Jeremiah Bereano and the doctrine of Election

I had not heard from Jeremiah Bereano for quite some time ( I'm sure he's been busy, what with preparing for a wedding, and such............ ), but my longtime friend/nemesis called me up the other day. As the familiar strains of 'Amazing Grace' filled the air, I pulled my phone from my pocket, and noticing his name on the caller ID, I almost hesitantly flipped it open.............

As usual; I'd have been surprised if he'd let me get my customary greeting out, and sure enough, before I even had a chance to say 'hello', my friend opened the conversation with 'your article on God's election is sure a nice Calvinistic piece of work' ( I could tell he was being more than a bit sarcastic........... ) I quickly remarked that I'd been doing quite a lot of re-thinking in the area of many of the doctrines, especially the area of doctrine that is known as orthodox, having been traditionally accepted and taught by the ( catholic and Reformed ) church ( organized, institutional ). 'Well, it's about time' he replied, 'and I mean that in two ways; first it is about time, the timing and nature of Christ's return in judgment on the Old Covenant economy, and secondly, it's about time that you got rid of some of your Calvinistic baggage, and consistently rethought your positional 'The Grace of God's Election' !'

''But, Jer', I replied, maybe a little weakly ( but a bit incensed ): 'I am NOT a Calvinist; I just believe ( strongly ) in Sovereign Grace!' 'Whatever', he ( almost sneeringly ) said, then consolingly ( and condescendingly ) added, 'I never said you were a Calvinist, just that you had some 'baggage' left over from your Calvinistic days!' I had to grudgingly admit that he was correct...................Over the past few years and months, in particular; God has been revealing to me, through several different 'channels', that much of what we have been taught to believe by the institutional church, is, at the very least flawed, if not altogether false. Much of this falsity, though, is due to an incorrect understanding, or no understanding, of the covenants, and in particular, the 'change' ( I Corinthians 15:52 ) that was brought about with the 'ending' of the Old Covenant, and the 'consummation' ( Hebrews 8:1, Revelation 19:7-9 )

Jeremiah was right; 'It WAS about Time', time that along with other 'doctrines' that needed some revision, re'forming'; I re-stated my position, and I believe, Scripture's position ( especially in 'Light' of the New Covenant, and the principles and implications of fulfilled eschatology')!

My friend stated; 'It is fairly clear from Scripture that there was a choosing, an election of a special people by God, before the foundation of the world, but it is also clear that this was all prior to, and in reference to the Old Covenant, which came about because of, and though, the sin and death of Adam ( Genesis 2:16 & 17).' I agreed, for the most part, with Jeremiah Bereano, and I told him so: 'I believe that the principles ( of predestination & election ) still apply, but that you correctly assert that the 'letter' of these doctrines must needs have under-gone a 'change' ( Hebrews 7:12-18 ), as well, with the appearing of Christ, and the 'better promises' ( Hebrews 8:6 ) of the New Covenant'.

All that was needed now, was for me to 'Just do it', and after my friend reminded me that I should do just that; I asked him if he would be willing to collaborate with me on it, and we decided to make a concerted effort on it, which though our 'plates' are both rather full right now ( his more than mine, I think ), will be forthcoming!

After we had agreed on this ( which was a bit of a relief to me ); we exchanged a few pleasantries: I asked about the wedding and such, how his health had been, upon which he told me ( almost in the manner of a 'guilt-trip') that the wedding had gone fine without me, but that, in God's good providence, it had not gone off without a 'hitch ( he jokingly said ), and as for his health, he said, 'Well, Chuckles, I know that you can sympathize, or commiserate, or whatever, but I just don't get around as well, or as much as I used to, but God is good, and has graciously enabled me to do what I need to do, and for the most part, what 'I think' that I need to do! 'Yes', I replied, 'I'm right there with you, brother ( in a manner of speaking )', because I could very easily commiserate with him, not being able to get around very well myself.

I told my friend that I appreciated his 'wake-up call' ( though I had been gravitating in that direction anyway ), and that it was truly good to hear from him ( for even though I sometimes dreaded his calls; I did love Jeremiah ), and, telling him 'I love you, brother!', I flipped my phone closed. 'Till another day............'

Healing Leaves ( a companion to 'Principles and Implications of Fufilled Eschatology )

I've talked quite a lot lately, hypocritically, I might add, about the fact that we, as 'new creatures' in Christ, have been made 'healing leaves'. I get this phrase from the second verse of the last chapter in Revelation, but really, the 'idea', the impetus for it, starts back in Genesis 4, when Cain 'unwittingly' asked God, 'am I my brothers keeper?' This 'devil- may care' answer/question was given in response to God's own question 'What have you done............?' Cain, of course was pretty angry at both his brother and at God. We know of this account ( Genesis 4 ) as the first ( recorded ) instance of murder in the Bible, but I believe that God had the writer 'put it down' for another reason, as well; it shows us that, yes, we are our brother's keeper, we should care about our brethren, and we do have a duty to do what we can to make sure they are well!

The Scriptures give of us many examples ( most from the opposite side ) of why we should love our brother ( or sister, neighbor, stranger, etc. ) First of all, of course, is the ( opposite ) example of Cain's murder of Abel: he should have, rather than being angry at his brother for doing right, while he did wrong, repented of his wrong-doing. As we know, however, he didn't, and so ended up 'falling prey' to his own emotions, killing his brother, and being expelled from the Presence of God!

Jacob was the younger brother, yet he had been told ( by his mother? ) that God had promised him the 'double portion'; so, rather than being patient, and waiting on God's good timing, when his brother came to him famished one day, fresh ( or not so fresh ) from working in the fields, asking for a simple bowl of stew; Jacob, rather than just giving it to him, as a caring brother should, said 'sell me your birthright'. You can read the rest of the story in Genesis, chapters 24-27. I believe that, although God's purpose was fulfilled in Jacob's actions ( even though his actions were wrong, from our point of view; this does not excuse Jacob's wrong-doing, in the choices he made, and the way he went about making sure that he got the 'double portion'!

Jonathan, maybe one of the best Scriptural examples, should naturally have inherited his father's ( Saul's ) throne, and even though he knew this, he be-friended David, even taking him 'under his wing' for a time, because he loved David, and knew that God had rejected his father from being king before Him ( that included his 'line' ), and had anointed David as the next king of Israel, in his place. Jonathan had every 'right' to be angry, just as you would think Cain did, but even moreso. Although he may have been a bit angry at his father for 'screwing up' his chance at being king ( he was angrier with him for his hatred of David ); he never said anything to David about it ( except good ), and never, by his actions toward David, showed anything but love, friendship, and compassion!

Reading through the Bible; you can probably find other examples ( both good and bad ) of how we are to act ( or not act ) towards our brother: I John 3:14, for instance, says that this is how they knew that they had passed from 'death to life', because they loved the brethren. ( I say 'they', because they were concerned with the transition from the Old to the New Covenant ). Jesus, in John 15:12, told His disciples to 'love one another, as I have loved you'. He even tells us, in Matthew 5:44, to 'love your enemies', for, as Proverbs 10:12 says, 'love covers all sins' .

Revelation 22:2 reads, speaking in the context of 'the new heavens and new earth'/New Covenant, 'In the middle of it's street, and on either side of the river, [was ] the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each [ tree ] yielding it's fruit every month. The leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.

Without getting into a study of the surrounding context, which I will be doing, Lord willing, in the not-too-distant future; let me just say again, 'we are those leaves!'

I recently wrote a short note on some of the principles and implications of fulfilled eschatology, and this, concerning us anyway, is probably the most important ( and humbling ) of those implications!

The 'Tree of Life' as 'figured' in the garden of Eden ( Genesis 2:9 & 3:22 ), traditionally prefigured Christ. This is a well-accepted fact among most, if not all Christians. During Jesus' famous 'Vine & Branches' discourse ( to His disciples ) in John 15, He put it this way ( verse 5 ), 'I am the vine, you [are ] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me, you can do nothing.' Now granted; one could nitpick a little bit here, and even though the parallels are fairly easy to pick up on. Say something to the effect that Jesus said, in Revelation 22, that we [ are to ] bear fruit, and leaves don't bear fruit. Although I believe that would be 'grasping at straws', 'mere' nitpicking; they just might have a point there! The language that Jesus uses in chapter 22, verses 1 & 2 seem to indicate the 'presence' of more than one tree, for it ( 'the Tree of Life' ) was 'on either side of the river'! How could that be, unless the 'Tree' had multiplied itself ( is that what you call naturalization, Luther, or maybe that would be 'spiritualization'?! ), and the leaves/fruit of that/those 'tree/s' are for the healing of the nations!

How are we, faultful, weak-willed; finite, and fallible human beings supposed to 'change' the world, to heal' so many centuries, even milllenia of hate and discord, crime and punishment? Who are we to even think such a thing might be possible ( Psalm 8:4 )? Jesus reminds us, in John 15, 'for without Me, you can do nothing'! It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit ( both through us and in them ) that we can! You say yet, 'how can we 'heal' the nations? We just po' folk, livin' in the heartland ( of America )!'' I'm right there with you brother; I can barely afford to travel to the neighboring states, much less a whole other country! Let me explain something that might make it a bit easier/simpler: when John wrote the words that Jesus gave him ( the Revelation ); it was in the historical context of the first century, during, I believe, the 'great tribulation'. Although, in the 'grand' ( God's ) scheme of things, we know that the Gospel ( Matthew 28:19 ) was meant for every nation 'under heaven'; the 'Great Commission' ( of Matthew 28:19 ) was fulfilled in the first century, but I rather doubt that the Gospel had spread to America, Australia, even parts of Europe and Asia, by then, and most would probably agree with me here. The 'nations', especially in biblical historical context, were those neighboring regions ( we would call them 'states' ) and countries in the Mediterranean region. We can only strive to do our part as 'healing leaves' to those around us, to minister ( as time and finances allow ) to 'needs' that we see around us, and I realize that there are those that God has called ( and 'opened doors' for ) some to travel to distant ( more or less ) countries and minister as 'healing leaves' in that particular country, or areas; but how much does it cost, how much time or finances does it take to share the love of Christ by just going across the street, with a smile on your face, and shake someone's hand, help a little old lady across the street, or bandage up a child's freshly scraped knee?

By God's grace,
Charles Haddon Shank

The Principles and Implications of Fulfilled Eschatology ( according to Charles Haddon Shank )

Within the field of 'Fulfilled Eschatology' ( AKA 'Preterism' ); there are many differing views, regarding both the extent of the fulfillment and it's implications. Among Reformed believers, from Baptist to Presbyterian, some have adopted the position that key passages, such as the  'Olivet Discourse' in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, as with the book of Revelation, have been partially fulfilled ( hence the name 'Partial Preterist' ; although I believe that most of these ( which vary in degree, as well ) would call themselves 'historicists', or in some cases, 'true' preterists ), in particular, because of the way in which the disciples questioned Jesus in Matthew 24:3, some would say that Jesus was answering a different question, beginning in verse 36 ( and the parallel passages in Mark and Luke ). The Revelation might be another story; although here there are several good Reformed authors who have come dangerously close to viewing this book as fulfilled, I believe that most will cut it off at chapter 4, saying that John saw a vision of our future, while some will just say it's 'already, not yet'.


Probably the truest definition of the word 'preterist' is 'one who believes that the Biblical prophecies of the Apocalypse refer to historical events which have already taken place', but it can also refer to 'One whose chief interest is in the past; one who regards the past with most pleasure or favor.' The word comes from the Latin ' praeter', which means 'past, beyond', and is sometimes pronounced as 'preterit', which connotes 'Belonging wholly to the past; passed by'.


Implications of 'Fulfilled Eschatology', as regards salvation/redemption.


When Jesus described ( to His first-century disciples ) what was about to happen to them, in Luke's account of the 'Olivet discourse' ( chapter 21 ); He warned them 'Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near', while Paul wrote ( also to Christ's first-century disciples ), 'And [ do ] this, knowing the time, that now [ it is ] high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we [ first ] believed.' ( Romans 13:11 ). Peter wrote to these same disciples, 'Blessed [ be ] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.' ( I Peter 1:3-5 ) . Later, in this same chapter; he reported that they were already in these 'last times'. The writer to the Hebrews apprised his readers that 'God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by [ His ] Son' ( 1:1& 2 ).James wrote his epistle of warning to his Jewish brethren, reminding them, 'Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days' ( James 5:3 ), and further saying, in the same chapter, 'Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!' If indeed, the 'last days', spoken of throughout the prophets ( Old & New-( Isaiah 13:6-13 ) Isaiah 25, 60:20, Jeremiah 30:8, 31:31-34, 33:14-16, Daniel 8:17-19 ( 11:35 ) 12:1-3 ( Habakkuk 2:3 ) Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:4, Luke 21:7 ), then, as they foretold in these passages ( and there are many more ); this 'day of the Lord' would bring, not only an adverse judgment on the enemies of His people, but salvation for His people. If this 'day' has not fully come, including His parousia/presence, then His salvation can not have fully come either!


Implications of 'Fulfilled Eschatology', as regards His Presence.

Jesus, speaking of His departure, in preparation for the event, told His disciples, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.'  ( John 14:23 ) It is a traditionally well-known and stated fact that God/Jesus now, since Jesus' ascension, dwells with us in the 'form' of the Holy Spirit: Paul said, 'your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [ who is ] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own' ( I Corinthians 6:19 ), this is a well-accepted fact! Many people, though, have the notion that Jesus still inhabits His human Body, and it is in this Body that He will return in the future, but I'm not really sure why! I know that this theory is based primarily on Acts 1:11, which states that 'This [ same ] Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven'. Most of those 'Partial-Preterists' that I mentioned above, will heartily agree that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD70, by the Roman armies, according to Old Testament ( Hebrew ) imagery ( Deuteronomy 33:26, Jeremiah 4:13, Ezekiel 30:3, Joel 2:2, Nahum 1:3, Zephaniah 1:15 ( Matthew 24:30, 26:64, Mark 13:26, 14:62 ), was 'a' coming of Jesus, but only in judgment. Most seemingly fail to see the connection between these 'cloud' judgments, and Jesus' coming 'in like manner'. For others, this easily explains why Peter, Paul, and other writers expected the return of Christ in the first century.

So; given that Jesus DID come in the first century, what does this mean to us?

Paul again, in his famous 'resurrection chapter' ( I Corinthians 15 ), 'when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.' ( verse 28 ) Granted, there are several different ways that this statement 'all in all' may be interpreted, and there is only one, but I believe that God is saying, through Paul, that the 'separation' ( within the God-head ) which occurred, first, when the Father sent of Himself ( His only begotten Son ) to this earth, in human form, to die for the sins of His people, and again when He sent His Spirit to indwell the hearts of believers at Pentecost, was 'healed' when Jesus came, in the glory of the Father, to carry out His judgment on His Old Covenant 'children' ( the disobedient ones ), and to bring in ( fully ) the eternal and everlasting ( Daniel 2 ) New Covenant ( Jeremiah 31 )!

'We are the Body of Christ'; if you are at all familiar with my 'ramblings' ( or 'rants ), you may have noticed that I often make this statement, which, you will probably agree, is a very Biblical statement! Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that 'Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.' ( I Corinthians 12:27 ), and, in his letter to the church of Ephesus, told the ministers there, that their work was 'for the edifying of the body of Christ'. ( Ephesians 4:12 ). He wrote to the Colossians, 'I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church'. ( Colossians 1:24 ) I made the statement above that , 'many.......have the notion that Jesus still inhabits His human Body'; I agree: He, through His Spirit ( Romans 8:9, I Peter 1:11 ) does inhabit ( most say He indwells ) His human Body, which Body we are!

Implications of Fulfilled Eschatology', as regards 'Heaven'.

I believe that Scripture tells us that 'Heaven' is the Presence of God; where He dwells, there is 'Heaven'! Solomon, when dedicating the first Temple, prayed God that when His servants prayed to Him in that Temple ( or towards, that He would 'Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.' ( I Kings 8:30 ( II Chronicles 6:30 ) In Psalm 113:5 & 6; his father David asked this rhetorical question, ' Who [ is ] like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold [ the things that are ] in the heavens and in the earth?' Psalm 9:11 ( 135:21 ), Isaiah 8:18 and Joel 3:17 & 28 tell us that He dwells in Zion. In the Hebrew Scriptures, use of the word 'Zion' seems most often to refer to a physical place, a city ( 'the City of David'-I Kings 8:1 ), but also often refers to the city of Jerusalem itself ( Psalm 51:18, 76:2, 102:21, 135:21, Isaiah 2:3, etc. ), and by natural extension ( spiritually ) to the people of God ( Psalm 48:11, 74:2, 78:68, 97:8, 99:2, 102:13, 129:5 ( 132:13 ) 147:12, Isaiah 1:27, ( Isaiah 12:6 ) 14:32, 28:16, 46:13, 51:1-16, etc. ). I believe that most Christians ( not all ) will readily acknowledge this fact, and that God dwells, and has always dwelt, in the midst of His people, wherever they are, but some have seemingly failed to make the connection between God's dwelling in 'heaven' and His dwelling in( the midst of ) His people, or Zion. Jesus told the Pharisees, regarding 'the kingdom of heaven'/'kingdom of God' ( Matthew 19:23 & 24 ), 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.' ( Luke 17:20 & 21 ), the implication, of course, being that, rather than being a visible 'place' ( or event-Matthew 24:23 ), God's Presence with His people would be a spiritual truth ( John 4:24 ), 'visible' only to the spiritual eyes' ( I Corinthians 2:14 ) of those in whom He dwells. Instead of saying that 'we are in 'Heaven Now', as certain of us have been wont to do ( myself included ); we might more correctly say that 'Heaven' ( as the abode of God ) is in us!'


Implications of 'Fulfilled Eschatology, as regards 'Hell'.

In Revelation 20:14, we read, 'Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death' ( most older translations say 'hell' rather than 'Hades', which is the Greek mythological 'underworld' ).'Hell' as we traditionally know it, a place of eternal torment, sounds suspiciously like the Greek myth of Hades, the 'abode of the dead'. The Wikipedia article that I found on this subject, had this, and many other interesting things to say; 'The term hades in Christian theology (and in New Testament Greek) is parallel to Hebrew sheol (שאול, grave or dirt-pit), and refers to the abode of the dead. The Christian concept of hell is more akin to (and communicated by) the Greek concept of Tartarus, a deep, gloomy part of hades used as a dungeon of torment and suffering.' In most cases, the word 'hell' in the Hebrew scriptures refers to 'gehenna', or the valley of Hinnom, which was traditionally the garbage dump for the city of Jerusalem, where 'fires were kept burning perpetually to consume the filth and cadavers thrown into it'. ( Mark 9:44-48 ); and this most likely, is where the traditional Jewish concept of 'hell' originated ( although some might disagree ). The Hebrew 'sheol', also translated 'hell', in most cases, refers to 'the "grave" ( Psalm 30:3 ), or "pit" ( Psalm 28:1 ) or "abyss" ( Romans 10:7 ( Deuteronomy 30:13 & 14 )' Probably, the most succinct ( although, I believe untrue ) explanation of the verse above, from Revelation 20, would be that 'Hades' was emptied, or, depending on your eschatological ( end-times ) view, 'will be emptied', of it occupants at the 'last day', but an honest reading of this passage requires that 'Hades' itself, and more importantly, 'death', was consumed ( Hebrews 12:29 ) in, and by, this 'Lake of Fire'!

Implications of 'Fulfilled Eschatology', as regards the doctrine of 'eternal conscious punishment'.

Having already covered this subject, in part, in a previous article; I'll not dwell on it much here, except to remind my readers, as above, that, death and Hades', having been thrown into the 'Lake of Fire' ( consumed ( Daniel 3:22 ) are no more, so you can see for yourself what these implications are. As of now; let me just say that, in a sense, I do believe in 'eternal conscious punishment', and this is the sense in which I mean it: I believe that those who continually, from their own choice, reject Christ and His righteousness, are in a sort of 'hell' as they walk this earth. I suppose that some would immediately hiss, or make the sign of the cross at that kind of talk, but when you think about it, being, as one would assume from it's being thrown into the 'Lake of Fire' and consumed, 'hell' would be no more; correct? If there is no more 'hell', in that sense, and 'heaven' is in our hearts; wouldn't it make sense that we create our own 'hell on earth' ( even Christians ) from the choices that we make, and physically speaking, from the ( wrong ) things that we do. Here is a short quote from that previous article, 'ECP, and the Resurrection of Condemnation';

'There is no doubt that when John relayed Jesus' words to us in John 5:25 & 28 that he had in mind His words to Daniel, in Daniel 12:2. There is some question, however, whether the the words of Christ in verse 25 speak of the same resurrection as those in verse 28. In the historical ( and covenantal ) context of Jesus' words; I believe that we can say, with some certainty, that He was speaking specifically to that 'generation', so that when He said, in verse 25, that 'the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live', He was saying simply that all those that heard the Gospel ( both directly and indirectly ) would be awakened, but that not all who heard ( Pharisees, for instance ) would truly understand and believe ( Isaiah 6:10 ). In verses 28 and 29, Jesus is referring more directly to Daniel 12:2, and the 'final judgment' of the first century, but again to the fact that all would be 'awakened', and that some would respond in a positive way, and that some would respond negatively. Those who responded in a positive manner ( obeyed ) were then granted entry into the Kingdom of God, and His presence, while those who responded in a negative way ( disobeyed ) were condemned ( John 3:18 ) to perish in the 'Lake of Fire', of which John wrote in the Revelation, the conflagration and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, signaling the final and definitive end of the Old Covenant economy, or age.'

I believe that more and more truths are being uncovered every day, concerning the implications of 'Fulfilled Eschatology'; let us always keep this in mind as we seek to learn, but most importantly, as we address, in our own lives, the question of 'How should we then live?'

May God bless us all, as we seek His truth ( always ), and strive to apply them in our lives, acting as the 'healing leaves' that we have been made!

In His service, and for His Kingdom,

Charles Haddon Shank

'

Studies in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus the Christ the Son of God ( the visions ( 'It is finished' ) Pt 13

 Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation


Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls^[a] of the wrath of God on the earth.”


As I mentioned before, these 'angels' are seen to partake in this judgment. This is particularly significant if, as traditionally understood, the ministers, pastors, if you will, of the 'seven churches of Asia', being 'the angels of the seven churches'. This is significant because, as we have seen in this study, and other studies that I have done, because the very name 'Israel' ( ruler with God ) indicate that God's people rule with, and even sit as judges with God! In I Corinthians 6:2; Paul revealed to his readers that they to, along with Jesus disciples ( Matthew 19:28, Luke 22:28-30  ) would 'judge the world'.

Throughout this study, and throughout Scripture; we have also seen repeatedly that, even in cases where the use of the number  'seven' could well have had a physically literal meaning, it is most often indicative of 'completeness, perfection, etc.'. As the Nestle/Aland ( NU ) text reads in the verse above, the angels mentioned carried the 'seven bowls' of the wrath of God, 'for in them the wrath of God is complete', as we saw in the last chapter (15 ). This was the final judgment of those, as Amos 6:6 reads, 'Who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph', for those '[ who are ] at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria', and as God argued in Jeremiah 2:13, 'For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, [ and ] hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water' ( Jeremiah 17:3 ( Revelation 7:17 ). The 'children' of Israel, in their rejection of God's promised Messiah, had finally reached 'the boiling point', and were about to be ( Greek 'mello' ) judged, and that in finality!



So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.


'So the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.' ( Exodus 9:8-10 )

'From the sole of the foot even to the head, [ there is ] no soundness in it, [ but ] wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.' ( Isaiah 1:6 )

'The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed'. ( Deuteronomy 28:27 )

As we have seen before in this study; the plagues of Egypt served a a type of the 'plagues' that were loosed on Old Covenant Israel at the time of the end. I noted previously, in other words, maybe, that the fact that the Lord visited these 'plagues' upon His Old Covenant children is likely indicative of, among other things, the fact that these 'children had apostatized to the point that God no longer made a difference ( Exodus 8:23 ) between Old Covenant Israel, and the nations around them.

God began to recount, through the prophet Isaiah, how many great and awesome things He had done, and continued to do, for His covenant 'children', and how they had continually been disobedient and un-thankful, which led to their being punished, through many different means, but their wounds that came as a result of God's righteous discipline had not been 'bound up' by their religious leaders, as they should have. Because of this; their 'wounds' began to putrefy and became gangrenous to the point that God's justice required that they be 'cut off' (  Romans 11:17-24 ), removed from their covenant status ( for a time, anyway ).

The famous 'blessing & cursing' chapter of Deuteronomy 28, outlines the blessings or cursings that would be visited upon God's covenant 'children' for either their obedience or dis-obedience to His laws. In verse 27, which I've quoted above; God promised to treat His covenant 'children' as if they were not in covenant with Him, but to treat them just as He had treated the Egyptians for their sake, not too long before.
 



Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.



'Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.' ( Revelation 8:8 )

'Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in [ buckets of ] wood and [ pitchers of ] stone.' ( Exodus 7:19 )

'So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who [ were ] with him in the ark remained [ alive ].' ( Genesis 7:23 )

You may have heard that the 'bowl judgments were simply a repeat of the 'seven trumpets', and while this may be true enough ( we'll see as we continue our study ): John 'sees' a slightly different aspect of the catastrophic vision. For instance; when the first trumpet sounded; John saw all the vegetation of the earth being burned up by fire mixed with hail and blood, all significant of the judgments on Egypt. When the first angel poured out his bowl on the earth, it was not the vegetation, but men, women, and children who suffered the eternal vengeance. With the second bowl; John 'saw' that the sea was turned to blood ( just as the rivers in Egypt ) and all living things in it died ( just as in Egypt-Exodus 7:18 ), but when the second angel sounded, as we read back in Revelation 8; a mountain burning with fire ( remember the vegetation being burned up? ) was thrown into the sea, and the sea became blood, as of dead men ( not vegetation ).



Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “ You are righteous, O Lord,^[b] the One who is and who was and who is to be,^[c] because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For^[d] it is their just due.” And I heard another from^[e] the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”


 This third 'bowl' of judgment, which was poured ( symbolically ) on the rivers and springs of water, is, you might say, very similar to the second, so why did God show John the same thing ( almost ) twice? We have often seen before, that when a judgment is certain, or very near, about to be ( Greek-mello ); God often revealed it to His prophets twice, or more, in slightly different ways, but as you may see in the above passage, although it is more similar to the first plague upon Egypt ( rivers of blood ); God also revealed more and more the reason for His judgment. Number one, it was a just ( deserved ), and promised judgment, and two, we can see that this is more obviously geared toward His covenant 'children', because remember, for example, that, in Luke 11:47, Jesus pronounced this judgment on the Pharisees ( one of the ruling classes in Israel ), saying 'Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.'  He went on to allude to His own words to them, recorded in Matthew 23:34 ( a parallel passage ), accusing them of being partakers in the wrongful actions and guilt of their fathers. Paul, speaking of these same Judeans, comforted the Thessalonians in I Thessalonians 2:15, reminding them that they were not alone in their tribulation, because the Jews had 'killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men.' Near the end of his farewell address to his errant people, in Acts 7:52, Stephen reminded them, 'Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers'. There are many examples, beginning with the first recorded murder of an innocent, in Genesis 4:1-15 ( of Abel ), to the murder of 'Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar', which is recorded only, well after the fact, in Matthew 23:35 in the Old Testament, showing how deserved this judgment was.

Significant too, is the fact that an angel calls from the altar, praising God for His righteous judgment, for remember 'the souls ( of the saints and prophets ) under the altar', that have been mentioned, in Revelation 6:9?




Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.



'Furthermore the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the South,^[g] and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it. All flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”' ( Ezekiel 20:45-48 )

'But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.' ( Matthew 13:6 )

The passage above, from Matthew 13, is most often applied to modern-day hearers of the Word, who receive it gladly at first, but then later reject it when persecution ( in whatever form ) arises because of it, but, keeping in mind the covenantal and historical context of Jesus' words, and also the eschatological nature of Scripture; it is clear that Jesus is referring to the Old Covenant 'children' of Israel, who, in the beginning of His ministry, received Him ( for the most part ) with joy, but when persecutions ( Acts 7 & 8 ) arose, quickly fell back into 'the old ways'.

When the prophet Zechariah revealed to these 'children' what God would do to them in the latter days ( which, I'm sure, is one of the things that got him killed ), prophesying that they themselves would become their own judgment ( by 'fire' ), we can see that this fourth 'bowl' judgment, like the corresponding seal and trumpet, fulfills ( symbolically ) this judgment perfectly.


Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.



'You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.' ( Daniel 2:34 & 35 )

'For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, [ namely ], the seers.' ( Isaiah 29:10 )

'Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.”' ( Exodus 10:21 )

'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.' ( Isaiah 9:2 )

'Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' ( Luke 16: 24 )

'Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and^[a] cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’' ( Matthew 22:13 )

'When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with [ their ] teeth.' ( Acts 7:54 ( Psalm 35:16 )

In all of these 'bowl' judgments; we must remember, first of all, that they are symbolic and even allegorical ( as you can see from the passages I've quoted ), and secondly, that it was God Himself who ultimately unleashed these terrible judgments. For instance, when Isaiah wrote that God would close their eyes and cover their heads; God wasn't literally closing their physical eyes, and covering their physical heads, but was, in reality, giving 'them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves' ( Romans 1:24 ), in effect, making them 'blind leaders of the blind' ( Matthew 15:14 ), and thus fulfilling His words to the prophet, in Isaiah 6:10, saying, 'Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.'

In the famous 'blessing & cursing' passage of Deuteronomy 28, which I mentioned above; God promised His blessing on His people if they obeyed and His cursing on them if they were disobedient to His covenant. Because the 'children' of Israel had broken His covenant, even vows that they themselves had made ( Joshua ); God told them, through the prophet Jeremiah, 'Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.' ( Jeremiah 7:20 ( 42:18 ) In Lamentations 4:11; Jeremiah mourns the just fulfillment of God's righteous promise, when he cried 'The LORD has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, and it has devoured its foundations' ( these words could almost be written by Josephus of the AD70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, while they also bring to remembrance Jesus words in Matthew 24 ) Recounting the wickedness of Israel's leaders, in Ezekiel 22:31; God spoke these words through the prophet, 'Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads' ( remembering this judgment, in Ezekiel 36:18, God then promises blessing upon His people ) Daniel, in his famed prayer on behalf of his people ( Daniel 9: 1-19 ), mournfully recalled God's promise in Deuteronomy 28, when he wrote 'Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.' ( verse 11 ) Quoting Joel 2:28-32 ( from the Septuagint, I believe ); Peter recalled to the minds of his mockers what the prophet had said of the 'last days' and of the coming 'Day of the Lord', revealing that 'it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, our young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.' ( Acts 2:17-21 ) In 'pouring out' His Spirit upon His people; God was, in effect, 'killing two birds with one Stone ( Daniel 2:44 )': referring once again, to His promises in Deuteronomy 28, God blessed His true people ( Isaiah 65:8-16, Romans 9:6-8 ), and cursed those who were not His ( 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity'-Luke 13:27, Galatians 3:7 ( Hosea 1:9 )



 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [ coming ] out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, [ which ] go out to the kings of the earth and^[f] of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed [ is ] he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon .



'So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood [ still, and ] rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that [ is ] beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, [ and ] were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.' ( Joshua 3:14-16 )

'And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”' ( Mark 3:11 )

'Then [ Micaiah ] said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade [ him ], and also prevail. Go out and do so.’' ( I Kings 22:19-22 )

'But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.' ( Judges 14:4 )

We have noted before, in this study, that these 'children' of Israel had apostatized to the point that one could barely distinguish between them and the nations around them, and this was why God judged them in the manner that He did; they had assimilated the cultures of all those around them, and were sharing, as well, in the judgment that God had 'meted' out on those nation! As you may read earlier in Judges 14 above; we can see that this occasion that was 'of the LORD', was the marriage of one of God's special people ( indeed, a type of Christ ) with a Gentile, a Philistine, no less! While we may not agree with the methods that God employed throughout history ( especially in this case ) to accomplish His purposes; they are His purposes, not ours, and His ways, not ours! ( Remember what Isaiah had to say about God's ways as opposed to ours? ( Isaiah 55:9 ) The situation, as recorded in I Kings 22, where God purposed to destroy Ahab, was that the king of Judah, who claimed to follow the Lord and walked in His ways, sought to ally himself with the wicked king of Judah: God used this occasion to show firsthand to the king of Judah what happened to those who wickedly departed from His precepts, as the king of Israel had. We read in Joshua 3 then, how God had opened a path through the ( overflowing-flood stage ) Jordan river, in order that His people might pass through to accomplish His purpose. The point of the passage from Mark 3, and others like it, is that even unclean spirits have no choice but to fall to their knees when confronted by the awesome Presence and Power of God!

'And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.' ( Genesis 9:20-23 ( 3:10, Exodus 20:26 ( Leviticus 18:7 )

'Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you.' ( Isaiah 52:1 )

'And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.' ( Daniel 3:27 )

'Lately My people have risen up as an enemy— you pull off the robe with the garment from those who trust [ you ], as they pass by, like men returned from war.' ( Micah 2:8 ( Isaiah 47:3, Ezekiel 16:39 ( 23:10 )

'Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.' ( James 5:2 )

'You^[b] have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.' ( Revelation 3:4 ( 5 & 18 ( II Corinthians 5:3 )

As we have seen, in many places throughout this study, and in the Scriptures;  the Old Covenant 'children' of Israel, the typical people of God, had become so corrupt and apostate, finally, that God did to them what they had done to other wicked nations and even to His true people, and exposed their nakedness, taking away their garment, showing that, indeed, in reality 'the emperor had no clothes'!

The story of 'the three Hebrew children' in Daniel 3 shows us that, with the covering, the true clothing that God, in Christ, provided, we can, to use an old phrase, 'walk through the fire and not get burned', and if those first-century Christians were careful, as Isaiah wrote, to put on their Strength, they would, as Jesus warningly promised, 'keep their garment' and not be ashamed at His coming, as those apostate Jews who denied Christ and the clothing that He provided!


Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”



Jesus had warned, as a prelude to these 'bowl' judgments, that the wrath of God would be completed, with the pouring out of the seventh ( remember the significance of the number '7'? ) 'bowl'; now John hears a voice from 'Heaven' crying out that it has indeed been completed, it was spent, finished, bringing to mind Jesus' words on the cross, where He said 'it is finished'! God's purpose in the destruction of the Temple and of the Old Covenant ( Jewish ) economy was significantly complete, their 'cup of wrath' ( Genesis 15:16 ) had become full, to overflowing.

'And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out.' ( Judges 1:28 )

'They did not destroy the peoples, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them,  but they mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works; they served their idols, which became a snare to them.' ( Psalm 106:34-36 )

'But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.' ( I Kings 11:1 & 2 )

'[It is ] not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart [ that ] you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations [ that ] the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.' ( Deuteronomy 9:5 )

Because the 'children' of Israel had failed to follow God's instructions 'to the letter': they had assimilated the corruption of the nations around them, and apostatized from the covenant that they had entered into with God Almighty; God had unleashed upon them ( Hebrews 8:7-13 ) the discipline He had promised, and finally destroyed their covenant of death ( Isaiah 28:15-18 ).




And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.



'Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.' ( Exodus 19:16 )

'Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.' ( Revelation 8:5 )

'The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; the lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.' ( Psalm 77:18 ( 97:4 )


'Then the LORD will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south.' ( Zechariah 9:14 )

'For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.' ( Matthew 24:27 ( Ezekiel 21:10 ( 1:14 ( Luke 17:24 ) Revelation 4:5 )

'For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.' ( Ezekiel 38:19 & 20 )

'Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.' ( Matthew 27:51 )


'And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,^[a] and sat on it.' ( Matthew 28:2 )


 Throughout the prophetic Scriptures, both Hebrew and Greek; earthquakes most often symbolize the presence of God, either directly or indirectly. Not only do earthquakes often signal the presence of God; as we read in the passage from Exodus, they can also signal the establishment and spiritually, the consummation of a covenant.

The veil of the temple being split in two, as recorded in Matthew 27, signified the opening of the way into the 'Holy of Holies' ( symbolic of 'Heaven', or the Presence of God ), which also signaled, in a sense, the beginning of the end for the Old Covenant economy, or system. The Presence of God, in the passage from Matthew 28, signified that God had accepted His Son's sacrifice ( once for all ): this also signified the end of the Old Covenant system of animal sacrifice.

Lightning also often signified the presence of God, as can be seen in the passage from Exodus, but could maybe be more readily related to the iteration of the Son of Man, which can be seen in places like Matthew 24 ( most famously ) and the related passages in Luke 21 and Mark 13, in the 'Olivet Discourse'.



Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.



'But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.' ( Matthew 12:25 )

'In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.' ( Isaiah 19:24 & 25 )

'And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!' ( Daniel 7:5 )

'And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. ( Ezekiel 5:1-3 )'

'Their heart is divided; now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their [ sacred ] pillars.' ( Hosea 10:2 )

In the past; we have noted that the number '3', or variations thereof, is also often used in a symbolic way, significant of somewhat the same thing as is '7', an symbol significant of wholeness, completeness,even of perfection. Gods purpose, I believe, in dividing the city into three parts, was to show, as in Ezekiel 5, that two-thirds of the city ( significantly ) would be destroyed ( by one means or another ), while the one-third ( a remnant-Isaiah 65:8, Jeremiah 31:10 ) would be saved from the destruction, and gathered 'under the wing'-Jeremiah 23:3, Isaiah 37:32 ( Matthew 23:37 ) of Almighty God!

Jesus; speaking to the Pharisees, in Matthew 12, was referring, in the immediate context, to their blasphemy in relating His work to the work of the 'devil', but He was also prophesying, as in many of the parables ( Matthew 22:1-14 ), and parabolic stories ( Luke 20:9-19 ( Isaiah 5:1-7 ) that He told, of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, because, as with their King Solomon, their allegiance had become divided, thinking that they could worship other 'gods' while pretending to worship the true God, as well!



Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.



'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 who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.' ( Isaiah 11:11 ( Matthew 24:31 ( Jeremiah 23:3 )

'Behold, the nations [ are ] as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.' ( Isaiah 40:15 )

'I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.' ( Jeremiah 4:24 ( Psalm 72:3 )

'The mountains saw You [ and ] trembled; the overflowing of the water passed by. The deep uttered its voice, [ and ] lifted its hands on high.' ( Habakkuk 3:10 )

If you have ever read the book of Revelation, you might remember reading in chapter 21, the phrase, 'there was no more sea': although some might try to affix a more literal meaning to these words; a study of Old Testament prophetic ( symbolic ) language makes it clear, and fairly easy to see, that John was referring to the fact that the separation between Jew and Gentile ( goyim-the nations ) had been removed, and that the distinction no longer existed. Such, I believe, is the case here; but not only had the distinction become non-existent, there would come no help from either the nations with whom they had committed spiritual adultery ( Jeremiah 3:9, Ezekiel 16:26, 23:7 ), or the 'mountains' ( Psalm 121:1 ( Jeremiah 3:23 ( 68:16, 72:3, 97:5, Isaiah 2:14, 34:3, 44:23, 65:9, Jeremiah 50:6, Ezekiel 6, 33:28, 36, Hosea 10:8, Micah 1:4, 4:1, 6:1 & 2, Matthew 24:16 ), to whom they looked for their strength.One might well attach a very physical explanation ( an earthquake, for instance ) to many of these passages, such as Habakkuk 3:10, and while this is very likely true; a deeper spiritual meaning is to be sought and found here, in reference to the vaunted strength ( not the true Strength ) of Israel, their religious ( spiritual ) leaders.




And great hail from heaven fell upon men, [ each hailstone ] about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.


'Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.' ( Exodus 9:18 & 19 )

'And it happened, as they fled before Israel [ and ] were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. [ There were ] more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.' ( Joshua 10:11 )


'From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.' ( Psalm 18:12 )

'Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring [ them ] down to the earth with [ His ] hand.' ( Isaiah 28:2 )

'And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who [ are ] with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.' ( Ezekiel 38:22 )

'I struck you with blight and mildew and hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you did not turn to Me,’ says the LORD.' ( Haggai 2:17 )

God had many times throughout their history, used hail, whether actual or symbolic, to punish ( destroy ) not only the enemies of His typical 'children' of Israel, but to discipline ( bring into line ) His people, the true 'Israel of God! As their 'cup of wrath' was ( being ) filled; God, through His prophets, sent to them time and time again, in order that they might 'have no excuse' ( Ecclesiastes 5:6, John 15:22 ( Psalm 51:4, Romans 2:1-3 ), and that their judgment might be found just. One of their own, the historian Josephus, wrote words to this effect, when he postulated, 'it is God, therefore, it is God Himself Who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city which is full of your pollutions' ( 'Wars' Book 6, chapter 2, 110 ), and of Titus Caesar, that he 'excused himself before God as to this matter, and said that he had proposed peace and liberty to the Jews, as well as an oblivion of all their former insolent practices; but that they instead of concord, had chosen sedition, instead of peace, war; and before satiety and abundance, a famine.' ( 'Wars' Book 6, chapter 3, 215 )

It was finally 'time to pay the piper'!

The Truth of Religion

Of late, more and more people have become dissatisfied with the term religion, centered in what is known as the mainstream, more or less, orthodox church. I say 'more or less', because much of the dissatisfaction has come from those associated with the evangelical denominations, which can go from one to the other extreme, when it comes to traditional orthodoxy, but usually more toward the 'left' end of the spectrum, especially of late.

My purpose, in this article, is to remind my readers that although the mainstream church, and the 'religion' that they often engender, has taught many 'doctrines' that people have begun, at the very least, to suspect, or even to view, as mere 'fear-mongering'. Some even go so far as to say that it would be a very cruel God who would create some people, just to consign them to 'hell' ( given that orthodoxy is correct ) and thus have disassociated themselves with those that have chosen to align themselves with, or even to adopt the 'false' doctrines of these mainstream churches, and teach these 'doctrines' as truth ( they answer to God alone ). To do so, just because they do teach or believe differently, ( I believe ) is to 'throw out the baby with the bathwater', in other words, the same thing that many in the mainstream 'church' have seemingly done!

James said that 'if any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.' ( James 1:27-NRSV ) In the same 'vein', he wrote later ( 2:17 ), 'So faith, if it has no works, is dead'. Reading in context; we can see that what James was telling them, and what God has told us ( in His Word ), is that we must ACT on what we profess to believe, else it's not true religion at all, and we are only professors and not living confessors!

There are several different ways that 'religion' can be defined; it can simply be what one believes, or as James is speaking of above, it is what is called the 'Christian religion', and this is usually what is meant by the phrase 'he got religion'. Most people nowadays, especially those that speak demeaningly of 'religion', have in mind 'organized religion', or the institutional church. Talking to a brother this morning ( thanks, Greg! ), I said 'I have no problem with organization; it's just the way some things are organized that I have a problem with'! Like I said above ( in other words ); if we profess to believe a certain way, and don't live those beliefs, our religion is worthless ( I say this to myself most of all )!

No doubt, there are many 'doctrines' being taught today in the mainstream, and orthodox churches, as 'Gospel truth', that have been shown to 'leak like a sieve', and more that are being, or have been proven to be absolute falsehood! The Truth, however, 'is what it is' ( as another brother ( thanks, John! ) puts it, 'it is what it aught to be' ), and it is not our belief in a certain matter that makes it so, or not so; for instance, it is not our belief that Christ came again in the first century, that makes it so, and conversely, one's belief that He did not ( yet ), does not make it so. Religion becomes a problem when we allow our beliefs, not only in word, but in deed, to keep us from fulfilling God's command to 'love one another, as I have loved you'. It is true that many within the organized ( institutional ) church today, especially the 'orthodox' branch, seem to have forgotten this principle, but I believe that as many or more, have begun to change their system of belief concerning how we are to treat others, even those with whom we disagree, even vehemently, and even those within the more 'orthodox' denominations have 'put their best foot forward'; sharing, spreading the love of God in Christ Jesus, almost contrary, seemingly, to their purported 'doctrines!

The argument has been made that 'when Christ walked this earth; did He only ( actively ) love those that believed the way He said they should'? The answer, of course is, overwhelmingly, No!

So can we do less?

Many like to use the 'phrase 'forsake not the assembling of yourselves together' ( Hebrews 10:25-KJV ) as a 'proof-text' that we should, if at all possible, be in church every time that a meeting is called there: quickly; I'd like to remind my readers, 'we're always in 'church'!' We ARE the Church, and although most, if not all, will readily admit that; I believe that when too much emphasis is put on meeting together as a group, in a special building, on a certain ( special ) day ( or days-Sunday and Wednesday ) of the week, to pray together, sing a few songs of praise, listen to a sermon, partake of the 'Lord's Supper' ( varyingly ) and fellowship as the Body of Christ; we tend to forget that WE are the Church, we are the Body of Christ, and when we fellowship, whether it be in a special building, on a certain day of the week, or at our jobs on Monday, or a picnic, we are celebrating His Body and Blood, we are not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, even if it is not the traditional time, the traditional place, the traditional words................! All these things by themselves are not bad things to do; on the contrary, they are very right, very good things to do, but we get into a 'rut' because we begin to look at doing these things, at a certain time, and in a certain place, as 'Church' and go about our busy every-day lives, complete with all our worries, stress, and busyness the rest of the week! Sure, we keep a semblance, or a pittance of our Church-ness about us, especially when we remember that Jesus told His disciples 'where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there among them' ( Matthew 18:20-NRSV ). Here's a good question: when some Christian buddies get together, throw back a few 'tall cold ones', and watch football; is God among them? Are they gathered in His name? Must they pray before God is present?

Back to the Hebrews passage; not only do many quote this a lot; they often mis-quote it, not taking into account the covenantal and historical context of the passage. The covenantal context is brought into focus with the previous verse, where the writer adjures them, 'let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds', and both the covenant and historical context, when he says, in the latter part of verse 25, 'and so much the more as you see the Day approaching'. As above; there is nothing at all wrong with meeting together at a certain time, in a certain place, for all the purposes that I mentioned above; not only is it 'traditional', it is well-nigh a 'must' for the busyness of our everyday lives; we need that one special day to 'rest' from that busyness, to take our minds off our worries, get out from under our 'stress', but isn't this something that we should be doing every day? Don't we have our 'rest' in Christ? In fact; we have 'every spiritual blessing' ( Ephesians 1:3 ) in Christ! Aren't we told not to worry, not to stress about things, in Matthew 6:33?

To 'wrap things up'; I just want to remind us all ( myself included ) that there is nothing wrong with 'religion'; it is the way in which we practice our religion ( what we believe ) that can be wrong or right. Sure; much of 'organized religion' practices their religion badly ( poorly ) and in some cases, just plain wrongly, and this is too bad, so sad; but should this keep us from 'practicing' our religion? Too many 'Christians' out there, I'll readily agree, are quick ( and often very 'apt' ) to spout their religion out you ( often trying to 'ram' it down your throat-sadly, I must admit that this was me! ), but if you 'fight back' with your own brand of religion, 'the gloves come off', and it's 'no holds barred', until one or both end up limping away with their pet theology intact, but with no love in their hearts for the other person! Thankfully; this is not always the case, and we must gratefully and humbly applaud our brothers and sisters who can exercise the self-control ( and restraint ) to stay away from a situation like this.

Sure; it's hard! But isn't that what God promised?


The Myth of Free-will? ( Re-thinking the doctrine of 'Total Depravity' )

I was brought up in Calvinist theology, taught to be automatically wary anyone espousing the doctrine of free-will. This is still a subject of concern with me, though I would no longer be comfortable being called a Calvinist. I would probably more correctly fall under the moniker 'Sovereign Grace Preterist'. Some might not see such of a difference between Calvinism and the doctrine of Sovereign Grace, and in the most basic sense, they'd be right, but when you add 'preterism' to the mix, you have a somewhat different story! 'Preterism', or the knowledge that , not only eschatology, but redemption and salvation have been completed and fulfilled should cause us to rethink our doctrine of soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation, among other things. Calvinism teaches that man is totally depraved, something that most Christians have no problem readily acknowledging. The Bible seems to plainly teach this in places like Jeremiah 17:9, where we are told that 'the heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked; who can know it?', and Paul plainly told his readers that 'in me ( that is, in my flesh ) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to perform what is good, I do not find.' ( Romans 7:18 ) Solomon, or 'the preacher', as he styles himself in the book of Ecclesiastes, acknowledged that 'truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that go to the dead' ( 9:3 ). There are many other passages that we could look at for 'proof' of the doctrine of 'Total Depravity', but I daresay that, looking at all these passage from a covenantal viewpoint will help us to see that all these writers were speaking in context of those 'laboring' under the restrictions of the 'Old Covenant'. Looking at the moral depravity in the world today, it is not hard to apply passages like these to men today, although it could be argued, and one can even ascertain that men, even the most 'evil' and 'heartless' of them, are, when it comes down to it, basically 'good' at heart. We all have choices to make, and yes, we most often make wrong, selfish, and seemingly heartless choices, but I believe that all men have the propensity to do right, as all men have the built-in propensity to do wrong. God made us in such a way that we do have a choice, when facing any given situation, a choice of whether to react ( usually wrong ) or whether to act in faith, to do as we know is right, even though those around us are not acting according to our ( selfish ) wishes, or 'druthers', or even as we think they should! Man is a selfish creature ( naturally ), and will usually, when given the choice, choose what he thinks best, either for himself alone, or what he believes will best serve the interests of those that he loves and cares about, often notwithstanding what others tell him is right or wrong.

I mentioned the fact that the Scripture passages that we may read in the Bible which seem to point towards a doctrine of 'Total Depravity', were written by, and concerning, those born under the 'Old Covenant: I believe, as some of my readers may have learned, that there is really only one covenant, the eternal everlasting covenant that God made with Himself ( signified by the words 'Let there be Light' ,and 'Let Us make man' ), but for the purpose of choosing, setting apart a 'special' ( I Peter 2:9 ) people for Himself; God 'formed', through Moses, a sort of typical covenant with a certain people as a sort of test case, not so much to see if they would follow His covenant, but to show them that they could not keep His words perfectly. God's plan, from the beginning, whether because He simply knew beforehand, or because of His all-encompassing sovereignty, was that He would send His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to do for man what he could not do for himself, to keep the law perfectly, and to take upon Himself the sin and requisite penalty for that sin, destroying forever the death that the sin had engendered ( Romans 6:23 ). With the penalty for that sin paid through the death and resurrection of Christ, and His 'coming in the clouds' in judgment upon the 'ministry of the death' ( Romans 7:10, II Corinthians 3:7 ), or the purveyors of that 'Old Covenant' ( letter, rather than Spirit ( II Corinthians 3:6, Romans 2:27-29 ) of death, we are now born, once again, as the first Adam, with the capacity to make a choice, but with one comforting difference; we now have the Truth to which the Tree of Life pointed, 'Christ ( God ) in us, the ( realized ) hope of Glory' ( Colossians 1:27 ).With the 'New Covenant' fully implemented, and salvation fully realized, and redemption complete; can we truly say anymore that men are naturally born under 'Total Depravity'? With the Calvinistic ( biblical ) notion that all men are 'born in sin' ( I think that we all grew up under that assumption, to some degree ) based upon an errant eschatological position, the position, whether most will admit it or not, that, since the fall of our first 'parents', recorded in Genesis 3, we are all ( naturally ) born in sin, and that it is only when we are brought to confession and repentance of that sin ( I John 1:9 ) that we come out from under the death of Adam. With the realization, however, of the logical implications of fulfilled eschatology; it should be plain to see, that, in a sense anyway, we are no longer born in sin, subject to the death ( of Adam ), having been born under the New Covenant, which is often called the 'Covenant of Grace' ( although, when you think about it; God's grace has always been prevalent, throughout the different 'covenants' ), and now free, through the Grace of God, to make our choice ( right or wrong ) as best as we can, without the sword of Damocles hanging over or head, with 'the powers that be' telling us that if we make the wrong choice, there will be eternal, and sometimes immediate consequences ( 'in the day you eat, you will die'-Deuteronomy 28 ).

Lest some accuse me of saying that we should go ahead and 'sin more that grace may abound' ( Romans 6:1 ); I wish to remind my readers that though God has applied His grace most bountifully in every area of our lives, and given us the freedom of choice as to how we will live our lives and whom w will serve ( as Bob Dylan said, 'ya gotta serve somebody' ); He has also given us the personal responsibility, a directive, really, to love Him, and 'our neighbor as ourself', not selfishly seeking and serving our own selfish interest and desires, particularly over those of others. ( I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect when it comes to practicing what I preach, and I don't believe that any of us can truly make this claim ( although some are probably closer than others ), but this does not mean that we should not strive for it and exhort the brethren to it! )

Having established that we do, after a sort, have a 'free' will, can we conscientiously transgress Good's Law ( though we are no longer under it's curse ), selfishly following our own will, thoughts, and desires, even when it comes at the cost of others? We too often do ( at least I know that I do ), but I would wager that most of us ( all who's consciences have been cleansed by God-Hebrews 10 ), before 'paying the piper', will hear a 'still, small' voice in our mind, saying 'you shouldn't outta done that'!

With this in mind; let us consciously decide ( will ) to make choices that are in conjunction with what we know of the will of God, not because we must if we want to 'go to heaven when we die', or out of the fear of 'going to hell when we die', but out of loving, sacrificial obedience to God, not because we have to, but because we want to!

May God bless you with this,

                   Charles Shank