Roughly once a month, I subject myself to some film, book, or historical web site dedicated to the Holocaust. Tonight, I watched HBO's "Primo" starring Antony Sher, who did a profoundly breathtaking account of a man's year in Auschwitz. Like Schindler's List, or the dozens of films that try to portray the horrors of that era, it leaves me numb.
I sometimes actually believe I was given the chance to be reincarnated after dying in a Concentration Camp. Like a second chance to get it right, after seeing Hell, to understand that there is a Heaven.
I used to spook adults, when as a toddler, I'd talk about hiding and death camps. They would scold my parents for filling a child's head with knowledge of these things, but, they seemed to enter the world with me, if not from a former life, than from the consciousness of my race's psyche, through a mystical knowledge of black despair and hopelessness,
The Jews have trodden through Hell, dispatched from Eden, expelled from Jerusalem, swords blazing to prevent us from reëntry. Doomed and cursed to wander to and fro, along with our eternal nemesis, the Devil.
My niece was practically engaged to a charming and handsome German guy, who brought her to his grandparent's home, in Cologne, and she dined with old Nazis, who lavished her with their best china and delicacies. They even welcomed her into their family, into their bloodline, with their quintessential ideal blond-haired, blue-eyed genetic offspring. She must have had some hesitation, though, because, her boyfriend whispered to her, between courses, "Dunt vorry...zey only serve the Cyclon B for dezert."
My point is that they were lovely normal people, but, sixty years ago, proudly marched to the national furor and pride of vision in establishing a new civilization, a Jewless world, which would last for 1000 years.
Which is eternally ironic, considering it mirrored Christ's stated plan for a 1000 year Kingdom of the JEWS, where to gain citizenship, you must be a Jew, by birth or adoption in His Jewish bloodline.
It's sometimes hard to see the divine, other than the obvious splendor of sunrises and flowers, all the intricate beauty and perfection of the Universe and all living things under the sun. If that's not proof of God, then, I cannot convince anyone to search out the Bible for answers.
But, when the Bible seems oppressively straight, or stilted, or even contrived, with tales that have been told so many times, that they are as mythical as the tales of the roman gods, it helps to be reminded of another aspect of the battle for our planet and souls, in that the "god of this world" is defined as the "devil" in the Bible.
Even if a rose can't show God's immeasurable grace, the sign of the hellish experiences of man's inhumanity towards his fellow-man should give us proof of greatest evil.
My niece's boyfriend's family are really nice people, REALLY NICE, yet, they were part of the Nazis in his grandparent's day. How did that happen? I think people become possessed, first by hardship, then conditioning, and then propaganda. Just as those who have the Holy Spirit can experience utterances and happiness of enormous degree, those possessed of the unholy spirit, can wipe all goodness away by a takeover of their own individual sensibilities and morals.
My dad said that one thing preachers always say, that annoy him, is asking, "Do you believe in God?" He feels a more appropriate and effective opening line is, "Do you believe there IS a God?"
Most people believe there is a God, yet, more and more people do not believe in God. Part of that is the tug of human achievements and advancements in medicine and science, where man is raised to creating and defining life in his own terms. Then, the Church hasn't helped those without faith achieve a natural curiosity towards the Christian religion, either.
Yet, most people don't realize that the world system cannot help but produce ineffective, or even totally corrupt ministers of religion. These doctors of religion are the new Scribes and Pharisees, and without these accredited degrees, you cannot head a congregation. If people knew what went on in Seminary, they'd understand it is more aptly named, "CEMETERY."
The world stands in stark deliberate contrast to everything Christ is. So, how then could a worldly institution produce a spirit-filled minister?
The fact that their highest population is during pagan holidays, like Xmas and Ishtar (Easter) testify to the carnal worldliness of their mission. Some churches don't even really preach Christ anymore at all, but, social agendas. Sure they have good works, too, but, without faith, good works are dead.
Without God, there is no hope. That's what scares me the most. When I recognize the terror and cruelty of the Holocaust, and the world's endless hatred of the Jews, I know that this is the proof of Satan hunting us down.
If the demon wants to wipe us out, it is because God once blessed us.
But, this is the painful part for me. The only way back to God's graces is through the blood of our Passover lamb, the LAMB OF GOD. Only HE has the keys to the Kingdom. He is our MESSIAH. When we have lost our faith, we have no hope of ever rising higher than the hellish experience at Dachau and Birkenau, etc. And eternal Hell is the scariest concept my mind can grasp.
I first sought the mercy of God after seeing the face of a demon. Sometimes, you have to enter the pearly gates through the back door, and since God can do anything, I wonder if I was given that second chance, once before this life, when I died a Christless death in Hell on Earth, only to be put here once again to get it right.
I know Jews and Christians don't believe in reincarnation. I'm just saying. God can do anything He wants.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
William Blake: The Everlasting Gospel
I used to be scared of William Blake, because, I thought he was profane, mainly because that's what I was told. As I've gotten older, I can understand his vision more clearly, as profound insight, as my own conforms to his cynicism and grace. His vision of Christ, in "The Everlasting Gospel" is an example of this.
His life was 200 years before ours, in a revolutionary era, filled with disillusionment with governments and the world system. He felt, like I feel, that it is the end of times. Both of us are right, just as 200 years from now, someone else may also feel the same strain.
Only God knows when Christ will return, and while I believe it will be in my day, I know that 1000 years is literally God's day, or hour, or portion of a second. How do we reconcile our finite experience with the Creator, who is Infinite, other than to have FAITH, not in religion, not in rituals, which dissolve our sins, but, faith in this one man, who was the ultimate paradox. Our hearts and souls yearn for him, more than food and water, and greater than the sum of our lives, or the fear of death. Religion is blasphemy when faced with the beauty of Christ.
The Everlasting Gospel
The vision of Christ that thou dost see
Is my vision’s greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
Thy heaven doors are my hell gates.
Socrates taught what Meletus
Loath’d as a nation’s bitterest curse,
And Caiaphas was in his own mind
A benefactor to mankind.
Both read the Bible day and night,
But thou read’st black where I read white.
Was Jesus gentle, or did He
Give any marks of gentility?
When twelve years old He ran away,
And left His parents in dismay.
When after three days’ sorrow found,
Loud as Sinai’s trumpet-sound:
‘No earthly parents I confess—
My Heavenly Father’s business!
Ye understand not what I say,
And, angry, force Me to obey.
Obedience is a duty then,
And favour gains with God and men.’
John from the wilderness loud cried;
Satan gloried in his pride.
‘Come,’ said Satan, ‘come away,
I’ll soon see if you’ll obey!
John for disobedience bled,
But you can turn the stones to bread.
God’s high king and God’s high priest
Shall plant their glories in your breast,
If Caiaphas you will obey,
If Herod you with bloody prey
Feed with the sacrifice, and be
Obedient, fall down, worship me.’
Thunders and lightnings broke around,
And Jesus’ voice in thunders’ sound:
‘Thus I seize the spiritual prey.
Ye smiters with disease, make way.
I come your King and God to seize,
Is God a smiter with disease?’
The God of this world rag’d in vain:
He bound old Satan in His chain,
And, bursting forth, His furious ire
Became a chariot of fire.
Throughout the land He took His course,
And trac’d diseases to their source.
He curs’d the Scribe and Pharisee,
Trampling down hypocrisy.
Where’er His chariot took its way,
There Gates of Death let in the Day,
Broke down from every chain and bar;
And Satan in His spiritual war
Dragg’d at His chariot-wheels: loud howl’d
The God of this world: louder roll’d
The chariot-wheels, and louder still
His voice was heard from Zion’s Hill,
And in His hand the scourge shone bright;
He scourg’d the merchant Canaanite
From out the Temple of His Mind,
And in his body tight does bind
Satan and all his hellish crew;
And thus with wrath He did subdue
The serpent bulk of Nature’s dross,
Till He had nail’d it to the Cross.
He took on sin in the Virgin’s womb
And put it off on the Cross and tomb
To be worshipp’d by the Church of Rome.
Was Jesus humble? or did He
Give any proofs of humility?
Boast of high things with humble tone,
And give with charity a stone?
When but a child He ran away,
And left His parents in dismay.
When they had wander’d three days long
These were the words upon His tongue:
‘No earthly parents I confess:
I am doing My Father’s business.’
When the rich learnèd Pharisee
Came to consult Him secretly,
Upon his heart with iron pen
He wrote ‘Ye must be born again.’
He was too proud to take a bribe;
He spoke with authority, not like a Scribe.
He says with most consummate art
‘Follow Me, I am meek and lowly of heart,
As that is the only way to escape
The miser’s net and the glutton’s trap.’
What can be done with such desperate fools
Who follow after the heathen schools?
I was standing by when Jesus died;
What I call’d humility, they call’d pride.
He who loves his enemies betrays his friends.
This surely is not what Jesus intends;
But the sneaking pride of heroic schools,
And the Scribes’ and Pharisees’ virtuous rules;
For He acts with honest, triumphant pride,
And this is the cause that Jesus dies.
He did not die with Christian ease,
Asking pardon of His enemies:
If He had, Caiaphas would forgive;
Sneaking submission can always live.
He had only to say that God was the Devil,
And the Devil was God, like a Christian civil;
Mild Christian regrets to the Devil confess
For affronting him thrice in the wilderness;
He had soon been bloody Caesar’s elf,
And at last he would have been Caesar himself,
Like Dr. Priestly and Bacon and Newton—
Poor spiritual knowledge is not worth a button
For thus the Gospel Sir Isaac confutes:
‘God can only be known by His attributes;
And as for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost,
Or of Christ and His Father, it’s all a boast
And pride, and vanity of the imagination,
That disdains to follow this world’s fashion.’
To teach doubt and experiment
Certainly was not what Christ meant.
What was He doing all that time,
From twelve years old to manly prime?
Was He then idle, or the less
About His Father’s business?
Or was His wisdom held in scorn
Before His wrath began to burn
In miracles throughout the land,
That quite unnerv’d the Seraph band?
If He had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus,
He’d have done anything to please us;
Gone sneaking into synagogues,
And not us’d the Elders and Priests like dogs;
But humble as a lamb or ass
Obey’d Himself to Caiaphas.
God wants not man to humble himself:
That is the trick of the Ancient Elf.
This is the race that Jesus ran:
Humble to God, haughty to man,
Cursing the Rulers before the people
Even to the Temple’s highest steeple,
And when He humbled Himself to God
Then descended the cruel rod.
‘If Thou Humblest Thyself, Thou humblest Me.
Thou also dwell’st in Eternity.
Thou art a Man: God is no more:
Thy own Humanity learn to adore,
For that is My spirit of life.
Awake, arise to spiritual strife,
And Thy revenge abroad display
In terrors at the last Judgement Day.
God’s mercy and long suffering
Is but the sinner to judgement to bring.
Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray—
And take revenge at the Last Day.’
Jesus replied, and thunders hurl’d:
‘I never will pray for the world.
Once I did so when I pray’d in the Garden;
I wish’d to take with Me a bodily pardon.’
Can that which was of woman born,
In the absence of the morn,
When the Soul fell into sleep,
And Archangels round it weep,
Shooting out against the light
Fibres of a deadly night,
Reasoning upon its own dark fiction,
In doubt which is self-contradiction?
Humility is only doubt,
And does the sun and moon blot out,
Rooting over with thorns and stems
The buried soul and all its gems.
This life’s five windows of the soul
Distorts the Heavens from pole to pole,
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro’, the eye
That was born in a night, to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in the beams of light.
Did Jesus teach doubt? or did He
Give any lessons of philosophy,
Charge Visionaries with deceiving,
Or call men wise for not believing?…
Was Jesus born of a Virgin pure
With narrow soul and looks demure?
If He intended to take on sin
The Mother should an harlot been,
Just such a one as Magdalen,
With seven devils in her pen.
Or were Jew virgins still more curs’d,
And more sucking devils nurs’d?
Or what was it which He took on
That He might bring salvation?
A body subject to be tempted,
From neither pain nor grief exempted;
Or such a body as might not feel
The passions that with sinners deal?
Yes, but they say He never fell.
Ask Caiaphas; for he can tell.—
‘He mock’d the Sabbath, and He mock’d
The Sabbath’s God, and He unlock’d
The evil spirits from their shrines,
And turn’d fishermen to divines;
O’erturn’d the tent of secret sins,
And its golden cords and pins,
In the bloody shrine of war
Pour’d around from star to star,—
Halls of justice, hating vice,
Where the Devil combs his lice.
He turn’d the devils into swine
That He might tempt the Jews to dine;
Since which, a pig has got a look
That for a Jew may be mistook.
“Obey your parents.”—What says He?
“Woman, what have I to do with thee?
No earthly parents I confess:
I am doing my Father’s business.”
He scorn’d Earth’s parents, scorn’d Earth’s God,
And mock’d the one and the other’s rod;
His seventy Disciples sent
Against Religion and Government—
They by the sword of Justice fell,
And Him their cruel murderer tell.
He left His father’s trade to roam,
A wand’ring vagrant without home;
And thus He others’ labour stole,
That He might live above control.
The publicans and harlots He
Selected for His company,
And from the adulteress turn’d away
God’s righteous law, that lost its prey.’
Was Jesus chaste? or did He
Give any lessons of chastity?
The Morning blushèd fiery red:
Mary was found in adulterous bed;
Earth groan’d beneath, and Heaven above
Trembled at discovery of Love.
Jesus was sitting in Moses’ chair.
They brought the trembling woman there.
Moses commands she be ston’d to death.
What was the sound of Jesus’ breath?
He laid His hand on Moses’ law;
The ancient Heavens, in silent awe,
Writ with curses from pole to pole,
All away began to roll.
The Earth trembling and naked lay
In secret bed of mortal clay;
On Sinai felt the Hand Divine
Pulling back the bloody shrine;
And she heard the breath of God,
As she heard by Eden’s flood:
‘Good and Evil are no more!
Sinai’s trumpets cease to roar!
Cease, finger of God, to write!
The Heavens are not clean in Thy sight.
Thou art good, and Thou alone;
Nor may the sinner cast one stone.
To be good only, is to be
A God or else a Pharisee.
Thou Angel of the Presence Divine,
That didst create this Body of Mine,
Wherefore hast thou writ these laws
And created Hell’s dark jaws?
My Presence I will take from thee:
A cold leper thou shalt be.
Tho’ thou wast so pure and bright
That Heaven was impure in thy sight,
Tho’ thy oath turn’d Heaven pale,
Tho’ thy covenant built Hell’s jail,
Tho’ thou didst all to chaos roll
With the Serpent for its soul,
Still the breath Divine does move,
And the breath Divine is Love.
Mary, fear not! Let me see
The seven devils that torment thee.
Hide not from My sight thy sin,
That forgiveness thou may’st win.
Has no man condemnèd thee?’
‘No man, Lord.’ ‘Then what is he
Who shall accuse thee? Come ye forth,
Fallen fiends of heavenly birth,
That have forgot your ancient love,
And driven away my trembling Dove.
You shall bow before her feet;
You shall lick the dust for meat;
And tho’ you cannot love, but hate,
Shall be beggars at Love’s gate.
What was thy love? Let Me see it;
Was it love or dark deceit?’
‘Love too long from me has fled;
’Twas dark deceit, to earn my bread;
’Twas covet, or ’twas custom, or
Some trifle not worth caring for;
That they may call a shame and sin
Love’s temple that God dwelleth in,
And hide in secret hidden shrine
The naked Human Form Divine,
And render that a lawless thing
On which the Soul expands its wing.
But this, O Lord, this was my sin,
When first I let these devils in,
In dark pretence to chastity
Blaspheming Love, blaspheming Thee,
Thence rose secret adulteries,
And thence did covet also rise.
My sin Thou hast forgiven me;
Canst Thou forgive my blasphemy?
Canst Thou return to this dark hell,
And in my burning bosom dwell?
And canst Thou die that I may live?
And canst Thou pity and forgive?’
Then roll’d the shadowy Man away
From the limbs of Jesus, to make them His prey,
An ever devouring appetite,
Glittering with festering venoms bright;
Crying ‘Crucify this cause of distress,
Who don’t keep the secrets of holiness!
The mental powers by diseases we bind;
But He heals the deaf, the dumb, and the blind.
Whom God has afflicted for secret ends,
He comforts and heals and calls them friends.’
But, when Jesus was crucified,
Then was perfected His galling pride.
In three nights He devour’d His prey,
And still He devours the body of clay;
For dust and clay is the Serpent’s meat,
Which never was made for Man to eat.
Seeing this False Christ, in fury and passion
I made my voice heard all over the nation.
What are those…
I am sure this Jesus will not do,
Either for Englishman or Jew.
Is my vision’s greatest enemy.
Thine has a great hook nose like thine;
Mine has a snub nose like to mine.
Thine is the Friend of all Mankind;
Mine speaks in parables to the blind.
Thine loves the same world that mine hates;
Thy heaven doors are my hell gates.
Socrates taught what Meletus
Loath’d as a nation’s bitterest curse,
And Caiaphas was in his own mind
A benefactor to mankind.
Both read the Bible day and night,
But thou read’st black where I read white.
Was Jesus gentle, or did He
Give any marks of gentility?
When twelve years old He ran away,
And left His parents in dismay.
When after three days’ sorrow found,
Loud as Sinai’s trumpet-sound:
‘No earthly parents I confess—
My Heavenly Father’s business!
Ye understand not what I say,
And, angry, force Me to obey.
Obedience is a duty then,
And favour gains with God and men.’
John from the wilderness loud cried;
Satan gloried in his pride.
‘Come,’ said Satan, ‘come away,
I’ll soon see if you’ll obey!
John for disobedience bled,
But you can turn the stones to bread.
God’s high king and God’s high priest
Shall plant their glories in your breast,
If Caiaphas you will obey,
If Herod you with bloody prey
Feed with the sacrifice, and be
Obedient, fall down, worship me.’
Thunders and lightnings broke around,
And Jesus’ voice in thunders’ sound:
‘Thus I seize the spiritual prey.
Ye smiters with disease, make way.
I come your King and God to seize,
Is God a smiter with disease?’
The God of this world rag’d in vain:
He bound old Satan in His chain,
And, bursting forth, His furious ire
Became a chariot of fire.
Throughout the land He took His course,
And trac’d diseases to their source.
He curs’d the Scribe and Pharisee,
Trampling down hypocrisy.
Where’er His chariot took its way,
There Gates of Death let in the Day,
Broke down from every chain and bar;
And Satan in His spiritual war
Dragg’d at His chariot-wheels: loud howl’d
The God of this world: louder roll’d
The chariot-wheels, and louder still
His voice was heard from Zion’s Hill,
And in His hand the scourge shone bright;
He scourg’d the merchant Canaanite
From out the Temple of His Mind,
And in his body tight does bind
Satan and all his hellish crew;
And thus with wrath He did subdue
The serpent bulk of Nature’s dross,
Till He had nail’d it to the Cross.
He took on sin in the Virgin’s womb
And put it off on the Cross and tomb
To be worshipp’d by the Church of Rome.
Was Jesus humble? or did He
Give any proofs of humility?
Boast of high things with humble tone,
And give with charity a stone?
When but a child He ran away,
And left His parents in dismay.
When they had wander’d three days long
These were the words upon His tongue:
‘No earthly parents I confess:
I am doing My Father’s business.’
When the rich learnèd Pharisee
Came to consult Him secretly,
Upon his heart with iron pen
He wrote ‘Ye must be born again.’
He was too proud to take a bribe;
He spoke with authority, not like a Scribe.
He says with most consummate art
‘Follow Me, I am meek and lowly of heart,
As that is the only way to escape
The miser’s net and the glutton’s trap.’
What can be done with such desperate fools
Who follow after the heathen schools?
I was standing by when Jesus died;
What I call’d humility, they call’d pride.
He who loves his enemies betrays his friends.
This surely is not what Jesus intends;
But the sneaking pride of heroic schools,
And the Scribes’ and Pharisees’ virtuous rules;
For He acts with honest, triumphant pride,
And this is the cause that Jesus dies.
He did not die with Christian ease,
Asking pardon of His enemies:
If He had, Caiaphas would forgive;
Sneaking submission can always live.
He had only to say that God was the Devil,
And the Devil was God, like a Christian civil;
Mild Christian regrets to the Devil confess
For affronting him thrice in the wilderness;
He had soon been bloody Caesar’s elf,
And at last he would have been Caesar himself,
Like Dr. Priestly and Bacon and Newton—
Poor spiritual knowledge is not worth a button
For thus the Gospel Sir Isaac confutes:
‘God can only be known by His attributes;
And as for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost,
Or of Christ and His Father, it’s all a boast
And pride, and vanity of the imagination,
That disdains to follow this world’s fashion.’
To teach doubt and experiment
Certainly was not what Christ meant.
What was He doing all that time,
From twelve years old to manly prime?
Was He then idle, or the less
About His Father’s business?
Or was His wisdom held in scorn
Before His wrath began to burn
In miracles throughout the land,
That quite unnerv’d the Seraph band?
If He had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus,
He’d have done anything to please us;
Gone sneaking into synagogues,
And not us’d the Elders and Priests like dogs;
But humble as a lamb or ass
Obey’d Himself to Caiaphas.
God wants not man to humble himself:
That is the trick of the Ancient Elf.
This is the race that Jesus ran:
Humble to God, haughty to man,
Cursing the Rulers before the people
Even to the Temple’s highest steeple,
And when He humbled Himself to God
Then descended the cruel rod.
‘If Thou Humblest Thyself, Thou humblest Me.
Thou also dwell’st in Eternity.
Thou art a Man: God is no more:
Thy own Humanity learn to adore,
For that is My spirit of life.
Awake, arise to spiritual strife,
And Thy revenge abroad display
In terrors at the last Judgement Day.
God’s mercy and long suffering
Is but the sinner to judgement to bring.
Thou on the Cross for them shalt pray—
And take revenge at the Last Day.’
Jesus replied, and thunders hurl’d:
‘I never will pray for the world.
Once I did so when I pray’d in the Garden;
I wish’d to take with Me a bodily pardon.’
Can that which was of woman born,
In the absence of the morn,
When the Soul fell into sleep,
And Archangels round it weep,
Shooting out against the light
Fibres of a deadly night,
Reasoning upon its own dark fiction,
In doubt which is self-contradiction?
Humility is only doubt,
And does the sun and moon blot out,
Rooting over with thorns and stems
The buried soul and all its gems.
This life’s five windows of the soul
Distorts the Heavens from pole to pole,
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not thro’, the eye
That was born in a night, to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in the beams of light.
Did Jesus teach doubt? or did He
Give any lessons of philosophy,
Charge Visionaries with deceiving,
Or call men wise for not believing?…
Was Jesus born of a Virgin pure
With narrow soul and looks demure?
If He intended to take on sin
The Mother should an harlot been,
Just such a one as Magdalen,
With seven devils in her pen.
Or were Jew virgins still more curs’d,
And more sucking devils nurs’d?
Or what was it which He took on
That He might bring salvation?
A body subject to be tempted,
From neither pain nor grief exempted;
Or such a body as might not feel
The passions that with sinners deal?
Yes, but they say He never fell.
Ask Caiaphas; for he can tell.—
‘He mock’d the Sabbath, and He mock’d
The Sabbath’s God, and He unlock’d
The evil spirits from their shrines,
And turn’d fishermen to divines;
O’erturn’d the tent of secret sins,
And its golden cords and pins,
In the bloody shrine of war
Pour’d around from star to star,—
Halls of justice, hating vice,
Where the Devil combs his lice.
He turn’d the devils into swine
That He might tempt the Jews to dine;
Since which, a pig has got a look
That for a Jew may be mistook.
“Obey your parents.”—What says He?
“Woman, what have I to do with thee?
No earthly parents I confess:
I am doing my Father’s business.”
He scorn’d Earth’s parents, scorn’d Earth’s God,
And mock’d the one and the other’s rod;
His seventy Disciples sent
Against Religion and Government—
They by the sword of Justice fell,
And Him their cruel murderer tell.
He left His father’s trade to roam,
A wand’ring vagrant without home;
And thus He others’ labour stole,
That He might live above control.
The publicans and harlots He
Selected for His company,
And from the adulteress turn’d away
God’s righteous law, that lost its prey.’
Was Jesus chaste? or did He
Give any lessons of chastity?
The Morning blushèd fiery red:
Mary was found in adulterous bed;
Earth groan’d beneath, and Heaven above
Trembled at discovery of Love.
Jesus was sitting in Moses’ chair.
They brought the trembling woman there.
Moses commands she be ston’d to death.
What was the sound of Jesus’ breath?
He laid His hand on Moses’ law;
The ancient Heavens, in silent awe,
Writ with curses from pole to pole,
All away began to roll.
The Earth trembling and naked lay
In secret bed of mortal clay;
On Sinai felt the Hand Divine
Pulling back the bloody shrine;
And she heard the breath of God,
As she heard by Eden’s flood:
‘Good and Evil are no more!
Sinai’s trumpets cease to roar!
Cease, finger of God, to write!
The Heavens are not clean in Thy sight.
Thou art good, and Thou alone;
Nor may the sinner cast one stone.
To be good only, is to be
A God or else a Pharisee.
Thou Angel of the Presence Divine,
That didst create this Body of Mine,
Wherefore hast thou writ these laws
And created Hell’s dark jaws?
My Presence I will take from thee:
A cold leper thou shalt be.
Tho’ thou wast so pure and bright
That Heaven was impure in thy sight,
Tho’ thy oath turn’d Heaven pale,
Tho’ thy covenant built Hell’s jail,
Tho’ thou didst all to chaos roll
With the Serpent for its soul,
Still the breath Divine does move,
And the breath Divine is Love.
Mary, fear not! Let me see
The seven devils that torment thee.
Hide not from My sight thy sin,
That forgiveness thou may’st win.
Has no man condemnèd thee?’
‘No man, Lord.’ ‘Then what is he
Who shall accuse thee? Come ye forth,
Fallen fiends of heavenly birth,
That have forgot your ancient love,
And driven away my trembling Dove.
You shall bow before her feet;
You shall lick the dust for meat;
And tho’ you cannot love, but hate,
Shall be beggars at Love’s gate.
What was thy love? Let Me see it;
Was it love or dark deceit?’
‘Love too long from me has fled;
’Twas dark deceit, to earn my bread;
’Twas covet, or ’twas custom, or
Some trifle not worth caring for;
That they may call a shame and sin
Love’s temple that God dwelleth in,
And hide in secret hidden shrine
The naked Human Form Divine,
And render that a lawless thing
On which the Soul expands its wing.
But this, O Lord, this was my sin,
When first I let these devils in,
In dark pretence to chastity
Blaspheming Love, blaspheming Thee,
Thence rose secret adulteries,
And thence did covet also rise.
My sin Thou hast forgiven me;
Canst Thou forgive my blasphemy?
Canst Thou return to this dark hell,
And in my burning bosom dwell?
And canst Thou die that I may live?
And canst Thou pity and forgive?’
Then roll’d the shadowy Man away
From the limbs of Jesus, to make them His prey,
An ever devouring appetite,
Glittering with festering venoms bright;
Crying ‘Crucify this cause of distress,
Who don’t keep the secrets of holiness!
The mental powers by diseases we bind;
But He heals the deaf, the dumb, and the blind.
Whom God has afflicted for secret ends,
He comforts and heals and calls them friends.’
But, when Jesus was crucified,
Then was perfected His galling pride.
In three nights He devour’d His prey,
And still He devours the body of clay;
For dust and clay is the Serpent’s meat,
Which never was made for Man to eat.
Seeing this False Christ, in fury and passion
I made my voice heard all over the nation.
What are those…
I am sure this Jesus will not do,
Either for Englishman or Jew.
William Blake
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The False Prophet and the Adulteress Whore: Al Gore and Laurie David
This picture of the leftist Gores and Davids (Larry and ex-Laurie) was ironically juxtapositioned over an image, and story, of the BP Oil Spill disaster, where one of their ships was struck by lightening and caught fire. I found the synchronicity too beautiful to not highlight my opinion.
Now, I don't know if it's accurate that the hypocritical Al Gore, who I call, "FALSE PROPHET" was bedding Larry David's former wife, Laurie, but, it wouldn't surprise me. I don't care who these people fornicate with, to be honest, but, their hypocrisy really enrages me.
Neither Al Gore, or the creepy Laurie David, have uttered a single peep about the oil spill. As billionaires, they wouldn't want to affect the economy, by cursing a major company, BP. As leftist phonies, they wouldn't want to denigrate an ineffective and terrible President, who, aside from reading the script, has no leadership qualities, and frankly, doesn't seem to actually give a fig.
Like the outrageously quiet contingent of usual suspects in the false Green movement, like the posse of rock stars, who usually are all over these affairs, Laurie and Al have been shacked up somewhere, invisibly staying out of the topic. Meanwhile, how many billions of animals and valuable square miles of ocean are being obliterated and killed?
Sting gave a concert for the cause of "Legalizing Pot" but, nothing for the little critters, and our world's ocean. Gore is all over the place, when it comes to Cap and Trade, which means higher prices for us, while we have less and less to show for it. But, when it comes to action for the ocean- SILENCE!
There's a type of adultery in the Bible that has nothing to do with sex. It's when we turn our backs on the ethics we're married to, for a romp with a false lover. Gore and his tootsie, Laurie, have both meanings going for them.
Meanwhile, the Davids and Gores are richer than thousands of us, put together and multiplied by a thousand. They have the equivalent of thousands of individual "carbon footprints" as they call them, and feel perfectly justified in this practice. After all, they're so special.
What they are is elitist and hypocritical, not to mention, nasty and disgusting. They need to either shut up about our puny little carbon footprints, or grow some testicles and fight the worst pollution disaster in our lifetime.
They represent everything that's truly evil in the world to me, and they stink. They are the human equivalent of the oil spill.
(From the NY Daily News Headline)
BP oil spill ship hit by lightning, sparks fire shutting down containment effort
Tuesday, June 15th 2010, 3:06 PM
Martin/AP
Things actually can get worse in the Gulf of Mexico.
A fire believed to be caused by a lightning bolt forced the shutdown Tuesday of an oil-capturing system near the gushing Gulf oil well, BP said.
The fire aboard the drill ship Discoverer Enterprise was spotted around 9:30 a.m. Although it was quickly extinguished without injuries, the capture operation was halted as a precaution.
The since-shuttered system was siphoning oil from a containment cap above the well. BP said it hopes to resume the containment operation later Tuesday.
"At the moment, there's no capture, no containment going on, but we'll start up the Enterprise when it's safe to do so," said BP spokesman Robert Wine said.
The latest BP problem came just hours before President Obama's scheduled address to the nation about the environmental disaster.
His spokesman said Obama is ready to grab the handling of oil spill damage claims from BP to ensure people get necessary aid to recover from the spill.
The rig has been leaking since an April 20 explosion that killed 11, dumping millions of gallons of gasoline into the gulf.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/06/15/2010-06-15_bp_oil_spill_ship_hit_by_lightning_sparks_fire_shutting_down_containment_effort.html#ixzz0qxs9Dsov
EZEKIEL 37: The Valley of Dry Bones
One of my absolute favorite chapters was chosen today for my "magic Bible" inspiration. Ezekiel 37, and the surrounding chapters fills me with pure helium. I take off. Sometimes, even after reading the words for the 10,000th time, I weep, close my eyes, and see New Jerusalem arriving from Heaven.
This is the part about discipleship that keeps me going. Today, I was not feeling well, and needed encouragement. Instead of receiving chastisement, I was given the encouragement I needed to feel strong.
The psychological link to pain is irrefutable. I need to have radical spinal surgery this summer, and face the fear of being in a wheel chair. With surgery, I have a good shot at becoming much more functional, and I am thankful that something is available to potentially help me. But, with the glass half full, there's the empty half, which warns of becoming more crippled, enduring more pain, or even dying. I have given it to the LORD, but, that doesn't mean, I have no concerns. I'd have to be a moron not to worry a little.
Ezekiel 37 could be titled, "The Valley of Bones." It is one of the most well loved metaphors about restoration in the Old Testament. It speaks of resurrection and hope.
For me, with my spinal column collapsing, like the World Trade Center, from the top on down, it gives me the hope of indestructible bones, a pain free body, and the ability to cling to my most cherished hopes in the Coming of the LORD and His infinite mercy.
When God speaks, the messages carry the insight of both punishment and descriptions of eternal rewards. Even after punishment, there is the balm of mercy. If he destroys, it is to build up.
When I worked with clay, I understood the metaphor of the artist, who begins a work, and if there are too many flaws, the solution is to thrown the clay to the hard ground to destroy it, and then begin again. This is the parable of our own experiences. The truth is, that in our own strength and power, we cannot accomplish the task of perfecting our souls. We stumble in darkness, without the insight into our terminal flaws.
Ezekiel 37 speaks to the resurrection of national Israel, as the Kingdom of God approaches. It addresses the hopelessness of continuously fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil, only to be hunted down and killed, from one generation to the next. It addresses the endless slaughter of Jews.
Many Holocaust survivors walked away without the belief in YHWH. How can He be for us, if he has let us down, and let our enemies conquer us? How can we reconcile with God allowing 6 million souls to perish in such a cruel way? Even following the genocide of our race, no country wanted to take us in. Israel was formed as a way for the world to not deal with the Jews anymore. No country, not even England, America, or the Western alliances wanted more Jews in their countries.
They reluctantly agreed to create a Jewish homeland, knowing full well that the Palestinians would be displaced, and had to resent the occupation, a word that is now powerfully used to justify the final holocaust of the Jews.
Journalist Helen Thomas had no shame in cloaking her sentiments about Jews in Palestine, "Go back to Poland and Germany" or very plainly, Go back to Dachau and Auschwitz. Many excused her outburst as an age-related faux pas, but, the venom in her words is like the serpent's bite, and sent chills down my spine. To have some perspective, she is from a Lebanese family background, and at least she was honest. She had the guts to say what millions only speak of privately.
The truth is, the world wants the 12 million Jews to disappear, this time, for good. How eerie that God spoke of there being a "remnant" who would survive out of Abraham's seed, and there is a representative 1 million per original tribe of 12 (Jacob's sons.)
Iran's confederation with fearsome allies like Russia, China, Syria, Turkey, etc., is very discouraging when they are like the national Helen Thomases, shooting out dangerous rhetoric about Israel's annihilation.
On a deeper level, the full beauty of the Holy Spirit is expressed in the word play of the words, BREATH, SOUL, WIND, SPIRIT. All of these have one root, in the Hebrew word, "ruach"
God directs all living forces, whether from our breath, while we live, our life spirit, our souls, even the wind from heaven. This is nothing that can be classified by evolution or agnostic interpretation. Life is a miracle that God gives, and can restore, again, by supernatural forces. The Holy Spirit is part of this temporal to divine cycle. Let us never forget, or abandon hope..
On a deeper level, the full beauty of the Holy Spirit is expressed in the word play of the words, BREATH, SOUL, WIND, SPIRIT. All of these have one root, in the Hebrew word, "ruach"
God directs all living forces, whether from our breath, while we live, our life spirit, our souls, even the wind from heaven. This is nothing that can be classified by evolution or agnostic interpretation. Life is a miracle that God gives, and can restore, again, by supernatural forces. The Holy Spirit is part of this temporal to divine cycle. Let us never forget, or abandon hope..
| The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, | |
| And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. | |
| And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. | |
| Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. | |
| Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: | |
| And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. | |
| So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. | |
| And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them. | |
| Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. | |
| So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. | |
| Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. | |
| Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. | |
| And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, | |
| And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD. | |
| The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, | |
| Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: | |
| And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. | |
| And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? | |
| Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. | |
| And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. | |
| And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: | |
| And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: | |
| Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. | |
| And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. | |
| And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, [even] they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. | |
| Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. | |
| My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. | |
| And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. |
Monday, June 14, 2010
Castro Castro Prison in Peru Where Joran Van der Sloot Is Held
According to reports, Van der Sloot fears for his life. For the time being, he will have the luxury of having a secure cell, with possibly one screened cellie, but, maybe none. The cells are like being in a small closet, barely bigger than an airport lavatory, with enough room for a filthy small cot.
There is no central air or heat, only a caged window, without glass in most of them.
It is winter in Peru, and Castro Castro is up in the mountains, so, he will freeze at night. There's nothing worse than being cold, except maybe being hot. LOL. The cold is inescapable, and it gets into your bones making them scream in pain.
Many envision Hell, not as a place of eternal burning, but, a place of continuous freezing. You can be cold enough to feel the pain of being burned, like in the stages before frostbite.
More significantly, this type of incarceration is Hell on Earth, even with central heating and air-conditioning. For Joran to be willing to empty his soul of his most apprised information about Natalee Holloway, in order to get a ticket home, even if it's to a prison there, means that he is scared.
I can't think of a better punishment for him than fear. He has been arrogant and monstrous for years, not only in the original offense of causing the disappearance of Alabama beauty, Natalee, but, in taunting her heartbroken family.
The icing on the cake was his attempt to extort money from Beth Holloway, for the information that haunts her every waking moment of every day: What happened to Natalee and where is she?
The twisted irony in how that money financed another family's grief, and another girl's brutal murder, is unbearable. Even after he was apprehended, he had concocted another set of lies to mitigate his involvement, claiming to have been high on drugs, and set off by Stephany's intrusion into his personal files or email. Before he left Peru, he allegedly tried to set up the scene where he went for breakfast, and while he was out, Stephany was killed by another. He had summoned the clerk to open his room, so, he would have had an alibi (getting coffee and danish) and the hotel employee would have discovered her with him.
What goes through a psychopath's brain? It's hard to know. Their hard-wiring is off, and someone as obviously bright as Joran, can do the stupidest things one minute, but, then, have strokes of ingenuity and cunning, the next, like the devil, himself.
Even if he confesses formally to Natalee's murder, he's the little boy who cried wolf. He has no credibility. You can't trust the words of a liar.
Without a body, his confession would not be enough to convict him for her murder.
A painfully real point is that there is no body. If he dispensed with her body in the ocean, there would not be anything left. Another nagging horror is that without a body, you can't prove she was murdered.
I have been wondering how Joran has had the funds to travel and live such a playboy's life for the past five years. He even opened an Internet cafe in Thailand with funds which probably did not come from his family. They were upper middle class, but, the Aruba mess had to interfere with their overall prosperity.
Anita Van der Sloot was a teacher, who, eventually had to retire .Paulus, the dad, training to be a judge, was the most compromised. His credibility also went out the window. They must have used tens of thousands to defend themselves and Joran over the past five years. Joran never worked.
Where did he get the money to gamble, travel, open a business, and be endowed with the freedom to fly anywhere in the world unencumbered?
It hearkens back to the one lie he told which resonated, that he sold Natalee. There is still that possibility that she was the merchandise of a big money deal, maybe $100,000. That would provide him with a safety net, and vehicle to travel and live modestly for five years.
When the money was gone, he comes back to Aruba, and his dad dies. Now, the family is very financially hard-pressed, and in his sick mind, he blames the Holloways and Natalee's mom. What better person to finance the next period of his life?
It wasn't a well thought out plan, but, nonetheless, it was possible he felt he could pull it off. He considered himself a poker player, and this was another one of his bluffs. Even if he faced penalties under US law, "catch me first." He took the money and ran.
Wouldn't that be the most sadistically cruel twist, if Natalee was alive, and he reinforced the belief that she was dead by offering this bogus confession? Meanwhile, no one would ever look for her again, at least, not amongst the living.
I know that Beth has to have that nagging doubt, because, when she built a new home, she built a room for Natalee, just in case a miracle happened.
The only thing that discourages my hope that Natalee is still alive is that he described a seizure, and that sounded real. While he played with them, and said he "pushed Natalee and her head hit a rock", the likelihood is that he struck her head with a rock when she refused his sexual advances, and went into seizures, a common precursor to death from a blunt head trauma.
How ironic that if Natalee is dead, and if it suits him to prove he's the killer, to get to serve his sentence in Aruba, he may never be able to provide enough evidence to sustain that conviction, without a body. "No body, no crime."
Sitting in fear, in terror for his life, without the comforts of even a decent morsel of food to consume, is a very real preview of Hell.
"Abandon hope, all ye who enter...."
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Curse of Deuteronomy 28
I want to gain victory over some problems right now, and the best way for me is to stay Christ-centered, with regular prayer, moderation, and staying Bible-focused, then, keeping the results in my blog.
When I'm not in an organized Bible study, I sometimes play "magical Bible." That sounds SO UNCHRISTIAN-like, and if you're not overly familiar with every book of the Bible, it's unrecommended.
I developed the habit after a Jesuit Priest friend of mine said that that's what he, and his seminary brothers did. I can hear my Protestant friends protesting, but, I'm sorry, I accept anyone who professes to love the LORD as a brother, until I know better.. It's not for me to discern who's in the right camp. We all have played liberty with dogma and doctrine, and I don't think the RC Church is more far out than the Protestants. That's not to say i think either side has it together, but, that's the point.
I believe religion and churches are man-made, but, faith and godliness is between God and man, on an individual basis. Religion is a way for man to justify himself before a purely perfect Creator, while faith is the recognition of God's perfection, and our dependence on His grace.
The LORD, alone, is the trier of hearts and souls. For those who seek Him, I believe God facilitates their journey and discipleship. Even perhaps in the dubious participation of the game of "Magical Bible."
What it means is that you hold the Bible while letting it open by itself. I know, wicked Harry Potter stuff, but, it can get boring doing the same studies over and over again for 25 years.
The reason you need to have put in the work by knowing the books, first, is that, since you're obviously going to be taking a few pages out of context, you should know the surrounding story pretty well.
When I'm not in an organized Bible study, I sometimes play "magical Bible." That sounds SO UNCHRISTIAN-like, and if you're not overly familiar with every book of the Bible, it's unrecommended.
I developed the habit after a Jesuit Priest friend of mine said that that's what he, and his seminary brothers did. I can hear my Protestant friends protesting, but, I'm sorry, I accept anyone who professes to love the LORD as a brother, until I know better.. It's not for me to discern who's in the right camp. We all have played liberty with dogma and doctrine, and I don't think the RC Church is more far out than the Protestants. That's not to say i think either side has it together, but, that's the point.
I believe religion and churches are man-made, but, faith and godliness is between God and man, on an individual basis. Religion is a way for man to justify himself before a purely perfect Creator, while faith is the recognition of God's perfection, and our dependence on His grace.
The LORD, alone, is the trier of hearts and souls. For those who seek Him, I believe God facilitates their journey and discipleship. Even perhaps in the dubious participation of the game of "Magical Bible."
What it means is that you hold the Bible while letting it open by itself. I know, wicked Harry Potter stuff, but, it can get boring doing the same studies over and over again for 25 years.
The reason you need to have put in the work by knowing the books, first, is that, since you're obviously going to be taking a few pages out of context, you should know the surrounding story pretty well.
I'm not 100% sure if the LORD approves, because, more than 50% of the time, the page opens on a curse..
I'll begin by thanking the LORD for the opportunity to have the hunger and desire to partake of the sacred bread of life, and ask for wisdom and light. I close my eyes, then, with my thumb flipping through the pages, I lift up until a page opens by itself.
Today's magical verse was the curse in Deuteronomy 28. Typical.
It opens with the Blessings of Obedience, and it's delivered by Moses to an exhausted generation of sojourners, on the verge of being allowed to inherit Palestine. It exhorts their obedience to the Laws which were given by Moses, in Leviticus, and in their adherence to the society which was dictated by the LORD to Moses, on Mt. Sinai.
He encourages them by telling them how the LORD will create abundance of blessings, from healthy children, to fertile soil and rain. He lets them know that they will be the envy of the world, and their enemies will admire them, and not have the courage to infringe upon their bounty for fear of the God is Israel who protects them.
Then, it is balanced with the flip side of disobedience's consequences. It warns primarily of failing to abstain from the pagan religions of the aboriginal residents of the land, and bringing their culture and people into the holy fold, because, they would dilute and corrupt the congregation. These people were meant to be a showcase to the world of a chosen people, and purport to glorify their God over the gods of every season and cause that the pagans were in bondage towards.
For failing to adhere to the faithfulness of following Mosaic Judaism, they would subsequently be cursed. Instead of being nurtured in a lush land, filled with "milk and honey", the rain would fail, their children would die of starvation and diseases, and finally, they would be expelled from the land, and scattered to the "four winds." They would suffer the fate of adulterers, and would be mocked, despised and tortured by the people whose religions and gods they took up.
Too often, we feel as if we participate or are liberal-minded towards other's, it will endear us to them, when it's opposite. By participating in their religions, they would not regard them favorably, but, regard it as weakness, and hate them.
By standing by their Laws, God was prepared to make an example of them that would be a witness to the rest of the world, and He did, when they were compliant. When they strayed, He was true to the curses, and let them become overcome by Babylon for 70 years. Before their ultimate expulsion, famine and hunger besieged the once lush nation, true to the promise, or curse. They resorted to eating their children! How much more horror is there in store for those who despise God?
After their bondage to the King of Babylon, they were returned to Palestine, and around 5 centuries later, the Messiah was born. After he was crucified and risen, the remaining believers were persecuted unto death, and finally, the nation was again overwhelmed by Rome, cast out, and destroyed. The curse takes effect for nearly 2000 years, until 1948, when the nation of Israel was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust.
When you read the curse, it's easy for us to see the Nazis in the picture.
Just as punishment is severe, grace is always given, to pair with chastisement. God gives us so many chances to "get it" and would prefer for us to receive all the riches of heaven and Earth.
We may wonder why they would be tempted to resist the Holy God who provided such visual evidence of His existence, and bestowed so much grace and tangible miracles? Yet, the generation who came from Egypt were extremely rebellious, so much so that when Moses was communing with the LORD face to face on the mountain, they were busy making a golden calf, in homage to Isis, a goddess of Egypt. They tempted the LORD, and reluctantly went along with path, hoping for material gain, and perhaps their own dominion in a land where they would be the overlords. That wasn't the purpose of inheriting Zion.
Zion was to be the one place on Earth where the LORD rested His feet. It was in the Holy of Holies, within the innermost sanctum of the Temple where the glory of God filled the room, like smoke. Unlike today, there were not to be many houses of worship, only ONE, in Jerusalem. That was God's house. Nowhere else.
This sounds heavenly to some of us, but, humanity is tempted by carnal things. The pagan religions appealed to the flesh, and by that, I don't mean purely sexually. It has a dark mystery that excited them, and still has the same attraction today. I know. I was immersed in it when I was young, and it has specious rewards that seem to make it worthwhile and profitable at the time.
It's easy to judge them, but, we're no better. We're faced with our own temptations and desires which are contrary to the way the LORD prescribed for our lives. It's hard to resist some things when we're living side by side with people who are profane. After all, we're all just flesh and blood.
That's why it is a comfort to have a High Priest in Heaven who understands our weakness and who sympathizes with us. He also had hunger, thirst, weariness, temptations and had to overcome the path of the evil one who establishes the ways of this world by God's design.
We may not understand why God tolerates this situation, but, at least we know we have an advocate who is on our side.
The road to Zion is harder, than the neon lights of Babylon. Or as it's phrased, "Wide is the path of destruction, and narrow is the way to God." (Paraphrased.) Our duty is to learn to be obedient to God, follow the LAW, and have good works. This doesn't guarantee riches and a better sex life.
While the pagan culture satisfied the here and now, the Jewish religion established a mandate to be good without the necessary temporal rewards, Our reward was, and is, doing good works, putting God and others before our own desires, and hoping that by learning to live righteously, by our faith, we will be accepted by the LORD following our short lives on Earth.
It's the difference between party kids who spend their adolescences absorbed in pleasure and selfishness, while their counterparts sacrifice pleasure and fun for hard studies and earnest work. In the end, the party kids spend their 30s working in menial crappy jobs, and unfulfilling lives, while the ones who kept on course, sacrificing pleasures, ultimately learn it was well worth it.
This, like all principles, is a test of faith, and it's the substance of the things hopes for. Whether you are following God, or your own naval, usually, man has a dream of some kind, for the future. This gives us a wonderful future. We may not all live like kings, now, but, one day, we are promised that we will inherit the Earth.
Who knows, it may not be far off!
| And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: | |
| And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. | |
| Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. | |
| Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. | |
| Blessed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. | |
| Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. | |
| The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. | |
| The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. | |
| The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. | |
| And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. | |
| And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. | |
| The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. | |
| And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]: | |
| And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, [to] the right hand, or [to] the left, to go after other gods to serve them. | |
| But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: | |
| Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. | |
| Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. | |
| Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. | |
| Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. | |
| The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. | |
| The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. | |
| The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. | |
| And thy heaven that [is] over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee [shall be] iron. | |
| The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. | |
| The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. | |
| And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray [them] away. | |
| The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. | |
| The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: | |
| And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save [thee]. | |
| Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. | |
| Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass [shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep [shall be] given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue [them]. | |
| Thy sons and thy daughters [shall be] given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand. | |
| The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: | |
| So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. | |
| The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. | |
| The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. | |
| And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. | |
| Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it. | |
| Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress [them], but shalt neither drink [of] the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worms shall eat them. | |
| Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint [thyself] with the oil; for thine olive shall cast [his fruit]. | |
| Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. | |
| All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. | |
| The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. | |
| He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. | |
| Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: | |
| And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. | |
| Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things]; | |
| 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. | |
| The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; | |
| A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: | |
| And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. | |
| And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. | |
| And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: | |
| [So that] the man [that is] tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: | |
| So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. | |
| The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, | |
| And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things] secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. | |
| If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; | |
| Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, [even] great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. | |
| Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. | |
| Also every sickness, and every plague, which [is] not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. | |
| And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. | |
| And it shall come to pass, [that] as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. | |
| And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. | |
| And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: | |
| And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: | |
| In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. | |
| And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy [you]. |
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