Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 8 of 15, David and the Kingship

David was between a rock and a hard place!

He wanted to serve his God, and his country and his king. He was a powerful warrior before the Lord, much feared and respected by the men and women of his own country. Further, God had told David that he would be the next king over Israel. Then came the hard part. It came about that King Saul now feared David, and wanted to murder his top soldier, to secure his own kingdom.

For David, it seems, this was not an issue.

He had already been anointed as the next king by the prophet Samuel, 1Samuel chapter 16. This was really a prophecy. It had not happened yet. But David felt no need to do anything murderous and evil against Saul or his sons. God had assured him. David clearly believed it. There no need for him to do any evil things against anyone! God would make it happen at the right time.

David as an enemy of the state!

Was he willing to fight for Saul, and for his country under Saul? Why sure! That would be a good thing to do. On the other hand was he willing to fight against his own king and country? No way? Further, David had multiple opportunities to murder King Saul? Murder? Wasn’t he promised the throne? Might not this be the way to throne. Not to David. That would be murder to David. He didn’t need to murder anyone. God’s promise was good enough.

So David in the wilderness, running for his life, became
a model for New Covenant ethics.

“27 But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.”
Lk 6:27

You and I may do this in much tamer circumstances, but David did this on a battlefield, when he was running for his life from an evil king, when he had wrongfully been declared an enemy of the state. So it came about that he repeatedly spared Saul’s life when he easily could have taken personal revenge on his personal enemy. This story is told in some detail in 1Samuel chapter 18, all the way to 2Samuel chapter 1.

An example is in 1Samuel 26. Saul and his troops were pursuing David to kill him. Saul was sleeping within a circle of men within his camp, and everyone was so tired that they were soon asleep. All of them! David and Abisahi snuck inside the camp, and Abishai pleaded for permission to kill Saul with a single stroke. David contented himself with talking Saul’s spear and the jar of water at his head, and then retreating, and later, at a distance, showing Saul what he had done!

To David, as indeed it should be to any saint
of either the Old or the New Testament,
personal revenge is out of line.

As the Lord says, “Vengeance is mine …” Deut 32:35.

Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 7 of 15, Lot

Abram and Lot had parted ways. Their herds and their flocks had been too much for them to stay anywhere close to each other. Abram had given Lot the choice. The plain of the Jordan valley was what Lot chose. It was rich and fertile in those days of long ago. And Sodom, where was Sodom? No knows for sure for no trace of the city was left after God destroyed it. Many seem to think that it is now below the waters of the Dead Sea.

It was surely a good livelihood living there.
However, there were problems.

“Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.”
Gen 13:13

Finally God decided to destroy these wicked cities. When God made this decision known to Abraham it caused him to earnestly plea to God that these cities would be spared. Abraham knew some good men there. God finally agreed that if there were ten good men in Sodom, He would spare these cities, Gen 18:32.

Incredibly, Lot had NOT been morally infected by Sodom and Gomorrah.

Peter tells us of Lot,

“(for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):”
2Pe 2:8

Peter calls Lot “righteous” twice, and “godly” once. Still, evidently these were still difficult things for Lot. He was told by the angels,

“for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is grown great before Yahweh. Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”
Gen 19:13

The angels says they are the ones who will destroy this place. Lot’s first response is to try to get his perspective sons-in-law to abandon Sodom for Yahweh was about to destroy it. Similarly, when we learn from God’s word that His is soon to destroy this place, that is, this universe, we will try to get those we care about to not stay under destruction, for,

“the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;”
2Pe 2:9

Believing the message of future things changes us,
changes our actions.

If indeed we are convinced. Lot believed the message, but evidently it was still difficult, even as it is for us at times. After all, despite the wickedness, this was now his home, and all his possessions that he was about to abandon. So, though a righteous and godly man, it says,

“But he lingered; and the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.”
Gen 19:16

The pull of our Babylons can be very hard on us.

We are warned,

… “Come out her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues,”
Rev 18:4

Believing what God says in prophecy should change behavior! It is an ethical matter.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 6 of 15, The Home Owner

In the context of of knowing about when Jesus the Christ will come again, Jesus tells all of us,

“But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”
Mtt 24:43

In this case we are indeed the homeowner, knowing things will happen but not knowing when. There are great many things that are unknown to us. There are for sure things which we are not told.

“The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Deut 29:29

What is revealed to us in prophecy is for the purpose of our being able to act as we should, respond to coming events in intelligent and responsible ways.

Our Master, Our God, Yahweh Lord of Hosts
is the absolute Master of all !

Additionally, we are told His grand plans, so that we can act in line with them … if we will. We are not just slaves in the house, but we friends, and were born to rule with Him

“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for EVERYTHING that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”
Jn 15:15 nf

And the Greeks word used here is “slave” (doulos), not just one of the many words for a servant. We should remember that we are dealing with recurring patterns of actions and reactions during the Christian age. Mystery Babylon the Great is described in Revelation and in the prophets as a religio-commercial entity which dominates the governments. It is implied (but not clearly stated), that she is already in existence during the first century of our age. Still, it is clear that she only reaches the height of her power toward the end of our age, and that she is fully active until very near the end of the Christian age (see Revelation chapters 17 and 18).

Similarly, the “mystery of lawlessness already works,” in the very first century of our age, 2Thes 2:7. These mysteries are to some extent restrained during most of our age, so that they “may be revealed” at the right time, 2Thes 2:6.

So these allied but opposing mystery religions have been seeking for over two thousand years to set in place their ultimate “fixes,” but with failure after failure, despite their seeming dominance in history. We do not know which of the cycles and events will produce the results which are prophesied. We are merely told what to look for.

Prophecy is NOT an optional extra. Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter. Or to put another way,

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Lk 24:25 KJV

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

nf is my own translation based on the WEB.

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 4 of 15, The Weather

It commonly true that whatever our expectations are of the future, will have a tendency to alter our behavior. An everyday example is the weather. If we think it might snow today, we will probably dress differently. Most of us will not be wearing Bermuda shorts or tank tops. It might mean we will take a coat along, and maybe a hat and some gloves.

On the other hand, if we are expecting 90 degree Fahrenheit temperatures today, coats and insulated pants will not probably come to mind, and few or none will make a point to drag them along wherever we are going. Expectations of what we think will happen commonly changes behavior.

Prophecy is INTENDED to change behavior.

It should never be considered as anything less than something intended to change expectations and thus behavior, so that we maybe better prepared for those things which are to come.

Micah chapter one has a dramatic description of
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

“2 Hear, you peoples, all of you.
Listen, O earth, and all that is therein:
And let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you,
The Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place,
And will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains melt under him,
And the valleys split apart,
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters that are poured down a steep place.”
Mic 1:2-4

Listen O earth it says. God is coming from His Holy temple to tread on the mountains of the earth, and the mountains and valley’s will melt like wax. God is coming to witness against us it says. But then comes the next verse, relating all of this to the sins of Jerusalem and Samaria in the 8th century BC.

“All this is for the disobedience of Jacob,
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the disobedience of Jacob?
Isn’t it Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Aren’t they Jerusalem?”
Mic 1:5

Ho! Ho! Ho! says the scoffing scholar.

What does this have to do with Judah and Israel of the 8th century BC? They would say this is merely metaphorical language expressing the Yahweh’s displeasure at their sins, and it symbolic of the desolations which will come down on them for their wrongs in the 8th century BC, so many would say.

Still, IF God was indeed personally coming from heaven to face men with their sins, and cause the mountains to melt, and MAKE MEN TO FACE THEIR SINS …?

That SHOULD change behavior!

Would it not?

And the men of Judah and Samaria WILL BE THERE
on that day, as will you and me!

Judah and Samaria’s sins did produce evil results in their days, as our sins also do today, and tomorrow and the next day. We will ALL be there somewhere on great and terrible day of the Lord, when the days of this present amnesty is over.

Further that should, and it is meant to, alter our behavior, our ethics.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 3 of 15, Abraham Seeks a Country.

It is clear that Abraham wanted a country of his own. He was told,

… “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
Gen 12:1

Abram didn’t leave because he didn’t want a country, but because he wanted a better country.

Now Abraham was promised a “land.”

He was told,

… “Get out of your country, … to the land that I will show you.”
Gen 12:1

The Lord guided Abram to Canaan. Then,

“Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said, “I will give this land to your seed.” …”
Gen 12:7

Again, more specifically,

“In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: ”
Gen 15:18

That is a huge expanse that even in Solomon’s day was not fully occupied by Israel.

Still reality is perhaps even bigger.

The word for “land” eretz, is also the word for the earth. As in,

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Gen 1:1

So when God told Abram in Gen 13:14-15 to look around in every direction, for God was giving Abram ALL of this – It could be interpreted as giving Abram ALL of the earth! Look all around! So Paul writes,

“For the promise to Abraham and to his seed that he should be heir of the world …”
Rom 4:13

Nonetheless when Abraham was close to the end of his life, he still no title to any of Canaan, and when it came time for him to bury Sarah, he had to negotiate with the locals for a small plot in which to bury her, Genesis 23.

Abraham really sought a heavenly country.

“8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. 9 By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
Heb 11:8-10

It was the New Heaven and the New Earth which Abraham sought. And it did change his behavior!

Prophecy is NOT an optional extra.

It is NOT about what might possibly happen. Jesus makes this abundantly clear.

“For most assuredly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.”
Mtt 5:18

Or again, Jesus later says,

“… scripture cannot be broken;”
Jn 10:35 KJV

Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter. It changes how you live, so that you might be pleasing to God. It is an integral part of that Word that produces life.

Unless other wise noted, Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 2 of 15, Abraham having a son

It is in Scripture the classic picture of true faith.

Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees,
Gen 11:31

“1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great. You will be a blessing.” ”
Gen 12:1-2

The Lord does not tell Abram where he will go. He makes it plain that the Lord Himself will make Abram’s name “great,” and “a great nation” will come from Him, and God Himself will bless him. Then it hits.

“So Abram went, as Yahweh had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran.”
Gen 12:4

Seventy-five years old! That is more than a little late for starting a tribe of anything, much less a great nation. Still, Abram goes where he is told and is promised Palestine in the following chapters. Abram had not seen any results yet, but he believed and followed.

God appeared to Abram again in Genesis 15

God tells him, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Gen 15:1b. The years have past. Abram protests, “what will you give me, seeing I go childless,” but God assures him that from his own body he will have descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, Gen 15:4-5.

Of Abraham it says, “He believed in Yahweh, and
he reckoned to him for righteousness.”
Gen 15:6

All he has is the prophecies.

“He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.” ”
Gen 15:7

In the following verses God enters into a formal covenant with Abram, and prophecies are extended to 400 years of slavery in a foreign land for his yet unborn progeny, before they inherit this land.

Mere words of the future. This might seem
pretty thin to many.

However, Abram trusted that God could do what He said.

“19 Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
Rom 4:19-21

There were yet more trials.

A false start with a son by a slave woman at age 86, Gen 16:16. But God said no! The son of promise would be through his wife Sarai. Then finally came the son by Sarah in Isaac. Then one more test in Genesis 22 to see if Abraham was willing to sacrifice this one and only son.

All of these were tests of faith in God’s Prophetic Word

Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy, Knowing Changes Behavior, 1 of 15, Noah

Things were really bad around the middle of the third millennium BC. It was evidently much worse situation than what we have now, although at some time in the future, we also will reach that tipping point where God will no longer tolerate our wrongs and will call us all to account. In those misty days of the past, before the world-wide flood altered our mountains and hills and valleys, and our ecosystems from the fruitful past to near like things are today. At that time it says,

“5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.”
Gen 6:5-6

Then the Lord decided.

“Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.””
Gen 6:7

God even set a time.

“Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years.””
Gen 6:3

However, Noah found favor in God’s eyes, Gen 6:7.

“God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make an ark of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ark, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. ”
Gen 6:13-14

Oh yeah? God’s going to destroy
the world and all flesh?

Make a boat? For a world-wide
flood? Is that so?

It was only a prophecy. Well, who knows, many no doubt said. Others have talked about prophecies before, but no one has ever seen anything like that before? World-wide? I can’t even see that much water around here? You think so?

Even
so, for those
who believe what
God says, it changes
life and actions and directions,
all in good ways!

“By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
Heb 11:7

Prophecy changed Noah’s life.

It provided focus and direction, away from the way the world was living, which bears fruit even today, for we are his descendants, as are all of the races and tribes of men on the earth.

A parallel is drawn to our own times

“26 As it happened in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”
Lk 17:26-27

Believing what God says in prophecy does matter! It is an ethical matter.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901

Prophecy Practice: Out of Egypt, Part 12

And the Christian is called out of Egypt

“1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”
1Cor 10:1-4

In such symbolism then Pharaoh represents the god of this world, this age, 2Cor 4:4. He has indeed held in us bondage. Christ came and took part of flesh and blood,

“14 … that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:14-15

The fear of death has kept us in line with “those who by nature are not gods.” Gal 4:8. Egypt represents the world system which is so corrupt.

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
1Jn 5:19

“… If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.”
1Jn 2:15

Baptism is our separation from this world.

“3 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just like Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.”
Rom 6:3-4

“7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;”
Rom 6:7-8

We do our own wandering in a wilderness in the Christian life.

Just as ancient Israel did, we often lose our bearing when things do not go as expected. As they often fell apart and blamed God, and reject their faithful leaders in the Lord, so do we very often when things seem to go wrong, when it seems things are beyond even God’s control. Of course things never are beyond God’s control.

It would be a blessing to enter the promised land early.

It would have been a blessing if Israel had been willing to enter Canaan when they were first instructed. But ancient Israel was intimidated by their worldly adversaries, as we also often are, and then fell into sin, as we frequently do.

Sometimes, like ancient Israel, we may just wander around
in our desolate places until we perish.

We were delivered from Egypt, but loved our bondage to sin so much we perished in it, after being delivered to where we could live. Israel’s sins are warnings to us.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

“Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”
1Cor 10:11

Scriptures are from the World English Bible WEB, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901.

Prophecy Practice: Out of Egypt, 6 of 15

Sometimes judgments come on men because of sin. Scripture Is full of such stories.

Mighty Judgments of God come on men and nations
who oppose Him, or oppress His people.

These are facts of life for Pharaoh, you and me, or whoever.

“For thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.”
Zech 2:8

About the Egyptian army that perished, Moses sang,

“6 Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power,
Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
7 In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you:
You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.”
Ex 15:6-7

But for God to support us, it takes some focus.

“But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.”
Ex 23:22

Sometimes even you or I may think to oppose or ignore God.

We are warned against smugly ignoring God and thinking everything will still be alright. We may turn out to be like the man Moses describes who abandons God.

and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, …”
Deut 29:19

What might God do to such a man, a mere man like perhaps even us?

“20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse … in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart to evilaccording to all the curses of the covenant …”
Deut 29:20-21

Like Pharaoh, the beast, or you and I can be singled out
for curses until we are destroyed

We too are called to come out of the Egypt of this world to serve the Lord in love and in truth. We may think we have control of, or are due this or that, when really we may not due any of it. Rather it is God’s to do with as He pleases. Like Pharaoh, or the beast of later times, we may trip and fall in our delusions.

Esau was such a man. He was technically the first born, but lost it all in his arrogance. We should be careful,

“15… lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled; 16 lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, as Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17 … when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Heb 12:15-17

The warnings are not just for kings, or the beast of Revelation, but also for us.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible WEB, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901.

Keys to Prophecy: Religious Ideas are the Foundation of ALL Political Thinking.

Why do Biblical and prophetic issues continually
overlap political issues?

This is a frustrating issue for many. Many think religion should be completely separate from government, and some think even from life. The source of these issues leads us to the source of ALL political thought.

Yes, it is true! Whether it is good government or bad government, the foundations are ALL essentially religious. To whatever extent these ideas are corrupt or evil or false, then government will be corrupt or evil of false. To whatever extent these view are good and true and healthy, to that extent the government can be good and true and healthy, if those ideas are properly implemented.

Some would question calling all of these ideas religious, but essentially they are.

All of our thinking start with premises.

Just like a premise/axiom in High School geometry, these are things which cannot be proven, but which we assume to be true, and they appear to be plainly be true. For instance, in plane geometry it is assumed that a straight line can drawn from any point to any point. Further it is assumed that it is possible to extend a straight line indefinitely.

Our foundation premises about life and our world are at their root, religious in nature.

Out of these premises and our analysis of what we see
in life, grows our world view.

Everyone has a world view of some sort. All of us, both Christian and non-Christian, have some random and wrong views of reality floating around in our heads and in our hearts, Mtt 15:19-20. Sometimes these world views are unconscious, and clearly do not conform to reality, but they are there. Other ideas may be more carefully thought out. Is man made in God’s image? Or is man just a chance blob of tissue?

Out of our world view rises our ethics.

If man is made in God’s image, then it would be evil to murder him. Or if man just a chance blob of tissue, what would be wrong with knocking him around or killing him? No problem. Right? Our world view then controls our ethics

Then our ethics control our politics

If man is made in God’s image, then we try to protect human life as a valuable and holy thing in our dealings with other citizens (politics). If other hand there is no wrong in murdering people, then we might have no laws against eliminating inconvenient “blobs.”

This is not really new information

This has been known since ancient times, at least since the time of Plato/Socrates. This how thinking and ethics and politics, whether right or wrong, have always worked.

Plaro (Socrates) in fact pointed out that our ethics are built on our world view (be it right or be it wrong), and our politics are then built on our ethics. The above illustration is taken from Prophecy Principles, in the section “Religion, Babylon, and Effective Rule.”

So religion and politics do overlap.

I am not making an argument for churches to become overtly political, which would be a mistake. Rather I am pointing out some measure of conflict between politics (any politics) and religion (any religion) is in the long run inevitable. The question then becomes one of how to view these things, and deal with these things (and prophecy and Scripture does view and deal with these things).

Scriptures are from the World English Bible WEB, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901.