A People, Un-walled (Poem, Part 2)

 

See the series here

See the Israel series here

Walls, walls…

With great walls, history is certainly replete.

Problems without or within, they’re built to defeat.

In days past, walls were cities’ main defense.

Today, for nations, walls make little sense.

By governments, militaries and alliances,

On guard against any external imbalances,

Nations today lean on this defense trifecta.

But for these, The Lord has …another agenda!

God told Ezekiel, in chapter 38,

One day, ‘an un-walled  people’ will be Israel’s fate.

Difficult to imagine? For most it certainly is.

But to understand, there’s no need to be a Bible wiz.

Defense trifecta on which nations now rely,

Are like a three-legged stool in God’s mind and eye.

Though appearing to be well-balanced and quite sturdy,

If one leg is short, the load becomes topsy-turvy!

When might some defense trifecta legs become short,

Or perhaps kicked out from under the load they support?

Let’s take a peek contextual into coming dark days,

To see ‘Israel un-walled’ as Ezekiel portrays.

To demonstrate that He indeed is God Almighty,

He sometimes removes ‘sticks’ we lean on so heavily. ¹

Ummm, what would a defenseless Israel look like?

What might such prove to it and onlookers, alike?

After Christ raptures up to Heaven His saints, faithful,

All remaining life on Earth will quickly unravel.

Institutions on which life depends will utterly fail,

And chaos across the globe will increasingly prevail. ²

Into this void, a strong man shall emerge,

And by intrigue, governments he shall urge.

To him powers will be delegated,

And over time, folk will be placated. ³

             

But when God rains down tribulation judgments,

On mankind, His most harsh ever sin payments,

Again, across the world, all hell will break loose,

And delegated powers may be abused. ⁴

First…

Alliances between nations might quickly vanish,

And folk everywhere become incredibly selfish!

‘Each one for self!’ Into hopelessness they all slide,

Because from God’s punishing blows, no one can hide!

----------

¹ See: Out of My Way, USA! and Isaiah 36.

² See: Revelation 6, 8, 9, 13 and 16. See also: The Goshen Effect (Series)

³ See: Daniel 11 and Revelation 13:16-17. See also: anti-Christ (Series). 

⁴ Reserved for the latter half of the7-year tribulation period, referred to as The Great Tribulation, and the apocalypse. Even with increasing punishing blows, The Bible affirms sinful mankind will still refuse to repent or to honor God as God. The Lord’s promised Millennial Reign as Global King, will BREAK THIS LOGDAM!!! See: Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21 and Revelation 16:11. See also: The Coming Lame Blame (Poem)

Then They Will Know (Part 1)

See video version here
Listen to audio version here
See the series here

Any serious student of The Bible will quickly discern God’s deep-rooted desire for people to ‘know I am The Lord.’ This phrase frequently echoes across the pages of His holy writ. Sometimes, God declares He will be so known when an unbelievable blessing or miracle has occurred after having been predicted by a prophet. Many more times, however, He declares He will be so known just as some catastrophic judgment is unfolding, wiping out those who are most severely judged, or just after such, leaving a judgment-remnant to come to this knowledge. ¹

At this current time in human history, we hear and learn far less of unbelievable blessings or miracles, but we are figuratively ‘up to our ears’ in crisis-after-crisis! Since The Lord, as Sovereign God, iteratively accentuates His control and direct interventions in the affairs of mankind ², it behooves us to:

(a) be both attentive to, and instructed by what He has said, and

(b) use this as a lens through which to understand the spiritual significance of crises we are experiencing.

It may seem rather easy to connect-the-dots when God has spoken through a prophet, directly to a people, and the event prophesized later materializes. What I scratch my head about is when He instructs a prophet in one location, to speak either to, or about a people in a distant location (Jews and Gentiles alike), and then concludes with, ‘Then they shall know I am The Lord.’ This leaves me pondering:

Ok, we understand to or about whom He is speaking, and what predicted event will trigger their knowing, but how will they know that He is The Lord, especially Gentiles who were far away from the speaker, and who presumably did not know God at all. ³

On the latter point, The Bible iteratively illustrates God’s modus operandi includes triggering faith in some person to the point of believing, speaking and then acting on His Word. I imagine Him planting Word seed in the Earth realm, seed that germinate and produce His fruit when received in human hearts.

Moreover, I ponder how ‘The Lord Who does not change’ expects people today to know He is The Lord? He declares, ‘For I am The Lord, I do not change’. While His nature and His strategy in dealing with humans do not change, His tactics apparently do change. ⁴

In this Age of Grace, God speaks to us believers directly through His Son, Jesus Christ, and indirectly through believers to the unbelieving world. And His most harsh judgment crises will speak LOUDLY to people during the tribulation period. In both these periods, though people will understand He is The Lord, they still will not believe in Him, nor embrace Him as Savior and Lord. ⁵

So does this infer He does not speak to us now through judgment crises?? I do not know, for sure, but this is abundantly clear:

Through church attendance and other ways,

people who are not normally ‘spiritually-minded’

suddenly become so in times of crises!

To me, this suggests they may have some latent spiritual insights and awareness, like seeds that only germinate in the stress of crises, but that never bear fruits of repentance and a fundamentally changed life. Perhaps this might have been the case of ancient, sinful Gentile nations noted in The Bible, nations that were judged and came to ‘know God is The Lord’ at the very point of their downfall. ³

Moreover, in His Grace-amazing, crises today may well be ‘the leading edge’ of the coming, worse tribulation crises. They may be a foretaste, if you will, of what’s on the horizon, and time to anticipate, prepare for, and decide to embrace His offer to escape, which is salvation in Jesus as Christ and Lord.

So what do you think? Are Heaven’s messages encoded in crises today? If so, what, and if not, why not? Many believe crises are merely continuing evidence of ‘the fallenness’ of our God-rejecting world, with no specific correlations to particular sinfulness. ⁶

See Part 2

----------

¹ The OWNER and BOSS over everything and everyone Who says, ‘All souls are Mine.’ (Ezekiel 18:4). Search for this phrase in The King James Version, especially in The Book of Ezekiel. See also: Deuteronomy 32:39,1 Samuel 2:6-8, Isaiah 45:5-7, Ezekiel 14:12-23, and Amos 3:6.

² This fact is iterated in Daniel 4:17, 25, 26, 32 and 5:2.

³ In Ezekiel, see: 25:5,11 and 17 (Ammon, Moab, Philistia); 26:6 (Tyre); 28:23 (Sidon); and 29:6, 13-16 (Egypt).

⁴ See: Malachi 3:6

⁵ The Age of Grace began when Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God and will end at the start of the coming 7-year tribulation. See: Hebrews 1:8 and also Revelation 16: 8-11.

⁶ As in 2 Samuel 21 and especially 24.

Un-marked? (Poem)

Un-precedented!!

Across our land and the world at large,

Reports are mounting of unimaginable firsts!

Unprecedented!, the echoing cry of our day.

With all facets of life in some kind of disarray,

Is there anywhere in crises folk are not submersed??

As one crisis ends, the next looms large.

In His love-amazing for humanity,

God gave us hints of roots we should inspect,

When life bears bad fruits in times like this,

Roots that carnal minds are sure to miss.

So when on crises the sun just won’t set,

Ponder His wisdom to stem calamity!

Un-vaccinated??

‘Get vaccinated!!!’ Cries across the USA,

From some parents of school-age kids.

Vaccinated kids who are at risk from those who are not.

Other parents resisting any vaccination shot.

One side embraces what the other forbids,

That is until a crisis flares up one day!!

Thus ‘herd immunity’ is broken or not achieved, ¹

And disease out-breaks can reap their havoc!

Tensions among opposing groups then heighten,

And both groups become more entrenched and stubborn.

As deaths mount, and both groups become awestruck,

Each insists and believes the other group …is deceived.

Un-marked??

Get marked!!! Listen carefully, you will hear God’s plea.

Though it’s not written in His holy script,

This echo reverberates page-after-page.

Those who hear and heed it, The Lord calls, ‘sage,’

Those who are released from >>crises tight grip<<.

Even if in crises, from terror they’ll be free. ²

To understand how this works, Jesus gives us a peep,

In His vision visit with Ezekiel, He remarked,

‘Angels who over this city are assigned,

Go! Mark those who with righteousness are aligned!’

Now let’s imagine the horrible fate of those un-marked,

Spiritually slain, yet alive …for a while. Deep! ³

To them, coming crises were then assigned,

Because with sins of the day, they went along.

And though of sins they were repeatedly warned,

With righteousness they refused to be adorned.

Then when caught in crises grips that were so strong,

Un-marked, too late with ‘right’ to realign. ⁴

Ear-marked??

Like vaccinated folk add protection for all,

We, the righteous in Christ, protect those who are not. ⁵

But when ‘Get marked!’ pleas to them go unheeded,

Both groups have less protection than is needed!

Why be shocked when they’re both caught in a crises knot?

Many more of the un-marked will certainly fall!

Trend-mark!!

In every crisis The Lord sends or allows,

After to us much Grace He has extended,

Here’s a trend to which He has been faithful:

There’s always a judgment remnant, grateful,

Those whose evil ways have been amended,

Voila! Righteousness in them has been …aroused!! ⁶

‘The Almighty rules in the kingdom of men.’

So revealed Daniel’s book in chapter 4, verse 17.

‘Calamities in a land are from Me!’,

So The Lord God told Amos to decree.

Good, bad or otherwise, ALL things by Him are overseen!

Please keep this in mind when lives crises upend. ⁷

Friend, if you can perceive the pattern of my rhyme,

Then your mind must be quite sharp!

If your spirit may likewise be,

Seeing the pattern that I see,

Then decide to become marked,

And escape God’s ‘sin-judgment-crisis’ paradigm.

----------

¹ Herd or community immunity is the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. See: What is Herd Immunity and Who is at Risk from Unvaccinated Kids

² Equipped and able to go through crises by their strong faith and strident focus on God’s promises to the righteous in Christ.

³ In Ezekiel, chapter 9, Jesus pre-incarnate reveals His fascinating judgment modus operandi. Do check it out!

⁴ The respective protections and judgments meted out in Ezekiel 9 to the residents of Judah are recorded in 2 Chronicles 36 and Isaiah 52. Get this: The Lord even instructed Ezekiel to make a road sign, in advance, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to be able to find the correct route to Judah! wOw, imagine that! (See: Ezekiel 21:22)

⁵ Jesus calls us ‘the [preserving, spiritual] salt of the Earth.’ (See: Matthew 5:13)

⁶ See: What’s Really Going On (…Inside)

⁷ See: Amos 3: 1-6

Why Such Bible Confidence? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: When you speak of the Bible it sounds like you are talking about a single document that was written by one author, one who was flawless and crystal clear. Since there may have been 40+ authors, how are you able to speak with such confidence about what the Bible says and what it means? With so many different authors, how do you know which author was speaking for God, and when he was adding his own human contribution?

A: By faith, is the short answer, my Friend. Thank you for this question.

The Bible was scribed by many authors whom God declares were ‘Holy Spirit-inspired’ to write what they wrote. Born again Christians embrace this by faith. Ponder Who God Almighty is. He literally not only expresses His Sovereignty over ALL the affairs of man, but as The Supreme power and authority, He is actually managing it according to His own framework which includes allowing free will to us and to His angels to decide whether to obey Him or not. He fore-knows everything, and will eventually judge every deed, thought and word.

The Bible is His instrument to communicate to us His conceptual and strategic framework by which He is orchestrating not only everything in Heaven, but also everything in the physical universe. There is not one speck of dust in the universe that escapes His control. The challenge for us as carnally-minded rather than spiritually-minded beings, is to perceive Him spiritually, by faith, using the instrument of His Bible to convey His will and ways. He promises to help us do this by the re-birth experience, which comprises:

1. Asking forgiveness for sins that go against His acceptable framework

2.  Receiving Jesus’ whipping post suffering and death as having been done on our behalf, in our place, for what our sin deserved

3. Asking for and receiving the gift of His Holy Spirit to merge with our own spirit and to help us perceive, understand, obey, and honor Jesus as God in the flesh, to Whom Father God has delegated ALL things related to humans. In Heaven, Jesus sits on The Throne AS GOD. (Hebrews 1)

4. Daily reading and studying parts of The Bible through which He spiritually communicates with us in our spirit. In this manner, He grows us up, in Him.

So yep, though scribed by many authors, the book was spiritually God breathed. Thus it is The Word of God Almighty, not just of men. 

Without faith to embrace this, which is what He says in His book, we cannot be saved and become His sons. Thus, we will remain eternally lost sinners. Only He calls the shots regarding how we might have an eternal, personal, intimate relationship with Him.

There is clearly a hidden, spiritual dimension to this life, not just physical. Most of us are more controlled by our carnal soul. Many folk have little or no conception of spirit,  therefore, even the notion of an almighty spiritual being is totally foreign to them. And the notion of this Being influencing all things in the physical universe and on Earth, is preposterous!  They are staunch un-believers in anything spiritual, yet they, themselves, are greatly and unknowingly influenced by evil spiritual beings! Imagine that!

Please pray for faith to believe what God says in His Book, amazingly preserved across the ages to convey His will for us, and what’s important to Him. After you pray, just say, ‘Thank You for answering my prayer.’ Then start reading and trust it is HIS spiritual voice your spirit is hearing. Please do not read His Book like any other carnal book. If you do, you will be dumb-founded, and possibly frustrated. The carnal mind cannot perceive, let alone understand or appreciate high spiritual matters. My friend, get to know and trust your spirit. ;o)

Bible Reading Challenge, Accepted (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: I accept your challenge to re-start reading The Bible again. I believe it is a book worth reading and studying. May I send you any questions I may have?

A: Thanks for accepting my challenge! Indeed, please feel free to share any questions you may have. I will do my best to address them and/or refer you to other possible answer sources.

God says (1) to seek Him ‘with all (our whole) our heart, soul and strength’, and that (2) we ‘should always pray’. I asked how in the world we could possibly do the latter. The unexpected answer I received in prayerful meditation is summarized in this poem. I suspect this answer may also relate to #1. Two Prayer Challenges (Poem)

There is no way we can do this, or anything else The Lord Jesus requires of us apart from deep knowledge and understanding of His Word, The Bible. It is His spiritual food that produces in us the spiritual energy of FAITH in Him, by which He requires us to live. Jesus, in Spirit, is present in every book, story, poem, letter and history recorded in The Bible. (There are several books and messages that affirm this.) He shows up in The Old Testament in various pre-incarnate forms (e.g., to Moses as a burning bush; to Enoch a walking friend; to Ezekiel in a mobile chariot; to Elijah as a fiery whirlwind; to Joshua as Captain of His invisible angelic army; and some say to Daniel as The Angel of The Lord). In The New Testament, He shows up in various post-incarnate forms (e.g., to Paul as a bright, blinding light; to early Christians as tongues of baptizing fire; and to the aged apostle John as the Alpha & Omega/First & Last, and The Almighty). Each time He shows up, He is affirming and/or performing some aspect of His declared modus operandi (M.O.) as He summarized to Jeremiah:

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory (boast) in (boast or be prideful about) his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising  (a) lovingkindness (Grace), (b) judgment (Justice), and (c) righteousness (according to His definition) in the Earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Apart from The Bible, this is impossible to do, or to perceive Him at work throughout the Earth! With The Bible, we are so blessed to not only know what He requires of us, and to understand His operational methods in Earth, but we also perceive and learn well His heart (Spirit), nature, and mind.

Armed with this insight, hopefully you, too, will grow to ‘see His footprints in the sands of time’ as you read. Moreover, you will become more highly perceptive of His footprints in our current time. For me, this is where things get exciting. This is where I live, studying to perceive much more clearly into the prophetic (yet-to-happen) aspects of The Bible.

Again, praise The Lord for accepting my challenge. I look forward not only to hearing about what you ‘see’/perceive in this ‘heart-to-heart’ reading, but I’ll also be re-learning should I be blessed to address any questions you may have.

I encourage you to START with the end-point--the last 2 chapters of Revelation. The entire Bible, and all of creation is 'telelogic', meaning progressing towards a defined purpose and end point. With clarity about  that end point, we will more easily perceive the 'route' Heaven has pre-determined for us ALL (every person who will have ever lived) to get there, and be eternally assigned to one of 2 massive zones:

    • The GLORIFIED zone on a massive, new, eternal Earth--comprising the new Jerusalem and surrounding nations of The Lord's immortal saints from across history on this current version of Earth, and 

    • Likely, the brimstone-lit lake of fire into which every unredeemed/unrepentant sinner will spend their eternity for having rejected The Lord's Grace of salvation by faith in His redemptive work on the cross. 

Rich blessings!

What Original Bible Diet? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: What do you mean by ‘the original Bible diet?’ I have no clue what it is, but I hope it’s tasty! ;o)

A: Hello and thanks for your question.

The original, God-ordained diet for humans and animals alike is stated here:

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is  life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:29-30)

Thus, I understand all pre-flood humans and animals were herbivores. I presume the diets were indeed tasty considering how pristine Earth and the climate were back then, compared to how acidic and polluted they are in our day.

For some strategic reason(s), after the global flood God purposely modified the diet for mankind to include meat, animal flesh:

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. (verse 3) I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. (Genesis 9:1-4)

The following posts discuss and speculate on plausible links between the above verses and Genesis 6:1-8, in which God seemingly decrees a significant reduction in human life span from nearly a thousand years (Methuselah and Adam lived to 969 and 930 years, respectively!), to ~120 years. Some Bible scholars interpret the reference to 120 years as the time that remained before God would flood Earth. He is not a God of confusion. Examining the considerable, subsequent declines in post-flood life span leads me to believe the change in diet may have been a primary contributor. As noted in the below posts, there may be other reasons for the post-flood diet change. We also know many animals also became full carnivores, and others, like mankind, became omnivores.

Life Span – How Long?

When Lions Ate Straw

What I find keenly interesting is how God twice predicts lions will once again eat straw and seemingly that humans may once again live long lives:

The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (Isaiah 11:7)

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:25)

No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20)

When comparing and contrasting Genesis 9:30 with Isaiah 11:7 and 65:25, do you perceive an inference that the changes in diet may apply to both humans and animals, as did Genesis 1:29-30??

Which Bible Version and Understanding? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: I have started my study of the Bible. I already have a question. Since the Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, what version or translation of the Bible do you use? Since there are no two translations that are identical or without error, how do you make sure that your interpretation and understanding is correct, accurate, and true to the original intent of the Bible?

A: Thanks for your question.

I have copies of several popular versions of The Bible, but my personal preference over the decades has been The New King James Version. (NKJV) While this is the first one I reach for, whenever I encounter sections that require clarification, pondering or deeper reflection and study, I consult BibleGateway.com, which has dozens of English translations of The Bible. In that app, I usually turn to The Amplified Bible, The King James Version, and especially Young’s Literal Translation and Wycliff Bible.  As time and interest permit, I may check a few of the more modern versions, some of which only focus on the New Testament. Finally, for tough sections or concepts, I search the web for commentaries by scholars around the world. The diversity of views on this matter is considerable. There are numerous Bible reading and commentary websites and apps.

As you read, consider this idea as an alternative viewpoint. The Lord God has a strategic spiritual message for us humans, and In His wisdom, He’s decided to convey His spiritual message to us via a book, comprised of history, poetry, prophecy, letters and prose. Then He offers His Holy Spirit (via the process of being ‘born’ into His Kingdom) to help those who ask, with their ability to perceive, understand and prosper from His strategic message that is 'hidden for us', not 'hidden from us' who diligently seek Him. So knowing this, consider reading His message from the perspective of you being there with Him in Heaven over the ages, looking over His shoulder as He stimulates the human writers of the 66 books in The Bible, to actually write in such a way as to convey HIS consistent, over-arching strategic spiritual message. Doing this without a myopic focus on books, chapters and verses will greatly help. Try to perceive His message across all the verses, chapters, books, history, writing styles, and ages. As you read, try to perceive what The Lord says about the past, current and predicted future ages.

He fully knew human social cultures would morph over time, and would actually devolve and deteriorate to their worst states by the end of this current age. Thus, He structured His message, His Book, in such a way to convey its core points across evolving times and ages. So don’t get too dragged down in the nitty-gritty issues of socio-cultural norms across the thousands of years over which The Bible was written. Keep your focus on hearing His core strategy.

If you may be skilled in reading strategically, e.g., with deeper understanding, read to be able to summarize succinctly to others your understanding of The Lord’s strategy, from start-to-end. I believe the 14 points noted in this blog post capture His strategy as I understand it. How to be Spirit-Led

Great question about confidence in my understanding. My reply is largely based on what Jesus, Himself, iteratively says in St. John 10 and 15:1-17 namely that,

My sheep know, hear and follow My voice. (John 10)

They abide in Me, bear fruit, and have full joy. (John15)

In John 10, Jesus effectively released His faith regarding all future believers who would fully embrace His salvation. As we similarly release our faith in response to His, The Holy Spirit triggers His works in and through us, building our confidence that we are indeed learning to know, hear and follow His voice.

In John 15, Jesus commands us to abide in Him, and then promises some glorious rewards. I perceive increased confidence in hearing His voice is implicit therein. I understand abiding in Him to mean meditating, musing -pondering, praying and practicing His Word, and also practicing His presence in our lives.

I hope this is helpful, and is not overly prescriptive. It’s a synthesis of what I have learned. Other readers may contribute their insights.

Post-script: Please see this series written June 2024:

Missed Insights About Revelation (Series)

Love in Man's DNA? (Q&A)

See the Q&A Series here

Q: To save both Him and humans of all the angst, why didn't The Creator simply create a version of man that was wiser, kinder, and more loving? Why not put loving your neighbor in man’s DNA and make him sin proof?

A: Thank for your question. I, too, have long questioned this option. Here’s the answer I perceive.

Rather than a bunch of robotic-like creations who are ‘hard-wired’ to obey, in His Grace-filled nature, God apparently loves and respects ‘free will’. To us, it appears to be a big, fat risky gamble to give free will to His angels, 1/3 of whom then revolted and became demons, and then to also give free will to humans!!! But it was no risk to Him, as He knows the future.

Secondly, God IS Love. He doesn’t just love, but He IS Love, itself. Love loves, and desires Love in return, in the form of self-induced, passionate, intimate relationships, not any kind of ‘programmed love’ that is independent of the lover’s will.

I trust this is clear and helpful. Perhaps other readers may add to this reply .

An Idiot-Proof Bible? (Q&A)

 

See the Q&A Series here

Q: In writing Bible, why didn't the almighty, all knowing God, write a book that was easy to understand and idiot proof? An easy to understand, idiot proof Bible would have helped humanity avoid a lot of wasted time, suffering, confusion, fights, destruction, and missteps. Writing an idiot proof Bible should have been be easier than easy for the almighty creator.

A: Thank you for your question. I do not mind Bible questions at all as they provide excellent opportunities for me to review and re-learn key points I learned as a lad, and to integrate these into what I am learning today. Rest assured, if I do not know the answer, I will say so. Before answering, I ask The Lord how would He direct me to answer. Then I listen patiently until, in my spirit, His wisdom in me is stirred. My job then is to organize the insights I receive, and pray they are beneficial.

Before answering your ‘idiot proof’ question, permit me to ask you a question. Is there a book, or could you write one if none exists that shows me a ‘very quick, idiot proof’ way to become a millionaire? While there are many ‘get rich quick’ books on the market, the ones I have browsed don’t fit my bill for ‘quick idiot proof’! It takes dedication, focus, energy, discipline, research, patience, fortitude not to quit in the face of downturns, etc. Moreover, it takes TIME.

Well, my Friend, consider Heaven and its wisdom and glory as a bi-zillion times more valuable than simply becoming a millionaire in man’s paper or e-money system. Would you trust handing all of this over to folk who simply wanted an ‘idiot proof’ way to get their hands on it?? If you answer,‘Yes, if I really wanted them to get my points!’, then please stop and take a quick peek at Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. God Almighty, who is smarter than you, me and all humans combined, first coded His key points in these verses (the first recorded time after He told Adam not to eat the fruit of a particular tree), and He did so in what most might say is an ‘idiot proof’ manner. Thus He’s ‘been there, done that’. Now look across the horizons of human history, and across the world today. Where are the benefits you seem to believe would/should accrue from that approach?

Still not satisfied? Then go to the Books of The Law, written by Moses. (Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) This was God’s second, e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d codification of His requirements. This time, they were targeted to one people, Abraham’s descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Reading through the historical accounts of the ancient Jewish nation (in 1^st/2^nd Samuel, Kings and Chronicles) you will quickly understand what happened to this expanded and targeted ‘idiot proof’ version of God’s message.

Still not satisfied? Then take a quick peek at John 3:16. This one, clear verse is yet another ‘idiot proof’ version of God’s key message, without the ‘do this, don’t do that’ detail of the prior version noted above. But this one verse clearly infers something to do, namely believe on Jesus as Christ, accept Him as Savior, and love God back in a manner acceptable to Him. Now look once more across the horizons of human history, and across our world today. Where are the benefits to this third idiot-proof version of God’s message?? In fact, The Bible predicts there will be only a tiny minority of humans who will ‘get it’ and benefit from the incalculable glory and rewards He is offering us in the Person, Jesus Christ…forever!

I hope these examples shed light on what Father God and Jesus The Lord have indeed done in an idiot proof manner to get our attention to understand, and then perform up to His expectations.

Beyond that, it is important to note the following points as you continue your exploration of The Bible:

1.  It was written, by God through men, to speak to humanity across the span of some 6,000+ years (during satan’s lease on Earth, given to him by Adam’s sin); across cultures, languages, social mores, economic climates, etc., as the overall spiritual condition of mankind steadily deteriorated towards His predicted climax – the coming tribulation judgments. Voila! What an incredible challenge to accomplish in just 66 books.

2.  Idiot proof versions of His message did not explain ‘how to perform’ His expectation to His standards, nor did they elaborate the consequences of not so performing. Perhaps in response to our responses to His idiot proof versions, He elaborated in His Book many how-to do’s, many examples of right(eous) performance of His expectations, many more examples of poor or non-performance, and a seemingly unlimited supply of examples of the consequences of both excellent and abysmal performance of His expectations. Can you perceive with me that this challenge required some volume?

3.  Moreover, He sprinkled a generous supply of ‘relevant, easy-to-imagine object lessons’ to amplify and sharpen the focus on His expectations. Take a peek at the many live object lessons The Lord prompted Jeremiah and Ezekiel to perform before the people during the last few years of the existence of Judah, the two break-away southern tribes of ancient Israel. Then consider the many object lesson parables Jesus taught. PowerPoint, audio podcasts and video messages were not yet available, so these object lessons were delivered ‘in living person’, so to speak!

4.  Using poetry, historical accounts, prophecy, etc., God filled His Bible with good, wholesome, idiot proof lessons, even lessons from fools, from which we are to extract and learn from righteous truths hidden therein, not to repeat what the fools did simply ‘because it's in the Bible.’

5.  Four times, God says for us to live by faith in Him, in Who He is, and what He has promised to anyone He calls ‘righteous’. Despite the many admonitions, examples, object lessons about good and bad results, we flipped this to mean live by faith in the evil we can get away with. The more we get away with, the worst our sinfulness becomes …until sins reach His ‘boiling point’, triggering severe judgments, per Jeremiah 9:23-24.

6.  In order to prove to us that Jesus (God in human flesh) is (a) the Messiah/Savior, (b) the idiot proof result of God’s promise to satan in Genesis 3:15, (c) and the result of God’s deep friendship with and promises to Abraham, God’s Bible elaborates Jesus’ pedigree, His heritage over millennia. The time lapse alone meant the Bible would be somewhat voluminous, not short.

7.  To help us believe HE ALONE IS GOD, He patiently and iteratively, over long spans of time, demonstrates His ability to predict the future. Again, this alone suggests a short version of His message would not do.

8.  The Bible invites us into eternal citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, those whom He calls righteous (born again, Holy Spirit filled Christians who are walking out their faith), have dual citizenship. Just as our earthly nations have constitutions, God has essentially coded in His Bible the closest thing we have to His Kingdom Constitution. He expects the righteous to perceive, live by, and benefit from it during our earthly lives, and moreover, to look forward to living under it with Him forever. Covering and iterating such detail similarly requires volume, not a short book.

9.  To help encourage us to develop sufficient faith to live/perform to His expectations, He also elaborates His nature, His character, and His heart. The idiot proof versions of His message did not include these. In this verse, He literally bears His broken heart to Ezekiel:

Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot (spiritually) after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.” (Ezekiel 6:9) 

No idiot proof, shorter version of The Bible could convey the full range of God’s incredible emotions.

10.Since exercising faith is a form of energy – spiritual energy, He designed His Bible to serve as ‘spiritual food’ adequate to generate such energy to believers across all of human history, including for baby believers and mature believers alike. My, my, what an awesome, incredible feat!

No quick, idiot proof version of The Protestant Bible could do all of these things. I count it as a miracle that all of this, and much more, is packaged in 66 ‘books’ of The Bible. I prefer to refer to each book as really being a chapter in a God-inspired BOOK.

I hope this elaborated answer to your question is helpful, and will encourage you to look for the above noted aspects as you continue reading through the best ever Book ever written and preserved for us humans.

Mankind,

Please Me.
LIVE BY FAITH!!!!
Here’s how to, and here’s how not to.

Here are the corresponding blessings and curses.

Your call…

Signed: GOD