Chapter 3.1
Two Yahweh’s
Polytheism – Demigods – Two Councils of God
Theophany – Christophany – Thrones – Powers
Principalities – Rulers – Dominions – Authorities
Setting the Stage
As students of the Book we approach it
with a boat load of BS; a Belief System
which filters the way we read God’s Word.
“I believe this, therefore the Bible must
teach it.” What you are going to read is a MIND GRENADE, and it’s going
to go blow up your BS. I am
asking you to consider for this study, the possibility that the scriptures that
are normally viewed as SYMBOLIC, may indeed actually be LITERAL.
If the
supernatural is removed from the Bible, our FAITH in our salvation
and our resurrection to a new life with Jesus Christ is all in vain. There are so many things of the supernatural
that we as Christians DO embrace, but
there are so many other things we keep at arm’s length because of what we have
always heard; it’s all just a part of our Belief
System.
The
Disciples considered the parents bringing their children to Jesus for a
blessing, was a distraction to Him while He was teaching, and they made an
effort to stop them. Realizing this was
a TEACHING
MOMENT, Jesus said, LET THEM STAY,
for those who are like these children will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. What’s
going on here?
Children are teachable, their minds are open as they
are just beginning to develop their BS,
their Belief System. Jesus is just saying to His followers; OPEN UP YOUR MINDS.[1]
God physically on Earth
Theophany is a manifestation of the God YAHWEH during the Old Testament period that was
in a visible physical human form, tangible to the human senses.
The appearances of God while in VISIONS looked different to each human mind as
they perceived their concept of God. Ezekiel saw a wheel, Isaiah saw a lofty throne with
a robe with a long train. Nebuchadnezzar saw a Fourth Man in
the fiery furnace that looked like a God. Hagar
saw Him as an Angel
of the Lord. Adam walked
& spoke to Him as a human person.
Christophany is the manifestation of Jesus Christ during the Old Testament period before He was born of
woman that was in a visible physical human form, tangible to the human senses. Joshua saw Him as the Commander of
the Lord’s army. Abraham
saw Him as Melchizedek
King of Salem who was the Priest of God Most High.
The
Book teaches that Christ came to
earth at various times before the New Testament period. Many times He is referred to as “The angel of
the Lord” or “the Son of God” and in Genesis as “THE WORD”.[2]
The Beginning
In eternity past, in the very
beginning, nothing else existed except God in THREE dimensions 1) God the Spirit that indwells the hearts of
Believers, and 2) God the Father; YAHWEH the ONLY God of Israel,
and 3) God the Son; God’s
only “begotten” son in physical human flesh. Jesus of
Nazarene was also known as the Christ and
most especially as “THE WORD”.
The term
“begotten” comes from the Greek word “mono genos” suggesting uniqueness; it
actually means He is “ONE OF A KIND”; so when speaking of Jesus as ONE of the Sons of God, He is unique among them and
stands alone; He is “ONE OF A KIND” among all the others.
YAHWEH never does anything until
He reveals his plans first to His servants; the Prophets. He not only appeared in human form as Jesus in
the New Testament, He also appeared
physically numerous times in the Old Testament to the Kings as well as the Prophets.
The Book says; in the beginning “the Word” already existed. “The Word” was with God, and “the Word” WAS GOD, so when you see
“the Word”
in scripture coming to
someone, IT IS LITERALLY Jesus the Christ “the
Word” appearing to someone in
visible physical human flesh.
What we must picture here is that we have
simultaneously TWO YAHWEH’S; one YAHWEH image that is
spiritual invisible in heaven and one YAHWEH image that is
physically visible on earth.[3]
There are Two YAHWEH’s. Did your mind just
explode?
It’s in the Book
Sons
of God
"Sons
of God” (Bene Elohim) is a phrase used in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha and the Kabbalah where the Sons of God are
considered as a part of Jewish ANGELIC HIERARCHIES; they are referred to
as A) Divine beings in heavenly places. B) Sons of God are also known as physical Human beings on earth. Both were made by God, but their similarity
ends there; their function in the plan of God are totally different as the Book reveals.
C) Jesus is also called the Son of God which is even more different. HOLD THESE
THOUGHTS
Angels -
Genesis 6:2 – Angelic Divine Sons of God in Heaven
2 the SONS
OF GOD saw the beautiful women and took any they
wanted as their wives. (NLT)
Mankind - John
1:12 – Humanity that believe will become Sons of God
12 But AS
MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, to
them He gave power to BECOME THE SONS
OF GOD, even to
them that believe on his name:
Deity - John
11:27 – Jesus is the Messiah; The Son of God
27 Yes, Lord (Jesus),
she (Martha) told him. “I have always believed
YOU
ARE THE MESSIAH,
THE SON OF GOD, the one who
has
come into the world from God.”
(NLT)
Other gods
Before we go any further, I want to look back on scripture noting the many,
many times that the Book shows people
carving an idol out of a piece of wood and then worshiping it. We know this is SILLY if not STUPID, because what kind of god can be made with human
hands? The notion of the existence of another god is
just IGNORANT
SUPERSTITION passed down in ERROR by some
worldview generation tradition.[4]
The Book instructs us to not think
of our God as an idol designed by some craftsmen made of gold or silver or
stone, because it is in our
God that we live and move and exist; ‘We are his offspring.”[5]
NOTE: The Book did NOT say that there are NOT any other gods,
it said idols made by human hands were NOT gods.[6] Hold that thought
Fence Post Theology
When
you see scripture on a subject that plants a fence post that seems to
be OUT OF LINE, your Belief System takes over and assigns a biblical view to
it that pulls the fence post back in line, but when you see several scriptures
that say the same thing with ALL the fence post lining
up differently, you have to think, either I am wrong or the Book is
wrong.
Such is our thought on demigods or little gods;
it’s just hard to accept that there are other gods till we see what God has
already said 25 plus times in His Book; there ARE other gods and YAHWEH CREATED them; when you embrace what the Book says,
then the fence post begin to line up.
It’s in the Book
COMMANDS
Exodus
20:3 3 YOU MUST NOT HAVE ANY OTHER GOD BUT
ME.
(NLT)
Exodus
23:13 13
Pay close attention to
all my instructions.
YOU
MUST NOT CALL ON THE NAME OF ANY OTHER
GODS. Do not even speak their
names. (NLT)
Deuteronomy
6:14 14 You must not worship any of
the
GODS
OF NEIGHBORING NATIONS,
(NLT)
YOU ARE GODS
John
10:35 35
If
HE CALLED
THEM ‘GODS,’ to whom the word
of God came and SCRIPTURE CANNOT BE SET ASIDE (NIV2011)
1
Corinthians 8:5 5 For
although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth as INDEED THERE ARE MANY “GODS”
and many “lords” (ESV)
John
10:34 34
Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to CERTAIN LEADERS of the people,
‘I say, YOU ARE GODS!’ (NLT)
Daniel
3:25 25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking
around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a
SON OF THE GODS.”
(NIV2011)
Daniel
2:11 11 The king’s demand is impossible. No one
except
THE GODS CAN
TELL YOU YOUR DREAM,
and
they do not live here among people.”(NLT)
OTHER GODS
Deuteronomy
32:17 17
They sacrificed to false GODS, which are not GOD - GODS they had not known, GODS that recently appeared, GODS your
ancestors did not fear.
(NIV2011)
Exodus
12:12 12
On that night I will
pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and
firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all
the
GODS OF EGYPT, for I am the LORD!
(NLT)
2
Chronicles 25:20 20 Amaziah,
however, would not listen, for God so worked that he might deliver them into
the hands of Jehoash, because they sought the GODS
OF EDOM.
(NIV2011)
1
Chronicles 14:12 12 The PHILISTINES had abandoned
their GODS there, and David gave orders to burn them
in the fire.
(NIV2011)
Isaiah
36:19 19
Where are the GODS OF
HAMATH and
GODS OF ARPAD? Where are the GODS OF SEPHARVAIM? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?
(NIV2011)
Judges
10:6 6 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes
of the LORD. They served THE BAALS and THE ASHTORETHS, and the
GODS OF ARAM, the GODS OF SIDON, the GODS OF MOAB, the GODS
OF THE AMMONITES and the GODS
OF THE PHILISTINES. And because the Israelites forsook the LORD and no longer served him,
(NIV2011)
2
Kings 18:34 34 Where
are the GODS OF HAMATH and
GODS OF ARPAD? Where are the GODS OF SEPHARVAIM,
GODS OF HENA and
GODS OF
IVVAH? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?
(NIV2011)
2
Kings 19:12 12 Did the GODS OF THE NATIONS that were destroyed by my predecessors
deliver them—
the
GODS OF
GOZAN, GODS OF HARRAN, GODS OF REZEPH and the
people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
(NIV2011)
YAHWEH IS THE GOD ABOVE ALL GODS
Deuteronomy
3:24 24 O Sovereign LORD, you have only begun to show your greatness and the
strength of your hand to me, your servant. IS THERE
ANY GOD IN HEAVEN OR ON EARTH who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do?
(NLT)
1
Kings 8:23 23 and he
prayed, “O LORD, GOD OF
ISRAEL,
THERE IS NO GOD
LIKE YOU in all of heaven above or on the earth
below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before
you in wholehearted devotion.
(NLT)
Daniel
2:47 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your
GOD IS THE GOD
OF
GODS and the Lord of kings and a revealer of
mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
(NIV2011)
Deuteronomy
10:17 17
For THE LORD
YOUR GOD IS THE
GOD OF GODS and Lord of lords. He is the great God,
the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.
(NLT)
Exodus
15:11 11
WHO IS LIKE YOU AMONG THE GODS, O LORD— glorious in holiness, awesome in
splendor, performing great wonders? (NLT)
Psalm
86:8 8 AMONG THE GODS
THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours (NIV2011)
Psalm
95:3 3 For THE
LORD IS A GREAT GOD, a great King
ABOVE ALL GODS
(NLT)
Psalm
96:4 4 Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!
HE IS TO BE
FEARED ABOVE ALL GODS. (NLT)
Exodus 18:11 11 Now I know
that THE LORD
IS GREATER THAN ALL OTHER GODS, for he did this to those who had treated
Israel arrogantly.” (NIV2011)
Psalm
97:9 9 For you, O LORD, are supreme over all the earth;
YOU ARE
EXALTED FAR ABOVE ALL GODS. (NLT)
God’s Unseen Family
The Book speaks of YAHWEH as being the Lord God Most High. Is the Book speaking
of God as being higher than all of the other gods; could there really be other gods? Is this scripture teaching us POLYTHEISM? Our Belief System
says that there are NO other gods, there is only THE ONE TRUE GOD, YAHWEH, all the rest are just MAKE-BELIEVE
gods just like in Greek Mythology.[7]
The Book is not teaching POLYTHEISM, but it IS teaching that
God through Jesus Christ CREATED everything that there is in the visible EARTHLY
REALM as well as in the invisible HEAVENLY
REALM and that includes OTHER DIVINE BEINGS known as the “Sons of God”; they are all part of God’s unseen
non-human family. Some are made for the
express purpose of ruling over specific nations. The term “Sons of God” plays
an important role throughout the Book.
Angels not immune to
Sin
Angles were made perfect, pure, holy and
Godly and with FREE WILL, but were
without an immunity to sin. With all
their privileges, honor and status, they became dissatisfied and Satan wasted
no time in taking advantage of their situation. As soon as he corrupted one-third of the
angels in heaven, he then started in on the earth with God’s greatest creation,
Adam and Eve AND in God’s very
own Garden at that.
You must get this, if Satan could
involve the angels and mankind in sin, he would be placing them in the same
category as he was; he did not believe God would judge his greatest creations
and punish them; causing them to endure Hell fire forever and ever. Satan would only be just one of the crowd that
rebelled.
The serpent was splendid, attractive, intelligent, and impressive and
walked upright; it was nothing like the snakes that we know today.[8] Satan with no code
of conduct nor a rule book took the form of this serpent and loaded
with schemes, started in on Eve the weaker vessel, with conversation inferring
something about God that was unfair and restrictive; imputing sinister motives
to God as if He was withholding something; she could be as a god.
As you already know, God took away the serpent’s
splendor and attractiveness and made him repulsive, and cursed him to grovel in
the same dust that man was made from with no eye lids to give relief from the
irritants of the dust and every one that saw him would want to stomp his head.
It would seem impossible to believe, that a God loving, pure Holy Angel could
become a Devil; but what’s more
astonishing is that mankind, who can be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT[9] would reject
the righteous rule of God and choose the corrupted rule of Satan instead, but MANY DID.
Principalities
and Powers
Satan is superbly organized with layers of Principalities, Powers, Thrones, Dominions,
Authorities and Rulers which are all titles given to spiritual
forces; they are mentioned some five times mostly in the KJV of the Book.[10]
The terms seems to denote different orders
of angels, good or bad. However, I must point out that nowhere in
scripture do we find the actual organization, structure or authority of the
spirit world taught.
As
I read the scriptures these titles all seem to denote the same thing, but just
uses different words to describe an entity that projects darkness and evil. The Greek word for Powers means jurisdiction,
authority, magistrate, rule or strength.
These
agencies wield PHENOMENAL
POWER backed by the gates of hell; causing
hostile persecution, division, error, unbelief, inventing sin, causing lust,
temptation, unfaithfulness, and the
pride of wealth. They are invisible, can
move at the speed of thought and are not affected by the laws of nature. They have intellectual ability that is beyond
our limited knowledge, they don’t slumber nor sleep and can transform themselves
into angels of light. They produce
counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
Their greatest power is Darkness; SPIRITUAL
IGNORANCE which is what causes man to stumble.[11]
The Book teaches about Satan’s great power and illuminates
his darkness and evil, but we can praise the Lord anyway, because his power has
been limited by YAHWEH. The Book’s
focus is really on the point that
the Good News of the Gospel SHOUTS
that Christ has risen far above ALL the principalities and powers and we have
already been delivered out of the deepest gloom of darkness and the chains that
have bound us there have been broken. We
just don’t see it ALL realized yet, but it’s on the way.[12]
It’s in the Book
Our
misconception is that our BS,
our Belief
System
tells us that at the cross Satan’s power and authority and the principalities,
powers
and Rulers
have ALREADY been dis-empowered and placed under our
feet, but NOTE, this doesn’t become fully realized until the
second coming of Jesus Christ.[13]
Satan REMAINS the god of this
age until Jesus removes him.
Something Happened
The Book says Satan will have great authority until the
end of this age. He will give the antichrist his authority for
3 ½ years during the last half of The Great Tribulation Period, so until that time, just as Paul said, we
still will wrestle with the Principalities, Powers, Thrones, Dominions,
Authorities and Rulers.
I
won’t try to go beyond what the scriptures say about these entities; so here
are the facts as I have gleamed them:
[14]A
principality is a region
within a larger domain; it’s a seat of authority presided over by a ruler
called a “Prince”.
They were all created by God for His
pleasure and purpose. The Book calls angels both good and evil “Princes”, they are also called “Sons of God” and they occupy the Heavenly places
even unto this day.
According to the Book, everything God created
was GOOD, but the Book also
confirms that SOMETHING
HAPPENED;[15]
some of these HEAVENLY ENTITIES became EVIL, the Book refers to these sons of God as “Spiritual Host of Wickedness” that rule the darkness of this age.[16]
After
the fall when Satan lost his rule in the Garden of God,
his throne
on earth was re-located to Pergamos, and all of the principalities or
regions continued to be ruled by the now fallen angels called “Princes”
or “SONS OF GOD”.[17] It’s in the Book
What happened?
There was a time in eternity past when Pride was
discovered in Satan the most high angel as he rebelled against God and ONE-THIRD
OF THE ANGELS followed him.[18] Some of these “Fallen” Devine beings are identified as “SONS OF GOD” who were part of GOD’S
HEAVENLY COUNCIL[19] and were princes over the different
regions of earth; they were demigods.
Some of the Sons of God who are called NEPHILIM took the women of earth in marriage
resulting in a hybrid of giants.[20]
The Book says
it started “When men began to increase in number
on the earth and daughters were born to them”.
This is a special passage when
you realize that daughters of men had always been born to them. It seems at some point, (probably when Satan fell), A DESIRE WAS AWAKENED in the “SONS
OF GOD” and they took
“whoever they chose” to marry.[21]
The corruption of the
Nephilim was one of the
main reasons God destroyed the earth and started over with Noah and his family
of EIGHT.[22]
It’s in
the Book
Heavenly Council
Psalm 82 in the Book says GOD presides over THE
GREAT ASSEMBLY; He
renders JUDGMENT AMONG THE “GODS”. What
our BS FILTERED MIND wants
to do, is identify these “gods” as being just MAKE-BELIEVE gods like in Greek Mythology or perhaps
human judges on earth who are ruling on God’s behalf. You may recall that God told Moses that he
would be as a
god to Aaron as he spoke through him
to Pharaoh. YOU MUST GET THIS. God is literally telling us, that He has
created some littles
god angels who were enormously privileged and exalted above all the
other angels and were known as “the Sons of God”.
The Book indicates that there are
THREE
LEVELS of the Heavenly Council that rule and reign with Him. 1) Yahweh is at the top 2) next the demigods (little
gods); called the “Sons of God” who
make up the Heavenly Court; the Great Assembly,
3) next
are the common angelic messengers who
carry out God’s decrees. These little gods as well as the common angels were
all created by Yahweh for His
pleasure and for His purposes before the foundations of the earth were formed,
and all were present as the heavens and the earth were created.
The Book gives us really great
examples on HOW the Great Assembly, the Heavenly Court operates and gives us an insight to
“thoughts” on PREDESTINATION
and
FREE WILL. It
says; one day the Great Heavenly Council had convened with Yahweh
presiding who had just PREDESTINED King Ahab to DIE and had
presented it to His court for their FREE
WILL recommendations on HOW Ahab should die.
One of
the council members said he would go and be a “False Lying Spirit” in the
mouths of Ahab’s prophets and thereby entice Ahab to go into battle and be
killed; Yahweh
said, sure; let it be just as you have decided; go for it.[23]
The Book gives another
great example of how King Nebuchadnezzar had displeased Yahweh and was PREDESTINED to be punished, however, Yahweh
left it up to the FREE WILL of
His Heavenly
court to decide on HOW he would be punished. They decided that the King was to go CRAZY and eat grass like a cow, laying in
the field soaked with dew for seven years; the Great Assembly then sent a Watcher, a Holy one to
carry out their judgment on him.[24]
God decrees the END
and delegates the MEANS to His Great Assembly.[25]
(Predestination & Free Will)
Daniels prophecy of the Fourth Beast
(the Anti-Christ) that devours the
whole world and that tramples and crushes everything in its path,
will cause the Great
Heavenly Court to re-convene at a
future date, and pass judgment on the Beast and destroys him and then gives his nations to the Holy people of the
Most High God.[26] – It’s in the Book -
Much is expected
The Book says; One day some select ANGELS, known as the SONS
OF GOD who were members of THE HEAVENLY
COURT assembled to report to the LORD MOST HIGH on their assignments on earth, and Satan the TOP
DOG angel was also present. These
Sons of God; God’s Divine Heavenly Council angels were as little gods to the nations, ruling
over them, walking in God’s precepts as they judged the nations rightly, but
there came a day when they were found oppressing the weak and needy and not judging
rightly.
Psalm
82:1-7 – God presides over the Great Assembly of gods.
1 God presides in THE GREAT ASSEMBLY; he renders judgment
AMONG THE
“GODS”: (NIV2011)
(NLT) Job 1:6 –
God has a Heavenly Court; The Divine Council of God
6 One day the MEMBERS of THE
HEAVENLY COURT came to present themselves before the LORD, & the Accuser, Satan, came
with them.
(KJV) Job 1:6 –
The Sons of God members of the Divine Council of God
6 Now there was a day when THE SONS OF GOD came
to present themselves BEFORE THE LORD, and Satan came also among them.
(NIV2011) Job 1:6 – The Angels; Sons of God member
of the Council
6 One day THE ANGELS came to present
themselves
BEFORE
THE LORD, and Satan also came with them.
God
chastises these “little gods” saying
to them; they know nothing, they don’t understand anything. They walk about in darkness and have shaken
the very foundations of the earth. He
told them, “YOU ARE GODS”;
SONS
OF THE MOST HIGH, but you will DIE like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler. When Satan is cast down, everyone will stare
at him and ask, can this be the one who shook the very foundations of the
earth? [27]
NOTE: To whom much is given, much is expected;
God addresses this wrong doing in Psalm
82 when He PROPHESIZES that one day He will do away with these LITTLE GODS that
He created for His Heavenly Council. [28]
Although these angels or little gods
have sinned and “fallen”, they have still maintained their seats of authority
over the regions of earth in a heavenly place.
The
“WAR IN HEAVEN” with Satan and the archangel Michael
doesn’t happen till the middle of the great tribulation period when Satan and these fallen “Sons of God” are thrown out of heaven
and are confined to earth[29].
This is a future
date.
It’s in the Book
Cause and
Effect
God established a Heavenly Council to
rule the heavens before He ever created the foundations of the earth. He
also established an Earthly Council in
the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and their descendants that would rule over
the nations of the Earth.[30] Eden was paradise as it was in Heaven and
everything came forth without effort; no pain in child bearing and there was
peace among the animals.
Because
of man’s sin, mankind and the animals
became cursed as well as the earth.
God’s plan is to start over at the end of the millennium with a new
heaven and a new earth and once again earth will be like the original design of
the Garden
of Eden. It’s in
the Book
Shadow of
War in Heaven
The plagues of Egypt were a shadow of the War in Heaven that will occur on the Lord’s Day when all the demigods, the
little “Sons
of God” will be thrown down and destroyed. The worship of these little gods originated at
the Tower of Babel. To
discuss the plagues of Egypt, we must be able to see the symbolism of each
plague which was far more than the actual event itself.
While the story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt is important, it is ALSO about the judgment
on the PAGAN GODS OF EGYPT.
When the judgment plagues began, the Israelites; God’s chosen people,
did not comprehend what was going on; so how much more were the Egyptians
baffled. The plague announcements were
made “in advance” in order to give the Magicians time to come up with their “Secret Arts”
and sleight of hand to replicate it. While
the magicians tried to “duplicate” the judgments they never tried to “reverse”
them. The magicians finally gave up and
told Pharaoh that “THIS IS THE
FINGER OF GOD”, (but NOT Israel’s Jehovah God.)
All the plagues must come to pass; Pharaoh must resist letting the
people go, until God has shown ALL of Egypt that their little gods are
nothing; helpless to intervene and helpless to save. Finally, All of Egypt will realize that the
God of Israel is the one and only true God.
God makes the rules under
which sin shall be sinned,
though He Himself is not the
author of sin.
(The Invisible War - Donald Grey
Barnhouse)
FIRST Plague on the
waters: BLOOD. The little god trinity; Stink, Stank, Stunk. The water of the River Nile turned blood RED
as well as the water in their wooden and stone vessels. This first judgment of
Moses was “DEATH” to their fish; their food source and
their lively hood, putting terror in their heart.[31]
Osiris, the
god of the Nile couldn’t help them or his companion Isis the mother god and their child Horus. This “trinity” of little gods could do
nothing, but stink. There were other gods; Nu the
god of life in the Nile; Hapimon in the north and Tauret at Thebes the hippopotamus goddess of the river. These gods were the most
favored gods of the common people; but THEY WERE
ALL USELESS.
It’s in the Book
SECOND Plague on the Land: FROGS. The Nile was putrid and frogs invaded the land
with such multitude that they were even in their houses and in their beds and
even in their kneading troughs and ovens.[32]
Hekt
the goddess of Land, who
helped women in childbirth, was always depicted with a human body and the head
of a frog. For crying out loud, these
frogs had come out of the sacred Nile.
Since the frogs were seen as gods, the
Egyptians would not even lift their hand to destroy them. How in the world can you make war on a god? Chuckle, Chuckle. Can’t
you just imagine God laughing at their prayers and offerings to their silent
pagan gods.
When the frogs literally “dropped dead” the whole land STUNK,
adding to the already dead stinking fish. It’s in the Book
THIRD plague on the Soil: FLEAS AND GNATS. This Plague came against the soil which
produced bountiful crops of cucumbers, melons, onions, leeks and garlic. Man and animals became the recipient of this
itching curse.[33]
Different translations say the plague was LICE or GNATS, or even MOSQUITOES, but the Hebrew word “ken”
means to dig, as in dig under the skin. Some
translators think it was sand fleas that swarmed over the land. Think how one flea can drive your puppy
crazy. Think how millions could drive
you “buggy”.
Did you get it; “buggy”
This small scourge of blood sucking
insects covered your
whole body like a cloud of dust, creeping into your eyes, nose and ears. (Today
we have the tiny “No-see-um” mosquitoes.) Geb the great god of the earth was SILENT;
the sacrifices of the priest availed nothing; THEY WERE
HELPLESS.
FOURTH plague on the land: FLIES. God sent swarms of insects; the BEETLE and the COCKROACH; the GAD
FLY and DOG FLY, plus the large blood sucker STABLE FLY; biting flies that lay hundreds of eggs
in animal dung that transmits the “skin anthrax” plague.[34]
Background: The Egyptians noticed that this scarab beetle rolled golf size balls of
dung across the field to store them for food; the Egyptians un-mistakenly
thought the beetle put their larva in them and therefore thought the balls
represented life.
The
sun was considered the seed of life. The
scarab beetle was considered the god
that rolled the sun from morning to evening. No
upstanding Egyptian would kill a beetle god. Amon-Ra (Amun-re) was considered the king of
gods; “Amon” means hidden. This
“invisible” king of eternity and guardian of the
dead was always pictured with
the head of
a BEETLE. This beetle just gnaws on man and beast,
clothes, books, furniture and plants. The magicians could not duplicate nor reverse
this “DRIVE YOU
CRAZY” plague; their
demonic “secret
arts” WERE USELESS.
FIFTH Plague on livestock: DISEASE, MURRAIN. God sent a contagious epidemic disease
among the Egyptian’s livestock; the donkeys, camels, sheep, horses and cattle,
from the livestock of the simple countryside farmer to the SACRED BULLS of
the high temple priest.
Their temples were defiled by the dead animals. “All that were infected”
died. There is no evidence the plague
was ever removed from the sacred bulls.
A distinction however was made, NO harm came to any of the animals of the
Israelites.[35]
Their
many gods were of NO HELP; Apius, the sacred bull god, Hathor the cow-headed goddess of the
deserts, Bubastis,
the cat goddess, Ra
the livestock calf god, the bull Bakis of the god Mentu; none could do anything to save them. And to make matters worse, Anubis
the “Jackal headed” dog god got his reputation slammed by the DOG
FLY plague. Chuckle, Chuckle
SIXTH Plague on man: BOILS,
LEPROSY. The
handful of soot or dust that Moses cast into the air was representative of the
custom of the Egyptian Priest of castings soot from idol sacrifices over the
people. They counted the dust or soot as
a blessing from the priest; but in this case it was a curse. Furnaces or brick-kiln’s were a symbol of
oppression to the Israelites; and now the soot from them was a symbol of
chastisement against Egypt.
God sent a “BURNING
PLAGUE” against men; that
of BOILS and RUNNING
SORES, which some
translate as “LEPROSY” which cannot be healed. No evidence that
this plague was recalled; presumably it wore itself out.[36]
The Egyptians had local gods as well as national gods. To use a big
word; they were “Polytheistic”, they believed in many gods. If one god was good, then ten gods was better. Great healing powers were attributed to their
gods Apis,
Serapis
and Imhotep,
but they could do nothing.
Their magicians got BOILS
in their “PRIVATE PARTS” and could not even stand up and even
their “secret
arts” WERE USELESS.
SEVENTH Plague on the
produce: THUNDER,
RAIN with HAIL and FIRE beating
down; herbs, produce and fruit. It almost never rained in Upper Egypt,
receiving only about one inch of total rainfall a year; the land was always
sunny. God sent a judgment of immense PEALS OF THUNDER and the WORST
HAIL STORM that Egypt had ever seen; with FIRE from LIGHTNING that
zigzagged back and forth on the land as if trying to catch hold of itself - (This is where we get the phrase “Great Balls of Fire”,
and maybe not.)
Although some died, this plague was not sent against the slaves and
livestock, but against the produce of the land.
The Egyptians were warned and some believed Moses’ words and lived.[37] The Egyptians worshiped red water and FIRE. Shu, the
wind god,
Nut the
sky goddess,
Horus
the elder and the hawk-headed sky god were
all silent; THEY COULD DO NOTHING.
God is serious about these little gods, whether Make-Believe Fables or the Demigods; the Sons of God that He created; who expressed their “FREE WILL” and rebelled against God; they will pay.
EIGHTH Plague on the
vegetation: LOCUST. A Massive Locust “Invasion” had never been felt before in
Egypt and would exceed anything they had ever heard about in the past; it was
now in the land of the Nile and what was left standing after the hail and fire,
was being consumed by the locust. The
land turned black with THREE INCH,
RED
SPOTTED, DOUBLE WINGED LOCUST,
jumping with legs of springs; a ravenous army of creeping, gnawing and
destroying critters; stripping the land to a barren desert.[38]
Where were their gods? Nepri the
grain god, Ermutet
goddess of crops and childbirth, Anubis, the jackal-headed guardian of the fields;
where was their agricultural god Osiris, the great head of the Hamitic trinity. They
were ALL SILENT
and USELESS.
NINTH Plague on Man: DARKNESS FEAR and TERROR. Egypt had sunshine 365 days a year, but
suddenly as a lion springs on its prey, darkness consumed the light. They could not see one another or their hand
in front of their face. God sent a great
darkness on the land of Egypt that was SO
DARK THAT YOU COULD FEEL IT. Imagine
for three days and nights that the air is so thick with moisture that you can
hardly breathe. So much moisture and so
little oxygen that a candle can’t be lit. You’re like a fish out of water
gasping for life. Added to that, a
strong
You must now imagine crossing over from where the Egyptians lived into
the land where the Israelites lived. When you crossed over, you
immediately moved from darkness to light.[39]
Light is certainly symbolic of the
difference between the unbeliever and the believer.
From time to time, Pharaoh would
repent and humbled himself; confess he had sinned and ask for prayers of
protection from the Hebrew God. His
feelings of remorse was only temporary; as before when things got better, he
would go right back with his fist in the air toward the God of Israel. He recognized
that JEHOVAH was the God of the Hebrew, but He was
certainly not the god of the Egyptian.
Ra the great sun god had disappeared. There was no help from Aten, the sun disc and the symbol of
Ankh
known as the “symbol of life” from the sun, was of no help either. No need for Horus the god of the sunrise or Tem the
god of sunset or Shu the god of light or the many other deities of the moon and
planets.
Their Gods were USELESS.
Pharaoh, Egypt as well as “Israel”
will come to KNOW that
Jehovah Elohim is the
TENTH Plague on man: FIRST BORN DIES. Pharaoh sees HIMSELF as a god. The King was believed to be the incarnation of
Horus
the son of “Re”
the sun god. Pharaoh was all powerful;
Life and death was in his word.
Ten in scripture is the number for the Law; it represents
Judgment; as an example consider the law of the Ten Commandments. The tenth judgment and final plague was every
first born
child of every Egyptian family would die; from the slave girl to the
Pharaoh; including the first born of all their cattle.[40] On the 14th of Nisan; a
distinction was made between the Egyptians and the Israelites; the land of
Goshen would not experience the DEATH
PLAGUE. There would be such tranquility among the
Israelites that not even a dog would have an occasion to bark,[41]
but among the Egyptians, mourning could be heard everywhere.
With death at their doorstep, Pharaoh’s advisors were telling him, it
might be a good idea “to let the people go”, in fact let’s help them go; “Send
them out of the land in haste”.[42]
Archaeologists have uncovered coffins with the
inscriptions; “That
night of slaying of the
firstborn”. Other inscriptions say; “That day of the slaying of the firstborn”, judgment has
now come on
As students of the word, we are urged to
trace the
cause of the judgments, which in this case was wrath on a grossly idolatrous blasphemous PHARAOH and his IDOLATROUS nation.[43]
The Take
Away
My BS, my Belief System
believed that Satan HAD ALREADY been thrown out of heaven along with one third of his
angels. SO IF I BELIEVED IT, THE BOOK MUST TEACH
IT. But
that’s just not what the Book says; Satan
and his angles will fight a WAR IN HEAVEN and will lose and be thrown out by the High Archangel Michael
with his army of angles. BUT that does not happen until the middle of
the Great
Tribulation Period;[44]
so that whole gang of little gods are
still in heaven ruling over the nations and Satan is still accusing the Believer
before God’s throne day and night.[45] But on the Day of the Lord, these immortal little
gods will DIE as if they were just mortal men.
We are part of that war and many will
become casualties because of ignorance of the inventory of weapons that God has
already provided for us. [46]
Paul symbolically spells it out for us;
we have the Belt of Truth, our Body Armor is
God’s Righteousness. Our Shoes are Peace in our spirit and our Shield is our Faith. Our Helmet
is our Salvation and our Sword
is the Holy Spirit which is The Word of God. He trains our minds and hands for battle; our
job is to stand, because “the battle is the Lords”.[47]
At the End of time on the Lords Day our Belief System says The Battle of Armageddon will
be between good and evil; we see God starting with everyone on earth, but it’s
more than that; the
Book says that Judgment starts in
the house of God. Judgment begins with
the Sons of
God in Heaven, these little gods on the Heavenly Council are judged
and thrown down to the earth, then the SON OF GOD judges
the other Sons
of God on earth, and then the Holy Ground of Israel is reclaimed.[48]
Finally we get a new heaven and a new earth; more particularly a new Garden of Eden and man is placed back in it as God originally
planned.
The Book says; what sorrow awaits you who say, “if only
THE DAY OF THE LORD were here!” YOU
HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE WISHING FOR.
That day will bring darkness, not
light; in that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, you will lean
your hand against a wall in your house and be bitten by a snake. Yes, THE
DAY OF THE LORD
will be dark and hopeless, without a ray
of joy or hope for the unbeliever.
God hates all your show and pretense, the hypocrisy of your religious
festivals and solemn assemblies. God
will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings, He won’t even notice
all your choice peace offerings. He will
stay away with your noisy hymns of praise!
He says; I will not listen to the music of your harps, instead I want to
see a mighty
flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. I did not say this,
its WORD FOR
WORD right out of the Book.[49]
Multitudes
are waiting in the Valley of
Decision.[50]
There The Day of the Lord will soon arrive and you can no longer make a
decision. There
it is; when you see it,
it’s already a done deal, the choices you have made on this side of eternity NOW have
eternal consequences.
1 Peter 4:17 – Judgment begins at the
House of God
17 For the time is come that
JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD: if it
first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not
the gospel of God? (KJV)
Psalm
82:1-7 – The little gods will be judged and will DIE
1 GOD
PRESIDES OVER HEAVEN’S COURT;
HE PRONOUNCES
JUDGMENT ON THE HEAVENLY BEINGS:
5 …these oppressors know nothing; they are
so ignorant! They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core.
6 I say, ‘YOU
ARE GODS;
you are all children of the Most High.
7 BUT YOU
WILL DIE LIKE MERE MORTALS and fall like every other ruler.’” (NLT)
[1] Mark 10:13-15 – Come as a child comes believing to his daddy
[2] Genesis 3:8 – ADAM AND EVE walked with God in the Garden -- Ezekiel 1:3-10 – EZEKIEL’S mind/spirit saw God as a
wheel-- Isaiah 6:1 – ISAIAH’S
mind/spirit saw Christ in a long robe -- Genesis 14:18 – ABRAHAM saw Melchizedek King of
Jerusalem. -- Hebrews 7:3 – Jesus is Without Genealogy, Without Beginning or
End -- Genesis 16:7 –saw the Angel of The Lord -- Genesis 32:24-30 - JACOB wrestles & sees the
Glory of Jesus -- John 12:41 – ISAIAH saw HAGAR the Glory of Jesus -- Joshua 5:13-14 – JOSHUA worships Jesus; the Army
Commander -- Daniel 3:25 – NEBUCHADNEZZAR sees the Fourth Man as a
god
[3] John
1:1-4 – In the Beginning, Jesus the Word Was the Visible Yahweh -- John
1:14 – Jesus; the Word Became A Physical Human -- Matthew 1:23 – Jesus’s Name Is Immanuel;
Meaning God Is with Us -- Colossians 1:15– Jesus the Visible Image of the Invisible Yahweh
-- Amos 3:7 – Jesus Yahweh; Before He
Acts Comes To His Prophets -- Genesis 15:1 –
The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Abram -- 1
Chronicles 22:8 - This Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Me (David) -- 1 Kings 6:11 – The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Solomon -- 1 Kings 16:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came
To Jehu -- 1 Kings 13:1 – The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Jeroboam -- 1
Samuel 15:10 – The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came to Samuel -- 1
Kings 12:22 – This Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To
Shemaiah -- 1 Kings 13:20 – The Word of the Lord
(Jesus)
Came To the Old Prophet -- 1
Kings 17:2 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came
To Elijah -- 1
Chronicles 17:3 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Nathan -- Isaiah
38:4 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Isaiah -- Jeremiah
1:11 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came to
Jeremiah -- Hosea
1:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) That Came To Hosea -- Joel
1:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) That Came To Joel -- Ezekiel 1:3 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came To Ezekiel
-- Jonah 1:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came
To Jonah -- Micah 1:1 - The
Word of the Lord (Jesus) That Came To Micah -- Zephaniah
1:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) That Came To Zephaniah -- Haggai 1:1 - The Word of the Lord (Jesus) Came
Through the Prophet -- Zechariah 1:1 - The Word of the Lord
(Jesus)
Came To the Prophet Zechariah -- Luke
3:2 - The Word of God (Jesus) Came To John the Baptist
[4] Jeremiah 10:14 – Its stupid and ignorant to worship an idol; no breath in
them -- Habakkuk 2:18-19 – It’s foolish to carve an idol out of speechless,
lifeless stone or wood and then worship it -- Psalm 135:15-17 – The Nation’s
Idols are lifeless and dead; cannot speak, see, hear or breath
[5] Acts 17:28-29 – We live, move and exist in God, He is not an idol
designed by craftsmen
[6] 2 Kings 19:18 – Idols shaped by human hands are not gods at all --
Jeremiah 10:5 – Idols do neither evil nor good; cannot walk and must be carried
[7] Genesis 14:18-22- Yahweh the Lord is the God Most High -- Psalm 7:17 -
Yahweh is the Lord Most High -- Psalm 18:13 – God’s name is “The Most High”
-- Psalm 47:2 - Yahweh is the Lord Most
High -- Colossians 1:17 –
Nothing existed before Yahweh, He holds it all together
[8] Genesis 3:1 – The Serpent was the shrewdest of the animals -- Ezekiel 28:17 – Satan had wisdom, beauty and
splendor -- Genesis 3:14-15 – God caused
hostility between man & the snake
[9] Acts 13:52 – Believers are filled with the Holy Spirit
[10] Colossians 1:16 – God created Thrones, Dominions, Principalities &
Powers for Himself -- Ephesians 6:12 – Our fight is against Principalities,
Powers & Rulers, and spiritual host of wickedness in Heavenly places. --
Ephesians 3:10 – Principalities and Powers and in the heavenly places
[11] Proverbs 4:18-19 – Spiritual Ignorance causes stumbling
[12] Romans 8:37-39 – Principalities and Powers cannot separate us from God --
Colossians 2:15 – Jesus will triumph over Principalities and Powers --
Ephesians 1:20-21 – Jesus the Christ is far above Principality, Power, Might
and Dominions
2 Corinthians 11:13-14 – False apostles and
deceitful workmen transform into angels of light -- 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 – We’re familiar with
Satan’s evil schemes -- Psalm 107:13-15
– Jesus has led us out of Darkness; praise His great love
-- 2 Corinthians 4:4 – Satan; the god of this age has blinded the
Make-Believer
[13] Romans 16:20 – Satan will be crushed at the return Christ -- 1 Corinthians 15:23-25 – Jesus will come
and destroy every authority, ruler & power
[14] Revelation 13:2-7 – Satan is given Rule and Authority for 3 ½ years to
wage war against God’s Holy People
[15] Genesis 1:31 –In the very beginning all that God had made was VERY
good
[16]
Daniel 10:13 – There are GOOD
angels like Michael and there are FALLEN
angels like the Prince of Persia -- Ezekiel 28:1-2 – The prince of TYRE is an Angel; a demi-god -- Daniel 10:20 –
There is a Prince of PERSIA and a Prince of GREECE
[17] Ezekiel 28:12-19 –
Satan’s throne was in the Garden of God
-- Revelation 2:12-13 – Satan’s throne was relocated to Pergamum, Satan’s city -- Ephesians 2:2 – SATAN is at work today; the Prince of the power of the
air --
[18] Ezekiel 28:15 – Satan
made perfect, but his “FREE WILL” was toward
self; iniquity, sin was born.-- Ezekiel 28:17 – Results of Free Will; Pride was
born in Satan -- Isaiah 14:13-14 – The five I wills of
Satan; ascend to heaven, raise my throne, sit in the assembly, ascend to the
top of the clouds, make myself like God -- Revelation 12:4 – One third of the
angels followed Satan and God cast them down to the earth (future event) -- Zechariah 3:2 – God rebukes Satan’s and
rejects his accusations
[19] Job 1:6 – Satan and the SONS OF GOD presented themselves to God
[20] Genesis 6:5 – Nephilim had corrupted all of mankind
[21] Jude 1:6 – Some angels
left their own habitation. -- Genesis 6:1-2 – Nephilim known as “SONS OF GOD” married the daughters of men -- Genesis
6:4 – The Nephilim; SONS OF GOD had sex with the
women of the earth
[22] Genesis 6:13 – God wiped out the Nephilim and mankind in the Flood
[23]1
Kings 22:19-22 – The Council convened to decide Ahab’s death with a LYING
SPIRIT to get him to go to war and be killed.
[24] Daniel 4:13-23 – Council delivered decree on Nebuchadnezzar with Yahweh’s
approval to make him go CRAZY for seven years.
[25] Psalm 82:1-8 – God presides over His heavenly court -- Psalm 89:5-7 – God
has a council of Heavenly Beings who surround Him
Deuteronomy 32:8-9 – God divided up the people and assigns
lands according to the number in His Heavenly Court (70 is my guess)
[26] Daniel 7:23-28 – The Future Court judges the fourth beast, the
anti-Christ and takes all his power away and is completely destroyed.
[27] Psalm
82:1-7 – God presides over the Great Assembly of gods and tells them they will
all DIE like mortal men
-- Isaiah 14:16 – Can this be the Satan
who shook the earth and made the world tremble?
[28] Exodus 4:16 - Moses will be as a god to Aaron and Israel -- Luke 12:48 – To whom much is given, much will
be required -- Job 2:1 – There
are regular meetings of the Heavenly Court with the Sons of God -- Isaiah 14:16 – Can this be the Satan who
shook the earth and made the world tremble?
[29] Revelation 12:7-9 – War in Heaven – Satan and his Angels thrown down to
earth
[30] Psalm 82:1 – God created a Council, a Heavenly Court -- Job 38:4-7 – The Council was already created
in Heaven before earth was created -- Genesis 2:15 – Adam’s job was to tend to and watch over earth
[31]
#1 Exodus 7:19 – A plague
that turned the water in their vessels, pools, streams and rivers into blood
and stunk.
[32] #2
Exodus 8:3 – A plague of Frogs everywhere and I
mean everywhere; in their house, bedroom, beds, kneading troughs and ovens. -- Exodus
8:13 – The frogs all died and they piled them up and the whole land stunk
[33] #3
Exodus 8:17 – Out of the dust of the land a plague of Lice, Gnats, Flies, Fleas upon man and animals, but
just in Egypt.
[34] #4
Exodus 8:21-22 – A plague of swarming insects;
the houses will be full of Flies except for the
land of the Jews
[35] #5
Exodus 9:3-4 – A Terrible Plague on the Horses,
donkeys, camels, sheep, goats & cattle; all will DIE except those belonging to
the Israelites.
[36] #6
Exodus 9:8-9 – The plague of festering boils was
leprosy on men as well as the animals -- Deuteronomy - 28:27 – The itching
boils, tumors, and festering sores could not be healed; it was Leprosy -- Leviticus
13:18-19 – A white, swelling, reddish spot; a boil on the skin, Leprosy -- Exodus
[37] #7
Exodus 9:18-19 – The plague of hailstorm was the worst ever in Egypt,
killing their livestock and man in the field
-- Exodus 9:24 – The worst storm of Fire, Hail
and lighting in all the land -- Exodus 9:20-21 – Some believed and took
heed of the warning of Moses and were saved. -- Exodus 9:26 – The only place it
did not hail was in the land of Goshen
[38] #8
Exodus 10:12 – The Plague of Locust ate
what the hail did not destroy -- Exodus 10:14-15 – The plague of locust covered
the land until it was black
[39] #9
Exodus 10:21 – Darkness spreads over Egypt that
so dark it could be felt. -- Exodus 10:22-23 – There was total darkness in
Egypt, yet the Israelites had light
[40] #10
Exodus 11:4-6 – The first born of Pharaoh; slave girl and cattle shall
die
[41] Exodus 11:7 – A
Distinction between Egypt and Israel; All Israel is saved; not even a dog will
bark
[42] Exodus 12:33 – The
Egyptian people said; send them out of the land with haste or we will all die
-- Ezekiel 29:9 – Egypt will become a desolate wasteland, then they will know
that I am the lord
[43] Exodus 12:12 – God will
bring Judgment on the many gods of Egypt, striking down their first born
[44] Revelation 12:7-9 – NT Prophecy; There
is a War in Heaven; Michael throws the dragon out of Heaven with all his
angels. -- Isaiah 14:12-17 – OT Prophecy; Satan to be cast out of Heaven, brought down
to the place of the dead, people will shake their heads and mock. -- Revelation 9:1-2 – Satan falls in the
middle of the Tribulations
[45] Revelation 12:10 – Satan accuses us day and night before the throne of
God
[46] Proverbs 21:31– The Day of the Battle belongs to the Lord -- 2 Corinthians 2:11 - For we are not
ignorant of Satan’s devices
[47] Isaiah
45:5 – God has equipped the Believer for the Battle -- Ephesians
6:10-18 – Put on the Full Gospel Armor of God, for we are fighting against evil
rulers, mighty powers of the unseen world -- Psalm 144:1-2 – God is my fortress, my tower,
my shield and trains my hands for battle -- 2 Chronicles 20:15 – Do not be discouraged or afraid for the Battle is
not yours, but the Lords -- Psalm
149:6 – Let the praises of God be in our mouths --
Isaiah 42:17 – Those who trust in Idols
as a god will be turned away in shame
[48] Revelation 20:1-3 –
Satan, The Devil, The Dragon seized & thrown into the Abyss, for 1000 years
-- Joel 1:15 – The Day of The Lord is
the day of Destruction
[49] Amos 5:18-24 - The Day of the Lord; you have no idea what you are wishing
for; darkness, fear and hopelessness, I will not notice your offerings or
music. NLT
[50] Joel 3:14 – You are in the Valley of Decision, choose before the
Day of the Lord Isaiah 11:6-9 – CHOOSE LIFE; in the New Garden of Eden nothing will be harmed or
destroyed
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