Mystery Jerusalem Rising Ch 5- Into the Promised Land

Exodus 1 takes up the narrative of the descendants of Jacob (Israel) in Egypt. We quickly discover two things about these “Israelites.” They prosper and multiply heavily while in Egypt. Because of this prosperity, the Egyptian Pharaoh becomes jealous and fearful of them. As a result, they are forced into slavery.

“Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob:  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;  Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.  All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).  And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.  But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;  come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”  Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.  But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.  So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.  And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them servewas with rigor.”

- Exodus 1:1-14

Even though the people of God went into slavery, God never abandoned them. God blessed Jacob in spite of all his lying and scheming. God appeared to him at Bethel. Jacob referred to the place as the house of God. Jesus use to imagery of the ladder with angels of God ascending and descending to refer to Himself as the gateway to God.

“So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.  Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.  Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.  Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.  And he called the name of that place Bethel;”  - Genesis 28:11-19

God continued to bless and multiply the descendants of Jacob – so much that, according to Exodus 1:22, the Pharaoh decided to kill off the males. God had not forgotten them, but sent them a deliverer. It was during this holocaust that the man God appointed to deliver them, Moses, was born.

Exodus 2 documents the first 80 years of his life. Moses spent the first 40 years in Pharaoh’s house. At some point in time, Moses realized that the Hebrew slaves were his native people; he also likely sensed the call of God to deliver them*. One day, Moses decided to take the deliverance of the Israelites into his own hands. According to Exodus 2:11-15, “…it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.  So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.  And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”  When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.”

The next forty years he lived in Midian. While there he rescued the daughter of Ruel, priest of Midian, from some shepherds that were trying to deny them the use of Midian’s wells. Moses lived with Ruel and married his daughter, Zipporah. Moses' life from age 40 to 80 was relatively uneventful.

When Moses was about eighty years old, God revealed Himself. Moses saw a bush burning that was not being burned. When he approached the site, God spoke to him out of the burning bush, calling him to deliver His people.

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’

 “So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’And he said, ‘Here I am…’

“…And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.  Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.’” - Exodus 3:2-4,7-10

Supernatural deliverance from Egypt
When Moses returned to Egypt, he did not take up again the power of the flesh as he did forty earlier. God revealed to Moses His power and then commanded Moses to use this power.

“Then Moses answered and said, ‘But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’ So the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ He said, ‘A rod.’

And He said, ‘Cast it on the ground.’ So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.  Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail’ (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ‘that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’”

- Exodus 4:1-5

Moses used God’s power to deliver Israel. Ten plagues fell upon the Egyptians. These plagues included blood, frogs, lice, boils, etc.  After the last plague, Pharaoh finally let the people go; he then relapsed and pursued them until his army drowned in the red sea.

Salvation by Grace through Faith at the Passover
When God first began plaguing the Egyptians, he discriminated against the Egyptians. By this I mean Egyptians suffered because they belonged to Pharaoh; the Israelites were exempted from these because they were the descendants of Jacob. The last plague, the angel of death, was different. The Lord required participation on the part of the delivered. He required this to show salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

“ For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” - Exodus 12:12-13

The angel of death was entering Egypt to kill the firstborn of every house. This time, God did not discriminate on the grounds of ancestry or nationality. The death angel “passed over” every house that had lamb’s blood on the doorpost; but invaded every house that did not have lamb’s blood on its door post, killing any first-born that were in the house.  If a God-fearing Egyptian followed the instruction Moses delivered and put lamb’s blood on the door post of his house, then God passed over his house*. If a godless Israelite refused to heed Moses instruction, his house suffered the wrath of God. The lamb’s blood represented God’s grace that was poured out through the shedding of the blood of Christ, and applying the lamb’s blood represent faith in God.

Partaking the Passover involved entering into, or confirming, the covenant of Abraham. Exodus 12:48 spells out rules about who may take the Passover. “And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.”Egyptians, Ethiopians, and other nationalities who took the Passover, because they feared the God of Israel, were from that day forward counted as heirs to  the Abrahamic covenant. They shall be “as one that is born in the land.”

Faith in the Wilderness
The necessity of entering into, and standing on, the covenant by faith applied to the wilderness. God was leading them to conquer nations stronger than they were to see whether they would trust God or not.

Numerous times, the people showed that they did not have the faith necessary to enter the land. Numbers 13-14 records the occasion when Moses sent twelve spies to spy out the land. All twelve spoke of the abundance of the land. Two of them, Joshua and Caleb, spoke with faith that the Lord would deliver the land(13:30; 14:6-8). The other ten, however, gave an evil report that destroyed the faith of the camp. They told the Israelites that there was no possibility that they could take the land (13:31-33). Their unbelief stirred up full rebellion against God.

The rebellious Israelites decided to “make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”(14:4). While their bodies were delivered from Egypt, their hearts were still enslaved to Egypt. They were prepared to stone Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb to get them out of the way (14:10). Before they could carry out their murderous plot, the glory of the Lord appeared. God pronounced His judgment on them for their refusal to believe his promises.

God decided to disinherit them. He actually contemplated wiping them out, but Moses interceded for them. God did effectively disinherit them by letting their bodies die in the wilderness. (14:11-35). Caleb and Joshua were the only ones who were over 20 who would enter the land.  The rest were rejected for refusal to believe.

Entering the Promised Land
After the forty years of wandering was finished, God raised up Joshua to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. The book of Joshua documents these battles. The land is secured, but God stops short of completely wiping out all of Israel’s enemies.

Mystery Jerusalem Rising Ch 4 - Into famine and bondage.

Abraham’s obedience to God was not perfect. His son, Isaac, also fell short. They both had faith which was anointed by the Holy Spirit, but they did not have access to all of the components of God’s program. For example, they did not have the blessing of the Holy Spirit taking up permanent residence as believers in Christ do today. Neither did they have the scope of revelation that we do today. The Patriarchs of the Judeo-Christian meta-narrative had an immature, undeveloped faith-system.

Because their faith-system was immature, God dealt with them as a parent must deal with a small child. Paul describes this process:

“What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.  Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.

Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.  But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor…

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,  but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” - Galatians 3:19-25; 4:1-5

There are two principles here. One was that because of sin, the law was added. This refers to the Mosaic covenant which was future to Isaac. The second was that until Christ, the people of God were generally regarded as small children who were not capable of walking solely through faith. This law was given as a choolmaster who would instruct and correct. God, as our loving heavenly Father, metes out disciplinary action in accordance to the law which was given as a schoolmaster.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“ ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;For whom the Lord loves He chastens,And scourges every son whom He receives.’

 “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.  Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ” - Hebrews 12:1-11

God metes out disciplinary action through actions in history. In this chapter, I will show how the patriarchs fell short of the glory of God, and in the next chapter I will show that God established the Mosaic covenant as a “schoolmaster” to guide the people until they were mature enough for a covenant of faith.

Abraham’s first compromise involvestaking the promises of God into his own hands. At his wife Sarai’s urging, he sexually approached her maid Hagar. She conceived Ishmael. This resulted in tension between Sarai and Hagar. This tension ended when Hagar was forced out of Abraham’s household.

“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.  Therefore she said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.’  And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.  Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.’” - Genesis 21:9-13

 Ishmael became the father of the Arabic world, which today is predominantly Islamist. Before Ishmael was born, God told Hagar that Ishmael “shall be a wild man;His hand shall be against every man.” Abraham’s compromise set the stage for numerous wars in the Middle East that have been going on for the past four thousand years, from the day Ishmael mocked Isaac to the current chaos in the Middle East.

Abraham and Isaac: Like father, like son
Both Abraham and Isaac made the same compromise when in the land of Gerar1.  They both lied to Abimelech2 about their wives. They each told Abimelech the lie that “she is my sister” because each believed that Abimelech would kill them to take the wife. (Gen 20:1-18;26:1-10)

Liars, and Family Favorites
Isaac married Rebekah and became the father of twins: Isaac favored one while Rebekah favored the other:

“Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.  Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.  But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

And the Lord said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb,Two peoples shall be separated from your body;One people shall be stronger than the other,And the older shall serve the younger.’

So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.  And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.  Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.  And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” - Genesis 25:20-28

These opposing favoritisms set the stage for sibling rivalry between Esau and Jacob. This rivalry created the temptation for Jacob to become a schemer and liar. He used this to con Esau out of the blessing.

Rebekah helped him con Esau. She coached him on how to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing (Gen 27). Isaac asks Esau to hunt and prepare choice game so that he can eat it and give him the blessing he received from Abraham. She has Jacob kill from his flock; she prepares it to taste like cooked, wild game. She then dresses Jacob in Esau’s cloths. Jacob goes to Isaac, pretending to be Esau, and gets the blessing through deception.

These compromises amounted to the people of God taking the promises into their own hands. God promised Isaac; Abraham took matters into his own hands and got Ishmael; God told Rebekah that Jacob would dominate Esau; Jacob took matters into his own hands; deception and treachery became the family heritage.

There was kidnapping and murder in the family. By the time Jacob’s sons were grown, the corruption of sin was reaching an advanced stage of treachery. There are three major incidents that show their treachery: the Dinah incident, Judah’s affair, and the selling of Joseph into slavery.

The story of Dinah is found in Gen 34. When Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, was grown, she went out on the town to meet other young women in the land. Shechem, the son of the prince of that land was attracted to her. They ended up having pre-marital sex. When Shechem’s father attempted to make arrangements to acquire Dinah as a wife for him, the sons of Jacob acted deceitfully. They told the men that they needed to be circumcised first, and then Dinah would be married to Shechem. While the men were recovering from their circumcision, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi physically attacked and killed all of the men in the town. Their brothers joined them in both plundering the wealth in the town and the capture of the women and children. These women and children were likely sold into slavery to local traveling slave traders3.

The selling of women and children into slavery was preparation for the mistreatment of their own brother. Gen 38 is the story of how the second from the youngest of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, had a dream that he would rule over his brothers. Because Joseph was the first-born of Jacob’s love, Rachel, he was Jacob’s favorite sons. The favoritism, coupled with knowledge of Joseph’s dreams, drove his brothers to extreme jealousy. They threw him into a pit and sold him to Ishmaelite who sold him to an Egyptian.

Descent into famine, slavery, and idolatry in Egypt
Because the household of Abraham was wandering farther and farther away from God’s righteousness, it became necessary for God to assert Himself as a stern Father to them. The first of many instances of a pattern of chastisement was about to begin. God’s people would initially follow Him; only to subsequently wander from Him, resulting in descent to bondage or slavery. They would cry out to Him and He would deliver them.

Gen 39-50 documents the story of Joseph in Egypt. God was with Joseph in Egypt in his trials; these trials eventually open up the opportunity for Joseph to become Prime Minister of Egypt. When famine hits hard that area of the world, Joseph is in an ability to assist his family, and they relocate to Egypt where they end up becoming slaves themselves.

References

1 http://www.bibleplaces.com/gerar.htm.
2 Abimilech may have been a title rather than a name.
3 While there are no specific references to the selling of women and children into slavery, the text doers say that Dinah's brothers "spoiled the city." Women and children captured in war were commonly seen in the ancient world as spoils to be sold into slavery. This would also explain the ease in which Joseph was sold into slavery. The slave traders may have had a previous transaction history with Joseph's brothers.

Mystery Jerusalem Rising Ch 3 - Abraham - the Pre-Gospel preached

While God communicated with people on an individual basis since Adam, it is with Abraham that the history begins in earnest. When God called Abraham, he called him not only as an individual but as the father of the people of God. Consider the call of Abraham:

“Get out of your country,From your family And from your father’s house,To a land that I will show you.I will make you a great nation;I will bless you And make your name great;And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

- Genesis 12:1-3

God sought to both bless Abraham and make him a blessing. Abraham was to be a blessing to all of the families of the earth. There are two lessons often missed by those who study this passage. These are lessons which will be revisited throughout the remainder of this book. The first is that Jews missed the purpose of the Abrahamic covenant and turned it into a self-absorbed obsession. The second is that Abraham does indeed become a blessing to all of the families of the earth. He does this through his descendant, Jesus Christ, who “…redeemed us to God by Your bloodout of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9-10)

Eph 2:8-9 reveals two administrations of God: grace and faith. This passage tells us that salvation is “by grace through faith – and that [faith] not of yourselves.” What this text is saying is that God’s grace is the foundation of salvation and faith is the means that God ordained that man is to receive grace. Both of these administrations are manifested in the life of Abraham. While Abraham was not given specifically bio-graphical information about Jesus Christ, he was taught the core elements of the gospel almost two thousand years before it was revealed in the New Testament. Christ Himself is witness to the fact that Abraham received the gospel in advance when He said “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad (John 8:56)”

Abraham saw that God’s grace, His provision, was the basis of salvation. God once tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Isaac. When Isaac asked Abraham “where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham replied “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Abraham understood that salvation is by grace while his contemporaries were pursuing salvation by works and useless rituals.

“Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you…’

“So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’So the two of them went together.

 “Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’So he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, ‘In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’ ”

- Genesis 22:2,6-14

The immediate provision for Abraham was a ram, but Abraham believed for a lamb. This foreshadows the coming of Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Abraham became the prototype for salvation by faith. Gen 15 records God commencing his covenant with Abraham. God gave Abraham a promise “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them…So shall your descendants be.”(Gen 15:5) In verse 6, it is written “he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”  God counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness. Abraham is the prototype for everyone to follow. Faith was established by God as the foundational method for people to attain righteousness.

In verse 6, it is written that Abraham (Abram) “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”  God counts one’s faith as righteousness. This is called in the New Testament Justification by faith. What does the Bible mean when it says that we are justified by faith? What happens in the Court of God. The Reformers taught that justification was merely a legal process (positional righteousness) without any connection to actual righteousness, but there are difficulties with that view. The Biblical teaching is that justification by faith follows similar principles to those involved in buying a house. Why?  God is buying back his creatures that were lost in sin.

There is a transaction that takes place when God justifies us. Faith is the pledge of ourselves to God. Through faith we pledge that we will follow Him and God gives us an earnest deposit-The Holy Spirit. Just as the buyer of a house pays earnest money to hold the property until the deal can be finalized God gives us the Holy Spirit to seal the deal on what He is buying-US

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”

-2 Corinthians 1:22 KJV

“Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”

- 2 Corinthians 5:5 KJV

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,  Which is the  earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

-Ephesians 1:6-14 KJV

When a buyer gives earnest money, the seller commits to hold or reserve the property for the buyer until the deal is final. What does this mean for justification by faith? Since we must come to God by faith, faith is our pledge in the transaction. When the buyer-in this case God-pays the earnest -We must pledge our lives to God as His property. God then plants into us the Holy Spirit, who works in us so that faith becomes outwardly expressed as works of righteousness

Justification by Faith Prelude to Righteous Living
The Protestant Reformers taught that Justification by Faith was merely legal or declared righteousness without any connection to righteous living. This is false but there is a kernel of Truth: God counts us as righteous before we do any works. However, the Justice of God bars God from declaring one righteous if there no corresponding righteousness. Even by human standards a judge would be viewed as corrupt or treasonous if he were to grant amnesty to someone who was a habitual criminal who then continued to commit crimes after he was pardoned.

If the idea of a human judge declaring one just without regard to the law or the fact is outrageous then it is blasphemy to attribute that to God. Justification by faith must uphold God's Law and correspond to actual facts. Something must count as righteousness in order for a just God to declare one righteous. If a man is not justified by works, then what counts as righteousness?

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

- Genesis 15:6

It is faith that counts as righteousness. Part of God’s grace is that He has given everyone a measure of faith. Faith is the seed of righteousness. When God sees that righteousness in seed form in one’s faith, He counts it as the mature righteousness that will emerge from it. We are justified by faith alone before we do any works, but the seed of those works are embedded in that faith are the works God has called us to do. This seed is the Holy Spirit given as earnest payment for us. The Holy Spirit “works in you [the believer] both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).”  This is why Jesus said that faith is the work God requires:

“ ‘Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.’ Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.’ ”

-John 6:27-29

 If faith is the work God requires, then the nature of living faith is the cause of works. Living faith is a pipeline through which the Holy Spirit works. James describes how faith works.

“ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?  Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?  Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?  And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

- James 2:14-26

James makes an analogy between faith without works and a dead body. According to this analogy, works is the spirit of living faith. The works that are the spirit of living faith are not the mature, outward works but righteousness in seed form. This is the Holy Spirit given as earnest to empower that faith to accomplish the works God has prepared (Eph 2:9). James describes this action as faith working together with works, meaning seed-form righteousness, to accomplish outward works. This process fulfills the implications of justification by faith. This is why James says of Abraham “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ ”

Compare Gen 15:6 which says

“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

With Gen 26:2-5 which says

“Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.  And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;  because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.’ ”

Gen 15:6 describes the beginning of faith. God’s declaration that the believer is righteous, apart from any works requires that God “works in you [the believer] both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).”  God’s declaration that Abraham was righteous resulted in God’s intervention in a chain of events that resulted in Abraham’s obedience, obedience that confirmed the covenant.

Abraham father of those who believe
One of the mistakes that the Jews, and many modern Christians, make is the thinking that the covenants are automatically extended to whatever group they reckon as the children of Abraham. The Jews, in particular, believed that they automatically inherited the promises given to Abraham. This was based upon the promise that the covenant with Abraham was with both Abraham and his descendants. God, however, has a different idea. Let’s consider this passage in Genesis. 

“Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall beher name.  And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.’

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

“Then God said: ‘No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.’ Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.” 

-Genesis  17:15-22

When God said that Abraham’s covenant would apply to his descendants, He was not altering his genetic to pass on a biological trait to his children. We see clearly from this passage that mere paternity match was not enough. Ishmael was Abraham’s biological son, but he was flat rejected from inheriting the covenant. Isaac was to be the heir to the Abrahamic covenant.

Even with Isaac, it was not an automatic path put into his DNA that assured that he would actually receive this blessing. The Lord promised Abraham that “My covenant I will establish with Isaac.” God will establish the Abrahamic covenant with Isaac as His covenant with Isaac. The words ‘I will’ is also future tense. The Abrahamic covenant has not yet been confirmed in Isaac’s life. Isaac must embrace the Abrahamic covenant as his own covenant with God. As Abraham embraced his covenant with God through faith, so Isaac must also through faith embrace covenant with God. 

While Isaac was Abraham’s biological son, in terms of the covenant Isaac became the son of Abraham through faith. Because faith is the path to legally recognized relationship to Abraham in terms of the covenant, we can also come to Abraham through faith. I have more on this in chapter 10. In the next chapter, I will show that Abraham’s faith was just the beginning of God’s dealings with his people. Abraham’s obedience was not perfect, and it became necessary for God to bring about the next phase of His plan.

<<Chapter 2 | Table of contents | Chapter 4>>

Mystery Jersalem Rising Ch 2 - How God works in history – the Elijah Principle

The god of Mystery Babylon is portrayed as marching through the mainstream current of history. The Judeo-Christian God, while exercising sovereign supervision over all of history, focuses His plan into a counter-cultural current. God moves “against the grain.” God utilizes what I call the Elijah Principle with those He loves as His program for sustaining them and exalting them in due time. In 1 Kings 18 Elijah has a contest with the false prophets at Mt Carmel. Elijah would call upon God and the false prophets would call upon Baal. The God who answers by fire is the true God of Israel.

The deck is horrendously stacked against Elijah.  He is outnumbered 850 to 1. The false prophets are given most of the day to do their thing. When it is Elijah’s turn, God tells Elijah to further stack the deck against his own self.  Elijah drowns the sacrifice with water. There is no possible way for Elijah to win this contest unless his God is God. God then answers powerfully.

What happened to Elijah is the pattern for the saints. There is an initial call to faith. After a ‘honeymoon’ season, the Lord will stack the deck against His own people for a season, so that He may be glorified through the victory of the saints. God uses the suffering and triumph of the saints to prove His mighty power to an unbelieving world. If you feel like the deck is royally stacked against you, then it may be that God is bestowing upon you the same love He has given the great saints of old.

We must through perseverance and tribulations enter the Kingdom of God. Enduring trials produces hope. Our assurance that hope is justified is that God loves us and has put His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Because God loves and has enabled us to love, we can hope for God to manifest deliverance with an expectation that God will come through for us.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  

 - Romans 5:1-5

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” 

- James 1:2-4

The reason that tribulations produce hope is that God pours His love into our hearts. Our assurance that God has poured His love into our heart is that He is treating us like the great saints. When one studies the lives of the saints in the scriptures, a clear pattern commonly emerges as they walk towards victory. There are three stages as they fight the good fight of faith. There is the initial move of faith followed by a season of trials in the wilderness. At the end of this season the child of God reaches the turning point where God brings the victory.

The Initial Call to the walk of faith begins when God reveals his vision to His child. Sometimes this call goes out in the midst of pre-existing trials. Other times it is immediately followed by trials. Usually there is a ‘honeymoon ‘ period where there are initial steps of faith towards the goal before the storm hits.

The initial call is followed by trials, tribulations, opposition, and Satanic attacks. Sometimes this can last for years. Much of the history of the saints involves God’s people waiting while enduring tribulations. These tribulations serve both a corrective purpose as well as the context through which God’s power is demonstrated.

After the season of tribulation, there comes a turning point where God brings the victory. Below are several saints whose lives followed this pattern. There are several examples of these three stages in both the Scripture and in subsequent church history.

Joseph

Initial Call: God gave Joseph a dream that he would rule over his brothers.

Tribulation: Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery and for 13 years became slave and prisoner in Egypt. His leadership experiences as a slave and prisoner prepared him to become Prime Minister of Egypt.

Victory: Joseph became Prime Minister when he both interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and gave wise counsel to pharaoh.

Moses

Initial Call: Moses saved from death in order to be Israel’s deliverer. When Moses was a baby, his parents hid him for three months. When they could no longer hide him, they placed him in a basket. He grew up in Pharaoh’s house.

Tribulation: After killing one of the Pharaoh’s taskmasters, Moses fled into the wilderness and lived as a shepherd for 40 years.

Victory: God called him back to Egypt to deliver the Israelites. Through great signs and wonders performed by Moses, God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage.

Ruth

Initial Call: Determined to follow Naomi, Ruth makes profession of faith in the God of Naomi. “ For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people,  And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried.  The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” was Ruth’s good confession.

Tribulation: Ruth left her home land and heritage to live as a beggar in a strange land. Naomi and Ruth arrive back in Israel at the end of a famine. The famine devastated the house of Naomi. She lost her husband and both her sons. The only thing Naomi had not lost  was her daughter-in-law Ruth and her own life. Ruth took care of Naomi by gleaning wheat in the fields of Boaz. 

Victory: She married Boaz and become mother to both the Royal House of David and the Messiah.

David

Initial Call: David was anointed as God’s choice for king. He began his career by killing Goliath and performed exemplary duty as a warrior. God gave David such great success as a warrior that the Israelites were saying ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Sam 18:6-8)

Tribulation: Because Saul was jealous of David, he pursued and sought to kill him. David lived for a number of years as a fugitive. During this time he softened his enemies and acquired skills that would benefit him as king.

Victory: When Saul died the House of David became stronger while the House of Saul became weaker. Finally the elders of Israel crowned David King of Israel.

Jesus Christ

Initial Call: Jesus Christ was chosen by God to be Savior of the world.

Tribulation: Jesus left the glory of heaven to be clothed in human flesh. He also suffered fierce opposition as He did mighty works of God. He eventually suffered an agonizing death on the cross.

Victory: His death on the cross conquered sin and Satan’s power. He conquered death by Resurrection from the dead.

Early Church

Initial Call: The Church was chosen to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

Tribulation: Christians suffered tremendous persecution at the hands of Jews and the Roman government for 300 years. Christianity is unique among the major world religions in that it was the only one to suffer multiple generations of persecution in its developmental stage.

Victory: The growth and triumph of the Church displaced the pagan culture of Rome.

The Church in Reformation

Initial Call: The Church that overcame Rome eventually fell into backsliding in the same manner that Israel had previously done. By the end of the medieval period, there was very little about what came to be called the Roman Catholic Church that bore any resemblance to Christ’s life and teachings. Human conventions had replaced the Scripture and the anointing of the Holy Spirit as the government of the church. It was in this context that God raised up John Wycliffe to call the church back to Scripture. Wycliffe’s followers were called Lollards.

Tribulation: In 1384, Wycliffe was burned at the stake. His followers, the Lollards, were driven out of England. The Lollards went to Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) where they helped John Hus start a reformation in Bohemia. After Hus’ death, the Hussite wars were fought until 1431. The forces of Reformation continued to endure in Bohemia, but the remainder of Europe was still in bondage.

Victory: On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Thesis on the door of the church in Wittenberg. This caused a chain of events that led to a political paradigm shift. Those who revered the Bible as the infallible constitution of the faith and the written revelation of the gospel could now both be salt and light to the culture of the “West,” leading to its ascendancy and a growing capability to support a large, global missionary movement.

End Time Revival

Initial Call: While charismatic empowerment of the Holy Spirit has been manifest throughout church history, at the start of the twentieth century, a large scale awakening began in the church to seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In 1906, God poured out His Spirit in a revival at Azusa Street. This revival jump started the largest move of the supernatural since the book of Acts.

Tribulation: The main issue that has arisen against this move of God is the clash against the very thing that cooled down the first revival: the replacement of the rule of the Word and the Spirit with human institutions. This can take several forms. It can be that of institutional authority rejecting or otherwise desiring to limit the flow of the charismata or the recognition of the apostolic and prophetic offices; it can also be self-appointed prophets who heed neither the correction of Scripture, the witness of the Lord, nor the witness of others who have the witness of God. They are like those lawless relativists, doing “whatever is right in their own eyes”  rather than following the commands of the Lord (Deut 12:8).

Victory: In order for God’s church to shine in all of her glory, much of the existing man-made structures that frame the church must be tossed, and new structures instituted that more accurately mirror the New Testament church. The Lord Jesus instructs us that no one puts new wine into old wineskins or new cloth onto an old garment (Matthew 9:16-17, Mark 2:21-22, Luke 5:36-39). This is because the fermentation produced by the new wine will destroy the old wineskin and shrinkage of the new cloth will tear it from the old. Jesus is not thinking primarily about wine or textiles when He said this. He is saying that the old religious structures cannot contain the new work of God.

The Elijah principle works today

Just as Elijah stacked the deck against himself and put both the Lord and Baal to the test at God’s command, so God will stack the deck against the church. He gives her supernatural power to endure persecution and trial; when the time comes for a showdown between the church and the hostile cultural forces, He gives her the victory. In Jesus’ parable of the two houses, one built on sand and the other built upon the rock, it was the storm that revealed the house that was built upon the rock. A great social, political, and economic storm is coming. In fact, it has already begun. This storm must do its work in demolishing the old man-made structures so that the new wave of God’s work, and the new ministries that it will produce, can emerge.

If the call of God is on your life but you feel marginalized by church as usual. Hang in there. The conditions are ripe; the Lord will soon raise you up, if you do not give up.

<< Chapter 1  | Table of contents | Chapter 3>>

Mystery Jerusalem Rising Ch 1 - A Tale of Two Religions

Many people in this age believe that the religious landscape is very diverse. This is one of the chief arguments used to rebuff the authority of Christianity and the Bible. However, I believe that this diversity is rather misleading. While the religious landscape would seem diverse when measured in terms of differing perspectives and interpretations, when seen in terms of basic meta-narratives, there are only two religions: Mystery Babylon and Judeo-Christian meta-narrative

Mystery Babylon

In Mystery Babylon Rising, I wrote that most religions of the world hold to   evolutionary naturalism as their meta-narrative1. This meta-narrative asserts that the godhead is a product evolution, is itself undergoing evolution, and the product of its evolution is the created universe. The evolutionary process is the march of god in history. I also wrote that the logical conclusion of faith in the evolutionary process leads to belief in the emergence of both a global state and a world leader as god on earth.

Materialists are not the only ones who uphold naturalistic religion. Most of the major world religions uphold a naturalistic spirituality: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, NeoPaganism, and Hermeticism/Gnosticism, and various strains of mysticism.

Mysticism appears in almost all religious traditions. Mysticism asserts that we live in a two story universe. The lower story is the domain of facts and reason discernible through the natural senses or the scientific method; these are given generally to people. The upper story is beyond naturalistic reason and given only to an enlightened elite. Wherever Mysticism appears in naturalistic religion, it is always a disguise for Hermeticism or Gnosticism.

Materialism appears to deny the upper story, but there are three reasons to believe that materialist, in actuality, embrace the upper story. The impossibility of living life in a logically consistent manner in just the lower story, the mysticism underlying the materialist’s faith in  science and evolution, and the political convergence between the materialistic interpretations of evolution and that of other naturalistic religions.

It is impossible to live life in a logically consistent manner in just the lower story. Because the lower story consists only of what is scientifically testable, many things in ordinary life are outside of the lower story. There is no scientific method that can confirm whether it is possible for one to be truly in love. Furthermore, there is no scientifically testable way to infer an “ought” from an “is;” ethics cannot be scientifically proven.

Mysticism underlies the materialist’s faith in science and evolution. This is because science cannot be used to prove science is valid. Science is based on inductive reasoning. In 1959, Karl Popper demonstrated the futility of inductive reasoning from a materialist perspective. Popper, in his book The Logic of Scientific Discovery, proceeded to unveil his criterion of falsification. Even then, he qualified his endorsement of falsification by calling it a “convention” rather than strict logic. Materialistic science is based on a blind leap of faith.

Evolution is based on an even blinder leap of faith. Evolution, of the scale and type described by the theory of evolution, has not and cannot be tested by actual observation. Scientists take a blind leap of faith concerning events of the distant past based on an interpretation of current scientific knowledge, with no clue whether that knowledge is representative of the whole.

There is also a political convergence between the materialistic interpretations of evolution and that of other naturalistic religions that exist as a result of the commonality of thought amongst different branches. This convergence will put pressure on materialists to move closer to their pantheist brothers   by mean of a mystic leap of faith.

Materialists are already making gesture to bridge the gap between them and other naturalistic religions. A movement called trans-humanism is seeking to turn humanity into gods through the use of advanced technology.

Mystery Jerusalem: the Judeo-Christian Meta-narrative
The Judeo-Christian meta-narrative begins with the existence of a Self-Existent God who created the universe. God also created man in his image. While we do not have the same essence as God, the state of being created in God's image means that we have the categories of God. These categories are hardwired into us, giving us a minimal amount of hardwired knowledge. The knowledge of the law of non-contradiction leads us to the knowledge of God. In my book, The Logic of God, I describe how man's hard-wired knowledge leads to God

God not only reveals himself to individual consciences, but acts within human history. He reveals Himself both to specific individuals and to groups of people. Because God is perfectly coherent, His actions leave a footprint on history. This book is dedicated to the historical flow of this meta-narrative. History is basically a conflict between the meta-narrative of the  Judeo-Christian God and the god of Mystery Babylon. This battle is getting particularly intense in the age of globalization; the ecumenical movement is drawing together all of the religions that uphold the meta-narrative of Mystery Babylon together. The more the majority of the world’s religions, and people, come together, the further the Judeo-Christian meta-narrative is pushed towards the margins. During this time, as in all other times of persecution, the supernatural presence of God sustains His people until they get the victory.

Chapter 2>>

Praying for Justice

We are living in an age where it is increasingly difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find justice in the courts of man. God's people are discovering that, with increasing frequency, God is the only recourse for justice. There are many in the church, however, that have been taught that both prayers for judgment and the ministry of judgment went out with the Old Testament and God does not do the terrible judgments of the Old Testament today. We are told in many quarters, that God is now only about love and redemption and not about judgment.

However, God's love and redemption must be seen in the context of His Law and Judgment. God metes out judgments partly because He is a loving God. Because He cares about humanity, He is interested in our liberty, safety, and security. This is why He outlaws murder, maiming, robbery, and rape. This is why Scripture references judgment against oppressors in numerous places.

We are living in an age where an increasing number of people will not listen to reason. It is also  becoming increasingly difficult to appeal to righteous authorities - because there is a great scarcity of righteous authorities among earthly governments and political movements. God is our only hope for advancing justice or rescuing the oppressed. We are to seek God's power to bring justice for the oppressed. We must war against Satan through imprecatory prayer-prayers for judgment. We are not to lust after the harm of people or gloat over the misfortune of the wicked. God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. But advancing God's justice and destroying the works of the devil will inevitably involve human causualties.

The ministry of imprecatory prayer is described in Psalm 149. We are told to have the praises of God in our mouths, and a sword in our hands (singular). According to Psalm 149 All of God's saints have the honor of meting out God's retribution upon the wicked. But how is this done? Is this a call to a Judeo-Christian version of jihad? Does God want us to become terrorists or is there another way to look at this text?

Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. - Psalms 149:1-9 KJV

The Bible does not teach us to take over of the world by jihad. The Scriptures are clear that it is the Lord himself who will put down all authority and power. It is God's power and intervention that will end injustice, not the wrath of man, whether that be from Judeo-Christian jihad, Islamic jihad, Communist revolution or some other violent revolution.

The warfare described here is spiritual warfare. Ancient Israel never realized this honor completely. Many saints, in every season of time, lived as persecuted fugitives and felons. There has always been a need to seek God as the source of justice. Comparing Scripture with Scripture helps us get a clearer picture of the role of imprecatory prayers in attaining justice across the ages.

But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

- 2 Corinthians 10:2-6

Our weapons are not carnal or flesh based. The weapons are spiritual. We are to pull down both the false philosophies of the world and the vanities that exalts themselves against Christ. There are two methods to neutralize Satan's schemes in the world thought systems: The effective preaching and teaching of the gospel to persuade hearts and renew minds (verse 5) and revenging persistent disobedience through God's judgment (verse 6).

Persuasive preaching only works on those who are open to the truth. Each of us who are saved are saved because we were persuaded that we were sinners in need of a saviour and that Jesus Christ saved us through the shedding of His blood on the cross. We live in a world where the majority of  people are not open to the truth. A Postmodern and emerging Post-Postmodern culture has no place for either absolute truth or the truth of the gospel. In  those whose hearts and minds are open to ministry of the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation. It is the power that engages in  "...Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God..." and "...bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ".

Thank God we are not limited to the ministry of persuasion. Our spiritual weapons can also "revenge all disobedience" After accomplishing a work of complete  obedience of those being saved. Our warfare include retaliation upon injustice with spiritual weapons.

Examples of Imprecatory speech.

In Acts 13:6-12 we see the story of the conversion of Sergius Paulus, an official in Paphos. Paulus wanted to hear the Word of God from Paul and Barnabas, but a sorcerer named Elymas opposed the preaching of the gospel and sought to turn Paulus from the faith. Paul the apostle spoke the word of judgment and Elymas was made blind by the power of God.

 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

- Acts 13:6-12 KJV

This is not to be viewed as a unique incident but as a normal demonstration of power inherent in  "the doctrine of the Lord" (verse 12).  In 2 Tim 2::14-15 we read that Paul was hindered by Alexander the coppersmith. In this text Paul calls on God to reward him according to his deeds.

 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

- 2 Timothy 4:14-15 KJV

Matthew 23 is filled with imprecatory language. Jesus frequently (10 times) says "woe" to the Jewish religious leaders. In verses 32-39 Jesus pronounces judgment upon Israel for rejecting Him. The Lord Jesus commands that they "...Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers..." pronounces the judgment and then tells them "... Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar... 

...Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 

- Matthew 23:32-39 KJV

Situations with Imprecatory implications.
The following situations do not involve God's people calling upon Him for judgment,  but these show that even in the New Testament God is in the business of judgment upon the wicked.

But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him...

...And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

- Acts 5:1-11 KJV

Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied. 

- Acts 12:18-24 KJV

Judgment in the Church
These situations involved God's judgment being invoked in the Church. It often involved someone "being delivered unto Satan" for a season, with Satan's torments and schemes being the means of punishment for wickedness. It is not unusual for God to judge bad guys by allowing other bad guys to oppress them. The other bad guys will themselves will face judgment later. Old Testament examples of this is how God allowed Babylon to oppress wicked Judah and Jerusalem (read Jeremiah chapters 1-37; chapters 38-52; also Habbakuk; also Psalm 109:2-8;) We also see several examples of this in the New Testament. One situation involved a man at Corinth who was having sexual relations with "his father's wife," and another situation involved Hymenaeus and Alexander who were engaging in blasphemy.

It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. - 1 Corinthians 5:1-5 KJV

Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. - 1 Timothy 1:19-20 KJV

The doctrinal basis of imprecatory prayer
The New Testament is not only full of examples of Imprecatory language bringing God's judgment, but in several places teaches the use of imprecatory speech as doctrine.  

God gave  the church the power to retain or remit (send away) sins in John 20:18-24. Some believe this was given only to leaders or apostles, but Mary Magdelene, not a leader, was numbered with the disciples. Thomas, an apostle, was not numbered among those who were first given this power. The disciples assembled, then, represented the entire church rather than merely the leadership. When Jesus gave the Great Commission,  He commanded the apostles to teach their disciples everything Jesus commanded. The truth of using imprecatory language to call down God's power upon the wicked was for all of the Church throughout the church age.

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

- John 20:18-24 KJV

The Law did not completely cease to have legal force in the New Testament; only the legal construct of the Mosaic Covenant ceased. This meant that while the covenant relationship changed, the fundamental ethical and  legal principles that are contained in and embodied by the covenant endured. In Romans 7:1-6 It is written that we died to the Law so that we might be married to Christ. The law was given to be a school master to teach and train God's people until they have matured in the same way parents teach and train their children until they mature.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 

- Galatians 3:23-25

When children becomes mature, they are no longer in bondage to their parents authority. However, the principles taught during their minor years remain. In the same way, we are set free from the Mosaic judicial system when we find Christ because  the Law may now  be written in our hearts and minds.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. - Jeremiah 31:31-34 KJV

Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 

- Hebrews 10:15-17 KJV

God put His laws in our hearts and the law is to have force in our minds and hearts. The justice and judgment of God is to dwell within. The law is still there to be used; only our relationship with it is changed. We are to use it properly.

But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust...

...And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

- 1 Timothy 1:8-16 KJV

The Law still has legal force to condemn those who refuse to come to God and who still do the deeds of rebellion. The Law was intended as a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ - the background through which God's offer of mercy is to be seen  as the great offer it is. God offers us salvation and mercy because he Law requires that we die as criminals and suffer eternal punishment in the fire. Jesus Christ did not do away with the requirements of justice described in  the Law but took the punishment for our sins. There is no contradiction between giving grace to those who receive His offer and punishing those who continue to reject His offer after having received ample opportunity.

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? - Hebrews 2:1-4 KJV

The role of imprecatory language in spiritual warfare
Ephesians 6:10-18 is a call to spiritual warfare. If we use the principle of comparing Scripture with Scripture and compare it with Isaiah 59:16 we get an expanded view of what spiritual warfare is.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...

...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. - Ephesians 6:10-20 KJV

In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment...

...And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence...

...So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. - Isaiah 59:13-20 KJV

There is good reason that our spiritual armor is called the armor of God. It is because it is God's armor. When we fight in spiritual warfare we are fighting God's battles, as God's agents, using God's weapons, advancing God's justice. When we engage in spiritual warfare, we are engaging in God's vengeance.

Our target in this warfare is Satan and his kingdom. Flesh and blood are not the primary target. However a realistic view of spiritual warfare acknowledges that Satan uses flesh and blood as both weapons and warriors. Disarming Satan and destroying his weapons will inevitably involve human casualties. Isaiah 59 gives a broader view of God's vengeance, as being both against both demonic and human adversaries of God. Warring against powers and principalities will involve human casualties among those humans who chose to remain Satan's henchmen.

Spiritual warfare involves imprecatory prayer and imprecatory language against both demons and people who refuse to repent but persist in opposing God's kingdom. We are told in Isaiah 59:19 "... When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him..." When Satan and his minions, both demonic and human, come in with overwhelming force; the Spirit of God will raise a battle standard against him. The battle standard is a call to battle and identifies an army on the battlefield. 

We are living in the time where Satan is coming in like a flood. The Holy Spirit is calling God's people to battle. In these end times, let us seek the Lord God as the King of kings and Lord of lords to bring justice to the earth.

When the state eats up the individual

There is currently going on a great controversy in Kentucky. Kim Davis, the County Clerk for Rowan county, Kentucky, has been arrested and imprisoned for refusing to perform same-sex ceremonies. She cites freedom of conscience and Divine Authority as the basis for refusing the court order. A great lie has been foisted in response, disguised with a kernel of truth.

The kernel of truth is that we do not want government bureaucrats running amok, "doing what is right in their own eyes," instead of following the law. We do not want Islamist bureaucrats enforcing sharia law, Amish refusing to license or register "devil machines," or pacifists refusing to register guns, etc. There is, however, an extreme overreaction that endangers not only the freedom of conscience of people while they work in government, but freedom of conscience wherever it is expressed.

We are being told that when the life of the individual intersects the life of the state, that freedom of conscience no longer exists. We are to simply and unconditionally follow all orders regardless of their morality or justice, and the moment we cannot comply, we are to retreat the area of state.

Many people do not see through this deception because they believe that this expansion of the state affect only issues relating to the state. However, the state has expanded its tentacles into so many areas that the application of such a principle leaves very, very little left to the individual. Consider the following areas in which the state has infiltrated our lives:

• People get marriage licenses from the state, implying that we need the state's permission to marry. Marriage has now, via Obergefell vs Hodges, defined as nothing more than a construct of the state.
• We live in buildings that were built only because someone got building and zoning permits, implying we need the state's permission to possess and occupy buildings.
• We live on land whose property lines are defined by the state via deed.
• Most businesses are constituted using articles of incorporation  that define the business as a construct of the state. Many other use as Doing Business As, in that case the business name is a construct of the state.
• Most real property is financed by financiers who are licensed by the state (or Feds).
• Most people received their education and professional training in context where either the state directly financed them or the state facilitated the financing. 
• Via Roe vs Wade, personhood is nothing more than a construct of the state. Personhood is the container of legal rights. Without legal recognition of personhood, there is no Constitutional way to enforce one's legal rights in the American legal system.

If every time the individual life intersects the life of the state, the individual must surrender the claims of conscience to the state; then there is no area in which that individual can ever say no to the state. Many who support Kim Davis' incarceration believe that the total surrender of conscience to the state affects only state actors such as Ms Davis in her capacity as County Clerk, but given the numerous threads of state involvement in our lives, the strict application of this surrender makes us state actors in virtually every encounter with the state. The tyrannical statists will make the case that our personhood rights, our property rights, and our business rights are all derived from the authority of the state, and that exercise of said rights makes us state actors subject to whatever whims the state decides to impose. This is why Hillary Clinton said that businesses did not create jobs and Why President Obama said  “You didn’t build that." What we see as individuals innovating and implementing, they see as nothing more than products of  constructs of the state acting with authority derived from the state.

The only defense against the state eating up the individual is to affirm that each individual has a right of conscience and derivative rights, that the state is obligated to provide reasonable accommodation to these rights as it fulfills its duties, and that these rights are grounded in a Higher Law given by a Benevolent Lawgiver that transcends societies and states.