Psalm 46, A Synopsis of Revelation, 2 of 9

So if “God is our refuge … A very present help in trouble,” Psa 46:1

“Therefore we won’t be afraid,
THOUGH THE EARTH CHANGES,

“Though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;”
Psa 46:2

Such will of course happen, and it is mentioned of those final times of this earth in passage after passage. In a section of Revelation which mentions those powers at work during the Christian Age, it talks about the end of this universe this way.

“12 I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. 13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:12-14

The powers of the heavens being shaken

is mentioned in almost every description of the end. In a parallel description in Isaiah 24 it says,

“19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is torn apart, the earth is shaken violently. 20 The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway back and forth like a hammock; and the disobedience of it shall be heavy on it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.”
Isa 24:19-20

Of course there are huge changes that have already happened. There has a indeed been an ice age, and world wide flood for which there is abundant evidence. Moses mentions,

“To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided. His brother’s name was Joktan.”
Gen 10:25

This is speaking of the third millennium BC. Clearly huge disasters come near the end “on the throne of the beast,” Rev 16:10. Something like an asteroid falls into the ocean (“a great burning mountain”), and the sea turns to “blood” and a third of the ships at sea are sunk, and a third of the fish in the sea die, Rev 8:8-9.

Psalm 46 mentions the waters of the sea roaring.

“Though the waters of it roar and are troubled,
Though the mountains tremble with their swelling.”
Psa 46:2

That would clearly be a climate change issue.

“25 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
Lk 21:25-26

However Jesus mentions these things, not as something to fear, rather as signs of approaching deliverance of God chosen ones.

“But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”

Surely these things are nothing to fear if our redemption is near.

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, 15 of 15

And the grand Exodus occurs … from this world itself!

The beast is able force the entire world to worship him as god, except for a few Christians. Evidently many Christians also worship the beast. Many also are killed or imprisoned. But also there is

Once more in the wilderness, just like ancient Israel!

Many Christians also seek refuge from the beast by fleeing into the wilderness!

“The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.”
Rev 12:6

So many are protected in the wilderness during the entire reign of the beast, in “a place prepared by God,” Rev 12:6; and away “from the face of the serpent,” Rev 12:14.

It is true that they try to pursue them in the wilderness, and it is daunting to think of such pursuit thinking of modern imaging techniques. But it says,

“15 The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16 The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.”
Rev 12:15-16

So even the earth will help the righteous in those terrible last days.

It will be terrible times on ALL men, not just Christians. Even Jesus, though, asks,

“… Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Lk 18:8

Then will come the greatest Exodus of all time.

There will all sort of signs on the earth and in the heavens. Notice carefully, we will NOT know the day or the hour, but we will know when it is near.

“But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.”
1Thes 5:4

Jesus says,

“25 There WILL be SIGNS in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
Lk 21:25-26

Again Jesus says,

“But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
Lk 21:28

That is clearly not written of the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. That did NOT bring redemption near for either Jews, or gentiles, or Christians. It only fits the end of this universe.

And finally to heaven itself … the true promised land.

This will be when God’s faithful of all ages are raised from the dead, in sight of all of their enemies. The angels will gather God’s

“… chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Mtt 24:31 KJV

“17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.”
1Thes 4:17

Unless otherwise 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 of 1611

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.

A Yet to Come Gospel Triumph, Part 2 of 3

Some think this triumph is when Jesus comes to personally rule over Israel in Palestine.

The Bible does talk about a very long period of time, a “thousand years.” It is a period when Satan in severely restrained. Even so, Scripture does not really discuss a millennium as such

Jesus will never physically be here on earth again, as was proved in the post “The Jews Coming to Jesus of Nazareth will NOT be heaven on earth!” of November 4, 2020. Great things will happen when the Jews are converted as nation to Jesus of Nazareth, BUT it will NOT REALLY BE HEAVEN ON EARTH. Yes, it will be great times in human history, and some of these temporal benefits are discussed in Bible prophecy. Some of these things will even be symbolic (types or shadows) of heaven, but not really a heaven on earth!

The premillenialists are CONFUSING prophecies
of heaven, with prophecies of good times
in the present gospel age!

The conversion of the Jews to their own Messiah, Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, will bring astonishing benefits to both the Jews as a nation, and also to the entire world. Available from your bookseller.

This can be easy to do when the latter sometimes acts as symbolic of the former! So, they end up with a “heaven on earth” sort of thing which will never happen. There will still be troubles. There will still be wars. There will still be sickness and death, although human life will be considerably extended in those days. “Evil men and seducers” will still grow worse and worse, 2Tim 3:13.

The evil men and seducers want to use this confusion to sell their Satanic god-man, and sell their Satanic heaven on earth. When, just before the end of this age, Satan is released for a short while, this “beast,” this “man of lawlessness,” will be allowed a very short three and one half years rule.

Then Christ will come. The Bible only speaks of a second coming (Heb 9:28), NOT of a second and then a third coming. They don’t discuss it much but the premillenialists implicitly have both a second coming (for the so-called millennial kingdom), and then a third coming before this present heaven and earth pass away. However such is not in Scripture.

The national conversion of the Jews to their own
Messiah, will bring some astonishing benefits
to the Jews and to the nations.

Many Scriptures point to the success of the gospel is being preached to the entire world.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh.
All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s.
He is the ruler over the nations.
Psa 22:27

Clearly speaking of benefits of the gospel in our present world, and Jesus does clearly have all authority in both heaven and earth even now, Mtt 28:18. And He clearly rules over the kings of the earth now, Rev 1:5.

Men may sometimes fail, as is spoken of in Numbers chapter 14. Still.

“but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh;”
Num 11:21

God’s word is not harnessed or restricted
by men’s failures.

“Scripture cannot be broken,”
Jn 10:35

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

A Yet to Come Gospel Triumph, Part 1 of 3

Satan has thrown a hood of darkness over sinful men.

The apostle John is adamant about this control.

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

I remember being stunned by the comprehensiveness of this statement, even as a young man who had turned to the gospel, and who thought he knew how bad the world really was. The “whole world” is in the power of Satan? I thought surely this couldn’t mean the whole world, but that is what it truly said. Further, other verses say in essence the same thing.

“in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.”
2Cor 4:4

Many verses indeed indicate we are in the power of Satan until we came to Christ.

“One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Jn 3:36

The wrath of God was on him because of his sins before coming to Christ, and if he truly doesn’t believe / obey the Son? The Greek word is apeitheo and it describes someone who is not fully persuaded of Christ, and who thus will not fully obey Christ. That person? The wrath of God was on him, and now not fully persuaded … then the wrath of God remains on him. It was there before he started to turn, and remains there when he fails to turn.

He remains as he was at first, as we ALL were at first.

“However at that time, not knowing God, YOU were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.”
Gal 4:8

We have ALL been there.

But big changes are yet to come in human history

The changes are beginning with the coming of the gospel so “we are of God,” and it is all the rest are under Satan’s spells, 1Jn 5:19. It is before the Second Coming of Christ. That final conflict is described in many Scriptures throughout the Bible and in many parallel passages in the book of Revelation. Remember, Revelation is a series of overlapping visions which cover the entire Christian age. Also it is in Rev 20:7-10.

But BEFORE that final conflict …

There is a period which has not happened yet, when Satan is bound for an extended period of time, so that Satan,

should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.”
Rev 20:3

There is yet to come in human history, a period when,

“… the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. ”
Hab 2:14

In Habakkuk 2 and similar passages it seems to be in the context of this present world that there would be a time the knowledge of God will cover this entire earth.

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

Keys to Prophecy: A Satanic Solution to Political Division

Not everyone agrees with this world-wide division of powers and authorities. Yes, this prevents evil men from having a monopoly of power here on earth, and often pits evil men against evil men in their quests for unrestricted power. Sometimes these battles are truly terrifying. David comments,

“Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.”
Psa 33:10

By such means God continually restricts the reach and grasp of evil men. Satan though intends to offer the ultimate solution to the divisions of worldly powers.

Satan intends to offer a substitute “god,” another
“god”/man whom ALL have to worship.

If ALL men HAD TO worship just ONE MAN, that would provide the foundation for unifying all of ideas under that ONE MAN. (See the post on “Religious Ideas are the Foundation of ALL Politics.) That would provide a sure framework to end all of the diversity in religion, and that is the root of our political diversity. It would provide a basis for world-wide unity. Paul says of this “god”/man,

“he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.”
2Thes 2:4

He is called “the beast” in Revelation. He is talked about under several names and phrases in both the Old and the New Testaments. The “mystery of lawlessness” occult (hidden) religion that will eventually produce this world ruler, “already works” in the first century, 2Thes 2:7. God will at the last allow him a short reign of three and a half years (for a time, and times, and half a time).

“… Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. ”
Rev 13:5

Many think of this as hard times for the church

And it will be. However God will once more provide for His faithful ones in “the wilderness.” You might think of this as the second (and final) exodus out of this world.

“Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
Rev 12.10

Even so, this is also times of extreme stress
for the entire world.

This man will come with powerful Satanic signs and wonders (2Thes 2:9), including some sort of his being raised from the dead.

“One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast.”
Rev 13:3

No one will be able to buy or sell or trade anything unless they accept this man as “god.” And if you worship him, you will perish forever, Rev 13:8, 17.

This is not some sort of premillenial invention. This is Scripture and it clearly has NOT happened yet. All but a few faithful will worship him, very near the end of the age.

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

Keys to Prophecy: Christians are to Submit to the Governing Authorities

After all they are appointed by God Himself. This is truly part of the overall context of prophecy, and is consistently treated that way

“1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. 2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.”
Rom 13:1-2

Paul goes on to say that these are, overall,
powers for good.

If you do not want to be afraid of the governing authorities, then do what is right, Rom 13:3

“for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.”
Rom 13:4

“Servant” or “minister” here is diakonos, literally “deacon.” So some “ministers of God” carry weapons. Part of the context is the last part of chapter 12, where we are taught to NOT be involved in personal revenge.

“Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.””
Rom 12:19

So how does GOD take revenge on evil doers? Well part of it is through the civil authorities. Instead of personal revenge, we should wait until the police show up.

“For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are ministers of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.”
Rom 13:6

This is God’s plan for our societies.

Does this mean the government is always right and good?

By no means! They are men who have been appointed to a certain role in society, and will be judged by how well they fulfill their role, as also we will. Some human examples might be useful.

For instance we have bosses at work, and often we are the “servants.” Sometimes this is very literal. For instance if we are “serving tables,” acting as a waiter.

Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God.”
Col 3:22

Does this mean the boss is always right? By no means, but he is still the boss. We should try to help him if we can, but it would be out of line for us to “take over,” or “take him out.”

If rulers are completely out of line, we should
politely decline to obey, and accept
the consequences.

Peter is a good example in Acts 5.

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Acts 5:29

Another example is the soldiers declining to murder the priests at the order of the now evil ruler, King Saul, 1Sam 22:17. Kings and judges are warned to serve Christ with fear and trembling, lest He personally take them out! Psa 2:10-12. And it happens every day!

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

Keys to Prophecy: Religious Diversity PREVENTS Much Political Unity

An inheritance of political diversity

It is one of the great political facts of life, that God has deliberately divided the nations of this earth, and divided the political powers that exist on this earth. These powers were created relatively recently in history, immediately after the world-wide flooding of the earth in the time Noah. Then these powers were divided in the confusion of languages which occurred on the plains of ancient Babylon. Both of these events appear to have happened in second half of the third millennium BC.

The scrambling of our speech by tribe and nation
meant that cultures and world views
would develop independently.

The creation of separate languages is still a powerful barrier to unity in many areas, including politics. It means there are often totally different ways of thinking about things and expressing ideas. These then become formidable obstacles to everyday things like fellowship and travel and exchanging ideas. The technology for learning other languages is better than ever in our own day, but these are still mighty obstacles to unified world power.

All of this is by the deliberate plan and counsel of God.

God decided thousands of years ago that it was NOT good man in his wickedness to be united. For instance in Isaiah’s day the nation of Judah had turned very bad, and the government was bad also. Isaiah wrote of those times.

“1 Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness; 2 to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!”
Isa 10:1-2 WEB

But there was little way to change this from the inside of the nation. The prophets were preaching to both the people and their rulers with little effect. So what can be done? So God raised up another nation of fierce men, able warriors and engineers to bring down the fortifications of Judah and bring punishment on that nation for their sins.

“5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”
Isa 10:5-6 KJV

There comes a time when talk is over, preaching and pleading is done, and sinful nations are punished … ALL within history.

This diversity has been a powerful barrier to
wickedness

For evil men trying to manipulate these systems, these have been powerful barriers to unrestrained exploitation of the weak and helpless. If one people or group came to be very wicked and exploited others, then other nations/tribes would in time put them down. These became mighty obstacles to uncontrolled evil men.

The diversity of cultures and religions which grew out of these divisions meant that there would be no unified basis for opposing God’s plans.

KJV is the King James Version, 1611.

WEB is the World English Bible, 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.

Prophecy Practice: Micah and the Christ, Part 5 of 12

Please excuse this small aside on some
basics about prophecy.

Time after time we see the prophets turn from the immediate thing they are forecasting, to the end of all things. An excellent example can be seen in Hebrews chapter one.

“10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
12 As a mantle you will roll them up,
And they will be changed;
But you are the same.
Your years will not fail.””
Heb 1:10-12

In Hebrew one the author is comparing the role of angels and the role of the Son, Jesus the Christ. In Heb 1:8-9 it quotes Psalm 45 “of the Son,” and then in verse 10 he says, “And,” and then quotes Psa 102:25-27 in verses 10-12 as seen above.

Now what does Heb 1:10-12 say?

Well, in the beginning (how far back is that?) God created the heavens and the earth. Then he points out in verse 11 that the heavens and the earth will grow old, and then in verse 12 the author says the heavens and earth will be rolled up and put away like an old coat that is worn out! Well! That clearly has not happened yet! So how much time is between Heb 1:10 and Heb 1:12? I honestly have no idea, but it is a great deal of time in human terms. Still there is no indication of the passage of time, except perhaps the assumption of time for the heavens and the earth to grow old!

Unfulfilled prophecies

Even so, notice clearly that Heb 1:12 is talking about the end of this present world! As we have noted, that has NOT happened yet. So here is an unfulfilled prophecy in the New Testament, and that is a quoted from Psa 102:26 and that is clearly an unfulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament.

And what does the author of Hebrews
do next?

He goes right back to discussing how things are setup in this world at this present time.

“But of which of the angels has he said at any time,
“Sit at my right hand,
Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?””
Heb 1:13

But wait a minute! That was the end of
the world in Heb 1:12!

Right! And then he goes right back to talking about the present in verses 13 and 14, and all the rest of the book of Hebrews. At times he comes back to the subject of the end of the world again, for instance in Heb 12:26-29.

And so do ALL the prophets!

They will talk about the subject at hand, as Mic 4:2 talks about the coming of the gospel, then relates how all of these things will turn out, as when Jesus makes all wars cease, as Micah 4:3, and later talk about other things which must happen before the end.

This is a consistent pattern in prophecy, and you should expect it.

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