Kingdom Come

Key precept: An apocalypse – actual, threatened or perceived – propels a militaristic politician into position to lead humanity like sheep into a New World Order.

Noah 1056 AM – 2006 AM (later years contemporary with Abraham)

While we have limited biblical or historical information about the days of Noah prior to the flood, we do have quite a bit of historical information about the earliest civilizations established in the days of Noah after the flood. But as would be expected after any catastrophe, humanity was intent on re-establishing the only world they knew – the pre-apocalypse civilization. Our own Western culture prides itself on the Re-naissance, the Re-birth, of the Roman Empire after centuries of apocalyptic conditions during the Dark Ages. So we can learn a lot about the pre-flood civilization from its re-appearance in the post-flood world.

And the first thing we find is that, despite the proof of God’s overriding control, “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (II Cor 4:4) Note the contrast between Noah’s earth-focused preaching and ungodly men’s heaven-focused activities.

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Gen 9:1)

“And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there…And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” (Gen 11:1-4)

Continue reading “14) New World Order”

Nimrod 1927 AM – 2142 AM (contemporary with Noah to Abraham)

Noah was a preacher for the 600 years he lived before the flood, and you can be sure he continued to preach during the 350 years he lived after the flood. There are even suggestions, from American legends, that he spread the gospel to the New World. Traveling in a boat, of course.

Tragically, as the earth repopulated, most people ignored Noah’s preaching and the evidence of God’s judgment. Remember, the days of the Son of man are like the days of Noah, and like the days of Lot, who, if you do the math in Genesis 11, you will see was contemporaneous with Noah. If we want to fully understand what the end times are like, we should determine what ungodly conditions were present in both the pre- and post-flood days of Noah.

For starters, there were giants.

Continue reading “15) A Nimrod by Any Name”

(Same time frame as long-lived Noah through Nimrod to Abraham)

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” (Gen 14:18-20)

Now put this passage in the proper historical socio-politico-religious context as we learned in the post on Nimrod.

“Anu [corresponds to YHVH] and Bel [Lord, corresponds to YHVH’s Son to whom was given dominion over the earth] called by name me, Hammurabi, [Ham – abi, Ham is my (fore)father), the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land…”

Now re-read the biblical statement, with appropriate emphasis.

“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” (Gen 14:18)

Not Nimrod-Hammurabi, but Melchizedek “was the priest of the most high God.” Nimrod is the fake, the Anti-Christ/Anointed One. Melchizedek is the real Anointed One. At the time that Nimrod was building Babylon as the religious and political capitol of the world and corralling as many of the nations fleeing to the four corners of the known world as he could in a desperate bid to realize his dream of being King of the World, Melchizedek was holding the fort in Jerusalem.

Who, exactly, is he? Continue reading “16) The Order of Melchizedek”

Abraham 1980 AM – 2155 AM

Key precept: The meaning of “Father of a nation.”

Part of the problem with understanding the Bible, I’m sorry to say, is that our church experience typically isolates and sequences Old Testament “Bible stories” in Sunday School – “Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden”, ‘Noah and the Ark”, “The Tower of Babel”, ‘Sodom and Gomorrah”, “Abraham Offers Isaac”, and so on. If we take everything recorded in the Bible as a coherent whole story we will understand so much more of God’s entire message to us.

Apparently I need to work through the parts of Genesis chapters 10-11 we generally skip over because of awkwardly pronounced names and the lack of an interesting narrative. It is a valuable database bridging the “stories” from Noah to Abraham. The record appears to jump randomly from one topic to another, but only if we fail to connect them with the over-riding theme of the Bible – the battle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent to win total control of the kingdom of heaven and earth. Then the scattered puzzle pieces fit into place and we see the big picture.

Continue reading “17) Father Abraham”

Key Precept: The nation of Israel was chosen to provide leadership in the existing way of salvation for all humanity.

“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Gen 18:17-23)

If we maintain a consistent analysis of the theme of the Bible as with any other work of literature, we will avoid the all-too-common practice of lifting passages out of context to make the text say the exact opposite of what the entire message actually is.

Why would anyone do that? To benefit one person or group at the expense of others. This is a common strategy among:

• family, friends and co-workers using gossip to damage others’ reputations in order to gather supporters during conflicts of interest,
• politicians to smear their opponents during an election campaign,
• military tacticians using propaganda to minimize opposition,
• historians and educators re-writing history to strengthen grassroots support of a changing paradigm,
• and of course, religious leaders setting themselves up as the source of truth in order to gather a following.

As this study reaches the point at which the nation of Israel comes into existence, don’t abandon the foundational theme, plots and definitions already established. There is one way of salvation from the destructive effects of sin / self-centeredness for all humanity since day one (literally). If you will treat the Bible as one coherent piece of literature, you will be able to recognize the falsehoods on which the many Bible-based religions have staked their claim.

And the first one is Judaism. I know. I sound racist and I’ve very sorry about that. Please don’t take me out of context. So let’s approach this next section of the Bible with an open mind, not prejudiced one way or another from previous non-biblical propaganda. In the end, you choose what you want to believe, but at least give yourself options.

Continue reading “18) The Nation of Israel”

Finally, the battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman comes to a head. After millennia of mounting suspense, Yeshua Messiah is finally born on earth, right on schedule as prophesied, in the days of Caesar Augustus. The census that was ordered by Caesar and the slaughter by Caesar’s minion Herod of all boys born under the star of Bethlehem take on more than mere political significance. It is part of the Seed War that began with time itself.

The religious rivalry between Antichrist and Jesus Christ is so very evident in the first centuries of the establishment of Christianity. (To highlight the blurring of identities at this stage of history I will use the latinized name and title of Yahweh’s Savior/Yeshua.) Given Christianity’s adaption of paganism and idolatry we should be able to understand why orthodox Judaism backed away from its initial acceptance of the Messianic movement as a legitimate Jewish sect.

“Onto its Jewish base Christianity built a structure that would appeal to the civilized world. In practice this meant that the new composite religion had to adopt an Hellenic appearance…the Greek philosophers had long believed that there was but one deity, and that the numerous gods worshipped throughout the known world were merely different manifestations of that one supreme god, whom we usually call Zeus. Romans too spoke of a single God…
Zeus or the Christian God presiding in his court above the clouds? In fact these are the Olympian Gods assembled: Hades holding his two-forked sceptre, the mother of the gods Rhea, Hera and her peacock. Zeus sits in the middle with an eagle at his feet, holding a thunderbolt in his hand. To his right sits Cronos holding the ouroboros, Athena and Apollo. Below is Artemis, with a half-moon adorning her head, holding her bow. Dionysus is seen reclining. Ares in armour sits close to Aphrodite who looks at Eros as he comes towards her. In the far right sits Poseidon holding his trident. (Drawing by Nicolas-André Monsiau 1754-1837 from Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide, Paris 1806).The Roman counterpart of Zeus was Jupiter, and for centuries Jupiter would be confused and conflated with the Christian God. Well into the Middle Ages, Dante (1265 -1321) could still refer to the Christian God as “almighty Jupiter”, and it is not difficult to find Christian works of art showing God the Father in poses that echo those of Jupiter, for example casting thunderbolts towards earth. At one time it was popular to show Christ in a similar pose hurling divine bolts at those condemned to Hell.

Zeus…was also addressed by titles such as Pater, “Father”, Basileus: “King”, and Sôtêr: “Saviour”. Such practices could easily be combined with Christianity while it was still in its formative years. The familiar image of the Almighty sitting on his judgement throne is a straight adoption from conventional representations of Zeus the king. The Greeks conventionally pictured their gods as huge figures dressed all in white, and the Christian God duly adapted himself to these conventions…

Throughout history the masses have favoured gods who can be seen. Perhaps for this reason (the Roman-named) Jesus was sometimes identified with Apollo, the Greek and Roman Sun god whose journey across the sky could be seen each day by everyone. Some representations of Jesus are identifiable only because of their associated Christian symbolism. Without these symbols, his representation is identical to Apollo’s.

The Romans called their Sun god, a successor to Apollo, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. The religion had come to Rome in the second century from Syria. It was popular in the army, and the Emperor Aurelian adopted it, appointing himself its chief priest or Pontifex Maximus. The religion merged with the nascent Christian religion, and soon it was difficult to distinguish between Jesus and Sol Invictus. Around AD 200 the Church Father Clement of Alexandria could happily contemplate Christ driving his chariot across the sky like a Sun god. A third century mosaic discovered under the high altar of St Peter’s in Rome shows Jesus as a Sun god riding the solar chariot, pulled by horses, just like Apollo’s.

Sol InvictusAs some commentators have noted, the Sun god transformed himself from Apollo to Sol to Jesus Christ apparently without difficulty. Jesus retained Sol’s nimbus, and it can still be seen around his head in Christian art (often referred to as a halo), just as it appears around the heads of other sun gods…

The Christian God still looking very much like a Classical sun godChristians knelt to the East, the direction of the rising Sun, like followers of other Sun gods. For a while Jesus became a typical Sun god, hardly distinguishable from Apollo. After all, Apollo too was a supreme god, uncreated, eternal, timeless and undeviating. Christian hymns were addressed to Sol Invictus. In the fifth century Christians were still reluctant to turn their backs on Sol. They walked backwards up the steps of St Peter’s in Rome so that they could remain face-to-face with the Sun god in the early morning…The altar in the overwhelming majority of church buildings is still to be found at the east end, and the axis of churches often align with the rising Sun on a special day.

As the Catholic Encyclopedia plainly states, Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…The date eventually settled upon was by an astonishing coincidence also the established birth-day of other sun gods…

Constantine, the Roman emperor conventionally considered responsible for the success of Christianity, had himself represented in the likeness of a Sun god on a porphyry column in his new capital city. He seems to have believed that his deity was a Sun god. Certainly he made little distinction between Sol and Jesus. His coinage continued to depict the Sun god even after his supposed adoption of Christianity. His stated reason for making Sunday a day of rest was respect for the Sun. Christians adopted this new day of rest, when even the law courts were shut. Indeed, so closely did they identify with it that today we do not question why the Christians’ special day should fall not on the original Sabbath (Saturday) but on another day, nor why that day is in English called not God-day but Sun-day. In the West the birthday of the Sun god, Die Natalis Invicti Solis , was 25th December. This same date was also the birthday of other Sun gods*. Jesus’ birthday on the other hand was in March, or September, or January — there was no general agreement…Presumably it was around the same time that part of the pagan liturgy used on 25th December was adopted into the Christmas celebrations of the Christian Church.

This mosaic shows a conventional representation of the sun-god Apollo along with pomegranites representing eternal life – except that the chi-rho monogram shows it to be Jesus. Hinton St Mary Mosaic, Dorset, England – dated post AD 270

Apollo was still being represented as a sun god well into the Christian period. This isa detail of a miniature of Apollo shooting arrows at Corinus (after the white raven has reported her unfaithfulness), in ‘L’Épître Othéa’. Origin: France, Central (Paris), attributed to the Master of the Cité des Dames and workshop.c. 1410-c. 1414

By now we should realize that the counterfeit religion Lucifer developed in his bid to show himself to be God involves counterfeiting all manifestations of God, commonly envisioned as a trinity by Christianity but clearly expressed even in the Old Testament. Keep in mind that in God’s case, he alone is omnipotent and omnipresent. He alone has the capability of creating substance out of energy, of being himself in the flesh as Jesus, of simultaneously inhabiting multiple persons as himself in the Spirit. Satan is a created being, he can only be one individual at any time and place. He can either play God, or control through spirit possession another individual, but he can’t be both. This limitation is surely why he lobbied so hard to split the monotheism of the biblical God into the three-person trinity of Constantine’s corrupted Christianity.

“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of [1] the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us…and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so [2] he was their Saviour..the angel [messenger] of his presence saved them… redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed [3] his holy Spirit:” (Isa 63:7-10)
The Father – named and portrayed according to the different cultures. For Westerners he is Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Roman). Like all hyperdimensional spiritual beings, he is not able to show himself openly to humans. “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” (Joh 1:18)
The Son – the Antichrist, named and portrayed according to cultural expressions. For Westerners, the major, of many, antichrists is Apollo, born of Zeus and a human woman. In the legendary times before the flood Apollo interacted openly with humans, but by the time of the post-flood Trojan War he had ascended above the clouds to Mount Olympus and only exerted influence as a vector, such as directing arrows to kill an enemy when humans prayed for salvation from problems.
The Spirit – invisible presence in human believers, expressing and acting out his will through the material human host, in the manner of Samson. “And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.” (Judg 13:25) “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Phili 4:13) “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them.” (Lu 22:3-4)

All over the world, every culture has practiced sacrifice. A modern pagan provides excellent insight into the purpose of sacrifice.

Sacrifice has two separate but related meanings. If we are to understand sacrifice, much less practice it effectively, we need to understand both. The common meaning of sacrifice is “to give up.” …The older meaning of sacrifice is “to make sacred.” By dedicating something to the gods through ritual and ceremony it becomes sacred – it takes on some of the essence of the gods…The gods give to us so we give to them in return. They then give to us again. This sets up a whole cycle of giving and receiving,..the more frequent the sharing, the stronger the relationship we can build…

According to Encylopedia.com, sacrifice is a form of communication with the gods for humans seeking the benefits of a closer relationship.  Think of it like potential suitor offering a diamond ring to a woman.  He doesn’t need to say the words, “Will you marry me?” does he? Flowers, candy and dinner at a nice restaurant are common offerings to appease an offended girlfriend or wife to get back into her good graces.

The gods might be offered the most desirable foods or provided with the finest vessels, carvings, tools, and weapons. Historians, however, have often regarded blood sacrifice as the most powerful way to appease the gods…Human sacrifice is sometimes regarded as a bizarre practice carried out by a few scattered societies who either were uncivilized or exceptionally cruel and violent. However, there is persuasive evidence that the sacrificial impulse has been common throughout history and has played an important role in society…

There is abundant archaeological evidence that many societies practiced both animal and human sacrifice to persuade the gods to protect their buildings and ensure safe passage through dangerous areas where their own gods might lack jurisdiction. Burials suggestive of sacrifice have been found in the sites of ancient bridges and buildings throughout Asia, Europe, and North Africa. It was widely believed that territories were under the control of local gods who might be angered by intrusions. Blood sacrifice at border crossings (often marked by rivers) and within buildings were thought to be prudent offerings. Sacrificial victims were also interred beneath city gates.

Children were often selected as the sacrificial offerings. Excavation of the Bridge Gate in Bremen, Germany, and several ancient fortresses in Wales are among the many examples of this practice. According to the Book of Kings, when Joshua destroyed Jericho he prophesized that the man who rebuilds Jericho “shall lay the foundation stones thereof upon the body of his first born and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof.” In rebuilding the city, Hiel later sacrificed his oldest and youngest sons in precisely this manner. The historian Nigel Davies observes that biblical accounts of foundation sacrifices have been supported by archaeological investigations:

In the sanctuary in Gezer were found two burnt skeletons of six-year-old children and the skulls of two adolescents that had been sawn in two. At Meggido a girl of fifteen had been killed and buried in the foundations of a large structure. Excavations show that the practice of interring children under new buildings was widespread and some were evidently buried alive. (Davies 1981, p. 61)

…That foundation sacrifices belong only to the remote past could be an erroneous assumption. In early twentieth-century Borneo an eyewitness testified that a criminal was buried alive in every posthole for a new building so that he might become a guardian spirit.

No one attempt to explain blood sacrifice seems adequate for the variety of forms and purposes associated with this practice in many societies over many years…The most sweeping theory is based on an interpretation of history that pictures the human condition as fearful and perilous, beset with threats to survival from starvation, attack, and events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods that were taken to be the work of angry gods. Possessing limited knowledge and technology, societies tried to find a way of negotiating with rival, demanding, and frequently unpredictable gods if the world and their own lives were to continue. Sacrifice soon became a significant form of exchange with the gods, a sort of currency in an age before the establishment of a monetary system. In modern parlance, sacrifice was a way of doing business.

…human sacrifice was a core feature of the Inca and Aztec cultures…Archaeological investigations have found evidence of human sacrifice into the sixteenth century, and this practice is thought to have continued for some time afterward. Tenochtitlan (predecessor to Mexico City) is known to have been the active site of human sacrifices long before Spanish forces arrived to witness these events firsthand: There were already huge collections of skulls on display.

…The Aztecs believed that the “vital energies” of one person could be transferred to another person through drinking the blood and eating the flesh. The gods also craved flesh and blood, so human sacrifice benefited both Aztecs and their ever-hungry deities. Sacrifice was an integral part of their worldview in which the threat of death was ever present, a threat that had to be countered by extreme and relentless measures that would magically transform death into life. Discoveries since the mid-twentieth century confirm that many women were sacrificed in special rituals intended to renew the fertility cycle.”

According to Wikipedia, the number of persons sacrificed in central Mexico in the 15th century has been estimated to be anywhere from 20,000 to 250,000 per year, with one in five children of the Mexica subjects killed annually.

According to Ancient History Encyclopedia,

“The Aztec civilization which flourished in Mesoamerica between 1345 and 1521 CE has gained an infamous reputation for bloodthirsty human sacrifice with lurid tales of the beating heart being ripped from the still-conscious victim, decapitation, skinning and dismemberment. All of these things did happen but it is important to remember that for the Aztecs the act of sacrifice – of which human sacrifice was only a part – was a strictly ritualised process which gave the highest possible honour to the gods and was regarded as a necessity to ensure mankind’s continued prosperity.”

Are you taking this in? “It is important to remember…” To some extent the writer is justifying the murders! Is it not evident that these gods still influence today’s society? It is also important to remember that warfare was often conducted for the purpose of providing sacrificial victims, that infants were sacrificed on a massive scale, and that non-fatal blood sacrifices by cutting was often practiced. Any of this look familiar? Oh, but modern society doesn’t worship the gods, right? Maybe we need to pay more attention to what is said about that.

Our materialistic society has lost the knowledge that joining forces in sexual relations, even with just another human, is more than mere physical sensation.  It is a major means of empowerment. This is achieved by tapping into another person’s resources in many ways – attention, emotions, money, energy, living space, social connections, talents. According to pagans, it is even possible to tap into spiritual power to cast magic spells.  Gaining esoteric power through sexual relations with spirit beings was a common practice in ancient paganism and is a renewed practice in our day. The determination of the men of wicked Sodom to engage in sexual relations with strangers despite being struck with blindness can be understood in this light.

“And the angels which kept not their first estate [areas of responsibility both physically and socially], but left their own habitation [bodies leaving the heavens, can also mean spirits leaving their bodies]…Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh…” (Jude 1:6-7)

“And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and…Lot seeing them rose up to meet them…and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house…the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young…And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly…And they said, Stand back…now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.” (Gen 19:1-11)

Empowerment through sexual energy is a key feature of the mutual benefit to be found in marriage, and the potential to be exploited and drained of resources is why adultery and fornication are denounced so strongly – it’s for our protection.

“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” (Heb 13:4)

“If any man defile the temple [dwelling place] of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” (I Cor 3:17)

“What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” (I Cor 6:16-18)

Sexual practices forbidden by the law of Moses shed light on strategies used by pagan gods.

“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 

• None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. 
  • Contrast this with the Pharaohs and other royals from cultures around the world, who married their siblings and other close relatives for the specific purpose of maintaining a gene pool believed to be descended from the gods. Current legal statutes vary widely by nation, with America being mostly consistent with Mosaic law. “In most states, sexual activity between a lineal ancestor and a lineal descendant (parent, grandparent with child or grandchild), siblings (brother-sister) and aunt-nephew, uncle-niece is penalized as incest, with the degree of relationship measured in terms of shared genes.
• The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover…
  • 50% of shared genes
• The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.
  • application of the principle of “two become one flesh” and contemporary legal principle of “affinity” by marriage
•  The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother…
  • 50% for full sibling, 25% for half-sibling
• The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter…
  • 25 degrees of relationship for grandchildren
• The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister,
  • 25% as half-sibling
• Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister…thy mother’s sister…thy father’s brother…
  • 25% relationship for aunts/uncles/nephews/nieces
• thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt.
  • by affinity
• Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife
  • ergo daughter by affinity
• Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness.
  • by affinity
• Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness.
  • The distortion of family relationships warps the personal development of the victims of incest, who as adults have difficulty forming healthy adult relationships, and the whole family dynamic is twisted to sexually enslave the victims. 
• Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her…beside the other in her life time.
  • Yes, Jacob took Leah and her sister Rachel to wife, and you see the endless family conflict that resulted.  Point proved.
• Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness.
  • This is not new to the Mosaic law, but was practiced even by pagans, as demonstrated when Rachel was able to keep her father from searching for his idols near her by claiming she was menstruating.  What is this about? Blood is a major conveyor of spiritual essence, and even today pagan practitioners claim that menstrual blood has magical power.  The use of this activity for spiritual empowerment appears to be real, as it is listed elsewhere in the Bible in the context of pagan religious practices: “…if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, And hath not eaten upon the mountains [referring to participating in pagan sacrifices], neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman…”(Eze 18:5-6).
• Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
  • Refer again to the passage in Ezekiel that connects this practice with rituals for spiritual empowerment, often experienced as orgies during religious festivals.
  • In addition some cultures treated wives as tribal community property, with tribal membership, or friend vs foe status for newcomers, established through wife swapping. There is some suggestion of this practice among Canaanites. “And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.” (Gen 34:20-21)
  • This is also simply an affair as described in Proverbs 7: “…among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,..Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter…O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”
• And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech…
  • Does that translate into modern-day practice of abortions? At least the babies are already dead when they are burned in the fire.
• Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
• Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.

Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled😉 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the Lord your God.” (Lev 18)

History supports the interpretation of this passage’s list of sexual practices as pagan religious rituals. These acts are defined as abominations because it is through these acts that people join themselves to the gods.

“Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood…My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children…the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery...Ephraim is joined to idols…they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love…The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

“The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet…Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces...In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God… saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” (Jer 50:1-5)

These defile because, while they are claimed to empower the individuals who perform them, they instead literally release and empower the spirits of the gods to wreak havoc and destruction in the lives of the individuals and their society.  The gods are empowered through absorption of the worshippers’ sexual energy, transfer of spirits from human host to host during conjugal relations, and assumption and use of the human host’s body and sphere of influence such as political power.  These sexual activities, marketed as mutual pleasures, actually victimize participants in so many ways, from sexually transmitted diseases resulting in permanent physical disabilities like AIDS, hepatitis, sterility, and painful acute lesions and chronic PID; to emotional disturbances ranging from outright trauma to inability to trust or maintain any healthy interpersonal relationships; to spiritual bondage.

According to Herodotus, in Babylon every pubescent female was required to act as a prostitute, forced to remain at the temple and sacrifice her virginity to the first man who paid the fee to the temple.  (This is where the “Whore of Babylon, Mother of Harlots” gets her name.) This practice spread to Egypt and Greece, where the most beautiful prepubescent girls were dedicated to Zeus as child prostitutes for pedophilia until released at the onset of menstruation. This practice still exists in polytheistic India today, while the internet has opened new opportunities and unprecedented rates of international child sex abuse. Strabo reports there were no less than 1,000 prostitutes at a time in the Temple to Aphrodite Porne in Corinth. That compares to about 1,000 legal prostitutes in Nevada and over 30,000 illegal prostitutes in Las Vegas. Entire societies abandoned all normal sexual prohibitions to engage in orgies during pagan festivals.

The history of Israel was replete with instances of sex-infused pagan practices.

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him…And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt…And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” (Ex 32:1-6)

“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel…And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.” (Nu 25:1-5)

“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.” (I Cor 10:6-8)

Some people believe that the Old Testament is for the Jews, and salvation was through obeying the law of Moses, while the New Testament is for Christians who don’t need to obey laws anymore.

In part this is due to the constant comparison made between the Mosaic covenant and the new covenant in the New Testament. For example Paul is unquestionably referencing the law of Moses in the context of his letter to people in Rome who were investigating this sect of Judaism.

“And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect [key word here! We’ll get back to this later] , we know that every where it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.” (Act 28:16-23)

But that doesn’t mean that the Mosaic covenant was ever an alternative means of salvation for any group of people which was “replaced” when Jesus died on the cross. Paul’s argument in this letter is that no-one can ever achieve victory over sin by following a code of behavior. Anyone who is trying to ingratiate themselves into God’s good graces by following Judaism or Islam or Christianity or any other set of laws of right and wrong is going about it the wrong way.

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets [witnessed, as in a court of law – the law of Moses and the prophets provide the evidence that proves that this is how we achieve righteousness] ; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Yahweh’s Anointed Savior/Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being

 

Moses was the standard for all succeeding prophets/preachers until the coming of Messiah.

“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.” (Deu 34:10).

“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” (Deu 18:15)

His message? Serve God or Satan.

“Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations…Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” (Deu 29:18; 28:48)

The first Prophet to succeed Moses was appointed during Moses’ lifetime. In Hebrew we would call him Messiah Yeshua.  In Greek we would say Christ Jesus. “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him:” (Deu 34:9)

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Josh 24:15)

• Elijah and his prophet/preacher colleagues were hunted down during Israel’s prototypical reign of terror by Ahab and Jezebel after the northern tribes of Israel rejected the son of David and the worship of the true God.

“As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord‘s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?…And Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day…And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” (I Ki 18:10-18) “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life …behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away...And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus…Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (I Ki 19)

• Unnamed prophets of God are shown to continue prophesying/preaching to Ahab, who, under duress, in fact believes and acts on some, but tragically not all, of their messages. Notice how Ahab “lets go”, which is the opposite of “let”, and the consequence is transfer of power, to the other side, exactly like a game of tug-of-war.

“And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad…I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land…And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent…And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me…And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou…So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee…And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord…and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings…So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. And a certain man of the sons of the prophets…waited for the king by the way…And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it….And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.” 

• Elisha and his sons/students kept the destruction of Israel at bay for many generations. What emerges at this time is a pattern of half-hearted faith, neither hot nor cold, crying out for help under duress but not fully allying with the God who saves. Sound familiar? God is long suffering, but his patience does run out.

“And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. (II K 9:1-3) And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.” (II K 10:30-33)

“Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days. And Jehoahaz besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. (And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.) (II K 13:1-6)

“And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead…Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord‘s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice…And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel. (II K 13:9-25)

• Jonah, the famously reluctant prophet/preacher sent to Ninevah, also preached to his own people during their last days. Notice that initially Israel was saved by professing believer but actually ungodly ruler, which undoubtedly lulled the Israelites into thinking they could just continue doing what they were doing. However, if they had read and believed Elisha’s message, they would have known that their days were numbered.  God had given Jehu only four generations, and this was it. The reason Jonah was so reluctant to preach in Ninevah is because he was afraid they would respond with repentance, and consequently become empowered to win a battle with backslidden Israel.  And that’s exactly what happened, after Israel gutted itself with internal strife.

“…Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord…He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. For…the Lord said not that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. (II K 14:23-27)

“Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord… (Jon 1:1-3) And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh…and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not…But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.” (Jon 3:1-4:2) 

1. “…Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord…
2. And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him…and slew him, and reigned in his stead…This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass. Shallum…reigned a full month in Samaria…
3. Menahem the son of Gadi…slew him, and reigned in his stead…Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up…and reigned ten years in Samaria. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord…And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land…
4. and Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years…
5. But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and…killed him, and reigned...twenty years…In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria. 
6. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. (II Ki 15:8-30)

“And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God…and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen…and of the kings of Israel, which they had made…Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying…keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them…And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only…And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight…So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day…And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.” (II Ki 17:4-24)

• Isaiah is the key prophet in the southern nation of Judah who successfully kept his flock from being destroyed by first the Israelite/Syrian alliance, then by Tiglathpileser of Assyria even after King Ahaz had everything prepared in readiness for the man of sin, the son of perdition, to sit himself in the temple of God, showing himself to be God. He continued to exert a profound influence on all succeeding generations through his written words.

“In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign….sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel…Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war…So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me. And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin. And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus..And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.” (II Ki 16:1-20)

“…in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel [i.e. as Hoshea is recruiting allies to rebel against Assyrian domination], that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign…And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan [just a piece of metal]. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And it came to pass…that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah…Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field. And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?…if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God…? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it…Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand? But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not…And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent…to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. So Rabshakeh returned, and…he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying…Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only. Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel. I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest…And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.” (II Ki 18-19)

“Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God…Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses…And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded…saying, Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book. And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect. And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again. Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.” (II Chr 34)

• Jeremiah was the prototypical prophet of doom. Doom, because his listeners refused to repent, to turn from wickedness to righteousness, to change direction in the tug of war, and inexorably, according to the rules of war, God turned them over to the control of the enemy.