Word XP

So there was a certain politician (a congressman) who was a drunkard (reduced to reckless driving) and liar (perjured person) but was forgiven of these offenses – and all was swept under the rug and was forgotten. And there came a time when he (being the good Christian man he advertised to be) was called to do the same for another who was also a sinner and forgiven (by God). But instead of forgiveness, he held him up to be publicly persecuted, vilified, and “he went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.” Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you desired me: 33 Should not you also have had compassion on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on you? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

This man didn’t heed the warning sent to persecutors and instead continued on into self-destruction. With the judgment you use in judging others the same shall be returned unto you. We are never told not to judge. We are told that if we do judge to do so using right judgment. And then to never forget mercy. For if we fail to show mercy we shall receive none. Congressman I forgive you.

In the same chapter of Matthew before telling the above story the LORD tells us of our forgiving until seventy times seven. We have also talked in the past about the law of separation as it relates to imprisoning those that will endanger the peace of the civilized. These two aspects above are alluded to in this chapter and ultimately refer back to Daniel 9. In Matthew 18 we are told of this servant of servants who when he should have been granted the same mercy shown was instead persecuted and cast into the prison of public disgrace [along with his entire family].

Daniel 9 tells of one separated but not from himself. It also tells of the same seventy times seven as the end of the age of grace. In both cases we are told to show mercy and forgive until the end of the age. Then comes the just separation. This is what we are told in Daniel 9:24. These two chapters are also connected to 2 Timothy 2.

James 5
1 Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be you also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws near.
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest you fall into condemnation.
13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Matthew 18
1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.
6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
8 Wherefore if your hand or your foot offend you, cut them off, and cast them from you: it is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
10 Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiced more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
15 Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you hast gained your brother.
16 But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as an heathen man and a publican.
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus said unto him, I say not unto you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that you owe.
29 And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you desired it of me:
33 Should not you also have had compassion on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on you?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Daniel 9
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans;
2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O Lord, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither you hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
8 O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth.
14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O Lord, according to all your righteousness, I beseech you, let your anger and -your fury be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
18 O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.
20 And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of your supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show you; for you art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

2 Timothy 2
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit you to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that labors must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give you understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
13 If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself.
14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. And, let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing they are meant to produce strife.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Let’s continue on with our examination of the consequences come from rejecting God. As we saw yesterday Hosea 4:11 describes the rejection and accepting another as whoredom. The verse goes on to include the further depiction as when wine and new wine take away the heart. Those who study with us know the heart as being the rational center of our intellect (our ability of right reasoning). In this we see wine and news wine as what dulls our intellect and feelings, all our natural God given ability to recognize or consider the consequences. Hosea 4:6 tells us just this and verse 7 goes on to tell of the progeny being where the degeneration is seen. This is where the ramifications are eventually manifested as (sins) errors in judgment (inability to rightly reason or even consider the implications of their actions). We have raised up a nation of sociopaths who now as adults infest all our institutions and have infected every crevasse of society.

My definition of a sociopath: someone who viciously and with premeditated malice attacks other people and does not feel guilty about such behavior. (They call it politics and public discourse. The violence is the lie, the fabrication of the context, and the intentional defamation and demonization. And don’t give me that crap about how it has always been this way and therefor is normal. Sociopathic behavior has always been with us but has never been normal. They are those who endanger the security and stability of civilized society.)

Hosea 4
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shalt be no priest to Me. Seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
7 “As they were increased, so they sinned against Me; therefore will I change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall reject God for another (whoredom) and shall not increase, because they have left off taking heed of the LORD.
11 “Rejecting God for another (whoredom) and wine and new wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their stocks, and their staff declares unto them; for the spirit of rejecting God for another (whoredom) has caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good; therefore your daughters shall reject God for another (whoredom), and your spouses shall reject God in the same way (adultery).

The word of the LORD for today is Jeremiah 13 wherein we are again told of the worthlessness that comes from the rejection of God’s pure truth.

Jeremiah 13
1 Thus says the LORD unto me, “Go and get a linen girdle, and put it upon your loins, and put it not in water.”
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
4 “Take the girdle that you have got, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.”
5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the girdle from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and behold, the girdle was marred; it was profitable for nothing [It had become worthless].
8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 “Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner will I mar the pride of those that lead my people (Judah) and the great pride of those I have taught and founded in the ways of My peace (Jerusalem).
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle which is good for nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto Me the whole house of this people I have chosen (Israel) and the whole house of their rulers (Judah),’ says the LORD, ‘that they might be unto Me as a people, and as a name, and as praise, and as glory; but they would not hear.’
12 “Therefore you shall speak unto them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine.’ And they shall say unto you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?’
13 Then shall you say unto them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land — even the kings that sit upon David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem — with drunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,’ says the Lord. ‘I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but shall destroy them.’”
15 Hear you, and give ear; be not proud, for the LORD has spoken.
16 Give glory to the LORD your God before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark high places of that have risen up and rule over the land (mountains), and, while you look there for light, He turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.
18 Say unto the king and to the queen, “Humble yourselves, sit down; for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.”
19 The cities of the South shall be shut up, and none shall open them. Your rulers (Judah) shall be carried away captive, all of it; it shall be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north. Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What wilt you say when He shall punish you? For you have taught them to be captains, and as chief over you. Shall not sorrows take you, as if a woman in the midst of bringing forth her child (travail)?
22 And if you say in your heart, “Why come these things upon me?”—for the greatness of your own iniquity is your shame and your pain come (are your skirts uncovered, and your heels made bare).
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 “Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is the consequence of your decisions (lot), the payment (portion) of your reasoning (measures) from Me,” says the LORD; “because you have forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I uncover thy skirts upon thy face, that your shame may appear.
27 I have seen your adulteries and your calling to those you have chosen instead of Me (neighings), the lewdness of thy whoredom and your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto you, O Jerusalem! Will you not be made clean? When shall it once be?”

Colossians 1
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you might walk worthy of the LORD, in all pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
12 giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our errors (sins).
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
16 For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell,
20 and having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself — by Him, I say, whether they be things on earth or things in heaven.
21 And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, even now has He reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and un-blamable and un-reprovable in His sight,
23 if you continue grounded and settled in the faith, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard and which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I (Paul) am made a minister.
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for His body’s sake, which is the church,
25 of which I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God—
26 even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.
27 To them God would make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus,
29 for which I also labor, striving according to His working, which works in me mightily.

Psalms 120
1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto you, or what shall be done unto you, you false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper!
5 Woe is me that I sojourn among those that sow violence (in Meshech), that I dwell in a time with the house departed from truth and light (tents of Kedar)!
6 My soul has long dwelt with him that hates peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

There is a storm coming. All things happen for a reason. We are often unable to see the purpose until later events show us. For some reason, it isn’t my time to be in DC.

Hosea 4
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you children of God’s chosen people (Israel); for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 “By swearing and lying, and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
4 Yet let no man strive with, nor reprove another; for this people are as they that strive with the priest.
5 Therefore shalt you fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shalt be no priest to Me. Seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
7 “As they were increased, so they sinned against Me; therefore will I change their glory into shame.
8 They eat up the sin of My people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.
9 And it shall be: like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
10 For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall reject God for another (whoredom) and shall not increase, because they have left off taking heed of the LORD.
11 “Rejecting God for another (whoredom) and wine and new wine take away the heart.
12 My people ask counsel from their stocks, and their staff declares unto them; for the spirit of rejecting God for another (whoredom) has caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from their God.
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good; therefore your daughters shall reject God for another (whoredom), and your spouses shall reject God in the same way (adultery).
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery; for the men themselves consort with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: Therefore the people that do not understand shall fall.
15 “Though you, God’s chosen people (Israel), play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not you unto Gilgal, neither go you up to Bethaven, nor swear, ‘The LORD lives.’
16 For God’s chosen people (Israel) slides back as a backsliding heifer; now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
17 “Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone.
18 Their drink is sour; they have rejected God for another (whoredom) continually; her rulers with shame do love, ‘Give you.’
19 The wind has bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

2 Peter 2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the LORD who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evilly spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you — they whose judgment now for a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.
4 For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment;
5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example unto those who thereafter should live ungodly;
7 and if He delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man, having dwelt among them seeing and hearing, was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their unlawful deeds)—
9 then the LORD knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished,
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governance. Presumptuous are they and self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities,
11 whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the LORD.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption,
13 and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceptions while they feast with you,
14 having eyes full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls; their hearts they have exercised with covetous practices; accursed children!
15 They have forsaken the right way and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
16 but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with a man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried by a tempest, for whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh and through much wantonness those who had clean escaped from those who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he brought into bondage.
20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb: “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and, “the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

The place Gilgal mentioned above in Hosea 4:15 is the word meaning wheel. It is used as the name 41 times and only once as the word (gilgal) – translated as wheel. Hosea 9:15 tells of the place and gives the context. Judah as representing the leaders of God’s people is told not to come to this place. The name Bethaven also describing the place these leaders are told not to come to literally means the worthless house.

Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary definition: Strong’s #205: ‘aven (pronounced aw-ven’) from an unused root perhaps meaning properly, to pant (hence, to exert oneself, usually in vain; to come to naught); strictly nothingness; also trouble. vanity, wickedness; specifically an idol:–affliction, evil, false, idol, iniquity, mischief, mourners(-ing), naught, sorrow, unjust, unrighteous, vain ,vanity, wicked(-ness).

Hosea 9
7 The days of visitation have come, the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool; the man of the spirit is mad because of the multitude of your iniquity and great hatred.
8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God; but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore He will remember their iniquity; He will visit their sins.
10 “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first ripe of the fig tree at her first season. But they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame, and their abominations were according as they loved.
11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left; yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a pleasant place; but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.”
14 Give them, O LORD — what will You give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them; for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of Mine house. I will love them no more; all their princes are revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.”
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

The one time gilgal is used as “wheel” is in Isaiah 28:28. The chapter begins by addressing the “drunkards of Ephraim.” This is the same context as ends Hosea 4.

Isaiah 28
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the LORD has a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet;
4 and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower and as the early fruit before the summer, which when he that looks upon it sees; while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people,
6 and for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink; they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.”
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people,
12 to whom He said, “This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing” — yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem,
15 because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.”
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you, for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.”
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in Mount Perazim; He shall be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring to pass His act, His strange act.
22 Now therefore be you not mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the LORD God of hosts a consuming even determined upon the whole earth.
23 Give you ear and hear my voice; hearken and hear my speech.
24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he has made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the dill and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place?
26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
27 For the dill is not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the dill is beaten out with a staff and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is beaten, because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.

Isaiah 28:14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, 15 because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we in agreement. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.” 16 Therefore thus says the LORD God: “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it. 19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you, for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.”

2 Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both of which I stir up your purity of mind by way of remembrance,
2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3 knowing this first: that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
5 For of this they are willfully ignorant: that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,
6 whereby the world as it then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
7 But the heavens and the earth which now are, by the same Word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the Day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy manner of living and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening unto the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things. Therein are some things hard to understand, which those who are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.
17 You therefore, beloved, seeing that you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
18 But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Today a few words about “salvation.” From my own experience I know it to be when the LORD comes in the midst of our troubles and delivers us into peace. These are states of mind, while also physical and material circumstances.

Those studying with us know we have looked at the Hebrew word yshuw’ah that is translated as salvation. It is the origin of the name Jesus. It is from the root word yasha’ meaning wide open, or set free. We have previously looked at it in the context of what the writer of Hebrews tells us in chapter 13 verse 23 of Timothy being “set at liberty.”

Here are the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary definitions of the two words.

Strong’s #3444: yshuw`ah (pronounced yesh-oo’-aw) feminine passive participle of 3467; something saved, i.e. (abstractly) deliverance; hence, aid, victory, prosperity:–deliverance, health, help(-ing), salvation, save, saving (health), welfare.

Strong’s #3467: yasha` (pronounced yaw-shah’) a primitive root; properly, to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively, to free or succor:–X at all, avenging, defend, deliver(-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring (having) salvation, save(-iour), get victory.

As seen above, one of the translations of yshuw’ah is as welfare. Of the 78 times the word is used it is only once in this form. We are told in Job 30:15 of yshuw’ah passing away as a cloud (according to the scriptures departing and taken up in a cloud). This chapter defines the cloud in describing the conditions. It tells of Job’s accusers and of their ignorance that agitates them (as Legion) to continually do so.

Job 30
1 “But now they that are younger than I hold me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
2 Yea, for what might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?
3 From want and famine they were solitary, fleeing into the wilderness, in former time desolate and waste,
4 who cut up mallow by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.
5 They were driven forth from among men; they cried after them as after a thief,
6 to dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth and in the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together.
8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men; they were viler than the earth.
9 “And now am I their song; yea, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
11 Because He hath loosed my cord and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.
12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destructiveness.
13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity; they have no helper.
14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters; in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my soul as the wind, and my welfare passeth away as a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me.
17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season, and my sinews take no rest.
18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed; it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry unto Thee, and You dost not hear me; I stand up, and You regardest me not.
21 You are become cruel to me; with Your strong hand You opposest Thyself against me.
22 You liftest me up to the wind; You causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance.
23 For I know that You wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Yet He will not stretch out His hand to the grave, though they cry in His destruction.
25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me; and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
27 My bowels boiled, and rested not; the days of affliction came upon me.
28 I went mourning without the sun; I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my flute into the voice of them that weep.
This is the end of the mystery.

As we have studied many times in the past, Jesus is defined in Hebrews 7:2 as, “Melchizedek first being by interpretation ‘king of righteousness,’ and after that also king of Salem, which means ‘king of peace.'” This is connected the verse of Psalms 69:22 that we have recently studied which tells of the snare and the trap that has come upon all that dwell upon the earth; “Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.” (Also according to the scriptures, in like manner as in Acts 1:11 – the same cloud.) The word here translated “welfare” is shalom (same as Salem). As we have studied, the snare and the trap are positions that those fixed upon them refuse to reconsider and in their ignorance remain stuck therein until their self-destruction (the fall of Babylon).

The word in the name Melchizedek that literally means righteousness is Zadok. Zadok is the righteousness (the rightness – without error – the position changed from corruption to incorruption) that brings the Ark of the Covenant back into the city (see 2 Samuel 15:23 – 27). 1 Corinthians 15:54 “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”

The strength of sin is the law of righteousness. These concepts in combination tell us that the LORD himself becomes the one who gives us the victory that can’t be obtained through our own righteousness. 1 Corinthians 15 end with these two verses saying this same thing. “57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ! 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, for you know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD.”

This is what we are told in Roman about this aspect of bringing the Ark of the Covenant back. (Much has been written and said by my persecutors about me saying I found the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Testament is Jesus Christ and I did find Him (according to the scriptures). I found him is the same manner described in Revelation 11:19: “And the temple of God was opened in Heaven; and there was seen in His temple the Ark of His Testament.” We see the full context in what is written of where we find the Christ.

Romans 10
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
5 For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law: that “the man who doeth those things shall live by them.”
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaks in this manner: “Say not in your heart, ‘Who shall ascend into Heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
7 or, “‘Who shall descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead).
8 But what says it? “The Word is nigh thee, even in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith which we preach:
9 that if you shalt confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed.”
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same LORD over all is rich unto all who call upon Him.
13 For “whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
16 But they have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who hath believed our report?”
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, verily: “Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
19 But I ask, did not Israel know? First Moses said, “I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.”
20 But Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after Me.”
21 But to Israel he says, “All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.”

The word yshuw’ah is the word used twice in Psalms 3 telling of the salvation that comes in the form of the LORD as our deliverer. The word is first translated as “help” in verse 2 in telling of those who mock saying God cannot deliver those that trust in Him. Then in verse 8 it is “salvation” that come from the LORD.

Psalms 3
1 LORD, how they have increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me!
2 Many there be that say of my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head.
4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For You hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone; You hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs unto the LORD. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah
Selah means, think about it.

When the LORD Jesus tells us of the coming of the son of man this is the cloud he comes in. The cloud caused by the ignorance of the crowd of accusers. The Book of Job tells us of the cloud of ignorance wherein men are unable to see the salvation that is in the cloud and meant for their good. Instead that same table the LORD prepares before me in the presence of mine enemies becomes a snare and trap come upon the whole world.

Job 37
11 Also by watering He wearies the thick cloud; He scatters His bright cloud,
12 and it is turned round about by His counsels, that they may do whatsoever He commands them upon the face of the world in the earth.
13 He causes it to come—whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy.
14 “Hearken unto this, O Job; stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Dost you know when God disposed them, and caused the light of His cloud to shine?
16 Dost you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
17 How your garments are warm, when He quiets the earth by the south wind?
18 Hast you with Him spread out the sky, which is strong and as a molten looking glass?
19 Teach us what we shall say unto Him, for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
20 Shall it be told Him that I speak? If a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds, but the wind passes and cleanses them.
22 Fair weather cometh out of the north; with God is fearsome majesty.
23 Concerning the Almighty, we cannot find Him out; He is excellent in power and in judgment, and abounding in justice; He will not afflict.
24 Men do therefore fear Him; He respects not any that are wise of heart.”

Psalms 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; You anoints my head with oil; my cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Resolution to Censure Congressman Richard Hudson

As leaders in the Republican Party, we are obligated to fully support our Party, platform, and its candidates. Only in times of great crisis or betrayal is it necessary to publicly censure our leaders. Today we are faced with both. For too long we have waited, hoping Congressman Hudson would return to our Party’s values on his own. That has not happened. So with sadness and humility we rise and declare:

Whereas Congressman Hudson has amassed a long and terrible record of drafting, co-sponsoring and voting for legislation best associated with liberal Democrats, such as Amnesty, funding for ObamaCare both included in the Cromnibus, and assaults on the Constitution like the NDAA. Also casting his vote for John Boehner for Speaker ignoring his constituents wishes for him to vote for anyone else.
Whereas this record has been disastrous and harmful to Rowan County, North Carolina, and the United States; and

Whereas Congressman Hudson has campaigned as a conservative and made promises during his re-election campaigns, such as stopping Amnesty, and repealing ObamaCare only to quickly flip-flop on those promises; therefore

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Rowan County NC Republican leadership censures Congressman Hudson for his continued disservice to our County, State and Nation, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that until he consistently champions our Party’s Platform, we, the Republican leadership in Rowan County NC will no longer support, campaign for or endorse Richard Hudson as our U.S. House Representative.

Paid for by TimD2016

Tim D’Annunzio for Congress – Vote June 7

In the previous post we’ve mentioned the “swelling of [the] Jordan.” In past studies we have seen the word “swelling” having the meaning of being puffed up with pride – an inflated self-opinion of how much better you are and therefor having no need to hear anything contrary to your own wisdom. We have also seen the phrase is further defined when used in both chapters 49 and 50.

In Jeremiah chapter 12 we are told of it in the context of the many pastors speaking against Jeremiah and treating him with treachery. There we are told that these are the many pastors who have destroyed the LORD’s vineyard. This is the foundation the LORD Jesus was expounding upon when he speaks the parable of the tares sown among the wheat, and of the husbandmen who have been left to tend the vineyard and refuse to return it to it rightful owner.

In the two later chapters of Jeremiah we are told of this swelling of Jordan from the perspective of it as a position that will never be inhabited again (as we have looked at in recent posts about the snare that come upon all the earth). In these chapters we see the added description of this being as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Here we see the tares that are gathered are Edom, the name for Esau, Jacob’s brother (the true Israel but still in rebellion – the same as Gomer and Jezreel – see Hosea 1 from the previous post).

Jeremiah 49
10 But I have made Esau bare; I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself; his seed is despoiled, and his brethren and his neighbors, and he is no more.
11 Leave thy fatherless children; I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me.”
12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunk. And art you he that shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it.
13 For I have sworn by Myself,” says the LORD, “that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.”
14 I have heard a word from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, “Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle!”
15 “For lo, I will make you small among the heathen and despised among men.
16 Thy terribleness hath deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you that dwells in the clefts of the rock, that holds the height of the hill; though you should make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from thence,” says the LORD.
17 “Also Edom shall be a desolation; every one that goes by it shall be astonished and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof,” says the LORD, “no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of the Jordan against the habitation of the strong; but I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will appoint Me a time? And who is that shepherd that will stand before Me?”
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He hath taken against Edom, and His purposes that He hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; surely He shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall; at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea.
22 Behold, He shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread His wings over Bozrah; and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

How was Sodom and Gomorrah overthrown? First we know from 2 Peter 2 that in these cities there were those speaking against Lot, and these same persecutors were making railing accusations against the LORD himself, and they reused to heed the warnings.

2 Peter 2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the LORD who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evilly spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you — they whose judgment now for a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.
4 For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment;
5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example unto those who thereafter should live ungodly;
7 and if He delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man, having dwelt among them seeing and hearing, was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their unlawful deeds)—
9 then the LORD knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished,
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governance. Presumptuous are they and self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities,
11 whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the LORD.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption,
13 and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceptions while they feast with you,
14 having eyes full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls; their hearts they have exercised with covetous practices; accursed children!
15 They have forsaken the right way and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
16 but was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with a man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried by a tempest, for whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh and through much wantonness those who had clean escaped from those who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he brought into bondage.
20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they had known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb: “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and, “the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

The Greek word in verse 1 above translated “privily” is pareisago, meaning to bring in secretly because it wouldn’t be approved otherwise. This is what is spoken of later in the chapter when we read of these accusers as those that, “speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.”

2 Timothy 3
5 having a form of godliness but denying the power [to change people] thereof. From such turn away.
6 For of this sort are those who creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Genesis 19
11 And they [the two angels] smote the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12 And the men said unto Lot, “Have you here any besides? Son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever you have in the city — bring them out of this place.
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them has waxed great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.”
14 And Lot went out and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, “Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But he seemed as one who mocked unto his sons-in-law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, “Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful unto him; and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that he said, “Escape for thy life! Look not behind you, neither stay you in all the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed!”
18 And Lot said unto them, “Oh, not so, my lord.
19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and you have magnified thy mercy, which you have shown unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die.
20 Behold now, this city is near enough to flee unto, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”
21 And he said unto him, “See, I have accepted you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken.
22 Hasten you, escape there; for I cannot do any thing till you have come there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the LORD out of heaven;
25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD;
28 and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld. And lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

2 Peter 2
4 For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment;
5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example unto those who thereafter should live ungodly;
7 and if He delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man, having dwelt among them seeing and hearing, was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their unlawful deeds)—
9 then the LORD knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished,
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governance. Presumptuous are they and self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities,
11 whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the LORD.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption,
13 and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceptions while they feast with you,
14 having eyes full of adultery and who cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls; their hearts they have exercised with covetous practices; accursed children!

Here is yesterday’s post, for full context.

In troubling times such as these I remember words written in Jeremiah 12:5 “If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?
6 For even your brethren and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; yea, they have called a multitude after you; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto you.

The chapter begins with Jeremiah complaining about his mistreatment at the hands of his own brothers and neighbors. The response from the LORD is to ask him the above questions. This scripture is again fulfilled before our eyes.

Here is the chapter:
Jeremiah 12
1 Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You of Your judgments: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
2 You have planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouth, but far from their reins.
3 But You, O LORD, knows me; You have seen me and tried my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts are consumed, and the birds, because they said, “He shall not see our last end.”
5 “If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?
6 For even your brethren and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; yea, they have called a multitude after you; believe them not, though they speak fair words unto you.
7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage is unto Me as a lion in the forest: it cries out against Me; therefore have I hated it.
9 My heritage is unto Me as a speckled bird: the birds round about are against her. Come you, assemble all the beasts of the field; come to devour.
10 Many pastors have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourns unto Me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart.
12 The despoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness; for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns; they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit; and they shall be ashamed of your produce because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
14 “Thus says the LORD against all My evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass after I have plucked them out, I will return and have compassion on them, and will bring them back, every man to his heritage and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘The LORD lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then shall they be built in the midst of My people.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the LORD.

Yes, I am talking about the political situation and attacks of the day. It is the same pattern of corrupted leaders misleading God’s people and attacking those speaking truth to power and thereby threatening their hold on it. My own party attacks in a way that is no different than an enemy. In doing they prove themselves as part of one common corrupt system (establishment) that only thinks of keeping its hold on power and will use any devious means to do so. They claim to be “good Christians” while their deeds – today, now at this moment – prove otherwise.

The answer is, I will not be wearied by the attacks. I will run with horses. I will not fear the swelling of the Jordan. Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall;
31 but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.

The LORD answers (verse 14 above) those persecuting their brother (one of their own house) while hiding behind their power and their faith in their power. Their power is to do evil and increase corruption.

Here is more of what the LORD says:

Hosea 1
1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea: And the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take unto you a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms; for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.”
3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, who conceived and bore him a son.
4 And the LORD said unto him, “Call his name Jezreel; for in yet a little while I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And God said unto him, “Call her name Loruhamah [that is, Not having obtained mercy]; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.”
8 Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.
9 Then said God, “Call his name Loammi [that is, Not My people], for you are not My people, and I will not be your God.
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ‘You are not My people,’ there it shall be said unto them, ‘You are the sons of the living God.’
11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Today another look at the “snare” that comes upon all the earth, and the idea that mankind finds itself in a described condition while never seeing (understanding) it until it becomes undeniably evident. After looking at the foretelling of the snare we’ll look at the condition. In Luke 21:35 the LORD speaks of the snare that will come upon all the earth, and in the verse prior we’re told of it being a day that come upon some “unaware” (suddenly – see 1 Thessalonians 5). In prior verses we see the signs we’ve studied many times; the sun and the moon as the powers of heaven, symbolizing earthy government being shaken. This is speaking of government as intended by God to shine and reflect His light of a just rule, now corrupted into darkness covering all the earth. It is also telling of a vast majority being ignorant of the depraved condition and unable to comprehend the self-evident cause.

The chapter speaks of being led away captive and separated from Jerusalem. Those that study along know Jerusalem represents what its literal Hebrew meaning states: Yarah Shalam, taught and therefor founded upon the understanding of peace by reciprocal security. Yarah tells of this not just being any teaching but as water flowing from the original source. It is telling of government as God intended it, which secures our God given rights, as a contrast to the corruption of it by man and in doing his putting the security of all under threat.

Luke 21 (snare in verse 35)
12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons, and you will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake.
13 And it shall turn to you to bear testimony.
14 Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand what you shall answer.
15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16 And you shall be betrayed both by parents and brethren and kinsfolk and friends, and some of you they shall cause to be put to death.
17 And you shall be hated by all men for My name’s sake.
18 But there shall not a hair of your head perish.
19 In your patience possess you your souls.
20 “And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them that are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter there into.
22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! For there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25 “And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress among nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring.
26 Men’s hearts will fail them for fear and for looking upon those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws nigh.”
29 And He spoke to them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees.
30 When they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise you, when you see these things come to pass, know you that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

The Greek word translated “snare” is the five times used word pagis. It is from a root word meaning to fix, as in to pitch a tent by staking it to the ground with pegs. The context is explaining a fixed position and the inability to reconsider it becoming a trap. Three of the times the word is used are in the books of Timothy.

In 1 Timothy 3 we are told of how to rule our own house and to avoid pride. These are spoken in the context of avoiding the “snare” of the devil. In chapter 6 the “snare” is spoken of as having comes upon those that for the love of money pervert the Gospel and sound teaching. It is speaking of those preaching their own prosperity doctrine and their inability to reconsider the error, and in doing choose to stay in the snare and become consumed by it.

1 Timothy 3 (snare in verse 7)
1 This is a true saying: If a man desires the office of bishop, he desires a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt at teaching;
3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 one who rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all dignity.
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
6 He must not be a novice in the faith, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good reputation with those who are outsiders, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

1 Timothy 6 (snare is in verse 9)
3 If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our LORD Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,
4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes over words, from which cometh envy, strife, railings, evil suspicions,
5 perverse disputings by men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness. From such withdraw thyself.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.
9 But those who would be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil; and while some have coveted after it, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you art also called and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
13 In the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession, I give thee this charge:
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable until the appearing of our LORD Jesus Christ,
15 which He in His times shall show — He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and LORD of lords,
16 who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.

2 Timothy 2:26 is the most descriptive in explaining how we escape this “snare.” The chapter tells of those who are actually opposing themselves by their refusal to reconsider their fixed position, and in their PRIDE refusing to acknowlegde the condition of darkness they have brought upon the world. We are told in verse 26 that the only way they can recover themselves is to accept the instruction that has brought these things to light.

2 Timothy 2
1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you hast heard from me among many witnesses, commit you the same to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Endure you therefore hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man who wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if also a man strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned unless he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman who labors must be the first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say, and the LORD give thee understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my Gospel,
9 wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds. But the Word of God is not bound.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him;
12 if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
13 if we believe not, yet He abides faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the LORD that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness,
17 and their word will eat as doth a canker — among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
18 who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already, and overthrowing the faith of some.
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal: “The LORD knows those who are His,” and, “Let every one who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared for every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, and peace with those who call on the LORD out of a pure heart.
23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they are intended to produce conflict.
24 And the servant of the LORD must not produce confict, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 in meekness instructing those in opposition. Perhaps God will give them repentance, that they may acknowledge the truth,
26 and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

The fifth time pagis (snare) is used is Romans 11:9 in quoting Psalms 69. Bothe these passages use the word “trap” with snare, and Psalms 96 goes on to say that the end is that no one shall ever again dwell in these tents (the positions they are immovably fix upon). It tells of the vinegar and gall given to the redeemer in the form of the reproach against him from the blind and ignorant.

Romans 11 is speaking of the time of the recovering and all God’s people, both awake and the awakened, are able to see. This is the resurrection that hadn’t yet come and spoken of in 2 Timothy 2:18.

Romans 11
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeks for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded,
8 according as it is written: “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day.”
9 And David said, “Let their table be made a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense unto them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their backs always.”
11 I say then: Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid! But rather, through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy.
12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?
Psalms 69 (the trap is mentioned in verse 22)
12 They that sit at the gate speak against me, and I have become the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee: O LORD, in an acceptable time, O God, in the multitude of Your mercy hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O LORD, for Your loving-kindness is good; turn unto me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it; deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 You hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; mine adversaries are all before Thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out Your indignation upon them, and let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom You hast smitten, and they talk of the grief of those whom You hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

All the facets we’ve discussed are found in Isaiah 24, beginning with the earth becoming without form, and void. (See the wordxp.com post from May 16, titled: Leaven is Will – Mystery, Not My Will, But Thy Will Be Done)

Isaiah 24
1 Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof.
2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest to him.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly despoiled; for the LORD hath spoken this word.
4 The earth mourns and fades away; the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth do languish.
5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
7 The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted do sigh.
8 The mirth of taborets ceases, the noise of them that rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases.
9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
10 The city of confusion is broken down; every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
11 There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
12 In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done.
14 They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
15 Therefore glorify you the LORD in the valleys, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
17 Fear and the pit and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders gloriously.

A Sunday message to the faithful.
I have often said Richard Hudson is a pleasant guy – who at the same time lives and works within a corrupt establishment that will do anything to keep control of our government. This “establishment” believes it has right to rule over us and to use any means necessary to keep power. It has no problem using deception and dishonesty when it finds itself under threat. This is the way people in both parties, the ruling class, exercise power unjustly over us and seek to destroy any who dare challenge their grip on it (the governing process).

So now that they see themselves losing in fair election they again resort to personal attacks. They use things I have admitted to, using drugs, being arrested and serving a few months in a county jail, which happened OVER FORTY YEARS AGO before I enlisted in the Army. They attack me calling me a millionaire and saying I once refused to pay child support – the truth is it was several decades ago, when I was restarting the business that eventually made me a millionaire, and a hostile court was trying force me to abandon my business and take a different job making more money. Because I decided to stick through it during those hard times of making little money the court imputed income much greater than I was actually making. I knew what I was doing was what would be the best for my family, my children, and I stuck to it. Now we all have a blessed and wonderful life because of it (all six of my children now work with me in our businesses and all live good lives here in Raeford).

These are my crosses and I will bear them. I don’t blame the political class (the establishment) for being who they are; but just as assuredly I will not allow them to define me as something I am not. I will not be defined by the lowest points in my past life. If this is all they have – they have nothing. (And, of course I knew they would attack as they have. They are snakes and snakes do what snakes do.)

When people speak about being washed in the blood of Jesus Christ this is what we are talking about. He came with a message from God, he became the message of God, telling us we can change our lives and don’t have to be defined by our past (sins – errors). The message also tells of a plan that includes everything in our past and present working together for our good in the end. This is who I am and what I not only believe but also live. It is as true for every person as it is for our nation, UNDER GOD.

I am running for office because it is a time I have been created for. I have lived a rough life and through it have learned self-control and to not be self-centered in my motives. I am someone who has risen from the dead after being born again.
Ours is a time meant for people willing to fight for what this time demands. The fight isn’t for self-gain or self-aggrandizement. It’s for answering a call that God has prepared us for, in service to Him, our nation, our people, and to secure the blessings of liberty for our posterity and ourselves. It’s time for a revolution!

This says the LORD: Isaiah 8: 9 Associate yourselves, O you people, yet you shall be broken in pieces! And give ear, all you of far countries. Gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces!
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us.
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 “Say you not, ‘A confederacy,’ to all those to whom this people shall say, ‘A confederacy’; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid.
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.
14 And He shall be for you a sanctuary, but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a trap and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble and fall and be broken, and be snared and be taken.”
16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, “Seek unto those who have familiar spirits and wizards, who peep and who mutter,” should not a people seek unto their God? For the living, to the dead?
20 To the law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 And they shall pass through it sorely beset and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God, and look upward;
22 and they shall look unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish, and they shall be driven to darkness.

Isaiah 54
1 “Sing, O barren, you that didst not bear! Break forth into singing and cry aloud, you that didst not travail with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says the LORD.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
3 For you shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 “Fear not; for you shalt not be ashamed; neither be you confounded, for you shalt not be put to shame: for you shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy Maker is your husband” the LORD of hosts is His name” and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called.
6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused,” says thy God.
7 “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, says the LORD thy Redeemer.
9 “For this is as the waters of Noah unto Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed,” says the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
11 “O you afflicted, tossed with tempest and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates of rubies, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD, and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt you be established; you shalt be far from oppression, for you shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
16 Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment you shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me,” says the LORD.

Psalms 118
1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy endures for ever!
2 Let Israel now say that His mercy endures for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say that His mercy endures for ever.
4 Let them that fear the LORD now say that His mercy endures for ever.
5 I called upon the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me, and set me in an ample place.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do unto me?
7 The LORD takes my part among them that help me; therefore shall I see what I desire upon them that hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10 All the nations compassed me about, but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11 They compassed me about, yea, they compassed me about; but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12 They compassed me about like bees, they are quenched as the fire of thorns; for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13 You hast thrust sorely at me that I might fall, but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and song, and has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous; the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD hath chastened me sorely, but He hath not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD”
20 this gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise Thee, for You hast heard me and art become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused has become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech Thee, O LORD; O LORD, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD, who hath shown us light; bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28 You art my God, and I will praise Thee; You art my God, I will exalt Thee.
29 O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good; for His mercy endures for ever!

Today a brief look at Matthew 5 after the beatitudes and specifically the Lord telling us that those saying to their brother “‘You fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Before I go on I am going make it plain this is a warning to those who have condemned fellow Christians for which candidate they support.)

The passage must of course be considered within a context and contrast including what is recorded in verses prior. Before it we have those who believe and as result are persecuted and blessed; later the warning to the persecutors that they are in danger of hell fire.
Here is the full passage mentioned:

Matthew 5
11 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
13 You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
18 For truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
21 You have heard that it was said of them of old time, You shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, “‘You fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”

The Greek word translated as “You fool” in verse 22 is moros. The context is “without a cause.”

Before a deeper examination of the word moros a look at the underlying principle of accusation of ignorance (you fool) without a cause, and how to know when it is valid and invalid.

John 7 ends with telling of the principle of not judging a man until he has been heard and given a chance to speak on his own behalf. The passage is describing those only knowing what they are being told by others and are willing to condemn based on a limited and self-centered (incorrect) understanding. The contrast is between “those who believe on Him,” and those persecuting those who have believed, even as these persecutors curse those believing and the one believed, before they have heard him themselves.

John 7
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
40 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
43 So there was a division among the people because of him.
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have you not brought him?
46 The officers answered, Never man spoke like this man.
47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are you also deceived?
48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
49 But this people who know not the law are cursed.
50 Nicodemus said unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
51 Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
52 They answered and said unto him, Art you also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee arises no prophet.
53 And every man went unto his own house.

This of course takes us to 1 Corinthians 1 and the word moros being used in verse 25 & 27 in describing the foolishness of God being wiser than the wisdom of the world. The reason is the same, people refusing to hear and understand because of their own desire for power and control. It tells of Christ bearing this cross just as we must so the preaching of the good news can be heard. 1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

1 Corinthians 4
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable, but we are despised. 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; 12 And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day. 14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

1 Corinthians 1
4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5 That in every thing you are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7 So that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 2
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Today a bit about the intended meaning of “leaven” as it is used in God’s word. The intended meaning is always something that is mixed in, and as it effects the entirety of the whole it is mixed with. It is always corruption introduced by men. Failing to understand this point is the origin of misunderstanding one of the LORD’s definitions of the end time. It is his telling of the reign of heaven coming as the world is first fully corrupted into a state of total confusion and emptiness. This is again referencing the condition we have studied that is described in the Hebrew phrase tohuw bohuw. These are the words used only three times together, with the first describing the condition of the earth in Genesis 1:2 as “without form, and void” as God moves in creating the new. (See the post from WordXP.com April 22, 2016 titled, “How Do You See The Promised Land?”)

The LORD’s telling of the women having fully worked her leaven into the whole lump is found in Matthew 13:33. This is preceded by the definition of the reign of heaven being as a mustard seed that grows into the greatest of all the trees. This is also a coinciding aspect of creation as God’s wisdom being present before creation and only with this contrast is the corruption fully seen and understood. Just prior in the chapter we are told of the tares being separated from their being intermixed with the wheat. In Genesis 1:7 we see it as the waters being divided, and again in verse 8 we see this right dividing being called heaven. In Matthew 13 it is the word of God as the good seed and when it takes hold in good ground it becomes the greatest of all (in the children of the kingdom of heaven).

Matthew 13
24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? from where and when then has it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servants said unto him, [Is your will] then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; [unless] while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
33 Another parable spoke he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
34 All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke he not unto them:
35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.

This again must be read coinciding with John 1 where we (also) see the two great lights, here as Jesus and John, and also symbolizing the Church and civil governments (as also in the sun and the moon).

John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lights every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Matthew 13:35 tells of these things being spoken in parable to fulfill scripture. It is quoting from Psalms 78:2.

Psalms 78
1 Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

Earlier in Matthew 13:14 we read of those whose understanding and perception have been removed and their eyes blinded and ears unable to hear. The quote is from Isaiah 6 and ends saying that if this condition wasn’t as it is these people would be converted (changed) and healed. The common aspect with these quotes is that God’s word is not being heard. This is the condition even Isaiah saw in himself before he is converted and healed.

Isaiah 6
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the LORD, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; [unless] they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, LORD, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance [life] is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance [life] thereof.

This is also describing the state of full corruption. Now back to the leaven, and I show you a great mystery. The word is mentioned several times in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. Understanding the passage in the context intended by the Spirit begins in the chapter prior where we are told of not having many fathers. Charter 5 then begins by telling of the one that has his father’s wife. Then we are told of the leaven that corrupts the whole. This is telling of the same corruption that has been worked in by the same women.

1 Corinthians 4
14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
15 For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Wherefore I beseech you, be you followers of me.
17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the LORD, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the LORD will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21 What will you? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

1 Corinthians 5
1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our LORD Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the LORD Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Here we have the contrast between the corrupted and uncorrupted as we are told to purge out the old leaven, that we may become the new lump. It goes on to define it as the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

This takes us to our resurrection as it is defined in 1 Corinthians 15, and our call to be changed from the corrupted by putting on incorruption. It doesn’t happen by our having to put off this body, but rather, as the scriptures tell us, by putting on sincerity and truth. Hebrew 13 (again) tells us as it begins of the undefiled bed that allows us to see what we haven’t seen. (1 Corinthian 15:51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.)

Hebrews 13
1 Let brotherly love [Philadelphia] continue.
2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The LORD is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.
19 But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our LORD Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
23 Know you that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.
24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.
25 Grace be with you all. Amen.

1 Corinthians 15
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand;
2 By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he said all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD, I die daily.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantages it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36 You fool, that which you sow is not quickened, except it die:
37 And that which you sow, you sow not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
38 But God gives it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the LORD from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the LORD.