29 June

Job Part IV

Let's start off with a key observation before we start looking at this verse. In ancient east, it was conventional wisdom that it always went well with the righteous and bad for the wicked. The Book of Job runs totally 'counter narrative' to this prevailing view. Job, by virtue of his wealth and size of this family was viewed as a righteous man. His wealth was in those times was excellent evidence of his high ethics. As we move through the book, we will better understand just how hard set this view was and how this book of Job sets that view on its head.

The numbers of his sons is numerically correct. However, the numbers of this livestock many believe to be allegorical. The point to me is a moot one. The key here is that by eastern standards, Job was very wealthy. He was the 'Warren Buffet' of his age as far as wealth was concerned. He was well known and well respected. Job for a man of his day, had it all. As the last stanza of verse 3 states, he was 'the greatest of the all the children of the east'. Thus Job was known as a righteous man and in the eastern mind of those days, his wealth 'proved' it.

Camels as well were well known in the east and it is natural that a man of his wealth in this part of the world should have a considerable number of them.

 And his sons went and held a feast
in the house of each one upon his day;
and they sent and called for their three sisters
 to eat and to drink with them. And it was so,
when the days of their feasting were gone about,
that Job sent and sanctified them,
 and rose up early in the morning,
and offered burnt-offerings according
to the number of them all: for Job said,
It may be that my sons have sinned,
and renounced God in their hearts.
 Thus did Job continually. 
(Job 1:4-5 - ASV)

Even with a person of Job's moral standing he had his problems with children. The problem of the "rich man's kids" is not endemic only to the modern age. Children who grow up with money, wealth and position tend to often be more wayward and pleasure seeking and a more little haughty and cold as well. This certainly is not true of all of them as many wealthy parents are smart enough not to overindulge their offspring and teach them the virtues of work and ethical living. Job's children, it does not appear were these kinds of children. The passage here seems to indicate that these children of Job were party animals, they caroused from one house to the other.

We cannot be sure Job did not rebuke his kids, but there is no mention of it. Nor is there any mention of him cutting off their allowance or whatever method they had for doling out money to offspring. Yet clearly Job was not blind, he did do at least one of the two steps required to bring correction to his children, he brought the matter up before the Lord. I say these things not so much in criticism of Job but only to mark that many of the problems that wealthy parents have with their kids was clearly something Job had to struggle with too. So Job not just prayed for them, but offered sacrifice to the Lord in their behalf. He did this not just once but, "Thus did Job continually." He was concerned they may have 'renounced (cursed - KJV) God in their hearts'.

The fact that Job's children are mentioned in this manner is rather interesting as a prelude to the Heavenly council that is about to transpire in the following section.

Now it came to pass on the day
when the sons of God came to present themselves
before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.
(Job 1:6 - ASV)

The sons of God present themselves to the Lord. The passage is interesting and I am going to spend a moment on it The phrase here is Benay Elohim or sons of God's. These are clearly angels or heavenly beings who are are summoned to the Lord for some kind of council See Kings 22:19, Heb 1:14, Job 38:7). Job 38:7 precludes this being any kind of man, because at the time referenced, man had not been created yet. The same phrase Benay Elohim is used. Satan (the adversary H7854) was among them. This passage is interesting and deserves considerable comment on the role of angels and the role of Satan before the advent of Christ; more comment than will be made today. But clearly he has some kind of office before the Lord and is subject to God and is assembled with the other Son's of God to perhaps render an account or report. Angels do make reports on what is going on down here to God - See Zech 1:11). This assembly here looks perhaps to be some kind of periodic report made to the Lord by these ministering spirits. If Satan's role here was to do this kind of reporting along with the other angels, his criticism of Job while certainly unfair, did fall within the purview of such an office. Moreover the Lord did directly ask him about Job (in an upcoming verse).

We have dealt with the issue of the Son's of God (Benay Elohim) in other places on this site on other occasions so we will not get into that here. What is key is that there is a divine council and God has called the Benay Elohim to attend and Satan is there among them.

What is also clear is that Satan has direct access to the Lord and his council. He was not prevented from entering in and moreover, he is addressed by the Lord with a specific question (in the next verse). There are no wild accusations leveled at Satan, no spitting of hate at Satan by the others and he is given access and it appears is given considerable respect. Why is this? There are many reasons for it - some pretty clear in scripture, others that have not been revealed to us. But we must remember that Satan/Lucifer/the Old Serpent/the Devil was an angel of considerable power, wisdom and beauty. God has a purpose for keeping him around and even letting him run around loose. Yes, God could have consigned him to the abyss on the day he led man into temptation. But he did not, rather he allowed and allows man to be tempted of him.

In this age where Satan is doing his level best to 'rehabilitate' his image in the world with TV shows, and a slew of satanic temples and even legal initiatives we must be careful about who he is, his enormous power and his ability to tempt, deceive and accuse us and that God allows this for his purposes. In short, while the devil is powerful, he is merely being used as tool for a far greater purposes that have only partially been revealed to us. In this particular episode as we shall see, he is used for both of the afore mentioned purposes - to accuse Job and to tempt/test him. God allows it.

We will continue our look at the book of Job next week, the Lord willing!!!

Brother Mark

25 June

Several weeks ago, a reader wanted me to take a look at the way God is moving elsewhere in the world. They commented that while there may not be much visible repentance here in the US, there sure looks to be moves of God in other parts of the world. Thanks to the reader who sent the link and for their insightful comments.

I am not so sure repentance is on the 'American agenda'. But it looks like revival may very well be a reality in other parts of the world. 

 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken,
turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant
I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if they do that
which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice,
 then I will repent of the good,
wherewith I said I would benefit them.
(Jeremiah 18:8-10 [ASV])

The Lord's reward is in his hand both for individual men and for nations.

Why won't there be revival here in the US? Some think it is possible, others think it is certain. I am not nearly as sure. Why not? I cannot answer that question authoritatively but let me leave you with these thoughts.

Like the ancient children of Israel, America is an idolatrous nation. No, we don't fall down before gods of stone with men with bulls heads or women with a fishes tail. No, we go crazy over brand names like Mercedes and Nike; we praise the gods of Hedge Funds, 401(k), Wall Street, Sports, secularism, science, witchcraft, drugs, etc. We have a whole new 21st century pantheon of gods and goddesses the nation worships at the feet of.

Until these gods are done away with, men will still seek happiness and salvation in them. Men must decide to put these gods away - this will be one of the first steps to any signs of repentance in this nation. Now understand. I am not anti-science. But I am against science when it sets itself against God and many in the profession have long sought to do just that. Many of those who fund science also have their anti-God agenda; it is part and parcel of the agenda of some fund it. To make money and to fundamentally change the nation's spiritual makeup. From the worship of God to the worship of man with a priesthood of scientists in a religion of humanism (a man rather than God centered ethos). Listen to leaders across the nation talk about 'science based' solutions and then turn around and attack the Church. There is an agenda its to replace the man in the black cassock with the man in the white smock who gets paid by a guy, who owns a company that is in turn, owned by a another guy who runs 20 hedge funds and has enough money to bankrupt whole nations.

But these things are all just symptoms of a major spiritual shift that has taken place in our world, particularly America and the west, which has with each succeeding decade, cast off Christianity and embraced whatever gave temporary pleasure, wealth, sexual gratification or power - the usual enticements that Satan lays out to those who serve him, knowingly accepted from his hand or not.

But revival? In far off places God, I have long suspected will move and do so powerfully at the hour of his (not our) choosing.

Another hindrance to revival here? In my opinion it's the Church or what calls itself the Church. There are many false pastors, false prophets and a whole 'Laodicean' feel about many of America's Churches. They may have the 'mechanics' of revival but not the spirit of it. People may be seeking God, but when they attend the local services they just are not getting real Godly spiritual teachings. So yes, I think many Churches are a serious hindrance to real, on fire, Holy Spirit outpouring kind of revival.

Revival? That is not going to happen until the Church takes off its blinders, cast away its idols and individual members learn to be truly humble, learn the value of quiet prayerful meditation on God's word and then living for and walking closer to Christ based upon the revealed word of God. New Christian rock banks are not going to bring it, a new powerful book written by a Christian celebrity is not going to do it, a new chain of Mega Churches is not going to do it. It's going to take a fundamental altering of the spiritual makeup of the ordinary Church member, towards living a humble, charitable, holy, peaceful and most importantly obedient and faith-filled lives in Christ. Revival will start in the hearts and souls of God's people before it spreads anywhere of consequence.

But let us pray that God moves overseas and gets more believers into the Kingdom!!

23 Jun

Job Part III

There was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was
perfect and upright, and one that feared God,
and turned away from evil.
(Job 1:1 - ASV)

As noted earlier, this book begins with a non-poetic narrative. It is merely setting the stage for the drama, the poetic drama which is to unfold. From the first part of this verse we learn two things. The name of the key person and the place where he lived.

The land of Uz is located... well, we are not 100% certain. Scholars disagree. But most generally place it in the land of Idomea roughly located in Southern Israel and Jordan. That is the most prevalent theory of the location that I came across and seems to line up with other passages written much later in the scriptures (Jer 25:20 and Lam 4:21). But this 'consensus' does not preclude the Uz of Job's time as being in a very different place. Some place it far to the east of this near the southern end of the Euphrates.

In short, Jeremiah's Uz may not be the Uz of Job and some evidence within the book indicates that they may indeed be different. This is not conclusive, for simply put, the antiquity of the book does not make it  possible that the location of Uz in Patriarchal times to be completely ascertained with any degree of real certainty.

As we move through the book, I will explain why I am far less certain of the generally accepted location than others are.

The second part of the passage gives us Job's name. The Strong's entry for his name is H347.

Many scholars seem to concur that Job and his name may have been of Arabian origin.  We do not know with any degree of certainty what kind of position he held, weather he was some kind of tribal elder, a ruler or a wealthy merchant. Many have offered opinions but the book does not make it clear.

I don't want to digress into a lot of unedifying theological debate, but as we go through the book this little bit of background may help us to better understand the book, its history and enlighten us on certain settings within the passages within the book. So I thank you all for bearing with me on what seems a bit arcane debate.

The above verse notes that Job was perfect and upright. This is high praise for a son of man. Clearly in the very first passage the author is making setting the stage here as to the reason for both suffering and the book. Job was perfect and upright. In other words, all of the things that one would expect to win divine favor and avoid tribulation, chastisement, correction and woe were done by Job. He feared God and 'eschewed' evil. The word here simply means to put away, to depart from and to withdraw from evil. This is a powerful testimony to a man's life and the author wanted it right here, front and center in the very first verse of the book.

The word for perfect is H8535 to which the Cambridge Bible makes plain that this does not mean sinless perfection, but that certain sins that would ordinarily bring down the clear disapproval of God were not apparent in the life of Job. The Jewish Septuagint, which was translated for Jews in the diaspora expands this using many words to describe Job, like blameless and pious (Barnes).

As we will see this verse is key to the whole theme of the book.

In closing today's entry I want to stress that this is a long book and what I will do is go slow in some parts and move much more quickly in others. The book is 42 chapters long and even if I were to do one whole chapter in a week, it would take the bulk of the rest of the year to finish.

But the doctrine of suffering? Any Christian who thinks this is an unimportant topic for we believers in Christ... well, they have a lot of spiritual growing up to do. Looking around the troubles in this country and this world, that 'growing up' for some could come sooner, rather than later.

18 Jun

News Affecting The Church

There have been some events worthy of our godly attention. It is my hope that in your quiet time, you lift some of these issues up before the Lord.

As you all probably know, several Christians were hacked to death in yet another attack in Nigeria.

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Women and children were among nine Christians shot or hacked to death in an attack on Wednesday (June 3) in north-central Nigeria, with seven others kidnapped, sources said.

While more than 30 corpses of slain Christians still lay in nearby villages from prior attacks, Muslim Fulani herdsmen invaded predominantly Christian Tudun Doka village, Kajuru County in Kaduna state, early in the morning, area residents said. - Morning Star News

These attacks continue unabated. Morning Star News also has a story about a 16 year old Christian boy who was reportedly stoned to death for his faith in India. These are perilous times for believers in many parts of the world.

The Indian Government has reportedly denied entry to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Also in India, Persecution.org is reporting that a Church in India was set on fire.

06/15/2020 India (International Christian Concern) – On June 12, 2020, an independent church in the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India, was set on fire on Friday night by unknown aggressors. The fire brought down the entire roof, affected the building structure, furniture, speaker boxes, and amplifier, causing damages estimated around US $2,700. While the reason for the attack is not yet apparent, members of the church suspect radical Hindu nationalists, who have been egregious in that region in the last few years. - Persecution.org

Then there are the things going on in Russia. Yes, Russia. Here, this is more of the state sponsored version of persecution transpiring. Now I am not a Jehovah's Witness and frankly have some very serious issues with many of their doctrines. Yet this does not mean I in any way agree with the state persecuting them. But at the same time, what is happening to them in Russia is only a preview of what could very well follow for other non-Russian Orthodox religions. This from Forum18...

(Forum18) On 9 June, a court in Pskov in northern European Russia handed 61-year-old Gennady Shpakovsky the longest jail sentence given to a Jehovah's Witness after the 2017 Supreme Court ban on Jehovah's Witness activity - six and a half years' imprisonment in a general-regime labour camp ("correctional colony"). This is the second-longest jail term yet handed down on "extremism"-related charges for meeting with others to pray and study beliefs.

Shpakovsky, from Pskov, will have to serve the full term, should his appeal be unsuccessful, as he has spent no time in pre-trial detention (see below - on link).

After his release, Shpakovsky will also undergo another year of restrictions on freedom, his lawyer explained to Forum 18. These comprise an 11 pm to 6 am curfew and a ban on leaving his home town. He will also be barred from leading or participating in any religious activity for three-years (see below).

Prisoner of conscience Shpakovsky's six-and-a-half-year sentence is the second-longest sentence imposed for meeting with others to pray and study beliefs. Ilgar Vagif-ogly Aliyev, who met with other Muslims to study Islam and theologian Said Nursi's texts, was jailed in June 2018 in Izberbash for eight years. Aliyev, however, spent a year and three months in detention, meaning that he is due to be released after about six years and 1.5 months, in September 2024. - Forum18

This is a very interesting and detailed report and shows you just how high up these charges against the JW's come from. There is also another story from the same site on an incident in Crimea. Russia is clearly moving against religious movements it deems as extremist. As I have said before to you all here, this all appears to be a key part of the whole SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) agenda, led by China, of which Russia is a key member. What is a key part of that agenda? To tackle what they call the 'Three Evils' of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism. The man who was jailed for six and a half years for two jars of small donations, which were described as being used to finance a world theocratic state? That is extremism in Russia today, collecting a little chump change in jar.

In the UK, the government is reporting that there were a record number of abortions performed in 2019. The statistics can be found in a UK government report called "Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2019 Summary information from the abortion notification forms returned to the Chief Medical Officers of England and Wales. January to December 2019".

In North Korea, Kim Jong-un's sister has reportedly called Bible distributors 'scum'.

Here stateside, another Catholic diocese (Rockville Centre) is considering bankruptcy, according to news reports. The reason? Abuse lawsuits.

There is a reported Corona outbreak in Churches in West Virginia.

Finally there is the Supreme Court's decision to protect the rights of homosexuals and transgender people. Roberts and Gorsuch, shifted from the conservative stance to join the liberals. Basically, it makes it a crime to fire someone simply because they are gay or transsexual. Such discrimination is now a crime and firmly puts the issue of sexual identity and orientation on the books as being protected under Civil Rights law.

As a deeply conservative Christian as I am (but a firm political independent), I don't think gays should be fired from their jobs just because they are gay in a secular job. The courts have a duty to protect the rights of all of us, not just Christians. To deny them the basic right to work would relegate them to second class status and perhaps economic underdogs in our society. No, I cannot fault the court for this decision on a purely legal basis, but at the same time, it is going to open up a dozen can of worms across the nation, generating millions in legal fee's, which too often seems to be the result of the courts decisions. You can read more about this decision in this CRS report.

But on a spiritual level, what can I say? When a society gets to this kind of thing, protecting those things that God calls abomination, one can understand why our nation is in so much trouble today. The peace and prosperity that we once enjoyed from the hand of God seems to be slowly taken away. There are reports of lawyers who have been arrested for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails during protests and reports mass resignations of cops across the nation. I am shocked at what is happening to the country. I really am. But we Americans have enjoyed the bounty from God, peace here at home, prosperity, freedom and far too many of us have spit in God's face and turned our backsides up at him in return. God see's these things and how we behave. Let me tell you something none of you save a precious few are going to want to hear. Are you ready? Here it is.

He is not going to forget it.

Son of man, when a land sinneth against me
by committing a trespass, and I stretch out my hand upon it,
and break the staff of the bread thereof,
and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast;
 though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job,
were in it, they should deliver but their
own souls by their righteousness,
saith the Lord Jehovah.
(Eze 14:13-14 ASV)

We as a nation must get back to the Biblical basics or we are going to go into the devil's jungle. We as a nation must learn to honor and respect the God who has blessed us so because the same God who can bless, can also bring a curse and the fastest way I know to go there is to show him the kinds of disrespect that is showing up all over the country. I hear this disrespect when I tune in the local radio station. I listen to the talk radio and the activists and I am often shocked at the open contempt for God, pastors and the Church I hear from some quarters. It is shocking to me and saddening to see how far this nation has fallen from God.

But I have steeled myself, I think the country has just only begun to apostatize and rebel against the most high and the further we get from God and his ways, the more trouble this nation may very well face. As my mother used to say, 'God ain't gonna bless no mess' and America is slowly getting to the point where God simply cannot continue to bless us.

I am not blaming the government, I am not blaming the courts, I am not blaming the Democrats or the Republicans. The blame lies with an ever growing swath of the American people, particularly those who have taken from the Lord's hand and not returned his bounty with respect, honor and genuine thanksgiving to him, but rather did those things he hates.

What will follow? I just don't think this country will be governable much longer the more anti-God and reprobate her citizens become. I see major divides in this country and the conflicts are I think, no longer repairable without very serious political and perhaps even violent conflict. Anger and hate seem to be more and more substituted for reason and thought and the political left is no less hate-filled than the right, no less ignorant and no less intolerant of opposing views and as these riots have shown, no less violent. Violent resolution to civil conflict only ensures the bloodiest gets power, not the best and he who comes to power by blood, usually has to rule by it.

Americans just need to forgo the use of any kind of violence to settle the country's deep differences.

I just see a slow, inevitable breakdown of American governance and its ability to deal with major issues facing the country. Dealing with rioters, dealing responsibly with massive deficits, dealing effectively with the stench of political corruption. Sometimes because of the law, sometimes because of the interpretation of the law, sometimes because leaders who lack the courage to do their jobs, even in the face of serious public criticism. Sometimes because those that try wind up wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the river.

I just see the situation as being ripe for more instability.

And the Church? The entity that should be giving moral and spiritual guidance in these times? She has got major problems of her own and has yet in many places to get its own house in order.

Let us all pray for our leaders both secular and Church in the hopes that God sends in a spiritual and moral 'janitor' to clean out the mess we have made of both our country and much of what calls itself the Church.


Grace and peace to you all here in Christ Jesus.


Brother Mark

16 Jun

Job Part II

Today, we are going to do a little more on the introduction to Job before we begin the verse by verse. We got a bit into the issue of when Job was written. Today we are going to spend a bit of time on who and then deal with a couple of other minor topics

We do not know who wrote the book of Job anymore than we can be certain of when it was written. I will give you a list of candidates that scholars have debated as being the author.

Moses
Solomon
Isaiah
Ezra
An unknown Arabian writer
Elihu, one of Job's friends who only appears towards the books end.

Rather than get into a long debate about who wrote it and the arguments great scholars have used in the past to support their case, I will not go there today. I do not think such a long detailed debate would be edifying or worthy of the time it would take. What I will say is that the book itself appears to me to have been set down probably in Solomonic times. This is quite possible. Solomon wrote most of what we know as the Wisdom books of the Bible (Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song Of Solomon and portions of the Psalms). It stands to reason that he may have set down or caused to be set down the story of Job. This may not have been done before as the story of Job may have been only carried on by oral tradition, coupled with references to him in ancient writings long since lost. My view is that the story of Job is almost certainly from the days of the Patriarchs, but was never properly or rather, authoritatively set down until much later. Moreover I think the following personal comment will be of interest as we approach this book.

This book uses two powerful literary devices. One is poetry the other is drama. Except the opening passages and the very end, the entire book is written in Hebrew poetry. Secondly the book reads like a play. Where each person takes his turn in first showing sympathy with Job and then later cutting him down with their words and were later seriously rebuked by the Lord for their ill considered accusations. One of his friends calls Job a wind bag, full of hot air!!

 How long wilt thou speak these things?
And how long shall the words of thy mouth
be like a mighty wind?
(Job 8:2 - ASV)

I point this out to make plain that this book is one of real person with real sufferings set down in a liberal poetic and dramatic style. I look at the book almost like I look at a Shakespearean work, whose dramatic and poetic style brought to life many historical figures with such beautiful language and poetic meter and rhyme, that hundreds of years later, his plays are still very much in fashion.

So as we read this book keep in mind the poetic license that the writer took when we read some of the passages.

But the book is well organized and set down and as some commentators have noted, there are no interruptions and no matter how cutting and sarcastic the remarks, everyone has a chance to finish his thoughts, in turn.

How should we look at Job? I look at the book of Job as a prophetic, historic and poetic book that liberally uses literary devices to make its point. The early Jews looked upon the book as being historical (as opposed to allegorical). The authorship of Job was hotly debated during the time of the reformation as well and in the age of higher criticism when it has come under considerable attack. I view it as wholly historical, with many allegorical and poetic devices that add to, rather than take away from the power of the main theme of the book - the problem of suffering. Why do we suffer? What explanation does a vain man have for it? What the book of Job tells us is that with human reasoning, there is no rhyme or reason for it - we can attribute it all to our sins, but that does not tell the whole story. With Job in the opening chapters, we get to the real reason of Job's suffering. It was to test him, try him and purify one who was already greatly beloved of God. The Lord was bragging on Job and Satan (the accuser of mankind) did what he always does - accused Job of only loving the good things that God had given him challenging the Lord to take it all away and Job would 'renounce thee to thy face' (Job 1:11).

Job's most miserable comforters did not know the real reason for it either, they could not have unless they had stood in the councils of the almighty. They had not. So they used human reasons to accuse Job of great sins. This is one lesson I think we can learn from Job. To not judge another. What seems to be, sometimes isn't and what we sometimes 'know' to be true is often nothing but self deception.

Let us take care on how we judge others, especially those who are suffering. Sometimes what they are going through may be justified by their behavior, other times we are not privy to the reason. But should God hear a sneer or a snicker at a man or woman of God who is beloved of him during the hour of their trial, that person may find his own life in the Lord's crosshairs as Job's miserable comforters nearly did.

We as Christians have a deeper revelation though than those of Job and his friends. We have a better understanding of the problem of suffering, particularly for we who fully serve Christ Jesus.

Next week, we will begin the verse by verse. Because Job is a long book it may take quite some time to complete.

11 Jun

Lot's going on brothers. Let's take a quick look at a couple of things with the Church. CSS's Russian Analytical Digest has a pdf on the Orthodox Church you all may find of interest in light of the issues it faces in the Russian-Ukraine standoff. Its called 'Russian Orthodoxy' (no. 252). It talks about the situation, but more on a religious-political level than a spiritual one. Still, it's worthy of note. There is a battle now being waged within Orthodoxy.

Here Stateside, an article appeared in Church Militant that discusses the state of affairs in Detroit's Archdiocese (Monumental Meltdown - 28 May). It talks about the slow decline of the Church and its resources. The WaPo has a piece on this written last month predicting that many Church's will not survive. I have seen many a story about Churches here in the US and how they are having some financial issues. So keep your eyes on the Church and how this crisis effects it. Many are going to be hurt and hurt badly in the pocketbook because of this. People who are not working can't give offerings. So look for some big issues to be coming to a Church near you.

However, I am of the personal opinion that the Church needs a financial wake up call. I often think that the way the Church operates in the West is not right. Huge buildings that cost thousands a month in rent or a mortgage to use once or twice a week. I just don't see that as a wise use of funds. I can remember years ago, there was an assembly of believers I hooked up with that did not have a Church building, they just tried to find owners of abandoned warehouses, unused facilities and whatnot and asked them if they could hold their services there. I got a powerful prophecy spoken over me at one of these meetings some 25 years ago. But something along these lines would be better than the enormous sums that are paid to real estate companies or banks for Church buildings, in my opinion. I am not saying this should be the case in all Churches only that in some cases, this may be a better alternative at least until something better turns up. Even in a serious crisis God can do a lot of good, if his people (and Pastors/Church Board's) listen to him.

So yes, I suspect that many smaller Churches are having very significant financial challenges right now, particularly if many of their parishioners can't pay rent or can just barely pay it. How are they going to pay their offerings? If this crisis goes on the way I suspect it might, Church funds in many places may fall from 10-50% for the foreseeable; lockdown or no lockdown.

The good news regarding this pandemic is that according to recent news stories online, people are more interested in learning about Christ and in some places, an increase in Church attendance has been noted.

In fact the UN Secretary General has forecast record hunger in this Post COVID-19 world. He noted that this is where the health crisis meets the economic crisis. In many places food prices are increasing and the FAO has some data on that. They are seeking 350 million dollars to fight COVID-19 related activities, according to news reports. Africa is well is having some serious issues. A search on - Africa, food shortages and Covid-19 - should give you some decent results.

FEWS also has a great report issued on on the 28th that delves into some forecasts for food insecure populations. It can be accessed here.

Rising Food Prices in Key Urban Centers

• In a sign that food supplies may be running short (and/or that vendors are price-gouging), the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), in late March, recorded price spikes for key food commodities in certain heavily populated parts of Afghanistan. In eight major Afghan urban centers—including Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad—prices for certain key items like wheat, wheat flour, and cooking oil increased substantially, according to the UN.

• By April 15, WFP data showed that the price of wheat flour had increased by 15–18% and the price of cooking oil by 17%. The WFP found that, simultaneously, the purchasing power of casual laborers and pastoralists had declined by 20% and 14%, respectively. Deterioration in Kabul, where the purchasing power of casual laborers fell by as much as 31%, was especially significant.

 • Given the UN’s assessment that 14.3 million Afghans were already experiencing some degree of food insecurity in March 2020, rising food prices and lower purchasing power among vulnerable Afghans are a major concern. - SIGAR Quarterly Report  (copyright info)

So this health crisis is turning into both an economic crisis and a food crisis.

No, this I do not think is any kind of fulfillment yet, but I think what we are about to witness is going to be a preview of what could soon come to pass. I say this because this is the third horse. Famine follows the war and the kind of war that I suspect this prophecy envisions has not happened yet. But keep your eyes on the tension between east and west, the US and China. War (a hot, kinetic war) more and more seems a serious possibility. Remember that the fourth Horseman is death and he has a whole toolbox of ways to bring about his desired goal; the sword (weapons), Famine, and death itself as well as the animals of the field. This whole vision seems, at least to me to portend a kind of breakdown not just of ordinary daily living but of the whole natural order as animals usually have an inherent fear of man. But these days, animals probably can and one day will have that fear genetically removed and become much more aggressive. Did you know that Russia right now is dealing with a species of 'mutant' ticks that bring disease?

So let us keep our eyes open spiritually brothers and not slumber as is the habit of some. Let us keep our lamps burning and be good stewards of whatever God has given to us. Let us not be as the one who had one talent and went and hid it. The Lord was sore displeased with that one.

Brother Mark

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A Charity that may interest some of you....

Mercy Ships

Job Part I

Well, I was not sure which book to do next. I got a strong urge to do Job. I have always loved that book. Anyone who has suffered under the Lord's hand will eventually come to Job and come to understand him. When I was studying in College (many long years ago!), I had a teacher who was truly an expert on Job and I believe he wrote a commentary on it. He was one of the most scholarly men I knew, I don't know how many degree's he had, but he knew an awful lot. if I remember correctly, Job was one of his favorite books too. My old professor died late last year.

FYI, this series was written beginning in early 2018 but has been and will be mildly updated/reworked for the public site.

Greatly beloved - let us always keep those words in mind as we go through the book of Job. While he was going through his ordeal, he was still greatly beloved of God. God had a plan and a purpose for what he was doing that he never revealed to Job. The first couple of sections of this study are going to bore many of you, but I ask you take a minute and just kind of familiarize yourself with this and some of the links to older commentaries. This is because as we go through the book, we need to understand the times speakers are 'at' spiritually, in terms of the times they lived in and the customs they used and their very early concept of God's personality.

I want to spend some time with this book and understanding when it was written and some other background will be helpful as we spend this year and next going verse by verse in this most wonderful, yet tragic and still yet most interesting an insightful book.

Why did I choose Job? The question of suffering is one that has been with man for the longest. Why do we suffer? Why do the saints suffer? Why is there so much suffering in the world today? We can offer simplistic explanations, as we will see Job's friends did. But in the drama that unfolds, the real reason for Job''s calamities were hidden from all. They all had an opinion, but all were wrong, save Job who did not know but clung to his faith in God in the face of this most ruthless trial invented by the devil himself. God allowed it for reasons that will be revealed to us, but were not to Job nor his friends.

In these most troubled of times, we - particularly in the west, need to better acquaint ourselves with the whole idea of suffering. Remember who will be set loose for 42 months in the very last days and the fate of those who refuse to serve the devil's system in those days. Right now, this may all seem academic, but that could all change and change sooner and faster than many of us think. Many will fall away when things get tough. That was a sore temptation that Job faced. He was angry, hurt and at times got a little too high on his 'self-righteousness' horse, but he never forsook the Lord or turned on him.

The more perplexing problems with the book of Job are two fold. First is the authorship and second is the dating. Frankly we know almost nothing of either. Many see the book as being written in the times of the Patriarchs. Others see it written either during or after the times of Moses. There are strong arguments for each of these. Job does appear to be familiar with the Law or at least customs that became part of the law, and his use of the name Jehovah (1:21) which was given to Moses lends considerable credence that it was indeed written during or after the time of Moses. But then again, while the scriptures do not say it, it is not wholly improbable that he revealed his name to Job at an earlier date, not recorded in Scripture.

What is interesting is that within the book, Job uses the Mosaic revealed name for God, but his friends tend to use other names. This has made many believe this was written in the days of the Patriarch's. This and the fact that Job lived to be 140 years old. This type of longevity was common only in the days of the Patriarchs (see Gen 25:7; Gen 35:28) and even longer before the flood.

Once again we cannot be certain of the dating. If there were more historical references, the name of a king or the reference to a battle, we would know better when this was written. But the book is devoid of that. The only things we really have to go by are the listing of some of the customs.

Some scholars mark the books authorship as late as the times of the prophets before the exile, but to me this seems unlikely, though the book may not have been set down to parchment for many centuries after the events described. Again, we have little to go on. But most scholars seem to agree that it was during the time of the Patriarchs though when exactly during that age there is room for considerable doubt.

Yet I would be remiss in not mentioning something of import here. The story of Job was well known throughout the near east and not just with the Hebrews. While doing a little reading when writing this, I came across this most interesting 'note' that is found in Adam Clarke's Bible commentary. I want to stress one thing here. In the days of the Patriarchs, there was no Mosaic law and God had not revealed himself to the degree he did from the time of Moses onwards.

Ancient records from that time that are not necessarily from Israel and should not be looked upon in a negative light. Times were very different than today, which is why when we get to the verse by verse, we will better understand something of the tribal societal makeup of those days. 

One should not miss Adam Clarke's comments on the authorship of Job, for those of you interested.

In closing, I make no claims to being a scholar, or authority, or prophet and or pastor nor do I wish to be known as one. I am just a blogger who serves the Lord, Jesus Christ with the gifts he has commanded me to use.

This is going to be a long study and at times may seem a little boring, but hang in there, some of you may be facing your hour of 'Jobian' trail before you know it, as our troubled times just seem to be getting crazier and crazier.

I pray that if it happens, you face it with the same grit, faith and determination that Job did and get the special blessings for having done so!

Keep faith with God and he will keep faith with you!!

Grace and peace to all who server the Lord in Spirit and in Truth; Faith and Love.

Brother Mark

Hasn't Happened Yet: Repentance

Today, let's talk about repentance. Most of you remember I wrote a piece back in April called Covid-19 Thoughts, where I touched on this issue in relation to the Pandemic. I believed then and even more so now that if there was (is) no repentance, even worse things could very well follow for the nation. That post is still on this page, towards the bottom.

I have not seen anything remotely like repentance out there in the nation, have you? While listening to the radio yesterday and hearing many of those from the political left 'whine' about how horrible it is being Black in America, I never once heard any sense of responsibility for Black America's state placed on anyone who was Black. It was always the police, the government, Trump, 'the system' but never many of the self-created social problems that exist in Black communities that can only be solved by Black Americans. Start with out of wedlock births and the YBM who grow up without the steady guiding hand of a father. Don't think there is a connection between that and many Black cities crime rates?

I am not going to go on a rant today about Black America because this whole spirit of 'whine' and 'entitlement' is prevalent in all segments of the country. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their situation, when as often as not, the best place to start to solve many of these problems starts with a four letter word - 'self'.

Now, I am not for one moment going to say that Black Americans don't have a right to be most angry about the way some cops treat us. It's a long running scandal and if Trump bears any responsibility for it at all, it goes back to some of the things he did when he first took office and AG Sessions was running the DOJ. During the Obama administration there were some Bipartisan efforts to really bring in Police reform. One solution was Consent Decree's set up with many of the nations Police Departments. But Sessions ordered the DOJ to review Consent Decree's. You can find the actual Memo here. A cursory search on Sessions and Consent Decree will yield up many news stories on this, including why the decree's were needed in the first place. So let it not be said that I am not acutely aware of this very serious problem. If police reform has been slow, the President bears some of the blame.

But in America there has been no deeper self analysis of our individual or collective behavior. No thought about God and what he thinks about our society, which is swimming in rivers of porn, sodomy, adultery, hate, violence, fraud, bribery, drugs and corruption of every sort. The nation has not embarked on a rigid or even cursory self examination. It has continued on the way it has with most people hoping things go back to the way they were before the pandemic and now, these riots.

You see, I see America as a sick man walking. Like a man who has cancer and does not know it and only has a few years to live, this is how I see the country. Since there is no immediate pain, the subject does not realize he is dying. So I see this country. We have been dying of a spiritual cancer for some time and now the symptoms are getting bad enough where a 'medical' professional needs to be sought. This however is not a medical condition, but a spiritual and moral one. America just does not really understand how decadent she has become and how fast she is sliding in the wrong direction.

Other nations see it, but we don't. We have exchanged the word freedom with freedom from personal responsibility; freedom from doing right over doing wrong; freedom has turned into license and license to licentiousness. This is what freedom has turned into and we have made a mess of one of the greatest political experiments ever to be embarked upon.

That experiment was that a free people can freely elect leaders who will govern us and protect our rights, persons and property. It was a novel idea back in the day and until about I would say the late 20th century, it worked fairly well. But as the people became more reprobate, so the system has lost the basis for its continued existence. Namely, that the people who choose who governed them had to have a basic sense of right and wrong, a respect for God and understand their part in the social, political and economic system.

President Lincoln who confronted the greatest threat so far to that system said it well.

"...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." - President Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

As then so now, the threat to that form of government is not coming so much from abroad, but from within. Witness these riots and with each situation then and now, race relations plays a key role.

I think that what we are witnessing is the inevitable result of a people who are more concerned about rights than responsibility, particularly, personal responsibility both to their fellow man but more importantly to God. It is no coincidence that Lincoln mentioned God in his address.

When a nation forgets God, they are on a fast track to self and later divine destruction and that is the path this nation is on. We don't see it or ourselves as being decadent, but it is safe to say that neither did Sodom nor Gomorrah. They were down right indignant when Lot tried to correct that attempted gang rape of his house guests. Who was he to judge them? 'Bring our your guests so that we can have some fun!' That was the cry of the wicked and while America has not slipped that far yet, she is rapidly moving in that direction.

Look at the violence in our cities. Look at what is going on right now, from coast to coast. Most major cities have seen at least some level of disturbance. I read today where several cops were shot in last nights protests.

I just have long suspected that this great American democratic experiment is on its way to failure, not because it can't work, but because it can't work with the kinds of people who now reside in the country. This new generation of people and even many of my own age group, there just seems to be something fundamentally wrong with them, their moral compass and their ability to process information. Education, brainwashing, media, propaganda... take your pick of causes. I think it boils down to this. The nation and its people at first started to stray from God, and that straying now has turned into a rapid sprint away from him and his ways. As the new Left began to take over America's schools back in the 60's the whole face of education changed and with that came other changes as well in society as the early-age social conditioning began to take effect when the people got older. Education became more of a tool for social indoctrination than for education. It's why I think we have so many politically correct half-wits in the country today, Hypersensitive wimps who are 'offended' by anything that they don't agree with and then start taking anti-depressants and often try and turn their thin-skin into a political cause or some new medical condition. My view is that some of this emerging generation of emotional basket cases should not even be allowed to walk the streets alone at night without adult supervision, let alone walk into a polling booth and vote.

I am always struck by the parallels that exist between the US and Rome and the social, economic and political paths that sent Rome downwards and what is now sending the US whirling down the same socioeconomic loo.

No, what this nation needs is a strong dose of reality. Spiritual reality that only God can give. That wickedness, licentiousness and ignorance has its own reward and that we may be well on the way to reaping it. If COVID-19 did not get the nation's attention, these riots might. If that does not work, there may be much more trouble from other directions to come.

You see, I think the Lord is slowly removing his hand of protection from the country. Not because he hates us but because he is insisting that the nation needs to change direction and repent. Will we? I rather think not, at least not yet. Most people don't see anything wrong with how they live, the dope they take, the adultery they commit, the frauds they engage in, the lies they tell. They see everyone else doing it and that is often their justification. It's the herd morality and its going to send the nation stampeding over a spiritual cliff.

So no, I don't see any signs of repentance yet, but God may very will begin to turn up the 'heat' so to speak so that people begin to or perhaps are forced to make some spiritual choices.

God bless all who serve the Lord, in Spirit and in Truth

Brother Mark

2 Jun

Know Your Enemy III