CHAPTER 29
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
WHO KILLED KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM?
Korah had become dissatisfied with his position. Did God tempt him to feel this way? No, for God never tempts anyone to do evil. James 1:13-15. So, we cannot blame God. Korah secretly opposed the authority of Moses and Aaron, and finally came out into the open with the bold design of overthrowing both the civil and the religious authority. Now, who leads out in all of these type of activities? JESUS OR SATAN? If we say Jesus does it, then God is guilty on two counts. First of all, He tempts and leads men to break a law He knows they, in their fallen condition, can’t keep anyway. Thus, according to this logic, He will have a “legitimate” excuse or reason for killing them, thereby proving that He and His law are just and true. But, if we say that Satan is the one who leads them into these activities and God is the one who kills them, then we have an even greater problem, for God would not only be a killer, but a very sly, shadowy, sneaky person we can’t really trust, for he has to get someone else to do the “dirty work,” of tempting men to sin so he can prove his law just by destroying them. This concept is totally unacceptable and out of harmony with God’s character, and therefore, must be rejected. But, this latter view is the one most people hold about God. Satan is the tempter, (Matt. 4:3, Jere. 6:26,27.) they say, but God is the destroyer. That is, most of the time. Oh, sometimes he uses Satan as a hit man, but only when it would look bad for Him to “do it,” some reason in their carnal minds. In the Korah case, Satan led them into sin and rebellion, but God killed them with an earthquake which split open the earth. This is the fruit of such logic. Logic, which is only “carnal thinking.”
We know Satan causes earthquakes by causing the earth to “tremble” and is the one who will destroy all the cities of the earth at the end of this age. Isaiah 14:12-17. See also Isaiah 28:2, 25:4, Psalm 86:14. “Tremble” in Isa. 14:16 can also be translated shake or undulate. “Raash” is the Hebrew word (Strong’s concordance 7493) and means to shake: undulate or tremble through fear. It means to spring as a locust and locusts refer to demons in Rev. 9:7. When Satan and his demons fire out their fear, the earth trembles. This is what happened at Sinai when Jesus and His Father came down to give the Law. Satan was afraid and caused the mountain to tremble, not Jesus. Therefore, it is a terrible slander against the lovely character and name of Jesus to even think, much less say that Christ killed these people. The only answer left to consider is the right one. SATAN WAS PERMITTED TO TEMPT AND TO LEAD THESE REBELS INTO SIN BECAUSE THEY CHOSE TO FOLLOW THE VOICE OF SATAN, RATHER THAN THE VOICE OF GOD, AND GOD WAS FORCED TO “GIVE THEM UP TO THEIR OWN WILLS,” Psalm 78:49. AND SATAN LED THEM ON TO DESTRUCTION.
Jesus told us that Satan has been a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in Him. John 8:44. Korah and his company were bitter about the sentence that they all must die in the wilderness. Satan tempted them to blame Moses and were thus led on to their own destruction. Miriam’s leprosy came as a result of this same kind of jealousy, envy and murmuring. This was the cause of the fall of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Numbers 12:8. Notice carefully verse 9. AND THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST THEM: AND HE DEPARTED. GOD’S ANGER HERE IS THE SAME AS WRATH. It simply means He withdraws His presence to a certain degree and permits evil to have its way to the extent He has decided. Psalm 78:50. He (Jesus) made a way to His ANGER (desire). But, notice carefully, that the leprosy on Miriam did not come until after the Lord had departed. We all know who brings sickness and disease. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and HEALING ALL THAT WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL; for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38.
The story of Miriam being afflicted with leprosy is indicated in Deut. 24:8 & 9 as an act which the “Lord”…did unto Miriam, a punishment for speaking against her brother Moses. But was it the true Lord who afflicted leprosy on Miriam? The answer is “No, He didn’t.” Remember that the Hebrew writers always made God responsible for that which He permitted to happen. Because He is the Creator He takes the blame for everything, good and bad. Isaiah 45:7. “How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the (Holy) Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and in particular curing all that were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.” Acts 10:38. Amplified Version. Whatever Jesus revealed the Father to be like in His life, while He was here on earth, is what the Father has always been like because God never changes. Psalm 89:34; Malachi 3:6; Heb 13:8; James 4:17.
Yet, Num. 12:10 proves God “DEPARTED” before she was afflicted which proves the true Lord did not afflict her. When the twelve spies came back with an evil report (Numbers 13, 14) they refused to go up and God said they would have to die in the wilderness for not believing His promise. Satan cannot do anything unless he first gets God’s permission. We must be careful how we ponder that, for it can be misconstrued. God allowed Satan and his angels to bring the “plagues” of sickness upon the ten spies. But true to His divine character, the Lord claimed that it was His doing, so that the people, in their ignorance, might revere and worship only Him and thus be saved from a similar fate. A correct understanding of God is progressive throughout history, as well as in each human life. Sometimes God permits us to misinterpret an event so as to awaken us to our danger. Thus we turn to Him out of awe and fear, Jude 23, but Jesus is always trying to bring us closer to Him to show us His true heart of love. Moses was blamed by Korah for all of Israel’s problems, and his accusations seemed to unify the entire camp. Next, we see the Lord directing Moses to set up a meeting for all to see who was right and who was wrong. The Bible tells how God instructs Moses to separate himself along with Aaron, from among the congregation, “THAT I MAY CONSUME THEM IN A MOMENT.” Now, someone will say, “now, how can you say God doesn’t kill and destroy, when it clearly says here that God wants to ‘consume,’ them?” Here again, surface reading will cause a person to miss the true character of God. You must hunt and dig for “HIM” as for hidden treasure. He is the PEARL OF GREAT PRICE. God cannot save Israel from Satan’s power to destroy them and the power of sin itself, to reap its natural result, UNLESS SOMEONE INTERVENES FOR ISRAEL. So, God here pictures Himself as about to “consume or destroy” the people (when He is only about to withdraw and let the people have their own way and thus be led by Satan to destruction). But, Jesus always takes the blame. Unless someone pleads for Israel, they are going to suffer and perish. Will Moses step into the breach and pray for rebellious Israel? Because God is not only Omnipotent, (all-powerful), but also Omniscient, (all knowing), He knew Moses’ heart of love would intercede for rebellious Israel.
WHO IS REALLY SPEAKING HERE?
When we read a parallel account in Exodus 32:7-11 we see something very interesting. The voice that is claiming to be the “LORD” is actually Satan. How do I know this? 1. In v. 7, the voice lies by telling Moses he brought the people out of Egypt, calling them, “thy people.” Moses rebukes this voice claiming to be the “lord” by telling him that they are His people and that He brought them out, not Moses. But the most amazing part of this story is that Moses has the temerity and audacity to rebuke this lord by telling him that his idea to kill the people is a very bad idea and will make him look bad and that he should “repent” of this evil which is a terrible idea in the first place. 2. In v. 9, the voice is accusing and condemning Israel and God never accuses or condemns. 3. The voice says, “Let me alone,” which is a familiar phrase of Satan. Mark 1:24: Luke 4:34. 4. The voice says, he wishes to “consume” the people. God does not kill people. 5. The voice tempts Moses to become the leader of a great nation just like Satan tempted Jesus in Matt. 4:8 by offering Him “all the kingdoms of the world.” Moses argued with this voice and interceded for Israel as a type of Christ.
Now we can see why Jesus said that we should pray for our enemies. Yes, our prayers for those who persecute and hate us will hold back the DESTROYER from afflicting and killing precious souls for whom Christ died. This brings us now to the final showdown. Moses tells the people to get away from Korah, Dathan and Abiram. The majority of Israel obey the warning. Now, the DESTROYER is permitted to take over the remaining rebels and do with them as he wills. God knows ahead of time exactly what Satan will do and communicates this information to his servant. Moses then relays it to the people: “Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. But if the Lord make a new thing, (margin says, CREATE A NEW NATION), and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit (grave or opening in earth. Not hellfire); then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.” Numbers 16:28-30. The following verses show how this actually happened… “AND THEY PERISHED FROM AMONG THE CONGREGATION.” Paul says they were “destroyed of the destroyer.” I Cor. 10:9,10. Satan is the DESTROYER. He is the one who causes earthquakes. So, my friend, please don’t tell me God split the earth open here. He didn’t do it.
When Jesus told Moses he was going to make “a new thing,” he did not mean that He was going to kill people in a NEW WAY He hadn’t used before. This is absurd. God is not like that. He meant instead, that He was about to permit the leaders of this rebellion to die and Israel would have to choose some brand new leaders. It would in a sense be a NEW NATION, in that the new leaders would be new men appointed by God, through Moses. Satan works through accident, war disease or a natural calamity such as lightning. Today Satan is often pictured with a pitch-fork in his hand. That actually is a bolt of lightning and used to be drawn as such, a bolt of lightning with three forks to it, but has now become a pitch-fork to imply Satan is pitching people into hell-fire. The pagans used to pray to Satan, “O thou who controls the lightning. O thou all powerful destroyer, have mercy on us as we sacrifice to you.” Satan is the one who brings hail and other types of storms. Psalm 78:47-49. Remember that the 7th plague is hail! In the case of the 250 princes, God controlled and permitted these events. Now, pay close attention to the next point. Where is Satan during all of this death and destruction? Why He is right next to Jesus….at his right hand, doing his best to pervert and twist everything He can. We see this in Zech. 3:1, where Satan is accusing Joshua the high priest, the same as he accused Job.
It was not God who hurt Job. No, my friend. it was the DESTROYER, Satan. And it was not our Precious, Holy, JESUS who flashed fire out and killed these 250 princes. How do I know that? First of all God’s law says, “THOU SHALT NOT KILL.” Christ kept the law perfectly when He was on earth, showing that it was a perfect law. He demonstrated His true character then and for all eternity, past and present. He is always like that. He never changes. Heb. 13:8; Mal. 3:6. Secondly, let us notice what the Lord was doing while Satan was accusing the 250 princes of sinning and telling God, “I have a right to destroy them. They have sinned.” What was Jesus doing then? He was seeking to save them from the DESTROYER by offering them forgiveness. Amazing! Jesus doesn’t bring Wrath. He saves us from it. “We shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Rom. 5:9. Praise God! And yet, God here again permits Satan to slander His name by making it look like fire is coming from Jesus. Yet Christ says, “I did it, worship only Me or you will die too.”
Did Moses and Aaron kill the 250 princes? No, they did not. Moses and Aaron stood as God’s visible representatives to give His word and show His power and authority over all events, people and nature. God said they would die if they did not repent. He, alone, had the power of life and death in his hand….not Satan. Satan never could harm them, unless God permitted it, therefore, it is blasphemy to attribute to Satan or Moses the power to decide whether or not these men live or die. Only the CREATOR HAS THE RIGHT TO DECIDE and carry out such a decision. Satan can only do what God permits. Look at Job’s case for proof. Jesus alone, with His Father and the Holy Spirit, had the power to let them die if they did not repent or to save them from Satan and themselves, if they didn’t. God was in control of the situation, not Moses, nor even Satan. Since Satan, himself, could not kill unless God “decided” (judged) it to be so, Satan could not kill them, so it was the “judgment of God” (HIS DECISION ALONE) that killed the 250 princes. But, what was the decision? And this is the key to this whole question and scenario.
It was a decision to let these men reap the full result of their own choice. God let them go. He decided to let them go their own way and do their own thing; This is called God’s wrath in the Bible. This is how God destroys. “Destroy thou them O God. Let them fall by their own counsels.” Psalm 5:10. This was God’s JUDGMENT, and it was delivered by Moses and Aaron in the name of God. Yet, the people sinned by not giving God reverence when His power was so signally manifested. The people sinned by saying that Satan was the one in control of life and death, when it was the Creator.
This was blasphemy because they rejected God’s efforts to save them from destruction, which He was only allowing, and therefore controlling, but not bringing. The true legalist will make the same mistake at the TIME OF TROUBLE when he charges God and His people with the plagues. They will be blaspheming God’s Holy name then too. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. Rev. 16:9. They do not give God credit for being the LIFE GOD and reject His SIGN {Sabbath Day, 7th day} which shows His true character as life-giver, not life-taker. They do not give Him GLORY or CHARACTER. That is, they do not assign to Him His rightful place as CREATOR and REDEEMER and thus they are perishing. Actually, the plagues should cause them to repent and ask forgiveness, but like Pharaoh, their hearts are just more hardened with additional evidence.
QUESTION: IF GOD DOES NOT DESTROY PEOPLE, HOW THEN DID THE PEOPLE IN THE DAYS OF NOAH DIE? How do you explain the plain Word of God, which says, “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart”? And the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” Gen. 6:6,7.
ANSWER: Jesus’ comment on the flood is significant: “The flood came, and destroyed them all.” Luke 17:27. Matt. 24:39 says the same thing will happen again when Jesus returns, only the destruction will be by fire this time instead of by water. It is SIGNIFICANT THAT CHRIST DID NOT BLAME HIS FATHER OR HIMSELF FOR DESTROYING THE PEOPLE, but simply blamed the event itself as the cause of their death. The flood is an example of how God permitted the people, under the leadership of Satan, to run this planet according to their own will. Satan had kept telling the universe that if he were in charge of planet earth completely, things would be much better. So, the Lord permitted Satan to do just that. Of course, he fouled things up so badly that the flood came and Satan himself thought he was going to be destroyed in the warring elements. Patriarchs & Prophets, pgs 99, 100. The word “repent,” means to sigh deeply, or sorrow. Now, just what actually caused the vapor envelope to collapse upon that ancient race is not totally clear, but, we do have some evidence that is most interesting. There are two concepts I have at this time, and yet they could be fused into one, for it is possible that not only did man bring upon himself some type of nuclear holocaust, it also seems that Satan has in the past been permitted to cause astral CATASTROPHES. Jesus has told us Noah’s day is a model for our day. Just how similar conditions are today with what they were then, we cannot know for sure, but today man is again about to destroy himself with his own greed, selfishness and so-called scientific advances. Is it possible that a similar situation developed in Noah’s day? We must consider the possibility. Jesus said there would be a parallel between the days of Noah and our day. Matt. 24:37.
Are we, as a modern counterpart of the people in Noah’s time, about to repeat history? It would seem so. Who is destroying our civilization today? God or man? Man is doing it, not God. If we can’t blame God today for man’s death, why blame God for man’s death at the time of the flood?
In his book, “Malfunctions of Nature,” Edward F. Bowman, of Kansas City, has suggested that a major planet in space 28 exploded. He says there is no proof that this happened, except that there is no planet in space 28, according to Bode’s law. He says that for years the empty space where planet 28 should have been, remained a mystery. Since 1801, astronomers have been sighting what seems to be fragments of an exploded planet. To date, several thousand have been located and named. Some are 500 miles across, others smaller. They are called Asteroids and are baby planets which are simply parts of a regular planet that once exploded. Since God created a perfect universe of harmony and order, it does not seem logical that exploding planets would be part of his modus operandi.
But Satan, as the “Prince of the Power of the Air,” (Eph. 2:2) could cause such an explosion, if God permitted him to do it. The disintegration of planet 28 might have been the beginning of a chain reaction, causing a shift in the magnetic force field, and thus setting off earthquakes on planet earth, which may have detonated certain nuclear devices that race had manufactured. Or it is possible that the disaster worked in reverse order-planet 28 exploding and some of the other planets fragmenting to a degree as a result of an upheaval on planet earth and her one moon, due to some kind of detonation on this earth, which set the whole thing off. Since astronomy and physics are out of my specific areas of concentration, I will not theorize further. However, I would like to quote Mr. Bowman. He suggests that the Lord allowed Satan to explode planet 28 for reasons we cannot fully understand. “He (God), to be fair with Satan, allowed him to retain some of his powers (Eph. 2:2), so Satan, therefore, may have destroyed the planet in question, by (causing a cosmic cloud to alter earth’s balance in space) explaining to his fallen angels that his controversy with the Creator was justified, otherwise God would have prevented him from upsetting or meddling with natural laws. Satan does many things which appear at the time to be victories for him, by trying to cover up God’s works and hiding them from view, but in the long run, God reverses and uses the same covering up to preserve them.” Page 23. Ibid. Actually, Satan lost none of his powers when he left heaven. But, Job 38:11 and Mal 3:11 show that God has put a limit on Satan’s power to destroy. See also Job 1 and 2.
As a final answer to this question, I will quote from Job. “Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden: Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:” This is a direct reference to the deluge in Noah’s day, written about 828 years after the flood which said unto God, depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? Job 22:15-17. See also, Isa. 59:19, Luke 6:48,49. The next two verses indicate that God blessed these people in spite of their rebellion, just as He is doing today. But, this shows that the people before the flood told God to get lost. “GET OUT OF OUR LIVES AND LEAVE US ALONE,” they defiantly shouted. We hear the echo of their voices today in our world. This is “GOD’S WRATH,” when He has to let them go their own way and do their own thing. It would seem then, that the flood was simply a result of man coming under the complete control of Satan, who brought destruction upon them with the deluge in Noah’s day.
How did it happen? By accident or design? We do not know for sure. Anyway, the Lord took the responsibility for it. Satan no doubt feared for his own existence and actually, if God had not protected him and his angels, perhaps they too would have perished, for they were compelled, to remain in the warring elements. Since God never uses coercion, force or acts arbitrarily, it was circumstances which compelled Satan to remain in the flood as he feared for his life. Have you ever thought of it in that way, giving God the credit for saving his life? It seems that we always want to perpetuate the concept of a hateful God, bent on killing and destroying people, instead of the loving God who is always seeking to “save” us. It is also interesting to note an ancient tradition which has been passed down for centuries. It says that the gods long ago decided to bring a flood upon the earth and then screamed for their lives when it came, as they thought they would die too.
QUESTION: What do you think of Immanuel Velikovsky’s theories, regarding astral catastrophism. Do you think it answers any questions on this subject?
ANSWER: Velikovsky wrote “Worlds in Collision” and “Ages in Chaos,” while Patten, more recently, has authored “The Long Day of Joshua, and Six Other CATASTROPHES,” as well as a work on the flood and ice age. These men may vary somewhat from Edward Bowman’s idea, but not perhaps as much as we may think. Although I do not claim to be an expert in any sense of the word, I see possibilities in all three theories or ideas. For example, Bowman is talking about a planet exploding, which originally occupied space 28. Fragments of that planet may very well have passed by our planet and caused terrible magnetic upheavals, resulting in the flood. Is it even possible that part of that planet became Venus, which passed by our planet after it fragmented and then began orbiting the sun? Velikovsky believes Venus is a chunk of Jupiter, due to an explosion long ago. Patten agrees with Velikovsky in general, but says he believes that Mercury’s “flyby” caused the flood, or at least its proximity was the cause of gravitational dislocations on our earth, which caused earthquakes and tidal waves. He believes that it also supposedly caused one of Mercury’s ice moons to be pulled into our atmosphere and destroyed the water shield or vapor envelope, which protected the antediluvian world and caused the earth to have a very even and beautiful temperature similar to a tropical climate. The resultant ice-dump on both poles buried man and animals alike. Patten says this was caused by the fly-by of Mercury. Velikovsky Spoke about the fly-by of Venus, causing the Exodus catastrophe, whereas Patten says Mars was the cause of the ten plagues upon Egypt.
Personally, I have come to believe that none of these astral events were necessary for God to have permitted the ten plagues upon Egypt or for even the flood to have occurred. Man today could bring earthquakes upon this planet without the help of a “fly-by,” but that doesn’t mean we won’t have some astral catastrophes in these last days, just as they may have had them in the past. But, referring to the ten plagues upon Egypt again, the frogs, flies, lice and many of the other plagues could have come as a result of an ecological imbalance caused by man himself and/or Satan, who, as we know has the power to bring plagues and sicknesses of various sorts. But, God has to withdraw His hand of protection before these aberrations of nature can occur. Look at the leprosy on Moses’ hand. I believe God simply withdrew his protection from that portion of Moses’ body and the disease immediately manifested itself. Isn’t the same thing true of Miriam? See Numbers 12. God permits, prevents, directs and determines in the affairs of men and nations. Don’t each of us carry germs in our bodies which, if God withdrew His protecting hand, would spring forth in horrible disease and destroy us? Absolutely! By holding or withdrawing, preventing or permitting, God can and does control the whole universe. But, He never brings evil directly. Our main interest and purpose in examining certain ideas and theories about the flood and other past catastrophes is simply to consider alternate possibilities which enable us to see that God is not arbitrary in his dealings with men or angels and that Jesus, nor His Father directly destroyed the earth with a flood. It was an aberration of nature, caused by the great enemy of God for selfish and sinister motives beyond our understanding, for Satan was enjoying the antediluvian world. The people were his puppets and play things, you might say. He simply over or underestimated the results of this manipulation and things got beyond his control. As God withdrew everything just blew up in his face. But, true to His nature, he did not accept the blame for what he had caused, but blamed Jesus, his rival for our affections, allegiance and worship. Finally, man made disasters, as well as, Satanic disasters on the earth and in the heavens may both take place in this end time simultaneously. Matt. 24, Lk. 21.
The prophet Isaiah has additional testimony regarding the flood of Noah. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little WRATH I hid my face from thee; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 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.” Isaiah 54:7-9.
We have already discussed astral catastrophism and man made nuclear explosions as possible explanations for the flood disaster. I have tried not to be dogmatic in this area, due to the fact that we are over 4,300 years removed from that incident. But, I have this additional concept to share, which is perhaps the most uncomplicated theory of them all.
It simply says that God withdrew Himself from the Antediluvian world but “For a small moment…” Isa. 54:7, which was right after He shut the door of Noah’s Ark. Without God’s hand over and under and in nature, everything began falling apart. Seven days later, the rain began to fall. The water envelope or vapor shield around the earth had seven days to cool down, due to the sun being toned down seven times and the moon being extinguished, Isa. 30:26. Since this Scripture promises that God will recreate the earth or “bind up the breach of his people and healeth the stroke of their wound,” Cf. Mal. 4: 1, 2, we may safely assume that the sun was seven times as hot before the flood as it is today and the moon was a blazing orb as hot as our present sun. One Creationist scientist suggests that the sun had only 14% of its lighting and heating capacity, after the flood which would figure out to be but 1/7th.
After seven days, the force of gravity began to pull down the condensed droplets of water, which were previously held together by the chemical action of the suns rays which were seven times hotter and caused the vapor envelope to remain in a non-congealed “steam” or misty vapor state, which served to moisten the earth, Genesis 2:6, in some manner, so rain, as we know it, wasn’t necessary. As the Lord removed His Presence, by popular demand of the Antediluvians, (God’s Wrath), this whole watering system began to fall apart. Satan, probably led the people to try and break into the ark, but they could not. Noah had followed God’s instruction, and was safe. So, it will be in this our day, when probation closes. God is giving us the “materials” (gifts) we need to construct our ark of safety so we can survive in that evil day…even the seven last plagues. The gifts are 1) The Holy Spirit, which abides in our hearts and leads us to 2) Prayer and 3) study the Holy Bible and then 4) share what we have learned about Jesus and His love. As we do these things, we are constructing our “ark of safety,” which will carry us through the final holocaust of destruction, so we will be among the Elect, who will be “alive and remain,” to be translated at Christ’s return. I Thess. 4:15-17. Our “ark” of safety is the Character of Jesus formed within us.
Perhaps someone will ask how the fountains of the great deep were broken up at this same time. It would seem that some kind of terrific shaking and violence would be necessary for such an event to occur. If the Lord permitted the earth to be tilted at this same time, that would account for it. Or it might have been part of the events that transpired once He removed His protecting hand.
The mystery of Golgotha explains all other mysteries. In the light that shines from Calvary we can see the real truth about God. The Father and the Son are total love. God the Father did not bring the flood. His creatures rejected him and chose the rulership of Satan. As soon as the majority of His creatures again chose Him as their ruler, He re-asserted His power over creation. That is, when the people of the antediluvian world no longer existed (expired in the flood), God regained His right to rule His creatures on planet earth by a majority vote—that is by Noah and his family’s vote. Thus God stepped in and controlled planet earth again. If God had not done this, the earth no doubt would have been completely destroyed. Throughout the great controversy, God has always controlled the elements. That is, even though Satan has been permitted to use the elements of fire, wind and water against us, from time to time, God is still in control. It was not until the New Testament that Satan’s power to use these elements of nature to destroy was revealed. “The prince of the power of the air …that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:2.
God has set boundaries for Satan, and these he cannot cross, unless we ourselves permit him by breaking the law. The law of God is our protection. On Mount Sinai God gave this beautiful transcript of His own character in the midst of a fireworks that had never been seen before. There was a thick cloud all over Horeb (Mt. Sinai) and lightnings flashed from the cloud. (Satan uses clouds to come between us and God Job 36:32). These lightnings were not permitted to hurt or injure or kill anyone. Christ was in that thick cloud of darkness, using it to veil His glory from the people so as to protect them. Jesus was coming onto Satan’s territory, and Satan was contesting every inch of “his” ground. Christ used the darkness, but did He bring it? “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” I John 1:5. Yes, Satan did everything possible to make God’s law seem very fearful and frightening. If the people accepted the law as a beautiful token of God’s love and protection, Satan could never touch them. He has always sought to represent Jehovah as harsh and unforgiving. Satan has ever been at the side of Christ to twist and distort His beautiful character. When fire flashed out and destroyed the rebels at the rebellion of Korah, Satan made it look like Jesus did it. Few can comprehend this. But, remember that Satan is ever at the side of Christ to destroy any who disobey. “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel [Christ] of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” Zech. 3:1.
Imagine it! Think of what Jesus and His Father and all the Holy Angels have to put up with and endure. Satan was in the sanctuary too! Psalm 74:3-8. If the high priest had one unconfessed sin on his heart or made one mistake while in the most holy place of the sanctuary, he was immediately struck dead by Satan, the legalist, who is fighting for his “legal right” to destroy us every time he gets a chance. Do you see how important it is to stay close to Jesus and claim His blood over you at all times? And do you see the importance of not blaming God for Satan’s works? For example, just as Satan killed Job’s children and his livestock, so Satan put Jacob’s hip out of place when Jacob refused to yield to Jesus. Satan claimed the right to destroy Jacob because of his sin, but Jacob claimed the blood of Christ. Because Christ knew that it would motivate Jacob to plead for the assurance of God’s mercy and forgiveness, Jesus permitted Satan to put Jacob’s hip out of joint. Satan pointed to the unprotected hip of Jacob and asked Jesus, “may I touch him here?” Because Jacob did not have his “sword” strapped on his hip, Satan was allowed to hurt his hip. Instead of causing Jacob to give up, this suffering only caused him to pray harder and completely yield to God’s will for His life and prevail.
QUESTION: According to your concept, God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I would like to be able to explain this to my friends who believe in a destructive God. Can you help me?
ANSWER: Let us read the Scriptures on this first. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone (sulphur) and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Gen. 19:24. The first thing we must remember is that God always takes the blame or credit for all disasters in the Bible, sometimes even in the New Testament. The seven last plagues are an example. We have already gone into great detail to show that Satan is behind all the aberrations and quirks of nature: Satan is always eager to use the elements to destroy. I simply see the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of such an occasion he was permitted to bring fire down upon these people he had led into sin and rebellion. God held His hand over the situation and controlled it, permitting Lot and his family to be extricated barely in time before Christ commanded His angels to withdraw and destruction to come in the form of fire from the sky. Satan is called the “PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR.” Ephesians 2:2. To be consistent with Bible exegesis, we would have to admit that Satan could be the destroyer here just as he was in the days of Job. If we say that Satan brought the fire in Job’s case, but not in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (God got the blame both times, by the way), we are immediately contradicting a number of basic Scriptural principles on the character of God, i.e. Psalm 89:34; Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8; James 1:17. God does not change…EVER. It is Satan who would have us to believe God is fickle, unreliable, and unworthy of our faith and trust.
It is through the life of Jesus that we see this is a lie. God is true. He is trustworthy. One of the main reasons people fall for false religions is because Satan tells them they will be ‘’as gods.” They will be above all law. They will become a law unto themselves. Therefore, he paints a picture of deity as the ultimate playboy, doing whatever He likes whenever He likes; “There are no rules and regulations to hinder you. No laws to get in your way from carrying out your ‘holy’ thoughts and your ‘perfect’ ideas. After all, once you are a god, you are infallible.” Thus, Satan sells the idea that Jesus can do what he wants when he wants. If things get out of hand, there is no need to worry, for Jesus can kill anyone he wishes anytime they get out of line. “Zap! Kill them with fire from the sky! That will show the rest of the world what kind of a person I am and they better watch their step.”
The overwhelming majority of Christendom believe in this kind of Jesus. Is it any wonder that the world is in the mess it is in! Christ came to change this false concept of God and His ETERNAL LAW OF LOVE. Let us look at another Scripture and see if it will shed any light on what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah. “For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, THAT WAS OVERTHROWN AS IN A MOMENT, AND NO HANDS (THE HANDS OF THE ANGELS) STAYED ON HER.” Lamentations 4:6. I was on the way to a place to speak and was impressed to pray about this question, as I was not sure how to answer it at that time. My mind immediately remembered this Scripture and when I looked at it, I saw the phrase AND NO HANDS STAYED ON HER, as the key to what had happened there. Psalm 91:11,12 prove that God protects us by the “hands” of the holy angels. Let us put with that this verse. “Hurry to escape there, (Angel telling Lot to go to Zoar) for I CAN DO NOTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE REACHED IT.” Gen. 19:22. Holy angels had been commissioned to hold back the DESTROYER until Lot’s family (the only righteous ones in the city) were safely out of town. When God’s angel said he could nothing, he simply meant that he was not allowed to command the angelic host to withdraw and permit Satan to rain down fire. What other explanation can one give and still be in a harmony with the life of Jesus revealed in His perfect life? The most logical explanation is that Satan brought fiery bolides from the sky to ignite the very combustible asphalt and tar (pitch) pits in this area. Gen. 11:3. 14:10. Deut. 29:23. “Slime” is mineral pitch, asphalt or tar which is very combustible. In Job’s day we have an example or model as to how Satan can destroy with fire, “THE FIRE OF GOD IS FALLEN FROM HEAVEN,” Job 1:16. We know that this was not GOD’S FIRE, but Satan’s fire, literal or real, sent by permission of God, Job 1:12. This was not merely a lightning storm. But some greater form of destructive fire. Job 37:3 shows us that the writer knew what lightning was, as opposed to fire. Patten refers to this experience as having been caused by bolides and meteorites which came into our atmosphere by the fly-by of Mars. That is, some of the debris from this passing planet fell to earth. Unless God directed it to hit out in the desert, harmlessly extinguishing itself. Satan, as the prince of the power of the air could guide it to hit anything he wished. This type of destruction was going on in a regular cycle. Because Jesus, as Creator, has all power and all authority over all creation He claimed to be the one behind all of these disasters. Thus by taking the blame in this manner, He often was able to gain the worship of peoples who otherwise would never have worshiped Him but would have instead worshiped Satan and been destroyed.
Another interesting point we should not overlook is that this disaster occurred during the daytime (Gen. 19:23), perhaps, to prove to the heathen in other parts of the earth that the sun god had no power to deliver them. See LEGENDS OF THE JEWS, by Louis Ginsberg, Vol. 1, pg. 256. Why would Satan destroy his own? 1) He could blame it upon God. 2) He also garnered more souls into his lost net. 3) He could use this experience to show that God’s law cannot be kept. That it is unfair, and when a person breaks it, God simply destroys him. This is Satan’s favorite modus operandi. I should mention in closing, that some have suggested that these people destroyed themselves with an atomic explosion, when God withdrew his power of protection. I have no proof that this theory is right or wrong. In this situation I simply view Patten’s idea as more plausible.
QUESTION: Do you believe all the people in Sodom and Gomorrah and the flood are lost for all eternity?
ANSWER: I believe God already knows who among the dead are saved or lost for the age in which they lived. But, it only seems logical that many of the people who died in the time of the flood were children who did not have a chance to decide one way or another. The same may be true of Sodom and Gomorrah. The children of Korah were not destroyed with him, (Numbers 26:11). So it would seem that God does not make a final decision about one’s salvation on the basis of who your father or your mother might be. Only God knows how the children would have turned out, therefore, only He has the right to decide their destiny. No one is “lost for all eternity.” I have explained universal restoration already, and the ages. Who will have to go through the lake of fire is a decision made only by the Creator.
QUESTION: How do you explain the death of Uzzah?
ANSWER: Let’s read the Scripture. “And the ANGER OF THE LORD (key phrase) was kindled against Uzzah; and GOD SMOTE (key phrase) him there for his error (his error was rashness or presumption, Psalm 19:13); and there he died by the ark of God.” 2 Sam. 6:8. The key phrases are above, as I have indicated. What do they always mean? Psalm 78:49 tells us what anger means—W-R-A-T-H. And the wrath of God is always when He withdraws. Mark 3:5 also indicates God’s anger can mean “emotion,” or “desire.” See Strong’s. Thus, God’s withdrawing caused Uzzah’s death. That is, God let Uzzah alone and gave him over to his “own counsel,” (Psalm 5:10) and Uzzah was destroyed by Satan in a way we cannot know or completely understand, for Satan is the destroyer. He simply forfeited the protection of the Holy Spirit in his life and when that was no longer active in his behalf, he committed a presumptuous act which carried the death sentence. Ps. 19:13, 2 Sam. 6:8. The “breach” upon Uzzah was caused by Satan, who is the God of breaking forth. Job 16:14, Eccles. 10:8. “Hedge” equals the law of God or His covenant. A breach implies the breaking of that covenant.
God judges us each according to our knowledge of right and wrong. The Philistines didn’t know any better, so they placed the ark upon a cart drawn by oxen, but the Israelites had in their hands God’s sacred instruction which they had neglected to follow. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17.
In case someone wants to insist that God certainly did kill Uzzah, let me encourage you to keep in mind the principles you must work from at all times. God is always the same. He doesn’t change. Whether Satan did this directly or indirectly, it is still his fault, not God’s fault. By that, I mean that Satan has murdered all the evil angels, even though they are still alive. Jesus called him a “murderer from the beginning.” Jn. 8:44. So, when God removed His protection from Uzzah, he could have dropped dead due to the lack of God’s life support system keeping him, alive or he could have died as a direct result of Satan killing him in some way we do not understand. It is also possible that Uzzah died because he knew he had broken a law which demanded the death penalty. The mind is a powerful thing. If he believed he was going to die, and his mind accepted it, then he willed himself to death. Either way, it is sin which kills and Lucifer (Satan) started the whole sin scene in the beginning. I, myself lean towards the idea that Satan destroys directly more often than indirectly. Also, remember that Satan makes thousands of mistakes. He is so very anxious to kill, when it would do him more good not to kill, that he hurts his own cause. He is not as clever as he wants you to think he is. And, since God is always taking the blame, he can safely hide behind that no matter whether his actions are in his favor or against him. God never puts the finger on him in the OT, except in the book of Job, and even there, He claims that what is happening to Job is His fault. Job 2:3. Yet, Satan betrayed himself with his own words.
In further answer to this question about Uzzah, let us consider how God “punished,” the Philistines, when they looked inside the ark and treated it disrespectfully. It may give us insight into the question of Uzzah’s death. Since we cannot see the play and counter play of holy and unholy angels behind the scenes, it is impossible for us to fully understand just how God “uses” people like we use them. We do it to save ourselves and bolster up our pride and our position, whereas, God “uses” these to save us from as much pain, hurt and sorrow as possible. God may have 1,000 ways to solve a problem, but He will always choose that one way which will bring us the least amount of harm and the most amount of joy. God is like that. Isn’t He beautiful! Yes, He is.
The main reason we do not see how beautiful Jesus is, is because the prince of the power of the air, even Satan, has blinded our eyes. 2 Cor. 4:4. Now, let us notice how God uses the ark to impress the Philistines that he is a God over all their gods. First of all, their god Dagon, had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah. No human life was destroyed by its fall. The ark of God’s presence was then placed by itself in a building. Now, who brings sickness and disease? Why, it is Satan. Acts 10:38. Luke 13:16. James 1:17 also tells us God only brings “GOOD AND PERFECT GIFTS.” Therefore, any kind of sickness or accident or calamity is from another source. The disease of the Philistines was EMERODS. A Bible dictionary defines Emerods thusly: “The Hebrew Techorim, some form of Tumors, probably ‘Hemorrhoids.’” It could also have been cancer.
Even though the Philistines did not follow the health laws God had given to Moses, the Lord was protecting them from these diseases, to a high degree. But, now that they were forfeiting that protection, by not respecting the ark of God’s eternal presence, they were permitted to suffer the consequences of that irreverence. In addition to not eating the right diet, these people also deified sex and dedicated themselves to every kind of immoral sexual perversion (known and unknown to man), all in the name of religion. Emerods could also have been some sort of social disease we have not heard of today. Whatever it was, God did not bring it, but simply permitted it in order to impress upon the Philistine nation that His power was greater than Dagon’s.
QUESTION: If God doesn’t destroy and kill at any time, how do you explain the 10 plagues of Egypt in Moses’ day? How did they happen?
ANSWER: First of all, let us define the word “plague.” PLAGUE. (Heb. generally, maggephah and makkah; Greek, mastix, ‘A lashing,” ‘tonnent,’ ‘suffering,’ plague, blow, stroke, wound, misfortune : generally, in Scripture, a divine visitation as punishment for sin, usually a virulent disease or a catastrophe resulting from the unusual operation of the forces of nature, as the ten plagues upon the land of Egypt (See Exodus 9:14). Notice carefully how “disease” is included in this list. If Jesus doesn’t bring disease, why should he bring anything else? Can we logically assign such terrible deeds to Him, the “Meek and lowly One?” Whoever would bring such disasters upon human beings would have to be a horrible, sadistic monster. Let us now settle one thing in our minds. God permits, and this power to let things happen is spoken of as “HIS JUDGMENTS.” But it never happens unless man already has chosen to forsake God. The Lord always holds His hand over the situation and controls everything, and yet He is not the one responsible for the disaster. He is not bringing it.
What happened in Egypt, long ago, will happen again in our day. If we can learn who brings the seven last plagues, we will know who brought the ten plagues of Egypt. Since we have already discovered that Satan is allowed to destroy the earth in the last days when God withdraws His protection (called the Wrath of God), we know that God is not the one who brings the seven last plagues, nor is He the one who brought the ten plagues of Egypt. Right? Right! We know the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But did God actually – do that? Obviously God did not cause Pharaoh to reject him. God is not like that, for Jesus is not that way. It simply tells us that the same love that melted and moved Moses’ heart to obey God, hardened Pharaoh’s heart to disobey Him.
God cannot and will not interfere with our free choice, but He hangs in there to the very last minute, saying “Oh, why will you die, O house of Israel?” Ezek. 18:31. Most people will not realize it, but the prophet of God just told us how men who reject Jesus in the last hour will destroy themselves in the final end, for GOD DESTROYS NO MAN. James 1:17.
God has “power over,” or “control over,” the plagues, Rev. 16, in the last days. The magicians didn’t have any power except what Satan could give them, which was basically a power of deceptive imitation. After the third plague, God was withdrawing his power over certain aspects of nature Satan had not yet studied and learned the secrets of yet. Satan has studied long and hard to learn how to manipulate nature against us. At that time he did not have the power or knowledge to do the things he can do today. God was forced to allow certain ecological laws to be broken by the ongoing erosion of the sin factor that Satan set in motion when he rebelled in heaven. When Adam and Eve set that sin factor loose on earth, the same thing began happening here. God holds it back as long as He can, but when man continues to go deeper into sin God is forced to withdraw his power. An example of what I am saying is found in Moses’ experience when he put his hand inside of his robe and then withdrew it all infected with leprosy. Did Satan do that? Possibly, but God simply showed Moses that He had control over all things and when He withdraws His protecting hand over any portion of man’s body or over any part of nature, sin, sickness, heartbreak, disaster and calamity of every description breaks loose. Satan is the author of all sickness.
Just as in the flood Satan feared for his own life, for things were out of his control, so in the 10 plagues of Egypt Satan, after the 3rd plague, was scratching his head, so to speak, as far as imitating these signs and miracles. This does not rule out the possibility that Satan was also causing destruction in ways we may not be aware of, for as long as Jesus was taking the blame and credit for it all, what did he have to lose by killing a few more Egyptians? Psalm 78:40-51 proves Satan and his angels brought the 10 plagues on Egypt.
What happened in Egypt will soon happen in America and around the World. Egypt rejected God’s protection when she refused to listen to the prophets God sent and even began persecuting the Lord’s chosen nation, Israel. The plagues that fell upon Egypt are an example of the kind of destruction Satan will again be allowed to bring when Jesus leaves the most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary.
God is not the destroyer, but permits him to work his will out in the lives of those who choose to serve the evil one rather than Jesus. We are even now nearing the time of the NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW, and this will begin to fulfill prophecy.
Unless you realize that God punishes by withdrawing his protective restraints, you will believe (with the rest of the world) that God is the one who is destroying the earth. Now, most Sabbath keepers do not realize that there will be much destruction before the seven last plagues. These will not come until everyone has made a final decision and closed his or her probation. We close our own probation, you see, by rejecting the truth about God, that He is not a killer or a destroyer. Because most professed Sabbath keepers believe that God does destroy and kill they will join the ranks of Sunday keeping people who will persecute God’s true Elect believers, who are giving the final message about God’s character and how we must come out of Babylon in order to be like Jesus. But, because these nominal believers have not studied and prayed for “refreshing from the Lord,” when their lamps begin to go out they will realize they are in serious trouble. In the parable of the Ten Virgins, the five foolish virgins go back to those who “buy and sell.” But, who is “buying and selling?” And what are they “buying and selling?” In Isaiah 55;1 we read the invitation of Jesus to “buy” salvation from Him free of charge. All it “costs” us is the surrender of our entire will. So, the five foolish virgins are simply looking for some more of God’s Holy Spirit (the oil) to help them understand what is going on in the world. They are confused. They realize they do not have spiritual understanding for they have not studied the Word of God. When they ask the five Wise Virgins for some of their “oil,” the five Wise tell them that their oil is not transferable. Character cannot be passed on to someone else. Each person must receive Christ’s character from Him alone. It is a personal matter and intimate relationship that one must have before you can receive that extra oil which will take you INTO THE FATHER’S HEART. But, because the five foolish virgins have rejected Jesus’ true character they see Him as a destroyer, not a life giver. Evidently, the five foolish virgins go to those who are still allowed to “buy and sell,” (dispense salvation, see Rev. 13), and they receive, evidently, some kind of “light” but when they come back to the wedding, the DOOR IS SHUT. Did Jesus shut the door in their faces?
No, Jesus never shuts the door in anyone’s face. They have closed the door of their own heart by believing the false teachers who are telling them that God is the one who is bringing the “judgments” upon the earth and that the only hope of the world is to keep Sunday. This is their new “light” from those who “buy and sell,” but it is a false light. Thus many professed Sabbath keepers will join the ranks of Sunday persecutors prior to the seven last plagues falling, as they have slowly come to the same conclusion that the BEAST BELIEVERS HAVE COME TO. And what is that? Simply, that Lucifer is Jesus and the true day is Sunday. These five foolish virgins look at the earthquakes, tornadoes, tidal waves and astral catastrophes as “acts” of God. They think God is bringing these aberrations of nature as a punishment upon the earth for not keeping Sunday holy. Through the lying wonders of Spiritualism, the majority of the members of the church will begin keeping Sunday. When Satan appears as Christ, these same ex-Sabbath believers will be the leading persecutors of God’s people. They will lead out in the death decree. WHY? Because THEY REFUSED TO BELIEVE THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD’S WONDERFUL CHARACTER OF LOVE. “And for this cause God shall send (He still is taking the blame for everything) them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thess, 2;11. This final delusion has two parts: First, it is a lie about God’s character. Satan (claiming to be Jesus) tells the multitudes in many different ways that God is a violent God of destruction and no doubt demonstrates it in various ways, using much “magic” and great scientific wonders to convince (deceive) the masses. When they are finally persuaded to believe the lie, that he is Jesus, he then tells them he has changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. This is the final delusion that will take the world and most of the church captive. How terrible! How sad! It will be a long night of weeping for God’s people.
QUESTION: I agree that God allows Satan to bring many disasters, but don’t you agree that God’s angels also destroy on occasion? Isa. 37:36 tells how the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night.
ANSWER: The “KILLER-GOD” advocates like to use this story as the final and ultimate, conclusive proof that God does indeed destroy, at least through His angels, and at least once in a while (when things get out of hand!). But, here again, if we are merely “surface readers,” we will miss the real meaning behind the words. Furthermore, we will be isolating a few sentences out of context, which are not really saying what you think they are saying. The 185,000 died of a plague. See 2 Kings 19:35, margin.
Who destroyed the firstborn? Was that Jesus? Or was it one of His angels? Exodus 12:23 clearly reveals two distinct personalities, and Jesus is not the “DESTROYER,” in that verse. The destroying angel of Egypt was a “DESTROYING ANGEL” of Satan, permitted by the Lord. When the angel withdrew, destruction in the form of a plague or sickness of some kind came. God’s angel “destroyed” the firstborn by allowing Satan to kill with a plague. Could God have prevented Satan from killing the firstborn? No, He couldn’t and be true to His nature and His policy of free will and free choice among His creatures. God can only have the authority to protect us as we yield ourselves to Him and obey, in as far as we understand His commandments. When man refuses God’s overtures in his life, as Pharaoh did, the Lord cannot interfere with the ultimate outcome of his choice. All who refused the blood of Jesus in Egypt experienced death in their homes. The same is true all through history and especially today. God can no more interfere with a man’s choice than He can lie or steal or kill or break the Sabbath. God is amenable to His own law. He is answerable and legally responsible to the laws He Himself has set in motion. Would you want any other kind of a God to run this universe?
Jesus does not change. He never contradicts Himself. His so-called “changes” are only in response to man’s acceptance or rejection of Him. For example, if He had a blessing in store for us, but we disobeyed, and broke fellowship with Him, He would not be able to go ahead and bless us as He had planned. He did change, but because of us. A better word might be ADAPT. He adapted to accommodate us so we would not die. But, throughout history, God’s Modus operandi has always been the same, therefore, the way he dealt with Moses and Pharaoh would be the same way He would deal with David. Now, let us notice the “firstborn,” scripture again, and compare it with the “NUMBERING,” Scripture of David’s time. For Jehovah will pass through the land and kill the Egyptians; but when he sees the blood upon the panel at the top of the door and on the two side pieces, He will pass over [THE MARGINAL REFERENCE SAYS: ‘HE WILL PAUSE AT THE DOOR OF THAT HOME AND NOT PERMIT THE DESTROYER TO ENTER] that home and not permit the destroyer to enter and kill your first born. Exodus 12:23 LB. The Hebrew word used here for the noun “DESTROYER,” is “SHATACH,” which means to mar or corrupt and is never an attribute of God in the Bible inherently, but is only, and always an Assigned Attribute. That is, the Bible writers assumed God did what He did not prevent, and the Holy Spirit inspired them to write it this way, so God would remain sovereign.
The Bible makes a clear distinction between Jesus, the SAVIOR and Satan the Destroyer. Notice also, that Moses points out two distinct personalities involved in the death of the first born. Jehovah is the first personality who is preventing the second personality, THE DESTROYER, from entering the houses where the blood is on the door. Do you have the LAMB’S BLOOD ON YOUR HOUSE? ON YOUR FAMILY? ON YOURSELF?
MANY TIMES GOD IS BLAMED FOR CAUSING THINGS WHEN HE ONLY PERMITS THEM. IN THE ANCIENT HEBREW LANGUAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE WERE NO CAUSATIVE VERBS. CONSEQUENTLY, THE TRANSLATION FROM HEBREW TO GREEK, AND THEN FROM GREEK TO ENGLISH SUBTLY CHANGED THE MEANING OF THE PASSAGE. AND IN THAT TRANSLATION (or transition) THINGS THAT WERE PERMITTED BY GOD CAME OUT AS BEING CAUSED BY GOD. GOD DIDN’T HARDEN PHARAOH’S HEART, HE ALLOWED PHARAOH TO HARDEN HIS OWN HEART. HE GAVE PHARAOH A SITUATION WHERE HE COULD HARDEN HIS (OWN) HEART.
Now, in the case of David numbering Israel, I Chron. 21:1, says, “Then Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.” BUT LET US COMPARE 2 Sam. 24:1, which says, “AND AGAIN THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED AGAINST THEM TO SAY, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” So, we see here again God giving little clues for those who really want to know what He is like. Only those who truly want to know the truth that God does not destroy will see and understand these truths. Jesus said, in connection with the future destruction of cities which had rejected Him, “But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment (decision), than for thee.” Matt. 11:22. (Now notice how the next verse ties in.) At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever THE SON WILL REVEAL HIM.” Matt. 11:25-27. Next follows the famous invitation of Matt. 11:28-30. So, we see that only as we “COME UNTO JESUS,” will we truly understand the Father.
Because of His sin, David, had to choose which punishment Israel would receive. He wisely asked God to choose for him, and the Bible says, So, the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. 2 Sam. 24:14, 15. But which “Lord” sent this plague? We know the true Lord does not send disease and sickness. This plague caused the death of 70,000 men, and perhaps others beside, for the word men is used here, due to the fact that women were not often counted in those days. Next we see how God pictures his authority over all the events of planet earth. I Chron. 21:16. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. This also happened to Balaam in Numbers 22:22-35. This clearly shows that God has the power to permit destruction, as in David’s case, or to prevent it, in Balaam’s case. The same experience happened to Moses on his way from Midian to Egypt, because of his neglect to circumcise his son. The Bible in Exodus 4:24-26, states that God appeared to Moses, as if He (God) were going to kill him. Moses’ wife, Zipporah, “took a flint knife, and cut off the foreskin of her young son’s penis and threw it against Moses’ feet, remarking disgustedly, ‘what a blood-smeared husband you’ve turned out to be.’ Then God let him alone.” Exodus 4:24-26, LB. Circumcision was the sign of allegiance Jehovah had given to Abraham.* Evidently, Moses had put off or neglected circumcising his child due to his wife’s resistance and protests. Moses’ life would constantly be in danger while he was in Egypt. God could protect him only if he fulfilled all of his known duties, for the Bible tells us that “the angel of the Lord encamps around those that fear him.” Psalm 34:7. And James says that “to him that knoweth to do good (God’s will) and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 1:17. Therefore, Moses’ sin was a sin of omission. Satan knew that Moses had failed to obey this law, which was a token of his allegiance to Jehovah. Therefore, Satan, the original legalist, had a “legal right” to kill him, which he tried to do, but God intervened and saved Moses’ life. But the Hebrew writer penned the incident as if God was the one who tried to kill Moses when it was really Satan, for God always took the blame for what Satan did, in the Old Testament especially. Moses’ wife thought it was the true Lord who was trying to kill him and immediately obeyed the letter of the law by circumcising her child. At that point, Satan no longer had a legal right to put Moses to death. He had no case against him, and was obliged to let him go. This is another classic example where God is held responsible for what He permitted but was not actually doing.
QUESTION: But, why should God have to be bound by or amenable to His own law and keep His own commandments? He is the Creator and is above and apart from His own law, isn’t He? He can do whatever He wants, can’t He? He doesn’t have to keep His own law if He doesn’t want to, does He? Of course, I know He expects us to, or He will destroy us. Please answer my questions. I am somewhat confused.
ANSWER: First of all, because God’s law or commandments are a transcript or reflection of His character, which is His glory. He could no more break His own law than He could change His law or character.
Furthermore, this is precisely what Lucifer originally charged. He accused God of asking the angels to do what He Himself was not willing to do. Jesus Christ came to this dark earth to disprove these charges. He kept His own law, showing that God is not above it or apart from it, but that He and the law are inseparable. Then said I, [Jesus] Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:7, 9. This proves God, through His son, obeys the law, just as He asks us to do. There is no hypocrisy here. Satan said God was selfish, and arbitrary, and would never forgive anyone who broke His law. He said that God would vindictively kill and destroy any person or angel who broke the law. Has God ever killed any angel? Of course not. Not one single evil angel has ever even been threatened, let alone hurt or killed. The demons of Satan have been brain washed to believe that God is going to kill them. Notice what the demons said to Jesus: “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” Mark 1:24. It is truly amazing that the demons acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God, but the Jews rejected Him. Jesus came and showed us the true nature of His Father’s law and of the Father Himself. Praise God!
QUESTION: If God does not bring sickness and disease, how did Moses get leprosy on his hand when he placed it inside his robe or cloak, next to his chest?
ANSWER: This is a very good question, for it answers several matters at once. This miracle or wonder was given Moses to show him and the elders of Israel, as well as Pharaoh, that God was superior to all their gods (demons) and He had control over or power over all sickness and disease. We know that Satan is responsible for starting sickness and disease and for spreading it. Acts 10:38. But he is on a dead end street, for although he is perverting his God-given powers to hurt and destroy, he has no power to create life. He can’t bring back to life all the people he has killed. He cannot create new tissue in a person who has his hands and feet eaten away with a cancer or with leprosy. He has no power to reverse what he has done and restore mankind. He can change matter from form A to form B, paper to ashes, but he cannot change the ashes back into paper. Only God can do that. He cannot give life, nor sustain it. It is true that he can remove, to a great extent, evidently, a disease he himself has caused, as far as sickness is concerned. He does this to deceive, however, not to help anyone. His only purpose is to obtain a stronger hold on a person’s life, so he can cause them more misery and draw their friends and loved ones into his trap.
And so it is, that only the Creator can control everything. In this way God can claim to be able to “bring” or “send,” sickness, disease and calamity by simply withdrawing the restraints He constantly maintains against evil in its ongoing progression to final destruction. If God, in His great mercy, had not resisted and restrained evil, Satan and his angels, along with all of mankind would long ago have destroyed themselves. This will finally be demonstrated after the 1,000 years, when God lets them alone completely.
QUESTION: Do you think some of the plagues in Egypt were caused in this way?
ANSWER: I answered this question in part, but I will elucidate some more here. It is very possible that this would explain how even Satan was seemingly baffled by the plagues or “miracles of Moses.” However, we cannot be sure about this, as Satan is a wily foe. He would gladly have destroyed all of Egypt, if God permitted him to do so, with the knowledge he had thus far attained and was using to destroy throughout the earth, in as far, as God was permitting him to destroy. Thus, he would be able to perpetuate his claim that God is a killer. Of course, Satan, the deceiver, has been, and still is, to a great extent, able to make it look like God is doing it. How he does this, we do not know. Until the death of Christ, even Holy Angels, did not fully understand his true character and nature. See Psalm 78:41-51.
And so, the magicians were not able to duplicate the plagues, after the third one. Either God would not allow Satan to duplicate them or Satan was unable to do so. Or, Satan wanted to make it look like he could not do it, so as to put all the blame on God. It is not clear, but very complex, and not really possible to analyze as well as we would like. Donald Patton, believes that the plagues were caused by an astral catastrophe. He says earth’s atmosphere was bombarded by cosmic dust and debris from a passing planet. This might account for the waters turning red, due to some cosmic-like dust particles colored red. He and Velikosvky try to show from history that Egypt was only one of the nations hit by this disaster. They say this and other catastrophes related to this, threw the ecological balance out of whack and each plague followed. If this is true, then it could be part of the explanation. If so, it just means God knew beforehand the precise second each particle of dust and debris would enter the atmosphere and controlled and regulated each plague, so as to save Egypt from the worst effects of it. This demonstrated His power over all the aberrations of nature, which Satan caused by his original sin, as well as, by his present ongoing power to manipulate nature against us. The more Satan can cause mankind to reject God, the more authority he has to destroy, as God is forced to withdraw His power to restrain and protect those who have broken the law and despised HIS EVERLASTING COVENANT. It is possible the water turned into a blood-like substance, and that Satan did it both times. Exodus 7:17,22; Psalm 78:44.
QUESTION: Why hasn’t God made the issues clearer so we can understand everything better? Why is it all so mysterious and complicated?
ANSWER: We must remember that God’s program has been a progressive one. Each generation has revealed more of the character of God, as well as, the character of Satan. In the OT it was “God for His people.” When Jesus came, it was “God with us,” and since the cross, it has been, “God in His people.” Christ has come closer and closer to us in each succeeding age, until now He can fully possess us, (get married to us) if we let Him. God permitted the race to become weaker so we would sense our need of Him more. The issues are becoming crystal clear in this last hour of earth’s history; No one need be deceived. Remember also that man’s mind is carnal. Jer 17:9, Rom. 3:10, I Cor. 2:9-15.
QUESTION: If God is always loving and kind, why did He put a mark on Cain? Wasn’t that unfair?
ANSWER: The mark on Cain was for Cain’s protection, not to hurt him. Gen. 4:9-15. Notice, that Cain is blaming God for what He brought upon himself. This has always been the way Satan and all of mankind has operated, yet God still loves us and helps us. He never gives up, but always takes the blame for us. Cain’s mark could have been the “guilty look,” on his face since he would not repent. He truly was a man marked with “regret, hatred, remorse and every evil trait.”
QUESTION: Why does God say He has “reserved” the evil angels “in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment day?” Jude 6.
ANSWER: It simply means that God has never revealed the full enormity of their guilt to the evil angels, so as to not interfere with their free choice. And also to keep them from destroying each other as they will finally do, Dan. 2:44, 45. And even in the final day, the full revelation is done in love to bring them to repentance and restoration, which will finally be achieved.
Remember that the day of judgment is the final day of decision. When God gives the panoramic view in the final day (after the 1,000 years) as the hosts of Satan come against the city to destroy God and His people, every evil man and woman, and every evil angel will finally see the whole truth they refused to acknowledge before. This will cause a terrible burning inside of them as they are forced to face the straight truth. They are bound by the chains of their own hatred and deceit, which Satan has led them to. (Prov. 5:22; Ps. 7:16; Ps 149:79) They still believe the original lie told by Satan, “God is selfish. “God will kill you. You better not trust Him, or He will destroy you. No one can keep His law anyway. He just made that up to keep us under his control and have an excuse to kill us when we break it.” These lies will be allowed to be unmasked and proved false. The suffering will be the most painful and intense ever experienced up to that time but that is what it will take to bring the wicked to total repentance and restoration.
QUESTION: You say that God is always the same and never changes. I agree with that, in part, but I don’t agree that God doesn’t get angry, because He says, “you must not exploit widows or orphans; if you do so in any way, and they cry to me for my help, I will surely give it, and my anger shall flame out against you, and I will kill you with enemy armies, so that your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.” Exodus 22:22-24 LB. We also know that Moses became angry once on Mt. Sinai and was excused and that Jesus got angry at least twice in the NT. Once in Mark 3:5 and later when He drove out the money changers, on two occasions. How can you explain that?
ANSWER: Your misunderstanding of these Scriptures and incidents stem from the fact that you do not understand the “ANGER” OR “WRATH” of God. Psalm 78:49 is the key text on this, as well as Rom. 5:9 and other Scriptures which explain God’s wrath, such as Romans 1:18, 24, 26. God’s anger or wrath is simply when He can no longer legitimately or lawfully protect the sinner from the destructive power of sin and Satan and the evil angels who are always lurking by eager to destroy the minute God gives them a chance. Now, in the case of Christ in the temple, we know that He never touched anyone with that whip of cords He made. This was only symbolic of His authority over the situation and over all mankind. It was a parallel to the sword He held over Jerusalem in David’s day. It represented His right to act as God, for He was and is God. He did not cast the people out, but commanded that their animals and money (ill-gained) be taken out. They loved the money more than Him and so they went with the $$$$. He actually said, “TAKE THESE THINGS HENCE.” John 2:16. Psalm 5:4; Jer. 7:11, John 10:1, 10. It was a conviction of their sins that made them leave, but “The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple; and he healed them.” Matt. 21:14. Don’t you imagine some of the moneychangers needed some physical, as well as spiritual healing too? But, their pride and unbelief kept them away. Compare Hosea 11:4, Eccles. 4:11, 12. Cords represent His “binding” love. See also Psalm 2:1-3.
Now, let’s read Mark 3:5. “And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness [blindness or stubbornness of their hearts] He saith unto the man, ‘stretch forth thine hand.’ And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” I think we have some real insight into the true meaning of Christ’s anger in the whole Bible here. His anger is equated with grief. If anger in the OT means God’s withdrawing, so Satan can fill the vacuum (or the results of sin taking over), and thus destruction come, it would mean the same thing in the NT, for Jesus has never changed. Hebrews 13:8. In each instance, it would mean “Divine Grief.” Jesus was not mad or angry. He was hurt. He was grieved. Christ showed in His face a look of sorrow, hurt and disappointment, which comes over from the Greek, as anger, but is actually grief, and desire and deep emotion and longing. “Oh, if you could only understand what I am trying to do here and how much I love you.” It probably was similar to the look Christ gave Judas in the garden when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. Later, He gave Peter the same kind of look. Judas hanged himself and Peter repented.
It actually is a key to the “divine heartache,” which Jesus, His Father, and all the angels have been suffering, since the controversy began. It tells me God can be hurt and that we should always be careful not to add to His grief by willful disobedience. In all we do and say, we should be sure that we are pleasing Him and not wounding Him, crucifying Him afresh by our sinful attitudes of pride or envy or malice or any such thing. The Greek word in this case is Orge {Or-gay}, and means to stretch oneself out to another or reach out after, long for or after, to covet after or desire. It comes from the Greek word Oregomai. The verb form means “desire,” as a person reaching forth to another person to help them. It also means an excitement of the mind, which could be indicative of tremendous passion or love. i.e. violent passion which is justifiable and synonymous with “anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.” AMAZING!!! AMAZING LOVE!! See Strong’s concordance, Greek Section in back, page 52, Ref. 3709.
QUESTION: Who struck Zacharias dumb? Luke 1:11-22,64?
ANSWER: The power to speak is a gift from God, as is all of life. Zacharias’ lack of faith was sin, “FOR WHATSOEVER IS NOT OF FAITH IS SIN.” Rom. 14;23. Unbelief kept Israel out of Canaan land for nearly 40 years, Heb. 3;19. The wages of sin is death – Rom. 6:23. But Jesus took that penalty upon Himself. He took the blame. Because of that, Zacharias was not struck dead, but as in Numbers 12, Miriam received leprosy, because of her sin of murmuring against Moses. God did not bring the leprosy, and God did not strike Zacharias dumb. He simply withdrew his power and Zacharias could not speak. Sometimes Jesus spoke to or commanded the spirits to depart from people. When God withdraws His power, this is Satan’s opportunity. In Mark 9:25 Jesus commanded a deaf and dumb spirit (angel of Satan or demon) to “come out of him, and enter no more into him.” Since Satan is the cause of all sickness and disease and all malfunctions of the body, we can safely assume he is behind people who are deaf and dumb from birth or from any other cause. When Nebuchadnezzar lost his power to reason (Dan. 4) and ate grass for seven years, that was Satan’s work. He lost his power to think correctly because of pride and unbelief. Zacharias’ problem was not as severe, but from the same source. Zacharias was filled with fear due to his unbelief. The spirit of fear comes from Satan. Luke 1:12, 2 Tim. 1:7.
QUESTION: Pastor Clute, I believe what you teach about God’s character, that He is not a killer or destroyer. But how do you explain some of the verses in the Bible, the Old Testament especially, which plainly state that God kills? For example, Deuteronomy 32:39: “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” And also this one: “The Lord kills and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up. The Lord makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low and lifts up.” I Sam 2:6. “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:” Ps 144:1.
ANSWER: First of all let’s find out who is speaking here. In the first text it is Moses. “And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.” Deut. 31:30. And then the entire 32nd chapter of Deut. follows, including this text in which he states his belief and opinion that it is God who kills and makes alive. Did Moses understand God’s character? No, he did not. This is very clear by the following statement he and Aaron made to Pharaoh: “And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.” A modern version says: “Lest He strike us with either disease or death.” Exodus 5:3. We have already learned in this book that even the angels did not fully understand the issues of the Great Controversy clearly until the death of Jesus. So, knowledge and understanding is progressive. That is why we call it “progressive revelation.” Now in the second text from I Sam 2:6 we find that it is Hannah who is the author of these words in her prayer of thanks to God for giving her the baby Samuel. Once again, this was her understanding of God in that era of history, that God kills. In my reading of the bible I have found only two texts in the Old Testament which reveal God does not destroy and both of them are in the last part of the Old Testament Canon. Here they are: “I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee.” Hosea 11:9. 740 BC. And then in 397 BC we read in Malachi 3:6: “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
Let us read this with clarity of mind. God is telling the men of Judah the reason that they were still alive is because He is not a destroyer, and that He never changes. Amen to that. And then in the same chapter we read this verse in which the Lord reveals that the one who does destroy is another entity. “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground:” Malachi 3:11.
QUESTION: Pastor Mike: You state that there are two Lords in the Old Testament, the true and the false. Why then is it so hard to understand this topic?
ANSWER: This is a very good question. One of the main reasons is that the title Satan appears in only four occasions throughout the entire Old Testament. This should stimulate more interest and investigation into this topic. I Chron 21:1; Job 1 & 2; Psalm 109:6; Zechariah 3:1. Early in my writing career on this topic of the character of God, beginning in April & May of 1977, I realized that the Lord had done a masterful job of covering up for Satan’s activities in the Old Testament by taking the blame or responsibility for all the Devil was doing in his career as the Tempter and Destroyer of planet earth. The book of Job is a perfect example and exhibit A. It is only when we come to the New Testament, especially the life of Jesus, and later the writings of the converted Saul of Tarsus, aka, Paul, that we see Lucifer exposed for the evil, fallen angel that he actually is.
John 8:44 is the classic text most theologians use. “You are of your father the devil… (Christ said to the Jews) …he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44. Wow! Nothing like that was ever stated in the OT…but it was hinted at in Job and also in Isa. 14, for example, and Ezekiel 28….but usually in, shall we say, somewhat of a hidden and mystical type of Hebrew symbolism. But Jesus and Paul came right out in the open and boldly pointed Satan out as the destroyer of all mankind from the beginning.I Cor 5:5; I Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:11; 11:14; 12:7; I Thess 2:18; 2 Thess 2:9; I Tim 1:20; I Tim 5:15. Satan is also mentioned in seven texts in Revelation.
In the classic work on the life of Christ, “Desire of Ages,” pgs 758 & 759 the author states that it was not until the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Himself that the holy angels came to realize the enormity of Satan’s apostasy, fall and evil nature and character. What this tells us then is that from the beginning Lucifer was able to mask and cover up his terrible sins and destructive deeds…making it look like the Creator Himself was doing the destroying, as in the flood, for example and Sodom and Gomorra, the death of Uzzah and even in the NT the death of Annias and Saphira in Acts 5:1-11. To this day most Christians believe that God killed this lying pair in order to scare the young church into honest obedience. But in Acts 10:38 we read that it is Satan who oppresses and makes people sick, etc. But until one studies the Two Lords on level three of the character of God message, you cannot fully understand how Satan has been able to successfully masquerade as an “angel of light.” “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Cor 11:14. So, how can we detect the deceiver in his disguise? Only by a lot of prayer and diligent study and by learning to recognize the true Voice of the Lord in our daily walk. Satan speaks to us all the time, claiming to be the true Lord. And half the time people listen to him and follow his voice, thinking it is the true Lord. Go to my web site and study on the articles on the Impostor God and learn how to tell the difference. Here is the web site: www.godslastcall.org
Here is an e-mail I wrote on March 17 of 2004 in answer to a question a lady had about one of my articles regarding the two Lords in the book of Genesis: Here is the question and my answer follows:
Pastor Clute:
In light of your article about the two Lords in Genesis 1 and 2 how do you explain 2 Corinthians 11:3 and I Tim 2:14 where Paul states that Eve was the one who was deceived by the serpent?
Dear Sister L.
I just rec. your letter this a.m. and will respond briefly. There is a theological assumption, based on 2 Tim 3:16 that “all Scripture” is infallible. But let us check this out. Look at vs 16 and you will see that the verb “is” is indeed a supplied word which changes the meaning of the text when we read it minus the “is”…note: “All scripture given by inspiration of God, and profitable for doctrine, etc.”
Therefore, all of the texts, i.e. every single text in the 66 books are not necessarily inspired by our wonderful Creator who is totally holy, harmless and undefiled (Hebrews 7:26) but instead, often by the carnal thoughts of men, such as you can and do find in some passages, such as in the book of Job with Job’s “friends” who are spouting off their own ideas and philosophies and Solomon who was very negative in his book, Ecclesiastes, where he says that everything is “vanity” and in “much wisdom is much grief; and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.” That is not correct. Everything is not vanity in this life and the more wisdom and knowledge you can gain the better off you are. He just used his knowledge and wisdom in a selfish manner and it made him very unhappy and a broken man. This is not to say that there is not a lot of good in the three books he wrote, for the book of Proverbs and Song of Solomon are full of God’s wisdom. However, what I do believe is that the life of Christ is our bench mark and everything must be measured against that. Even some of the Psalms are very violent in their words and suggestions re: God being a destroyer and a killer. Here is one example: “The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” Psalm 58:10. “Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.” Psalm 3:7. And this one: “Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” Psalm 137:9. See also Psalm 68:23. “That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies…” Obviously, these Psalms do not represent the mind and character of Christ we see portrayed in the New Testament. Thankfully, most of the David’s Psalms are filled with hope and inspiration. What we must have is the Spirit of discernment as we read the Word of God in these last days as we are striving to understand and form the character of God in our lives so we can survive the final days of this age.
This is especially true in regard to all of the killings of the OT, supposedly commanded by God Himself, which we know is completely out of harmony with the Divine Character our Beloved Redeemer revealed in His life. Even Mel Gibson’s film reveals Jesus never hurt or killed anyone…never spoke a harsh word or retaliated against anyone at any time.
So, to assume and believe that the Apostle Paul had the final and last word on God’s holy character, when he Himself was a very legalistic Pharisee at one time and killed many people, etc. and declared before He died (and after he wrote all of his works) that he had not yet reached perfection; To assume that every word Paul wrote is infallible is assuming too much. The only words that are infallible are those of Jesus Himself, the perfect Son of God, and what we read in the NT re: what He told Nicodemus about Himself and the serpent. John 3:14-16. This is a very important key to unlocking the mystery of the serpent. Also check out Numbers 21:9 where the Lord told Moses to put the serpent on the pole and when they looked they were healed. Why would God use the serpent as an instrument of healing if it was indeed a symbol of Satan? And why would our precious Lord even refer to it as such Himself, comparing it to Himself in His coming sacrifice on the tree? These are compelling arguments which have convinced me. If you would like to receive a free gift package send me your snail mail address and I will send you some back issues of my paper with two books I just republished. May the Lord bless and keep you is my sincere prayer for you. Your friend always in the Lord Jesus. Pastor Mike Clute.
QUESTION: Why did Jesus give His disciples fish? In John 21 we read that Jesus cooked some fish for His disciples on the sea of Galillee. How do you explain this?
ANSWER: Christ in both the O.T. and N.T. always met the people at the point of their needs. Fish was a major staple of the people’s diet and was one of the clean foods allowed by the Law of Moses in Lev. 11. In this last age, when sickness and disease is rampant upon both man and beast, it is no longer safe to eat flesh food. There is an abundant testimony and evidence to prove the validity of this position. Mad cow disease is but one example.
*See Additional Note #32: “How and when did the rite of circumcision begin?”