We can now add an example of the ocean turning blood red. This time in Australia at the Resort Bondi Beach. This was due to an algae bloom. Yes it is explainable and yes it still happened.
Archive for November, 2012
Posted in Prophecy with tags blood red ocean, Blood red river, Bondi Beach Australia, Revelation on November 27, 2012 by paulthepoke
Isaiah 6:6-7 Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness, the Old Testament
Posted in Isaiah with tags Angels, forgiveness of sin, God, Gospel, Grace, isaiah 53, Isaiah 6, Jesus, mercy, Old Testament, Psalm 32, Psalm 51, salvation, seraphim on November 25, 2012 by paulthepokeIsaiah 6:6-7 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
The events above are taking place in the presence of God in the throne room of Heaven. The concept of burning coal from the altar in front of God in Heaven is consistent with the Aaronic ordinances given in Leviticus 16:12 “He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. What is done on earth is a picture of Heaven. This brings meaning to the phrase, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”.
your iniquity is taken away… The Hebrew word for iniquity is ‘avon. As defined by Strong’s Concordance it means: perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment/consequence of iniquity.
Burning coal is a symbol of cleansing. Fire purifies. Sin is taken away and removed in the presence of God. This is the Old Testament. Critics have often stated that removal and forgiveness of sin are New Testament ideas. Critics will say the God of the Old Testament is a mean ogre who is cruel and punishing, ready to crush with His thumb. There are many examples of mercy, grace, and forgiveness of sin in the Old Testament. These are Biblical concepts from beginning to end.
Psalm 32:1-2 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! These verses were written by David. He is clearly a man who had committed a transgression or two (murder, lust, adultery) in the events surrounding Bathsheba. He understood that God was merciful and gracious when it came to sin. In Psalm 32:5, David confessed his sins, and then You forgave my sins.
Psalm 51 is written with David’s adultery being at the forefront and focus of the Psalm. David knows he is guilty and he has sinned against God. David is in despair and desperate. Verse 1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. He also knows God can take care of his short comings. Verse 7,9 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. There is plea bargaining and begging. David is playing “Let’s Make a Deal”. Verse 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation…
Critics will argue Isaiah was written after Jesus’ death and resurrection to fit and fulfill prophecy and doctrine. Unfortunately for the critic, Isaiah was copied in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, approximately 330 years before the birth of Christ (Israel My Glory, November/December 2012, p. 8). Isaiah 53 foreshadows Jesus’ work on the cross. Verse 5-6, 11b, 12b But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.
God has always been and will always be merciful, gracious, and forgiving.
Isaiah 6:5 Facing the Lord
Posted in Isaiah with tags Exodus, Face to face, God, Grace, Heaven, Isaiah 6, Israel, Judges, Lord, mercy on November 18, 2012 by paulthepokeIsaiah 6:5 Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
In the presence of God, Isaiah realizes his personal sin and the sin of his fellow countrymen. He is in the presence of perfection in the throne room of Heaven. There is no comparison.
Peter has the same experience in the New Testament with a record hall of fish. He realizes he is in the presence deity. Luke 5:8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Isaiah has Exodus 33:20 in mind when he sees the Lord in person. He feared for his life.
Exodus 33:20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” This is God talking.
Prior to God’s direct revelation in Exodus, this concept is understood by Jacob. Jacob wrestles with the Lord in Genesis 32:30 and has the following response. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”
The fear of seeing the Lord and subsequent death has been engrained in Jewish culture in the Old Testament. The same concern is expressed by Manoah in Judges 13. Manoah and his wife had encountered the Angel of the Lord. Their response was to bow their faces to the ground. Judges 13:22 So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”
Gideon has an encounter with the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6:22-23 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” The LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”
As one can see, death does not occur to all who see and are face to face with the Lord. He is merciful and gracious. It is God’s choice. Exodus 33:19b… “and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
It is clearly a humbling experience to be face to face with the Lord.
Isaiah 6:3-4 Angels and Worship
Posted in Isaiah with tags Angels, God, Isaiah 6, Jesus, Psalms, Revelation, worship on November 11, 2012 by paulthepokeIsaiah 6:3-4 And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Note the consistency from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Angels are making the same proclamation of “Holy, Holy, Holy” in the throne room of Heaven in Revelation 4:8b …and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
We know from the text that angels are able to speak and communicate. They can be understood by humans. They can at the least speak Hebrew.
Angels worship God. Nehemiah 9:6b …You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You. “Host” or tsaba’ in the Hebrew can refer to an army or angels. The host is worshiping God. The Hebrew word for bow down is shachah. According to Strong’s Concordance, it means: to bow down, prostrate oneself before superior in homage, before God in worship.
Angels worship Christ. Hebrews 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.”The Him is Jesus and He is the firstborn in a matter of rank.
God’s angels are obedient to Him. Psalm 103:20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!
Psalm 148:2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Angels do not accept worship. John had bowed to an angel in the previous verse. He was promptly corrected by the angel. Revelation 22:9 But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”
We, humans, are not to worship or pray to angels. The apostle Paul says it is pointless. Why pray to an angel when you can communicate directly with the God of the universe? Colossians 2:18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind… The point is to focus on Christ.
Angel Info
Posted in Creation, Isaiah with tags Angels, creation, fallen angels, God, Isaiah 6, Jesus, Job, satan on November 4, 2012 by paulthepokeWhat does the Bible have to say about Angels? God’s word does not give an account about how angels were created. The Bible does not say when angels were created. But we do know that angels were created before the universe and humanity. Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? The context of this verse is a line of questioning directed to Job by God. Job is being asked if he was present prior to the creation of the world. God is explaining to Job that He laid the foundation and measured it out. Then God informs Job that the “morning stars” and the “sons of God” observed this event, sang, and shouted. “Sons of God” is an idiomatic expression for angels in the Old Testament. “Morning stars” is a term for angels. These beings saw God create the earth.
We do know that God, specifically Christ, created the angels in Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Jesus tells us that angels are immortal and they do not marry in Luke 20:35-36. He is comparing angels to resurrected humanity. But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
There are two groups of angels, the elect and those fallen. There are the angels who follow Christ as noted in 1 Timothy 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
The fallen angels are those who are evil and follow Satan. Of the fallen angels, there are two groups. Some of the fallen are incarcerated. 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment… Some of the fallen angels are currently loose and free. Jesus encounters these demons in Luke 8:30 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him.
Man will ultimately judge angels. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?
Humanity was not created to go to a fiery end. Man was originally created perfect and eternal. Hell was designed for fallen angels. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.
