An Answer to the Origin of the Ancient Female Goddess Fertility Cults

I have been researching fertility cults as I believe we will see a return of these practices in the years leading up to the reign of the Anti-christ in the Great Tribulation.  I continue to find these practices strange and mystifying.  Why did people think that “sacred sex” practices in the temple of a fertility goddess was beneficial?  Where did the idea of the fertility cult come from?  As I see the return of this idea seeping into our cultural and religious systems, I have become ever more curious about the initial reason for this system. 

And as always, I believe the events recorded in the Bible have an elegant and factual answer to this question.

Genesis ch 3 describes the circumstances surrounding Adam’s fall into Original Sin, and the consequences that God decrees related to his act.  One of the consequences is that the earth became resistant to man’s efforts to bring forth food, leaving a state of food insecurity on the world both– then and now.  I am sure that the difficulty harvesting food after untold years of ease and plenty was a great shock to Adam and his progeny, and I can sympathize in their desperate desire to have this burden lightened.  And that is why I believe the fertility religions started—to lighten the punishment set up by Jehovah as a consequence of man’s sin.

As Eve was duped into sin by the serpant, her punishment was that she would be fruitful at great expense to her health.  But she would be fruitful and bring forth children.  At the same time, Jehovah announced that through the seed of the woman she would crush the head of the serpant, a declaration that He would reconcile man’s sin though the fertility of the woman.  By twisting God’s pronouncements, there is a logical origin for the source of the power and authority of the female goddess fertility cult as evidenced in the Goddess Nana/Ishtar/Ashoreth etc (who are all really a single source).

God’s pronouncement could easily have been perverted over time to a belief that the woman held the key to fertility both in procreation and in the harvests. Instead of looking to Jehovah for sustenance, mankind chose to look within themselves to ensure a fertile harvest.  In a twisted way, one could take Jehovah’s words to mean that women did have fertile power.  It certainly isn’t a big leap to believe that harnessing that power included fertility and religious “sacred sex rites” to bring forth a harvest.  And I am certain Satan did reward people who succumbed to this practice with greater harvests at the expense of their souls (and continues to reward people as these acts are practiced secretly all over the word today).  God always has the harder road to salvation in order to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and Satan always has the short and easy road to spiritual and physical destruction.  While the Bible doesn’t discuss this , I can imagine God allowing Satan to increase the fruits of the labors of those who were determined to get around His punishment at the expense of their relationship with Him.

I am certain that the curse that God put on the ground, and partially reduced after the flood with His new covenant with Noah, was extreme.  I have never (yet) been through a famine so I dont know the physical and moral cost that such an experience brings upon people and nations. But I can imagine that ancient man was exhausted and overwhelmed at having to work endlessly to achieve a basic sustenance that may or may not fail if drought or natural disasters destroyed the harvest.  If anyone had a “brilliant” idea for making food production more secure, I am certain that people would have been interested to hear more.  And that is the danger with ideas that are not blessed by Jehovah.  What sounds like a good idea to them—to call forth the fertile powers in women to make harvest easier and more productive, was mortally offensive to God. We see this again and again in the trials and successes of Israel recorded in the Old Testament. Their accounts were meant as a testament by God to mankind of actions that produce His rewards and actions that will produce His judgments.

What we do know from history is that whatever God decrees man will attempt to get out of, and Satan is a gleeful witness and meddler in our ideas and actions intended to lesson God’s punishments. I believe that the fertility cults were a direct response from man, through the influence of Satan, to relieve him of the burden of harsh work in relation to food supply.

I believe that the original fertility cults were man’s attempt to impose his will and oppose God’s will in relation to the uncertainty of harvests.  As we move ever closer to a return to these ancient practices, I urge you to remember that while we have free will to oppose God, it will never turn out to our benefit.

As we continue to move ever forward into the age of the Antichrist, and famine sits at the door and in the homes of many, a return to fertility cults is guaranteed. I pray that we will have the strength to refuse the easy road, and resist Satan’s easier harvest at the expense of our souls. I fear that the last century of ease and plenty will make it all the more harder to resist. As we move toward a year that may well be marked by a world wide famine, as predicted by weather scientists, I feel that God is reminding us not to re-create the mistakes of the ancient past in our attempt to exert our will. Ask God for His care and sustenance, lose the desire for self-sufficiency and lean on Him.

Eight Beginning Elements of Effective Prayer

As horrific events continue to unfold, I wanted to encourage you in your prayers and give some insight into effective prayer that God has placed on my heart.  I am disheartened by the weakness of the body of Christ for we have the tools to fight yet we have lost our focus with all the distractions around us.

A year ago I was ready to commit suicide.  I considered myself a failed Christian.  I discovered that I was under oppression and in a mind blowing audible prayer God yanked me from the brink of psychosis and death.  I know the power of prayer and my hope is that you grow to know it too.   I have Borderline Personality Disorder and my mood dysregulation is a constant battle.  When I get distracted from daily Bible study and prayer it roars back to life again.  Over the past year I know and have lived the suggestions below.  I want you to know that you can know and live this as well.

It is essential to know that Satan is temporarily Lord of the Earth and rules this realm for the present as I discuss in my prior post.  His contractual power over mankind has been broken by Jesus but his keys and authority as Lord of the Earth will not be taken until Jesus triumphant second return to start His Millenial Reign.  We have the power through Jesus to bind Satan’s activities via prayer and request for God’s intercession.  Prayer is our tool for active and effective communication to God as well as a skill and a weapon to fight Satan’s plans to destroy your life and mankind.

Below I list 8 beginning steps to effective prayer in your life.  There are others but I find this list to be actionable and I use it in my prayer life.

1.  Know and Love God through Jesus and accept His plan for salvation

My first suggestion is to know and love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your will, all your soul as Jesus instructs us.  This starts with repentance and accepting God’s plan for salvation through Jesus.  The Bible says that God does not hear the prayer of sinners outside of repentance.  If you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are a child of Satan and your prayers are mist in the wind.  After this,  actively seek to learn God’s holy and awesome nature and desire a personal relationship with Him through Jesus as our arbiter.  This will naturally lead to more effective prayer.  The more you know and love God, the closer you get to His heart, mind and will and the easier prayer will become.  So go to school daily by studying the Bible along with great commentaries and apologetic materials.

2.  Recognize that a relationship with God is a partnership through active prayer

Next  it is crucial to understand God’s desire for a partnership with you.  The Bible is clear and consistent with regard to this.  God wants your active input and He listens to your requests.  Sometimes He changes His mind.  Jesus tells us to make ourselves a pain in Luke ch 11 through a humorous anecdote where a man wakes up a friend at night for food to feed an unexpected visitor and receives it due to his impudence.   Jesus also says that we don’t receive because we don’t ask.  But we must ask within God’s will.

3.  Desire God’s will and learn how and what to ask for in prayer

Third, God wants us to seek and desire His will for our lives and the world and our prayers must reflect this.  We need to learn what we should ask.  This is accomplished by being fed through His word.  If you know the Bible you know His heart.  Ask that God’s words will write themselves in your heart, that you will understand what you read and actively follow it.  Paul warns us that scripture reading that is like a mirror is useless, as when one looks at a mirror and walks away one forgets the visage.  Scripture reading must be active.  Prepare your heart before reading with repentance and put on a mind open to God’s message.

4.  Learn how to pray specifically

Forth, God wants specifics and this is very important.  He delights in our ideas.  Plans cannot be completed without details and prayer is hindered without them.  So, for example, if you feel led to pray that Bibles will get into China, ask God specifically that Bible shipments will be disguised as other literary works in the customs offices.  You will find a much higher rate of answered prayer if you get very specific in your requests.  I have a friend whose daughter is recovering from a devastating illness.  Michele is fantastic about asking for specific prayer in the physical therapy sessions.  Her recent request was for 3 unassisted steps and this was answered in that session.

5.  Actively prevent hindered prayer by daily repenting of all sin 

Fifth, your prayer can be hindered by sin in your life.  Idolatry, selfishness, covetousness, anxiety and unconfessed sin can all hinder the effectiveness of your prayer.  First make sure you know what God considers sin.  If you agree with the world that certain acts are not sinful, you are living in sin in your mind.  Search the scriptures for what God considers sin.  Paul is an excellent resource for knowing sin as well as for what we should work on to enhance our Christian faith and walk.  I encourage you to read him from start to finish.  It is a great document for the practicing Christian.  Note that there are factions who want to remove Paul from the Bible.  Ask daily that God will hinder this heresy.  Ask for a teachable and humble spirit and a change in mindset if you struggle to agree that certain acts are sin.  Scour your heart and mind daily and clean out the sin in it first with repentance.  You will find, as I have, that peace in your mind is one of the benefits.  Then, as Paul instructs in Philippeans 4:6-8:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

6.  Train your eye and heart to know when and what needs prayer

Sixth, meditate on God’s word and the following list that Paul gives in Philippeans 4:8.  For an eye that is fixed on heavenly treasure will be trained to intercede when corruption is spotted.  Spend time in it daily and make this your top priority.  The world uses mindfulness to combat anxiety and live a richer life, but they miss the point.  Our mindfulness should be trained by the word of God.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

7.  Develop a mind dedicated to unceasing prayer

God wants your whole life.  He doesnt want a 30 second synopsis of your day in a nightly litany of what went wrong.  He wants to be with you in the trenches of life.  He wants to guide your speech and actions to fulfill His will.  Quick prayers of intercession are appropriate and effective.  For example, if you are to have a difficult conversation with a fellow worker, a quick  “Jesus please work with me to regulate my mood and grant me patience and calm speech during this conversation.”

8.  Get into the battle

Christians are authorized to fight against the principalities and powers of this realm.  The tools for this is intercessionary prayer and supplication.  Paul states this awesome responsibility in Ephesians 6:12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

Man every time I read that I get chills.  We–YOU– have the power through Jesus to ask God to bind Satan and his forces and these are a few ways that will help you get started:

State daily that you freely transfer your power and authority from Satan back to God

Ask for hedges of protection around Christians and godly authorities

Support Israel and ask that your country support Israel.  They are His unconditional covenant people and God doesnt break unconditional covenants.  This should be a crucial part of your vote in your country if you live in a place where voting determines government.  The Bible says God’s eye is trained on Jerusalem and, while this is controversial, I do believe He blesses continues to bless countries and peoples who bless and shelter the Israelic descendants of Abraham.  Genesis 12:3 says “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  Many Theologians think this is just for a certain period but God didnt put a time limit on this blessing, so one is best to think it still active.  Therefore, those places who have harmed God’s people are living on borrowed time, Germany being one of them.

Ask for the Jewish heart to soften towards Jesus.  Jesus states in Matthew 24 that his return is in the hands of the Jewish peoples.  In order to allow for the fullness of the Gentile races to come to salvation, all Jewish persons at this time have a partial block on recognizing Jesus.  At some point in the future they will as one have their eyes opened and recognize him as their messiah and he will immediately return to reign on earth.

Intercede for persecuted Christians.  Get on the prayer lists for organizations like Open Door and Barnabus fund, both of which are actively assisting Christians in areas closed to the gospel.  You can partner with them in their specific prayers and support them in their efforts to comfort and support them, as Jesus asked us to do.

Ask for God to open up the borders of nations closed to the gospel and to bind Satan’s authority and plans for these oppressed areas.

Ask God to hinder and bind spirits brought forth by spells, incantations, idolatry.  These spirits are strong and the Spirit of Violence and Dissension that has swept over the world through idolatry, sorcery and evil action.

Ask God to create confusion, chaos, anxiety, distress and to block and hinder all persons who participate in Satan’s activities and work to bring corruption upon the earth with the added request that God will, in His mercy, turn them to Him

Ask that God will soften the hearts of specific people you interact with on a daily basis and give you opportunities to share the Gospel.

Ask that current trials and persecutions lead to opportunities to share the gospel with others

Ask for immediate intercession when tempted by Satan and his forces.  Turn away and do not relent.  This is the danger of being part of the world for what you allow to goes into your mind will inevitably corrupt you.  So monitor what you watch and listen to.  I find that God uses music to play in my head when I am distressed and this is a comfort that I would not have if I chose other music that glorifies the world and its many sins.

Finally, I want you to recognize God’s work in my life as an example of hope.  A year ago I would not have been able to write a word of this letter to you.  I have studied and examined and repented and read and prayed my year away.  I hope that you can see the proof in this post, and know that God wants the same for you.  May God bless you and keep you, may His grace and mercy shine down on you and may you develop into an effective and useful tool to combat the darkness in Satan through the power in your prayer life.

An analysis of Satan’s claim as Lord of the Earth

Luke chapter 4 describes the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  I have read this passage many times but in light of the Spirit of Dissension and Violence that has swept over the world I want to discuss the importance of this passage in light of the end times, which, if one is actively reading prophecy is at most a few decades away.

Satan makes an astonishing declaration to Jesus that Jesus does not dispute.  He says in Verse 6 that he will give Jesus all the authority over the world and all its glory if Jesus will worship him.  What is astonishing is that Jesus doesn’t dispute his claim.

Meaning that Satan’s declaration that he is Lord of the Earth is valid.

How can this be?  I went back to the beginning, in Genesis, which is the most important foundational book in my opinion because it describes the original contracts between God and mankind.  Without Genesis we are unable to explain the reasons for the state of evil and sin in the world that we find on a daily basis.  This is the danger of discounting Genesis in the doctrines of Christianity.  Christianity has no relevance without this essential foundation.

What is critical to understand is God’s view of contracts and transactions.  They are legal, binding and final.  A contract is a very serious event for God and He will perfectly follow it to the end.  The current contracts between God, mankind and Satan are the forces that drive history through time.  This is why we have an Old TESTAMENT and a New TESTAMENT, or Old Will/Contract/Evidence and New Will/Contract/Evidence.

Satan can make the claim that He is Lord of the Earth because of a critical transaction that occurred in the first 2 chapters of Genesis.

Genesis 1:28 describes an important CONDITIONAL legal transaction between God and mankind.  God gave man dominion over the earth. He legally transferred power and authority over every living thing that moves on the earth to man.  As the legal holders of what goes on in the earth we have the capacity to transfer this power and authority to any other entity as we see fit, based on our Free Will and creation in God’s own image.  As part of this dominion package mankind was given one condition:  Do not eat a certain specific tree.

Our legal right to earthly dominion was maintained by compliance to this restriction.   The transaction would be broken and we would face the consequence of eternal death if we disobeyed this order.

At some point in time this occurred through the temptation by the serpent and man fell into a rebellious state.  At the moment man acted against the edict of God, we legally transferred our power and dominion to Satan and broke communion with God.  Our fall was twofold:  the loss of our dominion along with permanent death and enslavement to sin and its consequences.

As a being of Free Will, this transfer of dominion and authority to Satan is valid and binding until satisfied.  God’s nature did not allow Him to negate it as it stood, for that would be a sinful act.  As sinful fallen beings we cannot transfer that dominion back to us and restore our relationship with God.  The contract could only be broken and satisfied through death, specifically the sacrifice of a perfect human being with 100% human DNA, as God had declared that human death was the consequence if the contract was broken.  The Old Testament describes God’s steps to buy back mankind from the clutches of Satan.  Jesus perfectly satisfied the conditions of the contract but we remain under this contract until we, with Free Will, accept Jesus and God’s method of breaking it through repentance, accepting the conditions for release and active action by following what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God through sacrificial love and service.

For a perfect human being to exist, the DNA could not be perverted.  Satan’s first step was to pervert human DNA through the actions of his Nephilim army as described in Genesis chapter 6.  In response, God had no choice but to save a remnant of pure DNA in Noah’s family and destroy the rest.  Since the Nephilim DNA continued after the flood, I believe that God waited until all but the last remnant of pure DNA was corrupted to give mankind the chance to repent.  This is suggested in that at least one of Noah’s daughter-in-law had some Nephilim DNA, for the Bible records that Nephilim continued after the flood until destroyed by the Israelites at God’s command.

Geneologies are very important in the Bible.  For a perfect man to break the contract, it is essential that God can prove a line of pure human DNA to any entity who challenges the legality.   It is the evidence.  The Old Testament describes this evidence in great and sweeping detail starting in Genesis chapter 12, where God chooses one man to start a great lineage in order to protect and manage the DNA for the birth of the Messiah Jesus.  God chose a descendant of Noah named Abraham to become what we now know as the people of Israel.  God ensured that one line in the people of Israel maintained pure human DNA and this was the line of the messiah.  The rest of the Old Testament is, in a nutshell, God’s actions for positioning this group of people to produce the messiah in the fullness of time.  The Old Testament takes on a rich scope when one reads it and follows the contracts that God created to produce a perfect messiah.   The people of Israel have other important duties which include holding the law of God but the DNA lineage is the primary importance with regard to God’s steps to restore mankind.

I believe one of the reasons why God waited for the messiah to come was to have a body of prophetic evidence about the messiah.  There are well over 300 prophesies concerning the messiah as told by OT prophets.  God wanted His people to know who the messiah was and how to identify him.  While popular opinion states that Israel as a nation failed to identify the messiah, a small remnant, starting with the apostles, did identify him and spread the good news to the known world at the time as outlined in the New Testament thus fulfilling God’s purposes for them at that period in time.  God’s people will always be the Israelites, we as Christians are merely grafted into the Tribe of Ephriam.

The reality is that until we accept God’s plan of salvation we remain under the original contract.  While we remain under this contract, we daily transfer our authority and dominion to Satan.  If the entire world accepted Jesus as the solution for our sin Satan would lose all authority.  Satan works very hard to confound and disrupt this in order to maintain his rule.  As the time grows ever shorter, and as the world grows more corrupt, Satan’s power grows along with it.  The Spirits of Dissension and Violence are the evidence that his power is growing exponentially.

When someone asks you why God allows evil in the world explain God’s contractual agreements and solutions.  He allows evil to get you to recognize your sinful and rebellious condition, and uses the consequences  of evil to move you toward Him or to provide a time of testing for the Christian. We, as holders of authority and dominion, allow evil when we hand our authority over to Satan.  Remember this transfer the next time you are tempted and give in, for it is my hope that this will strengthen you as you resist through the power of Jesus.

A Theory on the Role of the Ark of the Covenant in the Crucifixion of Jesus

I recently read an article about the Ark of the Covenant and it was so thought provoking that I felt led to share it with you.  What I have to relate is not found recorded in the Bible yet is completely consistent with God’s nature and actions, and is consistent with a historical account found in the extra-Biblical 2 Maccabees that the Ark was sequestered in a cave deep underground, although that is thought to be Mount Nebo in Jordan unless the authors were purposefully changing the location for secrecy.

The article is a testimony from an excavation in the late 1970’s and 1980’s that led to the reported current location of the Ark of the Covenant and what role the Ark played during the death of Jesus.

Seventh Day Adventist and Explorer Ron Wyatt (ronwyatt.com) has a remarkable website.  He died a few years ago, but what he records on his website is awesome in its descriptions of his journeys even while it has a paucity of verifiable data.   Yet a few of his findings really stand out.  The first is his theory that is growing in acceptance that Jebel al Lawz in Saudi Arabia is Mount Sinai of the Bible.  The picture of the massive rock on the top that is cleaved from top almost to the bottom tells its own tale if one knows the Scriptures.  The second is a remarkable and detailed claim substantiated by numerous witnesses that he found the Ark of the Covenant, although again with almost nothing to show for it but some pictures that are not definitive.  But I find that I cannot dismiss his account, as reading it is extremely compelling and what he proposes is completely consistent with God’s thoroughness and detail.

This testimony really blew my mind for it turns the blood of Jesus covering our sins on the mercy seat of the Ark into a real event and not just a figurative one.  For me, this is compelling for I have discovered that we box the Bible into literary, figurative and literal truths but I believe that all events in the Bible are multilayered by  literary, figurative and literal truths and the more I read and research the more this truth is revealed to me.

This is an extremely brief summery, I urge you to read it and marvel at the implications.  Ron stated that he found the Ark in a cave off a series of tunnels inside the Place of the Skull, an outcropping near Jerusalem that remarkably resembles a human skull, in the late 1970’s, and excavated over a 10 year period.   You can see a picture here, and incidentally a tomb very close to this has been discovered that fits the Biblical description of the tomb used by Joseph of Aramathea when he buried Jesus.

The Garden Tomb in Jerusalem

Ron states that he excavated the site over a period of several years and found a cave deep underground with a warren of tunnels.  He lists an extremely detailed list of exactly what he found in the cave, most items being first century temple items including the Ark still encased in a stone box.  Ron states he eventually notified The Jewish Temple Authorities of his find and it was decided to leave it and re-seal the tunnel.  Ron removed part of a first temple item, a pomegranate shaped vase, to take as proof, leaving part behind to show its provenance.  The origin of the vase is currently in dispute but what is known is that Ron Wyatt did work with the Jewish Ministry of Antiquities and is pictured with them holding artifacts.

The Ivory Pomegranate

Ron states that the Mercy Seat of the Ark was positioned under a large geologic crack in the ceiling and the crack had a dark substance that Ron stated later tested in a lab as blood with remarkable characteristics.  He traced the crack to an area above the outcropping that had traces of crucifixion materials and depressions.

Ron’s theory is that God uniquely positioned the Ark  so the Mercy Seat collected blood spilled from Jesus at  His crucifixion and that Jesus was crucified directly above this area.  The great earthquake as recorded during this event was the event that opened the crack in the ground, allowing Jesus’ blood to be spilled over the Mercy Seat as the final and perfect sacrifice.

The question is, is this consistent with God’s actions recorded in the Old Testament? 

I believe in God’s ability to uniquely choose people to do His will without regard to their education or station in life, in fact, that He often chooses people who could not accomplish tasks outside of His help and guidance to give greater glory to Him.  So I cannot discount that a Nurse Anesthetist could develop an interest in the Great Antiquities of the Bible and seek for them.  We are seeing this again today in a secular sense with the excavation of Cleopatra’s temple, as the head is a South American lawyer who just had a “hunch”; or the recent finding of an ancient medieval British treasure by a lay person.  “Hunches” are not the purview of the rich and learned, and often it is learning that squelches original thinking.  So unlike the snobbery in the Archaeology field,  it is quite possible for ordinary people to find extraordinary items.  Mr Wyatt has been excluded from all mention in the Archaeology realm, including the credit for connecting Jebel al Lawz to Mount Sinai,  but the pictures, landscape, geology and known Semitic findings at Jebel al Lawz/ Mount Sinai speaks for itself.   But does one lucky visit equal multiple finds as he and his team claim?

Given the dearth of evidence surrounding his extraordinary claim that the Ark resides below the place of Jesus’ crucifixion, and his sealing the tunnel back up again, one has to consider whether this claim is consistent with God’s nature and actions so I asked the question: Would God satisfy the contractual requirement for a perfect human sacrifice to cover the sins of mankind JUST figuratively or BOTH figuratively and literally?

You will have to answer for yourself, but my answer was that both a literal and spiritual event was logical, for three reasons:

First, the Bible is quite clear that God is a God of Law and Order and a perfect Prosecutor and Judge and He doesn’t leave anything to chance.  In this most important work, He would ensure that the actions required to fully satisfy the conditions necessary to redeem mankind from the consequence of Original Sin both physically and spiritually.

Second, the practice of typology in the Bible always points to a final event.  The entire Jewish sacrificial system was a temporary fix in the Old Covenant system, made permanent with the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus.  The annual Day of Atonement sacrifice was BOTH a spiritual and physical typology performed by the High Priest to cover all of Israel’s sins for the year.  The blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat of the Ark by the High Priest, who was required to perform ritual cleansing prior to entering the Holy of Holys.  Might Jesus’ death, the final, perfect and complete propitiation of our sins, also have been the final and complete spiritual AND physical typology, fully satisfying our debt with a physical sprinkling of Jesus’ blood on the Mercy Seat?

It seems reasonable and fitting.  The lid of the Ark was known in Hebrew as the kaporet, a word that comes from a root meaning “to atone” and which is related to the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. While a more accurate translation of this word into English might be “propitiatory,” the traditional rendering of the name of the Ark’s lid is “the mercy seat.”  The Apostle Paul uses the term Propitiation as part of his description of Christ final atoning work on the cross and this ties in well with an actual sprinkling event.

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/163047/the-untold-truth-of-the-ark-of-the-covenant/?utm_campaign=clip

Given that typologies are extremely common in the Bible, it is completely consistent that God uniquely positioned the Ark to collect the blood of Jesus as it dripped down the newly cracked earth.  Given the extraordinary lengths that God went to to “buy back mankind” it is unlikely that He would be satisfied with a figurative covering of all the sins of mankind. Both a literal and spiritual sprinkling of Jesus’ blood on the Mercy Seat would completely satisfy the contractual requirements to reverse a permanent physical and spiritual death when man broke God’s initial Conditional Covenant.

Thirdly,  God is exquisitely detailed in all His methods and actions and positioning the Ark under the very spot where Jesus’ blood would run down from the cross is completely consistent with the God of the Hebrew Bible and awesome in its planning and execution.  I felt this to be true deep in my spirit and I spent several days in awe stuck worship over the remarkable details that God put into place that we don’t know anything about.  I am so in love with the possibility that God positioned the Ark hundreds of years prior to Jesus’ crucifixion under the very spot that would crack upon the earthquake and this just blows my mind.

To summarize, I believe Ron’s account only because it is consistent with God’s nature and actions as recorded in the Scriptures.  It is both reasonable and remarkable that God would fully satisfy the contractual requirements both literally and figuratively, leaving nothing to chance.  As the Ark is instrumental in the OT covenant for the temporary covering of the sins of Israel I believe that a physical sprinkling of the blood of Jesus is  an essential component of satisfying the contract that Jesus paid with His sacrificial death.  We who are grafted into the Body of Christ are grafted into this final atonement.  While belief or proof of this doesn’t change one’s salvation I do believe that it edified and strengthened my faith, and in faith I believe that it will be proven on God’s perfect time schedule.  It makes me wonder what other amazing details God orchestrated to bring Jesus’ crucifixion to fruition that are not yet known to us.

So why would God hide this awesome and amazing work and why reveal it now?

I can only conjecture, but the Jewish sacrificial system ended in AD 70 with the destruction of the Jewish temple.  God orchestrated the perfect event to hide the Ark with the Babylonian invasion so it would be ready for the final sprinkling of Jesus’ blood centuries later.  Since the Jewish people did not welcome the Messiah, I am certain that they would not have willingly placed it under Jesus’ cross to collect His blood so the Babylonian invasion seems a fitting time to sequester it.  Further, after Jesus’ death, God had no further need for a sacrificial system, so it is an important and Holy relic of the Old Covenant that must be preserved.  Knowledge of it would only have been distracting,  would not add anything to the Gospel, and would only create the kind of frenzy that the Holy Grail and other items caused over the centuries.  The re-discovery only adds to the idea that we are truly in the prophetic End Times.

Our God is an awesome God who perfectly details and orchestrates events to rescue us from the teeth of Satan and eternal death.  As to the veracity of this claim by Ron and his team,  excavations claiming to be part of Ron’s group (refuted by Ron) were attempted afterward and they stated they did not find any evidence, which means that either it isn’t there or God is waiting for the perfect time and the right people to find it again.  But if it is there and if or when God wants it revealed, He will reveal it in the fullness of time.  Why God allowed Ron to find it in the late 1982 is a mystery but God’s ways are not our ways.  Ron died unvindicated but time will prove his findings if valid, as he says he left proof in the cave.

To read the entire and very detailed account, click on this link.  It is a long read and it is divided into multiple parts but it is awesome in its detail with thought provoking pictures.

https://www.ronwyatt.com/new_written_account.html

 

A Call for a New Message in Deliverance

I keep hearing and reading encouragement for people to pray during our pandemic but this is deceptive.  Where are the old “Fire and Brimstone” preachers when you need them?  They are a “bygone age” and one that I don’t think we will see again until the Two Witnesses are revealed as described in the book of Revelation.

Simple prayer for deliverance is the wrong message to be giving people and one that God does not honor.  The message that we must relay is to REPENT from current and past sin.  Please, hear me out.

As a consequence of the desperate corruption and rampant sin, I believe that the current earthquakes, pestilence and plagues are the birth pains prophesied in the Bible, and these trials are calls to repent that will get more destructive as the time grows nearer for Jesus’ return.  Christians must maintain a consistent message with Gods’ call to repentance.

Why do I say that we are in the prophetic “birth pains”?  Because our world is exactly like the world in the days of Noah .  Jesus said in Matthew 24:37 that “as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man”, meaning that the world would have traits consistent with the world in the days of Noah before His return.  It also mirrors what Paul described in Romans 1:18-32 as what people will be like in the “last days”. And, controversially, spend a few hours getting your mind blown in daniel11truth, who has spent his lifetime elegantly and comprehensively lining up all of Biblical prophesy in a way unique to anything I have ever read.  According to his research,  world history has completed all verses up to Daniel 11:31.
The Bible clearly and consistently states that God doesnt hear prayers from the unrighteous without repentance.  All the posts and blog entries telling people to “storm the gates of heaven and pray for deliverance” is not consistent with that we are to do because God has a deaf ear to the unrighteous.  The Bible outlines what we are to do in times of distress for the Christian (those saved by the blood of Jesus Christ) and the “unsaved” (those who have not called on Jesus for salvation).

For the unsaved:
Call out for salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, repent from and confess your sin then turn away from your sinful acts.  Spiritual salvation is assured in the Bible and with it peace and hope for eternal life.  As God wills, He may heal your body as well.

If you don’t know what is considered sin, the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20:2-17 are an easy list to read and understand.  Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31 that the entire Law of God can be summarized as “Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Examples of the ACTION of sin is all throughout the Bible.

Paul records a list of sinful actions in Galations 5:19-21 to help give you an idea of what sin looks like in action. (There are many other similar lists, this is just one example.)  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy,^[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do^[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Solomon elegantly summarizes 7 sins that God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19:

There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

For the saved in Jesus Christ:

James chapter 1 has clear instructions for what to do with trials, suffering and illness.  Yet I am not reading about these instructions in posts or blogs.  I am certainly not reading about what James says to do in illness.  I am puzzled as to what Christians actually believe, and I feel that we have grossly skewed the message to one that has lopped off the arms and legs of God’s personality.  He is not just LOVE.  He is first and foremost HOLY, or “pure and set apart”.  Love is an important but secondary attribute along with JUSTICE, OMNIPOTENCE and so forth.  And He works to produce holiness in us through trials and persecution.  As a group we have sorely tried this most important characteristic of HOLINESS, only to veneer our prayers with petitions without action.  Our action must collectively be repentance from ungodly action, thought, word, tolerance and idols.

 1.  Count the time of testing or persecution JOY in order to produce steadfastness.

Praising God for persecution sounds nuts.  But that is exactly the message from Christians being slaughtered in Africa and the Middle East.  Praise God for the ministry of organizations like Barnabus Fund and Open Doors USA who are bringing their stories to light and doing what they can to relieve their suffering.  Their praise in the midst of grave danger, injury and death humbles me.  What they know, because they have lived it, is that faithfully following Jesus is sacrificial and transformative.  As a caveat, James also reminds us of God’s promise to reward those who demonstrate steadfastness under trials with the Crown of Righteousness.

Professing christians in less restrictive societies must take this to heart, stop the long faces, stop hiding in “bug out bungaloes”.  We are called to love our neighbor and hoarding our stuff is a direct violation of this.  Martin Luther ran toward the plague while “Christians” ran like rats from a sinking ship.  He demonstrated his faith in trials.  I am happy to see certain organizations like Samaritan’s Purse demonstrating love in action in Italy and New York City, and it is a great example of what Christians can do to give light and hope to the world.  Give generously as you are called to do.  Write notes of encouragement to neighbors.  Offer to pick up stuff for others.  Put in your name to Christian organizations in your area.  YOU know where you are going and YOU know where they are going.  In eternal terms, it is better for us to suffer.

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers,^[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

2.  Be reconciled to God and to your brother.  Humble yourself, seek God’s face and turn from sin.

This is a worldwide need and one we need to meet collectively but we can only do that if we preach and act out repentance.  If you are unsure if unconfessed sin is in your life, the lists above are a good place to start.  Ask for wisdom and discernment to reveal what you may be doing or thinking that is not consistent with a holy life.  As grafted into God’s family, we can claim the below promise made to the Israelites:

2 Chronicles 7:14  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Matthew 5:21-24  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother^[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults^[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell^[e] of fire. ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

4.  Ask for wisdom, in faith without doubting, from God who gives generously.  Notice the criteria of asking for wisdom.  Ask in faith and do not doubt.

James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

5.  When illness strikes, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.  Examine yourself to make sure you are not participating in communion with unresolved sin in your heart and life.

In obedience to James 5:14, call to the elders of the church to pray over you and “anoint you with oil” (a medical practice of rubbing in the skin of olive oil for healing).  There is a promise of safety from pestilence and plague in Psalms 91 that is popular right now on many blogs, but this is a specific promise for the person who dwells in the shelter of the Most High.  I believe that this promise is for the few who are absolutely bonded to God through our saviour Jesus Christ, and obey ALL His edicts.  So I am concerned when people pull this out and say pandemics arent for Christians.  It is absolutely false.

Even devout Christians in the New Testiment dealt with serious illness.  Paul also has a strong warning about coming to the communion table with unconfessed sin.  Failure to heed this leads to illness and early death.  In our age of tolerance, broken promises, strife and idol worship, is is a wonder that so many professing Christians who participate in communion are ill?

Why do we want to obey this instruction?  As God wills, the prayer of faith from a righteous person will save the ill Christian and sins will be forgiven.  Sober reverence and confession of sin prior to communion will protect the Christian from the consequences of disobedience.

James 5:14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.^[h] 31 But if we judged^[i] ourselves truly, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined^[j] so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

6.  Be prepared for God to say NO to all your prayers for healing.  If you are right with God and your brother you have no reason to be in despair.  We do not know God’s overall plan and how your suffering fits into it.  Paul entreated God for healing from a serious illness and God told him no.  What you can do is suffer with grace and patience and be a testimony to others even at the expense of your life.  Perhaps your testimony in suffering will produce a good work in both you and in them.