Category: Miscellaneous Bible Topics

Rockets and the Globe II with Special Guest Gravity

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I want to preface this post with an observation.  The Copernicans have had 500 years to develop their helio-centric model.  It is composed of mountainous volumes of sophisticated language and formulas based on a premise.  If you don’t understand the language it is difficult to argue with.  So Biblical-earthers are at a slight disadvantage in terms of debate but things are rapidly changing.  It is much similar to the creation-evolution debate in that it took a little while for Creation Science to catch up on all the so-called evidence of evolution.  Now, it is obvious that evolution is absurd.  That’s because the premise has been debunked and that makes all of their so-called evidence nonsense. 

As a case study, let’s take gravity.  I submit that gravity only makes sense if you accept the notion that the earth is a spinning ball floating in a vacuum with an atmosphere being kept securely around it.  In other words, gravity had to be thought up in order to explain why the atmosphere (and everything else) doesn’t get sucked out into the unbelievably powerful vacuum of space.  Remember, nature abhors a vacuum.   The earth, we are told, has just the right amount of size and density to exert the gravitational force necessary to hold everything to it including the molecules of the atmosphere.  Somehow mass and density create the magical power called gravity.

There are all kinds of human agencies that have been built and organized to validate the premise.  These agencies and organizations include NASA and other nation’s ‘space programs’.  Billions of dollars are being poured into these organizations.  The general public sees rockets being shot into the air.  Ergo, space exists and the earth is spinning through it.  

The number of people that recognize the Biblical earth model as the truth is growing at break-neck speed.  The first ever international conference was held in North Carolina this past November and tickets sold out quickly.  You can find video of the speakers on youtube or flatearthbible.com.   It is an awakening unlike no other in history.  The passage that comes to mind is Luke 8:17:

“For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.”

I believe that we are living in a time where God is exposing and revealing as never before.  I find it not coincidental that, as the spread of the notion of intelligent life in outer space is accelerating in the mainstream, right alongside of it is the realization by millions that the earth has no curve and the sun and moon move in circuits above the plane.   These millions are recognizing that what the Bible says is true of creation, namely that the earth is a flat plane with a transparent or translucent hard dome firmament over it, and all of it is fixed and immovable except the stars within the firmament.   The earth is it, there is no space.  There is the earth, the firmament and the 3rd heaven above it.   This is Biblical cosmology.

We who are recognizing this may not have the grasp of the math equations that support a ball earth theory but we do have common sense and we do have eyes to see.  In this venue I have no desire to try and argue each issue within the scope of the grand debate.  It would take too long.  But there is an argument for each issue such as satellites, all the people in on the hoax, ships going ‘below the horizon’, alleged photos of the earth from space, etc., etc., etc.  There is much evidence to refute all of the helio-centric claims and each person must do the research for themselves.  And here is the thing – you have to be genuinely open to receive truth, whatever the truth is.  It’s a lot like the Gospel of salvation.  If you don’t want to see it, you won’t.

If you accept the spinning globe earth premise, then gravity and all of the equations and formulas make sense. 

I was presented with additional information about how the spinning earth provides momentum to a rocket leaving earth’s atmosphere in the spinning earth model.  To wit:  it is the atmosphere of the earth that provides the ‘push’.  The atmosphere, in this conjecture, is moving in sync with the spin of the earth and at some point when the rocket leaves the atmosphere it is shot out by the 1000 mph atmospheric force (which is how fast the earth is supposed to be spinning on an axis) into space.

So, according to more ‘intelligent sources’ and ‘experts’, we are supposed to believe that the atmosphere is moving at 1000 mph hand in hand with the spinning land below.  This happens because of the mysterious force of gravity.  This gravity not only keeps the atmosphere from being sucked out into the incredibly powerful vacuum of space (which does not exist), it also keeps it locked in synch with the motion of the earth.  Let’s examine this idea. 

The atmosphere moves west to east with the motion of the spinning earth, we are told.  And it moves in perfect synchrony with the earth, so much so we can’t tell that we are moving.   I have no idea how to calculate it but there must be an enormous amount of centrifugal force being exerted that could send everything flying if it were not for the miraculous gravity.   So not only is there the vacuum of space pulling at the atmosphere, there is centrifugal force also pulling on everything on the surface of the earth and above, due to the spin.   Centripetal force is the ‘equal and opposite force’ of centrifugal that keeps an object or substance spinning in a circle with the center of the spinning object.

The atmosphere must experience both forces under the spinning earth theory.  If you were to take a hand blender and stick it in some soup, you would notice the soup closest to the blender blades would be moving faster in the direction of the blades than soup farther from the center of the blade.  The farther away from the vortex, the slower the soup would be moving in a circle.  The same characteristics would be expected with the atmosphere circling with the motion of the earth.  It would not be in perfect synch from inside-out with regard to the atmosphere.  But it would be moving with constant speed inside-out.  The farthest reach of the atmosphere would be traveling much slower than near the earth. 

Now, consider also that the farther out you go from earth, the thinner the air becomes.  So not only is the air going much slower than the spin of the earth, there is less and less of it.  Yet, we are to accept that a rocket gets so much more thrust and boost from being propelled by the speed of the atmosphere!

It just doesn’t bear up under logical scrutiny.

Consider, too, that weather moves generally from west to east.  How is this possible with the earth spinning west to east – the same direction?  Think about this for a few minutes!!  Weather would actually be moving against the atmosphere and faster than the motion of the earth!

The whole idea that we are spinning at 1000 mph and the atmosphere with it, yet we can not feel or sense this, is ludicrous on it’s face.  

It is fascinating what cognitive dissonance can do to a mind.  You really have to suspend logic and common sense to accept this stuff from NASA.  Sometimes all you have to do is a little thinking.  See my other posts under Bible Cosmology.

Dan Baker

Rockets and the Spinning Globe

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NASA says that rockets are launched eastward with the spin of the earth in order for the rocket to get a boost from the spin.  In other words, they say that the spin of the earth gives the launched vehicle greater momentum and thrust into space.    This allows the rocket to save fuel, they say.  You can see the NASA explanation at this link.

Then why would that not apply to jets and planes?  NASA says the spin affects the velocity and momentum of the rocket as it flies through the atmosphere and into space.  Therefore the spin should have the same affect with planes and jets as they take off. 

For example, if a plane takes off at the equator from east to west, the spin of the earth being against the take off, the plane would have the opposite experience.  The plane would have an earth spinning 1000 MPH (approx.) against it.  That would mean that the plane that takes off at 250 mph would have a net speed of 1250 mph at take-off.  Then, when it reaches cruising speed at say 500 mph, it’s speed would be a net 1500 mph over the surface of the earth.   This means that a plane traveling from east to west, against the spin, would be able to travel 3000 miles in 2 hours (New York to Los Angeles). 

If it travels the opposite direction at a maximum speed of 500 mph, it would not reach New York (pretending New York and LA are on the equator) until the earth rotated one full rotation and New York actually came from behind the plane below on it’s axis.   The speed of the rotating earth would be twice that of the plane.

NASA can’t have it’s physics work two different ways.

Either the spin of the earth is negative with regard to launched and flying vehicles or it is positive.  If it affects the launch of the rocket then it must also affect the launch and flight of planes and jets as they travel the skies. 

The problem is that a plane that leaves St. Louis for Kansas City will arrive the same time as a plane traveling from Kansas City to St. Louis if they fly at the same speed.  That is not possible, according to NASA, on a spinning globe earth.   But it is on a Biblical earth.

Dan Baker

The First Resurrection

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“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.  This is the first resurrection.”  Revelation 20:5

I watched a video that was sent to me by a friend who asked me my thoughts about it.  It was a teaching by a minister named David Asscherick.  He has a very hyper-frenetic style of preaching that was hard to listen to.  But that aside, his topic was the Millennial Kingdom – it’s description and nature.   He made quite a few incorrect assertions but the one I’m going to focus on is that there will be no living mortals during the Millennial period.

His basis for saying that there will be no living people is the verse above.  He said all of the righteous (ever) will be resurrected at Jesus’s return, and all of the believers who are alive at that time (who survive the Tribulation) will be ‘translated’ up to meet Jesus in the air.    This is not true.

He also said all of the wicked who are alive at His return will be slain.  This much is true (Rev. 19:15, 21).

What Asscherick did was declare that the resurrection in Rev. 20:5 is the same resurrection as 1 Thess. 4:14.  This is something many Christians make the mistake of doing.  He based that on the fact that Rev. 20: 5 says it is the ‘first’ resurrection, therefore it has to be the same resurrection as 1 Thess. 4:14.  It follows, he asserts, that all of the righteous will be glorified and all the wicked will be dead, and thus there will be no mortal living beings during the Millennial.

To boil it down, Asscherick is saying that the rapture happens at Jesus’ return to earth (post-trib rapture).   According to Asscherik, right before Jesus lands on the Mount of Olives all of the dead in Christ are raised and those believers who are alive at that moment are ‘translated’ or raptured, and meet the Lord in the air (and then do an immediate U-turn to follow Christ to earth).

The problem, however, is that Asscherick completely skipped over Rev. 20:4:

– “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them.  And I saw the souls of THOSE WHO HAD BEEN BEHEADED BECAUSE OF THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS and because of the Word of God, and THOSE WHO HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST OR HIS IMAGE, AND HAD NOT RECEIVED THE MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEAD AND UPON THEIR HAND;  and THEY CAME TO LIFE and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

This verse makes perfectly clear that the ‘first’ resurrection stated in verse 5 is the resurrection of the righteous who die during the tribulation (Rev. 6:9; 13:12-17; 14:9-11).  All he had to do was look at the cross references in the margin of his Bible.

The context determines the meaning of ‘first resurrection’.

The resurrection in Revelation 20:4-5  is not the first resurrection EVER, it is the first resurrection in the context of the 2nd coming of Christ right before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.  Clearly this is not the first resurrection.  The first resurrection was Jesus Christ!  So the context must define the statement.  The second resurrection in this context is the resurrection of the unsaved dead (those whose names are not in the Book of Life) at the end of the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:13).

He also completely overlooks Rev. 20:7-8 with regard to no living mortals during the Millennial Kingdom.  These verses clearly point out that there will be ‘nations’ all over the earth whom Satan tempt and gather for war when he is released at the end of the 1000 years.  Asscherik’s explanation for this is that these people are the wicked who are raised from the dead in Rev. 20:12-13.  The problem is that this resurrection takes place AFTER Satan’s brief uprising.

It’s always amazing how doctrines and teachings can come about by taking things out of their proper context or chronological order.

See also my post ‘Eternal Torment or Eternal Destruction‘.

Dan Baker

Jerusalem

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Jerusalem

“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the people around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.  And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured.  And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.”  –Zechariah 12:2-3

Today I watched with amazement President Trump’s press conference where he declared that the United States formally recognizes Jerusalem to be  Israel’s capital, and will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  It truly is a historic moment.

It is also a relevant moment in terms of Bible prophecy.

Now, I am not saying that this move by the President specifically fulfills Zechariah 12.  In fact, it does not.  Zechariah 12 is referring to a time immediately preceding the return of Jesus – this is the context of the passage.  It is talking about a time when all the surrounding nations and more will attack Jerusalem to destroy it.  You must continue reading the chapter through the next 2 chapters.

Zechariah 12:3 says all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it and God himself will save Israel (vs. 12:7-9).  Then Israel will ‘look upon Him who they have pierced and they will mourn’ (12:10). 

Who will they mourn? 

It is Jesus who has returned to earth to save the remnant.  (see my posts “The Gog-Magog War IS Armageddon” and “Every Eye Will See Him“) 

They will see Him and mourn over him as He is coming in the clouds.  They will mourn because they realize He is the Messiah whom they crucified. 

But many will also cry out ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord’, as Jesus prophesied when He told Israel they would not seem Him again until they recognize Him (Matthew 23:39). 

Zechariah 14 elaborates on this event. 

God will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured.  But Jesus will ‘go forth’ and fight against those nations as His feet set down on the Mount of Olives and He will be victorious.  Thus He will begin the 1000 year reign of the Millennial Kingdom. 

So this is the context of Jerusalem being a ‘cup that causes reeling’ to the whole world.  What we are witnessing is not the precise fulfillment of Zechariah 12.  What we are witnessing is a foreshadowing of what is coming.

“The whole world is against it.”  …Turkish Prime Minister

This quote from the Turkish Prime Minister referring to President Trump’s  declaration may be a bit of an overstatement, but it illustrates the level of consternation in the world as a result of the President’s move. No doubt there will be uprising and increased violence in the region as a result.  It is also safe to say that the world in general holds a great deal of animosity towards Israel and that it is going to increase as we draw closer to the Day of the Lord. 

The President’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and re-locate the embassy is good and right.  It should have been done a long time ago.  But God has ordained it to take place now, or at least declare it now. 

God continues to signal that time is growing short.   Israel will continue to be the focal point.   Maranatha. 

A Simple Little Moon Test

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“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”               – Mark Twain

We are told that the moon is 2,159 miles in diameter and that it is 238,900 miles from earth.  That is a ratio of 1 to 110. 

Go on google earth pro and find Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  The stadium is 800 feet long.  Multiply 800 feet by 110 and you get 88,000 feet.  Go up 88,000 feet over Arrowhead Stadium. 

Guess what, you can’t see it!  It’s a speck.  You can barely make out the parking lot.  The stadium is a dot, yet the moon is immense in the sky by comparison.  How is that possible?  It’s not – if you believe the math.  If the math was correct the moon would look like just another tiny twinkling star. 

And please don’t try to tell me that the atmosphere somehow magnifies it. The atmosphere would have to look and work like a magnifying lens as shown in the picture below.   But it doesn’t. The atmosphere would be just the opposite as a lens if we were living on a ball.

1280px-Lens1.svg

If we’re being told to believe this silliness, what else are they telling us to believe?

See also my other posts under ‘Bible Cosmology’. 

Dan Baker

More About Water

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flood

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the heaven were opened.”  Gen. 7:11

Before reading this post, you should read my previous posts “Was Moses Dumb and Did God Lie?”, and also “What’s in the Water?”.

I read an article yesterday by Joseph Farah, the editor of WND.  You can find it here.  The article talks about how scientists believe that the earth makes it’s own water deep beneath the mantle, giving validation to the Genesis flood and in particular the floodwaters that erupted from the earth. 

It’s a fascinating article with very important implications, not only with regard to the Genesis narrative, but also for potential benefit for mankind.  But that is not the focus of this post.  I want to comment on the last part of Gen. 7:11 – the floodgates of heaven.  Is this metaphorical or literal? 

I pointed out in my previous posts mentioned above that the ancient Hebrew believed that there was a solid dome firmament over the earth and above that firmament was the throne of God in the ‘waters above’.  I have no doubt that they also believed that Moses literally meant that God opened the firmament and water blasted through to the earth along with the water that exploded from the deep. 

The Hebrew word in Genesis 7:11 is ‘arrubah’ and it means window, lattice, sluice or floodgate.  Secular science says that it is metaphorical because a literal translation does not jive with the Copernican Helios-centric concept.  It’s interesting that if this same science now implies that the first part of the verse is literal – that there is unimagined amounts of water beneath the mantle that could have added to the Great Flood, yet it dismisses the ‘window of heaven’ as a whimsical way of describing a huge thunderstorm that lasted for 40 days. 

Also, the word for heaven in this verse is ‘shamayim’, which is the same word used in Gen. 1:8 for heaven as God named the expanse, or firmament.  Most would like to translate this word in 7:11 as sky, but there is no basis to do that other than to make it fit the Helios-centric viewpoint. 

In the creation narrative the only ‘heaven’ to be used as singular is the firmament or expanse.  The other times in the creation narrative the NASB uses heavens as plural but gives no indication that sky is included.  In Genesis, ‘shamayim’ is only singular when describing the firmament or where God resides (the 3rd heaven).    

Jacob saw a gate in the firmament when the angels were ascending and descending the ladder.  He said it was THE gate of heaven (Gen. 28:17). The word here is ‘sha’ar’, which means entrance, as to a palace.  In this verse it makes sense as the main entrance because Jacob said it was the house of God and the gate was the entrance to His house.   This spot where Jacob’s head rested became the location of the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple.  This indicates there are different openings (windows and entrance) through the firmament.

Moses was literal when he said water erupted from the deep.  Why would he not be literal when he says God opened the firmament and dumped water from the third heaven?

Dan Baker

What God Has Cleansed

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Peters vision

“And on the next day, as they were on their way, and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.  And he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; and he beheld the sky opened up, and a certain object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.  And a voice came to him, ‘Arise, Peter, kill and eat!’. But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean’. And again a voice came to him a second time, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy’.”  Acts 10:9-15

Here is another example of a viewpoint or interpretation I have always accepted as true without really studying it out.  I believe many other Christians are in the same boat.

I was listening to an interview with a Christian couple who are very involved in Biblical dieting.  They were remarking about this passage and said that it has nothing to do with God saying everything is ok to eat now.  They pointed out that Peter realized that the vision was telling him that he should not call any man unclean or unholy.  The couple said that it was never in the Law for a Jew to view people this way.

I have always accepted the contention that in this passage God says that all animals are now ok to eat and that God’s law that forbade certain animals was now nullified.  It was then somehow equated symbolically to the notion that Jews could also now associate with non-Jews. 

So, I decided to study all this for myself.  I found that the aforementioned couple was correct.  However, they did not complete the picture.  There was something much deeper and more profound that God was communicating to Peter.

Peter goes into a trance and sees a vision.  A great sheet comes down from heaven and all kinds of unclean and unholy (dirty and impure) animals are in the sheet.  A voice tells Peter to arise kill and eat.  Peter is appalled and says to the Lord that he never has and would never eat anything unholy and unclean.  The voice says ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy”.

Peter is greatly perplexed about the vision.  This is a devout Jew who understands that there is purpose in the law.  God did not create the law arbitrarily.  The law describes and displays God’s righteousness.  How could something God has designated unclean become clean?

Peter continued to ponder the vision and while he was reflecting on it, men showed up at the door asking for Peter to go with them to see the centurion Cornelius.  When Peter is told that God sent an angel to Cornelius, a Gentile, the light went on for him.

Verse 28 is very important.  Peter tells Cornelius and his household that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him.  Yet, Peter says, God showed him that he should not call ANY man unholy or unclean.

The point is this, what Peter realized is that no man should be considered unclean or unholy.   When God said to Peter, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy’, He was telling Peter that He had made atonement for all men.  He had not changed the law about what animals were edible!

Atonement is Cleansing

This short statement from God to Peter, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy”, sums up what Christ’s death on the cross means to the whole world.  His death was the atonement for all mankind.  It satisfied the debt or the penalty for original sin. 

It’s also important to mention here that the law that Peter was talking about in Acts 10:28 in terms of associating with a foreigner is not found in the Torah anywhere.  But we will discuss that later in this article.

Look at Leviticus 16:29-30.  This chapter is all about the Law of Atonement.  It is the definitive statute regarding the annual ritual for Israel to make atonement for the nation.  It symbolically reconciled the nation to God.  It also foreshadowed the perfect atonement that would be made by Christ for all of mankind (see Heb. 10:10-12).

“And this shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls, and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord.”

In other words, atonement is a cleansing! 

This is what God was telling Peter.  Christ’s death had atoned for the sin of all mankind.  Peter realized that nothing had changed regarding what is good or bad to eat.  God had not cleansed those things, or made them suitable for eating!  Jesus Christ atoned or cleansed all of man.

This does not mean that all people are saved.  Christ’s death paid for the sin of the world, but individually we are justified by faith.  Faith alone is what determines whether we become righteous in God’s eyes.  Christ’s death, or atonement, is a free gift for all men.  It allows for justification for all men individually by faith (Rom. 5:11-18).

The point I’m trying to make about Acts 10 is that nothing changed from God’s perspective about what is good to eat.  He used that vision to help Peter understand what God had cleansed or atoned for.  God forced Peter’s mind into a quandary so that when the men from Cornelius showed up Peter would automatically understand.

Now, I am not saying that we are still under the law.  I am saying that what God laid out in the law as unclean to eat was still unclean or bad to eat.  In other words, there was purpose behind God declaring certain things bad to eat.  Nothing changed with that.

In Leviticus chapter 11, God details which creatures can be eaten.  At the end of the chapter it says, “This is the law regarding the animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.”  Lev. 11:46-47

This is why Peter was so perplexed.  He could not understand how something that was bad to eat could suddenly become ok to eat.  Then he figured it out when the representatives of Cornelius showed up.

While we have technology to protect from the hazards of certain unclean animals, there are still good reasons to avoid them.  You can find the exhaustive list in Lev. 11.  Pork, shellfish, rabbits, and fish without scales like catfish are the usual suspects on American tables, but you can do your own research on what’s healthy and not.

Going back to the law that Peter cited about association with foreigners – it was a man-made law or tradition.  It was not a law of God.  In fact, if you go back through the books of Moses, or the Torah, there are numerous passages that talk about welcoming the foreigners or aliens, and being hospitable to them.

Here are just a few:

“The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.”  Lev. 19:24

‘There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'”  Lev. 24:22

‘If an alien sojourns among you and observes the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its ordinance, so he shall do; you shall have one statute, both for the alien and for the native of the land.'”  Num. 9:14

“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns.”  Deut. 24:14

And don’t forget the one above that I quoted regarding the Day of Atonement, Lev. 16:29-30

There are many, many more.  God has always intended that Israel be a light to the nations.  The Jews were never supposed to treat people with disdain.  They were told not to inter-mingle in marriage or to follow other nations gods, but if a non-Jew was seeking friendship there was no law against it. This tradition of the Jews to not associate with Gentiles was something concocted by corrupt religious leaders.

Guess what? It’s the same with the Church.  We are to be in the world, but not of it.  We are to be just as hospitable to non-believers as Israel was to be to non-Jews.  But we are not to marry unbelievers.  God is the same yesterday and today!

Acts 10 is really about Christ’s atonement!

 

The Covert Mission of Jesus

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clandestine-wallpaper-17

“…but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;”  1Corinthians 2:7-8

The Man Who Never Was

The annals of war are replete with stories of subterfuge.  In WWII there were a number of elaborate schemes designed to fool Hitler about the invasion of Europe.  The most exotic ruse of the war took place before the invasion of Italy, the success of which would have enormous impact on the coming invasion of France.

Before the Allies could invade France they had to get a foothold in southern Europe.  Germany had been shoved out of North Africa and conventional wisdom said the next step for the Allies would be to land an army in Sicily.  Germany knew this as well. 

Winston Churchill famously remarked that ‘everyone but a bloody fool would know’ that the objective was Sicily.  If the Allies could make the Germans believe that they were going to invade Greece instead of Sicily, significant forces might get diverted thereby insuring success in Sicily. 

So, a ruse was concocted.  The audacious plan became the basis for a film entitled, ‘The Man Who Never Was’, in 1956.

The idea, thought up by 25 yr. old RAF Flight Lieutenant Charles Cholmondeley and developed by British Intelligence, was to drop a dead body off the coast of Nazi occupied Spain complete with identification papers, photos of a girlfriend, love letters, a London bus ticket and most importantly, a personal letter from Lt. General Archibald Nye. 

The chosen courier was a deceased 34-year-old alleged homeless man named Glyndwr Michael who had supposedly been found in an abandoned warehouse (there is controversy about whether he was a homeless person).  For this mission, designated Operation Mincemeat, he was given the name Capt. William H.N. Martin. 

The letter from General Nye outlined several sensitive topics.  One of the topics was Allied plans in the Mediterranean, specifically the invasion of Greece.  It described plans to embark troops from Egypt and Libya under the command of General ‘Jumbo’ Wilson for the landing in Greece.  It also mentioned a simultaneous landing on Sardinia by forces under the command of General Harold Alexander currently in Tunisia.  

The letter was personally written and signed by General Nye.  Nye added the finishing touch in the letter saying ‘we stand a very good chance of making the enemy think we are landing in Sicily’.

Next, the British had to make the dead man look as if he had drowned.  The plan was to make the Germans think the body had washed up from a plane crash at sea.  To make the death look as authentic as possible, the British stored the body in dry ice in a sealed container.  As the ice evaporated the lungs filled with liquid. 

The body, dressed in Royal Marine battle dress, was found on the shore of Spain near a town called Huelva with the briefcase of papers attached.  He had been dropped in the ocean a mile from shore by the submarine HMS Seraph. 

Within days, the contents of the briefcase were in German intelligence hands. 

Of course, the Germans would want the British to think that the documents had remained secure so as not to tip the British that the Germans were now in on the Allied plans.  So, the Germans had the Spanish return the contents just as they had found them.  But British intelligence examined the documents and they could tell they had been tampered with. 

The plan was working. 

A few days later, German reinforcements were moving to Greece, Corsica, and Sardinia over the objection of Italian dictator Mussolini, who still believed the invasion would be in Sicily.  Panzer divisions were sent from France and Russia and Germany’s greatest field general Erwin Rommel was sent to Greece to command. 

The great deception worked magnificently, so much so that two days after the invasion of Sicily, Hitler refused to budge from Greece, believing the main invasion was still to come. 

How did this ruse affect D-Day? 

After the invasion of Sicily, Hitler eventually realized he had been duped.  Two days after the D-Day invasion of France, Germans confiscated documents from a landing craft on the shore of Normandy. The documents were real, and they detailed inland targets of the Allies. 

Hitler refused to believe they were real, convinced it was another ruse and that the main invasion was still to come at Pas de Calais.  When the Germans needed the Panzer divisions the most at Normandy, Hitler kept them frozen inland off the northern coast of France. 

The invasion of France may well have been saved by the lasting effects of ‘The Man Who Never Was’.

In a way, Jesus played a ‘man who never was’. 

Yahweh the Greatest Con Artist

God tricked Satan, plain and simple. 

The Jews were looking for a political and military leader which was precisely what God took advantage of.  Jesus intentionally allowed and even fostered their belief that He had come to restore the kingdom of God on earth. 

Jesus executed his mission flawlessly, gathering and training believing followers while conning Satan and the unbelieving Jews.  Turning the entire nation of Israel’s attention on Himself, He was able to keep His true mission cloaked – to be killed.

Jesus drew crowds of thousands in empty areas near tiny towns and villages.  There He preached messages of hope laced with fiery, revolutionary rhetoric.  “The kingdom of God was coming”, He said repeatedly.  He rebuked, chastised and humiliated the reigning authorities, the oppressive religious overlords who bowed to the pagan conquerors from Rome. 

And God spoke from heaven and all who were present heard it – “This is My Beloved Son!”  This was the One sent to restore the kingdom of God back on earth to where it belongs – in the hands of the Messiah King reigning from Jerusalem!  This was the One that would throw off the oppressors!

What was Satan hearing? “The kingdom of God is near”; “The gates of hell will not prevail”; “I saw Satan falling like lightening”; “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword!”. 

John the Baptist called them out, “Who warned you of the wrath to come?”.

Satan heard what the Pharisees and scribes were hearing – declarations of war and vengeance!  

The Pharisees were the imagers, the mirrors, of Satan.  Jesus called them sons of Satan.  How they reacted is how Satan was reacting.  Their authority and power were threatened as was Satan’s power and authority as ruler of this domain earth. 

The hook was set.  Jesus had to die.

He spoke in parables for the ears that could hear.  He knew that only a very few were understanding any of what he said.  He knew the crowds would turn on him.  But he also knew that in the end He would find the few followers that would commit their lives to Him.

The mission was to die.  But it was also to lay the foundation for the Church. 

He made sure that His disciples knew He was God in the flesh.  He trained them how to become fishers of men.  He taught them the message of salvation and how to spread it; to love one another and to live for eternity. 

He did this all the while provoking Satan with impending overthrow of his reign on earth. 

And Yahweh chose the perfect time to insert His Son into the world. 

Knowing He would be rejected, He rightfully claimed the throne of David.  But it was never His intent to take it at that time.  His intent was to be killed. 

It was a brilliant plan, laid out in Eden and flawlessly managed all the way to the cross.  From the beginning of creation it was determined – Yahweh would restore man and earth back to Himself by sending His Son to die. 

And He rose from the dead to seal the victory.

Satan would not have laid a finger on Him had he understood Jesus’ real mission.

Dan Baker

copyright 2017

What’s in the Water?

    oRDER MY NEW BOOK HERE

Water

1 John 5:6-8  “6. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not in water only, but in the water and in the blood.  7. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  8. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Before I get into this, I want to state that I quoted the New American Standard that has ‘in’ in the margin as the literal translation for the 2nd and 3rd segment of verse 6 (“not IN water only” as opposed to “not BY water only”).

This is a fascinating passage and the commentaries are varied in their interpretations.  So hang in there and do your best to follow me as I put forth some things to consider that I have not found to be suggested as yet.

Most commentaries say that the water is referring to Christ’s baptism.  One commentary by someone named Wetstein said it is referring to Christ’s manhood meaning that he “he had all the properties of a human being–a spirit or soul, blood, and the watery humours of the body”.  I strongly believe it goes far deeper than baptism or the human body.

What is curious about this is that John says that Jesus did not come in water ONLY.  I wonder why he said it that way.  In other words, it seems John recognizes that someone would easily accept that the Messiah Son of God might come in water only.  John is emphatic that he came in water AND blood.  I think Wetstein is getting warm.  But why water only?

Here’s what I’m thinking about…

First, let’s look at where Yahweh lives and where Yeshuah came from.  Gen. 1:6 says “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 

Psalm 104:3 says that He “lays the beams of His chambers in the waters”.  In the same psalm it says in verse 13, “He waters the mountains from His chambers”.

Psalm 148:4 says, ‘Praise Him, heaven of heavens and the waters that are above the heavens”.

Amos 9:6 says “The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is His name.” 

God dwells above the firmament above the earth in waters.  That seems clear from Scripture.  I realize that Amos is not describing the waters above the firmament, I included it because it goes along with the verse that says His chambers are there.  And God is spirit (John 4:24). 

Ok, He’s spirit, what’s that got to do with it?  Well, maybe everything.  Again, I’m just exploring this, I haven’t formed any conclusions.   Let’s bring in another verse to consider.  Stay with me.

Luke 11:24 says, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’”

What this verse seems to indicate is that these spirits (granted they are unclean or demons) must find habitation made up of water.  Remember when Jesus exorcised a man of the demon Legion (Luke 8:27-33)?  That demon begged to be sent into a herd of pigs rather than the abyss. 

The abyss is the lowest part of the earth where evil spirits are imprisoned and there is no water (1 Peter 3:18, Jude 6).  It wanted to be in a living creature.  All life is water based.  We are 70% water.

Now, these were unclean spirits but spirits nonetheless.   See where I’m going?

Now I want to bring in the Book of Enoch.  This book is credible reliable spiritual history.  The reason I can say that is because the Bible quotes it.  That means God affirms it.  I’m not saying it’s Scripture, but I believe at minimum it is as close as you can get.

In Enoch 22: 9-13 it says this: “9. At that time therefore I inquired respecting him, and respecting the general judgment, saying, Why is one separated from another? He answered, Three separations have been made between the spirits of the dead, and thus have the spirits of the righteous been separated. 10. Namely, by a chasm, by water, and by light above it.  11. And in the same way likewise are sinners separated when they die, and are buried in the earth; judgment not overtaking them in their lifetime.  12. Here their souls are separated. Moreover, abundant is their suffering until the time of the great judgment, the castigation, and the torment of those who eternally execrate, whose souls are punished and bound there for ever.  13. And thus has it been from the beginning of the world. Thus has there existed a separation between the souls of those who utter complaints, and of those who watch for their destruction, to slaughter them in the day of sinners.”

What Enoch is saying is there are 3 things that separate the unsaved from the saved who are dead (that was pre-cross; now the saved go straight to heaven).  There is a chasm, water and light above the water.  (As an aside, Enoch also affirms the destruction of the lost) 

Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26)?  It says the rich man asked if Lazarus could dip his finger in the water and put it on the rich man’s tongue.   Abraham said there was a chasm that may not be crossed.  Both passages describe the chasm and water.  Jesus is actually affirming Enoch in his telling of this story.

Getting back to Jesus and 1 John 5:6, what I’m wondering is if John understood that God’s dwelling is in the waters as Spirit.  Please do not understand me to be saying that God MUST reside in water, it may just be that He chooses to.  We too are spirit and reside in water, just as the unclean spirits seek watery residence.  They have no rest without water.  It seems that our spirit must, as well.

Was John saying that Jesus did not come in just water – as he understood God to reside in – but he also came in blood as a man?  I think it could very well be the case.

To be continued…

Dan Baker