Today we hear much about “guns and God” as if being a Christian means that we need to enshrine the second amendment in our hearts and vow to bear arms against any tyranny that oppresses us. Evidently these people believe Jesus himself would have carried a concealed weapon or worn a holster with a six-shooter if Rome had had its own equivalent to the second amendment. I believe the multitude of Christian political pundits and commentators do not really know the teachings of the God they claim to serve. Giants rule our land today, not Christians. Christians want to keep their guns so they can fight them. But, they face a defeat exactly like the rebellious Israelites who refused to take the land by faith.

The people of God could have stood for righteousness over the past three generations as America fell away from its Godly heritage, but they did not. Instead they entered in and took part in the increasing lawlessness and debauchery of society. When the Supreme Court outlawed prayer and the Bible in their public schools in 1962 they did nothing. They continued to send their infants there as sending sheep to the slaughter. When the Supreme Court made abortion the law of the land in 1973 again they did nothing… they even began paying for abortions for their sons and daughters. When their public schools became havens for drugs and sex education and when they kicked Christ out of Christmas again they did nothing. They still supported the public schools when in a day, if all Christians had withdrawn their children, they could have reformed their schools. Now it is too late to reform. Tyranny has come to fruition and full bloom. And now Christians want to arm themselves for the coming revolution?

Today giants rule in the land called America, not Christians. Christians did not fight the giants when they could have. Instead they partied with them, married them, and became one with them. Yes, they rode them just as Revelation describes the harlot Babylon (defiled Christians) riding the beast (man’s government and ways). And now they want to fight the beast? Read Revelation 17 and 18 to understand what will happen to her when she does. And this is all according to the prophetic pattern of parabolic history told in the Book of Numbers in the following passage:

And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah. (Numbers 14:39-45 KJV)

Christian, beware. Do not take up arms against the sovereign who rules this nation. Caesar and his provincial rulers were no friends to Jesus, Paul, James, John, Peter and Matthew. Yet, they never, never counseled us to fight against the rulers which God ordained. Instead, we need to depend upon the LORD Jesus himself as the women in the story linked here did!

A song of ascents. Of David.[a]

124 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
do let Israel say,
2 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger was kindled against us.
4 Then the waters would have flooded over us,
the torrent would have passed over our soul.
5 Then over our soul would have passed
the raging waters.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
who has not made[b] us prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
from the snare of fowlers.
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 124 Lexham English Bible)

As we continue to ascend to the throne of God we must realize that our hope does not rest in men at all, but in God alone. I believe a companion passage which sheds light on this psalm is chapter 2 from Isaiah, which says,

Isaiah 2
English Standard Version (ESV)

1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go the law,[a]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.

6 For you have rejected your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of things from the east
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines,
and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.
9 So man is humbled,
and each one is brought low—
do not forgive them!
10 Enter into the rock
and hide in the dust
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty.
11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
12 For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;
14 against all the lofty mountains,
and against all the uplifted hills;
15 against every high tower,
and against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish,
and against all the beautiful craft.
17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled,
and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols shall utterly pass away.
19 And people shall enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,[b]
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.
20 In that day mankind will cast away
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,
to the moles and to the bats,
21 to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts of the cliffs,
from before the terror of the Lord,
and from the splendor of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.

22 Stop regarding man
in whose nostrils is breath,
for of what account is he?

First, notice how many themes this passage from Isaiah mentions that we have already discussed in the first four steps of ascent: 1) the latter days (these days), 2) the mountain of the LORD (the mountain we are now ascending just as Moses ascended the fiery mountain long ago), 3) the House of the LORD (we are God’s house), 4) Zion,  5) Jerusalem (like many Old Testament prophesies this refers to New Jerusalem), and 6) Separation (in this chapter verses 2-5 relate to God’s Overcomers in the House of Jacob (believers in the One God) while verses 6-22 concern believers who instead rely upon the world and the ways of the world. This is why it ends with the stark warning, “Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”

It is verse 22, just quoted, which really ties Isaiah 2 to Psalm 124 for this song makes it clear that the sojourner relies upon God and only upon God for his deliverance. Had he relied upon man then he would have been caught in man’s snare. But, because he made God his refuge, God delivered him from man’s evil plans.

Anyone watching current events knows that man has now devised and implemented evil plans for the faithful followers of God. These schemes have been secretly conceived and brought to birth for many years now. America, once considered to the be the Christian land of the free, has now become the haunt of every evil demon and human perpetrator of vile deeds. Laws have now been enacted which will allow for our indefinite detention without trial. The stage is set to totally destroy the faithful from the land, but God has another plan.

I choose to trust God for my deliverance from today’s ever-present evil. I choose to take the fifth step up the mountain into God’s consuming fire. And like Isaiah I say to those who would hesitate, ”Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”

Psalm 12 contains several important prophecies concerning these last days.

First David earnestly seeks God’s intervention because God’s people are being destroyed throughout the earth. He desperately declares that he can no longer find faithful people among men. Surely this describes the scarcity of righteousness and holiness among those who name the Name of God in our time.

 “Save, O Lord, for ^(A)the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.” (Psalm 12:1 ESV)

Next he describes the main characteristic of the people that he does find.

Everyone ^(B)utters lies to his neighbor;
    with ^(C)flattering lips and ^(D)a double heart they speak. (Ps. 12:2)

David prophecies of a time when no one can trust the other, a time when people speak simply to flatter someone else, a time when men say one thing but mean another because they speak with a “double heart,” a double mind. We see this clearly in political leaders. They always say exactly what the people want to hear, yet when elected they act contrary to their promises. Once elected they say they are doing what they promised, but they lie. America’s leader today, President Obama, states publicly over and over again that he is doing the exact opposite of what he is really doing. He deliberately lies over and over again and still his supporters believe every word he says. The newspapers dutifully report Obama’s lies and embellish them with their own. On the other hand Republicans have voted overwhelmingly to nominate a man who claims publicly to oppose those things that Obama does and yet Romney’s own past actions and words show that he supports every major policy that Obama has and wants to implement. Everyone it seems loves the lie. Therefore David prays that God will bring an end this lying lawlessness.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,

4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

I don’t watch the movie stars, the rock stars, the sports stars, or the political stars anymore, but I still remember how they shamelessly honor one another with their lips. Their friends and acquaintances are always the best, the most gracious, the most loving, generous, giving, and lovely person you could ever meet! Their lips, their words, are with them and for them. Who could dare come against them and master them? They are the stars of the earth, the ones everyone looks to for advice, wisdom, and approval. Consider again how President Obama surrounds himself with movie stars and basks in the glow of their never-ending approval. No one can master them!… they think.

But God has other plans, plans which very soon will come into effect.

5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

The time has come for God to arise from his throne and place all of Christ’s enemies under his feet. He has patiently watched for millennia as men threw off the restraints of his laws, both moral and physical. He has even continued watching as man’s breaking of natural laws through genetic modification of plants and animals, biological weapons, chemical weapons, and atomic weapons now threatens to destroy the entire world. But, he can sit idly by and watch no longer. Now he must arise. He must stand and utter his judgment, his terrible judgment.

6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.

God’s words of judgment will not be like men’s flattering words of lies and deception. God speaks pure words, as pure as the purest silver or gold, words purified seven times, that is, unto perfection.

7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us[b] from this generation forever.

Contrary to double-minded, lying men, our LORD will “keep” his words. He will guard “this generation.” Which generation will he guard? He will guard the generation that sees vileness exalted among the children of man, the generation that witnesses the age-old foundation of God’s moral order turned on its head and destroyed. He will guard the generation who live during the times described by the last verse of this prophetic psalm.

8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

What could be a truer statement than this concerning America in the year 2012? Is it vile? Then it’s exalted. Look at Lady Gaga. Is it vile? Then its exalted. Look at open homosexual activity in America’s military, states that pass laws giving special rights and the right to marry the same sex to homosexuals. Is it vile? Then its exalted. Look at genetically modified plants and animals and the push toward transhumanism in man’s attempt to usurp God’s throne. Look at laws which prohibit ownership and use of God’s creation, like raw milk and healing herbs, and which protect big pharma and other corporations which prey upon the poor. Look at lawless laws like Obamacare which enslave the people to the whims of a few.

And since vileness is exalted by our society it has become true as well that the wicked prowl in every city and lurk on every corner. We live in dark, desperate days. And this is what we should expect because we have entered the Day of the LORD when darkness covers the earth. But, as David prophesies, now it is time for God to arise and God’s Word is certain. He will keep his word! Great tribulation and great judgment is coming upon the wicked. It is but a breath away.

As if foreseeing the days we live in and the taunt of the enemy David says,

“In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, ^(A)`Flee like a bird to your mountain, ² for behold, the wicked ^(B)bend the bow; ^(C)they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.’” (Psalm 11:1-2 ESV)

Today all of God’s faithful people still sit in their own homes and huddle together in their tiny churches or home group meetings. They see the LORD’s enemies massing against them in the forms of unrighteous legal mandates which order them to do things they do not want to do, thousands of police departments arrayed in military gear ever ready to take them to places they do not want to go, and in an American military that fights against every nation (or belief) on earth that does not bend to its will. And so the enemy taunts us and says, “Where will you go now? Will you flee to your hide out in a cave in the ground or on some mountain top?” But, like David we say, “No. Only in the LORD do I take refuge.”

Yet, also like David we understand that “³ if ^(D)the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”^[a]  

Yes, we know the ultimate victor of this age-long war and we take refuge in HIM! The final battle is about to begin. I have my armor on and my sword ready. Do you?

Psalm 10 begins with this heartfelt cry, “Why stand you afar off, O LORD? why hide you yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalms 10:1 KJ2000) This has been the woeful wail of God’s people for centuries, even millennia now. I tell people that the signs of the times, the woeful condition of men and the tyrannical rule of despots, prove that the second coming of Christ is near. And many say, “It’s been worse. Just think of the millions killed in the holocaust and the second world war, the millions killed by Stalin, Mao, the first world war, and the American Civil War. Or consider how the peasants in France were abominably treated by the aristocracy leading to their revolution in 1789, the resulting `Reign of Terror’ from 1793 to 1794 and the reign of Napoleon who killed and destroyed all across Europe.” And so with the Psalmist we still say, ”Why stand you afar off, O LORD? why hide you yourself in times of trouble?”

But this time things are different. No longer do we see the potential for destruction of  only thousands or even millions. Now we look directly at the demonic fruition of evil men’s schemes which can, and will if left unchecked, destroy the entire earth and every living being on this earth. As Jesus said,

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:21-22 KJ2000)

Yet even at this late hour we still do not see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked with respect to the blessing of God. He still sends his rain upon the just and the unjust and sometimes does not send rain upon the just even when they pray for and need it for their crops, lands, and animals. He still seems satisfied to allow the wicked to control and even destroy his people. Consider the Muslims in Africa and the Middle East who routinely kill Christian worshippers.

So, by faith we still wait for the rest of Psalm 10 to be fulfilled and for God’s righteous government to finally be established.

The wicked in his pride does persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and blesses the covetous, whom the LORD abhors. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in  any of his thoughts. His ways are always prosperous; your judgments are far above, out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he sneers at them. He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places does he murder the innocent: his eyes are secretly set against the poor. He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he does catch the poor, when he draws him into his net. He crouches, and lies low, that the poor may fall by his strength. He has said in his heart, God has forgotten: he hides his face; he will never see it. Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand: forget not the humble. Why does the wicked renounce God? he has said in his heart, You will not require it. You have seen it: for you behold mischief and spite, to repay it with your hand: the poor commits himself unto you; you are the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till you find none. The LORD is King forever and ever: the nations are perished out of his land. LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble: you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear: To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (Psalms 10:2-18 KJ2000)

In Psalm 9 David prophesies the destruction of the wicked, but first he worships and praises his God.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your ^(A)wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and ^(B)exult in you;
    I will ^(C)sing praise to your name, ^(D)O Most High.

³ When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before^[c] your presence.
⁴ For you have ^(E)maintained my just cause;
    you have ^(F)sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment. (Psalm 9:1-4, ESV)

After praising God and “recounting” his past deeds David begins to prophesy concerning the final judgment upon the men and nations who despise God and his ways. We have now come to the time when these things David predicts will occur.

⁵ You have ^(G)rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have ^(H)blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.

Then David contrasts the kingdoms of men to God’s Kingdom, and describes the foundation of God’s throne for Yahweh establishes his government upon the twin principles of justice and righteousness, truth and mercy, law and grace. And through his own experiences David always remembers that mercy triumphs over judgment.

⁷ But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
⁸ and he ^(I)judges the world with righteousness;
    he ^(J)judges the peoples with uprightness.

Then David calls upon all men at all times to put their trust in this God who saves and praise his holy Name.

But then David remembers the present and his current afflictions, troubles similar to those each of us face even today.

^13 (S)Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from ^(T)the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of ^(U)the daughter of Zion
    I may ^(V)rejoice in your salvation.

Yet immediately David begins to prophesy yet again about the sure destruction of the wicked and the exaltation of the “poor and needy,” those who have practiced righteousness and waited patiently and faithfully upon him.

Today, May 27 2012, is the Day of Pentecost, the day which Christians commemorate as the day upon which God first gave the Holy Spirit to his people after Jesus rose from the dead. When Peter explained this strange occurrence in Acts 2 he quoted from the book of Joel, chapter 2, verses 28-32a. Peter did not quote the second half of verse 32 which reads, “for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” He omitted this because it was not then time for this aspect of the prophecy to be fulfilled. It is time now.

The book of Joel mainly prophesies about these days we live in right now. Chapter one begins with four groups of locusts which come upon God’s land to destroy it. That which the first group of locusts does not destroy, the second group eats. Anything left by the second invading army is eaten by the third, and everything left by the third is consumed by the fourth. The result is this:

He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. (Joel 1:7, KJV)

Now remember that Jesus cursed the fig tree, causing it to die, just before his crucifixion. He cursed the tree, which represented the Jewish nation, because it bore no fruit. Thus it is today. The fig tree still represents Israel, God’s people who today comprise the Church. But the Church, like Israel of old, has failed. She bears no fruit. She refuses to leave her love of the world’s ways; she refuses to “come out of Babylon.” Through her fornication with the world she has become one with Babylon, which is a mystery, and rides the beast of satanic world governments. See Revelation 17-18.

One fulfillment of the four groups of locusts in Joel 1 is that they represent the four generations of Christians beginning in the early 1900′s which presided over America’s fall from a Christian nation to the most evil people ever known to the world. Today’s news, for example, reports of a naked “zombie” eating the face of a living man. Can we get more disgusting than this? Well, unfortunately the answer is yes. Satan has some plans in store for all who refuse to obey their Creator which even exceeds this in horror. Yes, in four generations America fell from a relatively faithful form of Christianity to become the haunt of every type of demonic activity. Four generations of locusts destroyed our entire culture.

But that is not all that the locusts represent. If you compare Joel 1:4-7 with Revelation 9:1-12 you will see that their final prophetic fulfillment comes with the demonic locusts released from the abyss in the fifth trumpet judgment. There are four keys for understanding that these two chapters describe the same locusts: 1 ) both passages deal with the time period just before or at the “Day of the LORD,” 2) both passages deal with locusts, 3) the locusts have teeth “like lions’ teeth,” and 4) the locusts damage certain types of plants, which Revelation 9:4 clearly shows represent people. Revelation 9:4 specifically commands the locusts “not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” These three types of people represent the three types of fruitful Christians Jesus described in Matthew 13:23. All fruitful Christians will be sealed by God before he gives the key to the abyss to Satan. All of them will be fully protected by God from demonic assault when they are released.

On the other hand, the fig tree of Joel 1:7 represents all Christians who hold the truth in unrighteousness and have, therefore, become unfruitful and unproductive in their walk with Jesus. Joel says that these trees become splintered, stripped, thrown down, and made white (naked). They did not seek God to become clothed in his righteousness; they accepted the world’s definitions of righteousness and his way they do not know. They chose not to walk the narrow path which Jesus warned we all must take. But, note that God restrains the locusts (demons) from killing them in Revelation 9:5. For “five months” they will be severely tortured and will want to die, but death will elude them. What does all this represent?

Joel 1 and the fifth trumpet blast of Revelation 9 depict God’s judgment upon his church, for judgment begins with the House of God according to God’s word. This explains why Joel addresses his prophesy to the “elders,” the leaders of God’s people and also why he calls those leaders to repent in 1:8-20. God commands the locusts not to kill these lukewarm, unbelieving Christians because he graciously grants them one last time to repent, one last time to believe the prophets who have spoken and spoken and spoken.

The end does not come as these Christians were taught. They will not be miraculously whisked away to their pie in the sky heaven prior to all hell breaking loose upon earth. They will learn that they walked in deception, that they called evil good and good evil and that they accepted the demonic for the divine in their church services and gatherings. Many, I believe, will repent, but these will be difficult, trying times for multitudes who called themselves by the name of Christ and yet walked in the dens of Satan.

Both my wife and my oldest daughter have prophetic gifting. They both see the things that I see in the Spirit (mainly dealing with the revelation of the Word) and sometimes even before I do. Just last weekend my daughter dreamed that manna covered her yard (which is within a half mile of our farm) and then she woke up. As I considered her dream this morning I felt the LORD would have me write this post.

Many Christians see the great tribulation approaching, even on our doorstep. Some believe it will last seven years after the pattern of Joseph’s seven years of famine. I believe that it will last 3 1/2 years according to the Books of Daniel and Revelation which describe it in terms of “a time, times, and half a time,” “1260 days,” and “42 months.” Some believe that Christians ought to store up food for this terrible time, again according to the pattern of Joseph’s years of plenty and famine. I do not. Christians do not need to store anything for this coming time, and it is not because they are going to be raptured before it happens. Only the firstfruits manchild of Revelation 12 will be glorified before the tribulation. They are the only Christians ready; the rest still have to buy oil from those who sell according to Matthew 25. They will not be ready in time, for they are just now waking up.

Jesus always taught in parables and this includes all of the historical accounts written in the Bible. Most of the narratives relate historically accurate facts as well as prophetically predict future events. Joseph, for example, fulfilled a type of God’s overcomer. Although in the world he was not of the world. He did not succumb to lusts of the flesh and he suffered for it. According to the Biblical record Joseph was perfect. This is not because he was actually perfect during his natural life. It is because he fulfilled the saying of Jesus, “Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Every overcomer desires this perfection even though he fails in this flesh and mourns his still carnal position.

The number seven in the Bible means “complete.” God always uses the number seven to illustrate that the particular matter spoken of is now complete, or finished. Thus he created the earth in a complete week of seven days including the Sabbath day of rest. This pattern continues for man’s allotted time on earth. He has been given six one thousand year days and God will bring a Sabbath rest in the seventh thousand year period.  In Leviticus 4 we see the priest sprinkle the blood seven times before the vail. In Leviticus 8 he sprinkles the blood seven times to anoint the altar. In Leviticus 26 God warns Israel that he will punish them seven times for their sins. In Joshua 6 we see seven priests bearing seven trumpets walk around Jericho seven times. Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” And there are many more examples.

Similarly Joseph’s seven years of plenty and seven years of famine point to complete prophetic realities. Joseph did collect and store food for seven years and he did sell food for seven years after that, but the point of the story is not that there will be some future seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. The point is that Joseph completely filled his storehouse in heaven. Consider what Jesus taught us about storing.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:19-21 KJV)

 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21 KJV)

Many people, including Christians, counsel us to buy guns and food to prepare for the horrible times coming on the world. I don’t believe that Jesus would buy or wear a gun and I don’t think he would dig a cellar to store grain like Joseph did. No, the parable of Joseph means that Joseph stored up treasures toward God in a complete way so that he would have abundance with respect to all things necessary, especially heavenly things. He represents the overcomer who has stored up treasure in heaven and who will be able to withdraw from his treasury as others, including himself, have need of it.

If I store thousands of dollars worth of grain and food on my farm, then I can be assured that when tribulation comes one of three things will happen: 1) I will give it away to those who have need besides myself; 2) People who learn I have food will come and steal it by force; or 3) the beast government will confiscate it. If I have no extra food, however, there is nothing to steal or confiscate. But, since I have treasure in heaven, I can pray for and expect to receive my daily manna. I will have enough for myself, my family, and to share with those whom God brings!

Tribulation is coming. Be sure your treasure is stored in heaven and not on earth.

You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:4)

If you are reading this post, then this verse speaks to you, that is, so long as you are striving against sin.

We live in the Day when the beast, the governments of men, rule with blatant tyranny over the lives of their citizens. Many eloquently point this out, but many end up thinking that these citizens will have to rise up in arms against their governments if their peaceful protests do not bring necessary changes.  See, for example, this excellent article by Greg Evenson, which I agree with except for his remedy. Some, like Evenson, say that the time comes when righteous men must even take up arms against lawless, evil governments, and he warns that the United States government quickly approaches this point. He is right that our government is lawless and evil, and that it continually gets worse, but he is wrong about the method of our warfare.

Paul never teaches disciples of Christ to take up arms against the state power. Instead he says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) Jesus said,

You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you at the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. (Matthew 5:38-41 KJ2000)

The word translated “evil” in verse 39 above is from the Greek word “poneros” which according to Strong’s means “hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy from original virtue).” The word thus speaks of specific acts, not of the sin or evil nature. On the other hand Hebrews 12:4 translates the Greek word “hamartia” as sin and relates to the abstract principle of sin which every man must deal with.

These verses make it clear Christians must fight a spiritual war against sin which battles against our souls, not a physical war against evil acts by sinful men indulging their flesh.

Now, it is true that this spiritual battle may cause men to hate us who will then want to destroy us (kill our bodies) simply because they cannot stand the truth we speak and live. This is what Hebrews 12:4 refers to. Jesus and the first generations of Christians were not killed and persecuted because they attacked the reigning government; they were tortured because they would not bow to the gods those governments worshiped.

The entire Western world has been in the process of changing her gods for many years now, with America drastically quickening her pace in 1963 when the Supreme Court outlawed the Bible and prayer in public schools. The time soon comes when Christians will be forced to bow to a god other than Jesus, or else be murdered in what once was called the “land of the free.” Revelation shows us two images of those persecuted by the beast world government as the Day of the LORD begins. The first pictures those who overcome in their strife against sin:

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. (Revelation 6:9 KJ2000)

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4 KJ2000)

The second reveals those religious ones who rise up in the power of their flesh against the beast:

And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:16-18 KJ2000)

“That great city” is Babylon the Great, the harlot who poses as true religion. She is also the ancient city of Jerusalem who always opposes and kills God’s overcomers, the residents of New Jerusalem.

The ways of God are not our ways of the flesh. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” says our God. Christians must not take up arms to fight against Satan’s beast kingdom which even now manifests in the earth. Instead we must learn God’s ways, walk in them, teach them, and still attempt to live at peace with all men. Although we despise the shame of being ruled by evil, just as Jesus despised the shame of his humiliation and crucifixion, let us run with endurance the race which God sets before us.

Therefore seeing we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily ensnare us [our unbelief], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such hostility of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:1-4 KJ2000)

Some have asked me why I do not consider myself a patriot.  I define a patriot as someone who is willing to kill others for political or religious opinions.

Jesus showed by his willingness to turn the other cheek and to allow himself to be killed that he was not a patriot either.

I simply follow the example of my LORD.

But, there does come a time when all of Christ’s enemies will be made a footstool for his feet. What that will entail or require, I do not know. I will simply follow the command of ONE who is righteous in all his ways, unlike the commanders who rule the earth today.