Through the Word: Desert Wells

Genesis 26

Famine forced Isaac to leave Beer Lahai Roi, “the well of him that lives and sees me.”

What do we do in a time of famine? Pray.

The Guidance

Isaac had thought about going to Egypt as his father had done in a previous famine.

First, he went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines in Gerar as they probably had an alliance. It’s likely that Abimelech was a title given the king, rather than a personal name—much as the Egyptians always called their king “Pharaoh.”

God told Isaac not to go to Egypt but to live in the land of which he would tell him. “Dwell in this land,” said God, reiterating the promise he made to Isaac’s father Abraham.

The Blessing

Isaac stayed and sowed in the land of Abimelech, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. He became so prosperous; with flocks, herds and a great number of servants that the Philistines envied him and stopped up all the wells his father Abraham had dug, filling them with earth. Genesis 26:12-16

The Reaction

There was a problem sowing in the field of the Philistines. They weren’t happy with Isaac’s success. With envy came rejection.

Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

If Isaac was mightier he could have taken Abimelech on, and won. But he departed and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, the outside edge of Gerar’s territory, and lived there.

The Fight for the Wells

Then came the fight over water rights and his father’s wells. Isaac brought his father’s wells back into service, calling them by the same names, but soon had to abandon them, and he renamed them with bitter names.

Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.  But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Genesis 26:18-20

Esek means quarrel.

Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. Genesis 26:21

Sitnah means enmity.

Retreat

Again he moved and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” Genesis 26:22

The Deliverance

Rehoboth means spaciousness, open spaces. It brings to mind a verse about God’s deliverance; “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Psalm 18:19

The Promise

Leaving the well at Rehoboth, Isaac travelled to Beersheba. God appeared to him the same night saying; ““I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” Genesis 26:23-25

A Tent, an Altar and a Well

Reassured, Isaac pitched his tent there, and built an altar and a well. Was it by the place that Abraham planted the tamarisk tree? I wonder. The tamarisk tree is a slow growing tree, increasing only an inch per year and taking close to 400 years to grow to full height, so Abraham obviously hadn’t planted it for himself.

The Agreement

After Isaac had found his place in the world, Abimelech sought him out. “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” Isaac asked Abimelech.

Abimelech had seen the Lord was with Isaac and he wanted to make a covenant of peace.

So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. Genesis 26:30

Water from the Desert

 It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”  So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. Genesis 26:27-33

Beer means well and sheba means Oath or Seven.

The lessons learned

Isaac probably learned that deliverance does not always come all at once. Sometimes it comes in stages as we have to be led. God allows freewill and we learn from our choices.

Isaac had to obey God about where to settle. He had to sow in the land of the Philistines. His obedience led to God’s blessing but that brought it’s own problems; envy and rejection.

He had to try three times when it came to well digging. His father’s wells were stopped up after his father’s death and he had to redig them. This led to a quarrel with his former ally and then emnity. Isaac did not retaliate but moved again and this time he was allowed to dig a well in peace.

Following in his father’s footsteps, he went back to Beer Sheba and he made a covenant just as his father had. He dug a well, and God appeared to him there. The well meant “well of seven” and “well of the oath.”

Did Isaac learn that an oath made by one generation must be renewed by another? He had to open his father’s wells and dig some new wells of his own. An inheritance would be contended for and he had to have faith. Isaac obeyed God, and he found his place in the world.

Abimelech and his men acknowledged God, telling Isaac, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you.” What did they learn? I wonder.

Related post

Through the Word: the First Well

Comment

This is for all those struggling to find their place in the world.

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Who was Abimelech in the Bible?

Submission, have we got it right?

Do you think that churches have got the word and concept about submitting to the authorities right?

Control freaks and sociopaths LOVE that word, especially if they’ve got religion to back them up! Unfortunately they’re the ones now running the show. They have the appearance of caring about our health but they really don’t.

In the name of health they wanted our compliance, our going along with something, our being a good citizen, our helpfulness, and there was a transfer. This has happened to all of our nations.

Sociopaths obtain things by stealth, that’s the definition of manipulation. I know what narcissistic sociopaths are, my first book deals with the aftermath of a “relationship” with one of them. I can recognise control when I see it. But is their cause legitimate, moral or just?

This was a power grab while we were kept divided and in social isolation. First of all, we were told they needed two weeks to “flatten the curve” while we stayed in lockdown. Look where we’ve ended up two years later, subjected to unapproved gene therapy while our lives have been destroyed … and now they’ve come for our children.

Romans 13:4 speaks of governing authorities that have been placed there for our good, “For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.” Who are the ones in power serving? Are they there for our good?

Someone has hated our treasures, the treasures being our children, our families, our wealth, our health, our education, our small businesses, our work, professions, faith, religion, our relationships and even our faces.

The best thing you can do with people like this is not comply.

This has been a full on assault. We need to realise how we’ve been manipulated and change direction towards integrity and truthfulness. We need to say no, and not give in to pressure. We need to value our treasure. We need to repent and go the other way.

This is the fight of a generation.

Where have the churches been while we’ve been herded into this experimental gene therapy? It’s not a vaccine, I’m calling it what it is.

Why have we been told to submit to the governing authorities by some churches and Christian organisations? Can’t they see our governments have signed agreements we’re not privy to, while hurriedly introducing rules, restrictions, laws and vaccine mandates?

Why are Christians being encouraged to comply?

I’ve heard it said that we should wear masks and take the shots in order to show love for people, by laying down our lives for others. We should consider the needs of others above ourselves, to take it to stop others from dying.

It is implied that if we don’t, we’re selfish!

I just see that as a form of religious blackmail.

Here’s an article by a certain pastor who believes Christians should comply with masks and the so-called vaccine. I agreed with him on some things, about loving our neighbour. He pointed out we should not reject or judge each other and act in a godly manner.

But then he made me really uneasy when he cited Romans 13 about submitting to the governing authorities. He does not believe the government’s rules and mandates are ordering us to do something contrary to God’s word. “As Christians, we should be known in society, above everyone else, as people who support our government, respect the authority of our government and comply with their decisions.  If the government rules, mandates and orders us to do something contrary to God’s Word, then we should obey God rather than man (Acts 4:19-20).  But that has not yet occurred in the case of vaccine rollouts.”

We see things differently. In my opinion he has not recognised the evil we’re now confronting every day with the rise of this new global biosecurity state.

Why can’t these churches and Christian leaders recognise evil? People are undergoing a medical procedure in tears because they have to do it to keep their jobs! Coercion is not of God. Injury and death from the needle is not from God. More people have died from the so-called vaccine than from the disease, according to the latest figures from Medsafe.

Some pastors are sitting on the fence, looking on, trying to keep their flock together. But look at what’s happening to the sheep! The spirit of compromise is not unity.

What did they think when people who’ve resisted this experimental medical procedure could not go to church for carol services at Christmas!

What would Jesus have done?

Would he have sumbitted himself to this?

The word ‘submit’ has a different meaning from the word ‘obey.’

In contrast, here’s an article written five years ago about the word “submit.” It brings context and puts things into perspective.

The Greek word hupotasso, which has been translated as “submit” or “be subject,” literally means to arrange stuff respectfully in an “orderly manner underneath”.

This simple meaning of “social orderliness” would have been understood by original readers, but it is a little obscured in our English translation.

This word is used in Ephesians 5:22 to encourage husbands and wives to submit to one another, and it reflects God’s concern for order and respect.

Here’s the main point – Paul and Peter believed that governing authorities are necessary for keeping the peace. God is a God of order – not anarchy or chaos.

But here’s where we go wrong. There’s ANOTHER word, hupokouo, which is best translated as “obey,” which literally means to conform, to follow a command, or to kowtow to an authority as a subordinate.

Peter and Paul could have used this word, “obey,” but they chose not to.

Used twenty-one times in the New Testament, hupokouo always suggests a hierarchical context, as in the relationship between children or slaves and their parents or masters (Eph 6:1 and 6:5).

And so here’s the most important thing to remember – in the New Testament Greek, to submit does not always mean to obey! They are two separate actions or postures.

Though Paul, Peter and other followers of Jesus deliberately disobeyed laws that were in conflict with God’s commands, they still submitted to the authorities by accepting the legal consequences of their actions.

NO, ROMANS 13 IS NOT ABOUT OBEYING THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES, Craig Greenfield

Isn’t it time we stood up and shouted ‘NO’ in the face of evil and injustice?

Links

What’s your choice?

• To obey?

Christians and Covid Vaccines

• Or not obey?

NO, ROMANS 13 IS NOT ABOUT OBEYING THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES

“Historically, the most terrible things: war, genocide and slavery,
have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.”    – Howard Zinn

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Does God want unthinking obedience from us simply because we are complying or conforming to something, or does He want us to think things through and submit because we know fully that it is the right thing to do? Which is better? What if we had a choice between obedience or disobedience to a command, but our disobedience would actually be obedience to God? Would we obey the one who is pressuring us to do something that God says not to do, or would we submit to God in disobedience of the other?

This begins to set up interesting circumstances in a person’s life. It is a major reason that the word hupotasso is used rather than the Greek word for obedience, hupakoe—”attentive hearkening.” God wants us to know that we are to think matters through and not merely to comply. We are to use our minds and decide to go in a chosen direction because we realize, know, understand, and set our will to submit to the right and good and true.

What the Bible says about Hupotasso, John W. Ritenbaugh

Blooming in adversity

When we moved back to our house in the late spring of 2021, the roses by the back door bloomed as if to welcome us. It was a welcome sight as we were feeling shattered and defeated by the actions of our government. We’d just escaped a city in it’s 80th day of lockdown.

The rose bush had endured it’s own ordeal.

In 1996 I bought my house, a charming bungalow / villa, and I planted a rose bush given me by a friend soon after. The rose bush rewarded me with pink and white flowers. I raised my children in that house and they were happy years. Shortly after I remarried in 2004 we moved away, leaving the house in the care of a property management company while we built a business an hour north of Auckland.

Over the years, the property manager disrespected the house and allowed it to be wrecked by a tenant. The final straw came in 2010, the year the poor old house turned 100 and we saw the condition it was in.

Taking the keys back, we managed the house ourselves, making the 1100 kilometre return trip to Wanganui every third weekend to manage and work on the renovations. This was my rose bush after years of bad property management. As you can see, it was gone. All I could do was yank the weeds, cover it’s bed with stones and cry.

The house remained empty for nine months while we brought the property back into a condition where it could attract decent tenants. In that period of rest and stillness, I was overjoyed to see the rose bush come back as it poked it’s head out from behind the stones.

Now, seventeen years after we left and ten years after the renovations, we’ve now returned to our hometown, after almost being driven out of business. When I wrote our business plan in 2006, I put “government stupidity” as a threat, but I never envisaged this.

The hometown is familiar but at the same time unrecognisable. Vaccine centres and 5G cellphone towers are springing up, while our governments march in lock step with the global biosecurity state. Every day brings bad tidings while healthy people run around with masks on, flashing their vaccine passes.

Vandalised and scandalised, the town is being torn apart, wrecked in the name of health and the marketing of fear.

It reminds me of the way my house was treated.

I look forward to a better day, the day when Jesus returns to take his property back from those who are disrespecting it.

Meanwhile, just like the rose, people will go into hiding.

It reminds me of this Bible verse;

When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.  Proverbs 28:28

Here’s my rose bush now. I’ll take it as a promise. Meanwhile, may we bloom in adversity.

Psalm 121

What do you think when you hear the injunction to lift one’s eyes?

To me, lifting the eyes relates to hope or inspiration. Which I think we all need right now.

This is the farm I grew up on in New Zealand. I always go there in my mind when I hear Psalm 121.

I hope it provides some inspiration in these troubled times.

It’s time to fight

How do we fight when the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?

Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-17

This is no ordinary fight, for there is spiritual wickedness in high places. When you are battle weary, come watch this and be refreshed.

The Weapons of our warfare, Fear not, Motivation video – Mosfield

Remember, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4

2020 vision

Hello from second lock down.  Yes, I am deprived of my liberty again.  What a year.  There are lots of jokes about 2020.  I’m sure we’ve all got some.  Here are my favourites …

All jokes aside, I see 2020 as the dawning of a new era – the day of world government which must come before Jesus returns.

It’s an evil day.  The world government is being aided and abetted by the World Health Organisation.  Did you notice it has for its logo a snake on a pole?  It signifies Asclepius, a son of Apollo.

In Revelation 12:9 the snake is defined as “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.”

The serpent has different names according to the culture where it was worshipped.  In Egypt it was Uraeus, the sacred serpent.  In 2018 a sculpture called Uraeus was installed at the Rockefeller Center in New York.  It consists of a gigantic open book with eagle’s wings 30 feet in span, both made of lead, on top of a 20-foot-tall lead-clad stainless steel column. Clustered around the base of the column are further outsize lead books, while a large snake coils up the column.

Does it remind you of anything?

I see that serpent wrapping it’s coils like a python around each country, constricting us in the name of health, and choking the life out of our economies and our livelihoods.

After this vision, I learned that Satan is written with three Hebrew letters: The letter Shin, which means to consume or destroy, the letter Tet which means a snake, or to surround, twist, entwine and ensnare, and the letter Nun, which means life. So Satan means ‘the snake which surrounds, consumes and destroys life’.

It’s time to put on our armour and make a stand.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:12-13

My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Therefore put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Ephesians 6:10-13

We are up against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.  The principality making itself felt worldwide is in Geneva, where the headquarters of the World Health Organisation and GAVI are.

GAVI is the Global Vaccine Alliance that Bill Gates started in 1999.  It’s a mix of private-public partnerships, i.e. government and big pharmaceutical companies.

The WHO is a United Nations organisation.  Bill Gates is the second biggest donor, which gives him an inordinate amount of influence. Neither he nor the head of the WHO are doctors. Gates wants to marry a universal biometric ID with vaccines, as part of Agenda 2030.  The initiative is called ID2020.  You can check it out on my other blog, the one I use for warning people.  I began warning about this in November last year, and again in January, before the Covid thing kicked off.

The UN has an agenda for us all.  As part of Agenda 2030 the World Health Organisation intends to use vaccines to replace our God-given immune system with theirs.  The goal is called Immunisation Agenda 2030.  That’s why you’re now hearing about “global health.”

Who is behind the WHO?  Satan is described in the Bible as the god of this world, or of this age.  I believe it’s his symbol on the WHO logo.

The serpent on the pole is a counterfeit healer.  The devil can also perform miracles, but Jesus was the one who was lifted up on a pole; “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:14

The account is in Numbers 21, where the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people who spoke against God and Moses.  The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”  Numbers 21:8

The snake god is ancient, and the Lord took it on in Egypt.  The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” 

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.  Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:  Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Exodus 7:8-12

As God’s ambassador, Moses staff was more powerful than those in the court of Pharaoh.

The magicians’ names were Jannes and Jambres.  Their names crop up again in the last days, when Paul warned there will be perilous times in the last days.

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth.”  2 Timothy 3:1-9

Society is going to be very divided.  There are churches who have abandoned God’s eternal truth in favour of a social justice gospel.  Their ministers are false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Do you think they’ll help if people are forced to take mandatory vaccines?  Will they warn about not-so hidden agendas if people start trusting the World Health Organisation for their health and healing?  When people put their faith in a counterfeit, it’s called idolatry.

How do we stand?  How do we battle this thing?

First, we should submit to the government as far as we can.  Now that’s a radical idea, but in Romans 13:1-2 we’re commanded to be subject to the governing authorities, unless their laws demand that we disobey the Lord.  When that happens we can practice civil disobedience.

In the name of Covid-19, we’ve been forced to put a Ministry of Health Covid-19 tracking app sign on the entrance to our business.  Do I like it?  No – but I have to obey the government.

Second, we need to pray for discernment.

The image of the serpent on the pole that Moses had made was supposed to prepare Israel for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross – but when the people turned away from God and started worshipping the image instead, it was destroyed.

You can read it in 2 Kings 18:4:  Hezekiah the king of Judah broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. 

Nehustan

The serpent on the pole was called Nehushtan, which in Hebrew meant “a worthless thing of brass.”

Third, we need to turn away from the worthless thing, stand on the Word of God and shield ourselves with faith in His Word.

Psalm 91 promises that “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  In verse 3-6 we read, “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler (small shield.)  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.” 

Verse 9 promises, “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.” 

The shield of faith is one of the six pieces of the armour of light.  So put your faith in Jesus, be wise, and don’t listen to those who employ deception.  Turn off the TV if you have to, it’s broadcasting fear.

Jesus said, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

Third, we need to remember this while making our stand, “owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8

In New Zealand, our Socialist prime minister Jacinda Adern urged us to be kind in the so-called Covid-19 pandemic, while setting up a police line to dob in our neighbours if they were seen to be breaking the government’s restrictions.

Teddy bears in windows aren’t a substitute for kindness.  Jordan Peterson said that “Kindness is the excuse that social justice warriors use when they want to exercise control over what other people think and say.”

The snitch line is another thing I chose not to use, because we’re told in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life: we should mind our own business and work with our hands, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that we will not be dependent on anybody.

So what do we have to do to make a stand?

#1 Submit to the authorities, but not if they contradict what God says,  #2  Pray for discernment, #3 Turn away from the snake on the pole and trust Jesus instead, and #4 Love one another.

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People will betray each other in the last days.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-4

New Zealanders begin to devour each other while Jacinda Ardern smiles and waves at the nation she’s put under house arrest

Ardern minions have filed “4,200 reports to police”, reporting on their neighbours who breach New Zealand’s house arrest rules. As The N.Z Herald quipped, “curtain-twitchers outing members of the public crashed the new police reporting site within an hour of it going live yesterday.” Neighbour devouring neighbour under a cloud of suspicion and fear, in an eerie echo of the kind of public denouncing, carried out by Soviet Stasi, and Nazi Gestapo, collaborators.

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And, more about Jannes & Jambres: Watch Out For Jannes & Jambres

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The serpent: Satan – Hebrew Word Study

The imposter: Satan is out to counterfeit what Jesus did.  My book “The End, The Wayfarers Guide To The Apocalypse” describes how the devil does it.

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Know that we have the power of Christ’s blood, and in his blood is immunity: “Did you know there is proof for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ?  We even know his blood type, from the cloth wrapped around his head. 

The cloth, called the ‘Sudarium’ is kept in a Cathedral in Oviedo, Spain.   And here’s something from the evidence room:  The blood stains match those on the Turin shroud … 

from AB-solute proof, the blood that speaks

Trust Jesus. He is Jehovah Rapha, our healer.  

The heart of the matter

Have you ever heard the noise of the heart?  I’ve heard it on a fetal heart monitor when I was pregnant.  It makes a noise like “Leb-bab, Leb-bab, Leb-bab.”  Leb and lebab is the Hebrew word for “heart.” 

Did you know the Throne of God has aspects of the human heart?

Twenty-four ribs guard the heart – twelve on each side, and in Revelation 4, twenty-four elders surround the throne of God along with the four cherubim.

The heart has to be guarded.  Proverbs 4:23 states,  “Above all else, guard the heart, for it is the well-spring of life.”

Because the heart is the throne of our conscience, the seat of our decision making.  We need the cleansing of Christ’s blood.

1 John 7 states “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Source: Knowing Jesus

The heart removes the C02 and pumps blood around the body.  Jesus’ AB negative blood is used for universal blood transfusions.   I’ve written about it on my Red Sky blog:

AB-solute proof, the blood that speaks

Laminin

In our cells we have laminin, the cell scaffolding protein foundation structure for most cells and organs.  Laminin is vital for the maintenance and survival of tissues.  Does laminin remind you of anything?

Colossians 1:17 states that Jesus “is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

As Romans 1:20 states, these are some of God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—to be clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.

Great designers always leave their mark.

My thanks to Carrie for providing the inspiration for this article.

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Hebrew word study: Lebab (03824) means heart, mind or the inner man, contrasted to the outer man (See Dt. 30:14: Joel 2:13;1Sa 16:7). Lebab is often compounded with “soul” for emphasis, as in 2Chr 15:12 (cf. 2 Chr 15:15).

Heart – Leb, Lebab (Hebrew Word Study)

Body codes

The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence

Have you ever read the verse about the kingdom of heaven suffering violence and the violent taking it by force, and wondered what it meant?

"And from the days of John the Baptist 
until now the kingdom of heaven suffers 
violence,  
and the violent take it by force."  
Matthew 11:12

The context for the verse is “the days of John the Baptist.”

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord. Make His paths straight.’ ” 
Matthew 3:1-3

After hearing him preach, what do you think the Jews were looking forward to?

They wondered if John was the Messiah, or Elijah – who Malachi prophesied would be sent before the day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5.)

The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem asked who he was: “Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.  He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.””  John 1:19-21

Jesus indicated John was a type for Elijah when He said, “And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” Matthew 11:14 

The Day of the Lord is yet to come and so is Elijah.  He may be one of the two witnesses described in Revelation 11.

Elijah will explain both Testaments and unite Jews and Christians, as he shows how Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Malachi 4:6

Elijah will probably also heal a generational divide which I fear will happen as our children are being taught a different version of end-times after receiving an Agenda 2030 based green gospel at school.  Imagine being a climate skeptic with a child like Greta Thunberg.

Hitler said, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”  It doesn’t bear thinking about.  If it’s uncomfortable now – what will it be like in the future?

But getting back to Jesus’ day, the Jews believed John the Baptist when he announced the Kingdom of God was at hand.  When Jesus fed the crowd of 5000 bread, they intended to make Jesus king by force. (John 6:14-15)

Were these people violent or enthusiastic and desperate?  I don’t know, but Jesus separated Himself from the the crowd.  Their idea of the kingdom of God was not His or His Father’s.

Before the Kingdom of Heaven can come, a false messiah and a false kingdom headed by ten kings will come first.  Jesus warned us not to be deceived.

Will we have to go against the crowd at a time when truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey?
(Isaiah 59:14-15)

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I’ve written about the Kingdom to come in my second book “The Wayfarer’s Guide to the Apocalypse.”  It’s a unique peek at the happenings in Heaven and on earth as the world lurches through the apocalypse.   Book link: https://books2read.com/u/3RaOvG

My second book: ‘The End, The Wayfarer’s Guide to the Apocalypse.’

Greetings for 2020.  I haven’t posted here for a while as I’ve been working on my second book, ‘The End, The Wayfarer’s Guide to the Apocalypse.’  Unlike my first book which is about the Kingdom within, this is about the world to come – the Kingdom, the power and the glory.

I wrote it to counter the doom and gloom of the climate change message being propagated by the media and those affiliated with the United Nations.

My advice is don’t listen to it.  Turn your TV off and consult the Bible. Ask the Lord what He has to say.  Compare the Word of God to the climate change message.  You’ll find, if you don’t know already, that it’s quite different.

Writing the book in 2019, I became mindful of that.   I wanted to show how different the Bible narrative is.  The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible is a marvelous book.   I wanted to do it justice.  Not wanting to make it a boring Bible study, I made the book a questioning journey through the Bible inside a study, where I became a character called “Wayfarer” on a journey through the Apocalypse.

It’s been a strange journey, it’s taken me more than a year to complete. I’ve been at times amazed, puzzled, baffled, frustrated, astonished and rewarded – and I’ve come out with a deeper appreciation of the enigmatic mind behind the last book of the Bible.

Here’s the link for ‘The End, The Wayfarer’s Guide to the Apocalypse   I recommend the book to all with an interest in end times.

For a limited time, if you contact me I will offer the book or my first book “The Kingdom, Here Be Dragons, Here Be Dreams” free for a review.

I wish you all the best for this decade and beyond as we await the coming of the true Kingdom.

God’s sign language

What do you think about coincidences?  Is it God trying to get our attention?  Or, as Einstein said, “a small miracle where God chooses to remain anonymous?”

I think people often get signs and dismiss them as coincidences.  I don’t dismiss them, you can miss out on a lot when you do that.

Have you experienced God trying to get your attention?  Has He tried to sign to you or speak to you with a word?  To hear, you must have the Word.  Hearing comes from the Word.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

There are two kinds of Words in the Bible, LOGOS for general application and RHEMA for personal application, where the Holy Spirit will speak directly to you, bringing  revelation.

I think hearing with the Rhema word is something that is caught rather than taught.  When I heard people say ‘they heard from the Lord,’ I’d think ‘how?’  In time I caught on after meditating on the Bible.

If you don’t have the Word, you will be deaf and He will sign.

God communicated by sign until I understood the Word.  Now the sign and the Word tend to work together.

Here’s a practical example of a sign working with the Word;
My mother died with a row of sevens accompanying her.  She died at 7pm on the 7th day of the 7th month, aged 77.

The link is here if you want to read more and see the video I made for her.

Coincidence?  Noticing all the sevens, I asked the Lord if it was a sign.  The answer was in the affirmative.  He explained to me that Heaven is a place of rest, and He’d sent the sign wanting to reassure us she was at rest.

From the Word He showed me where Heaven is mentioned as the “seventh-day rest” in the Bible.  The Sabbath day is the seventh day;

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest … Hebrews 4:9

God used signs all the way through the Bible.  It’s standard operating procedure for him.

The sign either precedes or follows the Rhema word.

The Word is like a compass, the sign is like a landmark, and the discovery is like orienteering, navigating, or tracking.  You have to read and look.

My book is based on how the Lord guided me using His Word, coincidences, visions and dreams, with signs accompanying.

It’s the number one thing I hope to convey to the reader of my book – how to look for God and hear Him.

After His death and resurrection, the Lord worked with the apostles confirming His word with signs.

“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”  Mark 16:20

He is still doing it today, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:18

We just need eyes to see and ears to hear.  Matthew 13:15-17