Words, Words, Words

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.   The same was in the beginning with God.   All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  John 1:1-3   There’s a harmonious addition in Chester Nez’ book CODE TALKER:  pp. 36, 61, & 103.

On page 36, Mr. Nez describes the Navajo belief that the specific words for light, earth, water and air actually brought forth those physical matters.   On page 61, he describes very beautifully how the Catholic teachings harmonized in his heart with his basic Navajo understanding of the power of the Word.   And on page 103, he gives us a fascinating look at how the Navajo Codetalkers devised a way to communicate, with words, in a code that the Japanese were unable to break.    Words matter.

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,   Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds:  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”  Hebrews 1:1-3

Sunrise, Sunset

“And there shall be no night there;  and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”  Revelation 22:5

No night means no sunrises, no sunsets.   Even as a child, I loved the gentle colors of those hours when the light was fading or swelling.   Now, as an ancient person, I see another aspect.  The beauty is harmonized by sorrow.   Those soft colors won’t be repeated in the new creation, in the City, because there will be no night there.

Will I miss that sorrow?   I hope not.   Joyous songs last longer than sad songs.   But since there will be a new heaven and a new earth, I think there will be sunrises and sunsets there.   We won’t be restricted to the City.

Eve is not Adam

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”  Romans 5:12     “For Adam was first formed, then Eve.   And Adam  was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”  1 Timothy 2:13 & 14     “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.”  1 Corinthians 15:45

Things that are different should be recognized as being different.   Eve was deceived.   It was Adam who brought sin into the world.    If God doesn’t blame the woman, why does man blame the woman?

It is the Son of God Who came to be the Savior of the world.

Signs

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?  and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”            Matthew 24:3

This is obviously three questions.   I hope everyone who owns a King James Bible will go to it, and read Matthew chapter 25.   The Lord told His hearers enough about the future that they felt they really needed to know what the signs were.    Notice that He did not tell them that no sign would be given.   He warned them to beware of deceptions.   Like Harold Camping.

When you read the book of Revelation, you can see some signs of the last two events mentioned.   (The first one was the destruction of Jerusalem:  that happened around 70 A. D.)   Now most of us are curious about the other two events:  the signs of the Lord’s return, and the signs of the end of the world.   I don’t presume to be able to separate them.   But there are some remarkable signs in the book of Revelation.    There’s the famous “mark of the Beast” described in Revelation 13:16-18.  ”And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the  name of the beast, or the number of his name.   Here is wisdom.   Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:  for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”  This kind of tyranny was never before possible among humans.   Only now, with computers and microchips, can we be monitored like that.  We can start looking for that sign.

Revelation 11:8 & 9  ”And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.”   This is an accurate description of international television broadcasting news all over the world.   International television broadcasts weren’t available until the late 20th century.   So that sign is now possible.

Genetic confusion.   We have people inserting flounder genes into tomatoes.   It’s not a big step to produce the trans-species creatures described in Revelation chapter 9.  Locusts with human faces and hair, teeth like lions, and stings like scorpions.   None of these things were possible until the 20th century.   The King James Bible that we read is the current English translation of information that was written down at about the same time Jerusalem was being utterly destroyed, 70 A.D.    And for 2,000 years, scribes and translators faithfully kept those incredible statements written down.   The signs make better  sense when the trip is almost over.   Maybe one of those chimeric monkeys will explain it to us.

Another Unexpected

“When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business:  but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.”  Deuteronomy 24:5

One of those rich things that proves that the theocracy of Israel was very, very different from all the nations now.   A full year honeymoon?   God forbid!   But the wisdom of God is also demonstrated here.   Getting married is a depressing event for a woman.   The Lord God acknowledges that.   Be of good cheer.

Babies

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”  John 3:7

Born again does not mean being forced into a mold and losing your own personality.   The Lord Jesus Christ said that He came to give us life more abundantly.   John 10:10  ”The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

1 Peter 2:1 & 2  ”Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”    And I sincerely hope that you’ll read the Mighty Book for yourself, and think it through for yourself.   The pulpit pounders don’t read it much.   And when they make a public spectacle, yelling “The Bible says . . . “, they’re not trying to nourish you on the love of God.   They’re doing what He warned against in  Exodus 23:19, Ex. 34:26 & Deuteronomy 14:21 = do not seethe the kid in his mother’s milk.   Spiritually speaking, “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”  Galatians 4:26

John 5:24  ”Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”   And again, Romans 8:1  ”There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”      So why do religious talkers condemn?

Hahah! Bet You Weren’t Expecting THAT!

“And thou shat eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil,  and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.   And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:  Then thou shalt turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth:  and thou shat eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,  And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.”  Deuteronomy 14:23-27

 

Communications

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”  Matthew 5:37    ”Be not deceived:  evil communications corrupt good manners.”  I Corinthians 15:33

Last week there was a news snippet about some ‘preacher’ in Nebraska who wants the politicians to promise to enact a law requiring the death penalty for homosexuality.   I didn’t write down this man’s name:  but I did remember to ask the Lord God to do something to shut him down.   He belongs in the same lower Hell with Fred Phelps and that entire mob of clamoring hypocrites who want to kill other people in the name of the Lord.   “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.   For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”  Matthew 12:36 & 37

And there’s no question about the Lord God’s opinion of the people who use mother-f******  in every sentence.

Better Than Fiction

If you had 1500 years to write a good fiction story, what would you write?

That’s a trick question, of course.   We don’t get that much time.   But we have this amazing Book that was written over a span of 1500 years.   At least 40 different people had a part in the writing, but the story is still coherent.   That alone is awesome!   Then there’s the fact that this Book is filled with adventures, dragons, love, war, and every imaginable facet of human life.   And the most stunning thing?   This Book tells us over and over that the Creator God has come into the world as a man; that He loves each one of us.   No ordinary human could come up with a story line like that.

But wait a minute:   what kind of creation is this, that the Creator has to come into it and redeem the creatures in it?   Why wasn’t it perfect?   “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”  Genesis 1:1    ”And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”  Genesis 1:2   What happened?   That question isn’t given a simple answer.   Some very powerful force or creature meddled with the Creation, and apparently introduced the Second Law of Thermodynamics.   “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God;  Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.   Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:  the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.   Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:  thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.   Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.   By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:  therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God:  and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.   Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:  I will cast thee down to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.   Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.    All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee:  thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any  more.”  Ezekiel 28:11-19   “The anointed cherub that covereth” is a very powerful creature.    Cherubs have at least four faces; they also have wings, but I’m not sure whether it’s two wings, or four, or six.   In any case, Psalm 18:10 describes the Creator God riding a cherub.   “And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:  yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.”

The Lord God as a dragon rider?   Why not?   He created the reptile groups, He can do as He chooses with them.   The Covering Cherub should have felt honored.   Apparently he didn’t.   “And there was war in heaven:  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.   And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil,and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:  he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  Revelation 12:7-9

A good story has at least one ‘love interest’.   In addition to the unfathomable love of God, the Bible has other descriptions of love.   “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.”   Genesis 29:20   Then there’s Jonathan and David.   “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.   And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house.   Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.   And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.”   I Samuel 18:1-4     The crown prince of Israel dressed a shepherd boy in his own clothes and weapons.   That shepherd boy was an octaroon, by the way:  Ruth, his great-grandmother, was a black Moabite.

Rev. 1:8  “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”   So there’s the beginning and ending for the Book.

Hebrews 4:15  ”For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”    The best advice for writers is “Write what you know”.    And the Author of this awesome Book has been here, done that, and knows exactly how we feel.

Mark 7:36 & 37   “And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;  And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well:  he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”   And He wrote a better Book than any ordinary human could have done.

In the End of the World

“For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”    Hebrews 9:26

The birth, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ happened approximately two thousand years ago.   And Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, says that is ‘the end of the world’.   Which gives me a headache.   Bishop Usher said that the entire time of the created world would only be 6,000 years.   This current period marks off one third of Usher’s chronology since the Lord’s resurrection:  not exactly the end of the world, is it?   How about the Jewish calendar?   That one gives 5,772 as the current year of creation.   More headaches!   What kind of calendar applies “the end of the world” to the history since the Lord’s resurrection?   What about the Incas, what did they say?   Well, most of their calendars were melted down by the Spanish for the gold.   But some of their dates were translated and recorded in books.   One of those books gave the number 1,716 for the years from the Creation to the Great Flood.   Which doesn’t really clear up anything for me.

The  hundreds of millions of years postulated by some scientists is simply impossible.   The elements are decaying.   In those millions of years, some of them should have disappeared.   None of the elements seem to be missing.

Even Bishop Usher might admit that there is not one verse of Scripture to indicate just how long the Lord God planned to maintain this world.   His 6,000 year model has no basis in the Bible.   The one pattern that I’ve seen, which indicates a time frame, is in Leviticus 25.   That chapter is 55 verses long, so I won’t print the whole thing here.   It gives a pattern of 50 (fifty) years for the Jewish Year of Jubilee.   Seven years, times seven times, equals forty nine years:  and the fiftieth year is the Jubilee.   If we extrapolate that pattern to 50,000 years for the earth, that will allow enough time for all the pre-historic cultures that have left beautifully crafted mysteries for us.   Gold chains imbedded in coal:  magnifying lenses found among beds of broken porcelain pots:  fossils of humanoids who look quite different from us.   There was time for those things before the Flood.   And if these last two thousand or so years are the “end of the world”?   Then it’s time for the Jubilee.   Even so, please return, Lord Jesus.