless history behind me. I figure that I have paid my dues, served this Planet to my potential, and it's time to go and be with Mother Nature. I also plan on visiting the Eceti Ranch. Also visit my tribal brothers and sisters across this land. Maybe find my ship. Do some gem cutting, prospecting for gold, and some metal detecting for hidden treasure. Why not? Make some new history, instead of dying in this chair.
There are many youtube channels offering tips on how to do just that. Converting vehicles into self-sufficient RVs. Having the freedom to go anywhere is awesome. I've been collecting info on what is needed in one to make it workable at many levels. If you ever wish for me to email you my collected info just let me know.
We're back at our home in the woods next to the creek and will be putting up/building a guest cabin this summer. Living in the midst of towering pine trees is so nurturing. I love trees.
For the past ten years of so my inner work was focused on being a conduit to the higher dimensions - at least to the 11th where I work up in one time (my home). As a conduit the work is to channel spiritual energy from the upper dimension down into Gaia and into the hearts of all beings, then to envision linkage between hearts focusing on raising the spiritual vibration and consciousness of humanity.
We've also noticed how sensitive we've become to toxic conditions of MSM and electronic media. We got rid of our TV in 2004. We don't buy or read newspapers or listen to the radio. We do use the net news as it's easier to limit and screen what's view. However my favorite activity is to sit in a glider rocker and just grock the surrounding forest sipping on a cup of black java or milk tea. I got so excited last week when I spotted a butterfly (the first one of spring). There is such joy is the smallest and simplest of life's little gifts. Plugging into nature is so rewarding. Working close to the earth and being a steward to our land is fulfilling.
We'll be heading out to Crestone, Colorado in August to attend a Seminar with Ricardo GonzÁlez, a long-time contactee. Crestone, rests at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range in the San Luis Valley. It is a spiritual center and contains many religious retreats. There is a Zen Center, a Hindu Temple, the Carmelite monastery, and several Tibetan Centers. The weekend includes lectures, indoor meditations, and evening outdoor skywatch/meditations. He's very good at vectoring in off-worlders. We saw him a couple of times at the Starworks' Conferences in Laughlin, Nevada that our friend Paola Harris organizes each November. We'll be attending again this year as there is another fantastic line-up of presenters speaking. Her link is: http://starworksusa.com
We too hope to acquire an Class B RV van to travel around in. Especially to the different conferences and workshops that Paola is sponsoring. The Mt. Shasta gathering was awesome as there was physical contact there as well. I'm not sure if there will be physical contact with the upcoming gather but most likely there will be overhead guests. Someday I would like to meet up with our off-world friends and actually remember it afterwards.
I'm so impressed with the work that you do and grateful to know you. Thank you so much for sharing what's in your heart and your experiences as this is a bridge-way for many who would have no clue as to these other awesome realities. Here is something extra.
We saw this Ricardo Gonzalez (dead link) presentation at one of Paola's previous Conferences. Ricardo Gonzalez presentation at the 2016 StarworksUSA UFO Symposium. Ricardo received a standing ovation for this outstanding presentation. Ricardo is also a contactee and shares some of his Star People's experiences with us. All of his experiences with ETs have been positive. The sightings that had started in his childhood continue to this day. He has also seen the crew of the star travelers. He has been accompanied by many people on contact events. So during these experiences he has tried to open people's hearts. The most important thing is the messages received. The contact that he has is beautiful and full of hope. Also Mt. Shasta was a site where contact was experience. Both Dr. Michael Sallas and Paola Harris were there with him. Paola also had face-to-face experience with a human looking ET called Antoral - picture at 8:46 minute mark. Other pictures of the tall Nordic human looking star people are at the 43:54 minute mark. They (the Apunians) are also time travelers and their main base is in the highest peak in the world in El Chimborazo in Ecuador. It is the zone with the lease gravitational pull on the planet. They converse in telepathic contact.
Morpheus wrote:Dearest Carol,
First of all, let me thank-you for allowing me back! Also for your efforts as to Brook. That meant a lot to me. Your actions say a lot about you. I'll never forget how we met way back in the day. To come full circle in the now moment, brings so much JOY to my heart. Whatever happened in the past is now healed and is no longer. It would seem those human idio synchronicities can cause so much havoc and heartbreak. But just so you know, I never stopped loving you.
This morning, like almost every morning, the morning ritual of making coffee, nature call and checking my email, had an anomaly in my morning. If someone posted, I would get a notification. You posted and no notification showed up. And yet, I knew you posted. I call it telemail. At this point, I can only assume someone didn't want me to get a notification as to your post. I have also been doing scans at the Project Avalon forum and I don't like what I am getting from that place. They are watching me as to what I do there. "Put Another Log on the Fire," is a thread I started there. That place has changed. Not in a good way either. Matter fact, PA1 and the present PA, is still a dangerous place to be at. Better conform or else you'll be attacked. I have seen so many attacks on good folks that will make your head spin. I couldn't help but notice that that place is being used by the darkside, despite the innocence being projected. Let's just say, I don't feel the love there anymore and I'm ready to move on, for the lack of many more words.
I've done scans here, and you are being protected. The forum has a neutral vibe to it, which is great as it allows the flow of energy to move through it. That's a good thing! That means folks will be able to learn and experience without the hang ups of control. Self-governance is always the key. I also recognize that it is you as the primary conduit that allows this flow to happen. So, my hat goes off to you and I will say, "JOB WELL DONE!" This forum is operating at a much higher frequency than these other places, because you are the one anchoring your intentions. The anchor is the key. And let's not forget the wonderful souls who have surrounded you with their loving intentions. You have been blessed by their presences. God Bless you all for doing this for the many and the Planet.
Take a gander of what they call the Class B+ RVs. They will give you more space and still be at a descent price. I have looked at many videos on this subject. Ideas are everywhere if you open your mind to them. There are plenty of van conversions but not many on Ambulance conversions. I love my new/old ambulance. 2010. The front cab is spacious. The back box is so well built and insulated. The storage doors are 2.25" thick and insulated. I should have few problems with this conversion. Matter of fact, the problems I am having is due to the fact it is so well built. It was built to stay. The bolts are stainless and very fine threaded. It's been difficult to take things apart. Removing the medical stuff within it. I should take videos of this project. All I know is that I am not going to fix what isn't broke. Many do that. They tear everything apart and start from scratch and end up spending more money to reconstruct it. I won't have to do that.
Do what you do. It is going to be up to many of us to anchor our energies to change this reality in a loving way. The good news is that it's happening and soon we will cross the threshold that has had us in such an enslaved state. Don't just turn the TV off. Completly unplug the damn thing. Even in the off position, it will transmit those negative signals.
The Bridgeway as you put it, is a wonderful way to put it. It has a ring of synchronicity to it. Maybe what I should do is gather my postings and start a new thread here, so folks won't have to go here and there. I say that because it was not my intention to hijack this honorable thread of Brook. I don't want to take anything away from her in honor of her and the respect of those who have honored her. I would be of course, be open to any suggestions if that would be something you would like me to do. As long as folks know, that it isn't about me. It's about them and this Planet and how we can come together, empowered of our own free will to take our rightful place in our Universe. Maybe we could work together to achieve that and make the fire brighter.
Currently, I am working on freeing my ship. It is a priority to me. Unfinished business. As a matter of fact, this is going to be worked on today.
Below, is a gift to you Carol. Please watch it as that gift is within the video. It's not long either. But hopefully, your heart will receive it and just know that I honor you as well. I have missed you all these years.
Affectionately yours,
Morpheus
Carol, an Individual of Interest told me about traveling in a car in Texas and being followed by a UFO for at least half an hour!! They later told me about listening to JZ and Ramtha at the Ranch. Note my Boeing and 'UFO' experiences (below). This stuff is getting the best of me, and bringing out the worst in me!! Well, it's probably not THAT Bad (yet).Carol wrote:
Ramtha’s Prediction of UFOs and President Trump’s Plane
http://www.rse-newsletter.com/2017/01/ramthas-prediction-of-ufos-and-president-trumps-plane/
[Site shows film stills from Fox News of silver saucers escorting Air Force One.]
(UFOs flying right by the military plane taking president-elect Donald Trump from New York to Washington on Thursday January 19, 2017, for the Presidential Inauguration to be held January 20, 2017. The UFOs were spotted in a FOX10 News report featuring the take-off and departure from New York’s La Guardia airport. See UFOs zoom past USAF-One at 2:55 on FOX News here,)
Last December 8, 2016, Ramtha Predicted that UFOs Would Trail President Trump’s Plane and Described the Significance of these Coming Events for Disclosure
“The first time he looks out the window of his mighty-fine, used-but-nice jet and sees two silver discs waving beside him as an escort, he is going to know it all. This is a man who is not afraid. He is going to know it all. Not only will he learn about the energy systems that have been kept from the American people and the world, used exclusively for the military and the privileged, he is going to expose it all. He had no problem doing what he has just done. He is fearless. He is fearless, because he is an optimist. He knows there is more that can be made. Do you understand?”
“You will learn that there are other alien civilizations. The whole world will learn it.”
Journalist and RSE student Michael Knight published in his North Star Newsletter, January 21, 2017, the news going viral in social media reporting UFOs flying right by the military plane taking president-elect Donald Trump from New York to Washington on Thursday January 19, 2017, for the Presidential Inauguration to be held January 20, 2017. The UFOs were spotted in a FOX10 News report featuring the take-off and departure from New York’s La Guardia airport. See the video stream from FOX News here, and watch carefully, especially at minute 2:55, to spot the unidentified flying objects zooming by the airplane at great speeds!
Carol wrote:
AIR FORCE ONE escorted by UFO TR-3B !!! Published on Aug 15, 2016 - USA, Seattle. Amazing video showing Air Force One secretly landing at Seattle airport after being escorted by UFO TR-3B. Definitively a proof that TR-3B project is used for security purpose. The TR-3B seems to disappear quickly in the smoke as if it was suddenly cloaking. Click here to read the complete article : http://www.section51-ufo.com/2016/08/air-force-one-escorted-by-ufo-tr-3b-august-2016.html
The TR-3B is Code named Astra. The tactical reconnaissance TR-3B first operational flight was in the early 90s. The triangular shaped nuclear powered aerospace platform was developed under the Top Secret, Aurora Program with SDI and black budget monies. At least 3 of the billion dollar plus TR-3Bs were flying by 1994. The Aurora is the most classified aerospace development program in existence. The TR-3B is the most exotic vehicle created by the Aurora Program. It is funded and operationally tasked by the National Reconnaissance Office, the NSA, and the CIA. The TR-3B flying triangle is not fiction and was built with technology available in the mid 80s. Not every UFO spotted is one of theirs.
The TR-3B vehicles outer coating is reactive to electrical Radar stimulation and can change reflectiveness, radar absorptiveness, and color. This polymer skin, when used in conjunction with the TR-3Bs Electronic Counter Measures and, ECCM, can make the vehicle look like a small aircraft, or a flying cylinder–or even trick radar receivers into falsely detecting a variety of aircraft, no aircraft, or several aircraft at various locations. A circular, plasma filled accelerator ring called the Magnetic Field Disrupter, surrounds the rotatable crew compartment and is far ahead of any imaginable technology.
Sandia and Livermore laboratories developed the reverse engineered MFD technology. The government will go to any lengths to protect this technology. The plasma, mercury based, is pressurized at 250,000 atmospheres at a temperature of 150 degrees Kelvin and accelerated to 50,000 rpm to create a super-conductive plasma with the resulting gravity disruption. The MFD generates a magnetic vortex field, which disrupts or neutralizes the effects of gravity on mass within proximity, by 89 percent. Do not misunderstand. This is not antigravity. Anti-gravity provides a repulsive force that can be used for propulsion. The MFD creates a disruption of the Earth’s gravitational field upon the mass within the circular accelerator. The mass of the circular accelerator and all mass within the accelerator, such as the crew capsule, avionics, MFD systems, fuels, crew environmental systems, and the nuclear reactor, are reduced by 89%. This causes the effect of making the vehicle extremely light and able to outperform and outmaneuver any craft yet constructed–except, of course, those UFOs we did not build.
The TR-3B is a high altitude, stealth, reconnaissance platform with an indefinite loiter time. Once you get it up there at speed, it doesnt take much propulsion to maintain altitude. At Groom Lake their have been whispered rumours of a new element that acts as a catalyst to the plasma. With the vehicle mass reduced by 89%, the craft can travel at Mach 9, vertically or horizontally. My sources say the performance is limited only the stresses that the human pilots can endure. Which is a lot, really, considering along with the 89% reduction in mass, the G forces are also reduced by 89%.
The TR-3Bs propulsion is provided by 3 multimode thrusters mounted at each bottom corner of the triangular platform. The TR-3 is a sub-Mach 9 vehicle until it reaches altitudes above l20,000 feet–then God knows how fast it can go! The 3 multimode rocket engines mounted under each corner of the craft use hydrogen or methane and oxygen as a propellent. In a liquid oxygen/hydrogen rocket system, 85% of the propellent mass is oxygen. The nuclear thermal rocket engine uses a hydrogen propellent, augmented with oxygen for additional thrust. The reactor heats the liquid hydrogen and injects liquid oxygen in the supersonic nozzle, so that the hydrogen burns concurrently in the liquid oxygen afterburner. The multimode propulsion system can; operate in the atmosphere, with thrust provided by the nuclear reactor, in the upper atmosphere, with hydrogen propulsion, and in orbit, with the combined hydrogen\ oxygen propulsion.
What you have to remember is, that the 3 rocket engines only have to propel 11 percent of the mass of the Top Secret TR-3B. The engines are reportedly built by Rockwell. Many sightings of triangular UFOs are not alien vehicles but the top secret TR-3B. The NSA, NRO, CIA, and USAF have been playing a shell game with aircraft nomenclature – creating the TR-3, modified to the TR-3A, the TR-3B, and the Teir 2, 3, and 4, with suffixes like Plus or Minus added on to confuse further the fact that each of these designators is a different aircraft and not the same aerospace vehicle. A TR-3B is as different from a TR-3A as a banana is from a grape. Some of these vehicles are manned and others are unmanned.
Consider the Following Judeo-Christian American-Fundamentalism!!orthodoxymoron wrote:I'm presently thinking that we might be dealing with modernized and refined ancient-technology (possibly stolen from the gods). What Would Prometheus Say?? Most (or all) of the UFO's and Aliens might be US and OURS. Disclosure might mostly be the Revelation of OUR Secret Activities. The Rest of the Universe might be Laughing Behind Our Backs!! Siriusly -- I've seen UFO's in this same area. One night, I observed what seemed to be several UFO's attacking and destroying some sort of Spacecraft!! Honest!! It was right before the original Project Avalon was closed. I've seen conventional-looking jets which were going WAY Too Slow!! I once observed a large Boeing jet being closely followed by a small chase-plane which disappeared when the pair briefly passed from my view behind some trees. I once saw a bright as the sun Fireball at 3AM (complete with a sonic-boom -- or whatever it was). Another time, in this same area, I saw the fragmented and burning reentry of what was supposedly a Russian Spacecraft of some sort. I was driving a drunk home at the time, and the guy thought he was hallucinating!! I think the secret-stuff is sort of cool BUT I worry that a lot of it might be in the Worst of Hands. What Would Dwight David Eisenhower Say??
1. Job to Daniel and Luke to Jude (All Translations and Paraphrases).
2. Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers.
3. Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
4. Pluralistic-Education and Corporate-Employment.
I encounter people who know too much about me. They know things they couldn't know without a network (natural and/or supernatural). It's creepy. I recently noticed red-flags in real-life regarding a possible crisis. I don't wish to cry "Wolf!!" but my "End is Near" detector has been "acting-up" lately. I suspect Central Planning and Orchestration of This and That Murder and Mayhem. I don't want to think or talk about the "madness" anymore. Ignorance is Bliss and Virtue. "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin!!"
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk43.html Toward the close of Daniel's life great changes were taking place in the land to which, over threescore years before, he and his Hebrew companions had been carried captive. Nebuchadnezzar, "the terrible of the nations" (Ezekiel 28:7), had died, and Babylon, "the praise of the whole earth" (Jeremiah 51:41), had passed under the unwise rule of his successors, and gradual but sure dissolution was resulting.
Through the folly and weakness of Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, proud Babylon was soon to fall. Admitted in his youth to a share in kingly authority, Belshazzar gloried in his power and lifted up his heart against the God of heaven. Many had been his opportunities to know the divine will and to understand his responsibility of rendering obedience thereto. He had known of his grandfather's banishment, by the decree of God, from the society of men; and he was familiar with Nebuchadnezzar's conversion and miraculous restoration. But Belshazzar allowed the love of pleasure and self-glorification to efface the lessons that he should never have forgotten. He wasted the opportunities graciously granted him, and neglected to use the means within his reach for becoming more fully acquainted with truth. That which Nebuchadnezzar had finally gained at the cost of untold suffering and humiliation, Belshazzar passed by with indifference.
It was not long before reverses came. Babylon was besieged by Cyrus, nephew of Darius the Mede, and commanding general of the combined armies of the Medes and Persians. But within the seemingly impregnable fortress, with its massive walls and its gates of brass, protected by the river Euphrates, and stocked with provision in abundance, the voluptuous monarch felt safe and passed his time in mirth and revelry.
In his pride and arrogancy, with a reckless feeling of security Belshazzar "made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand." All the attractions that wealth and power could command, added splendor to the scene. Beautiful women with their enchantments were among the guests in attendance at the royal banquet. Men of genius and education were there. Princes and statesmen drank wine like water and reveled under its maddening influence.
With reason dethroned through shameless intoxication, and with lower impulses and passions now in the ascendancy, the king himself took the lead in the riotous orgy. As the feast progressed, he "commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which . . . Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein." The king would prove that nothing was too sacred for his hands to handle. "They brought the golden vessels; . . . and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone."
Little did Belshazzar think that there was a heavenly Witness to his idolatrous revelry; that a divine Watcher, unrecognized, looked upon the scene of profanation, heard the sacrilegious mirth, beheld the idolatry. But soon the uninvited Guest made His presence felt. When the revelry was at its height a bloodless hand came forth and traced upon the walls of the palace characters that gleamed like fire--words which, though unknown to the vast throng, were a portent of doom to the now conscience-stricken king and his guests.
Hushed was the boisterous mirth, while men and women, seized with nameless terror, watched the hand slowly tracing the mysterious characters. Before them passed, as in panoramic view, the deeds of their evil lives; they seemed to be arraigned before the judgment bar of the eternal God, whose power they had just defied. Where but a few moments before had been hilarity and blasphemous witticism, were pallid faces and cries of fear. When God makes men fear, they cannot hide the intensity of their terror.
Belshazzar was the most terrified of them all. He it was who above all others had been responsible for the rebellion against God which that night had reached its height in the Babylonian realm. In the presence of the unseen Watcher, the representative of Him whose power had been challenged and whose name had been blasphemed, the king was paralyzed with fear. Conscience was awakened. "The joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another." Belshazzar had impiously lifted himself up against the God of heaven and had trusted in his own might, not supposing that any would dare say, "Why doest thou thus?" but now he realized that he must render an account of the stewardship entrusted him, and that for his wasted opportunities and his defiant attitude he could offer no excuse.
In vain the king tried to read the burning letters. But here was a secret he could not fathom, a power he could neither understand nor gainsay. In despair he turned to the wise men of his realm for help. His wild cry rang out in the assembly, calling upon the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers to read the writing. "Whosoever shall read this writing," he promised, "and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." But of no avail was his appeal to his trusted advisers, with offers of rich awards. Heavenly wisdom cannot be bought or sold. "All the king's wise men . . . could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof." They were no more able to read the mysterious characters than had been the wise men of a former generation to interpret the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar.
Then the queen mother remembered Daniel, who, over half a century before, had made known to King Nebuchadnezzar the dream of the great image and its interpretation. "O king, live forever," she said. "Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar . . . made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.
"Then was Daniel brought in before the king." Making an effort to regain his composure, Belshazzar said to the prophet: "Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not show the interpretation of the thing: and I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom."
Before that terror-stricken throng, Daniel, unmoved by the promises of the king, stood in the quiet dignity of a servant of the Most High, not to speak words of flattery, but to interpret a message of doom. "Let thy gifts be to thyself," he said, "and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation."
The prophet first reminded Belshazzar of matters with which he was familiar, but which had not taught him the lesson of humility that might have saved him. He spoke of Nebuchadnezzar's sin and fall, and of the Lord's dealings with him--the dominion and glory bestowed upon him, the divine judgment for his pride, and his subsequent acknowledgment of the power and mercy of the God of Israel; and then in bold and emphatic words he rebuked Belshazzar for his great wickedness. He held the king's sin up before him, showing him the lessons he might have learned but did not. Belshazzar had not read aright the experience of his grandfather, nor heeded the warning of events so significant to himself. The opportunity of knowing and obeying the true God had been given him, but had not been taken to heart, and he was about to reap the consequence of his rebellion.
"Thou, . . . O Belshazzar," the prophet declared, "hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand set from Him; and this writing was written."
Turning to the Heaven-sent message on the wall, the prophet read, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." The hand that had traced the characters was no longer visible, but these four words were still gleaming forth with terrible distinctness; and now with bated breath the people listened while the aged prophet declared:
"This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
In that last night of mad folly, Belshazzar and his lords had filled up the measure of their guilt and the guilt of the Chaldean kingdom. No longer could God's restraining hand ward off the impending evil. Through manifold providences, God had sought to teach them reverence for His law. "We would have healed Babylon," He declared of those whose judgment was now reaching unto heaven, "but she is not healed." Jeremiah 51:9. Because of the strange perversity of the human heart, God had at last found it necessary to pass the irrevocable sentence. Belshazzar was to fall, and his kingdom was to pass into other hands.
As the prophet ceased speaking, the king commanded that he be awarded the promised honors; and in harmony with this, "they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom."
More than a century before, Inspiration had foretold that "the night of . . . pleasure" during which king and counselors would vie with one another in blasphemy against God, would suddenly be changed into a season of fear and destruction. And now, in rapid succession, momentous events followed one another exactly as had been portrayed in the prophetic scriptures years before the principals in the drama had been born.
While still in the festal hall, surrounded by those whose doom has been sealed, the king is informed by a messenger that "his city is taken" by the enemy against whose devices he had felt so secure; "that the passages are stopped, . . . and the men of war are affrighted." Verses 31, 32. Even while he and his nobles were drinking from the sacred vessels of Jehovah, and praising their gods of silver and of gold, the Medes and the Persians, having turned the Euphrates out of its channel, were marching into the heart of the unguarded city. The army of Cyrus now stood under the walls of the palace; the city was filled with the soldiers of the enemy, "as with caterpillars" (verse 14); and their triumphant shouts could be heard above the despairing cries of the astonished revelers.
"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain," and an alien monarch sat upon the throne.
Clearly had the Hebrew prophets spoken concerning the manner in which Babylon should fall. As in vision God had revealed to them the events of the future, they had exclaimed: "How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!" "How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!" "At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations."
"Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed." "The spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts."
"I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans."
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name: He shall throughly plead their cause, that He may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon." Jeremiah 51:41; 50:23, 46; 51:8, 56, 57; 50:24, 25, 33, 34.
Thus "the broad walls of Babylon" became "utterly broken, and her high gates. . . burned with fire." Thus did Jehovah of hosts "cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease," and lay low "the haughtiness of the terrible." Thus did "Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," become as Sodom and Gomorrah-- a place forever accursed. "It shall never be inhabited," Inspiration has declared, "neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces." "I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts." Jeremiah 51:58; Isaiah 13:11, 19-22; 14:23.
To the last ruler of Babylon, as in type to its first, had come the sentence of the divine Watcher: "O king, . . . to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee." Daniel 4:31.
"Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,
Sit on the ground: there is no throne. . . .
Sit thou silent,
And get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans:
For thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
"I was wroth with My people,
I have polluted Mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand:
Thou didst show them no mercy; . . .
"And thou saidst, I shall be a lady forever:
So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart,
Neither didst remember the latter end of it.
"Therefore hear now this,
Thou that art given to pleasures
That dwellest carelessly,
That sayest in thine heart,
I am, and none else beside me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Neither shall I know the loss of children: . . .
"These two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day,
The loss of children, and widowhood:
They shall come upon thee in their perfection for the
multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great
abundance of thine enchantments.
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness:
Thou hast said, None seeth me.
"Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee;
And thou hast said in thine heart,
I am, and none else beside me.
Therefore shall evil come upon thee;
Thou shalt not know from whence it riseth:
And mischief shall fall upon thee;
Thou shalt not be able to put it off:
And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which
thou shalt not know.
"Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the
multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast
labored from thy youth;
If so be thou shalt be able to profit,
If so be thou mayest prevail.
"Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.
Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators,
Stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
Behold, they shall be as stubble; . . .
They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: . . .
None shall save thee." Isaiah 47:1-15.
Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that the fact might be determined whether it would fulfill the purposes of the Watcher and the Holy One. Prophecy has traced the rise and progress of the world's great empires--Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with the nations of less power, history has repeated itself. Each has had its period of test; each has failed, its glory faded, its power departed.
While nations have rejected God's principles, and in this rejection have wrought their own ruin, yet a divine, overruling purpose has manifestly been at work throughout the ages. It was this that the prophet Ezekiel saw in the wonderful representation given him during his exile in the land of the Chaldeans, when before his astonished gaze were portrayed the symbols that revealed an overruling Power that has to do with the affairs of earthly rulers.
Upon the banks of the river Chebar, Ezekiel beheld a whirlwind seeming to come from the north, "a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber." A number of wheels intersecting one another were moved by four living beings. High above all these "was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it." "And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings." Ezekiel 1:4, 26; 10:8. The wheels were so complicated in arrangement that at first sight they appeared to be in confusion; yet they moved in perfect harmony. Heavenly beings, sustained and guided by the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, were impelling those wheels; above them, upon the sapphire throne, was the Eternal One; and round about the throne was a rainbow, the emblem of divine mercy.
As the wheellike complications were under the guidance of the hand beneath the wings of the cherubim, so the complicated play of human events is under divine control. Amidst the strife and tumult of nations He that sitteth above the cherubim still guides the affairs of this earth.
The history of nations speaks to us today. To every nation and to every individual God has assigned a place in His great plan. Today men and nations are being tested by the plummet in the hand of Him who makes no mistake. All are by their own choice deciding their destiny, and God is overruling all for the accomplishment of His purposes.
The prophecies which the great I am has given in His word, uniting link after link in the chain of events, from eternity in the past to eternity in the future, tell us where we are today in the procession of the ages and what may be expected in the time to come. All that prophecy has foretold as coming to pass, until the present time, has been traced on the pages of history, and we may be assured that all which is yet to come will be fulfilled in its order.
Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes is fulfilling the Saviour's prophecy of the events to precede His coming: "Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. . . . Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." Matthew 24:6, 7.
The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place--that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.
The Bible, and the Bible only, gives a correct view of these things. Here are revealed the great final scenes in the history of our world, events that already are casting their shadows before, the sound of their approach causing the earth to tremble and men's hearts to fail them for fear.
"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof; . . . because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate." Isaiah 24:1-6.
"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. . . . The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate." The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men." Joel 1:15-18, 12.
"I am pained at my very heart; . . . I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled." Jeremiah 4:19, 20.
"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." Jeremiah 30:7.
"Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge,
Even the Most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."
Psalm 91:9, 10.
"O daughter of Zion, . . . the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they His counsel." Micah 4:10-12. God will not fail His church in the hour of her greatest peril. He has promised deliverance. "I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents," He has declared, "and have mercy on his dwelling places." Jeremiah 30:18.
Then will the purpose of God be fulfilled; the principles of His kingdom will be honored by all beneath the sun.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk44.html When Darius the Median took the throne formerly occupied by the Babylonian rulers, he at once proceeded to reorganize the government. He "set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes; . . . and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm."
The honors bestowed upon Daniel excited the jealousy of the leading men of the kingdom, and they sought for occasion of complaint against him. But they could find none, "forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
Daniel's blameless conduct excited still further the jealousy of his enemies. "We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel," they were constrained to acknowledge, "except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Thereupon the presidents and princes, counseling together, devised a scheme whereby they hoped to accomplish the prophet's destruction. They determined to ask the king to sign a decree which they should prepare, forbidding any person in the realm to ask anything of God or man, except of Darius the king, for the space of thirty days. A violation of this decree should be punished by casting the offender into a den of lions.
Accordingly, the princes prepared such a decree, and presented it to Darius for his signature. Appealing to his vanity, they persuaded him that the carrying out of this edict would add greatly to his honor and authority. Ignorant of the subtle purpose of the princes, the king did not discern their animosity as revealed in the decree, and, yielding to their flattery, he signed it.
The enemies of Daniel left the presence of Darius, rejoicing over the snare now securely laid for the servant of Jehovah. In the conspiracy thus formed, Satan had played an important part. The prophet was high in command in the kingdom, and evil angels feared that his influence would weaken their control over its rulers. It was these satanic agencies who had stirred the princes to envy and jealousy; it was they who had inspired the plan for Daniel's destruction; and the princes, yielding themselves as instruments of evil, carried it into effect.
The prophet's enemies counted on Daniel's firm adherence to principle for the success of their plan. And they were not mistaken in their estimate of his character. He quickly read their malignant purpose in framing the decree, but he did not change his course in a single particular. Why should he cease to pray now, when he most needed to pray? Rather would he relinquish life itself, than his hope of help in God. With calmness he performed his duties as chief of the princes; and at the hour of prayer he went to his chamber, and with his windows open toward Jerusalem, in accordance with his usual custom, he offered his petition to the God of heaven. He did not try to conceal his act. Although he knew full well the consequences of his fidelity to God, his spirit faltered not. Before those who were plotting his ruin, he would not allow it even to appear that his connection with Heaven was severed. In all cases where the king had a right to command, Daniel would obey; but neither the king nor his decree could make him swerve from allegiance to the King of kings.
Thus the prophet boldly yet quietly and humbly declared that no earthly power has a right to interpose between the soul and God. Surrounded by idolaters, he was a faithful witness to this truth. His dauntless adherence to right was a bright light in the moral darkness of that heathen court. Daniel stands before the world today a worthy example of Christian fearlessness and fidelity.
For an entire day the princes watched Daniel. Three times they saw him go to his chamber, and three times they heard his voice lifted in earnest intercession to God. The next morning they laid their complaint before the king. Daniel, his most honored and faithful statesman, had set the royal decree at defiance. "Hast thou not signed a decree," they reminded him, "that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?"
"The thing is true," the king answered, "according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not."
Exultantly they now informed Darius of the conduct of his most trusted adviser. "That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah," they exclaimed, "regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day."
When the monarch heard these words, he saw at once the snare that had been set for his faithful servant. He saw that it was not zeal for kingly glory and honor, but jealousy against Daniel, that had led to the proposal for a royal decree. "Sore displeased with himself" for his part in the evil that had been wrought, he "labored till the going down of the sun" to deliver his friend. The princes, anticipating this effort on the part of the king, came to him with the words, "Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed." The decree, though rashly made, was unalterable and must be carried into effect.
"Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee." A stone was laid on the mouth of the den, and the king himself "sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep went from him."
God did not prevent Daniel's enemies from casting him into the lions' den; He permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but it was that He might make the deliverance of His servant more marked, and the defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness more complete. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee" (Psalm 76:10), the psalmist has testified. Through the courage of this one man who chose to follow right rather than policy, Satan was to be defeated, and the name of God was to be exalted and honored. Early the next morning King Darius hastened to the den and "cried with a lamentable voice," "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"
The voice of the prophet replied: "O king, live forever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
"Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
"And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den."
Once more a proclamation was issued by a heathen ruler, exalting the God of Daniel as the true God. "King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions."
The wicked opposition to God's servant was now completely broken. "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." And through association with him, these heathen monarchs were constrained to acknowledge his God as "the living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
From the story of Daniel's deliverance we may learn that in seasons of trial and gloom God's children should be just what they were when their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire. Daniel in the lions' den was the same Daniel who stood before the king as chief among the ministers of state and as a prophet of the Most High. A man whose heart is stayed upon God will be the same in the hour of his greatest trial as he is in prosperity, when the light and favor of God and of man beam upon him. Faith reaches to the unseen, and grasps eternal realities.
Heaven is very near those who suffer for righteousness' sake. Christ identifies His interests with the interests of His faithful people; He suffers in the person of His saints, and whoever touches His chosen ones touches Him. The power that is near to deliver from physical harm or distress is also near to save from the greater evil, making it possible for the servant of God to maintain his integrity under all circumstances, and to triumph through divine grace.
The experience of Daniel as a statesman in the kingdoms of Babylon and Medo-Persia reveals the truth that a businessman is not necessarily a designing, policy man, but that he may be a man instructed by God at every step. Daniel, the prime minister of the greatest of earthly kingdoms, was at the same time a prophet of God, receiving the light of heavenly inspiration. A man of like passions as ourselves, the pen of inspiration describes him as without fault. His business transactions, when subjected to the closest scrutiny of his enemies, were found to be without one flaw. He was an example of what every businessman may become when his heart is converted and consecrated, and when his motives are right in the sight of God.
Strict compliance with the requirements of Heaven brings temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Unwavering in his allegiance to God, unyielding in his mastery of self, Daniel, by his noble dignity and unswerving integrity, while yet a young man, won the "favor and tender love" of the heathen officer in whose charge he had been placed. Daniel 1:9. The same characteristics marked his afterlife. He rose speedily to the position of prime minister of the kingdom of Babylon. Through the reign of successive monarchs, the downfall of the nation, and the establishment of another world empire, such were his wisdom and statesmanship, so perfect his tact, his courtesy, his genuine goodness of heart, his fidelity to principle, that even his enemies were forced to the confession that "they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful."
Honored by men with the responsibilities of state and with the secrets of kingdoms bearing universal sway, Daniel was honored by God as His ambassador, and was given many revelations of the mysteries of ages to come. His wonderful prophecies, as recorded by him in chapters 7 to 12 of the book bearing his name, were not fully understood even by the prophet himself; but before his life labors closed, he was given the blessed assurance that "at the end of the days"--in the closing period of this world's history--he would again be permitted to stand in his lot and place. It was not given him to understand all that God had revealed of the divine purpose. "Shut up the words, and seal the book," he was directed concerning his prophetic writings; these were to be sealed "even to the time of the end." "Go thy way, Daniel," the angel once more directed the faithful messenger of Jehovah; "for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. . . . Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." Daniel 12:4, 9, 13.
As we near the close of this world's history, the prophecies recorded by Daniel demand our special attention, as they relate to the very time in which we are living. With them should be linked the teachings of the last book of the New Testament Scriptures. Satan has led many to believe that the prophetic portions of the writings of Daniel and of John the revelator cannot be understood. But the promise is plain that special blessing will accompany the study of these prophecies. "The wise shall understand" (verse 10), was spoken of the visions of Daniel that were to be unsealed in the latter days; and of the revelation that Christ gave to His servant John for the guidance of God's people all through the centuries, the promise is, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Revelation 1:3.
From the rise and fall of nations as made plain in the books of Daniel and the Revelation, we need to learn how worthless is mere outward and worldly glory. Babylon, with all its power and magnificence, the like of which our world has never since beheld,--power and magnificence which to the people of that day seemed so stable and enduring, --how completely has it passed away! As "the flower of the grass," it has perished. James 1:10. So perished the Medo-Persian kingdom, and the kingdoms of Grecia and Rome. And so perishes all that has not God for its foundation. Only that which is bound up with His purpose, and expresses His character, can endure. His principles are the only steadfast things our world knows.
A careful study of the working out of God's purpose in the history of nations and in the revelation of things to come, will help us to estimate at their true value things seen and things unseen, and to learn what is the true aim of life. Thus, viewing the things of time in the light of eternity, we may, like Daniel and his fellows, live for that which is true and noble and enduring. And learning in this life the principles of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, that blessed kingdom which is to endure for ever and ever, we may be prepared at His coming to enter with Him into its possession.
THE END.
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Thank-you, Ashera. I don't know who you really are, and I don't know who I really am. I keep thinking about the statue of the four angels on top of Asmodeus in that little chapel in France. You know which one. You speak of Satan and his Asmodeus. Hostage to the Devil?? Ancient Coup?? The Real-Deal Secret-Researchers Know but I Know I Don't Know and I'm Not Sure I Want to Know!! This Seems to be a MOST Dangerous Game!! I keep referring to my religious and political science-fiction but perhaps this only remotely hints at the real-deal (and perhaps I should keep it that way)!! I don't necessarily directly respond to your posts, but I always consider them. Don't take it personally if I'm flippant or ignorant. I might review my threads, and take everyone's input in context at a later date. Or someone I'll never know or meet might comprehend what I find incomprehensible in my threads. Or the threads might all go "POOF!!" What if we are dealing with BS VS BS as a subset of Purgatory Incorporated for All Eternity?? What if Heaven and Hell are NOT based upon Freedom?? What if Purgatory is All About Freedom?? What if we need to painstakingly examine the definitions and applications of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell (Catholic and Otherwise)?? You've repeatedly mentioned Asmodeus, and I stumbled upon this long before I noticed you mentioning it. I'm actually leaning toward 1. The Seattle Times. 2. The New York Times. 3. The Wall Street Journal. 4. Exercise in Nature. I can't begin to explain how annoyed and disillusioned I am. What if everyone is deceived and exploited?? RA told me, "I've Always Remained One Step Ahead of Humanity." When I suggested that people have been easy to deceive, RA retorted, "VERY Easy." What if the Lie is Different at Every Level?? What if the Whole-World has Been Deceived for Thousands or Millions of Years?? What if ALL of US are More Screwed Than We Can Imagine?? Why Do I Bother?? Perhaps 100 Years of Solitude Awaits Me in the Superluminal Piloted-Asteroid United Kingston. Take a long, hard look at the Trinity and Legal possibilities in Job to Daniel and Luke to Revelation. Consider the Interpolation, Extrapolation, and Compartmentalization. What Would Cleopatra Say and Do?? Was Cleopatra really Isis??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmodeus Asmodeus (/ˌæzməˈdiːəs/; Ancient Greek: Ἀσμοδαῖος, Asmodaios) or Ashmedai (/ˈæʃmɪˌdaɪ/; Hebrew: אַשְמְדּאָי, ʾAšməddāy), also Ashema Deva (see below for other variations), is a prince of demons,[1] or in Judeo-Islamic lore the king of the earthly spirits (shedim/jinn),[2][3] mostly known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, in which he is the primary antagonist.[4] In the Binsfeld's classification of demons, Asmodeus represents lust. The demon is also mentioned in some Talmudic legends; for instance, in the story of the construction of the Temple of Solomon.
He was supposed by some Renaissance Christians[who?] to be the King of the Nine Hells.[citation needed] Asmodeus also is referred to as one of the seven princes of Hell. In Binsfeld's classification of demons, each one of these princes represents one of the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride).
It is said in Asmodeus; Or, The Devil on Two Sticks that people who fall to Asmodeus' ways will be sentenced to an eternity in the second level of hell.[5]
The name Asmodai is believed to derive from Avestan language *aēšma-daēva, where aēšma means "wrath", and daēva signifies "demon". While the daēva Aēšma is thus Zoroastrianism's demon of wrath and is also well-attested as such, the compound aēšma-daēva is not attested in scripture. It is nonetheless likely that such a form did exist, and that the Book of Tobit's "Asmodaios" (Ἀσμοδαῖος) and the Talmud's "Ashmedai" (אשמדאי) reflect it.[6] In the Zoroastrian and Middle Persian demonology, there did exist the conjuncted form khashm-dev, where the word dev was the same as daeva.[7]
The spellings Asmodai,[8][9] Asmodee (also Asmodée),[10][11] Osmodeus,[12][13] and Osmodai[14][15] have also been used. The name is alternatively spelled in the bastardized forms (based on the basic consonants אשמדאי, ʾŠMDʾY) Hashmedai (חַשְמְדּאָי, Hašmədʾāy; also Hashmodai, Hasmodai, Khashmodai, Khasmodai),[16][17][18][19] Hammadai (חַמַּדּאָי, Hammadʾāy; also Khammadai),[20][21] Shamdon (שַׁמְדּוֹן, Šamdōn),[22] and Shidonai (שִׁדֹנאָי, Šidonʾāy).[21] Some traditions have subsequently identified Shamdon as the father of Asmodeus.[22]
The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 rejects the otherwise accepted etymological relation between the Persian "Æshma-dæva" and Judaism's "Ashmodai" claiming that the particle "-dæva" could not have become "-dai" and that Æshma-dæva as such—a compound name—never appears in Persian sacred texts. Still, the encyclopedia proposes that the "Asmodeus" from the Apocrypha and the Testament of Solomon are not only related somewhat to Aeshma but have similar behaviour, appearance and roles,[23] to conclude in another article under the entry "Aeshma", in the paragraph "Influence of Persian Beliefs on Judaism",[24] that Persian Zoroastrian beliefs could have heavily influenced Judaism's theology on the long term, bearing in mind that in some texts there are crucial conceptual differences while in others there seems to be a great deal of similarity, proposing a pattern of influence over folk beliefs that would extend further to the mythology itself. However, the Jewish Encyclopedia asserts that 'though Æshma does not occur in the Avesta in conjunction with dæva, it is probable that a fuller form, such as Æshmo-dæus, has existed, since it is paralleled by the later Pahlavi-form "Khashm-dev".[25] Furthermore it is stated that 'Asmodeus (Ashmedai) embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised on the Jewish'.[26]
The full name "Ashmedai" is not found, but in 2 Kings 17:30, a certain Ashima appears as the false god for whom the Syrian Hamathites made an idol. Not only does this name better resemble that of the Persian daeva Aeshma, but the name (אֲשִׁימָא) also greatly resembles the name Ashmedai (אַשְמְדּאָי) in Hebrew.
The Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit is hostile to Sarah, Raguel's daughter, (Tobit 6:13); and slays seven successive husbands on their wedding nights, impeding the sexual consummation of the marriages. He is described as "the worst of demons". When the young Tobias is about to marry her, Asmodeus proposes the same fate for him, but Tobias is enabled, through the counsels of his attendant angel Raphael, to render him innocuous. By placing a fish's heart and liver on red-hot cinders, Tobias produces a smoky vapour that causes the demon to flee to Egypt, where Raphael binds him (Tobit 8:2–3). According to some translations Asmodeus is strangled.
Perhaps Asmodeus punishes the suitors for their carnal desire, since Tobias prays to be free from such desire and is kept safe. Asmodeus is also described as an evil spirit in general: 'Ασμοδαίος τὸ πονηρὸν δαιμόνιον or τõ δαιμόνιον πονηρόν, and πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον (Tobit 3:8; Tobit 3:17; Tobit 6:13; Tobit 8:3).
The figure of Ashmedai in the Talmud is less malign in character than the Asmodeus of Tobit. In the former, he appears repeatedly in the light of a good-natured and humorous fellow. But besides that, there is one feature in which he parallels Asmodeus, in as much as his desires turn upon Bathsheba and later Solomon's wives.
Another Talmudic legend has King Solomon tricking Asmodai into collaborating in the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem[3] (see: The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai).
Another legend depicts Asmodai throwing King Solomon over 400 leagues away from the capital by putting one wing on the ground and the other stretched skyward. He then changed places for some years with King Solomon. When King Solomon returned, Asmodai fled from his wrath.[27] Similar legends can be found in Islamic folklore. There Asmodeus is called Sakhr (Arabic: صخر the Rock or the Stony One), because in Islamic lore, Solomon banished him into a rock, after he takes his kingdom back from him. There he counts as the king of the jinn.[28]
Another passage describes him as marrying Lilith, who became his queen.[29]
In the Testament of Solomon, a 1st–3rd century text, the king invokes Asmodeus to aid in the construction of the Temple. The demon appears and predicts Solomon's kingdom will one day be divided (Testament of Solomon, verse 21–25).[30] When Solomon interrogates Asmodeus further, the king learns that Asmodeus is thwarted by the angel Raphael, as well as by sheatfish found in the rivers of Assyria. He also admits to hating water and birds because both remind him of God.
In the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), Asmodeus was considered the demon of lust.[31] Sebastien Michaelis said that his adversary is St. John. Some demonologists of the 16th century assigned a month to a demon and considered November to be the month in which Asmodai's power was strongest. Other demonologists asserted that his zodiacal sign was Aquarius but only between the dates of January 30 and February 8.
He has 72 legions of demons under his command. He is one of the Kings of Hell under Lucifer the emperor. He incites gambling, and is the overseer of all the gambling houses in the court of Hell. Some Catholic theologians compared him with Abaddon. Yet other authors considered Asmodeus a prince of revenge.
In the Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Asmodeus is depicted with the breast of a man, a XXXX leg, serpent tail, three heads (one of a man spitting fire, one of a sheep, and one of a bull), riding a lion with dragon wings and neck, all of these creatures being associated with either lascivity, lust or revenge.[citation needed] The Archbishop of Paris approved his portrait.[32]
Asmodai appears as the king 'Asmoday' in the Ars Goetia, where he is said to have a seal in gold and is listed as number thirty-two according to respective rank.[33]
He "is strong, powerful and appears with three heads; the first is like a bull, the second like a man, and the third like a ram; the tail of a serpent, and from his mouth issue flames of fire."[34] Also, he sits upon an infernal dragon, holds a lance with a banner and, amongst the Legions of Amaymon, Asmoday governs seventy-two legions of inferior spirits.[33]
Asmodeus is referred to in Book Two, Chapter Eight of The Magus (1801) by Francis Barrett.[35]
Asmodeus was named as an angel of the Order of Thrones by Gregory the Great.[36]
Asmodeus was cited by the nuns of Loudun in the Loudun possessions of 1634.[37]
Asmodeus' reputation as the personification of lust continued into later writings, as he was known as the "Prince of Lechery" in the 16th-century romance Friar Rush.[38] The French Benedictine Augustin Calmet equated his name with a fine dress.[38] The 16th-century Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer described him as the banker at the baccarat table in hell, and overseer of earthly gambling houses.[39]
In 1641, the Spanish playwright and novelist Luis Velez de Guevara published the satirical novel El diablo cojuelo, where Asmodeus is represented as a mischievous demon endowed with a playful and satirical genius. The plot presents a rascal student that hides in an astrologer's mansard. He frees a devil from a bottle. As an acknowledgement the devil shows him the apartments of Madrid and the tricks, miseries and mischiefs of their inhabitants.[40][41] The French novelist Alain-René Lesage adapted the Spanish source in his 1707 novel le Diable boiteux,[38] where he likened him to Cupid. In the book, he is rescued from an enchanted glass bottle by a Spanish student Don Cleophas Leandro Zambullo. Grateful, he joins with the young man on a series of adventures before being recaptured. Asmodeus is portrayed in a sympathetic light as good-natured, and a canny satirist and critic of human society.[38] In another episode Asmodeus takes Don Cleophas for a night flight, and removes the roofs from the houses of a village to show him the secrets of what passes in private lives. Following Lesage's work, he was depicted in a number of novels and periodicals, mainly in France but also London and New York.[42]
Asmodeus was widely depicted as having a handsome visage, good manners and an engaging nature; however, he was portrayed as walking with a limp and one leg was either clawed or that of a rooster. He walks aided by two walking sticks in Lesage's work, and this gave rise to the English title The Devil on Two Sticks[32] (also later translated The Limping Devil and The Lame Devil). Lesage attributes his lameness to falling from the sky after fighting with another devil.[43]
On 18 February 1865, author Evert A. Duyckinck sent President Abraham Lincoln a letter, apparently mailed from Quincy. Duyckinck signed the letter "Asmodeus", with his initials below his pseudonym. His letter enclosed a newspaper clipping about an inappropriate joke allegedly told by Lincoln at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference. The purpose of Duyckinck's letter was to advise Lincoln of "an important omission" about the history of the conference. He advised that the newspaper clipping be added to the "Archives of the Nation".[44]
According to the Kabbalah and the school of Shlomo ibn Aderet, Asmodeus is a cambion born as the result of a union between Agrat bat Mahlat, a succubus, and King David.[45]
The story of Asmodeus and Solomon has a reappearance in Islamic lore. Asmodeus is commonly named Sakhr (rock) probably a reference to his fate in common Islam-related belief, there, after Solomon defeated him, Asmodeus was imprisoned inside a box of rock, chained with iron, and thrown it into the sea.[46] In his work Annals of al-Tabari, the famous Persian Quran exegete (224–310 AH; 839–923 AD) Tabari, referred to Asmodeus in Surah 38:34. Accordingly, the puppet is actually Asmodeus who took on the shape of Solomon for forty days, before Solomon defeated him.[47]
Sakhr (Asmodeus) is consulted by Buluqiya, a young Jewish prince, who tried to find the final prophet, Muhammad, in The Nights. During their conversation, he asked about hell, thereupon Asmodeus describes the different layers (ṭabaqāt) of hell.[48][49]
This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture, providing citations to reliable, secondary sources, rather than simply listing appearances. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2020)
Asmodeus is a recurring antagonist in the 13th season of The CW series Supernatural, portrayed primarily by Jeffrey Vincent Parise. Created by Lucifer himself, Asmodeus was originally a Prince of Hell alongside siblings Azazel, Dagon, and Ramiel. Upon the death of Crowley, Asmodeus succeeds him as the King of Hell despite being Lucifer's weakest creation. Asmodeus is killed in the episode "Bring 'em Back Alive" by the archangel Gabriel, whose grace Asmodeus had been feeding on to make himself stronger.[50]
In Geoffrey Household's 1939 spy thriller Rogue Male, the protagonist names a cat he forms a strong bond with Asmodeus.
The character 'Asmodai' in A. L. Mengel's supernatural series The Tales of Tartarus (2013–2016) is based on the demon Asmodeus. The demon haunts the main protagonist, Antoine, through the series of novels.
Asmodeus appears in the television series The Librarians (season 4, episode 10) as a blue-skinned, growling demon in knight's armor and carrying a sword.
Asmodeus also features heavily in the lore of the game Dungeons & Dragons as the ruler of the Nine Hells. Different editions of the game offer different backstories, ranging from primordial evil to fallen angel to ancient god, but his role as the King of the Nine Hells is always the same.
Asmodeus is also present in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game in a similar role to his D&D one. The main difference is that he is an actual god, one of the nine original deities in the Great Beyond, and that his church is widespread in certain nations on Golarion.
Asmodeus appears as Magnus Bane's father and Prince of Hell, otherwise known as Edom on the third season of Freeform's Shadowhunters television series based on Cassandra Clare's popular book series The Mortal Instruments. He is portrayed by Jack J. Yang.
Asmodeus appears in the 1997 book Asmodeus – a Forkful of Tales from Devil's Peak by Alex D'Angelo, illustrated by Tony Grogan.[51] One story "Asmodeus and the Bottler of Djinns" is included in the anthology Favorite African Folktales edited by Nelson Mandela, published by Norton and available as an audiobook.
Asmodeus is the final boss in Mace: The Dark Age.
In the video game Pony Island, Asmodeus appears in the manifestation of a "demonic" artificial intelligence.
Asmodeus appears as a character in the otome game, Obey Me!. He is depicted as the Avatar of Lust and one of seven brothers representing the seven deadly sins.
In the video game Helltaker, Asmodeus is portrayed as a Demon of Lust, Modeus.
References
"Asmodeus" in The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 635.
Robert Lebling Robert Lebling I.B.Tauris 2010 ISBN 978-0-857-73063-3
Raphael Patai Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions Routledge 2015 ISBN 978-1-317-47170-7 page 39
"Asmodeus/Asmoday". Judeo-Christian Demons. Deliriumsrealm.com. 25 March 2003. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
Asmodeus; Or, The Devil on Two Sticks By Alain Rene Le Sage - 1841 - London - Joseph Thomas
Stave, Erik (2002) [1901–1906]. "Æshma (Asmodeus, Ashmedai)". In Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus; et al. (eds.). Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. LCCN 16-014703. Retrieved 7 March 2018. since it is paralleled by the later Pahlavi-form "Khashm-dev" ("Khashm dev" = "Æshma dev"), written with the Aramaic "sheda," but pronounced "dev." [..] Asmodeus (Ashmedai) embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised on the Jewish—an influence that shows itself very prominently in the domain of demonology.
Bane, Theresa (Jan 9, 2012). McFarland (ed.). Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-786-46360-2.
Milton, John (1671). Paradise Regained.
Pomfret, John (1724). "Cruelty and Lust". Poems Upon Several Occasions. D. Brown. p. 73.
Mauriac, François (1939). Asmodee; or, The Intruder. Secker & Warburg.
Kleu, Michael; Eayrs, Madelene (2010). Who Are You?. USA: Xulon Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-61579-841-4.
Connell, Evan S. (1992). The Alchymist's Journal. Penguin Books. p. 110. ISBN 0-14-016932-6.
Guppy, Henry (1960). "Tobit". Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. 42. Manchester University Press. p. 375.
Garibay Mora, Ernesto (2005). Dictionary of Demons and Related Concepts. Miami, Florida: L. D. Books. p. 103. ISBN 970-732-108-3.
Nares, Robert (1888). A Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions. London: Reeves & Turner. p. 21.
Association of Modern Austrian Philologists (1999). Moderne Sprachen. 43. p. 63.
Ritchie, Leitch (1836). The Magician. Vol. I. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard. p. 84.
de Laurence, L. W. (1914). The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism. Chicago: The de Laurence Co. p. 183.
MacGregor Mathers, S. L. (1458). The Book of the Sacred Magic. p. 110. ISBN 9781425454142.
Voltaire (1824). A Philosophical Dictionary. 1. London: J. & H. L. Hunt. p. 286.
Leland, Charles Godfrey (1902). Flaxius: Leaves from the Life of an Immortal. London: Philip Wellby. p. 72.
"Asmodeus, or Ashmedai". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls. 1906. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
Jewish encyclopedia 1906 full text unedited version , entry "Asmodeus" paragraph "Asmodeus, Ashmedai, and Æshma."
Jewish encyclopedia unedited full text 1906 version, entry "Aeshma"
Strave, Erik. "Æshma (Asmodeus) etymology in Jewish Encyclopedia". Though "Æshma" does not occur in the Avesta in conjunction with "dæva," it is probable that a fuller form, such as "Æshmo-dæus," has existed, since it is paralleled by the later Pahlavi-form "Khashm-dev" ("Khashm dev" = "Æshma dev"), written with the Aramaic "sheda," but pronounced "dev."
Ibid. Jewish Encyclopedia. In fine, Asmodeus (Ashmedai) embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised on the Jewish—an influence that shows itself very prominently in the domain of demonology. Thus 'Ασμο, , corresponds to "Æshma," and the ending δαῖος, , to "dæva," "dev."
Talmud. Gittin. pp. 68b.
Robert Lebling Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar I.B.Tauris 2010 ISBN 978-0-857-73063-3
Schwartz, Howard (1988). Lilith's cave: Jewish tales of the supernatural. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-06-250779-2. LCCN 87045196. OCLC 62241318.
Conybeare, Frederick Cornwallis (trans.) (October 1898). "The Testament of Solomon". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 11 (1): 1–45. doi:10.2307/1450398. ISSN 0021-6682. JSTOR 1450398. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
Kramer, Heinrich; Summers, Montague (trans.) (1928) [1486]. "Question IV: By which Devils are the Operations of Incubus and Succubus Practised?". Malleus Maleficarum. 1. London, England: J. Rodker. LCCN 29017069. OCLC 504248484. But the very devil of Fornication, and the chief of that abomination, is called Asmodeus, which means the Creature of Judgement: for because of this kind of sin a terrible judgement was executed upon Sodom and the four other cities.
Rudwin 1970, p. 93.
Mathers & Crowley 1995, pp. 68–70.
Mathers & Crowley 1995, p. 32.
Barrett, Francis (2008) [1801]. "VIII: The Annoyance of Evil Spirits, and the Preservation we have from Good Spirits". The Magus, a Complete System of Occult Philosophy. Book II. New York: Cosimo Classics. pp. 49–52. ISBN 978-1-60520-301-0. LCCN 11015009. OCLC 428109956. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
Rudwin 1970, p. 20.
Dumas, Alexandre (1634). "Urbain Grandier: Chapter V". Urbain Grandier. Celebrated Crimes.
Rudwin 1970, p. 87.
Rudwin 1970, p. 92.
Luis Vélez de Guevara
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624832/Luis-Velez-de-Guevara
Rudwin 1970, p. 88.
Rudwin 1970, p. 50.
Duyckinck, Evert A. Evert A. Duyckinck to Abraham Lincoln, Saturday, February 18, 1865 (Sends clipping with story Lincoln allegedly told at Hampton Roads conference) – The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
Scholem, G. (1948). "New Chapters in the Story of Ashmedai and Lilith / פרקים חדשים מענייני אשמדאי ולילית". Tarbiẕ. Mandel Institute for Jewish Studies. 19 (3–4): 160–175. JSTOR 23585831.
Sami Helewa Models of Leadership in the Adab Narratives of Joseph, David, and Solomon: Lament for the Sacred Lexington Books 2017 ISBN 978-1-498-55267-7 page 167
Tabari History of al-Tabari Vol. 3, The: The Children of Israel SUNY Press 2015 ISBN 978-0-791-49752-4 page 170
Christian Lange Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions BRILL 978-90-04-30121-4 p. 12-13
Qisas Al-Anbiya of al-Tha'labi
Kubicek, John (April 12, 2018). "'Supernatural' Recap: A Big death and a Happy Return". BuddyTV.
D'Angelo, Alex; Tony, Grogan (1997). Tafelberg. Missing or empty |title= (help)
Ashera wrote:I do NOT act in the name of your LORD but appealed to the Master of the Universe!
Satan and his Asmodeus did not only base a verdict on lies but crapped all profiling, computing, and manhunt with it - in the name of the LORD and his people!
And many believed it because they wanted to, and collaborated, even faked filing.
Corruption rules and the false expectation of salvation!
To hell with them!
A science that leads to nowhere (except the proposal of my fixation) because the same processes are at work...I decided for Islamic Science.
Ashera wrote:N.B.: not only the flap of a butterfly can change the run of the universe but also the bite of a gadfly...
Ashera wrote:Asmodeus is the alter ego of Solomon, maybe best expressed in Proverbs 9 as the opposition of Ninive and Babylon, and in Sura 2:102.
Ashera- Posts : 4201
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- Post n°365
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
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- Post n°366
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
What does Job to Daniel reveal about Job to Daniel when read straight-through, over and over?? Do all churches seek to be more idealistic than the Whole-Bible with their Doctrinal-Statements and Inspirational-Literature?? Do all churches make the Bible say what they wish it to say with 'here a little, there a little' Exegetical-Monstrosities?? What do the Pauline-Epistles reveal about the Pauline-Epistles when read straight-through, over and over?? What might be revealed if one read Job to Daniel and Romans to Philemon straight-through, over and over?? What if a four-way scholarly-debate were held daily for one-year between [Genesis to Esther] and [Job to Malachi] and [Matthew to John] and [Acts to Revelation]?? Is the Bible too dark and confusing for the average-person to properly study and apply?? What if church consisted of responsively-reading the Psalms interspersed with music devoted to the Psalms (with no liturgy or sermon)?? What if the Whole-Bible consisted of Job to Daniel??Morpheus wrote:Most “BELIEF” systems also say to go into the light. Even the movie industry promotes this. The movie, Ghost, for example. The human race has also been conditioned to believe this as so. Programmed. Many take it as blind faith to go into the light. Taking the blue pill. To touch on this a little, is not so little to answer your question properly. But I will try to be concise, but be forewarned that this is what I discovered using my hard head.Vidya Moksha wrote:Something you wrote about Brook's 'relocation' stayed with me for a few days. I havent read all that thread, and I didnt think it appropriate to ask in there.. But this thread gives me the opportunity. When Brook left her body you told her not to go the light, it was a trap... Could you expand on this a little? I have absolutely no experience of such things, but I have read a few Buddhist texts which always say the opposite. The texts say "go to the light, even if its a bit scary, as there is a chance for 'spiritual advancement'..
Back in 1977, I had a best friend die of leukemia. She died in Connecticut. Her name was Charlotte Flood. Died at the age of twenty-three. She also was carrying a son and he died with her. I met Charlotte in 1975. She was one of the main counselors at the Wilderness School in Goshen, Connecticut. Her husband was the director of the school. The Wilderness School was a survival summer camp course that lasted for three weeks. The school was a state sponsored program designed to help out troubled teens. Charlotte was incredible as she had a gift within her that would somehow heal you in so many ways. She healed me as I was one of those troubled kids. She healed so many kids. An angel in disguise. You could not help but love her for all that she did.
In 1977, I was stationed in Germany, as an Army cook, in a field artillery unit. We were out on a training exercise and on August 4, 1977, I received a letter from her, telling me of the discovery of the disease. I was devastated. I wrote back many times but no letters came back. A few months went by and nothing came. Then, on Nov. 13, 1977, an extraordinary event happened that forever changed the way I looked at things.
On Nov 13th, NATO decided to have an exercise. So all the regular troops had to attend it. Being a cook, I didn't have to since some of us cooks had to stay back and cook for the base. So the 4 story barracks I lived in was empty with the exception of two guards down on the first floor. I lived in a big room on the second floor. There were bullet holes in my room that dated back to WWII. It was an old place. The door to my room, was a solid wood door that was damaged. You had to put your shoulder into it so you could open it. I had been writing a love letter to my fiance and had this urge to go take a leak. I finished up the letter and locked it in my locker and then turned towards the door and then the door opened. I was 10' away from it. When the door opened, I could see clearly down a 50' hallway. Nobody was in the hallway. I about peed in my pants when that happened. I checked all the windows for one of those cross breeze effects and found no windows that were opened. The windows in my room were closed up. Anyways, I went to the bathroom and did my business and came back to my room mystified as to what just happened. So I decided to go into level and try to find out what happened. All I knew was that something was trying to get my attention.
It was Charlotte. When I honed in on the right frequency, I could then see her. It looked like she was up against a transparent wall, facing me. I could see her lips move but didn't hear a voice. This went on for a few minutes and then it ended. Mind you, this was my perception that was being perceived through my filters. It became apparent to me that she had passed over and that she was trying to contact me. I had no contacts back in the States or anyway of knowing her passing through conventional means such as the newspapers. So I said to myself that I had to find a way to connect to her, so we could communicate.
In my new quest, I discovered a book written by Marcia Moore, called Hypersentience. “ENTER THE TIME TUNNEL, TO YOUR PAST LIVES AND DISCOVER THE LINK TO YOUR DESTINY.” I still have a copy of this book. You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. This is where I discovered the Tunnel of Light. Basically it is a dimensional wormhole, that you can soul travel through. In my case, as in my life's path, it would bring me to either a past life or to my pre-birth station of origin. But what it did for me was teach me how to go through a doorway. This doorway is how I created the “BRIDGE-WAY to Charlotte. Charlotte and I communicated for a good 6 months after this Bridge-way was established. Then one day, she expressed that she needed to go on and that I had to let her go. I did, but it was a sad day for me.
Ok, to get back on track here, let's talk about this pre-birth station. This is the place where your future incarnated life will be configured. Where you want to live, what country, your parents, your sexual preferences, how you want to exist in terms of work, and even body type and all those parameters. So many choices that you are allowed to make. Making you feel like you have a choice or choices in the matter of your soul's life. A contract if you will. The agents there look professional and give the illusion to help you.
Using the method in the book, I would travel through this tunnel of light and return to this station. Upon exiting this wormhole, was a grassy field. Long and sloping with the grass being waist high. On top of this hill was a building that looked like it was part castle, with wooden timbers. A beaten down road led up to the main doors of this place. The doors were black timbers with golden edges, very thick and huge in size. I would knock on the doors and shortly they would open. When they opened, a man stood there to invite me in. He didn't speak. He was like the butler of the place. He appeared bald and in his 50's. He would motion for me to follow him, down a hallway we would go to a receiving station inside. The place was rustic but was also modern with a clean look about it. The furniture was rustic but well made, and looked new. The floor had 18” black and white tiles. Once at the reception office, he would disappear down the hallway. The receptionist would have take a seat on one of the bench seats and I would wait till someone came out of one of the rooms in this hallway. Then I would go in and sit in a chair across a desk with one of these so called agents.
My purpose of going there was to change my contract. I had wanted to improve it so that my Earth life wouldn't be so difficult. Well, these agents didn't want to work with me on this. I had made 3 trips here and met with three different agents and had come up empty. My flags went up with these folks and the butler, without saying a word would give me signals, using his facial expressions to let me know that I was on the right track as to figuring out what was going on in this place. I returned several more times and then these agents just disappeared. With the exception of Charles the butler. It was him that showed me a storage room with all of my stuff from the different past lives that I had in this quadrant.
The agents are forever gone. Why is that? Why did they want me to stay the course of misery, lack, and so on? They all tried to convince me of this. They were the gatekeepers. They manipulated my life to suit who's bidding? Charles was so instrumental in the validation of my suspicions or red flags. Even Brook suspected something not right with all of this. Her and I worked on this together. I do have some tape recordings somewhere around here. So the more I pushed the issue with these agents the more they withdrew. The final tally was when Sol, let everyone know out there that an earthling had visited with him. The agents seem to have totally exited from that point on. It was like they ran.
Someone said to question everything! So I am going to pose some questions concerning this. Why do you need a wormhole to go somewhere? Do you know where this wormhole goes? Why do we assume we are going to go to Heaven when we see the light, which is the entrance to a wormhole? Why do we sometimes see an angel or angels when we also see this light? Why do we assume anything? Blind faith you say? Even if it's scary? Really? What is real here? All death is, is a transition. Leaving your physical body and this dimension. The soul is still the soul. And yet because it happens suddenly, our inclination from spending an Earth life says what exactly? You are still carrying the conditioning and the programming in the form of memory as to your incarnation. So if you are the type that believes seeking outside of yourself will provide the answers to your questions, you are already a hooked fish.
You will blindly accept what they want you to see. Such as this so called light. Without even questioning where it goes. So here you die, you find yourself out of your body, in the second dimension. Then here comes this holographic program, a light field, presented to you. Sometimes with angels appearing around it. Now ask yourself, why is it there, when I can just think of where I want to go? Why do I need a wormhole to go there? Your Merkaba will take your intended thought and in a flash you'll be there. Keyword is intention. Why the angels you may be wondering? They are merely a holographic projection to do one thing and that is to seduce you into the light. Basically they are bait! Usually presented to those who have partially remembered or fully have awakened. These souls will take more of an effort to seduce them into the light.
The darkside has either hijacked or has duplicated what they haven't been able to hijack. Religions, the New Age Movement, and so on. Including the texts. Even the Buddha belief system has been hijacked. I give them a lot of credit, because they have enslaved us in such a way that we for the most part, aren't even aware they have done this. That's what happens when we seek outside ourselves for the answers. We will never get to the truth as long as we are distracted from finding those answers within ourselves.
There are two Galactic Federations of Light, two Jesuses, duplicates of other ascended beings, etc. One of which is either a dark being in disguise or a holographic image being projected and then there is the real one. Which on a soul level, you will surely “know” who the real one is. The light tunnel does go somewhere. I'm speaking of the one that is presented to you when you die. “Even if it's scary?” That should be your first warning sign! That shouldn't be used as an excuse to justify the myths we believe are so. You end up trapping yourself right off the bat just thinking this way. With blind faith. Oh Boy..........!
On the very edge of our Solar System, just outside of it, is another station. It looks like a squid. It's very large. Like 2000 miles long. It is shimmery with black, red, pale white hues to almost gray. It has two very large tentacles protruding from it. Those tentacles are positioned, into our Solar System. They are basically used as a transceiver of sorts. To control thoughts, false miracles, apparitions, and other projections that promote their control. James Gilliland has been known to mention the “Beast.” From the reference of the Cherokee elders. A giant holographic generator.
Within this generator, are millions of souls. Good souls. Souls that went through this tunnel of light thinking or assuming they would be going back to Heaven. The darkside have these souls trapped in a holographic virtual world to where they use the light generated from these souls, invert it, and then use that energy to create all the hell they want. In other words they use our very own light against us without our knowing. It's a recycling center of souls. And you are just one program of it.
They say not to feed the Beast and yet, the final trap is set, and the odds of you going into the light, is in their favor because of our conditioning and the Believing program that we have accepted as so without questioning it. Our apathy concerning this is staggering and is the final noose to our souls. To be enslaved on a soul level, trapped in an endless cycle or cycles of control, is surely something I don't plan on subscribing to.
So when I yelled out three times to Brook about not going into the light, was a reminder to her, in the case she forgot what we had discovered in terms of the true agenda behind this. Break the chains!!!!!!!!!!!!! that bind us!!! It is written in most texts. Go into the light. If you are truly awake, you will decide your own fate. You won't accept a holographic program to assume it will take you to Heaven. You'll just think it. Besides, wormholes are slower, so why would you want to get there slower? Brook did hear my yells. She didn't go into the light and that means she is now free of that darkside program. The liberation of her soul was my ultimate goal.
Success!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So upon your passing, choose wisely!!!!
I hope I answered your question, Vidya.
I've been a fan of Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Harold Schuller. I attended the Crystal Cathedral for four years, and was present when Norman Vincent Peale preached at the Crystal Cathedral. Unfortunately, none of the positive-thinking and unlimited-success stuff rubbed-off on me. Oh Me of Little Faith. I should've joined the Masons and Crucified My Conscience. Things would've worked out SO Much Better. 'RA' invited me to join the Masons, and I declined. Robert Schuller yelled at me in public. So Much for Joining the Club and Hobnobbing With the Elite. Perhaps In My Next Life I'll Learn to Play the Game, and Make a Name for Myself. Is Honesty the Best Policy?? Is the Truth Overrated?? Notice Who Rules the World, and How They Do It!!
George Green implied a particular power ruling the world for the last 5,000 years. How does one compete with a God of This World With 5,000 Years of Uninterrupted Experience?? The Next 5,000 Years Should Be Splendiferous!! Too Bad I Probably Won't Be Here. Sorry About That. What if HAL 9000 Selects the High-Profile Powers That Be?? "The Powers That Be Are Ordained by God!!" and "My God!! It's Full of Stars!!" Once, as I sat in the choir-loft of the Crystal Cathedral during a service, I seemed to telepathically-hear "He Says We Need a War" and within two-years we were at war. Around the same-time, I told a medical-doctor "God has a nasty-job, but someone has to do it." I thought he was going to call 'SECURITY'. But what if Humanity anciently chose HAL 9000 over Almighty-God?? Archons + Algorithms = Artificial-Intelligence?? Blond + Brunette Hair-Coloring = Artificial-Intelligence??
Don't Be Frightened!! I Mean No Harm!! My Name is Orthodoxymoron!! Consider the following Minimal-List:
1. Patriarchs and Prophets (Ellen White). The First-Half of the Old-Testament.
2. Prophets and Kings (Ellen White). The Second-Half of the Old-Testament.
3. The SDA Bible Commentary -- Volume 4 (Isaiah to Malachi). The Last Seventeen Books of the Old-Testament.
4. The SDA Bible Commentary -- Volume 7 (Philippians to Revelation). The Last Seventeen Books of the New-Testament.
5. Daniel 8:14, the Day of Atonement, and the Investigative Judgment (Desmond Ford).
6. The United States of the Solar System: A.D. 2133 (Books One to Eleven).
This is an interesting Royal-Model and Mostly-Historical Study which isn't for most people. It's a nasty-task, but some of us MUST examine the fine-print. What is our True-History (with absolutely ZERO Bullshit)?? Who REALLY Owns this Solar System?? Who REALLY Governs this Solar System?? What is Our True-Future?? All of the Above is more of a difficult and intellectual study than you can imagine. It's honestly a Spiritual-War!! There Shall Be No Peace!! John May Lives!! Long Live the Fifth-Column!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk45.html The advent of the army of Cyrus before the walls of Babylon was to the Jews a sign that their deliverance from captivity was drawing nigh. More than a century before the birth of Cyrus, Inspiration had mentioned him by name, and had caused a record to be made of the actual work he should do in taking the city of Babylon unawares, and in preparing the way for the release of the children of the captivity. Through Isaiah the word had been spoken:
"Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; . . . to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isaiah 45:1-3.
In the unexpected entry of the army of the Persian conqueror into the heart of the Babylonian capital by way of the channel of the river whose waters had been turned aside, and through the inner gates that in careless security had been left open and unprotected, the Jews had abundant evidence of the literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy concerning the sudden overthrow of their oppressors. And this should have been to them an unmistakable sign that God was shaping the affairs of nations in their behalf; for inseparably linked with the prophecy outlining the manner of Babylon's capture and fall were the words:
"Cyrus, he is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts." Isaiah 44:28; 45:13.
Nor were these the only prophecies upon which the exiles had opportunity to base their hope of speedy deliverance. The writings of Jeremiah were within their reach, and in these was plainly set forth the length of time that should elapse before the restoration of Israel from Babylon. "When seventy years are accomplished," the Lord had foretold through His messenger, "I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." Jeremiah 25:12. Favor would be shown the remnant of Judah, in answer to fervent prayer. "I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29:14.
Often had Daniel and his companions gone over these and similar prophecies outlining God's purpose for His people. And now, as the rapid course of events betokened the mighty hand of God at work among the nations, Daniel gave special thought to the promises made to Israel. His faith in the prophetic word led him to enter into experiences foretold by the sacred writers. "After seventy years be accomplished at Babylon," the Lord had declared, "I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return. . . . I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." Verses 10-13.
Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was meditating on these prophecies and seeking God for an understanding of the times, a series of visions was given him concerning the rise and fall of kingdoms. With the first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, an interpretation was given; yet not all was made clear to the prophet. "My cogitations much troubled me," he wrote of his experience at the time, "and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart." Daniel 7:28.
Through another vision further light was thrown upon the events of the future; and it was at the close of this vision that Daniel heard "one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision?" Daniel 8:13. The answer that was given, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (verse 14), filled him with perplexity. Earnestly he sought for the meaning of the vision. He could not understand the relation sustained by the seventy years' captivity, as foretold through Jeremiah, to the twenty-three hundred years that in vision he heard the heavenly visitant declare should elapse before the cleansing of God's sanctuary. The angel Gabriel gave him a partial interpretation; yet when the prophet heard the words, "The vision . . . shall be for many days," he fainted away. "I Daniel fainted," he records of his experience, "and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it." Verses 26, 27.
Still burdened in behalf of Israel, Daniel studied anew the prophecies of Jeremiah. They were very plain--so plain that he understood by these testimonies recorded in books "the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Daniel 9:2.
With faith founded on the sure word of prophecy, Daniel pleaded with the Lord for the speedy fulfillment of these promises. He pleaded for the honor of God to be preserved. In his petition he identified himself fully with those who had fallen short of the divine purpose, confessing their sins as his own.
"I set my face unto the Lord God," the prophet declared, "to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: and I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession." Verses 3, 4. Though Daniel had long been in the service of God, and had been spoken of by heaven as "greatly beloved," yet he now appeared before God as a sinner, urging the great need of the people he loved. His prayer was eloquent in its simplicity, and intensely earnest. Hear him pleading:
"O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments; neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, which spake in Thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
"O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither Thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee. . . .
"To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him." "O Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
"Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies.
"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for Thine own sake, O my God: for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name." Verses 4-9, 16-19.
Heaven was bending low to hear the earnest supplication of the prophet. Even before he had finished his plea for pardon and restoration, the mighty Gabriel again appeared to him, and called his attention to the vision he had seen prior to the fall of Babylon and the death of Belshazzar. And then the angel outlined before him in detail the period of the seventy weeks, which was to begin at the time of "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Verse 25.
Daniel's prayer had been offered "in the first year of Darius" (verse 1), the Median monarch whose general, Cyrus, had wrested from Babylonia the scepter of universal rule. The reign of Darius was honored of God. To him was sent the angel Gabriel, "to confirm and to strengthen him." Daniel 11:1. Upon his death, within about two years of the fall of Babylon, Cyrus succeeded to the throne, and the beginning of his reign marked the completion of the seventy years since the first company of Hebrews had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar from their Judean home to Babylon.
The deliverance of Daniel from the den of lions had been used of God to create a favorable impression upon the mind of Cyrus the Great. The sterling qualities of the man of God as a statesman of farseeing ability led the Persian ruler to show him marked respect and to honor his judgment. And now, just at the time God had said He would cause His temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt, He moved upon Cyrus as His agent to discern the prophecies concerning himself, with which Daniel was so familiar, and to grant the Jewish people their liberty.
As the king saw the words foretelling, more than a hundred years before his birth, the manner in which Babylon should be taken; as he read the message addressed to him by the Ruler of the universe, "I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me;" as he saw before his eyes the declaration of the eternal God, "For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel Mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me;" as he traced the inspired record, "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor reward," his heart was profoundly moved, and he determined to fulfill his divinely appointed mission. Isaiah 45:5, 6, 4, 13. He would let the Judean captives go free; he would help them restore the temple of Jehovah.
In a written proclamation published "throughout all his kingdom," Cyrus made known his desire to provide for the return of the Hebrews and for the rebuilding of their temple. "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth," the king gratefully acknowledged in this public proclamation; "and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, . . . and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering." Ezra 1:1-4.
"Let the house be builded," he further directed regarding the temple structure, "the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; with three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king's house: and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem." Ezra 6:3-5.
Tidings of this decree reached the farthermost provinces of the king's realm, and everywhere among the children of the dispersion there was great rejoicing. Many, like Daniel, had been studying the prophecies, and had been seeking God for His promised intervention in behalf of Zion. And now their prayers were being answered; and with heartfelt joy they could unite in singing:
"When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion,
We were like them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing:
Then said they among the heathen,
The Lord hath done great things for them.
The Lord hath done great things for us;
Whereof we are glad."
Psalm 126:1-3.
"The chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised"--these were the goodly remnant, about fifty thousand strong, from among the Jews in the lands of exile, who determined to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity offered them "to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." Their friends did not permit them to go empty-handed. "All they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things." And to these and many other voluntary offerings were added "the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem; . . . even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, . . . five thousand and four hundred" in number, for use in the temple that was to be rebuilt. Ezra 1:5-11.
Upon Zerubbabel (known also as Sheshbazzar), a descendant of King David, Cyrus placed the responsibility of acting as governor of the company returning to Judea; and with him was associated Joshua the high priest. The long journey across the desert wastes was accomplished in safety, and the happy company, grateful to God for His many mercies, at once undertook the work of re-establishing that which had been broken down and destroyed. "The chief of the fathers" led out in offering of their substance to help defray the expense of rebuilding the temple; and the people, following their example, gave freely of their meager store. See Ezra 2:64-70.
As speedily as possible, an altar was erected on the site of the ancient altar in the temple court. To the exercises connected with the dedication of this altar, the people had "gathered themselves together as one man;" and there they united in re-establishing the sacred services that had been interrupted at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Before separating to dwell in the homes they were endeavoring to restore, "they kept also the Feast of Tabernacles." Ezra 3:1-6.
The setting up of the altar of daily burnt offerings greatly cheered the faithful remnant. Heartily they entered into the preparations necessary for the rebuilding of the temple, gathering courage as these preparations advanced from month to month. They had for many years been deprived of the visible tokens of God's presence. And now, surrounded as they were by many sad reminders of the apostasy of their fathers, they longed for some abiding token of divine forgiveness and favor. Above the regaining of personal property and ancient privileges, they valued the approval of God. Wonderfully had He wrought in their behalf, and they felt the assurance of His presence with them; yet they desired greater blessings still. With joyous anticipation they looked forward to the time when, with temple rebuilt, they might behold the shining forth of His glory from within.
The workmen engaged in the preparation of the building material, found among the ruins some of the immense stones brought to the temple site in the days of Solomon. These were made ready for use, and much new material was provided; and soon the work was advanced to the point where the foundation stone must be laid. This was done in the presence of many thousands who had assembled to witness the progress of the work and to give expression to their joy in having a part in it. While the cornerstone was being set in position, the people, accompanied by the trumpets of the priests and the cymbals of the sons of Asaph, "sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel." Verse 11.
The house that was about to be rebuilt had been the subject of many prophecies concerning the favor that God desired to show Zion, and all who were present at the laying of the cornerstone should have entered heartily into the spirit of the occasion. Yet mingled with the music and the shouts of praise that were heard on that glad day, was a discordant note. "Many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice." Verse 12.
It was natural that sadness should fill the hearts of these aged men, as they thought of the results of long-continued impenitence. Had they and their generation obeyed God, and carried out His purpose for Israel, the temple built by Solomon would not have been destroyed and the captivity would not have been necessary. But because of ingratitude and disloyalty they had been scattered among the heathen.
Conditions were now changed. In tender mercy the Lord had again visited His people and allowed them to return to their own land. Sadness because of the mistakes of the past should have given way to feelings of great joy. God had moved upon the heart of Cyrus to aid them in rebuilding the temple, and this should have called forth expressions of profound gratitude. But some failed of discerning God's opening providences. Instead of rejoicing, they cherished thoughts of discontent and discouragement. They had seen the glory of Solomon's temple, and they lamented because of the inferiority of the building now to be erected.
The murmuring and complaining, and the unfavorable comparisons made, had a depressing influence on the minds of many and weakened the hands of the builders. The workmen were led to question whether they should proceed with the erection of a building that at the beginning was so freely criticized and was the cause of so much lamentation.
There were many in the congregation, however, whose larger faith and broader vision did not lead them to view this lesser glory with such dissatisfaction. "Many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." Verses 12, 13.
Could those who failed to rejoice at the laying of the foundation stone of the temple have foreseen the results of their lack of faith on that day, they would have been appalled. Little did they realize the weight of their words of disapproval and disappointment; little did they know how much their expressed dissatisfaction would delay the completion of the Lord's house.
The magnificence of the first temple, and the imposing rites of its religious services, had been a source of pride to Israel before their captivity; but their worship had ofttimes been lacking in those qualities which God regards as most essential. The glory of the first temple, the splendor of its service, could not recommend them to God; for that which is alone of value in His sight, they did not offer. They did not bring Him the sacrifice of a humble and contrite spirit.
It is when the vital principles of the kingdom of God are lost sight of, that ceremonies become multitudinous and extravagant. It is when the character building is neglected, when the adornment of the soul is lacking, when the simplicity of godliness is despised, that pride and love of display demand magnificent church edifices, splendid adornings, and imposing ceremonials. But in all this God is not honored. He values His church, not for its external advantages, but for the sincere piety which distinguishes it from the world. He estimates it according to the growth of its members in the knowledge of Christ, according to their progress in spiritual experience. He looks for the principles of love and goodness. Not all the beauty of art can bear comparison with the beauty of temper and character to be revealed in those who are Christ's representatives.
A congregation may be the poorest in the land. It may be without the attractions of any outward show; but if the members possess the principles of the character of Christ, angels will unite with them in their worship. The praise and thanksgiving from grateful hearts will ascend to God as a sweet oblation.
"Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good:
For His mercy endureth forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the
enemy."
"Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him:
Talk ye of all His wondrous works.
Glory ye in His holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord."
"For He satisfieth the longing soul,
And filleth the hungry soul with goodness."
Psalms 107:1, 2; 105:2, 3; 107:9.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk46.html Close by the Israelites who had set themselves to the task of rebuilding the temple, dwelt the Samaritans, a mixed race that had sprung up through the intermarriage of heathen colonists from the provinces of Assyria with the remnant of the ten tribes which had been left in Samaria and Galilee. In later years the Samaritans claimed to worship the true God, but in heart and practice they were idolaters. It is true, they held that their idols were but to remind them of the living God, the Ruler of the universe; nevertheless the people were prone to reverence graven images.
During the period of the restoration, these Samaritans came to be known as "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin." Hearing that "the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel," "they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers," and expressed a desire to unite with them in its erection. "Let us build with you," they proposed; "for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither." But the privilege they asked was refused them. "Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God," the leaders of the Israelites declared; "but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us." Ezra 4:1-3.
Only a remnant had chosen to return from Babylon; and now, as they undertake a work seemingly beyond their strength, their nearest neighbors come with an offer of help. The Samaritans refer to their worship of the true God, and express a desire to share the privileges and blessings connected with the temple service. "We seek your God, as ye do," they declare. "Let us build with you." But had the Jewish leaders accepted this offer of assistance, they would have opened a door for the entrance of idolatry. They discerned the insincerity of the Samaritans. They realized that help gained through an alliance with these men would be as nothing in comparison with the blessing they might expect to receive by following the plain commands of Jehovah.
Regarding the relation that Israel should sustain to surrounding peoples, the Lord had declared through Moses: "Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou make marriages with them; . . . for they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly." "Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." Deuteronomy 7:2-4; 14:2.
The result that would follow an entrance into covenant relation with surrounding nations was plainly foretold. "The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other," Moses had declared; "and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." Deuteronomy 28:64-67. "But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God," the promise had been, "thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Deuteronomy 4:29.
Zerubbabel and his associates were familiar with these and many like scriptures; and in the recent captivity they had evidence after evidence of their fulfillment. And now, having repented of the evils that had brought upon them and their fathers the judgments foretold so plainly through Moses; having turned with all the heart to God, and renewed their covenant relationship with Him, they had been permitted to return to Judea, that they might restore that which had been destroyed. Should they, at the very beginning of their undertaking, enter into a covenant with idolaters?
"Thou shalt make no covenant with them," God had said; and those who had recently rededicated themselves to the Lord at the altar set up before the ruins of His temple, realized that the line of demarcation between His people and the world is ever to be kept unmistakably distinct. They refused to enter into alliance with those who, though familiar with the requirements of God's law, would not yield to its claims.
The principles set forth in Deuteronomy for the instruction of Israel are to be followed by God's people to the end of time. True prosperity is dependent on the continuance of our covenant relationship with God. Never can we afford to compromise principle by entering into alliance with those who do not fear Him.
There is constant danger that professing Christians will come to think that in order to have influence with worldlings, they must to a certain extent conform to the world. But though such a course may appear to afford great advantages, it always ends in spiritual loss. Against every subtle influence that seeks entrance by means of flattering inducements from the enemies of truth, God's people must strictly guard. They are pilgrims and strangers in this world, traveling a path beset with danger. To the ingenious subterfuges and alluring inducements held out to tempt from allegiance, they must give no heed.
It is not the open and avowed enemies of the cause of God that are most to be feared. Those who, like the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, come with smooth words and fair speeches, apparently seeking for friendly alliance with God's children, have greater power to deceive. Against such every soul should be on the alert, lest some carefully concealed and masterly snare take him unaware. And especially today, while earth's history is closing, the Lord requires of His children a vigilance that knows no relaxation. But though the conflict is a ceaseless one, none are left to struggle alone. Angels help and protect those who walk humbly before God. Never will our Lord betray one who trusts in Him. As His children draw near to Him for protection from evil, in pity and love He lifts up for them a standard against the enemy. Touch them not, He says; for they are Mine. I have graven them upon the palms of My hands.
Untiring in their opposition, the Samaritans "weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius." Ezra 4:4, 5. By false reports they aroused suspicion in minds easily led to suspect. But for many years the powers of evil were held in check, and the people in Judea had liberty to continue their work.
While Satan was striving to influence the highest powers in the kingdom of Medo-Persia to show disfavor to God's people, angels worked in behalf of the exiles. The controversy was one in which all heaven was interested. Through the prophet Daniel we are given a glimpse of this mighty struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.
For three weeks Gabriel wrestled with the powers of darkness, seeking to counteract the influences at work on the mind of Cyrus; and before the contest closed, Christ Himself came to Gabriel's aid. "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days," Gabriel declares; "but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia." Daniel 10:13. All that heaven could do in behalf of the people of God was done. The victory was finally gained; the forces of the enemy were held in check all the days of Cyrus, and all the days of his son Cambyses, who reigned about seven and a half years.
This was a time of wonderful opportunity for the Jews. The highest agencies of heaven were working on the hearts of kings, and it was for the people of God to labor with the utmost activity to carry out the decree of Cyrus. They should have spared no effort to restore the temple and its services, and to re-establish themselves in their Judean homes. But in the day of God's power many proved unwilling. The opposition of their enemies was strong and determined, and gradually the builders lost heart. Some could not forget the scene at the laying of the cornerstone, when many had given expression to their lack of confidence in the enterprise. And as the Samaritans grew more bold, many of the Jews questioned whether, after all, the time had come to rebuild. The feeling soon became widespread. Many of the workmen, discouraged and disheartened, returned to their homes to take up the ordinary pursuits of life.
During the reign of Cambyses the work on the temple progressed slowly. And during the reign of the false Smerdis (called Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7) the Samaritans induced the unscrupulous impostor to issue a decree forbidding the Jews to rebuild their temple and city. For over a year the temple was neglected and well-nigh forsaken. The people dwelt in their homes and strove to attain temporal prosperity, but their situation was deplorable. Work as they might they did not prosper. The very elements of nature seemed to conspire against them. Because they had let the temple lie waste, the Lord sent upon their substance a wasting drought. God had bestowed upon them the fruits of field and garden, the corn and the wine and the oil, as a token of His favor; but because they had used these bountiful gifts so selfishly, the blessings were removed.
Such were the conditions existing during the early part of the reign of Darius Hystaspes. Spiritually as well as temporally, the Israelites were in a pitiable state. So long had they murmured and doubted; so long had they chosen to make personal interests first, while viewing with apathy the Lord's temple in ruins, that many had lost sight of God's purpose in restoring them to Judea; and these were saying, "The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." Haggai 1:2.
But even this dark hour was not without hope for those whose trust was in God. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to meet the crisis. In stirring testimonies these appointed messengers revealed to the people the cause of their troubles. The lack of temporal prosperity was the result of a neglect to put God's interests first, the prophets declared. Had the Israelites honored God, had they shown Him due respect and courtesy, by making the building of His house their first work, they would have invited His presence and blessing.
To those who had become discouraged, Haggai addressed the searching inquiry, "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways." Why have you done so little? Why do you feel concern for your own buildings and unconcern for the Lord's building? Where is the zeal you once felt for the restoration of the Lord's house? What have you gained by serving self? The desire to escape poverty has led you to neglect the temple, but this neglect has brought upon you that which you feared. "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes." Verses 4-6.
And then, in words that they could not fail to understand, the Lord revealed the cause that had brought them to want: "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of Mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands." Verses 9-11.
"Consider your ways," the Lord urged. "Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified." Verses 7, 8.
The message of counsel and reproof given through Haggai was taken to heart by the leaders and people of Israel. They felt that God was in earnest with them. They dared not disregard the repeated instruction sent them--that their prosperity, both temporal and spiritual, was dependent on faithful obedience to God's commands. Aroused by the warnings of the prophet, Zerubbabel and Joshua, "with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet." Verse 12.
As soon as Israel decided to obey, the words of reproof were followed by a message of encouragement. "Then spake Haggai . . . unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel" and of Joshua, and "of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God." Verses 13, 14.
In less than a month after the work on the temple was resumed, the builders received another comforting message. "Be strong, O Zerubbabel," the Lord Himself urged through His prophet; "be strong, O Joshua; . . . and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts." Haggai 2:4.
To Israel encamped before Mount Sinai the Lord had declared: "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God." Exodus 29:45, 46. And now, notwithstanding the fact that they had repeatedly "rebelled, and vexed His Holy Spirit" (Isaiah 63:10), God once more, through the messages of His prophet, was stretching out His hand to save. As a recognition of their co-operation with His purpose, He was renewing His covenant that His Spirit should remain among them; and He bade them, "Fear not."
To His children today the Lord declares, "Be strong, . . . and work: for I am with you." The Christian always has a strong helper in the Lord. The way of the Lord's helping we may not know; but this we do know: He will never fail those who put their trust in Him. Could Christians realize how many times the Lord has ordered their way, that the purposes of the enemy concerning them might not be accomplished, they would not stumble along complainingly. Their faith would be stayed on God, and no trial would have power to move them. They would acknowledge Him as their wisdom and efficiency, and He would bring to pass that which He desires to work out through them.
The earnest pleadings and the encouragements given through Haggai were emphasized and added to by Zechariah, whom God raised up to stand by his side in urging Israel to carry out the command to arise and build. Zechariah's first message was an assurance that God's word never fails and a promise of blessing to those who would hearken to the sure word of prophecy.
With fields lying waste, with their scant store of provisions rapidly failing, and surrounded as they were by unfriendly peoples, the Israelites nevertheless moved forward by faith in response to the call of God's messengers, and labored diligently to restore the ruined temple. It was a work requiring firm reliance upon God. As the people endeavored to do their part, and sought for a renewal of God's grace in heart and life, message after message was given them through Haggai and Zechariah, with assurances that their faith would be richly rewarded and that the word of God concerning the future glory of the temple whose walls they were rearing would not fail. In this very building would appear, in the fullness of time, the Desire of all nations as the Teacher and Saviour of mankind.
Thus the builders were not left to struggle alone; "with them were the prophets of God helping them;" and the Lord of hosts Himself had declared, "Be strong, . . . and work: for I am with you." Ezra 5:2; Haggai 2:4.
With heartfelt repentance and a willingness to advance by faith, came the promise of temporal prosperity. "From this day," the Lord declared, "will I bless you." Verse 19.
To Zerubbabel their leader--he who, through all the years since their return from Babylon, had been so sorely tried--was given a most precious message. The day was coming, the Lord declared, when all the enemies of His chosen people would be cast down. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, My servant, . . . and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee." Verse 23. Now the governor of Israel could see the meaning of the providence that had led him through discouragement and perplexity; he could discern God's purpose in it all.
This personal word to Zerubbabel has been left on record for the encouragement of God's children in every age. God has a purpose in sending trial to His children. He never leads them otherwise than they would choose to be led if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose that they are fulfilling. All that He brings upon them in test and trial comes that they may be strong to do and to suffer for Him.
The messages delivered by Haggai and Zechariah roused the people to put forth every possible effort for the rebuilding of the temple; but, as they worked, they were sadly harassed by the Samaritans and others who devised many hindrances. On one occasion the provincial officers of the Medo-Persian realm visited Jerusalem and requested the name of the one who had authorized the restoration of the building. If at that time the Jews had not been trusting in the Lord for guidance, this inquiry might have resulted disastrously to them. "But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius." Ezra 5:5. The officers were answered so wisely that they decided to write a letter to Darius Hystaspes, then the ruler of Medo-Persia, directing his attention to the original decree made by Cyrus, which commanded that the house of God at Jerusalem be rebuilt, and that the expenses for the same be paid from the king's treasury.
Darius searched for this decree, and found it; whereupon he directed those who had made the inquiry to allow the rebuilding of the temple to proceed. "Let the work of this house of God alone," he commanded; "let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place.
"Moreover," Darius continued, "I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail: that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons." Ezra 6:7-10.
The king further decreed that severe penalties be meted out to those who should in any wise alter the decree; and he closed with the remarkable statement: "The God that hath caused His name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with the speed." Verse 12. Thus the Lord prepared the way for the completion of the temple.
For months before this decree was made, the Israelites had kept on working by faith, the prophets of God still helping them by means of timely messages, through which the divine purpose for Israel was kept before the workers. Two months after Haggai's last recorded message was delivered, Zechariah had a series of visions regarding the work of God in the earth. These messages, given in the form of parables and symbols, came at a time of great uncertainty and anxiety, and were of peculiar significance to the men who were advancing in the name of the God of Israel. It seemed to the leaders as if the permission granted the Jews to rebuild was about to be withdrawn; the future appeared very dark. God saw that His people were in need of being sustained and cheered by a revelation of His infinite compassion and love.
In vision Zechariah heard the angel of the Lord inquiring, "O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me," Zechariah declared, "with good words and comfortable words.
"So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: My house shall be built in it, . . . and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem." Zechariah 1:12-16.
The prophet was now directed to predict, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." Verse 17. Zechariah then saw the powers that had "scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem," symbolized by four horns. Immediately afterward he saw four carpenters, representing the agencies used by the Lord in restoring His people and the house of His worship. See verses 18-21.
"I lifted up mine eyes again," Zechariah said, "and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, and said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Zechariah 2:1-5.
God had commanded that Jerusalem be rebuilt; the vision of the measuring of the city was an assurance that He would give comfort and strength to His afflicted ones, and fulfill to them the promises of His everlasting covenant. His protecting care, He declared, would be like "a wall of fire round about;" and through them His glory would be revealed to all the sons of men. That which He was accomplishing for His people was to be known in all the earth. "Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." Isaiah 12:6.
POSSIBILITY THINKERS CREED
by
Dr. Robert H. Schuller
When faced with a mountain I will not quit.
I will keep on striving until I climb over,
find a pass through, tunnel underneath,
or simply stay and turn the mountain
into a gold mine with God's help!
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°367
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Thank-you, Ashera. I knew about oxymorons as a child, but I learned the term 'combining-opposites' from the actress, Shirley Maclaine, in adolescence. My father worked at CBS with her, and noticed she seemed to be in deep-thought while offstage. I think I might've seen her in the congregation while I was in the choir at the Crystal Cathedral, but I'm not sure. I commented on one of her videos, and I imagined she responded, but I'm not sure. I thought she was too open-minded regarding her spiritual-quest (especially in public). The response was quick and discerning, which made me wonder if it was really 'Shirley'. I thought I might've met her a few years ago, but I'm not sure. I'm sure I'm delusional with imaginary-friends, but it's easier that way. What Would John Nash Say?? All of Us are probably deluded with conflicting-delusions, which brings me to the Matrix. We test each other and compete with each other, which ultimately improves the breed. Regarding theology, when no new questions result from biblical-research, we probably worship we-know-not-what. "My God!! It's Full of Stars." This concept is central to my understanding of the Matrix. As Orthodoxymoron, I employ 'Contextual-Superimposition' to attempt to get at what constitutes 'Genuine Orthodoxy'. What Would Dr. Laura Schlessinger Say?? Dr. Robert H. Schuller used modifying-words to refine his writings and sermons. I keep attempting to refine old and seemingly obsolete theological writings and concepts, mostly through 'Positive Reinforcement' yet this project ultimately seems to be an exercise in futility. I haven't refined this paragraph, but I'm working on it as a 'Compassionate-Conservative'. Oxymoron or Wave of the Future?? What Would 'W' Say?? BTW, Ron is NOT a Moron. We Need More Ron. Do It Ron!! Doo Ron Ron!!
100 Awfully Good Examples of Oxymorons
By Richard Nordquist
Updated March 06, 2020
https://www.thoughtco.com/awfully-good-examples-of-oxymorons-1691814
An oxymoron is a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. This contradiction is also known as a paradox. Writers and poets have used it for centuries as a literary device to describe life's inherent conflicts and incongruities. In speech, oxymorons can lend a sense of humor, irony, or sarcasm.
Using Oxymorons
The word "oxymoron" is itself oxymoronic, which is to say contradictory. The word is derived from two ancient Greek words: oxys, which means "sharp," and moronos, which means "dull" or "stupid." Take this sentence, for example:
"This was a minor crisis and the only choice was to drop the product line," (Todd 2007).
There are two oxymorons in this sentence: "minor crisis" and "only choice." If you're learning English as a second language, you might be confused by these figures of speech. Read literally, they contradict themselves. A crisis is defined as a time of serious difficulty or importance. By that measure, no crisis is unimportant or minor. Similarly, "choice" implies more than one option, which is contradicted by "only," which implies the opposite.
But once you become fluent in English, it's easy to recognize such oxymorons for the figures of speech that they are. As the example's author, Richard Watson Todd, said, "The true beauty of oxymorons is that, unless we sit back and really think, we happily accept them as normal English."
Oxymorons have been used since the days of the ancient Greek poets. William Shakespeare was known to sprinkle them throughout his plays, poems, and sonnets. Oxymorons also feature in modern comedy and politics. The conservative political writer William Buckley, for instance, became famous for quotes like, "An intelligent liberal is an oxymoron."
100 Examples of Oxymorons
Like other kinds of figurative language, oxymorons (or oxymora) are often found in literature. As shown by this list of 100 awfully good examples, oxymorons are also part of our everyday speech. You'll find common figures of speech, plus references to works of classic and pop culture.
absent presence (Sidney 1591)
alone together
awful good
beggarly riches (Donne 1624)
bittersweet
brisk vacancy (Ashbery 1975)
cheerful pessimist
civil war
clearly misunderstood
comfortable misery (Koontz 2001)
conspicuous absence
cool passion
crash landing
cruel kindness
darkness visible (Milton 1667)
deafening silence
deceptively honest
definite maybe
deliberate speed
devout atheist
dull roar
eloquent silence
even odds
exact estimate
extinct life
falsely true (Tennyson 1862)
festive tranquility
found missing
freezer burn
friendly takeover
genuine imitation
good grief
growing smaller
guest host
historical present
humane slaughter
icy hot
idiot savant
ill health
impossible solution
intense apathy
joyful sadness
jumbo shrimp
larger half
lascivious grace (Shakespeare 1609)
lead balloon
liquid marble (Jonson 1601)
living dead
living end
living sacrifices
loosely sealed
loud whisper
loyal opposition
magic realism
melancholy merriment (Byron 1819)
militant pacifist
minor miracle
negative growth
negative income
old news
one-man band
only choice
openly deceptive
open secret
original copy
overbearingly modest
paper tablecloth
paper towel
peaceful conquest
plastic glasses
plastic silverware
poor health
pretty ugly
properly ridiculous
random order
recorded live
resident alien
sad smile
same difference
scalding coolness (Hemingway 1940)
seriously funny
shrewd dumbness
silent scream
small crowd
soft rock
"The Sound of Silence" (Simon 1965)
static flow
steel wool
student teacher
"sweet sorrow" (Shakespeare 1595)
terribly good
theoretical experience
transparent night (Whitman 1865)
true fiction
unbiased opinion
unconscious awareness
upward fall
wise fool
working vacation
Sources
Ashbery, John. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. Viking Press, 1975.
Byron, Lord. "Don Juan." 1819.
Donne, John. Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. 1624.
Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
Jonson, Ben. "Poetaster." 1601.
Koontz, Dean. One Door Away From Heaven. Bantam Books, 2001.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Samuel Simmons, 1667.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. 1595.
Shakespeare, William. "Sonnet 40." 1609.
Sidney, Philip. Astrophel and Stella. 1591.
Simon, Paul. "The Sound of Silence." Tom Wilson, 1965.
Tennyson, Alfred. "Lancelot and Elaine." Idylls of the King. 1862.
Todd, Richard Watson. Much Ado About English: Up and Down the Bizarre Byways of a Fascinating Language. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2007.
Whitman, Walt. "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d." Sequel to Drum-Taps. 1865.
My threads should be the source of HUGE Controversy and Heated-Debate!! The Silence is Deafening and Puzzling!! In Eleven-Years of Controversial-Posting No-One Has Attempted to Save My Lost-Soul!! Why is that?? I get the sinking-feeling that NEITHER Divinity or Humanity Are On My Side!! Why is that?? The strange thing is that I Have No-Idea Which Side I'm On (going way, way, way back). With all the deception -- how can I know anything of substance, with any certainty?? I guess I'll just keep talking to myself, as I drift further and further away from the "mainstream". What if I really turn-out to be some sort of an Ancient Babylonian or Egyptian Royal-Changeling?? What if I got deposed in antiquity -- and NO-ONE wants me to find-out what REALLY happened?? The Ancient Egyptian Deity wouldn't tell me!! Most of my questions were answered with "You Know I Can't Tell You That!!" I wish to repeat that my posts and threads are NOT intended for the General-Public. I can't even comprehend and/or handle my own posts and threads. I'm not naturally-gifted or professionally-trained to deal with this madness. I'm merely providing a Research-Context for Sirius-Researchers.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk47.htmlThe steady advancement made by the builders of the temple greatly discomfited and alarmed the hosts of evil. Satan determined to put forth still further effort to weaken and discourage God's people by holding before them their imperfections of character. If those who had long suffered because of transgression could again be induced to disregard God's commandments, they would be brought once more under the bondage of sin.
Because Israel had been chosen to preserve the knowledge of God in the earth, they had ever been the special objects of Satan's enmity; he was determined to cause their destruction. While they were obedient, he could do them no harm; therefore he had bent all his power and cunning to entice them into sin. Ensnared by his temptations, they had transgressed the law of God and had been left to become the prey of their enemies.
Yet though they were carried as captives to Babylon, God did not forsake them. He sent His prophets to them with reproofs and warnings, and aroused them to see their guilt. When they humbled themselves before God and returned to Him with true repentance, He sent them messages of encouragement, declaring that He would deliver them from captivity, restore them to His favor, and once more establish them in their own land. And now that this work of restoration had begun, and a remnant of Israel had already returned to Judea, Satan was determined to frustrate the carrying out of the divine purpose, and to this end he was seeking to move upon the heathen nations to destroy them utterly.
But in this crisis the Lord strengthened His people "with good words and comfortable words." Zechariah 1:13. Through an impressive illustration of the work of Satan and the work of Christ, He showed the power of their Mediator to vanquish the accuser of His people.
In vision the prophet beholds "Joshua the high priest," "clothed with filthy garments" (Zechariah 3:1, 3), standing before the Angel of the Lord, entreating God's mercy in behalf of his afflicted people. As he pleads for the fulfillment of God's promises, Satan stands up boldly to resist him. He points to the transgressions of Israel as a reason why they should not be restored to the favor of God. He claims them as his prey, and demands that they be given into his hands.
The high priest cannot defend himself or his people from Satan's accusations. He does not claim that Israel is free from fault. In filthy garments, symbolizing the sins of the people, which he bears as their representative, he stands before the Angel, confessing their guilt, yet pointing to their repentance and humiliation, and relying upon the mercy of a sin-pardoning Redeemer. In faith he claims the promises of God.
Then the Angel, who is Christ Himself, the Saviour of sinners, puts to silence the accuser of His people, declaring, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Verse 2. Long had Israel remained in the furnace of affliction. Because of their sins they had been well-nigh consumed in the flame kindled by Satan and his agents for their destruction, but God had now set His hand to bring them forth.
As the intercession of Joshua is accepted, the command is given, "Take away the filthy garments from him;" and to Joshua the Angel says, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." "So they set a fair miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments." Verses 4, 5. His own sins and those of his people were pardoned. Israel was clothed with "change of raiment"--the righteousness of Christ imputed to them. The miter be placed upon Joshua's head was such as was worn by the priests,and bore the inscription, "Holiness to the Lord" (Exodus 28:36), signifying that notwithstanding his former transgressions, he was now qualified to minister before God in His sanctuary.
The Angel now declared to Joshua: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge, then thou shalt also judge My house, and shalt also keep My courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by." Zechariah 3:7. If obedient, he should be honored as the judge, or ruler, over the temple and all its services; he should walk among attending angels, even in this life; and at last he should join the glorified throng around the throne of God.
"Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch." Verse 8. In the Branch, the Deliverer to come, lay the hope of Israel. It was by faith in the coming Saviour that Joshua and his people had received pardon. Through faith in Christ they had been restored to God's favor. By virtue of His merits, if they walked in His ways and kept His statutes, they would be "men wondered at," honored as the chosen of Heaven among the nations of the earth.
As Satan accused Joshua and his people, so in all ages he accuses those who seek the mercy and favor of God. He is "the accuser of our brethren, . . . which accused them before our God day and night." Revelation 12:10. Over every soul that is rescued from the power of evil, and whose name is registered in the Lamb's book of life, the controversy is repeated. Never is one received into the family of God without exciting the determined resistance of the enemy. But He who was the hope of Israel then, their defense, their justification and redemption, is the hope of the church today.
Satan's accusations against those who seek the Lord are not prompted by displeasure at their sins. He exults in their defective characters; for he knows that only through their transgression of God's law can he obtain power over them.
His accusations arise solely from his enmity to Christ. Through the plan of salvation, Jesus is breaking Satan's hold upon the human family and rescuing souls from his power. All the hatred and malignity of the archrebel is stirred as he beholds the evidences of Christ's supremacy; and with fiendish power and cunning he works to wrest from Him the children of men who have accepted salvation. He leads men into skepticism, causing them to lose confidence in God and to separate from His love; he tempts them to break the law and then claims them as his captives, contesting Christ's right to take them from him.
Satan knows that those who ask God for pardon and grace will obtain it; therefore he presents their sins before them to discourage them. Against those who are trying to obey God, he is constantly seeking occasion for complaint. Even their best and most acceptable service he seeks to make appear corrupt. By countless devices, the most subtle and the most cruel, he endeavors to secure their condemnation.
In his own strength, man cannot meet the charges of the enemy. In sin-stained garments, confessing his guilt, he stands before God. But Jesus, our Advocate, presents an effectual plea in behalf of all who by repentance and faith have committed the keeping of their souls to Him. He pleads their cause, and by the mighty arguments of Calvary, vanquishes their accuser. His perfect obedience to God's law has given Him all power in heaven and in earth, and He claims from His Father mercy and reconciliation for guilty man. To the accuser of His people He declares:
"The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. These are the purchase of My blood, brands plucked from the burning." And to those who rely on Him in faith, He gives the assurance, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." Zechariah 3:4.
All who have put on the robe of Christ's righteousness will stand before Him as chosen and faithful and true. Satan has no power to pluck them out of the hand of the Saviour. Not one soul who in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy's power. His word is pledged: "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me." Isaiah 27:5. The promise given to Joshua is given to all: "If thou wilt keep My charge,. . . I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by." Zechariah 3:7. Angels of God will walk on either side of them, even in this world, and they will stand at last among the angels that surround the throne of God.
Zechariah's vision of Joshua and the Angel applies with peculiar force to the experience of God's people in the closing scenes of the great day of atonement. The remnant church will then be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects; he has gained control even of many professing Christians. But here is a little company who are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God. Men will be required to render obedience to human edicts in violation of the divine law.
Those who are true to God will be menaced, denounced, proscribed. They will be "betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends," even unto death. Luke 21:16. Their only hope is in the mercy of God; their only defense will be prayer. As Joshua pleaded before the Angel, so the remnant church, with brokenness of heart and unfaltering faith, will plead for pardon and deliverance through Jesus, their Advocate. They are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives, they see their weakness and unworthiness; and they are ready to despair.
The tempter stands by to accuse them, as he stood by to resist Joshua. He points to their filthy garments, their defective characters. He presents their weakness and folly, their sins of ingratitude, their unlikeness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer. He endeavors to affright them with the thought that their case is hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, and turn from their allegiance to God.
Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins that he has tempted God's people to commit, and he urges his accusations against them, declaring, that by their sins they have forfeited divine protection, and claiming that he has the right to destroy them. He pronounces them just as deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. "Are these," he says, "the people who are to take my place in heaven, and the place of the angels who united with me? They profess to obey the law of God; but have they kept its precepts? Have they not been lovers of self more than lovers of God? Have they not placed their own interests above His service? Have they not loved the things of the world? Look at the sins that have marked their lives. Behold their selfishness, their malice, their hatred of one another. Will God banish me and my angels from His presence, and yet reward those who have been guilty of the same sins? Thou canst not do this, O Lord, in justice. Justice demands that sentence be pronounced against them."
But while the followers of Christ have sinned, they have not given themselves up to be controlled by the satanic agencies. They have repented of their sins and have sought the Lord in humility and contrition, and the divine Advocate pleads in their behalf. He who has been most abused by their ingratitude, who knows their sin and also their penitence, declares: "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. I gave My life for these souls. They are graven upon the palms of My hands. They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them."
The assaults of Satan are strong, his delusions are subtle; but the Lord's eye is upon His people. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but Jesus will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. Their earthliness will be removed, that through them the image of Christ may be perfectly revealed.
At times the Lord may seem to have forgotten the perils of His church and the injury done her by her enemies. But God has not forgotten. Nothing in this world is so dear to the heart of God as His church. It is not His will that worldly policy shall corrupt her record. He does not leave His people to be overcome by Satan's temptations. He will punish those who misrepresent Him, but He will be gracious to all who sincerely repent. To those who call upon Him for strength for the development of Christian character, He will give all needed help.
In the time of the end the people of God will sigh and cry for the abominations done in the land. With tears they will warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they will humble themselves before the Lord in penitence. The wicked will mock their sorrow and ridicule their solemn appeals. But the anguish and humiliation of God's people is unmistakable evidence that they are regaining the strength and nobility of character lost in consequence of sin. It is because they are drawing nearer to Christ, because their eyes are fixed on His perfect purity, that they discern so clearly the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Meekness and lowliness are the conditions of success and victory. A crown of glory awaits those who bow at the foot of the cross.
God's faithful, praying ones are, as it were, shut in with Him. They themselves know not how securely they are shielded. Urged on by Satan, the rulers of this world are seeking to destroy them; but could the eyes of God's children be opened as were the eyes of Elisha's servant at Dothan, they would see angels of God encamped about them, holding in check the hosts of darkness.
As the people of God afflict their souls before Him, pleading for purity of heart, the command is given, "Take away the filthy garments," and the encouraging words are spoken, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." Zechariah 3:4. The spotless robe of Christ's righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb's book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon's roar. Now they are eternally secure from the tempter's devices. Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin. A "fair miter" is set upon their heads.
While Satan has been urging his accusations, holy angels, unseen, have been passing to and fro, placing upon the faithful ones the seal of the living God. These are they that stand upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, having the Father's name written in their foreheads. They sing the new song before the throne, that song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." Revelation 14:4, 5.
Now is reached the complete fulfillment of the words of the Angel: "Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth My Servant the Branch." Zechariah 3:8. Christ is revealed as the Redeemer and Deliverer of His people. Now indeed are the remnant "men wondered at," as the tears and humiliation of their pilgrimage give place to joy and honor in the presence of God and the Lamb. "In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem." Isaiah 4:2, 3.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk48.html Immediately after Zechariah's vision of Joshua and the Angel, the prophet received a message regarding the work of Zerubbabel. "The Angel that talked with me," Zechariah declares, "came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
"So I answered and spake to the Angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? . . . Then He answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
"Then answered I, and said unto Him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto Him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? . . . Then said He, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah 4:1-6, 11-14.
In this vision the two olive trees which stand before God are represented as emptying the golden oil out of themselves through golden tubes into the bowl of the candlestick. From this the lamps of the sanctuary are fed, that they may give a bright, continuous light. So from the anointed ones that stand in God's presence the fullness of divine light and love and power is imparted to His people, that they may impart to others light and joy and refreshing. Those who are thus enriched are to enrich others with the treasure of God's love.
In rebuilding the house of the Lord, Zerubbabel had labored in the face of manifold difficulties. From the beginning, adversaries had "weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building," "and made them to cease by force and power." Ezra 4:4, 23. But the Lord had interposed in behalf of the builders, and now He spoke through His prophet to Zerubbabel, saying, "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Zechariah 4:7.
Throughout the history of God's people great mountains of difficulty, apparently insurmountable, have loomed up before those who were trying to carry out the purposes of Heaven. Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test of faith. When we are hedged about on every side, this is the time above all others to trust in God and in the power of His Spirit. The exercise of a living faith means an increase of spiritual strength and the development of an unfaltering trust. It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power. Before the demand of faith, the obstacles placed by Satan across the pathway of the Christian will disappear; for the powers of heaven will come to his aid. "Nothing shall be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:20.
The way of the world is to begin with pomp and boasting. God's way is to make the day of small things the beginning of the glorious triumph of truth and righteousness. Sometimes He trains His workers by bringing to them disappointment and apparent failure. It is His purpose that they shall learn to master difficulties.
Often men are tempted to falter before the perplexities and obstacles that confront them. But if they will hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end, God will make the way clear. Success will come to them as they struggle against difficulties. Before the intrepid spirit and unwavering faith of a Zerubbabel, great mountains of difficulty will become a plain; and he whose hands have laid the foundation, even "his hands shall also finish it." "He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Zechariah 4:9, 7.
Human power and human might did not establish the church of God, and neither can they destroy it. Not on the rock of human strength, but on Christ Jesus, the Rock of Ages, was the church founded, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18. The presence of God gives stability to His cause. "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man," is the word that comes to us. Psalm 146:3. "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Isaiah 30:15. God's glorious work, founded on the eternal principles of right, will never come to nought. It will go on from strength to strength, "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zechariah 4:6.
The promise, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it," was literally fulfilled. Verse 9. "The elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar [the twelfth month], which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king." Ezra 6:14, 15.
Shortly afterward the restored temple was dedicated. "The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy;" and "upon the fourteenth day of the first month" they "kept the Passover." Verses 16, 17, 19.
The second temple did not equal the first in magnificence, nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy seat, and the tables of testimony were not found there. No sign from heaven made known to the inquiring priest the will of Jehovah.
And yet this was the building concerning which the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggai: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former." "I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." Haggai 2:9,7. For centuries learned men have endeavored to show wherein the promise of God, given to Haggai, has been fulfilled; yet in the advent of Jesus of Nazareth, the Desire of all nations, who by His personal presence hallowed the precincts of the temple, many have steadfastly refused to see any special significance. Pride and unbelief have blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet's words.
The second temple was honored, not with the cloud of Jehovah's glory, but with the presence of the One in whom dwelt "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"--God Himself "manifest in the flesh." Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:16. In being honored with the personal presence of Christ during His earthly ministry, and in this alone, did the second temple exceed the first in glory. The "Desire of all nations" had indeed come to His temple, when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts.
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°368
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
I do not think that is about combining opposites and super-imposition. It is about dialectics and synthesis, even relating the categorical imperative, in an anarchist sense...
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
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- Post n°369
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Ashera wrote:
What If White Lies Matter?
What If Most Everyone Is a Liar?
What If Most Everything Is a Lie?
What Would the Father of Lies Say?
What If the Whole World Is Deceived?
What If the Lie Is Different At Every Level?
Thank-you, Ashera. Sorry, but I'm burned-out regarding the LAW. For example, consider contrasting LAW in Deuteronomy and Proverbs (in a standalone manner). Consider contrasting LAW in Each of the 66 Books of the Bible (in a standalone manner). Consider LAW-MAKERS and LAW-BREAKERS in the US Government. Consider Canon Law in the Roman Catholic Church. Consider Natural Law. Consider International Law. Consider Space Law in Outer Space (Problems of Law and Policy) by Reynolds and Merges. Consider Galactic-Jurisprudence, the Supercomputer-Matrix, the Investigative-Judgment, and Every Word That Proceeds Out of the Mouth of God. It Is Written. There are Thousands of Laws. Not Just Ten Commandments. But even here, consider "Thou Shalt Not Kill" in the Holy Bible and Real Life. Consider the Lawlessness of War!! There is a Problem of Biblical Proportions Here. Consider the Possibility of 1000 Laws Throughout the Universe (Or At Least Throughout the Solar System). Consider the Space Force relative to the United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967!! My mom knew the man in charge of the stage-props for the classic-movie The Ten Commandments. Our family knew the composer and orchestra leader who composed the music for the TV series Highway Patrol (and a whole lot more). Consider the last video by Jordan Maxwell which touches upon LAW. BTW, The Law is an @$$ and Lawyers are @$$holes. Just Kidding. I Need to Stop. I Need to Eat and Sleep. It's Easier That Way.
I continue to suspect that the Real PTB want some sort of a Holy-War. I SO Hope I'm Wrong. I tend to think that most everyone has been "set-up" for "something-bad". When I asked the Ancient Egyptian Deity if he were setting me up for something bad, he retorted "Are You Kidding!! I Could Snap My Fingers, and You'd Be DEAD!!" I could feel the love. On another occasion, the AED said "You're Lucky to Be Alive!!" Another time, the AED said "I'm Tired of Keeping You Alive!!" They said it in an angry and agitated manner. Once, I made a rather-benign comment concerning "Tall Long-Nosed Greys" and RA called me a "Commoner"!! When Raven chewed me out on this website, the next-day RA told me that wouldn't happen again!! What if RA and RAVEN were the same-soul?? Imagine Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra (1963) teaching what I'm posting!! Imagine her saying the exact words (of this Ellen White book) in the context of an Egyptian Palace!! Do We Have a Match?? In that movie, Cleopatra exclaims "I AM ISIS!!" What if she really was?? How might Gabriel and Michael relate to All of the Above?? Whose Throne Does the Queen Sit Upon?? What If the Original Throne-Owner is Alive and Well, and Living On Planet Earth?? What a Revolting Development THAT Might Be!! Would THAT Constitute an "Isis-Crisis"??!! The Horror!!
I made a speculative post regarding this matter, a few days prior to Fukushima, and the AED said "You Found Out Something About Yourself" (but they weren't specific). During this same conversation, they said they were sorry we couldn't work together -- because too much water had gone under the bridge. What does all of this mean?? That post mostly examined the hypothetical relationship between RA, the Queen, and the Pope. Talk about a Can of Worms!! OMG!! That was three-days prior to Fukushima!! Was there a connection?? A couple of months prior to this, the AED spoke ominously of something being prepared and ready (but they didn't elaborate). What were they referring to?? What does all of this mean?? What are the implications and ramifications?? What Would Monseigneur Bowe Say?? I never met him, but I heard about him from someone who worked with him at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco!! If I told you any more, you'd know too much!!
I got to thinking about the Queen of England, the Pope of Rome, and the God of This World. They're a pretty exclusive trio - with extreme power - aren't they? They don't get elected by the general public, do they? Should they? I really don't know. I'm really conflicted about this sort of thing. How does a civilization make sure that they have the very best individuals in those roles? I've been trying to combine the best aspects of theocracy and democracy - and the best of the royal and servant models of leadership and authority. The whole damn thing is a slippery-slope. I've had a lot to say regarding a hypothetical Queen of Heaven ruling Earth as the Goddess of This World. I've imagined having conversations and debates with such a being - and I have really mixed-feelings about the whole thing. Extreme intelligence, economy of words, elegance, straight-forwardness, and beauty - might all be on the plus side. But harshness, cruelty, causing atrocities, committing mass-murder, corruption, deception, treachery, moral-ambiguity, and demonic-possession - might be on the negative side. But I don't know the true state of affairs. They might be human. They might be reptilian. They might be hybrid. They might be male. They might be female. They might be hermaphrodite. They might have a wardrobe of bodies. They might be able to shapeshift into any form and anyone they choose. Could a being be a God or Goddess of This World for any length of time - without becoming corrupt and insane?
Are the Pope of Rome and the Queen of England - really the modern-day equivalents of the King and Queen of Egypt - serving the Hidden God Amen Ra? Are all three ruling in place of Christ? I have speculated quite a bit about this in the past. I am concerned about this, because these three seem to have control over pretty much the whole world. Is this power legitimate or illegitimate? Is this power being used benevolently and wisely? Are they doing that which is in everyone's best interest? Could the throne of this world have been stolen in antiquity? Could this hypothetical theft be ongoing? Did someone steal fire from the gods? I really and truly don't know - but I am becoming increasingly suspicious. What effect would a Michael/Horus/Jesus administered Namaste Constitutional Responsible Freedom United States of the Solar System have on these three? What would Michael/Horus/Jesus say? Somebody please talk to me about this. Please think long and hard about these three jobs. They don't give out job-applications - do they? This is VERY tricky territory - to say the least. I deeply appreciate the Divine Feminine as an integral part of the Divinity Within Humanity - but I am deeply suspicious of a hypothetical Reptilian/Human Hybrid, Hermaphrodite Queen of Heaven / God of This World - being at the core of monotheism - ruling a Controlled Patriarchy - and presiding over a Subjugation of Women - to control and enslave the human race - complete with the 'Chastenings of the Lord' in the form of wars, persecutions, tortures, the Crusades, the Inquisition, terrorist events, etc, etc. Who REALLY controls the Monarchy and the Papacy?
Once again, I am being absolutely honest BUT I have no idea how to interpret and/or apply All of the Above. I merely include this sort of thing in my ongoing (reformative rather than normative) Religious and Political Science-Fiction. It's easier that way. One More Thing. Consider the contrast between Good-Queen, Mean-Queen, and Mixture of Good and Mean Queen!! This basic concept might apply to numerous contexts and scenarios. What if these possibilities are descriptive of Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer (but not necessarily in that order)?? What if the Hybrid-Queen met with the Mean-Queen in one throne-room -- then met with the Good-Queen in another throne-room -- and then sat down upon her own-throne in yet another throne-room -- utilizing the best of both perspectives??!! What if a Single Multiple-Personality Queen Had Three Throne-Rooms, and Played the Parts of All Three Queens??!! We Three Queens??!! We Are All One??!! Interesting, eh??
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk49.html Under the favor shown them by Cyrus, nearly fifty thousand of the children of the captivity had taken advantage of the decree permitting their return. These, however, in comparison with the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the provinces of Medo-Persia, were but a mere remnant. The great majority of the Israelites had chosen to remain in the land of their exile rather than undergo the hardships of the return journey and the re-establishment of their desolated cities and homes.Carol wrote:Trump is in the process of dismantling the corrupt Central Banks and will be initiating a global quantum financial banking system which cannot be compromised as its operation exists in real time and cannot be manipulated.
When the US cleaned out the tunnels under the Vatican then ended up with 35 quint-trillion in gold, artifacts and cash which was meticulously recored as to where it all came from listing all the prior owners. All the gold was identified and that which had been stolen from certain countries was returned. Hence, supposedly there will be a global jubilee / elimination of debt. Both for each country and the populous. There is enough gold to give each person 100k per year for the next 11 years.
The new global banking system will be based on each countries actual physical assets (ie land, oil, diamonds, precious metals, gold, live stock, produce, etc.) which are traded in real time.
So in reality the current financial situation and institutions need to implode as a result of their years of corruption. A new fiscal asset backed fiscal system is in place and with some countries has already been implemented. Supposedly, March is suppose to be the onset for many other countries. Things have been slowed down a bit by the DS as they are currently being taken care of.. (notice all of the CEOs stepping down and deaths). Anyone connected to the Satanic cabal system will be arrested and will undergo a military tribunal to determine their fate. Keep in mind that many of these people are Satanists and participate in using Adrenochrom.
The US Guardian Space Force Alliance is spearheading the eradication of the global Satanic cabal. The task was far more extensive than they had originally anticipated. However, it's going well. They've got this. So, not sure if there will be a delay or not. Keep in mind that the US Republic now owns all the assets of those who participated in the stolen election. Meaning all of Zukerburgs assets, all of Jack Dorsey's assets, all of Bill Gates assets, all of George Soros assets, assets in the US of other countries who participated in this take-over, like China, etc. and on down the list. All those trillions of dollars/assets that have been stolen over the years have been confiscated.
So yes, the current financial system is going down the tubes to make way for a new uncorrupted quantum financial system.
And that dear ones - is what is going on behind the current not so secret, secrecy curtain.
A score or more of years passed by, when a second decree, quite as favorable as the first, was issued by Darius Hystaspes, the monarch then ruling. Thus did God in mercy provide another opportunity for the Jews in the Medo-Persian realm to return to the land of their fathers. The Lord foresaw the troublous times that were to follow during the reign of Xerxes,--the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther,--and He not only wrought a change of feeling in the hearts of men in authority, but also inspired Zechariah to plead with the exiles to return.
"Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north," was the message given the scattered tribes of Israel who had become settled in many lands far from their former home. "I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me." Zechariah 2:6-9.
It was still the Lord's purpose, as it has been from the beginning, that His people should be a praise in the earth, to the glory of His name. During the long years of their exile He had given them many opportunities to return to their allegiance to Him. Some had chosen to listen and to learn; some had found salvation in the midst of affliction. Many of these were to be numbered among the remnant that should return. They were likened by Inspiration to "the highest branch of the high cedar," which was to be planted "upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel." Ezekiel 17:22, 23.
It was those "whose spirit God had raised" (Ezra 1:5) who had returned under the decree of Cyrus. But God ceased not to plead with those who voluntarily remained in the land of their exile, and through manifold agencies He made it possible for them also to return. The large number, however, of those who failed to respond to the decree of Cyrus, remained unimpressible to later influences; and even when Zechariah warned them to flee from Babylon without further delay, they did not heed the invitation.
Meanwhile conditions in the Medo-Persian realm were rapidly changing. Darius Hystaspes, under whose reign the Jews had been shown marked favor, was succeeded by Xerxes the Great. It was during his reign that those of the Jews who had failed of heeding the message to flee were called upon to face a terrible crisis. Having refused to take advantage of the way of escape God had provided, now they were brought face to face with death.
Through Haman the Agagite, an unscrupulous man high in authority in Medo-Persia, Satan worked at this time to counterwork the purposes of God. Haman cherished bitter malice against Mordecai, a Jew. Mordecai had done Haman no harm, but had simply refused to show him worshipful reverence. Scorning to "lay hands on Mordecai alone," Haman plotted "to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai." Esther 3:6.
Misled by the false statements of Haman, Xerxes was induced to issue a decree providing for the massacre of all the Jews "scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces" of the Medo-Persian kingdom. Verse 8. A certain day was appointed on which the Jews were to be destroyed and their property confiscated. Little did the king realize the far-reaching results that would have accompanied the complete carrying out of this decree. Satan himself, the hidden instigator of the scheme, was trying to rid the earth of those who preserved the knowledge of the true God.
"In every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes." Esther 4:3. The decree of the Medes and Persians could not be revoked; apparently there was no hope; all the Israelites were doomed to destruction.
But the plots of the enemy were defeated by a Power that reigns among the children of men. In the providence of God, Esther, a Jewess who feared the Most High, had been made queen of the Medo-Persian kingdom. Mordecai was a near relative of hers. In their extremity they decided to appeal to Xerxes in behalf of their people. Esther was to venture into his presence as an intercessor. "Who knoweth," said Mordecai, "whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Verse 14.
The crisis that Esther faced demanded quick, earnest action; but both she and Mordecai realized that unless God should work mightily in their behalf, their own efforts would be unavailing. So Esther took time for communion with God, the source of her strength. "Go," she directed Mordecai, "gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish." Verse 16.
The events that followed in rapid succession,--the appearance of Esther before the king, the marked favor shown her, the banquets of the king and queen with Haman as the only guest, the troubled sleep of the king, the public honor shown Mordecai, and the humiliation and fall of Haman upon the discovery of his wicked plot,--all these are parts of a familiar story. God wrought marvelously for His penitent people; and a counter decree issued by the king, allowing them to fight for their lives, was rapidly communicated to every part of the realm by mounted couriers, who were "hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment." "And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them." Esther 8:14, 17.
On the day appointed for their destruction, "the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people." Angels that excel in strength had been commissioned by God to protect His people while they "stood for their lives." Esther 9:2, 16.
Mordecai was given the position of honor formerly occupied by Haman. He "was next unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren" (Esther 10:3); and he sought to promote the welfare of Israel. Thus did God bring His chosen people once more into favor at the Medo-Persian court, making possible the carrying out of His purpose to restore them to their own land. But it was not until several years later, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes I, the successor of Xerxes the Great, that any considerable number returned to Jerusalem, under Ezra.
The trying experiences that came to God's people in the days of Esther were not peculiar to that age alone. The revelator, looking down the ages to the close of time, has declared, "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. Some who today are living on the earth will see these words fulfilled. The same spirit that in ages past led men to persecute the true church, will in the future lead to the pursuance of a similar course toward those who maintain their loyalty to God. Even now preparations are being made for this last great conflict.
The decree that will finally go forth against the remnant people of God will be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews. Today the enemies of the true church see in the little company keeping the Sabbath commandment, a Mordecai at the gate. The reverence of God's people for His law is a constant rebuke to those who have cast off the fear of the Lord and are trampling on His Sabbath.
Satan will arouse indignation against the minority who refuse to accept popular customs and traditions. Men of position and reputation will join with the lawless and the vile to take counsel against the people of God. Wealth, genius, education, will combine to cover them with contempt.
Persecuting rulers, ministers, and church members will conspire against them. With voice and pen, by boasts, threats, and ridicule, they will seek to overthrow their faith. By false representations and angry appeals, men will stir up the passions of the people. Not having a "Thus saith the Scriptures" to bring against the advocates of the Bible Sabbath, they will resort to oppressive enactments to supply the lack. To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to the demand for Sunday laws. But those who fear God, cannot accept an institution that violates a precept of the Decalogue. On this battlefield will be fought the last great conflict in the controversy between truth and error. And we are not left in doubt as to the issue. Today, as in the days of Esther and Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate His truth and His people.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk50.html About seventy years after the return of the first company of exiles under Zerubbabel and Joshua, Artaxerxes Longimanus came to the throne of Medo-Persia. The name of this king is connected with sacred history by a series of remarkable providences. It was during his reign that Ezra and Nehemiah lived and labored. He is the one who in 457 B.C. issued the third and final decree for the restoration of Jerusalem. His reign saw the return of a company of Jews under Ezra, the completion of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah and his associates, the reorganization of the temple services, and the great religious reformations instituted by Ezra and Nehemiah. During his long rule he often showed favor to God's people, and in his trusted and well-beloved Jewish friends, Ezra and Nehemiah, he recognized men of God's appointment, raised up for a special work.
The experience of Ezra while living among the Jews who remained in Babylon was so unusual that it attracted the favorable notice of King Artaxerxes, with whom he talked freely regarding the power of the God of heaven, and the divine purpose in restoring the Jews to Jerusalem.
Born of the sons of Aaron, Ezra had been given a priestly training; and in addition to this he had acquired a familiarity with the writings of the magicians, the astrologers, and the wise men of the Medo-Persian realm. But he was not satisfied with his spiritual condition. He longed to be in full harmony with God; he longed for wisdom to carry out the divine will. And so he "prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it." Ezra 7:10. This led him to apply himself diligently to a study of the history of God's people, as recorded in the writings of prophets and kings. He searched the historical and poetical books of the Bible to learn why the Lord had permitted Jerusalem to be destroyed and His people carried captive into a heathen land.
To the experiences of Israel from the time the promise was made to Abraham, Ezra gave special thought. He studied the instruction given at Mount Sinai and through the long period of wilderness wandering. As he learned more and still more concerning God's dealings with His children, and comprehended the sacredness of the law given at Sinai, Ezra's heart was stirred. He experienced a new and thorough conversion and determined to master the records of sacred history, that he might use this knowledge to bring blessing and light to his people.
Ezra endeavored to gain a heart preparation for the work he believed was before him. He sought God earnestly, that he might be a wise teacher in Israel. As he learned to yield mind and will to divine control, there were brought into his life the principles of true sanctification, which, in later years, had a molding influence, not only upon the youth who sought his instruction, but upon all others associated with him.
God chose Ezra to be an instrument of good to Israel, that He might put honor upon the priesthood, the glory of which had been greatly eclipsed during the captivity. Ezra developed into a man of extraordinary learning and became "a ready scribe in the law of Moses." Verse 6. These qualifications made him an eminent man in the Medo-Persian kingdom.
Ezra became a mouthpiece for God, educating those about him in the principles that govern heaven. During the remaining years of his life, whether near the court of the king of Medo-Persia or at Jerusalem, his principal work was that of a teacher. As he communicated to others the truths he learned, his capacity for labor increased. He became a man of piety and zeal. He was the Lord's witness to the world of the power of Bible truth to ennoble the daily life.
The efforts of Ezra to revive an interest in the study of the Scriptures were given permanency by his painstaking, lifelong work of preserving and multiplying the Sacred Writings. He gathered all the copies of the law that he could find and had these transcribed and distributed. The pure word, thus multiplied and placed in the hands of many people, gave knowledge that was of inestimable value.
Ezra's faith that God would do a mighty work for His people, led him to tell Artaxerxes of his desire to return to Jerusalem to revive an interest in the study of God's word and to assist his brethren in restoring the Holy City. As Ezra declared his perfect trust in the God of Israel as one abundantly able to protect and care for His people, the king was deeply impressed. He well understood that the Israelites were returning to Jerusalem that they might serve Jehovah; yet so great was the king's confidence in the integrity of Ezra that he showed him marked favor, granting his request and bestowing on him rich gifts for the temple service. He made him a special representative of the Medo-Persian kingdom and conferred on him extensive powers for the carrying out of the purposes that were in his heart.
The decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus for the restoring and building of Jerusalem, the third issued since the close of the seventy years' captivity, is remarkable for its expressions regarding the God of heaven, for its recognition of the attainments of Ezra, and for the liberality of the grants made to the remnant people of God. Artaxerxes refers to Ezra as "the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel;" "a scribe of the law of the God of heaven." The king united with his counselors in offering freely "unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem;" and in addition he made provision for meeting many heavy expenses by ordering that they be paid "out of the king's treasure house." Verses 11, 12, 15, 20.
"Thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counselors," Artaxerxes declared to Ezra, "to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand." And he further decreed: "Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?" Verses 14, 23.
In giving permission to the Israelites to return, Artaxerxes arranged for the restoration of the members of the priesthood to their ancient rites and privileges. "We certify you," he declared, "that touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, Nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them." He also arranged for the appointment of civil officers to govern the people justly in accordance with the Jewish code of laws. "Thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand," he directed, "set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment." Verses 24-26.
Thus, "according to the good hand of his God upon him," Ezra had persuaded the king to make abundant provision for the return of all the people of Israel and of the priests and Levites in the Medo-Persian realm, who were minded "of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem." Verses 9, 13. Thus again the children of the dispersion were given opportunity to return to the land with the possession of which were linked the promises to the house of Israel.
This decree brought great rejoicing to those who had been uniting with Ezra in a study of God's purposes concerning His people. "Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers," Ezra exclaimed, "which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem: and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes." Verses 27, 28.
In the issuing of this decree by Artaxerxes, God's providence was manifest. Some discerned this and gladly took advantage of the privilege of returning under circumstances so favorable. A general place of meeting was named, and at the appointed time those who were desirous of going to Jerusalem assembled for the long journey. "I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava," Ezra says, "and there abode we in tents three days." Ezra 8:15.
Ezra had expected that a large number would return to Jerusalem, but the number who responded to the call was disappointingly small. Many who had acquired houses and lands had no desire to sacrifice these possessions. They loved ease and comfort and were well satisfied to remain. Their example proved a hindrance to others who otherwise might have chosen to cast in their lot with those who were advancing by faith.
As Ezra looked over the company assembled, he was surprised to find none of the sons of Levi. Where were the members of the tribe that had been set apart for the sacred service of the temple? To the call, Who is on the Lord's side? the Levites should have been the first to respond.
During the captivity, and afterward, they had been granted many privileges. They had enjoyed the fullest liberty to minister to the spiritual needs of their brethren in exile. Synagogues had been built, in which the priests conducted the worship of God and instructed the people. The observance of the Sabbath, and the performance of the sacred rites peculiar to the Jewish faith, had been freely allowed.
But with the passing of the years after the close of the captivity, conditions changed, and many new responsibilities rested upon the leaders in Israel. The temple at Jerusalem had been rebuilt and dedicated, and more priests were needed to carry on its services. There was pressing need of men of God to act as teachers of the people. And besides, the Jews remaining in Babylon were in danger of having their religious liberty restricted. Through the prophet Zechariah, as well as by their recent experience during the troublous times of Esther and Mordecai, the Jews in Medo-Persia had been plainly warned to return to their own land. The time had come when it was perilous for them to dwell longer in the midst of heathen influences. In view of these changed conditions, the priests in Babylon should have been quick to discern in the issuance of the decree a special call to them to return to Jerusalem.
The king and his princes had done more than their part in opening the way for the return. They had provided abundant means, but where were the men? The sons of Levi failed at a time when the influence of a decision to accompany their brethren would have led others to follow their example. Their strange indifference is a sad revelation of the attitude of the Israelites in Babylon toward God's purpose for His people.
Once more Ezra appealed to the Levites, sending them an urgent invitation to unite with his company. To emphasize the importance of quick action, he sent with his written plea several of his "chief men" and "men of understanding." Ezra 7:28,8:16.
While the travelers tarried with Ezra, these trusted messengers hastened back with the plea, "Bring unto us ministers for the house of our God." Ezra 8:17. The appeal was heeded; some who had been halting, made final decision to return. In all, about forty priests and two hundred and twenty Nethinim--men upon whom Ezra could rely as wise ministers and good teachers and helpers--were brought to the camp.
All were now ready to set forth. Before them was a journey that would occupy several months. The men were taking with them their wives and children, and their substance, besides large treasure for the temple and its service. Ezra was aware that enemies lay in wait by the way, ready to plunder and destroy him and his company; yet he had asked from the king no armed force for protection. "I was ashamed," he has explained, "to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him." Verse 22.
In this matter, Ezra and his companions saw an opportunity to magnify the name of God before the heathen. Faith in the power of the living God would be strengthened if the Israelites themselves should now reveal implicit faith in their divine Leader. They therefore determined to put their trust wholly in Him. They would ask for no guard of soldiers. They would give the heathen no occasion to ascribe to the strength of man the glory that belongs to God alone. They could not afford to arouse in the minds of their heathen friends one doubt as to the sincerity of their dependence on God as His people. Strength would be gained, not through wealth, not through the power and influence of idolatrous men, but through the favor of God. Only by keeping the law of the Lord before them, and striving to obey it, would they be protected.
This knowledge of the conditions under which they would continue to enjoy the prospering hand of God, lent more than ordinary solemnity to the consecration service that was held by Ezra and his company of faithful souls just before their departure. "I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava," Ezra has declared of this experience, "that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance." "So we fasted and besought our God for this: and He was entreated of us." Verses 21, 23.
The blessing of God, however, did not make unnecessary the exercise of prudence and forethought. As a special precaution in safeguarding the treasure, Ezra "separated twelve of the chief of the priests"--men whose faithfulness and fidelity had been proved--"and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counselors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered." These men were solemnly charged to act as vigilant stewards over the treasure entrusted to their care. "Ye are holy unto the Lord," Ezra declared; "the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord." Verses 24,25,28,29.
The care exercised by Ezra in providing for the transportation and safety of the Lord's treasure, teaches a lesson worthy of thoughtful study. Only those whose trustworthiness had been proved were chosen, and they were instructed plainly regarding the responsibility resting on them. In the appointment of faithful officers to act as treasures of the Lord's goods, Ezra recognized the necessity and value of order and organization in connection with the work of God.
During the few days that the Israelites tarried at the river, every provision was completed for the long journey. "We departed," Ezra writes, "on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way." Verse 31. About four months were occupied on the journey, the multitude that accompanied Ezra, several thousand in all, including women and children, necessitating slow progress. But all were preserved in safety. Their enemies were restrained from harming them. Their journey was a prosperous one, and on the first day of the fifth month, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, they reached Jerusalem.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk51.html Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem was opportune. There was great need of the influence of his presence. His coming brought courage and hope to the hearts of many who had long labored under difficulties. Since the return of the first company of exiles under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua, over seventy years before, much had been accomplished. The temple had been finished, and the walls of the city had been partially repaired. Yet much remained undone.
Among those who had returned to Jerusalem in former years, there were many who had remained true to God as long as they lived; but a considerable number of the children and the children's children lost sight of the sacredness of God's law. Even some of the men entrusted with responsibilities were living in open sin. Their course was largely neutralizing the efforts made by others to advance the cause of God; for so long as flagrant violations of the law were allowed to go unrebuked, the blessing of Heaven could not rest upon the people.
It was in the providence of God that those who returned with Ezra had had special seasons of seeking the Lord. The experiences through which they had just passed, on their journey from Babylon, unprotected as they had been by any human power, had taught them rich spiritual lessons. Many had grown strong in faith; and as these mingled with the discouraged and the indifferent in Jerusalem, their influence was a powerful factor in the reform soon afterward instituted.
On the fourth day after the arrival, the treasures of silver and gold, with the vessels for the service of the sanctuary, were delivered by the treasures into the hands of the temple officers, in the presence of witnesses, and with the utmost exactitude. Every article was examined "by number and by weight." Ezra 8:34.
The children of the captivity who had returned with Ezra "offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel" for a sin offering and as a token of their gratitude and thanksgiving for the protection of holy angels during the journey. "And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God." Verses 35, 36.
Very soon thereafter a few of the chief men of Israel approached Ezra with a serious complaint. Some of "the people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites" had so far disregarded the holy commands of Jehovah as to intermarry with the surrounding peoples. "They have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons," Ezra was told, "so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people" of heathen lands; "yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." Ezra 9:1, 2.
In his study of the causes leading to the Babylonish captivity, Ezra had learned that Israel's apostasy was largely traceable to their mingling with heathen nations. He had seen that if they had obeyed God's command to keep separate from the nations surrounding them, they would have been spared many sad and humiliating experiences. Now when he learned that notwithstanding the lessons of the past, men of prominence had dared transgress the laws given as a safeguard against apostasy, his heart was stirred within him. He thought of God's goodness in again giving His people a foothold in their native land, and he was overwhelmed with righteous indignation and with grief at their ingratitude. "When I heard this thing," he says, "I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
"Then were assembled unto me everyone that trembled at the words of God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice." Verses 3, 4.
At the time of the evening sacrifice Ezra rose, and, once more rending his garment and his mantle, he fell upon his knees and unburdened his soul in supplication to Heaven. Spreading out his hands unto the Lord, he exclaimed, "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
"Since the days of our fathers," the suppliant continued, "have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
"And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken Thy commandments, which Thou hast commanded by Thy servants the prophets. . . . And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; should we again break Thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not Thou be angry with us till Thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? O Lord God of Israel, Thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before Thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before Thee because of this." Verses 6-15.
The sorrow of Ezra and his associates over the evils that had insidiously crept into the very heart of the Lord's work, wrought repentance. Many of those who had sinned were deeply affected. "The people wept very sore." Ezra 10:1. In a limited degree they began to realize the heinousness of sin and the horror with which God regards it. They saw the sacredness of the law spoken at Sinai, and many trembled at the thought of their transgressions.
One of those present, Shechaniah by name, acknowledged as true all the words spoken by Ezra. "We have trespassed against our God," he confessed, "and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing." Shechaniah proposed that all who had transgressed should make a covenant with God to forsake their sin and to be adjudged "according to the law." "Arise," he bade Ezra; "for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage." "Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word." Verses 2-5.
This was the beginning of a wonderful reformation. With infinite patience and tact, and with a careful consideration for the rights and welfare of every individual concerned, Ezra and his associates strove to lead the penitent of Israel into the right way. Above all else, Ezra was a teacher of the law; and as he gave personal attention to the examination of every case, he sought to impress the people with the holiness of this law and the blessings to be gained through obedience.
Wherever Ezra labored, there sprang up a revival in the study of the Holy Scriptures. Teachers were appointed to instruct the people; the law of the Lord was exalted and made honorable. The books of the prophets were searched, and the passages foretelling the coming of the Messiah brought hope and comfort to many a sad and weary heart.
More than two thousand years have passed since Ezra "prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it" (Ezra 7:10), yet the lapse of time has not lessened the influence of his pious example. Through the centuries the record of his life of consecration has inspired many with the determination "to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it."
Ezra's motives were high and holy; in all that he did he was actuated by a deep love for souls. The compassion and tenderness that he revealed toward those who had sinned, either willfully or through ignorance, should be an object lesson to all who seek to bring about reforms. The servants of God are to be as firm as a rock where right principles are involved; and yet, withal, they are to manifest sympathy and forbearance. Like Ezra, they are to teach transgressors the way of life by calculating principles that are the foundation of all rightdoing.
In this age of the world, when Satan is seeking, through manifold agencies, to blind the eyes of men and women to the binding claims of the law of God, there is need of men who can cause many to "tremble at the commandment of our God." Ezra 10:3. There is need of true reformers, who will point transgressors to the great Lawgiver and teach them that "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psalm 19:7. There is need of men mighty in the Scriptures, men whose every word and act exalts the statutes of Jehovah, men who seek to strengthen faith. Teachers are needed, oh, so much, who will inspire hearts with reverence and love for the Scriptures.
The widespread iniquity prevalent today may in a great degree be attributed to a failure to study and obey the Scriptures, for when the word of God is set aside, its power to restrain the evil passions of the natural heart is rejected. Men sow to the flesh and of the flesh reap corruption.
With the setting aside of the Bible has come a turning away from God's law. The doctrine that men are released from obedience to the divine precepts, has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in like an overwhelming flood. Everywhere are seen envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall in ruins.
In the last days of this earth's history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still declaring, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3. Man has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence the word of command. The human mind cannot evade its obligation to a higher power. Theories and speculations may abound; men may try to set science in opposition to revelation, and thus do away with God's law; but stronger and still stronger comes the command, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matthew 4:10.
There is no such thing as weakening or strengthening the law of Jehovah. As it has been, so it is. It always has been, and always will be, holy, just, and good, complete in itself. It cannot be repealed or changed. To "honor" or "dishonor" it is but the speech of men.
Between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah will come the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. Upon this battle we are now entering--a battle not between rival churches contending for the supremacy, but between the religion of the Bible and the religions of fable and tradition. The agencies which have united against truth are now actively at work. God's Holy Word, which has been handed down to us at so great a cost of suffering and bloodshed, is little valued. There are few who really accept it as the rule of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world only, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the atonement, the perpetuity of the law--these all are practically rejected by a large share of the professedly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselves on their knowledge regard it as an evidence of weakness to place implicit confidence in the Bible, and a proof of learning to cavil at the Scriptures and to spiritualize and explain away their most important truths.
Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts. The tremendous issues of eternity demand of us something besides an imaginary religion, a religion of words and forms, where truth is kept in the outer court. God calls for a revival and a reformation. The words of the Bible and the Bible alone, should be heard from the pulpit. But the Bible has been robbed of its power, and the result is seen in a lowering of the tone of spiritual life. In many sermons of today there is not that divine manifestation which awakens the conscience and brings life to the soul. The hearers cannot say, "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke 24:32. There are many who are crying out for the living God, longing for the divine presence. Let the word of God speak to the heart. Let those who have heard only tradition and human theories and maxims, hear the voice of Him who can renew the soul unto eternal life.
Great light shone forth from patriarchs and prophets. Glorious things were spoken of Zion, the City of God. Thus the Lord designs that the light shall shine forth through His followers today. If the saints of the Old Testament bore so bright a testimony of loyalty, should not those upon whom is shining the accumulated light of centuries, bear a still more signal witness to the power of truth? The glory of the prophecies sheds their light upon our pathway.
Type has met antitype in the death of God's Son. Christ has risen from the dead, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher, "I am the resurrection, and the life." John 11:25. He has sent His Spirit into the world to bring all things to our remembrance. By a miracle of power He has preserved His written word through the ages.
The Reformers whose protest has given us the name of Protestant, felt that God had called them to give the light of the gospel to the world; and in the effort to do this they were ready to sacrifice their possessions, their liberty, even life itself. In the face of persecution and death the gospel was proclaimed far and near. The word of God was carried to the people; and all classes, high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, eagerly studied it for themselves. Are we, in this last conflict of the great controversy, as faithful to our trust as the early Reformers were to theirs?
"Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children: . . . let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach." "Turn ye even to Me with all your hearts, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him?" Joel 2:15-17, 12-14.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Sat Feb 12, 2022 10:43 am; edited 1 time in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
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- Post n°370
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Corruption rules!
The final cut!
First comes the sword, then follows justice!
The true ILu-minati stages (ages) of development -
Verwirrung or Chaos
Zwietracht or Discord
Unordnung or Confusion
Beamtenherrschaft or Bureaucracy
Dummheit or Ignorance (Aftermath, Grummet)
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
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- Post n°371
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
The World is Warned!! I guess I'll continue with my little religious and political science-fiction game, but I think my days are numbered, especially regarding being capable of proper research. Perhaps I should team-up with Jay Leno and Joe Biden to discuss the world's problems while driving cool-cars in an undisclosed-location. I can't imagine Joe is enjoying this madness. Driving that 1967 Corvette would probably be much more fun!! In my next-life, I'm resigned to living in a sub-surface 600 square-foot office-apartment (possibly in the mountains of Colorado) with a supercomputer and satellite-interplanet!! I suspect things are going to get really crazy. Perhaps there will be civil-wars within civil-wars with fractions of factions throughout the world in the middle of planned natural-disasters. Years ago, I noticed a message under a video claiming there would be one hell of a show in the near-future (or something to that effect)!! I didn't copy it, but I'm sure the spooks know about it!! If my theory of a One Solar-System Government spanning 5,000 to 6,000 years is even partially correct, the Deep-State might be unimaginably deceptive and powerful (to say the least)!! An Individual of Interest told me, "I'll Hang-On as Long as I Can." The Cataclysmic-Destruction of the Deep-State Might be the End of All of Us (Good, Bad, Beautiful, Ugly, Rich, Poor, Insiders, Outsiders, Sane, and Insane)!! Now I'm going make the coffee, and start reading my Rudolph Hess books!! That might be more of a mess than we think!! I really am going downhill, so I might not be able to make much progress. I wish I could write something profitable enough to live in a Ferrari Roma in rest-stops and campgrounds as a Latter-Day Easy Writer On the Beach!! I'm just kidding, but I can't believe I wrote that!!
A few days ago, as I stood watching a 'large body of water' I noticed a 'moving dot' close to the surface of the water becoming larger and larger. I thought it was a plane, but I still couldn't hear it. Finally, I heard it and noticed that it was a helicopter. As it became larger and larger, I noticed that it was a twin-rotor Chinook Military Helicopter. As it came closer it still was on a course which would pass my location by at least a mile. Then, it turned directly toward me, and passed right over where I was standing!! It appeared to be a sub-chaser, judging from the long antenna extending several feet from the nose of the helicopter. I've always loved Chinook Helicopters, and decades ago, at an airshow, I stood probably 75 feet from where the helicopter lifted-off the landing-area! The rpm's were constant, but the pitch of the rotors made it instantly climb at a frightening rate!! I continued on my hour-long walk in the woods, and when I circled around to the bluff where I first watched the helicopter, it returned (though probably half a mile to the side of where I stood). I watched it travel down the same path above the water until it disappeared!! I was awestruck!! When the Chinook first closely approached my location, I thought the Secret-Government might be coming to get me!! Just Kidding!! Seriously, I sometimes fantasize about being a Jack Ryan kind of guy (like in Hunt for Red October)!! Actually, if I had it to do over again, I might've wished to be an NTSB kind of guy, investigating plane-crashes. I realize that would be gruesome work, but the technical aspects would be kind of cool. I often watch crash-videos to face myself and think. The videos are often extremely detailed and well-done, complete with simulations and ATC recordings. I'd write science-fiction but I can't write!! I suffer from writer's block!! What Would the Muse Say?? I believe I met her a couple of years ago!! I liked her, but I thought Azrael was an @$$hole!!
What if ALL of US came here as Aliens in Antiquity?? What if the Human-Race was Genetically-Engineered by these Aliens aka US?? What if Some of US remained Aliens and Some of US became Human-Beings?? What if there are Multiple-Factions of US in this solar system (Human and Otherwise)?? What if No One Else is (visible and active) in this solar system Other Than US?? What if We Are the Orion-Group?? What if We Brought Most of the Fancy-Technology With Us in Antiquity?? What if there is Nothing New Under This Particular Sun?? What if there is a Local Sun-God (but not an Almighty Universe-God) active in this solar system?? What if the Bible was written by Local Gods and Goddesses in Conflict with Each Other?? What if the War in Heaven and Earth is a Local Civil-War Between US and US?? What if the Rest of the Universe is Observing the Madness (and Recording the Event)?? What Would the White-Reptilians Under the Gobi Desert Say?? What if we are facing an Imminent Investigative and Executive Judgment of This Solar System (conducted by the Rest of the Universe)?? I could go on and on.Carol wrote:Dr. Steven Greer on Carol Rosin Show -
New Critical Critical Urgent Disclosure Information - May 2016
More info at http://www.SiriusDisclosure.com
Dr. Steven Greer appeared on the Carol Rosin Show on May 13, 2016 to discuss new critical and urgent information regarding the Disclosure Movement.
WHY IS THIS URGENT? Because there has been a GRAND ESCALATION from the DIS-information camps in the public sector and media … and YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT!
The headlines and descriptions below are from Carol Rosin’s archive link for this same show. (You can follow the link here to her archived file on American Freedom Radio) We encourage you to support her sites and visit their webpages for more information.
This show’s original archive: http://www.blackkatenterprises.com/ar...
(Permission has been granted by The Carol Rosin Show for us to transform into this video file. It can be shared throughout the world… we just ask that you do not change or augment this file in anyway. It must be kept in its integrity with link backs to all parties involved… listed below. Thank you!)
This YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2gSt...
About The Carol Rosin Show and American Freedom Radio: http://www.americanfreedomradio.com/p...
Carol’s website: http://www.PeaceInSpace.com
Sirius Disclosure main website: http://www.siriusdisclosure.com/
The New Disclosure Campaign: http://fundraising.siriusdisclosure.com/
American Freedom Radio / The Carol Rosin Show Description of the interview with Dr. Greer:
“NEW CRITICAL URGENT MESSAGE from DR. STEVEN GREER! CRITICAL TIME! - NEW VITAL INFORMATION courageously discussed by Dr. STEVEN GREER on The Carol Rosin Show, May 13, 2016, ARCHIVED on www.americanfreedomradio.com. DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW! A HORRIFIC HOAX is being played on all of us. Disinformation has been purposefully spread around the USA and world, including by some in the Ufology community. Dr. Greer EXPOSES THE BIGGEST LIE EVER, vitally important for all to know! He also discusses some good news about what's happening, new developments, things we can do, and his call for more whistleblowers, and for people who have free energy devices. He announces a forthcoming important New Movie, Book, Treaty, Disclosure Peace Concert Celebration and much more.
To reach Carol: spacetreaty@gmail.com
Other videos of interest:
Dr. Carol Rosin - Von Braun's Legacy, his message and peace in space https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP8ft...
Dr. Carol Rosin in the Disclosure Project -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALLU...
Apollo Astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell with an IMPORTANT MESSAGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uAd_...
Music: "Peace on Earth and in Space" by Pia Larsen
http://www.flexmusicpr.ws
I spoke with Dr. Carol Rosin and Dr. Edgar Mitchell a couple of times at Whole Life Expo's in Los Angeles -- and I wish I had gotten a lot better acquainted with both of them. It's a bit odd that (decades later) I've been exclusively posting on a site owned and operated by a "Carol" -- and I spoke for several months with a mysterious individual named "Mitchell" (who told me about conversations he had with Astronaut Brian O'Leary shortly before his death). What Would Mr. Edgars Say?? What Would Sherry Shriner Say (in Carrollton, Ohio)?? It really makes me wonder.
Has anyone tried studying Job through Song of Solomon side-by-side with Isaiah through Daniel as a mental and spiritual exercise?? I am simply facilitating Possibility-Thinking relative to the Unthinkable!! Has anyone considered the possibility of the U.S. Government and the United Nations ceremonially meeting in the Washington National Cathedral to the tune of Sacred Classical Music?? What if this were the Genesis of the United States of the Solar System?? Once again, this would NOT be a corrupt business-as-usual Subverted United States ruling the Solar System (ideally, anyway). I haven't exhaustively thought this through -- and I've set a tentative "Start-Date" at A.D. 2133 -- so this isn't a high-pressure sales-pitch!! I just wonder what life might be like with the entire solar system divided-up into hundreds of states under some ultra-refined form of the U.S. Constitution and Interplanetary-Law??!! I've intended my threads to be a Galactic Conceptual-Laboratory rather than being an Ultimatum or Manifesto!! Don't be frightened!! I mean no harm!! Not for now, anyway!!
I was present when Dr. Robert H. Schuller interviewed Dr. Andrew Hodges. Some of you might be interested in reading Jesus: An Interview Across Time by Andrew Hodges (a Psychiatrist Looks at HIS Humanity). I wonder how Dr. Hodges would handle an Interview with the Devil?? What if the God of This World is the Devil?? What if the Administrator of Earth-Humanity MUST Be a Composite-Character of Good and Evil?? What if the God of This World MUST Have Multiple Bodies and Personalities?? What if the Reprehensible has been Absolutely-Necessary?? What if there are Term-Limits for the God of This World?? I have answers to these questions which I really don't want to talk about.
I once attended a writer's-conference where Frank Peretti was the keynote-speaker. He was profound and funny!! Perhaps This Present Darkness is supposed to continue for all eternity. I hope not. Hope Springs Eternal. But honestly study my USSS Threads for a couple of years without going insane. Good Luck With That. I've encountered a lot of hatred over the past ten years, with lots of nasty comments directed toward me (online and in real-life). I get the distinct impression that I'm NOT Welcome, and that my 'help' is NOT Wanted. I've been repeatedly and sarcastically thanked for "All of My Help" but what was (and is) the expectation?? I've been requesting constructive-conversation for ten years, with very few positive responses. I have some theories regarding what the hell is going on, and I've hinted at them, but I don't wish to cast my pearls before the swine. Is this thing power-struggling business as usual?? "We Got Him Now!!"??
What if Purgatory Incorporated is a Power Struggle in Perpetuity Which We Can't Win?? What if All of Us have a HUGE Quantity of Karmic-Debt (going back thousands, millions, billions, or even trillions) of years?? I have NO Idea, but I contemplate such possibilities with fear and trembling. What if there really is such a thing as 'Original Sin'?? What if History As We Know It Is a Second-Probation?? Would a Destruction of Earth and Humanity Destroy the Souls Incarnating Humanity?? This sort of thing is NOT intended for the General-Public. It is intended for Secret-Theologians in Underground-Bases. How many of these people have gone insane dealing with This Present Darkness?? I Beat Around the Burning Bush, But I Don't Give People What They Want, and Tell Them What They Wish to Hear. I'm NOT Attempting to Win a Popularity Contest. Probably Exactly the Opposite. 'RA' told me "You'll Be Sorry If You Try to Save Humanity." 'RA' asked me "Do You Think This Might Be Hell??" Honest.
I make no claims of significant intelligence, experience, and goodness. I'm quite disgusted and disappointed with my level of intelligence, lack of experience, and pathetic righteousness. I think I've screwed-up big-time in this incarnation -- and I suspect that the consequences might be severe and eternal. I feel highly hamstrung and defeated -- which should have a lot of you jumping for joy. I didn't know this whole-thing was some sort of a contest -- but even if I had been properly informed, I doubt that things would've turned-out much-different. Have I shown my true and ignorant colors?? That wouldn't surprise me. Was this a war to be won?? Would winning this hypothetical-war actually be a bad-thing?? I've simply provided a study-guide for some of you -- along with exposing and deposing myself (or something like that). I am extremely embarrassed, embittered, and debilitated -- but perhaps things will be better for all-concerned as a result of my plight. I don't have a problem with being-wrong and not-winning.
I continue to wonder about origins and foundations. How do we REALLY Know Anything-Significant Concerning Who We Are -- Where We Came From -- What We've Done -- What We're Supposed to be Doing -- and Where We're Going??? I haven't been coached and groomed to be Der Wunderkind!! I feel as if just the opposite might've occurred. Have I somehow been supernaturally restrained and impaired for Red-Herring and Character-Building purposes?? That actually wouldn't surprise me!! I feel as if I'm fighting battles most people will NEVER have to deal-with -- and experiencing nightmares which most people could NOT possibly comprehend!! I'm NOT trying to fight a war -- but perhaps I should commence hostilities!! What if my pathetic-life has been a TRAP to lure the enemy into an AMBUSH??!! What if this is a Galactic Rat-Trap??!! Damned if I know!!
I'm honestly trying to STOP -- but I CAN'T!! Sometimes I wonder if my Laptop-Computer is an Electronic Ouija-Board??!! Back to the Bible. How can we REALLY know what's going on with the Alleged Word of God?? Just because something is written in an ancient-book doesn't make it the Gospel-Truth -- does it?? What if the Bible is a TEST and an EXERCISE -- rather than being the TRUTH, the WHOLE-TRUTH, and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH??!! From my very limited background, the following varieties of Bible-Study yield VERY Different Results!! What is the Real-Deal??
1. Reading the Bible (Straight-Through -- Over and Over).
2. Reading the Bible (With Proof-Text Here-a-Little There-a-Little Methodology).
3. Reading the Conflict of the Ages Series by Ellen White (Straight-Through -- Over and Over).
4. Reading the SDA Bible Commentary (Straight-Through -- Over and Over).
5. Relying Upon Church-Leaders and Church-Publications to Reveal What the Bible Teaches.
6. Some of the Above -- None of the Above -- or All of the Above.
Long-Time Trusting and Faithful SDA's are Good-People -- but are they vulnerable to the Brutal Gangs of Facts in Modernity?? I've tried to provide a Galactic Boot-Camp for anyone with an interest and an aptitude -- but I doubt that ANYONE has bothered to expose themselves to the significant trauma involved in this process I've suggested. I thought this quest might help myself and others -- but the opposite seems to have occurred. At this point, I'm probably on the verge of Discouraging People from Studying My Tripe!! I'm probably just a Paranoid and Deluded Lone-Nut with a God-Complex (or something like that)!! Einstein wanted to "Think God's Thoughts After Him" -- but should we attempt such a thing?? Is it possible?? Is it blasphemous?? Is it rebellious?? Should I focus-upon Deuteronomy to Malachi?? What would reading Deuteronomy to Malachi (Straight-Through -- Over and Over) in the NKJV Yield (Over Several-Years)?? Why does Meredith Kline's book The Treaty of the Great King (regarding the covenant-structure of Deuteronomy) make reference to "The Great King"?? I could understand that title regarding the Davidic-Covenant -- but who is the "Great King" referred-to in that title?? Was the Bible intended to Punish and Educate a Rebellious Humanity??
Regarding Ellen White, I know about most of the issues and problems connected with the 'Spirit of Prophecy' yet I continue to be fascinated by three particular volumes, namely Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, and Desire of Ages -- as an alternative-reading of the Whole-Bible -- for devotional-purposes. But try thinking in terms of two Galactic-Queens telling the story contained therein. One Queen being Militaristic and Conquest-Oriented. One Queen being Peaceful and Reconciliation-Oriented. These volumes often seem to be representative of a Great-Debate Between a Mean-Queen and a Victorian-Queen. Imagine walking through the countryside of Balmoral Castle, conversing with these two Hypothetical-Queens!! What Would Brook Say?? What Would Rachel Constantine Say?? What Would Queen Victoria Say?? What Would Queen Elizabeth Say?? What Would Ellen White Say?? What Would Qetesh Say?? What Would Vala Mal Doran Say?? What Would Adria Say??
There are some really crazy conspiracy theories out there! There are also some really crazy little green-men theories out there! The theories are out there! Follow the tin-foil hats! The following is a vast no-wing conspiracy theory…and does not reflect the even crazier conspiracy theories of the author…
Was Jesus an extraterrestrial? He came down from Heaven, didn't He? Is this true for all of us? When He ascended into Heaven…was He beamed up into the Father-Ship…into the Most Holy Place of a Heavenly Sanctuary? Do you believe in UFO's? Have you ever seen one? I have, and I have spoken with other people who have. They seemed to be very credible. I met an astronaut who walked on the moon. We talked about life after death…of all things! It was out of this body…I mean out of this world! Some people don't believe in God. They believe in extraterrestrials from outer-space! Are God and Satan ET‘s? What if Satan is a little green woman? If we made contact, would it be a close encounter of the worst kind?
If a UFO shows up...how do you know if it's good or evil? Are there good and evil ET's? Did aliens supervise the construction of the Pyramids in ancient Egypt? Are we prisoners or slaves of aliens? Were Moses and Jesus…rebel Pharaohs...determined to set us free? Did Moses have a long term plan of salvation from alien oppression…which included writing the Torah and the Teachings of Jesus? Is the God of the Old Testament a bad ET…and the God of the New Testament a good ET?
Did the Nazis build and fly UFO's? Did U.S. scientists help Nazi scientists build UFO's at Area 51? Do humans travel to other planets in UFO’s? Do Presidents make treaties with, and take orders from…aliens? Do we have joint alien-human bases on the moon…dating back to the 50‘s? Are nuclear weapons intended for aliens rather than humans? Did a future President order a limo driver to shoot a President with a pellet gun to keep him from revealing our involvement with aliens? Did a future President refuse the request of a President for classified information regarding the extent of our involvement with aliens? Did ET phone Rome…and then call 911? Were hijackings superimposed onto military exercises…and then the whole operation hijacked by someone or something else? Don't ask me...this is an alien subject and I'm not a rocket scientist or a ufologist! I’m not even a botanist or a herpetologist! I’m just living in my own little…Dreamland…
This subject is a real minefield and crop-circle field, and frankly I don't know much about UFO‘s and ET‘s. I'm not sure I want to know too much! If I knew too much...black helicopters would undoubtedly appear over my house! Men in Black would knock on my door! I’m already more nervous than Don Knotts! I’m already paranoid…but then they really would be out to get me! I once spoke with a UFO researcher who said privately that she sometimes wished that she had never researched UFO's! Researchers beware! Stay out of space! Especially the Moon and Mars! I spoke with a very beautiful woman who was instructed by Warner Von Braun to devote her life to keeping nuclear weapons out of space. I’m standing there talking to a gorgeous woman about nuclear war? What a dork I was! Are we involved in a real Star Wars? The Empire might strike back! Perhaps we could convince the Empire to strike Bach…instead of that silly five-note tune! Perhaps they have come to save us _____________________________________________
THIS HATE SPEECH WILL BE SILENCED BY THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON IN 5 SECONDS…4...3...2...1
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LOG OFF……END SURVEILLANCE __________________________________________________
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED……THE___________________________________________________
HOMELAND HAS BEEN SECURED__________________________________________________
OMNIPOTENT HIGHNESS KRLLL __________________________________________________
HAS SOVERIEGN CONTROL OF US__________________________________________________
MJ12 - 666 - EYES ONLY - NOT FOR_________________________________________________
PUBLIC VIEWING-S4 DEBRIEFINGS _________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________________The End.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Sat Feb 12, 2022 2:02 pm; edited 6 times in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°372
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°373
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Ashera wrote:Under The Divine Electron We Seek Deliverance From The Sodomite Apelings!
A reasonable SS-leader would say according to this mantra and exhausting interrogation: "What do I care race or skin colour or three green horns at the forehead as long as the ideal is self-consistent?"
"A rock festival to be held in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, on May 1, 1976 (200 years to the day after the founding of the historic Illuminati Order), as a counterpart to the one in Woodstock, is the planned scene of mass murder to be carried out by a battalion of Nazis hibernating at the bottom of nearby Totenkopf Lake (Skull Lake). This plan is foiled with the help of an over fifteen meter tall epiphany of the Greek goddess Eris, the patron goddess of the Discordians. The four chief Illuminati are killed in the process."
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminatus!
Factually "info-wars", nothing is true and anything is possible... The real and the virtual changed values... Following Nietzsche and Baudrillard I call the effect "Götzenstrudel" or "Twilight Vortex"...The Atomic PriesthoodHail Aton, Hail Atum!
orthodoxymoron- Posts : 13639
Join date : 2010-09-28
Location : The Matrix
- Post n°374
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Thank-you, Ashera. I often side-step comments and images, but I consider all of them. A former Nazi who fought in WWII on the Russian Front spoke at a school I attended. He almost froze to death. Around twelve years ago, RA told me, "You Should Study the Nazis." A few years ago, an unlikely Individual of Interest told me, "I'm Adolph." Later, I briefly saw someone who looked like Rudolph Hess. Our eyes met, but we didn't speak. I don't make these things up and I can't take much more of this. I keep thinking in terms of the Law of God, Original-Sin, War in Heaven, Garden of Eden, and Situation-Ethics, all in the context of a hypothetical Universe-Wide Supercomputer-Matrix Prison-Planet Governance-Modality (or something to that effect). As I feel more and more miserable and hamstrung, the Matrix might be reining me in (perhaps for being too righteous and outspoken). A prominent Princeton Theological Graduate admonished me, "Don't be Too Definite. People Who Are Too Definite Go Off." It's as if the Matrix resists All Threats (Good and Bad) to the Way Things Are. That's my perception but not necessarily the reality. In my youth, I thought I was doing things correctly, but things quickly went downhill, and mostly NOT because of bad choices, but rather because of what seemed to be systemic absurdities and nefarious meddling (or something to that effect). However one figures things out, it seems ultimately wrong. One could create an SDA (Seventh Day Anglican) church, based-upon the 1917 EGW Prophets and Kings, the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal as a Historical Middle-Way in Modernity which would probably result in unending weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth!! Purgatory Incorporated seems to be a fitting modus operandi. Perhaps organized chaos and perceived freedom are ultimately tyrannical modalities. Perhaps the Empire is always dominant at the deepest levels. Choose Your Tyranny Wisely. Perhaps One Can Have an Empire or a Republic but Ultimately Not at the Same Time (in a long-term sense). One Can Have Truth or Repose but Not Both.
Here's a real long-shot, but a very-long time ago an SDA Pastor mentioned to me that the Adventist order of worship was patterned after the Presbyterian model, but I never heard anyone else say this. Then, while passively researching Queen Victoria, I learned that she leaned toward the Presbyterian model of worship. There might be no connection, yet I've suspected a Royal-Source of at least some of the Writings of Ellen White. Once again, I've tried to condense the mountains of EGW and SDA books into just three, namely Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, and Desire of Ages, in harmony with Sacred Classical Music!! Then, as a more modern source of supporting-evidence, I have looked toward volumes 3,4,6 of the SDA Bible Commentary (1 Chronicles to Malachi, and Acts to Ephesians). I have suggested reading these two groups of books, side by side, straight-through, over and over, to get at what might be profoundly-foundational regarding the Whole-Bible in the context of a Holistic Whole-History approach to life, the universe, and everything. Obviously, this isn't for the General-Public. This sort of thing might be appropriate at Andrews University, Princeton University, Cambridge University, and Oxford University, if you know what I mean!! I seem to be getting dumber and dumber in real-life, and I'm getting more and more disillusioned with my Internet-Quest, as I get more and more miserable. The End might be Near (for me, at least). This is a Re-Post of a post made probably five or six years ago (around 2016), but I'm leaving it 'As-Is' for the record. I had another surgery in 2021). Unfortunately, I don't think anyone can REALLY help me, at this point. Geronimo.
In Season 5 of Babylon 5, Londo Mollari gives John and Delenn Sheridan a gift for their son, David, to be given to him on his sixteenth-birthday. That "gift" is a "controlling-parasite" somehow related to the "Shadows". Think about what I posted on the previous page of this thread. You know -- that Sherry Shriner article about "Soul-Scalping Snakes" plus what I said about the "Goa'uld Symbiotes" in Stargate SG-1 and the $hit-Demons in the movie Dogma. Remember what Rich288 said in that post a couple of pages back (regarding the Thubans, and eating one's dragon)?? Is this all just coincidental?? Nothing would surprise me, at this point in the game. I've tried to maintain a controllable level of "craziness" in my threads -- just to be able to bring crazy things up, without spooking the herd. My threads are a Very-Serious Discussion -- presented in a Crazy-Context. Imagine a "Respectable Pillar of the Community" trying to do what I do, each and every day!! But I'm honestly stopping -- hopefully for at least the rest of 2022 (but possibly for a much longer period). I don't know what the Real PTB have planned -- but their track-record over the past five to ten thousand years is not particularly confidence-inspiring. They think "long-term" and so should we. If some of you are REALLY Ambitious -- Consider reading the following Ellen White books in order -- straight-through -- over and over -- as a mental and spiritual exercise (regardless of whether these books are Absolute-Truth or Historical-Fiction). Focus Upon the Principles, Concepts, and the Use of the English Language. BTW -- remember that video of Elenne Ford (daughter of Desmond Ford)?? Elenne = Delenne?? Notice the pyramid she makes with her arms and hands. Notice the obelisk on Ellen White's grave. Think about Jodie Foster in Elysium. Remember what I've said about a Borg-Queen controlled Supercomputer-Network!! This stuff scares the hell out of me!! That's all I'm going to say.
1. Patriarchs and Prophets.
2. Prophets and Kings.
3. The Desire of Ages.
4. Christ's Object Lessons.
5. The Acts of the Apostles.
Consider these books as being a devotional-guide to the much more scholarly seven-volume SDA Bible Commentary. I realize this is a hard-sell (on SO many levels) BUT there is some substance to this. Imagine All of the Above in the context of a Gothic Cathedral (complete with Sacred Classical Music). I think the City-State Theologians in Underground-Bases know what I'm talking about!! One More Thing. Perhaps I could get a 600 Square-Foot Mountain-Cabin -- with an Elevator (all the way down to a Mag-Lev Train-Station)!! The Imagination is a Dangerous Thing!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk52.html Nehemiah, one of the Hebrew exiles, occupied a position of influence and honor in the Persian court. As cupbearer to the king he was admitted freely to the royal presence. By virtue of his position, and because of his abilities and fidelity, he had become the monarch's friend and counselor. The recipient of royal favor, however, though surrounded by pomp and splendor, did not forget his God nor his people. With deepest interest his heart turned toward Jerusalem; his hopes and joys were bound up with her prosperity. Through this man, prepared by his residence in the Persian court for the work to which he was to be called, God purposed to bring blessing to His people in the land of their fathers.
By messengers from Judea the Hebrew patriot learned that days of trial had come to Jerusalem, the chosen city. The returned exiles were suffering affliction and reproach. The temple and portions of the city had been rebuilt; but the work of restoration was hindered, the temple services were disturbed, and the people kept in constant alarm by the fact that the walls of the city were still largely in ruins.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, Nehemiah could neither eat nor drink; he "wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted." In his grief he turned to the divine Helper. "I . . . prayed," he said, "before the God of heaven." Faithfully he made confession of his sins and the sins of his people. He pleaded that God would maintain the cause of Israel, restore their courage and strength, and help them to build up the waste places of Judah.
As Nehemiah prayed, his faith and courage grew strong. His mouth was filled with holy arguments. He pointed to the dishonor that would be cast upon God, if His people, now that they had returned to Him, should be left in weakness and oppression; and he urged the Lord to bring to pass His promise: "If ye turn unto Me, and keep My Commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there." See Deuteronomy 4:29-31. This promise had been given to Israel through Moses before they had entered Canaan, and during the centuries it had stood unchanged. God's people had now returned to Him in penitence and faith, and His promise would not fail.
Nehemiah had often poured out his soul in behalf of his people. But now as he prayed a holy purpose formed in his mind. He resolved that if he could obtain the consent of the king, and the necessary aid in procuring implements and material, he would himself undertake the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and restoring Israel's national strength. And he asked the Lord to grant him favor in the sight of the king, that this plan might be carried out. "Prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day," he entreated, "and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."
Four months Nehemiah waited for a favorable opportunity to present his request to the king. During this time, though his heart was heavy with grief, he endeavored to bear himself with cheerfulness in the royal presence. In those halls of luxury and splendor all must appear light-hearted and happy. Distress must not cast its shadow over the countenance of any attendant of royalty. But in Nehemiah's seasons of retirement, concealed from human sight, many were the prayers, the confessions, the tears, heard and witnessed by God and angels.
At length the sorrow that burdened the patriot's heart could no longer be concealed. Sleepless nights and care-filled days left their trace upon his countenance. The king, jealous for his own safety, was accustomed to read countenances and to penetrate disguises, and he saw that some secret trouble was preying upon his cupbearer. "Why is thy countenance sad," he inquired, "seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart."
The question filled Nehemiah with apprehension. Would not the king be angry to hear that while outwardly engaged in his service, the courtier's thoughts had been far away with his afflicted people? Would not the offender's life be forfeited? His cherished plan for restoring the strength of Jerusalem--was it about to be overthrown? "Then," he writes, "I was very sore afraid." With trembling lips and tearful eyes he revealed the cause of his sorrow. "Let the king live forever," he answered. "Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?"
The recital of the condition of Jerusalem awakened the sympathy of the monarch without arousing his prejudices. Another question gave the opportunity for which Nehemiah had long waited: "For what dost thou make request?" But the man of God did not venture to reply till he had sought direction from One higher than Artaxerxes. He had a sacred trust to fulfill, in which he required help from the king; and he realized that much depended upon his presenting the matter in such a way as to win his approval and enlist his aid. "I prayed," he said, "to the God of heaven." In that brief prayer Nehemiah pressed into the presence of the King of kings and won to his side a power that can turn hearts as the rivers of waters are turned.
To pray as Nehemiah prayed in his hour of need is a resource at the command of the Christian under circumstances when other forms of prayer may be impossible. Toilers in the busy walks of life, crowded and almost overwhelmed with perplexity, can send up a petition to God for divine guidance. Travelers by sea and land, when threatened with some great danger, can thus commit themselves to Heaven's protection. In times of sudden difficulty or peril the heart may send up its cry for help to One who has pledged Himself to come to the aid of His faithful, believing ones whenever they call upon Him. In every circumstance, under every condition, the soul weighed down with grief and care, or fiercely assailed by temptation, may find assurance, support, and succor in the unfailing love and power of a covenant-keeping God.
Nehemiah, in that brief moment of prayer to the King of kings, gathered courage to tell Artaxerxes of his desire to be released for a time from his duties at the court, and he asked for authority to build up the waste places of Jerusalem and to make it once more a strong and defensed city. Momentous results to the Jewish nation hung upon this request. "And," Nehemiah declares, "the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me."
Having secured the help he sought, Nehemiah with prudence and forethought proceeded to make the arrangements necessary to ensure the success of the enterprise. He neglected no precaution that would tend to its accomplishment. Not even to his own countrymen did he reveal his purpose. While he knew that many would rejoice in his success, he feared that some, by acts of indiscretion, might arouse the jealousy of their enemies and perhaps bring about the defeat of the undertaking.
His request to the king had been so favorably received that Nehemiah was encouraged to ask for still further assistance. To give dignity and authority to his mission, as well as to provide protection on the journey, he asked for and secured a military escort. He obtained royal letters to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates, the territory through which he must pass on his way to Judea; and he obtained, also, a letter to the keeper of the king's forest in the mountains of Lebanon, directing him to furnish such timber as would be needed. That there might be no occasion for complaint that he had exceeded his commission, Nehemiah was careful to have the authority and privileges accorded him, clearly defined.
This example of wise forethought and resolute action should be a lesson to all Christians. God's children are not only to pray in faith, but to work with diligent and provident care. They encounter many difficulties and often hinder the working of Providence in their behalf, because they regard prudence and painstaking effort as having little to do with religion. Nehemiah did not regard his duty done when he had wept and prayed before the Lord. He united his petitions with holy endeavor, putting forth earnest, prayerful efforts for the success of the enterprise in which he was engaged. Careful consideration and well-matured plans are as essential to the carrying forward of sacred enterprises today as in the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls.
Nehemiah did not depend upon uncertainty. The means that he lacked he solicited from those who were able to bestow. And the Lord is still willing to move upon the hearts of those in possession of His goods, in behalf of the cause of truth. Those who labor for Him are to avail themselves of the help that He prompts men to give. These gifts may open ways by which the light of truth shall go to many benighted lands. The donors may have no faith in Christ, no acquaintance with His word; but their gifts are not on this account to be refused.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk53.html Nehemiah's journey to Jerusalem was accomplished in safety. The royal letters to the governors of the provinces along his route secured him honorable reception and prompt assistance. No enemy dared molest the official who was guarded by the power of the Persian king and treated with marked consideration by the provincial rulers. His arrival in Jerusalem, however, with a military escort, showing that he had come on some important mission, excited the jealousy of the heathen tribes living near the city, who had so often indulged their enmity against the Jews by heaping upon them injury and insult. Foremost in this evil work were certain chiefs of these tribes, Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian. From the first these leaders watched with critical eyes the movements of Nehemiah and endeavored by every means in their power to thwart his plans and hinder his work.
Nehemiah continued to exercise the same caution and prudence that had hitherto marked his course. Knowing that bitter and determined enemies stood ready to oppose him, he concealed the nature of his mission from them until a study of the situation should enable him to form his plans. Thus he hoped to secure the co-operation of the people and set them at work before the opposition of his enemies should be aroused.
Choosing a few men whom he knew to be worthy of confidence, Nehemiah told them of the circumstances that had led him to come to Jerusalem, the object that he wished to accomplish, and the plans he proposed to follow. Their interest in his undertaking was at once enlisted and their assistance secured.
On the third night after his arrival Nehemiah rose at midnight and with a few trusted companions went out to view for himself the desolation of Jerusalem. Mounted on his mule, he passed from one part of the city to another, surveying the broken-down walls and gates of the city of his fathers. Painful reflections filled the mind of the Jewish patriot as with sorrow-stricken heart he gazed upon the ruined defenses of his beloved Jerusalem. Memories of Israel's past greatness stood out in sharp contrast with the evidences of her humiliation.
In secrecy and silence Nehemiah completed his circuit of the walls. "The rulers knew not whither I went," he declares, "or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work." The remainder of the night he spent in prayer; for he knew that the morning would call for earnest effort to arouse and unite his dispirited and divided countrymen.
Nehemiah bore a royal commission requiring the inhabitants to co-operate with him in rebuilding the walls of the city, but he did not depend upon the exercise of authority. He sought rather to gain the confidence and sympathy of the people, knowing that a union of hearts as well as of hands was essential in the great work before him. When on the morrow he called the people together he presented such arguments as were calculated to arouse their dormant energies and unite their scattered numbers.
Nehemiah's hearers did not know, neither did he tell them, of his midnight circuit of the night before. But the fact that he had made this circuit contributed greatly to his success; for he was able to speak of the condition of the city with an accuracy and a minuteness that astonished his hearers. The impression made upon him as he had looked upon the weakness and degradation of Jerusalem, gave earnestness and power to his words.
Nehemiah presented before the people their reproach among the heathen--their religion dishonored, their God blasphemed. He told them that in a distant land he had heard of their affliction, that he had entreated the favor of Heaven in their behalf, and that, as he was praying, he had determined to ask permission from the king to come to their assistance. He had asked God that the king might not only grant this permission, but might also invest him with the authority and give him the help needed for the work; and his prayer had been answered in such a way as to show that the plan was of the Lord.
All this he related, and then, having shown that he was sustained by the combined authority of the God of Israel and the Persian king, Nehemiah asked the people directly whether they would take advantage of this opportunity and arise and build the wall.
The appeal went straight to their hearts. The thought of how Heaven's favor had been manifested toward them put their fears to shame, and with new courage they said with one voice, "Let us rise up and build." "So they strengthened their hands for this good work."
Nehemiah's whole soul was in the enterprise he had undertaken. His hope, his energy, his enthusiasm, his determination, were contagious, inspiring others with the same high courage and lofty purpose. Each man became a Nehemiah in his turn and helped to make stronger the heart and hand of his neighbor.
When the enemies of Israel heard what the Jews were hoping to accomplish, they laughed them to scorn, saying, "What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?" But Nehemiah answered, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
Among the first to catch Nehemiah's spirit of zeal and earnestness were the priests. Because of their influential position, these men could do much to advance or hinder the work; and their ready co-operation, at the very outset, contributed not a little to its success. The majority of the princes and rulers of Israel came up nobly to their duty, and these faithful men have honorable mention in the book of God. There were a few, the Tekoite nobles, who "put not their necks to the work of their Lord." The memory of these slothful servants is branded with shame and has been handed down as a warning to all future generations.
In every religious movement there are some who, while they cannot deny that the cause is God's, still hold themselves aloof, refusing to make any effort to help. It were well for such ones to remember the record kept on high--that book in which there are no omissions, no mistakes, and out of which they will be judged. There every neglected opportunity to do service for God is recorded; and there, too, every deed of faith and love is held in everlasting remembrance.
Against the inspiring influence of Nehemiah's presence the example of the Tekoite nobles had little weight. The people in general were animated by patriotism and zeal. Men of ability and influence organized the various classes of citizens into companies, each leader making himself responsible for the erection of a certain part of the wall. And of some it is written that they builded "everyone over against his house."
Nor did Nehemiah's energy abate, now that the work was actually begun. With tireless vigilance he superintended the building, directing the workmen, noting the hindrances, and providing for emergencies. Along the whole extent of that three miles of wall his influence was constantly felt. With timely words he encouraged the fearful, aroused the laggard, and approved the diligent. And ever he watched the movements of their enemies, who from time to time collected at a distance and engaged in conversation, as if plotting mischief, and then, drawing nearer the workmen, attempted to divert their attention.
In his many activities Nehemiah did not forget the source of his strength. His heart was constantly uplifted to God, the great Overseer of all. "The God of heaven," he exclaimed, "He will prosper us;" and the words, echoed and re-echoed, thrilled the hearts of all the workers on the wall.
But the restoration of the defenses of Jerusalem did not go forward unhindered. Satan was working to stir up opposition and bring discouragement. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, his principal agents in this movement, now set themselves to hinder the work of rebuilding. They endeavored to cause division among the workmen. They ridiculed the efforts of the builders, declaring the enterprise an impossibility and predicting failure.
"What do these feeble Jews?" exclaimed Sanballat mockingly; "will they fortify themselves? . . . will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?"
Tobiah, still more contemptuous, added, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."
The builders were soon beset by more active opposition. They were compelled to guard continually against the plots of their adversaries, who, professing friendliness, sought in various ways to cause confusion and perplexity, and to arouse distrust. They endeavored to destroy the courage of the Jews; they formed conspiracies to draw Nehemiah into their toils; and falsehearted Jews were found ready to aid the treacherous undertaking. The report was spread that Nehemiah was plotting against the Persian monarch, intending to exalt himself as a king over Israel, and that all who aided him were traitors.
But Nehemiah continued to look to God for guidance and support, and "the people had a mind to work." The enterprise went forward until the gaps were filled and the entire wall built up to half its intended height.
As the enemies of Israel saw how unavailing were their efforts, they were filled with rage. Hitherto they had not dared employ violent measures, for they knew that Nehemiah and his companions were acting under the king's commission, and they feared that active opposition against him might bring upon them the monarch's displeasure. But now in their anger they themselves became guilty of the crime of which they had accused Nehemiah. Assembling for counsel, they "conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem."
At the same time that the Samaritans were plotting against Nehemiah and his work, some of the leading men among the Jews, becoming disaffected, sought to discourage him by exaggerating the difficulties attending the enterprise. "The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed," they said, "and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."
Discouragement came from still another source. "The Jews which dwelt by," those who were taking no part in the work, gathered up the statements and reports of their enemies and used these to weaken courage and create disaffection.
But taunts and ridicule, opposition and threats, seemed only to inspire Nehemiah with firmer determination and to arouse him to greater watchfulness. He recognized the dangers that must be met in this warfare with their enemies, but his courage was undaunted. "We made our prayer unto our God," he declares, "and set a watch against them day and night." "Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
"And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, everyone unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons. . . . They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side, and so builded."
Beside Nehemiah stood a trumpeter, and on different parts of the wall were stationed priests bearing the sacred trumpets. The people were scattered in their labors, but on the approach of danger at any point a signal was given for them to repair thither without delay. "So we labored in the work," Nehemiah says, "and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared."
Those who had been living in towns and villages outside Jerusalem were now required to lodge within the walls, both to guard the work and to be ready for duty in the morning. This would prevent unnecessary delay, and would cut off the opportunity which the enemy would otherwise improve, of attacking the workmen as they went to and from their homes. Nehemiah and his companions did not shrink from hardship or trying service. Neither by day nor night, not even during the short time given to sleep, did they put off their clothing or lay aside their armor.
The opposition and discouragement that the builders in Nehemiah's day met from open enemies and pretended friends is typical of the experience that those today will have who work for God. Christians are tried, not only by the anger, contempt, and cruelty of enemies, but by the indolence, inconsistency, lukewarmness, and treachery of avowed friends and helpers. Derision and reproach are hurled at them. And the same enemy that leads to contempt, at a favorable opportunity uses more cruel and violent measures.
Satan takes advantage of every unconsecrated element for the accomplishment of his purposes. Among those who profess to be the supporters of God's cause there are those who unite with His enemies and thus lay His cause open to the attacks of His bitterest foes. Even some who desire the work of God to prosper will yet weaken the hands of His servants by hearing, reporting, and half believing the slanders, boasts, and menaces of His adversaries. Satan works with marvelous success through his agents, and all who yield to their influence are subject to a bewitching power that destroys the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent. But, like Nehemiah, God's people are neither to fear nor to despise their enemies. Putting their trust in God, they are to go steadily forward, doing His work with unselfishness, and committing to His providence the cause for which they stand.
Amidst great discouragement, Nehemiah made God his trust, his sure defense. And He who was the support of His servant then has been the dependence of His people in every age. In every crisis His people may confidently declare, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. However craftily the plots of Satan and his agents may be laid, God can detect them, and bring to nought all their counsels. The response of faith today will be the response made by Nehemiah, "Our God shall fight for us;" for God is in the work, and no man can prevent its ultimate success.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk54.html The wall of Jerusalem had not yet been completed when Nehemiah's attention was called to the unhappy condition of the poorer classes of the people. In the unsettled state of the country, tillage had been to some extent neglected. Furthermore, because of the selfish course pursued by some who had returned to Judea, the Lord's blessing was not resting upon their land, and there was a scarcity of grain.
In order to obtain food for their families, the poor were obliged to buy on credit and at exorbitant prices. They were also compelled to raise money by borrowing on interest to pay the heavy taxes imposed upon them by the kings of Persia. To add to the distress of the poor, the more wealthy among the Jews had taken advantage of their necessities, thus enriching themselves.
The Lord had commanded Israel, through Moses, that every third year a tithe be raised for the benefit of the poor; and a further provision had been made in the suspension of agricultural labor every seventh year, the land lying fallow, its spontaneous products being left to those in need. Faithfulness in devoting these offerings to the relief of the poor and to other benevolent uses would have tended to keep fresh before the people the truth of God's ownership of all, and their opportunity to be channels of blessing. It was Jehovah's purpose that the Israelites should have a training that would eradicate selfishness, and develop breadth and nobility of character.
God had also instructed through Moses: "If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer." "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury." Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19. Again He had said, "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Deuteronomy 15:7, 8, 11.
At times following the return of the exiles from Babylon, the wealthy Jews had gone directly contrary to these commands. When the poor were obliged to borrow to pay tribute to the king, the wealthy had lent them money, but had exacted a high rate of interest. By taking mortgages on the lands of the poor, they had gradually reduced the unfortunate debtors to the deepest poverty. Many had been forced to sell their sons and daughters into servitude; and there seemed no hope of improving their condition, no way to redeem either their children or their lands, no prospect before them but ever-increasing distress, with perpetual want and bondage. Yet they were of the same nation, children of the same covenant, as their more favored brethren.
At length the people presented their condition before Nehemiah. "Lo," they said, "we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards."
As Nehemiah heard of this cruel oppression, his soul was filled with indignation. "I was very angry," he says, "when I heard their cry and these words." He saw that if he succeeded in breaking up the oppressive custom of exaction he must take a decided stand for justice. With characteristic energy and determination he went to work to bring relief to his brethren.
The fact that the oppressors were men of wealth, whose support was greatly needed in the work of restoring the city, did not for a moment influence Nehemiah. He sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers, and when he had gathered a great assembly of the people he set before them the requirements of God touching the case.
He called their attention to events that had occurred in the reign of King Ahaz. He repeated the message which God had at the time sent to Israel to rebuke their cruelty and oppression. The children of Judah, because of their idolatry, had been delivered into the hands of their still more idolatrous brethren, the people of Israel. The latter had indulged their enmity by slaying in battle many thousands of the men of Judah and had seized all the women and children, intending to keep them as slaves or to sell them into bondage to the heathen.
Because of the sins of Judah, the Lord had not interposed to prevent the battle; but by the prophet Oded He rebuked the cruel design of the victorious army: "Ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?" 2 Chronicles 28:10. Oded warned the people of Israel that the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and that their course of injustice and oppression would call down His judgments. Upon hearing these words, the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. Then certain leading men of the tribe of Ephraim "took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren." Verse 15.
Nehemiah and others had ransomed certain of the Jews who had been sold to the heathen, and he now placed this course in contrast with the conduct of those who for the sake of worldly gain were enslaving their brethren. "It is not good that ye do," he said; "ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?"
Nehemiah showed them that he himself, being invested with authority from the Persian king, might have demanded large contributions for his personal benefit. But instead of this he had not taken even that which justly belonged to him, but had given liberally to relieve the poor in their need. He urged those among the Jewish rulers who had been guilty of extortion, to cease this iniquitous work; to restore the lands of the poor, and also the increase of money which they had exacted from them; and to lend to them without security or usury.
These words were spoken in the presence of the whole congregation. Had the rulers chosen to justify themselves, they had opportunity to do so. But they offered no excuse. "We will restore them," they declared, "and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest." At this, Nehemiah in the presence of the priests "took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise." "And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise."
This record teaches an important lesson. "The love of money is the root of all evil." 1. Timothy 6:10. In this generation the desire for gain is the absorbing passion. Wealth is often obtained by fraud. There are multitudes struggling with poverty, compelled to labor hard for small wages, unable to secure even the barest necessities of life. Toil and deprivation, with no hope of better things, make their burden heavy. Careworn and oppressed, they know not where to turn for relief. And all this that the rich may support their extravagance or indulge their desire to hoard!
Love of money and love of display have made this world as a den of thieves and robbers. The Scriptures picture the greed and oppression that will prevail just before Christ's second coming. "Go to now, ye rich men," James writes; "ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." James 5:1, 3-6.
Even among those who profess to be walking in the fear of the Lord, there are some who are acting over again the course pursued by the nobles of Israel. Because it is in their power to do so, they exact more than is just, and thus become oppressors. And because avarice and treachery are seen in the lives of those who have named the name of Christ, because the church retains on her books the names of those who have gained their possessions by injustice, the religion of Christ is held in contempt. Extravagance, overreaching, extortion, are corrupting the faith of many and destroying their spirituality. The church is in a great degree responsible for the sins of her members. She gives countenance to evil if she fails to lift her voice against it.
The customs of the world are no criterion for the Christian. He is not to imitate its sharp practices, its overreaching, its extortion. Every unjust act toward a fellow being is a violation of the golden rule. Every wrong done to the children of God is done to Christ Himself in the person of His saints. Every attempt to take advantage of the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the ledger of heaven. He who truly fears God, would rather toil day and night, and eat the bread of poverty, than to indulge the passion for gain that oppresses the widow and fatherless or turns the stranger from his right.
The slightest departure from rectitude breaks down the barriers and prepares the heart to do greater injustice. Just to that extent that a man would gain advantage for himself at the disadvantage of another, will his soul become insensible to the influence of the Spirit of God. Gain obtained at such a cost is a fearful loss. We were all debtors to divine justice, but we had nothing with which to pay the debt. Then the Son of God, who pitied us, paid the price of our redemption. He became poor that through His poverty we might be rich. By deeds of liberality toward His poor we may prove the sincerity of our gratitude for the mercy extended to us. "Let us do good unto all men," the apostle Paul enjoins, "especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:10. And his words accord with those of the Saviour: "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Mark 14:7; Matthew 7:12.
Here's a real long-shot, but a very-long time ago an SDA Pastor mentioned to me that the Adventist order of worship was patterned after the Presbyterian model, but I never heard anyone else say this. Then, while passively researching Queen Victoria, I learned that she leaned toward the Presbyterian model of worship. There might be no connection, yet I've suspected a Royal-Source of at least some of the Writings of Ellen White. Once again, I've tried to condense the mountains of EGW and SDA books into just three, namely Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, and Desire of Ages, in harmony with Sacred Classical Music!! Then, as a more modern source of supporting-evidence, I have looked toward volumes 3,4,6 of the SDA Bible Commentary (1 Chronicles to Malachi, and Acts to Ephesians). I have suggested reading these two groups of books, side by side, straight-through, over and over, to get at what might be profoundly-foundational regarding the Whole-Bible in the context of a Holistic Whole-History approach to life, the universe, and everything. Obviously, this isn't for the General-Public. This sort of thing might be appropriate at Andrews University, Princeton University, Cambridge University, and Oxford University, if you know what I mean!! I seem to be getting dumber and dumber in real-life, and I'm getting more and more disillusioned with my Internet-Quest, as I get more and more miserable. The End might be Near (for me, at least). This is a Re-Post of a post made probably five or six years ago (around 2016), but I'm leaving it 'As-Is' for the record. I had another surgery in 2021). Unfortunately, I don't think anyone can REALLY help me, at this point. Geronimo.
orthodoxymoron wrote:I'm leaning toward the theory that just about everything is BS -- but we have to do the best we can with what's been placed on the table. The Bible seems to be BS in so many ways -- yet who wrote the BS?? Why did they write it?? I've been around a number of Ivy-League Theologians, and it's a humbling experience. I've tried to hint-at what Secret-Government Ivy-League Theologians might say about Life, the Universe, and Everything -- in the secrecy of an Underground-Base -- with no recordings or minutes. Just several hours of completely honest debate. I think there are many clues in the Bible, but it seems as if one has to sort of "go nuts" to start understanding the clues, and their relationship to historical and esoteric research. I am NOT a Bible-Thumper. I just think there really are Gods, Goddesses, Angels, and Demons. There really are things that go "BUMP!!" in the night!! I really think the God (and/or Goddess) of This World plays ALL Sides -- and might be the Best of the Best -- and the Worst of the Worst. If one were arguing with them, the GTW might be capable of arguing all-sides of any subject (in a very convincing manner). They might be capable of playing the parts of God, Jesus, Archangels, Satan, Preachers, Politicians, Rock-Stars, Completely Ignorant Fools, et al. I'm Sirius. I think I might've encountered them in several forms. The Bible is very well written BS (if that's what it is). I've been pointing toward a particular Bible Commentary, which is highly-scholarly (with a huge amount of contextual information). Encyclopedias just seem to be a way to get a multidisciplinary cross-section of the world we live in. Obviously, they sugar-coat a lot of stuff, but it might be a rather benign and neutral "place of beginning".
I just found out that I have serious organic health issues, which are probably affecting my mind. I'm probably going to require surgery. I doubt that will ultimately make everything better and happy, but apparently my "madness" is NOT "all in my head". I honestly think I've been targeted my whole-life, for a variety of reasons. The problem with this whole-mess is that I don't have enough information to make responsible judgments and conclusions. Not even close. I just get the impression that too many individuals on this forum (and in real-life) know more about me than I know about myself (and NOT in a good way). I think I'm screwed in more ways than I can imagine. I suspect that everyone will take advantage of everyone (if given the opportunity -- especially if they think no one will find-out what they're doing). I suspect that the History of Earth-Humanity has been VERY Well Documented -- Right From the Beginning. This Whole-Mess is Probably a HUGE Experiment. I'm not even going to attempt to convince ANYONE that I'm right about ANYTHING. I've placed certain things on the record within this website -- but I'm not sure why. I'm sure I'll pay dearly for my openness, honesty, irreverence, and innovation. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. I'm trying to not post for a significant time-period -- so I might not respond to your comments or questions. Namaste, Godspeed, and Geronimo.
Pris wrote:
All the best to you always, Oxy, especially should you require surgery.
LOL yeah, I think you're right and pretty much everything is BS, too! To put it lightly, it's annoying.
One thing that bothers me about the Bible is how much it's been rewritten/altered, much deliberately. So, all those who wrote it originally... whatever their message may have been has likely been lost or confounded to throw us off. Certain individuals and groups of people going waaay back seem to rewrite history for their own ends. But, we're starting to figure it out. They didn't cover their tracks well enough. And, we are capable of remembering and uncovering clues to our past no matter how hard they try to erase it.
This is just me -- I don't think there are literally 'Gods', 'Goddesses', 'Angels', and 'Demons'... I think there's just us. When I say 'us', that includes any and all spirits driving physical bodies. And, we concoct it all. It's 'real' in the sense that 'energy flows where attention goes' and our intent/creator abilities shape our reality -- for good or bad. Each individual's viewpoint is unique and 'real' to themselves but may not be 'real' to anyone else. Belief and faith play a huge role in 'magic' and manifestation across multiple dimensions. Some of us have pretty FAT heads and might think we are 'gods', but, that's about it.
Yes, roleplaying... I think we enjoy playing different parts. Maybe our existence is like a giant buffet, and we like to taste a little bit of everything.
Is this an experiment? Possibly. Maybe we didn't choose this. On the other hand, maybe we set it up. Maybe, it's a little bit of both. Maybe this is all 'simply' consciousness, advanced as individuated entities... And, here we are, learning, growing, playing... finding all different kinds of ways to express ourselves through the experience of life. At the moment, we happen to be billions of individual voices expressing ourselves (and that doesn't even include the myriad of all other wonderful non-human life forms!) as we take on the challenge Earth provides.
Earth could also be a trap. Anything is possible. If there's a way in, there's a way out. Awareness is the key.
"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished." Really, Oxy? Sounds like a sadomasochist came up with that one.
Here on Earth, there seems to be 'something for everyone'.
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Carol wrote:Aloha Oxy. An upcoming surgery can be anxiety producing. Last year at this time after an MRI and confronted with some scary facts I got deeply depressed to where I just wanted to stay in bed with the covers up over my head. Needing cervical spinal surgery requiring 3 discs to be replaced totally freaked me out. What helped was talking to several other people that I knew who underwent a similar surgery and who had excellent results. We also tracked down previous medical records from a previous surgery to find out what went wrong and discovered that this one doc had upped a med that they NEVER give patients who are going in for surgery, so clearing up the mystery and having a good talk with my doctors helped a lot. What also helped was going online to research the surgery process. Sometimes learning as much as you can about the procedure is helpful at the emotional level. By the time I ended up in the OR I was joking around with the team and having an enjoyable time until the lights went out for the procedure.
Please keep us informed how things are going for you and know we're always here rooting for you.
As for your journal books that you keep here there really isn't any need to worry as most folks can't separate out fact from fiction, so you're likely covered and SAFE.
orthodoxymoron wrote:Thank-you Carol and Pris. I hope the surgical-results exceeded-expectations. My father had lower-back disk-surgery (involving the sciatic-nerve) with poor-results. The pain and suffering of that good and great man HUGELY Disillusioned me. Digging into the Historical and the Otherworldly is a Quagmire. What Would Dick Cheney Say?? This Present Illusion is SO Much Easier (for a while)!! I saw the contrast between the Church of My Youth -- and the Big-Shot Mega-Church Television-Shows -- and I understood the chemistry. Dr. Walter Martin told me that Dr. Robert H. Schuller taught a "Corrupt-Theology"!! He also told me that "The Kid Doesn't Have It!!" This was in reference to Dr. Schuller's son, Robert Anthony Schuller. BTW -- I have a couple of things in common with RAS. I might even have something in common with HAL and COR -- but I don't want to talk about it. I understand "Going With the Flow" and "Kicking Against the Pricks". My online-diary just scratches the surface of a VERY Nasty and Deadly Wound. I've hinted-at a lot of things I could've blatantly blurted-out.
I've suggested that my continued study in this area might honestly and truly put me in the nuthouse -- and completely discredit me as a viable-option. I should mention that once upon a time, a complete-stranger told me that the Human-Race and the Pauline-Epistles were Excellent!! Another complete-stranger told me that the Dr. Who Trial of a Time-Lord was essentially true. I continue to think there's a Solar-System War-Room where All is Known -- and that What is Known is NOT Nice!! I seem to be BOTH For and Against BOTH Humanity and Divinity!! This Present Madness seems to have EVERYTHING to Do with Ancient and Ongoing Star-Wars. I think I see how humanity has been played for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptian Deity said "I've Always Remained One Step Ahead of Humanity!!" RA also told me "Humanity is Screwed!!" The AED said I would "Manifest My Bad-Side" and "Where You're Going It's Going to Be Dark!!" Oh Wretched Man That I Am!! That Nice Nuthouse in the Rockies (with Rooms with Views and Sexy Sex-Therapists) is looking better all the time!! Perhaps I could start a business in Colorado Springs!! What Would James Dobson Say?? BTW -- I've liked James Dobson for decades!!
Pris wrote:That 'Ra' is such an overconfident p***k.
So, he claims he's always remained (key point, past tense) one step ahead of humanity?
You can't fool all the people all the time.
Sure, humanity has been screwed (in some respects). But, is screwed?...
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I'd say Ra's time is up (should he/it [imposter?] exist for 'real').
As for Ra saying you're going to manifest your 'bad side', Oxy, and 'where you're going it's going to be dark'...
Big whoopie. We ALL have a dark side. It's called looking into the abyss and facing our deepest, darkest fears.
It's a personal journey we all need to take. Once you do that, you come to the realize 'there's nothing to fear but fear itself'.
It's about choosing your own path.
When I look around, I see a crazy world, Oxy. It's recently been suggested that I may have lost all touch with 'reality'...
I take that as a compliment because it means I'm learning to see through this 'matrix' of bullshite and I just don't fit in anymore.
In this insane world, people locked up in the 'nuthouse' are likely to be more sane than those on the 'outside'.
Hang in there, Oxy. We're all in this together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb7Xdu7STx8
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orthodoxymoron wrote:
"Thoth!! You're a Dick-Head!!
Pris wrote:.
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Right on, Oxy!
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In Season 5 of Babylon 5, Londo Mollari gives John and Delenn Sheridan a gift for their son, David, to be given to him on his sixteenth-birthday. That "gift" is a "controlling-parasite" somehow related to the "Shadows". Think about what I posted on the previous page of this thread. You know -- that Sherry Shriner article about "Soul-Scalping Snakes" plus what I said about the "Goa'uld Symbiotes" in Stargate SG-1 and the $hit-Demons in the movie Dogma. Remember what Rich288 said in that post a couple of pages back (regarding the Thubans, and eating one's dragon)?? Is this all just coincidental?? Nothing would surprise me, at this point in the game. I've tried to maintain a controllable level of "craziness" in my threads -- just to be able to bring crazy things up, without spooking the herd. My threads are a Very-Serious Discussion -- presented in a Crazy-Context. Imagine a "Respectable Pillar of the Community" trying to do what I do, each and every day!! But I'm honestly stopping -- hopefully for at least the rest of 2022 (but possibly for a much longer period). I don't know what the Real PTB have planned -- but their track-record over the past five to ten thousand years is not particularly confidence-inspiring. They think "long-term" and so should we. If some of you are REALLY Ambitious -- Consider reading the following Ellen White books in order -- straight-through -- over and over -- as a mental and spiritual exercise (regardless of whether these books are Absolute-Truth or Historical-Fiction). Focus Upon the Principles, Concepts, and the Use of the English Language. BTW -- remember that video of Elenne Ford (daughter of Desmond Ford)?? Elenne = Delenne?? Notice the pyramid she makes with her arms and hands. Notice the obelisk on Ellen White's grave. Think about Jodie Foster in Elysium. Remember what I've said about a Borg-Queen controlled Supercomputer-Network!! This stuff scares the hell out of me!! That's all I'm going to say.
1. Patriarchs and Prophets.
2. Prophets and Kings.
3. The Desire of Ages.
4. Christ's Object Lessons.
5. The Acts of the Apostles.
Consider these books as being a devotional-guide to the much more scholarly seven-volume SDA Bible Commentary. I realize this is a hard-sell (on SO many levels) BUT there is some substance to this. Imagine All of the Above in the context of a Gothic Cathedral (complete with Sacred Classical Music). I think the City-State Theologians in Underground-Bases know what I'm talking about!! One More Thing. Perhaps I could get a 600 Square-Foot Mountain-Cabin -- with an Elevator (all the way down to a Mag-Lev Train-Station)!! The Imagination is a Dangerous Thing!!
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk52.html Nehemiah, one of the Hebrew exiles, occupied a position of influence and honor in the Persian court. As cupbearer to the king he was admitted freely to the royal presence. By virtue of his position, and because of his abilities and fidelity, he had become the monarch's friend and counselor. The recipient of royal favor, however, though surrounded by pomp and splendor, did not forget his God nor his people. With deepest interest his heart turned toward Jerusalem; his hopes and joys were bound up with her prosperity. Through this man, prepared by his residence in the Persian court for the work to which he was to be called, God purposed to bring blessing to His people in the land of their fathers.
By messengers from Judea the Hebrew patriot learned that days of trial had come to Jerusalem, the chosen city. The returned exiles were suffering affliction and reproach. The temple and portions of the city had been rebuilt; but the work of restoration was hindered, the temple services were disturbed, and the people kept in constant alarm by the fact that the walls of the city were still largely in ruins.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, Nehemiah could neither eat nor drink; he "wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted." In his grief he turned to the divine Helper. "I . . . prayed," he said, "before the God of heaven." Faithfully he made confession of his sins and the sins of his people. He pleaded that God would maintain the cause of Israel, restore their courage and strength, and help them to build up the waste places of Judah.
As Nehemiah prayed, his faith and courage grew strong. His mouth was filled with holy arguments. He pointed to the dishonor that would be cast upon God, if His people, now that they had returned to Him, should be left in weakness and oppression; and he urged the Lord to bring to pass His promise: "If ye turn unto Me, and keep My Commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set My name there." See Deuteronomy 4:29-31. This promise had been given to Israel through Moses before they had entered Canaan, and during the centuries it had stood unchanged. God's people had now returned to Him in penitence and faith, and His promise would not fail.
Nehemiah had often poured out his soul in behalf of his people. But now as he prayed a holy purpose formed in his mind. He resolved that if he could obtain the consent of the king, and the necessary aid in procuring implements and material, he would himself undertake the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and restoring Israel's national strength. And he asked the Lord to grant him favor in the sight of the king, that this plan might be carried out. "Prosper, I pray Thee, Thy servant this day," he entreated, "and grant him mercy in the sight of this man."
Four months Nehemiah waited for a favorable opportunity to present his request to the king. During this time, though his heart was heavy with grief, he endeavored to bear himself with cheerfulness in the royal presence. In those halls of luxury and splendor all must appear light-hearted and happy. Distress must not cast its shadow over the countenance of any attendant of royalty. But in Nehemiah's seasons of retirement, concealed from human sight, many were the prayers, the confessions, the tears, heard and witnessed by God and angels.
At length the sorrow that burdened the patriot's heart could no longer be concealed. Sleepless nights and care-filled days left their trace upon his countenance. The king, jealous for his own safety, was accustomed to read countenances and to penetrate disguises, and he saw that some secret trouble was preying upon his cupbearer. "Why is thy countenance sad," he inquired, "seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart."
The question filled Nehemiah with apprehension. Would not the king be angry to hear that while outwardly engaged in his service, the courtier's thoughts had been far away with his afflicted people? Would not the offender's life be forfeited? His cherished plan for restoring the strength of Jerusalem--was it about to be overthrown? "Then," he writes, "I was very sore afraid." With trembling lips and tearful eyes he revealed the cause of his sorrow. "Let the king live forever," he answered. "Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?"
The recital of the condition of Jerusalem awakened the sympathy of the monarch without arousing his prejudices. Another question gave the opportunity for which Nehemiah had long waited: "For what dost thou make request?" But the man of God did not venture to reply till he had sought direction from One higher than Artaxerxes. He had a sacred trust to fulfill, in which he required help from the king; and he realized that much depended upon his presenting the matter in such a way as to win his approval and enlist his aid. "I prayed," he said, "to the God of heaven." In that brief prayer Nehemiah pressed into the presence of the King of kings and won to his side a power that can turn hearts as the rivers of waters are turned.
To pray as Nehemiah prayed in his hour of need is a resource at the command of the Christian under circumstances when other forms of prayer may be impossible. Toilers in the busy walks of life, crowded and almost overwhelmed with perplexity, can send up a petition to God for divine guidance. Travelers by sea and land, when threatened with some great danger, can thus commit themselves to Heaven's protection. In times of sudden difficulty or peril the heart may send up its cry for help to One who has pledged Himself to come to the aid of His faithful, believing ones whenever they call upon Him. In every circumstance, under every condition, the soul weighed down with grief and care, or fiercely assailed by temptation, may find assurance, support, and succor in the unfailing love and power of a covenant-keeping God.
Nehemiah, in that brief moment of prayer to the King of kings, gathered courage to tell Artaxerxes of his desire to be released for a time from his duties at the court, and he asked for authority to build up the waste places of Jerusalem and to make it once more a strong and defensed city. Momentous results to the Jewish nation hung upon this request. "And," Nehemiah declares, "the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me."
Having secured the help he sought, Nehemiah with prudence and forethought proceeded to make the arrangements necessary to ensure the success of the enterprise. He neglected no precaution that would tend to its accomplishment. Not even to his own countrymen did he reveal his purpose. While he knew that many would rejoice in his success, he feared that some, by acts of indiscretion, might arouse the jealousy of their enemies and perhaps bring about the defeat of the undertaking.
His request to the king had been so favorably received that Nehemiah was encouraged to ask for still further assistance. To give dignity and authority to his mission, as well as to provide protection on the journey, he asked for and secured a military escort. He obtained royal letters to the governors of the provinces beyond the Euphrates, the territory through which he must pass on his way to Judea; and he obtained, also, a letter to the keeper of the king's forest in the mountains of Lebanon, directing him to furnish such timber as would be needed. That there might be no occasion for complaint that he had exceeded his commission, Nehemiah was careful to have the authority and privileges accorded him, clearly defined.
This example of wise forethought and resolute action should be a lesson to all Christians. God's children are not only to pray in faith, but to work with diligent and provident care. They encounter many difficulties and often hinder the working of Providence in their behalf, because they regard prudence and painstaking effort as having little to do with religion. Nehemiah did not regard his duty done when he had wept and prayed before the Lord. He united his petitions with holy endeavor, putting forth earnest, prayerful efforts for the success of the enterprise in which he was engaged. Careful consideration and well-matured plans are as essential to the carrying forward of sacred enterprises today as in the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls.
Nehemiah did not depend upon uncertainty. The means that he lacked he solicited from those who were able to bestow. And the Lord is still willing to move upon the hearts of those in possession of His goods, in behalf of the cause of truth. Those who labor for Him are to avail themselves of the help that He prompts men to give. These gifts may open ways by which the light of truth shall go to many benighted lands. The donors may have no faith in Christ, no acquaintance with His word; but their gifts are not on this account to be refused.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk53.html Nehemiah's journey to Jerusalem was accomplished in safety. The royal letters to the governors of the provinces along his route secured him honorable reception and prompt assistance. No enemy dared molest the official who was guarded by the power of the Persian king and treated with marked consideration by the provincial rulers. His arrival in Jerusalem, however, with a military escort, showing that he had come on some important mission, excited the jealousy of the heathen tribes living near the city, who had so often indulged their enmity against the Jews by heaping upon them injury and insult. Foremost in this evil work were certain chiefs of these tribes, Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian. From the first these leaders watched with critical eyes the movements of Nehemiah and endeavored by every means in their power to thwart his plans and hinder his work.
Nehemiah continued to exercise the same caution and prudence that had hitherto marked his course. Knowing that bitter and determined enemies stood ready to oppose him, he concealed the nature of his mission from them until a study of the situation should enable him to form his plans. Thus he hoped to secure the co-operation of the people and set them at work before the opposition of his enemies should be aroused.
Choosing a few men whom he knew to be worthy of confidence, Nehemiah told them of the circumstances that had led him to come to Jerusalem, the object that he wished to accomplish, and the plans he proposed to follow. Their interest in his undertaking was at once enlisted and their assistance secured.
On the third night after his arrival Nehemiah rose at midnight and with a few trusted companions went out to view for himself the desolation of Jerusalem. Mounted on his mule, he passed from one part of the city to another, surveying the broken-down walls and gates of the city of his fathers. Painful reflections filled the mind of the Jewish patriot as with sorrow-stricken heart he gazed upon the ruined defenses of his beloved Jerusalem. Memories of Israel's past greatness stood out in sharp contrast with the evidences of her humiliation.
In secrecy and silence Nehemiah completed his circuit of the walls. "The rulers knew not whither I went," he declares, "or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work." The remainder of the night he spent in prayer; for he knew that the morning would call for earnest effort to arouse and unite his dispirited and divided countrymen.
Nehemiah bore a royal commission requiring the inhabitants to co-operate with him in rebuilding the walls of the city, but he did not depend upon the exercise of authority. He sought rather to gain the confidence and sympathy of the people, knowing that a union of hearts as well as of hands was essential in the great work before him. When on the morrow he called the people together he presented such arguments as were calculated to arouse their dormant energies and unite their scattered numbers.
Nehemiah's hearers did not know, neither did he tell them, of his midnight circuit of the night before. But the fact that he had made this circuit contributed greatly to his success; for he was able to speak of the condition of the city with an accuracy and a minuteness that astonished his hearers. The impression made upon him as he had looked upon the weakness and degradation of Jerusalem, gave earnestness and power to his words.
Nehemiah presented before the people their reproach among the heathen--their religion dishonored, their God blasphemed. He told them that in a distant land he had heard of their affliction, that he had entreated the favor of Heaven in their behalf, and that, as he was praying, he had determined to ask permission from the king to come to their assistance. He had asked God that the king might not only grant this permission, but might also invest him with the authority and give him the help needed for the work; and his prayer had been answered in such a way as to show that the plan was of the Lord.
All this he related, and then, having shown that he was sustained by the combined authority of the God of Israel and the Persian king, Nehemiah asked the people directly whether they would take advantage of this opportunity and arise and build the wall.
The appeal went straight to their hearts. The thought of how Heaven's favor had been manifested toward them put their fears to shame, and with new courage they said with one voice, "Let us rise up and build." "So they strengthened their hands for this good work."
Nehemiah's whole soul was in the enterprise he had undertaken. His hope, his energy, his enthusiasm, his determination, were contagious, inspiring others with the same high courage and lofty purpose. Each man became a Nehemiah in his turn and helped to make stronger the heart and hand of his neighbor.
When the enemies of Israel heard what the Jews were hoping to accomplish, they laughed them to scorn, saying, "What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?" But Nehemiah answered, "The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."
Among the first to catch Nehemiah's spirit of zeal and earnestness were the priests. Because of their influential position, these men could do much to advance or hinder the work; and their ready co-operation, at the very outset, contributed not a little to its success. The majority of the princes and rulers of Israel came up nobly to their duty, and these faithful men have honorable mention in the book of God. There were a few, the Tekoite nobles, who "put not their necks to the work of their Lord." The memory of these slothful servants is branded with shame and has been handed down as a warning to all future generations.
In every religious movement there are some who, while they cannot deny that the cause is God's, still hold themselves aloof, refusing to make any effort to help. It were well for such ones to remember the record kept on high--that book in which there are no omissions, no mistakes, and out of which they will be judged. There every neglected opportunity to do service for God is recorded; and there, too, every deed of faith and love is held in everlasting remembrance.
Against the inspiring influence of Nehemiah's presence the example of the Tekoite nobles had little weight. The people in general were animated by patriotism and zeal. Men of ability and influence organized the various classes of citizens into companies, each leader making himself responsible for the erection of a certain part of the wall. And of some it is written that they builded "everyone over against his house."
Nor did Nehemiah's energy abate, now that the work was actually begun. With tireless vigilance he superintended the building, directing the workmen, noting the hindrances, and providing for emergencies. Along the whole extent of that three miles of wall his influence was constantly felt. With timely words he encouraged the fearful, aroused the laggard, and approved the diligent. And ever he watched the movements of their enemies, who from time to time collected at a distance and engaged in conversation, as if plotting mischief, and then, drawing nearer the workmen, attempted to divert their attention.
In his many activities Nehemiah did not forget the source of his strength. His heart was constantly uplifted to God, the great Overseer of all. "The God of heaven," he exclaimed, "He will prosper us;" and the words, echoed and re-echoed, thrilled the hearts of all the workers on the wall.
But the restoration of the defenses of Jerusalem did not go forward unhindered. Satan was working to stir up opposition and bring discouragement. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, his principal agents in this movement, now set themselves to hinder the work of rebuilding. They endeavored to cause division among the workmen. They ridiculed the efforts of the builders, declaring the enterprise an impossibility and predicting failure.
"What do these feeble Jews?" exclaimed Sanballat mockingly; "will they fortify themselves? . . . will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?"
Tobiah, still more contemptuous, added, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."
The builders were soon beset by more active opposition. They were compelled to guard continually against the plots of their adversaries, who, professing friendliness, sought in various ways to cause confusion and perplexity, and to arouse distrust. They endeavored to destroy the courage of the Jews; they formed conspiracies to draw Nehemiah into their toils; and falsehearted Jews were found ready to aid the treacherous undertaking. The report was spread that Nehemiah was plotting against the Persian monarch, intending to exalt himself as a king over Israel, and that all who aided him were traitors.
But Nehemiah continued to look to God for guidance and support, and "the people had a mind to work." The enterprise went forward until the gaps were filled and the entire wall built up to half its intended height.
As the enemies of Israel saw how unavailing were their efforts, they were filled with rage. Hitherto they had not dared employ violent measures, for they knew that Nehemiah and his companions were acting under the king's commission, and they feared that active opposition against him might bring upon them the monarch's displeasure. But now in their anger they themselves became guilty of the crime of which they had accused Nehemiah. Assembling for counsel, they "conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem."
At the same time that the Samaritans were plotting against Nehemiah and his work, some of the leading men among the Jews, becoming disaffected, sought to discourage him by exaggerating the difficulties attending the enterprise. "The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed," they said, "and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall."
Discouragement came from still another source. "The Jews which dwelt by," those who were taking no part in the work, gathered up the statements and reports of their enemies and used these to weaken courage and create disaffection.
But taunts and ridicule, opposition and threats, seemed only to inspire Nehemiah with firmer determination and to arouse him to greater watchfulness. He recognized the dangers that must be met in this warfare with their enemies, but his courage was undaunted. "We made our prayer unto our God," he declares, "and set a watch against them day and night." "Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
"And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, everyone unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons. . . . They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side, and so builded."
Beside Nehemiah stood a trumpeter, and on different parts of the wall were stationed priests bearing the sacred trumpets. The people were scattered in their labors, but on the approach of danger at any point a signal was given for them to repair thither without delay. "So we labored in the work," Nehemiah says, "and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared."
Those who had been living in towns and villages outside Jerusalem were now required to lodge within the walls, both to guard the work and to be ready for duty in the morning. This would prevent unnecessary delay, and would cut off the opportunity which the enemy would otherwise improve, of attacking the workmen as they went to and from their homes. Nehemiah and his companions did not shrink from hardship or trying service. Neither by day nor night, not even during the short time given to sleep, did they put off their clothing or lay aside their armor.
The opposition and discouragement that the builders in Nehemiah's day met from open enemies and pretended friends is typical of the experience that those today will have who work for God. Christians are tried, not only by the anger, contempt, and cruelty of enemies, but by the indolence, inconsistency, lukewarmness, and treachery of avowed friends and helpers. Derision and reproach are hurled at them. And the same enemy that leads to contempt, at a favorable opportunity uses more cruel and violent measures.
Satan takes advantage of every unconsecrated element for the accomplishment of his purposes. Among those who profess to be the supporters of God's cause there are those who unite with His enemies and thus lay His cause open to the attacks of His bitterest foes. Even some who desire the work of God to prosper will yet weaken the hands of His servants by hearing, reporting, and half believing the slanders, boasts, and menaces of His adversaries. Satan works with marvelous success through his agents, and all who yield to their influence are subject to a bewitching power that destroys the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent. But, like Nehemiah, God's people are neither to fear nor to despise their enemies. Putting their trust in God, they are to go steadily forward, doing His work with unselfishness, and committing to His providence the cause for which they stand.
Amidst great discouragement, Nehemiah made God his trust, his sure defense. And He who was the support of His servant then has been the dependence of His people in every age. In every crisis His people may confidently declare, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31. However craftily the plots of Satan and his agents may be laid, God can detect them, and bring to nought all their counsels. The response of faith today will be the response made by Nehemiah, "Our God shall fight for us;" for God is in the work, and no man can prevent its ultimate success.
http://whiteestate.org/books/pk/pk54.html The wall of Jerusalem had not yet been completed when Nehemiah's attention was called to the unhappy condition of the poorer classes of the people. In the unsettled state of the country, tillage had been to some extent neglected. Furthermore, because of the selfish course pursued by some who had returned to Judea, the Lord's blessing was not resting upon their land, and there was a scarcity of grain.
In order to obtain food for their families, the poor were obliged to buy on credit and at exorbitant prices. They were also compelled to raise money by borrowing on interest to pay the heavy taxes imposed upon them by the kings of Persia. To add to the distress of the poor, the more wealthy among the Jews had taken advantage of their necessities, thus enriching themselves.
The Lord had commanded Israel, through Moses, that every third year a tithe be raised for the benefit of the poor; and a further provision had been made in the suspension of agricultural labor every seventh year, the land lying fallow, its spontaneous products being left to those in need. Faithfulness in devoting these offerings to the relief of the poor and to other benevolent uses would have tended to keep fresh before the people the truth of God's ownership of all, and their opportunity to be channels of blessing. It was Jehovah's purpose that the Israelites should have a training that would eradicate selfishness, and develop breadth and nobility of character.
God had also instructed through Moses: "If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer." "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury." Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19. Again He had said, "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." "For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Deuteronomy 15:7, 8, 11.
At times following the return of the exiles from Babylon, the wealthy Jews had gone directly contrary to these commands. When the poor were obliged to borrow to pay tribute to the king, the wealthy had lent them money, but had exacted a high rate of interest. By taking mortgages on the lands of the poor, they had gradually reduced the unfortunate debtors to the deepest poverty. Many had been forced to sell their sons and daughters into servitude; and there seemed no hope of improving their condition, no way to redeem either their children or their lands, no prospect before them but ever-increasing distress, with perpetual want and bondage. Yet they were of the same nation, children of the same covenant, as their more favored brethren.
At length the people presented their condition before Nehemiah. "Lo," they said, "we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards."
As Nehemiah heard of this cruel oppression, his soul was filled with indignation. "I was very angry," he says, "when I heard their cry and these words." He saw that if he succeeded in breaking up the oppressive custom of exaction he must take a decided stand for justice. With characteristic energy and determination he went to work to bring relief to his brethren.
The fact that the oppressors were men of wealth, whose support was greatly needed in the work of restoring the city, did not for a moment influence Nehemiah. He sharply rebuked the nobles and rulers, and when he had gathered a great assembly of the people he set before them the requirements of God touching the case.
He called their attention to events that had occurred in the reign of King Ahaz. He repeated the message which God had at the time sent to Israel to rebuke their cruelty and oppression. The children of Judah, because of their idolatry, had been delivered into the hands of their still more idolatrous brethren, the people of Israel. The latter had indulged their enmity by slaying in battle many thousands of the men of Judah and had seized all the women and children, intending to keep them as slaves or to sell them into bondage to the heathen.
Because of the sins of Judah, the Lord had not interposed to prevent the battle; but by the prophet Oded He rebuked the cruel design of the victorious army: "Ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?" 2 Chronicles 28:10. Oded warned the people of Israel that the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and that their course of injustice and oppression would call down His judgments. Upon hearing these words, the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. Then certain leading men of the tribe of Ephraim "took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren." Verse 15.
Nehemiah and others had ransomed certain of the Jews who had been sold to the heathen, and he now placed this course in contrast with the conduct of those who for the sake of worldly gain were enslaving their brethren. "It is not good that ye do," he said; "ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?"
Nehemiah showed them that he himself, being invested with authority from the Persian king, might have demanded large contributions for his personal benefit. But instead of this he had not taken even that which justly belonged to him, but had given liberally to relieve the poor in their need. He urged those among the Jewish rulers who had been guilty of extortion, to cease this iniquitous work; to restore the lands of the poor, and also the increase of money which they had exacted from them; and to lend to them without security or usury.
These words were spoken in the presence of the whole congregation. Had the rulers chosen to justify themselves, they had opportunity to do so. But they offered no excuse. "We will restore them," they declared, "and will require nothing of them; so will we do as thou sayest." At this, Nehemiah in the presence of the priests "took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise." "And all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise."
This record teaches an important lesson. "The love of money is the root of all evil." 1. Timothy 6:10. In this generation the desire for gain is the absorbing passion. Wealth is often obtained by fraud. There are multitudes struggling with poverty, compelled to labor hard for small wages, unable to secure even the barest necessities of life. Toil and deprivation, with no hope of better things, make their burden heavy. Careworn and oppressed, they know not where to turn for relief. And all this that the rich may support their extravagance or indulge their desire to hoard!
Love of money and love of display have made this world as a den of thieves and robbers. The Scriptures picture the greed and oppression that will prevail just before Christ's second coming. "Go to now, ye rich men," James writes; "ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." James 5:1, 3-6.
Even among those who profess to be walking in the fear of the Lord, there are some who are acting over again the course pursued by the nobles of Israel. Because it is in their power to do so, they exact more than is just, and thus become oppressors. And because avarice and treachery are seen in the lives of those who have named the name of Christ, because the church retains on her books the names of those who have gained their possessions by injustice, the religion of Christ is held in contempt. Extravagance, overreaching, extortion, are corrupting the faith of many and destroying their spirituality. The church is in a great degree responsible for the sins of her members. She gives countenance to evil if she fails to lift her voice against it.
The customs of the world are no criterion for the Christian. He is not to imitate its sharp practices, its overreaching, its extortion. Every unjust act toward a fellow being is a violation of the golden rule. Every wrong done to the children of God is done to Christ Himself in the person of His saints. Every attempt to take advantage of the ignorance, weakness, or misfortune of another is registered as fraud in the ledger of heaven. He who truly fears God, would rather toil day and night, and eat the bread of poverty, than to indulge the passion for gain that oppresses the widow and fatherless or turns the stranger from his right.
The slightest departure from rectitude breaks down the barriers and prepares the heart to do greater injustice. Just to that extent that a man would gain advantage for himself at the disadvantage of another, will his soul become insensible to the influence of the Spirit of God. Gain obtained at such a cost is a fearful loss. We were all debtors to divine justice, but we had nothing with which to pay the debt. Then the Son of God, who pitied us, paid the price of our redemption. He became poor that through His poverty we might be rich. By deeds of liberality toward His poor we may prove the sincerity of our gratitude for the mercy extended to us. "Let us do good unto all men," the apostle Paul enjoins, "especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:10. And his words accord with those of the Saviour: "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Mark 14:7; Matthew 7:12.
Last edited by orthodoxymoron on Sun Apr 03, 2022 12:42 am; edited 12 times in total
Ashera- Posts : 4201
Join date : 2011-03-16
Location : Atargatis Atreides
- Post n°375
Re: United States AI Solar System (11)
Ashera wrote:
Operation The Worm (Jiddisch/Hebrew)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Caucasus#German_operations
The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet Union, and the oil fields beyond at Maikop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku, to the Germans. Two days prior, Adolf Hitler issued a directive to launch such an operation into the Caucasus region, to be named Operation Edelweiß. German forces were compelled to withdraw from the area that winter as Operation Little Saturn threatened to cut them off.
Obviously both operations had the same aim!Asmodeus!
Satan!
The bad meme spread from Silesia into two directions...
Germani, Indians, Pollacks, and their Kapos... like in Freistatt!In the name of Allah Allmighty, the Allknowing!
"I am not aware of any guilt, and the implication of moralic guilt I do not accept! I do not believe in the original sin! I am not a masochist wanker in the name of the LORD! I will not eat humble pie!
Neo-nazi? I am in no way folksy!
Via negationes and self-conquest!
Constitutionally!"